Summer Snow

(yeah, I know, this has been waaaaaaaaay long overdue. I was debating myself to revise for the umpteenth time, but there was this voice in my head that was stabbing me with daggers already. xD) And yes, I know, there should be more Saiyuki charats involvement, but with how the chapters have been laid out, I'm keeping what's been done and revise once I've finished this fic. I'll try to involve them more in future chapters. At the moment I just want closure with this fic. Note, Chapters 7 and 8 have been edited to accomodate some past loopholes... so yeah, better check them out first before moving on. :3b

Disclaimer: I DON"T OWN SAIYUKI!!

Chapter Nine: The Battle Before the War

Dust billowed all over the gymnasium as the huge clawed paw struck down. The monster only became more enraged at the sight of an empty kill. It only roared in frustration and struck down at them again and again. Sanzo, with his gun at the ready, tried a few shots, but the monster's fur seemed to be made of stone. "Ch! It's going to bring down the whole place if we don't defeat it in time!"

KWIIN!

Sanzo ducked in time to avoid flying debris from Mayumi. He glared at the girl. "Watch where you're aiming!" The girl yelled an apology after him as he watched the debris do nothing more than practically tickle the giant creature. He heard Zeia lecture Mayumi at aiming and tried to immobilize the creature herself, but to no avail. "This isn't working!"

Linlin avoided another swipe and spotted a small jewel on the monster's chest. She helped Mili up… the girl seemed gripped with fear that she couldn't concentrate at all. She turned to Sanzo's direction. "There's a jewel on its chest!" she yelled. "Maybe if we hit it – "

TZIING!

The sphinx roared in pain and it looked like it was disintegrating, but it was actually dividing into smaller replicas, which were nastier, and ten times faster. They were immediately on defense, trying to block the numerous creatures at the same time. Although all of this was going on, Linlin found the time to yell at Sanzo. "That was a stupid move! I noted it so that someone will figure if it was a good or bad idea!"

"Ch! I shot it because it would've killed us already before any could have thought of what to do!" he shot several of them, nearly hitting Gojyo in the process who yelled at him for being corrupt and uncaring. "The time it takes one to think is the same as the time it takes for one to die!"

"Whoa! Has he been watching National Geographic or something?"

Linlin, Mayumi, Mili and Zeia stopped at Genjo's voice. Where did the voice come from?

"Genjo?" Linlin asked and scowled at Sanzo when he looked at her. "I thought this thing only worked when we channeled our energy into it?"

"Well, you've been using too much energy for a while now…" it was Blue this time. "We've been hearing your conversations since we got here from school! he paused. "Including the sushi bit…" she heard the boys chuckle on the other end, and then Mayumi yelling at them in a panicked way.

"Can't you guys help us in the least?" she said, unable to keep her voice down. "There's a giant sphinx in the left wing of the school!"

"At school?" Otaku interjected. "Yeah! No classes tomorrow!"

"Guys, we're being serious!" Zeia yelled as well, becoming impatient as she threw large pieces of debris at the ones attacking her.

"Chill it!"

The girls weren't quite sure who it was but listened intently for the instructions. "We have explosive bots in the storage room in the second floor…"

"You have explosive bots in school!?"

"Never mind that! Now…is there anyone fast enough to get them?"

"I'll do it!" Mili volunteered and transformed into a cheetah and was off.

"Mili! Stop! It might take over!" Linlin yelled and tried to run after her friend but was blocked by several sphinx replicas, their beady eyes glinting at her. "This is getting annoying."

Mili easily found the bots with their smell even though they were in a large container. She quickly changed into a giant eagle and took the box with her claws. "Careful Mili! Those bots are highly explosive!" She did her best to be careful and dropped the explosives to Hakkai who caught them. "Just stick one on them and you'll have a good show!"

"Are these edible?"

"NO!!" the girls yelled in unison before Goku could even touch one. He took a handful dejectedly and started placing them on the sphinxes. "I was only asking!" The explosions were quite minimal, but it blew the sphinxes to dust.

~*~*~*~*

Kusanagi slammed her fist on the table and looked at her subordinates who reported back. "This shouldn't be happening!" she yelled, making the ninjas cringe. "Why did Mala lose? Answer me!" One brave ninja stepped forward. "Well?"

