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Chapter 25
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Miyuki shivered as she, Mika and Aliza entered the temple marked on their map. No, she was not cold, she just had a bad feeling about entering such an unfamiliar place. Mika placed a hand on her old friend's shoulder and nodded reassuringly.
"This is it, Yuki. We will find your mom," the brunette flashed a small smile. Miyuki sighed, rubbing her temples gently as she warily stared at the monastery walls.
"I've just had bad experiences with churches…" she grumbled, resting her hand on the big doors. She briefly hoped Rin would suddenly appear and make everything better with his unrelenting optimism. Her eyes closed slowly and she pictured her mother's smiling face. When the scarlet orbs opened back up again, they were filled with determination and grit.
"You ready?" Mika asked in a somewhat grim tone.
"As ready as I'll ever be…"
With her moment of hesitation now finished, Miyuki stepped into the monastery with a new resolve. The trio of partners navigated through the empty halls until they found what looked like a garden of some sort. Right in the centre was a big reflective pond.
The water was shiny and had little colour to it, making it seem more like a mirror than a pond. A few trees were scattered about the yard along with rocks and white flowers.
It was beautiful but Miyuki questioned why Zenevni would send her here of all places. There was nothing here and she rarely ever heard of abandoned temples or at least ones that looked brand new…
"Something's not right here," Mika voiced her thoughts first. Miyuki hummed in quiet agreement. She turned towards the body of clear water and stared down into it. It was so still it was almost like looking into glass.
Something resonated within the demoness that made her look closer into the pond. As her face got nearer she could see through the water more clearly. Mika, who had been admiring the tree, came over to help with the examination. Her evergreen eyes, along with Miyuki's blood-red ones, widened in absolute horror.
"What...the hell?"
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Rin and his friends were walking through what could only be described as desert. The land surrounding Hinode was a baron and empty desert, yet the group trudged through it in search of the temple.
"What makes us think she'll even be here? Haven't we learned to not trust demons?" Kamiki grumbled with no remorse. Yukio sighed and whipped the fog from his glasses.
"We have no other leads. This has got to be it," he answered matter-of-factly. He was calm and took sure, almost measured, strides forward. His brother on the other hand…
"Let's go, let's go, let's go!" Rin shouted as he ran in front of the group, turning his body so he could backpedal while in the lead.
"What's got you all fired up?" Shiemi asked with a raised brow. He didn't reply at first either because he couldn't hear her or he simply refused to admit his reasoning to his friends.
"He wants to see Hay—I mean—Toshiko again," Konekomaru was the first to answer. Shima giggled girlishly at that.
"How much do you wanna bet he's gonna kiss her when we get there?" he half-whispered to Suguro. The mohawked boy thought for a minute.
"Twenty bucks," he smirked. Rin smirked smugly as he did an about-face to turn towards the duo.
"Thirty and you have yourself a deal," he beamed proudly. Everyone just stared at him for a long while. They watched his back and when he turned around without a second thought, Shima and Suguro burst into a laughing fit.
"H-Hey! Quit joking around, this is serious business!" Konekomaru reprimanded with a heavy blush on his face. Rin was now the one laughing.
"Don't worry about it, 'Neko," Suguro gave the boy a little pat on his innocent head.
"Yeah, I'm sure they'll split the money with you," Kamiki rolled her eyes dramatically. Next to her was an oblivious Shiemi who had been too lost in thought to pay any attention.
"Everyone, stop."
Yukio stopped beside his brother. Everyone else acted a little too late and bumped into both of them.
"What the hell?!" Suguro growled as he rubbed his aching nose that had been hit on Shima's hard head.
"We're here."
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"I'm freaking out here, man!"
"Yelling is not going to help, Mika!"
The two girls stood in exceedingly tense silence for about five minutes. Mika took a deep breath and Miyuki bit her fingernails but both stared at the massive amount of bodies at the bottom of the crystal lake. The outline of chains could be seen tied around their waists and anchoring them down.
"I-I don't see her down there…" Mika let go of her held breath in a moment of relief.
"Then why...why would she...Zenevni…?" Miyuki attempted to speak but found that she could not form the proper words. With tears in her eyes, she dropped to her knees and sobbed. "I knew this was going to be useless."
"Hey, don't say that. There has to be a reason we were sent here by that lust-freak. We just…" Mika looked around briefly, "need to find it."
"I think I found something that might help out."
The two friends turned towards Aliza, who had popped out of some random crack in the wall. Admittedly, they had forgotten they were even gone.
Mika raised a brow questioningly, "Out with it, cat."
"Again, not a cat," the imp hissed, "but come with me and I'll show you."
Miyuki used Mika as a cane and got herself up and moving. With the help of Aliza, they entered a staircase hidden behind a statue and after reluctantly walking down its steep steps, they came to a set of doors.
