\Chapter 5

A Plea for Help

Himeno stared at the demon larve' that thrashed around before her. It was sucking leafe' out of the surrounding trees and plant life. It was large and menacing. It looked like a black and purple blob. It was ugly to boot, she thought to herself. It had two tentacle things that latched onto the things it was sucking dry. The park was starting to rapidly darken around them.

Her captor left her momentarily to defend her from the swing of its skinny, snakelike arm. When he returned, he picked her up again and landed several feet away, keeping her safe from harm. She watched him join the others in fighting the disgusting creature. They couldn't be evil if they were fighting against demon larve'. That thought suddenly opened her eyes to the truth of the current situation. The presence of a demon larve' meant that there was a new Princess of Disaster.

'Hurry up, guys,' she thought. If there was another Princess of Disaster, her Leafe' Knights would surely feel the dark aura. They would find her. They could destroy this demon larve' before it sucked the park dry.

* * * * *

Sasame and Hayate met up at the bridge once more after they thoroughly searched their separate areas. The wind around then chimed in Sasame's ear loudly and whipped around Hayate ferociously. They looked at each other horrified. Seconds later the other knights appeared next to them.

"Demon larve'." Mannen said.

"Himeno!" They chorused and vanished, following the dark aura of the demon larve'.

They found their way to the park, only to find seven other people risking their lives fighting against it. Hayate spotted Himeno standing warily off to the side several feet away. They went to her. She smiled widely at them. She had never been more happy to see them than she was right now.

Hayate let out the breath he had been holding. She was safe and hadn't turned evil. A small part of him thought she had been so traumatized by her kidnap that she turned into the Princess of Disaster. Thankfully, she was still the same perky Himeno.

"Are you ok?" Hayate started looking her over, inspecting her for wounds.

The others formed a circle around her, watching the other men battle with the demon. They were having little luck in defeating it.

"Hayate. These people Leafe' Knights." Sasame informed him when he was finished fussing over their Pretear.

Hayate looked up at them and realized his friend was right. Their uniforms were of Leafenian origin and so were their accessories. They were able to fly and use magic as they did. It was unnerving. Why were they here? "They are Leafe' Knights. I just learned that a few minutes before you arrived. I didn't know you weren't the only ones."

"We thought we were. We have never known or seen Leafe' Knights other than ourselves. The thought of other Leafe' Knights existing is news to us." Kei explained.

"I'm not sure there are other Leafe' Knights. We have never encountered other knights before. There were never any in Leafenia that we ever saw or noticed. They may not be who they say they are, Himeno." Sasame warned.

"What do you mean? They said they had no intention of hurting me. The second we were attacked, one of them said the reason they were here was that demon larve'. I think they are here to fight them. I don't know what they want me for. The young one with pink and red hair said he was dying to meet me." Himeno went over the details of what occurred since her capture.

"Hmm, interesting."

"Hayate, let's pret. We have to deal with that thing. You do know what this means don't you?" She asked, holding her small hand out to him.

He looked her in the eyes, taking her hand, "Another Princess of Disaster."

The transformation took only seconds. Her Leafe' Knights created a protective formation in front of her and led her into battle. They ignored protests from the other knights, and delved into battle immediately.

"Beyondios!" Shin yelled in his little toddler voice.

Vines sprouted out of the ground and rose up to connect with each other around the area that they were battling on. The world Himeno lived on would be protected as would Leafenia. The demon larve' thrashed angrily when its snaky arms were disconnected from his prey. It roared nastily and came at its new enemy.

Daisuke pulled back when he saw the Pretear had pret with one of her knights. He whistled and his team pulled back as well. They watched from a safe distance. Though Daisuke had originally thought the girl was annoying, obnoxious and completely unworthy to be called the Legendary White Pretear; he had to admit she was skilled in battle. She fought hard and was trained well. She was very offensive and was still good enough to ensure the knight she pretted with didn't get seriously hurt.

They were a well oiled team. They followed her lead and she was aware of their actions. She saved them as they saved her. They complemented each other. They had never met this particular team of Leafe' Knights, but were sure that they were one of the highly talked about teams in Leafenia.

"Himeno, your right," Hayate whispered harshly in her head.

Himeno somersaulted in the air, narrowly missing the sharp barbs that flew out of the mouth of the demon larve'. She had been too immersed in locating the core so she could destroy the beast.

"Hurry, Himeno. Do you see the core?" Goh asked, shooting fire at the demon.

