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Trials of Love, the Frostclaw Chronicles 11: A Fresh Start and Gemstone Hearts

This story is copyrighted to SashaWS/ArtisticEastern, containing characters owned by various people used with permission.

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"Are you really sure that you are ready for this?" Sapphire asked Tenchi, who was spinning the knife in her left arm, which was her cybernetic arm. Tenchi just gave her a nod, "Yes, I am ready for this. I might still be a little overwhelmed by knowing what she did, but knowing that she is having this to fight, it is making me feel a little sorry for her." Sapphire knew what Tenchi meant. Learning that her mother was slowly killing herself by just altering her form was really an eye opener. Watching Tenchi hold the knife more firmly in the hand, she nodded as they opened the door to the throne room before entering.

Once inside, they saw Sasha standing near a window, looking out at her brother meditating with his wife and daughters, her earfins picking up on the sound, "Ah, Sapphire and Tenchi. Need anything? I honestly wasn't expecting you both to come here at the same time." Sapphire held up the book as Sasha turned around and the normal happy face was lowered to one of someone having been caught, "Oh... what is it with you girls finding books that are having information I rather keep secret?" Sapphire lowered the book, "Is it really true, mother? Is your body really like it says? I always thought your shedding of skin was like any other reptilians." Sasha looked away, "Yes, all written in that book is true. But why do you girls always try and find books like these? Do you wanna torture me with finding out all things I wanna hide from you?"

Tenchi and Sapphire was quiet before Sasha growled out with tears in her eyes, "So what is next? You gonna call me a hideous malformed abomination? A lying pile of flesh? A monstrous being that you wish you never knew?" Both remained silent before Sasha lowered her head, "Your silence is speaking for itself. You do not wanna know me anymore. You wanna see me cry my heart out, begging you to not leave me. To give up the throne so one of you can take over. How can someone who is not even a person rule a realm as a queen? No, not someone, a something!"

Sapphire looked up at Sasha, "No, mother. We do not wish to see you cry or anything. We wish to end the cycle for you." It was then that Sasha noticed the knife and soon Sapphire waved one hand to form a fireball before nodding, "Now Tenchi!" Sasha's eyes widened before she turned to try and run away, but a loud growl was heard when Tenchi's cybernetic arm quickly flung the knife into her back, the aura of time slowly beginning to decompose before the fireball struck her, the yellow dragoness now being engulfed in flames as her screams of pain and fear began to fill the throne room, her eyes turning to face Tenchi and Sapphire, as she tried to speak through the pain, "W-W-Why?" Sapphire just replied, "Because mother, it is your time to be reborn."

As the words sunk in, Sasha soon collapsed before her body slowly fed the fire and as the final strings of hair burned up, Tenchi looked at the remaining pile of ash before looking at Sapphire, "So, she is really dead?" It was then that the trees outside slowly began to lose their leaves, making Sapphire nod as she was beginning to transmute, using the hot air and ashes, "Yes, and I better work fast or else this entire realm is doomed." The words did not help Tenchi to calm down as she noticed the trees not bending out of shape as Sapphire quickly finished organ after organ for the new body.

The people in the capital city of Morgova just stared in shock and awe as the trees slowly died, all covering their maws, "The queen is dead? But she is the most powerful being here. No one can defeat her!" The trees suddenly ignited and the once calm capital went into a state of complete panic, as the doomsayers came running out from their temple and laughed, "You heard it, people! The glorious ending is upon us! You denied it, but now it has become true! Go wild! It is not much time! Grab the closest one and rape them! Do as you wish!" The loudmouthed doomsayer felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice soon accompanied it, "Excuse me a moment." As the doomsayer turned around, he was seeing a fist hitting him right in the face and into a wall, May looking at him before she sighed, "How I hate these guys." Lanta, Aphrodite, Jupiter and Zeus just watched in pure shock at May's dislike for the person as they all noticed the inferno around the city.

