Chapter 11: Lying Low, Part II

"There has been an accident." Yukari remembered the Headmasters eerie voice that seemed to echo in any place. She had been undercover, watching Kurumu from afar. Her friend could take care of herself, she knew, so she had listened quietly to Mikogami speak. "Your friends have been overcome, the plan failed. I've decided to go in myself and see the aftermath." He paused." I have no knowledge if they are alive or not, but if they are I will be taking them to the coordinates I am sending you right now." Her purple phone with gold stars vibrated in her hands; she had indeed received the location, but didn't bother to look at them, yet. "It's a hospital. If you encounter anyone along the way… Do not trust them. I have decided that you are all to go into hiding, as of now, you're too vulnerable against the enemy. I don't know how this happened, but I expect to meet you and your team at those coordinates soon." With that Mikogami had hung up.

X

Yukari had felt a gnawing feeling in her stomach as she looked out of the window of the hospital. She sat silent in the white washed waiting room; for her friends to come out and see her. Before the whole operation when was the last time the Yukari had seen any of them besides Kurumu? How badly are they hurt? Yukari pondered, worried about her friends safety after the 'big disaster'.

Her head rested on the cool window sill and she observed the leaves beginning to turn brown on the trees. With everything that had happened, adding up; it ended up creating a morbid way to start the fall. Small drops of rain fell from the trees and on to the ground creating small puddles of water that splashed on the grey concrete outside the building. Yukari repositioned herself on the black hospital cushion and rested her head on her arm. She listened to the people behind her, nothing but chatter on patients'. Patient 13 needs you immediately. Paging Doctor Samuels. None of it meant anything to Yukari. Still there was no sign of anyone important to her as she sat patiently.

She could feel cold chills going up her spine from the air conditioner that was cranked up way too high. Yukari reached around her back with her spare hand to grab the nonexistent cape that was there. Shit, I'm cold. Yukari thought as she remembered her poor clothing choices for an ordinary citizen. I look like I'm in the middle of June. She wore purple overalls with a yellow tee shirt under. Her usual black shoes stayed on her feet, adorned with frilly socks. Yukari looked just like a human, and that bothered her. I finally look my age.

Yukari closed her eyes and took a moment, remembering and taking in everything that happened before these dreading moments in the hospital waiting room with the whitewashed walls and the random sick patients that all seemed on the verge of death. Her mind began thinking like a storm. The mission failed. Everyone is in danger. Hide. Yukari's heart began to race and she opened her eyes again to calm herself down. Her purple orbs followed a drop of rain that trailed down the window in front of her face. Shit. She kept reminding herself of how peaceful everything used to be around them. Those thoughts were the things that made her chest tighten in pain.

Yukari shifted slowly in her seat; glancing over her shoulder before turning back around to look outside. Impatience and worry began filling her head to the brim. Where are they already? The thought of her friends' blood being spilled without her control made her feel sick to her stomach. She quietly prayed to herself that she wouldn't cry when she saw them. She could see poor Tsukune, bloody with patches and bandages all over his body. The thought simply gave her chills down her spine. But, no matter whatever she would try to quiet down her feelings; the waves of pain kept coming. Yukari bit her lip and clenched a fist to her chest. Remember what Ruby said. When you feel scared, just take it slow. But, she wasn't feeling scared. She felt hopeless. Yukari knew something had happened without her there. But what?

Yukari delved a few moments longer in her thoughts before she felt a hand on her shoulder. The young witch almost jumped out of her skin and turned her head around looked at the blue haired succubus that had stood over her with a false friendly glace. Something is wrong. Yukari thought to herself as she turned around on her cushion and moved over so Kurumu could sit down next to her. Kurumu puffed out a breath of air and stretched as she sat down.

"You didn't listen to a word I said, did you?" Kurumu asked Yukari as she leaned her head back to rest it on the window sill. Yukari bit her lip and looked away in response. She's right... Kurumu let out another sigh, then yawn.

