Troy fought for her life. This was no different than every other Cultivator around her, yet she knew the longer they fought the worse things would become.
She’d never killed before, and didn’t plan on starting now. Even though she felt like a sick joke was being played on her by reality itself, what she did plan to do was kick, punch and break anything that got in her way until she herself was kicked, punched, or broken beyond the point of recovery.
The competitors all around her were relentless in their engagement with her, one another, and even those she’d seen band together, only to turn on one another in the end. Many even doing so while amidst trying to overwhelm her in packs. Backstabbings taking place right before her very eyes as she defended herself.
Troy used everything she had to survive the continual onslaught. Many around her were truly fierce competitors but eventually lost to stamina. Stamina she’d gained being forced to fight in Adroit Academy's dungeon for days without end.
She could maintain invisibility while sleeping, which she did within the jungles of the Coliseum. It was on the sixth day of being locked inside Blackhole Coliseum that she realized that an end was coming.
The intensity of the fights she came across just the day prior were beyond anything she’d ever encountered, and she knew this was because of the level of the Cultivators left alive being forced to fight.
Opening her eyes on that day was more challenging than ever before, as an aura grew in power with every day that passed inside. Everyone within could feel it like an ever-present weight on their shoulders.
The effect was like an endless summer heat, draining them all of mana and energy and many times Troy felt the need to run from the pressure. She felt it to be that of the tampering that had been done to their environment. The reverse of an incoming storm's moisture, the effects intensified when she roamed through areas littered with the dead or dying.
Now that she was awake, however, she knew she could not run. The pressure all around her was saturated in malice. A presence like that of a night terror in her childhood, swept over her, nearly freezing her in place.
When she finally caught sight of the being that was the herald of this sensation, Troy almost passed out on the spot. The young man’s power was terrifying, physical and nearly overwhelmed all the senses. His aura had been missing for as long as Arson had been back in Maelstrom, but now Arson’s rage and power could be seen and felt.
The white gold light rolled off of him so powerfully that it seemed to Troy that he didn’t even have a shadow. Yet the small circle of darkness that sat like the void of space underneath his tabard was an omen of death from what Troy could perceive about the young man.
His face remained consumed by darkness even as his star filled eyes spun with power. Not one but two scythes floated at his sides , held by his Living hand Constructs Jillian and Jane. The final hand at his disposal charging a conductive water orb with mana lightning a few yards above his head.
Even as she took in the man, she knew he was breaking down her every movement in preparation for combat.
She would have to give this fight her all. She’d determined that days ago when she’d realized that Arson may be the force behind the powerful distortion in the air. Now it was confirmed as she laid eyes on him.
She’d hoped for a friendly battle, a sparring in which they’d get to show off the culmination of what they’d learned. Yet after the rehearsing of a speech she would give when she saw the young man, she tried to pull her mask off and the item lay stuck there as if cemented in place.
Now, she stood before the man she loved, knowing that a fight was inevitable. She looked in the distance by leaning just to the side, peaking passed Arson. There she saw nine other people, 3 of which were Arson’s own siblings, and the rest were completely unfamiliar. The group seemed to be waiting for Arson to spring forward and attack, and in that moment Troy knew.
Sensed it in her bones that she must have been the eleventh person left inside the stage grounds. She tried to speak her truth, but a small rune fluttered into existence across her lips, stealing the words from her mind completely. She tried to speak in code, and nothing worked. She couldn’t even speak his name, the mask on her face able to perceive anything that would give away her identity. So instead she sighed, and pushed down the tears she felt growing in her eyes, and tried to be as much of herself as she could be.
If these are potentially going to be your last moments with him, give it your all, Troy. He wouldn’t have it any other way, and neither would you…
“Cute dog, what’s his name,” Troy asked looking down at the dog that looked between her and Arson playfully. Arson said nothing to her, until she crouched and reached out toward the puppy, which ran toward her excitedly.
“His name is Ego,” spoke Arson obviously confused by his dog’s actions. Ego rolled over and let Troy pet his belly which she knew he found odd by the tilt of his head, even though she couldn’t see his face.
“What is your name?” asked Arson, a heat in his voice Troy had never felt directed toward her.
