Chapter 11: Confined

A loud metallic screech entered the foul smelling, poorly illuminated dungeon. The slamming of gates and the steps of men echoed through the cement hall. The screams of men, most were protesting that they were innocent, increased dramatically. Apparently someone who wasn't a prisoner was walking in his direction if the protests were getting that loud. "Demon, you have a visitor." He heard a snarl come from a male's voice. The heavy steel door slid open as a finely dressed gentleman stepped through, entering his caged world.

"Hey, we need some help with this guy!" Another guard's voice was heard from a distance, though it was almost drowned out by the other prisoners.

"I'll return in a few minutes. You'll be okay with this demon alone?" The guard asked, his eyes glanced over at the prison's inmate with hate.

"I'll be fine." Raphael answered as the guard stepped out and slammed the door shut, the mechanics in the lock moved to seal it. His eyes glanced around at the horrid conditions of the cell. A toilet in the corner, a broken mirror and a sink beside it, a black shirt draped over one side of the sink. On the other side of the nine by nine room was a dusty old bed with a cloak individual laying on it, his back turned to everyone who'd step through the door. Cob webs decorated three out of four corners of the room, rats and roaches ruled the floor as they scuttled by. It would amaze him if they told him that some of the prisoners actually outlived their whole sentence in these conditions.

"What're you doing here?" He heard an all too familiar voice coming from the cloaked figure. But it wasn't the voice of Siegfried, no, it was the voice of Nightmare. Almost identical in sound, but the tone was cold. And only Nightmare was cold, or at least, cold enough to send chills down his spine every time he heard him speak.

"I came to talk to you."

"What's to talk about?" Siegfried sat up and discarded the cloak, revealing his bare chest wrapped in the several days old bandages that he received after the fight in Krena. It came to no surprise that he saw Siegfried without his armor. He was a prisoner after all, and prisoners weren't suppose to have any form of advantages, right? But the metallic collar around his neck did make him wonder a bit. Wearily, the knight got out of bed of the dusty bed. The thin and flexible boots he wore underneath his armored ones touched the cold, hard ground as he stood up, rotating his left shoulder in hopes of relieving himself of some stiffness.

"Well, for one, I'd like to know why?" Raphael answered as Siegfried walked over to the sink and grabbed the shirt and slid it on. "Why did you do it?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Siegfried turned toward him and leaned his back against the wall.

"Don't play stupid. Why did you cover for all of us. I always thought of you as a selfish man. The kind of selfish man who'd bring everyone down with him if he himself was going down."

"If I was the younger me…then yes, I would've. But there comes a time when all of us must grow up and change. Satisfied? Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to have my peace and quiet before my execution in the arena in a couple of days. I need my strength if I'm to give them hell."

"Humph, always the tough guy. Anyways, I'm not leaving until I know what our plan is."

"Escape and go to Split Rock. After Split Rock, we head after Conner. Of course you humans will need a days rest before we head over to Split Rock, so it'll be almost a week before we get there and probably two before we even find Conner again."

"Is that so? Why do I get the feeling that you're not telling me something." Raphael shook his head, "Whatever… just don't let it kill you. The girls upstairs would be sad."

"Hey, you there. You're time is up." The guard's voice quickly caused the two to look in the direction of the cell door as it slid open. The guard smirked as he caught Siegfried's death glare, "Yeah, stare all you like. You ain't so big with that collar on."

"If I had this collar off, I'd tear you piece by piece; starting with your toes and slowly working my way up. And when you're limbless, and if you're still alive, I'd leave you in a pile of hungry rats and watch them painfully devour you."

"Big talk for someone in your position." The guard slammed the butt of his rifle into Siegfried's gut, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to drop to the floor. "Just as I thought. Without the use of your powers, you're a weakling. Just like all of the other scum in this prison."

When Raphael stepped through the cell door with the guard behind him, a low, coughing voice caused his legs, "Do me a favor. Whenever you finally get a hold of Soul Edge, I want you to destroy it."

"You know of my wish." Raphael glanced at the knight, if he could even be called a knight in the state he was in.

"I know, and the dream you want to accomplish through it will be nothing but a dream. Take it from a man who's lived down that path, violence will only lead to more violence. In order for you to create a world of peace, you must change everyone's hearts. But right now, the world isn't ready for peace."

"Even so, there has to be a way to create the peace I desire. And with Soul Edge, I'll find a way."

