I don't know if I'll get use to the idea that strangers know who I am. I don't know if I want to –Lindsey Von

Leading Judal on was easier than Reira expected. Because of her laid back and somewhat playful attitude, she had managed to get the black haired Oracle to follow her. She walked with a knowing ease and hummed an old tune. Then, smirking, she hid her presence in a crook in the wall; a place that Judal probably never even knew about.

"Now where did that freak go?" Judal scratched his head irritably before passing the place Reira hid. She felt his presence pass her and tried her best to suppress an oncoming laugh. Making sure Judal was a good distance. She came out of her hiding place and stretched. A smirk played on her lips. Now the predator has become the prey. Her movements subtly followed him and he didn't seem to even notice it. Judal then stopped, and feeling queer, he slowly turned around. Reira was nowhere to be seen. He turned back around before getting another eerie feeling.

"Ah ha!" he turned around again, but no one was there. Judal grumbled before continuing on his search.

"Shit!" he shouted. When he had turned back around, Reira popped up in front of him… upside down. She gripped the edge of the doorway with the hinges of the back of her legs. Her black hair seemed to be standing up. Smiling at Judal, she hopped down and relished in her silent victory.

"I scared you, didn't I," she put up a victory sign.

"Never do that again," he growled, pushing past her.

"As you wish," Reira mocked a bow.

"How old are you anyway?" he asked, or more like grunted.

"Hmm…" Reira put a finger to her chin. She was actually trying to calculate her age. A few decades back, she just stopped counting.

"I'm probably older that all the Ren children's ages combined," she shrugged, thinking that she couldn't have answered the question any better.

Judal didn't look surprised though. He already knew there was something weird and off about the woman next to him and it would take him a while to try and wrap his mind around it.

"How old are you?" she then asked in return.

"None of your business," he answered.

"Well then, I'll just take a wild guess," she placed her finger on her lips once more. "57."

"HAUH?" he made an appalled questioning sound as his jaw dropped.

"Don't get your panties in a twist, grandma," Reira chuckled at Judal's reaction.

"Shut it!" he balled his fists up, "You're the grandma, grandma. You're probably older than dirt."

"So nice of you to say, Pony Tail," she yanked his hair and he did a whiplash.

"What was that for?" he held his head as if trying to hold it in place.

"Yeah, that's right," Reira patted him on the back, "Hold on to your wig."

"W-wig?" he questioned, but before he could continue, someone cleared their throat and disturbed their little session. Reira looked at the intruder and then closed her mouth.

"What are you doing here?" Judal questioned Kougyoko, the intruder.

"Is this the creepy woman my big brother made an alliance with?" she asked, looking at Reira as if sizing up her potential worth.

"Geez, is that what all of think of me?" Reira asked, annoyed.

"Well, yeah, I guess," Kougyoko put a put a sleeve to her mouth in a pondering gesture.

Reira laughed. "Well then, that's alright. I've always wanted people to realize my freaky side."

At this, Verum stirred and caused Reira to erupt with another laugh.

"Freak," Judal muttered. On the other hand, Kougyoko still marveled at Reira.

"Hey, if you have nothing to do, why don't you come keep my company," Kougyoko suggested.

"I don't mind," Reira answered. "Hanging out with this prick was getting pretty boring anyway."

Kougyoko snickered as Judal muttered something under his breath.

Both women walked to Kougyoko's bedroom. There, Reira was met by all sorts of dolls and teddy bears. It was as if Reira was in a child's room. Her eyes then came into contact with some of Kougyoko's drawings. The one that stood out to her the most was of a dragon. It looked a bit odd with two tails. It breathed fire unto a village and it reminded Reira of Verum.

"You drew this?" Reira asked Kougyoko who was fiddling with the ends of her hair.

"Y-yes," she replied, brightening up at the fact that someone actually noticed her drawings.

"It's pretty good," Reira smiled and moved to the next drawing.

"Well, it's not a big deal, really," she said, "I had a lot of free time when I was smaller, being alone and what not."

"I'm guessing you spent your time wisely," Reira nodded her approval at the drawing she was looking at. She didn't sympathize with Kougyoko though. Reira understood that everyone has their own messed up back story, no matter how small it may be.

