The roaring sound of an engine of any sort is something that can either make or break someone's day. For Apollo the roar of an engine is something he normally looked forward to.
"Why am I being sent on another mission already? Let me be the background character that I was supposed to be."
However this time Apollo found the engine as a warning of the end.
"Kal'tsit must have put faith in you in producing results then."
Apollo turned to the women driving the truck carrying the team, her black and white color palette matching her personality and tone of voice.
"I know Shining but still, I'm a lazy guy. I should do some research on this place once we stop. How far are we Shining?" Apollo asked as he looked out the window the first time since they entered the nomadic city.
"Here."
The vehicle came to a stop and we all exited the vehicle.
"It's been a great many years since I've last stepped foot in Minos. Funny how both are for businesses that are both pharmaceuticals."
An old man with bird-like feathers coming from his head and a long blade resembling an odachi stepped out.
"Maybe it's fate drawing you to these companies Hellagur, whether that's a good thing or not is up to you however."
Hellagur could only give a slight chuckle. "Maybe you're right. Either way we shouldn't keep our client waiting."
"Couldn't agree more." A woman with golden hair and a white coat stepped out.
"Leizi do you have to be a stick in the mud. We already have Shining who's silence make you question if you did something wrong, you give off very much Kal'tsit vibes. Wouldn't you agree Akafuyu?"
"Don't drag me into this." She replied.
"Fine."
The group approached the building where the meeting will be held.
'This place seems to be similar to Greece then, at least on the surface.' This was the thought that entered Apollo's mind. The building they were entering had various stone pillars similar to the pillars seen in many western institutions.
"Wow, if nothing else being in Rhodes Island allows you to see many different cultures." Akafuyu said.
"That's something I won't deny, but since you came from Higashi then you have seen the beauty of Yan's architecture." Leizi said not quite bragging but clearly proud of her nation.
"This does remind me of certain places of my homeland."
"I'm glad to hear that you enjoy our nation."
In Front of the Rhodes Island team was a man in butler suit.
'Bull horns this time? Wonder if they are the main race of Minos.' Apollo thought.
"Now if you would follow me I'll bring you to Lady Pallas." The butler turned around and entered the building.
Grand would be one of the words to describe this place. The interior of the building was a lot different than what Apollo expected. He expected a standard lobby area that you would see in some high end company building, what he saw was a lot more impressive.
The main eye catcher were the twelve white statues at the edges of the circular lobby. All of them in possession of various armors and weapons. It was as if this was a scarred hall of tribute to the statues in a colosseum of sorts. In the center was the front desk but behind it lay another statue similar in color to the others, this time of Minos's insignia. All of this came together with a dark marble floor.
"I knew that the people of Minos had great pride in their 'Twelve Heroes' and it truly does show. This place reminds me of the various temples dedicated to the First Emperor." Leizi said.
Apollo cocked his eyebrow. "Interesting."
The team soon found themselves in a room in the same style as the lobby. Near the window was a woman in an outfit that could be summed up in one statement.
"She dresses very Greek." Apollo mumbled low enough so that only the other Rhodes Islanders could hear him.
The woman looked up from her work and formed a small smile. "So you are the bodyguards from Rhodes Island. I welcome you all to Minos."
Apollo stepped back a little. 'I hate formalities and this place reeks of it.' He thought.
"While I assume you expected that over these next two weeks of you protecting me that you would be bored thinking you were standing in the same general area." Pallas grabbed a rose that was on her desk. "However I like to interact with my people, especially with this year's Hymnoi Wisdom."
Pallas gave us the rundown in regards to what we are doing for the day. She has plans to appear in various events before the main event.
The Ark
"I guess we are the first shift guarding Pallas today."
"She is of higher authority than us currently, and she's our client. We should address her as Lady Pallas."
"Formalities are such a pain for everyone." Apollo complained.
Leizi could only rub the bridge of her nose. "Regardless of how you feel this is how things work. Would you like someone of lower status to not address you with the right formality?"
"I would personally love that" Apollo said like it was the most obvious thing ever.
Leizi could only pinch her nose harder at this. "Either way the two of us will be guarding Lady Pallas in two hours so get your rest."
"Don't have to tell me twice." As if this was a comedy skit right outside of Pallas's office Apollo pulled out a lawn chair and processed to relax as if he was at the beach. "I deserve this break."
