Blaze and Flora entered the bustling town looking for the coliseum. Blaze and Flora had argued about where to look for information first; Blaze wanting to search for scholars and Flora wanting to find able warriors. After a brief sparring session, Flora's idea was selected. Blaze felt somewhat lethargic during the duel, which Flora picked up on. He dismissed it as being overworked.
"Over there!" Flora pointed at a large banner hung over a stairway near the town port, "Let's go sign up."
Blaze navigated through the crowd as best as he could. It was difficult with the amount of people gathered in the streets. Were they not on an important quest, he might have enjoyed watching the people gathered around peculiar wooden objects hanging on strings or a musician that sounded like he was tuning his instrument, and then stopping to bow.
As he made his way through, his path was suddenly blocked by what looked like an angel. He tried stopping, but the crowd made it difficult and he felt himself being pushed forwards.
"Whoa!"
"Aaah!"
They hit the ground with a heavy thud.
"Oops. Are you ok? Sorry about that," Blaze apologised, getting up and helping the angel up. Then he realised that it was just a boy wearing white clothes. He got up and brushed some of the dust off his back.
"It's alright. Don't worry about it." Blaze gave him a reassuring smile and pat on the shoulder as he walked past to sign up for the tournament.
Patroklos' name was already on the sheet along with Benjamin's and Kalen's. Now he was spending some time wandering around town enjoying the sights, something he didn't have a lot of time to do. The town felt so different to his home in Athens. It was shaped like a large semicircle with part of the arc overhanging the ocean. The main dirt road through the middle of the town branched into several smaller streets, paved with golden stones. There were a few forests around the outside of town and small trees lining the roads in places. Among the houses and buildings, flowers of all colours grew, releasing some of the most exotic smells in the air. It gave the town a lively, yet rustic feel to it.
As it was the day of the tournament, several performers had gathered in the streets to display talent in exchange for coin. There was a man with a dangerous looking serpent draped around his limbs, a group of singers belting out a tune he didn't recognise, but sounded lovely and vibrant, a female jester doing handstands while twirling hoops around her legs, a man walking on two long wooden sticks above his head and many other colourful people.
Kalen was waiting in the actual arena. At the edge of the port, there were staircases that lead down to a magnificent under cover area. From above, it looked like a series of concentric circles, which were the large stairs that acted as seats. In the middle was a pool of flowing water and large bronze bars were placed there that could be raised or lowered using a water-tank system. A large white tiled arena was placed within with stairs on either side that lead to paths. Banners of different colours and sizes hung from the roof, completing the simple yet grand design.
Kalen didn't normally think about interior design. Well, he didn't think about much at all to be honest. His job as a freedom fighter was over now and there wasn't much left for him to do. He thought to himself why he was helping out these two boys when he hardly knew either of them.
"Hey, Kalen." There was a metal clang as a double edged, single handed viking sword landed behind him. Benjamin was standing there, smiling.
"I thought we were running low on funds."
"I ran a couple of errands for the shopkeeper. You need a better weapon anyway." Kalen had to agree there. The sword he stole from the armoured guard wasn't holding well and was denting in places. He took the new sword, his chain of thought being ended with a definitely nice reason.
"Thanks, Benjamin."
A few hours later, the stairs of the coliseum were filled with people. All 16 participants were ready, most of them waiting in the front row while the first two warriors battled it out. Patroklos was tightening the grip on his weapons as he watched the two men attacking with vigour and speed like he'd never seen. The fight was seriously intense and it was hard to tell who was winning until one of them delivered a powerful slash down the other's torso, knocking them down. The announcer counted down from ten, signalling a victory for the first warrior. Benjamin looked over at Patroklos and patted his back.
"Feeling nervous?"
"Yes I am, actually. I'm not nearly as good as that. I've lost a lot of fights since I started this journey."
"I beg to differ. You beat four different bandits, then the bandit leader, and fought through about 20 guards before we met Kalen. Are you saying those weren't victories?"
Before Patroklos could answer, he heard a voice bellow over the crowd.
"Calling Patroklos Alexandra!"
