Blade and Melon arrived by the time Logan had accompanied Dirlu, the spouses watched while the large Cinnabarian glared at Ximo. Ximo remained firm as he looked at the Cinnabarian straight in the eyes.

“There are two ways to settle this,” Ruben II started while they were one foot apart, “either we duke it out like men or you pay for the damage you caused behind my back.”

Blade silently concurred with his statement, then took a step forward with a scythe in hand. “I say we beat him up.” His suggestion was met with an elbow to the chest by his wife who glared at him.

“Don't listen to him, he's still upset about earlier.” Melon added to prevent another fight from taking place, frankly she would've expected this kind of behavior from his evil twin, Grim. In Blade's defense, he wasn't going to kill him.

“I'm sorry about that, I shouldn't have taken advantage of the situation to cause more problems.” Blade apologized, begrudgingly to appease his wife.

“Don't be, I'm the one who provoked this. I'm sorry for smacking you from behind and sneaking off like that. I shouldn't have done that to you,” Ximo apologized to Blade, then at Ruben II, “and you.”

“At least you're clever enough to not cross me. I'll give you that much. Don't think I'm letting you off the hook that easy.” Ruben II warned despite that Ximo had the physique of a bodybuilder.

“In that case,” Ximo took out one of his business cards and gave it to him, “we have unfinished business.” Ruben II took the piece of plastic with his stubby fingers and eyed it. Faim, the Beauchamp brothers, and the spouses dispersed while Ruben II was distracted by the shiny gloss print of the logo then flipped the business card to read his contact info. Ratu approached the fat Cinnabarian after his search.

“I couldn't find the prize money.” Ratu informed while Ruben II squinted at the number on the business card. He wasn't sure if the number was the password to get into the establishment or it was the sector where the gymnasium was located. It better be since phones weren't invented in his world. “Ruben, are you listening?” Ratu asked him.

“Quiet, I'm trying to figure it out if this number is a password or the address.” Ruben II said.

“One of the employees know where the prize money is.” Ratu mentioned before Ruben II looked at the boy.

“Who is it?” He asked the runt.

“García,” Ratu mentioned, “she wears a duck on her hat like a lunatic.”

“Hold this, and don't lose it.” Ruben II gave the business card to Ratu while he looked for this García while Ratu held the business card and played with it as he saw the glossy logo refracting for a while.

Sora closed her eyes. Like it was useful. Like now, she didn’t see the world she was present in - she saw the images, flashing in her head like bright flares. What was the use of closing your eyes to block out something that rebounded on her?

Her hands clawed at the sink, gripping the edges as she shuddered and opened her eyes. Everything vanished before her eyes. 

You’re in a glass coffin.

She blinked. Sora could hear the sounds of a skirmish outside, but she couldn’t make out anything else. Usually, she’d go outside to help, but she just didn’t feel well - she could stop for a second.

A sleeping cobra is coiled on your chest.

She thought it was important - no, she knew it was important, but for what? How? Screwing her eyes shut, she tried to remember how she’d heard it, anything. But it was gone - everything was gone.

“What do you do?” said a voice from behind her. It was entirely amused.

Sora whirled around. It belonged to a girl just a little taller than her with strawberry blond hair and bright blue eyes. She looked like a normal schoolgirl - in fact, she looked as innocent as they could get. Something that I’m missing … she felt it. She could sense the evil palpable in the room - and it had to come from this girl.

The girl’s eyes went glassy and Sora took an automatic step back, but the girl didn’t do anything else, just repeated in a robotic voice, “What do you do?” The words echoed around Sora’s brain, and before she knew it - what did she know? - she whispered, choking the words out of frozen lips, “You wake up.”

“Where’s Sora?” said Stacey, her voice panicked.

“We - she should be here!” Maria’s face was conflicted for a moment. “And if she’s not … where is she? It has been a while!”

Stacey attempted to dismiss it. She’s probably the most powerful one here, she thought forcefully, although she was hard pressured to focus on the fight. Sora can totally do - wait. What if a spellcaster had made it past the Dimension Guardians?

Stacey was tempted to slip away, just for a second, but then - She’s fine, but you won’t be if you poke into our business. The thought seemed to have a harsh edge, but it certainly wasn’t hers. Stacey paused as she saw a flash of strawberry blond hair. It was probably a spellcaster - she thought so, but she hadn’t seen one with blue hair yet.

Or was it something more?

