[IC] To take down the tower. (Sanquin / BeautifulSnow)

[sanquin]

Excel took a deep breath. For years he had been trained by a madman named Nova. Or at least that was what he called himself. He apparently used to be a big shot in the tower, causing a lot of chaos as he climbed to the top. People whom decided to go against the rules. To fight the system and try to overthrow it. They were called slayers. And now, Excel would be one himself as well. This system had taken away his two best friends. Not only that, but apparently his family used to be rather high up the tower. But because of corruption from the noble families they were thrown into the bottom three levels. He barely remembered them, as he was only 3 years old when they died. But still...this tower had taken everything away from him. Which was why Nova offered to train him so he could fight against it with his own power.

The first test had been explained only moments ago. There would be a total of 20 participating. There was only one rule really. Only four had to remain standing, and there was no time limit. Those four that would still be standing would be allowed to floor 2. This was only the first test, so it was probably an easy one with many weaklings that came here because of their greed. And now everyone was waiting in separate rooms. Once the door opened they would enter and by a method of their choosing would have to reduce the numbers to only 4. That didn't mean you had to kill the others. Just knocking them out worked too. But Excel wouldn't be surprised if there was at least one killer among them. Probably several. Those people he had no problem killing as well. The others though...if they didn't try to kill him he would only knock them out.

An announcer sounded through a speaker above the door. "5 seconds until the start of the test. All participants get ready."

[BeautifulSnow]

It has been a long time since she had even been close to the tower. But now Celestia was waiting for the doors to open so she could get her way trough the first test and remain as one of the four still standing to get to floor two. She had trained with a different name for a long time, since her noble family had been searching for her after her run of. She had enough of being the 'weak' one. She would show that she wasn't weak, and if it could be without killing, she would even like that more. Looking at the handle of the sword she once got from her older brother made her smile and frown at the same time.

''5 second until the start of the test. All participants get ready.'' She heard and so she sighed. Okay, this was just test one, she had to get trough it. She didn't activate her sword, because she wasn't gonna use magic right away. She had to find out who would be able to trust and who not. Probably there was no body that she could trust. As long as they didn't get totally in her way when they got to the second floor. Then the door opened and she walked outside, she saw that a few had attacked each other already. She grinned some and when she saw a boy with brown hair running to her, she used the handle to block him and knock him to the floor. He was just stronger than she had thought and got up, attacking her with a fire orb. She jumped away just in time and slide over the ground and got him falling on his face, being knocked out.

She had not much time to look around because the next once came at her after that. She used hand on hand combat and the handle of her sword to get rid of them. She just hoped she would not get forced to use her sword yet.

[sanquin]

The countdown ended, and the doors opened. The 'arena' was made of a grassy field with some hills, and a tree or two standing here and there. In total about 200 meters across. But Excel hardly had any time to look at the scenery, as already people started to attack each other. No one came after him yet. That was fine with him. He didn't want to accidentally kill one of them. As in reality most of them were weaklings. Unable to go any higher than maybe the 5th floor. The man calmly walked towards a tree close to the middle of the field, staying out of sight as best as he could. Then he just sat down against it, as if he was taking a rest after an afternoon stroll.

A few seconds after that someone came crashing through a few bushes. It was a woman, just a bit older than him. A shield in one hand and a spear in the other. "I already thought I saw someone sneaking this way~ And look at what a cute boy you are, hm? Too bad I'll have to kill you." Excel sighed, slowly getting up and looking at the woman. "I'll give you one warning. Go fight someone else, as if you fight me you have a high chance of dying." He spoke, glaring coldly at her. The woman flinched for a moment, getting the feeling that she was in serious danger right now. But she quickly shook that thought off. After all, this guy looked like he would be more at home as a farm boy than a fighter.

The woman charged at Excel, screaming loudly and with her spear aimed right at the man. However Excel quickly grabbed his own weapon. A longsword made out of high-grade carbon alloy, normally only affordable by nobles. He pushed the spear to the side at the last second, turning around and slashing her across the back. Excel didn't care whether she would survive or not. If you came at someone with killing intent you shouldn't complain if you died instead. After that Excel walked off again, there was no hiding place in this arena where he could quietly wait the first test out. So he might as well keep on the move.

