Yuki No Megami

by Piccolo Sky

A ROTG/Frozen Crossover, Feudal Japan. When a seemingly-evil ruler brings about eternal winter, the shogun is desperate enough to recruit a band of five supernatual ronin to assassinate her before her curse destroys the country. Yet in the course of the mission, one of the band will discover there's more to the situation, and this mysterious woman, than he can imagine...

9. The Onmyoji's New Master

UPDATE (2/11/2016): Additional edits and corrections.

---

For one, perhaps two, minutes there was nothing but frozen silence. The wind whipping around overhead as the snow continued to fall. It was deeply cold, as bad as it had been any other day, and by now there was little question lives were in danger. Takara herself, unable to break free from her own prison, was beginning to shudder violently. But Akiko lay on the other side of the snowdrift, unable to be seen, and her condition unknown. The other men who were frozen were beginning to succumb to the elements, and no doubt the rest of the men imprisoned here were much the same.

All at once, it began to change.

Jiro himself barely noticed. He was so focused on what had just happened, how everything had gone so terribly, what Eiko had just done, that he didn't even hear the hoofbeats of the few remaining riders get closer. But before that, giving a grunt and a struggle, Nakamura's body began to rise above the box he had been put in. Gritting his teeth, he had used the very ice spikes of his enclosure as a ladder and crawled out toward the top. A moment later, he managed to get over just as the source of the hoofbeats came around one of the ice walls and emerged.

As it turned out, it was Hachiro and his own two men with him. Actually, there were five of them at the moment. Two more of the men had been loaded on the horses and were being brought along with the other riders, both looking cold to the point of hypothermia. However, on seeing the scene, he went wide-eyed before he quickly pulled his own horse to a stop. He got off as fast as he could and motioned.

"Get these men up! Hurry!" He shouted. "Where is Lady Akiko?"

By now, the archer that had nearly hit Eiko was beginning to get up as well, having landed rough and been stunned, but of more prominence, and what actually got the attention of Jiro, was the other Jido no Hogu-sha. Suddenly, Nobuyuki rose up, grunting and straining and stretching, to full height, yet quickly shrank down to humanoid form again. After reverting, he shook his head, letting loose some extra hair that shed off of him and looked around.

"Takara!"

She could only tremble in response, unable to move. In a flash, the big man was over to her, seizing the ice that had her pinned, and with a grunt and a yell dug his fingers into the sides before ripping off the top of it, freeing her body. Quickly, he reached inside and pulled her out, but while he got her to her feet, she immediately put her arms around herself and continued to shudder. In spite of this, she looked over to where…well…what they all assumed was Osamu in spite of his new appearance…was and began to move over.

At the same time, Satoru, spitting out an amount of golden blood and clutching his side in pain, managed to get to his feet. He was limping now, and he couldn't reform his kusarigamas. Finally, there was Takashi. He tried to rise a few times, but winced each time. By now, the snow and ice had frozen his wounds, but he was still bloody and clearly weak from his beating. He only managed to rise up enough to sit against a block of ice, where he panted hard. Yet as he weakly looked around, he spotted Jiro once, then merely scowled and looked away.

After getting out, Nakamura went to his nearest man. He drew his sword, but held a moment. He frowned, clearly not liking to use his sword for anything other than combat, but in the end grit his teeth and went down for the chains binding them. Using the weapon like a pick and a wedge, he managed to break them loose on one. As for the stakes suspending the other in the air, he lashed out and cut right through them, then quickly got underneath the man's body. He caught him and slowly lowered him, but once on the ground he motioned.

"Get with Lord Hachiro and start getting the men freed and together!" He ordered as sharply as he could, which wasn't too much because he too was starting to shiver and having a hard time keeping a firm voice. "We have no fire and no shelter and this weather is growing worse. We'll have to get all the men together and try to dig something out…or see if we can get away from this wretched place first…"

"That's the least of your problems…"

Nakamura looked up to who had spoken, and saw Takeshi gritting his teeth and looking out to him.

"Those ice warriors are still out there. They'll be here any minute."

The lord heard this, and his own face tightened in anger as well. He looked about him but only saw the men already active, and barely so, fanning out to try and find whoever was frozen and imprisoned. Takara, by now, had gotten to Osamu, but she had gone behind the ice wall. Nakamura cursed. "Damnation, where is Itachitoko? He made that bridge of raw magma and now he's not here to help when we really need it?"

Nobuyuki had moved to assist in finding more individuals, when he paused and turned to Nakamura, as did the others. Neither he nor any of them had expected that. They all knew full well that Itachitoko was just a charlatan. A magician of cheap tricks. He didn't have any real power to do anything. He was a disgrace to most onmyoji. But was that how they had gotten here? Unfortunately, none of them were in the right state to ponder how odd that was…

Nakamura, however, looked around and hesitated on seeing the Jido no Hogu-sha mingled in with them. After a moment of silence, he cleared his throat.

"I owe most of you an apology. I suspected that you had all sided with that demon…but now I know better. You were merely dealing with something that apparently even yokai cannot withstand."

He immediately looked to Jiro afterward, and pointed the tip of his blade in his direction.

"You, on the other hand…" He sneered. "If I didn't want to waste the energy, I would remove your head right this instant, you traitorous filth. You've ruined us all by your actions. You've made that witch more powerful than ever, and now my men and I will be lucky to survive being sliced to pieces by her monsters long enough to freeze to death, and both Arender-ken and the rest of Japan are doomed."

Jiro could say nothing. In spite of how painful it was to hear it again, even from a man he never thought he would care to hear the opinion of, it was correct. He looked around and saw those he called his friends broken and freezing. They were mixed in with men who probably didn't have long to live. And the winter was worse than ever now thanks to her state…

"I swear I will end your life for this, you miserable swine." Nakamura continued. "If I must see myself and my country die, then I will take you with me. I should have known better ever than to depend on a brash, dishonorable, wretched little maggot like-"

He was cut off, and reacted in surprise to what he saw, as did Jiro and just about everyone else.

Nobuyuki, his own look for once angry, had stepped in between the two, holding a hand out to Nakamura.

"I've heard enough of your insults." He flatly stated. "If you must insult someone, then insult us. Not Jiro."

The pale young man actually blinked in surprise. But he wasn't alone. The other members of the Jido no Hogu-sha, sans Takara who was now with Akiko, looked up in confusion.

"Are you mad?!" Takeshi shouted. "That fool just killed every last one of us!"

"Don't call him a fool, Takeshi." Nobuyuki answered as he turned to him. "He's the only one among us who used any wisdom."

The Ghost Hare looked aghast…almost as aghast as the Laughing Frost. "Have you totally lost your mind? Look what he did!"

"And look how that woman reacted!" Nobuyuki blasted back just as loudly, enough to not only make Takeshi pause but even for Nakamura and the men to give him their attention. "Didn't you hear her? Didn't you see her? The woman was terrified! And the more scared she became, the more her power grew! The more terrible and deadly it was! That's why she fled from everyone! Jiro was right! She was trying to protect everyone! And he tried to solve everything by helping her control her fear and her power with it! That's why the journey for the past two days was so calm compared to our first approach! All we did was make everything worse! We scared her to death, came here waving our weapons and our powers, wanted her dead first if she failed to surrender… Of course this was how she would react! And look!" He gestured around. "Even now, for all the power she flexed, we all still live! She could have killed every last one of us with ease! I could feel her chilling my very blood! A snap of her fingers and my heart would have turned to ice! Jiro was right all along! This isn't a demon; it's a scared woman! And we just made everything more terrifying for her, making all of this worse than before! Surely you all can see it! How the more fear and terror she feels the worse this winter becomes?"

Takeshi was silent. Satoru, who was up by now, paused and considered this. Even Nakamura hesitated. He said nothing, turning his head away, but he didn't counter it. Jiro, of course, already knew all of this but he stared open-mouthed at Nobuyuki; not expecting this sudden defense.

The man turned to him a moment later. He slowly exhaled and then reached out, seized one of the icicles pinning one of his arms, and removed it, getting one of Jiro's limbs loose. For now, it fell to his side.

"You were right, Jiro. You were always right. I see now what you said…if Eiko had been brought back to Arender-ken by force it wouldn't have stopped the winter. And by attempting to kill her just now, we have made things far more terrible. I should have known from my own tenets…" He exhaled, speaking slower and more solemnly. "You gave Lady Eiko the only thing she really needed when she was despairing and fearful: a friend. And had we all come here in the same light, perhaps this could have been avoided."

Jiro was silent. Although he had been partially justified now, he couldn't help but bow his head more, this time in gratitude. In a sense this made him feel worse. How could he have forgotten about his friends so easily? Men like Nobuyuki, who was standing up and defending him right now… It made him feel two feet tall for not bringing this news sooner.

Takeshi, however, couldn't help but sigh. "Just because she was learning control of her power doesn't mean it was helping anything else…"

"But it was."

Now, Jiro, Nobuyuki, and Takeshi all looked up. They found themselves looking at Nakamura, of all individuals. His head was bowed, his hands were in fists, and he was still looking to one side, but he also exhaled.

"The winter was lessening. Some of the snow and ice was even melting. People were beginning to hope that everything was succeeding up north…"

Jiro blinked a few times, while the others looked incredulous. "…What? The winter was getting better…and yet you still came up here?"

The man kept his head bowed and exhaled. "Lady Akiko was missing…but, more importantly, we thought this was a break in the storm to take advantage of. We may have never gotten another chance to go after Eiko."

Hearing this finally made Jiro remove his own depression and worry. Gritting his teeth, he reached out and angrily snapped another icicle off, freeing his other arm, and then he went down to his feet.

"You idiot! She was gaining control! The reason the winter lessened was because she was calming down! Her spirit was finally starting to grow quiet! If you had given her only another week she could have stopped the winter completely! You called me the 'filth'?! You came up here ready to kill her when she was undoing everything! When she was saving the country!"

Nakamura wheeled up to him and snapped back. "Don't start that! The whole reason the country was in danger in the first place was because of her! She's the one who caused all of this! The fact that she was undoing it hardly eases the case on her!"

"But the fact that she undid it meant you never had to come up here and threaten her life!" Jiro retorted as he finally gave up, ripping his leggings loose, and then leaping down into the snow. "And because you scared her so much, she might have just killed-"

"Would both of you be quiet!" Takara's voice suddenly shouted, forcing herself not to shiver as she did so. "Jiro, get over here!"

Hearing this, the young man glared at Nakamura a moment more, but then looked away. It was true that he should have been more vocal about his intentions, and he should have respected his friends better. But the fact of the matter was Nakamura's little "quest for justice" had been what had done the worse. He realized now that Eiko never would have made those ice samurai if she hadn't seen him coming, and that this was what put her over the edge. But he put that aside for now. He couldn't afford to worry about it.

After all, he had seen what Eiko had done.

He stopped only to snatch up his discarded staff and then dashed over to her. Nakamura gave one last frown, then looked away and began to organize the men to start spreading out. Nobuyuki joined him, rushing forward and punching a hole through one of the ice walls before rushing to the other side to look for more people. He found them soon after, still frozen in that position, and he used his strength to rip them free as well. However, unlike Takara's, whose dragon blood in her reborn body was enabling her to take temperature and gales that would have left her unconscious, these men were barely awake. And with the storm still biting and cold, it was clear that they were all in danger as soon as the ice samurai returned.

Satoru, on his part, moved to Takeshi. Although he limped as if bones were broken, he tried to tend to the Ghost Hare. They'd need his power soon if the ice samurai were bringing up the rear. Already, it began to sound like hoofbeats were distantly echoing up the hill.

Jiro, on his part, soon reached Takara. She had managed to get Akiko sitting up, and the young woman was panting rather hard, like she had nearly been drowned a moment ago, and was clutching for her chest. She was shivering all over too. Osamu was nearby, looking over them both with concern, but Jiro couldn't help but pause and be amazed at how much he had changed. Eiko's power was getting better all the time. If she got much stronger, she might actually be able to put a form of flesh on him… The other one there was Hachiro, who had taken off his own thicker cape and put it around her, and had moved behind to provide a surface to recline on.

The Laughing Frost remembered what he had heard Eiko say earlier but pushed it aside for right now.

"She's not in too bad of shape…" Takara said as he neared. "But something's wrong with her. She's definitely weaker…and she seemed to be colder than she should be…"

"Really, I'm f-f-fine." Akiko tried to protest. "It…it hurt…a lot…but just f-f-for a moment… I could just use a warm f-f-fire right now…"

Jiro, however, remained serious as he leaned in and began to hold the end of his bo up to her. "It hurt? How did it hurt?"

