Nea had an irritated face as she made her way down the corridor to the palace garden where she was supposed to meet her "concerned" sisters. Ami was walking behind her, not even caring about how unhappy Nea was about wearing the grand kimono she had on.

She had to admit, it was beautiful, but didn't suit her taste at all. It was white with dark green grass at the helm of the sleeves and around the bottom. There were blue, pink, and yellow flowers in the grass along with blue birds. Nea had five other kimonos on underneath it, and it was a nightmare. She was in a nightmare she was sure. The only thing she liked that she had on was the hair clip that held up her pony tail. It was ivory with black metal around it in the design of waves. It was the one thing her father gave her that was her mothers. It made her feel closer to her mom, somehow.

Finally they arrived at the doors that lead to the palace gardens. There was pictures on the metal door that depicted enormous trees and birds flying with a pair of lovers resting under a tree holding each other. Nea looked at the lovers and felt a sort of longing stir in her heart. She'd probably never be able to do that with her future husband. She'd dreamt about marrying someone for love, but with her illness and status, it just didn't seem possible for her. She'd either be married so that her father would know that she was well taken care of or for status. Or both. It really did her no good to think about it, seeing as it was an unavoidable fate.

The doors opened and Nea walked into the garden with Ami. Sakura Blossom trees were everywhere, as well as elegant red flowers and many more. The palace garden was twice as big as her private one but nowhere near as beautiful.

As she was walking down the path she five of her sisters sitting on cushions. In the center was Emi. Emi's long black hair flowed down her back and pooled behind her on the cushion. On the side of her head she wore golden flower pins. She was wearing a bright crimson red kimono with a red dragon pattern on it. Her nails were painted deep red, as well as her lips. Her light, sharp brown eyes were looking at Nea the way a lion looks at a deer it already knows it has trapped. She rested her chin in her hand while still looking at Nea.

"My my. If it isn't my dearest youngest sister. I hope you're feeling better? I heard about the coughing incident from Ami." Her sister asked.

Nea sent a glare at Ami, who barely noticed as she was so happy to be around proper ladies, before she replied.

"Thank you, honorable eldest sister. I'm glad you took the time to care about my health, even though your stay at the castle is so short." Nea managed to choke out.

"Yes, well... I wanted to make sure father's favorite stay in good health. And I can see why you're his favorite. I thought for a minute it was mother walking down the path to scold me for something when you came down." Emi laughed this thought.

Nea was about to say something else smart to her eldest sister, but was cut short by laughter that she heard. She looked to her sisters left and saw the twins, Ayane and Ayame, laughing together. She and Emi gave them a questioning look.

"Haha you two-"

"Are so-"

"Childish!" The both exclaimed at once.

Nea rolled her eyes at them. She's being childish? Please. How is finishing each other's sentence not childish? Or the facts that both of them are 18 and still refuse to dress different from each other and have the same haircut. Both had short, black hair that came to their chins and wore identical royal blue kimonos with wave patterns.

After examining the twins Nea turned to see her other two sisters. Haru was there with her deep brown hair reaching only her waist. She held a book in one hand and seemed to be deeply engrossed in it. She had deep green eyes and pale pink lips. Her kimono was a dark pink that had Sakura blossoms on it. She wore a light pink obi with it. Out of all of her siblings, Haru was the one that Nea could tolerate a little. Haru was rather aloof and distance from most of the family, so it was easy but at the same time awkward to around her.

The other sister was Hina. Hina was already married, like Emi. She was the four oldest of the siblings and perhaps the most deceiving. Her long black hair was straight and went down to her butt. Her kimono was of a light spring green with yellow petals on it. She had the prettiest face with huge brown almond eyes that seemed innocent and small lips that shimmered light pink. However, Nea can remember multiple times when siblings would get in fights over things gone missing in the palace or rooms and the cause would be Hina.

As Nea was scanning over her siblings, Emi seemed to have been thinking on what the twins said.

"Nea, Ayane and Ayame are right" She said solemnly.

"They are?" Nea asked questionably.

"We are?!" The twins shouted.

"Yes." Emi sent them a cold glare before turning to Nea.

"We are sisters and barely see each other. There's no need for us to fight each other. Come! Sit down. " Emi told her while motioning to the cushion directly across from her.

Nea was watching Emi as she cautiously took a seat. Emi was still staring at her and smiling.

"So, I hear father plans on marrying you off to someone?" Emi asked.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Are you excited to find a husband?" Emi questioned.

"Well I-"

"Oh Emi!" Ayane shouted while looking to the older sister. She was smiling from ear to ear.

"What, Ayane?" Emi drawled out. She wasn't pleased to have someone be interrupted while they were talking.

"Ayame and I found twin husbands! We get to be near each other even after getting married. Isn't that wonderful? "Ayane told Emi, her eyes full of joy.

"Oh, that is good." Emi commented.

At this point all of her sisters, save Haru, started talking about husbands and fiancés. Even Ami joined in, talking about her husband. Nea, however, wasn't listening anymore. She wasn't exactly interested in husbands and the like. She'd rather be in her garden sleeping in the giant Sakura tree. Sighing, she relaxed a little and looked up toward the sky. It was then that she noticed it.

Up in the sky, about twenty yards up, was a glowing white orb. It was staying perfectly still in the sky, not moving even an inch. She tilted her head to the side, thinking it was the glare of the sun. However, it wasn't. And it was now gliding down toward the garden.

Nea was suddenly frozen with fear. Her throat felt dry, and she couldn't move any of her body parts. She couldn't warn her sisters about the approaching danger of the gliding orb. They were all still calmly talking, not even noticing the danger. She tried to make a noise, but it got stuck in her throat.

Finally, the orb landed on the ground and a flash of purple light came next.