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...

12. Yuki no Megami

Updated 5/1/2016: Edits and corrections.

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The descent soon proved things were worse.

It wasn't just the mountain they had been stranded on. It seemed the entire country was now in the middle of an impossible blizzard, the likes of which none had ever seen or recorded. The darkness alone from the thick overhead clouds made it hard to see as it was, but the heavy snowfall mixed with it to make a total whiteout. None of them could see any people or houses as they descended through the clouds into the storm but, to be honest, that was probably a good thing. The only chance anyone had of survival in this darkness, cold, and storm was to stay indoors and keep warm. However, there had already been so many days of the unusual winter. Firewood and fuel had to be depleted...

Eiko herself had to cling to Nobuyuki to withstand the icy gale, but it wasn't long before the yokai were drawing near as well while the great moth descended. Jiro himself could take at least the cold, but the wind and the snow slamming into him made it hard to see. Nevertheless, he alone stood on Satoru's head and kept watch as best as he could. After all, navigation was nearly impossible for anyone who relied on sight.

"See anything?" Takara shouted over the gale, pressing in close to Nobuyuki and Eiko.

"Not anything good!" Jiro shouted back. "A few rooftops here and there! The houses are almost totally buried by snow!"

"So if we don't stop Hachiro, Arender-ken will freeze long before Shitakarahi has a chance to burn it!" Nobuyuki sounded; his voice carrying a bit better due to being so deep.

"This is worse than anything Eiko ever did!" Takeshi shouted. "How is he doing all this when he's inexperienced?"

"Experience has nothing to do with it!" Eiko shouted back. "My power reflects what I'm feeling and my spirit!"

"So since he only wants more power, not to mention he doesn't really care about anyone…" Takara answered, looking uncomfortable. "That means his power is out of control and freezing everything!"

"Hopefully that means he won't be able to really fight us!" Jiro shouted back.

Eiko herself nervously looked around, but she couldn't see anything. The snow and cold stung her eyes when she tried. Jiro knew she was deeply worried. Before the winter had been bad, but this was a death sentence. No one in town could possibly last until morning. If anyone had been caught out in the whiteout, they were probably already dead. And those in the homes were likely suffering from frostbite, exposure, and every other cold-related illness one could think of. No doubt irreversible damage to Arender-ken had already been done. Any moment now it might cross "the point of no return"…where even if they managed to win, the country would be doomed. This was especially true in Eiko's case. She was the only one who could undo the winter, but even if they got her power back, her soul was still in chaos and turmoil over everything that had happened. She'd never be able to do it by tomorrow…

Not to mention… How exactly are we supposed to get her power back?

Before he could think any more, however, he and the others got a surprise. The snowfall suddenly "leveled off". It didn't cease being a storming gale, but it did thin out enough to where visibility increased dramatically. With the ground in sight, the great moth came down for a landing near what was left of a large tree protruding from the heavy snowfall.

And there before them was Arender-ken Castle.

And just like Osamu had said, it had been "remodeled".

Where before it had arisen from the inlet on a rocky atoll, now peaks of ice arose from it and seemed to wrap around it as they rose high into the heavens. They were cruel, twisted, and jagged; transforming the magnificent pagoda into something horrific and monstrous. The bridges were intact although covered with cruel ice shards as well, but that was irrelevant as the ocean had frozen around the castle. The place didn't even look like Arender-ken anymore; just some twisted, frozen nightmare. The air was even more biting and cold here with less snow falling. Everyone gave a shiver as the moth came down, save for Jiro and Osamu.

On landing, everyone dismounted. No sooner had the last of them stepped off when the moth immediately burst, turning into golden dust once again. The dust was rapidly swept up and into the wind, blowing around in a fierce spiral, before it went for the tree. On reaching a crook, it swept around more tightly and condensed. It stretched out the ends in long, tapered amounts while focusing a bulge in the center. A moment later, it solidified completely to the sound of one sharp "jingle" and stopped.

What looked like a golden cocoon was now attached to the tree. It shimmered a bit, even in the darkness and snow, but did nothing else.

"Ooooo!" Osamu exclaimed, before blinking. "Wait…what just happened? Did that moth turn into a big loogie?"

"Satoru's energy is depleted." Takara answered. "He'll have to be reborn again, and it could take days before he hatches from that cocoon." She looked to the others. "Meaning it's just us."

"To be honest, if we can't do this by ourselves, I don't think Satoru would be enough to tip the scales." Nobuyuki answered.

Jiro grimaced and looked to Eiko. He saw that she had barely noticed Satoru. Instead, her eyes were on the castle, staring at it with more horror and unease than ever.

After a moment, the frost kami advanced. "Eiko…"

"My family's castle… Arender-ken…" She remarked, looking over the palace and all of the cruel ice. "My power did this…because I was foolish enough to give it away…"

Jiro grimaced. This wasn't helping anything. Eiko was still placing the blame for everything on herself even now, even when her power wasn't "hers" anymore. This wouldn't help her focus even if they succeeded…

Takeshi looked around a bit; his ears twitching as he gazed at the palace. "Made himself right at home, it seems… At any rate, I'm not hearing anything. Weird…I don't think he has any 'guards' like Eiko did. Think he hasn't figured out how to make them?"

"From what I hear, Eiko did it by 'instinct', so it should be too hard." Jiro answered. "Maybe the thought hadn't occurred to him."

"Or perhaps he thinks he can deal with any intruder on his own. Remember…" Nobuyuki indicated around. "Even at its worst, Eiko's winters could be survived. Not this. He clearly means to freeze anyone who comes near him. A bit crude, but, in his case, effective. And it might work to our advantage. No sentries."

"Hopefully he's still so full of himself he thinks he doesn't have anything to fear." Takara suggested.

Eiko inhaled and shook her head, once again taking on the firmer persona she had earlier. "Alright, I'm going in right through the front. Alone."

At once, everyone snapped to her.

"What?" Jiro nearly exclaimed.

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Osamu nervously asked.

"Very…but this is my fault to begin with." Eiko responded. "So I'm willing to take some risk to stop Hachiro."

Jiro frowned. "You haven't forgotten Akiko, right? We need you alive so you can get your power and use it to save her."

"I know that." The queen answered. "I'm thinking ahead. I know what sort of man Hachiro is. He's someone who treats all other people as just tools or pawns for him to use, but he's also someone who needs to feel a sense of superiority. He wasn't just being the perfect man to seduce my sister; he was doing it because he wanted to make himself out to be the perfect ruler of Arender-ken. I noticed how he talked to me…and talked to her. He thinks me and my sister are simple fools who happened to get lucky because our parents died. He wants to 'put us in our place'. That's why he left me to freeze rather than killing me right there. He wanted me to die humiliated. It's sick…but it also might work to our advantage. Assuming he's watching me, he'll let me come in. His focus will be totally on me so he can humiliate me before he kills me."

"Hmm…and while his focus is on you," Takeshi commented. "I take it you want him blind to everything else, like us."

"Exactly. There's only one gate in and out of the castle as far as he knows, because the old posthurn gate on the north side of the castle was waterlogged for years and inaccessible. But with the inlet frozen…"

"Heh, we could walk right in, eh?" Nobuyuki chuckled. "Not a bad idea."

"But we still need to find him." Takara answered. "The throne room would be a good bet, I guess, at least for starters…but if he's not there, or even if he is, it might take some time to get to where he's at. Will you be there by then? Or, more importantly, can you keep him busy long enough for us to get there?"

Eiko exhaled, but nodded. "Somehow I will. Power or no power…" She looked to the whiteout about her. "He did this to Arender-ken, and I love this country and its people too. He's got my sister. I want to settle this myself."

The Jido no Hogu-sha paused and exchanged glances, yet there was little mistaking the seriousness in Eiko's eyes. More of that regal air was coming forth; a nobility like that of a true samurai. In spite of her frail appearance and powerless body, the woman looked determined and resolute in this regard. With that in mind, Nobuyuki gave a nod.

"Leave it to us, my lady." He turned to the others. "Let us go back into the snowfall and circle around to mask our approach. If even Eiko could not see through her storms, it is reasonable to assume that Hachiro cannot do the same. Especially since he made the snow fall thinner around here."

"Oh! Oh!" Osamu cheered, waving his hand. "What do I do? What do I do?"

Eiko looked to him and, for just a moment, her face softened.

"Osamu…find Akiko and bring her to me so I can unfreeze her heart as soon as possible."

He gave a bow at once. "Sure thing!" He turned and immediately took off, running back into the snowfall to obviously follow the same plan as the other Jido no Hogu-sha. It wasn't long before he vanished into the whiteout. The others soon turned and did the same, slipping into the blizzard one by one…

…all except one individual.

