Chapter 7: Kidnapped

An icy blue.

It was so pale, it looked like silver light.

Thin, cyan lines shaped as ocean waves, embedded the sword, creating an elegant image.

"…What a girly sword." Easton sighed, tsking in disappointment."

"You just HAD to ruin the vibe didn't you." Rei demanded, burrowing his face in his hands.

Sobbing entered the room and a distant melancholy violin melody echoed throughout the room.

"I have met…! Sorrow's Child!" The wizard wept, his eyes full of adoration, "It's a miracle… yet a tragedy!"

"…Uh… No." Luke denied sincerely, his attitude and eyes serious, "I'm the child of the Duke and Duchess."

"It's an honour to meet you!" The wizard bowed down, tears still trickling out of his eyes, "I must leave! I don't deserve to show myself in front of you!"

The wizard dashed outside.

Silence filled the room.

…

"…Well that went awkward real fast." I coughed.

"Shh…" Easton hissed, "Don't interrupt. I want to continue watching your brother sink in humiliation for a little longer."

Luke stared at his sword intently. His golden hair shielded his face; however, the tips of his ears flushed a red shade.

"Hmm…" Rei tilted his head towards the roof, "I wonder what the wizard meant.

***

"Ivory, dear." Mother signalled for me to come closer, "Father has arranged a weapon's teacher to come and teach you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." A female bowed down, "I'll be your teacher. Do you have any particular skills you would like to tell me?"

"Uhh…" I mumbled, rubbing my chin, "I can eat a whole bag of chips under a few seconds!"

"I have no idea what you mean." Teacher objected seriously, "If you don't mind, I'll use my magic to deem which weapon would be best suited."

Vivid green trails of light stretch towards me, like tentacles until it surrounded me. Not touching me. Just surrounding me like a tight cage.

"Dual daggers."

"Pardon?" I questioned, staring at her as her the magic faded away.

"I think dual daggers would be suited best for you." Teacher answered calmly, "Your body proportions and speed as well as strength, make you acceptable."

"Uh…" I trailed off, "That's nice?"

"I'll be leaving now; I'll schedule a lesson later on as well as bring an earth wizard to make your enchanted dual daggers." Teacher bowed one more time, her face void of any expression before leaving.

***

"Ohohohoho! It'll be Christmas soon!" Easton cackled with a smug expression, "I hope your presents are worthy of me!"

"If you ever hear that laugh… You just know something stupid's going to spew out of his mouth." Rei sighed, "Excuse me now, I have to wash the stupid out of my ears."

Rei left the room.

"That reminds me." Luke turned to face me, "What present do you want?"

Luke smiled brightly and sparkles seemed to float around him.

Hm… what would I like? I had to think carefully to decide what I wanted from the deepest part of my heart…

"Money." I immediately declared.

"Money?" Luke questioned, confused, while Easton silently laughed in the corner.

"That reminds me, there's a Christmas ball Royalty are hosting, right?" Easton asked, wiping his tears of laughter away.

"Ahh yes…" Luke and my face instantly soured.

"What's the matter?" Easton demanded.

Luke and I turned to look at each other, "… Sardonna."

Luke and I heaved a sigh.

"Woah, woah, WOAH!" Easton exclaimed, his face paling, "I think I just saw your souls leave your body!"

"Sardonna?" Rei asked, his glasses reflecting the light, "Would you like me to do a background check on her?"

"You can do that?!" Easton questioned, "Isn't that illegal?!"

"Yeah. And it's pretty hard to gain access to." I agreed.

"No thanks, you don't need to do a background check." Luke immediately denied, "And how are you able to gain access to the background check?"

"Secret." Rei grinned. "Oh yeah, Ivory, isn't your enchanted daggers appointment scheduled tomorrow? I have to write it down in my calendar."

"Ooooh?" Easton leaned forward from the coach he had slumped on, "Let's hope you won't get a girly sword like Pipsqueak."

"Don't call me Pipsqueak." Luke tsked, with a disgusted expression.

"Anyway, Easton." Rei mentioned, "Be careful with your behaviour during the ball, people will insult you just to find cracks in the duke's name. Do not show any annoyance or anger."

"Whaaaat?!" Easton wailed, "You want me to be an emotionless freak like Pipsqueak?! I'll never allow it!"

"I'm serious." Rei continued, "You could seriously damage the duke's name. You may not care about the duke, which is understandable due to your circumstances, but it may affect your siblings."

