31: From Prisoner to a Ball Guest…?

A week had passed since the arrival of Rocco, Mira and Karma and the trio settled in well but remained hidden. Unlike Machi, they needed to. It would cause havoc and prove Maria's concerns if they were revealed to be more outsiders. Rocco was fine with this, enjoying not having to run around, but the girls were not. Luckily, Silver - the vice-captain - allowed them to use the private training room.

Thus began their training.

*

The training room was just a room within the castle with a rack filled with swords and the outer edges containing tools to be taken in and out to improve sparring and sword work. However, while Silver didn't initially plan on training them, she found the girls interesting, their talents being increasingly higher than they believed, and found a sort of… pride when they learnt skills she couldn't teach others due to difficulty.

As Karma and Mira sparred with Silver, the blonde captain busted down the door and whistled. "Captain." Silver bowed and they took a break.

"Silver. Girls." Shale smiled. He noticed they weren't breathing heavily and Silver was restoring the dummies she used against them. He was shocked that these two, whom he couldn't sense, were strong enough to defeat the dolls. Just like in Academy City, their measure of power may not be on the same scale as the rest of the universe.

*

[EARLIER]

Seeing as though Shale or Xox couldn't gauge the strength of the unsensed, they devised a plan. A way to measure their strengths against their own people to find out how they'd fair against them in a fight.

"My question is Shale," Xox asked as they watched the squad members bring out the dolls, "why do you keep needing his permission." The members didn't know which 'he' the 4th Squad leader meant - as King Yuma also allows the pair to do whatever they have to. And seeing as though their captain was the strongest after the King, they assumed it was the king and not the kokai - Machi. But Xox was indeed speaking about the kokai - Machi Harkness.

"Why?" Shale asked. The boxes were retrieved and they headed back to work on the jobs given to them in Everlasting. "His power - though strong - is not enough to beat us," Xox said as they carried the boxes to the training room where Silver stood.

"Why must we make an enemy out of him Xox?" Shale asked. "He's not shown hostility, only accepted what we've given him. It's..." he looked at him and sighed, "It's not like all those years ago Xox. Where we were smaller in number and feared for our safety and we were unstable due to two captains leaving."

Shale thought over his next words rather carefully. Not trying to convince his best friend and brother-in-arms, but trying to explain his thoughts from a different viewpoint.

"And that kid, I dunno, he just seems like he'd burn the universe if he wanted to," Shale answered casually with a relaxed posture but Silver, Damaris and Xox froze at his words. "More like freeze since his powers are that of ice." Shale chuckled.

But the question lay in their heads. Did Shale truly believe the kid, Machi, would burn everything they knew? Could he?

*

Xox watched as Machi shifted through information without even touching the devices he used. Analysing the information at supersonic speeds gave him a slight headache watching so much information he didn't even know they had.

"Are you powerful in your world?" Xox asked and Machi turned around and was sipping on a juice box.

"Well, I dunno, haven't seen many people at their strongest," Machi answered before sipping on what tasted like sour strawberry juice and Xox didn't want to entertain that idea. But he wondered what that meant. But Machi answered the unasked question.

"My mother," Machi looked at the screen, "believed we were at peace. Focused on only getting the strongest stronger." He sighed.

"That's not wrong," Xox said, "but also not entirely right. Even the weakest powers can influence events. Strength doesn't always come in the form of power." Seeing Machi nod, the captain sort of began to understand why Shale found him interesting. "Your mother is strong I take it?"

Despite the annoyance and feelings he had for his mother, Machi couldn't deny it. She, on Earth at least, is…

"One of the strongest."

Shale hopped in with Karma and Silver and the pair looked annoyed to the brim - like they were about to explode - while the Captain of the second squad in Everlastings boasted a smile. "What's going on?"

"There's a ball we have to attend," Shale chuckled, "and with careful consideration, Miss Karma will be accompanying you. Your date." 

Rocco and Mira walked in at the moment Shale announced that and the silence in the moment was... scary. Not because Karma hated the idea. But because Xox looked like he seriously was about to commit murder. "Of course--"

A metal pole was met with Shale's head and he crashed into the wall and glared at Xox. "CAN I EXPLAIN MY DAMN ASS PLAN YOU BRAT!" His hair was everywhere and his eyes fuming with anger.

"No. It's stupid." Xox calmly answered despite the show just being seen.

"LOOK," Shale healed his head and Machi wondered what that technique was, "Machi is strong enough to be labelled a kokai by our King, and the captains including us know that too. His spiritual pressure will mean Miss Karma won't be sensed."