Eiko gave Jiro something of a frown. "Go on with the others, Jiro. I said I'm going in alone."

"Oh, no can do." He smiled. "I still need a maple in order to make a new staff, remember? And as I recall, your lovely interior garden has a number of good trees to choose from. I guess that means I'm stuck with you."

The woman hesitated; her sternness fading a bit. "Jiro, it's too dangerous. I wanted-"

"You're damn right it's too dangerous." Jiro retorted; his voice suddenly turning sharp and his mirth fading, making Eiko go silent. "Which is exactly why you're not taking a step in Hachiro's direction unless I'm at your side. I already told you: if I'm no longer paired with the gods that makes me your samurai, which means I'm going to be by you from now on no matter what you go into, and you're not going to tell me otherwise."

The hime hesitated. She was clearly nervous still, but on hearing this she realized that she was scared to go in herself. This would be the most dangerous thing she had ever done, and frankly she was a little tired of going everywhere on her own. Now that she felt fully for Jiro as she had in all of her past lives, she realized she wanted him at her side. She softened…and even smiled.

"Let's hurry. I'm not sure how long Akiko has…"

It didn't take long for them to reach the gates to the castle. They were framed by ice but the gates were wide open already. As he and Eiko ran in, he made her focus ahead and not look around at several of her guards as well as the shogun's impaled on ice; obviously ones that had tried to mount an offense at some point. She didn't need to blame herself for anything else that wasn't her fault.

The gardens beyond the gate were a bit more pleasant. Sure enough, there were maples growing there. They weren't as heavily buried by snow as everything else was outside the palace, either. Jiro went over to one with a good shaped branch, similar to his old staff, seized it, put a bit of his power into the end to make it brittle, and then snapped it off. He quickly ran back to Eiko afterward and went on.

"So you just need to get a piece of wood from a maple?"

"No, I've got to put some of my own power into it to make it work…" Jiro stated as he grasped the piece of wood with both hands and concentrated. It wasn't long before a blue glow emanated from his hands and seemed to seep into the wood. Eiko noticed rough parts of the staff began to break off, as if freezing from inside was causing them to fracture and fall. "It takes a bit of time, but I've been at it so many years I don't need to sit down and do it."

As he walked along, almost closing his eyes, Eiko watched and saw a glow condensing around the wood as it continued to shape, slowly beginning to look like his old crook staff. However, something still seemed off. Jiro seemed to be straining or struggling with it.

"…Something wrong?"

"This…is harder…than usual…" He answered, gritting his teeth a bit. "I don't know why… I'm a kami, not a yokai. I should bounce back even faster than them after a little pain…"

The woman began to look uneasy. "…Do you think it's your spirit?"

Jiro paused, opening his eyes wider. A moment later, he started to grimace. Wasn't that just perfect? If his spirit was in turmoil, it would indeed explain why this was so hard. But why would his spirit be in turmoil? Part of the reason he liked playing with children so much is because it kept his spirit light and happy, and enabled him to retain the full measure of his powers.

Realizing that made it clear to him, though. Ever since he had found out the truth about himself and Eiko, he had pretty much been continuously worried and stressed. Even his normal smiles and carefree attitude was forced.

That means I can't use my power to its full extent either. Not starting this off well…

The front gates of the castle were open just like the wall gates. They were wreathed with jagged ice, pointing outward sharp and deadly. The two ignored that as they walked inside. Aside from a break in the wind, there was no relief within the castle. The chill in the air was so deeply cold that no amount of protection could keep you alive for very long if you were mortal. Eiko was good for now, but that was yet another reason they were on a time limit. Frost and ice lined every wall. Piles of jagged ice had broken walls and floorboards in spots. Deadly icicles hung from the ceiling. And now, some servants were lying among the dead, ice-lined corpses.

It wasn't long before wandering in that Eiko's breath began to get a bit more frantic; her anxiety rising as she saw the ruined castle and the dead. Jiro picked up on it shortly.

"Eiko…"

"This…this is something out of my worst nightmares…" She said, placing her hands to her head and staring around fearfully. "Ever since I first woke up with my room lined with ice…I was afraid this would happen some day… That I'd turn the whole castle into an icy tomb…"

Jiro's hand planted itself on her shoulder. It was enough to shake her out of it and caused her to look to him.

"Eiko…remember. It's Hachiro who's doing this…not you."

The woman's eyes were still stricken with fear, but after a moment she calmed down. Inhaling deeply, she once again became firm and resolute.

"…Right. Let's keep going."

In spite of the fact that the ice had reached into the castle itself and was wrecking walls and flooring, the two were still able to navigate easily enough to the first set of stairs and climb up to the next level. From there they were able to proceed to the next set, and the next after that. Jiro didn't like how quiet it was. The only noise was the howling of the icy wind outside. No sign of any life at all anywhere. That had a few bad connotations with it. In one sense, it could mean that the Jido no Hogu-sha could be heard easily when they came in. But more specifically, it meant there couldn't be anything alive in the castle.

Two floors from the top, where the throne room was located, the two approached one of the stairs before Eiko suddenly turned off to one side.

The frost kami looked to her. "Huh? Eiko, don't we need to go up here?"

"Not yet…" She answered as she kept walking.

Jiro didn't know what was up, but stayed with her. They went down that hallway, made a turn, passed through another, and made one last turn. As they went into this one, Jiro slowed in his step, allowing Eiko to get even further ahead.

Like the rest of the halls in this building, this was lined with ice and damaged from the winter outside. However, it was clear what this had been before the winter hit; the armory hall.

In that day and age, there was no such thing as ornamental weapons and armor. The armor and weapons might have been a bit outdated and not normally used by Eiko's own samurai. These were the suits and weapons of her ancestors, but while they might have been unused, they had been maintained ever since their day. Eiko herself didn't pause on the older suits. She went straight back to the one erected against the back wall: the one that belonged to her own father. Jiro himself followed after her, but stepped slowly as he did so, maintaining his distance.

When Eiko reached the end and halted, he did as well. Eiko was facing the suit of armor and the swords directly. She stood silently a moment before she folded her hands in front of her and dropped into a kneel in reverence. After paying homage to the memory for a few moments, she rose again and reached out for it.

Yet she paused again at that. This would normally be where she would see her father's katana and wakizashi placed, but only the sheath of the smaller sword was present. She didn't know what this meant but didn't think about it long. She simply took the larger sword, drew it back, and began to tie it at her waist.

Jiro wasn't sure what she meant to do with that. Her body was totally ill suited for having learned sword combat. It was far too delicate. None of the incarnations he had ever known had been talented with a sword before. Still, she seemed to at least know what she was doing as she adjusted the sword at her hip. She wasn't confused at all, but promptly tied it in the proper manner and position.

"You were right, Jiro." She spoke after a moment. "I don't like to admit it…but the truth was my father didn't know how to deal with my power. I guess none of my parents' incarnations ever did. He feared it just like everyone else…and maybe with good reason. And by teaching me to deny that part of myself I ruined any chance I would have had of having control.

"But my father was still a good and noble man who was nothing like Hachiro, and what he's done here has disgraced his memory and that of my ancestors. I am half-human…which means he's slandered me too. He deserves to die on the blade of my father."

Jiro noted just how serious Eiko was a moment later when, in spite of the biting cold, she began to strip her extra outer robes so that she could move more fluidly. She tightened her jaw and didn't let the cold bother her at all as she did so. Once she was fully done, she turned…her face newly firm once again, and nodded.

"Let's go."

It didn't take much time to get back to the stairs and, once there, to climb them to the next to last level. On the floor above, things were even worse. Here must have been where much of the "external" ice was beginning to encroach into the interior. It covered almost all the walls; making them jagged, cruel, and lined with spikes. The air was even colder here, although Jiro could see that Eiko refused to back down from it even as it started to cover parts of the floor and the icicles hanging from the ceiling grew sharp. It was as if she was forcing her body not to shiver as they went to the stairs leading up to the final floor.

On his part, Jiro was growing rather frightened. He was struggling to finish the staff, but he couldn't. He just couldn't think any positive thoughts at a time like this. Not when he realized that his true love was walking into certain doom. Even if the others killed him, that still wouldn't get Eiko's power back, or save Arender-ken and, in turn, Eiko. She was still quite mortal in this raging storm. And Satoru was in the process of being reborn; meaning they were stuck in this frozen, uninhabitable kingdom until they all froze as they nearly had on the mountaintop.

As they stepped onto the final floor, which was almost entire ice walls now, Eiko paused and looked to him.

