Chapter Five: Determination
Mizunokierer had arrived at the castle and was surprised to find himself immediately surrounded by castle guards and held there, they were preventing him from taking flight or even moving. Angry faces surrounded him with accusations. They kept shouting for him to tell him where he had taken the Princess and that he would be given a quick death if he returned her immediately.
�What do you mean? Where is Caprice!? Let me go!� He cried out repeatedly.
Confusion raced through his mind as they repeatedly hit him with clubs, poles and what ever else they could find.
He lowered his face trying to protect his head and neck from the brutal blows with his arms. He felt a trickle of blood flow down his face and into his eyes. Pain racked his body and he fell. His breathing was ragged, as if they had damaged something inside of him.
�Stop!� An authoritative voice commanded them. It sounded female and almost exactly like Caprice.
He could barely raise his head to look up at who had saved him. A figure stared down at him coldly. �If you kill him we may never find my daughter again. If he dies I will hold you all responsible. Hurt him. But don�t kill him until we have the information we need.�
She leaned forward and he recognized the queens cold merciless face staring down straight into his eyes. Her voice was deathly cold.
�I know who you are. You�re that filthy beast that my daughter insisted on socializing with. But no more. I always knew that your relationship to her would come to no good. What you should have done was stay with your own class.� She leaned down and yanked a handful of his hair up so they were face to face. �If my heir to the throne has been harmed in any way we will slice off your wings, skin you, then put you on a spit and display you over the village as a message to all. It will be slow and very, very painful. But then again you may be lucky and die from the pain or physical trauma. But I doubt that. Our people who are in charge of torture are very good at what they do.� She flung his head to the ground the stood up and wiped her hand off on her dress, as if she had touched something unspeakable vile.
Another guard kicked him in the side. He screamed, blood pouring out of his mouth. His ribs in the area all felt broken. He made a quick move as if he would take flight and escape, and he actually got a few feet off of the ground before someone threw a rope around his neck and dragged him down. Several strong arms held him down as they chained him to the ground. Pain racked his entire body. One of his wings were broken.
He received a sharp blow to the back of his head and mercifully knew no more.
A loud abrupt noise turned her around only to come face to face with another Namiga. One that she didn�t know. His bright blue hair fell into his eyes and several emotions crossed over his face as he stood there staring at her. Outrage, anger, confusion, worry, suspicion, dawning horror, then fear. His eyes grew wide and his breathing sped up and he slowly began taking steps away from Caprice.
She clutched at her staff, annoyed, and took a deep breath, then turned to him and yelled �BOO!!�
He screamed then tried to turn and tripped then got back up and ran screaming that Cassiopeia had awakened.
Sweat trickled down her spine. She probably didn�t have much time before she was swarmed and destroyed by Namiga warriors. She turned to run and tripped on her staff. She fell and sprawled into the mud getting quite a mouthful. She got up cursing.
�Stupid-!..You should watch where you�re going-! I�m going to-!� She sputtered, cutting herself off. She stood. �What kind of idiot would put mud there! Stupidest place in the cosmos for a pile of mud to be!�
With that she �hmphed� and turned to walk away and was startled by a loud wailing siren that sounded over the forest. Reality hit her and a grim determination came over her. She was going to make it back to the palace and change then find Mizunokierer! No matter what!
She scowled down at the staff that had caused her to trip and it disappeared. Puzzled, she looked around for it then felt a warm energy enter her. Ah ha! She thought. It had entered her. That made things easier.
The run back to the castle was much easier, if not less stressful, than the run to the shrine. She had to duck into bushes to avoid Namiga Scouters looking for her. She looked up and saw the familiar light of the castle. She stopped and took another good look. Something seemed wrong, or out of place.
A red haze surrounded the castle. That could only mean�
�Fire!� She ran as quickly as she could to the opening of the castle doors.
Torchbearers surrounded the gates. As soon as they saw her they let her through and yelled out that the princess was found. Around a dozen guards came to meet her. She ran past all of them towards the front doors, wondering what the heck was going on. Her mother ran forward and picked her up, squeezing her.