She hesitated a moment, but then shrugged. "Well…it…kind of f-f-felt like a knife in my heart…to be honest… But it went away…"

The young man turned grim at that. He held his crook forward and put some power into it. A moment later, the end of the staff began to glow an icy blue. It surprised those around and attracted Nakamura's attention again, and Osamu let out a cry of awe at it. He ignored both and kept focusing.

A moment later something strange happened.

An icy blue glow began to appear in Akiko's chest, seeming to gleam from beneath her clothing.

"Damnit…" He swore as he cut his power off. He looked to Akiko with a frown. "It didn't 'go away'. It just numbed you to where you can't feel it anymore."

Akiko blinked. "Wh…what?"

"What are you talking about?" Hachiro threw out. "What did she do to her?"

"What's that glowing thing in her chest?" Takara asked.

"Ice." Jiro responded. "Not just any old piece, though… Something that Eiko made with her raw power. When she fired off that shot, I think she was going for the bow…meaning to make it freeze from the inside and shatter…but she missed and hit Akiko in the chest instead."

"But…but I'm f-f-fine…" Akiko started to protest. "I just f-f-feel a little cold and weak…"

"You're not fine." Jiro darkly answered. "You're dying."

Everyone's eyes enlarged. A deathly silence hung over them. As for Akiko, her own perpetually cheery look finally broke.

"What…?"

"That piece of ice inside you contains spiritual energy. The same kind that brought Osamu to life. And something so powerful to actually be able to bestow life in one shot…it's too much for any mortal to handle. It's starting to transmute you from the inside out. You're feeling only a little 'cold and weak' right now…but pretty soon you're strength is going to start failing and you'll be much colder. Eventually you'll start succumbing to hypothermia and not be able to walk at all. Finally, you'll turn into ice as well." He clenched his fist and bowed his head slightly. "I think it goes without saying when I tell you the process will kill you."

Everyone was stunned. Horrified. Akiko's face had paled. She looked down to herself, aghast at what she found out was happening to her. Takara cupped a hand to her mouth. Osamu looked on the brink of crying. Hachiro looked around fearfully a moment, but then back to Jiro.

"You! You're an ice yokai or spirit, aren't you? Can't you take it out?"

Jiro sighed. "I'm not even remotely on Eiko's level. She's…well, to be honest…she's a god. I can make ice but I can't actually put the essence of life itself into it. She's the only one I can think of who can remove the ice now. But…she's so distraught and scared… I don't know if I can calm her down this time…"

Nakamura, who had overheard all of this, bowed his own head remorsefully. Perhaps he didn't care so much about slighting the Jido no Hogu-sha, but he was honor bound to protect Akiko. Now, his actions, he realized, may have ruined her only chance of survival by terrorizing Eiko. He nearly suggested that they move to kill Eiko again. Perhaps slaying her would break her power and save Akiko… However, he knew that wasn't an option. And by now, the sounds of hoofbeats were definitely getting nearer. Nobuyuki and the other men who were still able-bodied and moving through the maze heard it clearly now. Satoru was getting Takeshi to his feet, but his ears were twitching. Pretty soon it seemed the ice in Akiko's heart wouldn't matter.

With that in mind, he swore and cursed. "Where is that damned onmyoji? Enough of his 'holding out'! If he made that bridge, then he should be able to do something. And I'll choke it out of him if I have to…"

"Lord Itachitoko?" Hachiro echoed back. He gestured toward the gates. "While I was riding about the maze, I saw him move to the front and slip in through the gates. I figured he was trying to lay an ambush. I wasn't frightened, though. After seeing what Lady Eiko did, I know he'll only be risking himself trying to stop her…"

"Well, even so," Takara started to protest. "We can't risk him making her even more upset. We have to-"

"We have to get inside the pagoda right now!"

Everyone snapped to who had spoken, and reacted in surprise.

A change had come over Jiro. When he heard about Itachitoko being in the palace, alone with Eiko, he hadn't thought of him killing her. Oh no…he wasn't sure how that magma bridge had occurred, but the little "weasel man" couldn't possibly hold his own against her level of power. He'd only sign his own death warrant. At least, that's what he should have been thinking and would have under normal circumstances. Yet on hearing this he had another reaction.

It was his memory again. It was still hazy…still not connected. Still unable to get a clear thought. Only…something terrible, something dark, and hot…like made of fire… And when he thought of that, something in his heart resonated. Even if he didn't know what he was remembering, there was something inside him reacting to the unrecalled memory and realizing something was very, very bad… Something was going to happen soon that he felt was a lot worse than what had happened so far.

He turned and called out over the snow maze. "Nobuyuki! We need you over here! You have to smash your way into the palace!"

"A little busy right now, kenshusei!" He voice shouted back. Without explaining, however, the man soon knew why. They all did as they began to tense up.

Abruptly, from around one of the corners, the hoofbeats grew loud before a gang of the ice samurai burst around the side, all fully healed and with weapons drawn. From the opposite side another group ran in. And throughout all the areas made in the courtyard, more were arriving; ready to finish the job.

Even if they didn't outright kill them, the weather would soon, Jiro realized as he saw them come about. Takara moved in close to Akiko, and whatever men could still fight went for their weapons. But they were all too injured, cold, and weak. And everyone knew it as they vainly tried to get together, bracing for a battle. They couldn't win…

And Jiro knew, the longer this took, the more something bad was going horribly wrong on the inside of the palace.

---

Eiko didn't really know what was going on anymore. She didn't know what to feel besides fear… Arms wrapped around herself, completely distraught…she couldn't even find the strength to go back to the upper levels of her pagoda. She merely continued to weep as she slowly paced the hall outside the gates she had just frozen shut. She tried to make it deeper in, toward the central area where she and Jiro had trained, but just the thought of going there filled her with more distress. Her legs giving way beneath her, she collapsed to the ground and sobbed bitterly.

Until now she hadn't wanted to die, but that had changed. Now she didn't care if she was dead or not. What had she done to Akiko? How badly was she hurt from that? Why exactly had Jiro told her never to do it? Was she…was she dead?

The thought only made the snow rise around her sharply and the ice walls of the palace begin to crackle again. She looked around, seeing her power out of control…

And she clenched her fists in rage and pounded them on the floor.

"Damn it…damn it…damn it!" She screamed.

I hate this power! I hate it more than anything in the world! All it does is hurt everyone I love! I can't live like a normal person! I can't even be around anyone else! I'm tired…so tired of all of this!

I don't care anymore! I don't care if Nakamura and his men cut me to pieces or burn me at the stake! Just…put an end to this! Don't let me live like this anymore!

I'll just go out there and end it all…

"Lady Eiko…"

In spite of her new desires, no longer caring if she died if it put an end to her wretched life, Eiko snapped her head up in alarm to that sound. Just ahead of her, tucked away in one of the sides, was one of the men who had started all of this; who had been the leader in calling her a monster and a witch. Lord Itachitoko: the onmyoji of the emperor.

"You!" She suddenly exclaimed, nearly stumbling back on her position on the ground. The snow flared up around her at once, and the man, who had just stepped out, already looking mild, cringed as icy wind blew around him. "Stay back! Stay away from me! All of you need to stay away from me!" She shouted and, in response, sharp icicles erupted from the ground, their points toward Itachitoko.

The old man gave a yelp of surprise and recoiled, the tips nearly stabbing him as he went back. He held his hands up defensively. "M-M-My…m-m-my lady! P-P-Please calm down! I'm unarmed! I don't wish to hurt you!"

Eiko calmed slightly, but her anger didn't abate as she aimed her hand at him, sending out more spikes to force him further back. "You're a liar just like everyone else! All of you only want the same thing! You just want me destroyed! Well you'll get your wish soon enough, but on my terms! I know what kind of man you are! I knew ever since the first time you walked into Arender-ken for trade negotiations! I can see it painted all over your face! If I have to die, it's not going to be from you! It's going to be with some semblance of honor…not stabbed in the back!"

Itachitoko looked on the brink of soiling himself, swallowing as he backed up more, but he continued to wave his hands. "You…you have me all wrong, my lady! I only wish to help you!"

The daimyo's eyes narrowed; the spikes on her icicles growing sharper and extending.

"Alright, alright!" The man suddenly outburst. "I admit! I came in here hoping to destroy you when your back was turned! But that's only before what I heard out there! I assumed you were a witch and a demon, trying to conquer this land, turn it into an icy waste, and leave it only for yourself and whoever followed you! But if it's true what you said out there, if you really hate this power within you, then that changes everything! Instead of fearing what I brought to you, you should embrace it!"

Eiko blinked, her anger subsiding slightly. However, she kept her hand on him.

"I'm listening…and I'm also ready to use my power in a heartbeat."

Keeping his hands up, Itachitoko swallowed, and very hesitantly reached for his robe. He slowly pulled it aside, making sure to keep his gestures open so that she wouldn't mistake it for anything. Eiko could tell. He was terrified of her even now, but she didn't really care. Everyone was terrified of her, it seemed… At any rate, once his robe was open, he reached for a pocket inside, and pulled something out in clear view of her.

Somewhere, deep within, she felt...odd looking at it.

It was a crystal…at least, she thought it was. It looked a lot like ice. Not normal ice, however. Not the kind that you would find in cold regions or in winter. More like the kind she made when putting this palace together, the sort that was tinted an icy blue and glimmered like a precious stone. This one was by no means a flawless crystal. It was clear, to be sure, but it was also rough and multifaceted. Yet it had a strange shape about it. It almost looked like a heart…a real heart, not a symbol of one.

Most of all, she felt strange even seeing it. It felt as if it had changed the very energy in the air in the room just by showing itself. Almost immediately, she felt her snow beginning to lessen and slowly drift to the ground.

"This is from the relics in the emperor's personal collection from past onmyoji; all of the artifacts and magical items that we have gathered over the years." He explained. "This one is called the 'Frozen Heart'. Legend has it that it once had the power to contain that of the god of winter inside it, in spite of being so small."

Eiko continued to hold her hand up, but grew a bit more interested. "There is no god of winter."

"Not anymore. That would have been one of the ancient gods, long since abandoned and forgotten by religions as they've evolved over the years. Perhaps they were supplanted or slain by the current ones. The point being…it is said that the strength of this object is so strong that it can contain the entire season of winter within it. I myself thought it could have some use here today and I planned on sneaking up behind you and using it while your back was turned to try and remove your power. But since you actually want to remove your power, there's no need for that."

He held it out toward her.

"Try touching it, Lady Eiko. If the legends are true, it might remove your power…permanently."

The woman's eyes widened a bit more. For a moment, she didn't really believe it. After all, how could such a thing be possible? It seemed like another cheap magic trick, especially considering who it was coming from. And yet somehow she realized it wasn't. She could feel it. Just being close to her, she could feel some of that "force" within her, that raw power, ebbing a bit…weakening slightly…

Somehow she knew it could actually do it. She could actually be rid of this curse. No more nights waking up surrounded by frost. No more fears of chilling to death anyone around her. No more bursts of ice and snow coming from her. No more accidental hurts…or murders. Nothing. She wouldn't have to live like a freak and an outcast anymore. She wouldn't have to be scared of her own shadow. She'd be normal. Just like everyone else. Free to feel and act however she wanted without something terrible happening… It was almost too much to believe…too much to hope for. She used to dream of this...of a life without the burden of this power…of a life where she no longer feared hurting anyone…and at last it could be hers.

She could finally go home and lead a normal life…

She thought she wanted this more than anything in the world.

Therefore, she was more than a little surprised when she hesitated.

In spite of how much she hated her power, in spite of everything that had gone wrong, and in spite of the fact that she longed for a normal life free from fear, she couldn't bring herself to immediately jump on this chance. She might have called it distrust. Maybe suspicion. And, in truth, there was some of that there. Yet that wasn't her dominant reaction. A part of her, as insane as it seemed, didn't want to lose her power. She didn't know why…but she still couldn't bring herself to reach out and touch it. In fact, she found herself lowering her hand.

She was so focused on the glittering object that she didn't notice Itachitoko's face flash anger for a moment on seeing her not grabbing it. However, he calmed quickly.

"…What's the matter, Lady Eiko? Don't you want to be rid of this terrible curse? To no longer be a threat to others?"

The woman continued to pause. All of that was true… This power had brought her nothing but misery her whole life. One incident of pain and fear after another. And yet to get rid of it felt…odd. Like cutting off one of her own hands. It may have been horrible, but she realized it still seemed so intimately linked to her…

"My lady…" Itachitoko continued, his voice sounding a bit more insistent. "If you don't remove your power…the winter will continue to grow until it covers all of Japan… It will destroy your people…your nation…" He paused, and then spoke more quietly.

"…Your sister."

Eiko's thoughts cleared at that, and she actually let out a small exhale.

Akiko.

