Princess Reiko Kuroyama of the Suijima Kingdom was in the bamboo forest near the castle she grew up in. Once again, she was abandoning her lady-like studies to be the perfect subservient princess, and was instead, training with a wooden sword. Ever since she was twelve years old, she wanted to be able to defend herself and go on her own adventures. She never wanted to be a perfect princess who would marry to some awful, self-centered, spoiled, and rotten Prince who would only want her for her body. She trained in secret for many years, imagining her target bamboo as assassins and other enemies that would try and take her life from her. She recalled many of the moves the guards, knights, and samurai used in their fighting and tried to copy those moves successfully. Sometimes while she was training, memories would come back to her. This time, she remembered when she learned about Draken, the God of Creation, when she was a little girl. She could remember how she chattered on about wanting to meet the God. Of course, that was when she was a naive child. She was pretty sure that the dragon god probably had his own responsibilities to take care of, so of course he wouldn't take the time to meet a whiny little princess.

She snapped out of her training and her daze, at the sound of something rustling the bamboo nearby. She took out her real sword, and she turned quickly and pointed it at the source when they were close enough. The person yelped in fear, and Reiko sighed as she sheathed her sword "Oh, Shara! You startled me!"
The maid, Shara, the only servant in the castle that knew about Reiko's secret training ground, yelped in fear and disbelief "I startled YOU?! I should be saying that!"
Reiko chuckled at Shara's reaction and she said to her "Calm down Shara. It was just a joke,"
Shara sighed and said "Well, it wasn't particularly funny!"
Reiko smiled and said "It was to me!" Reiko calmed down soon enough and she asked "So, why are you here Shara? Are my parents searching for me again?"
Shara answered "Yes, My Lady. Your parents want you to come back for your studies,"
Reiko groaned and shook her head with a hand on her face. She really didn't want to go back to those studies.

*~*~*



Guir, the God of Darkness and Hell, was sitting in the throne that he had taken from Draken, his brother and the God of Creation. He laid back in his seat, getting very comfortable. He was finally out of Hell, and he had to say that the Heavens were much better than that dump! He drank from a goblet filled with red wine, ignoring the pleas of the imprisoned gods that used to live here. Now, demons and other dark beings rule the Heavens. Everything was almost perfect, except for the fact that his brother had escaped imprisonment and was now somewhere on Earth. But thankfully, he sent the demons to find his brother and bring him back to his prison. Guir of course, was considering whether he should kill his dear brother or whether he should torture him.

Soon one of his demon lackeys came up and bowed before him, before saying "My Lor-er, Your Highness, we found your brother,"
Guir raised an eyebrow and he asked sinisterly "Oh really? Then why isn't brother dear kneeling before me?"
The little imp like demon shook in anxiety as he answered "Well-That is to say-er…"
Guir grew irritated at the imp's stuttering and he shouted, his voice booming and echoing across the Heavens "Well?! SPIT IT OUT!"
The imp jumped and answered "He's in the Suijima Kingdom!"
Guir nodded in understanding. The Suijima Kingdom was protected from demons, so of course they wouldn't be able to enter. He smirked and said "Ah. I see. You need me to open the Suijima Kingdom for you, is that right?"
After the demon nodded, Guir raised his hand towards one of the Gods in their prison and power flooded from the God to Guir. They screamed in pain before falling unconscious. Guir then used that power to get rid of the invisible barrier that surrounded the Suijima Kingdom. He then said "There. Now, go!" The imp obeyed and hurried off just as Guir took his seat once again.

Draken slammed into the earth angrily as he gripped his sword called Creation and slashed out killing a demon that got too close. He ran into the kingdom fast and saw the shield was vanishing and cursed at his brother. He saw a rock and put his sword into the rock making the shield go back up. causing a lot of magic to shield the kingdom that not even his brother could destroy for a long time. The stranger collapsed near the rock and grunted in agony. he walked toward the kingdom his shirt and leg bleeding he looked at the guards and they ran away from him. he walked into the throne room and coughed slightly and bowed to them.

