Yalena

"Alright, I believe your story checks out. But if she ever escapes again I will take you off guard duty and me and you can get a little more personal." Deca sensed a transition of tone within her voice. It was almost as if she were attempting to persuade him without outright stating so. All the same, he disregarded it as anything possibly meaningful, instead focusing on exactly what she said. He nodded. He knew he couldn't let something like this happen again. The two would have to act more orderly if they were to get away with performing tasks 'under the radar'. "I will leave you in control of any guards that you may cross, and if needed you can transport my daughter to any given place as long as you contact me first and you stay with her at all times." Deca smirked in a particular way at this. He would no longer have to worry about the guards getting in the path of his overall mission now that he had control of them. It also helped that he and Akane were given permission to leave the castle walls. This worked well for them, as they would now be able to escape any harmful pursuers of whom wanted to get ahold of the Heart Stone, which was hidden within Akane's very being. After Ace finished berating her daughter, she soon walked away. Deca could almost hear a sigh of utter relief escaping Akane's mouth.

"Nice job." Deca turned his body towards Akane, his facial expression now completely back to it's usual stoic-like appearance. He merely blinked at this. "What do you do in your free time act?" Akane laughed soon after at her attempt to break the tension. This almost amused him, in some way. "These humans are such 'interesting' creatures.." He thought to himself. "I appreciate your gratefulness." Deca answered. He felt Akane's hand grip his own, causing him to look down. He knew what was getting ready to occur all too well by now.

The princess began to lead him out of the abandoned wing of the palace, although this time without the usual haste. When she pointed out one of the eroded stone-made stair cases, he stepped over them accordingly. After a moment or two, Akane opened the door that lead back into the main hall. The air was noticeably fresher and absent of any fowl smells.

"I'm glad I didn't actually have to live down there. So thank you. Deca." The princess thanked him just before doing something that caused his eyes to widen. She slightly bowed down to him in a respectful manner. The thought of a royal bowing down to a mere royal subject like himself surprised him, a fact that was noticeable by the look on his face. "You are welcome, Akane." The swordsmen said as the duo made there way back to the Princess room. Night had fallen upon Hira Kingdom, the only lighting in the hallway now being the rays of light that illuminated from the stars and streamed through the grand windows.

When they passed the Throne Room, Akane came to a halt. Ace and an unfamiliar man seemed to be holding a conversation of some sort. Deca winced. Something seem slightly off about him. Was it the fact that he was holding a casual conversation with Ace herself? All the same, he didn't think much of it, letting the thought flow to the back of his mind. Akane questioned him as well but quickly pushed it aside as they continued onward.

"I'm so tired.." The two of them were nearing Akane's bedroom now. She ran ahead of him, opening the door whilst rubbing her eyes. He could tell that the day had been long for her, and he couldn't blame her one bit. He followed in after her, falling on the floor. Before drifting into the realm of dreams, she motioned for Deca to sleep on her bed. Deca smirked. Just when Akane fell asleep, he gently picked her up and placed her on the bed, placing the covers over her softly in order to not disturb her direly needed rest. He slowly opened the door to the outside balcony, looking up to the stars that blanked the thick sheet of night. It was an amazing sight to behold as well as his favorite part of the evening. The star's were more numerous then people themselves. Each one was as equally beautiful as the next in their own, unique way. Deca smirked. The human race. The Stars. They were so similar to him. He hopped on the ledge of the balcony, then onto the side of the castles roof. He laid down flat, staring up at the stars as he slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.

Akane
The next day the orange sun of Yalena rose. Akane woke up in her bed, she stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes. Emotionless, she examined the room and noticed Deca was missing, she started to panic. She quickly got out of bed and shouted out "Deca!?" Still shouting out for his name "Deca! Where are you?" Akane noticed that the balcony was opened, she ran to the balcony ,when she got there all she saw in front of her was the Hira Kingdom, an idea came to her head. "Oh no! He must of been sleep walking and maybe fell off the balcony!" A sudden loud snore came from behind her, she turned her head and looked up, he fell asleep on the roof. She sighed, and had her hand placed on top of her head. "Wow." She blurted. "How did he get up there? Did he change into a dragon?" She wondered, Akane thought about it better and noticed the ledge of the balcony wasn't so far from the roof top. She climbed on top of the ledge and hopped onto the roof, she gave him a small nudge. "Hey, get up." She said in a low tone. Akane noticed that he wasn't moving, she bent down to close to his face, all of a sudden his eyes widened, this sudden movement shocked Akane which made her flinch.
--
Kumori
Kumori's plans were working, she noticed that the two heroines had fled. She entered the castle through the entrance and demanded the guards to lead her to the Queen. It was early in the morning, "I have a request to see the Queen immediately.". The guard nodded his head, and guided Kumori to the Queen. The tall golden doors opened, Kumori walked down the red carpet, as she was in front of the queen and knelt down. "Your majesty, your son has seem to run away with a strange girl who I have never seen before in the Ciara Kingdom." Kumori was hoping that the Queen would change her task and make her go after her son instead of searching for the Stone of Mind, so this way she would have an excuse and tell the Queen that her son died from some random excuse she would of made up, so that she would be able to take the stone and bring it to Death.

