The Twelve-Year War

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Chapter 1

The Age of the Otome

It was a quiet, sunny, and very dry Wednesday morning in the Kingdom of Duran.

They were in the arena, and King Natsu Kruger was sitting a good distance away from the vast, sandy, training area; keeping cool underneath the comfortable shade the large tent provided.

"Your morning tea, your excellency"

He didn't meet the maid's gaze as she carefully placed the iced tea on the side table. The only word he softly muttered after a few seconds of silence was "Arigato", which was his signal that he didn't need anything else, that it was okay for her to take her leave.

His light, blue eyes weren't on his daughter, but he could hear her very clearly while she sparred. He could hear every grunt, every gasp, every husky taunt that left her lips. He could hear every kick and every punch that she successfully evaded. Could hear every movement the eighteen-year old made.

His daughter, the Duranian princess, proved to be both, very stubborn and very independent from early age. She had expressed an interest in weapons and Martial Arts since before she was a teen.

He thought that by the time she became a teenager, she would leave this obsession of hers behind and would focus on other things,

on harmless things,

on pretty things,

to put it bluntly, girly things.

He noticed that most girls, most princesses at that age, at fifteen, fourteen, even as early as thirteen, already expressed an interest in princes, an interest in the opposite sex. An interest in dating, in dancing, in parties and gossip and Masquerade Balls. In expanding their wardrobes with beautiful jewels, shoes, and extravagant, flowy gowns.

But no.

No, no, no, no.

Much to his chagrin, his daughter expressed an interest, expressed much fascination and enthusiasm in the opposite.

He wasn't going to lie though; his daughter did like pretty dresses. They weren't as extravagant or as sparkly as the other princesses', but they sure were unique and very pretty.

He'd often see her going to town to buy new fabric so that the seamstress could make her a beautiful, form fitting dress with it. A beautiful dress of her style, of her liking, a dress that perfectly complemented her body. She always dressed her best, always dressed as a princess should, he had no complaints about that part of her.

So yes, Natsuki Hime did like dresses, but she liked bows, arrows, punching bags and swords even more. Those were her prized possessions, her precious toys.

Ah, but that's not all. Unlike the other princesses her age, she also liked to get her hands dirty, liked to punch and fight, especially her older cousin, Takeda-kun.

His very existence as of late seemed to aggravate her somehow. They weren't getting along, not as well as they did when they were children, and he couldn't understand why. Whenever he asked his daughter about it, she wouldn't give him an explanation, wouldn't give him a straight answer. She'd just get angry and mutter something that was hard for him to decipher. She would blush, and then silently walk away.

He somewhat blamed this interest of hers, this rough side of hers on the fact that she didn't grow up with a mother, that she didn't grow up under a woman's influence and care.

And he also blamed himself for this, for Natsuki growing up without a mother. He blamed himself for the death of his Queen.

It was because of him, because of what Saeko had found out about him, that she had gone into that treacherous forest just days after Natsuki was born. It was because of him that Saeko had walked in there willingly, with the intention of not wanting to ever be found; knowing full well that whoever went in there never made it out.

Yes, Natsuki growing up without the love, warmth, and tender care of a mother was all his fault. He accepted that. He took full responsibility for that.

Underneath all that roughness, her interests aside, Natsuki Hime was very beautiful, very polite, and very feminine. Yes, believe it or not, she really was. And she was a very timid and sweet, sweet girl.

Actually, no, let's scratch that last word.

Natsuki Hime wasn't a girl anymore, she was of marrying age now, she was a young woman now.

Natsuki Hime was a very sweet, young woman, a kindhearted young woman, but she had a very rebellious side, a side he could never tame no matter how hard he had tried while she was growing up.

And although he had told her many times that he didn't want her partaking in such aggressive activities because he didn't want her to get hurt, because it wasn't very ladylike, wasn't very Hime like, she ignored him and did as she wished.

She always found a way to defy him.

Always.

She herself marched into town on her thirteenth birthday and had looked for an instructor in Martial Arts. She herself looked for someone who could teach her properly, teach her what the books she had been reading couldn't. She wanted to experience martial arts, not read about it. And she wanted someone, wanted a teacher who would challenge her, who wouldn't mind being rough with her. Someone who would put her royal title, her princess title aside.

Apparently, this was the only birthday present she wanted. No exchanges, no returns, no ifs, no buts. She never asked for anything else ever again after that.

"Your royal highness…" One of the older servants vowed as he neared him, never looking at him in the eyes as a sign of respect. "Princess Viola was spotted in town, she should be arriving the castle shortly"

Natsu looked up from the book he was reading, "Viola Hime is in Duran?" his thick, blonde eyebrows arching up, somewhat surprised that the Kiyohimean princess was visiting.

Natsuki hadn't mention anything about this visit. And he was sure that the neighboring princess would be busy with her birthday celebration that was approaching. If he remembered the date correctly, it was on December 19th, which was only two weeks away. This sudden visit was certainly a surprise.

