Notice: The summary has been changed. Chapters 1-5 of this fanfic will be edited due to mistakes, inconsistencies and overall writing quality. The change will not affect the progression of the fanfic further on, more likely it will fit on scheme with my new timeline. Also you do not need to re-read those chapters if you already done so.

Also, this chapter had basic knowledge of fencing, particular foil and sabre. With that I've also looked at tournaments, Olympic level fencing and HEMA. I've research the sport for a few months from time to time and I used what I needed to come up with the practice battles written in this chapter. If there are any inconsistencies, let me know.

Finally, Winx club season 7 English dub changed Aisha's name back to the RAI dub's Layla. I'm not changing her name to Layla in this fanfic or for any fanfic that used Aisha. I grew into calling her by her Italian name and I'm sticking by that spelling.

Revised: Winx Club Eternix Part 1 Chapter 6: The Sogno Empire

The Sognoian King's conference room was painted in deep blue with briar motifs in purple, lined in black. Heavy drapes hung open four of the seven rectangular windows that surround the north side of the room, the rest completely covered the tall windows. In the middle of the room was a long, wide rectangular table with papers, maps of Sogno's capital, townships and countryside, writing quills and open bottles of ink held in wood carriers covered the table on top. Underneath the parchments and writing utensils was a flag of the realm: half of the flag horizontally was deep blue while the other side was purple, small diamond shaped motifs in black covered the flag along with the ruling family's code of arms-some sort of bird pierced from the open wings to its talons through its body diagonally by white swords and enclosed in a minored cornered outlined square-on the edge of the table cloth and hanging partially from the left corner of the table facing the exit. Extravagant chairs lead up to the widest seat at the end of the table with some facing to, from and away from the table. Maidservants rearranged the order of the seating, fixing the chairs to the correct seating and screwing open bottles of ink closed while Pages rolled up and replaced the maps before leaving.

The rest of the conference room held bust on Sognoian orders, ornamented swords, lances and shields on walls, silk tapestries with gold inlays, rows of flags hanging from the ceiling and a built in book shelf that room on the left and right sides of the room. The Sognoian King raised his hand and as quickly as the maid servants came did they form a line, bowed and left the room in a haze. "I apologize for the mess. It took too long for the maidservants to clean. They will be reprimanded accordingly."

Recognized as either the King of Sogno or only to people closest to him King Forscythe, wore his day cloak over his long raven jacket, embroidered with a briar motif and sewn meticulously so pattern matched the seams that separated the clothing's sleeves and shoulders. His crown was simple in design: a sliver, round band with precious gems imbedded. His face was tired with crow's feet and smile lines, white hairs amongst shoulder length blond hair; his body was long and lean bordering narrow compared to Erendor's short height and rotund shape. He opened one of the cupboards, pulling out two small glasses and one glass bottle filled with liquid. "Those morons did not even set up a fit atmosphere for guest," he said while pouring the drink in the glasses.

Erendor accepted the drink Forscythe gave him. It burned as it touched his tongue and slipped down his throat in a cloudy, dry, heavy and sweet mix. Erendor retired it quickly as Sognoian King took a slower sip. Forscythe smirked, telling Erendor that they needed to loosen up. "Anymore?" The King offered.

"No thanks. It has a sweet kick to it."

"The long process of bathing in moonlight gives it an acquired taste. I heard that there's nothing like this in the other realms and smuggling this from our Solarian trade cost too much for some gentry to afford."

"Possible trading merchandise?"

Forsythe grinned. Business was one of the priorities and Erendor couldn't blame the fellow king. "What a better way to show the Magix dimension that we are of peace than a drink?" Forsythe finished his first drink with one swallow. "And I see you brought your son and wife. I apologize that my daughter was not here to formally introduce herself to your son. The Lake Fortress of Light was adamant for her arrival to Magix."

"It is understandable. They will meet eventually." Erendor took another sip of the rancid gin.

"Yes..." Forsythe's glass clamped on the conference desk. "I think we should get to why we are meeting like this. My ambassador received a letter from the Magix counsel: the ingrates at LFL have denied my request to be a part of the council, again. "

"I have tried several times to change their minds. They still consider your realm a Red Realm, regardless of your ties to Solaria and Eraklyon."

The Sognoian King sucked his teeth. Recognition as a Red Realm meant that it was hostile territory, to some savage. Other than Solaria, whom had only established formal trade of precious stones, Eraklyon was Sogno's key to the rest of the Realm. The King only needed to get through to Magix, then the universe would follow suit, even the pompous rulers of Melody and the self-righteous King of Andros would accept his invitation to the realm society when Magix fully recognize Sogno as a member. "After allowing my children to a presumably dangerous place and trusting my bloodline in their hands, they still ignore my request even for an audience?"

