Note: This is a sequel. If you want to understand a lot, please go to my profile page and read 'Second Glance'. Or just take the spaces out off– http / www . fanfiction . net / s / 2772532 / 1 /

Second Glance: Untold Stories

Chapter One: Goodbye and Hello

"Mina, are you alright?" Rai asked as she playfully poked her friend on the shoulder. Curiously, the high priestess glanced up, a half-eaten biscuit trapped in-between her lips. She looked unusually pale, and by the way she moved about, it was as if she had no energy whatsoever left.

They were in Maki's new apartment, a lot closer to the Prontera Castle. Since he was being promoted to higher ranks, he was getting paid more, and in consequence, got a lot more benefits. His new place was a lot better than the one he used to stay in, whose entrance was a dark alley with a groping old man.

A lot of things have changed as this chapter starts. For one, Mina had lost her murky brown hair, giving way to her the original shine of the long blonde hair that emphasized her natural beauty. The only reason she decided to even wear such a color was to escape people who wanted her death, and that wasn't a problem anymore.

Though to get her hair back to the way it was without the help of a hairstylist, a considerable amount of time was needed.

"Are you thinking of that guy again?" Rai said with a sigh as gingerly she sat down beside Mina. "Get over him!"

Mina almost chocked on her biscuit, and she coughed for a while before gaping at Rai, her gypsy friend. "What are you talking about!"

"I said get over him! It's not healthy to starve yourself just because you miss some jerk." The gypsy said, crossing her arms stubbornly.

"Rai…" Mina said with a weak smile as she pointed to the biscuit in her hand. "I'm eating right now."

Yes, it had been a year since Mina had seen that guy.

"So, why are you so down?" Rai asked curiously.

With a shrug, Mina ate up the rest of her biscuit before answering Rai. She seemed to think about it for a while before saying, "I don't know, I just don't feel too well this morning."

The door opened, and a tired-looking Maki came in. Sighing, it was as if he was dragging himself inside the room as he greeted his friends.

"Morning sickness?" Rai blinked curiously. Mina stared at her. "You're not pregnant, are you?"

But of course, some things never changed. Rai was still as loud as ever.

"How can she be pregnant? She hasn't seen Cain for about a year now." Maki stated as he entered his room, his voice muffled but understandable in the last few words.

"S-stop it!" Mina exclaimed, her face red. "You don't need to connect everything to him!"

"But, if the topic is being pregnant, who else can we connect it to?" Rai asked as she tilted her head in question.

Silence.

"Don't worry, Mina…" Rai said softly, accompanied with a huge grin. "I miss Seth, too."

"Ah." Mina replied.

Pointing her finger to her head to gesture that she was thinking of something, Rai added, "But come to think of it, at least Seth writes. You've had no contact with Cain ever since, right?"

Mina smiled sheepishly in return.

"Behave, you three!" Seth said enthusiastically as he waved at Rai, Mina and Maki. Rai pouted, crossing her arms. She was obviously upset that Seth had to leave, and for a very indefinite period of time. "Rai, especially you."

"Shut up!" Rai yelled with an expression that seemed like she wanted to hit her boyfriend on the head. "You behave! If I find out you touch even just some other girl, I swear I'm going to haunt you down!"

As a last action, Rai stomped her foot and turned around for effect. Beside her, Mina chuckled at her antiques. Mina gingerly stole a glance at Cain who was beside Seth and silently staring at the ground. It had only been a couple of days before when they announced they had to leave to take care of some business.

Nobody knew what business it was, except for them. They had been acting weirdly ever since a letter had come, and only the two of them read it. This made Rai even more upset, as she really wanted to know just what was so important that it caused them to leave. Cain had become so upset when he read it, and he hadn't even talked to Mina ever since.

Even as they walked away, Cain didn't bid goodbye to Mina. It was as if nothing even happened between them. And even though Mina wouldn't admit it, she was obviously hurt inside.

"Mina is obviously hurt inside." Rai stated.

There, someone else admitted it for her.

"Something really strange is going on." Maki said as he walked out of his room. He took a seat beside Rai, and for a moment observed Mina who was staring back at him in question. Rai was correct; Mina did look extremely weak. "It was so gloomy at the castle, though nobody would tell me what's going on. Apparently, something really top-secret happened."

