Blossom was awake even before the sun had fully risen. She can't sleep, the room was too different from her own. Red and orange contrasted to the blue and white she was used to. The window's designed with the Fire Kingdom's insignia made her remember the Ice Kindom's Snowflake, and the warmth of the wooden floorboards were farcry to the cold cement of her old room.

It was beautiful to her, much to her annoyance. How the room was designed to feel like a warm home irritated her to an extent, because no matter how beautiful her room looked like, no matter how the place seemed like a normal room, she knew it was her prison cell. She was just a prisoner with a beautiful cell. She wasn't allowed to leave her room, she can only communicate with Bubbles, and there was always a spy-like guard, watching her from a farther distance.

The doors to her room suddenly opened, snapping her out of hef thoughts. She had told Bubbles to be her eyes and ears, and last night she burst in her room and told her about what she found out about Buttercup's dilemma. What information could she possibly have seen or heard that was so important she had burst into her room at the time before sunrise?

"What is it, servant?"

"M-my Lady!" She gasped for air, and Blossom could see just how tired she was, sweat dripping from her forehead, gasping breaths, and her heart trying to calm her beating heart.

"My Lady, I heard from the servants of the kitchen, that the Emperor," she took another deep breath, trying to calm herself, "The Emperor changed his mind about the date of your marriage. Instead of two weeks, you shall marry him in two days time."

She felt like breaking something. Two days. Not enough time for her brother to get her out of the situation, not enough time to plan an escape, not enough time to free Buttercup, there just wasn't enough time.

"My Lady..."

Married to the Fire Emperor, married to the conquerer, married to that man...

She stood up and started pacing. The sun was up and rising, she could here the gongs ringing seven times, indicating it to be the seventh hour in the morning. She needed to plan quickly, she needed to-

"Your Majesty."

She paused, and looked at the door, seeing a silhouette of a person. She looked at Bubbles, and she nodded, before turning to the sillhouette of the woman.

"Who is calling for My Lady?"

"I, the palace messenger, wishes to report to you that you are invited to dine with His Majesty, the Emperor, today."

Bubbles looked panicked, but one look from Blossom calmed her down. Though Blossom wasn't sure about what she was going to do, she nodded to Bubbles.

"My Lady accepts the invitation. At what time should we be there?"

"When the gong rings eight times, Your Majesty." The messenger's sillhouette turned around and slowly faded away from the door.

"Servant, help me prepare, it seems we have to show ourselves to the Emperor. I should 'look my best'."

Bubbles nodded, understanding. She left to bring the clothing, and Blossom was left alone, staring back at her reflection on the golden plate hanging on the wall. It was time for her, the snow fox, to show the dragon how much of a fox she was.

o O o

Buttercup had never felt as helpless as she was now, tied to her bed. She tried breaking the chains, and it would have usually worked, but it didn't. She already knew what the chain was made of, and she cursed the 'Demon General' even more than usual. What she didn't understand was how he managed to obtain the metal. *Moonsilver was exceptionally hard to find, and even harder to mold it into chains.

The chains glowed silver the entire night, keeping her up, and she noticed how the glow was slowly fading, indicating the fall of the moon and the rising of the sun.

She couldn't feel her arms anymore, the chains were tied so tight it was practically crushing her hands. She had expected it to cut her blood circulation, but to her surprise, it didn't. The chains must have been enchanted by one of their *Flare Sorcerers. It was the only reason she could think of.

She could feel the servant staring st her, and she glared at her, making the servant bow her head, shaking. She may have been tied up, but that didn't make her any less dangerous.

She could see the sun rising, and she felt annoyed. She had been tied up the entire night, the whole entire night. Her annoyance grew when she saw one of the guards' silhouette bowing at a figure, and she already knew who he was bowing to even before he entered the room, a smug look on his face. He turned to the servant and ordered her to leave, before facing Buttercup.

"It looks like you have been able to behave tonight," he taunted, making Buttercup want shred him into pieces. He walked with an air of arrogance that made her want to disable him.

"So it looks like I was right." He was right beside her, looking straight in her eyes. "You're not from the Ice Kingdom, aren't you?"