"Faster! The capital city is soon going to be nothing but a ruin!" Tenchi called out as Sapphire finished up making the brain, which to Tenchi seemed to be too big to fit Sasha's skull, but Sapphire's quick hand movements soon provided the nerves and muscles before the ligaments were in place and suddenly by itself the skeleton was covered in yellow fur and scales, the blue hair growing back out and the rest of the body getting the proportions as the soul re-entered the body. Slowly the eyes opened and Sasha's emerald eyes looked at Tenchi and Sapphire before tearing up, "You... you didn't wanted to kill me? You actually wanted to save me?" Tenchi sat down with Sapphire, who smiled warmly, "Sometimes to save someone, you have to hurt them."

Sasha sat up with the tears falling out of her eyes as she tried to pull them both into a hug, noticing just then that she was no longer having her powers, "It seems with this... I also lost all of my titles." Sapphire knew what Sasha meant, quickly turning to Tenchi, "Can you?" Tenchi looked at Sapphire and then Sasha, sighing before getting up and leaving. Sasha looked confused before noticing Sapphire throwing her something, which she took a good look of. What she had been thrown was a red shirt, a black skirt and what seemed to be two bracelets and a collar. Sasha's eyes opened up a bit, "These are..." Sapphire nodded, "The bracelets and collar that you said you would never wear again."

Tenchi was coming back after a minute with a syringe, seeing Sasha being dressed before handing it to her. Sasha took the syringe from Tenchi and then grabbed the red dragoness' arm, pricking her right arm before extracting some of the blood as well as what seemed to be a glowing fragment. Sapphire watched it, "Is that what I think it is, mom?" Sasha nodded, "Yes, the demon gene." Sasha closed her eyes when giving the syringe to Tenchi, pointing to her neck before she felt the sting of the needle pushing inside and soon the blood being injected. Once the syringe was empty, Sasha put on the bracelets and then finally the collar, her body quickly beginning to bulk up as she growled in pain. Tenchi was quickly brought out of the throne room, but it had been just then that Tenchi took control and pulled Sapphire with her, "Come on now. I think it is time that you focus less on others and more on yourself."

Sapphire was confused as Tenchi brought her up to what was the newly built clock tower. Using her wings to bring them both up the stairs, Tenchi and Sapphire soon watched out over the realm as the trees were coming back to life again and the sun slowly set over the horizon, "What do you think, Saph? Beautiful view, isn't it?" Tenchi asked as Sapphire nodded, "It is majestic." Tenchi nodded, "I brought you here for more than one reason. I have a friend I wanted you to meet." Sapphire looked confused before she heard something or someone approach from one of the dark corners of the tower, turning her eyes to look at whatever it was, her heart stopped as she saw what could only be described as a masterpiece of a male, his voice soon calling out, "Good evening, Tenchi. I see you brought someone with you." Tenchi nodded with a smile, "I did, my friend. Sapphire, this is Talon. Talon, this is Sapphire, my sister-in-law." The gargoyle looked at Sapphire who tried to smile, even when feeling slightly intimidated, but also charmed by his appearance, "So you are the one that she spoke of. I got to say, I was expecting her to pull a trick on me. But you are..."

He got silent as Sapphire approached him slowly, "But I am what?" Talon seemed to lose his tongue for a moment when he got a better look of her, "But you are way more beautiful than she made justice with her words." Tenchi smiled, "My bad. I didn't wanted to try and make her into a supermodel and have you expect gold when silver is offered." Talon gave a throaty chuckle, "So what was it that you said she was again?" Tenchi smiled, "Sapphire, show him." Sapphire nodded and snap her fingers before out of thin air, by air itself, she transmuted an actual sapphire gem before she bowed, "I am an alchemist. My full name is Sapphire Angeria-McGogo. And I am the 8th heir to the throne of this realm." Talon whistled, "An alchemist and a heir to the throne? Now that is not something you see every day." Sapphire smiles, "I would like to know more about you, because you certainly caught my attention. And from the looks, you look like that folklore creature I read about, a gargoyle, but your body also shows a bit of canine hint. Same as my sisters Juna, Julie Ruby and Topaz." Talon was silent, "Beautiful, smart and a keen eye for details. What is next?" Sapphire smiled and held nothing back with her next words, "I am a shemale, meaning I cannot have any kids inside me."

