The sound of Tsuike's breathing was the only sound to be heard in the dark room. Quietly, a great sword slowly lowered itself towards Tsuike's exposed chest. Then, a light ringing came from the sword as it abruptly stoppeed. Tsuike, with his eyes still closed, was holding his sword defensively in front of his chest.
"What would you have done if I had jumped when I woke up?" Tsuike opened one eye.
"I was planning on placing my foot on your shoulder to keep you held down." The girl replied.
"That's a little more forceful than what I would have done, but it seems we think alike." Tsuike opened his other eye, and gripped his sword a little harder. "Now that that little plan has been ruined, how do you expect to kidnap me now?"
"Plan B." The girl took out a little headset. "Even though you are well prepared, I doubt both of your lady friends are." Redirecting to the microphone, she spoke, "Are you guys done on your end?"
"Yes ma'am. We are positioned to take both girls on your command." A female voice came in through the loud speaker.
"Really...I wouldn't have thought you to be the one to hide behind another." Tsuike said, more curious than angry
"I don't like this, but we need to end this war." The girl said, with a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Alright, but I have two requests. One, bring my stuff. Two, leave the others here."
"I'd prefer not to take more prisoners than I need to." Speaking into the microphone again, she said, "Alright, we're ready. Leave the other two here."
"Yes ma'am." There was a shot of static, announcing the signal had been cut.
Holding up one finger, the girl lit up the room with it, her finger crackling with electricity. "Sorry, but you can't be awake for this part." As she touched the back of Tsuike's neck, he fell unconscious.
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"What do you mean, there is a princess on this planet? I thought that was the reason we came here in the first place?" Kori was lying in a bed covered in blue sheets, sitting up.
"Well, yes and no. When I did a scan of this planet just now, I found a life sign like one of yours, like a princess, but..." Carrie looked away.
"But what?"
"During the scan, I found two people with nearly identical DNA structures, and both of them are very similar to Tsuike's. I'm going to send the data to Fiernace, since this is his planet."
"That still doesn't answer my first question."
Carrie audibly sighed. "The princess they're looking for this time isn't like the princesses you and Akari and the others are."
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Tsuike awoke inside of a tent, untied with his swords next to him. He had been dressed in his sleep, which made Tsuike turn red. "Where are we?"
"We're in the camp outside our mine." The girl was sitting with her knees to her chest, her swords leaning against her.
"If I'm your captive, why aren't I tied up? Aren't you afraid I'll try to fight my way out of here?"
"Not really. And we don't want you to be tied up, it'll lower your chances of survival. This camp regularly comes under attack by Greks, so you'll need a way to defend yourself." She pointed to a full serving of bread and water. "You should eat something, we don't get too many chances to eat here."
"Speaking of eating, Tsuribe..." An old man slowly walked in. "Giving your food away again?"
"Chief! You can't just go giving out information like that! You said my name right in front of him."
"Why, at the moment this boy is our guest, not our enemy. Isn't that why you gave your food to him?"
"I gave it away because other people should eat before I do. I'm not all that important." Tsuribe leaned back and ruffled her hair slightly, looking to the side.
The old man held out a quarter piece of bread to her. "Here, eat."
"No! That's your food."
"If you won't eat it, then I guess no one will." The old man turned back out of the tent, preparing to throw the bread out the tent.
"Sis!" Another girl walked in and snatched the bread from his hand. "You know good and well that dad will throw it away if you don't accept it. We don't have enough food to go around as it is."
Tsuike snapped his fingers and a small ball of lightning flashed in the tent, quelling the argument. "Alright, will someone explain what's going on here? Who are you guys?" Tsuike turned his head to look at Tsuribe.
"I'll explain." The old man moved into a more comfortable position. "I am Chief Angell, leader and majority owner of this mining site." Pointing towards the girl with the long brown hair and purple eyes, he said, "This is Tsu..."
"Tsuribe! My name is Tsuribe. I live here with the Chief." The girl impetuously interjected. Tsuike took a good look at her. Her long hair spilled wavily from her head to her shoulders, resting there before continuing to fall a little further, curling slightly around her neck. Her frame was normal, but taking a closer look, her muscles seemed slightly more defined than most girls.
Chief Angell sighed, gesturing towards the other girl. "And this is my daughter, Surani Angell."
"Hi!" She responded in a cheery voice, taking Tsuike's hand. For the first time, he took a good look at her. She had the same shade of purple eyes as Tsuribe did, even though the look in her eyes was happier, whereas Tsuribe's was slightly fierce, reminiscent of Tsuike's father. Her straight brown hair was also very similar to Tsuribe's, except for the fact that her hair was longer than Tsuribe's, reaching halfway down her back even in the ponytail she had it in. She had a slender frame, and wore two daggers on her belt."We have a lot in common!" She extended her index finger, electricity crackling on her finger. "My name is Surani, but you can just call me Rani."
"Alright you two, why don't you go check on the rest of the camp." Rani jumped up and ran right out of the tent. Tsuribe's exit was more cautious, staring at the chief trying to figure his motives, before grabbing her swords and walking out. "Alright, now that we are alone, Prince Tsuike, I bet you're wondering why you're here. To put it bluntly, you are a bargaining chip."