"Sorry." Yukari said still not turning back to Kurumu. She rested her hands on her knees and looked down the hall in which she waited. Nurses darted to and fro in the blank room with no color and only metal doors with numbers that seemed to distinguish them from each other. What busy bodies. Yukari listened for any sound to come from Kurumu. When none came, she began speaking. "I was busy thinking about everything that had happened." Yukari felt tense as she let out her emotions through her words. The young succubus looked over and sat up in her seat. Yukari could feel the tightness in her chest become unbearable as she turned back to Kurumu with her eyes glazed over with threatening tears; but none would dare to come out.

"Don't worry about it Yukari," Kurumu said in a comforting tone, wrapping her arm around her small shoulders, and pulling her to the larger girl. "Everything will turn out okay in the end." She smiled and looked away. "I mean, we have each other." Kurumu said in a comforting tone. Yukari knew she had the same feelings, but smiled and swallowed her tears. Everything will be fine. She kept repeating to herself in her head in a way to console herself. Her hands began to mess with the material that seemed to come up at the end of her purple overalls.

Yukari and Kurumu sat together, silently consoling one another with their caring glances until Mikogami walked into the room. Before they even saw him, they could feel his strong aura approaching them like a wave. They both stood up like soldiers, and bowed respectfully to their superior.

Yukari could feel Kurumu's body get tense next to her. Questions filled her head, but she bit her tongue back, since she knew that Kurumu would ask them for her."Where are they?" Kurumu began. "Are they okay?" She inquired as she stood firmly in front of the large oni. She automatically held Yukari's hand tightly, making the small girl flinch in pain. Kurumu only realized the level of her strength; when Yukari tapped her on the arm as to give her a warning. Kurumu didn't look at her, but only relaxed her grip at this point. She is terrified. Yukari noted as she watched Kurumu's body reactions stiffen and unstiffen as to control her slight shaking. The young witch shook a little bit too. But the detail only appeared in her hands. The effect was small enough that she was sure that no one would notice the small uneasy detail on her body. Yukari turned to face Mikogami and waited silently for his reply from Kurumu's question. There is something he doesn't want to tell us. She thought to herself as she tried reading his stone cold expressions that only seemed to give an uncertain, but firm feel.

Mikogami held his hand up, stopping Kurumu from continuing the mob of questions just as she had prepared herself to ask more. He only spun on his heel, his long white hair billowing behind him as he said, "Follow me." He kept his hand up for them to follow obediently down the corridor of busy nurses and doctors running from room to room, barking orders to one another about surgeries and injured patients. They turned a corner and walked down another busy hallway that was smaller and a little more empty. But, was still almost the exact same copy.

They kept walking in complete silence until they reached the end of the hall to a silver door that stood in front of them. Mikogami pushed the door open into a small room with dim lighting that showed into a narrow flight of stairs that led downwards. Where in the hell are we going? Yukari asked herself as she followed Mikogami and Kurumu obediently. She admired Kurumu's determination and courage to whatever lied ahead. While Yukari, could feel her heart pounding, afraid to see something that would hurt her. She felt that her heart could turn into stone at any moment, then fall through her body. They kept walking down the empty flights of stairs until they reached a of secluded basement. This room was dimly lit with nothing but a single door at the end. Old stone made up the walls and floors. Yukari narrowed her eyes, she could see a magical binding from across the distance of the room, signifying something powerful that Mikogami couldn't have put on by himself. They walked in silence until they reached a metal door bound with magic and runes. Yukari could feel dread cloud thicken in her core.

"Sir.." Yukari gasped, she could feel the power of the magic bound to the door flow over her being in waves. This was something dangerous that she could not perform unless she spent thousands of years mastering her spell casting skill. "Is that…?"

Mikogami didn't turn around to Yukari when she broke the silence as they stood before a door of danger. "Yes, you're right. It's the strongest form of blood magic. It will keep any evil out of what it's protecting."

