| “ | I may not fully understand the situation we're in, but I do know that it threatens the safety of our capital--perhaps the whole nation. I'd be a disgrace as a crown princess if I were to just stand by and do nothing while the people I will one day rule over are threatened.
— Klaudia von Auslesse
|
” |
Klaudia von Auslesse is the crown princess of the Liberl Kingdom, whose parents had died shortly after her birth. When the Erebonian Empire invaded, she was separated from her escorts and spent most of the war in hiding at an orphanage. After the Empire was driven off and peace was brokered by her grandmother, she returned to the capital city, Grancel, and took her place as its princess. When she reached 15 years of age, she enrolled in the Jenis Royal Academy in the country's Ruan region under the name Kloe Rinz, and excelled there after getting some encouragement from Lechter Arundel. She spent time visiting and helping at the orphanage that had sheltered her, as well as becoming the school's best fencer.
She meets Estelle and Joshua Bright as the two travel through the Ruan region, initially mistaking them for attacking the orphanage children. After clearing up the misunderstanding, and forcing one of the children to return what he stole from them, she shows them around Ruan city. She helps them investigate a fire in the orphanage, and when that investigation is taken over by Agate Crosner asks them to assist her in putting on their school play. She develops a crush on Joshua, but gives up after realizing he only has eyes for Estelle. They manage to pin down Ruan's mayor as the culprit of the arson after he has the orphanage's matron mugged, and secretly calls in the Royal Guard to arrest him.
She later returns to Grancel, and is caught in Colonel Richard's attempt at a coup. After Estelle and Joshua rescue her, she joins them in storming Grancel Castle and reclaiming it. They foil the coup in its entirety, resulting in the disinheriting of her uncle, a collaborator, though she does not immediately accept the title of Crown Princess. After returning to Jenis for a bit, she rejoins Estelle as she travels aroung Liberl, trying to track down Joshua and the Ouroboros Society.
She remains a steadfast companion throughout, and seeing Liberl on foot and helping with its various problems eventually inspires her to officially take on the title of Crown Princess. When the Liber Ark manifests itself over Valleria Lake and begins the Orbal Shutdown pheonmenon, essentially a country-wide blackout that also prevents the use of magic, she leaves Estelle's side to assist her grandmother. This causes her to temporarily be taken hostage by the Ouroboros Enforcers, only to be rescued by Richard, seeking to make up for his past deeds.
She then leads negotiations with the Erebonian Empire, proving instrumental in preventing the larger country from invading them anew. They then travel to the Liber Ark, where Kloe once again assists her friends in fighting off Ouroboros forces. After the members present are defeated, the Liber Ark deactivates and crumbles. After parting with her friends, she is unexpectedly reunited with them when Kevin Graham, a priest who was part of the group taking down the Liber Ark, accidentally activates an ancient artifact. She assists him in fighting his way out of the plane he was trapped in, Phantasma, and returns to her duties as the Crown Princess of Liberl.
Princess Waltz Royale (by Leolab)[]
Prologue[]
A group of six women sit in a room, lounging casually on chairs and sofas. Though their ages ranged from seventeen to forty, all shared two common threads. They were all of royal blood, though how apparent this was varied significantly. They were also all clearly capable combatants. A single man sits at the sole desk in the room, looking over a quartet of papers. His mask, which covered his whole face, stood out from his otherwise normal attire of a short-sleeved polo and slacks. One paper, titled “Cfp,” spontaneously combusts as the other three fold themselves into miniatures.
As the three figurines – armed with a staff, hammer, and glaive – clash with each other, and a fourth with a mace and shield, he gets up, moving in front of the desk. The women look towards him, with varying expressions of anticipation and boredom.
“Without further ado, the six of you have been gathered to participate in a competition. I won’t give its official name, since that would mean nothing to any of you. Memorize everyone’s appearances well, as you will have no other means to identify each other. You must seek out and issue a challenge to single combat one of the other princesses here. The winner will continue on to do the same, until there is only one left. Combat outside of these challenges will come with a penalty. Are there any questions?”
“Umm… I have one?” the pink-haired one in a white dress says. The man gestures to continue, and she does, “What happens if we don’t challenge each other?”
“That’s… a good question, actually… Hmm… You will be pulled into battle with enemies of increasing frequency and difficulty dependent on how long it’s been since you have issued or accepted a challenge.”
“I have one as well,” asks a sandy blonde wearing clothes nearly impossible to describe succinctly, “What do we get out of this?”
“A single boon for the countries you may one day rule,” the man says, looking around as the room quiets, “If there are no more questions…” he snaps, and the six vanish. He turns back to the table, watching the paper minis slash, bash, and launch balls of fire at each other. He frowns as one of these incinerates the figure with a mace, and sighs as it takes far longer than he had initially thought. Finally, the figure with a staff incinerated the one with a glaive. It unfurls, fluttering off the desk and onto the floor.
It shines, vanishing as it’s replaced by another man, looking remarkably ordinary in a simple t-shirt and jeans, not even a mask. He looks around in confusion for a few seconds, before realizing who was standing in front of him.
“Leo! You chose me, then?”
“Yep. Your application won the fight. Congrats, Skully. Now let’s see what they’ve gotten up to….”
A few minutes later, a purple-haired woman and a rose-haired one sit in a café, drinking tea. They sit in relative silence, each waiting for the other to break the ice. Or at least the purple-haired woman – dressed in a simple, if obviously upper crust, purple suit jacket, white cravat, and white skirt over black tights – is, sipping her drink with a grace and elegance that made the other customers stare. The other, drawing eyes for her outlandishly fancy white-and-gold jacket with a pink dress underneath, occasionally takes small sips from her cup while looking around in wonder. The slim rapiers and wicked-looking shield leaning against the table prevented the curious stares from escalating to curious questions.
“All these things and not a Blastia in sight!” the pink-haired one says, “How do you think they do it?”
“I’m not familiar with Blastia, miss…?”
“Oh, goodness, that was rude of me,” she says, putting a gloved hand to her mouth, “I am Estellise Sidos Heurassein. My friends call me Estelle.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Estellise. I am Klaudia von Auslesse. My friends call me Kloe,” Kloe says, noting the frown crossing Estellise’s face, “Please don’t misunderstand my use of your full name; I do hope we can be friends. It’s just that my best friend is also named Estelle, and I’d like to avoid that confusion.”
So simple… she thinks as the other girl brightens, giving her some exposition about Blastia and how they convert some magic… things to energy. She spent a little too long on what the magic stuff was, enough to give Kloe time to nearly finish her drink.
“My world has something similar,” Kloe says, cutting a small wedge out of her tart as her new acquaintance pauses to draw breath, “We call it Orbal Power, and it comes from the earth. This appears to be using ‘electricity,’ and older technology, though seemingly refined to surpass Orbal Power. Another of my friends could tell you more, but she’s not here.”
“That’s a shame. I wonder if someone who does know would be allies with us?”
“Allies?”
“Yes. Aren’t we?”
“Remember what we were told. All fights are single combat. ‘Allies’ may be a bit much. But we can be friends, and I promise to challenge you last,” Kloe says, polishing off her tart and holding her hand out to shake on it. Estellise returns the gesture as a great crashing noise comes from outside. The pink-haired princess procures her panalopy, sprinting out to see what was wrong. Kloe, for her part, places payment on the table – with a generous tip – before scooping up her rapier and striding outside to see what happened.
Several minutes earlier, a little bit outside the café, two women glared at each other. One, blonde, wore a frilly white jacket over a similarly-colored blouse with a pink, frilled skirt flaring underneath. Her boot-clad feet were slightly apart in a combat stance, her hands hovering above the lacy tops of her thigh-high stockings as if to grab something from within. The woman across from her was clad in regal, gold-colored armor across her torso and limbs with a fur-trimmed jacket, red to match her hair, over it. One hand hovered over a short sword, sheathed at her waist, while the other planted her spear firm in the ground, the pennant with a wolf flapping dramatically in the air.
