A young girl stood atop the hill on the outskirts of Misaki city. She was clad in black clothes and a rather worn looking black trench coat. Around her neck was a fine silver chain connected to a strange looking stone. Her long black hair flowed freely behind her, moving slightly in the breeze. She was of short stature, and looked no older than 15. Yet her face held an expression of maturity and intensity.

"So, this is Misaki City." She said. A sentence that could be called a question sounded more like a statement when she spoke it.

"Indeed, it seems we aren't the only ones here. I can sense the presence of a Denizen in the city, though it's difficult to judge its strength from this distance." A deep voice said. It carried a level of power in its deep sound. The voice came from the stone that hung from the girl's neck. "I can also detect a large amount of Torches in the city."

"Yeah, there are way too many to simply ignore." The girl said. "Whoever the Denizen is, they have a rather large appetite."

"Proceed with caution. We don't know what they are capable of." The voice warned.

"Don't worry, I should be able to handle it without a… huh?" The girl stopped mid-sentence. She looked towards the residential district of the city. "Do you feel that, Alastor?"

"Hmm… Interesting…" The voice the girl called Alastor said. "There seems to be another presence over towards the residential area of the city. It's faint, but it carries a lot of strength."

"So we have two Denizen's running around here? That would explain the amount of Torches." The girl sighed.

"Not quite. The second presence feels different then a normal Crimson Denizen. It's far too abnormal to be left alone." Alastor stated. The girl nodded, agreeing to what the voice from her pendent had said.

"So we check that presence first, and then worry about the Denizen." The girl said as she began to walk towards the city.

"It would be the most logical choice of action. We need to make sure the strange presence isn't anything of concern." Alastor confirmed.

"And if it is, we simply take care of it first." The girl added. She picked up her pace a little bit, as to get this task over and done with as soon as possible.

SHAKUGAN NO SHANA AZURE: EMBER TO INFERNO

CHAPTER 1: PILLAR OF SERPENTS

Yuji had just put on the necklace his father had sent him when his mother came into the room. She was Chigusa Sakai, a typical housewife, yet she was respectively young looking for a mother.

"So, what did your Dad send you?" Chigusa asked. Yuji held the small silver just above the necklace to show his mom what he had received. She looked at it curiously. "Your father always did have strange taste." She commented with a slight chuckle.

"That's for sure. Dad was always into these kinds of things. His study is full of stuff like this." Yuji said with a chuckle of his own. "It is pretty cool looking though. Not to mention expensive looking."

"Knowing your father, he didn't care about the price and bought it because it was strange looking." Chigusa said with a smile. Yuji knew that nobody knew his dad better than his mother. She did marry him after all. They were still very much in love, despite him being away from home so much. While she always seemed cheerful, she was the happiest when she was with him. Yuji could only assume this was the same case for his father. "Oh, Yu-chan, before I forget, Hayato called. He said that something had come up and he was sorry he couldn't have you over today."

"Oh? Well, that sucks. He and I were going to try this new game at the arcade today." Yuji said with a hint of disappointment in his voice. "He and I had been planning to play that game since we heard it was coming out."

"He also told asked me to tell you to go ahead without him. He doesn't want you to miss out on that game at his expense." Yuji's mother said. At this Yuji smiled. He was grateful Ike had his mother relay that message. It would mean he didn't have to worry about Ike getting upset over not being able to be one of the first to play it.

"Great, then I guess I'll be going to the arcade after breakfast." Yuji said, sitting down. His mother had already laid out breakfast on the table. It wasn't long before they had finished, and Chigusa had gone to collect the laundry while Yuji headed upstairs to grab some money for the arcade. Several minutes later, Yuji had a jacket hanging from his arm. He figured it would still be a rather cool outside, and his sweater had to be washed. As he was heading over to the front door, his mother's head peaked around the corner of the kitchen doorway.

"Yu-chan, could you go to the grocery store and pick up some miso and some rice for me? I need it for dinner." Chigusa asked her son. At the moment, she was brewing a pot of tea while she waited for the laundry machine to finish its wash cycle.

"Sure thing Mom, I can get it on my way back later." Yuji replied as he slipped on his shoes. Once he had made sure his shoes were on properly, he slipped on his light jacket. "Alright Mom, I'll be back around dinner time." Yuji said as he left the out the front door. He breathed in the morning air and sighed in content. Today was respectably nice day. There was still a lingering winter chill in the air, as he had expected. It was spring after all. He began his uneventful walk to the arcade. His mind was filled with thoughts of the game, school, and few other things.

