Tai finally gathered the courage to interrupt the conversation between Sora and Matt, although he tried to be as polite as he possibly could about it. "Prince Matt, is an honor to meet you and I'm probably not even worthy enough to even speak to you, but is it okay if I borrow Sora for a moment?" the knight asked.
"Tai!" Sora partially scolded. "You can't just cut into our conversation like that!"
"It's fine" Matt chuckled. "I've taken enough of your time anyway. Knight Tai, it was a pleasure to meet you. And Sora, I hope we'll be able to chat again one day."
The prince turned away with a remorseful smile and walked off, blending in with the crowd of other royals. Sora sighed as she turned her focus to the knight; it wasn't like she was upset that Matt left, she was a little grateful in fact. She was running out of topics to talk about although the silence felt rather comfortable too.
"What is it Tai?" she asked.
Tai took a deep breath. "I know this may seem like a silly reason for me to interrupt your conversation with the prince but it's rather important to me. If I may be so bold as to ask, may I have the honor ofone dance with you, milady?"
Sora blinked and then giggled a little. "If that's what you wanted, then you should've just asked me earlier."
"I couldn't find you" Tai said jokingly.
Sora placed her hand over his as he started to lead her away from the balcony, towards the dance floor. "I would be delighted but I warn you first, I'm not the best dancer."
"Well, neither am I" Tai grinned.
Mimi watched the two of them dance the rest of the night away, not really in the mood to do much else but it did cheer her up a little, seeing Sora and Tai smile the way they did. Her head turned a few degrees and she caught the other knight she had brought along with her sneak out of the ballroom. She wondered if Davis had enough of seeing the maiden he had fallen for, fall for another.
"It must be hard…" Mimi sighed.
"Princess" Yolei smiled as she came closer. "I hope I'm not interrupting your thoughts."
"No, you're not" the princess replied, slightly dejectedly because she really did want to be alone with her thoughts for the rest of the night. "Are you having fun duchess?"
"Oh, yes, very much so, although, probably not as much fun as our handmaidens have so far" Yolei laughed. "I only invited Kari to tag along because I thought she needed to loosen up. And then suddenly, I turn back to her and she has become friends with one of the princes! I wonder if the two of them will fall in love. Well, Kari better remember the person who brought here in the first place for this enchanting evening."
"You just want her to include you in their royal will" Mimi laughed. It was forced though, she really wanted Yolei to go away but she couldn't simply say that to her best friend out loud.
But Yolei didn't need to hear it; she could tell that something was off about the princess that night. "Are you okay? I know everything must be hard for you…"
"Not as hard as things have been for Davis" Mimi replied sullenly.
The duchess raised one eyebrow in confusion, not knowing why Sir Davis would be feeling more troubled than Mimi. "Why what happened to him?" Although it didn't take long after she had said that to realize what was going on. "Oh, it's about Kari isn't it? Well, it's his own fault! He's known Kari for years; he should've just told her those three words that every maiden wants to hear from a potential lover."
When the princess didn't respond to that, Yolei's arms dropped from her hips and fell to her side. "But I'm more concerned about you. Why should you be bothered with how Davis is feeling right now?"
"Because he is hurting far worse than I am."
"How? Michael died!" As soon as those words slipped past Yolei's lips, she realized her mistake.
Mimi tried to blink away the tears that were threatening to drip down her cheeks but to no avail. "At least I knew that Michael loved me before I lost him! And what is so wrong with feeling bad for your subordinates? Answer me that Yolei!"
"I'm sorry…" was all Yolei could blurt out as people were starting to stare. "I understand, please don't cry."
Sora separated from her dance partner and pushed her way to her mistress. "Mimi, please stop crying, you're always saying how unladylike it is, especially at a big event." Mimi shook her head vigorously as she buried her face in her hands and started sobbing and shaking uncontrollably, so Sora turned to the duchess instead. "Duchess Yolei, what happened?"
