Game, Set, Match!
As the second round came to a close, Raven took a grateful swig from the Ether one of the attendants passed to her and felt her mana replenish with a tingle. The fight hadn't been especially difficult but it had been long. Just another group of Heartless, ones that resembled monkeys and were very quick to swarm their opponents with relentless attacks. Apparently, the contestant who faced them in the first round wasn't adept enough at magic to single them out and was knocked out of the tournament. Once Raven had figured out their weakness to Fire magic, she was able to remain out of reach and gradually pick them off, but it was certainly a tiring affair.
The great stone doors closed behind her as she exited the arena, the cheering crowd already hungry for the next match. She adjourned to the side room that had been provided to Riku and herself, her silver haired companion having already won his second round a few matches previously. He sat flipping his demon sword in one hand while his other supported his chin, very clearly bored with the interlude.
"Glad to see you're keeping busy." She remarked as she entered. He caught his blade and allowed it to vanish as he stood, his expression only mildly less idle.
"Take it you won?"
"Of course." She smirked and flexed her arms at him playfully. He simply folded his arms and rolled his eyes. "What's got you in such a bubbly mood?" She asked sarcastically, resting her hands on her hips.
"Hades. He has another favour for us to carry out. Honestly, I'd rather take a nap until the next match." He complained, leaning on the nearby wall.
"Well, what's the favour?"
"Who knows? Hasn't regaled me with the details. Was waiting for your match to end."
"Oh, well apologies for taking so long." She made a mocking gesture of a bow with an overly flamboyant head swivel. It seemed to brighten his demeanour somewhat, if only briefly as the Lord of the Dead appeared right behind Raven.
"Apology noted and accepted." He patted Raven on the head, making her jump.
"Spit it out, Hades, the quarter-finals are next. We don't have all day." Riku grumbled, only for the towering man to glide right up to him and pinch his cheek.
"Yes, yes, you're in a big hurry, time is money blah, blah, blah. Shut up for a minute, kid and let me talk, I'm a fast talker." Ignoring the affronted teenager's growl of contempt, Hades straightened up. "As Spring has already sprung this year, my lovely wife Persephone is having her annual stay with her mother."
"You have a wife?" Riku scoffed.
"Not important kid and don't look so surprised, I'm a catch." Hades shot back. "Anyway, when she left at the end of Winter, we had a, shall we say, disagreement, which has left me with the very real possibility she will delay coming home. Or rather, her mother will try to stop her coming home even though we have a solid contract and agreed terms. I mean it's not even in the small print. She ate a pomegranate from the Underworld, she's Queen of the Underworld, what's so hard to understand?" His flames flared red before he took a couple of calming breaths.
"I digress. Point is I need you two to deliver this to Persephone for me." He conjured a scroll sealed with marbled black and blue wax. "Hopefully it'll clear the whole thing up. Oh, and this should go without saying, but do not read it!" He handed off the scroll to Raven, giving Riku the side-eye.
"Understood." She confirmed and he released his grip.
"Now, before you go, I do have a little bit of advice for the pair of you." He placed his fingertips together in a pensive manner. "See, I just witnessed one of the upcoming contestants demolish his opposition. Rex, I think was his name, all in black and red, brown spikes, kid's stiffer than the stiffs back home. He's got talent and he's ruthless to boot. Seen him in a couple small tournaments, he's got no sponsor, no recommendations, worked his way here from the gutter from what I hear."
"So what?" Riku sneered dismissively.
"So, this schmuck is not to be taken lightly, and he's on the cards to take one of you two in the next round. Now normally I wouldn't take such a sentimental interest, but fortunately for you, Maleficent wants you both back in one piece and for that piece to be alive and well." He abruptly clapped his hands twice.
"Cho, chop now. Didn't you say you were busy?" He used a tendril of smoke to pull Riku away from his spot on the wall and scooped Raven up in it as it passed, pushing them towards the exit.
"Head down to Thebes, go to Persephone's shrine, and if you're lucky she'll pick up. Happy trails!"
XXXXX
"Can't believe this." Riku grumbled, his hands in his pockets as they entered the courtyard and descended the steps. "Why do we have to talk to his wife?"
"Favours for favours. Of course, Hades is going to give us jobs he doesn't want to do. Honestly it could be worse than delivering a message. Grabbing that eyeball was pretty bad." Raven held up the scroll sealed with black marbled wax and lightly tapped his forehead with it. "Stop complaining and enjoy the tournament atmosphere!"
As they strode past a free-standing column, a voice spoke from its shadow on the other side.
"I don't get how you think working for him is worth it." Leaning up against it was the figure from before, the one with the black and red palette and spiky brown hair - this 'Rex' person, eyes following them as they passed by. While his posture looked relaxed, everything about him seemed like an animal ready to fight - muscles tense, body maintaining a stable stance
"I don't remember inviting you to the conversation." Riku remarked bitterly but Raven stepped in front of him.
"Hey now, no need for that." She turned to Rex and with her free hand outstretched for a handshake, she took a few steps closer to him. "It's just some friendly competition, right? I'm Raven, this is Riku. You're Rex, aren't you?" She smiled brightly at him, despite the cold reception.
"I am." He just stared at her outstretched hand, making no move to shake it. "You're registered for the Games under Hades' sponsorship. With your strength, I'm sure you'll be my opponents sooner or later. But that begs the question: what do you want from Hades?" His eyes locked with Riku's for a moment. "...Are you that desperate for power? Enough to walk into the depths for more of it?"
"What'd you say!?" Riku stepped forward angrily, but Raven once again blocked him and held him back.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I think there's been a bit of a misunderstanding." Raven laughed nervously. "Hades' sponsorship is all we needed from him, there's no deal for a power up or anything. We're here to test our strength, nothing more."
"We don't have to explain ourselves to this guy, Raven." Riku snarled behind her, glaring at Rex.
"Good. Clinging to him wouldn't make you stronger anyway." The boy chuckled, a faint smile creeping to the corners of his mouth. "You have enough power on your own. I only ask because I've seen dozens of other fighters come to the God of the Dead, and I've never understood why they would fight for him." His smile turning into a cocky smirk, he pushed off the wall, arms falling to his sides as he leaned just a bit closer to Riku. "Simple curiosity, that's all."
"Mind your own, pal!" He matched Rex's advance, pushing Raven aside and glaring at the dark armoured boy, the pair of them barely a foot apart.
"Okay, that's enough!" Raven forced herself between them once more, planting her hands firmly on each of their chests and pushing them away from each other in an effort to avoid a fight.
Stumbling back slightly, Rex regained his footing quickly, shrugging. "Well, if you hate me so much, good news - I'm certain we'll face each other before the end. Don't take this personally, but only one of us will be leaving the arena alive. No hard feelings one way or the other." With an almost mocking bow, the swordsman turned around and began to walk away, towards the vestibule.
Riku made a movement as if to go after him but Raven, palm still on his chest, grabbed the belts that sat there and pulled him away.
"Fighting outside of matches will get you disqualified." She hissed at Riku. "He's not worth that." Looking her in the eye, Riku finally conceded and shrugged her grip off him, stomping towards the exit. Raven rolled her eyes but gave Rex a fleeting glare before following him.
XXXXX
The city of Thebes was alive with the hustle and bustle that could only be generated by a huge social event like the games. Vendors were selling merchandise and snacks for spectators to bring up to the Coliseum, yelling their slogans and mantras to the passersby. People wound between great columns topped with golden embossments and carved marble statues in winding, snake-like rivers.
Raven was so enamoured by the architecture and culture around her that Riku had to pull her back out of the way of an oncoming cart.
"Look where you're going, numbskull!" The driver of said cart yelled over his shoulder as he raced past them fast enough to create a breeze and kick up a dust cloud.
"What a jerk." Riku scowled after the man. "He's right though, you should be more careful. Are you alright?" He held her shoulders and turned her to face him, checking her over with a look of concern.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." She reassured, swatting his hands away and brushing off the road dust. "I'll watch out from now on, I just got a little swept up in the atmosphere here. It's so lively!" Her spirit undamped by her near accident, Raven led the way across the road to the main marketplace.
