Preface: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed this story so far! Sorry this part took so long too, this story is turning me into a liar.
"This woman..." Kejes began. "I never thought I'd see her again. She was the daughter of the previous king of Litus. Princess Earana." Sky gave the man a curious look; one of his eyebrows was raised. It had become plainly obvious that the old royal family was involved, and Sky wanted to finally hear the whole story. Kejes sighed. "The old royal family had been ordered into exile by a group of revolutionaries, who were empowered by the royal House Eraklyon. It's the reason your kingdom is so beloved here, and why your father has a statue. The people offered the empty throne to your father. He accepted, and the planet Litus is now part of House Eraklyon's empire. But, before any of that happened, the revolutionaries confronted the Litusian monarchs, and killed them. Their children survived, but I do not know where they went.
"Okay," Sky murmured. "But right before this princess died, she threatened that her brother would kill me. Who is he?"
"I see," Kejes said with a hint of surprise. "Her brother is the ex-Prince Luri, and he was about nine years old when the revolution took place. He was always a dangerous child." The thin man gulped. "During the revolution, he managed to kill three of the rioters with his knife. Those three had killed his parents."
"Even if he has had some training, I'm not backing down," Sky said proudly. "I think I'd be able to hold my own against this guy. I was one of the top students at Red Fountain."
"Such modesty," Brandon joked, rolling his eyes. "At least you still remember that me and Riven could beat you a few times." He lightly punched Sky in the chest, and Sky stumbled back over-dramatically. The two of them burst into laughter.
"So this really is a blood feud then," Samara said sadly, ignoring the antics of Brandon and her son.
"Are you really gonna challenge this guy again Sky?" Bloom asked, hoping she wouldn't hear the answer she knew was coming.
"I have to," Sky said. "No one attacks my friends and family unprovoked, and gets away with it."
"Of course." Bloom pouted slightly.
"I've got to make another global announcement."
Sky sat down in the broadcasting room, and pressed the green button on the control panel, lighting all of the equipment in the room.
"People of Litus, this is King Sky, broadcasting to give you the message that I have survived further assassination attempts. Now, I know who was behind it, and I am here to say that the attempt made by the ex-Princess Earana has failed. Now, I challenge the Prince Luri to come forth to challenge me in the open for the sake of his honour." With that, Sky pressed the green button once more and cut off his broadcast. His companions looked at him with faces of complete disbelief.
"You do remember they've nearly killed you three times now right?" Brandon asked rhetorically.
"I can't back down now." Sky responded. Brandon threw his hands up in the air.
"We should try to get some sleep tonight," Bloom said softly.
A restless night passed for the visitors, leading them into the first extra day of their stay on Litus. The group had spent the uneventful night all together in the recreational room of the palace, playing card games and chess.
"Checkmate," Samara said, sounding unexcited.
"You win..." Sky said with a hint of exasperation in his voice. "Again."
"twenty-seven wins and zero losses is really good," Bloom said, before she put down a quartet of jack cards on the table in front of her.
"Chess is a game for people who can be patient and make responsible choices under pressure," Samara chuckled. Sky gave her a hurt look. "It comes with age and experience."
"Got any... fours?" Brandon asked, sounding unsure of what he was saying.
"Go fish," Bloom replied.
"This game makes no sense," Brandon said, as he picked up a card from the deck.
"Is this really all we're going to do today?" Sky asked, sounding tired.
"If you want to," Samara answered, "though we did receive an invitation to the coliseum." She held up an envelope in her right hand.
"That sounds exciting!" Bloom exclaimed as she put down the last four cards in her hand. "But, It might be dangerous for us to leave the palace."
"Especially since our charismatic leader here decided to call out our enemies again," Brandon said, glaring at Sky as the king placed his face in his palm.
"We should go!" Sky said warmly. He looked at the concerned faces of the others in the room. "We shouldn't send the message that we don't have the bite to back up our bark. And do you really want to spend the entire day in here?" The rest of the group looked around at each other, before they agreed to go to the coliseum.
