Sydney is currently taking an afternoon nap after eating his lunch. He was getting drowsy the whole morning and he has no idea why. It was a blessing from Aidios that school was cancelled midday. He closed the curtains and fell on his bed.

It was hard to sleep, surprisingly. His mind and body were tired, especially the former. He tried thinking about girls, his most common tactic to induce sleep on himself, and his body did the rest. Before his mind turns off, he wondered what Kurt is doing right now. Probably playing chess by himself, he guessed.

The explosion from the school was very loud, but Sydney was a heavy sleeper.

Kurt breathed out a sigh of relief. He leapt back just in time before the impact. As the dust settled, he could see Towa climbing out from the crater she created. She was breathing heavily.

Damn, Aurelia thought. This body is even weaker than I thought!

She readied her dual blades. They were backup swords that she kept in her office. The blades were much shorter than those used by the military and Aurelia treated these ones like daggers. They were meant to be thrown, in her eyes.

"Can we talk this out?" Kurt asked. "What happened to innocent until proven guilty?"

He was desperate to get out of this fight. Ash just wanted to mess with Kurt. Setting those girls off was just a harmless prank. At worst, Kurt would just have to run to the dorms a bit faster. Fighting an instructor, even though this is considered self-defense, would be going too far.

"Do you think that matters now?" Towa asked, pointing her burning white blade at Kurt.

He blinked. "Yes," he replied. "You can't do anything to me without a warrant of arrest."

He has a cop as a friend who told him this fact.

Towa was t'sking.

"I don't need a stupid warrant," she declared, brandishing her swords.

"But isn't that illegal?"

"It is legal!" She stepped forward. "Anybody can arrest anyone in three circumstances. One: the crime is about to be committed, currently committing or already committed. Two:" another step, ", the crime has been committed and the person arresting has personal knowledge that the person he is about to arrest is the perpetrator of the crime. Three!" She took another step. "He is an escaped convict.

"Do you see now? You clearly fall under Rule #2! My little rabbit told me that it was you who did the crime, meaning it my duty as a servant of the Emperor to arrest you!"

Rean started clapping. "Excellent mastery of the Imperial Penal Code, Pr—I mean, Instructor Towa," he said.

"There is one problem, however," Millium said.

"Did I do a crime?" Kurt finished.

As far as everybody knows, hanging out with girls is not.

"Oh, shut up!" Towa shouted. "The legal side of this conflict does not matter."

"Then what the heck was the point of all you said back there?" Kurt screamed.

"In fact," Towa said, ignoring Kurt's last comment, "this was a fated day for us to cross blades, Vander."

Kurt was visibly confused. Were the Vander and Herschel family in a secret feud for centuries? Did Kurt kill Towa's boyfriend or something? Did he owe her money?

In truth, Aurelia wanted to test Kurt's skills of the blade, but she could not ask him directly because she knew that he knew that he could not possibly beat her in combat and opt to forget pride and bow out instead.

Now, inside Towa's body, Aurelia can finally test Kurt's mettle without him running away. She knew that he knew that Towa is too weak to become a threat. With Aurelia's mastery of the Dual Sword Style, the two could finally be in an even playing field.

Tis' a bit odd that Kurt is wielding Ash's switch-axe, but Aurelia thought that Kurt is underestimating her skills with the sword, and opted to use a weapon that does not suit him.

He shall pay for this insult.

Towa leapt forward and Kurt, who was about to argue for peace, was forced to fight.

"Should we stop them?" Randy, who is in Randy's body, asked.

"I don't know," Rean, who is in Michael's body, said. "She's on a warpath. I don't think we can stop her."

"But she's going to harm Kurt!" Towa, who is in Aurelia's body, said. She was hopping on her feet. "And she's going to harm my body!"

"Do not worry, Towa," Michael, who is in Rean's body, said. He crossed his arms. "Principal Aurelia is a skilled warrior. She will not be felled easily."

"You are saying Kurt is going to be the one getting harmed here," Altina, who is in Millium's body, said.

Randy pulled out his wallet.

"Five hundred mira on blue boy over there," he said.

Rean narrowed his eyes on him.

"One thousand mira for Towa," he said, bringing out his wallet.

"Hey, that's my money!" Michael shouted. "The Imperial Government hasn't given me cash for like ages now, man!"

"Please stop betting money on our friends!" Aurelia cried.

"One thousand for blue boy," Millium said, bringing out her wallet. It was not her money anyway, so it is okay if she loses.

While Rean is arguing with Aurelia to bet on her body, Kurt sent Towa back with a blow from his switch-axe.

Ash already fought Kurt once, and he immediately knew his weakness. Kurt is ineffectual if you keep your distance. The length if his switch-axe is perfect for holding the swordsman back. He just needs to tire Kurt out before deal one good counter-attack. With Towa wielding even shorter swords, keeping her back would be even easier.

Unfortunately, not a minute has passed and Kurt was getting tired. The body was too weak to wield a heavy weapon like this switch-axe. He can swing almost as fast as his original body, but sooner or later, his reaction time will worsen.

Cardio, Kurt, Ash angrily thought as his breath shortened. Do you even know it?

Kurt screamed and ran forward. He swung his axe and the head popped out, forming into a scythe midair. His next strategy is to finish this fight before it gets any longer.

Towa closed her eyes and called forth the Blade Dance. Lightning sprung from her body, which surprised everyone.

"Ride the lightning!" she shouted, raising her sword in the air.

The blade burned brighter. Electricity flew between the blades like they were tesla coils. With a shout, she leapt forward for the third time with her swords above her. She faced the flying scythe-head head on. She slashed.