�Oh my god! Did that nasty Namiga hurt you?! Did he? Ohh! I knew you should have never associated yourself with his kind! What if you had died!? Who would have inherited mommies throne then?� She continued to ramble and hug Caprice, mumbling nonsense about how they were going to punish the creature that kidnapped her.
Caprice gasped for air.
�Can�t� breathe�.� Her mother loosened and looked at her.
�What are you talking about? Punish what creature for what?� Suspicion and worry blossomed in her mind.
�Don�t worry anymore dear.. Mizunokierers punishment has already begun. He can�t hurt you anymore.�
Her mother released her and stepped back.
Shocked Caprice could only open her mouth and shut it a few times before horror crept over her. A white rage enveloped her.
�You�. You�� She looked down and clenched her fists shaking with hatred. They had Mizunokierer�Her mother leaned in trying to understand what she was saying. and they had hurt him� �You.. You�. You B*TCH!!!�
She began hitting the queen and screaming. The queen backed up, surprised and not quite knowing what to do.
�Where is he!? Where did you take him!?�
The Queen stumbled and shoved at Caprice to get her away. Her mother looked up at her with near hatred in her eyes.
�If you weren�t my only child I would have you killed! Disobedient little witch!� She got up, towering over Caprice. She spat at her. �If fact�I will severely punish you. You can join your dear little friend in the chambers!�
She grabbed onto Caprices arm. Caprice felt her powers grow once more and she yanked her arm out of her mothers grasp. Her staff appeared. She grabbed it out of the air and pointed it at her mother.
� Don�t.!� That one word let out all of her anger in a near hiss. �Don�t you ever come near me again! You are not my mother!�
Puzzlement crossed her mothers� nearly pinched face. �What the hell is that�?� She said looking at the staff. She didn�t recognize it for what it was.
A circle of guards surrounded them, not knowing what to do. Caprice began glowing an evil shade of green and she walked backwards to the main doors keeping everyone in her sight at all times. The guards moved in front of her.
She stood there, pointing her staff at the crowd. She barked out a laugh.
�Well, this is familiar.�
A strong wind came from over the valley and blew their torches out. There were a few moments of confusion as they fumbled in the darkness for another light.
She turned from the darkness and ran inside towards the statue. She stopped. If she was going to run into the chambers and break Mizunokierer out she was going to need more power. She tried to think back to the story Mizunokierer had told her about her previous existence. As she was thinking she re-absorbed the staff into herself. Her hands hurt.
They had lit their torches again. Outside, it seemed that the Namiga scouts were reporting to the queen about the awakening of Cassiopeia. She gaped at them.
Caprice opened her eyes to the darkness. Everything was going according to order� except the part where Cassiopeia was supposed to know the way to regain her powers and transform to her true form. She hadn�t a clue where to start. She went over to the statue and sat down, trying to gather her thoughts and breath, before her mother made a connection to the Awakening, the Staff, and her. As soon as she touched the statue she felt a shock of power. She looked up to find the face of the statue glowing green where it�s eyes should be. It�s arm quivered.
Caprice jumped off and backed away, staring at it. The arm dropped and pointed to the floor at it�s feet. Caprice walked forward looking for whatever the statue was pointing at. A mist rose up from the ground and looked at her, waiting for something.
Caprice quickly thought over Mizunokierers story then turned to it.
�As a direct blood descendant of those who helped aid in Cassiopeias downfall I hereby give permission and passage for Cassiopeia to enter the place where her main source of power lies.
The Shadow drooped then looked up at her. It spoke to her mind.
�As you say it, it shall be done. No matter how bad of a choice you make I must honor my vows."� The shadow faded and the ground shifted. A stairway appeared in front of the statue leading down in front of it.
People began swarming into the castle after her.
She sighed to herself. It seems that they figured it out�
With that thought she began to jog down the stairs. As she ran the stairs behind her gave out and crashed down to where ever the bottom of the stairs would lead. Nobody would be following her.
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