“[Defenders], [Adjudicators], [Knights] with Colonel Mallagundla. [Adventurers], [Builders], [Assassins], [Sorcerers] with General Swoopes. You five… and the [Healers], with me.”
Eytan pointed over at the five, still transformed, heroes, a look of devilish delight on his face. Seraphina saw the glint in his eyes and a shudder passed through her. Stewardess McIntyre was, of course, her mother, and Steward Park was her godfather – she not only knew them as soldiers or leaders, but as people as well. There were very few things they did that surprised her, even if there were times they each aggravated her to no end.
This man, however, was different. Seraphina had met him several times, probably knew him better than most others, yet she struggled to truly get a read on who he was and had no idea what he was capable of. So, despite the gleaming plate mail covering her body, she felt a sense of unease as the steward led the group toward the largest of the three fighting pits.
Beside the five of them, there were two other soldiers, Maria Jimenez, and Frank Ford, both [Healers]. Frank looked almost too soft to be a soldier – he had a boyish face with circular glasses covering pale blue eyes that looked almost gentle. Every time Seraphina caught his eye, his face would turn red and he would look away instantly. Maria’s face was as sharp and intense as Frank’s was mild. She had the sort of no-nonsense look that gave a patient confidence in a [Healer] with sturdy, strong-looking shoulders and her dark hair pulled up in a tight bun. Despite likely being no older than 20, she had the presence of someone at least ten years older.
Without taking a look behind him, the steward dropped the twelve feet into the pit, forgoing the ladder right beside him. The five heroes followed him with only a moment’s hesitation, while the two [Healers] waited on the pit’s rim.
“What are we doing first, Steward? Are we fighting each other?”
Aoi grinned eagerly and punched a fist into her other palm, making a small clap of thunder as she did.
“No… Not quite.”
The steward walked a few more feet before coming to a stop in the middle of the circle. He turned to face the five of them, his face suddenly grim and serious.
“You’re going to be fighting me.”
The whole group was silent for a long moment. Seraphina felt the apprehension in her chest turn into dread, but Aoi, of course, kept plowing right along.
“What, like one on one?”
“No, as a group.”
“Oh, is that what you have the [Healers] here for?”
Aoi scoffed, her face torn between surprise, anticipation, and an outright grin. Seraphina saw Ravi bounce up and down on his toes and Daisuke clench his fists. Only Evie’s face mirrored the sick feeling Seraphina felt in her stomach – looking as if something she’d eaten that morning suddenly disagreed with her. Seraphina looked back to the steward and it was clear a change had come over him. Any sense of mocking amusement or showmanship that he had exhibited earlier was gone. His face was deadly serious.
“Yes, I don’t anticipate this first fight going well. Maria and Frank will make sure there are no permanent injuries and get some practice in themselves at the same time.”
Neither of the [Healers] looked happy to hear this – Maria’s face paled and Frank looked like he was fighting the urge to vomit. Aoi also looked unhappy, but in a different way. Her face turned red and her mouth twisted in anger.
“Not going well for you, you mean? I don’t care how high level you are, you can’t possibly think you can beat all of us at the same time? Are you even going to transform?”
“Nope. Just me.”
“Fine. Then bring it.”
Aoi walked forward towards the steward, but Seraphina grabbed her sleeve.
“Aoi, I really think we should discuss this first. Make a plan.”
“Shut up McIntyre, it’s five on one. We surround him and crush him, that’s our plan.”
Both Daisuke and Ravi nodded, looking ready to fight, but Evie walked up to Aoi and put a hand on her shoulder, dragging her slightly away from Seraphina.
“She’s right Aoi, I think you’re underestimating him.”
A look of hurt crossed Aoi’s face so quickly that Seraphina thought she might have imagined it. Moments later, her face turned back to anger and she shoved Evie backward and turned to Daisuke.
“Come on, let’s go. These two cowards can wait back here if they’re too scared.”
Aoi walked forward towards the steward and Ravi and Daisuke followed her, making a small ring around him. Seraphina looked to Evie, hoping she’d say something else. For a second, their eyes met and she saw a range of warring emotions pass across the younger girl’s face, but then Evie summoned her sword and looked away. Suddenly the only one standing back, Seraphina gave a resigned sigh and summoned her spear, taking the last empty spot in the circle around the waiting steward.
