^^ Fulgurite Spear ^^

--- Diana Monroe ---

I sat down on the couch heavily, staring at Corsica. "You're serious? I don't need food anymore?" I asked incredulously.

"Correct. Well, for the duration of this Game. Your father as well, though his power is not going to be augmented again: that would just be nonsensical." She chuckled.

I hummed. "Alright... anything I need to look out for, godly wise?"

She thought for a moment, then nodded. "Don't ever lose your symbols of Power. If all of them are taken or destroyed, you're disqualified from the Game."

"Symbols of Power? Like the Apples and Fulgurite of Perun?" I asked.

"Or Gungnir, Xiuhcóatl, the Falcon Feathers of Horus, and the Eagle of Rome." She winked.

"Alright... so if I steal those, can I keep them? And use them?" I asked.

She smirked. "That is not condoned by the Council."

"Your smirk says it's still viable." I grinned.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Who could say?"

"Alright, Next question... who was my father, in the game he played? And my mother?" I asked.

"Your mother was Odin. Your father was-"

"Let's not dig into ancient history, my dear!" Father interrupted, and sat next to me. "How do you like your room?"

"It's actually awesome. There's an Ocean behind you." I grinned.

He blinked. "Really? Mine had an active volcano. That was fun." He chuckled.

"Sounds cool." I nodded. "Now who were you during the Game?"

He sighed. "You just don't let things go, huh? Not even this?"

"No."

"Fine. I was Fenris. Okay? And it sucked. And I hated it, especially after your mother and I became-... good friends." He blushed.

I grinned and poked his red cheeks. "Aww! You two were star-crossed kiddie lovers!"

He grumbled at me, but didn't answer.

"Indeed. Anyway, is that all your questions?" Corsica asked.

"No. You said that he wouldn't be augmented again. Does that mean I was augmented as well?" I grinned slowly.

She smiled. "To the same degree as the God inside you. Now I really must go, madam."

Corsica made it to the door before I asked my last question. "Is the prize worth it? Really worth it?" I asked.

She smiled over her shoulder. "I won the Game, 2,427 years ago. I was born in Niflheim, a Mortal Elf, just like you. Think about that. " She winked, and disappeared.

Father grinned. "She might get in trouble for that... ah well. As long as it wasn't me who said it." I raised an eyebrow, and he held up his hands in surrender. "Nope." He shook his head.

I hummed. "Fine... well, We're here for a month, might as well look around!" I stood and dragged him outside of the room, then halted.

Spread in front of me was a massive Gladiator-Style Arena, where the sand was made of crushed obsidian, and the room we'd just left was one of the thousands staged in layers along the stadium-seating.

"Ooh? They upgraded the monster pit. Cool." Father grinned.

"Monster Pit?" I asked dryly.

"Yeah. There's a decent amount of down time, during the tournament. No reason not to amuse yourself." He shrugged.

"Hmm... alright."

"Uhm... are you familiar with the layout around here? I've kind of lost myself." A timid voice asked behind me.

I turned, and smiled at the pretty boy with coal black hair. "Well, if you're trying to find your room, you just have to snap your fingers, I think. Do you remember which way it was?" I asked.

He blinked slowly. "No. I have absolutely no idea. Snap, you said?" He asked, and hummed, trying unsuccessfully to snap his fingers, which, I noticed, bore five rings, connected to a glove, that did not look unlike claws.

I smiled. "Romulus, huh? I'm Diana Monroe."

He blinked. "Oh! Uh- William D'antonio, Heir of Romulus."

"Heir?" I asked.

Father cleared his throat. "Some families pass down their gods spirit, to make it more powerful. It works quite well." He nodded.

I hummed. "Very interesting. Here, Will." I gripped his hand, and snapped once, hoping it worked.

I suddenly stood in a room made entirely of glass, overlooking a snowy mountain with a city at the bottom. "Is that... is that Rome?!? Rome doesn't have a mountain over it." I asked, confused.

