Title: The Royal Duo...
Part: 4/?
Pairings: None (probably at the moment)
Genre: AU, Non-yaoi, maybe, I don't know.
Ratings: Up to you.
Author: Mia_Alexia
Email: Angelic_approdite@hotmail.com
Warnings: Actually, none. Though let me warn you, I have a twisted sense of
humour.
Notes^ I said that I wanted to retire, why haven't I?
Disclaimer: All these characters belong to me! I wish... (In case some
people misunderstood the meaning of this message, it literally means that
NONE of these characters belong to me, well with the exception of Midnight
and Soar, they belong to me! No suing should the breed and name coincide
with any character you own).
----
Two cloth-bound strangers trudged their way into the village in the middle of the afternoon. One of them sporting a panther and the other a hawk was a strange sight to behold by the people of the village. They had immediately stopped by an inn and requested food and lodging, the villagers saw that these two strangers did not have a sign above their heads, which further intrigued the village.
'Kaede, did you notice that they are staring at us?' Sendoh asked, sitting down at one of the tables at in the crowded inn.
'Yeah, they were using true sight, they could not see the sign above our heads, that is why they were staring at us,' Kaede replied, signalling a waiter to order.
'Too bad these people are afraid of Midnight, he would have had a feast down here,' Sendoh said, pouring a cup of tea for himself.
'Hm...' Kaede replied, looking around the room, sensing a strong aura, he saw that Sendoh felt it too, the only sign Sendoh gave that he felt it was a quick scan of the room as he poured his tea.
Sendoh had proved to be a willing and apt pupil. He learnt the craft at almost the same speed as Kaede had first learnt his; only Sendoh got stuck at one or two things, which slowed him down considerably.
'What is that man's occupation?' Sendoh asked Kaede using telepathy, knowing that Kaede had already scanned the man.
'Soldier, middle mage,' Kaede replied as they both watched the older man whom they estimated was in his mid-thirties.
'Want to ask him for information on the ministers?' Sendoh telepath, giving some cursory glances to people who were staring too hard.
'Probably, let me check his mind, I want to see if he is an informant to the ministers,' Kaede replied, going silent once again.
'Why don't you just search him?' Sendoh asked; knowing Kaede was already getting vital information.
'It's because I don't want to stay in his mind too long, he will sense it and he can trap me there,' Kaede replied, forming a link with the soldier he wanted to talk to, indicating for Sendoh to tune in too.
'Kazuma, would you believe that I am your new king?' Kaede telepath, eating his meal as it arrived.
'Who is this?' Kazuma replied, quickly looking up from his meal, making a quick scan, not noticing anything unusual.
'Your King and your prince,' both Kaede and Sendoh replied.
'Look here, if you are one of those minister's goons, I will hunt you down and destroy you!' Kazuma's mind voice said vehemently.
'Relax, we just want to chat, we need information on the ministers. Like we said, we are royalty and we want to overthrow those ministers,' Sendoh said.
'How am I suppose to know that you aren't working for the ministers? I have been under them for so long that I know what they are like,' Kazuma replied, returning to his meal.
'Okay, take your meal and join the two hooded men have just arrived, they are huddled in a corner and their meal is moving towards their table at this moment,' Kaede instructed Kazuma who eye could be seen following the waiter holding their meals. Immediately as the waiter set their meals down, Kazuma was seen standing up with his meal in his hand and heading in their directions.
'So who the hell are the two of you? Another of the minister's goons?' Kazuma asked through telepathy, placing his meal on the table and sitting down.
'No, I am Kaede and this is my cousin Akira, I am the King,' Rukawa stated plainly, seeing Kazuma choke on his food as the impact of the words sank in.
'You can't be, our King is dead and he had his Queen driven from the palace not less than a couple of months after they were wed, he has no heir!' Kazuma replied, clutching his spoon and trying to stare at Kaede through his hood. 'Minamio may be dead but none the less he is my father and my mother was his Queen,' Kaede replied coldly.
'What proof do you have since you so boldly speak the King's name? Only members of the royal family are allowed to speak each other's names in the open,' Kazuma replied, transferring his gaze to Sendoh.
'He is the King, believe him or not, it is your choice,' Sendoh said, thrusting his spoon into his broth.
'And you are the alleged Prince? Next you're going to tell me that your mum was Princess Hairra and Minister Reyes,' Kazuma scoffed as he continued to eat silently.
'As a matter, yes, I just saw them for first time just a couple of days ago,' Sendoh replied pleasantly.
'Hold your horses, this is getting way out of hand, you both claim that you are royalty but you have no proof,' Kazuma said, getting irritated that this conversation was getting nowhere.
'Are the two of you done eating? If you are, we can retire to our quarters to carry on this conversation,' Kaede replied coolly, standing up.
'But... oh all right,' Sendoh replied, looking down at his bowl and realising that he had indeed finished his meal.
'Shall we, Kazuma?' Kaede asked, moving to the stairs that lead up to his room.
'Oh well, it is worth a try, but if you really are people from the ministers...' Kazuma said menacingly, unable to finish.
'Yeah, we know, you'll hunt us and destroy us, seriously, you have to change your lines once in a while,' Sendoh said, finishing Kazuma's sentence.
As they went up, the patrons of the inn watched their ascent. They knew that Kazuma was a soldier and a mage but once again they were stumped around the identity of the two strangers. They appeared to be conversing with Kazuma but their mouths did not move, so it appeared that they were psychic and had magic as well. The trio moved from the dining area to the rooms, they went to the room Kaede and Sendoh shared. As they entered the room, a dark shape fell across Kaede and Sendoh.
*OMPH*
'Hey! Did you bring me anything to eat?' Midnight asked happily as he grinned and put his entire body weight on the two youngsters, ignoring his charges' new companion.