"If I wasn't drawing, I was playing with my dolls," she explained.

Silence enveloped them for a while and then was interrupted by Kougyoko.

"Hey," she put a finger up, indicating that she had an idea, "why don't we spar a little."

"Hmm…" Reira contemplated on the odds. "Alright. Just for now."

Kougyoko smiled and the two were up and out of her room. The sparring area wasn't too far away. Upon reaching, Reira made a mental note that the Lucennian Empire's sparring area was grander than the Kou Empire's. The court area was small. It was as if it was built for only two or three people. There were wooden poles standing on opposite sides of the court that were probably used for practicing accurate kunai throwing. Reira picked up a stray kunai and threw it. It hit in the middle of the target.

"I see you're skilled," Kougyoko commented.

"Nahh, that was nothing," Reira shrugged.

Kougyoko took the clip out of her hair and transformed it into her signature sword while Reira stood there without a weapon.

"Aren't you going to get a weapon?" Kougyoko asked, seeing that Reira just stood there.

"Nope," she answered, "I'd rather do this bare handed."

Kougyoko looked a bit puzzled by this, but said nothing. Charging first, she thought she had the advantage, but as she swung her sword, she noticed Reira had already disappeared. Kougyoko then felt something sharp graze the back of her neck.

"If you're going to swing your sword so wildly, at least pay attention to your opponent," Reira whispered loudly enough for Kougyoko to hear.

Reira smirked and withdrew. She cast a sideways glance at the spectators. It was Kouen, Kouha and Kouha's maids. Kouha stood with a hand on his hip, displeased that his sister was overtaken like that while Kouen's facial expressions remained impassive.

"You could use your dijin equip, you know," Reira said, "I don't mind at all. I like challenges."

Kougyoko smirked and transformed.

"Venea!" she shouted. Her Dijin equip form was quite marvelous in Reira's eyes.

"Cool," she commented.

Kougyoko charged with a battle cry, gathering water to use at her disposal. Water whipped wildly around Reira and weirdly, she relished the feeling. Inevitably, the force of the water knocked her off her feet and slammed her into the wall. Kougyoko stopped her attack, but that was a big mistake. In the few moments she let her guard down; Reira took the opportunity to exploit that. Reira swept her leg under in a low kick, causing Kougyoko to lose balance.

Kougyoko looked up at Reira from the ground. She didn't move. Reira offered her a hand and she took it.

"You're really fast," she commented in awe.

"Meh…" Reira shrugged. "It's not that big of a deal. I had lots of practice."

Kougyoko looked a bit defeated. She had assumed that Reira would be easy to beat.

"Never underestimate your opponent," Reira advised, as if reading Kougyoko's mind.

The young princess gave a slow nod and eventually smiled.

"Let's go eat," Reira suggested.

As Kougyoko turned around, she finally noticed her two brothers. She ran up to them and Reira lagged behind. As they conversed, she sat on a nearby ledge and waited. She noticed, though, that Kouen threw occasional glances at her. This caused her to smirk. She watched as they turned around and left.

Kougyoko turned around and smiled at Reira.

"Let's get going," she said.

"You know, I never got your name," Reira said while the two walked.

"Oh!" Kougyoko snapped her fingers as she realized that she didn't introduce herself. Usually, Koubon Ka would do that whenever she forgot. "I'm sorry, my name is Kougyoko Ren."

"And my name is Reira," she also introduced herself as well.

"It was very nice sparring with you, Reira. If you don't mind, would you teach me a bit of your tricks?" Kougyoko asked.

"Sure. I mean all it takes is developing your reflexes," Reira answered.

This caused Kougyoko to smile.

"Hey, after this, can I please do your hair?" Kougyoko asked excitedly before entering the kitchen. At that moment, Reira noticed the height difference between Kougyoko and her. She was around three inches taller than Kougyoko.

"Sure," Reira smiled.

They walked into the kitchen and were greeted by the chefs. Unbeknownst to Kougyoko, though, Reira dashed out of the kitchen as soon as she saw the head chef. Last time she entered the kitchen she 'borrowed' some cookies and the head chef swore his revenge on her.

