Hikari's training was back-breaking and from the outside looked cruel. Every day he woke up his body was put through hell by Ryke and his training. Not even sleep was an escape from the pain that was his training. Acardia, in the name of making Hikari stronger, would kill him hundreds of times over. While Hikari was improving his skills quickly, the mental trauma was catching up to him. Sleep became a prison for Hikari and no matter if Hikari was asleep or awake he would go through hell. By the fifth day of his brutal training, Hikari was on autopilot, his eyes lacked the shine of life, it was so obvious that even Agnimitra gave Hikari a look of pity in the cafeteria as they passed by each other. Agnimitra was an asshole, but even she couldn't help but feel immense pity for him. It was now the sixth day of training, and Hikari's body refused to move. He couldn't think or move, all he could do is stare at the ceiling with a blank look on his face. Tiki knocks on his door gently and announces her presence before entering. Tiki slowly walks over to his bed and nervously asks, "Are you ok Hikari?" Hikari stiffly turns his head to face Tiki and says, "Honestly, no, I'm not. I feel like I'm dying, and that I'm dying every time I sleep." Tiki gently puts her hand on Hikari's cheek and starts to rub his face. Hikari tries to move his face away from her touch but Tiki literally won't let him. Then as if like a blessing from God, a relaxing warmth starts to spread throughout his body. That's when he realizes that Tiki is healing him at the expense of her own energy reserves. She pulls away and stumbles a little before regaining her balance and being wide-eyed. Hikari turns and sits on the edge of the bed while looking at his body. Hikari still felt a little fatigued but nowhere near as bad as before. Red bruises covered his chest and abdomen. "Ok, time to get ready for business." Before Tiki can say something back to him, he stands up and gets dressed before heading to the public bathhouse to get cleaned up. Tiki leaves the room after Hikari does and they go their separate ways since she already washed for the morning. Tiki walks around the palace looking at the intricate designs and patterns when she bumps into Ryke heading to the gym to prepare for today's training. Tiki hurriedly says, "Sorry master, I wasn't paying attention to where I was walking." apologizing for bumping into him. Ryke smiles at her and says, "It's ok Tiki, we all bump into people sometimes, even me." and starts to walk past her. Tiki trying to not be superimposing tries to grab his attention again without grabbing him and accidentally raises her voice. Ryke slowly turns around and raises one eyebrow at her as if saying, "And you yelled because?". Tiki asks quietly, "I don't think Hikari is doing so good right now. When I went to get him this morning he looked as if he was dead, but he was clearly alive. I think we may be putting too much pressure on him." Tiki summons up all her courage confidently state, "He needs to take a break. A day of rest to ease his mind so he can focus.". Ryke walks up to Tiki, looks her dead in the eyes, says, "Sure, why not. I'd say he earned a day off." and then saunters off. Tiki stands there dumbfounded by how easily Ryke said yes. Ryke, the blue dragon slayer, just said yes to her requesting a day off from training. Tiki watches as Ryke turns the corner and takes about thirty more seconds to process this information. When it all finally clicks in her head Tiki smiles and shouts, "Yes, hell yeah!" before Ryke shouts, "Hey! It's like seven in the morning, quiet down!" and promptly shuts her down. Tiki quietly squeals in excitement and runs off to get Hikari. By the time Tiki finds him, he has already finished breakfast and throwing away his trash. Hikari looks at her and daunts a faint grin as she approaches him. "You missed breakfast Tiki, how do you plan on doing Ryke's training without a proper meal in your stomach?" Hikari teases her slightly. His eyes no longer dead but you could tell he was worse for wear than the others. Tiki excitedly whispers, "Well I won't be needing breakfast because we got the day off from training to go have fun." while fidgeting like a small child. The innocence and child-like glee she was giving off permeated the entire room, everyone had glanced at her at least once, and Agnimitra was staring. Agnimitra stands up as she walks over to them, each step commanding the eyes of the room. "Well, you look chipper today Tiki," She says smugly, "and you look like shit as usual Hikari. Although, less dead than usual." Agnimitra says while looking at Hikari. "Why so happy? Especially