Remember Lily Moonshine, these gauntlets have chosen you worthy enough to be the next wielder. Do not make the mistake that they will stay by you should you choose to neglect them. Care for them like they’re your own child, nurture them like you treat your plants, and most importantly, never doubt it’s capabilities. Do so, and you shall never regret having them in your life.

  Those were the words that Peter warned me when he gifted me these gauntlets. I don’t know what these gauntlets had seen in me, but I have no reason to doubt them nor let them down. I need them should I wish to stand a chance at beating Rose. You will lend me your powers, right? Please do, as you always have.

  I placed my gauntlets together, forming an X, and started charging them up. They started glowing in light blue, brightly as they responded to my request. While my gauntlets utilise lightning, it is completely opposite to what Zen uses. His ones favour destruction with white lightning, while mine, uses blue lightning. I never knew there were different types of lightning until now.

  I raised my right arm, and a huge blue lightning struck the gauntlet, engulfing my whole body with it. But instead of dissipating, the lightning stayed where it struck, as though it was frozen in time. A couple of moments later, the frozen lightning started cracking and shattered into pieces, revealing my frozen lightning armour and gauntlets. I was unable to learn Rend, or more accurately, I was not chosen by any spectral armour from the other realms. I was extremely disappointed, as it took me years to learn it, only to find out that no armour was willing to choose me. What a slap in the face.

  But now, all thanks to the frost lightning dragon that lay dormant inside these gauntlets that I’m wielding, I can finally be stronger, hopefully to at least be on par with the three of them. Sadly, I had not been able to communicate with it, unlike Zen, who could communicate with Kirin or Byakko. But to be chosen by it is more than enough to make me happy. Perhaps in the future, it might open up to me.

  Rose's eyes were wide open as she saw me emerge from the shattered frozen lightning with a completely different form. I’m certain that she had never seen such a thing before and is curious to know what my new powers were. It’s too bad that Zen was knocked out of the arena before he got the chance to face me in this form. I was certain that I could beat him. Oh well, no point crying over spilled milk. I’ve beaten him fair and square. It’s his fault for not taking me seriously. Alright, Concentration activated with frozen lightning armour cast, all is set.

  Rose placed her rapier in front of her and started chanting. The speed of her chanting, along with dual casting, is ridiculous; she can even cast both Sacred Wings and Grand Blessings in a matter of seconds. I wonder if she still faces backlash of using Grand Blessings? Only one way to find out. A prodigy versus a common elf, who’s going to come out on top, I wonder?

  Semi-transparent golden wings with chest armour, pauldrons, gauntlets, and greaves. It’s no wonder people started worshipping her when she literally looked like an angel. I swear there are people who are crying or praying to her within the crowds upon seeing this form of hers.

  None of us went on the offensive, probably wary of one another when we were using such strong forms. I guess we will be here all day if neither of us starts attacking. Seeing that Rose was on the defensive, I decided to take the first strike. I leaped and delivered a downward kick towards her. She dodged, and a crater erupted where she stood as my kick touched the arena floor. Now, where did she go? There!

  I charged after her and activated Time Freeze. It doesn’t matter how fast you are. When I activate Time Freeze, everyone stops moving except me. The sad thing is that it only lasts for about 3 seconds.

  “Boo!” I appeared in front of her, and she instinctively flew backwards, but I was not about to let her escape. Having charged up my gauntlets, I delivered a heavy punch towards her, aiming for the rapier that she was using to block. There’s no way I’m aiming for any parts of her body, as I might accidentally destroy her bones or, even worse, her organs.

  I sent her flying and was hoping she flew out of the arena zone. I only have the element of surprise once before she figures out what my powers are. But it’s a stretch to eliminate Rose this easily when she can literally fly. She regained her balance and landed back on the arena zone while squinting at me.

  “Hmm… that new power of yours. For you to be able to appear so instantaneously in front of me, it is either teleportation or messing with time. No matter, I’ll figure it out eventually,” she smirked.

  Scary! For her to be able to guess the possibilities of my power after only seeing it just once. This is why it’s hard to beat her. That brain of hers is always thinking of possibilities beyond what any normal person can comprehend, and she uses them to counter you. Fair to say, she’s called a prodigy for a reason. But it’s because of that brain of hers that she couldn't use any State of Mind in the first place.

  But I have another trick up my sleeve; she probably would have started noticing that her right hand is getting numb after blocking my attack. Any attack from my gauntlets will inflict cold damage on them, with stronger effects if it makes direct contact. And there’s something else that is going to make her feel even colder.

