Moyako…
With the match declared over, and both Camilla and Artemis eliminated from the competition, she expected both of them to get up and walk back to the halls they arrived from, but both were still unconscious on the arena floor.
Realizing this, Moyako teleported down next to them just as Selene Kiser did the same, who looked at her in mild surprise, but said nothing to her.
“I will carry Camilla away myself,” she said as she gently put her right hand underneath her chest and raised her off of Artemis.
“Thank you,” Selene said as she focused her attention to Artemis, shook her gently, and said, “Mother, wake up! The match is over!”
Artemis rustled slightly until she opened her eyes in confusion and asked, “Did I lose…?”
Before Selene could answer, Moyako said, “Yes. You lost utterly and completely to Camilla. Unfortunately, she overtaxed herself before you could fully surrender to her. The match was declared a draw and both of you are eliminated from the competition.”
Artemis’s eyes widened as she stared at Camilla’s still unconscious body, and said, “She was...a fantastic opponent. She has earned my respect.”
“Indeed,” Moyako replied, giving her a nod of respect before picking Camilla up and holding her in her arms as she carried her away.
As she walked down the hallways, she tried to shake her awake but received no response and made her way to the waiting room.
Since Camilla’s fight and her own would be the only two that would be taking place today as the remaining two wouldn’t be for another two days, it meant that the waiting room was free to use.
She leaned up against the door, being careful not to bump Camilla’s head against the frame, and set her down on the couch that was inside before closely examining her eyes.
Gently opening one of her eyelids, she could see that her once beautiful green eyes had been turned red and didn’t given any indication of the color returning back to its original state.
Whatever that god did to her, it affected her permanently.
If I ever find that god that did this to her, I’ll kill him…she thought to herself bitterly for marring her beautiful eyes.
“I would very much prefer if you didn’t,” said a voice from a man who walked through the door, followed by Frosk and Nashandra.
Moyako quickly turned around to face them and looked at the unfamiliar man as she asked, “Who the hell are you?”
Frosk glared at her, as if he were offended by her rudeness, even taking a step forward, ready to voice his complaint before the other man raised his hand to stop him.
“It is alright Frosk. She has no obligation to have respect for me, or any of us for so rudely coming in uninvited. Allow me to apologize for the abrupt appearance, and introduce myself. I am Azazel, the patron emissary of the God of Wrath and the advisor of the Forrosan royalty.”
Moyako blinked in surprise as she was familiar with the name, “Azazel…? Raum and Gomori have told me about you. You are their brother, correct?”
“I am indeed, but that is hardly important. I should explain the reasoning for our meeting here. You must have heard as much when Camilla declared it so proudly.”
“That was little more than a fit of insanity!” Moyako protested.
“Not so. Typically, only one warrior at a time is ever chosen to be struck by the Scarlet Bolt to carry on the power of our lord, which would be passed down through their bloodline. Before these three, it was our own King Razel Aldia who had been chosen, and that was well over three hundred years ago. Normally, we would have had to wait until the king had died and a new warrior was struck by the Scarlet Bolt in the midst of battle to have been chosen. However, Frosk had been an exception and was chosen fifteen years ago towards the end of the Mordrinite War, although at the time, I knew not why.”
“And yet even Camilla has been struck by it. Meaning what?” Moyako asked.
“Meaning that our lord is choosing his four kings ahead of his arrival when he is born into this world with a name that would resonate with the masses. Frosk and Nashandra have been chosen to be one of his kings, as has Camilla here. Three have been chosen while the fourth is yet to appear.”
Moyako smiled mischievously as she asked, “What, am I to be the fourth king?”
Azazel stared at her without a hint of humor in his eyes as he said flatly, “No, you are not. Your role is not to be a servant of our lord, but perhaps something far greater yet to be seen. I can say, with the highest confidence, that you are not one of the four kings.”
“How disappointing,” Moyako said sarcastically as she looked back at Camilla and stroked her hair.
“I had decided to tell you this so that you might inform her yourself when she awakes. She has…overexerted herself using too much of our lord’s power and is now comatose. Be sure to care for her until she wakes.”
“I intend to.”
“Oh, and one more thing. When you fight the God of Wrath, do not dare hold back. If you do, he will kill you.”
Hearing that made her laugh as she replied, “I am immortal! Many have searched for countless ways to keep me in the ground and all have failed. I cannot and will not die, no matter who it is I face against. I would suggest you advise your god not to hold back either.”