"You want to know how to create long lasting peace? There's a long way and a short way. The path our world is on right now is the long way. Constant war will create pain, and the pain will create scars. From the scars the human race will learn, and as a result, their hearts will change and peace will become an issue."

"And the short way?"

"You must create a catalyst of fear and pain."

"Then I'll create the fear and pain needed."

"This planet is facing such a catalyst. By the time this catalyst is over, every living being's heart will change out of fear. If in defeat, all will forever oppose their ruler with malice. But if they're victorious, the price will be high; too high if you ask me. The suffering will take many generations to ease, and the scar will be too deep for the healing touch of time to erase. But you must remember that scars eventually become light and fear is eventually grown out of. As a result, the catalyst will be repeated. And when it does, there runs a risk that it'll destroy everything. And I mean everything."

"Humph, if it was coming from Cassandra or Jesse, I might consider it to be true. You, however, I don't believe, Azure Knight. You're the last one I'd expect to give out advice on obtaining peace."

"Figures. Then grant me this one favor before you leave. For the next few days, I want you to walk down the streets and look around. You'll see what I saw on our way to the castle. When you're done, come and tell me what it was that I saw."

"Okay, that's enough. I was kind enough to let you two talk this long as it is." The guard shoved Raphael a bit down the hall.
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"Welcome, and thank you for accepting my apologies. It was rude of us to even consider you as part of a demon's group." The king said apologetically as Cassandra, Jesse and Melanie sat at the long, richly decorated table. In front of them were utensils of silver, glasses of crystal and fine plates of gold. Servants walked through the doors with platters in one hand. One by one, they approached the girls and offered them food. When they accepted the food, the servant would put some on their plates. And when they refused, they simply walked to the next guest, with the king being served last. To Cassandra's guess, it was some sort of ruse the king was doing to make himself seem more appealing…and it was working.

"May I ask where your gentleman friend is?" The king asked suspiciously.

"He had some business to take care of. He's a…a…" Cassandra started.

"trader." Jesse quickly interrupted. "Yes, he's a trader. He went to make sure his cargo is being handled properly. You know how those traders can be. Always paranoid about something happening to their cargo."

"Oh, a trader is he. And that would make you two his…?"

"We're friends of his. We came with him because we've always wanted to see the arena." Cassandra said, smiling sweet as she poked her meat with her fork and took a bite out of it.

"Ah, yes. We do get many visitors. Do tell me, which country do you come from." The king said as his eyes glued on Jesse.

"From the Culzak region." Jesse answered.

"Culzak? Ah, now I remember. Yes, there's supposed to be several city-states there."

"Yep. The Amber Republic to be exact."

"Thought so. The insignia on your armor is from Raynor's group." The king said, noticing that Jesse almost instantly went pale. "You are part of the resistance in the eastern lands, are you not?"

"We are."

"Strange, very strange. You say you're here sight seeing, but you're part of the resistance as well. I want the truth." The king said, his voice turning from kind to fierce.

"The…the truth?" Jesse started to stutter.

"Yes, who are you really."

"This is Melanie Dockel." Jesse pointed at the little girl, "And this is Cassandra Alexandra." Her finger moved toward Cassandra. "And I'm Jesse."

"What's your last name."

"I don't have a last name." She said, ashamed to admit it to him.

"It is the last name of your parents." The king snapped.

"I never knew my parents. It was always me, my brother and the elder."

"State your business here." The king ordered. Jesse looked at Cassandra with pleading eyes, begging for her to think of a way for the to get out of the mess they were in. "If you refuse, I'll have my guards extract the information from you. And last time I checked, they enjoyed interrogating women. Sometimes, after they've gathered all the information they were looking for, they keep the women around just a little longer for some nightly games."

"Me and Raphael come from another world." Cassandra started to explain to the king. "We're here tracking a pair of spirit swords of great demonic energy. We think they were created in this world and that Split Rock has the answers to the questions we have about the swords. Jesse joined us in hopes of finding Conner Sekai since he seemed fascinated in the swords as well. And we were hoping that you'd grant us access to Split Rock."

"Denied." The king quickly answered as he sipped his glass of wine.

"But these swords are as much of a threat to your kingdom as Conner is! You have to understand."

"Conner is no threat to my kingdom. I rule almost half of this continent with a mighty army composed of highly skilled gunmen and powerful wizards. To top things off, we have electrical barriers protecting the continent from his shadowstalkers. And I'll be damned if he manages to slip a boat pass my superior navy. Might I mention that my military is the most advance military in the world. So what if he owns half of the world. As long as he's no threat to me, I couldn't give a damn. To be honest, I was even thinking about branching to other continents. Take over some of his territory."