'No, they are bringing up your meal later,' Kaede replied, trying to pry Midnight off his chest.
'Midnight, get off us! In case you haven't forgotten you are no lightweight!' Sendoh said as he managed to levitate Midnight and help Kaede off the floor.
'Hey! No fair, you used your gift!' Midnight yowled menacingly as he was gently put down.
'You don't have to fear Midnight, except unless of course you are trying to harm Kaede, other than that he is a real softie,' Sendoh said as he petted Midnight's head to show that there were no hard feelings and stretching out his arm to allow Soar to perch.
'Sure, there was harm done, you watch it kid coz' you're going to be next,' Midnight said as he strolled up to Kaede who petted his head and sitting down the bed, allowed Midnight to crawl up on the bed and settle down beside him.
'So, what do you want to chat to me about?' Kazuma asked, unsure that it was safe to be around Midnight.
'We want to gather info on the ministers to see how to overthrow them,' Kaede said, throwing his cloak off.
'Yes! The cloak finally comes off, I don't how long more I could take the stifling heat,' Sendoh remarked as he gladly threw off his thick cloak.
'So... how do you know if I am an informant for the ministers or not,' Kazuma asked, standing and looking out of the window only window in Kaede's room.
'I've searched you mind thoroughly, I have seen everything that has gone on in your life,' Kaede replied, looking intently at Kazuma's back.
'Hey! That's an invasion of privacy! You can't...' Kazuma's voice coming abruptly to a halt as he turned to finally face Kaede and Sendoh, their resemblance to their parents caught Kazuma off guard.
'Oh my goodness, you look exactly like his majesty and her majesty and you look like a cross between Princess Hairra and Minister Reyes!' Kazuma exclaimed, first pointing accusingly to Kaede and then to Sendoh.
'We told you already,' Sendoh scoffed as he sat down on his bed.
'This can't be... I don't care, I still want proof!' Kazuma stated firmly.
'Sheesh! You just don't give up do you?' Sendoh asked, reclining back into the eiderdown mattress.
'I am a very persistent man,' Kazuma replied patiently.
'Kaede, so what do we do?' Sendoh asked Kaede inquiringly, raising his eyebrow.
'I guess we could show him the rings, then we could show him the crowns or vice versa,' Kaede replied, looking to his cousin for his opinion.
'It's fine with me, you're the key to the crowns anyway,' Sendoh replied, shrugging his shoulders and he lay down and closed his eyes.
'Okay, you pass him your ring than and I'll get your crown out,' Kaede replied nonchalantly.
'WHAT! Why mine? Why not yours?' Sendoh yelled, jumping off his bed and onto his feet, Soar screeching protestingly.
'Because... yours is after all not a valuable as mine and should he wreck it, it won't be so hard or expensive to repair,' Kaede said reasonably, trying quite hard not to let a smile creep onto his lips.
'Why you! I am older than you and what I say counts!' Sendoh said firmly.
'But even though you are older than me, I am a rank higher than you, after all I am the King and so what I say goes,' Kaede stated, walking over to the box.
'You...' Sendoh grounded out, advancing on Kaede, his hands held out ready to wring Kaede's neck.
'Just kidding, I was going to let his check both and plus, you know if you tried to strangle me it would be no use,' Kaede said, placing his palm over the lock.
'Yeah, come to think of it, I'd get hurt and you'd have to heal me again coz' I still haven't gotten the hang of that gift yet,' Sendoh replied thoughtfully as he pulled the table out from the corner to the centre of the room.
Kaede put the wooden box onto the table and gingerly took out the first item, a white gold crown, bold and yet elegant in its design and had several magnificent jewels woven into the intricate designs. The second crown, which he took out, was a silver crown, also magnificently crafted, simple yet beautiful. The jewels captured brilliantly to show off their best instead of being shadowed by magnificence of the first crown an put them on the table for Kazuma's inspection.
'They're... they're beautiful. No doubt I have seen some brilliant forgeries but these take the prize, they show no flaw, no sign of being forged and the jewels look so pure,' Kazuma exclaimed as he looked at the crowns from every angle possible and still continued searching it though he could find no fault with it.
'That's because they are not forgeries, they came from our parents, they were presented to us, Kaede's when he was coroneted and mine when I was acknowledged a prince,' Sendoh replied, losing his patience in the fact that Kazuma kept insisting that they were frauds.
'Do you need more proof?' Kaede asked, looking at Kazuma who was still intently studying the crowns.
'Yes please,' Kazuma replied enthusiastically.
'Then these should prove it,' Kaede replied as he took off his signet ring and passed it to Kazuma, Sendoh following suit.
'Amazing! Brilliant! Beautiful! This has to be the real thing,' Kazuma exclaimed as he studied the ring and the spells cast upon it, there was no mistaking the spells.
'You see, I told. But no... You were intent on proving us wrong,' Sendoh said, teasing Kazuma, taking back his signet ring and putting it on.
Kaede gathered the crowns and put them back into the box with the utmost care and than took his ring back and put in on.
'So you believe us now?' Kaede asked, taking a seat on his bed and Sendoh reclining back into his bed after allowing Soar to perch on his headboard.
'Yes, I am glad that you are the King, now you can lead the people of Kanagawa out of their misery and let them lead their lives once again as they did before Reyes dies,' Kazuma said, smiling his first smile all evening.
'So... will you travel with us to Kanagawa and tell us all you can to aid us in overthrowing the ministers?' Kaede asked, stroking Midnight's head and hearing him purr.
'I will, I will do everything that I can in my power, I pledge my allegiance to you, King Kaede Rukawa as I did to your father and you too, Prince Akira Sendoh as I did Minister Reyes,' Kazuma pledged as he knelt with his head bowed.
