Disclaimer Note: In creating this story, I do not claim nor assume myself to have the right to own Gakuen Alice, or any of its character. I am only expressing myself in this fanfiction, like everybody else. :D So, this is by no means, to be associated with the original Gakuen Alice series, because... it is fiction. (hope I'm making myself clear... )

Summary:At present, Mikan and Natsume find themselves bound by their destiny... But are they also bound their past lives? The truth about the origins of the academy unfolds... It seems like there's more to these two than what meets the eye...

Title: The Purging

P.S.: I hope you like it!!! This is my first fanfic! At long last, it's published... :D

This fanfiction is a tribute to Natsume Hyuga, Mikan Sakura and the other casts of Gakuen Alice...

(The following events written below occurred some centuries ago...)

Chapter 1: It begins

It was a time where chaos and havoc ruled, spawned by an infinite abyss that reigned on people's hearts and the ones who had special powers were called upon in hopes to restore order.

They were a race possessing unique abilities which set them apart from the ordinary...

They were the people with Alices.

The skies were painted maroon, rinsing the earth with its bloody light and further added to the feel of mayhem suffocating the area.

There were just enough of them left standing...

The confrontation with the enemies had reduced their number and turned the grasslands into a battlefield of hell; everything had a cast of ruin embellished on its surface. And all throughout, the weary Alice wielders gradually felt the sense of loss inching into their skin; their foes had them outnumbered from the beginning and despite their effort, it just wasn't enough.

One by one they withdrew away to safety when the young woman with long, braided sienna hair saw this with growing alarm. She had been rending off the enemies' attack with her nullification alice for the last minute, and now she was seeing this... She stood on a boulder where everyone had a clear view of her.

"No! Everyone, we must not falter now..!" she cried, exasperated, "We are this world's remaining hope for a future. Everyone is counting on us to deliver peace and order from this endless turmoil... Please, let us all be united!"

But her words hung in silence as one by one, the Alice users departed. Filled with deep melancholy, she stared at them helplessly... She had an inkling that they were right for leaving; after all, this battle was for the sake of those who had maltreated them in the past as though they were the bane in society.

And yet a huge dominating part of her told that this wasn't right...

No matter how ill they were, it still was not right to abandon them like sheep to be slaughtered. It was a humane inclination embedded deep within her conscientious that made her stay.

They must fight... She has to convince them.

"Everyone!" she shouted at the diminishing crowd and they turned and stopped, caught by the fire in her voice.

She began, "I am aware of this grudge against these people outside our realm, and how they've been unkind to us... Yet all of us come from the same shell!" she emphasized strongly, "To abandon them like this would be abandoning our own kind. You must reconsider!"

"Hmpf! Yeah, and become their pawns again. You must be crazy." a man said, almost scoffing at her.

Another one called out, "They've used us like anchors to hold their kingdom above ground while we stay submerged in abject submission, available at their beck and call. And now it's up to us to save their hides?! Preposterous! I've had enough of this slavery!" he concluded, and walked away.

"You, of all people should know that, Mischa." one of the mob chided. She recognized him as a friend, but now his features were marked with every bit of disappointment in it. He proceeded, "We're nothing but chess pieces, available at their disposal..."

"We chose to be lenient and loyal, yet what has that cost us? The very freedom of our kind!"

"Yeah, I'm living my own life!"

Others joined in, each one having their own reprisal. It was no use... Few had the undying devotion she possessed.

Yet she tried again, unwilling to submit herself to the defeat of her own conviction, "No, we mustn't give up!" but only to realize that they were no longer listening; their hearts were elsewhere. They disappeared from sight into the fiery skies up north, far enough for her voice not to reach their defiant ears. The weight of their leave finally dawned on Mischa, and she sagged into a boulder in a sitting position, apparently drained and hopeless… Everything they fought for was for naught. They gave up, and now hope was as bleak and derelict as it was a moment ago when they had fought with credence.

"It's over…" she was grieving to herself when a familiar voice rung from behind.

"And who said anything about giving up?"

A tall, handsome, well-built young man with raven-black hair stood behind, among many others she recognized. They all looked exhausted and weary, but the hint of a smile was present on their faces, as if they were glad to be back.

"Ayne!" Mischa thought she was never glad to see anyone before.

Ayne gave her a boyish grin, "Don't be stupid. We won't leave you behind out here, looking every bit as foolish..." he started, and went ahead to take care of things, "You should very well be aware of the situation before you marched about, trying to intimidate everyone." he said in an almost chiding tone. Yet Mischa knew that was not possible; he was known for his dreaded fire alice and also for his unwavering calm... For that, he was known to be perilous. He was only worried for her, that's all. She glanced at the wheat-colored hair young man as if to affirm her notion and he nodded back in silence.

The raven-haired man was fussing with the equipments unnecessarily, trying in vain to appear busy as if to mask the emotions that brew underneath his façade.

"Not all the alice wielders think as you do. They've got their grudges held on them... Unlike you." he paused and placed his blazing crimson eyes on her hazel ones, and she noticed they were filled with weary deliberation. Mischa had a feeling that he was not very keen about her stay…even came back merely for the safety of her countenance and not of his own bidding at all. He continued in his same blank quality of a tone, not giving away any hint of emotion.

"Their leaving only means the natural thing to do."

