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Fairytale in Blue	By : Meirav Category: +S to Z > X/1999 Views: 1579 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own X/1999, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
Disclaimer: I do not own X’s characters. What
I do with them is my business alone! The lyrics belong to Bonny Tyler.

Loreline Town and Land
is all mine.

Author’s Thanks:
To my lovely beta Kitsunia, to R chan from AFF
(yes there will be some F/K goodness and S/S goodness and a surprise non-canon
goodness too) and to Whitesakura who commented on my
LJ (my darling!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ehem…)

Warnings: slight crack content. Some dirty
language. A hint of sexual harassment but nothing more. Not yet anyway, this
will go deep into the M district in future chapters.

Ten points to anyone who spots the hint of a play in
this chapter.

*******************************************************

Chapter 2 - I
Need A Hero

Once upon a time in a land far, far away…

The princess’ royal fashion advisor walked into the
princess’ set of chambers. Opening the door was difficult as two huge rolls of
fabric loaded her arms, her fingers clutching heaps of necklaces so they won’t
slip and fall to the ground.

The princess’ private servant stared at the entering
woman with icy eyes.

“Good morning Sumeragi-san” is all she said before she
shot her eyes away pretending that fluffing the princess’ pillow on the huge
four poster bed was the most important thing to do in the world right now.

It was well known in the spider web of the palace’s
gossip that the princess’ bedchamber keeper and private servant did not agree
with the princess’ fashion advisor. It was also known that despite any attempts
by the valiant and stubborn cheerful fashion advisor the servant always gave
her a cold shoulder and tried her best to bitch-ignore her.

Arashi was the last in the line of royal servants and
took her job very seriously. The family became a closed clan by now, almost
religious in their blind devoutness to their line of work. They saw themselves
as those who are responsible for the royal family’s well-being; they and they
alone knew what the royals needed, what was best for them.

They walked the palace with their head high,
commanding the other servants, ruling the palace’s servant kingdom like they
were the real monarchs.

Arashi saw herself as the last line of defense to keep
the princess from become a completely crazy, spoiled, wild teen.

Only a few years older then Kamui, she was far more
mature then him and far clearer in mind. She was not only responsible for the
set of chamber’s good condition and order (along with a small army of lower
servants to fight the mess) but also acted as the princess’ chaperon when Kamui
took a stroll in the palace’s gardens and multiple halls.

Kamui didn’t like Arashi too much though he owed a lot
of his considerate behavior to her scolding glares at the mess he left behind
him which she had to clean and many of his thought manners would not sink in if
not for her nagging.

She was far too heavy for him, far too cold and
serious and often he got the feeling that she can see into his very soul and
that one day she might do something bad about it.

Right now Hokuto chose to bitch-ignore the royal
servant back and walked past her and into Kamui’s
dressing room.

“Good morning daaaaarling,”
she chirped at the youth.

Kamui turned around on his fur-covered stool before
his great big table mirror, its bottom sunk amidst the heaps of cosmetic creams
and make up utilities, and beamed a huge smile at the entering girl.

He clapped merrily and shot to his feet to hug his
favorite friend.

Hokuto placed the fabrics neatly by the door, the
necklaces on a nearby table and flung her arms forward for the princess to crush
into them.

“How are you this morning Kamui-chan?” She smiled into
the silky hair, running her fingers through it to test its softness. “You need
to give yourself another session of brushing dear, your hair is still a little
tangled.”

“Oh.” Kamui ran his fingers through his hair to see
for himself. “Aw…” He slumped as soon as he encountered the tangle Hokuto came
across.

“Fine.” He walked back to the big table and began to
violently run the ebony and shell brush through his long onyx locks.

“Look what I brought you,” Hokuto shrieked (it was
well known in the palace that Hokuto shrieked and screamed about things normal,
sane people would never bother to) and pulled one of the large fabric rolls to
her hands.

Kamui ran his free hand across the bit of fabric
Hokuto unrolled for his examination.

“Oh, soft! What is it?”

“Silk from Greenleaf land.”

