Aku no Chi, The Demon Blood

by Soulblazer87

Summary: When Moka is in danger, Tsukune always came to her aid. It was believed to be her blood in him. But, what if, at the last moment, another type of blood flowed within him? A more... demonic sort of blood.

15. Village Of Thawed Hearts

Village Of Thawed Hearts

Mizore woke up screaming, the last vestiges of the vision that haunted her still fresh in her mind.

Her breath came out in white clouds due to the relative warmth in the room as opposed to her extremely low temperature. Her hand almost automatically went to the lollipop lieing on the nightstand next to her, though the other one rose to the side of her face, feeling the cold sweat trickling down.

"A nightmare... why, this time... it's been so long since that day... Tsukune..." And with that she fell back, only to feel the wet pillow that would need changing before she went to squeeze out what little sleep she could before having to get to the Academy.

On the wooden ornamentation next to her bed, a letter was placed, sent to her directly from another dimension, a much colder one than she was at the time. The name of the sender was her mother, Shirayuki Tsurara, reminding her of that yuki-onna all-important ritual that she was to undergo as soon as she turned seventeen, the Flower Offering ritual, the one that determined their wed lives.

Mizore sighed sadly. She wished she had more time, more time with her friends, more time with Tsukune, more time to do all the things she wanted to do.

But unlike the other Yuki-onna of her age in her village, she was under no foolish illusions; the Ceremony wasn't to pray for good marriage. It was to determine their lives from that point on for the 'survival of the Yuki-onna'.

She had after all been the only Yuki-onna not of age to have seen the Snow Priestess. She had seen the woman give out her prophesies and determined the people's lives with a cold hand and a definite order.

Shirayuki Mizore was a paradox, she was a girl of loneliness that desired company, she was of a passifistic people and yet a great warrior. But at the greatest point, she was a girl in love and that love said that no one would declare her future except her and the one she loved. From a race of passifistic, law-abiding people, she was the one who would never submit to rules, the one to make her own freedom, wrest it from the frozen hands of Destiny if she had to.

Another look at her mother's letter and a wry smirk formed on her lips as she rolled the lolipop around in her mouth a bit. "Flower Offering Ceremony huh... I wonder..."

The next day, students everywhere were complaining about the high temperature. It was way hotter than even the human world, a stark contrast to the usual not-too-warm-not-too-cold weather.

Gin was pretty much the only one to not care about it; he and his camera were working overtime snapping 'mementos' of various girls' umentionables.

Ignoring the perverted werewolf however, Tsukune sighed deeply yet again that day. As if the warmth wasn't enough, having all the troubles of a Council Member meant he had to run to and fro the entire school. Which meant he had worked up a lot of sweat, making his white shirt stick to his body.

It certainly did not annoy several girls who giggled and blushed as he passed them by, but it did annoy him. Since becoming a monster himself, various senses had been sharpened to a fine degree, and one of them was scent. Add to that the fact that he showered at least a day thanks to having so much female company, and he seemed to reek of sweat to even his nose.

Admittedly however, there was a silver lining in every cloud; Moka had also worked up a sweat, which meant she also suffered from the same 'sticky shirt' curse as him.

They might not have realized it, or spoken about it, but both of them were having very similar thoughts at the moment, all of them directed towards the other. Even Inner Moka had to restrain herself from oggling Tsukune's trained body. After all, he might be riddled with scars from his multiple fights, but that only made him more attractive to her as it showed the lengths he would go in a weak, human body, much less in his newly improved one.

"Gah, it's too hot. I swear the Headmaster's pulling a prank or something!" Said Tsukune and, though that sentence sounded rather rebellious to most students, the same students also didn't know the Headmaster nearly half as well as Tsukune did; the man had a wicked sense of humour, of the practical variety. "I swear, if this keeps up, I'm going to melt!"

Moka giggled at his frustration, though she couldn't say she didn't also feel the heat. Especially with her being a vampire, which meant that her skin was naturally more sensitive to the sun. Still, she liked the change of temperature, even if she wished it would have been moderated a bit. "Come on Tsukune-san, it isn't that bad..." She said as she stretched, unknowingly giving a great view to the now-blushing boy.

"Maybe... maybe it's not just the heat getting to me, but also having to run around the entire school!" He whined, though it was obvious it was joking. He let out a deep breath as if trying to control himself. "Anyway, we've got Club activities now, right?

"Yeah, let's go. Hopefully, Mizore-chan has some ice there to cool us down."

And so it was. The entire room had been 'decorated' with ice sculptures melting slowly but keeping the room temperature at a comfortable level.

"Whew, who knew that having a yuki-onna as a friend was that useful?" Said Kurumu sending a playful look at her duet partner.

Said Yuki-onna looked almost hurt, were it not for the mirth in her eyes. "While I still have no idea what a succubus friend is good for." Came her snarky reply, making both girls giggle happily.

"But really, the place is too darn hot!" Whined Kokoa, just now entering the room and almost tackle-hugging one of the frozen creations. "It feels like melting outside!"

"If you're having that much trouble, then what about me?" Asked Mizore nonchalantly. "Without my candy, I would literally melt."

"Yeah, but this way we can have all the ice-cream we can get!" Squealed Kurumu, always happy to 'use' her friend's chilly abilities to make ice-cream recipes for her Newspaper articles. That and maybe she could tempt Tsukune to eat the frozend delight with her, where unavoidably a bit of it would drip on her shirt, drawing his eyes to it so she could tempt him to lick it of and...

Kurumu's glaze-eyed giggling caused Mizore to playfully wack her on the back of her head, almost scolding her. "Focus, you sex-obsessed idiot. You can fantasize about Tsukune somewhere else."

Said boy in question shook his head in embarassement. He should have been getting used to it, but every time he did, they seemed to up the ante and suddenly present him with an all-new way to make him blush. Maybe Kokoa wasn't that far off on her condemnation of him being a pervert. It was a wonder he hadn't become at least as bad as Gin, something the werewolf was all too keen to scold him about. After all, in the Club Leader's opinion, being surrounded by sexy girls like that, them literally throwing themselves on you, it was the way of a coward to not at least do something with them.

Of course, the werewolf lacked the very annoying part of Tsukune's psyche that mocked and humiliated him about everything, his female friends included.

"W-well, that aside, it's been too darn calm lately. There was that prankster incident, but Kokoa-chan solved it rather easily." Said Tsukune, remembering to not do anything perverted near the vampire girl. She might be a good number of levels below him in combat strength, but if she got pissed off, she was freakin' dangerous, especially to a man's 'most important location'. Gin had learned it the hard way, it was the reason he wasn't with them at the moment, but rather recovering in the hospital wing after a failed neutering attempt with a rapier.

It was actually hard to convince the nurses and female doctors to help him after they learned what had happened to warrant the neutering; apparently he had dumped so many girls in such hearless ways that one of them tried to regain him by scaring everyone away. At least that's what the Newspaper Club wrote because the truth was much different. In order to protect the girl however, Gin took the fall, though by the time Kokoa and the others learned the truth, the neutering was well on its way.

Moka nodded at Tsukune's admission. "Yeah, it's good for things to be so calm, but we don't have much to write about..."

"Except my cooking article, don't forget my recipes!" Retorted Kurumu, who was followed promptly by Mizore. "Or my novel series article!"

On the side, Yukari sighed after trying again and again to fill up the paper pages. "No good~desu... We're missing a front page, something to say 'bang'~desu..."

"I've got an idea!" Jumped Kokoa. "We could write an article about onee-sama! And publish pictures and interviews from onee-sama! That would make the greatest edition yet!" She looked pretty convinced of it too.

And the truth is, that Inner Moka was not disagreeable to that plan too much either. After all, taking a few photos of her and an interview or two would be a matter of minutes, she looked perfect at any moment, without need of make-up or other pointless foolishness. Which would mean that she would finally get that day off, and a lot of Tsukune's true blood to boot.

"W-we'd best skip that, for now, alright Kokoa-chan?" Said Outer Moka, knowing at least part of what her Inner was feeling. "But, writing a paper isn't what I was looking forward this summer..." She sighed softly. "Maybe I had high expectations from last summer I guess..."

"Last summer, what happened then?" Asked Kokoa, a question mimicked in Mizore.

"We met Ruby-san~desu!" Cheered Yukari, extremely happy to speak of her fellow witch. "At first we were enemies but then we met her and we fought and it was great~desu! I wish we could have an adventure this year too!"

Tsukune shrugged his shoulders; in his opinion he had already had enough adventures to last a lifetime. Too bad Fate didn't listen to a single annoyed teenager. "I wouldn't mind another adventure, but I'd rather avoid life-threatening things, no offence Ruby-san." He said, nodding at the witch in question, who at the moment was drawing something on a handy notebook she carried with her. Probably a new dress to feed her cosplay addiction. "But I wouldn't mind going somewhere else, maybe somewhere cool, a place we could make precious memories with everyone and have lots of fun."

Mizore looked up at that. She was luckier than she had thought. This way, she wouldn't need to do any manipulation, which she was loathe to do to her friends, she respected them too much for that. "In that case... why don't you come to my hometown?" That drew a lot of weird looks from the group. While she had been a dear friend to them, she had remained anti-social even then, speaking only when necessary, or to tease Tsukune. To invite them all, it must mean she was finally coming out of her shell. "Mother sent a letter, 'Come to this summer's Flower Offering Ceremony' she said. She also said I could invite any friends I wanted too."

Kurumu had looked to be coiling herself like a... well, coil, ever since Mizore said the first word about 'hometown'. When the ice-girl finished her monologue, she leapt into the air. "Yahoo! We're going on a trip!"

It was with little surprise the trip was scheduled, much faster than normal too, considering when they were told of it. Everyone was all for it, especially when they realized that a snow-people village would be filled with, what else, snow. Lots and lots of cool, wonderful, chill snow.

Even Kokoa was overjoyed at the chance to leave the Academy. She might have been raised as a vampire, or rather because of that, but she hadn't left the mansion nearly at all before going to Youkai Gakuen. She had definitely not visited any exotic locations or the lands of another youkai species. Which meant that, to her, it was like her first big excursion. And in a sense it was, seeing as how every other time she had left the safety of her mansion, it had been to go on a mission.

It took the girls a grand total of half an hour to pack for the trip and only two minutes to board the bus.

Kurumu only waited for the driver to just sit on his seat before asking him if there was karaoke.

What surprised her wasn't the fact that in fact there was, but the fact he even wanted to sing as well!

