Now, here I am with a REALLY early update. If you read my profile I have said to only update around the middle of the month. But this middle of the month I will be at the hospital. And after that I will have to live with soup in almost two months. I will sure as hell drop in weight, and I'm already quite thin. Mom's gonna force feed me.

Well, about this chapter. It's not nearly as long as the previous one. This is as well as I can explaining the name title of the Battle Princess. Originally this chapter was supposed to be a part of the previous one. But I realized it would have been too long a chapter if I did. So I hope you don't hate me for it.

Finally enough of me, and on with the story.


The Battle Princess

Yuniko once again sat in her window staring south as she had done every morning since Atemu had received the letter from their mother. It was tree months since her brother had vanished along with the other two vampires. There was not one day that passed by without her thinking of that night at least once, especially in the morning when she sat staring at the cliff in the south.

"Milady?"

Malin carefully approached the still princess. Yuniko had during time of loneliness not changed much from the girl Malin had learnt to love so dearly, but there was a change everywhere else, a frightening change. It was the knowledge that the kind, innocent princess could get very angry. It had created a fear in the people that only grew whenever the young princess had a bad day. No one truly wanted to see the princess mad ever again.

"You remember I once told you I wished my people to fear nothing in my kingdom?" Yuniko asked, not turning her eyes from the cliff.

"Of cause I do," Malin said softly. Even she was afraid of the princess's mood nowadays. And she hated it.

"So what will I do now?"

"What do you mean, Milady?"

"You fear me," Yuniko said with sadness in her eyes, enough to break the heart of a heartbreaker. "I can not live with the fact you are afraid of me, yet I can not end my life. The kingdom still needs me."

Malin almost gasped for air as guilt rose like water above her ears. It had been three months… and still the moment Yuniko had been angry was so fresh in everyone's minds. What could possible be done about that?

"Have Lady Tea said anything?"

"No, nothing. She is totally changed from that night."

Tea had lost her voice the moment she fainted when Yuniko announced Atemu's "death". Lisa and her apprentices tried their best to help her gain her life sparkle back, but it seemed to be in vain.

"Right now she is too upset and scared," Yuniko said, still not turning around. "Everything here reminds her of my brother, she really loved him."

"Then what shall we do for her. What can you do when everyone is too afraid to see the reason?"

"Lady Tea still mourns too much to be scared of me. I know what she is in need of most right now."

"Milady?"

"You will still be with me, Malin?"

There was a fear in Yuniko's voice. A fear so intense it couldn't be described with simple words. Her face was still gentle and smiling sadly, but her eyes screamed of pain and fear, and maybe regret.

"I will be with you always," Malin whispered, wishing nothing but to her friend's fear to go away and her smile to be the same, happy one from before.

Yuniko softly embraced her nurse, and Malin instantly relaxed. The princess's body was as warm and her embrace still as loving as before. She hadn't changed. She only bore a great sadness in her heart now.


Soon they stood outside princess Tea's door and Yuniko gently knocked at the hard wood. It opened slowly and Tea's dull eyes looked carefully at them from the narrow opening.

"Lady Tea, may we enter?" Yuniko said softly, handling the older woman with care.

Tea simply nodded and let them in. She closed and locked the door after them. Malin stood by the wall and Yuniko sat in a chair.

"I have thought about your situation for a long time," Yuniko started softly. "You mourn, I know as much. And you have changed so much it scares me."

Tea silently stood by the door looking at her feet to not show how hurt she was.

"I have figured you can not stay here anymore. If you wish, I will make sure to escort you back home to France. Since there is nothing more that binds you here I believe it is the best for you. Besides, it would crush me if the vampires hurt you too."

Tea looked up at her with wide eyes. Yuniko smiled kindly at her. Tears of appreciation rolled down the French princess's pale cheeks before she rushed to her lover's sister and cried out in her lap.

Malin watched in silence. Yuniko knew her people so well, and she cared for everyone. How could anyone be afraid of her? But she guessed it was the mare knowledge of an angry princess. But that night Yuniko had all right to be angry, sad and frustrated. She had helplessly witnessed the one she loved the most be taken away from her to never come back.


That same night an escort stood ready to take the princess of France back home.

"I have sent a letter to your father with the explanation of your return, but not the whole story. It is up to you if you wish to tell him or not," Yuniko said as she followed her friend to the gate where the carriage waited.