It's been almost thirteen years, and yet…nothing's changed. Thirteen years ago I nearly killed her. Today…what if I did the same? What if I did worse? I love her…and yet I can't even be in the same room as her for very long. I can't even see her. We live in the same house but we might as well live on other sides of the country…or other sides of the planet. She's so innocent…so energetic…so full of optimism and happiness…and I can never share in it. All I can do is be a threat to her… Even if I hadn't hit her just now, she came up here…nearly froze to death…or starved…or risked falling into a crag… And then what? Would anyone have ever found her again? Would she have ended up a frozen corpse on this mountain forever? Not even able to get a proper burial?

And all because of this wretched, wretched power…

…I can't live like that anymore. I can't be a threat to her anymore. I want to be a family. I want to be able to stand next to her…talk to her…touch her without fear of freezing her.

I don't ever want to hurt her again…

With that in mind, Eiko inhaled more deeply. She looked again to the crystal. Even now, something was odd about it. Looking into the center, there seemed to be almost a darkness inside of it. A part that was shaded and not perfectly transparent. She didn't know what that meant and she didn't care. If she could be rid of this and never hurt anyone again, never hurt Akiko again… She pushed away any doubt or hesitation, reached forward, and put her hand on top of it.

The change was almost instant. She actually let out a gasp before it turned into a choke. The woman's body went rigid, and her pupils shrunk as her mouth hung open. It felt as if something was literally draining her spirit from her; trying to rip her very soul from her body. It was painful but not in any way she had ever experienced before. It was like something had arrested her completely, dipped into her and seized every last bit of life in her body. And now…it was like it was being torn in two and forced out through her hands and into the crystal. If felt like something was dividing every bit of her flesh and carving out a "bit of her" from every "part of her" inside. She stiffened and gagged but she couldn't breathe. She couldn't make a noise...

As the feeling went on, she felt like she was being turned from a healthy tree into a rotted, dried log being put on a fire. Physical-wise, changes began to happen. Her pale skin slowly began to grow more rosy. Her hair, always the unnatural white blond, nearly seeming to be white in the right light, began to darken. Yet more than that happened. The snow around her seemed to be drained through the air as if going through a massive vacuum, and then was sucked into the crystal along with the power she could feel flowing out of her. In fact, she could see her hand glowing now in an icy blue light from the sheer energy coming through that one part of her body. And still, it continued to pull and grow brighter… She had no idea how much there had been there…

As it continued to drain, she felt more "hollow"…more "fragmented"… She wanted to stop, but she still couldn't breathe. She had no air in her lungs and her body felt like it had no life to it either… It almost felt as if her spirit was being drained. Her heart seemed so slow…like it would stop… Her vision dimmed…her body began to weaken more and more…

Finally, the glow faded and she was released.

Letting out a ragged, hoarse gasp, Eiko collapsed to the ground. Her vision blacked out as she lost all feeling. She heard shattering all around her before slamming down. For a moment, she lay there, wavering in and out of consciousness. Every part of her seemed weakened…as if she had been a castle that termites and dry rot had gone in and ate so hollow anyone could dismember it with their bare hands. She felt so…emptied…

Her strength and feeling gradually came back, but the feeling of being incomplete didn't fade. She still had her arms, her legs, and all of her other physical abilities and yet she got the sense of being totally crippled. Whereas a man who lost a limb would feel "phantom limb" in the stump, Eiko was feeling "phantom body"…even "phantom spirit". Everything about her seemed awkward…wrong…as if it wasn't really her body or even her spirit anymore.

Yet physical sensations began to come to her soon after and those overrode her spiritual feelings. Namely, a biting feeling was all over her; something that made her feel foreign sensations that were painful, unpleasant, and made her skin stiffen and bumps start to appear all over her. She wondered for a moment what it was, if this had been a trick, if she was being cursed somehow… Yet when she began to tremble, she realized what it had to be.

Cold.

I feel…cold…

She looked down over her body as she started to shiver more. She felt a horrible sensation all over her. Like the very air was now loathsome to her. Her skin was starting to sting, and for good reason. She was currently clad only in frozen shards that had once been her dress. It had gone rigid, and her very movements were beginning to make it shatter off of her. But underneath, she was nude. She began to shiver, and quickly grew more violently. She realized, without her power over ice, she could freeze to death in here. She needed to get out right away.

She looked to Itachitoko, wondering if he could lend a hand…

And immediately she stopped.

Any softness, hesitation, or ease on his face from before was gone. Instead, the old man with the hawk-like nose was grinning ear to ear as he brought the crystal in closer to his body. A faint blue light was shining in it now, casting a pale, icy glow over everything around it. With his other hand, he reached into another pocket and pulled something out far more grotesque. Eiko wasn't sure what it was…but it was dark, twisted, malformed, and it smelled horrible. Itachitoko grinned at it.

"It's done, my lord."

Then, much to the woman's confusion…and horror, a voice came back from the heathen object.

"Finally…after so long… Here is your reward."

The object began to glow in Itachitoko's hand. His grin slowly faded, beginning to turn to a look of pain and agony. His teeth clenched, and he grunted and groaned as the object gleamed…turning hot. Ripples of heat could be seen coming off of it. As they poured off even Eiko could feel the immense amount of energy radiating from it. So could the room about Itachitoko for, before her eyes, it began to glisten from water condensing and then began to drip…melting…

Finally, the heathen object melted all together. To Eiko's shock, it seemed to burn a hole right into Itachitoko's hand, getting through the skin, and then turned into molten liquid that sank right into the wound, seeping into his body. He began to cry out as his veins literally turned glowing and yellow underneath his skin from the hot object melting into it. He spasmed, leaned back, and cried out more loudly, his face covering with sweat, his eyes nearly bugging out of his head, his face tightened in agony and misery… And Eiko, in spite of herself, recoiled and reacted in shock as well, actually crying out too at the sight of this horrible event.

After only a moment, the glowing died and left nothing behind. Well, almost nothing. Soon the room got warmer than ever. More than warm…hot. Heat was now radiating over Itachitoko's entire body as he kept his head craned back and looking skyward. The ceiling and walls about him were not only melting but turning into steam. The ground beneath him began to sink from the heat he was pouring out into it…and he was growing hotter and hotter…

Slowly, Itachitoko lowered his head back to Eiko and disturbed her even more.

His eyes were gleaming like hot coals. He no longer looked to be in pain.

Rather, he was grinning again, more widely and more maliciously and insane than ever.

---

For one moment, Jiro forced himself to his feet, bringing his staff before him. As the snow continued to swirl, the wind continued to blow, and the ice samurai advanced upon them, he saw what was left. Takara could barely stand in between her pounding as well as her state. Akiko was sitting up, but that was about it. Osamu was grimacing, and Hachiro's sword was naked, although he knew it could do little. Takeshi still couldn't react while Satoru had only reformed one kusarigama, and Nakamura had his own sword up even as his own eyes were filled with the look of one of those men who was wandering into a battle he knew he couldn't win, but was meeting it none the less. Nobuyuki and whatever men were still standing were nowhere to be seen, but he knew they had to be doing the same. He didn't know how long they could possibly live now, but he knew this had to be it.

Then things changed.

The most noticeable change was in the ice warriors. They suddenly froze in midstep. They ceased their advance and let their weapons fall. Soon after, they looked up and to the sky. This wasn't lost on the others.

"They…stopped?" Akiko sounded. "Wait, look around!"

Jiro did so along with the others. He noticed the snow was stopping. Not only that, but the wind was ceasing as well. And soon afterward, the temperature began to rise. And rise quickly. Soon everyone bracing for battle began to ease, and looked around suspiciously as well. However, Jiro himself didn't stay that way long.

The fear was in his heart again and now it was surging more than ever.

He couldn't explain it or knew where it was coming from, but at this point he felt his insides sinking like stones. His heart was twisting. His mind was beginning to panic…

But why?

"Uh…g-g-guys…?"

The sound of Osamu made Jiro turn his head. The snowman-turned-humanoid let out a gulp as he looked around.

"There's…something…really, really bad here… I think it's what Jiro was talking about…"

Takara looked to Jiro afterward. She noticed how he was beginning to sweat…how a nameless fear was starting to grip him even though he had no reason for it. It was ingrained inside him. But even if it wasn't, he started to feel it now too… And the more he felt it, the more it seemed to wrest his conscious control away and act more on instinct…on the long buried memories. He began to feel terror accompany them…more terror and anguish than he had ever felt before. Something that wasn't just physical pain but much worse.

"Jiro…"

"He's…here…"

Takara looked puzzled. "…Who?"

Jiro blinked once, and then shook his head. He turned fully to Takara, continuing to sweat, breathing a bit hard now. Yet at the same time, he answered innocently: "…Who what?"

"You just said 'he's here'. Who's 'he'?"

The young man stood there a moment. He said nothing, blinking once. Twice.

"…I don't know."

"Look!"

Another call came out, this time from Hachiro. He pointed to the sky. Something amazing was taking place. Just as quickly as the clouds had formed overhead or perhaps even more quickly, they began to dissipate. The storm lifted high and then eroded completely, and all that was left behind was a blue sky and the yellow sun. The temperature soared. Soon, every bit of ice in the entire courtyard began to glisten as the heat started to melt it.

Warmth began to flow over everyone. Jiro himself was indifferent or a tad uncomfortable, but Takara exhaled in relief and let her wings spread wide, letting the heat thaw them. After only a few moments, she began to flutter them again and got into the air. Akiko herself loosened her outer clothing and took in the sudden warmth, exhaling in relief. She actually smiled a bit.

"Eiko must have done it! She ended the winter!"

Yet almost immediately, Jiro felt the fear inside him surge…much worse than before. The warmth brought no relief to it. If anything, it got worse.

"No…no she didn't… This…is very bad…"

Hachiro looked to him in confusion. "…Bad? My lord, the winter's over. Look how fast everything is starting to melt…the steam coming up from it…how warm it is…"

"Yes…rather warm indeed…" Nakamura answered as he began to loosen his collar and pull off his cape. "A bit warmer than it should be for this mountain, in fact…"

"Guys…" Osamu began to whimper as his clothing began to sag on him and his nose began to drip. "I really, really wanted to see summer, but this feels…um…rather 'evilish' to me."

A jingling went out. Satoru was motioning; his own face starting to look fearful as well. By now, the heat was growing so much that there was indeed steam coming from everything, but it was coming far too quickly. Even on the hottest day after the coldest winter, there was never so much a difference of temperature to cause this. Worse than that, Takeshi's ears began to twitch and he started to grit his teeth.

"I sense it too now. There's something evil here and it's getting strong…"

He trailed off, looking to the sky.

"…That's definitely not good."

As the heat continued to rise, and the day began to go from pleasantly warm to rather stiflingly humid with all of the snow and ice rapidly melting, everyone followed Takeshi's gaze…and soon none of them were feeling good about the change in temperature.

The blue sky was vanishing. It was turning more yellow and blank, like any humid, hazy day would be. Not surprising considering the massive amount of melt going on, but something else was following. Before their eyes, red streams of light began to streak across the heavens from all over. They came periodically, but all of them in such a way that they were arranged around a central point, and they all started to gather inside it. They collected to form a sphere of red, blazing fire. It started off dim like a nearly spent coal, but as it quickly began to gain size it burned brighter and brighter, soon glowing, then beginning to pour off flames, and finally, as it grew hard to look at, it started to tint the sky red.

The others looked down again. The heat grew greater, saturating the air with moisture. By now, it wasn't pleasant at all. It was outright muggy. As the heat grew it began to lap up around things. Before their eyes, the tops of the snow walls started to turn to fluid. They didn't just drip or show major runoff, they ran off of the snow like a small waterfall. The walls began to distort and fall all around them. The pagoda, previously beautiful, was rapidly melting and deforming. Cascades of water were starting to pour down it. And all the time, the heat grew worse…more oppressive…more terrible…

Akiko let out a small gasp, and Takara and Jiro turned to what made her cry out. Osamu wasn't being spared. His body was beginning to shrivel and slump, losing all of its details as water poured off of him. Not only him, but the ice warriors and their mounts. The horses began to thrash about as if in pain, and the ice warriors started to stagger and falter, letting out groans that were slowly turning distorted. Everyone began to notice this and, in spite of the danger they faced, they slowly realized it was a terrible thing to watch. These weren't soulless automations, after all. They were alive.

Finally, one note rang out over the stunned silence that got everyone's attention.

A cry of pain from inside the pagoda.

Eiko's.

Jiro still felt every growing evil in there…every growing fear. By now, the rest of the Jido no Hogu-sha could sense the power as well. They were beginning to sweat just from experiencing it, and not just from heat. They weren't alone. Hachiro, Nakamura, and the able-bodied men turned as well. The ones that had been suffering from hypothermia now had a temperature shock that was rendering them even more incapable.

