Dragon Princess
written by ejo

Summary: After the dark mafia wars, the Dragon Clan suddenly disappeared. In the ashes, the Phoenix Clan rose, taking hold the power they obtained. Unknown to them, the dragon still lives in the hands of a girl secluded from the war.

Author's Note: Originally published on February 26, 2009. This is a revised version. Originally entitled 'Life of A Mafia's Daughter'.

The Claws of The Mighty Phoenix

A young man of nineteen strode in the dark hallway as everyone bowed their heads to show their respect to the newly appointed leader. His shoulders were broad, his eyes were red, his hair was black as the night and on his neck was a tattoo of an orange phoenix. He had never wanted to take part or be categorized the same as them—all he ever dreamed of was to get away from their world. He hated them, he hated them for taking his mother away from him, he hated them for not giving him a normal life and he hated them because, now, he can never escape from their grasp. He will be trapped forever until his last breath leaves him.

"Sir," a voice called out in the darkness. The raven-haired lad turned his head toward the area where he heard where the voice came from. "You are being called for the meeting."

It was only minutes after his father, the previous leader, passed away. Now, he needed to attend a meeting without even giving him enough time to mourn. Actually, he really didn't need to mourn, all he wanted was some time alone for him to contemplate his thoughts.

"Tell them," he spoke, breaking through the silence. "The Phoenix is on its way."

"Yes, sir."

Moments after that, he arrived in a spacious room with a large, circular table in the middle with four seats. Two of the seats were occupied by a masked man and a black-haired, middle-aged man. The other seats, on the other hand, were empty. Natsume took one of the empty seats and made himself comfortable on his chair. He turned to the other unoccupied seat, wondering who was supposed to be sitting there.

"Nobody seats there anymore," the red-haired man informed him who had notice the young lad had been curious. "Their entire clan was wiped away."

The masked man shook his head in disagreement. "Didn't the rumors say that they were hiding?" the two men gawked at one another but they decided to shrug the topic off.

"Now, that you're the new leader of the Phoenix," the masked man started. "We want you to cooperate with us—the experienced men—in mafia matters."

Natsume scoffed. "So you're asking me," he pointed his thumb at his chest. "To stay silent and follow what you deem fit for the entire mafia clans?" he gritted his teeth and pounded his fists against the table. "I am the leader of the Phoenix Clan, you have no right to boss me around."

The masked man looked at him warily. "Boy," he spat. "You don't know what you're doing. You are inexperienced and too young."

"So was my father when he started, but look at him! He was a powerful man who was able to lead thousands of his men." Natsume countered.

"That's because your father, Ioran, was a charismatic man. He was able to lead because of his words, not because of actions. You, on the other hand, are neither charismatic nor legible to lead." the masked man explained.

"Persona," the red-haired man called. "You shouldn't be so harsh to the boy."

Persona thumped his fists on the table, making the vase clatter a bit. "He needs a good scolding!"

Natsume felt the worthless argument was dragging too much. He stood up from his seat and left the room with a loud bang at the door. Persona sighed heavily as he leaned back on his seat. He turned to his colleague and said. "We need to strip his title, Reo."

Reo buried his head in his hands. He wanted to make a right decision, now that Ioran was gone, he could barely pick the right from the wrongs. "I need time, Persona. I don't want to make hasty decisions."

"Hasty?" Persona repeated, his forehead wrinkled in disbelief, quite couldn't grasp on why his colleague was acting like this. "We don't have any more time! Now that Ioran is dead, do you think the other gang lords will stay put? Of course not! They'll take this chance to steal our titles—Four Mafia Gods! Only the top four leaders, composing the leaders of the Phoenix, Tiger, Turtle and Dragon, holds that title. Those street gangs will take advantage of this situation. We must act now."

Reo stared into empty space. What Persona just said made sense to him. He was right. They needed to act now. "What do you suggest we do?"

Persona glanced at the unoccupied seat beside Natsume's chair. It was impossible, they had been missing for thirty-five years already, Persona thought. He shook his head. It was not impossible, although the chances of finding them were slim. He turned to Reo, a serious expression was plastered on his face, making the red-haired man nervous on the process.

"We're going to find the Dragon Clan's leader's family," Persona said. "Once we do, we'll choose a leader among them and put him on the Black Knight's circle. We'll secure our power with the Dragon Clan's cooperation. They have many loyal servants—forced into hiding when their leader told them that they were disbanding—we will use the leader and manipulate the Dragon Clan and their power."

"Persona…" Reo muttered. "That's insane."

Persona's lips tugged a smirk. "Insanity is genius, my friend. Everyone is our chess piece, we must use them wisely."

"Master," Yuu called. He had been serving Natsume's family for four years straight already. "You're in a dangerous situation." Natsume didn't budge on his spot, he kept on reading his manga as if the situation was light. He knew Yuu was right, but he didn't know what to do.

Natsume sighed and closed his comic and placed it down with a soft thump as soon as he saw Yuu staring at him seriously. "What do you suggest we do?"

Yuu fixed his circular glasses. "Go along with the other leaders," Natsume glared at him. "Or at least, pretend to." Natsume shook his head in disagreement. He can't imagine agreeing with those loons.

"Why should I?"