Kamui’s eyes nearly popped out of
their sockets. “Oh my god…but…but that must be expensive!”

“Only the best for the nation’s favorite daughter.”

Kamui remained breathless “How…how did you get it?”

“Ah, I have connections there.” Hokuto winked and
placed a single finger on her lips to hint it’s their secret.

The Greenleaf’s refusal to send their archery
champions to teach Loreline’s army was the latest political
crisis a few years ago and the two countries never quite came to reconciliation
ever since. Loreline’s king was still easily angered
at the sound of word from that land.

Kamui ran his cheek on the silk and closed his eyes.
The fabric even smelled good!

“Well, you better make me something good from this or
it’ll go to waste. Ah, an evening dress perhaps? To dazzle the men at royal
dinners and balls?”

Hokuto nodded feverishly, giggling madly at the ideas
of her princess’s wonderful appearance in such high quality silk. And an
evening gown as well, oh, he would be breathtaking!

“What’s the other fabric?” Kamui still clutched at the
expensive silk but his eyes were already burning holes into the other roll with
excitement.

“Ah, that’s wool especially prepared for your next
winter’s clothes, just look at the colors!” She brushed her palms on the
various bits of wool.

Kamui nodded, snatching a small cookie from a tray
Arashi left on his table. He stared at the cookie then put it back down on the
fancy porcelain plate.

“What’s wrong Kamui-chan? No hunger this morning? You
usually stuff your face worse then a starved pig.” Hokuto helped herself to the
cookie, humming pleasantly at the delicious pastry.

“I don’t feel like eating this morning.” Kamui leveled
powerful eyes at the woman. “I’m far too excited.”

He turned his back to her and walked into his private
bathroom where Arashi was busy filling his gold-covered tub with warm goat’s
milk (a sure recipe for good skin according to Hokuto and a damn stinky mess to
prepare according to Arashi).

Hokuto was left in the room alone to slowly realize
what Kamui might be hinting.

She stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door to
the wall and glaring fire at the boy submerged in the warm white substance and
leaning on the doorway powerfully.

Arashi made her exit, coldly brushing past Hokuto
after removing the woman’s hands that blocked her way.

“What are you talking about Kamui-chan?” Hokuto
huffed.

Kamui shrugged and looked away sweetly.

“Kamui….”

The princess submerged herself lower into the liquid
until his mouth was underwater. His eyes he closed serenely, moving his legs
slowly in the water until the two small islands of his knees sent small
turbulences in the milk.

“You’re hiding something from me aren’t you?! TELL
ME!”

Kamui shook his head.

“TELL ME NOW!”

Kamui remained silent.

“If you will not tell me I’ll bring sliced lemons here
and drip them all into the bath then you’ll be stuck in a lump of cheese!”

Kamui sighed and poked his head fully out of the
water. He gave Hokuto a dripping sweet smile, his eyes glittering “I’ve met a
man.”

“……”

“A handsome man, a beautiful man, tall and muscular
and brave.”

Hokuto raised an eyebrow. “How handsome,” she asked
after a while of being silent.

“Very handsome. As handsome as a knight in the
hall of heroes on the west wing.”

“I want details not poetry Kamui-chan.” Hokuto
lodged herself on the tub’s rim, crossing her legs.

Kamui gave her a long report during which they both
stopped to gasp and giggle and shriek until Arashi placed two balls of cotton
into her ears as she dusted off Kamui’s mostly
neglected large oak study table.

“So? What has the man got to do with you being all
excited today?” Hokuto asked as soon as she calmed her breath from a
wild fit of giggling at Kamui’s last description of Fuma’s…well…manhood (through the fabric of his pants of
course).

Kamui leaned forwards to be closer to Hokuto. “Today
he’s coming into the palace!”

The advisor gasped. “Here?! He’s coming here?! Oh
right, his institution is moving into the palace...”

“My idea.” Kamui smirked.

Hokuto gasped. “You vixen you!”

Kamui giggled, followed by Hokuto.

