Past

"Are you serious Al? I known the both of you are friends but this..."

"She's harmless Nekane, really. You don't have to worry about her."

"She terrorized Ostia!"

"She didn't kill anyone."

"What about the soldiers that chased her all the way from the city out into the wilderness? She drank their blood Al."

"Temporary blood-lust after being contained for months. The soldiers are fine. They're recovering at their homes."

"...That is true."

Nekane and Al were speaking to each other at the front of the room. Setsuna was playing guard duty. She was sitting in one of the chairs, watching the pint-sized vampire in front of her with the eyes of a hawk. Setsuna had never met a vampire before, much less heard of one so she was fascinated. The vampire looked like a human girl, no larger than a child fledgling demon she had seen in her former tribe. It had long platinum blonde hair that was almost white and the iciest, lightest, bluest eyes Setsuna had ever seen. It was sitting with one leg crossed, inspecting red-painted fingernails. So far they hadn't said a single word to each other. Setsuna hadn't taken her eyes off it. Al had appeared one morning with her in his arms. Her clothes had been stained with fresh blood. Setsuna had been alone in her room, mulling over dark thoughts and had went out for a flight. She had been so tempted to go back to the mountains but she couldn't. The tribe believed she was dead and that was for the better.

"Hey, you can talk right?"

Setsuna started. It was talking to her.

"Yes," Setsuna nodded.

"Great," It said and pointed a finger at the wall. "Break the wall down for me. I'm too weak to do it right now."

Setsuna frowned. The vampire sighed and raised a hand, capturing her eyes. Setsuna followed her hand as it twirled, eyes glazing over.

"Kitty, no hypnotizing!" Al called cheerfully.

It snorted, rolling its eyes. Setsuna shook her head, disorientated.

"Heh...you look stupid," It chuckled. "But I guess any bird demon would look stupid looking like a dumb-struck mule sitting like that."

"What's wrong with the way I sit?" Setsuna said, offended.

It just leaned back in the chair, crossing its arms and smirked at her. Setsuna puffed up, wings rustling indignantly. Sure so Setsuna was technically squatting on the chair, her hands clutching the edge with her upper body leaning forwards. It was more animal than human but sometimes she sat like that.

"Let me guess, Al took you in?"

Setsuna remained silent, glaring at her.

"What's the matter? Did your tribe abandon you?"

Setsuna's eye twitched. It smiled widely, showing sharp fangs.

"I guess they did. Why else would you be hanging around that idiot," It muttered, throwing a dirty look at Al. "He always picks up strays. Him and that dimwitted gypsy. Don't know why but I guess it's because of some stupid misplaced sympathy for you people."

Setsuna blinked, taken aback. Did it just admit that it was a stray? It huffed, lapsing into a sullen silence and said not a word after that. As the days went by, Setsuna grew more and more curious about the vampire. She didn't have to drink a lot of blood apparently. Just enough every full moon to survive. Al was the one who took care of that. She would disappear into his room and come out later, looking satisfied. As days turned into months Setsuna and her started calling each other on a first name basis though Evangeline liked to call her bird-brain for some reason. Setsuna wasn't insulted. She was a bird demon so she had some habits that were distinctly bird-like, eagle like to be exact. When she wasn't in her room she was taking walks out in the back garden with a parisole in a frilly yellow dress and her a lace ribbon tucked in her hair, blue eyes thoughtful. She would look like a sweet, innocent little girl. Fragile and vulnerable. That was when she was thinking about things in her past, distant memories. It would have been easy for anyone to pick her up and cuddle her. Of course, that person would have found out that Evangeline didn't need pity nor did she want it. When Al did it she would shriek at him and kick and lash out with her feet and fists. It was kind of cute.

Then there were the asylum patients. Evangeline looked at them with pity. It was baffling to Setsuna. She was still sadistic but she knew when to stop so that the patients weren't harmed. Sayo, an orphan who was only 15, was her favourite victim. Sayo was an incredibly shy child. She was also quiet, had no powers and had the kindest heart Setsuna had ever seen in her life which made her easy to pick on. She would never yell or shout at people or get angry which seemed to amuse Evangeline. If Evangeline pushed her too far Jack would step in to distract her which resulted in a fight. Setsuna had seen the demon survive nukes and he was the size a full grown bear with bulging muscles so it worked. His strength alone made him a match for her. Setsuna had never seen them fight seriously with one another but she didn't want to. She had a feeling they would destroy not only the palace but the planet. Of course, not even Jack could keep peace.