Mischa felt a nerve twitch somewhere on her face as she sensed his sarcasm despite his level gaze, and replied quite haughtily, "And you think this is unnatural?"

But the young man just walked aside, not willing himself to fall bait to the pangs of her fury apparent. He knew full well the matter would merely escalate to episodes of ranting again if he infuriated her more, like she usually does. So he placed his hands in the pockets of his pants and stared at the bloody sky.

"It's human nature." he said in his matter-of-factly voice in reply but rather than dismissing the topic, it only irritated her more.

But she knew she'll have to deal with that later. Right now...

Mischa, the nullification alice wielder, eyed her companions who opted to return and a feeling of overbearing happiness swept over her. They chose to come back regardless of the danger they knew they would be facing and she was so glad...

With renewed vigor, she called out to them, "Everyone, let's do our best!" and they shouted back with optimism. She let her gaze drift to the skies in different hues of red from the fires and destruction that was abundant all around, and somehow she knew.

The real battle has just begun.

- o -

Hours later…

The remaining alice people felt their strength oozing out from them as they fought the oppressors, and with that came the feeling of their resolve weakening... They really were outnumbered, and in their condition it was only a matter of time before the enemies take over.

And then, all would be lost.

But they fought still, for Mischa was there, doing what she can, propelling them with her endless vitality and sense of optimism. Thus they fought the battle that seemed to have no end.

- o -

During the battle, Mischa noticed Ayne was evidently exhausted but every time she tells him, he shrugs it off. And they got into one of their fights. They were having a screaming fest and it was not until an attack came that drew their attention away.

"Watch out!" Mischa nullified an incoming attack that should have hit the whirling fire-alice wielder, and gave him a knowing smile, "You only live once you know." And Ayne was thinking why he had never told her that it was her smile that kept him living through... That she was the boon of his existence, and he would never have gone out of his shell without her. But the circumstances of his life prevailed and he shut his thoughts to himself as he watched Mischa dancing along to attend to the others, immersed in her little victory over him.

Suddenly, a twinge of overbearing intuition gripped him that for a moment his mind was freed from all thoughts except for the approaching danger beheld in his mind. Something was coming. He sensed it. His trained instincts were honed to the point of needle sharpness that he didn't have to strain his ears and sight to know what it was.

His sight was automatically drawn upwards to the sky and true enough there were the inevitable descent of volleys of fire cascading down Mischa's path...

She was too lost in her own exultation that she didn't see it.

Shouts were coming from their comrades in a last minute attempt to ward off what would have been a fated tragedy for the sienna-haired lady...

"The belligerent fool..." he muttered under his breath and swiftly strode to her place, closing their distance. All his agility and vigor flooded out in a sudden rush when there should've been none left after the grueling battle, and it was all sparked by the recognition of his love's immediate peril. He would risk his life a hundred times over if it would save her… This was one of those times, and he would concede to a hundred more if need be.

Before Mischa was even aware of his presence skidding to a halt before her, a big blast of fire shot out of Ayne's outstretched hand and collided with the incoming fire ball, sending sparks into the air. The fires battled for supremacy, neither submitting to the other, until finally Ayne's growing fire defeated it.

The last of his strength poured upon that single drive to propel the fire, the immediate strain hammered into his body like an impact and he collapsed on Mischa's, limp and thoroughly depleted.

The woeful incident sluggishly sunk itself into Mischa's consciousness, and her reaction time was all she could bring out.

But even in the flurry of events, she was aware of Ayne...

"Ayne... No... You just---" her face was streaked with terror as she realized what he had just done for her sake.

She was aware… She was always well aware of the limitations of his fire alice, and for that reason she always felt as though she would lose him any moment. That fact combined to make her feel clingy to the young man, and was more quarrelsome than necessary, all the while hiding in that veil of annoyance her true feelings for him, which only until now was given full recognition.

He was going to die.

"Don't... you dare dance around... in the middle of the battle again... you fool..." came his croak of a reply, and Mischa burst into helpless tears, the last of her façade broken by his appearance… He looked every bit like a dying man. The fire in him had wilted away from the force he exerted and it was evident in his pallor. She cradled him, not knowing what to say, while crying.

His strength was oozing away and it was almost palpable she truly felt him wasting away...

It can't be! He mustn't die...! she thought fiercely.

"Ayne…" she cried desperately, "Please don't die Ayne…!"

The young man gave her a weak smile in reply one last time, the eternal moment when they looked back at each other and all the emotions they had unveiled and guileless, before his hands fell limp from hers and along with it his whole being.

Mischa stared back in shock when the impact finally registered itself.

All their time together…

Memories that can never be reenacted once more…

He was gone forever and it was broken by this single act that cut away the privilege of a lifetime…

Her lifetime.

"Ayne...No…" she whispered when it finally unleashed out off her in big waves as reality infused its irrevocable turn of the tide into her denying self.

"No---!"

At that moment, a field of blue ethereal light swept across the surroundings, engulfing everything in its path... It encircled and lapped the tainted battlefield, like a violent tsunami, covering everything in its pure blue glow…

And then the two vanished. All was silent except for the fires that raged from afar.

Chapter 1

fin

"Ayne" is pronounced as (Ayn)

PLS REVIEW!!! I don't really know what to make of this; it is my 1ST fanfic...

SO, don't be shy, tell me. :D reviews, comments, suggestions, those things... PLS DO:D Thank you!