---

---

The ice castle was a giant monolith of sparkling snow. At the peak of the mountain top in Truell, it was the one and only sole structure there. Truell, the long mountain range, was a treacherous place with only the most rugged and hardened people living in its wilderness. Truell's king was no exception. He was as cold as the ice that he surrounded himself in. Sakura could tell with one look that this man was not one to be trifled with. The king had cold black eyes, a goatee that was just a pitch black as his hair. He wasn't a small man either, fit for one his age.

"Here for a 'cure', you say?" the man asked, his voice husky and soft, but powerful all at the same time.

Sakura nodded as she glanced over to Raze. She was still trying to recover from the shock of being told that once they were back in Iverien, she was to stay there. The pain in her chest flared and she winced a bit, but managed to stay standing. She'd passed out the day before, but only for a short while. Sakura wasn't sure how that affected Raze and Shyc, though Shyc had looked rather worried. Raze, on the other hand, was hard to read again. It was like a switch had been thrown and he was no longer open to anyone.

Not that she could really blame him though, after all it was her mother that had killed everyone in the group. Shyc was only spared because he'd remained in the camp, and Raze was just barely spared his life only because Sakura had begged her to stop, shielding Raze herself. It didn't really matter though because the others had been killed. She wrung her wrists as she stood there, her eyes dropping to the floor. As painful as it was to know that he wasn't going to be allowing her to stay with him, Sakura knew why.

Why would he allow the one whose mother killed his only family to remain by his side? It was ludicrous to think he would. So, Sakura resigned herself to that simple fact. Besides, maybe things would be better for her. With the disease cured, she wouldn't have to be locked up in that room anymore.

"Well, if its for Iverien, then there really is only one thing I can do," he said slowly as he eyed her carefully, "I'm sure you're not feeling well right now. I do believe I have what it is your mother is asking for. It will take some time to find, but for now, my servants will show you to your rooms. Rest, princess," the King stood slowly and waved his hand out to the attendants in the throne room.

"Thank you, my Lord," she answered with a slight bow of her head. Turning she followed the servants who showed them to the two rooms they would be using. One for Raze and Shyc, the other for herself and Fotia.

"I will summon you later, Princess Sakura."

Sakura turned and looked over her shoulder to the King, stopping for just a moment to slowly nod her head, "A-alright..." her voice sounded so small in the large room of ice, whereas his boomed without much effort, or so it seemed.

Sakura followed after the servants with Fotia, the two men led off to a different part of the castle. Sakura turned to watch them go. She almost called out for Raze, but she decided not to and turned away to follow after Fotia. The room they were brought to was rather large, two beds in it with a large closet on one side and a balcony that gave the view of the snowy mountain tops. It was snowing outside rather hard, though it tended to snow for a while and then suddenly stop, however the cold never ceased.

Even though her thoughts were mostly about Raze, Sakura was still in awe at the castle. It was almost completely made up entirely of ice and yet it wasn't freezing inside. It had to have been some kind of magic that made it like that. Once the servant left, Sakura laid out upon the bed, burying herself in the white sheets that were surprisingly warm.

~~

Sakura wasn't sure when it was that she'd fallen asleep on the bed, but when she woke, it was to a hand on her shoulder, shaking her gently, "my Lady..."

It was one of the servants. Sakura slowly pulled herself up and looked to the young woman who was speaking to her, "Yes?"

"His Highness has called for you," she said simply, "I will take you to him."

Sakura nodded and got off the bed to follow after the woman. She was sure Fotia came with, after all the woman had been ordered to protect her during this little trip. Still, Sakura didn't pay any attention. She just wanted this over with as soon as possible... Or maybe she didn't really. After all, to finish this trip meant that she would have to leave. Her lips pulled into a frown. Maybe she would just leave on her own without saying anything to Raze or Shyc. Staying with her mother left a bitter taste in her mouth, especially after what she'd seen the vile woman do.

No amount of apologizing to Raze was going to do any good either, no matter how many times she'd said it -and she'd said it quite a few times-. It wasn't going to change anything.

Lost in her thoughts, Sakura soon found herself led into a very large room with a glass like dome over head and several strange instruments hovering in the air. The moonlight was being reflected off of a pool of water right before her, the steam in the room speaking of the waters warmth. The King was standing at the waters edge, his eyes upward at the ceiling as he watched the moonlight. When the doors closed behind them, he turned to face Sakura.

"There you are. Are you ready? I'll heal you of your disease," he said as he offered his hand to her, a small smile on his lips.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, watching him carefully. Her eyes went to the water and the instruments overhead. They looked like little glass circles suspended in golden wire. They were all stacked, one above the next. The largest circle of glass was at the top and it slowly grew smaller until it was no bigger than her two fingers put together in width. The last few of the glass pieces weren't stacked with the rest of them though.

Slowly, she reached out and took his hand. He led her down into the water. Sakura followed, it was warm and it smelled strangely. The scent was almost too relaxing as she lowered herself down into the water with him. The King led her out into the middle of the large pool. Turning to her, he pulled her closer to him. Not roughly, but firm enough so that she couldn't go any other direction. One hand wrapped around her hip and turned her just enough so that she was sideways in his hold.

Sakura was dazed, every limb was loose like she'd lost all strength to do anything. He slowly knelt down with her in the water, her eyes staring up into the moonlight that shone down on her. Shifting just a bit as the water came up to lap at the back of her head, she noted his smile had changed. He looked sinister, scary even and if she wasn't so weak and dizzy, she probably would have started struggling then. Her heart beat was slow in her chest, her breathing shallow as she lay there in his hold.

One arm was floating loosely in the water, the other pinned against his stomach. His words were soft, cold and his cruel gaze only accentuated his speech.

"Now then, my dear. Let's awaken that power of yours..."

