Disclaimer:I don't own anything from KKM or the Snow Queen. Yeah, you know the drill.
Note: I'm sorry for the late update (as usual) but I was having writers block and needed some motivation to get working on it while I've been so busy with college lately. Anyway, I was looking through old reviews and there were a few things, which seem super belated now, that I'd like to ask my readers. So here goes:
#1: To 'Miyuki Meiru', in a review you gave me of chapter 2 you asked me if I had a 'LJ' account. I'm not exactly sure what that is but you said it had more 'Conyuu' so I'd like to take a look at whatever it is.
#2: To 'rijifblue' (though I'm not sure if you'll ever see this note unless you're on my alerts) Yes, this is indeed a 'Conyuu' so I'm afraid that there will likely be a kiss at the very end (SPOILER ALERT) between Conrad and Yuri.
#3: (VERY IMPORTANT NOTE FOR 'The Ice King' FANS!) I'm not sure if you guys are aware of this but I now have a 'News' section in my profile (which I try to keep as updated as possible) that has information about a sequel to 'The Ice King' that will be written in the future IF I get enough support and reviews for the remainder of this story. I wish some of my other stories were doing as well as this one but to be honest, 'The Ice King' holds a special place in my heart. It's the first real story that I worked on for Fanfic and it's the first that got such enthusiastic feedback. I'm hoping that if and when I begin the sequel, that it will get just as much praise and be as enjoyable as 'The Ice King'. Now, without further ado, here's a new (yet belated) chapter! Enjoy!
Chapter 24
Aiden came running and was completely out of breath by the time she reached the others. And once they saw her hard expression, they quickly asked her what was wrong.
Through her gasps, Aiden told them, "I was...at the stone circle when a man appeared, claiming that he had 'come for me'. And he...he said that he's...the one who...kidnapped my mother! Wolfram's fighting him right now and asked me to...come get you all. You have to help him!"
Exchanging a quick nod with one another, they asked Aiden lead the way and prepared to draw their swords by the time they arrived at the scene.
Meanwhile, Wolfram traded blows with the man, who was obviously a Fay due to his inhuman strength. Though what type, he couldn't say. Therefore, Wolfram did his best to fend him off. Waiting for his brother and the others to arrive.
That is, until Wolfram remembered what they had been told about the swords and thus smirked at his foe. "You picked the wrong time to mess with me. Now you're gonna pay."
The man snarled, "So YOUR one of those Long Lived ones? I wasn't expecting to meet one of your like here. But no matter, I'm still taking that girl back with me. She has Fay blood. And that's more then enough reason to bring her back to the homeland and convert her. I will prolong the existence of our kin by wedding a child who bears the purest blood of Fay from the old world. I'll do what I must to keep our kind alive; so I'm not scared of your little toy!" he dove at Wolfram with savage force before he transformed into what appeared to be a feral hound. With an twisted horn sprouting from it's forehead and stretching and arched upward along it's snout.
Wolfram sidestepped the charge with ease and glared at him, "So you ARE a Fay. I knew it!"
The creature laughed, "A mere mortal cannot hope to defeat a proud member of the Unseelie Court!" he called in a warped voice, "The Shadow King will be most pleased when I offer him your cold dead body!"
"Wolfram!" Aiden cried. Running towards him with Conrad and the others near at hand.
Wolfram turned and gasped when he saw her, "Aiden? I thought I told you to get out of here!"
Aiden grinned, "No, you told me to get the others. And so I did." then she blinked when there was not a man that he was fighting, but a large jackal looking creature, "What the-? Where'd that guy go?" she asked.
"Ah, Aiden, that is such a lovely name." the beast laughed, "Now come with me willingly and maybe I'll spare this foolish boy. If not, I will devour him whole!" he bellowed. "Both body and soul will then be cast down to Hell!"
"Not if we can help it!" Conrad and Gunter also drew their swords, Kai drew his dagger, and uncertainly, Murata drew his gun. Then Conrad turned to Aiden, smiling reassuringly, "Don't worry. We'll take care of this. Go to safety, and we'll-"
"No!" Aiden shook her head, "I won't just leave you guys here to fight that thing! I may not know what's going on but, I have to see this through and make sure this isn't just some sick joke. I need to know if that thing has anything to do with my mother's kidnapping. Please Conrad!" she asked earnestly.
Conrad's eye's widened as her earnestness reminding of Yuri. And he could almost see Yuri saying the exact same thing. Therefore he smiled with a nod, "Alright, but stay back. We don't want you to get hurt."
Aiden smiled brightly and saluted playfully, "Gotcha!" then she hid behind one of the stones while the rest of them faced the wicked looking creature. Watching Wolfram most of all and whispering under her breath, You show him who's boss, Wolfram!
Yuri sat up sharply from Flora's lap when they heard muffled cries coming from the forest. It shocked both of them when a group of black soldiers suddenly burst into the glen. Even more so when none of them had sensed their arrival...
