Summery: Majella was just another girl off the street. She dressed like a street person, she acted like a proper (somewhat). It's hard to believe her parents are rich, though the money really isn't hers. After losing her memory, everything was new to her. A boy with red eyes. He took interest in her special ability. He took her back to the castle and introduced her to Hakuryuu and Kougyoku Ren. What will happen in her life? How will they change it? Will she meet Alibaba and his gang?
Chapter 3: Training! With a Prince?!
It had been a day since Majella's last meeting with the dark magi. While Judal was absent, the princess explained everything to Majella, starting with what a magi was. Then she went on to tell the younger girl about metal vessels, djinns, and many other things. Most of the names Majella had never heard of but it wasn't hard for her to understand what the princess was saying. As Kougyoku continued to explain a wide variety of concepts, Majella would get in a question here and there. She was fascinated about all the things she was learning from the princess.
Since Majella's sudden appearance was a surprise, her room hadn't yet been prepared. Judal was prone to doing what he wanted when he wanted, and bringing Majella unannounced was a typical Judal-move. So since Majella had nowhere to sleep at night, Kougyoku offered her own quarters as a temporary room. She invited Majella to share her room.
The princess's room was beautifully decorated in shades of baby pink and hues of dark fuchsia. Soft, white draperies hung by large overlooking windows and fuzzy rugs were laid out on the lush, pastel-colored carpet. A couple of oval doors led to other adjourning rooms while sweet paintings framed in gold hung on the walls.
It wasn't long before Majella and the princess became very good friends. They had long conversations far into the night, telling each other about their vastly different worldly experiences. Each girl came to know the other much better and soon it felt like they had known each other since they were children.
Koubun, however, didn't approve of them staying up so late and he would sometimes pop in to check up on them and to make sure they were really sleeping. But of course they weren't and were only pretending, closing their eyes whenever he entered the room. After he left, the two girls would burst into giggles underneath their sheets at having tricked the assistant.
But finally, the two exhausted girls happily fell asleep.
The next morning, they got up bright and early to change and eat breakfast. Koubun bustled about, bringing them trays laden with food and bowls of fresh fruit. As Majella was running a brush through her silky hair, the princess spoke up.
Majella turned and looked at Kougyoku in shock. "You want me to do what?"
Kougyoku giggled from behind her sleeve. "You don't know how to wield a sword, right?" There was a hint of amusement in her eyes. "Well, I've asked my stepbrother to teach you a few things."
Majella sighed. "And why do I need to learn?"
"To be strong," the princess answered. And then suddenly becoming solemn, she stated, "And if you're going to enter a dungeon, you'll need to know how to defend yourself."
Majella placed the brush back onto the nightstand. "Do I have to enter a dungeon?" she asked.
"Of course! Depending on which one Judal picks, you'll need to train as much as you can." The princess took Majella's hand. "Capturing a dungeon isn't easy. Lots of people never come out and I don't want my first friend to die."
Majella's eyes widened then she smiled. "I'll always be your friend, Kougyoku, no matter what."
The princess returned her smile. It was silent for a few minutes before she spoke up again. "Alright, let's go. Hakuryuu won't wait forever." Kougyoku went into another one of her rooms and Majella heard her rummaging about. When she returned, she had a long, wrapped object in her arms. Slowly, the princess peeled away the silk cloth and revealed a silver blade with a hilt adorned with gems. She handed it to Majella.
Majella looked at the beautiful sword for a second and then looked up at the princess. "A-Are you sure?"
The princess and her assistant both nodded. "I'm sure. Besides, you'll need a weapon once you enter a dungeon."
"I see," Majella said smiling at them. "Thank you!"
"This is just a training weapon though. Your actual one is… um… coming soon." Kougyoku smiled from behind her sleeve.
Majella laughed softly. "That's fine. This one is perfectly fine." She turned the sword slowly around in her hand, feeling its weight.
"Alright!" The princess exclaimed with delight. She had almost forgotten about Majella's training in the excitement of showing her the sword. "We better go before he becomes impatient."
"Hakuryuu?" Majella asked, making sure it was him that was training her and not someone else.
Kougyoku nodded. "Yes, he's my cousin and stepbrother." The princess took Majella's hand and they traveled down a couple of corridors, heading for the open courtyard at the side.
As they came to the end of the corridor, the space opened up to a sunny area where a dark blue haired boy was training. The sounds of his weapon clashing with those of his personal trainer rang throughout the air as the boy expertly maneuvered around his training opponent.
"I'll be right back," Kougyoku said. Majella watched as the princess went to talk to her stepbrother. Koubun stayed behind, remaining by Majella's side and waiting with her.