She couldn't do anything, helpless to the strong scent from the warm water. Sakura found herself gazing up at the moonlight in a drugged sort of fascination. Power? What is he talking about...

The gears overhead started turning and the glass pieces that weren't stacked under the others moved so that they were. The moonlight that had been bright in her eyes was slowly directed into a small, concentrated stream of silver light. It hit her dead center in her chest. There was a slight stir there, and then she let out a loud gasp as her small frame arched in the water and the silver light rippled all across her, sending the water in violent waves from her as the epicenter.

It hurt... There was so much energy that suddenly burned through her. Sakura let out a scream and the power violently tore at her, throwing the water all around in giant sprays away from her and the King that held her. The silver glow surrounded her, almost like a milky film that writhed like flames across her body. She screamed again, but this time she was shouting a name instead.

"Raze!!"

---

---

Another day, another loss.

To say Razeluxe had never experienced the death of his comrades would be insane. You don't spend nearly three centuries doing nothing but fighting and not witness the cold reality that is death. Death is everywhere, after all. We face it many times in our miserable lives, both while fighting and naught. Regardless of how insignificant it may seem, the bugs and plants we squish under our feet daily result in death. Death is absolute as it is unbias. Kings, Queens, merchants, warriors, killers, slaves, and villagers will all perish one day and there is nothing they can attempt that will halt death's course. At best, we may delay such an inevitable course of life, if only for a few measly years or months. At best, we can look up towards the sky and beg the gods above for their blessing. At best, all we can do is hope.

The half-elf ex-leader of a great band of mercenaries was well aware of all this. He had long ago accepted that death would follow him and he'd walk right alongside it. In fact, it was one of the few things he was absolute sure of. But even so... he still wasn't able to accept the deaths of his comrades. Bearing witness personally to the deaths of his men, he did not feel indifferent as he typically did, but the sharp pang of sorrow, and even more, the thick taste of anger coating his tongue in the form of blood that came from clenching his teeth right down on it. The last time he felt like this was back when he'd first found a soldier he'd befriended back in his first war. Yes, back when he was a 'cub' of sorts. There was no excuse now, but that wasn't likely going to stop him from wanting, no, needing nothing more than to shove a blade through that 'Queen's' heart and watching her eyes lose what little undeserved life they had left.

He wanted revenge.

So, he would plot. He knew it suicide and a waste of Sakura's tears if he'd just charged at her back then. He'd be dead before he knew it. Speaking of Sakura... What of her? He couldn't comprehend what he wanted to feel about her. She was her mother's daughter, after all. She had that same blood running through her that had put an end to his men's lives for no truly justifiable reason. They weren't allowed a death in combat as any mercenary deserves, but simply executed without a chance to defend themselves, and for something they hadn't done. And this girl was related. Sure, she saved him, but the last person Razeluxe cared about was himself. At that same time though, he also noticed she was increasingly worried about him. He was sure he feelings were genuine, but he couldn't help keep his distance until he could figure himself out.

Raze was only just able to keep up with the common courtesies you were required to have when dealing with royalty. It was not really hard to guess why that was. He'd decided to revert back to his normal, more secure way of interacting by simply just listening to orders for now and not talking more than he needed to. It kept him out of trouble and kept him alive. Kings and Queens with their borrowed power were often eager to use it at the first sign of disrespect, so it'd save him the trouble of ironically being executed by another royal before dealing with the first.

Under normal circumstances, he might've enjoyed the luxurious place he found himself in. That particularly fancy jar over there likely cost more money than he'd even laid his eyes on, and he could definitely admire the various other, expensive-looking aesthetics as well, were he in the mood to do so. But then again, all this ice did turn him off. He was much more comfortable in a forest, not a frozen wasteland. The area was still surprisingly warm though.

Eventually, Razeluxe and Shyc were forced to depart with Fotia and Sakura and were led to their own rooms. His use of a hammock and a tent caused him to feel a bit odd when he first entered the room. It was a bit too spacious for his taste. Without really saying anything to Shyc, he simple entered the room and decided to go to sleep for the night. They did have to make the trek back to that... Queen.

.......
....
..

"Raze!!"

Slowly, Dane's eyes forced themselves open as he reacted to the voice. Was he having a dream about someone? As he sat upright on the bed, he could feel the sluggishness in his limbs. He was out like a light as soon as he hit that bed, it was so comfortable. Razeluxe, being unused to that kind of luxurious bed, was affected about twofold by it. If only he wasn't someone to move to and from places so quickly, then he'd probably try to get on of those for himself...

Oh wait. There was something odd going on.

It wasn't easy to tell if he was just simply dreaming that yell, or if it was actually occurring as he yawned. Despite his better judgement, this odd feeling tearing at his chest forced him to wake up entirely so that he could go investigate. He figured if he got caught lurking around the old 'was looking for the bathroom trick' would suffice. Likely. Probably. Hopefully. It was always possible this was just his dream and his efforts would be wasted. He might also think it possible -- if he had a dirty enough mind -- that, unable to restrain herself, Sakura lost herself to her passion and had indulged herself in some very naughty activities with herself. Obviously that was preferred not something that ran through his mind.

Anyway, the elf decided to get his ass into gear and quietly exited his room, only to find the place was still quite friggin' huge. It seems this is what he gets for being depressed and not paying attention to the layout when he first got there. Well, he would attempt not to do that again.

......
...
..

