The Vicious Queen

f i v e

My eyes snap open.

This time, it's not dark, I'm in a brightly lit room and the sunlight is falling onto my eyes. I'm pretty sure I'm lying on an old couch and an old wooden stool is next to me.

Before I stand up, I scan the room. It's a bright cottage with wooden beams on the ceiling. There's a wooden table nearby and three people sit there.

They all seem to be Asian. A whited haired hulking guy sits back on a chair with his head buried in a huge book. A pair of square glasses rests on top of his nose.

A skinny girl with short white hair brushing against her shoulders sits across him munching on bread and a silver nose ring hangs from her nose. Those two have to be twins. A frail old man sits next to her applying jam on slices of bread by a knife.

Seems safe, I think to myself and rise. A sharp pain shoots through my body and I clutch my stomach. Okay, this is painful than I thought. I look down and see how a big off-white bandage is wrapped around my stomach. Red blood slightly stains it.

The old man notices me and he immediately stands up. "Little lady!" he warns in a Japanese accent. He walks to me like a penguin. The twins don't move, they watch me from the table with suspicious eyes. They frown at me with raised eyebrows.

"You aren't supposed to stand up so harshly!" He notifies troubled.

"Where am I?" I ask still confused.

"You're in Vividale, little lady." He replies with a polite smile.

Vividale? That's so much far away from Onryx! From the corner of my eyes, I see the twins slowly approaching us. They mutter to each other.

"What's your name?" the girl demands coldly. She speaks fast.

When my mind is trying to search for a new name, I don't know why but my favorite childhood bedtime story pops up in my head. There was a character named Kora. "Kora." I blunder stupidly. And she had a pet fox. "Kora Fox." Oh, wow.

"Mhm." She looks me up and down. Usually, I would be pissed if anyone looks at me like that but right now, I really can't blame her. I'm a stranger anyway. They might think I'm a fraud even.

"I'm Fuji Yoshida. Nice to meet you, Kora." The old man smiles. He points to the girl "This is my granddaughter, Azura Yoshida" she gives me a dominance smile. Then he points to the boy "My grandson, Azul Yoshida." He flashes me a small smile. I smile back with each of them.

"We found you in an old warehouse in the forest. You were fainted and bleeding gallons. It was a miracle you didn't die, I have to say."

I'm in shock but I don't really say anything and I just stare at him. He keeps on talking but something, a part of me feels like its missing. Something really important to me. I look around. That's when it hits me. My sword!

I try standing up but my hair tangles in a nail sticking out of the stool next to me. Furious, I tug my hair harshly making every flower, every pin in my hair crashing down to the floor.

I immediately jump to my feet trying hard to neglect the pain. "Little lady!" the old man calls out but I ignore.

I rush out of the door clutching my stomach, but before I do, I grab the knife resting on the table. When I swing open the door, I see the high view of the small town, Vividale. The warm breeze tickles my skin and my hair dances along with the wind. We are on top of a hill.

I turn around to go but then a rough hand grabs my wrist. "You aren't supposed to walk yet, you kn-"

With quick reflexes, I pin whoever this is to the stone wall of the house with my elbow pressed into their shoulder and their head knocks against the wall with a thud. I point the sharp knife right into their eye.

A boy. His brown hair messy and wild. His forest green eyes gleam in the sunlight. A scar that looks like a snake runs up his neck and a necklace with a black gem hangs around his tanned neck.

"Whoa! Whoa!" he quickly blurts out, when he sees the knife pointed at his eye, his voice husky. "Who knew the dead girl at the warehouse was like this." He taunts with a playful smirk plastered on his face but anxious sweat drips down his neck.

And then I stare into his eyes. His eyes share so much resemblance to Desmond's. The image of his eyes from that night returns to my mind and I stumble back. My heart stings at that thought.

I don't look up until he repeats. "You know, you aren't supposed to-"

I don't let him finish because I lift my dress and march away stubbornly.

"Where are you going?!" he calls out. I don't reply. "I need to know where to find you if you die again."

I stop and sigh out loudly without looking at him. "To the warehouse I was found." And then I keep waking again.

"Do you even know where it is?" he points out sounding teasing.

Oh. Embarrassed, I turn back around and murmur without looking up at him. "Then...show me the way."

He smirks and takes long and quick steps to me. He looks down at me and smiles smugly. I roll my eyes.

"Stubborn, aren't you?" I don't reply. He continues talking "I'm Rune Webb. You?"

I'm silent for a second. I almost forgot my new name. "Kora Fox."

"Very well."

He keeps talking more and more as he leads me through the green forest surrounded by tall trees. It's not dark, sunlight enters the forest from a canopy formed at the top. The birds tweet happily up in the trees.

I turn my head around to examine him. He's a lot taller than me and has a physique of a woodcutter. Then I frown. He looks like he takes a lot of stupid decisions.

Rune interrupts my thoughts when he creaks opens the door into an old dusty warehouse. "Here we are."

I study the place where I could have had my last breathe. It's dark, dusty and empty. They probably thought I died or they might have thrown me to the ocean or something. Well, too bad.

I slowly step in and Rune follows. At the corner of the room, I see my beloved sword glistening from the sunlight that walks into the warehouse from an old broken window. Excitedly, I grab it and a grin spreads across my lips.

Rune notices me and raises an eyebrow. "You really seem to love that sword, don't you?"

"Yeah." I mumble happily. "And, uh, thank you."

"No problem." He smiles with his eyes still fixed on me. He seems surprised. Probably because the girl that was ignoring him a second ago was suddenly starting to get polite.

Then we head back. I cover the horse symbol on the top of the sword; the symbol of our kingdom. Thank god, he doesn't ask to take a look at it.

He looks down at my dress. "You were getting married or something?"

"Kind of." I tell.

"What do you mean 'kind of'?" He questions baffled. "And then why were you lying almost dead there?"

"Uh, well-"

"You know what? You don't need to say. Everything will get even more confusing." True. I giggle.

We reach the cottage soon. When Rune holds the door open for me, I notice the three of them gathered around the couch I was lying on.

We walk in confused. When they notice us, they part away with horrified looks on their faces and then I see Mr. Yoshida staring at a long black stick sort of thing.

Mr. Yoshida glances at me afraid and he's as pale as a ghost. He stares at me for a split second with his eyes wide. Then he utters, his voice barely audible.

"Pri...Princess Eraya...?"