"Mommy!"

In the middle of a warmly lit room, a girl around the age of five and a woman who looked to be around her middle twenties were playing with each other.

"What is it?" the young woman looked down warmly at her daughter.

"Do you miss Daddy?" the girl asked, gazing up curiously at her mother's expression.

Her mother seemed caught off guard by the question, and for a moment, a streak of sadness pierced through her brown eyes, but when she blinked again, it was gone. She smiled and nodded, "Of course I do. I miss your Dad very much."

The girl pouted and made a face as if she had just eaten a lemon. "Then I want to see him. I haven't seen him yet. When will I be able to?"

Smiling with another hint of sadness, she touched her daughter's cheek very lightly. "I'm not sure, honey. But we will one day. And when we do, let's give him a big hug!"

The girl stared at her mother, the brightness in her face slowly fading. It was as if she had seen this expression many times before and didn't know what to do about it. She suddenly started to tickle her daughter who rolled onto the ground and started to laugh.

"Don't you worry about it," she laughed, stopping the tickling. "We will see him one day. Just not today."

"You love him, right?" the girl stared at her mother again very carefully.

She opened her mouth and closed it. Opened it again and then closed it. Finally she managed to say, "Very much."

The girl's expression saddened as she quickly glanced the other way. There were tears threatening to spill in her eyes. The girl climbed on top of her mother's lap and hugged her chest. Her mother smiled softly before wrapping her arms around her daughter too.

"Mommy?"

"Hm?"

"What's it like to fall in love?"

"It's the best feeling in the world. But it also can hurt you the most. It's strange how even though humans know this, they keep on searching for one."

The girl looked at her mother confused. "I don't get it."

She ruffled her daughter's hair. "You will get it one day. Try to look at things from a different angle and then maybe you'll understand."

The girl tilted her head as if literally trying to find a different angle to look at the problem. "I still don't get it."

Laughing, she held her daughter more closely. Affection and warmth surrounded the two of them as she hummed a tune to her daughter who silently began to fall asleep. Realizing this, she slowly stood up and placed her daughter into her bed.

"Of course," the mother whispered softly, brushing her daughter's hair gently. "You're still young. But when you're older, I promise I'll tell you everything. Everything."

                                                                        ...

"Ugh."

My mind immediately began to throb when I woke up. Frowning, I rubbed my head and tried to recall my dream. What in the world was that dream?

Glancing up, I realized that the sky had grown dark, and by the smell hanging in the air, I guessed it was almost time for dinner. Sighing, I leaned my head against the tree's trunk; I didn't feel like getting up. The problems that disappeared while I was dreaming were going to come back, and I wasn't in the mood to deal with them now.

I leaned my head sideways and stared listlessly at the grass. A chilly wind swept through my hair and tousled it high in the wind, sending goosebumps up my arms.

Trying to lose the cold, I got up and walked towards the large campsite. As I retrieved my bowl of food, I glanced down at it. Inside there was fish, meat, octopus, seaweed, squid, and mushroom. I stared blankly at the bowl as something began to tug the back of my mind.

"Yuck. I hate fish."

"Be grateful."

"Ugh. I hate mushroom, too."

A lump suddenly formed in my throat as I walked away. Hold it in. Hold it in. Hold it in.

The air around me suddenly became suffocating, and the happy voices talking in the background became a bother to me. I turned around quickly to get out of here only to bump in Jake.

"Sakura!" Jake exclaimed. "Hey, I have something I want to tell you—"

"Sorry, but can you tell me later?" I muttered, pushing the bowl of food into his hands.

"Huh? Wait! Sakura!" I rushed away as Jake's voice called after me.

As I was running, my mind was repeating only one word over and over again.

Quiet.

Quiet.

Quiet.

I couldn't believe I just walked into the campsite and back out in five seconds, but I wasn't about to cry in front of everyone. I needed to cool my mind, and I knew where to go for that.

