Chapter 4; Colosso
His horse gratefully ate his portion of hay, while he kept pondering about what that guy had said.
'If you wish to grow old, don't slow the aging process, but make it count until it's over. How'd he come up with that?' he wondered as he left the stables.
As he got out of the stables, he went to the Inn, to meet up with a certain somebody.
He calmly strode over to the table, where the very same man sat. The man looked up.
"Oh, hi Zealot, what took you?" the man asked.
"Oh shut up Scott, I was a little too tied up to go anywhere!" Zealot said angrily as his golden eyes sparkled angrily behind his hood.
The scar on his face, was one of the many scars he had.
Zealot had been named after his father, whom he'd seen only once, as a spirit, when he had faced Kai. His parents had been killed after he'd been born, by none other than Kai. Zealot had been raised by a Venus Djinni, which was rather hard to believe for some people. But Canyon had never left Zealot, and staid with him to give him advice.
Zealot had a special gift, something he rarely used.
He could sense the Elemental Stars. He had sensed the disappearance of the Jupiter Star, but it had vanished, rather fast. It was either destroyed, or someone was using some sort of veil over the Star to keep it undetected. The last option was out, that's for sure. Zealot had yet to face someone with a power so great. Still, the woman that Kai had been talking to, Ema-something, kept talking about a woman, who had the Jupiter Star. Zealot didn't really understand what the woman meant, but it wasn't important, for now.
"Huh?? What happened then??" Scott asked.
"It was as I expected. Kai's behind this, but this time, he's not alone, and there are two Uranus Adepts this time," Zealot said, keeping his cool as he sat down.
"What?!?!" Scott asked, eyes as wide as saucers. "B-b-but how…"
"I don't know okay? In any case, it's going to be…"
Zealot stopped as he heard something that caught his attention.
"What?" Scott asked, but Zealot shushed him.
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"I still wonder what Shine meant with Saturn and Uranus Djinnis. I mean, where do they come from?" Sara asked, drinking some soda through a straw.
"Luna Sanctum, remember? He said so himself," Zeros mumbled, taking a swig of his drink.
"Smart guy," Rander said, and placed his empty mug on the table. "Well, then where is this Luna Sanctum then? Hmmm?"
"How should I know?! I've never been there before, have you?"
Rander was silent.
Onyx suddenly noticed a boy on a different table, looking at them from under a hood. She noticed the boy's golden eyes, and the boy hurriedly looked away, as if trying to show he wasn't looking at them. Onyx felt a headache come up, and it hurt.
"Onyx?" Zeros asked. "You alright?"
"Yeah, just a headache, that's all," Onyx said.
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Brett, Eve, Erica and Anthony entered the huge city, and were impressed by the size of it.
"Wow! This is one big town!" Eve said in admiration.
Anthony didn't really bother, he'd been to Tolbi with his father before, yet never during Colosso.
"However, there's still one problem," Brett said.
Erica nodded.
"How are we supposed to enter in Colosso?"
It was that particular moment, that Zealot decided to show himself, while walking out of the Inn. Erica spotted him first, and gasped.
"You?!" she demanded, and Zealot looked up, a little confused, until he saw who was with the purple haired girl.
Brett growled angrily.
"Who are you?! And why in Sol's name did you leave without apologizing to Eve for what you almost did?!" he demanded.
Zealot didn't respond at first, then said, while crossing his arms over his chest: "Hey, no one's been killed. You should be happy about that."
Anthony bared his teeth in anger, and was about to retort, when a smooth feminine voice said: "Hola, hola, hola! Save the fightin' for Colosso will ya?!"
They looked toward the source of the voice, which was a woman of around 16, by the way she looked, but her eyes spoke of wisdom beyond her years.
She had black hair that came to her waist, was about 6'5, had two braids in her hair in a vertical line on her scalp, and had a pair of scorching red eyes. Her ears were sharply pointed, indicating that she belonged to the Fire Clan Of The North. She wore red pants with a black skirt attached, a red shirt with the bottom pulled through the top to make a tank top out of it, wore red clawed gloves with the fingers cut off, and red heels with the heels cut off, making her walk on the frontal part of her feet. Around her waist, was a bag.