The standoff continued, passersby in the triangular intersection thinning as they tried to avoid getting sucked into a fight. Eventually, the redhead broke the silence.
“Didn’t think I’d find another so soon.”
“Nor I,” replied the blonde.
The two stared at each other for a few more seconds, before the blonde relaxed her stance slightly.
“Looks like neither of us are going to challenge so soon,” she said.
“No,” the armored one said, “You don’t seem to be causing trouble, and I’m not rash enough to break the rules of our little contest. I’m Hilde, by the way.”
“Anis,” the other said, relaxing fully as Hilde rested her spear on her shoulder and took her hand away from her sword. “You look like a fun fight, but I’d like to see the others first.”
“Well, you at least seem honorable. Not like that Cassandra character. She’s in armor, with a large hammer.”
“I’d be wary of Ashe as well. She’s… pretty striking, with the weird shirt and hot pink miniskirt. We were chatting over lunch but I left. Felt like she was trying to manipulate me, not talk to me.” Anis’ eyes flickered to a fourth-floor terrace on an angle, and surreptitiously repositioned herself so that the significantly taller Hilde was between her and it.
“Thank you for the warning.”
“Likewise,” Anis says, giving a friendly nod before a massive crash sounds from behind Hilde. They turned to look, spotting a nasty-looking pile of mangled vehicles.
A woman in a white coat over a pink dress sprints past them, with her sword sheathed and shield stowed. Another in a light purple jacket and a white skirt walks hurriedly from the same direction, heading towards the crash. Hilde seemingly spots something, and runs towards the white-clad woman, while Anis quickly moves towards the other.
Several minutes earlier, a woman with sandy blonde hair sat back in a restaurant on a fourth floor terrace. She sighed, waving the waiter over for the check. It had been a while since her dining companion, a much brighter blonde named Anis, had “left for the bathroom.” It was now clear that she had been ditched. It looked like her efforts to steer away from confrontation had only done the opposite.
A brief glance over the railing confirmed as much, the short woman now staring down a taller one. The position of her hand confirmed one of her suspicions: that Anis was, in fact, armed and simply hiding it. She sighed again as the check came, putting several gil on the counter and signing her full name: Ashelia B’Nargin Dalmasca. She rises and goes to the bathroom herself, mind churning. If the armor-clad woman she had seen earlier was another princess, it meant she knew that half of her other foes were armed. Unlike her, who only had her fists and magic to rely on.
After she washed her hands and her face, she looks out the small window in the bathroom, noting the traffic below. The rolling hunks of metal seemed very heavy, and looked to require decent precision to control. She wasn’t fond of getting innocents involved, but if she couldn’t attack directly…
Ashe closes her eyes, the glow of magic surrounding her. A small, unnoticeable glow surrounds the driver of a car, knocking him asleep at the wheel. The car careened in the road, not quite going the right direction and ultimately smashed into a different car instead. She spotted a woman in a white coat over a pink dress running out of a building, with a sword sheathed and shield stowed.
Ashe curses, seeing that yet more of her opponents are armed, and continues to watch as a light surrounds her, extending to one of the injured passengers. Feeling relief that she wouldn’t have to treat the injured from the accident she caused, she also feels a crinkling in her hand. Confused, she reads the note that had appeared within.
Clever. But still a violation. You now have one penalty point. Another removes you from the competition.
Ashe grimaces, crushing the paper in her fist. At least she knew that indirect attacks would still provoke a penalty now. She turns, storming out of the building.
A short-haired woman, clad head-to-toe in black armor with the emblem of the Seekers emblazoned on it, stomps through the city. She grinds her teeth as she thinks back to the conversation she had with one of the other competitors in this contest. That wench, Hilde, had dared called her – Cassandra Pentaghast – a “dishonorable cur.” And simply for speaking the truth, that the Maker’s commands were more important than the rules of this competition.
The screeching of rubber on asphalt, followed by the sound of metal crunching, shakes her from her thoughts. She looks over to see one of the large, metal horseless carriages turned over, having struck another. She snorts and continues on, this clearly being the just desserts of those who relied on something so clearly magic. A glow draws her attention, and she sees a pink-haired girl in white doing something to one of the injured. Something that’s clearly magic.
“Die, Mage!” she snarls, drawing her hammer and drawing on her abilities, sending out a wave of power to disrupt the magic. The girl screams in pain as the righteous fury of The Maker washes over her, canceling out whatever she was doing. The injured man also cries weakly in pain before expiring, but that was less important to her. She leaps in the air, bringing the hammer down on the hapless mage, only to be stalled by another leaping in.
Hilde pushes back on the swing, preventing it from landing. Cassandra yells, exerting as much power as she can, only to be shoved backwards. The Seeker snarls at Hilde, still defending Estelle, and suddenly everything freezes, save for the five princesses in the vicinity.
“All right, break it up,” a voice sounds, as a masked figure appears from thin air, alongside another who was dressed more normally. This had seemingly been enough to bring Leo and Skully here personally.
“This wench is preventing me from executing the Maker’s will!” Cassandra snarls.
“Just be glad Skully talked me out of giving you two penalties for your bullshit. I’m going to have to separate you guys for now.”
“Wait!” Hilde says, “By the name of Hildegard von Krone, Princess regent of the Wolfkrone Kingdom, I challenge Cassandra Pentaghast.”
“All right,” Leo says, “Cassandra Pentaghast, seventy-eighth in line for the Nevarran throne, what time will you take this duel? It must be within – ”
“Right. Fucking. Now.” Cassandra growls, not missing the flash of contempt on Hilde’s face when the man mentioned how distant she was from the throne.
Leo snaps, and the first two fighters vanish as time resumes. Estelle gasps, but quickly moves on to treating the rest of the injured. Anis moves her hand, which was blocking Kloe from drawing her sword. She turns, dress flaring slightly as she faces the other princess.
“Told you Hilde had it covered.”
“And if you were wrong?”
“Just trusted in our hosts.”
“And if I had ignored your warning?”
“Then that’s on my poor judgement. But you acted prudently; you had your device in hand, but stowed it when you saw that the other girl had the accident in hand,” Anis give a bright smile, sticking out her hand, “But rather than being all tense, let’s just be friends. I feel like we can get along.”
Kloe straightens, giving the other girl an appraising look. Unlike Estellise, who was a nice enough girl, there was slightly more steel behind this one’s eyes. Like Kloe herself, she was unable to simply put down the burden of supporting her country, due to some circumstance. More than simply a friendship, this was a pact between equals. Kloe gives a wry smile as she reaches out to take the other girl’s hand; somehow, this one reminded her very much of Estelle. Her best friend, not the girl healing people in the street.
“I’m Anis. Nice to meet you..?”
“Kloe. It’s my pleasure, Anis.”
Ch. 1[]
Hilde and Cassandra glare at each other, weapons already drawn. Hilde holds her spear at a half-grip, the haft running under her left armpit while her sword hangs by her hip in her right hand. The pennant on her spear flaps as Cassandra plants her feet firmly apart, hammer held with the head behind her. The lump of bone, chained to the haft with iron, erupts with crackling lightning as she glares at her foe.
Their surroundings were simple: a flat arena, tiled with white stone squares. It stretched fairly far, with large pillars surrounding its perimeter. The pair takes a glance at their hosts, who sit at a table near the edge. The princesses’ noses twitch, catching the scent of tea as the masked judge pours himself and his friend a cup.
“Oh, right. Go on and start,” he says, sitting down and taking a sip.
Cassandra bellows, the adrenaline restoring some of the stamina she lost in her attack on the mage. Hilde charges in, flourishing her shortsword. She strikes with her spear, but Cassandra doesn’t fall for the ruse and blocks with her hammer, striking back with its haft as she steps in. Hilde blocks the strike with her sword and steps forward again.