The bus sped through the dimensional tunnels that could lead them anywhere they wanted to go and in the bus resonated Kurumu's voice. Even though she was mostly known for her bountiful figure, few people knew she was a great singer as well. With a happy song, she led them along almost as well as her illusions could bind them.

Ruby however decided to brief them on the trip; after all it wasn't one they could go only for fun, they were supposed to do a bit of research as well. "Alright everyone, the barrier's been heated up this way because we're in the middle of maintenance, so Headmaster was glad to give us leave. We'll be staying over at Mizore-chan's house but we're supposed to do a bit of research too. It doesn't matter what each one chooses to do, but we must present the Yuki-onna people and their customs. At least that's what we justified this trip as." Then she turned away blushing. "If you were to order me to do it though, I wouldn't mind..."

That drew quite a bit of chuckling from the entire group, though Kokoa was more annoyed than amused, had the witch no sense of shame? As things would prove a few weeks later, no, no she didn't.

Kurumu, her song finished and getting a break before starting the next, sat down next to her duet partner who was smiling softly at that time. "So, what's gotten into you? Normally, you'd just say 'I want to invite Tsukune' or something, but you asked us all. You know you can trust us right? We're friends."

Mizore didn't get a chance to reply as the Bus Driver interrupted them by revealing the fact they were almost at the end of their bus drive.

Kurumu was the first to get off the bus, almost leaping out of it. Unfortunately, she did so without looking... which means she was promptly swallowed up by the snowstorm around her.

"IT'S COLD!" Her scream caused giggling to come from Mizore; it was cold the Land Of Snow for a reason.

"W-w-w-w-why d-d-d-d-did w-w-w-we get o-o-o-off here?" Stuttered Kokoa as she tried to warm herself up, too bad Kou-chan could only turn into weapons and not clothes.

The rest of the group nodded as they tried to warm themselves by rubbing their arms and torsoes. Though, in Kurumu's case, she was rubbing herself on Tsukune's torso.

The group's resident yuki-onna smiled at her friends and made a 'come here' sign with her hands. When they did, they all gasped in amazement. "I wanted you to see this."

It was a large city made out of glistening ice, all the colors imaginable reflecting off the frozen surfaces, arcs and spires of frozen water creating an architectural marvel.

"Amazing..." Whispered Moka in reverence and even her little sister Kokoa was speechless at seeing such a wonder.

"Come, there is a barrier that keeps most of the cold and wind outside, the temperature will ease up as we get closer to my home." said their guide, Mizore, a small smile on her lips as she rolled her lolipop around.

"Eeeh... this is too nice of you Mizore..." Said Kurumu a weird look in her normally cheery face. "You're not scheming anything with my Destined One, are you?"

The snow-girl's smile faltered for only a moment, but no one caught it. "I don't care about things like that and you know it. Besides, we're almost at home, there's Mother."

And indeed so it was. Shirayuki Mizore's mother, an elegant woman dressed in a kimono, a gentle smile on her face. Her name; Shirayuki Tsurara. A woman that could be very much like her namesake when she wanted to.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the Yuki-onna, the Village Of Snow as some like to call it. All preparations for your stay have been made. You will be leaving over there." She pointed at a far off building. Then turned to Tsukune. "You will be staying with my daughter Tsukune-kun, your and Mizore-chan's marital bed are rea- Gah!" And she was promptly stopped by Mizore tossing a kunai at her.

"Such unnecessary concerns are useless Mother, I can take care of things myself perfectly." She said, strolling slowly towards a now sweating Tsukune. The reason being the way she looked at him, swaying her hips left and right, several kunai juggled easily in her hands.

"With a mother like that, no wonder frost-girl turned out like this..." Whispered Kokoa, getting a nod from Moka and Kurumu.

"Mizore-chan," Said Tsurara as she got up from the ground. "you know why I do this. Despite our expanse of lands, we are suffering from a great decline of births. That's why I want you and Tsukune-kun to start making babies soon."

"And I'm well aware of that Mother. Which is why I say that it is pointless to concern yourself with this." Replied the ever-calm girl. The way she phrased that rang several warning bells in Kurumu's head, but the succubus trusted her friend to not use underhanded methods to get her Destined One.

Lunch was quickly served in a large table, with enough delicacies to satisfy the hunger of an entire army, much less a few teenagers. Kurumu was quick on the uptake and decided to make that her contribution on the snow-people article, seeing as she was a cooking fanatic.

"So anyway, what's that ritual you said you have to do Mizore-chan?" Asked Moka, rather curious about that fact.

Tsurara chose to answer in place of her daughter, unaware that the girl knew the true purpose behind it. "The Flower Offering ceremony is rather simple, but very important for our people. We offer a certain flower that is here known as the 'matchmaking flower', which you may know as the 'snow white'. With it, we pray for a good match in life and many children. Girls gather them from the mountain and then go to the temple. It's what you may know a 'coming of age' ritual."

"Which means!" Said Kurumu. "We have to dress Mizore up! Hee-hee! We get to play with clothes!"

"I want to dress up too!" Said Moka, various images of her in yukata and other clothes flying through her mind.

Tsurara smiled serenely at the girl. "That is easily arranged, the ritual isn't limited to our people alone. All we have to do is get you some more flowers to offer, I already have several kimono I could lend you."

"Oh and after getting dressed up, I wanna get married to Tsukune!" Squealed Kurumu, hugging aforementioned boy into her bosom, earning a glare from Tsurara.

Tsukune, partly in order to avoid getting impaled by frozen refreshments as Tsurara had threatened to do once, quickly freed himself from the girl's grasp. "I-I'm sure you'll all look wonderful. Mizore-chan too, it's rare to see you in any kind of dress."

The girl blushed at that even while Kurumu whined that she would look much better in such clothes because she had the 'assets' to go with them and sending a challenging look at the other girls, daring them to defy that claim.

Then the yuki-onna suddenly felt a very warm, very soft body overlay her own, but even the warmth didn't annoy her. It made her feel much better despite what she was going to do to the one hugging her in a mere few hours.

"Thank you so much Mizore! We may be rivals in love, but we're friends first after all!"

Those words struck the girl far stronger than one might think possible and they almost tore her determination apart. But she had no choice, she knew she didn't. She had to go with her plan lest she lost everything.

Lest she lost not only Tsukune but also her dear, beloved, friends.

That was something she could not, under any circumstances, no matter the reason, allow.

Which was why, after the other girls fell asleep, she shed a tear of sorrow, asking for a forgiveness she knew she didn't deserve.

Moments later, Mizore and Tsukune were walking along the vast fields of the village, still protected by their barrier. It was a breathtakig view, snow-covered hills and mountain faces covered in an endless, pure white, so strong that even in darkness it seemed to sparkle. Age-old trees stood on ageless stones, overlooking a land covered in such ice that ground became a rarity. Huge masses of snow hung precariously and yet unmoving, looming over the pair with their greatness, making them feel so insignificantly small before the power of the ancient glaciers.

It was a rough, harsh land and yet one that had an elegance one could not perceive at first.

Just like the people that drew their powers from that land.

"It's beautiful Mizore-chan... But I don't think this is what we came here for. Nor for gathering flowers, we should do that with the others in the morning." Said Tsukune, still in awe. And rightfully so as the girl seemed all the more fragile before the vastness of the land, so much smaller than usual when surrounded by her very element.

Mizore sighed, he was always too perceptive at the wrong time. She hoped he could forgive her, she couldn't live without his forgiveness for what she was about to do. "You're right... It's not. I'm... I'm so sorry Tsukune... You know, when I was a child, I used to come play here, even though it was against the rules..." Her face had taken on a sad, melancholic look. "There's a human settlement not too far from here. One of their children used to come here to play with me... I thought I liked him, I thought I even loved him..." She let out a sad, lilting laugh and he could see tears gather in the edge of her eyes. "That's why I told him to come meet me here when we would be seventeen, just like today... He... he called me a monster... That's why I... that's why I went after our gym teacher back in Youkai Gakuen, he looked so much like him..."

"Mizore-chan... It's alright they didn't know you..."

"No, it isn't... I just have no sense with men, I just keep on picking the wrong ones... So, that's why I'm so scared right now... I'm so scared that I'm going to loose someone-" She would have said more, had not two arms encircled her, wrapping her in a hug that, despite being warm, did not make her feel uncomfortable. If anything, it felt like the safest sanctuary in the world.

"That's why I said it's alright. They didn't know you. They saw the outside Mizore-chan, the shy, somewhat anti-social, beautiful Mizore-chan." He turned her around to look at her and she could see a never-ending sadness in his eyes. "I know better. I know you're also kind, brave, cool and while you have your own weaknesses, they just make you better in my eyes. They didn't know you, I do. I know you are a great person, a person I respect and want to protect. I will protect you Mizore-chan, even if I have to give my life... I will make sure you're safe."

Mizore's head leaned forward and she placed her forehead on his own, letting her chill embrace them both in a swirl of snow that brought no harsh chill to them. "I know Tsukune... I know... But that's-"

They were both forced to leap away as the land below their feet exploded outwards.

"MIZOREEE!" Screamed a voice filled with fury, Kurumu's voice. "How dare you do this to me, to us? How dare you betray our friendship!"

Tsukune was rather surprised by that. What did the succubus mean? "Kurumu-chan, what's wrong? Mizore-chan didn't betray anyone!"

"No, they're right Tsukune... I betrayed their trust... I lured you all here with an ulterior motive..." The yuki-onna offered no remorse for her actions. "But for now, let's run. Hang on to me!" And she pulled him strongly, which due to the slippery surface made him loose his balance and stumble on the snow-girl. Her agility was not for show however and she quickly made a snowboard out of hard ice under their feet, using it to run away from the furious girls.

"M-Mizore-chan, what are you doing?" Tsukune's voice came out almost like a frightened squeal, but that was mostly due to the rough slope they were climbing down on.

"Hush, Tsukune, soon you will know..." Mizore's voice held nothing of her usual monotone. It was part excited, part frightened and part something else that he couldn't identify.

That scared him far more than going down an icy slope at speeds a werewolf would be proud of ever could.

It was thanks to that speed they vanished from an infuriated Kurumu's sights far too fast for them to follow. Which was a good thing in a sense, because it enabled Moka to make Kurumu stop shooting randomly, reminding her why they had received the snow-gun in the first place. "Stop it Kurumu-chan, the gun's for that monster that appears, besides, you could hit Tsukune-san or make an avalanche!"

"So what should I do? Let her get away with him? She tricked us Moka! She betrayed us! She took Tsukune to win him with tricks rather than do it the way we all do! I hate her! I hate her so much!" Replied to furious succubus, tears i her eyes. It wasn't the fact that Tsukune would choose Mizore, it was the fact that Mizore had chosen the wrong way to do it, the wrong way to make him love her. The same way that enticed Kurumu to use to get her Destined One, the same way that she denied herself, the way of taking his choice away from him.

