Land Of The Snow Girls

"You want me to go with you to your hometown for some sort of ceremony?" Eli asked as he and Mizore walked to their next class and she gave him a quiet nod before they ran into the others part way there, "What about them?"

"My mom told me to bring my friends along so I guess that's fine." Mizore explained as she held up the letter and everyone seemed excited for the trip. After school was over for the day all of them got their things together and met at the bus stop with excited looks. Eli had the itching suspicion that something was wrong but figured he was probably just overthinking the situation and got on the bus with a small smile. They quickly realized that the bus driver wasn't joking about being able to get there quickly and Eli laughed when the others began to shiver from the freezing temperatures of the dimension. It didn't take them long to meet up with Mizore's mother and she immediately got inches from Eli.

"We already have a bed ready for you and Mizore to start making children." She told him bluntly, causing several emotions to go through Eli at once before she got a sad look and Eli's face turned serious but she didn't elaborate as to why. Once they were inside the house they saw that her mother had already prepared food for them and they sat down to eat as she and Mizore explained how the ceremony works and the flowers that were involved.

"I want to dress up to!" Kurumu happily said and Moka immediately agreed with her, "It sounds like a lot of fun!"

"I'll make sure to give you girls some Kimonos and everything else you will need." Mizore's mother told them with a smile and Eli watched them as the feeling from before came back. Later that night he was woken up by Mizore and she motioned for him to follow her. He yawned as he stood up and quickly got dressed in warmer clothes before following her outside.

"Is everything alright Mizore?" Eli asked as they walked out of the town and into a snow covered field surrounded by trees, "You haven't seemed like yourself all day."

"I used to do this as a kid and spied on the nearby human towns. I ended up meeting a human boy and we became close friends before I told him what I was as I tried to give him one of the flowers." Mizore told him in a sad tone and he put a hand on her shoulder, "He called me a human eating monster and never talked to me again. After the P.E. teacher I honestly thought I'd alway be alone until I met you."

"You can be hard to understand sometimes but I know plenty of good things about you so you shouldn't think like that." Eli told her with a smile before the snow exploded between them and he instantly switched places with Inner Eli until he saw that Kurumu had shot some sort of gun at them, "Why?!"

"I was so happy that you invited us here and I even gave you a hug but that was all a part if your plan to steal Eli away wasn't it?!" Kurumu asked as she pointed the gun at her but Moka immediately stopped her, "You betrayed our trust!"

"Believe whatever you want. I won't make any excuses." Mizore told them in a depressed voice and Eli immediately knew that his gut feeling was right. He opened his mouth to say something but was stopped by a snow monster bursting from the ground and Mizore dragged him away in the confusion.

"Mizore what's going on here?" Eli asked when they stopped at a patch of flowers on the edge of a cliff and he heard her sniffle as he examined the area, "If it's too hard to say then you don't have to tell me."

"That's not it. The age Snow Women can have children is much shorter than that of other races. It's the mid teens to mid twenties and after that it's nearly impossible." Mizore explained with tears in her eyes before she suddenly removed her Kimono, "Just for tonight please be mine. If you don't then I'll be forced into an arranged marriage with a man chosen by the province regardless of my feelings."

"That won't happen." Eli told her as he closed her Kimono almost instantly but she seemed unfazed by that, "If you're being forced into something then we'll stop it. I promise."

"I have no choi/ I WON'T ALLOW IT!" Eli interrupted with a serious look and tears began to streak her face until the snow monster from earlier suddenly knocked him off of the cliffside. The last thing he saw before losing sight of Mizore was the monster turning into a woman and suddenly taking her away. He felt his bones break everytime he hit the rocks protruding from the cliff and felt an unreal amount of pain wrack his body when he finally hit the ground. As he laid motionless he knew that whoever it was that took Mizore had been trying to kill him and his vision faded as he slowly began to heal.

"God dammit." Eli said as he climbed out of the snow that had covered whole he was unconscious and he wasn't sure if he had been out for hours or even days but he could tell that his time in the snow had caused his body to become numb. He managed to get to his feet and saw that his coat and shirt were still drenched in his blood and knew if he left them on them the dark liquid would only cause him more suffering. Eli tore them off and his body shivered from the freezing wind blowing past him but ignored the cold has he began to climb back up the cliff. The ice covered rocks began to tear the skin off of his hands but he continued to climb until he reached the top as night fell over the dimension and he finally noticed his holy lock shaking violently. In his suffering he had somehow forgotten about his other half and switched places with Inner Eli without a word. Inner Eli frowned as he felt his outer self's consciousness fade and began to make his way back to the town at full speed.