CHAPTER 1

Together Again

Nina stretched out her arms and looked at the horizon from the top of a hill. It was high noon, and there was a clear blue sky. She could see the trees and roads that went down the horizon. And just on the edge of it, she could see the outline of Wyndia.

Nina wore a short, one-piece red dress and long red boots. Her blonde hair was tied up with a ribbon, and she had large golden cuffs on either wrist. Even though her people, the Wyndians, lacked the ability to fly, that didn't stop Nina from growing wings herself, although they were pretty much useless.

A guard approached Nina from down the hill and kneeled. "Princess Nina! They are headed down this road, just as we suspected!"

Nina looked back at the guard and nodded. "Prepare the men," she said. "Let's get this over with."

"Yes, princess," said the guard, and went back down the hill.

Nina looked back into the horizon and took a deep breath. She let it out slowly.

"All right," she said to herself, and walked down the hill.

A group of five men walked down a narrow road flanked by thick trees. The man in the middle was the boss, a known smuggler and assassin. He was covered in a green cloak that also hid his face.

"Hey, boss, you sure about this road?," asked a ruffian as they walked down a narrow road flanked by thick trees.

"Yeah, don't worry," said the boss. "The Wyndian guards never go anywhere near this road, especially since it's too hard to find."

"Boss!," said another ruffian. "There's someone up ahead!"

"What?!," asked the boss alarmed. "Impossible!"

The ruffian pointed out the figure in front of them. It was a blonde girl with a short red dress. The boss laughed.

"It's just a girl," said the boss. "Nothing to worry about."

The girl suddenly pointed at the boss. "Criminal Uri, you're under arrest on the charges of smuggling and the murder of the Wyndian Prime Minister."

The ruffians all flinched, except the boss, who merely chuckled.

"Interesting," said Uri. "So Wyndia's using little girls now?" He laughed. "That King has no guts at all!"

The girl's eyes twitched.

"Don't you dare insult the King, you dirtbag," she said angrily.

Uri chuckled again. "Come to think of it, I heard that the King's daughter is taking it to herself to dispense justice in the region." He narrowed his gray eyes dangerously at her. "You're her, aren't you? Nina?"

"That's Princess Nina to you!," she spat. "I'm taking you to Wyndia where you'll face judgment!"

Uri laughed. "Oh really?," he sneered. "You and what army?!"

"The Wyndian army," said Nina.

Just then, a dozen Wyndian guards came out of the thick brushes from either side of the road and surrounded the criminals.

"Now, will you come in quietly, or do we have to get violent?," asked Nina.

The ruffians looked incredibly nervous; there was no way they could take on Wyndian soldiers. Uri, on the other hand, was now laughing.

"What's so funny?," Nina asked angrily. The ruffians looked back at Uri in confusion.

"You think this pitiful bunch can kill me?," Uri asked. "Don't insult me."

"What?," Nina asked.

Uri threw his cloak away, revealing a well-built man in his late twenties. He had silver white hair and wore a white shirt, over which he wore leather shoulder pads and a leather cuirass. He also wore leather knee pads and leather shoes, under which he had a pair of jeans. He had two large arm braces.

"Boss, y-you can't be serious!?," said a nervous ruffian. "They're Wyndian troops!"

"Useless cowards," said Uri. He smiled sinisterly. Suddenly, two large blades sprung up from under Uri's arm braces, and slashing so fast that his blades looked like flashes of light, killed his own men.

"W-why did you that?!," Nina asked horrified.

Uri grinned sinisterly. "What's the point of having bodyguards if they won't fight to protect me?," he asked. "They got what was coming to them."

"Y-You monster!," said one of the guards that was standing behind him, and charged, his pike pointing forward straight for Uri's back.

"No, wait!," said Nina in alarm, but it was too late.

Uri, without even bothering to turn around, moved a little to the side and evaded the pike completely. The soldier was unable to stop his momentum. Uri simply raised his right arm and elbowed the guard on the face, breaking his nose. The guard fell on the floor, dead. The other guards, angered at seeing their comrade being hurt like that, charged forward despite Nina's orders. Nina watched in horror as Uri easily overpowered the guards and killed them all with a few quick slashes. He turned to her and smiled.

