MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Or, if you're a stiff kind of person, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
As I promised, I wanted to get this out as a Christmas present for everyone. Although the original plan was to have it out this morning BUT WHO CARES?! I'M STILL GIVING IT TO YOU GUYS ON CHRISTMAS DAY AND THAT'S WHAT COUNTS!
...Right?
Right.
SO! This will probably be the last chapter of the year, and while I THOUGHT this chapter was a lot longer than the previous chapter, it actually ended up around my usual 6K work count...oh well. Have fun with Boss Fight 5!
"Good grief..." Naruto chuckled as he walked to the back of the manor. "I didn't think she'd be so apologetic." He glanced back towards the door he had just come out of. Yeta, despite coughing a lot, didn't stop apologizing until Naruto told her to stop and eat her soup. She did stop to have some, before starting to apologize again. The blonde tried several times to get her to calm down, saying Yeto had pointed him in the right direction, before she began apologizing AGAIN.
"So sorry! Yeta so useless...can't do anything right...husband always helping Yeta...such a nice husband..." She then started smiling lovingly towards the kitchen, where they both knew Yeto was..
"Heehee...they really do love each other a lot..." Naruto giggled as he rubbed his nose. "Guess that's why they're married..."
"Is she little wife?" Yeto asked the blonde.
"Heheh...little wife? Yeah right." He laughed as he locked his hands behind his head, thoughts of the short statured, short tempered imp running across his mind. "LITTLE, maybe. Wife? Hah!" He chuckled as he walked past a small army of Mini-Freezards, not noticing them as they stared after him in silence. "I mean, she's a midget!" He giggled before the Midna in his mind was suddenly transformed into the tall, beautiful woman she could become. A woman who, despite being so childish, was VERY MUCH an adult. "Heh...heheh...a...a midget..." His face quickly began to heat up as his mind continued to wander. "With...long legs..." His face began turning a brighter shade of pink. "And...curvy hips..." The Mini-Freezards noticed steam began erupting from the swordsman's ears. "And a...sexy voice..." He began shaking as he stopped, his face suddenly turning a deep red.
"Were you thinking of me?"
The small army of Mini-Freezards looked at each other, two of them nodding before charging at the blonde.
" A really...REALLY...sexy voice..." He mumbled incoherently as the image of Midna suddenly gained a scene behind it...his room back home.
"Good morning, Naruto..."
"AAAAAAAUGH!" Naruto suddenly screamed, snatching the two Mini-Freezards just before they touched his legs and putting them against his head, the two monsters squealing as they suddenly melted against the extremely hot surface. "WHAT THE HELL AM I THINKING!?" He shouted, a fountain of blood gushing out of his nose. "I'M TRYING TO FIND A KEY! WHAT IN THE WORLD AM I DOING DAYDREAMING!?" The small army of Mini-Freezards all began screaming in horror before they all ran away in fear of the monster who had melted two brave soldiers simply by putting them to his head.
Naruto looked behind him, wondering if he had heard screaming or not. When he looked back, the only thing in the courtyard was snow. The blonde shook his head, pressing onward into another room. "Let's see...Yeto said that the key was in the back of the manor..." He opened another door to see what almost looked like a small cathedral. "Huh...I wonder if this is where they got married..." He wondered for a moment as he walked into the room. He looked up to see several large icicles dotted across the ceiling. They seemed strange. Almost like they were egg sacs or something...
Naruto glared fiercely as his eyes flashed yellow. He saw nothing but ice inside, but he still felt his right hand pulsing. He quickly pulled out his Bow, knocking a bomb arrow to it before lighting the fuse. Letting the arrow fly through the air, he watched as the icicle blew up into several large pieces. It hit the ground, Naruto waiting for something to appear.
Nothing did.
Looking back up, Naruto didn't like that there were at least four other large icicles. He debated on whether or not he was wasting his favorite bomb arrows, but his left hand kept pulsing, and he kept thinking of those stupid icicle guys from earlier. So nodding his head, he blew up the icicles until there was only one left. Satisfied with his accomplishment, Naruto began walking towards the remaining icicle, wondering if it was what he thought it was. It suddenly began shaking before falling to the ground; Naruto instantly hopping back and pulling out his weapons as a Chillfo emerged from the icicle, Naruto gnashing his teeth.
