The boy walked slowly towards her. His footsteps were heard as he stepped into the stoned sidewalk. He stopped in the middle of a small gap between two houses and stared at the girl curled in the small space.
He walked closer. Until his shadow loomed over her. The girl sensed his presence and slowly raised her head up.
For the first time ever, their eyes met. However, the girl's brown eyes drowned in fear as she looked at the boy, whilst the boy stared at her with unreadable amber eyes.
The boy spoke a few words to her while the girl listened. Soon after, the girl's frightened eyes softened into a gentle one.
Little by little, the boy held his hand out for her.
And the girl, unsure of why she was not hesitating at that moment, slowly reached up to his hand.
Chapter 1
In the land of Elphiore, where magic, mana, potions and spells exist, an enormous dark castle loomed over its townspeople. It couldn't help but be noticed that dark clouds only float over the castle and nowhere else. The entire land, save the castle, was as sunny as the sun can be and as blue as the sky can be.
Elphiore was ruled over by a family since the dark ages, which was three thousand years ago. The land's ancestors agreed on making that particular family the ruler because of the latter's previous heroic acts; that is to save the kingdom from the invasion of the neighboring country, Vesonia. The said family broke the curse of Vesonia in exchange of inflicting the curse into their family. The curse was that every chosen son in the family would die once he steps out of the castle. Since then, the castle was left in the darkness, in exchange for giving light in the whole kingdom.
Five hundred years after that, the standing ruler of Elphiore finally put a stop to Vesonia by completely eliminating the whole kingdom. It was to end the war between the lands.
And now, five hundred years later, a certain man knew that the battle between Elphiore and Vesonia was still not over. He grinned mischievously as he stared at the whole land from his balcony.
Then, eight hooded men stood at the stoned sidewalk of one of the many streets of Elphiore.
:||ElPhIoRe||:
The thunder roared for a few moments and gave a certain room enough light to see a fifteen-year-old teen sprawled under the sheets of his bed. He had his bare arms wrapped around one of his pillows as he slightly cringed from the thunder noise.
He cringed another time when a person knocked on his heavily carved oak door.
"Echizen-sama? Echizen-sama? Please, it's time to wake up," the young man heard a monotonous male voice coming from the other side of the door. He ignored him, knowing that it was only one of his many butlers attempting on waking him up, and fortunately for him, failing in doing so.
The young man shifted into a more comfortable position with the pillow he was hugging. Then, after a few more seconds, his mind registered it.
'Pillow? Why am I hugging a pillow? Where's…' he thought and slowly opened his amber eyes.
His eyes met the aforementioned pillow.
He sat up frustratingly, showing his naked torso. His dark-green hair was sticking out of his head messily and his eyes narrowing, showing his irritated look. He scanned around his room, looking for a certain someone, who should be on the bed with him. He gazed around his room and only saw the usual fixtures that were eternally arranged in his room. But he saw no trail of the girl.
"Tch," he muttered irritatingly.
He felt another headache coming when the butler outside his room continued on calling him. And to end his irritation, he stood up, finally showing that he was indeed fully nude. He walked towards the door and opened it, revealing a stoic-looking butler clad in complete black clothing.
"You finally go—"
"Where's Ryuzaki?" the young man cut the butler's word off.
The butler adjusted his glasses and it gleamed while doing so, revealing his emotionless emerald eyes. "Ryuzaki-sama went outside earlier this morning," he answered and entered the room. He went straight towards the wooden and artistically-designed closet and opened it. He took out some clothes and walked back to the young man.
Then, he began dressing the young prince.
While he was buttoning the prince's black long-sleeved top, the young man spoke. "Why'd she leave?" he asked in a dangerous tone while watching the butler finishing his task of clothing him.
The butler straightened himself up and answered in the most polite way he can, "She told me that she wanted to show Karupin-sama around town."
The prince glared at him even more.
The butler sensed the prince's anger at him and bowed forty-five degrees. "I beg for your forgiveness, sir."
The boy gritted his teeth and started walking out to the hallway, while the butler followed after him. "Tell James to prepare the carriage," the prince said in an authoritative tone. The butler nodded and replied, "As you wish," and left to do what his master told him to do.
The young man stopped walking and stared at the huge glassed window with golden rails. As usual, the castle was still dark and gloomy, entirely contradicting the fine weather outside the castle.
