The kingdom was slowly starting to get back together again. As the months passed, the Diamond kingdom managed to refill all the positions in the castle. It was almost like nothing had changed except for a new ruler.

Hanamaru and Dia were alone in Dia's room. Dia hadn't really shown herself to the citizens or even the staff in a while. She was nervous about them finding out about her being pregnant.

"It should be any day now. Are you worried?" Hanamaru asked.

Dia nodded, "A little… I'm just worried about how the citizens are going to react…"

"I wish I could say it will be alright, but I can't make any promises." Hanamaru sighed.

"Do you think there's anything that might set them off worse than others?" Dia asked.

Hanamaru nodded, "Unfortunately. If this child ends up with a problem… I think they'll get really bad."

"Do you think they will?" Dia asked.

"I don't know…" Hanamaru replied, "I wish I could tell, but I can't."

Everyone was on edge. Dia was due soon. They all knew that once she had the baby, there would be no stopping the word from getting out. The rumors had gotten worse as time went on. Everyone was aware of them. They knew just how much worse these rumors could turn if things went wrong with this child.

Someone was always with Dia no matter what time of day. When it was night, normally Yohane and Riko would do it so the others could rest. In the day, they all alternated.

…

"Maru, it's time!"

After another week, it was time for the baby to come. Hanamaru and Mari were in the room with Dia. Kanan stood guard at the door with Yō. Chika had gone into the room after a while. Ruby was being occupied somewhere else. She didn't need to be a part of this at her age.

Yō was nervously pacing around. Kanan was trying her best to stay still and focused. It was hard to do. They could hear some noise from inside the room. Neither knew if those sounds were common or not.

After what felt like ages, Mari opened the door and called them inside. Kanan and Yō slowly made their way into the room. Hanamaru was holding the baby, who was wrapped in a blanket. Chika was curled up beside Dia, who was asleep.

"Is she doing okay?" Kanan asked.

"Yes. She's fine. It just drained her a lot." Hanamaru nodded.

"So, what's the verdict?" Yō asked.

Hanamaru hesitated answering, "Um…"

Kanan and Yō both looked at each other. They knew that something was wrong.

"She doesn't have a leg." Mari said quietly.

Kanan walked over to Hanamaru. She carefully pulled the blanket aside and looked. The baby was missing a leg. Kanan re-covered her with the blanket and stepped back.

"What are we going to do? Once word gets out…" Yō didn't finish the sentence.

"I don't know… I really don't know…" Hanamaru replied.

"Mari, increase the security of the castle. If something is going to happen, we best be prepared for it." Kanan told Mari.

"Alright. I'll do that, then." Mari nodded.

"What about if the staff cause problems?" Chika asked.

"Take care of them as you see fit." Kanan stated.

DIVIDER--

It had only been a few hours when the rumors started. Dia was confined to her bed for the time being. She was weak after that. It was getting later in the day. Dia was rocking her baby. She hadn't decided on a name for her yet.

"How are you doing?" Hanamaru came into the room.

"I'm okay." Dia replied.

"How is she doing?" Hanamaru took the baby from Dia so she could examine her.

"She's been really calm." Dia replied.

"Has bonding been going okay?"

Dia nodded, "She's taken to me really well."

"That's good." Hanamaru handed the baby back to Dia, "Decided on a name yet?"

"No… I can't find one that fits." Dia sighed, "I don't know why, but I just really am picky about her name."

"You don't need to decide yet. I'm sure the perfect name will come to you soon."

"Yeah…" Dia looked down at her daughter, "I love her a lot. Even if she is different, she's still perfect to me."

"I'm glad to hear that. There's a lot of parents out there who toss babies like her into the streets because they don't want them."

"I've never understood how people can be so cruel…" Dia whispered.

"I don't necessarily think they're to blame completely. It's the stupid religions and their superstitions that cause these things…" Hanamaru said, "Most people believe a child born deformed means they are possessed by the devil."

