The Return of the Blue-eyes Princess
Chapter 2
Kalim and Rose talked with each other for a few hours longer. Talking mostly about Mage and all the things they remembered about him. Once they had finished, Mysti called Kalim from the porch. "I have a surprise for you, Princess…" Kalim wondered what it was as she walked inside. Mysti stopped her "Close your eyes… I'll lead you." Kalim nodded and slowly closed her eyes as Mysti grabbed her hand and lead her inside. Kalim smirked, "This isn't some kind of annoying training trick again is it?" Mysti laughed and shook her head "No no… It's nothing like that." Holding Kalim's hand and slowly leading her through the halls of their home and to the living room, she slowly let her hand drop. "Ok! Open your eyes." Kalim opened her eyes a little hesitant about the surprise, she gasped as she saw all her friends. Joey, Tea, Tristan, and Yugi. All of them to her looked just the same but to them she had surely changed. "Wow! What are you guys doing here?" She hugged them all one at a time. Joey smiled "We heard you were back—" "And we just had to visit you." Tea cut in with a smile on her face. Yugi stepped forehead handing Kalim a small wrapped up box. "We heard about Mage…" Kalim looked down at the box and sighed. "I see…"
"But I brought a gift for you. I hope it'll make you feel better."
Kalim looked down at the wrapping paper around the box. She looked to him and smiled, "Thanks, Yugi." Sitting down on the couch she carefully tore the paper off. Under the paper was a small flat wooden box, she opened it and looked inside. In the box was Yugi's favorite card, The Dark Magician. She looked up to him, "Are you sure I can have this? I mean… It's your favorite card."
He shook his head. "Don't worry… You need it more than I do."
She smiled and hugged him again, "Thanks, Yugi." She repeated, looking down at the card that reminded her so much of the man she loved.
Joey clapped his hands together, "Ok! Now for what we really came for!"
Kalim looked to him a little confused, "What do you mean?"
"We came here to take you out for some fun" Tea said as she clapped her hands like Joey did. "So, c'mon… Let's go upstairs and find something fun for you to wear."
The four of them pitched in to take Kalim out for a nice dinner. Then they took her to a club where they all danced to the music as the bass from the speakers shook the place. Kalim had a big smile on her face, it seemed like it had taken her mind off Mage… for a while at least. Around midnight their fun was cut short as Galen called Kalim on her cell phone. "Lady Kalim, we have some information about a new threat that I think you should see right away. Get home fast!" She didn't even have time to respond as he hung up the phone to fast. She just sighed and turned off her phone looking to her friends. "Sorry, guys… I have to leave. But I had a really great time! You guys are all great." They were all a little upset but they knew she had to and they were glad she had a good time. She turned and started walking away as Joey ran up behind her and grabbed her hand, "I'll take you home." She looked to him and shook her head, "Really… You don't have to…" He smiled "I insist… I just have to rent a plane or a helicopter to carry you to your island."
She laughed. "Thanks, Joey… But I think I can manage." She turned as Rose appeared from out of the shadows, "Ready to go, princess?" Kalim nodded and Rose grabbed her hand. With her free hand, Kalim waved back to Joey before they disappeared back into the shadows.
Once back in their large, island home the two of them ran into the living room where Garen and Mysti sat waiting for them. Garen stood as they entered, "We have some information on two young women quite like you. With the power to fuse with the spirits of Dragons…" He looked to Kalim to make sure she was following then continued, "One calls herself the Red-eyes Assassin the other—"Kalim shook her head "Wait a second, Red-eyes? She wouldn't be related to—" "The Red-eyes knight? I believe so…" Garen looks down at some papers on the coffee table. "But according to our sources they were not at all close. So I doubt she wants revenge for his death."
Kalim crossed her arms, "Then what does she want?"
"We don't know… Maybe more power…" Mysti said.
Garen sighed, "Anyway, the other calls herself Slifer's Guardian. Both are rather strong. Both have strange powers that not even you possess, princess…"
Kalim sighed and pushed one of the clasped strands of hair out of her face, "So what do I do?"
Mysti stood up and walked to a desk in the corner of the living room, pulling open the drawer the reached inside and removed Kalim's amulet with the dragon in the center. "It's time for you to become the Blue-eyes Princess once again…"
Kalim smirked and grabbed the amulet from her, "I've always been the Blue-eyes Princess." She put the amulet around her neck and closed her eyes as she felt the power of the dragon rushing through her veins once more. She opened her eyes and they were no longer their beautiful tricolor. But they were two different colors. Her right eye was blue for the power of the blue-eyes dragon that was in her and her left eye was red for the dark power of the red-eyes dragon that was in her, trying to overpower the good within her. She looked back to Garen as he sighed. "First things first, princess, you must stop the Red-eyes Assassin. She's trying to take your place as princess in Altaria."
"What?!"
"She seems to have the ability of shape shifting, so that she may look like someone else."
"As well as the ability to travel across time to 3000 years in the past." Mysti said, watching them both.
Garen nodded and Kalim shook her head, "I'm going to need help."
"We are your guardians," Rose said standing in the doorway still, "We will go with you."