Cassandra steps back, maintaining just enough distance where she was too close for the spear and too far for the sword. After a few seconds of shuffling to maintain that distance, she lashes out with her hammer again. Hilde slashes with her sword, deflecting the crackling chunk of bone and iron. It glows red, charged with her fighting spirit as the slides her spear forward, turning it to trap her foe with the shaft.
She pulls in with the spear as she stabs forward with her sword, and Cassandra turns slightly. The fangs of the wolf skitter off of steel plate, just too shallow to penetrate. The Seeker slams her hammer into her foe, knocking the princess to the ground. She follows up with several swings as Hilde rolls to the side and then forward, dodging all of them. She stabs up as she rises, forcing the Seeker to step back to dodge the steel aimed at her throat.
Cassandra swings again, trying to get at least one good hit in. Her foe weaves again, but is stopped in her tracks as a pillar of light strikes her from above, dazing her. The Seeker spins, striking her foe in the back. She continues to whirl in place, knocking her foe over with a whirlwind of strikes that don’t quite manage to penetrate her armor. Hilde stays on the floor as she regains her senses, letting her foe get carried away by the momentum of the swinging hammer.
As it slows its rotations, she stabs up with her spear, which again skitters off of armor. She growls in frustration and flips her sword in the air, grabbing Cassandra’s arm. A swift jerk throws her foe off-balance, allowing her to twist the Seeker’s arm while stepping behind her, whacking her in the side with her own hammer. She elbows her foe in the back as her sword drops into her upheld hand.
“Behold my power!” she yells, spinning her spear to strike Cassandra in the back with the shaft. The Seeker spins with the blow, only to be sent reeling with a pair of slashes from Hilde’s sword. She stumbles back as the Princess of Wolfkrone stabs forward with her spear, finally striking home in her foe’s gut.
“The wolf bites,” she says, drawing her sword along the spear as the friction causes it to ignite, “It claws,” she continues, drawing it out and tearing the wound open further with a slash from her sword, “It tears asunder!” she yells, stabbing forward with her spear again as a spectral wolf head launches from it, striking Cassandra down.
“Consider this loss an honor!” Hilde says, stabbing her fallen foe with her spear, “And more honor than you deserve.”
“Well that was… vicious,” Skully says, cringing slightly as the arena fades. The two hosts and Hilde return to the street where the challenge occurred, while Cassandra’s body vanishes.
“Can’t really blame her, honestly,” Leo says, “The sneak attack was kind of rude.”
“I couldn’t let that stand,” Hilde growls.
“Indeed not. And because of it, you’ve got some extra time before the random attacks hit. Have fun with that,” Leo says, and the two judges vanish. Hilde sighs and looks around, spotting none of the other competitors that were there previously. Introducing herself would need to happen at another time.
The next day, Kloe walks in a large park, looking intently at a food truck’s menu. She gives a nostalgic smile; ordering breakfast like this reminded her of her days at Jenis Academy. She shakes her head, and orders a sweet breakfast crêpe. She takes a bite out of her food, the sweetness of the strawberries and maple-infused mascarpone spreading through her mouth. As she savors the taste, a shout rings out.
“Kloe! Over here!”
She turns to see the blonde she had met yesterday, Anis, waving energetically and nodding at the empty seat on the park bench next to her. The other girl grins and takes another bite of her own crêpe as Kloe walks towards her, sitting down. The two munch in companionable silence, finishing their food quickly. They sigh in contentment, happy with their meal, before Kloe finally broaches the subject she had been wondering for a bit.
“Why did you call out to me?”
“We shook on being friends, right?”
“Well, yes, but…”
“Then I’ll ask you this: Why did you come over?”
“I was curious about you.”
“Little old me?”
“You also can’t put down the burden of the crown. And not because you chose it. Am I incorrect?”
“No, you’re not. If it weren’t for that idiot brother of mine trying a coup…”
“Oh, you too? It was my uncle, though.”
“Oooo, coup foiling stories! You first!”
“I… well… my grandmother, the Queen, had recently formed an Intelligence Division in the military…”
Partway across the city, Hilde walks through the streets, fully armored. Her sword is sheathed at her waist, under her coat, and she carries her spear slung over her shoulder. She should be able to relax a little today, having bought herself some time with her victory, but whichever cur had caused yesterday’s accident was still out there.
As she walks, she sees a pink-haired girl, with a long white-and-gold coat over a pink dress. She sighs as she watches another princess wandering around unarmed and unaware of her surroundings. Since the other woman had given her the chance to get in an early win, she might as well watch out for her a bit.
“Hey there,” she says, waving, “Didn’t catch your name yesterday.”
“Ah, I’m Estellise. My friends call me Estelle. You?”
“Hildegard. My friends call me Hilde. It’s a pleasure, Estelle.”
“Nice to meet you too, Hilde,” Estelle says, before giving her a curtsy, “thank you for saving me yesterday.”
“There’s no need for thanks. I was simply doing what was right,” Hilde says, fidgeting awkwardly. She meant what she said, but it was still nice to hear a thanks from a stranger.
“Still, I’m grateful. I’m not sure I could have both held her off and treated the injured.”
“Even if you had challenged her first, the other girl, the one with the purple hair, seemed ready to take over. I think the one I was talking to, Anis, was stopping her just in case.”
“Ah, you mean Kloe,” Estelle says, clapping her hands in front of her, “We became friends, but it feels like she was still trying to keep a bit of distance.”
Hilde gives a wry grin as her companion frowns. It wasn’t like she couldn’t understand either side of the equation; sure, it wasn’t pleasant to have someone rebuff your friendship, but making friends easily with someone you might have to kill took a lot more than most had in them. At the very least, there was little harm in humoring Estelle for a while.
“Well, maybe you could give her a gift? Something to show you want to grow closer?”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” the pink-haired woman says, a little more confident, “Kloe was wearing a brooch in her cravat, with what looks like a stylized falcon on it. So I was thinking I could get her a falcon feather hairpin or something, since she might like the bird?”
“Hmm… yeah, that sounds like a good idea. An enamel hairpin in a falcon feather shape, maybe? If she does like the bird, she may not like wearing a real feather.”
“Ah, I hadn’t thought of that! Thank you.”
“No problem, Estelle,” Hilde says, smiling despite herself, “Do you want to go look for it together?”
“Oh, please! That would be wonderful!”
The two continue to chat as they walk, strolling casually towards an accessory store that Estelle had noticed the previous day. It takes some time, but they eventually find what they’re looking for. Hilde checks the sun as Estelle gets her present wrapped, and seeing that it’s lunchtime invites the other girl for a meal. She accepts, and they head off.
Meanwhile, in a park in the city, a purple-haired woman in purple and white talks animatedly to a blonde in white and pink, a pair of lunches sitting partially eaten between them. From the smiles on both their faces and the exuberance of the blonde’s reactions, it was quite clear that they were having fun.
“He said WHAT?” Anis asks, shocked.
“Right?” Kloe replies.
“Pfft. Of all the things to say… hahaha, and of all the people to say it to! Ahahaha!” Anis says, bursting into a full-throated laugh, “I’m sorry, this shouldn’t be so funny, but…” she continues, between continuing fits of laughter.
“No, no, Uncle was… comically stupid there,” Kloe says, giving a dignified giggle.
“Seriously, spouting that misogynistic crap is dumb at the best of times, but to three armed women who just kicked the ass of your soldiers… I just… I can’t,” Anis says, doubling over as another wave of laughter overtakes her.
“And two of whom were Estelle and Schera, two rising stars in the Bracers.”
“And the third was you. Don’t sell yourself short. So? What happened next?”
“Well, the three of us beat up the soldiers around him and scared him into passing out. We then rescued Grandmother and foiled the coup,” Kloe says, “Uncle was put under house arrest, and I was named Crown Princess.”