"…Can you use your new staff?"

The frost kami hesitated at suddenly being put on the spot but managed a weak smile. "Um, sure."

Eiko didn't look convinced, and she shouldn't have. While the staff looked a lot like his old one at this point, he hadn't properly infused it with his power. If he tried to do much 'major' with it, like his 'beams of cold', it would likely shatter and leave him powerless. She may not have known that exactly, but his hesitant look was all she needed.

"…Alright. All we need to do is stall, anyway. The posthurn gate leads up to the chambers behind the throne so that the king could escape if necessary. There should be areas where they can move in right behind him and hit him." She exhaled. "Stabbing someone in the back isn't exactly honorable…but neither is what Hachiro has done to my family and my kingdom."

She looked forward again. They had reached doors. Doors that weren't there before. A huge set of ice, spiked, and positively horrendous looking slabs were mounted before the entry to the throne chamber.

"Here we are. Let's finish this."

The woman walked forward once more, not even bothering to steel herself. She held no fear for Hachiro in spite of his power. The frost kami quickly snapped to and went to her side. He moved forward, grabbed the doors, and pushed as hard as he could. They held a bit and he had to strain a little, but slowly they creaked as they opened up. As soon as they were open wide enough for them to pass in, they did so.

They only went a couple meters inside before they stopped; both focusing on the rear of the chamber.

It looked foreign to Jiro. By now it was nothing but ice and snow. The floor in the back had been slightly elevated to allow whoever was standing there to sit higher. The rest of it, as high ceilinged and magnificent as it had once been, was now nothing more than a cave of ice. This high, one could hear the storm raging all around, battering the sides of the icy fortress. To Jiro's displeasure, a number of openings that normally would have been clear for the nobles and attendants to move in through the back were now iced over. That meant the Jido-no-Hogu-sha couldn't use those. There were still some open…at least, as best as Jiro could see…but he didn't know if they were accessible or if they were iced over inside.

At any rate, he didn't really have time to focus on that. They had found him.

He wasn't much different from last time. He had used his power to give himself a new set of Imperial-looking armor, made of ice, naturally, but other than that he was the same sick, twisted parody of Eiko. All traces of the innocent, kind, just noble he had been before were gone. To his disgust, Jiro realized he had actually believed him himself before, but now there was no shade of doubt about his true nature. He could see it in his eyes: angled, cruel, and void of any warmth or love inside them. The look of a man who clearly felt nothing for anyone. He was seated on a cushion of ice and gave them a dark smile as they entered.

"I'll be honest…I really didn't expect you to make it out of there alive, Eiko." He spoke. "But so much the better. I was thinking about what I might do if you did, somehow."

Jiro frowned. "Really? How come you weren't smart enough to make any sentries or guards, then?"

The "Yuki no O" chuckled. "Why exactly would I need any guards or sentries? Only someone too frail and weak to be willing to do what is necessary, such as instantly kill or freeze her opponents, to protect her reign has any need for guards. Only a foolish inept ruler who has been blessed with the power of the gods and chose to run and hide with it. Seriously, you two…you strike me as hypocrites. Why else did you not smash the Frozen Heart years ago for that woman's first incarnation? Why did you merely have it buried deep somewhere and forgotten by her family? Was it not because she was always too pathetic to ever want to wield this power? That she dreamed of giving it away as soon as she had the chance? And now that you have, you want it back?"

"Where's my sister?" Eiko snapped.

Hachiro chuckled, ignoring her as he began to rise. "Now, I, on the other hand, know perfectly well how to govern and rule. I've studied it my whole life, after all. Made friends with all the right nobles. Smiled and nodded to all the right members of the peasantry. Learned all the right steps to romance the right noblewomen… I really am the picture of a perfect noble, and now I've just got the 'final touch' to be the greatest in history."

Jiro frowned and nearly advanced when Eiko suddenly held out her hand to him in a stopping motion, indicating for him to stay back. He turned to her in surprise, but the woman glared fiercely at Hachiro, placing one hand on her sword hilt, underhanded, and then advanced further.

"How can you honestly call yourself that? Look around you. Look at Arender-ken. By tomorrow morning you'll have killed everyone here and turned this entire land into a frozen waste incapable of supporting anyone but you. I thought you said that you intended to be the opposite of Shitakarahi? That you intended to make a wintry world to have everyone flock to in order to escape the heat?

Hachiro shrugged as he rose. "What's the matter? Is this not 'wintry' enough for you? I can always make it colder…"

Eiko was stunned by that response. To be honest, so was Jiro.

"Your power is totally out of control!" She shot back. "You're freezing everything! Killing everything!"

"Oh, there's you and your silly 'control' again." Hachiro snorted, waving his hand at her. "What a pathetic excuse of a god you are. All this power…and all you worried about was making a few mortals shiver. What's the point of being a living god if you intend to live like a pathetic mortal? Look at the power I have! Look at what I can do without even feeling the slightest strain or exhaustion?" He gestured around. "Look at this magnificent domain! Nothing but ice and snow for miles and miles and all without my conscious desire! I knew you could bring winter, but this? This is how a true Yuki no Kami should build his reign! Wrapping everything in his element! Remaking everything into his element! I have total, absolute dominion over every last thing in my realm! All snow and ice obeys my slightest command and desire! You stupid woman…my power isn't out of control; it's in its true state! Bringing endless, cold winter to everything I desire!

"You think I honestly care whether or not a few mortals can live here?" He laughed. "They're mortals! They have no place in the domain of a god! And they have no place dictating to him how the world should be! This is my domain! My reign! They'll come here whether they like it or not! Or haven't you seen what even a weakened Shitakarahi can do? They'll have no choice! And when they get here, they'll live according to their god's will, not their own. If they can't learn to live here then who cares for them? With a snap of my fingers, I can make all of the people and creatures I desire out of pure ice and snow! Lives that have no purpose other than to serve and obey me! That makes them better than a bunch of weak mortals who constantly need fires and heat to survive!

"All of this could have been yours, woman. Before Shitakarahi arrived, you could have covered this entire planet in ice and darkness and made all bow down to you…and yet all you could ever think of was being a simpering, weak mortal. You never deserved this power. Not even for a second. It was always destined to be mine. No wonder the gods made sure the Frozen Heart survived until today…"

Eiko and Jiro were speechless. Hachiro was already a man with sociopathic tendencies. By getting this power, any remaining restraint he might have had that kept him from abandoning morality was totally gone. He no longer cared for right or wrong; simply what brought him power. In a way, he wished Eiko would think harder about this. It wasn't just because her ancestor had humbled herself so many years ago that she was given the Frozen Heart. It was because the gods could see that her heart was pure and selfless. That even if she was blessed with the powers of a god, she would never, ever think of herself as being above her subjects or any other human being. That was the strength of her spirit: to remain pure and noble even when given the power to ignore all morals. By comparison, monsters like Hachiro would only be warped like this.

"You're insane." He stated.

"'Sanity' is irrelevant." Hachiro grinned. "After all, I decide what's right and wrong from now on. And right now, I'm considering it a sin for anyone to deny my majestic winter. And look…it seems I have two sinners in need of punishment right in front of me."

Eiko grit her teeth, and twisted her arm around to grab her sword hilt properly. She advanced another step. "You're as much of a demon as Shitakarahi was. Come here and face me!"

Hachiro stared at Eiko a moment, as Jiro moved to her side and readied his staff…and then suddenly kicked his head back and laughed even louder, sending a booming, resounding echo throughout the entire chamber.

"You've got to be joking, you worthless woman! Look at you! I've never seen anything so miserably stupid in my entire life! Anything so weak and ridiculous! Look at what I did to those men who tried to stop me at the gate, you dumb cow! You think some frail little whore like you can do anything to me with a sword, assuming you even know how to do anything with it in the first place?"

Jiro's own anger was beginning to flare. Hearing this dog call Eiko such vile names…it was making his passion surge and his rage grow. A bit of ice appeared on the end of his crook, turning into a series of deadly knives.

"If I'm such a 'weak woman'," Eiko answered. "Then face me without your powers and with a sword. Show me that you have some shred of pride in you…unless, of course, you're too scared of a dumb cow to actually do so."

Hachiro's smile faded. It turned into a scowl. Slowly, his fists began to tighten.

"…Blasphemy is also a sin."

With that, he swung his hand out, and an icy, sharp wind of hurricane force suddenly launched through the air and slammed into Eiko. She gagged and snapped around it, for it struck her like a blow, before it threw her through the air and smashed into her into the back wall near the ice doors; barely missing hitting her on a spike. She slammed to the ground, collapsing in a heap a moment later.

