Hi, readers (the 15 to 20 I know I have). I know I'm a day later than usual (becuse I forgot to update this yesterday) but better late than never my grandfather used to say (when he was alive).
A lot more will be revealed in this chapter, but I think I've done something wrong somewhere. If you find it, tell me so I can correct it.
So without more rambling from me, please read and enjoy (and review)
The Battle Princess of Scotland
Yuniko's eyes snapped open. Her heart was running a mile ahead of her, beating hard enough to hurt.
She sat up, pale and wide-eyed. "Brother," she whispered. "My dear brother. What have I done? I have sent you straight to Hell. Oh brother. My dear, dear brother."
A sound beside her made the upset girl turn her head and found Malin sleeping on the floor with her head and arms resting on the bed.
Yuniko had to take a deep breath forcing herself to calm down. "Dear God in Heaven. Help me. What do I do now?"
Yugi's transparent face suddenly appeared in front of her, his slim form sitting on the bedside. First things first, he told her with a smile. We will help you save your brother.
Yuniko smiled in gratitude. 'Thank you.'
First of all you have a kingdom to protect and people who will do anything to protect their friend and queen.
'Then what do I do? I will not survive this war. It has already begun.'
True, Yohim said, her see-through spirit standing by the window. But I watched what happened to my loved ones after my death. I died to protect them, but my death only resulted in their pain.
Yes, Yugi said lowly. It is selfish to hide the truth. But it's even more selfish to just die and leave the ones who love you behind, unable to do anything to save you.
Yuniko nodded her head. Somewhere in her heart she knew what they meant, but she had already denied any kind of help. She had betrayed her own brother, Aku was dead and the summer was soon over. Everything talked against her.
Let them do something for you, Yohim said softly. They ask for no more but to help you.
Yuniko looked down at Malin, still sleeping, and noticed her nurse had stains of tears on her cheeks. She felt sharp pang of guilt in her gut, now understanding what her past and future tried to say.
"I will let them help me. But I can not let them fight for me." And as soon as she said those words out loud Yuniko's mind started to work. She sat up and placed Malin's head in her lap, patting her head in thought. Yohim and Yugi were already gone, back to where they had been all the time. Yohim's life affected hers, and many facts had been revealed. This would mean a lot for the kingdom in the future. Ryouko and Kyoko had abilities they didn't know about yet. She could trust in Mokuba to keep it all together, he had fast feet and a good head.
One fact revealed another and showed a picture of her loved ones she hadn't even thought about before. She didn't even notice Malin woke up.
The nurse was surprised to find herself in the queen's lap, and even more so to find her friend pat her head. But what surprised her most was when she looked up at the queen's face. Yuniko's eyes were blind for what was in front of her, but they saw much more, and her lips beneath her thoughtful finger slowly tugged into a smile.
"Milady?"
Yuniko flinched at the sound of a voice and looked down into Malin's purple eyes. One last fact clicked and she smiled broadly and couldn't stop herself from bending down and place a kiss on her surprised nurse's forehead. "Thank you."
Malin only gaped at her queen.
"Come, help me dress. I have a lot to do before summer is over. And even if autumn will not be pleasant, I will need help. A lot of help."
Malin stared, but her mind came to the conclusion that whatever had bothered Yuniko was now solved, or would be solved in a near future.
"Your majesty?"
"You all heard me. Once summer is over and the nights become longer the vampires will be over us in no time. The vampire lord, who goes under the name of Sanguis, is not hurt by the sun, and I have reasons to believe he can make the darkness of night even darker."
"But your majesty. Why do you refuse to let the soldiers prepare for war?"
"Because humans can not fight vampires," the queen said sternly. "Right now I only inform you of what I know about the vampires and the future. When autumn is here I have an important decision to make, and I must make it without your influence, Mr. Hem, for I know what you will want me to do. Right now I have a kingdom to protect. That is my first and last priority."
