The Princess and The Mage (Tenmiko)

Chapter Five - Taken In

"A-alone?!"

"I'm afraid so..." Hajime said.

"I-...." Tenko took a deep breath, "Alright! I can do this! I don't need any degenerate males to accompany me! Let's go!"

Before the two boys could respond, Tenko pulled a sheet off of the bed, snagged it on the window sill, and used it to slid down the castle wall. (Please, this woman is such a bad ass, I love her)

She was a bit upset of the wasted time so Tenko didn't want to waste anymore. Also, despite taking that time to go to Nagito's castle for nothing, Tenko was heading into the forest a lot early than she anticipated. Since she didn't have to take the time to round up knights, she made it to the forest at around five instead of six or later.

Tenko looked up to the tree tops. The sun had not begun to rise just yet, but the moon illuminated the forest just enough. So she walked, and she walked, and she walked. It felt like she had been walking for hours. Tenko looked up at the sky. Although she skipped many royal classes to practice aikido, Tenko was selective over which ones she attended. For example, Tenko always skipped manners class and dancing class and decorating class, she attended classes that caught her interest. So Tenko went to cooking class and nature class and astronomy class. And in her astronomy class, she was taught to read time by the position of the sun and the moon. With this knowledge, Tenko looked up to the sky.

"Damn it!" She said aloud to herself. Tenko knew she left at about five and from the sky, she saw it was barely six o'clock. She could've sworn hours were spent walking. "Hello?! Sorcerer?!? Anyone?!? Please!!"

Tenko sat against a Boulder and took a sip of the water in her bag. From just an hour of walking, she was exhausted and clueless on where the sorcerer was. Tenko had planned for this to take all day, maybe two, but it sounded a lot easier than it actually was.

"Ya know..." She yawned, "I can just take a nap for now and search more later... I had a long night..."

———

"She okay?"

"Nyeh, should be. I don't think they got to her."

"Oh! Good! Good!"

Tenko fluttered her eyes open. She saw a stone ceiling above her. Where was she?

"Oh! Gonta think she wake up now!"

Tenko sat up and looked around. A big guy with king green hair was sitting in a velvet chair, watching Tenko. The floors were dark wood and the walls were stone. They curved into the ceiling, in a kind of cave-shape. Tenko's vision was a bit blurry but she saw a red headed girl make her way over.

"Hey, you okay?" The girl said.

"Yeah..." Tenko rubbed her head, "What happened?"

"Nyeh, you were sleeping by some rocks and Gonta's cousins found you. You only had a bite on your arm, though. You should be fine."

"Huh?" Tenko looked at both her arms, "I don't see a bite!"

"That cause we heal you!" The giant said.

"Hush, you degenerate male!"

"D-degenerate?!" He said, "Gonta gentleman!"

"Hey!" The girl hugged his arm, "Don't be mean to Gonta!"

"Oh, s-sorry!" When Tenko was yelled at by this girl, something in her stomach sank, "Do you happen to know where the sorcerer who cursed my neighboring kingdom is? Supposedly, the sorcerer lives in these woods-"

"Sorcerer?"

"Yeah-"

"I'm not a sorcerer!"

"Oh, no! I know! I'm talking about the one who cursed-"

"I know!" The small girl rolled her tired eyes, "I cursed the kingdom! And I'm a mage. Not a sorcerer. Isn't it obvious from the room??"

"Uhh... my eyes are a bit blurry."

"Oh... yeah that's a side affect from my magic I used the cure your bite. Nyeh, give it some rest."

"Wait-!" Tenko grabbed her arm, "What's your name? I'm Tenko."

"That's ago my assistant, Gonta. He goes to the forest and brings me ingredients for my potions and spells," As the girl said this, Tenko's vision in blurred, revealing a shelf along the back wall with rows of bottles and a black pot. As well as a witch hat onto of the girl's head. Well, actually, all of the girl's head. She was gorgeous. Adorable. Tenko's face froze as her cheeks rushed with a rosie blush. She hoped the girl didn't notice. "And I'm the greatest mage, the one, the only, Himiko~~!"