"Hey, maybe Axis's uncle finally got assassinated!" Rai said with a huge grin. "Isn't that what that girl… Crimson, was it? Wasn't that what she was planning to do before?"

"Scarlet. Her name's Scarlet." Maki corrected. "Unfortunately, he's still around. That girl never got around to doing it."

…………

A week had passed, and Mina was still in the same state. She wasn't getting any worse, but neither was she getting any better. Rai and Maki were starting to get worried; yet she wouldn't let them take her to a doctor. "I'm a High Priestess," Mina explained. "If there's anything wrong with my body, I should be able to take care of it myself."

She didn't even listen to her friends when she stated she didn't have any external wounds.

A knock came to Maki's door, and the paladin answered it himself. As soon as Maki opened it, he was surprised to see Axis standing there with an ominous expression. Axis was the prince of Prontera—he had no ties with the current King, but since the King had no off springs (except Mina, whose identity was hidden), Axis was dubbed as the next King.

"I-Is Mina here?" Axis asked with a stammer.

"She's resting, I think." Maki replied with a confused look as he let Axis in. "What's wrong?"

"The King passed away." Axis said softly.

The paladin's eyes widened in surprise, and it took him awhile to be able to respond. Finally, he said, "What? When? How?"

"His condition worsened a lot, about a week ago… and well, this morning, he passed away." Axis replied, as he uncomfortably adjusted the sleeves to his High Priest uniform. It seemed like he was having a lot of trouble in saying what he needed to tell Maki. "And the worse thing is…"

Axis paused for a while.

"He committed suicide."

Maki looked startled. He stared as Axis rummaged through his pocket and brought out an envelope, fastened with the King's seal.

"For Mina…"

Shaking, the Paladin took it from him.

The serious aura was suddenly broken when Rai kicked the door open and came into the room, yelling. She glanced at Axis and Maki, and said in a very loud voice, "What's wrong with you guys! You're acting as if someone died!"

Axis smiled sheepishly in reply, and Maki buried his face in his hands in exasperation.

"Come here, you dolt, and keep your voice down!" Maki hissed. Rolling her eyes, Mina plopped down beside him.

"What's up?" Rai said with a grin.

"Mina's father passed away." Axis whispered.

"W-what!" Said a voice that wasn't Rai's. Axis, Maki and Rai all turned around to see Mina standing by her room, her hands gripping the frame of her door in shock.

"Crap." Maki mumbled under his breath. Rai tilted her head; it wasn't usual to hear Maki curse. He seemed to only do it when he lost his composure.

"M-Mina!" Axis stood up abruptly. "S-sorry!"

"Mina, it's alright!" Rai said quickly as she stood up and waved her hands. "We're right here for you!"

She stared for a while. That was all she could do—stare. Mina didn't even cry, even her lips weren't trembling. She was frozen in place and couldn't find the words to say.

"Mina?" Rai slowly walked over to her friend and stared at her eyes. "It's alright."

The High Priestess snapped out of her reverie and quickly shook her head. "I know… I'm alright! Don't worry."

Rai looked at her curiously. "Right…"

"I don't even know him." Mina said with a huge smile. "I'm about just as upset as you guys, so you might as well fuss over yourselves. R-right?"

"Right…" Rai repeated.

"Mina," Maki said as he approached her, handing her the envelope. "Axis said this was from the king."

Mina stared at it, then at Axis who was staring back at her. Then she went back to staring at the envelope.

"Take it?" Maki suggested.

"I…" Mina whispered. "I will…"

Silence.

"Mina, why don't you take it?" Rai asked curiously, playfully prodding her friend on the shoulder. "Just reach out and take it."

The High Priestess nodded weakly.

Suddenly, her knees suddenly gave in and she grasped the ground with her frail hands. Rai looked at her, startled, as she leaned down and intentionally covered her face with her golden blonde hair. Mina was sobbing as he shoulders trembled. After a few moments, Rai leaned down and started sobbing too as she hugged her friend around the shoulders.

