I sit on a tree branch in the Aqua Si’s palace courtyard. It’s been a day, and I still haven’t given the princess an answer.
Sure, I may have thought they were still out there, but I wasn’t going to risk my life just to make some princess and her empire happy.
I see her walking over here now, sighing as she sat on the trunk of the tree I’m sitting on. She never even looked up at me, but the leaves covered my appearance.
She pulled out a scroll, reading it. I couldn’t see what she was reading, but she was so focused on it that she didn’t even notice me lowering myself from the tree branch I was sitting on until I was on the lowest branch.
I hung upside down from it, staring at her in silence. A grin comes to my face as I get an idea.
“Whatcha reading?” I ask in the silence of the day.
She jumps, letting out a small cry of fear until she turns around and sees me. Then her face darkens, and she glares at me.
“Are you serious?” she says, exasperated as I start chuckling, laughing at her.
I jump down from the tree, still laughing at how much I scared her. A lock of my auburn hair falls into my eyes, and I playfully blow it out of my face. I really should cut it, but I like it when it’s messy. I think it gives my hair character.
“Don’t do that!” the princess slaps my arm with the scroll she’s holding, her dark blue eyes flashing with anger.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty,” I say, mocking a low bow.
“Would you stop patronizing me?” she rolls her eyes, beginning to walk away.
I run up to catch up with her, asking her to wait up.
“What do you want, Ignacio?” Princess Chantara asks me, turning on her heel to face me.
“If you must, great princess, why not duel me if you find me so…” I couldn’t find the right words to describe myself, the smile still big on my face.
“Annoying, rude, and condescending?” She asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Exactly!” I snap my fingers.
She stares at me for a moment, her eyes squinting in anger and frustration. She obviously doesn’t like me, but I like teasing her.
“No,” she says and she turns away from me, walking away once again.
I run to catch up with her, grabbing her shoulder. She whirls around, seeing my hand on her shoulder. Before I knew what was happening she grabbed my arm and threw me over her back.
I stare up at her from my place on the ground, the wind knocked out of me. “Don’t you dare touch me again,” she says bitterly, her face telling me she’s seething. Then she steps over my body, walking away once again.
I’m on my feet in no time, brushing some of the dirt off my shirt.
“Oh come on,” I whine, “Please…just one duel.”
“No,” she says, her voice tense. “And that’s final.”
If she won’t listen to my whining she’ll listen to my taunt. “I bet you’re scared I’ll beat you,” I say, the grin growing wider on my face.
The princess scoffs. “As if.”
“You know, I’ve never fought an Aqua without weapons before. Maybe you’d be up for a fight?”
She turns around, raising her eyebrow. “What about using our powers?”
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I stare at Chantara from across the dueling ground. It’s an ornate area, the floor made of quartz bricks, the pillars and fountains surrounding us.
There are sculpted bushes depicting different states of water, from a water drop to a waterfall.
“Can’t we duel somewhere else?” I ask, raising an eyebrow, “This place is blinding me.”
Her Majesty gives me a look. “We will duel here or we will not duel at all.”
“Fine,” I sigh, then ready myself, standing in an offensive stance, ready to strike.
The princess, however, is more defensive, holding one arm out and the other close to her chest. She’s waiting for me to strike.
So I kick at her, the fire dancing from my boot as it flies at her. I don’t intend to hurt her. She seems like she can handle herself, anyway.
Chantara blocks my attack with a wave of water, which pushes me down to the ground.
She rushes toward me, but I push myself up and send another rush of fire at her, which she blocks easily. Then she pushes my body up with a wave of water until I’m dangling off the ground. I frantically push at her with my fire, and watch as the princess tucks and rolls out of the way.
The water below me that was keeping me up before now starts to fall to the ground, and I with it.
As I begin to fall, I stop myself with the fire coming from my hands, making makeshift rockets as I slow my fall to the ground.
As the princess rears back to prepare to strike at me again, a regal man walks up to the dueling ground.
“Chantara,” he says sternly. Chantara’s face falls and she looks at the man. “Enough,” he continues.
