(Curtain rises and your cat-eared author stands onstage bearing a grin of extreme happiness) Ohayo, min'na-san! I'm really happy about the reviews I got for Chapter Two! I hope it was worth the wait.

I was also a little surprised that so many people have seen The Princess Bride and caught that little snippet of Amelda-kun's. My sister loved the "I want my brother back, you son of a bitch," part and hopes that everyone else did too.

But now, onward to Chapter Three, peeps! Enjoy!

Oh yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-Gi-OH!

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- - -

Chapter Three: Kingdom of the Red Dragon...

In the castle of the Red Dragon Kingdom, a young girl ran frantically down the halls, looking from room to room, occaisionally knocking over someone loaded down with books and papers.

She was thirteen, though still exceptionally small; her hair was sunshine blonde and went down to her waist, while her soft blue eyes were shielded by half-moon spectacles. This was Rebecca, top scholar of the entire kingdom and advisor to the Queen.

At present, she was not happy.

Making it to the main study hall, Rebecca flung the doors open, making the lone, white-haired figure in the room jump and fall backwards in his seat. Despite what one might think due to his white hair, he was not old in the least--in contrast the reader was only sixteen years of age and had an even more youthful innocence about him when one saw his large brown eyes.

"Ryou!" Rebecca ran over to Ryou Bakura, the young man, as he stood back up, rubbing the back of his head. "I've looked and looked and have not found Her Royal Highness or Lord Pegasus anywhere!" She slapped her small hands on the smooth wood surface of the desk, making the older boy jump again. "Do you have any idea where they might be? The Meeting is in less than four hours, and I haven't seen them at all today!"

"I haven't seen them around either," Ryou replied as he shook his head. "I've been in here since breakfast." He stopped as a thought suddenly sprang to mind. "Are any of Master Pegasus' artbooks missing?"

Rebecca's eyes narrowed. "I don't know. Why?"

Ryou stiffened, realizing he had perhaps just placed his teacher in a dangerous situation. "N-No reason!" He chuckled nervously, burying his face in his book once again.

Rebecca casually pulled the book away from the young man's face. "Ryou, where are they?"

- - -

"Pegasus! This is silly!" Cyndia laughed as she was led blindfolded through the woods. She was in her early thirties, with long sunshine-blonde hair with the slightest hint of a curl and extremely smooth skin, untouched by any sort of difficult labor or harsh abuse. "You do this every time!"

"It's more enjoyable this way," the man called Pegasus replied. he was slightly older than the woman, but displayed no such mood that he was anywere older than twelve; his silver hair went a couple inches past his shoulders and hung loosely around his face, almost covering his orange eyes. He adjusted the artbook under his left arm as he moved some tree branches out of his path and led his wife through, guiding her with his right hand.

"You've done this since we were children," she said. "I've never come here without being blindfolded. Are you afraid I'll tell everyone?"

"Of course not," Pegasus leaned his forehead against Cyndia so that their noses touched. "But you have fun doing this right?" The woman nodded. "That's why I'll never take you here without the blindfold." Cyndia smiled slyly and took the opportunity to stand up on her toes and kiss her husband.

No one, not even those who had disagreed the the marriage between the Queen of the Red Dragon Kingdom and the top trade merchant and first class sorcerer, could ever say that their bond was unhappy. They had been friends since childhood, and once able to understand such feelings had fallen in love. Though Pegasus came from a merchant lineage, it had actually helped to allow him to visit Cyndia and build up enough nobility to ask for her hand in marriage.

They finally came out of the forest and Pegasus removed his beloved's blindfold and she scanned their surroundings with anxious, soft blue eyes. They stood on a hill overlooking a shimmering lake surrounded by pine trees, reflecting vast blue mountains tipped with snow.

"It's so beautiful..." Cyndia sighed, smiling when her husband embraced her from behind and relaxing contentedly in his arms. "how did you find it?"

"Cyndia, darling," Pegasus sat down on the grass, soon joined by his wife as he opened his artbook. "I've told it to you at least a thousand times."

"Well, tell it a thousand more," she smiled with a laugh like roses and windchimes. "You'll have to if we ever have children..."

