Conrart
As I walked through the streets, I glanced around. Where was he? He had sent me a message to meet him in the fortune district. Just where had Ryan disappeared to? I knew he had left the army a while ago, but to do what? I had no idea.
"Hey! Captain!" called out a voice and I turned, seeing Ryan standing there in some white and red tribal outfit. Behind him was a giant black and white panda, a sand bear!
"Ryan, what on earth have you managed to do this time?" I asked, approaching them as the sand bear nuzzled my arm. Ryan laughed, patting the back of his head sheepishly.
"I managed to tame this sand bear. Say 'hi', Keiji!" Ryan stated and the sand bear let out a noise, sounding happy. Ryan laughed, hugging the sand bear. I raised a brow.
"Was there a reason you called me out here?" I asked, seeing Ryan jump back into alert mode.
"Yes sir! I just wanted to warn you, seeing as you brought Her Majesty here, that the crook that owns the casino also owns all the prostitutes in this town. If you're a girl and don't sign up with him, he'll get his men to kidnap girls and break them til' they do as they're told, becoming more prostitutes for him. Keep your eye on Her Majesty at all times!" Ryan stated, giving me a serious expression. I gasped, realizing she was in the inn, and everyone else was asleep. What if someone broke in? She'd be all on her own!
"Thank you, Ryan! I pray we meet again some day!" I shouted, turning and beginning to run back to the inn. I just prayed I wasn't too late to save her if she truly was in danger. As I ran through the back alleys to get to the inn quicker, I heard a woman screaming. I turned the corner quickly, gasping to see the dark blonde girl from earlier. She was being beaten by two big men, triple her size. I unsheathed my sword, stepping forward.
"Is this how women are treated in this country?" I snapped, feeling my gaze hit them like daggers. The men glared, but flinched under my gaze. One took a step back.
"You go get him, man!" the smaller one said, but they both looked at each other and then at my sword, before quickly taking off. The girl was shaking from where she sat against the wall. I sheathed my sword, kneeling by her as I took off my jacket, placing it over her shoulders. She was bruised on her face and on her arms. She took one look at me though and gasped.
"It's you! You're Kazu's husband, right? You have to help her! She tried to help me and they found out she was a girl! They took her away! You have to save her!" she suddenly said, grabbing my shirt and pulling me towards her to look at her eyes. When her words hit my ears, my blood turned to ice. I was already too late! They had taken her! I grabbed her wrists, pulling her to her feet.
"Can you lead me there? We have to save her!" I asked, seeing her nod. She slipped her arms into the sleeves of my jacket and we began running towards the casino.
Kazumi
I was suddenly pushed onto a bed. I looked around for a few seconds, but let out a scream as my jacket was torn away from me. The man that had taken me was chuckling, tossing the jacket away. I looked up at him in fear, my breathing becoming erratic from how stressed I was. What was he going to do? I didn't like the look in his eyes.
"What have you caught today?" asked an old man and I gasped, seeing him walk up, a satisfied smile on his face. The big man turned to look at him, nodding to him.
"I caught a pretty good one today. She was disguised as a boy, but she tried to help Iysla, and that's how I found out she was a girl. She's got a good scream on her, and her body shape looks pretty good too." the man said, making the old man chuckle. I mustered a glare at the old man, but gasped when I saw what was on his shoulder. It was a lobster; he actually had lobster on his shoulder like any normal person would have a parrot or something. The man then got off the bed and walked off with the old man. I sat myself up, looking around in fear. Just where was I anyway? I stood from the bed, walking down the hallways. What I heard made me shudder in horror.
Girls were moaning in pleasure and pain, some were screaming loudly, shouting vulgar things to their partner in the bed. I didn't dare peek into any of the rooms, scared of what I might see. As I approached the end of the hallway, I gasped, seeing the exit. It couldn't be that easy, could it? I looked around then glared, seeing big, buff men standing around, talking. Great, looks like I'd have to do a runner, it would be the only way to get past them all. But what about Iysla? She was taken too. I hope she wasn't too badly hurt. I looked around for anything that could be used as weapon, but sighed when I found nothing. Oh well, legs don't fail me now!
I broke into a run, heading for the exit. The men had all stopped talking and had begun running after me. I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, but before I reached the door, I bumped into someone, falling backwards onto my rear end.
"Oh my, I didn't expect to run into you here, Miss Alyssa." said a familiar voice and I looked up, a smile forming on my face. It was Mr Heathcrife! His daughter Beatrice wasn't here, but that was to be expected. The men had suddenly backed off, leaving me alone. Mr Heathcrife chuckled, bending down and offering me a hand up. I accepted his hand, letting him pull me to my feet.