"It's what Colosso's for, right?" she asked.
Brett looked confused, and asked: "Why do you even intervene?!"
"Just trying to prevent a fight alrigh?" the woman said, then added, "Those are for Colosso."
Zealot rolled his eyes and said: "Is that the only thing you think of, Cecilia?!"
"It's the only thing you can think of, Zealot!" the woman, obviously named Cecilia, said.
Zealot snorted, and walked off.
"You shouldn't bother with Zealot, he's cold on the outside, but he can care for people if he wants to."
Eve looked at Cecilia, and asked: "Why did you help us, Miss… Cecilia, was it?"
Cecilia nodded and said: "Yep, that's me name! And I told you why I helped. The fights are for Colosso, not for on the street!"
Erica looked confused, and looked at the retreating form of Zealot.
"Who was that guy anyway?"
"That was Zealot. He's an okay guy when he wants to be, which isn't often. Doesn't really talk about his past. Anyway, you gonna enter in Colosso or not?" Cecilia asked.
Brett and Anthony exchanged glances, and Brett said: "If we can get in, we would, but we're probably not old enough."
Cecilia looked confused, then smiled, and said: "Not to worry, I know Babi mighty well, I might be able to get you guys into Colosso."
The four of them accepted Cecilia's offer, and she left to Babi's palace.
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Brett looked around his friends, and wondered if they could all enter Colosso. They'd have to fight alone though, which was something they weren't quite used to. Well, Anthony probably was, but, Erica, Eve, and himself, mostly fought together, instead of alone.
Eve and Erica were waiting anxiously for Cecilia to return to them, while Anthony was looking out the window, watching the people walk about, when his eyes widened.
"Uh… Brett, come look at this," Anthony said, motioning for Brett to come over.
Brett did so, and looked outside. Brett blinked, a little shocked by what he saw. Walking toward the large building, was a very familiar person. One with silver hair and sapphire blue eyes.
Zeros.
But… he wasn't alone this time. Rander was with him too, as well as two girls. When the four entered the Inn, Zeros stopped, and blinked.
"Hey, it's you guys again."
Eve smiled at him.
"Hi! How are you?"
"Fine, thank you."
Rander snorted and rolled his eyes. Brett felt jealousy building up inside of him, but he kept his yap shut.
"Zeros, who are they?" a black haired girl asked.
"Just some people I'd bumped into while I was in Vault," Zeros answered.
"Quite literally!" Erica added, and her and Eve giggled.
Zeros rolled his eyes, though not in an annoyed way.
"Yeah well, accidents happen."
After some brief introduction, the eight fighters spread out, or talked for awhile, which was what the girls did. Zeros didn't seem to be the best company in the world, but, when someone addressed him, he was nice enough.
"Hey Zeros, how long have you been fighting anyway?" Anthony asked, pure out of curiosity.
"A long time," Zeros said, gazing out the window at the darkening sky.
Brett looked a little suspicious, and he wondered: 'Why won't he tell us how long he's been fighting? Is he hiding something?'
Zeros sighed and said: "I lost count of the years so I don't know how many years I've been fighting. You happy now?"
At that last sentence, Zeros looked at Brett, who was gaping.
Eve was about to retort, when Cecilia entered the Inn.
"Hey everybody! Well, I managed to get you people in!" she said, a smile on her face.
Brett, Eve, Anthony and Erica smiled too, as did Onyx, Rander and Sara, who knew what it was for, but Zeros didn't do anything about it.
Cecilia's smile suddenly dropped as she said: "And that's the good news."
Everyone looked confused, except for Zeros.
"What's the bad?" Eve asked, almost afraid to ask.
"Zealot's entering as well…"
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Brett sat on his bed, pondering on the events that had taken place. Tomorrow was the big day; Colosso. For some reason, Brett had a bad feeling about fighting Zealot. Zealot was hiding his true power, though Brett had no idea how that kid did it. He still found it hard to believe that Zealot was still a child. But, Zealot had won Colosso 2 times in a row already, meaning he was good.