"Merci, Mademoiselle Yuniko," Tea said weakly, she even managed to smile towards the younger. "I appreciate everything you have done for me. I know you love your frère so much. You should have done what I did. But I guess you are so much stronger than I am."

"I have to be strong," Yuniko said softly. "The kingdom needs me, now more than ever since my brother vanished. I am the only one who can take over the throne now. I can not give in to grief and sorrow."

Tea nodded her head in understanding, wishing she could be as strong as Yuniko and keep herself from crying.

"I will always remember you, and if I ever marry and have children I will tell them about you."

"You flatter me, Lady Tea. I wish you all luck on your road home."

Tea gently grabbed Yuniko's shoulders and kissed both her cheeks as a goodbye greeting. She smiled at her before she entered the carriage and the guard closed the door.

"Milady," the head-guard Adam said carefully. Yuniko turned her calm, questioning blue eyes towards him. "Are you sure we should do this? I mean… if we find a cure and are able to get the prince back…"

Malin noticed everyone around tense up as Adam mentioned Yuniko's brother. No one had dared to even think about him when she was close.

"If there was a cure I would have found it by now," Yuniko said calmly. "There is no cure against death, and Atemu will not come back to us. But either way; Lady Tea can not stay here where everything she sees reminds her about what she has lost. It is the best for her as well as her family. She is not safe here anymore."

The atmosphere eased up and Malin could almost hear the wind itself sigh in relief. Adam nodded and sat up on his horse. The journey to France would take two months and in the new, insecure times no new guards followed on this one. The men were middle-aged, used with weapons and blood. They could easily defend princess Tea if needed. Still Yuniko couldn't help but feel a little worried about her friend.

"Send me a letter once Lady Tea is back home in safety," she added to the head-guard.

"Of cause, your majesty," Adam said and smiled a little. "I wish I could tell you there is no need to worry. But I will do anything in my power to get Lady Tea, and then ourselves, back home, safe."

"Thank you. With all my heart I wish you good luck. And be sure to come back to me."

Adam smiled a little broader at her before he ordered the escort to get moving. Yuniko and Malin stood at the gate and watched them leave until it closed.

"She is already relived," Yuniko said. "She needed to get away from here."

Malin simply nodded and stepped closer to her friend and princess. "Let us return to where we are home. Even if you would feel much better if you were somewhere where prince Atemu's memory was not around, I know your place is here."

This time people around them gasped and backed away from the two. Malin saw the sparkle of hurt and despair in Yuniko's blue depths, but she stayed as calm as ever.

"Of cause, Malin. I will never leave my kingdom."

The princess and Malin returned to their chambers. The two now shared a bigger room since Yuniko couldn't sleep alone anymore. If she did, nightmares would hunt her into insanity. But behind them they left a lot of rumours. Yuniko had not reacted as everyone had believed at the mention of her brother's name. It confused them somewhat, but also left relief after the fear they had felt for the princess's wrath.

The day after princess Tea's departure the whole castle relaxed again and everything went back to normal. As normal it could get with the prince missing and the king much more thoughtful than before.


The year passed and winter embraced the land in the last days of October. Yuniko and Sky played a lot in the towers in order to get more used to each other. Yuniko had pushed both him and Unicorn aside slightly when her brother disappeared. But now she paid them more attention than they actually needed, and still made it go around with her duties. The king was so deep in though these days it was hard to get him to work, which meant Yuniko did most of it on her own. Unicorn was growing into the same beauty as her mother, and Sky was the fastest king of heaven anyone had seen.

Sky made himself a nest in the same tower as Guardian had once lived in, and from there greeted his mistress in her window every morning.

Unicorn was as wild as her father and refused to let anyone but the princess near her. Atemu's death had been announced and the kingdom mourned silently.

Yuniko was still silently waiting for her mother's return. Every morning she sat in her window, which in this room aimed south instead of east. Malin had long since forgotten about her suspiciousness that day when they had met Joey.

The blond had decided he wanted to stay in the castle and join the knights. He had met the kingdom's governors in person and had even talked to Duke, who his father spited so much, and found him a really good man, just as Yuniko had said.

Mokuba and Rebecca still served in the castle running errands, though both of them were now teenagers. They refused to be moved into a higher position. Mokuba visited his friend and princess as often as he could and had named himself her little brother, which Yuniko just laughed at.

