13 Side Story 1: Mordreda (2/2)

Dominus stood on top of the roof beside Mordreda's balcony, Mordreda attempting to sneak up on him, Airah beside her, sighing.

When both of them were on the roof behind him, they noticed that there was a dragon perched on his shoulder, both of them staring into the night sky.

They both had tears forming in their eyes and Mordreda and Airah realized that they must have remembered something in the past.

The dragon jumped off of his shoulder and onto the roof, turning into a human wearing a blue cloak, blue as his scales. He looked exactly like Dominus.

They were shocked as there were suddenly twins, if it weren't for the fact that Dominus was 5cm taller and he wore red, they couldn't tell the difference.

As they were about to leave, they heard the sound of footsteps and a voice that sounds exactly like Dominus' voice, or was it?

"Now shouldn't you two be in bed? Care to explain what you're both doing here?"

They froze and slowly turned around, two Dominus' staring right at them with a gentle expression on their faces.

The front patch of Dominus' hair turned scarlet red and the front patch of the supposed dragon's hair turned blue.

"Right. I suppose introductions are in order. I am Dominus, second son of Drakaya, your mother's older brother and your uncle."

"And I am Draco, third son of Drakaya and also your mother's older brother. I'm your uncle as well."

A green shadow appeared in between them, a green patch in the front of his hair.

"And I am Sepulcros, eldest son of Drakaya, your mother's eldest brother and your uncle."

"A-ah... U-uncles... T-triplets!?"

With a 'hn', the trio grinned and their individual hair patch colors turned gold and all of them wore black cloaks and black clothes, all identical. They rapidly spun around the two of them and spoke simulatenously.

"So, which is which? Am I Dominus? Or am I Draco? I might even be Sepulcros! Who could ever know!"

Airah fell down, dizzy and Mordreda grinned.

"Uncle Sepulcros is the tallest and Uncle Draco is the shortest! Uncle Dominus is the one in the middle in terms of height!"

"Also, Uncle Dominus has blue irises while Uncle Sepulcros has green ones! Uncle Draco's are red!"

Airah stood up and stared at Mordreda, mouth agape thinking, 'How did I not notice that!?'

The trio's smile grew wider and the flew up above the duo, spinning faster and faster until they produced light.

Red, blue and green swirled together and the trio split apart, a platinum colored sword floated before Mordreda, a circle in it's crossguard giving it the shape of a circle with a cross.

A black wooden scabbard floated beside it, the image of a striped platinum lion. The Platinum Liger.

The trio landed beside each other, Sepulcros to the right of Dominus and Draco to Dominus' left.

Sepulcros entered Dominus' shadow and Draco turned into a small dragon, entering Dominus' cape jacket.

"So, assume you came here to talk, Mordreda?" Dominus turned around facing the outside of the palace, his head turned back to look at them.

Mordreda grabbed the floating sword by the handle and sheathed it, her face resolute, much like her will.

Dominus turned slightly, showing that he was interested in what she was to say, but not all too much.

"Uncle Dominus, please teach me how to use a sword!"

Dominus was stunned for a moment, Mordreda being incredibly cute and him being caught off guard by it.

That was when he raised his right brow and put a mocking grin on his face.

"Oh? And why should I do that? For what reason should I teach a brat like you? And what is your drive anyways?"

Airah was enraged. Even if he was her uncle, he still had no right to speak to Mordreda that way. That's what she thought until she saw Mordreda's resolute yet hurt eyes.

"I need to become stronger. Not for the kingdom, not for my parents, no. Those are secondary reasons. I need to get stronger for myself! In order to have a place in this world!"

Mordreda's eyes were resolute and unwavering, fear was obvious in her eyes yet her determination was clear.

Dominus smiled and closed his eyes as he turned even more towards Mordreda.

Seeing Dominus almost completely facing her, she was shocked. All she did was speak of what she learned when she had lost to Pride. It's that she must first grow in power for herself before she can achieve anything.

Dominus' face turned serious. "There are about twelve hours left before sunrise. If you can land a blow on me, whatever method you like, so long as you are alone in doing it, I will teach you."

Mordreda quickly unsheathed her sword her newly gained sword and charged at Dominus, sword raised in the air.

Dominus sidestepped and chopped her at the back of the neck, to which she stumbled because of.