If Sakura were paying him to rescue her in a timely matter, well, Raze might've either been cut in his pay or fired on spot. It took him more than a few moments to both make it to the room she transferred to and do so stealthily, as to not wake anybody or be discovered by any night-shift guards. He pushed open the doors which, unfortunately, made quite the screech as they had begun to grind against he floor. Fancy in appearance only. This, of course, prevented Razeluxe from stealthily seeing what lay inside the room, so he simply entered, his bathroom excuse still at the ready, except that as soon as he looked inside and saw the princess sporting a golden glow, the room being covered in water, and a very antagonistic-y looking King, he knew something bad was happening here. The glass objects hanging over their heads did not interest him as much as the figure in the man's hands. They'd been attacked by king's men before, so was this also another threat? Not that he should really care about Sakura considering what her mother did. Yet... something more important than grudges had to be going on if people really wanted her. it couldn't be for the simple fact they wanted a hostage, there was more to it.

"What are you doing with the Princess?" he nearly barked at the King holding her. It was fairly obvious that even without a sword, Razeluxe was ready to kick some ass if he said something that wasn't to his liking. He didn't give a fuck about royalty scrub.

Hopefully he could do so before the guards would arrive.

---

---

The elemental found little amusement in their progression into the icy kingdom of Truell. She cared little for it, in fact. She could already feel her flames sizzling and rebelling against the winds and snow around her . She didn't like cold, as a rule. She was a being that thrived off of heat--she was fire, after all. So to be put in an environment that was her exact and total opposite... she hoped this wouldn't take long. Her orders, at least as far as the first set of orders she was given, was to make sure Sakura arrived in Truell. And then... return the princess back to the kingdom. The woman couldn't help but let a sigh escape her lips. She didn't have a lot of patience to work with anyway, so to compound it with this disgusting kingdom... it was certainly fading fast.

They were greeted by a few of the soldiers stationed around the palace, the men soon sectioning off the group by gender. This was yet another thing that baffled her. When she had entered into the material plane, she had conformed her shape to the first image that she saw. It was later she had learned this was what "females" looked like. But elementals were genderless, so she had yet to really comprehend this "gender segregation" and the differences between males and females. On the outside, it seemed simple. Females had two lumps on their chest. But apparently it was more complex than that, at least that's what had been indicated to her.

Fotiá was ushered into the room along with the princess, finding the bed comfortingly warm. This came as something of a relief to her, as she had been starting to wonder if even the furniture was as frozen as the landscape. Fortunately, that assumption had been very very wrong. She pawed at it, pushing them back and diving right in, reveling in the warmth. She eyed the princess, who was more casually aligning herself under the covers. She huddled in her cocoon of blankets, shifting her attention out the window. It was the end of a rather treacherous day. Raze hadn't been talking to anyone, then again, the man hadn't spoken much at all since she had met him. She had to wonder if he had always been that silent... Though she had caught the whispers, of his band of mercenaries being murdered in the throne room. That probably was enough to silence anyone. She closed her eyes, deciding it would be best to empty her mind. It was time to mediate anyway. Soon the morning would come, and then...

-----

--

The covers rustled across from her and the elemental opened one of her sapphire orbs, catching sight of the hem of the princess' dress. Hm, where was Sakura going at this hour? It couldn't be for a drink, there was a pitcher of water right between their beds. She went to remove the covers from around her and immediately winced, wrapping them tighter around her body. The warmer she was, the better she'd feel. With a sigh, she shuffled out of her bed, pushing the door open. Whatever was that girl up to? And why was it at such an odd time of night? Still, night was a wonderful time. She'd be able to light herself aflame if she needed to. But she was trying to be discreet for the moment, best not to do so now.

She walked hesitantly down the long, winding halls, coming to a large, ornately decorated door. There were muffled voices from the other side and she went to peek inside, when her shoulder was grabbed by someone. She was whirled around, coming face to face with a guard. He looked her up and down, as if deciding whether or not he should comment on the blankets. Deciding not to, he gave her a firm look, glaring at her.

"Step away from the doors, you're not supposed to be here!" His tone was sharp as he shoved her out of the way. The elemental didn't take kindly to this at all and narrowed her eyes at him. Yells came from the other side of the door and she witnessed several more guards... no, that had to be at least a dozen approaching the area. They were all wielding weapons. She took a step back, pausing to evaluate her odds. Evidently, her slipping closer into the shadows was enough to warrant the guards not paying attention to her. Then again, they probably didn't recognize her all the way--she was completely covered from head to toe.

She had to find a way in there, whatever was happening, it didn't sound good. And she was sure that the yell she had heard belonged to Sakura. Backing away, she decided to dart towards the window at the end of the hallway. Maybe she could fly around to the side, there had to be a window or another way inside those chambers. This palace was huge on windows. As she approached the wall, she heard a crash and she froze, eyes snapping towards the noise. She saw pink hair flowing in the wind, a woman hanging upside down on the ceiling. There was an awkward pause, as the woman came to notice the elemental, neither daring to move now that they had each been noticed.They stared at each other, as if not quite sure what to say or how to go about it.

"You're not with the castle guard, are you?" The other girl asked, almost too casually as she began to draw out a blow dart. Fotiá raised her eyebrows and shook her head.

"No, I am with Raze..." The woman's eyes widened and a wicked type of grin crossed her features. Just as quickly, the blow dart was stowed away in the folds of her cloak. She nodded, as if satisfied by this answer before winking at the confused elemental.

"That's just grand. Where is that old bugger? He still owes me some money, if I remember..." Fotiá didn't like it when strangers talked to her as if they knew her. It made her highly uncomfortable. Before she could inform the odd woman of this, there was another scream from the other side of the doors--this one she definitely recognized. It belonged to the mercenary leader. The guards were pounding on the doors at this point, she could hear the thuds. The woman paused, as if pondering before a sort of devious smile came on her face.

"Introductions are going to have to wait, I'm afraid. Sounds like something's fun happening, problem is, that's messing with my heist. Tell you what, you seem like a smart type. Keep those guards distracted, will you? It'll keep what I'm doing more hush-hush." First this woman acted as if she knew Raze, then she was willing to ditch him for some extra profit? The elemental didn't know what to make out of this situation but she wasn't given much of a choice. The pink-haired ceiling walker re-positioned herself and worked her way around the upper-edge of the balcony. Fotiá didn't have too much room to bother asking what was going on, this mysterious intruder would have to wait. Besides, the woman didn't seem hostile, just somewhat inconsiderate.

