Siya Ukomo's Story

Siya Ukomo

Steel scrapped across steel, the screeching sound filled the courtyard. The combatants buckled against each other, shoving forward with all of their strength in an effort to gain the upper hand. Both disengaged and leapt away from each other. The one in black simply jumped backwards, his feet moving smoothing across the stone courtyard to carry him a good distance from his opponent. The one in white flipped his body backward in the air and landed lightly on his feet several paces from the other. The man in white smiled at his opponent, long jet black hair streamed around his face from the wind and his last movement.

"You're getting better, my Lord."

"It's Siya out here, Kaed. We're not in the palace or in the company of anyone else. You know I don't like titles all that much," the one in black, Siya, retorted a frown on his lips. He flipped the blade in his hand, the weight was light, just perfect for him. His gaze was that of a brilliant, fiery orange and he turned those eyes upwards to look at his Protector, Kaed. The dark haired man had dark red eyes to match, marking him clearly as a fire mage. Kaed reset himself and grinned at his King.

It was a mere blur of white as Kaed lunged forward at Siya. The young King brought up his weapon just in time to block the attack, sliding backwards from the force. He grit his teeth as he pushed hard against the taller man. Kaed leaned down then, his lips grinning, a sparkle in his eye that put Siya off balance.

"You're quite adorable when you look like that," Kaed whispered, his tone different than usual.

Siya's cheeks flared deep red and he reeled backwards. Sliding his sword down across Kaed's, he ducked under the powerful swing and came up behind the Protector. He didn't waste any time and pounded the hilt of the weapon into the dark haired man's back. Kaed stumbled forward from the hit and whirled around. He dropped down to one knee and set the blade down next to him. The Protector dipped his head down, black hair falling around his face and shoulders.

"My apologies, Siya. I didn't realize I could embarrasse you so easily."

"Kaed!" Siya cried in frustration and then turned his back on the man who continued to tease him. Kaed's teasing was all in good health, though. The man would never harm Siya or purposely make him angry. Embarrassing him when they were alone was something Siya had grown used to. The young King sheathed his sword as he heard Kaed get to his feet. Crossing his arms over his chest, he pretended to give the cold shoulder to his protector. Even so, the taller man came right next to his side and smiled down at him.

"My Lord!"

The cry came from behind the King and he whirled around to see what it was. A tall man rushed across the courtyard towards Kaed and Siya. He stopped in front of them, heaving air into his lungs. A dire look crossed his face as he finally turned his gaze upwards to look at Siya.

"The Water King... He's been... Killed... Along with his... Protectors," the messanger panted.

Siya's breath caught and he shot a terrified and shocked look towards Kaed. The tall Protector's eyes were narrowed, his mouth opened in shock as he watched the messanger.

"That... can't be," Kaed whispered in disbelief.

"My Lord... Its true...I can't express how... dreadful..."

"The orb... is his orb still with him?" Siya asked urgently.

"No. It was taken from his body."

"Kaed, gather the others. Bring them to my council room immediately. You need to go too, messanger. I need to know everything, all of the details!"Siya ordered and left the courtyard. His long black robes swirled around him as he turned on his heel and headed for the council chamber. His heart leapt to his throat as he tried to process what he'd just been told. The Water King hadn't been in charge of the water orb for very long, much like Siya. Why had he been killed? And so suddenly as well. The young fire King feared what was to come next, feared the knowledge that was about to be told to him.

All of this had entered his thoughts as he opened the double doors to the palace and then the door to the council room. The room was dark, no light at all until he walked in. He outstretched his hand and a flicker of fire swirled from his finger tips to ignite the candles along the wall. As the light filled the room, the small table in the center of the room became visible. Four chairs surrounded the small circular table and Siya made his way to the one that faced the door behind him. Slowly, he pulled the chair out and seated himself. Drawing his arms up, he put his elbows on the table and rested his head on his interlaced fingers. Dark eyes narrowed as he gazed at the table and waited for the others to enter the room. It was only a matter of time before the other Kings found out about the attack. He was going to have to get into contact with them soon. Things were sure to get out of hand very quickly and Siya wanted to keep the chaos to a minimum.

The door opened again and Siya lifted his eyes to see who was entering. The messanger from before timidly came into the room, followed by Kaed. Siya took a deep breath. How he proceeded then, depended on what he heard next and the other Kings.

Marsaili sat on her bed, her eyes trained upon the bowl sitting on the duvet. The orange eyes were bright as the demon watched the fruit bowl intently. Slowly she moved forward, her blonde pigtails falling around her face. Her little fingers reached out and brushed the skin of the apple. Said apple suddenly wrinkled and turned an ugly brown. Patches of black and green started sprouting up all over the piece of fruit as mould took root. She giggled and picked up the rotten piece of fruit. The little girl turned the mouldy apple in her hand, giggling as the mushy insides moved beneath the wrinkled skin.

So, turns out she could turn food rotten when she really tried. Oh fun!

Marsaili dropped the rotten fruit into the bin beside her desk and sighed. Nothing to do. The demon had had a visit from her father earlier who had washed the room in the beautifying scent of brimstone. Oh how she missed the delicious smell of fire and smoke clogging up her little lungs. And the screams and the fiery heat...The demon child pouted and threw herself back on her bed.

"I miss Hell. This place is no fun." The little monster complained, picking up her favourite rabbit to look him in the eye.

"We're been here for ages, Mr Smiles, and there has been no fun at all! No juicy murders or massive scandals...I'm so bored." Marsaili sighed before letting her teddy fall upon her face. She was bored and this place was no fun. Her teddy sat on her face as she sighed heavily. Marsaili sat up and picked up the scissors beside her bedside table. She looked at her reflection in the sharp object before plunging the blade into her teddy's chest. The stuffing flew out of the incision as she made long lines down the rabbit's chest.

"Frère Jacques, frère Jacques," She hummed as long strands of fabric started to cover her bed.

"Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?" Marsaili sang sweetly, wishing that it was blood not fluff that covered the bed. Mr Glasgow-Smiles didn't care too much. He was used to this kind of stuff anyways.

"Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!" The scissors dove easily into the teddy, as if it was cutting hot butter. No resistance. Not like bones, they always got in the way.

"Ding, daing, dong. Ding, daing, dong." With each word, Marsaili plunged the blades into the rabbit violently. She giggled as she throw the scissors against the room. The object was impaled in the wall beside the door. Not that the hellspawn really cared. There was already a couple knives in that wall anyway.

After she was finished, the little girl sighed again. She plucked up the remains of the doll and pouted.

"Oh dear. Now I'm definitely bored." A swirl of black smoke twirled around the doll and the fluff that lay around her was replaced back into the stuffed animal. The little girl leaned in eagerly as the fresh smell of Hell filled the air.

"Thank you, daddy!" She trilled, her eyes glimmering a bright orange. Ah, the smell of Hell was almost revitallising! Marsaili giggled as the brimstone smoke filled her senses. Urgh, it was so cold here. Even when she set fire to her nearby furniture.

A quick, almost hesitent knock sounded on her door and Marsaili found herself poking her head round the door, glaring at the poor sod who decided to turn up at her room. Not that she was angry, oh no, merely the fact that she didn't want him there and she had an image to uphold. The tiny menace looked up at the messanger with a burning glare and a deep set frown.

"What." The little girl's voice, still high and sweet to the ear, was laced with arsenic and dripping with cyanide. The messanger trembled a little under the demon's gaze.

"I w-was told to i-inform you of-"

"Of what, mate?! Spit 't out! I ain't got all day!" The hellspawn cut it, her eyes rolling as she watched the man squirm beneath her gaze.

"T-that the Water K-King has been murdered." That made the demon stop for a second. Her eyes went wide and she gave the messanger a blinding smile. The man's face paled as she giggled.

"Really, now? Someone 'as killed one of those old orby people? Well, finally! I was gettin' bored!" The little girl giggled, eyes lighting up. She skipped merrily out of the room, still clutching her teddy and closed the door behind her.

"I suppose that Mr Fire King will want me over there pronto." Marsaili remarked, her orange orbs moving to the messanger's face for verification. When the messanger shakily nodded, she gave a gleeful squeal and skipped quickly towards council room. She had waited for something like this to happen! She should have known something was going to happen when her daddy had visited her! The little demon sniffed a little and was pleased to find that the thick cloying smoke of Hell still hung around her, like a sweet perfume.

"Well, c'mon then, Mr Smiles! We've got a job to do!" Marsaili cackled as she moved through the palace, her long blonde hair swishing out behind her. She whistled as she made her way to the council room, her shoes clicking merrily upon the hard floor. The girl's face was contorted into a mask of joy. Finally! She got to cause some real chaos after ages of little routine "pranks" like stealing the guard's swords and poisoning a few meals here and there.

It wasn't as if rat poison was that lethal.

There was a cure.

Well, Marsaili supposed there was an antidote or something. Not that it mattered that much to her. She reached the double doors and pushed them open violently, rabbit clutched to her chest and malicious grin in place. She gave a little giggle before sobering up.

Sobering up may not be the correct phrase. It was more like "didn't giggle at the thought of death, instead prompting for a tiny chuckle here and there" but Marsaili supposed it was better than nothing. The little girl put on a faux pout before crossing her arms.

"So! I hear there was a couple o' deaths and nobody thought to invite me!"

Kaed Kuhti

The double doors opened again almost immediately after he'd walked into the council room. The tiny girl bounced into the room, her teddy bear clutched to her chest as she moved and took a seat immediately at the table. Kaed frowned slightly as he heard her laughter at the situation. The Protector wasn't blind to her obvious enjoyment of the situation. Slowly he moved to take his seat at Siya's right hand side.

The messenger stayed standing and looked nervously between the three people before him. Siya turned his burnt gaze towards the little girl and sighed lightly. Kaed always thought that his King was far too accepting of the little girl. He'd always thought that she was too much trouble than she was worth, but he trusted Siya, and whatever Siya saw in that girl it must mean something.

"I doubt anyone would have been invited to that, Marsaili," Siya replied in soft tones. He leaned backwards, taking his arms off the table and motioned for the messenger to start speaking, "Tell me in detail everything you know."

"My Lord," the messenger dipped his head and then took a deep breath before starting, "There wasn't any commotion in the palace for sometime this morning, it was silent. Then I heard one of the maids screaming and I rushed to see what had happened. Two of the protectors were killed, their blood stained everything in the hall leading to the King's chambers. I rushed down the hall to the room and listened, hoping that at least the King and his remaining protector were still alive. I heard nothing, so I pushed the door opened.

"Inside was the remaining protector, his own weapon run through him. Across the room was the King, he too was dead and covered in blood. A hole in his chest was there. The orb was taken from his body. Whoever killed them... they were long gone. We tried everything to track the killer, but nothing came of it. I fear for the rest of the Kings, if what my gut is telling me is true... the Kingdom is doomed to be destroyed."

Kaed's chest tightened at the story and he turned his gaze towards Siya. The young King had raised his fist to the center of his chest, clutching the black silk of the robes he wore. The orbs that the King's protected were hidden very nicely, inside their bodies, at the center of their core. The magic would pulse with the heartbeat and that was how the King's were able to cast their magic without using sacrifices.

Kaed felt his throat tighten, he didn't like the idea of someone being after the Kings' orbs, but more importantly, being after the King's life as well. Under the table, his hand tightened into a fist while the other rested easily on the top of the table. The Protector turned his eyes back to the messenger, "The other King's are in danger as well then. I assume you informed others to send the message?"

"Yes, my liege."

"My Lord, what do you plan to do?"

Siya was quiet for some time as his gaze focused on the table. His hand relaxed from its position over his heart and both hand's interlaced their fingers. It was a little while before the Fire King spoke, and when he did he raised his eyes to Kaed as he did so.

"We have to meet with the other Kings. I have a terrible feeling about this. We have to prioritize finding a new Water King, as we speak I'm sure the worlds elements are taking a turn for the worst. Water can be deadly in more ways than one. We have to get it under control as soon as possible. Once we find the Water King, we need to recover the orb."

"That'll take time, my Lord," Kaed said, "Why not find the orb first?"

"Can you control the water orb, Kaed?"

The black haired protector sat back for a moment, understanding then what it was his King was asking, "No, my Lord. I understand."

"Even if we had the orb, without the Water King, it would be pointless. Besides, finding the orb would be near impossible if we did that first. At least combining our abilities together we'll have a better chance at finding a new King. When we do that, the King can find the orb a lot easier than we can."

Kaed nodded his head in agreement, a small smile pulling his lips as he gazed at the King. He was astonished at times by how very versatile Siya was, how smart he was and how determined he was. If it were possible to have deeper feelings than what he already had, than Kaed would be lost in those depths. Turning to the messenger he nodded his head.

"It's decided then. We'll be leaving for the Earth King's home in a few hours. The sooner we get this plan in action the better," Kaed stood his eyes falling on Marsaili, "You'll be coming with us too, make sure you're ready to go."

Hebi Irikisha

“The Water King’s death is hardly something to get flustered over, Rosena. If the Water King and his ilk died, it only means the current incarnation was too feeble to fend for himself. Rest assured Rosena, the earth faction is nowhere near as weak,” Eugene stated, his voice cold as ice as he stood behind their King. The girl looked shocked and saddened as she spoke to Telius. In the darker corner of the throne room, Hebi grinned as he slowly came out of the darkness and into the light. It had been the first time that day since he'd stepped foot in the palace. Hebi had been gone for several days, out doing Gods knew what.

