Sara stood rooted to the spot, her face frozen in a mask of horror. It registered in the back of her mind somewhere that her twin brother was in stocks, and that as much as it shocked her, it was even more shocking that she also realized that she had known it would come down to this someday. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning to salute the two members of the royal guard.

"General Altin, Lancer Nekola, I take it you had a safe trip to the island?"

"Yes Ms. Crispino, our journey was uneventful."

"May I know what the charges against my brother are?"

Michele Crispino

"He stands charged with insubordination, treason and attempted murder."

Sara blanched, all color draining suddenly from her face. She swayed unsteadily on her feet as she clutched at her stomach. A gentle hand was placed on her shoulder and she looked up at the concerned blue eyes of Emil Nekola.

"Sara, are you alright?"

Sara's eyes welled up with tears and she shook her head. Lancer Nekola breathed a heavy sigh before taking Sara into his arms and holding her in a tight embrace as he gently stroked her hair."

"Get your filthy hands off my sister! Don't you dare fucking touch her like she means something to you! Sara is mine, no one else's!"

Sara flinched at her brother's angry words, which only served to push her further into Nekola's embrace.

Minako rolled her eyes at the poor excuse of a man currently writhing angrily against his restraints. She tore off a piece of her tattered scarf and used it to gag the loudmouthed assassin. He glared daggers at her as he struggled more violently, hands clawing at the air and straining to gain any kind of purchase on the assassin woman's person. She stood just out of reach, both hands on her hips as she stared down approvingly at her handiwork.

"There. Now that's what I call a marked improvement."

Michele Crispino's muffled cries filled the air along with the sounds of the stocks rattling from his savage thrashing.

"Now, now Mr. Crispino, be reasonable. If you cannot comport yourself calmly, we will be forced to sedate you."

Well, that only served to infuriate him even more, and he redoubled his efforts.

"Mickey, abbastanza!"

All turned their heads in the direction of the outburst and saw a very irate-looking Sara.

"How long do you plan on perpetuating this shameless and mortifying behavior?"

Michele looked up at his sister with eyes suddenly wide with terror.

"Haven't you already done enough? Be a man, Mickey and take responsibility for your actions. And at least TRY to retain some dignity for the Crispino name. Remember, you are not the only one who will have to carry the burden of a shamed name! For someone who claims to want to protect me, you're doing a fabulous job of dragging me down with you."

"Sorella, io ti amo!"

"Ti piace controllarmi! I've always done my best to keep you safe and protect you from yourself Mickey, but not even god can help you now. Arrivederci, fratello."

Sara turned on her heel and left, pulling Lancer Nekola along with her.

Michele watched, speechless, as his beloved sister turned her back on him and walked away. He hung his head low and a sinister energy suddenly swirled around him. Minako's hairs stood on end and he instincts screamed at her.

"しまった！"

She was on him in a split second, applying pressure at just the right place to render the man unconscious.

Squire Plisetsky and General Altin were by her side equally quickly.

"What the fuck just happened? That energy just now, it was..."

General Altin finished the Squire's sentence.

"...demonic!"

Minako nodded solemnly.

"It would appear that we have a much bigger problem than a brother's obsessive love on our hands. Please stay here and watch over him. I must speak with our healer immediately. She will know what to do."

...

"Fujimoto san? Minami Kun?"

Yuuko couldn't believe her eyes. She was more than a bit surprised to see the two of them running breathless into the camp.

"I thought you would be in Occidentis at this time!"

Fujimoto held up his hand, silently asking the Hanyou Kitsune to wait until he could catch his breath.

Minami was the first to recover. He burst into a rapid-fire explanation that left Yuuko reeling from how fast it was and how many confusing details it contained.

"Greetings Nishigori Yuuko San! We arrived in Occidentis to deliver the message to the King, but the King had just left to come here. Then Princess Sama stopped the guards from attacking us and told us we had to go after the King. Then she used her animal magic to help us return to Mumei No Shima to give the King the message before the King misunderstood that the golden-haired Quagmire boy was safe and under Emperor Katsuki's protection."

He stopped to take in a huge breath before he continued

"And we came back as fast as we could. Princess Sama's magic called whales to the ship and they pushed the ship in the sea! Princess Sama was so amazing, but we think maybe she pushed herself too hard and tired herself out. Did you see Princess Sama, Nishigori San? She is so beautiful with hair like the sunset and cute little pointed ears and..."

Fujimoto was finally able to speak again and decided to step in before the young man talked his tongue into a knot."

"Minami, slow down! I apologize, Nishirogi San. The last eight hours have been rather eventful and many things have happened in a very short time."

Yuuko laughed as waved her hand dismissively at them both.

"Thank you for your concern, Fujimoto San. But as strange as it may seem, it wasn't difficult for me to follow Minami Kun at all! Usually I have three voices all trying to tell me things at the same time. Only having one to follow is immensely refreshing!"

Fujimoto smiled.

"I see, I suppose it would be much easier for someone with daily experience with three chatterboxes to think just onechatterbox would be manageable."

"Minami Kun, it's Squire, not Quadmire. The woman with the red hair is a Princess? And she can...talk to animals?"

Fujimoto stepped in to answer the question.

"Yes, Nishigori San. She is the Princess of a non-human realm called Kyaltaesi. She can communicate with animals. Is she alright? I do not see her anywhere."

