Chapter 41 – A Conspiracy of Guile
Less than a week had passed since Alyssa had assumed control of Noxus' heart, and already the responsibilities were appearing to be somewhat overwhelming for the young woman. With a significant chunk of the Noxian army gone, including General Swain himself and some of the most formidable standouts in the ranks, Noxus was more vulnerable than it had been for centuries. Although not currently engaged in any direct tensions with other states of Runeterra, it was the principle of exposure which prompted concerns.
It shouldn't also have been any surprise that governing a country was a demanding job and hard work. Alyssa was overseeing all ongoing trade: imports from Piltover and Zaun, and exports to the rest of Eastern Valoran. With many of the soldiers from the Noxian army overseas, those who were remaining had to work even harder to police the streets of the city and stand guard at its borders.
To complicate matters, Noxus was still going through the awkward transition to the twenty-nine hour day cycle, at the diplomatic suggestion of the Piltovan government. Telegrams were slow to deliver, as was sending a formal reply to one, but getting everyone to conform to the new system without disrupting society was the biggest challenge by far.
As a result of Noxus being in an exceptionally volatile position, Alyssa was hesitant to make any drastic decision or issue any order of great significance. At the same time though, Alyssa did not want to appear weak in the eyes of the Noxians. She was a provisional leader without any real experience in national leadership. Although her family had historically, for almost two millennia, ruled Delverhold as royalty, it was still a far different lifestyle from that of the General of Noxus. Another disadvantage, albeit one deriving plentily from her own mindset, was that Alyssa was a woman. Noxian attitude valued the assets of all of those who had something to offer, independent of age, gender and background, however being at the helm of Noxus itself naturally required a certain type of person; and from afar, the Three Principles of Strength weren't all that evident in someone that was female. Not as mighty looking; lacking a deep, booming voice, which demanded respect; and not as physically strong.
Oh well. She just had to try her best to do the part bestowed onto her. Fortunately for her, today would be her biggest order yet.
Alyssa placed the dark quill that she had been writing with back into the inkpot and wiped her brow. The General's office at the end of the Audience Chamber, in the tower that oversaw the city was stuffy and dimly lit by candles. She read inside her head what she had written on the parchment.
'Ahem.' a voice coughed from the doorway behind Alyssa. She turned her head around without standing up from the desk. 'Are you busy?'
'No. I just finished with what I was doing.' Alyssa replied. She held back a look of unnerving discomfort. It had been a long time since she had seen any of her facial features.
'What were you doing before I came in here?' the hooded figure asked. The candlelight from the desk very subtly, but still enough, illuminated her face. Alyssa would have regarded her as being pretty, if it were not for the overabundance of makeup around her eyes. It made the woman appear disingenuous, like a witch hiding behind a veil. Her wearing an entirely black robe which completely concealed virtually every part of her did not help either. How on earth a lethally intelligent pragmatist like Swain would allow her to be a part of the Noxian government's inner circle was baffling.
'I was writing a ratification for a sentence.' Alyssa answered. She stood up too.
'Oh? Is that so? And what might this sentence be for?'
'It was a long time coming, after fleeing to Ionia and becoming a fugitive in a farm village, but she's finally back where she belongs and is being put into the Fleshing Arena as a life sentence.'
'Interesting.' the hooded figure murmured. The corners of her mouth raised only slightly. 'Miss Konte. That will be fun to watch, knowing how tenacious and adept she is in a fight. When will this decree be issued?'
'This afternoon. The Reckoners will be taken into the pit as per usual. I'm not sure exactly how I feel about these fights in general, especially with the 'Executioner'. His idea of entertaining the masses is unorthodox to me. I also don't entirely see the point of keeping a deserter alive for no real reason, but you know what he's like: a showman who aims to entertain and seek glory more anything else.
'A bit of excitement in the process is harmless if you ask me. Execution is a bland procedure. I remember Noxus's previous executioner. He had no time for nonsense whatsoever. Always cut straight to the chase and although it did keep warbands in their place, he was so boring. However, you could tell that he did derive some pleasure from the position. It's quite a shame whatever happened to him.'
'Yes. Anyway, I need to hand this over to the messenger for him to deliver the letter to the Executioner, so that he can prepare the Reckoners and the Arena.'
'Isn't this rather short notice? Since this is also an event for spectators to watch, how will you spread awareness fast enough to get the Noxians' attention?'
'As I said, what I have written is the official mandate. The Executioner and the Reckoners already knew that this would be happening, and word of the event itself and the date was already spread to the public via posters on the streets. Miss Konte's enrolment was the only thing outstanding.'
'I see. Forgive me for asking, but was she not going to be exonerated and given the chance to start anew as a reformed Noxian?'
'She fled from her duties, remained a renegade throughout her time hiding in Ionia. Then when confronted by our own sisterhood, she resisted and fought back against us, killing one in the process. Although some were willing to show mercy, it was not theirs to say what became of her, and neither was it mine.'
'Suppose though that it was your decision to make. What would you see as appropriate justice for Miss Konte?'
Alyssa pondered the question, if only momentarily. 'I would have done the same. She left out of misguided abhorrence for Noxus – a traitor. And as I said, she opposed Noxus further by murdering one of our own.'
'If I may speak my mind, I don't think that's what you truly believe. Brutality isn't your propensity. Murdering your brother wasn't an easy choice for you. It came with mourning and emotional pain, as opposed to the coldblooded nature of General Swain, who will take lives without much of a second thought.'
'Even if that was true, duty and commitment to the Trifarix and the Empire still take precedence for me.'
'But surely if you are the current General of Noxus, then it is within your power to vindicate Miss Konte?'
'I am merely a substitute and not a successor of General Swain. It is my duty to maintain the Empire and its existing laws, not to go against them and write my own. Are you insinuating that you want her to be spared?'
'No. I just want to be sure that you are making the right decision and are aware of your own authority. That is my job after all, as an advisor for the leader of Noxus.'
'Sure. Well I'm grateful, I guess.'
The hooded figure smiled and nodded. 'Will you be coming to spectate the Reckoners and Miss Konte as well?'
'No thank you. I'd rather get on with some work.'
'Come on. Surely a lovely mistress like yourself needs some time to relax.' the hooded figure said cajolingly.
Alyssa sighed. 'If I finish what I'm doing in time, then alright.'
'Very well. Perhaps I'll see you later then.'
Eager to have a reason to stop talking to her, Alyssa picked the paper off the desk and left the room, without saying another word to her, or even looking back.
'Emerald, what do we do?!' Mercury shouted, attempting to be heard above the wind that was blowing against their ears.
'Just be prepared to land! Anything really!'
The ground was encroaching fast, like a runaway train about to collide with a stationary vehicle. Both Emerald and Mercury had been launched at the same angle after the ship had exploded, less than forty-five degrees in height, but still with enough force to get them all the way across both Ionia and the sea dividing the two continents of Valoran and Ionia.
Mercury was slightly ahead of Emerald. He gulped in both mental and physical preparation to touch down. He hadn't exactly had the time to repair his boot after that ninja had appeared from literally out of nowhere and made a mockery of him, Emerald and Cinder. A grassy stretch was going to be their runway.
'Okay… Three… Two… One!' Mercury wriggled around to face backwards and bent his knees the moment his feet made contact with the ground. He took his right hand and dug his fingers into the soil as his means of braking, whilst using his left arm to keep himself balanced. Even with his aura at work, his fingers were in agony as they tore tracks through the earth. The friction on the souls of his boots was not good either. After thirty metres of continuous skidding, Mercury toppled over and continued the final few metres on his back before finally coming to a stop.
