Disclaimer-I don't own Witch Hunter Robin.

Chapter 1-Decisions.

"Your Majesty we need a response." Said the courtier. The young girl sitting uncomfortably on the ornate throne bowed her head. "I don't know what to do." Her mother's voice echoed in her head. 'When you become queen my dear…you need to make choices for your subjects, not decisions that will help you.' "How long will it take?" she said regally. "If we pool our resources we can have it built overnight. We can be protected from their armies by dawn." The one who ruled all the witches shuddered inwardly. She didn't want to do this. "How many will be left outside of the wall? Because I'm not stupid. I know we can't save them all." The gentleman looked surprised she would ask that. He rifled though his paper before responding "Approximately 10000 people will be outside when it goes up." He saw his queen flinch. Then she seemed to harden as she ordered him in a steely voice that said 'don't cross me' "Build it Michael."

The sun rose the next morning touching it's golden light on the shining walls of the newly fortified city. The noise of battle echoed through the city and everyone knew what was happening outside. Even the queen, as she sat on her ornate throne couldn't close her ears to what was happening, couldn't close her ears to the cries of terror that echoed in the valley outside. The doors of the new city opened about 2 hours after the noises diminished to allow soldiers to go to the front line. Already, surrounding the city, where there had been thriving villages full of witches and witch sympathizers, now only smoking ruins remained. The soldiers were all so brutally shocked at the desolation and wreckage around them, no one noticed a young girl of about 17 or 18 leave the city, wearing a peasant's gown.

She stood stock still as she left the city and saw the company halt in front of her. She couldn't be detected…citizens and servants of the queen weren't allowed to leave the city, that had been clearly underlined on the rules posted that morning before dawn. When she finally managed to sneak around the soldiers she was once again reduced to standing still as she truly looked at the carnage around her. "No…why did it have to happen like this?" The young girl whispered softly. The first tear of many found it's way down her cheek as she took in what had happened. When she was sure the soldiers (who wore no armor and carried no weapons…their power was their weapon and their shield.) weren't going to see her she started running at full speed away from the city. As she ran branches of various trees and briars clawed at her face, causing her to bleed. Feeling the blood mingle with her tears and run down her face she reflected on her circumstance in life.

To say that she didn't hold power in her community would be a lie. She did have considerable power, and she was the queen's closest confidant. She had been living in the city, in the palace for the 3 months the young girl had been on the throne was privy to everything that had to do with the war. Which was why she, in particular wasn't allowed to leave the city. She had to remain inside, protected but at this point she didn't care. She had been promised one thing upon accepting her position. That her parents wouldn't be harmed in any way. That they'd be safe. She stopped running for a few minutes; pausing to look at one particular ruined and scorched foundation. She collapsed momentarily to her knees as she opened up, more tears flowing down her face, chestnut hair being tugged by the passing wind.

"WHY? I WAS PROMISED NOTHING WOULD HAPPEN TO YOU!" she screamed in torment. Tears threatened to spill as she reached out and grabbed gauzy scarf that was fluttering by. She took it and cradled it in her arms, noting the bloodstains. If anything seeing this and feeling the hope she had felt, that her parents might have survived extinguished in the blink of an eye, caused her to cry more. "Mama." She whimpered. She looked over and glimpsed the remains of a wooden pipe. She crawled through the ashes and picked it up gingerly to prevent it from crumbling in her grasp. "Daddy. Why didn't you come live at the palace when I offered? You'd be with me. Alive." She said tears leaked out of her emerald eyes, betraying her distress to the person quietly watching her.

It was an understatement to say that he was surprised that a witch would venture out of the city after the wall was built and right after such a brutal attack. He had always been given the impression that witches cared more about their own hides and didn't even cry when a loved one was injured in any way or even killed. Her distress called out to him in a way he couldn't understand. He hadn't cared in the past, had executed witches without so much as a flicker of a silver-grey eye. He supposed that maybe seeing the grief behind the carnage, how much loosing family hurt had affected him. He couldn't understand why he felt that way, he had been taught by his predecessor that you shouldn't feel for the enemy but…the grief at loosing someone you were that close to, loosing your mother… he had known that grief intimately…when his mother had died… but he had shut that door forever ago.

She slowly got up and, holding her precious relics in her hand and continued down the trail. She wasn't sure if she could go back to the palace after what she had just gone through. She knew she had to. The normals wouldn't accept her and she faced dire consequences if she didn't go back. She kept walking until she reached a glade she had visited often as a younger girl. The forest floor was covered in bright yellow buttercups and gorgeous red poppies, waving in the wind, almost as though they knew they were part of the one last peaceful place in this war torn world, as though the carnage just up the road hadn't happened. There she lay on the ground, amongst the beautiful flowers, face-up, hair fanned around her head trying to figure out her problem.

He watched her just laying there. She was going over where her loyalties lay after such a brutal attack. He then winced. He hated when he did that. He growled under his breath as his black hair blew in the breeze over the shoulders of his natural armies uniform.Therein lay the iorny.He served the naturals howeverbore the powers ofa witch.He didn't want to be like this. It was all his mother's fault. It always seemed that she was the beginning of everything but would always be the root of whatever went wrong in his life. Reaching into the overcoat of his coat he pulled out his gun and cocked it. She was a witch. Simple as that.

She lay there in the still grasses wind blowing over her face but not disturbing the grass surrounding her. Was…did she think…how could she still be in league with the witches after what being one of them had done to her? She was still contemplating this point when a gun cocked behind her and a stoic voice, which sounded like 'I can kill and not care' asked "Who are you for. Witches? Or Naturals?"