Chapter 8 Training

They all followed Clef curiously trying to understand what he meant by make them stronger. What could they possibly do to make them stronger?

"Okay," he said when they reached the practice room. It was a simple room with white walls and a soft floor with a few mirrors along the walls, and one door on each side of the room. It reminded Hikaru of the dojo she had grown up in, and she smiled warmly, "First we'll deal with Hikaru."

Hikaru looked up and pointed a finger to her chest, "M…me?"

"Yes you," he summoned her, and she gulped and walked toward him, "Okay, Lantis."

Lantis walked toward him never speaking, but he gave Hikaru a small smile of encouragement, and she smiled warmly back.

"Now," Clef looked from one to the other, "Fight."

"W…Wh…What?!" Hikaru looked stunned.

"Fight," Clef repeated as if he had expected this kind of reaction…which he had.

"I'm not going to fight her," Lantis protested.

"Afraid to lose?" Umi jeered, and Lantis glared as she smiled innocently back.

"No, it's uneven, she's…" he didn't want to say she was half his size.

"The enemy is much stronger than you, and if she can't fight you she can't take on an enemy that is even stronger. You are one of the best swordsmen in Cephiro; this will make her stronger," Clef said practically.

"Still it doesn't seem very fair," Hikaru muttered as she summoned her sword to her hands. It glowed with red and leapt with orange and yellow flames.

Everyone but Umi, Fuu, Clef and Ascot gaped.

"How long has it done that?!" Persea demanded. She didn't know she had created swords that could do that.

"It's not the sword, it's the stone," Fuu said absently; she was concentrating on the fight that was about to begin.

"Oh," they all said softly as Hikaru and Lantis bowed to each other, and the match began.

They paced around each other like cats, both hesitant to swing. Hikaru made the first move slashing her sword downward right into Lantis' parry. The impact made her arms ring and her head spin, but she gritted her teeth and braced herself for his swing. It never came, and she got nervous. What was he doing? He was going to fight her right? As she thought all these thoughts his sword came crashing down onto hers, and her hands dropped it as it clattered to the ground. She gasped, and everyone in the room seemed awed.

"H…How?" Hikaru asked looking at the sword that lie on the ground.

"Years upon years of practice and training," Lantis responded and was about to pick up her sword when Persea stopped him.

"Don't touch it unless you never want to hold a sword again," she warned.

"What?"

"Hikaru-san's sword turns to Fire in your hands," Fuu explained, and he understood.

"Lantis teach everything you can to Hikaru," Clef pointed to a room that materialized out of nowhere, and Lantis escorted Hikaru to it, "Now Fuu."

Fuu stepped forward warily, and Clef called for Ferio, "Fight."

"Of course," Ferio muttered and grinned at Fuu summoned her sword. A green glow surrounded her, and Wind whipped itself around the blade as they bowed and began the fight.

Ferio was less skilled than Lantis and what was worse was that he was used to fighting dirty. He couldn't with Fuu, so he was at a disadvantage. They were almost equally matched except for the fact that Fuu was better in archery than sword fighting, and her sword was big and slow to attack. They fought for awhile until one quick maneuver had Fuu's sword out of her hands and on the ground as Ferio laughed panting while he did, "And I didn't even have to trip you," he boasted, and Fuu shook her head.

"Good thing you didn't because then I could have brought magic into play," she responded.

"Touché," Ferio smiled back.

"You have much to learn," Clef shook his head, "Ferio is not nearly as experienced in sword fighting as what you'll face. You will be her teacher and then face her to make sure she has been taught well."

"Clef," Umi said quietly as the two began to walk into another room that had just appeared. He looked up and urged her with his eyes to continue, "I'm confused, she…that woman…doesn't fight with a sword, only magic."

"But…" he stopped and tried to find a way to put this to her gently, "He does."

"He?" Umi asked suddenly edgy.

"Her…brother…she treats him as a slave, and they do dark deeds together. It's a long story and like I said it is not one I am going to tell. Just know that he is the best swordsman in all of Cephiro and this is why you are being trained," he explained quietly.