Following suit, Emerald mimicked Mercury's technique, turning around to look back at the sea. Her shoes touched down and she too buried her fingers of her right hand into the soil. She didn't last as long though as Mercury and fell over only four seconds into the skidding. She travelled across the grass until she was immediately in front of Mercury's feet, who had only just sat up and was rubbing the back of his head. Unlike Mercury though, a lot of Emerald's skin was bare. As soon as she was able to come to her senses, she felt and realised that both her back and arms were heavily grazed. It hadn't helped that her weapons were kept on her back too.
Mercury inspected his boots. The souls were hissing with steam and hot to simply put his hands near them. He looked up when he heard Emerald moaning. 'Hey Emerald, are you okay?' he asked.
The sincerity and concern in his voice was so surprising that Emerald stopped moaning. 'Just about. My arms and back hurt like hell though…'
'Hey, at least we're still alive and in one peace. You're fortunate though that I showed you how to land, or things could have been a lot worse.'
Needing to not even sit up or look at where she was aiming, Emerald reached above her head and punched Mercury's right leg.
'What?' Mercury asked, somewhat feigning ignorance.
'There you go again, bragging and yapping away. Just shut up.'
'Okay, okay but you didn't need to punch the boot. It's already a bit damaged, remember?'
'Yeah, I know. You said that they weren't cheap after the bimbo beat your sorry ass.'
'Hey! Remember that was all part of the plan.' Mercury said indignantly.
'You still could have put up more of a fight until the end.' Emerald laughed.
Mercury took his turn to hit Emerald (gently) on the side of her head. 'Where are we?'
They were in a big field of grass. It was not entirely flat but also not very hilly. If they walked forward, they would soon reach the sea, where the cliffs curved downwards to meet the water. Diagonally behind them to their left though was what appeared to be a settlement, possible a city. Neither of them could be sure from that distance.
Emerald sat up and turned to face Mercury. 'I don't want to say for sure, but considering how long we were aboard that ship, it might be possible that we're on the other planet. I think that ninja was with those kids and Ironwood and a few others too. Put it this way, do you recognise this place at all?'
'Nope, So we ain't on Remnant anymore, ey?' he commented, taking a gander at the landscape. 'Kinda serene.'
Emerald did the same. 'Yeah. And if I'm right, then this is where Aytrox, Zoe, and that ninja come from.'
'Hey, wait a minute. How did we get here in the first place? As in, like, what happened when we were on the ship?'
'I don't know. There was a booming voice outside, and then the ship just exploded, and something tossed us all the way over here.'
'Yeah, well I couldn't exactly see anything in all the chaos. I also wonder what happened to everyone else. Maybe they all weren't so lucky.'
'Forget about all that for a moment. A more important question is what do we do now?'
'Good point. I guess we could be considered stranded.' muttered Mercury. He stroked his chin, pretending to be in deep thought. 'Maybe we should start with that place over there.' he suggested, pointing to the city in the distance. 'Sticks out, doesn't it?'
'Yeah. If we're allowed inside, it's probably worth looking around.' Emerald stood up and offered a hand for Mercury. 'Are you gonna be able to walk?'
'I'm about to find out.'
'Oh, hold on a second.' Emerald saw Mercury's back covered on soil. She used her right arm to wipe as much of it off, although she winced at the pain coming from her grazes.
'You're being a lot kinder than usual.' Mercury remarked, reciprocating the act and wiped hers as well.
'Considering the situation we're in, I'd rather be on your side than not. Seriously, we need to work together if we're gonna get out of this mess.
'Hmm, I can get down with that.' Mercury smiled.
'I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wish Torchwick was with us. It'd be good to work together as a team.'
'Pfft, speak for yourself. I wouldn't want him bossing us around like he usually does. We're strong, independent and resourceful; we can make do without him.'
'I guess. So long as we don't have to team up with the General or Ruby and her friends for the sake of survival.'
Mercury took a few steps forward. 'Argh, but yeah, walking might be a bit difficult.'
'Don't rush. Take your time.'
Mercury eventually got a walking pattern figured out. It involved an awkward limp, but a mild amount of pain. Fortunately, it was manageable. Less fortunate for them though was the length of the walk. Ten minutes was a lot for Mercury to handle. It felt like forever for them to finally reach the city. Whilst they were approaching, the two of them were able to take in more detail of the city from the outside. Truthfully though, there was not much to say. It was enclosed in a large wall comprised of almost nothing but grey bricks and stone. It was not perfectly circular or rectangular however. A few salient walls stuck out for aesthetics or structural support. Only two things were visible from the outside. The first was one large compound tower stationed in the centre of the city; and the second was a small mountain on the northeast side of the perimeter – at its base was a river leading to the sea.
'Doesn't look all that inviting if you ask me.' said Mercury. 'Seems more like a prison than anything else.'
'Better to at least check it out than do nothing. Let's see if we can find an entrance of some kind.'
They circled around the wall to the left. Soon they saw a pair of male guards standing in front of a large archway. Both wore an abundance of grey armour and carried a metal shield in one hand. They also had red capes draped behind them. The guard on the left had a short sword whilst, whereas the other was brandishing an axe.
'You think they'll let us in?' Mercury whispered.
'Again, better to try than do nothing at all. If they confront us, let me do the talking. You always mess up conversations.'
Mercury opened his mouth to object but thought better of it. Now was not the time to be arguing.
Emerald and Mercury gave a wide berth between themselves and the guards before walking towards them.
'Stop right there, you two.' the guard with the sword ordered. 'State your business here.'
'…We're visitors' said Emerald. It was the first thing that came to her head, however she had delivered it a bit too feebly.
'And for what purpose?' the guard with the axe continued for his colleague. 'Who or what are you intending to see?'
'Not anyone or anything in particular. We like to travel and see places.'
The two guards were examining every detail about these two strangers, from their clothes, to their faces, hair, the guns behind Emerald and even Emerald's grazes. 'Are you Piltovans by any chance?' the guard with the sword asked.
'Piltovans?' Was that a good or bad thing? 'No.' Emerald responded, pleading to herself that she had said the correct answer.
'If not, then where are you from?'
'Umm… Mistral.' she said with forced truthfulness. She had no idea what any of the places in the new world were called, including the planet itself. If only Zoe had mentioned a name when she had intruded in on their meeting.
'Never heard of it.'
'Me neither.' the axe-wielding guard input.
'We've come a long way. That's probably why you haven't heard of it.' Emerald continued – another truth. 'Do you at least have accommodation or places to eat?'
'If you have the money to pay for it, then yes. But since you are travellers, no doubt that you have no Noxian currency on your person.'
'True. Is there a way to get money? Can we earn it somehow, to pay for things?'
'Okay look, I'll cut to the chase. Times are uncertain at the moment. We're short on military manpower because half of the Noxian army has gone on a long campaign. Furthermore, we're having to adjust to longer days and nights, and we're still recovering from a bit of damage caused by a recent earthquake.'
'So they experienced all that too?'
'Therefore we're on high alert. Unless you can give us sufficient reason, I'm afraid that foreigners such as yourselves will not be permitted entrance to the city.'
'But as my friend asked, is there anything we can do to help you in exchange for some buck?' Mercury said with a bit too much insistence.
'No. Normally we would be open to outsiders if they have something to offer for the benefit of Noxus – community service included – but our policy as of now is to not let anyone into Noxus Prime itself.'
