Chapter Three:

Teacher Suzuki's drawing lessons droned on even more, even with the actual drawing part. She was demonstrating the proper way to draw her example of a cat girl…but Natasha's eyes felt compelled to droop as soon as she sat in her seat. She yawned, stretched her arms out in front of her and laid her head on the desk.

An annoyingly rapid tapping sound in her ear disturbed her slumber. A rough, dry patch of something was on her chin…dried saliva.

Damn it, she drooled during her nap!

"Ahem," said a sarcastic voice. Teacher Suzuki stood with her feet together, thin lips pursed together as she held the attention of snickering classmates and the source of the tapping-She held a ruler in her left hand and smacked it again on her distracted pupil's desk.

"My Lady Reyna," Teacher Suzuki said, using formal Arian, "You've been falling asleep in class for far too many days now. You were bumped up to my class via recommendations that I take all too seriously. Don't tell me those professors were mistaken? Or, are you ill?"

Natasha rested her head in her left hand, indicating a headache. Her teacher's incessant rapping clogged her ears. The feeling that maggots had multiplied in her head wouldn't go away for the world, adding to her discomfort.

"It looks like she's sick," said a familiar female voice. "Teacher Suzuki, I'll walk her down to the infirmary. The nurse might be able to do something,"

Everyone looked towards the door to the classroom to see Yasha standing there. She was not the elegantly mysterious creature of last night, but in her human form, which seemed minuscule in comparison. Yasha's eyes, unseen by her classmates and teacher, flashed white. Teacher Suzuki suddenly walked back to the front chalkboard, continuing her lesson as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred. Everyone seemed to be ignoring them now. Yasha locked her sight on Natasha, who stood up and walked out of the classroom with her.

Yasha casually leaned against a top locker with her arms crossed. "Have you given much thought to what I told you?" She asked.

Natasha's legs wobbled, and before she could fall on the floor, Yasha caught her in an odd embrace. Natasha straightened herself up against the lockers and said, "How could I? I haven't had time to think about anything lately…You haven't told me anything about yourself…I can't make a decision without more information. You're leaving me a bit empty here,"

Yasha nodded. "I see. I suppose that really isn't fair to you, isn't it? But in order for this to work…."

" You need me to trust you…Wait…you're not going to blow up the Earth or take it over as revenge for your bloodline being cancelled are you?"

The other girl snickered and laughed in a sexy way. "Silly human, of course not. I do need you to trust me, but trust is universal and must be obtained in the old-fashioned way: With time. It is more than you trusting me to not snap your neck the second you turn the corner…physical proximity is useless to demons. We use our minds, hearts, and spirits to communicate mostly,"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "I'm not following," She said.

"It's time for me to divulge a secret then," Yasha continued, "This body is like a rental for me. I died a long time ago, when your planet was young,"

"You're dead…?" Natasha squeaked…" Then your spirit…last night…what was happening to your spirit with all the lights?"

"Our bond is newborn…like a fragile human child…it must be nurtured and cared for. It won't be rushed, especially with your reaction last night. You almost pushed me out of the planet's orbit. I would've just vanished without any way to come back…I think I scared you too much. Even demons are desperate for life these days, even when we want to just die. But all creatures are reincarnated because our purposes have not been fulfilled yet. It takes two halves to live a full lifetime, unless you've lived for everything or everyone you are supposed to…that is how it was on my planet. In the kingdom on the planet Akurei,"

Therefore, Natasha thought, you have had an incomplete death…but why were you reborn as a human on Earth and not on your own planet as a demon?

There is nothing left; Natasha's thoughts invaded her mind, only it didn't send a shiver down her spine like it did the first time. Demons have been extinguished through time and God's will. We did not age like life on Earth, but we were not immortal. Death is an option, but the bond acts as a last will…everything my sister and father wanted is still embedded in my mind, but not in my spirit.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that whatever your sister and father wanted had something to do with the Earth…and since you aren't here to destroy it…Natasha thought.

"Exactly," Yasha spoke aloud, "They dreamed of a union between the Earth and Akurei. We have watched over your planet for over 700 years as its solitary guardian, besides that of the Moon. Rowena believed that we had a much bigger duty than to merely sit and watch, however. My father assumed that I didn't understand anything, but even when I was an infant, I heard them discuss the future ruin of the Earth with humanity's arrival. I decided that I wanted nothing to do with humans-a race that treated their glass marble of a planet like trash."

"On the day my sister was to be crowned, I decided to take up arms against her and my father. Rowena's coronation would never be, and was replaced with my execution," Yasha paused, and Natasha saw her hands at her sides curl into fists.

"Want to guess who sentenced and killed me?" She asked dryly.

Natasha covered her mouth to stifle her gasp. "Daddy Dearest was not so fond me…he detected my blood on her and killed me in the same way I did to her. But I came back here…I'm not finished with my business…not by a long shot. I don't care about this planet or my sister's objectives with it…" Yasha said.