"hello The king and queen of this grand kingdom. I ask for a place to rest and heal up I will do whatever you like to stay here" he said slowly his golden orange hair shining his face. he opened his hand and the sword whizzed through the world and to his hand slowly the shield staying up. He looked at the king and queen with very wise but hurt eyes. He looked at the sword named Creation and put it back in the golden and blue sheath that he said slowly " I am Draken" he introduced himself slowly. He looked like a wise king of something but he was very hurt.

Reiko, after Shana persuaded her, headed back to the castle with the maid. she entered the throne room from the door left to the King's throne, right before the stranger entered, wounded and coughing. Reiko, like the King and Queen, were curious as to who this man was, and were concerned for his well-being. The three of them were surprised to see a sword fly into his hand before he sheathed it. When he introduced himself slowly as Draken, there was no doubt in the royal family's minds, that this Draken was the same Draken, the God of Creation. The King answered Draken "We will allow you to rest and heal here," He then looked to Reiko and he said with a bit of reprimanding tone in his voice, "Reiko! You will take this man to a guest room and tend to him there. Once you are done, come back here. We have much to discuss,"
Reiko answered the King respectfully, "Yes, father," before she went over to Draken, helped him up, and helped him get to a guest room.

Reiko walked with Draken to a guest room and when they arrived, she had him lie down, and she had the maids bring her materials that she could use to bandage and help Draken heal. While waiting for the maids, she told him, "They'll be here soon with the bandages," As much as she wanted to ask Draken questions and learn a bit more about him, she knew that he needed to save his strength and heal. Talking will only take energy out of a ailed person. As soon as the medical supplies arrived, she got to work disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. The disinfectant was a sickening yellow paste that had to placed over the wound. A little was sufficient enough, too much could kill someone. Of course, Reiko knew the correct amount so she wouldn't accidentally kill the stranger. After that she wrapped the white bandages around his wounds.

*~*~*

Guir saw that the shield was reconstructed all of a sudden, and he growled under his breath muttering "Curse you, brother! That won't help for long!" He looked around the outside of the shield around the kingdom in thought, until he spotted a carriage heading towards the kingdom. He smirked and said to himself "Oh?" To him this looked like the perfect chance for his demons to get in. The shield would open itself for any human. He had a demon hitchhike onto the carriage as it passed through the barrier and he ordered it to possess the rider after collecting information, and when the most opportune moment presented itself. He heard the demon telepathically tell him that the rider of the carriage was a Prince from a different kingdom, coming to marry a Princess Reiko. He smirked. This was perfect. He could easily sense Draken in the castle.

He snapped out of his thoughts when a God shouted at him "You'll never get away with this Guir!"
Guir smirked to himself and he turned to face the God that shouted at him and he said "Oh, I believe I already have. You are all in there, and I'm here sitting on the throne,"
Another God pointed out sagely "There are still other Gods that are dwelling on Earth now,"
Guir laughed raucously "Oh please! The only other God I can think of that is down there with my brother, is that so-called Janitor that threw a temper tantrum and trashed Heaven five hundred years. He can't do much under a mountain now can he? He's probably dead by now,"
The wise God pointed out sagely "And yet, he managed to scare you into giving him immortality while he was free,"
Guir glared at the wise God and he snarled "Don't. Tempt me. Into killing you,"
The wise God silenced herself.

Drraken vision blurred as he was laid down and shut his eyes tightly. He concentrated on finding the other beings on earth but winced as the wrapped where applied to his wounds causing him to whimper in pain slightly. He opened his soft orange flaming eyes and smiled slightly at the princess, "thank you princess for the help, You are kind and I thank you for that, so if your father and mother" he said gently as he closed his eyes once more his sword glowing gently from its sheath. He coughed once more and grunted in pain.

"I am sorry for any trouble it may cause you to have me here my kingdom is not fairing very well right now. my brother dis-throned me and now I Must fight back for it after I am healed." he said and he winced in agony. He closed his eyes and fell asleep but it was anything but a dream it was the tourcher the other gods felt right back in his home. he winced and curled into a ball. he would get them free one day he just had to find his old allies on earth. After ten minutes he opned his eyes looking around the room with a soft whimper of agony escaped his lips. he felt it darkness coming toward the kingdom and he had to heal faster and be ready to fight. if not for the gods for the royal family that had taken him in and let him heal.

