Rainbow Days' Side Story 3:

It should be noted that LaKeisha Maxwell, formerly LaKeisha King, had always been a strong willed person even from birth. Her mother, Lucinda that everyone called 'Ma/mom', often said she came out of the womb swinging her tiny fist at the world that dared interrupt her sleep. It's always been such a funny joke, really. LaKeisha being the one that took life by the horns and demanded it yielded to her. In comparison, her baby sister, Raina, was one that coaxed life to sit next to her on a beach.

 

They were simply two different creatures. The night and day of each other. If you want to be poetic about it, they were the sun and moon of the King family. The pride of their neighborhood as both girls had been very active in their after school activities. To the point that one of them joined the Girl Scouts- which was obviously, LaKeisha. Top seller of the cookies for years until she decided to set her eyes on something else.

 

LaKeisha always wanted to have her own store. Chains of stores that sold everything from hair care products to clothes and even an eatery. She wanted to do a lot. She'd found the perfect partner that wanted that vision too.

 

Markel Maxwell had to go through the ringer for LaKeisha to ever consider marrying him. She'd told him flat out when they had their third date that if he was serious about her, he needed to get his priorities in order because she wasn't about to carry him anywhere and she was aiming for more than just being a clerk at a nameless brand store for the rest of her life. She had big dreams and was putting in the work to get her degrees in business and managment on top of an accounting degree. She needed someone that would help nurture this future she's dreaming of. And that he had dreams of his own.

 

Basically, this was a test.

 

Fortunately, he passed it with flying colors by having his own business going at the time they met. Truthfully, her passion inspired him again and he wanted someone like her in his life however he can get it. She'd told him the only one he could was by putting a ring on her finger.

 

Unexpectedly, he did. LaKeisha couldn't be happier. She had the man of her dreams. A business budding, her parents could finally retire for good and her little sister was in Harvard dreaming of a career that meant she got to see the world. The good tidings increased when she found out she was pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, Deshaun. Her little angel.

 

Everything in her life felt like it would be all right. That maybe all that hard work, excessively nagging her sister, protecting her from creeps, and studying together, just was going to work out.

 

Maybe now, she could relax.

But the moment she did, he came into their lives. The ill omen of the good times ending:

 

Mamoru Chiba.

 

At first, LaKeisha didn't think much about it. Raina often brought her foundlings home for some food and good company. Usually, it's a one-off. She'd privately scold her sister for bringing strangers around their home. Their mother, also a tender hearted woman, would tell her that Raina hadn't done anything wrong in bringing that boy around.

 

"He's a good kid." Lucinda would say, "I can feel it. He's got a good energy about him. Oh, did you know what he wanted to call me? 'Okaasan'! Isn't that cute?"

 

LaKeisha had made a face, " What the hell is that? A kind of vegetable?"

 

Raina had cracked up laughing then stole one of the sliced carrots, " No, you idiot! It means 'Mother' or like 'Mama', you know?" She grinned, " It's Japanese. You know, the country. The place he's from if you'd care to listen."

 

Not wanting to be embarrassed by her kid sister, LaKeisha snatched the next carrot piece she was going to steal and popped it in her mouth, " Why should I? It's a one-time thing. Besides, not all of us are nerds like you, Rai." She stuck her tongue out.

 

"Ew, gross, Keish! Put that back in your mouth!" Raina held her hands up, "I want to be able to eat, you know!"

 

"Stop messing around, Keisha." Their mother huffed, "And help me with chopping this up."

"But you never make Raina do it!" LaKeisha knows full and well she's an adult and not to mention, she's been helping in the kitchen since she was old enough to hold a butter-knife. "You'll spoil her rotten at this rate!"

 

"Too late." Raina grinned and grabbed some cokes from the fridge, "I'll go out and make sure the guys aren't being weirdly uncomfortable!"

 

"That girl." LaKeisha huffed herself, then helped her mom in the kitchen, "When will she ever stop bringing home these weirdos? I didn't plan on making extra!"

 

"She's just wanting to share some family time with someone that doesn't have one." Lucinda said quietly, looking over the stove, "He doesn't have anyone. Besides, we have plenty and it's not like it'll hurt anything."

 

"So? We don't have to feed the world." LaKeisha sighed deeply, " I just don't want her to get hurt. She's always been too kind-hearted. I'm afraid one of these days it'll bite her back." She slowed her chopping, staring out the kitchen door. "She won't get hurt doing all this, will she, Mama? I know I'm settled but she's still free-wheeling. What if something bad happens to her?"