"I'm looking. I'm looking. It's been a while since I've had to do this you know." Himeno yelled back at him. It was hard to be heard over the growling and roaring this thing was doing.

Goh laughed, "Yeah, I know it. Let's just make it good and dead."

She smiled at that and turned her attention back to the body of the demon larve'. She searched everywhere. She came around it, and around again. It wouldn't sit still. Then she spotted it. Hayate was right there with her. He could feel her excitement at finding what she was looking for.

"Ready, Himeno?" He asked her, his voice echoing in her mind.

"Ready. Wind Sword!"

Moments later, the wind sword appeared with the movements of her hands. The wind swirled around it. It had been a while since she felt like this. She felt excited, scared, important, and her adrenaline was fired. As much as she hated the idea of having a new evil to invade her world, she was still excited at the prospect of being the hero that would save it all. She couldn't get used to the simple peaceful life that had followed after Fenril's defeat.

She raised her sword high, flew with purpose straight for the core of the demon larve'. Hayate gave her all his power and the two of them worked together to defeat their enemy. It was just like old times. They hadn't lost their touch. The demon larve' dissolved and leafe' was returned to the park around them.

The team settled back down on the ground. She could only see minor injuries on her friends and sighed, thankful that they hadn't been seriously hurt because of her. They hadn't really trained since Fenril's defeat. She and Hayate separated successfully. He gave her a small smile as praise for a job well done. She returned the gesture.

"Impressive." A voice from behind them said.

They turned to see the other team of Leafe' Knights approach them. Some were smiling while others were clapping excitedly. Daisuke, the leader, was simply standing there with a serious look on his face.

"Oh, thanks. Um….guys," Himeno began, looking at her knights. They were staring at the newcomers with nothing but distain. She ignored it, and decided to introduce them, "These guys are Leafe' Knights. That is their leader, Daisuke. He was the one that took me…."

"So you're the bastard that kidnapped Himeno!" Hayate yelled, losing control of himself.

He tackled Daisuke and the two of them tumbled. The two teams were watching, wondering if they should interfere or stay out of it. Sasame moved to help, and at the same time the knight named Kazuki did the same. Daisuke kicked Hayate off of him and Hayate slammed into the pair that had come to help. That decided everything. They were going to stay out of it. Sasame had more sense than to get involved where he wasn't wanted. Kazuki had the same inclination.

"You are going to pay for kidnapping our Pretear, you bastard!" Hayate yelled.

"I was under the impression that you defeated your Princess of Disaster, there for the girl is no longer your Pretear!" Daisuke yelled.

They wrestled and Hayate broke free of the head lock he was trapped in. He flew up a few feet and forced his powers at his opponent. Daisuke followed suit and was in the air as well. He forced his dark magic at Hayate. The powers collided dangerously and branched from the trees around them fell around the others on the ground. Hayate saw one almost hit Himeno and stopped his attack. Mannen had successfully protected her. He had started it and his anger had almost gotten Himeno hurt.

Daisuke took the opportunity to attack. He started to force his dark magic at Hayate when a loud, female voice broke through the air.

"That's enough! Stop it! You're Leafe' Knights! Act accordingly!" Himeno yelled up at them.

All of the knights on the ground looked at her. Her knights had heard that before. She was about to lose her temper. The same thing happened the last time her team fought against each other. The other knights were just surprised that she had the gull to interrupt Daisuke when he was in battle.

Daisuke stared at her, anger swelling in his gut. Who did she think she was bossing him around, scolding him like he was some child. He stopped however. Kazuki was giving him one of his famous 'behave yourself' looks. Hayate descended and stood next to Himeno.

"I swear, you guys are like teenagers. We can work this all out, by talking. Ever hear of the concept? Hayate, you didn't let me finish explaining. Next time wait till I'm done before you start attacking who is most likely on the same side as you. And Daisuke, you have no right being angry with my team, you kidnapped me remember?" Himeno scolded.

"Look, you don't tell me what to do. I don't like being attacked. I defend myself to the best of my ability."

Himeno glared at him and for the first time in his life he backed down.

"Now, as I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," she said, giggling as Hayate folded his arms in defiance, "Daisuke is the one who took me. These guys seemed excited to see me. I don't think that they are evil. They introduced themselves and then we were interrupted by that demon larve' before they could tell me why they kidnapped me."

Kazuki stepped forward, "We are sorry for our strange method with which to get your attention. But we knew that your knights would not give you up willingly. We are here because we need your help, Himeno. We need the Legendary White Pretear. We want you to become our Pretear. Please, you have to help us."