Then she puts her fist to her open palm, bowing before the man. “I’m sorry, Father,” she apologizes.
He begins to walk away, and once he’s out of sight Chantara turns to me, her eyes glaring.
She opens her mouth to say something but is cut off by a royal guard running toward her.
“My lady,” he says, out of breath, “There’s someone at the castle here to see you.”
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As we arrived at the gate, I saw who it was. And I immediately tried to blend in with the shadows.
She was a Ventus, but not one that you see every day. Instead of having pale skin and light blonde hair like most Venti, her skin was dark as night and her hair was even darker, pulled back into tight braids that were held together in a clasp at her neck.
I…didn’t have the best experience with her. I may have stolen some of her profit from her one night when I was in Mixta Civistas a year ago, I found her walking on the streets one night.
She was pretty, sure, but I noticed how she kept a small bag close to her waist, one which I could tell had money in it.
I talked to her for a bit, flattering her a little. Although she didn’t really like me and seemed busy, I managed to leave there with a smile on her face and her bag of coins in my hand.
I’m guessing she hates me now, like the rest of the world.
“Welcome,” the princess says wholeheartedly, her arms spread in a welcoming gesture, “What brings you to Aqua Si?”
The girl looks up at Chantara, her expression dark and glaring. “I…need a place to stay for now, and I have a few questions. I’d just like to lay low for a while if you know what I mean.”
Chantara nodded. “Aqua Si is welcoming to all the people of Elementum. And what tribe would you be a part of?” she asked, looking closely at the girl.
“Ventus,” she says matter of factly, not looking at the princess.
“Huh,” Her Majesty looks confused, “I thought for sure you would be an Amar-”
“Yeah, well, I get that a lot,” the girl interrupts the princess, then looks over her shoulder. “Do you have any spare rooms in the castle? Somewhere a little…private?”
Chantara nods and then starts to show the girl through the courtyard. “Right this way, uh…what’s your name?”
“Aella,” the girl answers, and as they pass the gate she glances over and sees me. I avert my eyes, trying my best to seem unrecognizable, but it’s too late.
Aella gasps, her eyes flaring in anger as she rushes toward me. “You!”
I start to back away, my hands in a defensive manner, “I uh…don’t know who you are…” then I add, “Ma’am?”
“You were the one who stole from me that night!” Aella yells in my face, gripping the collar of my shirt to try to bring me down to her level.
“I’m uh…not sure what you’re talking about,” I answer with a smile. Looking over her shoulder, I see the princess standing there, her arms crossed. She raises an eyebrow at me, and I know she’s laughing at my predicament.
“You talked to me for a while then stole my profits! Do you know how badly I needed that money?” Aella’s face is furious, her white eyes the only light thing on her face.
“You mean how badly I needed it,” I say, taking her hand off the collar of my shirt, “I needed food and I saw your bag of money. I…borrowed it, per se.”
Her eyes flash in anger. “Borrowed it?BORROWED IT?!?”
Okay, now’s the time to run. I’ve never really seen the victims of my heinous crimes after I commit them.
“Oh, look at the time,” I pretend to look at the nonexistent pocket watch in my pocket, “I…gotta go!”
I start to run away, pretending to be busy. I hear a gush of wind and all of a sudden I’m right back in front of the angry Ventus girl I stole from a year ago.
“Oh, no,” she says, her face full of hate and rage, “You’re not going anywhere until you apologize and pay me back the exact amount you stole from me a year ago!”
“Oh, but how do you know it was me?” I ask playfully.
“You literally just said to my face that you needed to borrow it.”
Well, worth a shot.
“Alright,” I sigh, “I’m sorry,” I don’t really mean it, but I want her out of my face.
“You’d better pay me back those five hundred ducats,” Aella seethes, and I nod.
“All in good time, I promise.” I do a dramatic bow, then begin to walk away from the two of them. Oh gods, I thought she was going to kill me.
She might be way smaller and a little younger than me, but gods is she scary when she’s mad.
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