Emerald nodded her head. 'Very well. Let's go Mercury.' and she ushered him to back in the direction from which they came.
'Well that wasn't successful now, was it?' said Mercury, once they were out of the guards' line of sight and earshot.
'I did the best I could, alright?'
'Hey, I'm not criticising you. It's just that they're too paranoid.'
'I think it's understandable though. But it's interesting to know that this place underwent the same stuff as we have back in Remnant.'
'Yeah. Do you still want to get inside though?'
'We don't have much of a choice. We have no idea where any other populated places are, or where we can get any kind of help for that matter.'
'Guess we're kinda screwed then.' Mercury said facetiously.
'Don't be like that.' Emerald whacked Mercury's side with the back of her left hand. 'I wonder why that guard asked if we were a… "Piltovan"? I think that's the word he used.'
'Dunno.' Mercury shrugged his shoulders.
'I wonder if it refers to a place or a group of people, or both. Maybe we could ask the guard for directions on how to get to there?'
'Wait! I have a better idea.' a smirk etched its way onto his face.
'Oh no… what do you have in mind?' Emerald questioned anxiously.
'So these guys don't want outsiders, right?'
'Yes…?'
'But obviously they won't have any problems with insiders: people who already live in this place.'
'Go on…'
'So, what if become insiders?'
'How?' Emerald inquired, although she had a good guess of what Mercury was about to suggest.
'These guards are all alone out here. What if we become them by taking their stuff? You know?' Mercury punched the air with his fists. 'Assert some dominance.'
'Yes, I get what you're saying. I have two concerns about this though. Can we take them on?'
'Sure we can. You can tell these guys are just generic, run-of-the-mill soldiers, not like the spiritual ninja. They'll be no match for us.'
'We're gonna have to take them down quickly though. If we make too much noise, we're sure to attract attention. And even if we get inside, what if we get caught?'
'Hey, Emerald, if you want to starve to death out here, then be my guest, but I ain't doing that. If we can get inside, we'll hopefully be able to get food, water and shelter. We'll also hopefully be able to learn more about this world.'
'Alright, fine. How do you want to go about doing this?'
'We'll approach from the side so that they won't see us. You hook the first one nearest to us, pull him towards you and take him out. Whilst you're doing that, I'll jump over you two and tackle the second guy. Once they're unconscious, we hide their bodies somewhere, put on their uniforms and get inside. Simple.'
'Okay. I'm on board. Let's do this.'
They tiptoed back to the side of the gate, with Emerald leading the way. She had Thief's Respite deployed in its kusarigama form. 'Okay. Three, two one, go!' she hissed.
Mercury shot at the floor with his boots to catapult himself towards the guard with the sword. Meanwhile, Emerald threw the chain to the axe guard. It wrapped itself around his neck and Emerald pulled with all her might to yank him towards her.
Mercury's boots landed squarely on the guard's face, who had looked up to see what had caused the sound of gunfire. The back of his skull was protected by a helmet, but the impact still hurt his head and the rest of his body. His nose was also immediately crushed. Mercury rolled forward and got back to his feet. The guard had dropped his sword and shield. Mercury picked it up and tried to find the best place to strike – any areas not covered by armour.
The guard with the axe staggered to Emerald, directly to her fist. She punched him as hard as she could in his face, sending him straight to the ground on his back.
With immense force, Mercury stamped on the guard's face again. He face was now covered in blood and he was squealing. Mercury raised the sword above his head and thrust it down.
Emerald unravelled the chain from the guard's neck, converted it into its dual revolver form. She kicked with all her might at his groin and finished the job by shooting two bullets at his face.
Emerald and Mercury looked at the two guards, then at each other. 'I didn't these guys would be so weak.' Mercury said.
'Yeah. I don't think they had any Aura to begin with. I just assumed that what I did would merely knock them out…'
'Well that was easy. Let's drag them back to the river and… get changed.'
The whole ordeal was incredibly uncomfortable. Dragging two bodies across a wall perimeter, fumbling about to remove every single bit of armour and clothing from their persons (save for the underwear, thank goodness), putting on their sweaty attire over their own existing outfits, and capping it all off by kicking the bodies into the river. Emerald had taken the clothes and armour of the guard who had the sword because he had been slightly shorter than his friend. She also washed away the blood off the sword in the river.
'How do I look?' Mercury consulted Emerald.
'Dreadful, but I'm gonna guess that you'll blend in with these people. How about me?'
'Same. This armour ain't exactly fashionable, but it's probably convincing enough.'
'Let's go then.' They picked up their new weapons and made their way towards the now uncontested gate.
'You have any idea of what we should do once we get inside?' said Mercury. His tone implied that he was both nervous and excited at the same time.
'Just act natural. We'll hopefully get prompts on what we should do based on who we see and what the overall environment is like. If we're disguised as soldiers, we might have a lot of authority. Maybe even privileges or access to certain stuff that regular people don't have.'
'Nice. We can tell people to move out the way or stuff like that. Surprised though that those dudes didn't have any money with. No wallet, purse or any loose change in their pockets. Good thing that we're expert pickpocketters though.'
'That's my specialty. You know nothing other than brute force.'
'Well hey, I learn from the best.' Mercury laughed.
The exposed entrance to the city was right in front of them and finally theirs for the taking. Without any further hesitation, they stepped inside.
Despite being usually a congested city with a high population density, there were plenty of places to hide in Noxus. Many of these had eventually made their way onto the Trifarix Council and authorities of Noxus' radar and were now under actual surveillance, or had been made inaccessible, but plenty still remained. Nothing was infallible after all. Noxus was a mostly unified nation with only a few rebellious outliers or clandestine groups.
The most elaborate hiding place though by far, was an elaborate underground network system, with pathways leading to all corners of Noxus Prime. A few had even been made to penetrate the walls of the city and link Noxus to the outside. Knowledge of the system often came with the pretence of referring to it as a sewage system, which it partially was. In spite of how complex this hideout was though, very few people actually actively used it.
Today was one such day though where it was being utilised once again: an arranged meeting of an organisation older than Noxus itself, and highly influential in not just the contemporary and recent history of Noxian politics and society, but also the distant past and the perennial conflict of a despicably tyrannical revenant against the barbarian tribes of the time.
The hooded figure strolled through the district of Mortoraa, a distinctly wealthy and elite area of the capital. It possessed the luxury of being more spacious and less populated than the rest of Noxus, even more so after effectively half of Noxus had left. The streets and pavement were also better kept: less trash and Iron IV citizens littering the place. Although it was the most convenient place for night crime and illegal activity, because the streets were not lit up at night, and there were less people to see and witness what you were up to.
With nimble steps, she made her way to a three-storey house, owned by a middleclass family of blacksmiths. For a heavily militarised nation like Noxus, the occupation of crafting and smelting metal and forging weapons or armour was a highly valued position. The family themselves however frequently weren't at home, because their business took place in Noxus' more industrial sectors. The house was a sanctuary, distinct from their working environment, and they cherished it, for it represented rewards and rest after exercise and exertion. But even they were not fully aware of its deepest secret and what it housed. In the alleyway, which divided the house from its neighbour on the right, was a stack of barrels, which no one ever bothered to use or move. Behind these barrels was a manhole, right next to the house. The hooded figure briefly checked her surroundings to see if anyone was watching before walking down the alleyway. She manoeuvred around the barrels, opened the manhole and climbed down a rugged ladder before replaced the manhole over her.