"Artisanal vases! Get your artisanal vases! We got Herculean legends one through twelve!"
"Hercules action figures! Perfect little hero for your little heroes at home!"
"Fresh Moussaka! Baklava hot off the coals! Buy now to get a free Herculade! Limited offer!"
"Official Herc-airs! Approved by Wonder Boy himself!"
Every shop and stall had some kind of Herculean themed merchandise to sell. From togas to tapestries. He was the reigning champion of the Coliseum but because he was in the other half of the bracket, they hadn't encountered him, even outside of matches. If he was this popular, Raven could understand why he'd want privacy during tournaments.
She was just admiring from afar, a finely painted kylix depicting the battle between Hercules and some kind of giant boar, when a hooked nosed man leapt in front of her and opened his cloak, revealing dozens of sundials hanging from the lining.
"Hey doll, wanna buy a sundial?" He raised his eyebrows encouragingly, making Raven back away.
"O-oh, no thank you." She stammered politely, refusing him, but he continued to encroach.
"Get lost, we're not interested." Riku snarled, startling the man into skulking off with his wares as the silver haired boy tried to press on through the crowd. "Best not to interact with anyone. We just get to the shrine and deliver the message."
"Excuse me, could you tell me where I can find Persephone's shrine?"
Riku wheeled about, realising Raven wasn't next to him anymore, clocking her talking to one of the clothing vendors. He rolled his eyes exasperatedly and stomped over to her.
"Sorry darling, try further up, there's a bakery that patronises the gods a lot. You can't miss it." The tailor shrugged and pointed her in the direction of a giant statue of what she recognised from the pottery as Hercules.
"Okay, thanks anyway!" As she turned, she bumped into Riku, who was standing with his arms resolutely folded.
"What did I just say?"
"Oh, and you happen to know where we're going in a place we've never been?" She mirrored his pose and cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Well, no but-" He faltered at her questioning, his ears going pink.
"Exactly! Come on." She took him by the wrist, unfolding his arms and turning him as she walked past, keeping her eyes peeled for a bakery stall near the statue.
It was her nose that alerted her first though. A sweet, tangy aroma wafted through the air, complimented by a savoury undertone.
"That smells like..." She didn't finish her thought, instead following the heavenly scent, until she saw a small stall, quite literally at the base of the statue, and hurried over with Riku in tow. "Excuse me, what are you baking? It smells delicious! Ow!" She asked the vendor, grunting as she received an elbow from Riku.
"Ah, it is citron phyllo cake. Care to buy a piece?" The baker, a portly woman in an olive-green tunic, gestured to the flaky golden squares laid out on her stall, among various other pastries and breads that all looked delicious to Raven. She was about to make an order, but the sinking feeling in her stomach was a harsh reminder that she had no money to pay, or anything of value to offer as a trade. The dull ache in her ribs reminded her that they had a task to complete anyway, so with a falling smile, she shook her head.
"Actually, we were told you might be able to help us? We're looking for Persephone's shrine, could you point us in the right direction, please?" The baker looked mildly disappointed, but threw a rag over her shoulder and leant on the table.
"You see the fountain over there? The one with the sea serpent? There's an alley to the right of there, head straight through and you'll be in the temple gardens. Persephone's shrine is in one of the pavilions."
"Fountain, alley, temple. Got it, thank you so much!" Raven smiled cheerily at the baker woman as she made to leave.
"Hold on, hold on. You're competing in the tournament today?" She gestured to the ribbons tied to their arms.
"Oh, yes, we have the quarter-final rounds next." Raven explained. The woman's face broadened into a wide smile.
"Well why didn't you say so! My husband's a big fan of the games, he's at the Coliseum now. Oh, he'd never let me hear the end of it if I didn't show a little respect. Here, dear." She wrapped one of the phyllo cakes in a cloth and handed it to Raven. "This'll get your energy up!"
"Oh, thank you, but I couldn't-" Raven began.
"Nonsense, tiny thing like you could do with the boost." She insisted cheerily. "Anything for you, love?" She asked Riku, who suddenly looked stunned.
"I -uh..." He rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the spread of vittles before him. "I'll just have the same. Please." He muttered; a wrapped bundle being placed in his hands before the baker woman waved them off happily.
Raven sniffed the package in her hand as they walked to the fountain, relishing the tangy yet sweet odour.
"Why did you ask about food? They have stuff back at the Coliseum."
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. It smells exactly like these pastries the kitchen would make in the summertime." Reaching the fountain, she sat on its edge. "We have time, we should enjoy them." She tapped the spot next to her with the scroll from Hades. Somewhat reluctantly, Riku obliged and perched alongside her.
"So, it reminded you of home?" He asked, far more softly than he had previously spoken.
"Yeah, I guess it did." She laughed and smiled half-heartedly. Unwrapping the dessert, she took another small sniff before biting into it. The texture was unlike anything she had eaten before, both crumbly and creamy as the pastry crunched and flaked under her bite, but the layers between were a smooth, sugary sour custard-like substance. After nothing but bland, dry meals from Hollow Bastion, it was an explosion of flavour.
"Well?" Riku asked but was answered with a giggle.
"It's very different! But it's very tasty! Try it, go on." She encouraged. "It's a bit sharper than what I'm used to, but I quite like it."
Riku bit into his slice, and his face wrinkled at first, the sour hitting him hard, but as the sweetness came through, his expression softened and melted into one of enjoyment. "You weren't wrong about the sharpness. But it's not bad."
"Y'know, it's been a while since we were just able to have a chat. There's still a lot we don't know about each other." Raven said, watching the people walk by.
"What is there left to know?" Riku answered. "Not much else worth knowing really."
"Don't say that. There's lots worth knowing! What's your favourite colour?"
"Really?" He gave her a sideways look but she just looked expectantly at him and he sighed. "I don't have a favourite colour. Stuff like that is for kids."
"We are kids." She reminded him.
"You might be, I'm past all that."
"Okay then, how's this for important information? How old are you?" She asked, pointedly taking another bite of cake. "I'm fourteen. I'm gonna be fifteen in a few months though, just before the end of summer actually." There was a moment of confusion at her question before it dawned on him that they had never discussed each other's age.
"I turned fifteen at the start of spring." He said after a minute.
"Huh, only a bit older than me." She responded, taking another bite. "You ask one now."
He sighed. "Well, I told you about Sora and Kairi. Do you have any friends? Place like a guild I'd assume there's a lot of people there."
"Yeah, I have a few. I mean I wouldn't say everyone is friends, but we are family if that makes sense? We don't all always get along but we have each other's backs, y'know? But you meant close friends, I guess. Well, there's Kaz, she's a bit of a mechanical buff, she'd love poking around Hollow Bastion. And Tara, she's training to be a cleric, a healer type, very important if there's a big hunt. Then there's Reno and Rude, Reno's a bit cocky, he's got good fundamentals but likes to goof off, Rude keeps him in line, makes sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. Or gets into that trouble with him." She chuckled as she finished her slice. "I wonder if Maleficent will let me send a letter home? It's been a while, I don't want them to worry."
"I don't see why not." Riku smiled, dusting his gloves as he too had finished his pastry and stood up. "We should get going though, don't want to miss our matches."
"You're right."
The pair headed around the corner and down the alley as directed, coming out on the other side to a beautiful green garden and a towering white columned edifice with golden embossments of legendary tales decorating its walls. The lush garden was interspersed with marble statues and fountains of heroes and lovers and at its centre was a rectangular pond.
"These Greeks really like their statues." Raven commented, examining a rather large one depicting five women holding a roof up as the pillars themselves. "It's pretty impressive, they carved these out of stone." She ran her fingertips over the detailing of one of the ladies' hair, how it intricately coiled upwards. "They're beautiful."
"Admire the art on your own time, we have to find Persephone. That lady said it was in the garden, right?" Riku gently, but purposefully pushed her along from the statue, encouraging her to not get distracted. He was so focused on getting her focused that he didn't notice the eyes of the marble women following them and their shared, slightly mischievous looks.