Yukari paused, evaluating whether or not she should ask another question. Kurumu had twitched next to her when they said blood magic. She knew about blood magic and it's dangers. If used wrong, it can kill someone. "But, isn't it illegal?" Kurumu chimed in after Yukari, asking the same question that seemed to echo back and forth in her head.

"It is true that normal yokai aren't allowed to perform such spells." Mikogami said as he smirked and let out a small puff of laughter. He turned his head to look back at Yukari; his eyes glowing a bright yellow. "But those rules don't apply to me."

Yukari swallowed, and Kurumu nervously smiled. Something about him smiling made Yukari's skin crawl. Mikogami placed his large hand on the door and mumbled a sentence that made Yukari flinch. Then placed his forehead on the door and chanted that same sentence until the seal was unlocked. "Let's go, we don't have much time to waste until the seal comes alive." He said as he yanked the door open and disappeared inside with the duo following closely behind.

It was pitch black for a while, then lights slowly flared on around them; revealing a hallway with many rooms. This hallway had colors. All the rooms were color coded, with white walled borders to distinguish them. The floor was a red carpet that seemed to fit to the total span of the flooring in the room. Different types of nurses and doctors began appearing and bowing respectfully toward Mikogami and then continuing back to their work of cleaning off tools on trays or preparing bandages. Mikogami nodded towards one of the nurses who took them towards another hall that turned at the end of the main. The hall had only two doors; one on the left and another to the right.

"To the right you have the two sisters of Shuzen and Akashiya. Then to the left, there is Aono, Tsukune." The nurse kindly informed them, her eyes seemed to smile as she spoke, a motherly sort of charm oozing off of her that calmed Yukari down. She looked between the doors. She didn't hear about anyone else...

"What about Ruby? Mizore?" Yukari chimed in after the nurse spoke. Mikogami turned on his heel and began walking down the hall as she asked the question. She felt somehow that her presence was almost nothing to him.

"We will speak about Ruby later, but Mizore is in the Land of The Snow Fairies, being cared for. She is doing well." He said as he disappeared in the shadows. This left Yukari confused and nervous. What about Ruby? She knew Mizore was safe, but the news on Ruby scared her more than any thought that had faced her all day; since they were practically sisters.

"That's it?" Kurumu had spoken up, but she found that it was useless to continue as he had already left. Yukari couldn't help but feel the same way in which Kurumu had expressed into words. She found their emotions of confusion and nervousness match up more than they ever did in any other situation than this.

Yukari's skin began to crawl. Shit, Ruby. Kurumu grabbed Yukari's hand. She pushed open Tsukune's door and walked in like it was her own room. It was a very new looking room. The hospital bed was reclined with a television on the other side of the room. There was a white leather couch with a zebra patterned carpet on the floor. A glass table rested atop the carpet with all sorts of magazines and a box of tissues.

"Where is Tsukune?" Yukari questioned as she turned towards Kurumu like a small child would when lost. Kurumu looked down to the witch that only came up to her shoulder and shrugged in response. That was an absolutely pointless question. They walked back out of the room and the door slammed shut behind them. Kurumu and Yukari jumped in unison at the loud sound that seemed to echo through the now empty hallway. The hallway had become pitch black after they had walked out. The only source that provided them light, was a soft blue light that was mounted in between the doors of the two rooms.

"Let's try the next room." Yukari offered to Kurumu. The succubus didn't say anything.

"I'm not so sure. I am not a big fan of the sisters." Kurumu said to Yukari while not looking at her. I know you're jealous, so stop hiding it. She could feel a small twinge of amusement at Kurumu's emotions, before it was washed over once more with regret and nervousness.

"Just open the door you cow." Yukari said as she kicked Kurumu lightly in the leg. Kurumu laughed lightly but didn't respond. Something was clearly wrong with her.