"I owe you nothing, bitch." Hachiro answered. "To think you'd insult a god by suggesting he actually stoop to your-"

He cut off a moment later as a shard suddenly sliced through his cheek, actually drawing blood. He cried out and shielded his face, only to get his arm full of razor sharp icicles. He recoiled but managed to look to the source. Jiro, eyes wild with rage, teeth clenched in fury, had his staff aimed at him and was blasting him with ice shards as fast as he could make them. Unfortunately he let his anger get the better of him. Had he held just a bit longer, his surprise attack would have been with ice shards large enough to pierce Hachiro's vitals. Instead, his rage was making him hit him with tiny shards that could only draw blood from the outer skin layer, due to his staff not being complete. But he didn't notice…and didn't care. His face was flushed with fury.

"Don't you touch her!"

Hachiro, in pain and rather angry as well now, hissed. "Stupid kami…you're my subject now!" He swung out his other hand. Jiro, blinded to his anger, couldn't move in time as a cloud of white powder rose around him; forming a massive ice "hand" in mid-air that lashed out and seized him. Suddenly, powerful, crushing fingers enveloped his body and clenched inward. To his shock, he was suddenly immobilized. It snapped him out of his rage, but he only had a moment to curse his foolishness before the hand suddenly hoisted him off the ground and swung him forward; smashing him into the nearest ice wall hard enough to fracture it. It immediately did so a second time afterward, driving the kami into more agony and making him cry out as well. After that, the hand swung around and slammed him into the ground. It rapidly spread out as if "half-melting", then re-froze to the floor, immobilizing him much as Eiko's early technique had immobilized the samurai.

Yet no sooner had he landed and the ice crackling died down than footsteps arose in its wake. Jiro, dizzy, stunned, sore, and to his displeasure, unable to aim the staff in his hand at anything, turned and looked and saw Eiko was up again. Blood was mottled around her mouth, but she was dashing right for Hachiro; her hand on her sword hilt and ready to draw it as soon as she was in range. As for the corrupted noble, he angrily relaxed and began to pull pieces of ice from his arm, tinted red, when he turned and saw Eiko coming. In response, Jiro saw him grin maliciously. He nearly shouted to watch out…

But the type of attack he expected never came. Rather, Hachiro made a hand gesture and a part of the ice wall behind him collapsed.

What was on the other side made Eiko literally halt in her tracks; replacing her determination with terror.

"No…"

It was Akiko. Or, to be exact…what was left of her.

She was now a statue of pure ice, curled up on the floor, kneeling and having spent her last breath of life, it seemed, saying a prayer. To be honest she was beautiful. Finely and perfectly detailed compared to the cruel, haphazard, and erratic ice that Hachiro had made. But she was also clearly in pain and freezing until the final moment.

Eiko's resolve evaporated. Her hands felt to her sides. Had she drawn her sword already, it would have clattered to the ground. Tears slowly began to fill her eyes as her knees buckled, looking like she would fall at any moment.

"No…" She said again. She could say nothing else. Her eyes were wide no longer with horror but misery. They had been too late. Her sister was already gone.

Hachiro, however, merely grinned at her pain and waved his hand at her. Before she could collapse, her feet and ankles were instantly encased in ice, arresting any mobility she might have had. She didn't even seem to notice as she was restrained.

"Here's the only thing you've ever been able to do with your power, Eiko." He mocked. "Hurt those you profess to love. This happened a couple hours ago…and I watched every moment of it. Oh, she didn't know, of course. Not by the time her hair had turned white and her body was coated with frost…how her teeth were chattering so loud you almost couldn't hear anything else...she didn't notice anything at that point. She was in great pain, Eiko…oh yes…freezing so hard that she said she could feel her body being 'bit' by the very cold you put in her heart. Yet even until the end, with the last breath of white air that came from her frozen lips…she continued to pray, holding onto the hope that her murderer…" He snickered. "Oh, I'm sorry, her sister would come to her rescue. Well, it seems like you just managed to let her down one last time before she died at your own hand."

Jiro's rage, if possible, doubled. It wasn't just at how this monster had soullessly let Akiko, an innocent, warm girl who had never hurt anyone and had nothing but love and optimism in her heart, die, and that this bastard saw her as nothing but a tool for his amusement and a pawn to be manipulated. What angered him far more was what he was saying to Eiko; knowing that he was doing this to make her misery even worse. He wasn't just an immoral monster…he was a sadist.

He tried to call out. An insult…support for Eiko…something. Before he could, he suddenly felt the ice around him "constrict"; making it harder to breathe. The man knew he was going to yell out and kept him from even doing that. He just stood there with that smug look on his face, drinking in Eiko's pain.

And the woman was in pain. In spite of her former resolve, she tried to fall to the ground. Everything was rushing onto her again. All of her worst fears. Her worst fear. In spite of everything that had happened or who had done what, the greatest crime had been done by her. Her sister was the most wonderful person she had ever known. She was fiery-tempered and reckless at times, but it was always for the reasons that everyone should have been fiery-tempered and reckless about and would be if they weren't so afraid to be proper or dare to do things for those they loved. All she had ever wanted was more attention, to be closer to Eiko…and this was what she had given her.

Yet before she could think much more, an icy chill wrapped around her twice as cold as before. In spite of her best efforts, as the tears froze to her cheeks and frost began to accumulate on her, she shrank back and wrapped her arms around herself again. She tried to cringe, and suddenly realized she couldn't. Only now did she see her feet and ankles were frozen to the ground and were rapidly going into pain from being frozen from the outside. Not only that but the ice soon began to rise up her legs. She looked forward, trembling all over again and her teeth already starting to chatter, and saw the cruel Hachiro aiming a hand at her.

"The power to kill anyone with a single gesture, and what do you do with it?" He laughed. "You spare the inconsequential peasants and you kill your own sister. Make her die in a way so slowly and horribly I can't even imagine it. And yet, for all of that…for all of your professions of love…all you really have done is brought pain and misery to your people, haven't you, Eiko? Brought them this deadly winter, injured the ones you loved, ran off like the cowardly, inept fool you always were and didn't even know you were freezing them to death, made those guards slice those who tried to help you up…" He laughed aloud. "You're definitely no god, Eiko. Are you sure you aren't just a demon yourself? What good have you ever done anyone in your whole life? What have you ever done for anyone but hurt them? This power isn't a curse, Eiko…you're the curse!"

Too stricken by what had happened to Akiko, Eiko couldn't steel herself against this. She only could feel each word sting like a knife in her heart. Yet even as she sank more into despair and the ice climbed higher on her body, Jiro, his own passion making him struggle violently against the ice, looked up…and saw shadows coming through the passages behind Hachiro. Three of them, to be exact. They all paused in the tunnels they were emerging from, but were clearly getting ready to attack. They were here. And Hachiro wasn't paying attention. That meant they only needed to stall for a few moments more. He looked back to the demented man, continuing to exert sharp cold and icy blasts over Eiko, continuing to torture her physically and mentally…

Suddenly, the attack came. Jitte extended and out, Takara erupted from her passage and tore straight for Hachiro on one side. From another, Nobuyuki leapt out, having to go back into human form in order to fit, but meaning clearly to snap Hachiro's neck or crush his skull even if he had no weapons on him. For a moment, the two sailed right for him, almost silent over the sound of the icy gale…

When, grinning madly all the way, Hachiro snapped around and aimed his hands at both of them, sending off icy blasts…just like the one that had hit Akiko. Jiro's eyes widened and he tried to shout a warning, but it wouldn't have mattered. A moment later, both Takara and Nobuyuki were hit in the chests with the icy darts and, in spite of their respective speed and power, both of them cried as if they had been stabbed and stopped cold where they were. Takara dropped to the ground but even the mighty Nobuyuki writhed in pain before falling first to his knees and then collapsing.

At that very moment, Takeshi jumped out of Hachiro's shadow; his kunai at the ready. Unfortunately, Hachiro had turned around. He had been ready to stab him in the back and instead found himself appearing in his front. He nearly caught him off guard regardless but on hearing Takara and Nobuyuki cry out from being struck in the chest, he was distracted and looked to them. He was powerless to react before Hachiro aimed his hand at his own chest and sent an icy blast into it as well. The power of this was enough to snap the rabbit-eared man back and send him falling to the ground too.