 

"My, it's almost as if you think someone's going to kill her!" Lucinda chuckled, "And who's the mother of whom here? It's my job to worry over the both of you, not you worrying over her. Raina's young. She's just trying to live life to it's fullest. Even if it means she sometimes drags one of her friends down to meet us for a dinner." She turned to pour in a little more water to the soup. "Don't think so much about it and just enjoy the fact that she's happy."

 

LaKeisha wasn't so certain about it. Especially, when she suspected that this 'Mamoru' guy might be sticking than the others. When the other Holidays came about, he did too. This strange dark haired guy with ocean-colored eyes felt like he was hiding something. Running from somewhere else. And she didn't like it one bit. What was he doing with her baby sister?

 

Unfortunately, she had other worries to deal with. Namely, her baby, her business, and her husband. It's true, though, she couldn't forever hover over her sister's shoulders wondering what she'd be doing next. She just had to reassure herself that everything was fine. That her mother was right and maybe she worried too much.

Or maybe she didn't worry enough.

 

The Bombshell that came with not only were the two dating sometimes after the holidays but then also that her sister was pregnant by that scumbag?

 

To say LaKeisha was livid was an understatement. It'd taken their father to calm her down and tell her to butt out of her little sister's life. As if he knew better?

Though that very thought snapped her out of it. She'd hardly gone against her father in anything that truly mattered. They'd always been on the same page about things- especially concerning Raina. Together, they'd helped protect her sister from all sorts of horrible things that stalked the edges of their neighborhoods and lives. She'd grown up with the message of no sex before marriage too.

 

Ruefully, LaKeisha had enough self-awareness to laugh at herself for such a silly thought. As if it was the only thing that worked when even she abandoned it before marrying Markel.

 

That night, she'd gone out on the family home back porch and had lit a cigarette and drank some beer. She knows it's bad for reasons but at the moment, she promised herself to completely do a cleanse the next day. She just needed something right now.

 

Her sister had came out, standing at the doorway, leaning against it with her usual casual flair.

"Are you that pissed with me?" Raina had asked.

 

"Yeah." LaKeisha didn't hide it, "You're supposed to be smarter than this."

 

"Then what, Keish?" Raina moved to the railing to lean against it. "I had sex with my boyfriend. We fucked up and I'm pregnant. I don't see what's 'smarter' about anything."

 

"You should've waited." Despite being a hypocrite, LaKeisha didn't look at her. "You could've gone farther without this. Now you're going to be burdened. I knew that dude wasn't up to any good." She looked down. The ugly emotions getting to her, " Probably knocked you up for a green card or something."

 

"LaKeisha!" Rain's voice was sharp. A tone that LaKeisha hadn't heard before. She snapped her eyes back to her, "I know I didn't hear what I thought I heard! You did not just fix your mouth to say something horrible about Mamoru!"

 

"So what?" LaKeisha took a drag before stamping her cigarette out. Her stomach twisted anxiously, " You're only nineteen, Raina! Just nineteen! And you're pregnant and college is expensive and-!" LaKeisha blinked rapidly as tears gathered in her eyes, " I wanted more for you. I wanted you to have the world without this. Without becoming a stereotype that they call us."

 

"Oh Keish..." Raina went over and sat next to her. She threw her arm over her older sister's shoulders. " You know I don't care what anyone says about us. We can't let them dictate our lives." She leaned against her, " Besides, you made it, didn't you? You've always been my role model when we were little."

 

She laughed, wiping the tears away, " More like almost mortal enemies sometimes. I still remember you stole my favorite pair of earrings."

 

"I was mad because you cut my doll's hair." Raina replied flatly then laughed, "She did need that hair cut though."

 

" I don't know how you got gum in her hair!" LaKeisha giggled, then took a swig of her beer. "What are you going to do?"

 

"Well, I'm going to keep it." She said simply.

 

"You know it's going to be harder right?"

 

"Yep."

 

LaKeisha shook her head slowly, " I still don't like your boyfriend."

 

"It's ok." Raina grinned at her, " I love him. And I love you too. I think you'll at least grow to like him even a little."

 

"As long as he treats you and your baby right." LaKeisha downed her beer and sighed out, " God, when did my baby sister grow out of her training bra?"

 

"Hey!" Raina shoved her a little, "I have a respectable bra now!"

