Everything happened so fast.
The screams of terror filled the air, both man and woman. Children crying for their parents to speak. Make a sound. The air was filled with columns of black smoke, and the sky was orange from the reflection of flames cast from the thatched roofs of homes. Everything was burning, bodies littered the stone paved streets, and the heavy stench of blood filled the air, almost as if it was choking.

And it was all because of an evil kingdom's stupid misunderstanding.

Yohio and Avanna sat together, backs leaned against the cold and solid stone of the outer wall and shaded by the thickness of the oak trees, which all stood to at least fifty feet high.
"I brought food today," Yohio smiled, holding up a small, rough looking sack. "I snuck it outside, thank god nobody caught me." Avanna didn't reply, but that didn't stop Yohio from passing the sack to her. "Here," he said. She looked down on the sack, opened it, and pulled out a piece of bread. "It's still warm," Yohio told her.
Avanna nibbled on the bread, and her eyes widened.

"It's good," she whispered softly. "Thank you..." She finished the bread within a couple of bites. "The food they serve the knights isn't that good, is it?" he chuckled. "No," Avanna replied, shaking her head. "I have home cooked meals sometimes though, but that's only when I go home. I primarily live out here or in the knight's chamber."
"The knight's chamber, eh?" Yohio sighed with a smile. They sat in a peaceful silence for many minutes, so long, Avanna couldn't keep track.

"Hey, Village Girl..." he said after a while. "What do you think would happen if I got married?" "Like I would care," she replied, stretching out her legs and then crossing them. "You're a prince, you have to get married eventually. So you might as well think about who you really wanna marry before you even think about it."
Yohio thought a moment and then nodded.

"You're right," he said, getting up. "See you tomorrow."

He waved goodbye and walked off.

Avanna kept picking at her food that night rather than eating it.

"What's wrong Avanna?" Yanhe, the knight whom guarded the east wall, asked, stuffing a spoonful if corn into her mouth. "Nothing," Avanna replied quietly, averting her gaze from the table. "You gotta tell us eventually," Wil, th knight who protects the west wall, said. "Yeah! We'll find out eventually!" Yuu, one of the other knights who guarded the castle gates, piped up with a mouth full of food. Mew, the knight of the southern wall, continued to eat silently, but one could tell she was carefully listening to every single detail of the conversation.

"I don't know guys..." Avanna sighed. "I have a feeling something is going to happen very soon..."

And something did happen.

Something very, very bad.

"Sonika!" Avanna yelled through the chaos. "Where's mother and father?!"
"We got separated when we evacuated the house," Sonika answered, shaking.

"Alright, we just need to get you to safety right now," Avanna said, placing her sister's arm around her neck. "It's too dangerous out here." Avanna limped through the destruction as quickly as she could, her ankle sprained from falling. "Avanna..." Sonika shook. "Are we going to live? Are we going to see Oliver again?" "Sonika, it's going to be okay," Avanna told her softly, hoping her tone will calm her sister down.

But she was lying. Nothing was going to be okay.

Not anymore.

Avanna passed Sonika onto a small family of farmers, who lead her into an underground bunker where she'll be safe. Once Sonika was safe, Avanna ran out back to the battlefield, even though it hurt her ankle.

The first thing she saw was one of Crypton's soldiers.

Avanna drew out her sword which had immediately clashed with the blond soldier's. Avanna pushed her sword outwards, which caused the blond soldier to stumble backwards. He growled at her and lashed out. Avanna dodged by turning her body 120 degrees.
Frustrated, the blond soldier pushed Avanna on to the ground.

He stood above her and was about to take the final blow when the tip of a silver blade came out of his lower abdomen, bursting forth a crimson flower of blood.

He fell over, a dagger jabbed into his abdomen. Standing behind his was Mew, looking down onto his fallen body. "Your... Kingdom.. Will never win.." he uttered out smiling, before coughing blood and becoming stiff and motionless.

"Well that's another one of Crypton's soldier dead," Mew said casually, pulling her dagger out of the blond soldier's body.
"How?" Avanna stammered, getting up. "He was wearing metal armor!"
"Sometimes even the toughest of armors cannot hold against the strongest of blades," Mew recited. "Anyways, the Queen sent me to fetch you, come on."

Avanna followed Mew to the castle, and inside, Yanhe, Yuu and Wil were waiting there for them.