"I…I mentioned Michael…" Yolei admitted shamefully. "But I just blurted it out! I'm sorry…"
"Its fine, I'm sure it was an honest mistake" Sora hushed. "Come on Mimi; let's take you to the washroom to get you cleaned up." Mimi continued sobbing as her seamstress carried her off, not noticing the prince following them.
Matt soon caught up with them when they were in the hallway; he was accompanied by Knights Cody and Noriko, just in case. "Princess Mimi" he called to her. "Sora, you don't know your way through the castle right? Here, I'll lead you two towards the washrooms."
"Thank you your majesty" Sora nodded respectfully. Sora wondered if Matt really was still in love with the princess. It might be a good thing for Mimi to move on from Michael.
"Just refer to me as Matt" the prince replied. "There is no need to be formal."
A small smile formed on Sora's lips. "Yes, I keep forgetting that." The corners of her mouth dropped again as she returned her focus back to her mistress. "Mimi, are you going to be okay?"
Mimi finally uncovered her face and rubbed away the remaining tears. "Yeah, I'll be fine" she nodded. "I can go to the washroom on my own. You two and the knights of course, should go back to the ballroom and have fun. Don't concern yourselves over me."
"I don't want to leave you alone" Sora replied.
"And with that evil warlock on the loose, it might be better to have some protection" Matt added.
"Sir, I will not allow you to fight if something bad happens" Cody insisted.
Noriko coughed and took her senior's sword away from him. She tossed it over to the prince despite Cody's protests. "I'll be the first one to attack and Matt will just come in if it seems necessary. Besides, you're the one we should not allow to fight, not in your condition anyway."
"This is absurd" Cody huffed. "I'm a knight of King Hiroaki's court; I should be the one protecting the royal family, not the other way around."
"Then don't think of it as me protecting you" Matt shrugged. "Think of it as me protecting these two fair maidens."
"Thank you" Sora nodded as they made it to the washroom.
Mimi entered alone, wanting a few moments to herself and her thoughts. "I'll be right out."
Inside the washroom, Mimi went over to wash her face. As she stared at herself in the reflective stone they used to see their reflection, she felt someone in there with her. She knew it wasn't anyone she was just with in the hallway and she was sure she didn't have to worry about it being Ken considering he always had this malevolent feeling when he was near. So there was really only one person she could think of to be.
"Izzy, what are you doing in here?" she asked.
In the reflective stone, she saw the air in a certain area compress and soon become a person. His red hair fell in his face as he stared at Mimi with the same concerned expression Sora had just moments before.
"I just wanted to make sure that you were okay" Izzy replied. "You seemed really upset."
"I'm fine" she replied unconvincingly. Not once did either of them try to look each other directly in the eyes, they just looked at each other in the stone. "You didn't have to bother with me; you have a job protecting this castle in case Ken gets in."
The wizard didn't want to make her panic by telling her that the warlock was already there. "I know" Izzy said instead.
"Then is there anything else you wanted to say to me?" she asked.
"Why did you tell Davis that story about me? No, a better question is, how did you know that rumor? I thought it was extinguished years ago."
"My grandmother told me it" Mimi shrugged. "She used to tell me it before passed on. Telling it to me whenever I felt down to remind me that there might be a little magic in me, something to always feel happy about."
"…You know, I knew your grandmother when she was young."
Mimi sniffed and smiled, her voice breaking a little as she thought about her grandmother. "Yeah, she told me that to. Apparently, I looked just like she did when she was young and my mother even gave me the same name. I miss her so much…"
"You do look a lot like her…" Izzy agreed with a nostalgic smile. "It is terrible you know."
"What is? That I look like her?"
"No" he shook his head. "What you told Davis…About how I live for such a long time and I see my friends pass away. You're grandmother was one of them, she was a wonderful woman. And losing her and my other friends…It's a terrible feeling."
