Disclaimer- If I owned Gakuen Alice.... should I write an essay on that?

Chapter 13

Ending Unchanged

The shaft, pit or whatever it was that I fell through, seemed to stretch on forever in the dark. Just as the feeling of falling was becoming familiar, it ended.

"Oof." I landed with a soft thud on something that was hard and soft at the same time. I cringed.

"The Dark help me, its raining Idiots." A muffled voice came from… under me?

"Natsume!" I jumped off of him, "I'm so sorry!"

He dusted himself." Well, at least you didn't fall on the floor."

I smiled at this, until he said," You'd have punched a hole right through it!"

"Natsume!" I growled. Then I threw my arms around him.

"Thank goodness! I was so worried when I found you and Hotaru missing. Ruka-pyon tried to reassure me, but then we found the Sphinx and…"

"Wait a second; you met Sumire?" He said sharply, while trying to extract himself from my arms.

"You know her?" I asked, finally stepping away from him.

"Unfortunately yes." He muttered distractedly. He was frowning in thought.

"Right, we need to get to the first floor, and finish this mission, fast." He finally said.

"But…" I peered in front of us, or was it behind? "I don't know about you, but I can't see anything! I lost my halo when I fell, and you don't seem to have yours either." Strangely, I wasn't worried. I had this weird feeling of security since I fell on Natsume. Like everything would be okay now. Weird.

He sighed, and lit up a fireball.

"Oh yea, cool!" I exclaimed. "I forgot you could do that."

He gave me a puzzled glance. "Only you would so easily forget that I'm a GrayNite." He said softly.

Huh?

We walked in silence, with Natsume leading the way. He seemed to be familiar with the house, and often led us through hidden shortcuts. In about ten minutes, we came upon a brightly lit room, which I assumed was the first floor kitchen, since Hotaru and Ruka were sitting at one of the tables.

"Hotaru!" I sang out and threw myself at her. She let me hug her, which meant she had been worried.

"Trust you to be the last to show up." Was all she said." I bet you slowed down Hyuuga-san too."

"Are you all right then Hotaru?" I asked anxiously.

"She is now." Ruka said grimly." Her arm was injured, and got worse because she tried to hide it from me. I could have healed it faster."

"Baka." Hotaru grumbled at him, as I gasped at the bandages on her arm. "Its nothing I tell you." She impatiently rubbed the tears off my face. "Now that we're all here, we should hurry on with the mission."

"This way." Natsume was already on the other side of the huge room, pushing open a door.

We exited into a wide corridor with red carpeting. Tapestries and painting hung on either side. At the end of it, a faint light shone, and something that smelt like… fog?

I approached the ornate metal doors, and hesitantly reached my hand up to grab a handle, and pushed. The door sprung open easily, surprising me. A cold breeze rushed in, but the tendrils of fog refused to cross the threshold. Creepy.

I looked at the others. I was puzzled to see them standing three feet away, looks of revulsion on their faces. "What's wrong?'

" This is where your real mission starts, Sakura." Ruka-pyon said sadly. "We cannot follow you out there."

"What? Why?!"

"The BloodMagic is too powerful." Natsume said impatiently. He looked annoyed and helpless.

"It's a burial ground for the Nite." Hotaru explained. "The pact between the Earth and Nite is very strong. None may intrude here; except you that is. You Nullify Earth, just like you Nullify our Blood."

"So, I have to go out there, alone?" I gulped. The fog was getting creepier by the second. They nodded grimly.

I guess there was no helping it. Hotaru explained the direction in which she thought the tomb was, and Ruka-pyon handed me a whistle. So I could call for help, he explained. I glanced at Natsume, and was startled to find he was gazing at me intently. Something about the look in his eyes made me very uncomfortable. He opened his mouth, and then paused.

"Go." Was all he said.

I turned and stepped out of the doorway, leaving my friends behind. The cold wind hit me sharply. I took a few wary steps in a random direction, and glanced back over my shoulder. I inhaled sharply. The doorway was no longer visible. I was surrounded by white mist, and very much alone.

Swallowing nervously, I moved forward again. Though I couldn't see anything but the white fog, for some reason, it seemed to swirl away from me, leaving a circle of about a foot around me.

Hesitantly, I walked in one direction, hoping it was the one Hotaru had told me about. The silence pressed down on me from all sides, and my energy seemed to gradually drain away. That must be the EarthMagic they were talking about; I couldn't feel it, but I was unconsciously fighting it.

