Take What Is Yours

Ch 29 Welcome To Witch's Knoll

In the distance, Sekitan Ria eyed the lonely mansion perched on a high hill overlooking approximately five thousand acres of sunflowers. It was quaint and rustic, overgrown with vines and left in neglected shambles. The locals rumored that this place was haunted by evil witches that stole the curious and unwary, making ghosts of their souls and getting revenge on anyone who would tempt the curse of Witch's Knoll.

She had a cure for curses.

Behind her, semi trucks lined up, some beeping as they backed next to their respective spots to start unloading bulldozers, excavators, next to lots and lots of dump trucks.

Looking at the crew who were operating the equipment, she could sense the trepidation and fear wafting off of them in waves.

She was paying them top dollar to be here. No one wanted to be part of the crew that made the first attempt at this accursed site, but times were hard and she was more than quadrupling their wages.

Even with that, though, she had to pull in favors and demand assistance from another source.

"We are ready to patrol, Ria-sama," A voice called from behind her shoulder.

Looking over her shoulder, giving her hair a flick to get a better look at the flak vested men with sub machine guns tucked at their arm pits, ammo fitted in pouches along with grenades, and communication pieces niched into their ears, she gave an approving nod.

"Call everyone here."

The leader of a group of two dozen called out with a loud whistle, circling his hand over his head in a 'round up' gesture, used to have everyone gather around him.

Ria waited patiently, her back turned to them as she faced the unending fields of sunflowers.

As soon as the rustling of bodies stopped, she spoke loudly, clearly.

"I know you all have fears about this place," She turned to them, catching their eyes with her own. Most of the time, she was playful, flirty, mocking or sadistically hurtful, but this was a different. Sekitan Ria was not here for any of her normal pleasures but to do what came naturally to all vampires who have been taken from against their will.

She was here for revenge, Tsukune's revenge.

"When I did research about this site, I heard all the stories of how this place came alive, creatures began to crawl over the earth like ants on a hill. Bright pillars of light shot up into the heavens and, all at once, it became silent. Before five years ago, this place was haunted, supposedly by a vicious witch that stole little children and tore the hearts out of lovers or tourists who dared to enter."

Fixing her gloves by her elbow, she took her time, trying to get the proper wording out of her blood red lips.

"Rumors, superstitions, curses, old wive's tales...they're all either true or falsehoods meant to be believed until disproved. That is why you are all here."

The men still didn't look too eager to participate.

"After you all are done, this place is going to be the next landfill," She began tersely, gathering their attention again. "I want every sunflower, blade of grass, ivy, tree, rock and rubble over turned and made into this city's personal commode. Do you understand me?"

Heads nodded, even a few verbal 'hai' were given for confirmation.

"Oh, don't look so glum. This shouldn't take but a few weeks," She flicked her wrists in the general direction of the extended garden. "You have security here plus a fifty million yen insurance policy. Should something happen to any of you, your family's will be well compensated. So that has to account for something, hmm?"

Heads all around agreed, although begrudgingly.

"There is one more thing, gentlemen."

They waited to hear more.

"If anyone finds an old bag of bones buried that looks to have been a witch at one time, bring it to me and I will personally ensure your retirement."

This brought a mixture of fear and excitement through the throng.

"Why would you want something like that, Ria-sama?" A man asked, curious.

She grinned malevolently, "I want to take the skull and place it in the middle of a community toilet I plan to have created here."

The scent of fear became thick with her sadistic want.

"Now get your equipment off those trucks. I expect you all to start tearing this place down in the next thirty minutes."

"You heard her!" A foremen shouted.

Men began to move, tearing at chains, starting engines, and planning which direction to start first to decimate what was once one of the curiosities called Witch's Knoll.

"Ria-sama," A man with binoculars called out.

Turning her head, she didn't speak but gave her a sliver of her attention. "Speak."

"There seems to be people by the mansion."

Now she was curious.

Squaring herself to look in the general direction of the decrepit mansion, she quietly grumbled that she did need to use binoculars to see such a far distance.

Human technology definitely provided a serious advantage over her normal vampiric sight.

At first, it took her a while for the electronic binoculars to zero in on the distances of over a mile and focus it appropriately for her vision. Steadying her hand, she was able to get a part of the mansion in sight.

The upper left wing, if her guess was complete.

She scanned carefully, making small movements and widening her angle by the smallest fractions. Panning left and then right, it took her a while to see a face in the upper windows.

They appeared to be homeless or just squatters.

"Hmph," She huffed, disappointed it wasn't one of Mikogami's lackeys here for her to personally enjoy dismembering. "They're nothing."

"I see," The sergeant amended, "I think my men and I can go down there to get the group with the priestess out before the workers get there-"

"Priestess?" Ria refocused her attention at the mansion, even going as far as to take up the same standing position the scout had, seeing that he had a different plane of sight than she did at this distance.

She saw them there...

A woman wearing a glaring white and blue ceremonial robes stood silently before a group of four.

That woman looked familiar, but it was the back of the heads of her party that definitely made her hum with approval. Three women and a man, all except one she could tell who they were by their ridiculous outfits.

Ruby, Kurumu, Yukari, and...

...one of them was missing...

Oh, there she was, Mizore, tucked by the Priestess's side. That's right, the Snow Priestess she remembered.

What were they doing there?

In fact, if they were there, did that mean...Who was that man?

