"Lecie, what is it?" Rowen asked looking at her horrified face. "Why did you….oh" his voice dropped off as he looked at what she was gaping at. The palace and the surrounding houses and shops were in complete ruin. Smoke could be seen coming from fires that raged here and there as dead cloudrunners littered the streets. Here and there were bits of armor and weapons that had been discarded.  Broken archways and building continued to crumble as everything looked like it had been turned upside down. The smell of smoke and death hung in the air as Alecie stared at the crumbling city, unable to take her eyes away from the terrible sight.

"What….what happened?" Alecie said in shock as she put her hand to her mouth. "I was…I was only gone for one night!" she said staring at the destruction. "How could all of this happened in one night?" she said.

"Oh, Alecie, I'm so sorry." Sakura said moving closer to her.

"I have to find my family!" she said as she took off for the castle.

"Alecie! Wait!" Ryo called as they all flew after the saddened princess. Alecie flew as fast as she could as she scanned the streets below with keen eyes.

'Are there any survivors?' she wondered as she continued to look. 'How could this have happened? Broadway was supposed to attack Skybax City! Not here! This can't be happening!' Alecie finally made it too the palace as she landed lightly on the front steps. She threw open the doors and ran inside, Rowen and the others right behind her.

"Father!" she yelled as she ran down the hallway.

"Mother!"

"Marcus? Elizabeth? Minda?" she continued to yell out for her family as she threw open doors, quickly scanned the room, and left to search the next one. The palace was just as much of a wreck as the outside of the city. Tapestries were torn and hanging by a thread as stones were missing and cracks could be seen running from the top of the ceiling down to the floor in long jagged patterns. Columns were broken as pieces littered the floor making it hard for a passerby to maneuver around them. Once polished surfaces were now caked with dust and blood and holes in the wall allowed the ronins to look out at the wrecked city. Ryo and the others looked as well, but found nothing.

"Hello? Is there anybody here?" Alecie called fervently her voice growing more worried by the second. Alecie finally made it to her own room as she entered. Her room looked just like all the others, torn apart and destroyed without a single piece of evidence to show that her family had been there.

"Father!" she tried again.

"They aren't here." A calm familiar voice said floating out from a shadowed corner. Alecie ran over to the corner as the others entered the room.

"Athena!" Alecie said hugging the sphinx. "What happened here? Where is everyone? Is my father ok?" Alecie asked firing off questions in rapid order.

"Hold on, one question at a time!" Athena said moving toward Ryo and the others.

"Where is my family?" Alecie asked as Athena walked around the group of Ronins assessing them with her piercing gaze.

"These are the Ronins?" she asked. For while she had heard of them, she had never seen them herself, only about them.

"Yes." Alecie replied off handedly. "Where are my father and mother?" She asked again more urgently this time. Athena turned to the young princess and sat on her haunches.

"Do not worry. They are safe. I was able to take them to a hideout." Athena said. Alecie almost wept with relief.

"Thank goodness." She said. "But what happened here? I thought Broadway was supposed to attack the capitol."

"He did, but it was a only a diversion so that he could get to the king and queen." Athena said. "He apparently found out that the palace wasn't in Skybax City but here."

"But how?" Alecie cried. "I mean we have a palace there! How did he know that that wasn't the real one?"

Athena shook her head. "I do not know." Alecie hung her head.

"How many survivors?" She asked solemnly. 

"I do not know for sure, but I was able to get the king and queen out and your brother was able to lead most of the people to the hideout."

"That's good." Alecie said. "Then let's get moving."

"Where are we going?" Anubis asked.

"The hideout." Alecie said purposefully as she strode out of her room.