MEANWHILE

"Hello, Hirai residence." said a young girl. Her voice was filled with a certain amount of pep and energy that wasn't common in a girl her age. She stood with her black hair down to her waist, with little twin-tails decorating the sides of her head. She was dressed in a simple blue long sleeved shirt, white pleated skirt, and black thigh socks. She wore no make-up, and was quite cute without it.

"Yukari, its Kazumi." The girl on the other end said. The voice was quiet and quite timid sounding. The voice belonged to one Kazumi Yoshida. She was girl in Yukari's class. The two of them had become close friends during Junior High, and that still rang through to this day.

"Oh, hi Kazumi, what's up?" Yukari asked. She had been expecting Kazumi to call. The two of them agreed to go shopping today. They had no idea what they would buy. Actually, they had no idea if they would buy anything. The two of them simply liked chatting with each other. It has been common practice for the two of them to go somewhere with the intention of doing something, only to end up chatting about some random thing for quite some time.

"I'm just calling to say that we can't go shopping today. Some of my relatives from Tokyo are visiting, and my mom wants me to stay here today." Kazumi explained. She sounded rather sad as she did. "I really don't like cancelling stuff like this, but I don't really have a say in this."

"It's fine, Kazumi, I understand." Yukari said. She was slightly disappointed at the news, but she wouldn't let it ruin her day. "You go and have fun with your family. I wanted to check the record store today anyway." She said. She had wanted to see if the new single from Mami Kawada was in at the store yet. Sure, she had planned to check out the store while shopping with Kazumi, but wouldn't let this change in plans get her down. She was always the one to spot the silver lining.

"I'm really sorry about cancelling, but thank you for understanding." Kazumi said, sounding somewhat relieved. "I better get going, bye Yukari."

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Kazumi." Yukari said before hanging up the phone. She walked back into the dining room. She was in the middle of breakfast when Kazumi had called, and decided she would finish what was left of it before she went out to the store.

All that remained of her breakfast was a single piece of toast. She picked it up and bit into it, holding it with her mouth. She grabbed a light jacket and headed outside; toast still hanging from her mouth. Once she was outside, she plucked the toast from her mouth, and uttered a quick "I'm Leaving" before shutting the door and heading on her way. She continued to munch on the toast she had held her mouth moments ago as she walked.

LATER

It had been about twenty minutes since Yuji had left for the arcade. He was glad he remembered to bring his jacket. It was still windy and a bit chilly, and the jacket probably made no difference at all. Needless to say, he was still glad he wore it. Not that it mattered right at this moment in time, however, as he was in the Arcade. He was lucky that the line at the newest game was short. He figured it was due to the fact that some kids were busy with family related things. Freshmen were probably sorting out the final preparations for their first year in high school. Yuji remembered when he was a freshman. The pressure was something that he thought he would never forget for the rest of his life.

"Well, I guess I can play wait, it's not like it will be a long wait anyway." Yuji sighed as he got in line to play the new game. It wouldn't be a long wait, since it's a two player fighting game. There were only about 6 people other than him in line, so he expected that he would be able to play in a 10 minutes at the most. Even if he had to wait an hour for his turn, he'd still keep waiting. He was determined to try this game. Little does he know that this is what would inevitably lead to his future being forever changed...

WITH YUKARI

By the time Yukari had finished her toast, she was standing at the edge of the shopping district. She had walked halfway there, nibbling at her toast as she did. Surprisingly, it took a lot longer to eat then she thought it would. She wasn't trying to savour the taste of it or anything either. After all, it was only toast. Granted her mother had baked the bread herself, but still. Shaking her head, she decided not to contemplate why she had taken so long to eat the toast. It was silly to think about to begin with.

She made her way through the surprisingly busy streets. Seeing as the majority of the people there were people around her age, she assumed that they were buying something school related. That or they were here with a friend to have one last day of fun before school starts up again. Yet despite all the people, she made it to the record store with little to no problem. She had to maneuver through a few clusters of people, but it wasn't that bad.

"Wow, I thought there would be more people here today." She said to herself, noting the lack of people actually inside the record store. She expected it to be rather busy, especially on the day before school started again. "Maybe I'm just early or something." She thought aloud. The store had opened maybe an hour and a half ago at the most, and it was usually later in the day people would start rushing in to buy something. That is, if they still bought CDs anyway. She knew a few people who only came here to see if a new album was out so they could pirate it or something. She frowned at the thought. She was a firm believer in the phrase 'If you really like something, then you should be willing to pay for it'.