"Don't you even care about the other countries? They're being taken over one by one, and the people are being forced into slavery." Jesse quickly took over Cassandra's argument.

"So what? I do the same thing. It's people like you that don't understand the true beauty about power. When you have it, use it to gain even more power. Besides, who cares if people are being forced into slavery. People who are not Syr born blood are only good for one to two things. Beautiful women for the obvious reasons, and everyone else as slaves. Without slaves, we'd have to pay our workers to build roads, work the arena and other physically exhausting tasks."

A lustful gleam from the king's eye caught Cassandra's attention. Quickly, she bolt upright from her chair, "Your highness, if I may be so bold to say, but now I see your true colors, and I don't like them. The only reason you were nice to us was because you were curious about why we were here. But when it comes down to it, you're exactly like Conner. Power, wealth, land. That's all that matters to you."

"My my, beauty and brains." The king said as several guards entered the dining room. "Tell me, have you ever been bedded?"

"What? I'm still a virgin you sick pervert!"

"I'd watch your tongue if I were you. I'm giving you a chance of a lifetime. Imagine being one of my personal toys. This isn't an offer I've given to very many girls."

"Please, don't insult me."

The king snapped his fingers as guards entered the room, "I don't like your attitude. Perhaps we should put you on the auction during the competition. Yes, that's a very good idea. I'm sure you'll make some rich noble very happy."

"I'm not anyone's property!" Cassandra shouted at the king.

"Seize her!" He shouted as two guards quickly pounced on Cassandra. "You!" The king looked at one of the guards nearest him, "Escort these two to their room and have some guards posted at their door. I want round-the-clock surveillance." The king pointed at Melanie and Jesse while Cassandra was literally being carried away.

"What do you want with us?" Jesse stood up from her chair only to find a pair of strong hands grab her by the shoulder.

"Simple really. You're going to tell me everything you know about Conner's army and these swords you mentioned. If Conner is interested in them, then they must be extremely powerful."

"I don't know anything about Conner's army or the swords."

"Unfortunately for you my dear, I don't believe you. Take them away. I'll be there shortly to interrogate them personally. As for their male companion, find him! If what that girl said is true, he may hold some information we need about these so called swords."

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Raphael strolled through the streets, both hands in his pockets. "Siegfried, what is it that you saw?" His eyes glanced around, looking at the various people in the streetlamp lit streets. When he looked up, he could barely see the stars on how bright the lamps were around the city. Several buildings were open, advertising their business with large boards with lights over them to make them visible.

"Such a strange world this is. Light coming from strange looking instruments. Then again, I guess nothing should surprise me after seeing that barrier of lightning. A horseless coach?" He watched a vehicle drive by. Though it was slow and noisy, the fact that nothing was pulling it made him admire it with awe.

"There he is!" He heard a voice. Curious to see who they were talking about, he turned his head to see three guards running toward him with halberds in their hands. "Halt! You're under arrest!" The guard shouted. He ignored the fact that they could be talking about him and turned back around. Before he even took four steps, all three guards surrounded him with their halberds aimed at him.

"What part of halt did you not understand?" The guard in front of him growled with irritation.

"Pardon me, but why am I under arrest? For missing dinner with the king?" Raphael folded both arms across his chest.

"You're under arrest for the suspicion of holding vital information." The guard informed. "Now, we'd like you to unarm yourself and lay down on the ground nice and slow."

"I don't know. I haven't had a good work out in the past few days and you look like a physically fit training dummy." Raphael drew his rapier.

"I'll make you regret those words!" The guard thrust his halberd at Raphael's throat. In the blink of an eye, Raphael moved out of the Halberd's path and caught the guard in the jaw with his rapier's finger guard. Before the guard struck the ground, another guard thrust his halberd at Raphael. Quick on his toes, Raphael jumped to the side, barely missing the tip of the halberd as it sliced the side of his jacket. The sound of a whistle and several footsteps coming toward him caught his attention.

"Well monsieur, as much as I love parties and get-togethers, your foul breath is truly unbearable. So I'll be taking my leave." He insulted the guard as he quickly turned around and dash away. A rifle shot off in the nearly empty city streets, pain entered his left leg as he took a step and tumbled to the ground. Tucking his left arm near his body, he landed and rolled to a crouching position. Looking back, he could see half a dozen guards in close pursuit, one was holding a smoking rifle. "Shit."

