The first year of the Grand Prince's reign had been more than a bit rocky thanks to the demonic presence that had seduced the innocent maidens at St. Spica.  Much of Ubu Miyase's time had been devoted to collecting information on the nemesis of the Kingdom of Ubuland, in addition to all the other Princely duties she'd assumed since winning the election.  Not very much adventuring had been possible in that time frame since she was so responsible and all that.  With all the stress she'd been put through by that nefarious monster, she really felt as if she could really use the break that only adventuring could provide.  Though her museum was fairly well stocked with artifacts she'd discovered on the school grounds there was always room for a few more items of interest to the dashing prince.  What should turn up in her correspondence than a note, unsigned, which spoke of a mysterious ancient coin that was said to be buried somewhere underneath the bath house on Astraea Hill?  Now that was the ticket!

She'd set off without warning any of her Royal Court about what she was up to.  For all she knew the Demon Prince was going to try and recover the coin herself.  It was likely some sort of ancient Mongol coin which had been carried in secret to Japan by a man who'd seen the light and didn't want to help Genghis Khan oppress others.  He'd taken a coin blessed by the old gods there and warned the Japanese leaders about the intentions of the Khan to attack.  Using the inherent magic of the coin to summon storms he'd caused a tsunami that had been powered by the gods and destroyed the Mongol fleet.  Truly an important item to have in safe keeping!  So she'd gone to the bath house with her leather coat and fedora over her Miator uniform, not stopping for any purpose whatsoever.   The coin of the Old Gods of the Plains must not fall into the wrong hands, be it the Demon Prince or the LeRim Nazis!   That had been twenty minutes ago; now she stood in the bath house, staring at the floor as she tried to identify any tiles that might be loose or looked to have not been original.  Nothing yet, and worse still she felt a dark aura drawing near to her from outside the bath house locker rooms.  

She steeled herself and stood straight up, and then without turning asked, "Who's there?  And what have you done with the Coin of the Old Plains Gods?  Don't you know what kind of power that thing has?"

Strolling along on a winter's day was nothing uncommon for the lustful book worm. She just returned a book and was heading back to her dorm when she spotted a certain silvernette on another path not far away, heading toward the bath house.

Hands in the pockets of her black skinny slacks, she smiled mischeviously behind her red scarf and turned on her heel, casually trailing behind the other Prince. She got stuck at the door after Ubu disappeared inside, some fan quietly asking questions, and spilling admiration. She was getting rather noisy. It took her about twenty minutes of quiet and impatient listening before Shoka had to pull some romantic stunt to send the girl speeding away to tell her friends.

She quickly went in after the silvernette and found her. But no sooner had she arrived than she was noticed. With a smile, Shoka answered her question with an audible click as she locked the door to the locker rooms behind her. Now that she was in plain sight, she pulled the scarf loose, showing off an unbuttoned pea coat and partially open white blouse (relieved of only the top few buttons) showing a tantalizing amount of skin by her collarbone and modest chest.

"Hello Ubu-kun," she purred with a grin, ignoring her silly question about some coin, choosing instead to eye her the way a cat eyes a mouse.

Instantly Ubu knew just who it was that had entered the locker room behind her.  That dark aura was completely justified and accurate as a prediction on the intruder's identity; it was none other than her greatest nemesis.  The one and only dark, sadistic demon prince of Spica!  Ubu turned around slowly at the taller girl's insidious greeting and glared at the prince she had had no idea existed before the previous fall.  Now she was all too aware that there was someone claiming to be a prince who was bent on war with the peaceful adventuring kingdom Ubu had built through kindness and respect.  How dare she profane this place with her presence!  At this point Ubu had already stopped thinking straight about how she should handle the purplenette.  What had been done by this horrible girl to a member of Ubu's court was unforgivable.  Who knew what other things she'd done to other girls on campus since then?

Without a second thought she took a running start and jumped over a changing bench that was between herself and her arch enemy. It was rather like a hurdle in an Olympic  track and field event.  Except in this case the object of leaping the obstacle was to close the distance between herself and a demonic presence.  Now standing before the evil 'prince' she glared up into those unforgiving eyes and considered what she should say.  This was an unexpected turn of events and she had to respond in an appropriate manner to the intrusion.  Nothing was sacred to this evildoer, so Ubu would not show her any mercy.  Whatever the demon prince was up to she wasn't about to let Shoka have her way in this enclosed place.

"Donamoto," Ubu growled, then jabbed her finger at the taller girl, "What are you doing here?  Don't you have followers to lie to and cheat?"

