Author: DragoonKain07

Chapter Seven: A Tale of Two Siblings

12 years ago, Castle Eblan - Outside Throne Room

Courtney walked up the carpeted hallway towards the throne room, led by the steady hand of Izayoi. She hadn't wanted to come back from playing outside with Izayoi-she was hanging out with a big girl after all, and she didn't get to do that much. It wasn't fair, but her dad had called her in, and no one dared disobey him. Cuz he was the "King" or something. She contemplated sneaking off, but Izayoi, seemingly sensing such, grasped tighter onto her hand. They approached the throne room doors, and Izayoi began speaking to the guards.

"I've brought Princess Courtney at the King's request."

The soldiers opened the throne room doors, but held Izayoi back as she attempted to enter the throne room. "Only the young Mistress may enter; you may go home and resume your studies."

Izayoi nodded. She turned around to leave, but before doing so, she whispered words of encouragement to the young girl. Courtney nodded herself and followed the soldiers into the throne room, looking back to catch a glimpse of Izayoi walking off before the doors closed behind them.

"Courtney? Do you know why you're here?" She looked up to see her father staring down at her, and she ran to him and hugged him. "You're going to start training today!"

The soldier who brought her in startled. "But Sir, she's only 5! Surely you can't expect her to start this early, especially since none of your male soldiers started training earlier than 8, including, if I might add, your own son?

"That may be, but I am...concerned, and that's all you need to know about the situation, Gekkou. I'm sure you understand." Turning to Courtney, he began to speak to her again, in a softer voice. "You'll be training with your brother and Izayoi every day, and I've brought in a special mentor to help you as well. Are you up for it?" Courtney nodded. "Good! Get some rest today; you'll want it for tomorrow!"

8 years ago, Castle Eblan - Courtney's Bedroom

Courtney woke up to a rustle next to her bed. Her eyes immediately shot open, but she quickly relaxed when a soft hand lay upon her shoulder and a voice whispered in her ear.

"It's okay, little one; it's just me." It was the kind woman her parents had set her up training with; Courtney sighed in relief and turned to face her. She was about 25 years old and had sparkling eyes, but Courtney had never been allowed to know her name; her Dad had called it a "security measure," but she never got an answer when she asked why.

"Is everything alright, ma'am? What's wrong?"

The young woman knelt down beside her bed and met her eye level. Courtney could see she had been crying. "I know you may not understand for a long time, but I cannot remain here any longer." Courtney's eyes widened and she began to protest, but the young woman shushed her. "I'm sorry; please know that I would not leave you here without reason, and you will be told why, but only in time. I couldn't leave without seeing you one last time and telling you goodbye though. You will always mean the world to me. Don't forget that."

Courtney began crying herself. "But...what about my magical development?"

"The young woman quickly shushed her again. "Quiet! You mustn't allow anyone here to know you can cast magic, okay? Promise me you will keep it a secret." Courtney hesitated, and then nodded. "Good. To answer your question, though, just practice what I have taught you for now, and, when you master those, try to learn the next few spells on your own, okay? I managed to smuggle a few books with me; keep these stowed away at all times, and never let anyone else see them. Promise?" Courtney nodded again. "Good...take care of yourself for me, okay? I'll be rooting for you from where I'm going."

Courtney began to cry harder, and the young woman hugged her close until she was able to stop. "Goodbye, Courtney." Courtney felt a soft kiss on the top of her head, before the woman hurriedly left the room, taking one last glance at her.

7 years ago, Castle Eblan - Royal Training Area

"Oww..."

Courtney glared at her brother and rubbed her back where she had slammed into the wall. "You're like, double my age; you think you could go a bit easy on me, Edward?"

"First off, it's Edge. Second, I'm supposed to be training you, not babying you. I want to be doing this about as much as you want to, but Dad expects me to, so oh well. You're never going to get anywhere at the rate you're going; have you even been practicing?"

Courtney clenched her teeth. "Of course I am! I'm sorry if I'm a bit slow learning two different fighting styles at once!" In truth, she had been learning three, but she wouldn't share that with anyone, not even her own brother. Edward was teaching her swordsmanship and close combat fighting, Izayoi was teaching her archery, and she was still working on the books her old mentor had given her...

"Well...tough luck; now are you going to sit there pitying yourself all day or get back up? You know, I do have a date to get to soon." Edge smirked.

She glared at him; he had broken her train of thought. "I'm sure she'd love to know how much you beat up your little sister. Which girl is it? Mallory?"

"No, that was last week. Joan's her name I think...? Joanne, maybe? Ehh, that short brunette with the fire tattoo that's always hanging around the Castle. She's been dropping hints for weeks, so I figured, why not? Now get back up so we can finish your training for the day."

Courtney sighed. She didn't really understand much about her brother, but she was tiring of the constant rotation of girls around him. And the way he talked about them...but there was no use thinking about that at the moment; it would only anger her more, and she was trying to concentrate. She got back up and returned to her fighting stance.

