Chapter 3: Wind-Fang

Windbloom, the day after…

Tsuyo-sa

I stood waiting outside the door to the conference room at Garderobe Academy, tapping my foot impatiently. Yesterday, a strange dark sphere appeared in the sky, followed shortly by the release of an alarmingly large horde of monsters. Our military forces had managed to subdue the creatures, and soon after a hologram of a strange man named Marluxia appeared and informed us about some kind of tournament he was holding. Apparently whoever won his game would save the entire multiverse, as well as get their heart's desire granted. It sounded simple enough: defeat his 42 powerful guardians in order to get a shot at him, and then defeat him to win. The problem was, the guardians were randomly spread across fourteen worlds, and we had no way of knowing whether any of them had ended up in Windbloom or not. Right now King Siegfried and Queen Kaia were debating with my mother and the other figureheads of the country to plan a course of action. Because Windbloom is my home, I felt that something this important included me too. I had tried to convince my mother to let me join the conversation, but she told me that I was too young and had me wait outside. As much as I wanted to protest, I knew she was right and couldn't really argue. Despite my appearance of an adult in their mid twenties, I am actually only three years old. Because I was born of two women through a means I still have yet to understand, I developed much faster than a normal human would. So even though I have the body and the brain of an adult, I'm really still a child. I have a half-sister who was born in the same way, but she lives in a different world. We've met a few times, but never long enough to learn too much about each other. She's not welcome in Windbloom because of her mother, who tried to enslave all of the multiverse. From what Evelyn has told me, there's another pair of siblings that live with her in that other world who are just like us. I hope Evelyn's doing alright, I heard that there were attacks throughout the entire multiverse. After what felt like ages, the doors to the council chamber finally opened and my mother walked out. I quickly rushed to her side.

"Mom, what happened? What did they say?" I asked.

My mother let out a sigh and looked at me with her crimson eyes. "We've reached a decision. We've decided to accept Marluxia's terms and to send our strongest warriors to compete in his tournament."

My eyes lit up with excitement. "Really? Can I be one of the warriors? You know I'm strong, mom."

Mom let out a small laugh. "You certainly are strong, probably stronger than me. But I can't let you go with the other's."

"Why not?"

"If it were my decision, I would gladly let you go. I know you must be curious about the other worlds out there. However, if you really want to go, you'll have to talk to the king."

I gulped. King Siegfried was a man to be respected and feared. While he was a kind king who always did what was best for his people, it was well known that he was a fearsome warrior who could best many powerful foes. Even if he was a nice guy, his presence alone was damn intimidating, and that gigantic sword of his certainly didn't help either.

"If you're going to talk to him, you'd better go now. He's already on his way to Headmistress Verona's office to select his champions." my mother said, bringing me back to reality.

I nodded nervously and went to find the king. Siegfried was talking with Kaia when I caught up to them. I gathered all the composure I could and knelt down in front of him.

"Your majesty! I have a request!" I said.

There was silence for a moment before he spoke. "Yes, Ms. Irino?"

"I was told that you were going to gather the strongest champions of our kingdom to go and compete in the tournament. If that is so, then I would like to be one of your champions!"

I didn't look up at him, for fear of looking too desperate, but I thought I heard him whispering to Kaia. After a moment, the king spoke again.

"I appreciate the offer, Tsuyo-sa, but I am unsure if I can send you away on a dangerous mission like this. I know that you are a talented fighter, but if this tournament is anything like the one your mother and I were in, then I cannot guarantee your safety."

"…I take it that's a 'no', then?" I sighed.

"I'm afraid it is."

"Is it because I'm too young?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Then why can't I go?" I looked up at him now.

Siegfried stared down at me with piercing light green eyes. "It is because I fear for your safety. Your mother may encourage you to travel the worlds, but I know that she is just as worried as I am that you will not return. I'm sorry, but I can't risk your life without knowing that you can take care of yourself."

Before our conversation could continue, the invasion alarm sounded. An officer came running up to Siegfried with worry written all over his face.

"Your majesty! They're coming again!" the officer informed.

"What is coming?"

"I don't know what they're called, but we've definitely seen them before. Strange black and red animal like creatures that come in the thousands!"

Siegfried's expression became serious. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, your majesty. I remember fighting them during the war."

"I see. You've done well to bring me this information, soldier. Go inform your troops, tell them to prepare to defend the city!"

"Yes, your majesty!" the officer took off to carry out his orders.