"What's wrong, princess?," he sneered. "Didn't you say you were taking me to Wyndia to face judgment?"

Nina shook her head and calmed herself down. She summoned her weapon, a long staff with wings and a single orb at the end of it. Uri laughed.

"Perfect," he said.

He charged her. Nina jumped back and shouted "Magic Ball!"

A ball of pure magic energy shot out from her staff and headed directly to Uri. Uri dodged it and continued his charge, eventually catching up with Nina and thrusting his blades forward. Nina then shouted out "Lightning!" A lighting bolt shot down straight towards Uri, who survived simply because he jumped back at the last second.

"Very impressive, princess," said Uri with a smirk. "But there's no way that you can beat me with magic alone. You still lack one very important characteristic to defeat someone like myself."

"What are you talking about?," Nina asked.

"You'll see, Princess," Uri said.

Nina didn't like the look in Uri's cold, gray eyes.

"Cyclone!" Nina shouted. She shot three wind sickles straight at Uri from the palm of her hand. She expected Uri to try and dodge her attack, like with the magic ball, so that she could hit him with an iceblast spell when he was unprepared. Instead, to Nina's dismay, Uri ran right through the sickles, receiving deep wounds in his arms and right leg.

Nina was far too surprised to be able to do anything other than gape at Uri, so she hadn't notice Uri's attack on time. He thrust the blade in his right wrist straight through Nina's left shoulder and pinned her against a nearby tree. Nina groaned in pain as Uri drove the blade deeper into her shoulder.

"Do you know what you lack, Princess?," Uri asked, smiling evilly. "You lack the madness it takes to kill me."

Nina looked into his cold, mad eyes in shock.

"Why do you look so surprised, Princess?," Uri asked her. "Don't get me wrong. I'm sure you must have killed quite a lot in your battles. However…" He twisted the blade on her shoulder, making Nina cry out in pain. "…it's not the same thing killing in self-defense than it is killing an already defeated foe." He chuckled. "You've never killed anyone innocent, have you? You fight hoping to resolve matters without death. It is because of this that you cannot defeat me."

He drew his blade out of her shoulder and let her fall sitting against the tree. She grasped her shoulder, which was bleeding freely. She looked up at his face with a defiant expression. Uri took no notice of it.

"Only madness can hope to defeat madness," said Uri, his malevolent grin still in place. "If you fight to win and not to kill, you'll only end up using half your strength. You must fight with the intention of destroying your opponent. Only then will you truly be strong." He raised his left hand, the blade pointing straight at Nina "It's a shame you won't live to learn from this lesson."

Nina didn't move. She couldn't. Her knees were frozen from the fear that had suddenly gripped her. She could tell in those cold gray eyes that Uri was really going to kill her. She was really going to die.

And then it happened.

One moment Uri was about to thrust his blade straight at Nina's face, the next he found himself flying down the road, having been kicked in the face by an oversized clawed foot. This woke Nina from what must have been a trance. She looked up at her savior and gasped.

In front of her now stood a young man with long, yellow hair that he allowed to grow wildly. He had stripes on his face. He wore a leather vest and long pants. He looked down at Nina and smiled a familiar smile.

"Rei!," said Nina happily.

Rei nodded. "I'm not the only one either," he said with a smile.

"What?," Nina asked. Rei pointed up the road. Nina looked and gasped.

It was Ryu and Momo. Ryu, the young man with blue hair and azure eyes, came running down the road towards her. So did Momo. Her hair was incredibly long and she had made two very long and thick braids. She wore what could be thick layers of clothing, one on top of the other, making her look a lot bigger than she really is. She had small round glasses, since she was kind of near-sighted.

They both stopped right beside Nina.

"Nina, are you okay!?," Ryu asked worriedly when he saw her wound.

"I-I'm fine," Nina said, trying to not make him worry. "It's just a minor wound."

"Yeah right," said Momo, who inspected the wound more closely. "I'll have to administer a Healing Herb quick before it gets infected."

Nina pulled down the shirt from her right shoulder helpfully. The wound looked incredibly nasty, much worse than Nina thought it was.

"What did he do to you?!," Momo asked as she administered the herb.

Nina bit her tongue to not cry out again.