'Stand! What would you say if someone were to enter the room? Thank you, we appreciate your help and we are forever in your debt,' Kaede said, standing up and saluting.
'No, we are forever in your debt, you have come to free us from the unjust and for that we have a lot to be grateful for,' Kazuma said, standing as well.
'Um... there's one more thing. I need you to not salute or call us by our titles while we were travelling because our journey to the palace is confidential and so we don't want to draw attention to ourselves,' Kaede said, gesturing to Sendoh and himself with a slight smile as he realised that Sendoh was already asleep.
'That's no problem, your majesty. Good god, it's been so long since I've said that,' Kazuma said, grinning slightly and saluting once again.
'I think that it's time we retired for the night, tomorrow we are travelling to Toyoda,' Kaede said, sitting down once again.
'Goodnight your majesty,' Kazuma said just as he was about to exit the room.
*Knock Knock*
'Come in,' Kaede said, watching as Kazuma exited and admit a young steward.
'This... is... food for... your pets... sir...' the young steward stammered as he peered into the room to look for the animals. Seeing that they were asleep, he crept into the room with a tray. As he entered the room, Midnight's ears perked up as they heard movement and his feline nose picked up the aroma of chicken and beef stew. He leaped and landed beside the startled boy who put the tray down faster than the speed of light and was out of the room screaming at he top of his lungs.
'You shouldn't have scared the poor boy,' Soar said as he flew from his perch and landed on one of the bowls.
'I know, I know, but the look on his face was priceless,' Midnight said, lapping his meal, mentally laughing.
'I know, these youngsters just don't fear us anymore,' Soar said, looking from the sleeping Sendoh to the troubled Kaede.
'We do, just in other ways,' Kaede replied before lying down to think.
'I wonder how long that kid was out there listening to our conversation,' Kaede thought as he fell into a fitful sleep.
***
'Wake up Sir! Wake up!' came the voice of a young boy who sounded vaguely like the young steward last night.
'What...?' Kaede murmured as he sat up and began waking Sendoh. Midnight and Soar were already awake.
'A group of men says the they want to see you, sir, they have come from the palace and say that it is very important,' the young steward yelled, pounding once again.
'Stop that boy! Tell them we'll be right down,' Kaede yelled, scowling at being awoken so early in the morning, scanning the building for Kazuma's presence and receiving his reply.
'Sendoh, get up, we have company. It may be time to test out your new skills,' Kaede said as he washed his face, brushed his teeth and used his magic to straighten out his appearance. Leaving Sendoh to follow suit, he peered out the window, seeing that soldiers patrolled the streets and that escape was impossible.
'Come, we have to face them, Kazuma is on his way down, they have summoned him too,' Kaede said as he saw that Sendoh was ready.
Together, Sendoh and Kaede in their shirts and breeches, with Midnight and Soar made their way down to the empty restaurant area, as they entered, the soldiers appeared not to have noticed them. The owner of the inn was serving them drinks.
'Don't you think it's a little rude to interrupt people's business as if you own the inn?' Kaede asked loudly, interrupting the merry making going on.
'Well well, if it isn't Mr Almighty whom my soldiers claim wrecked them up pretty badly but you suffered the effects of one spell as well,' a slightly muscular man said as he stood up, the rest of the platoon stood and most of them frightened by the sight of Midnight moved back slightly.
'Why do the rest of you stand with him as if he were royalty?' Kaede asked mockingly as Kazuma joined their small group on the entrance of the room.
'Ah Kazuma, you traitor, the ministers have ordered your arrest, you are to be brought back to palace at once,' the man said once again, not declaring what position he was to command such respect.
'Shall I ask you once again what is your name and why do you command so much respect whereas I have none?' Kaede asked calmly, taking several steps forward and watched as the soldiers he encountered move several steps back.
'I am Prince Mizota, Admiral General of the Imperial army and who are you to receive any respect at all?' the slightly muscular man replied.
'Me? Oh, I am just your King and you aren't a Prince... at least not by birth,' Kaede replied in a serious tone.
'You? Our King?' Don't joke with us!' Mizota said, laughed but stopped immediately.
'No, he's not joking, you should study your prophecies a little more,' Sendoh said, grinning, his stance changing from tensed to relaxing.
'What are you doing?' Kazuma asked, his stance still ridged with tension, puzzled as to why Sendoh's and Kaede's stance was so relaxed. Even the soldiers recognised that fact.
'Why you, you overestimate yourselves!' Mizota yelled; his body ridged with anger.
'No, as a matter of fact, I think my cousin and I underestimate ourselves. Shall we take this outside then? I would not want to destroy this innocent man's inn,' Kaede said, letting a slight smile slip into place as he mocked the soldiers.
'I think this calls for a bet, no animals and if my soldiers and I win, we get to take those jewels that hang from your neck and those rings too and any other jewellery that you may have, agreed?' Mizota asked, greedily eyeing the beautiful jewels.
'But if we win?' Kaede asked, calmly taking his position opposite the soldiers.
'You can name your prize, anything you want from me, as long as I carry it,' Mizota said, openly daring them.
'That is a big win for you, that is... if you win,' Kaede said, smiling once again.
'Why you, that is a lot of arrogance coming from you! Your arrogance will be your downfall,' Mizota said, jeering at Kaede.
'No, I think just my cousin and I can beat you and you entire platoon,' Kaede replied confidently, looking at Sendoh who was still grinning and nodded his agreement.
'What are the two of you doing?' Kazuma yelled from where he stood wanting to go to their side if it were not for two problems, one was Midnight who was growling menacingly and Soar who was perched on Kazuma's shoulder threatening to dig in and tear tendons and flesh should he try to approach the pair.
'Watch and learn Kazuma,' a voice resonated in Kazuma's head and realised that it was Midnight who had spoken.
