"Kurai, Kurai! Look at this." Fi called out cheerfully from behind him.

"I am thinking something important right now, don't interrupt me." Kurai sighed, his gaze fixed on the table in front.

"You have been looking at that half deck of cards for hours." Fi groaned as she stared at the two sets of cards arranged seperately, one consisting of spades and one of hearts, the rest scattered around as if thrown into the air at some point. "You should really tidy the place," she mumbled.

"We are sitting in the middle of nowhere," Kurai pointed out.

Fi glanced around with a sigh, the same barren wasteland surrounding them, and a forest visible off into the distance. Kurai sat on a small seat carved from a boulder, the cards placed on a table carved in a similar manner. "Doing this in the forest would've been far better," Fi sighed.

"Too noisy." Kurai mumbled as he spread the two sets of cards in seperate rows.

"This is more important than whatever you are doing," Fi grunted.

"What is it?" Kurai sighed as he turned to her.

She also sat in a similar seat, Kesshō sitting in her lap. Fi flicked Kesshō's phoenix ears downwards, smiling at Kurai afterwards. He tilted his head at her in confusion. "Isn't this adorable?" Fi inquired as she pulled Kesshō's ears down, releasing them and watching them spring up and move for a short while before coming to a stand still again.

"And now you are bullying her for your own entertainment." Kurai shook his head in disappointment.

"Its not bullying, I am just showing you something very cool, and something that is embarassing for most Phoenixes," Fi explained.

"How?" Kurai inquired.

"We have fairly long ears, just like elves. So, just like elves, the ears of kids are kind of floppy," Fi giggled. "Elf ears are a lot more floppy though, Phoenix ears just vibrate like this when you pull them down. Elves can barely keep their ears straight at younger ages."

"Oh, I see." Kurai nodded understandingly, receiving a smirk from Fi. "You are trying to embarrass her."

Fi punched him, though it didn't even make him flinch as the two stared at each other. After a few moments, Kurai flinched back, clutching his shoulder in pain where Fi hit him.

"Why must you bully me like this?" Fi sobbed as she hugged Kesshō tightly.

"I won't if you can be serious for once," Kurai laughed.

"Well, still made you laugh and distracted you, so my mission has been a success." Fi pointed out, a smirk on her face as she rested on Kesshō's head.

"I am already done figuring it all out, you were a bit late for distracting." Kurai informed as he got up.

"What did you find out then?" Fi inquired as she glanced at the cards. "They have weird stuff written on them," she pointed out.

"Well, they are not your usual cards that much is clear at a glance." Kurai sighed as he picked up one of them. "These two sets don't have the usual numbers, instead they have ranks. Knight, Bishop, Rook, and pawns. The ace is replaced with 'Empress' in hearts, and the jester with 'Shadow'. In spades, the ace is replaced with 'Duke', and jester with 'Serpent'."

"They really are weird cards, how do you play them?" Fi nodded her agreement excitedly, Kesshō doing the same.

"That is not all, and they are not for playing," Kurai added. "There are eight pawns, and each side has its number ten replaced with 'Knight', queen with 'Rook', and king with 'Bishop'. Its almost as if these cards were made for chess in some way."

"How do you know which cards were exchanged?" Fi questioned as she took a closer look at them.

"They were in order from the start," Kurai shrugged. "I did not make these, they belonged to The Creator, I simply chose to take them with me alongside many of his diaries and letters. I must say, there is a lot more to him than meets the eye."

"So, now you have even started stealing from my late friend." Fi shook her head with a sigh. "Such a wrong, cruel, and evil thing to do, right Kesshō?" She inquired, receiving a nod from Kesshō. "Now she wants to punch you." Fi chuckled as she leaned towards Kurai with Kesshō.

"Anytime, it won't even hurt," Kurai shrugged.

"Anyways, what do you think these are for?" Fi inquired with a disappointed sigh.

"Two are enough to figure out what the others would refer to." Kurai informed as he placed the card in his hand back on the table.

