- Len's pov -

"I blushed slightly at Miku's comment. 'I hope that Miku does the changing and not me...'

Miku quickly walked over to the chair with the stuff on it and picked up the bandages. "The herbs should be dry enough now so we can put these on. Since you said you're not good at medical stuff, I'll do it. I'll just need some help in keeping her leg or arm up so you'll help me on that."

"Wait! Since when have you decided to order me around?" I demanded glaring at her. "Well I guess you'll be fine with just letting her die then." Miku said shrugging and smirked at me. I glared at her and my eye twitched in annoyance. "Alright fine." I pouted. 'This is a pain. But at least it'll help Rin.' I got up off the floor and went over to stand by Rin. "So are we going to bandage her or not? You said that the longer we wait, the more likely she is to wake up."

"True," Miku said smiling, "But in a way, it gives us a confirmed feeling knowing that the herbs that we put on her a definitely dry." Miku walked over by me and I gently picked up and held Rin's arm. As she bandaged her arm, I looked at Rin. For her to be able to sleep this long without stirring... She must've been kept awake for so long.

"Alright!" Miku's voice made me jump and snapped me out of my daydream. She kept talking as if she didn't notice me jump and almost drop Rin's arm. "Let's go on to her right leg. We can go in a circle."I nodded and moved over to where I could hold up her foot. This time, I watched Miku bandage her leg. For her to need that much bandage on her legs...It's going to be a pain to clean and rebandage the wounds.

Before I knew it, Miku and I finished bandaging her wounds. Well it was more of Miku bandaging her and me holding up Rin's arms and legs one at a time. I sighed and looked up at Miku. "Alright. So what's next." Miku tilted her head and smiled.

"You should know what's next. Next we have to put a dress on her. She can't just be in her dirty clothes all night." Miku said smirking at me a little. I mentally face palmed. Of course. How could I forget? Well any guy would be thrilled to be able to do this, but I sure am not. I don't know what any of the guards did to Rin in the Labyrinth and couldn't have been anything good. It obviously wasn't because of the scratches all over her.

"Um...," I spoke up hesitantly. "C-Could you just dress her? I'd rather not since I don't want to traumatize her should she find out." Gosh. Why is this so hard to ask? Miku is probably surprised at my answer. I looked up at Miku and was surprised to see her on the brink of bursting out laughing. She held it in and spoke. "I-I'm sorry. It's just most guys would enjoy the opportunity to dress up a pretty girl like Rin. But I'm glad that you're being a gentleman and thinking of Rin. Sure, I'll respect your request. Why don't you go see your father while I get Rin dressed? It'll take a long time without a helping hand and I'm sure you'll get bored waiting."

I didn't want to leave Rin alone but I knew that I would definitely get bored. "Alright..." I sighed. "I'll go visit my father. Just don't let Rin leave your sight and if anything happens to her, you're dead. Hear me?" I said strictly. Her eyes widen in slight fear and she nodded quickly and bowed. "Yes sir! I'll keep watch over her until you get back."

I smiled. "Thanks and this shouldn't take long. He probably just wants to say hi or something." She smiled back. "Yeah. Oh! And you might want to change your shirt. You have some blood stains on it." I looked down at my shirt and, sure enough, there were some blood stains. "Yeah, I probably should." I went over and dug into my wardrobe, pulling out a white button down shirt. It wasn't exactly fancy like my parents like it, but it'll have to do. I quickly changed shirts and went over to the door.

I looked back at Miku who was picking up Rin's dress. "Oh, Miku?

"Yes, sire?"

"Thanks for your help." I said winking at her and closed the door. I walked quickly down the stairs. The castle is ginormous and you can easily get lost in it. I walked across the main hall and went through another doorway. There was my father, sitting in his throne. I scowled at him.

My father and I didn't quite have the perfect daddy-son relationship that most parents and children have. I never liked how he treated his "staff". He didn't exactly treat me any better than them. Maybe a little better, but not a lot. I at least got to have food, water, and a roof over my head. But those were stuff I had to earn. When I was little, he would work me to the bone. He made me study and memorize almost every book in the library and he had me learn karate from one of the best karate masters in Japan. I also had to learn archery and sword wielding. It sounds cool to think about, but it was a pain and I had to meet every one of my fathers expectations.

While I was scowling at my father and the memories that were flooding back, he and some of the officials noticed me. "Len! How good it is to see you again!" He said in a booming cheerful voice. He walked over and hugged me. I blinked in a state of confusing at my father's actions. "Uh...father?" I spoke up hesitantly. "Oh! Sorry, son." He let go of me, held my shoulders, and studied me.

"Uh...father? Why are you so cheerful...?" He smiled gently at me. "I may have found a clue on how to calm the dragons." I looked up at him surprised. "A key? But father, the dragons have been our enemies for as long as I can remember. How could we ever make them our friend?"

"Son," he said quietly, "Have you not been studying lately? Yes, the dragons are and have been our enemies for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. But, there was a time, when they were our friend."

I blinked in surprise. Our friend? But that's impossible. Dragons have the power to use fire and fire is usually created through their anger. The angrier they are, the more fire they produce. That's how it went for centuries. "Um..."