However, Zeros hadn't been concerned in the least, and Brett had heard from Onyx, that Zeros was entering in Colosso as well. Either he hid it well, or he wasn't worried in the least. Something wasn't right here. There was something wrong with Zeros.
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As usual, Zeros wasn't asleep. He was watching the moon and stars. His head was swarming with different thoughts.
That Zealot… Zeros didn't know why, but he could've sworn he'd heard that name before. He tried to remember, but it only gave him a headache.
'Too far back,' Zeros thought, softly shaking his head.
"Shouldn't you be asleep? Colosso's tomorrow, remember?" an unfamiliar voice said.
Zeros turned around, and instantly noticed the boy standing against a tree, arms crossed over his chest.
"Unless you want to be dead-tired in the morning, you should get some rest," the boy said, a smirk playing on his lips.
"Ch, I've been living like this for as long as I can remember, so stop acting like I can't take care of myself," Zeros replied, just as smoothly as the boy.
"Hey, I'm just trying to help," the boy continued.
"Then don't." Zeros turned away from the boy, and continued to gaze at the stars.
"I'm Zealot, by the way, and you are?" the boy asked.
"Zeros."
Zeros didn't really bother, but, that name… it was so familiar.
Zealot looked at Zeros as he continued to watch the stars.
"You don't seem to like people who don't want to die," Zealot suddenly said.
Zeros looked around, confused.
"I heard what you said to that group of yours."
Zeros snorted, and looked at the sky again.
"People were meant to live, then die, not to live on forever. If a person dies, there's nothing that can be changed about it. The process can be slowed, and in rare cases, completely stopped. But I could care less," Zeros said.
Zealot blinked.
"And they say I'm heartless. You should really hear yourself talking. They really need to rewrite the word 'heartless' in their dictionary."
Zealot was trying to bait him, but Zeros was not one for jokes or baiting.
"Think whatever you want, a personal opinion can't be changed."
"Ch, what's wrong with you!? What do have you against dying people anyway?!" Zealot demanded.
"I have nothing against the people. I have a grudge against people who won't accept that they should die, instead of live. If you wish to grow old, don't slow the aging process, but make it count until it's over."
Zealot shook his head sadly.
"That doesn't really make sense. I want to grow old, but I don't want to die. I mean, who does?" he asked.
"I do."
Zealot's eyes widened in shock, and he was left speechless.
"If I'm to die, I'll die, if I'm to live, I'll live. Death will come when one is ready, even if one may think he's not."
Zealot shook his head to clear the cobwebs, and said: "I've heard a lot of strange things, and met a lot of weird people, but I think you're the weirdest guy I've met so far!"
Zeros sighed, but continued to gaze at the stars.
"Should I take that as an insult? Or as a compliment?" he finally asked.
Zealot growled.
"You're impossible!" he shouted.
"Look who's talking," Zeros mumbled, before walking away, not looking at Zealot.
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Zealot watched Zeros from under his hood, wondering what Zeros would fight like. He hadn't seen the man fight before, and he was rather curious.
Today was Colosso, and everyone was there. Brett, Anthony, Cecilia, Rander, Zeros, and Erica. Zealot gazed at Erica for awhile. If he was honest with himself, which he usually was, he found her rather pretty, but he had promised not to get involved in any relationship, in fear of having the girl he cared about robbed from him like his parents had been robbed from him.
He gave a small sigh. Although he wanted to see what Zeros could do, he knew that Colosso wouldn't be all that good.
Suddenly, they heard something outside.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen to this year's Colosso!!"
Loud cheers could be heard from the ring, and Zealot snorted. Every year the same thing, and they couldn't get enough of it.
"Let's start the first round!!"
*********************ROUND 1: ZEALOT VS. CECILIA*********************
Cecilia stretched her aching muscles, and stood up, holding her hands in a clawing position, ready to rip someone's flesh apart with her razor-sharp nails. Zealot simply stood there, waiting for Cecilia to finish.
"So, you're my opponent once again," Cecilia said, not moving, besides the small jumps she made with her feet.
She made short jumps from one foot to another to keep moving, and increase her speed.
"Doesn't matter. You won't win," Zealot said, keeping his cool.
