Chapter 9: The Day Of Colosso

A soft, fluffy feeling greeted Mia back into the world as she yawned quietly. Stretching her hand outward by reflex, they met the plush fabric sheets of the Tolbi bed Mia had slept in. The luxurious feeling was calming and incredibly soft against her skin as she rolled over and opened her eyes.

The room was already lit as Mia saw the sheets on the rest of the bed next to her. Still tired with droopy eyes, she reached out and pulled a large amount of the remaining covers toward her, holding them tightly in a hug. Closing her eyes again, Mia waited as her brain started to switch on, slowly waking her up for the day. As she became more aware and alert of her surroundings, Mia snuggled further into the sheets and blankets accompanying her on the bed in an effort to continue resting.

As Mia continued to lay there she was overcome with a sense of happiness and content, two things that, when coupled with the luxurious surroundings in the Tolbi Palace, offered a wonderful start to the day for the Mercury adept.

The sound of a door closing gently greeted Mia's ears as she lay there and prompted her to open her eyes again and turn towards the noise. Her eyes settled on the features of a blonde haired boy she knew well, who was getting fully dressed for the day.

Having heard Mia shift around on the bed, Isaac glanced over at her and gave Mia a smile. "Good morning sleepy," he commented, keeping his voice low so as not to disturb her too much.

Oh that's right, Mia thought as the events of the previous night came back to her. The bed she was in was Isaac's, loaned to them during the Colosso tournament due to Isaac's participation in it, but also as thanks for their part in re-opening the shipping routes across the Kargol Sea.

"Good morning," Mia managed to murmur in reply, even while replaying events in her head, including the fact she had claimed to be Isaac's wife when asked as a way to get into the Venus adept's room. She blushed in embarrassment at the situation she got herself into and the realization she had spent the night with Isaac, sleeping in the same bed as him. Being so near to him at night was not at all unusual given their tent circumstances, but somehow the manner and circumstances that lead to this situation made it seem a bit different than usual to the Mercury adept.

Getting a better look at the blonde boy as he continued to get ready for the day, Mia saw that he had already dressed himself up in his usual casual attire. As if mesmerized, she continued to stare at Isaac until he walked in front of a mirror and Mia caught a quick glimpse of her own reflection.

Startled, her eyes stopped tracking the Venus adept and focused on her unkempt reflection staring back at her. Mia regarded her disheveled hair with horror, seeing that it was making a good impression of Isaac's untidy hairstyle. Using her hands to attempt to correct it in vain, she only managed to further mess it up.

Oh no, I can't let Isaac see me like this! Mia thought, her embarrassment returning for a new reason. Though the thought was illogical as sharing a tent over the course of their journey inevitably meant Isaac had seen her like this many times before, this time it felt different to the cerulean haired girl. Sighing, Mia gave up on fixing her hair and retreated by pulling the covers up as far as they would go without completely obscuring her face.

Isaac glanced back toward the bed and found the girl acting like a turtle hiding in its shell, causing him to let out a laugh at the silly comparison. This didn't do much to bolster Mia's self confidence in the situation, but fortunately Isaac was merciful. "Come on, let's do something about that hair," Isaac stated, indicating the washroom he had used before Mia woke up. "You can fix yourself up in there," he added with a smile.

Relief hit Mia as she felt reassured by his words. "I should probably do that huh?" she asked rhetorically, knowing how ridiculous she looked. Of course he isn't fazed by that, Mia told herself as she pulled the covers off enough to sit up in the bed. He knows what my bed head looks like by now.

Isaac caught himself continuing to look over at Mia for slightly longer than necessary and gave a start, jumping slightly and quickly turning back to what he was doing. Just as Mia was about to get out of bed and go look at the washroom, a loud knock rang out from the door.

"Hey Isaac, it's us," Garet's voice called out from the other side.

Both adepts froze as they heard Garet, not sure how to react in the present situation. Isaac and Mia glanced at each other once quickly, as if to ask what they should do and then Isaac looked over at the door quickly before turning back to Mia.

Understanding that he was going to answer the door, Mia quickly lay back down in the bed and covered herself with the sheets and blankets to hide. Oh Mercury… she thought, praying she wouldn't be found. The awkwardness of this situation is killing me. Mia felt ridiculous hiding from her friends, but understood that everything could be very, very easily misunderstood if they found her here. Mia turned beet red just thinking about it. I'm so glad nobody can see me right now, she thought.

Isaac opened the door slightly to greet Garet and Ivan and Mia heard the Venus adept talk. "Hey guys, I was just getting ready for the day. What's up?" He asked nonchalantly.

Please let this work, please let this work, Mia found herself begging as she waited with baited breath for Garet's reply.

"Sure," Garet answered. "We were going to go check out the town in a bit here and wanted to see if you'd like to come before Colosso starts."

"Sound good," Isaac answered him quickly. "Let me finish getting ready and I'll come with you."

There was a pause and Mia started to feel relief that they didn't know, but it all came crashing down with Garet's next words.

"By the way...any idea where Mia is? We tried her room too and she seems to not be there," the Mars adept added.

Mia felt herself freezing up again as Isaac also hesitated by the door. Oh no! Oh no! Mia thought, but fortunately Isaac recovered quickly.

"Hmm...not really sure," Isaac replied with a forced smile. "Maybe she wanted to get some herbs and decided to get that out of the way?" he suggested helpfully.