"I KNEW IT!" He roared as he dashed towards the frozen foe. The Chillfo swept its spear at Naruto, the blonde hopping over its head, using Link's 'Helm Splitter' to instantly kill the monster. Landing behind the defeated monster, Naruto sheathed the Master Sword and Hylian Shield before breathing a sigh of relief. Fighting one of the assholes was a LOT easier than fighting two. Naruto kicked the snow where the Chillfo once stood, frowning. "As long as the head's been destroyed, the rest of the body can't be re-formed..." The blonde glared at the snow. "And as long as there's only one, I can easily finish it off..." He turned around and started walking to another door in the cathedral.
'Although...if there's MORE than one...' He thought as he opened the door, paling as TWELVE of the fuckers lined the second floor of the room, all holding an ice spear in anticipation of the blonde. "Why the hell do I jynx myself like this?" He groaned as he quickly spun around, slamming the door shut and rolling away from it as twelve spears outlined his body on the door. "Goddammit..." Naruto grumbled. "Fucking monsters...always making this shit difficult..." He sighed, taking a deep breath as he hid behind one of the long pews along the floor. "Guess it's time to try it out..." He mumbled as he crossed his legs and closed his eyes.
He took a deep breath before relaxing his hands between his legs, feeling the cold air surrounding the manor. He could feel the howling Wolfos of the mountain. The slow, steady beat of the swaying pines and evergreens. He could feel their energy swirling around the mountainside, shielding the smaller animals from the elements. Their energy slowly began to encircle the blonde as a red pigmentation formed around his closed eyes. He could feel a warm fire burning in his stomach, the cold, numbing wind from before feeling like a warm gentle breeze. When he opened his eyes, Naruto was glaring forward with yellow eyes, his pupils dilating to the sides.
Yeto sat on a small chair next to Midna's bed, looking up at the many books of the manor. He didn't know why there were so many books about "Enlightenment" and "Spiritual Journeys", but he would look through them trying to read their contents whenever Yeta was too tired to play outside.
"RASEN RENDAN!"
KABOOM!
Yeto looked up in worry, having heard many voices shouting the same thing. Was the small blonde human really okay?
"Shit shit shit shit shit...Um...Hey! Yeto! Sorry about this, but...uh...one of the back rooms was HORRIBLY infested with monsters, so I, uh...kinda had to destroy it..." Naruto looked across the destroyed room; the ceiling blown off, railings destroyed and walls collapsed. ...at least, those that still REMAINED in the manor and had not fallen off into the ravine below...
"Shit, that doesn't sound very convincing..." Naruto groaned as he looked across the room. "Maybe I shouldn't use Sage Mode here..."
At least the monsters were gone...that was a plus, right?
...right?
"I'm so screwed..." The blonde groaned. "Let's just find the key already..." He said pushing open another door, this one leading into a long hallway. As he began walking down the hallway, he noticed two suits of armor standing on top of pedestals. "Oh...this must be what Yeto was talking about." He said, looking at the one on the right. It wasn't really polished, showing more dust than anything else, but it still looked pretty dang durable. There were even a few dents in it. "Guess this thing has seen some use..." Naruto mumbled before glancing behind him, seeing the other armor set. This one was a bit shinier than the other one, though it didn't really have any dents in it. As Naruto began walking down the hall, he grinned. "If I'm here, then that means that the key should be just down this hall. Yeto DID say it was past the hall with the...armor...suit..." Naruto's eyes narrowed as he slowed to a stop.
Wait...Yeto and Yeta had to have lived here for quite a while for him to know the layout of the mansion. He even knew the key was down the hall from a suit of armor. So if he knew all of that...