Had their powers weakened that much already?
After leaping to his feet Yuri stepped back in alarm. Standing protectively in front of Flora. But he couldn't help but stare at the beast soldiers standing before them. Their every step killing the plants around them. What sort of horrible twisted creatures were they?
They looked like jackals with the body of a human; their alien appearance almost just like the Egyptian God Anubis from Earth. With thick oily fur that looked more so against the now dead landscape growing around them.
One of them spotted Yuri and grinned; which looked more like a snarl due to it's long sharp silver fangs. "Well well, we weren't expecting you to be so easily found Your Highness."
Yuri took another step back, glaring, "Who are you?"
"Don't smile Argos, it makes you look scary." came a silky voice from behind the group of tall dog-like creatures.
Yuri blinked as a beautiful dark scarlet haired girl stepped out from behind the feral beasts before her. She was wearing the strangest skin tight scale plated armor Yuri had ever seen. But not armor, he soon realized, that was her actual skin! Skin that acted like armor and looked like it too.
Honestly, to Yuri, she looked like some sort of gargoyle. And a lovely one at that. However, Yuri knew something was wrong and asked, "What's going on here? Who are you? And what do you want?"
"Isn't it obvious?" the girl smirked playfully, "We've come to rescue you from the Snow Queen."
Yuri blinked, "Rescue...me...?"
She nodded for her soldiers to lower their weapons, "You may have escaped her castle, but the Snow Queen will cover all the lands in winter to stretch her power far enough to get you back. She'll kill us all at this rate unless you do something about that heart of yours. Don't you want to be free of it? All that pain and suffering and go back to your old life? The life she stole from you?"
"Sable!" Flora growled, "How dare you bring such unhallowed beasts into the Summer Court? Your King is defiling the sacred order of this world to the brink of the destruction of both Fay and mankind! Don't you care about that at all Sable?"
Sable shouted back, "I DO CARE! That's why we must create a new order! The old way are dead and foolish pride rules the Seelie Court. You no longer remember that we are all kin and are brothers and sisters even though our Court's are divided in two..." her wild eyes fell on Yuri and she advanced on him, "This boy can unite the courts and save us right? But you fools of the Seelie Court would have him sacrifice everything he holds dear. Is that not what the Snow Queen has done? Strip him of his memories and enslave his heart?"
"We cannot be held accountable for the actions of a single Fay, Sable." Flora retorted, "Her actions do not reflect the will of the entire Seelie Court.
Sable paused before sneering, "Doesn't it though? You too also want this boy for selfish reasons. The Fay are dying out and as we all know, it's actually the Seelie Court that abducts the most humans and converts them. Don't even try to deny it."
Flora bit her lip but couldn't reply to that at first, then, sadly, she admitted, "It's true, some of us HAVE become desperate but still. What you plan to do with him is far worse-!"
"ENOUGH!" Yuri shouted angrily at both of them, "Doesn't anyone care about how I feel about this? I just want answers and I want to go home!" he clenched his heart as it began to throb painfully, "Everyone is always placing their hopes on me..." ice began forming at his feet and freezing the plants around him that were still alive, or had been before the frost enveloped them, "...yet no one tells me anything but what they want me to know. All these secrets...All these lies..." his right eye flared brightly with that multicolored light, "...I only want one thing. And I'll find my own way to get it. I want...FREEDOM!"
Ice crystals shot from the ground and Flora was snatched by a nearby Fay and pulled to safety. Meanwhile, the other Fay who were watching suddenly took their chance and attacked Sable's soldiers as Sable herself fought her way through the now raging winds to reach Yuri. Who had suddenly and violently reverted back to his colder form.
His hair became white again and Yuri's eyes became that cold empty blue again. Flora had been foolish to believe that Spring Magic could overpower Winter Magic even when it's hold on Yuri had weakened as distance from the Snow Queen had thawed some of his heart.
He couldn't stop himself. Ice shot in every direction and storm clouds gathered and the icy winds of a blizzard blew with a savage fury. Wrapping him in a cocoon of wind and snow.
Yuri slowly opened his eyes and looked down at the chaos before him. The Fay of the Seelie and Unseelie Courts fighting for their claim of him. They fought without distinction between friend or foe. And those who had fallen from grave wounds were left their on the ground unaided and dying. Some even vanished right before his waking eyes.
No blood was shed, but, there was a feeling of loss when one from either side was killed. Even those wicked looking beasts from Sable's forces. Every eye was filled with desperation and drive to claim the rights to the one who could save them from destruction.
Yuri.
"Stop..." Yuri cried both to himself and to those fighting below, "...please...no more..."
"Then stop it." Sable called above the wind, "You have the power to do so!" she grinned, "Use it."
"No! You mustn't!" Flora called, but the winds were too loud and her old voice too weak against the might before her.
Yuri hugged himself, shivering from cold from both within and outside of him, and a tear rolled down his right eye, leaving a trail of molten silver down it which froze on his face. The cold stabbed at him from everywhere. Yet, there was a small ember burning hotter still that was equally as painful.