The elemental didn't want to dedicate too much energy to it. She jumped on top of the platform, shedding the covers around her ankles. With a deep breath, she assumed her true form, letting the flames over-take her. From the shouts she heard over her shoulder, she had definitely attracted some attention. Well, unfortunately for them, she wasn't constricted by her feet alone. She jumped out the window, hovering a few meters away before flying around, looking for another way into the room. She hoped she arrived in time, whatever was happening to the princess was not making her happy. Not in the slightest. She had to return Sakura unharmed, and damned be anyone that got in her way.

The double doors were pushed open and someone came in. Sakura couldn't focus though as she lay there, writhing in his arms from the intense amount of power that rushed across her body. The water was being thrown all around the room in violent waves from the magic that coursed through her. She was trying desperately to control it, to get a hold of whatever it was, but it was very difficult to do so.

Her voice was becoming hoarse as she screamed over and over, gasping in deep gulps of air to try to breath past the pain. It wasn't until she heard a certain voice that she tried to focus on him, to use him as her point of concentration to pull in the raging storm that was running rampant around the room. The power seemed to start to settle and she slowly ceased her screaming.

"What are you doing with the Princess?"

Sakura turned her head just a bit to see Raze standing there looking like he was going to pounce at any moment. She gasped for air, panting heavily as she lay there. The water began to settle as her magic stopped violently tearing apart the depths of the pool. Dizziness filled her and she closed her eyes, reopening them slowly to try to focus on Raze once more.

"Raze..." her voice was soft, but the room carried it anyway.

"You should not have brought her here," the King said, lifting his eyes to gaze at Razeluxe. He gave a wicked grin as he stared at the half-elf. Slowly the King stood up from his kneeling position in the water, dragging Sakura with him. Her body bent backwards, draping over his arm as he lifted her up out of the water with him. He still stood in the center of the warm water that was settling around the two of them.

"Funny to have called it a disease. Almost every kingdom wants her. And now that I have her, I won't be giving her up so easily," he turned his gaze to look down at her and Sakura tried to move, to get free of him. Her hand came up to grip his that was under her back and tried to pry his fingers from her side. She felt so weak though, tired and her limbs heavy like lead. At the same time, there was so much energy pulsing through her that it was making her sick and dizzy.

When she couldn't claw his fingers from her side, she turned her head just a bit and stretched out her hand to Raze. She knew that she really didn't deserve for him to come help her. He could easily leave her there in penance for everything her mother had done to him. She felt hot tears fill her eyes as she struggled to pull herself up from the King's grip. Her arm dropped to once again to try to free herself. The doors opened again and this time Shyc barged in, the end of his blades colored crimson.

"Raze!" then his gaze settled on Sakura and the King and he took in a sharp gasp. His hands tightened around his two swords and he made to come forward to help her, "Let her go!" he shouted but stopped immediately at the edge of the water line.

The King had drawn a dagger from his hip and pressed the tip of it against Sakura's chest, the sharpened blade cutting the strings of her peasants shirt. The cloth fell open, the corset that was over the white shirt was the only thing holding it together at the front. The King pulled Sakura up against him, the dagger making a small scratch and drawing a bit of blood that trickled down into the white shirt and beneath the corset.

"Careful now, wouldn't want a slip of the hand, now would we. You see, I have a very keen set of ideals. She either remains with me as my tool of destruction -amongst other things- or I kill her and no one has her. How do you wish for this to happen?"

Shyc took a small step backwards, coming to stand next to Raze again, his teeth grinding as he narrowed his gaze at the King. The King smiled as he loosened his grip on Sakura just a bit, "I thought as much. Well, my dear. Let us get started, shall we?" he turned to Sakura, a grin on his lips. Twisting her around roughly, he grabbed her chin and kissed her. Sakura shoved against his chest, trying to push away from him. He finally released her and then dropped her beneath the water, holding her there for a while. Sakura thrashed, the water flinging everywhere. It began to glow to as her magic started to flow out of her control.

There was a soft roar in the room, and the water rumbled around her. The room shifted slightly and from the center of the water, an egg shaped cage lifted up out of the pool with the Princess inside of it, still writhing as the cage was filled with the warm water. It was glowing a bright silvery gold color as her magic twisted around, pulsing out from her and hitting the glass edges of the entrapment.

"Now then, where were we?" the King grinned from where he stood in the middle of the water and the double doors behind them burst open with a group of armed guards.

---

---

Fotiá had flown around the room a few times, it was rather large from the outside and finding a window had been a bit difficult. She squinted. Oft were the times that she disliked the vague amount of light the moon projected, it made it difficult to see. She circled the roof one more time, diving down several meters as she spotted an odd, paneled shape on the side of the wall. Gliding closer, she finally perceived what she had been looking for and pushed her face against the glass to see inside.

She couldn't fully perceive what was happening in the room. She could barely make out Sakura's figure and there appeared to be an array of guards in the room that were starting to swarm around Shyc and Raze. Well, she might not have comprehended the full situation, but she did recognize the king without any assistance. And his presence alone was enough to set her over the edge. She knew he wasn't to be trusted, this whole thing was a ridiculous endeavor. And the more she thought about it, the more infuriated she became. Why did they believe there would be a cure in the first place? All of these royals were greedy, power-hungry bastards---she was sure she had heard it described that way at some point.