Grabbing a towel from the golden rake besides him
Kamui covered himself quickly as he shot up and leaped away from the bathroom
while drying himself. He yanked a soft white robe from another rake and covered
himself completely.

He stood at the bathroom’s doorway and turned to
Hokuto, hand on his sides and eyes burning. “Today, Hokuto, you must make me
the most beautiful woman in the world!”

The princess’ royal fashion advisor shot to her feet,
her eyes burning just as madly. “Yes my lady!”

“Oh and Hokuto, save some of that silk to make me a
sweet little nightgown will you?”

“OHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!”

*******************

The Black Wizard stepped slowly into his large round
hall at the very top of his tower, the watch post in his black castle at the
edge of Loreline’s magical forest.

He walked all the way to the center where, on a large
round black marble table a large globe of black glass (or was it crystal?)
stood held by a sharply decorated black metal stand.

He drew back his huge black cape and placed a hand on
the globe, his two full-finger blackened silver rings clicking on the globe’s
cold surface.

The globe vibrated then stilled. Red lightning shot
inside it, tearing dark orange clouds and dusty yellow winds apart.

Black was the eternal night inside the globe.

Black was the eternal night inside the Wizard’s heart.

His bright white skin glowed like a skull under his
cape’s hood as he stared down at the globe, moving his hand sideways on it to
allow himself better view of what’s inside.

A hurricane stormed inside the globe then subsided to
allow a twisted view of Loreline Palace.

The Wizard whispered a soft spell, caressing the globe
in slow circular movements and the view in the globe sharpened.

Something was happening in the palace; he saw a large
caravan of wagons slowly snake into the palace, guarded by the palace’s private
army.

The carriages were sad looking and mucky, their wheels
crooked, the timbers rotten or about to snap, there were hardly any seats for
the ones inside them and the horses leading the caravan were mangy and thin.

The carriages were filled with children and teenagers,
all as poor and mucky as the carriages carrying them.

The Wizard arched an eyebrow curiously “what is this
then? Is it time for the princess’ Yearly Ceremony of Charity yet? How
interesting”

He turned to his right, letting go of the globe that
immediately darkened. He stared at himself in the large round mirror in the
hall around at which’s bottom a mass of melted and half lit candles lay
carelessly.

The cape in the mirror hovered in thin air, empty of
the substance shaping it in the form of a man.

The Wizard smirked but saw not its reflection.

He dashed over to a huge chest with tiny drawers all
across it. His fingers danced in the air as he searched for the right drawer to
pull.

Finally he found what he was looking for and, yanking
a small bowel made of a human cranium, he began pulling substances out of five
drawers and tossing them into the bowl.

These ingredients he mixed with liquid from a stained
green glass bottle, then with the substance from a stinky bloating skin.

Mixing the dark brown paste in the bowl, the Wizard
walked back to the mirror, his long cape dragging on the dirty gray stone
floor.

He stood before the reflecting surface and dipped his
forefinger and middle finger into the paste.

He smeared two dots of the paste onto the skin on his
face, on his neck, two spots on his chest and two on each wrist, then he drew a
reversed pentacle on his forehead with the paste, all this while chanting.

Eyes longing and hopeful

Shall see what they wish

In me

Her dreams of cold nights

Fantasies of blooming youth

Hidden needs bubbling like lava

Will become embodied

In me

In ME!

The air in the hall vibrated and for a second a thin
film of smoke blinded the Wizard.

When the smoke cleared the mirror reflected a
beautiful young man back at him.

He smirked and walked out of the hall to prepare
himself for travel.

***********************

Riding a horse each, Sorata and Fuma were the first to
ride into the Palace’s great courtyard where Yutu and Loreline’s
army chief of staff stood to welcome them. The Queen came to welcome the
children as well, as a delegate of the active rulers of the land.

The Queen was well known for her affection for
children and her devotedness to anything that has to do with helping them. When
she was a princess it was the time of flourishing orphanages and her special
kindergartens, schools and playgrounds were ordered all around the country’s
cities and villages. When she heard of her son’s plans for this year’s Charity
project she was more then delighted and proud.