"What cold words, Eugene," Hebi chided, his voice just as icy as the proud man who stood right next to their King, "Of course you think that our faction is the strongest. It's only your pride that is strong, Eugene, nothing more," Hebi continued. He moved slowly across the room, his direction no where in particular but he was going towards Rosena who stood before the King.

Once he was close to her, he put his arm around her shoulder and leaned down, his long black hair falling around his face as he looked at her and smiled. The smile was cold to say the least as he spoke to her, "Don't worry my dear. When Eugene fails to step up, I'm sure our Lord will protect you just fine enough," he laughed and sidestepped away from her. Hebi continued towards the other side of the room where he leaned against one of the pillars that held the ceiling up several feet over their heads.

"Our young King is certain to be very prideful, just like our dear Eugene. I can only hope that our Lord has more skill with a sword than Eugene has with his ego."

Aarynn Fletcher

It had been a beautiful sunrise. The sun rose over the mountains in a way that looked just like a flower sprouting from the ground. That had been what Aarynn Fletcher, known as Flynn by the majority of people, had taken his time to observe this morning. He was an fairly early riser himself and often found himself meditating over the beauty of the sunrise--it was very relaxing and was a great de-stresser. It was also what he used to do everyday in the presence of his two younger brothers and served to remind him of them--remind him of his purpose in this life.

Flynn took a deep breath of crisp morning air and smiled, enjoying the feeling of the early morning breeze flowing through his fire-red hair. He was sitting, rather comfortably, on the Eastern gate of the city, a position which gave him a splendid view of the Eastern mountains. It was under this circumstance that the messenger found the Protector. "Flynn," the man called--Yes, they were no longer on formal terms--, "Urgent news."

"Wait," the red haired man said, raising his hand. He pointed to the sunrise. "Look at that. Isn't it beautiful?" He heard the man behind him sigh.

"Flynn. It's really urgent."

He rolled his eyes, "Can't it wait? I mean, unless you're about to tell me that the Water King is dead and that someone murdered him, I serious believe that--"

"The Water King is dead. Someone murdered him, his Protectors, and made off with the Water Orb."

"I was joking!"

"Well, I wasn't."

Flynn had to pause for a moment to comprehend what had just been said. "Wait, what?"

"The Water King is dead!"

The red haired man leapt off the floor. The Prince could be in danger! "Why didn't you say so sooner?" He demanded of the messenger as he pulled his katana out of the nick between the walls brinks and slid it into it's scabbard.

"You told me to--"

"I know; I was just joking!" Flynn called as he dashed off, jumping from the top of the wall to the roof of a nearby house and, from there, to the ground. Siya's in danger! Thoughts ran through his mind like ants in a panic. A useful thought popped up after a few seconds. If the murders were coming for him, they would have to enter the gates first. With that thought in mind, he headed off to secure the city's perimeter.

---

"Waaaaait!"

Flynn stopped at the sound of the messenger's voice again--it had been fifteen minutes since he had ran off the wall. "What?"

The man panted, Flynn was a fast runner--it had been difficult to catch up with him. "The..." He panted. "... King..."--again--"... wants to see..." He took a deep breath. "... all of the Protectors."

"Whhhhhaaaat?!" the Protector exclaimed. He was about to be late, again. Kaed wouldn't be too happy with him. And Flynn didn't like it when Kaed wasn't happy. He set off sprinting towards the palace. "Why didn't you tell me earlier!"

---

Flynn burst into the room just in time to hear Kaed addressing Marsaili. ".... make sure you're ready to go."

"I'm sorry I'm late!" He made a quick bow to Siya before asking, "Where are we going?"

"I'm sorry I'm late! Where are we going?" Marsaili looked over to the new arrival, finding it was her fellow protector, Flynn. She grinned tightly, her orange eyes conveying her distaste.

If there was one thing she could not abide, it was lateness.

It was the pinnacle of annoying-ness. Obviously this Flynn guy had never encountered the annoying problem when the guy who was supposed to die, the one who've been waiting to get your hands on, the person who prepped the fire dungeon for (which in itself is a big thing since the fire dungeons have the longest line) just wouldn't die. It's so tedious!

"Ya know, where I come from, if you're late more than three times, ya get run through with a spear." Marsaili casually remarked as she made her teddy tap dance on the table. She made his slip and break his leg before looking up and seeing a few odd glances being directed her way.

"What? That's not the case round here? Weird..." The little girl made a face before picking herself up. She turned to Flynn and gave him a malicious grin.

"We're goin' to Mr Rock's house cos Bluey got squashed. And seriously, that messanger guy made it sound as if he was scared. It wasn't even the slightest bit icky! No lungs fallin' out or intestines meltin'...not even a little limb loss! It's like a bedtime story!" She exclaimed, speaking more to her rabbit than to the others. She turned the teddy round to face the men in front of her before carrying on seriously.

"Mr Smiles agrees. He gives it...a four out of ten. No imagination but extra marks for taking a power source." The little hell spawn twirled her way over to the double doors, resting her palm against the heavy wood. She turned around to the others in the council room, smile working its way onto her face.

"I better get ready to go then, huh?" The demon giggled and gave a large Cheshire Cat grin before skipping off out of the room. As she entered the large corridor, she could not help but giggle.

"Oh, this is going to be so much fun!" She trilled, her high, sweet voice echoing around the corridor loudly. The little girl let out a peal of laughter as the smell of brimstone that hung around her intensified slightly.

"I'm glad you approve, daddy! Tell Stinky Jezebel to look after my experiment or I'll have her turned into a fluffy back in seconds!" The little girl pouted, her arms tightly crossed. The brimstone scent faded away again but not before a little flicker of hellfire answered her.

Of course, her daddy could never resist the pouty face.

...

Marsaili threw open the door to her room, grabbing the knives out of the wall as she passed. Those, she might need. The little girl picked up the new sword her daddy had given her when he visited. She plucked the feather light sword out of its scabbard and laughed. Feather light was ironic. It had belonged to a feather back before her anyways. Her daddy had stolen the perfect sword for his daughter and had changed it. Its white gold hilt was replaced with a platinum and lead twist. She smiled at the thought. He always did know her favourite things. The white steel blade had been coated in molten hellfire which left a smooth pitch black overlay. The sword had then had demon blood (her father's blood, Lucifer's blood) dripped on it. The demon blood was a sort of protection thing. Other beings were naturally warned away from the blade. It reeked of evil and hell.

It was perfect.

It was light as air, strong as titanium and in a petit size. Which was very important as she wasn't six foot a bajillion like everyone else in this place (It wasn't that she was just short of course. Oh no). She cut the air with the blade, automatically moving into the crouched position her father had taught her to take. Her orange eyes lit up as the blade swung round to point to the door.

Yep.

She could kick ass with this thing. She had a bow that she flinched from a cherub dude but that was at home in Hell. Under her bed. OK, so she wasn't supposed to have the bow but no one except Jezebel really cared that she had it. And the day she listened to Jezebel would be the same day Marsaili sprouted wings and started playing the harp. Besides, Lucifer didn't really care so Jezebel could go save puppies or whatever she did in her spare time.

So, the little girl picked up her sword, a few knives and her teddy rabbit. What else did you need for a journey like this?! Food and spare clothes? Those are for wusses. She skipped out of her room, closing the door firmly behind her and smiled. Finally, something fun was happening! It had taken long enough. The daughter of hell itself skipped down the corridor, her shoes clicking softly against the floor as she went. Her long blonde hair swished behind her as her whistled a happy little tune. She always did like a good murder. Especially one driven by power lust. The people driven for power were always the ones who did the funniest things! Especially in Hell. They tried to bargain with you! It was so funny that Marsaili almost broke her laugh box. Or vocal chords...or whatever made laughy noises. She found herself back in the main hall of the palace and looked about. Nobody was there yet. Oh well.

Marsaili sat down on the floor, cross legged and played a little game with her rabbit. She was the Grim Reaper and Mr Smiles was the serial killer who was trying to outrun a bullet. She was just getting to the good bit when Mr Smiles was beggin for sweet mercy when someone stopped in front of her.

"Hey, sweetie! Where's your mu-" The tall man (who obviously didn't know who she was. And had disregarded the sword. Humans were very strange creatures) asked, stretching his hand out.

"Touch me and I will incinerate you. And then Lucifer with get your soul." She sing-songed as she slowly ripped the ear off her bunny. "Isn't that right, Mr Smiles?" She grinned up at the guard who just stared and backed away quickly.

"Yeah. That's what I thought too, Mr Smiles!" Marsaili exclaimed, cuddling the stuffed animal close. The ear hadn't fallen off just yet but when it did, he dad would fix it again. The tiny Protector got to her feet and grinned maliciously as someone else approached the hall. Finally. She was starting to get bored.

And when Marsaili got bored, people got dead.

The demon giggled and started pulling at her rabbit's ear again.

Siya Ukomo

The door burst open and a red haired youth came stumbling in, his chest heaving as if he'd run miles to get to the council room. Siya recognized him as Aarynn, or Flynn as the young man liked to be called. The Fire King leaned forward and hid his smile by putting his hands up over his mouth in an interlocked fist. His burnt orange eyes shifted casually to Kaed who turned his deep red gaze toward Flynn in the most intimidating manner he could possibly possess.

"Ya know, where I come from, if you're late more than three times, ya get run through with a spear," Marsaili commented, her sweet voice belying her deadly intentions. She looked up then at them as silence filled the room. Siya had turned his gaze at her and frowned lightly. How he wished he could change her way of thinking sometimes.

"What? That's not the case round here? Weird..."

Siya sighed heavily and leaned his head down as he closed his eyes, "No Marsaili, that's not how we do things. It's alright, Flynn. We can fill you in on the events," he commented and shortly after Marsaili did just that, though her explanation was much less informative and dire than the messengers.

Once the little girl had left the room, Kaed turned to Siya and glowered, "Why do you keep her?"

"Kaed," Siya started softly and lifted his eyes towards the taller Protector, "She's a powerful protector, just like you two. Can't you just bear with her like always?"

Kaed's face softened as he gazed at the young King. Siya knew he'd gotten to him, he had a way of softening the strong protector, though he wasn't sure exactly how that was. Well, at least he'd saved Marsaili from Kaed's wrath... or maybe it was the other way around. Siya wasn't sure. In any case, Kaed turned to Flynn and frowned at him.

"Next time, pay attention to the messenger I send to you. You should hurry up and get ready, we're leaving to see King Telius within the next hour or so."

A pounding on the double doors filled the air and Siya looked up. His thin eyebrow rose and he glanced to Kaed before calling, "Enter."

The door opened and another messenger slipped in. He held a piece of paper in his hands and presented it to Siya, "We just received this not but twenty minutes ago."

The Fire King opened the envelope that bore the water seal of the Water King (or rather Queen as she preferred to be called). The note was short and to the point, just like Celeste.

Shrine of Aridea, this evening, sharp.

"As demanding as ever," Siya commented and folded the paper. He stood up and crossed the room towards the doors, "Change of plans. We're leaving for the Shrine of Aridea. By the time we get there it'll be evening and we wouldn't want to make Celeste wait for us."

"I'll go inform our little menace," Kaed said as he gently brushed passed Siya. The King felt a hitch in his throat as Kaed passed him, just barely touching him. Siya cleared his throat and moved down the hall on his own. He was heading for the front of the castle. From there he would go to the stables where he would prepare his horse.

"I'll meet you in the stables, Flynn," he told the other Protector, "Go get ready, and try to be quick," Siya said glancing over his shoulder and smiling brightly as the man. Siya pushed open the doors to his castle and strode down the cobblestone walkway to the stables near the entrance of the palace walls. Beyond that was his city where he reigned and watched over the citizens. He entered the stables and started working to get all of the gear ready for the long several hour ride they were about to embark on.

He was saddling the horse when a loud sound overhead caught his attention. Looking up, the young Fire King could hardly believe what he saw next. A gust of wind blew his hair and clothes about, and a solid body fell down towards him. He caught sight of the body quickly — it was a woman, no less — and he raised his arms in half an effort to catch her, the other half an effort to protect himself. The girl crashed into him, even through the roof she'd just blown through. Siya tumbled under her, falling onto his back with her right on top of him.

As soon as everything settled, he groaned and peeked one eye open to look at what the sky had thrown at him. Brushing off hay from the girl's face, he gazed at her carefully. Slowly, Siya sat up and pulled her close into his arms. She was unconscious, and her head was bleeding, no doubt from crashing into the stables' roof. She was bruised and cut in quite a few places, too. Just what happened to her? And are those... wings, wrapped around her?

Some more clattering got Siya's attention a second time, and a sword dropped inches away from his side. The girl's? Lucky enough, his horse hadn't done much more than rear and canter off to the side. At the moment the black steed eyed his rider carefully, almost... accusingly... as Siya sat there, with an injured, unconscious girl in his arms.

Carefully, Siya pulled the girl to his chest and stood up, dust and dirt falling off of him as he did so. With a sigh, he latched the girl's sword to his side and started back to the castle. He was going to have to take care of her before doing anything else. Hopefully it would be quick so that they could leave and meet with Celeste.

Kanan Thiyer

He was kneeling in the garden area of the palace, his eyes keenly examining the white buds of the flowers that were growing there. Kanan wasn't sure why but the smells of the flowers had a... calming effect on him. He often went to the garden to look at the flowers when he was irritated or otherwise 'out of place'. He wasn't quite sure how to act around the others and so found himself wandering the flower beds instead.