"Eiko!" Jiro shouted.

"Itachitoko…" Nakamura hissed, clenching his sword. "This is his doing! It has to be! He's been hiding something all along from the emperor, the shogun, and me!"

"What's he doing to my sister?!" Akiko outburst in panic.

Suddenly, a twisting, burning sound came from overhead, like the firestorm of a forest blaze suddenly changing directions in a fierce wind. The group looked up, seeing the sky even redder and the orb of fire growing larger…when abruptly it sent a ray out instead of drawing it in. As it streaked to the ground, it sliced right through one of the remaining ice walls, instantly turning it not only to water but to steam, and right through two of the men, one able-bodied and the other supporting him. To the shock of all those present they didn't even have time to scream as they were burned away into ash before their eyes. Three of the ice warriors and another two men nearby got much worse. The steam that came over them, to their horror, roasted the flesh off of the bodies of the men and turned the ice warriors into slush piles. All five of them screamed in total agony.

Akiko cupped her hand to her mouth in horror. Hachiro went slack-jawed. Takara clutched her chest in fear and even Nakamura nearly dropped his sword.

"Oh no…"

Nobuyuki broke from staring and leapt over one of the rapidly shrinking ice walls to land on top of it, raising his elevation. He quickly pointed around the area.

"There is something demonic here! And it's only impacting this spot!" He shouted. "The rest of the mountain is still frozen, but it's expanding outward! And fast! The source is in there!" He pointed back to the pagoda.

"Then let's get in there, already!" Jiro shouted, snapping around and running for it.

Nobuyuki leapt down and began to chase after him. He didn't have his swords, but he still had raw strength, and he began to revert into bear form as he neared. Takara used the moment to get in the air again and fly after them. However, Akiko wasn't stopping either. She grit her teeth and began to force herself back up. She continued to shiver a bit, but she stripped off more of her outer clothing to take in more of the new heat.

Takara, spotting this, turned back to her. "Stay here, Akiko! It's dangerous!"

"My sister's in there and she's crying out! Don't tell me to stay behind!" She shouted back. "Ice in my heart or no, I'm not crippled yet!"

Takara was about to protest that it wouldn't matter if she was, but Akiko ignored her and turned to the melting snowman nearby. "Osamu, get out of here! You'll melt if you stay in here!"

In spite of his worsening condition, he started to protest. "But…Akiko…"

"Don't argue! Get back where it's cold!" She shouted back, for once her tone "ordering". "If you don't leave now you won't get a chance!"

The snowman hesitated. He clearly didn't want to abandon his mistress or his friends. However, he finally turned and began to run off.

Akiko turned to the remaining ice samurai. "The same goes for the rest of you! Get out while you can!"

The ice samurai, if possible, actually looked surprised. They were her enemies after all. And they had done a great deal of pain and damage to them. Yet she was still telling them to run while they could? She was still concerned for their welfare?

In the end, they didn't move.

"Our duty is to Lady Eiko. We were created to defend her." One said.

"We will do that to the death, as any true samurai would." Another answered.

Akiko held there. Not only her, but many others. Seeing them say this, talking like this, everyone began to realize that these weren't soulless monsters that had been made by Eiko. They were actually individuals with thoughts, feelings, and desires. And right now, she had even managed to instill in them a sense of nobility. She wanted to keep arguing but she wasn't going to delay anymore. She turned and, as best as she could, moved after the others.

As Takeshi, in spite of his state and in spite of Satoru grabbing him and trying to pull him back, began to limp forward, the rabbit-eared warrior saw Nakamura turn and yell. "All those too weak to fight get down the mountain in any way you can, but stay clear of that ball of fire! All those who can still fight, with me!"

"I'm going too if Lady Akiko is!" Hachiro shouted as rose and went after her.

Takeshi, however, focused on Nakamura and those who responded to him. "Are you mad? You saw what just happened to your men!"

"All the more reason I wish to dispatch this foe myself." Nakamura sneered as he moved for the front gates. "Itachitoko has done something horrific and demonic…and I begin to suspect he played me to do it. He'll die for this offense."

The man paused momentarily, then snorted. "You stubborn ass. All of you loyal samurai are." He turned kept limping, trying to let go of Satoru now. "…Don't prove yourself to be the idiot I take you for by doing something stupid and getting yourself killed."

The fire streamed from the sky again; this time annihilating a large portion of the pagoda complex itself. Another beam came out soon after, ripping a rift into the remains of the ice maze and destroying a portion of the wall. Horrendous steam arose in the wake of both. The weaker warriors quickly tried to dart away from it and begin to make their way downhill, and with them went Osamu, who again flattened himself and took off; shooting even faster than before now that he was partially melted. Everyone else, however, turned to the gates, and got out of the way of Nobuyuki as he rushed in, finishing his transformation, and smashing full force into the barricade that had been erected.

At first, it only fractured. However, he quickly began to slam into it repeatedly afterward, fracturing it more with every strike. It was solid, even being partially melted, but each bash drove deeper cracks into it, weakening it until it finally shattered and crumbled all together. As water continued to pour off of the pagoda and turn to steam, the highest floor already gone and the roof evaporating everywhere else, Nobuyuki came forward and raked his claws into the rubble, tearing it aside and ripping it into bits and pieces, exposing the hall inside. By now, it was so melted it seemed more like a steamy, humid tunnel. However, there was some coolness in it, and right now the heat was growing so intense that it was starting to remove the humidity and turn to just plain oppressive and burning. It actually began to hurt the mortals out there, and Jiro himself found it nearly stifling. By the time it was clear and they were all free to run into the corridor, they needed to get inside just to get out of the heat. They all charged in fairly quickly except Akiko, the only one among them who wasn't sweating and having a hard time running. Takara moved in behind her, grabbed her under the arms, and generated enough lift to pick her up and carry her in.

They had hardly burst into the corridor before they saw something up ahead. Something was gleaming with the same fiery light as the orb in the sky, and radiating so much heat that it had already burned not only through the ceiling but into the floor as well and was surrounded by water…that was boiling. A nude woman was crawling backward along the remains of the icy floor as fast as she could. She was already grasping one of her arms in pain. Her hair style was completely falling apart, and by now she looked rather disheveled. Not only that but her flesh was more natural and her hair color darker. Yet Jiro knew who it had to be…

"Eiko!"

The woman snapped around, her face tight with fear now but no longer from her power; from what was in front of her. On seeing the others running in though, her look turned to surprise. "Akiko… Jiro! Don't-"

Before she could say anymore, Jiro kicked off. Using his power to fly, he was on her in a heartbeat, leaning down and bringing his staff around her body in an attempt to protect it as he held her closer to him. His eyes remained focused on the figure before them that was continuing to blaze. One couldn't see his face, for he had turned and hunched over, but one thing was abundantly clear. He was changing. As the heat around him roared, the sounds of fabric ripping and the sound of it roasting went out, revealing muscle that was getting solid, larger, and thicker by the second on the other side.

Eiko looked confused and distraught. She glanced all about her as the other Jido no Hogu-sha ran up and almost cringed, expecting them to finish her… Yet, to her surprise, they fanned out all around her. A moment later, the ice samurai showed up and went in between them, standing their ground too. She realized that their purpose was the same; defending her. And seeing that…honestly surprised her.

"You're…you're…helping me?"

"Are you hurt?" Jiro asked her, looking away from the figure long enough to check her over briefly.

The woman blinked. She couldn't believe this. After everything that happened she had expected that she would have sealed her fate. But they were still coming to her aid… Why? Was it because they, like her, realized Itachitoko had done something terrible? Or was it out of genuine concern for her? Even after everything she had done? She looked to Akiko, who looked at her anxiously in response as she ran forward, her face tense and worried. She had to have just hurt her younger sister and yet she was still here for her…

"Eiko!"

Jiro's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned to him. Him too… His eyes were filled with nothing but concern, the same as outside. No matter what she had done to him or his friends he still looked at her with longing…with care… By now, she had begun to suspect that Jiro really was telling the truth, but seeing this…seeing him look at her, guard her, and bring her close…she realized it beyond any doubt.

Damn it…I'm such a fool…

She nearly teared up right there, but she shook her head and motioned to her arm. "Part of the ceiling…fell on me… It was like boiling water…"

Sure enough, the ceiling was dripping now and when it hit the ground it hissed and spat almost like iron slag. Jiro looked to her exposed arm. He saw that it was bright red from having been burned, but it didn't look serious. He reached out to put his hand on it, meaning to try and cool it off to keep from deeper damage…

But then, she began to let out a grimace along with a shiver. "Jiro…you're cold…stop…"

At that, Jiro's arm retracted in a flash, but he turned to Eiko in surprise. "What did you say?"

"Eiko, are you alright?" Akiko called as she finally got near enough to crouch next to her. "What happened to your dress? You're nude… And your hair! It's never been that dark…"

The woman didn't answer. She swallowed a bit and bowed her head. As the others looked around her, Jiro realized the truth. He still couldn't imagine anyone willingly giving up such a thing…but considering all that had happened to her…

"You lost your power somehow, didn't you?"

By now, the other Jido no Hogu-sha were on the front lines, but they turned and looked in alarm at that. "What…lost it?" Takeshi echoed. "How could you lose power like that? I thought it was innate to her!"

Eiko paused before looking regretful. Her head bowed and she was quiet a moment. However, she also began to shiver again in Jiro's arms. "I didn't lose it. I gave it up." She finally stated. "I thought I could finally end the winter, cancel whatever I did to Akiko, and then live a normal life…"

Takara blinked and then looked up to Jiro. "Wait, if she gave up her power…does that mean Akiko will be alright? Did it cancel what happened to her?"

The Laughing Frost, however, turned grim, his own look growing more troubled. Hearing she gave up her power would have disappointed him by itself, but now he felt that nameless fear inside him starting to swell; realizing it was something much worse than that. He shook his head. "Osamu and these ice warriors are still alive, aren't they? She needs her power to cure Akiko. It won't just stop by her giving it up."

As Eiko shivered a bit more, she looked up in alarm, her look turning fearful again...and even more so on realizing the normal snow didn't accompany it. "What…what do you mean 'cure Akiko'? What happened? What did I do to her?!"

"My friends…" Nobuyuki spoke up, his own voice dark and, for once, scared. "I think we need to save this discussion for another time…for it appears this thing before us is done 'getting warmed up'…"

Eiko, in spite of her state, looked forward, as did the others. By now, Nakamura and Hachiro were there too, and all of them looked intently at the thing within the heat and, now, fire, for flames were beginning to erupt off of it, and really examining it for the first time.

It only had a few shreds of the original robes left. By now, all of them had burned away, revealing rippling, solid muscle on the other side. The figure was hulking; not quite Nobuyuki's size as a human but still fearsome to behold. Definitely someone you never wanted to fight face-to-face. The figure slowly leaned up as it turned, revealing that its hair and mustache were like fire itself; bushy, moving about in the heat radiating off of it, and red almost like flames. The eyes, however, were much worse. They gleamed like live coals inside the head of the figure. It grinned, showing off teeth that were as monstrous and jagged as that of an oni.

However, in spite of all of that, if one looked closely, they could just make out a hawk-like nose and twisted features…

Nakamura blinked in astonishment. "It…Itachitoko?"

For a moment, the man, assuming you could still call him one, didn't seem to hear that. He only looked over himself, holding up his own hands before him and gazing over them.

Yet Jiro noticed something: what he had clenched in one fist.

A blue crystal…gleaming with an icy light inside it…

That's…

That's…

…What?

Damnit, I can almost remember…!

"So…" The onmyoji's voice began to speak. It was much stronger than before; much deeper, much more sure of itself and less "weasel-ly". "This is the reward that I was promised by Shitakarahi…the power he held inside me that he could afford to 'spare' to me…"

His grin widened a bit more.

"Magnificent…"

He gestured out with one hand...and what looked like tendrils of pure fire shot out from them right for the group. Jiro, on his part, quickly seized Eiko and dove with her to one side. Satoru actually "checked" Takeshi to knock him over, Hachiro seized Akiko, put himself around her like a shield, and went down and rolled to the isde, and Takara took into the air. Yet everyone else was too slow, even Nakamura and the ice samurai. Nakamura himself went untouched but the fire made contact both with some of his men as well as the ice warriors…and instantly shot through to pierce additional men on the opposite sides.