'I... oh all right,' Kazuma agreed reluctantly.
'That's the spirit, you can learn a lot, trust me,' Midnight replied, settling down at Kazuma's feet once he had seated himself.
'Hearing this for a panther,' Kazuma replied, rolling his eyes.
'Ready?' Mizota asked, his platoon gathering around the pair, making it almost impossible to see and inch of them without tiptoeing to peer over the heads of the soldiers.
'Wait, I have a request, I want all the villagers to watch this battle but none of them is to be harmed got it?' Kaede requested, looking Mizota in the eye as the soldiers parted to reveal the prince.
'No problem,' Mizota said as the soldiers closed up their circle and he began calling all the people out, assuring them that they would not be harmed.
'Can we fight now?' Mizota asked, irritated by the delays.
'By all means go or rather come ahead,' Kaede replied, still relaxed, with the ever-smiling Sendoh and in the centre of the ever-closing circle.
The circle was getting really close; the soldiers approached the pair with caution because of the tales heard from the soldiers who had previously encountered them. Sendoh and Kaede let the circle close, sealing them in a sea of soldiers and when the inner circle of soldiers were about a metre away, things started to get interesting. First of all, they were distracted by the bright glow of the sapphire and emerald that hung respectively on Kaede and Sendoh's necks. Then they saw the pair close their eyes and were about to seize their advantage when the circle was broken, half of the circle flew away from Kaede and the other half flew away from Sendoh, their unprepared bodies hit anything that was in their way. The pair was seen, standing calmly in what had been the centre of the circle, with their eyes still closed and their jewels were floating at chin level in front of them.
'How the hell did you do that?' Mizota asked, looking around at his fallen men, all who were slowly picking themselves up.
'He did tell you we could take all of you on,' Sendoh said, opening his eyes, his emerald still glowed but had fallen back into place where it had been, nestled against his chest.
'So, you are tell me that those things around you neck have great powers?' Mizota questioned, still not ready to admit defeat.
'No, these are our focuses, we just have these for a better focus for our magic, not that they contain power, spells maybe but none for power,' Sendoh replied calmly, closing his eyes. The villagers watched, stumped at the revelation of such power, they have never seen such powerful magic done before and here was this kind stranger who just offered them a ticket to a free show of magic. They saw the pair of them close their eyes and then saw their jewels float and in the next moment, all the soldiers were flying, not of their own free will of course. It was the first time they had seen Prince Mizota so alarmed.
'Done yet, Mizota?' Kaede taunted, not even breaking sweat as he flung five soldiers away with the sweeping motion of his hand.
'Done? No, not yet,' Mizota said as he hurled a spell at Kaede and a separate one at Sendoh, but both the spells just glanced of the both of them as if encountering a barrier.
'Oh Mizota, did I happen to mention that these jewels contained protection spells as well a healing spells?' Sendoh asked, grinning broadly, his eyes still closed and glowing brightly whist it floated.
'Tsk tsk, nature spells... Is that all you can do? I'm guessing that you were the one who had pre-cast that spell that was meant for me,' Kaede said, as he opened his eyes and his jewel glowed brighter and kept floating.
'No! Take that and that and that,' Mizota yelled as he frantically hurled spells of all sorts in their direction, fire, wind, earth, nature and water but they all seem to disintegrate right before his very eyes, even before they reached a metre of the duo.
'Mizota Mizota Mizota, you don't learn do you?' Kaede asked, tsking away, advancing on Mizota, the palms of his hands glowing a nice shade of blue as he built a small energy ball.
'Get away from me!' Mizota yelled in fear as he scrambled to get away from Kaede.
'You shouldn't run, you'll just make the pain worst when the energy hits you,' Sendoh yelled from where he stood, now throwing small green balls of energy which when came into contact with their victim, wrapped itself tightly around their bodies preventing movement.
'He is right you know,' Kaede said as he shimmered and appeared a metre away from Mizota, throwing the energy ball immediately as he tire of chasing Mizota around. He watched the blue energy hit Mizota and heard him cry out in pain as he fell to the ground, knocked out cold.
'Don't worry, he just fainted and has lost his memories, now you can use him here, he will be good for manual labour, with all that magic of his,' Kaede told the villagers, he shimmered back to Sendoh's side, once again to the astonishment of the villagers.
'So, do you need help?' Kaede asked as he appeared by Sendoh's side.
'Are you kidding? I have never felt so good before, you can sit down and take a nap, I'll finish up here,' Sendoh said, grinning widely as he hit another soldier with his spells.
'Just don't wear yourself out,' Kaede said as he shimmered and appeared beside Kazuma who after witnessing such great acts of wizardry was too stunned to say anything.
'So, do you or do you not have anything to say to me?' Kaede asked, taking a ladle from the pail in front of him for a drink.
'No... nothing at all. That was awesome!' Kazuma replied, obviously still star-struck.
'Okay then,' Kaede replied, occasionally giving a fling of his hand and a soldier would fly, his jewel's glow had dimmed and was once the usual glow in which a tiny flame could be seen in the heart of the jewel.
'Man, that was a good workout,' Sendoh replied, grinning happily, coming back from the where he had stood for the last five minutes.
'So I gather that you will want to do this again?' Kaede asked, smiling slightly at Sendoh's enthusiasm for such things.
'You betcha, but now, I'm just plain starving,' Sendoh replied, going indoors to order some... a lot of food.
'Wait, come back, we still have to take our bounty,' Kaede replied as he called for Mizota's still limp body, it shimmered and appeared in front of him. Kaede immediately called for anything, which had value to appear in front of him. Immediately, a coin pouch filled to the brim with money, a ring with protection spells during travel which they gave to Kazuma and Mizota's sword which had a jewel encrusted hilt.
