Challenges

The next day Katja wasn't sure whether she felt like waking up at six in the freaking morning or not. Her body rolled over in the queen sized bed. There were two of them in this room. All of the beds were either queen or full and typically there were two beds to a room. Right now, Katja shared a room with a woman named Risley Law.

She was a happy-go-lucky type, and upon meeting the woman late last night, she'd nearly brushed skin against skin. Why everyone from Fiore felt that a kind introduction began with touching hands together was beyond her. In Lancet it was customary to greet by pressing forearms together. For close comrades you pressed foreheads together then the elder kissed the forehead of the younger. Those customs would have been fine, but no, Fiore natives went with the ole standard issue handshake.

It drove Katja crazy. Even so, she was glad that she was bunking with Risley instead of the very hyper and very happy woman named Millianna. Thanks to King Isaac the women were separated from the men. Katja had to sleep in the same room as the Mermaid Heel girls instead of staying with her brother or Hollis. Any member of the Royal Guard other than Colin would have been wonderful. That male had a perverted streak a mile wide. Thus why Millianna had popped him in his pervy mouth the other night.

As glad that Katja was to see that Colin had gotten popped for his bad personality, she wished she didn't have to stay with these girls. Two of the five wore provocative clothing that unnerved Katja, got her jealousy boiling up inside of her.

Last night she kept thinking, Why did my mother curse me like this? Even though Katja knew her mother had fed her poison to keep Gatlin and Gatlin's father from touching her—raping her as they did the other slave girls—Katja couldn't stop the ire that grew the longer she was forced to realize she had to wear long sleeves and turtlenecks for the rest of her life. It totally sucked, and Katja was completely tired of it.

She wanted to feel the sun on her skin. She wanted to be able to kiss boys and go on dates. Katja wanted to buy that sexy one piece that looked like it had been made for her body and hers alone. Ever since seeing that swimsuit in a shop's window, she hadn't been able to get the article out of her mind. She had seen it with Sven, and she remembered the pity in Sven's eyes when he'd acknowledged his elder sister's longing.

Kat didn't want to be pitied. She just wanted to be normal!

Hands grabbed onto the duvet stretched across the bed, and Katja threw herself back into bed. The games were starting at ten today. She could sleep until thirty minutes before the competition.

A voice sounded off to the side of the room, and Katja recognized it as Risley. Bare feet touched the wooden floors, floors that Katja knew would be warm to the touch thanks to King Isaac's installation of a radiant floor system throughout the many lodges dotting the Icere mountain range.

When those feet padded even closer towards Katja's bed, she clutched the duvet tighter over her head. She wanted to be left alone right now. Rogue's stalking last night had made Katja's insecurities come up to the fore. She was still pissed at him, but some part of her admired the fact that he wanted to help her. She would… She should apologize to him today.

"Come on, Katja. I smell breakfast. If we don't eat now, we won't have time to eat before the competition," Risley explained.

The competition… Katja was inwardly excited about it. Just the mention of it got a shaft of adrenaline rocking from the tips of her toes to the tips of her fingers. She assumed that King Isaac would put everyone on the slopes. She hoped her assumption was correct. Though, that happiness was a direct contrast to the insecurities going through Katja's head.

Like a heaven sent angel's call, Katja remembered her mother's words of encouragement. "Katja, you may never be able to be touched, but you can always make a name for yourself. Some girls only wish to grow up and become housewives in Lancet. Since you can't do that, promise me you'll do something great."

Under the duvet Katja's lips turned into a sneer. Yeah. Yeah. Can't be touched. Do something great. If you have a weakness somewhere, make a strength somewhere else. Tch! It was annoying. Katja's mother, Malia, and her brother never allowed Katja a single second to wallow in self-loathing.

She pulled the duvet down to blink at Risley's smiling face. The cloth covered everything right up to the bridge of her nose as she stared awkwardly at the plump woman trying to get her to get out of bed.

"Good morning," Risley greeted. "So, does this mean that you're going to get up for breakfast? I know that King Isaac is actually a champion in the kitchen."

Katja's voice was low when she responded. Muffled by the duvet, she stated, "Yeah, but… could you leave the room first for me to get changed?" There was no way that Katja was chancing Risley accidentally touching her skin when Katja was changing her clothes. Even though the girls of Mermaid Heel knew about Kat's skin, that didn't always help. Accidentally bumping into someone could always turn into a life or death situation with her stupid body.

"You're so adorable. Alright, then. I'll meet you outside." Risley walked over towards the door.

As soon as she closed the elaborately carved wooden door, Katja grumbled, "Yeah, because social anxiety is real damned cute." With a sigh she pushed herself up and tossed her legs over the side of the bed.