Sora’s gaze was fixed on the girl, who stepped back. Something’s wrong. She felt the energy in the room, which had been running high, shift - it felt as if the room was spinning, but it wasn’t. The girl’s face looked surprised - her mouth opened in an O. Innocent, Sora thought, innocent till the end.

Her gaze went blurry - she didn’t see the fire that appeared out of nowhere, licking at the walls and crawling to the ceiling. She saw shapes in the fire, a droplet now, a crescent moon there, and she heard shrieks - screaming, rending shrieks. At first, Sora thought it was some kind of sound effect - what sound effect? - but then she realized it was the girl. Her pretty face charred, turning black, her eyes were still glassy, her mouth open in a piercing scream. The girl was collapsed, twitching - not anymore.

Sora choked out a gasp, but it hardly made it past her lips as a strangled hiss.

The fire twisted around. For a second, Sora could see the outline of a person in the fire, and she heard a shrill giggle, the sound bouncing around in her head.

“You’re in a glass coffin,” the fire seemed to hiss. “A sleeping cobra is coiled on your chest.”

Sora’s eyes widened. The fire - somehow, unexplainably - was hissing the words at her. “What do you do?”

Sora sank to the floor, it all going black as the flames seemed to mock her, laughing, hissing, “You wake up.”

No ...

She got swallowed up, or rather, her Arivex form was. The voices were barely a whisper.

You're in a glass coffin.

Sora opened her eyes and saw the she was in a dark place, confined. She couldn't move, she barely had the strength to lift her arms.

A sleeping cobra is coiled on your chest.

Sora felt a weight on her chest, the serpent rested on her sternum as her chest rose and fell. She was petrified. Uncertain if she would be able to escape from her confinement.

What do you do?

She had no idea how, she was terrified, immobile, trapped. What was she gonna do? Scream for help? No one knew where she was.

You wake up.

The cobra's eyes opened as it uncoiled itself and flicked its tongue out and hissed, scaring Sora. Then the cobra slithered its way out of her, the weight on her chest lessened as she  serpent absconded from the inside of the coffin. The Arivex stretched and wasn't detained from the imaginary confine.

As she rose from the darkness, the next thing she saw was torchlight, torches were flanked across the chambers while Sora walked on the corridor, she noticed that there was a gem above each chamber, lackluster and faded as the dust that covered the cobblestone walls. When she passed through the broad chamber, she found a gauntlet elaborated with chains, traps, pitfalls and weapons of various shapes and sizes. The Gauntlet itself was two times larger than the Arena above. The Gauntlet measured 72 feet wide and 9 cubit feet tall.

The Arivex hovered over the Gauntlet and saw a silhouette walk around the Gauntlet, as she descended and stood to watch the silhouetted man, he wore a dark cloak and stretched his left arm to reveal his dried, scarred hand before it was shrouded in dark aura.

“Tomb.” The hidden trap door opened from the ground, revealing a dark pit.

“Restore.” The dirt which covered the large bones of the defunct giant solidified to transform into tissue, veins, nerves, arteries, organs and flesh.

“Arise.” The giant demon opened its beady eyes and rose from his slumber. Sora could see the giants head pop out from the trap door, and his long pale nose.

“Possess.” The dark aura penetrated through the pale giant's pores before the necromancer lowered his hand.

“Speak.” The giant opened his mouth and inhaled.

“Souuuuulllllsssss.” The giant drawled.

“Anyone who dies here, you shall devour.” The necromancer commanded.

“Souuuulllllssssss.” The giant breathed as he inhaled the dark aura. Then sensed Sora's presence then inhaled as his nostrils tried to drain Sora's soul.

Sora's first response was to run before she saw incorporeal beings getting sucked in. The cacophony of screams were deafening, some of the souls clinged on to the light, other souls clawed in vain before getting sucked in. One of them, she recognized. It was Samoht, the receptionist that enrolled her to the tournament, screamed as he got sucked in one of the nostrils of the colossal creature. She ran as fast as she could, then out of the blue, she recalled Violet's warning.

Is this what she meant? The skirmish, the Redemption Round, the prize, the tournament, it was all a trap!? Sora's eyes widened in horror.

The tournament is the glass coffin.

The sleeping cobra was the demonic giant that laid dormant, if it wakes up. It will consume everyone inside.

What do you do? The voice echoed. Then there were other voices repeating the question mockingly while Sora got sucked in as well. The shrieks and voices were silenced. The only source of light was her purple dimension crystal as she fell.