Pegasus sighed, though not really annoyed at all. "All right..." He pulled a small leather bag from his pocket and withdrew a charcoal pencil; tool in hand, he proceeded to draw. "I was...ten?" He touched the back of the pencil to his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, ten! It was the spring after I had met you. I was in the study when I accidently bumped into someone, making them drop a bottle onto my magic circle..."

He paused in his telling as Cyndia wiped away the bit of charcoal residue on her husband's face.

"Needless to say, the result was...somewhat of a bang," he chuckled. "Not wanting to get in trouble for a simple mistake, I ran off and hid in the forest. Eventually I got lost and had to use a guiding spell to help me out of the woods. However, instead of taking me back to castle, I was lead here. I loved this place so much, I left a trailing spell so that i would be able to come back.

"Of course, I wasn't exactly greeted back into the classroom with open arms," Pegasus went on. "But thanks to your father, I was allowed to stay to complete my lessons and two weeks later, I showed this place to you for the first time."

Cyndia leaned against Pegasus' arm, looking at what he had been drawing: it was another one of her sitting in a field of heather, laughing as she put her fingers to a flower that had tangled itself in her hair. "How can you draw so many pretty things when you can't see them?"

"Oh, I can see them," the man replied. "Every time I look at you I see these things..." The lovers smiled and kissed each other again, focusing only on the existance of the other and forgetting about the rest of the world.

However, the moment was interrupted when Pegasus felt a slight tug on the leg of his pants. He looked around before looking down at his shadow, where a black paw held onto his leg with a pair of big yellow eyes looking up at him; the paw was soon joined by a face similiar to that of a cat, but it was obvious it was not normal when it seperated from the man's shadow and wove around his shoulders like a large snake.

This was Pegasus' familiar, a Doppleganger he had found and raised since it was an infant. Normally Dopplegangers were considered dangerous and never to be taken lightly, but the husband of the Queen had a very strange talent for making anyone he met laugh and taming any sort of beast. So the Doppleganger of Lord Pegasus J. Crawford was as playful as a kitten, when no true danger to itself or its master was present.

"What is it?" Pegasus asked. The black, feline-esque creature leaned on its keeper's shoulder and whispered in his ear before hiding behind its large black paws worriedly. "She's looking for us already?" He sighed when the Doppleganger nodded. "Oh well... Sest la ve. Thank you; we'll go back to the castle now."

The Doppleganger leaned against its master's shoulder, unwilling to leave, but Cyndia took the time to scratch behind the creature's ears and it purred under the woman's touch. With a little more confidance, it fused again with Pegasus' shadow.

Pegasus sighed again and closed his drawing book, returning his pencil to its bag.

"Rebecca?" Cyndia inquired.

"Rebecca," he nodded.

With some reluctance, Pegasus blindfolded his wife again and they headed back to the castle.

- - -

Located to the North of the White Dragon Kingdom, the Red Dragon Kingdom was a large merchant nation that grew to prominence through trade with another continent. However, its more tasteful features were its scholorly studies and use of a unique Western study usually referred to as Magic.

Not unlike its White Dragon counterpart, the Red Dragon Kingdom prided itself in its incredible use of strange marks and calling upon nature's powers to lend strength to the users. However, much to the opposite of the aforementioned White Kingdom, the Sorcerers and Magicians made efforts to avoid war with neigboring countries.

And to keep such peaceful treaties and trade routes in check, Meetings were held to sort out problems.

"Lord Pegasus...!"

"Yes, Rebecca dear?" The man replied sweetly, making the girl either cringe with discomfort or tremble with sheer rage.

They stood outside the Queen's bedroom and waited as she changed into a more formal gown. Pegasus had also changed into a pair of black pants with a silver-lined, maroon jacket covering a black dress shirt; Rebecca also wore a light blue dress with a white blouse.

Taking a deep breath, the girl took off her glasses and rubbed between her eyes before continuing. "You are aware that in order to have these monthly meetings, Her Royal Highness must be present for them."

"I am," Pegasus nodded, running his hand throught his silver hair nonchalantly and letting it fall back into his face again. "However, I am also aware that Her Majesty is not needed until far into the afternoon, when the Meetings actually begin." He leaned down to be eye level with the young advisor. "Am I mistaken?"

