Sky Dimension S2 02
Chp 01 Advance Arc: The new term part 2
"Wait that can't be right?! I mean we can't get married...we're still too young!" Naruto stood up and walked all around the room holding his head in his hands and continued to frantically spout words that made no sense.
Laura also seemed disbelieving of the fact and internally she cried as her dreams of having Naruto walk up the aisle with her were shattered and in almost instinctive anger Laura pulled out a knife and stabbed it into the table right before Celia.
The knife stabbing into the table stopped Naruto and got him to rush up to Laura to calm her down. "Laura just calm down you can't just pull out a knife out like this so why don't we keep it and see what we could work out from this situation." Laura begrudgingly did so as everyone sat back down to discuss things calmly.
"So um is there any way we could cancel this engagement?" Naruto asked hoping fervently that there was one.
"Well yes there is a loophole within the contract that says that if we do battle and you win then the engagement can be changed."
Naruto smiled and clapped his hands. "So what kind of battle do we have to do?"
"Have you ever jousted?"
[Timeskip]
Naruto, Laura and Kurumi, who decided to join them, were at the cosplay club room which currently only consisted of Plutia and Gust since Vert, Noire, Blanc, Neptune, Nepgear and Uni were busy with their own experiments at their respective corporation.
But at the moment Plutia was doing her usual thing which was sleeping on a table while Gust worked on her computer.
"So we've got one week to prepare you for the duel any ideas Naruto?"Kurumi asked.
"Well I don't really know...but I've got the armour ready at my house now I just need to know how to joust."
Suddenly Gust popped up from behind her computer. "Gust can help with that!" she exited the room and returned with a few books.
"Here Gust got these from people who didn't want it and she tried to sell it but apparently not many people look for these types of books so here Gust will sell them to you at a cheap price."
Naruto and gang had sweatdrops coming off their head at Gust's comment which was when Kurumi stepped forward and patted Gust on the head. "Oh your such a cute little girl since I'm new here why don't you give it to me?" Kurumi gave Gust a rather sweet looking smile and it made Gust shiver where she stood.
"Um very well then Gust suppose that she could do this this one time. But this one time only!" Gust quickly placed the box of books down in front of Naruto and quickly ran back to her computer where she pulled up a blanket and covered herself fully.
At the same time Plutia woke up and she clapped her hands happily all the while smiling. "Wow! We're going to be great friends Kurumi-san! I hope you'll come and visit me more often."
While as Naruto was ruffling through the books there was a knock at the door and upon Laura opening it she saw that it was Celia with a book that had notes stuffed in hand. "Oh you were that girl with Naruto."
"What are you doing here? Are you hoping to spy on Naruto's tactics?"
"No I just realized that Naruto must not know much about jousting despite agreeing to the competition so I'm here to give him some books on jousting and also to tell him that if he wants to he may use whatever is in my warehouse."
Laura realized that she was a bit mean-spirited despite the fact that Celia was truly being nice and wanted to help Naruto despite the two of them being in their own predicament.
"Ah thank you and I'm sorry for being mean to you." Apologized Laura.
"No it's fine and I do wish Naruto all the best." With that said Celia left and Laura returned to the group.
"So um Laura who was that?" Naruto asked looking up from one of the books he was looking at.
"Oh it was just Celia she told me to give this to you." Laura placed the book on the table. "And she also said that you could use anything you needed to practice from her warehouse."
"I'll be sure to thank her for that later on. Now let's get studying." Naruto opened the notes and started to study.
[Timeskip]
After all that studying the entire group came up with a summary of the rule.
Each jousting match is the best of 2 out of 3.
For each match, you win by being the first to score 3 points. Jousters exchange blows until someone scores at least 3 points, then that match ends and the next one begins.
You score points by getting clean hits with a lance to: torso/chest (1 pt. each), leg or arm (2 pts.), or knocking an opponent off their horse (3 pts. = win current match).
Performing a feather fly (i.e. clearing the opponent's feather wing off their helmet) is considered an instant win for the entire jousting match no matter the score/matches won insofar, but it is also a high risk/high reward move since you're vulnerable doing it.
"So that's about it huh? The rules seem simple enough but I guess it all comes down to the actual movement." Naruto looked at the clock and saw that it was really late. "But we'll figure it out tomorrow it's getting late."
Everyone nodded and left the room since Plutia said that she would lock everything up.
[With Naruto, Kurumi and Laura]
"Hey you two I just want to thank you for all the help you've given me I really appreciate it." Thanked Naruto as the three of them made their way back to their dorm rooms.
Kurumi smiled. "Don't worry about it Naruto-kun still it was very nice to see some of your friends."
Laura poked her fingers together. "If you want to thank me then you'll do your best to win the joust against Celia Naruto."
