Chapter 3

The Unexpected Offer

At the castle, he's being welcomed by the maids. He saw the princess. Her name was Princess Yufa. Then he bowed at her and introduced him self in a very fine manner.

"Your Excellency, I'm Hyuuga Natsume of the Thunderstorm Village. It's a pleasure of meeting you today."

Then, she said, "Oh! What a fine man you are! You must be tired because of your long journey."

Then the blonde princess called a maid to assist the visitor. "Miss Mikan please led this fine man to his room."

"Right away Your Majesty." The maid replied.

Then, as they walk into the hall, he asked the auburn haired maiden. "Umm…Miss Mikan have I seen you before?" he asked.

"I…don't…think so…" she said.

"Oh well…so what village are you from? I'm from Thunderstorm Village. My name is Natsume Hyuuga. You can call me Natsume if you want to coz that's what they call me." He said.

"Well Natsume, I came from Thunderstorm Village too. And my name is Mikan Sakura." She replied.

When they had reached the room... "The rules in the game were very simple. Once you were in the game, you should fight with all your best. You have to think of plans and strategies to beat your opponent. And this game would only last for two whole weeks." She explained.

"I see. Oh yeah I heard that the king was cursed and became really scary. Is that true?" he asked.

"So, do you really wanna know what happened?" She asked the curios raven haired boy.

"Yes, of course." he replied eagerly.

"Ok then, here it goes. A long time ago, the king was happily ruling this land. Until one day, the Sorceress of the Forbidden Mountain came here. He cursed the king and later on, he became so violent and thought of nothing but to destroy humanity. He started with us servants. He wants to kill us all. So he created this game. After the game, I'll die of course, obviously." She said sadly.

"No way! That's not fair!" He exclaimed.

"Well, that's the way things are." She replied with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"It's not true." He said.

"Are you silly?" she asked.

"No, of course not!" he shouted.

Deafening silence ruled over them until the crimson eyed boy shattered it.

"I have a question, have you seen your mother and father?" he asked.

"Well, yes I have. They died when I was 7 years old." She replied.

"I see. Anyway, why is it you?"

He asked. "Well, I'm the next one in the list, stupid." she replied as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Oh… That's terrible! Is there anyway I can help?" He asked.

"There's no way you could help me." She said. "What the heck are you talking about?" he asked. "No, it's too late…it's much too late now. After this tournament-" She was cut off.

"There should be a way to stop this!" he interrupted.

"There is actually." She muttered really, really softly, but loud enough to be heard by the raven-haired boy.

"Oops. I think I said too much. Damn!" She thought as she came back to her senses.

"So, what is it? Come on, tell me. Spill the beans." He insisted.

"I cannot tell you. I got a bad feeling that you'll do something stupid. Well you are stupid coz I had told you gazillion times before that there is no way you could help me." She replied sarcastically.

"You're too exaggerated. We had just met and you said that you had told me a gazillion times. Anyway, you're stupid too. You just said that there is a way to stop this." he said.

She opened her mouth but no words came out. She was speechless because he has a point. A vein popped out of her forehead. She raised an eyebrow. Oh no, it's trouble.

"Then, you better not ask me again!" She replied, suppressing her anger.

"Asked what?" he asked, oblivious of what she was talking about.

3 veins popped out of her forehead instantly. This time, her lips and eyes were twitching. That's it. He did it this time. She gave him her infamous 'you'll-regret-that-you-had-met-and-talk-to-me' and the 'you-should've-not-said-that' glare.

However our ever-so-dense raven haired boy didn't budge because he was oblivious that she was raging with fury inside.

"Asked what?" he asked again.

That's it. The volcano is going to explode in any second…3…2…1… (A/N: Oh my God, I must get out of here, quick!!!) BBBOOOOMMM!!!! A few seconds later…

"What's happening? (Coughs, coughs, coughs.) Help!!! I'm (coughs) drowning (coughs)." He exclaimed.

"Your such an idiot. Now I'm gonna reveal one of my deepest secrets." She answered. "What (coughs) secret?" he asked, still gasping for air.

"Alright, I'm gonna release you first." She said.

Then she released him in her power. "What do you mean secret?" he asked. She looked in her hand and a water ball appeared in her right palm.

"See this? This is the Water Power. I can control water. The power I used at you was the Illusion of Drowning." She explained.

"…" he said. He was too shocked to even utter a word.

She sighed. "From the look on your face, you don't even understand what I've said." she said.

"You're one of the Children of Pierrot." He replied, still in deep thought.

"Bingo. I think Mr. Stupid Idiotic Freaking Caliperously Sniztherz Illucative Hunchrinzx Euiolizes Gassiol Reniscenzse Moron has a brain after all." She commented.

"Don't call me a stupid idiotic freaking whatever it comes next, you moron." He snapped back from his daydreaming. And as if she read his mind…

"Done with the daydreaming thing?" she asked smirking.

"I'm not daydreaming, you little girl!" he shouted.

"Oh, look, Mr. Stupid Idiotic Caliperously Sniztherz Illucative Hunchrinzx Euiolizes Gassiol Reniscenzse is angry and even made me a name." she replied still smirking.

"I'm not! Don't you even dare call me that again! And, I'm irritated about your smirking hobby!" he shouted giving her a 'you'll-regret-calling-me-that-you-stupid-little-girl' glare.

"Yes you are." She replied nonchalantly.

"Am not!" he shouted.

"You are." She replied coolly.

"Any way, since you told me one of your secrets, it's my turn to tell you mine." He changed the topic. He pointed his index finger and a small flame appeared on it. "I'm one of the Children of Pierrot. I have the Power of Fire. Directly opposite to yours." he explained.

"I know. I already knew that you had powers from the moment you stepped on this palace. So it's not a secret anymore." She replied coolly.

"What? You're unbelievable! How did you know? The mind-reading power is for the Air element only. There's no way you can have two powers!" he exclaimed.

"You're such a Freaking Moron." She replied.

"Could you please stop calling me names?! Just get to the point!" He shouted.

"Alright, you don't have to shout. You'll make my eardrums explode. Of course I do not have 2 powers, moron. Could you have even just a little common sense there? We Children of Pierrot have a high sensitivity against power-bearing persons. I guess you're too preoccupied by your thoughts. That's why you didn't sense my power immediately. That's a bad habit, moron. You won't be able to concentrate your powers." She explained.

"I see." He replied.

"I figure out with that silly head of yours, I can tell you how to stop this. You must beat the sorceress and destroy the Orb of the Death Samurai in her palace." She informed. "The reason I told you this because I think it's the right time to end this foolishness and I…I don't want you to get involve into further troubles when this is not sorted out earlier." She thought.

"Alright, I'll destroy that orb to free the king and to stop you from being killed." He replied immediately.

Mikan fell down anime style. "It's no joke going there. It would just cost you your life you know?" she said.

"It doesn't matter. What matters most is to save you from your fateful death." He replied.

Then she became quiet. "He's really a stupid idiot. But he could be sweet sometimes. What am I thinking?! Oh shoo! Go away sinister thoughts." She thought.

"Natsume, why don't you sleep now and get ready for tomorrow. Night." She said.

"Goodnight." He replied.