"Of course, we understand, your majesty. But the soldiers-"
"Will be needed elsewhere. The issue of the vampires will not be mentioned again unless I do so myself. Scotland must be informed about her enemies and how she can protect herself when I am not there."
Honda couldn't help but stare at his queen. She had always been fair towards the people and the council, but he had never seen her this determined before. When she had made up her mind it had always been hard, but not impossible, to make her change her mind since she always listened to her advisors. But now she wouldn't even let her council talk back.
"Your majesty, can I at least ask you where the soldiers will be needed?" the brunette asked carefully.
"If I fail they will be needed to protect the people," the queen said, but then she smiled. "But I will not fail. All I need now is your cooperation and help. I will need all of you to help me protect my kingdom and my people. I will not order you as your queen, but I ask you as your friend to help me protect what is so dear to me."
The men, Malin, Ryouko, Kyoko and Mokuba all stared at the queen and then at each other.
"You can always count on us," Kyoko said, holding her white sister's arm, daring the older to deny.
"As if I would ever let you go, Yuni," Malin said, smiling teasingly. "I have a promise to keep, remember?"
"I will run to Scotland's every house and hut if you asked me, Yuni," Mokuba said and hugged the queen's waist.
"I never thought I would hear the queen ask for help," Joey said lowly, before his face broke in a bright grin. "Count me in."
Honda looked at the rest of the council. They all smiled and nodded. "We are here to serve you. We can certainly not let our little girl down."
Yuniko smiled brightly, happily. "Thank you all. Now. Midsummer is closing in. We shall start the preparations."
Summer seemed to pass too quickly. The queen seemed stronger and safer than she ever had before. Mokuba took the lead of the castle's messengers that were sent to Scotland's every corner with messages to the people about the vampires, what they were, what they wanted and how each man, child and woman could protect themselves. They were all asked to believe in the queen's strength, that she would protect them as well as she could, and the messengers were sent back with words of gratitude or worry for the safety of themselves and her. Some would send their sons to the white castle to join the army to help the monarch, and they were all welcomed by the queen herself.
"I am grateful you have come, and I will not deny I am in need of strong men who can defend my people when I alone am not enough. My friend and head guard Adam will be in charge of your training, then I must send you back in groups of ten to each town." At this she was met by protests, but she would only raise a hand to make them stop. "It is not me who is in need of protection, but my people; you. I can protect myself with those few men I have around me."
The new recruits would soon find out what she meant by that. Yuniko was often training with her soldiers to keep herself in good shape, though there were only four who stood a slight chance against her; Joey, Adam, Malin and Kyoko. It was a great surprise even for the queen. Kyoko had a lithe and agile body and used it more than any of the weapons she had in hand. Though where she had learnt to move and kick like she did stayed her secret.
Ryouko had trained hard with her archery and was surprised herself to find she was one of the very best in the entire castle, even among the new arrivals that lived with the bow as pillow. Joey, Adam and many of the older soldiers kept an eye on the girls, making sure they were safe from younger men's approaches and seductions.
They all take care of each other, Yohim said satisfied.
And Joey's like everyone's big brother, no one is feeling alone, Yugi said softly.
'Yes,' Yuniko thought. 'I will need every last one of them.'
Yugi's green eyes locked with the queen's as she stared at her reflection in a window as she watched the training below. But you are worried they will find out about your plans?
Yuniko swallowed hard. Lies were nothing she was good at, though she had become quite a bit good in hiding the truth behind another truth, but not for someone part of her own mind.
'I know so well what is about to happen if I let anyone from outside help me with this weight. And I am afraid.'
Yugi's gentle face smiled sadly. You are only a human. Don't try to be more than that.
'But I must carry the fate of so many people on my shoulders.'
Invisible arms wrapped around her neck from behind and a soft cheek pressed against hers. You think so because you know the whole truth, Yugi said softly with a voice as soft as summer rain. Each human carry a truth of their own; their pasts, their feelings, thoughts they never share… You know your own truth, our truths. But you don't know much about the truth that is our brother's. Wait and see. Things will turn out alright. You don't have to give your all for all and every human you see. For we are only humans ourselves.
