Chapter 325: Emperor of the Snow Women
When the Snow Priestess finally opened her eyes again she found herself staring up at the canopy of her bed, a feeling of wooziness overtaking her as she tried to recall what happened. Like a flash, the events in the vision came back to her and mild panic filled the Snow Priestess as she hoped they hadn't offended the Dragon Emperor too much due to their ignorance. Almost immediately however a voice cried out,
"Snow Priestess, you're awake!" The Snow Priestess turned and saw one of her attendants running towards her, to check and see if she was ok after passing out, however she couldn't be bothered with that at the moment and demanded urgently,
"Tell me, where is the Dragon Emperor?!" The attendant froze somewhat before saying with some anger,
"Don't worry Snow Priestess, he was taken into custody along with the traitors Mizore and Tsurara after you fell unconscious. We were just waiting for you to awaken before passing judgment-"
"YOU FOOLS! WHAT WILL YOU DO IF WE ANGERED THE DRAGON EMPEROR?! RELEASE THEM NOW!" The Snow Priestess roared at the attendant, who turned deathly pale and ran off to do as she commanded, leaving her alone with her frantic thoughts. She then forced herself to get out of bed despite the fact that she still felt weak from the intense visions, to which Jack Frost said,
'I understand your concerns, but aren't you rushing things a bit?' The Snow Priestess snorted at him however, and answered,
'We're talking about a person who can extend their influence to multiple universes and has the strength to wipe out entire planets and civilizations with ease, there's no such thing as "pushing it" when it comes to what he might decide to do! Besides, I have to make sure nothing too offensive was done to him while I was unconscious.' Though he couldn't help but agree with her words, Jack also couldn't help but think that if they had offended the Dragon Emperor that much, then he probably would've already retaliated instead of letting himself be taken into custody, but he kept this to himself.
As for the person himself, Alex was currently relaxing along with Mizore and Tsurara in their 'cell' while awaiting the Snow Priestess's recovery. Alex had also been confused when the Snow Priestess collapsed during her vision, as he was sure that, while the things she would have seen were surprising, there wasn't necessarily anything too 'dramatic' she should have seen.
Then, once they were brought to a special cell for Yuuki-Onna and locked away, things had calmed down and Lauren told Alex that she had purposely shown the Snow Priestess and Jack Frost a vision consisting not only of their future in Asora, but of the potential Alex had to reach as well. She had also explained that for most part fortune based abilities wouldn't work on Alex and the other competitors due to their anomalous existences, though Shia was considered an exception due to her connection to his status as a member of his peerage, which also meant that he didn't necessarily need to worry about people with precognitive abilities spying on him in the future.
Alex then looked up slightly as the door to their cell suddenly opened, which he expected due to watching over the Snow Priestess with his 'Domain' to make sure she was ok after collapsing. When the woman entered the cell to tell them they were released however, she froze as her brow started twitching from seeing the trio relaxing on a sofa, which Alex created with his devil's magic since the room was practically barren when they were put in it.
"The Snow Priestess has requested your release, so you're good to go." With a brief nod Alex lightly pinched Mizore and Tsurara's rears to get them moving, which they were somewhat reluctant to do since they were so comfortable using Alex as their bed/pillow while he had his arms wrapped around them. After standing he dispelled the conjured couch, earning him a wide eyed look from the Yuuki-Onna sent to retrieve them, before once again making his way to the throne room with the two girls on either side of him.