Kay still lived in the stable, watching the treasure from afar and loving everything she was. Yuniko silently feared he would once fall victim for the vampires, but said nothing about it.

It was winter now and close to Christmas. The castle was decoded as it had always been with candles, little stars and a huge Christmas tree in the throne room where the celebration would be held.

The king did nothing but worrying his daughter. He didn't eat much and always seemed to be in deep thought. Yet he did not step down from his throne to let his daughter take over the kingdom and he was still present on every meeting and listened, or pretended to.

"Princess Yuniko," Honda started at a morning meeting in the beginning of December. "I have gotten reports of homeless, mostly women, east and west of us that has been found, emptied of their blood."

"It just means that the vampires are moving. Have no one found anything that can be used against them. We can not hide it from the people much longer."

"Your majesty, if we had found a defence we would not wait until a meeting to tell you," another council man said.

The princess sighed silently. The meeting ended shortly after and she went to see Sky in his tower. He had grown a funny fur of feathers to protect himself during winter. He looked so fat in it Yuniko found it amusing to look at him.

"Yuni," Malin said softly. "Which time of day do the vampires attack?"

The princess stopped absurdly. "Because they are creatures of the night," she answered, finding the answer right at that moment, after two years of thinking. "They can not live in daylight."

"So they are hurt by the light?" Malin asked.

"Have anyone talked to father Scot about this?" Yuniko asked instead.

"Who is father Scot?" Malin asked with wide eyes of confusion.

Yuniko turned right back to the room where a few of her council members were still sitting, thinking about the dilemma with the vampires.

"Why have no one thought of asking father Scot?" the princess asked the second she re-entered the room.

"Father Scot?" Honda asked surprised. "I heard he was out travelling. But that was some time ago, he might have come back."

"Contact him right now. I think I have found something."

The council was immediately alert and the princess had to tell them what she had figured out.

"I just realized they are creatures of the night. I have figured they can make the night darker than it should be to let as little light as possible hit them. There may be a few of them that can take small doses of light, but that is it. But then again I think they are harmless against sunlight and not of fire."

"Then we are without protection anyway," the king said frustrated. "We can not save daylight during the nights."

"Not usual people, but may it be that I can. Using the magic I possess I can save the sunlight into some object, but I can not create too many. Find father Scot and bring him to me. I want to ask him if he knows something, anything. If I am right and the vampires actually are hurt by light I want you to bring me small things that anyone can carry around at any time."

The reaction of her words was amazing. Malin had never seen anyone from the council run before. Honda even took off his long robe in order to run faster. He was still young and had lots of energy saved up in his slender body. Some of the others followed his example.

"Daughter," the king suddenly said.

"I hear you father."

"Have you noticed it yet?"

"Noticed what?" Yuniko asked worried.

"Those monsters… they eat almost just women…"

Yuniko's first thought was to send Malin far away from Scotland. The last thing she wanted was to lose her friend. But she shook her head immediately and started to think rationally. "Why women?" she asked calmly, ignoring the furious beating of her heart.

The king shook his head slowly. "Those who took my son away, they were male, were they not?"

"Are you saying those vampires are male only?"

The king's face became more troubled than any of the girls had ever seen on him. "You should look in the library, I believe father Scot's grandfather left something there before he passed away."

"Father…" Yuniko didn't really know how to voice there rest of her thoughts. "Why have you not told me about this until now?"

"I believed it would not be needed," the king said heavily. "But it is. And when you find it… I hope you will understand."

Yuniko wished she could comfort her father, but the old man had never let anyone do so, not even his own children, and he had too little time left to give in. Simply she turned on her heels and left for the library.

"I wish there was someplace safe where you could live, my beautiful girl," the king whispered to the empty room and grief filled his eyes. "I truly wish there were… I was foolish from the very beginning… and now it is too late."


"Your majesty," a voice called and Yuniko turned around from the books she was searching through.

"Father Scot. How happy I am to see you," she said and smiled relieved.

"You wish to know about the undead from north, do you not?"

"I take it you have talked to either brother or my father about it," the princess smiled calmly.

"Prince Atemu was very concerned about it when I talked to him almost ten years ago. I promised him to search through the holy library once again for something useful, but I found nothing. Yet I was determined to find something out so I travelled north with care. I was lucky to come back in one piece."

