The Will of Fire

5...Royalty

Jared woke up to a brand new surrounding. He looked around him. The walls were a shiny marble of white and blue pattern. He was laying in a bed with satin gold sheets. Where the hell am I? Jared stood from the bed and walked over to the huge arched shape window. When he moved the golden curtain from the window, radiant rays of sun poured into the room. Jared realized he was in a tall building, and possibly at the very top. He had a perfect view over Hakuchō Village.
"Oh, you're awake!" said a voice behind him.
Jared turned and looked to find a woman standing in the doorway. She had pale skin and blue eyes. Her hair was wildly curly and was a red-orange. She wore a see through yellow body suit that covered her chest and torso area. Over that she wore a red robe that opened at the stomach and at the bottom of the robe was sash-like and trimmed in yellow and flowed elegantly in the front and the back. The sleeves of the robe had long sashes attached that flowed down to her feet, covered in orange floral accents. She also wore black open toed knee high boots trimmed in yellow at the feet of the boots with a 7-inch heel on them. Her nails were red and she wore red lipstick.
"Hey, where am I? Who are you?" Jared asked.
"You're in the Hakuchō Palace! Belonging to the great King Tskune and his daughter, Princess Teikuya! I'm Rei Akano, personal bodyguard of Lady Teikuya!"
"King Tskune? I need to speak with him. Where's my brother and sister? My friend? Where's my dog?" Jared asked walking towards Rei.
"Well they're all enjoying breakfast in the dining hall on the main level. You should come eat up! Gotta keep those bones nice and strong!" Rei said walking out of the room.
Jared followed her through the hallways of the palace. Everything was so pristine and royal like. Roses on vines decorated the walls. Colorful vases sat on columns with  beautiful flowers accenting them. Rei ushered Jared into the elevator where they went from the 20th floor all the way to the main level of the of the palace (The first floor). When they arrived to the main level, everyone sat a huge table with enormous amounts of food laid out on the table. Tristin, Luisa, and Alisa sat at the table feasting. Alisa was the first to notice Jared. Once she did, she ran to him and hugged him tight.
"It's so good to see you." she said softly.
"Hey Jared! Come and eat man, there's plenty! I love Japanese food!" Tristin said stuffing his mouth.
Jared noticed a man sitting on a throne, smiling at him.
"Nice to see you awake and well, young man." he said walking towards Jared.
He was almost seven feet tall with a slender but muscular build and had gray and black hair that was slightly pushed back and spiked at the ends. He had pale green eyes, three black markings underneath both eyes and four short fanged teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. He wore a black and pale green cape and a pale green kimono like robe tied closed by a black sash with gold accents. Underneath, he wore a black shirt and black tight slacks. On his feet he wore black open toed boot-like sandals that stopped at his shins.
"You must be King Tskune Asayama. Jared Dorahatō from the states, sir." Jared said bowing. "I'm here for the Deathmatch Tournament along with my brother, sister and friend."
"An honor to meet you!" King Tskune said grabbing Jared and squeezing him with a huge hug.
"Um, sir? I. Can't. Breathe!" Jared strained.
"My apologies! I just get so excited when we have visitors here at the palace! Especially when it's the children of my good friends Kaeneki and Rosa Dorahatō!"
"You and my parents were friends?" Jared asked.
"Absolutely! When they entered the tournament twenty years ago, I had just started my reign as The King of Japan. Your mother and father proved to be great warriors! That evil Sphinx beast nearly killed your father. But he fought amazingly. When your mother told me that her children were joining the tournament, I was ecstatic. But when I learned that you three had no training needed for this tournament, I became fearful."
"Well this is why we were told to come to you. We need you to tell us how to get to Mount Hakuchō. The Legendary Hakuchō Three are supposed to be the three who train me, Tristin and Luisa." said Jared.
King Tskune rubbed his chin.
"Hmm...the tournament starts in two days. Do you think you all can learn enough to potentially win this tournament in such little time?" King Tskune asked.
"With hard work and dedication sir, absolutely." Jared said.
King Tskune chuckled softly. "This kid is just like Kaeneki." he thought to himself.
"King Tskune, sir." said Jin'ichi. "Lady Teikuya and Taka have arrived in the courtyard."
"Ah, thank you, Jin'ichi. This is great, I want you to meet my daughter and my niece." said King Tskune.
In walked in two girls. One had pale skin and green eyes. She wore a long red and black kimono with pink floral decoration on the sleeves. She also wore black sandal-like heels along with white knee high stockings. And her hair was jet black and long to her back.
The other wore a silk tight all white dress with glittery sparkles and small ruffles around the waist, breasts and at the top of the long silk white glittery gloves she wears. She also had pale skin and big purple doll like eyes. Her hair was curled and waist length in a beautiful silver. She wore a glittery silver tiara and glitter silvery 7-inch stilettos. Her smile was captivating.
"Jared, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Princess Teikuya Asayama." King Tskune said pridefully.
Sure enough the girl with the tiara was Princess Teikuya.
"Pleased to meet you, Jared." Teikuya said daintily reaching her hand out to shake his.
Tristin threw a huge piece of beef to Maxi who jumped up and caught it midair. He got up from his seat and approached Teikuya.
"An honor to meet you, Lady Teikuya" he said kissing her hand. "I"m Tristin Dorahatō, the older brother of Jared and not to mention the better brother."
"IDIOT!" Luisa shouted, throwing a spoon at the back of Tristin's head.
"Well, nice to meet you as well." Teikuya laughed.
"I'm going outside." said the other girl.
She had no expression of any emotion on her face. Just blank, which sparked curiosity in Jared.
"Wait, stay! Come, meet my guests" King Tskune said. "This is my one and only niece, Taka Asayama."
Taka looked away, refusing to look Jared and Tristin in the eyes.
"Nice to meet you. I hope you all enjoy your visit with my uncle and my cousin. Now, if you don't mind I want to go outside." Taka said turning and walking away.
King Tskune sighed and shook his head.
"Please, you'll have to forgive Taka. She hasn't been the same since she lost her parents five years ago. Since then she's been quite reserved and only close with Teikuya. She ignores everyone else in Hakuchō." King Tskune said.
"So, my father told me you guys would be here. Entering the  tournament my grandfather created years ago huh?" Teikuya asked.
"Correct. We first need to speak with The Legendary Hakuchō Three and have them train us for this tournament." Jared said.
Teikuya laughed.
"Well I hope you all can hold your own. Especially if you're up against me."
"YOU'RE IN THE TOURNAMENT!?" Jared and Tristin said together.
"No offense, but you're a princess. Aren't you supposed to stick to the role of a damsel in distress? Needing to be saved once captured?" Tristin laughed.
"Oh, make no mistake. My daughter is trained in the style of Aikido and is an Aeromancer belonging to the Wind Type." said King Tskune.
Alisa walked over and gave Jared and Tristin info cards.
Aeromancers - A class of people belonging to Wind Types. Aeromancers have the ability to use the air around them to create concussive forces of wind that overwhelm the target. Aeromancers can master the ability of flight with extreme training in meditation. This was taught by the now extinct species of Flying Panda during ancient times in China where Aeromancers originated.