[center][b]Mizu[b][center]
Mizu slipped into the changing aria and begin to take of his wet clothing. "yes very much so. I have many questions for you. Were do you come from? How do you know about the stones, how do you know my life is in danger and what the hell you meant by dragon." Mizu finished changing and walked out in some fresh clothing that would be fit for travel. He opened a draw and threw Cordelia some of his clothing "You may want to get dressed" he said and sat down in a chair in the corner.

[center][b]Joker[b][center]

Joker felt irritation as he looked down upon his new servant. There was still a strong will inside the boy but it would not matter unless he ordered the lad to do something that would counter his very nature. "What I need of you is to hunt Down five stones, Inside you is a power that will let you do so, the spell I cast should have help awaken it. The five stones are scattered around the land. If you do well you will be rewarded with riches beyond your wildest dreams. If you fail you will be punished accordingly. You will have access to everything you will need for the hunt, also send word to any family you have if you wish for them to be taken care of. You are dismissed, good hunting my new toy." The joker could not help a smile from touching his lips. Finally things would start to be moving once more. Joker had not been this excited in over 400 years.

Ace

Ace stared at the boy, the guards found him sneaking throughout the castle. He must of sneaked in while everyone was looking for Akane. Ace stood up and started to walk around the boy, "So what brings you to my castle?" There was something different about this boy, he had the same pressure that the Deca boy had but in a somewhat different way. Ace could tell this boy wasn't normal he had something special about him. She thought about just killing him right here but maybe he could come to some use. "Alright I have decided to spare your life, but you will have to give me something in return." Ace rubbed her finger across the boys face, and began to walk back to her chair.

The guards stood by the boys side with there swords ready to kill him at any moment. Ace stared straight into the boys eyes, she felt a connection with him as if he had met her in some other life time. Ace sat in her chair and crossed her legs, "In order to keep your life you will have to serve under my rule as one of my loyal soldiers, you will do anything I ask and share any information that you have, but if you do not agree or share all of the information you have I will execute you on the spot."

Ronoh glanced around uneasily. So, some men had come and roughly grabbed him. He was okay with that, it had happened before. But those times they just put him somewhere and locked a door, so he just got out one way or another. This time it was a bit different. He was stuck standing in front of a woman- he did recognize her, having seen her around the castle before- who was threatening to kill him if he didn't help her.

"What do you want, then?" He asked. He didn't want to use any powers on anyone right now to alter their minds and let him go. He would rather get out of this in a normal way. "What exactly do you want? More power? Wealth? Love? Do you want someone dead...? I can find you all of that. Some of it is easier than others." He nodded. Humans seemed to value those things a great deal. And, of course, he was obliged to offer them to her, since she was sparing his life, after all.

