The heiress was silent for a moment, and then her beautiful features shifted to something more dangerous. “You’re asking for it now, Magellan.”

“I suppose I am.” He responded cheerfully. “You better show me what you’ve got, Lion Maiden.”

Circe glared at him for a moment and then abruptly laughed.

“Gods, you really are at home in a cockpit, aren’t you? You’re ten times more relaxed than I’ve seen you until now.”

“Yeah,” he agreed simply, “but you know the feeling.”

Circe smiled at him. “I do.” She agreed, before her expression turned serious. “But don’t think that means I don’t intend on punishing you for talking shit!”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He responded with a grin.

“You’re pretty cocky considering you can’t even fly in the atmosphere with that thing.”

“I noticed it lacked a flight unit.”

“No maneuver phase either.” She said primly.

“Hold on, what? That’s absurd!” Arthur exclaimed with genuine surprise.

“Hey, you’re the prodigal Fringe Ace!” She said mockingly. “Assault phase should be enough for you, right?”

“I never said I was an Ace.” Arthur objected.

“You didn’t have to, you ass.” she laughed. “Are you ready?”

Arthur laughed in kind and followed the Pallas Athena when it stepped onto a massive freight elevator. He maneuvered the Hoplite until it stood opposite and nodded to her image on the screen. “Ready as I’ll ever be with this museum piece.”

Circe rolled her eyes. “Don’t make excuses if you lose.”

“Oho? Is that a possibility now?”

“Now that you’ve pissed me off?” She shot back. “Absolutely!”

Arthur smiled wryly and looked down to where Iris had silently populated the list of his available weapons, and his smile was wiped from his face.

“Circe.” He said slowly. “All I’ve got is a practice rifle, a shield, and a shortsword.”

“Yep.” Circe confirmed casually.

“How is that a proper set of equipment?” He asked skeptically.

“Basic training gear.” She replied sweetly.

“That’s diabolical.” He muttered. “How am I meant to fight with this loadout?”

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“Dunno. Maybe you can use your fancy Fringe knowledge to make something happen.”

Arthur glanced up at her and scowled, though there was no genuine anger behind it. “You’re enjoying this far too much.” he accused.

“I think I’m enjoying it precisely as much as I should, actually.” Circe replied at the same time as the elevator came to life and started to smoothly lift them upward.

“I take it this was planned in advance?” he asked with resignation.

“Stephanos thought of it.” Circe confirmed without a hint of shame.

“Is this normal?” Arthur asked while scanning through the weapon specifications.

“No.” Circe admitted honestly. “Atreus and mother built you up a lot, so Stephanos convinced father that you could handle the handicap.”

“While you’re in a fully kitted special unit.”

“All Eidolons are special units.” Circe said evasively.

“Oh that’s a cheap deflection.” Arthur said with a snort. “There are ‘main line’ models, sure, but that’s no different to any corps of forces. The grunts always get less than the elites do.”

“One could argue that the lack of prevalence of Eidolon pilots makes it so all units are special.” She pointed out.

“Even the most backward star nation still has a few thousand pilots, Circe. The difference between the Elite and the Regular is as vast as the difference between pilots and normal humans in the first place.”

“You might have a point, I suppose.” She said airily while a set of doors above them parted, and they moved up through a transparisteel tube built up through the surrounding waters. It was wide enough to support several more Eidolons standing abreast, and the transparisteel seemed to be thick enough that it would take a broadside from a capital ship and stay strong. That, at least, provided some relief when considering Hellas’ ocean life. The fact that there was no direct sunlight above them was more disconcerting, but Arthur ignored it for the immediate moment.

“I’m glad I don’t have a fear of water.” Arthur muttered.

“Scared of the ocean, ser Magellan?” Circe teased.

“Not this close to the landmasses, no.” Arthur said with a glance at the clear and shallow water around them. “The deep ocean, though? Especially given Hellas’ penchant for super-developed life? I’d say a little fear is healthy.”

“Just wait until you see your first Leviathan Kraken.” She replied.

“You made that up.” Arthur said with a spike of alarm.

“Did I?”

“That’s cruel.”

“Don’t crash into the ocean.” She said sweetly.

“Absolutely odious.”

“You inspire the best in me, Ser Magellan.”

“So I’m gathering.” He said with a snort. “Though I have to ask, do we need to be careful about collateral damage?”

“No. We’ll be fighting in the Leos arena.” Circe explained with a vague gesture of the Pallas Athena’s hand toward the area above them. “It submerges when it isn’t in use, but my father raised it this morning.”

“Ah, and the elevator connects to it?”

“Yes.” She confirmed.

“That explains the lack of sunlight directly above us.” Arthur noted while making some more final checks to fully imprint the exact processing lag window into his mind. “Do you have any final requests for the duel?”

“Don’t hold back.” Circe said simply.

“Not in my nature.” Arthur admitted at the same moment as another entrance opened above them, and sunlight bathed them both in rays of brilliant gold. The elevator ascended through a perfectly machined gap and filled the hole with its own mass seamlessly, while a thinner layer slid into place beneath to fully seal any potential water breaches.

Arthur’s first look at the arena reminded him of nothing less than a full colosseum.