CHAPTER 5: A Look Into The Mind Of Evil

Shimura hummed and spun around, head back, staring into the dark vaulted ceiling in her castle. She was waist deep in freezing mountain lake water, which was fed from the river directly into the castle. Her white dress clung to her and floated as she spun like a pale shimmery cloud. Silvery light came from the surface of the water, making it look like a mirror.

And indeed it was a mirror. It was a mirror that would show her things. Dreams, thoughts, fantasies...and she would use it to turn them to nightmares. Just as the Princesses would devour and destroy leafe, she gained power through that which scared her victims the most. As they fell deeper and deeper into despair and fear, she would draw more and more of their life force from them until...they were empty. They were still alive, but just the husk of the human they once were. Thinking about the many, many victims of the past seventeen years made her smile and stop spinning, looking around the circular room's walls.

The walls were lined with all the shells of the human victims she'd drained. All of them were chained to the rock walls, heads down, eyes open and blank. All the different pretty shades...some blue, some green, but most were brown. She loved the green ones the most. When the soul left them completely, they looked like pretty green glass. Her collection contained every form of human possible. Man, woman, child...she even had a few Leafe Knights there. The one thing she didn't have was...

Was a Pretear. She smiled again, trailing her fingers through the icy water, disturbing the image floating there. Oh, she already knew her hellhound had failed. The broken windows in her throne room attested to that. She'd been so furious at the defeat that she'd forced four of her Dark Knights through the windows. If they managed to fly and save themselves before hitting the rocks, wonderful. If not...she knew there would be more. Even now, there were a few Leafe Knights looking to cross over. And she would welcome them with open arm.

She almost had a Pretear once. That little girl they'd found on search when she first made her move against the High Court of Leafenia. She had so much potential...so many happy dreams about the dark haired knight that could turn deliciously awful! But...Shimura sighed at the loss of such a pretty addition to her collection. And such amazing green eyes, too! The girl had turned into a Princess, and was lost to Shimura. She couldn't suck up any nightmares from someone who lived them every day. It just wasn't possible. But here was this new Pretear...the White Pretear...so full of hopes and dreams and good thoughts! And pain, lots and lots of pain. It was an easy thing, really, to pick out the painful memories and twist them into nightmares. It wouldn't be too long now before she was added to her collection.

Shimura smiled again and laughed, the sound echoing back on her in the darkness. Yes, the White Pretear would be the crowning jewel for her collection. She had a very special spot saved for her, had made the chains herself even. And when she did take the White Pretear, she had no doubts that the dark haired knight would come to her rescue. She wouldn't need to create a nightmare for him. He would witness his greatest fear first hand. She looked down into the pool again, watched as those horrible people went inside the house again, two knights patching up the damaged window and door. "Inside," she whispered to the image.

The image flashed inside the house so she could see them again. It took a very strong stomach not to wretch at all the love that was obvious in the room. How...vile! "No more!" The image faded away, leaving the water as clear and unbroken as the surface of a mirror. She began to make her way over to the shallow steps, lifting her water-soaked skirts up to move better. Her long silvery-blonde hair trailed on the surface of the water like pale snakes following in her wake.

The Twins stood at the door in their matching black leather armor. Ginshima and Kinshima, the Knights of Silver and Gold. They had come to her when they were only six, after the Princess of Disaster had wakened. That had been sixteen years ago. Their father had been the Knight of Plants, their mother a human woman. Their father had died in a fight, trying to save them. Their mother had died in a house fire started by human vandals, after she rushed back in to get them out. Love! It made people weak, made them do such stupid things as die for another. That was why the Twins served her now, They had seen upfront what love could do to a person. And it was this lack of love in themselves that made them such deadly assassins.

Ginshima, the younger twin, held a white towel out for her. "We did as you asked, Queen Shimura. We stayed until the end," he said.

"And? Was the experience rewarding for you? You've seen how your enemies can move," she answered sweetly. Her eyes dropped to his neck, eyebrow raised. "No offering for your queen?"

