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Standard disclaimer: I don’t own the series.
AN: Okay, Microsoft Word is being verrrry difficult right now. I have spend over 30 minutes trying to get it to work. Urg. It’s a long story that I bet you don’t wanna hear about, so I will just skip it. It’s working right now, so I am going to type the story before it decides to mutiny against me again…
Oh, yeah! The king mentions a “great-grandmother” during the first scene. Un, the woman is not actually his great-grandmother. She is actually his ancestor from 500 years ago. Just pointing that out.
Oh, and Nina Windia, I made some slight adjustments to chapter 21. I tried to change the narration. Let me know if it’s okay.
“Everything that happened is explained in detail in the report that I have given you,” Strife said. He was currently standing in the main chamber of Castle Wyndia, reporting the odd incident that he and Nina dealt with a little while ago.
Before him, seated on a throne of gold, was King Joshua de Wyndia. To the King’s right, was a smaller throne where his wife, Queen Marietta de Wyndia was seated. On his left was a throne where Nina was sitting.
Nina had changed from her street clothes and was currently dressed in a pink dress with white puffy long sleeves that fell to her ankles. Her long hair was pulled back into a half ponytail that ended in curls at the bottom.
Two guards were flanking Strife as he stood before the royal family. Several other guards were stationed around the throne room, swords and spears at attention.
The king nodded as he reread through Strife’s report. He gravely looked at the report, not quite believing what he was reading. He had just recently read a report given to him by a one Captain Cyrus Johnston of the Wyndian Rangers Guild. Apparently, this was just one of many demon sightings.
Rangers were, after all, originally created to defeat monsters.
What both reports said, however, was what had the king on the edge of his seat. Humans that were given ungodly power by some… thing that they called god. The king was pretty much worried about this.
Strife, however, did not mention Nina’s involvement in the defeat of the unknown man-turned-demon. Her parents worried enough as it was.
Nina sat on the edge of her seat, listening to Strife’s report. The king finally laid the report down on his lap and sighed. He looked at Strife and gave him a wary nod.
“You… know what must be done, yes?” the king asked.
Strife nodded solemnly. “Yes, my king. I shall depart tonight.”
“May Ladon keep you safe,” the king said.
Nina blinked in confusion. “What?” she turned to her father. “Wait, where’s Strife going?”
The king didn’t even bother to look at his daughter. “That is none of your concern, Nina. Strife has his orders, and he will follower them out.” The king turned his attention to Strife. “You are dismissed.”
Strife gave the king a nod, then turned his back to the royals and walked out, his cape billowing out behind him as he walked.
Nina looked at her mother, desperation evident on her youthful face. “Mother, what is the meaning of this?!”
The queen said nothing. Instead, she stared straight ahead. Nina clenched her fists and turned back to her father. “Father! What is going on?”
The king said nothing to Nina. Instead, he gestured to the two guards to come forward. They came and knelt down before the king. They then rose and awaited their orders.
“Guards, please escort the princess to her room and keep guard there. Make sure she is not to leave her room.”
“Father?!” Nina snapped. “What… what is going on?!”
The queen sighed. “Nina, listen to your father.”
“Mother?!”
The two guards came over to Nina and stood over her. “Princess, this way,” one of the guards said.
Nina suppressed a growl and stood up. She shot her parents a dirty look, then turned attention with the guards and walked out with them. After they left the throne room, the queen turned to the king.
“Is, is this right?” the queen asked.
The king said nothing. The queen continued. “I… do not think I can stand by and do nothing if…”
The king gave his wife a solemn look. “Our top priority is to keep Nina and the citizens of Wyndia safe,” the king closed his eyes. “…if what Lady Deis said what true, then I intend to keep Nina as far from the danger as possible.”
“Nina will try to sneak out,” the queen observed. “What will you do about that? Increase the guard?”
The king shook his head. “No. Nina will most likely go to the people that will keep her safe. If she must hate us for that, then so be it. At least this way, our world has a chance against the Goddess.”
The queen nodded. “You took your studies seriously.”
“My Great-grandmother, Queen Nina wrote many detailed entries in her journal. I have never been one to doubt a queen of Wyndia.”
The green nodded in agreement. “Nina is so much like her namesake. I only hope it does not get her killed…”
Ryu grunted as he flipped through another channel. Yuki had digital cable. The freaking thing was supposed to have over 1,000 channels, and yet, he couldn’t find anything on. He sighed and tossed the remote to his left and sat up.
After that dream he had, he just could not go back to sleep. Avatars, Goddess keys, and demon gods. He just didn’t know what any of it meant. What scared him, though, was the talk of the demon god.
One name quickly came to mind: Death Evans. That was a name that hadn’t been heard in a very long time. He had been lucky that he did not have any reoccurring past life dreams about the final battle. The stories he read about were bad enough.
He was faintly aware of some kind of underground movement to try and reestablish the demon spawn to his so-called “rightful place.” Or something like that. He idly wondered if Death Evans had anything to do with the recent demon sightings that the Rangers had to deal with.
He was pulled out of his musings when he heard quiet talking coming from the living room. Clad in nothing but his pants, Ryu flinched as he stood up and staggered over to the door. He opened the bedroom door and slowly made his way to the living room.