When they returned to the throne room Alex found the majority of the earlier Yuuki-Onna waiting for them and the Snow Priestess, who then directed looks of suspicion at him and the two girls. He didn't mind this though as it was only a mild misunderstanding since they thought he did something to the Snow Priestess to make her collapse, something he knew she would clear up when she arrived. What Alex didn't expect though was that the moment she arrived, the Snow Priestess threw herself down at his feet while practically slamming her face into the ground before shouting,
"PLEASE FORGIVE US FOR OUR MANY OFFENSES GREAT DRAGON EMPEROR!" There was a stunned silence as not just the Yuuki-Onna, but Alex and his two escorts were dumbfounded at the Snow Priestess's action. Before anyone could recover though, the Snow Priestess glanced up slightly at the rest of the Yuuki-Onna around them, and shouted, "BOW TO THE DRAGON EMPEROR! HE IS THE ONE THAT WILL SAVE OUR PEOPLE AND BRING US PROSPERITY LIKE NEVER BEFORE!" At her command the Yuuki-Onna around them fell to their knees in a similar manner as the Snow Priestess while begging Alex for his forgiveness, until he approached her and gently said,
"Your people caring about you isn't something to ask forgiveness for, and since they hadn't actually tried to hurt us then there is no harm done, though it would've been another matter if they tried to hurt those carrying my children..." Though the Snow Priestess paled at his ending remark, she lifted her head slightly off the ground while still refusing to meet his gaze, and said,
"Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that you have tried to help us, and we only responded with suspicion and even imprisonment..." Though her words were true, Alex only smiled wryly at them as he considered it only natural that they'd be suspicious of the offer of a man they had never met, yet stated that he'd be able to solve every one of their people's issues if they abandoned their homeland and followed him.
And as for the imprisonment, as far as Alex was concerned the worse case scenario was that he teleported himself out along with Mizore and Tsurara before trying again or just leaving them to their own fate, after all it wasn't as if they immediately tried to torture or execute them. He had simply waited for the misunderstanding to be fixed, which the Snow Priestess had set out to do the moment she had awakened. Now however, Alex looked down at the still bowing Snow Priestess and decided to play along by demanding,
"Tell us, did your visions prove my claims? And what did you see when you touched me?" Though she was silent for a moment, the Snow Priestess then answered,
"It is true, Tsurara carries the Dragon Emperor's child in her belly." These words alone caused the surrounding Yuuki-Onna to erupt in a mild uproar, however the Snow Priestess continued as if she couldn't hear them, "And then I saw that under the Dragon Emperor's rule we had turned into a prosperous people with residents in the thousands, filled with both men and children as well as those of other races who also came to live with us."
The surrounding women were silent at these words, as they all imagined a life filled with children and permanent marriage partners. As all of their unions were usually one time affairs, the amount of Yuuki-Onna that were married were almost nonexistent, while the amount of children was also painfully low. When the Snow Priestess confirmed Alex's promises of being able to help them, the gazes of the Yuuki-Onna almost turned reverential towards him while a few had other discernible emotions in their eyes. Suddenly the Snow Priestess continued,
"Please, Emperor of the Yuuki-Onna, what is your will?" As she asked him this the other Yuuki-Onna immediately jumped onto the bandwagon, resulting in the word 'Emperor' being muttered several times throughout the throne room until Alex even heard a familiar chime in his head followed by,
[NOTICE! The title 'Yuuki-Onna Emperor' has been added!]
This nearly made Alex roll his eyes as, despite the fact that he referred to himself as the 'Dragon Emperor', he didn't consider himself a genuine emperor since he had only really acquired that title for being Ddraig's host. Even in Asora, where the inhabitants would readily call him their emperor, Alex refused to be officially acknowledged as one due to the fact that it was a tedious and tiresome job, which would cut in too much with his training and spending time with his lovers and children.