Dia gulped, "That's definitely not going to help us…"

"What do you mean?"

"You know the rumors already. If they believe I'm cursed and then they find out about this…" Dia trailed off and pulled her daughter closer.

"I promise that we won't let anyone hurt you. Neither you nor your child have done anything wrong. No one is going to hurt you." Hanamaru stated firmly.

Dia said nothing in reply. She didn't believe her at all. Hanamaru soon left to go check on something else. Dia sighed as she rested against the backboard of the bed. She was bored.

DIVIDER--

It was a bit later in the day. Night had fallen. Almost everyone in the kingdom knew about the new baby. Everyone was on edge about that still.

Dia was just settling into bed for the night. Just as she closed her eyes, she heard shouts coming from all over the castle. Dia didn't know what to think about it. The baby woke up and started crying from the noise. Dia picked her up from her crib and rocked her.

The door to the room opened up. Dia froze when she saw it wasn't someone she knew. It was a citizen. A very angry looking citizen. Dia gulped and instinctively pulled her daughter closer. Dia didn't know what she could do. She was too weak to get up. Her lower body was almost paralyzed. Thanks to Hanamaru, it wasn't permanent, but it wouldn't recover for a while.

"What do you want?" Dia tried her best to sound strong. She grabbed for the knife that Kanan had left in the room just in case.

"The child is cursed." The man stated, "Why do you allow it to live?"

"She is not an it! She is my child! And she isn't cursed!" Dia defended as she held her baby closer. She knew why the man was here. He wanted to kill her child and possibly her as well.

"That thing isn't human." The man spat as he held a blade out at them, "And I bet you aren't either."

He started moving closer. Dia held the knife out at him in reply. He wasn't fazed by it at all. Just before he could reach them, he was suddenly pushed back. Riko appeared to them. She was holding him back with all of her strength. She had a bit of extra power as a ghost and she was using it.

"I will not allow you to hurt either of them!" Riko growled as she kept pushing the man back.

The man wasn't giving up. Riko suddenly glowed brighter than normal. When the light died down, the man was now a dead body on the floor. Riko stepped back and stared at him in shock. She didn't know she could even do that.

Riko started to flicker between visible and invisible. After a moment, she vanished from sight. Footsteps sounded running close by. Yohane ran into the room. She looked at the scene and then vanished from sight as well. She could see something that Dia couldn't.

Riko was collapsed on the floor. Yohane knelt beside her. Riko was staring at nothing with wide eyes. She was breathing heavily. Yohane didn't know what to do. She had no idea what was going on.

Riko suddenly cried out and then she vanished into thousands of tiny particles. Yohane stared in shock as she realized what had just happened. Riko had used too much of her energy. She basically exploded, in a sense. Riko no longer existed, to put it simply.

Yohane appeared again and walked over to Dia, "There's some bad news…"

"What is it?" Dia asked worriedly as she kept rocking her daughter to try and calm her down.

"Riko is gone."

"What do you mean?" Dia felt tears forming in her eyes.

"She doesn't have a form anymore. She's gone. She only exists in memories. When you die, you won't see her. No one will know her. She doesn't exist in any realm." Yohane explained as she took the baby and put her in her crib.

Dia started crying at that news. She had lost Riko a second time. This time, there was no getting her back in any form. She was gone forever. Yohane threw her arms around Dia and held her as she sobbed.

A new set of footsteps approached. There was also the sound of claws clicking on the ground as well. Kanan and Yō came into the room.

"Is everything…" Kanan stopped speaking as she saw what was happening.

"What happened?" Yō asked as she jumped on the bed and nuzzled her face into Dia's.

"That guy… tried… tried to kill…" Dia was struggling to speak between her crying, "He tried to kill us… R-Riko killed him… and now she's gone…"

"What she means is that Riko used too much energy and basically exploded from it. Kinda like how some witches can die if all their magic is drained. Riko doesn't have a form anymore. I'm not sure if she still is coherent or if she doesn't even have a mind anymore." Yohane explained.