When I reached the cliff, a huge blast of wind erupted in my face. It was extremely cold and chilly, but it felt good. Taking a deep breath, I could smell of salty seawater and remembered the harsh experience when I tried to find Hayden against the waves. I sat a feet away from the cliff's edge and stared blankly at the dark waves.

Hayden...shit—

I shook my head. It wouldn't do me any good to just sit and dwell. Speaking of dwelling, I think it's time to leave. Probably leave tomorrow...

"You're still young. But when you grow older, I promise I'll tell you everything. Everything."

Without realizing it, my thoughts had drifted back to my dream. Was that Mom? I tried to think deeper but the more I did, the more my head started to hurt. I felt so exhausted, even though I just took a nap.

Looking down at my hands, I opened and closed them. Ever since I discovered I had royal blood inside of me, my life had drastically changed. The people I once knew disappeared and our distance grew apart. But I'd also met a lot of new people who had changed my life. 

Yet I wasn't supposed to meet these new people. I was supposed to be kept a secret. Someone who wasn't supposed to exist in the first place. I wasn't supposed to have royal blood inside of me.

If Mom hadn't run away with Dad, this wouldn't have happened.

If Guren hadn't come and interrupted the festival that night, maybe we still had time to figure things out.

If I had just been more powerful in the beginning, I would have May and Mom by my side still.

But my "if's" were just a hallucination. This was reality.

I sighed and hung my head. My head was throbbing again. Closing my eyes, I fell backwards and relaxed my tense muscles. I opened my eyes and was met with a stunning sight.

From where I was lying, I could see the beautiful stars that littered the sky. It was mind boggling just thinking how brightly they had to shine against this dark sky when they were so far away from us. Raising my hand, I began tracing the stars. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my finger.

"What are you doing?" a voice above me panted. I gasped in surprise to see Justin's face above me.

"Why do you look so winded?" I asked him, sitting up.

Justin was panting, and his hair was a mess. His eyes, that usually held a mischievous, quiet glint, were now wild and panicked. 

"Don't avoid the question," he let go of my finger. "Where were you? You said you were going to talk to Curt, but does it really take you until dinnertime?"

I was stunned. "You guys waited for that long?!"

"No, of course not," Justin sat next to me. "We saw you sleeping in the trees so we didn't disturb you. When it was time to eat, Yuri went to fetch you, but he said you weren't there. So we went to the campsite to see if you were there but we didn't see you. Then Catherine and Yuri started to panic and to make matters worse, Jake came running to us with this stupid worried expression on his face and said that you had disappeared or something."

"Sorry," I muttered. "I was just cooling off for a second."

"Well next time tell us," he shook his head. "Everyone is panicking." Justin shook his head and let out a long sigh. "Seriously...you're going to die before we even make it to the kingdom..."

I froze. Justin's words rang inside my head as loud as a large bell going off in my head. 

Dying. 

Death. 

I suddenly felt my breaths shallow. Flashes of dead soldiers, May laying on the ground unconscious, Yuri with a pool of blood around his head...

I squeezed my eyes shut. What was going on with me? Why—

"Princess!"

I gasped, and suddenly, the world tuned back in. I could hear the fear in Justin's voice, the incessant shaking of my shoulder, the painful grip he had on me—

"Are you alright?" I felt Justin take my face into his hands and force me to look at him. I didn't know why or what kind of significance Justin held for me, but I could feel my beating heart calm down, and my wild thoughts resting. 

I think I was really going crazy. Taking a deep breath, I took in Justin's presence. It was weird, really, how out of everyone in the group, I relied on Justin. He was barely older than me, had a horrible attitude, and didn't know how to have fun for the sake of his life. Yet I felt most connected to him.

Why? 

I narrowed my eyes and put both my hands against Justin's cheeks gently. His grip on my shoulders suddenly disappeared as his hands slipped off of me. I held his golden eyes, remembering how they were the last thing I saw before I was taken away from my hometown... and Mom.

