(GS3) Home Field: Espoir Mansion

[Cherry]

The queen entered the room, an air of renewed confidence about her. Noticing Satoshi coming behind, she held the door open and came instead with him. Giving greetings, two maids quickly came in with treats and snacks to carry them through the night. Another cup of coffee for Haruka specifically, as the one who brewed it was rather pleased he liked it. Yukino didn't waste time tearing into a pack of strawberry sugar waffers, hugging it to her chest while chewing on one. They were brought sleeping bags, pillows, bean bag chairs for maximum comfort if they chose to use them, and multiple Vanguard playmats.

Swallowing another treat, Hikari waved her deck about, then placed it on one of the mats.

A silent challenge to the two of them, which would face the new Chosen Sword's lineup?

[Beryl]

Waiting to see who would go first, Satoshi decided to break the silence. He had things he wanted to try out himself.

"I'll fight." He scratched at his neck a little. The butler's shirt was a bit more itchy than he was expecting it to be, but he had to try to manage. Can't let Yukino have a nosebleed. He took his deck out and placed his starter down on the opposite mat.

[Cherry]

For a new formation that she hyped, a whole lot of nothing went down beyond a single new unit. That, and Yukino got the hang of dealing with minimal trigger checks. Munching away on more cookies, Lamorak appeared unto the battlefield against Neo Nectar. The Royals seemed to like him and his hardheaded, fierce, but inquiring personality. A few already put down their lives for him to make it out, and having five Grade Two units with ten thousand power worked out swimmingly.

Lack of triggers on both ends, Satoshi had worse luck since he drew most of his. Epona and Elaine came at the queen's final Twin Drive to rub salt into the wound.

She smiled, noting that it was fun. Not giving off a "but, of course" or a "this was only natural", but instead, a pleasant "good game". A little mental note to look into Neo Nectar units Satoshi could try was written down in mind, something like Lien specifically to give him card cycling power.

Another treat in mouth, her eyes trailed off toward Haruka. Now this was something Blaster Blade personally was waiting for. Royal Paladin and Kagero were longstanding rivals within the Sanctuary, within Cray's entirety even. Normally, he wasn't the type to get fired up over battle, but he wouldn't deny that he felt alive when combating Dragonic Overlord. Yukino could sense this yearning to battle too, getting in sync with her Avatar.

Collecting her deck, shuffling it, and setting down Reavergal, they were ready for Haruka and his flame dragons.

[Beryl]

Satoshi sat down after his loss. He felt like he should watch his rival, but thoughts were running through his head as he looked through his spare cards. He didn't think Behemoth seemed like a good card when he could put on more pressure with Gene and his friends. He decided to cut back on Carolla Dragon and Caramel Popcorn to play two copies of another Neo Nectar, Lady of the Sunlight Forest. Maybe this would help solve part of his problem.

He had a theory it had more to do with the triggers of his deck, but at the same time...maybe it was also just how he played. Was there a way he could manage to make it better? Maybe Yukino or Haruka knew.

The shirt was too itchy, he couldn't take it. He removed it, but draped a sheet over his shoulders instead, focusing on the cards and not the game, even though he was listening in on their exchanges.

Honestly...if Haruka was really interested in Miss Yuki, he didn't have that much of a problem with it, but it kind of bummed him out to think about it.

[Jello]

The fight started pretty casually. With a few words exchanged, the fight really got intense. Haruka boldly retired a couple of Yukino's rear guards, causing some hand to move  back to the board. But despite the attack after attack and burn after burn, Haruka couldn't truly put a dent in the defense of the Royal Paladins. There was just no way through. A new unit Haruka had never faced before came to the board.

"Starlight Violinist!" A unit that plays a song, a rally, a chant for it's allies, calling them from the deck to the rear guard. It was truly a sight to behold. Haruka was impressed. The fight had gotten to a boiling point. Haruka felt the flames of the fight in his body spread throughout. He was ready for a final attack, but alas, with no triggers to come, he wasn't able to break through.

