Yurushi sat fiddling with the ring in her hand. It had been many yeas since it was given to her by the brother of her dead lover. Zylar's last gift from beyond the veil.

"He loved you, you know. He wanted to love you forever..."

She clenched her fist around the ring. I wanted to love you too... She grit her teeth, eyes shut tight to ward off the tears, so why can't I bring myself to put this ring back on.

Many years ago...

It had been a quiet year, the kids were all growing fast, Zasharya was seventeen, it was almost time for him to take on his role as Hamel's True King. As the son of Zylar, the eldest of the Guadalupe brothers, Zash was the next in line to take on the responsibilities of his uncle upon his eighteenth birthday.

The people of Hamel knew Zasharya, and eagerly awaited what looked to be a wonderful coronation, with his birthday in only a month's time, it was nearly upon them, and the city people were abuzz with excitement.

Yurushi was also well known to the people. Some still looked upon her with pity, for all knew the story of their fallen prince so long ago. But to many she was as good as a queen. Her presence was welcome around the castle, she was kind to the staff and generous to visitors. Though she had no royal background, she tutored the children in the castle herself and made fine work of it. Everyone admired her.

And so when news came that the young King-to-be was killed on a trip to the ruins on the outskirts of the kingdom, no on knew how to tell their beloved Yurushi.

In the end, Princess Hobe was the one to volunteer. She being the daughter of the current king, Taiho, and Zasharya's cousin only two years younger than him, the two were inseperable, so of course she was there with Zasharya when he was killed right in front of her.
"Aunt Yuru?" Hobe called, she had found Yurushi in her study, speaking with two men, probably about the coronation.
Yurushi looked up and smiled gently at Hobe, "Just a second, dear," she turned back to the men, "get me some mock-ups and a few samples and I'll see you again in two days, thank you so much." Yurushi stood and shook hands with them before seeing them out and turning to her niece, "now what can I do for- oh honey what's wrong..." the grin slid from Yurushi's face as she looked into Hobe's eyes to find something clearly troubling the girl. She rested her hand against Hobe's cheek, trying to soothe her.
Hobe flinched away from her hand when she felt the cold metal of Yurushi's ring against her skin. "I... I need to talk to you. Can we sit?"

Yuru nodded and lead Hobe over to the small couch in her study. When Hobe was little, she used to curl up by Yuru's side there and fall asleep to her aunt's quiet humming. So when she sat stiffly away from Yurushi, Yuru knew something had to be wrong.

"I-" Hobe started, then swallowed and took a shuddering breath. "I'm sorry"

Yurushi was perplexed, what did Hobe have to be sorry for? She laid a gentle hand on her niece's arm, silently urging her to continue.

"I- I went with Zash to the ruins-The ancient waterway..." Her eyes were welling with tears, and she looked afraid, "I didn't see the trap until it was too late, I'm so sorry!"

Yurushi's eyes widened, her hand clenched involuntarily around Hobe's arm. "Is he..."

Hobe chocked back a sob and looked down at her lap "I'm so sorry, aunt Yuru, I'm so, so sorry."

Tears sprung to Yurushi's eyes. It was all too familiar, but this time there was no one left. Her lover was killed in action, her sister lost to her own husband, and now her son was gone from her as well. She looked down at the ring on her finger. "they're always taken from me."

Her hand moved of its own accord, pulling at the ring, slipping if from where it had rested for seventeen years.

"I don't want to remember anymore."

Hobe looked up startled at Yuru's words, just in time for her to rip the ring from her own finger. Yuru's one blue eye flashed white then matched the color of her other soft orange iris before they both flashed a bloody red and her hair turned a translucent white as astral tails sprouted behind her. The ring slipped from her hand and red eyes flashed fearfully, a growl tore from Yurushi's throat.

"Damnit" the voice that came from Yuru's mouth did not belong to Yuru herself, it was in a language that Hobe had never heard before, yet she knew it instinctively.

The voice howled in outrage as wind whipped rapidly within the study, papers flew from the desk and books launched themselves off the shelves.

There was a banging at the door, someone must have heard the commotion. "Yurushi!" Hobe's father's voice called, quickly joined by that of her mother. "Yurushi please, open the door, we want to help you!"

There was a sound of tearing metal and a smell of burning flesh and Hobe turned to see a crack, or more like a tear in the middle of the room a dark blue, green, and black swirling energy reaching out towards Hobe.

"No!" snarled the voice within Yurushi, she turned, her translucent white hair whipping around in the swirling chaos of the study. "Take the ring. Protect it. I will keep her safe." Hobe stood paralyzed as she watched what was probably still her aunt jump straight into the swirling chaotic tear.

As soon as there was no trace left of her, the tear sealed itself before Hobe could blink. There was a crash as Taiho and Kyubii burst into the study to see the utter chaos surrounding their daughter.

Hobe bent silently and picked up Yurushi's ring from the debris and tightened her fist around it. Turning to look into the eyes of her mother she let out a sob and Kyubii rushed forward to embrace her.

"There now, darling, let it out. It's been a tough day, you can tell us about it when you're ready." Kyubii locked eyes with her husband as she held her trembling daughter. Taiho nodded and bent to investigate what looked like scorch marks on the ground. His eyes widened, and he looked fearfully at his wife.

"Guard." Taiho called out. He only had to wait a moment before two Hamel Guards stood before him, "Contact Glaive. I need him here immediately."

In order of appearance
Yurushi: Sakra Devanam
Zylar: Deadly Chaser
Zasharya: Iron Paladin
Taiho: Tactical Trooper
Hobe: Little Spectre
Kyubii: Asura

Hello! Welcome to what I hope to be a fic that I'll actually finish. I've been prompted by my guild begin writing a guild fic, so in preparation, I'm going to flesh out Yurushi's backstory in this fic first. It will likely be short, this is mostly just for me, I haven't written since my ex girlfriend broke up with me so I need to get back in the habit. If you did what the summary said and read The Ring first, props to you, and you should know that was written while my girlfriend and I were still together so... this fic may read a little rusty, sorry. Please leave a review letting me know what you think and what I can improve on, I'm trying my hardest so any help is welcome. I hope you enjoy what I'm doing here and stick around for some updates!