Chapter 2
After much thought and an unhealthily long time spent in a single room away from all forms of communication with the outside world (including internet, cellphone and even my mp3), I finally managed to think of a good second chapter to this one-shot, promptly making it a two-shot.
It will not become a full-fledged story in the foreseeable future. As a one-shot, it is in the nature of the fic itself to not expand over a long work. I would have to completely re-write the story and that I will not do. If, however, any of you feel like doing it, then please go ahead. I will help you, even.
So, with this in mind, I introduce you to the second chapter of A Choice Made Blind.
Smoked Mirror
White Darkness
Truth and Lie, intertwined.
From Pain's Hold, breaking free
From Destiny's Grasp, ascending
Broken, Reforged,
Tempered, Made Anew.
New Dawn rises,
Night as bright as day.
The Wheel turns still.
Awaken.
Ria's eye's slowly opened as she stretched like a cat. A very content cat. She even let out a soft purr before placing her head back on Tsukune's chest.
Dark eyes snapped open in focus and her breath hitched.
Tsukune.
Her… what? What was he? What was he to her? What was she to him? What were they?
Lovers? No, she'd had lovers, many of them, over the years and he definitely was more than just a lover.
Mates? But they had known each other, truly known each other, for so little! And yet, yet why did he make her feel so many things, how could he make her feel so much?
How could he relax so much with her so close to him, how could he look so calm and peaceful with the Black Devil so close to him?
Didn't he know she could kill him in an instant?
Bitter bile, burning and vile, rose up in Ria's throat as she thought of killing Tsukune.
How could she? How could she even think of killing him?
How could he make her react this way to the thought of his death?
She had to get away. She had to leave. She had to… She didn't know, but she had to!
Because, a small part of her, a part of the heartless person she was and is, told her what he was to her in a way she could not refute; her weakness.
And yet, another part of her, part of who she was becoming, told her that he was her weakness, yes, because others would target him to get to her. In other words, he was her weakness because of how afraid she was of him, not for him.
And yes, Ria thought as she threw on her nightgown, she, the dreaded Black Devil, was finally feeling fear.
"Ria?" Tsukune's voice, heavy with sleep but filled with worry, reached her.
"I'm leaving. It was all a…" She stopped. It was all a what? A mistake? Something wrong? A lie?
No, it wasn't like that. It was terrifying.
It was terrifyingly perfect.
"Don't, please. Stay." She could feel the pain in his voice, and Dark Lords did it hurt so much! But she had to. He would be in danger with her there.
"I have to. You… You wouldn't understand."
"I don't need to. All I know is that if you leave, I will never see you, the real you again." He had gotten up from the bed now, naked as the day he was born, as the night they made love.
Ria wanted to turn around so much. She wanted to turn around and loose herself in his arms. But…
As his hand, a hand that had touched her more intimately than any of her previous lovers could mere hours ago, touched her shoulder, she forced her fury to the surface and leapt away from him. Her voice was filled with terror and fury in equal parts as her hand was forced to become straight like a sword's edge. "Don't touch me!"
Her desperate scream would have had a far different meaning had her eyes not been filled with that fear and sadness. It was exactly because he saw those emotions, that Tsukune began to understand why she was doing this.
So, he took a step forward. And then another. And another.
Slowly, he closed the distance she could not.
Slowly, he brought out more and more of the real reasons to the surface.
Until, five steps before her, she broke. "Stop! Don't come any closer! Why aren't you listening to me? I… I could kill you so easily and yet you…"
"You could never hurt me, much less kill me." His reply cut deep into her.
Why? Why didn't he understand?
So, struggling to draw emotions she didn't feel, she charged him.
Only for her hand to stop an inch from his throat.
And her heart to stop at his unflinching gaze.
"Are- are you," Now she was almost sobbing, tears streaming down her eyes. "are you saying that-that I, the B-Black D-Devil, can't k-kill you?"