She narrowed her eyes fo just a split second, and that was all he needed to confirm his suspicions. "So you're not from the Ice Kingdom. You were pale, and that was a perfect cover for you, I'll give you that much. Unfortunately for you, you underestimated my skills for deduction."

He touched her cheek, and that was enough for her to snap out of her haze. She didn't even think, she just bit him. He retracted his hand in surprise, before looking at her, studying her. He then chuckled, before gripping her chin.

"You're quite a fighter, even being chained to a bed didn't stop you from trying to attack me."

He let go of her chin, before looking at her straight in the eyes again. "You're not as cold as the people living in the Ice Kingdom. I saw how the heat didn't affect you as much as it affected the other two when the Emperor pulled out his sword. A place cold enough for people not to stay pale, yet warm enough not to be bothered by the Fire Kindom's heat. There are currently five kingdoms with those traits, and three of those five are allies of the Ice Kingdom."

He didn't need to say the names, they both knew she knows them. The Ocean Falls, the Mountain Peak, and the Forest Terra. Buttercup bit back a smirk. He may not be as stupid as she thought, but even he wouldn't have been able to find out where she really came from. Where she came from, was so much darker than the places he thought she came from. None of the three kingdoms would ever speak of the existence of the kingdom she came from.

"And yet, when I really think about it, you don't seem to match any of those kingdom's traits," Butch narrowed his eyes, trying to grasp any flicker of emotion she would show. She betrayed none.

"The Ocean Falls' men are fishermen, their women are only meant to be in their houses, they don't have the need to fight, they're peaceful and hospitable, and they would seem to be more like servants than warriors. The Mountain Peak's people are rugged mountain hunters, so there's that possibility, but they're skilled with range weapons, and you only wielded meelee weapons in the battle, so that wouldn't be right. Forest Terra's men are healers, not fighters, and they have no need to fight, seeing as they are in mutual grounds. The women are either oracles or healers, depending on the talent bestowed unto them by their goddess, so that wouldn't be possible, too."

He placed both his hands on Buttercup's shoulders, exerting a bit of force, before forcing her to stare straight back into his eyes. "That makes me really wonder, where are you really from?"

She smirk, liking the fact she knew something he wanted to know. Savoured the fact. She could see him calculating her, but she felt confident. He wouldn't ever find where she came from, only few know of their existence, and those few knows how much was at stake if they ever told.

Suddenly, she felt him place his hand on her neck, and her mind was sucked into a memory...

She was back there, back to the kingdom. Her kingdom. She watched as the memory Buttercup throwed rocks at the river. The *River of Scythia was as black as its namesake, *Scythia, and memory Buttercup could feel it calling ou to her, wailing out her faults, singing for her to jump.

"Don't even think about it."

Memory Buttercup turned around, shocked to see her brother looking down at her, his face void of all emotions. As a five year old girl, memory Buttercup didn't seem to understand, until she turned around and saw how close she was to the river's banks. She turned and ran to her brother's arms, and although his face showed nothing, she could feel the relief in the way he hugged her back.

"Don't ever go near this plsce, Buttercup. Mother would be upset."

All she could do was nod, before Buttercup felt like cold water had slapped her in the face...

She gasped, before noticing how the General in front of her seem to see her in a different way.

"So I was right, you really did came from that place."

Buttercup couldn't breath. She can't believe it. That man. That General. He knew. How?

She remembered how his hand went to her neck, the brief memory she saw, she felt how familiar it was, how she felt like she should know how he knew. And all of a sudden, she did.

What he did earlier, it was the same thing her brothers used to do to prisoners of war. To see if they deserved to be set free or not. But how?! The only people that could do it were...

"You're from the Demon Caves."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement. The way he carried himself, the way he fought with her, there was no doubt about it. He was like her.

"Now I know why they called you She-Demon. We demons just can't stay away from the battlefield."

o O o

Bubbles didn't know what to expect.

She had watched as Her Lady walked into the Dining Hall with the aura of grace and power.The rest of the occupants stiffened, and Bubbles couldn't feel any prouder.

