Declaration of War

The entire square of attendees was shouting out in alarm.

"Oh, my God," Misa whispered, shaken. She gripped Prince Ran's arm tightly as everyone in the square waited, frozen from shock. From where the two of them stood, the body was unrecognizable, and no one was offering any clues as to who it might belong to.

Finally, someone shouted, "Look above!" And all eyes shot to the skies.

Against the dark skyscape with the moon illuminating the glittering wings that kept her afloat, looking like the most ironic thing of beauty, Pera, the villainous Fae, hovered over them. The crowd below pointed and shouted out in greater panic.

A Fae had infiltrated their kingdom.

A Fae was in their city, near their homes.

A powerful Fae was here to kill them all.

Misa found herself breathing heavily. Her eyes zeroed in on Pera. Pera. She thought, gritting her teeth. And then she gasped, a horrible thought occurring to her. She took another look at the body that had been dropped to the ground.

She trained her sharp eyes forward, and fear sank her stomach to the ground.

"Ran. Ran! Isn't that Tana?" She asked, tapping Prince Ran hard on the chest. "Is that Tana?!"

"I--"

She didn't even wait for an answer. Misa took off, moving at the speed of light across the square to where Tana was, fearful that her new friend had been brutally killed by her own sister. However, Misa wasn't able to get as close as she'd been happy to.

A large figure dropped down to the ground right before her, blocking her path. It was another Fae. A male Fae this time that was larger than he'd ought to have been with one heck of a menacing aura.

Misa was forced to skid to a stop, and within a blink, Prince Ran was standing in front of her.

"Stay back, Misa." He said, nudging her backwards away from the threat.

Just a couple of seconds late, a swarm of castle guards surrounded Prince Ran and Misa, putting themselves between the two and the enemy before them who stood unflinchingly. Like he had no fear of the sheer number of vampires who outnumbered him one thousand to one.

"Step aside!" Misa cried to the guards, unable to see from behind Prince Ran's back and the backs of the castle guards. "I need to get to Tana!"

"Misa, no." Prince Ran said.

Just then, the ground shook with the arrival of twelve more Fae soldiers slamming into various places within the square. Each held a spear as long as their bodies were tall, their blue magic glowing around them like floating streams. 

It caused instantaneous panic among the citizens. Many ran backwards through the streets towards their homes. Some ran to join the members of the royal family, hoping to be protected, others doing the protecting. More fell to the ground, despairing eyes seeing a second death descending upon them. Few stood brave and tall, ready to fight.

Contrary to what Misa had assumed, a majority of these vampires weren't fighters.

An explosion ripped through the chaotic air. Blazing fires were being set to homes far, far behind Pera, but the smoke reached her height quickly, giving her an unbelievable backdrop of destruction to posture in front of.

"Hahahahaha!" Her manic laughter rang from way up above. "Kill the troublesome Princess of Prophecy! Down with the nobility!" Pera commanded her troops below. "The Fae will take over this paltry kingdom, and I will rule all!"

"Steady yourselves. All of you!" 

At once, the uncontrolled movement in the square stopped as the alarmed vampires looked to their King.

"She bluffs!" King Kousei asserted, his voice booming around the square. He sounded amazingly powerful and, naturally, it pulled his followers back in. They listened. "Look around. These few Fae have no chance of besting a kingdom of vampires. If we fight altogether, even your powerful magic will fall pitifully short of your lofty goals. You must be aware of that, disgraced Pera."

 Pera's eyebrow twitched at the King's calling her 'disgraced.' She then scoffed, "But can you hold off all of them as well, oh withered king?"

As if responding to the introduction, humans of every size, age, class, and gender flooded the square. Their hands were busy with weapons of all sorts. Some had a torch in one hand and a cleaver in their other. Some carried scythes and others were loaded with wooden stakes.

All wore necklaces of garlic cloves around their necks, and the most determined looks on their faces.

It happened fast to the unsuspecting vampires whose bodies were facing the square. The humans staked their hearts from behind, their bodies bursting into clouds of smoke. Several of them, maybe thirty vampires right off the bat, disintegrated before anyone knew what had hit them.

It was chaos. It was the beginning of war.

Misa and Prince Ran tightly held each other's hands as they were hurried away from the violence by a group of the castle guards.

Misa couldn't help herself and kept peeking backward, side-to-side, and over her head. Battles were going on everywhere around them as they moved forward. Blasts of blue light from Fae soldiers shot across the ground like lightning. Bodies slammed into some of the castle guards, taking them out one by one.

They were trying to get Prince Ran and Misa to safety, back to the carriages, but they were losing comrades along the way.

"This way!" A guard screamed in front of them and rushed forward at an incredible pace. 

