(GS3) Field: Cardfight Training Area

[Hope]

"Well the best thing to do is to just listen to it yourself," she pulled out a pair of earphones with a Shiba Inu design from her purse. "You up for it?"

[Jello]

"Hmm...?" Haruka looked over, with a small smile. He had no reason to object. He nodded and took the earphone, moving the remainder of his hair out of the way from his left ear, revealing several types of jewels and earrings laced up and down the cartilage. He gently placed the headphone in his ear and looked over at Hana with a nod, to let her know to start the music.

[Hope]

She took the other earphone and placed it onto her ear, though, there was some weird feeling that she always got listening to her own music. Not that it felt awkward or embarrassing, it did at first, but now it feels more or less surreal. Hearing her songs play on the radio, seeing it in other people's playlists, it would get her every time. She would feel it right in her heart, the result of her dreams. Once Haruka nodded, she lightly tapped her phone, and the song played through the mini-speakers in their ears.

It started off in silence, the voice being the one to lead this time. After a few words, a violin, an acoustic guitar, a piano, and a bass guitar would mix into the recipie. The percussion mostly gave slow taps, the drum was only lightly hit, with little rhythmic variation, making the part feel hypnotizing to some degree. The other instruments blended together, creating a sullen, and slow mood. Altogether, the instruments worked to give off the flavor of a fairy tale story, introducing the song's overall main theme. In terms of genre, the song was a ballad. This was Isabella Hope's only love song, the only one that she ever wrote nor wanted to sing.

The lyrics formed a story, Isabella's voice acting as the medium and storyteller. It was about the Princess Aurora whom met her Prince Charming. Both were in love at first sight, often meeting each other in the castle gardens after they had first introduced each other. A young flower bloomed with their romance, and they had shared happy memories.

With a hand in her hair, so very fair, the flower blossomed.
The two lovers then danced among the garden, their hands tied together.
It kept of growing, budding, their emotions were moving, causing the wheel of fate to turn.

Then the bass had signaled the turn to tale, the violin increasing in pitch, marking a dramatic contrast with the guitar. Isabella's voice stayed in the center, hers acting as the balance between the two, revealing the struggle of the two lovers to stay together through the tough time. It was then that the witch had come to curse Aurora and take her from the Prince. It was then that flower had stayed still as their love was taken to a twist. They knew each other and their feelings were true, but a song asked... But how far has it gone?

In the castle a broken clock lie, time had stopped moving.
There was no longer dancing in the garden, a bittersweet goodbye.
To the lone flower that halted blooming.


It was then that princes decided to save the princess from the spell. The problem was that he didn't know how. He was told that it would work, in every fairy tale it was what without a doubt would work. The true love's kiss would save the princess, that is what he was told. He was told that if were to achieve it, they would live happily ever after. Background voices now entered the song, answering to Isabella's storytelling of the Prince's quest.

So he climbed the tower!
But the flower still did not bloom.
He fought for her heart.
But the flower still did not bloom.
He reached her side.
But the flower still did not bloom.
...and he kissed her lips.
But the flower still did not bloom.

The Prince kept on trying, he kissed her over and over, each time trying to put more of his emotion and feelings into it, but it was no use. Their love was broken when they had just met. Their feelings stopped flowing the moment that Sleeping Beauty had entered her slumber, and the Prince had never truly fallen in love. The missed opportunities caused by their separation, the flower that symbolized their feelings towards one another, and the failure that lie at its end. The ballad ended with a tragic conclusion. Tragedy had struck when their love had just begun, if only it were later on. The promises that they made had become made in vain, and their emotions were thrown away.

See the end... Aurora's Flower had withered away.
The Prince, unable to break the spell, dance next to another flower that bloomed.
... but the Princess was now forever the Sleeping Beauty.

After that, all forces of the song stopped in unison, leaving nothing but silence...

[Jello]

Haruka listened intently. Hana wasn't asking him to listen to just the song, but grasp a message. And a message was what he got, hitting him harder than the force of a million light years worth of existence weighing down on him. His eyes started to burn halfway through the song, starting to get the gist of all of it. Every note and melody fused with Hana's voice was simply pleasant from the get go, but when he listened to the words more deeply... when Haruka finally understood what the song was trying to get at. When Haruka felt his heart beating in his chest harder and louder. He gulped at the final verse. Everything started to fall apart it felt like...