With that, he began walking on the red carpeted-floor.
:||ElPhIoRe||:
Eight mysteriously hooded men sat inside the counter of a coffee shop. The eight men all sat adjacently to each other. The shop was emitting the usual aroma of coffee beans. Its interior was arranged in a way that one would feel at home.
One of the mysterious men removed his hood and sighed heavily. He had spiky black hair and violet eyes. "Man, traveling from the organization up here in Elphiore is as tiring as ever," he complained as he leaned his back comfortably on the wooden chair.
Some of the men uttered their orders to the owner, who just listened to them.
Another man removed his hood. It revealed that he had egg-shaped head and green eyes. "Momo, don't say that. We're here to find our—"
"Oishi," warned another man with authoritative aura emitting from his body. He had diaphanous oval glasses, emphasizing his brown eyes and gold-brownish hair. He looked at the owner and muttered his order.
Oishi Syuichiroh laughed weakly and uttered an apology. He was close to revealing the reason of their existence in that place in public.
After a few more minutes, the owner served their coffee.
Momoshiro Takeshi stared jealously at his seatmate's order, which was a slice of Belgium Chocolate Cake. "E-Eiji-senpai! Why did you order such thing!" he asked as if Eiji did the most unjust thing in the world.
Kikumaru Eiji grinned and took a bite of his cake hungrily. "Too bad, Momo-chin," teased the man as he removed his hood, revealing his red hair, "They don't just serve coffee here, baka!"
Momo pouted and quickly turned to the owner, "Sir! Give me three slices of what you gave him," he pointed a finger at Eiji's direction.
Ignoring the two's usual loudness, a man revealed his appearance as he too, removed his hood, showing his foggy rectangular glasses and spiky black hair. He raised a glowing finger up, and a notebook magically popped out while floating in the air. The man took it and reviewed his notes. "We're not here to eat, Momo, Kikumaru," he said in monotonously.
A smiling chestnut-haired man sipped his coffee. He already removed his hood a while ago. He turned to the man holding a notebook and said, "Saa, Inui. Why don't you give the details of our little recruit? It might help us find him."
Inui Sadaharu's glasses beamed. Slightly glad that all of his friends' attentions were on him, he turned to a page in his notebook and said, "He's not just an ordinary recruit. Tezuka," he turned his head to nod respectively at their leader, "and I fully researched on him. Relphore already told us on how powerful this man is."
Eiji's eyes widened. "Eh? Rel-san was actually the one who wanted him, nya?" He leaned closer to Inui, intrigued from top to bottom.
"Yes, Kikumaru. Relphore was the one who wanted him," Inui answered.
Momo nodded his head wisely. "So that's why buchou was in a hurry to get here."
The smiling chestnut-haired man opened his usually closed eyes, revealing his dazzling blue orbs. "I suppose that Rel was getting impatient with Vesonia."
Tezuka nodded. "You're right Fuji. Relphore was suspicious that Vesonia wanted revenge."
"There's fifty percent chance that there were survivors of Vesonia after the war five hundred years ago," Inui muttered. "Anyway, Relphore mentioned that the person we're going to recruit is actually Elphiore's current heir."
They heard a familiar hiss coming from the end corner. The man turned his head to look at them and it revealed his glaring eyes. "Then there's no need for us to look for him. It's obvious he's inside the castle."
Oishi nodded. "Kaidoh's right."
"There's one problem though," Inui interrupted, "The dark castle doesn't just let anyone in."
"M-Maybe… w-what if we tell t-them that Rel-san o-ordered us to b-be there…" the last man stuttered. He had brown hair and his trademark sideburns, "S-Since h-he's the future k-king, then he m-must know R-Rel-san."
Momo nodded his head in agreement.
:||ElPhIoRe||:
A furry Himalayan cat meowed under the arms of a young girl. She was wearing a dress filled with stylish ruffles and laces. She also had noticeable wavy auburn hair. Two thin braids that were tied with matching laces of her dress were sticking out of that wavy hair and were bouncing as she walked on the busy streets of Elphiore.