"The Feared Children seem to have help from several computer kids…" he began. "They supply them with information and gadgets to aid them in battle." When his master did not speak, he continued. "The others have also located their hideout in the park…"

Kusanagi stood up abruptly, toppling her chair as she walked out of the room. "All of you! Come with me… I will deal with these brats myself!"

~*~*~*~*

"Are we not the greatest?" Blue cheered as they listened in on how the others were successfully destroying the enemy. "We really have to get those things patented!"

"And what, get the army turn it against us?" Vincent shot back. "No thank you."

"Well there might be others who would be intereste-"

CRRAAAAAASSSSH!!

The boys managed to duck the debris from the broken glass of their hideout and see Kusanagi stand before them, her eyes livid with anger. Kusanagi smiled at them, and before any of them could react, she had her metal tentacle like weapons protruding through her body and aimed at them. All tried to evade, but Genjo and Yuri got hit directly on the head, an unmistakable sickening cracking sound was heard and blood spattering everywhere. Rikku, Otaku, Blue, and Vincent only got minor injuries and tried their best not to let the wave of nausea take over.

"Damn bitch! This is for Genjo and Yuri!!" Otaku yelled and was swiftly taken out with a sharp tentacle to the neck. Kusanagi smiled even wider and waved her tentacles in a frenzy, killing anything that got in her way, even her subordinates. When she stopped, nothing moved, for nothing more was alive. She gave out a satisfied laugh and disappeared.

"Wow… these are effective!" Mayumi praised, levitating several bots and landing them on the monsters. Mili, on the other hand, ran around as a little monkey and placed bots with swiftness that matched Zeia's and Goku's. They were having so much fun going about destroying the miniature sphinxes that almost no one heard the commotion going on in the tree house. Zeia picked this up and quietly left for the tree house on her own. She assumed that they would be slowed down if she had told the others.

Before long, there was no part of the sphinx to be seen anywhere. Mili turned back into a girl and grinned at Linlin who had a frown on her face.

"I'm getting used to this!" she piped up and received a light bonk on the head from her 'instructor'. "Ouch! What was that for?" she could see that her friend was mustering all the anger she could.

"You shouldn't have run off like that!" she lectured, turning away. "You would've been more trouble if you lost control!" the others were silent as well. Linlin started to walk to the direction of the exit. "Let's go before the police gets here." Hakkai smiled at Mili who grinned back. They were all proud of Mili, and they knew that Linlin was, too. She just didn't know how to say it – just like a certain purple-eyed blond.

Linlin was indeed proud, but something was not sitting well with her. There was static coming from their communicators. Linlin stopped in her tracks. "Where's Zeia?" Mili gasped as some sort of laughter emanated from their communicators, and it left cold fear in her stomach. The tree house! Without a second thought, Mili transformed into a hawk and flew out in the direction of Neri Park.

"We have to go there now!" Linlin yelled, jumping out the nearest window to run in the direction of the park as well. Gojyo yelled after her to stop and think, but Goku had pushed him over to run after Linlin leaving the poor red head to hold on for his life.

"HELP!!" he yelled, having a hard time clambering up the window. Hakkai was only staring at him, along with Mayumi. There was something wrong with this scene. Sanzo had this strange smile on this face, like a constipated yet happy man.

"G-gojyo-san, we're only on the first floor.." Mayumi said quietly, suppressing her laughter. Sanzo took this as his cue and whacked Gojyo loudly on the head, and the man fell to the ground outside, dizzy.

"Idiot…"

"Come on, we have to stop fooling around and catch up with them." Hakkai said cheerfully as he called on Hakuryu. "I'm afraid this day is far from over."

~*~*~*~*

Zeia was already at Neri Park and ran swiftly to the tree house. She had heard the whole exchange and prayed for the safety of the six. When she reached the edge of the creek, she was almost engulfed in fear. The tree house was totally destroyed, and it still burned. She quickly jumped up, and looked around. She picked her way through the rubble and tripped over something and ended up staring into Otaku's blank orange eyes. She gasped and quickly stood up, realizing that it was only the boy's head, blood still pooling around it. She frantically gazed around, finding the others all dead. She slowly backed away and hit something that moaned. She quickly turned around and saw the Blue, barely conscious.