"I can imagine" she nodded. "…Is it true?"
Izzy didn't have to guess what she was referring to but he did hesitate before answering and the princess took note of that. "No, it isn't…" He then turned his back to her. "I never loved a princess nor have her bear my children. I don't have any other family…"
"Do you ever want to start a family of your own?" Mimi asked.
"…No…I don't think so…"
"Why not?"
Izzy produced a small ball of compressed lightning in his hand. The small washroom now had the sounds of crackling electricity bouncing off the walls. "I don't want to give someone else these powers. Not because I'm selfish or anything but I'm too afraid of corrupting them with magic. You've seen all the wizards who have fallen from grace."
"You mean like Ken and Jim" Mimi nodded solemnly. "You don't think the same thing will happen to Joe, do you?"
"To him? I don't know…I wish I did…"
"Well…I'm sure everything will be all right in the end."
Izzy wished he could be as optimistic as Mimi was but with at least eighty more years of experience than her, he was sure she didn't have as good an understanding of the world as he did. But there was no way he was going to bring her down now of all times. "Yeah…Me too…"
"Liar!" she smiled. "Izzy…I understand that you're trying to preserve that 'innocence' and 'naivety' of mine but trust me, I understand that not everything can be viewed in a positive way. But that's how I want to see the world. If you're always looking at things pessimistically then all you're doing is digging a ditch and then asking yourself to jump into it. Try looking at things with a smile for once."
Izzy chuckled. "You are just full of inspirational words of wisdom this evening."
"I guess I get that from my grandmother."
"Yeah, you do…"
Mimi felt herself feeling better already and it was just her luck; that was when everything went wrong once more. The cold and malevolent feeling washed over them first before the earthquake happened, they could hear panicked screams coming from the ballroom.
"It looks like you have a job to do" Mimi said quietly.
Izzy stared at her for a few moments before giving her a warm embrace. "I'll be sure to take care of Ken so that you don't have to. I won't have Michael die for nothing."
Mimi returned the gesture. "Thank you…Just come back safely…"
"I will, and you stay safe…"
The wizard opened the door out of the washroom at the same time Sora pushed it open, the latter getting surprised. "Hello Sora" Izzy nodded simply as he rushed through the hallway and back into the ballroom.
"What was he doing in here?" Sora asked.
"Never mind" Mimi replied. "What's going on?"
"Ken attacked…We should really be getting out of here."
"Where did Matt go?"
"He ran into the ballroom before any of us could stop him, now come on! We've got to get out of here!"
The princess stared at the door to the ballroom for a couple of seconds as more people were trying to flee the castle, barely giving Knight Davis, who had left earlier, any room to get back in and assist the other fighters. After ten agonizingly long seconds, she nodded just as Sora grabbed her wrist and started running off. It wasn't long before a scream from the duchess caught Mimi's attention and prompted her to run back.
"Mimi, what are you doing?!" Sora shouted.
Mimi just ignored her servant as she quickly got behind Davis, who had not noticed her presence, and the two of them found their way back in the ballroom in no time. Mimi gasped at the horror of the sight, almost every single warrior that a socialite had brought along with them had fallen. The only ones really left standing, other than Davis, were Tai, Matt, Noriko, and three others she didn't recognize. Izzy was there as well but it seemed like none of them could do anything while Ken was holding Duchess Yolei by her purple hair.
"Make any sudden movements and I will kill her in an instant" Ken warned with a triumphant cackle. "That's all it takes."
"Help…" Yolei sobbed.
Izzy's eyes scanned the room and when they fell on Mimi, they widened for a moment but he knew he had to concentrate on their enemy for now. "Just let her go Ken, you have nothing to gain in taking another innocent life."
"On the contrary" Ken laughed. "I gain the satisfaction of knowing you have taken another loss while I take another victory."
"You're a cruel man" Noriko growled.
"And you're a snarky woman" Ken grinned.