He reached out a heavily gloved hand and gently touched the flower bud, making it curl backwards under the slight pressure. Startled, he pulled back and watched the flower bounce back to it's original position. Kanan stood, a frown on his lips. He was used to seeing things break far too much than seeing things bend and still survive. In his left hand he held his sword and scabbard. The belt twisted around his hand as he gripped the weapon. Kanan hadn't thought to put the weapon on completely, but he never left it behind either.

He wore a simple white shirt that was opened in the front and baring much of his pale skin to the warm sunlight. The metal of the chains around his arms glinted in the light. Long black pants tucked into heavy boots made soft sounds as he moved slowly through the garden. The dangling chains and necklaces that he wore wrapped around his wrists and waist jingled around as well. Kanan wasn't one for stealth, so the noise didn't bother him in the least.

"Kanan!"

The call came from across the garden and the young Protector turned on his heel to see who it was. He looked with his right eye as the left was covered in a leather eye patch with a metal piece over the eye. His white hair fell over into his face as the wind picked up. The long strands of soft hair flipped about his features for a while before settling down. The man who'd called out to him rushed up to him and took a moment to catch his breath.

"Lady Celeste has called. She wishes for the protectors to get ready to leave."

"Where?"

"The Shrine of Aridea. That's all I know. You should go meet with her. She is in her room."

Kanan nodded slowly and backed away from the messenger. The air Protector moved towards the palace building that was built at the top of the hill. The large windows were mostly opened to let the breeze wash through the palace. It was a beautiful place to say the least, but Kanan was unsure as to how to act in such a place, especially when he was around the Air King. He was either overly protective, or too stiff, or too quiet... there was always something. He wasn't about to make Lady Celesete wait any longer for him though, even if his nerves were tied up once again.

So he quickly made his way through the halls and found himself at her door. Reaching up, he took a deep breath, and knocked gently, trying to keep his strength under wraps. Even so, the sound reverberated through the hall and the room beyond. He frowned at this and let his hand fall to his side.

Hebi Irikisha

“Why don’t we test that theory then? Hebi,” The sharp click of his tongue was the only warning that Hebi had before Eugene snapped at him. Even so, the intimidating presence of the man did nothing to make Hebi back down. No, instead it fueled him even further. Leaning off the pillar, Hebi moved his upper body forward in such a way as to entice Eugene further. His lips spread into an even crueler smile, deeper and colder than before. His brilliantly green eyes flashed dangerously as he eyed Eugene's burning blue ones.

However, his fun was spoiled as Telius jumped into the matter and shouted at them all. Hebi leaned back against the wall, a slight frown on his lips as he unwillingly tore his gaze from Eugene to their King. The young man was by far the youngest King to rule, barely even 19 the boy had much to learn. Even so, the three of them followed him. Well... maybe not all three of them. Hebi's smile returned to his face as he settled against the pillar, ever aware of Eugene's cold glare.

The snake-like Earth Protector hardly payed any heed to the exchange of words between Rosena and Telius. He didn't care much for the other King's anyway, or their protectors. He only had one to worry about and that was more than enough.

"My King, hadn't you noticed how odd the air outside had seemed. Something had shifted, a coolness sifted through the air, Lastra's balance is going to shift dramatically if nothing is done. Tsunami's will begin hover over cities, and droughts will begin in others. Water is no longer controllable," Rosena commented softly, her voice wavering ever so slightly as she addressed the King.

"I'm sure he's felt it, my dear," Hebi remarked coolly, "He is the Earth King after all. Unless, of course, he wasn't paying any attention to that, then maybe he hadn't felt it. But, my dear, you're over exaggerating things a bit don't you think?" Hebi asked as he pushed off the pillar and moved towards her and King Telius. He brought his arms up over his head and intertwined his fingers with his long, thick black hair.

"Tsunamis? Droughts? My dear, these things take time. It isn't like the orb has been lost for years, it's been lost for hours, maybe a day or so. That decrepit old Water King surely had some magic left over in the thing to keep things in balance for at least a few years. Of course, that would be the smart thing to do, but you know," Hebi heaved a sigh and flipped one hand about like he was waving off a fly as he turned his back to the King and the other two Protectors, "If he'd of thought of such things like that, maybe he wouldn't have gotten himself killed so easily. Just my opinion of course."

Hebi yawned loudly and stretched his body, his back popping effectively, "Now, if you've no need of me immediately, I'm going to retire to my quarters," he called as he started towards the double doors of the palace's throne room.

Aarynn Fletcher

"Ya know, where I come from, if you're late more than three times, ya get run through with a spear." Marsaili's tone of voice was threatening. Flynn wasn't sure if she was being completely serious or if she was just messing with him. Probably both.

In either case, Flynn wasn't worried at all. Siya had been perfectly fine when he arrived and even seemed to be smiling--that was what was important. The Ginger Samurai shrugged dismissively thinking to himself, Glad I don't live where you came from. Despite his sarcastic thought, Flynn smiled politely at Masaili--this was simply how the girl acted and, since they were fellow Protectors, he would simply have to deal with it.

The girl flashed back a demonic grin. Yup. I'll just have to deal with it. No matter how uncomfortable. Marsaili proceeded to relate the current situation with him, in her own odd way of course. Flynn had to take a moment to translate the information the girl had given him. So, we're heading to Mr. Roc's house (Whoever that is...) because the Water King was murdered. That, and apparently a messenger had been very lucky this day. Had Marsaili figured out that the messenger had been afraid of her--there probably would be a messenger anymore aside from a torn limb or two... The Samurai had been thinking this as the door shut behind Marsaili. Flynn snapped back into reality just in time to notice Kaed frown at him.

"Next time, pay attention to the messenger I send to you. You should hurry up and get ready, we're leaving to see King Telius within the next hour or so."

Oh, so they were going to see the Earth King.

Flynn had just been about to inquire as to Siya's reasoning for this when a pounding on the door distracted him. Siya had bid the knocker in; a messenger with a note. The young prince's eyes flickered over the paper and he muttered something that Flynn couldn't discern before folding the paper and crossing the room towards the doors, "Change of plans. We're leaving for the Shrine of Aridea. By the time we get there it'll be evening and we wouldn't want to make Celeste wait for us."

Celeste. Celeste MacAvelia, the Wind Princess. In some parts that Flynn had passed through, she had been known as the Demon of Mirages--told to fight in a manner that completely eluded her enemies. At the same time, the Kingdom of Wind was a prosperous one and so--Flynn was sure--she was no evil tyrant. He had never met her before, but, having also heard of her beauty, he found himself very interested in the prospect of getting to meet the Princess.

"I'll go inform our little menace," Kaed sighed. Flynn walked as the other Protector walked off. He felt a pang of pity for the dark haired man.

Siya also began walking off down the hall. He glanced back over his shoulder smiling brightly, "I'll meet you in the stables, Flynn. Go get ready, and try to be quick."

"Aye-aye, your Majesty." The crimson haired man saluted. Then, he too headed off--he was going to his room to pack a few things for the trip.

---

Celeste MacAvelia

Knowledge is power. That was something that Celeste had been told by her father who constantly reminded her. Quite frankly, she would be surprised if those had been his first words to her when she entered this world. These words had embedded themselves in her heart and mind. It wasn't simply a saying for Celeste anymore--it was her way of living. The epitome of this quality of the Princess came in the form of a book--her «Codex».

The «Codex» had started as a single piece of paper that six year old Celeste had--in boredom--written notes on in regards to the mannerisms of each of the Elemental Kings present at one of her father's diplomatic meetings. Almost immediately, the notes that she had taken proved useful in the diplomatic process. From that day forth, the Wind Princess added information from any reliable source to her «Codex» and what had initially begun out of boredom quickly grew into a massive encyclopedia--the stories it told and the information it held was practically endless. Naturally, there had came a time where the tome had simply grown too big. That was when Celeste had enchanted the book. The 10" x 15" tome could shrink and condense to a convenient 2" x 3". Of course, a specific phrase was needed to re-expand the book--no body, as far as Celeste knows, knew of the book and, just in case someone did, the Princess wanted to ensure that no one got a hold of her database without her consent. That would be bad. Very bad.

The knocking had caught Celeste just as she had been finishing a set of copies of information from her «Codex». Immediately, she muttered the words which magically compressed the tome before proceeding to slide it into the left pocket of her peach-colored shorts. Then, she finished her last notes. She already knew, from the sequence and sheer volume of the knock, that Kanan was on the other side. Kanan Thiyerwas one of her trusted Protectors but the Princess kept knowledge of her «Codex» secret even to those closest to her. It was a matter of safety. For everyone in the world.

Celeste gently picked up her papers and glided over to the door. She quickly inspected herself before opening it. Red knee-length boots trailed up her long legs; under the boots, she was wearing pink stockings which had straps attaching to her relatively short peach-colored shorts. A slightly tight fitting short, sleeveless red dress--matching her boots--wrapped around her upper body. She also wore a short pink cloak and red gloves on each hand. Wrapped around her wrists were her four Ribbons of Hathor and strapped to her right leg was Amalthea, her enchanted throwing-knife sheath--presently holding three knives. This was the Princess of the Winds' typical travel attire. She was smiling to herself as she opened the door.

"Ah, Kanan you're here." Celeste noted. She peeked down the hallway. They were empty. "I see Aeraki isn't here yet." Turning back to the Protector, she added, "You're always so punctual. Thank you."

She stepped out of the room--trailed by a waft of wind with an unnatural hint of peppermint--and motioned for Kanan to follow her, she had intended to meet all of the Protectors in the Debriefing Room on the first floor of the Palace before departing. It would be much more probable to find Aeraki on the first story.

---

Aarynn Fletcher

It hadn't taken the Samurai long to pack his things--he was a simple man of simple needs. All he needed was his sword, the clothes on his back (It was only going to be a day's trip anyways.), a small bag containing emergency supplies, and a bamboo sleeping mat (usually used as a pillow rather than a map.). After about five minutes, Flynn had collected everything that he needed and proceeded to run to the Royal Stables.

If a normal individual had seen the the Royal Stables they have been left speechless. They looked nothing like what one would associate with stables. The Royal Stables were kept amazingly tidy and the air inside was crisp, just as pure as the outdoor air. Flynn himself had been impressed the first time he had seen the stables--'till then, he had thought he had seen everything he had wanted to see in regards to horses. Forty-two visits hadn't changed anything. His forty-third visit was a bit different.

When the stables had come into his sight, Flynn knew something was wrong. A hole was torn in the roof. Crap! the Samurai thought as he made a full sprint towards the building. Late again!

"Prince Siya are you okay?!" Flynn called as he burst into the building. The stables were in a very unusual state. It wasn't usual to have a Prince holding a beautiful young girl in his arms--despite what legends and books may suggest--and it certainly wasn't usual to have the girl unconscious, bleeding, cut, and bruised all over. "What happened?" he wondered aloud.

The roof was a wreck. A hole, about human sized, was torn in the wood--probably where the girl had fallen in from. There had been a fight--of some sort--up on the roof. He wasn't sure what exactly had happened, but, whoever had been attacking was long gone.

The Samurai returned his attention to the Prince and the girl. The fiery haired man crouched beside them. "Are you okay, your majesty? And is she okay?"

Siya's response was short and concise. "Help me get her inside!"

Though it wasn't a direct answer to his two questions, the urgency in the young Prince's response was answer enough. "Yes, your majesty." Flynn nodded and proceeded to assist Siya in carrying the girl into the castle.

"Don't let it get away!"

"Dammit, where'd that thing go? Don't leave a stone unturned! Check the trees!"

"Get back out here, freak! You can't run forever!"

They're right, but there's no doubt that they'll kill me if I stop. Expanding her wings, she stepped out from a high-standing branch and took to the sky, a bright light coming from below her. Lovely. They were going to follow her using air magic.

Three nymphs and a pair of elves continued their pursuit in the air, refusing to let her escape. The elves would run out of sacrificial energy, at least. All she had to do was lose the sprites. With that in mind, she rose higher to force the elves to expend their power. She didn't care if they fell to their deaths — they were trying to kill her right now as it i—crap, they lowered back down before they ran out.

Diving back into the forest below, she continually rose and returned, looking for anywhere big enough to hide. Outside of a wood nymph's territory, at least.

Have to think positive. They can't kill me if they can't catch me. With that, a sharp blast of air scraped her right wing. Okay, screw that—dammit! Was fighting really going to be her only option? Emerging again from the sea of trees, she had to clear up her vision. Covering the eye that'd started bleeding, she managed to find a significantly large building in the distance. A mansion? There's no way she could hide so easily with the nymphs on her tail.

She reached into a pocket on her dress; just a couple metal balls left, but they'd have to do. Stopping well above ground level to face the nymphs, the little iron weights disintegrated between her fingers. She drew the sword from her side in a wide swing, and from it erupted various blade-shaped blasts of wind, and a shockingly hefty amount of them considering how little material she had to work with. Either way, it got the nymphs out of her way, and she fell.

---

Eugh, my head... More than that, Mina's entire body ached. Her right arm felt even worse — broken, for sure, but someone dressed it. She had bandaging over her left eye, too. Her legs and spine weren't all too well, either. Just what'd she land on?

On top of that, where was she now? She was in a bed, a ceiling above her decorated in fiery adornments. Sitting herself up with little groaning, the rest of the room around her had a similar setting. A palace, maybe? Judging by the decor, and the fact that even the bedsheets were dyed in warm colors, this could have been the Fire King's; how did she end up here?

Regardless, she was relieved. There were few fae that wouldn't be caught dead in a fire mage's territory, much less their home, unless they were one themselves. So... why was Mina still alive?