  Right about now, she should be feeling the surrounding temperatures dropping. It won’t be long until the cold affects her movements drastically. Seeing that she was breathing cold vapours when she exhaled, she immediately cast Mind Fortification on herself. But that’s not going to work. This is no illusion; it’s real. I am reducing the temperatures within the arena zone to slow down her movements. It wasn’t easy to control the size of the affected area and the targets within it. I daresay my daily training is to control these powers so it won’t affect allies when I fight alongside them.

  Rose glanced upwards and noticed a dome-like shape covering the arena zone. She must have figured out that my powers are related to frost by now and should be thinking of ways to counter it. I readied myself to see what her next move was, but… huh? What’s she doing? Did she just close her eyes and start thinking? She even placed her hand on her chin, mimicking a behaviour commonly associated with Zen. Are you— mocking me?

  There’s a limit to how much you can insult me, even if you’re like a sister. I will not allow you to just stand there and do nothing. I charged towards her, ready to deliver a punch. She knows how deadly my punches are, so you only have yourself to blame for taking me this lightly. Upon close contact, I delivered my punch, but it was nullified by both of her wings, which she used to block with.

  She flung her wings forward, which shoved me backwards and immediately leapt into the air. She dived towards me with her rapier, still with a blunt rod as the blade portion. She struck out, aiming for my chest area, but I blocked it with my gauntlets in time. It is going to take more than that, Rose. In quick succession, she twisted her rapier, which caused it to extend, pushing me backwards with speed.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The strength of the sudden extension was no joke; it felt like the force of a dragon pushing against me with force. I pushed her rod aside, and only to realise that I was almost at the end of the arena zone. I looked ahead and saw that she was flying towards me with a dropkick. Unarmed combat was never Rose’s specialty, despite Peter’s teaching. I’m genuinely surprised she would be doing this in the first place. Is it a desperate move to kick me out of the arena zone, or there’s something else?

  I narrowly dodged it out of the way and thought of delivering a shockwave punch to throw her flight off course. But— Huh? What's going on? I can’t move my arms. What is this? My arms were wrapped with a sort of metallic rope. It would appear that Rose had changed her rapier into what looked like a whip and had successfully wrapped me with it. Damn it, her dropkick was a distraction!

  She yanked her whip, but I stood firm, resisting her pull to drag me off the arena zone. But I could see that I was losing balance as there were only a couple of centimetres left for me to hang on to before I fell out of the zone. She gripped her rapier two-handed, and I knew I was toast. With a strong pull, she yanked me out of the arena zone, and I fell to the dirt on my back. I… lost. Damn it! I fell right into her trap! How foolish of me. Argh!

  “Phew! Just in time,” said Rose as she landed back in the arena zone.

  Her Sacred Wings dissipated soon after. She knew full well that her only chance at beating me was to use her mobility with Sacred Wings. With my Freezing Aura, her legs would have started slowing down despite her speed buffs but not her wings. She figured it out so quickly and I fell for it. Sigh.

  Here I am, down in the dirt. So this is what Zen felt like when I beat him. It’s been so long since I’ve lost. I’ve been the undefeated champion for four years now, and here comes the prodigy to drag me out of my winning streak. How does Zen even live with such a powerful woman and not feel inferior to her? Not only did she marry the love of my life, I couldn’t even best her in a one-on-one combat. What else do I have left to live for?

  She leapt down from the arena and extended her hand with a smile. She said, “Let’s go,” despite Oliver still delivering his speech. Does Rose not know that she has a medal to receive? I mustered up a smile when she pulled me up and started dragging me towards the exit.

  ***

  Rose won. Was there ever any doubt? She had always been powerful, but training with Peter had brought her power levels to a whole other level with all those advanced spells. But I’m certainly curious about Lily’s newfound powers. Frost abilities that can temper with time and speed. How would I have fared if I fought her? I got no fire spells that can thaw her spells, and speed is my forte. Would Bloodlust have helped in keeping my body warm enough to fight through the cold?

  I headed down to wait for Rose at the entrance along with Daisy. Hold up… is Rose planning to ignore the announcer? Why’s she coming towards the exit when she is supposed to be receiving the trophy before that? What’s going on?

  “So, how are things going?” asked Lily.

  “O, same ol same ol. He still likes it when you spit on that thang,” replied Rose casually.

  Lily’s eyes widened immediately, and I rushed to cover Daisy’s ears. What the hell?! Why is my wife so unhinged ever since we slept together? Does she have no shame that she just blatantly tells everyone about the things we do alone?

  “Rose! What the hell?! Do you announce to everyone the things we do in private?!” I shouted at her.

  “Oh, you’re here. Onii-chan, do you mind receiving my trophy for me? I want to have some girl talk with Lily. It’s been so long,” she pleaded.

  “Fine. But after this, I want us to have a meal together with Lily. Persuade her of that, and we have a deal,” I said.