"Empress and Shadow, quite the coincidence, if it even is one to begin with." Fi sighed as she begun placing the pieces together. Kesshō also intently stared at the cards, more so at the characters written on each.

"I can guess who is referred to by Duke," Kurai sighed. "There are still twenty three others, and all I have to figure them out is a letter."

"A letter?" Fi inquired as she tilted her head, Kesshō doing the same.

Kurai flipped the two cards around, the Empress and Shadow cards, each possessing a golden letter marked twice, at opposite corners, the rest of it being completely black. "Each one has a letter, the twenty six letters of the common language to be precise, but their Runic equivalents are used, simplified Runic I mean."

"The simplified version is far lesser than the original," Fi shrugged.

"It is simplified because only the True Gods could read or use the original," Kurai pointed out. "Regardless, that is not the point here. Seeing the three cards I have figured out refers to one thing, the letters are the first letter of their name."

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"Kesshō, Sapphire, and the last one which you think would be Crystal," Fi mumbled to herself, Kesshō's ears slightly moving as she intently listened to the conversation. "It does add up till then, but I highly doubt that could be it. The first letter of their names doesn't feel right for some reason."

"Well, it is not technically," Kurai shrugged. "It refers to their core as far as I can guess, if all of these actually are Krystallites that is. Sapphire luckily has the same name as the crystal her core resembles, and Crystal's core resembles a light Crimsonite, the rarest variety of it of Crimsonite. Kesshō's core does not resemble any known crystal, and so she has the first letter of the Runic word for crystal, or rather her name is the Runic word for crystal."

"Quite the coincidence." Fi nodded, Kesshō following her action. "I am very much certain she understood absolutely nothing from it, but I got as much as I needed from that." She sighed, looking at Kesshō. "What do you think are the others?" She inquired.

"I can try to guess, but there is no guarantee how accurate any guess I can make would be for now," Kurai shrugged.

"Well, I guess we will find out eventually," Fi sighed. "Also, why are you so certain it is Sapphire? Sapphires are quite a common type of crystal."

"If my guess is correct, based on her abilities, then her core resembles the Midnight Sapphire specifically, which is an extremely rare crystal," Kurai pointed out. "I could still be wrong, it just seems very unlikely anyone else has the same title and letter."

"Well, we will find out eventually, there is no shortage of time," Fi shrugged.

"For a phoenix, certainly not, for a human like me, my life is not long enough to waste it away," Kurai scoffed.

"So, have you came up with a plan for the war?" Fi questioned.

"Yes, I have one, and for that I need Kesshō to do something first," Kurai smiled as he turned to the two. Kesshō tilted her head at him, not knowing what but prepared to help regardless. "You have the right to make any one change to the rules of the war as the one who caused it, and so I want you to do just that."

"The rules are made quite well, though there are quite a few changes done by The Creator to minimize damage and casualties," Fi informed.

"That is exactly what I want her to change," Kurai shrugged. "As things stand, there will be many participating for the sake of comparing themselves against others, knowing there is no risk to their life. Once that risk of death restored, many of them will most likely withdraw."

"Is that really necessary?" Fi questioned as she hugged Kesshō tightly.

"All who are participating will be informed of this change, there is still a week till the war starts, they can easily withdraw and retreat. If they choose not to, then it will be entirely their fault. The war chooses ten thousand participants, we are only thinning the numbers before it starts." Kurai shrugged as he crouched down in front of Fi, looking at Kesshō who stared back at him. "Fi, do you want to tell her about the war or should I?"

Fi sighed as she rested her head on Kesshō's. "Each participant chosen has a purpose in the war. There are around a thousand which are chosen to learn about the cruelty of the world. Around five hundred chosen only for their power, to tell them how insignificant they are to the ones at the top and crush their pride. Around eight thousand are chosen to simply be killed in the war. These eight hundred are those who deserve death, and the war serves as a way to grant it to them. The rest are chosen simply to fill the numbers. The changes made by The Creator in the last war eliminated one of the major purposes of the war."

"Rest assured, what you do here isn't wrong." Kurai smiled reassuringly at Kesshō as he patted her head. "It will only be for the better of all who live."