The coliseum was a massive structure carved out of a grey stone. From far away, it would seem separate from the land it rested upon, but up close, the visitors were able to see that the coliseum was part of the island itself. The royal guests were welcomed with a surprising lack of fanfare, as if they had been unexpected. Nonetheless, the visitor's tickets were for seats next to the sand and dirt filled arena, roughly 12 feet high off of the ground. Upon being seated, Bloom opened a pamphlet she had been given upon entry which had turned out to be the programme for the show.
"It says here that today is the gryphon show," Bloom said as she showed the others the pamphlet.
"Hmm," Brandon said, studying the pamphlet. "Looks a lot like the dragon show that we trained for."
"Pretty much," Sky added. "I guess we won't be asking how these guys pull it off afterwards."
"It might still be interesting," Bloom said. "Oh, it's starting!" Lights set up around the coliseum turned on, and pointed down to an announcer standing in the middle of the arena.
"Welcome one and all, to the gryphon show!" the announcer exclaimed, as the patrons began to applaud and cheer. "Today, we are also graced by the presence of his royal highness, King Sky of Eraklyon!" The announcer gestured towards the seats that the royal visitors were sitting in, and the lights followed. The four visitors waved at the audience, who began to cheer even louder. "Now, without further ado, here are your gryphonmasters!" Three men and one woman stepped out of a gate in the side of the arena and waved to the audience. "First up is Rosib Bladerender! The current coliseum champion!" The burliest man in the group with short hair and a bushy beard stepped forward, and roared at the audience.
"He reminds me of Codatorta," Brandon whispered to Sky, making Sky laugh quietly.
"I see what you mean," Sky responded.
"Next up!" the announcer enthusiastically exclaimed, "Arena Starlin! Famous since her birth in this very coliseum!" The woman stepped forward, only slightly shorter than Rosib. She had warpaint streaked across her face and her hair was braided. She raised her fist in the air, and let out a warcry which was echoed by the audience.
"Not as threatening as Stella in the morning," Bloom joked, prompting a laugh from Sky and Brandon.
"Here's Razel the Unwavering!" the announcer yelled.
A man with long red hair reaching down to his knees stepped forward and yelled out a loud "Oh yeah!" at the crowd.
"He's got longer hair than Helia!" Sky said in shock.
"Last but not least," the announcer began, "Itum the Shadowstepper!" A man in a loose, all black battle uniform and wearing a mask and hood came forth, and waved dismissively at the audience. "Now, let the gryphon show begin!" The four stepped into the centre of the arena, and four gates opened on opposite ends of the stadium. Gryphons stepped out of three of the gates, and were being psychically controlled by Rosib, Arena, and Razel. No gryphon appeared for Itum.
"Where is your beast Shadowman?" Rosib asked smugly.
"He'll be here, don't you worry," Itum answered coolly. "Look, he's right there." Itum pointed up into the sky, where a brown gryphon was flying in.
"Your gryphon isn't wing clipped?" Arena asked him. "That's against the rules!"
"That limits his freedom," Itum responded. "As fun as it would be to just beat you, I've got other priorities." He threw a flask to the ground, which shattered upon impact, releasing a gas cloud into the air, that knocked the other three participants out cold. The gryphons they had been controlling fell over unconscious as well.
"Challenger Itum?! What are you doing?" the announcer cried. Itum ignored the announcer, and turned his palm to the audience, commanding his gryphon to attack. The beast swooped down upon the hapless crowd, baring it's talons, clawing at the people who were cowering in fear. The royal guests were barely able to keep up with the gryphon's spontaneous movement, as it flew towards them. The group ducked down to avoid the attack, but the gryphon aimed itself at Sky, and knocked him into the arena with its claws.
"Sky!" Bloom cried worriedly. She prepared to jump down into the arena, but was interrupted.