Tsukune's hand rose to his throat and took hers in a gentle grasp before raising it to his lips and kissing it. "Because you are not the Black Devil to me. To me, you are my Sekitan Ria, my dark queen, my lover, mine until time ends. Just as I am yours."
And then he was kissing her. With all the passion in the world, as if the night was still young and they were intertwined in each other's arms for the first time, he was kissing her.
She didn't know when her arms embraced him or when his wrapped around her. She only knew when the kiss ended tenderly and lovingly, as if they were the only people in the world.
"They'll come for you. To get to me, they'll come for you. Because you are my only, sole weakness…"
"Then I will become your strength. And, if they still come, then for you, only for you, I will crush them."
She didn't need to look up to see that his eyes were glowing like crimson diamonds. She only needed to feel and all she felt was an ocean of love for her.
Because for her, he would conquer the world. If she only asked him to, he would.
Ria smiled contently, she wanted for nothing more any longer.
Sekitan Ria began changing more and more since that day, not only in attitude but in goals as well. Before, Fairy Tail was an organization to destroy, now it was an organization to protect; protect Ayashi and their interests from human 'colonization' as it were.
While many were surprised by that change of direction, none more than Shuzen Issa himself, this turn in policy actually began to endear them to the non-radical Ayashi and calm down the underlying current of anti-human rage that was boiling again. Of course, that is not to say that Fairy Tail was completely cut off from its criminal activities, there was no chance in hell of doing that, or its seeking to gain further wealth, but at least this time it also added a factor of 'common good' to its enterprises.
Tsukune found himself also changing the more time he spent with Ria. He now saw a wider spectrum of things and began to understand, if a bit, the so called 'court politics' the vampire race was so fond of. Unbeknownst to him, he was being groomed to eventually replace the Shuzen patriarch, though that was long in coming and both knew it. But they also knew that if anyone ever got the power to replace their Father, then it was Tsukune. After all, it was his pride that awakened his ability to transform.
He had tried to explain it to his soon-to-be-mate, how it was his pride that gave him the power to change his body. The vampiress, and truly most any other vampire, had confused their arrogance with pride. But Tsukune's pride was different; it was his acceptance of not being perfect and working to improve himself. That's why, when he needed to change his form, it was his 'pride' that allowed him to do it, rather than his arrogance at his great power limiting him. It also made his transformation much less grotesque and painful than poor Kahlua. The half-crazed girl didn't have pride; her spirit had simply been crushed to the point where her insanity drove her transformation. Of course, with her not being completely crazy, it also meant that she understood what she was doing and therefore was offended by herself, thus making her transformation ability painful and hideous in sight, as a subconscious form of 'puishment' to herself for her own 'transgressions'.
Regardless, Tsukune delved deep into vampire and general Ayashi lore, seeking to understand his ability to change more and more and, who knew, maybe find several new ones. He was very thankful to Touhou Fuuhai's Human Body Transformation Technique; it made everything so much easier. Not to mention that youjutsu were exceedingly useful in various applications, such as altering his own Rosario or erecting barriers. At least that helped his mind open up more to vampiric traditions, such as having multiple mistresses. It had worried him for a moment that, maybe he had over-reacted against poor Moka, but then he realized; it wasn't so much the fact that Moka took Gin and others to their bed, but the fact that she tried to suppress and control him, the fact she ignored his desires and tried to make him something that he wasn't.
At least he had earned Gin's friendship back once the werewolf came clean about him refusing to betray Tsukune for Moka's tantrum. The werewolf had received a brand new, well-paid, luxurious, high-PR job as a reward, enabling him to move across the globe much easier than he used to.
Still, poor Tsukune couldn't get the idea of a harem from his head, and to be more precise the idea of a harem composed by a certain black and white duet. Which Ria confronted him directly on.