"I might have a way~desu..." Said Yukari, taking Tsukune's Know-Know-kun charm from her hat. "I learned some Divination spells from Mom, I may be able to track him down without Ruby-san's help, but be quiet~desu."

"Then hurry up you brat! Every second you waste is another that-mph!" Moka had quickly placed her hand over the angry succubus' mouth to make her stop her tirade.

Yukari quickly focused on the completely white charm, a sign that he at least was in no danger, though it did little to calm their nerves.

Unfortunately, she didn't get much time to connect to the charm because a monster suddenly leapt from the very snow around the group.

The girls went flying as large palms swatted them away, though thankfully they were not hurt by its large claws.

Kokoa righted herself in the air and her faithful bat took on the form of a longsword as she placed herself protectively in front of Moka, telling the pinkette to back off at the same time. Kurumu used one hand to grab the flying Yukari by the girl's cape and the other hand to aim shakily at the shadowed monster and fire a round from her snow-gun. The iceballs impacted it lightly on the side but the kickback from the weapon almost tore it off the girl's hand and she knew she had to use both hands to have any chance of reliably hitting it.

"Wrong..." It growled as it stepped into the moonlight, revealing its yeti-like form. "You're... wrong... Not the one I'm looking for..."

Then it seemed to break away into a swarm of crystals made of ice and fly away through the surrounding forest.

"Get back here damn you!" Shouted Kokoa, irrate at being ignored like that. "The fight isn't over yet!"

"Let it go, Kokoa-chan. For now, Tsukune-san is more important. Yukari-chan?" Said Moka, trying to calm her sister.

"Yes~desu, give me a moment!" Said the witch as she focused. They all knew it was bad the second her face went ashen and her eyes snapped open. "The monster~desu! It's heading towards Tsukune-san~desu!"

"What? How dare it attack my Destined One!" Raged an already pissed off Kurumu. "That's it! I'm taking him and going back to the Academy!" And she set off, stomping the snow. She didn't think there was a way to get angrier.

She would learn that in fact, there was.

In the meantime however, Tsukune and Mizore ended up their fast slide much lower than where they started, so low in fact he couldn't even see the lights of the ice-city.

"Mizore-chan? Where are we?" He asked her once the girl let go of him. It was a valid question seeing as how she had purposefully steered them that way.

"This... is the Snow-white field... This is where I lost my first friend..." She didn't voice her concern of loosing her newer friend as well.

With slow motions, the yukata-clad girl picked up one of the pure white flowers. She held it up in front of her chest. "Tsukune, did you know... we yuki-onna are a very stubborn race... and, beyond that, we have a problem, a reason behind our declining population." She held up the flower in front of her as if examining it. "A yuki-onna can only have children when she is very young... that's why, that's why being seventeen is coming of age to us... an age where we have to get married and start giving children immidiately..."

Tsukune flinched. He couldn't help it; it was a horrible fate. To be turned into nothing more than a child-producing machine, just for the propagation of her race. "Mizore-chan..."

"So that's what the Flower Offering Ceremony is for... we are given our matches, husbands that we will marry..."

"What?"

"Yes... there is no romance in this land... everything is given up to the people, for the sake of our province... I turn seventeen tomorrow... my match has probably already been found..." She almost cried at that admission, but she kept on, turning her eyes, more expressing than words could ever be and the boy in front of her saw a burden almost as painful as his own. "So please... even if just today, I won't ask anything more of you... just today, please... love me... take me as your lover..." With a soft breath, the pollen of the flower, a powerful hallucinogenic with high aphrodisiac qualities was sent towards the human male in front of him.

Mizore could see it take effect, in the way his eyes darkened, so different from rage. She could see it in the way his muscles tightened, the way he seemed to be holding himself back.

She smiled sadly, she hated it almost as much as she hated herself. She didn't want to do this, to take away his choice, take away his freedom this way. It would be little more than rape, only different by the fact that the flower would at least make him feel good.

But it wasn't enough. It just wasn't enough! She didn't want him to take her under the effects of a flower! That would make her nothing more than a whore and him nothing more than a beast!

She wanted him to love her! She wanted him to make love to her, not have sex with her! She didn't want it!

She hated it!

And so she cried, because she knew she had no choice. Her time was running out.

There, his arms rose around her and she knew it was over. He had lost his control, he was under the effects of the flower.

The belt of her kimono needed only one tug to become undone and her dress almost fell from her shoulders as her naked body was presented in all its ethereal beauty.

The arms wrapped around her and Mizore froze at the feeling of warmth seeping into her, a warmth so different than the one she hated.

"I'm sorry Mizore..." Said Tsukune and the girl gasped at hearing her name with no suffix. "But I can't..."

Her heart broke but she could see the same on his face, on tears that became parts of the snow that swirled around the young couple.

"W-why? Why not?" She asked, implored him to tell her, to let her know what she did to be so bad that he had to rebuff her, what was it on her that wasn't to his liking even with the Snow-white's effects. What she had done to repulse him so.

But his hand reached at her cheek and his tears burned hot, leaving steaming lines on his face. "You're so perfect... You're such a nice, caring person... I know you Mizore, I know how much you care, how afraid you are right now... But I'm so sorry, I can't do that... I... I'm not the one you should aim for. You deserve so much better than me..."

Her breath hitched in her throat, cutting her soft sobs in an instant, letting her feel his own chocked mourning.

"I would love few things more than to be with you, or Kurumu, or Moka... But I can't... I can't bring this burden on you, I can't, not when you deserve someone so much better than I could ever be..." His voice touched something deep in her and she knew it was her heart. In that moment she saw how fragile he was as well, how afraid he was. How brave he was, to admit his fears. "I don't know if I even love you, not when I feel the same things for them as well and you deserve someone that can love you fully, truly and with no restraints. So... so I can't, you see? I can only be your friend, that's all I can ever be... Because I want you to be happy, I can't bring you my burden. You're just too good for a cursed thing like myself." There, he had said it. That admission he could not make to anyone but her mother and even then under threat, had been made. His secret fear, his secret pain, had been revealed.

The yuki-onna made leaned towards him, whispering his name, wanting to steal a kiss, but she never made it.

A hand, large, clawed, furred, wrapped around her and pulled her away, her arms still reaching out for the one she loved so deeply. Her whisper came as a cry even as she was pulled away in a snowstorm made by no natural force and the despair on his face was the last thing she saw before her world faded to a perfect, blinding white.

"Mizore!" Tsukune's voice cut the wind, trying to reach her.

His battle form exploded outwards and his youki made the snow explode outwards, it not able to even come close to his rage-filled body, almost burned away.

"GIVE HER BACK!" With a mighty leap, he followed after the shadow that had grabbed his friend, his Mizore as the demon told him, but he only caught that; shadows. The monster was already gone and with it a part of Tsukune's heart.

"Tsukune-san!" Moka's voice reached him and he turned, his form already being restored to normal. The girl looked around sharply. "Wait, where's Mizore-chan?"

"Yeah, where's the traitor, where did she... Tsukune? Why are you crying?" Asked a very frightened Mizore.

"It took her... that monster took her... it took her from me... I couldn't react in time and it took her away..." He said and an unspeakable anger, mixed deeply with resentment, boiled beneath his skin. "We must hurry, we must get her back! Now!"

"Yukari-chan? Can you track her down?" Asked Moka, hoping that the girl's charms would help them.

But the witch shook her head. "Impossible~desu... Tsukune-san was hard to reach and he has an extremely large and unique type of youki. I can't track Mizore-san, not without Ruby-san, but she's back at Tsurara-san's. Tsukune-san, how did the monster look? We met one too, maybe they are connected?" The witch didn't believe in coincidences, especially those that made rabid monsters target only specific prey.

"Ugh..." He groaned, trying to make out the details from the split second he got to see of it. "It was large, almost as big as my battle form, with white fur and large hands... like what humans call a 'yeti'..."

The group looked at each other. "That's the one we met as well!" Said Kurumu, more afraid for her former friend than annoyed at her. "Which means..."

"It's targetting for a reason." Finished Kokoa, her bat already scouting around, using its sonar senses to try and find a way back to civilization. "That at least gives us time. It means it has a purpose; we could go back to safety and get Ruby with us. Maybe even that creepy Bus Driver guy, or even Tsurara-san, she looked like she could fight." And indeed the woman looked very skilled, able to fire a snow bullet right between their legs with less than a second to aim and in semi-auto mode at that.

"What are we waiting for then?" Asked Tsukune, already feeling that every moment away from the girl was one more mortal danger she could be in. "Who knows what it's doing to her?"

Yukari hurried to calm him down, knowing full well what could happen if his rage remained unchecked. "Look at this Tsukune-san." She said, revealing Mizore's completely white Know-Know-kun charm. "At least this way we know she's safe. It's only when it darkens that she'd be in danger and only black shows mortal danger. It means we have some time. Still, we should hurry back to Tsurara-san's home. We must organize a rescue party!"

With little disagreement, the group was off, using Kou-chan's sensory abilities and quick flight to lead them through the cold land and away from the minature snow-storms that seemed to erupt for only a few seconds before calming.

But the girl they were looking for was not alone, nor was she with a beast. She found herself in the most unlikely of places once the blinding whiteness left her.

A palace, a palace made of ice. The Snow Priestess' palace, she knew it from the time, the sole time, she had sneaked in to see that all-important Flower Offering Ceremony, only to flee scared at the revelation of what her fate would be.

"Awake at last, child. It is good." A regal voice came from behind her and Mizore turned sharply, seeing the ruler of the land in all her glory. "I apologize for the abrupt way I have invited you here, but I have been looking for you for a very long time, I could not afford to wait another moment." She said and looked down at the girl who met her gaze unflinchingly. "You are seventeen. There is no need to offer a flower; your match has already been found. Rejoice, for you have saved your race a great doom."

"What? What are you talking about?" Asked Mizore, more than a bit infuriated at being taken away from Tsukune. Especially when she was about to kiss him!

"Simple." Another voice came from the side. This one was male, velvety and it made the girl sick. "I am pleased to meet you, my girl of destiny. I will take great care of you."

Mizore turned to the Snow Priestess and the woman almost flinched at the emotions that were burning behind these azure-blue eyes. "Are you telling me he is to be my husband?"