"She has a brother?" Umi whispered, "I wonder…"

"There is no time to wonder, Umi, Lafarga you two fight," Clef interrupted her thoughts, and the two walked forward.

Caldina was torn; who was she supposed to root for?

"Umi doesn't stand a chance," Persea muttered, "He's the best of the best."

Caldina nodded as the fight began.

It was true, Lafarga was extremely good and much stronger than her, but she was agile and fast. She darted around him blocking and swinging, and they were all amazed by her skill. She set her brow and concentrated only on his sword, never letting her eyes leave it. Lafarga had the same concentration, and they dueled for long minutes.

Finally Umi whipped around spinning as she did and pulled her sword underneath Lafarga's throwing it from his hands. Everyone gasped as he stared at his empty hands, amazed. Slowly, stiffly almost, he bowed to her, "You are extremely talented Water Knight," he said quietly, and she smiled.

"Arigato, but truly it was luck I'm sure."

"No it wasn't," he shook his head, "That was the hardest I've fought in a long time, you're very skilled," he did seem to be breathing heavily.

Umi blushed and looked down, "Ever since we went home I've been training even harder. I thought…I thought that if I fenced all the time I could pretend I was still battling for Cephiro, keeping that part of me alive. I've been working like that, competitions and practices for a long time."

They all looked at her with a new sense of respect and were silent for a long time before Clef broke the silence.

"Well it seems then there is nothing we can teach you about sword fighting. There is something you could not train with at home though, something that all of you need to strengthen."

"Ne?" Umi looked into his deep blue eyes as he responded.

"Magic."

§§§~~~

"This is hard!" Hikaru whined, and Lantis laughed a bit.

"Yes, but that's how you get better."

"I'm not used to this though," Hikaru complained, "I've always been the best," she blushed, "Except against Umi-chan, but at my brother's dojo I always beat everyone. This isn't fair!"

Lantis smiled at her, "But this is not Earth. Cephiro is determined by your will. You have a strong will, and it will take you far but some things come with time and practice."

Hikaru pouted.

"You are not getting practice by looking like that," he told her, and she grinned.

"You're right," she nodded, and her grip on her sword tightened.

"You're so determined, that's one of the things I love about you," he told her softly, and she blushed.

"Arigato," she managed to mumble.

He walked forward and gathered her in his arms kissing her softly causing her to turn red as her hair. He laughed and set her down again as he drew his sword and began to go over maneuvers with her once more.

§§§~~~

"So you take your sword like this," Ferio was showing her the newest grip.

She sighed and followed his example.

"And…" he swung the sword in a complex pattern doing it slowly, so she could mimic it. When she did she almost cut off her foot, and the sword clattered on the ground. She sighed aggravated and picked it up.

"I'm never going to get this right," she muttered.

"Sure you will," he said confidently.

"No I won't trust me," she assured him, "I would prefer a bow to a sword any day, but seeing I have no choice I guess I'll have to deal with it."

"Maybe we could do something more simple," he suggested, and she nodded vigorously.

"Definitely."

"Okay how about…" he seemed to ponder a moment, and she looked on expectantly, "This," he set his sword down and pulled hers from her hands putting it down as well. He came close, and she looked into his golden eyes as their lips brushed against each other. She blushed as he pulled back but didn't make a move to pull away, and so he reached in again only kissing her harder this time; she melted in his arms. If he hadn't been holding her she thought she would collapse on the ground.

"Never leave," she begged, and he laughed and kissed her golden-orange hair.

"I didn't plan to."

After a long while he unwrapped his arms from around her and picked up his sword as she retrieved hers. Slowly they went back to fighting but neither really paid much attention to what was going on; they were still lost in the moment.

*Good cute place to stop. That was all the romance for now I think…maybe…it depends if I ever figure out what to do with Umi. This is turmoil! Anyway next chapter the action comes back. I hope you're enjoying this so far!  ^.^*