As they stood side by side waiting, Majella turned to Koubun and asked him, "Who exactly is that man?"
Koubun's gaze slithered to meet hers before he looked back at his princess. He held his green fan below his mouth as he answered, "That man is the Kou Empire's fourth Imperial Prince, Ren Hakuryuu."
An uneasy smile graced Majella's face. She hadn't really thought about it but now she felt anxious and uncertain. She would be training with the royal prince.
Koubun noticed that she had tensed up and he said tenderly, "He's serious about a lot of things but he's also a kind person. You don't need to be nervous."
Majella was about to reply but a male's smooth voice beat her to it. "You must be Majella," Hakuryuu said easily. He had come up to them, unnoticed, when she had been talking to Koubun. "Kougyoku has told me a lot of things about you and I look forward to training you." He flashed her a welcoming smile.
"Take it easy on her," Kougyoku said to her stepbrother. "But teach her as much as you can. Judal plans on taking her to a dungeon in three days." Then the princess took her leave, bidding Majella good luck and to work hard. She disappeared into the shadows to secretly watch them from the sidelines.
After the princess had left them alone, Hakuryuu took Majella's ornate training sword and handed her a proper one to use. "You must be excited to be entering a dungeon," he said.
Majella gave him a small smile. "More like terrified," she admitted.
"That's understandable. Capturing a dungeon can be scary."
After that, Hakuryuu started to train her, teaching her stances, postures, and effective techniques. A couple of hours later with him explaining what she should do with a sword and all the things she shouldn't do, Majella slowly became accustomed to him and started to relax around him. Something about him just made her feel safe and at peace. She couldn't quite explain any of it.
Working diligently, Majella kept trying to imitate each of his moves but always ended up failing.
"You're doing it wrong," Hakuryuu instructed, his tone serious. "Here, let me show you how to do it." He took her arm gently and moved it to the correct place. "It's all in the wrist and in the forearm," he explained. Hakuryuu moved behind Majella and pulled her softly against him so that her back was pressed against his chest. His strong arms encircled her and he touched her gently. "You're tensing up," he murmured. "You have to relax in order to concentrate." And then he brushed his fingers up the length of her forearm to position it correctly.
Majella blushed. No matter how she looked at it, it was all very awkward for her.
Judal sat watching the duo train, angrily munching away on a peach. He was so absorbed with looking at Majella and Hakuryuu that he didn't notice someone approaching him from behind. He jumped when someone planted a hand on his shoulder. The dark magi turned around and saw that it was Kougyoku. Her assistant was not with her.
"Did you just get back?" Kougyoku asked as he turned away from her and continued taking large bites out of the peach.
"Yeah," Judal answered as he took one last bite out of his peach, devouring it and throwing away the pip. He gestured with annoyance to Majella and Hakuryuu training in the open courtyard. "Why is he being so friendly with her?"
The princess giggled. "It's training. He's probably being friendly because I asked him to go easy on her."
"How long have they been training together?"
The princess looked up, thinking. "Pretty much all day. They stopped for an hour to eat though."
"They seem to be on good terms," a male's voice floated towards them from a distance. Judal glanced around and saw that it was Koubun standing a few feet away.
Judal growled and stood up. Without another word to the princess or her assistant, he sauntered over to the two people training on the field. As he approached them, he plastered on a cheerful smile and said, "Hey, Hakuryuu! Why don't you let me train Majella for a little while?"
Hakuryuu stared at the dark magi. "Are you sure you're capable of training her? You use magic, she doesn't." He was feeling tired after a full day of training but he was willing to push himself further in order to help Majella in the dungeons. He didn't want her to die.
Judal shrugged. "With the dungeon she'll be going in, she'll need to learn how to dodge, and what better way to learn that than to go up against my ice magic?"
The prince gave Majella a worried look and then shifted his gaze towards the dark magi. "I don't think your idea will work. Dodging is easy to learn, and besides, you might end up injuring Majella more than the dungeon will."
Tensions were running high now between Judal and Hakuryuu as each wanted their own way.
Kougyoku walked up to them and planted herself between the two. "I think we'll call it a day," she told them. Her gaze fell on Majella and her stepbrother. "Looks like both of you are exhausted."
I'm not sure if i did this right but, I tried not to make this chapter un-romantic but somehow i did xD oh well. Tell me what you think
Thank you for the reviews/favorites/follows!~ I really appreciate all of them~
Reviews
Ria Risa - I hopeI didn't disappoint you in this chapter~
Helen Teng - Hugs and Peaches~ xD I like that saying
88XeqtionerAngel88 - I hope I didn't disappoint you in this chapter~