"Tsukki," She said having picked up Kyouko's nickname for him. "you've been spending an awful lot of time asking around for one of your old friends, the succubus Kurono Kurumu..." Then her eyes glinted mischievously. "Should I be worried?" She knew she wouldn't, she knew he would never betray her, but she still loved poking fun at her mate. Mostly because, beyond the amusement factor, it would almost always lead to them having a mock disagreement, then a mock-brawl and then... then they'd have long, steamy make-up sex for the rest of the day (and occasionally next day as well).
"What? No!" He said almost affronted, he had been betrayed once and was not going to do it to someone else, not that heart-rending pain. "I'm just worried about her. It's been five years since... well, since she was exiled. She left everything behind to go oversees and now I find out she works as a stripper! Kurumu-chan definitely deserves better than working as a stripper."
"Oh me oh my, is that possessiveness I hear? Did your high-school harem finally win you over Tsu-ku-ne-kun?" She asked, draping herself over his shoulders as he kept on browsing through the Internet for information on his old friend.
"No, well, maybe I am possessive. But she's my friend Ria-chan. And I abandoned her. I could have done something, anything, but I just stood by. I don't know, now that my eyes are open, I want to make up for her."
"Make up for her or make out with her?" Asked Ria, enjoying the way her mate blushed. She decided to tease him on it. "Oh me oh my, you're actually thinking about it!" She giggled.
Tsukune mock-glared at his future mate. "I'll have you know any straight man would. She used to shove my head into her breasts and say the most embarassing things all the time. Usually Mizore-chan would save me by throwing kunai of some sort, but that's just so she could abduct me and 'go make babies', her own words..." He sighed almost melancholically. "Even Yukari-chan, who would rant on and on about, and I quote, 'becoming the meat in a vampire sandwitch', end quote... I miss them and the carefree days we spent together."
Of course he didn't mention Moka, he was still hurt because of her actions, the last pangs of pain from a dead love. He was also very angry at her, for obvious reasons. At least Ria knew that his feelings for her were honest and not some way to get back at her sister. So, she teased him some more, having heard the story of his life from Kokoa. "Oh, and nothing bad to say about Ruby-san?"
That sent the poor boy into a coughing fit. "I was trying to forget about her, thank you very much! One can only take so much of a cosplay-fanatic, masochistic, perverted witch at the level of Ruby-san! You wouldn't believe the clothes she wore some times!"
Ria giggled. "Oh but I can. In fact, I have some of them in my closet..." Then she leaned into his ear to whisper at him. "Want to help me put them on?" After his ensuing blush, it was an easy thing to steer the conversation to more... pleasing... matters. Matters that took them a day to get through.
Several hours later, Ria drew circles over her mate's chest. "So," She asked, making him creak a tired eye open after their rather intense lovemaking session. "do you want them?"
That had him serious and alert in no time flat, knowing how important the matter was. "What? Ria, what are you talking about?"
She looked at him critically. "What, I'm curious! You're my future mate after all!"
Tsukune sighed as he looked at the ceiling. "I... I don't know really... I care for them, maybe even love them. Maybe if I hadn't been that pissed off at Moka I wouldn't have called you and never fallen for you. But I did. So, regardless of me possibly loving them, I'm not going to betray you. Ever."
Ria looked at him seriously before giggling suddenly and poking his temple. "Silly man, I asked you if you want them. I know you already love them. But, unlike my insecure little sister, I also know that in the end, I'm the one you'll end up with. After all, they are not vampires and will, at some point, pass away. But us? Let's just say that a vampire's 'love forever' lasts for a considerably longer time than others'." She looked at him seriously again. "So, do you want them?"
She was met by a hard stare. "Ria, I love you, I love you. I may love them too, maybe, I don't know. But, I am with you now and I'm not going to..." He almost said 'do what she did' but controlled himself. "I'm not going to betray you in the worst way possible only to-"
Ria interrupted him with a delicate finger on his lips and a very mischievous wink in her dark eyes. "Ah, but it is not a betrayal if I'm there with you now, is it?"
