Schwarze Unterwelt - Chapter 9

Disclaimer: The portion where the other co-author's responsibilities lie.

The other co-author: Beyblade is not ours. But the plot of this story is.

Mariah sat on the straight-backed wooden chair, her hands clenched tightly on her lap to stop them from shaking. They
would not be seeing any more fear from her, she promised herself. Even though she knew very well it was a promise she
had no hopes of keeping.

They had dressed her in a simple cotton dress, and the material chafed against her skin. It was hardly anything she was
used to, but any scrap of clothing was heaven to her at the moment - anything was better than lying bare in some
corner… she shuddered at the memory.

The room they had put her up in was little more than four blank slabs of cement around her and the wooden table before
her. There was a cup of tea before her, which she assumed was for her, but she made no motion to drink from it, not
knowing if it had been drugged or poisoned. Across from her was the red haired man, who had introduced himself as Tala
previously. He was draped across an armchair, looking much more at home than she felt in this bare little space.

"This is just a sample of what we can provide you with if you are… cooperative," was his only explanation for her current
treatment, along with a cruel smirk that didn't serve to convince her any better.

She didn't think there was anything else left for them to threaten her with, short of killing her at least. And that was a
circumstance she preferred not to think about at all, if she could help it. Maria braved a glance at her captor, and found him
looking right at her. She squeaked and dropped her glance.

"Now," he began, leaning forward in anticipation "where are the Four Spirits hidden?"

Mariah could feel tear gathering in her eyes again. How was she ever going to respond to a question she knew not what
the answer was?

Kai grimaced. His wounds from the King's little demonstration of a royal-level tantrum still stung when he moved. If he
could, he would not even have gotten out of bed this morning, or at least went about without a shirt. But he didn't think
Ray's 'sensibilities' could take the affront this morning, not when he was in that foul mood. He certainly did not need more
gashes to decorate his back.

Beside him, Bryan - and a completely uninjured Bryan, at that - was too kneeling before Ray. Kai itched to put some scrape
on his fellow soldier, but he didn't think Ray would appreciate a morning dose of violence either, unless it was done to the
Princess' captors.

It seemed the only sane and rational creature about now was that priest, to which he still had no clue why he would
receive a pot of salve from. Why would the priest want to help him? Surely there must be some motive. But the fact
remained that the salve worked. Miraculously.

"So?" Ray's voice was sharp with annoyance as he stared down at the prostrate figures before him.

"For the moment, we are unsure of the Princess' current location, and the identity of her captors," Kai responded, "but the
kidnappers must have a reason for taking the Princess. We would gain more insight to the matter if we were to await a
ransom note, Your Highness."

Ray narrowed his eyes in anger, "And you? Are you of a similar opinion?"

"…yes, Your Highness," Bryan replied stiffly.

There was a sharp crack that sounded suspiciously like a pen breaking in two.

"Are you telling me," Ray growled, "that you have done nothing to retrieve her?!"

Kai flinched minutely - this would not be pretty. Max moved forward, resting a hand on Ray's shoulder to stay his anger.

"Please do not jump to conclusions in your haste, Prince," said Max, "I am certain they have already assigned men to the
search."

"I do not care of such! I want results!," Ray declared, "this has a great potential to escalate into war with Katze, and you
should know we cannot afford that now!"

"I am aware of the situation, Prince. But it does us no good to be of ill disposition. Let us leave the men to their work so
they may rescue the Princess post-haste."

Ray sunk back into his seat, eyes closed in annoyance and defeat. Was there really nothing else he could do but worry
over the state of his country? Max meanwhile turned to the two guards and signaled their departure, both of which were
much too glad to do so. It was never too safe to be around the Prince nowadays.

The king sat on his throne, slightly hunched over from the weight of matters at hand. It seemed that bad news were the
only news to have these days. Will there be no end to the troubles? Was this the end of their reign?

Beside him, his queen looked no much better. She knew her son was distraught about the princess' kidnapping. And to
have it occur before him! What a terrible turn of events it was! The upcoming nuptials were supposed to be a joyous
occasion, but if there was no princess, there was not much to be celebrated.

The king was frustrated with the events, she knew. But she understood there was not much that could be done, unless
the kidnappers contacted them. That, or their soldiers managed to discover their hideouts. They knew, without a doubt,
that it must have been the yakuza's doing. It was either that or Princess Mariah had far more enemies than they first
assumed. But who could bear to do such a lovely girl harm?

Perhaps it was pointless to consider these things. Surely it was more prudent to ensure their safety now, and the health
of her husband. It would not do for a country to lose their king to sickness, as it happened so frequently in their
neighboring countries. She had to try to put his mind at ease, even if for a moment.

"My King, you should not worry much for the princess, I am certain our men will do their best in retrieving her. Pray take
care for your health, lest…" she drifted off, not daring to speak such unlucky words.

The king sighed quietly, seeming to sink further into his throne.