After what felt like hours, a solid wall appeared in front of me. As I neared it, the mist cleared away, and I saw an elaborately carved stone arch, under which was a pair of solid stone doors. I reached towards them, and they eerily slid open upon my touch.

I stepped inside what seemed to be a musty chamber. Vague shapes dotted the walls, like some sort of statues I couldn't identify. Moonlight flittered through cracked glass panes of high windows and illuminated the center of the room, where a broad marble slab rose from the floor. This was the tomb, then.

I took a step towards it, and then stopped abruptly. A rustling sound filled the room, like skirts sweeping against the dead leaves on the floor, but too many to belong to one person.

A figure appeared in front of the coffin, silhouetted by the moonlight. A beautiful lady, wearing robes of an age long gone, with hair done up in complicated do, and allowed to fall back in waves. She held an elegant fan in one hand, and brought it up to her face.

"What a pretty young child." She whispered softly. "What's a flower bud like you doing in a place like this?"

" Eh… Uh… I, um…." I was struck dumb by her presence, and scrambled to get my thoughts in line. "I'm Mikan Sakura, Nullifier…" Wait, I wasn't supposed to tell her that!

"A Nullifier! How delightful! And such a young one too!" she exclaimed.

"Um, not to be rude or anything… but you're drooling." I pointed out, disconcerted.

"Oh ho ho ho ho!!" She laughed gaily, while lifting one long sleeve of her kimono to wipe her mouth.

"I am Hana Hime, the Flower Princess." She accompanied this with a regal bow of her head.

" And you, my dear little Mikan-flower, are intruding on my domain as an Eldest."

"Eldest?" I asked faintly. I was feeling sleepy all of a sudden.

"Yes." She was smiling, and gliding towards me. When she stepped out of the shadows, she seemed to become… less solid. " I belong to a time before the Nite, a time before Nullifiers, before Vampires and other animals came in plagues. A time when all was new, and flowers were found everywhere, and were a kingdom in their own right, not just ornaments."

She wasn't a GrayNite then. My powers were useless against her. So why did I not feel scared? Just so sleepy.

"Now I am forced to guard for long centuries, this cursed piece of glass that does nothing but sparkle in some light…"

She was right in front of me now, and I could dimly smell the sickly sweet scent of rotten flowers from her.

She lifted my head, and lowered hers to my face. "But occasionally, some foolish mortal think their Blood is strong enough, and I get a snack. Nothing like the old days of course." She seemed apologetic as she lowered her head to my throat. Was she going to suck my blood? "But I'm sure you're quite tasty."

I shut my eyes and waited. But all I felt was a gust of air on my face as the Hana Hime gasped and pulled back. Suddenly I had the nasty sensation of being jerked awake, even though I hadn't moved at all.

"What is this?" She said harshly. She tugged at my necklace, and it pulled against my neck roughly. We both looked down at my mother's locket. It was a blue stone, shaped like a water droplet, with a tiny ruby cross encased inside it. "How did you come by this?!"

"It was given to me by my mother." I said shakily. My body was giving a delayed response to the danger it had been in.

The Flower Princess threw back her head…. And laughed. I tried to edge away as her laughter continued, but she held me by the locket. "Do you know what this is, flower bud?" She finally asked between giggles. I shook my head. "This is a pendant awarded by the Eldest to an ancient family of Nullifiers, to signify a pact of peace and goodwill. Well, well, what do you know? I almost devoured one of the Favored!" She gave in to another demented bout of mirth.

I looked at her in confusion. But my mother had given me this locket, and she said it had come from her family. My mother hadn't known anything about Nullifiers… had she?

Finally, the Princess let go of my necklace and stopped laughing. She spread her skirts in a deep curtsy." My former conduct shames me, Favored. Ask, and you shall receive, for my Garden is yours, as my Earth is yours." She looked up at me expectantly. I was obviously supposed to follow ceremony here.

"It's cool." I told her. Oh well, best I could do.

She twitched her lips and seemed to consider being offended… or amused. Then she continued in the same formal tone. "Is there anything you wish for, so I may have the honor of granting it?"

"Well," I hesitated. Was it really all right to tell a mad semi-ghost what I wanted? " I'm looking for this red stone…."

At once, she straightened up, her face blank. She moved to the side, and pointed to the grave.

"Those who Seek may approach, if they hold the Key. The Guardian allows passage."

Right. So much for anything you wish. I moved towards the tombstone while keeping one eye on her. The top was beautifully decorated with strange carvings and letters I did not recognize.