No dedicated light was available down here. Torches on brackets ran along the walls, but they were only ever lit if someone came down here. And for someone like this woman, who had used this network countless amount of times, she could literally navigate her way through it with her eyes closed and arms tied behind her back. If anything, closing her eyes allowed her to visualise the network in her head and follow the map that she had stored in her mind with better ease. This part of the passageway went directly under the blacksmiths' house. It was a simple route once you knew where you were going. Ten steps forward, then thirteen steps right, twenty-nine steps right again…
For a lost soul, it could take your hours to get to this woman's destination, but five minutes was all that was required for her. She could shave off even more time if she jogged her way there. The hooded figure stood outside a red door. She knocked on it twice and waited for an answer. Seven seconds later, the door was pulled inwards. A man stood inside at the threshold to greet her. His appearance was almost comically pretentious. He wore a red trench coat with both linings kept together by five separate threads; red pinstriped trousers with knee-high red boots; and a red and golden shirt underneath his coat. His fingernails had been replaced with talons, and daggers even hung from the cufflinks of his jacket. His hair was long and white, and his skin was pale with a tint of red. Even his eyes glowed crimson. 'Greetings, LeBlanc.' he said with a smile.
'Good afternoon, Vladimir.' the hooded figure replied, putting down her hood for the first time that day.
'Please do come in.' Vladimir said invitingly.
The room inside was plastered in yellow stone. Two torches on brackets had been lit up at the front and back, both warming and brightening up the room. At the centre was a long, wooden table with six royally decorated chairs by it – each chair had a cushion on it with the exact same colour as Vladimir's coat. A teapot and some cups had been laid in the middle of the table. A shelf of books leaned against the left wall, and a pinboard of maps was stuck on the right. At the back of the room was a ladder that led up red trapdoor.
Two other people were also inside the room. The first was a once beautiful woman but was now more snake than she was human. She only wore three distinct bits of clothing: a green, Shuriman headdress, with a golden crown and blue gem decorating it; two green and yellow bands around her arms, and a flimsy green and yellow bra. Her eyes were piercing yellow, and she also had claws like Vladimir. Most distinct of all though was the lower half of her, below her torse – a gigantic body of a snake, twice as long as her normal body length.
The second woman was also a formerly gorgeous lady, but had been transformed in a different manner. It looked like she was wearing the outer layer of a spider. Her human legs no longer had any feet, and the human skin which she had left was white as snow. Limbs of spiders stuck out of her back, and her eyes were dark red.
They were still attractive in an uncanny way, but repulsive in many others. Both still had large breasts and recognisably beautiful faces. It was not enough though to offset their distinctly animalistic anatomy – of two creatures, which were commonly feared by people no less. It was only thanks to the underground network that allowed them to travel around or in and out of Noxus without being seen by the public eye.
'Salutations as well, Cassiopeia and Elise.' LeBlanc addressed the snake and spider respectively. The two of them greeted her back.
Vladimir and LeBlanc took a seat opposite Cassiopeia and Elise (although Cassiopeia herself was not sitting on a chair).
'Would you like some tea?' Vladimir asked LeBlanc.
'No thank you.' she replied graciously. 'Today's meeting shouldn't be very long at all, unless you three have other matters to discuss.'
'You are a bit late though. Did something detain you?' Vladimir questioned.
'Only a little bit. I was speaking with Miss Gloriana val-Lokan before I came here.'
'I see. And how is this stand-in General doing so far?'
'To be candid, she is indisputably unfit for the position. She does not have the vigour or assertiveness to do the job properly. Based on my observations at present, she does demonstrate the Principles of Strength to some degree, but not enough. Most Noxians of course have enough as the requirements for their job ask for. Alyssa however has been forcibly put into this role which she is not qualified for.'
'Was it not effectively a lastminute decision by Swain?' Elise commented. 'You said that he appointed her as General on the same day as Noxus set off to conquer the land discovered by Swain himself.'
'Precisely, and that's what confuses me. General Swain is a cunning man and a pragmatist who thinks through situations with more scrutiny than anyone I've ever none. Why did he make such an ill-thought-out decision to put an inexperienced woman in a position of so much pressure and responsibilities?'
'Honestly, I wouldn't say that that's an isolated incident either.' Cassiopeia added. 'This whole campaign to take a huge chunk of Noxus away from the Immortal Bastion to a far-off, overseas land within less than a week of simply coming up with a rudimentary form of the idea in the first place is nothing short of senseless, from their perspective. The original invasion of Ionia took weeks of planning and strategising. How is it the case that this armada was orchestrated to go on Noxus' most ambitious mission yet within what could be considered the span of a gut instinct? Did you not also say LeBlanc that he had a "vision", and that this was the basis for him confirming its existence?'
'It was mostly that, but also a combination of reasoning. The second, shattered moon, longer days and the earthquake we experienced.'
'Sound reasoning, I must say.' Cassiopeia said flippantly.
'If I may intrude on this point, I would also say that General Swain doesn't seem to be as astutely aware of his subjects as you might be led to believe.' said Vladimir. 'Does he really trust you, LeBlanc? Wearing a hood and being secretive even in his presence?'
'It's hard to read him at times. He likely does not, and I wouldn't be surprised if he has ever suspected me of being affiliated with this organisation. You do raise a good point though.'
'Putting these queries about Swain aside, what is our current objective for now?' Elise asked.
'The way I see it, Alyssa is our primary focus.' said LeBlanc. 'At first I was considering getting rid of her entirely, but I now think that putting some strings on her will be a bit more inconspicuous. We will get her to serve our interests and gateway us further into Noxus' political sphere of influence. With Noxus stripped half naked and under poor leadership, there will be nothing to stop us from taking what is ours.'
'I agree with this idea.' Cassiopeia said. 'But I do also want to raise the point: if the girl does become no longer useful to us, or if she resists too much, how will we dispose of her?'
'We should leave that up for debate if the time comes.' Vladimir declared. 'Have a bit of fun deciding who is going to get the satisfaction.'
'Actually, I think that should be a shared luxury.' Elise interjected. 'A bit of poisoning, strangling and constriction, blood manipulation and a dagger or two.' she smiled menacingly.
'As wicked as always.' Vladimir said. 'When are we going to start with her then?'
'She told me that unless she finishes some work, she won't be going to watch the Reckoners this afternoon. Even if she's not quite done, I think I can coerce her into going anyway. Then I'll have another chat with her whilst we're sat in the stands. I can tell that Alyssa doesn't like me, but she's not resolute enough to give me orders.'
'Perhaps I will come and watch as well.' Vladimir suggested.
'If you are, don't sit near us, because I need to start by giving her a false sense of security before we pick her apart. It's important for us to meddle with the fragility of the human mind.'
Vladimir nodded. 'I understand.'
'Actually, I have some more good news.'
'Do tell.'
'I asked Alyssa about who was due to die today, and Miss Konte is on the list.' LeBlanc said excitedly.
'Splendid. I'm looking forward to it.' Vladimir grinned. 'But we still have a few hours to kill before it starts. Shall we do something in the meantime?'
LeBlanc nodded back. 'You know what. I think I will actually have some tea.'
Their first impressions so far of the city by simply walking a few metres was that it was rather compact. The streets were narrow, buildings were close together, and pavements were frequently occupied by market stools, crates and barrels. Outside of the colour of red, which seemed to be the only one used for all instances of fabric in the city such as flags, banners and outfits, the overall setting was very gloomy. Almost all the buildings were made out of the same dark clay that the city wall was composed of. For a place that was apparently intended to be a residential city, it seemed overly fortified.