Regardless of his will however Alex had already acquired the title due to the Snow Priestess, the highest authority to the Yuuki-Onna, recognizing him as their leader in front of her people. And even if they hadn't been present for any of the day's events, the rest of the village would soon acknowledge him as their emperor due to the effects of the title itself, and definitely after word of what was happening here spread. Alex however didn't dwell on this, as he instead ordered while trying not to let his irritation show,
"Stand." At his command the Snow Priestess swiftly got to her feet, even as she continued looking down to avoid his gaze. She then waited patiently for further commands, until Alex pulled a small wooden box out his personal storage and continued loud enough for the entire throne room to hear him,
"In this box is a little over a hundred rings, they are referred to as storage rings and, as the name implies, they can be used to store items for you. I want you to ensure each household in the village gets one, and they are to pack up their belongings to prepare to move to Asora. There is a group that could arrive at any time to try and draft the Yuuki-Onna into their war against humans, so I would rather we finish with all of this sooner than later." When she heard this the Snow Preistess's expression hardened, as she accepted the box and declared loudly,
"You heard our emperor! Spread the word, we are to be ready to leave the village by nightfall!" As she spoke the Snow Priestess opened the box and several of the Yuuki-Onna grabbed a small handful of the rings inside, slipping only one onto their own delicate fingers before leaving to deliver them to the rest of the village while spreading the word to their people.
***
As one could expect it didn't take long for the Yuuki-Onna to prepare to leave with the help of the storage rings, as they only had to feed a little of their intent into them before the rings took the contents of entire rooms inside them instantly, making the only real hold up explaining to them why they were leaving to begin with. While this was happening the Snow Priestess went ahead directly to Asora, where Serafall led her to several different locations that Alex had her mark out for a potential settlement days prior. Surprisingly the process didn't take that long, as it only took a glance for the Snow Priestess to deny a location until they had arrived at a certain valley surrounded by tree covered mountains.
As if she had been looking for this place to begin with, the Snow Priestess immediately claimed it would be the place where her people settled, and Serafall began working her magic to get the first basic barriers in place. Naturally the Yuuki-Onna needed the cold and snowy weather to survive, which there was currently an abundance of due to Asora being in the middle of its long winter, and so Serafall needed to begin laying out the groundwork for the barriers that would hold in the cold and allow the Yuki-Onna to continue to survive there now. As her specialty was based around ice she was a natural candidate for the job, something the Snow Priestess found quite interesting as she watched Serafall work while trying not to be too surprised.
After she finished setting the first of barriers, it was the Snow Priestess's turn to show off why she had been chosen as the leader of the Yuuki-Onna, besides the inclusion of Jack Frost and his visions. Holding her hands out before her, the Snow Priestess called upon the powers of ice and snow that all Yuuki-Onna had to create nearly a hundred identical buildings made of the freezing materials, before focusing her intent onto a larger construct at the center of the planned settlement.
By the time she had finished there were more than enough basic temporary homes for her people to move into, before they themselves would finish and personalize them to their liking, however they would serve as decent houses for the time being. Naturally the larger construct was her new palace that would stand at the center of the city she would rule over when their emperor was not present, in which she showed off to Serafall the majestic throne she had even carved for him, along with her own bland looking chair to sit upon to not impose upon her emperors authority.
Seeing it made Serafall stifle a laugh as she tried to imagine Alex sitting upon the large chunk of decorated ice, whereas her daughter Elizabeth did in fact start laughing as if she knew what they were discussing. Like her mother, Elizabeth had a natural affinity for ice and snow related magic, and as such she was completely unaffected by the freezing cold around her as she happily tried to grab at the falling snowflakes from her mother's arms, while dressed only in the magical girl style clothes that Serafall had made specifically for her.
Shortly after the two finished their work, they were welcomed by a massive fog that cleared to reveal several hundred individuals within it, with a certain wild haired guy at their head. Upon seeing them Alex immediately stepped forward and picked his daughter out of Serafall's arms, before planting a swift kiss on the former Maou's lips that caused her to huff indignantly, though there was a slight curve at the edge of her lips. Though Serafall had originally 'tolerated' Alex for the sake of her relationship with her beloved So-Tan, during the nine months that she had been carrying their child her heart had at some point softened towards him, to the point that he could be considered her third favorite person behind Elizabeth and Sona, not that she would ever admit any of this however.
While playing with his daughter, Alex turned to the Snow Priestess and said, "It's done, everyone has moved and there's no people left in the village. In a few minutes it'll all be erased by an energy bomb I left behind." Though she felt relieved to hear that their village wouldn't be left for others to desecrate and attempt to pillage, it was still a bit saddening for the Snow Priestess to hear that the place that had been their home for centuries was to be destroyed. Instead of dwelling on it however she turned her gaze to the future and recalled the image she had seen of the thousands of people living with them in harmony.