"With this much help behind me it'd be an embarrassment not to win."
With that said they went their separate ways at the dorm room Naruto introduced Kurumi to the new dorm mistress or rather it was just Compa-sensei who was taking over the duties of the dorm mistress for this season since IF-sensei didn't want to do it again.
When Naruto got back to his room he showered and jumped onto his bed. "Oh yeah that reminds me." Going to his bag Naruto took out a phone and searched through his contacts before settling on one and calling it there was a dial tone for a while before someone finally picked up.
"Yo this is the great and wise Jiraiya answering the phone! And is this my favourite grandson calling to tell me how much he loves me for giving him such an awesome gift?" A loud and boisterous voice answered.
"I was going to do that until I discovered that I was engaged to a girl that I've never met before so now I'm calling to deliver my everlasting hatred and denial of my love for you." Naruto sarcastically answered.
"Ahahah that bad huh?" Laughed a rather nervous Jiraiya. "I see you um met your fiancé...and what are you talking about? The two of you met when you were kids."
There was typing on a keyboard before Jiraiya replied. "Right I sent you a picture of the two of you when you were kids."
Putting the phone on speaker mode Naruto pulled up the picture on his computer and upon seeing it Naruto's eyes widened, Celia was the same girl he met all those years ago, picking up his phone again. "So wait that trip all those years ago was to introduce us?!"
"Actually no...see that trip was a visit to an old business friend where he told me about the marriage so really it was the first time I found out about that situation."
"How did this even happen?" Naruto threw himself back to the bed and covered his eyes.
On Jiraya's end if he wasn't talking to Naruto trough the phone then he would have been innocently whistling away, oh how Naruto would utterly murder him if he ever found out how that arrangement was made.
[Flashback]
Jiraiya and his friend came stumbling out of the bar an arm on each other shoulder. "Gee Jiraiya thanks for celebrating this great event with me!"
"Don't worry about it I mean my grandson is going to born soon and I imagine my grandson and your granddaughter will be great friends when they meet."
"Yeah." Jiraiya's friend passed him the bottle of booze. "You know Jiraiya we've been good friends for a long time and I just want to say let's tighten that friendship."
"Sure I know that your granddaughter will be a real beauty when she grows up so let's get the two of them married when they grow up." Jiraiya's friend agreed to it and upon returning to their hotel room the two of them signed a marriage contract between the not yet born Celia and Naruto.
[End Flashback]
"So is there anything else Naruto? Cause we've still got a lot of work here and our most important project is still under some really important modifications at the moment so yeah bye!" Jiraiya quickly hung up and returned to his work. "Now let's see where is that program file that girl passed to me?"
Shuffling through the papers on his desk Jiraiya finally found what he was looking for. "Ah here it is yeah I should probably send it to Naruto sometime soon." Jiraiya picked up a letter and a ear piece.
[Timeskip with Naruto]
For the next week or so Naruto with the help of Laura and Kurumi but along the way they encountered NISA who decided to help.
"Wow! Naruto-san you're going to be jousting?!" Naruto lifted up his visor and nodded.
"Yeah the match is in just a couple of days so I've got to be ready by then but then it really hasn't gone that well as you saw." Naruto replied a little bit embarrassed.
"Then let me help you!" NISA replied a huge smile on her face. "As a hero I am well versed in jousting!"
"Really?" Naruto and everyone was also surprised since jousting wasn't a very common sport that most people studied.
"Of course jousting is a heroic sport so as a hero I've trained for many years in its art I've even got my own equipment so just give me a moment." NISA rushed off to her room and returned a few minutes decked out in armour and a lance in her hands. "But can I borrow a horse?"
So with NISA now on their team of supporters Naruto and his skill as a jouster increased to the point where even NISA was surprised.
[The day before the match]
Naruto was checking his mail when he came across a package addressed to him from Jiraiya. "Again...still not going to forgive him for this messup."
Upon opening the package Naruto found that in it was a letter that was addressed to him from someone named Natasha fairs whereas the other item was a white earpiece and a letter from his grandfather so he decided to open that first.
"Hey there kiddo I was meant to send this to you earlier but then something came up and we had to update the software in it keep it on you at all times just in case sorry about all the trouble you in now."
Naruto sighed he really couldn't be angry at his grandfather forever but still the trouble he cause was certainly something.
As for the second letter it was a 'thank you' letter from a girl named Natasha Fairs which only left Naruto scratching his head as to who this lady was.
[Timeskip the day of the competition]
Naruto was extremely nervous about the match and even though he had managed to train to his limit and had the support of all of his friends so everything would really turn out alright.
Putting on his armour Naruto stepped out of his dressing room and into the hallway where Laura, Kurumi and NISA were waiting.
