The capital lays quiet as the brisk morning air settles on its empty streets and nothing but the sound of creatures flying over head can be heard. A singular home sits in the corner by the large wall. The home sits almost hidden away from the rest of the capital as its small walls pale in comparison to some of the buildings surrounding it. Within the home Gou slowly gets out of bed as he leaves a woman sleeping. He turns and smiles as she continues sleeping before he begins to get dressed.

“And where are you going so early?”, The woman shouts from the bedroom as Gou is just about to leave. She steps out of the bedroom smiling at Gou as his hand rests on the door handle.

“Family stuff… y’know how it is”

The woman sighs but smirks to him, “Is Asahi back yet?”

“No…”

She chuckles as she gives him a knowing look, “You’re nervous for him, aren’t you?” Her tone is mocking as he rolls his eyes and opens the door. She leans against the bedroom door frame as she waves goodbye. He scoffs in response and smiles, “Bye Bianca”.

Her smirk drops to a look of worry for him as she watches the door slowly close. She walks over to the window and watches him walk through the street as people throw themselves at him in admiration.

Gou smiles to the people as he walks through the streets.

“My lord!”

“We love you Gou!”

His smile is forced as he waves to the people cheering for him until he eventually reaches the large building. He closes the door behind him before sighing deeply.

Kenji stands before him as he jumps in fright as his father smiles in amusement.

“Glad it was funny for you” Gou says as he control his breathing.

Kenji places his hand on his son’s shoulder as he smiles and he begins to guide him towards the stairs.

The two walk into the large meeting room as Gou’s smile drops as his father walks over to the large painting on the wall. Kenji stares up at it with determination in his eyes. Gou sits down with a sigh as he leans back on one of the chairs at the large table. Kenji looks over at his son with a suspicious glint in his eye.

“What’s wrong?”

Gou places his head on the table as he mumbles “Nothing”, Kenji laughs slightly as he sits beside his son. “Clearly”.

Gou lifts his head as his father places his hand on his back, “It’s just…”. Kenji raises his eyebrows gesturing to continue.

Just as Gou goes to speak they hear a knock on the door and a voice of a woman from the other side, “It’s me”, Kenji’s eyes sullen ever so slightly as he stands and pats Gou on the back,

“We’ll continue this later”, Gou sighs as he stands.

The door slowly opens as the woman who was sat at the table walks in leaving Gou shocked. She gives Gou a side eye as she walks towards Kenji and embraces him. Gou looks at him confused as he looks back at him with a strange look in his eye. Gou looks towards the painting on the wall and back at Kenji,

“I’ll talk with you later Gou” His voice is stern and cold unlike his demeanour just seconds ago.

As Gou closes the door behind him, he sees the two kiss just before he leaves. His brow grows burrowed until he comes face to face with the young man and woman who were standing behind her at the table. His face quickly changes to a smile as he greets the two.

The woman rolls her eyes and leans against the wall as the man smiles and shakes Gou’s hand,

“Hi, my name’s Leo… this is Lily”, He has an endearing and friendly face quite opposite to Lily who scowls at Gou.

“You two are…”

“Oh, we’re Leo and Lily Maximillian… our mother is Beatrix”, Gou looks at the two as Leo continues to shake his hand.

“You can stop doing that now”, Gou chuckles as Leo quickly pulls back awkwardly.

“Yeah, stop being a kiss ass Leo”, Leo laughs as he ruffles his hair to hide his awkwardness.

“So, Gou… uh I don’t really know what to talk about”, Lily groans at Leo’s pathetic attempt at small talk.

“You’re killing me hear Leo”, Gou laughs at the two playing off one another before slowly losing his smile as he looks back at the door.

“Our parents are getting it on in there I think”, Lily’s bluntness makes Leo jump and grow red in the face, but Gou just stares sadly at the door.