"Father, can you tell me something, anything, about the vampires' weakness?" the princess asked eagerly as she stood up from her chair. "I have figured they may dislike the light of the sun, but I am not sure."

"…The creatures are from the opposite of Heaven," Scot said solemnly. "I realized that when I met one of them once. So vampires are what they are called?"

"I have talked to two of them as well," Yuniko confessed, making Malin gasp and stare at her. Yuniko hadn't dared to tell Malin about that. "I asked them what they were, and they said a man from long ago gave them the name of the bats that live of blood."

"Oh, I have heard of these little creatures," Scot said calmly. "I have seen them too, but they usually hunt alone at night when they are hard to notice. Their skin and fur are black as the night and they use sound to navigate in the darkness."

"I do not know if I can call that a sound," Yuniko said with raised eyebrows in thought. "It can not be replayed by anything from instrument, human, animal or even nature itself. Believe me; I have sought for the sound everywhere else."

"Your majesty is as sharp as always. The sound of a vampire bat can not be replayed by anything else but themselves."

"Father, you said you just barely made it back in one piece," Malin said as the monk was about to lose himself in his own fantasies about whatever he was dreaming of. "Then you must have found out something about their weakness. You also said they come from the opposite of Heaven."

"Oh, that is right. My crucifix saved me."

"They are seeds of the Devil?" Yuniko said with eyes wide of anger and something else neither Malin nor Scot could put a finger on.

"I believe so," Scot said solemnly. "The one I met reacted as if the crucifix would kill him."

"Men again?" Malin asked, making the monk frown in confusion at her. "His majesty, the princess and I think that the vampires are male only. But how can that be? Without a female they can not ensue the surviving of their kind."

"They are undead," Yuniko explained. "They are dead, but still they are alive. They do not need to make more of their kind; they kill other men and transform them into one of them."

"But there must be a way to destroy them," Malin burst out in sudden frustration. "You can not kill what is already dead."

"True," Scot almost spat. "Without ways to put the soul into rest we can not destroy them."

"They are driven by desire," Yuniko suddenly said and her eyes went wide again. The other two stared at her. "The one who… who I talked to told me that he can not rest until his desire is complete… But if they are driven by desire… what are my brother's drift to stay alive?"

A heavy silence embraced the library as a mist as the young princess stared out of the window at what land she could see.

"Princess?" Malin started carefully.

"I listen."

"We should see to everyone in the kingdom to always carry around some kind of crucifix. It is the only thing we can do to save them."

"… By order of the royal family," the princess agreed.


Winter left with the darkness, and light returned to Scotland with the season of spring. For some reason the princess was way more relaxed the first days of gentle light. She stood in the courtyard one day and just let the soft light caress her being and calm her spirit. No one dared to interrupt her moments of piece in life. She had almost none anymore.

Malin were with her all the time, never leaving her princess's side for anything. Sky happily rested on the treasure's shoulders and sometimes nibbled his mistress's hair, which by now reached her knees if she didn't have it tied up. The king wouldn't allow her to cut it since he was afraid for the blue waves would be gone if she did.

"They are moving again," Yuniko whispered one evening.

"What? Not now!"

"I think the sun has made them short-tempered. I will have to meet them before they reach the castle."

"Your majesty, you can not!" Malin burst out loudly. "Not without me."

"Miss Malin? What happens, your majesty?" a nervous and jumpy slave asked carefully with fear filled eyes."

"No, we are just arguing," Malin calmed the boy, who bowed deeply and left.

"As you wish Malin, but keep it close to me. If something was to happen to you Scotland would have to search for a new princess as well."

Malin blushed slightly in shame and embarrassment and followed her friend to their room to change. She knew she meant a lot to the princess, she shouldn't ask to be in danger.

"Mokuba," Yuniko said as she sensed her younger pretended brother nearby.

"Yes, Lady Yuniko," the errand boy said as he stepped out of the shadows of a vase.

"Tell father and the council I will take Malin and Unicorn out for a ride. Then please send a message to father Scot to meet me at the gate. I should be dressed and ready with the horses by then."

Mokuba nodded, bowed and left. But before he was out of sight he suddenly turned sharply and returned.

"Big sister, you will not be harmed, will you?"

Yuniko smiled tenderly at him and patted his dark head lovingly. "Of cause not, little brother. I will not leave you here alone."

The now fourteen year old errand boy hugged Yuniko tightly before he rushed off swiftly.

