Chapter 10: Missing

Throbbing, pain, regret, Ruri’s mind ran in circles as she lay there groaning in pain. One question, ‘what happened?’ She recalled last night, she recalled the party, she remembered drinking, but the rest was blank. Her eyes peeked out at the dark brown, wooden ceiling, and then cringed from the intrusion of light in the room. The slightest movement had moved the thin, crimson silk sheets off her body, rejecting her of the heat it held. As she snuggled her head against the matching crimson pillow, a content sigh escaped her lips and a smile grew.

‘Red pillows…? I don’t… have red pillows, let alone sheets.’ Ruri’s mind slowly came to that conclusion, at first it didn’t strike her mind, and then it finally hit her. Her body flew into a sitting position as her wide eyes frantically stared about the room. It consisted of browns, blacks, and crimsons, absolutely dark, yet comforting in a sort. The bed frame was the same wooden color as the ceiling; above it was a crimson canopy matching the crimson and black sheets. Foreign artwork and crests were decorated around the room and furniture much more decorative and dark lined the room. This was not her room, and this wasn’t Ryushii’s room either, she had seen his room at Alu’era, and it was bland beyond belief. She didn’t believe he had any taste in anything.

Her breath began to shorten as she felt her body panic, where was she? Just a quick glance through the crack the black and crimson curtains brought her to the conclusion: Alore. She was in the enemy kingdom, she had been kidnapped. Finally the crests were recognizable. As a child, she had learned what the Alore crest looked like, but in her state of panic it was absolutely foreign. Ruri’s voice was hitched in her throat, she couldn’t screech in horror at the discovery of her location. She had to escape; she had to get out of here.

As her feet hit the floor, she shuddered from the sudden chill sent through her feet, her shoes had been taken, but she was still in the gown she had worn last night. That wouldn’t slow her down though, if she was desperate enough, she would rip the dress apart without a second thought. As she crept to the door, her ear was pressed against the door, to listen for voices.

“How do I look?” Questioned a sort of curious, cheery tone which over flowed with a suave ring.

“ComPLETELY fuckable.” The reply received was definitely a deeper voice, one smugger and filled with humor.

Ruri removed her ear and her face contorted, it wasn’t what they were saying that bothered her, and it was the gender of the two. They were boys, gay men didn’t bother her, yet it seemed odd when she encountered them. The two behind the door were obviously wearing armor; she could hear the metal gently meeting with each movement. They were guards, yet they were distracted. Some guards they were, they were just like Kurai and Hollow, they weren’t paying attention to their duties.

Half of her wanted to know what they were mumbling about now on the other side of the door, but another half wasn’t sure if she wanted to know. Pressing her back to the door, Ruri’s hands clutched over her heart, she had to get out, she had to escape, and the only safe way was through the door. If she were to wait out the guards, it probably wouldn’t happen. Rules were strict among all kingdoms, guards were to hold their positions no matter what, and it’d probably take their leader a bit to return.

Taking in one last breath, Ruri turned to open the door as quietly as possible, in an attempt to not pull attention. Behind the door revealed two guards, both wearing armor drenched in spikes. One had jet black hair that had been pulled behind his shoulders in a loose pony tail. He was tall, thin, but was quite well built from what she could see and his skin was just as pale as her own. The second guard, to his right was a bit shorter; his dirty blonde hair glowed among the dark surroundings. His skin was very tan and he wore identical armor to the other. Luckily they seemed distracted as they faced a painting.

“She’s hot.” The blonde came to a conclusion has he turned to look at the black-haired guard with, what she saw, was a smug grin.

“Who?” A questioning stare was sent to the blonde from the black-haired guard.

“The red-head.”

“Which one?” The black-haired guard only leaned closer to the painting and squinted.

“Takaida, the only one,” The blonde snapped as he pointed to the painting.

“Bah, she’s a slut!”

“How do you know?!” The blonde only seemed to be losing his patience as his tone raised while the one guard named Takaida stayed completely calm.

“She has red hair."

“…What?” Instantly the blonde’s temper deflated and left him raising a brow.

“What, what?”

“The hell do you mean she has red hair?”

“Did you not just point out her as the red-head?”

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Make up your damn mind, Daisuke!”

“My mind is made up!”

“…Where’s my puzzle?” Instantly Ruri froze from even attempting to walk away. Where the hell did that come from? Takaida just instantly changed the topic from hot girls to his puzzle. The two were just like Kurai and Hollow.

“Oh, you left it on the coffee table in our room.”

“Oh, thanks!”

