To Star Luo Alone

Siduo was repeating English words in the background, quite phonetically accurate, which made Karni smile. On the other side of the table, Karni was writing down some basic rules for English grammar after Siduo would get down the words, so she could keep on practising after he left. At least, he wrote down the ones he remembered. Some of them he had to improvise, as he didn't know the exact phrasings of the rules anymore, and he hoped he got them at least somewhat correct.

It was their last night here. They'd be leaving tomorrow morning. The last few days had been chill, in all its meanings, as well as very warm, filled with cuddles, kisses and cuddles.

After some hours of Siduo learning the basics of English and Karni writing down all the grammar rules he could remember, the two stepped out. They readied the firepit, though there was barely any need for preparation by this point, the firepit stayed from the last two nights. They only needed would and fire. After it was ready, it was time to bring out the meat.

The meat smelled delicious, just like the day before and the day before that.

Many things stayed the same between today and their first day here. Including a certain pair of curious eyes. Ruby eyes, surrounded by icy blue, almost white fur.

Karni and Siduo extended the sticks with meat on them and the two beautiful foxes approached carefully. First, they sniffed, then they bit, savouring the taste.

The two smiled, and one of the foxes, the one with the four tails, glanced at Siduo and closed in, one of the tails wiggling. Excited, yet nervous.

Siduo slowly extended her hand and… the fox sniffed the hand, before turning and twisting one of its tails around Siduo's arm.

Siduo softly sighed. "The last day and you come for a little cuddle huh?"

The fox quickly pushed away, pointing its tails upward in a proud manner. Then it dragged its younger sibling away.

… … …

Karni cleaned his hands as he finished wrapping up the giant cloth. It was time to leave.

Siduo disassembled the wooden foundation for the tent around the same time. They were done, all that was left… was for them to leave.

The two looked over the cliffside they've been staying at for the past three and a half days. The sun was still early, but not that early. It was ten in the morning. They sat, looking over the Icebound Forest for one last time.

Suddenly, they felt cold fluff on their necks. The two freezed up, before jumping backward to safety, eyes wide. They did not feel or hear anybody approaching.

It was the Nine Tailed Ice Fox. The parent of the other two foxes.

It looked at Karni, the head bent slightly sideways, as if looking at someone familiar. Then it looked at Siduo, eyes sharpening.

"Don't worry." Siduo tapped Karni, then turned to the fox. "You know me. I am ****************************"

Karni grabbed his head. It has been a long time since he felt such a strong headache. The muddled thoughts, the twisted sight. Siduo had always tried to avoid causing him headaches. Even as his Spiritual Power had, by now, already reached the 4500 points, an incredibly high level at the Spirit Sea realm, his headaches were not any weaker.

It was just a few days ago that he had seen the progress of what he could hear, but here Siduo was, telling a secret that was apparently much bigger than her knowing her parents in the past.

Siduo stopped talking and looked at Karni. "I'm sorry, Kiki, I'll have to give you some more headaches." She looked at the fox. "This is what happens to him when he hears anything about my past. Or about his ******************************"

Another splitting headache, he tried to look at the expression of the fox. It remained neutral, that much he could tell. He finally decided to say fuck it and isolated the Sound around his ears. The headache stopped. He saw Siduo's mouth moving, unintelligible, but he couldn't hear anything.

Finally, Siduo stopped talking, and she nodded to him. Another good thing about his progress was that the headaches didn't hurt him anymore after they stopped, he had learned to stabilise himself.

The fox tapped Karni's head with its tail, giving him a refreshing feeling. She analysed his face. "He does have," a feminine voice was released from the fox. Deep yet fantastical. "A different aura about him. Incomplete."

Siduo nodded.

"Then let me ask you one final question," the Nine Tailed Fox looked at Siduo. "If you know…", she was careful with her choice of words, avoiding trying to hurt Karni. "Everything."

How peculiar. He was something to this fox, yet Karni had no clue what that something was. Whatever it was, it was enough for the fox to try and not cause him harm.

"Then tell me, what is my name? You should know it."