On their way to the large courtyard the mangy caravan
traveled through a large path, wonderfully gardened and beautiful, overlooked
by the palace’s east wing.

The princess’s set of chambers and its large beautiful
balcony also overlooked it.

On this very balcony Kamui sat now in a blaze of a
shining red dress enhancing her pure fair skin and adding a somewhat sexual
glint to her beautiful appearance.

Her hair was woven with strings of pearls and braided
here and there with ling red silk ribbons.

A braid circled her head around her forehead and
another one, imbedded with pearls, spun around the top of her head like a
crown.

To her ears she wore a long set of carved ebony
earrings set with the most fiery of tiny rubies. To her neck she wore a thick
black silk ribbon with a single large ruby at its center.

The men of the caravan gasped as they laid eyes on her
fresh beauty.

Arashi glared down at them from her place by the
princess’s high chair.

It seemed as though Kamui was busy sewing something
onto a fabric she held between her delicate fingers (he never touched the damn
thing since he was ten when his mother decided he should try his luck with some
feminine hobbies like embroidery for a better cover story), a perfect picture
of feminine obedience and beauty.

As he sat and sew he raised his beautiful clear voice
to the air in a fine, harmonic tune.

“Where have all good men gone

And where are all the gods?

Where’s the street-wise Hercules

To fight the rising odds?

“Isn’t there a white knight upon a fiery
steed?

Late at night I toss and turn and dream of what I need

”I need a hero

I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night

He’s gotta be strong

And he’s gotta be fast

And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero

I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light

He’s gotta be sure

And it’s gotta be soon

And he’s gotta be larger than life”

As he sang he cast his powerful large eyes at the
caravan, aiming at Fuma and digging under his clothes with his orbs.

Sorata chuckled, he turned to his friend who rode
by him silently. “Say, Fuma, which of the two do you think you are? A large
proud deer of the forest, or a fearsome wild boar?”

Fuma turned confused dark red eyes to his comrade.
“Well…um…I think I’d rather be one of the legendary giant white wolves they say
roam around the Magical Forest. Or just any wolf at that.”

“Ah,” Sorata giggled. “But wolves aren’t animals
you hunt now are they?”

Fuma stared at Sorata a little longer.

“Somewhere after midnight

In my wildest fantasy

Somewhere just beyond my reach

There’s someone reaching back for me

”Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat

It’s gonna take a super-man to sweep me off my feet

”I need a hero

I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the end of the night

He’s gotta be strong

And he’s gotta be fast

And he’s gotta be fresh from the fight

I need a hero

I’m holding out for a hero ‘til the morning light

He’s gotta be sure

And it’s gotta be soon

And he’s gotta be larger than life”

“What are you talking about Sorata?”

“You’re being hunted Fuma,” Sorata jerked his head
towards the royal balcony.

Fuma stared at the princess high in her balcony and
shuddered. “Oh, that…”

“Up Where the mountains meet the heavens above

Out where the lightning splits the sea

I would swear that there’s someone somewhere

Watching me

Through the wind and the chill and the rain

And the storm and the flood

I can feel his approach

Like a fire in my blood

”I need a hero….”

“That’s quite enough hime-sama,”
Arashi hissed at the girl besides her. “I believe you made your point very
clear to these men.”

Kamui pouted and rose to her feet, laying the
sewing kit and fabric down and nearing the balcony’s edge, waiting.

“Say something to her,” Sorata whispered to the
uneasy Fuma.

“What for?!”

“Because she went through all the trouble of
singing to you while doing her beautiful little embroidery…”

“I hardly doubt she actually has any interest in
such things Sorata, I can see what type of girl she is and embroidery isn’t
that type’s interest at all.”

“Never mind that Fuma! Say something god damn it!
You’re being courted by royalty for fuck’s sake!”

Fuma cringed and took a deep breath. Forcing the
bitterness and awkwardness out of his expression he raised his head to the
balcony

“You sing very well princess.”

Kamui almost leaped down to the man’s arms with
joy. “Why thank you, you handsome, handsome man you,” she chirped instead,
malice sneaking into her voice.

