"It sure was nice of the Emperor to give us permission to use his personal resort as a reward for conquering Extoria." "Fire" thought.
"Yes it's his newest one, they just finished it recently. It's on Earthia, are you excited to be going home Captain?" "Earth" asked.
"Eh, not really. My home is wherever I lay my head." "War" replied nonchalantly.
"Don't you have any family you'd want to see?" "Earth" asked.
"Nah, my only family is "Wolf". Shortly after he was born my mother died, and a bit after that my father left, or maybe he died too I can't say for sure I was just 4 years old so the details are a little fuzzy." "War" said.
"I see, so you grew up with just your little brother?" "Earth" asked.
"No, I actually had two brothers. I had an older brother named Jaguar. He was the one who always protected us, but he disappeared one day when I was about 8. I'm not sure what happened to him either." "War" said.
"I see, that sounds rough." "Earth" said.
"Eh, it is what it is. I guess it all turned out alright." "War" said.
"I'd say you turning out alright is quite the exaggeration." Victoria said causing the two to start bickering, something that had become frequent after she moved into the 7 Elements HQ.
"Why are you even here anyway? This trip is a reward for us, you didn't do any fighting." "War" said.
"Well it's only natural that I go along as your fiancé." She responded.
"That's a load of crap! You just want to take a beach vacation!" "War" replied. Their bickering would go on for the rest of the trip until they reached their destination.
"Finally we're here! Let's go!" "Fire" said as he rushed onto the beach like a child.
The Emperor had several vacation resorts around the Empire. The resorts were reserved only for the Emperor himself or members of his royal harem. Other than that members of the Royal Guard were given limited access as well as the occasional foreign royal.
As the group made their way on to the beach they were greeted by the sight dozens of beautiful women scattered across the coastline.
"Woah! Look at all these beauties! This place really is a paradise! I should go talk to them." "Fire" said singling out three particularly alluring women.
He started to make his way towards them before "Earth" grabbed him from behind. "Need I remind you that anyone seen talking to, let along touching a member of the royal harem will be sentenced for execution." He said.
"Bah! No fair! The Emperor just gets to keep them all for himself!" "Fire" pouted.
"I prefer women with more backbone." "Wind" said as he walked past.
"I prefer slim women." "War" said as he walked past.
"Me too!" "Wolf" added.
"I prefer my wife." "Earth" said as he let "Fire" go.
"I prefer to be left alone." "Water" said as he walked past.
"You guys have no taste." "Fire" said, "This sucks I'm at the beach surrounded by beautiful women but they're all already taken or… weird." He said referring to the Amazonian women who tagged along.
I don't really do well in the sun, I think I'll just stay under the umbrella." Terica said, she would go on to sit under the umbrella and awkwardly make sandcastles with "Water" for the duration of the trip.
"S-Sir "Wind"? Would you mind helping me apply this sunscreen?" Tilca asked shyly. "Those two have been weirdly chummy lately." "Fire" thought.
"Come on darling! Let's play in the sea!" Margarita said as she latched herself onto "War's" arm. Or so she thought but it was just his afterimage. "Where did you go darling come back!"
"I just want to have fun and relax, I don't feel like dealing with that today." "War" said as he made his way down the coastline. As he was walking he heard a familiar voice call to him.
"How fortunate to see you here "War". I've been meaning to contact you again." It was Ton Bi the Head of R&D and the mother of "Light" and "Darkness". As a reminder, she is researching a way to make the strongest warrior. To this end she has been seeking promising candidates to make children with. She currently has her sights set on "War".
"As per our last conversation, you had promised to reconsider my offer since I analyzed that substance you sent me. So when should we start? Are you ready to go now?" Ton asked as she made her way towards "War".
"Yeah about that. You see I just said I'd reconsider your offer not that I'd accept it. So I've reconsidered and I'll still pass. Oh and I have a fiancé now so I guess that I can't participate in your experiments at all now." "War" said as he walked away.
"Oh I see." Ton Bi said, "I suppose I should be more precise in our next conversation."
"Glad I got out of that. At least the whole fiancé thing finally worked in my favor, I just hopes that it actually makes a difference. I'm just glad "Light" and "Darkness" weren't here to see their mom acting like that. Blech! Gross." "War" thought. As he continued walking he heard another familiar voice call to him.
"Sir "War" I'm so glad to see you again!" Princess Lumaria called out.
"Luna? What are you doing here?" "War" asked.
"Apparently the Emperor wants to build a resort on Orenden, and he allowed me to visit one of his other resorts as a gesture of good will." She replied. "I'm glad to run into you here, I have been wanting to thank you in person for helping protect my planet."
"What do you mean? I did do anything, or rather there was nothing I could do." "War" said. "Your planet being protected by the Emperor was just a coincidence."
"That's not so. As I said, I spoke with the Emperor and he said that he always finds the 7 Elements' and in particular, your matches highly entertaining so he always tunes in to see you fight. While watching the War Festival he noticed our planet's beauty and wanted to build a resort there. That's what protected us." Princess Lumaria said.
"Well I don't know if that counts as me doing anything, but I'm glad things worked out anyway." "War" said.
"Would you please come sit with me? I'd love to catch up with you." She said gesturing towards the seat next to hers'.
"I'd love to. You look lovely today by the way." "War" said sitting down next to her. The two would go on talking and laughing together for a while before "War" heard another familiar voice call to him from behind.
"Oh there you are I've been looking for you darling!" This voice filled him with dread as unfortunately it was not Margarita, who he could have shooed away easily enough. Rather it turned out to be Princess Victoria, the woman who technically was his fiancé.
"Oh I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you before. May I ask your name?" Princess Lumaria asked.
"My name is Victoria Thureos, I'm "War's" fiancée." She said smiling down at them.
"Oh my apologies I've been keeping Sir "War" from you. I'm sure two would rather be spending your vacation together." Luna said.
"Er no, um-" "War" tried to protest but he couldn't think of a way to explain his situation so he just ended up leaving with Victoria, as she grabbed his arm and practically dragged him away. "Hey come on. What was that all about?" He asked after the two had made it away from Princess Luna.
"Do you know how embarrassing it would be if someone saw my fiancée gallivanting with another woman. Plus it was funny to see your face after I'd ruined your fun." She said smirking. "So this Princess Lunamaria, do you like her or something?"
"What does seeing me with another woman make you jealous or something?" "War" teased.
"As if! I'm just curious." Victoria retorted.
"Hmm, if I had to think about it, I guess I do like her. She pretty, kind, and I think she understands me pretty well. You only have one of those things." "War" said poking fun at her.
"You're the absolute worst you know." She said in a huff.
"You know, neither of us want his marriage why don't we just call it off already?" "War" said.
"As I keep telling you. It's a matter of duty. We have to go through it to maintain relations between our nations." Victoria replied.
"Yeah but is it worth it if it makes us both miserable?" "War's" words seemed to strike a cord with Victoria as she backed off slightly after he said this. At this point, they had found their way back to where everyone else was.
"Hey darling! We're playing volleyball! Come join us!" Margarita shouted as she got sight of "War".
"Volleyball! Nice! I can finally have some fun now!" "War" said as he rushed towards the others.
As "War" ran off leaving Victoria behind she thought to herself, "I guess it's hard to have fun while I'm around." She then started to distance herself from the others again.
"What are you doing slowpoke? The game is about to start." "War" said taking her arm and dragging her into the game.
As the 7 Elements enjoyed their vacation, elsewhere the largest military conflict the Empire had seen in centuries was about to erupt.