Kamui was panting heavily, her hands gripping the hilt of Omega Yato as her clothes were cut in many spots along her shoulders and arms with a few cuts here and there on her stomach. Hinjo seemed to have broke a small sweat as he swept it off with a flick of his wrist and slung his sword over his shoulders. The sword in particular was pretty large but he seemed to wield it with ease and with just with one hand. It was clear this guy was pretty strong and knew his way around a blade. It felt nearly the exact same as her sparring sessions with Xander.

"How is this..going to help..with my training?" Kamui asked in between breaths.

Hinjo sighed and leaned back a bit.

"You still don't understand do you? Listen you don't have the ability to change forms independently correct? The trigger only seems to have happen during dire circumstances. If I am not mistaken we just need to push you to your limits to see when exactly that trigger goes off and then adjust accordingly. The more times you feel the transformation taking hold, the more control you will eventually gain over time and learn to suppress yourself if need be. Of course this is all just a theory so there may be some trial and error involved."

Kamui nodded.

"Yeah I suppose that makes sense. Is that why you told me to meet you out here in this field? In case I were to lose control?" Hinjo chuckled.

"Aye there you go. So you do catch on pretty quick. In the case you were to lose control over yourself nobody in the general vicinity would be in any danger." Kamui squinted her eyes at him.

"What about you? Wouldn't you be in danger?" Hinjo smirked.

"I suppose so but I can take care of myself pretty well." he spoke with confidence.

"So in the case I can't return to normal...you remember what we agreed?" Kamui spoke.

"Yeah-yeah I have it here." Hinjo spoke and reached into his pocket to show her the dragonstone.

"Now can we continue? I believe you are nearly there after all." he spoke with a grin before slipping the stone back into his pocket and slung the sword in front of him.

"Are you ready?" Kamui nodded and gripped her Yato before charging at him.

The first few slashes was rather predictable as Hinjo parried them with a flick of his blade. Clash of steel rung through out the woods as the two lunged and swung at one another, each blade clanging and grinding against their opposing forces as the ground around them started to implode beneath them. A final collision between their blades as Kamui gritted her teeth, pushing all of her weight into her blow and tried to force her Yato forward and push Hinjo back but the larger man didn't budge and tossed a fist under the blades right into her stomach, causing her to gasp loudly before collapsing onto her knees before a leg swung forward and connected right into her ribs to send her tumbling back a bit.

"You mean to tell me this is the girl who united three nations? Who killed a great dragon and traveled all over the nation? This is a joke. Did you rise to fame on the backs of the your fallen allies and siblings? This is sad Kamui. Pathetic. You will never protect anyone as weak as you are. The people you care about are better off dead." He attempted to antagonize her and it appeared to be working.

Kamui could start to feel herself losing control as she started to pull herself back up by the hilt of her sword.

"You don't know a thing about me...I never wanted anyone to die for my own ambitions. My friends and family choose to fight with me because they believed what I was doing was right. I certainly did not win this alone you are right but do not accuse me of sacrificing people just to get what I want!"

Hinjo's eyes widened a bit as her speed somehow increased dramatically and it caught him off guard as her Yato swung past his defense and slashed across his chest and right shoulder, blood spraying through the air. Before he could react she quickly spun around and with a draconian roar, slammed her sword against his with so much force it threw him a few feet as he slammed his sword into the ground to pull himself to a complete stop. Kamui did not intend to give him a rest anytime soon as she charged at him in full speed once again, her body glowing with a purple aura that left a trail behind her as she swung directly at his head this time.

Hinjo threw up his sword just in time to meet hers in mid-air though now his blade was radiating in a deep red glow.

"Haha! Yes that's it Kamui we are almost there! I had to activate my sword's seal release just to match your power. If you think think this is enough to save your friends from another world crisis though you are wrong!" He slashed forward and a blast of conal red energy cut through the air, sending her flying back and tumbled back across the ground.

"You failed your people Kamui! You will never protect anyone with how pathetically weak you have become!"

She could feel it slipping now as the purple aura started to flare out of control now, her screams becoming distorted as the transformation was soon taking place and Hinjo smirked.

"That's it..just a little more."

"Kamui please stop!"

Velouria leap out from the bush she happened to had been watching from and Hinjo glared at the intruder.

"Oh no you don't kid. Not while I was so close! I won't let you get in the way!"

He swung his sword up as the blade flared up into a red aura, gathering energy and before he could blow the wolfskin away, a hand suddenly gripped his arm and held it in place.

"Stop you idiot. If you do this now you will toss away all of the progress we made so far. Just let her go for now before you go and mess everything up. There will be more chances." Senji spoke.