He sat there, breathing. In, then out, in, then out. he wasn't simply listening to a song. He was hearing something he was living already. A love that bloomed all too quick and disappeared without a trace...

This made him think of Hana and Miyuki as well. It couldn't be that the song was written for no reason at all. It wasn't just a song for the fans to listen to when they want to sob at night. That's not what this was at all.

The pale palisades that were Haruka's face, the mask he had formed... it broke all too suddenly. Two streaks of moisture ran down his face, illuminated by the moon's graceful white light. The shade from the tree had left them in a near spotlight under the dark sky. Haruka's face did not contort when the tears fell. Instead, it broke into a small smile. It wasn't thin, like the fake one's he posed. It wasn't large, like the one's he got when he was fired up. It was an honest one. It was a gentle one. This was the way Haruka had been feeling for little over a year and the composition left Haruka speechless. He looked over to Hana, as he was shaking a bit from the crying. He tried to stop but it might just make things worse. He took out the earbud, taking a deep breath.

"It was.... lovely." He said, laughing a bit through his awful ruse. He was obviously upset, but at the same time, relieved of a burden, and happy Hana would share this song with him. Whether or not it was the right time, there probably was never going to be a truly better time. Emotions were stirring in his chest and his heart and his head all at once and all he could do was laugh and cry and smile because that's all he knew how.

[Hope]

Harooka's reaction wasn't anything different from the usual. The authentic feeling of emotion in Isabella's voice that was conveyed in the recording couldn't have been possible from some amateur who needed to practice her acting. The emotions really were authentic. She was crying as she sang when the song was recorded, and she always does, even in concerts. It was the song of how she had truly felt over the past year, the happiness that was the theme of the rest of the album hiding her true feelings. It was the last song of the album, the last thing that she wanted on her mind. Despite that, it was the most prevalent. Harooka would understand the feeling of the song, seeing as how he had Yukino.

Looking at the state he was in, she was both glad and in worry. For a fact, he had certainly come across a revelation. The problem was how deeply it would affect him, or whether it was positive or negative. She put an arm around him and pat him on the back, not as a tease, but for genuine comfort. She sighed as she sat next to him under the tree, the breeze continued blowing and the moon had risen.

"Thanks... People would never understand just by hearing about it. The experience is what gets them to understand, thanks for listening, I really appreciate it." It was a waste that they really didn't get to go inside the building itself, but the quality time was well worth it.

"I have to head home now and check on some stuff, thanks for spending the day with me."

[Jello]

Something warm touched him but he wasn't sure at first. He open his eyes that were previously shut. It was Hana, an arm around him. It was a nice feeling, different than the passion of love that Yukino gave, but a feeling of connection. Hana and Haruka were similar in this and probably this aspect alone. Loneliness.

He sat there, taking in the evening breeze as his thoughts introduced the peaceful evening. As Hana decided it was time to take her leave, Haruka came to the same conclusion. A rose up, dusting off his pants and sniffling a little, the last of tears coming to a halt at his cheeks, wiped away.

"Yeah, anytime Hana. It was good times..." He stopped for a moment before adding on, "Er, and thanks again. Its been awhile since I've had a day like this." With that, he ended his rambling.

He waved to Hana, stretched and they went their separate ways. He doesn't know why to this moment she asked for him to come and hang out, and whether or not the two will ever really know what each other is like as a person. With actual words to each other. But, even if they never become closer than today, Haruka found a friend in Hana. He found a little piece of haven for the evening. And for that, Haruka was grateful.

Hana AP+5

[Lance Korilum]

From one of the observation areas, Cero was watching over the various cardfighters at work on the floor.  None of them were particularly interesting to him, all lacking the potential he was searching for.  They weren't bad by any means, they just weren't good enough.  Disappointed by the lack of results so far, even if it had only been a few days, Cero decided it'd be for the best to find someone fairly new to the game outside of here, and to mentor them from almost the ground up.  Exiting the building, he set out in search of a worthy apprentice.

[Mana]

Elizabeth wakes up in a tardy manner, eats breakfast, and sets out finding answers as to how and why would anyone change her deck and leave her with the one she has, Aqua Force, "I need to master this if I want to find that man in the hood". as she walks aimlessly, she finds herself standing in front of a huge building, seeing as it has fighter tables inside by looking at the glass window, she goes inside.