Garet seemed to think it over for a second. "Yeah, I suppose that makes sense," he said with a shrug. "Well anyway...just come grab us when you're ready to go and we can meet up with her later then," he said.

Isaac smiled. "Will do," he answered before Garet and Ivan walked away and Isaac could shut the door again.

The two adepts in the room remained silent for several seconds until they were sure their companions had left and then Isaac finally said, "They're gone," with a sigh of relief.

Mia let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and got out from underneath the covers to look over at Isaac. "Thank Mercury, Venus, and the other elements that worked," she said, prompting a chuckle from Isaac.

"Yeah, seriously…" he replied in kind. "That could have ended up really awkward," Isaac added.

Mia's relief had drowned out most of her thoughts about what Ivan and Garet might have thought had they found them here together, but could still feel her face flushed with color at the inappropriate ideas.

Glancing over at Isaac in silence, Mia could see the same coloration on the blonde boy's face. Is he thinking the same thing? She asked herself, wondering about Isaac's reaction as well.

"Ah! ...Anyway," Isaac exclaimed to break the awkward silence as he looked away from Mia. "Why don't you freshen up for the day? I'm going to go grab the other two out there before they come back and you can just meet us out in the celebration," Isaac suggested.

Mia quickly agreed. "Yes, I think that sounds like a good idea," she said, trying to still her pounding heart as she finally got fully out of bed.

"All right then. See you out there," Isaac said. Mia answered with a smile and a nod before heading to the washroom.

As she walked over there, Mia could feel Isaac's eyes on her until she opened the door. Behind her was the sound of Isaac leaving and she glanced back quickly to see him disappear outside and shut the door behind him.

As Mia closed the door behind her as well, she she let out another breath of air and allowed herself to sit down on the floor, propped against the door with her heart still beating rapidly.

What has been up with me lately? Mia asked herself. First last night, and now this…

Glancing around the washroom, Mia found a sink with a knob to run water through that she figured she could use to fix her hair quickly. Like the rest of the room and the palace itself, the washroom was fancy too with inlaid stones and decorative patterns on the floor and walls.

Her mind was still on Isaac however. It almost felt like a rush of adrenaline knowing he was watching me walk away, Mia thought, picking herself up off the floor as her heartbeat began to normalize. It seemed like these moments of intense emotion were becoming more and more common for her recently, especially where the blonde Venus adept was concerned. Isaac just seems to stick in my mind a lot, Mia knew. I mean...I care about him a lot so it makes sense…

She sighed. I don't even know what to make of my own thoughts anymore sometimes, Mia mused. If I didn't know any better, I might even say I'm infatuated by him by how often he's on my mind, she told herself.

Mia shook her head. That's not right though. I'm always worried about him, just like I would be for my other companions as well, she told herself. Isaac just doesn't always take care of himself so I have to watch over him more, Mia rationalized with a slight grin at the thought.

Walking over to the stone basin in front of a mirror, Mia laughed at her appearance. Her hair was indeed reminiscent of the unkempt way Isaac's fell on his head. It definitely looks a lot better that way on him than me though! Mia astutely observed. She smirked before turning a knob to allow the water to flow onto her hands and into the basin.

Cupping her hands, Mia captured some water and used it to wet her hair and calm it down from the eccentric look it had going on. With her hair wet, she was able to reshape her usual ponytail and fix up her appearance to the point of normalcy.

Taking a good look at herself in the mirror to make sure she didn't miss any glaring flaws, Mia smiled. Not bad, she thought. Looks like I managed to beat the bedhead today.

Satisfied, she turned away from the mirror. All right, let's do this. Time to go find the others.

The Mercury adept opened the door of the washroom and left, heading back through Isaac's room and to the door on the far side. Awkwardly, Mia opened the door nice and slow, peaking outside to see if the coast was clear.

Not seeing anyone, she stepped outside, gently closing the door to Isaac's room behind her. Quickly crossing over to her own room, Mia went to grab her things before heading out into the town. As she moved across the hall, Mia noticed she had missed the guard that was standing further down the hall watching her.

"Good morning," the guard said in greeting as Mia passed by. It was the same guard from the other night when Mia had gone over to Isaac's room and suddenly Mia blushed rapidly, realizing what he probably thought was going on.

"Good morning," Mia replied awkwardly, her face turning as red as a beet when the guard winked at her as she passed by, confirming her suspicions. Avoiding any more eye contact, Mia hurried into her room and quickly gathered up the belongings she wanted to bring with her before leaving once again, trying to forget about the guard as she headed for the palace entrance.

Passing through the dining area where she had been before last night's events, Mia noticed the tables had been tidied up and cleaned to look as if nobody had even used them recently. Purposely trying to distract her mind from what just happened, she thought about how it was going to be the first time she would see the city. It's strange to think that I've been here since yesterday, but don't even know what the city is like at all, Mia thought. I was completely out after healing Isaac on the ship and we never left the palace last night either…

Stepping through the double front doors of the palace, Mia was finally greeted by the sight of a bustling city. It was a bright and vibrant place, much unlike the first impressions she had when visiting Ivan's home in Kalay. Wow… was all Mia could think of as she stopped in her tracks and just stared out at the crowds of people milling about.

The market was packed with stalls and vendors selling everything from food to clothing as visitors and townspeople alike milled about in celebration of the biggest event of the year. The din of the crowd could be heard clearly as Mia continued outside, the massive scale of the place providing a respite to her thoughts from earlier.