The sudden eager approach had Shoka's eyes blazing with a firey interest that roared at Ubu's jabbing touch. The purplenette reached to catch the offending hand of the silvernette, "Much to the contrary Ubu-kun, I came to see you." The hand around Ubu's was firm, but also had a chilling degree of softness to it. The sound of her own name dripping with such displeasure was beautiful music. Shoka held Ubu's gaze evenly with her usual bedroom eyes.

"How are your preparations coming hm?"

It was thrilling somehow, being this close to her rival, and somehow she could help looking at Ubu's mouth. Without letting her answer she let Ubu back her into the door, it made them closer and Shoka dropped her voice to a purr, "You know Ubu-kun, I particularly enjoy hearing you say my name. It validates everything I've done. What I wouldn't give to make you say it again." The grip on Ubu's hands would become a little stronger, but of course she'd release her when she resisted.

She licked her lips and crossed her arms, making it clear she was not intimidated but perhaps instead amused, even aroused by their proximity. She leaned there, blocking the door. There they were, she had Ubu all to herself. She mused over all the things she could do, and her purple gaze slithered to Ubu's green tie and then down to her skirt hem. Then as if thinking better of it, her gaze returned to the solitary eye of her rival. A new thought crossed her mind. Perhaps it wasn't about what she could do to Ubu, but what Ubu would do to her.

She breathed deeply the pheromones coming from the silvernette, anger, resentment, yes she smelled those, but there was something interesting, innocence. That made this confrontation all the more curious. "My, my, look at that angry face. You're standing very close, Ubu, just what do you intend to do to me?" She teased.

She dropped the suffix on purpose, attempting to annoy the Prince with the most intimate and personal form of her name. She let the moment stew a moment longer, watching the Prince react, before reaching to catch the Princes face in her hands.

"You know my name don't you?" She whispered, too close, "tell me why you know my name. Say it. Say the reason you hate me. Whisper it, shout it, say it." Narrowed eyes watched as she would once again let Ubu take back her own space. She would draw this out, revel every moment. Alone with her hated rival was almost as thrilling as being alone with Peorth, though in a much different way.

Patently, cooly, she waited for Ubu to respond.

Miator's Grand Prince had a difficult time controlling herself in the presence of Shoka Donamoto.  Every word she spoke was full of evil intent, the desire to ruin others' lives for her own personal amusement.  She managed to back the unsuitable prince into the door, but that seemed to not unnerve the taller girl one bit.  Being in close proximity to the Spican made her skin crawl unlike any thoughts of LeRim Nazis, Romans or French tests would.  There were many stories which spoke of manifestations of evil but they were all wrong about one pretty substantial characteristic.  The purest evil was not in the form of a red guy with horns and a goatee or some unspeakable monstrosity which looked like a hideous alien.  It resembled the Student Council President of Spica.  All of her ruminations had led her to that very same conclusion about Shoka.  Ubu grit her teeth when the purplenette gripped her hand and spoke about enjoying the sound of her own voice as spoken by the Grand Prince.  There was a strong possibility that those hands were full of unknown horrors themselves, but Ubu restrained herself - Shoka seemed to want her to get mad, and pleasing the enemy was not something she was interested in doing.  

"Giving you satisfaction is the last thing I intend to do,  so no matter how much you claim to enjoy  it I won't do it.  You don't deserve anything that would make you happy,   All you're interested in doing is ripping happiness from others and stamping it out on the ground," Ubu responded with a bit cooler of a rage. 

She growled when the Spican removed the suffix from her name when speaking of her anger.  Nobody called her that!  Especially not someone she would have no qualms about exposing to the pure, raw power of the Ark of the Covenant.  Yet she froze when her enemy took her face in those cruel hands.  Was this monster about to attempt to do to Ubu what she'd done to Cece?  Such a thing could not be allowed to happen, and would be a legitimate reason to use force.  As a leader she had to avoid physical confrontations with others or run an even greater risk of being cast out of her own kingdom.  Doing something like that to Shoka, though, might be worth it.  Should the Grand Prince fall she would ensure that the demon of Spica fell with her.  For now it was a battle of will to not use her traditional remedy for evildoers - a sock to the jaw.  Shoka would probably like it anyway.

Ubu  purposefully stepped away from Shoka to get some space between them.  It wasn't a time for rash action.  She finally spoke with her back turned to the tall girl, "I hate you because you are a hateful person.  You hate everyone else to the point that you take whatever you want from them, treating them as objects the whole time.  All because you get a sick thrill out of it.  You carry out literal assaults on them because it's something you want to do.. and that I cannot forgive.  You are a monster.  You are from Hell and so help me.. if I could I'd send you back there."

