It's been an hour since the tournament started and it was finally Azure's and Yukimaru's turn to fight. Before Azure stepped into the ring, Chloey stopped him. "Is something the matter, Milady?" He asked.
"It's just uh…..F-for some extra strength. There's more of them when you need them. G-good luck, brother." She said shyly as she held out a small red heart shaped sugar confection with a pair of beautifully designed fairy wings inside it. "It's a no holds bard tournament, meaning no rules. So you'll need all the strength you can get." She puts it in his hands and walks off.
He watches her walk off to stand next to Kazuki, then looks down at the sugar confection and smiles. He absorbs the small confection and walks into the ring, standing beside Yukimaru. In front of them stood two brawny warrior fairies. One wore a black ninja outfit, hiding his face. The other, a pirate outfit with a brown curly beard. They both laughed at them. "Yarr matey! It be the newbie prince an' a samurai. This will be easy as takin candy from a baby. Ain't that right my ninja friend? I bet his weapon be a mere toothpick!" The Pirate said as he continued to laugh.
"Never underestimate them, Curly Beard. They're stronger than they look" The ninja said.
"GENTLEMEN, and the lovely young miss. IT'S TIME FOR OUR NEXT MATCH! TEAM STEALTH HAWK VERSUS TEAM SNOWSTORM!" The announcer said. Everyone starts to laugh at team Snowstorm.
"Let's show them what you can do, Rein!" Gregory called out from their corner of the ring.
"ALRIGHT, FIGHTERS! TAKE YOUR POSITIONS. READY. GO!" The announcer said just before the bell was rung.
The ninja fairy disappeared instantly as the pirate fairy attacked Yukimaru. Azure closes his eyes, trying to sense where the ninja was. 'Where are you, Ninja? This is just like Cathy's ability so he must be….BEHIND ME!' He thought to himself as he summoned his buster sword behind his back, blocking the attack. "Nice try, friend, but I know this trick already." He smiled as he opened his eyes, glaring at the ninja. Azure's buster sword was as wide as a church pillar and as tall as Chloey. There was no guard but the hilt was black with a blue obsidian orb at the bottom.
The ninja's and the pirate's eyes widened. "Wat kin'a sword is that!" The pirate said.
"Who cares what kind it is. The bigger they are, the slower the swing." The ninja said as he disappeared again.
Azure closed his eyes again. 'He won't attack from behind again. So this time it'll be…..THE RIGHT!' He thought as he swiftly swung his sword to the right, hitting the ninja with the side of it as he reappeared. He falls to the ground.
"H-How" He struggled to say, gripping his side.
"As I've said. I've seen this trick before.
"Yarr, Let me have a go at im, matey." The pirate said as he helped the ninja up then stood in front of Azure. He points his sword at him.
"Gimmie your best shot, curly." He said as he smiled. The pirate laughed.
"I like yer spunk, kid." He said as he smiled before attacking him with his sword.
Azure dodged the attack then used the side of his sword to attack the pirate fairy. "Don't get cocky, young one. Remember your teachings." Yukimaru said as he dodged an attack from the ninja.
"Yeah. So let's finish this match quickly." He said as he smiled. The match ended within five minutes with Yukimaru and Azure as the victors.
Team Snowstorm has been storming their way through the ranks, winning any match that they went up against. "MATCH OVER THE WINNER IS TEAM SNOWSTORM! THEY'RE REALLY STORMING THEIR WAY THROUGH THE RANKS. BUT CAN THEY WIN AGAINST TEAM SPITFIRE TOMORROW! THAT'S IT FOR TODAY'S MATCHES FOLKS. WE WILL RESUME TOMORROW MORNING." The announcer called out.
Yukimaru and Azure returned to Kazuki and Chloey. She ran to him to examine him. "You didn't get hurt, did you?" She asked.
"I'll be fine, Milady. They're not serious. They will heal in no time." He reassured sweetly as he placed his hand on her head.
"Tomorrow's matches will only get worse from here on. So we need to stay on our guard at all times. We can't slack off now." Yukimaru said as he leaned against the wall, once they reached the inn.
"I hate seeing fairies fighting each other and hurting each other just for sport or fun. I've been seeing that this so-called tournament is more like a death match." Chloey said as she formed her hands into fists.
"That's because it is a death match." Yukimaru said.
"What do you mean, Yuki?" Kazuki asked.
"I overheard some of the other fairies in the locker room. Apparently, this tournament is to determine who is strong enough to become the next Fairy King." He said. Everyone's eyes widened.
"If anyone should be the next Fairy King. It would be either you or Challe." Azure said as he smiled and crossed his arms.
