Here I thought we would just be getting an ordinary tourist guide but what end up for us was a gun slinging lady that was apparently related to Zenith. Plus, after all this time, I finally know what Zenith's last name was. Zenith Feather, I don't really know how that end up with her being cursed by the illusive Snow Phoenix. But that might also be one heck of a coincidence. I wonder if Ethereal knows about her curse.

"Does your sister know about your curse, Zen?" I whispered to her as we were waiting down the lounge of the hotel we got in.

She shakes her head and said, "Only Astral knows about it. Even my parents have no idea about the snow phoenix."

"I see..." Then I murmured to myself, "But still...why I never know of her existence. Even back then, she wasn't in that non-fiction story book."

Zenith let out a small sigh and said, "It's probably because the two of them are not sisters by blood."

"Not by blood? What do you mean?"

"Astral and Ethereal were adopted by my parents."

"And why have you been keeping this away from me?"

"...Because it's unnecessary?"

I scratched my head and said, "Well yeah, family matters shouldn't really being brought to a friendly conversation. I can see where you are coming from but really...You were the only child? Did something happen?"

Then, unceremoniously, "That's because Zen-Zen here always wanted to have a little sister and a big sister." Ethereal suddenly grabbed Zenith and played with her hair.

Zenith's face flushed to red as she heard what her adopted sister had said.

The onslaught doesn't stop there as Ethereal continued, "She begged so much to our parents that they end up adopting Astral just to fulfil her wish. Our parents found Astral lying down in hunger at the streets of a nearby city. At that time, our parents were making a delivery for the guns they made."

"I see...What about you? I haven't heard of you before, Ethereal."

She laughed and said, "That's probably because I was only adopted two years ago."

Two years ago? If I have to recheck back on the timeline, that's a possibility since when Hosuke and I entered that story book, it wasn't the present time but it was the past. Zenith was very young and Astral was way younger than her.

Ethereal then told her story to us, "Mine was a bit interesting. I was always the travelling type ever since I don't have parents anymore. I'm very independent. But on one faithful day, a blizzard happened to be blowing, slowing me down and burying me deep under the snow. Astral and our parents founded me and brought me back to their house. Lots of things happened in between, but I ended up loving that family and then Zenith here decided that I should be her big sister. The rest is history as you can see."

Zenith tries her best to hide her face from me as Ethereal continues to grab her.

"Well that's a wonderful story and all..." Yumiko suddenly appears along with the other boys and said, 'But can we know where are we going today? And why aren't you even wearing your uniform like the other guide?"

"Well that's because it's related to where we're going next." Said Ethereal as she finally lets go of Zenith.

"And that is?"

"The Koi Dragon Invitational!" She then brought a piece of card and said, "I was invited to enter the invitational."

Everyone was a bit in awe after hearing that. Now I see why she was wearing such a ridiculous outfit. Let's not forget, she's also carrying a rifle.

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Hemrietta then asked, "But why are you a tourist guide then?"

"Oh that? It's a contract work. I needed the money so I could travel somewhere else after this. I'm always the travelling type as I told in my story just now."

"You should really go back home, sis..." Zenith quietly pleaded.

"Not until I made my name across the seas, my little sister. I want to return home like a hero. So it'll be a while before that will happen."

Even after being adopted, she still acted as she was before she was even adopted. She continued on her journey to become famous by travelling around the world while leaving behind her family back at the village. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing or anything because being independent is actually a good thing for her. It's what makes her, her. But I still can't quite grasp on how easily she travelled without even thinking a second about her family.

I kept pondering about this fact throughout our journey to the Koi Dragon Invitational. I just can't understand why did she even said yes when she was asked to be adopted if she's still going to be away from them for a long time. That's just selfish.

-

After about half an hour of walking, we finally reached the arena that held The Koi Dragon Invitational. According to Ethereal, this year was very different than the past few tournaments. This year, anyone can be invited into this tournament. Usually it's only exclusive for the peoples in Nihon but now that the country is growing they had to open the options for overseas people to join this exciting tournament. Ethereal was one of the first people not from Nihon to be invited into this invitational.

"Has there been any problem about the invitational?" Aspye asked Ethereal.

She then said, "Well there is one thing I noticed a couple of days ago...There was this Warlord who doesn't seem to like what the Emperor of Nihon did to this year's invitational. He said that only the people of Nihon are allowed to join the invitational. Allowing outsiders means breaking their tradition, according to him."

"This guy sounds problematic as heck. Why is that?" wondered Azreal.

Yumiko then suddenly said, "It's probably because they are Yokai."

Hemrietta was confused as much as we are, "Yokai? What is that?"

Yumiko explained, "Yokai is a race that consists of monsters, spirits and demons in Nihon's folklore. They inhabit this land just like any other human in this land. But they believed that they are the original people of this land and the human has taken over their beloved land. It looks like the situation finally comes to a boiling point very soon."

"Who is that Warlord anyway? He should just laid back and let it be. Even if he is a Yokai he should respect the human as well for developing this country." Hemrietta told us what he thought of about the situation.

Ethereal then said, "I think that warlord name is uh...ah yes. You don't call him a warlord over here, You call him a Shogun. Although he is right below the Emperor in the ranks of superiority, he is in fact a de facto ruler to the country. Basically he is the leader of the Yokai while the Emperor is the leader of both humans and Yokais."

"Who is this Yokai you are talking about?" asked Kallen.

"He is The Shogun, Kitsuneki."

"Kitsuneki...?" I noticed something.

Zenith and Recordia also noticed as well. But most importantly, Yumiko knows that very well. She didn't budge at all after hearing that name. She knows that his name will be brought out very soon. I just can't believe that it's going to be now.

Yumiko walked next to me and whispered, "Chaos Shogun Kitsuneki, The Fourth Champions of Chaos. He has his reason to being corrupted to the chaos. Maybe you should find that out."

"Why don't you tell me? That makes things easier." I whispered back to her.

"I thought you could just Recordia for this kind of job, isn't that easier?" She said that as Recordia also heard our conversation.

Recordia then said, "Should Recordia find out about Kitsuneki's past, White? Recordia is a bit scared as she asked this to White."

"You're not going to tell it to me straight, Yumiko?"

She gleefully nodded.

I gave up and told Recordia, "Very well. Recordia, find out about Kitsuneki's past."

"Alright, White. It will probably take about 7 hours before I find something."

I sighed and said, "You really need a software update...your searching speed is too damn slow."

"Recordia is very sorry for burdening White. Recordia will do her best not to disappoint White. Recordia said that in a hopeful tone."

I patted her head and said, "And that you will do. I know that." I turned to Zenith and said, "Zen, can you hold her for today? I asked her to search on something."

Zenith nodded and grabbed Recordia off of her floating book and carried her like she was carrying a toy doll. Recordia eyes begin to display numbers and lines like a computer as she begins to search through her data.

"Looks like this is it for you guys. I'm going to get ready." Ethereal stopped in front of the entrance. "You guys can join the audience and wait for my crowning moment. Wish me luck, everyone!"

Ethereal, our supposedly tour guide dropped off from our group and went into the arena through a different passage exclusive for the participants. Looks like we will be watching over this tournament in the meantime. I just hope nothing bad would happen especially during this time when the Yokais are having a dispute with the humans.

TO BE CONTINUED