 

"And they're only going to give you a backache when they get bigger." LaKeisha perked up, "Let me tell you about how my pregnancy went."

 

"Oh, no... "Raina groaned, "What have I done to deserve this?"

 

Despite what Raina had thought about LaKeisha ever liking Mamoru went out the fucking window after Raina died.

 

LaKeisha had thought that the man would keep to their traditions and Raina would be buried in the graveyard with the rest of their family. Both her mother and father's families had attended that particular church for generations along with several others. It'd been the few labelled historic black graveyards in their city. Everyone that had been part of the congregation, whether they wandered far and wide, always ended up there.

 

She'd thought that both she and her own family would be there one day. Be a place their descendants would go to visit them. Remember them and their history. She'd thought that Raina wanted that too. After all, she loved the ideas of such places didn't she?

 

But when he had said he was thinking of having her cremated in the way of his people. She lost it.

 

"How could you just come in here and take her away like this?" LaKeisha's face was hot, her eyes burned fiercely with anger and grief, "She belongs here! With her people! With her family! Not in some other country she's never been to!" She felt her throat tighten, " And you're taking her daughter too? You'll just steal my niece and we'll never see her again?"

 

She took a step to him, her black dress did hamper her movements a little as she grabbed his lapels of the black suit he wore. She didn't care if he looked miserable. This bastard comes into her little sister's life! He knocked her up. Married her. And then only to have an illness take everything...everything- and now ? Now he wants to take them both away where she can't easily see them. Where she can't protect that precious child of her sister's from what she thinks may be something horrible that'll befall her dear niece.

 

And she won't be there to comfort her.

 

What an awful cruel joke.

 

"LaKeisha!" Her mother's voice snapped her back to reality. Her husband, Markel, was easing her away from Mamoru. "The man has just lost his wife! That body in the casket isn't Raina anymore." Her mother's voice is strong but it's strained. As if she was holding herself back from breaking down too. "My baby isn't here anymore. She's not in..." Her mother's eyes welled up but she refused to let the tears fall yet, "She's not in there. She's safe. She's beyond that pain. So, whatever he wants to do, is fine."

 

She watched her mother turn and held Mamoru's hands, "Raina is his family too. That baby of hers is his child. He's a good father and you know it. What he's doing is fulfilling your sister's will. Do not stand in the way of that." Lucinda looked up at Mamoru with a watery smile, "Go on, young man. Do what you must. We'll support you."

 

"We will." Monroe, their father, confirmed covering both their hands with his own, " My daughter loved you and we do too. You're still our son too. Just.. visit us sometime, will you?"

 

LaKeisha felt bereft. Everything was breaking to her.

After that man left, her business hadn't thrived as she wanted it to. She had to close two stores to save the other three. Deshaun had gotten to the picky stage so nothing seemed to appease him. Her actions at the funeral left a strain between her husband and herself. And her sister was gone.

 

Just gone.

 

It's like every trace of her outside of their childhood home was gone. Did no one remember her? It felt like it. It felt like no one remembered her little sister and her niece. Everyone around her acted as if the world was normal. As if the world wasn't a chaotic mess. As if Raina never existed.

 

How can they smile? How can they be happy? How?

 

Why can't she be happy with it?

The thought had been idle. Yet, it'd found a way to burrow deep within her mind. Nestled itself perfectly in the hole that was meant for Raina. It latched on to the darker feelings that nurtured her distaste for the world as it is now. She never thought she'd ever reach this state. Reach this level of wanting to actually kill something.

 

But she's there.

 

She's there staring at the screen. The world had been a fog for years but it's been lifted the moment they announced a new reign. A new monarchy that had taken over everything without so much as a whisper of how and when. Like a fairytale, a king and queen appeared. Magic exists.

 

Magic honestly existed.

 

But it's too late to save my sister. That's the thought that grew. Too late for Raina.

 

Too late for so many things. What about her niece? She hadn't heard from them in three years. Three years and she could only imagine it.

 

Well, she didn't have to imagine it for long.

 

In her room, littered with clothing and a few cans of drinks, the screen's glow was the only thing that existed in the room. Markel had long ago moved out with their son to give him a better stable home life, but often dropped by to help clean up and make sure she was alive. LaKeisha didn't blame him for that. If Raina had been alive, maybe she wouldn't be like this...She imagines Nijiko, Raina's child, should be about six now? Or maybe five?