"W-whaaat?" Poor Tsukune, for all his newfound confidence and control, he was still highly inexperienced in several areas. Apparently, that also included control over his own body as Ria quickly took note of.
"Oh me, oh my, Tsukki, you naughty boy." She said as she straddled him. "I'll have you know that you tire me out now. Besides, a succubus and a yuki-onna?" She licked her lips. "Think of all the fun we could have... together..."
And so the poor vampire was left to ask himself why almost every woman he met was a pervert deep down. Not that he minded. No man in his right mind would.
Still, to him, it felt wrong somehow to have another mate while he had Ria. To which the vampiress replied that he wouldn't have another mate, they both would get another mate. Even so, it was hard to convince him to at least try it out, almost frustratingly hard at times. But it also meant that he was loyal to her and that was more important than any sexual gratification. Loyalty and sexual gratification however were even better.
Which was why, one week after that, one Kurono Kurumu was getting lectured by her mother, Ageha. "Listen well Mumu-chan." Said the older succubus. "Today is a very special occasion. A very rich client has booked the entire club for a single performance. If you go out and do it well enough, then you're going to perform it once again in front of our real client. Which is going to make us filthy rich! Imagine it, all the jewelry and clothes you ever wanted!" Ageha almost had dollar signs for eyes as she thought about what she could buy.
That made her miss how Kurumu sighed. 'I don't want jewelry or clothes. I just want my Tsukune...'
But, it was her job so, as much as she might have hated doing things like that to everyone except her Destined One, she knew what she had to do. So, she put on her clothes and got ready to dance.
Once the dim lights went on though, she was quite surprised to see that there was only one customer and even then he was holed up in the back, as away from her as possible, back in the darkness where she couldn't see him. It annoyed her, but she supposed that each had their vices.
Throughout her dance, she received nothing, not a single sign if she did it well or if the customer liked it. Only at the end, when she finished, did she hear clapping and the tell-tale sound of someone getting up from their seat.
What happened next threw her for a loop. "Oh me, oh my, definitely a great show my dear." It was a female's voice but what really surprised her was that she knew that voice! "You seem to lack something though... I wonder why that is?"
"Sekitan Ria!" Kurumu almost screamed at the vampiress, her true form revealed hastily. While the vampire had done nothing hostile, she was aware of how quickly she could turn into a psychotic murderer. The fact she had gotten to Tsukune while she hadn't, had also been a sore point for the succubus. "What are you doing here?" She said, placing her talons at Ria's neck.
Ria ignored the sharp talons aimed at her and looked almost hungrily at the succubus. "So that's where your passion went. Now you're perfect. Yess.." She almost purred at Kurumu. "You're just as my mate said you were. So fiery, so passionate... I could eat you up!" She said before grabbing Kurumu by the laurels and promptly kissing her. Hard. When the succubus opened her mouth to gasp, Ria found the chance to shove her tongue into the girl and turn her into a panting, blushing mess.
"W-w-what the hell are you doing?" Shouted Kurumu once she was released.
"It's simple. My mate wants you. But it's been a long time and you have both changed. So, I just had to come and make sure you were everything he wanted. You're even better, I can't wait until you join us."
"J-join you? I'm not joining Fairy Tail! You've hurt us enough." Replied Kurumu before switching to more important matters, for a succubus anyway. "And who's your mate anyway? Who'd put up with you?"
"Oh me, how rude of me to not introduce him. Very well, come in love." The way that last word was stretched made Kurumu blink. She couldn't believe it, had Ria actually sounded... honestly in love with someone?
And then, the poor succubus' world began doing back-flips.
Because she recognized the man! Even if his hair had turned a glorious silver and his eyes were slitted and crimson, even if he was now dressed in finery... That look in his eye, the way he walked, his figure (though much more ripped she happily noted), that gentle smile on his face... They were all terribly familiar. Almost painfully nostalgic.