Hinjo huffed through his nose and suddenly the blade dissipated to it's normal state before letting it fall to his side.

"Their better be. Get out of here before you are spotted. I'll finish things up here." Hinjo instructed and within an instance, Senji was gone.

Velouria sprinted across the field and literally jumped into Kamui before she could stand up and knocked her down, her arms locked tightly around the princess as she pushed her head underneath her chin.

"Kamui please! Get ahold of yourself! Daddy, Selkie, all your friends and I will be very sad if we lose you. Please listen to me!"

Velouria tried to reason, the powerful aura blowing past her black locks and nearly blowing her away. The words seemed to reach her as Kamui's body stopped moving and the aura slowly began to fade, her screams of rage ceased after she felt Velouria's arms wrapping around her. Hinjo squinted his brow.

"Huh? Well what do you know she actually managed to stop her transformation. Interesting. Maybe it was a good thing I did not kill her after all."

Velouria clutched onto Kamui's shirt, sobbing into it quietly as the aura faded completely from the princess. Though the transformation stopped it seemed to have taken it all out of her as she laid there unconscious.

"Hmph. Guess that's all for today. I'll be waiting when she gets up."

Hinjo spoke before slinging the sword along his shoulders and started to make his way back to the village to leave the two alone. Takumi was sitting behind a tree as he watched the entire scene unfold. His eyes carefully watching Hinjo as he walked back.

"I knew something wasn't right with these guys...what are they up to?"

-xx-

"Oh my Hinoka~ I must say this looks very cute on you." Camilla teased as she was trying to dress the hoshidan up in a decorative heart shaped apron that revealed quiet a significant amount of cleavage.

"A-Are you kidding me?! No way am I going to wear this!" Hinoka resisted with a bright blush that nearly made her face look like a ripe tomato.

"Oh come on what is the big deal? It's just us girls right? Come on I know you are dying to give it a try~ No need to shy dear." Camilla teased before grabbing Hinoka by the collar and literally dragging the flailing princess into the changing room.

"No please! Sakura help me!" She pleaded before being dragged out of sight as Sakura and Elise giggled.

"Hehe! Well it's good to see those two are getting along right?" Elise chipped. Sakura chuckled and rubbed the back of her head.

"Yeah it's great but I fear Hinoka may be really mad at me for not helping her. I don't think anyone wants to stand in Camilla's way when it comes to dressing up though.."

Elise smiled. "Nope! Camilla usually gets what she wants. It's always been that way for as long as I can remember. She can be super scary when she gets angry...I have seen her on some of her bad days and I usually just hide from her when she gets in those moods. Thankfully ever since we arrived in Hoshido she has been very happy. It's a shame we have to leave tomorrow...I don't want to go myself."

She huffed and crossed her arms.

"Stupid Xander says I have to go back with him to learn about politics and other stupid stuff..I hate it." Sakura chuckled nervously.

"Well I guess we all have to grow up sometime right? We are princesses after all...so I guess we do not really have a choice huh?" Elise shook her head.

"I never wanted to be a princess though. Ugh why did I have to be royalty..I would much rather stay here and snuggle up with big sis but since I grew up with her I guess it makes sense why she would want to stay here for a while." Sakura smiled.

"Yeah I am really excited to spend more time with her but I'll ask if we can visit Nohr sometime. Does that sound good?" Elise smiled brightly.

"Of course! Promise?" Sakura giggled.

"Promise."

-xx-

Selena was sitting on a bench in the flower field next to Serah with her arms crossed and with a particular sour look on her face.

"So why exactly are we back here again? I thought you wanted to show me around?" Serah chuckled.

"But I did show you around right? We went to the markets, the park, and to that dancing show they put on in the square. I feel like that should have been sufficient enough. Why does it bother you so much? Do you not like flowers?" she asked teasingly and Selena shrugged.

"I do but...they just remind of someone and I don't like to talk about it okay? I was only here when you found me because I just needed some time alone to think."

Serah placed a hand on her chin. "Is that so? Well if you don't want to talk about it then I cannot very well pry but I am curious. Do you have any questions about me perhaps? I've been rude and only asking you questions all this time." Selena shook her head.

"No not really...well maybe one thing. That sword you have..where did you get that from? I never seen anything like it before." Serah's eyes widened a bit before looking behind her to pull out the strange katana.

"Oh you mean this? What is so different about it?" Selena pointed to the symbols etched into the blade.

"Those symbols. I never seen anything like that. What is it?"

Serah snickered.