Siegfried turned to one of his bodyguards. "Go inform the headmistress, we'll be needing Garderobe's help."

"Yes, your majesty!" the bodyguard ran towards the school's main building.

"Your majesty, what is it? What's attacking us?" I asked, standing up again.

"We don't know what they are, only that they are as numerous as they are deadly. They nearly crushed us more than the rest of the enemy's army the last time they attacked."

"If they are that much of a threat, then let me join the defense!"

Siegfried's expression softened a bit. "Tsuyo-sa…"

"Consider it my chance to prove to you that I can take care of myself."

Siegfried looked like he was about to argue, but stopped when he felt Kaia grip his arm. The queen was barely more than an inch shorter than him and she stared into his eyes with a gentle fierceness.

"Siegfried, it's alright. Let her go. Isn't that what you would normally recommend?"

The king stiffened for a moment, then sighed. "Alright, I see your point. Perhaps being king has dampened my adventurous spirit." He turned back to me. "Very well, you may aid in the defense. But if it gets to be too dangerous, then retreat immediately. Understand?"

I smiled and nodded happily. "Yes, your majesty!"

Without waiting for any further instructions, I raced through the streets, out the gates and into the desert surrounding our city. I got in line with the rest of the soldiers and otome who had arrived. Among the defense forces was Verona, headmistress of Garderobe Academy, the school for otome. Verona caught sight of me as I took a stance in preparation for battle.

"Tsuyo-sa, what are you doing here?" she questioned, staring straight at me with her violet eyes.

"I was told I could join in the defense. The king is giving me a chance to prove that I can take care of myself." I answered.

Verona paused for a moment, then smiled and shook her head. "Well, be sure to be careful. I heard that these things are pretty tough to beat."

"Only one way to find out." I smirked as I fixed my gaze on the quickly growing black mass on the edge of my vision.

The mass got bigger and bigger as the creatures drew close. I could now make out a few shapes among the swarm. There were massive elephant like creatures, along with what looked like giant snapping turtles with spiked shells and huge manta ray like creatures that flew. The mass was staring to get close now, and I could now see gorilla like creatures accompanied by rhinoceros looking ones. Verona summoned her shuriken shaped elements to her hands and flew towards the enemy.

"Charge!" she ordered.

The rest of us let out a war cry and followed suit. As I neared a small pack of the gorilla creatures, I leapt into the air and summoned my weapons, a pair of humongous gauntlets with spiked knuckles. Although the weapons were each as big as my body, I could hold them as though they weighed nothing. Feeling my gauntlets finish forming around lower arms, I swung at the group of monsters in front of me. The creatures were all flung back in one blow, and burst into a strange orange liquid upon death. Hearing the cries of more creatures quickly approaching, I proceeded to punch relentlessly at the swarm of enemies. With each blow, three or four of the smaller creatures were defeated. A pair of the rhino creatures tried to ram me, but I caught them and flung them both at a giant turtle creature. The larger monster roared in frustration. Its spikes began to glow, shortly before a barrage of red energy blasts burst from its back, exploding on the ground around it as they landed. The force of the explosion knocked me back, but I managed to remain standing by using my gauntlets as brakes. When I regained my balance, I charged toward the large creature with my fists pulled back. Just as I neared its head, I swung both of my fists upward, causing the large monster to fly into the air. As it started to descend, I put my gauntlets together and reformed them into a single large flambard with dual serrated edges. I thrust the sword upward, sticking it into the side of the monster. Tightening my grip, I pulled the sword towards the side. The blade slid through the monster in motion, freeing itself from its flesh with a grotesque ripping sound. A river of orange luminescent blood exploded from the monster's now open stomach, nearly drowning me. I turned the blade back into my gauntlets and got ready for the next wave of creatures. The entire ground shook around me, and I saw a humongous elephant like monster standing 15 feet in front of me. The monster let out a tremendous roar that nearly blew me off of my feet. It tried to squash me under its massive foot, but at the last moment I managed to catch it and throw it aside, making the huge monster lose its balance. While it stumbled, I leapt up high into the air so that I was eye level with the monster. I pulled my right fist behind me in preparation.

"Take this!" I shouted.