Hokuto, who was entering the balcony, stiffened a
wild giggling fit.

Yutu, who was within earshot cringed as he noted
the Queen besides him began paled and the army’s commander gasping at his other
side.

“HIME-SAMA!” Arashi barked and stomped her
foot powerfully onto the marble white marble floor of the balcony.

Kamui giggled and pulled a dark red silk
handkerchief from his sleeve.

He leaned forward into the empty air outside his
balcony and waved the cloth out to the men below. “Welcome the Loreline Palace
brave men, my future protectors! Please do your best to learn how to become my
most trained, obedient soldiers!”

“Oh, that’s just great isn’t it,” Fuma grumbled. “I
can’t wait for this year to end so we can go back to the slums, it’d be better
then this.”

Checking the wind’s direction, Kamui released the
handkerchief into the air until it landed on the path before Fuma and Sorata’s horses.

“The dumb broad dropped her hanky,” Fuma sighed .

“Pick it up then,” his friend barked.

“Pick it up?! Why?! She dropped it!”

“Monou Fuma! Have you no manners?! You’re supposed
to climb off your horse, pick her handkerchief and swear to keep it with you
for eternity as a symbol of her place in your heart.”

“But she has no place in my heart and I don’t want
her to have any in the future. Fuck this; we have better things to do Sorata!”

A child climbed off the carriage he was riding and
scurried over to the abandoned handkerchief. He was so dirty his face and hands
were almost completely black, his nose was running in two small lines onto his
lips.

He picked the expensive delicate fabric with his
mucky fingers and quickly blew his nose with it, sounding off a squishy, liquid
trumpeting call.

Kamui and Arashi twitched with equal disgust.

Fuma smirked and lowered himself to caress the
boy’s head and pull him up onto his saddle.

******************

The caravan crawled onwards, its head already
pouring into the large courtyard to face its delegation and already Fuma laid
eyes on his country’s Queen.

But at the very end of the caravan, riding a thin
black horse, dressed in a simple modest dark grey cloak, was a handsome young
man who raised his eyes to meet the observing princess above him.

Blue as the deeps of a frozen lake in wintertime
were his eyes, bewitching and mesmerizing under the well formed dark eyebrows
and well set in his beautifully chiselled face. Fair was his skin and
unblemished though it carried the few signs of the institution’s mock and
neglect to match his new mates.

Black and soft was his hair, as black as his hidden
heart. His body was powerful and well build, rivalling Fuma’s
physic.

He raised his large strong arm and waved at the
princess, a charming smile on his sensuous lips.