Feeling refreshed and curious about the city, Mia started down the pathway into the main part of the town. How am I going to find these guys in all of this? Mia wondered, the crush of people making it difficult to try to recognize the familiar faces of her friends in the crowd. I suppose I can wander around a bit and might eventually run into them… Mia thought.

As she passed various stalls, Mia could smell the food being made and a pleasant aroma filled the air. Each vendor offered something a little bit different with everything from meats to soups and pastries available to buy. Other stalls contained various goods and clothing with customers haggling over prices left and right.

As Mia made her way through the crowds in search of her friends, she noticed the occasional person holding their gaze on her longer than usual. I probably stick out quite a bit, Mia analyzed. They must have never seen cerulean hair before.

Paying it no mind, she admired the different shops while simultaneously keeping her eye out for any sign of Isaac, Garet, or Ivan. Stopping in front of a fabric shop, Mia eyed the vibrant color array they had available from oranges and yellows to deep purples and blues. Among the fabric types, Mia noticed they even had some silks that looked like they may have come from up near Xian, though the prices were much higher.

I guess that's how the merchants make a profit off of transporting it, Mia shrugged. Still, the sheer amount of variety they have is incredible. Smiling, she turned away from the shop and continued walking.

It wasn't too hard to differentiate between the tourists and townsfolk that lived in Tolbi. Most of the visitors meandered slowly through the maze of stalls, stopping often to look at various stalls or munching happily on food from some of the vendors. In contrast, the people who lived in Tolbi seemed to have a better idea where they were going and only paid sidelong glances at the wares lining the streets. They all seemed friendly enough and the typical lightweight robes and clothing worn by the locals were well suited to the warmer temperature of the city.

Though it was by no means hot out compared to the experience in the Lamakan Desert, Mia found herself wishing she had dressed a little lighter to accommodate the different climate from the last few towns she was in. Oh well, it's not actually that bad, Mia thought to herself, conceding that it could be much worse.

Forgetting about her nitpick on the weather, she continued wandering down the street, squeezing past people stopped to look at various trinkets. Holding her robe closely to prevent it from snagging on anyone she passed, Mia finally broke through the crowd to a bit of a clearing with a large fountain in the center.

People were much less cluttered here and having some breathing room felt good. Most people were gathered around near the fountain watching others toss coins or larger medals into the fountain one by one. As Mia stood off to the side looking over at the crowd, cheers came out and someone announced a winner of the game they were playing.

A small group of people from the far side of the fountain broke off the rest of the spectators and began walking in Mia's direction. They caught her eye as they approached and Mia was relieved to see the familiar faces of Ivan, Garet, and Isaac.

They looked pleased to see her and Mia was happy to have caught up to them as well. "Hey Mia," Ivan said as they approached.

"Hi everyone," Mia replied, looking to each of her companions in turn and blushing slightly when she saw Isaac. Oh no, not again… Mia groaned inwardly, the awkward events of the night and morning catching her off guard again. Fortunately, none of the three boys noticed the slight change in mannerisms at all and she was able to dismiss the embarrassment.

"Where have you been?" Garet asked. "We tried to find you earlier but you already left your room," he said.

Remembering what Isaac said about herbs to distract the redhead earlier in the morning, Mia decided to change her story a bit so they would not be too in sync. "Sorry," she apologized. "I ended up going for a quick walk in the morning. I needed some fresh air and hadn't been outside yet since getting here," she explained.

"Ah, make sense," Isaac answered her quickly, trying to sell her story to the other two adepts.

Ivan just glanced between the two of them and shrugged. "Well we're glad to have finally caught up to you," he said with a smile. "We were just about to check out this game over here if you want to join us," he offered to the cerulean haired adept.

"Of course," Mia agreed. "Lead the way," she said, indicating the fountain with a gesture from her hand. The four adepts walked across the square together, finding a gap near the edge of the fountain where they could see what was happening.

Approaching the edge, Mia could see the beautifully crafted fountain. It was a large octagonal shape, decorated with small pillars on each point of the edge, complimented by an ornately crafted dragon visage along the back wall.

The center of the fountain was painted with a series of rings to look like a target and apparently the goal of the game was to land a coin or medal in the rings in order to win a prize.

As Mia watched, one person from the crowd stepped up with a gold coin in hand. Facing away from the fountain, the man tossed it behind him to the cheers of the onlookers. The coin arced through the air and bounced, rolling slightly before coming to a rest on one of the outer rings of the target area.

"Congratulations!" the person running the fountain game said. "You've won 5 gold coins!" Pointing at a booth off to the side, the man told the contestant he could collect his winnings from the prize booth. Glancing over at the direction indicated, the 4 adepts saw the prize booth stocked with various items of clothings, adventuring gear, and some other smaller prizes as well.

"Shall we check it out?" Isaac asked the group, curious about what all the prizes were.

"Sure" Ivan replied, and with that the group wandered over to see what was available.

The makeshift tent was small, obviously set up for this day in particular, but the people running it had managed to fit a ton of items inside. Scanning the shelves and bins Mia could see a number of interesting items. Fancy clothing, armors, and weapons all stood out from among the higher end prizes and were interspersed with the lower tier ones as well.

The lower tier items included more mundane items and trinkets, but Mia also noted a rare psy crystal or two among the stash. These rewards are actually pretty good, Mia noted, seeing the boys drooling over the selection of rare weapons and armor they could potentially win.