'It appears that I will be the only one truly guarding Lady Pallas. I don't understand why Kal'tsit put him on the team.' She looked at Apollo once again. 'He seems incompetent or at the very least doesn't fit this mission.'
Drums, speakers, kids playing sports and adults drinking. All of them with smiles, eyes brighter than the sun and so much more.
"It's like a momentary paradise." Those were the words that flowed into Apollo's brain.
"That's an interesting choice of words for a simple scene." Leizi pointed out.
"The fact it is simple is part of the reason." Apollo replied.
"It's always this way during the festival." Pallas walked from behind the two with a bottle of liquor that magically appeared. "If you are able to, you should come next year for a vacation, the alcohol is one of our pride and joys."
"Either way, where to first Pallas?" Apollo asked.
"We will head to the Athenian district. Each district will hold an event each day." Pallas said as she pointed to a statue of a woman holding a long staff. "That district holds competitions to see whose ability is the strongest."
"What type of competition is it?" Apollo asked.
"Combat tournament. " Pallas said as she took another sip of alcohol.
Apollo in all of wisdom faced Leizi. "Lady Leizi, it would be a tragedy if you didn't compete in the tournament." A devilish grin was forming, not on Apollo's face but in his heart.
"No." Leizi responded blankly instantly.
"Why not? Don't you wish to show the world the arts of Yan, the power of the Lei Fa art technique?" The grin in his heart grew even wider, no matter how old Apollo gets he will always keep his inner child.
"Sorry Apollo but I believe you already know the answer to that." Pallas tapped Apollo's head with the empty alcohol bottle. "That's my one bottle for the day, pity".
"Fine. I'll back off." Apollo said as the grin got weaker and weaker till it disappeared.
The trio headed towards the Athenian district to watch the tournament, Pallas and other high class people from Minos
"Oh, there Hex. Makes sense he would be here, he really wanted to be in charge of this district." Pallas said.
"I see, so is it safe to assume that others like you Lady Pallas who represent one of the twelve Heroes govern a district?" Leizi interjected.
"That's correct. Take me for example, I maintain the Vallus district." Pallas pulls another bottle of alcohol from seemingly nowhere. "We sell the most alcohol out of all the districts in fact." Pallas boasted with a smug smile.
Apollo could only facepalm. "For someone who claims to like and sell alcohol, you really suck at holding it."
A clapping sound could be heard across the tournament stage. The noise gradually died out until there was nothing, every stare turned towards the woman standing in the center of it all clapping in the microphone she was holding.
"Welcome all to this year's Hymnoi Wisdom Festival. To everyone here in person we the people of Minos and the Twelve Heroes welcome you no matter where you came from. For those who are watching from home then we hope you can join us next year." The woman's stature got straighter as if she was up against a wall. "I am the maintainer of this district, for people who don't know me my name is Pyra. I don't like wasting time so let's begin this year's combat tournament."
As if the world was unfrozen, countless cheers, and fireworks went off at once. The excitement was so thick it was as if you could see the very different emotions the people were feeling.
"I said it once and I'll say it again." Pallas said as a large gulp could be heard. "Welcome to Minos and our Hymnoi's Wisdom Festival."
The Ark
Passion, emotion, talent, effort, spells, weaponry, hand to hand. All these things passed could be seen as the rounds of the tournament went by.
"Beautiful." Apollo was used to his body being hotter than most people since he was used to the work his magic circuits did, but the heat he was feeling. It was a faint heat almost as if his body went up less than one degree but it was more noticeable for him like a small ember was lit next to him. "Combat is beautiful."
"I'm glad you think so too fella."
The trio turned around to see a fairly well built man, tanned skin with horns similar to a bull.
"It's good to see you too Hex, care for a drink?" Pallas asked.
"I'm good." He replied.
The man took a spot next to Pallas, resting on the floor as the tournament announcer came out.
"Now we are at the finals, with two sword fighters from distant lands. Our black horses." Pyra said as she pointed to the screens at the top of the fighting arena, two familiar faces appeared. "On the left the Aegirian swordswomen from Higashi we have Akafuyu!"
The cheers of the crowd went wild as the light purple haired carb of a sword wielder walked onto the stage. Many posters with Akafuyu's name were scattered around the crowd. The screen above showed clips from her previous fights.