Siduo breathed in, her eyes watering. "Nheliss. Your younger sister is Theliss."

The fox's eyes watered. "Is she safe?"

Karni felt confused. He could hear her names and the questions now? With normal clarity even. Without any headaches, or even an uncomfortable feeling.

Siduo looked to the ground. "I do not know. But I do know something. When I reincarnated," she looked at Karni, happy to see he was not getting a headache. "I felt her energy in that space between time. I don't know if she'll be alright, but she exists still. Just like last time we talked, it hadn't changed."

The fox sighed. "Thank you. And while I know you do not know why, Val Karni, thank you too."

The Nine Tailed Fox Nheliss wrapped its giant tails around the two, before disappearing out of sight.

Karni looked at Siduo in amazement. She looked back with an apologetic face. "I can only tell you that I knew her, and that she's a Hundred Thousand Year Old Soul Beast."

Karni looked back wondering. "So, some of them still exist here in the far north."

"That," Siduo said, sombre, "and the fact that their species have a high Spiritual Energy. One of the last few powers which can deal with human strength. Oh, and absolute Ice as well. They are the actual cousins of Jade Glass Foxes. Nine Tailed Foxes inherited more Ice than Spiritual Energy; Jade Glass Foxes are the opposite."

"She isn't fighting against us I see."

"She's smart." Siduo said. "She knows what would happen eventually. As long as she stays hidden, her family will be safe."

Karni nodded to that. "And the whole 'last time we talked'?"

"Ten Thousand Years ago… I've met her multiple times." She was careful with her words again.

Karni sighed. "Well, if we want to keep her and the little ones safe, we shouldn't stay here for much longer."

Siduo agreed. "Let's go."

… … …

A group of 12 people gathered outside of Shrek Academy. They would go with Shrek Academy's personal bus to Skysea City, where they would board a ship to the Star Luo Continent.

They were preparing to set. They didn't have travelling bags with them. Every one of them had their baggage in spatial rings.

The accompanying teachers were Elder Cai and Wu Zhangkong. The nine students going to Star Luo Continent were: Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan, Ye Xinglan, Xu Lizhi, Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu. The last two Karni was not familiar with yet, even if he knew about them, but they seemed to be close with the rest of the group. They knew each other because all of them were working students.

The only student who wasn't a working student was Val Karni. And… he looked at Siduo, standing next to him, holding his hand. She wouldn't go with them, but she was here to say goodbye.

As everyone boarded the bus, the two stayed outside alone. Wu Zhangkong glanced from the bus to see what they were doing. They weren't thinking of running, right?

Siduo grabbed something from her pocket. A letter. And a little device. A console? It resembled a gameboy, just a better one.

Karni grabbed the letter first. "For the princess?"

Siduo nodded. "Give it to her as fast as possible. I don't want her to throw a tantrum because I'm not there. I don't know if she got worse or better."

Karni nodded and tucked it away in his spatial ring. "And the other thing?"

"Jianyu made it. He couldn't be here, but he sent it to me a while ago. To keep you company on your journey."

"Is that the game I gave him to keep him busy on our previous trip?"

Siduo chuckled a bit sadly but nodded. "He was working double time on it since he heard about you leaving. To not forget about us. Or so he said."

"Tell him I'll thoroughly enjoy it. I didn't know he became such a fan. When?" Karni tucked it away. He would definitely try this out on the trip.

"I think it was during our closed-door training on the island." Siduo chuckled, then fell silent.

He looked at her, feeling that the goodbye is coming. "Sisi."

"Kiki."

The two kissed deeply, but it didn't last long. It was a bittersweet kiss. "I'll miss you." She was the first to said.

"I'll miss you too."

"When you come back, we'll compare who grew more."

Karni thought about it. "Isn't that a losing battle for you then?"

She hit his shoulder, softly, then laughed through tears which started to fall.

Karni started crying as well. And though both tried to hold back tears, they couldn't.

They gave each other one last hug, before parting.

"Sisi, in my language… we say 'ljubim te'. It means I love you."