“Ah, geez, at least it ended… somewhat well,” Anis says, wiping tears from her eyes, “I wish things with Allie wrapped up that neatly.”
“What happened there?”
“Well, it started when I was testing out a tool for flying…”
A few blocks over, Ashe crouches on a rooftop, looking through a miniature telescope she had bought. Though it, she sees two women walking, one with pink hair and the other with a proper red. She clicks her tongue in annoyance, recognizing one of them; the redhead had been talking with Anis after they had parted. And, if they way the other princess had walked out was any indication, she had probably told her to be wary. Not that the armored one was likely to have a decent description; the nature of her clothes had helped before by being impossible to describe to Archadian pursuers.
She had spotted Anis speaking to a purple-haired woman in the park, and those two seem to have gotten along well. Which likely narrowed her choices for allies down only to the pink-haired princess, whose name she thinks is “Estelle” based on some overheard conversation. She sighs and lowers the spyglass, massaging her forehead. At least the girl seemed personable, which would make it easier to get Estelle on her side than a certain pair of sky pirates.
She turns as a door on the roof opens, revealing the face of the young man who was allowing her to use the rooftop.
“Uh, hey, whatever you’re doing can you stop?” he asks, “The cops are asking questions and I don’t want them coming in.”
She sighs again, storing her telescope, and nods silently. She then dashes over to the fire escape and slides down, landing quietly and stepping out into the street. It was time to see if she retained any of the tailing skills the Resistance had taught her.
Later that day, two women continue to talk in a park. The blonde grimaces as she speaks while the purple-haired one places a comforting hand on her shoulder. The restrained anger and sadness in their posture made it quite clear that this wasn’t a particularly pleasant story to listen to.
“That’s… awful,” Kloe says, patting Anis reassuringly.
“Tell me about it,” Anis says, spitting the words out bitterly, “My little brother turned himself into a monster, and it’s all my fault.”
“No, it’s not!” Kloe says, and Anis stares at her, waiting on her next words, “You love your brother, and he you. Both of you tried to understand how the other felt, but the disconnect was because those nobles prevented it.”
“So you’re saying that neither of us were truly to blame, but instead those that pushed us apart?” Anis asks, and gives a tearful smile as Kloe nods, “You can’t possibly know how much that means to hear, Kloe. Even if we just met.”
“Come now. Wasn’t it you who said we should be friends?”
“Yes, it was,” Anis says, smiling wider, “Say, I know a good spot for dinner. Want to come with?”
“Sure!”
As the two clean up their trash, Anis feels content. She’d clearly found a good friend here. A shiver runs down her spine as she realizes how jealous that might make Euphie, but she decides to deal with her lover when that time came.
Ch. 2[]
The next morning, Ashe groans inwardly as a redheaded woman in armor glares at her, hand on her sword. She puts her hands up and takes a half-step back, putting on as charming a smile as she can.
“You do realize attacking me would be unwise, right?”
“I’m more worried about you attacking me. Anis told me about you. ‘Weird shirt and hot pink miniskirt.’ You caused the accident two days ago, didn’t you?” Hilde asks, making a leap in logic that was smaller than it seemed.
“I didn’t intend to,” Ashe lies, “I have a spell that can cause people to sleep. I was trying to see if I could cast it on Anis without a penalty, but… missed.”
“That badly?”
“It’s hard to aim at long distances. And I got a penalty anyway, so I’ve learned my lesson there.”
“And the reason you were following us around yesterday?”
“With Anis slandering my good name,” Ashe answers as Hilde snorts, “it’s been hard to find people willing to even talk. And I’m getting kind of bored by myself.”
“Fine,” Hilde says, straightening and removing her hand from her weapon, “But not with me. Even had Anis not warned me, your behavior has shown you to be the kind of dishonorable cur I would rather not associate with.”
Ashe rolls her eyes as Hilde stomps away, the metallic clank of her armor fading into the morning rush. She wasn’t her target, anyway. The Dalmascan princess pushes forward, moving through the crowded streets until she gets to her destination: the hotel the pink-haired woman had entered last night.
Estellise yawns as she walks out of her hotel, her sword sheathed by her side. She didn’t like how other people avoided her with her weapon and shield on, but she had promised Hilde she would at least carry Mercurius with her. A woman with ash-blonde hair and odd clothing waves at her as she walks out, drawing her attention in the morning crowd.
“Hey, nice to meet you,” the woman says as Estelle walks over, “I’m Ashe, one of the other princesses. You?”
“Estelle.”
“Ah, good, someone who’s willing to talk to me,” Ashe sighs.
“Hm?”
“Well, I met with another princess on the first day. A blonde girl named Anis. I must have offended her, since she walked out in the middle of the conversation. So it’s been difficult getting to know the others, since she seems to be telling them bad things about me.”
“Oh, that must be hard. Uh… I know! I’ll introduce you to Hilde and Kloe! They’re other princesses, and my friends.”
“Well, I just met Hilde, and she gave me quite the cold shoulder. And that ‘Kloe,’ she has purple hair?”
“Yup, that’s her!”
“I saw her chatting with Anis, both yesterday and today,” she says, noting that the other woman gripped a small, wrapped present slightly tighter, “It looked like they were getting along well.”
Ashe smiles as Estelle looks troubled. One more push, and she could drive a wedge to get them to fight each other. She tilts her head, feeling something off. Realizing that she couldn’t hear any of the noise of the crowd from moments before, she looks around in panic. Estelle notices a second later, and places her hand on her sword as Ashe raises her fists, putting her guard up.
Monsters appear before them, startling the pair. Estellise faces what appears to be a large, top-heavy bipedal bear, while Ashe sees a group of four-legged creatures with brown and grey fur, fishlike scales and fins on the upper parts of their heads, and webbing between their torso and forelimbs.
“Eggbear!” Estelle cries, pointing behind Ashe.
“Wolves!” Ashe shouts at the same time, pointing behind Estelle.
The two women nod to each other and charge at their respective foes. A wolf leaps up to meet Ashe, who hits it under the jaw with an uppercut, flipping it over. She kicks it in the neck as it struggles to right itself, snapping the beast’s spine. She listens to the sounds of the other girl struggling against the Eggbear as the wolves circle her, a plan forming in her mind.
She slides out of the pack, charging and casting Reflect on herself. She snap kicks a snarling wolf in the jaw, shearing its tongue off and letting it bleed out as she casts Oil, also on herself. The magic disperses as it deflects off of her, and instead a splash of oil coats the wolves and the Eggbear, one by one. The wolves growl at Ashe as she casts Decoy on Estelle, ignoring the confused cry of disgust from the other princess.
As the wolves slowly break off from her, thinking Estelle was juicier prey, she casts Ardor. Massive gouts of blue flame incinerate the oiled wolves wolves one by one, getting the Eggbear as well. Ashe gasps in surprise as Estellise waves her hand in the air, an elemental barrier lessening the blow as a gout of blue flame engulfs the other princess. Her spell lessens the damage, but only a timely burst of healing magic saves her life.
Estellise vanishes, the pocket dimension now empty save for Ashe. One of the contest’s host appears before her, the masked one that had greeted them initially.
“Well that was stupid.”
“Yeah, yeah it was.”
“You had sort of agreed to be allies, so I could see Decoy being a division of resources. But Ardor? Especially after you doused her with oil? That’s an unambiguous attack. And your second penalty. You’re out.”
Two women abruptly appear on opposite ends of a park’s fountain, breathing raggedly. Their sudden appearance, and the cuts and bruises covering them, causes bystanders to back away. The purple-haired one takes a small device, which looks similar to a pocket watch, out of her purple jacket, concentrating on it as a light surrounds her. It fades into cooling bubbles of water, which pop around her as her wounds close magically. She turns, spotting the blonde in the tattered white blouse and pink skirt, and repeats the maneuver.