Still, the elemental had been on edge for the entirety of the journey. She had never gotten the opportunity to vent on her frustrations, and now, all of that was culminating in a wanton desire for fiery destruction. Closing her glowing, turquoise orbs, she allowed the flame to grow inside of her. Her whole entire frame began to shake with energy as it was built up inside of her and as she opened her eyes, that energy was released in a whiplash. It clattered against the windows and the flame burst through the glass, shattering it to pieces that clamored against the wall.

Charged, Fotiá flew through the gap that she created, launching herself at one of the guards. She saw the water on the floors as she rushed towards him, making note not to touch the liquid under any circumstances. She hated water, which only fueled her rage even farther. As soon as she laid her hands on the guard, there was a loud, sizzling noise that came from her palms as she melted through the metal of his armor. He screamed as her hands touched against his chest, literally melting through his skin to his lungs, which she crushed in a tight fist.

He slumped over as she released him from her grip, yelling as she jumped off him, gliding at another one of the men. By this point, they had rallied effectively, one of them fending off her kick with a swipe of his halberd. The metal swiped at her flesh, leaving an open, pulsing, and oozing wound that appeared to be made of magma. Using this as ammunition, she siphoned off the top layer of magma-blood with her fingers, launching it at his face. He screamed as it was flung into his skin, melting his eyes within their sockets and sinking into his skull, which capsized in on itself.

Two of the guards ganged up on her, one of them swung his broadsword at her shoulder. She caught it in her hand, causing more magma to swell up and burn through the metal. But the other soldier was able to get a clear shot at her shoulder, shooting at arrow that pierced into her skin. She winced a bit in pain but when it touched it, it was transformed into ash, the soldiers both gaping at her.

"How are we supposed to harm this thing?!" They panicked, trying to launch a counter-attack. Fotiá flew a few meters away, drawing forth a large orb of flame and throwing it towards the men. They screamed, scattering, as the orb crashed against the wall and knocked down the door as well as a large chunk of the bricks.

The King stood in the center of the water, a grin pulling at his lips as he watched his men move into the room and surround the two mercenaries. The egg that held the Princess was beginning to glow brightly as the water swirled with the golden light of her magic and the glow sunk down the stem that held the glass cage up, into the water below. It was a siphon of sorts, the water dragging at the power and bringing it somewhere else. Folding his arms over his chest, he lifted his head up a bit.

"This was over before it even began," he uttered softly, the room carrying his voice even though he hadn't spoken very loudly.

Shyc glowered at the King from over his shoulder as he had turned to face the oncoming guards that had burst from the door behind him. His hands tightened around his weapons as he looked between them all. With a glance over to Raze, he noted that the halfling didn't have his sword. Shyc thrust out his weapon towards his leader, "Raze, take it," he ordered and once Raze did, he left the half-elf to engage in the first guard that had got to close to him. His sword danced with the guards, batting it aside and flourishing forward to land several cuts along the guard's opened area's that weren't covered in metal.

Then there was a loud explosion over head and Shyc ducked on instinct. Looking around he spotted a strange event. It took him a moment to realize who it was that came flying through that window, burning flames exploding from her hands and destroying several of the guards in mere seconds. For a moment, Shyc was in shock, but then he grinned. Turning to the next opponent, he lunged forward, taking advantage of their confusion with Fotiá's entrance.

The room was starting to grow hotter, and the water around them began to sizzle and dissipate into steam. The King ground his teeth at this new development, but didn't leave his spot in the water. As he watched, his wicked grin returned. Should the elemental woman that was flinging fire around step into the water, she would be done for and all of her power would be taken from her. In fact, anyone with magic would lose their energy upon dropping into the water. He glanced up to the egg where the Princess was still thrashing. Her struggles were growing weaker though, her fingers curling along her throat and bubbles of air slowly leaving her mouth.

He wouldn't let her die, of course, he needed her for the power she wielded. On the other hand, he was sure that her magic wouldn't allow her to perish so easily. Any normal human would have drowned by then, but she was holding on still and her power was curling around her despite the fact that a large amount of it was being siphoned from her. The King reached out and touched the stem that was holding her up in the egg shaped, glass cage, "With this, I'll be able to wipe out every Kingdom on the map. What beautiful destruction."

She was pleased to see that Shyc had made it alright through the antics and was holding his own fairly well (of course) against the onslaught of enemies. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see more guards sifting through the hallways to greet them. As powerful as they were, they'd be outnumbered before long if they waited around long enough. Turning midair, she looked over towards the king, getting a better look at Sakura's predicament. The princess was in some type of... bubble? It was made of water. This kept getting better and better, didn't it?

Growling slightly, she tried to find a way around to the king. If she could just halt his progress, whatever was happening to Sakura might cease. She flew towards him, careful to skirt around the water and went to grapple him, aiming to cut off his wind supply. Choke-holding and some third degree burns would be just what this man needed.

The King spotted movement from the corner of his eye and he turned to see the elemental woman charging at him, rushing at him quickly as she skirted just above the water. His teeth ground together as she crashed into him, hands wrapping around his throat and an agonizing burn tearing through his skin. Wincing, he reached up and grabbed her hands, the burns tearing through his neck and fingers now. The King took one step backwards, tightened his grip on her and promptly dropped into the water with his hands till holding her. He attempted to roll in the water, to put her beneath him and pry her fingers from his neck.

Fotiá's world spun as she was brought under water and her whole entire body pulsated with rebellion against the feeling. Her body itself was still burning but she could feel the liquid leaking in through her pores, trying to stifle her flames. And worst yet, she felt like her strength was being taken from her. To her horror, she witnessed energy flowing out of her body, swirling around them the longer she was submerged. She couldn't breathe, she could barely hang on to the king as it was. No, she wasn't going down like this, she couldn't just die here. That would be stupid.