"G-Go any further, and I'll kill her," The voice sounded unnaturally deep, as if it had been filtered through a voice changer. Brandon and Bloom turned around to see a person wearing the same clothing as Itum, shakily holding a knife to Samara's neck, cupping their other hand over her mouth. "I-It w-would be a shame to have to kill her too. Now sit back down!" The voice was very diffident, despite how deep it was. Bloom and Brandon hesitantly took their seats, their faces contorted in contempt. Brandon gritted his teeth. All they could do was wait for a moment of weakness to counterattack, and pray Sky would be alright.
Sky carefully stood up, feeling sore and stiff all over. He shook his head and turned around to see the gryphon coming in closer, and drew out his phantoblade and phantoshield, having brought them with him to avoid taking any chances. His decision had just paid off.
Sky crouched slightly as the gryphon slammed its right talon into his shield. He attempted a riposte with his shield, bashing it against the monster's talon. The creature cried out in pain as it flapped its wings, pushing Sky on to his back on the ground, sending sand into the air. The gryphon swiftly swung its other talon on to Sky, only for the man to slide out of the way the claw. The gryphon's talon smashed into the ground, nails digging into the surface. Sky used his foot to kick sand up at the gryphon, forcing it to shut its eyes tightly.
The beast heard a rhythmic buzzing slightly to the right of itself and turned its head in the sound's direction. There it saw Sky hitting the surface of his shield with the flat side of his phantoblade. Enraged, the monster clumsily swung its talon in Sky's direction only for the man to roll to the gryphon's left. Sky gave the gryphon a smug grin as it lunged toward him. He deftly flipped over the creature's body and cut it down its back. As the gryphon slumped over, it let out an earsplitting cry, and Itum let out a yell of pain as well.
The person holding on to Samara let out a gasp as Itum screamed out, and the group took it as their chance to act. Samara elbowed her captor in the chest, as Brandon quickly drew his double bladed phantosword and cut the knife the person held by the hilt, before he tackling them to the ground. When he took off the mask, underneath he saw another young woman, this one with medium-length platinum blonde hair.
"Please don't hurt me!" She exclaimed. "He made me do it!"
"Another girl?! Who are you?!" Brandon loudly asked. The girl whimpered. "Who are you?"
"I-I'm Ivora... I'm Luri's fiancée." She turned her face away from Brandon in fear, and shut her eyes tightly.
"I can't take chances, so you're coming with us," Brandon said. He looked over at Bloom and nodded. Bloom jumped over the side of the arena, and Brandon followed, carrying Ivora with him. Samara stood over the edge of the arena, readying herself to attack from a vantage point if needed. Itum made his way over to Sky and took his own mask off. He revealed himself to be a man with short brown hair.
"I accept your challenge, king," the man said, his voice conveying disgust when he spoke of Sky's royal title.
"Are you Luri then?" Sky asked facing the exit. From where he was looking a man with short brown hair wearing all black stepped forth.
"Of course," the man replied.
"Why is it you want to kill Sky?" Bloom asked the man.
"Because of what his bloodline took from mine," Luri answered. "And now here I am, in the open." He drew a dagger from his belt in his right hand and pointed it at Sky. "Let's see where this goes shall we?"
"Don't do it Luri," Ivora begged. "It's not worth it!"
Luri ignored his fiancée and lunged towards Sky at an inhuman speed, aiming his blade at Sky's neck. Sky had managed to dodge the blow, and was about to retaliate, when he saw the coliseum's guards charge Luri. Samara had wanted to attack as well, but the guards had been too close to fire safely.
"You're going to make them fight for you King?" Luri sneered. The man turned the dagger in his hand around to hold it in a reverse grip.