Anis looks at herself in wonder, breaking out into a smile. She front-flips over the fountain, startling the few remaining passersby and landing lightly in front of Kloe. She grasps the other girl’s hand, leaning in close enough for the purple-haired princess to take a half-step back.
“That was so cool! What was it? And how does that device factor into it?”
“Well… that was a pretty normal, if strong, Orbal Art,” Kloe says, shaking off Anis’ excited grip, “And the ‘device’ is a Combat Orbment which lets me use it.”
“Ooh, how? Is that a hinge? Does it open?”
“I’m not quite sure ‘how,’” Kloe says, retreating another half-step from the excited and still-advancing Anis, “But the type and arrangement of Quartz, basically a few magic stones, inside changes what I can cast.”
“Show me, show me!”
“I can’t.”
“What? Why not?” Anis asks, stopping in her tracks. Disappointment is writ large in the puppy dog stare she unwittingly uses to try and guilt her friend into displaying how it works.
“Well, the arrangement of my Orbment means things remain the same no matter how I position my Quartz. And I wasn’t allowed to bring extras to swap in. Something about ‘too much information already.’”
“Awww…” Anis says, deflating, before gasping, “Ah! I’m sorry. We’re in a competition and I just made you reveal some of your cards. Hmm… Oh! I’ll tell you about my mana blades in exchange!”
Hilde loops back around to the front of Estelle’s hotel, realizing that Ashe had been heading that way. It might be too late to avoid the bad influence from getting hooks into her friend, but she might be able to at least mitigate the damage. She arrives to find a badly singed Estelle appearing out of thin air, a healing light shimmering around her as her wounds close.
“Estelle! What happened?”
“Well, a bunch of monsters attacked Ashe and I. We fought them, and then I got hurt by a big ball of fire and then Ashe vanished. I wonder if she’s okay?”
“Estelle, she tried to kill you while you were fighting something else and you’re worried about her?”
“Well, I don’t think she meant to…”
“Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Thanks, Hilde. I think I know where Kloe is, so I want to give her the present,” she says.
“Okay, then. Lead on,” Hilde says, noticing that something was off about her friend, but choosing to stay silent about it. The pair walks quietly through the city, making their way to a large, well- tended park situated in a square. Two large buildings were on two of the four sides, with the other two bordered by the curve of a river. Hilde waits near the entrance, and pats her friend on the back.
Estelle walks into the park, looking around. As Ashe had told her, she sees Kloe talking with a very animated blonde girl. Noticing her, Kloe turns to wave, the friendly gesture faltering as she sees the pink-haired woman pouting in displeasure.
“Hi Kloe,” she says, grumbling, “And this is..?”
“Estellise, this is Anis, another friend of mine. Anis, this is Estellise, my friend who helped take care of people in that car accident,” Kloe says.
“We were friends first, right?” Estelle asks, continuing to pout.
“Yeeees?”
“So why have you only been hanging out with Anis and not me?”
“Well, I’m at that hotel,” Anis says, pointing at a building on one side of the park as Kloe gapes at the childish jealousy.
“And I’m at that one,” Kloe continues, recovering.
“And we both like the food trucks in the park for breakfast. If it makes you feel better, I’m the one inviting her over to talk and then we just… keep talking?” Anis finishes.
“That… no, it doesn’t help! I, Estellise Sidos Heurassein, First Princess of The Empire, challenge you to a duel for Kloe’s hand in friendship!”
Kloe’s mouth drops once again, halting as time freezes for all but Estelle and Anis. Their masked host and his more normal friend materialize as Anis states her reply.
“I, Anisphia Wynn Palettia, First Princess of the Kingdom of Palettia, accept your challenge.”
“And what time will you take this duel?” Leo asks, “It must be – ”
“Within 72 hours, right?” Skully finishes, as Leo nods.
“Then… how about 8 AM on the day after tomorrow?”
“All right, then. If either of you miss the duel, you get a penalty. See you in a couple days.”
The pair vanishes as time resumes, Kloe looking between the still-pouting Estellise and the suddenly standing Anis. She sighs, turning to the pink-haired princess.
“I’ll hang out with you tomorrow, okay? Anis and I were in the middle of talking, but if you want to join us…”
“Kloe you meanie!” Estelle yells, turning and running away with tears in her eyes. She stops a few steps away, and turns around. “That’s a promise, okay?” she shouts, before continuing to flee the scene. The two remaining princesses stare at each other in amazement, topic of discussion nearly forgotten. The clank of metal boots on stone draws their attention, as they spot Hilde striding towards them. She stops in front of the pair, planting the butt of her spear on the ground. She tilts it slightly towards Anis, before speaking.
“I know not what you said to her, but to send an innocent child off crying…”
“I’m pretty sure she’s actually a year older than both of us,” Kloe says, interrupting.
“I… might actually be the same age as her, come to think of it,” Hilde mutters, thrown off by the new information, but not for long, “Regardless, by the name of Hildegard von Krone, Princess regent of the Wolfkrone Kingdom, I challenge you to a duel to restore my friend’s honor!”
Anis glances around as the challenge rings out, before shrugging, “Guess I can’t be challenged to two duels. Estelle already did so.”
“Oh.”
“Well,” Kloe says, rising, “It was my words that set her off. So Klaudia von Auslese, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Liberl, challenges you to a duel. Hopefully that lets you keep your own honor intact.”
“I do not deserve such consideration,” Hilde says as time freezes once more and the two figures reappear.
“That was fast,” Skully says.
“So, at what time do – ”
“8 AM the day after tomorrow,” Hilde says, prompting a sigh from Leo.
“Fine,” Leo sighs, “You get a penalty if you’re late.”
“Wait, there’s two duels at the same time,” Skully says.
“And two of us. Chess to see who gets to pick?”
“Sure. In Cfp’s office, right?”
“Of course,” Leo says, as the two vanish once again and time resumes. Hilde stands awkwardly in front of the pair, before giving a strong nod and striding away.
Ch. 3[]
Kloe walks down the steps of her hotel, spotting a shock of pink hair in the lobby. Estellise turns and waves to her, and the Liberlian princess waves back, putting on a smile. She walks towards the pink-haired princess, and motions towards the hotel’s breakfast buffet. They make short work of their food, and relax with a cup of coffee.
“I wanted to give you this,” Estellise says, pushing forward a small, wrapped box, “Both a token of our friendship and an apology for how I acted yesterday.”
“Thank you, Estellise,” Kloe says, “May I open it now?”
“Please!”
Kloe pulls the ribbon and removes the wrapping, seeing the logo of an accessory shop she had seen while walking with Anis the day before. The other woman’s primary motivation had probably been the ‘token of friendship;’ the ‘apology’ part sounded like something someone, likely Hilde, had told her to tack on. She opens the box, and gives Estellise a sharp stare.
“A falcon feather hairpin.”
“Yes. The brooch on your cravat had a falcon on it, so I thought you might like this,” Estellise says, oblivious.
“I do, thank you,” Kloe says, sincerity creeping into her smile, “Tell you what. I’ll show you a secret today. Something I haven’t told anyone else about.”
“Not even Anis?”
“Especially not Anis. If I fight her, this’ll be my ace in the hole. Same with Hilde.”
“Ooh, a secret between the two of us!” Estellise says, clapping her hands softly, “I’d love to!”
“Give me a second, then. I need to fetch something from my room,” Kloe says, noting that the other princess didn’t even twitch at the previous statement. She heads up to her room, wondering if ignoring the implicit insult was calculated or a genuine display of airheadedness.
Anis sips her tea in silence, bored. She spots a familiar head of purple hair on the other side, holding some sort of box. Kloe was accompanied by the childish one, however, who looked much happier today than yesterday. The reincarnated princess closes her eyes, not really wanting to ruin that by going to say hi. A pair of metal boots sound on pavement, moving towards her. Which meant only one person.