Pulled forward by an unseen force suddenly, Kamui
leaned over the marble railing and stared, in a trance, at the man below.
```
 
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“Father once spoke of a legendary valiant forest ranger...I used to dream he'd appear ... “ But as he spoke these words he could feel they were not his.
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It was as if a hand reached out to his mind and now it was slowly closing its fingers on him. Whenever he tried to pinpoint their position they vanished and when he tried to fight them there was nothing to fight.
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Arashi tensed, sensing something strange is happening to her lady.
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“Hime, you must have been dreaming, stories like this can't come true.
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Hime, you're talking in riddles and it's not like you.”
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Hokuto tensed as well, nearing the other two.
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Kamui leaned forward on the banister, his eyes vacant and clouded, his body out of control again. “Ranger of legends come to me, guide and guardian, grant me your love.”
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Then a horrible shudder went through him as he struggled to gain control over this strange spell. He drew his hands upwards as if pulling them from gripping cruel fingers clutching at him.
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He withdrew into the balcony, softly banging into Arashi. The face refused to move from before his eyes as beautiful and strange as it was.
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“He’s with me, even now,” he mumbled, his eyes now dark.
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Arashi took his palm in hers to draw him away but his body was heavy. “Your hands are cold.” 
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“All around me,” Kamui shuddered again, sick and dizzy.
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“Your face, hime-sama, it’s white.”
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“He frightens me,” he whispered, shuddering powerfully a third time.
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“Be frightened,” Hokuto whispered before she turned around and shot out of the chambers as fast as her legs could carry her, slamming doors and brushing violently past people on her way.
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****************
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“SUBARU! SUBARUUUUUUUUUU! SU-BA-RU!” Hokuto descended the long spiraling stairs from the royal quarters to the west wing onto the very end of it where the High Priest’ set of chambers and shrine lay.
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No one amongst the Palace dwellers besides the royal family knew the High Priest’s true name and so, as she ran screaming and maddened, no one got to the very bottom of Hokuto’s distress and they really shouldn’t.
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She exploded into his room, huffing and puffing as she nearly smashed into the large round white table at the center of his room.
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Subaru, who stood outside in his balcony studying the currents of wind and his garden’s vegetation, turned to her with alarm in his large green eyes.
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“What is it sister? You sound anxious.”
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“Damn right I’m anxious!” She bypassed the table and walked over to grab her twin brother by the shoulder, shaking him violently. “He’s here!”  
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Subaru’s eyes widened in shock and for a moment he stood still, staring at his sister.
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The very next moment he tore away from her arms and dashed to his secret chamber, closing and locking the door after him.
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Hokuto stood there patiently waiting for her brother to finish. Small beads of sweat covered her brow, damp round spots spread on her flashy shirt’s armpit and it was not because of her mad running but out of pure anxiety and horror.
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She hung desperate eyes at her brother as he emerged from the room, draped with his ceremonial robes, holding his large staff in his hand. 
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He held out his hand, from which hung a thick dark metal chain carrying a white pentagram of a material so ancient its name became lost after hundreds of generations. 
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Hokuto took the chain from her brother with two hands and, nearing him, she placed it around his neck, chanting.
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Agent of light and good
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Go to your mission 
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Blow the darkness away
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And return safely to my arms
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Subaru bowed before her then turned around and fled from the rooms as quickly as his secret mission could allow him without revealing itself to anyone who might come across him.
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He traveled out of the west wing and into the south wing where the palace guards lived and trained. He descended the polished with use thick wooden staircase and entered the large back courtyard where Fuma’s institution children and youth began unpacking their few belongings into the rooms prepared for them in advance.
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Scanning the crowded human view, Subaru calculated his next move. Trying to read his enemy’s mind and guess his actions he dashed into the yard, bypassing the crowd and hiding in the shadows as much as he could.
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But he did not find this Legendary Ranger the princess spoke of.
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Frustrated and nervous, he turned his back and stormed across the yard again, right through its center amongst the new arrivals, frightening some of them.
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They did not see him as he snuck in past them but now they noticed as he walked in clear view with all his robe’s glory and his aura’s power beaming from him. Children shrieked and ran away. Boys and girls stood bewildered.
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Fuma scanned the man suspiciously.
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“They sent their High quack to have a look at us,” he grunted. “This is how much they trust a bunch of riffraff coming into their palace…”
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Yuzuriha walked onto the path Subaru left behind him and stared after the man. Inuki sniffed the air curiously after the man until he sat down with an approving deep hum.