"No… They know you…" Kalim looked back to her then to Mysti and Garen.
"Then who will go with you?" Mysti asked as she crossed the room with her arms crossed.
"My friends…"
"Can you trust them?" Garen shook his head, not believing that she was going to take her friends, her "human" friends and not them.
"I can trust them… I know I can…"
He sighed and nodded, "If you believe you can, princess… Then I will trust in your judgment."
She smiled, "Thank you…"
She turned and walked back to her room. Pulling out her cell phone she called everyone. "I cannot guarantee that it'll be safe. But I need someone that I can trust. Please come with me. Everything will be taken care of in the morning when you arrive. I just really need you all here with me to do this." They all agreed as she called them. "Alright… tomorrow then…" Hanging up with the last one she called she sighed and fell back on her bed, closing her eyes she fell asleep, dreaming, but of what?
Kalim stood in the center of a darkened room, looking around she saw nothing but the black shadows that danced around her. Stepping forward slowly, carefully placing her steps in fear of falling she walked on toward what seemed like nothing till she heard a voice echoing around her. "Kalim…" She looked around, fearing what may lurk in the shadows. "Who's there?" She called out. "Show yourself!"
"As you wish, my Princess." The voice sounded familiar to her. She stopped in her tracks at the sound of the voice. "Mage…" She whispered softly to herself. At his name, Mage's form slowly appeared before her. He smiled down to her and knelt down to show his honor as her knight. She knelt down with him and hugged him. "You know you don't have to bow for me…" She spoke softly with a smile on her face, happy to see him again. She pulled back for a second to look into his eyes, gently placing her hand on his cheek her smile grew. "It's good to see you, Mage."
Mage leaned into her hand, he was glad to be with her there but he knew he couldn't stay. "You may see me here, but princess, this is only a dream. I can visit you in your dreams and only when I know you need me the most." She looked down and sighed, tears filling up in her eyes. "You promised…"
"I know… and I'm sorry."
"What happened to you? How did you die? How can the greatest knight of the Dragon Kingdom fall? Who would have such power to do so?"
He sighed and took her hand off his cheek, kissing it gently before holding onto it tightly. "I wanted so much to go with you when you returned home. Master Tore wouldn't allow it. He said my love for you was blinding us both and would eventually lead to our downfall. During the night I tried sneaking through the portal to return to your time. I was caught and banished from the kingdom into the wasteland. I wandered aimlessly until I met a woman who had familiar armor on. But I have never seen a woman with that armor only one man, The Red-eyes Knight."
"The assassin…" Kalim cut in looked down at the black ground that the two of them knelt on.
"What?"
She looked up to him realizing she was talking. "A relative of the Red-eyes Knight. She calls herself the Red-eyes Assassin. A fierce woman who is always up for hire, but only if her job is to kill. Do you think she was hired to kill me?"
"Most likely, but who would hire her? And… why kill you instead of me?"
He looked down thinking to himself. "Maybe to get to you."
"You think she was hired to take you out… to get to me?"
"What other explanation could there be? Think about it… Kill your guards one by one. Starting with the one you admire most to let you know they mean business. Then when you are all alone, that is when they will strike."
She nodded slowly, "I guess that could be it…" Quickly shaking her head she looked up to him. "I need to find out who hired her. I will kill them…" Looking into his eyes she grabbed his hand and held on tightly, "I will kill them and get revenge for you, my love"
He shook his head and kissed her hand once more, before standing and pulling her up with him.
"I would love to be with you everyday. But… I cannot come back. You must accept that, my princess, and move on."
She shook her head, "No… I can't… Mage, I need you. I need you with me. I cannot just go and find someone else when I still need you…"
He hugged her tightly, "I'll love you forever, my princess…" He let her go and his form slowly began to disappear. She reached out, trying to grab onto him but he was gone. She looked around hoping to see him somewhere else but when all she saw was darkness, she called out, screaming his name.
She sat up quickly in her bed still calling out to him. She looked around quickly realizing where she was. She sighed and swung her legs over the side of the bed, pulling her boots on and grabbing her jacket, she walked over to the closet and grabbed two short swords and Mage's staff. She left her room, walking quietly down the hall past the open doors of her guardian's rooms. Believing them to all be asleep, but Garen was wide-awake. He sat up and watched her walk by. She headed out onto the beach and stuff Mage's staff into the sand. She bowed to it and turned to the ocean, twirling her blades.
Garen watched her from the hall window and sighed, shaking his head. Mysti walked out of her room, rubbing her eyes she looked to Garen. "What's wrong?"
Garen looked to her, "Looks like the princess cannot sleep…"
"Do you think he visited her?"
Garen nodded and looked back out to Kalim, "She cared for him more than anyone else… Now she has no one to care for."
"She has us…"
"True… But I mean for her to love. Like she loved him…"
Mysti sighed, "I wish there was something we could do for her…" She walked to Garen's side and looked out the window, watching Kalim as she began to practice her fighting moves with her blades. "She'll be fine… She's an adult now…"
Garen nods, thinking to himself but quickly snaps out of it as Kalim's cell phone began to ring. Garen walked into her room and answered it. "Hello?"
