An Illegal Fighting Ring

True to his word, Azure trained hard but also rested when he needed to and, eight short years later, he was finally able to surpass Challe. "It appears that the student has finally surpassed the master. Don't you think, Master Challe?" Azure said as he placed his wooden buster sword on his back.

"There is nothing more I can teach the two of you." Chall said as he smiled.

"Challe! We got a summons from the King! He wants us to go to the castle!" Anne called out as she ran towards him.

"That time of year already?" He asked himself.

"That time of year for what?" Azure asked.

"The Silver Sugar Confectionery Exhibition. It's a competition where sugar artisans create delicate, yet beautiful sugar confections. The confection that is made best, will get to be the centerpiece at some important event. But most importantly, the artisan that created the piece, will be given a medal and become a Silver Sugar Master." Chloey's voice was heard. They see her walking towards them, wearing a long flowing royal blue skirt, with a snow white short sleeved button up shirt. Her long hair, now a golden blond, was braided with one braid on each side of her head, connecting to a single braid, then put up to look like a rose. Gregory walked beside her. "Grandma, Grandpa Jonas, dad, and I are all Silver Sugar Masters. This year, It's Rubi's turn to try the exhibition."

Azure didn't realize that he was staring at her. He shook his head. "W-wait. Rubina's going to compete? I didn't know she was learning to make sugar confections." He said.

"Well, no surprise there. You have been training hard to surpass Grandpa. I'm not surprised that you haven't noticed." She said as she sighed.

"Yet you're always noticing Chloey whenever she's around you." Anne said in a singsong voice as she poked his arm.

"G-Grandma!" Chloey's face became as red as a tomato. She turned her head away from Azure as she crossed her arms. "A-Anyway, Rubi wants to become the first fairy in history to become a Silver Sugar Master. She and Allen are already on their way to Lewiston for the competition. It's been decided, by the King, that Grandma and Grandpa are going to head to Lewiston to watch Rubi compete, as well as have grandma be a judge, and they're adding fairy taste testers this year, so grandpa was asked to become one of them, along with Clifford, the previous King's most trusted fairy. While the King wants you, me, and dad to go investigate some underground warrior fairy fighting ring in Westol. Basically, to get to the fighting ring we'll have to enter a bar called 'Cat's Claws' and order a 'Knuckle Sandwich', the bartender will then take us down to the ring. He wants us to compete in that and arrest the champion in the final round." She avoided his gaze as she spoke.

"You and I will compete as a competitor and his coach. While Chloey will act as our mistress. It'll be up to you to fight your way up the ranks." Gregory said.

"Which means, we'll have to find a way to hide your right wing so that you can appear to be a fellow slave." Chloey said in a sad tone. Gregory looked at her with saddened eyes before looking towards Azure.

"From what the guards have gathered, the top fairy is large, brawny, and very hairy. He was born from obsidian, and has a weird accent." Gregory said.

"Do they know how long this has been going on?" He asked as he looked at him. Gregory just nodded his head no.

"They think that it's been going on for a while now, but they aren't sure yet. That's one thing they want us to find out." He said.

Azure looked down in thought, then looked at Chloey in sadness. The sight of her looking so down, hurt his heart. "For now, all of us should get some sleep. The five of us have a long way to travel, so it's best we all prepare ourselves. Azure, I trust that you will look after my son and granddaughter on your travels?" Anne explained before looking towards Azure.

"You have my word, Mrs. Challe. I will protect them with my very life." He said as he bowed towards Anne.

She smiles at him before gently taking Challe's hand, walking back towards the house, followed by Gregory. "Mother? Are you sure about giving Azure this assignment from the King? What if he's not ready yet?" He asked.

"Don't worry, Gregory. He can handle this assignment just fine." Challe said as he smiled. "After all, he finally bested me after fifteen long years of training."

"If you say so father." Gregory said with doubt in his voice.

Once Gregory and his parents were in the house, Azure looked back at Chloey in sadness. 'I know she's worried about keeping me safe as a free fairy, but she doesn't have to think so hard about it. Just as she keeps secrets I have some of my own. But I guess it wouldn't hurt to show her one of those secrets. It'll be useful for this assignment, after all.' He thought to himself. He walked over to her as she was walking back and forth in a line, thinking to herself. "Lady Chloey, There will be no need for us to think of a way to hide my wings from others." He said.

"What do you mean Az?" She asked as she looked towards him. Her eyes widened as she saw that Azure's wings had disappeared. "Y-Your wings! Wh-Where are your wings?!" She asked with a hint of surprise and a hint of worry in her voice, while searching his back for his wings.