"Karupin-chan," she said happily as she stopped in front of a boutique. "What do you think of that doll?" she pointed towards a porcelain doll with blonde hair and red dress displayed at the store. She noticed that a little girl inside the shop was talking with the owner of the store and she figured that the little girl was trying to buy a doll for herself. Karupin meowed again which made the girl regain her senses back. "It's cute, right?" she smiled at the cat, referring to the previous doll she was talking about.
"Yes, and you're cute too," she heard an unfamiliar voice said behind her.
Her brown eyes widened and she immediately turned around. She saw a thug grinning mischievously at her. She knew what that man wanted from her. She tried her best to avoid men like him while she tour around town that's why she only wore the most plain dress she had (which was obviously not that plain enough).
The thug stepped closer to her, and she stepped back. The process went on until her back hit the glass window of the store behind her. The cat meowed again as she looks between the girl carrying her and the stranger in front of them.
"Aw, don't be scared, little princess," the thug said with his cracking voice. He leaned closer to her, "You look like you're lost. I don't mind giving you directions if you give me money. And by money, I mean a lot of money."
The girl kept on staring at the thug with scared eyes. Then, she pointed towards the sky with a look-there's-an-alien-trying-to-kill-you face. The thug turned his head back around slightly to see what she's pointing out, only to realize that the girl only tricked him and was currently running away from him.
"Get back here!" he gritted his teeth and ran after her.
The girl saw the man on the corner of her eyes. He was running after her! She shut her eyes tight, mentally praying that someone would help her. If not, she'll be forced to use her power. Then, Karupin meowed again. After that, an idea hit her.
:||ElPhIoRe||:
"Anyway," Fuji Syuusuke said, "We better be careful. No one knows what this heir looks like."
After a few more minutes of taking a rest, the team headed out to continue their journey. When they all got out of the coffee shop, a strong wind passed by, making their hair and clothes violently blow.
Immediately after, the wind stopped. They looked at the each other curiously.
"P-Please move out of the way!" a soft voice yelled.
They saw a huge furry cat-like creature with blue eyes, about ten feet high, with three brown tails running towards them with tremendous speed.
Momo, Oishi, Taka and Eiji panicked right away. Kaidoh blushed upon seeing the cute creature.
On the contrary, Tezuka, Fuji and Inui remained neutral. And because they were calm, they noticed a girl with wavy auburn hair wearing a dress sitting on top of the cat-like creature.
Momo, Oishi, Taka and Eiji ran away when the creature was almost near them, making it look like the huge cat was chasing them.
"I-It's chasing us!" Momo yelled while running as fast as possible.
Eiji tried his best to fasten his speed more. He yelled in panic, "Mou! I don't mean to attract kitties like that, nya!"
"Karupin-chan! S-Slow down!" the heard the same soft voice from before.
"E-Eh? Where did that voice come from?" Oishi asked as he was panting while running away.
Back in front of the coffee shop, Fuji, Tezuka, Inui and Kaidoh stood casually.
Fuji smiled. "Saa, we better save that little girl stuck in the huge cat."
Inui and the other two nodded. But Kaidoh was mentally saying that he wanted to save the huge cat instead, being an animal lover and all.
:||ElPhIoRe||:
A carriage stopped abruptly in the middle of the road.
The person inside grunted. "What now!" he yelled to the driver.
But James did not answer. The young man inside got more irritated and so he went outside the carriage, despite his butler's request to stop.
He jumped down and walked towards James. "What the hell's the matter with you!"
He saw James's eyes looking extremely frightened and panic-stricken. The young man turned curious to what made his driver like that. He looked at where his driver was looking at and saw a huge cat and a girl riding on its back running towards them. He instantly recognized the cat. "Karupin!"
Just as the butler was about to go outside the carriage, James whipped the horse and controlled it to turn around. The carriage ran away from the cat. And James, the rider, who thought that the huge cat was chasing after them, left the young man in the middle of the street.
The young man rolled his eyes. Pathetic commoner, he thought. There's nothing to be scared about. It was just a huge cat running towards them. He watched his carriage run back to where the castle was. And he mentally noted to punish James and his butler, Hedrick, once he returns to the castle. Then, he noticed that four guys were also running towards him. He guessed that Karupin was chasing those guys. The four guys past by him with a breeze.
He raised his head and locked his eyes on Karupin's eyes. The cat saw her master and stopped abruptly once she was a feet away from him. And because of the sudden stop, the girl sitting on top of the feline stumbled and fell forward. The young man expertly caught her with his strength and fast reflexes.