“Aren’t you bored, sitting here alone and friendless?” Hilde asks.
“Rude.”
‘Hey, I’m in the same boat.”
“So? You want to be boredom buddies or something?”
“Maybe.”
Anis sighs, gathering the trash next to her on the bench. She absently tosses it towards the nearest trashcan, getting each and every piece in the receptacle in one shot. Hilde gives her sarcastic applause as she takes a seat next to her.
“So. You like wolves, huh?” Anis asks, reaching for an icebreaker like a manager in a meeting.
“I do, yes, but what gave it away?”
“The wolf flag on your spear, your coat has a wolf fur trim, princess of Wolfkrone…”
“Yeah, you know what, fair. So the thing about Wolfkrone is…”
Several blocks away, Kloe kneels on a secluded rooftop, placing an insulated bag on the ground as Estellise looks on, curious. The purple-haired princess puts on a pair of gloves, clearly made from expensive silk, but entirely devoid of the embroidery that would usually accompany that material. She takes out a pair of thermoses, opening both. She pours hot water from one into both lids, washing her gloves in one of them. She then takes out a chunk of chilled, raw liver from the other and scrubs it in the heated water.
“Sieg!” she calls, taking the washed, now room temperature liver out of the water.
“Scree!”
“Estellise, meet Sieg,” Kloe says as a white falcon flies down, perching on her shoulder. She grabs the warm piece of liver and holds it in her palm.
“Scree❣” Sieg says, devouring it.
“Ohmygosh he’s so cuuuute!” Estellise squeals, moving towards the new arrival and reaching out her hand.
“SCREE! Scree!” Sieg cries, flapping his wings aggressively.
“Sieg, she doesn’t mean any harm.”
“Scree.”
“I think she’s just a little overly excited. Estellise, approach slower, and with your hand flat.”
“Umm… like this?” Estellise asks, doing as requested. The falcon calms down, and looks at the pink-haired princess’s palm before looking her in the eye.
“Scree!”
“I just gave you a treat!” Kloe says.
“Scree?”
“No, you’ll get fat.”
“scree.”
“You can understand what he’s saying?” Estellise asks, curious.
“Sort of. It’s not an exact translation, he and I just kind of… get each other.”
“Oh, yeah, my friend Yuri has a dog, Repede, and they’re like that, too! Repede doesn’t like me much, though.”
“Well, I hope you and Sieg will get along better.”
“Scree!”
Meanwhile, in their usual park, a blonde and a redhead sit on a bench, animatedly talking about the politics in their respective home nations.
“So in our case, the major noble houses are named after colors. There’s Duke Magenta, Counts Coral and Claret, and formerly Chartruse, Baron Cyan… you get the idea. So we’re the Kingdom of Palettia. Like a Palette of colors,” Anis says.
“‘Formerly Chartruse?’” Hilde asks, “Sounds like a story there.”
“Oh, they may have committed a little light treason. Whole family was in on it, so the whole family’s gone,” Anis says, lazily drawing her thumb across her throat.
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Not the most fun story, is it?”
“No, but I can see how Klaudia gets caught up in talking to you. Shame that ends tomorrow.”
“That confident, are you?”
“I could ask the same of you.”
“I’m always confident I can win a fight. The only time I was wrong, I got a lover out of it. So I kind of won anyway?”
“I see… In my case, it doesn’t really seem like Klaudia’s seen much actual combat.”
“Well, you’re in for a surprise tomorrow.”
“Oh? You think I’ve misjudged her?”
“Gravely. She may not like violence, but she knows how to use it.”
“See you tomorrow, Kloe,” Estellise says as her friend drops her off at her hotel.
“Yes, I also have a duel at 8 tomorrow.”
“Really? Against who?”
“Hilde.”
“Oh. So I also have two friends fighting. I’m not sure who to root for.”
“Stay neutral, then. Be happy for the winner and sad for the loser. But in order to do either of those, you have to win your fight first. So focus on that.”
“Yeah… yeah! I’ll do that!”
Ch. 4[]
About ten minutes before eight in the morning, four women gather in the park. They all look the same as normal: the purple-haired Kloe in her purple suit jacket, plain white skirt, shoes, and black leggings; the blonde Anis in her frilly white half-jacket over a white blouse and pink skirt, her black boots over white stockings with lacey tops; the pink-haired Estelle in her white-and-gold long coat over a pink, poofy dress, with white boots and black leggings poking out from underneath; and finally the redheaded Hilde, with her gold armor and furred red coat, a gilt tiara gracing her head. All four are armed, which empties the park fairly quickly.
“So this is pretty much it then, huh?” Anis says, “The winners of this fight have to challenge each other.”
“Indeed,” Kloe says, closing her eyes and raising a fist to her chest in prayer, “May the Goddess Aidios favor us all.”
“All?” Hilde asks, “Even me?”
“Even you. Thus the victor in our match is decided by us alone.”
Hilde’s eyes narrow slightly, looking at her opponent. As time stops, she briefly wonders if Anis was right the previous night, and she had indeed made an error in judging her foe. As Leo transports them to the field – the same square, pristinely tiled and surrounded by pillars, on which she had previously dueled Cassandra – she takes a combat stance. Kloe draws her own sword, holding it forward in a simple but elegant stance, every movement showing the natural grace of a noble lady.
Hilde breathes out; whether she was mistaken or not would be borne out in the next few seconds. As Leo shouts out to start the fight, she concentrates her fighting spirit within her spear, sprinting towards her foe. She yells as she lunges forwards, stabbing out with the spear. The Liberlian princess slides slightly to the left, her hair ruffling as the weapon just misses her throat.
Kloe’s saber slices forwards and slightly up, a calculated hairsbreadth above the spear shaft. Hilde’s eyes widen as she realizes it’s perfectly poised to slice her throat, and she barely brings her sword up in time to block it. Kloe holds the blade lock as she shifts to the side, withdrawing it as she slides towards Hilde’s back, kicking off the ground. The Princess of Wolfkrone staggers as she feels her foe launch backwards off of her armor, leaping into the air. She spins as she recovers, gasping as she spots a swarm of fireballs in front of her foe.
Hilde spins her spear as the storm of fire streaks towards her, deflecting those that would have hit. Kloe lands gracefully, all the fury of a summer storm quelling to a calm day as she returns to her guard. Hilde growls as she returns to her own stance, annoyed that she read a foe this poorly. But her mistake wasn’t fatal, and she just has to make sure it stays that way.
She peeks at her spear, noting its blue-green glow as light gathers around her opponent, before charging forwards. The armored princess stabs the spear forward, not quite far enough for the blade to reach her foe. A spectral wolf head, however, erupts from the end, biting into Kloe’s arm. The energy gathering around the Liberlian princess bursts outwards unimpeded, and several pillars of ice erupt across the field. Hilde shudders as the cold saps her strength.
Kloe charges in, unaffected by the chill and looking to take advantage of the momentary weakness. The other princess recovers quickly, however, and slashes at her hand. While the rapier’s guard turns the blade, Kloe’s wounds weaken her grip, and the sword flips up and to the side, halting in midair just before striking the judge. She stumbles back, shocked at the loss of her weapon, and therefore only takes a shallow wound across the chest as the red-haired princess slices again.
She ducks as Hilde stabs forward with her spear, and twists out of the way as the blade turns, angled downward. Kloe rolls on the floor to dodge the continuing stabs as she readies and casts an Art once more. Hilde feels the ground rumbling under her, but isn’t able to react as it erupts in a mass of sharp iron. A set of clustered lances pin her arms and legs together, and she struggles to free herself as Kloe readies yet another Orbal Art. The purple-haired princess releases her spell, and Hilde can only look up in horror as a massive granite slab appears in the air, floating in place for half a second.
