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If there is one thing she had trust in right now, it was her brother's workout routine, which was widely famous among their family members. The alarm would ring everyday, exactly art 5:30 and he would run to the gym and start on his routines, focusing on each area of his body in each routine.

So Kylith leaped, and he caught her like a net and then took off. Kylith observed that the fire cleared its way for them. Though heat surrounded them, a cold wave bounced along her arms.

By the time they set foot on shore, half their clothes had been burnt off. A vast blanket of such blue waters lay in front of them, like an endless invitation. Without thinking, they both jumped in for relief.

Kylith's head popped out of the water and she saw her brother laughing out loud. "Where are your piranhas now?"

"They lied to me!" she screamed, after the fire on them was put out. "I could have swam out of this forsaken place!" But she wouldn't know how long she'd have to keep swimming. If you stood on the island and looked out, you would see no hope of land in sight.

Her brother's laugh died down as he cleared the water from his eyes."Oh gosh, Kylith, your face-"

"What?" she groped her face.

"It's scarred. But, it's healing-"

"What the?" She turned around and tried to look at her own reflection in the water. As the water around her stilled, the orange reflection of the fire gave way to draw out the features of her face. Her otherwise olive skin was now no different from what a tropical coconut would look like. But as she watched, the cells of her skin seemed to heal and glow and gain back its olive color. She took some of the water in her hand and drank it and choked.

"Ew," the water spilled back out of her mouth, "Tastes like normal saline water. Definitely not magic water." She looked at her brother, frozen in thought. He had pulled up back to the sea and stared out at the forest fire blazing and screaming like there was no tomorrow.

His lips moved in a whisper, trying to make sense of it. "Forest fire on a marshy island, self-healing scars..." The presence of magic wasn't foreign to the people of their kingdom. But in a remote place like this, where there was no sign of magic users, this was unheard of.

Kylith wondered if she should tell him about the words she saw from above the tree. After a few moments of thought, she did.

"This isn't normal. A bigger presence than a Physician is here. I would say this place is haunted, but I don't believe in ghosts. At least I don't think I do" Her brother said, his voice weakening. Physicians were gifted individuals within the kingdom who could perform "miraculous deeds" by birth. There were a handful in each province. It was also with their help that the kingdom was partly powered by magic rather than fuel. The reason for their kingdom being more prosperous than their neighbours.

If it's not a Physician, there's only one other possibility. The very reason that drove his sister to this island. Even he hadn't know this until recently.

He breathed in. "It's the Archon of the Wild. He's here."

"Who the hell is that?" She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head. "You into fantasy stories now?"

Her brother locked eyes with her, turning away from the fire, a dark shadowy veil falling over his face. "Kylith, a lot has happened back home since you were gone."

(Three Months and 20 days earlier)

"See you kids in the evening," the Chief-of-General of the capital of the Kingdom of Arnäšk waved at his family members sitting in the living room before he opened the door to leave.

"Bye honey!" His poised and sophisticated wife called out, waving back. Her long brown curls fell of her shoulder as she lifted her arms to pour out tea for her daughter, who had just sat down on the table with half-lidded eyes. Then she turned around to her 2 year old son in the highchair and fed him another spoon of his mushy yet nutritious breakfast.

When the main door was closed by a housemaid, a surreptitious aura surrounded the general's wife. She nodded at her daughter.

"You know what day it is tomorrow, right?"

Kylith blinked her eyes like a goldfish and shook her head. She sipped her tea like a commoner, covering the cup with both her hands. She said it was so that the tea lost its heat faster.

Her mother slapped her arm lightly. "Spoilt child," she spat and placed a biscuit on her plate, which Kylith slowly picked up and ate, wondering what her mother was talking about. "I seriously have no idea. What's going on?"

"It's your father's birthday."

"Oh," Kylith studied the empty ceramic plate with intense concentration. "Oh man, I forgot."

"Mhmm," Her mother wiped the spout of the teapot and left the living room. Leaving Kylith alone at the table left to her own thoughts. To be honest, she had no interest in planning anything. Mostly because she had no idea what would be the perfect plan.

That was when her phone rang shortly and she picked it up to see a notification from her other crazy half.

"A Super Legend Duel happening in 15 minutes, you coming?"

Kylith gasped and called her friend immediately. "When where who?"

"Ro against Till!!" Her friend screamed. Kylith could imagine her jumping up and down.

"AHH!" she screamed back. Her mother instantly walked inside the room at the noise. "Perfect! I'll be at the cafe in 15 minutes then."

"No no you have to come now, people are starting to crowd here already. They all want to see Ro and Till. It's crazy here!"

Chills danced on Kylith's arms as she left the biscuit and tea and went to change from her semi-royal attire into a more casual street look.

Her best friend, Posker, lived in Huthorn Street, right opposite to the internet hub where all the kids and game fanatics came to play. Their facilities and gaming systems were so top class that even province-wide game marathons were held there.

And now there was the long awaited duel between the top two rankers of their favorite game. Everyone knew it was going to happen at some point of time. It was even more exciting for the fans because of the spicy rumors that circulate between the rankers who go by their nicknames Ro and Till.

Her mom heard her opening the door to leave. "When will you be back?" She asked, knowing that telling her not to go wouldn't stop her. But she didn't get any answers to her question either. So she sighed and went to her room, keeping the next day's plans to herself. "What do I do with this child…"

Kylith pulled out her little feisty pet, the sleek and deep blue super-bike her brother gifted to her when she was 16. Five minutes hadn't passed since her call with Posker, and she had rang her friend's doorbell.

Posker swung the door open, flashing her bright red hair that looked like flaming chips and screamed so loud that the house was threatened to tumble down.