Those who dove for cover looked back and gaped, shocked as they saw the ice samurai and men impaled. Both tried to cry out but the air in their lungs was burned away as they were wrapped in heat and burst into flame immediately. Not just any flame. The sheer heat pouring off of them was enough to make everyone else recoil, and yet they still felt like they were being burned. Within moments the ice warriors were vaporized and the men were turned into fine ash...blown away on the wind…

After this move, there were only a dozen ice samurai left. And for a moment, they froze in shock and fear. But then, spinning around, six of them broke off and barreled straight for Itachitoko. Eiko, seeing this from her position and feeling a connection to her creations, immediately leaned up and shouted.

"No! Stay back!"

It was too late. As four leapt into the air, they brought their blades out and tried to stab him from above. Two more came in from the sides, rushing right at him. Yet as they neared they began to erode right before the eyes of the group. Such heat was tremendous, melting and vaporizing them almost instantly. They actually began to cry in agony, but they still didn't stop. They pushed themselves in harder, trying to "take him with them".

It was useless. The heat rippling from his body was too much. Their weapons, on making contact, crumbled into slush and deteriorated. They only had a moment to look defeated before they evaporated as well, instantly destroyed.

Itachitoko snickered at the entire attempt. "That was about as useless as throwing a snowflake on a fire."

Everyone was aghast. It shouldn't have mattered how much heat Itachitoko was putting out. If one took a block of ice and threw it on a bonfire, it wouldn't immediately melt into nothing. It would likely put out a great deal as the fire tried to vaporize it. But the fact that he was now putting out this much heat… If any of them had tried to attack head on they would have been burned into nothingness in seconds…

Eiko cupped her hands to her mouth. She was especially horrified. To the others, those had just been snowmen or automations. But to her they had been living creatures. Actual sentient life…

Jiro, realizing that Eiko was trembling, paused momentarily. Keeping one hand on his staff and his eyes on Itachitoko, he proceeded to remove his haori and put it around her; both to give her at least some protection from the temperature extremes around them and to cover her nakedness. Even the act of putting the frost-covered garment on her was enough to snap her out of it, making her look back to Jiro.

In spite of the situation, in spite of the fact the last two men in his group now began to pull back, their confidence and bravery gone, no longer caring what happened to Nakamura or the rest, the lord himself remained bold. He tightened his grip on his sword and glared right back into those red coals.

"Itachitoko, what have you done? What is the meaning of all of this?"

The now-hulking man turned more to him, easing up on his grin but still smiling.

"It's rather obvious, isn't it, Lord Nakamura? I'm taking over Arender-ken, the capitol, and all of Japan. It's going to be my private domain in the new world order. I'm going to destroy the lot of you and then, once finished, I will proceed to the capitol to destroy the shogun and the emperor, and then start a new dynasty underneath me. For years all of you looked down upon me… I've lost track of how many times I've heard lords like you mocking me behind my back…insulting my power and intelligence…when all you ever were in the grand scheme of things were dogs. When the shogun dies and is buried, who will remember you, Nakamura? Who will think anything of men like you? For all your loyalty and service, all you'll ever be is nothing more than a tool of the shogun. A trained animal. I, on the other hand…" He gestured to himself. "I actually have the advantage of wisdom, learning, and experience…and yet mindless oafs like you continued to belittle me for years. Even the emperor and the shogun laughed about my abilities behind their backs…dismissed me as a fake. Well…does this look fake to you?"

He held his hands up…and pillars of fire erupted from them. Not only that, but behind him, the ground cracked open and shot forth with an eruption of steam…and a geyser of magma. Right from the middle of the palace, the floor and ceiling evaporated, making room for a towering column of molten rock. It immediately began to eat away at the ground, digging out a much larger hole and causing the entire palace to begin to melt, deform, and slump around it. As for the group, they quickly backpedaled. The heat radiating off of Itachitoko was painful, and the steam and water dripping would boil them to death if they touched it. The heat was growing more oppressive all the time. Harder to act… Harder to focus…

The fires subsided, but the onmyoji continued to grin. "I made a deal, Lord Nakamura. You should know how good I am at making those and getting the best profit. And this one was quite the valuable purchase. You see, I found a source of power…one that had long been imprisoned and restrained, and had an issue with certain individuals who kept it imprisoned and restrained… So the deal was simple. I help eliminate the threats to it and in turn I gain the power I have now…and control this country."

"Who gave you this power?" Nobuyuki suddenly blasted. "It must have been a demon! What's its name?"

"I already mentioned it, but I suppose you weren't paying attention." The onmyoji calmly answered. He turned his head slowly…until both Jiro and Eiko found him looking at them.

"Tell me, young people…does the name Shitakarahi mean anything to you?"

As a matter of fact, it did mean something to Jiro. He knew it did; at least on a subconscious level. Hearing the name caused a feeling of severe fear…but also severe anger…to swell in him. He could feel his fists tightening and his face redden. And yet, why that was the case he didn't know. And all Eiko could do was see the change come over Jiro as she pulled the haori around her, and looked to him tensely.

After a moment of silence Itachitoko began to laugh. It was uncharacteristic for him. The power he now had seemed to be changing his personality.

"Heh…I thought you wouldn't. In fact, I knew you wouldn't." He spoke in a mocking voice. "But apparently it wasn't enough that you both be totally ignorant about him right up until the moment of his latest revival. He wanted to make sure that you'd be a non-threat…especially you, Eiko."

The woman's face tightened at this, a bit of her fear giving way to irritation. "What are you talking about? I've never heard of a 'Shitakarahi'! Why would I have had any interest in him?"

Hearing these words made Jiro stiffen again. To his surprise, he noticed his body was actually trembling. That fear was coming back… But Itachitoko himself just laughed even more at Eiko's answer.

"This is too much… Seeing how totally ignorant you are right now about everything… This was what he feared so greatly? An ignorant girl and some memory-less, rogue frost kami?"

That latest part got a rise out of not only Jiro, but the other Jido no Hogu-sha. Everyone reacted, although it was the Laughing Frost whose own bold look fell as his jaw hung low in surprise.

"What…did he just call Jiro?" Takara spoke up.

"He just said he was a kami…" Takeshi slowly answered.

Itachitoko waved his hand. "I don't know all the details and even if I did I wouldn't bother telling you them. It doesn't matter at all. Nothing matters to the lot of you anymore. However, there is one thing I'd like to say before I destroy you…"

He looked away from Jiro and Eiko here, and back toward Nakamura. He grinned.

"…Thanks for being such a good little dog and helping with everything."

The lord's boldness faded at that, and he reacted in surprise once again. Nakamura looked around to everyone else, causing them all to react too.

"All of you, really. You all came together just perfectly."

After a moment of confusion, it was Akiko who broke it with her own bold, fiery look. "What do you mean 'all of us'?"

In response, as the ceiling continued to open up, ironically making things hotter because it revealed the huge ball of fire outside, growing like another sun now, a rather intimidating moment followed. A huge, monstrous, and intimidating voice came from above…filled with malice and power. Obviously, the voice of a demon…

"Don't be so hasty, Itachitoko… I've gone parched for so long…I want to drink their despair a bit more."

Now, everyone really did tremble. As the ice samurai that were left backed off further to try and avoid the horrendous heat, the flames blazed from the orb overhead. Nakamura and Nobuyuki both tried to remain bold but it was clear that they were growing afraid the same as the rest of them. Hachiro and Jiro both braced their respective sister as well as it spoke.

"…You must be this 'Shitakarahi'." The Jolly Bear stated after a moment.

"Indeed. I don't have my body back...yet...but I can manifest myself in this plain again." The voice resounded, seeming to ripple through the air like heat. "And Eiko…please don't play the fool with me. Even with your ignorance of what's going on, surely you can tell what I am. Surely you know why you were of so much interest to me. Or can you not see what's going on around you?"

Eiko paused. She looked about one more moment; not because she didn't know what was happening, but because in her current state her mind was having trouble processing the obvious. Yet after only a second, she realized the truth. She let out a small gasp as she looked back to the sky.

"Fire… You're a demon of heat and fire… Which means…my power…"

"Could have stopped me…had everything gone as it has been for the past few thousand years." Shitakarahi's voice cut off. "But I wasn't about to let things play out the same way they had for far too long. That's why I organized everything to occur the way it did. Everything you have done…everything all of you have done…from the time when this started to right now was by my design. Everything had been brought to this one moment…when the Yuki no Megami would willingly surrender her power and become a mortal once again."

Jiro's mind continued to race at this. He began to sweat more, breathe harder, tremble…as he started to see things…

Fields and forests burning from the heat of a great ball of fire…

A mortal woman…a noble…kneeling and praying…

That crystal…the Frozen Heart…going from his hands to hers…

And the more he recalled, the more painful it grew…the more misery he began to feel… It caused his staff to lower…his body to weaken around Eiko…and, in turn, made the woman look to him…

"All to your design?" Nakamura suddenly outburst. "That's preposterous! All of this happened as a result of an accident! The daimyo was born with her power! All of what transpired here could have happened at any other time!"

"Oh no, Lord Nakamura." Itachitoko interjected. "It couldn't. Don't you recall? This wasn't the end result of her power, after all. What was the real event that set this off?"

Nakamura hesitated. However, Eiko let out a small exhale and then turned and looked to Itachitoko. She began to tremble again.

"The death of Lord Taguchi."

The lord looked up a bit at this, blinking once, and then nodding. "Yes. When Eiko killed him, that's what revealed her power and triggered all of this…" He hesitated, then turned his head to her. "But why did you slay him in the first place if you're truly innocent?"

Eiko snapped to him. "It was an accident! I saw a fire being set ablaze and I heard screaming in pain! So I tried to use my power to put it out!"

She hesitated on saying that…and suddenly stiffened. Now that she had calmed slightly, her mind was beginning to work again. Her pupils shrank and fear flooded her features again as she slowly turned back to Itachitoko.

"Exactly." He answered. "You think just because I'm a court onmyoji, Lord Nakamura, that I don't have connections? Friends? Allies? You don't think that I would have such ambitions for the throne and wouldn't take measures to make partnerships? That I wouldn't have some who would willingly be aiding me in exchange for future favors? That I didn't have at least fifty men at my disposal for some odd jobs within Arender-ken, and that I couldn't pass along a few brief notes to others who saw me as a respected and upright onmyoji and a representative of the emperor? And think, all of you…what exactly did all of those witnesses see? Eiko's power actually destroying Lord Taguchi? Or just people saying they saw ice stream from the pagoda to that location? Why exactly did Lord Taguchi decide to take the outer road to get to the castle instead of walking right in? Why would Lady Eiko alone out of all of you have heard screaming? Would it not be because this event happened right after she had an argument with her dear sister and been the only one outside? Did any of you bother to ask any of the people if they heard similar screaming or saw similar fire? Or were you, just like them, so preoccupied on the ice that you failed to notice anything else?"

He grinned wider.

"Anything…such as the fact that Taguchi and his men had already been stabbed by swords and not ice and that their surroundings were set on fire before ice covered them…and that their bodies didn't look roughly pierced by ice but rather had been set on shards? Or were you all too ready to just slay the ice demon?"

Eiko had gone as still as a statue as she stared at Itachitoko. She didn't move. She didn't breathe. Everyone turned and looked to her. Their shock was apparent. All were silent for a few moments.

"It was a lie…" She finally exhaled. "I never killed anyone…"

"Lady Eiko was innocent the whole time…" Takara answered. "She was framed…"

Takeshi said nothing. He only stared a moment before his ears seemed to lower and he bowed his head. Nakamura himself stared before his own eyes closed and he looked down.

Eiko shook harder. "All of that fear…all of that pain… For nothing…"

In spite of the situation, Akiko offered a half-hearted smile.

"I knew it was somehow a mistake, Eiko. I knew you didn't have that in you…even as an accident…"

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Akiko…"

The group looked back up and saw Itachitoko grinning wider than ever at them as he pointed a flame-tipped finger at the younger princess.

"After all…you only have a few hours to live now, don't you? This new power lets me see the ice inside you…growing stronger and larger all the time... And now that your sister doesn't have any power anymore, she'll just have to sit there and watch you slowly freeze to death…or turn into ice, barring that. Either way, the one she supposedly loved the most will be the only one's blood on her conscience." He grinned even wider, almost literally going ear to ear. "I think I'll let you two live… Now that I have this new power I have my master's love for despair and anguish along with it…and I think it would be most satisfying to watch her weep endlessly over your frozen corpse…"

Eiko's eyes flashed in anger, and in a snap her arm went up and pointed right in the center of Itachitoko's chest. However, nothing happened. The temperature didn't even cool around her. She continued to hold even after that, however, gritting her teeth and her eyes blazing with hate at him. Still…not a thing.

The demon-man chuckled. "What's the matter, Eiko? I thought you wanted your powers gone? Now you're just what you always were: a stupid woman who never knew her place. You're good-for-nothing now."