"These priests really liked their secrets, huh?" Mika mumbled absentmindedly.
"Trust me, they all do," Miyuki sighed while placing her hands on the four different locks that held the door shut.
She allowed her power to flow and freeze them so that Mika could use her sword to break the metal. The force of her swing also knocked the doors wide open, revealing a dark room. Aliza used their flame abilities to ignite a small fire on one of their tails.
With the room now lit, the girls (plus one androgynous imp) could see the large crystal suspended by chains amongst the darkness. It looked eerily similar to the one Miyuki was captured in during the final battle with Amaimon.
"Oh, my Satan…" the Yuki-Onna gasped. Her eyes shot open to the size of saucers and her legs nearly give out on her.
Inside the crystal was none other than Toshiko Arai, exorcist and one of the last Yuki-Onna.
"A containment crystal...the Vatican's doing," Mika clenched her fists at her sides. As the brunette searched for the crystal's summoning circle, Miyuki approached her encapsulated mother. "They probably hid it, those sneaky bastards."
"M'lady, wait!" Aliza shouted alarmingly, drawing the swordswoman's attention. They both watched Miyuki freeze the chains like she did the locks on the door. When the links shattered, the crystal fell and smashed against the ground. The dimly lit room went deathly silent as Arai's body fell limply out of her prison.
"M-Mom?" Miyuki whispered, dropping down to her knees so she could shake her mother awake. This was the first time she had ever physically touched one of her parents. Her mother was extremely cold.
Slowly but surely, Arai's eyes began to crack open. There was crust around her eyelids and lips, suggesting they had been closed for a long while. Her skin was dry and all her joints seemed to crack when she lifted her head.
"Miyuki…?" her raspy voice murmured. A single grey-ish hand came up and cupped Miyuki's cheek.
"It's me, mother…" the noirette smiled through the tears forming in her eyes. She quickly pulled Arai into a tight hug. The two Yuki-Onna's share a cold embrace that they hoped would never end.
The feeling of her mother's long and tender fingers running through her poorly cut hair nearly made Miyuki shiver. Not because of the cold but because of the pure joy it brought her.
After they parted, Arai's scarlet eyes traversed the room and the faces of those in it before landing on the necklace dangling around her daughter's neck. Her eyes narrowed a fraction.
"You have no idea what you've just done."
"We just saved your crystalized ass; how about a thank you?" Mika snapped. As Miyuki helped Arai to her feet, she could tell her bones and muscles ached from going so long without being used. She outstretched her arms and cracked her fingers, then her shoulders, elbows, legs, back, and neck.
A long sigh ghosted Arai's lips, "I'll explain on the way." Without any warning, she began to walk.
At first, she stumbled out the doors but after refusing Miyuki's help she began to step with certainty. The four of them made their way back up the steep staircase with Arai explaining why the teens had just messed up.
"After Satan killed Ichiro and threatened to kill Miyuki, I went to the only place I knew would be able to help me. I had a few friends still left in True Cross that helped me get a private conference with the Pope himself," she spoke in a determined yet weak voice. Mika's emerald eyes shot open.
"The Pope actually sat down and had tea with a demon?!" The brunette nearly choked on her own words. Arai nodded with narrowed eyes.
"He agreed to keep me out of Satan's reach and still keep me alive. That's where the crystal came in. It would use my power as a battery for a demonic prison inside this holy water pond," she explained. Her long legs took bigger strides as she regained more strength.
"Is that why you didn't want me to find you? So you could be a generator for an underwater prison?" Miyuki furrowed her dark brows in confusion. Arai simply nodded affirmatively.
"My life force was the only thing keeping all of these demons at bay, Darling," her voice trailed off as the group finally made it back to the pond. The faint glowing of the water was almost mesmerising.
"However, now that I'm free…so are they."
As if on cue, all of the imprisoned demons and little creatures surged out of the water. Miyuki turned to her mother out of pure shock as a bead of sweat carefully glided down the older woman's face. It wasn't fear, just worry that flashed across her defined features.
"There's...what? Twenty-something demons here? Think we can take them?" Mika asked while unsheathing her blade.
Arai took a deep breath and tried to reset her expression, "My powers may be a bit weak from years without use but I can sure as hell try."
"That's the spirit, Mistress!" Aliza grinned wickedly.
"Well...I guess we've gotten this far," Miyuki pulled her hands up and balled her fists, an icy aura enveloping her.
All at once, the pond-trapped terrors rushed towards their enemies. Imps, possessed humans, and demons of all kinds swarmed the group of four.
Aliza clicked their tails together, sparking them like flint to steel. With the ends ignited, they ran up the leg of a possessed human, dragging the flames across its clothing until it became engulfed. With no host to possess, the demon was burnt alive.