"Your Majesty," Mew and Avanna said and bowed in unison. "Now is not the time for that," the Queen said gravely.

The Queen stood and began to pace around the room. "As you all can see, Crypton's soldier's have invaded the kingdom and are now waging war on us," she began. "Excuse me, your Majesty," Mew inputed, tone almost as cold as ice. "Do you have any idea why Crypton would just suddenly attack us like that?" The Queen stopped pacing for a moment, and everything fell into a deep silence.

"Because..." the Queen spoke softly, so much that it was almost like her words were barely escaping her lips. "Because Crypton is an evil kingdom... They will wage war upon any kingdom that makes even a sound against their word..."

/

Queen IA stood face-to-face with Yohio at the gates, as the knights were finishing their packing.

"I am going to miss you my son," Queen IA said sadly. "Don't worry mother, I will be home soon," Yohio smiled.
Suddenly, Yanhe yelled out, "PRINCE YOHIO! I HAVE BEEN CALLING YOU FOR FIVE MINUTES! IT'S TIME TO GO!" For a knight, she was quite impolite when she's impatient. Regardless, she guards well.

"Alright!" he yelled back.
"Goodbye my dear," Queen IA said before tip-toeing and bestowing her son a kiss on the forehead.

Once they were out of sight, Queen IA turned and walked back into the castle.

She walked downstairs and into an empty hallway. She quickly looked around to make sure nobody was following her before pressing a loose brick in the wall. The hall rumbled and the wall sunk in, revealing a door. She pushed the rotting door open and stepped into a dark room.

"So, we meet again..." a voice as sweet as poisoned honey said.
"What do you want from me?" Queen IA spat.
"Oh honestly IA..."

The person walked up to Queen IA, their footsteps clicking against the stone floor. Click, click, click..

"Can't a sister help a sister?"

/

The knights and Yohio quietly walked through the thick woods. The air was thick and felt tense.
"Hey Avanna," Yohio whispered to the girl.

Avanna ignored him and continued walking on. But after another hour of him bothering her, she turned around and looked at him dead in the eye.
"I do not know why you are talking to me your Majesty," she huffed. "So unless you are dying or you need to go to the restroom please refrain from making any kind of noise."
Yohio shut up after that, much to Avanna's pleasure.

By the time evening peaked, they were at the edge of the kingdom.

"I'm exhausted," Yuu groaned, collapsing against a tree. "We've been walking all day without a single break!"
"Fine..." Mew said, flipping her ink-black hair. "We'll stop for the night. But no fires, for they will attract attention."

They unpacked their bags and pulled out the food that was given to them. They nibbled on the tough jerky for quite a while when Wil stopped nibbling. "Somebody's coming..." he said softly. Everybody dropped their jerky and scrambled up. The knight's readied their weapons and Yohio picked up a long fallen branch.

Three people jumped out of the bushes. No, they weren't knights, only poor peasants dressed in the filthiest of rags.

"Do you have food?" one of them, a girl with curly red twin drills stuttered. "Please," a blond man with his hair tied to the side, begged. Avanna looked at Mew and Mew nodded in response. "Alright," Avanna said with a firm voice, letting her sword down. Avanna picked through her leather satchel and pulled out a bag full of dried fruit. "Here" She thrust the bag out to them, and the woman with long silver hair caught it. "Thank you," she rasped, bowing down.

The three peasants ran off, and everybody relaxed and sat down.

"So who's taking sleep shift?" Yanhe asked, crossing her legs. "I will," Avanna volunteered. "Alright," Yuu yawned, laying down upon the long peridot grass. "Goodnight."

And as more stars appeared in the inky indigo sky, the more Avanna's commerades had been lulled into sleep. Even Wil, whom had always stayed up 'til the most ungodly hours of the night doing whatever.

The Queen's words echoed clearly in her mind like a bell that won't stop ringing..

"Our kingdom alone cannot defeat Crypton, as they are an extreamely powerful kingdom. So we must form an alliance." The Queen strided toward a table that had a map laid out with wooden figures on top of it. She picked up a wooden stick and pointed out where Planetes was. "This is our kingdom," she said. The Queen then pointed to a wooden figure of a person and moved it using her stick toward the wooden figure of a castle. "I need you all to escort my son to here. The Kingdom of the West, Voctro.." Queen IA looked up from the table and back at the knights. "My son, your prince, will marry princess Maika of Voctro and form an alliance between our two kingdoms. This alliance, will be our key to defeating Crypton."