Yuniko raised a hand to return the embrace, but only met the locket around her neck.
"Milady?"
Yuniko spun around startled at the sound of a voice behind her and came face to face with a concerned Malin. "Malin, you startled me."
"Forgive me, Milady. But you should come and eat now. Solomon is worried about you since you do not eat properly anymore."
"Oh, I am sorry. Let us leave then."
Malin watched Yuniko's back with sadness as her friend moved towards the small dining room. She had seen how the ruler touched the golden locket, the one she had received as a birthday gift from her brother the night he died. She understood Yuniko still missed her older brother, but there were nothing she could do. Yuniko had asked for help, and though Malin did everything the queen asked of her and though Yuniko smiled and thanked her, she felt it wasn't enough. She wanted to do more. She wanted to share the queen's burden, not be a part of it.
It was midnight when Yuniko jolted awake from a sharp pain in her chest. For a second she wondered if someone had just stabbed her, but when she felt no blade in her body or another presence than Malin's in the room she realized a vampire had crossed her barrier using brute force. She realized Atemu, Aku and the others had used some kind of spell to get into her barrier without hurting her.
Yuniko whimpered in pain as more of them entered the barrier, waking Malin.
"Milady?"
Yuniko held her chest and couldn't even start to pretend nothing was wrong. The pain was so sharp, so physical, and for each that entered the barrier the pain grew stronger until she had a hard time breathing.
"Yuni! What is wrong? What is happening?"
Yuniko grabbed her nurse, trying to talk but only gasped for air and whimpered in pain.
"Yuni!?"
"They are coming…"
Malin's eyes widened when she understood the weight of those words. Never had the vampires managed to cause the queen this kind of pain before. She was out the door calling for the guards to wake those who were asleep and gather on the courtyard. "The vampires are coming! The queen is suffering as they enter the barrier!"
Ryouko and Kyoko peeked out from their rooms when Malin rushed by screaming her warnings. They looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
In her room Yuniko focused all her willpower on picking her mind together enough for her to use the magic of the cross around her neck and create some kind of barrier around her, protecting her from the pain and clearing her mind. She fell out of bed in a rather disgraceful heap.
"Merciful God," she whispered as she, gasping for air tried to crawl over to her door, knowing exactly what Malin was doing. Her nurse was in panic and did the first thing coming to her mind; calling for help. "My lord, give me strength, protect my people. Save us all from the threat coming towards us."
Her window opened wide in a sudden burst of air. On the dark sky she could see the even darker shadows of her enemies, one green eye glowing as it caught her gaze. It was Crow.
Yuniko could hear her soldiers gathering on the courtyard in attempt to protect their queen.
"No," she whispered in despair. "Do you not know what you are doing? You are food for them! You are giving yourself to them freely. Merciful God, help me."
A soft, familiar and calming squeak was heard inside of her, and then the cry of Sky who stood in the open window, waiting for her to do something. He spread his wings wide and left the window to circle over the soldiers on the ground.
A memory surfaced in Yuniko's mind, her heart pounding and eyes widening. Then all hesitation vanished, turned into determination as she grabbed her sword and jumped out of the window after her winged friend. Sky caught the sheathed sword the queen held over her head and glided down with the Battle Princess hanging in his claws. Beneath them Unicorn broke out of the stable, rushing away to catch her mistress when Sky lowered from above.
Her nightgown, her messy hair, her bare feet and arms. Everything changed in a flash of holy light and dressed the Battle Princess in the pale blue dress with darker blue sleeves and midnight blue ribbon at her back. She elegantly landed on Unicorn's back as the mare leaped into the air to catch her. The soldiers stopped at the sight of the Battle Princess coming to their rescue from above. Yuniko had never been more impressive.