1 year later

Setsuna crashed through the double doors of the asylum into the hallway on the bottom floor. People were running, screaming. Some were huddled in the corners, others were crying and on their knees on the floor. Setsuna was pushed aside as someone barged past her into the front yard. Setsuna grabbed Chizuru as she ran past. The girl was one of the nurses here, a psychiatrist and she was usually calm. Right now her face was chalk white, the colour drained from her face. She looked terrified.

"What happened?" Setsuna demanded.

Tears were cascading down her face. Setsuna realized that there was blood all over her hands and face, her clothes and shoes. It was fresh. It wasn't hers. Setsuna could tell because that much blood loss would have made her collapse.

"E-E-Evangeline, s-s-she..." Chizuru trailed off as a deafening explosion sounded throughout the asylum.

The girls screamed. Bits of plaster came loose from the ceiling, raining down on them. Setsuna heard a creaking noise above them. The ceiling suddenly gave way. Dust clogged the air in a fine mist. Setsuna hurried backwards, taking Chizuru with her so that she didn't get squashed by the rubble. A gargantuan figure was getting up. The dust thinned down. Setsuna made out bulging muscles, a short jacket, pearly whites. Jack. Setsuna stared at him, horror seeping into her. He looked like he'd been splattered all over with blood but the only way that could have happened is if he'd swam in a pool of blood which was impossible. The other way, the one Setsuna didn't want to think about, leapt to the surface of her brain. Setsuna looked around at the others. She took in their terrified expressions, the crying, the shaking that some of them were doing. She looked at Chizuru who had covered her mouth with a hand, horrified. Her cheeks were tinged with green. She looked like she was going to be sick. Jack was rising, spitting blood from his mouth. He wiped it with the back of his hand.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" Jack boomed.

A sphere of ice formed around Jack's feet. He glanced down at it, amused. Then it closed around him like a bear-trap with a bone-crunching slam. All the girls screamed. Some of them fainted on the spot. Setsuna pushed Chizuru towards the door and started to usher the rest of the girls out the door. It didn't take much. They all ran. Then the door slammed shut, ice rushing across the doors and walls. The temperature dropped so much the girls stopped dead in their tracks. The sphere of ice cracked then shattered into a thousand pieces, flying everywhere in sharp shards that would slice anyone's head open. A defensive spell. Setsuna needed one. She knew one, a gypsy spell Al had taught her that used fire as protection. It was one of the basic tenants Al and Nekane had taught her. Fire is life. It protects and at the same time, it destroys anything in its path. The key lay in keeping the balance between the two.

Setsuna conjured fire in her hand and murmured, "Ignis, protegite nos..."

She slammed her hands together, a thunder-clap splitting the air and the flames roared, spiraling upwards and around into a massive burning shield that expanded, ribbons of flames encircling them. The flames were flickering in place, threatening and dangerous. They would consume any element that touched them, even light and darkness but they would protect the girls behind her. Through the flames Setsuna saw Jack stand up tall and upright, cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders. He was alive. He shouldn't have been but he was. Setsuna looked around desperately. Where was Al? Nekane? And more importantly, Evangeline? She was the only one who could've done this. Everyone had seen her doing ice magic and she was the only one in the palace who could. Setsuna's flames weren't even melting the ice completely when they touched it. The ice would stop and fall, streams of water trickling from it onto the floor from the heat.

"Jack, where's-?!"

An ice spear hurtled through the hole in the ceiling. Jack clubbed it with a hand, smashing it into pieces and laughed. A blur sped through the hole, spinning and rammed a pint-sized, lethal fist at his back. Jack spun around, blocking it and threw one back at Evangeline's head. Evangeline dodged, whirling and dealing a round-house kick at his head. From then on it was a series of blows that were too fast even for Setsuna to see. The two moved like machines, trading punches and kicks, blocking and fending, retaliating. Setsuna managed to catch a snapshot of Evangeline's fist sailing past Jack's nose, inches away from his nose as he twisted to the side. Her eyes were different. Sure she'd always been sadistic but she had never wanted to seriously kill anyone. The look in her eyes was pure evil, not just evil but pure, unadulterated evil that wanted nothing more than to hurt and hurt and hurt some more until there was nothing left but corpses. From the time they'd spent together Setsuna knew Evangeline wasn't that bad. She just liked to torment people. Not kill, torment. Then time sped up and Evangeline lunged for Jack, wrapping both legs around his neck and bringing him down by using the momentum to throw him off balance. Jack grinned up at her, spitting blood in her face. Evangeline wiped it off with the back of her hand and putting a manicured hand in front of his face, blasted him with a blockade of ice. Setsuna almost dropped the shield but held it just in time. Frost churned out, spilling over the floor in a misty flood. When it touched the fire it evaporated into water. The mist cleared, revealing an ice statue of Jack.

