Part 1
The emperor watched from the balcony of his seaside castle as the military ship pulled into the private dock carved into the cliff face, two hundred feet below. He motioned for his eldest son to join him at the railing.
"Feast your eyes on the weapon that will finally release us from Naraku's grasp," the gray-haired old man said proudly, patting his son on the shoulder. "Thirty years I've worked myself half to death, for the good of my kingdom. Finally, the answer comes to me."
"Father," the sharp young man responded, his dark eyes narrowing. "How many ships were in that fleet when they set out?"
"The sea claims many. Don't worry. We only needed the one ship to get what we needed."
"That's barbaric," his son responded in disbelief. "Those men all had families!"
"One day when you take my place, you will understand that sometimes it is necessary to sacrifice a few to save many," the older man said prolifically. He leaned forward, trying to get a good look at the ship, but the distance was too far for his age-clouded eyes. "What's the meaning of this? The Captain is bringing her in much too fast, and she's headed for the shore, not the docks!"
"I'll go see…"
"No you don't!" The old man grabbed his son's shirt with a death grip. "Lock the door to my quarters and bring me my looking glass!"
"You don't think…" the son muttered, before doing as his father bid. He returned and tried to push the looking glass into the old man's grip.
The aging emperor refused it. "Your eyes are better. Tell me what's going on down there, quickly now."
"The ship's beached up on the sand," he replied. "It's banged up pretty bad from the reef."
The emperor uttered a curse. "What, were they drunk at the wheel? What's happened?"
"I…I don't see anyone on board, or on the shore. What's going on here?" the emperor's son asked incredulously. "Father…"
The wail of the city alarm interrupted him. Father and son exchanged horrified looks. As the siren continued its cry, the young man rushed toward the door, a hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Do not go down there!" his father ordered in a thunderous tone.
His son turned solemnly to his father. "You brought death to us, you foolish old man. At least Naraku was on the other side of our walls!" With that, the prince stormed off to try and rescue the people whom his father had doomed.
Though the young warrior reached the city level hastily, he saw immediately that he was far too late. His city was in burning ruins. He could see the path of destruction, which ended in a huge breach in their defenses. They were now open to the demons from the mainland. He hurriedly went about searching for bodies. There were surprisingly few. Most seemed to have been able to flee the damaged part of the city fairly quickly, and whatever had gotten out only wanted to do just that-get out. During his search, he was met by the Captain of the City Guard.
"Hale, Your Majesty," the soldier said respectfully.
"What the hell was on that boat?" the prince replied snappily.
"I think you best come see," the man said ominously. He led the young prince to where the crashed ship was now being boarded by officials using long catwalks leaned up against the side.
The prince hastened up one of these ramps and took in the scene before him. "What in god's name…" He bent to examine one of the many dark stains on the deck.
"Blood," his Captain said,
"No bodies?"
"We believe she threw them overboard. The rest of the crew is below," the man explained, gaining a greenish pallor. "Spare yourself, it ain't pretty."
The prince ignored him and ducked into the doorway that led below deck. "It's a she is it?"
"Aye, pretty obvious to those who saw her escape the ship and wreak havoc through town."
"How so?"
"Bitch was naked."
"Ah." The prince grimaced and covered his nose with his handkerchief as they reached the ship's storage area. He noted the heavy metal cage tucked near the back of the room, with the heavy manacles hanging from the bars, the ends twisted open. Several of the cages bars had also been bent or broken. The majority of the gore seemed to have collected in this area.
"Captain?" the prince asked, his mouth filled with bitter anger.
"Aye?"
The young man turned to his comrade, his face a mask of rage. "What do you think of my father, for bring this abomination upon us?"
"I…I'm sure I can't say, Sire, it's not my place," the man stuttered, caught off guard.
"It was his bright thinking that killed this entire crew, possibly the deaths of the entire fleet we sent out to begin with. Thanks to him, our city is in ruins and our walls have been breached." The prince fixed the officer with a dark look. "I think…I think he may die of a heart attack this very night, you know. He is very weak…"