"Oh, well, if it isn't Yukari Hirai." The clerk at the counter greeted. He was a man no older than 30, and he wore a simple black long-sleeved shirt and some blue jeans. He also had a short-sleeved button-up shirt over top of his black shirt. It was the store's "Uniform", and on it was a badge that said the man's name on it. The badge said 'Yosuke' on it, as well as a small line of kanji that read 'Sales Representative'.

"Hi Yosuke, I haven't seen you around here lately." Yukari said returning the greeting. "I used to see you all the time when I came here, yet I barely see you now." Yukari and Yosuke had become friends when he had started working there. The two of them got along because of their similar beliefs in regards to music.

"Yeah, well, I had some family matters to take care of, so the boss gave me some time off." Yosuke said with a slight chuckle. "So anyway, you're here for the new Mami Kawada single, right?"

"How did you know?" Yukari asked, somewhat surprised. "I don't think I have ever mentioned being a fan of hers before."

"Well, the manager said that you had asked about it earlier in the week. He set a copy aside for you and everything." Yosuke said, laughing. "That old man always did have a soft spot for you."

"He's hardly old; he's in his late 30s his early 40s at the most." Yukari laughed. Yosuke did have a point though. The manager of this store always treated her well when she had come here, even if just to look. He was incredibly nice to most teenagers, but he had a soft spot for her. "He told me once that I am just like his daughter."

"Oh? I didn't know he had a daughter." Yosuke hadn't expected that. It was clear in the tone of voice he had just used. To others, he seemed like nothing would surprise him, but Yukari knew better. "Then again, he never does talk about his personal life." Yosuke thought aloud.

Yosuke and Yukari ended up talking for a while. When the overall population of a store starts to increase, Yukari buys her reserved CD and the two of them say their farewells. With that, Yukari left the store. It was still really early, and she had no plans to speak of. She figured she would walk around a bit, and that's when she remembered something.

"Doesn't Ike sometimes go to the arcade?" She wondered. Her face suddenly became quite hot. She was blushing intensely at the thought of talking with Ike. She had a huge crush on the boy, yet she was extremely shy about it. Not even Kazumi knew of her feelings for the bespectacled boy, she was too embarrassed to tell her. She knew she should be braver and tell Kazumi, since Kazumi had told her about her feelings for Yuji. At first, Yukari couldn't believe that Kazumi had a crush on her childhood friend, but she soon grew to accept the idea.

Her thoughts moved to Yuji for a moment, as she thought back to when they had first met. It was so long ago that she could barely remember. All she could remember was meeting him in the park when they were both incredibly young. Her memory of the even was there, just really, really hazy for some reason. She shook her head, deciding to brush it off for now.

"Well, I guess I'll go to the arcade." Yukari said to herself, blushing faintly. She knew that Ike might not be there, but even a small possibility was worth the risk. If he wasn't there, then at least she could have still have some fun. And who knows, she may bump into someone she knows there.

MEANWHILE

"Is this seriously all he's going to do?" the young girl wearing all black said in an irritated manner. She had found the source of the strange energy she and Alastor had sensed earlier. After tailing him for about ten minutes, he decided to go into the arcade and he hasn't left since. For the first 10 minutes, she stood in front of the arcade, expecting him to go a quick round on some game, and then be on his way to do something else. This arcade was located in what appeared to be the shopping district of the city, so she assumed that he had some shopping to do.

After 10 minutes went by, it became evident that he was not leaving anytime soon. So she had merely found a back alley so she could jump onto the roof of a building without attracting any attention. It was on the roof that she was currently sitting. It had been 2 hours since then.

"Honestly, doesn't he have anything else to do?" the girl questioned. Whatever the case, the boy had been taking his sweet time in the arcade. Saying she was only mildly irritated was a harsh understatement. "I say we just go in there, use the Fuzetsu and interrogate him. It would get this over with faster."

"We don't want to be too hasty. For all we know, the pendent he is wearing could contain something dangerous." Alastor warned while denying the girl's idea. "Just be more patient, he will leave eventually."

"I guess you have a point." The girl sighed. This was going to be a long day.

LATER

Yukari stepped into the arcade with a smile on her face. She remembered how many hours she had spent here playing Dance Dance Revolution for hours on end. It was a good memory, even if the pain in her legs lasted for several days afterword. She looked around to see if she could spot a familiar face. After about a minute, she had spotted a very familiar face.