"It's alright, Mina…" Rai sobbed, contradicting her statement. Mina forced herself to nod as the gypsy tightened her grip around her. Maki looked upset as Rai took the envelope from him and tucked it inside Mina's pocket. Maki walked over to Axis who was heading for the door.

"Thanks, Axis…" Maki said, forcing a smile. The prince nodded as he stepped out the door. Before he closed it behind him, he glanced at Maki.

"You know, when Mina didn't accept my feelings before, I thought that was the only time she could hurt me that badly." Axis said softly, making sure the girls inside wouldn't hear him.

"But she didn't mean that." Maki replied.

"Yes, of course she didn't mean it." The High Priest replied as he turned his back and buried his face in his hand. "But I thought that was as much pain I could get from her, and it hurt even more that she was so nice about it, that I couldn't possibly hate her for it."

Maki nodded—he knew perfectly well what Axis was talking about.

"But when you hear her sobbing like that…" Axis replied as he stared at Maki. "It hurts even more, doesn't it? It makes me feel so selfish. The way she cries, it's sounds like a little kid. And I can't help but feel really sorry for her."

The paladin nodded. "Uh huh."

Axis nodded and summoned a warp hole, which he quickly stepped into. Sighing, Maki entered his house again to find Rai sitting on the couch, staring at the floor. It seemed that Mina had retreated herself to her room while he was outside.

"How terrible." Rai wiped a few tears away from her eyes. Maki nodded—Rai was a very strong girl, and the way she could be lively and impulsive was what made her strong. Even though Rai and Mina were complete opposites, one thing was for certain—they were two people who rarely showed they were sad, and seeing them that way meant something really terrible was up. "Terrible, terrible! And to think I came over with good news… Geez, and to find out this was the reason."

"What?" Maki inquired.

The gypsy pouted at him and waved some parchment of paper. "I found out from Seth that they're arriving in a week, because Cain wants to see Mina. I'm not supposed to tell her, though, because Seth wasn't even supposed to tell me. But geez, I want to tell Mina so badly now!"

…………

Word spread fast in Prontera and the rest of the cities, and just like when Mina's brother, the original prince, died, lots of people came for the funeral. The only difference was that the late King was a good man, and they went out of gratitude rather than respect.

Mina heard a lot of stories about her father, and how he didn't use to be that good a man. Something had changed his attitude towards life that made him embrace it, and even the way he ruled became a lot better.

There were a lot of stories about the late king indeed, but Mina stood there in her father's funeral without knowing him at all. She had just met him once, of course. The High Priestess stood in the back with her friends, and it was starting to get late. Axis smiled at her from his place on the podium, where he stood beside the coffin as the King's adopted son.

"Oh, this means Axis will be a king soon, right?" Rai asked Maki curiously. "He's so young!"

Maki shrugged as he looked up at the night sky. "It's getting dark." People were already starting to leave, but Mina didn't seem to want to budge. Soon enough, the crowd slowly dispersed. Mina turned around, just about to tell her friends that they could go home now, but instead, her eyes widened.

Rai and Maki stared at Mina in question, and she quickly pointed behind them. Blinking, the two of them turned around.

"Oh!" Rai exclaimed with a huge smile on her face. "Seth!"

"Aww, I wanted to surprise you!" Seth said stubbornly, crossing his arms. Mina smiled at him—he didn't look any different, aside from the little facts like his hair was a bit longer now, though. "Mina, you grew your hair back to the way it was. Great!"

Mina smiled sheepishly, a bright red creeping up to her cheeks. "A-ah…"

"I missed you, you stupid dolt!" Rai exclaimed, hugging Seth. Seth laughed loudly and played with her hair gently. "You'd better not touched any other girl like I warned you not to!"

"Of course not." Seth grinned, giving Rai a quick kiss on the cheek. "They don't match up to you, anyway. Waste of time, if you'd ask me."

Maki looked around. "Where's the other one?"

Seth blinked. "Cain?"

The paladin nodded.

"He's shy. He made an excuse since he was too embarrassed to see Mina." Seth replied.

"Shut up." Cain's voice growled. All of them glanced at him as he walked over. He, too, hadn't changed a bit. "You got here before me because you were in such a hurry to see Rai."

"Of course!" Rai laughed, hugging Seth again. Seth gave her a wink.

