"We have a breaking news announcement, it comes directly from the royal palace. A plot to kill Prince Juzo Shidehara has been confirmed by officials. A lethal toxin was found within the locker of an imperial commander. A warrant for his arrest has been issued. This toxin is banned across the entire world. Possession of this toxic substance holds a life sentence." The radio played the announcement for everyone across Jazan. It stopped the Japanese song that was playing for Oumri.
Oumri was lost in her thoughts as she worried about Juzo and Ren. I hope they're safe, they are both great kids. It's ashame that Juzo is being targeted, I just hope this doesn't escalate further. Oumri thought to herself, she rolled down the window. The air rushing inside messed with her unique white hair. She turned towards her knight looking at the beautiful woman. The attractive lady knight sat proper as she looked out the window. "Thank you for volunteering Ella, it brings great honor to me. I trust you to guard those two boys."
Oumri's voice had a sultry tone as she spoke. It was quite arousing no matter who you are. "It is no problem my lady, I'm actually a supporter of Juzo's policies. Increased tax for the rich, lower taxes for the poor, universal income and free healthcare. And so many other policies that are designed to help people. He truly is a rare gem to find. I've never seen other thirteen year olds do what he does. He uses his position to give the people a voice, we have to thank him. Without him, I wouldn't have this rank as a knight." Ella said as she held her briefcase in her lap. Her hazel eyes sparkled as she talked about Juzo, she smiled towards Oumri.
Oumri knew what Ella was talking about, Juzo had discussed having knights as a new rank. After Juzo and Lysias met with numerous commanders it was decided upon. "He is definitely one interesting boy. As a knight you train to become a great warrior, you even wear nanomachines as armor."
They both got quiet as the music stopped again, another alert came. "We have word that the terrorist organization; The Hand of God are planning an attack. An imperial air force base is the target. We do not know which one will be attacked. All bases have increased the alert level to maximum, no civilians allowed until it is lifted. We will have updates later when more information is released. This is the Twins News Network. Have a safe and blessed Tuesday morning.
"Not another threat. Do you think the Hand of God is behind the toxin found?" Ella asked as she placed her hand on her briefcase. She could feel the warmth emanating off of it.
Oumri shrugged her shoulders, she won't know until she joins Lysias' investigation. "It's quite possible, I certainly can't say no. I'll know more once we're there. I'm going to be investigating this, I will root out the radicals targeting Juzo. They will face charges for treason, a crime punishable by death."
"It's sickens me that grown men will target kid like this. Have you seen Juzo's social media activity? It's plagued with threats of violence and sexual comments targeting Juzo. I don't know how he handles all of that. But I will say, he is one brave thirteen year old. He always looks so happy too." Ella said, her hazel eyes gazed towards the handcuffs on her wrist.
"It's like they say. The ones who smile the most are the ones hurting the most. Looks can be deceitful, especially to someone already insecure about himself. I've none Juzo a long time now. I can tell when something is troubling him, call it a mother's intuition." Oumri said as she looked out the window, she saw the castle up ahead.
The driver stopped at the large towering gate. Several soldiers approached them wearing silver armor. Gold details could be seen on the armor, it sparkled a little in the sunlight. Once they verified the duchess' identity they signaled for the gates to open. The heavy metal gate opened slowly allowing them to proceed.
The driver pulled up to the entrance, people were seen running outside. Numerous soldiers rushed through the doors. An alarm went off as more soldiers filled the area. Women and children fled having fear carved into their faces. The driver got out and several gunshots echoed through the area. The driver nearly shit himself as he ducked behind the limo.
Ella was quick to respond, her white armor spread across her body in seconds. A tactical handgun was in her hands as she rushed inside. She immediately saw the imperial commander, his handgun aimed right at Juzo. He was at gunpoint, his hands shaking as he saw the bullets floating. Prince Zeki's green eyes glowed with power, his right hand aimed forward.
An unseen barrier of magic stood between the three boys and the bullets. Ella's gun was aimed right at the man's chest. Her aim was stable as she watched him, the soldiers were giving orders to him.
Zeki's nose started bleeding as he kept the barrier up. The commander's ignored further warning as he pulled the trigger. Juzo's eyes started dilating as he saw what was going to happen. He grabbed his chest, his heart racing as his vision played out. His eyes watering as his pants grew warm, a puddle of pee formed on the ground. Shot after shot made Juzo deaf as the would be assassin got shot up. He was riddled with bullets, the commander was laid out choking on his blood. The three princes trembled, the man's blood was splattered everywhere.
Juzo vomited as his thoughts raced away seeing Zeki faint right there. Zeki was out cold as the soldiers cuffed the assassin. They took his gun and began trying to save his life. A field medic checked on Zeki who wasn't responding. He was taken by the medic as Juzo stood there shaking. Oh my god, what have I done? I knew this would happen yet I put everyone in danger. I didn't mean to drag Prince Zeki into this mess. Juzo was plagued with these thoughts as he began crying.
Ella checked on the brothers, Juzo was becoming hysterical. Ren looked just as bad, he was trembling from the shock. Juzo could still feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins. His legs were still shaking. Ren was still in shock, but he finally snapped to. "Juzo, are you okay? Zeki save our lives. Without him we'd be..." Ren said, he placed a hand on Juzo's shoulder. But Juzo was in his own little world as his tears ran down his face.