Annoyingly enough, there was a mirror placed in her direct line of sight. It showed off Katja's honey brown skin. Her toned legs looked silky soft in the mirror before they hid beneath a pair of tiny sleep shorts.

When not hidden beneath layers, Katja had a wonderful body. She was athletically toned. Though she didn't have huge breasts like Princess Adamine and though she didn't have a six pack like the woman she admired, Katja had a nice sized chest and a perfectly smooth stomach that was starting to form similar indentations thanks to Adamine telling Kat about her workout routine. The woman was a freaking machine. She ate constantly, and when she wasn't eating she was working out. Damned amazon.

She rose from the bed and stepped out of her sleep shorts. Grabbing them by their stretchy waistband, Katja shot the shorts in the direction of the mirror. To her reflection Katja did the stupid thing she promised her brother she'd do every morning. "I'm a beautiful, independent woman who don't need no man. You got that, biatch?"

With that causing a grin to shift her mouth, Katja pulled on a pair of yoga pants then slipped into her favorite turtleneck. Since she was going to have to ditch out to the shower in a second, she decided against changing into her snow gear.

As soon as she opened the door to the bedroom, her face was caressed by the wonderful scents of King Isaac's cooking. Yeah, most kings let their servants to everything for them, but not Isaac. That man would cook and clean alongside his servants. They loved him for it. All of the Royal Guard loved him for it, and as soon as she entered the kitchen she saw the Mermaid Heel girls gaping at Felix and his generous plate of breakfast.

The six and a half foot berserker had at least five plates surrounding him. One consisted solely of meats like bratwurst, ham, and turkey. He had about five different types of omelets around him. A plate was covered in a tower of fruits and cheeses. The last plate was overflowing with breakfast vegetables. Not only did the Sword of the Kingdom, Felix Eisenberg, have a ton of food, but he had a massive mug of maple bacon coffee beer sitting in front of him.

The giant, muscular blonde tossed his blue eyes over towards Katja. He pulled the brew away from his lips to greet, "My sister, it's odd to see you up so early after a late night of work. You will eat with a true warrior, eh?" Felix grabbed a hold of a bright red apple then tossed it to Katja's hands.

Carefully, Katja adjusted her magic to emit sleep instead of death or rot. This was something she and Felix did every morning. He would throw fruit or something at her, and she would try not to rot it before she could put it in her system. Although Katja killed everything she touched, she couldn't eat rotten apples. Her mother had hand fed her until the day she'd died. Then, Sven had taken over feeding his sister. Those years had felt so… degrading.

When Felix had heard of her handicap, he had forced her to hold fruits and vegetables. At first, it had begun with the massive man throwing food at her from across the slave quarters in their former owner's castle. She would get bonked upside the head over and over again until one day she'd snapped and came after him. That day, Felix had shoved an apple into her mouth. He'd explained, "A True Warrior would not accept her handicaps so easily, my sister." Ever since then, she and Felix had been the best of friends.

Grinning shyly at the first friend she'd made out of the Royal Guard Katja took a seat between the blonde bear and her tall brother. Her teeth sunk into the apple, and as soon as she made eye contact with the king who was watching Kagura like she was the goddess of life herself, she decided it was time to begin her drill session. "So, Isaac, what's the preliminary round going to be?"

"No."

"Oh, come on. Tell me. You know I won't tell anyone else."

"No."

"But, Isaac, I have no friends. Who could I possibly tell?"

"That's a lie, and no."

Katja huffed and put her arms under her breasts. When a low rumble moved through the air, she caught sight of Felix doing his quiet laughter thing. Quickly, she elbowed him in his brawny side. The thick hide of his leather strapped armor kept him protected. For now.

"So, even though, we're your Royal Guard we don't get a hint?" Katja grumbled.

Isaac slowly shook his head, but when Kagura decided to join in on drill her man, his expression got nervous. "You wouldn't even give us a hint?" Kagura wondered, cocking up a black-purple brow.

"I-uh-No! No, damn it! Stop looking at me like that. You're a part of the teams participating. If I don't get to take part in the games, then you don't get a hint."

That got Kagura's and Katja's eyebrows to rise. As a matter of fact, everyone looked amazed to hear that little detail. From the pool table Isaac's regent, Hollis, backed off from the billiards game he was playing with Colin. The red haired man mentioned, "You're the guild master, technically. I thought that it was optional for guild masters to partake if they filled out extra paperwork."

From his dirty magazine Colin, the Gatekeeper of Lancet, lifted his smoky grey eyes. "You know that Isaac hates paperwork with the same passion as Makarov from Fairy Tail." He casually turned a page to show off some woman's sexualized body. Accursed pervert. The man's brows rose, and he turned to magazine to show off some vintage pin up shots of Princess Adamine. "Check it. Adamine did pin ups."

