Destiny Discovered
The Masquerade
M. K. looks out the window while the limo was in motion. She didn’t really have an interest in anything the girls were talking about. M. K. sighs and looks to the side of her to see the blonde. She really was a breath taking person. Her skin had a bronze glow and her hair shined as if it had star dust in it. Her eyes were a lovely ice blue. Her hair has a slight curl in it that made it fit her face shape well. Her dress was a brilliant shade of blue that was close to matching her eyes. The girl looks at M. K.’s staring and does a rude head nod to her. M. K. quickly looks away, embarrassed that she was caught staring.
Dawn looks over to M. K.’s neighbor and asks Meshell, who was sitting next to her, who she was. Meshell smiles and shakes her head in surprise. Meshell leans in towards Dawn’s head and whispers her reply.
“That would be Belle. She’s the heiress from your home town. She’s quite known. She and Dru get a long quite well. It’s actually a rumor that if Dru were to get the throne, she wouldn’t keep it. Belle is way better suited for the throne. She doesn’t care who dies, so long as they do as she bids.” Dawn looks at Meshell with disbelief.
“How quickly does she make enemies? I’m quite sure she already dislikes my sister. There’s something that both of them have. I wonder does she have any ties with anyone we know? Was she once dating someone?” Meshell bites her lip as Dawn asks her questions.
“Who was it?”
“Well the thing is that they never dated. He just happened to save her and she happened to fall in love with him. She is extremely protective. I think you’ll figure out as soon as she starts talking. In fact, I think I’ll ask her a few questions for you to grab the hint.” Dawn looks at Meshell questionably. Meshell gives Dawn a look that silences her.
“So Belle, why’d you decide to come? It’s not like you to listen to David. Is there any particular reason for coming?” Belle glares at Meshell. Meshell inwardly shivers from the ice in Belle’s eyes.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business. I heard it from David’s own mouth that it would benefit me to be here. He says he’s going to announce who is the rightful queen of the throne. I don’t think the rest is important enough for the likes of you.” Belle rolls her eyes in annoyance and turns her head to look out the window with M. K.
Dawn gives Meshell a crazy look. Meshell slightly raises her hand for patience. Dawn raises her eyebrow but doesn’t press on.
“Oh, so you mean that you’re only here for that. I hate to tell you but the true queen is in the limo with us. In fact she could very well be sitting next to you. As far as the other reason, I know quite well who he is. And I do remember that the last time you talked to him, he walked away from you. What makes you think he won’t do it again? As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t like you in any way, shape, or form.” Belle snaps her gaze to Meshell.
“I’d watch what you say. I have connections to the throne and I can let them know about the treacherous plans to over throw them. Now if you would please shove your fist in your mouth, some of us would like quiet.” Belle lightly blows air out of her nose in annoyance and looks at M. K. with calculating eyes.
“I know she couldn’t have been talking about you. You’re only 13 or so. A word of advice for you, if you are in fact, my competition: You might as well give up. You’ll never be able to face the real work of ruling a kingdom.” M. K. goes wide eyed and quickly turns her eyes to slits.
“I’m not sure who you think you are but I’m quite positive I’d make a better ruler than you. I know what it’s like to do a day’s work without someone else doing it for me. So why don’t you take you and your fakeness and flatter someone else? I’m pretty sure you’re not cut out of the job either. In fact…” Dawn moves to M. K.’s side and looks at Belle with cold eyes.
“I believe you’ve harassed my sister long enough. The limo is reaching the destination now. If you’re so sure you’re a queen to be, why don’t you lead us out? As you said before, “now if you would please shove your fist in your mouth, some of us would like quiet.” Take your own advice.” Dawn moves back to her old seat and the limo comes to a stop.
Belle flips her hair and puts on a smile. The door is opened by Codey and she steps out first. Meshell follows Belle out and waits for Dawn and M. K. While waiting, Belle looks at Meshell with an icy look while M. K. is getting helped out of the limo.
“Don’t try and stand between Faji and I. He will fall in love with me as I have fallen for him. We will get married and we will be happy. Stay out of my way.” With that Belle walks towards the banquet hall and out of sight.