The vampires dove for her, but Sky, protected by his father's spirit, attacked first, surrounded by a golden light. Unicorn's horn sparkled and a flash of lightning hit one of the dark monsters in the sky. The Battle Princess stood on the white unicorn's back and wielded her holy sword, sending a wave of light onto those who were out to hurt her.
Whispers and stares followed the fight between the world's most powerful woman and the pure evil from north.
"That is the Battle Princess!" Joey whispered, mostly to himself. He had never seen his queen as anybody else than the one she was; a strong, warm woman who was his friend. But this was not the same teenager queen that ruled Scotland from the white castle. This was the Battle Princess who protected the people. Those who stood beside him picked up his whisper and the word spread among the soldiers.
Yuniko heard nothing of what her soldiers whispered about her. Her eyes were locked at the enemies of her kingdom, and especially the glowing green eye that watched her intently from the great wall where he had landed.
It didn't take long for Yuniko and her two friends to defeat those who were attacking her. Everything stilled when the last flying creature landed in the mud to never rise again. Yuniko still stood on Unicorn's back and Sky lowered to rest on his mistress's shoulder. The Battle Princess herself kept her challenging blue eyes at Crow.
"You never fail to impress me, Battle Princess," Crow said smoothly. He spread his wings and lowered to the ground. Scotland's soldiers started forward, but were stopped by their queen's hand.
"Tell me, Crow of the vampire tribe. Why do you attack me now?"
Crow stood with a smirk. He was about twice as large as a normal man, reaching Yuniko's waist as she stood on Unicorn's back. Yuniko had never seen Crow stand upright before and now realized he had been there four hundred years ago. No wonder he was so strong.
"My lord is angry beyond belief. Not only have your strength improved, not only have you stopped to cry, not only have you strengthened the barrier around your kingdom, not only have you found your ground and stand tall, but you have managed to fulfil Aku's one and only desire and given him the eternal rest meant for the dead."
"I realize Aku was one of few who could enter my barrier on his own. And with him gone you are one mighty vampire poorer."
"True, my love," Crow smirked. "There are now only three of us strong enough to enter your barrier without having to lend strength from our lord."
Yuniko's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. Crow's smirk widened.
"Be prepared, beautiful. Anger the lord further, and we will be here sooner than originally planned."
The vampire had to take flight in a rather disgraceful manner as Unicorn shot a flash at him. Sky screeched at him angrily and Yuniko turned to him, wondering just who had taught him to swear.
The meeting room was very quiet the next morning as the queen entered. She seated in her high chair with Malin standing behind her and Joey by the door.
"I believe you all have your share of questions to ask me," the queen said calmly. "So ask me."
Glances were exchanged between the councilmen before the eldest decided to ask what they all wondered.
"My queen, you knew the monsters of north were planning an attack?"
"Yes, I believe I told you so, indirectly, a few weeks ago. But I did not suspect they would come this soon. I figured they would wait until the days are shorter, that they wouldn't come before autumn was ending. That would have given me some time to build up Scotland's defences."
"What are you planning, my queen?" Honda asked, looking the monarch directly in the eye.
"I am your queen, Sir Honda, and as such I must protect myself for the sake of my kingdom. I can not let anything happen to me before I have secured the future of Scotland."
"But there is no heir to the throne," one exclaimed. "And if what you suspect comes true and those monsters will be over us at the end of autumn… There is no time to find you a suitable husband, and even less for your majesty to bear the future king."
Yuniko sighed silently. "I do have a man in mind," she said calmly, making everyone stare at her.
Malin's eyes suddenly opened wide in realization. "Oh!"
"That is right. Joey has asked me to marry him. But…" she raised a hand to stop the suddenly happy faces and smiles directed at the blushing blond man by the door. "As you say, there is no time for me to bear the future king. Nor is there time for a wedding. We are run out of time and we can not rush things. Even if some things never happened and others did, we would still be short on time. That is our enemy's greatest advantage at the moment."
Sometimes the truth hurt. This time many felt it would be less painful to be executed.
The queen stood, a soft light emerging from her safe being. "I still need your help. I still need your support. I still need your trust and friendship. When the time is right I will know what to do."
