The first day of the Tournament arrived and Vale teemed with excitement. It was time to see which school was the best!
"Elise, please stop bouncing." Elin drawled at his exuberant sister. The sound made me smile. Amity Coliseum floated overhead, gleaming in the sunlight.
Truly it was a masterpiece of art and science. Peyton and I had taken it apart bit by bit, pouring over its structure. The greatest minds of Remnant had designed it.
The three layers were obvious but there was so much more in play. The coliseum was shaped like a wide spike facing downward, with the bottom point of it being a massive green stone that produced the hovering of the coliseum and kept it stable in the air. Walking underneath it could be uncomfortable but you could feel the weight of the massive structure weighing down on your shoulders and head in the reverse gravity beneath it.
The second level was the entrance ways and the maintenance level, where the different terrains were stored and fixed after the battles. The top layer was the true coliseum piece with thousands of seats available and in the center below the seats was the arena. Broken into four parts around the octagonal starting plate, each section could become a different terrain, picked by randomization.
Screens broadcasted feed to those too high to see the action and those sitting at home watching the fights from their couches and lounge chairs.
Peyton had also told me of the shield that covered the top of the coliseum so that even in rain, the battle would still be held. The power and complexity of the coliseum astounded and awed me. It was beautiful.
Near the floating coliseum was the fairgrounds where vendors from all four kingdoms had come to provide for the tournament. That was where we were headed that first day. Elin was jittery with nerves. The day before yesterday he had come to me with a request.
A change of attire. Elin wanted to design us new outfits to showcase in the tournament and wear as daily attire. I was partial to the one I had now but I couldn't deny that the idea of change was intriguing. So he had put his head down and tweaked and played with ideas till we were all satisfied and yesterday he went into town with us in tow to have us fitted and dressed.
Now we were headed to the fairgrounds to show off.
We were scheduled to fight this evening and excitement and terror warred in my stomach. Then tomorrow would be the miscellaneous contests of which I was a part of the singing contest (courtesy of Elin), the dance contest (courtesy of Daren) and the art contest (courtesy of the Elise and Peyton). The dance contest I felt confident in but the other two I was just doing for fun. Elin wanted to do the singing contest and signed me up as well while Peyton had entered me in the art contest with himself on Elise's orders.
All seemed well. My team and I were back to pre-Mountain Glenn form, both physically and emotionally. It had taken a long time but the excitement of the tournament had allowed us to push the Maze into the backs of our minds. Now we were determined to show the world that Beacon was the best.
We strode into the fairgrounds, turning heads as we went. Elin barely contained his pride.
Elise had only told him, 'make it bold'. So bold Elin went.
Elise now wore her long blonde hair in a ponytail braid that was tied at the back of her head and fell to her waist and her bangs cutting a rakish angle across her left eyebrow with two silver stilettos crossed in the hair at the back of her head. A black short sleeved collared vest covered her shoulder with her personal emblem on the back in metallic silver that reached just below her bust. Two swords crossed and one pointed straight down on top of them. An old symbol of Strength. Beneath the black over vest was a matte metal cover that stretched from her back all the way to her hips, sweeping in just below her rib cage to cover her hips and the soft space just above her hips. Her pierced belly button showed as well as the flat curve of her stomach below her bust which was covered by a silver bandeau, the same sheen as the metal so it looked like one piece of metalwork. This was tucked into a pair of black leather pants, crisscrossed with two metallic belts that hung carelessly off her hips, only held with a black belt buckle of her emblem. Her heeled black boots came to below the back of her knee and were laced up all the way with silver shoelaces. Around her neck was a silver chain with a tiny Serenity point down to the curves of her breasts and on top of that was her Grimm necklace that she had earned in the tunnels. On her hands, Elin gave her black half gauntlets with steel knuckles and reinforced palms for her sword work. Serenity was magnetized to her back with a newly finished black handle and silver polished pommel so that Serenity matched the outfit and she oozed sexy and confident.
Elin himself had changed drastically but I can't say that it was a bad change. He looked truly incredible, he as well decked out in black and silver. He wore a black long sleeved collared silk shirt with the right sleeve rolled up to his elbow while the left stayed all the way down hiding his scars; over top of an armor suit that no one could see and on top of the black shirt was a silver vest much like his sisters but this one was full length and button up with black buttons. The shirt was tucked into matte silver pants while the vest was left untucked. The pants were held up with black metal chains from which Lightning and Strike hung from. His weapons too had been changed to silver and black. The interchanging metals had been changed into interchanging silver and black components while the knuckles were silver and the grips were black. Those silver pants were tucked into black boots just like his sisters but with a slightly lower heel. The most dramatic change was the coat. It was a beautiful long, flat collared coat that reached his calves and hung off his shoulders. It was magnetized to his shoulder similar to the way his weapons magnetized to his hips and it had to since he didn't put his arms through the sleeves. It was a 'look' as he described it. I loved watched the coat as he moved. It was black but shot through with silver so that when the light caught the silver, it looked like lightning shooting through the dark sky and his personal emblem on the back where all the silver lightning strikes met. Two whips coiled together in a circle with the ends becoming snakes that ate each other's tails. He too wore his Grimm necklace that he had made and he wore kid leather gloves on his hands.
He looked like a very sexy ring leader. All he was missing was the top hat. But truly he looked magnificent and he loved the way he looked with his tousled hair and subtle makeup so it worked.