Meshell rolls her eyes and looks back at Dawn and M. K. Dawn shakes her head and M. K. raises an eye brow. Meshell pats M. K. on the shoulder and moves her hand in a gesture for them to start walking.
When they reached the doors, they saw the grandeur of the hall. M. K. gulps slightly as Dawn touches her hair to make sure it was the way it is supposed to be. Meshell nods her head to the announcer. Meshell stands in front of M. K. and Dawn. The announcer announces Meshell. M. K. and Dawn step into the door way together.
“…Now presenting Dawnavan and Mishima Keiko Davies, the last of the arrivals.” M. K. takes a step down a step when someone comes and asks for her to dance. M. K. looks back at Dawn and Dawn smiles, encouraging her to go and dance.
M. K. smiles at the young man and nods her head, smiling slightly. She offers her hand to the young man. He takes it and they walk off onto the dance floor right as a waltz was starting. M. K.’s eyes widen a bit but the young man’s smile reassures her.
The man leads M. K. through the steps to a waltz and by the end of the dance, M. K. was very good. The dance ends and M. K. curtsies like the rest of the females on the dance floor. The man bows low in front of M. K. M. K. smiles at him and waits for the next person to come dance with her.
***
Belle watches as M. K. makes the worst attempt she had personally ever seen of being somewhat royal. She rolls her eyes at the way M. K. just stood there without offering her hand out to be kissed. Belle knew she would never let a man walk off without knowing who she was.
I don’t understand how a little girl can be my competition. She’s only like 12 or 13 years old. All right, so she is definitely more like 15 but still. She’s not worthy of it. There’s nothing that she could ever do…why is Faji walking towards her? Belle narrows her eyes and takes a sip of her drink. David walks up to Belle and points out Faji and M. K.
“I see that you’ve heard about Mishima Keiko being your competition, as you so eloquently put it. Be careful in angering her. She’s very fast to light on fire. And there is no guarantee that she’ll control it if she’s too provoked.” David starts to walk away but stops and turns back around facing Belle.
“Another thing, Faji will never marry you. He’s in love with someone else. Well at least he cares for someone else.” Belle meets David’s eyes as she tightens her grip on her drink. David walks off towards the gathering of the other leaders. Belle looks around the dance floor with her eyes trying to pick out Faji in the crowd. Her eyes find Faji and notice very quickly that he’s dancing and laughing with M. K.
Belle’s eyes narrow even more as she watches M. K. kiss Faji’s cheek. Faji smiles at M. K. deeply and Belle’s glass shatters, as well as the glasses of everyone else. David’s head jerks to watch Belle and see what she was doing. Belle marches down onto the dance floor. David’s eyes go wide and motions for Codey, Brian, and Draco to come to him. They come to his side and points out Belle.
“Stop her from reaching Faji and M. K. I don’t care how you stop her, just stop her. I’ll warn Faji and M. K.” Codey, Brian, and Draco scatter and approach Belle from different directions. David walks the opposite side Belle walked down and hurries towards Faji and M. K.
***
Faji spins M. K. and pulls her in after the spin. She smiles up at him and kisses his cheek. He smiles in return as they continue to dance. Faji hears glass shattering in the distance but doesn’t pay much attention to it. The dance ends right as David makes his way over to the two. Faji smiles at David and M. K. waves a bit. David motions for the two to follow him. M. K. looks at Faji and shrugs. Faji grabs M. K.’s hand and follows a few feet behind David. David leads them up to where he was originally standing. He points out Belle.
“Be careful. She’s extremely jealous. M. K. control your temper to the best of your ability; she does have connections with Dru and Trickster’s Throne. If she sells you out, I can do nothing to protect you. You will be at their mercy. Which I doubt has much mercy in it at all.” He puts his hand on M. K.’s shoulder in a fatherly sort of way.
“Don’t make mistakes that we’ve clearly made way to avoid. I don’t want to lose you to the Throne. It will be the worst punishment you have ever faced. And there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to be saved.” M. K. covers David’s hand with her own hand.