Rebecca glared daggers that would send anyone else to the infirmary, but not Pegasus. It was common knowledge that young Rebecca disliked the Queen's husband, though it was obvious he didn't share the sentiment, and it wasn't just Pegasus' good nature that irked her. She didn't approve of merchants in general, and only a few people knew why.

The doors of Cyndia's room opened and she stepped out wearing a light blue dress with white lace and frills, and her hair was done up in a bun, showing her slender neck.

"Shall we, my dear?" Pegasus offered his arm to his wife, which she accepted and they proceeded down the hall, Rebecca following after. Along the way, they came across Ryou, who quickly bowed and waited until they passed him before stepping beside Rebecca.

"What took you so long!" The girl hissed.

"I'm sorry!" Ryou shrugged. "I told them I had to leave but...the scholars and students wouldn't let me go right away."

At that, Pegasus glanced back, and saw Rebecca's eyes soften as she glanced down at the Queen's flowing skirt. "I'm sorry," she said quietly and then snapped ehr head back up to stand tall and straight. "I'll talk with them later."

"I don't want to trouble you..." the white-haired youth replied.

"It's no trouble at all!" Cyndia replied, slightly surprising everyone that she had been listening. "You are a student of my husband, a member of my personal court, and will forever be like a child to us, Ryou! If the others are bothering you in any way, you must report it to us immediately, is that understood?"

Ryou had turned slightly pink from the Queen's attention as well as her words, and could only nod bashfully.

"Good," Cyndia smiled warmly and continued walking, her husband his apprentice and her advisor in tow and all bearing a comfortable smile.

They soon arrived at the doors of the throne room and the guards pushed them open and announced the arrival of Her Royal Majesty and her personal court. Pegasus led his wife across the room, Ryou and Rebecca in tow, and Cyndia sat down gracefully in her appointed seat with her husband right beside her while the younger two stood on her left.

The troubles within the kingdom's system were discussed and slowly met with peaceful solutions without very much argument. However, as these meetings went incredibly slow, many were found almost falling asleep; even Pegasus had to keep his poise and not give in to the yawns that so desperately wanted escape.

However, Ryou was not blessed with his mentor's control, and Rebecca would cause him some sort of pain--from pinching his arm to stepping on his foot--every time she caught him yawning. Worried for his health, he steadily kept his mouth closed whenever he could. He glanced at his master and found him giving him a sympathetic look.

After the long meeting was over, everyone gathered in the dining hall to eat and talk more freely. Conversations filled the hall, in murmurs and in regular voices, none involving the same topic; from politics to the whether, no one appeared to be in poor spirits.

"I heard that Gozaburo was planning to head for the east," said one man, loud enough for Pegasus to catch. "Toward the Gold regions."

"I doubt that he would make it very far," replied another man. "The desert heat can kill anyone not accustomed to it, and dressed in all that fancy armor would speed it up. Plus I hear the Gold Kingdom's warriors are incredible fighters, they're relentless!"

The first man chuckled. "I suppose you would have to be, to live in such a place!"

Pegasus was familiar with King Gozaburo. He had met him once, when the birth of his thrid son had been celebrated; he was a very powerful man, very dangerous with his 'science.' He too was relentless; if he chose to attack the Gold region, he would do it whether the desert melted his army of steel into liquid or not.

The only way to stop Gozaburo from invading was to kill him; Pegasus wondered why no one had tried that yet.

"And if their resilience to heat couldn't defeat invaders, their loyalty to their king would!" The man went on.

"Yes, I heard that the King wasn't even twenty yet!" Said the other man. "Still a young man! The Gold King won the hearts of his people even before his father passed away."

Pegasus smiled. It was true, the young man ruling over the Gold Dragon Kingdom was not just honored by his subjects, but loved as well. He had never met him, he had never dared to travel to such an unbearable place; so he could only wonder what it was about him that won the hearts of such a strong race of people.

Just then, the sorcerer felt a slight tug at his leg and he looked down into the yellow eyes of his Doppelganger who sat beneath the table. Smiling, he snuck him a small piece of chicken and the creature snatched it and went on exploring the feet of the royal court.

Pegasus was just barely able to catch his pet before it could tie one man's bootlaces together, and as amusing as that would have been, he told him to never try that right after a meeting.