"They need you as you need them," he chided. "You need to lower your pride and follow them."

Natsume growled at him. "That's stupid," he snorted. "I told you, I don't want to listen to them." he walked away and slammed the door loudly. Yuu groaned. He had promise to the previous leader that he would help his son.

And Yuu never broke his promises.

He stormed out of the room and caught up to Natsume. "Natsume, I have a plan."

Natsume stopped on his tracks to turn to him. "Yuu, I have no time to listen to your strategies." Yuu stood before him and cleared his throat as if he was about to give a long speech. And if there was one thing that Natsume hated the most it would be speeches.

"Master," Natsume groaned. He knew this was going to take long. "If you don't want to cooperate with Sir Persona and Sir Reo, then I have another suggestion in mind. Find the Dragon Clan and get them to support you."

"Dragon Clan?" Natsume repeated in a questioning tone. "They had been missing for three decades and a half already. What's left of them is gone for good."

"We can't give up." Yuu pleaded.

Natsume shook his head in disapproval. "Yuu, your hoping will get you nowhere. How can you even be sure that they're still living and active? They had disbanded already, even my father had said so."

"I'll find them."

"You can't be serious."

"Yes, I am."

Natsume grunted and swished his hand at him. "Fine, I'll let you do what you want. Just…Just leave me out of this and you take care of it," he pointed his index finger at Yuu. "I have important matters to attend to." With that, he walked away.

Yuu took his phone from his coat's inner pocket and dialed a number. He waited a couple of seconds before someone could pick up the line. He tapped his foot impatiently against the floor as he waited.

"Hello?" came from the other line.

"This is Tobita from the Phoenix Clan."

"What can I do for you?"

"I need information about the whereabouts of Dragon Clan—wait—not just the whereabouts, but also information relevant to them." Yuu said.

"Sorry," the other party said. "We cannot give this data to you."

"Even if it's concerning their rise to the top again?"

"…"

Yuu waited for a proper response. He knew the other party would give in. The Mafia Information Market was the proper and right place to get information about the Dragon Clan. Only a few knew about this kind of operation and it didn't grant just anybody to give their records. It had been denying requests for information related to the Dragon Clan, but what Yuu asked for was related to their reclaim of their spot.

"Access granted." came from the other line. "Sending one hundred eighty-nine records about the Dragon Clan to location 15672."

Then, it was hanged up. A visible glint was spotted on his lips. He placed his phone back to his pocket and continued to walk. "None can escape the phoenix's claws."

A young girl was kneeling before a gravestone. She carefully studied the carved words on the stone. Was it real? She pressed her fingers against the plaque. She felt a cold, tingling feeling on her fingertips as she draw her hand away.

Yuka Sakura

Beloved Mother and Wife

May 5, 19XX – February 18, 20XX

Her body was buried under a Cherry Blossom tree where its petal found its way to her grave. The young girl was dressed in black, her eyes were red from crying and from the looks of her face she obviously lacked sleep. No one visited her mother—not her friends nor even her family.

"Mikan Sakura, stay strong." she cheered herself up, hoping it would give her strength but it didn't do any good at all. Now that her mother was dead, she practically had no one left. Her mother was the only family member she knew. All her life Mikan was living in the countryside with her mother. She grew up without knowing her father whom her mother said that died years ago.

She was all alone.

She never really had any friends because her mother told her not to make any. She regretted on why she had to follow her mother's order that time, if she hadn't she wouldn't be alone right now. She rose from her spot and walked away.

Bang!

She bent low on the ground, cautious enough not to get hit by a stray bullet. Japan's streets were no longer safe anymore. Ever since it was reported in the television that one of the biggest mafia threats died three nights ago, street gangs started picking their guns and turned berserk. No one could control them. Crime rates had been raised by three percent already within the three day timeframe. The gangs either steal your life or your belongings or your virginity, take your pick.

She went to the forest and disappeared among the trees. She and her mother had been dependent on Mother Nature for food and water. Once in a while, her mother would come home carrying a rabbit and they would feast on it. On special occasions, such as their birthdays, they would go to the city and buy tarts. Mikan didn't have to go to school, her mother decided to take her child's education into her own hands. Mikan hadn't asked her mother on how she gets money for she knew that every so often some men visit their rundown house secretly at night. She hadn't bothered to question who they were for she knew who exactly they were.

Mafia. Dressed in dark clothes, body covered in tattoos and unrefined language—that's who they were. She made her own reasoning that perhaps her mother—or someone in her family—was related to them. They were different from the other gangs. They had been helping her and her mother, so she thought that they weren't bad as those men who killed others in broad daylight.

As soon as she arrived in her home, she quickly prepared tonight's meal of roasted mushrooms and boiled strips of leftover meat. When she sat on the floor, she had realized that it was her first time eating dinner alone. She felt a swirling pain throb inside her chest. Her mother didn't deserve to die; she was the best mom that any daughter could have. She died because of a cardiac arrest. Mikan wasn't home at that time, she was busy fishing in the river and when she got home she saw her mother on the ground.

Mother, she thought bitterly.

Suddenly, there was a loud pound on the door. Through the holes, Mikan could see a shifting movement.

"Who's there?"

End of Chapter