Two Sides, One Body

Two Sides, One Body Prologue Far across the black expanse of space, a blue and green planet rotated on its axis - Saracen. Creatures of flight filled the skies along with various air transportation vehicles. On the ground animals grazed and people got on with their lives. Technology on the planet has thrived vastly during the past millennium. This story takes place in the year 4072 and the universe was much different than it once was: more planets had been discovered including the life forms that inhabit them; there’s a wider understanding of everything around and beyond us; the inhabitants of many planets have learned to communicate and transport to one another. The planet where this story is based had been divided into two halves called Kumas and Satan. However, Saracen had its fair share of problems - believe me because I was there. The main one was that both halves where at war. Kumas was under the wise rule of King Rufus, a loyal just human who wanted to propel into the future. Satan however was ruled by another form, one that most certainly wasn’t humane. Living as though it was still the 10th century, the most hideous cold-hearted creature rules over all the demonic kind. Who is he? Well I could call him many things to be honest with you but the words used are a bit … colourful. Oh you want to know his name?! Why didn’t you just say that in the first place? God you are such a time waster! Well since you asked, his name is Daryl. Oh and he is a demon. Anyway, that’s enough about all that rubbish, time to get to ONE of the most important people in this story. By the way, THIS IS A TRUE STORY. NOT A FICTIONAL ONE!! If this book is stored in the ’fictional section’, go and whack the book person with this book please. I’m going to take you back to when I was 6 years old or you won’t understand some parts of my story. That okay with you? Tuff if it isn’t because I’m going to tell you anyway. It was a snowy night on a quiet riverbank just outside the great walls of King Rufus’ castle An eerie moon casts it light over the area. The atmosphere was surprising quiet for the time of night - around 7:30pm - but suddenly a weeping sound came from beside the river with startled the nearby wildlife. Question: what colour is snow? The clever ones out there will say ‘it’s white you dimwit’. Well if you are sooo clever then I bet you know what happens at the end of the book then. Oy, don’t you dare go to the last page and read it! That’s cheating! Can I get back on with the story now? Thank you. Well this snow wasn’t white, but blood red. Lying amongst the blood was a young girl, tears streaming down her face. She only wore a snowy white dress and no shoes. Poor lass! The tips of her blonde shoulder length hair were stained red, blue eyes showing fear. Guessed who it is yet? It was me of course. I just sat there, all alone, not knowing where I was or how I got there for that matter. The winter wind nipped my tender face, turning it blue. Heavy hasty footsteps met my ears, followed closely by a concerned yell. “Hello? Is anyone out there?” the gruff brittle voice cried. I could only continue crying (I was only 6 and complete lost for Christ’s sakes, how did you expect me to react?!). The footsteps grew closer and the person who created them was by my side within minutes. As I looked through tears, I saw an old frail face mounted on a plumb body. The man had thinning grey hair, pale flaky skin and dark green penetrating eyes. When he extended his hand to me, I noticed a few bruises and gruesome open wounds, but I placed mine in his and he hauled me to my feet. I wobbled slightly as though it was the first time that I stood unaided but I regained my balance eventually. “Hello little one. Don’t be afraid, I’m not going to hurt you.” he reassured me tenderly. “Do you know your name?” “Yu…Yukki.” I replied quietly. Don’t bother asking me how I knew my name when I said I couldn’t remember anything because that is one question that I can’t answer. “Yukki. My name is Victor, do you mind coming with me? I’ll get you some new clothes and some shelter until your parents come looking for you.” And that’s about it. That’s what happened on that cold night all those years ago. Now its time to get a move on with the important stuff, aka me and a certain someone who I am not mentioning yet. So if you’ve managed to get your small Earthling brain to follow me so far, I’m telling you now that it is going to get more difficult from hereon in. I’ll try to explain most of the stuff that I can but if you get lost…well I don’t care, just carry on reading and tell your friends about my book - I’m low on money and this is the only way that I can get it. Kumas Palace - almost 10 years after I was found Let me just started off by saying