"With Baal as my witness.. I will find a way to take you down.  Your days are numbered," she paused, clenched her fists and then demanded, "Tell me one thing.  Why? Why do you do this?"

She had expected Ubu to bar the use of her name, that was fine. It was even better that anger in her gaze threatened physical violence. She expected Ubu to bring up Cece, but she had a better answer and Shoka listened thoughtfully.

She ended her rant with a question. Could it be her rival sought to understand her? What fun!

Smiling, she was privvy to answer. "I don't do it for the sake of cruelty. I do it for pleasure. They crave my touch, my attention and I give it to them. It ends for them because the experiment ends. I'm a scientist Ubu, and almost everyone I've come in contact with is a test to further my theories. But perhaps you are more curious about why I hurt them then why I seduce them."

She slowly began to approach, "Pain is a necessary side effect. What's interesting is even though I do this, the majority of subjects still want me there. Save for one of course..." She paused, "Cecilia was an exception." She wanted to see how the name affected Ubu. "Even then the desired effect was achieved. I got your attention didn't I?"

She widened her grin, letting that sink in. Ubu was the reason for that, but everything else was just a game. Of course, there was Peorth, the one person she did truely care about. But the grand prince needn't know about such precious things...unless she asked.

Ubu had deliberately been leaving Cece's role in the conflict between princes. It was a very sensitive subject for the Grand Prince and she was not going to have an easy time keeping her mind focused if it were brought up. She anticipated that what Shoka wanted to see out of her was the same anger she'd already lashed out with earlier, but more focused on something. Specific rage rather than general rage. Becoming furious was justified but also played into what the demon prince wanted. So Ubu had tried to get more information about her enemy direct from the source. The answer wasn't something she'd truly anticipated, yet also did not surprise her about Shoka. The demon prince was more inhuman that she'd hypothesized, but that was something she should have counted on.

"Scientist, pleasure, make all the excuses you want. It doesn't change the fact that you are manipulating girls' minds and hearts so that they desire you to that degree. And when you get bored of them you cast them aside like broken toys. Your beliefs are petulant. They're human beings, they're not yours to 'experiment' with. Did you ever wonder what happens to them after you've moved on to your next victim?" Ubu responded coldly, but when she registered just what Shoka had said she nearly went ballistic.

Ubu spun around, cocked her fist and nearly smashed the demon's face in. Instead she stopped herself and snarled, "You'd like it if I caved that face in, wouldn't you? All this time trying to get me to hate you.. get me to do what you want."

Then she lowered her arm and concluded, "But what you did is unforgivable. You should be expelled and incarcerated for that. At the very least, for trying to destroy a smart, adorable, innocent girl like that.. I will destroy you."

A chuckle, grew into a giggle that burst out into a full laugh. Shoka lost it, her face even flushed to a light pink as she bent over slightly to hold her stomach; surely such a reaction would confuse and infuriate the prince farther.

The purplenette had to sit down and wipe the moisture from her eyes before she regained her composure on the changing bench.

"Oh Ubu," she sighed, "Is it boredom that makes them disposable? Are these girls truly any more broken after I leave them than if they were to suffer any other heartbreak? Look at my reputaion, they know what I do and still they flock to me. This power was not something I expected, but it is certainoy not something I'll protest. Further more I don't recall telling any subject to go away, they may remain near me, craving my attention. You and I are alike in that way. Your people crave your attentions as well, and like me you indulge them, though to a different degree."

She felt a sense of accomplishment, which quickly swelled with Ubu's threats.

"I didn't try to destroy her Ubu, it was you. It's always been you. You really should take responsibility. Not that it matters anymore. I've already won. I already have forced your hand, and you willingly follow me, like a puppet, I've pulled your strings and made you dance."

She smiled dangerously, daring Ubu to do something. "Expelled? Incarcerated? I'm a genius, a savant. The school wouldn't believe I was capable of such a thing, nor would they want that publicity. Face it little Prince, you are stuck with me."

She put a hand in her chin, a finger tapping her lips in thought. "You want to destroy me for what I did? How is she by the way? I'm sure she has recovered as much as someone like her could. I'm curious...just exactly how do you plan to do anything to me? I'm right here. You could do anything you want." The hand on her chin moved to tap her cheek with a light slapping sound. She gazed across the few feet that separated them. Ubu was nearly on fire with rage. "You'll feel so much better I'm sure." Her eyes glinted with an electric flash. The ball was in Ubu's court.