"Oh my god," Sayo whispered.

"NO!" Setsuna screamed as Evangeline clobbered the statue with a punch. The statue broke into a thousand pieces, spraying shards everywhere.

Setsuna stared at her, horrified. Evangeline stood up, turning slowly to Setsuna while cracking her knuckles. A sick smile spread over her face. She flickered, then reappeared in front of the flames, inches from Setsuna's face.

"You think your pathetic spell can stop me?" She laughed.

A chill skittered down Setsuna's spine. Then Evangeline's hand shot through the flames and they burst apart, disappearing into the air. Setsuna blocked Evangeline's punch just in time with a wing, conjuring Yuunagi at the same time in one hand and lunged forwards, aiming for her neck. As she expected the vampire dodged, darting away. Setsuna completed the movement, landing in a crouch wings arched. She felt the bottom of her feathers brush something cold. It was a piece of Jack's head. She swallowed down a lump. No, she wouldn't cry. Setsuna had to get the girls out. They couldn't protect themselves. She had to distract her first. Evangeline was zeroing in on them like a shark to blood.

"Hey hag-face! Crone! Bat-breath! Yes, I'm talking to you Evangeline A.K McDowell! What's the matter, afraid you're going to lose to me?! You're way past your expiry date you know and you smell like an old carton of eggs that's been left out in the sun to dry so I guess it's okay if you feel like you're going to lose to me!" Setsuna shouted, sliding a foot back and pulling back Yuunagi. "AND you smell like a thousand year old mummified corpse that's been left rotting in a cavern in a damp, dog-smelling tomb that smells like rotten eggs and fish! AND you're a stupid blonde!"

The vampire whirled around, growling. The irises of her eyes were completely black, pupils glowing red.

"WHAT did you call me you little brat?!"

Hope flared in Setsuna. There! There was a spark of the non-possessed Evangeline!

"I said you're a-!"

She started to chant something in words that Setsuna couldn't understand but she knew that spell. She had heard Al reading it. She didn't know what it did but she knew it wasn't good. Nekane had torn the page out of the book and burned it after she found Al was reading it. Oh no.

"Wait-!"

Too late. There was a noise like giant wings sweeping through the air. Darkness swamped the area. Setsuna covered her nose with her sleeve, hurriedly writing runes of protection in the air. It didn't work though. Evangeline was too strong. She felt the darkness clinging to her clothes and skin. Her feet suddenly felt like lead. She couldn't move them and she didn't dare look down to see what that meant. She already had a feeling. The tips of her fingers were already hardening, changing from flesh and blood to cold granite stone. Her sword was hard granite. When she finished all her fingers were stone as well as half her legs. The darkness cleared, evaporating. Setsuna stared. All around her were stone statues. The girls had been petrified.

"So the little bird does know how to run," Evangeline growled. She raised her hand.

In two seconds Setsuna's legs had morphed to stone as well as her lower torso. Then Al suddenly appeared in a whirlwind of flames behind Evangeline and chopped her neck with a hand. Evangeline cried out and pitched forwards, falling down from the air. Setsuna felt her legs turn back to normal. Stone fragments shattered, littering the floor around her feet. She darted forwards, catching the petite vampire in her arms. Hovering in the air, Al gazed down at them solemnly. Gypsies could teleport using fire drawn from their life force. The stronger the gypsy was, the farther they could go. The hovering part was an after-effect depending on the person's own energy.

"What was that?" Setsuna demanded shakily.

"A spell," Al said. He slipped his hand inside his sleeve, pulling out a white paper charm. "She was rummaging around in the library and came across a book."

"How did she get in?" Setsuna frowned. "I thought you put defensive barriers around your office."

"She got past them," Al said.