"I want no part in being a Fairy King. Challe has deserved that position more than any fairy. Even then, it should be his decision to make whether he wants to be King or not." He said as he opened one eye, glaring at him.
"Why do you say that, Az?" Chloey asked as she looked at him. He looked back at her and smiled.
"I'll tell you a little later, milady." He said.
"Tell us, you two! What are you hiding from us?" Shiza asked.
"You can't keep it a secret at this point, guys. You may as well tell them everything." Rosette said, sitting down on Azure's shoulder.
"What do you think, Yuki?" Azure asked.
"Do what you will." He said.
"Long story short, Yukimaru here was born from the diamond that was once on the previous Fairy King's sword about thirty years ago. So he's technically the youngest brother to Challe and Gladius, or Lafalle as he's truly named." Azure said.
"Impossible! He was born from the Diamond that's on my wife's necklace." Kazuki said.
"The diamond that's on your wife's neck now, was once on the previous Fairy King's sword." He said as he looked at the Captain.
"I had a feeling that he was related to dad in a way. I just wasn't entirely sure." Gregory said as he looked towards Yukimaru, then at the Captain and Lieutenant. "So he's technically my Uncle and your Great Uncle, Chlo." He looked at his daughter and smiled.
"Master Challe knows of his birth, but they do not know who he is or what he looks like." Azure said.
"So, What's your true name, Uncle Yuki?" Gregory asked as he looked at the samurai in white.
He opens his rainbow eyes and looks at him, then at Chloey, then closes his eyes again. "Rentalle fenn Rentalle." He said.
"Just by his attitude, I can already tell that he's related to Grandpa Challe for sure." Chloey said.
"And just by your auras, I've always known that the two of you are his offspring, since the moment his son was born. He may not act it, but I know that the four of you are very precious to him." Yukimaru said.
"Rubina and I can agree with that. Being with the master and his family since the moment we were born, I've come to notice small details about him that would otherwise go unnoticed. Such as checking in on Lady Chloey and her brother during the night when they were little." Azure said as he smiled.
"You sure that wasn't because the two of you were around them the whole time?" Yukimaru said, almost in a teasing tone.
"Th-That couldn't have been helped! Lady Anne was having them sleep in separate rooms and Lady Chloey wasn't used to sleeping without her brother! B-Besides, Lady Anne asked me to watch over her the first few nights without him!" Azure said surprisingly yet shyly as a red blush crossed his face. He crossed his arms, looking away from Yukimaru. The Captain, Lieutenant, Yukimaru, and Gregory laughed at him.
"The two of you should get some sleep, Rein. You deserve it." Gregory said.
"Papa's right, Az. You'll need your rest for tomorrow's matches. And after the prelims are over, the semi finals and the finals are all one on one matches." Chloey said, avoiding his gentle gaze. 'This is a life or death situation for the two of them, yet the other fairies are treating it as if it's just a game to them. If this tournament keeps up like this, then Az will be- I don't even want to think of it. I'll make them more sugar confections tonight before I go to sleep.' She thought to herself.
Later that night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Chloey finished making her sugar confections for the Warrior fairies. For Yukimaru, she made small white spheres with two samurai swords, looking exactly like his, crossing each other. For Azure, she made more of the same small spheres she had given to him before their first fight, she had made them in seven different colors. She poured the rainbow sphered sugar confections in a large red leather bag. She begins to pour the white sugar confections into a large black leather bag when she jumps, hearing a knock at her door, causing some of the confections to be tossed in the air. "Lady Chloey, are you awake?" She hears Azure from the other side of the door.
"C-Come in." She said as she struggled to catch all of the confections that were flung into the air. She managed to catch them all before Azure opened the door.
"You should be sleeping, milady. Not making sugar confections." He said as he closed the door behind him, then leaned against the wall beside the door. "You've been making them almost non stop since after the attack. Not only that but you wake up almost every night crying." He walks over to her, gently takes the white spheres from her hands, and puts them in the black leather bag. Never taking his sapphire blue catlike eyes off her. "Why won't you tell me what's bothering you anymore? You used to tell me and your brother everything when you were little. Now, you don't tell either of us anything." His voice had a sense of worry.
She looks at him before sighing. "If I tell you. PROMISE not to tell Papa?" She begged as she held up her pinky finger.
He sighed and smiled slightly before intertwining his pinky finger with hers. "Flap my wings and hope to fly, rip the wing if I lie." They both said at the same time. He gently took her hand in his and kissed her palm before letting go, causing a slight blush to appear on her cheeks.
"Now will you tell me what's going on?" He asked.