"He twisted a knife in my shoulder," she said, still trying to suppress a cry.

Ryu looked up angrily at Uri, who was now standing up, covered in bruises.

"Well, that should do it," said Momo.

The herb, which she had administered in the form of a paste on the wound, had effect immediately. The wound healed in a matter of moments, but it left an ugly looking scar in its place.

"It's going to be a long time before that scar heals," said Momo apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't bring any Vitamins."

"It's okay," said Nina with a reassuring smile. She covered the wound again with her clothes and stood up. "Thanks."

Momo nodded, returning Nina's smile with one of her own.

They both walked and stopped either side of Rei and Ryu, who were glaring at Uri, who glared back.

Rei sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Doesn't this just beat all?," he said. "Here we are, going out of our way to go to Nina's birthday, and what do we get?" He pointed at Uri. "Some obvious psychopath who tries to kill Nina. Why can't we ever have a normal day?"

"Describe normal," Momo told him.

Uri remained silent, his arms crossed and a smug expression on his face.

"He killed my guards," said Nina. "He would have killed me too, if you hadn't come in time."

"Yeah, I can tell," Rei said seriously, looking into Uri's eyes. "This guy is crazy."

Ryu drew out his sword and fixed Uri a fierce glare.

Uri noticed the blue haired young man and wondered. He could feel something unusual about him.

"Interesting," he said. "Hey, kid!"

"Huh?," Ryu asked.

"You're not like the rest of us, are you?," Uri asked. "You seem, different somehow."

Ryu flinched.

"How did he notice?!," Nina asked alarmed.

Uri outstretched his arms and took out his blades from his arm braces.

"I wonder if you bleed differently too?," He asked with a half-smile.

He charged headlong at the party.

Rei drew out his Ballock knives, which were two large daggers. Momo summoned her bazooka, took aim and fired.

The round hit the ground directly in front of Uri. There was a large explosion, lifting up a cloud of black smoke. Uri came out of the smoke, unscathed.

He eventually reached the party and attacked Rei first, using a series of quick slashes that forced Rei on the defensive. Ryu moved in from behind while Uri was busy fighting Rei and swung his sword on Uri's back. Uri reacted immediately, turning around and blocking Ryu's attack just as he blocked Rei's. The three of them were stuck in a deadlock. Uri smiled at the struggling Ryu.

"Come on, kid," he said. "I expected you to be stronger than this."

Ryu scowled. Both he and Rei jumped away from the deadlock just as Momo fired another round straight at Uri's chest. Uri blocked the blast with his arm braces, then jumped and dropped down on Momo.

Momo reacted, shooting out the massive shield she had hidden in the bazooka and blocking Uri's attack. Uri jumped from the shield and landed on the floor just as Ryu attacked again, swinging his sword down at Uri's head. Uri blocked him with his blades.

"You're certainly the quiet type, aren't you?," Uri asked. "You're the only one who hasn't really said anything to me."

"I don't have to talk to scum like you," Ryu said angrily, pushing the sword at Uri.

"Is that so?," Uri asked. "Well, then that changes things, doesn't it?"

He suddenly moved his hands to the side, making Ryu slip forward. Uri then turned around and was about to stab Ryu on the chest, but was stopped by a timely spell from Nina, who had cast another Magic Ball spell. Uri found it difficult to avoid it, and had to do a rather strange flip to do so.

"This guy is really good," Rei said.

"We've fought worse," Ryu said.

Uri smiled. "Have you now?," he asked. "How interesting."

"Shut up!," spat Ryu at him.

"We're getting nowhere here!," said Momo. "I think it's time to introduce my secret weapon.!"

"What?," asked Nina.

"Oh, you can't mean…," began Rei.

"Exactly!," said Momo, not letting him finish. She searched in her clothes and pulled out a curious looking whistle; it was shaped like a little cog. She blew it, yet it made no sound.

"A dog whistle?," Uri asked.

"Nope," said Momo.

Suddenly, they heard something approach very fast. Down the road, a large dust cloud was lifting and getting closer.

"Oh man," said Rei, shaking his head in disbelief.