'Well it's no more brightening on the inside then it is out, but it's kinda lively I guess.' Mercury remarked.
'Yeah. Although I thought those guards said that a lot of the people were gone at the moment, on whatever this campaign is. That being said it still feels pretty cramped. I mean look at all of these people that are still here.' Emerald pointed out.
It seemed like everyone they had seen so far was wearing attire of a similar fashion, rugged but practical. Brown tunics and shirts; sometimes grey and sometimes brown trousers; dark boots; and if they had anything else, it would be a few pieces of armour and red scarves and capes.
'Maybe this place is normally just really populated. You think these guys actually enjoy living here though?' Mercury wondered.
'I'm not sure. There's a lot of chatter and I can't really hear what anyone's saying.'
'But what do you think though? Would you be okay with settling in here?'
'Well I haven't been here long enough to have any idea at all.' Emerald snorted.
'Yeah but, what I mean is that, if we can't ever get back home or to Salem, then maybe we could live our lives here.'
'Don't think like that. We're gonna get off this planet somehow, we just need to take our time to figure out how.'
'Well if you ask me, I think we should take the opportunity to explore this world. I mean, c'mon, this is an entirely different planet to Remnant! We could discover some really cool things whilst we're here!'
'Shhh, keep your voice down!' Emerald hissed. 'I mean yeah, that's a cool prospect an all, but it's our duty to return to Salem's side. Besides, we don't know how big this planet even is.'
'Yeah I know that. It's stupid to defy her, but right now we're completely outside of her range. Survival and getting settled down is what we need to do right now. Also I'm not suggesting that we have to explore every corner of this planet. I'm just saying that it would be cool to see what we can find.'
'Yeah. That's fair.'
'Anyway, you were the one who said that we should be prompted on what to do once we got inside the city. So, do you have any prompts yet?'
'To be honest, not really. It's all aimless so far. Maybe we should stop for a sec and think.'
'Nice. Gotta say that it's even more annoying to walk with all this armour over us.'
They were currently on a mildly steep incline, leading to a marketplace at the top of the slope. Shops and businesses were on either side of the road, including food stores, brewers, blacksmithing, carpentry, tailoring, storehouses, repair shops and even a weapons store. About a dozen soldiers stood armed on both sides of the street, with spears upright and by their sides.
'I honestly think we should just ask about and see if we can get any info on where we can stay and get something to eat.'
'Wouldn't it look weird though if we went about and asked people very basic questions? We're dressed as soldiers. Surely they'd know this place very well?'
'That's not what's important. Remember, this is all about survival at the moment. Although it does make me wonder if those soldiers that we took out, got paid or had meals provided to them for their job.'
'Oh!' Something bumped into Mercury from behind. He and Emerald turned around to see a short lady, probably in her forties, carrying a pile of logs in her arms. She appeared to be struggling. 'I-I'm sorry! Please forgive me!' she cried out timidly.
'Yeah, you'd better be sorry.' Mercury returned nastily.
The woman shrieked and ran up the hill as fast as she could.
'Well, would you look at that. We really can boss people around.' Mercury chuckled. 'C'mon. Let's use this to our advantage.'
'What are you planning?'
'Survival.'
They made their way up the slope and into the marketplace. Emerald and Mercury were curious to imagine how bustling it must have been when the city was full. Even then it was tough to manoeuvre their way around everyone who were also walking about whilst avoiding bumping into lines of queues at stalls. Every necessity and luxury possible seemed to be available for purchase. Food, clothes, drinks, books, weapons, tools, silverware, furniture, raw materials and ingredients, flower bouquets, perfumes and even simple toys for children.
'I'll try and get a purse or some money off someone.' Emerald whispered, then she left and began observing all the pockets of nearby citizens.
Mercury wasn't listening though. He went to a merchant selling fruits – a young man, probably at least nineteen years old. He walked on the right side of the queue, completely ignoring it. A middle-aged woman was counting out coins and putting them on the counter of the stall. The fruits on sale looked like the kind you could easily find on Remnant, apples, oranges, plums, pears, strawberries and more. These ones looked and smelled especially good though. Without any hesitation, he picked up a pear and took a healthy bite out of it.
'Hey! What do you think you're doing?!' the merchant asked furiously.
'Eating?' Mercury answered dismissively, as if he was wasting his time by answering a stupid question with an obvious answer.
'You gonna pay for it then, I presume?!'
'No. I'm a soldier. I don't need to pay.'
'That's not how it works! Pay up now!'
'Get this lady here to pay for me.' Mercury patted the woman who had been counting out coins on top of her head. She winced at the act. Mercury took another bite. 'I work to keep your sorry ass protected all day! Have a bit of respect!'
'There you are.' said Emerald, emerging from the crowd. 'Wait, what's goi-'
'Help! Somebody help! This man is stealing my produce!' the merchant suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs.
All conversation in the area went silent and all eyes turned to Mercury, Emerald and the merchant. Almost instantly, no less than fifteen soldiers with lances were closing in on them, with the rest of the citizens swiftly moving out of the way. They were surrounded.
'Alright, what's going on here?!' the largest and burliest soldier with the longest spear demanded. His voice alone imposed authority.
'This insolent soldier of yours is eating my goods without paying for it!'
'Hmm, is that so?'
The soldiers examined Mercury and Emerald intently.
'Guys, guys, it us! We're… one of you!' Mercury said pathetically.
Two soldiers came from behind and ripped the helmets right off of Emerald and Mercury's heads, exposing both their faces and hair colour, unseen before in the city.
'Imposters!' the largest soldier bellowed. 'Arrest them! Arrest them now!'
There was nothing they could do. Normally they would fight their way out of a bad situation, but they were heavily outnumbered, weighed down by dense armour that they were not accustomed to, unable to access their preferred weapons, and Emerald struggled to use her Semblance against two people. Hallucinating an entire crowd of citizens and a ring of soldiers was impossible.
'Drop your weapons now!' the captain ordered. 'Hands behind your back, and your feet still!'
Their hands and wrists were locked in cuffs, and shackles were locked around their ankles.
'Help! My someone's stolen my purse!' an elderly woman cried out, limping towards the scene as fast as she could.
Emerald felt the back pocket below her armour being tampered with. The purse was removed and thrown back to the lady.
'Alright, now let's move!'
The soldiers from behind prodded their spears into Emerald and Mercury's backs, commanding them to walk forward.
All the citizens had moved aside and now the streets and pavements were completely free.
'What did you do?!' Emerald whispered angrily.
'What? I was hungry.' Mercury replied, sounding nonchalant.
'So, you stole food in broad daylight, with everyone able to see what you're doing?!'
'No! Talking!' the captain instructed. 'Save it for your confession!'
Internally, Mercury was furious with himself. 'Why didn't I control my appetite for just a few seconds longer?'
Internally, Emerald was furious with Mercury. 'If only he could have waited for me for a few seconds longer!'
Alyssa put down her quill again, now completely finished with her work for today. No doubt she would be insisted to go with the advisor to the Fleshing Arena. Truthfully, although Alyssa held strong principles of Noxian values, violence itself wasn't something that she was particularly enamoured with, as her advisor had already deciphered. She would rather just know that justice had been done, rather than witnessing it for herself.
'Ahem.'
'Speak of the devil.'
'Have you finished with your work then?' the hooded figure asked.
'Yes.'
'So, will you come and join us in the stands for today's fight?'