Siduo almost wanted to cry again, but instead she just looked at his eyes. "And I love you." She paused, then chuckled to herself. "I love you." She said in English. "Did I do it right?"

Karni smiled bitterly. "It was perfect."

Karni let go of her hands and wiped his tears. She did the same. They looked at each other one final time with a stupid, dumb, bitter smile, that made them want to laugh at the awkwardness, yet cry. "Go on you idiot. I'll be waiting." She said.

Karni nodded. He stepped on the bus. Looks of amazement, some of pity, were directed at him. "You saw that huh." Karni tried to laugh, but unsurprisingly, no one said anything.

Wu Zhangkong grabbed Karni's shoulder firmly and nodded. It was his way of comforting him.

As Karni went through the bus, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie both grabbed his shoulder and nodded, just like Wu Zhangkong did.

Surprisingly, when Xie Xie grabbed him, Yue Zhengyu grabbed him as well. The two sat together. "I'm Yue Zhengyu. If you ever need something, now that we're comrades, just ask."

Karni nodded and offered a hand. "Val Karni. And… thanks. Same to you."

The same thing happened with Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan. Though Ye Xinglan was the first girl to comfort him. Gu Yue just said hi instead, though Karni saw the reluctance to comfort him in her eyes.

As he made it toward the back row, he passed Yuanen Yehui. She also stopped him and offered a hand. "I'm Yuanen Yehui. You seem like a good guy, unlike some other men on this bus."

"Hey I heard that!" Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu both shouted at the same time.

Karni didn't say anything, but his mind was saying things. That sure was a way to out yourself. They should've just stayed quiet. 

Xu Xiaoyan chuckled on the side. She sat next to Yuanen Yehui. "You'll find out, Yehui, that Karni is quite a relaxed guy. Karni, when did you and Siduo get so close?"

Karni sighed. "We've been a couple for a while now… we just hadn't kissed yet. That happened last week when we were out camping as one final trip…"

Xu Xiaoyan suddenly felt bad for asking. "Are you going to be okay?"

Karni had to hold himself back from saying no. "I'll manage, I think."

"If any girls bother you, I can help you out. I know how to deal with girls. I don't want you and Siduo to grow apart while you're such a distance away. You'll get through this." She gave him an enthusiastic thumbs up.

Karni smiled slightly. "Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. But really, if you have anything that I can work on to distract myself, that will help me most."

Xu Xiaoyan turned to look at Yuanen Yehui. "He's a 5-Star Designer, you know?"

Yuanen Yehui turned to him, then she noticed that Yue Zhengyu also turned to look at Karni in amazement. "Wait, that's right! You're the guy who defeated our best designer at the competition in the first semester! You created the start of a two-word Battle Armour!"

Karni scratched his head. But the next thing he heard caught him off guard. "Why didn't you cooperate in the battle against the third class? You should be stronger than quite a few here." It was Yuanen Yehui.

"Personal reasons. Though that backfired."

Xu Xiaoyan filled Yuanen Yehui in. "He and Siduo didn't want to go to Star Luo Continent, so they were being low-key back then."

"Oh." Yuanen Yehui had some pity in her eyes now. She pulled blueprints out of her Spatial Ring. "You said you want distractions, right? I haven't started creating the Battle Armour yet, so if you want something to distract yourself, you can look over these."

Karni looked at the blueprints, unsure.

"You also do not need to." Yuanen Yehui quickly added, seeing his face.

"No, no. I'll look them over. It'll get me in a better mood."

She gave him the blueprints and Karni went to the backseat, alone. He looked outside the window and saw Siduo waving him goodbye as the bus started leaving. He waved back with a small smile.

As they left the city, the field outside of Shrek City greeted his eyes. He activated his third Soul Ring, Sonic Rhythm, isolating the Sound to stay around him only. Then he turned away from the window and toward the blueprints he received. Time to work.

… … …

Karni was looking over the blueprints in their hotel room. He was put in together with the rest of the boys. Five of them in the room in total.

He was looking over Xu Lizhi's blueprint right now. He was alone in the room. The rest of them went out to eat. He just didn't feel like going to eat. They've been in Skysea City for a while now already, waiting for the ship that would bring them to the other continent. The fact that today was the day the ship would come only made him nervous.