You wake up.

Sora did so, her blue eyes darted from one side to the next, confused. “What happened?”

“You were under a spell.” Thomas warned.

“But how?!” Sora got up and saw a charred corpse. The same one from earlier.

“Tom burned the witch into a crisp.” Zack commented. “She looked like a pretty schoolgirl. I saw her follow you to the restroom before a cobra popped out of her backpack.”

A cobra.

Then the images came up in flashes again.

“Sora, are you ok?” Zack asked, looking at her with concern while she blinked a couple of times to ensure that she wasn't going through another vivid dream or hallucination.

“I'll be fine.” Sora assured.

“We need to move before we get ambushed again.” Stacey stated, as she dusted herself off.

“Did you find the cobra?” María asked Thomas as she stood next to Sora to help her up.

“It got away.” Thomas replied, before his red dimension crystal glinted as a kindle flickered from his hand.

“Let's get outta here.” Stacey insisted as they  moved their way out of the stadium.

YuHua passed Hexice. Her eyes quickly looked at him from top to bottom. "What a skinny man," she uttered under her breath.

Hexice stopped his footing. He pivoted on his toes to reply, "I know what you imply, but I'll take it as a compliment."

YuHua turned to him. She gave a deep bow. As she raised her head, she came face to face with Hexice. Unfazed, she spoke, "Do gods mingle with humans often?"

Hexice placed his fingertips upon his bandaged chest. "Ah... Gods... Compliments after another." He fanned out his arms. "Luckily for me, I am not that type of god. So yes, I do mingle with humans." He gave a bow. Bent, he lifted his head. His spade eye squinted as he inquired, "If you like to spar, I will gladly comply."

A corner of YuHua's lips lifted. "You read my mind."

"And yet, you tried to provoke me." Hexice smiled. You are the main event. There is no harm in building a bond with you. Hexice moved past her as he led her to a vacant area. "A place for only the two of us."

"Tell me when you are ready," YuHua said as she entered a bear like pose. The fingertips of her gloves pointed at Hexice.

Hexice brushed his skirt to the side, showing his slender, white legs. He mimicked her stance. "How intimidating," he mocked.

YuHua launched herself at Hexice. Hexice evaded with a twirl. He kicked her glove. Her other hand bent behind her as her glove spat metallic strings from each finger. Hexice parried in time. The strings struck his skirt and chest bandage.

"Dangeroulsy sharp," he commented as he distanced himself. He checked the damages. "Like your movements."

YuHua rotated her wrists, loosening them up. "Yet, not quick enough."

She attacked again. This time, she shot her strings mid way. Hexice swiped them aside. The sharpness pierced his porcelain skin. There was no blood, but the small incisions gave warning to Hexice, and surprised YuHua.

She crossed her arms at her wrist. Hexice knew what was to come.

"Stop," Hexice interjected.

"Why should I?" YuHua replied without dismissing her stance.

"This meaningless spar does not need to consume so much energy from the both of us," Hexice answered. She can't use her final move just yet. Plus, disaster draws near, and I can't determine when with my eye like this. He placed his hand on his face. A finger swept past the blood tattoo. With the cross of his arms, he continued, "A special move like that should be performed on someone more formidable."

YuHua dropped her guard. "What could be more formidable than a god?"

Hexice curtsied. "Another compliment." He opened the blank eye. "How about a being who wishes to bring destruction? I may be a god, but I do not mingle in a way that bring demise. Or rather, interfere with one's ending."

"And who would that be?"

"I can't spare the details, but be assured, you are needed."

Without another word, Hexice left.

YuHua glared at the deity. Her face scrunched at the ominous warning. As she exited, she realized her clothes had a tear. Easily, she spun some strings through it, and sewed it anew.

Violet's feet stopped within the halls. Visions flashed behind her closed eyes as she tried to make clear of each image. First was with two people, YuHua and the Emperor. They faced each other. The Emperor smiled while YuHua simply stared at him. The second image faded in. It was a group of people wearing metal masks and robes running towards her. The image was then cut to another: YuHua shot out her webbing at Violet. 

"I see," A voice broke Violet's focus.

She opened her eyes to see a pale face with an open eye looking down at her. 

"Or rather, you see," Hexice continued. "I know that kind of state from all my experiences."

Violet readied her fans behind her. Calmly, she spoke, "You're that sorcerer who interrupted the match with the boy."