One guard tried to impale the ex-prince on his spear, only for Luri to disappear from his view. While the guard was looking around in confusion, the prince stabbed the guard in the back of his neck, twisted his knife, and pulled it out, killing the guard. The other guards surrounded Luri and charged at him all at once. Luri picked up the spear of the dead guard in his left hand, and quickly swung it at the guards in front of him, cutting open the neck of one, killing him, and making the other jump back to avoid the blow. Luri back flipped over the guards approaching him from behind, and jabbed the spear into one of them in mid-jump. When the other turned around to face him, Luri had already thrown the spear into his chest, killing him as well.
"Care to join in the battle friends?" Luri taunted, but panting heavily. Sky had been reading the man's movements. If he fought Luri in this tired state, the king would be guaranteed to win. By this point, Brandon had drawn his blade and Bloom had transformed into her fairy form. "This is what I do for the old royal family. Eraklyon tried to destroy us; I'm merely returning the favour," Luri said bitterly, before he spat on the ground.
"That's not the only reason!" Ivora cried out.
"Ivora!" Luri snapped.
"You were paid!"
"Hold on, paid by who?" Sky asked.
"A man from Eraklyon told us about you. His name was... Ohh it started with a 'Y'... Yoshinoya!" Ivora exclaimed. Sky's blood froze, and his mind had drifted off to previous encounters with the man. How he had his parents constantly worry for his safety because of Yoshinoya. Even when he became older. He had to switch identities with Brandon because of Yoshinoya. He had to lie to his friends because of Yoshinoya. He had to lie to Bloom because of Yoshinoya. Bloom noticed the enraged expression on Sky's face as well as his clenched fists by his side, and put her hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him.
"We're not letting you near Sky," Brandon said.
"You can't beat the three of us alone," Bloom asserted.
"Probably couldn't beat one of us alone in his tired state," Brandon said.
"I won't stand down," Luri said defiantly.
"Yoshinoya," Sky whispered. He looked into the eyes of his enemy, and there he saw determination and fear. The man knew he would fail, but he went on regardless. He would be beaten here, and it would do nothing to Yoshinoya. He needed to be drawn out like the rat he was. At the moment he could think of one way to do so. "Luri, I invoke the mor'chor law of this realm against you!" Luri had stepped back in surprise, but grinned at Sky after. "Winner of the trial takes the throne of Litus, as well as Eraklyon!"
"What are you doing?!" Bloom scolded. She moved in front of him to look him in his eyes. Sky looked down, as he had no answer for her.
"I don't believe it," Ivora said softly. Brandon squeezed the bridge of his nose. Samara had heard everything from where she was and cupped her face in her hands.
"Please don't do this Sky," Bloom pleaded.
"I've already issued the challenge," Sky softly said. "I can't turn back now."
"I find it interesting you would make a request in such an advantageous situation. The advantage you had was the one thing stopping me from invoking the law instead," Luri said.
"I have my own honour," Sky grinned. Luri nodded to the man. "But since I proposed the challenge, I get to set a condition."
"What would that be?" Luri asked incredulously.
"Bring Yoshinoya to the fight. If you can't then don't come at all." Luri stood silent, pondering the situation.
"Fine. I'll kill you and end your bloodline."
"Not if I don't let you."
"Author's" Notes:
Getting closer to an actual climax here! I don't want to draw this out for too much longer.
This took waaay longer to come out than I wanted it to (didn't take long to write as much as proofread - this chapter has gone through about nine drafts, and I haven't been 100% satisfied with any of them; even this one). Oh well. I hope you all liked it though!
You've probably realized this by now, but a main theme of this story is Sky making constant bad decisions and paying the consequences for them. This stems from my aggravation with the actual series where he makes bad choices and almost never suffers because of it. Most notably that whole Diaspro - Bloom triangle mess.
I never really intended for the group to actually visit the coliseum that was mentioned in chapter 2, but it was mentioned and I didn't want for it to be completely useless. Also the mor'chor law is invoked, but I'm willing to bet most people could see that coming.
Thank you for reading this story! Please leave your thoughts, comments, and criticisms in the reviews so I can improve! :D