He'd looked through a lot of blueprints already. Xu Lizhi's was actually the last he had to look over. Yuanen Yehui's was the first, Xu Xiaoyan's needed minimal changes due to the fact he was already involved in designing it beforehand, same with Xie Xie's. Ye Xinglan's Battle Armour was already in the making, as was Yue Zhengyu's so he couldn't change it, while Gu Yue's and Tang Wulin were collaborating with him during this semester anyway.

Looking blueprints over for optimization took much less time than creating one from start to finish. That process would take him about two to three months depending on complexity. At least for alloyed armour. Normal Battle Armour he could finish in two weeks if he put his heart into it.

An hour later he was finished. He decided to go and meditate so he'd have full energy for when the embassy comes. He'd already felt a bit unstable mentally the past few days. He couldn't let that continue.

Another hour later he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He opened it and saw Wu Zhangkong. "Come with me, the rest are already waiting. The ship is about to dock."

Karni ran back to the room, put all the blueprints in his spatial ring and went along with Wu Zhangkong. The two did not speak their way there.

Karni saw the crowd of people gathering. Much more than just Shrek, many important people from the federation were here. They stepped toward their group and Karni quickly pulled out Battle Armour designs and handed them back to Xu Lizhi.

"Thanks, Karni. You're a lifesaver. I'll look them over on the ship."

"No worries, thanks for giving me something to tinker with."

The group watched as the ship docked into the port. The S.S. Star Luo. A terrifyingly big ship. Karni judged its capacity. His guess was at least 5000 people. It was big even for a cruise ship.

The people of Star Luo Empire walked over a bridge that connected the ship and the docks. Karni's eyes opened wide as he followed a single person. The princess was here?

The leader from the side of the Douluo Federation welcomed the princess. She might not be the leader of this exchange, but she was walking side by side with the leader—some older gentleman from whom Karni felt immense power. Definitely a Titled Douluo.

"Welcome to Douluo Continent, princess. While I know you're only here for today, I hope you enjoy the sta-"

"Karni?" Dai Yun'er suddenly shouted, noticing Karni.

She rushed to him and actually gave him a quick hug, before parting and looking around. "Where's-"

"Hey! What do you think you're doing to my boyfriend?" Xu Xiaoyan quickly stepped in to protect Karni.

Dai Yun'er was stopped in her tracks. Her face suddenly turned sharp at Karni. "You betrayed Big Sister Siduo?"

Xu Xiaoyan was suddenly confused while Karni put away Xu Xiaoyan's hand and sighed. "Xiaoyan, I'd like you to meet Princess Yun'er."

Xu Xiaoyan felt something was wrong. "Princess? And… she knows you… and Siduo?"

"Yun'er," Karni sighed again. "I'm together with Siduo, don't worry."

"Then…" She pointed at Xiaoyan.

Karni looked at Xiaoyan. "Just in case… Xiaoyan, was that what you meant by you know how to deal with girls that would come at me?"

Xiaoyan nodded, starting to feel a rush of blood. She felt embarrassed.

"Please don't do that again. Though I'm thankful, I'd rather just reject than do this pretend thing."

"O-Okay." Xiaoyan covered her face. It was Karni's first time seeing this girl embarrassed. She was usually the one that embarrassed other with her acts.

"So, she tried to help you?" Yun'er figured out what was happening. "And you're together with Siduo?" Her face beamed. "Congratulations!" She gave him yet another hug.

She offered a handshake to Xu Xiaoyan. "Hi, I'm Dai Yun'er. Since you were trying to protect their adorable relationship, I'll forgive you. I hope we can get along."

Xu Xiaoyan took the hand. "Yes, we need to protect their relationship! No one can come in between."

Karni facepalmed. "We don't need protecting. I can handle myself. Also," he pointed at the embassy, who were looking at them. In fact, they were at the centre of attention. "Princess, shouldn't you… you know… you are a member of the Royal Family." He said the last part in a way only she could hear it.