'Yes, yes, I will.' Alyssa complied impatiently.
'Marvellous. In fact, it's likely that there will be more excitement today than we imagined, so long as you say "Yes".'
'What do you mean?' Alyssa furrowed her eyebrows.
'As I was on my way back here from my errands, and I find that word has spread of two imposters. They've been caught and are currently in custody.'
'Imposters? Of whom?'
'Noxian street soldiers. Further investigation has discovered that two guards who are meant to protect one of the entrances to the city have been declared missing. These intruders are no doubt in for questioning at current, but I think that this is a huge national security threat. If I was in your position, I would send them into the pit, along with Miss Konte. They probably won't last that long and it will generate more attention for the fight itself.'
'Yes. No doubt that it's a problem. Let's head there now so that I can give the official order.' She stood up, picked up her handbag and left the chamber.'
The hooded figure smiled as she walked behind her. Alyssa was so easy to manipulate.
'I said: Who are you two, and where have you come from?!' the captain repeated his question.
Emerald and Mercury were sat in wooden chairs on either side of each other at the back of a stony room: their disguised completely removed, and Thief's Respite had also been taken away from Emerald too. A torch was lit on the left, beneath a plank attached to the wall by two chains. Six soldiers were piled in the room. Four in the middle, including the captain, had their spears pointed at them. The remaining two, one on the left and one on the right, had bows with arrows drawn.
'I'm Emerald Sustrai, and this is Mercury Black.'
'Okay, and where are you two imposters from?!
…
'If you don't answer me in the next ten seconds, you're both dead! One! Two! Three! Fo-'
'W-we're from a different nation!' Emerald blurted out.
'Yeah, we already know that! Be more specific!
Emerald took deep breaths, thinking about how to answer questions both calmly and carefully. Mercury looked like he was relying on her to say something. Maybe it would be better to give the whole truth. Vague answers were not going to cut it, and at least she could say the truth with confidence as opposed to having to improvise and stutter. 'Okay. We'll tell you the whole thing, but please hear us out, because it will probably sound unbelievable from your perspective.'
The large soldier nodded. 'Do tell us then.'
Where to start though? 'So, the thing is, we're not from this land at all. We're from an entirely different planet.'
'Are you crazy?!' Mercury cried out.
'Nonsense!' the captain snorted. 'How can that be possible?!'
'I said please here what we have to say!' Emerald begged.
The soldier sighed. 'Fine. Continue.'
'Well, you had a bit of an earthquake, right? Days are longer? There's a new moon in your sky at night? That's all because your planet has been merged with the one that Mercury and I come from. We were travelling in a group to your planet, but we got shipwrecked and separated from the rest of the group. We didn't know what to do, because we were alone in a place we don't know anything about. This city was the closest thing to us, so we tried to enter, but these guards wouldn't let us in, so we took their uniforms so that we could get inside. All we were trying to do was look for a place to stay and some food and water. I promise that we weren't trying to cause any trouble. We just want to get back home.'
'Hmm.' the six soldiers contemplated Emerald's statement.
'Considering what we know so far, what they're saying is plausible.' said one of the soldiers next to the captain. 'We already know that a new place was discovered, and if our fleet can get over there, then obviously their kind can come sailing to us as well.'
'The thing about planets merging though is a huge stretch.' the captain pointed out. 'Land appearing out of nowhere is one thing, but two different planets coming together? Besides, they're able to speak our language. They're obviously from Piltover or something. Look at their hair and outfits.'
'It would probably explain the new moon and the different time as well though.' the archer on the left put forward. 'Assuming that they're telling the truth, maybe we should keep them here and squeeze as much information about their planet as we can from them.'
'I don't think that's a good idea at all.' the captain said sharply. 'Even if what they're saying about being from another planet is true, we can't assume that they're just helpless kids who want to go home. They could be spies or intel gatherers, and it's not like we can send information about this planet to General Swain anytime soon either. I say we kill them and move on.'
'Wait! You can't do that!' Mercury yelled. 'Don't we at least get a lawyer or something?!'
'Silence, you imposters!' the captain bellowed. 'Not let's get this over and done with!'
'Excuse me everyone.' came a voice from the open door at the front. The soldiers turned to see who was addressing them. Someone with a dark robe and a hood. 'General Gloriana val-Lokan has made a decree that these two imposters will be put into the Fleshing Arena for the fight that's happening in an hour. In other words, don't kill them.'
'Understood.' the captain said, and the hooded figure left.
'In that case, get on your feet!'
Still handcuffed, and Mercury still was a limp in his stride, he and Emerald stood up and were poked out of the cell and down the corridor.
'Do you guys really need to be so pushy?' Mercury asked.
Emerald and Mercury had been taken to the outside a very grandiose building – a painfully long walk. Presumably this was the Fleshing Arena. They were forced inside a doorway protected by a latticed metal gate and found themselves in a dark chamber. A row of benches nailed to the walls were on the left, and a rectangular gate of bronze gratings stood between them and the arena.
'The rules here are simple. Fight.'
Emerald and Mercury waited for the captain to give further explanation, but nothing came out of his mouth.
'So… you're not gonna kill us?' Mercury asked.
'Oh no, we're not anymore, but you'll undoubtedly not last very long in there. The Reckoners are brutal, and you kids probably don't much about fighting anyway.'
A buzz of murmuring and hype could be heard from inside the arena.
'Are you gonna at least remove cuffs so that we can actually do something?' Mercury asked also.
'Yes, just before you step in there. But once you're in the ring, you're stuck there.'
The murmuring was getting louder now. The gate was opened, and the cuffs were taken off Emerald and Mercury before they were kicked into the arena.
It was roughly decagonal in shape, with nine separate sections of rows of seats, and one more ostentatious booth dedicated for what was presumably VIPs, which was almost directly opposite of the gate that they had entered the arena through. The seating was only half full though.
In the booth sat a questionable looking man. His brown hair was combed up and kept stationary with a golden headband; his eyebrows were shaped diagonally; his moustache was two long pieces of rope; he had tattoos of lighting across his the left side of his body, and he wore a pair of black vambraces and a breastplate with fur around it. He was easily the most distinct thing in the arena, so Emerald and Mercury stared at him the longest.
From this man's perspective however, Emerald and Mercury were the most interesting figures in the setting, and they made eye contact. His name was Draven, and his interest was piqued. Who were these two people entering the ring before any of the other contestants? He had only just received news that two new individuals were joining, but he certainly hadn't expected them to look like this: young and unarmed. Draven had been under the impression that there was only going to be one particularly significant fighter for today's match: a former Exile who intentionally broke her own sword, and this was the only reason that this particular match had generated any form of hype.
No Shiraza "The Blade" nor her partner Kato, the former of which was known for having the longest winning streaks in the Reckoner's history; no Nisk who had already been humiliated by the man in the booth before; no Vessid who was a crowd favourite, but a lousy braggart in Draven's eyes: only dull and uninteresting fighters. Draven still wished that their most controversial fighter was still in the area: A Minotaur known as Alistar, who had been arguably the most physically opposing contestant to ever compete with the Reckoners.
These two newcomers were either going to make this match very exciting, or not at all. Draven hoped for the former.
'What do we do now?' Mercury asked, happy to be free of chains, but anxious about their predicament. The two of them had received quite a few cheers or applause from the crowd. 'There's no one else here yet.' They stood close to the arena wall.
'I guess we have to wait until the rest of the competition shows up.' Emerald replied.