Kurumu reluctantly opened the door to the other room and walked in with Yukari in hand. Tsukune sat on the couch in the room, like a guard dog, watching the maidens as they sat in their beds. He kept turning over a rosary in his hand that made his hand raw and bloody to the point that Yukari could notice from across the room. Tsukune was talking calmly with one of the girls. She had long, silky, silvery hair and red eyes. She sat in a bed that was identical to the one Tsukune had in his room. They spoke in a quiet tone in effort not to wake the other girl, with short black hair, and cuts all over her body that was lying in a bed across from the other's on the opposite wall. Tsukune smiled at the girl, but something wasn't right as he turned over the cross, letting his blood drip on to the carpet. Something about his expression scared Yukari.

Tsukune looked up at Yukari and Kurumu, and his face lightened a little bit more than before. He stood up from his spot and excused himself with Moka. She calmly nodded her head as he apologized to her then he walked over to Kurumu and Yukari. He rammed into them, embracing them with what seemed to be all of his might. Yukari could feel her eyes beginning to water with sadness and relief that Tsukune was okay, but she kept the dreading feeling inside.

"Tsukune! Are you okay?" Kurumu asked as she buried her face in his shoulder. Tsukune put and hand on each of their backs as a comforting gesture of his presence. Yukari could feel Kurumu jealousy radiating from her. Yukari knew that as soon as they walked into the room and they felt the atmosphere between the two Kurumu had already begun to hate the girl more than she already had for her existence in Tsukune's life. She could feel the anger seeth off of her and flow all throughout the room.

Tsukune squeezed both of them tighter at Kurumu's question. "Yes, I'm fine. But, I'm talking to Akashiya, Moka. The third daughter of Shuzen, Issa." Tsukune told them while loosening up on his grip, then slowly letting go of them. "I would like you three to meet each other since she joined the team, and she was a major part of our mission." Tsukune said turning back to look at Moka who was watching them intently without an expression on her face. Royalty never shows their true emotions. Yukari thought as she noticed the same detail off the other princess that was sleeping. She didn't look tired or beaten, she looked stone cold.

"Hello." Moka said to all of them, letting out a soft, but tired smile. She moved closer to them on the bed, attempting to get herself closer to them to extend formalities. Yukari walked over normally to the bed and introduced herself while she kneeled at the princesses foot. Kurumu ignored every formality to be presented in front of royalty; instead, jumped to talking. The young succubus immediately began discussing plans and their next move in attempt to create a steady conversation without the awkwardness of her standing there in silence. Kurumu moved over to the couch and sat down with Tsukune, sitting near him. Yukari began to make her way to the couch, listening to their conversation on battle plans that Akashiya, Moka seemed to join and discuss with them in the same seriousness as Kurumu.

A nurse opened the door behind Yukari making her jump a little out of her skin. "Sendo, Yukari. You have been called by Mikogami to his study." Yukari turned around surprised and looked at the nurse. Everyone behind her became silenced. "Mikogami wants to discuss the issues with Tōjō, Ruby." Yukari nodded in response and turned around to her friends. She kneeled to the princess Akashiya, Moka and then to the other dormant one, then left the room.

Yukari and a female nurse walked down the halls in complete silence. The lady held a candle in her hand. The lights only seem to work for Mikogami. Yukari thought to herself. They walked to the end of the short hallway where Tsukune and Akashiya, Moka were held and stood in front of a wall. The woman held the candle up to the wall and the slabs of stone shifted from one place to another. A hallway was revealed of old stones with moss that dangled from the ceiling. Weeds came up between the stones. The greenery almost covered the whole hallway. Yukari peered to the end of the hallway and noticed a dark wood door with a gold handle.

The nurse walked in to the passage and waited for Yukari to pass in front of her. Yukari stepped inside reluctantly and the passage closed behind them making the sliding sound of stone before it completely sealed behind them. The lady stepped in front of her once more then walked down the hall, avoiding the vines that hung from the ceiling. Yukari listened to everything inside the dark passageway with only the candle to light her way. She noticed that the woman in front of her didn't have any sound coming from her, not including her vocal cords. She had no sound to her footsteps making the sound of Yukari's feet sound lonely in the long tunnel.