"I am afraid we may not be in time… we will need to contact King Li about his sister's disappearance soon, it would not do
to hide this fact from him. I was hoping to solve matters on our own, but it seems that would be quite impossible now,"
the king replied, somewhat defeated.

A sharp knock sounded on the door to the Throne Room, and both rulers looked up from their conversation.

"Enter," the king commanded and the door opened, revealing a frantic messenger.

"Your Majesty! I have news, grave news!"

The king leaned forward in his seat, "What is it? Tell me right this instant!"

"Yes, yes, Your Majesty, we have news that King Lee is on his way here! He is moving through the village as we speak! He
must have entered the grounds not moments before - "

The messenger broke off at the sound of the door behind him opening. King Lee and his court spilled forth from the doors,
making their way towards the throne room. The king immediately stood and sought to welcome him.

"King Lee! It is such an honor to have you here, if you had only informed your arrival sooner, I would have arranged - "

"Enough!" King Lee thundered, "What is this I hear of my sister's capture! I demand an explanation now!"

There was silence in the throne room as King Lee glared his almost in-law down, fury evident in his posture. King Kon
seemed to deflate before his anger, lowering himself down on the throne.

"Of course, of course… I had thought to inform you soon, I only hoped…" he sighed, shaking his head tiredly.

"Thought? Were you not going to inform me of my sister's disappearance? Are you not going to explain yourself?" King Lee
turned sharply to the messenger, fixing a glare on him, "You! Tell me the circumstance if your king won't!"

King Kon rose from his seat and moved toward King Lee, a stern look in his eyes.

"I will not have someone enter my courts unannounced and ordering my servants around! If you will have an explanation,
you will hear it from me and none other!"

The queen moved to stand beside the king, placing a placating hand on his arm.

"We must not be rash, my King!" she whispered urgently under her breath, eyeing King Lee with a sort of look reserved only
for a madman.

King Lee breathed, crossing his arms, "Very well. Tell me then, how did my sister come to be kidnapped?"

Just as King Kon was about to begin his explanation, a bloodcurdling scream sounded from the courtyard. They froze
mid-action, then moved as a group toward the sound of the scream. Already, servants were running toward the throne
room, but screaming intelligibly and pointing in the direction of the courtyard.

King Lee strode through the double doors of his palace, eyes sweeping the courtyard for anomalies when his gaze fell on a
particularly gruesome sight. At the edge of his palace, close to the walls, a figure that he guessed was once human was
dumped unceremoniously there, as though it was thrown over the castle walls without much thought.

He took a few steps forward and had to stop, lest he risked heaving his entire lunch on his lawn. The smell was
grotesque, like that of rotting flesh that was probably burnt to a certain degree before it expired. He could now see the
white fabric that looked to be a wedding dress, the only unblemished portion on the motionless figure. A soldier ran up to
him, clutching a note.

"Your Highness, this was found on the body," he reported, handing over the slightly bloody and sooty note.

Beside him, King Lee was making his way hurriedly toward the body, anxious on realizing its identity. When he finally saw
the filthy but still recognizable pink hair, he moaned and collapsed next to the body, closing his eyes in distress.

King Kon hurriedly hid the note into his pockets. It would not do well to let King Lee read it; it might well push him over the
brink of sanity. For the note had only four words and it said 'Congratulations on the Wedding'.

Max grimaced for the umpteenth time, resisting the urge to wash his hands once again. He did, however, give a small
concession in the form of wiping them on the sides of his robes. Not that it made much of a difference, really. He had just
finished helping his mother with preparing the Princess' body for the journey and subsequent burial in Katze.

It was rather horrendous, to say the least. From what his mother told him, and his own observations, the Princess' body
had been through much… trauma before her apparent death. Torture was apparently the favorite mode of entertainment
for a guest at the yakuza's hideout. Not that he would be describing any of his findings to Prince Ray. Or King Li, for that
matter. The past few days had been hell on earth, and he saw no need to worsen matters any more that it already was.
He wasn't even sure if he'd live to see his next birthday.

Sighing despondently, he shook his head vigorously to rid himself of his morbid thoughts. He still had much to do, like
wrapping up what was left of the Princess' left arm.

"That dance won't help you attract birds, you know," came a half-hearted quip.

He turned and saw Bryan leaning against the wall behind him, hands relaxed by his sides. There were no birds fluttering
around him this time.

"What are you doing here?" questioned Max.

The room they were in was in a completely different wing from the one assigned to the Princess, now taking over by King
Lee. And Max was almost sure Bryan was not granted access to this part of the castle.

"I wanted to see the Princess," said Bryan. He shifted uncomfortably, eyes fixed to the ground, "King Lee is not exactly
happy with me now," he finished sardonically.

Max winced. Going by what he heard about when King Lee had first arrived, Bryan was making a massive understatement.
But at least he did not look half as bad as that other bodyguard of Ray's had. He studied Bryan, noticing a scattering of
bruises on his arms and face. Yes, he certainly fared better than the other bodyguard did.

"You won't want to see her," Max muttered quietly, turning back to the body. It was apparently loud enough for Bryan to
hear, for he flinched.

