CHAPTER 19, AWAKENING AND THE DUKE'S DAUGHTER

Taurus challenged me to a match before deciding whether he would accept me as a his master or not. The memories that will come from Taurus... I'm scared of making more Zodiac Familairs... I'm scared of changing into someone I'm not.

As the two of us moved to an open plain he brought out a hammer, it's big and could probably do some real damage to me if I let it land a hit. I better maintain my distance, I need to keep a close eye in him too. As I carefully watch his movements he comes charging swinging his giant hammer. I dodge it but he lands a kick on my chest, I'm sent flying with a bang! I try to maintain my balance as I got up from the ground. As I was able to finally stand up I brought out my whip and sent the tip towards him, it wraps around his hammer and I pull it to the side but he uses the whip to pull me closer and lands another punch on my stomach. "Kiddo, what're ya doing, is this how strong yer resolve is?" He asks me. My resolve?

"I... I can still fight!" I say standing up, I don't care what happens to me but as long as my friends are happy I'll be happy. That's what I always thought, but... I turn my head towards Aria and Yue who are cheering me on with tears in their eyes. I have people who are waiting for me to return so... "I refuse to lose!"

"Well said!" He says and rushes to me with his hammer. "Is this all ya can offer? Who are ya and what can ya do?"

"I... I'm Haru Morganite Tsuki and I... I'm the last Hero and successor to my family line!" I say as my body was suddenly engulfed by a blue light.

"So you finally realized." He says with a grin.

My appearance... it's changed!? My hair it's grown longer and it's a deeper shape of blue, I wonder why but I feel my magical power has risen as well. Is this... Awakening of the Royal Blood that Leo mentioned. When I know who I am and what I want my Royal Blood would awaken. "Here I come again!" He shouts charging at me.

"I successor to the Hero Line now bid thee to let thy true power shine, Apus." I say and from behind me a bird wrapped in a deep blue hue, with feathers like that of a rainbow fly towards Taurus.

As Taurus is engulfed by the deep blue hue, he is then sent flying by the strong winds released by Apus' wings and he let's go of his hammer. He tries to get up but I won't let him. "Caelum, Third Form, Assault." I say and multiple spears appear by my side, they fly towards Taurus an she falls to the ground unconscious. The two return to my body and I stand as the winner.

"Haru!" Aria shouts running to me and clinging to my neck, Yue has taken my hand. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" I ask her. "Ah, but besides my hair has anything else changed?"

"Yes, your eyes, they've turned a bright sky blue hue, you've also got higher magical power now." Aria says as she hugs me tightly.

"That hurt, but it seems ya finally awakened the Royal Blood." Taurus says standing up. "Well then, little misses, if you'll excuse me." He grabs my face and gives me a kiss, unlike the others he moved his tongue into my mouth. "Treat me well, Haru."

"Same here." He says and disappears, the Medium is a small hammer, with a bull head fashioned on it, it's a necklace in a way of looking at it. "Where to go next?"

"Ehh! Even though your so badly injured!?" Aria asks me, just then she notices my wounds have healed. "How!?"

"It's a magic owned by the Royal Blood, we have high regeneration abilities." I tell her as the knowledge of the Royal Blood filled my head. "On that note, it seems I've partially become inhuman, well not completely but it seems I won't have to worry about bleeding to death anymore."

"Well since you said so, we'll proceed to our next target." Master says and we all get into the carriage after our meal and depart.

As I rested in the carriage with everyone I leaned my head on Yue's shoulder she had a bit of a bish by she didn't mind. I then realized my hair was getting a little too bothersome so I looked inside my backpack for anything thy could tie it and I relaxed something, even my bangs have gotten longer, this is ready bothersome. As I searched around in my pack I felt someone pulling on my hair and I say Aria, she pulled my head to her direction and tied my hair into one bundle, the tie is near the shoulder so I easily reach ut if I wanted to remove it, I thank her and she smiles.. She then hands me a mirror, I think it suits me a but... I might have to get a haircut after all, its seems bothersome to have such long hair. Later I'll ask someone to cut it for me.