"Hello?" she called, almost hoping no one would be around to hear her, though she wanted to know who took care of her. How long she'd been out was on her mind, too, among other questions. No self-respecting fae would have passed up the chance to put her out of her misery, especially when she couldn't fight back.

"You're awake!" Siya leaned forward on the chair he was seated in, a meter or so from the bed. He gave the girl a bright smile, albeit a little tired, while over his shoulder Kaed had his arms folded over his chest. The guard was glaring coldly at the back of his King's head, and Siya felt it. He tried his best to ignore it, though.

Silver hair was braided and fell over his shoulder as he leaned inward, so he tossed the mass of hair back over his shoulder. His smile didn't falter even though he could feel Kaed's death glare boring into the back of his skull. Earlier, Kaed had scolded him on why he'd taken the girl into the castle — it was a sacred place. He'd told Kaed that he couldn't just leave her there, hurt as she was — and, you know, falling on him. It didn't seem like that explanation had done anything to calm the Protector, but Kaed seemed curious enough to know where she came from.

"I'm Siya, and this is Kaed," he motioned with his hand to the tall black-haired man. The man in question warmed up when he looked to Mina, but only slightly. "How are you feeling?"

So, this man was human. His companion, too. The former was probably expecting an answer, but Mina couldn't find the words to say how much everything hurt. Instead, she glanced down at her arm and back to the King.

"Oh, right," Siya continued. "You must have taken a real beating earlier. Landing through my stables' rooftop probably didn't help any. Now, if you don't mind my asking, could you tell us your name?"

"My... name?" Usually even humans wouldn't ask her that.

"Do you not have one?"

"M-Mina."

"'Mina'?" Siya's smile widened a little more and warmed up, while Kaed's scowl had simultaneously become colder. "That's a pretty name."

What the hell's with Siya? Kaed asked himself. Before he could get into a jealous fit about how Siya was treating this girl so kindly, a second Protector decided to join in the conversation.

Flynn silently stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He seemed to notice the situation for the first time, "Oh, she's awake. Is she okay?"

"Yes, awake, but not very talkative," Siya commented without turning. He continued to smile warmly at the young girl, hoping that she would come around in no time. If he was sweet to her, perhaps that would get her to talk. Or maybe there were too many people in the room. However, if he asked Kaed to leave... well that wouldn't be possible seeing as how Siya could feel the blaze of Kaed's horrible envy sinking into his spine; almost gave him chills.

Kaed sighed, an irritated groan that he didn't try to hide. What was so special about this girl? She was just a girl... with... wings. Why was she getting all of Siya's attention? How come he was smiling at her like this? Kaed hadn't ever seen that smile directed towards him before. Or maybe he had... it didn't really matter at the moment, though. Even Flynn's in on being all nice to her.

The samurai had caught on to Kaed's irritation towards the girl and looked to Siya. Pointing at his fellow guardian with a thumb, he couldn't resist, "What's wrong with him?"

Kaed controlled his urge to smack Flynn across the back of his head. His fingers twitched and he pulled them into a fist as he growled an answer, "I'm fine."

Flynn grinned but said nothing more on the matter; he wasn't about to ask for a smack from his fellow Protector—Kaed could make those hurt! He took several steps closer to the Prince and the girl. Lowering himself, he smiled at the girl, "You know, it isn't safe playing around on a roof."

"Flynn..."

"You could really have gotten hurt if Siya wasn't—"

"Flynn," Kaed interrupted.

"What?"

"Shut up."

The red-haired Protector pouted. Tilting his head towards Kaed, he noted, "Look, the girl's been through a traumatic event. Couldn't you try to be nice for once?"

"Flynn."

"I'll stop talking now."

"So," the King dared to continue, ignoring Kaed and Flynn, "can you tell us how you ended up falling from so high, Mina?"

Siya Ukomo, Kaed Kuhti and Mina

It took some work, but Siya was able to convince his bodyguards to leave the room. Mina wouldn't have talked otherwise. Kaed's hate-filled gaze... scared her. (Of course, he was eavesdropping behind the door. No way was he just going to leave his King alone.)

"Can you tell me what happened?"

"They were trying to kill me." Siya couldn't really wrap his head around the idea, and the more Mina answered his questions the more he had.

"Why? Who's 'they'?" She quieted down again, finding little comfort in knowing she had her sword within arm's reach. Mina didn't want to answer him. Siya took her into his home without remorse; he cleaned and dressed her injuries; it felt nice, being worried over like this. She didn't want more people — let alone humans, who weren't able to fully comprehend what she was — to treat her like...

"... a monster...."

"A monster?"

"They... elves, and fae treat me like some kind of beast because of my ancestors, so they hunt me like one or act like I don't even exist." Mina couldn't tell him the whole story; she couldn't bring herself to. She even started tearing up just choking out her next words. "They killed my mother ten years ago."

Behind the door, Kaed stiffened. His gaze was locked on the floor as he cupped his ear against the door, trying to listen clearer. The girl had obviously been through a lot. It was just like Siya to take in troubled people. His lips turned from a detested scowl to a fond smile as he thought about the selfless things that Siya often did, even though it vexed him sometimes. He continued listening to the conversation, his arms crossing over his chest as he leaned against the door.

"Mina," Siya's voice was soft, his eyes filled with pity, "I'm sorry for your loss. Look, if there is anything we can do, please tell us. In the meantime, I have to leave for a short time; there are some urgent matters I must attend to. Can you stay here until I return?" As he stood to leave, Mina grabbed his wrist and blankly stared down at her blankets, tears dripping down her cheeks.

"Please don't leave me alone."

Kaed's smile quickly turned to a lour of sheer disbelief. His eyes widened, and he turned his head to glare at the door. His hands curled into fists, and he trembled. Just what was that girl up to? He had half a mind to burst through the door and throw her out the window! (The other half of his mind remembered that she has wings.) Anything to keep Siya from a girl — especially one that can end up being a danger to him. He leaned in closer to the double doors, intently listening to find out if his King's well-being was at risk.

Siya almost jumped. Mina's grip was surprisingly strong. When he looked at her, he was startled to see her in tears. Did he upset her somehow? Did he dig up bad memories? For a moment his heart jumped to his throat, and he felt utterly terrible.

"Mina?" Siya was unsure of what etiquette was involved with dealing with a crying girl. Even Marsaili's never cried, except for her crocodile tears.

"I don't want to be left alone again."

"You won't be alone, I've got many servants here that can tend to anything you... need." As Siya finished, Mina's grasp loosened and her fingers drifted off his arm, her hands moving to try and wipe away her tears. She looked terribly sad just sitting there in bed like that; he wasn't sure that his servants would even look in her direction, either. They have as little experience with this as him. "Or, um... you, could come with me..."

Siya smiled at her again, trying to offer her some semblance of comfort even though he just stood there awkwardly. He turned just enough and offered his hand, "Come on. We have to leave really soon, so we might as well go now and head to the stables."

Helping Mina out of her bed, Siya looked to the doors and calmly stated, "Kaed, you can come in now. She's coming with us."

Opening the doors for his King, Kaed must have felt some kind of sympathy, because his words were much softer than before. "She can come, but she rides her own horse." Though his words weren't hateful, the man's cheeks were red as if he were infuriated about something. However, that didn't seem right to Siya. Kaed was never 'infuriated'. Irked at times, yes; angry, yes; but never enraged about anything. Was this... jealousy? Well, that's what Siya saw.

"Kaed," Siya started with a lightly teasing tone, "it's alright. She can ride her own horse if that'll satisfy you. I just don't wish to leave her here all alone in such a huge castle."

Kaed flicked his eyes past Siya's shoulder to Mina and sighed. He placed one hand on his hip and ran the other through his long hair, fingers curling at the back of his head. He watched Siya closely before giving a shrug and a smile in return. "Alright then."

Kanan Thiyer

Kanan had followed Lady Celeste from her room down the hall to the platform that would take them to the debriefing room where she'd called all of the protectors. The young protector hadn't said much to the woman aside from giving a nod to her when she'd acknowledged him earlier. He was still unsure as to how to act around her, and most times went completely silent because of it.

He stepped up onto the platform, right behind Celeste having followed her diligently from her quarters. Queen Celeste turned then and watched him for a moment before smiling warmly. Kanan felt his face flush involuntarily and his eyes widened slightly. Why did she smile at him? How was he supposed to respond to that!? His nerves went from semi-steady to wrecked with that simple, gorgeous smile that she flashed him. Kanan stared at her without making a move, no smile in return, no words came from his mouth. He felt terrible when she turned away, having gotten no response from him.

His eyes looked off to the side and gazed at the elder man who served as Celeste's butler as he stepped up on the platform as well. The elder butler was much larger than Kanan was and he was slightly intimidating which didn't help Kanan's usual habits towards larger people. He was on edge as he stepped up on the platform behind his Queen, his hand gripping his sword tightly as he kept a close look on Emrys.

It wasn't that he distrusted the man, no that wasn't it. He just didn't know how to take the man's presence. So, he ended up being on the defensive and it was purely by habit, not intention. Kanan didn't say anything as he allowed the Queen to take them to the debriefing room. He was left to his own thoughts as he stood there awkwardly stiff behind her. Kanan's gaze continually shifted between Celeste and Emrys, trying to figure out their relationship to one another, though he figured they were fairly close. At the back of his mind, he wondered how he could possibly step up his own relationship with the Queen and possibly be a better protector.

Kaed moved swiftly down the hallway and stopped in front of the room that was Marsaili's. He could tell it was her's by the distinct smell of sulfur and ash in the air. For some reason the little trouble maker reminded him of hell. Almost too much like hell... Kaed sighed heavily as he reached up and ran his hand through his long black hair. Tossing the long strands over his shoulder, he knocked on her door gently. It was best to not rile up the beast as much as possible.

Marsaili was not a happy bunny. In fact she was greviously unhappy. She sat crosslegged upon her bed, arms crossed across her chest and scowling. Her anger was cloying and heavy in the room as was the harsh scent of brimstone and sulfer. The little demon watched as a knife tried to bury itself in the wall. The wall opposite to her door. By going through the door. No one seemed to inform demonic telekenisis that that was one big ass door. And no amount of flailing and anger fueled stabbing was going to get through it.

Although there was a nice little groove in the door now, going half way into the wood. That was cool, she supposed.

A soft knock at her door interrupted her thinking and caused her unstable telekenisis to panick and start stabbing the door frantically. Marsaili groaned and pulled herself off her bed and pulled open the door. The knife carried on trying to get through the door as the little girl gazed up at the much taller protector. Her eyes narrowed and she made a face. Marsaili was well aware that neither Flynn or Kaed was overly fond of her. She didn't really think Siya was all that happy with her either. Hell, the guards around the place were probably drawing Devil's Traps all over the roofs and stocking up on the Holy Water.

"Marsaili? There's been a change in plans. We have to go meet with Lady Celeste instead of going to see Lord Telius. We're leaving very soon, if you could be ready then. Marsaili?"

Well, of course she could be ready! She was ready right NOW. That was the problem! Nobody told her there was a change of plans so she had stalked back to her room (before setting fire to nearby side tables and flowers. Oh, and that oil painting, that was cool to watch. A little silver knife got sacrifed in the name of Lucifer for that funsies.)

"Oh cooome oooon. Do we have do go visit airy lady? Can't she just come here? Or maybe, we could just off her like Bluey and then no problems! Then we wouldn't have to go visit and I could go to the rock person's house and torch it! That sounds much more fun." Marsaili pleaded, her voice popping up an octave or two. A raised eyebrow and a funny look made the small demon gape.

Kaed stared at her and sighed as she complained. His hand came up and smacked into his forehead. He shook his head then, with it still in the palm of his hand. One hand rose up to his hip and he frowned in frustration. Why was she like this? There had to be a reason...

"Marsaili..."

"So wait, killing people off here is frowned upon? Now really, how do you sort out your differences? Talking?! Now that's a dumb idea." Marsaili rolled her eyes. A loud crack interrupted the hell spawn's ranting about how humans sucked at resolving issues. The little girl looked at the door frame and found that the knife had managed to get through the door. Huh. So it was possible. Marsaili wrenched the dagger out of the wood and gave Kaed a blinding beam.

"Marsaili, would you please try to behave yourself when we go? The last thing I need is for you to burn down anything valuable in the Shrine..." Kaed shook his head again and gave her a pleading look. Brushing his long hair back he turned and gave her a sideways glance, "Lord Siya is waiting in the stables, you should hurry and head there."

He said and started down the hallway.

The little demon stood in the hallway for a few seconds before letting out a loud sigh and rushing back inside her room to get her sword. And Mr Smiles. Because what was an adventure without your best friend? She giggled as the rabbit was clutched to her chest.

"Finally! Let's get going!" With that she tore down the hallway, hair flying out behind her and laughter echoing in her wake.

...

Marsaili was not a happy bunny. Again. She was in a dire mood and was emitting a black fog that circled her very being. This was common for demons to show that they were angry or irritated. She had seen it throughout hell as demons got a bit...touchy. Usually though, it could be controlled. However, Marsaili's control over her demonic powers was patchy to begin with. Thus, as she walked through the corridors, a distinct smell of brimstone and a shadowy black mist around her conveyed her anger and frustration to everyone. Nobody told her that there was apparently another change of plans. She went to the stables. And waited. Waiting was rare for the hellspawn so that was a big thing and still, no one came. So Marsaili got angrier and angrier and the horses got more and more jumpy as the rage was almost tangible. Eventually, she gave up on waiting and decided to find the king and her fellow protectors and take them/bodily drag them to the stables so that they could gallop off and so she could finally torch someone's palace.