“I can’t actually tell you that, but you can call me, Tsaritsa,” Troy said standing. Ego rising as well before he began to headbutt her lower calf still wanting to be petted.
“Well, Tsaritsa, it is nice to meet you, but I’m sorry to tell you this, but it seems we will have to fight to the death,” Arson said with such a sadness in his voice that Troy was unable to fight off the tears that welled up in her eyes then. She looked away and nodded.
“I assumed as much, but will you make me a promise?”
“Yes, of course I can, it is the least I can do and I assure you I keep my promises, and yours will be the last I have made on a long list of many over the last few days,” said Arson.
“Carter! Carter! Carter!” A booming chant had begun all around the coliseum. It seemed that many there had been forced to watch those they loved be killed, both mercilessly by those inside, or honorably as they now witnessed occur in her direction. It seemed the crowd felt a victor had already been determined, even though Troy was still in his way.
I’m not going to go down that easily.
“Do you need me to speak on your behalf, give a message to your family and friend—“
“Nothing like that, I just need you to promise me that no matter what you will not regret this,” Troy waved an open hand through the air in that moment, doing her best to smile with her eyes. Arson looked away momentarily, then down at his dog, and back up at the crying Troy, and nodded.
“As you wish, just make sure and fight with everything you have, you are my 10000th opponent,” said Arson, widening his stance.
…
Something was off for Arson. Yes, he was emotionally exhausted. Far overstretched on mana usage through the restrictions placed on him by his seal, and even saddened by his want to see Troy while staining his hands red with blood.
Yet, in that moment he felt at peace. He knew things would be over soon, and he promised himself that he was going to go and find Troy after this was all over. No matter what occurred through his actions during the tournament. The potential for war on the horizon, judgment from others, or even his own demons, would not stop him from seeking out his best friend.
All that stood in his way was Tsaritsa, and his dog's odd attraction to the woman. He whistled for Ego, and to his surprise the little monster didn’t even look in his direction. Even as she too changed her stance.
“Will one of you grab Ego?” Arson looked over his shoulder to see, his sisters, Auto, Chozen and her brothers, his cousin Moriarty, and the two that had surrendered to him, Bernard and another young man named Caspian all shaking their heads before he heard a collective yell from many gathered.
“No!”
Arson sighed, shaking his head at the collective response. He raised a single finger toward his opponent, who laughed, crouched once more to pet the puppy, and scratch his head.
“You need to go and wait for him with the others, Ego, Okay,” came a sweet voice, and to Arsons’ surprise Ego listened, barking up at the young woman, and then merrily in his direction, before he trotted off.
“He’s a cute one,” Tsaritsa said, and Arson nodded slowly. Grumbles of annoyance heard behind him from the many people who’d tried and failed to pet Ego.
“Shall we begin,” she said to Arson, as an identical clone of the young woman walked free of her body taking up a different stance, before another, and another, and another followed suit. The woman had summoned a near army by the time Arson realized this wasn’t going to stop any time soon.
“Yo, Carter, if you die, can I buy this coliseum from your mum!” Arson gave Moriarty the finger over his shoulder, and nodded at Tsaritsa.
Heavens lightning she’s fast…
Arson found himself swarmed. He felt like he was fighting Troy momentarily, but dismissed the thought immediately. This young woman’s clones were identical in such a way that his Closed Eye Dominion couldn’t even tell the difference. If it weren’t for his sensory abilities he would have already lost the young woman among her many doppelgängers.
Each clone that rushed him, was destroyed and replaced in a blink. Slashes came from his Living Constructs, turning the clones into dust with every breath he took, yet the army around him continued to grow.
“Son of the maiden,” murmured Arson to himself. He also punched and kicked using various dead arts to defend himself and dispose of as many of the young woman’s clones as he could, but felt as if he was slowly more and more on the verge of being overwhelmed.
“You sure, my family might be able to afford it with a large loan from Caspian’s family!”
“Shut up, Mori!”
Jaqueline fired conductive water orbs at any and every target around Arson even as he became enclosed on all sides by the clones. Her conductive water orbs froze on contact, before mini explosions of mana lightning haloed outward killing the clones in groups, and even that wasn’t enough.