The first thing he saw was Yuki sitting on the sofa. She had her hair down in a half-ponytail, her long bangs layering her face. She was dressed in a blood red tangtop and had on light beige capris. Ryu grinned slightly. He also noticed that she was wearing a pair of thin, gold rimmed oval-shaped glasses.
Ryu poked his head a little further into the living room. His breath caught in his throat. There, sitting on one of the chairs was a young man, dressed in a two piece black suit. The man’s midnight blue hair was pulled back in a long braid.
That man and Yuki were talking about something. Ryu realized that they weren’t just talking, they were arguing. About what, he didn’t know.
Yuki blinked and looked up. She spotted Ryu and covered her mouth with her hand. The man smiled slightly as he stood up and approached Ryu. Ryu jerked back as the man was about to place a hand on his shoulder. Yuki jumped up and tried to run over to Ryu.
The man frowned slightly and withdrew his hand. “Ryu… it’s been years since…”
Ryu tried to move his body, but sharp pains from his stomach kept him from doing so. “…g…get… GET AWAY FROM ME!!” Ryu screamed. The sudden force from the movement and screaming brought stars to Ryu’s eyes. He took in a ragged breath and had to brace himself against the wall.
“Ryu?” the man asked in concern. “What’s wrong?”
Ryu could say nothing. He just kept on drawing in ragged breaths. Yuki marched forward and placed herself between Ryu and the man.
“Leon, enough!” Yuki ordered. Leon nodded and took several steps back. Yuki then turned to Ryu and placed both hands on his shoulders. A soft white glow enveloped her hands and slowly seeped through Ryu’s entire body. Soon, the pain was gone and Yuki took her hands away from Ryu.
Breathing came much easier now. Ryu blinked and stared at Yuki and the name she had called Leon. Ryu, however, knew him by a different name.
“Demus,” Ryu spat out. He lunged at Leon, but Yuki moved in the way. Ryu jerked back. “What… you’re protecting him?!”
Yuki merely shook her head. “No, I just don’t want to have to clean up the mess that a dead body makes,” She said. She shot a dirty look at Leon. Ryu’s shoulders tensed, but he stood down. For now.
Instead, he decided to get right to the point. “What the hell are you doing here?!”
Leon sighed and placed his hands behind his back. “Lady Saria sent me here to find Ms. Uzuki and asked for her assistance in finding you. As for why, it is because she thinks she may have found a cure for your Cymosion.”
Ryu shook his head. “You bastard! How DARE you stand there and lie to me about…”
“He’s telling the truth,” Yuki muttered darkly. Ryu’s head snapped over to Yuki. “I… just got done talking with Sari. She confirmed everything.”
Ryu shook his head. He shot daggers at Leon. “Why… would you want to help me? The last time I saw you, you tried to kill me!”
Leon nodded. “Yes, that is true. But, I am no longer Demus. He died the day you vanished. I am now Leon Masters, servant of Lady la Crosse of Shevat. Furthermore…”
“…Leon…?” Ryu snickered. He grabbed his stomach as he doubled over with laughter. “My god! Couldn’t you come up with something better than that?! I mean seriously! That’s the name of the kid that gets pounded to the ground on the playground has!”
Leon coughed into his hand. “Yes. Well, you may not trust me,”
“Damn right I don’t.”
“But as it stands now, this may be the only chance to save your life. You must come with me to Shevat,” Leon looked over at Yuki. “Both of you.”
Ryu stopped laughing. He gave Leon a serious look. “And… if I don’t come with you? Then what? Are you going to force me and Yuki to go? And why her? She has nothing to do with this…”
“Lady Saria did not give me details to my mission. She just said that in order for this to work, that both of you had to be present. I do not question my lady’s orders,” Leon said.
Ryu nodded and crossed his arms. “You are going to have to give me some time to think about this…”
Leon nodded. “That is fine.”
Yuki turned to Ryu as he grabbed up a shirt that was lying on the couch and pulled it over his head. He also picked up a pair of boots and pulled them on. He started for the front door. Just as he opened the door and was about to step out, Yuki walked over to him.
“Where are you going?”
“Out,” Ryu said. “I need to think about this. If I stay here, I might kill that man…”
And with that, Ryu slammed the door shut. Leon turned his attention to Yuki. “He took that better than I thought he would.”
“No,” Yuki corrected him. “I could sense that he wanted to kill you where you stand. If I hadn’t intervened a second ago, you would have been tripping over your own body parts.”
Leon grimaced. “That’s… a colorful way of putting it…”
Yuki nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to do the same thing to you. Ranger training teaches you to be very controlled over your emotions. Count yourself lucky.”
Leon nodded. “I will remember that.”
Nina growled as she walked into her room. She heard the door click shut and the guards take their positions at the door. She screamed in frustration as she pounded her oversize fluffy bed with her fists.
She shook her head and finally slumped down on the bed. She laid back against the bed and stared up at the ceiling.
What were her parents thinking? Why did they insist on locking her up in her own room when all she did was just ask a question?