Before anyone could emotionally react, Nakamura's voice spoke forth coldly.

"Lady Eiko."

The woman's anger abated for a moment, just long enough to look to Nakamura. He didn't kneel but he turned to her…and, a bit to her surprise, he bowed.

"I am not in a position to kneel fully before you, so I pray that this suffices. I've committed a horrible crime and injustice against you. My honor is stained by pursuing the innocent so aggressively. And in my blindness for justice…and, I admit, my private thoughts that a woman would always be an inferior ruler to a man…I allowed this worm to dictate facts to me rather than looking for them myself. However, I humbly ask one request of you."

His eyes opened, and they were burning almost as hot as the flames.

"Allow me to dispatch this demon to vindicate your honor before you inflict any punishment upon me."

Eiko was speechless, unable to say a word, but the man didn't wait for it. Rising again, he whirled fully to Itachitoko and aimed his sword at him.

"Lord Hachiro…I ask you take my men and Lady Akiko back to Arender-ken and keep her safe. None of you need die here."

Hachiro, however, moved Akiko back, a bit to her surprise, stood before her, and aimed his own weapon at Itachitoko.

"This rat tricked me, Lady Akiko, and slandered Lady Eiko. I'll dispatch him myself, Lord Nakamura."

From overhead a resounding laugh, deep and dark, came from the orb of fire.

"With the power of the Yuki no Megami contained, I don't even need to waste time watching the outcome of this 'battle'. There are plenty of other mortals who wish to die trying to destroy me in the capitol. They're all yours, Itachitoko."

With that, the flaming orb suddenly moved away from the ceiling; shooting off into the distance. As it departed, the sky turned darker again, giving way once more to a blue sky instead of a red one. And in the surrounding area, some of the horrible heat vanished. Unfortunately there was still plenty coming from Itachitoko. As the magma died down behind him, it left a cavernous pit in its wake, which water continued to pour down into. Columns and bracers of the ice palace began to fall next, and the entire place continued to deform and slump. Yet still, Nakamura and Hachiro stood their ground and showed no fear.

The horrible flaming man just snickered. "You two really are fools, aren't you? Open your eyes and look at me!" He held his hands up and to his sides. "I have demon fire incarnate in my veins! Power the likes of which Japan has never seen in a mortal! What do you plan to do with your flimsy little swords? I'll melt them into slag the moment they try and-"

"Shut up already!"

Itachitoko turned his head to that…only to be slammed by a beam of cold energy; large, intense, and burning with such a sharp chill that the heat was banished and frost lined the entire corridor as everyone shuddered from the abrupt plunge in temperature. Even the bold demon-man didn't shrug this off. His heat held for a moment, but even then he buckled and strained underneath the power. His eyes widened, not expecting something cold-based to actually be hitting him with so much force, before it broke through his heat all together and ripped him back through the air, carrying him down the hall over and past the crater he had made, and smashed him through a melting ice wall.

Everyone was rather stunned, but didn't need to look to see that Jiro was now before Eiko, face blazing and tight, and grasping his staff hard. However, he was also panting quite a bit and sweating. One of his muscles twitched.

"I…I can't do that again…" He said in between pants. "But I'm going to fight him anyway. We have to get the Frozen Heart away from him and back to Eiko…not only to stop him but to save Akiko…"

Takeshi held only a second, before he grit his teeth, pushed back his pain, and drew his kunai out.

"You heard the kenshusei. Since we're all in pitiful shape we're all going to have to work on this together. Mortals and yokai."

"Allow me to draw the brunt of his damage." Nobuyuki said as he cracked his knuckles and came forward. "It won't be pain-free…but the rest of you make targets about him as fast as you can. My guess is for all his power he lacks experience. Fighting multiple targets is too much for him. We must get close enough to hit that object from his hand."

"How do we do that?" Takara asked as he twirled her jitte and wiped some sweat from her brow. "He'll melt anything that gets close…"

"Not around the Frozen Heart." Jiro stated. "That area is cool. We'll have to hit it just right…but if we do he'll lose it. He can't melt something coming right at it."

"Sounds like my specialty…" Takeshi grinned.

Satoru, in spite of the fact even walking looked like it hurt him, snapped out his arms, making his kusarigamas reappear.

In addition, the remaining ice warriors flanked them. The others looked to them only a moment, but they didn't stare back.

"We're with you, sirs. We will defend the honor of Lady Eiko with our lives."

"Could always use the help…" Takeshi snickered.

"Force him toward the walls and any water." Jiro stated, his voice unusually smooth and firm for the 'Laughing Frost'. "For all his heat, it's sapping his energy the more he gets cooled, even if it doesn't look it. Let's go!"

Immediately, he took off; not running but actually leaping into the air and letting his power make him fly forward. The others charged after him. The ice warriors, seeming to glide on the floor, caught up to him next. Not bothering to run, Takeshi tapped his foot on the nearest shadow and slipped inside, now with the clear sky giving him plenty of shadows. Takara flew forward, her wings restored. Satoru limped as best as he could, clearly bringing up the rear. Even Hachiro and Nakamura dashed faster than him. Nobuyuki dropped onto all fours and quickly built momentum in his charge.

Before they even reached him, the wall broke around Itachitoko before it began to melt as well, and slowly the hulking demon-man leaned out, grinning madly. He didn't even look too upset for what had just happened, in spite of the fact it obviously hurt him. As the ice melted around him, he left the ground all together and started to levitate in the air. The heat, rippling off of him again, somehow gave him the power to hover slightly, it appeared. A moment later, Jiro, the man in front, aimed his staff out and fired off a storm of razor-sharp icicles at him. Itachitoko never stopped grinning, but he did actually raise his hand this time to increase his heat and vaporize all of them. A moment later, he snapped his fingers out; sending out four of those ribbons of fire at him at once. However, the Laughing Frost was back in his game with the staff, and easily and effortlessly swung around through the fire pillars. A moment later, the other ice warriors were on him. They didn't attack as the first six did, but quickly began to circle around and fire their arrows of ice at him, transforming their swords into the bows. He quickly put out another hand, built up more heat, and vaporized these as well, only grinning at the attempts to stop him. Soon, his head turned to Jiro, and his eyes gleamed a moment before two more beams of fire erupted from them. These ones moved too straight and fast to dodge…

However, before they could touch him, Nobuyuki burst forward and crossed his arms in front of him, guarding his face and torso. The beams of heat tagged them right in the middle soon afterward and the smell of burnt flesh went into the air. And yet, Itachitoko was the one who registered some surprise. The beams were burning the bear yokai but not cutting through as they would through ice or metal. He was actually holding it.

A moment later, Takara flew in from one side while Takeshi popped out of the other, and immediately threw his kunai at him "boomerang style". On seeing the two yokai coming in after him, his attention turned first to the Tooth Dragon, who was already rearing back her jitte and shooting in for his teeth. It forced him to cut off his fiery vision and spin around to her. Snarling, he raised his hand up and increased the heat. As a result, Takara winced, and extended her wings to let the heat rising off of him push her away. She had to abort her attack to stay away from him. However, in doing so, he left himself open to Takeshi's attack. And as he heard it near, he turned, looked, and nearly gasped as he saw it headed right for his hand holding the Frozen Heart. Quickly, he dropped to the ground, letting the blade sail overhead…

And soon, he found himself on the move again as, dropping out of his heat, he found a fresh storm of icicles assaulting him, both from Jiro circling around him as well as the ice warriors. All of them were going for his eyes, so that even as he grit his teeth, his smile staying gone, and turned up the heat, just the splashes alone blinded him more. Hissing, he lashed out with both arms to fire more streams of flame at them only to yank them back a moment later as not one but two golden kusarigamas lashed out and nearly hacked at his limbs. He whirled to the source, and snarled to see Satoru advancing. He was slow, but he made his weapons flash out again and again, rapidly assaulting him with them like they were whips. Gritting his teeth, the demon-man quickly generated walls of flame around him so hot and burning that the heat pouring off of them melted off pieces of the kusarigamas each time they neared.

His hands began to flame brighter than ever as they gathered enough heat to destroy Satoru with one flaming blast, only for him to see something coming from his side. In the interim, Nobuyuki, ignoring the burns on his arms, had seized a large frozen building piece and flung it at Itachitoko. He actually gaped a bit on seeing it, before hissing, turning his hands up, and directing the heat toward that instead. An intense beam of fire erupted and smashed into it, shattering it through thermal shock and sending steam and boiling water everywhere. Yet even as he fired off the powerful beam, he let out a small cry as he felt his footing slip underneath him. He looked down, and realized that the floor below him had been reinforced with ice again temporarily, courtesy of Jiro. He staggered, quickly trying to use his power to get in the air, only to get another shock. Both Nakamura and Hachiro had taken a moment to run through some of the cascading water of the ice palace, soaking both of them in near ice cold water. As bad as it was, it allowed both to come in close, and Hachiro gave a yell as they both swung out for his side. The onmyoji was again caught off guard, and had to quickly get to the sky to avoid the attack.

Unfortunately for him, the others weren't letting up. The brief lull allowed Takara to once again shoot out for his teeth, and this time she was so fast that it forced the man to back up; right into the path of Satoru's hammers. Both shot out for his head, and he quickly had to fly again to avoid them only to get another dose of ice knives from the warriors and Jiro. He quickly put out his hand and generated heat to stop them, but, caught too off guard, the knives cooled his hand before a larger knife from Jiro managed to get all the way in, and actually tag his palm enough to break the skin and draw blood. Not used to pain, he yelped and went down to the ground again, and instantly the two samurai moved in once more. Although the water rapidly evaporated around them and their skin began to burn, they sliced out two more times, moving Itachitoko back even more than before. He grit his teeth and recoiled, walking right into a deep puddle of the melted water, exposing his legs to more coolness. Steam arose from him, and he hissed as he looked down. Yet that distraction nearly cost him again as the kunai of Takeshi sailed out for the Frozen Heart once more. Again, the onmyoji managed to look up just in time to move his arm out of the way, but not enough to clear this time. The kunai came around and actually cut a shallow slice in his arm.

"Arg!" The onmyoji shouted. In spite of being so shallow, even a small amount of blood wasn't what he was used too. He hissed in rage. "You'll pay for-"

That was as far as he got before the hulking form of the Jolly Bear, roaring and fuming, leapt into the air, on top of him, and smashed into him. In spite of the fact his paws were instantly badly burned, he made contact with Itachitoko and, to the demon man's shock, forced him into and under the water. Immediately, burning steam rose up everywhere as it started to boil, but fresh cold water was running off of the palace and into the impression all the time, keeping him underwater and cooled. As for Nobuyuki, he bellowed again in a voice that cracked the ice around him before his paw fists went down again and again, smashing violently into Itachitoko's head, pounding away for all he was worth.

The others, panting a bit from that rapid chain of fighting, all paused momentarily and looked, watching Nobuyuki tear into the onmyoji. They couldn't tell if he had released the Frozen Heart under the boiling water, but it seemed ludicrous that he wouldn't have considering the tremendous pounding he was getting.

"We've got him!" Takara cheered with a grin.

"Don't get cocky!" Takeshi snapped as his kunai returned to him. "If this isn't working, then he's going to be-"

Unfortunately, the Ghost Hare didn't get a chance to finish for, to everyone's shock, Nobuyuki suddenly curled up violently before he was thrown off of Itachitoko's body, smashed high through the "ceiling-less" part of the room to the tune of a blow that sounded like thunder, and finally came back down on the opposite side; smashing through an intact ceiling before slamming into the melting ice floor. His body was smoldering, especially around the stomach, where the burning imprint of a hand was located.

Soon, the water boiled off so quickly that even the steam evaporated and fire erupted in its place as the raging form of Itachitoko came out; only a few small trickles of blood running down his forehead and consumed with rage. As his fire burned brighter, he held out his hands around him and bellowed.

"ENOUGH!"

With that, the palace went to hell. Not only geysers of lava but great towering pillars of magma began to burst out throughout the entire mountainside, including all over the pagoda itself. To everyone's shock, the entire room they were standing on was fractured into pieces, breaking and spreading apart everywhere. Everyone was split into separate groups as the magma beneath the ground turned the place into an uneven, multi-tiered hell, with flames and lava shooting out from in between each fissure. Two of the ice warriors were immediately destroyed as a result of lava bursting out beneath their feet, and Satoru nearly fell in, barely managing to lash out with a kusarigama around the piece of rock that had broken up into the sky beneath him. Takeshi quickly teleported to more solid ground. Nobuyuki, miraculously, landed on a stable piece instead of being dumped right into magma or lava, for he was too stunned to rise.