Jiro went wide-eyed. None of them were dead but he realized, in horror, they might as well have been. He knew what that move was…what it had done…

Hachiro only laughed again. "You can't be serious! You thought you could get me with that? You were dealing with a stupid harlot who didn't want to really hurt you before! Now you're dealing with a true god! Besides, one would think by now you'd realize I know all about backstabbing…"

The frost kami didn't know what to do now. That was their last hope and Hachiro had eliminated it in moments. Eiko was even more terrified. She had only known the Jido-no-Hogu-sha for a short time and they weren't really her friends per say, but she knew they were great and noble warriors with kind hearts in spite of being yokai. Now they had been sentenced to die just as Akiko had.

"And just to make sure you don't try anything before you freeze…" Hachrio waved his hand.

The three abruptly began to writhe in pain and clutched for their chests. They were clearly being tortured. Jiro couldn't take this. They were his friends. He would have screamed for him to stop in spite of his own pride but couldn't make a noise. Instead, Eiko, teeth chattering violently, struggled to speak.

"L-L-Leave t-t-t-hem alone…"

In response, Hachiro spun around and slapped her with the back of his hand. It would have knocked her to the ground if it wasn't for the ice on her legs.

"Don't dare talk to me again unless spoken to." He snorted, before grinning again. "Besides…what's the matter? Don't you like watching people suffer? You wanted to kill them only a day ago… And now look. They get to die as slowly and horribly as your sister. But until then, I've slipped a little 'real' ice in their hearts. Now all I need to do is think it and I shred them from the inside like a boned fish. It will be painful…but quick. Unlike you Eiko, who liked to draw out the pain of her subjects… Which is why you're very slowly going to freeze to death right in front of me."

He aimed his hand out for her again and resumed freezing her. Cringing again, both from pain as well as biting cold, the ice climbed over her knees and continued to ascend, more rapidly now. Jiro clenched his teeth but his anger was fading. It was replaced with misery as he stared at her, unable to do anything again.

Damn it, Eiko…don't listen to him! Can't you see it? Can't you see that you're nothing like what this monster says you are? Why can't you? Why can't you tell how much more you are than him? Why are you insulting yourself thinking you're anything like this psychopath?

"Dogs like you are an insult to Japan." Hachiro went on as he continued to chill her. "The shogun was a fool for not giving your land up to a noble years ago! Due to foolish sentimentality he gave it to a stupid, weak woman! And you, you sickening bitch, all you did was tease men who were greater rulers than you could ever be by refusing to marry them. Clinging to your throne and Arender-ken and acting all high and mighty… It's more than my pleasure to see you put in the place you always deserved to be…the place your father should have put you for being such a arrogant little wench… I almost feel like letting you live long enough for me to personally teach you how to submit to your betters…but the truth is you've always disgusted me in that they gave this great kingdom to some stupid cow. I'd rather see you beg for mercy with your own last breath…"

"Stop!"

Hachiro hesitated in what he was doing, but only removed one hand from Eiko this time. He turned around, a bit surprised to hear another voice, and was just in time to see Osamu descend from one of the openings. It seemed a bit hard for him. He stumbled a bit, but quickly picked himself back up and rushed right out; the most defiant look he could muster on his face. He began to rush toward him.

"If you want to hurt Lady Eiko, you've got to go through me!"

The hime, in spite of shivering uncontrollably at this point, the ice moving over her hips and toward her waist, looked out and struggled to tell him to get back. "Osamu…n-n-no…"

Hachiro snorted. "Another thing… You could have made any creature you liked, and yet you made this worthless pile of snow. I'm surprised the gods didn't smite you long ago for being such a disgrace, woman…"

Nevertheless, the perfectly-shaped snow "man" balled his hands into fists and continued to charge. "I've heard enough from you! Lady Eiko may make some mistakes but she's the sweetest, kindest woman I ever met! Well…other than Akiko…and I've only ever really met three women, but still! I won't let you badmouth her! Come on! Your ice powers won't work on me! Let's settle this man to man…to…er…snow?"

The corrupted noble looked on at him a moment, then snorted. He began to raise his hand. "What a piece of trash…"

Suddenly finding strength, Eiko cried out. "No! Please!"

It was too late. Hachiro shot out a blast of cold at Osamu as he stood there, fists up, ready to fight. It sank into his chest in an instant, his eyes passionate, ready to "throw it down"…

And he exploded into snowflakes that blasted throughout the entire room before slowly drifting to the ground.

Fresh horror painted the faces of Eiko and Jiro. Even the frost kami was shocked. He knew that Osamu had been alive…a living, sentient creature…which meant that had just been murder. Hachiro had killed before now, but not in front of him. And he had so little care…as if Osamu really was nothing to him but a "pile of snow"…

Eiko, however, could only stare open mouthed in spite of the cold blinding her, in spite of her fresh tears freezing to her face, as she saw the remains of Osamu literally whirl through the air about her while they descended.

"Why couldn't you have made something that deserved to live? Not such an annoying creature…" Hachiro sighed. He turned back to her. "Well, I don't see the last one of you trying to stop me, so I guess I'll just have to continue slowly killing you until he comes out and gets what's coming to him too…"

The queen was soon battered by cold again; the ice climbing over her waist. Soon it would start to coat the bottom of her arms, but she was already "icing over" before that. She cringed and trembled from the bitter, stinging cold…but it didn't begin to match how she was feeling on the inside. Misery…wretchedness…seeing nothing but pain being brought by her power…nothing but cold and death…having watched the innocent Osamu just get destroyed like that for trying to defend her…

Defend me? Why? Why should anyone defend me? This is all my fault! All I do is bring death and misery! All of this winter…it's all me! It's all my power! It's because of me that this monster has it now! It's because of me that he's killing everything in Arender-ken! It's because of me Akiko is dead, Osamu is dead, and Jiro is going to die! I'm just a monster! A horrible, murdering, mon-

Yet even as she said this, her eyes, nearly freezing to the point of blindness, cracked open…and saw something. They looked to where Jiro was on the floor. In spite of her misery, in spite of her thoughts that she had let him down, she still wanted to see him. She still longed for him. Perhaps that was why she looked. And when she looked, she saw him staring back at her through the gently falling snow…

His eyes weren't harsh. They weren't scared. They weren't amorous or desperate. They were merely sad…filled with pity…filled with longing. He mouthed something to her. And in spite of him unable to make any noise, she understood it.

He knew you loved him.

She looked on at him as he faded from view, as the ice covered her stomach and began to line her lower arms and thought about that.

He knew I loved him…

…I did, didn't I? Why else would I be crying…why else would I be horrified…? Of course I did. He was a person. He might have been a snowman, but he was alive… He was kind and happy and fun… I loved having him around. He was so sweet…just like Akiko… Maybe that's what I had in mind when I made him…that's why I wanted him… But yes…of course I loved him. Just like I loved those samurai. I made them to protect me but that doesn't mean I saw them as tools… I knew what they were. I knew they had thoughts and feelings and emotions. They weren't just constructs to me. They weren't just "snow". They were living things and I saw them that way…unlike…

Unlike…

As Eiko thought about this, for the first time in her life, something clicked inside of her. Something that Jiro had been trying continuously to tell her but she had blocked out every time. At long last, she let some of it in, and when it did everything else she had heard…from Jiro…from Akiko…from her life story…it all came rushing in.

Even as the ice coated her lower arms and locked them in place, her legs began to numb, and the very blood in her veins started to still, she grit her teeth to stop chattering, and looked back to Hachiro. The boldness had returned in spite of her weakened, freezing state.

"You're…wrong." She managed to choke out.

Hachiro snickered. "Oh, I'm wrong? About what? If it's about the fact that you're going to slowly freeze to death, rest assured that is going to happen."

As the ice kept climbing upward, Eiko forced herself to speak without chattering her teeth.

"I made mistakes, yes. Some of them were horrible. Some of them did a lot of terrible things to others…and even to those I love. But until now…until just now…I always thought that defined me. I always thought that because I kept having these accidents…because I did these horrible things…that it meant that was who I was. That it meant I was horrible and terrible…that I was a demon. That's why I was so scared of myself. That's why I hid myself away. I thought I was a monster who could only bring pain to those I love."

Hachiro chuckled. "Really? And you were right, weren't you?"

"No, I wasn't!"

The sudden sharpness of this…the sudden violence of it…was enough to make Hachiro's smile evaporate. Having been insulted, he removed a hand and reared it back, meaning to slap Eiko again…but found he couldn't. The woman's eyes had suddenly cleared, even of frost, and she was glaring at him with such regal power and fury that even he, the self-proclaimed god, found he couldn't move.