"Tsk, tsk. Karupin, bad kitty. You almost hurt her," he said to the cat as he flicked her nose. The cat just meowed.
Then, another four guys came running towards him. 'What's with people running towards me today?' he thought.
"Ah," Fuji said, "Looks like the girl's saved."
Kaidoh ran towards the huge cat. He hesitantly touched the cat's fur and blushed upon contact with his skin.
"Oi, who are you? Don't touch my cat," the young man said in a treacherous tone after seeing Kaidoh.
Kaidoh blushed again in embarrassment. He hissed. Then, he surprisingly asked, "T-This is your pet?" How he wished he also had a pet as cute and possibly as huge as her.
The girl finally regained her balance and straightened herself up slightly. "R-Ryoma-kun?"
Echizen Ryoma glared at her. "I don't like it when I wake up not seeing you next to me," he said and finally let out his slight frustration since morning on her.
The girl knitted her brows in apology. "G-Gomen… I-I just wanted to tour Karupin around…"
Ryoma's brow twitched. He wrapped an arm around her waist and cupped one hand on her face. "Don't you even dare do it again," he stated warningly and kissed her lips passionately.
Kaidoh blushed while he watched the two.
Inui and Fuji awkwardly looked away.
And Tezuka, on the other hand, interrupted the two and said in a stoic tone, "I do not tolerate such ill-behavior at this time, and most especially in this place."
Ryoma broke the kiss and glared hardly at Tezuka. "Who are you to tell me what to do?" he said in the rudest way possible.
Meanwhile, Taka, Momo, Eiji and Oishi finally noticed that the cat stopped running after them. They stopped slowly and panted for breath. They looked behind them and saw the huge cat sitting casually a few meters behind them while their other teammates were talking with two strangers. Curiosity hit them and they walked back towards Tezuka and the others.
"Hey, what's going on guys?" Oishi asked when they reached their teammates.
They noticed that their leader and a kid with green hair and amber eyes were having a glaring contest.
"Nya, who're they?" Eiji asked Fuji.
Fuji weakly smiled. "The boy's the cat's master," he explained briefly.
"So then, why is buchou glaring at the boy?" Momo asked, completely intrigued.
Fuji answered, "Oh you know Tezuka."
"Wow!" Eiji suddenly exclaimed after he finally examined the boy's looks from head to toe, "That little boy's so CUTE!"
Ryoma finally noticed that the man he was glaring at had more backup. He thought that they were going to team up on them. He grabbed the girl's wrist protectively.
Eiji blushed in happiness. "My gosh! They're adorable!" He went closer to Ryoma and giggled like a fan girl. "O'chibi! I'm going to call you O'chibi from now on, nya!"
Ryoma heard the cat-like man and glared at him. "Who're you calling O'chibi?" he hissed dangerously.
Momo chuckled. "The little man's trying to protect his girlfriend," he teased.
Somehow, Ryoma felt more irritated with these guys than normal goons. But he didn't sense any evil thoughts coming from the eight guys. But just in case, he tightened his grip on her wrist. Especially if they found out that they were more than nobles roaming around the busy streets of Elphiore.
Oishi said to them with worry, "But be careful guys. Nobles are usually targeted by gangsters in this part of town."
"Fshuu. Why is the cat running anyway?" Kaidoh asked as he hid his soft spot for felines.
The girl answered. "G-Gomen. T-The truth is… a-anou… a thug was c-chasing after us…"
Oishi panicked. "See? That's what I told you! You better be more careful!"
"A thug?" Ryoma looked sternly at her.
The girl nodded.
Ryoma groaned. "That's why I don't just let you wander around town with no bodyguards! What if Karupin wasn't with you!" he scolded.
Momo and Eiji grinned. "Look at that! He's really, really concerned with his girlfriend."
Ryoma eyed them with fury. Then, an idea hit his head. He smirked arrogantly at them. "She's my sister."
"EH?" they shouted at once. "Sister?"
Something must've snapped inside Tezuka. "Sister? Yet you were kissing her in an inappropriate way."
Ryoma continued on smirking confidently at them. "So?"
Momo and Eiji suddenly went teary-eyed. "Sister? Oh, why was fate so cruel!" they yelled into the skies as they cried their hearts out. Both were unable to hold their feelings in. And they actually thought that the girl and Ryoma were a cute couple.