Tsuike scratched his head. "Well, that certainly is blunt..."
"It's not what we would prefer to do, it's that we are running out of options. The village is running out of food."
"Why not petition the government for more food?"
"Look outside."
Tsuike peeked his head out of the tent, to see women all over the camp. The few men he saw dotted here and there were older. "Where are the men? Are they all in the mines?"
"No. Most of our strong women are in the mines. All of our young men were killed in the raids by the Greks sixteen years ago. Those that weren't are drafted into the government to help the army protect us. The only problem is, the new rules that our new government has set in place gives us our food allowance based on the amount of Zhing and other precious items mined in this planet."
"Why would he set a rule like that?"
"With the old rule, the government provided the food for everyone, but the downside was is that the minerals mined could be sold to anyone. The government was going broke. But this new rule forces us to give our minerals to the government to do as they see fit, and those who don't will not eat. The camps in this area, with their lack of strong men, don't have enough manpower to mine and protect at the same time. We're hoping we can use your position as a bargaining chip in our favor."
"I see."
"And, now for the reason I sent them away. You are traveling, looking for the lost princess, aren't you?"
"Lost princess?"
"The gem of the Urian family. The Princess. Her ability to control all elements without having a weakness of some sort. I believe that Rani is a part of her."
"Hmm? Why?"
"When we found her, she was nowhere near any adults. She was a very pale, sickly baby. No matter what, no mother would go through all of the trouble of birthing a baby like that and would leave her out in the middle of nowhere like that. I have to say that Rani doesn't have a mother. Plus, her unlimited powers with lightning are strong, so I'd have to assume that she is a princess, and you are here to take her with you."
"And you don't want her to come with us?" Tsuike thought back to the events on Tonos.
"No, I do want you to take her with you, to get her off this forsaken planet doomed to Grek attacks. I just want you to take Tsuribe with you too."
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A large explosion shattered all the windows in Fiernace's office.
"You... mean to tell me... that you have lost Tsuike?" Akari's bellows could be heard ringing throughout the entire compound.
"Well, Lady Lionne, it seems that he was kidnapped during the night." Fiernace nonchalantly dusted himself off. "And I would appreciate it if you wouldn't act in such an uncouth way, Princess. Seriously though, allowing your elemental control to slip, you could have killed us all."
"Why aren't you concerned for his safety?" Saya asked, trying to calm Akari down.
"Because, the ones who kidnapped him are just trying to sway the government. They probably won't bring any harm to him. We just need to wait till after we find what we need to go find him. Now if you'll excuse me." Fiernace walked out of the room, ending the conversation.
"Carrie!" Akari whispered, "Can you figure out Tsuike's position?"
"Yes, that's not a problem princess. It seems he's in the mountains north west of here, near the mines. There also seems to be a princess signature in his area, so I'm recommending teleportation."
"Go ahead, Carrie." As Akari said that, Akari and Saya were engulfed with a white light.
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Elsewhere...
"THIS SEARCH HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR YEARS. IT NOW BRINGS THE PRINCE CLOSE TO OUR GOAL. EVEN AFTER UPHOLDING OUR PART OF THE BARGAIN YOU STILL DO NOT DELIVER! DID YOU NOT PROMISE THAT WE WOULD FIND HER BEFORE THE QUEEN OF URAGIN DID?"
"Don't worry, by his coming to this planet, he's given us valuable information. Not only is the one we are searching for on this planet, but even another princess piece. He even brought two in tow with him. This works out in our favor. We'll gather them all in the same place, then take all we need at the same time."
"ALL RIGHT THEN. JUST MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO NOT ESCAPE."
"They won't. Even if they could overpower the forces on this planet, they won't compare to my new powers."
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"And so, even in our already dire situation, we have even more visitors." Tsuribe was trying her hardest to keep her temper under control. Holding her sword in front of her, she faced down Saya, who was standing in battle position as well.
"I do not necessarily think you can call us visitors, think of us more like debt collectors. You have something of ours." Akari had her back to Saya, pointing her hammer at Rani, who held both of her daggers in front of her in a defensive and threatening manner.
"Now now, don't you guys start." Tsuike walked up, the wind blowing from behind him. "We're all on the same side here. Why don't you guys stop it?"
Saya retracted her spear, as Rani resheathed her daggers. Akari and Tsuribe weren't so trusting, continuing to keep their weapons drawn.
"Why should we trust this spoiled princess?" Tsuribe said, shifting her gaze from Saya to Akari.
"I agree. Why should we trust someone who kidnapped you?" Akari raised her hammer a little, obscuring Tsuribe's face from her view except for her eyes.
"Well, first off, calm down and look at the girl with the daggers." Tsuike said.
Saya looked at her, while Akari ignored Tsuike's request. Staring at Rani for a couple seconds, she then turned around and lowered Akari's hammer herself. "Akari, this one is..."
"A princess, right?" Akari responded, without breaking her gaze.