Author's Note: This chapter is pretty intense. Enjoy! All, but Daniel, are not mine!

The Other Side

Everyday for the past two weeks, Setsuna had gone to Evangeline's resort for training and the results were the same almost everyday: Setsuna and Eva fought in sword combat for hours and hours until Eva says to stop. Sometimes one would nic the other, but this had shown Setsuna that she and Eva were equally matched in close range combat.

But today, the outcome had changed. Setsuna drew her sword and prepared herself for Eva's first attack. Eva's hands had magic surrounding them and spiked outward so that they looked like swords. They were engaged in combat for about an hour until the tables turned. Their weapons collided and turned the sword fight into a contest of brute strength. Eva was strong, but due to all of the training Eva put Setsuna though, Setsuna had gotten stronger. Setsuna grunted and did one final push and knocked Evangeline A.K. McDowell to the ground.

No one moved or made a sound. Even Chachamaru was in a state of shock. Eva sat up and dusted off her outfit. She looked Setsuna straight in the eye and broke out in a huge grin, "There we go! Congratulations! You have surpassed me. No, don't look hopeful. You have only surpassed me in brute strength. It gets much much harder from here..."

Chachamaru handed her a cup of tea, "Thank you. Now Setsuna, I never told you what I had planned for you. The only way that you can gain anymore power is if we unlock your inner demon."

My inner demon? "How do you plan on doing that?"

"I know a spell that will force this side of you out and, with practice, you can learn to control it and unlock it whenever you please. This is a natural power source given to you at birth. But, the training will greatly drain your body. You'll probably have major food craves because your body will need the extra energy."

Setsuna took a deep breath, "Okay, I'm ready."

Eva gave her cup to Chachamaru, "Stand over here," she commanded, pointing to the space in front of her. Setsuna did as she was told. Eva closed her eyes and chanted quickly. She couldn't quite follow the words. Then the chanting slowed down. She realized that time itself seemed to slow.

Everything seemed to swirl and felt disoriented. She closed her eyes, afraid that she may get sick and ruin the spell. Time crawled to a point where it almost stopped. Suddenly, Eva chanted faster and faster. It grew louder with each word and sounded sharp. Setsuna felt something painful pierce her right arm. Her eyes flew open to see a thin white band with black lettering embedded into her arm. The pain was unimaginable. She threw back her head and howled in pain.

Eva didn't seem to notice. More bands shot into her right arm, her other arm, and both of her legs until about over twelve bands were buried deep into various parts of her body. The pain didn't seem to end. She stopped screaming because she had lost her voice.

The tips of the bands felt like they were curling inside of her. Setsuna coughed up blood. When will this hell end? She screamed inside. She dared to open her eyes again. Eva was still chanting, the white bands now in her hands. With a final shout, Eva ripped the bands free from her body.

Setsuna screamed a soundless scream and collapsed onto the ground. Eva seemed to stagger, too, "That spell always seems to take something out of me," she panted. Eva waited a few minutes to catch her breath, "Setsuna! Wake up! Wake up and see what your inner self, your true self, looks like!"

When Setsuna came to, she put a hand on her forehead. Of all the times to have a headache... Something made her stop. Her forehead felt...fuzzy. She looked at her hand and carefully touched it. Fur? She looked more closely at her hands, No…feathers!

She felt her face, her cheeks. Is my whole body like this? Setsuna ran inside the massive building in the center of Eva's resort, desperately looking for a mirror. Finally, she found a bathroom with a body length mirror.

She took in the sight. Her skin was entirely white, due to her feathers. Her wings were free, flapping slightly. Her hair was pure white, too, and matched her body. Her hands and feet were the feature that disturbed her the most. Out of her fingertips jutted smooth claws about three inches long. Her toe tips, larger claws that were about five inches long. The other thing about this body that stood out to her was her eyes. Her usually dark grey eyes had changed to a blood red. They stood out in all of the white, piercing through her.

"Surprised with what you see?" Setsuna turned to see Eva leaning against the door frame.

"I-I'm a bit overwhelmed," she answered, "Are you sure that I will be able to change back?"

"With training, yes."

"But what if I don't learn that ability before I leave?"

Eva grinned grimly, "Then I will have to change you back by force and the next time you come back, I will have to perform that spell on you again. I think it's in your best interest to learn quickly."

They had a quick meal and continued with the lesson, "Summoning this power is easy, but containing it takes practice," Eva said, "Your current form wants to be out. It doesn't want to go back into hiding. Have you ever noticed a sudden burning sensation in your body? That was your inner demon trying to break loose."

Setsuna had noticed this happening several more times since she enrolled in Mahora Academy. She thought she could control it, but she knew somewhere in the back of her mind that she couldn't forever.