“You know no one has ever crossed bloodlines before… I don’t even know If you can” Gou grows curious at Lily’s statement,

“You mean you don’t know if the gods would allow it?”, she nods in response before lifting herself off the wall. “Not that I care all too much.” Lily begins to walk away down the hallway as Leo smiles and bows to Gou before running after her. Gou watches the two leave together as he is left to ponder over what his father is doing.

He isn’t given much time to think it over as the door opens behind him and out comes Beatrix. She looks at him with a hint of disgust as she strides past him with a murmur. Gou watches her leave with anger in his eyes before his father interrupts his thoughts.

“You’re still here?”, Gou looks at him with that same anger in his eyes,

“I need you to tell me what’s going on here”, Kenji closes his eyes and nods as he opens the door wide and gestures for him to come back in.

“Why?”, Kenji stands on the opposite side of the table to Kenji as his father slowly sits down with his hands clasped together as if he was serious about something.

“I am doing this all for your mother…” His eyes slowly look back at the painting on the wall.

“You’ve got a girlfriend for mother?” Gou almost laughs at the absurdity.

“Look Gou, I think you just have to trust me”, Gou rolls his eyes as he walks around the table towards the painting. He looks at it with a longing in his stare,

“You always say I should trust you… but you don’t trust me to tell me what it is you’re doing”, he places his hand on the frame of the picture.

Kenji slowly stands before walking towards a door in the other side of the room. “Come with me Gou”, Gou follows him into a room he’s never seen before.

The room is dark as he walks in, and he can’t see anything. “What am I doing in here?”, Kenji grabs a match from a nearby table and begins lighting all the lanterns that line the walls of the small room. Gou’s eyes widen as the contents begin to be covered in the golden glow of the flames. His eyes dart around the room before becoming fixated on something that he begins to slowly walk towards.

“Is this…”, Kenji stands beside him and stares up.

A dress with a large slash in the stomach with blood surrounding it hangs on the wall with jewellery surrounding it. Gou’s eyes grow saddened as he takes this all in,

“This is hers… isn’t it”, Kenji stares at the display with slight anger as he nods.

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“I will get her back”, His voice is ice cold as he stares forward shocking even Gou as he looks over at his father’s piercing gaze,

“How?”, they both look at one another as Kenji places his hand on Gou’s cheek.

“Trust me…”

Gou looks around the room as he sees a long black sword hanging on the opposite wall. “And that?”

Kenji’s face grows cold once more, his anger begins to show through his boiling eyes. The emerald of his eyes stare forward at the sword as he grits his teeth.

“The weapon of the bitch that killed your mother.” Gou is taken aback by the growling in his father’s voice. This was the angriest that Gou had ever seen his father as his whole body tenses up even his first was shaking as he stared at the sword.

It sat there ominously staring back at Kenji.

Beatrix leaves the large building with Leo and Lily following closely behind. Lily and Leo look at one another both curious as to what she was doing with Kenji Yoshida alone. Just as Leo opens his mouth to talk with is mother, she raises her hand to stop him,

“Don’t even.”

Lily jogs to catch up to her and continues walking alongside her. She grins as she gives her mother a side eye. “You finally got over dad then?”, Beatrix just walks forward not giving her even a reaction. Leo joins them as he sniffs loudly, “You’re wearing expensive perfume…”, Beatrix growls as the two quickly back off.

“It’s none of your business… so back off you two” she smiles ever so slightly as he cheeks give a hint of redness.

The three are walking towards a large carriage that sits waiting for them as they pass by the large man with dark skin and fluffy dark purple hair that drops to his shoulders.

“Oh, look who it is…” The man watches as Beatrix ignores him completely and strides by him. “I can’t say I don’t like them feisty”. The boy by his side laughs as he joins his father in ogling Beatrix as she enters the carriage with her children.

The carriage rolls by them as Lily flips them both off as they roll by prompting the boy to grow angry and the larger man to chuckle.

“Father why is it that young women are the vilest!?”, The man laughs as he pats his son on the back.

“Ah so you’re into the older women then Caesar?”, The boy licks his lips as the carriage disappears into the sea of people surrounding the exit to the capital waving the families off.