"Though I must ask, what are you doing here, Your Majesty?" Mr Heathcrife asked in a whisper. I sighed.
"It's a long story." I whispered back, seeing him offer me his arm. I looked around, but accepted his arm. He began leading me back the way I'd came. I gave him a confused look.
"I'm going to see the manager of this place. He's been doing a lot of illegal things here and I'm asking him to give up the rights to this place and everything he owns. He owes a lot of money from his scandals" Mr. Heathcrife explained. I felt a sigh leave me. What a relief. For a second I thought he was going to try and return me.
As we walked up the stairs, heading to the main room, Mr. Heathcrife put his jacket over my shoulders, helping me hide myself a little. He led me upstairs, opening the door. The old man and the buff man that had grabbed me looked shocked upon seeing me. I stepped closer to Mr. Heathcrife, looking at them fearfully.
"I demand you hand over the rights to this casino immediately, Hendrick. Your scamming cannot go on any longer!" Mr. Heathcrife demanded, placing a piece of paper down on the table with a slam. Hendrick looked at the paper then laughed, tossing his head to the side.
"You're up to your neck in debts from your scandals! How can you simply laugh?" Mr Heathcrife demanded, and Hendrick turned to smile at us cunningly.
"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, my good friend. And besides, you've stolen something that belongs to me." Hendrick stated and I gulped, jumping in shock. Mr. Heathcrife stepped in front of me protectively.
"I know this young woman, quite well, so I know for a fact that she doesn't belong to you. You're the one that stole her!" Mr. Heathcrife explained, making Hendrick laugh. His laugh echoed the room. He then glared at us menacingly.
"Get them, Guff." he commanded and the big buff man stepped forward. I gasped, stepping back as Mr. Heathcrife did the same. Guff chuckled, cracking his knuckles. Mr. Heathcrife stepped back again, pressing me between his back and the door. I felt a little squashed, but I felt a little safe.
"We need to run… now!" Mr. Heathcrife yelled, grabbing my wrist and pulling me out the room as he threw the door open, making us run down the stairs as quickly as we could. Guff wasn't far behind us. I looked back to see how close he was, then stumbled. My hand slipped out of Mr. Heathcrife's and I fell onto the floor. I let out a shriek as I hit the ground hard. Mr. Heathcrife didn't continue running, instead he turned to look for me when my hand left his. He gasped, seeing me being picked up roughly by Guff. I thrashed about, trying to get out of his arms. Suddenly I froze, feeling a terrible, splitting pain go through my chest. I struggled to control my breathing.
"Alyssa!" Mr. Heathcrife shouted, looking at us worriedly. Guff chuckled, noticing how quiet and still I'd gotten.
"Cat got your tongue now? You were pretty easy to break" Guff stated, laughing when suddenly a yell caught our attention. I glanced up, seeing a sight for sore eyes.
"Kazumi!" shouted Conrart as he dashed forward, his sword unsheathed. I felt a weak smile form on my face as tears began stinging my eyes.
"Conrart!" I yelled back, making Guff jump in surprise. I used that as my chance and bit hard into his arm. He yelled in agony, thrashing his arm around as my teeth sunk deeper into his flesh. I was beginning to taste the blood, and it tasted awful. My jaw hurt from how hard he was thrashing his arm around, but I finally let go and was sent flying, smack, into the ground. I felt the wind leave me upon impact, and the ripping feeling in my chest happen again. Conrart yelled in anger, having arrived where we were, and pointed the sword at Guff's throat. The glare on his face was menacing, almost demonic.
"Touch her again and you're a dead man" Conrart threatened, making Guff growl, backing away and back into the main room where Hendrick was.
"Are you alright?" asked a familiar voice and as I managed to pull myself up onto my hands and knees, I looked up to see Iysla looking down at me worriedly.
"Iysla, thank goodness you're alright… Did you run into Conrart?" I asked, feeling a little dizzy. Iysla giggled, grabbing my shoulders and helping me sit up. I held my head in my hand when the world began spinning a bit.
"You worry about others while you're hurt yourself?" Iysla asked, giggling. I giggled a little myself. Just as I'd gotten my bearings back, I was suddenly hugged with extreme force. I struggled to balance myself and looked shocked when I realized it was Conrart who was hugging me tightly. He had one arm wrapped tightly around my back and arms, the other cradling my head, pushing it into his neck and shoulder. He was kneeling, shaking a little.