Ubu's desire to punch the dark prince in the mouth grew stronger and stronger with each passing moment.  Every word the purplenette uttered seemed expertly selected to make the Grand Prince inch closer to taking physical action against her nemesis.  She was learning just what the demon prince of Spica was all about, painfully so.  Control was all important by everything the enemy spoke of when it came to other people.  No matter if she claimed that the power she had over others wasn't something she'd expected Ubu would not be swayed by such ridiculous claims from the Prince of Lies.  Anyone who was obsessed with control and saw other girls as playthings was bound to lie about things.  Being that Shoka  strove for that control Ubu decided the best way to fight her was to refuse to give her what she wanted.  This became a little more difficult when she found herself being called out as the same as Shoka Donomoto.  No greater insult could have been levied at her other than calling her Roman.  

"It's not their fault that you've brainwashed them, seduced them with empty compliments just to see what will happen and treat them like objects.  Don't lump your victims in with your own desires," she responded coldly, taking a couple steps back again, "Let me make something abundantly clear: you and I.. we're nothing alike.  All of the members of my Royal Court are valued as individuals, their needs are important and I strive to take care of them all just as equally as any other member.  Where you toy with hearts, I seek to fulfill, heal and strengthen them.  Essentially they are not experiments, they are girls who are important to me for who they are.  And I would never do something like what you did in any situation.  Especially not just to get the attention of someone."

Ubu clenched her fists again as Shoka talked more.  She couldn't punch her.  No matter how much it was the right thing to do it didn't solve anything if she gave in to what Shoka wanted her to do.  What could she do to defy the nemesis?  Shoka had chosen this battleground, set her trap and was reveling in what she perceived to be a victory.  Was there anything she could do to get under the Spican's skin?  Deep breaths became necessary to maintain her calm as the taller girl kept on talking about how she'd won already.  Wait, wasn't there something that was valuable to Shoka?  Control.  Her reputation as a student which allowed her to avoid being in trouble for things she didn't think people would believe about her.  Go behind her back through a contact in Spica itself, start spreading the truth about the Prince of Lies.  Sway her own school against her.  It was devious, but when you fought the devil didn't you have to do things  you'd thought distasteful before?  No.  Ubu couldn't let herself fall to devious things to beat a devious prince; she wouldn't do that to win a war that only Shoka had wanted.  For now she would consider her options before striking back.

"I protect her!  You are the one who forced her into such acts!  You are the one who violated her!  And this war isn't something I wanted.. but it's something I will finish.  You can count on that," Ubu managed to respond, barely keeping her calm as she started to head for the door, "Whatever I have in mind for taking you down is none of your business."

Then she stopped, realizing there was something she hadn't figured out.  Halfway to the door she stopped and glared at Shoka again, "You seem oddly fixated on me, Prince of Lies.  Now what in the world could I have done to get such unwanted attention?  Is it that you saw what a true prince is like and couldn't handle it?  Or is it just some weird control fantasy you have?  Why don't you enlighten me as to why you wanted war so badly?  I'm here."

The smile never faded from her lips, and she was pleased by Ubu's last question.

"When I saw you for the first time, I believed you to be my equal. Another like myself who had discovered the key to manipulating others. I greeted you pleasantly and you snubbed me, that is all."

She held up a hand, checking her nails for imperfections. "Really Ubu, if you'd have just been polite none of this would have happened." She learned something new from this conversation that added to her theories about people. It seemed people choose a reality to live in and painted a perception that they wanted to believe. From that picture of their own creation, they limited themselves to seeing only through eyes that saw what they wanted. She realized, that Ubu's eyes or anyone eyes who did not want to see her side would remain stubbornly shut regardless of the amount of reason she brought. Then again, she too may have been looking at the world with tainted eyes.

"It's not all you think Ubu, I do have a heart. I am human as you are, but I'm driven by a quest for knowledge. Do you not think that even I might find someone who makes my spirit soar? Someone who drowns my desires to learn about control?" She touched her chest over her heart and allowed some reverence to show in her expression, "you would do well to open those eyes of yours my dear." She stood then, approaching the other Prince with a swagger, gently taking her chin. This time, her expression was softer, less venomous.

"You should know I'm finished hurting your people. My goal was to get you to notice me and I have accomplished that. Toying with you is fun, but there are more important things." She fumbled with something behind her and pulled a paper from her belt.

"This is a bulding permit scheduled to begin construction on the first day of spring if Miator can meet the remaining balance. Spica has already paid a great deal on your behalf."

She held it toward the Prince, "I offer you this as a truce. Or have I corrupted the peaceful prince too much for that?" The finger on Ubu's chin swiped upward, as if she might kiss her, but instead she remained still. Her grin was more of a slight curve of her lips, in her eyes was a quizzical wonder. The truth was her experiment was finished, and it was time to move on. The curious thing however, was to see if Ubu was so filled now with hate that they would continue the war. Shoka would be amused regardless of the outcome, and if Ubu choose to remain an unfriendly rival, instead of becoming a friendly one, Shoka would decide her next move carefully.