“I want Beatrix Maximillian” The man leans down and grabs his son’s shoulder,

“You are prince Caesar son of Alexander… You can grab anything you want” His face has greed written all over it as he stares forward toward the people.

They are interrupted by the blonde man walking by with his hands in his pockets humming away to himself. He stops as he turns to the two of them who stand staring at him in disgust of his care free and happy attitude. The man smiles and waves to the two and slowly walks their way.

His blonde hair waves in the wind and the sparkle of his blue sapphire eyes sparkles.

“Y’know maybe you could try and use some charm”, Alexander slowly stands to tower over the man as he stands looking down on him. The man smiles nonetheless as the young boy scoffs at him.

“And what about you pretty boy?”

“See that’s the type of pickup lines that would get me under your sheets big boy”, he taps Alexanders chest as he walks away leaving Alexander twitching in anger.

Prince Caesar begins stomping towards the man as he shouts after him, “Don’t dare disrespect my family you bastard”, The man stops in his tracks as he turns towards the boy smiling. He pats the boy on the head and rustles his hair to Caesar’s anger.

Just as Caesar tries to pull away in anger the man grabs hold of his hair and pulls him in. His blue glimmering eyes now feel ice cold on Caesar’s face as he freezes on the spot.

“You should watch who you call a bastard kid.” His voice is piercing yet quiet. King Alexander just stands watching in disappointment as the man lets his son go.

“See ya your majesty!” His manor switches back to his happy go lucky and laid back self as he walks towards the crowds of people screaming at the sight of him.

“Let this be a lesson Caesar…”, Caesar shakes ever so slightly as his eyes can hardly stay focused on the man’s figure as he walks into the distance.

“Never mess with a head of the family… especially not Edward.”, A new rush of fear washes over Caesar until he slowly gets to his feet and brushes it off.

“Sorry father.”

Kenji stands watching over the three other families as they leave the capital. He stares down through the large window high up in the main building. Just underneath the window flaps the flag of the Yoshida hanging above all three other families as Kenji stands atop.

Gou stares at the black sword on the wall as he remembers a time when he and his mother went on a trip outside of the capital.

She was a beautiful woman with long brown hair and kind brown eyes. Her dress was long and flapped in the wind as she and Gou ran around in the tall grass. They both fell on the ground as the sun hang over them. She and Gou rode a large, tamed beast through the forests as the both of them cried out in laughter.

He then remembers his devastation as he stood staring down at her casket as it was lowered into the ground within her hometown at the edge of the Yoshida territory by the sea. He couldn’t even hear anyone talking as they tried to comfort him. All he could hear were the waves crashing against the nearby rock.

She wasn’t smiling. She wasn’t laughing.

His mother always smiled.

Gou stares up at the sword as he grits his teeth, and his gaze grows sharp as he focuses on the sword.

“If I could only see you one more time…”

A carriage bobbles along a bumpy, muddy road. Hiro and Isamu over exaggerate every bump to Asahi’s annoyance. They both laugh as the carriage goes along.

“Please tell me we are close to the next village Zero”, Asahi clasps his hands together basically praying that it’s nearby as he looks to Zero who sits beside him.

Zero watches Isamu and Hiro laughing along together and completely ignores his question leaving him to slouch down and sigh.

“It’s been a week and a half since we were at the last village come on…” just as he finishes his sentence the carriage comes to an abrupt stop causing him to jump back up.

All four of them sit up as they reach their next destination. Hiro and Isamu jump out of the carriage and stretch. Zero and Asahi slowly get out and looks towards the city nearby. A large sign swings in the light wind as Hiro and Isamu stare at it. Just as Isamu is about to announce the name Hiro pulls a small book out from his bag. He flicks through as he stares at the words on the sign. Isamu stares at the book curious as to what it is,

“Why in any of the gods names do you of all people own a book? You can’t read.”, she watches as Hiro flips through all the pages. All the writing within the book seems handwritten as many symbols line each page with words beside each one. Isamu grabs the book from Hiro’s hand and flips through herself as Hiro watches.