Kanan walked over to them and picked up the baby, who had started crying again. She shushed her as she watched the scene. Dia kept crying no matter what Yohane or Yō did.

Yohane muttered something to Yō. Yō ran off. Kanan assumed she was going to fetch Hanamaru. And she was right. A few minutes later, Hanamaru ran into the room with Yō at her feet. Hanamaru took over for Yohane and did her best to soothe Dia.

Yohane stood beside Kanan and watched with pained eyes. They all felt horrible. This was a terrible day.

Hanamaru whispered something and then the crying stopped. She laid Dia down on the bed.

"You put a sleep spell on her?" Yohane asked.

"What else could I have done?" Hanamaru shot back.

"Hey, chill. I'm just asking." Yohane winced.

"Sorry… it's just… it's all too stressful…" Hanamaru apologized.

"It's okay. I understand." Yohane replied.

"Is everyone gone?" Kanan asked as she placed the now sleeping child in the crib.

"I think so." Hanamaru nodded.

"Who's going to stay with her?" Yohane asked.

"I'll stay." Hanamaru said.

"No." Kanan shook her head, "You need to go and help the wounded. I'll stay until you're done."

"Alright." Hanamaru sighed.

Yō stayed with Kanan. Yohane went after Hanamaru just to give her some company. Kanan sat on the edge of the bed and looked out the window. Yō curled up around Dia in a protective manner.

There was still a chance that someone could be in the castle who wanted to inflict harm. The knights were patrolling to make sure they couldn't easily get inside.

DIVIDER--

As the sun started rising, Hanamaru finally finished healing everyone. Yohane had vanished after a while to go and take a look around. Hanamaru let Chika climb onto her shoulder and then she walked to Dia's room.

Mari was in the room now as well. She was petting Yō. Kanan was holding the baby. She had woken up a while ago and was crying. Kanan was trying her best to calm her down. Dia was still asleep.

Hanamaru walked over to them all. She took the child from Kanan and calmed her down. Kanan pouted at Hanamaru. It had taken her very little time to calm her down. Hanamaru handed the baby back to Kanan and then went to examine Dia.

"Has she woken up?" Hanamaru asked.

"No." Kanan shook her head.

Hanamaru rested her palm onto Dia's chest and used her magic to check how her body was healing. She was doing well. It shouldn't be long before she recovered fully. Hanamaru pulled away.

"You can go and rest. I'll watch her." Hanamaru told Kanan.

"Alright. Just let me know if you need anything." Kanan stood up and set the baby down into the crib.

Mari went with Kanan. Chika debated it for a while and then went after them. Yō stayed behind. She was still curled up around Dia. She had moved to let Hanamaru examine her, but then moved right back once she was done. Hanamaru sat beside Yō and pet her.

"How do you think she's going to be once she wakes up?" Yō asked.

Hanamaru shrugged, "I don't know."

It wasn't too long after that they got their answer. Dia opened her eyes and looked around. Yō got off of her so she could sit up.

"How are you feeling?" Hanamaru asked as she helped Dia into a sitting position.

Dia didn't reply. She looked down and just stared at the bed. Yō tried to draw her attention by nudging her, but it did nothing. Yō didn't want to be too rough with her since she was injured.

"I know it's going to be hard. But, you need to try to get better. You can't stay in the past." Hanamaru stated.

"What do you know?"

"You can't keep feeling sorry for yourself. You have someone to take care of now." Hanamaru placed the baby on Dia's lap.

Dia stared at her for a moment, before picking her up and holding her close. Hanamaru and Yō looked at each other.

"Her name is Rika."

"Alright. Any reason you chose that name?" Hanamaru asked.

"After Riko…"

"I think that's a nice way to do it." Yō said.

"You have to stay strong, Dia. You have to be here for your daughter." Hanamaru stated, "That doesn't mean you have to hide your emotions though."

"Okay…"

"I'll go get you something to eat." Hanamaru said and then left the room.