The sun was shining brightly in the morning sky, "Why are the kingdoms so far apart". It had been hours since Rue had left her house, she was hot and tired by the long trip. Rue was on a journey after receiving a telepathic message from the stones, that she had written down on a piece of paper. Rue was to tried to go on... she needed to rest. So Rue decided to take refuge in the shade of a huge oak tree. She laid back against the tree as she stared out at the world around her. Creatures of all kinds flied across the land, Rue smiled softly at the scenery. "I wish life could always be like this". Yet Rue knew it couldn't, and she had to get back to the mission she was given. Rue gripped her bag and rummaged through it,"Okay where is it...Nope that's my sword. Nope, that's my poison. Nope that's my message from the stones...Nope that's my...I'm so stupid". She sighs and reads over the message, Death is moving, and the Rulers are becoming aware of are existence. We aren't safe...Us or are Holders. That was all the message said, and Rue knew what it meant perfectly...Shyam. Rue let the message sit on her lap, as she closed her eyes and listened to the wind.

~~~

A get darkness surrounded the city,as fire rained from the sky. The cry of children who have lost their parents filled the air. The screams of wives who have seen their precious families destroyed by the raining fire, could be heard across the city. The ground was covered with black blood, and had a foul smell to it. Rue was suffocating, crouched on the ground, she looked up at the shadowy figure,"Bro...ther...Why? Why...Shyam"! Shyam didn't say anything, his eyes were...lifeless and dull as if no one lived inside his body...at least nothing human. A cold air surrounded him which caused Rue to shiver quietly. Rue couldn't understand what was happening...why was Shyam doing this. Rue screamed at him, trying to get his attention, get a reaction,than Rue had a realization,"...Where is he..."? Shyam glanced at Rue with no emotion on his face,"Where's Shyam! What did you do to him! What did you do to my Little Brother"! Everything was going black, and Rue's vision was failing. The last words before she passed out were soft, yet chilling,"I'm right here...Rue...No...Big Sister".

~~~

Rue's eyes cracked open, as she quickly sat up. Her breathing was stiff and heavy. Sweat was coming down her face, she clutched her shaking body tightly. Why was she remembering that at a time like this. Rue looked up and slapped herself, "No Rue there's no time for this. I have to find the stones". Rue retrieved her belongings, and continued her journey. Silently she could hear her Brother's finally words, that still haunted her to this day, they rang in her ears as if she was cursed with the memory...I'm right here...Rue...No...Big Sister.

Tobias had left the palace rather hastily after he had been given his task. One thing the Joker said rang true, something inside of Toby had been awakened. He could feel it under his skin, as if he had been using a stream, which suddenly had become a river. The power surged through his body, yearning for release. Tobias barely made it back to his current home, an old hut just on the edge of he city, before he passed out on the floor.

When he awoke the urge was gone, but the power remained. As if it were telling him that it would be here when needed. Tobias pulled a chair out and sat down, thinking about his new job. The Joker hadn’t said much, just that he needed five stones, unique stones. It would not be easy; Toby knew that if a king was searching for them, surely someone else was too. So it was a race, but Toby had an edge. He could feel a tugging at his heart, and if he focused long enough and closed his eyes he could just barely make out a shape. Like an image of someone, it was hazy but Tobias could tell it was a women. Electricity danced about her but the image faded just before Toby could see her face.

That must be what the Joker had been speaking of, some kind of awoken connection perhaps? Toby needed more info, and he knew where to find it. He quickly got dressed and made for the Stables.

Rue sighed happily,"Finally...I made it to the kingdom of Nila". She looked around the kingdom seemed...mysterious. It had a vibe around it that made it seem almost too perfect. No one seemed...sad or conflicted...it's as if this whole Kingdom hided behind a dark mask which was band from being taken off...a masquerade. Rue felt like throwing up,but knew better, she looked around for someone to help her. She needed to get to the Ruler of Nila...the Joker. From her calculations The stone of Destiny was somewhere in that castle, but she had to get inside...without reviling her cover. Rue froze when she spotted a young man, walking toward a stable. He seemed as if he was the only one not affected by the Kingdoms magic, but...something wasn't right about him. His presence reminded Rue of...Shyam. Rue laughed at this,That's impossible...Shyam couldn't be in a place like this. Unless... Rue shakes her head violently. No. No. No. I have to get back to my mission. Shyam isn't here...he isn't She looked at the young man,"Maybe he knows where the Nila Castle is"? She walked up to him smiling kindly,"Excuse me young man, do you possible know where the Nila Castle is located"?

Deca hands were folded behind his head in a relaxed position, his right leg shifting inward and pointing up to the sky while his other leg laid flat as he slept calmly. BZZZTTT!! Static was all that he could see within what he assumed was his dreamscape. Unlike regular humans, Dragons created by the stones(or possibly just himself) do not have the ability to 'dream' per say. He was never really curious as to why this was the case. Not until recently. The only thing he could see was static of some sort. No vivid images of his non-existing past. No memories of recent events reoccurring in his mind. Nothing of the sort was present. After about 30 minutes, he heard a faint shouting sound coming from below his location. In his mind, he wanted to move. Unfortunately, his body had different plans. It didn't budge. Not one bit. Without realizing it, he slowly found himself drifting into a strange place within his subconscious. Could it be...? Could he be on the verge of having a 'dream'?