The final attack came from Alfred, who managed to pass through with only one trigger. Haruka wasn't the least bit discouraged. Despite the loss, he felt like the fight was good. It was worth more than just a normal fight.

"You're a bad liar; you actually are pretty strong," Yukino said. Haruka turned his head, somewhat blushing. "Err, thanks... I guess."

He felt the flame in his chest rekindled and the flare in his eyes burned brighter than ever. The fire wasn't dying tonight. Haruka adjusted himself and gulped down the last bits of his coffee before setting down the mug. He looked back at her to see her smiling at him. This made him stop and think for a moment.

"Jeez, she's beautiful." Haruka accidentally let out. His eyes widened, he covered his mouth, and averted his gaze once more.

"That was a good fight. But if you intend to fawn over her after every one of them, we might have a problem here, Haru."

[Cherry]

Another win for her imperial majesty, but she wasn't happy with winning here either. No, instead, glad she had the fight in the first place, a good time. Royal Paladin and Kagero barely gave the other an inch, wrecking one another at a break neck pace. It was pretty obvious this wasn't the first war to go down like this. Even so, even the units enjoyed the thrill of the fight, gladly standing in arms with their Vanguard. Violinist made a more "epic" debut, according to Akane... denying favoritism that said debut involved her.

A magnificent play of expending three counterblasts and a soul blast to bring out Akane, then have Akane bring out another unit. The same price of Alfred's skill, but a soul blast, with the added bonus of two more units to his one. Very proud of this working, the queen bounced in place when she was victorious because of it. A bit oblivious to the reason why Haruka averted his eyes from her, but the idea she had was pushed out by joy.

"Nicely done", Blaster Blade stated to Violinist, shaking her hand as he formally met her. Giving a smile, the musician notes that it was really nothing spectacular. Akane and Wingal started shouting, it was SUPER spectacular, better than Lamorak's whole buncha nothing.

"Whadidya say?!" the axe-wielding knight yelled, furious. Gallatin tried to calm him down, but being mute let him do only so much in a heated moment. Lamorak charged at Akane, but a bunch of dogs jumped on him.

"Stoooop!", Toypugal cried. The facepaint knight only roared at it, he was going to have his moment to shine, dammit! Blaster Blade approached, trying to quell his fury, but the Ace of the Sanctuary was only rewarded with a boot to his face. Gordon cringed, that kick was powerful. Lamorak's legs had to be quite something to support the weight of his armor and axe.

"... Alright, now you've done it", Blaster Blade broke his composure.

"You want a piece of me?!"

Blaster Blade and Lamorak suddenly began duking it out! The other rearguards chanted "Fight! Fight! Fight!", even putting money down on the fight! Though the Ace was an expert swordsman, Lamorak's overwhelming prowess with a colossal weapon was not to be underestimated! Fierce blows inducing shockwaves that shook the room, Alfred simply let out a sigh. Letting them bicker, and Yukino didn't even bother to say anything to them either.

She was glad they were getting along, and even more so feeling like she improved a little. Deciding to pack away more of the sugar cookies, the queen hid behind more snacks to shy away with embarrassment from what Haruka blurted out.

... It looked like Satoshi fell asleep though.

Well, the only solution was some more fights with Haruka. Hikari wasn't tired yet, the fight in her still burned!

Royal Paladin +10 Affinity

[Jello]

Haruka found himself getting another cup of coffee as Yukino insisted on more fights. Satoshi was peacefully passed out on the bed next to them, so Haruka grinned at the thought of more fights. More training. And more time with Yukino.

"Alright, let's do this. Stand up, My Vanguard!" Haruka chants, for every one of their fights. A majority of these go to Yukino, as Haruka expected. He actually never expected to take a game off of her, however a couple of freak double criticals or 6th damage heals come his way, giving him leeway to counterattack or finish the games.