“Don’t worry. If I do lose my temper, I’ll have Ana there for me. She won’t let the punishment be the worst. I’ll still be punished but not as severely.” M. K. moves her hand off of David’s and watches Belle. Belle was being distracted and flattered by Codey, Brian, and Draco. Belle looks off to the side scanning the room for Faji and M. K.
Codey attempts to flatter her again. Belle laughs lightly and pretends to be flattered. While Codey was talking, Belle’s eyes met with M. K.’s. Belle’s eyes narrow and she pushes the guys away from her. She storms up to where M. K. and Faji are. M. K. was leaning against Faji’s chest when Belle came up. Faji notices Belle and moves M. K. over to the opposite side of her. Belle’s eyes narrow into slits at the act of protection by Faji. Faji’s eyes turn to slits at Belle.
“Is there anything I can help you with? I believe I was enjoying my time with M. K., not you.” Faji says with as much restraint of the hostility as possible. Belle heard the hostility and raised her eyebrows.
“Do you really think that this relationship you have with her is going to work? I don’t. In fact I can say I know it won’t work. Any guess as to why it won’t work?” Belle asks with as much fake compassion as possible. Faji growls at Belle.
“There is no way you could know something like that unless you plan to make something like that happen. If you so much as lay a finger on her, I will personally make sure you have no fingers to do that again.” Belle grins with satisfaction.
“Why don’t you stop protecting her and let her prove her worth? Let her fight me and prove that she is a better match for you than me. If I win she has to stop talking, seeing, and living in range of you. If she wins, which I highly doubt she will, I will completely leave you alone. As for her if she beats me, I’ll make sure she’s in prison for the rest of her life in Trickster’s Throne. It’s as simple as that.” M. K. growls.
“Why don’t we make it a little more fair: if you beat me, you’re in prison here for the rest of your miserable lonely life? Either way you’re not going to have Faji. It’s his choice as much as it is yours or mine. But I’ll duel you. You won’t like it but I will.” M. K. squeezes Faji’s hand.
'She doesn’t realize that I’ve already taken my test. She doesn’t understand the abilities I now know how to use. But I will not sit down and let her win. I will fight. And she will not win.' Faji looks M. K. in the eyes sadly.
'But if you win, you’ll be in prison. How will that help any of us? You very well could be the next queen. I can’t risk losing you like that. It’s not fair. Can’t you just surrender? She’ll be locked up in prison. There will be nothing she can do to stop you and I from being close.' M. K. interrupts him.
'But a deal is a deal. And don’t worry; I’ve survived the prisons at Trickster’s Throne before. I can do it again if I have to.' Faji hugs M. K. as if it were the last time he was going to hug her ever again. M. K. inhales his scent and makes a mental note of it. M. K. backs out of the hug.
'Even if I am in prison, I’ll be able to talk to you. So it’s not like I’ll never hear your voice again. Plus I’m sure Ana could get word out to Mystik. She’d come save my butt and get me out of there. Once there, I’ll sneak to Vibe’s neck of the woods. No one will expect me to be there. They’ll expect me to come back here. I’ll keep you posted, so long as no one knows that we still have this mental link. I’ll make sure no one knows. I’ll act like I’m talking to myself. I’m young and crazy. It sounds like a good plan to me.' M. K. pats Faji’s cheek gently and turns to face Belle.
“I’m ready when you are. Unless you don’t agree to the terms we’ve both set.” M. K. raises her eye brow in a challenging way. Belle narrows her eyes slightly.
“I agree to them. Either way I win. So let’s get this over with.” M. K. smirks.
'You only think you win. I remember what Mystik told me. This will help more than it won’t.' M. K.’s mind goes back to a talk with Mystik that she had during training. They had been sparing for ten to 15 hours. They were on the break. Mystik looks at M. K.
“You’ve got some choices that you will have to make in order to maintain what is yours in the first place. You will be faced with the choice to go back on an agreement or to go to prison to learn from a younger me. I hope you choose the prison. So much good will come from that. You’ll learn much more at a slower pace. Although once I see what you can do, I’ll pump it up. When I was younger, I was softer. I didn’t always used to be as heartless. But if there is only on piece of knowledge I can give you, it’s this: anyone tied to the thrown will stop at nothing to gain what they want.” M. K. looks questionably at Mystik.
