Disclaimer: Okay, I could't wait to write this. It's the first chapter of the sequel to St. Mark's School For Men, with Nel as queen! This is so going to rock your socks off! Or at least, I'm hoping. BUT MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS!! I don't yet know what the genre is going to be for this. I mean, I know it's going to be adventure, but I'm curious as to what other genre should I make it. Should there be a touch of romance? And if so, who should Nel go with? I need you guys to tell me who!! And once again, I'd like to thank Narutolovesme2 for suggesting this. Oh, and this will not be yaoi, or yuri. I repeat, this will not be yaoi, or yuri.
Summary: Nel has always had a sheltered life. Sure, there have been assassins that have tried to take her mother's life, and sometimes her father's, but that's always been so unreal to her. But she knew she'd have to grow up sometime. Now would be that time. The King is in a coma, trapped in stone, and the Queen's soul has disappeared, lost without its Queen. Nel is sent on a journey to retrieve the Hollow Stone, a mythical item said to have only been seen or used by the gods. Can she find it it time to save the only family she's ever had? Or will she die trying?
The Hollow Stone
Chapter 1
12 Years Ago; The King's Palace:
"Nel! Nel Tu, where are you?"
Nel Tu Oderschvank giggled behind her hand, amused at this game she so often played with her busty nursing maid, Orihime Inoue. She was currently hiding behind her parents' throne of bones, hiding underneath the tail of the red fur, her little body easily able to fit in the small space provided. And it wasn't like she was hiding because she was in trouble; she just loved to tease Orihime.
"Nel, you come out here this instant! Your mother and father are looking for you, and, and if I can't present you, then I'll be in trouble!" Orihime's voice took on a wailing quality.
Nel giggled one last time, and crawled out from under the furs. Orihime was standing in the middle of the Throne Room, her long orange hair twirling about her as her head turned this way and that.
"Over here, 'Ime! You said mommy and daddy were looking for me?" Nel asked, skipping over to her maid.
Orihime gave a sigh at having Nel come out, kneeling to straighten the girl's favorite forest-green, full-body robe. She refused to wear any other outfit, for some unknown reason. She took out a glittery brush and used it to try and restore order to Nel's short, unruly teal-colored hair, moving the cracked skull mask with huge black eye sockets around to get all of the hair. The mask had teeth only on the bottom right side of the mask. After brushing the hair, she used her hankerchief to rub some dirt off the odd maroon marking that stretch from an inch from Nel's left ear to an inch from Nel's right ear, stretching over her cute little pert nose. When she was done with all that, she surveyed her work, and nodded.
"That's right. They said it was very important, and made me promise to feed you a snack before you met with them, so you don't complain during the meeting." Orihime fished a long stick out of her back pocket; it was one of the human's long stalks of artificially-flavored sugar particles that you dripped down your throat; it was extra soury. Nel loved them.
"Ooh! Gimme!" Nel commanded, reaching up for the candy. Orihime sighed and handed her the stalk, smiling as she practically ripped it open and tilted it backwards to let the sugar drip right down her throat. "Mmmmm." She breathed, making sure to not spill a drop.
"Alright, make sure to not get any on your clothes. Come on; I promised your mother we wouldn't be late." Orihime grabbed Nel's unoccupied hand and hurried her out of the Throne Room and down the hall, making her way expertly through the winding halls of the palace. She paused outside of two large black doors, glancing down at Nel. She sighed and pulled out a wet hankerchief, one she always kept with her just for the child. She took the empty candy stalk and pocketed it, using the wet cloth to wipe the excess sugar off from around the girl's mouth. "There; all done. Ready?" She asked, and smiled when Nel nodded. "Good. Let's greet your mother and father, then."
"Presenting Princess Nel Tu Oderschvank and her maid, Orihime Inoue!"
The booming voice was her cue; she pasted a huge smile on her face and waited for the doors to open. When they did, she and Nel made their way to the center of the room, where King Ichigo and Queen Byakuya were waiting. Orihime tried to keep a tight hold on Nel's hand but, of course, that didn't work.
"Mommy! Daddy!" She cried, breaking free of her hold to rush into her the King's waiting arms. She snuggled close to Ichigo, practically purring in contentment.