Ginshima turned his head a little, exposing his neck. She kissed the pulse lightly, drawing the leafe out of him a little. And...she felt light headed, giddy almost. She giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Such a rush! No wonder it was almost impossible to turn back from being a Princess! She turned to Kinshima, who was already waiting for her. She did the same to him, taking the leafe the easiest way possible. She didn't need it to survive or anything. This was more to test the knights, see if they remained loyal to her. If they were willing to risk letting her absorb all their leafe, it meant they were hers. The few that pulled back were killed immediately.

She laughed again, twirling around. "My two beautiful knights! My most loyal and lovely knights! What do you have for you queen?"

"This Hayate is strong, Queen. VERY strong. We cannot underestimate him," Kinshima explained. "He very easily could offer you a challenge."

Shimura smiled, eyes warming at the thought of the dark haired knight. He was very pretty...he would look very nice on her wall. "Good. I truly hope he does. It's been almost sixteen years since anyone has been able to stand up to me." Ever since the War began...Kataru, the Topaz Prince. She couldn't remember his face, but he very nearly had destroyed her. She knew it had almost killed him in the process, but it had taken her a long time to fully recover. Her hand went to her belly, to the scars no one would see. Such awful scars...awful, horrid, twisted scars!

"My queen?" Kinshima asked softly. He offered a hand, not touching her, but it was there should she need it. The Twins were the only two Dark Knights to see her in all her moods. Even this weak one she was feeling right now.

"What have you learned about the others?" she asked, quickly changing the topic from herself and back to the War.

"Feryn, the Knight of Storms, has incredible powers, but he weakens quickly. His leafe uses a lot of his strength up. In an attack, all we have to do is survive the first few blows and then we have the advantage," Ginshima continued.

"The Knight of Water has great potential, but he is young. He cannot hold his leafe for very long," said Kinshima. "The young Knight of Plants...already you have said you want him. I agree. He did not use his leafe, but I have heard that he can already raise a containment field. And at such a young age." He shook his head. "Quite frankly, my Queen, if we do not obtain him, we need to kill him. He could be a potential threat in the very near future."

Shimura nodded. "Agreed, but not before we have tried to capture him. If it comes to killing though...bring me those eyes." She smiled, touching both their cheeks. "You know how I love green eyes."

"Yes, Queen," they both said.

"Now, continue with your report."

"Kei, the Knight of Light, is very dangerous to us. He's very strong, very focused and can raise enough leafe on his own without preting. If he prets, though...Let us just say that he and the White Pretear would destroy the Shadow Army easily."

Now, that was news! The Shadow Army she had been raising for almost sixteen years, the one filled with so many demons and evils that not even she would venture down without an armed escourt. All of them...destroyed by one knight and one Pretear? She had seen the Knight of Light once, thought him very attractive...but not to her taste. There was a sunshine quality to him that made her want to vomit again. "Your course of action?"

"Kill him, and do it soon," Kinshima said firmly.

Shimura laughed softly. "I like that. Now, the Knight of Ice?"

"He is of no real threat," Ginshima scoffed. "He uses his leafe well, but too rashly. Very quick to anger and act on it without thinking. However, he has a problem with authority. He might be swayed to join us."

"Then try what you can. And that leaves us the Knight of Flowers?"

The Twins exchanged looks, both silent. Shimura frowned. Why were they not answering her? She put a hand to the sword on her hip. "Well?"

"The Knight of Flowers...is not all that he seems," Ginshima began slowly.

"We saw him use a leafe power he should not have," Kinshima added.

Shimura took her hand from her sword. This was news...this was news indeed. "And what leafe power was this?"

"The one of earth, Queen Shimura. The Knight of Flowers used the leafe of earth."

She blinked, momentarily taken off guard. Earth...Her greatest enemy used earth against her. She hated the earth leafe! "And, what of it?"

The Twins looked at each other again. Kinshima was the one to answer her. "And...from what we could tell, Queen, this Blaise is equal in strength to Hayate. He is more dangerous than to us than we first thought."

"And what do you intend to do about it?"

"I will take Hayate," Ginshima said.

"And I will take Blaise," Kinshima added.

