Chapter 17


The more he thought about it, Haruki Asami was always right when it came to important situations. She just had an instinct for it. As she had said, Professor Anna absolutely did not trust him and had banned him from the building where Kyoko was held. Moreover, they had moved the time and date for the procedures to that very evening. Hiroaki was freaking out over it and had to be physically removed, while Haruki kept her cool and calmly led their cloaked companions to the operating theater where everything was scheduled to take place that night.

He honestly had no idea what was to take place, but he would dutifully hold up his end of the plan with Lieutenant Tsuruga, just a little sooner than they'd anticipated. Which was why he was completely shocked when he and Ren heard the rumbling and felt the shaking of the ground as the building across campus began to crumble as if it had aged a thousand years in moments. He quickly finished destroying any information on the girl and releasing the virus into the system, through Professor Anna's computer, when everything started. They ran out, as everyone else in their section did, when their heard the screams.

"What's going on?!" Ren shouted over the din.

Hiroaki pointed in the direction of the disturbance as the researchers began rolling on the ground and tearing at their clothing. "Over there! Isn't that Professor Anna?" He pointed out the man screaming 'Get them off!'.

Ren watched in horror as the building that held Kyoko and several others like her was destroyed in an instant. He dropped to his knees in shock. "There's no way…" He murmured. There's no way they made it out safely. For reasons he couldn't decipher, he felt like he'd been hollowed out.

Unknown to anyone present, others were being rescued from another facility in the exact manner and taken to several safe houses around the world.


"I assure you, she will be fine. She's still only recovering from the anesthetic." Haruki told the pair as the looked on in worry. "She may suffer from some nausea, and lethargy, but she'll be fine. What we need to worry about is the long-term effects of the drugs they used to mute her. They should wear off over time, but we'll need to watch for any adverse side-effects. I honestly don't have any experience with such medications, so we'll need to watch her carefully." She warned as they settled the unconscious girl into the bed, and she checked her vital signs.

Reino turned to Kanae. "You stay here with her while I check on the others." He commanded.

Kanae groaned inwardly. If this arrogant guy wasn't one of the Elders, she would have compressed him and sent him somewhere distant, via a portal, long ago. As it stood, he had been able to coordinate the rescue of several of their kind, and secretly negotiate the aid and support of more than a few of the world's governments. Yes, they were smaller countries that no one really paid attention to anymore, but help was help. Sanctuary was sanctuary.


Ever been sick to your stomach enough to want to throw up, needing to do it, but just couldn't? Not the kind of feeling where you dry heave, but the kind where it's just at the cusp, yet not quite there. Where you would give your soul to throw up just to make the feeling go away. Well, that is the effect that going through a Kitsune Portal has on vampires. One vampire in particular. He had gone through willingly. Any means of escape he could find, he would take it. It didn't matter that he'd helped the others that were unconscious or incapacitated to leave that hellish place.

He honestly didn't realize the strength he possessed until the moment that he had carried two females and one large male to safety. One female under each arm and the large male on his back. He wasn't sure what had happened to them, but he was certain that like him, they needed to be freed from that place.

Their escape had been unexpectedly easy and calm. Well, he wouldn't have thought so much if he'd been out in the fray of things. The older male Kitsune, named Takatsuki, that created a portal had also conjured a hellish illusion that only affected the humans and terrified them enough to send them screaming out of the building that contained all of the holding cells, and operating rooms. It was the first time in months that he didn't hear her screams or pleas for release at the back of his mind. Although, his new strength and peace of mind could have also come from the scientist that he'd fed off of moments after everything began. He'd never had such a satisfying meal in his life, such as the one his main persecutor had provided with his very own blood and life-force.

~xoxo~

Aki Shoko looked on in horror and disgust as she watched the young man grab the doctor that had been the lead in the torments visited upon her for the past few months, and get lost in his own blood lust. She watched as he fed ravenously upon the weak human, with his back to her. He looked up after finishing his meal and dropped the empty, dead husk, then turned in her direction. Is that Sho? She thought of the young, now vigorous, vampire that had the lower half of his face and the front of his hospital shirt covered in the scientist's blood. He was a tad bit messy at the moment, but it had been his first human kill and he had been too preoccupied with true hunger, and the euphoria of sating it, to worry about his image.

"Get a move on, Wolfie or you'll get left behind. The vamp can take care of himself!" A strange, blonde, cat-like female prodded.

Aki quickly picked up a child that had been cowering in the corner and made her way to the large dark hole, that led to the gods only knew where. Actually, anywhere was better than where she had been, so she held the child tightly and took a leap into the unknown. Much to her relief, only moments later, the time it took for a breath, she would find herself in the courtyard of a large, protected compound with a myriad of facilities, and a large garden. The air felt different, nothing at all like Tokyo or Japan for that matter. The clean mountain air caressed her skin and calmed her. Instinctively she knew they would be safe here. Now all she needed to do, was to find her mysterious master.


"You won't be able to travel in this manner very often." The dark fairy informed the pair. "First and foremost, a fairy ring is required for this mode of travel. Then you need a guide to take you to the proper destination or you will be trapped. You may be a witch, but you still are very much human; however, your familiar won't be affected in the same way." She noted the beautiful, two-tailed Siamese the young witch carried in her arms.

Maria frowned a little. "He's not my familiar, he's my friend and protector." Maria corrected. "I would never make him my slave, Chiori-san."

"Ah…She really didn't mean it to be an insult, Maria-chan. It's just most witches that we encounter have a familiar at your age. Especially with your talent." Itsumi gently informed her, glancing at Chiorin.

"Be prepared… It's almost time." She pointed up at the full moon. They would enter the fairy ring in Tokyo when the full moon was high in the sky and exit through the one leading to New York. They would have to wait a full day in the fairy realm to go through the New York ring, but in reality it would be almost a full month in the human realm when they reached their final destination, as Maria would soon discover. She would quickly decide that this was not a mode of travel that she would willingly use very often, if at all. Well, at least it kept her and those that accompanied her safe from prying eyes and kept their destination a complete secret, with the added bonus of being able to see the wings of three of her companions in their full glory.