"I've been having nightmares about the attack, which is why I've been waking up crying and seeing you fight all those strong warrior fairies, seeing you get hurt by them in this tournament isn't really helping me calm down. Makes me sick how humans still treat fairies to this day. With dad, Llen and I being offspring from a human and fairy, we are treated even worse than fairies sometimes. You know all about that." She explained as she set down the black bag beside the red bag.
Her eyes widened when she felt his arms wrap around her from behind. He gently leans his head in her hair, kissing the top of her head. "From the moment I was born, I rarely left your side. Thanks to Master Challe and your father, I'm still able to stand by your side to protect you to this day. Yet whenever I'm not at your side, is when you need me the most. I've always been able to sense whenever you're in danger or afraid. That is how I was always the one to check on you before anyone else. I would always stay with you, until you would fall asleep. So until you no longer need me, I will continue to remain by your side, Lady Chloey." He explained as he held her in his arms.
There was a short, comfortable silence as she smiled, gently gripping his arm that was around her shoulders. "Thanks, Az. You're the best." She said. "You should go back to sleep. You'll need all the strength you can get for tomorrow's matches." She looks up to see him staring into her eyes. He smiles before letting her go.
"I will do as you say, milady. But there is something I've been wondering about." He said.
"What is it?" She asks.
He turns his nose towards a small tray covered with a light blue, almost white cloth over it, sitting on a chair at the foot of her bed. "That particular confection is separated from the others. I take it that it's something special." He said.
"Oh. That one? It's just something I had in my head. For some reason, this particular design won't go away." She said as she looked at the cloth covered tray. She walks over to it and sets it on her bed, the moonlight shining down on it. She uncovers the tray as it reveals a small sugar confection of an unfamiliar crest. "Grandma once told me about house Chambers and how its crest is forbidden now. All noble families and even the royal family themselves, have their own crest. Since Grandpa Challe's, gruncle Lafalle's and great Uncle Yukimaru's stones were chosen to birth the next Fairy King, I figured that since Grandpa Challe is the Fairy King, he deserves his own crest. I talked to his majesty about it before we left, and he wholeheartedly agreed. I've been thinking of designs for that crest ever since. But this one never leaves my mind."
He examines the crest in thought. "Zinnias, Lavender, and Roses of all colors, woven together in a bouquet with two Koi Fish swimming around it. And the Black Koi has a pair of fairy wings on its back." He says as he examines the confection. He smiles sweetly. "A crest where the three types of flowers represent everlasting friendship, peace, and love, and the two Koi represent change and growth between fairies and humans. I have no doubts that this design will make Lady Anne and Master Challe very proud of you, Lady Chloey." He looks towards her, holding his sweet smile.
She looks at him before smiling back. "I expected nothing less from you, Az. It's like you knew exactly what I was thinking when I made this design. Either that or you must be a mind reader." She said.
"If I was a mind reader, milady, then I would have read your brother's mind when he was keeping the secret about Rubi wanting to become the first sugar fairy artisan." He said.
She giggled. "That's true." She said. "Now, go to sleep Az. You'll need to be well rested for your matches tomorrow." She smiled at him.
"As you wish, milady. Goodnight then, and sweet dreams." He said before he left the room.
The next morning, Azure and Yukimaru stood in the ring, in front of their opponents. One appeared to be a Viking, the other a knight. Team Snowstorm beat the viking and knight fairies with a little bit of trouble, and won the preliminary round. Next, the Semi-finals had eight fairies competing in total. The semi-finals had four one-on-one matches. Azure and Yukimaru won their matches with ease. Next came the finals with two matches, now the two must face off against each other to see who will fight in the final match. "Just because we're friends, doesn't mean I'll allow you to go easy on me, Yukimaru." Azure said as he smiled, summoning his buster sword.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, Kid." He said, also summoning his sword.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WITHOUT FURTHER ADIEU, LET THE FINAL MATCH OF THE DAY BEGIN!" the Announcer called out as the match bell rang.
The match went on for what seemed like forever. Attack after attack, they both blocked with ease. "I get the feeling that you're hiding something from me, Yukimaru. Something that no one knows about you." Azure said quietly as he blocked another attack.
"That may be true, but I sense that you are also hiding something about yourself, from everyone you know. Especially from her. So why don't we stop messing around, and fight with our real strength." He replied quietly, so that only he could hear.
"There's a reason why I've never told anyone about it. Once I change, I can't control my power after a certain amount of time. After that time has passed, I'm capable of hurting friends and foes alike, even loved ones. He told me that it'll take years for me to control it. I am still, how the humans say, a teenager after all." He said as they stood across from each other.
"The only way for you to control the power inside you, is staying calm and thinking about what you want most. Only think about whom you want to protect most." Yukimaru said.
'Whom I want to protect most? Okay.' Azure thought with a smile.