Smiling to herself, Mia could tell the boys were interested in the game and decided to throw them a bone. "Well, what do you think?" she asked. "You want to give it a shot?"

All three of her companions turned to her with a grin on their faces. "Now that sounds like a plan!" Ivan exclaimed. Garet looked eager to try and Isaac shrugged.

Turning to the man behind the counter, Isaac asked how the game worked and how they could play it. Ivan and Garet listened with rapt attention as the rules were explained. Essentially the point of the game was to throw a medal or coin into the fountain without looking and depending on where it landed either win a prize or a payout of gold. The medals are what allowed receiving prizes like the items, weapons, and various trinkets, while gold just pays out in more gold.

"How much are the medals?" Isaac asked after hearing how the game worked.

"500 gold each," The man answered.

Silently Isaac looked at all his companions in turn to ask their thoughts, but the eager faces of Ivan and Garet were a dead giveaway. Mia smiled and nodded as Isaac looked her way and that was all he needed. Handing the man 2000 gold, Isaac said, "Let's get four medals then."

Handing Isaac the medals, the man smiled. "Good luck to you," he said.

Thanking him, Isaac turned to Ivan, Garet, and Mia and handed a medal to each of them. "Time to see how this goes," he said.

The medal was quite heavy and upon examination, Mia noticed the words "Lucky Medal" inscribed across the bottom of it. Ivan and Garet had already started chatting about what items they wanted if they won the right tier and Mia had to hold back a laugh at how excited they were to test their luck.

"Step right up," The man next to the fountain said. "Who is going to be next?"

Seeing nobody else moving forward, Garet walked up and volunteered. The man spun Garet around to face the opposite direction and let him know he could toss the medal. Garet did so and the medal made a clanking sound as it hit the bottom of the fountain. Mia watch as it rolled around the slightly inwardly sloped basin before stopping a couple rings from the center.

"Not bad!" the announcer exclaimed. "That's a third prize. Feel free to grab your reward from the stand."

Garet thanks the man and stepped down, making way for another of his companions. "That was pretty good wasn't it?" Garet asked the rest of the group, reasonably happy with his result. The other two boys just shrugged and replied that they could do better.

Isaac and Ivan both motioned to Mia to see if she would go next. Looking back and forth between the two boys, Mia decided to give it a shot. She walked up to the platform and turned facing away from the fountain, doing her best to remember where all the rings were positioned and approximately how far away they were.

"Go for it," the announcer said.

Mia took the medal and tossed it over her shoulder without looking until she head the telltale sound of the metal hitting the base of the fountain. Hopefully it's not too bad! She thought as she turned around to see the medal resting squarely on one of the outer rings.

Mia felt a strange mix of disappointment, but relief that she had at least managed to hit one of the rings and not miss entirely. Well, it could have gone worse, she thought with a chuckle.

"Fourth prize!" the announcer said. "Not too bad!"

Thanking the announcer and grabbing the 4th ring prize ticket he handed her, Mia stepped down and back towards her friends. "Hey, at least you hit it," Ivan said, congratulating Mia in his own way.

"All right, you're up," Mia replied, indicating the Jupiter adept. With a smile, Ivan agreed and headed up to test his chances.

Facing away just like the other two, Ivan lobbed the medal high in the air and it came down into the fountain rolling in circles around the rings. As the medal kept going it slowly started moving in towards the center of the rings.

"Oh this one looks good!" the announcer stated and all four adepts looked on in anticipation.

Mia kept her eyes glued to the medal as it continued wobbling closer and closer to the center before finally falling down, touching the center ring.

"Oh wow! Congratulations on winning one of the grand prizes for a near perfect throw!" the announcer yelled out as cheers from other onlookers rained down upon Ivan. With a big grin, Ivan accepted his prize voucher and quickly made it back to the rest of them.

"That was amazing!" Garet exclaimed, excited for his friend's throw. "You always have all the luck," the redhead added.

Ivan just laughed sheepishly. "That turned out better than expected," he said.

Mia couldn't help but to smile. "That's going to be a tough act to follow isn't it Isaac," she asked teasingly, looking over at the blonde boy who had yet to go.

Isaac shrugged dismissively. "I don't know...looks pretty easy to me," he said mockingly, projecting an aura of confidence and bravado the rest knew was his way of joking about it.

Having to back up his talk, Isaac was the last to take the stage, and he lined himself up to take his shot at it. Mia watched once more as Isaac tried to do something similar to Ivan and roll the medal into the center, but it didn't seem to have as much stability after landing as Ivan's did.

Nevertheless, Mia held her breath as it got closer and closer, but finally wobbled and toppled over on the very innermost ring, outside of the center.

"First prize!" The announcer stated, to some more applause from the audience. Isaac turned to his companions and shrugged before accepting his voucher and joining up with them again.

"Well, I got close at least," Isaac said with a laugh as he reached everyone and the group began heading over to the prize stand to see what they could pick up.

Ivan, of course, had his pick of anything in the stand and wasted no time in admiring some of the sleek blades on display. Testing the weight and balance of the weapons, Ivan meticulously poured over his options.

Garet on the other hand, was looking over some of the armor pieces available from his tier of reward and started trying on some spiked gauntlets that Mia felt would compliment his fighting style well.

What should I do with my prize? Mia wondered, seeing Isaac eyeing some clothing off to the side. The choices in front of Mia were mostly vanity items, but did include a few things of practical use as well. Noting the existence of a psy crystal among the fourth tier rewards, Mia couldn't help but to wonder if the townspeople truly understood what it was.

