Chapter eight:

The room is just a bedroom.

It makes Kaoru relax as he sees no one inside so he steps inside just for a quick look for any sign of possible

He moves inside to get a better look inside but there is absolutely no sign of any crown so he leaves the room feeling empty handed as he begins to wonder if the crown is even in the castle or not.

…..

"Did you take them down?" Princess Nightmare demands of the two beasts she stepped out in front of with a fist on her hip looking at the two expectantly.

The beasts cower and back off a little giving Princess Nightmare all the information she needs.

Princess Nightmare growls. "We must find a way! They cannot stop us!" She turns and waves a hand through one making it vanish into dark energy that lasts a few seconds as she heads to go to try to find the group to stop them. She pauses and turns to look to the remaining one of the two. "Well what are you waiting for?!" She demands. "Get going!" She waves up a hand from her hip to point indicating for the beast to get moving.

The beast scurries away in terror to follow orders.

Princess Nightmare begins her own search for the group.

The danger has been officially heightened.

…..

Kaoru and Hikaru continue their search then Kaoru spots the throne room.

He heads inside and sure enough right there in the room is the crown as the room seems to sense he is good thus it's like a spell is broken allowing the crown to be seen on the cement holder between . "I found it!" He calls to Hikaru. "Go get the others!"

The crown is like how Princess Hikaru's was described in shape only, this one is a little, but not really a big difference, a little smaller than the one Princess Hikaru wears and it is said to be a black tiara that glimmers with silver sparkles in it almost like stars.

"Be careful Kaoru." Hikaru says worriedly.

"I will." Kaoru moves into the throne room as Hikaru heads to get the others.

Princess Nightmare senses a magical disturbance and growls using her magic to teleport to the throne room. She lands right in front of Kaoru making him stop walking. She glances back and notices the crown. "So this is where it was hidden." She says then turns back to Kaoru only to smirk. "Well it seems this is the end of the line." She says.

"No." Kaoru gets ready to charge.

"You're kidding?" Princess Nightmare says as if talking to someone much weaker. "You're kidding right?"

Kaoru quickly charges forward.

Princess Nightmare moves to charge towards Kaoru.

But at the last second Kaoru manages to slip past Princess Nightmare making her skid to a stop in surprise.

Princess Nightmare glances back. "What!?"

Kaoru grabs the crown and turns to face Princess Nightmare. "This is where you will be defeated." He says and raises the crown to his head.

"No….." Princess Nightmare looks like she's remembering how she was imprisoned then she blinks her eyes narrowing in rage as she growls. "NO!" She gathers up magic that spirals up from the floor around her like a ribbon dancer then up to her hands that are above her head. "I will destroy you first!" She declares.

Kaoru closes his eyes concentrating as hard as he can. "Come on. Come on." He strains himself as he tries to use the crown's power he can sense but somehow it feels like whenever he tries to mentally grab it to use it then it moves away out of reach.

Princess Nightmare uses the magic by quickly lowering her hands as well as bending her body like seen on TV and sends beams that are like shadows heading straight for Kaoru as they are popping off of the ground.

They grip Kaoru making him open his eyes that widen. They throw him across the room to the side where the door is.

He crashes on the ground and the crown also falls to the ground not breaking or even chipping. He has his eyes closed tightly from the impact as he had tried to brace himself for the crash with the ground.

Princess Nightmare stands straight with her arms at her sides as she watches this all happen. She then raises a hand getting ready to snap her fingers. "I will deliver the final blow myself." She says then snaps her fingers.

All the beasts and the beams she had made suddenly vanish disappearing into a haze of dark mist before completely fading a few seconds after.

Princess Nightmare lowers her hand and begins to advance towards Kaoru.

Kaoru opens on eye, the one that is not closest to the floor, half way and he spots the crown not far from him. He shifts and looks over to see Princess Nightmare getting closer and closer. He quickly goes for the crown but before he grabs it he pauses hearing something.

"We are coming Kaoru!"

….

The others had been hurrying to where Kaoru is when they notice the beasts be destroyed and they took this as a bad sign that Princess Nightmare has found Kaoru and the crown. They pick up the pace, Hikaru especially, as they rush to get to Kaoru hopefully before something bad happens.

Kaoru slightly turns to the open door and sees the shadows of his friends approaching on the walls. He gasps then his eyes slightly widen as there is a small glimmer reflected in them as he feels something way deep down inside. He smiles and turns to Princess Nightmare standing facing her without any fear.

Princess Nightmare stops walking and looks at Kaoru's face. "You cannot use the crown." She chuckles. "so that means you lose!" She begins advancing a little faster this time intending to kill Kaoru.

"You think that you have won?" Kaoru speaks. "Well you are wrong."

Princess Nightmare's eyes narrow. "It is you is wrong!" She declares loudly without yelling.

The others come up into the room.

"No Nightmare." Kaoru says. "This is where you will be defeated."