that…Kumas palace was one grand place to be. Every inch of the bleeding building was royal; even the king’s pet hamster looked like royalty. Basic layout of the palace: on the top floor was the bedrooms of the knights, the king and queen, and the guests; the next floor had all the royal necessities like the throne room, the hall of portraits, weapon storage, courtroom and the great hall where important meals and balls were held; after that you entered the servant quarters, the rooms on that floor were only a kitchen and about 14 bedrooms. That’s all I’m going to tell you about the layout but I’ll describe it in more detail further on. Enjoy. Just in case you’re wondering, my parents never did come for me (boohoo!). Victor took me into the palace where he worked and asked King Rufus if I could seek shelter in the grand building. Just until my parents came. We waited

a whole month but my parents were nowhere in sight. So ever since then, Victor raised me as his own but I’ve never called him ’Dad’ since I was hoping my real parents would one day make contact and take me away. Its not that I didn’t like Victor, he did after all pretty much save my life which he didn’t have to, he was just a bit…odd, not to mention scary at times. The palace didn’t seem right to me for some bizarre reason. Or I didn’t feel right to the palace - as though I didn’t belong there. On the day of my 7th birthday, I began work. My job: a servant to the king and anyone else who I’m assigned to. I know what you’re thinking - how on earth could I be a servant girl when I was so young? You want me to answer that? God you’re so full of questions. Well I was only giving the little kiddie tasks like taking plates to and from the kitchen; helping the teenaged stable boy groom the horses and clean the stables; carry weapons to either the blacksmith or the knights; buying supplies from the market; and finally, assisting Victor whenever he needed me. Yes that is a lot of jobs for such a wee-lass but this wee-less was a very fast one. One that got on with her tasks and did them efficiently and still had plenty of time to go horse riding with Sam (the stable boy). Sam always wore his riding gear at work, but whenever he had spare time his outfit consisted of a white buttoned shirt and black trousers. I’d always ride on the back of Sam’s horse, Thunder - since I didn’t know how to ride a horse at the time - and wrapped my petite hands around the stable boy’s muscled waist. He’d always take me to his favourite spot in the forest by a running stream and we’d play childish games like hide and seek. I really miss Sam. I haven’t seen him ever since he was murdered when I was 14. Don’t ask me ‘who, where, when and why’ because I really don’t want to cry all over the pages of this book. Lets just say that the murderer most certainly paid for what he did to my best friend (you’ll find out about that later). Right, I’m going to take you to the servant quarters of the castle where I’d just awoken from yet another disrupted sleep (aged 13, almost 14). Ever since the day Victor found me I’d been having terrible nightmares about me standing in an abandoned wasteland surrounded by petrifying creatures; on the floor laid the rotting corpses of all those I held dear to my heart. Those beasts feasted upon the bodies and then turned their attention to me. I woke up before they could kill me obviously as we all know that you never die in a dream, if you didn’t know that then you do now. Sweating like mad and shaking like I was having a fit, I stumbled out of my creaking bed and laid on the freezing cold stone floor. My head was banging as though a stampede of elephants were charging through it, and I could still feel the warm breath of death upon my neck. Sam dashed to my side and laid a comforting hand on my quivering shoulder. His hazel eyes locked onto my wide ones as he soothed me with his deep voice. “Hey angel. Bad dream again huh?” “Of course.” I replied bluntly while straightening the creases in my blue silk nightdress. Sam pushed a curly lock of hair from my face and sighed. “Well since you are awake, how about you and me go for a quick walk before work?” Sam suggested and due to my rebellious mind, I agreed. You’d think that we were in a relationship by how we reacted towards each other but I considered him my big brother - plus it would be dodgy if we were going out since he was 6 years older than me. I slipped on my favourite white coat and a pair of black flat ballet shoes while Sam changed into his usual outfit with the addition of a camo jacket that looked like it was made to fit a polar bear. Checking the clock on the mantelpiece above a snuffed out fire, I calculated that we had an hour to kill. I’m going to skip the journey to our destination because there isn’t