Those crystals are actually pretty valuable because of their ability to boost the effects of psynergy, but they probably just think it's a pretty looking gem, Mia thought, debating on picking it up. I really don't prefer to use them, but it would be handy to have around in case it's necessary later on, she decided.

Always one for practicality, Mia picked up the gem and took it to the manager to redeem with her ticket. Tucking the item safely away with the rest of her belongings, she glanced over to see Ivan and Garet obsessing over the sword that Ivan had finally picked out. Garet is still wearing those gloves too, Mia noted, figuring he must have redeemed those as well.

Isaac was still off to the side on the other end of the stand, around the corner by the clothes, and Mia decided to go join him. Walking over, she managed to reach the blonde boy before he noticed her presence.

"Oh, hey Mia," Isaac said, breaking out of whatever thoughts he was apparently lost in before.

"Hey," Mia replied quickly with a smile, glancing around to see what Isaac was looking over.

To her surprise, Isaac was staring at a wall containing a kimono and some sort of dress that would be completely useless to him. Raising her eyebrow, she turned back to Isaac who scratched his nose sheepishly as he felt Mia's unasked question about what he was doing.

"Well it was going to be a surprise...but I had a hard time deciding between the two..." Isaac stated.

"A surprise?" Mia replied, not sure she was following his train of thought.

"I don't know," Isaac said. "I don't really need any of this gear since everything I have is pretty good and comfortable for me to use already so I figured maybe it would be okay to pick something else out," he explained.

"I know you really like your robes and everything, but thought you might like something a little different sometimes and these caught my eye," Isaac pointed at the two garments hanging on the wall.

As the pieces fit together and Mia realized Isaac was actually shopping for her, a surprised look came over her face and she wasn't quite sure what to say. As Mia just stared mutely at the blonde boy for a few seconds, Isaac tried to fill in the gap. "I thought one of these would look good on you..." he said, a slight pink tinge appearing in his cheeks.

Snapping to her senses, Mia turned her attention toward the clothes Isaac had indicated, with an objection on her lips. "Isaac, I appreciate the thought, but you don't need to get me anything you know…" she said.

"I know, I know," Isaac answered, expecting that sort of reply. "That's why I was planning to just surprise you," he said with a short laugh.

Mia's eyes settled upon the pieces Isaac was looking over. Huh...they're actually really pretty, Mia found herself thinking. The kimono was a deep sea blue with a golden sash around the waist and pattern that reminded her of the ocean waves. The other garment was a casual looking, slightly pinkish cocktail dress that was plain and simple, ending in a pleated skirt. Either one looked suitable for both casual and more formal wear.

"I must admit, you do have good taste though," Mia complemented Isaac, giving credit to him for the find.

"That's good enough for me!" Isaac answered, happy to hear she liked how the garments looked. "Which one do you like better?" The Venus adept asked Mia, fishing for an answer.

Truth be told, they would probably both look really good, she knew. Mia laughed. "I'm not telling you that easily!" she exclaimed with a grin.

"Oh come on Mia," Isaac pleaded, not realizing he couldn't really go wrong with either choice.

"Nope!" Mia stood firm. "If you did decide to get me one...and I'm not saying you should…" Mia paused. "Surprise me," she finished. "That was the point after all wasn't it?" she asked, taking the opportunity to walk away and leave Isaac to his own devices. A dumbfounded Isaac couldn't do anything else but watch as Mia retreated away to go join the other two boys and see what they had picked up.

Secretly the thought of Isaac picking something out for her excited Mia. I don't think I could have decided between the two, Mia thought. I'd rather have whichever one Isaac thinks would look good…

Though excitement at that thought was bubbling up within her, Mia managed to keep a normal expression as she walked up to Garet and Ivan. "Hey you two," she greeted them. "What did you end up getting for your prizes?"

Garet and Ivan were more than willing to show off their shiny new toys and Garet raised one of his hands to make a fist. The spikey gauntlets from earlier easily reflected the light of the midday sun, obviously polished to be showy in the prize booth. "Pretty neat don't you think?" Garet asked, flexing his hand a few times to show off the range of motion within the armored plates.

"That actually looks incredibly well crafted," Mia agreed. "It's not often we find gear offering good protection like that for you that is also easy to move around in," she added.

The unmistakable sound of a blade being drawn caught both adepts attention as Ivan held up the weapon that he had picked up for his grand prize. The hilt was of simple design with a small circular guard on top and polished wood covered by crisscrossing leather strips to form a grip. The actual edge of the blade was sharp on one side and cut up at an angle on the end into a pointed tip along the spine of the weapon. It was too short to truly be called a sword but also too long to be a dagger, resting somewhere in between the two.

"It's perfect for my fighting style," Ivan explained as Mia examined the weapon. "The shorter blade length allows me to use my speed to its fullest potential and will make it easier to attack enemies quickly and dodge any retaliatory strikes."

That makes a lot of sense, Mia found herself agreeing with her friend. "It sounds like you chose wisely then," she replied with a smile.

"What did you end up getting?" Garet asked Mia as she handed the sword back to Ivan.

"Me? I just picked up a psy crystal since I have a lower tier reward," Mia answered. "I figure it might come in handy sometime."

"I thought psy crystals were supposed to be rare?" Ivan voiced as he resheathed his new sword.

