"Welcome, my dear subjects. Welcome to the long, 20 years awaited competition, ZELOS". The emperor announced

In order to find the next successor out of the three princes of Seiko. They compete today. There will be 3 tests.

TEST 1.

CHIKARADAMESHI. Test of strenght.

TEST 2.

CHIE TAMESHI. Test of wits.

TEST 3.

HITOBITO NO SHIREN. Test of the people.

"How have I never heard of this in my 17 years of living in this kingdom" Prince Michiaki muttered.

"Would you just shut up and listen!" Prince Tatsuyu responded.

"LET THE GAMES BEGIN" The king bellowed. The crowd went crazy. The air was filled with cheering and chanting and the princes definitely didn't like their enthusiasm.

In the blink of an eye. Knights led the boys into Horse Stables. In each stable. There was a pile of sandbags and interestingly enough, a scroll. A scroll that read:

"...and while the boys throw sandbags over stables, how about we do something .....................more productive. Say, introduce our characters"

......PRINCE TATSUYU......

First triplet. Every boy in the kingdom wants to be like him. Tall, handsome, kind and incredibly charming. He definitely gives main character vibes. even though he is not the main character.

......PRINCE KATZUKI......

The second triplet, born 2 minutes after Tatsuyu. He's... just basic.(even though he is the main character). For some reason. The whole kingdom hates Katsuki. They say... "how can a basic brat like him be the son of such a majestic, perfect family. I could surpass him (× 10). Katsuki is an outcast in his own home.

...PRINCE MICHIAKI...

Ahhhhh, behold the one and only, blessed with very rare features. Every girl in the WORLD wants him. Perfect face, perfect voice, perfect hair, perfect smile. What else could you want, everything about him is perfect. But, don't be fooled by his perfection. Because, behind all that glam and glamour is a bratty, rotten, spoilt 17-year-old kid. Yes, I said it, but can we really blame him. He is the youngest child after all, even 2 minutes can make a difference.

...(๑>؂<๑）...

"30 minutes go by fast" King mieji announced. The three princes were at the first of each of their stables. All dripping in sweat.

At the front of each stable were piles of sandbags. Sandbags that were thrown.

"I have asked my knights to count each pile of sandbags, they will now simply announce the results" King Meiji said. One by one, the knights came forward and announced the results.

The first knight came foward and spoke in a loud yet calm manner.

"The least amount of sandbags that were thrown is 56" The audience clapped.

"The second amount of sandbags was 58". There was disappointment in the audience.

"Awwwn, only two more"

"So close"

"Ah ahem", the king cleared his throat loudly to quiet the crowd down.

"Finally! The highest amount of sandbags that were thrown out of the stables is .................................. 86 SANDBAGS!"

Everyone gasped in shock, Even the king was surprised.

"Never, in the history of Seiko kingdom has anyone ever achieved such success" The king informed.

Everyone had the same question on their mind.

Who did it? Only the guards knew, even the princes were in shock themselves. They didn't have the time to count each sandbag they threw.

There was anticipation in the air, It had never been this quiet in the kingdom.

"THE WINNER OF THIS TEST.......IS.....

...PRINCE......

!!!!!!!!!!!!TATSUYU!!!!!!!!!!!!

The crowd burst into screams and shouts, some even started crying and for the first time in 20 years. King Mieji actually smiled.

Wits are not just about being smart or being intelligent, it's not just being clever and wise. Having wits means you are able to take challenges and overcome them. Having wits is just never giving up. Having wits means being able to notice and link together the smallest things.

...CHIE TAMESHI...

...ヾ(＾。^*)...

This time, the three boys were blindfolded.

"YOU MAY NOW REMOVE YOUR BLINDFOLDS" King Mieji ordered.

Slowly, all three princes removed their blindfolds and what was in front of their eyes was unexpected.

" Grass, pfft, what could this possibly be about" Michiaki bragged.

Katzuki slapped his palm on his forehead showing disappointment in his brother's unintelligence.

"It's a maze" Tatsuyu explained.

"Ooooh, yeah. It is a maze" Michiaki responded looking further into his left.

And it was a maze indeed, a forest one. In fact, It was the biggest known to mankind.

So there they were, standing 10ft apart horizontally from each other. Each at an entrance of the forest maze.

"Test 2, Chie Tameshi, test of wits. The goal is fast-foward. Escape the maze. You will be given a map to help with your navigation. The first person to get out of the maze and place their map into the chest wins"

"You have 1 hour to do this. Time waits for no man so use it wisely, and most importantly. Dont. get. lost". The king explained.

...!!!!!YOU MAY BEGIN!!!!!...

... So they began

...PRINCE MICHIAKI...

Looking confident, as always. Speaking of confidence, someone else is also looking confident..........

...PRINCE TATSUYU...

He's looking confident, but not too confident, but you know who isn't looking confident at all..........

...PRINCE KATZUKI...

At least, he looks like he knows what he is doing.

......................