Then, it falls, crushing her without so much as giving her a chance to scream. Kloe walks towards her blade, trying not to look at the pile of pulped flesh in the center of the room as the judge nods, mask impassive. She picks it up, weighing whether or not to heal herself immediately, and decides against it.
Anis focuses on her opponent as the area around them changes, the square arena and its surrounding pillars passively entering her mind. She flips her mana blades from beneath her skirt, holding them out by her side as a burst of blue light flashes and forms the shape of their sword blades. Her foe holds her shield, a spiked and ominous-looking thing that did not fit her image at all, up a little too high and a little too close, as if she wasn’t quite used to using one. Her sword was held back and horizontal, almost like she was more used to a rod.
Anis relaxes slightly; while she was hardly one to complain about unusual stances, there was a hesitancy in her opponent’s movements that betrayed a lack of experience and a history of others covering for her.
She smirks and flourishes her blades as Skully gives the signal to start and dashes forward, seeking to end it quickly. Her eyes widen as a yellow light surrounds her foe, dissipating into a collection of stars that appears before her. She recognizes the constellation from her previous life, and flips over it. The stars explode, the magic energy searing her back as her dragon tattoo flares, deflecting the rest of it.
The smirk falls from her face as she curses herself for forgetting her foe could do magic. She charges into melee range, arms crossed in front of her neck. Her foe raises her shield further, as if cowering behind it, and Anis responds by dropping low, sweeping her leg out. She catches her foe on back of the knee, knocking her prone. She slashes with her blades as she passes, but a quick twist by the pink-haired princess makes the wound shallow. A golden light surrounds her as she rolls, and Anis clicks her tongue. Regeneration. This would be a pain.
Estelle regains her footing, dragging her sword along the ground to shoot a wave of force. Her foe simply steps around it, an expression of disappointment on the blonde’s face. The pink-haired princess gestures as if throwing something, and a bright red toy hammer appears in the air. Her foe bats it aside, but it was enough of a distraction for Estelle to wreath her sword in fire. She slashes in front, her foe leaping back slightly to avoid the blow. But this was in vain, as fire erupted where she landed.
Flames surge around Anis, who slices them in half with a sweep of her blades. An ominous red and black aura swirls around her as she brings the tips of her light blue swords together, firing off a dark beam of magic. The blast takes a chunk out of Estellise’s shoulder, but Anis also winces in pain. Her eyes dart to her shoulder as the other princess is surrounded in a healing light, seeing a similar, but very shallow, cut.
Estelle’s sword trembles as Anis glares at her and lets out a low growl, abruptly realizing the other princess hadn’t been fighting seriously. She shakes off her fear as a fresh wave of oppressive magic surges around her foe; she and Kloe were healer buddies. The blonde clearly didn’t have that, or she would have used it by now.
Her thoughts are interrupted by a roar of movement, her opponent turning into a blur. The sound of displacing air behind her is her only warning as she turns, raising her shield to block a slice at her neck. Her sword misses a second slice that traces a furrow through her stomach, which rapidly closes thanks to her magic. Anis grimaces, her own blouse sprouting a red line, but powers through it and follows up with another pair of slashes, scoring a gash in her foe’s left arm. She grits her teeth in pain as a shallow cut opens on her own arm, and continues to press the attack.
She channels her dragon abilities as she slashes, turning one of her blades into a claw. It hooks her opponent’s shield, ripping it aside as she stabs forward with the other blade, piercing Estelle’s heart. The pink-haired princess gasps, eyes widening in surprise at the unexpected attack as Anis coughs up blood, one final attack reflection injuring her as well. The Palettian Princess turns her blade into a claw and rips it out through her foe’s side, mangling her beyond the help of her healing abilities. Estellise’s body crumples to the floor.
Anis and Kloe reappear at the same time, looking bloody and battered. The two stow their weapons, taking a second to glance at each other. Leo and Skully stand watch, sensing that something was about to happen.
“I, Anisphia Wynn Palettia, First Princess of the Kingdom of Palettia and consort to its future queen, Euphyllia Magenta, hereby challenge Klaudia von Auslese, Crown Princess of the Kingdom of Liberl, to a duel.”
“I accept, and set the time at thirty-six hours from now.”
“That means 8:30 PM, tomorrow night,” Leo says. The two women nod, and their referees vanish.
“We’re still on for breakfast tomorrow?” Anis asks, as Kloe heals them both.
“Of course,” the other girl replies, “But for today…”
“Nah, I just wanna sleeeeep.”
“Heeheehee, yes, I agree.”
Ch. 5[]
The next day, Kloe sits down next to Anis, both princesses munching on their crêpes in silence. Anis wipes her mouth with her hand and sighs in contentment as she finishes, while Kloe dabs at her lips with a napkin at the same. That finished, they face each other, ready to begin the last twelve hours they could remain friends.
“So,” Anis says, smiling sardonically, “Disappointed it was me?”
“Not at all,” Kloe says, giggling, “If anything I’m relieved. Estellise was nice enough, but it felt as if I was babysitting one of the kids from Mercia.”
“Mercia?”
“An orphanage I help out at.”
“Ah. Well, I’m also glad it was you instead of Hilde.”
“Didn’t get along?”
“Not very well, no. Kind of condescending?”
“Ah. I get what you mean.”
“Ahahaha. So, if you win against me – big if – what are you going to ask for?”
“Oh, you mean the boon? Well, from what I’ve heard from… acquaintances in other countries, there’s likely to be a war in the next three to five years. And Liberl will likely need to take a side in those to remain relevant internationally. So when I win, I’m going to wish for three years of peace, to let us rebuild fully so that we can come through the conflict intact. What about you, should you win?”
“Hmm… well, most of what I truly want will only have meaning if I seize it myself. So instead I’m going to ask for Palettia to recognize same-sex marriage. Because I really want to have a fairytale wedding with Euphie.”
“You know, I don’t think you’ve actually told me much about her. Other than what related to the whole thing with your little brother.”
“Ooh, so she’s just the sweetest. Just after we met, she…”
After finishing their dinner, Anis and Kloe stroll back to the park, chatting casually. They take a seat in front of the fountain, continuing their conversation until time appears to freeze around them, the referees appearing in front of their eyes.
“Ready?” Leo asks, and the two nod.
“Are… you sure this is going to be fine?” Skully asks, “They seem to be getting along really well.”
“They know their duties. Both to their soon-to-be subjects and their own desires. Besides, it’s not like they’re staying dead.”
The two princesses nod, taking their positions. Kloe draws her rapier, turning her body and holding her weapon before her. It was a graceful stance, each movement made with poise and elegance that would be at home in a ballroom. Yet an astute observer would also find no gaps for an attacker to slip through, and her legs tensed so as to move out of the way of anything that threatened to break her guard.
Anis, meanwhile, unholsters her mana blades and activates them, holding them out to the side and leaning forward. Her stance offered many openings, but the small, tense motions of her hands and feet betrayed an overwhelming offensive capability. While an opponent could take advantage of the open stance, her rapid assault should make opportunities to do so vanish.
“And… start,” Leo says, officially beginning the duel.
A reddish aura surrounds Anis as she channels power through the tattoo on her back. It vanishes abruptly, following her as she dashes forward, swords still held low. She swipes up, and Kloe simply rotates her wrist, rapier batting the mana blades out of the way as Anis continues past. The Liberlian princess spins, following her foe and lunging out in a stab as she readies her Orbment in her off hand. The Palletian princess, anticipating this, flashes one blade behind her back to block as she stomps on the ground and spins.
A geyser of water barely misses her face as she turns, manipulating her other mana blade. It whips around Kloe’s rapier, glancing off of its guard as it wraps towards her other hand. She moves her body out of the way, but the blade coils around the chain of her Orbment. Anis flicks her wrist, face twisting into a feral grin as her real target flies up and away from her foe. She stows a mana blade, reaching for her prize.