Kurt smirked.

He pressed a button on the handle and the scythe-head pulled back and Towa missed it entirely. She was undeterred, however. She momentarily placed her foot on the ground and used focused her energy on her toe.

She pushed herself forward like a jolt of lightning, passing through the scythe-head entirely and aimed straight for Kurt himself.

"No, you don't!" Kurt said, swinging his pole to the side.

The chain appeared to gain a life of its own. Towa yelped in surprise as the chain wrapped around her tiny body, constricting her. The electricity from her body travelled through the chain and shocked Kurt in the process.

Kurt gritted through the pain and started swinging the pole around. Like his last duel with Kurt, Towa was sent flying into the air and into Leeves. She screamed all the way.

Kurt was breathing hard. His vision was blurry, but he could see the dark clouds gathering before him.

"Cedric!" he called.

The boy in front of him was running faster than the horse Kurt is currently riding. It was ridiculous. He flinched as his hand was hurting for some reason, but he kept gripping on the reins. Catching up to Cedric is much too important.

"Cedric!" Kurt called again.

Slowly, Cedric started turning around. Kurt was confused. He was riding at full speed, but he does not seem to be getting nearer to the young prince. It was like the horse underneath him was galloping over ice.

Cedric, in his old royal clothes, smiled at Kurt. He waved him to come over.

"Kurt!" he said with a laugh. He raised a wooden sword. "You here to help me practice?"

His smile turned into a wicked grin.

"Cedric," Kurt breathed out.

An incredible sadness fell upon him.

Cedric swung his wooden sword, letting forth a dark wind. Kurt screamed as he was blasted out of his saddle.

A crunch.

Kurt opened his eyes. He could only see dark clouds roiling over him. He forced himself to sit up and felt something under him. He picked it up and was surprised it was one of his swords. It was broken in half.

"What's the matter, Kurt?" Cedric asked.

Kurt yelped in surprise as the prince was right before him. He was wearing his red main campus uniform. Cedric was looking down on Kurt with a face filled with pity.

What surprised Kurt was the sword he is wielding. It was Kurt's other sword.

Cedric slowly shook his head, tutting all the while.

"Are you really going to fight me with that?" he asked.

Kurt looked at his broken sword.

"A bit pointless, don't you say?" Cedric said before laughing at his own joke.

He swung his sword at Kurt. He was forced to defend himself with his broken sword. Their blades clashed and lightning blinded him.

Kurt forced himself to stand up, wielding his sword with both hands. He winced. Rain fell upon the green fields.

"I don't want to fight you, Your Highness," Kurt said.

Lightning fell.

"Didn't I tell you to call me Cedric?" Cedric, in his royal clothes asked. He was smiling innocently as he drew back his sword. "How many times do I have to tell you that? Aren't we friends?"

He swung and Kurt beat back his attack. It was hard to fight with a broken sword.

"That's why I don't want to fight you," Kurt said, readying for another attack. "We've known each other as far as we can remember. Why don't we put our swords down, Cedric?"

A flash.

"It's Your Highness, Vander," Cedric said. He was back on his red school uniform. He was scowling at him. He drew back his blade. "Just because you're a fallen noble in a worthless family, it does not excuse to address your future Emperor correctly."

He struck forward and Kurt was forced back. The boy regained his balance as the rain fell harder upon them.

"I've trained myself everyday so that I could be a worthy Guardian, Your Highness," Kurt replied. "I was supposed to be the blade to cut down your enemies. I was supposed to be your shield, and yet…"

Cedric scowled deeper. "Are you telling me that I'm not worthy of your protection?" He thumbed himself. "The Empire rests on whether I live or not. If not me, then do it for Erebonia!"

"And I'll still protect Erebonia!"

Kurt shouted and charged forward. Their blades clashed together. Kurt swung faster and faster, forcing Cedric to jump back.

"Right now, Ouroboros is the bigger threat out there," Kurt said. "It pains me to admit it, but going after them would benefit the Empire more than staying by your side." He looked at his broken sword. "I want to do something, damn it!"

He closed his eyes.

Is this really what I wanted all this time? Is this… my path?

When he reopened his eyes and surprised that his broken was whole once again. He never felt the change in its weight. He raised his head and saw Cedric, in his royal clothes, turned to the side. He was looking at something, but Kurt could not tell what. For some reason, the rain passed through Cedric. He was completely dry.

"Would it be better if we stayed friends, Kurt?" he asked. His voice choked a little.

"Yes," Kurt simply said, lowering his sword.

"Then why didn't you enroll at the main campus like you said you would?" Cedric, in his school uniform, asked. There is a slight frown on his face.

"I would have," Kurt said. "But… circumstances dictated otherwise." He looked down.

He remembered tearing up his enrollment form when he heard Vanders were released from their duties as Guardians of the Imperial Family. Two-hundred and fifty years of loyal service, and this is what they gained? What is worse is that the Emperor never lifted a finger. It is like the Vanders meant nothing to him. It was an insult too great for Kurt.

He heard a twang. Cedric threw the sword, point first, in front of Kurt's feet. He looked up and saw the prince in his royal clothes again. He gave him a small smile.

"You might need it later," he said. He raised a wooden sword. "I'll be waiting when we get to fight again."

Kurt silently watched Cedric walk away. He was slowly turning transparent.

"Me too," Kurt mumbled.

Cedric was gone.

Kurt, cold, wet and alone, picked up the sword. He turned around, expecting to find his horse, but there was none. He never felt so lonely in his life.

"We'll fight again," Kurt vowed. "And I'm not looking forward to it."

He walked away, hoping to find his way back to the dorms.