"Oh!" Dai Yun'er suddenly realised. "Big Sister Siduo would berate me for this." She quickly ran back, but stopped once more, looking at Karni. "Just to make sure… Siduo isn't here, is she?"

Karni just shook his head. Then raised his hand to stop her, grabbing Siduo's letter. He threw it toward the princess, who caught it.

She looked sad at the letter, before calming herself and breathing deeply. She put away the letter and went back to the ambassadors. "I am terribly sorry about that; I was just so excited."

Karni sighed in relief. She didn't throw a tantrum, and she actually listened to his explanation. She seemed to have grown and not regressed. She was no longer the spoiled princess she was in the original story. At least not to the same extent.

Next to the group appeared Elder Cai. She looked at Karni, searching for an explanation. 

Karni sighed, looking at the rest of the group. All of them were curious. He raised his hands in defeat. "I'll tell you, I'll tell you."

… … …

The ship had set sail a day later. The journey to the other continent started. In a matter of a few hours, no land could be seen anymore.

He spent all of yesterday explaining his story on how he met the princess, and how, really, it was Siduo who knew the princess well.

He hadn't encountered the princess after the reunion. He was waiting for her now. They decided to meet after the ship departed. He was leaning on the rails of the ship, admiring the empty sea.

He did not need to wait long. She showed up, and leaned on the rails in a similar, exhausted manner. "I read the letter. She wants me to make sure no girls approach you. It's quite funny, considering how I met those friends of yours." She laughed, but her expression was slightly disappointed.

"I'll appreciate your help if some difficult characters approach me, but other than that, I don't think that'll be a problem."

"Ahh, and I was so looking forward to seeing Big Sis again." Dai Yun'er stretched her hands over the rails, letting out her frustrations.

"That makes two of us." Karni sighed. "The most I've been apart from her was for a month. Now it's a whole year."

The princess pat him on the back. "Try to distract yourself. There's a dance happening today on the ship, as a sort of friendly gathering between the two countries."

"That'll just make me think more of how I'd rather dance with Sisi."

"Hmm. Well, if you're not going to dance and any girls approach you, just send me a message over Tang Sect's glasses. I'll bring them with me."

Karni chuckled. "Thanks."

"Okay enough of this mopping. She said you'll explain in more detail about why she couldn't' come. She said it's connected to you two getting together as well! So come on tell me! How'd you two get together? What happened! Spill the tea!"

Karni couldn't help but smile thinking of how they didn't really get together at some exact moment. "Well, at some point it just started feeling natural to start holding hands…"

… … …

"And then we kissed one final time before the bus… and she gave me that letter for you. That's about when it ends, though really, we parted with a hug after the kiss."

The two were still in the same position, leaning on the rails. Karni was reciting everything that happened since they joined Shrek. Their shenanigans that caused all this, their dates, their kiss while camping… He left some details about their past out, of course.

"I'm really happy for you two." Dai Yun'er smiled, then stretched. "You'll see each other again, don't worry about it." She was feeling giddy. The whole retelling made her feel happiness. She had full confidence that their reunion was going to be sweet.

"Oh!" She suddenly exclaimed. "I have to get ready. I need to be dressed suitably for the occasion." She was about to leave, but then stopped. "You should still come, it will get your mind off things. And remember to dress up!"

Karni waved her goodbye. "Don't worry. Sisi helped me pick out a few good clothes for the trip."

The two parted and Karni also went into his room. This time he had a private room. The ship was big enough for almost everyone to have their own rooms. It could house 5000 people, but there weren't more than 2000 on the ship.

Karni put on the suit which Siduo helped choose. It was light grey with dark gold inscriptions here and there to add detail. It went well with his eyes and hair. She really did have good taste. Karni never had much taste for clothes.

He soon joined the ballroom. It was huge, especially so for a room on a cruise ship. He found his companions close by and joined them. Everyone was dressed in beautiful clothes, the colours fit them perfectly.

Yue Zhengyu, dressed in full gold, angelic colours, came to Karni and offered him a drink with a happy face. "Come now, I know you're lonely, but this is a place to dance and have fun."