Now, really. Was that too much to ask?

So as she went through the palace, merciously hunting the others down like a greyhound, the shadows died down a little more. Although the flowers she passed were still dying and withering up as the smoke choked them. Oops? Marsaili couldn't really care. She turned around the corner and bumped into a walking piece of fabric and muscle.

"Oof!" She fell to the floor and the blackness snarled and rose again as she realised who she had faceplanted into.

"You! Siya! Kaed! Flynn! I found yas! I was lookin' for ya' cos you guys left me at the stables!" Marsaili ranted from her perch on the floor, slowly getting more irrate and angry. She didn't really know why she was getting so angry but didn't fight against it very much. Hell, demons didn't exercise self control all that often. Her eyes glimmered with irritation as she ranted about how she was left alone at the stables and wasn't told of the delays again.

"I waited for ages!" She cried, crocodile tears welling up in her eyes. But that wouldn't have fooled anyone. Roaring hellfire shone in her orange eyes and the black fog shimmered around her hands. Then she noticed someone else. As Marsaili noticed this new person, her dislike flickered and took root. Someone had to be blamed and this new person was the easiest target. She climbed to her feet and threw an accusing finger at this person. She looked Siya straight in the eye, clutching her teddy to her chest and fighting the urge to draw her sword, she pouted and let a few of the angry tears fall down her face. Say what you will, but Marsaili was an expert in guilt tripping. The king of Hell himself couldn't be mean to that face. Her angry eyes fell upon the young woman in front of her and she let out a shrill cry.

"And who, in the name of Lucifer, is that?!"

*Fire consumes post...* >.> No worries!!! Things are all good! I has it under control!!! >.<

"Dumb... falling from the sky... landing on Siya... making me wait... hate everyone...Seriously, everyone should go... burn... explode... find a ditch... some lava somewhere 'round here... somefink... make it myself...can lava make bones melt...?"

"Did you say something, Marsaili?"

"Nothing, King; just talking to myself."

"Mina," Kaed asked as he prepared his things, "are you able to saddle a horse?" He wanted to get Siya's attention as far away from that girl as possible.

Quietly as ever, though, she stood outside the stables and answered, "No need." Clenching her sides, the once pitifully small wings on her back expanded to massive proportions, lifting her into the air with little effort.

---

"Dumb... bird girl... held Siya's... damn wings... no horse... flying... gah..."

"Did you say something, Kaed?"

"Nothing, my King; just talking to myself."

Flynn's ears perked as he decided to open his mouth again. "I believe that what he said was: 'Dumb'—ow!" Kaed shut him up with a swift kick to the leg.

Siya turned in the saddle just enough to look at Kaed, who was leaning over in his, one arm across the pommel and the other lazily holding the reigns. He looked utterly irritated as he rode mere feet behind Siya. It was slightly shocking to see Mina in the air, but Siya had found it really amazing to watch. He wondered what she was exactly, but hadn't thought to ask because he feared being too rude to her.

I feel for ya, Kaed, Marsaili thought. Stupid bird lady...I hope she explodes...or spontaneously combusts...or gets eaten... by a really big bird. She tried to get a hold of her horse, who seemed jittery and nervous.

"Are you sure you can fly all the way there?" Siya called to Mina. "It'll take a few hours to get where we're going." He was worried about her strength, seeing as she'd just fallen on him not but a few hours ago. Behind him, he heard Kaed grumble again.

"If you can't, you can share my horse," Kaed quickly called out, jumping ahead of what he believed Siya was thinking.

Flynn covered his mouth in an attempt to restrain a chuckle. "I don't think you'll want to ride with Kaed. Last person who did that ended up sliding off and got left behind." He sounded like he was talking from experience.

"No such thing happened!" Kaed retorted then turned away from the other protector, propping his head up on his hand. His frown deepened as he glared off into the distance.

"I don't think you have a bruise on your ass to prove it!"

Kaed shifted, and his eyes narrowed as he turned his head to direct his glare to Flynn without saying a word.

The samurai flashed a cocky smirk knowing full well that it may be his last.

Marsaili mocked the conversation whilst trying to make her horse walk like... a horse. Instead of a crab, as it currently chose.

"Ya know, if you can't walk like a good little horsey, I'm gonna burn you into glue. Now knock it off before I melt you from the inside out. Okey dokey? Good." With that, she grasped the reins tightly and gave her horse a warning look.

The hellspawn looked up at Mina and frowned. She had sort of hoped that her wings would fall off. Oh well, there was still time. Instead of listening to the conversation, the demon entertained the thought of the winged girl falling from the sky. Preferably into something like...oh, maybe a lava pit... or Hell... or maybe even into her experiment! She could always use more test subjects...

"I don't think my wings suffered much damage; I should be able to last." Mina lowered down to Siya's level, Kaed refusing to take his eyes off the pair. "Siya, are you really a King?"

Siya smiled warmly at her, oblivious to Kaed's watchful gaze. "Of course. We're heading off to meet a Queen as well. Why do you ask?"

Kaed seemed to sink lower in his saddle, leaning over even further as he listened to the exchange with yet another scowl. His jealousy was getting the best of him, and it wasn't pleasant. However, he couldn't get rid of the feeling as Mina flew close to Siya. Of course, Siya didn't know how Kaed felt; that would explain the young King's manners. Perhaps he would make certain that the winged girl knew exactly where her place was. Several ideas as to how that could be done ran through Kaed's mind, some of which required... delicacy, due to Siya's nature. Others were on par with Marsaili. It frightened Kaed, but just a little.

Mina, in the meantime, could feel Kaed's seething hatred and jealousy. It was almost as bad as dealing with elves, but she did her best to ignore it. She started exchanging a bedtime story with Siya, about magic and Kings protecting it.



Kana

"Shh... It's okay, little guy." Kana looked overhead to the branches of a tall tree, and back to the wounded finch in her hands, which was bleeding at the wings. "You fell from your nest, didn't you?"

With the chick's blood dripping through her fingers like water, feathers sprouted across Kana's arms and in streaks through her hair; rose-colored wings emerged from her shoulder blades, and her bare toes had become talons. Without another moment to spare, the young lady scaled the height of the tree in front of her, stopping just over the injured bird's nest to return it. Kana stopped the chick's bleeding, delicately dealt with broken feathers, and gave it an accomplished smile before dropping back to the ground alone.

"Afternoon, Miss Gotou! Swear you're a dragon in disguise or somethin'." As the effects had worn off and her colorful feathers receded, Kana was greeted by a passing townsman, with a bag full of vegetables and other foodstuff.

"Why do you say that, Jeorge?"

"Ain't ever seen a human shapeshift; even with magic. Then again, all I'd ever seen with magic is killin' things and cheap tricks. Heard the royalty's even thinkin' of makin' some kind of 'games' that are jus' nothin' but mages kickin' each other's asses in giant stadiums." Jeorge got side-tracked often.

"They would have built the stadiums by now if that were true."

"Oh, they're buildin' 'em, alright. They're just not lettin' anyone see until they're finished." Charming, no? "Before I forget, the missus wanted to invite you over for dinner tonight. She thinks it mus' get pretty lonely eatin' all your meals by yourself."

"Thank you, but I wouldn't want to intrude." Jeorge's two sons didn't really like Kana all that much, since they saw her in the middle of exsanguinating a horse some weeks ago. (In Kana's defense, that horse was in the middle of dying when she found it.)

"Well," Jeorge continued as he offered Kana an apple, "if that's your decision, I won't try to change it. I'll make sure Carla knows you're doin' well, though; she gets worried, what with you living alone and using blood for magic and such. Carla feels really good whenever she takes care of someone. She doesn't think she could help you right if somethin' went awry, so it'd just crush her if anythin' happened to you, y'know? You were holed up in your home last week, too, so she was gettin' kinda paranoid."

After a healthy chomp into the fruit Kana replied, "I understand. Could you thank her for me?"

"I'd be glad to, Miss Gotou." Before he let his mind wander too far from the thought of dinner, Jeorge set himself up to leave. "It was nice seein' you again. Take care of yourself, alright?"

"I will." As soon as she and her neighbor parted ways, Kana's thoughts went back to the little chick she'd saved earlier. Maybe I should have killed it to see how long the effect would last. Birds aren't easy to catch when you're stuck on the ground.

"My Lord," Kaed complained, "why must we trudge through this forest?"

"This is the quickest way to the Shrine."

Flynn groaned; he couldn't feel his legs. The samurai muttered to himself, "Also the most uncomfortable way to the Shrine..." He thought of how the wind protectors were probably floating through the clouds and groaned again.

Siya lightly held the reigns in his hands as his horse trod through the trail that led deep into the forest. The shrine was still several hours out, but the young King had figured taking a short cut would at least reduce the amount of time it took to get there. He knew how testy Lady Celeste could be sometimes, and the last thing he wished was for them to get on her bad side immdediately upon arrival.

Turning in the saddle, he grinned at his protector. "I thought you liked forests?"

"Most times..." Kaed replied, but his eyes were shifting through the trees as if he were on high alert — or at least, higher than usual when they weren't at home. Siya sighed and turned back around.

"What could possibly be making you so tense?"

"... Just... a gut feeling," the Protector muttered under his breath. Siya looked over to Mina, who was walking alongside him and Kaed. She must not have been able to fly through.

At this, Flynn chuckled. "Gut feeling? Surely, it isn't a case of wing envy?" Then, thinking about his comment, Flynn realized that he was also quite envious of Mina's wings. The samurai cast a glance—of slight loathing—at the creature directly below him. Boltte was a rough bony horse with an attitude at least five times his weight. Flynn called him "Butt" now, but the joke was still on the Protector—it was his butt hurting after each ride.

That damn girl came from this direction, Kaed thought. This is nymph territory, too, so if they really do hate Mina there's no doubt that there'll be trouble. He looked over to the girl, and noticed how tightly she was clutching her sword. She's anticipating it more than I am, it seems. Sadly, trying to get her away wasn't going to be the best choice at the moment.

"Don't worry." Mina looked surprised to be hearing it from the man who wanted nothing more than to be rid of her; Siya didn't appear to notice. "The king would never abandon someone." She didn't answer, but even if it came from Kaed it made her feel a little more at ease.

Marsaili growled as they entered the forest. The demon did not like the forest. It was too green for her liking. She much prefered red. It was a small thing but still, it irked her. And then there was the fact that it was Mina (or "wingy lady" as she was mentally referring to her as) was being all cagey. Sure, everyone sort of thought Marsaili wouldn't notice it, (to be honest, if Kaed wasn't being so blatently obvious...) but she saw the tight grip on the sword. Yeah. That was not going to fly.

"Well, the king might no' like abandonin' people but I've no problem wit' it. In fact, I have no problem wit' turnin' someone into, oh, let's say, sawdust!" Marsaili flashed a blinding grin to Mina before coaxing her less-than-willing horse to catch up to Siya.

Well, at least one of them might as well protected the poor sod.

"Marsaili," Kaed called, his voice less than pleased, "No one is turning anyone into sawdust."

"Oh, but come on! It would be fun and would certainly bright'n this journey up. S'been so borin'!"

Kaed sighed and put his head back in the palm of his hand. "That doesn't mean you can go around torching whatever you please to dust, Marsaili..."

"No torching from the Fire Protectors?" The Samurai's eyebrows arced, "That's confusing..."

Up ahead, Siya laughed at their bickering. He turned in his saddle to offer some advice for the little girl at further agitating the tall Protector but as he opened his mouth a soft sound caught his attention. He was far to late in realizing that the arrow had already launched at him. By the time he'd turned around in alarm, the projectile struck his shoulder, deep in the tissue. Siya yelled in shock and was knocked off his horse. He fell hard on his back, one hand reaching for the arrow that stuck out of his body.

"Siya!" Kaed shouted as he drew his sword and rushed to Siya's side. The trees were alive with the subtle movement of the nymphs and elves that lived there. Marsaili let out a shrill peal of laughter as she leapt from her horse, drew her sword and plunged it straight into the chest of the nearest being. The elf stared in shock as a little girl slipped her sword underneath the rib cage and prodded his heart. Hard. She giggled, her arm in someone's torso before ripping it out and attacking a second time.

"Phew! No need for sawdust, Kaed! We gots all the fun we need now!" She shouted back, a dagger piercing a stomach and causing a nearby nymph to fall with a scream. Marsaili chuckled, her eyes flashing a fiery orange as the smell of brimstone swirled around her form. Black smoke was drawn out from her body as she let loose a fireball straight from the depths of hell. The hellspawn stood in awe as a few of the attackers burned in the dark smokey flames.

Kinda pretty.

Flynn had been off his horse in an instant—and... had... face-planted into the ground in that same instant. Damn you... Butt. He quickly leapt back to his feet, sword blazing in hand. He glanced in Siya's direction.

Kaed threw a quick look over his shoulder to the girl that looked absolutely pleased with the fight that had just erupted. The Protector, on the other hand, didn't share the same feelings. He wasn't in the least pleased about the sudden fighting.

Marsaili threw her head over and spotted Kaed kneeling over Siya. She looked back up at the attackers and sent a small ball of demonic energy their way. It tired the little girl out but it did give them a little bit of time. Marsaili made her way over to the fallen King, her feet stumbling as a sweat broke over her forehead. Summoning hell was not a nice experience, no matter how natural it felt.