"Never heard about the tale of the first dragons huh? When they started to war among themselves the Rainbow Sage made five powerful weapons that was passed down from each generation. I am sure you already know who is in possession of those five weapons as does everyone else but there was other weapons that was never told about in the story. You see the Rainbow Sage had a secret apprentice nobody knew about at the time and this lucky blacksmith was able to learn a few secrets from the old man. Though their time together was brief as the blacksmith started to become greedy and corrupt, he wanted to know more and more about how to make his weapons stronger and stronger. The power to rival even the gods above. Of course the Rainbow Sage refused and exiled the blacksmith."

Selena quirked her brow.

"...So is that it? What happened to him after that?" Serah pointed her blade up in the air, twisting it around slowly to examine the markings.

"The blacksmith decided to make his own weapons in an effort to surpass the Rainbow Sage. He made a total of six weapons using the sage's technique before the Nohrian army captured and executed him after they heard about his plans. Three of the weapons was captured and destroyed but the rest was stolen by thieves and sold to many merchants, scattering across the world." Selena squinted her eyes.

"So you mean..is that sword one of them that went missing?"

Serah smiled. "Indeed it is. You see my parents was wealthy merchants and would never pass up an opportunity to buy any and all unique trinkets that would come by their shop and one day, a rare antique sword was offered to them for a large price. Gold was never an issue for them and my dad fell in love with it instantly and bought it without a second guess. When I started to grow up, I really wanted to join the Nohrian military but my father forbid it, saying it was no place for a woman. He only wanted me to live a normal life. Find a good husband, clean laundry and dishes, and to give him a grandson but I never wanted that sort of life. So when I was eighteen, I stole the sword without truly even knowing what it was and ran away to start my new life."

"I had no clear path or idea where I was going. I just continued to run and run in fear of my parents catching up to me or having the local guard chase after me. I was foolish and ran right into a group of faceless and found myself surrounded. Right as when I thought I was dead there he came. Hinjo. Right as one of the faceless was about to smash me into the dirt, he came out of nowhere and cleaved it's arm right off and before I could register what even happened, they was all dead. He offered his hand to me with a big goofy smile and I couldn't help but take it. After that I decided to journey with him and he told me about a research club he founded in Windmire that researched weapon enhancement and development."

"Once we made it there he noticed my sword and his expression changed. It was like he recognized something familiar and whether it was by coincidence or fate, he too had one of the ancient weapons forged by the blacksmith. He then proceeded to tell me the story behind them and why are they are so special and it was the main reason he founded the research team. Back then we did not know or understand how to unlock their hidden potential and it took a lot of training and circumstances for us to realize how to fully control their power and over the years we started to discover new things and began to understand them. You see these weapons are special. They siphon the power directly from the wielders life force and the stronger your will to live, the stronger they become. The more you use them, they essentially become apart of you."

Serah sat the blade down on the bench and reached up to her arm, sliding up the sleeve to reveal the same symbols etched into her skin going all the way up to her shoulder along with burn scars coloring the skin like an extra sleeve.

"You see these weapons have a limit as to how much we can use them and have tiers of locks that can be released. There is three locks to it's power. The first release is the weapons elemental attribute unlocked and covers the blade in it's aura and enhances the weapon itself. The second release is the blades full power. It has an effect unique to the wielder and as our relationship with the weapon grows, we start to realize what it is for ourselves. The third release takes the excess power directly from our body. The power is incredibly enhanced but if you use too much your entire body will shut down and you'll die. So as you can see we have to be incredibly careful with how we use them. My sword in particular is called Hikari Hitofuki."

Selena looked a bit shocked from the story.

"Really? I never heard of anything like that before. A sword with special abilities? So it's different than the one like Xander and Ryoma have? Why would you use something that uses your own life force to use? How do I know you are even telling the truth about all of this?" Serah giggled.

"Geez you are so full of questions aren't you? Well if my arm was not proof enough I suppose I can show you since it is dark outside. I just hope nobody spots it or we may be in trouble. Go on then come with me." she beckoned Selena who hesitantly followed as Serah gripped the handle of the sword and walked outside and took a few steps outside.

The woman pointed out to a specific tree out in the distance.

"There. See that tree? Now keep your eyes on it." She spoke before closing her eyes, concentrating on her energy as the symbols along the blade started to glow a bright yellow.

With a swing of her sword, the energy from the blade launched it's way to the tree, slicing it in half as it passed through before the yellow energy seemed to evaporate once it passed it's target. The tree tumbled down and slammed into the ground with a thunderous thud.

"This is just the base level of the blade. It can erase more than just trees at second tier but I believe showing you that would be too much. I am sure you get the point of it now." Selena's eyes widened at the demonstration of what the sword was capable of.