“Are you all ready?”
Steward Kalanick’s arms were folded and his face was impassive. Each of the five of them nodded, some with determination or anger, others with reluctance.
“Then Maria, you get us started. Frank, when she does, activate your [Death’s Door] skill.”
“N-now? It only lasts for a minute.”
If it was possible, Frank’s face looked even sicker – there was even a tinge of green in his cheeks.
“Yes, now.”
“That’s it!” Aoi gave an animalistic snarl and electricity flickered to life all around her. “I’m over this, no more waiting.”
The steward nodded, and Seraphina felt a familiar sense of pre-battle anticipation pass through her. Only now, it was laced with abject terror.
“Fight!”
No sooner had Maria said the word than the steward was moving. Aoi opened her mouth to shout a skill, but she was far, far too slow. The steward moved faster than humanly possible, even for humans in the age of heroes – one second he was standing there with his arms folded, the next, he was right next to the [Sorcerer]. Aoi’s eyes only had time to widen in surprise before his fist took her square in the chest. She flew backward as if shot by a cannon, slamming into the pit’s wall and crumpling down to the ground.
“Sis!”
“Daisuke, no!”
Seraphina tried to stop Daisuke, but the man was already running at the steward, steps unnaturally long as if they had a weightless quality, but still not close to fast enough. Seraphina didn’t even see the steward’s kick coming until his knee had already connected with Daisuke’s midsection. All of the oxygen left the man’s body in a spray of air, spit, and blood as he gave one giant “oof” before collapsing to the ground. Steward Kalanick calmly kicked out his foot and flipped him over the side of the pit beside his sister.
“That’s two.”
Seraphina felt her whole body lock-up in shock. She hadn’t even moved an inch and the steward had already taken down two Tier 2 heroes like they were children. She stood there, frozen in place, as Evie and Ravi attacked the man, one from each side.
Ravi flung two of the chakras at the steward, but he twisted, catching one in mid-air and tossing it aside while the other flew past him, searing a line through Evie’s cloak. Ravi’s now empty fists swung at the steward who stepped into the strike and blocked it with one of his own hands. At close range, it looked like Ravi should have an advantage with six arms and three remaining weapons against the steward’s two open hands. But the older man was so unbelievably fast.
For a few seconds, the two [Berserkers] were a blur of light and fire as Ravi let loose a torrent of thrusts with his sword, trident, and fists, but each strike was blocked or met only air. A quick counter to one wrist from the steward sent the sword skidding across the floor and Seraphina could hear the audible snap of bone as the steward’s elbow connected with another forearm. He cocked back to launch a punishing jab at Ravi’s unprotected chest, but was forced to jump aside to barely avoid an overhead slash from Evie’s sword.
This finally spurred Seraphina into motion as she felt her legs slowly start moving towards the fight. Evie launched a rapid flurry of sword strikes at the steward, but he parried or dodged each one of them by shifting his shoulders or gently nudging the flat of Evie’s blade with his palm. When she left the smallest opening, the steward struck forward with his open hand, hitting Evie in the chest.
It was a glancing blow, but it sent the girl flying backward, straight at Seraphina. The two collided with a crash, falling over each other in a tangle of limbs. When the movement finally stopped, Seraphina was on her back and the younger girl’s weight was on top of her, face mere inches from hers. Evie’s dark eyes flashed with pain and anger and Seraphina could feel the spit speckle her face as Evie opened her mouth in a snarl.
“What are you doing?! Get in there and help us!”
Without waiting for a response, Evie clambered to her feet and ran back at the waiting steward. Seraphina swore and jumped to her feet, pulse thundering in her ears as she chased after her. In the few seconds the two of them had been tangled up, the steward had already dealt with Ravi who now lay unconscious beside the Sakamoto twins. His hero’s form had vanished when he lost consciousness, but his injuries had not. Seraphina could see the bone sticking out of one arm and blood leaking from his mouth as the two [Healers] rushed towards the downed trio.
Evie had resumed her one-sided fight with the steward who was calmly sidestepping each attack with just enough movement to let them slide harmlessly by him. Each time she missed, her attacks grew faster, and sloppier, her footwork unraveling as she pushed herself to the brink to try to break through the steward’s defenses. But the girl was relentless, Seraphina would give her that. Her face was a rigid mask of determination as she pushed herself to come close to matching the steward’s incredible tempo.