[BeautifulSnow]

Celestia had seen what happened between the man, a few years older than her and the other young woman. He would survive this, no doubt. She exactly knew that she would stay out of his way, for now at least. She blocked the kick of someone and pushed him away. Damn, when would there been sixteen down? She looked around and with a fast count, she counted six people on the ground. ''Ten to go'' she whispered and with that she felt a hand on her shoulder, which pushed her down to the ground. A man probably twenty years old, had placed her on the ground and held a knife pointed to her face. ''Your gonna die, little dreamer'' he said with a grin. Celestia closed her eyes and sighed. ''Do you think so?'' She asked. ''Well, I do not see why not'' he said and she felt the point now on her cheek.

''You waited to long'' Celestia said and the free arm she had with the handle of the sword pointed to his belly. ''Lightning Breath'' she said and her sword got activated. A yellow electric sword formed inside the handle and cut trough the belly of the man. Celestia felt his knife over her cheek when he grabbed his belly and stepped back. That could become a scar. She stood up and kicked him away, on the ground. ''Just stay... You will probably die anyway'' she said and walked off. Seven down, Nine to go.

[sanquin]

Excel was walking towards the area where the woman was fighting. She was doing pretty well for herself it seemed, having taken down two already. And then a third came. What happened next was a surprise though. Lightning...that was definitely magic. Someone that could become a problem later on. And his master had taught him that potential future threats were better taken care of early on before they could grow stronger.

He frowned a little bit, drew his sword and dashed towards her with blinding speed. Also a magic spell, where he let dark blue magic energy flow beneath his feet to increase his running speed. However he wasn't one for surprise attacks. So he stopped just as he came into view of her. "You look like you're pretty strong." He spoke calmly. "I'd rather not have to fight you later on, so..." He pointed his sword at her, his eyes still cold as ever. "I suggest you don't hold back, as I'd like this to be challenging." The blue energy beneath his feet, and now appeared in his left hand and around his sword. He actually wasn't a talented swordfighter. Heck he was even pretty terrible at most kinds of magic. His talent lied in using natural energy magic. But he used a sword either way as it would minimize the amount of deaths he caused while he climbed through the first 10 to 15 levels. Plus it was wise to have several options when fighting.

(Ik dacht, ze moeten eerst maar is met elkaar vechten. Al zal het gevecht eindigen voordat een van de twee verslagen is.)

[BeautifulSnow]

Celestia looked at the man that just told her he wanted to fight her. She did recognize him but she smiled softly. "I knew I should not use my magic yet.." She said and nodded. "Running away is for cowards, and saying I don't want to fight you will probably not work" She said, more to herself and so the looked at her sword. "Well.. Let's do this then.. Just know, I am not here to kill" she said.

She waited for him to attack first, she was not gonna attack first. She had learned not to attack first, that was why her defense also was stronger than her attacks. Her magic could be seen as a sign from a noble family, at least for those who knew the Lightningbreath family. She looked at the man and wondered how long it had taken him to get a ponytail like that, it looked good on him and made him look like a samurai fighter, or something like that.

(Ik excuseer mij alvast voor eventuele spelfouten vandaag, mama is op dit moment in de OK voor een operatie aan haar hand.. Niets heel ernstigs maar je kent me.. Ik maak me toch wel zorgen...)

[sanquin]

"You're correct. If you run now, I will chase you." Excel was probably faster than her. When your focus was unarmed combat speed was a very important factor. As you had no way to block attacks. At least, attacks that could go through his defense. As he could use his magic to form a small shield, but that only worked on attacks from opponents that were obviously weaker than him. The woman realized that this fight was inevitable right now, and faced her. What did surprise him a little was that she didn't want to kill him. As far as he knew, at least 90% to even 95% of all people coming to this tower had no problem with killing other participants. Because that was exactly what this tower was. One huge death game.

"Not here to kill? Very well, I shall at least show the same courtesy." Right after saying that Excel stretched his empty hand with dark blue energy flowing from it, out towards her. "Dark magic: Spear!" He called out. The dark blue energy in his hand exploded into a beam that now headed towards the woman. But that was mostly a distraction, even if it was a pretty strong attack on it's own. As right after Excel charged towards Celestia, readying his sword and thrusting it towards her weapon arm. If he could wound her dominant arm he would have basically already won the fight. (Hij slaat dus niet maar steekt. Straight swords zijn meer voor steken dan slaan bedoeld.)