Hexice acted shocked. "Oh my! Seems like my reputation precedes me!" He took off his hat and bowed. "I am Hexice." 

"What are you?" Violet intercepted the introduction. 

He twirled around Violet. His skirt was floating about. "Some call me Lady Luck. Some coin the term Gentleman's Gamble. Either way, they turn the Wheel Of Fortune." He stopped in front of her. "And I am its persona. Or metaphor, or what have you." 

"What do you want?" Violet asked. 

"Your vision. What did you see?" Hexice replied. 

"From what I recall of the match, those floating images seemed to be the future," Violet stated. "Is that not an ability of yours?"

Hexice wrapped his chin with his fingers. "Oh, so observant. Sadly, I cannot see what you see." He tried to avoid revealing that his powers were temporarily disabled. But, at the same time, avoid giving any lies. "So…?" 

"I didn't see much," Violet said, "You interrupted me." She wasn't ready to trust the skinny mannequin. She didn't know how much to tell him. 

"Whatever you can remember," He insisted. 

Violet closed her eyes and breathed. "Men in robes." 

"Bath robes?" Hexice teased with a giggle. 

Violet dismissed the comment. She placed one fan between them, blocking her face from his. "They will attack me." 

Hexice waited for the rest. She told him that was when he came in. He was disappointed, mostly at himself. Nonetheless, he exhaled with amusement. 

"Just let it happen and everything will be fine." 

Hexice pranced off. Violet closed her fans and tucked them away. Under her breath, she uttered, "What future did you see?" 

Later, Violet bumped into YuHua. Their eyes met and followed each other until they passed. 

YuHua stopped, and without turning she spoke, "Do you have a problem?" 

"No." 

"Your eyes say otherwise." 

There was a silent pause.

Violet turned. And so did YuHua. 

"Should I ask now? Or is it too dangerous? I am sure the man is a threat, but is she?" Her mind brought back her vision with YuHua. "Would asking her change that future?" 

Violet placed a closed fan to her chest and bowed. YuHua tucked her hands in her sleeves and returned a bow. 

YuHua observed Violet. 'What does she want? A fight? If she does, then I'll be more than gladly obliged.' She smiled, masking her ever so slipping hostility. 

'A smile?' Violet thought as she forced one. 'Is she planning something? I must proceed with caution. I'll retreat for now.' Before she could speak her exit, she spotted a mask peeking from the corner. "The mask from my vision!" She screamed in her mind as she threw out a dagger from her fan. 

YuHua tilted her body to dodge the blade. She misunderstood the strike as a provocation, and retaliated. Strings shot out of her gloves and pierced the ceiling. She jerked her arms, pulling the stones down.

“Wai-!” Violet tried to speak. She parried the debris. “Listen-” The stones built a small wall behind Violet. She was partially blocked.

“I heard you loud and clear!”

YuHua gave into her fighting temptation. She lunged her hand at Violet’s face. The attack was pushed away by a fan. She struck with her other hand. Violet twirled to parry the hit. She decided to subdue YuHua before explaining anything.

They went back and forth in close-quarter combat. After a while, Violet began to find YuHua’s fighting style strange.

‘Why is she only exchanging fists? The first attack clearly demonstrated that she can use mid-range, and possibly far-ranged attacks.’ Violet pushed YuHua away. ‘Should I force it out of her?’ She readied her fans. Daggers prodded out from each fold. With a quick spin, she flung all the daggers at YuHua. 

YuHua flicked her wrists as her fingers pointed at the daggers. Strings flew and caught some daggers. With the wave of her arms, the caught daggers clashed into the others.

“Quite skilled with metal wires,” Violet complemented, trying to diffuse YuHua’s aggression.

YuHua chuckled. “If only they were ‘metal wires’...” She struck her strings into a rock behind Violet and pulled it. “But they are not.”

Violet dodged it, but came tumbling towards YuHua. Her body froze, oblivious to YuHua’s next move. There was a silent stare. Then, like in the vision, YuHua shot her strings.

They passed Violet and hit a person beyond the wall of debris. Violet turned to the men in robes and metal masks.

“So she was attacking them…” Violet thought. “Does that mean they are not with her? And Does that mean she already met with the man? Or does my vision not have an order to them? Who are they? The man? Her?”

“They’ve been watching us for a while,” YuHua explained. “Like any killer, they were waiting for us to wear each other down.” She yanked the mask off the man. 