'But will you still be with us once that time comes?' Honda asked silently.
Yuniko called Joey and her half-sisters to her chamber that night. They entered her room in the same manner a prisoner would enter the law court.
"Please do not give me those looks. I do not have bad news."
"The only good news at the time is the number of survivals," Joey muttered bitterly.
Yuniko gave him a painful look, but decided to hit the point directly. "The past is revealed to me."
"The past?" Malin asked.
"You remember what we found in the library a few months ago? When we found the empty bible holding my cross it was revealed to us I am not the first Battle Princess. Lately I have had dreams I can not clearly remember. But a few nights ago the dream cleared. I have gained the memory of the first Battle Princess."
"How can that possibly help us now?" Kyoko wondered. "Past warriors can not possibly come to our rescue when we need them, neither can we change the past and stop what is happening."
"You speak the truth, little Kyoko," Yuniko nodded. "But the past can help in many ways. It is our past acts experiences that have brought us all together."
"That can still not help us, Milady," Ryouko said softly. "Even if we are together now we can not help you in the future."
Yuniko sighed with a smile. "My friends, you are working against me. Please let me talk without interruptions." The others nodded and Yuniko sat down in her favourite chair. "Now, we all know I am reborn from the soul of the first Battle Princess. I will cut the story short. Four hundred years ago there was a gypsy clan in south east of Europe. The king of their country was evil, and enjoyed to be so. The first Battle Princess, commonly known as Ma Yoro, had the power to foretell the future, but she could not control it enough to make a living. Ma Yoro's clan was caught in the country because of the king, and her husband, the clan leader, had to spend a lot of time in his presence. Too late Ma Yoro realized her husband was manipulated by the king.
Yoro saved a group of travellers from the king and was given a silver cross by their fortune-teller." Yuniko touched the exposed silver cross around her neck, making her friends look at it. "The fortune-teller said this would protect Ma Yoro and those she loved. She did not know what the fortune-teller meant by that, but she accepted the gift anyway.
Some time later Ma Yoro was called to the king and brought along her two adoptive sons. The king wished to marry Ma Yoro's cousin, and when she refused they had to run for their lives. What saved them was the cross that cleared the sky from the storm that would not let the sun through.
That same night Ma Yoro, the Battle Princess went to fight the king and her husband, who had now become one. She had hoped to kill them all as a way to gain her husbands forgiveness for her not being able to save him earlier.
The Battle Princess failed to destroy the king, Dracul as was his name, now known as Sanguis, but before she died she managed to seal them all away, here in Scotland."
"And so the Battle Princess was reborn, to finish what she started?" Kyoko said, eyes wide with realization.
"Yes, but she was not reborn alone."
Four pair of wide eyes met her remark.
Yuniko folded her hands neatly on her knees. "The adoptive sons of Ma Yoro and her cousin came to see the battle field in the morning and found the Battle Princess turned to stone. As they stood there the fortune-teller whom had given Ma Yoro the cross suddenly came to them and told them what she knew about the future; that the Battle Princess was to be reborn when the seal began to wear thin. They asked her to be reborn with her, since Ma Yoro was the only family they had. The fortune-teller granted their wish, but died in the progress."
A long silence followed her words, each and every one of the trying to take in and understand what their queen had just told them. Kyoko was quickest.
"So you think three of us are the ones who asked to be reborn with Ma Yoro?"
"I do not think, little Kyoko," Yuniko said with a smile. "I know you are."
"But how can you tell?" Joey asked confused. "And what use do we have of this?"
"I have good use for every piece of information the past has revealed for me," Yuniko said, still confident and final in her words. "Ma Yoro's sons had powers, mighty powers, bound to their souls, and are now owned by two of you. Her cousin may not have had those kinds of powers, but she was a healer and a support to those around her. That will be her purpose here as well."
"Then we come directly to the next problem," Joey said. "How are we going to know who has what power? And what about the last one of us? You only need three, right?"