much to tell, apart from something funny happened to Sam - he got his foot stuck in a rabbit hole and fell over. Allow me to create the setting for you since this is what you have to do if you want to be a good author, which I do. Tall trees reached up towards the cloudless sky, extending their branches out threatening to grab us and never let go. Woodland animals observed the action but not daring to approach. The crisp green grass still wet with morning dew tickled my bare feet (those blinking ballet shoes were suffocating my feet to death, so I asked Sam to remind me to get some new ones). As we reached the sparkling stream, I dipped in my feet and swished them around causing ripples that attracted the attention of fish. “Ouch!” I yelled, leaping up into the air grasping my foot. “What did you do now?” Sam asked, unsuccessfully hiding his amusement. “A bloody fish bit my toe!” I snapped. “Oh, you think that’s funny do you? How about…” I scooped up some water and threw it in Sam’s direction, soaking his face. He coughed and spluttered in surprise and a smug grin spread across that gorgeous face of his. “You asked for it.” Sam smiled and began to chase me. We wove in-between the trees, laughing until our sides split. “Help!” I cried sardonically, “I’m being chased by a 19 year old moron with poor sense in fashion!” Every time Sam got close in catching me, I always managed to flip out of the way of his outstretched arms - literally. Another thing you should know about me is that I’m so flexible and athletic. No I am not bragging, just boasting; okay that means the same as bragging but I was hoping that you didn’t know that. Eventually he did catch me and when he did, he did the worst form of torture ever! Tickling. I squirmed and tears of laughter rolled down my rosy cheeks. We laid there, completely exhausted. I leaned my head on his broad shoulders and closed my eyes. I felt something like little feet work their way up my torso, but I ignored them. Letting out a long breath, Sam…licked my face. ‘Licked your face, that’s just gross!’ I bet you’re saying. Well as I opened my eyes and prepared to shout at him in disgust, a hairy face looked down on me. Beady eyes were hidden underneath shaggy grey fur, a wet nose nuzzled into my neck. A

miniature tail wagged excitedly as I tickled one of the creatures pointed ears. It was a wolf cub, not Sam. He hadn’t even noticed that the cub’s mum was laid beside him, licking herself clean. “Sam…” I began, but drifted off as the wolves’ ears pricked up as the sound of howling met them. The she-wolf yapped at her cub and set off into the forest, but the cub remained on me. Turing, the she-wolf snarled at the adorable thing and scared it half to death. It gave me a look of distress and sulked in his mother’s shadow. Within seconds, they had vanished. Sam opened one hazel eye lazily, a slight amount of fear dancing in them, and scanned me. I frowned at him sarcastically, awaiting what cocky thing was going to leave his mouth. “What? Do I have something on my face?” I gleamed, pointing my finger at myself. But he didn’t respond - just starred at me with glazed eyes. Waving my open hand in front of his face, he suddenly snapped out of his trancelike state and wiped his palm across his moist face. “Sorry, I just…” he drifted off in mid-sentence and gave me a shaky smile. Laying his clammy hand onto mine, he gently squeezed and rose to his feet. “That’s a first, you’re lost for words.” I chuckled, unable to hide the anxiety in my tone. Joining him by the water’s edge, I glimpsed downwards towards the shimmering blue liquid. White wispy waves rippled the water gently, giving the area a calm atmosphere. Stood amongst the towering trees, barely any light disturbed our privacy. Leaves crinkled under the weight of even the lightest of creatures…which is exactly what happened next. A frail skeletal figure scurried towards us, dressed in a frayed satin dress. Her long jet black hair bounced around her shoulders which were clearly visible. When she was a mere few centimetres before us, she spoke. “Rao Yukki, Sam. Fryd oui kioc ib du?” If I could see you right now, I bet your eyes widened and your tongue twisted. The girl’s name was Gret, an Al Bhed. I’m going to help you out here and translate what she says, but I have to tell you what she says in Al Bhed first or she’d kill me. Gret had just said ‘Hey Yukki, Sam. What you guys up to?’ “Not much Gret, just chilling before work.” Sam replied, winking at her. “Famm oui paddan cdub lremmehk yht kad fymgehk, Gehk Rufus ec muugehk vun pudr uv oui.” she yelled, hurrying on in front of us. What she said was ‘Well you better stop chilling and get walking, King Rufus is looking for both of you’ and that could only mean one thing…we were in deep trouble.