“Yes, even Ana is like that. She ran away from home and stopped protecting the weak. You going back to prison would bring her back. And you’ll see Alek again.” M. K.’s eyes light up.
“I miss him. He was always there for me. A little pushy for me to be his girlfriend but I’m sure he’s got many girls after him.” Mystik says nothing.
“You have a lot of things to learn about your leaving of Trickster’s Throne. There are things that have happened that you need to find out.” M. K. looks questionably at Mystik.
“I think we’ve taken more than long enough of a break.” Mystik throws a blast at the spot where M. K. was standing. M. K. sighs out loud and debates with herself on whether or not to send that memory to Faji. Belle begins to speak while M. K. clears her head.
“Do we fight tonight or in the morning? I hate to ruin perfectly good dresses.” M. K. raises her eye brows.
“Let’s get this done tonight. Why wait for such an important matter?” Faji makes a step to stop M. K. from going forward to fight Belle. M. K. shakes her head without looking at Faji and sends him the flashback of the talk with Mystik. M. K. steps forward as Belle walks towards the middle of the room. David meets both of them in the middle of the room.
“The fight will take place here. Everyone, besides the two of the fighters, needs to move up to the upper levels. There shall be no killing of each other. This is a fight to decide who the best is for Faji. The stakes are high and the price is very steep. I will be cheering for M. K. Belle does not deserve a win for this.” Belle gasps in shock at the callousness of David’s words. She narrows her eyes as M. K. stretches. David turns to M. K. and hugs her.
“We’ll be waiting for you to return. I already know what you’ve chosen to do. You will be the next ruling queen. You will sacrifice everything that you have for the prospect of freedom. Show this little girl what it is truly like to be a queen. Show her honor, respect, fairness, equality, and most of all compassion.” David hugs M. K. hard and walks up to the second level where he can see the fight the easiest.
M. K. looks across the area and watches what Belle is doing. Belle was stretching and calculating M. K.’s span of fighting and technique. M. K. looks down at her dress. It was a full length dress and wouldn’t do for fighting. She bends over and rips the fabric to stop at the tops of her knee. She takes her shoes off and throws them up to Dawn without looking at her. Dawn catches them with tears in her eyes. Belle glares at M. K.
“Are you ready? Then let us begin.”
Dawn looks over to M. K.’s neighbor and asks Meshell, who was sitting next to her, who she was. Meshell smiles and shakes her head in surprise. Meshell leans in towards Dawn’s head and whispers her reply.
“That would be Belle. She’s the heiress from your home town. She’s quite known. She and Dru get a long quite well. It’s actually a rumor that if Dru were to get the throne, she wouldn’t keep it. Belle is way better suited for the throne. She doesn’t care who dies, so long as they do as she bids.” Dawn looks at Meshell with disbelief.
“How quickly does she make enemies? I’m quite sure she already dislikes my sister. There’s something that both of them have. I wonder does she have any ties with anyone we know? Was she once dating someone?” Meshell bites her lip as Dawn asks her questions.
“Who was it?”
“Well the thing is that they never dated. He just happened to save her and she happened to fall in love with him. She is extremely protective. I think you’ll figure out as soon as she starts talking. In fact, I think I’ll ask her a few questions for you to grab the hint.” Dawn looks at Meshell questionably. Meshell gives Dawn a look that silences her.
“So Belle, why’d you decide to come? It’s not like you to listen to David. Is there any particular reason for coming?” Belle glares at Meshell. Meshell inwardly shivers from the ice in Belle’s eyes.
“I don’t think that’s any of your business. I heard it from David’s own mouth that it would benefit me to be here. He says he’s going to announce who is the rightful queen of the throne. I don’t think the rest is important enough for the likes of you.” Belle rolls her eyes in annoyance and turns her head to look out the window with M. K.
Dawn gives Meshell a crazy look. Meshell slightly raises her hand for patience. Dawn raises her eyebrow but doesn’t press on.
