Before the Storm

"Good  morning sleepy." Hayabuse whispered in Kagura's ear gently rocking her to wake her up. He smiled slightly. "Who'd say you're able to sleep this much... It's almost noon."

"Yea- yea-... Noon... Who ca-- Wait... Noon?? Already?" She said, opening eyes faster than the flash of lightning. "Wow... I slept longer than I thought..." She said rubbing her right eye.

The boy grinned. "It's okay. It shows that you've been comfortable sleeping if nothing else. Now hurry up and get dressed. You'll be late for the lunch." He said with a chuckle offering her a hand.

She took it but instead of helping her up or down the bed, she was just pulled into a kiss, nothing wishes good morning as a soft and fresh kiss. After she was let go, she slowly got up and walked to the pile of her clothes putting it on and Hayabusa simply waited for her.

Once she was ready, the two walked in the dining room. The two royals and Alucard were already sitting there but they were waiting for the two to join them before they started eating.

It was easily noticable how Alucard was staring at Miya most of the time while Hayabusa was watching Kagura. The difference was that Kagura returned his gaze with a smile while Miya just focused on her food.

Whole lunch passed and the situation remained the same surrounded with cries of the plates and spoons. After he finished, Hayabusa asked: "Kag, remember how I promised I's take you to a cake shop?"

Kagura's face immidiately got decorated with a bright smile. She nodded her head deeply already predicting what was he going to ask. "You don't even have to ask, sure I'll go with you if nobody else here would mind." She replied.

***

The black birds flew away from the city gates in fear as the three figures sneaked in, knocking out the guards and blending in with other people around. Ruby looked around. "Well... This place sure is bigger than I thought..." She mumbled.

Karina nodded. "Many people say that. I used to spend a lot of time here while I was younger so now I'm just sick of this place..."

Lancelot crossed his arms and tried to skip the unnecessary conversation by saying: "Okay, so what are we doing now? Do you know a specific place where we can find the book or do we have to test our luck?"

"Um... I am not sure... I just know that he went somewhere here..." Karina said earning a disappointed look in Lancelot's eyes but luckily, Ruby was there to save the day.

"Before he came here, he paid me a visit." Ruby started with a little grin. "If I remember correctly, his customer is no other then the king himself so I'd say we should head over to the palace."

Without hesitation, the two agreed and they walked towards the bluish building whose towers were the far highest points of the town. Shiny, polished roofs were kissing the sky that appeared as almost the same colour. It looked like the town was slowly melting into the sky.

Instead of admiring the scene, the three were in their own thought. Not thinking about their mission or each other but thinking only about the final reward. Every one of them had a goal and they shaped their paths to reach it, unintentionaly crossing their roads.

Who knows, if they didn't do what they have done, maybe, at that point, they wouldn't be there to see the beauty of capital of moon elves, the center of their rich culture. But in the end, the obsessing with the goal made them oversee the gorgousness they could've witnessed if they just moved their focus away from the finish line for a moment.

Kagura and Hayabusa were quite the opposite. While they also had their goal, for them it was more important to really live through the trip, they often didn't even know where were they going, they followed their inuition and heart, not the reward they could possibly get.

Just like that, their hearts lured them in the town. They sat on a bench under a tree that was blooming  holding up beautiful blue flowers like hands of a child that were making a garland.

They were eating chocolate desert with some fruit but that was just an excuse to go out together. While they were sitting under the tree, the ninja noticed a shadow, figure that ran from one street to another and saw a weird glow coming from something in their arms. It reminded him of the blades one of the assassins who attacked Alucard was using.

Maybe they followed him and are there to cause some more troubles, or maybe he's just being paranoid and his mind was playing trick with him.

Kagura gazed at him worriedly noticing something was on his mind. "Are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost." She said, still eating although her eyes were stuck to his. She didn't want lies yet she was afraid of what was she about to hear.