He gave a grateful smile to Benjamin before getting up and heading to the preparation area. There was a lot on his mind recently. During that night in Götterdäm when he overheard Benjamin talking, he had convinced himself that it was a bad dream. But he couldn't help but analyse every conversation he had with Benjamin. So far, Benjamin had treated him with nothing less than friendship, loyalty and devotion and it would be wrong to question him, but still...
"Fight!"
Patroklos was brought back to the real world at the sight of the warrior in front of him. It was a very large man holding a massive battle axe. He turned and prepared to swing. Patroklos was too fast for him, easily ducking under his swing while dashing forward and stabbing. He tilted his blade at just the right time, allowing him to follow up with a second slash. The man got up and grabbed Patroklos by the throat. Effortlessly picking him up, he threw him against the tiled floor. He landed hard and winded himself, but quickly got up with a somersault double kick. As he landed he charged forward with his shield, turned to the left for another swipe and finished with an uppercut, sending the man into the air. As the man landed behind him, Patroklos made several quick stabs at the ground, forcing his hands away from his weapon, which Patroklos quickly kicked into the waters surrounding the platform. Unwilling to admit defeat, he got up and lunged at Patroklos with his bare hands. Remembering the conflict with the mountain bandits, Patroklos' backflip kick once again knocked his opponent out cold. As the countdown from ten reached one, cheers erupted from around the arena, particularly from Benjamin and Kalen.
"Oh. That's the kid I ran into before." Blaze commented as the boy waved to the audience. He helped the other man to his feet and took him to the medic before he left the arena.
"Hm...I don't know if he knows much about Soul Edge though."
"You never know, Flora. There's something about that kid that seems special."
"Calling Flora Tunia!"
"Looks like you're up next. Good luck."
Flora winked at Blaze as she headed to the arena. She took a quick peek at her opponent. It was a red-haired boy with orange and brown clothes. He was pretty muscular for someone his age.
'Right. Focus, Flora,' she thought as she unsheathed her blade.
"Fight!"
The boy made the first move, hurling a dagger at Flora. She slashed it, redirecting its path into the bronze bars. He hurled another dagger, this one aimed at her feet. Flora easily flipped over it and closed the distance between them with a long vertical slash. Then the boy began using his sword to fight her in a unique battle. He was using a defend-and-counter fighting style whereas Flora's sword moved in continuous, flowing, aggressive slashes. Occasionally a dagger would fly through the air between them, which Flora would easily deflect away. Then the boy threw two daggers at once, which Flora had to block individually. The boy quickly used this chance to punch at her sword arm, making her lose grip on her jian. He caught the sword in his free arm and prepared to fight the two swords.
'Ok, don't panic. He's probably not used to two swords at once.' Flora thought to herself as she twisted one of her bracelets. The boy charged at her with both swords.
Kalen didn't understand it, but having two weapons seemed to make fighting a lot harder. He was having trouble coordinating both swords at once, allowing the girl he was facing to deliver some painful kicks and punches. Deciding to cut his losses, he discarded her sword into the waters around the platform. She clearly didn't like her sword being tossed into the pool like that, since she followed this up with a double sliding kick that knocked him over. Kalen slashed near the ground a few times but could never seem to hit this girl. She was fighting, yes, but it looked more like she was dancing. As she evaded his attacks, she was able to gather a few of the daggers lying around. She wasn't as adept at throwing them as Kalen was, but having a bunch of daggers flying towards you makes you stop for a moment to block them; a moment that she used to grab and twist his wrist, flip over his back and hurl him into the water. The commentator called a victory for the girl.
Kalen surfaced, sputtering. The girl smiled as she knelt by the water.
"While you're down there, could you get my sword back please?"
Kalen returned to his seat, frustrated and soaking wet. Patroklos offered him a towel to dry himself.
"It's ok. You did your best."
"Dang, it's up to you two now," Kalen sighed as he dried his face, "and you're up next, Benjamin."
"Calling Benjamin Ukyo."
"Calling Kasaiko Hotaru."