"Nel, I hope you played nice with Orihime." Ichigo asked, raising an orange eyebrow.
Nel nodded, still cuddled close to his chest. "Of course, mommy. I would never disappoint you by not playing nice!" Her voice was full of false innocence.
Ichigo couldn't hold back a laugh, and handed Nel to Byakuya to turn away and cackle uncontrollably. Nel cuddled just as closely with her father; ever since they'd adopted her, she'd been extremely happy and almost inseperable with them.
"We called you here for a reason, Nel. We've got a large group of youkai here, and we want you to choose five of them for your personal bodyguards. The recent assassinations have made us worry about you." Byakuya told her, turning her so that she faced the group of mixed people, all with their heads bowed in respect.
Nel glanced around them, scoffing. "I don't need bodyguards, daddy. I'm fine with you and mommy to protect me!" She snuggled in his neck, making him grin in happiness.
"Be that as it may, we can't protect you all the time. Especially now that so many nobles have come to be youkai; we'll be away from the palace for periods of time, and you won't be able to come with us. Therefore, you need to choose five bodyguards from this group. Do this, and don't fight us on this." He commanded; Ichigo had finally stopped laughing, and nodded his agreement.
Nel sighed and climbed down from her high perch, scratching her cheek as she traveled around the room, inspecting each and every person she came across. She circled the room once, twice, three times before stopping and thinking. Finally, she turned and took Ichigo's hand, taking him with her as she once again circled the room.
She stopped first in front a large man with tan skin and dark brown hair. He wore an tight white shirt with a maroon cross over the front, and blue jeans. "I'll take him." She said decisively, and Ichigo nodded.
"Yasutora Sado, or Chad as you like to be called, are you ready to do your duty to your Princess, and therefore to your King?" He asked the man.
The man, Chad, nodded, but stayed silent. He wasn't the talkative type.
Nel continued on her way, stopping before another man, this one with black hair and green eyes with slitted pupils; dripping from each eye were teal cyan lines, which made it seem like he was crying. Hanging on the side of his head was a a mask much like a broken helmet, with a horn on top above the jagged side. He wore a white jacket with long coat-tails tucked out of a black sash, and a white hakama. The jacket was zipped up. "I want him, too, mommy." She told him, tugging his hand.
Ichigo sighed, before turning to the man. "Ulquiorra Schiffer, do you accept your duty to your Princess and your King?" He asked, earning a silent nod and a frown in response.
This time Nel stopped in front of a short girl. The girl had hair a dark violet color, pulled back in a long braid with two bangs on the side of her face. She had narrow green eyes that stared off into space. She wore a black kimono that fell only to her mid-thighs, with a thick white sash around the waist and gray wrist guards. Around her neck was a red ribbon. "Her too, mommy." Nel commanded.
Ichigo nodded. "Nemu Kurotsuchi, you are called to serve your Princess. Do you accept?" He asked, waiting until the meek girl looked up at him briefly before nodding and bowing her head again. Man, Nel's choosing all the quiet youkai. I hope the next two people are at least lively. He didn't say it out loud, though, of course.
Nel went to the other side of the room now. She stopped in front of two people standing unusally close together. The first, the more manly of the two and yet the one who looked younger, had short, dark red hair and brown, almost golden eyes. He was shorter than the other person, but only by a few inches. He wore a black cloak with red swirls, as did the other person. The other person, who looked to be about 18, had long blond hair with a portion falling into his left eye. Most of the rest of his hair was pulled up into a high pony-tail, held by a thick, long piece of cloth. His one eye that was visible was greenish-blue; it was impossible to see the other eye beneath the hair. His hands were covered in black gloves, and his gloves almost covered by the sleeves of his cloak.
"And I'm guessing you want these two as your last bodyguards?" Ichigo asked, and Nel nodded. "Sasori, Deidara; you are called to duty as the last to guard the Princess. Do you accept?" He asked, waiting for an answer, hoping he'd finally get an answer.
"Danna? Do we accept, un?" The blond asked, turning to look at the redhead.
The redhead shrugged. "We've got nothing else to do. We'll accept the duty."