"Yuji!" She called out. She hadn't expected to see him here. He was usually the kind of person to do most things last minute.

Yuji's head perked up, and he began to look for the source of the familiar sounding voice. It wasn't long before he spotted his childhood friend of 10 years. He quickly got up and headed over to where she was. He was also surprised she was here.

"Hey Yukari, I didn't expect you to come here." Yuji said, greeting his dear friend. Well, dear friend was a bit of an understatement.

"Yeah, I don't normally come here anymore, do I?" Yukari giggled. It was true though. She hadn't set foot in the arcade since the DDR competition six months ago.

"Yeah, the only time you ever come here is for those DDR tournaments that they have every few months." Yuji laughed. "There aren't any of those for another month though." He was right; she next one wouldn't be for a month.

"Maybe I knew you were here, and came here just to see you." She teased. Yuji started blushing faintly. She didn't know that he took it partially seriously. In fact, he had really hoped she was serious about it. Yuji has had a small crush on Yukari since they were seven. He was sure she knew about it, and constantly teased him about it to mess with him. "Just kidding, I came here because I was looking for something to do." She laughed.

"Ah, you had me going for a second there." Yuji sighed. He was slightly saddened by this, but didn't let it really get to him. He knew they were only meant to be friends. If they were meant to be anything more, then they would have been.

"Sorry to get your hopes up then." Yukari giggled. She felt bad for having lead him on there; even it was out of good humor. She knew that he had a crush on her, and has for about three years. She probably would have accepted his feelings, if not for her meeting Ike and Kazumi. She didn't want to ruin her friendship with Kazumi, and she liked Ike anyway. Yet something in the back of her mind told her something wasn't right. She mentally brushed that feeling away, deciding it was unimportant. It was then she noticed the necklace he wore. "Oh, that's an interesting necklace you're wearing."

"Yeah, well, my Dad sent it to me for my birthday. You know how he is with collecting weird things." Yuji said with a slight chuckle.

"Maybe he got it for you so you can get into his hobby." Yukari thought aloud. "Then he and you could talk about it and grow closer."

"Nah, Dad isn't like that. He knows I'm not really into his hobby. He probably bought this on impulse, and decided to send it as a gift because he missed my birthday." Yuji said with a sigh. His dad had once tried to get Yuji to acquire a taste for the strange things he had collected. Yuji had to tell him he wasn't interested in his hobby quite often. It took what felt like a hundred years to get his dad to understand.

"I could see that. Your dad seems to always miss your birthday." Yukari said with a nod. "It must bother you."

"I've gotten used to it. It's not so bad really. Besides, he is a busy guy." Yuji said with a smile. Looking at Yuji, one could see that it honestly didn't bother him at all. It appeared he had stopped caring about it some time ago. Most kids his age that lacked a parental figure in their lives were left with a slight case of emotional distress or something similar. Yuji, however, was not one of those kinds of kids.

"So you are somewhat indifferent about it?" Yukari asked.

"In a way I guess." Yuji shrugged. "I mean, it's not like I have a say in it. Dad is a busy guy, but he tries to be there for his family when he can. I understand his situation I guess. Maybe it's because I know my Dad loves us both despite not being here." Yuji said with a grin. He loved his family, even if his dad was barely ever there with them.

"That's kinda sweet Yuji. I wish I could understand my parents like you do." Yukari said jokingly. "They're a little more distant then usual these days." Yukari frowned slightly at this. Her parents had been oddly quieter recently. It was like they didn't exist unless they wanted to make the odd comment.

"Oh." Yuji said quietly. He could feel Yukari's sadness seeping out of her. Or at least he thought he could. He has always been good at reading people and situations… Well, he thought so at least. "Well, I should get going. I have to go to the grocery store and get some stuff for dinner."

"Mind if I tag along?" Yukari asked. "I don't really want to head home yet. It'd be a waste of a day to head home now." She said with a slight smile. In reality, she had wanted to spend more time with her friend rather than go home and waste the last day of her vacation inside an empty feeling house. The way her parents were acting recently freaked her out a little.

"If you really want to, I guess it's okay." Yuji said with a slight shrug. Yukari smiled at his answer. Sure, going grocery shopping wasn't exactly the most fun thing in the world, but it'd be better than staying here by herself. She didn't really like some of the guys who hung around here, hence why she barely went to the arcade at all. The two of them left, talking about random things. It had been a little while since they were able to talk like this.