Seraphina saw her opening and tightened her grip on her spear. She lunged forward, aiming for the steward’s side just as Evie slashed at him from the other direction. For a split second, she thought she might actually have him – he couldn’t dodge both attacks at once – but despite herself, she had underestimated him as well. Just as it looked like their weapons were both going to connect with the steward’s torso, he was suddenly gone, leaving empty air in his place. Instead of connecting with flesh, Seraphina’s spear ran into Evie’s sword instead, causing Evie to cry out with surprise as it was knocked from her hands.
No sooner had she dropped it than the steward reappeared beside Evie. Seraphina caught a hollow, emotionless look on his face before he let loose on Evie with a barrage of blindingly fast punches. The girl managed to dodge the first one and redirect the second, but the third struck her in the shoulder, causing her arm to go limp. The fourth hit her in the stomach, doubling her over. Seraphina lost track of how many punches connected after that, but by the time she was in any position to help, the girl was a crumpled mess on the ground.
The steward kicked Evie aside and turned to face Seraphina, an unreadable look on his face.
“That’s four.”
“Wrath of–”
Before Seraphina could complete her skill, the steward swept out his foot and kicked through both of hers. His cloth pants swept through armored greaves like it was nothing – one second Seraphina was running at him and the next, she was falling, colliding with the ground and feeling the air leave her lungs. She opened her eyes just in time to see the fist coming for her, and then the world went black.
***
“So, what did we learn?”
The steward perused the group who all lay slumped against the pit wall in various states of disrepair. Their hero forms had long since dissipated and their physical wounds had been healed, but there was other damage that wasn’t so easily repaired. Far simpler to heal a broken skull than a broken psyche or ego, although Seraphina didn’t dare to voice that thought in earshot of the two [Healers] who looked every bit as exhausted as the five fighters.
When nobody responded, the steward grunted in displeasure.
“Let me start with a question, then: how many of you have seen a Virus before?”
Slowly, seven hands went up. Seraphina thought she could see another biting comment forming on Aoi’s tongue, but thankfully the woman kept her mouth shut for once.
“Fought one hand to hand?”
Seraphina’s hand slowly went down and she flushed when only Frank the [Healer]’s hand went down as well. Even Maria’s hand stayed up. The snide, mocking looks Aoi and Ravi shot her were painful, but somehow the look of flabbergasted confusion on Evie’s face was worse. The steward continued on, either not noticing or not caring about the interplay between the soldiers.
“How about a juggernaut?”
Now only Ravi and Evie’s hands stayed up.
“Let’s hear about it then. You first Ravi?”
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“Me, sir?”
That man’s confidence was certainly a touch lower than it had been before the fight. Maybe with the exception of Aoi, nobody had seemed more eager for a challenge or more confident in themselves that morning than Ravi. Yet while Aoi had still somehow maintained her normal swagger despite not making it out of the fight’s first five seconds, Ravi looked like a man who had just lost for the first time in his life.
“Yes you. Nobody’s getting lunch until we’re done here and I’ll tell all of you, you won’t like me when I’m hungry.”
Seraphina nearly laughed, but quickly swallowed it when she didn’t see the slightest bit of humor on the steward’s face. Ravi opened his mouth and closed it, before slowly opening it again.
“I… It was about six months ago, right before I awakened. My unit was stationed on the northwest wall. There was a small incursion, nothing serious, and we were handling it, but then the biggest Virus I’d ever seen joined the attack. It killed three of my squadmates before any of us knew what hit us. It was faster and stronger than anything I’d ever seen in my life. Before you, sir, I guess.”
“And? Did you kill it?”
“Fayed no! Our captain held it off while we retreated and thankfully there were some veteran reinforcements. My mother killed it…”
“I see…” The steward scratched his head before turning to Evie. “How about you then?”
Seraphina looked to the new girl who seemed lost in thought with her head leaning back against the pit wall and hair covering her eyes. She looked tired, far more tired than Seraphina felt, but perhaps she had earned that – she had fought longer and harder than anyone else and had come the closest to actually wounding the steward although that was painful for Seraphina to admit.