In the center, within a wide circle, was an indent in the exact shape of my locket. It couldn't be… was that the Key?

Talk about convenient.

I reached for my locket, and pressed it into the stone slab. With a soft sigh, the slab slid open smoothly. Inside, on a bed of flowers, lay a blood red stone. I let out a relieved sigh, and plucked it out of the coffin.

Immediately, there was a piercing wail from all directions, and the tomb began to shake. I looked back to where the Hana Hime was standing. She was gradually disappearing, but she gave me a wicked smile as she did so. "Did I forget to tell you that you must speak the Spell first, or the place would destroy itself? Oh my."

What?!?!

Panicking, I spun around and ran out of the tomb. The mist outside was thinning rapidly, revealing gravestones, but I had no idea which direction the house lay in. The earth shook, and I shook with it. Abruptly I tripped and fell on a jagged end of a broken gravestone. I clutched my ankle in pain. Oh no, had I broken it?

Trying to blink away the tears, I attempted to think. I had to get inside the house; the only way out of this place was through there. How was I going to get there? I remembered the whistle Ruka-pyon had given me. I fished it out of my pocket. Hotaru said they couldn't come out here, but this was my only chance….

I took in a deep breath, and blew the whistle with all my might. But… no sound came out!! Was it broken?

I was just about to blow it a second time when I heard the flap of wings…. Large wings. Out of nowhere, a large eagle swooped down, grabbed my shoulders in its talons, and carried me shrieking towards the mansion.

I was majorly freaking out by the time it swung me through the doorway. To make matters worse, I landed on my broken ankle.

"OWW!"

"Mikan!" "Sakura!"

Strong hands grabbed my arms and pulled me upright. Through a haze of tears, I managed to see Natsume's face. "What's wrong Polka?"

"My ankle…" I groaned softly. The pain was receding a bit, but it still hurt badly.

"Idiot girl." I heard Natsume say softly. He bend down, tore a piece of his coat, and swiftly wrapped it around my foot in a tight bandage. His hands were surprisingly… gentle.

"What happened? Did you manage to find the stone? Your foot…" Ruka-pyon asked anxiously.

" I found the stone." I said distractedly, watching Natsume bind my ankle. I'd tell them the rest later. "I tripped over a broken gravestone…"

Hotaru shook her head. "Baka."

I sniffled. Hotaru looked at me, then said, " But you managed to complete the mission, and you're still alive." She gave me a small smile.

I beamed at her, overjoyed. Then a strong tremor shook the entire house. The others looked around, alarmed.

"The stone was booby trapped." I told them hurriedly. " I think this place might be coming down."

Ruka cursed softly as Hotaru and Natsume exchanged a glance.

"The barrier is falling." Hotaru said, frantically typing into her palmtop. " I think its receded till the first floor kitchen."

"Excellent, I can get us out from there." Natsume said. " Can you get up, Polka?"

I shrugged, and tried to stand up, placing my weight on my good leg. A wave of pain and dizziness hit me, and I toppled. A pair of arms caught me.

"Wha-?" Before I knew it, I had been picked of the ground. Heat enveloped me, and the warm smell of...

"Natsume!" I squeaked, flailing my arms. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"There's no time for your histrionics." He said, ignoring my outraged red face. He rushed to the kitchen, Hotaru and Ruka right behind him. We skidded into the kitchen, and immediately the shadows rose to envelop us. I shut my eyes as I felt my stomach being displaced.

The next thing I knew, we were out in the open, beyond the fence. The house rumbled behind us.A white-faced Narumi sensei was helping up Hotaru and Ruka-pyon.

I let out the breath I had been holding, and then realized that I was still tightly clutching the front of Natsume's coat. While being held by him.

!!!!

" Arrghh! Let go of me you pervert!" I cried, all but jumping out of his arms, my face burning. I stumbled and would have fallen if Narumi sensei hadn't caught me by the elbows. Natsume gave me a blank look.

"You were the one who was holding on so tight." He pointed out. "Oh my. Were you trying to take advantage of me?"

I stared, at a loss for words before screaming in frustration.

"Well," I heard Narumi sensei tell Ruka and Hotaru in the background." Looks like you accomplished the mission unharmed. Not to mention unchanged!"

A/N- Okay, totally uninspired chapter name. Will try and change it later. Also not sure about the ending... but I wanted this chapter to be up as soon as possible.

Thanks for all the reviews!! Hope you liked this chapter =)