"Right this way Sendo, Yukari." The woman said as she pushed the door open carefully. The old wood creaked from the age like a cry in pain before it stopped moving.

The room before Yukari looked dark. The floor was a dark hardwood that matched almost every other aspect in the room. The walls were all made of bookshelf. Tons of books and papers stuck out of all the possible nooks and crannies in the room. A ladder rested on one of the bookshelves which stood right next to his desk. The desk had many old books littered all over it. Some of the books had floating projections come out of them, like an example. Some papers had runes which Yukari never even believed to exist.

Yukari reluctantly stepped inside of the room, and the door slammed shut behind her. Jesus Christ. What is with all of these slamming doors. Yukari sat down in front of Mikogami's desk in one of the two chairs that looked ready for an interrogation. Mikogami seemed to appear out of nowhere from behind her as he silently walked across the room, then sat down in front of Yukari without saying a word. He looked at her, staring into her eyes. It felt as if his old eyes were boring into her soul.

"I'm surprised you haven't said anything Yukari." Mikogami began as he looked at her. "Your eyes seem full of question, yet you won't ask any one of them." He stared at her for a few moments longer then got up from his chair. "If you won't ask, let me begin." He walked over to one of the bookshelves and flipped open a book. "You were called in here alone because Kurumu would have made a scene, and I trust that you can keep your emotions better under control. Second, we didn't tell you about Tsukune's safety before hand because of the fact that someone could get ahold of the information and use that to attack him in his weakened state. You saw him turning over that rosary."

"But, I don't want to hear about that." Yukari said out of turn. She shifted in her chair uneasily at the thought of how effortlessly he answered all of the questions she dared not to ask. "What about Ruby? What has happened to her?" Yukari asked. Her heart began to pound in her chest. There is something wrong. He won't tell me. Why won't he tell me? Yukari's hands went to the armrests on her chair and tightened.

Mikogami looked up from his book with a surprised expression on his face. "Oh, Ruby. That will come after I mix the solutions of something that you must see for your own peace of mind since I believe you will not rest unless you see it." Mikogami put the book down and walked back over to his desk in front of Yukari. He pulled out a slab of wood and put a vial of blue liquid on the desk in front of Yukari to look at. "Now, while I mix this powder, I have a special order to give to you." Mikogami pulled out several powders out of his desk and began mixing them with the blue liquid that was set before Yukari. "Now, I'm going to give you a special task that not Tsukune nor Kurumu must know about. I want you to watch Moka. I want you to see if she has any ulterior motives in joining us since she was so eager into helping. No one, we have ever decided to accept has been as eager as Moka has." Mikogami said to Yukari as he slid the powders into the liquid.

Mikogami picked up the vial and swirled it around in his hand. "Now Yukari, something you're about to see is going to bring terror and fear into you. Don't let it bother your judgement afterwards because you will be deciding something I especially want for you." He said as he set the vial down in front of Yukari. "Drink it."

Yukari looked at the vial in disgust. Some particles of the powder still seemed to float around in the liquid. He obviously doesn't have the best potion skills. Yukari took the vial off of Mikogami's desk and looked at it from under her chin. This is so gross. Should I? Yukari pondered the worth of her drinking from the vial and whether she would survive to be able to hear any news about Ruby. For Ruby. She thought as she tipped the vial over her mouth and looked up, dousing it all down.

She suddenly felt slurred as she dropped the glass into her lap. Yukari tried picking the glass up from out of her lap and placing it on the table, but it only dropped on the floor and shattered. She could feel her vision sway as she forced herself to get up to her feet. Mikogami watched from his desk as Yukari walked over to the side of the desk and fell down to the floor. Yukari placed her arms up underneath her body and on the hardwood floor, but she had no energy, no strength. All she could feel is fear, then she could hear a small sound of panting. Then it was lights out.