The morning sun is shining up as the two finish what seems to be their last Cardfight for the night. "Jeez. You really do not let up, huh? And you call me a jerk." Haruka laughs a bit. Haruka was starting to crash off of his 4th cup of coffee that night. He throws his remaining hand down as he takes a 6th damage. Three Blazing Flares. Nothing to guard the last attack anyways.

"Well. It was a decent night, huh?" Haruka laughs a bit more and looks back at Yukino. His eyes fix on her for a bit longer. Taking in her image. He's always been bad at remembering people's actual faces. Typically names are what he's good with, but images don't usually stick. However he wanted this one to last. A great memory.

"Hey, er, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. That was totally uncalled for. I thought you were really sick..." Haruka looks over to the sun coming in through the window. "Well. You're obviously not interested anyways, so it's a good thing that's all that happened, huh? Or this would be really embarrassing." Haruka laughed, emptily this time. His eyes fix on her one last time. "It was fun. Thanks for having me, and Satoshi, over." With that, Haruka's signature smile swoops in. This time, accompanied by a sleepy voice and bags under Haruka's eyes. He stretches and lies down on the floor, taking a pillow from the bed and puts it under his head.

"Good night, er, morning, Yukino."

[Cherry]

"Stand up, Vanguard!", for every last fight she called upon the white and blue knights. Full of confidence, Yukino went in with gusto... a little too much actually. Her inexperience with Kagero caused some of her early rushes to be heavily punished with countering retires. To make matters worse, Haruka began scoring some double critical rips, adding onto his harsh retaliation. Slowly, but surely, she learned how to deal with an 11000 powered Vanguard, a 1000 stage that made a lot of difference. Also, picking up on how to deal with retires by not throwing out everything to get retired was learned as well. Figuring out the flame dragons was a new game in itself.

"Stand up!", she shouted again. For probably the first time in years, Yukino kept a smile on her face. Not one of superiority, but one if her own genuine happiness.

Vanguard sure is fun, the Chosen Sword noted.

After awhile, Yukino's energy began giving out. It was hard to make out was Haruka was saying to her, she only noticed that the last game went to her. Letting out "this was really fun...", the snow angel finally clocked out. Completely exhausted, she simply laid down on her side. What her friend said became a drowned, garbled mess, but she could make out some of it before drifting off.

"I... didn't mean... that I wasn't... inter..."

Using the last bits of stamina to mutter, the snowy blue eyes were closed.

Dad Espoir strolled by with his morning coffee, peering into the room, seeing all three of them out like lights. "Heh", he gave a grin, taking a sip as he went on about his day.

Haruka +2 Affinity
Satoshi +2 Affinity

[Hope]

Hana strolled into the room in the morning, feeling much more pride in the sight than some strange awkward feeling. She felt a tingling happiness in her heart for her own sister. A bow was given to the other two, passed out cold, obviously tired from the full night of Cardfights. She giggled a little, as this signed reminded her of what she would do with Mii-Hime during practices. A sincere feeling came from the bottom of her heart, "thank you both for doing this for my nee-san." She walked up to her sister, still sounds asleep. The power of a Vanguard, Hana believed, comes from one's genuine feelings of happiness and fun from the heart, something that she felt that her own sister had been lacking until now.

"Just like Alfred, you'll gain power like your pals." Hana walked up to Yukinee, still sound asleep. She hugged her sister, feeling her soft and warm body against hers. She then moved back a little, her sister's beautiful face coming into full view. A card was in Hana's hand, and she placed it on her sister's chest for her to see when she wakes up.

"I now call upon you to be a Knight of Cray, Yukino, the wielder of the light that can change the world."