“Sieg!” Kloe yells.
“Scree!”
The screeching white falcon swoops in, snatching the Orbment out of the air. Sieg flies towards his master, landing on Kloe’s shoulder and offering her the lost item. She offers her hand, and he drops it within as Anis gapes in confusion.
“Thank you, Sieg. You’ve saved me again.”
“Scree! Scree?”
“Certainly, I’ll have to give you treats later. But for now…” she says, retaking her stance.
“Hey! Isn’t this cheating?” Anis asks, glancing at the two judges.
They look at each other, and both give her a shrug. She sighs, ducking out of the way of the onrushing falcon and re-drawing her other mana blade, activating it in time to bat away a stab from Kloe. She follows up with a rising slash from her other hand, which the other princess leans back to dodge. Anis swings back down, switching the mana blade off and flipping it around before activating it again in a downwards stab. The move successfully bypasses Kloe’s guard, and the other woman is forced to step back.
A desperate slice barely misses Anis’ neck, forcing her to stop as her foe uses the momentum break to leap back, the glow of magic surrounding her. Several disks of Orbal energy spin towards the princess in white, who spins her own blades to bat them all out of the air. She feels a rumbling under her feet and swerves, not quite dodging the lances that erupt from the ground around her. She growls slightly as Sieg’s talons strike her face, sending some blood near her eyes.
She draws further on the tattoo on her back, the seal manifesting in a mass of magic above her clothes. She yells as a wave of black-and-red mana shatters the lances pinning her in place and nearly knocks Sieg out of the air. She charges back in, putting Kloe on the defensive with her blinding speed. The princess in purple flicks her blade back and forth, beating aside a swipe from the right, then a stab from the left, then a cut from above as she steps back to avoid a whiplike strike to her foot. She spots another bluish flash from her right and meets it with her sword, only to find the flat of a blade.
Anis grins as she channels her draconic power into her swords, changing them into reddish-black claws. She hooks Kloe’s rapier aside with one and slashes with the other as her foe takes a half-step back, the maneuver meaning she was merely disemboweled rather than shredded. The blonde spins, returning her blades to their normal form as she aims to finish her foe, but the other princess allows herself to collapse under it. Healing water surrounds her as she falls to her knees, knitting her wounds. Whole once more, Kloe stabs upwards as she rises, barely missing Anis’ head.
The purple-haired woman lashes out with a kick, hitting her foe in the knee. She uses her other leg to jump back, avoiding the panicked swipe as the blonde yells in pain. Anis gingerly puts her foot down as her foe lands, a fresh torrent of magic unleashing itself as a whirlwind rages and pelts her with debris. Anis grimaces, straining her senses. She spots a glow, a sure sign her opponent was preparing some new spell. She extends her blades, pointing them both at the glow.
“Aerial Attack: Dragon Heart!”
A mass of mana fires out as a black-and-red beam scythes through the air, clearing the whirlwind. Kloe cries out in pain, falling to her knees but still letting her magic fly. A massive stone materializes above her foe, who rushes out of the way, and towards her, as it falls. Kloe staggers to her feet, barely able to deflect an overhand chop.
She’s not quite fast enough to react to the other blade, which severs the fingers on her left hand. Anis knees her in the stomach, sending the princess in purple flying as her Orbment clatters to the floor. Kloe feels the hairs on her neck stand, and stays on the floor as another beam flies over her head, shooting past the edge of the ring and destroying a pillar. She looks at her foe as she staggers to her feet, leaning on her rapier. The blonde spits blood, seemingly also nearly spent.
“Oh holy Aidos, great Septian overseer,” Kloe says as Anis growls, crouching like a sprinter as her blades turn into claws once more, “Shine down thy radiance, and smite those who oppose us”
Anis’ eyes grow wide as three orange circles of magic form a shell around her, the lines of light caging her in. She beats at them with her mana claws, but to little avail. Whatever was behind this resisted her attempts to cut it as Kloe finishes her prayer.
“Divine light, grant me the strength to punish the wicked! Sanctus Nova!”
Explosions of light surround Anis, the holy power slicing into her flesh as the blasts get stronger and faster, culminating in a massive conflagration of divine benevolence that shatters her shackles. She screams in pain, teetering as blood spurts from the fresh wounds as the magic fades. The draconic tattoo flares as Anis stumbles on heavy steps, before steadying herself and staring through her shocked foe. Mana courses and rages as she lets out a wordless roar, a massive sphere materializing above her. The reddish black orb hums and crackles, the sheer power straining against reality itself.
“Sieg!” Kloe yells.
“Scree!” the falcon cries, wasting no time and simply ramming into Anis’ head. The roar fades into a rattle as this, finally, tips her endurance over the edge. The blonde collapses in a pool of her own blood, not quite dead but clearly unable to continue fighting. Kloe looks at her two hosts, seeking confirmation that the match had ended.
They look at each other, and Leo shrugs. Skully gives her a thumbs up, and the arena fades, depositing them in the park they were in earlier.
“Scree!” Sieg cries, bringing over Kloe’s Orbment as she stows her weapon. A quick pair of casts later, and her fingers have regrown themselves, while Anis rests on a bench, wounds healed but still unconscious.
“Congratulations, Klaudia von Auslese,” Leo says, the masked judge giving her surprisingly sincere applause, “The boon you would receive?”
“Three years of peace for Liberl.”
“Granted. I’ll return you to your respective worlds tomorrow, so have a nice meal when she wakes. You’re probably both starving after that.”
And with that, the hosts vanish. Kloe sits down next to her friend, musing on where they would go after she wakes up.
Expert’s Opinion[]
Cassandra Pentaghast, 6th place, 11 points- Cassandra fell first because of her general personality problems. Her lack of respect for the rules made it likely for her to rack up penalties, and her abrasive nature means that even in the few points where she doesn’t, the rest of the field is likely to challenge her out of sheer annoyance. And when most of your career is fighting things you hard counter, it’s more difficult to fight someone who isn’t completely helpless before you.
- Ashelia B'Nargin Dalmasca, 5th place, 15 points
- Like Cassandra, she gets this placement for personality issues. While she does soften and get less prickly during the course of her game, this is generally limited to her friends and closest allies. Ashe is likely to challenge or get challenged because of this, and when she does she lacks reach in melee. Not that she’s helpless in it; far from it, thanks to Brawler, but it still hampered her.
- Hildegard von Krone, 3rd place, 28 points
- Hilde ties for third for a few reasons. She’s honorable and good-natured enough to avoid the annoyance challenges thrown to Ashe and Cass, and she’s a highly capable fighter. Where she falls short is a lack of magical abilities; while this doesn’t mean she’s incapable of dealing with such foes, it does mean her general options are more limited.
- Estellise Sidos Heurassein, 3rd place, 28 points
- Estelle is sheltered and naïve, but she’s good at making these traits endearing instead of annoying. This means that she’s less likely to get challenged until the field narrows. Combine that with her frankly ludicrous Auto Medicine/Medical Boost/Reflect passive combo and you have someone who can hold their own defensively. Unfortunately her offense isn’t good enough to get past third.
- Anisphia Wynn Palettia, 2nd place, 40 points
- Anis is extremely well-suited for this match. Her personality, while polarizing, is likely to endear her to all competitors aside from Cassandra. Her abilities in combat are built for a raw, unstoppable offense, which allows her to beat down those ranking below her. What prevents her from victory is not any fault of her own, but simply that the victor was even better.
- Klaudia von Auslese, 1st place, 47 points
- Kloe’s got a kind personality, good diplomatic and social skills, and is skilled in combat. While her sword skills are nothing to scoff at on their own, their emphasis on and integration with her magic is second only to Anis. But her greater focus on defense and potent healing abilities allows her to outlast the second place and win a battle of attrition to place first.