The man then raised a hand in a way too understated greeting and smiled warmly at Kurumu. "Hello Kurumu-chan."
"T-T-Tsu... Tsukune?" Then she was out like a light.
"You know, it's all your fault." Tsukune playfully grumbled at his mate as he caught the succubus before she hit the floor.
Ria giggled at him semi-innocently.
Explaining what had happened to the succubus was a lengthy affair, mostly because she couldn't believe it.
"Moka did WHAT?" Had they not sealed the club with a barrier, Tsukune was sure that her voice would have rung out over all of Las Vegas. Even so, it was hard to miss the malice radiating from the girl. "That... that BITCH!" She screamed. "How DARE she!" How dare she indeed. Had Moka not gone to such extreme lengths to make sure not to share Tsukune with anyone? Not even their common friends, more-than-friends even considering all they had gone through? So how, how dare she, that harlot, that whore, that wench, that traitor, how dare she, how dare she hurt Tsukune like that, how dare she take the first stranger she found on the street, the first jerk she just conveniently hit on, how dare she take such unworthy bastards to her and Tsukune's bed? How dare she betray her Destined One in such a way? "I'll kill her! I'm going to kill her! I'm going to rip her eyes out! I'm going to pluck every strand of hair from her body! I'm going to flay her alive! I'm going to tear her mind apart!"
Tsukune and Ria, the latter sitting on the first's lap, chuckled and giggled respectively. The succubus definitely had a fiery temper.
"Now, now Kurumu-chan, there's no need of doing something like that." Said Tsukune. "It is true that she hurt me deeply, but I came out all the better for it in the end. Moka made her choice, I've made my own. Too bad our paths are so different, but I am not going to become her lap dog or just a mere father figure to a bunch of bastards. I assure you I have left her long behind me and now only have a great future to look up for. A future that, I hope, includes you in it."
That threw her in for a loop, especially how nonchalantly Ria took it. She had thought her to be a far more possessive type. Unbeknownst to the succubus, Ria was possessive, but that would just mean she'd get to enjoy Tsukune as much as Kurumu would and enjoy Kurumu as much as Tsukune would enjoy her. Regardless, Kurumu blushed. "M-me? B-b-but..."
"Buttsex?" Interrupted Ria making both sides cough with embarassement. "Oh, don't be such prudes. Especially you Tsukki, I thought you liked it..." Now that had sent Tsukune trying to find a way out of the embarassement and away from Kurumu's part-scandalized, part-proud, part-surprised look. "But, dear Kurumu, why not you? You are beautiful, even amongst succubae, you have a strong heart that loves Tsukki unconditionally. I know you're still a virgin, despite being a succubus, you've saved yourself only for Tsukune, haven't you?"
Now that threw Tsukune in for a loop. He had read quite a bit about succubae; they were beings that lived and breathed for intimacy. For a succubus to be over her twenties and still a virgin... That was unheard of. And yet, Kurumu, sweet, kind, caring, cheerful Kurumu-chan had done it. All for him. And he hadn't even known.
He felt like kicking himself. Of course he wouldn't. He was a vampire and that meant that he would do one thing; make things right. Kurumu had saved herself for him, it was the least he could do to repay her devotion to him, it was all he could do to repay her love for him.
Ria could see her mate become more and more accepting to her harem idea, probably because her adorable yet still naive mate only just now realized that the girl really did love him. She wanted to sigh about 'men', but she held it in. It was time to go for the kill, or for the flirt as the case were. "So, here I come with a proposition. Unlike my sister, I am unafraid of Tsukune having an affair with one who truly loves him, I only care about his happiness after all." She sai and shifted slightly in anticipation of the effect her next words would cause to her mate. "Of course, we'll share him equally, just as we are going to share you equally." She licked her lips with perhaps too much intent. "After all it's been so long since I last had a taste of succubus."