Hana walked out of the room, once again thanking her sister's comrades. She herself was in need of some sleep as she had been kept up all night, helping with organizing Cray's Alliance. Many mistakes were made and she had to constantly rely on her Bermuda Triangle to teach her a thing or two about her decision-making. She got a good deal of bonding in with them as well as learned a lot for herself, she was getting into the swing of being a princess. She giggled a little recalling that her sister always referred to herself as "The Queen." She then looked back at her nee-san from outside the room. "Who knew that it was this much fun?" She let out a faint smile as she continued towards the hallways, going back to her room.

"Exculpate the Blaster," Hana's soft voice whispered.

Affinity:
Yukinee: +3
Overlordo: +2
Geodude: +2

[Cherry]

The mysterious card of light that represented "transcendence" on Yukino's chest shined brightly, fortunately not waking any of the triad up. It sunk into her chest, being absorbed into the Vanguard's body. This destiny was infused into the queen, and Blaster Blade himself, awaking him with an odd feeling. Though, feeling a rising heat in chest, the girl rolled over, letting out an annoyed groan. Fading away, heat dissipating, she managed to stay asleep, soundly snoring away.

In the middle of the day, shining gleams of the sun caressed the queen's face... and it greatly aggravated her. Unable to sleep with the heat and the bright light, despite not sleeping under a blanket, she arose. Waking up with a rude alarm, that alarm being the relentless summer warmth. Giving off a long yawn and stretching, obviously not having gotten enough rest, she looked over to the others. Yukino's boys were still out like lights. Offering a small smile, rising to her feet, she needed a shower to get ready for the day.

There were plans in preparation.

Plans for victims.

The triad failed to leave their mark in the world with an official tournament, however, it was decided that wouldn't be their end. There were other ways to go about it, and she still had her duty as the Chosen Sword to fulfill. Leaving to her room, she stopped. ... Her majesty really liked these clothes. It was sort of a shame to let them have their moment only for one night, the "gross" feeling of being "casual" had gone away. They were comfortable and the idea of being casual was comfortable. Going off toward the shower, she stated that she'd like her black top and shorts to be quickly washed. The cleaners moved with godspeed.

Letting out a soft cry of joy from being pelted with cold water due to being so goddamn hot, the queen went on to melt into bathing as the water warmed up.

"So who won the fight yesterday?", she questioned about Blaster Blade's and Lamorak's duel.

"... Soldiers from the future are quite powerful... even with my expertise", her Avatar answered, all of them having woken up in the space of her mind.

"Did you lose?"

"Lamorak is strong, but..." he coughed, clearing his throat: "nevertheless I won-"

"My ass! Don't go lying to Hikari!" Lamorak shouted, getting the morning started. "Palamedes had to break it up!"

"Look, I was going in for the finishing blow, the win was in my hands."

"Has the concept of 'dodging' ever made itself known to you?!"

Yukino gave a quiet giggle, feeling happier than ever. A maid entered, announcing that her clothes were ready, sitting down a basket. The queen thanked her, then contemplated today's schedule: fight, fight, and fight more. The only solution to get better was experience, and yesterday showed her that she had none of it. Time to have some fun for once, and obtain skills born from simple joy, thrill conceived from the game. Today, she was the "Chosen Sword" off duty. Finishing up, drying off, and getting dressed in what's becoming her new favorite outfit... the queen returned to the guest room for a moment.

Leaving a sheet of paper taped to the door for the boys, she departed.

Satoshi, try Sunlight Forest and Frontline Valkyrie. Haruka, maybe consider Flame Edge Dragon to build up soul for Blazing Flare Dragon. I know you both told me to drop Gancelot, but I'm going to keep trying with a single copy of him.

Anyway, once you two get up, meet me at Card Capital. Bring your decks, we have work to do.

Yuki~

She even doted her I's with little hearts.

[Jello]

Haruka finds himself awaking to the sound of dishes rustling around. "Must be a maid.. or something." He sits up, bedhead x10, clothes very disheveled. "I could really use-" Just as Haruka was expressing his desire for another cup of coffee, the butler who made it the first time strolls in to the room with a cup, smiling.