"Your ambassador has done a lot for the peace between your realm, my own and the rest of the Magical dimension." Erendor placed his glass on the table. "They'll consider an audience if-"

"No." Nothing was going to change his mind. He had given them his children and some meek peasant that Sogno agreed to pay passage for as a part of the deal, but a change like that would throw the Kingdom's market on itself. The Sognoian Empire would cease at it is. "They fear the power of the Sognoian Empire. They want us to be at our knees before we are accepted."

"With all due respect, some of their rules include that you are not in war within or with another planet nor do you take a planet and claim it as your territory." Even that left a bad taste in his mouth, though in the literal sense the drink he had.

The Sognoian breathed. If anything the natives to his territory should be thanking the Sognoian Empire, the Sognoian royals and commoners believed. The savages still had their land, food to eat and their primal huts that they treasured albeit a few territories that Sogno acquired for trade and vacationing. It was theirs, Waygritigra was theirs. "My forefathers took control of that heathenness planet half a millennium ago. We protected it from Zenith and had to deal with the damage they have done to its natural environment.

"Erendor, my friend, you understand about the rules of authority and creed. During my family's visit to Eraklyon you had just as much vigor with this tradition as my Kingdom has and the same with Solaria and Andros. They would rather discredit the amount of protection they will receive from our magicians and ignore revenue for a kingdom's personal traditions, traditions that each kingdom has? Every ruler in the Magix counsel would go against their children engaged to a commoner. Hypocrites."

"The council deems that you do not recognize them as citizens, both to this realm and Waygritigra. They want you to remove ties to the planet or see them as citizens."

Citizens... it was firmly established to the Sognoian King since youth that when he ruled all Sognoians were beneath him and the natives were not like them. They were human, he knew, but they were not the same as a Sognoian. They couldn't understand that to clean a room fast enough to leave their ruler's presence. Still he had to play nice with LFL's and to get around that rule to be recognized.

Erendor swallowed. "I do have a suggestion." Forscythe raised his eyebrow. "It is a simple plan really..."

"Then it should be simple enough for you to tell me."

"Next to politics, kingdoms love parties and the grander the better. I will arrange something with my council, a congratulations of sorts to the victors that defended the lands from Valtor's malice and invite all the royals...including the Sognoian royalty as a surprised guest." He poured more gin in his and Erendor's glass. "We can make something up, some attack that happens and Eraklyon and Sognoian royal guards would diffuse the situation. The issue could be blamed on Yoshinoya. This could show the strength of Sogno and our willingness to aid our allies and one step closer for Sogno to enter the Magix counsel."

Forsythe smiled while Erendor stirred his drink. "I knew there was a reason why I liked you. Speaking of, how has your militia done since our aid?"

He took the shot full glass, taking in the entire strength of the sweet poison. "I'll soon have Yoshinoya running with his tail between his legs!"

~O~

The Queen of Sogno sipped her third glass of wine while sitting on the central grand chair meant for the king. The seating was level above a practice room, the Queen did say that the room was once used as private seating area for plays when the royals were too bothered to travel to the theater. "Since the plays lost popularity in Sogno and moved into the territory, they converted this into a dueling arena," The Queen said. "The seating below this level were removed and the stage. The balcony was altered slightly to add more seating. I guess plays lost interest, dueling became the popular form of entertainment."

Handmaidens surrounded the royal and her important guest, one managing the Queen's wine, one gently fanning and the last was standing in the back waiting for her ruler's command. Samara sat on the chair left of the Sognoian queen, declining every request but a glass of water. Sky sat beside his mother and the High mage sat beside his queen.

The floor below commenced a practice duel. Both duelist were fully equipped in their fencing attire: mask, and jackets, knee pads, knickers and socks in white. The only thing distinguishing the two were their hair exposed behind the mask, one a short wavy dark ginger and the other a long straight blond with raven ends. Sky was attracted to fencing, but was a longsword user by body. It worked better for his strength and weight. He took Basic Fencing semesters ago, it didn't encourage him enough to pursue this style of combat and over the training, he grew a dislike the style. At least his personal experience didn't change his viewing of the sport.

The blond and raven haired duelist flowed with his advances and lunges while his red-haired opponent tried to keep up. The Prince moved swiftly, deflecting the attacks of his opponent until he thrusted his foil on the redhead. His en garde was firmly planted until the second exchange began and ending as fast as the first. The next round the prince countered his opponent, using his force to throw the individual off balance before dogging the redhead's foil for the match point on his shoulder.

"My son is a fantastic duelist," she said in her tipsy-induced accolade, spoke about his natural curiosity and his magical ability. "He would be a fantastic addition to the Red Fountain School."

If Samara could she'd roll her eyes. "I'm sure he will..."

Samara didn't want to be here. She hated being in Sogno and hated being near their royals and gentry and didn't agree with their policies. However, peace on Eraklyon was her and her husband's first priority and Eraklyon was growing in a state of decline. Money and soldiers grew tight and soon the kingdom can no longer sustain the wars between the feudal leaders. She understood Erendor's choice to ally with Forsythe, the Magix council members didn't involve themselves in Eraklyon's issues. She tried the best that she could, only her fingers express her mood but it slipped as she took out her anger out on the High Mage. It didn't matter much since she didn't like him either.