"Okay! Time for a history lesson. Centuries ago, dragons and humans battled. Neither of them wanted to cooperate with each other. The dragons nearly drove the humans to extinction. But there was a child. Boy or girl? Nobody knew. But according to legend, when they were born, a dragon destroyed its home. The child was only about a week old when the attack happened. The entire village wanted to protect the child because they believed that it will bring humanity out of extinction. Anyway, the village attacked the dragon. They almost lost, when one of the children came with some sort of ball. They threw it at the dragon and the dragon ended up swallowing it. The village was angry at the boy who threw it but then the dragon suddenly exploded. Blood and things went everywhere. The entire village cheered at their victory. A while later, one of the villagers went to check on the child who was asleep when the attack happened. They found the baby half covered in the dragons blood and was happily licking it. The villager panicked and quickly brought the child to the village elder. Now nobody knows if this part is true, but the elder said something about a time when dragons and humans can coexist. The reason why nobody remembers it is because everyone brushed it off. They didn't believe in what he said."

"Why didn't they believe him?"

"Well I guess part of the reason is because he was an old man and sometimes we don't even know half of what we say."

"Oh. Well did anything happen later when the child was older?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, a lot happened later. After the incident where the baby licked the dragon blood, rarely any dragons attacked the village. Everyone thought it to be very strange but they also thought it to be a coincidence and that maybe they just didn't care about them anymore. The village was slowly rebuilt in the next 14 years, and by then the child was a almost fully grown teenager. At the time though, that age was to be considered an adult age. Anyway, the child was extremely adventurous. It dreamed of going outside of the village boundaries to explore. The villagers forbid it, so they child didn't disobey. But one day, the dragons attacked. It was so unexpected and nobody was prepared. Those past 14 years made them forget about what place they were in the world, so they didn't think much of the dragons. They burned everything and carried off some humans to who knows where. One of them ended up grabbing the child. The child struggled and struggled to get out of its grip but to no avail. Eventually the dragon dropped the child and it fell into a pit. The child could barely see anything 2 feet away. Something or someone landed a few feet in front of them and made the child fall forwards and ended up hitting a wall. It was terrified of the dragon and curled up in a ball against the wall, silently praying for the dragon not to harm them. The child waited and waited for the dragon to just hurt them but nothing happened and the child looked up and there the dragon was, looking at him like a puppy. The child was very confused at first but slowly grew enough confidence to be able to touch the dragon."

"Did the dragon let them?" I asked and yawned. This is interesting but I really need to check on Rin.

"Yes, he did. But I can tell you're getting bored. So to make this short, the boy and the dragon became friends and united the dragons and humans. It's said that the dragon didn't attack the human because of the dragon blood that the child possessed.

"Interesting." I said and covered my mouth to yawn. The king smiled. "Well It looks like you're tired so I'll just send you off to bed and I want to warn you to stay on guard. The magi's have sensed some sort of weird presence in the castle. We don't know if it's dangerous yet so be on guard."

"Yes father." I bowed and left to go to my room. As I ascended the stairs, my anxiety kicked in. Could it be Rin that is the weird presence? No. It can't be. But if father were to find out about Rin, which he will eventually, he will pester me with questions about her. Questions that I probably don't know the answers to.

I stood in front of my door and knocked. "Who is it?" A voice called out. Miku. "Miku, It's me, Len. Can I come in?" I put my hand on the door handle.

"Yes you may." She called out.

I opened the door and walked in. There was Rin, lying still asleep on the bed. Except this time instead of her dirty rags, she had on a beautiful yellow and black dress. The dress went all the way to the floor had some sort of sash that went around her waist. ((It's the one from Daughter of Evil and Servant of Evil))

I blinked at her in wonderment. Behind me, I heard Miku laugh. "Glad that you are speechless at how pretty and peaceful she looks. Took me quite a while to put that dress on her. And don't worry. She didn't wake up."

Miku walked up and stood beside me. "Yeah, she does look peaceful. And thank you for helping. I can sorta imagine how long it took you." I said and laughed nervously. Miku narrowed her eyes. "What did the King do?"

"Nothing. He just talked about some legend that happened centuries ago. I barely listened to half of it. I was interested in the beginning though but then I started to get bored." Miku laughed. "I can relate. My parents tried to teach me about our family history and stuff and I hardly ever listened to it. Probably should've but oh well."

I nodded and then covered my mouth and tried to hide a yawn. Miku saw. "Well I guess I should just go to bed. It has been a long night and we should sleep. If all should go well though, Rin should be awake and healed up by tomorrow." Miku gathered her things and started heading for the door.

"Wait! There's one thing I want to ask you." Miku turned and looked at me curiously. "Yes?"

"Will you be here tomorrow? I might need your help in explaining a few things to Rin." I tried to cover up my blushing face and averted my eyes. Out of the corner of my eye, Miku smiled. "Of course." I looked at Miku and smiled. "Thanks, I really appreciate it." Miku and I waved goodbye and she left, closing the door behind her. I went and collapsed in my chair, sighing. "Tomorrow is going to be ruff and I'll most likely end up getting punched in the face once or twice." I smiled at the thought. "Oh well."

I looked over at Rin, who was asleep and curled up on her side facing me. 'Should I sleep in the bed with Rin or just sleep in the chair? The chair isn't really comfortable but I don't want to freak Rin out if she wakes up before me... I'm going to hate being sore in the morning, but I'll just sleep in the chair.' I sighed and tried to get comfortable.

'This isn't easy...' Eventually I found a somewhat okay position and fell asleep.