"What's the matter? Kougyoko came out with two portions of a snack.

"I didn't want to get pummeled by the head chef," Reira shrugged, 'Don't ask what I did."

"Fine," Kougyoko and Reira walked into a lounging area just to find that it was already occupied. Reira smirked as she saw who it was. Kouha had his foot on the couch and opened one of his eyes. Both his eyes then opened when he saw that Reira was in the room.

"Hello," Reira smiled a disturbing smile.

Kouha was a bit displaced by it but recovered very quickly.

Kougyoko observed the silent dispute.

"So the fake is here," he said, not moving an inch.

"You still believe I'm a fake," Reira's smile still remained in place.

Kouha's silence answered her question.

"Then ask me any question and I will answer it," she put up her hands, "You are the expert here. Am I right?"

Kouha looked as if he was thinking of a good, hard question.

"Alright," he finally opened his mouth, "Did Princess Flavis have any friends besides her brother?" he asked. He knew that it was rumored that Flavis had another friend, but only select historians knew that and he just happened to hear.

Reira hesitated at first. Indeed, she did have a friend besides her brother, Verum.

"Yeah," Reira paused and her smile faded. 'She did… A long time ago."

"What's the name of the friend?" he asked, irritated at the fact that she answered the question correctly.

Reira travelled to a small village in the lands of the Kou Empire. This was before it even developed the name Kou.
She had heard of their misfortune and decided to help them, but did not want their, hers and Verum's presences, to be known. She heard that there were bandits lurking around every night and secretly stole the village occupants' food and treasures, while other nights they would kidnap some people, mainly children and women.
To protect the people, every night she would prowl around the village and get rid of the bandits whenever she, or Verum, sensed them.

At one point, rumors started circulating that a girl would appear every night and protect them from the bandits.
The previous group of bandits that were terrorizing them then left, but returned with a larger group. Reira still beat them though.
One night, though, as she was overlooking the village, she saw more bandits enter into a little hut. She recognized this hut, as she has always observed a little girl exit and enter this it. Seeing this she immediately dashed over and entered without thinking. She was met by the devious stares of the bandits and the leader's knife at the little girl's throat. They demanded that Reira gives herself up, or the girl dies. Annoyed, she knocked them all out as fast as possible, and when she was done she poisoned the leader. The girl stood terrified but still questioned Reira about what she just did. There were tears forming at the edges of the girl's eyes.

Reira told the little girl that it was merely medicine to erase his pain. She then tugged on Reira's sleeve and asked if she could take away her mommy's pain and showed her where her mother laid. Reira, shocked by this, noticed that her mother was already dead. She was already murdered by the bandits. Reira walked out of the hut with the intention of going back to the hills where she could observe the village. The little girl followed as she exited from the hut. The little girl was confused and didn't understand the situation fully. Reira turned and told the little girl not follow her and to stay in the hut.

She then noticed that everybody from the village surrounded the area and then suddenly they groveled before and thanked her for the protection she offered them freely. She told them that it was okay and was about to turn away and leave but the village elder came forward and thanked her once more. He then asked for her name. She said to just address her as The Guardian and nothing more. The village elder begged for her to stay for they were going to hold a festival in her honor. She reluctantly agreed.

The next day she went over to the village only to see festival decorations and preparations. The village elder greeted her and brought her to the main house. He then asked her to prepare for tonight's banquet and asked some maids to show her the way. After bathing and dressing up in her festival gown, she took with her the black katana which she claimed from her father during his death. Everything went on smoothly; there was singing, dancing and laughter. The peace continued until a large group of bandits appeared, a size as large as an army just like her father's troops, claiming to burn the village down to the ground. Irritated and angered by this, she then summoned Verum and he appeared by the outskirts of the village and let out a roar.

Reira then unsheathed her sword and attacked the bandits. Killing every bandit in her wake, Verum laid there and made sure that none of the bandits ran away. Once the bloody massacre was over, the village approached her and thanked her once again. Reira got shocked and questioned him on why isn't he afraid that a girl like her just massacred everybody. He only offered her a warm smile and said that he and everyone in the village knew that she did it for their own good; to ensure that they won't get attacked ever again. Reira nodded in understanding and everyone thanked Reira and headed back to rest.