"The Princess ordered you away," Max said consolingly as he picked up the gauze, "Once King Lee calms down, he will see
that it was no fault of yours."

The derisive snort he received in response was enough to make him shut his mouth. Bryan pushed off the wall, turning
toward the entrance.

"Perhaps if you'd take me to see your Four Spirits, I can beg for their protection against the King's wrath," he bit out, "till
then, we'll see, won't we?"

With that, he left the room, leaving Max to stare at him from behind. The door swung shut and Max sighed, knowing there
was nothing he could do. Aside from going back to the Princess' corpse at least.

King Lee paced the length of the room, leaving a trail of destruction behind him. The quarters that had been his sisters
looked hardly fit for a princess anymore. Not with bits of glass and furniture strewn haphazardly around the room, at least.
As he passed the last remaining vase on the mantel, he swung it down and watched in morbid satisfaction as it smashed
to pieces on the ground. Like his sister. Torn to bits by what seemed to be dogs, of all creatures!

He growled as the memory rose unbidden to his mind. He knew the king did not divulge the full truth to him. He knew the
king was hiding something, but what, he could not fathom. There was no explanation to the wedding dress - he knew it
was not Mariah's, for it was not to be the wedding date till a few more weeks at least. The idea that King Kon was still
hiding the truth drove him up the wall. As he stormed past another side table, he flung that too, narrowly missing his
advisor's head.

"Sire, please pull yourself together," said Kenny. He had taken cover in a corner of the room, hoping that the flying
projectiles would not be able to harm him, but it seemed his corner would no longer be safe.

"Pull myself together, you say?!" King Lee roared, flinging a handy book at his advisor, "Mariah is dead!"

"Sire, the whole kingdom is in grief over the death of our Princess. Will you let your country fall to despair?"

"Without my sister, I have nothing! What is the point of ruling when you have none by your side to share your victories?!
Nothing, there is nothing!"

Kenny watched as the king finally sat on the bed, the only piece of furniture that had evaded being thrown only because
of its sheer size. This country would have made a good ally, if not for the series of events that occurred. It was a pity they
would lose such an ally, but there were more than one way to profit from an ally's resources than just marriage. But this
was a matter that had to be handled delicately.

"Sire, I would propose a… means to an end, if you will."

"What do you mean?" King Li questioned tiredly, his anger seeming to have ran its course.

"Revenge, of course."

"What for? Conquering them will not bring my sister back…"

"No sire, but it will appease your anger and by extension, the entire kingdom's as well. We will not be forfeiting what your
sister has set up for us here."

King Lee sighed, rubbing a hand tiredly over his face, "Do what you will."

"Certainly, Sire. I will make the necessary preparations."

With that, Kenny bowed and retreated from the room, leaving the King to his thoughts.

An Extract from the Diary of Prince Ray

 Day  Month  Year

Of all the incompetent, useless fools ...

If I see him this instant, I would ....

Mariah was ....

I will destroy her captors if - when ....

Not in the mood right now. Will write again when the country does not have the propensity to break out into war any
moment.

- TBC -

School's starting soon, don't expect quick updates.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so our updates are infrequent at best, non-existent at worse. And I admit it's my fault? I think (I'm the writer part
of this freak show btw). Bet my co-author is laughing her ass off at my admittance. But I did it. And here's the update. So
there.

Oh, and reviews work. I only got truly inspired to finish up what was left (which was at least 3-4 scenes I think…) when
our latest reviewer idbur reviewed. So if you need someone to thank, thank him/her. And keep the reviews coming.

Author's Notes Part II:

(as written by the plot generator)

Yes, I am laughing my ass off. Mwahaha.

Idbur really gave us a shock when s/he reviewed. We didn't think there'll be many of our original readers left. I'm glad
that our original story could not be remembered much though, it had an "I can't believe I actually wrote this piece of crap"
feel to it.

The plot generator does work too! I may not be the writer of this duo but that doesn't mean that I don't write at all…
Chapters which retain the greatest amount of my writing are the side stories with random paragraphs and sentences
(by writer) scattered here and there for added detail and depth. My writing style is very straight to the point so if I were
the only one writing this, chapters would be at most half the length you see here… so thank the great procrastinator up
there.

As a reward for reading through the longer than usual AN, we have an omake for our dear readers, as written by yours
truly.

He was dirty, hungry and tired. Almost every night now he had been plagued with nightmares of stickmen with dual
coloured hair booting him out of the palace and preventing him from indulging in his food and his bed.

Captain Tyson of the Royal Guards woke up with a muffled scream, limbs tangled in his sleeping bag. Again.

He sat up straight, hair plastered on his forehead with sweat, and a hand to his heart to calm it.

"Today's the last day, just bear with it Tyson." He muttered to himself. "You can gorge yourself on proper food when you
get back."

His deputy entered the tent just then and saluted.

"Sir! Awaiting your orders to continue the search, Sir!" the man barked.

Tyson waved his hand dismissively. "Alright, go on."

"But sir… we're waiting for you."