Chapter Two: Aren't We All?

The meeting finally came. Maids that morning were rushing back and forth between rooms, preparing for the arrival of one of the two most important people of the world. Occasionally, there would be case where one of them fell and created a chain reaction with papers and dusters flying in the air. Peony would walk by and start laughing as he casually cheered them on. Emperor Peony opened the door to the room where Kyle was with his notebook. Kyle explained his theory in thorough detail with his Peony where they searched for errors and miscalculations.

"This is perfect! I can't anything else that's wrong with this! Of course, we'll still have to discuss this with the other guys when the meeting beginnings." Peony stretched and stood from his chair as well as Kyle.

"Thank you your Highness." Kyle pushed his sleeve up and checked his watch. "The meeting will begin in 10 minutes. We should head over there now." Kyle opened the door for Peony as they walked together to their meeting hall. Luke and his comrades had been seated as well as Teodoro, King Ingobert and his daughter.

"Alright! Lets get this meeting started!" Emperor Peony plopped into the chair at one of the short sides of the long mahogany table. He explained Kyle's theory we they all quickly devised a plan and assigned tasks. After roughly two hours, they were all dismissed and Teodore and King Ingobert took their flights home to put the project into action.

"Kyle!" Luke came up to Kyle and greeted him kindly. "Let me get something straight about this plan. So, we need to go back to the area where I had left the Key Of Lorelei?"

"Exactly. We need that key to cause a hyperresonance attracting a large amount of Seventh fonnons and the other fonnons. This will create confusion and they will fuse creating a planet storm. Its a lot more complicated, but lets just leave it like this." Kyle closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

"Despite your age, personality and your appearance, your actually really smart." Luke said with unintended hurtfulness.

Kyle's eye twitched and he simply replied with a sarcastic, "Thanks." Jade, Tear, Anise, Guy and Natalia walked over and joined them.

"We will be heading out tomorrow in the early morning. Be awake by six or else who knows what will happen?" Jade instructed with a tinge of malice. Peony took his arm and dragged him away to see his rapigs.

"And then there were six."

"Good job! The old man can count." Kyle smirked.

"ALRIGHT! Guy lets go train outside the city!" Luke quickly placed his arm over Guy's neck and walked off with him.

"Oh my." Natalia daintily covered her mouth with her hand and turned to Tear. "Tear, Anise, Kyle, would you like to accompany me viewing the city?"

"Of course."

"I haven't gone shopping in a long time! Natalia, can you buy me some new clothes?"

"Sure, I don't mind, though I'll probably be forced to do all the labor."

"That's the point of dragging a guy along! Now lets go!" Anise, Natalia and Tear followed Kyle as he led them to stores they would enjoy and sight seeing areas. As expected, he carried their shopping bags while they had their share of happiness. The day was nearly ending, and they returned to the castle. Luke and Guy had already returned and were in their rooms, changed into pajamas and exhausted from training together. Jade was still taken hostage in Peony's room, forced to be in a raping infested room with him. The girls and Kyle each took there showers and changed into pajamas of their own. They met again outside, armed with pillows as they pressed their bodies against the wall next to their door.

"My, I've never done something so intriguing before!" Natalia lightly giggled as Anise hushed her.

"I've never heard of a stealthy princess." Kyle said.

"Alright! On three! One. Two. THREE!" Anise and the others busted through the door and launched their pillows at the two logs.

"What the heck!" Luke and Guy fended off the pillows with their arms and threw them back.

"PILLOW FIGHT!" Anise screamed. They continued to fire pillows at each other's faces, stomachs and various places. The lamps had been safely stored in a cabinet so nothing would shatter. After an hour of jumping, screaming and throwing, they all lay down where they were, and sighed.

"God I haven't done anything like this in ages!" Guy rolled over to his stomach and faced the half-dead people.

"I haven't had this much fun in such a long time." Tear closed her eyes and happily smiled.

"Don't fall asleep! Never know what might happen!" Anise sneered.

"Oh my! How scandalous!" Natalia sat up and turned towards Luke.

Luke grabbed the nearest cushion and placed it over his burning face. "I woufn't fo fhat!" Luke said with his voice muffled by the white cushion.

"You can do it! You're a man, aren't you?" Kyle, Anise and Guy burst out laughing. Tear reached for the pink pillow and smacked Kyle with it.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! The feathers are coming out!" He sneezed and they all continued to laugh.

