The Dukes took Recess in various parts of the Castle. Silvio, captivated by the brilliant candles that illuminated the sunset outside, made his way following their trail. At the end of the trail a blond haired boy was sitting alone going through his notebook.
"Father… Mother…" He sighed
"You there blond haired boy!" Silvio said approaching him. He was very impressed with the boys appearance. With his bright blue eyes, and spiky blond hair, he was nearly a match for Prince or even Silvio himself.
"Just who are you! I've never seen you before!" Silvio remarked.
"I'm new here…" The boy said. "My name is Duke, Duke de Niche, the Duke of Paris"
"Your the Duke of Paris?" Silvio gasped "Your the one who single handedly defeated an entire army of invading English, during the transfer of power?"
"I was 16 then, young and naïve, we lost alot of good men that day… if only I had been stronger."
"They say your eyes are ones that should one day hold the crown is that true?
"I don't know about that, but I want to make this world a peaceful one, one where tragedy's don't happen."
"Like the tragedy of your parents that made you the Duke at just 12 years old" Silvio said
"Yes," Duke answered "I'm going to make this world a place where things like that can't happen."
"HEYYYY YOU Little Brat!" A booming voice roared. "Come out and fight!"
The huge man from earlier entered the courtyard stomping his feet along the way. He grinded his teeth together as he made his way towards the boy that was at most half his age.
"Sebastian the Sledgehammer, Duke of Normandy, fighting here would be dishonorable, I have no quarrel with you." Duke said
"Well I have a quarrel with you!" He yelled "Pick up that blade of yours I've heard so much about!" He screamed.
"Not interested." Duke answered.
"Well! Maybe this will raise your interest!" Sebastian man screamed
Jumping into the air, he drew out his huge great word off of his back and started crashing down onto Duke.
Boom!
A huge cloud of dust enveloped the courtyard as Duke and Sebastian disappeared into it.
As the dust settled, Sebastian was leaning with all of his might on top of Duke as their swords interlocked. As Sebastian pressed and pressed his weight into his blade, Duke continued to hold him off guarding his attack with one hand.
"Impossible!" Sebastian yelled.
"I have no need for senseless fights!" Duke yelled "I only fight for other people not for myself!"
Pushing back, Duke deflected Sebastian's attack, sending him falling backwards.
"There's no way! I guess its time to get serious!" Sebastian yelled "Sword of Rollo Awaken!"
As Sebastian raised his blade high into the air, a stream of water ran up its surface coating the blade. In a flash, the water froze into place, instantly covering the entire sword in ice. As the air around the sword started to swivel, a flurry of snow surrounded it as a blue glow emanated from its surface. As Sebastian whirled around his giant blade of Ice, the temperature began to drop, creating a frigid atmosphere between him and his opponent.
"Lets see yours now!" Sebastian said.
"This artefact is only for slaying enemies of the crown, not for use on comrades" Duke said
"Then you die!"
Sebastian whirled his blade around dropping its edge onto Duke shoulder.
Duke once again guarded the attack but this time he used both hands.
"Good but not good enough!" Sebastian yelled.
As Duke held off Sebastian's blade, a frigid air came over the atmosphere.
"Why do I feel so cold?" Duke said.
As his blade rattled from the interlock with Sebastian, a stream ice started to slowly climb up the blade.
"WHAT IS THIS!" Duke cried pulling back his sword.
It was too late. Half of his arm was now covered in ice crystals, freezing his hand to his sword.
"Heheh HAHAHA!" Sebastian laughed. "Now your hand is frozen! You will lose all feeling to it and get frostbite if I don't remove it within the next 5 minutes!" He yelled.
"What do you want!" Duke said.
"I want you to apologize for addressing me like you did earlier!" The man said.
"That's all you want?" Duke said. "Fine, I apologize! Now lets stop this senseless fight!" Duke cried.
"Hehehe hahahah! Do you have no honor? You give up so easily?"
"I don't waste my time on fights for myself! I fight for others!" He cried.
"You!" A voice cried in the background.
"Who the hell are you!" Sebastian roared.
"The last thing you'll see in this life, Au revoir"
Sweeping his hand to the right, a pair of orange claws shot out of the mans hand.
"Scarlet Garden!" He cried slamming the tips of his blades into the ground.
"Heh, you think that can hurt me!" Sebastian cried.
Sebastian stuck his blade of ice into the ground as well creating a trail of ice crystals to counter the incoming orange thorns.
"You really think The sword of the Viking King Rollo would really-"
Crash!
The thorns broke through the ice effortlessly.
"This blade of Noddad predates the sword of your Viking King, its said this is the very sword he used to cut through the vines and thorns of Iceland's thickest forest, you don't stand a chance.
"SHIT!" Sebastian cried
All of a sudden there was a light, a bright light, a light so amazingly bright that for a moment Sebastian could swear the sun was shining in the sky. The dark landscape was fully illuminated, and a soft warmth came over Sebastian and a for a moment he felt at peace.
"Is this… death?" He said.
When he looked back down at the ground, he saw Duke standing in front of him. The trail of thorns that was headed for him had been completely eradicated, with only ashes remaining on the lush green field. In Duke's hand was a blade, a blade that was so bright that Sebastian could not look at it directly. It was a flickering blade of light that danced in Duke's hand. Standing resolutely Duke stood firmly dismissing the man.
"No blood between comrades will be spilled today," He said "If you continue to fight, I might have to get serious."
"That artefact… that's the artefact of the late King, Charles de Bourbon!" Sebastion gasped
"It was given to me as a gift by Godefroi, he told me to protect the Kingdom with it and that's what I intend to do with it."
In the upper part of the palace, Weisheng and Godefroi looked down at the battle.
"That boy" Weisheng said to Godefroi. "His ki, which you in France call soul, is strong and bright, its as if the sun itself is coming out of him in every move he makes."
"Yes that is true, he reminds me of The Dark Prince." Godefroi said.
"How can this good hearted boy remind you of such a ruthless killer!"
"He wasn't always a rutheless killer, there was a time when he was nothing more than a naive child, spending his days bathing in the sunlight. It was the reality of the cruel world that eventually tainted his soul, I wonder what would happen to this one."
(Back in the Den of Wolves.)
"Gentlemen I've brought a new player to our table", Balder said.
Prince walked into the room of shady men, cautiously looking over his shoulder as he approached the table.
"Heh, you sure this one has enough money to play?" One of them said.
Prince withdrew a necklace he had seized from Alicia and placed it on the table.
"Is this enough?" Prince asked
"Ohhh what do we have here? Let me take a look-"
"Don't get too comfortable" Prince said swiping the necklace of the table. "This necklace, along with all the money on this table, will be leaving in my pocket" He said
"That and that coin of yours" Prince said to Balder
"Well then, lets play" Balder grinned