"He wouldn't make a mistake...like saying there was only one suit of armor!" Naruto quickly spun around, whipping out his shield as a large spiked ball smashed against it, pushing the blonde backwards against a double door. Naruto gnashed his teeth as one of the armor suits stomped forward before suddenly growing in size, clawed hands bursting out from behind its gauntlets as a tail swung behind it. "Oh great, the cousin of a freaking Lizalfos..." Naruto grumbled, remembering his encounter at the water temple. The large armored Lizalfos suddenly began swinging a very large, spiked ball connected to a large chain before sending it at the blonde, Naruto quickly hopping out of the way as the door behind him was smashed to pieces. "Oi! I'm causing enough damage! Don't add more to it!" The spiked ball was thrown once again at the blonde, Naruto growling as he quickly formed a Rasengan in his hand, shoving it towards the incoming spiked ball. But the Dark Hammer quickly tugged on the chain, snapping it back toward its hands as Naruto flopped on the ground, creating a large hole in the floor with his missed attack. "GAH! YOU ASS HOLE!" Naruto grunted as the creature began cackling evilly before beginning to swing the large spiked ball and chain around, smashing numerous items in the room, including the other suit of armor.
"DAMMIT! NOW YOU'RE DOING IT ON PURPROSE!" He roared, leaping at the Dark Hammer before getting smacked away by the Ball and Chain.
Fuck! I can't hit the jackass with him swinging that damn thing around, and I can't exactly catch it! He's pulling it back too quick for me to get around him, and if I try using any clones, they'll be instantly wiped out...
"There's gotta be something I can do..." Naruto glared at the monster, trying to figure out how to get around the weapon. It had to have a weakness! The Dark Hammer quickly flung the Ball and Chain at Naruto, the blonde pulling up his shield and being smashed back into the wall, grunting as he slowly stood up. As he glared at the monster, he noticed it caught the spiked ball with its bare hand before tossing it up and down, smiling smugly. Naruto's eyes widened as a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Maybe I CAN catch it! I've been wanting to try this since I got the Iron boots...so now's a good a time as ever!
Naruto glared as he began concentrating chakra to the metal shield in his hand. If he could stick to walls with his feet, then he should be able to...
KLANG!
Naruto began grinning fiercely as the ball and chain smashed into his Hylian shield, Naruto immediately sticking to it as he was flung back with the ball and chain and into the surprised Dark Hammer's hands.
"Hi there." The blonde cackled as a Rasengan was formed in his hand. With a loud explosion the monster was flung out of the mansion, spinning wildly into the ravine below. "MWUAHAHAHAHAAAA! Serves him right for trying to dodge it the first time!" Naruto grinned proudly as he nodded his head. He turned around before coming face to face with the floor. "The fuck did I trip-" He stopped as he noticed the ball and chain was still in the room. "Oh...maybe he hasn't gone poof yet..." He sat up before looking at the ball and chain, curious as to when it was going to disappear, but was quickly finding it wasn't going anywhere. He looked out the hole into the ravine, and it looked like there wasn't any monster smoke out there...soooooo...
"Finders keepers?" Naruto shrugged as he walked over to the Ball and Chain. He grabbed the handled chain before walking over to the spiked ball, careful of the several points on the weapon, before trying to lift it up. "HRNG! THIS! ...IS! ...REALLY HEAVY!" He grunted, barely able to move with the heavy iron weapon. Finally dropping it to the ground, Naruto panted. "The fuck...it's heavier than the iron boots! And he was fucking flinging it around..." Naruto took several deep breaths before a thought occurred to him. He sat down, quickly regaining the red pigmentation around his eyes before glaring at the ball and chain. He walked over to the weapon before easily picking it up and tossing it up and down. He even accidentally caught the weapon on the spike, though he hardly felt anything. It was almost like a small poke and that was it. He lifted up the ball and chain to find that there was no blood, or even signs of his skin even being punctured by the weapon. "Ooooooh, that's right, my whole body gets as tough as steel!" He grinned as he began tossing the weapon up and down." It looks like I'll only be able to really use this thing efficiently in Sage Mode...but even still, it'd be a cool thing to keep around." He nodded as he pulled out the medallion before pushing it onto the ball and chain. When he pulled the Medallion back, the accessory's emblem was emblazoned onto the weapon. Smiling at the hidden leaf symbol, Naruto watched as the heavy weapon disappeared in a flash of light. He stood up before noticing a pair of gauntlets on the suit of armor that was scattered on the ground. He looked down to the medallion before looking back at the gauntlets and grinning.