She was beginning to black out a little, the pain was intense. She scrunched her eyes shut, summoning the energy that remained within herself and forced her body to vibrate with heat energy. It complied, somewhat unwillingly, as she began to raise her body temperature, the water around them boiling in instants and beginning to evaporate. She pushed herself even more--she just had to get rid of the water around them.

The King ground his teeth and pulled himself up away from her, his hands still trying to hold her under the water even though she was latched to his neck. His face hovered over the waters surface and he took a deep breath. Her squeezing had lessened considerably, but the burning remained as her body began to heat up. The water heated as well, beginning to boil and the King let out a shout of pain and anger. Steam rose up from the water as it began to evaporate and filled the room. The energy that was encased in the water flooded into the steam.

In this form, the energy from both the elemental and the Princess twisted together, loose and volatile. The heavy steam continued to fill the room and the energy began to crackle loudly. The water boiled rapidly and beneath him the elemental was slowly beginning to come out of the water as she destroyed it with her intense heat. The King was sure that if she was allowed, she would have evaporated the entire pool of water. The crackle of energy grew loud and the King released her as he looked around in shock. He started to move from her, tearing at her hands to release her hold.

There was a resounding boom as the steam suddenly cracked like thunder and the entire room shook with the force of it. The energy that was released exploded violently, the steam rushing upward and destroying the instruments, sending glass flying everywhere. The King was knocked down into what was left of the pool. The egg over them shattered, sending glass and water spraying in all directions and the Princess dropped onto the bottom of the cage that had held her, still and unmoving.

The guards were sent flying from the force. Shyc too was tossed from his feet, and slid across the floor until he was stopped by the wall near the destroyed door that Fotiá had unleashed her wrath upon. He shook his head a bit and pulled himself up to look around. Shyc spotted the King also getting to his feet and stumbled up to stand as the King started to retreat from the room, "Raze!"

The elemental's body was shaking furiously, too pumped up from her previous actions. She was trembling, teeth clattering, one would almost think she was cold if it weren't for the fact that she were on fire. Fotiá dragged herself up, barely able to rise to her feet. The water had taken a huge bit of energy out of her, nothing that she couldn't regenerate over time. But she needed to lower her body temperature, she was burning a hole in the floor. Before she sunk to the floor below, she floated--the marble and brick collapsing below her.

This appeared to set off a chain reaction, cracks and tremors appearing in the floor as the water was beginning to be flushed down the variety of holes that were appearing. Oh no, she didn't want that stuff coming back to haunt them later. Partially to rid herself of all the excess heat and partially because she wanted to see if she could hit the king as he attempted to flee, she released a cone of fire at the remainder of the liquid. It sizzled, hissed, and evaporated under the touch of flame. She guided the cone progressively towards the king, come on, just a little more to the right.

---

---

As one might have already guessed given the cliche situation they'd found themselves in, the princess was in a state where the only thing she could do was weakly mutter Raze's name, further emphasizing the fact that she was in peril she would not be able to escape from on her own power. Razeluxe, not in the best position without his weapon, could not just blindly rush the King.

This fact came back to slowly chip away at the half-breed's patience as, of course, the King began on his speech. From what Raze gathered (which was quite a lot considering he was thinking about the different ways he could go about this scenario to rescue Sakura and decapititate this man), it would seem that Sakura was not really sick. Or, well, that's what the King thought. Then again, who should trust that guy? More importantly, this soon-to-be-deceased king had said he wasn't giving her back, and while Razeluxe couldn't help but feel angered about the loss of his soldiers due to her mother, he wasn't about to let some creep do with her what he will.

He still needed her.

"Raze!" called Shyc as he joined in. The ex-leader felt a bit more comfortable he still had Shyc by his side, at the very least.

The scene couldn't stray from its cliche roots. With a cry against what the King was doing, Shyc inadvertadly triggered the 'threaten with knife' flag, and that's exactly what the King did to Sakura, perhaps also providing a distraction for Razeluxe's eyes, briefly.

"Careful now, wouldn't want a slip of the hand, now would we. You see, I have a very keen set of ideals. She either remains with me as my tool of destruction -amongst other things- or I kill her and no one has her. How do you wish for this to happen?"

Dane, angry as he'd been in quite some time, did not take to well to the King's threats. "Your ideals are going to get you killed, you fool. If you lay so much as another finger on her, I'll cut you up and feed you to those subjects of yours that you've been failing to keep fed."

It wasn't just a threat; it was a promise. And apparently the King did not take it too seriously. With a grin on his face and a lack of any respect for what Razeluxe had just said, he forced himself on to Sakura, stealing her first kiss.

....what? Is... he that confident?

Razeluxe was in a small state of shock as the King appeared to be drowning her. He'd actually not felt this before, but he knew what he was feeling: blind rage. His past experience was the only thing that kept him from acting upon this strong, harmful desire. That, and since he did not have a blade. When the King had finished whatever it was he was doing, Razeluxe shot a glare that might've even left a physical mark on the King's head if he was more attuned to magics.

"Now then, where were we?"

Thus, the King signaled his guards who conveniently bursted in through the double doors behind the two.

"Raze, take it," Shyc isntructed, tossing his weapon over.

He didn't even hesitate for a moment to take the boy's weapon when it was offered, despite temporarily forgetting Shyc was there in the first place, and ran off to take out the guards who'd been unfortunate enough to attack Razeluxe while he was genuinely angry.

The blade felt much lighter in his hands than his own, though Shyc's method of fighting relied more on being swift than Razeluxe's. This did not impede his ability to fight, however, and without a shield to protect himself (and the desire to kill anyone who had relation to this godforsaken king), he focused primarily on offense and evasion. Razeluxe was rushing the onslaught of men before him, which actually threw some of the men off. The first one he met flinched, giving Raze enough time to make a diagnol slash from one side of his chest down through to the other. He followed this up by hitting the man with a quick jab and grabbing the guy, flipping him around and using him as a shield as two more men had attempted to impale Raze, instead gutting their own friend. He pushed the deceased first guard into the both of those men and they tumbled backwards before falling down with a body on top of them.