"I know, I know." Easton nodded, being serious for once, "I'm not stupid, you know."

"… I just had the most terrifying thought." Luke shivered, "If any guys come towards Ivory, you have my permission to grab Ivory and run."

Rei and Easton nodded, their expressions serious.

"When Ivory finally marries, I'm going to kill that guy." Easton cracked his knuckles.

"…You do realize her fiancée's a prince… Right?!" Rei choked out, "Well when you kill him, I'm not going to bother saving you~"

"…we should probably go to sleep now." Luke interrupted, "The servants are probably going to kill us if we don't sleep now."

"Alright Pipsqueak." Easton yawned, "Night."

***

My head hit something hard.

"Ow!" Someone beside me exclaimed.

Huh?

Who was that?!

"Wake up guys!" I heard Luke's voice shout.

"Huuuh?" Easton exclaimed, "What's going on?"

"We're doomed." Rei muttered. "It was nice knowing you all."

I opened my eyes, and I realized, we were stuck inside a carriage, tied up.

"At least they didn't blindfold us…" Rei sighed, "Now I have to try to escape. What a bother…"

"Ivory, are you okay?!" Luke demanded,

"I'm okay." I replied.

"Guys…" Easton hissed.

"Yes?" I asked.

"HEEEEEELP!" Easton screamed, "THERE'S A SPIDER ON MY ARM!"

*Silence*

…

"…a spider, you say?" Rei asked politely, failing to hide his laughter. "…How scary. Suddenly, I'm actually quite glad we got kidnapped, I shall remember this memory forever."

"H-hey guys!" Luke interrupted, "No fighting! Fight when we're out of this carriage!"

"Oh." Rei stated. "I undid my ropes. That took me so much effort…"

"Undo my rope!" Easton commanded, "I need to get the spider off me!"

"Sorry about that." Rei shrugged, "I still have tape tied around my wrists."

"You gave me hope! And then you took it away!" Easton wailed.

"…Please no fighting…" Easton muttered, "You're giving me a headache."

"Use your fancy pancy sword and slice my ropes then!" Easton suggested.

"It's gone, Einstein." Luke smiled, an aura of menace surrounding him.

"…I can't remove the tape." Rei muttered, "Might as well get a few more hours of sleep. Night."

"NOOO!" Easton argued, "Don't go to sleep! You're the smartest one out of all of us!"

"Yah." I nodded, "I think we're doomed."

"You should go to sleep too, Ivory." Luke urged, "You'll get bags under your eyes if you don't sleep well enough."

"Alright, Night!" I grinned.

"Goodnight!" Luke smiled back.

"HOW CAN YOU BE SO CALM?" Easton sobbed, "And get the spider off me!"

"…Shut up." Rei commanded.

***

"WAKE UP!" A gruff voice thumped the outside of the carriage.

"Haha! I got a good steal, boss!" An excited voice exclaimed, "It'll be interesting to see how a duke's children will fare! I heard one of them is a prodigy in sword fighting!"

"… Duke's children?" I asked, "They probably meant to kidnap us, but how did Rei get caught in this?"

"I was having a walk during the night, when I saw some people that I didn't recognize sneak in." Rei explained, "Due to my exhaustion, I calculated that trying to fight all those burly men would be in vain, and the guards were all switching with the night guards, so the intruders were able to sneak in successfully without being noticed. I only pretended to pretend to be your brother and I got thrown inside the carriage."

"Mind explain why you were taking a night walk?!" Luke demanded, "If you collapse of fatigue, it's not my problem."

"That's not a problem right now, what are they going to do to us?" I interrupted.

"QUIT YOUR WHINING!" A burly man swung the door open, "GET OUT!"

"I'm willing to sacrifice Easton." Rei mentioned nonchalantly as we followed the men to a mysterious building, "Whose in with me?"

"Me." Luke and I agreed.

"…Such cruel words…" Easton sighed.

"GET IN!" A man shouted, shoving us in a dark room.

"Ladieees and Gents!" A loud voice roared, "Welcome to another round of 'Bloodshed'! Let's state the rules once again! Competitors can volunteer to fight in a ring! Whoever last standing will get 50000 gold! We will not take any responsibilities for any deaths! Let's start the round now!"

"Well…" Rei smirked. "Our deaths are confirmed. Farewell."

"…Eek!" Easton hissed, "I think a spider crawled on me!"