"All right, now for the key." He said as he turned towards the destroyed double door.
Princess...
"...
Princess...were you listening!?
"AH! YES ELDER!" A small Midna jumped upright, sitting in front of a desk.
"I will say it again, so pay attention." A short, old Twili harrumphed before turning back to a floating book. "Magic is a very delicate and mysterious source of power. Our ancestors have been cultivating this magic for centuries." A small, orange orb appeared in his hand. "It did not come simply from a desire to be a Wizard or a Spellcaster or anything of the sort. It was a power given to us by the gods."
"But we didn't use it properly, and tried to wage war with it, which is why we've been sent to the Twilight Realm...I know this already Elder..."
"AND YET YOU STILL FALL ASLEEP DURING MY LECTURE! If you truly knew the importance of our history, you'd still be paying the utmost attention to it!" Midna glared at the old Twili before he turned around, continuing with his lecture. She looked around the empty room, filled only with books and her single desk. She glanced to the windows outside, where several children were playing with a ball. She slowly slumped against her desk, sighing deeply as she continued to stare out the window.
'I wish I wasn't the successor...'
"Now, magic can be pulled from one of two sources. Your inner energy, and the energy of the world. When you can't pull the energy from an outward source, your inner source will be used up first. If you use to much of your inner energy, you will be lead to a comatose state." He flipped the piece of chalk in his hand before expertly flicking it at Midna's forehead.
"TCH! What was that for!?"
"When an outer energy source is unavailable, you will be forced to use your inner magic. Should you use too much of it, you will lose consciousness." He then snapped the book shut, sighing. "However, there are rare occurrences...of still being able to fight in a battle after your primary magic source is spent."
"Huh? I thought you said you lose consciousness...even all the textbooks say that!" She huffed, having had to read all of them hundreds of times over.
"Very few have survived to this day who possess the ability to draw upon a secondary energy source." He held up a finger. "In each person, there is but one source of inner energy...however..." He held up a second finger. "There are a few individuals who have a secondary energy source. While most have passed away, the primary group of individuals who had a secondary energy source were remnants from the Old Kingdom."
"The Old Kingdom? The one that disappeared centuries ago?" The elder nodded.
"The one and the same. While this is not common knowledge, as the successor to the Twilight Kingdom, you must learn of them." He turned around before several books began floating around the small Twilight Princess, revealing pages with detailed images and facts. "The Old Kingdom Remnants, also known as The Interlopers, were commonly found to have two different sources of energy." He lifted up his left hand, another orange sphere appearing. "You have the first energy source, the one everyone who can use magic has..." He held up his other hand, this time a blue sphere appearing. "But the interlopers also a secondary energy source. One that was much more dense, had a greater capacity and...had some rather...odd, side effects."
"Side effects?" Midna asked, confused.
"Yes. When an Interloper's primary magic source was depleted and their secondary source would activate, they would gain several traits." He lifted a finger. "First, their physical appearance would drastically change. Many of the Interloper's who began using their secondary source would gain a spear-tipped tail and one to two horns on their heads. There were also very rare cases of an Interloper gaining wings." He held up a second finger. "Second, because the density of their second magical source is so high, a transparent glow begins emanating from their eyes." He held up a third finger. "Lastly, their physical strength and endurance are heightened dramatically." He lowered his hand.
"So...what exactly am I supposed to do with this information?"
"You will know when the time comes..."
"Fucking...asshole..." Midna mumbled as she tossed and turned on the bed. Yeto smiled as he turned to her, putting a book back up on the shelf. He tucked her back into the bed gently before looking up at the bookshelves, noticing some dust on the top.
It wasn't long before Naruto found himself back in front of the heart-shaped lock. As he looked up at it, he wondered what monster could be behind it's tall, dark, harrowing doors. What unspeakable evil could be waiting for him, guarding the final mirror shard. What horrible monster could- "Oh! You found Bedroom Key!" A voice said behind Naruto, the blonde jumping high into the sky, screaming like a little girl. Slowly making his way down the tall bedroom tower, Naruto looked down to see Yeta standing by the door.
