Ch 1: A New Face. (Emelia POV)

As the icy cuffs drop from my ankles and wrists I stretch out all the kinks in my body.
"MAAHH! I feel like I haven't stretched in ages." I say finally standing up.
The King sends one of the guards to the big door. Then he returns with a set of clothes. With a nod to the cage, the guard walks over. The guard fumbles with a set of iron keys to open the cell. It creaks like an old rusted fence. He hands me the clothes, turns, and walks out.
"I'm sure these will be satisfactory for you?" The King says.
I smile. "Yes."
Saying that, he and everyone walks to the door. Sakura disappears for a second then pops her head back in.
"Please meet me outside when you have dressed, Emelia." Then she closes the door behind her.
Looking at what was in the guard's hands, I smile. It's my old leather armor but refurbished. The old nicks and scrapes have been buffed out. Slipping into my Favin, it's a very rare fabric that covers me up to my collarbone bone and bare and sits just above my ankles. It helps keeps the heat and cold out Janet told me when she bought it for me.
My leather greaves slip on easily enough. The rest of my armor forms to me like normal, and lastly, the leather boots hug my feet like partners reunited. I lace them up and jump to my feet.
"Nice I feel so much better." With another stretch, I head out the door to the world outside.
The starlights out in full force. I use my hand to cover my face as it stings. Once adjusted, I look around and find Sakura leaning against the wall.
"Good. If you'd be willing, please follow me." She begins to walk at a very sturdy pace.
One I have to try really hard to match.
The city's sites are something to imagine; cobbled roads shined to a point where the starlight glints off the top. Multiple carriages and people travel up and down the road. Enchanted posts line the road to light it up in the moonlight.
"Man, this place is so much bigger than Bladesfall," I say out loud.
Sakura looks back at me, with her close-set albino red eyes
"You are in Cardinal City, the capital of all the Kingdom of Cardinal. Of course, it would be bigger." She doesn't look back at me as she gracefully weaves through the crowd like some dancer.
"Hey, Bladesfall was nothing to slouch at just because we had dirt roads and not cobbled."
A twinge of guilt creeps its talons back into my mind as I use my hometown in the past tense.
She doesn't acknowledge me, just keeps walking.
"Well, at least the scenery is better than the company," I say out loud to make sure she hears me.
After a walking for a bit I see a large castle come into view.
It stops me dead in my tracks. Cardinal Castle is as intimidating to see as it is to hear about. It's carved out from the silver stone of the Synapse Mountain. It's tall spires send chills down my spine, the waves from Jupiter's Ocean crash against the bottom of the casm the castle sits on. I can see a mountain path leading you from a gate in town up to the castle.
"It truly is a sight when you see it for the first time." Sakura says to me.
"Now let's go." She walks past me, I sigh and follow her.
My mind races with excitement as we walk through the city streets. Its as gorgeous as the history books brag about. Magic brandished in the streets, performers entertaining the droves of people circling them. One man throws something into the air and it pops. A large red dragon comes into existence and flys around the peoples heads. Children point and scream giggling as they run away. Passerby whisper to each other while pointing. Right before the dragon hits the crowd it vanishes in a cool looking red fog that spells the man's Magician business.
"Zanders Magical Emporium!"
"Make haste, Emelia; the king wishes to proceed with the Introduction ceremony."
Introduction ceremony? "Introduction into what?" I ask.
Sakura picks up her stride, rounding a corner out of sight.
"Man, she is quick. Better hurry before I lose her. Plenty of time for sightseeing later."
When rounding the corner where Sakura passed by, I stop in my tracks momentarily feeling a faint but familiar aura. I turn my head and look up at the brick buildings roof where the aura was.
Bah! Come on, Emelia, you're losing it.
I slap my cheeks a couple times then take off at a brisk jog, trying to catch Sakura. A few corners later, we finally reach the archway I saw that leads up a path to the castle. It is as I believed the doors are Star dusted. Three guards walk the streets in full steel armor carrying large axes.
We walk up to the doors. One of the men look at Sakura and stumble, no, scramble to the levers. The two men on opposite sides of the door pull the levers.
Creak, click, clack.
With an old whine, the doors open slowly.
Then Sakura and I walk through the doors up to the castle. After walking for another few seconds. I turn my my gaze to Sakura again. As I continue speaking looking her over, she seems. Familiar some how? Except it's not like I'd met her before, but almost like she's a character in a storybook I read.
Pink hair, a hidden weapon, a magical aura that could topple armies, a confident swagger, and a maid to the King. Man why does she seem so familiar? I stop and look at her as she continues walking. She moves so gracefully every step made with perfect precision. Powerful beyond my calculations.
Wait No she can't be?! Can she but didn't she die during the Civil War? I catch back up to her.
"You're Sakura Zephyr aren't you?" Without even the slightest movement from Sakura. A chain wraps around my neck; multiple very small spikes are attached. The tips just poke my neck, drawing light blood trails.