The Queen paused for a bit to take a breath.

Her tone grew grave as she said, "You must hurry, because if this continues, then Crypton will destroy us." "Alright your Majesty," Yanhe said, her voice tight and serious. "You have our word."

The Queen nodded and ordered immediate perpetrations to her servants. "You will have a carriage and two horses provided for you," the Queen told them. "And-" "Hold up," Wil interrupted. "I am sorry for interrupting you your Majesty, but we will make the journey by foot so we do not attract much attention from Crypton's soldiers." The Queen thought for a moment, and then nodded.

"Alright," she answered finally. "Yukari! Tell the stable workers they may stop working!" "Yes, your Majesty," Lady Yukari curtsied before running off to carry out her orders.

Avanna looked up at the quarter moon through the thick branches of trees, its cold silver light shining in patches through leaves and twigs. She heard a soft shuffling behind her and the faint crackle of dry leaves.

"Couldn't sleep, huh?" she said, subtly smirking under her golden hood. "So you heard me, eh?" he sighed quietly so he wouldn't wake the others.
"I figured it would be hard to sleep outside when you've been snoozing in an actual bed all your life," she whispered, eves not moving from the bright moon. Yohio crawled next to her and sat down, looking up at the moon through the trees with her.

"So this Princess Maika... Do you know her?" Avanna had asked after about a ten minute silence.

Yohio nodded.
"She was my childhood friend.. I've actually had a slight romantic affection for her quite a while now," he chuckled, slightly smiling at thought of her. "I see..." Avanna nodded.

I see...

Hey guys! Snowy here!

School has recently started for me, so it had taken me a while to make this chapter!

I'm publishing this at like, late in the night so it might have a few typos. Anyways, please stay tuned for the next chapter!

I'm out!

-Snowy

Chapter 3 Spoiler

"Ah... Your Highness..." a soft voice coming from the shadows of one ce said. "What brings you here to our lovely rooms?"

Sounds of shifting and clinks of metal came from the other cell next to it. The person inside that other cell stood and walked toward the metal bars confining her in that cramped space, revealing a girl with green hair.

She wore a frilly dress of orange and yellow, metal armor cladding her legs, arms, and bust, and chains of the hardest steel cuffing her ankles. One would think she is only a simple girl who loves to play dress up at first, but the look in her grass green eyes was bloodthirsty and wild, and her smile fake. Almost like an animal.

The one who spoke stood up also and walked towards the front.

This girl had long pink hair which fell to her knees and her dull blue eyes calm and cold like mist. She was clad in a preistess's robes, white with golden trim. Covering every part of her body from neck to ankle.

"I need your help," Princess Miku told simply, her high voice strained.

"And why should we help you?" the one with green hair retorted in a meek tone, as if she was an innocent bystander.

"Do not talk to the Princess that way!" Rin said sharply. "She is giving you a chance to redeem yourselves! So you bet-"

"Rin."

Princess Miku put an arm in front of Rin, forcing her to silence.

"I need you two to kill something for me," Princess Miku told emotionlessly.

Both the pink haired and green haired girl sparked interest at the word; "kill", and they began to listen very carefully.

"There is a group of fugitives wandering about, and they are causing quite a rukus," Princess Miku explained. "I need you two to help me with the task of killing them."

"Why us?" the pink haired girl asked, suspicious. "Do you not have your knights to take care of that?"

"Ah, but this group of fugitives are too clever for my knights," she replied sweetly. "To add on to that, I also want them killed in the most brutal way possible."

"Brutal, huh?" the green haired girl grinned with happiness. "Just the way I like it..."

"Gumi!" the pink haired girl scolded, looking at her comrade in the next cell. She looked back at the princess and narrowed her eyes at her intensly. "What do we get in exchange for this task?" she asked.

"Oh, not much really..." Princess Miku smiled, looking away while fiddling with her teal pigtails. "Gold, riches, weapons... And what else? Hm..."

Still fiddling with her hair, the princess looked at the two criminals straight in the eyes.

"And your absolute freedom.."

It took no time at all for the two criminals to think.

"Yes."