Isamu grows confused the more she reads, “Wait… this is Rose’s handwriting…”

Hiro smiles as he takes it back, “Yeah she gave me it before we left”

Isamu taps her foot annoyed, “What do you mean she gave you it? I’ve never seen this before”

Hiro grins smugly, “Maybe she doesn’t like you enough to make it for you”

Isamu punches him in the gut “Maybe I’m not an idiot that can’t read!”

Asahi sighs as he walks over and looks at the book, “This is names of things and signs to represent them… That white haired girl made this?” He looks at a nodding Hiro, “All for you?”. He keeps nodding as Isamu and Asahi stare at one another confused.

“You mean to tell me she made this all in one night… this has everything... toilet, inn, tavern…” Isamu and Asahi flip through faster and faster as they read off all the things Rose drew for him as Hiro just proudly nods through them all.

Zero joins them as she crosses her arms, “Are we ready to move?”

She looks over to the sign that reads “Niranai”, Hiro frowns as she gave away the name.

Zero begins walking along the stone path into the city. The rest give each other a look and quickly catch up to her.

As they all walk into the city, they immediately see a large difference to the capital. Buildings are far shorter, but everything seems to be made of stone. Statues seem to sit at every corner of every street. Hiro stares at a statue of a small creature with a mouth on its belly. Isamu gags at the sigh of it whilst Hiro’s eyes sparkle.

The four of them reach the centre of the city as a large statue of a man with a long cape around his shoulders stands tall. Immediately Asahi recognises it but as his eyes meet Isamu, he doesn’t say it out loud.

Hiro stares at the words engraved into the stone below its feet before looking towards Isamu who laughs, “Oh what your book doesn’t have…” Her face drops to a scowl as she murmurs away in annoyance.

“What does it say?”

She rolls her eyes, “It says to the great leader… Kaito Yoshida” she scoffs and repeats it in a mocking tone as she walks away. Zero shares a knowing look with Zero as he puts his finger to his lips gesturing to stay quiet about it.

Isamu walks by a large group of children surrounding a woman telling a story and decides to stop and listen in.

“There’s a reason none of you go near the back gate… It’s because of the large creature that dwells in the lake behind the city… the great lake monster” The kids shake in fear as Hiro walks by and turns to Isamu. She shakes just like the kids.

Hiro chuckles but she grabs him by the collar, “There’s a monster… in the lake”. Hiro’s eyes begin to sparkle before Isamu puts her hands over his eyes,

“STOP… w-we aren’t going out there” Her voice cracks as Hiro smiles.

Asahi sits in a nearby café and tries to talk to the locals. Eventually after a few people he meets an old man who agrees to talk with him.

“You want information son?”

“If you have any sir I’d be grateful”

The old man thinks for a while leaving Asahi in suspense for countless minutes slowly growing bored.

“I mean there’s the monster”

Asahi jumps out of his seat and shouts “Monster!” causing everyone to jump up and stare at him in fear. He awkwardly sits back down apologising.

“Back in the day a monster appeared out of nowhere, but it didn’t attack anyone… it just left out the backdoor and headed to the lake.”

“So is there really a monster out there?”

The man leans in close to Asahi, “That’s the thing… it was all a myth until people really stared to go missing around the lake recently… its now closed off.” Asahi looks at him curiously.

“So its probably not real then… that’s good”, Asahi sits back in his seat with a sigh of relief.

Hiro and Isamu stand with their mouth gaping wide and their eyes even wider in shock. They stare up as water drips on top of them and a shadow completely envelopes them and the ground around them. Isamu squeaks as she slowly stands behind Hiro.

The sun shines behind a large creature as it stands above Hiro and Isamu. Its jaw slowly opens wide as its breath slowly blows against Hiro and Isamu. As its moth sits just inches away from them both they stand completely still.

“Hi”.

Silence sits as Hiro and Isamu stare forward with their faces of shock slowly changing into confusion.

“Huh?”