Maki blinked and looked at Mina, who was smiling brightly at Cain and Seth. He found it so weird that even though everyone knew there was something between her and Cain when he left, they neither said goodbye or hello to each other. And to his knowledge, they didn't even keep in contact.

"You don't look too good." Cain stated, pointing at Mina. With another sheepish smile, the high priestess nodded in reply.

"Maki, Seth, let's go get a drink!" Rai said gleefully, jumping up and down. Mina's eyes widened and shot Rai a 'What about me?' look. Rai ignored Mina and grabbed Maki and Seth's wrists, dragging them away.

"Well, she hasn't changed a bit." Cain grumbled under his breath as he stared at the darkening sky. Mina chuckled in reply.

…………

Maki had a 'Why am I here?' look as he sipped from his glass. He felt like a third wheel while Rai latched herself on Seth and the three of them sat together with drinks. He wanted to leave the two of them alone, but Rai insisted that he stayed.

"Cain's right, Mina doesn't look too good." Seth blinked.

"It's a weird thing of hers." Rai replied. Maki nodded in approval to what Rai said. "When her mom died, she also became really weak right before she found out."

"Oh… I heard about that, how certain people can feel it when something terrible happens to a relative." Seth replied. "Come to think of it, that day we met her, she also didn't look too well."

Rai and Maki nodded, even though they didn't know what he was talking about. Seth meant that when Cain and he met the High Priestess, it was right after they assassinated her brother.

…………

"What do you mean you haven't approached the coffin?"

Mina blinked. She replied gingerly, "I mean… I haven't approached the coffin. I meant what I meant."

Crossly, Cain looked at her. "Why?"

The High Priestess shrugged. "Who knows?"

Exasperated, Cain grabbed her by the sleeve and started dragging her towards the podium. Several people turned around as they heard Mina's protests, but didn't they didn't seem to complain as they saw the angry look on Cain's face.

As soon as they approached the podium, Cain let go of Mina a good distance away from the coffin. Axis looked up and looked startled as he saw Cain. He quickly stood up and walked over to them.

"Hey!" Axis said quickly to Cain. As a reply, Cain simply looked away. "Well, you haven't changed a bit."

There was a defining silence as Axis looked at Mina who was staring at the coffin, though she couldn't see her father from the place she was standing.

Finally, Axis said, "Do you want me to accompany you, Mina? It's alright to be scared."

"Shut up." Cain snapped.

Mina shook her head quickly and walked over to the coffin, looking at the body of her father inside. Cain and Axis stood in silence as they watched Mina clamp a hand over her mouth, yet she didn't cry. She did a sign of the cross and afterwards walked back to Axis and Cain.

"Have you read the letter, Mina?" Axis asked curiously. Mina shook her head, and Axis nodded in reply. "I understand." He said. "Well, I'll see you guys around. Take care."

"Bye, Axis." Mina replied with a fake bright smile.

"Man, you hurt me so much." Axis said under his voice. Mina blinked in confusion but didn't reply as she noticed Cain walking away, and she ran to catch up with him.

The two of them walked in silence for a while, and they found their selves in the relaxing fountain of Prontera. It was already dark now, and there weren't any people around anymore.

"What letter was he talking about?" Cain asked suddenly.

Looking up, Mina stared at him. She stammered, "T-that… Uh, the King gave me a l-letter."

"Why haven't you read it?" Cain blinked.

"Well, because…" Mina stared at her shoes. "I'm scared."

Shrugging, Cain nodded. He blinked as Mina suddenly grasped his shirt tightly, and he faced her in question. "What?"

"Is it okay if you read it for me?"

Cain shrugged again, and Mina and him took a seat on a nearby bench. He watched as her trembling hands rummaged for the letter, and she handed it to him, still sealed. Cain opened it and glanced at Mina who was grasping the sides of the bench tightly.

"'Dear Mina…'" Cain started. "'By the time you read this, I'll probably be gone. I can't even move right now, all I can do is speak. I'm asking a friend to write this for me, and afterwards I'll ask Axis to give it to you. I apologize for not seeing you more often, but I didn't want you to see your father in such a state.'"

Pausing, Cain stared at Mina who looked up at him curiously. He couldn't read her expression.