"My cousin did…" Isaac caught sight of the magazine, and his ebony brows flew up. "My cousin's in a PlaySpell magazine. The world must be coming to an end. Damn it, Colin. Put that thing away. We have guests here."

"No way!" Colin complained. He flipped the page over to a shot of Adamine and Mirajane in the same picture. They were playing volleyball on the beach. The shot was angled in a particularly scandalous way to flaunt Adam's ass and Mira's breasts. "Damn. Why couldn't I have been assigned to Fairy Tail?"

Katja rolled her eyes, but it was Sven who did something about the man. Summoning a dart to coat in the venom produced in his saliva, the male pressed his trusty bamboo blowpipe to his lips. In one soundless shot Colin fell asleep on top of the pool table.

"Was that really necessary?" Hollis wondered, more concerned with the fact that the stripped ball he'd been aiming for was now in the complete wrong spot.

Sven shrugged. "He was being derogatory towards my princess. What good assassin doesn't serve his master even when she's not around?"

"A True Warrior," Felix chimed before taking a massive bite of omelet.

Millianna snickered from her spot on the counter. "You know what, I think I like your Guard, Zac."

"I just wonder how all the guilds will deal with these bunking situations. Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are surely trying to dissect each other right now. I hope they make it in time for the introduction at ten." Isaac hung his head then made himself a plate of food. He sat himself down only to sit up perfectly straight when one of his shades connected to his shadow. The shade was relaying a message. "Ah. Hell. Hollis, you made sure to put insurance on the cabins. Correct?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Apparently, Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are already brawling."

Eyes turned towards Katja, and she nearly jumped at the sudden onslaught of attention. "What?" she whined.

"They're your guild, Kitten," Hollis teased while leaning against his pool stick. "Go calm the boys down before they cause an avalanche."

"Wa-haha! You missed!" Sting howled from his spot on the chandelier. For someone who had just recovered from being poisoned, Sting appeared to be doing all right. Behind him a fire ball flew out a window opened just in time by Mirajane.

"I won't miss this time!" Natsu howled. He charged up a ball of flame. Right when he was about to shoot it towards Sting, Gray walloped the pink haired male with a fist of ice.

"Damn it, Natsu! Not inside!" Gray roared. Suddenly, he was pulled forward. Natsu went in for a punch, but Gray caught his fist before it could connect. Slamming foreheads together, the two snarled like raging bulls.

"Got a problem with me, Ice Princess?"

"You are a problem, Slanty Eyes!"

"Think you can take me, Droopy Eyes?"

"Take it outside!" roared a new voice. Makarov's body lengthened out to a partial version of his giant form. "I'm not paying for the damages if you destroy something overseas this time!"

Had Katja not met these lunatics once before, she might have been disturbed by the chaos ensuing within one of her favorite mountaintop lodges, but she had. And… Sadly enough, this was their version of normal. Katja hissed, "Yes, we're all just one big, dysfunctional family."

As soon as someone opened up the doors to the lodge, Katja had to jump over a blast of fire infused ice. Her dark chocolate brows flew up, and she landed in the snow. A ball of wrestling males came tumbling out of the front doors. Spears of light, slashes of ice, and waves of flame all sparked out from a mound of testosterone. Katja might as well have heard dog barking and cat hissing coming from that knot of hormones.

With a sigh she stepped around the brawling males and entered the lodge. Without the mess of maleness around, the rest of the lodge was rather quiet. A couple of the mages Katja had spoken to when King Isaac had gotten crowned where here. Katja had seen Lucy and Evergreen. She'd taken a particular liking to Levy. That blue haired girl was sitting with a rather punk looking guy with more piercings than the regent Hollis had tattoos. Yukino was chatting happily with Lucy, but none of those girls were who Katja was looking for. No, Katja had someone in mind. She was on the hunt for Princess Adamine.

Keeping to the shadows of the lodge so no one would see her, Katja scanned around. There was nothing she wouldn't give to have a high perch right now. With the bodies in here, Katja couldn't make Adamine out from any of the other brunettes in the lodge.

A stray ball of fire shot into the guild. Bodies flew out of the way of the blast, and Katja was already running the numbers through her head of how much coin they were going to have to pay the owners of the lodge. As her hazel eyes watched the ball fly through the air, there was only one person who didn't get out of the way.

People screamed for a girl to move, to get out of the way of the blast, but as soon as enough bodies parted for Katja to see who they were yelling at, she understood. Right before the fireball was about to slam into Adamine's body, the princess merely turned herself to diamond.

Flames crackled against her diamond hard skin, but the princess didn't move. She just leaned over to protect the manga she was drawing. As soon as the flames dissipated, Adam grabbed the papers in both hands to cry, "Saved it!"