“Oh, so you mean that you’re only here for that. I hate to tell you but the true queen is in the limo with us. In fact she could very well be sitting next to you. As far as the other reason, I know quite well who he is. And I do remember that the last time you talked to him, he walked away from you. What makes you think he won’t do it again? As far as I’m concerned, he doesn’t like you in any way, shape, or form.” Belle snaps her gaze to Meshell.
“I’d watch what you say. I have connections to the throne and I can let them know about the treacherous plans to over throw them. Now if you would please shove your fist in your mouth, some of us would like quiet.” Belle lightly blows air out of her nose in annoyance and looks at M. K. with calculating eyes.
“I know she couldn’t have been talking about you. You’re only 13 or so. A word of advice for you, if you are in fact, my competition: You might as well give up. You’ll never be able to face the real work of ruling a kingdom.” M. K. goes wide eyed and quickly turns her eyes to slits.
“I’m not sure who you think you are but I’m quite positive I’d make a better ruler than you. I know what it’s like to do a day’s work without someone else doing it for me. So why don’t you take you and your fakeness and flatter someone else? I’m pretty sure you’re not cut out of the job either. In fact…” Dawn moves to M. K.’s side and looks at Belle with cold eyes.
“I believe you’ve harassed my sister long enough. The limo is reaching the destination now. If you’re so sure you’re a queen to be, why don’t you lead us out? As you said before, “now if you would please shove your fist in your mouth, some of us would like quiet.” Take your own advice.” Dawn moves back to her old seat and the limo comes to a stop.
Belle flips her hair and puts on a smile. The door is opened by Codey and she steps out first. Meshell follows Belle out and waits for Dawn and M. K. While waiting, Belle looks at Meshell with an icy look while M. K. is getting helped out of the limo.
“Don’t try and stand between Faji and I. He will fall in love with me as I have fallen for him. We will get married and we will be happy. Stay out of my way.” With that Belle walks towards the banquet hall and out of sight.
Meshell rolls her eyes and looks back at Dawn and M. K. Dawn shakes her head and M. K. raises an eye brow. Meshell pats M. K. on the shoulder and moves her hand in a gesture for them to start walking.
When they reached the doors, they saw the grandeur of the hall. M. K. gulps slightly as Dawn touches her hair to make sure it was the way it is supposed to be. Meshell nods her head to the announcer. Meshell stands in front of M. K. and Dawn. The announcer announces Meshell. M. K. and Dawn step into the door way together.
“…Now presenting Dawnavan and Mishima Keiko Davies, the last of the arrivals.” M. K. takes a step down a step when someone comes and asks for her to dance. M. K. looks back at Dawn and Dawn smiles, encouraging her to go and dance.
M. K. smiles at the young man and nods her head, smiling slightly. She offers her hand to the young man. He takes it and they walk off onto the dance floor right as a waltz was starting. M. K.’s eyes widen a bit but the young man’s smile reassures her.
The man leads M. K. through the steps to a waltz and by the end of the dance, M. K. was very good. The dance ends and M. K. curtsies like the rest of the females on the dance floor. The man bows low in front of M. K. M. K. smiles at him and waits for the next person to come dance with her.
***
Belle watches as M. K. makes the worst attempt she had personally ever seen of being somewhat royal. She rolls her eyes at the way M. K. just stood there without offering her hand out to be kissed. Belle knew she would never let a man walk off without knowing who she was.
I don’t understand how a little girl can be my competition. She’s only like 12 or 13 years old. All right, so she is definitely more like 15 but still. She’s not worthy of it. There’s nothing that she could ever do…why is Faji walking towards her? Belle narrows her eyes and takes a sip of her drink. David walks up to Belle and points out Faji and M. K.
“I see that you’ve heard about Mishima Keiko being your competition, as you so eloquently put it. Be careful in angering her. She’s very fast to light on fire. And there is no guarantee that she’ll control it if she’s too provoked.” David starts to walk away but stops and turns back around facing Belle.
“Another thing, Faji will never marry you. He’s in love with someone else. Well at least he cares for someone else.” Belle meets David’s eyes as she tightens her grip on her drink. David walks off towards the gathering of the other leaders. Belle looks around the dance floor with her eyes trying to pick out Faji in the crowd. Her eyes find Faji and notice very quickly that he’s dancing and laughing with M. K.