"Worry not, milady. I still bear my wings, they are just merely camouflaged by using a small amount of my magic. You may feel for yourself, if you'd like." He explained as he smiled. He turns his back towards her a little as she hesitantly lifts her hand. "Is something the matter, lady Chloey?" He asked.

"Dad and grandpa never allowed us to touch their wings because dad said that fairy wings are as delicate as the sugar confections. Dad even told me that I shouldn't touch my own wing because of it being so delicate. Not only that but the stories grandma told us about fairies being slaves to humans over five hundred years ago, I'm afraid that if I touch them, they'll break. Plus, won't it hurt you?" She said.

He chuckles slightly, then gently grabs her hand and places it on one of his now reappeared wings. "Worry not, milady, they may look delicate but they aren't quite that delicate. Also, touching my wings doesn't hurt them at all, quite the contrary, my wings in particular are actually slightly ticklish." He said as he smiled. He looked at her as she stared at his wings in awe, gently petting them.

"So warm and soft, it's like touching silk! And the design of your wings are beautiful, like constellations in the night sky! And the sun makes them shimmer like crystals!" She explained excitedly.

He smiles lovingly at her, amused by her child like amusement. 'I haven't seen her like this since she saw one of Gregory's sugar confections for the first time...….I never realized how much I missed seeing this side of her...….I love Lady Chloey and Allen as if they're my siblings, and yet, I feel something different, something more towards Lady Chloey, but why do I feel this way towards her? How long have I felt this way for her?' He thought as a slight blush appeared on his cheeks. He notices that she had realized how she was acting and sees her straightening her act.

"W-We should head inside. I-it's getting late and we have to head out to Westol tomorrow." She stuttered, avoiding his gaze before walking towards the house. He followed close behind her.

The next morning, Challe was loading things up in Anne's carriage while Azure and Gregory were loading things in their carriage. "Alright! This should be everything. Is everything secure on your side Az?" Gregory asked as he peeked around the carriage where Azure was.

"Almost sir. I just need to hook the horse up to the carriage." He said.

"Speaking of, where is that big lazy mule?" Gregory said as he crossed his arms.

"PAPA THAT'S ENOUGH! STOP CALLING MY EMINA A MULE! SHE IS A PUREBRED CLYDSDALE AND YOU KNOW IT! AND SHE'S NOT LAZY!" Chloey's voice was heard heading towards her. They see her walking towards them, gently holding the horse's reins in her hands. "She's a hard working horse and one of my most treasured friends."

"Yes I understand that, my butterfly, but she never listens to me when I need her help in the fields. Not only that but Mom's horse is getting up there in years and can't do as much as he used to." He said as he looked at her.

"That's because she only listens to me and Az. Isn't that right my Emina." She said slyly before turning to gently pet Emina's head.

"Well, we did help her mother give birth to her and her sister before she passed. I guess she's thought of you as her mother since she opened her eyes, milady." Azure said as he smiled. Emina steps a little towards him and presses her snout to his cheek, as if giving him a kiss. "Hello to you too, young Emina." He chuckled as he gently petted her snout.

"Alright, now let's hook her up to the carriage so we can head on out." Gregory said as he tried to attach Emina to the carriage but she moved away from him. "Emina PLEASE don't be stubborn right now! We have to get to Westol in a couple of days!" He said as he was starting to get annoyed.

Chloey giggled. "Here dad, I'll do it." She said as she handed the reins to Azure. Once they were all packed up, they headed out towards Westol and Lewiston.

"You three take care now and be careful on your way to Westol. I've heard that there are bandits in the area near the city." Anne said before they split ways.

"We will, mother." Gregory said as they waved goodbye.

When they stopped to camp out for the night, Chloey was making dinner, Gregory was setting up camp, and Azure was keeping watch. "You don't need to keep watch, Az, We're safe for now." He heard Chloey say.

"You can never be too careful, milady. With our reputations, I know that there would be a lot of humans and fairies that would want to cause you and Gregory harm." He replied, avoiding eye contact with her.

"You are so overprotective, you know that? I'm not a little kid anymore, I can take care of myself." She said as she crossed her arms. "Anyway, dinner is almost ready. So you better come when I call for you."

"Of course, milady." He replied.

"I keep telling you to stop calling me 'milady' or 'Lady Chloey'. I'm not some noble princess or anything, so there's no reason for you to call me that. It was fine when I was a child but I'll be eighteen soon. So you shouldn't call me that anymore." She said.

"If you do not wish for me to call you 'Lady Chloey' any longer then, What shall I call you from now on?" He asked.

"Just Chloey and nothing else...You and Rubi were both born as Free Fairies. So the two of you shouldn't have stayed with us for as long as you did. So why did you both stay?" She asked.

He looks at her and smiles lovingly. "Whether we are free fairies or slave fairies, Rubina and I stayed with you, because we are family and we wanted to stay by your side." He said. 