"He really is into the role as your little brother," Malin said a little amused by the smaller one's actions.

"He is my little brother… in our imagination," Yuniko smiled happily, something she did less and less often.

As soon as they reached the chambers and locked the door behind them Yuniko's baby blue dress fell off her shoulders to reveal the body of a goddess. She was fully grown now, even if she happened to be short. The skin was pale as a lily, but where her dresses left skin exposed it was darker, kissed by the eternal light of the sun. Her chest was just the exact shape and size for her lean body, but it was still enough for men to look down at them. Her hips were gently rounded and her back had that perfect curve that invited arms to wrap themselves around her waist. Yet no man had ever laid a hand on her, as far as Malin knew that is.

"Tie my hair in a pigtail," Yuniko ordered as she threw a comb at Malin, who skilfully caught it.

New underwear, pants, boots, shirt and gloves where put on as Malin worked with her friend's long hair.

"You can not let it grow much longer, Yuni. It is hard enough to keep it as perfect as before."

"I know Malin," Yuniko said calmly. "But father will not appreciate it."

Malin was about to say something, but regretted before she opened her mouth and pressed her lips together. "Here, all done," she said instead as she tied the silky hair together with a thin leather rope.

"Good," the princess said and Malin didn't have much time to react when she saw the knife in her princess's hand. Before she could even let out her protests she had the long pigtail in her hands, the rest of Yuniko's now shoulder length hair undid itself from the pigtail.

"Y-Yuni!" was all Malin could say.

"No buts, Malin. If I have to fight I can not have so much hair. It would only trouble me."


Unicorn was major nervous when she slowly made it past Atemu's death monument. There was a smell of death in the air, and all three riders could sense it along with their horses.

"This can not be our vampires," father Scot suddenly said.

"I know," Yuniko said and stopped right behind the monument, facing the forest. "This is something else that lacks the ability to fly."

"Is there more to the evil than just the vampires?" Malin wondered and couldn't hide how scared she was.

"Stay behind me. I can not believe they will try to harm me. They said they need purity to survive."

"How can that be?" Scot wondered mostly to himself.

"I guess it is like light and darkness," Yuniko explained. "Purity can not exist if not able to compare with the opposite. I think those vampires need purity to compare to their sins."

"I believe it makes sense," Scot nodded in agreement. "Like light can not be without darkness, sins would not be there if purity was not."

"Here they come," Yuniko whispered as shadows started to move more like bodies in the woods ahead of them.

Unicorn was suddenly very still, her head low and ears drawn backwards. Sky fell from his position high in the sky and landed on his princess's shoulders, not lowering his wings as if ready to set off to the darkening sky once more.

Malin, Scot and their horses though was another story. Sunset wanted to rush back home in safety and Scot's horse was close to panic.

"May God show mercy," was all the two heard from the princess's lips before their horses turned and rushed back home on the princess's silent orders, Sky following them from above.

"YUNIKO!" Malin screamed over her shoulder to her beloved friend. "Turn, turn, turn!" she yelled at Sunset who ran as fast as her thin legs could possible carry her. All she had in her mind was the words the princess had whispered into her mind: Run!

Scot didn't have more luck with his horse. He knew the princess had asked for him because she thought she would need him. But as she too felt the intensity of whatever was coming their way she sent both him and Malin away in order to protect them. But who would protect her?

"DO YOU NOT KNOW OF HOW GREAT IMPORTANCE YOU ARE TO SCOTLAND?" he yelled backwards, but could say the princess either didn't hear or didn't want to listen. Either way it didn't matter since he, when his horse jumped over another stone, fell off its back.

"Father Scot!" Malin screamed, but was unable to do anything else. She would hurt herself more than badly if she tried to get off Sunset in this speed.


Inside the hospital room, a few minutes before Ryou, Bakura and Seto entered, Yugi suddenly jerked as if he was hit by something. The nurse who was there went up to him in order to calm him, but she also had other plans. She had seen the strange results of Dr Lou's tests of his blood and was there to take some of the boy's blood and give it to a professional gangster. She could get enormous amounts of money for this boy if the tests were true.

Yugi's expression was of pain and anger as cuts and bruises appeared on his body. The nurse had a mask with gas ready in order to put him in deeper sleep, enough for her to take the tests, but it never came close to Yugi's face. He hit it right out of her hands. Yugi grabbed the surprised woman's throat, dragged her down to his face and suddenly opened his eyes to stare sharply at her.