Shimura smiled, then laughed. "My two most favorite knights! Very well, but Ginshima, do try and keep Hayate alive. I want to see if those eyes are as amazing in person as they are through the mirror."

"I could always bring them back as well, my Queen," he offered.

"No, for this I want the head. I want to see the contrast between his dark hair and his blue eyes. Bring me his head, Ginshima."

He bowed low. "Of course, my queen. Anything for you."

Shimura kissed his cheek as he stood, smiling into those silvery eyes. "Your queen thanks you in advance. Now, finish your report so I might change and be about my business."

"The female Knight of Healing, Sete, is of no threat. Her leafe is defensive only, not offensive. She will be easy to destroy," Ginshima said.

"The White Pretear we do not need to tell you about," Kinshima said. "The friend, Yayoi, is of absolute no value to us. But she would be a good bargaining tool for not only the White Pretear but the Knight of Storms as well. They are in...love." He choked over the last word, making a disgusted face.

She wrinkled her nose, covering her hands with her ears. "Such a horrible word! If it were not for the fact that I value you both too much, I would remove your tongue for using it in my presence!"

"Forgive me, Queen Shimura. I did not mean to offend."

"The sister, Mawata, is very interesting though," Ginshima interupted, drawing Shimura's attention from his older brother and back to himself.

"Oh?"

"She has been used before by a dark presence. She still bears the mark of it on her, like a thin dark veil. But that is not all. She is a Potential."

Shimura's eyes went wide. A Potential? "It runs strong in that family...so THAT would explain why the Leafe Knights are so interested in her! She has the ability to one day become a Pretear. Kill her before that can happen. If her sister is the White Pretear, I can only imagine that she would have the ability, too."

"And she has attached herself to the Knight of Flowers. With her as a Pretear for his leafe, and Hayate with the White Pretear, we would not stand a chance," Kinshima said softly.

This was not good. She had been having such a good day until now! Sighing, she pushed the doors to her Mirror Room open and walked out, trailing water behind her. "So, the final plans are?"

"Destroy the Knight of Light and the Knight of Storms first. Capture the Knight of Plants, turn the Knight of Ice. Destroy all the others except for the Knight of Wind and the White Pretear."

Shimur smiled, hand sitting on her sword casually. "A very good start. One team down, three to go!"

"Three? My Queen, I do not mean to correct you, but there are five teams," Kinshima stated.

"No, four. I have aquired a captain and all his team, including the Pretear."

Both the knights looked shocked. "How...when?" Ginshima asked.

"About two days ago. A very nice young man, with amazing auburn hair. The Knight of Mimicry, Erelah, has promised himself and his team to me." She laughed, feeling much better as she thought about the shock on the Topaz Prince's face when he would learn of his precious knights' betrayal! "Tonight, I will bring them all nightmares," she whispered, more to herself than to her knights. "I will see what it is that makes them cry and scream. And then..." Her words trailed off into another peal of laughter.

Blaise knew Hayate was behind him. He didn't need to see his face to know he was concerned and angry. Smiling, he closed his eyes, letting the night breeze rush over him, bringing the salty smell of ocean, the crashing of waves. "I tell ya, mate, nothin' better than the beach under a full moon," he commented.

"We need to talk, as friends," Hayate said firmly.

"I mean, really, just close your eyes for a minute and smell that. Doesn't it make you wanna strip to yer skivies and dive in?"

"I'm serious! It's not safe for you here."

Sighing, Blaise finally consented to turning around and facing the Knight of Wind. "Look, mate, you agreed to this sixteen years ago, when it first started. You and Saeko both said-,"

"-I know what we said. And it's still good. But you're coming to the notice of the Queen of Nightmares by being here. If we just transfered you-,"

"Out of the question!" That same steel hard look came back to Blaise's eyes. No one was here other than Hayate, and Hayate had seen that look many times before. "If I leave now, it'll only raise further suspicion with the enemy. Also...I think there's a bloody spy at the court."