I thrust my spiked fist forward, slamming it right between the eyes of the monster with enough force to break through its thick skull. The giant monster reeled back onto its hind legs, howling in pain before it fell backwards onto a crowd of its fellow monsters. I landed safely on the ground and looked ahead of me. I gasped when I saw that we had barely even made a dent in the monster army's forces. I began to have doubts about being able to fight such a massive horde, just as the monsters surrounded me and my allies. I looked around at how many of us were left. Besides me, there were around a few dozen soldiers and two otome, Meister Nao Zhang and Headmistress Verona. We huddled together in a tight circle.

"Damn, there's too many of them!" Verona grunted.

"I knew this job was nothing but trouble." Nao muttered.

The swarm of creatures roared and growled at us as they began to close in. We let out everything we had on them, but it still wasn't enough. We were losing men quickly now, pretty soon it would just be me and the otome. Just as we were about to be overrun, something strange happened. Bright blue trails of light began to appear in front of us, almost like they were trails from a sword slash. The layer of monsters around us was instantly cut down by the lights, much to our surprise.

"It seems I made it just in time." a calm voice said behind me.

I turned around to see a tall man wearing a black vest and pants with two gold scarves trailing from his shoulders. He was barefoot, had strange gold decorations over his fingers, armored shoulders, short black hair, and piercing yellow eyes. Before I had time to ask him who he was, the man struck a combat pose.

"I will explain later, for now just know that I am not your enemy. Let me deal with the Gohma first before we talk."

With that, he disappeared. I thought he had run, but then he reappeared in front of the crowd of monsters. With an angry yell, the man began to punch and kick everything in front of him with incredible speed and power. He moved so fast that it almost appeared that there was two of him. The man leapt into the air and drew back his hand. He swung his arm in an arc, and a small wave of blue energy quickly flew from his fingers. He then proceeded to fling more arcs at the enemy ranks in quick succession. I could only watch in awe as the horde of beasts quickly fell to his graceful and relentless assault. Even the largest of monsters were quickly slain, though they took more effort than the rest of the swarm. Having killed what must have been at least a thousand of the monsters, the man then reappeared with my group. He had his back to us, and was still in a combat stance.

"Something's not right." He said as he flung another barrage of arcs at the enemy.

"What is it?" I said as I pummeled a few monsters that got too close.

"They're retreating. The Gohma do not retreat, ever."

I finished pounding a monster and took a look at the crowd. He was right, the monsters seemed to be pulling back. I saw a lone figure begin to walk out of the crowd. It was a man. He stood at least 7 feet tall, wore no shirt (most likely to show off the bright red markings all over his chest), had spiky white hair, pure white eyes, fingerless gauntlets, white pants and shoes, and he had a long sword slung across the back of his waist. The tall man walked toward us with a smirk. I noticed the man that stood with us was staring at the other man in surprise.

"It can't be…master?!" said the black haired man.

"Looks to me like he's the enemy general. If we take him out, maybe those monsters will wise up and retreat." Verona said. "Nao, let's go!"

"The sooner we get done the better." Nao said slyly as she and Verona took off toward the man.

"Wait!" said the man at my side.

But it was too late. Verona and Nao attacked the tall man, and he made no attempt to dodge. Their blows barely even scratched him. Grinning madly, the tall man sent a powerful kick that struck Nao right in her ribs. Even from 20 feet away, I could hear bones crack shortly before the force of the kick propelled the redhead back towards the city and out of sight. I could only watch in stunned horror as the tall man then sent a mighty punch at Verona. The headmistress tried to block the strike, but the man's fist broke her elements to pieces and drove straight through her chest until it resurfaced out of her back. Verona's eyes were wide with shock as blood burst from her mouth. The man withdrew his hand from within the otome, gripped her by her head, and hurled her to my feet. I knelt down beside the older woman still shocked at how quickly she was defeated.

"Ms. Verona!" I cried.

Verona weakly turned her head to face me. "Tsuyo…sa…"

"Just hang on! I'll get you out of here and-"

"Tsuyo-sa…it's too late for that."

"But you can't die…you're the strongest otome in the world!"

Verona managed a weak smile. "I'm not strong. Not like Kaia…not like Notokishi…not like you."

"Verona…"

"Whether or not the others realize it, you've proven yourself a long time ago. I want you to keep fighting…for me and for Windbloom."

"I…I will."

Verona closed her eyes and sighed. "Then, I can rest easy."

She opened her eyes partway and looked up at the sky. Her body began to quickly dissolve into tiny green lights. When she was nearly gone, I heard her softly whisper.

"I'm coming…Notokishi."

