"Of course, I'll keep that in mind." Marina said, doing her best to keep a straight expression as Kira forced down the ambrosia. Only when she left to take a shower did her facade crack, and a grin spread across her face.

"Stubbornness was how I got here, you know..." Marina waited outside Kira's room for her to finish, and walked down with her to the dining room, which was mostly empty at this time. Kira's question caught her off guard though, and Marina had to stop and think about it. She had been so focused on the night before and what she could do today, that she had just woken up and went about her duties without breakfast.

"...No, I haven't." she admitted, looking away. Well this was embarrassing...

“Well. Looks like while someone decided to look after me, she has no one to look after her.” Kira sighed and headed to the kitchen, bypassing the royal dining room after all. To be honest, she preferred taking her meals here anyway, even if the kitchen staff always tried to shoo her out to her proper place.

There was an unoccupied simple table near the door where they could eat without bothering anyone. “Let’s eat together, then. And I didn’t choose to invite you to the royal dining room not because it’s not appropriate or anything, I actually prefer to eat here. There’s less… pressure. And gold everywhere. The cook can attest to that. Right, Ayana?”

A middle-aged brunette woman with a kind smile shook her head at Marina. “I’ve given up trying to tell her to eat where she belongs.”

“Come, sit,” Kira patted the seat next to her and turned to Ayana. “And please bring us those delicious Conch Breads that someone said were going to be thrown away.”

The cook looked confused, but not a minute later plates of steaming delicious bread and coffee were served on the table.

Marina scratched the back of her neck and trailed after Kira into the kitchen. "I've gone without breakfast before..." she said, though her stomach didn't seem to care about that after being invited to eat. When she was training, it wasn't strange for her to work so late into the night, that she'd sleep past breakfast and wake up starving.

It didn't surprise her that Kira didn't like using the dining room, but Marina had no idea she was so close with the kitchen staff. She sat in the stool Kira had indicated, being careful not to bump into the table with her armor, and thanked the cook when the bread and coffee was set in front of them. If there was anything she had learned early, it was to be polite to anyone who served you, no matter what their rank was. She could still remember the scoldings she'd get as a child from her father for having bad manners, or for running around the castle where she shouldn't be. 

The corners of her mouth turned up slightly as she sipped from a mug. "It's been a long time since I've done something like this..." she said, setting the cup down again.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!” Kira pretend-lectured. “You cannot be a knight if you’re going to skip your most important meal of the day.”

She munched on the bread, confused by Marina’s words. “You haven’t done what in a long time? Eat? I should hope not.”

Marina huffed in response to Kira's teasing. "It's too early in the day for sarcasm..." she said, though the edge of her lips did twitch up.

"I meant that it's been a long time since I've  sat down with you like this," Marina continued, a far off look in her eyes. She blinked, and it was gone again. Since when was she so nostalgic? "I'm usually out doing things by this hour, but this is a nice change of pace."

Kira stopped mid-chew as she listened to Marina’s words, another stab of guilt poking her in the heart. She thought she saw something in Marina’s eyes, something terrifyingly deep, and Kira knew she was afraid of it—afraid to go there and open up her own heart to those emotions, because once the wall was down, there was no going back, and there would only be hurt. Another vague recollection of what happened the night before haunted her. What exactly happened? She could remember feelings, brief flashes of how it made her feel, a promise… But she could not remember the details and she didn’t know if she was grateful or upset about it. She only knew that she had almost let the emotions get the better of her, and she had slammed the brakes on that, and now she couldn’t even remember all of it, so maybe that was good.

She was tired of getting hurt by people.

“Well, maybe I can help you relax a little. Teach you to have fun. Drinks are great for that.”

No, she didn’t plan to drink this early in the morning, but she had to admit she was very curious to see what kind of drunk Marina was. It would be such a nice change to see her loosen up and not sound all prim and proper all the time. The Marina she remembered was passionate and free and happy. The last thing Kira wanted to do was watch her turn into someone like herself.

Marina shook her head, a knowing smile on her face. "I'm not a big fan of alcohol, sorry..." she said. The taste of most of the stock at the local bars did nothing for her, and she didn't enjoy being inebriated at all. 

It felt like she'd honed her physical skills for nothing if she was just going to dull them with beer. Even during important meals where wine was served, she kept to one glass. sure, she was teased for being a "lightweight" for it, but she could put up with that.

"And speaking of drinking for fun, I think that's going to be my first step to helping you out."

“Not a big fan of alcohol?” Kira’s eyes bulged. “Sorry. That does not compute. We’ll find your poison yet.” There had to be something Marina liked. There was always something for everyone! How could she not like drinking something that made her feel… better?