He grinned as two men that both bore resemblance to him greeted us in Italian. "Yeah, actually. That-well, this- is Mt. Olympus, apparently. Or it's supposed to look like it." He nodded and responded to them in the same language. "This is Diana Monroe, a contestant. She helped me find the room. I got lost." He grinned guiltily.

The elderly man that smelled of aged power (not unlike the smell of fire,) walked up slowly, leaning on his cane, and I blinked as my vision shifted, showing me a giant of a man, with a bear-pelt slung over his shoulders and head.

I rubbed my eyes, and the old man was directly in front of me. "Do the translation spells still work here?" He asked.

I blinked. "I suppose. It took a second to kick in... I'm guessing you're the previous Romulus?"

He nodded. "Yes. I am Guillermo D'Antonio. This senseless boy is my grandson, William. I hope you are not planning on taking advantage of his innocence, Ms. Diana."

The other man blushed, chiding who I assumed was his father, but the boy correctly understood the actual message. "She didn't lead me here to gain entrance to my sanctuary, Grandfather-"

"To be completely honest, yes I did, though not for devious means. I just wanted to see what a different room looked like. Mine is just... wow. And this view is great!" I grinned.

The elderly man laughed. "Non-devious ulterior motives, hmm? Ah well. Welcome."

A knock sounded at the door, and William opened it. Father stood there, huffing for breath, leaning on his knees. "I'm... a bit out of shape... used to be able to run five miles without dying a little." He chuckled breathily.

"Hey pops. Your beer gut is showing." I grinned.

He growled at me, tucking his shirt in. "We both know I don't drink in the human realm. Anyway, I suppose this is the Romulus Clan?" He gestured around at three men, still outside.

William gestured for him to enter, and he shook his head. "I'm a previous contestant. I'm not supposed to enter any rooms but my own, and neither is she. Come on, my dear. You can meet them outside the rooms, but don't go to people's rooms. It's dangerous and almost always against the rules."

I sighed and waved to the three people. "Sorry, bye! I'll see you... somewhere? I'm still new here, too." I walked out as they said their goodbyes, and smirked at father, snapping again.

I reappeared in front of my room, and he groaned, three tiers down, across the room.

I gasped as he started sprinting faster than the wind itself, whipping through the isles like a streak of green and red, because of his green shirt and crimson hair.

I snickered when he arrived, huffing for breath again. "Ha! You looked like Santa Claus. Red and green Christmas theme Flash!"

He growled at me unintelligibly, and stood up, tucking his shirt in. "You shush. Anyway, you want to see your moms old room?" He asked suddenly.

I blinked. "It's still here?!?"

He nodded. "They never get rid of the rooms, unless the person who built it destroys it. These doors lead to the current contestants rooms. The older rooms you get to with the Spice Door." He grinned, leading me towards the top tier, which we were just below.

"Spice Door?" I asked dryly.

He laughed. "Yeah, they're not real good at naming things here. Monster Pit, Spice Door... The Galley. Here it is." We stopped in front of a door situated just over the very end of the spiral staircase that went above the top Tier.

It was blue, with a very oddly shaped flower pattern all over it. He grinned and placed a hand on it, then spoke in his native tongue, the language of the fire giants. "Open the door to the room of Olivia Kentani. Passphrase: Valkyrie."

"Passphrase, Accepted." A soft, pleasantly lilting female voice answered, and the door turned to a deep golden oak with feather patterns carved into it, and creaked open.

He smiled and pulled me in, then simply stood still, looking around at the beautiful room.

We stood in what looked like an observatory, and I realized the telescopic roof actually viewed the stars around us.

I traced the star maps on the walls, and smiled. "The stars in my room, they really came from this place?"

He nodded. "Yes, they do."

I looked at a painting on an easel, an unfinished portrait of a young man with flaming hair and golden eyes.

"That's you, huh?" I asked.

He grinned. "Yeah... I couldn't hold a proper human form, back then. Took about four years after the Game to figure it out."

