Innya sat in the charred remains of what had once been her house

"Stupid… I hate this!" Innya yelled out as she shot some random animal that jumped above her in the trees. A squirrel fell to the ground, its head blown off. "I made a stupid mistake… Damn." She growled. Another shot rang out and a small blue bird fell too. Innya sighed.

**********

"Now where would Innya be?" Fai asked Aysu.

"Honestly, I have no idea. She always tries to hide her emotions from me, so I'm not really sure, nor do I care what she does when she's upset." Aysu shrugged. "The only thing we can do now is look for the smoke and fleeing villagers." Aysu suggested.

"What?" Syaoran questioned.

"You'll see." Aysu said with a sadistic grin.

**********

Innya sighed and looked back at the village that was still burning. It was the third wreckage she had created in the last hour. She frowned.

"Why do I still feel so remorseful? I did nothing wrong! It's alright to take family over a friendship! And maybe Desya was right.... Maybe Aysu is just using me and plans to kill me when she's done… I mean, Desya did seem like he didn't want to leave...."

"Hey, you! Innya, come here!" The voice of a young boy called out as its owner approached the assassin. Innya turned around as a hand clasped down on her shoulder.

**********

Aysu had been walking up the road for a while; she was with Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane and the thing they called Mokona. Suddenly, through the light, she saw a figure standing at the end of the road and she yelled out.

"Hey! Innya, come here!" Aysu ran up and grabbed the girl's shoulder, turning her around.

Aysu stepped back blinking at the woman she had grabbed. It was an old woman wearing a wig that she was showing to her grandchild. Aysu sweat-dropped. Definitely the wrong person. Aysu looked around with a frown. "Where the hell is she?" The assassin muttered.

**********

"Who are you?" Innya asked.

"I'm a messenger from the Crown Prince, and your brother." The young boy said through huffs.

"Desya! How is he? Where is he? Can I see him please!?" Innya burst out. Scaring the messenger back slightly.

"Y-you have to come with me if you want to see him. He'd like to see you too. And also the Prince wants to speak with you about something." He smiled welcomingly.

"So… I'll get to see Desya?" Innya asked hopefully.

"Yes, you will. And you'll be treated like royalty too!" The messenger grinned.

"Okay, as long as I can see my brother." Innya nodded, and left with the boy.

**********

"The villages haven't even been disrupted here…" Aysu sighed. "Where the hell is that girl?" Suddenly a little boy ran into Aysu. "Watch where you're going, twerp!" She growled. The kid took a step back. Then shook his head.

"Sorry Miss!" He said, "Uhm, anything I can to make you not mad anymore?" He looked up at her. Aysu was about to say no, but then stopped herself.

"Yes... You can. Have you seen a girl, around my height, with brown hair around here? She has lots of bandages on her…" Aysu looked at the kid who seemed to be deep in thought. "She carries around two white guns?" Aysu tried.

"Ah! Her! Yeah! She came through here! She was with some guy from the palace, one of the prince's messengers! She looked really excited about something…" The little boy grinned.

"Thanks kid. Now go home!" Aysu commanded.

"Yes Ma'am!" The boy replied, standing at attention. Then he turned around and ran off.

"Why the hell would she go with one of the prince's messengers?!" Kurogane growled, "Haven't we gone over the whole good-guy, bad-guy roles already?"

Fai smiled sadly. "The person she thinks is her brother is there, is he not?" They looked over to Aysu.

"Could she be manipulated into going to the castle just because her brother's there?" Syaoran asked.

"Easily." Was all Aysu said after a sigh.

"It looks like things have just gotten very complicated." Fai smiled. Aysu nodded.

"Well, let's go." Kurogane muttered.

Syaoran nodded. "We have to go save the princess." He added.

**********

"When can I see my brother!?" Innya yelled at the prince for the hundredth time.

"Patience, my dear. You'll be able to see him soon." The prince replied with a smile. Innya huffed as she slouched into the throne next to the prince. He smiled at her.

"Why did you want to see me, anyways? All I want is to be with my brother." Innya muttered.

"There are several reasons… But mainly because I need your help with something." The prince frowned.

"I'm warning you, my shot may stray if I'm not emotionally balanced. If anything bad has happened to my brother…" Innya let the prince fill in the blank. "We understand each other, right? You're Highness?" Innya smiled a child-like smile. The prince nodded.