"W-What is this?" she says as she sees a lot of fighters inside the building cardfighting non-stop, while moving inside, a man comes closer to her, "What is your business here?" the man asked, "I-I want to become stronger!" she replied with a serious face.

[Lance Korilum]

  After returning from his failed attempt at finding someone worthy of being his apprentice for the second day in a row, Cero had returned to his personal floor.  He had continued to meet disappointments over the past year.  The building took longer than expected to open, and most of the cardfighters here had been disappointing, lacking both talent and potential.  However, as he was getting comfortable, one of the staff members paged him saying there was a new arrival, something that Cero usually wouldn't have bothered with.  This time was an exception.  Deciding to personally greet this new arrival in hopes he would not be disappointed by whoever it was, Cero went to the edge of the building, and pressed a button with his heel.  An area on the roof opened up, and a horse from the floor below rose up.  Climbing on to the horse, Cero galloped off the edge, riding along the wall straight down to the bottom, the wind blowing, and the very laws of physics not daring to defy the King.  He landed right next to the woman who had approached the building. 

  He looked down from his horse at her.  Although initially seeming to be nothing out of the ordinary, Cero sensed something different about her.  Perhaps this woman was worthy of being his apprentice.  "You, follow me.  We're going to Cardfight,"  Cero said as he rode his horse into the building, straight to an elevator inside that would lead to one of the special arenas within the building.

[Mana]

After that last attack with Revonn, she felt something strange around her, that clan the person used. "Name", W-What?" she asks, confused by what the man implies, "I ask for your name" the man replied."I am Cero Kirguis, Europe's King of Vanguard!"  Cero shouted, and, pointing his finger at Elizabeth, he continued, "And I give this offer to you:  Become my apprentice and reach the heights of your strength!", "Cero Kirguis huh..well nice to meet you Mister Kirguis" she replies with an excited face. "Yes, finally I can find answers once I get stronger" she says in her head.

Affinity points:
Cero AP+3

[Lance Korilum]

Although he had lost, Cero was smiling.  He had found someone worthy of the title of his apprentice.  She had been able to defeat him, something that hadn't happened often over the past year, and he could feel that she had even more strength hidden within her.  "What's your name?"  Cero asked, intrigued by her abilities.

"My name's Elizabeth Nakagawa, what's yours?" the woman responded.

"I am Cero Kirguis, Europe's King of Vanguard!"  Cero shouted, and, pointing his finger at Elizabeth, he continued, "And I give this offer to you:  Become my apprentice and reach the heights of your strength!"  Elizabeth, although initially surprised, accepted the offer.

Elizabeth +3 AP

[Cherry]

Wandering in a daze after feeling like a love-crazed animal, the warrior's eyes were met with the finished product of last year's construction. A rather enormous structure at that. There were a couple fighters outside, dueling with one another with anger and ferocity. Taking a moment to think, Yugure recalled that Europe's King of Vanguard purchased this land. ... Wait, the European King! A much worthy soldier necessary for the upcoming war. ... Was he even here, however? She would think he went back to his homeland, however, he could have come back for this place.

... What is this building's purpose, if he came back for it, then?

[Lance Korilum]

  Looking out over the starlit cityscape from the rooftop, Cero had been lost in thought.  He may have an apprentice, but so few people worthy of challenging him had accepted the invitations sent out.  As he looked out, he noticed a figure approaching under the spotlights.  It was a woman, a vaguely familiar one, yet one he hadn't seen in quite some time...  Yukino Espoir!  That's who it was!  Once again, Cero pressed the button with his heel, taking his horse down the building to greet her. 

  Galloping over, he shouted at her, "Yugure Espoir!  I take it you've come here in response to my invitation.  It took you long enough."

[Cherry]

"Invitation?" Yugure questioned, not knowing what on earth Kirguis was on about now. Never mind the horse defying physics. She was a magical blacksmith that defied the law of matter, so she couldn't talk. Folding her arms, the warrior awaited an explanation.

[Lance Korilum]

"Yes, invitations!  Once this building was completed, I sent invitations out to the world's greatest cardfighters, you included!  Since you seem unaware, this is a building meant to give Cardfighters from all over the world the chance to reach the heights of their strength and be unbound from the chains of weakness!"  Cero delivered his mini-speech with far more authority than he normally carried, likely aided by the added height from the horse.