Cecilia scoffed, but kept quiet. Zealot took on a fighting-stance, and waited patiently. Cecilia knew he was waiting, and there was no way in Hell that he would attack before she did.
'Idiot,' she thought.
"FIREWALL!!!" she suddenly screamed as she stopped moving, and red spirals circled her.
Zealot's eyebrows scrunched together as the blazing fires came at him.
He bent his knees, and jumped up, avoiding the wall of fire easily. Zealot landed right in front of Cecilia, and swung at her with his fist. Cecilia blocked and made a move to kick him, but Zealot raised his knee to block her. Their fists and feet were sent flying, as they both tried to get through the other's defenses.
When Zealot made a move to punch Cecilia to her jaw, she bent backwards, and back-flipped away from him. Zealot growled angrily. This had to end.
He smirked wickedly as blue spirals circled him and lit his face for a moment. Zealot sent a huge blast of water at the unsuspecting Cecilia, who cried out in surprise, and was knocked away, as well as knocked out.
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Zeros blinked in confusion.
'I thought he was a Venus Adept… that's what Cecilia said he was.'
"What WAS that?!" Brett asked, confused.
"I didn't know he could use Mercury Psynergy," Erica said, utterly shocked.
*********************ROUND 2: ERICA VS. EDGAR*********************
Erica grabbed her mace, knowing that this guy would be down easily. This Edgar didn't look too strong, but she was sure he could pack a punch. She held her mace in her hand, and glared at her opponent. This guy fought with a staff, though it wasn't as large as that of Sara.
"This will be an easy victory," Edgar said, snickering.
Erica didn't respond.
'Let him think I'm weak. He's in for one big surprise!' she thought.
Edgar swung his staff at Erica, but she dodged, easily. The second hit almost got through, but she just managed to block with her mace. With an easy twist, she twirled her mace so that Edgar got the end in his face, and a hit to the head sent him into unconsciousness.
Erica smiled and said: "That was easy, wouldn't you say?"
*********************ROUND 3: ZEROS VS. LISA*********************
Lisa watched the tall man step into the ring, not seeming to bother. He was cute, but he didn't seem to acknowledge her.
Zeros really didn't care. He was just here to fight, and that's it. Lisa held her dirk tightly, and when the signal was given, she ran at Zeros, who simply watched, before stepping out of her way when she got too close. Lisa was starting to find it annoying, and tried to kick him, but he simply grabbed her leg and flipped her away with ease.
The girl landed on her feet, and ran at him, the same time he did. They met in the center, and Lisa's face was contorted in pain. Zeros' face was extremely calm however. He calmly stepped back, allowing Lisa to drop.
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Zealot raised a curious eyebrow.
'He's better than I expected. Won't help him though. He might have a natural advantage over me, but he doesn't know me well.'
Zealot smirked wickedly under his hood.
*********************ROUND 5: RANDER VS. CLARK*********************
Rander popped his knuckles, and watched his opponent step onto the ring. The man was a few inches taller, but it didn't matter to Rander. He could take this guy out easily.
He unsheathed his blade, and waited for his opponent to attack. Clark was a rather old man, but he looked strong enough. Rander smirked when the announcer called out to begin, and dodged the old man, who was quite fast for age 100 or so. However, Rander just kicked him out of the ring to end it.
*********************ROUND 6: MIKE VS. ANTHONY*********************
Anthony stepped onto the ring, holding his club in one hand, his other hand clenched in a fist. That guy had been taunting him for hours, and the only reason he hadn't charged at him yet, was because Brett had held him back. Anthony was looking extremely pissed off, while Mike looked rather smug. Mike fought with a machete, and looked extremely self-confident.
'Not for long,' Anthony thought coldly.
"Alright, let's just see what you can do!" Mike taunted again as the bell to start the fight rang.
Anthony clenched his free fist so hard, that the knuckles turned white.
"I'll let you start! So go ahead!" Mike said.
Anthony growled in anger, and shot forward with such speed, that hardly anyone saw him. Mike got Anthony's club straight to his nose, before getting kicked below the belt, and punched out of the ring.
The redhead was still seething, and left the ring in anger.
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Zealot was shocked by what the boy had done.