Flora gave Blaze a little nudge as he went to the preparation area. He was fighting another boy, similar in age to the two he already witnessed. When the match was started, neither of them moved. When the cheering died down, a murmur spread through the crowd.
A couple of seconds later, there were hundreds of weapon clashing sounds as Blaze launched into a rapid slashing and dodging frenzy while Benjamin spiralled his staff in defence while delivering quick kicks to break the combo. It was a very even match; whenever Blaze gained a momentary advantage, Benjamin would regain that advantage a split second later. Eventually, Benjamin was knocked near the edge of the arena, but he pushed back on his block and made Blaze stumble. He struck him across the stomach with this staff to knock him down and raised his staff to knock him out. There were screams from the crowd.
"Benjamin!"
Benjamin stopped and looked to the crowds for Patroklos. His name was called in a panicked tone. Blaze rolled out of the way and was about to retaliate when he saw the crowds as well. They were all running for the exits, even some of the other combatants.
"Lizardmen! And Astaroths!"
Lizardmen were gathering around the arena. Patroklos was in the middle of the stands, fighting two Astaroth's at once. Kalen was rushing to help him, but was punched by one of the Astaroths and sent into the far side of the stands.
"Lower the bars! Now!" Benjamin called, but the engineer who controlled the tanks had also legged it. Flora saw this and fought her way to the holding area, pulling the trigger that emptied the tanks. The bars were falling, but too slowly. Benjamin impatiently ran at the edge of the platform, then pole-vaulted up near the top of the bars and climbed over. He took out a couple of Lizardmen on the way down. He fought as hard as he could, striking and kicking Lizardmen out of the way.
Patroklos realised he couldn't beat both at once and was dodging around the stairs to get away from the two giants. Then he was grabbed from behind by giant hands. He struggled, his arms and weapons stuck by his sides. He tried screaming for help, but his breath was being squeezed out of him. The Astaroths grunted, and started carrying their prey off.
"Patroklos!" Benjamin continued fighting past Lizardmen while rushing towards the exit. A Lizardman threw an axe at him and Benjamin smacked into the path of another Astaroth, stopping its charge. Then he kicked it and used it as a spring board to use a leap strike on another lizardman. He was fighting so hard and they were falling at an increasingly fast rate, but he wasn't making any ground; especially past the wall of three giants blocking him. After dodging a few heavy axe swipes a stream of red sparks flew past him as a red blade cut into the middle giant. Flora leaped over Blaze and cut at its eyes.
"Go! Your friend needs you!" Blaze yelled, preparing to fight the one on the left.
"We can handle things here." Flora added, pointing her sword at the one on the right.
"But there's too many..." Benjamin started, staring at the enemies behind those giants still to be faced. There were some flashes of light as daggers pierced through several enemies. Benjamin looked up to see Kalen swinging off one of the banners.
"Go, Benjamin!"
Benjamin nodded, dashing past the Astaroths and through the lizardmen to follow Patroklos.
Patroklos kept struggling, restricted by the giant's arms. He felt himself passing out slowly from being squeezed so hard. He looked around trying to find the leader of these monsters.
"Good job, boys."
The jester from town walked into view. She had a large metal bladed ring hung over her shoulder. She removed her mask and revealed her face. Patroklos was frozen in fear. It was the girl who took Pyrrha's soul. She approached Patroklos and leaned towards him.
"I've been after your soul for a long time now. Ever since I met that wretch of a woman you call a mother."
Patroklos felt rage flare up inside him, but he was still helpless in his position. The girl brought her face even closer, smirking.
"And now that I've finally isolated you from your precious friends, I can bring you to your sister"
Patroklos spat in her face. She was irritated, but simply wiped it off and laughed.
"Enjoy that spite while you can, because you won't be feeling anything else after this." She was now inches away from his face, preparing to take the soul from his body. Patroklos kept trying to break free, but the Astaroth holding him was too strong and he was running out of breath.
'...No...this can't be it,' he thought.
A heavy slashing sound broke the silence as both the Astaroths behind the girl fell dead. She turned and drew her weapon.
"What? Who's there?"