"Very well, please accommodate her and her company for however long she wishes to stay. Make her feel at home, grant her every wish" The King softly commanded. And then, his sights fell on his very energetic daughter.

How the two princesses remained friends all these years despite their differences in interests was beyond his comprehension.

In his opinion, Shizuru Hime was Natsuki's opposite in almost every way. And even at her young age, she carried herself with such elegance, with such grace. She had such an air of maturity, so much charisma and a hint of playfulness in her.

And Shizuru Hime was quite an intellectual. She was quite knowledgeable in a variety of subjects for a soon to be nineteen-year old. The Hime was a great conversation partner, a great entertainer. You could never find boredom with her, that word didn't exist when around her.

Yes, Shizuru Hime was beautiful, enchanting, very alluring, extremely pleasing to the ears as well as the eyes. She was such a treat to be around. 'Just like her mother.'

But then again, somehow, he knew that opposites did attract.

But that saying was usually used on people who were in a romantic relationship… did it apply to best friends as well?

With a sigh, he closed his book and placed it on the small, round, white table beside him. And as he gracefully crossed one leg over the other, his hand reaching for his cup of iced tea, he intently stared at his daughter, truly impressed by her quick movements.

It was unnatural, how fast she was moving. An ordinary human couldn't move that fast.

And this made him wonder. It made him wonder about what she had told him long ago.

It made him wonder…

Meanwhile…

Meanwhile, a distance away, Natsuki quickly ran towards her next target. Her next target who was very heavily padded from head to toe in protective gear.

It was a miracle that Takeda-kun could still manage to move underneath all that padding. But in his defense, Natsuki Hime scared the Jesus out of him when she wasn't wearing one of her princess gowns. She was fierce, that girl. And she didn't like him, they didn't get along and he couldn't figure out why.

Once Natsuki was close enough, he quickly swung his wooden sword at her.

The blunette wasn't armed, it was planned that way. It wasn't her swordsmanship that she was being tested on today; it was her agility, it was her quick thinking in battle.

"Ah!" And as Takeda swung his wooden sword at her,

WHOOSH!

She grinned, quickly skidding on the sandy floor, avoiding contact with the sword and going under his parted legs.

Once she was on the other side, once she was behind him, she quickly got on her feet and,

POW!

Kicked him on his side. She kicked him on his right rib before he could fully turn around, making him fall sideways on the ground.

"Ow! HEY! I felt that!"

And then she heard him angrily complaint,

"Good!" She shouted at him as her Emerald eyes settled on her next approaching target. It was that dirty blonde named Sergay. That guy that Mai Hime always swooned about, always stared at with puppy eyes whenever she came to Duran.

He threw a few, quick punches at her once she was close enough.

Right, left, right, right, left.

He was fast. He was. But she was faster than him, much, much faster because of her years of training, and perhaps a little more than the eye could see.

She effortlessly maneuvered through the swings. Effortlessly maneuvered through each one of his quick kicks. And in a swift movement, she twirled, quickly spun as she went down to the ground. Her fingers lightly kissing, lightly caressing the yellow sand underneath her as she spun, grabbing some of the sand as she did so.

BAM!

And then she kicked him hard on his padded ankle,

"OOF!"

Making him lose his balance and fall on his back on the ground.

"Three down, two to go" She didn't waste time and ran as fast as she could towards her next target. She had been training for an hour now and still hadn't worked up a good sweat yet, partly because of the extremely dry weather.

It was as if her sweat evaporated into thin air the moment it formed on her skin. That's how dry it was in Duran today.

Once she had enough speed, once she was close enough, she threw the sand on his face as a distraction and then leaped, "Ah!" she jumped high in the air, as high as she possibly could. She miraculously jumped over her target's head, avoiding the clumsy, incoming kick.

In her mind, if she was touched, it was game over for her, she'd lose.

It wasn't part of the test, it wasn't a rule, but it was her rule. Something she added to make things a little more interesting.

'I can't believe I made that, that was really close' The moment her feet had touched the ground, she spun around and pushed him forward with both hands, hitting his broad back with unnecessary force.

She felt a strange, unfamiliar spark on her skin, 'Did I hit him too hard?' felt a strange, tingly sensation surrounding her palms, as if electricity was coursing through her body, running through her arms, and settling on her fists. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before.

"Oi, gomen!" She playfully shouted at her fallen comrade as she ran towards the last, remaining target.

She felt so full of energy all of a sudden. She felt great. Really great, actually. She had a feeling she was going to break her personal record today.

"Huh?" But then, as she was running, Emerald eyes caught sight of the Kiyohemian princess, caught sight of her Ruby eyed best friend.

"Shizuru's in Duran?" She was standing next to her father, talking to him, looking straight at her with that naughty smile of hers and giving her a quick wave. And Takeda-kun, that sly cousin of hers that she couldn't stand, he was now by Shizuru's side, chatting her up with those annoying lovey-dovey eyes of his. He was standing too close to the Hime. Too close for the blunette's liking. Does this guy not know the meaning of personal space?