“I expected more from you,” said the young woman, only the words came from the entire army of clones. Arson scoffed, yet even before he could respond, a convergence of mana occurred unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
His opponent's entire army of clones became one giant avatar. In a blink the massive foot of Tsaritsa was raised and stomped down toward Arson in almost the same instant.
Arson’s eyes went wide and he dove out of the way, his Closed Eye Dominion showing him that once the massive foot of his now skyscraper sized opponent left an impression in the ground, she also crumbled back into an army of clones, scrambling toward him in a charge no less deadly than the opening rushes by opposing sides on ancient battlefields.
“You Sure!”
Arson ignored his cousin, forced to block now incapable of responding. Tsaritsa forming the top half of the giant Avatar, brought her hands together for a two handed overhead smash. While the rest of her clones still rushed him.
His weapons managed to block, but just barely. Jillian wielding his crown, sent out a wave of ambient mana in an arc behind him as the clones tried to flank him, while Jane wielding Sky used his own flicker stance to cut through the frontal charge. Which left Jaqueline to grow to the size of a small building, barely able to catch the hammer fist from the giant Avatar.
Arson didn’t even have a moment to think, as Jaqueline was pressed backward slowly, before the young woman broke into a flood of clones that poured over the top of Jaqueline's guard, jumping from the Living Hand Construct like a platform.
It was in this moment that Arson knew, he could hold nothing back from this opponent. A series of decisions made in a blink, his perception slowed to a crawl as he closed his eyes, and took in the entire area.
He was surrounded, and his options for escape were limited. His options to defend himself were limited. His offensive options were limited.
He’d drawn himself so thin to the point that his Gestalt rune couldn’t be used. He felt his perception could only be slowed for a short period longer, and even Jaqueline was going to need to rest soon.
So Arson decided to put everything on the line, drawing every bit of power he could in that instant. His seal burning more painfully than ever before as he drew mana lightning into the center of his palm.
Even though his perception was slowed, he felt every blow that began to rain down on him. The clone army causing damage that bruised Arson’s body for the first time since he’d just become a cultivator.
The blows were so mighty in fact, he felt himself losing consciousness. The only reason he wasn’t physically moved or tossed around like a rag doll; the weight of the power he concentrated in his palm.
He filled the mana focusing there with the personification of his rage, his guilt, his sadness, and so much more. He didn’t know he was yelling. The roar even more pronounced than the roar caused by the sight of his bloodied sisters.
Mana Lightning Palm…!
The runic words for the fusion of his own mana lightning, and the deep sea palm were fused in that moment. An attack unlike any other he’d ever used before created in that moment. Arson unknowingly creating an attack with the power of white hole, twisting with the ferocity of a black hole’s center.
He thrust his hand downward, and in that moment the world knew his power.
“Aah!”
…
Almarine knew in that moment that nothing would ever be the same. Time had frozen, not because she’d forced it to, nor had her brother. But the pair both sighed, realizing that they would both be forced to take action when they didn’t want to.
“Can you break the barrier while I evacuate them all?” Almarine asked Carter beside her. Her brother nodded and looked at her.
“You pushed him here. You know that, right?”
“I didn’t know he was capable of such things at such a young age. How could I have known that he could destroy a planet. We were eons old by the time we became able to pull these types of things off,” said Almarine, with a point downward. Her and Carter stood atop the BlackHole Coliseum’s roof, taking in the sight in its entirety.
“I’m taking charge of his training henceforth,” Carter said with a chuckle and a shake of his head. Almarine laughed and shook her own head in response before she decided to speak up once more.
“I will never let—“
“You no longer have a choice, sister. When I speak to him, what I offer him, he won’t be able to refuse, and I think we both know when I feel this way, my sense for what is to come is omnipotent.” Almarine closed her eyes and a sudden stream of tears rolled down her face, knowing that she’d truly made a mess of things, and that Carter would soon have his clutches in her grandson, his own grand nephew.
“Let's get this over with…”
…
Arson blinked. He looked around and wondered why he felt such a large sudden change.