"So, damage...control?" The demon panted, eyes glazing a little as the elves tried to push back the demon energy. It was still connected to her until she dismissed it. Marsaili had always hated that part.

"I'm fine," Siya replied to the girl that stood over him. He smiled up at her even as blood poured between his fingers where he gripped the arrow. He noted that she looked utterly tired and pushed himself up into a sitting position, "Let it go, Marsaili. We'll be fine, don't push yourself."

"You heard him, I'll take care of them. Watch him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." Kaed gave Siya a hard look before swiftly getting to his feet and summoning his own fire magic. What he sacrificed turned to blue dust and sunk into him. Fire erupted all along his body and then exploded from him in the shape of two dragon heads. The power rushed out towards the oncoming elves and nymphs.

He manipulated that power for some time before dismissing it and leaving a trail of burning foliage and bodies behind. Kaed charged head long into the first of several elves, his sword clashing with the closest one and blood covering his weapon and clothes in process.

Marsaili frowned stubbornly and sent a ripple towards the ball of energy, strengthening it, giving it form. Kaed might be able to handle himself but, damn it, she wasn't useless. The ball of black smoke grew in size and swallowed up nearby nymphs. The demon hissed as she fought the urge to let go of the beast and let it settle back in hell. Nope, she could show her dad what she could do. She was not a baby anymore. She screwed her eyes shut and clenched her fists, forcing the parts of hell to stay up and help her.

"I will...n-not...let...it...go." She snarled through her teeth, a little flush taking over her cheeks. "You b-better appreciate this..." She gave Siya a quick look as she kneeled down. No sense wasting energy by standing. Well, that's what her legs were telling her. Marsaili couldn't really care if her legs were tired, the all-consuming feeling of holding the hell energy up was slightly more pressing.

"Marsaili," Siya whispered, in awe at her determination. She was just a small child, but at times it seemed that she was something more than that. Scooting towards her he reached out, but stopped half way. He wasn't sure how to do it, but he'd heard of sharing energy between two people and it involved sacrifices. Siya turned and looked around trying to find something he could sacrifice that would be enough, preferably without using his sword.

He thought of the arrow in his shoulder, the tip was made of metal, right? He concentrated and in a matter of seconds the arrow tip dispersed into energy and he used his orb to take that energy and touched her shoulder. He let that energy transfer through his body and down his bloodied hand into her shoulder.

"I know it's not much, but I hope it's helped," Siya said to her, smiling once again. Marsaili looked down and frowned. Why would he help he- Suddenly that thought was no longer important. The extra energy coursed through her quickly and she reacted. The demonic influx of energy burst forth and shot through the forest. The demon gave a shrill scream as she let out the burst, her nerve endings on fire as well as singing out. Oh, it burned but felt so natural for the young demon. But as suddenly as the energy shot through her, it disappeared and the steady posture she had slumped forward, her hair hanging before her eyes.

"Y-yep...that was...yeah..." Marsaili panted, holding her sides tightly and screwing her eyes shut. She had to get reacquainted with the lack of energy pull and the hell energy slowly seeping back into her. Marsaili shivered as the sweet black fog returned to her. Her instinct was to pull it around her like a security blanket, but she had other things to do. She glanced back at Siya and felt compelled to ask something. She wasn't good at the whole social stuff but hey, she could try.

"S-so...how are you...d-doing...?"

"Fine, Marsaili. Thank you, but I'm more worried about you. You look exhausted." His eyes raised as he caught sight of movement behind Marsaili. He didn't know where Kaed was exactly, but he figured that the taller Protector was still fighting. Siya could hear the clashing of weapons. He lost sight of Mina, but a wild explosion behind him told him she was fighting, too — whether it was for herself or him, he really didn't care at that moment. He was just happy Mina had some fighting spirit in her.

Siya pulled Marsaili close to him with his good hand and once he was on the other side of her, he drew his sword and raised it in one quick fluid motion. Steel scrapped together, hurting his ears and a sharp vibration ran through his arm. He held his ground even as he was kneeling down on one knee. The elf growled at him as he pushed from overhead and brought Siya backwards even further. He could feel his back hitting the small girl behind him, but he didn't relent.

Fire coursed along his arms, erupting in a torrent of red hot flames. They stretched forward, leaping across his limbs and down his sword. The fire then seemed to open up a large gaping mouth and consumed the man before Siya in one sweep, head first. The elf released his sword and stumbled backwards, screaming as his flesh was burned to a crisp. Siya dropped his sword, his shoulder aching painfully by the annoying arrow. Marsaili looked up at the King with glazed eyes, feeling the fire of Hell returning in the pit of her stomach. She rose to her feet shakily, stumbling a little. The demon grabbed her sword quickly and looked at Siya's shoulder. She pulled a face.

"Y-ya see, my problem is that...I-I can't really do very m-much about that...but Kaed can..." The hellspawn gripped her weapon closer, a quick plan formulating in her head.

"But I can d-do a lot over there, and as great as Kaed is doing...h-he'd be better over here." Marsaili finished, her stubborn streak back in full force. She grinned quickly and gave the King a quick wink, some of her confidence swelling back.

"Alright," he finished, "but be careful, Marsaili."

Siya let her go before turning to find Kaed and call him back. It seemed as if Kaed had already realized what was going on though, for he'd been retreating back to Siya's side and wasn't too far from him as Marsaili went to finish off the rest of the fight. Kaed sliced through the remaining elf that opposed him before he dropped back entirely and knelt next to Siya.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his breath short from fighting.

Siya nodded to him, smiling at him to hopefully ease the Protector's worries. Kaed didn't seem to fall for it though. Reaching out he took hold of Siya's shoulder and held him steady as the other hand grasped the arrow shaft. Siya took a deep breath and prepared for the projectile to be removed.

It was quick and swift, though not without a bit of pain. The arrow was freed, missing its tip as he'd sacrificed it moments ago. Siya watched as his own blood spilled down the front of his shirt and onto Kaed's hands, who had put both hands over the wound and summoned his magic. Fire coursed along his shoulder, cauterizing the wound. After Kaed had stopped the bleeding, he tore a piece of cloth off his long attire and began wrapping it around Siya's shoulder.

"I swear, you're so careless..." Kaed muttered as he worked. Siya flushed and looked down as he let the Protector bandage him up.

"I'm sorry."

"Try to be more cautious next time, please? If not for yourself then for me," Kaed took Siya's chin in his hand and forced the King to look up at him. He was filled with worry and a deeper caring than Siya knew about. He felt awkward sitting there next to him, a burn across his cheeks revealing that he was only slightly embarrased to be looked at in such a way.

"Alright, Kaed," he answered slowly. Kaed smiled then, the hard look softening and he pulled Siya into a tight hug. Marsaili let out a little wolf whistle and giggled, appearing right behind the two.

"I hope I ain't interruptin' anyfink, but I'm finished!" She sang out in a sweet voice, still a little sensitive from her previous attack. The charred bodies lay scattered around the clearing and little puffs of smoke rose from the ashes. The demon surveyed the scene around her quickly, and found a weary Mina returning with a few burns herself. I didn't do it! was the first thing on the little demon's mind, though it was actually true... for once. Mina was blowing things up and left just as bad a mark on the woods as Marsaili did.

"Yep, I don't think we gotta worry about those guys again." She smiled, face streaked with ash and sword over her shoulder. Despite her confidence returning, she still walked a little like a baby deer, stumbling and stuttering. She tried to hide this and bit her lip. "Does this still mean we have to go to wind lady's house?"

Siya blushed furiously as Kaed held him tightly. There for a moment he'd felt safe in the Protector's arms, a different feeling washing over him as they sat there. He shoved Kaed away from him who only grinned at his King's embarrasment. Siya looked up at the man with a slight glare.

"Yes, this still means we have to go to the Shrine," Siya replied quickly, desperate to have something else to talk about rather than Kaed's sudden show of affection towards him.

Marsaili groaned and pulled a face. "But we almost died! Well, you did... so surely, that gets us out of visiting her!" Marsaili whined, her large orange eyes looking up at Siya through her fringe pleadingly.

"If you don't want him to truly die, Marsaili, then we have to go. Lady Celeste would most defintely kill him." Kaed muttered the last part with a sigh. The King of Air was most difficult at times — especially if you called her "King".

"Pfft, I could take her on! Any day! And Siya dying would put a damper on things, but that's not a problem when I'm around. Thus, we don't have to visit airy lady, and we can go home, and I can raid the cupboards for Flynn's cookies." The demon spawn finished with her hands on her hips and a pout firmly fixed onto her face. She really didn't get why this was such a problem.

Siya laughed at the girl's moaning. She sure had a strange way of interpreting things. He got to his feet slowly, careful of moving his injured shoulder too much. He almost wished that he were young like her and without a care in the world. However, that wasn't how it worked for him and the other Kings.

"We have to go, Marsaili. I promise when we get back that you can have any goodies that you'd like, alright?" Siya said, patting her head gently as he passed her to remount his horse.

Marsaili stopped to think for a second before beaming. "Sure! I can deal with that!" The demon skipped back over to her horse, her body listing as she tried to get her bearings back. Jeez, this summoning hell business was not as easy as it looked. She hopped back onto her horse, muscles complaining.

"Tally ho!" She yelled, her horse galloping forward. She had gone a little distance before something occured to her. She looked back at the rest of the group, a little grin on her lips. "Ya know...I don't really know where we're goin'... Oh well! Forward is a good place to start!" With a peal of cackles, she took off once again, leaving everyone else to catch up.

Kanan, Freece, Aeraki, Celeste, Tien, and Emrys

Kanan tensed as Aeraki suddenly burst into motion. He thought for a mere second of utter shock that she was about to latch onto him once more. He watched her carefully, only calming a little as he heard her say Freece's name much like she'd done his.

"Fleece~" She called out, mimicking her pattern from earlier and lacing delicate arms around his neck, though only brushing her lips across his cheek. "Give me a piggy-back ride, I'm suddenly too lazy to walk." And blatantly ignoring the fact of her wings, which she drooped to add effect.

Upon hearing the nickname that Freece hates, there could be a noticeable vein throbbing on the right upper portion of his forehead, It was intensified more as the fae attached herself on his back. He would never know why Aeraki liked to pester him most of the time.

"Oi you Airhead, let's get things straight. Don't call me that! I am not a sheep! And second you have wings to fly! So fly!"

With all of that said, Freece begrudgingly carried Aeraki despite his complaints. The fae after all was not that heavy to begin with. Even when he would be expressive in his dislikes and rude remarks, in the end, he would still do what is asked of him. Well, he still mumbled and occasionally jolted the fae by bumping her to the nearby trees or rocky walls.

Aeraki was used to this behavior by now, able to deftly avoid being jolted too much, though the motion was progressively becoming repetitive to her. She was sure that Freece regarded her as a child, a mistake a lot of people tended to make for her behavior. Oh well! It made her observations go that much smoother and it helped that he wasn't on guard about it, not that it'd make much different if he was. She shifted her gaze downwards as she flicked her brush around idly with a free hand, scattering the water on the tip all over the place. This was too long of a walk, she needed to be entertained...! Wait a minute, wasn't the knot of the tie of Kanan's eyepatch uneven? Huh... She stared at it, squinting to see if it was indeed parallel or uneven, fortunately distracting herself long enough to stop squirming and sit still for once.

"Hey Disco Wings... Stop waving that pen around!"

Freece shouted in irritation as he shook his head where some of the water nestled. After doing so, he stopped walking and looked over his shoulder. His deep green eyes were sligtly more richer in color due to the spark of annoyance present within. Furthermore, why is that this sad excuse for a fae can't pick on herself. She is a perfect candidate for her antics. Although, he noticed that Aeraki was looking at something or more specifically someone else. Following that line of sight, he noticed it was the new addition to the group of protectors, Kanan.

Kanan felt a stare at the back of his head and turned just enough to see what was going on. Aeraki was still for once, albeit on Freece's shoulders, but still non-the-less. He sighed inwardly, that girl was a lot of trouble... another thing he had trouble coping with. The silver-haired protector turned back around and continued forward as they were making their way to the Shrine.

He idly wondered who they were going to meet there. He hadn't seen any of the other protectors or the Kings before. Curiosity was working it's way into his system and before he knew it he was lost in thought, wondering what they were going to be like. To add to his curiosity he felt a pang of guilt run through him. What Lady Celeste had spoken of back at Anemoi. Were they really going to fight the other protectors? Kanan hoped they wouldn't have to. Kanan straightened, stiffening slightly and berated himself for having been lost to his thoughts. It wasn't like him to question things so much, or for so long either. He sighed inwardly and continued following the others towards the Shrine. They would be there very soon.

Emrys looked back at the trio of Protectors trailing behind him and let out an indignant sigh. Personally, he wasn't sure that they were qualified as the princess' Protectors. Kanan was a 'maybe'. The other two were simply insubordinate and, at worst, untrustworthy. Shifu Tien, though impassibly wise and knowledgeable, was simply no longer fit.

The group reached the Shrine within a few minutes. They were the first there, just as Lady Celeste liked to have things. Kanan was starting to get used to the way she planned stuff. It was only a matter of time before the other King's entered the area as well.

Siya and Kaed

"We'll have to leave the horses here, the woods are too thick for them to go through," Siya said as he slowly dismounted, careful of his injury. Perhaps if things went well, Lady Celeste would heal the wound for him. He could only hope that she would be in a good mood. On the other hand though, his thoughts had been filled with Kaed for the remainder of the trip. The tall protector had looked so worried when Siya had been injured.