"Yeah," Garet chimed in too. "Why would they have a psy crystal among lower tier rewards?"

Mia shrugged. "Who knows? My best guess was that they didn't know its true value."

"Still, that's a great find then," Ivan replied, impressed by the irony of having the luck to find a good reward in the lower tiers.

"That's what I thought too," Mia replied with a smile.

At that moment Isaac walked up with a bag in his hand. Mia immediately knew what it was but Garet and Ivan were curious.

"What did you get Isaac?" Garet asked, indicating the bag by Isaac's side.

Isaac glanced at Mia and winked. "Nothing much," he said. "It's a secret though," he added to try and deter Garet.

Ivan shrugged, looking curiously at the bag as if he could use his Jupiter powers to somehow see inside. Garet was not to be dissuaded however, and laughed. "You're going to play that kind of game?" he asked.

Isaac just shrugged. "I'm serious. You'll probably find out, but for now...don't worry about it."

Garet rolled his eyes. "Hey, whatever you say man," he replied, dropping the subject even though his eyes still glanced at the bag.

Mia did a good job of ignoring the whole situation, though she did blush a bit when Isaac had winked and called it a secret. Well it's obvious he got one of the two...I wonder which though...

"So," Isaac stated. "I'm going to head back to get ready for the actual tournament since it is coming up and all."

"I'll head back as well I think," Ivan said.

"I suppose we might as well all go get ready and see Isaac off," Garet suggested.

Mia nodded in reply. "Sounds good to me too," she added.

Falling in line with Isaac the four members started making their way out of the square and back through the streets toward the palace. As they approached the gates, the guards outside stopped them briefly.

"Hold up!" One of the guards called out.

Looking over the group, he apparently recognized the faces of a few of them because he shortly stepped aside to allow the group to pass. "My apologies," he stated with a bow. "I simply had to make sure you were the guests staying with us. Please go right ahead."

"It's not a problem," Isaac replied with a wave of his hand and a smile. Mia passed by last and overheard one of the guards whisper the word 'Kraken Slayer' to the other.

That's such a silly nickname, Mia thought, holding back a giggle at the ridiculousness of it all. None of the boys had heard it and so she continued on ahead with them through the double doors of the entryway and into the hallways leading to their rooms.

Upon reaching Isaac's room the group stopped. Garet put his arm out and on Isaac's shoulder, looking the blonde boy in the eye. "Well...this is it. Go get ready and we'll be back in a few minutes to get you psyched up and ready to go," he said.

Isaac let out a half laugh as Garet dropped his arm. "Thanks Garet," he said to his long time friend appreciative of his support.

"I'm going to drop all my stuff off so I'm ready for the event," Ivan chimed in. "I'll be back to wish you luck as well."

Isaac nodded and with that both Garet and Ivan headed further down the hall toward their rooms. Mia looked over at Isaac quickly and smiled. "I'm going to go get ready too," she said.

Isaac glanced down. "Okay Mia," he said simply. "...And here. This is for you too," Isaac added, looking back up at the cerulean haired girl while holding the hand with the bag out.

Mia just shook her head with an amused grin. "You really shouldn't have Isaac...but thank you," she said with sincerity. Reaching out her hand, she took the bag from Isaac.

"Like I said to the other two earlier...don't worry about it," he said with a grin.

Mia laughed softly at the joke and shook her head again. "All right then," she answered, giving in.

With that, Isaac opened his door and stepped into his room. "See you in the bit then I suppose," he told her.

"See you soon," Mia replied as Isaac closed the door.

Crossing over to her own room, Mia slipped inside and walked over to the bed, placing her belongings on the ground beside it and laying the bag Isaac gave her on the bed. Ah...I wonder which one it is, Mia thought, letting her curiosity peak again. I should really be getting ready for the tournament...but….

"Ah….forget it," Mia said to herself. Reaching into the bag, Mia pulled out the garment inside and laid it out flat on the bed. The slightly pink cocktail dress from earlier looked back at her as she stared at it. Mercury...it's a pretty dress, Mia thought, examining it once again. He probably figured the Kimono was too similar to my other robes, she realized with amusement. Either way, it was a good pick though…Mia decided with a smile.

Though she didn't want to tear herself away from it just yet, Mia knew she still had to get ready quickly in order to go wish Isaac luck in time. Leaving the dress laying on the bed, she went through her other belongings for a better set of robes to wear to the event.

As she disrobed in preparation to change to her other clothes, she caught another glance of the cocktail dress on the bed out of the corner of her eye. As if tempting her, the dress captivated her gaze and she paused before putting on the robes she intended to wear.

I could try the dress on, a voice in Mia's head said. This event would be the perfect opportunity to wear it too, the voice added. "Oh dear…" Mia said exasperated. "I should really just wear my normal attire," she added to herself.

Isaac picked that out for you, you know, the voice said, trying to get Mia to give in. That was a compelling idea indeed and Mia could feel herself swaying a bit as she considered the thought. Isaac would see it too… The voice tempted her again. Thinking about that got her heart racing a little bit and something about the thought really caught Mia's attention.

Beyond any desire to even make sense of what her mind was saying, Mia shook her head slowly and made her way back over to the bed when the offending dress lay. Reaching out with a hand, she slowly picked it up by the shoulders and looked it over. "Okay, okay…" Mia told herself, trying to calm her heart a little bit. "What could it hurt to wear it?"