Joey was on the line, "Uh… Hi… Is Kalim there?"
"Yes… but she is outside right now…"
"Oh… I wanted her to train me a little before we left."
"Hmm… You're Joey, right?"
"Yea…"
"Maybe you can get some training in… Tell me where you are and I will come and get you…"
"Alright…" He told him where he lived. City, street, full address, everything that Garen could use to teleport himself to the right place.
Garen made sure he wrote it all down, "Alright, Joey… I will train you, if you come and help Kalim."
"Help Kalim? Uh… Sure… What do I have to do?"
About an hour later Joey was led out of the house by Garen. He pointed Joey toward Kalim who was still swinging her blades with great skill. Joey nodded slowly and walked out onto the beach toward Kalim. He stopped for a moment watching her train, and then he made his way toward her. Her back was turned to him and at the sound of the sand being crushed beneath his feet she quickly twirled her blade and swung back to strike him. Joey grabbed her wrist before the blade could hit him. She growled slightly and twirled her other blade trying to hit him again; with his other hand he grabbed her wrist. She looked down, breathing heavily, her hair falling over her face. He moved closer to her so her back was against his chest. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her arms around her too. Her body trembled as she cried with her head still down. With his arms around her, her hands slowly released the blades and they dropped down to the sand, sticking up in it. He gently laid his chin on her shoulder, "It's Ok, Kalim…" He spoke softly to her, hoping to calm her down. After a few minutes she stopped trembling but her tears kept falling, he let her go and turned her around, he placed his hand under her chin and lifted her head so she was looking to him. He gently wiped her tears away and smiled down to her, trying to make her feel better. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. He smiled and hugged her in return, keeping her close to him.
Garen looked out the window, watching them. He smiled, knowing he did something good for the princess. Mysti walked out of her room again and looked to him, seeing his smile she had to ask. "Well… How is everything going?"
He turned to her, "I'm sure she'll cry for a little while longer… but…" He pointed out the window, "they seem fine now."
She looked out the window and smiled, "Let's hope the princess can keep this one…"
Kalim leaned into Joey and he hold onto her, letting her cry on his shoulder as much as she wanted. "He's gone…" she said into his shoulder. "He's gone for good…"
He sighed softly, "I know… but everyone is here for you." He pulled away from her and placed his hand on her cheek, wiping the tears away, "I'm here for you…"
She felt a little better as he held onto her. She wanted to make it seem like she was alright as she reluctantly let go of him. He smiled down to her and wiped a few more tears off her face. She smiled and moved away from him to sit on the sand, looking over the water as the moon reflected on it, giving the water a beautiful shimmer. Joey sat beside her, leaning back on his hands, "Feel better?"
She smirked and nodded, "A little…"
"Good…"
She looked to him a little confused, "So… How did you get here?"
He smiled, letting out a soft chuckle. "I called… 'cause I wanted some training before we left… Garen picked up your phone and told me you needed help. So he summoned me and now…" He stretched out his arms with a big smile on his face, "Here I am!"
She giggled, "Well, thanks for helping…" She kissed his cheek and smiled as he blushed.
"Uh… heh… n… no problem…"
The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, looking over the water. Joey looked to her, breaking the silence, "So… about that training."
"Oh! Right, I don't think I need to teach you anything. Garen has it all taken care of."
He nodded, "Alright… If you say so, but is he really going to teach me anything?"
"Well Garen and Mysti came up with this pendant thing. It's magic so you'll know how to use the weapons that are given to you. They act with the weapons. So you'll be able to fight with them. If you lose your weapon in a fight then the pendant's magic will still allow you to fight on your own."
"I don't think I'll need it for hand-to-hand combat…"
"Maybe… but you're not fighting in a school yard, Joey. These are real fighters. Good fighters too… This is just to keep you safe."
He nodded slowly, "Ok, so what kind of weapon do I get?"
"Garen thought to give you a sword, but Mysti said that with how you usually fight we should give you these special gloves. They have metal knuckles and will do plenty of damage if you hit someone just right… But I'm here to make sure you don't need to fight."
He looked out over the water, nodding once more, "Alright…"
She smiled and stood up, "C'mon… It's getting late. You can stay in one of the guest rooms for tonight. Get plenty of rest because you might need it."
He stood up with her, "Ok… I'll get as much sleep as I can."
She smirked and turned, leading him back inside and up to one of the guest rooms, she opened the door to the large room with nothing but a bed and dresser in it. "Tomorrow morning we'll give you some clothes so that you'll fit in…" He was about to question her "fit in" line but was stopped when she said, "Sleep tight… See you in the morning…" She turned and walked back to her room, closing her door. Lying back down on her bed she smiled, placing her hand on her cheek, remembering Joey's gentle touch. Then she frowned slightly as she remembered Mage's touch. She stood up and walked to the window, seeing Mage's staff and her swords still stuck in the sand the two blades crossing the bottom of the staff. She bowed, then turned and walked back to her bed. "Big day tomorrow…" She lies down on her bed, curling up and quickly falling asleep.