Flames. All he could see were translucent blue flames that surrounded him, rising up from the darkness. Deca stood up, took one step forward, then stopped. "Where am I?" The draconian boy's voice echoed throughout the landscape, continuing to do so long after he took his mind off of it. Suddenly, an arm of which the body it belonged to was unseen outstretched itself from the midst of the bright blue flames. "Come with me now." No words could be heard. For some reason, Deca knew what message the mysterious entity was attempting to convey. Deca hesitated at first, then slowly reached out towards the hand. Just when it seemed like the two hands would make contact, a the scenery seemed to slide itself into the distance. "Hey, get up." Another, greatly familiar voice spoke from out of the darkness surrounding him. Suddenly, static was the only thing he could see as the darkness flooded over him. Deca gasped slightly as his consciousness returned to the plane of reality, his eyes opened wide before he settled down.

A face. A very -familiar- face loomed in close proximity of his own. Deca merely blinked, no direct emotion present on his face. A fraction of a second after he realized this, she flinched. After taking a few moments to recollect his thoughts and center them on the present, he spoke as if what had happened wasn't awkward in the slightest."Oh. Good morning, Akane. He said softly, the rays of Yalena's graceful sun shined down upon the two of them. The weather felt very nice. He slightly stretched his limbs, sitting up but not yet standing while he waited for Akane to settle down.

"Excuse me young man, do you possible know where the Nila Castle is located"?

Tobias stopped when he heard a female voice calling out. With a quiet sigh he turned,and his eyes fell upon a deathly pale women. His first thought was to ignore her but, something about her made him reconsider. He could feel some kind of energy radiating from her, a strong energy that rivaled...and possibly surpassed his own. What Tobias was most fascinated by however, were her eyes. They were dark red, the color of freshly poured wine and though she looked no more than twenty, her eyes seemed ancient. As if they had watched a world pass by. Needless to say, he let her approach him.


"Nila palace? What business might you have there, you don't look like royalty." He wondered who she was, and why she, or anyone for that matter would want to visit the palace.

Elvis

Weapons. Right.

"Actually, I'm a bit of a pacifist," he said with a lazy grin, but he pulled out a small hammer, "Still, wouldn't quite be the prince without something." The hammer might seem unimpressive, but when filled with air, it packed quite a punch.

"So, where are we headed?" he asked, following her, "We'd have to leave the kingdom. Everyone here knows who I am."

The Queen

Well, that was annoying.

Comforting, though, that he ran away with a girl and not a boy. She had been afraid he was gay for quite a while.

Still, it was inconvenient. With his birthday only days away! No, the people would have to think he'd been captured, not run away. They'd come to their own conclusions--she couldn't exactly help that--but for the naive, he had to have been kidnapped. Besides, it might give her an excuse to attack one of the other kingdoms.

But the stone...

Wait a minute...

The Queen had thought Kumori had left, yet here she was, not even an hour later. And she saw her son leave...had she been sticking around the castle? She did keep asking about taking care of Elvis...and now he conveniently runs away. Or perhaps was chased away...

But even so, the Queen had raised her son! He couldn't be hiding anything, at least not physically, could he...

The eyepatch.

"My son is the holder, isn't he?" she asked quietly.

Cordelia etc etc

Wow, so many questions! And these clothes...not exactly her style...but whatever. She could fix them up later.

Slipping off the jacket, she answered his questions as she donned the clothes.

"I'm not exactly sure where I'm from, but probably the sea. I know about the stones because I was created for the sole purpose of protecting them. Wonderful, right? I know you're in danger because the sea told me, and what do you mean what do I mean when I say dragon? Boy, what a tongue twister! But seriously." She narrowed her eyes at him, "What did you think I meant?"

AyumiHuman Form

Ayumi was a bit impressed by the hammer, but personally she liked things with sharp edges. No one knew she was up here so getting out would be easy, bit everyone knew the prince was here which was going to be a problem. Looking out the window there was a guard close by. She cursed under her breath and looked at Elvis. "My house isn't in the kingdom." She said. She didn't know where they needed to go, but leaving the kingdom is a start and lucky for her she lived pretty far from the kingdom. She walked towards the window and took her first step out. "Meet you at the bottom."