Ria's words shook Kurumu, mostly because she had the slight idea that the 'eating' Ria had mentioned before wouldn't be of the bad kind. Well, maybe a little bit bad, but mostly great, the really great kind of eating.
"Y-y-yeah a-about that..." Stuttered Kurumu.
"There's not many things to think or talk about Kurumu-chan." Said Ria, stressing the 'chan', seeing as how her mate was rather pre-occupied and unable to talk with what she was doing to him, be it with words or slight movements on his lap. "Only the offer we're making. Tsukune wants you and I accept it. But, I am possessive of my mate. So unless I get something out of it, there's no chance I'm letting it happen. Either you will remain here, in this pathetic strip club, showing off your body to a bunch of perverts, or you will come live with us both and enjoy things very, very few others would ever get a taste for. At least for the right reasons anyway, most vampires have multiple lovers, but only a few ever have a lover they truly love. Besides, it's not that much different from what you wanted back then, is it? You even considered Moka a back-up lover."
"Y-yeah but..." Kurumu was not only shocked but torn. It wasn't that she wanted the job, she loathed it. No, the offer sounded too good to be true. It sounded so good, it sounded like a dream. So, of course, she was skeptical. There's also the fact that her so-called 'back up lovers' were her dear friends! That did not include Sekitan Ria. Of course, with the recent developments, the fact that her back up lovers included Moka didn't say much, did it? "Alright, but there's one condition... We'll go get Mizore, she's loved Tsukune ever since and always hated that she had to go back to her people..."
"You mean Shirayuki Mizore, the Yuki-onna? We planned on visiting her next anyway." Ria giggled at her mate's strangling sounds, she had kept that as a secret. "But, first things first." She said and got up, letting Kurumu see just how big a bulge the vampiress's actions had created. Ria smirked when she saw Kurumu gulp. "We have to seal the deal. And no shaking hands, we have far better ways of doing so. Oh, and don't worry, the club's empty, Ageha and Caro were in on my little trick, you can scream Tsukune's name as much as you want."
It was a good thing the barriers didn't need concentration to keep up because what followed would have ruined Tsukune's concentration. As if his dark queen wasn't enough, just being around Kurumu sent his instincts roaring. So when the succubus finally let go of her inhibitions and truly let go... Well, let's say that the little club hadn't seen that much debauchery since Caro Shade first opened the store, back when she was just a fresh arch-succubus, not quite in control of herself. Even Kurumu would admit that she'd never feel a bite the same way again. Some of the things Ria could do with her teeth left even her reeling and she was a succubus for crying out loud!
But in the end, not one of them felt happier. Ria had managed to get another person to love and be loved by her mate, knowing he would always love her just as he always did. Tsukune finally made up, and out, with Kurumu, knowing she never loved him for what he was but for who he was. And Kurumu? Well, let's just say that the succubus didn't sleep; she fainted with a loose grin on her face and Tsukune's name and various incoherencies.
Getting to Mizore was easier. Or, to be exact, convincing her was easier.
Because getting to the Yuki-onna village was...
Let's just say that after destroying the tree that upheld the great barrier of the village and forcing the entire population to migrate... The race wasn't exactly keen on letting any member of Faity Tail back in. It was only when Tsukune himself assured them that Fairy Tail had changed, that they now acted as a shield of youkai, protecting them from the humans, that they even considere letting them in. Though, both he and Ria knew that they could have just entered on their own using simply brute force. But, then they would not be defending their new goal and they would also hurt Mizore's feelings, which they sought to protect in the first place. Well, Ria just wanted to see if Kurumu's claims about their black and white duets having more uses than the battlefield were correct.
Tsukune was forced to sign a large amount of money to the Snow People, just in case they ever tried to pull back from their deal. They even had him swear on his vampiric pride, knowing that it was something he held above almost all else. It was an unnecessary oath however as he never intended to repeat Fairy Tails depredations upon innocent people.