The girl pouted. Ryoma's trying to trick people again. She sighed. Then, she looked at Karupin, who was still as big as an elephant. She walked towards Karupin and lovingly caressed the cat's legs. "Karupin-chan, I think it's time for you to go back to normal. The thug probably lost sight on us already," she said lovingly.
The cat meowed one last time before glowing. And with a popping sound, the cat transformed back into its normal size. The feline landed safely on the girl's arm.
Kaidoh's eyes widened. The cat's more amazing than what he thought before.
"So that's its original size," Fuji said as he walked over to her and patted the cat's head gently.
"Oi, don't touch my cat!" Ryoma angrily said to the smiling Fuji.
Fuji chuckled. "Okay then," he raised his hand up and patted the girl's head instead. "I'll just touch this cute girl then."
Before anyone knew it, Ryoma's hand gripped tightly on Fuji's wrist. He had warning glares shot straight at Fuji's already opened blue eyes. "Get. Your. Filthy. Hands. Off."
Fuji and Ryoma kept on glaring at each other, with the little girl in the middle looking confusedly at the two of them.
Oishi weakly laughed and decided to break the growing tension between the two. "A-A-Anyway! We're going now!"
Fuji smiled. "Saa, let me first know this cute girl's name." He looked at the girl gently.
The girl blushed. "R-Ryuzaki Sakuno…"
Ryoma glared harder at the two of them.
"Such a nice—" Before Fuji could finish what he's going to say, Oishi already pushed him away and walked towards another direction with the others.
"Bye guys! Thanks for the company!" Oishi yelled as he and the others were walking away.
Ryoma and Sakuno stared at their disappearing figures. Sakuno turned to Ryoma and smiled. "They're pretty nice, aren't they?"
Ryoma ignored her and began walking away.
"Ryoma-kun?"
"James, the idiot, left already with Hedrick," he explained as Sakuno caught up to him.
Sakuno pouted. "Eh? How could they just leave you behind? You're the—"
Ryoma shut her off when he covered her mouth with his hand. "Someone might hear you."
Sakuno nodded and Ryoma removed his hands from her. "We're walking back," he said.
Then, they heard a voice laughing evilly from behind them. Sakuno immediately recognized the voice. It was the goon from before. Ryoma and Sakuno turned around and saw the same gangster who ran after Sakuno before.
"So, you called a friend huh?" the goon said and laughed like a maniac.
"This is the moron who tried to take money from you?" Ryoma asked. She nodded.
A vein twitched on the goon's forehead. "Who're you calling moron, small fry?"
Also, a vein twitched on Ryoma's forehead. "Who're you calling small fry, moron?"
The goon groaned. He raised his fist up and was about to punch Ryoma on the face when the latter stopped him with his hand.
Sakuno and Karupin watched them with boredom. "Ryoma-kun, go easy on him," she reminded.
"Hai, hai…" Ryoma replied with equal boredom. The goon got angrier with them and was about to hit Ryoma's stomach with his other hand. Ryoma smirked arrogantly. "Mada mada dane," he uttered softly for the goon to hear.
Ryoma jumped out of the goon's reach and landed on the latter's head. The goon panicked when he felt Ryoma's weight on his head. "Get down from there, pipsqueak!"
The goon tried to grab Ryoma's feet but the young man was fast. He jumped out of the way, making the goon grab his own face instead. A second after the goon removed his hand from his face, Ryoma teleported in front of him and hit his face with his knee, knocking the man out.
Ryoma landed without even a scratch in front of Sakuno. "Ryoma-kun, you didn't go easy on him."
"I held back my strength. It's just he's too weak," he said as he kicked the unconscious man's face.
"Anyway," he turned around to face Sakuno, "Did the moron hurt you and Karupin before?"
Sakuno shook her head. "But I was hesitant in using my power. And then I realized that Karupin's with me, so I asked Karupin to transform for a while so that we could run away from him."
Ryoma patted her head. "Good. Don't waste your power on this weakling."
The two looked at each other knowingly. After a few seconds, an arm wrapped around Sakuno's shoulder and a knife was instantly pointed on her face. Ryoma got surprised by this. He looked at whoever was holding Sakuno. It was still the same goon from before.