"I'm going to kill him" And Natsuki slowed down, her speed faltering, her heart beating fast. She was losing her focus.

"Natsuki Hime, CONCENTRATE!"

She heard her instructor shout at her from afar.

Then, her Emerald eyes went wide in shock when she faced ahead again,

"Eek!"

And instantly shrieked, unexpectedly finding herself right in front of her last target. She was too close and couldn't think straight.

POW!

Her last target's wooden sword hitting her hard on the head, her reflexes not quick enough to protect herself or move out of the way.

"Pretty~"

For a moment, she thought she could see colorful stars dancing around her cobalt mane.

And as her right hand went up to reach out for one of those lovely stars, before her body dizzily went backwards and hit the ground,

"Natsuki Hime!"

She heard her servants worriedly shouting her name, and then heard many hurried steps approaching her.

Same time…

"Natsuki!" As this was going on inside the training area, King Kruger stood from his seat in an instant, concerned for his fallen daughter.

He was about to join the servants and rush to her aid, run towards her direction to see if she was okay,

"V-Viola Hime, what's wrong?"

But he wasn't able to make it very far. He immediately stopped on his tracks and followed Takeda's worried voice, his worried voice that led him to the princess.

"Shizuru-san, are you alright?" The King cautiously asked, noticing that the Kiyohimean princess's eyes were tightly shut. He also noticed that she was grimacing, grimacing as if she were hurt, as if she had felt Natsuki's impact herself.

And then, he watched as she suddenly grabbed the back of his chair, using one shaky hand to support herself, to support her weight, while the other went for her face to cover her rare, Ruby eyes.

"Viola Hime?" Takeda worriedly tried again, a hand now on her left shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"H-Hai, I'm fine. It's just…" Shizuru shakily breathed out, "It's… It's nothing" feeling as her head spun by the sudden, stinging sensation she had just felt.

She had felt this inexplicable, abrupt pain before. But never this strong, never this long.

She breathed deeply a couple of times, her surroundings disappearing, Takeda's words fading in her ears.

And when she felt better a few seconds later, when she stood up straight and removed her hand from her face, "Natsuki?!" when she noticed that the blunette was lying on the ground, surrounded by her servants, she immediately ran towards her side to see if she was okay. Takeda-kun was following close behind.

'Is it possible?' And the King's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, 'Could it be?' frozen in place, slightly taken aback by what he had just seen. 'No, it couldn't be'

He was now second guessing himself, wondering if what Natsuki had told him a long time ago was true. Wondering if her seeing a magical Crystal hadn't been a figment of her imagination, a figment of her overactive, childish mind.

'No, no, it can't be true. They were only children then, and all twelve magical Crystals were destroyed hundreds of years ago… They're only a myth now'

But nothing could explain how the strange, dark, haunting aura that had surrounded the forest for centuries, suddenly vanished that day. Nothing could explain how he and his guards were able to walk in there, and then return unharmed with his unconscious daughter and her best friend.

Could it be that one of the magical Crystals was unaccounted for? That not all of them were destroyed?

He was going to have to ask Natsuki to search her memory, to explain in detail what had happened that day in the forest ten years ago.

If it was true, if she had really seen a magical Crystal, if she and Shizuru had really touched it, then his suspicions, what he had just witnessed, made a lot of sense.

It could only mean that a magical binding contract between the princesses was made back then. That by touching the Crystal, their lives were shared, their lives were linked; That they lived and breathed as one.

And it also explained Natsuki's inexplicable speed and strength when Shizuru was close by.

If memory served him right, the books said that the closer the beholders, the closer the wielders of the Crystal were to one another, the greater the power, and the greater the risk.

Being an Otome, being a wielder of a magical Crystal, was both, a blessing and a curse.

If this was true, it could also mean that the recent rumors roaming around the Five Kingdoms might possibly be true as well. Rumors of a dark army silently forming in the East. A dark army that fed on the power of the Crystals. A dark army that probably awoke the moment the magical binding contract was made ten years ago.

If this was true, it wouldn't be long until the dark army found them.

And if a contract between the princesses was made back then, it could only mean that the Crystal was inside of them.

He really hoped that this wasn't true, because if so, the princesses' lives were in grave danger.

If this was true, the fate of the Five Kingdoms was in their hands.

If this was true, the age of the powerful virgin warriors, the age of the Otome, had returned.

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Thanks for Reading!

And thanks for the Reviews/Comments

HookedonReading: I'm a little nervous because I've never written a story with Magical/Adventure elements before, but I will try my best :) I hope I don't disappoint! You've probably never read my work before, and I don't have many stories to my name, but I'm more of a Romance writer. You'll probably notice if you keep reading the story. And if you decide this story isn't for you, totally understand :)

Thunder1514: Hiya back!

As always, let me know your thoughts.

"For the love of ShizNat"