The next few days, there weren't any attacks, since Verum laid there in a circle around the village. Reira was always seen hanging around by Verum's head as she watched over the children of the village play on top of Verum's head, using his tail as a slide.

That was how she'd usually spend her days, watching over the children and making silent conversations with Verum. Nearly a year had passed and as much as Reira hated to leave, she had to. Her need of wanting to explore the world has been ringing in her head, itching, screaming at her to explore. Not being able to withstand the annoyance, she complied. Reira confronted the village elder and told him of her plans to leave. The village elder, although sad, nodded in understanding; for he too, was once a young adventurer.

On the night before she was to leave, she laid atop of Verum's head. Her eyes closed as the gentle breeze blew against her face. Verum let a low growl informing Reira that someone was there and Reira opened her eyes to see the village elder. The village elder motioned for her to come over, and she did. Verum looked into Reira's eyes telling her to be careful. Tanzanite stared into tanzanite. Reira nodded her head and turned and walked towards the village elder.

The village elder led her to the main house and explained to her the reason why their village had always been a target for attacking. It was revealed to her that the village she was in, harbored a sacred gem, one with magic powers and could store anything within it. Selling the gem would equal to the amount of money and could be used to build a castle. Reira did asked him to the reason why he revealed this to her and he gave her a warm smile. He told her that this is the least the village could offer her in return for her protection.

The village elder showed her the gem. It was dubbed as 'Lapillus' and Reira's tanzanite eyes stared into a beautiful red gem. After a while, Reira turned around and thanked the village elder for the information. She walked away, back to where Verum laid. Morning arrived and the sun was only beginning to meet the sky. It was painted in different hues. She was about to turn her back to the village and leave when she noticed the villagers gathered behind her. Sad expressions were plastered onto their faces. The village elder stepped forward and offered to her their sacred gem, Lapillus. It was in a simple yet stunning design; a simple red gem attached with gold chains.

Reira, shocked that they would offer their most treasured possession, wanted to question their decision. The village elder told her that she would be better off with it than them and that the gem only attracted trouble to their village. They felt that she would not only be able to protect the gem but also have better use for it. Reira nodded in understanding and accepted their gift. That's when she noticed a little girl step forward;, the same girl that she saved all those nights ago. The little girl wanted to follow her saying that she had no purpose in the village. Reira rejected the idea and told her that she would be safer here in the village.

The village elder only gave her a warm smile and requested Reira to take the little girl with her. Reira reluctantly agreed and the little girl shyly walked over to her. Before her departure, the villagers once again bowed and thanked her; Verum let out a low growl and he casted a magical barrier over the village so that no misfortune would befall the village. With that, the little girl and Reira both climbed unto Verum and they took off.

In mid air, Reira turned to the little girl and asked her for her name, stating that she couldn't keep calling her 'little girl'. The little girl turned her head towards Reira; emerald green eyes stared into tanzanite as she said her name, such a small timid look. voice did she let out.

Her name?

"Vorax"

Reira reviewed her own story in her mind. At this point, Kouha gave up on the questions, noticing Reira's saddened expression. Instead, he and Kougyoko played in her long black hair.

"Hey, you back to earth yet?" Kouha questioned Reira as soon as her eyes regained a glint of life.

"Yeah," she simply answered and continued to allow them to play in her hair. Kouha's three maids stood to the side.

"Don't be spacing out on me now," Kouha said, "I still have a lot of questions to ask you."

"Sure," Reira answered dully.

"And hey, why don't you have a problem if we play in your hair?" Kouha asked.

"I once met a girl a long time ago," Reira replied, "She always used to play in my hair. That is why I don't get fed up and snap at you for trying to tear my hair out."

What Kouha and Kougyoko didn't notice was the sadness present in her voice when she said this. Reira masked this quite well.

Thanks to ALL who reviewed, followed and favorite. I love you all! Oh! And go check out my friend's story called Dulce Decorum. It's a KouenXOC fanfic. It only has one chapter, but I think it's pretty good since we are kinda collaborating. Her name on FF is SugarIsMyDrug.

See ya next time folks!