Karni grabbed the drink and drank it instantly. Alcohol. Oh. He didn't expect Yue Zhengyu would actually give him alcohol. "You do know I'm 15?"

"Doesn't matter doesn't matter."

Karni shook his head. "This guy. I can promise I won't be a party pooper, but no more." He grabbed another drink and gulped it at once. It had been literal years since he last drank alcohol, yet right now he remembered why he drank it at times. It was good for two occasions. It made your mood better. If the mood was good already, it was even better, if the mood was bad, it mitigated that.

After about five shots, which drew some eyes from his companions, he stopped. Alcohol could help, but at the end of the day, it didn't do any good. He had to remember that.

He noticed a girl approached Tang Wulin. "Right. There was an event like this, now where's Gu Yue."

"Event like what?" Gu Yue was beside him.

Karni looked at her, surprised, but smiling. Alcohol did help to a degree. It calmed his nerves. "Oh, that girl. She's gonna try and woo him cuz they both like blacksmithing and are good at it." 

Gu Yue's face darkened.

"And then you'll get jealous." He pointed at her face. "Yeah, yeah, just like that."

She looked at him sharply. "And then what?"

"Well, you would give him an earful. I know I would. He's too much of a gentleman to turn down that first dance. So, he is about to go dance with her. And then you'll be angry and dance with him second but better."

"You're wrong." She put down the glass.

"Oh? How?" Karni raised an eyebrow.

"I'm gonna dance with him right now."

He watched her go to Tang Wulin and steal him from that other girl, who Karni could only remember as another talented blacksmith from the story.

Wait… Did he just change how this went originally? Huh. Funny that. Funnier even: the girl he couldn't remember well was going straight at him.

"What'd you tell her?"

"Oh, just that you'll steal her darling's first dance." Karni shrugged.

"Making others' prospects of finding a partner lower because you cannot find your own?" She mocked him.

Karni gulped another glass to that. He should stop here. Any more, and he'd have to use Soul Power to dispel some alcohol out of the body. "Yeah, sure, sure. If you want to think that. My partner isn't here so it doesn't matter." Huh, what she said was oddly annoying to him. He didn't usually let provocations get to him. Was it the alcohol?

"You should apologise for ruining this for me, don't you think so?"

Karni shook his head casually. He didn't ruin anything. He just talked to Gu Yue. Gu Yue would've done something either way. He glanced at the two dancing, noticing them gaining attention. He smiled. Was he playing matchmaker?

The girl looked to the couple as well, then back at him. "You're pretty good looking yourself. Help me stick it up to them and I'll forgive you."

"Huh. Lemme think about that. No." Karni stood from the table and walked away. The girl followed him. Damn headstrong blacksmiths.

"Come on. You're a Shrek Academy student yourself, no?"

"That has nothing to do with anything. Go find another guy."

The girl grinned as if enjoying this. So she was that type. He ruined her thing, so she'll ruin his time to relax. Great.

And there came his saviour.

Dai Yun'er grabbed Karni's empty glass. "How many have you had?"

"Princess?" The girl suddenly turned quiet.

The princess ignored her. "Karni. What would Siduo think?"

Karni scratched his head. "Probably nothing as long as I don't get wasted. Which would be difficult, since I'd rather expel the alcohol with Soul Power than do that."

"At least you're still level-headed enough." The princess sighed.

"She'd probably want to drink with me honestly, I feel like she's missing out."

Yun'er laughed. "She probably would do that. She'd have a beer drinking competition with you."

"Ugh, but beer tastes like shit." Karni complained. He was sensitive to bitterness, he preferred something sweet like the wine he's been drinking today. Full glasses of pure wine.

The blacksmith girl finally backed away, realising her target was unreachable.

Karni looked to the side, then back at Yun'er. "Thanks."

"What'd you do to get our prized blacksmith go after you?"

"I told Gu Yue," Karni pointed at her dancing with Tang Wulin, "that the blacksmith wanted a dance with our Captain."

"Oho? He's the Captian? Not you?"