"And you immediately began boning my mom. Talk about Priorities, huh?" I smirked.

He frowned. "You stop that nonsense!"

"Sorry, sorry. Your sense of humor has worn off on me... she was a good painter, though. I didn't know that." I hummed.

"You never saw her paint? Hmm... I could have sworn she painted in the house a few times while you were young... well, maybe too young." He sighed.

"Why isn't it finished?" I asked.

He was silent for a while, and I turned to find him staring at a spear on the wall, and rubbing the scar on his stomach.

"Ah. She impaled you. Ouch, and you still married her?" I laughed, nudging his shoulder.

He smiled. "She was perfect in every way. Except her singing voice. By the gods she wailed like a banshee!" He laughed and nudged me back.

I nodded, sobering, and gripped the spear, lifting it off the wall. "Corsica hinted that I could use other people's weapons... if I make everyone think this is mine, they won't think twice about my other Symbols of Power, right?"

He smiled. "I knew there was a reason she left it, and those stars... yes, that's possible, but Odin comes with Foresight. You don't have that."

"Don't I? Do they know that? I have good reflexes... and I'll need to get used to my new reflexes, speaking of." I spun the spear casually on my knuckles, and hummed when the end lit on fire. "Cool." I smirked.

He nodded slowly. "It could work. I'm impressed. Perun usually doesn't choose strategically gifted hosts. Good for you." He led me out of the room, then opened his own. "Open the door to the room of Hasha Shirani. Passphrase:-"

"Hasha Shirani?" I gazed at him doubtfully.

He shrugged. "Hasha is a perfectly respectable Fire Giant name!"

"No, no, just... you chose Caleb Monroe as your human name?!?" I laughed.

He frowned. "Shush, you."

"Passphrase Accepted."

I snorted at his password. "You're a dork."

The door turned slowly to solid obsidian, and he swung it open.

We now stood on a plain black glass platform with only a bed and water pump, above an active volcano.

I gazed at him slowly, and he blushed. "I like simple things! Shush, you!"

The door closed, and he sighed, rubbing his face. "Anyway, let's test out your new reflexes, huh? Come on." He waved at me.

I stabbed the spear into the platform, and then darted towards him.

I yelped as I completely overshot him, and went over the edge of the platform.

He laughed, instead of catching me, and I screamed at him.

The lava, when I landed on it, was very hot, and solid, like a kinda-soft memory foam mat, but definitely not red water, like the movies. The heat didn't bother me, which was odd, but then I remembered the fact that the I was as tough as a demigod now.

I grinned and leapt straight up, grabbing the lip of the volcano, and another leap had me gripping the edge of the platform. I climbed up, and grinned, shaking lava off my feet. "This is awesome. Let's try again."

He nodded and braced himself. "Now remember I'm weak with old age-" he laughed softly.

I darted towards him, and hauled back my right fist.

---

We sat on the edge of the platform, resting from our Sparring session, and I grinned. "So can I make the Fulgurite Spears, like Perun?"

He shrugged. "No harm in trying."

I nodded and stood, concentrating on my brand, and a rocky spear appeared in my hand, buzzing with power.

I grinned and hauled back my arm, skipping forward once, and launched it at the horizon. About 1000 feet away, it hit the ground, and the resulting electrical-storm/explosion was visible for a dozen miles.

I grinned in wonder, and father grumbled. "Suuure, tear up your old man's room. That's alright."

I laughed and nudged him as I sat down. "Yep. Sorry, that's your lot in life. You chose not to wear a raincoat. I'm your punishment." I shrugged.

He grumbled unintelligibly at me, then smirked. "Aha! I know how to win this argument!"

"Yeah right." I smirked.

"It was your mother's idea not to wear a condom. I had one, and she threw it away. So blame your mother for both your conception and birth!" He laughed.

I raised an eyebrow. "You still had sex with her. I still get to blame you."

He deflated. "Damn..."