"That and someone had to teach them about the world of humans." Gregory's voice was heard from behind him.

She jumped and turned around when she saw her father. "Papa! Don't scare me like that!" She said.

"Sorry, my butterfly. I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to check up on the two of you." He said.

"We are fine, papa. You don't need to check on me. I'm an adult now. I can take care of myself." Chloey said as she crossed her arms, looking at him in annoyance. She turned and walked back towards camp.

"She reminds me a lot like her mother." He said as he smiled.

"You didn't talk about Ms. Clover very often when Lady Chloey and Allen were little. What was she like?" Azure asked.

"I met Clover shortly before I became a Silver Sugar Master. I never knew that she was the daughter of Jonas Under, mom's rival in confectionery arts. Mom, dad, and Jonas have a long history that isn't all that great. She was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I guess you could say it was Love at first sight for us. I secretly dated her for a couple of years, then when she turned eighteen, I asked her to marry me. Of course Jonas didn't allow it for many reasons, the main one was me being Mom and dad's son, so Clover and I eloped. Life was hard for us due to me being a half breed, but we were happy." He sat down on the ground next to Azure, leaning against the wall of the fort. "The twins were never able to meet their mother when they were born. She died shortly after giving birth to them. When it came to raising them, I always had to ask mom to help me a little. Especially when it came to Chloey. Before the two of you were born, she was always getting into all sorts of trouble and playing around as if she was one of the boys. I had to keep an extra eye on her because she would always get into situations where if she wasn't too careful, she would lose her wing, and her life. That was always the reason why I told her to never touch a fairy's wings." He explained as he looked down, reminiscing about the past.

"I remember you telling us that Lady Chloey was born with only a single wing, and I understand that the right wings are our hearts. Yet she and Allen have never asked us what it's like to fly. I can see it in their eyes that they want to fly." Azure said as he looked up at the sky.

"I've taken Allen flying before but when I tried with Chloey, she seemed scared." Gregory said.

"It's possible that she might be afraid of heights." He said as he looked down at him.

"I'm sure you've immediately noticed this about her but ever since she was little, she was always fascinated when she would see birds flying in the sky. I could see it in her eyes that she wants to be like those birds. But with her possibility of being afraid of heights, I'm sure she feels sad that she can't fly." Gregory said as he looked back at Chloey as she stirred the stew. "I can tell that she wants to overcome this fear she has, but she doesn't know how to go about it."

"If you would like, it will take time, but in my free time I would be honored to help her overcome her fear. I could tell from the moment I was born that she had a love for flying, but because she only has but a single wing, she was never able to learn. If you wish, I shall be her wings." Azure said as he looked at Chloey.

Gregory looked at him and smiled. "Az! Papa! Dinner's ready! Come and eat before it gets cold!" They heard her call to them.

"Well, milady calls for us. We should head back." Azure said as he pushed himself from the wall and headed into the fort.

'You would help her weather my family and I would want you to or not, Azure. That is why I've chosen you to take care of my daughter. Aside from her brother, you are the only other man or fairy that I would entrust her life to most.' Gregory thought to himself.

A few hours later, Gregory and Chloey were fast asleep in their carriage as Azure was patrolling the area. 'Everything seems normal but for some reason, I get the feeling that something's wrong." He looks towards the carriage, hearing Gregory's snoring. 'In any case, I must protect Lady Chloey and Gregory at all costs' He thought to himself. Just then, he heard rustling in the trees. He turns towards the tree as he sees a small figure fall from it. He walks over cautiously to investigate it.

When he arrives to inspect the tree, he sees a small, injured labor fairy lying unconscious in the grass, tightly holding onto a small leather pouch in her arms. "A labor fairy? She must have escaped from her master somehow." He said to himself as he gently picked up the labor fairy. As he walked back towards the fort, he felt a sense of fear wash over him before he started running towards the carriage.

"Look what we have here, boss. It's the infamous half bred freak and his deformed offspring." said a male voice from within the carriage.

"What should we do with them, boss?" Asked a female voice.

"That useless Rosette has done her job on getting us here and distracting that bodyguard fairy of theirs, so now let's do what we planned in the first place. Sell them. But I must say, this third breed looks like pure beauty for being deformed. Maybe we should have some fun with her before selling her." said another, slightly deeper male voice.

"Let my daughter go. I don't care what you do to me, but please I beg you. Let my daughter go." He hears Gregory say with fear in his voice. Azure looks to see fairy hunters and notices that one is human while the other two are warrior fairies. He used his stealth to sneak around them and attack them from behind.

