The simple girl was wearing the bracelet Dylan had bought her. She kept it safe on her wrist the entire day, never letting it go. Her day consisted of doing all the house chores for her father and brothers. It would be the usual cooking and cleaning for her father and brothers.

Rose thought she would always remain harsh and empty, but then Dylan came. He showed her that there is much more than a hard outside. Given, the stranger was a shallow guy when they first met, but he did impress her. He made her laugh and…cared.

Rose was starting to like Dylan. He was a sweet guy, and he's very outgoing too. Rose giggled at the memory of him trying to catch the boar. He had so much trouble with a simple task. 

She began to if they could--- 

BOOM! 

Followed by the explosion, multiple screams were be heard outside. Rose ran to the source, where she saw a person with malice pouring out of them. It was a yokai. It had infiltrated the village, and with its comrades, terrorizing the people. Pile of rubble everywhere, along with many injured men and women. The yokai continued to cause destruction, but how did they enter? Undoubtedly, the traps would have at least set off an alarm. Her father and brothers were fighting them off, but there were too many of them. All those who could fight handled their own.

          "Town guardian!" One yokai spoke. "Give yourself up to our leader, the Blood Lord, and we will spare your               town!" 

          “What does the Blood Lord want with the guardian?” asked Roger.

           “Surely, you already know,” the yokai sinisterly grinned. “Our master is looking to make a new world. To do             that, he has eaten the guardians in this human-infested world. And the guardian of this town will have the             honor of becoming a part of his grand plan!”

 The yokai laughed manically; everyone knew about the Blood Lord. He was a ruthless being with an insatiable hunger for power. It is believed that he is behind the many disappearances of guardians over the years. Now, this town was on the list.

 Roger thought for a moment. He didn’t want to die, and he also didn’t want to lose his sons. But….

          “She’s over there!” he pointed at his house. “In that house is where the guardian is. She is a little girl with                 strong powers. Take her and uphold your end of the deal!”

 The yokai grinned. The creature’s eyes turned to the house and looked directly at Rose. Breaking the trance of fear, she immediately ran inside. Slamming the doors behind her, she locked and barricaded them with what she could find. Rose knew she didn’t have much time, so she had to think fast.

 As she ran up the stairs to her room, she heard the banging and smashing from the yokai. She didn’t have much time. Thankfully, her house was armed with many protective runes, which would go off when any yokai set foot in the place.

            “I knew my father was cruel, but to do this?” she thought. “I shouldn’t have trusted his better nature.”

When she reached her room, she closed the door and barricaded it as well. Rose needed a weapon and an escape route. Luckily, she kept a few blades under her bed for safekeeping. She grabbed the sharpest one and proceeded to the secret passage behind the wall. Her hand pushed the stone, causing a door to open. She ran inside as the door closed behind her.

The tunnel was barely lit, but it was a straight passage that led to the forest. Rose could hear her heart beating. It was beating extremely fast. The fear from the yokai and the hurt from her family were too much to handle. She knew that her family hated her, but …this was too much!

Rose held back her tears and remained strong. She soon reached the exit and carefully checked her surroundings.

            “It’s safe,” she sighed.

BANG!

Rose felt something hard hit her head. The pain was excruciating. Her body fell to the ground, unable to stand the pain. Her eyes were drooping, and her vision was getting blurry. However, she could make out her attacker because she knew them all too well. It was her father.

“Dylan…” she whispered.

**

Aidan searched through the palace garden all morning. He hoped to find what he was looking for. When one of the servants asked, the prince merely told them to leave him be. Of course, all the servants couldn’t help but watch. They wondered what their prince, who spent his days in the human world, was looking for.

Aidan fell back on the concrete path. He took a breath and wondered where the flower could be. The palace garden had blossoms of all kinds from all over the world.

            “Where is it?” he groaned.           

            "Where is what?” a deep voice asked.

Aidan turned to see his father standing over him.

            “Now, this is unexpected,” the king crossed his arms. “I never thought I would see the day my lazy son                     would partake in gardening.”

Aidan rolled his eyes.   

            “Again, what are you looking for?” repeated Jared.

            “Desert roses,” Aidan replied.

             Jared stared at his son for a moment. “Come with me.”

Aidan followed behind his father, not knowing where they were going. The two walked for a while until they came upon a giant grass maze. Aidan made sure to stay close to his father so he wouldn’t get lost. When they reached the center, there was a beautiful marble pavilion. Around the pavilion were many different flowers. One of them was the desert rose.

Jared walked over to the plant. He caressed the small flower, then plucked it from the ground. The king, who was always hard on Aidan, handed his son the flower. His eyes gazed into his son’s.

            “Do you love her?” he asked.

Aidan's eyes widened, but then he smiled.

            “I do. Both now and forever,” the young prince declared.

             The king smiled. “Then hold on to her.”

Aidan nodded. He then created a portal to the human world and lept through it. Jared watched as the portal closed.

            “My love,” he whispered. “I think our son has grown up.”