He dove down an alleyway and climbed the first fire escape he saw. Dragging his wounded leg up the tiresome stairs, hoping to put some distance between him and his pursuers fast. Pain flared in his left arm when he reached for the railing. He had been so focused on getting away, he barely even heard his pursuers or the gunshot as he continued to climb. "Damn, they're closing in fast." As he ran with a limp, he came to the side of the building and saw his once chance to get away, the rope of a banner running across the street to another equally tall building.

Taking Flambert in his left hand, he held the rope with his right as he freed it from the building with a quick swipe. With a quick mental prayer and a few curses, he swung downward and over the street, letting go when he was closest to the concrete paved road and rolled several times violently. Picking Flambert up with his right hand, he pushed himself back onto his feet and dizzily stumbled forward.

"Relax, we'll get you to safety." A small woman cloaked in blue stepped from a shady alleyway with large, muscular man behind her. He approached the French doctor and with his large, powerful hands, picked him up and carried him into the alleyway.

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"You sure about this sir? The king plans to auction her off on the next competition." A guard asked as he and his superior lead Cassandra down the dungeon hallway.

"Heh, as much as I'd love to have some fun with her. She's off limits to us. But that still doesn't mean we can't make her life a living hell. And what's worse than having to spend the next few nights with the demon that destroyed Krena?" They stopped at a cell door. Siegfried leaning against the wall on the other side of the cell. "Hey demon, we brought you a visitor. Why don't you show her your true form." The guard snickered.

"Go to hell." Siegfried's cold voice caused the lower ranked guard to take a step back in fear.

"I'm sorry, but you don't have a choice as long as that collar is on your neck." The higher ranked guard pulled a rectangular device out of his pocket and pointed it at Siegfried. With the touch of a button, Siegfried roared with pain as he dropped to his knees and placed his left hand on his right arm.

"Nooo!" The right side of his shirt exploded as the shoulder expanded, the skin changed to a grossly light brown hue. The arm started to swell up as the skin tone changed, the hand deformed to that of a claw as he grew and hardened. "You bastard!" He suddenly shot up and charged the door, slamming a clawed fist into the cell bar.

"Heh, temper, temper. These bars are made from a very strong alloy and reinforced with a hardening enchantment. You wouldn't even be able to dent them if you had use of your demonic strength. Just be glad I allowed you to have your true form demon." The guard smirked as he pressed another button. Pain enveloped his entire body as his legs suddenly grew weak, forcing him to hit his knees and grab hold of the bars as he tried to keep himself from screaming.

"What's wrong? Lost control over your powers? Can't contain all of that built up energy? It hurts doesn't it? Your very own energy, tearing your body apart inside and out, desperately trying to escape. Pathetic." The guard hit another button to relieve Siegfried of his torment.

"Throw her in there." He unlocked the cell door as the lower rank guard shoved Cassandra inside. The higher ranked guard slammed the door shut and glanced at Siegfried, "Have fun with your playmate, demon. Because in a few days your head will be on a pike in front of the city's fountain. Come on," He looked at his subordinate, "it's about time to put Drake through his evening torment."

As soon as the two guards were out of sight, Cassandra dropped to her knees beside Siegfried and placed a hand on his back, "Siegfried! Are you…"

"Stay back!" He shouted as he rose to his feet and ran to the other side where his cloak was resting on the bed. "Please…I beg of you. Don't look at me." He picked up his cloak and threw it over his body so all she could see was his face.

"What are you so scared of?" She moved to where was and stood over him. Slowly, she descended to her knees so she could be at eyes level with him. A tender, scared hand reached for his human shoulder and clasp the cloak.

"Don't." She heard him say, but from the tone in his voice, she knew he wasn't going to stop her. Most of the cloak fell backwards, but part of it was caught on his deformed shoulder. Gently she removed the cloak from his deformed shoulder and let the rest of it fall backwards. She scanned over his chest as to what he was hiding. Ripped shirt? No. Deformed skin breast? No. Bandages? No. Hand…? She noticed that he hadhisleft hand over the area underneath the bandages where the shirt was missing, hiding what he didn't want her to see.

His hand...but how can this be?Unlike the rest of his body, it's human.She placed a gloved hand on his own. "Siegfried, please…"

"I…don't want you to view me any different. I want you to keep viewing me as a demon. It makes it easier on me when people do." He informed her.