“No problem.” It took only seconds for their conversation to return to a smiling pleasant cup-of-tea type of conversation.

“So anyways, she’s hot.” Takaida said, pointing to the painting.

“Who?” Ruri’s mind drew a blank from the two as Daisuke had asked who Takaida was referring to. Now they were turning to the first conversation? She felt her jaw dropping and her eye brows knitting at the two. The hell was wrong with those two? The two guards stared at each other harshly, as if digging a hole into each other, but when they noticed Ruri’s figure out of the corner of their eyes, attention immediately diverted to her with curiosity.

“Princess.” Takaida nodded before looking back to Daisuke.

“Princess,” Daisuke confirmed with a nod, “What might you be doing?”

“What does it look like?” Ruri snorted as she glared at the two. The two men looked at each other quickly before whispering to each other.

“Is there a right answer to this question?” Daisuke’s question only received the shake of Takaida’s. “Looking… Sexy?”

“Mou!” Ruri snapped as she stomped her feet, sure it was a compliment, but damn these two were either playing dumb, or really were that stupid. It really was frustrating, what did it really look like she was doing? She was running away! She swore people couldn't be that stupid. A pregnant pause sat between the three, Ruri glaring at the two guards while the two of them stared at her. Amused grin were slowly sliding onto their lips, she must have been funny to watch. The moment Ruri turned to begin off, the two started up again.

"Hey, Daisuke, she's runnin' away, mate."

"Who?"

"The princess."

"Is she now?" Daisuke looked to the sword's hilt at his side, obviously uninterested.

"Yup."

"Where's she going?"

"I don't know."

"...Did you ask?" Daisuke lifted his eyes to stare up at Takaida with a raised brow.

"Well, I didn't see the point, she's running away."

"Well, don't we have to get her?"

"I suppose so." Takaida only shrugged.

"Shouldn't we know where she's going?"

"Why?"

"So we can get her."

"Bah, who needs directions?"

"We do." Daisuke said in an 'a-matter-of-factly' tone.

"Oh... Right. Fuck."

"Yup." Surprisingly, while the two had been off in their own world, Ruri hadn't run, but stood there to gawk at the two. They had to have been kidding.

"So, where are you running off to?"

"..." Ruri passed a deadly glare at the two before screeching, "I was standing right fucking here!"

"Were you now? I wasn't looking." One of the things Ruri hated most was being ignored, it just pissed her off to no end, she hated feeling insignificant, she abhorred feeling non-existent.

"Away, away from fucking here." She snapped, but her only response from the two was a giggle as Takaida had begun to massage his right earlobe. Daisuke allowed an obnoxious grin to slide along his lips. What the hell did that mean? When Takaida raised a brow at her, she brought her fingers to her left earlobe. An oval-shaped earring replaced the amethyst earring she had worn last night. When she ran her fingers across the creasing in it, it felt as if a slit-eye. Something about it appeared to be greatly amusing to the two guards before her; must have been an extremely ugly earring.

Her lips twisted to a frown as she whipped away and erased the thought of the earring completely. The hallways weren’t much different from the hallways of Alu’era, they were just a bit darker and the decorations lining the walls were much more of a foreign style. The pattering of her feet meeting the rugs down the halls seemed to be louder than ever, she could have sworn anyone could hear her.

---

What felt like endless walking finally brought Ruri to the outer hallways of the Alore castle. The halls now held curved roofs, supported by elegantly carved blocks. All the outer hallways finally met a dome, lacking walls and windows like the outer halls. Where would she escape, how would she escape? Would it be just as easy as just skipping off the property? From what she could see, guards roamed every free space, but as if a few guards would be too much trouble. Most were inexperienced and incompetent; look at her guards, the Alore guards shouldn’t have been much different.

Her walking led her to one of the last people she wanted to see, Ameya. A tall woman stood in the middle of the dome, staring down at what looked like a table smeared in strategies and plans. Her dark brown hair cascaded down her back while black, rimmed, flattering glasses sat upon her nose. She didn’t look much like a general; she looked more like an office worker. Her top was simple, dark red, and buttoned only two times below her breasts, underneath it only flashed off the top of her red, beckoning bra. Her skirt ended up as the same color as her top, a slit started immediately below her undergarments, threatening to flash every bit of her legs. Her shoes were high heeled and met her knees; she seriously lacked the vision of a general. She looked more like a therapist or even a librarian.

