Chapter 2: Kagutsuchi's HiME

Aurora's nose was twitching as her eyes opened sluggishly. 'Do I smell smoke?,' she asked herself curiously. Her whole canopy bed was surrounded by flames. "Oh Kami!," the demon slayer shouted standing up on the pink satin-clad bed.

Suddenly the door to the room erupted open. A luminous blue light flared, and the flames were gone. Aurora fell to her knees in exhaustion. "Why is this happening?!," the usually strong-willed woman cried out in frustration.

"Calm down," a soothing woman's voice called from across the room, "you'll start the flames again."

Looking towards the doorway, Aurora instantly knew where she was. "Lady Sariah?" She was in the Western Kingdom. That's when she remembered Sesshoumaru. 'He must have brought me here.'

Running a hand through her ankle-length midnight-blue hair, she smiled a radiant smile. Aurora Sinclair jumped out of the bed and into some ash. "Oh my god, look at your floor... it's horrible!"

The Queen of the Western Lands merely laughed, "It is of no consequence."

'How can someone be this nice?,' Aurora asked herself, 'I would've freaked out about it.' Sariah's face suddenly turned to that of a serious one.

"I'm so glad," she spoke softly," I get to meet another HiME... someone like me."

"HiME?," the confused demon slayer asked. That's when she caught sight of herself in a beautifully engraved mirror next to the Queen. "What the..., " Aurora trailed off as she ran to the mirror. She had never been one for cussing. The woman ran across the golden floor, and stared into the reflecting glass.

Somehow... her hair had shrunk to her shoulders, and was a flaming red color. Her eyes were the same.

"You are the HiME of the flame, cancer guards you," Sariah said knowingly, "those are just some of the changes to your body."

"W-Wait!," Aurora yelled... she was beginning to get a headache, "what the heck is a HiME?"

"Yes, it stands for Highly-advanced Materializing Equipment, " Sariah crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, "you have the ability to create a specific weapon out of the matter in the air."

"I... can do something like that?"

"You want more proof?, " Sariah asked curiously.

"You can't honestly expect me to believe this right off the bat."

"You have the HiME mark on your right breast, and I know you can see the red HiME star in the sky, " Sariah said.

The newly-found princess crossed her arms over her chest in outrage, "H-How do you know that?!"

"Relax," Sariah said in her soothing voice, "I've done alot of reading up on your power...and mine."

"That's right... you sounded like you had powers like mine to..."

Two bright blue lights flashed in the Queen's hands, and when they faded... two small pistols rested in her hands.

Aurora's eyes widened. "What sort of-"

"It's not magic," Sariah explained,"it's the power of your will." "You see my mark is on my lower back, and I'm guarded by Duron and the sign of Leo."

"Duron?"

"Yes," Sariah said happily, "he is my child, would you like to see him?"

"YOU ARE PROTECTED BY A CHILD?!," Aurora shouted alittle to loudly for Sariah's sensitve ears.

"N-No," the blue-haired woman winced, "you misunderstand, Duron is a wolf-like creature which I can summon."

The demon slayer calmed down. "Why is he called your child?"

"Actually... I'm not exactly sure myself."

"I see... do I have a child as well?," Aurora asked.

"Yes, Kagutsuchi, a giant flame dragon, protects you, and you... are probably the most powerful of all the HiME."

"All of the HiME, so, there's more of us?," the newest HiME asked.

"Yes," Sariah closed her eyes, "but I need your help to find them."

Before Aurora could ask anything more, Sariah looked up suddenly. "Dear...," she said pleasantly, "I THOUGHT WE AGREED TO LET ME HANDLE THIS!"

Furiously, the queen shot an ice bullet at the door causing it to fall of its hinges. There stood the infamous Taiyoukai looking apologetic. "Forgive me, Love," Lord Inutaisho said nervously, "but I'm afraid we need to talk about the oncoming war."

A/N: Critiques welcome! Chapter 3 up soon!