Belle’s eyes narrow even more as she watches M. K. kiss Faji’s cheek. Faji smiles at M. K. deeply and Belle’s glass shatters, as well as the glasses of everyone else. David’s head jerks to watch Belle and see what she was doing. Belle marches down onto the dance floor. David’s eyes go wide and motions for Codey, Brian, and Draco to come to him. They come to his side and points out Belle.
“Stop her from reaching Faji and M. K. I don’t care how you stop her, just stop her. I’ll warn Faji and M. K.” Codey, Brian, and Draco scatter and approach Belle from different directions. David walks the opposite side Belle walked down and hurries towards Faji and M. K.
***
Faji spins M. K. and pulls her in after the spin. She smiles up at him and kisses his cheek. He smiles in return as they continue to dance. Faji hears glass shattering in the distance but doesn’t pay much attention to it. The dance ends right as David makes his way over to the two. Faji smiles at David and M. K. waves a bit. David motions for the two to follow him. M. K. looks at Faji and shrugs. Faji grabs M. K.’s hand and follows a few feet behind David. David leads them up to where he was originally standing. He points out Belle.
“Be careful. She’s extremely jealous. M. K. control your temper to the best of your ability; she does have connections with Dru and Trickster’s Throne. If she sells you out, I can do nothing to protect you. You will be at their mercy. Which I doubt has much mercy in it at all.” He puts his hand on M. K.’s shoulder in a fatherly sort of way.
“Don’t make mistakes that we’ve clearly made way to avoid. I don’t want to lose you to the Throne. It will be the worst punishment you have ever faced. And there is no guarantee that you’ll be able to be saved.” M. K. covers David’s hand with her own hand.
“Don’t worry. If I do lose my temper, I’ll have Ana there for me. She won’t let the punishment be the worst. I’ll still be punished but not as severely.” M. K. moves her hand off of David’s and watches Belle. Belle was being distracted and flattered by Codey, Brian, and Draco. Belle looks off to the side scanning the room for Faji and M. K.
Codey attempts to flatter her again. Belle laughs lightly and pretends to be flattered. While Codey was talking, Belle’s eyes met with M. K.’s. Belle’s eyes narrow and she pushes the guys away from her. She storms up to where M. K. and Faji are. M. K. was leaning against Faji’s chest when Belle came up. Faji notices Belle and moves M. K. over to the opposite side of her. Belle’s eyes narrow into slits at the act of protection by Faji. Faji’s eyes turn to slits at Belle.
“Is there anything I can help you with? I believe I was enjoying my time with M. K., not you.” Faji says with as much restraint of the hostility as possible. Belle heard the hostility and raised her eyebrows.
“Do you really think that this relationship you have with her is going to work? I don’t. In fact I can say I know it won’t work. Any guess as to why it won’t work?” Belle asks with as much fake compassion as possible. Faji growls at Belle.
“There is no way you could know something like that unless you plan to make something like that happen. If you so much as lay a finger on her, I will personally make sure you have no fingers to do that again.” Belle grins with satisfaction.
“Why don’t you stop protecting her and let her prove her worth? Let her fight me and prove that she is a better match for you than me. If I win she has to stop talking, seeing, and living in range of you. If she wins, which I highly doubt she will, I will completely leave you alone. As for her if she beats me, I’ll make sure she’s in prison for the rest of her life in Trickster’s Throne. It’s as simple as that.” M. K. growls.
“Why don’t we make it a little more fair: if you beat me, you’re in prison here for the rest of your miserable lonely life? Either way you’re not going to have Faji. It’s his choice as much as it is yours or mine. But I’ll duel you. You won’t like it but I will.” M. K. squeezes Faji’s hand.
'She doesn’t realize that I’ve already taken my test. She doesn’t understand the abilities I now know how to use. But I will not sit down and let her win. I will fight. And she will not win.' Faji looks M. K. in the eyes sadly.
'But if you win, you’ll be in prison. How will that help any of us? You very well could be the next queen. I can’t risk losing you like that. It’s not fair. Can’t you just surrender? She’ll be locked up in prison. There will be nothing she can do to stop you and I from being close.' M. K. interrupts him.