While Tsukune's harem was formed, the very reason for his heartache, Akashiya Moka was not having a good time.
During the months that Tsukune had left the house, she had spent an impressive amount of time mating. If it could even be considered that. It wasn't even an animalistic rut; she had had a few of those with Tsukune and no one managed to quite satisfy her to the point he had.
Several had come to her bed and several had seen her naked and touched her. Several had tainted her womb with their seed.
But not one of them, not a single monster from the dozens she had 'met', had managed to.. to fulfill her. Not one of them managed to make her scream their names to the heavens or give her more than a small release.
So there she was, frustrated, annoyed, angry, sad, she didn't even know what she was feeling. Neither of her two sides did.
On one hand, they wanted Tsukune, their mate, back. He was a caring, kind lover that could and would satisfy her before he began to satisfy himself. He would bring her breakfast to bed. He would make her wonderful, romantic dinners. He would always tell her he loved her, at any place, any moment, any time.
But they also didn't want him there, be it out of anger for his refusal or fear of him seeing them like that. He was not just kind, he was also fiercely protective and loyal, something that could become a doubled-edged sword. He was also a human and humans were detestable, pathetic beings that only gave her loneliness. He was also arrogant, thinking that he had more right to raise her children than she. He was also...
He was also...
He was also absent.
He wasn't there and she was lonely.
She missed him. She missed him so. But he didn't listen to her! He didn't listen to what she said! How could they be equals when he didn't listen to her! How could he be her mate when he didn't understand why she didn't want her children in the human world!
Her doorbell rang and Moka sighed. It was time, the next 'applicant' had come.
Maybe that one could make her reach ecstasy. Maybe that one could fulfill her. Maybe that one could make her feel... special.
Or maybe it would be the next one.
Or the next one.
Or the next one.
And all the while Moka let her body, which once was her pride, be trampled and desecrated for the sake of her arrogance, not once did it occur to her to ask for forgiveness, to see things from Tsukune's perspective, to stop and think 'What am I doing?'...
She was a Super Vampire, a Shinso.
She was Akashiya Moka. A proud, proud Vampire. Right?
So, when the invitation to Ria's bonding came, she was highly surprised.
When she saw Tsukune stand next to her sister she was terrified.
When they exchanged vows, she was furious.
When they tore her world apart... that's when she realized that, in the end...
She was all alone.
That's why when she was executed, she didn't die.
She couldn't die! No, she wasn't allowed to!
She had to earn him back! She had to get him back! Save him from her clutches!
She had to get her mate back home where he would give her the children she wanted. Where he would serve her breakfast on bed and hug her and tell her he loved her and do all those little, stupid, inconcequential things that made her... made her feel not alone.
Convincing the Elders to push for a court to have Tsukune returned to her would be easy enough, right?
After all, even her Father would have to obey the Elders, right?
And Tsukune wanted to come back to her, right?
So why? Why did he refuse the Elders' decision?
Why? Why was he looking her like that? Was that a look of love? It was, wasn't it?
Why? Why did he have black-feathered wings? Why? Why did his youki flare like that?
Why? Why couldn't she see him any more? Why? Why did that nice, caring, helping Elder have no head any more?
"Tsukune, stop, please! You're ruining everything!" She said to him and, for a moment he stopped and looked at her, just looked at her. Moka, her mind fractured, thought he loved her, he listened to her after all. "They're making everything right, see? Now you don't have to be mated to Ria! You can come back home! You can come back to me! We can be together again! You, me and my children! So come here and let's go!"
Why? Why did he stay there and look at her like that?
Wait, that wasn't love in his eyes? What was it? What was it called?
"No. While I am surprised you are alive, and in part... pleased... that my sister is still alive and relatively calm, I am not going to do as you ask. I am not your pet, I am not your slave and I most definitely am not your mate! I am happily mated Moka, pleased with my current lifestyle. After all, why would I go to a mate that betrayed me?"
