Akira: Goodness… I can't believe I updated this! It's been like almost two years! The story isn't dead yet, I swear. This will not be on my priority list, but it will still be updated if I have the time to write for this fandom. Let's move on to chapter IV!

Chapter IV: Beginnings

Who was that boy? How did he manage to find out her secret? Setsuna contemplated to herself as she sat in her room, still wearing her drenched clothes. What did he mean by Konoe? Wasn't Konoe the name of the previous rulers of the Mahora Kingdom? That girl, she was definitely no ordinary peasant. If she was who Setsuna thought she was… Uzoku land would be in immediate danger of being attacked by the Mahorians. As the 'prince' of the tribe, she had to do something about it; and quick.

Never ever show your wings unless it's an emergency.

Well, it certainly was an emergency. She grabbed Yuunagi and headed straight for the window. With a little concentration, she mustered her strength and revealed her snowy white wings to no one but herself. Jumping off the window ledge, she spread her wings fully and flapped them hard. How many years has it been since she was allowed to fly? No, now's not the time for that. She had to find Konoka quick, the girl was in danger.

xxxxx

Konoka sat at the edge of her bed and shivered. That white haired boy… why did he call her Konoe-hime? The water from her clothes dripped clumsily onto the floor as she stayed in the same position, deep in thought.

"Tadaima, hime-chan, where're you?" the voice of Takamichi rang in the house merrily, bringing Konoka out of her daze as she stood up from her position.

"Okaeri nasai, Otou-san, I'm in the room," the brown haired girl replied forcibly and stepped out of her room in her drenched clothes unknowingly. Sensing that there was something not right, Takamichi made his way to his princess immediately and held her shoulders lightly in a caring manner as he set the drenched girl

"What's wrong hime? Did something happen?" his voice was stern, but the gentleness in it was undeniable. Konoka shook her head slightly and attempted a fake smile at her father even though she knew that he would soon see through her façade. After all, he was the one who knew her best; other than Asuna of course. The tall bespectacled man frowned. She was hiding something from him, and he knew it. Taking a deep breath this time, he cradled the teenage girl in his arms and caressed her head caringly before pulling away and looking straight into her chocolate brown eyes, asking once again, "Hime-chan, something did happen right? Whatever it is, you can tell me. I'll always be here to help you."

Hesitation was evident in her actions. She opened her mouth to speak, only to close them again. The silence was almost deafening as countless questions raged through her mind while she fumbled for the right words to say to her beloved father. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, the front door burst open, revealing an orange haired girl who fell face first onto the floor, apparently being tripped over by something that was placed near the entrance earlier. The Takahata girl bit her lip to fight back her urge to laugh out loud at her friend's weird position on the ground, momentarily forgetting about the question at hand.

Takamichi sighed; perhaps that was not the right time to ask. She would tell him if she was ready, he decided. It was a form of understanding that they had between them as father and daughter. Though they were not related by blood, he had grown close to the Konoe heir through the years, loving and caring for her as a father. To him, protecting Konoka was no longer an obligation but a way of loving his daughter. He gave her a small smile and stood to his full height while he ruffled her hair.

"I'll be in my room hime-chan, call on me if you want to talk, okay?"

"Sure, thank you, Otou-san," she smiled gratefully at her doting father and turned her attention back to her best friend who had already picked herself off the ground, brushing dust off as she gawked at her drenched roommate.

"Wow, whatever happened to you, must've been pretty epic what with you sitting in here wetting the bed with those clothes of yours," Asuna said to her jokingly and plopped right beside her.

"So what's up? It's not like you to sit here and worry."

"It's nothing, I just came back from the woods and it was raining really hard. I couldn't get out of the rain quick enough," the chocolate haired girl explained quickly.

"Oh… You should really go take a shower or something then, or else you're gonna catch a cold," the twin pigtailed girl gave her best friend a slight pat and squeeze on the shoulder as a form of assurance and left the room to the Takahata girl.

She let out a sigh. Questions that needed answers were not answered. She had to find out somehow. But who can help?

xxxxx

Somewhere along the borders of the Uzoku land a ninja panted heavily. Her breaths were erratic and her heart was beating in irregular rhythms. She looked around herself. She was greatly outnumbered and she knew that she could not last for long if the enemies kept coming in waves. Her end was near, she could feel it. She had to send them a message quickly lest it became too late for them to do anything. With one determined look at the pouring waves of enemies, she summoned all her strength and duplicated thousand images of herself and ordered a few of them to bring messages back to the capital.

She smirked to herself and muttered silently, "Let the game begin."

xxxxx

The storm was brewing. It seemed like the rain wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. The land was muddy and the rain was heavy enough to cause a landslide ahead of her. The ninja clone moved stealthily in the foreboding rain and soldiered on, trying to reach the capital as soon as she could no matter the obstacles.

xxxxx

It wasn't the right weather to be flying she knew. Even though logic told her that, flashes of images of the chocolate haired girl in danger urged her to fly on. Where the heck did the girl say she lived again?! Sensing hostility from her right, she dodged quickly to her left, narrowly avoiding the lightning strike which managed to come close to her.

"Dammit, where is she?!"

xxxxx

Back in the dark palace of the Uzoku tribe, bodies of Uzoku soldiers lay wasted in the corners of dark hallways as Mahorian spies combed the castle in silence for an ancient relic which slept within the deepest part of the dungeons.

"Keep searching, we must find it."

"Yes sir!"

xxxxx

The former captain of Mahorian royal knights jerked awake from his sleep. Something was wrong, he could feel it. Something was nearing, but what? With a grunt, the former knight groped around in the darkness for his glasses and placed them upon his nose as soon as he found them. Takamichi reached under his bed and quietly pulled an old, dust covered chest from underneath the bed.

'Long time no see, old friend,' thought the man as he removed the sword from the chest. The sheathed sword emitted a light glow as it was removed from the dusty chest. The symbol engraved upon the sword was of the royal knights of the Mahora kingdom. The Takahata man grabbed hold of the sword and slowly tip-toed his way to the girls' room and gave it a silent knock. The only thing he could hear in the silence of the night was the sound of his slow, steady breathing and the falling of the rain outside.

"Otou-san?" the door to the girls' room creaked open, revealing a slightly disheveled girl who was rubbing her eyes to keep them open.

"Hime-chan, can you wake Asuna-kun?" spoke the bespectacled man in a whisper. The chocolate haired girl cocked her head to the side in confusion, her eyes questioning her father for an answer to his actions.

"I'm sorry hime-chan, there's no time to explain now. I'll explain everything later," the tall man hushed and urged the girl to move quickly.

xxxxx

"You will never find what you want here!" spat the Uzoku man at his assailant, the blood from his mouth landing upon the assassin's face.

The man grinned sickly and twisted the sword which was embedded deep in the Uzoku advisor's abdomen, earning a deafening scream from the impaled man.

"You will tell me where it is, whether you want to or not, Hattori Soichi-san."

'Please be safe, Setsuna-sama. Do forgive your humble servant for not being able to serve you any longer,' with that last thought, the Uzoku man grabbed hold of the embedded blade with his bare hands and plunged it deeper.

xxxxx

"Isn't it time yet, Fate?!" the woman whined impatiently as she twirled the knife in her hand, "Izanagi is crying for blood to be spilled!"

The white haired boy threw a cold glance at the woman, his blue eyes piercing through her soul and replied emotionlessly, "Have you forgotten his orders?"

"But!"

"We wait, they're already on the move."