Akiko and Eiko, however, were another matter entirely. Both of them were suddenly separated as a burning tower of magma rose up right in between them, shooting into the heavens. Both of them gasped, and nearly looked to each other and called out when the ground beneath Eiko rapidly started to fracture. With the terrain growing uneven, she cried and began to spill back.

The sound of her voice alerted Jiro and the others, and they actually ignored Itachitoko for a moment to look to her. The Laughing Frost saw her falling and the ground behind her giving way to more lava…

"Eiko!"

He nearly took off for her before Takara shot by instead, moving faster even than he could. In an instant, she reached her, moved in behind, braced her body, and pushed her back up into standing position.

"I'll watch her and Akiko!" She shouted. "Focus on that monster! You're our only shot against him!"

Jiro hesitated. He longed to go after Eiko…but he realized that it was more important to get the Frozen Heart from Itachitoko. With that in mind, he whirled back to him, and just in time too.

Flames were literally dripping off of Itachitoko as he rose up higher into the sky, looking as the last remains of the ice palace melted into nothing and a flaming crater arose in the center of the broken, jagged, unnavigatable landscape. A moment later, he extended both of his arms and let forth towering columns of flame from them, spreading them all over his surroundings, and moving to bathe every rock column in the heat.

This was rather hazardous for those bound on the ground. Although Hachiro and Nakamura had been lucky enough to get on stable columns, they could do nothing to survive this latest blast. Quickly, they both turned and leapt for other suspended columns, just as the flames came by and literally melted down the one they stood on. Hachiro managed to land on one, although he began to waver as soon as he did, trying to keep his balance. As for Nakamura, he ran and jumped but only managed to grab another thin column, and quickly he hung onto it for dear life as the heat and magma around them continued to mix up the ground and the landscape below him.

The columns of fire continued to move; one going for Satoru and the other going for Nobuyuki-the two "helpless" ones in the bunch. Takeshi quickly tapped his foot, sinking into the shadows and popping out in a column behind the one Satoru was suspended from. Between them was a flaming gulf with lava lining the bottom far below, but worse than that was that Takeshi was still too injured to really do anything physical. Nevertheless, he grit his teeth and jumped for him. In spite of the pain and agony, he landed on the column with Satoru a moment later, seized him, and then leapt off again; just as the fire pillar came by and incinerated it. However, he was in agony from the jump, and he cried out as he stumbled lopsided through the air and crashed into another column…only halfway. He hit the edge hard, and just managed to dump Satoru on it before he began to side off almost lifelessly and headed for the lava. Quickly, the Sand Moth spun around and, through his own pain, seized one of his arms, but between his strength and injuries he could barely hold…

However, the other column of flame was heading for Nobuyuki, who was only now beginning to roll himself up into a seated position. Unlike Satoru, there was no one to bail him out. Jiro didn't have near the strength necessary to save him. There was only one thing he could do…and so he sailed high into the air once again, shooting over and toward Itachitoko. By now, he knew he didn't have any power left in him for another icy blast, so he did something that pushed him to the limit anyway. He aimed his staff down and began to generate a stream of freezing cold hail on him instead, with icy wind blowing hard enough to feel like it was cutting to the bone…

Yet it didn't trip up Itachitoko. In fact, it didn't get a chance to reach him this time before he cut off the blast headed for Nobuyuki, only to aim it up and discharge the same wave right toward him. It immediately evaporated the weaker frozen move and sent a wave of heat to Jiro that was stifling even before it reached him. He brought his staff in front of him instead and generated ice to act as a shield but still got slammed so hard and surrounded by so much fire that it nearly overwhelmed him. Yet the force was even stronger, shoving him back further and further and melting the ice of his shield as fast as he could throw it…faster, even…draining what was left of his power…

Trying to take advantage of this, the ice warriors that were still standing began to shoot their ice arrows again, trying to exploit his weakness. While it managed to make him cut off the attack, he used the moment to whip his other hand around and once more shot out the tendrils of fire. They flashed through the air like whips themselves, before striking two of the warriors and destroying them instantly. The third leapt into the air, trying to go for a diving slash against his opponent. Yet Itachitoko merely flicked his finger up, and the flaming ribbon shot into the sky after him…and sliced him in two.

However, in spite of the pain the ice samurai felt, and the heat rapidly melting the rest of his body, with his last "breath" or whatever he had, he flung his katana blade-first right in between the eyes of the demon-man. Due to his split focus, he couldn't protect himself fully from it and the dulled tip smashed right in between them a moment later. His thick skull protected his brain, but blood burst forth, and he yelled in agony as he reared back, losing altitude again…

By now, this was the moment Nobuyuki, who just managed to get back on his feet, was waiting for. Rearing back just a little, he lunged forth, sailing over the rocky, magma-filled landscape, arms open wide, meaning to tackle Itachitoko while he was still stunned…

But while still a ways off, the onmyoji looked up and hissed. "Not this time!"

He waved his hand and, to the surprise of anyone who could afford to look, including Jiro, who was struggling to regain his breath and bearings, a "wave" of magma surged up from the floor beneath them, raised high and into the air as impressive a tsunami, pouring horrendous heat over all of them…and right for Nobuyuki. The huge bear had a moment to look to the side in shock before the raw magma swarmed over him, ripping him clean out of the sky and engulfing him. A moment later, it yanked him down, back through the pillars, back for the lake of lava beneath, and plunged him right into it. In a heartbeat he had vanished below the molten rock.

For a moment, Jiro hovered, horrified at what he had just seen. The magma wave fell into the lava, but nothing else. No movement. After all…if any of them had gone in, there would definitely be none. By now there would be nothing left but ash…

In spite of his pale skin, Jiro's face reddened. His hands clenched his staff so hard the wood creaked…before a razor-sharp icicle appeared on one end, turning it into a spear. His eyes focusing on Itachitoko and filling with horrible rage, he dove like an arrow bolt, intending to impale him through the heart. He didn't care how much heat got put in his way or what Itachitoko tried. He wanted him dead…

Yet moments before impact, when the demon-man turned and looked, seeing Jiro coming in, he didn't bother casting any fire. Rather, to the young man's shock, his arm swung out while his body sidestepped…and he seized the incoming staff, bracing it to one side against his body, while his other hand went out and seized Jiro by the throat. He was coming in so fast that he ran onto it, and as a result actually gagged himself.

The hand immediately tightened into a crushing grip and bathed his face in horrendous heat. Not only was it painful, but it was also stifling; gagging and choking him along with the painful grip that was now beginning to burn him…

Itachitoko, on his part, ripped Jiro's staff to one side. Between him being hurt, stunned, and dizzy from the heat, he couldn't stop him from doing so. And once he had it to one side, the flames surged so much that it began to burn the Laughing Frost all over, only now coming from the hand with the staff. Jiro, on his part, quickly reached out and seized for his neck. His own body generated cold even without the staff, but to his displeasure he realized he wasn't stopping it. It only caused him small relief. In fact, Itachitoko was dragging it out, wanting to see him exhaust himself trying to beat back the heat and only then burn him alive when there was nothing left. Yet in the meantime, he clenched his other fist tighter, and Jiro's staff began to crack and glow from within, as if fire was breaking out inside it. In spite of being nearly smothered by the heat and struggling to keep from choking, Jiro looked to it…

And saw it explode into cinders. Some of them even smashed into Jiro, burning against his skin even further. But he couldn't move and could barely even fight against the crushing grip. He wasn't even kicking now. He was weakened before, but between the stifling heat and the pain, he was now losing consciousness. Even the horrible, ghastly face in front of him started to fade to black…

As Itachitoko felt the young man start to go limp, his grip easing and his arms beginning to fall and, with it, his last vestige of being able to keep himself from being burned, he leaned in close and grinned wider.

"You cocky little brat… Always calling me 'Itachinootoko'… Now look at you, you miserable dog… Aren't bragging now, are you? Aren't able to do any of your little practical jokes either, eh? Just hanging there like the little imp you always were. Yokai or not, now you know who your 'betters' are, don't you? Now do I burn you away right here or do I let you feel more…gah!"

The demon-man was cut off…as a slushball smacked him in the face. Unlike other attacks, he actually winced and recoiled from this. It seemed not only had he lowered his power enough to draw out Jiro's torture to where this would work but he was so agitated by cold that he actually let the Laughing Frost go…who, unconscious and limp by now, began to fall down into the same pit as well. It was only due to pure luck, namely two columns being close to each other and him landing on them in such a way to wedge his own body against them, that he didn't fall into the lava the same as Nobuyuki. As for Itachitoko, he rubbed at his eyes as if hot oil had been thrown in them, and he tried to clear them enough to see what had happened…

A moment later, Takara gasped from where she stood, closer to the periphery. She had been so busy trying to get Eiko to more stable ground that she didn't notice what happened on Akiko's side. Now, the older sister gaped as well as she saw what she had done: abandoned "sitting on the sidelines", grabbed one of the melting piece of ice, got as close as she could, and then threw it right into Itachitoko's face as he leaned in against Jiro. She was much closer now but still on stable ground. The heat was actually beating back her cold as she glared up at him defiantly.

However, the onmyoji blinked again to clear his eyes and hissed as he raised his hand. "I've had enough of you, you bi-"

Abruptly, his eyes blaze brighter than ever, smoke pouring out of them, and his mouth opened to let blood begin to roll out of it.

He had gotten too close to the ground again, instinctively lowering every time he was blinded, it seemed. And Akiko's distraction had done more than free Jiro. That was obvious now…as the bloody end of a katana, superheating and already starting to melt and deform, protruded from out of his chest.

Behind him, his sleeves burning away from Itachitoko's heat, his own flesh being singed, but his jaws tight and his look determined, Nakamura held on with both hands as he had used all he had to push his sword right through Itachitoko's chest.

"For my men, you mongrel." He snorted, before he raised a leg and kicked for one of his muscular arms, namely the one holding the Frozen Heart, and knocked it clean out of his hands. It was cast into the air for a moment, flying to the side, looking like it was doomed to fall into the magma and lava as it descended…before Hachiro, already waiting, reached out and seized it before it could. Flashing a grin, he held it aloft to show whoever was still able to look that he had it.

That wasn't much at this point. Satoru, in spite of his agony, was just getting Takeshi back up on the rock. Takara slowly lowered and let Eiko alight, but the former immediately looked enthused. Even Eiko looked hopeful, seeing that Nakamura had done it. In spite of all of Itachitoko's new power, he had got him through the chest. The lungs or his heart had to be pierced…

Yet as Itachitoko stood there, continuing to gag, he slowly stopped and lowered his arms. But they didn't slump. He purposely lowered them. He stood there afterward as the sword continued to deform and melt until finally it shriveled into a gleaming pile of slag and fell out of his chest. Part of it was still in him, but in spite of that he calmly looked around to the lord, grinning again.

Seeing this, the man's own stern look turned to surprise.

"Silly mortal." Itachitoko snickered. "How can you stab to death one who is living fire?"

With that, he snapped around, melting the rest of the sword off the hilt...and drove his hand forward into his chest, punching his massive fist part of the way into it. Nakamura gagged himself, stiffening, blood erupting from his own mouth, before the heat began to be pumped into him. Soon, fire was raging out of the onmyoji's fist and into his body…making his organs smolder, cook, and finally burst into flame inside of him. Nakamura didn't cry out, but he continued to hang there as fire burned inside him and erupted from his mouth. Then it melted out his eyes and burned from there. Then his nostrils…his ears…and finally started to melt the skin off of his body from beneath. But by then, he fully burst into flame, and was soon an engulfed corpse.

In less than fifteen seconds, Itachitoko pulled his fist out, and the ashy corpse of Nakamura fell to the ground and shattered into dust.

Akiko, Takara, and Eiko were all horrified at this ghastly act. The samurai's noble sacrifice was all but in vain. Yet Akiko, in spite of this atrocity, wanted to make sure it wasn't for nothing. She looked up and shouted.

"Lord Hachiro!"

The young man, looking transfixed on what had just happened, nearly apoplectic, turned to her. Itachitoko also looked up at the shout, making the younger sister yell quickly.

"Throw the heart to Eiko! Hurry!"

Hachiro looked to his hand, seeing the odd crystal with the pale blue icy light inside it, and then looked back to the side. Akiko was closer, but Eiko and Takara were a distance away, and hearing what the younger sister had just said made the older one look up expectantly. A moment later, Hachiro yanked back his arm. Itachitoko snapped fully to him, his body tensing, and Eiko got away from Takara and began to move closer, meaning to grab it as soon as it was off.

The young lord held for a moment longer, not moving, still primed to throw…

And then, slowly relaxed and stood again as he smiled…and not in a 'friendly' manner.

Eiko and Takara both blinked. As for Akiko, she gaped. "L…Lord Hachiro…throw it! What are you waiting for?"