"Do not worry. He'll be here momentarily." Was all the prince replied. A few moments later Desya walked into the room.

"Brother!" Innya said, her eyes lighting up. She jumped up and hugged him. "I was worried when you left me behind. I knew you'd come though!" Desya smiled and hugged his sister back.

"Trust me, if anything bad could have happened I wouldn't have left you behind. The prince assured me that he'd make things much better for you. I just have to work with him on poisons and stuff, and he wants something else too…" Desya stopped abruptly, knowing he had said too much. He looked up at the prince who smirked down at him. "But that's not important now. Let's go for dinner. Somebody will show you to your room?"

The prince smiled. "Actually, I will show you to your room." He said, as he stood from his thrown. His short black hair stood out against his tall pale figure. His blue eyes shone in the bright lights of the palace. He removed the dark robe he had been wearing and left it on the thrown. His dark, suit like outfit also caused his paleness to stand out. He held his arm out and grabbed Innya's hand as he walked by, gently leading her behind him.

"Why can't brother see me to my room?" Innya asked with a frown as they exited the room.

"He has some remedial task to do. Don't worry; he'll be attending dinner with us." The prince smiled.

"Great!" Innya grinned brightly, and the prince's smile grew. He opened the door to her room and led her inside.

Everything was navy blue or deep violet, and Innya sighed in awe as she ran and jumped up onto the bed.

"It's great!" she grinned, "Thanks so much!"

"It's a pleasure," The prince smiled. "Now I have to ask that you remain in your room until supper, I'll come to get you. Feel free to try on some of the outfits, everything in here is yours." He bowed and left the room, closing the door behind him. Innya sat up, and looked over to the closet, which was literally so stuffed with clothes that the door wouldn't close. She got off the bed and walked over to it. Innya frowned.

"I can't wear this… I don't want to shame brother; but they're all dresses…" Innya whined. "I guess… this will do." She said with a sigh as she pulled out a simple black dress.

*********

Kurogane frowned as Fai fake whistled at him. Thirty some odd guards were lying on the ground unconscious, all dressed in the same black robes as the men from before.

"That wasn't very entertaining." Kurogane muttered.

"Come on, let's go. And be quiet." Aysu muttered. They walked through the halls, undisturbed for a while. Finally, they came upon a room where they heard Desya's voice.

"Why Innya?!" Desya whispered harshly to the prince. "Why not Aysu! She's just as strong!" The Prince frowned at Innya's brother.

"Well, besides the fact that Aysu has next to no weaknesses I can play off, Innya's family has an amazing history of genders. Unlike Aysu's. Only once in the last fifty years has a single girl been born in Innya's family. It's always fraternal twins, or a boy. Aysu's family, on the other hand, has a history of almost solid females. As a prince, or soon king, I need heirs. Innya can provide them. Not to mention she is a strong beautiful young woman." The prince smirked. It was Desya's turn to frown.

"She just turned eighteen! You're twenty-one!" Desya growled.

"My mother was eighteen when she married my father, who was forty-two. Consider it lucky. Now go get ready for dinner." The prince brushed Desya off.

"I won't let you have her. Whether I'm really her brother or not, it doesn't matter. You won't get her!" Desya growled.

"Ha! You stop me? From getting what I want? Stupid boy! I can just kill you and force her into marriage! The only difference is she'll be utterly miserable." Desya took a step back. "If you can get her to marry me, at least she may be somewhat content with it. But if you want her to go through your death all over again, be my guest. I'll definitely be her shoulder to cry on." The prince walked away. "Remember, you're a simple pawn, nothing more. I'm off to get Innya. Be ready in ten minutes." The prince walked around the corner, disappearing. Desya punched the wall, and stalked off in the other direction.

"What just happened?" Syaoran asked.

"I'm not sure…" Aysu muttered with wide eyes.

"Well, it seems Innya is in impending danger. Not to mention, we were correct in assuming that wasn't the real Desya. And that you're family's blood line doesn't appeal to royalty." Fai smiled, and Aysu glared.

"Then we have to move fast. Syaoran, you go with Fai after Desya. Kurogane, come with me." Aysu muttered as she ran in the direction of the prince, figuring that was also the direction of Innya. The rest of the group went in their appropriate direction as well.