On the other side of the pond, Mika let out a war cry as she sliced off the heads of a bunch of rampaging imps. She shoved her elbow into the gut of another monster while turning before jabbing her sword into its heart. Fortunately, she had coated her blade in holy water before leaving Hinode, making it much easier to cut down the true evil around her.
When she finished fighting off another set of demons, the brunette turned towards Miyuki. Pride filled her chest when she saw the demoness fending off her foes swiftly and carefully.
"Whoo! That's my girl!" Mika snickered. Miyuki glanced over at her and gave her a thumbs up.
Continuing her demonic killing spree, Miyuki snarled in the direction of a plant demon. She froze its roots to the ground and began running towards the struggling beast. The adrenaline that flowed through her body had powdered her legs enough to get her to the demon before it could bring up one of its large vines.
With one swipe of her hand, the plant was covered in frost. Smiling in a taunting manner, Miyuki tapped the demon's crystallized exterior, only to have it shatter in an instant.
"And that's how you dispose of a demon," the Yuki-Onna boasted. She took a second to glance over to her left, noticing a new power surge that she hadn't felt before. It was cold but somehow warm and comforting at the same time.
Her mother was gracefully dancing between two rock beasts. The fluid gestures came naturally to her and revealed years of practicing the steps. A waltz of frigid death, if you will.
"I stand corrected," she sighed and shook her head in disbelief. Her ear twitched at the sound of approaching footsteps, drawing her attention to the corridor on her right. Something crept closer and she could feel it—an aura that felt a lot like Rin's.
Just as she had expected, Suguro, Konekomaru, Shiemi, Yukio, Kamiki, Shima, and Rin had found their way to her. She locked eyes with the raven-haired son of Satan and felt her tense muscles relax a bit. He flashed her a bright and warm smile that silently told her everything would be okay.
That smile quickly melted into a horrified stare as a loud shout reached her pointed ears.
"Move!"
But it wasn't enough. Miyuki was much too late to react properly. In a desperate attempt at defending herself, the teen coated her vital parts in ice.
"Too slow."
A very sharp tendril had whipped out of the pond. Its speed outmatched Miyuki's, leaving her truly defenceless. When it's sharp leg pierced through her stomach. She couldn't see it, but Rin clutched his abdomen too, a burning sensation ruling the area.
"Miyuki!" Mika called in horror, turning away from the demon she just killed.
"S-Stay there! I'll be fine!" Miyuki assured her as her attacker emerged from the pond. Eight spider legs and a half-human torso crept out of the water until it stood at its true height of twenty feet.
"Oh, you most definitely won't. No one escapes Jurōgumo," taunted the mesmerizing voice of the human half of the spider demon. Miyuki opened her mouth to speak, only to have another spider leg dig into her shoulder and pin her to the ground.
"Miyuki!" Rin's shout was more of an angered growl that chilled even the bleeding Yuki-Onna.
"Rin, don't," she winced as she painfully tried to move her free arm towards the leg. The spider demoness, Jurōgumo, failed to notice.
"Quit trying to do everything yourself!" Rin hissed violently, flames that licked up his whole body glowing brighter. His feral eyes locked onto those of the woman he loved. He looked too much like he did during the Amaimon fight in the forest and she knew that if she died right here and now, he might lose it.
They did not need another berserk demon running rampant.
"Jurōgumo, it's me you want! Leave her alone!" Arai cried. The spider-woman made a clicking sound and threw one of her spear-like legs right in front of the elder Yuki-Onna, keeping her still.
"You will pay for imprisoning me. It just so happens, I found the perfect currency~," Jurōgumo purred as she brought Miyuki closer to her. The movement made the girl screech in agony.
Uncontrollable tears fell down her cheeks while the demon lady grabbed her face forcefully. Miyuki could see now that out of her eight eyes, three had been blinded somehow, and two cut or gouged out. She almost felt pity for her. Almost.
"You're a pretty thing, aren't you? You'll make a good meal," Jurōgumo let out a hiss and came closer to her squirming form. The teen writhed about as much as she could despite her situation; however, she couldn't escape her captor's grasp.
"Go to hell, you knock-off Anansi freak," she huffed, vision blurring slightly. Another cry of distress escaped her throat as one more leg went through her stomach.
"Shush, child, and enjoy the Kiss of Death," Jurōgumo snickered devilishly. Without letting Miyuki take so much as a breath, she pressed their mouths together in a deep kiss. Her fangs sank into the lips of her prey, allowing the poison to go forth into her body.
"Oh? Another has been here before me? Should've known," the spider cackled via their demonic telepathy link. Miyuki felt her tears run down her cheeks and sting her eyes as a warm liquid entered her system.
"DON'T FUCKING TOUCH HER!"
With one last shout from Rin, she slipped out of consciousness.