Slipping the dress on, Mia felt the soft fabric fall into place and was happy to see that it was extremely comfortable to wear. Stepping over in front of the mirror in the room to see how it looked, Mia noticed though it was tight against her upper body and torso, the pleated skirt flowed out nicely from the hips and the color accented her skin tone well.

Wow, Mia thought, admiring the look on her. It looks even better than I thought it would. Running her hands along the skirt to smooth it out a bit, Mia turned to look at herself from a different angle and reaffirmed her initial assessment that it looked good. It definitely clings pretty tightly to my body, Mia observed, noting how it showed off her curves from months of exercise fighting monsters. She blushed slightly, but tried to hold her confidence above embarrassment.

Mia briefly considered letting her ponytail down, but quickly stopped herself. No, no! That would be too much all at once. It would look like I'm trying too hard, she thought. Letting out a deep breath, Mia decided she was ready.

With one last look at the front, and a small adjustment to the shoulder, she turned toward the door to go meet up with the others. Feeling somewhat nervous, Mia turned the handle on her door and opened it to step outside. As she did, she was greeted by the sight of Ivan and Garet near Isaac's closed door, waiting for the blonde boy to be ready to go.

As Mia closed the door behind her, Ivan and Garet heard the noise and turned toward her. Both boys were wearing slightly better clothes than usual as well, but nothing as radically different as Mia. Surprise radiated across both their faces as Mia looked at them before walking over to where they were standing.

"Uh...hey Mia," Ivan finally said in greeting as the Mercury adept tried to calm her nerves.

"Hey," she replied simply, keeping her voice steady.

Garet just looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "Dressing up tonight are we?" he asked pointedly. He didn't even realize Mia owned clothing like that, and decided that he didn't believe it.

"Wait…" he said starting to catch on. "Don't tell me Isaac's prize-" Garet was cut off by Ivan though.

"It totally is. It has to be," Ivan said looking at Mia's expression to determine the truth before chuckling to himself. "Oh this is too good…" Ivan said trailing off with a smug expression.

"What?" Mia asked pointedly, trying to understand what they were going on about. "Do I look too funny?" she added, worried that the change might have been a bit too much.

"No, no," Ivan reassured her. "Don't worry. You look fine," he said.

There are sure a lot of people saying 'don't worry' tonight, Mia mused, deciding not to push the point further since she was embarrassed enough already as it was. Fortunately she was saved the trouble of dwelling on it when Isaac's door opened.

"Hey guys, thanks for wait-" Isaac said as he stepped outside and saw his friends standing there for him. His voice stopped and he ceased moving as he laid his eyes on Mia. An awkward tension filled the air as Isaac just stared at the cerulean haired girl, dumbfounded.

"Wow," was all he said, echoing Mia's thought from trying her dress on just a couple minutes ago. Her embarrassment grew as Isaac continued to stare, until she fidgeted slightly out of nervousness. Oh Mercury… was all she could think.

A burst of laughter from Ivan and Garet broke the tension in the moment as well as Isaac's trance, snapping the blonde boy back to reality. He must have had some grasp of what just happened, because Isaac quickly became extremely flustered.

"Err...I..what I meant to say…" Isaac tried to recover, his face resembling a tomato more and more every passing second. "What I was trying to say was...you...look good," he got out.

Mia felt a blush of her own taking over at the compliment, but also the awkward reaction of Isaac seeing her in the dress for the first time. "Uh..thanks?" was all Mia could trust herself to say, but she accidentally phrased it like a question.

"In the dress I mean!" Isaac felt the need to clarify in response to Mia's odd sounding reply.

Garet and Ivan were thoroughly enjoying the awkward exchange happening right in front of their faces. It was almost like Isaac and Mia were oblivious to the other two adepts failing to hold back thier laughter.

"Ok, ok…you're killing me," Ivan finally said, out of breath from laughing too much. "Enough flirting for now," he commented, breaking up the attempt at a conversation the two embarssed adepts were trying to have.

Mia and Isaac's faces turned beat red and they both glanced away from each other to break eye contact in response to Ivan chiming in. Garet was holding himself up against the far wall with his arm for support, clearly also recovering from a fit of laughter.

"I...uh...the tournament," Isaac said as all the adepts started to calm down a bit.

"Yes, we should go," Mia found herself agreeing, her mind a blur, trying to return to a sense of normalcy.

Trying to play off the embarrassment, Isaac headed down the hall with the other adepts in tow toward where the contestants needed to be. Mia felt mostly numb and just walked along with everyone else on the way to their destination. Focusing on putting one foot in front of the other, Mia watched her steps to calm herself.

Looking up only occasionally, she was finally feeling more under control when she decided to glance over at Isaac. Right after she did, she saw Isaac turn and sneak a glance back at her, causing both adepts to quickly look away again.

All Mia's efforts were for naught as the brief eye contact was enough to set off a rush of emotion again in the Mercury adept. She didn't mind the attention, but that didn't stop her from being self conscious about it. Calm! Calm… Mia told herself, struggling once again to control her feelings as they walked along.

We must have reached the place Isaac needs to be, Mia realized as they group came to a stop. Looking up once again, she saw Isaac talking to a guard who was about to let him into the staging room for all the contestants.

Ivan and Garet were giving Isaac encouragement and wishing him luck. Then came Mia's turn. As Isaac moved past the two boys and finally looked at her again, Mia mustered up a smile. "Good luck Isaac," she said simply, giving him a genuine smile.

