TIME TO GO, HEROES

OLGAR & VAHTI

11 years had passed since the defeat of the Qualia. 11 years of a universe without this wretched threat to the multiverse and timespace. Life simply went on for humankind. People were born and people had died. Rulers were overthrown (*cough* the Divine King *cough*) and new rulers took their place (*cough* Zhamo *cough*). It was business as usual.

For many, that is. Olgar and Vahti were once travelers who moved across many countries around the world, seeing what their descendants had created. But not long after the last Ark Arena tournament, they ceased their nomadic lifestyle and settled permanently in a seafaring nation called Atlantior. In fact, this seafaring nation was on roughly the same land that their original country, Dahjil, was settled on before Olgar and Vahti were summoned to the Ark for the first time. What's more, Olgar and Vahti's original Dahjilian culture had rubbed off on this kingdom. Even if Dahjil technically no longer existed, it lived on as Atlantior. It's probably the reason why Olgar and Vahti chose to settle here: it reminded them of another lifetime.

Olgar took it upon himself to teach young would-be warriors the ways of combat; after 10,000 years of fighting, he might as well teach the new generation to be strong. His martial prowess was so great that it caught the attention of the king of Atlantior, King Neptorian, who offered Olgar and Vahti residence at his palace. Here, Olgar would train and mentor future warriors, including bodyguards of the royal family. Olgar wasn't sure at first, but after encouragement from Vahti he accepted. In this new position, Olgar had come up with a special name for his students: the Royal Talons.

One day, Olgar was sparring with Diers, one of the Royal Talons under his tutelage. Diers was a bright young swordsman, reminding Olgar of Escher and himself as a twenty or thirty-something-year old. Although he was the youngest of the new Royal Talons (by a few years), it quickly became clear that he was the most gifted. Currently, the two of them were grappling, attempting to gain an advantage and get in a good blow with their weapons. Around them, the other Royal Talons watched in awe.

"Hnnnnnnnngggggghhhh!"

"Don't give out just yet!", Olgar told Diers. Eventually, Diers broke the lock out of exhaustion, and attempted to blitz to Olgar's side. But the old axe-wielding warrior had entered Tachyon Mode, increasing his speed and allowing him to counter Diers' flank attack. Diers flew back from the impact and was knocked out of the arena. Even for this talented swordsman a warrior with 10,000 years of combat experience was a tall order. Still, Olgar was quite pleased at his performance. He was slowly taking breaths, his heart beating rapidly.

"Heh. You've gotten better with that flank attack Diers."

"Well…it would have been better if it actually worked," Diers replied. "Beating you just seems to be borderline impossible, am I right guys?". The rest of the Royal Talons murmured in agreement.

"No. I could sense some hesitation in your movements as you tried outflank and attack me. I also had to be fast enough to react. If you had let go of any reservations during your offense or had I been a bit slower, I have no doubt that you could have defeated me," Olgar said. "I have fought warriors who could have done the very same." As the Royal Talons talked amongst themselves about Olgar's words, Vahti called out to Olgar. It was time for dinner.

"Anyway, that's enough training for today, young ones. You are dismissed" The Royal Talons dispersed as Olgar walked over to Vahti. But as he approached his wife, Olgar could feel his heart beating very rapidly. More than should be normal for a human. Vahti could sense that something was wrong.

"Olgar…are you alright?"

"My heart beats are irregular. They're beating really quickly for some reason…"

"Could it have something to do with your physiology? We were immortal for 10,000 years and we've grown stronger since then," Vahti suggested. "Or maybe you should just take it easy for a bit. You have been training the Royal Talons quite vigorously."

"Heh, perhaps." Vahti gave Olgar a piece of chocolate to see if it would help ease his heart. These were the same chocolates from the Ark Arena, and the warriors of the last tournament still happened to possess a lot of the special items from their time there. The chocolate seemed to help, at least to an extent. Olgar still felt his heart pounding quite rapidly, though not as much as before.

Olgar and Vahti arrived at dinner with the Atlantior Royal Family. Here, King Neptorian and his wife, Queen Amphortia, had special news for the two. "Say, Olgar and Vahti. It appears that some old friends of yours have been trying to reach out to you two," the King announced.

"Oh?", Olgar asked. Vahti was intrigued too.

"Indeed, I received this letter today. Queen Eluca and King Zhamo and four other figures here say they plan on visiting in three weeks. Let's see here, folks named Escher…myoo-see-uh, Ayuta, and, err…shee-uh? Is that how you pronounce it?"

"Give me that," Queen Amphortia said as she grabbed the letter. "Musiea and Shea. Do you happen to know anyone of those names?"

"Yes, we do," Vahti replied. "We fought alongside them years ago. We would love for them to visit. It must have been over a decade since we have last seen them."

"I wonder how they have been doing," Olgar said.

"I did not know you were acquainted with King Zhamo and Queen Eluca. Well then! I shall inform them that they are welcome to visit! After all…it would be a good opportunity for me to see if they'd be willing to trade some marble and jewels…"

"You're still on about that "luxury hunting lodge"?", the Queen asked her husband.

"Hey! It's a great project!", the King protested. "It will have hot baths, a great dining room, and many other great features!" The Queen merely chuckled. On the other hand, Olgar and Vahti were now looking forward to seeing the friends who fought alongside them to save the universe. What a wonderful day it would be…

…except it wouldn't.