The Princess With The Jet Black Hair

Emily felt as if her body was floating, she could not stop it. She wanted to open her eyes but yet she could not. Her body was suspended in total darkness.

"Where am I? Oh. Right, I'm probably dead. Where am I going though? I can't move. Why is it so dark? Is this how it feels like to be dead? Well, I can't complain, at least it doesn't hurt."

Suddenly, a ball out light manifested itself.

"What's this?"

She tries to grab it but her body just wouldn't move.

Suddenly, a warm voice could be heard.

"Emily, wake up."

She saw a figure near the light yet she could not tell who it was. The only thing she know for sure was that it was a figure of a woman who had black hair similar to hers.

Emily jolted up, finding herself on a comfy bed. Her vision was blurry so she had to blink a few times to regain her vision. As she was doing that, she subconsciously said to herself, "Is this all a dream? Am I back at home?"

There was silence... at first.

But, in the next second, A familiar voice replied her, "Unfortunately, no. You're in the Fiore's castle."

Emily turned her head and saw Anna, Jai, Ethan, Mary and Lavi next to her.

"So, how are you feeling?" Lavi asked with a smile.

"Um..." she paused and tried to remember what had happened. Images of that event came flashing back through her mind like a broken videotape. "Beck..." She remembered.

She looked around and anxiously asked, "Where's Beck? Is he fine?"

The room went quiet for a while. All of them looked down as if they are too scared to say something. At that moment, she felt her stomach tightened.

Jai cleared his throat and spoke, "Well, about that, he's definitely alive. So, you don't have to worry about that and Ben is currently with him." He ended with a smile.

A sense of relief went through her as she placed her hand over her ċhėst, "Thank goodness."

A chill went down her spine when she remembered that she did something that should have killed her. "How... Did I survive?" She asked hesitantly, with her hand on the place that she was apparently stabbed herself at.

"Well, before the blade hits your heart, Yukiko manifested her sword back to snow, making your wound treatable." Mary explained.

That was shocking news to Emily.

"Yukiko really did that?" She doubted with a raised eyebrow.

Mary nodded, but her expression darkened in the next second, "...Emily. What were you thinking? You could've died, you know that? What did yo-- How coul-- WHY?!"

Even though her question came out in pieces, somehow Emily understood what's she was trying to ask. Pulling her knees closer to her ċhėst, she hid her chin behind them. She looked down on her knees and admitted, "I... don-- I was caught up in a moment. I was mad. She wanted me dead, but I wasn't. I thought that if everyone is getting hurt in the process of getting my life, I would just want to end it as quickly as I could."

"...Soooo, yeah." She looked up slightly to meet their glazes, which saddened when they heard what she had to say.

Ethan crossed his arms and held them there tightly, "Don't do that. We aren't really that important for you to sacrifice your life for."

Emily felt a sense of melancholy spilling from those words. Somehow, she felt sorry for them - Yes, the people she knew for less than twenty-four hours.

She buried a side of her face in her knees and ġrȯȧnėd, "You guys are being silly. A life is a life. To me, all lives are equally important."

"I stand with the princess, 100%." Lavi cracked a grin towards Ethan, "She destroyed you."

He shrugged at first, but slowly his stony face broke into a small smile, "Well, it doesn't matter if it her. But, well said, princess."

An irritated sigh escaped Emily's lips, "I told you guys, I might not be the princess. So stop calling me that."

The five of them exchanged glances when they heard that. Smiling and grinning to themselves, it was as if they were keeping something for her. She looked at them suspiciously, but ignored them after reminding herself that they were a weird bunch after all.

"Just so you know, my name is Emily. Call me that instead." She suggested as she sat up. She looked around to find Yukiko, but she was no where to be seen. Even though she was not the best person she knew, but she did saved her. The least she could do was to thank her.

Noting that the princess was disquiet, Jai smiled warmly and asked, "Is there something you need, princ-- Emily?"

Feeling slightly happy that they people here are calling her by her first name, she returned the smile and replied, "Um, where's Yukiko? Even though she was being an ȧss, I still need to thank her for saving me."

The room went silent once more as the tension returned.

Being the most capable one amongst the five, Jai volunteered to break the news to her, "She will be executed this evening."

That bombshell hit her hard. "Wait, why? She saved me."

"Yes, she did. But, it didn't changed the fact that she raised her sword against you, the Princess." Jai explained.

Even though Yukiko was still not on her 'friends list', she did not want Yukiko to die. Especially after the fact that she saved her.

"I can't let that happen. She saved my life." Emily protested.

"I'm sorry, but it's has already been decided, Emily." Jai replied with an apologetic look.

"There must be something we can do!" Emily persisted, her voice more desperate than she wanted it to be, "I can't just let her die like that."

Suddenly, a wave of pain hits her ċhėst. She curled her body forward with her hands clenching on her ċhėst.

"Are you okay, Princess?!" Mary asked as she stumbled to her side. "Please lay down and rest."

"I'm... fine." Emily tried to breathe slowly, steadying herself, "...There must be a way to stop her from getting executed."

Jai sighed and said, "I guess it's time to tell you something, Princess. You're indeed the person we're looking for. You're Fiore's 14th Princess. His and her majesty dropped by an hour ago just to see you. They had confirmed that you're their daughter."

"What?" Emily looked around the room to seek confirmation. "Are you sure that's true?"

All of them in the room nodded. "Whatever Jai said is true, Princess." Mary ȧssured.

"If you're the Princess, you have the authority to do some things." Jai hinted, "And since the offence is against you, you have the right to change her punishment."

Emily noticed what Jai was telling her and for that she was grateful to him, "Thanks, Jai."

"Please don't thank me, Princess. In return, I need you to get some good rest before the execution this evening." Jai bowed, before he bade her goodbye.

She had no intention of being the Princess of Fiore from the start. But, somehow, now it seemed to be not so bad after all.

...Just for now.