Her Lady's clothing was blue and silver, the color of the Ice Kingdom, a stark contrast to the rest of the people in the Dining Hall, wearing the red and orange clothing of the Fire Kingdom.

On Blossom's dress were intricate designs of snowflakes, both big and small, and on her back was a picture of an adult snow fox, staring at them fiercely.

The Hall was silent as she took her seat next to the Emperor, who had his eyes trained on her the entire time. He had on an amused look, like he finally found something worth challenging. Bubbles could feel the stares of the people, not just at Blossom, but also at her. She was wearing the same colors, by order of Her Lady.

She stood behind Her Lady, like all the good servants did, waiting for an order. She felt the gazes of the people slowly turned away from her and back to Blossom, as she ate without greeting him or apologizing to him for her tardiness. One gaze din't leave her, though, and she already cursed her bad luck.

It was the man from the Bathing Room. The man she dearly hoped never to see again. She was in deep trouble, seeing as he was seated on a table closer to the Emperor, allowing her to know his rank as a Prince.

She looked around, and saw a group of women glaring at Her Lady. They were obviously the concubines of the Emperor, and Bubbles could feel their hatred from the heated glares they kept sending to Her Lady, who noticed it but decided to ignore them.

Bubbles could see how one of the concubines, a girl with wavy red hair, decorated with red ribbons, and scarlet eyes, seemed to be more aggressive than the rest of the concubines. She would have to keep an eye on her.

She felt a different set of eyes on her, and she glanced at the direction. She saw that it came from a beautiful girl, at least, she thought she was beautiful, she couldn't exactly see it due to how much she glared at her. She didn't know why the woman was glaring at her though. She hadn't offended anyone in her short stay. She had kept her head down the entire time she was there.

She then noticed that whenever she wasn't glaring at her, she was giving someone a doe-eyed look. She looked at the direction the girl was looking at, and she nearly froze when she saw the Prince from the Bathing Room, still watching her. She understands why the woman was glaring at her, now.

By the way she dressed, she could tell she was one of the Princesses, no doubt a high ranking one. She was spoiled, Bubbles could tell. She could also see that the girl wanted to grab the attention of the Prince, and she was angry his attention was fixed on her, a servant.

Bubbles believes that he must have been thinking of ways to punish her for entering the Bathing Room while he was there. Why else would he be looking at her like that. The Princess misunderstood, and it looked like Bubblss had earned her as an enemy, something she didn't need, seeing as she was already in trouble with the Prince.

She hoped she wouldn't be getting any trouble from the girl. It was crucial that she remained invisible.

o O o

Third Princess Brat had had enough of the Ice Kingdom's people. She glared even harder at the servant, that annoying lowlife that somehow managed to capture the attention of Prince Boomer, something she had been trying to do for fifteen years, yet she was still ignored. Now the Prince gave his attention to a servant? A servant?! An enemy's servant, no less!

She can't see how the girl could capture Prince Boomer's attention. She was plain, the clothes she wore was plain, she was supposed to blend into the background, like all servants should. So how in the world had she been able to make Prince Boomer look at her?!

"My Lady, you're hands are bleeding." Her servant whispered, and she looked at her hands, blood leaking from her palm. She had been so angry, her nails had dug onto her skin and made her bleed! She stood up abruptly, and left. Her mind was fixated on that annoying little servant. She wanted her gone.

Then and only then will Prince Boomer notice her. It will be for the best that they would be together.

That servant's head would be rolling if it's the last thing she was going to do!

oooo

*Moonsilver- A rare metal that was unbreakable at night.

*Flare Sorcerers- The most powerful combat sorcerers of the Fire Kingdom.

*River of Scythia- A black river filled with the tears of the Demon Scythia. It's enchanted to call whoever is near by to swim into the water, and once they do, they will be trap in their worst nightmares, forever re-living it for the rest of their lives.

*Scythia- The Demon of Nightmares and Pain.

Author's Note: In this world, Princes, and Princesses aren't always siblings. You can be named a Prince or a Princess if the Emperor has seen something in you that he likes, be it talent, physical beauty, etc. The Princes and Princesses made by the former Emperor are allowed to stay in the palace, but can be removed by the Emperor.