Betrayed him? She didn't betray him! She said so, her hair flailing wildly.
"You didn't? Did you not ask Gin to have impregnate you?" No, she didn't, of course she didn't, she only wanted Tsukune to do it. "Did you not call many other lesser races to do the same?" What, of course not, what was her mate talking about? "You did Moka. You can't escape from what your actions brought you. There are some things Moka that not even I can forgive!"
But!
But she hadn't done those horrible, horrible things!
She never called Gin over to have sex with him!
"Gin, I am asking you for a favour. Will you impregnate me with your seed?"
What? What was that voice?
Her head hurt!
"Hey there handsome. Look, I'm in a bit of a bind, want to come over to my place and see if you can help me out of my bind?"
What? When had she said that? Why had she said that? To whom had she said that?
"Alright, alright. Everyone will get a turn, but only one at a time. I'll set us an appointment list."
Appointments? Appointments for what?
Now it's not just her head that hurt, but her stomach as well. Her stomach and her womb, she could feel them burn!
"Nooo! Tsukune! Tsukune please help! Help me! It hurts! It hurts so much! Please, forgive me! Please, my mate! I beg you, forgive me!"
Images. Sounds. Touches. Feelings. Scents.
Others. Touching her. Everywhere. Even where only Tsukune could-would-should!
Her memories unsealed like a torrent of undeniable reality, Moka screamed in horror and self-loathing, feeling her mind raped as violently as she raped her mate bond.
Yet her denial held strong and she couldn't, wouldn't accept them. So, her shinso power going out of control, she charged Tsukune, her shattered mind believing that he was a fake, that if she killed the fake, the real one would come back to her and everything would be alright.
This time however, Issa knew that his daughter possessed the Shinso blood and Akasha's extreme regenerating abilities.
Setting up the barrier was simple. Powering it was even simpler.
Destroying his daughter was painful, he still loved her despite all that she had done.
But he couldn't allow her to exist any more. Beyond the disgrace she brought. Beyond her insanity. Beyond it all, he had to kill her. He had to do it lest his wife's, his beloved Akasha's, sacrifice was for naught. He had to kill her so he could, at least in his heart and memories, still think of her as the innocent, kind child she was, the great vampire warrior she was.
He killed her quickly, honoring what she had once been and, for the first time in ages, he felt old. He felt truly old.
Maybe Akuha's words of him retiring and leaving everything to Tsukune wasn't without merit.
Of course, the boy still had a way ahead of him.
And he had to get himself a grandchild to spoil first.
And if the child was a girl, maybe he could call her Moka. Or Akasha.
He would see.
At least Gyokuro's face just before Tsukune pulverized her was amusing. She seemed almost as if she expected him to help her.
Foolish woman, it was her who had orchestrated Akasha's demise and attempted to split Tsukune and Ria.
The world turns indeed.
Waking Dream
Wishes unto intangible Reality,
Another World.
Spin into focus,
Whirl into uncertainty.
Lured by silver light,
Hounded by golden radiance.
Fear and Hope,
Wish and Want,
Silent whisper...
Slumber.
A/N: After being in isolation for seven days, I finally managed to get unstuck and start this chapter. It is not going to become a full-fledged story, so don't get your hopes up. It was made as a one-shot, so it's in it's nature to be impossible to turn to a full fic. That said, if someone wants to adopt, rewrite and expand this fic, then all they have to do is send me a PM and start working. I'll even help if there's problems (though don't expect constant help because I'm still in the goddamn army).
EDIT: Added the poem. Will not add other scenes because there is no time for now D:
'Till next time!
Today, on this 9/6/2012, I, Soulblazer87, do hereby leave this site, possibly forever.
I shall not update this, or any other story.
I shall leave them on, however. Should you desire to follow my stories, do so in my new site of residence: www dot yourfanfiction dot com.