MOMENTS LATER

"It would seem he is finally leaving." Alastor said. His voice had a sense of relief in it, though it wasn't all that noticeable. The girl merely stood up and looked down at the boy leaving with a girl that had just entered not even 10 minutes ago. "Perhaps he was waiting for that girl." Alastor thought aloud.

"I doubt it." The girl said rather bluntly. "It would be incredibly pointless to wait for someone at an arcade without playing anything with them."

"You have a point." Alastor agreed. Why wait for someone in a place filled with games and not play a game with them. He doubted that there was a game that could be finished in the short time the girl had been in there.

"Not to mention the fact that he and her were near the entrance for the past few minutes." The girl added. "They were most likely talking about something before deciding to leave." She deduced.

"Indeed. Now, we should continue our surveillance of the boy until we find the perfect moment to approach him." Alastor said. The way he said that seemed like it was half a suggestion and half a command. The girl simply nodded and jumped to the next roof, following the two unsuspecting teens closely.

SEVERAL MINUTES LATER

About ten minutes had passed since Yuji and Yukari had left the arcade. They had been talking about the previous school year and what they had been looking forward to this year. It was a simple conversation. It seemed as though the rest of the day would go by as every day before it had.

"So Yukari, You have a goal for the year?" Yuji asked. Since they were still talking about what they looked forward to this year, this question was sure to rise at some point. He figured he should be the one to ask.

"A goal?" Yukari repeated, confused slightly. "What do you mean? Like an academic goal or something?"

"Something like that. I was thinking more on the lines of a non-school related goal, but that works too." He knew it was a rather personal question, but he couldn't help but ask. "If it's too personal, you don't have to tell me."

"Well, it's more embarrassing then it is personal…" Yukari explained, blushing slightly. In truth, while it was embarrassing to tell him, she was more worried about hurting his feelings. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her childhood friend, and she knew if she told him the truth, he'd be upset.

"Oh? Well, if it helps, I could tell you mine." Yuji said with a smile. He didn't want to force her to tell him anything.

"Alright, that seems fair." Yukari said with a small smile. Yuji noticed this smile and grinned. He knew that while Yukari was a bubbly tomboy, she was also very timid. She was very good at hiding it from others, but she couldn't when it came to Yuji. He just knew her too well.

"Well, my goal this year is to get a girlfriend." He said scratching the back of his neck, slightly embarrassed. "It's kind of a lame goal, isn't it?"

"No, I think it's a good goal." She said with a grin. "It's about time you started thinking of girls." She teased. Before, he was never really the type to want a girlfriend. He told her once that he wanted to live life as long as he could without dating. She figured that he was finally sick of not having one.

"Please don't start that up again. I already have a hard time dealing with Keisaku and Eita." Yuji sighed in annoyance. That was the last thing he wanted to be reminded of right now. Keisaku and Eita, despite not being in relationships of their own, loved bugging Yuji about his lack of one. They had both known Yuji for quite some time, and as such, Yuji knew that they were just pulling his chain most of the time. Yuji couldn't call either of them friends, but he couldn't call either of them pests. The relationship they had with Yuji was something of a neutral relationship, and the three of them were completely fine with that.

"Sorry, I forgot you have to deal with those two dorks." Yukari laughed. She meant no offence when she called them dorks. It was more of a term she used to describe their attitudes.

"It's fine, I'm used to it." Yuji said with a laugh. "Alright, what's your goal?" The smile on Yukari's face fell at that comment. She knew that despite not wanting to tell him, she had to. The sooner he found out, the better.

"Well, mine's to confront the boy I like about my feelings." She said, looking at her feet nervously. Her hair shadowed her eyes, and a faint blush was on her cheeks.

"Oh? So… who's the lucky guy?" Yuji asked with a smile. He silently hoped it would be him, but knew deep down that he wasn't the one who had captured his crush's heart. Still, he could only hope that it was him.

"Well… it's-" Yukari started before freezing in place completely. Yuji thought at first she was just nervous. Like she was conflicted in telling him who the person she liked was. Then it dawned on him. Something was off.

He looked up to see that the world around him was painted a strange shade of red. It was as if the sky was on fire. He looked at Yukari, who was frozen in place, mouth partially open. She wasn't breathing, yet she didn't look dead. Something was defiantly not right. He began looking around the area further, walking slowly, as if not wanting to attract a lot of attention. He noticed that all the other people in the area were frozen in place too. In a few places, he saw strange markings on the ground, as if to signify an edge of some sort.

