“So…” Ryoko looked at the seat next to Kazekiri. “… Gabrielle still isn’t back yet?”

  “It seems that way,” Kazekiri said.

  “You know where she is, don’t you?”

  At the looks Ryoko, Selene, and Serah gave her, Kazekiri turned her head. “I… I do, but I can’t tell you. I’m sorry.”

  Last week, Gabrielle had stopped coming to school. She wasn’t on Mars anymore, having gone into space with Alex, so of course she wouldn’t be there. Kazekiri had been sworn to secrecy on the matter by Commander Karen, so she could not tell anyone about their friend’s whereabouts.

  “It’s fine.” Ryoko shrugged. “I think we get it.”

  “It definitely has something to do with Alex,” Selene added with a nod. “I’m sure something important has happened, and like an idiot, he rushed off with Gabrielle to save the day.”

  It was a testament to how well Selene knew Alex that she could pretty much guess what he was doing without knowing the details. Kazekiri wasn’t jealous. Of course not. Far be it for her to be jealous of how well Selene knew Alex. She was merely curious to know how well those two knew each other. That was all. There were no exterior motives or anything.

  Classes that day went by slowly. Granted, they had been going by slowly ever since Alex and Gabrielle left. Kazekiri’s mind had, much to her chagrin, been filled with thoughts of those two. She was worried.

  No one in their solar system knew what awaited them outside of this solar system. There could be millions of unknown dangers, and those two were walking right into the heat of a civil war for the throne of another solar system. Kazekiri couldn’t help but feel worry.

  She had actually protested letting them go when Commander Karen had told her about what they were doing, but she had said they had no right to hold them. Alex was engaged to Gabrielle. Gabrielle was the daughter of King Lucifer, ruler of the galaxy. If they wanted, they only needed to get in contact with King Lucifer and any laws they created would become meaningless. It galled her, but there was nothing she could do.

  The only class that Kazekiri enjoyed that day was hand to hand combat instructions.

  At her request, Alex had made her a training regimen and even gave her a few private instructions on how to fight. She’d been incorporating what she learned into her fighting. Whatever she had to say about Alex’s talent as an officer, she couldn’t deny that he knew how to fight.

  Her opponent that day was Tifa. The girl was nearly two times larger than Kazekiri, and her burly arms shot out more quickly than she would have imagined such a big girl capable of. At the same time, while they were fast, they moved in a straight line. Tifa’s punches were predictable and easy to avoid.

  “H-hold still!” the girl growled.

  Kazekiri did not hold still. She continued to dance around the attacks like a butterfly flitting away from a net. Left. Right. Back. Duck. Spin. Sidestep. Kazekiri constantly moved, doing her best to remember what Alex had taught her, to recall his words.

  “Because of the way your body is proportioned, you don’t want to make any large, unnecessary movements. That will simply cause your bust to get in the way of your fighting. Instead, move as little as possible. If you have to dodge, do so by taking one step to the either side or one step back. This will keep you from jostling yourself, which should allow for a wider range of motion. Once you get dodging down, observe your opponent to learn their attack patterns, and then hit them with a strong counterattack.”

  Alex had not only taught her this basic tactic, but he had mentioned that because she was a woman with a larger than average chest, she’d do better practicing judo, a type of martial arts that relied on using other people’s strength against them. She didn’t know much, but she had taken his words to heart and begun learning.

  Tifa’s punches were getting sloppier. This made them easier to dodge. Kazekiri had been doing exactly as Alex had taught her, watching her opponent to predict t for any opening that might present itself.

  One such opening came when Tifa over-extended her latest punch. Kazekiri moved in quicker than a blaster bolt. She took two steps forward, grabbed Tifa’s arm, spun around, and used her leverage plus Tifa’s momentum to lift the much larger girl into the air and toss her. Tifa screamed as she flew through the air, but that scream was silenced when the girl slammed back first into the mat.

  “This match goes to Kazekiri,” Instructor Monica announced.