"The Princess was suffering from a severe case of magic toxicity when she arrived."

Fujimoto's and Minami's concern was palpable. They stared at Yuuko with anxious eyes.

"She's fine now, worry not. Emperor Katsuki performed the cleansing ritual and she is resting peacefully in the medical tent with the King and the Emperor both watching over her. I actually need to bring this recovery potion over to her immediately."

Yuuko excused herself and was about to head I the direction of the medical tent when she saw Minako running up to her. One look at the woman's face told Yuuko that there was some kind of trouble afoot.

"Yuuko, we have a problem"

Yuuko sighed.

"You mean, another problem? Let me guess, some Ice Dragon needs help immediately?"

Minako laughed as she tapped the tip of her nose.

"Good guess! I have reason to believe that the assassin we captured earlier is infected."

"What?! Surely you must be joking!"

Minako shook her head.

"I wish I was, but I definitely felt demonic energy emanating from him earlier. I just need you to confirm it and then suggest the best course of action."

"Minako, you know that once they start releasing energy it means they're almost at the point of turning. His soul has probably been devoured past the point of no return!"

"Normally, yes, I fully agree with you. There's something different with this one, though. I can't put my finger on it but he doesn't seem mindless and uninhibited like a typical case would be at this stage."

Yuuko brought her thumb and index finger to the bridge of her nose and rubbed at it.

"I haven't finished taking care of the other Ice Dragon emergency yet. She needs her recovery potion.

"Nishigori San! Minami can help! Minami will take the recovery potion and give it to Princess Sama!"

"That's a great idea, Minami Kun! I'll have you take the recovery potion to the medical tent, but please just give it to the King. It seems that the Princess is very dear to him and I imagine that he would like to be a part of her recovery process. You remember the directions for use, yes?"

"Yes, Nishigori San! Minami did not forget!"

Yuuko handed the glass vial carefully to the young servant guard.

"Carefully now, don't spill a single drop!"

"Minami won't let you down!"

The enthusiastic and energetic man took the potion from the Hanyou Kitsune and gingerly made his way over to the medical tent. Bewildered, Yuuko shook her head. She couldn't believe that he still had so much energy left in him after having just been running. She turned her back to the disappearing young man and followed Minako to their captive.

When they arrived, Yuuko saw that the young Squire and the General were standing guard over an unconscious man being held in stocks. The two seemed to be lost in comfortable conversation, but turned to face them when they heard their approach.

"Any new developments?"

The General was the first to respond.

"Negative. He has been unconscious since you left."

"Yuuko, this is Michele Crispino and he is the twin brother of the female assassin we captured earlier in the day. The one that was snooping around just outside the main gate."

"How has he been manifesting?"

"It appears that he has an unhealthy obsessive love for his sister."

Yuuko frowned.

"Hmm, that's like ambrosia to a demon. The darker the emotions and thoughts, the more delicious the soul."

Yuuko brought her thumb and index finger to her mouth and whistled. Within seconds, Momiji was at her feet.

"Hey there girl, I need your help. Can you take a look at this human here and let me know what you see?"

Momiji barked happily a few times before carefully approaching the unconscious assassin. As she stared at the man, her eyes glowed brightly and became enveloped in a blue glow. All were caught off-guard when the little fox kit's hackles suddenly raised and it straight up growled at the man. Momiji backed away from him and hid behind Yuuko's legs.

"Well, that went about as badly as it possibly could," said Yuuko, as she rubbed at her temples.

"What do you mean?" Asked the General.

"At some point in his life, this young man became overcome by such dark and resentful thoughts that a demon made its way into his heart. He's just about at the point where he'll lose his last vestiges of humanity and morph into one. Whatever was keeping him in check before just about vanished and the floodgates are about to open up unless we do something about it."

…

"King Nikiforov San! I am Kenjiro Minami. I bring the medicine for Princess Sama!"

Minami waited patiently at the entrance of the medical tent for the King to come out and take the recovery potion from him.

When the tent flap opened and the King stepped out, Minami couldn't keep his eyes from bugging out of his head.

"Wuuuuuaaaaahhhhh! King Nikiforov is so handsome and wears such elegant clothes! Minami has never seen eyes the color of the sea or hair the color of silver before! Minami is so very happy to meet you Mr. King Sama!"

The King was nearly bowled over by the amount of excitable energy radiating from the young man in front of him. He smiled down at the little spitfire as he spoke.

"Thank you Kenjirou Minami, your praise is truly kind. I am very pleased to meet you."

The King then pointed to the glass vial in the young servant's hand.

'"Is that the recovery potion for Princess Mila?"

"Yes Mr. King Sama. The potion must all be consumed at one time by someone who is fully conscious. If Princess Sama is still sleeping, you must wait until she wakes."

The King took the vial from the young man and tipped his head lightly in his direction.

"Thank you Kenjiro Minami, I will follow the directions without fail."

He excused himself and went back into the tent. With Mila sleeping to his left and the Emperor still sleeping to his right, all he could do was wait.

_terminology_

abbastanza! (Italian) – enough!

Sorella, io ti amo (Italian) Sister, I love you

Ti piace controllarmi! (Italian) – you love to control me!

Arrivederci, fratello (Italian) – goodbye, brother

AZAMI: .