He walked up to some of these markings and extended his hand. He was met with some form of resistance. It was like a barrier had been set. He remembered something like this from a book he had once read. The book was about a girl with godlike powers, and when she was frustrated with something, a place like this would be created. A pocket dimension that contained giant monsters that acted as stress relievers. As he recalled however, only espers could get into these "Closed Spaces", and he knew for a fact that he wasn't an esper. Not to mention he couldn't hear the sound of buildings being destroyed, nor could he see giant blue shinjin walking around. With this in mind, he was able to conclude that the events taking place now and the events in that novel were completely unrelated.

He had not gone far from where Yukari was. In fact, the whole time he had been looking around, she was in clear sight. He didn't want to put her in any danger. Luckily the markings were relatively close to where this had all begun. The way the markings were arranged suggested that the area affected was circular. The curve of the pattern also suggested that the area affected was rather large. The center of it was at least a block or two away from where he was standing. He was about to head back to Yukari, when he had heard something. It was a voice.

"Oh, we left some over here!" the voice said. The voice sounded strange. It sent chills down his spine. The voice didn't seem human. It spoke in English, and it was rather feminine sounding, but it held a slight demonic tone to it. That was something that Yuji couldn't ignore. He turned to face the source of the voice, and was met with a vision that filled him with pure terror.

The figure that had spoken looked like a manikin, but instead of a human appearance, it looked more like a spider, a spider made of manikin parts. It's head was that of a female manikin, as was its torso. The limbs were comprised of several sets of manikin arms and legs. The front four looked like the arms, while the legs were the hind limbs. The limbs were positioned symmetrically, right and left for each respective side. Each side had only four limbs. The way they bent was rather disturbing. While the limbs were manikin limbs, the fact that they looked even remotely like a human's made Yuji's stomach turn.

"You're right, well, the more we devour, the happier our master will be." a second voice said. It was then a second monstrous creature entered Yuji's sight. This one however, looked like a porcelain doll with crudely made clothes. The thing that made it look more monstrous was the fact that it was made like a Siamese Twins, joined at the hip and shoulder. The crudely stitched clothes even had a space made for the hold in between the two different torsos. Once of the heads had golden blonde hair, a mouth and no eyes. The other head had chocolate brunette hair, bright blue eyes painted crudely and no mouth. Neither face had a nose. The two legs towards the center of it were missing, and it bore one broken angel wing on its back.

The two creatures made Yuji's skin crawl with fear and mild disgust. Whoever made these things clearly made it their job to scare people. The word "devour" from the two monsters conversation stuck out in Yuji's mind. While he was curious to what they meant by that, he was sure he didn't want to know. He would've run, but two things kept him there. One was the fact that Yukari was still frozen. The other was he was simply frozen in fear. His breathing became more erratic. One thought was crawling through his mind the whole time. He was going to die.

"Well, I think it's time we had our main course." The spider manikin said with a twisted smirk. The Siamese doll just giggled and nodded its two heads in delight. It was then that all hell broke loose. People were engulfed in strange blue flames. The two figures opened their mouths and the flames started flowing into them. Yuji watched in horror as Yukari was eaten like all those around them. It was then he had noticed that he was being turned into flames, and part of him was being absorbed. He closed his eyes, wanting to get it over with. He was too scared to do anything.

"What the hell!" The spider-like monster exclaimed suddenly. Yuji's eyes flew open in a flash. He noticed that the two monsters had stopped eating the flames. He looked down to see that he was still standing. He hadn't been eaten. But what had saved him? Yuji then noticed something odd. His necklace had been glowing. It was glowing the purest of blues. It was then he heard a voice in his mind.

"Do you want to die, Yuji Sakai?" the voice asked. The voice sounded was rather neutral sounding. It didn't carry any masculine or feminine qualities. It was kind of monotone, but it had carried a lot of power. "I ask again, do you want to die, Yuji Sakai?" the voice asked again.

"No, I don't want to die." Yuji answered mentally. He didn't know where this voice was coming from, but he felt he could trust it. He felt that way due to the fact the voice carried no form of hostility towards him. Sure, it was a voice in his head, and he might just be going crazy.

"Do you wish to live, even if you are forgotten?" The voice asked. Forgotten? What did the voice mean by that? "Even if living means your life as Yuji Sakai ends, do you wish to live?" The voice asked, this time being a little clearer on what it was asking.

"My life as Yuji Sakai ends?" Yuji asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"If you wish to live, then your life as Yuji Sakai would end, it is that simple." The voice answered. "Now, do you wish to live or die? Either way, you will be forgotten." The voice said.