  “I won?” Kazekiri blinked. She raised her hands and looked at them, as though unable to believe that these hands had just defeated Tifa. “I can’t believe I won.”

  “Don’t get a big head,” Tifa muttered as she clambered to her feet. “It was just one round. It won’t happen again.”

  Despite what Tifa said, Kazekiri was so happy that as classes came to an end, she still hadn’t been able to get rid of the smile on her face. She was smiling all the way home. It wasn’t until she entered the house and saw the extra pair of shoes that the smile faded.

  Loud stomping and several curses echoed from the kitchen. It was not Keichii’s voice. It was a voice that sounded vaguely familiar. She felt she should recognize this voice, but at the same time, she didn’t want to know.

  Slowly, Kazekiri wandered into the kitchen.

  She paused. Her eyes widened in shock. Her heart tried to beat its way out of her throat. Her mind froze in terror.

  A man stood in the kitchen, a plate of food in one hand as he rummaged through the cabinet. His off-white shirt was covered in stains and stretched over his large gut. Scraggly brown hair fell about his face, clean but filthy, as though it was covered in oil. His skin was a kind of pasty white. As he turned to face her, no doubt responding to the door opening, she caught sight of brown eyes.

  “Kazekiri. Hurry up and get started on dinner. I’m hungry.”

  The words jolted her. “F-father?!”

  Her father, the man who she and Keiichi had run from, the man who she feared more than anyone else, was standing in her kitchen and demanding she make him dinner. The situation was so surreal that Kazekiri didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or hide in her bed.

  “What? Did you not hear me?” her father demanded. “I said hurry up and make dinner!”

  Kazekiri needed a moment to think of what she should do. After a few seconds, Kazekiri concluded that she didn’t have to do what he said. She was no longer the little girl who cowered before her parents.

  She squared her shoulders and glared at him. “What are you doing here? You should be rotting away in a prison back on Earth.”

  The look on her father’s face, the rage in his now narrowed eyes, brought back all of the terrible memories from her past. Despite wanting to put up a brace front, Kazekiri’s face paled and her knees shook.

  “Are you talking back to me?” he asked. Kazekiri wanted to stand up to him, but once again, her head shook against her will. Her father grinned as he walked toward her, cracking his knuckles. “It seems you need to remember what happens to bad little girls who disrespect their fathers.”

  Kazekiri tried to run away, to get out of the house and to the police station, but her father was faster than he looked. He kicked at her legs. Tumbling to the ground with a cry, Kazekiri became disoriented when her chin slammed into the fake wooden floor. She tasted blood in her mouth. However, the sharp sensation on her chin and taste of liquid iron became secondary to the feeling of rough hands grabbing her hair and yanking on it.

  “I didn’t put up with your mother’s cheek, and I certainly won’t put up with yours.” Her father’s acrid breath washed over Kazekiri’s ear. She smelled alcohol on his breath. He had already been drinking. “It’s time to make sure you understand your place.”

  Kazekiri considered herself to be many things. Strong. Proud. A good citizen who followed the rules. However, in that moment, as her father began to beat her with his fists and feet, she went back to being the little girl who kept getting abused by her mother and father.

  As tears streamed down her face, Kazekiri realized that despite all her efforts to the contrary, she hadn’t changed from her past self at all.

  Chapter 3

  Merlin and Perversion

  Camelot was nothing like Mars. Of course, that went without saying. Mars was a desolate planet where people lived inside of domed cities that protected them from the basically non-existent atmosphere, while Camelot was a blue and green planet filled with vast oceans and ardent forests.

  Looking at the planet from the viewport of the shuttle, Alex could see that they were traveling toward a city--a massive city that looked similar but different to Mars City. The architecture held a strange style that was like a mix of old and new. Gleaming skyscrapers sat next to squat buildings made of limestone. Powerful archways connected numerous large buildings together without blocking the view for those down below. Unlike Mars City, which eventually became so congested with walkways and hubs that the further down you went, the less you could see above you, everywhere he looked offered a crystal-clear view of the bright, blue sky.