Keeping up, Misa thought out loud, "How did Pera even coordinate an attack this large with humans?!"

Although she hadn't assumed he was listening, Prince Ran commented, "For Pera, it comes down to a matter of using persuasion on a town leader, or disguising herself as a human in the crowd because all it takes for you boneheaded humans to be influenced is a loud voice--"

"Hey! I'm not even human anymore!"

"Oh yeah." Prince Ran said, sounding surprisingly relaxed amid the chaos, "Or maybe she just tricked some poor bastard into a deal. The point is, everything will be okay, Misa."

Misa looked to him. He was staring straight ahead, gripping her hand with the might of gods. It made her smile.

They slowed down and were eventually forced to stop. Prince Ran continued speaking. "I've fought Pera before and was able to overpower her with Isel's help," he said, "and that was before I drained that Fae prince. I feel more powerful, and I know how she fights. I can take her down again. For good, this time."

"I'll help you." Misa stated pointedly. She had something to settle with Pera, too.

But Prince Ran quickly shut her down. "No." He said, "It's too dangerous."

"But I can fight, too!" Misa insisted, "I'm also stronger. You know that. I can--"

"Misa!" Prince Ran shouted to silence her. "I need you to go back the castle and hide in The Vault until I come for you."

"But--!"

"Please! Just listen... I can't bear to watch you die already. I promised to protect you, and I can't do that if you're out here fighting, too!"

Prince Ran's eyes looked anguished, pleading with her to go and save herself.

Misa felt a series of shivers travel up her arms and neck. "That was your vow? To protect me?" She asked.

Prince Ran nodded yes. "With my dying breath." He said.

Overcome with emotion, Misa felt, If this world is going to end as we know it, I swear I'll kill myself in the after-afterlife if I don't do this now.

And she pulled Prince Ran down by the collar of his tunic with both hands and kissed him hard, square on the lips. He smelled so like roses that Misa just barely restrained herself from biting him, too. 

The prince was shaken when she pulled back slowly, still feeling the sensation on her lips. "Misa..." he said, at a loss for words.

Misa laughed at the shocked and kind of innocent expression on his face before growing serious for once. "Ran, I need to do this. I can't stop thinking about Tana. Leaving her over there on the ground like that. I need to see if she's still alive. Maybe I can help her!"

She started pulling away from Prince Ran and shoving the castle guards aside with her free hand.

"Misa, wait!" Prince Ran shouted.

But Misa tugged free screaming, "I'll be safe. I promise!"

With that, Misa leapt through the air like a fighting gazelle, gathering strength in her body and firing whatever she could back at the Fae soldiers who shot magic at her. When she landed, she took off at a speedy sprint toward where Tana lay, but again was stopped in her tracks by someone she didn't expect.

But should have.

"This is all your fault, you filthy human wretch! If you knew how to do your part and disappear like you were supposed to, this would have never happened!"

Queen Yori streaked her claw-like fingernails across Misa's face and Misa bled three fresh streams of dark blood. 

"Get out of my way, Your Majesty!" Misa shouted at the crazy vampire, wiping the wound with the back of her had. She made a dash for Tana again but was thwarted a second time by the Queen.

By now, Misa noticed a boiling sensation on her face. She cried out, agonized by the pain. "Your claws!"

The Queen cackled unattractively. "If even the Fae's curse eludes you, I will use my claws to boil your face raw."

Misa didn't bother to listen to the crazed Queen. She slapped her palm to her face and thought desperately about clearing up the unbearable pain. Blue light glowed from her hand and engulfed her face to the audible shock and ire of Queen Yori.

"What?! Fae magic? How?! You--You wench!"

To Misa's delight, her face was actually healing. But she wasn't able to enjoy the situation long. Queen Yori came at her like a rocket, her claws at the ready. Misa wasn't adept enough at using all her abilities to choose between the healing magic and defensive tactics within a timely manner.

Oh no! She cried and raised her arms to block. She was too slow and knew the Queen would reach her.

However, the Queen was suddenly sent flying by a figure who rolled along the ground with her in their arms. Misa's mouth dropped open. Ryusei had just tackled his own mother!

He stood, dusting his impeccable clothing off and pulling his literally hissing mother up off the ground after him.

"Ryusei! How dare you attack your own mother?" Queen Yori spat, her silver eyes boring a hole through her son's face.

Ryusei scratched the back of his head, "I got to thinking that if anyone is going to kill the human princess, it should be me. I'm saving that for another day."

"Wow, thanks. Very endearing?" Misa said, pulling a confused face.

"Yes, yes. Think nothing of it." Ryusei waved off Misa's thanks as if she'd meant it.

Misa rolled her eyes.