They approached the pond, splitting and going either side of it to look for signs of Persephone's shrine. There were many more statues spread between the free-standing pillars, these being predominantly heroes. Raven recognised Hercules' form from across the water, a path of stepping stones creating a crossing in line with his statue. She was admiring the variety of flowers blooming around the pillars when she noticed a series of statues on a single plinth, the same five women from the other sculpture, but this time as individual pieces, each in a different pose, one even holding a scroll. They must have been important to have another dedication. Raven read the plaque on the pedestal that supported them, bending down to read the weathered engraving.
"The Muses." She muttered to herself. "Goddesses of the Arts and Proclaimers of Heroes." She read down the list of their names, seeing that Persephone was not among them and sighed. However, upon standing up, she saw the statues were all pointing across the pond in various positions. But she was certain they weren't posed like that before.
She squinted at them before shaking her head, looking at the direction they were gesturing. It was towards Hercules' statue but beyond the hedge that stood behind him, she could see a small, dome shaped roof. Could that be the pavilion the baker was talking about? She saw Riku walking on the other side of the pond and called out to him, jogging to the stepping stones and hopping from one to the next.
"Hey, I think I found- Wah!" She began to explain, but the final stepping stone sank underneath her foot, causing her to lose balance and fell forward. She almost saved it, getting her other leg onto the edge of the pond, but didn't have the right angle and tumbled onto her back.
"You're such a klutz." Riku's exasperated, yet slightly amused voice came from above, with his hand offered.
"That was a trick stepping stone!" She defended indignantly but taking his hand all the same and getting to her feet. "Anyway, I think I found the place, it's through here." She led the way through the topiaries, determined to brush off the embarrassment of her accident. Had she looked back, she would have seen the statues of the muses in varying degrees of disappointment and awkwardness.
Persephone's shrine sat underneath the marble gazebo, another carved idol of a woman with a thorny flower crown and long hair curling down her back, holding a fruit of some kind. At her feet were bottles of wine, various berries and treats and more of the same fruit she held. It was reddish brown, with a hard, smooth bark-like skin.
"Ahem, uh, Persephone? We have a message for you. From your husband Hades." Raven called out hesitantly, holding out the scroll to the shrine. When nothing happened, Raven looked over at Riku, who shrugged from his position leaning on one of the columns. "We'll uh, just leave it here for you then." She gently placed the scroll at the stone feet of the goddess and turned to leave, Riku already a few steps ahead.
"A letter?" A sweet, almost husky voice echoed from the shrine. They both whipped around in surprise to see the statue was moving! She had dropped her fruit and was undoing the scroll, somewhat irritably. "Months without a word and he thinks a simple scroll will make everything better?"
Having undone the scroll, she proceeded to flail it about in a display of offended disgust. "Sending children to do his dirty work, what a coward, an absolute snake, a-" Having begun to actually read the letter, she faltered, grasping the paper closer to her face and reading with increasing fervour, her stone eyes darting back and forth. Her furrowed brow slowly unknitted and her expression softened into an enamoured smile, clutching the parchment to her chest.
"Oh, he does care. Such beautiful words, such sentiment. He burns for me! The longing. The passion! Oh, I should have known my darling Hades loved me so." She turned her attention to the two messengers, who had shared a confused and uncomfortable look at what could possibly have been the contents of that letter.
"My darling hellion says that you two buds have been helping him with his latest project. I cannot thank you enough for delivering his words of adoration to me, my heart yearns for his fiery zealousness and with it the turning of the leaves when I can return to him." She rolled the scroll up and it vanished in a flurry of petals, leaving her marble hands free to extend towards Raven and Riku. "Place the Pomegranate in my hands once more, and I shall return you to my beloved's side. In exchange, please give him this as my answer." In her outstretched hands appeared another scroll, one with a purple and black seal. Raven took it as Riku had picked up the rather heavy marble fruit from the ground. As soon as he placed it in her waiting palms, a cloud of white smoke and petals enveloped the duo, parting to reveal the Coliseum courtyard.
"Well that saved us a trip." Riku looked around, wafting the remaining smoke away from his face. "Let's check the lineup before we get back to Hades."
With a nod, Raven accompanied him over to the bracket notice board. According to it, Raven was due to fight someone called Nessus in the next match, while Riku was set to fight Rexial, the boy in the dark armour that had threatened them earlier.
"I can't wait to wipe the smirk off that guy's face." Riku relished his matchup and had a smirk of his own as he said this.
"Just be careful. Hades wouldn't warn us about him for no reason." Raven reminded him, putting a firm, grounding hand on her friend's shoulder.
"I can take him. C'mon, let's get that to Hades, your match is up soon." He shrugged off Raven's hand but gave her a reassuring pat on the back as he led the way to the Vestibule and then their side room.
XXXXX
"Ah, Persephone, my sweet! What a dish, what a doll." Hades exclaimed under his breath, his flames momentarily flaring to a pinkish red with a heart-shaped puff of smoke as he read his wife's reply. He remembered the two still standing in the room and cleared his throat.
"Don't you two have things to be doing? Go, start your match. You can watch this one, Snowflake, quarter-finals and up allows competitors to spectate. Now clear out!" He shooed them away, unrolling the scroll again and giggling to himself.
Shuddering and trying to remove the memory of what they just witnessed, Riku and Raven left the God of the Dead to himself, heading to the Vestibule where Raven would wait to be called for her match against Nessus. Wanting a good seat, Riku left when the last match finished, but gave her a fleeting "Good luck." as he went out the door. Thanks to what Raven assumed was magic, the arena was prepared swiftly after the cheering of the crowd signalled the current match was over, and it was soon after than an usher guided her to the entrance.
The light was almost blinding as she stepped out onto the sand, raucous clamour filling her ears as she was announced. Apparently, she'd made an impression during her previous matches, and politely waved at the spectators until she reached her side of the central stone square.
"Aaand coming all the way from the Evinos River for a shot at taking the champ, we have Nessus, the River Guardian!" The Announcer shouted over the crowd as the large gate at the other end of the stadium raised and out of the shadows beyond, a towering figure emerged. Half man, half horse he stood at an easy twelve feet tall, he dwarfed Raven at over twice her height and more than three times wider than her, a wall of solid muscle. He cantered around the arena, preening to the crowd, before taking his position opposite her. He looked around for a moment before looking down and burst out laughing, showing his yellow, pointed teeth and slapping a large blue hand to his bulbous forehead.
"Gyahahaha! This shrimp is my opponent? Ahahaha! Why, she's nothing but a snack!" He grinned cruelly at her, his shadow completely eclipsing her. She couldn't help but be intimidated by such a hulking foe, and those hooved legs would be bad news if she got hit by them. She slid her hands into the gauntlets of her claws and unhooked them from her belt, taking up her stance before the starting bell rang, but this seemed to entertain the brute, guffawing as he stamped in place. She could feel the ground shake, but with a look of determination, she reinforced her stance.
The starting bell rang and at once, Raven dived to the side, as Nessus charged at her. Having missed his target, he skidded and made a wide turn to reorient himself. He needed space to manoeuvre and that meant time. Raven could use that.
He scuffed his front hoof and charged at her again, faster this time but he had more distance to change course so she had to wait until the last moment to roll aside. Immediately she got to her feet and sprinted to where he'd skidded to a halt, small enough that he didn't see her as he wheeled about. She leapt up and raked her claws across his flank, leaving only a shallow, but noticeable set of cuts. His hide was tough.
Yelling with fury, he bucked his legs as he turned about, scarcely missing his opposition.
"A paper cut, girl!" He sneered, trying to locate her as she barely avoided his dangerous legs, she used both hands to drive one set of claws into what would be the chest of a normal horse. It sank perhaps three inches before he dislodged her, jumping from the sharp stab and once again, narrowly missing her. She was barely able to keep hold of the gauntlet as her arm uncomfortably wrenched with his motion. Not wasting time, she sprinted towards one for the four pillars that marked the corners of the stone square, ducking behind it while Nessus stamped about angrily. Once he understood she wasn't around him anymore, he began to laugh again.