'It's like we're back in the Vytal Festival. I wonder though if these "Reckoners" are any good.'
'They're probably not pushovers, because they're probably trained to do this. But we're in an open space now, not restricted by armour, and they don't have Aura like we do. I mean if they team up, it'll be difficult, but if I can focus my attention on one guy, I should be able to use my Semblance.'
'Pfft, I wish I had that luxury as well.'
'Hey, at least you have your weapon still.'
'Yeah, and a not-so-stable leg.'
'Look, let's just focus on this. Although I'm really hungry now, and thirsty.'
The gate directly on the left side of the VIP opened up. A group of ten individuals swaggered out.
'Well that's hardly hair. They get helmets and weapons.' Mercury whinged.
'Honestly, this seems more like a sporting event. That jerk with the spear said that we won't last long, but I think he said that assuming we were bad at fighting. If you're decent, you'll just be injured or something like that. Better not stand around though. We're expected to provide entertainment for these guys, and I suspect that if we come out as victors, then we stand a better chance of getting food.'
'Okay then, let's go.'
They ran towards the Reckoners, who had already began duking it out. Mercury ignored the pain in his leg. Now was not a time to be a wuss.
Emerald tackled a man who was already engaged in a sword duel with another. She kicked him repeatedly in the groin, whilst simultaneously using her Semblance to trick the other man into thinking that he was still fighting the same guy. Before long he was wheezing and unable to get back up. Emerald deactivated her Semblance and threw herself at the other man, securing him down on his chest. She removed his helmet and elbowed him hard in the back of the head, securing a quick result.
Mercury ran straight towards a brute with an axe. He ducked out of the way of the horizontal axed swing and immediately roundhouse kicked the brute in the face, kicking his helmet off in the process. He crumpled to the ground and Mercury immediately went on to the next opponent: a muscular man with a horn-shaped helmet protecting his face, and a long dagger. He ran straight at Mercury. Mercury jumped to the side though and fired a shot directly from his boot that hit the man's hand, causing him to drop the dagger. Mercury fired another shot, hitting him squarely in the chest. He then picked up the dagger and stabbed it through the man's exposed abdomen. The Reckoners weren't abiders of tournament rules, so Mercury wasn't going to be one either.
They had already taken out two people each, and Emerald and Mercury both formed the conclusion that the Reckoners were sluggish and unrefined. The speed at which they swung their fists, legs and weapons was comically slow for their standards. They were gaining attention however. The remaining six reckoners knew that they were tough. The audience were already in awe of how quickly they moved, and Draven too had his eyes only on Emerald and Mercury. It was time though.
A platform in the centre of the pit began to rise up from the ground below, carrying with it the final contestant to arrive. Her skin was stained with sweat and dirt; her eyes hadn't slept for weeks and her hair was white, uneven but tied at the back of her head. She wore a filthy white, shirtless top; a brown skirt around her waist; a pair of flimsy sandals; and a metal gauntlet on her right hand. Her left hand and arm were wrapped in bandages; and her left shoulder was protected by a spaulder and a pauldron on top of it, but her right shoulder had neither. Unlike every other combatant so far, she was still chained to the stone pillar on the platform and clearly the only one who did not want to be there. She gave a sharp glare at Draven and immediately went into action, focusing on the four Reckoners who were closest to her. Their interest in Emerald and Mercury were immediately overridden.
Mercury and Emerald took down one of the remaining two Reckoners each. Mercury exchanged blows with one wielding a giant claymore before kicking with enough force to send the blade through the man's left shoulder. Emerald tricked her opponent into swinging his mace at nothing, punched him in the stomach and finally used his own mace to bash his head beneath the horned helmet. They had a moment to recuperate and used it to watch the whitehaired girl fight all four Reckoners at the same time.
She was swift and acutely aware of her surroundings. She slammed the head of the nearest Reckoner into the pillar that she was chained to, immediately grabbed the spear of the next Reckoner who attempted to thrust it through her, and knocked it up so that the hilt hit him in the jaw. He let go and the girl whacked his side with her fist. The third Reckoner challenged her with an axe, only to be immediately disarmed and kicked to the ground. The final Reckoner threw his spear at her, but she ducked and used her own shackles to capture his head in a lock before throwing him to the ground. It had all happened so fast.
She looked up at Draven, held her arm outstretched and dropped the chain. The crowd cheered and chanted: "Riven! Riven! Riven!"
Draven thumped the armrest of his throne with the knife he had been swinging around his finger. He was angry, not because of her disrespectfulness, but because there was someone who was potentially better than him.
The girl turned around and began to walk away, but immediately stopped when she saw Emerald and Mercury, with only about ten metres between them. They stared at each other, unsure of what to do.
Emerald and Mercury noticed a blade that had suddenly been thrown from the booth where Draven was sitting. They assumed it would go right through her, but instead it landed on the chain that bound her to the pillar, severing it. The girl looked back at the booth to see Draven vaulted over the edge and landing smoothly on the ground. He was now carrying a pair of peculiarly shaped but razor-sharp axes that were spinning around his hands, whilst wearing an exceedingly cocky but excited grin on his face. Three worthy opponents to choose from! He had even given the exile back her own broken blade.
The bets were off now. The two new but ruthless faces of Emerald and Mercury vs. one infamous exile and former soldier of Noxus, Riven vs. the fan favourite Glorious Executioner of the Reckoners, Draven.
Victory was the only option.
'You take on that hideous man, and I'll deal with this girl.' Emerald ordered.
'That's pretty harsh.' Mercury commented.
Emerald used her Semblance to remove Draven from the Riven's point of view and tackled her whilst she was distracted.
Mercury fired a shot from his boot to grab the attention of Draven.
'Let's do this!' Draven shouted.
Emerald and Riven wrested each other on the ground, fighting for control of the broken blade; both had their hands around the handle, kicking and punching each other in a cat fight.
'Let go! This doesn't concern you!' Riven said through gritted teeth.
'No, give up now! You don't know what you're dealing with!' Emerald retorted.
Riven twisted Emerald's wrist and she let go of her blade. Riven then kicked her off and stood up. Emerald remained on the ground and moaned. Without any mercy, she thrust the blade down straight through Emerald's chest. Emerald went limp. Riven lifted her blade back up and sighed. So soon?
'Argh!' Riven felt the wind knocked out of her. Emerald's body had vanished, and a pair of hands had Riven caught with a sword against her neck.
'Drop your blade or I'll slit your throat!' Emerald warned her. 'Now!'
Riven clasped her hands around the sword that was mere millimetres away from her life, ignoring the pain as it cut into her hands. She wrestled it away and kicked the shin of Emerald's right leg, giving her the opportunity to throw herself on top of Emerald and place her hands around Emerald's neck. She squeezed as tightly as possible. 'You shouldn't have picked this fight!' Riven snarled.
Emerald kicked and struggled to push Riven's hands off her. Her aura flickered, and Riven loosened her grip.
'W-what?' she uttered in confusion.
Emerald screamed and punched Riven in her mouth.
She fell on her back and spat out some blood.
Emerald clumsily got to her feet and stomped on Riven's left knee and kicked her in the side of her head.
Riven wailed.
'Stay down!' Emerald's voice echoed in Riven's ears. 'You cannot beat us!'
Riven looked up and saw Emerald circling around her: seven of her actually!
'Be a good girl, and know your place!'
'No!'
The seven Emeralds raised Riven's sword seven times and brought it down into her leg. Riven's eyelids closed. It had only been recognition of the girl's reluctance to fight that had spared her life.
