"Well, we're here," Koukyuu said as we arrived at the entrance of the stadium. "Go see what my big brother Maki wants."

I sighed. I was actually starting to enjoy the festival. I even bought a green yukata and fan.

I turned toward the girl I had given my cape to for cleaning. "Uh, what was your name again?" I said as I stared at my freshly hand washed silk cape.

"The name is Sonata Key. You're welcome," the dark skinned, white haired girl said as we entered the stadium.

I smiled widely. "Thanks, Sonata."

"I'm surprised that you can speak our language," the boy accompanying her said, crossing his arms.

That's right. How was it that I could speak fluently? Setsuko, Hyosetsu, and Eiichi were taught in the various languages, and so were the knights assigned to us. I was too but I often skipped class? Wait, was the peasant knight proficient too?

"Is something the matter?" the fair skinned, white-haired girl asked.

"Can you really understand me?" I said, trying to speak Zionian over Xelerian.

"Yeah," Sonata and the boy responded.

"Wait, you were speaking Zionian just now," Koukyuu said, eyes wide. She turned to the others. "How did you two understand him. But... wait. You were speaking... How did I... " She grabbed her head. "This is so weird."

I stared at my angel tool. Was this thing the cause for my sudden proficiency? Wait, but what about the kids, Nori and Yuko? Then again, they were descendents of this world...

"Well, I better go meet up the others. I did promise Serrano and Setsuko that I wouldn't cause any more trouble. Plus, their call sounded rather urgent..."

"You should come see the tournament event," Zydeco said, grinning. "The next match will be Sefa versus Kyuu Seishin!"

I glanced back at the huge white arena in the center of town. "Are all the games held here?"

"Nope, they'll held throughout the country," the princess responded as she flipped her long, white hair back. "The tournament is the most popular and usually lasts the longest. There also are occasional breaks in-between to allow the other events some attention."

"Interesting. Wish that we had something like this in our realm. It would certainly make things more interesting. Ohh, but such events likely wouldn't happen over where I live."

"Where are you from?" Sonata asked.

"Kuroriku... the backwaters of it. If an event like this were made, it would likely be at the capital and other major cities."

"Aren't the Kuroriku the rivals of your father's clan?" Zydeco asked, glancing at Koukyuu.

"Yeah, they are. But my brothers and I wish to overcome said rivalry, even though the wounds they inflicted on us do run deep..."

I glanced up at her deep golden eyes which seemed to burn with the radiance of a yellow star. Suddenly my face felt just as hot.

The princess stepped back as if in disgust and grabbed the hand of the Zydeco. "Come, we're going to be late, Zy!" She glanced back at me. "Please inform me on how your meeting with my brother goes."

"Hey!" Sonata yelled, chasing after her. "Let go of him!"

I grumbled. What was with that reaction anyway? Was it due to being half Kuroriku or my staring. Didn't think I was doing it for too long. I pushed the thought aside and went to the place that Setsuko said that she'll be in.

***

I looked around as I stepped into one of the restaurants within the stadium. It was filled with people donning dresses and suits. A few couples were dancing in the far side of the room as slow violin music played. Among them were Maki and his girlfriend, Akane.

Guess the meeting ended without me...

Taking a deep breath, I made my way to the fine red pine table where my fellow knights sat. Only ones missing where Hyosetsu and the peasant.

"Welcome back!" Eiichi said waving at me with his free hand. His arm was wrapped around the shoulders of the mysterious girl we found in the abyss. Of course, this guy always got girls wherever he went! He would probably find one even in the depths of the underworld!

Hyosetsu was also pretty popular but he would reject their advances. And even that peasant seemed to be popular with the girls, prior to his accusation. Not to mention, he had the princess he supposedly took advantage of still pinning for him, oh and that girl who kept calling him 'Master' too. Meanwhile, Setsuko had her soon to be husband. Me on the other hand? I didn't have no one.

"Why so glum?" Eiichi asked, raising an eyebrow. "You look as if you got rejected? Were you trying to hit up some girls?"

I puffed my cheeks and sat down. "I already told you, it's none of your business! Uh, so where are Hyosetsu and peasant boy?"

"They went to the dragon realm," Serrano responded. "Uncle is going to power up their weapons."

"Huh? Uncle?" I asked, confused. The only uncle of his I heard about was the peasant's dad, the legendary Tekeshi.

"It appears that Kuroshi was in fact Tekeshi," Setsuko said. "And that's not all we learned while you were away, having a good time."