That's right. I had something to tell Justin.

"Hey," I said quietly. "Do you remember our conversation a few days ago?"

Justin stayed quiet, but I knew he remembered. Brushing off his unresponsiveness, I made sure we were still looking at each other. "You remember how you were so assertive about protecting me? Protect me then. Give me the power to protect myself."

A moment of silence fell among us before Justin quietly spoke up, "We already discussed this. Why are you bringing it up again?"

"Cause I don't recall you agreeing to my terms," I said.

I wanted to blink. My eyes were dry and hurting from opening them for so long, but I couldn't blink. Even though I wanted to, I couldn't. 

His eyes were so firm and still, that I couldn't look away. I was only being sucked in further in further into those dark, cold eyes.

Then, out of the blue, Justin suddenly broke into a small smirk. He grabbed one of my wrists and pulled it away from his cheek. "No need to look so scary. You're the princess here. I'm merely a follower."

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was so gentle and calm about it during our first conversation, but why did it seem like he was mocking me now?

"I'm serious, Justin," I growled quietly, taking my hand off his cheek and wrapping it around his cloak collar. "I know you haven't even spent ten percent of what you actually know in swordsmanship with me during practice. Don't waste my time."

"Quite brave for a girl to talk to me like this when she's the one who needs help," Justin cocked his head to a side, the moonlight catching a smart glint in his eyes as he let go of my wrist.

"I'm only doing this so—" my words caught in my throat. I could almost feel the pressuring stare Justin was boring down on me and took a steady breath. "I don't need people following me and telling me what to do like what my mom used to do with me and May. I want to live—"

"You are living," Justin interrupted. 

"I spend everyday, every living moment of my life worrying about one thing if not another. How's David holding up with Ethan? Is May awake? Is Mom okay? Is she even... alive?" I choked up on the last word but pushed down the ball in my throat threatening to spill. "I'm not living, Justin. I need to be able to grab a weapon and fight and win. I've said it countless of times before, but I've gotten nowhere. Just because my heart is still beating doesn't mean I'm living."

"...you were able to protect—"

"More," I shook my head. "I need more practice. Did you see how weak I was against Guren? I—"

Justin's eyes glazed over, his liquid golden eyes hardening. "You're comparing yourself to Guren? Do you know who this man is? He is the leader of the Royal Army. He overlooks everyone in the kingdom who wants to get into the army—"

My grip on his collar tightened, and a surprised laugh escaped my throat. Justin stopped talking. I shook my head, "Guren? You think my main concern is Guren? Did you forget who is our final enemy we have to take down in the end? It's not Guren; It's the king. And the king has a demon with him. Some kind of demonic power. A power he won't risk to use to hurt us."

"What's your point?" Justin asked. "You have a demon within you. Why are you so fixed on having me teach you how to wield a weapon—?"

My grip on Justin's collar loosened. "A demon will talk back. A demon will decide whether or not to help you. A demon has its own opinions. But a weapon?"

I grabbed a dagger from Justin's straps and tapped the point to Justin's neck. He stared up at me, eyes hard and cold, but with no fear. I rose any eyebrow. "A weapon won't ever betray whoever holds it. And that thing who we need the most is the last thing I can trust."

Justin frowned. When he spoke again, his voice was much quieter. "Who here has betrayed you that badly that you're talking like that?"

"No one," I responded, retracting back the dagger. "But in the last two villages, David was betrayed. Jake was betrayed. And I'm not going to make the same mistake as they did."

I let go of his collar. "So before I die, I want to live."

An ominous wind swept past us, sending our hair flying in the wind. But the coldness of the wind had nothing on the bitter eyes that I was staring into. It sent questions in my mind that I had no business trying to answer. 

Then, out of the blue, the corner of Justin's lips curved upward. "Hmph."