That night, I writhed in agony as the memories filled my head... my destiny... who am I. Can I still call myself Haru Morganite Tsuki anymore? These memories that seem like they are of a different person.

As the days passed by we reached the Vice Capital and Master had booked an inn for our guild. As I looked around the town I tried to check if there were any spirits around and to my surprise, three, two are higher ranked and one is a lower. I tell Master I'll be going out for a walk but in reality I'll be off to look for the spirits, they're in a shop at the moment. When I entered the shop, I stumbled upon a girl wearing a gothic lolita outfit and a two boys, wearing similar outfits, shorts with black vest and white dress shirt. They have black hair and blue colored eyes with white skin. The woman had silver hair that were tied in two separate braids down her back. Virgo and Gemini I guess. "Hello." I greet the three who were talking.

"Hello, we've been waiting for you." The girl says. "Well now that you're here, I'm Virgo and these two are Gemini, we ran into each other a while back and stayed together for our own safety."

"Hey, come closer." One of the boys say, I lean down and he kisses me, after that his twin does the same and Virgo follows after them. "We don't need to test you or anything, you only need a few more to complete the twelve after all. Virgo will take you to Leon."

"This way." Virgo says as she leaves the shop and the two twins disappear, what they left behind was a brooch with the Gemini sign on them. "Leon is the Chameleon, Chamaeleon. He goes by the name Leon."

Leading me down the streets to a small shop where a man was looking at clothes Virgo stopped at last. The man was wearing a deep green coat, with a popped collar, a black shirt protruding from inside the coat, with black jeans and boots the man had deep green hair that was tied behind his head and was wearing blue tinted glasses, he brown skin and as he turned our way he had a simple smile on his face. "I didn't expect to meet him so soon Virgo-chan, you're Haru-kun right? My name is Chamaeleon, the Chameleon, I have a habit of enjoying clothes, nice to meet you, you can just call me Leon." He says and grabs my face and takes a kiss.

"One more thing, if I'm going to be serving you, I want you to wear this." He says and hands me a coat, it feels warm and it has a good with the area near the end of the hood made of a furry substance, it has a few pockets and it seems nice, it's a shade of blue. A woman who works here points me to the dressing room and I change into it, it fits perfectly. "I work at this shop, when I felt that the time was right I passed a resignation letter. I made that coat for my new master, a coat that carries the chameleon's ability to hide in plain sight, it also hides your presence and thoughts from those who have the ability to read minds."

"Why did you resign?" I asked him surprised.

"I made a vow that day, this time I would ensure that my master would be protected." He said after I had emerged from the changing room. "But still, no matter what, you and him seem to have the same mindset and that would be [It doesn't matter what happens to me as long as the people I love are safe]. That's what you think right? Oh, it looks nice on you. Here let me fix your muffler."

"Ett~o, how can you tell?" I ask him who's giving his face a high five, after that he fixes my muffler so that it is properly worn with the hood. "And thanks."

"You can't think like that, you need to think about what the people around you and the ones you'll leave behind will feel and think." He says as we exited the shop. "You have people dear to you, people who want to be with you, no matter what remember what I'm going to tell you okay? There's always a way, happiness obtained from someone's sacrifice will always leave a pain in the hearts of those he's left behind."

"Okay." I say and he taps on my head and disappears leaving behind a chameleon shaped necklace. Virgo leaves me her Medium a ring with the Virgo sign on it.

I walk back to the inn where the others are and I feel really warm in this coat, it seems like it was made specifically for me. Oh wait, he said he did make it for his new master... so I guess in a way it was made for me. Walking down the street I noticed something white fall on my nose, I looked up and saw it was snowflakes. Winter has arrived huh, I guess it's going to get colder soon. As I passed by the crowded streets I bumped into a woman and apologized. I helped her up and asked if she was hurt. She had silver hair tied in a single braid down her shoulder, she was wearing with a golden dress with lots of frills and a ribbing on the waist area. "I'm fine, I'm very sorry to have bumped into you ~ja." She says.