Kesshō nodded as she stood up, taking a few steps away from the two and closing her eyes as she stabilized her breathing. "Using the authority granted to me, I change a rule of this great war. No participants will be revived once the war ends, all who bear the sigil of war will suffer the same fate. Their armies and all others killed by the participants will be revived regardless of how they die during the war." Kesshō coughed lightly as she finished speaking.

Fi walked over to her and pulled her in an embrace as she crouched down. "Don't strain your throat too much." Fi patted her back, an orange glow emitting from her hands.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised Phoenixes have their own healing arts," Kurai mumbled.

"I don't think she changed the rule quite to your wish." Fi sighed as she turned back to him.

"Its fine, I know her well enough to have expected this." Kurai shrugged as he picked the two sets of cards from the table. "Before we continue, Fi, do you know about Cursed weapons?" He questioned, his voice returning to a serious tone.

"Yes, I am aware of them." Fi replied with a nod as she stood back up, lifting Kesshō in her arms.

"Do you know how to heal a wound from a cursed weapon?" Kurai inquired as he glanced at her, a sliver of hope in his eyes.

"I know the way, but it is not something that is possible." Fi sighed, sitting back in the seat, still holding Kesshō in her arms.

"What is it?" Kurai questioned.

"Only someone capable of manipulating Curse energy can heal a wound from a Cursed weapon," Fi sighed. "Curse energy is decaying, nothing alive that comes into contact with it survives. Cursed weapons only bear very little amount of it, left behind by the souls of those killed by them or those who wielded them. Due to the nature of Curse energy, there is nothing capable of manipulating it, not even for a moment. Only the branches of Chaos energy can be used by any living being."

"Not even someone capable of manipulating Chaos energy directly can manipulate it?" Kurai questioned.

"No, it would be twice as decaying for someone capable of manipulating Chaos energy directly." Fi shook her head with a sigh. "Why did you want to know?" She inquired.

"Nothing, simply trying to expand my knowledge," Kurai shrugged. "Wounds left by cursed tools never heal, not even for Krystallites. Even if it's just a stab wound on their palm, it would never heal. They can cut off their entire arm and regenerate it, but the wound would still be there. I simply wished to learn how to counter them as someone might think of using those in this war."

"There is no need to worry about that, using a cursed weapon is against the rules of the war. Using them would draw the attention of beings known as 'The Executioners'. They are powerful beyond comparison to any other being that currently exists, existed many years ago I mean." Fi explained with a sigh, directing a glance at Kesshō.

"I have heard of them," Kurai replied, "we can only hope others have too."

"What next? I suppose you have planned everything already." Fi questioned, playing with Kesshō's hair.

"I have, and for this also I will need to trouble Kesshō." Kurai sighed as he crouched down in front of her. "Can you copy these teleportation scrolls for me?" He questioned, retrieving a scroll of paper from his coat. Kesshō nodded as she took the scroll from his hand, turning it around and inspecting it carefully.

"She is so talented." Fi giggled as she patted Kesshō's head.

"Copying scrolls can be done by anybody who possesses mana. Granted it is quite impressive for someone who can't control mana." Kurai sighed as he got back up and opened a portal in front of Kesshō. "Feel free to throw them in when you are ready."

Kesshō nodded to him, her jaws moving ever so slightly as she looked into the portal. Fi gently grabbed and raised both of Kesshō's arms in the air, neither holding anything. Both Fi and Kurai smiled nervously at each other, knowing very well where the scroll went. One of Kesshō's tails swung itself towards the portal, tossing a scroll inside of it.

"Good, send one to each participant of the war. Fi, help her with that till I return." Kurai waved his hand as he walked away.

"Where do you think you are going?" Fi questioned.

"I have some other preparations to do, I will return soon. Don't send one to Sapphire or Crystal till I return." He called back before opening a portal and walking through it.

"Guess I am also stuck here till then." Fi sighed as Kesshō's tails tossed another scroll inside a portal, leading to a different place than the last one.