Emerald straightened herself up and looked at Mercury.
Draven threw the axe from his left hand at Mercury. It flew like an arrow, but Mercury kicked it out of the way. Draven threw the second one too, which Mercury also kicked out of the air (he winced when he landed on his feet). Draven ran and slid on his knees to catch them. He chuckled as he began to spin them in his hands again. Draven tossed them at Mercury once more, but with more aggression, giving the latter only a split second to react and kick them. They went higher into the air this time, and Draven jumped to grab them once they were close enough. He landed gracefully on his feet and spun them in his hands even faster and chortled.
Draven threw them a third time. This round though, Mercury shot the axes mid-flight, and they went flying in opposite directions. Draven sprinted to catch the first axe to his left, once again sliding across the ground to ensure that he got it. The second axe was too far away for him to catch though. Unexpectedly, Draven threw the axe at his one still in the air. They rebounded of each other and went even higher upwards. Draven ran to their location. Mercury fired a shot at Draven's feet. Without even acknowledging what Mercury had done, he somersaulted over the projectile, caught both axes in his hands whilst upside down, and landed perfectly on his feet again. The crowd roared and Draven laughed smugly at Mercury.
Mercury had to admit that this man had style, and he certainly wasn't straight up ugly. But why was he so fixated on not dropping them?
'You got some good kicks, kid, but Draven's got perfection!'
Mercury snorted. 'Sure, but do you have any other tricks besides catching those stupid things?!'
'Watch and learn from the best!' Draven hurled his right axe.
Mercury ducked. The axe went over his head like a buzzsaw, missing him by mere centimetres. He stood up, but was met with the blow of the Draven's other axe hitting him in his right shoulder. It bounced off his aura and went spinning into the air, but it had hurt very badly!
Draven dashed and caught the axe that had ricocheted off Mercury. He swung it in front of himself this time.
Mercury jumped back to avoid the swing. This was his mistake though. Before his feet had connected with the ground again, Draven threw the axe, connecting with his other shoulder. It bounced off him again, but the pain was agonising. Why did they hurt so much?! It was comparable to a fully enraged punch from Yang. Not to mention his already injured leg. His aura began to flicker.
Draven caught the axe and ran across the arena to collect the one that Mercury had successfully avoided.
He was running in a straight line towards it, still spinning the other axe in his hand.
'That's his whole shtick...' Mercury aimed his foot directly at Draven's hand and fired a shot.
It hit him squarely on the back of his hand, and Draven dropped the axe. It made a noisy clang when it hit the dirt. Draven clutched his hand and turned around to look at Mercury, who had his hands folded smugly.
'I said show me a new trick.' Mercury taunted.
Draven growled yet maintained his grin too. 'Listen here, you joker! Draven's just getting warmed up!' He retrieved both of his axes and squinted his eyes. He threw his axes. Mercury kicked them back. Draven caught them and threw them again, and again, and again, whilst walking forward and getting progressively closer to his target. They exchanged throws and kicks, with each successive one becoming shorter, like an extreme rally of table tennis. Draven was throwing them harder and faster, and Mercury was kicking them back just as hard and just as fast. There was now less than five metres between them. Mercury had no time window to move, whilst Draven's feet were free.
Mercury was running low. His legs were tired and begging him to stop. Dodging was not an option though. Draven's aim was clearly impeccable, and he had two shots to work with. However, Mercury saw an opportunity. Draven was overconfident and getting closer and closer. He would only have one chance though, where Draven would be too close.
Draven was now within spitting distance. He had Mercury dancing for him. At any moment, he would falter. 'This is where Draven shines!'
'Now!' Mercury jumped and spun around. He threw out his legs just before he had completed a circle and smashed both the axes with his feet as hard as he could. He landed sharply on his back, but the kicks had been a success! The axes went rocketing towards Draven at a speed faster than a cannonball, at point blank range.
He had no time to raise his hands and catch them, or even react for that matter. The axes went straight into his shoulders, and the curved tips pierced through the back. They had been lodged in like nails in a wall. Draven cried out in pain and fell backwards, although he was still laughing.
Mercury's legs were burning. He was almost unable to stand up. He got up though and saw Draven on the ground, struggling with his hands to try and remove the axes from his shoulders. Two puddles of blood were already expanding next to his head. Mercury stumbled towards Draven and looked smugly at him. 'More like, this is where Draven loses.'
Draven seethed with both pain and range.
Mercury spat on Draven's face and kicked him in the side of the head. He straightened himself up and looked at Emerald.
They had finished at the exact same time.
The crowd then exploded with a roar of cheers and amazement.
Stunned and without any idea of what they should do now, Emerald and Mercury simply stood there in shock. What had just happened?
The main gate slowly opened. No one was contesting it. Were they effectively free to go because they had won, even though they were already classified as criminals?
Emerald went to Mercury 'We shouldn't hang around here. Let's go!' She grabbed his left wrist and dragged him with her out of the gate.
'I must say, I did not expect that to be the end result.' the hooded figure said loudly to Alyssa over the booming crowd.
'Me neither. I did those kids would be so skilled, beating both Miss Konte and Draven.' Alyssa replied. 'But the gate was opened, and they're were allowed to escape. We need to stop them.'
'Don't worry, General Gloriana val-Lokan. I actually had a roundup ground ready. They should be in position now.'
'You do? Who's in it?'
'Just some old friends.' the hooded figure replied simply. She stood up and made her way out of the arena, leaving Alyssa behind with the spectators, all still with their minds lost.
'Well that was interesting.' Emerald panted as she and Mercury ran out of the arena and onto the streets, now devoid of almost anyone.
'Yeah, how did your fight go? Looks like you got some blood around your neck.'
'That girl was tough, but she doesn't have the same calibre as actual Huntsmen. Not as skilled or technical. How about yours?'
'That guy's got some mad throwing skills, but he talked too much and eventually I got him. Hey, can we please stop? My legs are killing me.' They came to a halt underneath a large archway and between two alleyways.
'Mercury, we need to get out of here!'
'Don't worry. They let us out of the pit. I think they know their place now.'
'I don't think they counted on us winning though. The police will be on the look out for us for sure!'
'We can't leave though. We need food and water, pronto, and we're not gonna find anything out there. We get some stuff and we find a place to hide, okay?'
'Okay, but we can't stay out in the open for too long. Let's try and stay in the shadows.'
'Yeah. Good plan.'
A hissing noise found its way into their ears.
'Do you hear that?' Emerald asked.
'What? I can only hear my heart pounding inside my chest.'
'No, listen!'
'Oh yeah. That doesn't sound good.'
'We should go, now!'
Something dropped on Emerald. 'Gyah!' She had been coated in a sticky, stringy substance. She writhed and struggled, trying to kick and punch her way out of the stuff, but it was no use. 'Mercury, help me!' she screamed.
Mercury tried to grab the substance and rip it away, however he recoiled at how disgusting it was. 'Eww!' He looked up and saw the fright of his life. A giant black widow spider hung from the arch. It rode down a string of web and landed on the ground. It wrapped several of its legs around Emerald and it brought her with it up the web that it had created. 'Emerald!' Mercury yelled.
He then started coughing and spluttering. A purple substance had been splashed over him, without having even realised it. A finger tapped him on his left shoulder and he instinctively turned to see what it was. A scream blew up his eardrums and a pair of malicious yellow eyes gazed piercingly into his own. His vision went white, and Mercury fell backwards, as solid as a statue.