(Technisch gezien zou jou character 'Lanza del Rámpago' kunnen leren. (Ulquiorra's spear .) Want de vertaling is 'Lance of thunder and lightning' :P)

[BeautifulSnow]

Celestia saw for a second that he was surprised that she did take his challenge. ''Well... That is very gentle of you'' she said and right after she saw a dark blue energy beam heading for her, she used her sword to block it away but saw what he was up to. ''Smart'' she said and let herself fall on the ground, right before he could get to her arm. ''Very smart'' she said, now he was close she smiled some and she made a fist. ''Thunder fist'' she said and aimed for his belly. Her thunder fist wasn't very strong and it could only give him a very strange feeling trough his intestines. Of course she was only using this to get some space for her next attack.

After she hit him, she took a few steps away. ''Hmm, You are really strong... The dark magic is something I don't know... It looked like energy magic... Are you one of those naturals?'' she asked him. She had seen one natural before, but only from a far distance because she was afraid he would kill her. ''What is your name?'' she then asked and wondered who it was that wanted to knock her down. She was not going to tell her last name if he would ask her hers. No body had to know who she truly was. Not yet at least.. A lot people on the noble grounds would recognise her anyway, but that was something for later.

[sanquin]

Excel's strike missed. Though that wasn't too much of a surprise. This was more an attack to test her abilities, even if he did really aim to wound her. But then she came back with an attack on her own right away. Just one little problem for her though. It had too little magic energy in it to hurt him. And unstable too. So maybe it was an attack she hadn't mastered yet? "Too weak." He spoke, putting his empty hand in front of the fist before it hit him. His hand started to ache, but nothing more. It puzzled him a little bit why she would try to use such an attack against an opponent like him.

The woman started to talk, commenting on his abilities and asking questions. Questions he didn't want to answer. "Yes I am a natural." He spoke, taking a combat stance again. "But I did not come here to talk. I'm guessing there is little time left before only four people are still standing. I didn't want to use this here, but it seems I have no choice. I'll win this fight with my next attack." Then, instead of coming at her right away he put his sword away again. Then dark blue energy started to form around both his hands, like flames dancing on a torch. Then the balls of energy around his hand started to grow larger, until they were twice as large.

"Here I come." He calmly spoke before dashing towards her at blinding speed, dark blue flames of magic energy surrounding his feet. But then, just before he reached her, a loud buzzer sounded. The test had ended, only 4 people were still standing. But Excel couldn't stop his attack any more, so instead he diverted it so it would just pass her. A shockwave of energy blasted past the woman hitting a large boulder instead, causing the surface of the boulder to explode, leaving a 50 cm wide, 10 cm deep hole in the boulder. Then a moment later, an announcement was made. "This is administrator Jobbs. Congratulations to the four of you that are still standing! The preparations for the next test will begin immediately. Your assignment is to team up with the closest other person in the arena. The next test requires teams, so you won't be able to participate unless you have a team mate! You have 1 minute to find a teammate or you'll be disqualified for the next test!"

Excel flinched, then slowly faced the woman he had just been fighting. "It seems this is your unlucky day..."

[BeautifulSnow]

Celestia felt that she had not hurt him at all, and now he was loading a attack which was probably gonna kill her. She didn't know how or even if she could stop this, she swallowed and right after she had closed her eyes she heard the buzzer. She was still alive! But... She dared to open her eyes and she saw the attack of the man passing by, hearing a explosion. Oh my... She fell on her knees and sighed. She shook her head to recover from her shock and heard the announcement. A team? 1 minute? She looked up and saw the man that she had been fighting with.. For so far you could call it a fight. ''Unlucky? You think so?'' she asked and stood, deactivated her sword and placing the handle in her pocket. ''I just thought I would die... I do not see this as being unlucky to be honest'' she said and looked at him. ''And.. If you think that I am unlucky that we have to be a team, since the left time is not enough to reach for the other two..'' she said and pointed and the two others that already made had formed a team.

A short silence she let fall between them, more to find the right words than because she was shy or something. ''Well.. I don't care with who I have to form a team.. As long as I know his or her name'' she said. ''I don't care about last names.. I don't have one myself'' she said. Okay, that was a lie.. But she had seen his sword from close by, really close by.. And she was not willing to risk saying her last name and blowing up her cover. If her family knew what she was doing, she would probably been locked up in a room or something. ''You have a 'pocket'?'' she asked and showed her her own. ''Mine can heal..'' she said with a smile, saying that would directly be a offer to heal his wounds, if he had any of course.

[sanquin]

Excel sighed, shaking his head. "That attack wouldn't have killed you. It's an attack designed to shatter hard surfaces like metal or stone. It wouldn't have done as much damage on you." He walked towards his sword to collect it, then walked back. "What I mean, is that anyone associated with me will likely be labeled a traitor. As I am here to kill the kind and bring this whole system down."