Kylith threw her hands up and screamed back.

"Let's go let's go!"

"Yessss!!" Posker jumped out of the house in her silk animal-print pants and loose white shirt. While Kylith parked the bike in Posker's shed and they both sprinted across the road to the internet hub. The glass doors of the hub opened to a huge crowd of men and women and girls and boys and all others, trying to get a glimpse of the main gaming arena.

Posker and Kylith pushed through. Some showed signs of clear annoyance but others recognized Kylith and gave way. In the end, they selfishly got their clear front view at the biggest rumoured couple-to-be in the province's gaming world.

Ro was leaning back in her chair, drinking water and giving Till the side eye. Till laughed without looking at her. "Haven't had enough of me, still?" He muttered at her.

"Babes," she rolled her eyes sarcastically, "I'll never have enough of you… and your chronic tendency to lose against me."

"Ro, Ro, dear. Mother not teach you basic manners?"

"Please, as if you have any to count for," Ro retorted, closing her bottle.

"I don't?" Till asked before finally turning his head around at her. They locked eyes. "Mind coming over to give lessons then?"

Posker crushed Kylith's hand so tight that it almost started bleeding. "Omg omg omg omg," Posker screamed, along with the rest of the people behind her. "Tell me they aren't a couple after hearing that! Ha!"

Some older boy behind them scoffed and muttered to his friend. "Can't believe half of these shitters are just here to see them kiss. The hype of the game is so disregarded." The other friend agreed, saying something back. He glanced at Posker as he said it but when he saw Posker looking back at him, he hastily looked away.

The gamers of the Hanil Province were thus divided into two.

The ones that ship Ro and Till. And the ones that don't. You know which group Posker and Kylith clearly fell under.

Kylith's light brown eyes were glued onto them. "It feels so unreal," she said in a breathy voice. "The top two players, pitted against each other, but secretly in love. Gosh, I can't," Kylith looked away dramatically.

"Same!" Posker and Kylith called out good luck to both of them, just like a few of the other audience. Ro and Till occasionally looked back at them and smiled and then went back to bickering like usual. It was indeed, a sight to see. A sight that they normally only so on their screens while they streamed, but even then, these two were always on different screens. Kylith got a notification on her phone.

"The other game streamers are here too?" she squeaked, "They're going live here right now!" As the noise grew, Kylith couldn't help but wonder if the kingdom's prince would be here too. He was famous for liking games after all... but no one knew under what ID he plays under, or which of the big three games he played. Maybe he played one of them, or maybe all. But for a duel as big as this, he would definitely want to come and watch.

Posker nudged her friend. "You think the crown prince will show up?"

Kylith shrugged, "It's too crowded for a high-profile person like him. He's probably watching it from his chambers."

"That's just sad," Posker said, but she knew that Kylith was currently wishing for him to show up, at least in disguise.

A few years after Kylith and Posker were born, a new battle game called S-Class Clash dropped. It was met with all kinds of responses, and its fame only steadily grew worldwide. And then when they were in their late teens, another role-player game called Renhai Strike dropped, which was the first mainstream game that Kylith and Posker started playing, and also the game which led to many fights with their parents. But looking back on it, it felt like the golden era. They both regretted nothing.

First Class Clash and Renhai Strike were booming in popularity, and when lots of adults also started playing them, another worldwide level game was released, Legend of Onset. Onset was much harder, and only top class players were said to actually play them, so when everyone heard there was going to be a duel between the top two rankers in Onset, it was definitely a sight not to be missed.

The clock struck 11 am.

"It's starting!" Posker screamed at the top of her lungs, which got everyone's attention. And the entire internet hub fell dead silent. No one was sitting at the other computer tables, they were all lined up to watch Ro and Till's computer screens, which were also being projected side by side at a larger size on a bigger wall.

"Welcome Players," the game screen spoke, "to the Sakura Moon Festival. Click on Proceed to start your first Duel."

Ro and Till didn't even exchange glances, they both clicked at the same time, and invited each other for a duel from their friend list. Live streamers recorded the iconic moment when they both hovered their mouse over the "Accept Duel" button. The older guy behind them scoffed again, "'M betting 100 on Ro."

There was a clear hesitation on Till's face, and all the cameras recorded it. Kylith narrowed her eyes and wondered if he was nervous. Chances were, just like the other viewers, maybe Ro and Till themselves made a bet among themselves. Maybe something was on the line, but they hadn't mentioned anything about it.

Ro showed a slight smirk and clicked on Accept. Till's screen automatically changed and the start screen lit up, showing them both on a raging battlefield, ready with their chosen weapons. A list of their power-ups and stats on their health levels were shown on the left and bottom sides.

The goal was to fight with defense and attack until one of them falls. It was simple. But when the duel started, it was intense. Five minutes passed before any of them knew it and neither side was winning as such. Ro and Till fought equally: fire and water. If it was Kylith or Posker, they wouldn't have even lasted this long because all their life's savings of power ups would have run out. But in this duel, not only did they both have loads of power ups stocked, but neither of them had used a single one so far. They were really the top rankers.

They had 10 minutes left on their timer. A draw would be the most disappointing outcome of this Super Legend Duel. But maybe if they had something betted upon, Kylith wondered if a draw was what she should be wishing for.

Till stumbled back and got hit by Ro's Double Sword Attack. He used his first power up and a wave of unrest rippled across those viewers rooting for Till. Kylith studied Till's and Ro's faces real time. They both were expressionless, and Ro's eyebrows were slightly creased in concentration.

Till delivered a fatal blow and Ro was pushed to play with half Resistance for the next 30 seconds. This was Till's chance to take back the lead.