"I owe that to you. You've shown me the truth at last…what Akiko always saw…what Jiro has been trying to tell me for the past few days… My whole life I thought I was a monster and a devil because of my mistakes. I thought that made me horrible and twisted and evil. But it doesn't. It doesn't any more than a blizzard makes winter any less important to spring flooding. It doesn't any more than the old generation of birds freezing and dying so that their bodies can feed the young predators and the new generation has enough food to live. It doesn't any more than a cold storm forces people to be indoors so that they can enjoy the fruits of the labor they've worked hard spring through autumn to provide for."

Hachiro, having heard enough, brought his other hand forward and increased the ice building; soon covering her lower arms and past her elbows. Yet as her chest began to vanish under an icy coating, Eiko's voice didn't diminish or weaken.

"I see that it doesn't matter if the world sees me as something cruel or horrific or monstrous because that's not what I am! It doesn't matter if the world brands me as a demon if I'm not really one! And I am good…because I am nothing like you! I don't see this world as something to ice over and make 'my domain'! I don't see people as ants to live or die for my amusement! And I don't see innocent creatures that I create as things to just blow away as if they're nothing! I love winter but I love this world too! And I want people to see winter the way I see it now! To see that there's good and beauty in it! That there's the potential for life and joy even in the death and gloom that comes with it! That like the rest of nature, there is a side to it that's wonderful and even glorious!"

"Would you shut up already, you mangy dog?" Hachiro hissed as he increased his power more. Yet as he did, he noticed something.

She wasn't "icing over" faster. As the ice reached her neck, it was going slower…

"…What?"

"And even if no one else in the world can see it, it's still there! Winter does have beauty and majesty to it even if everyone in the world says it doesn't! That's part of it, and it can't be taken away! And me…because I'm winter itself…because I'm winter in a mortal body…that means I have beauty in me to! I have the power to make something wonderful! I have the ability to make winter as 'good' as I am! To make it reflect my heart!"

Jiro began to lift his head a bit more, in spite of the pain and crushing around him. He was seeing it now; that regal air and majesty that had started in Eiko's eyes was lighting up her face. But that wasn't all. Her spirit…it was calming at last. Not only that…but where before it had seemed like it was "torn in half", to Jiro's amazement it was regenerating.

She's doing it…

She's accepting herself at last…

At that point, the ice stopped climbing. It actually started to recede.

"What?!" Hachiro exclaimed. "That's…impossible! Why aren't you freezing to death?! I'm hitting you with everything! I'm ordering your heart to be impaled by ice! Why aren't you dying?!"

"Because you're ordering my soul to kill me…which is as meaningless as telling yourself to drop down dead, Hachiro." Eiko answered as the ice exposed her arms again. By now, she wasn't shivering at all. "That power was never yours because you're not a god and you never will be. It's mine. Iam the Yuki no Megami. I always was and I always shall be. Winter will always reflect what's in my heart, and my heart only wishes for everyone to be well and see the beauty in it that I can see. And that means I want this hellish blizzard you've made to end…right now!"

With that, although there was still some ice left on her hands, Eiko's arms snapped free and shot forward, grasping Hachiro in the chest. Immediately icy blue light burst forth from it, and the corrupted noble went rigid; his body stretched out and unable to move. All he could do was stare in shock as Eiko seemed to dip her hands into his clothes and even flesh, and then tighten her jaw and grit her teeth as she pulled. To his horror, his clothes became rigid on his body. His pale hair slowly turned dark again, and his skin turned rosy. The deathly chill he had made soon began to pervade him as his body lost its immunity to cold.

"No…no…how could-"

He got no farther as Eiko ripped her arms back and yanked out the Frozen Heart, filled with the same light as before. Hachiro, now a mortal again, seemed to explode off of her and fly back violently; smashing into the ground, shattering his ice armor and clothes, and sending him sliding. Immediately, she pressed the Frozen Heart to hers. She didn't cry out. She didn't stiffen. Not this time; for she was merely restoring the missing part of herself. She held on as it burst into icy blue light and glowed through her.

At once, her hair turned pale blond again as her pallor turned more wan. The ice around her exploded and turned into thousands of tiny bits, and soon swept around, slicing off every bit of the old clothing and then joining together to form icy fabric. In moments she was again clad in a kimono of ice. The light to the Frozen Heart went dim again, once more turning it into a dark ice jewel, as Eiko's powers were fully restored; her spirit not only rebuilding, but now becoming stronger than ever. Blazing more glorious than Jiro had ever seen from her before.

And with that done, her eyes opened and she looked to the Frozen Heart, still in her hands.

Without hesitation she snapped it in half. In spite of how solid it looked, in the hands of the true god of winter it crumbled into shards like brittle ice. The woman was again half-god and half-mortal…forever.

Letting the shards fall, she looked up and stepped forward, getting on the elevated platform. She looked to the ice statue that had been Akiko. She stared a moment, sadness filling her features…but then made herself firm. Taking a deep breath, closing her eyes, and, as Jiro could tell, bringing forth her spirit and her desires she held out her hand to her and pointed a finger at the ice.

A moment later, a stream of frost went away from it; right from the chest region of the former princess. Not the way it had come in. Before, it had shot like a cruel dart. Now, it gently trailed away and back to Eiko. Jiro watched. He had so little experience with this he wasn't sure if it would matter. If it was already too late for that…

Yet, to his amazement, it seemed it wasn't. He could feel it. Although Eiko seemed to be drawing something out the truth was she was sending something in its place. Not her power…but rather the other part of her spirit: the part that was filled with love, care and kindness. It went into Akiko and it resonated with something that he hadn't sensed before, but he could tell now had been there somewhere inside the icy statue: Akiko's own love.

And as the affection the two sisters had for one another united, it was like a dying fire had just had a poker stir it and fresh dry logs thrown on top. It began to flare again. Color, flesh, warmth, and life returned to the chest region of Akiko. It rapidly spread from there like a building flame, moving out to the rest of her chest. Down to her shoulder and hips and up her neck. It traveled out from there over her head; her garments slowly loosening again, her hair hanging down, her joints beginning to fall… By the time Akiko's eyes, bewildered and perhaps confused, yet warm and alive, began to blink in surprise, it was down to her wrists and ankles. Soon it passed over those as well, and the young noblewoman of Arender-ken was fully alive and flesh and blood once again.

She looked around in confusion, before turning to Eiko. She stared a moment…but before any joy or happiness could appear on her face, the older sister went to work again. Immediately, she waved her hand over the other Jido-no-Hogu-sha. At once, the same effect happened to their chests. The "magic" ice in their hearts was drawn out, and the "physical" ice evaporated. All of them calmed and were soon restored. They looked up, one after another, and stared in surprise and amazement. Still not done, Eiko waved her hand over Jiro next. At once, his icy prison was gone, turned into snow that blew away. The frost kami slumped on the ground and panted for a moment, but he also managed to look up to Eiko. His eyes were filled with happiness and joy and he smiled at her.

Eiko, in spite of what she had to do, smiled back at him for just a moment, before she took a deep breath…the love inside her swelling again…and raised her arms.

At once, the icy winds died. The storm not only over the castle but all over Arender-ken came to a halt. The clouds rapidly began to rise and thin out. As they did, something bizarre happened. All of the thick snow that had fallen on the country began to be drawn upwards; back toward the heavens they had come from. The cruel ice spikes that filled the country rapidly smoothed as pieces of them broke off and ascended as well. The temperature began to rise rapidly. Buildings, walls, and gates groaned as the ice that had stressed and pushed them slowly receded, letting them settle back into place.

The sky began to clear and, with it, the stars and the moon came out. Light began to shine down in the midst of the evaporating winter. Homes were slowly exposed again and, after a time, the doors opened and the citizens of Arender-ken who had been huddled in terror and cold looked out; feeling how warm it was becoming and seeing the winter vanish. The cruel ice spire that had enveloped Arender-ken Castle was destroyed; splitting into huge pieces which, in turn, disintegrated as well. Slowly, the great pagoda was exposed again. The waters of the sea loosened and began to move around the atoll. Flowers and fields were exposed; whatever plants had been "flash frozen" now thawed and able to move again and grow again.

Above the castle itself, the last bit of snow and ice was slowly drawn upward and made a great symbol in the sky. Jiro had seen it before in Eiko's palace: a great white snowflake that she had made her symbol on the floor of the main chamber. It condensed there, drawing the last bit of ice to it, as the citizens of Arender-ken, seeing the winter over, feeling the warmth of summer even at night, once again, slowly exited their homes and looked upon it…

And then, in a flash, each spire shot off to the four winds and was gone, leaving only a starry sky with a glorious moon.

Inside the upper level of the castle, Eiko slowly lowered her arms and exhaled. It was a sigh of relief, not exhaustion. It had been no more difficult for her physically to remove the winter than it had been to put it there. The castle was clear now. The throne room back to its original state. The only remaining bits of ice were some fluttering flakes in the room and her dress of ice, which seemed to maintain its own cold without needing external influence.