"How do you know that I don't view you as a human?" She asked him in a sincere, yet gentle voice.

"Excluding Father Prometheus, everyone I have ever met has viewed me as a demon."

"But what if I don't view you as a demon, but as…"

"…a human." He said, trying to finish her sentence.

"No." She corrected him. She could've sworn she saw hurt in his eyes, but even if it truly was there, it quickly disappeared. "I see you not as a demon, not as a human, but as Siegfried Schtauffen. And there is no greater way to see somebody than to see them as the person they are on the inside."

Moments passed as she waited for his response. "Take off your gloves." He finally told her. With a simple nod, she removed both of her gloves and sat on the bed. He removed his hand and grab hers and placed it on his side that his hand once covered, allowing her to feel the secret he didn't want anyone else to know.

"Human skin…" She said to herself, "May I?" She asked as he gave her a simple nod. She ripped the side of his shirt so asthey could pull it over his head and off his body. "Your body…it's human." Her fingers trailed over his right breast, down one of the demon veins than trailed into his left, human breast. The way the skin started to disfigure as it went from human to demon made her see why they never saw him without his armor. He didn't want her to see the man under the beast.

He turned his head away from her, "I know." A cold draft of wind blew through the barred window and into the cell, causing Cassandra to shiver like a child on a winter night. "It's chilly tonight. You should cover up and go to bed." He said as they stood up. He walked around her and sat down against the wall beside the bed.

"What about you?" She asked while glancing in his direction.

"I'll be fine." He lied.

She got on the bed and under the covers, her head rested on the pillow as her eyes stayed glued on her cellmate. "Siegfried."

"hmm?"

"There's nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm…not ashamed."

"Then what is it?"

"I just don't want people to see how much of me is still human underneath."

Her head shook in disagreement, "It's because you don't see yourself as a human…"

"I…"

"You see yourself as a monster. But you're no monster." She said, closing her eyes and started to fall asleep.

Cassandra, He glanced in her direction, a hand combed through her hair.

"That…feels…good." She responded sleepily.

I wish I was a strong as you.

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"There you go." The doctor said as Raphael sat up on the bed. "You'll be sore for a couple of days, but you'll be fine. You might want to use a cane to help you walk until then."

"I've been through worse." Raphael got off the bed and almost stumbled as pain flared into his leg again.

"I'd take the doctor's advice and use a cane. Rest wouldn't hurt either." The woman cloaked in blue suggested.

"I'm a doctor myself, so I know that I should rest and try to heal. But right now there's some people who need my help, and I'm going to help them."

"Such admirable notion, but how do you suggest doing that?" She asked him as he walked toward the door with the large man from before blocking it.

"I don't know, but I'll find a way. I have to because they'd do the same for me." He said as the large man moved out of the way, "Correction. One would save me, one I'm not too sure, the child is incapable of saving me, and the last one wouldn't save me even if I was drowning and someone offered him a reward."

"Sounds like you have a very promising group of friends." She said with a small, amusing laugh.

"They're not friends. Besides, the main reason I'm doing this is because I can't accomplish my mission without their help."

"Then join us and we'll help you rescue your friends." The woman suggested.

"As tempting as your offer sounds, you give me no reason to believe you."

"Forgive me. I haven't quite introduce myself." She removed the blue hat with the blue, see through veil dangling from it and dropped it to the ground. "My name is Princess Louise Miranda De'Levell, leader of the Blue Crowns and heir to the throne of Windell. We are one of the many Anti-Syr Factions throughout the continent."

The large, muscular man cleared his throat before speaking, "I am Prince Derrick R. Courtz, leader of the Courtz Swords and second heir to the throne of Meinz. Also a Anti-Syr Faction. May I ask why were the guards after you?"

"Withholding information. The other man, however, was arrested under a different charge." He watched as Louise walked over to the table and picked up a large notebook.

"For making an act of war, I know. Unlike the Courtz Swords, we have a couple of spies inside the main castle. I know it wasn't your friend who destroyed Krena, but the king doesn't care. The king sees demons as crowd pleasers…"

"…and what better way than to execute a demon in front of the public." Raphael let out a sigh, "I already figured that part out. Where I'm from, people are executed in public to please the populous."

"They'll do more than execute your friend. They'll turn him into a game. Every warrior who advances through enough rounds get a shot at him, and the one who kills him gets a prize. They did the same thing to my brother four years ago." Derrick explained.