The lord merely continued to stand there, still smiling, and his eyes anything but warm and innocent. Eiko's own face slowly turned to a mixture of realization and terror. She already knew what that look meant: her fears were justified all along. To Akiko, however, she still didn't realize it. It became obvious to Takara as well as soon as Itachitoko relaxed and continued to smile.

Hachiro looked up to him.

"I'd like to take my compensation now, if that's alright."

Itachitoko merely kept grinning. "By all means. You have the Frozen Heart, after all."

Akiko, the most naïve of them, continued to stare at him in disbelief.

"Hachiro…?

"My father…" The man began to explain, speaking smoothly and pleasantly as he always did, but with a look that bore nothing but malice…as he held up the crystal and idly twirled it in his fingers. Soon after, he reached up with his other hand for his garments, and began to pry them open. "He had a 'thing' for names. That old tradition of naming the sons after when they arose… So, being the eighth son of the lord, I was destined for nothingness except to die as a younger, forgotten sibling…unless I managed to marry into the family of another province." He got to his inner robe, and began to expose his chest.

"Arender-ken, naturally, was the best choice. Not only was the land rich and bountiful, and it had the eye of the shogun for years…but it had only female rulers. There would be no need to hope that an older brother-in-law died in battle or of disease. Since the male head of the house, even married in, would have precedence, I could safely marry either you or Eiko and hold the position of daimyo."

Now, the realization truly began to hit Akiko. Hearing this, she went still. Her own mouth loosened as her arms drew inward. "What…what are you say-"

She was cut off. Hachiro, his chest now exposed, suddenly brought the Frozen Heart around and placed it against his own chest…and shoved. A sound like rapid freezing went through the air, and the crystal gleamed brightly while from the points of contact it sent in cracks of light like frozen ice trails into Hachiro. He stiffened, and trembled, like he was putting the coldest piece of ice imaginable against him. And yet, slowly, to everyone's surprise, the Frozen Heart began to seep into his chest…sinking right into his own flesh…

In moments, he calmed enough to speak straight as he continued this.

"I spent years…honing my dress, my manner, my speech…my conduct…everything…with the intent of being the perfect match for any woman I came across…especially ones as young, naïve, and sheltered as you, Akiko…ones who were so desperate for attention that all I had to do was hold my arms open wide…" He calmed here more, for the crystal was nearly inside his chest now. He removed his hand, but it sank in the rest of the way, making more of the icy lines appear around his torso, snaking out to his limbs, up his neck, and even into his head and face, yet he didn't react. "And you'd come running to them… But I was transparent to the one man who knew what it was like to put on a false face. And for a moment…I was scared. I figured he'd expose me. After all, if I tried to claim I knew his own intentions, he had the greater respect…

"But he reassured me. He said he'd keep my secret…and even give me something better in exchange for a few favors…like hiring the nearest bandits to set a few fires and stab to death a lesser noble, and then have my men place him and his retinue on ice shards and pay them to keep their mouths shut… And in exchange, he said he'd give me something better than Arender-ken…"

The glow slowly died down...but as it did, Eiko began to tremble in fear as she saw Hachiro's skin turn paler and his hair begin to bleach as well. His eyes became more vivid, like blue ice crystals…

"You see…Shitakarahi will soon envelop this entire world in a volcanic hell…everything burning and dry and barren… Japan will be left to Itachitoko, who'll do much the same…making it just cool enough to live in eternal misery and heat… And…" He chuckled. "…well, that will make everyone want any relief they can get. They'll be desperate for it, in fact. And that's where I come in, you see…"

He began to advance. As he did, he waved his hand out before him…and instantly made a bridge of ice form between him and where the women were. It was crude…sharp…dangerous…and ugly compared to anything Eiko made, but he chuckled none the less.

"You…you can't mean…" Akiko tried to protest.

"What do you know? Whatever I think of just pops up… I'm going to have fun with this." He said as he continued to advance. "Pity this had to be wasted on a simple woman. I should have known she'd never have half the imagination necessary to use it for anything useful…"

He kept advancing, and as he did a storm of snow began to appear around him, whipping about his body. Eiko cupped her hand to her mouth and shook her head at this; not because she feared Hachiro…but because she had so readily given up her power to keep it from tormenting the world and now it had ended up in the hands of a dark and soulless monster who wanted nothing but to use it to hurt others.

"Where was I… Oh yes. And with the rest of Japan a waste…well, even if my new domain in Arender-ken is icy tundra, with nothing but night and ice for as far as the eye can see…everyone in the world will want to flock there for at least some relief from the heat. It'll be the only place on this entire planet with darkness or cold. I'll be able to demand anything I want in tribute." He grinned a bit more maliciously. "Any price or homage that I request. Lord Itachitoko can have Japan and Shitakarahi can have the world… I'll be the only man who has the love of every last human being when I become the Yuki no Kami. I'll be the only one alive who has nothing to fear even if the rest of the world is burned to ashes."

Akiko stared in horror a bit longer…but also hurt. After all, as Hachiro approached her, she saw no more love in his eyes. And she realized the full truth now; perhaps finally getting a touch of her sister's wisdom. The whole reason he had encouraged her to go out…the whole reason she was to come here…was because he intended, all along, for Eiko to do something like what she did. To freeze her heart. And as a result of the anguish and despair she would feel, he further intended her to give up her power so that he could take it. He had played her as easily as he had played Nakamura and everyone else. More so…

And she went with all of it…because she had foolishly thought he was her one true love.

Even as he neared and blocked off the heat, she began to tremble again. She wasn't subjected to his own cold, but she could feel it inside her…growing larger…chilling her from within… Her arms began to raise and go around herself. Yet in spite of that, she clenched her teeth and glared at him as tears welled up in her eyes.

"You're as much of a demon as he is!" She snapped in bitter anger.

"Aw, don't say that, wife." Hachiro responded with the same grin, growing nearer…the cold around him making Akiko shiver and cringe. "After all, I still plan on removing the ice from your heart. That is…"

His grin widened as he reached out to take Akiko by the chin.

"After you've given me something in return."

Akiko, realizing what this meant, looked a mixture of disgusted and horrified, but this was too much for Eiko. Power or no power, she took off for him, ignoring the heat of the pillars or the fact that there was no straight path.

"Get away from my sister, you mongrel!"

She wasn't alone. Takara, her own face flying into anger at the vileness of Hachiro, sprung into the air and shot straight for him; jitte out and ready to knock him in the teeth to not only throw him into soul-wrenching agony, but also to dislodge as many of those teeth as she could. She moved like a shot, faster even than Hachiro could react…

For all the good it did.

Itachitoko was watching all of this, and by now had more than enough time to recover and focus. Abruptly, he pointed a finger and a beam of heat shot through the air and pierced both of her translucent wings. The cast-off heat from the impact rapidly lit both aflame and burned them out, causing the Tooth Dragon to drop to the ground. She screamed in agony as she rolled furiously, trying to put out the flames before they roasted her back as well. But Eiko, not pausing to help, kept running forward, eyes on Hachiro,;her body tensing up as she was ready to strangle him to death with her bare hands.

Hachiro, however, saw her coming at her slower gait, and simply snorted before pointing a finger out to one side. Instantly a thick, solid sphere of ice formed in midair and a moment later shot to the side. Eiko didn't even have time to look before it smashed into the side of her head with a sickening crack; spilling blood both over the sphere as well as the side of her head. Her look turned to agony only a moment before it went flaccid, but the worst part was the force was so great she was ripped clean off of her feet, thrown into the rest of the ruined chamber, and her body was sent flung into the same crater where all of the water was still pouring in.

Akiko was horrified and began to run after her. "EIKO!"

However, she was cut off in pain a moment later as Hachiro reached out and seized her by her hair, forcefully yanking back in a way that brought her down to her knees. In spite of this, and in spite of her growing weakness, she forced herself up to try to move again, trying to fight and break free of him. Chuckling idly at the whole thing, as if he found it cute, Hachiro held his hand out over her, and a glow came around it.

In response, the piece of ice within her glowed, and Akiko went rigid and gasped as if she had been stabbed. Her body was seized with a violent chill and she fell to the ground, cringing in on herself involuntarily. As she shivered fiercely from the cold, he let her lay only a moment before he reached down and seized her roughly by the back of her clothing, yanking her back up to her feet, and then pinned her close to him by putting an arm around her.

"I'm finished here." Itachitoko muttered from his position. He began to hover again, surrounding himself with heat and rising. As he rose the lava pits in the area began to rapidly cool. The burning and fires subsided as a cold chill from the natural weather began to come in. By the time he had lifted up and out of the ceiling, some of the water began to refreeze again and the lights dimmed. He paused here and looked down.

"Shitakarahi is still reviving. I won't get my own full power before then. I'd be tempted to join in the destruction of the capitol now, but it seems if these people were able to stress me…I'll hold off for one more day. By then, there'll be more than enough fear and despair to go around as Shitakarahi heats up the entire country. Then I'll flatten the shogun and the emperor. You, on the other hand…I'm sure you wish to establish your new kingdom."

"True." Hachiro idly responded. "But it's not far from here. And with my new power…" He chuckled. "It's nothing for the one true Yuki no Kami."

"I'll leave them to you, then." Itachitoko stated before the heat around him flared, enough to once again make everyone below feel uncomfortable, including Hachiro, and horrible bat wings of fire erupted from his back. They pitched around and let him take off for the south. With his new power and speed, it didn't take long before all that was left was a flaming trail in the sky.

As he departed, the heat finally abated. The natural coldness of the mountain came back, and all of the water began to slow as it started to refreeze. Hachiro took a moment to look about the ruined area. Takara had managed to put out the remains of her wings but was now flightless, burned, and in terrible pain. Satoru had gotten Takeshi up, but he had passed out from his injuries, and the Sand Moth himself had fallen to one knee. Jiro remained where he was, still out of it, and the fate of everyone else was unknown.

He grinned as he pulled Akiko tighter, relishing that she trembled more violently from the cold coming off of him, before he twisted his hand up and gestured; causing a pillar of ice to erupt beneath him and start to push him into the air. As he did so the sky overhead turned gray and thick again, just as bad as it was before when Eiko was casting the storm. Soon it grew even worse than that, and began to dump snow on the area. Lots of it, in fact…and being whipped around even more fiercely and windier than before. The temperature plunged much quicker than last time, and soon Takara, only half conscious to begin with, started to curl into a ball while Satoru himself had to put his arms around him. He tried in vain to extend his hands to make a kusarigama to lash out for Hachiro as his ice column pushed himself and Akiko higher, but it was no good. He was too weak and dizzy.

Soon, the magma and heat was forgotten as the temperature continued to plunge in the area and Hachiro rose far above the ceiling. When he did, emerging into the rapidly-freezing world beyond, he gestured around him. Instantly thick walls of crude, ugly, and formidable ice erupted from the ground. The snow grew nearly to white-out conditions as it rapidly blanketed everything that had melted with more snow, but in the process the ice walls grew larger and thicker around the entire ruin of the castle…enveloping it in a thick hemisphere of ice…

"Might as well get started on building my new kingdom now, don't you think?" He called down below. "Let's see how much the former queen of Arender-ken likes having a frozen domain when she can feel cold. I always was fond of ironic demises in literature… Look on the bright side…you have no risk of burning to death now."

Satoru, by now, was the only one left to look up angrily…and though a furious jingling sound rang out, it was lost on the wind. Slowly, the area around him grew darker as the dome neared completion.

"Enjoy the tomb I went to the trouble of building for you. At least…for however many hours it is before you all completely freeze to death."

Right as he finished saying this, the ice dome completed. Akiko looked down to it but couldn't protest or fight at all. It was too cold, especially now that she was in the weather. She could only weakly open her eyes in the midst of her shivering and look down to the frozen prison that had just been made beneath her.

She turned her head a moment later when more of the snow began to coalesce together nearby. In spite of the whiteout conditions, she saw it gather, packing in one location, and as a result drained enough from the air that she could see the ground…letting her see a large, hideous, jagged, icy beast beginning to take form; lashed to something else forming at the same time. It looked like a cruel slab of ice lined by jagged spikes. Some sort of transport.

Hachiro grinned at her.

"Well…no sense in letting you wait here until your sister dies, Akiko. Let's head back to my…heh, I mean our kingdom."

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To be continued...

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AUTHOR'S NOTES: Since everyone keeps asking...

Nakamura was an original character, not based on anyone from Frozen or ROTG.

There is no "Pitch", "Kristoff", or "Sven" in this story.

Finally, I revealed a lot of the back story in this chapter and I'm sure some people can put the rest "together", but if you can't the "last few gaps" will get revealed the next chapter when Jiro regains his memory.