Violet threw a dagger past YuHua, and smashed a mask.

“They’ve wedged us in,” Violet uttered with subtle annoyance.

“The windows are an option,” YuHua replied. “Or this wall.” Implying that they could make a hole in it. Violet conceded and they made a silent agreement to make an exit.

When the robed men arrived, YuHua and Violet were already gone, the only evidence of their escape was the hole in the wall with strings attached.

One of them pulled one of the strings and the debris fell on them.

Ryo felt an ominous wind blow from around the corner. He took the turn with caution. His gaze drew to a thin, bald man who leaned on the wall. The man's eyes were sewn shut, and so was his mouth in a smile. Ryo calmly walked past him. 

Suddenly, the man struck. Ryo parried the attack and fumbled from a sharp pain. He had yet to recover fully. Nonetheless, Ryo's awareness heightened. He felt no malicious intent nor did he see any weapons. Yet, the man was now holding two scimitars. Without eyes, he stared at Ryo as he cocked his head to the side. Then, from behind him, four more men fanned out. They all looked the same, sewn eyes and lips. The only difference was their choice in blades. To the left, the men held a lance and a broadsword. To the right, a pair of daggers and a long needle that was almost the length of the man’s height.

Ryo drew his sword.

The Needle man took the initiative. He lunged part way and jabbed his weapon at Ryo. The point nicked Ryo’s shirt as he evaded the almost invisible hit. The man readied his weapon. The angle of the lighting hid half of the needle. Ryo scanned the room. The Hammer and Broadsword were gone. From instinct, he knew where they were. He jumped and rolled to the side, dodging the sneak attacks from his back. The assault did not stop. Once up, he fended off a flank. With his sword, he parried the Scimitars. He blinded the Daggers with a fireball. And dodged the Lance.

After that round, the men stayed still like mannequins. Ryo stepped back to take a breather. They weren’t exactly fast, but their concealed malice and silent steps made detection nearly impossible. Ryo strided across the place, keeping an eye on all of them. “I have no time for this.” The men stood up. Ryo prepared himself. “I need to find Nulekai!” 

Whether by one or by many, they sent waves of attacks. Ryo weathered each attack with his sword and magic. In the third round, Ryo managed to damage the Lance. Blood pooled upon the wound. Right away, Ryo felt a magical signature. “Nulekai…?” He knew none of them were him, but he can feel him. It was his magic. He was sure of it.

When the guards ran to stop the skirmish, Erica was still searching for Warlin. The wizard was aware that he had been caught on footage so he sent Mirror to escort the erstwhile Emperor, though he didn't expect for the siovery skinned fighter to break out of Warlin's control thanks to the rune Ryan casted earlier.

The eerie glow from Mirror's irises faded and realized what Warlin had done to him. Briefly disoriented, Mirror searched for one of the guards. As he walked down the corridor, he found Erica as she pointed the flashlight at his face. Mirror shielded his eyes as part of the flashlight refracted from his arm.

“Where have you been? I thought you left the stadium by now.” Erica mentioned as she removed the flashlight from his sight.

“I don't have time to waste, where is Brandon?” Mirror needed to warn him immediately.

“He's backstage with the others,” Erica informed before Mirror sprinted off in a flash. Erica flashed the flashlight before adding, “now we're off to find the wizard, and it ain't from Oz.”

Clyde deflated a mock-squeak in agreement.

Nulekai nonchalantly walked down the corridor. He was the one who used Ryan's incantation to break the binds of the magic users and used his dark magic to entice them into fighting like savages craving for carnage. He indirectly enticed Maori to fight the others that crossed her path in a frenzy. It was only a matter of time before he weeded out the elf amidst the masses.

While the necromancer headed backstage, Mirror shapeshifted to look like Alma. From her dark hair, the blue shaded uniform and matching earrings, to the white blouse and short stilettos as he ran to the engineer and stage coordinator.

The scarred sorceror was merely a yard away from nearing the back entrance when he spotted the pointy ears of the supposed elf from afar. He had no doubt that the shapeshifter radiated of magic, at least to some degree. Nevertheless, he decided to follow the trail of magic that emanated from Mirror.

Special thanks goes to PenguinMaestro for writing Ryo's Skirmish, YuHua's Scene, and Violet vs YuHua ft. Hexice.
Also a shoutout for ShadowTheIndoraptor for cowriting Sora's Skirmish.

Have a nice day, night and week my beautiful readers. 👥