Warrior Princess

Chapter 1: I Promise

"Hi! Mister Nozel! Have you seen Azzy?" A little girl around the age of 7 with black red hair asked the Magic Knight. "She said she would be returning home with you today." She said as she held a small gray blanket in her arms.

"Yea, she's over there." He grunted disdainfully and looked over to the other woman with black blue hair who was talking to the Vermilion brother and sister.

The child smiled. "Thank you! Aza!" She chirped and ran towards her. "Hi, Mister Fuegoleon! Miss Mereoleona! How are you today?" She asked as her golden eyes shined with mirth.

" I am doing well today young Ash. How are you? " Fuegoleon asked as he smiled at her.

"I'm okay! Aza! I found a bird today! It's a baby! And its tail feathers look like fire!" Ash said happily as she carefully uncovered the blanket in her arms. The bird was a bright red with a tail made out of flames just as the child had said.

"What a beautiful bird." Aza bent down to the child and smiled as she gently used her finger to stroke the bird's head. The bird let out a tweet and scooted closer to Ash and turned away from Aza. "How sweet. It must think you are its mommy. You better keep it warm and safe. Then when it's bigger he can return to the wild." She said gently. " Ash, someday you'll make a good magic knight. " She said as she stood back up and helped recover the sleeping bird.

"But Mommy and Daddy said they don't want me to be a Magic Knight. They told me it's too dangerous for a lady." She said worrisome. "But then again they also said that birds carry disease and can peck out your eyes. And that hasn't happened yet, so maybe they're wrong!" She instantly perked up and giggled.

" Okay! I'll be a Magic Knight! And then I'll protect everyone! One day I'll protect the King and the Wizard King too! I promise! " Ash said as she looked up at Aza.

"Of course you will. You're my little sister! You were born to be amazing and just like our great great great grandparents." Aza said and then suddenly her expression darkened. " Ash, if anything happens to me I need you to promise you won't become like our parents. They turned away from a warrior's life. And I don't want you to do the same. "

"I promise!" Ash echoed as she turned to Nozel who was inspecting the gardens of The Lebelle's castle. "Do you love Nozel?" She asked out of the blue and Aza's eyes widened and Fuegoleon and Mereoleona had to hold their laughs. Aza opened her mouth to speak when Ash got distracted and ran away from them and secretly Aza made a sigh of relief.

"Pretty bird!" She cooed as she saw a songbird sitting in a birch tree. She carefully held the blanket close to her chest and she uncovers the red bird she had found and it had perked up. Ash carefully took the bird out of the blanket and the bird hopped onto her shoulder cuddling her neck. The little girl smiled and basked in the sun, her most favorite thing in the world, was the warm sun on her skin.

"She's gotten so big," Aza said as she returned back to her comrades. "I don't know how long her innocence will last though. I wish it would last forever." As she finished her sentence an owl carrying a letter came through a magic portal. The owl dropped letters into Mereoleona and Aza's hands and they opened them quickly. "The Diamond Mage Kingdom has threatened to attack our borders. They need us at Kiten, immediately! They don't know when they will attack but they want us there." Aza said as she crumbled up her letter and looked at Noel and Fuegoleon.

"We shall head out immediately," Mereoleona said in a strong voice and Ash was suddenly interested in the conversation again.

"You have to go. But you just got back." Ash said sadly and she starred at the ground. "You'll be back right?"

Aza was just about to mount her broom when her sister came to her. The dark blue haired female sighed and walked over to her little sister. "Ash, I will always come back. I can't leave when we're in the middle of training! Look here, where this. It's my special necklace. You can keep it to help you when you miss me." She said as she put a gold necklace with a crystal dangling from the middle of it.

Ash nodded, she understood but her sister was never home. And she missed her every time she left. Though she didn't relieve is that her sister was going to be away from much longer then she expected.

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Ash waited but the gates of her home for days. She waited so long that the maids had given her special tasks to do while she waited. Ash husked the corn for that night's dinner with the maids from the kitchen and after that, she helped the stable men groom the horses. Pretty soon she forgot about Aza coming home.

Ash named the little bird she found Fyre and she would chase the bird around as it leads her to different trees and the best places to sit in the sun. And on days where there was no sun she would help the maids in the kitchen.

Though she was doing work that the Royals frowned upon the enjoyed it. "You are a hard little worker aren't you?" Annie the maid who was cleaning laundry said smiling.

Ash nodded as she dried the clothes with the palms of her hands. "I wouldn't mind this job. You meet so many nice people and you guys work so hard!" She said as tiny balls of fire appeared in her hand. " And I like working for something, it makes me feel happy with myself. "

"Miss Ash, that is a wonderful way for you to think," Annie said laughing a bit.

"I sometimes wish I was a commoner." She sighed. " I think working for everything is the only way you can live your life to the fullest. And that Royals sometimes take what they have for granted. "

"Is that so?" Annie questioned and suddenly put down the clothes she was washing and bowed to the people who were walking towards the two. Ash turned her head to see Nozel, Mereoleona, Fuegoleon, and then.....her sister was nowhere to be found. Ash's smile fell and her shoulders started to sag. Deep in her heart, she knew what the news was going to be. "Aza...." She whispered.

Mereoleona looked at the child her face was grim. " Ash. We need to talk to you about something. " She said in a soft voice which was strange because Mereoleona had always been so loud. "Your sister she's...."

"She's dead isn't she?" Ash interrupted and her eyes began to water. Annie who stood behind Ash gasped and immediately went to console her if she started crying or in case her magic decided to be uncontrollable.

" No, she's not dead. She just went missing, we're all looking to find her as we speak. " Nozel said in a gentle voice. "Your parents thought it would be best if we told you."

"Thought more like forced." Mumbled the female Vermilion. "But Ash we promise we are looking for her." She said as she stroked her hair.

"Madame it's okay to cry." The maid said softly as Ash was holding back her tears.

Ash shook her head. "No! I won't cry! Crying won't bring Aza back! Nothing will! I 'll keep my promise to her be the best Magic Knight there is! I'll do everything I can!" She said as she wiped her eyes. Fuegoleon and Mereoleona shared glances and nodded to each as Ash broke free of the Annie's grasps.

"I'll be just as good as Aza." She said firmly.

"That's what Aza would say," Mereoleona said grinning. "And I hope you don't break that promise."

" I would never. "

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Above is Ash in the photo clothes and all. Except with darker red hair.