  “What do you think?” asked Prince Arthur, and despite being stuck in crash webbing like the rest of them, he looked rather regal--not to mention smug.

  “It’s an amazing city,” Alex admitted, though he was a bit annoyed by the smug look the prince wore. “I’ve never seen anything this amazing before.”

  “It’s okay,” Gabrielle said, leaning over Alex’s shoulder to look out the window.

  “I’ve seen better,” Nyx added.

  Alex couldn’t be sure, but he could have sworn that several spears had appeared to pierce Prince Arthur’s chest. The crown prince certainly looked like someone who’d been shot in the chest with a blaster bolt.

  “W-well, I imagine that the princess of the Angelisian Empire and the galaxy’s most notorious assassin have been to many planets,” Prince Arthur said.

  “Not really,” Gabrielle rebutted. “I barely left the palace when I was younger. I just think Angelisia is more impressive.”

  “O-oh…” The stunned look on Prince Arthur’s face almost made Alex snicker. However, the crown prince recovered with admirable swiftness. Coughing into his hand, he said, “in either event, we’ll be arriving at my palace in just a few moments.”

  It wasn’t long before the palace came into view, spreading out before them as they passed through a large archway. Glistening in the afternoon sun, five towers jutted into the sky, the light reflecting off their gleaming surfaces, which appeared to be made from a material that Alex didn’t recognize. It wasn’t metal, but it wasn’t stone either. Surrounding the towers was a large wall. The towers themselves were connected via a series of archways. Meanwhile, nestled beneath them was a large structure that spread out across the land. The tallest tower among the group was spearing straight through the building, which must have been the palace.

  They set down on a landing pad not far from the palace. As they stepped out, the group, or rather, Prince Arthur, was greeted by several guards decked in dazzling silver armor. With swords strapped to their waists and rifles in their hands, the group of warriors saluted.

  Prince Arthur waved them down as he and Gwenn walked past the group. While Gabrielle seemed right at home and Nyx uncaring, Alex could not help but the nerves that settled in his gut as he followed the two. He still wasn’t used to all this pomp.

  The procession of guards trailed after them, marching in two perfect lines, and the sound of their stamping feet nearly made Alex cringe.

  Passing under an archway, Alex soon realized that they had entered the palace proper. It was not defined by any doors. The palace was very open, with no walls and only massive columns to mark their entrance, allowing anyone who pleased to walk in. While he questioned how secure such a thing would be, he didn’t deny the aesthetic appeal, though Alex soon discovered that there were, in fact, doors that led deeper into the palace. They came upon one soon enough. The outside must have just been decoration.

  It was gigantic. The door easily towered over him and the others, a double door made of a dark wood and inlaid with golden designs of a dragon. Two guards stood on either side of the door. When their procession appeared, they saluted, swiped a card through a slot behind them, and then, with a precious groan, the doors slowly opened.

  As Prince Arthur led the group into what a wide hallway, he began giving orders.

  “I want a status hourly status reports on any suspicious activity happening around the planet. You. Make it happen.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Put our military on high alert. Code Omega. Also, change our transponder codes. I don’t want an incident like what happened today occurring.”

  “Yes, Your Grace!”

  One by one, the people in his procession were given orders and hurried off to accomplish those orders. While this was happening, Gwenn typed in her tablet, probably taking down notations of the orders for future reference.

  “Also, bring Merlin to the war council room.”

  The procession halted. Alex only noticed the strange tension in the air after nearly tripping over Gabrielle’s feet when she suddenly stopped.

  He looked at the faces of those around him, wondering about the uncertainty in them. Who was this Merlin character? Why did he evoke such a strange reaction from everyone?

  Prince Arthur also paused. His face, which had been blazing determination like a wildfire, suddenly shifted into one of consternated exhaustion.

  “Let me guess… he’s not peeping again, is he?”

  Peeping?

