(Keiko's Lesson)
*January 13th, 1907*
*Kingdom of Ix*
*Queen Zixi's Palace*
Dorothy, Flynn, and Betsy stood in front of Keiko, who had her hand on her hips rather impatiently.
"Come along! Queen Zixi is waiting for us, and once we're done with the meeting, I'll deal with you guys." Keiko commanded the trio while she turned around and walked toward the throne room, leaving Dorothy and Betsy curious about who she was.
"I wonder who she was, probably a friend of Flynn or something.." Dorothy curiously thought to herself as she, Betsy, and Flynn followed Keiko.
The gang continued walking until they reached the throne room of Queen Zixi.
It was a lavish, beautiful, and imperial room that had plenty of emeralds, jewelry, and other such gems, and the throne, which stood center in the room, had a blue color to it.
"Good Afternoon, Flynn and Keiko. It seems you've brought the guests of honor, Dorothy Gale and Betsy Bobbin of Kansas." Queen Zixi greeted the gang, smiling warmly at them while everyone bowed.
"Good Afternoon, Your Majesty. We've brought Dorothy here to help us in our mission." Keiko responded in a formal voice, slowly raising her head to face Queen Zixi.
After hearing this, Queen Zixi was pleased with those words, gently motioning her hands for everyone to face her which they did.
"Dorothy Gale. It's a pleasure to see you again. I've heard about your fight with Dion, the terrible creation from the Nome Kingdom. You've done marvelously and I wanted to congratulate you on that." Queen Zixi spoke to Dorothy with a warm smile, getting up from her throne as she said those words.
"Thank you, your majesty. I wouldn't have done it without the assistance of my friends and their belief in me." Dorothy responded, looking at her with a proud look on her face.
"And how correct you are, Dorothy. You've shown how good of a fighter you were." Queen Zixi responded as she turned her direction to the door, located on the left side of the room.
Soon after, Queen Zixi walked toward the door before turning back around to face the gang.
"Follow me, let's talk more in my study room, it's more suitable there." Queen Zixi ordered the gang, motioning her hand for them to follow her while the gang did just that.
After this, Dorothy and the others followed Queen Zixi to her study room while everyone sat down on the couches.
The study room appeared to resemble an office, with a warm and cozy aesthetic.
"Your majesty, how are you going to deal with my sister, Zorya? She intends to turn the world into darkness and we must put a stop to her before it's too late." Flynn asked Queen Zixi, waiting for an answer until Queen Zixi spoke up.
"First of all, you and the others must prepare before charging into wherever Zorya might be. We don't know what she might have up her sleeve, so I'm advising you and the others to focus on honing your technique and skills." Queen Zixi responded to Flynn, looking at Dorothy and Keiko while the trio nodded understandably.
Soon after, Keiko began to speak up.
"I was thinking of this as well. Rushing into a battle just won't work out for us, so I'm willing to take your advice, Your Majesty." Keiko responded to Queen Zixi, agreeing with her statement while Flynn, Betsy, and Dorothy nodded in agreement as well.
"That would be for the best, and once our conversation is done, we can get started right away." Flynn chimed into the conversation while all of this pleased Queen Zixi.
"Wonderful, and as a matter of fact, I believe we're done here. I just wanted to discuss this matter with everyone, so I'll leave you guys be." Queen Zixi spoke once more to the gang with a smile, getting up from her chair as she headed to the door.
Soon after, Dorothy and the others got up as well, bowing down to the Queen as they said their goodbyes to her.
"Wonderful, we'll get started right away, and It was a pleasure seeing you again, Your Majesty. Take care!" Dorothy spoke to Queen Zixi, waving goodbye to her.
This made the Queen smile once more as she gave one more piece of advice to the gang.
"Same here, I believe in you guys. I'm sure that Zorya will be defeated or brought back to the light." Queen Zixi spoke to the gang for the final time before leaving the room.
Once the door closed, Dorothy sat back down, stretching her body while Keiko sat next to her, hoping to learn more about her.
"So, can you fight with a sword? You know fists aren't just everything, you know?" Keiko asked Dorothy, waiting for an answer while Dorothy shook her head.
"I don't, but I've sparred with Flynn and his sword skills were quite wonderful to see. I mean, he was quite strong." Dorothy responded, admiring Flynn's skills while Keiko nodded.
"Well, I have to teach you how to use a sword, and not just that, your very own techniques and breathing skills as well." Keiko responded to Dorothy again, getting up from the couch as she was ready to head outside.
After hearing this, Dorothy was intrigued by this as she got up from the couch, ready to hear Keiko's explanation on the subject.
"I'll teach you all about it, follow me outside, Dorothy." Keiko spoke to Dorothy once more as she walked toward the door while Dorothy followed her.
Of course, Betsy and Flynn got up as well, following their respective friends to their destination, and during this, Betsy thought about what she heard.