"Playing games, are we? I do love games." He approached, the ground quaking with every step. "Are we hiding... Here!?" He quickly ducked around the other pillar on that side of the arena, giving Raven the time to shift around her pillar to avoid him. "Come out, come out, wherever you are~" He sang as he scouted the other pillars, but with a few deep snorts from his nose, he could smell exactly where she was. She heard him as he neared the column, steadily edging around the opposite way to where she was sure she heard him. She saw his back end and made a quick swipe at his leg while she made to run from her hiding place, but wasn't fast enough this time as he used a large, sweaty hand to grab her, pinning her arms to her sides inside his fist.
"Put me down!" She demanded, wriggling and kicking her legs at his wrist.
"I like 'em fiery!" He snarled at her, his breath turning her stomach as he leered closer to her. She aimed another kick and managed to catch his chin but he laughed again as if it had tickled him. Not appreciating his disrespect, Raven caught his scraggly but long beard between her feet and yanked with all the power in her legs, ripping almost all of it from his face. He howled with pain and flailed about, waving her in the air as he grasped his face with his free hand.
"Why you little!" He roared, tightening his grip on her and she felt the breath being pushed out of her and her bones complaining at the building pressure. She concentrated among the suffocating grip and held the Fire spells in her hands, managing to just turn them outwards so that the bare flame was against the sensitive skin of his hand and burned. Almost at once he released her, dropping her to the ground and blowing on his hand to cool it.
Not giving him the time to recover, Raven started jumping up and slicing at him, leaving only shallow wounds but incensing him and making him blind with rage. By chance or intentionally, he threw his fist at her and sent her flying into one of the free-standing pillars. She hit the stone at an angle, sparing her head the impact but putting all of it on her chest and stomach, knocking every bit of wind out of her and sending her crumpled to the floor, wheezing. The crowd groaned.
The centaur wasted no time in charging at her with full force, steam coming from his ears and his eyes wild with fury. It was only due to his recklessness that Raven was able to register his attack and scramble out of the way in time, watching as he demolished the stone structure, tripping and tumbling over the rubble. She panted, taking the time to catch her breath rather than capitalise on his fall, feeling what she was sure was a bruised rib or two after that impact. His size meant he needed space to move. His rage meant he wasn't paying attention. Quickly, Raven formulated a plan.
Nessus had got to his four feet and was huffing and snorting angrily, looking around for Raven in the settling dust. He lashed out and kicked the pillar nearest to him and destroyed it.
"Enough games, little girl! Surrender and I might be gentle!" He spat.
"I thought you liked games." She called out, waving at him from the pillar in the opposite corner. He scuffed his hoof once more and stampeded towards her, so resolutely focused on her, that he failed to notice the patch of ice she'd created on the stone amongst the settling dust. His hooves had no purchase on such a surface and his legs slipped from underneath him, sending him crashing head-first into the stone. While he was stunned, Raven hopped onto his back and grabbed both his tail and his mane, pulling them tight and tying them together.
Her opponent shakily got to his feet; his head pulled back uncomfortably by the makeshift hog-tie as he blindly reached his hands behind him to grab her. She hung onto the hair and used it like a rudder, swinging on it to make his direction change and steering him towards the ice once more.
His hooves slid and slipped as he careened into the stone with a final tug on his hair using Raven's entire bodyweight sending him toppling into the column, the stone cracking and collapsing on top of him. His head emerged from the rubble but was clearly dazed and a large lump was growing from his already swollen forehead. A last piece of rubble conked him on the head and he slumped down, unconscious.
The crowd erupted into applause and cheers.
"WE HAVE OUR WINNER!" The announcer bellowed. "Our new rookie Raven moves on to the semi-final round! Who will be her opponent? We'll find out in our next match!" There was a brief pause as the arena was left looking much worse for wear. "Uh, right after a small intermission!"
As she left the stadium, she had a small group of ushers fawning over her, pushing Ethers and Potions into her hands and making her drink them. She didn't require any persuading, her whole body ached from that encounter.
"Alright, alright, move along. Don't you have that meathead to look after?" The voice of the announcer sent the ushers away from her side room as a small, round goat-man with red fur entered. "You did good kid! Gotta say, I'm surprised you came outta that so much the better."
"Um, thanks?" She said bemusedly, putting the undrunk potion in her hand into her her thigh bag as the goat-man hopped up onto the bed beside her and patted her arm and shook her hand.
"Philoctetes, but everyone calls me Phil. Trainer of heroes. Heroes like Hercules. You got guts kid. But what's more, you got smarts! Lotta hero wannabes don't have a lick of sense in their thick skulls. It's a shame you're sponsored by Hades, but if you're ever in the neighbourhood for a new coach, gimme a call. I could use promising up and comers like yourself."
"Trying to poach my champion, Philly boy?" Hades' drawling tone filled the room as the God himself appeared on the other side of Raven and put his arm around her, a tendril of smoke flicking Phil off of the bed. "Tut, tut, didn't anyone teach you stealing is wrong?" He mocked with a sneer.
"We both know your deals don't end well for you, Hades. I'm just trying to give the kid a chance to avoid the crossfire." Phil reasoned as he backed towards the door.
"And who said anything about a deal? Can't this lovely lady pick a winning face when she sees it?"
"I'm warning you, any funny business and Herc will throw you out on your behind like that." Phil clicked his fingers pointedly.
"Beat it, pipsqueak." Hades waved his hand, conjuring a cloud of boot-shaped smoke and chasing the goat-man out. "Satyrs, always trying to muscle in."
"Wasn't that a little unnecessary?" Raven asked disapprovingly, inching away from the stoney grey arm around her shoulders.
"Nah, thick headed bozo like him, you gotta be direct." Hades waved off her concern. "Holy hydras, look at the time, old Snowflake should be getting ready for his match soon." He snapped his fingers and in a puff of smoke, he and Raven were behind the gated side of the Coliseum where Riku was limbering up, watching the last of the collapsed pillars being reconstructed magically.
Whitling, Hades elbowed Raven. "Woo, you really made a mess out there didn't ya."
Riku turned around, alerted to their arrival, and approached Raven. "Was wondering when you were gonna show up. Thought I might have to go on without a pep talk." He lightly punched her arm with a friendly, almost proud smile. "Nice work out there."
Raven rubbed her neck bashfully. "Oh, you know. All in a day."
The arena beyond the gate was fully restored and ready for the next match, Phil was making a preliminary announcement to the audience, and Riku stood ready at the gate. Raven's stomach began to sink with an overwhelming sense of dread.
"You're up against Rex, right?"
"Yeah. I'm going to wipe the floor with him." His arrogant tone did little to quell her unease. She couldn't help but recall Rex's parting words to them.
"Don't take this personally, but only one of us will be leaving the arena alive."
It echoed in her mind but she was overshadowed by Hades before she could voice her concerns.
"Now remember kid, keep it cool." Hades bent down and held Riku by the shoulders, massaging them. "This yutz likes to play around but you go in there and you just- well I don't wanna tell you how to do your job. You're a tough guy, you'll be fine." Hades shrugged and patted Riku on the back. "Put on a show, eh?"
"Don't let him get to you like before." Raven encouraged. He didn't take his eyes off the arena beyond the bars so she gently put her hand on his shoulder. "You got this."
He didn't turn to her but he gave an affirming nod to show he'd heard her. The horn sounded and the gate began to rise, Riku stepping into the space to the shouts of the crowd as his name was announced.
Raven walked up to the bars and muttered to herself. "Be careful, Riku."
"Ah c'mon, lighten up! It's all a big party. Sit back and enjoy the show." Hades offered her a smoky chair while he conjured a throne and a martini for himself, but she didn't sit, the sinking feeling in her stomach wouldn't leave. Rex's last words to them echoing in her head as the announcer called up Riku's opponent.
Riku stood at his side of the stone square, demon wing sword in hand, waiting for the theatrics to end so he could rub that boy's face in the sand.
