THE MISSING EMPEROR ~ The Elemental Seven Book I

CHAPTER XIV: THE MAN CALLED LEGRANDE

Cray was left by the pool area of the conference room with Grimsley, LeGrande's butler. "So... When exactly is River going to answer?" she asked. Grimsley just stared at Cray for a moment then looked back at the fountain without a word, pressing some buttons on his laptop-like device. She sighed. She started whistling a cheerful tune while looking around. The room looked more like a mini-library than a conference room. That is, if you will consider a room with a small pool a "library". It has built-in shelves on its walls with tons of books. Cray was never a bookworm, so the books didn't interest her much. "Prince River may be occupied at this moment." Grimsley finally said. "One cannot simply expect a lord to respond quickly. There are protocols to be met and policies to enforce." He put his hand on a pedestal and a girl's hologram appeared. Cray fell off her seat in shock. "YOU!" she pointed at the girl. For some odd reason, Cray cannot recall when, where, or how she met this girl, but there's one thing she's sure about. She knew this young lady. "PLANT GIRL! HI." Cray said. "Hello, Miss Cray!" the girl said with a wave. Now this confused her even more. The girl knew her name. Probably branch man told her our names. River talks a lot after all, she thought to herself. "Lord River is here now. I'll put him on." the girl said. A hologram of River's image appeared beside the girl's. "Hello there, Cray! I missed you guys." River said with a smile. Cray waved her hand to River "Hi'ya! We have some catching up to do, no?" she said. "Indeed, we do." River said with a sigh. 

"LaMahaya is falling apart due to my father's disappearance. He was a good politician if nothing else." he explained. "Really?!" Cray asked. "Most of the other lords and ladies believe I kidnapped, or worse, killed him and have usurped the throne to the country. Whoever was capable of imitating me must be that powerful." River said. "And... these are the same people we're supposed to capture?" Cray asked. "Yeah. It's strange, though. I can't find any trace of them here. That's why I need you. I need you to trace them with your power." River said sadly. "Uh-huh." Cray nodded. "I can deal with that. But of course it will take a lot of knowing and understanding the enemy's strengths and abilities." she explained. "We'll definitely deal with it once you get here." River said. "Kay, kay!" Cray said. "By the way, where are Myoku and LeGrande?" River asked.

Sword versus Spear. LeGrande versus Myoku.

"Prove to me you are who you say you are." Myoku told LeGrande. "So be it." LeGrande said as he parried the blow off Aquarius and lunged outward towards Myoku. Myoku smiled then vanishes from his sight. A very light trail of dust appeared behind LeGrande going towards him, vanished, then came another trail from his right. Myoku reappeared several inches away from him, right arm across her face revealing only her fierce eyes, hand holding the spear, its point about to pierce LeGrande's chest. "Nice trick." LeGrande said. He side-stepped away from Myoku. Six more LeGrandes appeared around Myoku. All of them lunged at her at the same time. Myoku curled with her spear upright, jumped a good ten feet up with force. One of the LeGrande clones looked at her and said "It would seem you're a slightest bit naive to my powers." and shot pointed icicles at her. Myoku forced her body to spin in mid-air to avoid the ice then disappeared from sight just right before it hit her. "You really are a tough one. But there's only one way to prove you are River's friend." Myoku said, unseen. LeGrande just sighed. "Miss Myoku, I will prove now that I am one of the Elemental Three."

By the Conference Room pool area, Cray and River worked out on how to trace the kidnapper. "Okay then. I will need an object to read." Cray said crossing her arms casually. "We have a sword from one of the attackers." River said. Emerald showed the sword so Cray can take a look at it. The sword wasn't really long, in fact, it was shorter than any of River's swords. It has a forward-curved blade made of bronze but the hilt was gilded with gold. It looked like it was owned by a noble, even royalty. That scared Cray a little. Just the thought of having a royal for an enemy isn't something she wanted. "When you arrive, I would like you to see it closer." River told Cray. "M'kay." She replied.