Disclaimer: Doesn't belong to me, that's for sure.
A/N: Renamed them, again. I know, make up my mind already, right? Well, I only picked up my pen 10 months ago, and I just started high school. Give me a break.
The Forsaken Cards
By: Molten Saffire
Prologue
A young girl moves within the shadow of the forest, the darkness wrapping around her like a second skin. Her dark hair and black clothes hide her from sight. She moves as gracefully as a swan, fully knowing her way around the twists and turns of the forests, of every nook and cranny.
A light pierces the darkness, a signal, a fire. She moves towards it, a shadow moving through the trees. She reaches a dead end, the underbrush of the forest preventing her from moving forward. She merely smiles. The underbrush parts to let her though. She walks into a clearing, the last one to arrive. The other three are already there, waiting impatiently.
In the light, her dress is visible, a simple ankle length dress, made of fine silk of a color seemingly darker than black. The other three are wearing more intricate clothes, full of bangles and scattered with jewels, yet her black hair, pale skin, and slightly exotic features alone would be able to seduce even the most ignorant males.
Another young woman dressed in blood red breaks the silence. "Once again you are late, Reina. Next time we will start without you."
Deadly malevolence flashes through Reina's amber eyes. "I am never late, Lahela. The three of you were early. You can't do this without me, but I can do this without the three of you. Never forget that." She walks toward one of the logs around the small fire, sitting down comfortably to listen to what will be said tonight.
Lahela spoke once more, three little words that send chills down Reina's spine and adrenaline coursing through her body. She looks around, wondering briefly if any of them will survive, if any of them will have to be disposed of. Her three best friends face her. Her only friends face her, if they were even that.
The one in dark blue speaks to her, hesitantly, fearfully, "Can you do it?"
Anger becomes apparent in all three of her companions. "Of course I can do it, Sachi," Reina snaps back.
"We've have done too much, and have planned for too long for this to all go down the drain," says the one in light green.
"I know that, Camdyn, but what I want to know is will Reina be able to kill when given the chance? What the hell do we know about her anyway? All we know is that she's a bastard born whore whose mother threw her out into the streets. That devil's child wi-"
"That's quite enough," Lahela declares quietly, her voice trembling with anger. "Reina is the only one who can do this. The rest of us have no chance of even getting near them without her. I will hear no more about it. This meeting is dismissed." She disappears, leaving Sachi in shock.
Clearly trembling, Sachi walks out of the clearing, not noticing the shadow following her. A phantom hand touches her shoulder. She whirls around, coming face to face with an enraged Reina.
"You should watch your back, Sachi," she whispers in a mesmerizing voice. "There are all kinds of things in this forest that will not hesitate to kill you for what you said about me."
"Give it up, Reina," Sachi answers, ignoring the threat. "We all know your powers are gone. You can't do anything to me without them."
She expected her to be shaken, or to at least back down.
She just smiled.
"Now, whoever said my powers are gone?" Reina says, disappearing into the forest.
Sachi relaxes once she's out of eyesight.
"I'd still watch my back if I were you," Reina's voice suddenly whispers though Sachi's mind. At that moment, lightening strikes a tree behind her, making her jump about five feet in the air.
*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*
Reina watches as Sachi scrambles over a log, desperate to get out of the woods. She turns away. 'There are much more important things to take care of tonight,' she thinks to herself as she makes her way back to the campsite.
She sits back down on the log, deep in thought. She thinks about what had happened in the meeting, what her so-called 'friends' are planning to do. 'Well, girls,' she thinks to herself, 'I have my own plan, and revenge is so much sweeter alone'
She thinks about what Lahela said, those three little words still sending chills of anticipation down her spine, even though they were now just an echo in the darkness. In this matter she agrees with them, probably the only thing she agreed with. Her eyes shining in the moonlight, she softly whispers the words to herself, her shrewd mind planning her every step.
Hours later, as the sun rises above the trees, she whispers the words once more: "It is time." Smiling, she leaves the forest, planning her revenge in Tomoeda, Japan.