NISA stepped up and bumped Naruto's chest armour. "Well looks like this is it Naruto I've taught you everything I know about jousting so do your best out there."
Next was Laura. "Good luck Naruto all of us are behind you so do your best out there today and then after that let's go and celebrate." Naruto nodded.
"Sure let's do just that Laura I've got a few places that'll be good for a celebration."
Finally Naruto walked up to Kurumi who passed him a lucky charm. "Here Naruto keep it for good luck." Naruto accepted the lucky charm and exited the hallway into the converted arena which now resembled a jousting field.
Naruto got on his borrowed horse and hefted his lance and waited for Celia to appear on the other side.
From her corner Celia came out in shining silver armour which also had a blue cape billowing behind it. "So Naruto you understand the rules right?"
"Yeah three matches and best two out of three wins." On her side Celia smiled and lowered her visor with Naruto doing the same before the two of them commanded their horses and charged forward.
In the audience Laura, NISA and Kurumi watched as Naruto charged forward and in their mind they played out the tips they told Naruto. "Naruto since you are new to jousting you should try to aim for Celia's torso and chest area since they are larger areas."
The thundering of the horses hooves below them shook Naruto sending rippled through his entire body and when they were within range both Celia and Naruto let go off their horses reins and steadied their hand.
There was a loud crash as Naruto's lance missed its target while Celia's lance hit Naruto's chest head on sending his lance flying out of his arms and the top half of his fell onto the back of the horse.
Laura, Kurumi and NISA flinched a bit in pain when they heard the resulting crash.
Splitters flew everywhere and even Celia flinched a little when Naruto took such a direct hit but when the horse came galloping back to Naruto's side he had managed to pick himself back up.
"Naruto are you alright? If you can't go on then don't pressure yourself there is another way to settle it."
But Naruto pushed his visor up and shook his head. "No I-I can still go on." Naruto returned to his side and picked up another lance with Celia doing the same as well.
"Round 2"
Both horses charged at each other and repeating the process once more however this time Celia's lance hit Naruto in the shoulder sending him falling to the ground but just like before Naruto picked himself and staggered back to his side.
"Match 1 winner: Celia."
Celia galloped back to her side and pursed her lips Naruto had just taken two hits to the body and for someone untrained to still be standing was a good feat in and of itself.
"Round 2 beginning"
Naruto and Celia charged at each other their lances pointed at each other and like before Celia's lance hit Naruto's arm but instead of dropping his lance Naruto's hand simply dipped lower and he managed to strike Celia's torso.
With that match earning Celia 2 points this meant that this would be the final round, if Naruto got struck one more time then he would lose. "Alright Naruto focus this is the final round you can't lose now...I have to achieve a feather fly this round."
With determination burning in his eyes Naruto picked up what he expected to be his final lance.
Naruto charged forward while Celia did the same, the thundering of the hooves that followed each step shook Naruto in his armour.
Finally coming within range of Celia's lance Naruto let go of his reins and held his lance closer to his body and raised the tip aimed at the feather on Celia's helmet. 'I won't lose this round!'
[Timeskip]
"Kanpei!" Were the sounds of glasses clinking but there was one hand that remained down.
"Oi Naruto you alright?" Naruto nodded his head and excused himself from the celebration for a second.
Going to the edge of the restaurant Naruto leaned on the railing and stood next to Celia. "Celia are you alright?"
"No not really...my marriage to you was one of my grandfathers last wishes before he died."
"I-I see I'm sorry I didn't know." Naruto now felt sorry for Celia not realizing what he just did. "But if it's any consolation then why don't we start at square one again?"
Naruto extended his hand out to her. "My name's Naruto Namikaze it's nice to finally meet you once more Celia Cumani Aintree." Looking over in Naruto's direction Celia didn't see the grown up Naruto in his academy uniform. Instead she saw a young Naruto with a dirty face, wide grin on his face and a helmet on his head laughing.
Celia nodded and accepted Naruto's handshake. "Very well then Naruto Namikaze lets be good friends from now on." From Naruto's point of view he saw Celia as the girl in armour who was laughing when he fell off of the horse for the first time.
Celia and Naruto weren't going to marry one another now but they were just going to start out as friends.
Chapter end
So that was the end of the Celia 'arc' and before anyone complains I know that there wasn't any IS fighting in these two chapter but I just wanted to try something new and either way at least now you readers know what kind of weapon Celia's IS will use.
Anyways if it was any kind of indication by the time of this chapter then the 'canon' events have been kinda tossed out the window from the top of the empire state building and is currently serving ketchup pancakes at the ground floor so say hi on the way out.
So with that said if you've enjoyed what you've read then please do leave a review and I'll see you guys next time.