  The guards still present looked at each other, their faces reflecting the uncertainty they felt. Alex thought he felt the tension in the hallway rise. It seemed this Merlin, whoever he was, caused a lot of problems.

  “We’re… not sure,” another guard said. “See, the thing is, we don’t actually know where he is.”

  “So I see.” Prince Arthur sighed, placed his hand in his face, and appeared to think about what he’d learned for a moment. Several seconds passed. The crown prince straightened and said, “Merlin will show up when he feels like it. For now, let’s focus on the matter at hand.”

  And with that, Prince Arthur began giving orders once again.

  It wasn’t long before they reached another doorway, this one just as big, and passed through to find themselves standing in a large room made of shining tiles. Several columns decorated with motifs and the like lined either side of the room. In between these columns, large stained-glass windows revealed figures. It wasn’t until Alex saw several of the windows, which showed a figure pulling a sword from a stone, that it told the story of how Prince Arthur became crown prince. Rather, it was the legend that had been told since before he was crown prince.

  They walked down the red carpet in the center of the room, which led to a dais. A gilded throne sat atop it. A pair of steps led to it. Made from a material that glittered like gold, with a soft red cushion for Prince Arthur to sit on, and an armrest that curved around the entire thing, Alex didn’t think he’d ever seen a more opulent chair. It was ridiculous.

  As the crown prince sat down, he gestured for Alex, Gabrielle, and Nyx to stand beside him. When they did, he looked at one of the few remaining guards who hadn’t run off to follow one of his orders.

  “Have you located Bedivere yet?” he asked.

  “I am afraid we have not uncovered his exact location,” the guard said. “All we know is that he’s still somewhere on Winchester.”

  “Hmm…”

  “You mentioned that Bedivere was good at hiding,” Alex said.

  “That he is.” Prince Arthur paused. “Back when we were children, Bedivere would always know of the greatest hiding spots in the palace. It wouldn’t surprise me if he kept this talent for hiding even after gaining his own planet.”

  “Then he probably has a lot of hideouts on Winchester,” Gabrielle said. “If it was me, I would have at least twenty different hideouts, and I would move between them every few days to keep my bodyguards--I mean, to keep any pursuers from locating me.”

  Alex snorted at how Gabrielle specifically mentioned her bodyguards. Knowing her as he did, he would not have been surprised if she’d created several hideouts that she used when running away from her bodyguards, which she had done frequently before meeting him. According to what he’d learned from Ariel, Gabrielle had run away dozens of times every year.

  And the last time she ran away, she actually escaped. The girl is more cunning than people give her credit for.

  “You bring up a good point.” Prince Arthur raised a hand to his mouth, biting on his index finger as he furrowed his brows. After another moment, he sighed. “All right. I’ll come up with a method of locating Bedivere. In the meantime, Gwenn, why don’t you show these three around? They’ve traveled all this way. It would be a shame not to let them see the sights.”

  “If that is your wish, Your Majesty.” Gwenn bowed to Prince Arthur, straightened, adjusted her glasses, and then looked at them. Her every movement was completely meticulous. “If you three would follow me, I shall escort you around the city.”

  “Really?” Gabrielle brightened. “That sounds so fun! Come on, Alex, Nyx! Let’s go!”

  “All right. All right. There’s no need to drag us behind you,” Alex laughed as Gabrielle, in her enthusiasm, had grabbed both him and Nyx and was now pulling them behind her.

  The two quickly started walking faster to keep up with Gabrielle’s strides as they all followed Gwenn out of the throne room. The place where she led them to was a massive room that Alex soon realized was a garage. There were several shuttles sitting inside. Most of them looked like the kind of crafts that flew through the air, but there were a few that had the distinct appearance of something that hovered. A speeder, Gabrielle called them.

  “Ahhh!” Gabrielle’s excited squeal precluded her actions as she rushed toward one particular shuttle. “This is an XG3! They stopped making this speeder around a year after I was born! Look at what great shape it’s in!”