"Thank you for your information. Now if you don't mind, I'll be taking my leave now. I still have to look over the area for any future planning."

"You're talking about rescuing your friends, we're talking about destroying the arena altogether and assassinating the king."

"Please, any help we can get would be appreciated. The king, he ignores his people's needs and holds these games to take the mind's of his people away from the real problem. Hunger, disease, the Black Army, things any decent king would try to resolve. Not only that, but he conquered most of the continent and forced our people into slavery!" Said Louise.

"Sorry, but anyone desperate for help could tell such stories." He told her. Next thing he knew, she grabbed him by the hand and dragged him through the door. "Where are you taking me?"

"You want proof, right?" They moved through the run down building at a fast, walking pace. Members of both factions littered the hallway, talking with each other like there was nothing out of the ordinary. The bands on their arm was his only clue that they were members of the faction, hence, none of them was wearing armor or carrying weapons. They traveled down stairs after stairs, floors after floors until they finally reached the bottom.

"What you're about to see is Syr's true side. The north side of the city, where we found you, is one of the few areas taken care of by the king. But even then, the hospital is over ran by those who are sick. But here on the east side, where the less than rich live, things aren't so bright. Food is too high for most to afford on a regular basis and there are no hospitals. Doctor Fran is one of three doctors who work out here, and even then that isn't enough."

As they stepped through the main door of the building, they found themselves on a very narrow streets. People lined the streets, all were in dirty, raggedy old clothing. All of them looked like they haven't eaten in several days. Beside him, laying against the building, was a child. A little girl to be exact. Her eyes were open, staring expressionlessly into the dark sky. Her body was motionless as he knelt over her and waved a hand over her eyes, hoping for a response. There was no response so he pulled his glove off his right hand and placed two fingers on the side of her neck. No pulse.

"This is awful." He manually closed her eyes with his hand. "How can people live through these conditions?"

"They don't." Louise answered. About ten yards away, a man reached into his jacket and pulled out an apple and suddenly, five strangers leapt on him with crude weapons in an attempt to steal the apple away.

"These people need food and doctors."

"That's what happens when the taxes are high. Food becomes almost unaffordable and medical treatment is nearly unheard of. If Dr. Fran and the others weren't kind enough to take care of the sick for free, I don't know where we'd be."

He stood up and slid his glove back onto his hand, "Why don't you refuse to pay taxes?"

"And be taken to prison? It's worse in prison. At least here we're not tortured on a daily basis or used for arena games. I even heard a rumor once that prisoners are being used to conduct tests. One out of every twenty prisoner with athree month's sentence survives. Tell me, would you risk odds like that?"

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The door flew open as several guards entered the room, rifles stood at attention as they stood on both sides of the door. With his head held high and his red robe dragging behind him, the king stepped through the door with a picture in his hand. "Just as I suspected."

"What is it now?" Jesse glared at the king venomously.

"Tell me, do you have any siblings?" The king asked as he approached the young woman sitting in the chair in the far corner.

"What's it to you?" She snapped at him.

"Just answer my question. Do you have any siblings? Lets say…a brother perhaps?"

"Yes. One brother."

"What is his name?"

"Dyne."

"Ah, then it is as thought!" The king stood in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders."You are my long lost daughter!"

"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not your daughter!" Jesse stood up and pushed him away before moving away from him.

"Hmm, so you really don't know who you are."

"Humph, as if you'd know."

"You are Princess Jesse Dana Syr, second heir to the throne. You were born nineteen years ago and your twentieth birthday will be in thirty days if I remember correctly."

"You're lying. If I were your daughter I'd shoot myself. There's no way my father would do that to my friends!"

"Your brother is Prince Dyne Runner Syr, future king of Syr. I can't remember his birthday too well but he is approximately twenty four years old. Sixteen years ago you and your brother both went missing." The king laid the picture on the bed, "I want you to look at that picture and tell me who you really are." The king walked to the door and stopped, "You'll see for yourself that you really are my missing daughter."

When he left, Jesse walked to the bed with the aged old memory and picked it up. Her eyes scanned over the frame, a finger touched the picture of her older brother. She could barely tell if that was her because the girl had long hair, but the boy looked remarkably like her older brother…just younger. "It can't be true. No, he can't be my father! Dyne," She dropped the picture and hit her knees, "I wish you were here to tell me the truth."