  “Sure thing. See you later, Onii-chan~” she waved.

  Sometimes I really wonder, if I hadn’t come along, would Rose and Lily have ended up together? I do suspect that Rose might be bisexual, but her brotherly love for me is stronger. Hang on… is she— wanting me to marry Lily part of her plan to have a threesome?! Is she going to abandon me and Daisy in the future for Lily?! I don’t want to end up as Ross Geller!

  Sigh, I won’t know what the future holds, but for now, let’s collect her trophy. The announcer seems to be waving at me to come over to collect it, as he had no idea what to do if no one came forward. I carried Daisy and headed into the arena to fulfil my wife’s request.

  ***

  "How was your first time receiving a trophy in front of a crowd?" I asked Daisy.

  "It was fun and exciting! That man was so kind. I wondered how he knew my name though," she placed her hand on her chin.

  She really is my daughter, following my exact behaviour whenever I felt that something was wrong. I thought she would follow after Rose instead of me. Who knew my genes were stronger? Heh heh.

  I brought Daisy on a sightseeing tour around the Colosseum as Rose and Lily were busy chatting away at some restaurant that they found. I wondered what they had to talk about. I mean, it's only been five years apart since the last time they met.

  Oh well, they will have to find us once they are done chatting. Time to bring Daisy for a walk.

  "What do you think of Miss Lily, Daisy? Do you like having her around?" I asked her as she sat on my shoulders.

  "Hmm… she's nice. But I don't really like her so much," she said bluntly.

  "Why do you say that? Did she offended you or something?" I asked her in confusion.

  "No, she didn't do anything wrong. I just get the feeling that she— likes you, Daddy. I don't want you to leave Mum," she pouted.

  "I won't leave your mum. She’ll kill me before I even make the thought. You know how scary your mum can be when she's angry," I assured her.

  "Why do you ask, Daddy? Are you planning to marry Aunt Lily?" she asked with a curious look.

  "Aunt? What makes you call her that? And what makes you think that I'm gonna marry her?" I frowned.

  “Mummy told me to call her that. She’s her sister, and I should call her aunt. And also, if Daddy chooses to marry her, I should not be sad but be happy instead that I'll be having two mothers to care for me," she replied with a sad tone.

  "W… what?! Rose told you that?! When? Oh gosh, how do you even feel when you heard that? You must have been so distraught," I carried her down to hug her.

  "It's okay, Daddy. You've already given off the vibes that you will eventually marry Aunt Lily in the future. I remembered your story and how she treated you. It's a wonder that you chose Rose over Lily in the first place. I'm intrigued to see how your future goes," she chuckled.

  I was stumped. Why did Daisy's tone and choice of words change so drastically all of a sudden? What’s going on?

  I pulled Daisy away. Who... who the hell is this? What happened to Daisy?

  "Geez, Mister Zen. You really have to stop thinking about me," smirked Moi.

  ***

  "GAH!" I lifted my head as I woke from my slumber.

  W… when did I fall asleep? I glanced around and it would appear that Daisy was trying to wake me up. She looked surprised when I woke up all of a sudden. Gosh, these micro-sleeps happen so quickly that I didn't even notice I fell in one.

  As I tried to recall what happened, memories of what occurred after the ceremony came flooding back. We sat down for some snacks when Daisy said she was tired from all the walking. How long had I even been out? I didn’t even notice that I was thistired.

  "How long was I asleep, Daisy?" I asked her.

  "Hm… just a couple of seconds. I thought of letting you nap, but Mommy is coming over now," she said.

  And true enough, I saw Rose and Lily walking closer to where we are. Daisy stood up and ran towards her. I followed suit and started rubbing my forehead. Why do I keep dreaming about Moi? This is the second time that I've dreamed about her out of nowhere. And I’m certain she’s trying to communicate with me through my dreams. But why? I just don't understand it.

  "What's wrong? Are you alright?" asked Lily when she saw my groggy face.

  “Yeah, I'm fine. I didn’t even realise I fell asleep while waiting for you two," I made a dry chuckle.

  "You two must be exhausted to fall asleep so quickly," Lily made an awkward smile.

  "Huh? Us two?" I shot her a confused look.

  “Yeah. Rose took a short nap when I went to the washroom. I had to shake her up when she started drooling. She said she hadn’t even realise that she had fallen asleep," she chuckled.

  That can't be right. I need to talk with Rose later about this. Is Moi's power affecting us, causing us to sleep randomly? Or is it because of Baku? We never had this problem before meeting Moi, and I doubt this is due to illusions or nightmares. I gripped my hands together as I followed after Lily and the others. I can't shake off the feeling that something bad might be happening.

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