"How many of these matches are there?" Tim asked after taking a moment to throw on some clothes and his armor in addition to retrieving his halberd.

"Not many for you," said Sateus. The god was laying on its blurry side on a sofa carved from a glittering black stone.

"And the others?" he asked.

Sateus grinned in response.

"Do you even care what happens to us?" he asked in frustration.

"Have you reached an answer to the question I asked, Drake Storm?" asked Sateus, its grin disappearing.

Tim frowned as he recalled their last meeting. "Why do I have to be seeking victory at all?" he asked.

"Is it not the nature of all beings to seek victory where they may?" Sateus countered. It shifted slightly, and the sofa became a pool of water filled with stars that it continued to lay across. "Think more if you must. You have as much time as you need."

Tim opened his mouth to reply, but he was already back in the arena.

"Drake Storm, champion of Sateus!" the announcer shouted like usual.

The crowd booed even more thunderously.

Shit, this is impossible to deal with. It's like talking to… I don't even know what. He turned to the far side of the arena where a creature that looked like a large snail was positioned and hefted his halberd. Then he took a deep breath.

Time to get serious. First real fight. He held the weapon pointed towards his opponent, weaving it in a small pattern to keep the weight of it fresh in his mind as he waited for the match to begin. How do I fight a giant snail like this anyway? There's some monsters like these in New Era, and they do that rolling thing. Sometimes they can shoot spikes out. Lots of waiting around for openi—

"Yamashin, champion of Qikto, has yielded! Drake Storm, champion of Sateus, is victorious!" the announcer yelled suddenly.

The booing this time was so loud that Tim winced, and his own shout demanding answers was lost in the din.

Then he was again back in the throne room, glaring at the god who continued to rest on a small pond filled with stars.

"Alright, is this some kind of joke?" Tim asked. "I mean, what the actual fuck just happened?" he shouted, gesturing wildly with his halberd as his annoyance and frustration peaked.

"Joke?" Sateus repeated. "Do you not crave victory, Drake Storm? Why do you now rail against it?"

"Because I'm not fucking doing anything!" Tim yelled. "Did you actually bring me here to fight or am I just…like…some kind of fucking prop?"

The god grinned with teeth that appeared all over its torso. "My champion, your reputation and coincidence bring you victory now. There are few who could manage such a feat."

"My what?" he asked, his hands clenching around his weapon.

"Return your mind to your competition against Krowakog, champion of Abris," said Sateus. "You knew not of his age, only that he seemed a worthy opponent. You prepared yourself to meet him in combat as best you could. As a result, your reputation has spread."

"What reputation?" Tim tossed the halberd back into his inventory if only so he wouldn't continue to squeeze it until his hands hurt. He removed his armor as well, feeling that the added weight was an added annoyance.

"Abris, god of war, was pleased with the respect you showed to Krowakog, whose name is known among all other champions," said Sateus. "Whispers grow even now that the weapon you bear, which glows with an umbral light, possesses the ability to instantly slay your enemies even without touching them."

Tim blinked slowly. After a moment, he groaned and rubbed his face. "The god of war is telling everyone my spear has instant death powers so nobody knows his champion died of old age during the competition?" he said. "That's the stupidest fucking thing I've ever heard!"

"Is it?" Sateus asked, leaning forwards slightly and sounding vaguely curious.

"Obviously it's not, but you know what I mean," Tim snapped. "You're a fucking god. And there's lots of other gods, or deities, or whatever here for the whole gamble. Why would anyone believe something so obviously stupid?"

"Because they do not know your thoughts, Drake Storm," Sateus said as more sets of grinning teeth appeared.

"But obviously if they looked at the body—"

"There are those few among us powerful enough to know the truth of all that comes to pass, but we would watch and be entertained rather than disrupt such a slight source of amusement. For those that cannot, what mark would a weapon that causes death instantly leave?" Sateus said. "What signs would remain of its use?"

Tim pressed his hands against his face. "And obviously it might look like someone died of old age," he muttered with a groan, "because how else do people randomly fucking die."

"Your mind travels the correct path, and your thoughts move swiftly," said the god. "You encountered others who feared the might of your weapon before Yamashin, however."

Tim sighed deeply. "Did I?"

"Once departed from the temple of Igyn with two of those who were promised victory, you were assailed." Sateus waved a hand, and an image of the scene played slowly. Lekthi sprayed fire from her mouth as she glared, and Cindriz brought her hands up even as her eyes widened in apparent fright, though the tentacled creatures weren't visible in the frame. "Those beings are shrouded from my eyes, but I know of them and their master."

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"Yeah, they backed off when they saw that I was there—your champion," Tim said as he took in the details of the image. I didn't even notice how scared Cin was at the start of that. They definitely must've known who or what those things were.

"No, Drake Storm," Sateus said. "They would not fear me, and I would not challenge their master. They feared you, as those tales of your fearsome weapon had begun to spread. They may have their faith, but they would not carelessly spend their lives if they could be slain with a thought."

This is melting my brain. So…I saved them last night? Just by being there? He felt conflicting feelings of pride and guilt at the thought. "But it's still a lie," he said.

"Are you so certain?" Sateus asked.

"Of course I am," Tim said. "I know my own weapon."

"Intriguing," said the god, a series of unclear appendages tapping against a horn on its equally indistinct head. "Then what of this?" It raised its hand, and Tim's halberd was held in it, complete with its glowing blade. "Is this your weapon?"

"Well," he said. It looks like it? He glanced at his still-open inventory window, noting the icon for his halberd. "No, I still have my weapon, obviously."