He walked to the nearest rock to sit on and sat down, looking at the woman again. She seemed a bit naive. Not knowing how dangerous this tower could be. Though her lightning attacks were pretty powerful for this level, so she at least had some kind of training. Still though, people would be coming after him once it got out that he was a slayer. Strong people from noble families most likely.

"My name is Excel. And yes I have a 1 star pocket. It can function as a lantern. My master told me there would be tests involving dark arena's so I thought it to be a good choice. What is your name?" After she told her name he held out his hand with the palm facing upwards. "Pocket; visible mode." He spoke. And a small metallic sphere appeared near him and floated into his hand. "Register partner; Celestia." The sphere displayed the words 'team member registered' a moment later. A ding sounded over the com system a few seconds later. "Administrator Jobbs again! Attention participants. Both teams will now be teleported to the common area. You can rest and eat there. I will meet you there to explain the next test." Just as he finished talking both teams were engulfed in white light and disappeared. A moment later they then reappeared in what looked like a cafeteria of some kind. A floor with black carpet, white tables, chairs and couches, and a counter with a kitchen area behind it. Behind the counter stood a middle aged woman at the ready.

Once she saw the four people arrive she spoke up. "Welcome to the common area's restaurant. Be sure to eat properly. Right now your meal is free, as your test wasn't one of the 'real' ones yet. With every real test you get points depending on how well you do. Those points are basically your money in the tower. In other words, if you do badly you will be poor. If you do well you'll become wealthy. So, once again, be sure to eat properly. The administrator will be here momentarily."

[BeautifulSnow]

Celestia looked at Excel and sighed. She could see in his eyes that he thought she wasn't strong. And well, maybe he was right.. But she only had to make it to the noble floors.. That would be enough for her to alarm her brother and other family members that she was there and what she was doing. Wait.. What did he just say? ''You want to bring the system down?'' she asked and looked at him a little confused. ''Why?'' she asked, she thought it was quite a nice idea to be honest, but she was not gonna tell him that. She took her pocket and placed his name inside it as team member. ''As I said before.. Mine can heal... You are right about the dark arena's.. I know a few people that have tried to get to the top and they told me their story's...'' she said. After all it was true, her father used to open up his house for those who had come to high already. They could stay there and be their guests, in exchange for some good story's during the meals. She had always been there to listen to the story's.

Once they were moved to the restaurant, she looked around at some chairs. She walked over there and sat down after that the woman had spoken. She looked at Excel and closed her eyes for a brief moment. ''Don't wait for me... Go eat if you are hungry'' she said and as a matter of fact, she would come after a short resting moment. She took her pocket out and let it open his inventory. ''Hmm...'' she said and scrolled trough her backpack. She closed her pocket. ''Pocket, invisible mode'' she said and the pocket faded away. She again looked at Excel and then stood up. ''Okay... Lets get us something to eat...'' she said and laid her hand on his arm, puling him along with herself to the counter. ''You can go first.. I am used to eat after the males did...'' she said and could slap herself for saying that. Some people did know a lot about nobles, and in a few noble family's that was normal.

[sanquin]

Excel wasn't oblivious. He had noticed a few things about Celestia already. The lightning magic looked a lot like what had been described to him by his master. And now she spoke about being used to eating after the males. He was already suspicious of her being a noble, though as they were now he wouldn't be able to do much about it. Fighting wasn't allowed outside of the arena's, and they were a team for now. So for now he would keep quiet about his suspicions. At least Celestia wasn't as strong as him, so she wouldn't be a threat in the very near future.

Excel didn't really like the woman pulling him along to the cafeteria counter. They barely knew each other, yet she wanted to be so friendly already. He had always been taught that becoming too friendly with other participants could be dangerous. As one day you might have to fight them, or they might betray you at some point. He pulled his hand away when they reached the counter and sighed. "Why did I get a team mate like you..." He mumbled. "You're strong, and have potential to become stronger. Yet you're so naive. What makes you think you can trust me?" He asked as he looked at the menu to pick something to eat. "I'll have the saté beef." He spoke before glancing at Celestia again.

