Ch. 14- The Golden Necklace

"Yusuke!" Mizore threw caution to the wind and instantly dashed to his side. She skidded to a stop only a few feet away; something was on top of him. The cave was too dark, so Mizore couldn't see exactly what it was. The ice claws reformed and held ready. But the dark figure didn't move. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness.

But it wasn't a monster. They were wings. Two black wings, stretching from Yusuke's shoulder blades. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the wings looked battered. Besides the feathers that littered the floor, the wings looked…sickly and bent in strange angles. Mizore considered the possibility of them being broken. Is this his monster form? Mizore wondered. But aside from the wings, nothing else about him looked any different.

Yusuke's clothes were slashed and torn. His face was deathly pale. His arms, legs, and chest were covered in cuts, but none of them looked deep, and they seemed to have clotted over. But there was still so much blood…Mizore forced herself to swallow the rising bile in her throat.

Gently, she rolled him to his side, pushing his frail wings out of the way. His head hung limply, seemingly lifeless. Mizore put the side of her head to his chest. After a few seconds, she felt it. A heartbeat. Faint, but still going. His chest rose, barely noticeable, but just enough to show that he was breathing. Yusuke was still alive. Relief washed over Mizore like a waterfall. Thank the Oracle he's still alive. She cupped his face with her hands. "Yusuke," she whispered urgently. "Wake up. Talk to me, Yusuke." But he showed no response.

Mizore looked around for something to clean his wounds with, and her gaze instantly locked on the numerous plastic bags. At least these weren't damaged in the attack. Her hopes were quickly dashed when all she found was dog food and suckers of various flavors inside.

She looked at the worn out mattress, was leaning against the wall awkwardly, as if thrown. Mizore went to the mattress and set it down beside Yusuke. Afterwards, she half carried / half dragged him on top of the bed and laid him on his back, which wasn't an easy task, considering his black wings were constantly in the way. Once she got him in what seemed a comfortable position, she tiredly wiped his blood off her hands on the mattress.

Mizore quickly ran through her options in her head. There were no medical supplies in the cave. There was no way she could carry him up that treacherous staircase, let alone all the way to the academy. No, she would have to bring help to him. But who could help her? Where could she go to? The school infirmary, maybe? Could she make it there and back in time? The chances seemed bleak, but it was the only choice she had. "I'll be right back, Yusuke," she whispered reassuringly into his ear. "You better not die on me."

Then she thought about how Yusuke made her promise not to bring anyone else to the field. How would he react if he learned that Mizore had betrayed him to help him? To hell with the promise! Yusuke could die!

"No." Mizore had barely started to stand up when Yusuke's hand suddenly grabbed her arm. His eyes opened, and instantly fell on Mizore's. "No, don't leave," he rasped, sounding delirious. "Please…"

Mizore was kneeling again by his side, but he did not relinquish his grip. "Yusuke, let me go! I have to get you help befor-"

Yusuke's other hand gently stroked Mizore's cheek, effectively jamming the words into her throat. "You're here. You're really here." He smiled. Mizore had never seen him smile like that before. And his eyes…they gazed at her with so much emotion, but they seemed to be looking past her. "I'm so glad you're here…Izumi."

Izumi? Mizore thought. He must be hallucinating. I'm running out of time! Trying to keep her voice shaking, she gently held his hand with her own and said firmly, "Yusuke, it's me, Mizore. Remember Mizore?"

"Mi…Mizo..re?" he wheezed, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"Let me go, Yusuke. I have to get help. You've lost a lot of blood."

Her words seem to click something in his head, because his eyes flashed in a moment of panic. "No! Don't go! It's…only a scratch. I'm fine."

"I have to," Mizore implored, painfully aware that every second she was here, the slimmer his chances of survival became. "Please, let go of my hand. You'll die if I don't."

His grip only tightened, but he was quickly losing energy as his eyelids slowly closed. "Please, I beg you…don't…leave me again…Izu…mi."

Finally, his grip relaxed and fell limply as he slipped into unconsciousness, but Mizore stayed rooted to the spot. What should I do? she asked herself again and again, but her mind was in chaos.

Suddenly, an idea came up. What if I froze the blood over the cuts? That might stop the bleeding. That, or give him frost bite. Mizore thought it over for a few moments. Deciding it was the best option, she lifted Yusuke's arm and examined his wounds closely.