"Blue!" she called his name. The boy looked at her with his good eye. The boy was badly hurt, but he wasn't in danger of dying. "Don't worry, I'll get help!" she heard a high pitched laugh and Kusanagi materialized in front of them. She felt her blood rush in her veins, as hatred filled her. The intricate designs on her locket started to fill with blood, as she started to remember her past, and seemed to be lost in it. Unknown to her, her hair had grown longer, and that another consciousness had taken over.

"Let this serve as a warning to you… Feared Children!" she said with an evil smile but did not expect the girl to attack in such a short span of time. She gasped when she realized she was no longer facing the girl Zeia, but she was now up against Zennen Kazei. The girl had wounded her side badly, and she could do nothing but retreat. She slowly vanished and watched Zennen Kazei jump out of the tree house and fight her own friend. "This should be fun…" she disappeared completely and let another show take place.

Mili avoided an attack just in time and barely recognized Zeia with her long hair, and uncontrollable strength. She focused on trying to hold down her friend and transformed into a snake, careful that she didn't hurt Zeia. The girl only thrashed even more. "Zeia! What's gotten into you?" she asked and got clawed. She winced and transformed into an eagle, out of reach. "It's me! Mili!" She couldn't figure out what had happened to her friend. She risked a glance at the tree house and found it burned down. In her shock, she failed to avoid the magical energy thrown at her, making her turn back into a girl and fall into the shallow creek. She forced herself to get back up. The Rainbow Brothers were dead… and Zeia had killed them.

~*~*~*~*

Linlin was now running beside Goku as they tried their best to get to the park as fast as they could. Something was terribly wrong, and she knew that Kusanagi was behind it. They heard squealing tires from behind them and saw that Hakuryu had caught up with them. They immediately hopped on and were rewarded by bonks on the head with Sanzo's fan.

"Owww!" The two kids exclaimed, glaring at the monk.

"Ch! What's the point of wasting your energy like that, huh?"

Linlin didn't say anything, but Goku proceeded to argue with the monk, and then later on with Gojyo. But however, they all turned serious once the burning tree house came into view, with Zeia and Mili fighting just outside.

~*~*~*~*

Mili avoided every blow that Zeia threw at her and tried to attack with all her strength, but Zeia was too fast and was also losing life force as the battle ensued. Mili was too blinded with rage to notice this, and continued to attack, until Zeia collapsed. Mili turned back into her human form and picked up Zeia then started to slap her over and over.

"We trusted you! How could you do this to us?" she yelled at Zeia who was too weak to defend herself, or even to explain what really happened.

Zeia just wished Kusanagi wouldn't come back for them now. In her weakened state, and Mili's rage, they would easily be dead. She felt someone take Mili by the arms, and felt herself fall to the damp ground. She saw that it was Gojyo and felt secured enough to drift off to sleep.

"Let me go!" Mili yelled, struggling from Gojyo's grip, but the hybrid did not let go no matter how hard she tried. She had to get back to Zeia! "Zeia must pay! She killed the Rainbow Brothers! She must die! She's a traitor!" She saw Mayumi and Linlin approach, and told them to tell Gojyo to let her go. Linlin was looking at her seriously, and nodded to Mayumi who touched her forehead with the tips of her fingers. She heard Linlin say 'Remember what I told you' and felt herself being lulled to sleep. She shook her head and struggled to stay awake. This was magic! What was Mayumi doing to her? She stared at Mayumi who gave her an apologetic look. She couldn't fight the magic anymore, and her mind went blank.

Linlin and Mayumi sighed with relief at the same time when Mili was finally sedated. She put up quite a fight, and Linlin felt sorry that they had to do it. She heard what had happened, and knew it would be hard to explain to someone who was enraged. Mayumi walked to where Hakkai was healing Zeia, and conjured first aid equipments, much to Zeia's amusement at her fast student. Gojyo went to place Mili on the back of the jeep while Linlin just stood on the spot, listening to Zeia explain. It turns out that Kusanagi was really behind the attack. Having seen what had happened to the place and to the brothers, she lost control of he powers when Kusanagi reappeared. She had hit Kusanagi badly before she vanished, and that was when Mili came and attacked her. Zeia had half-thought that Mili had turned over to the enemy, but realized they were just both angry.