"Thank goodness… You're safe… I was scared they might have done something to you…" Conrart stated, even his voice shaking. Mr. Heathcrife chuckled, kneeling by Iysla.
"Seems your fiancé cares about you now more than ever." Mr. Heathcrife teased and I felt my cheeks heat up. Iysla looked at us in confusion.
"Fiance? I thought you guys were husband and wife?" she asked and I chuckled.
"W-Well… we're just engaged, kinda accidentally, actually, dating is a better word for it… the engagement thing's more a title than anything" I explained, hearing Iysla crack up into laughter. I smiled, glad to see her happy.
"Well I'll be! Even more people here to steal my possessions!" Hendrick stated and I gasped, growling as my eyes met him. Conrart let me go, hearing my growl. He glared up where I was looking and went to unsheathe his sword. I stood suddenly, my anger beginning to flow through my veins. I had noticed all the bruises on Iysla, and my own wounds were aching so badly. Mr. Heathcrife looked at me in amazement, seeing the look in my eyes.
"You!" I snarled, seeing him chuckle.
"Me, what?" he taunted. I felt a new wave of anger flow through me. I felt energy run through my veins, my eyes stinging as they began to change. I felt my canines sting as they became sharper. Conrart looked at me worriedly.
"We're in the human lands… How many of the elements will obey you?" Conrart asked in a whisper. My vision began to tinge in black and white, my hair began dancing and changed to its pitch-black colour. The contacts dissolved away, revealing my black eyes. Hendrick gasped, looking shocked.
"I don't believe it! A double black! Capture her, men! I want her as mine!" Hendrick shouted. Men from all over the building ran at us, but as I growled once, a shockwave all sent them flying onto the ground, unconscious. Hendrick laughed in delight.
"A truly wondrous day! A powerful, beautiful double black! All mine!" he cackled, reaching for a weapon behind his back, but the creature of water I'd made was quicker. It wrapped around him, coiling and drowning him. As his eyes found mine, wide in fear, all he saw were cold, heartless eyes piercing back at him. When I'd decided he'd had enough, I made the monster drop him. He fell down with a thud with the water, coughing and hacking to catch his breath. As he looked around, trying to find an escape, all the girls that worked as prostitutes and Mr. Heathcrife surrounded him.
"I don't think so, my good friend. You're going to pay and answer for your crimes!" Mr. Heathcrife stated. I began to relax, but before I reverted back to normal, I turned to look at Iysla. Instead of looking at me in fear, she was looking at me in awe. She stepped closer, a bright smile on her face.
"So this is the Demon Queen? How beautiful… She truly is like the light of destiny, the beaming light of hope I heard so much about you as a child." Iysla stated, making a smile form on my face. I held out a hand, waving it front of her and she blinked, gasping as all her bruises disappeared from sight.
"Y-You… healed me?" she asked in disbelief, earning another smile from me before my vision faded. My eyes closed and the glowing light faded, making me collapse backwards. I was caught in strong arms, held tightly.
"You're not afraid?" Conrart asked, holding me tightly to his chest. Iysla shook her head, smiling gently at the two of us.
"No, not at all… take care of her, so many others can witness her shining light, okay?" Iysla asked. Conrart blinked for a few seconds, but smiled, hugging me closer as he nodded.
"Of course I will. And I'm sure Queen Kazumi will welcome you any time to the Great Demon Kingdom. You'll find better work there anyway." Conrart stated, making Iysla giggle happily.
"I'd like that!" she stated, smiling as tears stung her eyes.
I stretched my arms up, sighing contently as our boat left the dock, heading back for the Great Demon Kingdom. Conrart was chasing Greta around the ship, laughing as she managed to jump away from him at the last second.
"So, how're your injuries going?" asked a voice and I jumped, turning to see Hisako smiling at me.
"Don't scare me like that…" I muttered, hearing her giggle innocently. I looked down at my chest then felt my eye lid. After the incident at the casino, we'd arrived back at the inn to find all my injuries were healed, completely healed, as if they hadn't existed to begin with. Conrart speculated it was my own healing power that I used on Iysla that had healed my own wounds too. At least we were on our way back home now.
"All gone! I feel even better than before" I replied, earning a chuckle from her.
"I thought so. That hot spring really is legendary, isn't it?" Hisako asked. I nodded then turned to look at her.
"Wait… you never went in with us… What did you and Wolfram get up to anyway?" I asked, seeing her smile innocently at me. Suspicious.
"Nothing at all." she replied, sounding cute and innocent, but I could sense the hidden intent. She was being sneaky again.