For Peyton, it was much simpler. His shirt was a tight long sleeved muscle shirt that clung to every defined muscle across his arms and abdomen and a v neck that dove between his rippling pectorals and showed his Grimm necklace to all and the peek of one newly healed scar poked into the open by his collarbone. The shirt looked like a giant black and silver motherboard. The shirt itself was silver but the designs were done in black with the complicated etchings of an internal piece of hardware. Peyton had been pleased and impressed when Elin showed him the fabric. His pants were made of a more durable fabric and were black with silver etchings held up with a black belt and his silver emblem belt buckle. Beneath both shirt and pants, Peyton wore a bodysuit similar to Elin's. Very thin but very strong body armor that I had commissioned just for them. Elise had her own armor.
Peyton now wore his hair half up and half down with the top tied back and then braided and the bottom left out loose. His beautiful brunette hair reach the bottom of his shoulder blades. On top of his black on silver shirt was an open black vest that on the inside was really pieces of hardware that Peyton's Semblance could command. On the outside it looked like a closer up version of his pants. The silver on black was much bigger and wear all the silver met in the back was Peyton emblem. Two curve blades ( I assume to represent Tech Slash) over top of a mountain surrounded by what I call technobabble. Multiple 1's and 0's that Peyton told me meant 'We remember the Mountain.' The mountain I now know means Mountain Glenn. The home that Peyton never spoke of.
His boots were the same as Elin and Elise but without any heel, resembling combat boots more and Elin had put black glove on Peyton's hand with padding on the knuckles so that when he punched, the spiked knuckles of Tech Slash would hurt him. Even his weapons now had a matte silver and black finish. He looked like the perfect complement to the twins. Then again, so did I.
Sticking with the silver and black trend that I had started I told Elin to have fun with it. When I had first seen the outfit laid out on my bed I had been a little nervous but I had loved it the minute I put it on. It was daring and new but still functional and I'll admit, quite beautiful.
The first thing I put on was a black bandeau top that was threaded with detailed loops of silver orchids. It was just tight enough to hold my bust in place without embarrassing me. My pants were the same design as the bandeau with tiny silver orchids but attached to the hips of the pants were the long strips of flat, matte black leather about three fingers wide. They wrapped around my figure alluringly four times. Starting with the first wrap they crossed just below my belly button, wrapping around my lower back and coming back to the front to cross just above my belly button, once again wrapping around my mid back, coming back to the front to cross just below my bust, right on my large puncture scar. Then the strips wrapped around my upper back on the bandeau and came up underneath my armpits to cross across my chest and the ends met on the back on my neck and were hooked onto the back of my gorget. Tooled along the diagonal leather were designs of single stem orchids. My pants were tucked into boots exactly like Elise's, heel and all. When I said it was time for a change, Elin had went big. I hadn't even had to tell him to get the boots steel toed and steel heeled. The last bit of my outfit was a short vest just like Elise's except I had a stiff collared sleeveless vest and the emblem on the back was mine. Around my neck was my Grimm necklace and I bore it proudly.
My emblem, done in silver was a single orchid bloom with a leafy stem going up and down and straight across into the circle of leafy vines that made up the outside of the emblem. Around the Orchid bloom was a stylization of the moon cycle, a quiet way of showing my heritage. Mum had always loved how the moon changed.
I had followed Peyton's lead with my hair. The top of it was pulled back into a half ponytail then braided while the rest of my hair remained loose and wild. My bangs, like Elise's, were brushed over my eyebrow but my right one instead of my left. On my hands were the same black, steel knuckled gloves with reinforced palms that Elise wore.
We looked incredible together; unique yet every outfit a statement of the person wearing it. I had paid a hefty price for them but it was a small fee for such an outcome.
Our sister teams were stunned by our appearance. Blake grinned and Yang winked while Jaune tried not to stare. Nora waggled her eyebrows and Ren just gazed appreciatively. "Wow… you guys… wow." Ruby said drinking in all the black and silver.
I chuckled. "Everyone ready?" The thrill of the competition shot through all my teammates. Even calm Ren.
"We're going to crush the competition!" Nora cried, crushing her right hand into her left. Pyrrha just smiled. She had won tournaments before and if I wasn't backing Elise, Pyrrha would be who I'd place my money on.
"C'mon. I want to see the first match." Elin said, walking towards the docks. There transporters carried spectators to the coliseum. Everyone came with us and we found seats in a relatively good section. The seats were comfortable and the food was great. I stuck to just a drink, knowing anything heavy would make me ill and I needed to be ready for our first round.
"Welcome all to Amity Coliseum! I am Professor Port of Beacon Academy, my partner is Doctor Oobleck also of Beacon and I would like to welcome you to the Vytal Festival Tournament!" We all cheered as the symbol for the Vytal Festival popped up on all the screens. It was a combination of all the Nations emblems into one. "Yes, welcome all. Before we begin, let us break down the rules of the tournament." Doctor Oobleck said, coming onto the screens. Both of them sat together with a microphone in front of them.
"First, this tournament is divided into three distinctive rounds. Teams, doubles and singles. Age and school year are irrelevant, the only attribute being tested in this tournament is skill." Port took over then. "The winners of the teams round will select two of their members to represent them in the doubles round. Followed by the winners of that round choosing one member to advance once again. The remaining combatants will then fight their way through the final bracket in the hope of achieving victory for their kingdom!" Once again everyone cheered.
That's what we all wanted. Victory.
"Now, it is time to begin! Who will be our next reigning champion?!" Port boomed out as the randomization process began. I sat back in my chair as a team from Mistral and a team from Atlas were chosen to battle it out.
There was a small smile on my face. I wonder who we would face in the evening…
I hoped they would be ready.