"If only there was a way for me to get strong so I can protect those I love. I don't want to be a burden on Dorothy." Betsy thought to herself while she continued to walk alongside everyone else, having a sense of longing to protect her friends as well.
*Garden Fields*
The gang arrived outside, and Betsy and Flynn sat down on the ground while Dorothy, who was with Keiko, was ready to listen to whatever Keiko had to say to her.
"So, you need to learn how to control your breathing whenever you're fighting or using a sword, okay? Secondly, maintaining good breathing and a good heart rate is crucial to becoming a good swordswoman, are you following along, Dorothy?" Keiko explained, hoping that Dorothy was following along while the girl nodded, showing that she understood the explanation.
"I'm following along, and I'm getting the gist of this, and It's all exciting for me, I can't wait to use a sword." Dorothy responded, feeling excited as she stated this while Keiko was pleased at the response.
"Good. Now, I want you to show me the power that was used to defeat Dion, remember what I said, breathe calmly, and maintain a good heart rate." Keiko advised Dorothy, taking a few steps back as she waited for the transformation to happen.
Of course, Dorothy shook her head in denial, explaining the situation to her.
"I-I can't. I tried when I was sparring with Flynn but It just would not come out.." Dorothy explained to Keiko, gently twiddling her thumbs while Keiko shook her head in disappointment, putting her hands on her hips.
"You're a disappointment. You mean you didn't at least try to train yourself to maintain that power or whatever. It's crucial to use that power if you want to learn how to use a sword." Keiko spoke to Dorothy in a disappointed voice, causing Dorothy to look down.
After hearing this, Dorothy nodded, feeling a bit down at this.
"I-I can still try but.." Dorothy responded, having flashbacks of Toto's injury at the hands of Dion, making her shake her head. "I-I don't want to think about my friends being hurt again due to my hopelessness. I-It's still too painful.." Dorothy continued to explain to Keiko with a low voice, and this made Keiko sigh.
"Look, sometimes you will have to remember those terrible events so you can become stronger and ensure something like that never happens again. I'm not good at all of this mushy stuff but, yeah, basically that." Keiko advised Dorothy once more, hoping that her advice would be taken to heart.
"T-Thank you, and I-I'll try.." Dorothy responded with a smile, closing her eyes so she could transform into her super form.
Soon after, Dorothy breathed at a good and steady pace, maintaining a good heart rate while also remembering Dion defeating her friends and harming Toto.
Suddenly, the wind gently began to pick up while Dorothy's hair began to spike up, her power increasing more and more, the event ending with Dorothy shouting, causing Keiko to be pushed back.
"W-Whoa! You did it!" Keiko spoke to Dorothy in an excited voice, staring in complete awestruck; however, this moment soon proved to be bad as Keiko's smile faltered.
Dorothy was able to transform into her super form; however, her eyes were completely white, indicating that she still hadn't controlled the form yet.
It was the same rage that Dorothy felt when she saw Toto and the rest of her friends being harmed by Dion, and Dorothy still hadn't controlled that rage fully.
"O-Oh cra.." Keiko attempted to speak; however, her words were interrupted by Dorothy charging directly at her, unable to recognize her.
Dorothy charged toward Keiko, delivering a swift punch toward her face, sending her flying across the garden, and making her crash into a tree.
"ARGH!" Dorothy roared, preparing a huge energy ball from her hands, ready to aim it at Keiko.
Meanwhile, Betsy and Flynn were shocked at what they were currently seeing as Flynn quickly sprung into action while Betsy tried to reach out to her friend.
"Hurricane Bltz: Beryl Shine!" Flynn cried out, quickly pulling his sword out, ready to deflect the blast, and he did just that.
The impact of the attack managed to connect with the attack, sending a huge gust of wind hitting it, sending it flying up in the air, causing it to explode in the process.
Seeing this, Betsy quickly stood in Dorothy's way while Flynn ran over to check on Keiko, who was slumped over at the tree.
"D-Dorothy! Remember your friends! Re.." Betsy attempted to reach out to her friend; however, Dorothy roared, leaping over her to continue her rampage, shocking Betsy.
"W-Wait! Dorothy!" Betsy cried out, chasing after her.
Meanwhile, Dorothy charged directly at Flynn and Keiko; however!
"Flower Petals: Rose Blitz!" Keiko whispered, pulling out her sword and delivering a swift yet powerful slash across Dorothy, knocking her out.
After this, Keiko felt a sense of relief after taking down Dorothy, and she knew that there was still work needed to be done.
"It seems you still need some work in controlling that power of yours, because what we're facing is stronger than Dion or any threat you've faced.." Keiko uttered, slowly getting up to look down at her while roses slowly descended on the ground, giving the area a rose smell.
After this, Betsy caught up with everyone else, sighing with relief as she saw Dorothy being taken care of.
"D-Dorothy!" Betsy cried out, looking down at her friend's unconscious body.
And so, the short training session of the day ended with Keiko showcasing her power to Dorothy, and it was clear who was stronger.