The Doppelganger sulked, but immediately perked up when he caught Ryou's scent and settled its head in his lap to beg for food. Rebecca, having her seat right beside Ryou's, made a face at the creature while her older, white-haired friend 'accidently' dropped a fruit roll into the creature's waiting paws.

Ryou smiled as the Doppelganger lovingly rubbed against his hand, and picked up his small cup of tea. Suddenly, the boy felt a tremor in his core and dropped his cup as pain shot through his head.

He, however, was no the only one who felt the strange vibration. Pegasus was also shaken and gripped the table for support as he gripped his brow to try and hold back the pain. Cyndia noticed his sudden discomfort and put her hand over his, her eyes full of concern as he began sweating and panting.

Pegasus covered his beloved's hand with his other with a small smile of reassurance, but the pain remained where it was. Closing his eyes, he focused in on the pain and only then noticed a strange sound filling the air.

Unsure as to what the sound was, Pegasus opened his eyes and met with a strange surprise; his crystal glass was ringing, as though someone had tapped it. His orange gaze wandered across the table to find all the crystal goblets ringing.

Pegasus took his wife's hands in his own with a smiled. "Cyndia, darling?"

"Yes?"

"Would you mind excusing me for a moment?" He asked.

Queen Cyndia, having been married to Pegasus for more than eight years, knew how to read her husband, and knew for a fact that something was wrong. She then 'accidently' spiled her glass of wine all over her dress, making everyone jump up in surprise.

"Oh, my goodness!" The woman gave an embarassed laugh as she stood up and covered her face with her hands. "I'm so clumsy! I'm so sorry...!" Cyndia winked at her husband from behind her hands, giving him as well as herself the excuse to leave.

Pegasus kissed his wife and motioned for Ryou and Rebecca to join him at the head of the table. The two were with him in seconds and they all walked Cyndia towards her bed chambers, insisting that everyone else continue the meal while she went to change.

When they came to a point to seperate, Pegasus took Ryou with him while Rebecca was to remain at Cyndia's side until he returned. "Don't leave her side for even a second," Pegasus instructed the young girl.

Rebecca crossed her arms in front of her chest indigantly. "As if I would forget my duty as her advisor!"

The silver-haired man smiled and pat her head, which she did not appreciate but didn't push his hand away either. Pegasus then kissed his beloved wife again and both he and Ryou left down the hall to their right while the two maidens continued forward towards the royal living quarters.

Pegasus and Ryou soon entered the garden and stood by the water fountain in the center, whose waters sprayed up in constantly changing shapes.

The night was quiet, but somehow constricting, as though some invisible force was tightening the air.

"I don't like this, Master..." Ryou said, glancing around uneasily.

Pegasus nodded in agreement; something was not right. Anyone with even a little magic would be able to tell, and the two of them had great magic powers.

"I can't find it...!" The man clenched his teeth. "I've tried and tried, but I can't pinpoint it!"

Looking over at his young apprentice Ryou, Pegasus then noticed how much he was sweating and trembling. The young man tended to be uneasy in the presence of others, but always kept his calm whenever in a situation that appeared dire.

"Ryou...?"

Suddenly, the quiet night was shattered when a combination of human scream and a shriek tore through the castle grounds making Pegasus and Ryou look towards the sound. Ryou tore away from his mentor and ran in the direction of the screams as they continued to cry out into the night, Pegasus chasing after him.

Four other guards soon joined them and they together ran towards the north wall. They all grew wary when the screams cut off and Pegasus didn't hesitate to increase his speed. He soon found Ryou standing close to the East wall, behind a series of trees and bushes, which the man had to push his way through.

"Ryou! What-" Pegasus never finished his question, for when he came to his apprentice's side, he found what had made the boy stand completely still, staring in transfixed horror.

A guard lay torn open on the ground, his ribs broken so that whatever it was that had attacked him could pull out his heart and lungs. The rest of the slain man's intestines lay scattered around in various places, but his face remained contorted in agony and fear.

Pegasus and Ryou were soon joined by some other guards who gasped and drew back in horror, some actually gave back what they had eaten for dinner earlier that night.

"What could've done this!"

"He was my bunkmate! He was a great warrior! How could this have happened!"