"Thank you..." The Snow Priestess finally said after a moment of silence, before turning to the rest of the newly arrived Yuuki-Onna and declaring,
"THIS, IS OUR NEW HOME!"
Around the same time that the Snow Priestess began giving a speech to her people at their new home, two individuals had arrived at the now abandoned Yuuki-Onna village, and were looking for any signs of life.
"Where did they all go?" Kahlua asked absentmindedly, as she peered through a window to see that everything had been stripped from the inside of the building. Miyabi took a drag off his cigarette before saying,
"I don't know, but I don't like it at all." As he looked around it was obvious that the Yuuji-Onna had permanently left the only place they had been able to call home for centuries, and it was recent considering that there was no dust to speak of in the deserted village, however he couldn't think of why they would suddenly just up and leave out of nowhere. The obvious answer was that they knew he and Kahlua were coming on behalf of Fairy Tale, and had moved out to avoid being forced to join their army. This however confused him even more as 'how' did they know they planned to recruit them, and 'where' did they all go on such short notice? He didn't have long to ponder this question though, as his senses suddenly picked something up that made him turn to Kahlua and ask,
"Do you feel that?" Kahlua however just tilted her head in confusion at his question, until the thing that Miyabi had sensed swelled in power and she could now feel it as well. The duo slowly turned their attention towards the ice palace they had been approaching until now, however a series of thunderous cracks suddenly tore through the air as the walls of the palace suddenly fractured, before a massive sphere of light broke through them. The sphere seemed to slowly expand as it surged outwards, halting for a brief second as it destroyed the palace, before expanding rapidly like a bomb.
"Shit...RUN!" Miyabi shouted as he took off the way they had come, with Kahlua right behind him. As they ran world itself seemed to start rumbling with the power of the bomb, as everything it touched was instantly destroyed. Thankfully the duo were superhuman even among other superhumans, so they managed to make it past the barrier surrounding the village just before the explosion managed to swallow them up.
Naturally, the barrier then started powering down due to its source, hidden within the palace, now being destroyed as well, making the snow fall around them gradually decrease before stopping altogether. What they saw when the snow and the light receded, was a barren wasteland where an entire village had been moments prior, not a single clue to indicate an entire race of people had lived here previously. The duo took a moment to take in what they were seeing, before Miyabi swore,
"Damnit! First the phoenixes and now this! Does this bastard know all of our plans?!" Thinking that the one behind the Yuuki-Onna's disappearance had to have been the same person who killed Kanade, wiped out their bases, turned the Miao family against them, attacked both the Shuzen manor and the Fairy Tale headquarters, and was possibly responsible for the disappearance of the phoenixes, Miyabi was showing an extremely rare expression of anger from the absurdity of it all, and they didn't even know the guy's name. Though, if he had known that there was even a spy that had sat in on their meetings without anyone even noticing him, then even the usually cool calm and collected Miyabi would probably start ripping his hair out in frustration of it all. Suddenly Kahlua asked,
"Should we report this to mother?" Miyabi's brow twitched when he recalled Gyokuro, and how she reacted after the two fires. Though he couldn't wait until he was finally rid of the annoying woman, he didn't let this thought show on his face as he calmly stated,
"No, we're going straight to our next destination before anyone could possibly beat us there, let's go." At his command Kahlua turned around and set off with him, to a city south of where they were that had a slightly famous local supernatural hotspot, known to many as the 'Witches Ranch'.
(A.N. So after the last chapter I took a little break since I spent so much of my free time writing it, but then I'd finally gotten a book I'd been waiting on for a few years so that delayed me a little. But when I finished this one I felt it was a little short/bland after the last one so I tried to do a double release, but the next chapter is taking longer than I'd like so I just decided to post this one since its been a week.)
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