The frost kami slowly began to rise. The other members of the Jido-no-Hogu-sha began to do the same. Akiko was already up, marveling at everything that had happened, and the smile on her face growing as she looked to her older sister. Yet as they were still getting up, the megami exhaled.

"Just one more miracle…"

With that, she closed her eyes and held her hands up again, sweeping them around one more time. An icy wind erupted as a result and turned into a wintry vortex, but it was isolated this time. No one else in the room felt the slightest bit cold from it. The wind gathered the fluttering flakes around the chamber and brought them back together; condensing them into one mass much as Satoru's own golden cocoon had. She traced her fingers around in the air until they were bunched in a single spot in front of her.

Exhaling, she raised her other hand and gestured with it at the same time as she cut off her first hand, mouthing a prayer as she did.

At once, the snow came together and "poofed"…

…and, a moment later, the body of Osamu fell down to the ground and collapsed on it. Yet it was even more defined than before. Where before he looked like a perfect man made out of snow, he had changed further. His clothes still looked to be made from snow and ice, but his flesh actually had a "flesh" tone to it; apparently real skin. His eyes, which were wide open, still gleamed icy and blue, clearly showing his supernatural origin, and his hair was like white patches of snow as well. And yet he now looked part "human" himself.

Soon after, Osamu blinked and his chest began to rise and fall. Suddenly, he leaned up and looked around.

"What happened? Is this summer?"

Eiko actually let out a noise: a mixture of a laugh and a sigh of relief as she cupped her hands to her mouth. She started to tear up again, but for the first time in a long while it wasn't of sadness. Even Jiro actually stumbled back and leaned against the wall of the chamber, nearly swooning. He had never seen any of Eiko's incarnations do that before but, then again, he had never seen her so wholly accept her nature before.

He felt like he could run forward and embrace her right then and there. The sentiments were shared. Akiko, her own face lighting up and tears forming in her eyes, took a step forward. Takara's wings began to flutter with delight. Nobuyuki nearly laughed. Even Takeshi was struggling to turn away so no one could see his smile. Yet all of that was interrupted by a groan.

Hachiro was dressed in soaking wet remains of clothes. It seemed his control over making attire for himself wasn't flawless. He had only clad himself in ice, not replaced his old clothes with it. He rose now; grunting, staggering, and sore.

No less than twenty different ways to kill Hachiro flooded Jiro's mind. He had just elected to shove the end of his staff down the man's throat and freeze him from the inside out at roughly the same time Osamu reached up and pushed his own hat down over his new near-mortal eyes, Nobuyuki's knuckles cracked with a sound that was like tree timbers, Takeshi looked ready to gut him, Takara herself started to roll up her sleeves, and even Akiko started to quiver in anger. As Hachiro looked up, he seemed to realize what position he was in. His face tightened and he reached for his original sword still at his hip.

At that, Eiko held up a hand and shouted.

"Everyone get back!"

The voice was so strong, so resonating, and with such an air of authority that it did make everyone halt. They all looked to the woman. However, her eyes were focused entirely on Hachiro, and they were not kind or gentle. Jiro already understood. He knew that if she had wanted to end this in a snap, she could. But this wasn't about just her power. It was about her own nobility. About how she had been slandered, disgraced, and dishonored.

With that in mind, he gave the others a nod before stepping back. Reluctantly, the rest of the Jido-no-Hogu-sha did too. Akiko stayed where she was, although she came no closer. Osamu hesitated, but she looked down to him…and gave him just a hint of a smile; reassuring him. Seeing that, the "snow man" gave a nod and a smile back before moving to one side. Now the floor was clear save for her and Hachiro.

He glared at her. There was some fear in his eyes. Obviously he realized it would be very easy for her to end his life with a wave of her hand. And he was expecting any one of a thousand painful ends at the moment. Yet before he could fear too much, Elsa returned her hand to the hilt of the sword still bound around her waist, which hadn't moved at all as a result of her new clothes.

"Draw your sword. I won't strike down an unarmed man."

The noble paused, clearly a bit confused. Yet on seeing Eiko merely stand there, hand on her hilt, he turned his brow. "…What is this? Some sort of trick?"

"No trick. I said I would face you without powers. That includes me using any. Just the two of us."

Jiro began to tense up a bit and he wasn't alone, but after a moment he looked harder at Eiko's expression. There was no fear in that gaze and neither was there any sign of naitivity. He didn't know how…but the woman knew exactly what she was doing. Her lack of fear was simply due to there being no reason to be afraid. He nodded to the others again, letting them know it would be alright.

Hachiro, on the other hand, grinned and snorted. "Don't get to full of yourself, woman. Just because you have your power back doesn't make you any less of a fool or a weakling in every other regard. You're still nothing without it. And you think I want to risk staining my honor by cutting down a weakling?"

"You already lack any honor whatsoever, you miserable pig. I'd be fully in my rights to have you impaled on a half dozen shards of ice with a snap of my fingers for your crimes, to say nothing of how you have disgraced my family and dishonored my sister. Don't think I'm doing this to preserve your honor…I'm doing it to preserve mine. I want you to know just how inferior you are to me in every way, not just in matters of the heart and my power."

Hachiro scowled as he put his hand on his own sword. "…Gladly." He snorted. "If you want to stupidly allow yourself to be cut down with ease, I won't stop you. My own execution will be a small price to pay, and I'll actually die with a smile on my face. I only wish I could see Shitakarahi turn your precious Arender-ken into a cinder…or look at your face when he burns your sister and your lover to death before your eyes…"

In an instant, his blade was out and at the ready; his own feet shifting into a pose. As for Eiko, her gaze never wavered in the slightest. Very slowly, letting the metal run against metal, she drew her own katana and held it before her. Jiro watched and noticed the grace with which she wielded it, the fluidity…as if the sword was an extension of her. He couldn't believe it. Her body wasn't at all 'formed' for sword combat, and yet the way she drew it…

Hachiro…he's a fool thinking she doesn't know how to use that…

The noble grinned. "So you can mimic your daddy's moves rather well. Since I'll spill your blood without ever touching my sword to yours, I'll give you something to ponder as you lie bleeding to death. I can tell right now you've never held a blade before that wasn't for an ornament or a ceremony because your body is utterly frail with no developed muscles. You aren't intimidating or fooling me in the slightest."

With that, Hachiro took off for Eiko, bringing his sword back and meaning to kill her with a single slash from shoulder to hip. He smiled all the way as he came in, even eager to watch the hime die…

Yet even as he came the rest of the Jido-no-Hogu-sha realized there was nothing to fear. Hachiro was the one who was the novice here leaving himself wide open. And in a split second, they saw Eiko note that he was wide open and not even bother with it. She merely brought her own sword up and around, shifted her legs, and braced herself right as the slash came down…and held as solid as a rock as his sword collided with hers, bracing it perfectly.

Hachiro was stunned at the speed but not nearly as stunned as he was a moment later when Eiko, her face not even tightening, twisted the sword out and pressed against his arms and wrist at their least reinforced point; overwhelming him and actually forcing his weapon and arm away. He actually staggered back, as Eiko brought her own blade down and around, twisting and adjusting into just the right position as she advanced on him. Yet even now, to the amazement of the Jido no Hogu-sha, she drew it out. She took her time before slicing upward at him. Although he managed to bring his blade around and intercept, he still staggered back from her hitting him off guard and off center; making him even more unbalanced. And that was when she telegraphed her move intentionally. Not only was she showing off just who was the true master with the blade, not only was she somehow putting out strength that her thin body shouldn't have been capable of…she was actually toying with him.

She advanced after him as he staggered back, bringing her sword forward and down for a vertical chop. Hachiro, more off guard and stunned at her speed, skill, and power than ever, managed to haphazardly cross his blade in front of himself to guard. The swords locked but, to his surprise, in spite of how much size he had on the woman, she was the one holding firm while he quivered. He was sweating and shocked now. Eiko, on the other hand, was cold and resolute; looking more fearsome now than as an ice goddess.

"Allow me to tell you something since you didn't learn it in the brief time you had my power. The power inside me allows my body to do many things that others can't. I can stay awake as long as I want. I can eat if I wish or live without food. I can be comfortable in the coldest weather and turn an ice sculpture into fabric with a touch. But most of all…"

Her eyes narrowed.

"…I can train for five years following my father's death in how to use a sword with private tutors, and practice four hours a day during a self-imposed exile building all of the muscle strength and memory, and yet still appear to have a delicate body."

