Zen awoke and looked up to the sun so that he could determine the time, his stomach twisted with anxiety as he realised something was off. The Sun's position suggested it was mid morning- yet the sky in the distance was still a fiery red, as though it was still only Dawn. He stood abruptly No! That sky is not the colour of dawn!...It's the colour of fire! He grabbed Shirayuki in a panic and pulled her by the hand. They ran to the edge of the forest and looked in horror at the flames that were engulfing Clarines in the distance! Shirayuki looked at Zen- who stood in despairing silence. She held his hand tightly and wiped her tears away "let's go Zen, they need us!" he nodded quietly "let's go!".
As they neared Clarines it became apparent just how terrible the situation was! Crowds of people were fleeing the flames- running into the safety of the forest. Shirayuki and Zen rushed through them so that they could head to the palace. Zen rushed around desperate to find any signs of his brother and Shirayuki also tried to look into the face of every passer-by so she could try and identify Izana...with no luck. They reached the Castle gates and were relieved to see that the castle was unharmed- the flames had not yet reached this far.
They ran around, but it was desolate! Zen frowned in concern where are you brother! He turned abruptly on the spot as a crash erupted down the hall. The two of them sprinted towards where the crash had come from. The noise seemed to have come from a pile of plates that had been knocked over, Kiki was cursing as she stepped through the broken pieces. Zen rushed forward "Kiki! Where is my brother!" Her eyes widened as she spotted him in the doorway "Prince Zen! I am so sorry! Mitsuhide and I...we tried to protect him, but he was taken again!" She fell to her knees and blinked against her tears "We tried to stop them, but they captured Prince Izana and then Mitsuhide got caught..because he protected me!" Shirayuki knelt by her side and placed her hand on Kiki's shoulders though she shrugged her off coldly "please, don't touch me! You! You are the reason they came...what reason should you- a commoner have to be with Prince Zen! All you had to do was stay with Zura and we would all be safe!" Shirayuki stood up in stunned silence as Zen took a step towards Kiki "Kiki! You know nothing! Blaming Shirayuki will not change the past! She is no commoner either she is the true princess of Tanbarun, Zura came here not because of Shirayuki- but because of me!" Kiki lowered her head and began to weep uncontrollably "please forgive me prince Zen! I am weak! I couldn't save Mitsuhide or your brother! And now I am blindly assigning blame!" Zen held out his hand to her "it's ok Kiki. Do not cry anymore. I will save them- but I need your help!" she took his hand with a faint smile and stood up "of course your highness- I will do what ever you ask!" Zen looked at her seriously "We need to find a certain book, Izana knew where it was but he's not here!" Kiki grinned in excitement for a moment and smacked her forehead "ooooooh, maybe that's what he meant! Zen, before all this happened Izana told me and Mitsuhide to pass on a message to you when we could. He said 'tell Zen, it's on the island in the middle of the Lava" Zen looked up grinning "I see! come on!" He grabbed Shirayuki's hand and ran off towards the stairs "Zen, do you care to explain?" He looked back at her retaining a huge grin "Izana and I used to play a game when we were younger. There was a smaller room In the back of the Library, its floors are red and orange so we used to pretend it was Lava, We would climb on top of the shelves and jump from one to another and we would pretend that the circle shaped case in the middle was an Island- it was our goal and the first to reach it would win. Although, we never made it because it was too high. One day my Father caught us playing the game and was concerned we would fall and get hurt. He locked the room and we were never allowed in there anymore" Shirayuki nodded in understanding "The book is on top of the circular case?" Zen laughed a little "Izana and I were very competitive. He sneaked in one night and made the jump just so he could brag about it. He mentioned that nothing much was up there just an old book! It must be the same book!".
They ran into the Library and through the door at the other end. Shirayuki looked at the floor- it really did look like Lava! She was reminded of the furiously burning flames that were eating away outside and blinked away more tears as Zen walked over to a smaller book case and climbed up. He jumped with ease from one case to another- towards the middle of the room. Shirayuki looked in disbelief at the circular case- it really was high!
Zen looked at the tall case and felt childish delight worm its way in- he was finally going to make this jump! He took a few steps back before taking a running jump. His fingers grasped the edge as he dangled there a few seconds looking down at the 'Lava' below him. He smiled in appreciation hold on brother we will save you! He pulled himself up and walked towards the centre of the case. There was a large and tattered ancient- looking book resting on a stand. He opened it and frowned how is this meant to help? Izana was right its gibberish! He shook his head it may be gibberish to him, but Shirayuki might know what it says! He grabbed the book and jumped off the case- landing on his feet next to her with a boyish grin "here you go my princess" Kiki looked the other way with a firm face and Shirayuki did not miss this- did she like Zen? She shrugged this unpleasant thought away and opened the ancient tome with anticipation.
Zen watched quietly as her eyes scanned the pages quickly, with each page that she read, her eyes would grow larger and more excited. She stopped on a page and seemed to read it more carefully than any other "this is it! I can use this to help grow the mother tree!".