The words which the Prince of Lies spoke were as mysterious and inaccessible as the summit of Mt. Everest with only a snowmobile at your disposal.  Ubu didn't see how this so-called prince could possibly justify the actions she'd taken in the name of her 'experiment'.  Her worldview was so skewed that she thought it was perfectly acceptable to do what she'd done to Cece.  All in the name of getting the attention of someone who'd never heard of her before.  It took her a great effort just to recall the incident Shoka was talking about since so many things had happened in the year since they'd encountered each other.  Wait, that was it.  They'd crossed paths at last year's Winter Ball and Shoka had introduced herself; that was all that Ubu remembered, but somehow she'd felt that she had been disrespected at that time.  Using a perceived slight as justification for her horrible acts just made Ubu's desire to sock Shoka in the jaw even stronger.


Somehow she also thought that Ubu would understand her motivations, believe that she had a heart.  Nobody with a heart would act as the purplenette had,  This was the kind of person who would manipulate other girls just to see what happened and cast them off from her attention once she was done.  Somebody like that wasn't interested in finding a girl who made their spirit soar, no matter how pretentious they were.  Ubu's eyes continued to glare at Shoka as she approached and dared to put her hand on the silvernette's royal chin.  Now the monster was up close and personal.  The Grand Prince squirmed at the touch as if it were burning her skin, which might happen given enough exposure.  The urge to punch was rising every second the Spican went on about how her eyes weren't open, and how she was generously offering a truce.  That was odd.  It required Ubu to take a mental step back and consider what the other girl was saying to her about the building permit.  This was not something she could cast off as merely a proposal of the enemy - it affected her kingdom as a whole, the school she attended.  As Grand Prince she had promised to do some kind of joint effort for rebuilding, her council had approved of the plan and now she was faced with the details.

"This is unexpected," Ubu admitted as she took the permit and stared at it.  Then she slipped it into her own pocket and added coldly, "As it is a matter of student government and affects the lives of all daughters of Miator and Spica I will take it into consideration.  However the Student Council must review and approve any and all paperwork regarding rebuilding efforts, since they control the budget and thus must be informed."

With that done she knocked Shoka's hand away from her and clenched a fist again, "That said, it's a separate matter from what's going on between us.  You want to look good in front of everyone and rebuild our schools with Miator?  Fine.  That's business.  You want to consider us at peace just because you're doing that?  You've got more than you bargained for.'

She thrust a finger in the purplenette's face, "You wanted my attention and you committed a grievous crime against Cece-chan in order to do it.  You harmed someone else in the worst way just to see what would happen... you made this personal.  Now you're going to see what happens when you make it personal.  I think what you want is to be considered equal to me, but there's no way that could ever happen.. I treat people with respect, you treat them as objects.  There is no way that I will ever shake your hand, consider you an equal or understand your motivations."

Finally she stepped away so she wouldn't be tempted to punch after all, "If you really wanted a truce, you would start by apologizing for all the evil you've done.  You would swear to refrain from treating girls as experiments so that no one else will be hurt by you.  And you would stop calling yourself a prince.  You dirty that title by claiming it.  I won't forget what you've done, and no pretty words are going to make that go away."

"Who said I wanted you to forget? Don't be silly Ubu, I'm not going to change what I am for your sake. I've achieved my goal and now I'm finished, simple as that." She smiled, smoothly bowed and stepped around her rival toward the door. She unlocked it and stepped part way out before turning to offer a wink, and blow a kiss at the prince, "Bye bye Ubu-kun!" She said in English before leaving the silver prince alone.

Waking out of the bath house into the winter air, she felt lighter. She tossed her undone scarf around her neck to keep it the cold. Telling her rival she was done made her feel better, but the only approval she hoped to achieve was that of a certain le rim student. The only one who could make her sorry for what she'd done, even regretful. Her opinion was the only one that really mattered.

Shoka knew what it would be, knew she'd be putting a nail in her own coffin, but she was determined. Peorth had to know the truth, calling her truce with Ubu was the first step, but this...this was telling the person who loved you that you were a monster, and making them believe it. This was making the person you love hate you on purpose.

She ached to see the brunette again, even if their last meeting had left the girl in tears. She made up her mind to invite Peorth to the ball, even if it meant leaving a note at her dorm, even if it meant ruining a beautiful evening. If anyone deserved to know the truth, it was her. Shoka knew that telling her most likely meant losing her, but when you are a beast in love....that is the price you must pay.