Ryoma glared at him. He didn't expect that the goon was still conscious. "Yarou…"
:||ElPhIoRe||:
"Oh, I just remembered something," Oishi said as he and the others were jumping from one roof to another, "That little boy and Sakuno-chan were obviously nobles, right?"
"Yeah, so?" Momo asked as he landed on a thin wire and jumped off of it.
"There's a seventy-eight percent possibility that nobles live closer to the dark castle," Inui muttered. Unlike the others who were jumping from roofs to other roofs, he was riding a giant notebook, which was floating in the air.
Fuji smiled. "So you guys think that they can lead us to a shorter path?" he asked as he jumped off a bricked roof.
"We mustn't let our guard down," Tezuka said as he stopped on top of a chimney.
The others noticed him stopped and so they did, too.
"Shall we go back?" Taka asked.
"Either that or get punished for not listening to me," Tezuka said as he ran back to where they left Ryoma and Sakuno. The others followed him.
:||ElPhIoRe||:
The goon laughed evilly. "Let me just get it to the point. Give me all your money now if you don't want me stabbing your little girlfriend's face." Sakuno just sighed tiredly.
Ryoma grunted. He took out his wallet from his pocket. The goon grinned. "That's more like it. You're actually obedient."
Then, Ryoma smirked arrogantly. The goon glared at him. "What's that annoying look for?"
"If you really want to have this money, then you must earn it," Ryoma said.
"What the fuck are you talking about kid! Give me the money now!"
Ryoma turned his head as if searching for something. He found a stray dog not too far away from them. He turned his arrogant amber eyes to the goon again and said, "Entertain me, and you'll get the money."
"What!" The goon was certainly more than pissed off right now. Never once in his criminal life did he encounter such an annoying and arrogant victim, who doesn't even seem a bit afraid of him. And this fact was starting to freak him out.
Ryoma pointed a finger towards a stray dog. "If you want my money, then entertain me by having sex with the dog."
Sakuno sighed again tiredly.
"That's it! Now you've certainly had it!" The goon warningly pointed the knife to Sakuno's neck. "I'm really going to kill your girlfriend now!"
Before Ryoma could move, he heard a voice coming from somewhere.
"Unfortunately," a familiar voice said as he jumped from one of the building's roof down to them, "the cute little girl's his sister, not girlfriend."
Ryoma recognized the man. It was the same man from earlier, Momoshiro.
Another figure jumped towards them.
"And because fate was cruel," he said as he flipped in mid air and landed in front of the goon and Sakuno, "they're in for a forbidden love."
It was Kikumaru.
"Oi, I don't need your help," Ryoma said to the two, "Get out of here if you don't want me to—"
But Kikumaru and Momoshiro did not listen to him. They charged to the goon and attacked his hand, making the knife drop on the ground.
Kikumaru expertly got Sakuno out of the goon's strong hold while Momo pressed something on the goon's nape, which made the goon fainted.
"A-Anou…" Sakuno timidly said.
Kikumaru grinned at her.
"What the hell are you doing here? I said I can handle things here! Who are you to ignore me?" Ryoma said irritatingly at the two guys.
Momoshiro moved to Ryoma for a headlock. "Don't be disrespectful to your elders! And instead of being a cocky brat, why don't you just thank us instead?"
"Get off of me!" Ryoma yelled, trying to get out of Momo's headlock.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a brat," Eiji said as he shook his head disapprovingly.
"Arigatou," Sakuno said to them. "Anou…"
"Momoshiro Takeshi," Momo introduced.
"Kikumaru Eiji, nice to meet you, nya!" Eiji grinned happily.
Sakuno smiled. "Hontou ni arigatou, Kikumaru-san, Momoshiro-san," she bowed politely at them.
Kikumaru playfully patted Sakuno's head. "No prob!"
"I said get your hands off her!" Ryoma yelled, still trying to break out of Momo's headlock.
"Geez, you're too stubborn!" Momo said.
"Anyway," Sakuno said, "What are you doing back here? I thought you guys already left."
"Yeah, well… We came back because we thought that you guys might know a shorter way towards the castle," Momo answered as he finally released Ryoma.
"Eh? The castle?"
"Yes. Buchou ordered us to go back here and ask you guys," Momo said.
"Speaking of which, where's the other doorknobs?" Ryoma asked, referring to Tezuka and the others.