"I think, it's merely a suggestion..." The Sogno Queen pause briefly. "That it would be a grand if Prince Sky could show my son around the school during his stay."

The clanks of the foils echoed the room. Both duelist feet dragged on the strip, the blond and raven haired duelist parrying more than attacking and the redheaded opponent progressing to lunge. The redhead won the round with a thrust to the head plate.

Samara's restrain weakened. "You would want my son to play escort?"

The Sogno Queen turned to the Eraklyon Queen. "Not in that sense. More like to introduce my son to the Red Fountain atmosphere. I am doing this out of a position of trust, Samara. It's only a suggestion. It would be a lovely idea for the young men to get well acquainted."

"My son is busy and he did not grow up to have personal escort as one of his skills.

A double hit to the mask stopped the next round. The trainer, dressed in a black vest, black knickers and black socks motion his hand to the redhead. The blond-raven walked back to his position, shaking his head. The opponent readjusted the snaps on his gloves while the prince bent and examined the point of his foil before tapping the practice weapon with the back of his heel.

Samara pursed her lips slightly. She glanced at Sky. "Your son does not have a hired hand?"

"One of the issues with the Magix counsel. They agreed protect my children from danger and allow an embassy, but not allow us to send anyone to assist their daily task. It was such a bother to prep Lilith and Lamont on the routine of a Magix commo-"

"I do not think Sky would enjoy that, Lynette."

Sky pretended not to hear. The duel wasn't anywhere close in interest as hoverbike race, but it was better than including himself within the elder's talk. He had enough practice during his dinners, parties and leisurely events as a child to disincline himself in conversations, especially those talking about him. The High Mage too was distancing himself from the conversation and would have spent his time training his prince if evening fencing wasn't scheduled now.

As the match ceased and the duelist and instructor talked amongst each other, the talk between the Queens ended. By now, Lynette finished her third glass while Samara took her third sip of water. She called the handmaiden with her index figure and whispered something in her ear, the servant ran off to do her task. Below, a page held two long practice weapons by their hilts, the bell guards of the weapons extended to the pommel. The long, straight, flat footed stance exchanged with an even leveled stance from the prince and a slight hunched position by his redheaded opponent whom kept his foil.

The Redhead strike the using his foil. The prince parried and paced back, then lunged for the opponent's shoulder which the opponent quickly blocked with both swords and pushed him off the strip. The Prince tried to slash the opponent's waist, but was parried with the ginger's foil.

"I understand, seeing that my son and your son would be in different courses and different living quarters. Prince Sky, how would you feel about giving my son a tour of your school?"

Sky turned to the Sognoian Queen, her pale face with a blush on her cheeks and her purple eyes as inviting as when they met.

"I do not think it is appropriate to ask my son that," Samara said sternly.

"It wasn't appropriate to talk about him while he's sitting with us, Samara."

The High Mage tapped his foot. He tried to divert the women's conversation to, talking about the interest in Magix's republic system and what he heard about Alfea's curriculum and the princess fairies that attended.

"Yes, yes, yes." Lynette waved off the Mage. "Don't interrupt our talk."

Through the noise of the match, heavy breathing from the duelist was heard at the seating area. The redhead's breathing was a quickly growing gruff and the blond-raven was a steady with cries during his actions. The redhead sprinted, thrusting his sabre and foil at his opponent. The blond-raven slid his sabre under the hilt, to the arm guard and pulled the weapon off the redhead's hand. The sword flew to the wall and fell with clank. The red head thrusted at the head guard, shoulders and torso. The blond-raven parrying, his breath sped up to a huff to keep up his actions.

"Prince Sky?" The adults turned their attention to the blue eyed Prince. Within the seconds of silence after's Queen Lynette's question, a sharp cry echoed from the dueling floor. The ginger haired duelist was on the floor and the prince pointing his practice sabre at him, but no one on the balcony cared. The High mage watched Prince Sky with a furrowed eyebrows and a slight open mouth. His mother side eye her son with a tight closed lip.

"…I don't mind…" It made Sky feel worse when his mother glared at him. I guess this is how the Mage felt. "I really do not mind. It wouldn't be trouble."

Queen Lynette clapped, claiming how splendid this while the Mage nervous laughed in the presence of the royals. She touched the fellow Queen's shoulder. "Come now Samara, we should relax on this beautiful day."

I hope you've enjoyed chapter six. I originally intended to merge chapter 5 and 6, but the amount of writing together would place a really large chapter between the previous ones. Also I intend to get as much description as possible through my created environment, Sogno, since I never got in depth with this location in the original version.

I'm happy to introduce my latest OC, Lamont. In the original version his first appearance was in chapter 8, Roxy in Love while in this version he's about two chapters ahead. I'm also introducing my last OC from the original version the King of Sogno and the Queen (who in the original wasn't a queen.) The original version to chapter 6 was a part two to the previous chapter so that vibe is still the same.