Ryou stood oblivious to the murmurs of the men, even when one actually made a wary motion to the white-haired boy's back.

Pegasus, however, noticed and stormed over to them. "You have no right in accusing him!" He said darkly. "He was with me when we heard the scream! It was not him!"

The guards nodded to the husband of the Queen, but were obviously still open to the possibility of Ryou having done the deed.

Ryou was also one of magical talent, but being of a rare type of sorcery, he was often rejected and shunned by others of the court. But, as Pegasus had in a way adopted Ryou, the husband of the Queen taught the boy in the art of magic in the place the other teachers refused. His trust and simple caring for Ryou had made him very important in the young man's eyes.

The man turned back to his pupil and put a hand on the boy's shoulder, making him jump with surprise. "Ryou?"

"It wasn't me, sir! I swear-"

"I know, I know it was not you, child," the man soothed. "But…did yo see anything?" Ryou looked back at the slain man and shook his head. Pegasus patted his shoulder before kneeling down, covering the lower half of his face with the back of his hand as he examined the carcass further.

In doing so, he noticed several gashes across the man's face and arms, like claw marks. Further examination revealed a single feather lying on the ground beside the man's head. Picking it up, the man found it was dark blue and felt strange somehow as he glided it between his fingers; it almost felt like human hair...

Rising back up and turning back to his men, Pegasus held it out to Ryou who carefully took it and quirked his eyebrow at its strange texture. "What sort of bird made this?"

"There was a time, when I was a boy, I was travelling with my father through the Riole Mountains," Pegasus said. "During that time, some of our men began disappearing during the night. We eventually found them in a condition similar to this one…" he motioned back over his shoulder at the carcass. "After that, we stayed awake at night, afraid to sleep, afraid that we might wake up dead. Two days, we went without sleep…My father was able to save the rest of us by singing lullabies and reading poetry when we went to sleep, and no more of us vanished.

"When we finally managed to reach the end of the mountains, we were met by a horde of Harpies. They didn't attack, though one did talk with my father for a long while before they left us. When I asked my father about it later, he told me that the Queen of the Mountains wanted to commend him for having cheated her out of a few good meals." The man smiled, though there was no amusement in his eyes. "Did you know that when a Harpy captures a human's heart, they eat it and the person's lungs so that they can sing even sweeter calls?"

Ryou stared in amazement and shock. "Harpies? But…since when have any dwelled near the cities?" He asked. "I've never seen one."

"They don't live anywhere near us," Pegasus replied. "They're mainly a desert-dwelling race, so it really doesn't make sense for any to be here now, unless someone brought them here…"

"An assassination attempt?" Ryou suggested.

"I'm not sure, but even so…" he turned back to the guards; many more had joined them during his tale. "Send a dozen--No, have two dozen men to protect the Queen's quarters, send everyone else to search the palace grounds. If you find anything, do not attack, just blow a horn to signal where you are."

The guards bowed in response and left to carry out their orders, leaving Pegasus and Ryou to continue their own work.

They wandered until they found the stairway leading up to the top of the wall and they continued their search. They didn't have long to search, however, when the clouds covering the moon shifted to allow some light through and illuminate the blood of the various guards lying dead at their posts.

Pegasus called up a light spell and fell to one knee to examine the bodies, not the leaset bit surrpise to find them in the same condition as the one they had found in the garden below. He saw a movement in the dark and looked up, sheilding his eyes from the light of his spell as he held it out.

The light caught the attention of the woman as she finished eating her victim's heart and she looked up. Blood covered her strange, white-blue skin and her long scarlet hair went all the way down to her knees; her big yellow eyes narrowed at the light and she hissed, revealing her incredibly sharp teeth. She then shot into the air revealing her hands and feet to look like those of a bird of prey and black-blue feathers lined her arms, making wings.

"Harpy!" Ryou exclaimed.

The lady-beast let out a shriek and dove for them. However, Pegasus made the sign for fire and protection and the Harpy hit a barrier of flame before she could touch them. She quickly drew back, burned, but still alive, and shrieked as she turned and flew away.

Pegasus' pupil sighed with relief, putting his hand to heart to make sure it was still there. "You beat it, Master!"

"Harpies usually hunt in threes, Ryou," the man said as he turned and started back the way he had come. "There are still two more out there!"

