(book) Chapter 1: Scene 1 [Phoenix]
6.23.07 -- 4:59pm

"It must be prevented! Surely you must know something of how this course of action can be changed?" Riley Myoshi demanded.
The cursed princess sighed and said ruefully, "I don’t want to prevent it."
"This kind of power can not be gained outside of our family’s line. Why would you hand it over to our oldest enemies?"
"It’s none of my concern Rufus! I don’t care."
Riley scowled, ran his teeth over his lips shaking his head in frustration, "You must care, it’s your duty to care! I demand that you tell me how to prevent this!"
The princess scoffed, and after a long moment said, "You can’t demand anything of me. In fact, I think you’re quite confused. The last time I checked, I could demote your standings with the snap of my fingers – curse or no."
Riley gasped at the mention of the princess’ curse. Nobody dared to mention it, not even himself. As for his rank, he could only sink one rank lower, would she really do such a thing?
She sighed, "I won’t tell you how to prevent it. I don’t even know how to prevent the split. I just know it’s going to happen soon. If it’s any consolation, it’s by our own doing."
"What do you mean, our own doing?" Riley almost added a threat to this remark, but then remembered hers and swallowed instead.
"I mean, dear Rufus, that it’s not leaving the family. To the contrary, it’s one of us who is causing the divergence."
"But why?" Riley began to pace the room, "Who? What Myoshi would want to hand that much power to the Myrinans? Only ignorance could merit such a thing. That realm is only beneficial to the lineage, which is all but lost, and certainly no Myoshi has Lycastian Myrinan blood!"
"I wouldn’t be so certain on any of those counts. Besides, it’s your uncle who’s ignorant apparently."
"Stop toying with me Chaviva! Tell me who’s behind this or I’ll have you removed from this realm this instant!"
The princess, taken aback, stood from her throne and stepped down the marble stair case to look her uncle in the face. She raised two fingers pressed together as she did so, and guards grabbed either of his arms. "I don’t know who you think I am Rufus, but your rank is as of now suspended for insulting the Royal Blood. I’ll be seeing you again in your cell to report what the Myoshi court has decided for you."
She followed him, step for step and the guards half-led, half-dragged him from the white and red throne room. As they approached the door, Riley’s mouth still agape, she said to him, "Who’s behind this, you ask? My great half-uncle, Yamato Myoshi," and with those words, the doors shut, and Chaviva and Riley spoke no more.

"I really don’t find it so bad in the states. There is a lot less poverty, and from what I can tell, less violence," I said. It was my first input in their conversation since we left the apartment building.
"Shit, maybe in California that shit was true – not here – got more gangs in da city than in all of Illinois put togetha," Christy said. I shrugged. What would they know about Jamaica anyway?
"Illinois?" Shanice made a scoffing tut, "We gots more gangs and violence here than anywhere in America. ‘Course except the Bronx."
"Nobody cares about the damned Bronx, Shanice. You’re ours now, give the shit up or I’ll have Senna throw you out," Tracy said.
I sighed, I was growing tired of my city tour which turned out to really be the four city girls giving themselves a tour of the neighborhood stores and "licks" as they called them. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud the first time they informed me that the little, teeny-tiny bags with swaggy-looking bush in them sold for five American dollars.
They had eyed me suspiciously, but I offered no explanation. I found myself disliking the lot of them the more I witnessed their behavior. I felt no need to explain myself to them, nor did I wish to offer them any information about myself; they’d undoubtedly only use it against me.
"Shut up!" Janet yelled. I rolled my eyes and made no attempt to cover my laughter when Shanice pushed Janet up against the brick wall of the building and punched her in the stomach. I knew I had missed the better part of their argument, but I didn’t care; watching them scuffle with each other with tactics I wouldn’t expect my twelve-year-old sister to use was much more amusing.
Janet, without recoiling, holding her stomach, reached up and grabbed Shanice’s weave and tugged, raising her knee up and bashing it into Shanice’s face. Tracy attempted to pull Janet out from between Shanice and the brick wall, but only succeeded in ripping Shanice’s long black weave out. She fell backwards on her ass, blood dripping from her nose, half her hair in Janet’s hands.
I shook my head at the crude methods. I had been considering ditching them without a word within fifteen minutes or so, depending on how much more boring or annoying they became, but suddenly I found no inclination to move. I had stopped laughing, I didn’t really want them to badly maul each other, but at the same time, I didn’t feel it was really worth it to intervene. After all, what would Sensai say?
"You bitch!" Shanice cried as she sprung up from the ground. Her fist landed squarely in Janet’s face, and before any of them could recover, she turned on her heal and repeated the action on Tracy. Christy, who moments ago looked mildly amused now looked royally angry. I had now come to the conclusion that Christy and Tracy were much closer than any other two in the four of them.
Before Shanice had a chance to turn around, Christy had an arm around her neck, squeezing likely as hard as she could. She was preforming the maneuver wrong, and I felt inclined to correct her for a moment, but then it really hit me that this wasn’t a sparing class, and that they had already all injured each other, and there was no reason for it to continue.
I shifted my weight, preparing for a move, but Sensai’s words came back to me, and held me still. If it’s not your problem, not your family, not your friends, leave it alone. Never risk your neck, your reputation, not to mention mine on a stranger. It’s not worth it. I took a deep breath, my eyes hardening to the scene in front of me, and I took a step back instead of forward.
Tracy and Janet were both regaining their bearings and, ignoring Christy’s hold on Shanice, they looked at each other.
"What da fuck bitch? Why you start dis stupid shit!" Tracy yelled at Janet, pushing her into the wall. I noticed at this point a couple of guys across the street watching, seeming unconcerned, but interested.
"Did you just call me bitch, bitch?" Janet yelled back, pushing Tracy off of her easily and kneeing her in the stomach. "Don’t you ever call me a fucking bitch again stupid white girl."
I rolled my eyes. Shanice was pale and going on purple, Christy was flushed and her mouth was bleeding more profusely. Janet’s white shirt was growing more and more red, and one of the straps had ripped. Tracy was starting to vomit, and a crowd of people not interested in doing anything but watching was forming rapidly.
Hooting began from behind me, and the guys across the street had grown from two to five and were now crossing the street. This is ridiculous, teenage girls no younger than me quarreling and fighting like children. How can they be living on their own, where are their parents? I didn’t have any more time to waste, it was becoming more and more dire with every moment I hesitated, and Sensai’s advice or no, I made my decision.

~Phoenix

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