"Oh! Geez Yeta, don't scare me like that..." Naruto exhaled slowly, holding a hand to his pounding heart in relief before hopping back down to her. "Are you sure you should be out?" He asked worriedly as a smile broke out across Yeta's face.
"Oh yes, husband's soup is very healthy. Make me feel much better. Please, come inside." She motioned Naruto to open the door, who began to panic.
"Uh...Yeta...maybe you, shouldn't go into that room..." Naruto said, getting that bad premonition again. He knew something was going to be behind that door. There always was.
"Yeta can't go to bedroom?" Yeta suddenly asked, confused. Naruto stumbled in pushing her away. Yeah, it had a large lock on it...but it was their bedroom...that was like telling someone you can't go home or something.
"Er...well, uh..." Yeta tilted her head to the side, confused. "...just...be careful...something might be in there, okay?" Naruto pleaded with the kind yeti. Yeta merely smiled before nodding. Naruto motioned the Yeti to step back as he unlocked the door, the lock clicking before falling off of the door. Naruto quickly picked the lock up before placing it off to the side. "All right, I'll go in first, okay?" Yeta nodded as Naruto opened up the door to the bedroom.
"Ugh..." Midna said, slowly sitting up, holding a hand to her head. "I can't believe I've been in this bed for so long..." She groaned, slowly dropping to the floor.
"Oh! You going?" Yeto said, having just walked back into the room. Midna looked up before nodding.
"I've had a bad feeling for a while now...I could have sworn I had felt Twilight Energy earlier, but it seems to have moved..."
"Oh? Is it bad energy?" Yeto asked as he began straightening up the small room.
"Yeah...it's very dangerous...but it feels like its moving...I can still feel it, so it must be close by..."
"Oh, right! Little human went to bedroom to find mirror..." Yeto said, suddenly becoming worried. "Maybe bad energy...in bedroom with mirror?" Midna suddenly floated in front of Yeto, her face worried.
"There's a mirror piece here!?" She said, panicked. Yeto nodded, Midna's eye widening in fear. "Take me to it! Right now!"
"Wow..." Naruto said, looking around the large tower the yeti couple called a bedroom. There was certainly a large bed to the side, and there were a lot of knik-knacks around the area, ranging from what looked like a globe and a desk to several strange paintings of knights. There was even what looked like yet ANOTHER fireplace. Seriously, this mansion was FILLED with them!
"Ah! Here is!" Yeta said from across the room, Naruto turning to see the yeti walking over to a large mirror shard resting against another desk. "See? Is so pretty..." She smiled warmly to the mirror, twisting and turning her face and admiring herself in the mirror. "Pretty...so Pretty..." She repeated. As Naruto walked over to the mirror, that cold chill ran down his spine once more, the blonde immediately becoming alert. He quickly snapped his head around the area, looking both on the ground and up the large tower, listening for any strange sounds. His eyes scanned the glass windows that encircled the upper area of the room, watching for aything to fly in from them. After several moments of nothing happening, Naruto began to relax. Maybe it was just his imagination...
"Hey, wanna see a trick?" A voice suddenly said behind Naruto, the blonde's eyes widening as he spun around, catching sight of the mirror Yeta was still staring at. The blonde's eyes widened, his heartbeat quickening as he noticed his own reflection in the mirror, although it was much darker in color and looked EXTREMELY familiar.
"Y-You!" Naruto panicked, staring at Dark Naruto, who merely grinned.
"Let me show you something really cool about this mirror...namely, it's 'unstable magic' as you put it." Dark Naruto grinned before fading away. Naruto kept a close eye on the mirror, suddenly noticing Yeta began twitching violently.
"P-p-pretty...s-so...p-pretty..." She continued mumbling, almost to the point Naruto didn't hear her.
"Y-yeta?" Naruto's face quickly began to pale, one single thought running through his mind.
He shouldn't have let her come here.