“Hm?” she looked up from her second bread as Marina spoke again. “So you are going to accompany me in my drinking adventures after all?”

"Actually, I'm going to be doing the exact opposite of that." Marina set her empty mug down. "I'll accompany you in not drinking adventures." She sighed, and looked at Kira. 

"In all seriousness, I was really worried about you last night when I found you in that bar. I know you've been in more dangerous situations than that, but... please take care of yourself more." 

Kira might be the guardian of their planet, but that didn't mean she couldn't end up hurting herself in the long run by acting so recklessly. There were worse things than physical wounds, and it seemed like her princess's method of numbing her own troubles was a sloppy bandage at best.

“There wouldn’t be that many of those, I’m afraid,” Kira shrugged as she downed the cup of water to chase down the bread.

She frowned, wondering what Marina was getting at. “Was I in danger last night? I don’t recall.” Which might actually be the problem, not that she realized it.

“And I am taking care of myself. Drinking helps me not feel depressed and resentful all the time.”

Marina was definitely getting frustrated now, but she didn't let it show on her face. Trying to get through to Kira while sober was like speaking to the castle's brick walls, but she was going to keep it up.

"No, you weren't in danger, not at that moment, but I can't guarantee what could have potentially happened on a different night. As much as it numbs you, the bar can't fix your feelings, it can only cover it up until later, like a bandage." Marina struggled to find a way to explain it.

"It's like endlessly wrapping a wound up, but never getting it treated properly. One day those bandages won't work anymore and you'll get worse."

“A bandage is better than nothing,” she said almost dismissively, starting to feel annoyed. Wasn’t Marina supposed to be her guard and friend, not her therapist?

“What do you suggest I do, then?” she challenged. “Please explain to me how I ought to deal with these negative feelings in a safer and healthier way.”

Marina slowly moved her stool out and stood up from the table, her expression resigned. She wanted to help, but she just couldn't think of anything else but this that could possibly work.

"If you're angry...then fight me," she said. "Spar with me instead, I can handle it." It was what Marina did when she was upset with something. There was a strange sense of relief gained after breaking a few training dummies, and it did release tension. It was an alternate to the bar, and Marina would rather get bruised up than let Kira continue on like this.

Kira almost laughed at the absurdity of the idea. Fight her? She wasn’t really looking to hurt someone, even if the idea of being able to pummel something was appealing. Well, no one that didn’t deserve it, that was. That was probably why she’d been going on all these eradicating-Chaos missions; so she could pummel people who deserved it and relieve her stress at the same time.

“This would only be another Band-Aid, you know,” she said absent-mindedly, twirling her glass. She knew what she really needed to do to deal with the issue. It was just the last thing she wanted to do.

“But fine, I suppose I ought to know the skills and capabilities of the one chosen to be my knight.”

She felt rather cheated actually; she would have liked the chance to choose her own knight. Not that she wanted someone else; the fact that they might have chosen right was beside the point. The point was she would have liked to get to make the decision.

But of course her parents had simply forced the decision on her. Again. She felt like laughing again at the irony of it—they had not learned their lesson after all. When would they start treating her like an adult and give her the choices she deserved?

All the more reason to have that confrontation sooner than later…

She slammed down her glass. “So, let’s get to the armory. What’s your weapon of choice?”

Marina smiled slightly at Kira's claim that this was simply another stop-gap tactic. Maybe it was just a different bandage, but at least this one was a little less troubling. 

"I sometimes find that fighting leads to a clearer mental state than when I am left alone to deal with my own thoughts and emotions," she said. Some knights even claimed that people were only really honest in a battle, where there was no time to hide ambitions and feelings. When blades were crossed, they truly understood one another. Marina might not fully subscribe to that theory herself, but it was an interesting concept. "Maybe you'll get something similar out of the experience." 

"I'm trained to use a few different weapons, but I prefer the pike and shield," Marina said as they entered the storage area for equipment. Having the extra reach let her control the opponent better, keeping them at a distance until she wanted to close in.

“Of course you would think that,” she said with a smirk—a knight would always be a knight.

She tested a few swords, but being so used to her own short blade, they actually felt heavy and too cumbersome for her. She selected a scimitar that resembled her Chrome Blade and a lighter shield. She was a quick fighter and preferred lighter weapons so as not to slow down her movements. And she’d always liked the curved blade of her weapon that could catch opponents unexpectedly.

“This’ll be interesting, because I prefer to fight up close and personal. I guess I’ll just have to sneak past your defenses. Normally I would use my senshi blade, but it can cut through anything—I don’t think it’ll be a fair fight.”

