disclaimer: umm...didnt i just do that on chap. 1??

Chapter 2

I had failed yet again. Gods, this is impossible! I couldn't have possibly failed. Why does this always happen?! This is killing me! I don't want to go through torture again. Failing any kind of lesson results in punishment. Failure of something difficult, the punishment is more lenient, you only receive a few hits, but failing something as simple as these results in a beating that I just can't handle.

People are so blind and stupid. Why should I think any different? If they were so smart, they would know that there was something going on and that all my smiles were false, but they can't see anything. Always it is the same; oh Rei, you have such a beautiful smile, gods Rei! I want a face as lovely as yours! Your eyes are always so bright, Rei! Are they that dense? Or do they just want to pretend like everything is ok? Why does somebody not come and try to help me? I am in pain, but no one seems to care. Their love is false, as is my happiness.

The emperor...he took me in when I was a mere babe. His real son had died from an illness, and so he decided to take me, the newest member of the Kon family. I called him father when I was young, before my training had begun. It pains me to look back to when I was happy.

"Rei!" An angry roar echoed through the corridors. I flinched and my eyes flickered nervously. Just then, the emperor appeared from the grand halls. "Rei...how is it that you have failed...again?" The man asked me in a sickeningly sweet voice. I said nothing. My eyes fell from his gaze and onto the floor. "Rei, you know the consequences." I nodded. "Then why, my child?" I flinched and bit back a growl. I was not his child! And yet, I still said nothing. "Very well, you shall receive your punishment tomorrow, when you are supposed to be training, and maybe then you will see that you would much rather be training then getting hurt. Before I could say anything he had turned and left.

I turned and retreated to my room, along the way I see servants shaking their heads in pity. I ignore them. It is the only thing to do. I don't want pity, I need help. Not going to get that from them though. That is when it finally dawned on me. I'm not going to get any help. If I want out I have to get out myself. Then that is what I'll do. I'll get out of here tonight.

My eyes flickered around in the dark, my cat-like eyes making it much easier for me. Silently I crept from pillar to pillar dodging any marching guards that would wander down these corridors. I knew every nook and cranny of this palace for when I was young, I would explore to try and find hidden treasures. The place seemed like it held so many secrets, and I had wanted to find them all. And that is what I did; I found every secret room and path in here.

When I found myself in front of the large double doors that lead to the outside world, I turned to my left to head down a hallway that should lead me to a door that took me right outside the gates. Gazing around the darkened walls, I searched for a small indention that was the only clue that was given that there might be something there. It was not easy to find, especially in the dark, but I found it nevertheless. I reached out to it and pulled my hand abruptly to down so that it was a few feet away for the dent and pressed my hand against it. Sure enough, the piece of wall that had used to be next to me was now gone. It had slid down into the ground, leaving no indications that a wall had ever been there.

I climbed through the opening to find myself in a dark and damp tunnel. The only light was coming from a dimly lit torch that had been set onto the stone wall. Reaching out, I slid the torch from its holder and immediately the wall had slid back up and I was left in the shadows of the tunnel. Slowly, but surely, I walked around the tunnel with one hand holding the flame in front of me and the other sliding along the wall, feeling for the first opening. It soon came and I turned, not to the right where my hand had been, but to the left.

I traveled around the tunnel, the orange glow keeping me from hitting a dead end, until I had finally reached my destination. A door was built into the ceiling of the passage with wooden stakes drove into the wall leading up to it. I climbed them warily, knowing that they could break at any given moment. I reached up and pushed against the double doors and they creaked open, the hinges in dire need of oil. Climbing out of the hole and up into the world beyond the palace gates was a great feeling. That is, until a gust of wind brought a shiver to my spine. I wrapped my cloak tightly around me as I threw the torch back down into the hole and closed the old rotting doors again.

Looking up into the sky, I could see that the sun was trying to make its way up into the sky, but it was a slow process. I looked back to the large palace and over into the dark woods and then back again. I smiled with a feeling of excitement rushing through my veins. Promptly I turned and ran for all I was worth into the dark woods. I never looked back. I just weaved through the trees and foliage never thinking twice about the pain I had suffered. I felt free, and I was. For now.

I ran until I had reached a small clearing with a peculiar, little lake in the middle of it. I don't know exactly why, but it seemed strange to me. I had a bad feeling about being here. It seemed slightly colder here, but that is pure nonsense. I walked to the bank and knelt down; examining the area around it. Nothing seemed to be out of place, so I had gotten back up and turned to leave, but then something had grabbed a hold of my ankle and pulled me in.

-To be cont.-

Yeah, the rewrite is much better, ne?