Eva clapped her hands, breaking her thoughts, "Alrighty then! To seal your inner demon and return to normal, you must channel your chi everywhere. Yes, to every inch of your body. I'll even give you a demonstration." Eva closed her eyes. It only took her seconds for a silver white color to surround her, "Now you try."

Setsuna focused on the energy within. She found it easier to channel from the top of her body to the bottom. Slowly she felt the warmth of her chi spread to her entire body.

"Good. That didn't seem too hard for you to do," she heard Eva say, "Now I want you to take that chi and force it down so it feels like a hard ball of energy in the pit of your stomach. Your inner demon will resist. Remember, it wants to be free."

Setsuna felt this step to be much harder than the first. She pushed the concentrated chi to the core of her body and, like Eva said, there was some kind of resistance. It felt as of she was fighting with herself. Finally after half an hour, she won. The ball of chi that she hand formed inside her expanded and a flash of white covered the area. Eva had to shield her eyes a bit. When she could see again, she saw a sweaty Setsuna.

Setsuna panted hard and quickly sat down. She checked her hands and was rather pleased to see skin instead of feathers. She looked up to see Eva smiling down on her, "I'm impressed! You know, it's really hard to impress me."

I can imagine, Setsuna thought.

"Soon you will be able to do that within seconds. Summoning this power will be easier. Now, think of the person you are fighting for, the person that you would go to any length to protect!" She chuckled, "And I think we all know who that is."

Setsuna ignored Eva's comment. Kono-chan... Kono-chan... Setsuna's chi could be seen blazing from her.

"That's not enough! Think harder!"

Kono-chan! Kono-chan!

"More, hanyou! I want to see more!"

Kono-chan! Kono-chan! I will protect you from anything and everything! Kono-chaaaaaaan!

Setsuna felt every inch of her skin rip as the feathers fluffed out. Her back burned as her large wings came into view. Her claws and talons tore through the tips of her fingers and toes. Setsuna let out a beastly roar when her transformation was complete.

Eva congratulated her. "Good. Good. You did very well for your first time."

Setsuna repeated her transformations three more times before Eva told her that she was done for the day, "You passed a milestone today. Tomorrow I'll teach you how to fight in your other form."

What? Don't I get a day off? But Setsuna knew better not to voice her thoughts. She bowed politely and was on her way.

Setsuna was climbing up the stairs to her dorm room when she accidently bumped into Konoka, "Oh, Ojou-sama! I'm very sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going..."

Konoka giggled, "I can see that!" Her eyes clouded with worry, "Set-chan...are you okay? You've been acting weird lately..."

"Weird? Not me! I've just been busy..."

"Busy with what? You haven't told me anything, you return with cuts and bruises, and you sleep all day! Look at you now! You're a mess!"

Setsuna looked down at her clothes. They were badly torn and she had bumps and scrapes all over her body.

Konoka grabbed her arm, "You're coming with me."

Setsuna knew it was useless to argue so she let Konoka lead her back to Konoka's dorm room. When she opened the door there was no one home, "Asuna is running errands and I sent Negi with her." She sat her down onto her bed. She whispered a spell and touched Setsuna's injuries. Within seconds they healed and disappeared.

"Th-thank you, Ojou-sama. I must get leaving... I have patrol duty tonight and I want to get some sleep in..." Setsuna tried to get up, but Konoka still held her hand.

"Set-chan, we need to talk. Everyday after school you disappear and run off somewhere. I hardly spend any time with you anymore..." Konoka looked at her straight in the eye, "Is there something going on...?"

Setsuna blushed under her ojou-sama's hard gaze, "No, I just need time for myself to, you know, think about things."

"Think about what? Is it about Daniel? Are you still upset about that?"

"No no...I'm over that."

"Good...," Konoka searched her eyes, trying to find any evidence of something else. Her samurai's eyes gave nothing. She knew something was wrong. She could feel it in her bones and it hurt like hell that Setsuna wouldn't tell her. What's happening to my Set-chan?

Setsuna gathered the courage to gently squeeze Konoka's hand, "Ojou-sama, there's nothing to worry about. Honestly...I'm fine."

Konoka knew that Setsuna would keep saying that she was fine until she believed that it was true, "Okay, Set-chan..."

"I promise that tomorrow I won't directly go to sleep. I'll come straight here and spend time with you, okay?"

She saw Konoka's eyes light up, "Okay!"

Setsuna let go of her hand and made here way to the door, "I'll see you tomorrow," she told Konoka with a smile.

Konoka smiled back at her. When she closed the door it took all of Konoka's willpower not to cry.

END

Another chapter down. Wow, I feel really inspired! Defiantly more soon! Also note that my spelling may be terrible. I don't have a spellchecker or anything so I have to look online to see if I spelt something right. I'm trying and sometimes I miss a few things. People sometimes comment on that so now you all know why. (But now I do!)