Suddenly, the figure of an individual came into view from within the dust cloud. He was covered head to foot in black armor. His bird shaped helmet was strange, since it didn't have any slits from where to see. He's joints sounded like as if they were operated by gears.

The strange individual ran right past Uri and stopped beside Momo.

"You called, Miss Momo?," he asked. His voice was a monotonous, mechanical voice.

"Who is he?," Nina asked.

"Not who, but what," said Momo.

"What?," Nina asked.

"It's a robot!," Momo said proudly. "I built it myself! It's the first robot soldier that wasn't salvaged!"

"Wow!," said Nina, actually impressed.

"Yeah, big whoop," said Rei. "'Cept he's as thick as an orc."

"Well, he tries," said Ryu.

"Yeah right," said Rei. "Remember when he burned our camp because he thought it was edible?"

"Oh, yeah," Ryu said, remembering. "Well, at least we got see the sky."

"It was raining!," said Rei angrily.

"That's beside the point here," said Momo. "The thing is, he's strong." She turned to the robot. "Conqueror 99! Your mission is to defeat that man there!" She pointed at Uri.

The robot turned it's mechanical head at Uri and stared at him for a moment, then turned back to Momo.

"Really?," he asked with no emotion. It was strange how much it sounded like sarcasm when it wasn't.

"Of course really!," said Momo.

"My scanners indicate he is a very strong human, and could puncture my armor," said the robot. "Perhaps you should have Honey do it?"

"No!," Momo said, and stomped her foot down in anger. "Now go!"

The robot moved his chest up and down in a perfect mimic of a sigh. "Very well," he said. He turned to face Uri, and got into a fighting stance.

"What the hell is going on here?," Uri asked. "Who is that?"

"Conqueror 99!," said Momo proudly. "And he's going to beat you up!"

Uri blinked, then laughed raucously.

Rei shook his head in shame.

"You know, I gotta wonder sometimes, do robots feel shame? Because if they do, Conqueror must fell like dying right now."

The robot nodded. He turned back to Uri, once again getting into his fighting stance.

"Finally done talking, eh?," Uri asked, getting into his fighting stance.

Shadow charged Uri and sent a rapid volley of punches at Uri's chest. Uri staggered back after feeling the painful metallic blows.

"What the hell?!," asked the surprised Uri.

Shadow sent a left hook straight at Uri's ribs. The painful sound of breaking bones could be heard clearly. Uri fell on his knees, gasping for breath.

"Wow, that was quick," said Rei.

"See? I told he was strong!," Momo said, filled with pride over her robot.

Nina approached Uri, who looked up at Nina and grinned.

"What do you think, princess?," he asked weakly. "Here I am, all defenseless and weak. You want to finish it?"

Nina remained deathly silent. She gripped her staff tightly.

"Nina?," Ryu asked.

"What's wrong princess?," Uri asked. "Fighting over moral dilemmas, perhaps?" He sniggered. "I killed your guards without an ounce of hesitation, an ounce of regret. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it."

Nina's eyes twitched.

"Come on, princess. Do it!," said Uri. "Kill me! Avenge your soldiers! Stop me from continuing my killing spree!" He laughed at Nina's face. "Do it! Do it! Do--"

Suddenly, Ryu hit him hard on the head with his sword sheath, knocking him out. Nina was startled and looked at Ryu. He smiled at her.

"Eh, he was talking too much anyway," said Rei, scratching the back of his head. "Crazy idiot."

Nina was now looking at her dead soldiers. Ryu noticed this. He put his hand on Nina's shoulder.

"Come on," he said. "Let's at least give them a decent burial."

Nina looked at Ryu and nodded. "Right."

They buried the soldiers in a small clearing away from the woods. Nina gave a silent prayer.

"I'll ask father to give you all a better burial," she said quietly. "I promise."

They all remained in respectful silence for a minute, then Rei decided to break the ice. "Well, not exactly how we intended to meet you, princess," he said with a rather nervous smile.

Nina shook her head. "No, it's all right," she said. She bowed slightly at them. "Thank you guys, I wouldn't have done it without you."

They smiled.

"We should go back to the castle," Ryu suggested. Nina nodded in agreement.

"Right."

"Conqueror, you carry the guy, all right?," she told the robot. The robot silently picked up Uri and followed them down the road.