The half-demon turned to Natasha. "This human body is too weak to sustain my power, which has been reviving slowly. I need a new vessel for my spirit and power. Your body is the only one here that is strong enough to contain me. You seem to have calmed down when I am near you. What do you feel when you are with me?"

Yasha's human face belied the years of exhaustion and a deeper maturity that surpassed human adulthood. She saw many things that she could show humanity, if they would accept her. But what if all it took was just one person to see her for who she really was, when her own people had rejected her for her entire life? It wasn't fair.

Natasha remembered how hectic and rushed everything felt when Yasha arrived as a new student in her class. Prior to that, and even after her arrival, she was sleeping during class time more and more, but it wasn't from lack of sleep…it was more like boredom. And then it seemed to get stranger with the dreams of that castle on that gorgeous planet she daydreamed about lately. Was that place Yasha's home? Should she ask about it?

"I feel calm…much more than I've ever been with anyone in a long time…now more than ever," She said, "I barely know you and I don't know why I feel like this. I want to get to know you better. I want to help you find your purpose. The death of someone means that another life is given to something else. Death is a gift, which is a saying in Aria. Do you feel odd about my feeling this way?"

Yasha's eyes relaxed in relief and she smiled…a genuinely happy human smile. "There's one more thing that I need from you. I told you that trust takes time, and I wasn't lying. Our bond will be formed and tested through our trust in each other. We must give in to each other entirely."

Give in? Natasha wondered. In what way?

Yasha chuckled. She loved the way that her human friend was now turning her head to the side in confusion. It was so sickeningly cute.

"Give me your hand and close your eyes," the half-demon responded.

Natasha's eyes were closed. She offered her hand and Yasha took it, closing her own eyes. The two of them were soon enveloped and lifted off the floor and away from the school grounds in a golden sphere. When they opened their eyes again, they were back in Natasha's bedroom, and the blood stains were cleaned from the carpet. The crystal-rose was still on the dresser, now shining in a marvelous black light. It floated in the space between them as Natasha and Yasha stood across from each other.

The next few moments were fast, but neither female would ever forget them. Yasha held the rose and those shimmering lights returned, forcing Natasha to cover her eyes in the midst of their brighter glow. When she uncovered them, Yasha stood before her, still transparent as a spirit, but demonized. Her black eyes pierced through Natasha's.

The familiar sound of soft pounding in her ears vibrated throughout the entire room. Yasha said that it was a demon's true heartbeat…hers was made stronger as if she was alive because of her bond or link or whatever it was called that she had with Natasha. It was difficult for her to think properly, but an awesome tidal wave of energy was hitting her at the same time as well…it was like she was drowning in a long-denied warmth in peace. She wanted to stay there forever, but then Natasha opened her eyes….to find herself sitting alone on her bed in her room.

She looked around. What the hell had happened? And where was Yasha?

I'm right here, Natasha heard her say inside her head, I never went anywhere. I'm still here with you.

She bolted upward in the bed like a rocket headed for the moon. Her eyes bounced in every direction.

"I don't see you," Natasha said, "Where are you?"

Look in the mirror, Yasha said in her mind.

Natasha gulped and slowly, shakily, walked over to the vanity mirror. She still didn't see anyone bit herself.

Five seconds later, disembodied reflection of Yasha in her demon form appeared behind her. Natasha's body shuddered again and she fell to her knees, gripping a diamond knob of one of the drawers. Her throat became a raw passage for black blood again that she caught in her hands. This lasted for five minutes that seemed an eternity. When she wobbled into a standing position, she saw Yasha again and smiled a slow, but relieved smile.

Yasha's spirit embraced her from behind. "I'm so sorry," Her voice carried notes of sincere sympathy, "The power has been hard on us both-when I died, I hadn't quite absorbed much of the power I took because I was starved to death…and that is why you are suffering. It just takes adjustment. But it's a good thing because it shows how much potential we both never knew we possessed in our bodies,"

Natasha's head felt stuffy and congested, and she wobbled backwards into her bed, with Yasha hovering over her protectively. Natasha's heartbeat was faster than normal, and yet her body's physical alarms did not sound. Somehow, she felt that she would be okay, that this was supposed to happen. It was frightening to think about, but it would pass. For now, she wanted to get to breath and balance back.

"I have so much to show you later on as you adjust," Yasha explained. "Last night when I left you, I sensed a few things that I should warn you about and prepare you for. It will be dangerous, and you will have to learn how to fight harder than you ever have in your life,"

Natasha's heartbeat finally slowed down to its regular human pace at midnight as she slept. Yasha pulled the silk curtains back and sat on the window sill. She never thought that her afterlife would turn out like this-confined to the planet that had beings she hated for their slothful and careless ways. Things were going to change faster than she knew it, and she could no longer rest peacefully as death should've allowed her to. Even in death, she felt King Cyril's rage at her…no…it wasn't over.

Not by a long shot.