Reiko's concern grew as Draken whimpered in pain when she wrapped his bandages. She listened as he thanked her and apologized to her, mentioning that he was taken off of his throne by his brother. She said to him "For now, please don't worry. You need to rest and use your energy to heal. You should get some sleep," Soon enough after she said her last statement, he closed his eyes. She noticed that he seemed to be having nightmares, and as much as she wanted to stay by his side, she knew that her parents wanted to talk to her. Reluctantly she sighed silently and she turned to face Shara. She said to her, "Shara, please keep an eye on him. Give him whatever he needs, and make sure that he rests and heals properly,"
Shara bowed and answered "Yes, my lady,"

Reiko then headed to the throne room where her parents waited for her, and once she appeared, her parents once again, started reprimanding her for skipping out on her studies. She ignored them for the most part, until her father spoke "Today, your betrothed is coming here! He'll be here soon enough,"
She asked in shock "What?! What ;betrothed?!"
Her mother answered "You're arranged to marry a prince, remember?"
Reiko widened her eyes and groaned. She really didn't want to, and before she could start protesting a knight came in and called "Your Highnesses! The Prince of the Taiyou Kingdom has arrived!"
The King answered "Good! Bring him here!"
As the messenger left, Reiko glared at her father, and her father silently told her not to protest, and to be nice to the Prince.

Draken slept peacefully for a small while before the nightmare shrieked into his head and he screamed and jolted awake. he blinked slightly sat up looking around. the room was lit up by torches and looking at them slowly he closed his eyes gently. He shuddered slightly and looking over at the maid and blinked "who are you and why are you here?" he was dizzy slightly blinking softly. He looked around his sword glows gently in the corner of the room. he wobbled to his feet slowly and blinks as his legs where heavy "I must go" he said slowly to the maid s he went to his sword and blinked. He felt something no right and put the sword on his belt loop. he walked to the throne room and looks at the Prince and the princess blinking watching them.

Shara yelped out of surprise when Draken screamed and jolted awake. She placed a hand over her heart as she panted to calm herself down. She grumbled silently to herself wondering why she kept on getting scared today. She looked at Draken when he asked her and she curtsied answering "I'm Shara, a maid of this castle. I'm here because Lady Reiko wanted me to take care of you in her absence," When he suddenly got up and started walking, saying that he had to go, Shara protested as she followed him to the throne room, "But sir! You need to rest! You shouldn't be walking around yet!" Soon the both of them reached the throne room to see Reiko was talking to a very handsome prince. However, it looked as though the conversation was anything but pleasant.

When the Prince arrived, he had bowed to the King and Queen, but not to Princess Reiko. After he had bowed and greeted the King and Queen, they introduced him to Reiko, and the Prince studied her as she reluctantly greeted him politely, "It's nice to meet you, Prince Fernand,"
The Prince smirked at her and he said "Yes, yes, nice to meet you too. So, I'm supposed to marry you? You really don't look like much. You just appear as an average commoner. No matter, I'm sure you will have your uses,"
Reiko didn't mind being compared to a commoner, what she did mind was that this Prince would just so casually insult her for no reason! And what did he mean by her having her uses?! The nerve of this Prince! She just wanted to punch him, but she knew that she couldn't do it in front of her parents. Her hands were clenched into tight fists, as she tried to keep control of her anger.

Draken watched eyes narrowed and whispers something and four guard dog broke free and charged the prince snapping their large jaws at his hands and feet. Draken watches before walking forward slowly blinking at them and whislted and dogs whimpered and laid down beside him.

"Treat a princess better you scum bag" he warns dark as the dogs growled at yhr prince fangs bared at him. Draken then walks forward "I thank your daughter for helping me heal my energy is still low and will need to recharge. I do ask that though this prince leave he isn't fit to be called a prince even" the wise male said sticking up for the princess.

