Chapter 45 - Return Of The Fairy

It had been five short years since Reiki was warned to stay in the Fairy Tree, and now she was finally given the go ahead to leave. Shiva told her that the death cloud that hung over her life for the past years had finally been lifted, Reiki was overjoyed to hear this.

She has grown quite a bit over the years, her wings were noticeably larger while her mature charm became more evident, being with own kind for so long really did her well.

"Goodbye, Fairy Tree." She muttered as she flew away, heading back to Tenshu.

***

"Can I?! Can I can I can I can I?!" Ichika, now ten years old begged her parents.

They took a glance at each other before Kotai nodded, giving Ichika permission to the idea she had been begging for- to go out into the forest by herself. She had been taken on many trips out to the forest by her parents, but now she wanted to go explore on her own.

"Yes!" she cheered before dashing through the door.

"Be back before dinner!" Rikka shouted as Ichika's figure disappeared in her own dust.

***

Ichika was now in the forest, she knew her way back to the kingdom by heart so there was no risk of her getting lost. During one of her trips out here, she noticed a small hut and this was what sparked her interest.

A few minutes of walking, the hut came into Ichika's sights, it was still a far way off but yet she was happy. Running towards it, she couldn't wait to explore but stopped when she heard two voices.

"How many years has it been, man?!" A raspy male voice asked with a tinge of annoyance.

"About ten, still gotta wait eight more before the uprising starts." replied another male voice.

Ichika hid behind a tree and wouldn't dare make much noise, she was only a ten year old girl so of course she became nervous. She slowly turned around to see the two men with matching black hair walking past the hut, still chatting away in a rather loud voice.

Moving quietly, Ichika jumped through the forest hiding behind many trees as she crept closer to the hut. However, she almost screamed when the door of the hut opened in a rather rough manner.

"Quit bugging me!" the little green-haired girl who came out ordered.

Ichika was dumbfounded to see someone who looked just a little over her age mouthing off to adults like that, is she crazy? she wondered.

The tallest of the two men laughed and taunted, "little girl, go back inside to your parents if you don't want to ge-."

*Pow!~*

Before the man could finish, Luna had jumped from the ground, delivering a head-splitting uppercut which sent the man flying towards the sun. She then turned to the remaining man. Ichika, who was watching all this, had her mouth gaped in awe.

"Do you think I'm a little girl as well?" Luna asked, the rage clearly apparent through the demonic smile she gave.

The man stuttered as he backed away slowly before running off while flailing his arms, screaming.

"Hmph," huffed Luna as her smile became more smug, she turned to enter her house when her eyes met Ichika's, she then gestured at her to come over.

Stopping in front of her, the amazement hadn't faded from Ichika's face, "How are you so strong for a child?" she asked, completely oblivious to what occurred before.

Unlike her previous reaction, Luna chuckled as she took Ichika's young mind into consideration, "Come inside and I'll tell you all about it."

***

"So, you can't grow up?" Ichika asked after Luna explained her situation.

Giggling cutely, Luna answered, "you can say that, but I can make myself look older, like this."

Luna got up from her chair and flames burst from her body, completely engulfing her. Moments later, a more mature version of Luna stood there; with perky hips and chest, longer hair and the aura of a fully seasoned adult woman, smiling profusely.

"Wow! Teach me how to do that!" Ichika said as her eyes sparkled.

Luna sensed that Ichika hadn't awakened dragon force yet and as such she made a promise. "If you manage to awaken dragon force, I'll teach you, Promise?"

"Promise!"

That was how Ichika and Luna's life long friendship started.

***

Inside the Tenshu Castle, Lancelot was with his daughter in her room.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" He asked while stroking her hair that had grown long over the years.

"Yes, father." She responded with a bright smile as she looked up from the the book she indulged in.

Over the years, Lancelot had made sure that the presence of her horn didn't make her feel like an outsider. He went as far as announcing it to the kingdom, who took it surprisingly well despite the appearance of the protrusion, Lancelot didn't even have to pass a law as they had already accepted it; their faith in him was unmatched.

Lancelot felt satisfied with his daughters heart-warming smile and decided to leave her to her books, he was pleased to know she loved reading at such a young age.

Returning to the throne room where he left his wife, Lancelot was greeted by a guard, seeming as if he was carrying news.

"Is everything in place?" Lancelot asked with a rather expectant tone.

The guard frowned before answering, "No My Lord, we have not found a fairy to take part in the test tomorrow, my apologies."

Heaving an exasperated sigh, he sent the guard away without saying anything further. Seeing his wife having a bowl of cherries on her throne, he approached. Sitting next to her on his throne, he released another sigh.

"It seems we might have to postpone the Dragon Force Exam this year," he said in disappointment.

Urusla said nothing, instead she just continued enjoying her cherries, almost as if she didn't care for the exam which was staged to test children when they reached the age of ten for aptitude with dragon force.

"Now why would you do something like that?!" asked a female voice that sounded very familiar to the royal couple.

As looked towards the throne room's entrance, noticed the beautiful wings and pitch black eyes of the fairy; They exclaimed in unison-

"Reiki?!"