***Day of the Tournament: Hours Ago***

It was a bracket [tournament] of skill and wit. Two semi-finalist will be selected to battle and only one princess will be announced as the winner. A final challenge will be given and the goal is to destroy the Devourer Ome.

Introducing the Princesses of Sonne.

Nine warriors entered the arena.

The pure white silk of the Gi-Kong-Pei swayed in the wind as Princess Spirita walked forward. She wore a traditional white ao dai with a translucent white outer layer. Her long black hair was in a high pony tail with a yin and yang hairpin. Seohyun, with a determined look, raised her right hand high abover her head and three small magatamas appeared circling her wrist. Her pupils shone white.

“I’ll do my best!”

The princess of Zephyr flew into the arena with the wind at her feet and lightly landed in a bow. She wore a traditional olive shade ao dai with a dark green scarf around her neck. Her long wavy blonde hair was in a bun kept together by an olivine hairpin. Some of her fringes framed her face. With a mischievous smile, she jumped into the air and all of a sudden, her wind staff materialized between her arms. Hyoyeon landed in her feet, her mark shining bright. Her pupils shone dark green.

“Let’s see you outrun the wind!”

Fighting gloves appeared on the hands of the tall princess of Ira. Her pale yellow ao dai swayed as she got into a stance. The royal mark of Ira was visible on her collar bone where the ao dai was improvised to show her pride as the princess of Ira. Her short layered hair framed her face, swaying gently across her cheeks as she twirled for a round house kick. Sooyoung smirked playfully. Her pupils shone amber.

“Come at me.”

The princess of Ignum stepped into the arena with a small ice dragon in tow. She wore a pink ao dai with a white dragon pattern. The scabbard of her sword was tied around her torso. She raised her right hand to draw the dragon blade from her back and another shorter blade with her right hand for defense. With fiery eyes, Tiffany got into a fighting stance with both of her swords in front of her. Her pupils shone scarlet pink.

“I’ll burn the ground you walk on.”

Ice crystals appeared on the ground the princess of Eis walked on. The wind suddenly growing cold around her and a light fog of air hovering around her. She held two ice swords in front of her, wielding each in one hand. Her navy blue ao dai was complemented by the white pants she wore underneath. Her long hair was in a ponytail with a lily on the top. Jessica advanced her left foot in front of her. Her eyes glowed ice blue.

“Winter has come.”

A shot rang out and echoed in the enclosed space of the arena as a black panther walked foward followed by the princess of Unda. In her right hand, the Nightshade glistened as though proudly like a black pearl. Her dark violet ao dai swayed slightly to reveal another nightshade in her left thigh holster. Her long straight hair was let down behind her, falling like raven water falls across her torso. The panther in front of Yuri transformed into a black orb and disappearing into the stud in her left ear. Her eyes glowed lavender.

“Let the darkness consume you.”

The princess of Sunne appeared in a yellow ao dai with her long hair in a braid. Her light bracers glowed fiercely. She hovered each hand over each bracer when they suddenly transformed into a spear. Light orbs surrounded her as she continued to walk forward to her post. Yoona slouched as she held the Sun spear in her hand. She let the speak fall away from her left hand and it hit the ground in front of her with a loud thud as though it weighed a ton. Her eyes glowed like the sun.

“Let the light lead your way.”

The seven princesses felt a chill where they stood.

“What is this feeling? So dark…” Seohyun said as she felt the negative energy disperse into the spacious area of the arena.

The princess of Mirour walked forward and bowed. Her red ao dai lined with black shone underneath the stage lights. Her right hand hovered over the rapier in her waist and in the space around her, mirrors floated about. As she stood up, a manic smile appeared on her face and her eyes were clouded. Her dark eyes stared menacingly.

“Kill.”

“Princess Taeyeon?” Jessica asked with a soft voice. She met Tiffany’s eyes and they nodded at the other princesses. Don’t move toward her.

“Wait, is that—?” Hyoyeon’s voice trailed off and all the princesses turned their attention to the last entrance.

The Phyllon Princess Sunny entered with a proud stride. Her green ao dai was decorated with a green outer layer that looked as if emerald dust was sprinkled on it. Her brown hair was in a bun held up by an emerald hairpin. She held her hand to her side and her long bow materialized in her hand. She smiled at them. Suddenly, a familiar flower appeared from behind her head, waving at the other princesses. Her eyes glowed green.

“I will protect you, Taeyeon, no matter what cost.”

The Storyteller stood in the middle of the arena. She bowed to each princess and finally after bowing to Sunny, she spoke.

“Welcome back, Princess Sunny.” Sunny nodded mutually. The Storyteller stood up and snapped her fingers. In front of each princess, a gold engraving appeared in front of them with each of their names in a bracket.

“Because there are nine of you, all of you must undergo a preliminary round. You will not fight each other as of this round.” The Storyteller snapped her fingers again and a dark portal appeared in front of them.

“Here each of you will be tested separately. Three of you will be eliminated at this round.”

Princess Taeyeon was the first to get back. She had a bored expression on her face.

The Storyteller’s androgynous voice echoed.

“Three princesses have been eliminated: Spirita, Zephyr, and Ira. The next stage of the tournament will now commence.”

***

Red Writer: Ao Dai designs are very pretty and while I know hanboks are traditional Korean clothing, I wanted them to be able to look cool and fight with light armours; they won’t need heavy armours anyway since they use magic as a main skill. Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed this chapter ^^