Prince Tatsuyu is looking calmer than ever. He's in the long run, but, will he be able to make it on time.

As for Katzuki............

No one cheered for Katzuki, which made him really sad.

As expected. Tatsuyu made it, and he made it just right in time.

Let's not forget about Prince Michiaki.

You remember the once confident Michiaki? Well, here he is now.

It's not looking too good for him. Michiaki has no slight idea of where he is or where he is going.

...*5 minutes left*...

...Ԅ(¯ㅂ¯ԅ)(눈_눈) ԅ(¯﹃¯ԅ)✪ω✪...

Lets just say Michiaki found an easy way out.

For the past 20 minutes. He's been following footsteps. They have all been leading him to dead ends. However, this is the last path. So, it should surely lead to freedom, right?

Atlas, Michiaki saw the end of this everlasting forest maze. A rush of joy came over him, and he started running towards it. He could hear the crowd's countdown.

10

9

8

7...

...!!!Michiaki burst out of the maze!!!...

The crowd gasped in relief. It was like everyone had just dodged a massive bullet...and it became so quiet, you could even hear a pin drop. Until.......

"Don't you need to put your map in the chest!" A young boy from the crowd screamed.

Without thinking, Michiaki sped across to the chest.

3.....

He tossed his map into the chest.

2....

!!!Clank!!! Michiaki closed the chest.

1....

The crowd went wild, everyone was suprised. No one thought that he would make it, with only 3 seconds to spare.

And of course, he had to make a big deal out of the whole thing.

Thanks a lot for reading🙃

It was a new day in Seiko kingdom. If you know enough, you probably know about the whole ordeal.

!!Ding,ding, ding!! The town bell rang.

"Greetings to all! Welcome to the last test of THE CHOOSING OF ZELOS. Hitobito no shiren. Test of the people"

"Hitobito no shiren. This may be the easiest test yet. However, it may be the hardest too" King Mieji began.

"People of Seiko! This test depends on all of you. The princes have had 17 years to prove themselves to you. Now, you have the privilege to choose the ruler your heart desires" The king explained.

"After the votes are in, they will be counted. Their results will be added to the results of the previous tests".

 "The prince with the most points not only be the winner of this competition but also be crowned as

the emperor of Seiko when he becomes the age of 20..................... Morever, the prince who gains the lowest point will suffer an indescribable fate"

That last line triggered everyone but there was no time to ponder about it.

Immediately, about 50 of the king's Samurais came pouring out of nowhere and started passing shreds of paper to everyone.

...Ԅ(¯ㅂ¯ԅ)...

It was great to be idle for once. All the princes had to do was to watch people do the work while they did absolutely NOTHING.

However, it wasn't easy mentally. They were panicking.

 Infact panicking is a sugarcoated way of describing it. In more accurate words, they were having panic attacks.

This was their last and final test, their future and fates depended on this.

Tatsuyu was obviously in the lead, However, Katsuki and Michiaki weren't far behind, they could easily make a comeback.

Even so, It wasn't going to be easy for Katsuki. We all know about his satus. The crowd could be heard whispering.

"I'm gonna vote for prince Michiaki''

"Vote for Tatsuyu, he's strong......and brainy"

"Good luck"

" I wanna be his wife when I grow up"

"I agree"

"Me too"

"Yes, he's the best representative for Seiko kingdom"

Everything he could hear was Tatsuyu and Michiaki and..... even more Michiaki. It was as if he were invisible to everyone....................and that did not feel good.

...( •̥́ ˍ •̀ू )...

Time passed and as the day grew closer to dark than light. The emperor declared:

"The time has come to end this for today, all the votes have been accounted, and the sun arises tomorrow.

We will announce the scores and get to know the next king of Seiko. Come tomorrow, you shall be expected!! THANK YOU!

There was disappointment in the air as this was very unexpected. Although the elders looked like they already predicted it.

!!ALL THAT WAITING FOR THIS!!

Michiaki scowled, fuming.

He immediately got up and started walking inside the palace as his personal samurais scurried after him.

 Katzuki, however was relieved, and he probably expressed it in his face because Tatsuyu went up to him and waved a hand in front of the zoned out Katzuki

"Are you okay" Tatsuyu asked gently

Katsuki nodded, lost for words, then Tatsuyu sighed.

"Look at me" he said

Katzuki looked into his brothers eyes.

"It's going to be okay, besides it's not like anyone is going to die" Tatsuyu said as he put a hand on his brother's shoulders.

"Arigato" Katzuki thanked his brother as he bowed.

Tatsuyu bowed in return. Then he walked away with his samurais

As the crowd watched that big display. Their face was filled with disgust. It was like they were all thinking of the same thing, and they were indeed.

...Why would he be talking to that scab...

"My honor, may we go now" Katzuki's personal samurais asked politely.

"Uh,oh.....h .Yes, of course" Katzuki stammered.

...Ԅ(¯﹃¯ԅ)...

.........