"Just tell us what you want and we'll give it to you in exchange for the duchess's safety" Matt said. "I can offer you almost anything unless it is another human life."
The dark warlock scanned the room in the same way the other magical being did but with a much motre sinister intent in mind. "What about your own life prince?" Ken asked. "I won't kill you; rather, I will take to a secret chamber. I've never tortured a royal so high up on the social food chain before; it could be fun just seeing the kingdom squirm without their beloved prince."
"Absolutely not!" Noriko shouted indignantly. She ended up biting her tongue when Ken took out a knife and made a rather large cut on Yolei's thigh, causing the duchess to scream in pure fright.
"Well?" Ken waited.
Mimi wanted to say something, to shout at the warlock at the top of her lungs to stop what he was doing. She looked over to the prince and she saw that he had lowered his sword, it seemed like he really was going to give up his life.
Tai seemed to have thought the same thing. "Prince Matt, are you sure about this?"
"What choice do I have?" Matt growled. "Yolei may be a duchess, but she is still one of my subjects and a prince is responsible for the safety for their people. I need to do something…"
Noriko wanted to stop him but one look from her master and she knew she needed to back off. The prince dropped his blade and started to walk towards Ken with his head held high, there was no way he was going to let this low wizard was going to make him look like a fool.
Ken's smirk got wider as he loosened his grip on the duchess. But at that exact moment, Mimi couldn't take much more.
"Stop it!" she screamed. Everything in the room seemed to freeze in time, even Ken. The princess looked to the warlock with tears flowing freely from her eyes, and it was clear that no one had ever seen so much pain on her face until then. "Please, just stop hurting people! What have we done to deserve all this suffering?"
Ken was silent at first, with not even the smallest smug grin to hide the honesty in his next words. "Have you ever grown up where everyone is amazed by your abilities and they're only impressed with you because of that? All they see is that genius, as a tactician and a magician, but they never see you. It's painful, knowing that all they need you for is magic but not to just be there. That's why I despise you mortals so much, because you just don't understand."
He gripped his knife tighter and he was just about to cut Yolei's neck when a hand grabbed his arm. Ken's head jerked upwards to come face to face with Izzy who had somehow closed the gap between them in such a short amount of time.
"There are few but they're there" Izzy stated.
"What?" Ken snapped as Yolei started hyperventilating between the two mages.
"People who care about us for more than just our magic."
Izzy yanked Yolei out of Ken's grip and she landed in Matt's arms who tried to drag her father away from the scene. Unfortunately, just as Izzy shot a bolt of lightning at Ken, the dark warlock became a puff of black smoke and reappeared in front of the prince. He blasted a wave of black energy at them and with no weapon to protect them, all Matt could do was dive to the ground while pushing the duchess to the other side.
Yolei got up quickly and tried to crawl away just as Noriko and Davis charged in with their swords at the ready. Izzy who was trying to get a clear shot of their enemy now couldn't with the two knights in the way. It was useless anyway; their metallic weapons meant nothing to someone who could turn himself into vapor.
Yolei had gotten to her feet with the two knights distracting Ken so she tried to reach the outstretched arms of her best friend. Mimi waited for the hug from the duchess which would never come as Ken appeared between them causing Yolei to run right into the sword Matt had dropped earlier. Mimi's eyes widened in pure horror as the duchess spurted out crimson red blood.
"This is what happens when someone comes between me and my goals" Ken said.
He grabbed the lifeless socialite by the throat and even from a distance; they could all see that Yolei's blood was mixing with her tears. Ken threw the motionless body out the balcony and Mimi chased after it, sobbing when they heard the sound of a heavy weight hitting the hard ground.
"Oh God…" was all Mimi utter as she stared at the duchess's body. She covered her eyes as she tried to calm down through breathing but it wasn't working. All she could think about was blood and those last words Yolei had spoken before death.
"I'm sorry…Mimi…"