Chess game (2)

'Finally we won!!' Yuuji mentally celebrated as he realized Amilia and him won the match.

He looked at Amilia with a smile.

"...Good job you two." Sakura said with a bit of disbelief. "You are the first to beat me in awhile."

"Thank you!"

"What's your question?" Sakura asked after a bit.

"How come you have never heard about the kidnappings?"

"I mainly work around the shrine far from others." Sakura responded. "And when I'm not working I tend to avoid others."

"That makes sense, I guess?" Yuuji said

Moments later, they began the next match. At the beginning Sakura was losing, but she managed to take the lead with a brilliant move, which made her win the match!

"Phew..." Sakura let out a sigh of relief after winning. "That was a well played match." She said right afterwards.

"Yes, it was."

"What brought you to the shrine today?" Sakura asked a moment later.

"Uh... to get some answers?" Yuuji explained in a confused voice.

'To get answers?' Sakura thought to herself. "To get answers, then why did you specifically ask for me?" She asked with a tilted head.

Yuuji looked at her with his mouth agape, unsure what to say. He looked at Amilia a moment later as to ask for help.

"We... asked for you specifically

since, you were the first person we met at the shrine." Amilia responded a moment later.

"I see..." Sakura mumbled.

Silence ensued as the next match began. It was even on each side, if one piece gets taken on one side, the other side would take one in return.

As 4 pieces were taken, Amilia and Yuuji began to plan out a strategy.

"Lets go with this." Amilia whispered to Yuuji. She showed him a set of moves that can lead to a checkmate.

'Thatd be a good set of moves... however...' Sakura thought to herself after she heard the moves Amilia was planning.

The duo set their plan in action. In response Sakura put her plan in action to stop them.

This went on for a few more turns, as each side could not gain the upper hand.

'It's like she kn- oh...' Amilia made a realization. 'I forgot she's a beastkin.'

After the realization, Amilia thought up a new plan. On the duos next turn, she put it in motion.

"Amilia wha-" Yuuji said before getting cut off by Amilia putting a finger to her lips. She motioned towards Sakura and pointed at her ears.

"O-oh... right." Yuuji mumbled before looking at the move Amilia made, and planned his next move.

Seconds later, Sakura made her move. With Amilia's plan in motion they were able to gain the upper hand and finally won the match.

'They changed their plan half-way through...' Sakura thought while looking at the two celebrating again. 'As each match progresses, these two become bigger threats.'

'Should I stop them here...?' Sakura thought as she clenched her fists. 'I'll have to stop them before they become too big of a threat!'

"Miss Sakura, are you ready for your question?" Amilia asked as she noticed Sakura was being silent.

"O-Oh, yes?" Sakura responded as she regained her composure.

"Why do you wear that mask?"

"I wear it since, it was a gift from a friend." Sakura responded.

"Doesn't it get uncomfortable?" Yuuji asked.

"At times." Sakura said. "Would you like me to take it off?" She continued a moment later.

"If you're comfortable with it." Yuuji responded.

'It seems like they don't suspect me of being who I am not, maybe that battle maniac didn't tell them.' Sakura thought as she raised her hand to take her mask off.

As the mask fell, they could finally see what Athena looked like. She had green eyes, she looked to be in her early 20s, and her expression looked to be neutral, her mouth wasn't in a smile nor a frown.

'I'm sure she's Athena based off her reaction a bit ago... but we'll have to ask Allen what Athena looked like.' Amilia thought to herself.

"Anyways, are you ready for the next match?" Athena asked as she set her mask down.

Amilia and Yuuji nodded in unison.

A bloodbath occurred not even minutes into the match. A pawn sparked the bloodbath, Athena took the pawn with a knight. A second later, the duo took the knight with their own knight. In an instant Athena took the duos knight with a bishop.

Moments later, the duo snatched the bishop with their own, winning the bloodbath. They were able to win it due to an oversight on Athena's part.

The match did not last long after, as one oversight costed Athena the match.

Athena stared at the board with a blank expression. She did not know what to think.

"That..." Yuuji looked at Amilia with a grin. "Was an amazing plan!" He exclaimed.

Amilia blushed a bit before regaining her composure. They both looked at Athena who was just sitting there.

"Miss Sakura, is everything alright?" Amilia asked, she couldn't help feel like the rooms temperature dropped when she looked at her.

Athena didn't respond for a moment. A few seconds later she shook her head before responding. "Y-Yes sorry, it's just been a long time since someone completely defeated me like that. So I couldn't help but be stumped."

There was an awkward silence before anyone said anything.

"If you want to take a little break, we don't mind." Yuuji offered as he could feel the tension coming from Athena.

"Yes, that sounds like a good idea." Athena agreed.