Azazel smiled as if he were looking at an arrogant child and replied, “I admire your confidence, but as mighty as your power is, no such power can survive having one’s soul ripped from their bodies and destroyed. Keep that in mind the moment you face our lord in battle.”
Moyako stared at him, speechless, at the idea that there was in fact a manner in which she could die, and it could be at the hands of the very god that Camilla had now pledged servitude to.
She stared at Azazel as he and the other two that followed in with him, left the waiting room for her to contemplate her future if she ever met the God of Wrath.
Marcus…
He and Selene had come to watch Artemis’s fight and was horrified to see the sheer level of devastation and show of power from her battle against Camilla that he was immensely grateful that it wouldn’t be him who would be facing off against either of them.
Selene, for some reason, didn’t seem nearly alarmed by her mother’s power. Whether it was as a show of support, or the fact that she was simply ignorant of the nature and scale of what happened between the both of them, he wasn’t sure.
In fact, he wasn’t even certain that this world had any amount of extensive knowledge regarding astronomy considering that exploration into outer space had been banned worldwide.
If Selene were aware that Artemis had just displayed power capable of annihilating the universe countless times over, would she have been nearly as frightened as him?
Maybe it doesn’t matter…
As he joined Selene while she was escorting Artemis out of the arena, he asked her, “Is that the first time that you have lost a battle so completely?”
Though she glared at him in response to such a question, she said, “As a matter of fact, it is. No one, in such a very very long time has ever pushed me to the point I would need to use that form, but even then none had survived a battle against me while in that form. For Camilla to have beaten me, even without using a Seraphic form of her own, is truly an accomplishment. Even so, to be able to match my strength before being cut to pieces with my sickles and before being struck by that red bolt, was even more impressive. It is clear that, even with such an absurd power, she does not rely on it solely in battle. She is a true warrior with immense strength, skill, and talent.”
“That must be high praise, especially coming from you.”
“It is,” she said with a weary expression on her face.
As they were making their way onto the street, Artemis stumbled briefly as she appeared more exhausted than she was letting on.
“That…that fight exhausted me a lot more than I realized,” she admitted, to which Selene seemed confused.
“I thought the battlefield was supposed to replenish any spiritual energy you lose in your fight as well as your stamina. You should not be feeling this lethargic,” she said.
Artemis then shook her head and said, “Don’t you remember? The battlefield has been altered, and besides, my energy has been restored. Its just that using a Seraphic Form for such a long period has an extreme toll on my body, mind, and soul. The exhaustive effects aren’t felt until after the fight is over, and prolonging its use leads to more significant damage.”
Interesting…
“Anyways, lets just get you home mother,” Selene said as he could feel her magic begin to rise as she prepared to teleport her away.
“Hold on, before you go, do you want to stop by at my home again tonight?” he asked.
Artemis glared at him while Selene looked at him, then at her mother, then at him again as she was struggling for the right words.
Noticing her daughter struggling to speak with her there, making things difficult, Artemis sighed and said, “The two of you may do what you wish. I will not stop you or chastise you. All I ask, Marcus, is that you continue to treat my beloved daughter well.”
“Of course,” he said respectfully before meeting Selene’s eyes and continuing, “A date then?”
“Uh, y-yes, please. I would very much enjoy that. I will see you later again tonight,” she said before erupting into flames and disappearing with Artemis.
When he made his way home and stepped through the door, he was pleasantly surprised to see that it hadn’t been burned to the ground and his cupboards hadn’t been completely raided of food.
His guests were staying true to their word to follow the simple rules he set for them.
As he looked around and felt a mild emptiness in the air, he asked, “Where’s Thalia?”
Felkin, who was sitting in front of the TV stand sifting through movies, said, “She and Fayebel are training, practicing how to use swords.”
He also noticed that Cole, Rosanne, and Lyrra weren’t in the living room, and were instead still in their room.
He could sense that they were there but not what they were doing, thankfully as he had designed each room for people outside to be unable to sense what people are doing inside if they are not life threatening.
“As for Cole and the other two, they’re probably fu-”
“Okay! I don’t need to know that information, thank you Felkin. Thank you very much,” he said, annoyed as he walked into the kitchen and started cooking up some food.
By the time he was finished making some chicken katsu and rice, Thalia had returned, drenched in sweat, and breathing heavily.
He looked at her, then looked at her teacher as he asked, “You working her nice and hard to the bone?”
Fayebel, who was surprised to see him and hear such a question, answered, “You bet, but she’s doing well.”