Talon and Tenchi just got quiet at the rather forward information from Sapphire, but Talon thought it was fair enough to return the obvious out of the blue information with one of his own. "I am over 200 years old and I lost both my parents to marauders when I was 22 years old." Sapphire dropped the gemstone on the hard stone floor, her eyes widened with shock before she slowly approached him closer and wrapped her arms around him, "I am truly sorry to hear this, Talon. I may not understand the feeling, I can only know from hearing from my sisters Phoebe and Ocarina, both of them lost their mothers. But losing both your parents, it makes them pale a bit in comparison." Talon looked down at her before speaking with a deep voice, "Even losing one parent is as bad as losing both of them. Never say that someone has it worse for losing both their parents. It still shares the same understanding in the basic view, the meaning of losing a parent." Sapphire felt his words bury deep, but also that he was right. Keeping him close, she lifted a hand to touch his cheek softly, "As much as I would like to stay here, I think it is better to head down and to bed. I hope you do not mind sleeping in the same bed as me. At least then you got someone to hold tight." Talon was looking at her, "It is fine. I can sleep up here." Sapphire was having none of that and looked at him, "You are a guest here and I want you to sleep in my bed so at least I can help you not being alone up here."

Talon was about to object again before Tenchi smiled at Sapphire's ultimate move, "That is a command by the 8th princess of this realm. You sleep in my bed tonight, just tonight and if you dislike it, then you can sleep up here for the rest of the nights." Talon felt his honor pull his strings a bit, but also a slight additional attraction towards the girl's stubbornness. She heard him chuckle before he lifted her up, "Fine, lead the way, princess." Sapphire felt happy to have him submit just this once before pointing him towards her room, Tenchi following them both with a warm smile upon her face as the roaring screams of Sasha finally died out.

It was in the morning when the sun stood high in the sky when Alex was woken up by Tenchi running into his dojo, screaming loudly, "Sensei! Sensei!" Alex grumbled and sat up, rubbing his hair before yawning, "What is it? I had a wonderful dream that I was a mighty warrior." Tenchi growled, "Wake up, you lazy ass! Peri, Ainohi, Kari, Yin, Yang, Jigo, Leicna and Arashi have been abducted by the Kae'Machi!" Alex's eyes shot open widely and Lyra woke up next to him, "Say what?!" Tenchi held out a note, which Alex read quickly, "I got your precious family members. Come to Skyward Lake tonight and surrender. Unless you wish for your family members to die. Long live the Kae'Machi!"

Alex's eyes narrowed to thin slits before he stood up quickly, showing off to the world how he looked without clothes on, forcing Tenchi to cover up her eyes a bit before Alex slipped on his kimono, grabbing his blade from the holder before turning to face Tenchi, "If it is a fight they want, then a fight they shall get!" Tenchi saw that fire in his eyes, "I planned to go alone, but perhaps it is better to double the rage for now." Alex nodded before Tenchi blinked and he was already gone, forcing her to run after him, "Wait up!" Lyra got up from the bed and put on her clothes quickly, running after them, "I am coming too!" Tenchi was about to object, but Lyra had that same look of fire in her eyes that Alex had, "Very well, lets go!"

Near the lake, everyone laid unconscious as the black dragon male laughed, "Such a pity. War is not a game, so I will stop the war before it even begins. Come for me, Tenchi of the Frostclaws, I eagerly await to see you on your knees!" As the water was hit by the sunlight, the dark shade of red spread across the surface, making it look like a lake of blood and soon the laughter echoed in the air from the male.

The End.