"Forgotten? What do you mean 'Forgotten'?" Yuji asked, confused.

"Simple. If you choose to live, then you will be able to defeat the foe you currently face, and continue living, though nobody will know you even existed. If you choose to die, then you will be devoured by them and you will cease to exist." The voice explained.

"Cease to exist?" Yuji asked. What does that mean? At first glance, it seems like a metaphor for death. However, the voice said that people 'wouldn't know he even existed' when stating the price of living. That would mean that the term would have a different meaning then one would first think. "I understand using it in reference to death, but why life to?"

"To exist is to have an impact on the world, regardless of whether you live or die. If something were to suddenly have never existed, then the impact they have had on life also never existed." The voice told Yuji. "To put it simply, no matter which choice you take, nobody will remember you or what you have done. The choice is whether or not you wish to live or die."

"So either way, nobody would remember me, right?" Yuji asked.

"Correct." The voice responded. "Now, I will not ask again… do you wish to live? Or would you rather die?" The voice asked for the final time. Considering no matter what Yuji chose, he would be forgotten. He sighed. He made up his mind that very second.

"I want to live." He answered. "Even if it means I will be forgotten, I wish to live."

"Good. Now, you must do everything I say, or you will die. Do you understand?" the voice asked.

"Yeah, I understand." Yuji replied. He had to wonder what he was going to end up doing.

"Good." The voice said again. "First, I need you to picture a form for me to take. I need to be able to take a shape in order for the contract to begin, and I have forgotten what I once looked like." The voice instructed. Yuji nodded, and began searching his head for a form the voice could take. Seeing as the voice sounded gender-neutral, he had no idea whether to picture a male form or a female form.

"Would you prefer the form of a man or a woman?" Yuji asked the voice. He wanted to be sure the voice wouldn't get angry with what he chose.

"It matters not to me. I have lost my previous form, and have forgotten its gender. Just go with whichever suits you more." The voice said. It sounded indifferent, like it honestly didn't care what form he gave it. If that was the case, Yuji just decided to give it a form similar to a character from the game he had played not even a half hour ago. He decided to go with a female that combined the aspects of his favorite girls in the game. "This is the form you have decided on?" The voice asked, making sure.

"Yeah, I kinda rushed it, but I hope it's acceptable." Yuji replied nervously.

'It's fine. We really aren't in a position to be picky." The voice said, growing gradually more feminine. The pendent around Yuji's then gave off a brighter glow of energy. The pendent disappeared from his neck, and reappeared on the form he had pictured in his mind not even ten seconds ago. The two monstrous creatures had flinched. The figure that now stood before them had send fear coursing through them.

The woman gave off an otherworldly presence, but it was strangely comforting to Yuji. She had long hair that was azure in color; it was straight and well kept. Her bangs parted and flowed freely. She wore a dress that was easily figured to be Chinese in design, as it hugged her figure, and exposed the sides of her legs. It was sleeveless, exposing her perfect arms. The thing that stood out with it was that the edges of the dress were decorated by Lolita-style frills, and the dress had a blue, black and white color-scheme. She had a figure was well proportioned, and was that of a woman who was both pampered and knew how to fight if needed be. She was exactly how Yuji had pictured her in his mind.

"Well, now that the form is taken care of, we must form a contract." The woman instructed.

"Hold on, don't I need to know your name in order to do that?" Yuji questioned. The woman laughed at his question.

"You already know my name." the woman stated. "Now, what is your name?"

"Yuji Sakai." He replied.

"What do you wish to do?" the woman asked.

"I wish to form a Flame Haze contract." He answered before he knew what he just said.

"Now, state the name and title of who you want to form a contract with." The woman instructed. Yuji drew in a breath. The name of the woman before him entered his mind instantly. He breathed out, knowing exactly what to say.

"Ophiuca, the Snake of the Festival!" he answered confidently. The woman smiled.

"I accept your contract, now, take my hand." Ophiuca said, holding her right hand outstretched. Yuji nodded and took her hand within his own. He felt Ophiuca begin to meld into him through his hand. Several seconds later, she was gone, and Yuji had felt her energy coursing through his body and it hurt. He then let out a yell in pain. As he yelled, a spire of energy shot from the ground around him, consuming him completely. They were an azure blue with a slight black tint on the edges of the flame. The flaming spire had an interesting shape. It looked like it was several snakes extending into the sky. A Pillar of Serpents that burned a bright azure flame. A sight that while different in color, was similar to one that many Flame Hazes and Crimson Lords knew alike.