I lowered my head. "Sorry..."

"Nori wishes that he could've gone with Yuko and the others," Nori said, munching at his fish sadly.

The green haired who who sat next to him ruffled his hair. "We can go with them on their next adventure."

His eyes glimmered. "Really?"

The ground trembled under me as I curled my hands into fists. "What? They didn't invite me!" I yelled. "Those little... Wait, why didn't you two go?"

"I wanted to stay back to watch the games," Setsuko answered. "And maybe find out what that necklace Eri gave to Lei is."

What necklace and who in the high heavens are Eri and Lei?

"As did I," Eiichi said as he hugged the girl next to him.

Setsuko rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right!"

Why couldn't I have been so lucky? I had things about me that were attractive too. Heck, add up everything and one could easily see that I was by far better boyfriend material...

"Let's go," Setsuko said, standing up from her seat.

Serrano, the green-haired girl, and Nori stood up. "Hmm, there's a familiar scent," Nori said, whiffing the air.

"Familiar?" Serrano asked, bewildered.

"Yeah. Smells like Tetsu."

"You mean Tetsuya?" the green-haired girl asked. "Could he be back?"

"Let's go and find out," Serrano said. "Setsuko, I'm going to accompany these two. You enjoy the match with the others!"

She narrowed her eyes him and the Kasai no Ki girl. "Tsk. Fine. Come on you two lazy excuses for knights!"

"I just got here," I mumbled as I stared at my empty stomach.

"Just eat a hot dog or something. We're going to miss the next round of matches."

Eww. A hot dog? Had she gone mad? As if I would ever touch such a thing!

https://youtu.be/VyXeOpj3RWI

***

[Main Stadium]

I bit down on my hot dog as the matches between Kyuu Seishin and Sefa were about to start. Surprisingly, it was tastier than expected. Unfortunately it was as greasy as I thought it would be.

I looked down as Zydeco walked out of one side of the field while Koukyuu herself emerged from the other.

Koukyuu smiled upon seeing him. "So you're my opponent. Not saying that I'm disappointed by the turn of events."

Zydeco stepped back and raised his arms into the air. "Yeah, seems like we're going to have a rematch!"

The Kyuu Seishinian princess took one step back. "Armor!" A red leather suit replaced her white blouse and plaid skirt. The tightness of the suit accentuated her curves.

The leather suit was also accompanied by red metal plating on the sides.

"Her armor is like a video game girl's," Eiichi said, ogling her.

I looked away. He was kind of right. But thankfully hers wasn't as revealing. Though one had to wonder if the leather itself provided any actual protection against swords and magic.

Koukyuu's opponent also changed into his armor. Like hers' the armor consisted of a tight leather suit with armor plating on the sides. In his case the armor made it obvious how well toned his body was.

I caught myself touching my arm. It was scrawny yet flabby at the same time. Perhaps if I had more muscle I would be more attractive.

Honestly, that was one thing that I did envy from the Shield Knight. Tetsuya was what one could call, 'tall, dark, and handsome'. The rest of us knights were scrawny in comparison. But at least Hyosetsu, Eiichi, and even Setsuko, had some muscle on them.

"You seem peeved," Eiichi said, grinning.

I pouted. "Whatever do you mean?" I grumpily bit down on my hot dog and watched as neither of the participants moved.

The muscular young man summoned a wand and transformed it into a silver sword. Meanwhile, Koukyuu's own golden wand transformed into several small guns which floated around her. The two eyed each other, careful of even the slightest of movements.

"This feels like a gun duel," I blurted out as I yawned.

Within the flash of an eye lasers shot out of the guns while the boy reflected them by using the side of his long, triangular, bluish-silver sword. A blade of ice manifested in his right hand as he dodged more lasers.

Koukyuu smiled. "You're a fool to continue to use ice against a yuki onna." A cold gust blew over the field. I shivered as the air seemed to escape the barrier.

"Yuki onna?" Eiichi said.

Maki nodded. "Our mother is a yuki onna. As such, my brothers and I are some of the few males born to the snow spirits. Yuki oto if you will."

"Oh, so that's why Satoru's attacks did no harm to her, she's a yuki onna," I said before taking another bite of my hot dog.

"So, you're ghosts?" Eiichi asked. "I mean, yuki onna are a type of ghost, aren't they?"

"Sort of," Maki said. "Some call the snow spirits 'fae' instead of 'ghosts'."

"I had no idea that the leader of Kasai no Ki had married a yuki onna," Setsuko said. "Do you have ice powers too?"