'Well looks like that's all,' Kaede said as he shimmered Mizota's limp body to where it had been.
That night they enjoyed a hearty meal as the villagers thanked them for ridding the village of plunderers. They all had a goodnight's rest and early the next morning the group set off, the villagers were sad to see them leave but were reminded of the prophesy that lain forgotten at the back of their minds.
~ The End ~
Two cloth-bound strangers trudged their way into the village in the middle of the afternoon. One of them sporting a panther and the other a hawk was a strange sight to behold by the people of the village. They had immediately stopped by an inn and requested food and lodging, the villagers saw that these two strangers did not have a sign above their heads, which further intrigued the village.
'Kaede, did you notice that they are staring at us?' Sendoh asked, sitting down at one of the tables at in the crowded inn.
'Yeah, they were using true sight, they could not see the sign above our heads, that is why they were staring at us,' Kaede replied, signalling a waiter to order.
'Too bad these people are afraid of Midnight, he would have had a feast down here,' Sendoh said, pouring a cup of tea for himself.
'Hm...' Kaede replied, looking around the room, sensing a strong aura, he saw that Sendoh felt it too, the only sign Sendoh gave that he felt it was a quick scan of the room as he poured his tea.
Sendoh had proved to be a willing and apt pupil. He learnt the craft at almost the same speed as Kaede had first learnt his; only Sendoh got stuck at one or two things, which slowed him down considerably.
'What is that man's occupation?' Sendoh asked Kaede using telepathy, knowing that Kaede had already scanned the man.
'Soldier, middle mage,' Kaede replied as they both watched the older man whom they estimated was in his mid-thirties.
'Want to ask him for information on the ministers?' Sendoh telepath, giving some cursory glances to people who were staring too hard.
'Probably, let me check his mind, I want to see if he is an informant to the ministers,' Kaede replied, going silent once again.
'Why don't you just search him?' Sendoh asked; knowing Kaede was already getting vital information.
'It's because I don't want to stay in his mind too long, he will sense it and he can trap me there,' Kaede replied, forming a link with the soldier he wanted to talk to, indicating for Sendoh to tune in too.
'Kazuma, would you believe that I am your new king?' Kaede telepath, eating his meal as it arrived.
'Who is this?' Kazuma replied, quickly looking up from his meal, making a quick scan, not noticing anything unusual.
'Your King and your prince,' both Kaede and Sendoh replied.
'Look here, if you are one of those minister's goons, I will hunt you down and destroy you!' Kazuma's mind voice said vehemently.
'Relax, we just want to chat, we need information on the ministers. Like we said, we are royalty and we want to overthrow those ministers,' Sendoh said.
'How am I suppose to know that you aren't working for the ministers? I have been under them for so long that I know what they are like,' Kazuma replied, returning to his meal.
'Okay, take your meal and join the two hooded men have just arrived, they are huddled in a corner and their meal is moving towards their table at this moment,' Kaede instructed Kazuma who eye could be seen following the waiter holding their meals. Immediately as the waiter set their meals down, Kazuma was seen standing up with his meal in his hand and heading in their directions.
'So who the hell are the two of you? Another of the minister's goons?' Kazuma asked through telepathy, placing his meal on the table and sitting down.
'No, I am Kaede and this is my cousin Akira, I am the King,' Rukawa stated plainly, seeing Kazuma choke on his food as the impact of the words sank in.
'You can't be, our King is dead and he had his Queen driven from the palace not less than a couple of months after they were wed, he has no heir!' Kazuma replied, clutching his spoon and trying to stare at Kaede through his hood. 'Minamio may be dead but none the less he is my father and my mother was his Queen,' Kaede replied coldly.
'What proof do you have since you so boldly speak the King's name? Only members of the royal family are allowed to speak each other's names in the open,' Kazuma replied, transferring his gaze to Sendoh.
'He is the King, believe him or not, it is your choice,' Sendoh said, thrusting his spoon into his broth.
'And you are the alleged Prince? Next you're going to tell me that your mum was Princess Hairra and Minister Reyes,' Kazuma scoffed as he continued to eat silently.
'As a matter, yes, I just saw them for first time just a couple of days ago,' Sendoh replied pleasantly.
'Hold your horses, this is getting way out of hand, you both claim that you are royalty but you have no proof,' Kazuma said, getting irritated that this conversation was getting nowhere.
'Are the two of you done eating? If you are, we can retire to our quarters to carry on this conversation,' Kaede replied coolly, standing up.
'But... oh all right,' Sendoh replied, looking down at his bowl and realising that he had indeed finished his meal.
'Shall we, Kazuma?' Kaede asked, moving to the stairs that lead up to his room.
'Oh well, it is worth a try, but if you really are people from the ministers...' Kazuma said menacingly, unable to finish.
'Yeah, we know, you'll hunt us and destroy us, seriously, you have to change your lines once in a while,' Sendoh said, finishing Kazuma's sentence.
As they went up, the patrons of the inn watched their ascent. They knew that Kazuma was a soldier and a mage but once again they were stumped around the identity of the two strangers. They appeared to be conversing with Kazuma but their mouths did not move, so it appeared that they were psychic and had magic as well. The trio moved from the dining area to the rooms, they went to the room Kaede and Sendoh shared. As they entered the room, a dark shape fell across Kaede and Sendoh.
*OMPH*
'Hey! Did you bring me anything to eat?' Midnight asked happily as he grinned and put his entire body weight on the two youngsters, ignoring his charges' new companion.
'No, they are bringing up your meal later,' Kaede replied, trying to pry Midnight off his chest.
'Midnight, get off us! In case you haven't forgotten you are no lightweight!' Sendoh said as he managed to levitate Midnight and help Kaede off the floor.
'Hey! No fair, you used your gift!' Midnight yowled menacingly as he was gently put down.