"Well that is the easiest of my problems," Yuniko smiled. "Because you are the fortune-teller from that time who choose to be reborn with me."
Three pairs of surprised eyes fell on the blond soldier, who had his eyes locked at the queen's with his jaw somewhere beneath the floor.
"How can you tell, Milady?" Malin asked.
"Because of Joey's looks," Yuniko said, nodding. "The fortune-teller had golden blonde hair and honey coloured eyes."
"Yes, that would certainly be you, Joey," Ryouko suddenly smiled. "Most blonds have blue eyes."
"And you are the only honey-eyed blond who is close to the queen," Malin said, snapping her fingers as she understood Yuniko's train of thought.
"I see you understand, Malin."
"Then two of us has been your adoptive sons once," Kyoko said, sending a glance at her sister.
"It would be too easy," Malin said as she noticed the sisters' glancing at each other.
"True," Yuniko nodded again. "I shall give you a hint and let you figure your positions out yourselves. I know you are clever enough to do that. The two brothers of the past are no longer by blood related in our time and the youngest boy was albino."
It clicked fast enough. "So I was once your cousin?" Kyoko said wide-eyed, almost immediately.
"You were, and a very beautiful cousin at that." Kyoko blushed. "I can not tell the future, and I do not know how you, the youngest of us all, will be able to support the adults around you. But I have faith in you; I know you will know what to do when the time comes."
Kyoko sneaked into her sister's room that night. Not that it was much sneaking with the guards outside both their doors. But the guards accepted her reasons and Kyoko's guard, a man she loved like an uncle, took place beside Ryouko's on the other side of the door.
"Sister?"
Ryouko looked up from her diary. "Are you unable to sleep?" she asked, understanding in her brown eyes.
Kyoko went up to her half-sister's bed and crawled into it beside the white-haired girl. "I can not seem to stop thinking about what her majesty told us today," she said once she was settled against the elder's body.
Ryouko looked down at the words she had just written. They explained what had happened and how she felt about it. Usually when she got her feelings on paper she could keep a hold of them and keep her going. But tonight her feelings changed and shifted, making her unable to know what exactly she was feeling. Her words seemed foreign to her.
With an angry motion the page was ripped out of the book, crumpled and thrown aside. Kyoko looked startled. "Sister?"
"There is too much going on," Ryouko said as she closed her diary and held it to her chest. "I can not understand what I am feeling. It is as if there is more than one of me, all of them feeling different things. One part of me wants to run away and never look back, and immediately there is another part that kick down the first for ever coming up with the thought." The white girl hid her face in her knees, Kyoko still settled against her. "I no longer know how to cope with it all. But if it is this hard for me, for us, to accept what is happening, about to happen, how hard is it not for the queen?"
Kyoko was lost. Her sister, her calm, tidy sister, was frustrated and scared. The brunette girl felt how a wave of protectiveness washed over her and she threw her thin arms around her older sister. "She does not cope at all," she said, making Ryouko turn slightly her way. "Her majesty knows what to do and stand where she stand even when the hardest of winds try to make her waver. This is her ground, and she stands it, no matter what."
Ryouko sighed heavily. Kyoko was doing exaktly what Yuniko had said she was going to do. Kyoko had already found her place, and the white girl envied her for it.
"I wish I was as strong as you in mind."
"What?" Kyoko stared at her sister in disbelief. "But you are strong in mind, sister."
Ryouko shook her head. "I am not strong. I can never come to a final decision. I hesitate to the very end and once it is said and done I keep wondering if it was the right thing to do."
Kyoko laid her head on the thin shoulder of Ryouko. "I do that a lot too. But I have always had you and mother around, and neither of you have ever blamed me. The same will be for you, sister. No matter the decision you have to make, nobody here will judge or blame you."
Ryouko looked into those big, blue eyes. They weren't as bright or as sparking as the queen's, but they held the amount of love she needed at the moment. She smiled slightly. "Thank you, Kyoko."