"YETA!" Naruto screamed out, suddenly getting flung back by an unseen force. Looking back up, Naruto watched helplessly as a dark aura suddenly surrounded the smaller yeti, who quickly snapped her head at Naruto. Her face had suddenly become grotesque, several large, sharped fangs poking out from her teeth and her eyes having turned solid red and hostile.
"NO TAKE MIRROR!" She suddenly screeched out, every window in the room suddenly bursting as snow and ice quickly rushed into the room, quickly surrounding the yeti. Naruto looked up in horror as Yeta was quickly encased in a large Ice crystal, the mirror piece encased in the ice with her, before smashing to the ground. Another cold chill racing down his spine, Naruto sent chakra through his limbs and suddenly pushed himself high up off the ground, a large pulse shooting out from where the giant ice crystal smashed to the ground, immediately freezing everything in the room. Naruto carefully landed on the now frozen floor, quickly sending chakra to his feet to keep from slipping again. The blonde looked up in despair as he could barely see the possessed yeti.
"No..." Naruto ground his teeth in irritation at letting yet ANOTHER person be affected by Twilight Magic. "First Darbus...Now Yeta!" He punched his fist into the ground, not even cracking the ice. "WHY THE FUCK AM I SO USELESS!?" He shouted as tears streamed down his face, the large Ice Crystal suddenly speeding towards him as he looked up.
"Listen to me, you have to keep away from that Mirror! It could seriously harm someone!" Midna shouted, hanging tightly onto Yeto's saddle-hat as the beast-man sped through the mansion.
"Mirror bad? But it look pretty!"
"But it's broken! And because the one who broke it was a maniac, there might be some dark magic still in it! You have to get me to it before they do!" She pleaded. Dammit, she had almost recovered her magic! Another few minutes and she would have been fine! But as the two finally reached the bedroom, Midna's face fell. The door lock was already on the ground, but a wall of ice had frozen over the door, trapping whoever was inside to stay there. "No...we're too late..." Yeto slowly walked up to the wall of ice, putting at hand against it before frowning.
"Mirror bad...HURT YETA!" He suddenly roared before smashing the ice into the room, busting open the sealed entrance. Midna's shock at the door being busted in was quickly erased as the two entered the room, only to see Naruto's limp body get flung towards them from across the frozen floor. Yeto quickly reached out a hand, catching the blonde, who was breathing heavily, Midna gasping as she noticed Naruto's left leg was encased in ice.
"Naruto!" She quickly hopped down to the ground, almost losing her balance before Naruto regained conscious.
"G-guys...s-stop...you can't, fight her!" Naruto slowly tried to get up, quickly finding his frozen leg prevented him from doing so. Yeto looked up, a look of shock flashing across his face as Yeta floated in front of him, demonic and possessed, encased in a large ice crystal, several other smaller crystals encircling her. "D-don't fight her! S-she's been, p-possessed by the mirror s-shard!" Naruto shivered, trying to stand up, to no avail.
"Yeta!" Yeto suddenly cried out, running across the ice floor, only to get smashed to the side of the room. "Yeta! Why you hit Yeto!?" The large yeti cried out in disdain, Naruto once more trying to stand up, this time trying to run chakra through his frozen leg. It wasn't working, but he was at least able to somewhat stand now.
"D-dammit, it's like when it was petrified..." Naruto cursed, another scene flashing before his eyes. "I don't have fucking time for flashbacks!" He grit his teeth, shaking his head before noticing Yeto once again was trying to get close to the large icy creature. He suddenly noticed one of the crystals surrounding the possessed Yeta began to spin like a drill, the blonde's eyes widening in shock. "YETO!" Naruto shouted, suddenly rocketing from his spot and tackling the large yeti, sending the two crashing out of the way of the drill.
"Y-YETA!" Yeto cried out, trying to get back up.
