The Month Before The Battle 2

A week later, Aria and Avani were training in the the springs once again. Motochika was watching Aria's progress. She had become much more better within the two months she was training. Avani slashed and Aria blocked the attack and pushed her back.

"Too slow!" Aria dodged the attack and smirked.

"Oh really? Then take this!" Avani bellowed and green energy surrounded her training swords and she slashed quickly.

"Hmph!" Aria blocked the slash and slid back then smiled.

"Huh, you learned. I'm impressed!" Avani smiled.

"Hey!" Sefia called out and smiled. She was walking with Kikuri.

"Uhm..L-Lady Aria. We have brought you and the others some snacks." Kikuri said.

"You can just call me Aria." Aria smiled and looked at them.

"Just Aria..? That is very...casual.." Kikuri said.

"I'm a casual person." Aria smiled and pat her head.

Kikuri blushed and closed her eyes. They have grown closer over the last week because of Sefia. Joshua walked up and leaned against a tree.

"So what's the game plan? We only have 3 more weeks before the big battle." Joshua said.

"Our best bet is to have Avani make all of us an Earth Element." Aria said.

"I second that." Uchi said and looked at them.

"You think that'll really work?" Motochika closed his eyes.

"I don't see why not." Aria smiled. "The worst case scenario is one of them has some OP Ability."

Motochika smiled and opened his eyes. He admired Aria's optimism. He stood up and ruffled her hair and walked off. Aria giggled and looked at him.

"You're not joining us in the fight?" Aria asked.

"Nope. As it stands now, you aren't worthy of my power. Once you reach your maximum potential and we battle again, I may consider it if you defeat me in battle." Motochika said.

"I see, we prepare for that day! I will win!" Aria said.

"Hm..see ya around." He walked off.

Aria smiled and looked at everyone else. They looked at her and nodded.

"We all have trained hard for this moment and our enemies keep getting stronger by the second. We have to get stronger and stronger." Aria said.

"Yeah! I know we all can do it! The six of us will be undefeatable!" Uchi said.

"Shall we take a break to eat?" Avani asked.

"Yeah." Aria nodded.

They all sat down and enjoyed a little snack Sefia and Kikuri prepared. They all talked about a numerous amount of topics and laughed. Aria smiled happily and looked at everyone getting along. She looked at Kikuri and was happy to see her smiling happily then noticed she was holding Sefia's hand. She smiled softly and kept eating then looked at the sky.

A few hours later, Aria walked to the graveyard and saw Kikuri sitting at Lord Astros's tombstone. She walked to her and pat her head. Kikuri looked up and looked back at the tombstone.

"He was only 35 years old when he died..That's way too young...My commander was only 23..when I killed him in a fit of rage.." Kikuri closed her eyes. "Why..? Why do you accept me..? You have all rights to hate me.."

"Because it wasn't your fault why you went insane. They drove you over the edge...but I can tell you tried to change back and you are changing slowly back to your old self..A girl who just enjoys a good fight.." Aria smiled.

"Aria.." Kikuri looked at her.

"Sefia always told me you only seeked a fun fight. You never once thought to kill anyone. You just wished to have the most epic fight before you die." Aria looked at the sky.

"I do...It is my final wish besides spending my life with Sefia." Kikuri said.

"Lord Astros was the same way..he talked about his epic battles all the time..sometimes...even..." Aria couldn't hold back her tears anymore. Her tears streamed down her cheeks.

Kikuri looked at her and quickly went to wipe her eyes. She looked a bit sad and worried. She could feel how much she missed Astros.

"Aria..It's gonna be okay..He doesn't want you to cry. He wants you to stand tall and be a leader everyone needs. You have a dream...he wants you to achieve that dream." Kikuri said.

"I'm sorry, I just lost my composure." Aria sniffled.

"It's alright.." Kikuri smiled then stood up and helped Aria up. "We have to prepare for this battle."

"Right.." Aria nodded.

Two weeks have passed and everyone was relaxing on the last week to regain a lot of energy. Aria laid on the grass and started to laugh a bit. Everyone looked at her.

"I can't believe you fell down Uchi." Aria laughed.

"H-Hey! That's not funny, Aria!" Uchi sat up and puffed her cheeks.

"When you pulled back your chakrams and you tried to style on Sefia and tripped, that was pretty funny." Aria laughed.

"Oh yeah! I have never seen that before." Sefia giggled.

"We aren't gonna speak on Sefia's two left feet?" Uchi said.

"Oh yeah she has had that habit since we were little!" Kikuri laughed.

"Noooo I don't have two left feet! Not anymore.." Sefia blushed and looked away.

Everyone laughed and laughed on the grass. They all looked at the sky and smiled.

"Aria..lead us to victory next week." Avani said.

"I will." Aria pat her stomach. Avani groaned and laughed.

"Moments like these..are moment I will miss in the future.." Sefia said and smiled.

"Yeah..After Aria united Genten as one nation..She's going back to Aysio." Joshua said.

"I might return home." Avani said.

"Same here." Joshua said.

"Kikuri and I will most likely stay in Genten." Sefia said.

"Mhm.." Kikuri nodded.

"I am going back to Lem so if you wanna stay with me you can." Uchi said.

"We will consider it." Sefia smiled.

"Then let's make the most of what we have now before that time." Aria smiled.

Everyone agreed and kept relaxing in the cool breeze. They all didn't want to split up, but it was what had to come in the near future. Aria has built a close connection to everyone. She closed her eyes and felt feathers fall on her face and picked them up and smiled.

"Thank you Phoenix.." Aria said.