“I saw one for the first time last week… It attacked my mother and me in our house in Richmond. Killed mom…”
“Last week… Wow…”
For the first time since their fight, Seraphina felt an emotion besides distaste for the girl. Evie shifted her hair and Seraphina saw eyes that were sad, but also hardened.
“It was wounded, and I managed to kill it after mom fought it…
“You killed a juggernaut?!”
Seraphina could hear the wonder in Frank’s voice and saw it mirrored on the faces of each of the other soldiers – probably her’s as well – but Evie just shook her head.
“You all don’t get it… Well maybe Ravi does. Fighting those things – it’s almost like fighting Steward Kalanick… They’re not quite as fast or strong, but your life’s at stake and you know they’re better than you are. I got lucky. There were more on the way up here and it took everything I had just to stay alive. There was another Tier 2 in the caravan, a stronger, more experienced one, and without him, I had no chance.”
The steward nodded and gave his first genuine smile since the fight had finished.
“There we go. I was hoping one of you would help me make my point. You see… I’ve fought hundreds of juggernauts and no two of them are the same. Some were relatively weak, defeated by a strong Tier 2 in just a few blows, others were even stronger than I am and I’ve needed everything I have plus help from others to defeat them. We don’t know for sure if Virus have levels, but I prefer to assume that they do. Until you know better, you should expect every juggernaut you face is the strongest you’ve ever come across and give it the respect it deserves, or I guarantee you, one of them will kill you. Do you all understand that?”
His gaze swept over all of them, lingering for the longest on Aoi until she gave him a begrudging nod.
“Now… Let’s review our fight.” He put one finger in the air. “Number 1: Aoi, Evie, Seraphina, all three of you would be dead if not for Frank’s skill.”
Seraphina made a sharp intake of breath and looked to her side to see that Evie, and even Aoi, had paled noticeably. Frank looked the sickest of all of them, but that wasn’t surprising given his general demeanor since they’d met him. The steward continued, ignoring their reactions.
“I say this, not because you were the weakest three in the fight, but so you know how quickly things can end if you come face-to-face with the wrong opponent. I counted 31 seconds from when Maria started the fight to when I broke your skull, Seraphina, which is honestly longer than I thought you’d last. Frank, you should be proud of yourself – I’m sure you leveled from that fight.”
“I-I did, sir.”
“Glad to hear it. Now, number 2: The tactics, or lack thereof, in this fight was pathetic. You have a [Sorcerer], someone who can support you and trouble me from range and you let me take her out in the battle’s first moment. I heard the conversation before we started, but I’m blaming all five of you for this. So stop glaring at Aoi, Seraphina!”
Seraphina’s head snapped back to the steward and she hoped the indignation she felt wasn’t painted all over her face. The man was staring pointedly at her and she had to bite her tongue to stop herself from protesting.
“I’m sure you all noticed that there are no insignias or ranks on your uniforms. I don’t care what you were doing before you came here or what your level or archetype is – you have to earn it all again here. Be a leader every day and people will listen to you regardless of what your rank is.”
Seraphina still wanted to bite back, but she swallowed the urge and let the steward continue. She wasn’t going to win over any of the others and certainly not Steward Kalanick by arguing. After a few seconds of silence, he continued.
“For individual feedback… Daisuke, your reaction to the start of the fight was a close second in terms of poor decisions. Running at me after I had already taken out your sister was emotional and stupid and it took you out of the fight as well. Seraphina, it took you way too long to enter the fight and when you did, it was indecisive. You also have support skills and you had time to use them while Ravi and Evie attacked me, but you didn’t even try until it was just the two of us.”
Seraphina and Daisuke both nodded. Daisuke looked as attentive as Seraphina had ever seen him – as if he may even have been taking notes if he had a pen and paper, something Seraphina had never seen him do when they were in class together. In her case, Seraphina could only acknowledge what the steward said. It was all true.
“Ravi, your skills are impressive, but you need to be more aware of your surroundings. Your chakra took out your teammate and once it did, you should have stepped back and bought time for her to reenter the fight. You had no chance of beating me one-on-one, and you should have known that. Evie, your sword skill is impressive, but you fight without thinking. Like Ravi, you fought as if you had a chance of beating me instead of using your numbers advantage effectively.”
Both Ravi and Evie nodded as well.