"In one corner, representing Lord Hades, we have the indomitable RIIIIIKUUUUU!"Phil shouted over the crowd, voice echoing between the high walls as the audience cheered.
"This young man is a first-time contestant, but he's already gotten himself a dedicated fanbase for his mean looks and meaner moves! Watch out for that sword of his, he knows how to use it!" The crowd were waving banners and throwing confetti in the pockets of the audience which contained his dedicated followers, who'd only learned he existed a few hours ago at most.
Riku paid no mind to the screaming pockets of mostly girls, save for a slight wince at their shrill shrieking.
"And from the other gate comes our dark knight who answers to nobody, the inimitable REXIAAAAAAAL!"
As Rex calmly paced out to the arena, the crowd's reaction was a bit more mixed - more people clearly recognized him, but they were... less-than-enthusiastic to see him facing Riku.
"This little guy has been competing without a sponsor in the pantheon, cutting down every other challenger without fail! An unstoppable force charging head-on at the immovable champion, but first he has to get through our Silver Boy, Riku! Refs, keep a close eye on this one!"
Once the announcement was finished, Riku drew Soul Eater in preparation, parallel to his face, his left arm outstretched and beckoning his opponent with a flex of his hand and a narrowed glare.
Taking a deep breath, the swordsman drew his own weapon - a straight, double-edged sword with a black blade - and held it in both hands, somewhat parallel to the ground, drawn back as his body turned inwards. A stance not unlike Riku's, even, but with key differences.
His eyes finally appeared to come alive now. "I've been looking forward to this." Rex said, not a trace of mockery in his voice. "Let's dance."
"Combatants ready! Three! Two! One!" The starting bell rang thrice and immediately Riku approached, maintaining his stance but closing the distance, deciding with an opponent like Rex, it was best to keep him on the back foot, meeting his opponent with an immediate leaping attack to reach him quicker and add his full weight to the first strike, which he brought down upon Rex's head, following with a jab and slash attack aimed for the left shoulder.
Rex, for his part, had remained motionless, watching the approach of his enemy. As the sword came down on him, he angled his own upwards and sprang forward to meet Riku, thrusting sharply with his entire body.
The tip of his sword struck the incoming falchion, diverting the blow and streaking past, carrying through with his own body to slip out of the way of the aerial assault.
As his sandals kicked up dust from the stone floor, he pivoted and lashed out at Riku's side with a sharp kick. Without pause, he planted his feet once more and swung at the boy with his black blade.
Riku took the kick, but had time to prepare for it and avoid a stagger, angling his demonic weapon up with the back of the blade making contact to block the swing and hook the sword using the protruding spines, stepping forward, past the black blade with his sword-arm's elbow headed straight for Rex's nose.
As the elbow came rushing to meet his face, the swordsman smirked, slipping his sword free of the hook by pulling it down - with Riku lunging forward to strike, and the lack of distance between them, it was easy enough to pull free.
Rather than try to make an edged reprisal in such close quarters, Rex ducked, disappearing from sight before springing back up, his head rushing up to meet Riku's chin directly above him. With the momentum Riku had garnered, there was no way to avoid or block the headbutt.
However, as he felt the contact and pain throughout his jaw, his free hand launched a Fire spell at Rex's torso with significant force to create distance between them.
Much to the cheering of the crowd and Raven breathing a sigh of relief behind the gate.
The explosion sent the fighter careening back away - his light frame made him easier to propel. But the black knight didn't seem dismayed by his fresh burns - in fact, he laughed as he landed back on his feet.
"Aheh-heh... ha!" Rex cackled. "Not bad!"
Resuming his stance, not appearing much worse for wear, he kept his blade pointed squarely at Riku.
Not waiting for his opponent to attack, Riku used his sword in both hands to cast two more Fire spells, the force making him skid back slightly, before he charged after the last fireball to attack before the flames dispersed after contact.
Swatting the first fireball into the second, Rex vanished in the resulting conflagration, his shadow jumping wildly amid the flames, which scattered before Riku's sword.
"Tch!?" Riku was visibly shocked to see his enemy had apparently vanished, looking around quickly to find anything indicating his location. A glimpse of a shadow on the ground was all the warning he had as he rolled to the side, casting a Blizzard spell where he'd just been standing, getting back up to his feet to retaliate, in the hopes his impulsive plan had worked.
Amidst the chilled air was Rex, sword now partly-buried in the stone slab, upon which Riku had just stood. The spell had struck dead-on, bits of frost clinging to the boy's body as he stood up from where he'd knelt.
Not even placing a hand on the buried blade, Rex pulled one of the ringed ornaments from his belt - a flat, hollow disk shape. Clutching one side of it barehanded, he swung at Riku, the whistling air betraying the cutting edge of the ring. This wasn't decoration, it was another weapon.
Muscle memory and instinct kicking in had Riku roll back onto his shoulders and launch himself feet first at Rex in the attempt to make him drop the circular blade.
As his swing cut harmlessly through the air, Rex saw his opponent tensing up, and leapt up to evade, landing on the very tip of his buried sword's hilt with one foot.
Slipping a second bladed chakram from his belt, he now clutched one in each hand. There were clearly several more hanging from his belt, and a row of smaller ones strung over his skirt... this bode ill. Twirling in place to build up speed, he hopped up and away, hurling both blades at Riku before landing a fair distance from him.
Riku sprung onto his free hand and somersaulted to the side, one of the small blades grazing his cheek as he dove. When he landed, he pushed himself forward, but he was breathing much harder than before. Using such acrobatics close together took a toll.
The blades flew back into their wielder's hands - guided by some kind of spell, no doubt.
"Dance for me!" Rex shouted, hurling blade after blade at Riku, curving through the air at various angles. While it had to be taxing, to throw so many in succession, dodging them was even less sustainable. Riku was now caught in a war of attrition that he was bound to lose - sooner or later, his strength would fail and he'd slow down, at which point he would be sliced to ribbons.
Roll after roll, Riku gradually depleted his stamina, able to advance incrementally towards his adversary, but he risked dizziness if he continued, alongside his fatigue. He steeled himself and raised his sword in guard, deflecting what he could as he now charged towards Rexial, blades slicing his extremities.
"Not a chance!"
Raven could see from her position that Riku was barrelling towards a grave error, but the crowd was cheering so loudly at the entertainment, that there was no way he'd hear her. Especially with Hades joining in with the cheers every so often, on the edge of his seat. She gripped the bars, white-knuckled.
As his fingers let loose the last of his armaments, Rex lowered his hand to grip the frigid hilt of his sword - as he'd been throwing them, he'd gradually been inching closer and now that Riku was so occupied with defence that he couldn't interrupt, it was time to end things.
"Good fight. Send your sponsor my regards." He said, firmly grasping the blade and pulling on it. It did not immediately come free, being so deep into the stone, and frozen besides. But a strange force pulsed out from it, shattering the earth which kept it trapped. As it broke free, Rex swung up with all his might, a stream of black energy following the sword's motion. The Darkness came barrelling towards the exhausted Riku.
"RIKU!" Raven shouted over the mixture of cheers and groans from the audience.
Riku barely raised his sword in time, taking the brunt of the damage, but it broke his guard and sent him flying.
"GAH!"
He collided with one of the stone pillars closest to where Hades and Raven watched and saw his head flick backwards and smash into the stone before he slid down and slumped at the base of the column, out cold.
The gate began to rise slowly and Raven ducked down and rolled underneath it to get out once there was enough space.
This fight was over.
However, Rex wasn't finished. Once he saw his target go down, he began to sprint towards him, in the same thrusting posture he'd started the match with.
Seeing this, Raven sprinted as well, but the distance was too great. The crowd booed and gasped in shock. She readied a fire spell to throw but before she could let it loose, and before Rex could reach his target, a set of smoky chains wrapped around his middle and yanked him backwards into the next pillar, securing him to it as Hades leaned against the stone, examining his fingernails nonchalantly.