She turned and walked toward the courtyard, glad she had picked a shorter dress today. It might be more comfortable to find some pants, but she had gotten so used to fighting in a short skirt it didn’t really bother her.

Marina didn't take any offense with Kira's comment, but grabbed a heavier tower shield and a wooden pike with a dulled down tip. Even if it made contact with skin, at worst it would bruise on impact instead of piercing someone.

"You're right, I'd appreciate not being sliced to ribbons," Marina said, before taking her place in the courtyard. "But go ahead and try to get behind my shield." Her left arm lifted, and she maneuvered the tower shield in front of her. The pike was offset in her right hand, ready to be thrust forward at any moment as she waited. 

"I'll let you have the first move."

She grinned as they stood facing each other. She was very interested to see how fighting without being transformed felt like since she’d never actually done it. Would she be on par with Marina, or would one of them turn out to be better?

“That’s awfully generous of you,” she commented at Marina’s offer to have the first move.

She started with a feint to the right, before quickly switching to the left, aiming for an unprotected part of Marina’s shoulder.

ooc:

OOC:

Not expecting any trickery so soon into their match, Marina shifted her shield to the right to try and block Kira's stab, only to fall into a trap. She pulled back a step just in time to have the blade scrape against her shoulder instead, leaving a cut in her tunic where it touched.

"You're faster than I thought..." she said, sounding impressed even as she regained her balance. Hopefully not much faster than Marina, but she would soon find that out. Without any warning beyond the focused look in her eyes, she took a step forward and stabbed with her pike, directly at Kira's chest.

Kira grinned as she managed to land the first blow. “Maybe now you’ll stop underestimating the princess,” she teased.

She was almost disappointed when Marina’s next move was straightforward; she blocked it with the shield without even trying. “Come on, stop thinking like an honorable knight. Not all your enemies will play fair.”

She swept out her leg from beneath her shield, intending to knock Marina’s feet out from under her.

Marina didn't respond the Kira's taunts, and instead of falling over when her legs were knocked out from under her, she simply rolled to the side and steadied herself on one knee again.

"I'm quite used to fighting dirty too." Marina lifted her shield and charged forward, abandoning the use of her pike entirely to try and knock Kira down with brute force.

Marina didn’t fall—which was something to be respected, at least. “Oh, really?” Kira grinned upon hearing her remark. “Show me then.”

Marina’s strength proved to be far more than her figure would hint at, and Kira’s eyes widened as she almost lost her footing. She stumbled backward, maintaining her balance at the last second. “Well, you’re stronger than you look.”

She lunged again with her blade in quick succession, needing Marina to parry her blows just as quickly, searching for an opening that could get her behind that big shield.

"I get that comment frequently." Marina ducked behind her shield to block the sword thrusts, and then slapped Kira's sword arm away by purposely knocking her own shield aside. Now that they were both equally left open, Marina took them both to the ground, pinning Kira under her by the shoulders.

"I believe this is a win for me," she said, lowering her voice.

She didn’t expect Marina to give up her shield, and so the movement caught her off guard. Suddenly they were both open and Marina tackled her to the ground, pinning her with her strength. Her breath was knocked out of her, but she wasn’t ready to give up just yet.

She might have to employ one of those dirty tricks, though…

A slow smile formed on her lips and she lifted her head slightly, bringing their faces closer together. “I never realized… that you’re quite beautiful.”

Marina was so focused on their fight that she didn't realize how close together their faces were until Kira closed the distance even further. Well this was a bit awkward now... Not to mention mildly improper for a knight to have a princess in this position at all.

But it was Kira's next words that stunned her.

"W-what?" Marina's composure quickly gave way to a wave of shyness, much to her embarrassment. She always took compliments like that terribly, and she knew she was blushing already.

But what did she mean by that? As her brain tried to wrap itself around what Kira was trying to get at, Marina's grip loosened and she unintentionally took some of her weight off of the princess's shoulders.

Kira grinned when her words had the desired effect. And it was actually rather cute that Marina would blush. The moment Marina’s grip loosened and her weight let up, Kira pushed back with all her might, flipping her over so that now she was the one on top of Marina, with her blade to Marina’s neck.

“I believe this looks more like a win for me,” she said triumphantly, giggling at her success.

“Or, I suppose we can call it a tie, since we’ve both proven our worth.”

More importantly, the fight had loosened her up and made her smile, something she certainly didn’t expect when they began.

“But, you know, I didn’t actually lie, in case you were wondering,” she added with a grin.

Before Marina was able to react, she was on her back with a sword at her throat.