I blinked. Did he just—

"The reason why I've been holding back all this time is because I still didn't believe you," he said. "You didn't seem to be understanding the gravity of the situation or wanting to be here in the first place, even though you decided to come along with us. You came with us in the beginning to try and get revenge for your sister, still not thinking everything through, but now that you realize it's harder than it looks, you're frustrated."

"To be honest, though," Justin shifted, his disheveled bangs moving across his forehead. "I don't want to teach you after seeing how irrational you are, running into danger and everything, but if that's what you want..."

"So you promise to teach me then?" I asked. "To the fullest degree?"

"You're still stupid," Justin sighed, pulling back his hand. "You run into danger without thinking, and you underestimate your opponent because of how hot-headed and stubborn you are. I'll teach you all the defense techniques I know, but I'll be a little more hesitant on the offense side because you're going to get the idea that you want to protect everybody and then hurt yourself..."

"Justin," I snapped. "I—"

"Don't overestimate yourself, Princess," Justin muttered. "One day, you'll find yourself in a sticky situation where you won't have anyone around to help you. When your demon comes out, I won't have the power to hold you back anymore. But right now, you have to keep that burning desire of yours to get stronger under control so that it won't blind you in the future."

The words in my throat bubbled down as quickly as they rose. He was right. I still had to deal with this stupid demon—

Justin's eyes suddenly broke our stare and looked over to my right. I turned around curiously and recognized three familiar figures running towards us.

A streak of blond whizzed towards me, and suddenly, I was being strangled by Yuri. Half sobbing and half choking on his words, he spluttered, "Where were you Miss?!"

I heard two more pairs of footsteps run up to us. Catherine and Tristan both hovered over me too, their breaths uneven. Judging by their facial expressions when they saw me, I knew they were relieved, but I also knew I was in big trouble.

"Care to explain where you went?" Catherine loomed over me. Something tells me she's not all that jolly happy.

"Am I allowed to say that I was resting?" I squeaked.

"Then you should've told us! Or at least don't act like you're going to leave us!" Catherine exploded.

"I'm sorry," I sighed, bowing my head as an apology. "Speaking of leaving though, tomorrow I'm planning on heading out."

A strange silence fell upon the group.

"That's kind of rushed," Yuri spoke up.

"No," I shook my head. "It's time to go. We don't have anything else to worry about. Curt will still be the leader of this village. We're done here."

"Are you even in the right state to travel again though?" Tristan asked.

"We have a doctor here!" Catherine pointed to herself proudly. "I don't know why, but I think there's something with her Royal blood that gives her body great healing prowess."

"So, what do you think?" I asked Tristan and Yuri.

Tristan flashed me a smile. "Wherever you want to go, princess."

Looking over at Yuri, he nodded as well. "Yuri goes wherever Miss goes!"

"Stop acting like knights, you three," I sighed.

Justin, Yuri, and Tristan looked at each other with a strange look. I felt a strong premonition creep up my spine when I spotted them giving each other knowing glances.

"About that..." Tristan smiled.

"We'll tell her when the time comes," Justin interrupted.

"Hehe. I'm excited," Yuri grinned.

I stared at the three boys, slightly apprehensive by the way they were acting. Usually, the secrets they held away from me were never good. "What is it?" I demanded.

Justin waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing you have to worry about."

I narrowed my eyes and stared, but he ignored me and turned around. I looked away, knowing I wouldn't be able to get him to tell me anything and sighed. "Anyways, you guys should go eat. I've already eaten so I'm going to bed."

They nodded and started towards the campsite. I sighed once more and glanced at the stars. Reaching into the pocket of my cloak, I squeezed the shards of my once intact jade necklace.

This was reality. Everyone's gone. I had to accept that. But they're not gone forever because I'm getting them back.

~~~~~

What do you guys think? Sorry, this chapter's kinda boring, but gotta build up a little, ya know? Next chapter will be better...I think... Excited for the next town? Hehe, there's some good stuff coming up guys so stay tuned ;))

Thank you all for your continuous support. You don't know how much it means to me that you guys have followed me all the way here.