The ruler nodded regally. "Yes, you will marry him. It will be a good life and you will have many offspring. Also, in going with him, you will guarantee the survival of our-"

"Ha... hahaha..." Mizore began laughing. It certainly drew looks of surprise. "Marry him? Marry that?" She asked incredulous but also amused. "You're wrong Snow Priestess! I will not marry that scum!"

"What?" Said the Priestess and she was as angered as she was surprised. Her rule had never been challenged before.

"I said you're wrong. I will not marry him. There is another who holds my heart and he will come for me, Priestess! You took me from his arms but he will come from me. Because unlike you" She spat. "he cares for me and every one of his friends. Tsukune will come and then the both of you will know what it means to go against him! I will not submit to your rule of fate. I am me, Shirayuki Mizore and this has been the last straw! You may think me under your command like every other of my race, but I know the truth! There is no Fate, only Destiny and you will learn that lesson too."

With courage that she had found in her darkest moment, Shirayuki Mizore got up from the floor she had been placed and in her movements was an otherworldly grace. She spared a look to only show the 'ruler' of the land that she was in fact not even a speck of dust before her determination and she stepped past the shell-shocked 'fiance' that had been arranged for her.

"Fear the howl of the demon." She said, something that stemmed from a part of her she had never felt before and a being inside the Priestess gasped in abject terror. "For it will show you an end and a begining! I am not afraid any more, I have lost it all and only have up to go. I wonder, Snow Priestess, can you say the same?"

And then she was gone, off to one of the many quarters she knew there were for guests, even if they were never used. Guards tried to stop her but after most of them were frozen solid, they instead preferred to show her the way rather than try and restrain her.

In that room, Mizore looked out the window, towards the village, the place she knew Tsukune to be. "Please hurry, Tsukune... I don't know what I should do..." She prayed.

A knock on her door snapped her out of her prayer and she scowled when she saw who it was. It was her 'fiance', in all his slimy glory. He felt worse than when Gin was trying to woo a girl, and that was saying something.

The male visitor looked at the girl and smirked. "I didn't get to introduce myself properly. My name is Fujisaki Miyabi. Seeing your determination, how about a bet? If your little boyfriend comes here and takes you away, then I'll let you go. If he fails however, you will become my perfect wife."

The girl sneered at him. "How about a counter-offer. Leave and I won't spear you through and leave your body for the wolves." She didn't feel the courage she displayed, but she wasn't about to let that guy threaten her.

Unfortunately for her, he wasn't one to let threats go by either. In a moment he was in front of her, pushing her to the window too close for her. "I don't like things that aren't perfect and you're too flawed. I don't like your resistance. You will obey me and you will enjoy it." Then he was kissing her, taking away one of the things she would never give another man; her first kiss.

He was about to get educated on how wrong that was and the one to teach that lesson didn't have to be there at all.

In fact, Tsukune was in the other side of the village, pacing up and down frantically as he tried to get the two witches to hurry up with their divinations. Next to him, Tsurara was serving them some tea to calm them down. She too was anxious and it was visible in the way her motions were mechanical, as if restraining herself from going out in the dark snowstorm and look for her daughter, snow gun in hand, and tear whoever it was that abducted her into target practice.

Then her phone rang, a line she had managed to set up by visiting the human settlements nearby often. When she picked up the phone and heard who it was, the entire house became frozen.

"Ah yes, I see. Thank you very much." She said pleasantly, but that was only in voice. Her face belied a fury that rivaled Tsukune.

"Who was it?" He asked anxious, not to mention worried at what could make the woman react that badly.

"The one who took Mizore-chan wasn't a monster. It was the Snow Priestess herself."

"What? Why would she do that?"

"I... have no idea..." admitted the woman as she looked outside, nostalgic. "We all obey her will because she is a Prophet, able to see the future. No one denies her because we believe she has our good at heart... But things aren't going well, as you can see. Her edicts are hardly understood any more. It's like she is frantic about something. Also, why would she kidnap Mizore when she would be seeing her tomorrow anyway? The Flower Offering you see, it isn't to offer a flower, that would be stupid. No, it's a ritual through which the Snow Priestess selects who we are to marry."

"What?" Screamed Kurumu. "Are you saying we could be getting married tomorrow? Are you saying that Mizore would be getting married tomorrow?"

"Yes, that's how things are done here. To combat the declining birth-rate, girls have to marry soon to give birth to children while they can... But, why would she do this when she could have given Mizore away tomorrow anyway?" Asked the woman.

Kokoa was the one to voice her thoughts. "Maybe because something is wrong. I mean, if she is a Prophet, then that means she can see the future, which would mean she would have a lot of time to prepare. This seems rather rushed, don't you think?"

"Yes~desu." Piped up Yukari, looking up from her charms. "If she can truly see the future, then she would have had a lot of time to prepare instead of doing things like that. But, I can't understand why Mizore would also react like this?"

Tsurara sighed. "Because, unlike the other girls of the village, Mizore-chan is very headstrong and refuses to be caged." She said with a soft smile that turned into a scowl. "She also knows the truth, she snuck inside the Priestess' castle a long time ago, so unlike the other girls, she knows that it is all a way to more effectively control us. I think that's why she took Tsukune-san away; a last attempt to be with him before she would be sent off to a loveless marriage, like everyone else in the village, like me."

Then the girls began to understand the snow-girl's actions. If that were true, then she was under a time limit she could not overcome.

"No, that's not it." The refusal came from the most unlikely source, causing all eyes to home in on him and the sorrowfull look on his face. "She didn't do it for just that. Don't you know Mizore-chan? She's always so cool and calm, she wouldn't do something like that so suddenly. No, she did it because she felt she had no choice, she was afraid. She was scared she would never see us, her friends, again. It tore her up in the inside. Even when she tried to drug me with that flower, she hated it. She didn't want me to fall to it, but she felt she had no choice. Better to have what she wanted one time rather than have it out of her reach forever." Then his anger began to flare. "When is it, when is the one she's matched to coming?"

"That's the most worrying thing..." Said Tsurara. "He's already here. Also, she said that he'd be taking part in Mizore's 'bridal training' personally..."

"Bridal training?" Asked Kurumu, though she trembled the answer.

"Yes... they are going to 'train' her to be a good wife... They are going to..." Tsurara's voice stopped and they knew she was as terrified as every one of them. "I can't do anything... They are going to take away my daughter and turn her into a good, obedient servant wife..." She said a heavy feeling of dread in her chest.

"What did you say?" Tsukune's voice reached Tsurara's ears only less than a split second before she realized that feeling of dread she was feeling was in fact his youki. "Train her? Take her? Mizore?" It was not just anger in his voice. First he had to see her so fragile, almost broken. Then she offered herself to him, him, and he didn't do anything. Then she was taken away by a monster, a monster that he now knew to be the cause of the Snow Priestess. A Priestess who ruled her land in the vague name of a Prophecy, dictating their lives with a cold hand while she slept in her little palace away from all others. It was too much. It was too much and his youki resonated with his emotions as it exploded around him, a torrent of power.

Demonic energy wrapped around him like a cloak of evil darkness, a black flame of wrath and vile fury that would incinerate all it touched.

"Ts-Tsukune..." Kurumu's breathless whisper notified Moka that something was very wrong. And that was the contradicting feelings she was reading from her Destined One. She could feel it. She could feel an emotion so strong as to enable a man to brave the flames of Hell itself, a feeling so pure, so unadulterated she only had one name for it, a name used so often that people forgot how important, how powerful and unique it was.

But she could also feel, with the same certainty, a fury the likes of which she had never even imagined before. Even second-hand, she was feeling almost like being drowned in an endless sea of wrath, a wrath so unholy she believed nothing could hold back. If Tsukune's emotions enabled one to brave the flames of Hell, then this wrath was these flames!

"S-s-s-s-synchronization..." Stuttered Ruby, just as breathless. "Tsukune-san's human emotions and his demonic instincts... they are... they have become one..." Had the Headmaster been there, he might have had a heart attack.

A condition that seemed awfully close to Tsurara as she witnessed Tsukune's fury. She almost felt pity for the Snow Priestess. Almost; because there was no way in hell she would feel pity for the one to take away her daughter's chance at happiness.

Moka and the other girls of the house noticed twitches running under Tsukune's skin, muscles contract rapidly, small protrusions of bone running up and down his flesh as he held his hand before his face, nails turning to claws and barely concealing his burning orange-red eyes.

Teeth became fangs and the youki intensified, reaching heights of potency that left everyone but Tsukune reeling.

How, how could he hold something like that back? Kokoa was the first to admit her respect to the human, but now even Inner Moka knew that he deserved that and much more.

"Mine." Tsukune's voice was distorted by the raw youki he was emitting. That single word was the core of both Tsukune and his Inner Demon.

An Inner Demon that, while a hateful and vile being, was also very possessive. It might have thought little of Tsukune's friends, considering them more playthings than something to be respected in any way, but they were it's playthings! They were it's and it's alone and no one else's!

Tsukune's youki seemed to compress in him and the couch that supported him creaked from the raw energy, rapidly disintegrating at the touch of a power more vile than anything that had ever set foot in the village before.

Then it reached the girls' ears. A low, rough, angry growl that grew in intensity, becoming from a deep rumbling into a low roar and then a defeaning roar.

Tsukune's roar of unfathomable fury reached the Snow Priestess' palace and even the spirit held within her trembled in fear at what that contained.

Miyabi, too, felt it and it was what caused him to stop his advances on the snow girl captive. Because what scared him the most wasn't the sound, it was the emotions that sound contained, an ageless challenge from an apex predator, a king and emperor, that and the fact that Mizore didn't seem scared at all. She only seemed saddened as she realized who's voice it was and then said a single name that made Miyabi realize that they might have miscalculated.

It was the name of the one that Mizore had claimed would come.

A roar of vile wrath echoed over the entire land and no predator dared close in the buildings of ice.

And some people couldn't understand why that roar sounded like both untold terrors and nightmares but also like it would bring them a new era.

In Tsurara's home, with Tsukune sufficiently calmed after he released the pent up fury he was feeling, at both the laws of the place, the fear of loosing his beloved friend and his own inability to protect her, he looked at his friends.

"I don't know what you're going to do, but there's no way I'm letting them take her. She begged me. She did what she hated and despised the most for just a shred of happiness in her life. I'm not letting it continue. I'll protect her even if I have to kill the Snow Priestess!" He declared it and almost went out the door, leaving the girls stunned. It was rare to see him riled up to this extent.

Then a hand touched Tsukune's shoulder and pulled him back before he opened the door. "Don't go Tsukune-san." Said Tsurara and gave him the mother of all evil smirks. "Not yet at least. If they take Mizore, they will have to wait a bit before begining the training and, if I know my darling daughter, even then they will have trouble taking her. I trained her after all, I would know. Nothing is going to happen until tomorrow morning at least. So, until then, we need a plan, am I correct?" She said turning to the other girls, who were already getting ready to follow Tsukune out, even Ruby.