There were more slashes as the Astaroth holding Patroklos was also struck down. The girl raised her weapon in a random direction blocking the strike of a purple ninja. She landed on the ground next to her and drew her blade.
"Minion of Soul Edge, die."
They stared each other down; Corundum was clearly not intimidated by the jester and she in turn not feeling the least bit compelled to fight this ninja.
"Hmph. I don't even feel like killing you..."
She turned and jumped into the treetops, leaving black raven feathers in her wake.
"...yet." This was followed by maniacal laughter.
Patroklos coughed and gasped, trying to catch his breath. He got into a kneeling position to look at his rescuer.
"You! You're that girl. A-Are you feeling better now?" He started getting up, but she pointed her sword at his neck.
"I don't understand you."
"W-What do you mean? You can hear what I'm saying, can't you?" Patroklos replied, leaning back and away from the blade.
"Not that, you. You in person. How can you act like that?"
"Like what? Am I doing something wrong?" Patroklos fell into a sitting positing and was backing himself against a tree trunk.
"That dark influence in your blood. You should be following that sword, but you're fighting it. It shouldn't be possible. Who are you?"
"You...you can feel that?" Patroklos relaxed himself a bit, finally having an explanation to this interrogation. He started telling his story, from his mother's journey to his current mission. As the tales left Patroklos' mouth, the tension left Corundum's arm. She tightened it when he mentioned Taki rescuing his mother, but upon hearing about his sister she sheathed her sword.
"You're a victim too."
"Were you also influenced by that blade?" Patroklos asked, standing up. She turned away.
"Oh...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"...No...It's not your fault. And you shared your story."
It was hard for her to explain why, but she in turn shared her story about her possession, the death of her master and how Taki was now fighting for Soul Edge rather than against it.
"You don't have to do this alone."
"I have to. Bringing others into this only brings further hurt"
"But I'm already involved with this. Please, let me help you."
Corundum looked up into his eyes. She saw the same sincerity and honesty. Perhaps she could trust him. No, after what he did, she knew she could trust him. She nodded as footsteps arrived behind them.
"Patroklos!" Benjamin arrived at the clearing with Kalen, Blaze and Flora close behind. There was an awkward silence.
"You!"
"You?"
"You..."
"Me!" Kalen added, to lighten the mood. Patroklos shot him an uneasy look and Corundum glared at him, but the others laughed. Corundum turned her focus to Blaze.
"I thought I told you not to follow me."
"I didn't. I went to Ming like I intended, but we were attacked by one of the Astaroths," Blaze started. Flora backed him up.
"We also found some sort of underground shrine that housed creatures like these called 'Astaroth X'. They're connected to Soul Edge. If we have strength to fight it, then we want to help."
"Wait, did it look like this?" Patroklos drew a symbol in the dirt on the ground with his finger. Blaze nodded.
"It's not X. It's χ (chi). A Greek letter. Some say 'kye,' but the meaning is the same. Death." There was an uneasy silence for a moment. "My mother was represented by Ω. She was the Omega Warrior; the last...well, almost." Patroklos looked at his sword as he said this.
Corundum looked down for a second, then back at Blaze.
"You're carrying those shards..."
Blaze handed over the Soul Edge fragment as well as the pebbles from Astaroth X, sorry, Astaroth χ. Corundum purified the pebbles, but when she turned to the shard, Kalen grabbed it. Corundum glared at him again.
"Look. It's reacting to something." And he was right. Part of the shard was glowing and when it was turned, the glowing part moved to compensate its new coordination. Blaze took out one of his maps.
"It looks like it's pointing towards...Germany?"
"Then that's where we'll go next." Flora said.
"Not yet," Benjamin shook his head, "We need to check if the town is safe."
As the group returned to the town, they were greeted with tremendous applause from the entire town. Having driven off the monsters, the six of them were hailed as heroes and were rewarded with the prize money from the tournament.
("But they attacked because of me...")
("Quiet, Patroklos! They don't need to know that!")
With renewed motivation, a sense of where to go next and financial security, they followed the evil shard to their next destination, which Patroklos had an inkling as to where it might be.
The place his mother defended all those years ago.