There was something suspiciously familiar about him that she couldn't put her finger on.

Trying to jog her memory as to why they were there, delicious scenarios started to churn in her vindictive mind when the Snow Priestess looked squarely at her.

She balked, surprised the Priestess had, indeed, found out.

Smiling back at Ria, the priestess said something and gestured towards the man then to her.

When he turned around, Ria's heart stopped inside her buxom chest, catching her breath.

"Tsukune?"

xxx

"I think you're going to have company soon, Tsukune," The Snow Priestess called, holding a dejected Mizore at her side. "I should be leaving. My people need me."

The very air seemed heavy with the collective loss of Mizore's mother.

Tsukune walked over to the mother of his unborn child, taking her in his arms and holding her to him tightly. "I...wasn't strong enough."

Mizore nodded her head, saying nothing. Fingers tangling in his shirt, her broken voice did little to ease his own suffering. "I need to...tell my husband...and children about their grandmother. Ageha-san is already there, making preparations, but she's going to be lost if I don't-"

"I know, Mizore-chan," Tsukune kissed her cheek, pulling away to look in her eyes. "We'll be fine."

Mizore nodded, looking past him to see Kurumu's broken frown, Yukari's red puffy eyes still weepy, and Ruby's stoic face plastered into a mask of obedience.

Eying Ruby the longest, she tugged on Tsukune's shirt, "Don't blame her, Tsukune."

Tsukune was silent, his jaw ticking at what Mizore was getting at.

"You have a lot to do, Mizore-chan." He stroked her pretty hair, giving her his best smile. "Come back to us when you can. I have a lot of work to do here."

Sharing their mutual grief, Mizore decided Tsukune had to sort through this in his own way. Turning to Kurumu, the succubus wasn't as subtle Tsukune was.

Burying Mizore into her embrace, Kurumu and Mizore simply held each other till the blunette said, "You're getting the best mother in the whole world. I swear to you."

Mizore chuckled quietly, her smooth cheeks breaking at Kurumu's attempt to cheer her up. "Second best mother in the world."

The two laughed till they hugged each other tighter.

Whispering in Kurumu's ear, Mizore said her final goodbye to her friend and rival. "Take care of him."

Kurumu felt like blushing, but her mind wasn't on Tsukune as it was for her friend.

Twirling her fingers into her aqua blue locks, she simply nodded.

"We have to go, Mizore." The Priestess called out, her eyes far away.

"Hai," She walked over to her village leader's side and held her hand.

In a misting of snow, Mizore and the Priestess were gone.

xxx

"It's...him?" Ria blinked back her shock, unsure if she should believe her eyes or not.

Big diesel engines began to rev behind her, distracting her.

"Hold!" She called out to the foreman, making him repeat over the radio and signaling for over twenty heavy construction vehicles to shut down.

"Ria-sama?" her security guard team leader inquired cautiously. "Your orders?"

Ria's hand was already on her phone, her fingers poised to dial her father, but she stopped herself. Stuffing the mobile device back into her purse, she peered through the binoculars again, seeing the Priestess disappear with Mizore.

Something wasn't right.

Considering what to do, she thought it would look horrible upon herself if she was wrong about telling her father that the man she saw 'looked' like Tsukune but wasn't actually him.

She needed to confirm it.

"Everyone, standby." She heard the foreman already relaying her order as the security guard captain kept in step next to her.

"What are your order, Ria-sama?"

"Take me to the mansion."

xxx

Kurumu was worried for Tsukune after witnessing Tsurara's death. Just like herself, he took the brunt of the blame when Mizore's mother died in his arms.

"I...wasn't strong enough."

That's what he said. She felt it, too. They all did. Everyone had done their best to protect Kurumu from Mikogami's henchmen, but, in the end, Tsurara was lost because Kurumu couldn't keep her emotions in check back in Vegas.

Even after everyone told her it wasn't her fault, there was no denying who started the ball rolling.

Mikogami and The Snow Priestess appeared soon after, both of their forlorn expressions stoic. So many things were said, so many realities made clear, but now there was only one thing left to do...

She followed Tsukune because it was all she could think to do.

...and that was to move forward.

Holding the bottle of 'justice' in her hand, she shifted it from one hand to another nervously. It wasn't clear what the effects were, but Yukari had warned her to NOT drink it until she sat her down and explain the details in full.

Right now, all she had was time with Tsukune, Ruby, and Yukari.

So, why not?

Ruby turned her head to the west, her brows narrowed. "Master."

Tsukune's shoulders raised to the sound of her voice, possibly restraining from saying something scathing.

Kurumu was the only one who didn't look in the same direction Ruby had. Her azure eyes were locked on Tsukune's profile. She had a feeling as to why he was upset at Ruby, but now was not the time.

She would try and talk with him later.

A black sedan pulled up to the mansion along its only dirt road, crunching gravel under its tires. Stopping right in front of them, the driver and passenger doors opened along with the rear doors, each with a uniformed man with a readied side arm that made Tsukune realize who they were immediately.

He had seen them enough times when he visited Fairy Tale.

"Stand behind me," He gestured, walking up to the front of the car to look through the windshield into the dark brown eyes of the woman who had yet to exit.

His friends did as instructed, knowing who was also the visiting intruder.

With the help of one of her mercenary soldiers, Ria exited the luxury car with a grand smile.

"Welcome to Witch's Knoll, everyone. Now leave before I kill you."