Shara noticed Draken was whispering under his breath and she asked "Sir?" right before the guard dogs broke free from their knights' grips, and attacked the Prince.
The Prince screamed in pain from the guard dogs biting him, and squealed "Get them off! Get them off of me!" Soon enough there was a whistle and the guard dogs left the prince and laid down beside Draken. Reiko looked to see that Draken was up and how the guard dogs seemed to be obeying his will. After he spoke to the parents, who were surprised to see the Prince was up, Fernand glared at Draken with a smirk and he asked "And who are you to request anything of the Suijima royalty, Commoner?!"
Reiko stood up for Draken and spoke "He is Draken! You would be wise to listen,"

The Prince blinked and asked "Draken? You think this mortal is the God of Creation?" He then started guffawing at the man, and at Reiko. He continued "How foolish! He is no Draken! I only see a con man getting the best of royalty!" This time, Reiko didn't hold back. She grabbed the Prince's shirt, and punched him in the face, knocking him backwards. He yelled after he landed on his bum, holding a hand over his nose, "My Face! YOU HIT MY FACE!!!"
Reiko warned "I'll do worse if you don't leave!"
The Prince glared at Reiko and Draken before he left.

Draken grinned gently watching the prince get hit in the face. He grinned gently.

"Nice punch princess" said grinning and crouched low and dogs bolted over and yipped happily giggling gently. He hugged the dogs as they wagged their tails gently. He laughed and stood up gently "now where did you learn to punch that was amazing" grinned gently.

Reiko smiled at Draken when he complimented her on her punch and said "Thanks," When he asked where she learned how to punch like that, she wanted to tell him that she learned from her training, but she didn't because they were still in front of her parents, so she shrugged in reply.
The King cleared his throat and said to Draken "Mister Draken, I would appreciate it if you didn't encourage that from my daughter," He then looked to Reiko and said "Reiko! That is not how a Princess should behave!"
Reiko protested "He insulted all of us! I'm surprised you haven't done anything in response!"
The King sighed "Our Kingdom and the Inari Kingdom had an agreement to wed you two! Now that that agreement has gone up in flames, we lose some of our defenses!"

Draken blinked slightly "listen there is alot more then defenses going down right now and its not about how the kingdoms interact. I was disthroned by brother Guir and now darkness has spread through the heavens. I will be needing to leave soon before demons find their way here and I thank you for all of this. I must say though that a sucessful kingdom is that when a prince and princess Actually love each other only then a kingdom can be truely joyful and bring goodness. I would know I lost four children and two wives thanks to arreanged marragie ever since I never married again. I heed you take those words into heart king unless you think pairing up a fighter Warrior princess witha scumbag prince is a good pairing then You must not really see the brightness of a kingdom of hearts" he said and slowly walks away the dogs whimpering and licking his hands. he pets their head and singled them back to their master. he turned back slowly ,

"you should be proud that your daughter knows how to fight because a bright princess she is as well as one who can stick up for herself" he said and walked off to the town slowly lookinng over his shoulder slightly as the dogs barks at him and he smiled. He went down to the stables and pest the horses knowing each one by their true names and pets them and gave them food that they had not gotten. He missed his whiite stallion the horse of light he created.

The King was silenced by what Draken had said and he could only watch as Draken left the throne room.
Reiko followed out after Draken, to find that he had gone to the stables and was tending to the horses. She walked near and she leaned against a pole of the stable building casually, commenting to Draken with a smile, "Nice job. You're certainly the first person to stun my father into silence,".

"Tell your father that's he a good man" the god said slowly before opening his hand and his sword appears in his hand "but now I must go before heaven collaspes " he said whistling a small tune and a pure white glowing horse trotted in and gave a deep snort.at him. The god pet the horse muzzle and tacks it up with golden blue saddle and blue bridle.

Reiko spoke up "Hang on a minute! I want to go and help you,"
She pointed out as she got out one of the horses from the stables, a palomino horse, and tacked it with black saddle and bridle, "Not everyone is going to believe that you are Draken the God of Creation. You may need me around in order to get anywhere that may be important,"

He looked at her but smiled "but I guess it wouldn't hurt" said and blinked going to.the castle leaving a note. He then trotted twoard the forest his horse snorted deeply eyes glowing pure golden color. He went to the path slowly "there are ten gods and goddess on earth. We need their help if we can defeat my brother " he said slowly smiling gently. his eyes watched the sky around them it was dark yet the sun still shined and eyes narrowed slightly. he closed his eyes softly