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Days had passed, and when word reached Princess Alicia of my execution, she could do nothing but cry aloud, "Why? Why hadn't I listened??" For it was, in fact, her brother that had been stabbed. Day after day, she would enter the hospital, disappointed more and more with herself for every visit, as he had not woken up since the day of his attack. "Oh god...this is all my fault..." she blubbered aloud, sitting in a small red stool beside his bed.

"Alli..." he stirred, "Donn cry..." he said, clearly not fully having regained his speech.

She gasped, and sat up, "Daniel!! Daniel, oh brother, dear!! Can you hear me? Can you speak?"

He smiled, "I juss talked dinn I?"

She smiled, tears sliding quickly down her face as she embraced her newly awoken brother. "Oh thank heavens!! Are you alright? She didn't hurt you too bad, did she? God, I'm so sorry! If only I wasn't so stupid...I shouldn't have trusted her, I knew it... Danny, please forgive me, please!!"

He frowned, "What you talkim bout? Who?"

"You don't remember, do you? The night you were attacked. I'm so sorry...I found a girl crying in the forest, a demonic. I trusted her, and kept her under house arrest in hand-cuffs." she sniffled, "She got away, and stabbed you." Alicia smiled, "But my guards were stupendous, they managed to capture her. In fact, her execution is today, in case you wanted to know."

"Wai, wai...ham-cuffs. Ham-" his eyes widened, "No! No, no no no no!! Not her, you cann kill her!!"

"What do you-"

"She's not the one!"

"Daniel?" She said, "You're delirious. Go back to sleep, you'll be better when you get up."

"No! No!" he shouted, pulling the IV's from his arms, throwing the blanket aside, and jumping from the bed, tripping almost instantly.

"Danny! What on earth-"

"Damnit! Ally, ih wasnt her! Ih wasn't her! She save me! You cann kill her, you can't!!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, grabbing the collar of her shirt and staring her in the eyes to let her know that he knew what he was talking about.

It took her a moment, but Alicia's eyes widened, understanding the truth of his words. "Daniel, is that true? She wasn't the one that tried to kill you?" he nodded, and Alicia, pulled him to his feet. "Come on, we've got to hurry. Her execution is in an hour, and you know the guards will underestimate the time. They want her dead. Can you walk?"

"I think so," he said, starting to regain control over himself.

"Good." Alicia said. She looked around, finding some scrubs, she took it and tossed it to her brother. "Put this on, you can't walk around in that."

Instead of arguing, he just waited for her to turn away, and dressed quickly, nearly tripping a few times. "I'm good, we should hurrney."

"What?"

He rolled his eyes, "I said hurry. Go!"



I hung my head, staring face-to-face with the sword they planned to kill me with. It would be a swift, clean cut. Maybe a little messy when the blood was spilled, but at least I knew there would be...well, very little pain. Again I sighed. Even faced with imminent death, I couldn't bring myself to regret the decision. To my surprise, I found that I was glad I had done it, content with myself. I had spared an innocent man from suffering a painful death, and in trade I would have a painless death. Either way, a life for a life.

The guard glared at his watch, obviously hasty, and impatient to get my killing over with. "Alright, it's time." he smiled. "Girl, come here, you know what we have to do. And don't even think about running. If you make a break for it, we'll have to drown you instead. Not that I mind. You deserve it, you know, after tricking Princess Alicia into letting you join us, and then killing one of our own."

I ignored him, and walked towards him, obviously, he'd hoped I wouldn't have. "Tch." He grunted. He tied three steel ropes around my neck, and tied the other ends to these metallic looking objects in the ground, put tighly together so as to leave no escape. He smiled, his hand wavering just above the button to release the sword hanging just above my head. "So, any last words, little girl?"

I shut my eyes, "I have no regrets on what I'd done. So just...make it fast."

Just before he hit the button, the big-double door burst open, and in ran the Princess, and at her side was the man I'd saved. "Let her go!!" she shouted.

They looked at her like she must've lost her mind, "But Princess-"

"It wasn't her that tried to kill me!" Daniel shouted, "It wasn't what it looked like, she saved me!!"

Their mouths all dropped, one by one as he said that, and the man in charge of the machine moved his hands away from the button. They both ran towards me, the Princess demanding my release as one of the guards stumbled around, looking for the right key, and the man coming to my side. When I finally felt the last rope untied from my hands, I fell to the floor, feeling my body tremble and quiver in fear and relief. The man sat at my side, and though I really didn't know him, I put my arms around his shoulders, and held him tight, crying. He didn't seem to mind of course; rather, he shut his eyes, and whispered, "It's alright, everything's going to be fine. You're safe now..."