"Do not touch me," he hissed dangerously, anger evident in his eyes. "You are beyond even my saving now."

He squeezed her throat hard. She tried to loose his grip and reach for the danger signal button, but something, or someone, suddenly grabbed her from behind and pulled her out of Yugi's grip.

"What were you thinking of doing?" a hissing voice whispered in her ear.

"I… I'm just checking on him. He is so deep into his dream he might hurt himself," she tried, but Yugi was already calming down, falling into his still dreaming again.

"No, my dear," the man holding her tightly whispered. "That was not your purpose. If it was you would not have those empty needles in your pocket," he showed them under her nose and his other hand moved up to her arcing throat.

"What... what do you want? Who are you?" she managed to whisper.

"I am the girl's father," the man said. "Yuniko, or Yugi as she is named these days, is my daughter."

The man laughed, at least it sounded like that, even if it was just as much a hiss.

"You're lying. The boy's father is dead."

"I know I am," the man said sweetly. "I have been dead for a long time. A very long time. Too many years for me to count. But now, just as then, I intend to protect my little treasure, even if it means taking away another's life."

That was the last words the nurse ever heard. The man behind her bit her neck with sharp teeth and she fell unconscious, and there she died a strangely painless death.

The man, the nurse and Yugi's injuries were gone the minuet voices were heard outside.


"Come monsters from netherworld," the princess whispered to the army of undead in front of her. But those were no vampires. They didn't even have an own will. They knew of just one thing: to feed.

"So you will fight them?" a familiar voice said from behind her.

"I have no other choice. You yourself pushed me into a corner of granite with no other way out than to fight back. What else do you expect me to do? In difference to you I have a kingdom to protect."

"I guess," the vampire behind her said and looked out over the undead coming their way. "It was yet again my lord's orders. He wanted you to fight them, so that he could say just how strong you are, Battle Princess of Scotland."

"What does that mean?"

The man was silent for a moment, gazing at the princess's exposed neck. "You will see," was all he answered.

"When I have fought these monsters off," Yuniko said and turned towards the same vampire who had taken her brother and then kissed her. "You and I have to talk. Now when you are alone I refuse to think you are in a hurry to get away from me."

The vampire smirked darkly. Indeed he was in no hurry to get away from the purity, the beauty and the innocence that was the princess. He watched her ride towards the army of undead without fear and if his heart had been beating it would have jumped from the jolts of just seeing her eyes. He would never deny it for himself, but he had to for everyone else: he had fallen hard for the princess.

Yuniko felt how power filled her being. She recognized the force as magic, what she had used just a few times earlier. Now it was pulsing through her veins with the rythm of her heartbeat. Her skin started to glow with the pure magic, untainted by anything but the princess's deep wish to protect her people. She never even noticed her cloths were changed into a dress so pale blue it seemed white, with the dark, deep blue ribbon tying it together at her back and long, sky blue sleeves replacing her shirt. Around her neck a high, pale yellow necklace with a scarlet jewel appeared. The sword in her hand was no longer the one she had taken with her from her room. It was shining brightly, filled with Yuniko's own power.

Unicorn also faced a change. She was no longer afraid or angry. Actually she felt as safe as when she was home in the sable and falling asleep under her princess and friend's loving caresses. She never noticed it, neither did Yuniko, but suddenly Unicorn really was a unicorn. The horn in her forehead flashed brightly.

The blade in the princess's hand cut through her enemies and she watched them transform into earth and sand. Unicorn rose on her hind legs and neighed loudly over the dark beings around her and the princess.

On pure impulse the princess jumped down from Unicorn's back and let the beautiful creature fight on her own. Yuniko had enough power to fight down half of all these monsters on her own. The undead never touched her. But stones and branshes they threw at her did, covering her with cuts and bruises. Not that she had enough time to notice though.

From the stone monument the vampire watched with wide eyes. He had never seen anyone expand such pure powers. The princess did not do this for her own sake, but for her people, her father and her friends. As long as her powers stayed pure with her reasons and in her heart, there was no way his lord could win against her. And he knew what that meant.