With that, the woman shifted her wrists into a disarming move, swung Hachiro's sword down and around, pried it from his grip, and flung it to one side so hard the blade "thunked" into the wall and held there; before opening a bloody gash in Hachiro's side and spilling his blood across the floor.

The noble's eyes went wide with shock and horror. He cried in agony as he lost all strength, falling to his knees. He gripped his bloody side, soaking rapidly into his already wet clothes, and drew in on himself; helpless and beaten now.

Jiro had to suppress the urge to applaud, especially since even that cut was intentional. He saw her hold back and purposely not go in deep enough to end his life. She glared at Hachiro coldly, watched him writhe and bleed on the ground, right until he raised his head. Then, he immediately clammed up and froze for her sword was up and pointed right in between his eyes. Her icy glare bore into him.

And the nobleman could only stare: sweat on his brow, fear in his eyes, realizing he was totally beaten by this woman.

"…I won't be merciful enough to grant you death." She stated after a moment. "Not after all you've done. You'll go into the dungeons at the base of this castle. You'll be gnawed on by rats every night and fight off maggots trying to infest your wounds or sores every day. You'll never see the sun again or feel heat or cold or anything but the dankness of those forgotten cells. You'll be granted a mirror so that you'll be able to watch your flawless, handsome features slowly wither, rot and decay…see your hair as it grays and falls out one strand at a time…watch your mouth as you lose one rotted tooth after another…and slowly become so hideous and shriveled that no woman would have you to spit upon you. But most of all…you will live alone in a bleak, forgotten cell and realize that you lost to the very woman you thought so little of. The very 'ugly whore' you ridiculed who treated you like a boy with a bamboo sword in your duel with her and played with you like a cat played with a mouse…and you were utterly helpless and hopeless to do a thing about it."

Her sword slowly passed away from him, but her glare remained.

"Ponder just how 'inferior' you are over the next fifty or sixty years, Lord Hachiro."

With that, she flicked her sword in his face, throwing his own blood into his eyes and blinding him.

"Your blood isn't even worthy of staining my father's blade."

As he recoiled and rubbed at his eyes with one hand, holding his side with the other, Eiko generated a "cloth" of ice in her hand and wiped the sword clean before calmly returning it to its sheath. Afterward, she turned away from him, looking back to Jiro and Osamu, and started to walk toward them. As she walked she undid her sword from her waist.

"Osamu?"

At once, the snow man stood at attention and waddled out (still walking that way even with two fully intact legs). He quickly dropped into a kneel. "Yes, great megami?"

She looked over him a moment, and then couldn't help but soften and smile. "…Seems every time I meet you I'm giving you a different body. This is the last one, I promise. You'll get to enjoy all the summer you want now…but, first…" She raised her sword to both hands and held it out to him. "Could you please return this to my father's armor set?"

The snow man looked up and eagerly nodded. "Oh yeah! Right away, great megami!" He said as he rushed to take it from her.

However, she withheld it at the last moment. "And…Osamu?"

He paused, blinking in puzzlement.

"'Eiko' will do just fine."

The snow man looked puzzled. "…Eiko will do what just fine?" He answered.

She gave him a look.

"…Oh!" He exclaimed. "Oh, I get it! Yeah! Sure! Right away gr…er, Eiko!"

He readily accepted the blade, turned, and began to rush out to the exit. Eiko smiled and watched him go a moment, but then looked to Jiro. His smile turned into a grin as he looked back at her. She folded her hands in front of her.

"…You were right about everything."

"Eh, I usually am." He casually answered as he crossed the staff behind his head and leaned back. "I mean, I have been alive for-look out!"

Eiko snapped around and saw what Jiro had spotted that suddenly made his own face turn to shock. Hachiro had arisen, and there was something in his hand. A throwing knife. It had to have been somewhere concealed in his clothes after he had lost his sword. It turned out while he had been clutching his side he had actually been going for it. And now that he had it, he rose; his eyes filled with murderous intent, and aimed at her back…

When he paused, for a delicate female hand landed on his shoulder. He looked to it in confusion…

Before the tip of a blade erupted from his chest.

Akiko had moved out to see Eiko now that everything was alright again, and, as a result, blocked the view between the Jido no Hogu-sha and the nobleman. She alone had seen Hachiro rise and draw a weapon and hadn't wasted a second. Earlier, when it had been just her and Hachiro in the palace, she had been too weak and cold to put up any sort of fight but her nature wouldn't let her surrender. She had gone into the same armory that Akiko had, looking for a weapon…if not to kill the man with to at least defend her last shred of honor with. Based on what the noble had told her, he feared that he would take her by force. And in spite of her juvenile attitude at times she wasn't willing to spend the last bit of her life with that disgrace. She took the smaller sword her father had possessed, the one easier for her to manage, and had hidden it under her thick clothing. Unfortunately, by the time Hachiro had seen her again, when she was waiting in the throne room, she was too cold to lift even something so small, and soon after had frozen…yet hid the blade beneath her robes when they turned to ice with the rest of her.

But when she rose and saw Hachiro doing drawing the knife, she finally found a purpose for the mate to her father's blade. And the nobleman, thinking Akiko was a harmless fool to the end, had only felt her hand on his shoulder before the blade slid in between his ribs and through his chest. After all, her father had kept it very sharp.

Hachiro's eyes were widened in shock and he slowly looked to one side, quivering, blood oozing from his chest, the life fading from his eyes. Yet he saw the fierce face of Akiko lean over his shoulder and glare at him in absolute fury.

"Now you know what it feels like to have your heart split in two."

The man stared silently for a moment longer; his mouth hung open…before he slumped to the ground and went still forever.

The room was silent. Everyone stared at Akiko. The young woman herself looked over Hachiro silently, not moving a muscle. Slowly, she began to breathe again. And when she did her whole body began to shake and quiver. Her eyes started to tear up. It wasn't out of sadness but rather the rush of fear that comes after one had just done something desperate as a matter of life or death. She had never wanted to kill anyone her entire life, yet she had done so to save Akiko. She didn't regret saving her sister, but the act was so shocking. To see Hachiro lying dead at her feet, his blood spilling on the floor, the blade she had driven into him going through. Like many things in Akiko's life, she had gone into it bold and daring but had wound up shocked at how serious it had ended up being. She could only stand there and tremble, her breath sounding like she would break into sobs.

Eiko stared open mouthed; realizing how narrowly she had escaped death. She too was nearly apoplectic. But in the end, she swallowed and turned around. She walked back up to Akiko, who was still staring at the body of the nobleman. In moments, the older sister was on her and took her hands in her own.

"Akiko." She said softly.

The younger sister looked to the older, as if woken up from a dream. Both looked to each other quietly as the power of the incident slowly passed from their minds. They focused instead on each other and everything that they had done over the past few days. All of the heartache…all of the trials…all of the sacrifices…and all of the realizations of how much they meant to each other. How much one was willing to do for the other…and how now both were free of the years of isolation, fear and misery. Slowly, Akiko's own hands turned and grasped Eiko's back. In the wake of everything that had happened, things were finally over…and they were finally a family again.

When that hit, both young women released, wrapped their arms around each other, and hugged tightly. Both of them broke into crying as they pressed so tight one would think they were trying to become one person. In spite of the tears rolling down their cheeks, both of them showed nothing but joy on their faces; happier and more joyful than either had felt in a very, very long time.

None of the others said anything. They just watched. Jiro himself leaned up again and smiled. He knew he could fix his staff now, now that his fears for Eiko had vanished…at least, most had…but he left it for now, waiting for the two to finish. After all, it made him feel happy to see Eiko happy and, in all honesty, he was glad to see Akiko alive. They all were. Takara was practically tearing up, as was Nobuyuki. Takeshi didn't tear but he didn't hide his smile for once. After a time, Osamu waddled back in.

"Hey Eiko! I took your-"

Immediately, Jiro turned to him and made a "shushing" motion. The snow man blinked in puzzlement, but then saw the girls together. He soon made a knowing look, and then waited at the side.

At long last, the girls eased up, although their heads were still resting on the shoulders of the other. Their crying stopped and Akiko sighed.

"It's finally over…"

Hearing this, however, made Eiko's eyes open. Her face turned downcast.

"…I'm sorry, Akiko. It's not. The hard part is just getting started."

To be continued...

AUTHOR'S NOTE: In case it isn't clear, Osamu is no longer a "living snowman". Now that Eiko fully controls her power, she "upgraded" him and actually turned him into a snow kami (spirit). He's not nearly as strong or skilled as Jiro, but he can now approximate a human form with flesh and blood and everything.