Setsuna looked at him, surprised. There was a hint of admiration in his voice. Evangeline's eyes snapped open. She launched herself at Setsuna, faster than she could see. The next thing she knew, Evangeline had her hand wrapped around her throat, the other raised above her face fingers curled into claws and nails glinting. Wham! Al slammed into Evangeline, dragging her off Setsuna. Gasping Setsuna sat up, massaging her neck. Evangeline had almost crushed her windpipe. Al wrenched Evangeline's hands behind her back, pushing her up against the icy wall. Setsuna was amazed that he had the strength to hold her. A gypsy shouldn't be able to do that. There was something Al wasn't telling her.

He pulled out a theatre mask from the inside of his cloak, slapping the charm on it with his other hand and roared, "Apere!"

A terrible shriek scissored the air. The eye and mouth holes of the mask glowed white. Light speared out of them, engulfing Evangeline. When it had disappeared, Evangeline was gone.

"Thank goodness Nekane, Nodoka and Yue aren't here," Al murmured.

Setsuna could only stare at him, then at the remains of Jack and the statues. She said hoarsely, "Al...Jack...Jack and the others. They're-"

"There's nothing we can do for them," Al said solemnly. "That was a permanent petrification spell. No one can reverse it, not even the caster."

Setsuna's heart dropped. She stood up, looking around at all the statues. As her eyes fell on Sayo, she felt a lump in her throat. Her eyes burned. Setsuna blinked, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

"What about Jack?" Setsuna asked hoarsely.

Al looked at Setsuna gravely, a shadow crossing his face. He said, "There's nothing we can do for Jack. What's done is done."

Setsuna covered her eyes, feeling tears well up inside them. She felt a gentle hand touch her shoulder. It was Al. She looked up at him.

"I'll put Evangeline somewhere safe," Al said.

He squeezed Setsuna's shoulder, then disappeared in a pillar of flames. As tongues of flame vanished in the air the statues and remains of Jack crumbled into dust, scattering the ground and disappeared. Setsuna bowed her head, clamping her eyes shut as tears slid out of them trickling down her face.

Present

"Evangeline killed him?" Konoka stared at her.

"The force that possessed her did. Evangeline had picked up a book from one of Nodoka's collections in the library but she didn't know it contained dark magic ," Setsuna said softly, glancing down at the theatre mask. "Evangeline would never have killed anyone in her right mind. At the time, sealing her was the only option we had and Jack returned as a ghost shortly after. We think he's still waiting for something, unfinished business."

"What happened to the charm to keep her in the mask?" Konoka asked.

"Al took it off years ago and replaced it with sealing runes," Setsuna said. "It turns out they're more powerful than sorcerer's spells. We wanted to trap her, not kill her."

"Because gypsy magic aims to protects and preserves life. It doesn't seek to kill," Konoka nodded.

"Yeah..."

Konoka was silent, thinking. She said, smiling slightly at her, "I can't believe you called her all those names."

"I had to get her attention somehow," Setsuna said, blushing slightly.

"You know if you called some sorcerers that they'd turn you into a frog?" Konoka teased.

"You read too much stories," Setsuna said, shaking her head. "Sorcerers would turn you into something far worse like a sea slug or they'd curse you with an incurable illness."

"Eeew," Konoka pulled a face. Then she said, "If I was a sorcerer I'd turn you into a puppy."

"A puppy?" Setsuna said, raising her eyebrows at her.

"Yep," Konoka said brightly.

"Why?"

Konoka lunged forwards, hugging her and whispered in her ear, "Because you're so damn cute."

Then she kissed her on the cheek. Setsuna froze. Giggling, Konoka let go and strolled ahead, hands behind her back innocently. She paused, looking over her shoulder at Setsuna and said, "Come on Secchan. We'd better get back. The others are going to be worried."

Setsuna stood there, staring after her. Her heart was somewhere between her throat and chest. Her stomach felt funny. She looked down at the bracelet Konoka had given her, touching the silk absent-mindedly. Tingles skittered up her spine.

"Secchan, are you coming?" Konoka called back.

"Y-Yes!" Snapping out of her daze, Setsuna hurried after her rubbing the back of her neck. This was not good. This was not good at all.

A.N: I am so so sorry for the lateness of this. Rl got in the way, been busy with uni work. Anyway, enjoy the chap...well as much as you can. See you guys next update :D I gotta go. Shoutout to my readers and cookies for you if you're still keeping up with this fic after it's stayed stagnant for two months.