Isaac kept his eyes laser focused on Mia's face and smiled back. "I appreciate it. Thanks Mia," he answered, without the awkward feeling from their last discussion. Lingering with his smile for just a second longer, Isaac turned away and went with the guard to handle the final preparations.

As Isaac disappear through another set of doors, Garet spoke up. "Well...should we go find some seats for the event then?" he asked.

"What? Oh...yes," Mia answered slightly distracted before Ivan chimed in.

"I think we have some seats assigned for us actually thanks to Isaac being in it," the blonde boy said.

"Lead on then," Garet chimed in.

Falling in line the trio headed back through the palace towards where the arena for Colosso was set up of to the side of the main palace. Reaching the gate at the entrance, Mia could see a huge line snaking out around the grounds as visitors waited to get into the event while order was kept by the guards directing people.

Ivan led them past some of the line and up to a guard with a piece of parchment in hand at another smaller gate. As they approached, the guard look up and glanced over them. "This entrance is for people with the contestants," he explained. "If that's you, I need names and the name of the competitor."

"Ivan, Garet, and Mia here to see Isaac compete," Ivan said, rattling everyone's name off quickly.

The guard scanned the list in his hand and looked up with a smile. "Looks like everything is in order. Welcome and be sure to enjoy the event," he said, waving them through.

The VIP treatment felt weird to Mia, but she didn't comment on it as they walked through and into the arena. The sight was breathtaking and the three adepts slowed down to admire the place. Huge sections of stands surrounded the center stage where contestants would presumably be.

The whole place was an amazing feat of engineering, decorated with polished stone and beautifully carved statues along the stands, all drawing focus toward the center stage that was set up with an obstacle course and arena.

"Look at this place…" Ivan said in amazement as they found their seats in a separate spectator box set up for the contestants guests.

"It's quite the spectacle," Mia admitted, sitting down on one of the chairs next to Garet to watch the show.

Visitors from all over continued pouring into the arena as the three adepts looked on. Mia fidgeted in her chair, trying to get comfortable and eventually the stands looked packed and the trickle of people entering the arena slowed down, indicating the main event would soon begin.

"It should be interesting to see Isaac compete in this," Ivan said. "I wonder how most of the crowd will react to his psynergy…"

That's actually a good point considering most of them have probably never met someone who could use it before and might not know what is going on, Mia thought. "I suppose we'll just have to find out," she replied. Ivan continued to examine the arena and obstacle course that was set up to get an idea of what the contestants were doing, and ended up standing up again.

"Now that we found our seats, I'm going to ask one of the guards where we can expect to see Isaac once the event starts since nobody really explained it," he stated, getting nods from both Mia and Garet before walking off.

As Ivan left, Mia felt a nudge in her side. Looking over at Garet's retracting elbow, Mia gave him a questioning look. Garet grinned. "Speaking of Isaac…." he started to say.

Oh no...please not now, Mia thought, exasperated at the idea of thinking about the awkward moments fresh in her mind again.

"So in all seriousness, he got that dress for you as his prize didn't he?" Garet finished saying softly enough for just Mia to hear.

Mia sighed. I feel like I'm never going to hear the end of it if I don't say something, she thought. Glancing over at the Mars adept, she relaxed her tense posture. "He did," she admitted. "I even told him not to, but he insisted," Mia added.

Garet chuckled. "So he did get it for you…" he trailed off as if thinking about something else. "You know...sometimes it's funny to sit back and watch you two," Garet stated.

"What do you mean?" Mia asked, glancing around the arena briefly to see how things were going before looking back at Garet questioningly.

"Nothing nothing…" the redhead answered. "That's something you'll have to figure out for yourself," he added smugly.

What is he talking about right now? Mia asked herself, trying to make sense of Garet's unusually cryptic statement.

Garet shook his head at her. "You seem puzzled," he observed.

"I'm just not used to you talking in such a roundabout way," Mia answered truthfully. "Usually you're so...blunt," she said.

"How rude!" Garet exclaimed quietly, feigning being offended. Mia didn't buy it and Garet dropped the act when he realized she was not going to react to it.

Instead the Mars adept went with a different tactic. "Have you wondered why Isaac got you that dress yet?" he asked.

Mia was caught off guard a bit about the question out of the blue, but recovered fairly quickly. Not really actually...just what he told me, she thought.

"Well...he said it was because he thought I'd like something other than my robes for a change sometimes," Mia replied, parroting what Isaac had said to her originally.

Garet inclined his head towards Mia and gave her a skeptical look as if to ask, 'Are you sure about that?'

Instead of speaking he indicated Mia to lean closer. Trying to see what his answer would be, Mia did so and Garet cupped his hand to whisper into her ear.

"What if Isaac got the dress for you because he wanted to see you in it?" Garet whispered as softly as he could.

Mia's gut reaction was to lean away quickly deny the ridiculous notion. "Garet!" she exclaimed, hitting him lightly on the arm in an embarrassed, but playful manner.

Garet just let out a laugh at Mia's reaction and dropped the insinuation, but internally Mia's mind was at work once again.

What IF that was the reason he wanted to get me the dress? She wondered.

Mia found that question to be an interesting one to try to answer.


AN: This chapter took a lot longer to write than I wanted it to unfortunately because I originally began writing it with a completely different premise and ended up scrapping it and re-writing the entire thing. I think the way this one goes will ultimately be much more satisfying in the end so I hope you continue to enjoy the story!