There had been a look in his eyes that had shocked Siya and stirred something else inside him as well. He wasn't sure what the feeling was yet, but he could still feel it, swirling around at the back of his mind and causing chills to run their course across his body. The young King took a quick look to his protector. The tall man was quite pleasing to look at, his long black hair always flowing around his face, his dark red eyes were the most alluring. He was warm, comforting and Siya's closest friend among his protectors.

Kaed turned his eyes down, catching the King staring at him. Siya flushed and before he turned he caught Kaed's taunting smile. His heart beat had picked up erratically, his throat tight as he quickly went around to the front of his horse and took the reigns. He tied the beast to the nearest tree and tried hard not to look in Kaed's direction.

"Just beyond here is the Shrine. We should hurry through, I'm sure Lady Celeste is waiting for us as it is nearing the time to be there," the young King announced, looking up through a break in the canopy above him. The stars were getting brighter as night settled in further. Siya took the lead, bringing his companions through the thick brush and trees. It was a lushes forest, beautiful in more than one way and far enough from any prying eyes or well traveled roads.

This place was where the Kings held most of their meetings should they ever all need to be contacted for one reason or another. Siya, naturally, knew the exact way to get to the small clearing where the Shrine was. As he broke through the thick greenery, his eyes were met by Lady Celeste and her troupe already there, just as he suspected. Off in the distance, he could hear another group rummaging through the forest as well and could only assume that is was Lord Byre and his protectors.

Siya offered her a smile and bowed to her. Kaed followed suite and offered quick, sharp, glances to the other protectors as a silent order for them to do the same. Siya straightened and looked up at the Shrine nestled in the far side of the clearing. The woods were slowly beginning to take it over, vines wrapping up the large pillars of the small structure. The stone was dark with years of elemental wear against it. However, it still kept its alluring beauty and power. Siya could feel it eminating from the center of the Shrine, a small square hole where offerings were usually burnt.

"My Lady," Siya offered to her as he stepped in closer to the shrine and the King of Air, or rather, Queen as she prefered, "I assume you know of the Water Kings death. Once Lord Byre is here, I would like to propose a means of finding a new King," he stated simply, trying to keep it short and too the point as to not waste time, but also to assert that he had plans of his own as well.

Hebi

The woods were cool, dark and inviting for a being such as himself. They'd left the Earth Kingdom and had made their way to the meeting place, only stopping once. Hebi, all the while, kept his smile to himself. Of course, he didn't have much to be smiling about as he had only heard portions of what his King and Eugene had talked about, but it was still amusing none-the-less.

The trees were getting thicker as they moved and Hebi knew then that they were much closer to the Shrine then. It would only be a matter of minutes before they were at the meeting. The meeting. How dull, Hebi thought to himself, loosing the amused smile for just a moment. He had better things to do and more interesting ideas to say the least.

No matter. As long as he didn't have to do much, then it wasn't a problem. He followed his King as they broke through the brush, entering the Shrine.

Celeste, Emrys, and Tien

The Shrine of Aridea stood at the center of Lastra and had stood there for—by scholars’ estimates—at least four millennia. What made the Shrine unique in comparison to the other objects from three millennia ago was the fact that it still held all the glamour that it had back when it had first been built—personally, Celeste believed it was as old as the continent itself. A ring of glistening marble pillars stood about thirteen feet high forming a large ring around a circular area. Pairs of pillars were topped by granite creating what appeared as eight gateways leading to the area at the center which was tiled with reflective obsidian. At the center of the shrine was a circular table.

When she was a child, Nicholas MacAvelia had often taken his daughter to the Shrine. He would detail to her wondrous tales of the eldritch lore and ancient civilizations associated with the Shrine—it had always served as an important meeting place, whether it was peaceful meetings or combative ones varied from time to time. The Shrine of Aridea was, actually, one of Celeste’s favorite places in Aridea and she visited on a regular basis.

Today, however, the Shrine wasn’t the first thing on the Princess’ mind. Today was the day when the realization of her dream and her father’s dream would finally begin. At this meeting, Celeste would begin part of an elaborate plan to unite the four elements.

“Princess Celeste?”

“Emrys, how many times have I told you not to call me by titles?”

“Sorry, Princess Celeste,”—she flashed him a glare, which he seemingly ignored—,“I have just received news about the approaching party from the Fire Kingdom and it seems that—”

“Yes, they have another person with them. The Exelves have returned.”

Emrys nodded. He was completely used to the Princess knowing information before he told her—she always seemed to have her ‘sources’. “My lady, perhaps you should reconsider meeting like this.”

“This is the perfect opportunity, Emrys.” She looked at him with a defiant grin, “How could I miss this?”
Freece released another yawn while still giving Aeraki a piggyback ride. His eyes were bordering between the realm of dreams and the realm of darkness. In short, he was quite sleepy and bored out of his mind. The grandeur of the Shrine did not help to invigorate his senses. Instead, he was getting impatient from all the waiting since the other Royalties seemed to take the scenic route.

She turned to the other Protectors, “Guys, we have a guest of the Fire King coming; she is one of the Exelves. I would like you all to behave in her presence—I won’t have you terrorizing Prince Siya’s guest, no matter what your instincts tell you. Is that clear—Aeraki and Freece?”

"What do I care about some Exelves or whatever it is called? If it's not a dougnut, I don't care."

As if to emphasize his point, Freece finally released his support on Aeraki letting her fall or fly on her own whatever flies her boat. After doing that, he stretched his arms upwards and could feel the rumble of his stomach.
"Anyway, where can I find some breakfast here?"

"If you wait patiently," Shifu Tien suggested, "You will be in for a pleasant surprise. The Shrine of Aridea is an excellent place to meet and, also, to eat!"

Celeste smiled in agreement. The Shrine of Aridea did provide fine cuisine--through some sort of magic. Whenever a meeting convened, a variety of dishes--selected seemingly to the tastes of those present--would shimmer into existence on the center table. It was another one of the wonders of the Shrine.

There was a rustling of branches in the forest. From the corner of her eye, Celeste could see Emry's hand floating to the handle of his sword. She raised a hand to stop him just as the Fire King and his troupe of fire Protectors broke into the clearing. A group of five characters, the King was walking in the lead, a long and dark haired Protector was strutting right beside him--Kaed Kuhti. Trailing close behind the King was a small girl, with wings--the Exelve. There was a young looking girl--a odd aura seemed to emanate from her--Marsali, the demon child. And last was, perhaps, the most ordinary looking Protector the Princess had ever laid eyes on--Aarynn Fletcher.

The Wind Princess studied the group for a moment and took in numerous details.

First of all, there was the odd arrangment which the group traveled in. It seemed as though everyone, aside from the King, was trying to distance themselves from the Exelve. Clearly, she was a new addition to the group and, perhaps, had incurred the jealousy and or hatred of the other Protectors.

They manner in which they walked, with an odd posture, indicated that they had come on horseback--the horses were no where in sight. They must have been left behind when the forest became too thick.

Then, there was the way in which the group carried themselves--they seemed rather exhausted, as if they had recently expended a significant amount of mana. There were several light patches of dirt on his clothes as well as on the clothes of his Protectors--perhaps there had been a skirmish on the way here. And then, Celeste noticed it--a slight hesitation in the King's shoulder. A wound.

Siya offered her a smile and bowed to her. Kaed and Aarynn quickly followed suit, the former casting a glance at the other two Protectors.

The Princess returned the smile and bowed as well.

"My Lady," Siya offered to her as he stepped in closer to the shrine, "I assume you know of the Water King's death. Once Lord Byre is here, I would like to propose a means of finding a new King."

"You assume correctly, Prince Siya. Yes, I have called you here to discuss our next course of action in regards to the Water King." She reached out and, with a bit of magic, blew a leaf off of the Fire King's shoulder--it had been Forest Nymphs that had attacked the Fire troupe. A slight hint of mint filled the air. "But, first, let me tend to your wound."

She reached into Amalthea, the enchanted pouch strapped to her right thigh and produced a small vial containing a brownish liquid. "This is Amrita--sometimes called Ambrosia," she explained, uncapping the vial. "It will heal you very quickly, though, it may sting a bit at first." She put several drops onto her index finger and indicated his wound, silently asking if he would let her apply the medicine.

Another group broke into the forest--Earth King Byre's men.

Celeste smiled. "I believe it's about time to get our meeting started."

The rest of the journey was more to say a humdrum. Assassinations, attacks, common thievery and the such never occurred or loomed over Byre even once. Somehow, it was a bit of disappointing in his opinion. After all, it was not too often that he manages to leave the domains of his kingdom. Yet, there had been little inputs along the way as he traveled with his chosen Protectors. The twisting conversations with Eugene, the fleeting observations towards Hebi, and his last protector who entertains him through silence. It was a conundrum of eccentricities that he appreciated in different ways.

"Master, they have already arrived."

Radiating within his consciousness, Telius' conjecture brought the Young King to the reason for this sudden walk out of his realm. The odd familiar was still lounging on top of Byre's shoulder as if it was a charming nest of softness. It seemed that the Wind and Fire Rulers had arrived at the Shrine of Aridea. As such, there was no need for him to linger around in such a relaxing pace. He had only done so in respect to the pride of the Wind Princess who always desired being on time. Adding to that, he did like the idea of being waited upon. It is one of the many luxuries of being late and awareness of the time.

"And so did we."

After stating that, Byre walked through the bushes that had gratefully parted to give way to the Earth King. His clothes reflected his status and rather militaristic qualities of his dominion. He wore white collared shirt with a blue necktie overlapped with a black vest which was covered by an opened military jacket with gold stripes at the end of its sleeves matched by a pair of black pants, half gloves on his hands, and combat boots on his feet. Upon the jacket, there were respective medals and badges some connected intricately by lithe silver chains. It fitted his form perfectly and not a speck of dust or leaf could be seen on his person. He was a vision and without a doubt inherited his father's intimidating yet good looks.

"Greetings Lady Celeste." Byre offered accompanied by a cordial bow to the female King who would without a doubt take another step in this three-way game of chess or even perhaps there were more players than he could conclude.

"I extend them also to you Lord Siya." In this regard, Byre only offered a courteous nod of the head. He had took notice the brief scent of magic that pilfered the winds, the touch of cinnamon and the allure of the forest nymphs.

"You seemed to have trouble on the way Fire King. It is good to know you are still here with us."

The string of words that Byre spoke had no specific tone of sympathy or concern. One could say it was rather empty and dull as if spoken only through the lore of politeness. This was only evident more to his rather apathetic expression as he slightly observed Siya's condition. His eyes also transferred to the Fire King's chosen Protectors.

"It is a pleasing thought that you have reliable protectors with you. Keep them well."

There was a seemingly underlying meaning to those word that its depth has yet to be seen. After saying that, Byre's eyes made a passing glance to a specific guest in the Fire Crew. The sense of a tainted being emitted from the frail form of a girl. He had read about such a creature once in a passing whim. It seemed that the world still have many secrets to be revealed to him. Knowing such concoction, the Earth King only spared a second worth glance to his protectors. He expected them to behave or his temperament would not only be limited to mere chaining them to the wall. It was delivered with the subtle serious intent within those greenish-blue eyes of his that seemed to glow.

As if to emphasize this, Telius who was still on Byre's shoulder delivered his words through the mind of the Earth Protectors in complete secrecy to the others present.

"Bad servants shall be punished. Will you be able to be good little protectors? I highly doubt it."

While the mental charade was going on, Byre once more looked at the Wind Princess and her retinue once she was done healing the wounded Fire King.

"Shall we begin then? The matters to be discussed are of great concern after all. The Balance and The Future are on the agenda as they always have."

Without further ado, Byre lead the way knowing full well his protectors would follow to where the Center Table laid. However, the Earth King stopped before the entrance and gestured for the Wind Princess to enter first. After all, he still have his trained and innate manner to consider in such instances.

"After you, Lady Celeste."

Siya and Kaed

"You assume correctly, Prince Siya. Yes, I have called you here to discuss our next course of action in regards to the Water King. But, first, let me tend to your wound."

Siya watched her as she blew at him, a leaf left over from the fight earlier fluttered passed his ear and fell into the grass behind them. He looked down at his shoulder, the blood from earlier still stained his dark black clothing. The form fitting dress wear stretched across his chest and lithe frame, extending out down passed his waist. Once the black cloth reached his waist it broke open into four solid pieces, forming a robe like piece of clothing, but easily movable should he need it to be. He grimaced at the reminder of the arrow wound that Kaed had cauterized for him, but not fully healed.

"This is Amrita--sometimes called Ambrosia," she explained, uncapping the vial. "It will heal you very quickly, though, it may sting a bit at first."

He watched her pull the vial from her pack and then put a few drops of the dark liquid onto her fingertip. Near his right shoulder, Kaed stiffened slightly, a little uneasy about the woman giving something to his King. Siya turned and smiled at him warmly.

"Go ahead," he told her.

"Greetings Lady Celeste. I extend them also to you Lord Siya," it was Byre who spoke as he came through the brush to join in on the meeting. Siya turned to him as he'd been in the middle of undoing the wrapping that Kaed had put around his shoulder.

"Greetings, Lord Byre," Siya replied in kind, nodding his head as well to the other.

"You seemed to have trouble on the way Fire King. It is good to know you are still here with us," Lord Byre continued, his gaze sweeping off to the side to criticize the wound that Siya had received.

The young King offered a small smile in return as he completely unraveled the wrappings for Celeste to apply her medicine, "Nothing that we couldn't handle, but thank you for your concern."