"Fights over, spartan. Now I love a bloodbath as much as the next immortal deity but you see, there's a teeny, tiny but ever so important detail that means, I need this kid back alive. You on the other hand, not so much. So, don't give me a reason to end these festivities too soon alright? After all, you are the victor here." Hades jabbed his thumb and raised his eyebrows in Riku's direction. Raven had dispersed the spell and skidded to her knees beside Riku's limp body, rummaging for the potion she didn't finish.
"That so? Then as their sponsor, I assume you're throwing in the towel for your contestant?" Rex asked, the enjoyment fading from his face. Darkness swirled around the battlefield, picking up the scattered chakrams and gathering them.
Given a moment to straighten himself out, Rex looked not much worse for wear than he had done going into the match. He had clearly taken a bit of a beating, and had things unfolded differently, he'd be the one on the ground - but he seemed so unfazed by anything short of a god restraining him. Not only was it insulting to witness, something about it seemed wrong.
"Gee I'd love to say no and let you kids duke it out some more but I kinda can't. Love to but can't." Hades pinched Rex's cheek and sneered, showing his pointy teeth.
"Riku c'mon. Open..." Raven had tilted Riku's head back and was emptying the contents of the potion she had into his mouth. There was a little blood coming from his head but the wound closed along with the cuts and grazes he'd received.
"You idiot, he was playing you." She muttered, brushing some hair from his face and tapping his cheek. He groaned and grimaced, opening his eyes a fraction and finding her face above him.
"Ngh... Raven?" She sighed in relief as he awoke and helped him sit up on his own before putting his arm over her shoulders and standing the two of them up.
"You really had me worried there, bud." She chastised as she helped him leave the arena, casting a withering glare back at Rex.
"Aw, ain't that sweet." Hades elbowed Rex as if they were old chums as the duo reached the doors to the vestibule. "Too bad you gotta lick your own wounds, kid." He snapped his fingers and he, along with his chains, vanished.
With his bindings gone, Rex quietly returned his sword to its sheathe and began to walk away.
'I'll face her later, too. So, the God of the Dead doesn't want them killed? What's so special about them?'
"Uh, and with that, folks, we have our semi-finalists! Rexial takes the win and moves on to fight against Raven!" Phil announced half-heartedly as the arena floor was emptied.
XXXXX
"You don't have to do this, Raven." Riku had been trying to talk her out of fighting in the Semi-final against Rexial. Thanks to potions and rest, he was back to full health and vigour after his encounter with the black clad swordsman, with nothing more than a mild headache remaining.
He was using his rejuvenated energy to dissuade his friend as she paced the gated side of the arena before the match.
"I know I don't have to. I want to fight him. Someone needs to teach him a lesson." She was walking quickly, fists clenched at her sides.
"He won't stop at beating you, he'll-" Riku stood in the middle of her path talking to her but she just walked around him.
"I saw what he'll do. Which is precisely why I'm not going to lose."
"Raven, if I didn't win, you-" He grabbed her arm but she wheeled on him.
"Don't even think of telling me that just because you lost to him that I automatically will too." She snapped.
"I'm just trying to protect you!" He snapped back, getting defensive.
"Don't try to play it off as some dumb act of chivalry, you just don't believe I'm capable of beating him." She poked her finger in his chest and glared at him.
"I won't let you." He said firmly but she laughed at him, making a vein in his temple pop.
"I don't remember needing your permission." She turned away from him and faced the gate, stretching to the floor and powdering her gloves with the chalky sand. Rubbing his pounding head, Riku turned to Hades, who was lounging in his makeshift throne.
"Hades, this is nuts, you have to stop her!" The announcement as Rexial entered the field rang out across the stadium.
"Sorry kid, you really put your foot in your mouth on this one. Besides." He rose from his seat and gave Raven a pat on the back as the gates began to open and she stepped out to the fanfare, already holding her weapons. "Our little blackbird can take care of herself." On his way back to his throne, he bent down to Riku's ear. "Relax, she goes down, I'll step in. Then you can be all knight in shining armour."
"And taking on the dark knight is our fresh-faced rookie, RAVEN! Lord Hades' other combatant today, will she avenge her fallen comrade, or will Rexial get the matching set?"
As Phil continued his preliminary riling of the crowd, Raven stared at Rex with a hatred she had seldom felt before as she stepped to her side of the square.
"I see you're fired up." Rex slowly stepped up to his own side of the arena.
"I like that look you've got. You're mad at me, but you don't seem clouded by it. Your rage has a focus to it. Just channel it into your fists and engrave it into my body."
His hand drifted to the hilt of his sword, but he stopped before drawing it. "Say... why did you want to stop me before? I will never understand Hades, but what is the point in defending that person's life?"
The boy locked eyes with Raven, speaking with a chillingly calm sincerity. "The life of a loser is not worth living."
Even knowing he was just trying to aggravate her; Raven couldn't help the narrowing of her eyes and derision that hung on her every word.
"Ultimately winning is meaningless without the losers. It can suck sometimes but that's why you train and get stronger so that next time you won't lose. All it means is the chance for growth. I would have thought a skilled fighter like yourself would be smart enough to know at least that basic concept." She took a breath to steady her nerves.
"But the real reason is far simpler. Something I doubt someone as lonely as you would understand." She raised her weapons into her pugilistic fighting stance with a stoic look of determination that had a burning inferno behind her eyes.
"He's my friend."
The starting bell rang, but Raven had witnessed the fight earlier. She would wait for Rex to make his move first, tucking her elbows in to increase her guard and reduce her target mass.
Drawing his sword, Rex took up a somewhat different stance than before, blade out front to keep distance. But after gauging her unwillingness to make the first move, he surged forward to meet her.
As he approached, he stooped low, his hand brushing against one of the chakrams hanging at his hip and slipping it free. With a flick of the wrist, he hurled it straight for Raven's face, before returning both hands to his sword's grip, swinging for her side as he came into range. Both of his weapons had superior reach, which would surely pose a problem. He knew she'd seen his fight, so there was no point in being reluctant to use everything in his arsenal.
Seeing the circular blade flying towards her, she ducked to the side, and stepped to meet him, using her left claw to block the sword strike in a downward jab, and swung her right towards his face, opening three of her fingers to let loose the sand she had scraped up before she'd even left the gate, straight into his eyes, following the motion by striking his jaw with the heel of her palm. While his balance was compromised, she aimed a kick to his gut to knock him back
His swipe being intercepted was enough incentive for Rex to back off - he simply ducked under the blinding sand with an amused smirk. Still, he didn't slip away quite fast enough to avoid the palm strike, reeling from the sudden hit to his jaw.
Her opponent had the wherewithal to raise his sword in defence, mitigating the shock of her boot, but still he stumbled back. But once he got his footing again, he made his next move - using the bit of distance between them to throw another chakram. This one, however, flew clearly quite wide, not quite curving to hit or even barely scrape Raven. Regardless of whether this was intended or just a hasty throw, he moved in to swing at her from the opposite direction, aiming for her legs.
The stray chakram succeeded in distracting her gaze enough that her jump was delayed just too long and his strike clipped her ankle, flipping her leg out from under her while she was mid-air.
She landed hard but didn't stay prone, shooting a fire spell towards Rex's torso and using the added force to increase her momentum for rolling away and back to her feet. Not wanting to give him the distance he required, she sprang at him, aiming a cross slash at his chest.
The blaze illuminated Rex's shocked face as his shadow leapt out behind him, recoiling and twisting like a demon in the erratic light. For just a moment, his eyes remained unfocused, but he regained his sight in time to knock aside her claw with blade in one clenched fist - but for the second, he laid his other, unoccupied hand on the side of hers, diverting the slash that way.
Stranger still, he raised that free hand to a space in front of her, close to her face, hand outstretched, reaching for something. A whistling noise grew louder and louder from behind her.
Her heart pounded as the whistling sent a shiver throughout her body, one Rex could likely feel reverberate through his sword.