[BeautifulSnow]

''Trust is something I don't give you.. I just don't want to be bothered by you as your stomach is grumbling during the next test'' Celestia said and rolled her eyes. ''I might look naive, but I am far off what you think...'' she said and wanted to tell him who and what she was, but she wasn't, she couldn't. She knew that if the announcer knew who she was, her family would know where she was and she would be forced to go back. ''I might not be very strong, but I don't care.. Just like you, I have my mission and I am gonna complete it. One way, or another'' she said and looked at the menu. ''Hmmm.. I would like the....'' she said and then smiled. ''The fish and chips'' she said to the woman behind. She reminded her about the chef they had, a woman at the same age with a big heart and belly, which loved to treat her like a princess by letting her taste everything before it went to the table.

She knew she had been a little spoiled, but she had learned different when she had turned into a rebelling teenager. She knew that she had been willing to train among her three older brothers, which did turn her down since she was a girl. Her father had never believed in her and so she started to rebel.. She sighed, and snapped out of her thought when she felt the women poke her shoulder. ''Oh.. I am sorry Ma'am'' she said and took her plate with food.

[sanquin]

"Not very strong?" Excel replied as he took his plate with food. "I fought you in the last test specifically because you are strong. I wanted to eliminate people that could become competition later on." They walked to the table and sat down. Right away Excel started eating. He was used to rather cheap food, and everything here looked like it was much higher quality.

After a few minutes someone came through the entrance door. "Greetings participants. I'm Administrator Jobbs." He spoke. "Participants Excel and Celestia, you two have taken the interest of the guardian, so before we start please answer my question. What is your reason for climbing the tower?" Normally this wouldn't be asked until later on in the tower. As the first levels were more to separate the actual fighters and the ones that had no chance to ever get to the top. But these two were stronger than even your average fighter.

"To kill the king and take down this tower's system." Excel spoke plainly. Immediately two people in the room gasped, and the two other participants flinched and glanced fearfully towards him. Even the examinator was visibly surprised. "...really." He mused, looking over Excel a second time. "I do hope you know I'll have to report this to the higher-ups." Excel shrugged. "You can't stop me either way." Jobbs frowned. He looked annoyed, but Excel was indeed right. "I can't, but others can." He added before glancing to Celestia. "And you? I do hope you're smarter than this traitor?"

[BeautifulSnow]

Celestia smiled a bit at what Excel said. ''Look look, you can give compliments'' she said and slowly started to eat from her food. She never had forgot the taste of good food and this made her look very enjoying. ''Mmm.. This tastes good'' she said and then she looked at the man that came in. She listened to what he asked and couldn't help it but laugh when the others gasped at Excel's reason. ''Wonderful.. That was wonderful'' she said and then suddenly looked serious. ''My reason?'' she asked and looked down. ''My reason is a secret.. Or else I can better stop right away, if you know who I want to defeat the most'' she said and looked away. She knew that she had to tell her reason and so she sighed.

After a short silence she looked at the man. ''I came her to get respect from my family, who this family is and on which floor they live... Is non of your freaking business...'' she said and played some with the food on her plate. ''I might also gonna help Excel with his reason.. Right now he is my team mate and I might not quit thinking of him like that, even if we would have to kill each other'' she said and glared at the examinator.

[sanquin]

"Respect from your family huh?" The man mused. "If you have family in the tower you should already know that administrators like me get to decide what kind of test you have to do and the rules of set test." He spoke in a slightly scolding tone. The administrators on each floor had all been to the top of the tower already. It was one of the requirements to become one. So this man was scary strong and it was probably not a good idea to get on his bad side. "That being said, I don't need to know where they live. I'll just enter 'respect from family' into the system." In truth he already knew who she was now. Lightning magic and far stronger than your average first floor participants. She was obviously someone from the Thunderbreath family. But since her reason wasn't a problem and she wanted her bloodline to remain a secret, it was not the administrator's place to reveal said secret. The problem was the slayer that she had been teamed with. There had only been 3 'real' slayers in the history of the tower. All had incredible natural strength or power. And all of them caused chaos in the system. One of them had even fought the king himself, but instead of killing the king just left and disappeared. This was 50 years ago.

The man walked to the counter and stood in front of it before turning to the tables where everyone was sitting. "Now, on to the explanation of the next test. I call it 'capture the flag'. He motioned for the woman standing behind the counter to activate a holographic projector. It showed a 3d image of the next arena. A large round room in the middle, and 2 gates on opposite sides making 4 gates in total. Behind each gate was a 200 meter long, 30 meter wide wide hallway with obstacles. Large metal boxes, stairs, bridges and all kinds of other things. "The rules are relatively simple. There are two ways to win the test. One, you get the enemy flag and bring it back to the center. And two, the other teams are unable to continue the test. There will also be two other teams that passed the same first test as you did. So 4 teams in total. And two teams will be able to win. You'll have an hour before this test begins. And after the test the winning teams will be sent to the second floor." Any questions?"