"Are you two okay? None of you got hurt did you?" Ella Grayman asked, it was clear they were both going to be traumatized by this. She just hoped that they weren't struck or grazed by any bullets.
"I think we're good... Zeki, he's going to be okay right?" Ren asked, he looked over towards the gunman dying on the ground.
All Juzo wanted to do was run away, but he was so scared his legs wouldn't move. He looked towards Ella Grayman and said. "I want my dad," he walked over to the lady knight and hid his face against her suit. His tears flooded through uncontrollably, he thought they were so dead. Ella placed her hand gently upon his back and tried to calm him.
It didn't take long for Lord Lysias to come running to his sons. "Is everyone okay?" Lysias asked as he checked the boys over. His hands were trembling as he tried to contain his wrath and fear.
Juzo ran to his father seeking comfort and safety. As Juzo went to hug him, they both tumbled to the ground. Juzo screamed and cried out, he buried his face against his dad's regal suit. Juzo's tears soaked into the expensive silk. Lysias held Juzo tight to himself protecting him as best he could. Lysias so wanted to say something to comfort him. All he wanted was to destroy whoever did this.
"It's okay Juzo, I'm here. It's alright to cry, let's get you two out of here. I'm not letting you watch this." Lysias said, he got up holding Juzo close to himself. He didn't see Zeki as he looked towards Ren.
"My Lord Zeki used too much magic and he past out. I believe a medic took him, what would you like me to do?" Ella asked as her armor formed the briefcase once again.
Lysias looked around seeing the aftermath of what just happened. It was chaos as people rushed past him responding to the scene. Others were leaving, they feared another attack was inevitable. Overall everyone was unnerved and on alert from this assassination attempt. Lord Lysias faced Ella Grayman and gave her Juzo's hand."Get them out of here immediately. Take them upstairs to their room. Ren show her the way to your room."
"Of course my lord. Let's get going young princes." Ella said as she took Juzo's hand, Ren led the way for her upstairs.
With his sons out of the room, Lysias took a good look at the gunman. He was a young dark haired male with a beard. Lysias noticed the tattoo on his neck, It was the royal army insignia. This was the imperial commander the police were searching for. Lysias snarled, as he thought to himself. He's a member of the royal army, bastard. I hope you choke to death on your own blood for trying to kill my sons. Lysias pulled out his cellphone and called Myra. He explained everything to her about what just happened.
The Duchess Oumri walked up to Lysias who finished talking with Myra. Myra was on her way back now. She had been out shopping for outfits for Juzo and Ren, it wad for the spring festival. "Lord Lysias, I'm glad your sons are okay. I know you hate King Darius, but you made the right call with Zeki."
"You're right, I was questioning my decision on Zeki. He certainly is quick from what I saw on footage." Lysias said, he and Oumri supervised the scene. The castle police officers took the man's belongings for investigation.
After several long hours a cleaning crew was already cleaning the lobby. There was a lot of blood and gunpowder everywhere. The police officers had already collected their evidence and a few stayed behind. It was unclear how the assassin managed to slip through security and metal detectors. So Lysias was reviewing footage from several dozen cameras.
Both Lysias and Oumri were inside the security room. Inside the head of security, Officer Innoue was playing the captured footage. Once he found the video footage of the whole scene he got their attention. Once he hit play they both watched how the soldiers responded to the incident. However, they noticed that the Juzo was odd. Within the film the area around Juzo was distorted. Everything but him was consumed by darkness. This was quite odd indicating a glitch. This could be a defaulty camera which would need to be replaced.
"Here I'll switch to another camera. That camera's bugged out... And play, this should be better. As the video played the footage was distorted even more. It was looking black and white, the only other color was red. The red color was from Juzo's eyes which were both red as rust. His hair looked white as snow and he stared directly into the camea. It was unnerving to hear the gunshots as Juzo smiled. The distortion of Juzo vanished and the camera zoomed in on the soldier. "I've seen some strange shit, but this is definitely on the supernatural side." Oumri said as she watched the soldier utter a name. It sounded like he said Prince Ukita Moroharu.
Lysias and Oumri jumped suddenly as the door opened. A police officer entered the surveillance room. He had taken photographs of the crime scene earlier. He looked pale and shaken up by something. His hands trembled as he passed Lysias the pictures. "Sorry for intruding my lord, but you need to see this. I caught something unnatural. I wanted to show you what I saw."
Lord Lysias took the pictures and examined each one. "Deofol" was written on the ground, it formed from the blood splatter. Nobody knew how it got there or how to explain it. That wasn't even the freaky part. A demon was standing over the former soldier. It was huge with black scales and two large horns. It's appearance looked quite terrifying as it looked at the soldier. "A qliphothic archdemon, what the fuck is going on? I need answers, just try to ignore what you saw. Oumri, I'm going out for a walk."
"I don't blame you, this definitely has peaked my interest. I'll finish reviewing the footage, I'll call you if anything unusual popps up." Oumri said, Lysias picked up the photograph and left the room. "Well, let's what the other cameras have for us."
As day eventually turned into night, a calm was felt. The castle was on full lock down and the princes were taken care of. Nobody knew what tomorrow will hold for them, the boys could easily have died today. Then there was the demon and the Juzo doppelganger, nobody could explain it. It was a freaky thing and these entites seemed to have an interest in Juzo. It isn't clear what they want, but they seemed to want to help in their own way.