X

She was Ruby cowering in a corner with a radio in hand. The fear coming from the inside of her chest was to an unreal level. She could barely breathe and when she did, it felt like someone was choking her or trying to force something down her throat. Ruby peeked around a corner and saw a girl; a girl with a large sword in hand, coming to her. A menacing aura filling the air like many walls slamming into Ruby's delicate figure. She winced and rolled back to the side of the wall. Then Yukari realized that she couldn't move and her body was moving for her; actually Ruby's body. This was something she saw before she died.

"Don't move." The girl said, and came for her. She had long blonde hair and red eyes like Moka's. She had smooth caramel colored skin with no blemishes. That was the only thing that could be seen through the black gas mask that she wore over her face. The aura that she gave off was dangerous. The woman clenched her teeth in obvious sadness as tears poured down her face in waterfalls. What the fuck?! Yukari thought as she felt Ruby's overwhelming fear grow stronger and stronger. The girl got closer and swung her weapon at Ruby.

Panic went over her body in waves of goosebumps as she summoned hounds as retaliation. But, nothing seemed to work at the time. The overpowered girl with a gas mask cut through one them like nothing. Like she cut through butter. Yukari watched as Ruby summoned a sword to retaliate in effort to save herself from the oncoming feeling of death. Ruby came towards Kahlua. She jabbed and swung with all of her might. Her bones and muscles beginning to ache with the effort she gave. Yukari could now definitely justify that it was a vampire that was indeed attacking Ruby. A very strong vampire; unlike the other two who were in resting from the attack.

Ruby landed a hit on the side of the mask. Then started running in the other direction. Her heart was pounding so hard that it only felt like a hum at this point.

Ruby jumped over castle ruins and ran past many ruined paintings in attempt to get loose of the hound like vampire that was on her tail. Blood covered the walls and floor like a bad paint job. The stench of it was worse. Death and blood didn't work well with Yukari. Ruby ran into a random room at the end of an endless hallway she had been running. She ran inside and closed the door quietly behind her. She crouched at the corner of the door and the wall trying to hide her presence in effort to keep her life. But, nothing seemed to work. The girl with the gas mask hacked through the door with ease and came in the room with a burst of chipping wood and nails flying everywhere. Ruby pulled out a radio from her pocket and tried radioing, but to no avail.

When Yukari looked back at the girl with the gas mask and away from the radio. She could see the tears streaming down the girls face in person that promoted more fear in her. She pointed her sword at Ruby's navel. In response, Ruby only closed her eyes while the girl mercilessly cut into her. Her body exploded into a flash of red and Yukari could not take it anymore. The feeling of being hacked into pieces felt unimaginably painful.

X

Yukari's eyes snapped open from the memory from Ruby's head. The horrors of her death shocked her and made her sick to her stomach. She could feel bile come up in the back of her throat, burning her insides. She sat up against Mikogami's desk and held her stomach as tears; in almost instinct; fell down her face.

"Oh my god, Ruby." Yukari said through sobs that were building up more and more in her chest. She felt like she had been smacked with pain the size of a planet. Her eyes blurred with tears as her body wracked with sobs. Yukari curled her knees to her chest to comfort herself, but more and more tears fell down, leaving small droplets of water on her yellow tee-shirt.

Mikogami came around from the back of the desk and stood next to Yukari's crumpled body. "I am going to give you a choice. Either leave Ruby dead to where she doesn't have to experience death a second time ever again, or I'll give her a life like Ling Ling. She will become a zombie, but stay alongside all of us."

Yukari looked up at Mikogami through teary eyes. She didn't even need to wait to tell him. Yukari mustered the courage to say three words that would change Ruby's life, forever.

"Bring. Her. Back."

Authors Note:

Hello guys!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great week and some memorable holidays! I just published my side project along with this chapter so I'll be very busy writing up some chapters over winter break. Thanks for reading and hopefully this clears up some questions (and concerns) since thats the point of these short chapters. This is part two out of three, so three will be released after this one and then I continue writing normal chapters.

Lots of credit to my wonder friend and editor

Layla (Descendant-of-Blue-Blood). She's awesome and I really appreciate her hard work, bless her, lol.

See you soon.

- Queen of Cellos