"It wouldn't surprise me in the least if there was." Hayate sighed, sitting down on the beach. Blaise sat next to him, feeling a little guilty about snapping at him like that. "I'm only looking out for your safety. That's always been my one concern with this. We can't risk losing you and having the truth discovered by the rest of the court. Do you know what kind of chaos that would cause, and what Shimura would do with it?"

"How long have you known Mawata was a Potential?" Blaise asked, changing the subject neatly. He didn't want to talk about this crap right here and now. He would much rather talk about Mawata. She made him smile just thinking about her.

"Since the Princess of Disaster incident. Sasame mentioned it to me afterward that he'd felt it when she'd touched her hand. But we already have a Pretear. We don't need another."

"I wasn't talking about for you, mate. You're right, you've got yerself a flippin' crazy-ass wench for a Pretear! And I think that's why she's so damn good at it, too. You know, she'd make a bloody good queen."

Hayate was watching him closely, and the look was not friendly in the least. "What are you saying exactly?" he asked, voice low and cold.

Blaise grinned and punched him in the shoulder, enjoying his little joke. "No worries there! I don't think there's another male, human or otherwise, that can handle her. You've got my respect and sympathies, mate. You're stuck with her for life!"

A momentary wash of relief flooded Hayate's features. "No offense, but you're an asshole!"

Laughing, Blaise nodded. "Yep, been called that many a-time in me life!"

"And you're not going to change the cubject that easily."

Damn. He'd thought talking about Himeno would work. Bloody focused bastard! Sighing, he said, "This plan has been set now for sixteen years. None of us can change it yet. If it gets around...Shimura will fall on Leafenia like a plague. Leafenia is safe right now because she doesn't know the truth. It keeps all the innocent people living there alive."

Hayate didn't say anything to this. He was so quiet in fact that Blaise turned to see if he was still awake. If he fell asleep during his big dramatic speach...But the Knight of Wind's eyes were open, staring at the waves. "I'll give in...for now," he said at last. "But if it starts to get too dangerous around here, I WILL be sending word to Saeko and send you back."

"Fair enough." Blaise stood up and started pulling off his shirt, kicking his shoes off as well. "So, ya comin' or not?"

"Huh?"

Grinning, he undid his jeans, adding them to the pile. "Swimmin' mate! What, you thought I was strippin' just to feel a cold breeze on me arse? Come on, it'll be just like when we were kids!"

A slow smile started on Hayate's face and grew until he was grinning as well. He stood up and pulled his clothing off until he was in boxers. "This is going to be so cold," he muttered.

"Yep. Nothin' like frost bite on yer naughty bits! Ready? One..." They were both judging the waves, watching the huge one rolling in.

"Two..."

"THREE!" They both went running into the water, swimming quickly out into the balckness.

As the huge wave crashed over them, sending the sailing back up onto the beach, Blaise smiled, keeping his mouth shut so the salt water wouldn't get in. Just like the old days, when things had been so much simpler. He remembered the Rainbow Lake, how his parents would take him and Hayate there and turn them loose. He hadn't met Hayate until after that duel, the one that had ended in Hayate losing his father. It was policy when the death of a Leafe Knight occured and there was a child that all the members of that team were to have a hand in raising the child up. His parents (his mother had been a White Lady, one of the women of the court in Leafenia) had been thrilled at the idea of raising their best friend's son. After that, Hayate and Blaise had been very closer, like brothers really. Until Hayate was promoted to captain and he... Well, he didn't want to think about all that crap right now. He was having fun!

Blaise was laughing, out breath and struggling to keep his boxers from falling down. His teeth were chattering so hard he almost bit his tongue as he spoke. "WOO! What a bloody brilliant rush! Did you see me, when it dipped low and I fell right down into another wave? Aw, man!"

Hayate was laughing too, shaking his hair out of his face. "I haven't done that in years!" He readjusted the clip in his hair, pulling it back tightly so that it didn't get in his face as much.

"You should just cut it, mate."

"No way! It looks good like this."

Blaise's smile turned wicked and he nudged Hayate. "You're just sayin' that cuz yer woman like it long!"

He looked away, smiling and turning red enough for Blaise to see it in the moonlight. "Maybe. Wanna go again?"

"Now who's changin' the subject?"