“Now I’ll give you an hour to rest up, eat, and discuss what happened. Then we’ll go again.”
Any composure that Seraphina had regained since the fight ended immediately vanished as her heart dropped into her stomach. She looked to her sides and saw shock written all over each of her fellow soldiers’ faces. Not even Aoi looked excited about getting back in the training pit with the steward.
“Did you say, again?”
The steward bent his knees and leapt in the air, easily clearing the 12-foot wall of the pit and landing on the rim. Without fully turning around, he tilted his head back to them and stared down with dark, ominous eyes.
“I’m sorry, did you miss the part I said about this being the hardest few months of your lives? Did you think that was a joke? An exaggeration?”
Not waiting for a response, he walked away, leaving the rest of them sitting there, wishing they were anywhere else.
***
After the steward departed, the five of them sat in stunned silence, not even moving to go get lunch with the rest of the unit. Seraphina felt frustrated, uncomfortable, and worst of all, humiliated, and wished she could be absolutely anywhere else. Finally, 10 minutes after the two [Healers] had awkwardly edged away, she leapt to her feet and started pacing the width of the training pit.
“Okay.” She pounded one fist into her other palm like a hammer. “I think I have a plan. If–”
A loud, mocking laugh cut her off. Aoi’s face was tilted toward Evie, but her words were clearly meant for Seraphina.
“You hear that, Evie? The princess has a plan. Does she think if we all invite Steward Kalanick over for tea he might take it easy on us next time? Oh I forgot, she probably has tea with him every week.”
“Aoi, this isn’t school anymore! Does what just happened not feel at all real to you?”
“Real?!”
Aoi jumped to her feet, her face twisting from taunting to livid. The sudden transformation took Seraphina aback as Aoi stalked over and stabbed a finger into her chest.
“You want to talk about real? You’ve never even fought a Virus. Never watched your comrades die screaming, never had your life at risk, once.”
There it was. The fact that there was no escaping, no talking her way past. Seraphina looked past Aoi and saw the agreement on Ravi and Daisuke’s faces and the uncertain look on Evie’s as they all stood behind Aoi and walked over.
“I–”
“You’ve really never fought a Virus? Like ever?”
Seraphina’s jaw slammed shut and she felt herself go red. She wished the girl had just been nasty like Aoi, but the look of utter noncomprehension on Evie’s face somehow felt worse. At least until Aoi responded, her voice dripping with sarcasm and venom.
“You see, Evie, they like to say that everyone’s equal here in Fort Washington, but they don’t really mean that. Most people? We get told that we all have the same opportunity. All you have to do is put your life on the line and you can have nice food, a clean place to live, a few bucks to spend at the bars. We’re told we should be happy about it, that we get everything we deserve. But the people who say that? They’re born with silver spoons in their mouths. They get given everything and never have to do shit.”
Aoi’s chin was stuck out like she expected Seraphina to strike her. Wanted Seraphina to strike her. And for a second, Seraphina wanted nothing more. She felt her cuffs ripple as she clenched her fists and held on so tight that her nails bit into her palm and a small trickle of blood seeped out. She hated that girl – that vile, sneering face. At that moment, she hated all of them. The cocksure son of the colonel who was noisily chewing his piece of bubblegum. The absentminded fool who seemed to never care about a thing. The interloper from another fort who somehow acted as if she already belonged here. But…
“You’re right.”
“What?”
Aoi took a step back and turned one ear toward Seraphina as if she’d misheard. Seraphina waited for a beat, and when Aoi didn’t say anything else, continued.
“I said, you’re right. You think I want this? I… I didn’t ask, don’t want, can’t stand to be protected. But I have been. My whole life. I’ve begged to join a proper unit and fight on the walls since the day I turned 18, but I can’t overrule my mother anymore than any of you can.”
“So, what? You’re agreeing with everything I said? Calling yourself a spoiled brat?”
“Not in so many words, but if you want to put it that way, fine, I can take it. Come on Aoi, isn't it about time to turn over a new page? We all want the same thing here.”
For a long time, Aoi stood there with her arms folded looking at Seraphina as if she was speaking a completely different language. She seemed so taken aback that the indignation building up inside of her was deflating like a leaking balloon. She even forgot to glare at Seraphina.
Finally, Ravi stepped up beside Aoi, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“I think I can believe that.”