She looked at the screen again and saw a dark haired, dark skin tone child standing with the royal couple.

 

At first, LaKeisha was puzzled for a brief moment but didn't think much about it. However, the more she stared at that frozen image, the more she recognized the features shared with Raina when she had been little. It became more apparent when she heard the little girl's name.

 

They called her "Princess Lady Eurycyda".

 

Eurycyda was the middle name Raina had picked for her child. It'd been a petty silly augment they'd had at the hospital where her sister had given birth. She'd wondered why her sister would've given such an obscure silly name to that beautiful baby.

 

Eurycyda.

 

A tear slipped down her cheek.

 

"That's Raina's baby." A chocked sob gripped her. "That's Raina's Baby!"

 

Her mind raced. If that was Raina's child then...!

 

Her eyes went to the man with dark hair in the picture standing next to a blonde woman. Heat grew in her belly as an indescribable rage began to consume her. As if a spell had been broken, LaKeisha stood before the screen, no longer curled up on her bed. She grabbed the nearest thing she could- a half old drunk bottle of water- and threw it so hard at the screen it cracked just a little.

 

"Mamoru...Chiba." It hissed out of her as if it were too painful to actually say.

 

That man.

 

That Man her sister married is with another woman that wasn't her sister. He was a king with magical powers that didn't even help save her sister's life! He took her niece and her sister from her!

 

"He ruined everything! And he gets this?" She screamed. "Does he even - how? I bet that child doesn't even remember us!" Sobbing openly, she crumbled to the floor. How could this have happened? How could he marry again and her sister hadn't even been dead for five years at least. That's the least he should give her!

 

He stole her sister's life! He took her niece! And then had the audacity to marry again?

It got worse the more she heard. That woman was pregnant.

That woman was going to give birth soon.

That woman dared to replace her irreplaceable little sister!

 

"They can't get away with this!" LaKeisha could feel a shift. Something. Something within hardened itself against the pain. "I can't let them forget she was here. She existed. She mattered and he- He's trying to forget she even existed with this woman. How dare he?"

 

"Is that how you feel?" A voice said to her. It was dark and deep.

 

The voice made her shudder. LaKeisha stumbled back against the screen, her eyes wildly searching the room.

 

"Who's there?" She called, "Are you a demon?"

 

"Hardly." A cloaked figure stood at the other end of the room. The screen's light gave it an even more ominous glow, "Lets just say I understand you. Your righteous anger towards them should reach them. After all, how could they do this to you? Who could they steal the very thing you cherish then toss away the memories of it as if it were little more than trash?"

 

She swallowed, standing there, " Who are you?" She demanded again, " What do you want?"

 

"Now, now, LaKeisha Maxwell." How did it know her name? " It's more apt to ask what do you want?"

 

"What do I want?" LaKeisha felt she could hardly breathe. The air became thicker in the room. She started to notice a slight glow from the figure. "I want to see my niece. I want to protect her." Then she spoke the real feelings from her heart, " I want my sister back."

 

"And?" Prompted the figure, "What else. It's right there, just on the tip of your tongue."

 

"I want to kill Mamoru Chiba."

 

Speaking that desire aloud seemed to reverberate around the room. Like tiny echoes that only she could hear. It's then it felt like something shattered within her. There's a fog that rolled in her room that she didn't notice before. She looked around but the familiar shapes within the room ceased to be. There's nothing but fog.

 

Fog and the strange cloaked figure that came closer to her. A strange almost obsidian like hand reached out to her.

 

"Come now, I'll help you achieve all your desires." The figure cooed.

 

"Even...Even Raina?" Her voice felt unbelievably small. Almost childlike in wanting to believe. Her heart couldn't stop pounding as she lifted her hand. "Will Raina come back?"

 

"Yes," It sounded like a smile underneath the hood, taking her hand, " I will bring your sister back to you. I'll give you your niece back. All you have to do is kill our mutual enemy."

 

Her forehead grew hot. "I'll do it."

 

"Excellent, LaKeisha Maxwell." Then the figure paused, rethinking this as her body is enveloped in dark light. "Or should I say, your highness, Duchess Marialite?"

 

Her violet eyes, much the same shade as her niece's, glowed red for a moment as a black crescent moon appeared on her forehead.

 

"Yes, Duchess Marialite sounds just fine to me."

 

Both figures disappeared. Power invigorated her as she sets her sights on one mission above all else:

 

Kill King Endymion.