Chapter 15: Save Me, Protect Me, Love Me.
Kimiko
yawned and felt around for Raimundo's warm body next to her. He wasn't
there. Oh well, maybe he did go on a walk... She opened her eyes and
gasped.
Where was she? Where was Raimundo? Without making a noise,
Kimiko got up and looked at her surroundings. It was a cell. A jail
cell.
"Um, excuse me kind man, but where am I?" asked Kimiko, she was trying to talk to a palace guard.
The guard stopped pacing around and held back his laugh.
"Where are you? Where are you? Ha! You're in the palace, young lady, and you're our prisoner."
That
explained the poor conditions, but really; the structure of the jail
cell was a bit more homely then her old room in the Temple.
"Okay... Can you let me out then? I need to get back to my home."
"Go
back? No, we can't let you go. Somehow you've broken the King's orders.
So under the rule of the Queen and King, you're supposed to stay in
here till you die."
Kimiko gawked. Stuck in a cell for no reason was weird, but where was everything?
"I
didn't do anything you person! I was sleeping in a tree, and then you
snatched me up? There's no rule against sleeping is there?"
The guard, still snickering, walked away, not wanting to answer any of Kimiko's desperate questions.
No one was in the cell in front of her, and almost no human in sight!
Something did catch her eye though. There was a candle, right in front of her; the only candle lighting the dim hallways. "Maybe I should give this Fire act a try..."
The candle light made shadows dance across the walls, but nothing scared her as much as the thought of not seeing Raimundo ever again. But he was in the palace right? And if he wasn't, then he wouldn't come back here and save Kimiko.
"If he did know you were here then he would come and save you, trust me."
Who was that? Telling her to use her powers... Guiding her...
Using her focus, she stared at the Fire, she could feel it's presence, and she could almost reach out and touch it.
If only Kimiko knew how to make Fire move!
"F-Fire?" Her voice bounced off the walls, making Kimiko's voice even softer.
"Fire? Fire. Fire! FIRE!"
That
was the word. The Fire grew larger, and that somehow caused the whole
candle to tip over and fall on the ground; it was magic.
Kimiko watched in amazement when the fire edged toward the bars on her cage.
"Burn." she whispered. Iron melted into liquid, and at last, she was free!
That brief moment of joy was nothing, for despair crept over Kimiko again.
How to get past many guards?
Kimiko
scrunched up her fists, she remembered how to fist fight, and this was
going to be one hell of a maze, to get up the marble stair cases; and
into Raimundo's room. Of course that would mean getting past the throne
room, past the two royal devils that put Kimiko in her now burnt cell!
"Raimundo, be safe, be mine."
Even
though Raimundo was still sleeping, he knew something was wrong. But
nothing could be as long as Kimiko was at his side... He did the same
thing as Kimiko did.
He felt around, and touched something silky.
"Just Kimiko's raven black hair..." he muttered.
His fingers ran over something else, maybe her chest? Raimundo imagined her snap at him.
"Sorry Kimiko, just go back to sleep..."
Huh, that was funny. No sound at all.
His
eyes immediately shot open. He wasn't touching Kimiko's hair, it was
his silk bed sheets! What he thought was Kimiko was a bunch of lace
pillows... This only meant one thing...
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!"Raimundo's
legs got tangled in his bed sheets, and he fell off his luxurious bed
with a loud thump. Omi opened the door and scuttled in.
"Oh dear me Raimundo, you have awaken. Breakfast is served too."
Raimundo tried to think, but nothing seemed to work without Kimiko around to correct him.
"What is going on? Why am I here? Where's Kimiko?" he asked.
Omi raised his eyebrows and replied, "Who is Kimiko?" Raimundo got off the floor and shook Omi's shoulders violently.
"You know Kimiko! She was here, well not here! Somewhere!"
"I don't know who you are talking about Raimundo, breakfast is on the table, I am going to bring your tray up, seeing the condition you're in."
Raimundo glanced at his body. There wasn't anything wrong! Well nothing he could see... (Cough hickeys cough)
"And
it's only morning! I'm supposed to eat breakfast at noon..." Raimundo
complained to himself. Being with Kimiko sure did change your point of
view sometimes...
Omi did bring up a tray of food, and Raimundo found everything so odd now.
"What is this?" asked Raimundo, poking at his food, he didn't even know what was going to go in his mouth.
"Raimundo, don't you remember that you ate this peice of baguette every single day? It is a rare delicacy in France."
"I think I would rather prefer porridge and a plain piece of bread."
Omi crossed his arms and coughed. "Pardon? I do not know of any 'plain bread' in this palace."
That was it.
"Okay, I'm out of here."
Raimundo strutted over to the window and pointed his finger at it. The window magically lifted up, and Omi gasped.