Kurumu huffed. "The idiotic stalker-onna... that's why I told her she needs to be more direct in her approach. Look at it now, we're gonna have to save her ass from an entire palace filled with guards and monsters and whatnot."

Kokoa smirked at that. "All's the more fun then! Cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war!" She cried happily, twirling Kou-chan in sword form around effortlessly.

"Of course!" Said Moka. "Mizore-chan is our friend. We're not letting go of her. Especially to a loveless life like this."

"Right~desu! We're the Newspaper Club and we take care of each other!" The little witch finished, brandishing her heart-shaped wand like a rapier.

Ruby would have said a piece too, but she was already lost in her fantasies after seeing Tsukune decide to take command.

"Well, in that case, I can help." Tsurara almost giggled. "Make room on the table, it's time to bring out the big guns!"

It was almost scary the way she said it.

And with good cause because almost immidiately after that declaration, she had brought out a set of blueprints from under a desk, blueprints of the Palace that is, forbidden plans of the entire complex. They didn't even want to know how she had those, and it was one of the least surprising moments.

With a pen, the eldest Shirayuki began drawing circles and arrows all over the paper. "The ceremony tomorrow is our best bet for entry. See these circles? That's weakpoints in the security, I told them but they refused to listen. Anyway, the guest rooms are in the east wing and the ceremony takes place in the west. So, we'll need two teams. Team one should be in the west team and make a lot of mess and draw attention. Kokoa-chan is ideal for that. Then, the second team will go after my daughter, using the trouble as a distraction to extract her. Here and here," She said tapping two points. "are extraction points; if you go there, a long slide will lead out outside and in a single point I will be able to get you away safely, especially if the Bus Driver is there. Anyway, the second team will need at least one good fighter, just in case, and probably Kurumu-chan as well, since you can disable opposition silently."

Then she got off the map, leaving the teenagers to gawk at her and the professionalism she did everything in. The snow-woman went to the side of a library and began pushing to the side. Tsukune almost made to help her move it when it seemed to slide off on wheels and reveal... a weapons cache hidden behind it.

"And these are your weapons. Snow guns, custom made, low lethality, low to medium range, high accuracy, extended clips." She said as she locked and loaded a handgun. "Try not to aim for the head though; they can still break a bone."

"Where did you get all that stuff?" Screamed Kokoa.

Tsurara only gave them a close-eyed look before going back to her work; arming the weapons. "Before I was taken in for my bridal training, I was much like Mizore-chan. I wanted to be free and fall in love. She took it from me and instead gave me a loveless marriage that didn't even give me the children I wanted. I had to suffer through several decades with a cheating husband, in a warm country and unable to even perform the duty that was forced on me." Her eyes glinted dangerously. "There's absolutely no way in hell I'm letting her take my baby girl away from me and into that situation. I'd skin her alive if I got the chance, but she never reveals herself to us. Were it not for the ceremony, most of us would have thought her to be dead already. As for the guns? Before I was trained to be a wife, I wanted to be a spy. They never managed to quite beat that out of me, so after my dear husband met an unfortunate end, I started this collection. Any more questions?"

Kokoa gulped and shook her head. The way the woman said about 'unfortunate accident' was enough to clue her to a simple fact; Tsurara might look kind and happy and cheery, but if you pissed her off, she would bury you in ice with

the same happy, cheery smile. And now, she was a mother, with all that entailed, who stood to loose her child. Understandably, she was very upset, almost as much as Tsukune.

But right after that, the entire serious atmosphere was destroyed. The reason being that Tsurara pulled a large wig from a closet and began approaching Tsukune while fluffing it.

Seeing that glint in her eyes, Tsukune began backing off. "Tsurara-san, what are you doing? What is that wig for?"

"Well," She said with an all-too-pleasant smile on her face. "men are impossible to enter the shrine. So we have to disguise you as a girl. Don't worry, you have really pretty skin so it's going to be alright with a bit of makeup!"

The boy tried to make a break for the exit but it was quickly covered in sharp ice, just like every other exit in the house, including windows and even the small fireplace.

Tsukune gulped.

Tsurara leapt.

A few seconds later, the winner was determined and the looser was left to grouch with a long, blonde wig on his head.

"Awww, Tsukune! You look so cute!" Squealed Kurumu as she tackled him again.

Said boy looked at every person in the household with a cold look. "If this gets out the Headmaster won't be able to save you!"

It only made Kokoa laugh harder as she looked at his murderous face. "Maybe now you should leave Onee-sama alone and go have pedicure with nee-chan!"

Not one to let such good opportunities go by, Kurumu squealed. "And we could go looking for clothes!"

"I could even make a potion to make the change permanent!" Laughed Yukari.

Divided between pity for Tsukune and endless mirth at the way he looked, Moka tried to play peacemaker, lest the volcano exploded. "C-come on everyone! Stop teasing Tsukune-san! It's not nice!" She still couldn't stop her giggling.

"Moka's right, this isn't about fun. Tomorrow you will go save my daughter. For today you will sleep while I check the weapons and get you permits." Spoke Tsurara who, though amused at the situation also couldn't help but want her daughter to be there with them.

The atmosphere was quickly subdued after that and fun ceased. Only a tense feeling was in the air, the sort caused when people are about to devote their entire existence into a single cause.

To one Shirayuki Tsurara, it was glorious, being there with them.

If only it didn't take her daughter being taken away for it to happen.

The next day, several yuki-onna, all of young age, were moving towards theor ruler's palace, there to take part in the ceremony that would help them with their lives and give them lots of children to restore their race. Not one of them was aware of what would really happen.

Not any of the yuki-onna that is. Because there wasn't just snow-women in that group.

As the gathering entered the colossal ice building, five people smiled to each other in victory. First part; entering, complete.

It was of course the easiest part. The harder part would begin soon and even that would not compare to the last one.

Still, they moved on, they had to do it, they had to risk it all to save their friend.

Entering the frozen complex was easy enough; Tsurara was a professional in many arts, including that of forgery. Their passes were perfect and their disguises just as well made, enabling the group of teenagers to sneak in. Even Yukari, her being too young to take part in the ceremony, found it easy to enter by using a simple charm from her succubus friend, tricking the guards' eyes.

With the group safely inside, they seamlessly split in two groups. The infiltration group consisted of Tsukune, Kurumu and Yukari, while the distraction (and possible destruction) group was made up of Moka, Kokoa and Ruby. Each and every one of them was armed to the brink under their kimono and it was only Tsurara's expertise that allowed them to conceal their weaponry without bulges.

So, while one group discreetly made for one side of the large room they were in while being briefed into the nature of the ritual, the other one headed for the other side and played a great part in acting like they needed to go to the toilet.

Mere moments later after the distaction group left the room, several loud gunshots echoed around the building several explosions rattled the elegant structure.

It had began.

Using the ensuing chaos as a very good cover, Tsukune and the others ran off as fast as they could, heading towards where Mizore would be kept, using Yukari's sharp mind to keep them aware of all shortcuts and proper direction.

It was a good day to have eidetic memory.

Running through the corridors, Kurumu almost smiled. "Tsurara-san's plan is a great success, Moka and the others are really making a mess back there!"

And so it was. Though it was more Kokoa's doing rather than the more mild-mannered Moka or Ruby. The fire-haired vampire was laughing maniacally as she leapt around, shooting wildly in the midst of death-defying acrobatics.

She couldn't help it; it was a fight and such things always made her blood flow. And on the topic of blood, she smirked slyly. Right before leaving that day, Tsukune had given them all a bit of his own youki-enhanced blood and she could feel it in her stomach, wanting to burst in power. However, she knew it was their last resort and didn't use it like she wanted to.

"Kokoa-chan! Don't move so fast! We need to make it last!" Cried out Moka behind cover as she unleashed a few shots from her snow-guns, but even she could admit it was kinda fun.

The other group took a sharp left turn and suddenly froze. They had expected no resistance, but there it was. Kurumu was ready to blast the other man's mind with her illusions, but he raised his hands almost in surrender.

"Whoa, there, calm down. I'm not from here, I'm not going to fight you. I'm more of a lover, if you get my point." He smiled in a way that would normally be considered seductive at the succubus, but she only saw a slimy snail.

"Then move out of our way, we don't have time to deal with you." Said Tsukune, wanting to get it over with as fast as possible. Fast meant less chances of his friends getting hurt after all.

"Oh, then you must have an objective, rather than being mere vandals. And I'm assuming it's a girl named Shirayuki Mizore?" He looked critically at them and then smiled. "Well, I'm so sad to tell you that there's nothing you can do about it. You see, in order to ensure the loyalty of this village, my organization requested an exchange; a prisoner in the place of this land's destruction. Fair trade no? That prisoner is Shirayuki Mizore. She will make a wonderful wife to the man to get her."

"Organization? Destruction? As if we care about that! We just want our friend back!" Screamed Kurumu and her nails began to slide out, ready to cut this disgusting man down.

"I said, there's nothing you can do about it. You'd only be able to see her if you joined our organization, but I don't think that would be happening."

Tsukune had had it. He had been forced through a nightmare-filled sleep where his imagination ran him through all kinds of torture Mizore would suffer, through all the scenarios his Demon could think of to destroy her unique spirit and turn her into a loyal, submissive wife. "SILENCE!" He roared as his wig flew off at the force of his demonic energy being unleashed. "I'm taking her back. You can let us pass, or you can die."

"Stop it Tsukune..." A sad, low voice, a girl's voice, reached them from behind the surprised man. On a flight of stairs stood Mizore. "Don't come any further, please... this man will hurt you... so please, go back and leave me here... I've been violated by him already..." Then the ice-girl seemed to break away into flakes of ice and the group knew it was a mere clone. The head was the last part to break into nothingness and the soul-less, broken eyes of Mizore pierced Tsukune's heart like enflamed, poisoned bolts.

"Violated her? Who does that little bitch think she is?" Said the man, making the big mistake of drawing an enraged Akuchi's attention to himself. Miyabi had already convinced himself, with the Priestess' aid of course, that the roar last night had been a rabid monster rather than a true challenge. And even if it was a challenge, why would he be afraid? He was a high-ranking member of Fairy Tail. If they could extort an entire race, what threat could a single monster be? "She should really get a hold of herself, I only kissed her and groped a bit. Really her freaking out was a big turn-off. Liked the way she squirmed though, she'd make a-Ugh!"