"What's all this racket?" Jade stood by the entrance and examined the room. "My, my, it looks like you all had fun." He sighed and shook his head. "While I was stuck with rapigs, you were having a pillow fight. It must be nice to be young. Just make sure you wake up tomorrow! Especially you, Kyle! Where can we go without the pilot?" Jade's voice and footsteps faded as he made his way to his own room.

"I guess we should sleep too." Tear stood and grabbed the pillow over Luke's face. "This one's mine." She said playfully. "And this one's yours." She dropped the pillow on his face and walked over to the opened door. Natalia grabbed her pillow while Kyle took Anise's and she took his. They each waved good night to each other and left the two guys to rest.

"This pillow's yours." Kyle and Anise switched pillows and said good night to each other. Anise threw herself onto her bed and buried her face into her pillow making a crackling sound.

"Hrm? What's this?" Anise stuffed her hand under the pillow cover and took out a letter.

"Whom could this be from?" Natalia sat next to her on the side of the bed and looked over her shoulder. Anise unfolded the paper and skimmed.

"Meet me in front of the fountain at four in the morning. I'll be there waiting… No name?" Anise flipped the paper back and forth for clues.

"It's obvious who wrote that letter with or without a name!" Tear lay down on her own bed next to Anise.

"How so?" Anise puffed her cheeks and made a dissatisfied face.

"Well, when we were shopping today, I saw a certain someone staring at you." Natalia teased.

"Yea, you were also in an intense pillow fight between just the two of you." Tear smiled mockingly.

"Thanks guys. I'll be going tomorrow morning I guess. There goes my beauty sleep." Anise patted her face lightly with both hands.

"Don't worry Anise, I'll take out the new dress you bought today from the store Kyle showed us." Natalia began to salvage the dress from the endless arrangement of bags.

"Good night!" Anise pulled the soft white covers over her head and fell asleep. Anise slept silently until she woke up early that morning. She staggered when she got out of bed and quickly changed into her new outfit. It was a light shade of pink and was frilly at the end and the top. The strapless Lolita dress had plenty of layers at the bottom making it perfectly puffy. A magenta bow was wrapped around her neck and a frilly light pink headband was wrapped around her hair, as she let is flow instead of putting it in pigtails. She sneaked out of the room with poise, and nimbly glided across the hallway without much noise. When she reached the fountain, there he was. Kyle was sitting on the side of the fountain with a short-sleeved jacket that stopped above his stomach. He had a white sleeveless shirt underneath and wore long black baggy pants. His gray messenger bag was slung across his shoulder and his black ski goggles were placed in his hair.

"So you came 'princess'. Didn't you just recently buy that?"

"Yeah. So what?" Anise placed her hands on her hips arrogantly.

"It looks good for someone who has no bust." He gave her a "thumbs up" and smiled.

"W-why you call me here anyway?" Anise turned away from his fading smile. Kyle looked down at his hands solemnly.

Kyle took in a long breath and said without looking up, "I know this is hard subject for you. But you were the Fon Master's guardian. Weren't you?" She stared at him, speechless. She had tried so hard to lock the truth she had tainted with dirt herself, but they had summoned to her mind once again.

"I'm sorry. But I wanted to thank him. He was the one who brought me to where I am now."

"How…how did you know him?" She struggled. She felt like she was choking on her on words.

"I was in Engave a year ago, when a fragile boy with deep green hair came up to me. He asked, 'Do you know where the Cheegle Woods are?' I had decided to escort him since he was so weak. I told him about how I had been traveling by myself, going from place to place. Looking for a place called 'home'. When we arrived at the woods, he had thanked me and gave me a letter. The Fon Master had told me to head towards the north to Grand Chokmah to work for Emperor Peony. The last words he said to me, were, 'I can't show you the way to your 'home', but I can give you an opportunity for you to create a place you can call 'home'." The sun had risen higher and the colors red, orange, yellow, pink and sky blue blended together. The sun's reflection was floating across the gentle ocean waves.

"Ion was too nice. He cared about my family and me more than his own body. He took the miasma from Tear's body into his own, knowing he couldn't handle it. He's so stupid!" Anise rubbed her eyes with her arms, cringing.

"Aren't we all?"