Therefore, Yuri had to decide which pain to cling to. The scorching heat burning his very soul? Or the savage cold that numbed his body and burned just as much as the flame?
Just as the Fay Queen told Shori, on the day he was to leave in search of the remaining mirror shards with Hube, the ships came from out of an unnatural golden mist that glided across the water. Their sales were such a soft green color that they seemed almost white and their ships were a dark honey color glazed with something that helped their ships slid smoother through the water.
Shori and the Ten Nobles were there to greet the ships and to prepare for battle with these forces of the Shadow King marching upon their lands in search of the shards as well. Of course, none of them knew what to expect. They knew that everyone on board these splendid ships were Fay but had never actually met them in person before.
Therefore, in turn, they weren't expecting them to show themselves for what they really were instead of hiding the truth. Because when the battle came anyway, most of them would transform themselves to better fight in battle in their true forms. So for now, most of them were in mid-form.
When the ships pulled into the dock, a woman strode to the side of the ship and glanced down upon them thoughtfully and with a mask of calmness. Her eyes were almond shaped and the sharpest green they had ever seen in their lives. And her hair was a dark rich brown like rain soaked earth after a storm. A yew bow hung across her back while a curved sword hung from her hip and the woman was wearing armor that had thousands of plates of metal overlapping each other in the shape of leaves. Making it look like her body was writhed in ivy.
She ignore the stairs leading down to the dock and simply lept into the air and landed softly on the dock below. Then, with inhuman grace that not even the Demon Tribe could ever hope to achieve, as good looking as they were by nature, she strode towards them and nodded her head in a slight bow-like motion.
Then she spoke with authority, "On behalf of our Queen, I, Everail, captain of her royal guard, salute you Long Lived ones." her knowing gaze fell on each one of them as she asked, "Tell me, which one of you is the man referred to as Shori Shibuya?"
Swallowing hard, Shori stepped forth, "That's me."
She looked him over for an uncomfortable moment before stating, "A heavy task falls upon you for the sake of your kinsman and your beloved brother. Doubtless, you will meet much resistance from the Shadow Kings forces. Thus, Her Highness has a gift for your guardian." Everial inclined her head back up at the ship and a pair of youthful men in similar foresty armor walked down the steps and came to her side. Bearing a blade covered in a light satin. "Have your guardian come forth." she told Shori.
Shori glanced at Hube who unsurely stepped forth and introduced himself, "I am Lord Griesela Gegenhuber. I'm the one who will be accompanying Lord Shori on his quest."
Everial nodded simply and unveiled the blade. It was similar to the swords that Conrad, Wolfram, and Gunter received but with one key difference. Unlike theirs, this one was much more fine and thin runes were carved along the spine of the blade while the hilt and guard were wrapped in such a hard leather that it seemed almost like stone. And into the leather, vine patterns were burned into the cloth that coiled around the hilt. It was truly a well made sword.
"It is an honor to be bestowed an Elven blade. Bear it well; for your own sword will not be able to withstand the inhuman strength of the Unseelie you will face nor slay them. So we have made this blade especially to aid he who will be charged with the task of gathering the shards of mirror before the Shadow King can infuse them with darkness." her gaze fell upon the other nobles and Everial stated, "We have crafted weapons for you and your soldiers as well. Though we may not have crafted enough of them for your troops. Therefore, we ask to use your smiths and craft weapons only as they are needed. Though our own forces added you yours should be sufficient."
Waltorana agreed and nodded silently along with the others, who were stunned by the grace of these Fay. Both in speech and in posture. It was truly humbling.
After an approving nod, Hube took the blade and tested it. It was unlike any sword he had ever wielded. It was perfectly balanced and was surprisingly light despite it's blade heavy design. The feel of it in his hand felt like an extension of his arm and fit comfortably in his grasp.
"I will put it to good use." Hube promised before stepping back and sheathing the blade in the sheath he had been given by the sword bearers from before.
"There is no more time to waste." Everial stated aloud to them all, "The deciding battles of our worlds is nigh upon us. We must prepare." then one final time, she looked upon Shori and nodded respectfully again, "May fortune smile upon us all. You especially. Farewell." and she and the others left with Waltorana and the others to discuss and teach things that would be needed for the coming battle.
Meanwhile, Shori let out a huge sigh and laughed nervously, "No pressure or anything though right?" he asked Hube.
Hube laid a hand on Shori's shoulder and smiled, "I'm sure we will succeed. I have faith in you Lord Shori. As do we all." he removed his hand, "Come. Let's go board our ship and begin our quest. For the sake of this Kingdom...and for the sake of King Yuri as well."
Shori straightened up and his chest swelled with courage at the thought of finally doing something meaningful for his young brother. To finally be able to properly protect him for once.
Besides, Shori grinned, Yuri still owed him a 'Big Brother for a Day' outing.