'But a deal is a deal. And don’t worry; I’ve survived the prisons at Trickster’s Throne before. I can do it again if I have to.' Faji hugs M. K. as if it were the last time he was going to hug her ever again. M. K. inhales his scent and makes a mental note of it. M. K. backs out of the hug.
'Even if I am in prison, I’ll be able to talk to you. So it’s not like I’ll never hear your voice again. Plus I’m sure Ana could get word out to Mystik. She’d come save my butt and get me out of there. Once there, I’ll sneak to Vibe’s neck of the woods. No one will expect me to be there. They’ll expect me to come back here. I’ll keep you posted, so long as no one knows that we still have this mental link. I’ll make sure no one knows. I’ll act like I’m talking to myself. I’m young and crazy. It sounds like a good plan to me.' M. K. pats Faji’s cheek gently and turns to face Belle.
“I’m ready when you are. Unless you don’t agree to the terms we’ve both set.” M. K. raises her eye brow in a challenging way. Belle narrows her eyes slightly.
“I agree to them. Either way I win. So let’s get this over with.” M. K. smirks.
'You only think you win. I remember what Mystik told me. This will help more than it won’t.' M. K.’s mind goes back to a talk with Mystik that she had during training. They had been sparing for ten to 15 hours. They were on the break. Mystik looks at M. K.
“You’ve got some choices that you will have to make in order to maintain what is yours in the first place. You will be faced with the choice to go back on an agreement or to go to prison to learn from a younger me. I hope you choose the prison. So much good will come from that. You’ll learn much more at a slower pace. Although once I see what you can do, I’ll pump it up. When I was younger, I was softer. I didn’t always used to be as heartless. But if there is only on piece of knowledge I can give you, it’s this: anyone tied to the thrown will stop at nothing to gain what they want.” M. K. looks questionably at Mystik.
“Yes, even Ana is like that. She ran away from home and stopped protecting the weak. You going back to prison would bring her back. And you’ll see Alek again.” M. K.’s eyes light up.
“I miss him. He was always there for me. A little pushy for me to be his girlfriend but I’m sure he’s got many girls after him.” Mystik says nothing.
“You have a lot of things to learn about your leaving of Trickster’s Throne. There are things that have happened that you need to find out.” M. K. looks questionably at Mystik.
“I think we’ve taken more than long enough of a break.” Mystik throws a blast at the spot where M. K. was standing. M. K. sighs out loud and debates with herself on whether or not to send that memory to Faji. Belle begins to speak while M. K. clears her head.
“Do we fight tonight or in the morning? I hate to ruin perfectly good dresses.” M. K. raises her eye brows.
“Let’s get this done tonight. Why wait for such an important matter?” Faji makes a step to stop M. K. from going forward to fight Belle. M. K. shakes her head without looking at Faji and sends him the flashback of the talk with Mystik. M. K. steps forward as Belle walks towards the middle of the room. David meets both of them in the middle of the room.
“The fight will take place here. Everyone, besides the two of the fighters, needs to move up to the upper levels. There shall be no killing of each other. This is a fight to decide who the best is for Faji. The stakes are high and the price is very steep. I will be cheering for M. K. Belle does not deserve a win for this.” Belle gasps in shock at the callousness of David’s words. She narrows her eyes as M. K. stretches. David turns to M. K. and hugs her.
“We’ll be waiting for you to return. I already know what you’ve chosen to do. You will be the next ruling queen. You will sacrifice everything that you have for the prospect of freedom. Show this little girl what it is truly like to be a queen. Show her honor, respect, fairness, equality, and most of all compassion.” David hugs M. K. hard and walks up to the second level where he can see the fight the easiest.
M. K. looks across the area and watches what Belle is doing. Belle was stretching and calculating M. K.’s span of fighting and technique. M. K. looks down at her dress. It was a full length dress and wouldn’t do for fighting. She bends over and rips the fabric to stop at the tops of her knee. She takes her shoes off and throws them up to Dawn without looking at her. Dawn catches them with tears in her eyes. Belle glares at M. K.
“Are you ready? Then let us begin.”