Ruri had never met this woman, she hadn’t even seen her before, but just one look at her and recalling the stories, she knew who she was. Ameya, the Faleran of the Alore. Ruri scowled at the mere sight of the woman, she would be quite a bit of trouble if she were to spot her. A quick mental note was taken as Ruri scanned the dome-like room Ameya inhabited, this room must have been her 'office' in a way. Just a few minutes were spent watching Ameya, watching her wander the room after looking over the table smeared in plans, her eyes was directed to a wall with a portrait of Ryushii. A flawless picture, why was Ryushii so perfect? Ameya released a drawn out sigh and a longing stare at the photo.

'Rival.' Ruri's conscience spat as she stared at the woman, she looked in love with her fuck-face of a fiancé. That bothered her. She would definitely have to take care of he-. Ruri stopped, "Rival?" She mumbled questionably to herself, when did she become so possessive over Ryushii? Since when did she refuse to share him? Whatever, now was not the time to focus on that. Luckily in the right state of mind, she was reasonable and pretty immune to stupid decisions. Instead of starting a fight with the tempting bitch, she turned around and began back the opposite way. Either way, when she invaded their kingdom, she could just beat her with the flick of a wrist, through she was underestimating Ameya.

As she re-examined her previous surroundings down the hall, a smug grin crossed her lips; this was going to be cake. Ryushii was nowhere in sight, and best of all, she could beat his guards to a pulp. Just a few leaps, punches, and kicks to freedom, but it all needed one step, but that one step ended up as a major mistake. The moment her foot met the hard, bare, unfriendly dirt of the outdoors, she felt her body being grasped, being squeezed, almost like a giant hand had grabbed her to steal her life. In seconds, a piercing scream sounded as she felt an overwhelming, painful, charge of power strike through her body. It felt endless, impossible to escape, and felt unbelievably impossible.

What felt like hours lasted only a few seconds as her body collapsed back into the hallway, she felt exhausted, powerless, and bound by invisible ropes. Her chest heaved as she fought for air, tears streamed down her cheeks as smoke emitted from her vulnerable form. She had just gone through one the most single handedly painful times in her life. A chuckle sounded from above herself, her clenched eyes opened to stare up at the man she despised the most.

“Tried to escape?” Ryushii chuckled as hints of malice and mercilessness soaked his words, he was enjoying looking down at her like that, he was enjoying every bit of the sight before him. She just managed to look so amazingly delicious whenever vulnerable. His fingers gently rubbed his right earlobe, hinting to her left one. “I guess you failed to notice my little gift.” When he removed his fingers, he revealed the same earring. “You shared your family’s earring, I’m sharing mine. Beautiful, isn’t it? It’s quite useful in many ways but, right now it binds us in this kingdom, and you can’t leave the castle without me deactivating its power.”

“F-Fu-” Was all that could escape Ruri as she cringed, he really wished he would just die. Before any more could escape her lips, a callous hand snatched at her neck and thrust her to a pillar.

“Such ugly words shouldn’t be coming from such a beautiful lady.” Ruri cringed, squeezing one eye closed as her hands scratched at his hand. Until her pale face began to redden, he finally released her and let her slide down to the floor. A frantic coughing fit left her as her hands tended to her throat. A sour glare was sent to him, in the blink of an eye, her right leg swiped beneath Ryushii, in an attempt to send him off balance or better yet, fall. Ryushii, successfully, and effortlessly evaded it and lifted a foot. With the kick of his foot, a crater was made in the wall, where Ruri had just been leaning against. Rolling to the side, Ruri jumped to her feet and prepared to give him the punch of a life-time. Two arms wrapped around Ruri's upper arms, halting her from any assault and any farther movement.

"The hell?!" Ruri screeched as she instantly began struggling. The two arms belonged to his ever-so-faithful and 'hard-working' guards, Takaida and Daisuke.

"You two are so lucky I like you both." Ryushii hissed as he glared to the unaffected guards, they were pretty immune to that poisonous glare.

"Sorry Lord, we were busy." Takaida grinned, that obviously meant they were doing nothing.

"Ju-Just take her back to my room." Ryushii sighed, it was amazing both the guards weren't fired, if they hadn't proved to be so funny when joking around, they would have been long gone. Not even receiving a response, the two guards began down the hall, basically dragging the struggling Ruri.

Finished...? Thank god...?
Currently I'm stuck in Alaska, working until the 22nd of July, I'm in house keeping AGAIN. It makes me MAD. I was hoping to work in the office or something, but I guess not.
Ah, well, at least I'm still earning money. I hope people liked Takaida and Daisuke, they're based off of two of my best friends.
They're such awesome people.