A fist had planted itself firmly into his stomach and bones snapped. Another punch came into the side of his face and Miyabi's neck almost snapped.

Tsukune shook with rage, his youki creating an aura that looked like a flame of Hell taking the shape of his monster form, overlapping his own.

"You... touched... Mizore..." There was naught but fury in his voice and Kurumu, the only one in those present able to feel his emotions even faintly recoiled. It felt exactly like last night, only there was no sign of that pure emotion that suffused Tsukune before. This was all fury. This was the collective wrath of a demon in a human and a human with a demon's soul.

Mayhaps Miyabi should have ran. Mayhaps he should never have come. Mayhaps he should never have even accepted the invitation in the organization.

But now it was too late. He had invoked something terrible, he had overstepped that boundary one last time.

Reap what you sow. What you do shall be done upon you thrice over.

He had never believed in these words of wisdom, thinking them below someone like him.

But now, seeing that demon manifest into the real world, a being ripped out of nightmares even he could not dream of, he tried to apologize, he tried to save what he could of his life.

Pity that words of such lowlives do not register to demons.

Tsukune fell upon the man's prone form with a vengeance he had rarely felt. He pinned the man to the ground and followed an instinct that resided in another part of himself, a part he rarely called forth.

His vampiric side.

Tsukune bit into Miyabi's neck and the man screamed in unimaginable pain. For Tsukune drained not blood, but Miyabi's very essense of life, he drained him and it was the worst torture imaginable.

Letting go of the man from his teeth after having drunk his part, Tsukune's youki surged to his arms and it was only his constant use of the lock that more links didn't break under the stress. Energy turned into supernatural strength under the instinctive guidance of a vampire's blood and the fist fell with enough force to turn concrete to dust.

Tsukune punched again and again, almost lost in the haze of bloodlust, his fists landing on the man's face and breaking bones, tearing flesh, destroying the body.

While Yukari shook, too scared to interfere, or maybe turned on, Kurumu decided to stop Tsukune. She gave him a hug from behind and whispered to him to stop.

"Why?" Tsukune shouted his question, not understanding why that thing should be spared. "Why spare him? He hurt Mizore!"

Miyabi looked at Kurumu hopefully, but it was hard to tell considering the fact that his head was little more than a spherical mass of bone housing his brain. Kurumu's smile was not nice as she looked at him, sneering. "Because he knows. He has information. After we're done with this place, I will rip all of it from his mind. Then Mizore can kill him to take her vengeance on him."

Tsukune's fist shook as he tried to restrain himself from giving that final blow and destroying what was left of his enemy. In the end he relaxed in Kurumu's arms and got up.

The downed man hoped that they would leave him alone enough for his healing abilities to repair his body enough to leave, but it wasn't going to happen. A tail, long, sinewy and made of sharp bones and spikes erupted from that demonic boy and wrapped around him, none too gently. A poisoned barb floated 'comfortably' next to his neck and Miyabi knew that if anything happened, he'd be dead in a second. His right hand, pressed a small button hidden in his glove and he wanted to smirk in victory. A signal had been sent.

He really ought to have known better by that time, but he didn't. Or he wanted some form of petty revenge.

Yukari was quick to give Tsukune another goal to aim for, knowing he would remain focused only if he had something to do. Otherwise he might just kill their prisoner, and she was curious as to what 'organization' he had been speaking about as well. "Let's go~desu! Mizore-san is this way!"

Tsukune, Kurumu and Yukari quickly took off, running up the stairs towards their friend, hoping she'd be safe.

Mizore barely raised her head when the door to her room was cut to pieces with the screech of metal being torn. She knew who it was, who else could it be. "Go away..."

The girl's whisper broke the hearts of her friends and made one prisoner very uncomfortable as Tsukune's tail tightened unconsciously. "Mizore-chan! You're here-"

Tsukune was forced to back away as spears of ice erupted from the floor. "Go away! Just leave me!" Screamed Mizore.

"Oi, what are you saying, you idiotic stalker-onna!" Yelled an indignant Kurumu. "As if we're gonna leave after coming all the way here!" And instead of walking away or dodging to the side from the ever-growing frozen icicles that seemed to blossom around the girl in the center of the room, she walked forward.

"That's right~desu! We're all here! Now let's go!" Said Yukari, before squealing in fear and ducking behind the door, lest that icicle got her head.

"You don't get it!" Screamed Mizore and they all saw her tears. "He took it! That bastard took it from me! He kissed me! And he touched me! He took it! He destroyed my body! I'm no good any more! I'm tainted by that man!" A shell of ice grew around her, as firm as the psychological shell she once protected her heart with.

Too bad it wasn't enough to dissuade a determined Kurono Kurumu. Spikes of ice pierced her clothes and scratched her skin, but she ignored it and kept on walking at the weeping yuki-onna. "Psch, as if that little prick could do anything to the Mizore I know. Now get up, we've got to go, or that bitch of a leader your people have is gonna get us all into trouble."

"Shut up!" More icicles erupted around Mizore, but they were too unfocused and failed to even come close to Kurumu. "You don't get it... I couldn't do anything... I wanted to give it to Tsukune... but he took it from me... my first, real kiss... I told them you'd come but they didn't leave me alone... They let him in and... and... and he..." A chocked sob escaped her. "He touched me! He kissed me! How can I go back? How can I see Tsukune like this?"

By that time, Kurumu was in front of the weeping girl and kneeled next to her. "If he took away your first kiss, I'll give you mine." And then Mizore found out what it felt to be kissed by one who loved you.

Her mouth opened wide in shock but no words or air came out because Kurumu's tongue crept in and teased her own.

Was the situation not so dire, she would have been turned on. As it were, she was surprised. So when the succubus let her breathe, she shouted indignantly. "Where on earth did you learn to do that?"

Kurumu giggled at her best friend, her duet partner and hugged her close. "See? You can give a 'first kiss' to Tsukune now. But remember, that one's mine so don't let any scumbag take it away from you!"

Outside the room, Tsukune was facing away from the two girls, but mostly to hide his nosebleed. It didn't help that even his Inner Demon cheered on the succubus.

Yukari though, being who she is, cheered internally and began taking notes. She was sure she'd be doing that with Moka some day and who better to ask on sexual matters than a succubus?

Finally managing to stem his nosebleed, Tsukune stepped in the room, though he left his prisoner outside, wrapped by magical ropes Yukari quickly conjured. He made his way carefully so as to avoid tripping on one of the many icicles and half-frozen puddles of tears that decorated the room.

Once he was close enough, he too joined the hug, later enlarged by Yukari.

That's how they stayed, united, not wanting to break up for anything, when Tsukune's earpiece buzzed to life.

"Tsukune! Leave now! Things got very dangerous, we may not be able to get out!" Ruby's voice and it was urgent

Before he had time to ask, another voice reached him, Kokoa's, and the girl sounded terrified. "Why are you here Kahlua-nee-san?"

"Kokoa... scared?" It sounded surreal; they had seen her charge an S-class monster, Gin, without so much as flinching or hesitation. She had seen Tsukune's battle form in full rage and few things could shake anyone after seeing such a spectacle. Heck, she was raised in a household of vampires!

"Sounds dangerous~desu! We have to help them!"

"Wait, help who?" Asked Mizore, out of the loop.

"Dummy, you didn't think it's just me, Tsukune and the flat brat that came, did you?" Asked Kurumu. "Moka and Ruby and even Kokoa are here, but they're at the other side, making a diversion."

"Damn it..." Cursed Tsukune. "This way it's going to take us too long and I think we caused enough of a mess here that people are going to come over soon..."

"You're right, I can feel them through my ice. Several men, two dozen at least." Said Mizore after a short focus. In that place, so filled with her element, she could feel everyone in a short range through the vibrations sent through the snow. It would take another yuki-onna to numb those, which was a good thing in this case. "We have to go, now!"

"Yukari-chan, which way are they?" Asked Tsukune as his arms began to bulge and disform, turning into skin-covered mimicries of his demonic form's. He only lacked the claws, but with his increased size and muscle, he wouldn't need them to do what he wanted to.

"Straight down~desu. We have to go down and then east!" Said Yukari, having memorized the entire complex.

Tsukune sighed, he'd thought so. "Alright, step back and, Mizore-chan, please make a thick barrier to slow these guys."

Then, he punched the floor.

It would be best to say he punched through the floor, the force of his inhuman strength creating a gaping hole in the floor. He leapt through and smashed his oversized fist on the floor below, making another whole.

"Well, that's one way to get there..." Mumbled Kurumu, stunned like every time she saw his humongous strength. These floors were nearly two feet thick, made of the hardest ice. And he broke through them like they weren't even there. "Now if I could convince him to put his strength to other uses..." So muttering in how many ways Tsukune's enhanced strength could be beneficial, she followed Yukari who had already leapt through the hole.

Mizore was quick to follow, slowing only to seal up the hole above her. It wasn't a perfect imitation, but it was thick and would take time to break through. Not to mention she placed a small structural failure; if any one point of it was broken, the entire thing would collapse in on itself, hopefully seriously wounding any of these guards.

And how she knew they were just 'guards'? Because there were no yuki-onnas with them, which meant that they weren't the usual shrine guards. They were just goons hired by that guy. A guy she saw Yukari pull with her through the hole, though he was wrapped up tighter than even Ruby would find stimulating. Which said something about how nice the little witch was to people who hurt her friends.

Several floors down, said child had Tsukune stop demolishing floors, though he made another hole just to trick any pursuers. Once the group had reformed, followed by a nasty shove of a kunai into where the sun didn't shine on Miyabi's body, they quickly broke into a mad dash to find the others, using Yukari as their guide as much as Mizore was quick to create slides and bridges for them to cover any gaps.

Back in the east wing, Moka was frantically checking her options. She could feel Tsukune's blood begin to boil within her as it craved release and she knew what she had to do.

Even her Inner had no words of courage to offer her.

Sacrifice of the one to save the many. She had to do it to protect everyone. Ruby, Mizore, Kurumu, Yukari, her little sister Kokoa...

Tsukune.

"Run away." She whispered to Kokoa, who had fallen on her back next to her. "I'll make an opening. Take Ruby-san and run."

Before the orange-haired sibling had the chance to deny that, Moka had already leapt forward, drawing on her power like she did before, ready to fight as hard as she could, buy as much time as she could.

Her charge was interrupted in an instant by Kahlua's outstretched hand. The dark-skinned, blonde vampiress looked sadly at Moka. "Please don't resist, I'd have to hurt you if you do and I don't want to. So please stop being obstinate."