"Is it different than the royal's weapons? Yes it is but these are inferior compared to their power though. Remember this is just the Rainbow Sage's apprentice's work so its nothing super fancy. You also asked why I need a weapon like this? Not all of us are okay with how the world works and want to change it but lack the power and influence. Politics are incredibly corrupt in Nohr you see. Murder and other horrible acts go unnoticed and nobles get away with whatever they want without punishment. There is no food for the poor and if you aren't fortunate enough to get any gold, you are as good as dead. If you don't have the power to change something it always stays the same you see? You are from Nohr right don't you agree?"

Selena broke eye contact for a moment and looked away.

"Eh..not really I just kinda found myself there. I used to be a...traveler I guess you could say with a few friends. I had to prove myself a worthy soldier and vowed myself to miss Camilla to serve her. Just circumstance I guess you could call it." Serah smiled and brought the sword behind her and stashed it back into it's holder.

"Circumstance you say? It seems we are not all that different after all. So I told you quiet a bit about me so..care to explain your fear of flowers?" Selena rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I guess since you are so insistent. My mother used to smell like the roses like these here in Hoshido and...it just bothered me since it brought up bad memories. My parents they...they died a long ago. I told you I don't like talking about it." Serah frowned at that.

"Ah I see..I am very sorry to hear that. It must be hard dealing with a constant reminder like that." Her expression seemed to have lifted when she thought of an idea.

"Oh I know! There is some really nice firework shows here right? Come on let's go see if we can find any to buy!" Serah giggled and grabbed Selena's hand, dragging her along despite her complaining.

-xx-

"So...is she awake yet?" Hinjo asked as he sat on the bed inside his inn-room.

"I don't think so. She has been asleep ever since the transformation almost took place. I believe she is inside the castle with a healer right now." Senji spoke from his position leaning against the wall.

"Tch figures. I was so close before that damn brat intervened. Next time we need to make sure none of us are followed so this does not happen again." Senji shrugged.

"I'll keep monitoring her allies and see what I can figure out. So far they all seem to have let their guard down with the peace negotiations going on. This should be pretty easy if you keep your attitude in check." Hinjo snorted.

"Oh shut the hell up Senji. It would be a hell of a lot easier if that stupid bitch Serah was here. Where has she been anyway? She has not reported in since last night. It seems like we need to have a talk with her in the morning."

-xx-

Kamui's eye lids slowly started to lift up, revealing a blurry ceiling and she could hear a faint cracking of firewood.

"Nnggh...where am I?" she groaned and attempted to sit up but was only able to push herself up a few inches into a sitting position.

It was not until she stopped moving she felt a pressure against her stomach. Reaching up to brush her eyes a bit, she flicked them open once again to see what was on her and at first all she saw was a red hood but upon closer inspection it was actually Velouria.

"..Hmm? Velouria what are you doing here?" she asked, bringing a hand up to lightly pat the top of her head. The little wolfskin appeared to be asleep.

"Oh you are awake finally." Kamui turned to look at Oboro who walked in with a smile.

"Velouria brought you to us in a panic earlier and Selkie helped bring you in here. It seems your training did not go so well?" Kamui rubbed the back of her head.

"Umm..I can't exactly remember what happened. The last thing I remember was getting really angry then the rest just kind of faded to black. There was one thing though..it felt as if I was gripping onto something really hard and trying to not let go. Like if I was hanging off a cliff or something. After that though there is nothing I can remember...nobody was hurt were they?"

Oboro shook her head.

"Nope. I heard Hinjo got a nasty cut on his chest and shoulder but we had Orochi patch him up when he got back. He told us not to worry about it and that everything was fine and he even came to check up on you though...Velouria did not seem to be happy about that. She gave him a nasty look the entire time he was here so I would probably ask her about that when she gets up."

Kamui turned her attention to the sleeping girl, reaching her hand under the hood to scratch gently behind her ears.

"Yeah I'll do that thanks Oboro...where is Selkie?" Oboro shrugged.

"I honestly don't know. I gave up trying to keep up where she is anymore. She just runs around and comes back with random 'gifts' for me or she just runs around with Kaden. Funny enough she wears him out all the time now and all he does is sleep when he gets home so I am stuck with her all the time." Kamui giggled.

"Got your hands full it seems?" Oboro sighed.

"Yup it seems that way...anyway I will let you get some rest. Just let me know if you need anything okay?" Kamui smiled and nodded.

Oboro reached up to turn off the hovering lamp and exited into the kitchen, leaving the princess to slump back into the bed and hopefully catch a bit more sleep before tomorrow. There was a lot of questions that needed to be answered.