"On the left we have another swordsman this time hailing from Ursus. Let's get a warm welcome to our Liberi friend. Here comes Hellagur!"
Just like with Akafuyu the crowd screamed and raised posters with his name. Pyra got the two in their positions.
"On three the fight will begin."
In an instant the crowd died down.
"One!"
They both got into their stances.
"Two!"
Their stances tightened and loosened.
"Three!"
The two moved closer, maintaining eye contact with the other. The crowd didn't make a sound as everyone edged off their seats. For what felt like an eternity of stillness a sound could be heard.
Clash
The crowd ragged out as the fight truly started.
"He's quite good with a sword, that old man would be an amazing teacher for the bodyguards within the Twelve Heroes." Hex said as he continued to drink what Apollo assumed was his twenty bottle of alcohol.
The fury of strikes by Hellagur was putting endless pressure on Akafuyu, not giving her any time to do anything but guard said attacks. Hellagur's sword was easily about 1.5 meters long compared to Akafuyu's normal sized katana allowing him to keep distance between the two.
'This fight is soon to be over.' Apollo thought as his interest in the fight started to waver.
Hellagur steps in slightly, causing an opening to appear in his stance. Akafuyu seeing this and understanding that this is likely her best chance to go on the offense and win, she rushed in going for a strike for his liver area.
'Just a little more experienced young lady.' This thought passed through Hellagur's mind as the purposeful opening worked as intended.
In a smooth motion he planted his sword into the ground and due to its length it managed to block her attack. Now free handed Hellagur closed the already short distance between him and her, tackling her in a way similar to something you would see used against a boxer taking them both down to the ground.
Hellagur pinned Akafuyu down to the ground, not letting her have much motion in her legs and arms. Akafuyu kicked and punched as best she could to get him off but the only thing she could do was something she hated. Lightheadedness and the painfully grip on her heart caused Akafuyu to struggle even harder.
"Akafuyu is tapping out!"
A tsunami of cheers and clapping could be heard with the sight of Akafuyu tapping the ground with an opening palm.
"And that marks the end of that. While I was not at the edge of my seat, seeing people put their efforts to the test never gets old. Good or bad." Apollo said as the heat he felt in his body quickly dissipated, leaving him while not satisfied, but not regretful that he stayed and watched.
"Yep and the end of a tournament means one thing." Pallas said with excitement clearly in her voice. "The after party of course!"
A collective mental facepalm was done by everyone in the room at the mention of those words as one image appeared in all their heads.
An ungodly drunk Pallas.
The Ark
In the mountains of Yan a lone girl could be seen in a hut, It was nothing special. The inside contained various paintings, whether it be villages or landscapes many of them holding a world in of themselves. Just outside the hut was the women who takes great pride in her works . Her mostly white and black outfit only did wonders and showed off not just her red tie and long red earrings, but also her blue horns.
"It's a beautiful night." Was all she said as she looked at her canvas.
As she was about to pick a paint brush a violent rumble came and left just as quickly nearby causing her brush to hit the ground like a pencil. She turned her red eyes toward where the rumbling originated from, wanting to make sure it was nothing that would be a problem later on she decided to check what happened.
As she reached the site of the rumbling, she came across a wide and deep crater. In the center of it lay one object. The painter quickly drew a small dragon familiar .
"Retrieve."
"Yes Lady Dusk."
"What's happening, this place should be protected from random things such as this." Dusk said to herself.
The dragon flew in front of Dusk keeping the object in their mouth. It was a lance, it clearly has been used as seen by the dried blood near the point of the lance.
"You should be careful Lady Dusk, I'm sure you've noticed it but this lance is not normal. While it doesn't seem dangerous, proceed with caution." The familiar said.
"Then let's head to the hut."
Upon returning to the hut Dusk observed the weapon. Not wanting to deal with any unnecessary trouble she decided putting the sword in a painting would be best. So she grabbed one of her many paintings and had it suck the lance into its world.
The lance was now alone next to a waterfall stabbed into the ground, somewhat learning to the right. As the lance stood alone a two tailed wolf came from out the forest seeing as how it was the perfect place to rest it laid itself next to the lance after drinking some water. As the wolf drifted to sleep, the world within the painting was that of mini paradise, no war, no violence. Just nature running its course uninterrupted with various animals.
A white energy similar to steam started to flow from the weapon, as if they were one object the white energy from the lance started to flow into the wolf.