"...Fair enough." Marina frowned as Kira laughed, still embarrassed that she had let her get under her skin so easily. She moved the blade away and sat up, but she looked away again when Kira affirmed that the compliment wasn't a complete trick.

"I'm not quite sure what to say to that," she mumbled. She was a knight, not a noble like Kira was. She didn't think of herself in terms of looks much at all.

“You can say thank you. That’s generally how people accept compliments,” Kira shrugged as she moved off Marina and stood up. “This was pretty fun. I’ve forgotten how nice it is to fight without your life hanging in the balance all the time.”

She frowned as she thought about the series of missions she’d willingly participated in, each one more life-threatening than the rest. It seemed the war against Chaos was escalating and, though she had managed to save her planet once, she wondered if more threats would come. Would she always be able to protect the kingdom? Would she one day be too far away to stop it before it was too late?

She had not spent more than a few days in her own planet since she started those missions, and when she did, she wasn’t exactly behaving like a proper princess.

Not that she owed anyone that.

As walked to return the blade to the weapons rack, a new figure appeared on the corner of her eye. Kira turned toward her and froze.

It was a young woman in a cloak, her hair black as coal, her eyes the most piercing, unsettling grey, almost white, really, and bearing the sign of a Seer—a painted black eye—on her forehead. And that face… Kira would never forget that face.

It was the face that had condemned her, the face she cursed along with her parents’ when the waves crashed upon her body on that rock.

“You,” she said simply, while her fists balled on her sides and her breath suddenly became shorter and more labored.

“Princess,” the woman spoke calmly, completely unfazed by the obvious agitation. “It is good to see you again, and as such a fine warrior to boot.”

“Well, I can’t say I return the sentiment.” She moved swiftly toward the woman, and suddenly her blade was upon the woman’s neck. “Tell me what you want right now, and you’d better not waste your time.”

Marina stood up, momentarily feeling like an akward child again before regaining her focus. She was happy that Kira had enjoyed herself, but her offhanded comment reminded her of hie mnay times Kira had already risked her life. Did she even want to know how many times she had almost died out there and lived somehow? It make Marina feel a bit like deadweight, but she could at least help in less physical ways...right?

Kira saw the cloaked woman bfore she did, but it was Kira's reaction that made her curious. Marina could tell she was a seer, but how did she meet the princess before? And why would Kira immediately threaten her? Unless...

This seer was the one who predicted the Sea Monster's defeat years ago. The one who purposeful or not, caused the events that led to Kira being chained against her will to a rock as a sacrifice.

Marina moved to stand beside her in a show of support, but also to interfere if things went south.

"Kira, please..." She rested a hand on the arm holding the blade to the seer's neck. "If you don't like what she has to say, I can remove her from the castle grounds."

Killing the seer would do nothing but stain her hands, not change her prophecy.

She felt Marina’s hand on her shoulder and tensed at first, but did not move. The seer held her gaze steadily with that infuriating knowing look and the smallest of smiles, her smugness almost inviting Kira to punch her in the face. She did not like people who played with other’s lives, not in the least bit.

“You are as fiery as you have always been, Princess,” the seer commented. “Or rather, since you have awakened as a soldier.” There was a self-congratulatory note in there that disgusted Kira.

“You still haven’t told me what you want,” she said through gritted teeth.

“Only the best for you, this kingdom, and the universe, like always. Did what I do not turn out for the best?”

“No. It turned me into an angry alcoholic and an insecure person. Is being vague and cryptic part of being a seer, or is that just you, thinking it’s funny to cause misunderstandings that ruin people’s lives?”

The seer sighed as if she were facing a child who could never understand. “The situation around your awakening needed to be very specific. You needed to feel the way you did in order to receive the power.”

“That’s bull****.”

“You can believe it or not, Princess.”

Gritting her teeth, Kira pressed the blunt handle of the knife deeper into her neck. “What. Do. You. Want. Now. Speak.” She could barely contain her anger, every single part of her wanting to choke the life out of this woman with her bare hands. She knew she couldn’t do it, but that didn’t stop her from fantasizing it anyway.

No one—no one—knew the actual depth of the damage this woman had caused in her.

“I only wish to tell you that there’s something you should know hidden in that tower that Chaos left in the middle of the sea. Something that could protect and strengthen this kingdom from future corruptions. I thought you might want to go there and get it.”

“Again with the vagueness. Why should I believe you?”

“Because. Seers only speak the truth.”

“No. They speak in twisted riddles that they pass as truths.”

The seer glanced toward Marina, seemingly too tired to deal with Kira. “Lady Marina, perhaps you would be more willing to listen. The information I have is good, I promise. For the future of this kingdom.”