Ichigo nodded. "Good. All who weren't chosen; you're dismissed. The five of you who my daughter and I just spoke to, please come foreword to the center of the room."
It took a while, but the room was finally emptied save Ichigo, Byakuya, Nel and her nurse, and the five Nel had chosen. Sighing, Ichigo handed Nel once more to Byakuya, before collapsing on the ground. He was tired, so he left it up to his mate to explain.
"You all recieved a missive partially explaining why you were called here. The Princess has chosen you five to be her personal bodyguards; two of you are to be with her at all times, no matter what. It doesn't matter what you're doing, where she's going, or who she's going to be with. Two of you must always be there. You're to protect her from assassinations, and check out the backgrounds of all people she associates with. These will be your duties for the rest of your lives, and hers; whichever ends first. Do you understand?" Byakuya asked, holding Nel's shoulders in front of him.
Ulquiorra was the first to kneel, his hand over his heart. Nemu followed, then Chad, and lastly Sasori and Deidara, who went together. Miraculously, they all spoke in unison.
"Yes, my Queen. We do so vow all you have spoken to our only Princess, Nel Tu Oderschvank."
Byakuya nodded, pleased. He tapped Ichigo's shoulder with his sandaled foot, motioning him to take up his part of the speech. Ichigo yawned, but obediently stood.
"Good. Now that that's settled: Nel, it's time for you to mark your bodyguards. We showed you the procedure yesterday; do you remember it?"
Nel nodded. "Right! I gotcha, Itsygo!" She giggled, skipping so that she stood in front of Ulquiorra. She waited until he lifted his head to look up at her. "You are Bodyguard #1, Ulquiorra Schiffer. So do I accept you." She bent her head and kissed his forehead, waiting for him to nuzzle his head against her stomach, showing servitude. Then she turned to Nemu. "You are Bodyguard #2, Nemu Kurotsuchi. So do I accept you." She repeated the process with her as well. "Bodyguard #3, Yasutora Chad Sado; so do I claim you." Lastly came the redhead and the blondie. "Bodyguards #'s 4 and 5, Sasoria and Deidara. So do I claim you two." When the process was finished with these two, she stepped back, admiring her handiwork. Each of them had a small mark in the middle of their foreheads, where she'd kissed them; it looked like a tiny black butterfly. Grinning, she turned to Ichigo, who nodded at her.
"Good job, Nel. Congradulations, all of you. Your first order of duty: feed Nel. She'll show you to the kitchen. Orihime, we're all very thankful for your years of service to Nel, and if you'd like to stay on at the palace, we understand. But you'll no longer be Nel's nursemaid." Orihime nodded; she'd expected this one day. Ichigo turned back to the bodyguards, who were all beginning to stand. "When you're all fed, return to Nel's rooms. You'll find your new uniforms waiting for you there; you'll need to get changed immediately. You may also write letters to your families to inform them of your new jobs. You're dismissed."
Nel waited until Ichigo was done speaking before giving him a long hug, although it was on his leg; she didn't feel like getting picked up yet. She did the same with Byakuya, before turning and grabbing the unsuspecting Nemu's hand to lead her away. "Come on; the kitchen's this way! Hurry up!"
Her face emotionless, Nemu allowed herself to be led, and the rest of the bodyguards followed. Ichigo smirked when they were gone, and turned into Byakuya's embrace.
"Well, our kids gone, and we're finally alone. What should we do?" Ichigo asked, leaning his head up.
"I'm sure we can think of something." Byakuya smirked, bending down at the same time. They met halfway, allowing their desire to consume them.
And while they were allowing their desire to reign free, Nel was allowing her hunger to reign free, studying her new bodyguards with an intelligance she didn't let anyone but her parents see. She'd chosen a good group, she knew. The only question now was whether or not they'd actually be needed.
Well, what'd ya think? I was planning on not allowing this to be a crossover, but I decided against it. This is a prologue, of sorts, and is set 12 years prior to when it'll actually start. Don't forget, when you review for me, tell me if you want Nel to have a relationship while trying to save her kingdom, and with who! It'll make me really happy if you do review and say who!
Ayame