Prologue

A young man was eating a delicious rainbow sherbet as he sat on a park bench.

"Mmmmmm…this ice cream's good but, not as good as the gelato back in Italy."

The young man was dressed in an open short sleeve, dark blue collar shirt with some gray slacks. He had a pair of sunglasses that sat on his blonde hair and he was looking up at the sunny sky.

An angry reply came quickly from his companion.

"I can't believe you purposefully trespassed on another king's territory in order to challenge him. Furthermore, you're asking for him to pay for your stay here. But what I really don't comprehend is why in the world he would actually consent to an idiot like you."

The other young man who responded was Andrea Rivera, Lord Salvatore's chaperone/butler/assistant. He was always around to mitigate the damage and trouble that the idiotic Campione would create in his wake. Yet in all his debacles, he had never thought another king would willingly accept a challenge from Lord Salvatore, let alone provide him with all the little extras like a place to stay, food, drink and a beachside resort.

"Hehehe I just think this new king is a guy who likes a good battle. Why he even battled some other Campiones already including my best friend, Godou-san. I wasn't going to miss this chance." Doni replied with a smile.

"This new king must be a madman. He's fought two other Campiones, just finished fighting a Heretic God in Egypt and now is jumping at the chance to fight you of all people. I really can't comprehend what goes in the mind of a Campione." Andrea sighed while rubbing his forehead.

Lord Salvatore began caressing the soft red cloth that held his sword case. "I really can't wait to fight." He looked up to the sky and shouted "Come my new friend! I can hardly wait!"

Ernesto was pacing back and forth as he waited for the plane.

"I can't believe you're making me fly from Cairo instead of using my Authority." Ernesto complained to Laura.

She was sitting down in the terminal, enjoying a book and responded without looking up.

"My King, you know that if you get back so quickly, Lord Salvatore will be informed and your battle will commence without proper preparation."

*sigh* "You're right. Still I absolutely hate flying." He crossed his arms as he frowned.

"Even though you've slain a sky god you still hate air travel? How ironic." Laura chided

"It's not that I hate the sky or air travel. I just don't like the long, boring journey's there. There's only so much time that I can secretly poke your side while pretending that I'm asleep before it gets boring and…"

*SMACK* With a flash, Ernesto was smacked to the ground. He got back up and continued.

"And there's only so much time before even your smacks get bor…" He then saw her readying another hit. "…bor bor…make me shut up."

Laura sat back down and returned to her book. "Well I advise you to learn to be patient. Patience is a virtue."

"Yeah, a virtue that I don't have with airplanes. Especially since you keep me from drinking liquor now." Ernesto pouted.

"Last time you got wasted, you were incredibly ludicrous!" Laura blamed.

"Oh it wasn't that bad. So I acted out a bit." Ernesto spoke, attempting to downplay his actions.

"You danced out a rendition of Thriller on the passenger's seats; drop kicked the Air Marshall when he tried to subdue you, seduced one of the airline stewardesses, kicked out the pilots, put the plane on autopilot, and locked yourself in the cockpit with her before I was able to put a stop to you!" Laura shouted angrily.

"For the record, the stewardess seduced me, not the other way around." Ernesto corrected.

"The answer is no! You are not drinking on a flight again." Laura rebuked.

"Jeez how was I supposed to handle a 26 hour non-stop flight?" Ernesto grumbled.

"Like a normal human being. Geez there's just no talking sense to you is there?" Laura shook her head as she returned to her book.

"Look I'm sorry for being out of control." Ernesto said but Laura didn't budge. "I'm especially sorry for being flirty." Laura slightly twitched.

"What does that matter? You've always been that way." Laura said without emotion.

"Well yeah I know but I know how much it irritates you." Ernesto responded earnestly with a slight smile as he rubbed the side of his head and looked down to his right.

"Like I said I don't care. It's none of my business and doesn't bother me." Laura replied coldly.

"Then why have you avoided looking me in the eye ever since Fatima gave me a kiss goodbye?" Ernesto questioned with a raised eyebrow.

This was true. As they said their goodbyes, Fatima kissed Ernesto. Not just a swift kiss either but a long, desiring kiss.

Laura stiffened. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not bothered by it at all." Laura tried to affirm.

"Well answer me this, since you mentioned the stewardess and sat back down, why have you been holding your book upside down this whole time?" Ernesto asked with a snicker.

Behind the book, Laura began to turn red in embarrassment. She slowly turned the book upright and remained silent.

Before Ernesto could comment further, she quickly closed the book and said, "Excuse me, I need to go to the ladies' room." And she took off with a quick pace.

"Ahhh I think I teased her too much again. I need to stop doing that, she is my knight." Ernesto scratched his head as he look on as she walked away.

Just then his phone began to ring.

"Hello? Ernesto?" a young voice questioned.

On the other line was a red haired young lady in a pink t-shirt and some pajama bottoms as she was lying down on her bed.

"Yes it's me. Did you need anything Annie?" Ernesto replied.

"I was just double checking when you'd get back to Los Angeles. Just to make sure they pick you up on time." Annie answered.

"Ahhh yeah well the flights been delayed so I can't say for sure. From Cairo to LA is quite the journey so I'll probably make it there by tomorrow morning." Ernesto clarified.

"Oh okay. Just making sure. So um…"

"Well if anything comes up just let me know." Ernesto added as he prepared to hang up.

"Wait!" Annie quickly shouted, making Ernesto stop.

"Uh yeah? Did you think of something?"

"Um…uh..well how are you?" Annie finally asked.

"How am I? Um okay. Bored at the moment. A bit worried about having to face the sword wielding Campione who has conquered various gods of steel but besides that I'm…still not dandy. I wish I would just be allowed to use my authority."

"Oh yeah you defeated a Heretic God in Egypt right? So what new authority did you get?" Annie added

"I don't quite know yet. All I know is that the condition to use it is that I have to be in danger."

"Oh that's strange. Usually we at least have some idea about the authorities that we get." Annie replied.

"We'll see what happens when I use it in the battle against Doni. Anyways we'll talk more once I get there alright Annie? See ya!"

*Click*

Ernesto began to look out into the runway and his eyes narrowed. He couldn't shake the feeling that trouble was heading his way.

*Click*

"Wait!...Ugh!" Annie replied as Ernesto had quickly hung up.

She didn't know why she felt so giddy. It was only a short visit but she could help but be excited. Ernesto was coming to Los Angeles and they would be able to spend time together.

"For business relations, of course…nothing else." She tried to affirm as she nodded seriously.

She took another sip of red wine as she began to ponder about the upcoming visit.

As she smiled cheerfully, she hummed and looked around the room and her eyes then caught a glimpse of a trophy sword and her thoughts changed.

"Ernesto is going to have a tough time with Lord Salvatore. Though I'm not sure if I can help him at all."

The truth was that Annie had never actually fought Salvatore. She had heard about him and only met him in passing a few times. Due to their huge distance and Annie's habit of staying in Los Angeles, the Campione of the Sword hadn't been able to challenge her to a duel.

Furthermore, she was lucky that only a few people knew about her true identity. If Lord Salvatore had realized that the young lady known as Annie Charlton was actually the Campione John Pluto Smith, she doubted she would have been able to avoid a duel with him as long as she had.

She sighed and said "I hope he has a plan."