A few minutes passed, no one spoke.

"Oh yeah, do you mind answering our question?" Yuuji popped up.

"Not at all." Athena responded.

"Why did you become a shrine maiden?"

"To support a friend. Its as simple as that." Athena replied.

"To support a friend?" Yuuji and Amilia asked at the same time.

"Yes, its a long story." Athena said while fiddling with the mask in her hands. "I can tell you it if you want to hear."

The duo looked at each other before nodding their heads.

A moment later, Athena began her story.

One day, a young girl that was around the age of 13 ran outside of a house. She had a huge smile, and a grown man followed in toe.

"Father its time for me to practice with a sword right?!" She asked in a loud voice that was filled with excitement.

"Yes it is, don't get too disappointed if you cant hold it though!" Her father responded while laughing a bit.

The young girl ran to an open field nearby. Soon, her father got there, he had a sword in each hand.

He handed the sword in his left hand to the young girl.

"W-woah it's heavy!" The young girl remarked as she struggle to hold the sword.

After she got used to the weight of the sword, her father showed her the stances to wield the art of swordsmanship.

Naturally, she struggled for awhile with each stance, but with enough time she would've learned it.

Thus, training became part of her daily routine. She would wake up early, train with the sword for hours, help her mother prepare dinner then sleep.

One day though, she didn't realize wandering bandits witnessed her training and noticed her talent with the sword.

Days passed since the wandering bandits noticed her. And one night, bloodcurdling screams could be heard. Followed by the roaring of flames.

The young girl shot up from her bed, and ran out the front door of her home.

"Stop resisting, or do you want your pretty little wife to die?" A twisted voice could be heard. The young girl looked towards the voice.

She could see her mother being held captive with a knife to her throat. And her father standing not that far away, with cuts all over one of his arms and a sword being held feebly in his hands.

"MOTH-" The young girl tried to shout, but she was quickly shut up by a large hand covering her mouth.

"You better shut your mouth little girl, or your dear mommy and daddy will be killed." A raspy voice whispered into her ear.

She froze up and she silently watched her dad drop his sword and drop to his knees.

After her father dropped to his knees, the man with the raspy voice pushed her mother to the ground while laughing.

"Hey! I see you got the girl, perfect!" He exclaimed with glee.

Minutes passed. More people showed up to the young girls village, all clad in dark cloaks.

"Perfect, and these are her parents?" A man asked as he stood in front of the young girls parents.

"Yes sir." The man who held the young girl replied.

"Good, good. Now, you two, we will needing your daughter. She has talent with the sword, which we desire." The man explained while looking at the man and woman on the ground.

"You-" The young girl's dad was about to say something but was cut off by someone unsheathing their weapon.

"We won't kill you. But you will be held as a prisoner. If you want to live, you will complyy with what we say." The man continued on.

Before the parents could say anything they were pulled off their feet and moved somewhere else.

The young girl was forced to comply with what the man said, as he threatened to kill her parents.

That night was the starting of her hell, her village burned to the ground, her friends, killed. And now she was forced to work with a band group that used her.

For 10 years, she was forced to murder, destroy and ravage villages and take over what the bandit group needed.

Every day was a living hell to her, but she had to do whatever it took to save her parents.

However, one day she was given her last mission. "Take what we need from this city, and you and your parents will be set free." Was said to her.

And so she did. Her shackles freed.

"And I became her friend, to support her. Everyday is a struggle for her. So I'm using my position as a shrine maiden to help her financially." Athena said while a tear rolled down her cheek. Throughout the story, sorrow could be heard in her voice. And near the end, hope.

"Miss Sakura! The shrine priestess is looking for you!" Mei, the shrine maiden from the entrance of the shrine shouted as she barged into the room not soon after.

The duo jumped as they were not expecting someone barging in, meanwhile Athena sat there silently. "What does she need me for?" She asked not long after.

"Who are you?" Mei asked with a confused expression.

"I'm Sakura, do you not recognize me?" Athena asked while tilting her head.

"I-I've never seen you without your mask!" Mei exclaimed while getting a good look at Athena's face. She quickly noticed a tear trail. "Did something happen? Why were you crying?"

Athena quickly wiped her eyes. "Oh, nothing happened." She said while standing up. "Anyways, what does the shrine priestess need?"

"Uh..." Mei wanted to ask more but she decided not to continue. "She just needs you, I don't know why."

"Alright." Athena picked up her mask before putting it back on again. "Thank you for the matches, Sir Yuuji, Miss Amilia, have a good day." She said while bowing to the duo.

"Thank you for answering our questions, have a good day too." Yuuji replied.

"Yes, thank you and have a nice day." Amilia responded.

Sakura nodded then followed Mei out of the room.