Momo ignored Ryoma's insult and pointed upwards. Ryoma followed where he's pointing at and saw the other doorknobs standing on the roofs of different buildings, watching over them.
Fuji waved at them.
Ryoma rolled his eyes. "Is it your hobby to stand on top of buildings?"
"No. When we came back, you were already fighting a goon. We decided to help when you didn't notice that the goon was still conscious and decided to point a knife to dear Sakuno-chan, here," Momo explained.
"Anou… why did you assume that we might know a shorter way?" Sakuno asked politely.
Then, the doorknobs jumped down and landed in front of them.
Inui said to them, "Nobles live closer to the dark castle. And since you two are from a noble family, considering your clothes, then you must know a shorter way towards it."
Sakuno smiled at them. "Yes, as a matter of fact, we do know a shorter way."
"Then, can you help us?" Fuji asked as he kissed Sakuno's hand.
"No," Ryoma replied shortly and snatched Sakuno's hand from Fuji.
"Oh come on! Why not?" Eiji whined.
"Because doorknobs aren't allowed in the castle," Ryoma replied as he was walking away from them.
"What did you call us!" Momo asked angrily.
"Anou…" Sakuno stopped, which made Ryoma stop on his tracks too, much to his dismay. "What is your business in the castle?"
Oishi scratched his head. After receiving an approval nod from Tezuka, he continued, "W-We have some business with the heir. We're going to meet him today."
Ryoma and the girl looked at each other. Before the girl could reply, a familiar carriage stopped in front of them. The driver went down and muttered an apology to Ryoma.
Hedrick went outside the carriage and bowed apologetically at his master. "Please, forgive us, Echizen-sama."
Ryoma glared at them. "You better. You left me in the middle of the road," he said harshly.
Eiji and Momo whispered at each other. "So, this is how aristocrats live, huh?"
"Oh come on. Forgive them already, Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno said as she smiled weakly at Ryoma.
"Yadda," he replied stubbornly.
Sakuno ignored his reply and turned to Tezuka and the others happily. "Anou, we're going home now. We can lead you to the castle," she said with a nice smile.
Tezuka nodded. "I thank you for your help."
Sakuno waved a hand. "It's okay," then she looked at the carriage and back to the eight men, "But… I don't think you guys will fit in the carriage…"
"No problem" Oishi said happily, "We'll just follow the carriage."
:||ElPhIoRe||:
At first, Ryoma didn't believe that those eight guys would manage to follow where the carriage will go. He even ordered James to fasten the speed more. But after seeing that those eight guys were just jumping nonchalantly from one roof to another, he gave up the idea of losing them on the way.
"Echizen-sama, if I'm not mistaken, those men are wizards," Hedrick said quietly.
Ryoma nodded. "It's obvious."
Sakuno just played with Karupin.
The doorknobs noticed that the skies were getting darker. Kaidoh looked back and found that the sky in Elphiore was still blue. But as they went closer to the castle, the skies get darker, until there were fogs surrounding them.
"We're getting closer to the castle," Tezuka said to everyone. "And the fog is getting thicker. Don't let your guard down."
"Hai!" they replied.
And then, a thunder roared, making Kaidoh pale and Kikumaru surprised.
"That was scary!" Kikumaru said while Kaidoh whispered it to himself.
Then, they finally had a better view of the castle.
"There it is!"
Then, the carriage they were following went inside a dead forest. And not wanting to lose track of the carriage, they just ran on the ground to keep the carriage within their sight. Every tree in the forest had no leaves. And even if there are leaves, it could be counted in one hand. Most of the leaves they saw were dried up, and there were owls and bats and even wolves staring at them with red eyes.
"Anou…" Sakuno said to them while sticking her head out of the carriage, "Don't be scared of the animals. They're pretty kind. Just don't scare them."
They nodded and continued on following the carriage.
After a few more minutes of running, the carriage stopped in front of huge black gate. A guard opened the gate for them.
The eight doorknobs suddenly turned suspicious of Ryoma and Sakuno. From what they believe and know, the two were only nobles, and should have already stopped at where most nobles live. They should have stopped before entering the dead forest. But they just went straight ahead to the castle. "Maybe they're the king's relatives?" Taka said unsurely to everyone.
The carriage entered the gates.