Excel did have one question of his own. "What if only one team remains standing?" Jobbs raised a brow. "Then...only one team will go to the second floor I guess."

[BeautifulSnow]

The scolding tone of talking made Celestia laying her fork down, she looked at him and narrowed her eyes. ''Do you think that I don't know what it takes to be an administrator? You do probably know from which family I am, I don't care that you know... Because I do remember the day that you where dining with my family on your way to the top.. It is after all something my family does... taking the participants in their house for a day or two, giving them food... And then charge them for a test'' she said and she was getting quite into a very bad mood. '' Respect from family is good yeah'' she said and took a breath, she was clearly not hungry anymore and so she shove her plate to the side.

During the explanation from the administrator about the next test, she just stared at him. Yet she didn't use a normal stare, she used a stare that a lot people got shivers from. Mostly because those who knew her, also knew that when she stared with narrowed eyes, something not so good was gonna happen sooner or later. She sighed when she heard they were gonna play a game. ''Steal the flag... Really...'' she said and sighed. ''I do have a question... What if your team mate is unable to go further but you yourself can steal a flag? Will you continue or not?'' she asked, looking at the other team which after what she had said not longer than five minutes ago, were looking a little scared at her. Weaklings.. They will not even reach floor 4 she thought and smiled a little bit.

[sanquin]

The administrator didn't care about Celestia's attitude. To him, she was just another participant that needed to follow the rules. After the explanation of the rules the man snapped his fingers. The door leading outside opened, and four more people came in. The other two teams that would be joining them in the next test. These teams looked to be a bit stronger than the other team that had come from Celestia's and Excel's test. They could probably make it up to floor 10, maybe even 15. But they were still weak compared to him and her. As floor 15 was the 'real' testing ground, where the real challenge began. From that point onward it, unless you were very, very lucky you would need to be a real warrior to continue. You could also be a warrior using your intellect, of course. But those were just as rare as people like him and Celestia.

"These are the other two teams. As you all know, no fighting outside of the arena. Good luck in the test." The man left again. He was a busy man, after all. As there were hundreds, even thousands of people that tried to climb the tower each month. Despite deadly force being allowed, only about 1/3 actually died. The others tried to become stronger and climb the tower again.

Excel turned to Celestia, a serious expression on his face. "I thought you wanted to keep your family a secret. You might as well have screamed it through the hallways now. Also, I hope you do realize that I will also be going after your family, right? They're part of the system as well." He planned on basically destroying the 19 noble families and the king, completely disbanding the tower's rule. After that he didn't fully know yet. Maybe he would be forced to take the role of the new king, or maybe he could leave the tower without a ruler.

[BeautifulSnow]

Celestia sighed as she didn't get an answer on her question. Yet she didn't say anything about it, she turned to Excel when he said her something. ''So, do you know from which family I am then? I bet you already had guessed I am from a noble family, I knew I screwed that when I said that I am used to eating after the males did.. Or at least I knew I gave you a clear indication to it.. We will see what happens to us during the fight... I might have ran away from my family, I would still be loyal to them'' she said and closed her eyes.

''I am not hungry anymore..'' she then said and walked of to one of the windows, leaning against the frame of the window, she looked outside. Her thought drifted away to three years ago, when she found out for the first time that her brothers and father hadn't any faith in her to become strong... ''I do not wanna hear anything of it Celestia'' Her father said. ''But.. But Daddy!'' A 14 years old Celestia said. ''No Buts... Go to your room, the answer is No.. and No is No'' Her father said. ''Daddy!'' She still tried to get his attention but her father had just grabbed her elbow and pulled her to the stairs. ''Go to your room.. And change to something you can wear during dinner..'' He said. She had pulled herself free and ran to her room crying that her own father didn't believe her.

Her father had always been a man that thought a women belongs next to a man, but still in his shadow. And when her mother had died when she was 10, he had became more protective over her in some sort way.. Celestia didn't feel the tear that rolled over her cheek until she tasted it on her lips. She brushed them away a little rough and tried to ignore the feeling of burning eyes in her back. It weren't Excel's, she didn't expect him to stare at her at least, it were probably the other three teams.