Realizing the severity of his mentor's words, Ryou's eyes widened and he followed after him. "Master Pegasus! You mention before the possibility that someone may have brought these things here!"

"Yes, that's correct!"

Ryou broke into a run. "If so, we have to get to Queen Cyndia NOW!"

Without inquiring what had suddenly made the boy so frantic, Pegasus went at top speed, catching up with the boy and they headed back towards his room. While he ran, the man felt his hair stand on end and he looked up to find the night sky blackening with clouds that had not been there before.

- - -

Cyndia sat by her dressing table in her blue nightgown and robe as she brushed through her hair. Rebecca stood at her post by the door, watching the Queen deligantly and without fail.

Just then, the young girl heard a series of armored footsteps outside the door and carefully opened it to see at least two dozen guards positioning themselves in the hall.

"Rebecca...?"

At her Queen's inquiring voice, the girl looked back and found she had paused in her nightly ritual. Rebecca closed the door and returned to her post. "Several guards have taken position outide your door, Your Majesty," she replied. "No doubt sent by Master Pegasus."

Cyndia smiled with relief and placed her brush down on the dressing table before standing up to head for bed. However, the Queen and her advisor were thrown off when the wall with all the windows blew out and Cyndia hit the floor while Rebecca was thrown agaisnt the wall, both attempting to shield themselves from flying glass and debris. A large rock hit the woman's left leg, making her scream with agony as it broke.

Looking back up, Cyndia was shocked to find two Harpies on either side of the newly formed hole; the first had blue hair that shot back as though she waas running, while the other had short orange hair , whose bangs gathered on the right side of her face.

But between the two of them stood a woman. Her long, blonde hair blew in the night wind that rushed into the room and her violet eyes cut through the dark. She wore shorts and an overshirt that matched her eyes and a black bodice, fingerless gloved that went up past her elbows and boots that went up past her knees.

"Who…Who are you!" Rebecca asked as she struggled to rise at the other end of the room.

The woman seemed the think about it a moment.

"Some call me the Harpy Keeper," she replied, brushing her hand across the orange-haired Harpy's cheek and pat the blue-haired one on the head; both creatures leaned into the woman's touch with a smile. "But my given name is Kujaku Mai, or Mai Kujaku depending on where you're from."

Cyndia managed to sit up, using the bed for support. "What-what do you want...?"

Before Mai could answer, the doors burst open and the guards barged in. "Highness!"

The intruder sighed, running her hand back through her hair. "This is room is too small for so many people," she grumbled and nodded to her two Harpies. "Go eat, girls." In seconds the Harpies were on the guards, tearing at their flesh and ripping open their chests to reach what they always sought for food.

Cyndia screamed as some of her long-time protectors were slaughtered right in front of her and she buried her face in the covers of her bed. Rebecca was quickly at her side, as the Harpies had flown past her entirely and stood between the Queen and the Harpy Keeper.

"Don't take this too personally, hun," Mai said, making the queen look back up, her face soaked with tears. "I myself don't have anything against you, but you have something we need, so--"

A ball of fire shot past the intruder, making her cut off as she moved to the side to avoid getting burned. Her violet gaze shot back to the small girl standing between her and she found Rebecca still holding her hands out from her attack.

"Well, I sure didn't see that coming," she whistled.

"Your birds are busy, so you'll have to fight me yourself!" The girl said, already gathering another fireball in her hands. In truth, all Rebecca knew was the basic fireball, and she hoped that she could get by if she was fighting Mai.

However, the woman brushed her hair back over her shoulder without an air of worry. "You look smart, but you obviously don't know much about Harpies..."

Rebecca took on a cautious stance at that.

"Harpies hunt in threes..."

Suddenly, a blue and red blue shot into the room from the hole in the wall and Rebecca was thrown against the wall again. This time however, the burned, scarlet-haired Harpy wrapped her clawed hand around the girl's throat and held her there. The beast-lady looked back at her keeper with a breath of disappointment.

"You don't have to eat her, just keep her out of the way," Mai said and returned her attention to the injured Queen as she started toward her.