"STOP YETO!" Naruto suddenly roared, gripping the large yeti before slowly trying to stand up. "She can't hear you right now!" He twisted the yeti's face towards his own. "She can't think straight right now! We need to stop her, but she WILL ATTACK YOU!" Naruto shouted. "Break the ice around my leg! Please!" Yeto slowly looked down to the blonde's still frozen leg before lightly flicking it, the light blow immediately cracking the ice around his leg. Naruto lifted his leg up before smashing it down to the ground, just like he had done when he first did the wrestling match against the Goron Elder, Gor Coron. "Now please, stay back!" Naruto grit his teeth. If they could just break her free from that ice crystal like he had done earlier, they would be able to hold her still long enough to try and break her free of the possession. "If I can push some of my chakra into her, I should be able to snap her out of it, just like a genjutsu!"
"NO TAKE MIRROR! SO PRETTY! MINE! SCREEEEEE!" The large ice creature suddenly shot a large, drilling crystal, this time towards Midna.
"SHIT!"
SMASH!
Midna looked up to see Naruto stood between her and the Ice Crystal, the blonde now wearing large, metallic gauntlets. "I'm not going to lose anyone anymore..." The blonde glared up, his eyes slit and red. "NOT AGAIN!" He roared, smashing the large crystal in his hands, his legs suddenly giving out, his eyes quickly fading back to blue. Midna stared at the blonde in shock. He had just gone demon mode! Why did it die out so quickly!? "I, I won't kill Yeta!" Naruto sobbed, slowly trying to stand up. "She doesn't deserve this!" Midna's eyes widened in realization.
He had absolutely no intent to kill. All the other times he had fought when the demonic energy would appear, Naruto was literally ready to rip his target to shreds. This wasn't someone he wanted to kill however. There were no feelings of hatred or anger. It was anguish and despair.
"I see..." Midna said, slowly walking past Naruto as a glow surrounded her, revealing the Twili's more human appearance. "Then I guess the duty to end this falls on me." She looked back at Naruto. "I told you I wouldn't let you fight alone anymore. So this time, I'll fight in your stead." She said turning back around, facing the Twilight Creature she knew as Blizzeta. Several large flames appeared around the Twili, quickly converging into a flaming spear. "With one shot, I'll end this!" She shouted, pulling her arm back, Naruto's eyes widening. Just as Midna was about to release the burning spear, Naruto's hand harshly gripped her own, the Twili's eyes widening in shock.
"DON'T DO IT!" Naruto glared harshly at the orange-haired woman.
"But YOU can't!" She glared back at the blonde, trying to wring her hand free. "YOU can't kill her, so I'LL do it!"
"ARE YOU ASKING TO BE KILLED!?" Naruto suddenly shouted, causing Midna to freeze, a dark hand clenching around her heart. He would choose some random creature over her? "TRYING TO KILL YETA IN FRONT OF YETO IS THE SAME AS SOMEONE KILLING YOU IN FRONT OF ME!" The blonde snarled, Midna's heart skipping a beat. "I SAID I WON'T LET ANYONE ELSE DIE IN FRONT OF ME! I WON'T LET SOMEONE WHO IS SO LOVED AND CARED FOR TO DIE!" He tossed her hand to the side, his eyes showing the slightest signs of tears. "Not again..." He quieted. "...I don't want anyone to lose...that spark of life in their eyes..." He said quietly, immediately thinking of Midna back at the Arbiter's Grounds.
"YETA!" Yeto suddenly cried out, causing Naruto and Midna to snap their heads towards the Twilight Blizzeta. The small yeti had suddenly stopped it's movement and was struggling inside of the ice crystal, twitching violently in odd directions.
"She's fighting for control..." Midna said quietly, a thought racing through her mind. "NARUTO!" She suddenly shouted, causing the blonde to jump to attention, ready to stop her again. "Hold her down! If I can get close to her, I might be able to pull out the mirror shard like when I revert you back from a fox!" Naruto's eyes widened, a fierce grin slicing across his face as he snapped his head back towards Blizzeta, flipping his hands back into a cross-shaped hand sign.