“Don’t be scare to be a bit rough if you need to. Thalia’s a strong girl, I’m sure she can handle whatever you can throw at her,” he said as he looked at his sister and smiled proudly at her.
Hearing this, she was beaming with excitement that he complimented her in such a way, but seemed too tired to bother addressing it and said, “I’m starving. Gimme some.”
In a flash, she snatched away his plate and scarfed down the food he had made for himself.
“Hey…! What the hell?” he said, raising his hands in the air and shaking his head exasperated.
He grumbled and said, “Guess its good I made another dish. You can have that I guess. By the way, Selene will be coming over and we’ll be heading out for a date tonight, so don’t burn the house down while I’m gone.”
Hearing the words ‘heading out for a date tonight’ peaked Thalia’s interest so much that her head spun around so fast that he feared it might fly off her shoulders.
She tired to speak with her mouth still full of food until he complained, “Chew your food first and swallow before you speak.”
She narrowed her eyes at him in annoyance and did as he asked before saying, “A date? My elder brother is finally becoming a MAN is he?”
He didn’t justify her teasing with a response and just stared at her like she just said something monumentally stupid.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I’ll have you know, the day you were born was the day I became a man. Don’t you dare forget that fact,” he said sternly.
She grumbled and said, “I know that, but that’s not what I meant. At least now you’ll finally have a girlfriend and not be a loner all the time. You’ll get to be happy.”
“Who says I’m not happy right now, being with you?”
“Sure, but spending time with your little sister and spending time with someone you may or may not have already fallen in love with is different.”
Marcus leaned forward, looking through narrowed eyes, with a hint of suspicion in his voice as he asked, “Who the hell is teaching you about this? I never educated you about love, and I sure never allowed any erotica novels near you, to my knowledge. If so much as even fifty shades of grey were spotted near you I’d burn it to ashes. Now talk!”
Thalia smiled, look up at the ceiling, and shrugged as she said, “Who knows…?”
This little shit…
Marcus took one last bite of his food, stood up, and said, “You know, its bold of you to assume that I haven’t already been with a woman once before and laid with one. In fact, while I was working for Romano, I had this one woman who seemed absolutely desperate to get into my pants and even more so when she found out that I had been with a woman before she could get the chance. I’ve proved myself a man, in more ways than one. However, addressing the fact that you are prying into my love life, for no other reason than for your entertainment, I will suggest you stay out of it lest you traumatize yourself in the future with something you will desperately want to erase from your memory. Also, don’t go upstairs.”
At the mention of being told not to go upstairs, she looked at him, confused, and asked, “What? Why?”
“Just don’t. Its for your own good,” he said as he put his plate in the sink.
“Okay…by the way, what happened with that one woman you talked about? The one that seemed desperate?” she asked, curiously.
He looked her in the eyes, dead serious, and said, “She was a pedophile, so I set her on fire.”
“Oh…”
He walked over to her and gently patted her on the head as he said, “Its best not to ask any further about my love life.”
“I…I understand. I’m sorry,” she said quietly and meekly.
As he was about to sit on the couch, he heard a knock at the door and said, “ah, that must be Selene.”
He quickly made his way over to the door, moving a bit faster than he should have, as it showed his excitement a little too well, and opened the door.
Yet, despite his expectations, the one who stood in front of him was in fact, Moyako.
“Oh…what are you doing here?” he asked impolitely without really meaning to.
“I…I just wanted to come and talk to you. Since both Camilla and Artemis are eliminated, that guarantees my advancement to the final match. This might be the only time you and I can have a proper, peaceful conversation before we fight each other,” she said with an unusually submissive demeanor that seemed to bother him.
Moyako did not seem like the kind of person to speak to others in a submissive manner or with a patient or meek tone of voice.
She was a woman of great strength, power, and authority on the stage of world powers.
For her to speak and act this way to him directly...it made him nervous.
“Alright, you can come in, but it can’t take long because Selene is-”, then as if on cue, she appeared from a burst of flames behind Moyako.
“Wait, what? What’s going on?” she asked, just as confused as he was.
Moyako turned to look at Selene, and an unusually disgusted expression flashed on her face as she looked at her and said, “I just wanted to speak with him before we fought. Does that bother you?”
“Uh, no. I don’t…really mind,” she said as she looked at Marcus and asked, “We are still…?”
“Yes. Just after this is taken care of. Both of you, come inside,” he said as he waved them in.
He wasn’t sure what to expect from this conversation, but for some reason, he felt a sense of dread that only worsened the further Moyako walked into his home and he shut the door.