Cyndia drew back as she noticed the strange crystal around Mai's neck began to glow, as did the one embedded in the palm of her right glove as she reache dout her hand. Looking back into the young woman's face, the Queen saw a strange mark form on Mai's brow as she came closer.

"PEGASUS!"

- - -

The silver-haired man felt a jolt inside his chest and drew on some unknown force to increase his speed, leaving Ryou far behind him. Cyndia! Be okay! Please, be okay!

When he came to his room he found many guards slain and others still fighting the two Harpies he had known would be somewhere in the castle. He didn't hesitate to use a spell to shield the men from the Harpies' powers as well as their talons and then called upon a water spell to render the creatures' wings useless.

Pushing and shoving his way past the crowd and the two Harpies, Pegasus made it to his room where he saw his wife being held down on the floor by an unknown woman, both of them surrounded by a strange, green-blue light.

"CYNDIA!" He ran at them, but was blocked by the barrier the strange array on the floor made. He bounced back as pain flooded through his body, but she didn't let himself fall to the floor and ran back again, this time using a spell to try and break through the barrier.

The woman was obviously weakening, but she used what remained of her strength to look back at her husband.

It was a well-known fact that Queen Cyndia had some form of magic, but she rarely ever used it; right now she did. She sent out a memory that she and Pegasus shared and would keep for all time.

The two children met in the crowd of people.

The little girl smiled warmly at the boy in front of her, but he could do little more than blush furiously under her attention. He eventually got the courage to offer his hand and the two danced, not as gracefully as the adults that surrounded them, but they still had fun.

Twirling and spinning amidst the light and music, the two children didn't realize they were out of control until they rammed into someone. They looked up into the dark face and deep blue eyes of the stranger and apologized profusely.

But the man simply nodded and ushered them back to the dance floor where they continued to enjoy themselves throughout the rest of the party.

With that image, tears filled Pegasus' eyes and he pushed harder against the barrier.

Mai jerked when she heard a cracking sound and looked back at the man to find the area in which he was attacking was indeed breaking. But…HOW!

The young woman felt the Queen go completely limp and let her go just as Pegasus broke through. However, the Harpy that had been holding Rebecca back jumped between him and her Keeper, slashing the man in his left eye, and sending him to the floor as he covered his face with a scream.

Her Harpies finally finished shaking themselves dry and flew out the hole they had made earlier. Mai glanced at her glove, finding the stone still glowing, which revealed that she had completed her task. With a final glance back at Cyndia and Pegasus, Mai dashed for the hole.

She was stopped, however, when a blast of black and red energy hit her in the back and she fell forward, coughing as she tried to get air back in her lungs. Looking back towards the doors, she saw Ryou, his hands still out from having thrown his attack.

"Who are you!" The snowy-haired youth demanded.

Mai lay gasping for air, unable to even try to answer. This night had proven to have more surprises and obstacles than she had originally counted on. But it was that moment that her three Harpies returned to outside the hole in the wall with a red dragon with a collar and chain dangling from around its neck. The three didn't hesitate in diving back inside to grab their keeper and placing her on the back of the dragon; she smiled at them gratefully.

Ryou dashed after them, seeing them heading off towards the East. His hair rose as he called up for another attack.

"Ryou…!"

At his master's voice, the boy stopped and looked back into the room. "Master! Are you-"

"Cyndia…?"

The white-haired youth dashed to the woman's side and was relieved to find her still breathing, but something about the Queen made him nervous. He was uncertain what it was exactly, but it felt as though something was missing.

"Ryou…" Pegasus sat up, wincing slightly as blood trailed between his fingers. "Bring her here…"

Ryou gently took the woman in his arms and carried her to his master.

Once there, Pegasus took his wife and laid her across his lap. Upon touching her, he too felt that strange feeling of absence and it brought him to tears. He held Cyndia close as he cried into her shoulder.

- - -

- - -

(Cat-eared author blows her nose loudly) Oh, I'm terrible to Pegasus in his first chapter! However, I am happy I finally finished rewriting Chapter Three, it took forever.

(Opens her fan to reveal the Kanji for Luck)

Next, Chapter Four: Kingdom of the Gold Dragon! Malik, lastborn of the Tombkeepers must fight alongside his King, Atem against the intruder Varon!

Don't miss it, it's the second to last introductory chapter.