since you guys get one-on-one training with Ryke." Agnimitra asks. The cafeteria is silent as they all listen closely to what is about to be said. Hikari turns and starts to leave the cafeteria. He doesn't feel like entertaining Agnimitra's obvious ploy to make a scene, some drama to stir things up. As they both ignore her and leave Agnimitra calls out to them, demanding that they answer her. Saying things like, "I was talking to you." and "Get back here, I'm not finished talking to you yet.". As they walk out the palace doors, Hikari takes one big breath of fresh air and smiles. It had felt like months since he had felt the genuine wind in his white hair. Hikari turns to Tiki and says, "I guess it's gonna be me and you hanging out today right?" and Tiki is caught off guard by the amount of energy in his voice. Just a little earlier he looked like he was on death doors, and even with her healing him he was still weak. "Uh, yeah I guess. Usually the others just ditch me and go wherever they please." Tiki says. Hikari lets out a small chuckle before he says, "Well I'm not gonna ditch you, I mean you did get me a day off from Ryke's hellish training. Not to mention it'll be good to talk to Rona again after a week of constant nightmares." and begins to fly using his wind magic. As he began to lift off of the ground, he notices how easy it is. Tiki and Hikari casually fly across the capital Calydrona. As they fly, Hikari hears Tiki call his name. When he turns around, he sees her flying upward with a smile on her face. Hikari follows after her for about a minute before she stops ascending. "Take a good look at the kingdom Hikari. It's beautiful isn't it?" Tiki asks as they look at the sunrise. Hikari looks upon the capital in all of its glory, breathing it in with every breath. "It's beautiful, Tiki. So beautiful." Hikari says softly. Tiki smiles softly and says, "Yeah, the view never gets old, you know? Every time we get a day off, I like to look at the sunrise as it rises over the city. I'm surprised the others never do this." and Hikari agrees. After taking a few more seconds to appreciate the view, Hikari begins his descent as he catches a view of where he's supposed to go. After about ten more minutes of flying and small talk with Tiki, they arrive at a big house. Hikari walks up to the door and knocks firmly on the door, but not hard enough to be considered rude. After thirty seconds of waiting, Hikari goes to knock again, but the door opens suddenly. Hikari stands face to face with a tired Rona, who continued to gently rub her eyes before asking, "Who is it?". Rona slowly opens her eyes and Hikari opens up his arms to greet Rona as she hugs Hikari closely. "I know it's only been a week but, I missed you Hikari. It hasn't been the same without you here with me." Rona says softly. Hikari chuckles as he says, "Well, we have been together our whole lives, that's only natural." they both share a laugh and Tiki clears her throat loudly. Hikari rushes over to Tiki's side so he can introduce her to Rona. "Oh yeah! Rona, this is Tiki, she's one of my new friends from inside the palace." Rona looks at Tiki and smiles brightly at her. "It's nice to hear Hikari is making friends when I'm not around. This guy was so unsocial until a few weeks ago you couldn't call him the same person he is now. When we were kids he would brood-" Hikari covers her mouth swiftly and laughs loudly to stop Rona from embarrassing him. "I THINK THAT'S ENOUGH EMBARRASSING STORIES," Hikari says loudly. "You mind if we come inside?" Rona invites them both inside, asking them to sit at the table as she goes upstairs. Hikari awkwardly sits at the table with Tiki, she stares at him with a face of curiosity. Tiki is surprised by how open he is right now. It is like he's a different person right now. After thirty more seconds of this painful silence, Rona comes back downstairs with a curly-haired friend. Maria was wiping her eyes until they met with Hikari's eyes. At this moment she freezes, a smile crawls onto her face, and tears come to her eyes. Maria runs up to Hikari and squeezes him as hard as she can while squealing like a little girl. "Maria, it's only been a week." Hikari says as he struggles to breathe. Maria lets go of him and say, "But it feels like it's been forever since we last saw each other. You have no idea how much I missed you." Maria says to Hikari. Maria stands on her tippy-toes to try and kiss Hikari, but Rona yanks her back by the collar of her shirt, causing Maria to choke and start coughing. Maria holds her throat and glares at Rona but chooses to remain quiet. Hikari notices the look on both of their