He continued, "'I want to tell you so much, and one of this is that I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. Your mother didn't want you to grow up in royalty, and she was so upset when she saw that blue star on your shoulder that was put against my consent. I'm sorry you never even got to hang out with your brother like siblings were supposed to.' " Cain blinked and he added as his opinion. "Great thing too, I hated that guy."

"Cain!" Mina replied, pinching his shoulder. She knew it was him who had murdered her brother, but she also knew he had his reasons and she never held a grudge against it. "Continue!"

"'I'm sorry you never got to hang out with me like a real father and daughter, but I would do anything to make your mother happy. Did you know, by the way, that you're so alike to your mother?"

Mina tilted her head. "But I look nothing like her. My features are from his side of the family."

Cain continued, "'I bet you're wondering how I can say that when you look nothing like her. I meant that you're one of those rare people, and even though I only met you once, I knew you were just like your mother. I changed right after I met her. Believe it or not, it's possible for someone so horrible to actually want to change after he falls in love with a woman like that.'"

"I don't get what he means." Mina frowned.

Rolling his eyes, Cain replied, "You can't be serious."

"I mean it! Changing just because of a girl? Isn't that a bit too surreal?"

Cain raised his eyebrows in reply. "You're so stupid."

Mina shrugged. "Continue, continue!"

"'They said it was a scandal and a mistake that you were born, but I hope you never thought of your existence that way. I love you for every bit of who you are, and I hope you take care of yourself. I'm really going to miss you. That's all I can really tell you, since even though I said a lot here, all I wanted to say was that I love you so much.'" Cain sighed as he turned to the next page. "PS: I really wanted to know you more. Sometimes I send Axis here just to hear stories about you. He said that a lot of guys fall for you, and he was even one of them. Yet…"

Cain paused, and Mina looked at him crossly.

"What, Cain!" Mina exclaimed.

"I don't want to read this." Cain replied.

The High Priestess sighed and reached out for it, but Cain shoved it towards the other direction. They seemed to wrestle for it for a bit, but of course, Mina was no match for Cain.

"Cain!" Mina said.

"Read it yourself." Cain replied, finally shoving it towards her. Mina grabbed it from him and stuck her tongue out at him.

Cain rolled his eyes in exasperation as Mina's cheeks went bright red, and she fumbled while she folded the letter back into the envelope and tucked it back in her pocket.

There was silence. Mina smiled at Cain and said, "I wonder how it would've been like to hang out with my dad?"

Cain shrugged in reply. "He seemed like a good man."

"Yes, I bet he was." Mina nodded. "I didn't really know him, since I just met him once. I saw him a lot before, but I didn't really think much of it since I didn't know."

"Ah."

"It's so embarrassing, since he's like a stranger to me." Mina chuckled. "And I ended up breaking down in front of Rai, Maki and Axis. I even made Rai cry, because I was so upset… You should've seen it, it was a rare sight."

"Rai cried?" Cain blinked.

Mina nodded. "Yeah, it's so rare to see her sad."

"Like you." Cain shrugged.

Chuckling, Mina leaned her head on his shoulder lightly. He stared at her golden blonde hair—she had grown it back, just like he hoped.

"Hey, Cain." Mina whispered. "You didn't meet any other girls like Rai warned Seth, did you?"

"Hell, no." Cain growled.

Mina chuckled and hugged Cain around the neck and shyly kissed him on the lips. Cain shivered slightly and froze under her touch.

"Man, I missed you." Cain said in a low whisper.

"It's because you didn't say goodbye to me, idiot."

…………

PS: I really wanted to know you more. Sometimes I send Axis here just to hear stories about you. He said that a lot of guys fall for you, and he was even one of them. Yet you chose some guy named Cain. According to Axis, he's quite the rude man, but he seems different when around you. That sounds just like me when I met your mother. I hope this Cain never hurts you, or I will personally haunt him.

And who knows, maybe someday, you two will also have a daughter like I had you.

To Be Continued

A/N:

That was so much fun. –sniff-… since some people requested that I made a sequel, here you go. Besides, this is my favorite writing, since it's FUUUN (like I said before).

It'll probably be shorter than before, though.

I can't believe I made such a drama chapter. --