Yuniko's light and purity was overwhelming for the monsters, but still they tried to get close to her to feed of her young flesh. One of them managed to come close enough to touch her, hadn't she noticed it and cut the arms off, leaving fresh bruises of hands on her legs. She grabbed its throat and looked straight into its eyes. To her surprise she could see a woman in the ugly face she was staring into. She realized this must once have been a human.

"Do not touch me," she said dangerously. "You are beyond even my saving now."

She squeezed the throat and saw the creature melt into earth.

"Impressive," the vampire said as he walked up to her.

"Unicorn," Yuniko said without turning her eyes from the earth of the one she had just killed. It had been the last one. "Go home."

Unicorn threw with her head and ran off towards the castle.

"Why let her go?" the vampire asked. "It will take you some time to get back now."

"I figured you would take me back freely," Yuniko said and turned, just to find the vampire close enough for her to reach out and touch. Now when they both stood up she found him being a head taller than her, with pointy ears.

The vampire nodded slowly as something shimmered in his eyes. Something Yuniko could not put her finger at.

"Who are you?" the princess asked as she let her sword slide back into the sheath. "I have seen you three times and still I do not know your name."

"You wish to know my simple name?" the man asked and took another step forwards, she didn't move away. When he reached out to touch her face she didn't flinch. "My name is Aku," he whispered.

"Evil," the princess answered.

"Yes," Aku said, gently caressing her face down to her long neck. "That is what it means by some foreign language. I am surprised you know of it. But you… why are you not afraid of me. You seemed to be afraid of Crow."

"I am not afraid," Yuniko said calmly, letting the man's hand travel down over her collarbones. "I simply can not like the one eyed one for anything in the world. He just desires what he himself can have from me."

"But I… what if I am just the same as him. We are the same kind after all."

Yuniko's eyes looked deeply into those deep wells that were Aku's eyes. "I know when I should be afraid. But you are no danger to me."

Aku was surprised by her answer, and got lost in the princess's bottomless eyes. "Maybe you are right," he whispered and leaned closer to her face. "I have no such desire. If I want something from you… it is only you."

Yuniko closed her eyes when Aku kissed her again. She felt his wish to take her, but also knew he wouldn't do it, not if she didn't agree to it first. His lips were cold, but his tongue was surprisingly warm and the move itself proved to her he was not to be feared, not by her.

"Princess," Aku whispered as he broke the kiss, but let his lips rest against hers, unwilling to release them. "Come with me. I can take you to a place where we can be alone until sun rises."

Yuniko backed away from him and softly hit his hands away from her face. She shook her head in denial. She couldn't go anywhere with him.

"Princess!"

The gentleness in Aku's face was gone in an instant as he turned to the one who had called.

"Father Scot?" Yuniko said surprised.

The priest saw the young treasure close to a vampire with pale hair and glowing blue eyes. Immediately he started to run so he could protect the harmless princess, as he thought she was.

All of sudden other creatures, these flying, left the trees, and Yuniko felt fear rush trough her veins.

"Father Scot, look out!" she shouted as they attacked her friend. He had no chance.

Aku moved swiftly, like a shadow towards the man and someone else held the scared princess back. She was helpless. There was nothing she could do to protect the monk. The power that had given her strength earlier was long gone. She could hear him cry out in pain and saw how Aku bit his neck.

"Stop it. Please, stop it."

It was too late, and the one holding her back hit a nerve in her neck and she fell into unconsciousness.


"Princess?"

Yuniko opened her eyes slowly and gazed up into Malin's scared eyes. She was back in her room, in her own bed.

"What happened?" the teenager nurse asked with eyes wide of confusion and slight fear. "All I remember is rushing off with Sunset and how father Scot fell off his horse. Then everything went black."

The princess sat up and lifted a hand to her neck. There was nothing there. She was still untouched by them. But she knew Scot was not.

"They took father Scot," Yuniko whispered.

Malin's eyes widened as she gasped slightly and tears formed in her pretty eyes.

"I will go and tell the council and let another stone monument be raised over him," Yuniko said as she got up from her bed. "I will order that every soldier and fighting man dying in this war will be honoured with a monument. I will tell Honda to carve names into them."

Malin nodded and followed in the princess's tracks. To tell the council what they had done would not be fun though. They, along with the king, would be furious.


I'll try real hard to be up and around till April so that I can update this for you. Too bad my brain is still dried out of ideas for where I am in the story. I have come to a hard part.

Well, enough of that and I beg you all to review. I read them all and love the ones who have sent them.