"Ah, it's fine and I'm the one who's sorry for bumping into you." I tell her and bow my head.

"Oh my, the Aerial Isles' traditional way of apologizing, no you don't need to ~no ja." She says and I'm surprised she knew.

"My name is Haru Morganite Tsuki, um... how do you know about the Aerial Isles?" I asked her.

"Follow me ~ja." She says and she and I went to a park. "My name is Stella Westeria Von Crystal ~no ja."

"T-the Duke's Daughter!?" I exclaim. "An~o, Stella-sama, with all due respect why is the Duke's daughter walking around in town?"

"I was trying to relax, the Royal Castle isn't exactly calming ~no ja." She answers.

"That being said, a lady with your social standing shouldn't be walking around in broad daylight." I tell her. "It may cause issues for your family."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me ~no ja." She says with a smile. "I just so happen to be a capable magician ~no ja."

"Eeh?! Really?!" I asked with a surprised expression. "I never thought nobility would practice magic."

"It's a safety issue ~no ja." She tells me. "But even so, I must be going back ~no ja."

"Ah, yes, take care." I say and bow my head.

"Thank you for keeping me company ~no ja." She says and stands up, she then smiles a bit. "If you are ever near here, come by and see me ~no ja."

"Then good bye." I say. "If you need help, I'm with the Azure Gem guild and we'll be in town for a day or two."

I waved her farewell and I head back to the inn. There Yue and Aria were looking at me with flightless eyes and scary glares. Yikes! What's with the two?! I better be careful, I'm walking on thin ice right now. "An~o, Yue-san, Aria-san, is something wrong?" I ask them with a trembling voice.

"Haru-san, where have you been?" Aria asks with a cold glare that makes my legs tremble.

"Ett~o, an~o, I met four spirits." I say after clearing my throat countless times.

"Is that so?" Yue asks.

"Y-yes!" I answer her.

"Then, why do you smell like another woman?" Aria asks, for some reason I can hear muffled laughter from inside the inn.

"Ah, well I met Virgo! That's right, I met Virgo." I say, I doubt it'll be safe to tell them about the Duke's daughter.

"Really?" They ask, scary! No choice, I'll use that!

"Do you not have any faith in your lover?" I ask then with a sad expression and they're gaze softens. "Am I really that untrustworthy? Then maybe we should break up?"

"N-no!" They say in unison and grab my arm.

"We believe you!" Aria says with a desperate expression, I guess I did go overboard with the break up.

"Okay. Un. Calm down." I say and comfort the two. "I didn't mean it okay? I love the two of you, I don't plan on handing you over to someone else when I can still have you."

"H-Haru..." Aria says and I wipe her tears.

"Alright, sorry for teasing you girls." I say and pat their heads. "Let's go inside."

I spent that whole night trying to comfort my two fiancees who were still crying even after I talked to them. I better seal away the power of breaking up for good, I feel desperate the moment I see the two in tears. They still haven't stopped sobbing and I can hear the others still laughing at me who was desperate to stop their tears. I take a deep breathe and steal a kiss from both their lips. "Calm down please, when I see the two of you in tears I feel like my world is about to shatter... please... can you stop crying?" I ask them... my face feels hot for some reason.

"O-okay..." the two answer as tears stop dripping.

After that I took a bath and I could've sworn I felt a spirit's presence. I better be careful for now, that didn't feel like a greater spirit but it felt powerful. I went up to my room that night and prepared myself, the painful memories that filled my head were even more painful tonight. Times soent with dad and mom, days of happiness with grandpa and grandma were overwritten by memories of dark times, in painful training and painful other things.

The next day I was woken up rather early by Storm, he was saying something about a person wanting to see me so I got up. As we descended the stairs a familiar figure was seen. That's Stella West Von Crystal! I rushed down immediately and when she saw me she immediately ran towards me and threw her arms around me much to Aria and Yue's dismay. "Haru-san, I need your help..." Stella said with tears.