NEARBY

"What incredible power…" Alastor said at the sight of the flaming spire of serpents. "I assumed it was a simple Treasure Tool that contained some stored Power of Existence."

"Do you recognize its presence Alastor?" the girl asked.

"No, I have not met this Crimson Lord. It has a similar presence to another that I haven't seen in over a thousand years, but it is too different to be them." Alastor said. He had only felt a similar presence once before. The color of the Flame was the biggest difference in the Lord's presence.

"Well, regardless of whether or not we know the identity of the Crimson Lord, we do know that the boy is most likely who the new Flame Haze is." The girl said with utmost certainty. "I doubt that they will be able to hold their own for long, seeing as they are still newborns in the world of Flame Hazes. We should offer some support."

"I agree. We would be going against our duty if we were to leave them be." Alastor said. "Once we are done with the Rinne, we will confront them and learn their identities." The girl nodded, and immediately dove into the scene of the battle.

ELSEWHERE

"He has returned." A voice said quietly. The voice belonged to a petite girl clad in a strange priestess like garb. She was currently situated in front of an altar, and had her hands held together in prayer. She had been sitting like this for quite some time, and it was only now that she dared move. Her short cut teal hair moved slightly as she lifted her head from its previous position. If one were to pay close attention, they would have heard a silent cracking sound emanating from her stiff neck. While her neck didn't hurt at all, she hadn't moved much, if not at all in a few hours. She was a devoted priestess, and lived only to fulfill her god's request. She spent the majority of her time praying, and now, her prayers had been answered. Her master… her god… had finally returned.

She decided to end her prayers early, as she had felt that familiar presence that gave her life a sense of purpose. It was faint, but it was there. She hadn't felt this presence in a thousand years, yet she never lost hope that she would feel it again. While the overall presence was different, she knew in the back of her mind that her god had finally returned. She knew what she had to do.

She rose from her position, body cracking and popping as she did. She felt no stiffness or pain, as she hadn't before. One would think that she would feel slightly light headed, but she did not stagger as she walked out the door of the "shrine" to a balcony outside. She held out her hand, and a staff appeared where there was once nothing more than air. She clasped the cold metal, and the various metal "chimes" gave off a light jingle as the moved on the triangular end of the staff.

Once the staff was firmly in the grasp of her frail looking fingers, she rose into the air. She looked back into the empty "shrine", silently saying a goodbye to the place she had spent most of her life. After a minute of silent farewells to the room, she faced the direction in front of her. She rose further into the air, high above the floating castle she was inside moments before, and rotated her body towards the direction she had felt the presence come from.

She would leave without a word to her fellow members of the Trinity. She had no desire to talk to either of them, and she hadn't for over nine hundred years. She had distanced herself from both the Strategist and the General. They were both her caretakers, but they annoyed her quite often. So she decided to leave without them to go find their master.

"Goodbye…" she said silently, as if addressing the giant castle below her. With that said, she began flying at a rather quick speed towards the presence that had brought her out here. She would find him, and she would serve him, as she had been born to do. She flew off into the horizon, not looking back.

Authors Note: Well… after about a week of working on this chapter, it's finally done. So, now, I'll explain some of the choices I made when making this chapter.

Obviously, the Mami Kawada reference was to break the forth wall so to speak.

Yuji's comparison to a certain novel was really just there to test those who read this. Feel free to guess what I was referencing. I will try to provide this kind of reference as often as possible. Think of it as a test of knowledge.

So, I'm sure people are wondering why I made the Snake into a female. Well, I wanted to both create an aspect unique to my Alternate Universe. I will further expand upon that in a later chapter… so stay tuned.

In case you are wondering, the name Ophiuca came from Megaman Starforce, and is referring to the Ophiuchus constellation, which is commonly associated with a snake. I originally was going to go with a name that was meant Creator, but I decided it'd be easier to go after the Snake aspect.

I WAS going to modify it to allow for Yuji's reason for forming the contract to fit his "Self Sacrificing" nature… but it would mean MASS REWRITING I found… so yeah… sorry JohnPeacekeeper, but I am too lazy to change it all to make Yuji seem more like Yuji… I'll try to fix it next chapter…

I think that is all I need to cover for now.

Once again, thanks to JohnPeacekeeper for Beta Reading this and offering his ideas and support. I really appreciate it. I also appreciate all those who had written reviews of the previous chapter.

Please continue to review, and offer your thoughts and predictions. Peace.

Shiro