5 years ago, Castle Eblan - Throne Room

Courtney shut the throne room doors behind her and yawned. It was just after dawn; it wasn't like her father to call her in this early. She saw Izayoi and Edward, standing in the middle of the room, look back at her and share an unknowing glance. Looking towards the thrones, she noticed Seneschal was standing beside her parents. This observation irritated her quite a bit. He had served her family faithfully for years, and she had found him pleasant growing up, but lately...she couldn't put her finger on it, but he seemed hostile towards her. Seneschal began to speak.

"Late even for your own parents? Tsk, tsk, I see tardiness runs in the family..." Edge glared at the subtle insult. "...but no matter. Your presence will no longer be needed at meetings by any means anyway, so it is not of concern."

Courtney raised her eyebrows. "What are you talking about? I've just started attending strategy meetings; why would I suddenly stop?"

"Well, since you asked, Eblan's council has, in conjunction with your parents, decided to permanently remove Izayoi and you from all future meetings and to halt your training immediately."

"Wait, what? Why?" Izayoi's eyes grew enflamed.

"It has been decided that the presence of you two ladies provides a negative risk assessment, and so you are hereby relieved of both of your duties in our Guard."

Courtney's eyes enflamed as well, and she clenched her fists. "Wait, you think that we aren't productive because we're women? That's insane! Mom, you can't possibly support this!"

The Queen of Eblan looked at her with tired eyes. "Courtney...it's a...complicated situation. This was decided as the best course of action." Her voice sounded strained, and Courtney recognized her "leave-it-alone" look.

"This is ridiculous." Edge interjected, looking annoyed at Seneschal. "Courtney is progressing quite well in her military studies for once, and Izayoi is one of the best soldiers in our entire army. You can't expect them to leave the military over something that stupid." He directed his glare towards his parents.

The King spoke now. "Edward, be quiet; this issue does not concern you. We only invited you, because we wanted to inform you that you would no longer be training your sister. Now all three of you are dismissed." He stomped his staff, and the soldiers outside the throne room opened the doors.

After a brief glare, Izayoi turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. Courtney quickly followed after a questioning look at her mother revealed no answers. She continued to hear Edward berate the trio as she tried to conjure a solution.

4.5 years ago, Castle Eblan - Courtney's Bedroom

Courtney laid awake on her bed, bored. The last six months were extremely annoying to her. Izayoi had created a distance between the two of them and avoided her at all costs, and, although Edward made an effort to still see her, military meetings were increasing in frequency. She had asked him what was going on, but she could tell from the pained face he gave her that he wasn't at liberty to inform her. While she'd had time to further her magical abilities, she wasn't more than a year away from mastering the books left to her years ago. She glanced out her window in boredom. The village looked as busy as it always did. Food merchants were shuttling food back and forth between the village and the castle, farmers were busy with the land, and here and there she could see a young lad hoping to swoon the girl he'd set his eyes on.

She began to mutter to herself. "Is that what my life's meant to be? Just live in this stupid castle until some guy 'rescues' me from my boredom? How dull..." She glanced back out the window to see if she could at least recognize the villagers. She recognized several women from rather unfortunate memories of her brother's trail of broken hearts. She kept waiting for him to grow up and stop being as much of an...well, something she felt uncomfortable calling her brother. But he just never could seem to. Speaking of which...there he was at it again, this time with some girl near the edge of the village. She sighed. She had nothing better to do anyway; besides, there was no harm in eavesdropping. At least she'd get some use out of her skills.

4.5 years ago, Eblan Village - Outskirts

Courtney held her breath behind a high hedge. She had successfully been able to escape outside her window, dropping down several ledges into the village, before sneaking to her current position. This was as close as she dared to get to the two - they were both trained ninjas, as well, after all - but she could still make out bits and pieces of their discussion. She gasped. It was Izayoi! But...she had been wrong; Edge wasn't flirting with her at all. She couldn't make out much, but from the general gist, it sounded like Izayoi was doing something her brother didn't want and was desperately trying to stop her from doing. But what? Finally, she heard her brother sigh and the fading footsteps of Izayoi. She'd have to ask him about it later, but that wouldn't be easy. It was almost as if Seneschal was trying to keep her deliberately from seeing her brother.

"Ahem!" Courtney looked up and jumped back as she saw her brother hovering right beside her. How he could sneak up on her like that astounded her. "Can you tell me what exactly you're doing?"

"...I was bored. I heard you talking to a girl so I figured I'd listen in to have something to do. I didn't realize it was Izayoi until I was here."

"Hmm. Well, at least you had a good reason." He winked at her. "If you're curious, she's arranged for Troia to get her and take her there to join their ranks. She feels useless here with Seneschal's ban. I still wish she'd stay here for defense, but she was done listening to me, and I don't blame her. Just don't you ditch me too, okay?"

Courtney looked up at him. Yeah, she was bored all the time. But...she could keep practicing in secret. If she could do it with magic, she could do it with weapons too. And she couldn't ever leave her brother's side; he didn't have many people left. And it seemed like Eblan was turning on itself more and more each day; distrust was becoming rampant.