Linlin sighed, and went over to the back of the jeep, where Mili had unconsciously turned into a kitten on Gojyo's vest, still fast asleep. She thought of getting into her subconscious, but was called over by Goku and Gojyo to the bottom of the tree house. They looked unusually serious and Linlin wasn't used to it. "What is it?"

"Only one of them survived. The one with blue hair." Gojyo explained, puffing out smoke. Linlin hadn't noticed that Gojyo was smoking. "We can't get him down because he's badly hurt. We'd ask Mayumi to levitate him out, but I don't think the place would agree to your stomachs."

Linlin understood what he meant. "So what do you want me to do? My ice is not compatible with injury."

"Well, there must be something you can do…" Goku said, that curious look in his eyes. When Linlin told him she wasn't sure, he answered back. "You should be sure… it's your power…"

This struck Linlin and made her think. She raised her arms, fixing the ledges of the tree house temporarily with ice. She called out to Mayumi who ran over and listened to Linlin's request of making a stretcher and a pulley to bring down Blue safely. Mayumi conjured up the items and made them levitate to the tree house, where Goku and Gojyo were waiting. Goku grinned at her and she just waved it off. "Okay, okay. You were right…"

"Sankyuu na!" Goku said cheerily and went off to help Gojyo. Not long, they had Blue down, and Linlin started to clean and dress the boy's minor wounds. Hakkai later helped healing the internal injuries while the others tried to decide what to do with the bodies.

"They would want them burned…" Blue said, wanting to get up from his sitting position, but Hakkai and Linlin forced him down, telling him they weren't finished yet, so he stayed down. "It was our plan long before… if we all died, Genjo's uncle, or the pc program would burn down all our life's work, so as to save them from falling into the wrong hands."

"But what about all your data?" Linlin asked, remembering all their bugging and hacking gadgets.

"In case one of us survived, we have a back-up in our boarding house." Blue explained. "The pc program will activate after one week. That is too long a time. We can't leave this place until it's burned down."

"But first, we have to save what can be saved." Zeia stated, calling Mayumi, and they held each other's hands then focused their energy into the tree house, which glowed for only a moment.

Goku blinked. "So what happened?"

"We transported all the items that were still functioning to Linlin's house." Zeia explained, shrugging to Linlin when she gave her a questioning look. "It was the only place big enough." She turned to Blue. "But there's one peculiar item we have to check out immediately."

~*~*~*~*

Cradling the kitten Mili in her arms, Mayumi watched as the tree house gradually burned. Zeia assured them that the fire would totally burn everything in the tree house, but not anything else. But no one wanted to leave, so they all just watched as the house was being totally consumed and slowly falling apart. There were hints of burnt blood once in a while, but nothing more. She looked down at the still sleeping kitten, and hoped that she got her wish that someone was explaining to her everything she had to know. It was a silly wish, but she hoped it had some effect. Dawn was about to come, and they had to leave soon, but she wasn't sure how they were going to get to Linlin's place. They were too many to not attract attention, especially this early in the morning.

As if to answer her question, the Kazuya BMW came into view and parked nearby. In a few moments, the injured were moved in the car, while the less conspicuous looking ones stayed on Hakuryu. Hakkai stayed with the injured and left Gojyo to pretend to be driving Hakuryu so he was in the car with Zeia, Blue, Mayumi and Shun as the driver. On Hakuryu were Linlin, Gojyo, Sanzo and Goku. They got to the Kazuya house without any trouble or suspicion from the police, but they did see fire trucks head for Neri Park. Mayumi mentally wished that they would not be suspected for anything, because this night had been too much already.

As Shun parked the car in front of the house, he looked back at the people in the back seat. "I don't know what's going on yet, but you guys should remember that you can't always end up this lucky…" he sighed. "I know I'm part of this mess, but you guys are closer to each other than me, so please take care of my sister."

Hakkai nodded, so did Zeia and Mayumi.

"Of course."