With nowhere to go except continue with her forward momentum, Raven lurched forward and down, slamming her unarmoured shoulder into his body, wincing as the joint made contact with his metal chest plate, and biting his outstretched hand when it got in the way, the chakram whizzing past and slicing a few strands of hair and the tie that held it in a ponytail.
The crowd gasped, not able to see clearly whether or not it had hit its target, only that they had fallen to the ground, Riku breaking out of his sulking mood as nothing but concern took over, waiting with baited breath.
"Shit...!" The dejected mumbling came from Rex as the wind was knocked out of him, a nasty gash spilling red from his hand as the chakram flew off past the pair of fighters, clattering into the stone.
Had he caught it successfully, he'd have a blade pressed into her neck, and the match would be over. Furthermore, even Hades wouldn't have been able to stop the bloodshed in time.
But she'd disrupted him enough to prevent the worst, and that's all that mattered. In fact, he was breathless, his chest stinging from having been struck right on his burns. A sane fighter would have backed off or taken a defensive stance, but this was not someone who was willing to let up on the attack. And there was also the matter of his mangled hand being trapped in her jaws.
Deftly turning his sword around to grip it backhanded, he held it between their bodies to prevent Raven from simply punching a hole in his throat as he brought his hard head down on hers, clashing in an attempt to get her to release him. It was hard to parse the look on his face, something between excitement and fear.
Riku sighed as she showed no signs of a head injury, but then had to look again to check. Was she really biting that boy's hand?
The impact on her head made her grunt and consequently bite down harder. Quickly recovering from the shock, she grabbed the wrist of the hand in her mouth and pinned it to the stone with a Blizzard spell, moving that now unoccupied hand to his sword-bearing one to ensure he didn't impale her. She then raked the claw in her other hand across his thigh with a small fire spell, leaving three gashes in his flesh, while also severing and burning the attachments of some of the chakrams there, allowing them to clatter to the ground. She had to remember to keep an ear out for the other chakram he'd thrown previously and keep count of how many he threw but her head was now thrumming painfully where he'd struck it. This did leave her centre of balance weaker as she had to lean sideways to make the swipe and most of her weight was centred on his middle.
While he was in no position to make a lethal attack, his reversed grip made it easier for him to deliver a straight jab to Raven's face before planting one foot firmly on the ground and putting his whole weight into driving a forceful kick to her abdomen to force her back.
"Ghk!" The pommel struck her cheek, dangerously close to her temple, blurring her vision so that she didn't know he was preparing to kick until she felt his foot knock the air out of her lungs and fling her backwards off of him.
With one hand pinned and frozen, his previous tactic was sealed for the moment - turning his sword around again, he used the pommel to shatter the ice encasing his wrist, flexing his fingers to test them.
Raven rolled twice before stopping on her knees, winded from the kick and dizzy from the strike to her face, spitting the coppery blood that was still in her mouth and cringing at the metallic taste, unsure if any of it was hers.
She was grateful for the time it took him to break the ice as it afforded her the luxury to regain her breath and stand. Her hair, now that it was loose, fell just short of her shoulders. It was long enough that it would impede her sight significantly in quick changes of orientation.
She wiped her arm across her face, smearing the remaining bloodstain around her mouth, creating quite the feral image when combined with her animalistic weaponry. The eyes were still focused but weariness was evidently setting in as she breathed heavily.
He grimaced briefly, but only for a moment, shifting his stance to a more fencer-like posture - one hand behind him, feet pointed at a 90-degree angle, knees slightly bent. The fire in his eyes hadn't diminished a single bit, but with his position compromised like this, he waited for her to make another move. He could no longer afford to be fully aggressive, with one hand functionally disabled.
She ran at him, claws up in a guard, ready to parry as she neared the tip of the blade. She stepped quickly to the right of his sword as she reached its end, hoping the fast pace would keep her hair out of the way, but unfortunately the sideways motion made it drift, momentarily blocking her left peripheral as she used her right hand to make a swipe at his sword arm, using her left as a guard.
Rex pivoted easily and slid into her newly-created blind spot, swiping at her guard to force her off-course, before swinging at her exposed shoulder. Now standing behind her, he shook his frigid left hand once before forcing it to grasp the hilt of his sword.
She knew a hit was coming from her left but didn't know where it was targeted and so his sword left a short but deep gash across her shoulder, making her wince and step back clutching the spring of crimson, turning so that rex was in front of her.
A grimace crossed his face, and he raised the blade to deflect something - the chakram he'd thrown earlier. Having effectively changed positions with Raven, he'd put himself into its path.
But his eyes didn't leave Raven - something about the magic that made them return to him seemed to keep him aware of them, too. The metal ring clattered into the dust, but with a cruel smile, Rex brought back the tip of his sword, catching the disk's rim with it. With an earth-scraping swing, he flung it towards his opponent at a low angle.
After that, he stepped in as quickly as he could manage, sword held high, bringing down a full-strength two-handed swing on her head. Not content to rest on his laurels, he pressed his momentum, taking another step forward and following up with a side-wise slash of comparable force.
She saw him fling the circular blade at her legs, bent to defend but upon seeing his other attack coming from above, she chose to brace against the deadlier threat, the chakram slicing her left thigh just above the knee. It wasn't enough to break her guard entirely but it caused enough discomfort that her injured leg buckled under his weighted strike, forcing her to one knee as she grated the obsidian of her claws against the dark metal of his sword before he pressed forward with the sideways slash.
Not having time to get the claws in position, Raven dropped one of her gauntlets and grabbed her own arm to cast Blizzard, creating a shield against his attack. It protected her from laceration but the force shattered the ice and sent her rolling across the sandy stone, the granules digging into her fresh wounds.
While he didn't seem to be breathing hard, - truthfully, it seemed as if he wasn't breathing at all - as Rex drew back into his old thrusting stance, the slight trembling of his muscle betrayed the build-up of fatigue in his body. This battle was clearly pushing both parties to their limits. Even so, he grinned, eyes wide.
"...You fight like a mad beast. It's quite impressive, truthfully." Hesitating for a moment as he spared those words, Rex leapt forward, intent on skewering her into the earth, a harsh wind left in his wake as he moved.
"Hades stop him!" Riku shouted at the Lord of the Dead desperately as he saw the swordsman leap.
"She's not unconscious, I can't step in until there's a definitive winner and loser." The god shrugged, grinning malevolently at the spectacle before him.
Raven saw him descending upon her as she used her remaining weapon to divert the path of the blade as it came down. Intending to have it stab the ground next to her, she didn't have enough strength behind the move to get it further than her shoulder, the blade cutting into her flesh like butter.
"GAHHN!" Still, she dropped the remaining gauntlet in favour of reaching up and holding onto the hilt of Rex's sword, stopping it from going all the way through and fighting his downward force.
"What are you-" He tried to pull free, but her grip kept his sword from budging. Locking eyes with her in realisation, he mumbled, "Is it too late to take back my statement?"
Through her gritted teeth and laboured breathing, she smiled.
He had a glimpse of the ever-burning fire behind her eyes before her entire body ignited with an azure flame, an inferno with such force that it blew him and his sword off of her and into the nearest pillar.
She stood, blue fire raging across her body for only a moment before she was sprinting at him, faster than she had moved before, and punching him into the column three, four, five, six times before she grabbed the strap of his armour and threw him into the centre of the square before she ran up the architecture, and ricocheted into the air above him, diving down towards him in a corkscrew manoeuvre, the impact creating a shockwave of fire that launched him to the edge of the square.
"Do you... Yield?" She panted; the flames had dissipated and she had both hands on her knees, bent over to catch her breath.
Even his best attempts to deflect the damage did precious little to mitigate it. At the arena's edge he knelt, propped up by his sword. But if anything, he looked even happier than before.
"Magnificent. Incredible! I try to put you in the ground, and you just get back up and throw me for a loop! Where were you hiding this power?!" He cackled, reaching up with his other hand.
With a click, his breastplate and shoulder-pads fell from him, hitting the earth with a dull thud. In a moment, he was freed of his bracers as well, sparing him further scalding. But now he was able to stand again. Covered in burns and beaten to hell, he looked as bad as she had to by now.