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“Please don’t look at him so suspiciously, Fuma.” The young girl turned her eyes to her leader.
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“…?”
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“He’s anxious, that’s all, and we’re not what he’s worried about.” 
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Fuma opened his mouth to say something but found that he is speechless. The girl often knocked the words out of him with her sudden spurs of unexplained strange behavior.
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He recovered his shock and shrugged, turning to Nataku at his side to guide the young man to his room. 
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Seeing this Yuzuriha hurried to Nataku’s side and took his hand in hers, smiling up at his questioning vacant stare.
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Still in Subaru’s chamber, Hokuto walked up the large white wood cabinet and pulled a single dry herb branch out from one of its multiple drawers. 
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She placed it on the table inside a pure crystal bowl and set fire to it, shaking it until the fire dimmed into a slow red sizzle. 
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She took the bowl with her and sat down on the lush carpet, placing the crystal container before her. 
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She closed her eyes and brought her hands together in prayer. 
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The burning herb released a single column of twisting and curling smoke into the air, spreading a tangy scent into it.
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Hokuto remained silent and still though her mind was raging with worry and fear.
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***************
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The afternoons of summertime are truly the most beautiful time of the year, not only for Kusanagi who now walked into its clear air, but also according to everyone living under Loreline’s fine weather.
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Kusanagi stretched his limbs after a long watch at the entrance to the princess’ chambers. He had sat there more then he was told he would. 
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The princess was due to have a visit to welcome the palace guard’s new members but after this morning she became slightly ill and was advised to rest in her room.
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Kusanagi didn’t mind the news; it meant he had time to stroll around in the huge palace gardens and enjoy the afternoon when he’s not in immediate needs.
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He found a nice rock to sit on amidst a circle of decoratively placed rocks and began preparing a pipe to smoke. 
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He scanned the lush gardens around him and smiled. The air was sweet with the scent of flowers and cool from the afternoon’s watering (in order to save water the Loreline law decided that all watering of fields and mass gardens are to be done at noon when the sun does not dry the water out of the earth and wastes it).
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Suddenly, in the middle of the wildly blooming wisteria grove he spotted a small human figure standing by a tree. 
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With his keen bodyguard’s eye he scanned the slightly far figure and realized it belonged to no one of the palace’s inhabitants (he carved their view into his mind to make himself as best a bodyguard as he could). He shot to his feet. 
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Then he got a better glimpse of the figure and realized it was small, as small as a child’s or a young teen and he relaxed. This must be one of the kids from that institution who became tempted with curiosity to roam the palace and wondered off into the great gardens.
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Well, Kusanagi couldn’t blame the child could he? When he was young and first came into the palace he too was bewitched by the amazing royal gardens, he’s still held captive by their charms. There’s nothing wrong with appreciating their beauty, is there?
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He’ll go over to the toddler and start a conversation with them, if he’ll manage not to scare them away that is. And if any of the pompous palace servants walk up to the child and try to tell them they’re not important enough to enjoy the gardens Kusanagi can give him a taste of his iron fist.
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He smiled as he walked towards the child, puffing his pipe happily.
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Then he stopped dead, staring forward amazed. This was no child; it was that little girl with the mangy scruffy dog. 
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She stood under a cluster of wisteria blooms with her hands placed on the tree and an enchanting smile on her face. Her eyes seemed dreamy and empty as they stared up at the sun coming in patches through the branches. 
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“Uh…Yu…Yuzuriha-san,” Kusanagi choked, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.
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The girl jerked, as if yanked from a sweet dream, and turned beaming eyes at him.
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“Hello Kusanagi-san! You remembered my name,” she chirped happily.
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Inuki lay on the grass lazily, raising an ear to pick up the conversation.
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“You remembered mine.” The bodyguard smiled at her and lodged his pipe between his lips, taking a deep satisfied suck from it.
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Yuzuriha’s face darkened and her eyes clouded as she scanned the wooden pipe.
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“I didn’t think you’d be the kind to smoke a pipe Kusanagi-san,” she said with a sad voice.
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Kusanagi winced, tearing the pipe from his mouth and staring from it to the suddenly somber little girl before him, confused.
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“Uh…I…err…”
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“You seemed to me like a kind person, a good person, not the type to buy plants torn from their stem and hung to dry in the sun, then set them aflame for you own pleasure.” 
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Kusanagi twitched and stared at his pipe a little more.
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Inuki sighed and turned his head away, as if rebuking Kusanagi as well.
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“I…I…I never thought of it this way,” the bodyguard mumbled, making Yuzuriha hang her large grave eyes at him. “I mean I love nature and all, I just never thought of smoking in that sense…”