"How did you learn how to do that?" Omi asked, surprised.
"You taught me, don't you remember?" Raimundo thought for a second.
If Omi didn't remember anything, then what was going to happen? Something in his head told him not to go outside just yet... Raimundo brushed pass Omi, there was nothing he could do for the bald kid, he needed to find Kimiko, fast!
"Oh RAIMUNDO Darling!"
Stupid. Annoying. Bitchy. SOPHIA. Practically running down the marble staircase, Raimundo ran swiftly away from her. He almost forgot where he was going, until he heard an amused laugh.
"Ah Raimundo. Have a good night's sleep?" None other than the voice of Queen Lucia.
"Why did you bring me back here? I'm leaving."
Lucia nodded at the guards. Five guards gathered around Raimundo, and they all pointed their spears at his neck.
"You're
not going anywhere Prince. Did I forget to mention you're Wedding will
be help in a couple of days? Don't try and run, you'll only get hunted
down again, so you're fighting a losing battle. Never run away again,
twerp. Guards,"
With a wave of her hand, spears were lowered, and
Raimundo finally had some room to breath. "You won't take me, I won't
do anything you tell me. Not for anything."
"Not even for your little friend, which one of my guards happened to find."
Raimundo widened his eyes. Kimiko. No.
"No! You didn't take her!"
"So I see you care for her... Very well, bring her in. She might as well get her head chopped off after this."
Lucia flipped back her hair and clapped her hands.
"Bring the girl!"
"Um... Your Majesty?" Lucia listened to an onlooker with a bored expression.
"Stop holding the tension, filth. I want to see the girl. The sooner the better!"
Raimundo listened intently to this, Kimiko had to be alive. She had to be.
"Not there! Impossible. Search the dungeons, now!" Lucia, frustrated, slumped down in her throne chair and suddenly, she began to laugh. "You know what? She might have gotten away! Funny, isn't it? What a joy it will be to catch her..."
Raimundo glared at Lucia with pure hatred. Where was Charon though?
"Where is Charon?" asked Raimundo, still angry.
"He was going to get the executioner, that Jack person."
Lucia took a sip of her wine, which was usually next to her throne chair.
"Spicer," Raimundo made a mental note to find Jack, "Tell Charon he's the worst father ever. Goodbye, jerk."
Appalled, the Queen stood up and marched up to Raimundo.
"Excuse me? Royal family members don't use that word, jerk. Apologize and bow to me."
"Never."
Raimundo turned to walk away when Lucia slapped his back. That didn't hurt, but that slap made Raimundo pissed.
"What was that for idiot Queen?" This time, Raimundo dodged Lucia's other slap.
"Stupid Prince. I won't waste my effort on you," Lucia stormed back to her chair and sat down. "All I have to do is wait for that girl to appear, then she'll be as good as dead."
Raimundo; knowing there was no
use in waltzing out the front door, held his ground. "I'm not leaving
till I find Kimiko, and I'm not going to follow any of your
instructions either."
He crossed his arms and jutted out his chin,
that habit he devolped from Kimiko. Lucia tapped her fingers on her
throne and sighed.
"Why must they take so long? It's just a girl. Now Sophia is something you should be looking at, Raimundo."
"I don't want to marry Sophia, I want to marry Kimiko."
Raimundo stared in horror when Lucia's lips curled into a cruel smile.
"I see the Prince is starting to like his little friend. Don't worry, we'll catch her sooner or later. In the meantime, Omi is going to find you something for the banquet we are having before your Wedding, hope your friend isn't jealous. Because she already knows that Sophia Sweinhart will soon become Mrs. Raimundo Pedrosa."
Lucia stared into space and Raimundo waited for her to say something else. "What are you looking at? Are you expecting me to burst into tears and tell you that girl is alive? Selfish twit. If you weren't Prince, you're royal, stubborn head would be off."
"Your Highness! You can not believe this! Look at the bars of the prisoner's cage!" Lucia rolled her eyes and asked, "Is it so amazing that I, your Master has to come and see?"
The
guard nodded and stepped aside. "Very well, and I do think you should
get Sophia, Raimundo. She's going to have to get used to sitting in the
throne chair." Raimundo narrowed his eyes and watched Lucia disappear
into the dungeons."Something has to be done, and I have the power to do so."
He drew out his Sword of the Storm from the air and lowered his eyes to the ground. First he had to get Omi back on his team.
Something caught Raimundo's eye, it was on Charon's throne chair.
"What is that Raimundo?" Omi walked over to Raimundo and pointed at the mysterious object.
"I don't know... Say Omi, do you remember anything from yesterday?"
"No."
Raimundo glanced around and moved his hand toward the obejct.
"Don't touch that Raimundo!" Too late again. It was starting to glow, just like the Star Hanabi did.