A wall behind the woman was demolished as if in reply and a male voice, charged with youki, gave a more verbal one. "Then you stop threatening them!"

Out of the snow-formed dust cloud, Tsukune charged out, hands spread wide and fell upon the black-suited, armed men like a train.

Which, naturally, meant they were sent flying the other way.

"What the?" Said Kahlua, surprised at the interruption, not to mention at seeing the vaunted Aono Tsukune arrive in such a fashion. She expected him to be... bigger...

Behind the male, three girls rushed in and one of them turned to the bound and gagged form of the Snow Priestess. "Told you he'd come for me." Snarked Mizore, feeling very smug at the moment.

"But... but..." Kahlua tried to understand what went on. "How did you get here so fast?"

Tsukune raised an arm, mockingly. "Well, there have to be some benefits to having monstrous strength. I just smashed the floors and walls until we got here." Then he turned to Moka. "Are you alright everyone?"

Moka all but glomped him, so relieved at seeing him. Kokoa preferred to recalculate their chances of success while Ruby almost lost herself in her fantasies.

Despite her hating the Snow Priestess, Mizore moved towards her bound form and began removing the ball gag (which Ruby would later somehow sneak out) and blindfold. "That's why I said it. Tsukune and I, everyone, have a bond that your prophecies cannot foresee. Still, you did everyone for the good of the race, so I won't blame you too much for it. I too love the village after all."

"Run away then..." Whispered the Priestess. "Take everyone away and run... Ru-ugh!" The woman gasped as her eyes dilated and became bloodshot while her mouth seemed to open and something, a phantasmal something, creeped out of her.

"Too bad... so bad... It's all worthless... all you've done, is pointless... You didn't save anyone, you condemned everyone... I am Jack Frost, this ectoplasm is a manifestation of my power from within the Snow Priestess' body... I am the one who told her what the future brings, the one who told her that if Fairy Tail's demands were not met, a rain of blood would fall on the village... Doomed, you're all doomed... It ends... now"

And then Mizore felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Looking at her, even she was surprised to see a hand stabbed into her gut, a hand covered by a long, white glove.

Kahlua's glove.

The vampiress tossed the snow-girl away with a mere wave of her hand and then proceeded to punch through the spirit and into the Priestess' face, knocking her off her wheelchair.

"That's why I said I hate it when people resist!" Kahlua seemed to whine as tears began welling up in her eyes. "Now I have to kill everyone, and Moka-chan too!" Then she tried to make good on her words, taking a few rapid steps towards the stunned pink-haired girl.

Kurumu and Ruby lept at Kahlua but they were thrown off with violent, sharp punches. Even little Yukari wasn't spared. Just a second before the dark-skinned woman reached her target, Tsukune placed himself before her.

Ignoring the boy, Kahlua punched.

Tsukune grunted, but to her surprise and to that of everyone around him, he didn't move. No matter how much extra force Kahlua tried to put, he just wouldn't budge.

It was then that she realized that she couldn't pull her hand back; the boy had grabbed it firmly with his own, just inches from his stomach.

When his eyes snapped up, Kahlua's tears stopped out of clear surprise. They were not human, they were not demonic or vampiric. They were all three and they pierced her. "Kill Moka-san? Kill your sister?" His voice was rough and low as his mind flashed back in time. Back when he was human. Back when he had fun with Kyouko instead of fearing her reaction. Back when she was the one to protect him. "Older siblings are supposed to protect their younger!" He screamed and flung the vampiress away with a mighty roar, sending her careening and spinning through the air, impacting on a pillar of ice.

"Tsukune-san, hurry, my Rosario, remove it now!" Shouted Moka, knowing that it wouldn't be enough to take down her sister.

And seeing the woman rise up from the rubble, Tsukune could tell the same. This time, they would need 'professional' help. He turned around and removed the silver cross.

Ice normally a blue color was painted red by the potency of the released youki, gone in mere seconds. Silver hair moved in an unseen wind and red eyes homed in on their target.

"Moka-chan..." Whispered Kahlua, shocked that her sister could be unsealed. "You... awakened?" Then she kneeled. "Let me offer you my blessing for that magnificent awakening. Father would be happy too." Then she got up and her face changed. "But I can't let you go. I have to kill you all. Like my men here..." She said, almost sad.

Dozens of men burst into the large chamber, armed and ready, though some of them in their monster form. Kurumu and Mizore stood back to back, almost completely surrounded on one side, while Kokoa stood in the other, with only Yukari and Ruby as her support.

That left a whole entrance open for more reinforcements.

"Tsukune..." Moka's voice reached the boy in question. "Go, I'll take care of my sister. It's a family matter now."

"But..." Then he shook his head. "Please be careful, Moka."

She smiled at him, though he had already turned away to face his enemies. he really didn't know what he was doing to her, did he? Calling her by her first name only, not even using a suffix... Then her smile turned vicious and bloodthirsty as she looked at her sister, though her next words were aimed at him. "Be careful? Who do you take me for? I'm not going to loose to anyone."

Whether he heard her words or not, he didn't react. Tsukune just dropped down on all fours as his fom began to bulge and his clothes to tear. "I'm giving you exactly one chance to back the fuck off." He said and he meant it. His demonic side had been riling him up for some time now, telling him, urging him to fight.

But the men were either too brave, too foolish or too loyal to realize the very real threat behind the one before them. Instead of even considering that offer, they charged at him. They had taken at most three steps when they realized their target wasn't a boy any more. It was a coiled and ready demon-looking beast with claws as long as their arms. A roar met their charge and retreat began looking more and more like a sane choice.

Which was what another group was thinking as well. Believing the two girls to be easy prey, since one of them was already injured, they didn't even take cover. After all, how many of them could the two brats attack?

"I'm on my period, I'm freezing and my best friend was almost raped." Said Kurumu and that maniacal glint in her eyes made the more sensible of the enemy group rethink their options. "As you can realize I'm quite pissed off."

"Not to sound like a broken record, but I'm on my period, I got abducted right before kissing my future husband and I was almost raped. I'm not too happy either." Came Mizore's follow-up and a hasty retreat looked very enticing.

Then the both of them looked at them like they looked Gin when he pulled one of his usual perversions on them. "It's payback time you bastards!"

What happened next could have easily been a choreography meticulously planned by several human dancing schools. It could also have been the reward reaped from countless hours of repeating the same movements over and over again until they reached perfection. It was neither; it was a spur-of-the-momeng combat dance and, through the unearthly grace of two girls and their own absolute trust at each other, it was more than enough to force a large group of trained men to beat a very hasty retreat. After all, most of them couldn't regenerate that, whether it was cut by kunai, ninjato, claws or simply kicked upwards.

The third entrance to the chamber wasn't anywhere near as fun. Being the sole front-line fighter of the three, Kokoa knew she'd have to give it her all. Sure the witches were useful, but she couldn't be anywhere all the time.

Which meant that when Ruby and Yukari unleashed a spell that created two lines of sharp metal cards and steel-taloned ravens to herd enemies to her, the vampire girl smiled wildly.

Her older sister had scared her. And, like her other older sister, she had felt a burning shame at being afraid, even though she knew that Kahlua was well out of her league for now. The blonde vampire was the best assassin of the entire Shuzen Family for a reason. So, like most vampires, she took her shameful emotions of fear and turned them into cold fury. She forged a blade of wrath from them and got ready to fight, to absolve herself of her 'weakness' of fear.

"Let's do this Kou-chan! Spear form!" She called to her bat and it stretched before turning into the ordered weapon. It was a long yari-type spear, with a blade several inches long, good for impaling as well as cutting. Its flame-tongue design gave it an excellent cutting surface and the weapon cut the wind easily as the vampire twirled it around.

Behind one of the many columns, Yukari gaped. She had never known Kokoa to use any weapon other than a morningstar, an axe or a rapier. Using a spear, a weapon that was fundamentally different from her usual choice, it was unexpected.

One of the goons decided to call the girl on it. "Hah, you think you can pierce my ultimate defence, brat?" He boasted as his body took on a stone, blocky appearence and his size increased.

"A stone golem?" Asked Kokoa, surprising the two witches that she knew what golems even where. Then they were shocked when Kokoa burst out in laughter. "You... you call that an ultimate defence? Haha, you weakling! The one to teach me how to fight is a third year student in my Academy and he is already at steel!"

"What? That's impossible!" Came the disbelieving reply. Unlike most monsters, golems had several levels of power they grew into, forms they could take. Mud was basic, followed by stone, iron, steel and then moving on to magical materials such as mithril. Needless to say, it was rare to find a golem that was that young and over mud-form.

"Oh yes..." She drawled out and set her spear in a basic two-handed stance. "Which means you're gonna be my first test subject for my new move!" Then she was on him.

The golem flailed as it tried to hit the agile vampiress, but she spun quickly out of the way, using her body to change the direction from horizontal to vertical and knock his defence up with the lower part of the haft. Her spin continued undeterred and she took a step forward, bending her knees so as to go as low as possible while her spear met the ground and rebounded off. As a result, Kokoa's thrust was much stronger than a mere jab and it struck from so low to the ground that it was unable to be blocked, even if the defender had a shield in hand, much less unarmed. In the final moment, just before the blow reached her target, that being the enemy's stomach and abdomen, the girl used the back hand to make a spiraling movement.

"Drill Fang!" She called out her new technique. It used several parts of spear-fighting. The spiral motion gathered all the energy at a single point, like a piercing lance as opposed to her usual blunt-force fighting. The spin and jab she used also drew in her entire body's strength rather than just upper-body. As a result, the mighty thrust easily had enough power to pierce the stone armor of her target and rip through him, the force of the blow actually lifting the golem off the ground with her supernatural strength and holding him above her as blood fell on her face.

Kokoa licked the blood drops that fell near her mouth and tossed her defeated enemy apart.

When she turned to the shocked goons, she nearly fell down laughing. They were gawking at her, not realizing how she could have so easily pierced that 'undefeatable defence'. Then one of them told her something that actually infuriated her. "Blood-red moon!" He blinked when nothing happened and then repeated it.

Kokoa just blinked at him. Then she proceeded to charge them, her spear cutting the wind itself.

The one to give that command somehow managed to block her spear for a second. "You bitch, what are you doing? Have you forgotten your mission? You dare betray our Leader?"

He was swiftly met with a kick in the groin which sent him to the floor before being kicked off to the side, much to his colleagues' shock. They too had expected something to happen and it definitely wasn't what had.