"Here you are, sir." Haruka smiling like a giddy child takes the coffee and thanks him again. "Oh, by the way, you can call me Haruka! Sir is a bit too formal for me." The butler tilts his head, and then smiles once more. "Haruka, is it? Yes, okay then. Haruka." The butler repeats his name a couple of times. To which he then bows, and disappears out of the room. Haruka looks around the room noticing something is missing. Or in this case, somebody.

"Yukino?" Haruka searches about the room, finding a note taped to the door. He sits on the bed next to the still sleeping Satoshi. "Hey, you, wake up. Dude, get uuuuuppp." Bugging him to wake up like a child waking up their parents on Christmas, he finally manages to wake the sleeping farm boy. "Yukino went over to Card Capital. We should probably get over there, huh?" Haruka nods over to the still groggy boy, making sure he's understanding, despite being half asleep.

"Yeah, Card Capital. Let me get dressed then..." Satoshi walks over and takes off the cover he was wearing, revealing his shirtless body.

"Damn." Was the only response Haruka could come up with upon the sun's glow shining around the outline of Satoshi. He was extremely well built, from the waist up, and the calves down. No doubt he has quadriceps of steel, too. Satoshi looked over, still too tired to comprehend the situation. "Ehehe, it's nothing." Haruka was definitely not going to be able to face Satoshi ever again if he stares at this Adonis any longer.

Satoshi puts on the itchy shirt he was provided last night, and Haruka retrieves his sweater which the maids had washed the blood out of. "Thank you all, so much." He nods, finishing his coffee and putting the sweater back on. as he and Satoshi head out from the Espoir Estate. He looks at the letter again.

I's dotted with hearts. Cute.

"Alright, let's go dude. Don't wanna keep Her Majesty waiting." Haruka starts his mini dash to the inner city, Satoshi close on his heels.

[Beryl]

Satoshi marched his way up the long pathway to the Espoir Mansion. Along the way, Seph had told him about the Rift and its purpose in the war, making decisive moves against the balance of Cray in favor of throwing it into some kind of chaos. He learned that the person who was given the power to cause this change was the man with blonde hair he met the first day he was in the city, apparently named Jellal Kisaragi. Bastard. His disdain for discovering Satoshi's friendship with Neo Nectar was frustrating and infuriating. How could a man like that be given the power to change the tide of war?

Jellal -10 AP

He reached the steps and walked up them. His thought process for being here wasn't just to make sure Yukino and Hana were alright. No, those thoughts had settled in on the way other; the pain the queen must've felt to lose touch with her beloved Royal Paladins, the crushing blow that her younger sister experienced so soon after Pacifica's crowning...these losses were not to be trifled with to any exent.

His purpose here was different. The Espoir girls played a huge part in Cray's current war...but what's to say that their parents weren't involved in it as well? The huge lion of a man, Mr. Espoir, with his brute strength and yet clear wisdom and intellect...there's no way he wasn't familiar with what was going on, or felt what all of the supposed champions of Cray felt all around the world. This was not an easy loss. In fact, today, unlike two nights ago, Satoshi believed Mr. Espoir would not consider him a threat to his daughter, but instead a partner in fixing what the Rift had wrought upon the Earth.

He reached to ring the doorbell, but a sudden spike in anger, realizing that his leaving early from Card Capital could've helped play some sort of role in preventing this, changed his decision-making process to banging on the double doors, and backing away to shout at the balcony window, left open for a bit of a breeze.

"I NEED AN AUDIENCE WITH MR. ESPOIR!" he shouted up. "IT'S ABOUT HIS DAUGHTERS!"

[Cherry]

Christ, the country bumpkin was back. Natural disdain arose in the hearts of the servants, how dare he show no class? He was just another peasant who worked for the benefit of the rich anyway. Father Espoir didn't care for their irate gazes, and came down to answer the door himself. As if he knew precisely why Satoshi was here. Opening it, the enormous man of power gazed down at his guest, but it was not a threatening glare. It was a calm glance, ready to hear the boy out.