He knocks out the two henchmen holding Gregory, handing the small labor fairy to him. "Sorry I'm late, sir. Watch over this fairy for me. I have a few questions I'd like to ask her when she wakes up, but first I have some business with him to take care of." Azure said as a sparkling blue light appeared in his hand as it became a long buster sword with a black handle and a blue obsidian orb at the hilt. He looks at Chloey to see that she was binded, gagged, and crying with a sword up to her neck. He looks back at the man in anger, eyes glowing a deep royal blue. "How dare you make my lady cry." He readied his sword.

The boss chuckled. "Well well, looks like that useless Rosette didn't do a good job keeping you away. I guess I'll have to deal with you myself." He said as he swung his sword towards Azure, scratching Chloey's cheek in the process. He blocked the attack with his buster sword. "A Warrior type, huh! But you look like a companion!" He said with a bit of surprise in his voice.

"Oh, Yeah? I get that a lot." He said as he attacked the boss.

Azure fought the boss and his two, now conscious hunters, but the battle ended quickly with him as the victor. He stands in front of Chloey and Gregory. "How are you so strong?" One of the henchmen asked.

"As if I would ever tell the likes of you. Now leave, before I do something I'll regret." He said in an angered tone.

"You haven't seen the last of me fairy. I will find you again. And when I do. I'll kill you!" The boss said as he and his two lackeys ran away.

"I'd love to see you try, you bastard." When the three hunters ran off, he turned to face Chloey and Gregory. "My apologies, Lady Chloey, I was late to your rescue. I should have noticed sooner that something was wrong." He said in a saddened tone as his sword started to glow, then shrunk down to the size of a knife and started to cut the ropes around her.

"You did well Azure. You did nothing wrong." Gregory said. Once when Chloey was untied she jumped into Azure's arms, wrapping hers around his neck and cried in his shoulder.

"Everything's gonna be alright now, milady. I won't let another human or fairy harm you again." He said in a soft and gentle tone, holding her close as he comforted her.

When the little fairy woke up, Azure calmly asked her questions about the hunters. Gregory held onto her wing in case she tried to escape. Chloey cried herself to sleep in Azure's arms as he was asking the fairy questions. Her real name was Rosileu Pin Rossid, but the leader of the hunters gave her the human name, Rosette. After questioning her, they gave her back her wing, telling her that she's free to go. She refused to go and chose to stay with them. She wanted to learn what made Gregory and Chloey different from other fairies.

When they finally made it to Westol, they met up with two of the king's royal guards. The captain and his lieutenant. They were ordered by the king to assist them on their assignment as Chloey's bodyguards. Azure used his magic to camouflage his right wing. "First thing's first, find its location. It would be best if we sign up before the tournament starts. We have a couple of days before then but the deadline to sign up is today." Gregory said.

"I'll go with Gregory to sign up for the tournament. Would it be alright for you to stay with these guys till we get back, milady?" Azure said as he looked at Chloey. She looked away from him and nodded her head yes. He frowned sadly, furrowing his brows. "Poor Lady Chloey, She hasn't spoken at all since the attack. She hasn't been in that much danger before now. She must be really shaken up.' He thought.

"How about the three of you go to sign up and the lieutenant and I will look for a place for all of us to stay for the night." Said the captain.

"That sounds like a better Idea. What do you think, my butterfly?" Gregory said.

Azure held out his hand for Chloey's and smiled sweetly. "Don't worry, milady. I'll be right by your side the whole time. I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise." He said. She gently took his hand and hid her face in his chest.

"If you don't mind me asking, but did something happen before getting to Westol?" The lieutenant asked.

"We were attacked by fairy hunters a couple nights ago. The poor thing is still shaken up by it. She's never had her life threatened before. She's always been protected by Azure since she was three, since then she barely leaves his side as if she only trusts him." Gregory explained.

"Her personal knight in shining armor, huh. I wouldn't be surprised if the young lady follows in her grandmother's footsteps." Said the lieutenant.

"If that ever happens, I know she'll be in safe hands. I have complete trust in him that he's pretty much like another son to me, just as his cousin is like another daughter. I know that he'll make her very happy so he's always had my blessing." Gregory said as he smiled proudly.

"We should get going if we're going to sign up on time, sir." Azure said, unfazed by what Gregory had said.

"Oh! That's right! I almost forgot. Come now Azure Let's get going." He said as he looked towards his adopted fairy son. As they walked down the streets of Westol, almost all of the locals were staring at them, whispering to themselves about how different Chloey and Gregory looked from them. "I had a feeling this would happen with every town we visit. It's always been like this."

"Most humans tend to fear what they do not understand, if only they would just give you a chance for them to get to know your family. And if they would be willing to listen, we would gladly teach them. I'm sure that somewhere in this world, there are more people like you and Lady Chloey." Azure said as he looked towards Gregory. Minutes later, they arrived at a bar.