"Alright Edward, I promise. You'll always have me to keep you from getting yourself killed."

"Good! Now let's return to the Castle before Seneschal learns that we've ditched. He's been getting harsher on us lately; I think the anxiety's getting to him." As he turned to leave, he turned back one last time at her.

"...and it's Edge."

3 years ago, Castle Eblan - Library

Courtney scowered the bookshelves and frowned. She had just finished her magical studies of the books left to her, and she was hoping to find something of use here. She now understood why she had been requested not to share her magical abilities. Seneschal had ordered that the few mages in Eblan have their powers bound; he was claiming that they were scheming to overturn her parents, but it didn't sit right with Courtney. For one, her mom had a small amount of magical ability independent of the Ninjutsu that her father and brother shared, and it was unlikely that a small band of four or five mages would have been able to take down the entire castle, especially with the Guard so proficient in Ninjutsu, especially in the Royal Family, minus her of course, since you didn't learn Ninjutsu until 16.

She sighed. There was no use. All of these books involved physical stances and military and combat strategies; there was nothing here on magic of any kind.

"Are you sure about this?"

Courtney froze. She could hear a few members of the Guard enter the library; maybe she could gleam a little understanding of what was going on. She shrunk in between a bookshelf and the wall, her small stature keeping her entirely within the shadows. There were about twelve or so soldiers, and they were all wearing high-ranking uniforms. She could only recognize two of them - Gekkou and Zangetsu - as they were from her parents personal guard. Gekkou was the one speaking.

"She's been nothing but loyal since I've known her. I see no reason to do this."

"Gekkou, you're letting your friendship to her blind your eyes." The one speaking now was about her brother's age, and he was looking at Gekkou with a stern glance. "There are reasons to believe she is in involvement with the mages; she was seen multiple times conversing with them, and they had an inside person. Seneschal is convinced that she's involved, so we must detain her for now.

Courtney started finding it hard to breathe. They couldn't be talking about...

"I can't do this Kotaro; I can't be a part of this."

Kotaro stood up. "You would defy the Chamberlain's orders?"

"My loyalties lie only to the Royal Family; I'm beginning to wonder where yours lie Kotaro."

Kotaro glanced up and down Gekkou before quickly jamming the hilt of a knife into Gekkou's face. Blood gushed, and Gekkou quickly fell to the floor. Zangetsu jumped up in protest and was quickly beaten by the two men standing beside him.

Kotaro moved over to Gekkou's body. "I can't have traitors in my midst." At the close of that statement, he flipped his knife around and plunged it into Gekkou's chest. Courtney let out a small gasp before clasping her mouth. The ten remaining men immediately cocked their head up. Without thinking, Courtney cast an Illusion spell out the doorway to simulate scampering noises.

"She's running! Hurry; you three, chase her; you three, cut her off; you three, keep eyes on all the exits of the Castle. I don't want a single person entering or exiting; do you understand me? I'll go inform the King and Queen of our young maiden's attack on their Guard."

After they all left, Courtney stood there, shaking, staring at the blood continuing to pour out of Gekkou. Finally, braving her revealance, she ran over to Gekkou and cast two Cures on his wound, then applied pressure. She was frustrated with herself; she wasn't going to do much with such low-level spells, but it was hard teaching herself, and none of the books left with her had dealt much with white magic out of the absolute basics.

Gekkou started groaning. "Gekkou, Gekkou, wake up!" His eyes snapped open.

"Court...Courtney? You have to get out of here; the Guard..."

"I know Gekkou, but I couldn't leave you here to die. Get Zangetsu to safety, please."

"What about you?"

"I'll...figure out something. They have the exits blocked, but if I can lay low for awhile, maybe I can find a way to sneak out."

Gekkou stared at her with hesitation, then reached out his hand. "...here. Take my bedroom key and take the swords and armor off my person. I'll claim amnesia to your parents to try to keep the Guard from killing me for now, and I'll play along with their scapegoating of you in public but inform your parents in private, but you need to hurry! There's a secret passage underneath the bed in my room. Press hard on the baseboard under my pillow, then kick the baseboard under the foot of the bed hard. You'll find it. Now go!"

She held his gaze for a moment, grabbed his knife, and sliced off most of her hair. She then quickly changed into his armor, grabbed his swords, and took off, hiding what was remaining of her distinctly-blue hair under his full bandana.

Navigating through the Castle was fairly brief and easy, as Gekkou's room was in the opposite direction from the Throne Room and she didn't expect the members of the Guard to be putting a notice out for Gekkou. Slipping into his room, she locked the door behind her. She slipped underneath his bed and held her breath. She did what Gekkou asked, and she was greatly surprised when the baseboard swung upside down and she was flung downwards. She flew for what seemed to be forever, until she landed in a large body of water. Stunned for a moment, she finally managed to drag herself to the shore. Looking around, everything started to make sense. "Of course...I'm at the Cave of Eblan's underground lake."