"Come inside", wasting no time, Satoshi was invited through the gate.

[Beryl]

Satoshi walked through and stared briefly at the behemoth of a man who let him in. The look in his eyes...he did know. Or, at least, if he didn't, he knew something and could maybe help determine what the next course of action was. That was his hope.

Upon being let in, Satoshi sighed, calming himself a bit. If the lion was so willing to let what should be his prey into his den, then there was no reason to be so agitated. He bowed to the servants he met inside. "Apologies for the rude awakening, something happened on short notice." The servant who lent him clothes bowed back and directed him to a meeting room, with two comfortable chairs sitting in front of a huge desk and a huge, revolvable, leather office chair. <This must be his office...> he thought as he seated himself juxtaposed to the giant chair.

What he didn't notice was that Seph had decided to materialize himself in the other seat.

[Hope]

The servants were scattering and running around the house, all the while also constantly knocking on her door. They asked her what she needed, but there was no answer. She wasn't giving them a cold shoulder or any harsh words, no, anger wasn't being taken out on them, the servants understood that... that's why they were trying so hard. Hana wasn't ignoring them, she heard the maids and butlers knocking on her door, asking her if she needed anything, fetching her whatever she required. At first she tried to answer them, her mouth would open, she would suppress her tears. But before a single sound could come out, she would choke, and she would begin to feel her sadness and would become mute due to her state.

This was who Hana was, frail and insecure, unable to handle such intense emotions. She naturally has a large amount of stage freight, is very sensitive.. very frail... and is scared of many things. This is where Bermuda Triangle would console her, before she reached this point. The very fact that this sadness was due to their absence pit her deeper into the feeling of loneliness.

On Cray she could hear the Royal Paladin Knights, they were training outside. The sound of clashing swords, their roars vigorous yet at the same time feeling hollow. They were also afraid, they too needed someone with them. "Yukino... where are you.." Hana thought to herself. After each clash of blades, after each metallic sound, there would be a large thud on the ground, only for the noise of practice to continue once more.

"We must fight for the princess! We cannot let this happen again!" Blaster Blade commanded the rest of the knights, his breath almost exhausted, he was probably pushing himself the hardest, taking in the most blame.

That is, until the next knight entered the grounds, someone who for the longest time was beyond the title of "Knight."

"Ahmes, I'll be your next sparring partner... this'll be just like we used to back then." He let out a proud grin, hiding his regret and, hiding his feelings regarding his own weakness. He released his sword, an got into his stance, prepared to battle his close comrade.

The other knights looked upon the scene, dumbfounded. At the same time, they felt admiration, and cheered. Hana heard their happiness and increasing morale, a soothing a warm feeling of comfort coming onto her as a result.. it was strange. After the Knights had finished their training, Hana was still in a similar, feeling only a little better. On the other hand, the holy knights had found a new strength through the sight of their King as if he was in his younger days... the knight whom they loved and adored.

Alfred was the first to speak to her. She appeared on Cray yet again, with Alfred in front of her.
"As a king, I've failed to command my knights and my people effectively, I've failed to save my allies... the honor of such a title... the title of king does not suit me until I regain the trust of the Chosen Sword as well as that of the Princess of Cray. I will not stand above my comrades in status, and I will fight alongside them until I see that my own honor is regained... and that all is well again. "

He bowed down to the princess, donning his old attire from his younger days. His armor was slightly rusted, and his cape was torn from many battles. On his knees, was the king of all knights, he had humbled himself in order to regain his honor as well as the honor of his own comrades. He began to speak again.

"Behold and see the king as he once was, in his younger days, as he blazed a trail with his Knights. Alfred Early!"

With that, Hana let out a faint smile, which eventually turned into a giggle, then into a laugh.

"Alfred, you're so cheesy..."