Because that was the way she stalked at them, her spear spinning around her furiously, the wind itself howling from the speed of the swings. "Betray her? Are you freaking serious? Who do you take me for, one of you pathetic lowlifes? I'm a proud vampire you bastards! I'd never betray those I respect." Then she grinned ferally as she instantly stopped her spear's movements in a basic combat form with the tip extended and pointing to the ground. "I can't betray someone I was never loyal to in the first place! She was the one to betray me first anyway, setting me up against my onee-sama. Now, for raising a weapon against my beloved onee-sama, you will pay!"

Then she was gone and enemies got sent flying around. But even as she did that, she knew she'd have to give explanations later and she wasn't keen on that.

She just hoped her sister would forgive her one day.

Yukari and Ruby too were intrigued and partially worried by the whole 'betrayal' part, but Kokoa was their friend. If there was something she had to tell them, she would do it in her own time.

In the, relative, center of the room, Moka wasn't having as easy a time as the others.

Kahlua might look like a ditz most of the time and act like a child the rest of the time, but she was a vampire and she was strong.

But more importantly that that, she had one of the vampire race's lost powers. Which made things very difficult for the silver-haired teen.

It had happened almost as soon as her friends had left to fight their respective groups lest they became surrounded and defeated through attrition. Kahlua had quickly realized that with Moka released, she had few chances of winning the fight and instead decided to get serious. And that meant removing her limiter, which in turn released her latent abilities. Abilities that turned her right arm into a grotesque mass of bat wings that were as hard and sharp as a sword. A very sharp sword if Moka had to make a guess.

That was especially troubling to said girl because of the way she fought; hand to hand. Kahlua had the advantages of reach, lethality and even speed considering how easy it was to lash out with her arm.

Moka was left with only the advantage of raw strength and her own combat instincts, and that was mostly due to how her enemy fought, like a berserker, unconcerned with survival.

Dodging under a scything blow, Moka kicked upwards but 'tsk'ed when Kahlua pulled her head back and dodged the blow almost completely.

She was beginning to hate her sister now; it was a completely unfair way to fight! Moka only had her hands and fists to fight while her sister had age, experience and a wicked arm to use.

Maybe if she could get Tsukune to distract her...

Moka shook her thoughts away from that. Tsukune had enough to worry about, she didn't have to burden him more. Besides, it was her who told him to trust her, how could she betray that trust by asking for help?

The worst part was that there was a way to defeat her sister, but that would mean almost killing her as well, or outright killing her.

The silver haired girl absently wondered if being sealed for so long made her soft-hearted as well as rusty. She decided to think on it another day, preferably over Tsukune and drinking his heavenly blood.

Wait, his blood! Her thoughts focused on his blood, the pool of power within her.

"Kahlua-nee-san!" She called to her sister, hoping the woman would hear her and stop. "Stop this! I don't want to hurt you nee-san!"

But Kahlua was too far gone. Being unable to cope with the stress of killing, she had developed her own defence mechanism; crying while she fought. Unfortunately, it also made her a senseless berserker with no conscious thought beyond killing her target. It would prove to be her undoing.

Hating herself for having to resort to using such means, but also realizing that there would be no other way to do it, Moka leapt away from her older sister and atop one of the broken pillars before crouching forward. She'd need a lot of speed to pull that off. Thankfully, she had an ally right inside her.

The feeling of her stomach being set on fire was unpleasant to say the least, but the rush of power quickly overshadowed that and the world snapped into unparalleled focus for Moka. Scent, sight, hearing even sense of touch were sharpened for one glorious moment and she could feel her blood roar in her ears. Then it was gone, but the power wasn't.

Willing it to focus on one intense burst of energy, Moka blazed forward, causing the broken pillar under her to explode under the force of her kick-off. Unknown to her, the shards from that struck one of the men that had snuck past Kokoa and was ready to hit Yukari, knocking him out.

But Moka didn't even notice that, her entire sight had focused on her target. It wasn't even her sister she saw. Instead she saw a body and on it, listed out with excruciating detail, an understanding of each location and what damage it would cause to land a blow there.

A low crouch under Kahlua's pre-emptive strike, leading to a high kick that the woman dodged by leaning backwards. Doing so exposed her lower chest however and Moka used the mass of force she had generated to make a rapid spin and land a devastating elbow thrust. She continued the motion to face her enemy again and her fist made its way into Kahlua's shoulder, almost breaking it off but at least dislocating it.

Kahlua lashed out wildly with her disabled arm, but it was unfocused and Moka was too fast. She pivoted around her target and sent a powerful knee at the lower spine, hearing the bone creak and break.

The dark-skinned vampiress began falling, but she hadn't even managed to do that when Moka's fist rammed the side of her head and knocked her unconscious.

Seeing their leader defeated, the black-dressed men realized that they had little to no chances of surviving this confrontation. Especially when kids were beating them up. Maybe if their reports said it was 'a group of vampires' or something, they would be let off? They made a quick retreat to the waiting helicopters, 'loaned' technology from the human world, and fled without sparing a second look at their fallen comrades or their leader.

In one of the flying machines, Yoshii Kiria looked down in raw hatred, knowing that it was his nemesis, Aono Tsukune, messing with his plans again. He would have his revenge still though. As soon as he could convince that bitch, Leader-sama, to let him kill the filthy human. Then he would kill every member of that bastard's little happy harem and then torture the boy for years until he grew bored of him and finally gave him the blessing of death. After he showed him his family crucified and their bodies desecrated beyond realization. Madness grew in Kiria's mind and none were the wiser to it.

The chamber remained peaceful, or as peaceful as it could be after such a battle, for only a bit. The reason being not only the fact that Tsukune was tackled by a group of excited girls happy at finally being reunited, but also one very frightened Shirayuki Tsurara. She had seen the men storm the complex but everyone had been locked out. It took her time to break through the massive doors and she blamed herself for not being better at picking locks.

Hence, one very relieved mother hugged her one and only daughter and began fussing over her. It had come too close to destruction, too close to loosing the greatest treasure in her life.

At the sidelines, the leader of the yuki-onna watched wordlessly. She wanted to hope with these children. She wanted to cheer at finally being free.

But her curse was heavy and dark in nature, it told her of doom that could not be avoided. It told her of how pointless it all was.

So she made her way out alone. Alone to find another way to protect her people, now that blood would rain in her land.

Three days later, the group was in Shirayuki Tsurara's house, feasting and celebrating. The woman was so relieved she didn't even pressure Tsukune to have children with her daughter, and that was something when it came from her.

That, of course, didn't mean that Mizore didn't try to pressure Tsukune into doing the act herself. Or that Kurumu didn't try to seduce him. Or that Moka didn't try to make them stop for more than one reasons. Or that Kokoa didn't shake her head at the sex-crazed group. Or that Yukari and Ruby weren't lost in their own fantasies.

That would be just wrong now, wouldn't it?

At least, with the fighting over, the yuki-onna were very glad to help the group with their school tasks, telling them whatever they wanted to know about their people, their legends and their customs.

Who knew, it might even attract possible husbands for some of the younger daughters.

But the day to leave finally came as they couldn't delay their return any longer. Not without some very heavy justification, which they couldn't do.

Kahlua had already left, released by Moka with a hug and a well-wish, though Kokoa shied away from touching her older sister. Miyabi was still tied up, impossible to interrogate since Tsurara got ahold of him.

As it turns out, Tsurara's fascination with spies also extended to torture techniques. At least she knew enough about proper binding to even interest Ruby and, as much as she denied it, Kurumu.

The group of six stood outside Tsurara's house, loading their luggage on the bus back to the Academy, thanking the people that had welcomed them. They were almost sad to leave, but they were glad to go back home and its, more or less, usual insanity.

Happiness became muted and expressions became cold when someone else joined the group. Walking regally and wearing her full dress was the Snow Priestess, for one of the very few times outside her shrine.

She had come to say farewell to the unsatisfied, estranged daughter of her people. Because, above all, she cared for each and every one of her people. It was too bad that, as a leader, she was forced to make bad decisions as well, decisions that would doom a few to save the many. At least she was beginning to see that her decisions now would affect her possible choices later.

So, she approached Mizore, a sad look on her face, taking her to the side so they would be uninterrupted by the girl's overprotective friends. "Allow me then to say this, Shirayuki Mizore, a last service to my lost child... You may deny me, but my prophecy is real. You merely pushed back the eventual doom. You will never be with this man as he is. That is your fate."

Mizore smirked at her, a challenge as true as the one her beloved had howled over the entire village several nights before. "No, not fate, destiny. Fate cannot be changed but I will change mine. Besides, if I won't be with Tsukune as he is now... I'll just have to change him." Her confidence made Jack Frost back off as it saw a new Destiny manifest around the snow-girl, a destiny it had never foreseen before. The death of an era and the beginning of another. "I love him, that's why. I love him, loved him ever since I first read his article in the Newspaper Club, loved him even when I tried to kill him, loved him even more when I stalked him and saw his imperfections, loved him then more when I found he was a human. I fell completely in love with him only when I learned he was an Akuchi though, when I saw him hold that beast back for the sake of none but his friends. So, while your Prophecy might be true, I don't care. I thank you, but it's pointless. I am his, even if he doesn't know it yet. That, Snow Priestess, is my fate."

And, for the first time in over a century, the Snow Priestess believed the words of a being other than her eternal companion, the spirit that inhabited her body.

It was in that belief she made a terrifying discovery; 'Have all my predictions been wrong? Could this have happened had I not interfered? Have I really changed anything?'

The Gift of Prophecy wasn't one to be borne easily, it was a burden of incalculable weight. And the Snow Priestess, leader of an entire race, had just realized that for all her ability of foresight, she just might not have made any difference in the end.

That single realization ended up changing her in ways she would not have believed possible. And this prophecy came true; an era was ending, another was begining, and the old era's final moments had just began.

In that solitary village of a dying race, so rarely visited that most of them had not seen another youkai until they left the village to find their wedded match, times changed not with a bang, but with the silent sigh of a realization that was long overdue.

A/N: And so we move towards the inevitable confrontation with Fairy Tail, where damnation and hearbreak lie.

Also; 27 Wordpad pages for your reading pleasure. Damn, and here I thought something was wrong with how fast I wrote; I made the chapter too darn big!

Finally, this is the last chapter I can reliably publish. So here we have a choice. Should I keep writing while I'm off in the army, knowing I may not update for a couple of months on end, possibly leaving you with long cliffhangers? Or should I stop here and wait until I come back? Your votes will not necessarily change my opinion (I'm leaning towards the first by the way), but it may help me decide. Either way, I'll still be writing chapters, or at least keeping notes, but I can't guarantee when they will be published. So, sporadic updates or a rapid-fire update spree that will come in like six to eight months?

---

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.