Having said her last words, the headmistress dissolved into nothing. I sat there for a few moments before I stood up. The man with black hair stepped beside me.

"Are you still able to fight? If not, I understand." he said softly.

I clenched my fists. "Yeah…I'm good to go."

The man nodded. "This isn't going to be easy. That man is Augus, my former teacher and one of the Seven Deities. As you can see, he's incredibly strong."

"Is it possible to beat him?"

"Yes, he was defeated by my ape of a brother-in-law. Once."

"Then that's all the incentive I need. By the way, who are you?"

The man smiled as he got into his combat stance. "My name is Yasha."

"Nice to meet you, Yasha. I'm Tsuyo-sa. Now, let's kick that bastard's ass."

The two of us charged toward Augus. The tall man grinned and ran to meet us. I slammed my fist into Augus's side, and Yasha delivered a kick to his face. Surprisingly, neither of our attacks seemed to faze the tall man. He just grinned wider and shoved us back. I noticed that there were marks where I had punched him. Augus also noticed this, and tilted his head in my direction.

"Heh, that actually hurt. Perhaps the two of you together will be a worthy opponent." he said in a wise and arrogant voice. Augus simply stood straight and held his fists at his sides. "C'mon, let's have some fun!"

Yasha and I both began to attack the tall man. Augus actually fought back this time, and met each of our blows with his own. He must have thought his fists were enough, because he didn't draw his sword. I blocked a punch at my head and skidded back, while Yasha continued to bombard Augus with lightning fast kicks and punches. Augus either countered or ignored every blow that came at him. Yasha paused for a moment, then surged forward, feet first. Augus caught Yasha's foot and swung him into the ground. The tall man let out a haughty laugh as Yasha regained his footing and fell back to my side.

"What's the matter, Yasha? All this time and your attacks haven't gotten any stronger? You disappoint me." Augus taunted.

Yasha grit his teeth. "I could say the same to you, master. How could you ally yourself with the Gohma, our sworn enemy?"

"I care not for what reason I must fight alongside them. So long as I get to fight more opponents like Asura and you, then it makes no difference!"

Yasha sighed. "You haven't changed a bit."

Without waiting for Yasha, I charged at Augus alone. The tall man greeted my attack with a smile and a fist to my stomach. I winced in pain but still swung at him. Augus's grin faltered for a moment as my large fist struck him square in the face. The tall man flew into the air, and landed on his stomach. Leaping back to his feet, he ran a hand over his face for a moment and paused when he felt the warmth of freshly spilt blood on his mouth. His grin returned bigger than ever, and he began to laugh hysterically.

"Not bad! You must be strong to hurt me like this! Come…" Augus rocketed toward me with his fists raised. "Show me what you're made of!"

I was unprepared for his sudden burst of speed, and struggled as punch after punch rained on my gauntlets and torso. Augus's punches had suddenly become so strong that they shattered my gauntlets, and I had to throw up my bare arms to protect myself. Thankfully I have a high tolerance for pain, and my injuries heal pretty quickly, but it still hurt to be repeatedly punched in the face and chest. Seeing me struggle to hold my ground, Yasha intervened and sent a flying kick straight into Augus's unguarded torso. While I caught my breath, he exchanged blows with the tall man. Like Yasha, Augus could fight at incredible speeds, and I began having trouble keeping up with their movements. From what I could see, it looked like Yasha was holding his own pretty well, and was hitting Augus several times. But the taller man just ignored the blows and kept on fighting, his mad grin growing the longer the fight dragged on. It almost seemed as if combat made him high. Eventually, Yasha attempted to deliver a powerful ending blow, but Augus swung himself around and struck the black haired man with his still sheathed sword, knocking him aside.

"Stay out of the way, Yasha! This is between me and the girl!" Augus declared as he ran at me again.

I grit my teeth and ran to meet him. "Fine by me!"

I summoned my gauntlets again, this time at a normal size. Augus just smiled insanely as we both swung at each other. My fist struck his, his struck mine. I punched him in the gut, he socked me in the nose. I kicked him in the chin, he kneed me in the chest. We kept attacking and counter attacking, neither of us wearing out or showing any signs of pain. Eventually Augus took a swipe at me that was too wide, and I ducked under it and countered with a strong thrust that slammed into his gut. The tall man was sent flying back a solid 50 feet, not stopping until he collided with a rock formation. I readied myself as I watched him get back up. To my surprise, he didn't make an attempt to attack me. Instead, he just stood there laughing like a maniac as yellow energy swirled around him. After a moment he pulled his sword from his back and held it in front of him.