Before getting to the castle, they had to pass by a huge garden. But the garden had no life, just like the forest. Every plant already withered. They felt like they were in a haunted castle or something. And then they saw that there was a graveyard at the far eastern side of the castle.
After examining the outside of the castle more, they carriage finally stopped and Sakuno and Ryoma went outside.
"This is the entrance of the castle," Sakuno said.
They stared at the huge white pillars surrounding the ground floor of the castle. Between one of those many pillars was a marbled staircase with a red carped in the middle leading to a huge mahogany door and a butler clad in black clothes standing at the side.
"Woah!" they said in awe.
The butler opened the door for them. "Your visitors, master?" he asked politely.
"None of your business," Ryoma said rudely and went straight in.
"What a brat," Eiji whispered to Momo.
Sakuno smiled and asked them to follow her. Hedrick walked a few feet behind them.
When they entered the castle, they were at more awe. If only the castle did not look like it was haunted, it'd be truly a sight to see. There were candelabras and draperies at the marble walls. There were paintings hanging from the wall. There are golden railings on every huge glassed window they see. The corner between the ceiling and the wall had wooden carvings all over. There are statues of knights standing at either side of the hallway were they currently just turned to.
Then, they passed by a really huge oak door. The door looked larger than the ones they saw earlier.
"What's this room for?" Eiji pointed towards it.
"None of your business," Ryoma replied.
Eiji pouted.
"Echizen," Tezuka suddenly called. This time, they stopped in another huge door that was larger than the last one they saw. Hedrick opened the door for them. "Are you the heir's relative?"
Ryoma smirked confidently at him. Then, he entered the room along with Sakuno.
"This is where the king's throne is," Hedrick explained to the eight guys as they were entering the room.
They observed the room. There were decorations everywhere. Paintings, vases, sculptures and even the small chairs and tables around had beautiful carvings in them. And there hang a huge crystal chandelier at the artistically painted ceiling. Looking as if it's ready to fall on top of their heads once they get on the middle of it. The corner between the marble walls and the ceiling had diamond carvings all over. And they noticed that they were walking on a red carpet that leads to the throne of the king. At the northern part of the room, stood a golden, sophisticatedly carved throne resting on a three-leveled wooden platform.
They stopped when they were a few feet away from the throne.
"Hey, where's Echizen?" Oishi worriedly asked Sakuno. She was standing beside them. "Oh, you'll know where he is."
Hedrick cleared his throat. "I introduce you, to Elphiore's current king," he gestured their visions to a figure sitting on the throne.
They couldn't see his face at first, since the room was dimly-lit. But as another lightning hit the dark skies, it gave them a bit of a view to see who was sitting and they finally get to see a young boy, who seemed to be in his fifteens looking down at them from his throne with insulting amber eyes.
"E-Echizen?" Kaidoh asked disbelievingly as he recognized the man sitting on the throne. How could a mere boy rule over a whole kingdom? With his age, he should still be learning how to rule over the monarchy! And besides, they never expected Ryoma to be the one sitting there. Are they joking?
"Yeah, I'm the King," Ryoma said in an arrogant tone. He had his head rested on his hand and his legs crossed.
"A-A young boy!" Oishi couldn't believe it either. "A-And it's Echizen no less!"
"Ii data," Inui muttered.
Ryoma rolled his eyes to Sakuno. "What the hell are you still doing there?"
They all gulped at the harshness of his voice.
Sakuno just smiled and walked towards him. She stepped over the platform and sat on Ryoma's lap.
The eight men was now more confused than ever.
Ryoma caressed Sakuno's hair while staring at the eight men's eyes. "Oh by the way… Ryuzaki's not really my sister," he said.
He kissed her passionately on the lips before he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head with his free hand.
He smirked at them as they gaped like fishes at him.
Except for Tezuka Kunimitsu, who only stared at him.
"Now, who are you and what do you want to discuss with me?" Ryoma asked with his arrogant voice.
Tezuka looked at him with his usual stern eyes, ignoring his inward surprise that Echizen was the one they were looking for all along. "We're from Elphiore's underground organization called Eiralith. And we need you to join Relphore's Alliance."
To be continued.
A/N: My inspiration in writing this fic were Kuroshitsuji, Fairy Tail and Soul Eater. Leave a review ^^