'You don't have to fear Midnight, except unless of course you are trying to harm Kaede, other than that he is a real softie,' Sendoh said as he petted Midnight's head to show that there were no hard feelings and stretching out his arm to allow Soar to perch.
'Sure, there was harm done, you watch it kid coz' you're going to be next,' Midnight said as he strolled up to Kaede who petted his head and sitting down the bed, allowed Midnight to crawl up on the bed and settle down beside him.
'So, what do you want to chat to me about?' Kazuma asked, unsure that it was safe to be around Midnight.
'We want to gather info on the ministers to see how to overthrow them,' Kaede said, throwing his cloak off.
'Yes! The cloak finally comes off, I don't how long more I could take the stifling heat,' Sendoh remarked as he gladly threw off his thick cloak.
'So... how do you know if I am an informant for the ministers or not,' Kazuma asked, standing and looking out of the window only window in Kaede's room.
'I've searched you mind thoroughly, I have seen everything that has gone on in your life,' Kaede replied, looking intently at Kazuma's back.
'Hey! That's an invasion of privacy! You can't...' Kazuma's voice coming abruptly to a halt as he turned to finally face Kaede and Sendoh, their resemblance to their parents caught Kazuma off guard.
'Oh my goodness, you look exactly like his majesty and her majesty and you look like a cross between Princess Hairra and Minister Reyes!' Kazuma exclaimed, first pointing accusingly to Kaede and then to Sendoh.
'We told you already,' Sendoh scoffed as he sat down on his bed.
'This can't be... I don't care, I still want proof!' Kazuma stated firmly.
'Sheesh! You just don't give up do you?' Sendoh asked, reclining back into the eiderdown mattress.
'I am a very persistent man,' Kazuma replied patiently.
'Kaede, so what do we do?' Sendoh asked Kaede inquiringly, raising his eyebrow.
'I guess we could show him the rings, then we could show him the crowns or vice versa,' Kaede replied, looking to his cousin for his opinion.
'It's fine with me, you're the key to the crowns anyway,' Sendoh replied, shrugging his shoulders and he lay down and closed his eyes.
'Okay, you pass him your ring than and I'll get your crown out,' Kaede replied nonchalantly.
'WHAT! Why mine? Why not yours?' Sendoh yelled, jumping off his bed and onto his feet, Soar screeching protestingly.
'Because... yours is after all not a valuable as mine and should he wreck it, it won't be so hard or expensive to repair,' Kaede said reasonably, trying quite hard not to let a smile creep onto his lips.
'Why you! I am older than you and what I say counts!' Sendoh said firmly.
'But even though you are older than me, I am a rank higher than you, after all I am the King and so what I say goes,' Kaede stated, walking over to the box.
'You...' Sendoh grounded out, advancing on Kaede, his hands held out ready to wring Kaede's neck.
'Just kidding, I was going to let his check both and plus, you know if you tried to strangle me it would be no use,' Kaede said, placing his palm over the lock.
'Yeah, come to think of it, I'd get hurt and you'd have to heal me again coz' I still haven't gotten the hang of that gift yet,' Sendoh replied thoughtfully as he pulled the table out from the corner to the centre of the room.
Kaede put the wooden box onto the table and gingerly took out the first item, a white gold crown, bold and yet elegant in its design and had several magnificent jewels woven into the intricate designs. The second crown, which he took out, was a silver crown, also magnificently crafted, simple yet beautiful. The jewels captured brilliantly to show off their best instead of being shadowed by magnificence of the first crown an put them on the table for Kazuma's inspection.
'They're... they're beautiful. No doubt I have seen some brilliant forgeries but these take the prize, they show no flaw, no sign of being forged and the jewels look so pure,' Kazuma exclaimed as he looked at the crowns from every angle possible and still continued searching it though he could find no fault with it.
'That's because they are not forgeries, they came from our parents, they were presented to us, Kaede's when he was coroneted and mine when I was acknowledged a prince,' Sendoh replied, losing his patience in the fact that Kazuma kept insisting that they were frauds.
'Do you need more proof?' Kaede asked, looking at Kazuma who was still intently studying the crowns.
'Yes please,' Kazuma replied enthusiastically.
'Then these should prove it,' Kaede replied as he took off his signet ring and passed it to Kazuma, Sendoh following suit.
'Amazing! Brilliant! Beautiful! This has to be the real thing,' Kazuma exclaimed as he studied the ring and the spells cast upon it, there was no mistaking the spells.
'You see, I told. But no... You were intent on proving us wrong,' Sendoh said, teasing Kazuma, taking back his signet ring and putting it on.
Kaede gathered the crowns and put them back into the box with the utmost care and than took his ring back and put in on.
'So you believe us now?' Kaede asked, taking a seat on his bed and Sendoh reclining back into his bed after allowing Soar to perch on his headboard.
'Yes, I am glad that you are the King, now you can lead the people of Kanagawa out of their misery and let them lead their lives once again as they did before Reyes dies,' Kazuma said, smiling his first smile all evening.
'So... will you travel with us to Kanagawa and tell us all you can to aid us in overthrowing the ministers?' Kaede asked, stroking Midnight's head and hearing him purr.
'I will, I will do everything that I can in my power, I pledge my allegiance to you, King Kaede Rukawa as I did to your father and you too, Prince Akira Sendoh as I did Minister Reyes,' Kazuma pledged as he knelt with his head bowed.
'Stand! What would you say if someone were to enter the room? Thank you, we appreciate your help and we are forever in your debt,' Kaede said, standing up and saluting.
'No, we are forever in your debt, you have come to free us from the unjust and for that we have a lot to be grateful for,' Kazuma said, standing as well.