"Yes! This is more like it! It's been far too long since I've had a battle this good. Tell me girl, what is your name?" he said.

"Tsuyo-sa Irino." I answered.

"Well then, Tsuyo-sa Irino, consider yourself lucky. Because you have shown me such great strength, you will have the honor…." he drew his sword and practically teleported right in front of me. "Of dying by my blade!"

I barely managed to catch the sword in my hands. I shoved it off to the side, and next thing I knew a long line had been burned into the desert. I back flipped away from him as he tried to slice me again. Landing on my feet, I rose to my full height and put my gauntlets together.

"If that's how you want to play…" my gauntlets transformed into my serrated flambard. "then so be it!"

My blade clashed against Augus's, and a tremendous shockwave was released from the impact. We both pulled back before quickly lunging at each other again. After exchanging quite a few more blows, Augus dashed away from me. He swung his sword horizontally, and a wave of energy followed its path in an arc. I jumped over the wave with ease as I ran towards him. Augus then swung vertically, and the energy wave split into ten separate waves. I weaved my way between a pair of the arcs before leaping at him with my sword raised. He pulled his blade back in preparation to meet my blow. We both swung as I neared him, and another shockwave was released as our blades connected. The force of the wave blew us away from each other, and we both landed expertly some 100 yards apart. By now Augus was covered in cuts and bruises. If I didn't have my healing abilities, I would probably be in a similar state right about now. Augus took some time to let out his loudest and most insane laugh yet.

"This is what I live for! This is why people like us exist!" then suddenly he held his sword in a thrust position, and his expression became serious. "But all good things must come to an end. This battle has gone on long enough."

Without warning, his sword suddenly extended toward me at a rapid speed. I barely had time to place my sword in a defensive stance before the blade slammed into it. Augus's sword continued to try to extend, and I felt myself being quickly pushed back. As I struggled to keep the ever-growing blade from skewering me, I saw the tip of it start to pierce through my sword. Despite my struggling, Augus's sword split mine in half, and the blade plunged into my chest. I felt myself skidding across the desert towards the city as the sword still continued to extend. Ignoring the immense pain from the injury, I saw Augus running towards me, his sword beginning to return to normal size as he drew near. Still holding both halves of my sword, I summoned all the strength I had to keep myself from sliding back any further. With a yell, I shattered Augus's sword with one half of my blade while sticking the other half out just as the tall man was about to crash into me.

SCHINK!

The two of us stood in front of each other for a few moments. Augus stood motionless in front of me, with the tip of my sword stuck through his forehead. Despite his situation, the tall man smiled softly at me and let his sword drop to his side.

"Well done, Tsuyo-sa Irino. This was a wonderful battle. Once you die, come find me in the afterlife so that we can do this again." he said calmly.

I smirked. "I'll think about it."

With that, Augus let out a small chuckle shortly before dissolving into nothing. I cringed as I removed the tip of his broken sword from my chest. I then looked back at the horde of monsters. They were now retreating back to wherever they came from. I sighed and dematerialized my sword as Yasha slowly walked up to me, mouth agape.

"You…you beat him…" he said. "How are you still alive?"

"If there's one thing I know how to do, its take a hit. Looks like the Gohma or whatever you called them are retreating."

"It would seem that way. Still, I cannot help but wonder about all of this. Somehow, I have returned to life, and it appears that my resurrection may be related to the reappearance of the Gohma and Augus."

"Maybe they are. A lot of crazy things are happening nowadays."

"Regardless, you have my respect, Tsuyo-sa. No simple warrior could have defeated Augus. If you would allow me, I'd like to accompany you back to…wherever civilization is on this world. It seems that much has happened while I've been gone, and I would very much like to know if I can help put a stop to whatever brought the Gohma back."

"Well you're in luck then, cause that's exactly what I'm planning on doing."

Yasha smiled. "Then, it would only make sense for us to join forces, Tsuyo-sa." he held out his hand.

I returned the smile. "I think I like the sound of that, Yasha."

I took his hand in mine and we shook, sealing our partnership.

39 Guardians Remaining...

A/N: Whew! Finally done! I would've uploaded this a couple days sooner, but I had to deal with some serious homework that pretty much decides my grade *gulp*. Be sure to leave a review, as I would like to hear what you all have to say. Till next time! DarkNovelist out.