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Yuzuriha hung her head, about to turn back to be alone with her tree again.
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“You know what? I’ll quite smoking,” Kusanagi suddenly shouted, unaware of what he was doing.
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Yuzuriha turned to him again but still avoided eye contact.
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He pulled his small water bottle out of his pocket and poured some on the pipe to extinguish the slow burn. Then he shook the ashes onto a small waste bin nearby and returned, showing how he pocketed his pipe determinedly. 
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Yuzuriha hung huge glittering eyes at him, a wonderful smile spreading on her face.
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“You’d do that for me,” she shrieked.
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Kusanagi nodded, relieved that she’s smiling at him again.
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“Kyaaaa!” She leaped at him and, before he could do something to stop her, she crushed into his arms and locked herself around him, legs and arms circling his broad body. 
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Kusanagi mumbled and coughed and winced and mumbled again but he simply could not remove her or complain about it. On the inside he kicked himself mentally for reacting the way he was and hoping that she would not sense his reaction.
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“I’m soooooo happy,” the little girl shrieked once again before burying her face between his arm and his powerful chest.
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Kusanagi felt dizzy.
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Inuki sighed again and got up to look for a place to relieve his bladder.
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*****************
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He found him, finally. And just in time.
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The mysterious young man stood before the door to Kamui’s chambers, by which its guard sat sleeping heavily.
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The young man reached out and touched the door handle.
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“I will not allow you to do that!” Subaru’s voice was hard as stone and cold as steel.
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The young man turned around with a soft smile, his eyes unreflective of the smile. 
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“Why, I was just taking a small tour to the palace and this door seemed to be very pretty so I thought I’d walk in and see what’s inside.” His voice was light and sweet, beautiful and flowing as he babbled lightly.
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“You’re forgetting that my clan’s eyes are capable of seeing through your evil treacherous spells, Black Wizard,” the High Priest hissed back, his head slightly tipped forward.
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The Wizard smirked and waved his hand. The spell was removed; he stood in his full dark glory before the most sensitive and important chambers of the whole of Loreline. His aura curled out of him like slowly spilling black smoke. 
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His honey eyes remained calm and his sweet fake smile never once cracked.
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The bewitched guard at the princess’s door sighed.
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“You’re caught and revealed Black Wizard, now withdraw from your evil plan and returned to your lair before the palace’s wrath catches you,” Subaru called on, his tone harsh and powerful. He slammed the end of his staff on the floor.
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The Wizard took a step forward. “And who do you suggest pours this wrath of the palace upon me? I am immune to the spears and swords of the palace guards. My name alone will disperse the men carrying them.”
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Subaru clung to his staff until his knuckles paled and his palm reddened. 
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“I am here, you’re forgetting that, and I will not allow you to hurt Kamui-hime.”
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The Wizard took a few more steps forward. “Ah but your magic grows small and inadequate at the face of my powers, we’ve proved that before. What will you do to keep your princess safe then?” The Wizard’s tone was low and soft now, almost velvety. By now he was close enough to the High Priest to reach out and touch him.
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And he did, cupping the small chin of the palace’s last guardian. 
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Subaru narrowed his eyes and glared into the Wizard’s dark honey ones. 
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“Hmm? Let’s hear it, what would you do to keep me from hurting the princess like I can?”
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Subaru remained silent. His eyes burned so powerfully they almost glowed.
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The Wizard’s smirk broadened and his voice became smooth and pleased, beginning to reflect in his eyes. 
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“Very well then, Subaru-kun, I will accept your sacrifice again as we arranged in our old pact.” 
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Subaru looked away angrily, shaking the palm from his chin.
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“Come to my castle in three days’ time and your little hime-sama will go unharmed.” 
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The Black Wizard stepped backwards and spread his arms. With a wild shriek, the Wizard became a huge powerful falcon and flew away from the palace through the large decorated window to the left of the protected door.
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The sleeping guard woke up with a scream of horror he stifled as soon as he noticed the sorcerer standing near him. He scurried off to change his pants after wetting himself at the sight of the Black Wizard.
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Subaru sighed and hung his head. He stared at the air where the Wizard last stood, his head swimming.
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In three days’ time he’ll ride to the Black Castle at the end of the Magical Forest and lay himself as sacrifice to hush the Wizard’s malicious fury.
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He frowned, his sad eyes eyeing his staff and his ceremonial robes.
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“The Black…Seishiro-san…”
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(tbc)
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Fairytale in Blue