'Um... there's one more thing. I need you to not salute or call us by our titles while we were travelling because our journey to the palace is confidential and so we don't want to draw attention to ourselves,' Kaede said, gesturing to Sendoh and himself with a slight smile as he realised that Sendoh was already asleep.
'That's no problem, your majesty. Good god, it's been so long since I've said that,' Kazuma said, grinning slightly and saluting once again.
'I think that it's time we retired for the night, tomorrow we are travelling to Toyoda,' Kaede said, sitting down once again.
'Goodnight your majesty,' Kazuma said just as he was about to exit the room.
*Knock Knock*
'Come in,' Kaede said, watching as Kazuma exited and admit a young steward.
'This... is... food for... your pets... sir...' the young steward stammered as he peered into the room to look for the animals. Seeing that they were asleep, he crept into the room with a tray. As he entered the room, Midnight's ears perked up as they heard movement and his feline nose picked up the aroma of chicken and beef stew. He leaped and landed beside the startled boy who put the tray down faster than the speed of light and was out of the room screaming at he top of his lungs.
'You shouldn't have scared the poor boy,' Soar said as he flew from his perch and landed on one of the bowls.
'I know, I know, but the look on his face was priceless,' Midnight said, lapping his meal, mentally laughing.
'I know, these youngsters just don't fear us anymore,' Soar said, looking from the sleeping Sendoh to the troubled Kaede.
'We do, just in other ways,' Kaede replied before lying down to think.
'I wonder how long that kid was out there listening to our conversation,' Kaede thought as he fell into a fitful sleep.
***
'Wake up Sir! Wake up!' came the voice of a young boy who sounded vaguely like the young steward last night.
'What...?' Kaede murmured as he sat up and began waking Sendoh. Midnight and Soar were already awake.
'A group of men says the they want to see you, sir, they have come from the palace and say that it is very important,' the young steward yelled, pounding once again.
'Stop that boy! Tell them we'll be right down,' Kaede yelled, scowling at being awoken so early in the morning, scanning the building for Kazuma's presence and receiving his reply.
'Sendoh, get up, we have company. It may be time to test out your new skills,' Kaede said as he washed his face, brushed his teeth and used his magic to straighten out his appearance. Leaving Sendoh to follow suit, he peered out the window, seeing that soldiers patrolled the streets and that escape was impossible.
'Come, we have to face them, Kazuma is on his way down, they have summoned him too,' Kaede said as he saw that Sendoh was ready.
Together, Sendoh and Kaede in their shirts and breeches, with Midnight and Soar made their way down to the empty restaurant area, as they entered, the soldiers appeared not to have noticed them. The owner of the inn was serving them drinks.
'Don't you think it's a little rude to interrupt people's business as if you own the inn?' Kaede asked loudly, interrupting the merry making going on.
'Well well, if it isn't Mr Almighty whom my soldiers claim wrecked them up pretty badly but you suffered the effects of one spell as well,' a slightly muscular man said as he stood up, the rest of the platoon stood and most of them frightened by the sight of Midnight moved back slightly.
'Why do the rest of you stand with him as if he were royalty?' Kaede asked mockingly as Kazuma joined their small group on the entrance of the room.
'Ah Kazuma, you traitor, the ministers have ordered your arrest, you are to be brought back to palace at once,' the man said once again, not declaring what position he was to command such respect.
'Shall I ask you once again what is your name and why do you command so much respect whereas I have none?' Kaede asked calmly, taking several steps forward and watched as the soldiers he encountered move several steps back.
'I am Prince Mizota, Admiral General of the Imperial army and who are you to receive any respect at all?' the slightly muscular man replied.
'Me? Oh, I am just your King and you aren't a Prince... at least not by birth,' Kaede replied in a serious tone.
'You? Our King?' Don't joke with us!' Mizota said, laughed but stopped immediately.
'No, he's not joking, you should study your prophecies a little more,' Sendoh said, grinning, his stance changing from tensed to relaxing.
'What are you doing?' Kazuma asked, his stance still ridged with tension, puzzled as to why Sendoh's and Kaede's stance was so relaxed. Even the soldiers recognised that fact.
'Why you, you overestimate yourselves!' Mizota yelled; his body ridged with anger.
'No, as a matter of fact, I think my cousin and I underestimate ourselves. Shall we take this outside then? I would not want to destroy this innocent man's inn,' Kaede said, letting a slight smile slip into place as he mocked the soldiers.
'I think this calls for a bet, no animals and if my soldiers and I win, we get to take those jewels that hang from your neck and those rings too and any other jewellery that you may have, agreed?' Mizota asked, greedily eyeing the beautiful jewels.
'But if we win?' Kaede asked, calmly taking his position opposite the soldiers.
'You can name your prize, anything you want from me, as long as I carry it,' Mizota said, openly daring them.
'That is a big win for you, that is... if you win,' Kaede said, smiling once again.
'Why you, that is a lot of arrogance coming from you! Your arrogance will be your downfall,' Mizota said, jeering at Kaede.
'No, I think just my cousin and I can beat you and you entire platoon,' Kaede replied confidently, looking at Sendoh who was still grinning and nodded his agreement.
'What are the two of you doing?' Kazuma yelled from where he stood wanting to go to their side if it were not for two problems, one was Midnight who was growling menacingly and Soar who was perched on Kazuma's shoulder threatening to dig in and tear tendons and flesh should he try to approach the pair.
'Watch and learn Kazuma,' a voice resonated in Kazuma's head and realised that it was Midnight who had spoken.
'I... oh all right,' Kazuma agreed reluctantly.
'That's the spirit, you can learn a lot, trust me,' Midnight replied, settling down at Kazuma's feet once he had seated himself.
'Hearing this for a panther,' Kazuma replied, rolling his eyes.