"And what if Maria or one of the others want to separate them?" Rocco asked. It was a valid point to make. Revealing a necklace, everyone watched as it glowed. "Some of my spiritual energy is in this. Should suffice. And you know why only mine can be used." Shale darted eyes to Xox and the 4th captain reluctantly agreed.

*

Karma was not just picked to have another ally in the ball. But also because she too, seemed a good diplomat like Machi. That and she passed off better as an Eternal than Mira.

Also, Mira won rock paper scissors. 2:1.

"You have a talent for this. I don't." Karma grumbled as Silver placed her in a silver (yes, silver) dress that covered her feet. It looked like old money dresses that were seen in movies on Earth, and Silver was impressed by her choice. "Is the ball this fancy?" Karma argued and Silver nodded. "Once a year, the nobles and the rich come out and celebrate... the King's birthday."

"Huh?"

No one was told this. "Yeah. We keep it quiet but our King's birthday is today." Emery chuckled. "Doesn't like to remember his age."

Elsewhere in the second's castle, Codex and Damaris picked Machi's outfit and even offered to help him change into the suit.

"I can dress myself." Machi grabbed the suit from Codex and he shrugged and looked to Shale who was suited up too. "Machi's mother was the strongest and most important figure. He did many of these." Rocco revealed. "He knows how to act. So don't worry."

*

The ball was impressive, really like old money out of a movie. The hall was decorated in red and purple ribbons, the chandelier decorated in gold and gems found native to this planet and everyone who attended made sure to boast about their heritage and importance in Everlastings and how they were 'so important that they were irreplaceable'. The fifth captain, Jin, watched as Shale, Xox, their vice-captains, and the kokai walked in.

Jin hummed and caught the attention of Maria. "What?" She snapped and Jin was calm and didn't show any emotion. Stoic and plain. And therefore, very very unreadable.

"Just. What do you plan to do?" Jin asked. "By my numbers, you have Luis and Willow on your side. They have themselves and Astra on their side. That's 3 and 3."

Seeing her smirk, Jin knew she had a plan in mind, and him being neutral, rarely ever taking sides, wondered what she planned to do.

"Well, I'd like to win you over Jin," Maria smiled, "and with the new king vote only being 2 through 10, I just need you to vote out Yuma--"

"King Yuma." He corrected.

"Sorry, King Yuma, and then we can vote for a new Ruler."

Jin looked at her and hummed. "Just because you feel like His Majesty is too soft?" Jin asked. Maria raised an eyebrow before walking off and entertaining other guests who believed in her cause. Jin, however, didn't know... more like didn't understand what caused the air to change.

"Jinny boy!" He turned to see Shale yell and wave. Not wanting another talk to sway his opinion, he sighed grabbed a glass and approached the 2nd, 4th and 6th captains who stood on either side of the kokai.

"Why did you bring the kokai?" Jin asked calmly and Astra asked the same thing. "Because. His Majesty said a captain-level eternal has to keep an eye on him." Xox answered in the same tone and Shale had these glittery eyes and everyone wondered why... how he was the strongest captain.

Machi noticed he reminded him of Zac when it came to anything tech. "We have a family to greet," Astra pulled him away and Silver chuckled and followed them along with Damaris and Codex, "don't stray too far kokai."

Machi didn't know what that meant. Kokai. It wasn't a language he knew and it seemed that not many actually spoke it fully. Almost like Latin.

"What does kokai mean?" Machi asked.

"A rouge that possesses power that could potentially take us out," Jin responded.

Oh.

Karma looked around and noticed two women staring at her and Machi before talking amongst themselves. Noticing that they weren't wearing anything to signal they were a part of the squads or a captain, she passed it off as regular Eternals who arrived at the party.

"If you let your eyes drift you'll attract people." Machi warned Karma. "Something we don't want."

"They were staring at you." She revealed and Machi didn't respond and just kept by his statement.

"What? Not shocked?"

He shrugged and grabbed a snack. "Don't you find it amusing that they're staring though?" Machi asked. "You see everyone here is superior to the average... us." He said - without saying the term human. "It seems frowned upon to interact let alone want to house one."

"So how does Mr Sparkly Eyes get away with it?" Karma asked - making Machi shake his head at the nickname.

"Cause. He's valued." The Harkness answered. "Just like how I was able to make decisions despite being weak all those years ago."

"Ladies and Gentlemen," looking up, the pair noticed Shale and Xox standing besides their king, "we thank you for coming to the annual ball for His Majesty. It has been a great honour serving His Majesty, as his personal guard."

"Windsor." Xox whisper-warmed and she nodded, speeding up her speech.