"I didn't say I wouldn't hit back, Mordreda. Now get up and come!"

Mordreda tried and tries to hit Dominus for hours and hours upon end, only to fail and fail. She tried to throw what she could get her hands on, anything, even trying to punch Dominus.

...

Mordreda could barely stand by the time the sun begun to rise and that was with the support of her sword.

Her white and red dress was drenched in her own sweat, bruises covering her body.

She got up and swung at Dominus one last time, only to be dodged and to fall flat on the slightly sloping roof, her sword beside her.

"The sun's risen, Mordreda."

"N-no... I... I can still... Go... Much... Farther..."

She tried to stand up, to no avail, Tako and Arthur floating in the air, casting their shadows over Mordreda.

"You did well, dear, that's enough.""Your mother's right. You've tried your best."

Hearing her mother's voice, she felt encouraged to go once more, but after hearing her father's she only felt... Nothing but... A rage. Rage for her own weakness.

She stood up and roared up towards the sky, a red striped platinum liger head manifesting around her.

She gripped her sword and took a stance which seemed natural. Put it simply, her body was acting on it's own and her mind was clear.

She raised her right arm, the arm with her sword, forming a fencing stance, a stance one would do with a saber or a rapier, yet it wasn't.

Her legs were bent, but not all too much, she raised her left arm up to her shoulder then her forearm went down, her pinky at the same level of her bellybutton.

Her right elbow, equal to her armpits, the tip pointed towards Dominus, her body slightly tilted, twisted, her left foot in front, her right arm in front.

"One last round, Uncle Dominus, one last round." She said with conviction, her pupils a scarlet red.

Dominus closed his eyes and smiled once more, then his were serious and bloodthirsty, yet he had a smile on his face.

He took the same stance as Mordreda, yet his was more relaxed and more refined. A long falchion with a fully curved guard connected to the pommel appeared in his right hand. Verum. On his left was a white shield gauntlet. Fatum.

His eyes glowed scarlet just like Mordreda's yet his eyes were more dominating, more intimidating, more powerful.

Mordreda leaped at Dominus, who in turn caught her blade by the blunt using his blade's blunt and spun, aiming at Mordreda's eyes.

Mordreda angled her back lower and the blade passed by her, almost grazing her.

She pulled her sword down and spun while jumping back, slashing at Dominus' exposed back.

Dominus merely blocked her attack by raising his sword up and then down to place it where her blade was aimed for, his arm bent over his shoulder.

Mordreda recovered by landing on the ground and Dominus turned to face her. The sun had almost completely risen.

They had a staredown for a few moments and Mordreda switched her right hand grip to a reverse grip, gripping her sword's pommel with her left.

She ran at Dominus, muttering: "Liger Devours Heaven."

She slashed upward in a 30° angle, Dominus blocking with Fatum while jumping back.

She pulled back in a split second and placed the pommel on her left thigh, both legs bent in a pounce prepared squat. The tip pointed at Dominus.

She lunged upwards and Dominus kicked the tip of her sword, flipping backwards while slashing down as he landed, causing Mordreda who attempted to attack him as he landed to block.

He lunged at her in a series of feints and attacks before placing his blade against her neck, signifying victory.

Mordreda had lost.

Verum and Fatum disappeared into blue particles and Mordreda sat down, about to cry.

"Although you couldn't land a blow on me, this was to test your determination. You passed that. But what I am impressed by is that you unlocked the 'State' and learned my sword style just like so."

Mordreda, Airah, Arthur and Tako's mouths were agape. Learned your sword style just like so? How!? 'State'!? This young!?

"Mordreda, you pass."

She stood up smiling, shouting "Yaaaayyy!!!" before collapsing and falling asleep as she punched Dominus in the chest.

And then, the sun finally finished rising over the horizon and showed it's full grandeur.

Dominus was taken aback as he completely didn't anticipate and couldn't react to her punch.

He smiled. "Right. Looks like you DID land a hit on me."

He turned to Airah. "When she wakes up, tell her that her training begins the next day and she must meet at the peak of Mt. Defy by noon. You can come but no one else is to do so."

He then turned to Tako and Arthur. "I'll be borrowing your daughter for a month or two."

He then exploded to dust.