"Why are you so certain that what you have is your weapon?" the god asked, beginning to grin from its entire body again.

"Because I've had it with me the whole time," Tim reasoned.

Sateus flicked its hand, and the copy of his halberd vanished. "Amusing as ever, Drake Storm," it said. "You will fight again soon. Continue to use your time wisely."

Tim's surroundings swirled, and he was again in his sitting room.

"Shit," he muttered while shaking his head. "What the fuck's going on." He took a deep breath and walked over to check the clock. Only an hour. Not enough time to visit dragon land, I suppose. Could've really used some time with more normal people.

He tapped his foot while he considered his options. I'll go see if Ir'alith or Scipio are around. More interested in finding… I suppose I have to check on both of them. He sighed and started for the door. Carl, buddy, I'm gonna do my best to keep your friends in good shape, but this is getting really weird. Do you really hang out with these kinds of people?

The hallway was empty when he stepped out of his room, and he felt again the same sense of foreboding that he had the last time he walked through it. He pulled his door shut and set off, but his eyes slid to the first door on his left as he passed, which read "Human". Damn, I feel like I should check on her too, but I don't even know what I'd say. So fucked up.

His feet carried him to the stairs, and he began to ascend. Definitely checking the cafeteria first this time. Come on, Scipio, be there eating some chips…

Tim grinned when he reached the landing. "Hey," he called.

"Storm!" Scipio called back, a matching grin spreading over her pretty face as she sat cross-legged on top of the long table. "It has been a while, I think? This thing is much longer than the last one." She flickered and appeared, standing, in front of him, looking just as gorgeous as usual. "Do you want to fight? You must have gotten stronger by now, right?"

He frowned a little. Is it just me, or does she seem…different? He looked down at her, and a tiny blue spark shot out of her hair to fall behind her while he watched. Her gray eyes sizzled with a visible current of electricity. That's…also new.

"Let us go!" she said, giving him a push towards the stairs. "This boredom is so annoying!"

"Have you seen Ir'alith? Or Emma?" he asked as he started back down the stairs.

"Yes and no," Scipio called. "Ir'alith is meditating on the fighting platform. I have not seen Emma though."

"Huh. Well, it'll be good to see Ir'alith after all this time," he said. I hope it hasn't been like…thousands of years or something for her. Then again, maybe she's already that old.

"She…may not want to see you," Scipio said as they passed by the entrance to the hallway. "She only just returned, and she seemed sort of upset."

That's…not good. He started to pick up his pace, but he was suddenly stopped, as though he'd run into a wall. "Wha—"

Scipio stood on the step in front of him with one hand out up against his chest, and she grinned excitedly as she met his gaze, her eyes now returned to their normal gray. "I remembered!" she exclaimed. "Storm, let's fuck!"

"What?" Tim said at the random change in direction.

"It was fun last time, wasn't it?" she asked, running her hands slowly down his chest. Her eyes swam down his body, lingering on his lower half. "And you didn't get weird afterwards either." She looked back up into his eyes as her hands reached his waist, and she grinned a little more widely as her fingertips snuck inside the top of his pants. "Yeah?"

"Here?" he said as he looked down at her. This is at least a normal-Scipio kind of weirdness. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to this.

"Yeah, I've never fucked on these stairs," she said. Her hands delved lower, grazing his upper thighs, and her tongue poked out to lick her lips as her eyes wandered downwards.

"Okay," Tim said as he…

Scipio pulled his pants down in a single, smooth motion, and her own pants disappeared a moment later. Her hand wrapped around him, and he felt a slight tingle as he rose immediately to readiness just before she gave him a gentle push that unbalanced him against the step behind and sent him tumbling onto his backside.

"You're not big on foreplay, are you?" he asked once he'd regained his balance, having spent some time mentally preparing himself in advance for their inevitable second round and her too-aggressive advances.

"Well I don't need it," she declared as she knelt over him.

He reached down and slid his fingers between her legs, feeling a slippery wetness that was more like a pitcher of hot water than the slight moisture he'd been expecting. "You weren't kidding," he said, feeling like his probing was almost more akin to deep sea diving.

"Mmm," she cooed, clenching on him a little. "That's good, but—Ah!" she gasped.

"We rushed a little last time," Tim said, starting to grin, "but as long as—"

"Can't wait anymore," she interrupted, punctuating the statement with another moan. She flipped herself around to face away from him, displacing his fingers in the process, and grasped him for an instant before she sank down with a contented sigh, steadying herself with her hands on his thighs. "That's better," she said in a pleased half-whisper.

"This is a kind of odd position, Scipio," Tim said. He tried bending his legs up off the step below him to gain leverage, and the woman on his lap groaned.

"Maybe too good," she said, squeezing his legs more tightly with her hands as she began to undulate her hips on top of him.

An incredible, rhythmic pressure bore down on Tim, and he groaned in response. "Why do you feel so good?"

"Practice," she said. She began to whimper, and her hands stroked up and down along the tops of his legs before moving around underneath as she rocked faster.

He kept his hands behind him for stability and gave all that he could, which wasn't as much as he wanted given the weirdness of their position.

After a minute or so, Scipio began to tremble on top of him, and she let out a deeper moan as she shuddered, her motions becoming slower and more forceful as her convulsions intensified.

Tim matched her, but she came to a full stop and let out a satisfied sigh just when he felt himself approaching his own end.

"That was just what I needed," Scipio said, looking up over her shoulder with a pleased smile.

"Wait, but—"

"Don't worry about it," she said, giving his leg a pat.

He felt a slight shock run through him, and he let out a moan and instantly seized up as his climax struck.