Kaed huffed in reply to Siya's words and leaned forward, "That was not kindness he showed you, my Lord."

"Hush, Kaed," Siya replied and felt Celeste's warm fingertip touch his shoulder and rub in the Ambrosia. It indeed, did sting and Siya winced at it but didn't allow any other discomfort to show on his face. He bit his tongue to keep quiet as well and stood straight as he allowed her to deal with the wound.

"It's not polite to be whispering to your king, Protector," the cruel, cold words filtered through the air and Kaed slowly looked over from Siya's shoulder. The young King turned his own gaze to see who had spoken and spotted the grinning face of a dark haired, pale faced protector standing on Byre's left side. His long locks of black hair resembled Kaed's, but they were straighter, thicker than the fire protector. If memory served well, Siya knew this one to be Hebi. The man reached up and pulled his hair into his hands behind his head, giving him a darker look than before.

"You should hold your tongue, Hebi," Kaed replied with a hiss.

"Stop," Siya ordered his voice laced with the discomfort he was feeling from Celeste's Ambrosia. He threw his hand out in front of Kaed who had reached for his sword. It hurt to move, but he did so anyway, his eyes narrowing as he winced.

"It is a pleasing thought that you have reliable protectors with you. Keep them well."

"Yes... I do... value them," Siya replied slowly, giving Kaed a disappointed look. The stinging subsided finally and he chanced a quick look to his shoulder. The skin was healing and soon nothing was left to say that he'd been wounded at all. He smiled warmly at Celeste, "Thank you," he turned to Kaed and sent him a look that said 'See? I'm alright.' Of course, Kaed only rolled his eyes and crossed his arms instead.

"I believe it's about time to get our meeting started," Celeste announced.

"Shall we begin then? The matters to be discussed are of great concern after all. The Balance and The Future are on the agenda as they always have," Byre concluded and turned to where the center table was. He stopped before taking a seat and offered for Lady Celeste to go first.

Siya followed right after and took his seat as soon as Celeste was seated first. It was with a great deal of inner conflict before he decided that he should throw his opinion out there for all to consider before things got under way, he hoped sincerely that they would take his side, but he also had a feeling that there was going to be much conflict as well. A hand on his shoulder caught his attention and he looked up to see Kaed standing right by his side. The tall, dark haired protector offered him a genuine smile of comfort. Siya dazzled at the look, the dark red eyes seemingly to enchant him before he finally returned his attention to the others.

"Before we undergo anything, I suggest that we look for the King of Water first. Once he is found, than we can concentrate our efforts on finding the water orb. We can pool our own power to look for the King, we all know how a King's power is and so it shouldn't be to hard for us to find the new King. If we were to try to find the orb first, we would never get anywhere. The sooner we get started, the faster we can gain balance again."

Hebi Irikisha

"Bad servants shall be punished. Will you be able to be good little protectors? I highly doubt it."

Hebi's lips upturned into a cruel smile as the words reverberated through his mind. He knew it was coming from the pitiful excuse for a bird that was perched on his King's shoulder. As they made their entrance, Hebi had looked all around them, noting who was there. All of the protectors were present and he noted also that the Fire King seemed to be injured. He raised an eyebrow slightly, his deep, sickly green eyes narrowing in on the young King. A smile of satisfaction crossed his lips as he watched the taller protector, Kaed was it? Lean in to speak to his King after Lord Byre had gone through his greetings.

What proceeded afterwards was uncontrollable on Hebi's side and as he watched Kaed reaching for his sword, he felt an adrenaline rush course through him. He didn't move, only stood there, hoping, wishing, that Siya would let his protector off the leash. However, it seemed that the young King had some semblance of order among his ranks. With a dissatisfied frown, he turned away and watched as the King's moved into the center of the Shrine to sit at the table.

Hebi didn't move from his spot, of course he could already feel his King's anger at what had transpired before hand. He was sure to be punished later, but it didn't bother Hebi all that much. He let his hands fall down to his chest where he crossed them, his long, thick hair followed and framed his face. Turning slightly, he offered a wicked grin to Eugene. His thoughts turned from antagonizing the fire protector, Kaed, to how he could possibly irritate Eugene this time?

Celeste

The forest haired Princess of the Winds observed the others present at the table with a look of curiosity.

The King of Earth, solemn and much more tactful than his father was still very much like his predecessor—he didn’t to be very close in relation to his Protectors and it was clear that neither he nor his Protectors truly trusted or cared much for the other. A dangerous relationship to have with one’s Protectors.

On the other hand, the King of Fire was fairly young and acted as such. He seemed to be on such close terms with his Protectors. Close enough that, at times, it almost seemed as if he needed their approval before acting—especially the approval of the dark haired Protector, Kaed. Such trust rendered one vulnerable to manipulation. An equally dangerous sort relationship to have.

Personally, Celeste wasn’t too close to her Protectors but she wasn’t distant from them either—or, at least, she tried not to be. It was faulty to place oneself in a situation that would cause one to depend on another. It was also faulty not to trust anyone.

She watched as the Fire King and his Protector exchanged meaningful glances. The two clearly meant a lot to each other.

Siya turned. "Before we undergo anything, I suggest that we look for the King of Water first. Once he is found, than we can concentrate our efforts on finding the water orb. We can pool our own power to look for the King, we all know how a King's power is and so it shouldn't be too hard for us to find the new King. If we were to try to find the orb first, we would never get anywhere. The sooner we get started, the faster we can gain balance again."

Celeste’s eyebrows arched. “Has it occurred to you that, at this exact moment, it is entirely possible that we are being observed—our every movement taken note of? Whoever is behind the death of the Water King probably has eyes on us and our orbs.” She looked deeply into the Fire King’s light red eyes. “The worst thing we could do is lead our shadows to the next Water King. Without the Orb of Water, they’ll easily kill him.”

“It’s possible,” she continued, looking around the room, looking at all the faces around her and stopping on Byre, “that we are being watched right now. That is why I propose a different plan of action.”

"But first..." She produced two small cards—thin and black with tiny red words scrawled across them—, placed them on the table, and slid them to the other two seated persons. "Do what you will."

Emrys

Since the moment that the other two troupes had broken into the enclave, Emrys had kept his eyes on two individuals.

The man who called himself Aarynn Fletcher acted a little too normal. He had been trailing behind the other of the Fire King’s Protectors—right after a skirmish. Following a dangerous situation, it would only be natural for a King’s Protectors to be crowding around them. That left two options: Fletcher was an inept Protector who simply had no idea what he was doing or… he knew exactly what he was doing—it is we who have no idea what he is doing.

Then, there was the snaky one—Hebi Irikisha. There was something about how the dark haired Protector moved—something about how he seemed to drift closer to the King of Fire when one wasn’t looking; something about the way he stared at Siya’s wound before it had been healed.

Emrys made sure that his right hand was ready to unsheathe his blade should it be necessary.

She woke up again, not having remembered falling asleep in the first place. Huh? What was.. going on? Aeraki shot up, wings fluttering behind her in slight disarray as she tried to figure out precisely where she was and why the hell the cracks in the walls were partially disjointed and not even straight! Terra and earth combined, that was really annoying, look at all those jagged shapes and--oh, wait, something smelled funny. She wobbled unsteadily on her feet as she gazed around, sniffing her hands. What was that scent? HMMMM. The confusion. It increased. And then it hit her, much like many of the things that she forgot only to recall later--she had been on Fleece's back! That was why she smelled kind of like furry sheep. Well, not really but it was better to assume that she did than know what he actually smelled like. Wait, where was Fleece anyway? Had he gone bah-bah-sheep and realized his true place among the flock of said animal?!

She had to save him--he wasn't ready to join his kin--oh hey, what were all those people doing over there?

Concern for Fleece vanished on the spot as she took a few steps forward, easily growing bored of walking and letting her wings flutter a bit faster to allow her to levitate off the ground. Whoa. Where had they all come from...? She was pretty sure she wasn't sniffing the water off her pen brush... She had made that mistake some years back and had been delirious for days. (In other words, very attentive and incredibly focused) That was terrible! So much vivid detaaaaaail... Okay, so they weren't some phantoms of her mind. That had to mean they were real. Not that she'd think of such retarded looking people anyway--seriously, that dude with the red hair and stupid look on his face wasn't anything she'd ever deign to imagine. And that other dude with the eyepat--OH THAT WAS KANANANAN. Ahem, she knew that!

She was only looking at all these people because there was really nothing else to do--oh whoa, that little chick with the stuffed animals, was she ripping them to shreds? That was pretty cool. Like, really cool. Aeraki was already making plans to hang out with this girl after the meeting, clearly she knew what was up when it came to having fun. She paused, was that speaking going on? Ohhhhh, this was a meeting... How. Terribly. Boring. That edge of her brush looked pretty sharp... or she could draw herself a knife... to end the suffering of such terrible--then something caught her eye. To be more specific, someone. Aeraki stopped her mental rambling and her orange orbs swiveled over to a man partially hidden by shadows and possessing a rather snake-like stare. It wasn't really his looks that caught her attentions or even his speech, for she kind of tuned out what everyone was saying anyway.

It was his scent. He carried it with him, the scent of that terrible mar upon the beauty of the earth. She wrinkled her nose in absolute disgust and tilted her chin upwards, crossing her arms over her chest. Aeraki proceeded to sit cross-legged mid-air, lashes falling over her eyes in a half-lidded fashion as she puffed up her cheeks in discontent. What was he doing carrying it's scent with him? And why would he be associating with it anyway? It had been some years since their last interaction, in fact, Aeraki didn't like to linger on the details of when. Suffice to say it hadn't been long enough since the last meeting and for sure she could wait at least a century more for the next one.

For once, she fell to a sort of posture regarding brooding, a rare mood to settle across one such as her. The fae was discontent to say the least but wasn't about to voice her suspicions or start throwing accusations around. Maybe she was mistaken. But then again, she rarely was. She had an artist's sense about these things after all. Pah. This meeting needed to be over really soon.

Without further ado, the meeting had finally commenced as the Three Remaining Ruler of Elements sat upon the center table. It goes without a doubt that these people vary in more ways than one. This difference does not end only with their chosen elements, it was also on how they view things especially on what must happen first. As such, they began discussing certain key issues which would be about the continuance of balance in Lastra . One to be noted was the suggestion of the Fire King, Siya.

"Before we undergo anything, I suggest that we look for the King of Water first. Once he is found, than we can concentrate our efforts on finding the water orb. We can pool our own power to look for the King, we all know how a King's power is and so it shouldn't be too hard for us to find the new King. If we were to try to find the orb first, we would never get anywhere. The sooner we get started, the faster we can gain balance again."

The young Lord of Earth leaned on his chair and looked at Siya who was still recovering from his early mishaps from the travels to the Shrine. He had concluded that the demise of the Water King would be one of the many concerns to be discussed. So, they should seek the Heir to the Water Orb. However, it would be a dangerous move to do so. The murder of an Element King was not an easy task. It showed that great care and patience was taken to ensure the success of such a heinous deed. A meticulous plan was conceived and without doubt, he can conclude that the mastermind behind all of these was waiting for another perfect chance to strike.

It was the turn of the Wind Princess to speak. Her words were well-founded and he had a feeling that the she liked taking the lead or even more so to make the first move. His greenish-blue eyes gazed at Celeste more so when she directed her attention him. Byre took the note as Telius, Earth King's familiar, who remained on his shoulder peeked to look at the card which was handed. He did not mind at all as he calmly read its contents. No expression or notable change could be seen across his face. As such, it was hard to tell whether he agreed to it or held objections.

"Utterly ridiculous."

These were the words that left Byre's lips. There were no signs of reprieve, hesitation, or apprehension even. He had delivered it in an indifferent manner although, his voice could be heard loud and clear. To emphasize his point further, he tore the card into pieces and with ease and then turned its fragments into dirt as he allowed it to fall on the ground from his hand. He then stood from his seat and then looked at the Fire King first.

"I will only speak of this once. So, do listen well."

Then the Earth King transferred his attention to the Wind Princess who spoke of the words of unison. In his childhood days, he had heard how much of a thorn was the old Wind King in the words of his fallen father. Perhaps, the apple does not truly fall from the tree.

"Severus Damien is dead and I have killed him."

After saying that, Byre's powers activated as the grounds outside the Shrine trembled at the issuance of the Earth King. His words did not drip with ridicule or humor. It was delivered with precised conviction and those eyes of green-blue did not betray any intentions that the Earth King might have.

"Now, you know your enemy. What will you do Fire King Siya, Wind Princess, Celeste? Shall we now play a game of war? I will take hold of the Water Orb and all of yours. Make this as the declaration of war."

After saying that, Byre turned his back from the two Rulers. Telius remained on his shoulder as it looked at the two Kings instead with those crystal red eyes that showed no change of expressions.

"Master, you are making such a bold move."

Without answering the noted commentary to him, Byre left the Shrine of Aridea with his protectors in tow. He grabbed hold of Hebi's hair on the way out and technically dragged the said protector to show that he was rather irritated at his arrogance. Furthermore, disobedience was something that young Lord of Earth did not take lightly. It also showed that his punishment was to come. He also noted that the Lare might finally catch on what the meaning of the light conversation they had on the way.

"Let us leave. It is time to prepare for a war."

After saying that, Byre disappeared from sight along with his protectors. The move he had done had made him a villain in everyone's eyes. However, the truth of those statements were not to be casually dissuaded. After all, the Earth King never makes light of the words he speaks. He was the kind to follow through and that made the King Byre frightening in the eyes of his dominion and fellow nations.