She had to get out of the castle. She knew that Strife had some kind of important mission he had to go take care of. Though she was concerned for her protector, she knew that his duty to the crown came first.
Nina stood up and walked over to her dresser. She stared at the picture she had taken of Yuki, Sari, and Ryu at Angel Tower. Oh, how she missed them. She especially missed Ryu, but for reasons she was just now beginning to understand.
If only she could fly away…
Nina looked over to her open window. Fly away… that gave her an idea. She had to get away from the castle, even if only it was for a short while.
Nina grinned as she changed back into her street clothes. She redid her had in the buns and ponytails and grabbed up a small pack that contained several items in it, as well as some money. She latched it onto her waist and grabbed up her winged wand from the dresser. She attached it to her waist and walked over to the window.
She climbed out of the window and stood on the ledge of the window. She powered up Eternal Session, if only for the simple fact that she had large wings strong enough to glide with. When she landed, her wings returned to normal and she drew them back into her shoulder blades.
She smiled to herself as she sprinted across the large gardens and into a secret passage that would allow her to exit the castle unnoticed.
Ryu stormed through the crowded city, caring not who he bumped into. Who did Demus… no wait… LEON think he was to just come up to him and think that…
Leon had no RIGHT to come up to him, acting all friendly. Did he forget what he had done to him?! It was because of that… monster that he was forced to flee from his home and family. It was because of Leon that he was separated from Bunyan and his friends… the only people that cared about him.
It was because of him… the one person he should have been able to trust the most. His older brother…
Ryu growled and swashed that thought from his mind. Hard. He didn’t care about Demus anymore. It was because of Demus that he was forced to become Siegfreid Griffith, the notorious bounty hunter. Ryu wanted his old life back. At least he knew that Bunyan was safe. Whatever Sari did for Bunyan, he was glad.
Ryu was so caught up in his ranting, that he barely had time to notice a young woman with blond hair, being bullied by a couple of thugs. Ryu smirked slightly. He could never allow a young woman to be pushed around like that.
Besides, she was kinda cute. Ryu instinctively reached for his sword, and suppressed a growl when he remembered that he forgot it back at Yuki’s. Well, like that had never stopped him before.
Ryu took a bold step forwards and glared at the two large men. He crossed his arms and cleared his throat. The two men looked over at Ryu and sized him up. An unarmed man was challenging them? This would be fun.
One of the men stepped forward as he cracked his knuckles. “What do we have here? Some little guy that has an early death wish?”
The other man laughed. The woman looked over at Ryu. Her eyes widened a little. She then tried to get free from the man once more.
Ryu grinned and shook his head. “Ah, nope! I just couldn’t stand by and watch you bug that poor, innocent woman!”
The woman’s face took on a look of annoyance. Oh, lovely. A smartass.
“I think you should mind your own business kid,” the first man said.
“I think you should let that lady go, asswipe!” Ryu retorted.
“Oh, that’s it!” the man yelled as he lunged for Ryu.
Ryu grinned and ducked. The man’s fist met with open air. Ryu looked up and smiled. “What is it with you muscle heads always wanting to fight? Can’t we all just get along?”
The man grunted and lunged at Ryu again. The brood shrugged and kicked up and knocked the man upside the head with his boot. The man slumped to the ground, unconscious.
The second guy looked over at his fallen friend, then back at the young lady. He shrugged, let the girl go, grabbed his friend and took off. Ryu smiled as he walked over to the lady. She took a defensive step back, not sure what to expect. Ryu held up his hands, showing he had no weapons.
The lady shook her head and then smiled. “Um… thanks for saving me…?”
Ryu grinned and was about to respond, but sirens cut him off. Instead he said, “Maybe we should finish this conversation somewhere else?”
The woman nodded and the two of them took off into a sprint. They ducked behind several alleyways before finally coming to a stop.
The woman looked at Ryu. “Who… exactly are you?”
Ryu grimaced. “I’m…”
The woman nodded. “Ah, um… I’m Nina Strife…?” the woman gave Ryu a confused look. “Did I say something wrong? Why are you looking at me like that… Aie!”
Ryu grinned like a madman and scooped up Nina in a huge bear hug and swung her around. Nina screamed and kicked, trying to get out of the taller man’s odd embrace.
“What the…?! Put me down this instant!” Nina demanded.
Ryu did as he was told, but he didn’t release his grip from Nina’s shoulders. He smiled. “Heh, don’t you remember me?”
Nina blinked. “What…? No way!” Nina mumbled. She screamed in joy and jumped up into Ryu’s embrace once more. “Ryu!” Nina said into Ryu’s neck. “I… I can’t believe it’s you!”
Ryu returned her fierce embrace and spun her around once more before putting her down again.
“Yeah! It’s really me!” Ryu grinned. “My god! Nina, it’s great to see you!”
“I thought that you were dead!” Nina cried.
“Well… yeah. That’s a long story,” Ryu smiled.
Nina slowly pulled away. “Yeah. Heh, for a second I thought you were Siegfreid Griffith… funny huh? I mean with that scar on your face, you kinda look a little like him…”
Ryu nervously laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Heh… yeah about that… Funny thing this irony is…”
To be continued…