If there were only the two men, it would've ended right there, however, there will still many different men he'd have to deal with, and the only reinforcements he had (that he knew of) as of now was Shyc. This was much better than nothing, however, as the boy was handling himself just fine.

An unexpected explosion rang out from above, showering shards of glass down into the room as something had made quite the dramatic entrance to the scene. It only took Raze but a second to realize that, whatever it was, it wasn't hostile towards him, as the first thing it went after was the gaurds. Good. Nice. That left openings. Particularly the few men he was battling. Using the distraction, Razeluxe rushed the men in front of him, stepping on and jumping off of the two men buried beneath their friend's body, performing a downward swing into the skull of another man, which lodged the blade a bit deeper into the man's head as he'd wanted.

As he attempted to retrieve Shyc's blade, blood shot from the headwound, but the blade resisted budging, and now Raze's chest was covered in a crimson liquid that wasn't his own. Even worse was the fact that the other men had finally become aware of the situation and the nearby men returned to attacking him. The only thing Razeluxe could do as of now was release the blade, and so he did, just narrowly dodging swing from one of the men.

Shit, now he had no weapon.

Finding himself in a very bad situation, Razeluxe changed from offense to defense, only able to focus on avoiding any and all blows. He really missed his shield right now. Luckily, Razeluxe never wore heavy armor, so he was agile enough to dodge a few of the slower, unrefined attacks that came his way, though it was getting quite tiring. He wanted to be killing the king, not dealing with these guys with no blade. It was all so frustrating!

*SLASH*

As the men began to become more and more numerous, Dane found himself becoming overwhelmed, and eventually one of their attacks landed, sending a sharp pain throughout his back. He let out of an angered cry of pain. It hurt, but it wasn't fatal thankfully. In fact, perhaps this had been good for him. He decided he couldn't just try to avoid all them forever, he'd exhaust himself before they all would. His chance to turn things around came in the form of a man wielding a spear pulling back for a lunge straight towards him. The man's weapon launched forwards, and it wasn't hard at all to turn his body to the side, grip the spear, pull the spear closer to him and elbow the man in the throat all in one fluid movement. The man fell, possibly dead, but it left him with a spear to use.

That being said, Razeluxe certainly didn't care much for the weapon at all, but it gave him something to block and counter with. His military training would suffice, hopefully.

Up until now, Raze didn't have a chance to catch whatever had been happening between Sakura, the King, or the unknown person zipping around the room, but as he parried a bow from a sword and impaled a nameless soldier through the neck, he quickly pulled away and jumped back before giving a quick glance in their direction. It was around that time that the water had began boiling something fierce, and just smart enough to know what might happen, Razeluxe held the spear horizontally and traced his fingers across the handle, up through the whole entirety of the weapon, mumering something to himself. While not visible to the naked eyes, one could feel a strong wind gather around the weapon. It was, of course, the effect of the one magic the soldier was capable of.

With a flourish of his weapon, he spun the spear around his body and released the wind energy he had built up into the towards the direction of the pool just as the explosion occured. Due to not being able to do so with enough time to store too much, it was a bit weaker than normal, and only able to lessen the force of the explosion while also preventing himself from being torn up by the shards thrown about. He did not fall due to the force, but he did manage to slide a few feet backwards. With the rest of the guards not being able to prevent the full force of explosion from rocking them, he was free to do what he pleased, and because of that, he turned his attention towards the King.

Heat hit the back of the King's fleeing figure. Taking a quick glance over his shoulder, he noted that the elemental woman was attempting to burn him to ash with her cone of fire. He moved out of the way of the oncoming rush of fire, but as it connected with a pillar near him, the rock that was torn apart forced him further off his path and thus without a way to escape properly. Grinding his teeth as he slid across the floor from the force of the impact, he scrambled up to his feet and looked around the room, trying to figure another way out.

That seemed to be the door that was obliterated by the elemental moments ago, and to get to that he had to get by the other two mercenaries. One of which, the blonde, was currently occupied with the remaining few of his soldiers, the other... The half-elf had found where the King was standing. He took a moment to glance up at the woman who was still sprawled out upon the bottom of the egg cage suspended over the pool -or what was left of the pool rather- and flashed a wicked grin toward the blonde haired elf.

"I suppose you'll try to make good on that threat now? Interesting," he mused as he took a few steps towards Raze and toward the door that would be his escape.

"Who made a threat? I was promising you that I'd do that. And I shall." the mercenary replied, wielding the spear as he approached the King, his expression not of overconfidence, but of a man simply performing a chore.

"Terrifying," The King responded shortly. Dropping down, he took the blade of an unfortunate guard that had fallen under the fighting and swiped it up at the spear to knock it to the side and offer him an opening to take the halfling in one strike.

Despite wanting little more than to rip this man limb from limb, Razeluxe was still calm enough to actually think things out a little. What better way to bring this guy down a peg than to make him realize he was powerless now? Razeluxe was more than able enough to predict the swing as the man had, of course, had to pick up the weapon from the ground first. So, as the blow came up, it appeared to do its intended purpose, but instead of leaving an opening, Razeluxe flipped the spear along with the motion and aimed a light blow towards the King's temple with the spearless-side of the weapon, as a taunt more than an actual attack.

Even with a weapon he wasn't familiar with, he knew a lot more about combat than anyone of royalty could.

The King stumbled, not expecting to be struck in such a fashion. Blinding pain exploded across his skull and darkness took his vision for a moment. Recovering his footing, he was stunned by the hit, unsure of where he was exactly in regards to his original escape route and feeling a trail of blood slide down his face from his temple. Grinding his teeth, he fought to reorient himself and turned back to the elf.