'Ready?' Mizota asked, his platoon gathering around the pair, making it almost impossible to see and inch of them without tiptoeing to peer over the heads of the soldiers.
'Wait, I have a request, I want all the villagers to watch this battle but none of them is to be harmed got it?' Kaede requested, looking Mizota in the eye as the soldiers parted to reveal the prince.
'No problem,' Mizota said as the soldiers closed up their circle and he began calling all the people out, assuring them that they would not be harmed.
'Can we fight now?' Mizota asked, irritated by the delays.
'By all means go or rather come ahead,' Kaede replied, still relaxed, with the ever-smiling Sendoh and in the centre of the ever-closing circle.
The circle was getting really close; the soldiers approached the pair with caution because of the tales heard from the soldiers who had previously encountered them. Sendoh and Kaede let the circle close, sealing them in a sea of soldiers and when the inner circle of soldiers were about a metre away, things started to get interesting. First of all, they were distracted by the bright glow of the sapphire and emerald that hung respectively on Kaede and Sendoh's necks. Then they saw the pair close their eyes and were about to seize their advantage when the circle was broken, half of the circle flew away from Kaede and the other half flew away from Sendoh, their unprepared bodies hit anything that was in their way. The pair was seen, standing calmly in what had been the centre of the circle, with their eyes still closed and their jewels were floating at chin level in front of them.
'How the hell did you do that?' Mizota asked, looking around at his fallen men, all who were slowly picking themselves up.
'He did tell you we could take all of you on,' Sendoh said, opening his eyes, his emerald still glowed but had fallen back into place where it had been, nestled against his chest.
'So, you are tell me that those things around you neck have great powers?' Mizota questioned, still not ready to admit defeat.
'No, these are our focuses, we just have these for a better focus for our magic, not that they contain power, spells maybe but none for power,' Sendoh replied calmly, closing his eyes. The villagers watched, stumped at the revelation of such power, they have never seen such powerful magic done before and here was this kind stranger who just offered them a ticket to a free show of magic. They saw the pair of them close their eyes and then saw their jewels float and in the next moment, all the soldiers were flying, not of their own free will of course. It was the first time they had seen Prince Mizota so alarmed.
'Done yet, Mizota?' Kaede taunted, not even breaking sweat as he flung five soldiers away with the sweeping motion of his hand.
'Done? No, not yet,' Mizota said as he hurled a spell at Kaede and a separate one at Sendoh, but both the spells just glanced of the both of them as if encountering a barrier.
'Oh Mizota, did I happen to mention that these jewels contained protection spells as well a healing spells?' Sendoh asked, grinning broadly, his eyes still closed and glowing brightly whist it floated.
'Tsk tsk, nature spells... Is that all you can do? I'm guessing that you were the one who had pre-cast that spell that was meant for me,' Kaede said, as he opened his eyes and his jewel glowed brighter and kept floating.
'No! Take that and that and that,' Mizota yelled as he frantically hurled spells of all sorts in their direction, fire, wind, earth, nature and water but they all seem to disintegrate right before his very eyes, even before they reached a metre of the duo.
'Mizota Mizota Mizota, you don't learn do you?' Kaede asked, tsking away, advancing on Mizota, the palms of his hands glowing a nice shade of blue as he built a small energy ball.
'Get away from me!' Mizota yelled in fear as he scrambled to get away from Kaede.
'You shouldn't run, you'll just make the pain worst when the energy hits you,' Sendoh yelled from where he stood, now throwing small green balls of energy which when came into contact with their victim, wrapped itself tightly around their bodies preventing movement.
'He is right you know,' Kaede said as he shimmered and appeared a metre away from Mizota, throwing the energy ball immediately as he tire of chasing Mizota around. He watched the blue energy hit Mizota and heard him cry out in pain as he fell to the ground, knocked out cold.
'Don't worry, he just fainted and has lost his memories, now you can use him here, he will be good for manual labour, with all that magic of his,' Kaede told the villagers, he shimmered back to Sendoh's side, once again to the astonishment of the villagers.
'So, do you need help?' Kaede asked as he appeared by Sendoh's side.
'Are you kidding? I have never felt so good before, you can sit down and take a nap, I'll finish up here,' Sendoh said, grinning widely as he hit another soldier with his spells.
'Just don't wear yourself out,' Kaede said as he shimmered and appeared beside Kazuma who after witnessing such great acts of wizardry was too stunned to say anything.
'So, do you or do you not have anything to say to me?' Kaede asked, taking a ladle from the pail in front of him for a drink.
'No... nothing at all. That was awesome!' Kazuma replied, obviously still star-struck.
'Okay then,' Kaede replied, occasionally giving a fling of his hand and a soldier would fly, his jewel's glow had dimmed and was once the usual glow in which a tiny flame could be seen in the heart of the jewel.
'Man, that was a good workout,' Sendoh replied, grinning happily, coming back from the where he had stood for the last five minutes.
'So I gather that you will want to do this again?' Kaede asked, smiling slightly at Sendoh's enthusiasm for such things.
'You betcha, but now, I'm just plain starving,' Sendoh replied, going indoors to order some... a lot of food.
'Wait, come back, we still have to take our bounty,' Kaede replied as he called for Mizota's still limp body, it shimmered and appeared in front of him. Kaede immediately called for anything, which had value to appear in front of him. Immediately, a coin pouch filled to the brim with money, a ring with protection spells during travel which they gave to Kazuma and Mizota's sword which had a jewel encrusted hilt.
'Well looks like that's all,' Kaede said as he shimmered Mizota's limp body to where it had been.
That night they enjoyed a hearty meal as the villagers thanked them for ridding the village of plunderers. They all had a goodnight's rest and early the next morning the group set off, the villagers were sad to see them leave but were reminded of the prophesy that lain forgotten at the back of their minds.
~ The End ~