Jumping down she landed softly behind the guard. The guard was a bit confused, but didn't bother to look for her. She quickly touched his ears and eyes making him temporarily blind and deaf. The guard freaked out and Ayumi made it seem like he fell asleep by slipping him into an illusion. She looked back up at the window where Elvis was. "Hurry up. This won't last for long." She called to him.

The girl had fallen for the trick just as Amarth had predicted but what he had had not anticipated was Tonima's recovery, it was as graceful as any ballerina and made his jaw drop at the sight of it. He knew she was going to be difficult, merely because of the fact that she was a dragon, but he had not thought that she would recover so quickly when off guard. "That was a dirty trick you know. But two can play at that game." She smirked, both feet planted squarely on the floor as if in defiance of what had previously happened, this caused some discomfort for Carth since all his years of training now meant nothing in this spar due to the girl's natural abilities. What he saw next made his heart drop. She had covered herself entirely in diamond, her body shone brilliantly in the now fading sun and held a mesmerising effect as the light danced off and around her body, retraction bending it into beautiful displays.

Before he could snap out of it's effect the girl was on top of him who swung her axe towards his shoulder and it was all he could do was raise his blade and hope for the best. The blow connected with his sword and only with all of his strength was he able to cling on although it caused his arm to fling itself at an awkward angle, the pain caused by the movement was nothing compared to the excruciating pain that originated from the stone in his hand and he was sure he heard a pain filled moan come from it as he dropped to his knees, gritting his teeth while his eyes filled with tears. His arm had become dead with pain and it hung limply, his hand still clutching the sword as if it was a clamp; he did not want to lose but he had now lost his primary offence but after a few desperate moments of thought he placed his free hand onto the ground palm open his three fingers spread as wide as they could go and focused his energy into the earth.

He saw in his mind three spiked pillars erupting from the ground aimed at Tonima and through his will the thought became a reality.

Tonima

Toni watched Carth carefully, her planned seemed to be working. he looked panicked and that’s exactly how she wanted him to be. Within seconds, their weapons bashed against each others making a long ringing sound fill the air. Carth’s blade was no longer useful to him. Guilt flashed across her eyes as she watched him. He was in pain, you could already tell by looking at him. Toni was supposed to keep him away from any major harm, not give it to him. Carth put his hand out in front of him getting a grip on the ground. ”Probably to stand up.” Toni thought and with that the diamond slowly started to disintegrate to the point where her skin was showable.

The next thing was what shocked her the most. She wasn't in any major pain but she was definitely injured. Wide eyed she looked at the pillar which was lodged in her shin. It was bleeding out and it looked gruesome if someone were to come and see her. Okay maybe she lied a little bit. It hurt like hell. With all the strength she could muster, she grabbed the pillar and yanked it out, a yelp escaping her voice. Toni fell to the floor her arse landing on the ground. She examined the injury but didn't really do anything about it. It would heal quickly. Toni found out one thing today though.

“Well, now I know my weakness.” It was a faint whisper but was still audible.

She lied.
"Sorry to say my lady, but he's not." She shook her head, and pointed her finger towards the door behind her. "I will promise you that the holder is in this Kingdom somewhere..but isn't your son more important then the stone?" She raised her eyebrow hoping the queen would once again change her mind and change her task to bring her son back home safe and sound. Kumori had a smirk on her face, waiting for the Queen's next decision. She thought to herself "I hope she makes the right choice." Rolling her eyes.

Elvis

Well, that was interesting.

At Ayumi's urging, he jumped down, cushioning his fall with a well-placed gust of wind. He landed lightly, almost floating down. Reaching the bottom, he smirked slightly, but not very much.

"Ladies first" he said, following after her.

The Queen

The beautiful woman narrowed her eyes, not entirely convinced. She was a good liar herself, and could spot others like her fairly well. But she knew this person was powerful, and she didn't want her to walk out on her.

Then again, if she just let her go looking for Elvis and it turned out he was holding the stone, this girl could just finish him off herself and pretend he had died through other means.

"Fine. Bring back my son. But make sure he is alive, or you will pay dearly," the Queen ordered, eyes glinting.

AyumiDragon

Ayumi gave a quick look around and made sure was no one around to see her transform. "We need to fly. Hold on." Abmornally faster than she usually would she transformed. It still took a while and it took most of her mental capacity to remember her human form still has clothes on. After a few seconds she was her purple dragon. Keeping quiet she nudged to her back and for Elvis to hop on. This was the fastest way out without being detected and by the look on the guard's face it was their only hope.