Nothing could be heard within the coliseum. None of the fans and patrons could be seen in their seats, or viewing boxes. Not even the collection of ships that had once floated above.
Everything was gone, the area empty of guards, other competitors, leaving just a jungle grown for honorable battle, turned into a burial ground under the setting suns of Maelstrom.
He no longer felt the pressure of being attacked, nor the pressure of his own building attack focused within his palm.
The last thing he remembered he was fighting Tsaritsa, and losing. Losing in a way he hadn’t felt in a long time. He tried to raise his hand to scratch his head, and realized he couldn’t. He looked toward his left, and saw that his entire arm was missing. He gasped once he saw a clean slice, dripping blood down the side of his tabard. Only to be distracted by a familiar voice he hadn’t heard in quite some time.
“I’m sorry about that, boy. I had to take the arm and transport it into the core of a lifeless planet or you may have killed everyone you know and love. Even still you only have a few moments left with this one,” said Carter Omni, a man Arson now knew to be one of the realm's Ancients. One of three residing within the realm of Maelstrom.
“What,” Arson asked, turning to face the man, only to have his breath taken away by who he saw laying at the cloaked man’s feet. Her mask half destroyed, was enough to reveal Troy to Arson. The limits on their connection washed away. The young woman stared near lifelessly in his direction before she spoke softly a splatter of blood exiting her mouth as she struggled.
“Hey buddy, pretty sure you were about to lose there at the end.”
Arson rushed to her side. His fear grew, as only one eye was able to look at him approach, and his heart sank to depths they’d never been before.
“Troy, what are you doing here? Why are you…”
“It doesn’t matter, buddy. It's just a bad situation, but I’m truly glad I got to show you how much stronger I have become,” said Troy laughing as she coughed. More and more blood flowing free of her mouth.
Arson kneeled, Arson trying to pull potions from his watch, only to realize it wasn’t there.
“I just need to find my watch and I’ll give you potions love, you’ll be fine, I promise.”
“No, I doubt that they would, my love, I can barely feel my core now, something is bro…” Her words trailed off and she closed her eye as Arson used his remaining hand to pull her close to him, ignoring the flood of notifications that appeared all at once in his vision.
“Troy… Troy! Troy!”
“She’s gone, boy. Her soul couldn’t handle the energy you released, and very few within this realm would have been able to,” said Carter. Arson let tears roll down his face as he pressed his forehead to Troy’s, shaking with sobs of rage and sadness.
“What would you do to have her back, boy,” Carter asked after a few moments of silence. The words confused Arson at first, but then he looked up at the man. Carter’s smile filling Arson with despair and wonder at the same time, as galaxies peered down at him, questing for an answer.
“I would do anything.” This was Arson’s truth, and he knew the Ancient staring down at him knew this to be true.
“Even work with a man that demons, angels and gods see as evil incarnate?” Carter bent at the waist to look deeper into Arson’s eyes for truth, as if Arson’s answer may change. Yet Arson repeated himself.
“Anything.” Carter nodded at Arson and rose, straightening himself.
“Your answer surprises me for a boy your age, but I respect truth above all else, so with your sworn oath to become my disciple, I will wash all of this away for you,” said Carter before he waved a hand all around himself and snapped.
Arson didn’t even break eye contact. Speaking without a single moment to contemplate. Instead he lifted Troy up, holding her body pressed against himself as he met Carter, eye to eye.
“I swear by the light that fuels my soul, I shall be your disciple until you have nothing left to teach me, until you leave the realms of the living, or dismiss me from your eternal grace…”
“Zeal, it is time,” Carter spoke and Arson frowned, yet in the next moment, a woman could be seen. Her face formed in the sky above them, and an unfathomably large hand descended toward where they were. The hand pressed down onto the stage and a wave of warm light rippled across all of the stage. And in the next moment, after Arson felt the light ripple across his own body, his once one-sided hug was returned, Troy looking up at him, and smiling as the dead once more joined the living all around them.
Young men and women, pulled together by the power of ambient mana and the natural elements growing all around them. Taking breaths for the first time since being reborn, Arson’s eyes wide as Carter chuckled, answering a question he had yet to ask.
“How? Don’t worry about that. You are far away from such things…”