'Note to self; don't make this guy angry,' he thought.
When he looked at Zeros from the corner of his eyes, he noticed the guy smirking at him.
"What's so amusing?" Zealot hissed.
Zeros chuckled and said: "I think you don't know that I'm a Jupiter Adept."
Zealot instantly blanched slightly. Zeros chuckled silently and turned back to the arena.
'Damn that bastard straight to Hell!!' Zealot thought angrily.
Been there, done that, a familiar voice said.
Zealot growled, but his only response was Zeros' smirk widening.
*********************ROUND 8: LEONTINE VS. BRETT*********************
Brett removed a few strands of hair from his eyes, before crouching into a battle position, after which Leontine followed. Both combatants fought with swords, but what Leontine didn't know, was that Brett was better than she was. The woman's foot moved a little, and Brett's eyes furrowed slightly. Before anyone knew it, Leontine was shot at Brett.
He'd seen her coming though, and easily blocked the downward swing, surprising the woman. Brett then lashed out at her, but she just managed to block. Her face had shock written over it, but Brett looked rather smug, not showing what he was thinking. Leontine lashed out again, but Brett sidestepped easily. This time though, he took a few more steps back, and golden sparks surrounded him.
Leontine, like all others who didn't know Psynergy, didn't see it, obviously.
"RAGNAROK!" Brett hollered and Leontine was hit with a strong invisible force, sending her out of the ring.
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"That was a good battle there!" Cecilia said with a smile, shaking Brett's hand.
"Uh… thanks, I guess," Brett mumbled.
Zeros watched this, not really bothering with it, before heading to a window and leaning on the windowsill. He staid like that for awhile, just watching everyone walk about like nothing was wrong.
He frowned a little, and pulled out his axe. He ran his fingers past the blade, and scoffed, before placing it away. Zeros looked back at the gang, who were all talking to each other, safe for Zealot. Zeros couldn't see the boy's eyes, but he did see a few stray locks of hair.
Gold.
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Stumbling through the woods, he swayed back and forth, holding the bloodied axe in his clutches. The pommelstone was broken, and would probably never be fixed again. He fell to his knees, leaning against a tree, panting for breath as blood poured down his forehead. When a shadow blocked the sunlight, he looked up. The person had strange golden hair and the same color eyes.
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"Are you alright?! What happened to you?!"
"I was… I was attacked… I… I guess I wasn't… wasn't strong enough…"
"Know what? I'll train you for awhile. How's that?"
"Thank you…"
"What's your name?"
"………Zeros……"
"That's a nice name. I'm Zealot, nice to meet you."
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Zeros violently shook his head, holding a hand to his forehead with a groan, a sudden migraine sweeping over him.
"Zeros? You alright?" Onyx asked, worry lacing her voice.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Zeros said. "Just a slight migraine."
Zealot looked up, confusion in his eyes, though no one saw it under his hood.
"You sure, Zeros?" Sara asked, her staff still slung over her shoulder, arm thrown around it.
"Yes, I'm fine," Zeros said with a nod.
Zealot blinked. That look… where had he seen that before. It was innocent, yet with a touch of malice.
The description suddenly sprang into his head, and he instantly remembered.
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He spread several pieces of paper, until he stumbled across a small painting, done with Kai's hand, he could easily tell. He looked at the door, then sprinted to the shadows, where he studied the painting.
It was a painting of a young girl. She had long hair, was dressed in a long dress. In her hands, she held an axe with a broken pommelstone. There was a strange look in those eyes. Tears were forming in them, and she seemed to be sad, yet angry about something.
Zealot turned the picture around, hoping for a name, but finding none.
Instead, he read; Innocence, with a touch of malice, in Kai's bold writing.
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'Hmmm… I wonder if that girl's related to Zeros,' Zealot wondered.
That's when the next round was finally announced. He pushed off on the wall, and walked toward the ring. Erica gulped nervously, and followed, because it was her turn to fight Zealot.
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I am SOOOOOOO sorry for not updating in such a long time! I've been completely hooked on a different game for months. Sorry, once again! Anyway.
New characters that have been named;
Zealot
Cecilia
Scott (doesn't travel with the gang)