His smile surprised Seraphina – not just because it was the first one she’d ever seen on his face, but because it was a nice smile. Genuine. His eyes softened and even the small bit of pink bubblegum sticking out from between his teeth didn’t ruin the image.
“Your mother makes mine look tame and if you all haven’t noticed, she’s not.”
“Well that’s the truth!”
Daisuke laughed audibly and Ravi joined in. Seraphina felt herself breathe a slight bit easier as the tension in the air lessened further. Aoi still looked unhappy, but her face looked closer to her normal glare, rather than her irate one.
“So that’s what you tell yourself? That nothing is your fault? That you’re a prisoner in this little golden cage you’ve made for yourself?”
Daisuke’s laughter ended abruptly as Evie’s voice cut through the air like a whip. The warmth and amusement that had built up between them fizzled and died.
“I don’t know you that well, certainly not like Aoi or Daisuke or anyone you grew up with, but yesterday… I asked you, no begged you for help. Someone who truly felt the way you say you do, they would have said yes. Maybe even been a friend to a stranger in a new city. But you… you tried to throw me out of your home.”
Seraphina blanched, trying to look up at Evie, but unable to meet her eyes.
“Evie, that’s not–”
“What, fair?”
“Yes, fair!”
Seraphina wanted to be angry, but she couldn’t find any of it left within her and her voice came out like more of a whine than a shout. She had tried to turn the other cheek, to be better, and she felt so close to starting anew with a group of people who were more similar to her than any she’d ever met. It felt so bitterly unfair that she had managed to find some common ground with someone who had disliked her for more than ten years and now she was getting told off by someone she met yesterday.
“I talked to you for ten minutes! You don’t know anything about me!”
“I know exactly what kind of person you are, Lady McIntyre. You’re spoiled, you’re weak, and you’re a coward.”
The girl’s words ripped through Seraphina and she felt struck dumb, though, whether with anger, pain, or unbearable sadness, she did not know. The girl in front of her’s eyes glimmered with self-righteous fury and she still could not meet them. After a half a minute of silence, Evie turned away, feet soundlessly kicking up dirt from the ground as she walked toward the edge of the pit. As she neared it, she turned back, one last time.
“All of you please, come up with a plan. I don’t fancy getting my ass handed to me again any more than any of you do. But do it without me. I’ve heard enough of the princess’ voice for one day.”
Evie leapt up the ladder, catching a rung two-thirds of the way to the top, and climbed the rest of the way out of the pit. Without looking back again, she continued onward toward the table where the rest of the unit was eating lunch, leaving the four of them in silence.
***
The next fight ended even faster than the first one had. It was one thing to lose a game because your heart wasn’t in it. It was another thing entirely to have your body pulverized in a fight for the same reason.
The steward took one look at their faces – the hostility on Evie’s and Aoi’s, hurt on Seraphina’s, and resignation on Ravi’s and Daisuke’s – and decided to put them out of their misery. And not mercifully. It took less than 20 seconds for the steward to beat any remaining fight out of each one of them.
By the time Seraphina woke a few minutes later, tended to by the [Healers], he was gone. Part of her had hoped the steward would still be there when she opened her eyes, demanding another rematch, but a deeper, traitorous part of her was desperately relieved he wasn’t. She had never met an opponent who so incredibly outclassed her and she knew that another fight would only end the same way.
As she looked around, she could tell the others were in no better shape. Daisuke was leaning against one wall, hand still holding the spot on his side where the steward had cratered his ribs. Ravi was a few feet away from him, staring into his hands as if blaming them for their lack of speed or skill.
On the other side of the pit, Aoi and Evie were huddled together, whispering to each other inaudibly. When Evie looked up it was with a cold, malevolent expression that didn’t so much as flicker when her eyes met Seraphina’s. She looked as if she was about to explode, but, for once, it was Aoi playing peacemaker as she pulled Evie toward the ladder instead, motioning toward her brother.
“You coming, Daisuke?”
The man groaned and got to his feet, following the two women to the ladder with Ravi not far behind. Seraphina was left alone, staring around the empty pit. She knew they had another fight coming, probably just as grueling, but the real battle would be finding a way to face the others again – to bridge the chasm between herself and the people she may eventually have to trust her life to.