Surprisingly, the cuts were already scabbing over. No more blood. Mizore looked everywhere else. They were the same. He must have exceptional healing powers, she concluded. But even compared to Yokai, his wounds were healing at a very rapid pace.

Mizore put his arm down. Figuring that he would be completely healed within a matter of minutes, Mizore sat by the mattress, and waited. Black wings and quick regeneration abilities…Yusuke, what are you?

Yusuke's eye's slowly opened, his vision blurry. A light purple color was all he could see. Slowly, his vision recovered completely. He noticed he was lying on his mattress, his head rolled on its side. The purple color he was seeing was someone's hair, their back turned to him. His mind eventually began to connect the dots.

"Sh…Shirayuki…?" he rasped.

Surprised, Mizore spun around. He noticed her hands had faint traces of blood on them. "Yusuke! You're awake!" Out of impulse, she slugged him in the arm. "Idiot! Don't ever scare me like that again!"

Yusuke tried moving his arms, but he could barely lift them, he was so weak. "What happened?"

"You tell me," she said, helping him sit up. "I was walking in through the fields on my way here, Shadow bolts right past me, and next thing I knew, I found you here in a pool of your own blood! Your wounds are healed now, and you've been unconscious for about half an hour."

The memory emerged from the tangled mess in Yusuke's mind. His face must have shown it, because Mizore's worry intensified. "Yusuke, tell me what happened. What attacked you?"

Yusuke looked behind him, noticing his black wings. The wings began to fold and shrink into his back until they vanished. Then his eyes stayed glued on the ceiling, unresponsive. For a second, Mizore that he was about to pass out again before he muttered, "Don't worry about it."

Mizore's jaw dropped. "What? You were dying only minutes ago! I saved your life, and you're going to tell to not worry about it?"

Yusuke turned away from her. "While I appreciate the help, Ms. Shirayuki, this is something you don't need to concern yourself with. I should be fine now. I just…need some rest." Seconds later, his breathing slowed as he fell deeply into sleep.

"Unbelievable," Mizore muttered.

As Yusuke slept, she walked over to the nearest wall. In the rock were very many deep scratches. The scratches were all over, some shallow, but most very deep and numerous. Whatever caused these must have been extremely powerful, she hypothesized. And angry. What could have caused this? A shiver ran up her spine. What was that I felt before? That demonic aura…She glanced back at Yusuke's sleeping figure. He's lucky to have survived something that could do this much damage.

Suddenly, her hand sank into a deep indention in the rock wall. Mizore examined it closer. It looked dug up, as if put there on purpose. It was just big enough to fit her hand through. she reached inside and was surprised that the shaft was long enough for her whole arm to fit in. Her fingers wrapped around something plastic. With a quick glance at the sleeping Yusuke, she pulled it out.

It was a small jewel box. Mizore examined it curiously. What's Yusuke doing with a jewelry box? she wondered. She flicked it open with her thumb. Inside was a golden pendant and chain. It was simple in design, with no markings on the casing. It looked brand new, it's surface shiny and reflective. Nothing particularly remarkable.

"I'll take that back now." Yusuke swiped the box out of her hand so fast, Mizore barely saw his hand move. He was glaring at her now, holding the box in both hands as if to shield it from her.

"What's your problem?" Mizore snapped. "It's not like I was going to steal it." Yusuke looked down on the open box, gently rubbing the pendant. His expression changed. He looked it the box with reverence…no, with a loving tenderness. His eyes glistened over, as if seeing something that wasn't there.

An inexplicable anger shot through her. That's it. I've had enough of this! Mizore thought. "Yusuke, what the hell is going on? Stop keeping me in the dark and tell me! What happened?"

The enigmatic young man closed the box and closed his eyes. "Shirayuki," he whispered, "do you believe in the afterlife?"

Mizore tilted her head, unsure of how to answer, or even what he was asking.

"Allow me to rephrase: Do you believe in an existence after you die? A paradise of some sort?"

She decided to play along, if only to learn at what he was getting at. "My people believe that when we die," she explained, "our souls travel back into the snowy mountains of our home, waiting to be reborn anew."

"Reincarnation…" Yusuke looked at the snow girl, eyes filled with sadness. "Let me assure you that there is a life after death. For the souls of the departed, there is a form of eternal paradise. But that's just one side of the coin. For every heaven, there is a hell."

"What's your point?"

Yusuke stretched his arms out, and the sickly, black wings emerged from his back. "Take a good look, Yuki-onna. Behold, for before you stands a fallen angel, a denizen of Heaven that has been scorched by the very flames of Hell."