Shaking her head, Katja mentioned, "That's our princess…"

She was already on her way to meet up with Adamine when Yukino caught hold of Katja's covered elbow. Her entire body shut down still at the sudden contact. "Katja!" Yukino greeted. "What are you doing here to early?"

Robotically, Katja turned in the direction of the happy female. Why were all the women around her happy? As a matter of fact, everyone was too happy around here. We're they all on Adderall or something?

"H-Hey, Yukino," Katja forced herself to greet. "Someone let one of the shades loose, so I had to come check on you all. Is everything okay?"

Yukino mouthed the word shade before realizing Katja was referencing the little shadow men that were plastered to the wall or floor where no one was standing. "Oh! Everything's fine. I don't know who could have sent one of the—"

"Katja!" a voice called from nowhere. Weight pressed down on Katja's body as she was suddenly slam tackled by the princess of Lancet herself. Where their skin touched, Adamine turned her body to diamond. No matter what poison was produced by Katja's body, Adam's diamond skin wouldn't contract it. She was one of the few who could touch her. Even so, Katja would never know the warmth of the woman's affections. "I called, but I wasn't sure who they'd send," Adamine explained, sitting on Katja's torso like an animal that had just made a kill.

"H-Hi, Princess Adamine," Katja mentioned, still recovering from part shock and the fact that she was being sat on. "Did you just want to meet someone?"

Adamine nodded. "Pretty much. I needed someone to relay a message back to Isaac for me, but I couldn't say anything because…" She thrust her thumb in the direction of her usual companions, Laxus, her Hellhound Black Pearl, and the Raijinshuu.

Leaning up on her elbows, Katja stated, "You're keeping secrets from the Raijinshuu? Is something wrong?"

Adam's head lifted in the direction of Yukino like she'd just acknowledged the girl's presence. Giving the white haired female a wave, Adamine matter-of-factly explained, "I'm going to propose to Bickslow during the Games!"

All the color might as well have drained from Katja's face, and Yukino might as well have fainted on the spot. The white haired girl dropped to her knees. In a hushed whisper, she asked, "You're going to do what?"

"I'm going to propose. Isn't that what I just said?" Adamine pointed to her mouth like she was double checking the words that just came out of there. Adam hopped off of Katja's torso then adjusted the other girl until they were all sitting in a huddle in one of the far corners of the lodge.

Knowing that Adam was raised in the wild with a dragon and on the run from the government for the most of her life, Katja asked the question of the century. "Do you even know what that word means, Mina?"

"Course I do! It's when two comrades of opposing genders decide that they would lay down their lives for one another. It's just a trivial ceremony about tying the metaphorical knot, but his parents have been pressuring him about it, so I thought I'd take the pressure off of him and do it myself. We've been comrades since I was thirteen, so why the hell not?" Adamine explained in her usual enthusiastic tone. Leaning in, Adamine added, "I mentioned it to Evergreen, and she got annoyed with me. Said something about how the man should be the one to propose but that Bix is too dense to do it. She also told me not to tell him. That's why I'm being so secretive about it."

Yukino looked like she was giving her scout's honor not to tell anyone, but Katja just kept shaking her head. "Does Black Pearl know about this?"

Adamine nodded. "She does. She said that it was the best idea I've come up with in a while."

"Of course she did," Kat breathed. Yes, everyone was crazy, and it was Katja's job to acknowledge it. At least, that was how she felt about the whole thing. Even so… Princess Adamine married to a commoner Seith Mage who really didn't have anything going for him… If that wasn't a fairy tale something was off.

Bringing everyone back to the reason Katja had been summoned in the first place, Adamine explained, "I need Isaac to set Bickslow up as a player of Team Kindred Spirit. His sisters are short on mages, and Makarov's cool with it. Besides, I want a chance to kick his ass and prove who wears the pants in our relationship."

Yukino nervously laughed, "Uh. Adamine, that doesn't sound like the most romantic proposal I've ever heard of."

"Romantic?" Adamine tilted her head at the word. "We're not exactly a romantic couple." She flopped her legs out in front of her to explain, "I thought the best relationships were the ones that had comradery not romance. I'd much rather know that the guy I'm with is going to fight by my side rather than take me on nice dates."

Now those were words to live by. Despite it all, Katja rose up. Her eyes scanned around for the clock in the lodge, and when she caught sight of the short hand on the nine, she explained, "Alright, Adam. I'll do it, but you'd better make sure you don't forget about winning the games. Romance or no romance. I'm still going to kick your ass and prove the Royal Guard is the best team in Thor's Field."

A dark grin crept up Adamine's face. She challenged, "I'd like to see you try."