The Kasai no Ki heir shook his head. "No. But I do have ghost powers. My older brother on the other hand only inherited mother's powers. That's why he couldn't be heir. Our clan is a fire-wood clan. Having an heir with neither would be an abnormality."

"Do any of you have wood powers?" I asked.

"Yeah. My younger brother, Kai, does. Having someone who can use both wood and fire has normally been rare. Even Koukyuu who can use fire and ice can't. Having such opposing powers would be odd. Especially within a mage."

Koukyuu then is considered odd?

I peered back down and watched as the entire arena shimmered. Ice had encased the area within the barrier like the white powder within a snow globe.

The young man had formed a sphere of ice around him as he made his way toward Koukyuu. Thus far he seemed to have done a good job at controlling the ice.

"This snow is too soft," Koukyuu said, staring at her hands. The snowflakes that landed on her body melted despite the chilly air. She shook her head. "I guess that fire will do. Come forth, Angel of Flames!" A giant red flame manifested behind her. The flame quickly took the shape of a young man who greatly resembled the members of her angelic clan.

"Masayoshi," all of us Kuroriku muttered.

"That spell was inspired by our ancestor," Maki explained as he leaned on his hand.

"It's actually a very ancient spell of an unknown era," someone called out. It was the blue haired guy who I had seen defeat Queen Saya's nephew. Accompanying him was said nephew as well as a beautiful light blue haired girl. "Some say that it was created during the rule of the first Magus Maximus. Others claim that they were based on the descendants of the seven rather than on them."

"You sure seem to know a lot," Maki said, grinning.

"That's because he plans to be a history professor," Zyuuni said, nudging Eri.

The girl tackled and hugged Eri tightly. "Yup. Eri is a little bit of history nerd!"

Eri's face flushed. "I'm not!"

She leaned in and kissed him on the lips. "Are too!"

My face flushed. Seemed that everyone had someone. Why couldn't I have someone like that too?

I shook my head and returned my eyes to the battle. The Masayoshi shaped spell attacked Zydeco with raging red flames that scorched the ice into hot steam. The young man tried to condense the steam back into water but what little liquid he could form quickly evaporated away.

The boy took a deep breath and stepped forward. His eyes turned golden as light blue energy condensed around him.

"Go brother!" I heard his younger brother yell from a few seats down. Hearing him cheer his brother on only made me think of my own siblings... Dan and Kiara were in trouble, and I still hadn't done much to help recover them. I hadn't had word from Kuroshi on their rescue at all...

"You can do it, Zy!" yelled Sonata who sat a few seats from the boy.

The guy ran circles around Koukyuu, whipping up a powerful gust that lifted her floating guns.

Koukyuu looked around. "I won't fall to this, not again! Burning Flower!" A giant seven-sided flaming flower appeared in front of her as a shield. Her opponent jumped back as the seven petals spread out. Pollen-like embers from the center of the flower dyed the area various shades of red.

"The Kasai no Ki truly are stronger than I expected," Setsuko said, eyes wide.

Maki snickered. "We're strong but lazy. At least that's how the old saying about us goes. You Kuroriku meanwhile are 'greedy and short tempered'."

"We're not!" I barked.

"Hideo is but not the rest of us," Eiichi said, snickering.

My face flushed. I had to start controlling my outbursts.

"How about you join us?" Setsuko asked. "You proposed that we do away with our old rivalry. Teaming up to save our universe would be a large step toward moving on from our bloody history."

Maki smiled. "Sounds good. Once the games are over I'll accompany you back home."

"Think that Koukyuu could join us too? I mean, she did help us that one time," I said, keeping my head down.

Eiichi grinned. "I hope so. I want her to join my team."

The girl that he was with threw daggers at him with her deadly glare.

Eiichi grinned. "Ohh, no need to be jealous. You can join us too."

She continued to give him 'the stare'.

I snickered. Eiichi could easily find a girl to go out with him, but getting one to stay with him for more than a few hours was difficult. Not that he seemed to care.

"Wonder what Rosa and the others are up to," Setsuko said as she watched the flames.

I could care less about what she and the others were doing. What I wanted to know was what my siblings were doing right about now... were they warm and safe? Were they still alive?

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter :3. This marks the end of the 2nd anniversary celebrations! The next update will be sometime next week, perhaps by midweek as I do need some time to edit and plan on what else is to come. So, thoughts on Koukyuu Vs. Zydeco?**