Hayabusa just sighed and mumbled: "Nothing..." He took one more bite of the cake and added: "I though I saw somebody but probably it was just a shadow or something. Nothing you should worry about."

Indeed, the shadow continued moving forwards to the palace, followed by two other 'shadows'. They moved swiftly and remained unseen moving through the most calm and steady town of the land. Once they reached the palace, boh Ruby and Alucard were surprised by the fact that there are no guards in front of it.

They didn't know what to expect but Karina, in other hand, knew exactly what was waiting for her. Her uncle, his daughter and other men she wanted to take revange on. She took a deep breath before sharpening her blades one last time. "Let's do this." She said, her eyes slowly tearing its greaf and pain she felt.

Memories, painful memories were the only thing coming to her mind. She remembered her childhood. Her father was the one supposed to get crowned and they were all a very happy family but everything changed when his wife was killed by a powerful curse cast by the deathbringer who was freely walking over the land back then.

Elves live a lot longer than other species which makes them great storytellers. They have lived through many experiences and gained both wisdom and power but even they can't remember exactly what happened more than hundread years ago, except if the event was so important that it changed their lives.

That night, the group of powerful men and women from all across the land have gathered up for one job - to imprison the necromancer once and for all, her father was there, getting revenge for his wife's death. Aside others, the group contained some other familiar faces such as Kagura's mother who came there with her little child but there, he also met the second girl who stole his heart, the seductress Alice who was able to play with men like her puppets.

Little did he know what was going to happen. She was with him only because she wanted the crown but he was, of course, blinded by love so much that he didn't even realise she was using him. When time came for him to take the crown, a problem occured: nobody that isn't an elf may become part of royal family which ment that if he wanted to become the king, he couldn't be with her.

It was old tradition which was kept to the present mostly because of culture and history but also because elves were always known as the purest beings in the world and they didn't want to loose that status. Since he didn't want to loose Alice, he gave up the crown and let his younger brother Estes take it.

Alice wasn't happy with that. She didn't love him at all, she just wanted his riches but without the position, for her he was useless so she had to get rid of him. With a bit of manipulating, she killed him and convinced everybody his death was a suicide caused by the feeling of agony and powerlessness against rules and laws of his own kingdom.

By then, Karina's life was already crashed into abys of despair but then, she though, like everybody else that it was a suicide so she followed his ex-girlfriend who brought Karina with her seeing both great magic potential and physical strength in the elven child. Over the years, Alice shaped her into what she is now - a cold blooded killer.

Only later she found about that she was the one who truly killed her father but then it was too late, she was in no position to complain since she is in that kind of comunity: you disrespect leader Argus or his lover Alice and you die.

That made her requestion her beliefs and swallow the anger she felt towards Alice but the envy she felt towards her cousin just kept growing. At that point, it was so big that she didn't want to just kill Miya. She wanted to see her suffer as much as she suffered through her whole life and then take the place that should be rightfully hers.

With all those thoughts swirling in her head, she looked at Ruby, then Lancelot and said: "Let them experience true power of darkness." She kicked the door open and the last thing she added before charging in was: "Remeber, the princess is mine."

***

The time was passing and the brushes of sun painted sky in golden colours spreading warmth over the land. Both birds and our two lovebirds were enjoying the sunset. Despite everything that was happening and the danger the three who were still in the castle were exposed to, they were happily and peacedully sitting on the same bench and sharing a warm and soft kiss.

After they realised it was already failry late, Kagura convinced her boyfriend to go back although he wanted to stay even longer. The girl didn't want others to worry so they headed back towards the castle at slow walking pace. If they knew what was about to happen, they'd hurry up but, unfortunately, there was no way they could know.

They walked slowly but the same path seemed different. Instead of fire and warmth of a day, now they were filled with cold gazes of darkness. They were walking until a large figure stepped in their way. There was a girl that was levitating in the air and her skin seemed greenish blue. She looked dead yet was alive. She grinned. "Hello there, children." She started.