He moved, lunging forward toward the halfling and reached out with one hand to grasp the shaft of the spear so that the mercenary couldn't use it. If he caught it, he would run through the damned mercenary and be free of the room. Of course, if he killed the mercenary, the woman would be more than enough to finish other things as well.

Well, at the least, nobody expected a king to be wise when it came to actual combat. As the man reached for the spear, he indeed caught it, just probably not how he intended it. The spear had returned to its standard resting place immediately after being used for the blunt blow, so when the King attempted to snatch it, Razeluxe simply thrusted it forwards. It should be fairly obvious what it did.

The King was taken by surprise as the weapon plunged into his hand, the spear skewering his hand straight through the middle. He shouted out, his other hand releasing the blade as he dropped down to one knee, his free hand clutching around the wrist of the one that was stabbed through by the spear. He ground his teeth and glowered up at the halfling before reaching out for the blade that he'd dropped again. He wasn't going to just let the mercenary do what he pleased after all.

"How long are you going to keep at it?" Razeluxe questioned with an almost-bored tone as he swept his leg into a kick aimed at the man's face. "We don't have much time, it seems."

Knocked back from the weapon, the King went sprawling across the floor from the hit across his face and coughed, "What? Expect me to just roll over and beg? Filthy halfbreed," he spat back irritated as well.

"I am not a man who expects things that wouldn't happen. Although I will not lie, it would be fairly enjoyable if you were to do so." Razeluxe took the spear and, with relative ease, impaled the King's leg with the weapon, then violently twisted it as he ripped it out. It must've hurt a great deal, but more importantly, the King wouldn't be very mobile anymore.

"You're just giving me more and more reasons to not kill you humanely." saying so with his prior anger well hidden behind his usual, emotionless mask, he reached over and grabbed the sword the King was going to use, and discarded the spear. He was much more comfortable that way. "Now... you're going to tell me a few things, and how long it takes me to kill you depends on how quickly and efficiently you answer these questions, do I make myself clear?"

A sharp scream filled the ruined room as the spear plunged down into his leg and twisted before it was removed. The King rolled to his side slowly, one hand reaching over to grip the profusely bleeding wound as he lay on the floor. Huffs of air steamed slightly against the floor before he moved and gazed up at the halfling. He ground his teeth a bit before he said anything at all, "Try all you like, halfling."

Fotiá's stream of fire was beginning to fizz out, she could see more blackened smoke coming off of her flames than actual fire. She was running low on her energies--and she needed to recharge. But without any sunlight, she'd have no way of doing that. She wouldn't be able to keep this form for long, so she had to make it count. Breathing out and focusing the cone more directly upon the water, she worked on evaporating it readily--at least before the ground gave way from underneath them. It was a progressive crumble, they probably still had several minutes, but it was getting testy.

She decided to ignore the king, the mercenary leader was handling him. Taking care of the water wasn't as hard as she had thought, the job was nearly done when she felt something snap within her. Her flames sputtered to a halt, the cone fading into smoke, leaving a tired elemental admist the fog. She lowered her arms, retreating nearer to Sakura to check on the female and possibly lift her. As the elemental reached down to grip the princess, the inky blackness of her skin began to disappear as caramel began to grow over it. Her mane of hair fluttered over her shoulders and down her back, returning to the blueish, neutral hue it normally had.

The transformation left the woman completely naked and human looking. Well, annoying, but at least she could touch the princess now without hurting the girl. She wrapped her arms around Sakura's waist, hoisting the princess up before adjusting the girl on to her back. She had to trust Raze would handle the questioning just fine. For now, the princess was a priority and getting out of here safely was her perogative.

Razeluxe looked at the King for a moment before pinning the man's hand on the ground and, with a swift strike, getting rid of a finger from it. "If you're hoping to pull something and keep yourself alive by not offering any information, then you're shit out of luck. I might accidentally have you bleed out after a while. Now, as I was saying... What were you doing to the Princess? If she's not sick, then what's the matter with her? Come on, you only have 9 fingers left."

The King's mouth opened into a soundless scream as burning pain pulsed from his hand as he lost a finger. Strangled sounds escaped his lips but no screaming, yet. He curled down as he shuddered, "... insane..." he muttered to himself before he looked up at the mercenary and yelled, "She was never sick, you foolish imbicile! That woman is a power house! Lunar magic, halfling," he huffed as he grinned slightly, "A very rare magic that can destroy whole towns in seconds. Everyone knows about her power, it was locked away by a sniviling little sorcerer when she was born, I just unlocked it."

"If that's the case, then why the hell would her mother send her over here? What'd you promise her?" he demanded, threatening to cut another finger off.

"Why?!" The King shouted, feeling the cold steel against another finger and twitching involentarily, "Why the hell would I know? Perhaps she genuinly thinks it was a disease. It doesn't matter now does it! I've woken her magic and there's no stopping her now. Iverien was going to be destroyed by me, why would I promise that wretched woman anything?" he spat.

"Why the hell would I know what you nobles think about? You noblefolk are all crazy with power, so you can take some very foolish actions." sighing, he decided to not cut off another finger. Instead, he took the blade by the hilt, once more murmured something, and then impaled the King's hand as the blade, now hissing with the power of lightning, began shocking the man. Casually, he stood up and threw a bored look down at the man, who was likely feeling quite a bit of pain as he was being shocked to death. "I'm actually more familiar with killing a man quickly, so this is the best I can do."

Razeluxe walked away, leaving the king to be electrocuted to death. The magic he'd empowered the blade with would be more than enough to kill the man off, if the abyss didn't. But that left a more important question.

How was he to escape? Glancing around the huge room, he noticed a great deal of the floor had collapsed, and there wasn't really any way for him to reach the other side. "Well... shit."