"I-I didn't want to die." I barely whispered back, unable to hold back a single one of my tears, making me feel embarrassed, and guilty for getting his shirt wet.

When the tears slowed a little bit, and I finally stopped shaking, Alicia sat beside me. "Dear girl, I am so sorry. We- I thought for sure you were the one that had done it." she hung her head, "I am gravely sorry. And thank you ever so much, I am forever indebted to you. I know it wasn't easy to escape the guards I'd set up to save my dear brother, but...if you don't mind, how did you do it?"

I sat up, wiping the tears from my eyes, and said, "W-Well, like I said, d-demonic have sharp claws. I-I broke the cuffs with my nails and made a break for the door when the guard wasn't looking. Umm...I know this probably won't help you very much, but I saw a girl running away. I think she was a demonic."

"Who?" she asked immediatly, her kindness gone, and replaced by a serious tone for the importance of the information.

"I don't know." I said honestly, "I-I didn't clearly see her face, she had a mask." Daniel nodded, assuring her I was telling the truth. "Her hair was in pigtails. Umm, I think she had wings though. Like the demonic wing I have, but two of them. Sometimes they leave like a thin filmy powder if they're shedding." And before I could stop myself, another wave of tears started coming.

"I'm so sorry this happened to you, it's all going to be okay, I promise."

I hung my head again, in shame this time. "Ahhh, damnit! These-these stupid tears! Th-they won't stop!"

"Well, you did almost get killed," Daniel offered, "No one can blame you."

I shook my head, "No, you don't understand..." More tears started to fall, and I covered my face with my hands, "God..."

"Daniel, stay with her, okay? Guards, you're excused. I'm going to put up a description so someone can find the girl that tried to kill you."

"Mam, are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, how do we know she's not making him-"

"Guards!" she snapped, "I gave you an order, go!! And do not accuse my brother of lying to me after being stabbed while fully knowing she was about to be killed for something she hadn't done. Now get out of my sight!"

Without a second thought, they headed for the door, Alicia leaving just moments later. I felt strange, alone with her brother. As if I was ashamed and...nervous. I didn't quite know why- perhaps because he'd just saved me? "Th-thanks." I stuttered, "You know, you just saved my life."

I didn't see his face, but I knew he nodded, "A life for a life." he said. "I'd say we're even, but...it was because of me that you were going to die. Are you going to be alright?"

"I...I'm fine." I lied, knowing full-well that I was most certainly not alright. "But...why didn't you defend yourself out there? You just...did nothing."

He sighed, "What could I have done? I'm human, I have no powers, no super-strength or anything special. You were right, she was a demonic, the girl was too strong for me to handle. Sorry you almost got killed because of me. This is my fault..."

I looked up and glared at him, "Don't blame yourself, and don't pity me! I'm not weak! I could've run when the guards saw me standing over what we thought was your dead body, but I didn't. I made the choice."

"Why did you do that? If you could've run, I mean."

"I..." I didn't want to say why, but I knew he did just save my life. I shut my eyes, and answered honestly, "If I died, I would've died a hero's death, and...I don't...I don't have a reason to...I don't even know why I have to live. I just...don't have a reason to live, I guess."

"What?! Of course there's a reason to live! What about your friends, you family, everyone you ever cared about?! What would they think?! Would they want you to die?" he exclaimed.

"Guess I wouldn't know. My parents died when I was little, and and all my friends were demonic. We care more about food, money, and current position rather than who dies and who lives. To us, it's just the circle of life." I told him, finally looking up.

"Well that's...screwed up. So what, they don't care if everyone around them dies as long as they're okay?" He blinked, a little confused, "Wait, so then why did you save me?"

I turned my head sideways, "I...I wish I knew."

"A-Anyways," he said, looking a little nervous, "If you don't have anyone then...then I guess we'll be your family."

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You said you don't have a family. Well, I know we don't really know each other, but my sister seems to like you, and you seem alright. Plus, you did save my life...so...I guess what I'm saying is, if-if you want...we...we'll be your family." He said.

I stared up at him, his face was a little flushed. I didn't know what to say. I laid my head against his shoulder, too exausted to think, but flattered by his offer. "Yeah...yeah, okay." I said, covering my face in my hair, not to hide my tears, but this time, to hide my smile.