Bite-Sized Monster Encyclopedia:

FALLEN ANGEL

An angel banished from heaven and turned mortal. This breed of monster is the rarest of all, as they only show up every several centuries. Thought to be demons because of their black wings. Very little else is known about them.

"I have been cursed. Within my soul contains a dark creature that I cannot control. Constantly, it rages within me, fighting to come out. Its power is great, and at times, it breaks free from its shackles. I transform into a mindless beast, bent only on destruction of everyone and everything around it. You see, nothing attacked me. These wounds were caused by the power within me, when the strain becomes too gre-" He stopped, doubled over, and threw up. Mizore took a step toward him, but he impatiently waved her off, gasping for air. "It's nothing! The demon within cannot kill me. It can only make me suffer."

Mizore began to understand what he was telling her. "So that feeling…that aura I felt on my way here. That was you?" He nodded. "Yusuke…" In her mind, a mental picture of a fearful Matoko, just before the two friends had reconciled, appeared, her words ringing from within her memory:

I lost control of my powers. I'm sorry, Mizore. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to.

He's just like Matoko, Mizore thought, saddened. Holding in something they have little to no control over. It hurts them and everyone around them. And there's absolutely nothing they can do…nothing I can do…

Yusuke tore his gaze away from her, disgusted. "Please. The last thing I need is your pity, Yuki-onna."

All traces of sympathy vanished instantly. She bit her tongue, holding back the nasty retorts and insults that would have put him in his place. I wasn't giving you pity! Mizore thought indignantly. Instead, she willed herself to stay calm, for she still had one last question to ask. "Who is Izumi?"

Yusuke turned quickly at the mention of the name. "How do you know that name?" he demanded.

Seems like I struck a chord, she thought, slightly enjoying that fact that she now had him under her reigns. "You were hallucinating. You called me Izumi. Was that someone you knew? Is that her necklace?"

Yusuke looked at the snow girl dead in the eye, cutting her off. "Ms. Shirayuki," he said softly, despite the obvious anger coursing through him, "I am terminating our agreement."

Mizore's eyes widened. "…What?"

He turned his back to her, his wings acting as a curtain between his face and Mizore. "I don't want you coming here any longer. You are no longer welcome here, in the cave or the flower field. If you do come back, I will treat you like any other trespasser."

Silence punctuated the cave for several painful moments. Mizore felt as if she had been stabbed in the chest with a knife, unable to breathe or think clearly. Finally she broke the silence, her tone frozen and icy. "So that's it, huh? That's how it's going to be?" Yusuke simply turned away. That, in its own way, dug the knife deeper into her chest. "Fine. I'll leave, if I'm that much of an inconvenience to you."

Mizore had had enough. She moved back toward the mouth of the cave, but stopped. She looked back at Yusuke, who still had his back to her. "That day of the storm, when you listened to me and helped me with my problems, I thought that you were actually a good person inside that shell. I thought you were someone who cared. I guess I was mistaken. You call yourself an angel, yet inside that shell of yours, you're as dark as the wings on your back."

Yusuke said nothing as she sharply turned away and climbed back up the steps on the side of the cliff leading topside. When she reached the wide expanse of flowers, she walked in rapid strides, pumping her anger into each step.

From deep within the meadow of white, the dark form of Shadow dashed straight to her, fear gone and replaced with her usual playfulness. Mizore's hands transformed into giant, menacing ice claws, looming over the pup. She felt a sick feeling of pleasure as Shadow yipped in fear and sped off towards the direction of the cave. That's right, Mizore thought cruelly, run back to your angelic master, little pup. See if he cares about you.

A few steps later, deep remorse filled her heart, the image of Shadow's frightened expression stuck on her mind. Why did I do that? What did Shadow ever do to me? All this wasn't her fault. It's not even my fault! How did things turn so badly so quickly?

Mizore reached the end of the field. From her position, she could see Yokai Academy clearly in the distance. The sun was setting on the horizon.

What had happened today? She had saved that boy Hiro from a bully, Ryuu had stopped to apologize to her, and Hiro later offered to help her study for midterms. All that felt like it happened weeks ago. Things were finally starting to turn better than they had ever been, and in less than an hour, they had instead turned far worse than she could have ever imagined.

She was about to walk away from the only sanctuary she had. The only safe haven to the pain that stemmed from the very place she was about to return to.

Mizore walked forward, headed straight toward Yokai Academy. She didn't look back. Not even once.