"How do you know my name? Speak now, or I will sever your head from your shoulders."
No anger is shown outside, but her eyes are blazing.
"I read your biography in the Letter Hall in B...Bladesfall. You walk and act just like her but you basically confirmed it now. I wasn't sure before."
The molten rage behind Sakura's eyes threaten to skald me.
But they cool down, and her chain drops from my neck.
Her chain seems to sliver back into her sleeve.
Well, she's just a wonderful box of mysteries, isn't she?
We begin walking again, then Sakura clears her throat.
"You will not speak my name in public, understood? The people Now me as Sakura Shutterfall. They can never know my true name." Sakura doesn't stop or look back, but her voice feels like her chain has wrapped around my neck again.
"How are you alive though?" The world knows that back during the Civil War, at the battle of Ironblood Keep." I start to get excited but.
Sakura clears her throat again."Yes, it's not a secret what happened during that battle."
"It's for the kingdoms safety as far as I'm concerned Sakura Zephyr did die and it is for the best. It would be a colossal problem for Ezikiel if I were to be discovered." Sakura sighs.
"Now enough talking; we have made it to the second checkpoint."
Nodding I try to keep my curiosity at bay. Sakura and I move quietly through the second archway. It was a little walk to the third checkpoint; we made our way through it and finally reached the King's courtyard. It's extravagantly beautiful. Gardens litter the yard, with blue, yellow, red, pink, and white flowers decorating the gardens giving them a gorgeous look to the white stone.
Many people in the courtyard sit under verandas, at small white tables, butlers at their sides pouring tea, liquor, and the like into the cups or flasks, whatever the person chooses. The verandas sit in the middle of these gardens. I see a large fountain in the middle of the square with the fifth queen of mermaids carved to a delicate beauty.
"That's Jupiter!" I say, enamored.
Sakura nods."Yes, it is; she saved King Ezekiel during the Civil War. So he had the best artist come and build this in her honor."
"Hmm, didn't know that. Actually, I hope I can learn that story someday." I can feel my lips curl to a smile.
I love stories of any kind Lucy would always tell me hers. When shed adventure to other countries.
"It is a lovely tale," Sakura says, still keeping her stride.
We weave through many nobles, maids, and butlers as we reach the stairs leading to the castle doors. We walk up the stairs; there are not too many of them, but enough to get my hamstrings burning.I hear a loud snort at the top of the stairs like the pigs at old man Zakaria's farm. The sound comes from a giant in front of me. My heart stops, my hands clam up, and my breathing speeds up like rapidly running water. As I'm taken back to that moment like I never left it.
The mountainside tumbles as the King of Giants hurdles to the city below. He stands eight meters tall, a scar runs from his left eye to his nose, and drops fifty meters down to our oceanside city below. His impact craters the ground thousands of lives lost in a second. His White eyes burn like tiny stars. His Aura is unlike anything I ever felt before. It was Old and wild, and so so powerful like a thousand ton weight on my chest causing my breathing to speed up.
"Emelia, come back to us."
I hear a distant voice and a shaking sensation returning me to the real world. But Ill never forget the Giant kings aura it's like I was a bug looking up to a God squashing me without even an afterthought.
The memory slowly fades, and I see Sakura's red eyes peering down at me. "Good, your pupils are back to normal. What happened, Emelia?" Sakura asks me, her eyes hard with questions.
While struggling to sit up, the ground is different. It's rough, and I notice it's callused. Then I look up, and I'm met by two large Dark Green eyes. With a scream, I fall off the giant's hand like a bag of rocks. He catches me before I can hit the ground.
"Get back! Stay away from me you monster!" I jump off, using my wind magic to help slow my fall this time. I place my palms down and the wind slows my descent.
I land and go behind a pillar and try to slow my breathing.
"Ah, your city was attacked by The Giant King you said. I should have warned you of Baxter beforehand; it was careless of me." I hear Sakura's voice from the other side of the pillar.
Then a deep voice speaks up; it's not as thunderous as the giant King's voice was.
"I scare girl?" The giant asks.
"Yes, but not at any fault of your own, Baxter. Please don't worry. Just go back to your post, okay?' Sakura's voice turns light and fluffy like she's talking to a child. Weird compared to how harsh and scratchy her voice is.
Loud steps pound their way down the stairs. I peek out from behind the column and see Sakura looking at me.
"I apologize, Emelia. I forgot your traumatic experience with the Giant King." She bows.
A tinge of red hits my pale cheeks. "Oh, no, you're okay," I say.
It's not her fault. I can't blame her for my trauma, just those bastards who destroyed my life and burned my soul to ash.
She nods. "Well, let us continue on."
Sakura turns away from me
"Emelia." Sakura says.
"Yes?"
Sakura turns to me but her eyes are distant they don't seem to have as much fire in them as usual. It's like she is looking through me.
"This Kingdom Owes Baxter much. Don't be to hard on him."