His laughter started to peter out. "I can't believe I fell for a trap like that. But that just makes me more excited. You know..." Black mist began to emanate from his body - that same force of Darkness he'd used to defeat Riku before. "...it hadn't occurred to me until you did that. The idea to simply infuse yourself or your weapons with magic to enhance them."
The Darkness began to radiate off of his body as he took up his thrusting stance once more. Even with the damage he'd suffered, and the clear soreness of his muscles, that force seemed to infuse him with enough vitality to ignore the pain and weakness. If anything, he was more powerful than he'd been at the start of this.
"Come, 'Raven'! Until one of us grinds the other to dust, this isn't over!"
For the first time during their fight, a look of true fear crossed her face at his new power and vigour. She cautiously stepped to retrieve her claws from their resting places, not turning her back to him for a second. The flames hadn't harmed her at all, but had seemingly cauterised the open wounds she had to some degree that they weren't bleeding readily.
Her heart was thrumming in her chest at this... creature in front of her. There was no way he was human with this power. After the injuries he'd sustained. She truly feared for her life now but knew that forfeit was not an option with this foe. Yet he waited, and allowed her the time to ready herself and face him head on.
She stood before him, desperately trying to steady her breathing, hands trembling from fatigue and terror as she raised her claws and returned to her beginning stance.
Laughing madly, Rex turned and raked his blade along the ground, a trail of Darkness forming into a wave, a flood of shadowy force bolting towards his target. Dark winds buffeted Raven, almost blotting out the sky above. Rushing towards her with his newfound speed, the swordsman became a blur of motion, piercing through the veil he'd created and cleaving everything in twain with a single stroke.
The Darkness billowing past her curled and weaved its way towards her, seeping into her skin, into her very breath. She panicked before she felt energy and power surge through her body. She saw the glint of his sword and it was as if it was in slow motion.
"Well, well, isn't that interesting..." Hades muttered to himself as he saw the Darkness being absorbed by his champion. His other champion was clinging to the bars in suspense as the cloud dispersed.
She brought her claws up to meet the blade, catching it between the prongs of her right claw. It sent her skidding back a bit, however she held against it and felt the cold wash over her, clearing her mind, soothing her pain.
With an almighty effort, she pushed against the attack, using the leverage to twist his weapon out of his grip, ducking down and kicking his legs out from where he would land before he gained a sure footing, a snowflake blooming where she made contact.
The speed the blade was travelling as when Rex was disarmed sent it hurtling into a pillar, embedding itself firmly. Only the slightest delay in his response, the boy tumbled, but grabbed something from beneath his skirt as he fell - yet another chakram.
Frost had crept over her cheeks, her skin glittering in the ever-bright sunlight, a thin mist emanating from her and her eyes cold and steely calm. She hooked her claws back onto her belt and clenched her fists as she approached to strike him again.
He swiped at her without hesitation, the blade clutched in his fist. As he quickly-but-uneasily regained his footing, his face went pale, recognizing his peril.
He tried to pull a second chakram from his other thigh, but his left hand was still in bad shape - having the sword be wrenched from its frigid grip had also injured it further. The ring simply slipped through his blood-soaked fingers and fell limply to the ground, leaving him with only one weapon.
One weapon that he would drive into his opponent's heart with all his might, if allowed. Using his good leg for all its worth, he leapt forward at Raven, trying to cut her- where it didn't matter. He would simply swing at anything he identified as his foe until he could no longer do so.
She made no attempt to dodge, simply raising her arm and shielding herself as the sharp edge hardly scratched her, bouncing off as if her skin was stone. When he would strike, so would she, using her fists, her palms, her legs, elbows any part of her that made contact with him was like fighting a wall and left a blooming snowflake all the while her expression remained unchanged, unflinching.
Once his body was littered with crystalline marks, she let up and stood over him.
"It's over."
She raised her hand, snapping her fingers, the snowflakes blossomed into shards of ice that covered his body, crawling over his skin, freezing his limbs in place. It crept over his chest up to his neck, but ceasing before it consumed his face and head. Simultaneously, the frosty layer on her skin shattered into a sparkling dust and she immediately felt her exhaustion catch up, stumbling back. The only thing keeping her upright was the knowledge that she could be deemed the loser if she passed out, clawing back to coherence barely.
Frozen where he stood, chakram still out, Rex couldn't even move anymore. Struggle though he might, he no longer had the strength left to free his body. And even if he had, it would take him time. Raven stood in front of him, the clear winner.
"You... fought well. Congratulations, Raven." He smiled sincerely at her, the only freedom he had left. "It was a good battle. I truly enjoyed every second of it. But this is the end of the road for me."
"Finish it." He said, blunt as could be. "You're the winner, after all."
"What?" She wasn't sure she had heard him correctly through the blurring swamp of her senses and the cheering of the crowd. "Why would I do that? I'm not gonna do that, the fight's over." She held her head and grimaced. At the end of the arena, the Vestibule doors opened, the satyr Philoctetes making his way over slowly and talking to the audience about the match. Raven didn't register any of it, zeroing in on Rex.
"That's how fighting works. You kill your enemy." He spoke with such a frank tone, as if what he was saying was obvious. "Why haven't you done it already? If I break free of this now, you'll be the one who dies."
She simply blinked at him and even tilted her head, her face contorted in a look of pure bafflement and exhaustion.
"It's over. You're incapacitated. I mean I would've preferred if you'd yielded earlier, or if I'd knocked you out. I was never going to end your life, that's so stupid, this is a tournament, a game." She pinched her nose trying to fend off the headache being amplified by the spectators.
"What are you talking about?" Rex grumbled. "One of us has to die here! That's... that's the whole premise! I had every intention of killing you, you know!"
Vapours began to rise from the ice entrapping him as rage flooded his body. "If you don't kill me now, you'll regret it, I promise you."
"No, that's the point. That you get to go away and get stronger and grow. Make me regret it. You'll only prove me right." She looked at him with, what was it? Pity?
He looked back with what could only be called desperate confusion. Before, he'd been calm, even as he taunted them and expressed his joy for battle, but for the first time, he twisted with real anger.
"How can someone capable of defeating me be so goddamn dumb? I was satisfied with the way things were gonna end! How dare... how dare you give me the fight of my life, and then not have the decency to kill me afterwards?!"
She limped closer to him and sat in front of him, that look of pity still on her face, framed by dark locks blowing gently in the breeze. Those brown eyes, once cold and full of hatred were so... warm.
"Why not have more fantastic fights instead? Why should you have to miss out on getting stronger and facing even more worthy foes?"
"Why are you... but I..." He squeaked out, his eyes becoming hazy. "I'm... the loser..."
"Why... live...?" Those words passed his lips, and whatever it was that kept him conscious after all that, it evaporated. His head slumped over, and in the place of this obnoxiously proud warrior was a sleeping boy who looked so deeply sad.
She smiled sadly at him, standing with some difficulty as the satyr arrived and hopped onto a crate one of the ushers had brought along to be at the right height, grabbing her hand and raising it high.
"Ladies and gentlemen, our finalists have been decided! Our rookie here will be facing our undefeated champ, Hercules the Wonder Boy, son of Zeus!" She couldn't hear what he was saying after that, her ears were ringing, her vision was swaying, her head was pounding and everything hurt. She glimpsed Riku's shape approaching from the gate, grinning ear-to-ear at first, but suddenly his face dropped and his brow furrowed as she felt something warm drip down her lips. It tasted metallic. She raised her hand to her nose and saw the crimson shine of blood. Her eyes rolled back and she fell to her knees and then to her face.
Riku sprinted as he saw the nosebleed and her collapse, skidding to his knees beside her. "Raven, can you hear me!?"
"Somebody get the medics!" Phil shouted, but Riku wasted no time, rolling her over and scooping her up, sprinting towards the Vestibule doors.
Hades had stayed in the shadows of the gated end of the stadium, and was smirking as he sipped a fresh martini, eyeing the unconscious Rexial as other medics had appeared and were thawing him out. "Very interesting indeed."