faces. Rona's eyes are cold as she looks at Maria, almost as if she is looking down on her. Rona stops glaring at her and focuses her attention on Tiki. "Hello, my name is Maria, I'm a childhood friend of Hikari's, and it's nice to meet you." Maria says to Tiki in a soft voice while putting her hand out for her to shake. Tiki takes her hand and says, "Likewise, and my name is Tiki." in her usual chipper voice. Hikari sighs and says, "Finally, all the introductions are out of the way. Now we can all have some fun on my day off. It's kind of warm outside, so maybe we can go to the park." Tiki says, "That's fine with me. I've been cooped up in that palace longer than you have, so I'm down for some fun at the park." Rona and Maria both agree to go to the park. With the preparations made, they all head out the door and have many hours of fun. The day goes by peacefully, with small arguments from Rona and Maria happening occasionally and Hikari stopping them as usual, but it was all in good fun. It was a special kind of bonding, one that only siblings and close friends experience. All of this love, this bonding, was foreign to Tiki. She got to see what real friendship was, what it felt like, and what humanity could offer. Tiki was a naturally kind young woman who longed for what Hikari had right before her eyes, something that she had wanted for a long time, true friendship. On that warm June day, she got her first taste of what friendship was. After a day of relaxation, everyone returns home. Tiki goes off to her room as Hikari goes off to his, they both say goodnight to each other, and they lie down in their own beds. Hikari looks at the Infinite Azure, preparing himself for endless deaths inside the blade, but they do not come that night. For the first time in six days, he has a pleasant dream. Lying in her bed, Tiki thinks about the day's events. Reminiscing over the pleasant warmth of the sun, the sounds of laughter, the happiness of friendship, Hikari's smile and laugh. Tiki's chest is filled with a fuzzy feeling as she thinks about Hikari. As Tiki falls asleep, the last thought in her head is about Hikari. Tonight she sleeps with a smile.
In the halls of the palace, there is a staircase that leads to a private dungeon. Very few people can access this place, the individuals being the king himself, the royal family, the heroes, and the royal guard captains. In the dark depths of this dungeon, you can hear the heavy breathing of a woman, accompanied by the sound of shaking chains. Ryke, using his fire magic, lights up the room to expose a barely decent Agnimitra covered in bruises and a gag in her mouth. She whimpers in fear as Ryke draws closer to her but stops short. Blue light is shining in his eyes as he talks to her. The light in his eyes are cold, the feminine voice that escapes his mouth even colder. "You have been causing too much trouble recently, young lady. I've had you down here more times than I would like to count, more than once." Ryke slowly starts to walk forward until Agnimitra is forced into a corner. Ryke bends down to her level and whispers in her ear, "Do you remember the last time you were down here, all bloody and beaten? Do you remember what I said would happen to you if caused trouble again?" Agnimitra's eyes widen, and she begins to cry. Ryke's face is twisted into a sick smile as he lowers his pants to the floor. Ryke was not in control at the moment, the sick and demented person that was controlling him at the moment was taking great pleasure in this young woman's sorrow. He approached her chained body slowly to create as much panic as possible until he stopped an inch short of her powerless body. He bends down to her ear again, asking her one final question, "If I let you go one more time, will we have this problem again?" Agnimitra quickly shakes her head no while sobbing. This young woman who seemed strong and arrogant was broken before Ryke's feet. "Good," Ryke says before unlocking her chains and healing her wounds. As Agnimitra climbs the steps, Ryke, as a final warning, states, "You know what will happen if you are down here again. There will be no more chances, no mercy, no rest. You will be broken beyond repair by my personal hands, not those of this man's." The tone of his final sentence fills Agnimitra with fear. Enough fear for her to run up the stairs and to her bed like a small child. The cold light in Rykes' eyes disappears as soon as she is out of his sight. He collapses on the floor like a wooden puppet, fainting now that the presence has left his body. While the king was unjust and could seem cruel, there was something truly sinister in these palace walls.