"I'm not the type-" He suddenly remembered, wasn't Yun'er going to be interested in Wulin in the future? He needed to nip this in the bud now. "Also, Yun'er, don't ever pursue that guy. He's arguably as talented as me and Siduo, if not more. And he's kind of destined to be with Gu Yue."

Yun'er glanced at him then smiled. "But that just makes me more curious."

"Yun'er…"

She changed back to normal, seeing that he's serious. "Fine, fine. I won't mess with him openly; I'll just observe him. You giving him such high praise makes me curious how he'll do in the competition."

"Competition?"

The princess nodded. "Your school will be invited to a competition when we return to the continent in three months. It's gonna be fun."

"Huh. Yeah." Karni thought. This would probably be his first majorly televised competition. That would probably be fun. Wait… he actually wanted to compete. He was surprised with himself.

"Now, since I helped you, do you mind helping me? A bunch of guys will likely be asking me for a dance, but I honestly don't want to dance. Be my shield."

"That's easy." Karni laughed. He grabbed another glass of wine, though he sipped this one carefully—for appearances only. "Let's go sit down."

The two sat at a table. Karni wore a serene face. Forced. One that made it look like nothing in the world bothered him. Only extreme characters would approach them like that.

"Wouldn't this role usually go to that friend of yours we met once? The one that went into closed training when we were there? I remember the crown prince mentioning him a few times and how we'd get along with him."

The princess nodded. "Yep. And call my brother, Yueyan. He'd be said if he heard you called him the crown prince."

"Sure, sure. I'll remember to." He pointed to her to answer what he asked before.

Yun'er chuckled. "Right. Long Yue. He's been in closed door training, but is out of it now. Me coming here was my own decision, and I wanted to challenge myself. He was actually the one who helped convince my brother that I could come here by myself."

"Oho?" Karni raised his eyebrow. "Do you two have a…"

Yun'er laughed. "It's not like that… It would be, probably… He's everything I would usually want in a guy… he's just a bit… intense, is all."

"Hmm. As in without control?"

She nodded. "Like that. Though it is due to his Martial Soul, not because he wants to be that way."

Karni leaned back on his chair. "I can see that. I have a similar problem myself, though opposite in nature."

"You? How? Isn't your Martial Soul Sound based?"

"The first one yes. That one makes me unable to play instruments, because it is quite a proud Martial Soul when it comes to things like that."

"So, your other Martial Soul then? What was it again? … Panda?"

Karni snapped his fingers. "Yeah. At some point, if I'm pushed too far, it makes me want to sleep, and I can barely resist it. Though it hasn't happened in a long while."

Yun'er chuckled. "That's a lot less dangerous though."

Karni nodded. "Sure, unless it makes me fall asleep in the middle of a battle someday."

The princess took a sip. "That does sound dangerous." She sighed. "Did your school not help you with that? Speaking of, how is Shrek? How are your companions?"

Karni smiled. "You're in for a ride."

… … …

Karni tucked himself in the bed. He sat down to meditate. He did not want to go to sleep drunk. He had a good few drinks, but enough was enough. A decently fun time, with a few annoyances here and there. He thought he was going to be more obsessed with leaving Siduo behind, but just having someone to talk to did help. But despite that, he was more easily irritable right now. He noticed it in the little things.

He had to think of this as an adventure, one where he'd have a lot to talk about to Siduo when they reunite. Just like how he was telling stories to Yun'er today.

Yeah, that was the way. He closed his eyes and calmed down. Tonight, he would have a good slee- The room lit up gold.

"Ahh!" He screamed. Someone grabbed him, he had no chance to react. He was flying through the air. What was happening? Wait, he looked behind. Was that the ship? He was so far away. He tried to struggle, Shift, his Soul Ring shining, trying to lock on and adapt to their travelling speed.

Damn it. It was hard to lock onto moving space-

A splash. Cold. Water. Salty water. He was in the ocean! He screamed, only for bubbles to come out of his mouth. He stopped screaming. Wait… this pressure, the water… He was getting deeper.

So dark… So heavy. No light. He couldnt' see anything. Worse! He couldn't breathe!