"THAT'S MORE LIKE IT! KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"He shouted, several Naruto's appearing around the blonde, two leaping close to the sides of the large crystal before flipping out their swords, which began glowing with a bright, golden light. "LET'S GO!" They shouted, slashing down, right in front of Yeta, the large crystal cleanly being sliced in half, Yeta almost popping out from the hole in the crystal. The real Naruto and a clone suddenly leapt towards the remaining chunk of ice, each holding a Rasengan before smashing it into the outer edges of the crystal, blasting it back and letting the now free Yeta to fall to the ground. "YETO! CATCH HER AND DON'T LET GO!" Naruto shouted, the large yeti already running towards the falling Blizzeta. He dutifully caught his wife, cradling her tightly as Midna suddenly appeared next to him, grabbing hold of the creature's head.
"GET...OUT!" She shouted, a large explosion blasting away both Midna and Yeto, Naruto flying in and gripping Midna into a tight hold, his back smashing into the wall in place of her. Blizzeta began screaming as she began floating up into the air, one final screech erupting from her fanged jaw before she fell back to the floor, the ice in the room slowly beginning to melt away.
A deathly silence enveloped the room, Naruto and Midna slowly standing up as Yeto quickly rushed back over to Yeta, who slowly began to stir as the Mirror of Twilight reformed in front of Midna.
"Uh...husband? What...what happen? Why floor wet?" She asked as Yeto slowly sat her up, tears quickly being sucked into his white fur.
"Yup yup, you acting strange. You must have dreamed..." He slowly began to laugh, more tears falling from his eyes. Yeta, completely bewildered by the sudden tears, looked over to see the mirror was no longer on the desk where she left it, Midna quickly making the shard disappear before it was noticed.
"Oh! Yeto! The mirror you gave me!" Yeto quickly shook his head.
"No need mirror...just look into Yeto's eyes...there you see all you need..." The large yeti picked the smaller Yeta up, cradling her in his arms as they quickly began nuzzling each other, hearts practically flying away from the two. They were completely in their own little world.
"I...I'm sorry..." Midna said quietly as she stood next to the blonde. "I was too quick to try and take a life..." She gripped her arm tightly, an unsettling feeling surrounding her heart. If she HAD taken Yeta's life, then she would have been no better than Zant. A thud to her left suddenly caused Midna to tense, and turning to Naruto she found he had flopped to his knees, quivering. "N-Naruto!?" She quickly knelt down beside the blonde, who suddenly lifted up his face to show tears streaming down his cheeks. "Uh...Naruto?"
"BWUAAAAHH! THEY'RE BACK TOGETHER AGAAAAAAAIIIIN! AND SHE DIDN'T HAVE TO DIIIIIIEEE!" He bawled, Midna staring at the blonde in disbelief.
"Uh...y-yeah...I...guess you're right..." She started as Naruto suddenly turned to her.
"AND YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO KILL ANYBODY!"
"Er..." She began to get annoyed. This crybaby needed to stop soon, or else...
"I'M JUST SOOO HAAAAPPPYYYY!" Naruto sobbed, leaning against her shoulder.
"EW! EWW! YOU'RE DRIPPING SNOT ALL OVER MY ARM YOU IDIOT!"
"I CAN'T HEEEEELP IIIIIIT! I'M JUST SO HAAAAPPYYYYYYY!"
"For goodness' sake..." Midna sighed in irritation, pushing the sobbing blonde's head onto her lap before beginning to gently stroke the blonde's hair. "Geez...when did I get this soft?" She mumbled as she glanced down to the still smiling blonde, who continued to unsuccessfully stop his tears. As she continued to slowly run her hand through the blonde's hair, the unsettling feeling she had from earlier disappeared, and a smile finally blossomed on the Twili's face.
"Good greif, what have you done to me?" She shook her head, smiling.
Maybe...maybe this wasn't so bad after all...
AAAAND SNOWPEAK ENDS! I'll be honest, while writing Yeta and Yeto's little lovey-dovey scene, when Yeto started to laugh slowly, for some reason I thought of the ending to Luigi's Mansion, where the green, cowardly plumber is so overjoyed that he just slowly starts to laugh, that single tear falling from his face. I always picture him doing that loud laugh, just with tears streaming down his face as he finally says his brother's name once more.
Dammit, now I'm getting teary-eyed again...
ANYWAY! Wishing you and all of your family a very Merry Christmas. "May warm sands welcome you on your travels." See you all next year!
Kenta Raikiri