"Hey guys, we should probably stop recording."

The sound of cameras shutting off began as the spectators were asked to leave the arena.

"Well, everyone. It appears that the finals have been postponed! If we get another date, we'll be sure to hit you with either that or another method of appropriate compensation!"

The announcer left his station above the arena. After a minute or so of shuffling, it was just Willow, Cassandra, and the two naked guys who came out of their broken relic weapons.

"Einer, where are we?" the smaller one asked. They looked young and androgenous, with short black hair that looked unkempt, with a prominent spike appearing from the left side of their hair. They looked Sandalan, so they were presumably the person who came out of the axe. The more well built person was presumably Einer. Taller than anyone there by a fair margin, trying to scope out his surroundings.

"Apologies, ladies. But where did we end up?" He was soft spoken, not making direct eye contact in an attempt to hide his embarrassment. Luckily for him, neither of the girls wanted to look in that direction anyway.

"Sorry, Mr…Einer, is it?" Willow started. "But you and your friend over there popped out of our weapons? So do you know what's going on there?"

Einer went to inspect the weapons. He picked up the broken spear, admiring the craftmanship. As his eyes covered more of the spear, they got more frantic.

"This is…this is Vananna!" He yelled out.

"That's Vananna?" Willow asked. "No, you're Vananna!"

"No, Vananna!" Einer yelled back, trying to hide his obvious panic. "The spear?! The prized relic of Frysord?"

Cassandra and Willow exchanged nervous glances towards each other, and then turned to Einer. Who was beginning to look more and more exasperated by the second.

"What's Frysord?"

Einer let out something between a gasp and a moan.

"The country? Quite cold, located in western Demetra."

"Demetra?" Cassandra asked.

"The continent?!" Einer's friend asked, squinting their eyes at them.

Willow took in a deep breath, eyes widened, and exhaled slowly.

"Cassandra…don't freak out, but I think these guys come from before the airships."

No…that made perfect sense. The weapons represented each country, so they had to have been made just before the sky age began. They always looked more in line with pre-sky weaponry. In hindsight, it couldn't be more obvious.

Before anyone could say anything else, Julian and Zachary burst into the arena. Julian looked around for any suspicious activity, and then focused on the two newbies, handing each one a towel to maintain some semblance of decency.

"Right!" Zach said, clapping his hands together. "I think we have a lot to talk about, so if you're able to get some towels on while we get some clothes ready, that'd be a great start!"

Everyone was moved into the living room of Zach's house. Einer and his friend were moved to get clothes ready, while Julian, Cassandra, and Willow were all sat around the table with some herbal tea, all eyes locked on the Fightston gauntlet.

"So there's another person trapped in there?" Julian asked, taking a sip of his tea.

"Probably." Cassandra replied.

"And the weapon is named the Fightston?"

"Probably." Cassandra repeated.

"So where's Roxanne?" Willow asked.

"Back at the hotel. I'm only allowed here because the paperwork sounds like we're married."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Zach walked into the room with the two following behind him. Einer wore a light blue polo shirt with some casual jeans. His friend wore a yellow hoodie with a black pocket in the centre adorned with a thunderbolt pattern, alongside some casual tracksuit bottoms. Zach sat at the head of the table, while the other two sat at the same end as Willow.

"Okay. My name is Zach Fightston, president of Fightston. You two?"

"Einer Vik." Einer said calmly as he sipped his tea.

"Hikaru Yasuda." The axe one replied, taking a sip and immediately burning their tongue, placing their cup on the table like nothing happened.

"And next to me are Cassandra and Julian Torres, and Willow Vannana."

"So you're connected to the current royal family?" Einer asked.

"Yeah." Willow said, leaning forward. "So I think I should know just what my mom's side got up to a while back."

"Well first off, where are we?" Hikaru asked.

"Fightston, an airship in the Skyspace."

"Airship?" Hikaru asked.

"One of…well, I think you can guess." Julian answered slowly.

"Twelve?" Einer asked.

"Right on, man. So, I guess you know how exactly these airships came to be?"

"Well, what were you told?"

"We were told that two hundred years ago, several factors were destroying the surface. Stuff like environmental pollution, feral dragon populations, and a brewing worldwide war meant several small countries banded together to make airships that could house a sizable chunk of the population and continue the human race."

The colour left both Einer and Hikaru's faces.

"Two hundred years…" Hikaru stared at their hands, looking at Einer for some kind of guidance. Einer's face was quickly filling with rage.

"Guessing that's not how it went down?" Julian asked, calmly sipping his tea.

"What, were the people of the old world a bunch of backwards savages to these historians?" Einer asked.

"Personally, I always saw them as victims of hubris. Or were they victims of our ancestors?"

"I'll try to explain this as calmly as I can." Einer said, putting his cup down. Everyone else did in respect.

"Humanity discovered steam power three hundred years ago, by your estimations. Companies then established to harness their power to make machines and make life easier. By the time I was born, cities dotted the landscape at the hands of governments chosen to lead the people. Something we all thought was a liberating landscape was in actuality run by a hidden dictatorship."

"What are we talking about here?" Zach asked.

"The corporate heads you descended from." Einer snapped, glaring at an unfazed Zach. "Using the wealth they accrued from workers, they bribed the governments to let their deeds go unpunished. All until a mere twelve people had direct control over half the worlds wealth."

"And they destroyed the world in the process?" Willow asked.

"Think about how much you'd need to do to gain that much wealth." Hikaru added. "If you can name it, they did it. Pollution, getting prisoners to work for them for dirt pay, profiting off wars. This was how you became successful on the surface."

Zach sat in contemplation at this information.

"But…we all try to keep the corporate types in check. To strike a balance."

"Well, obviously." Julian chimed in with a finger snap. "If Einer's right, you guys are the descendants of the twelve rich guys who created the Skyspace. And keeping others in check is probably what they knew best."

"What I wanna know if where you guys come into it." Willow said.

"Well, people got sick of them." Einer said calmly. "Governments began to crack down on them before it was too late, and their crimes were slowly being leaked to the public. And when the plan for them and their workers to escape to the skies was revealed, several people led a final charge in an attempt to get our lives back. But they had weapons, and fighters with mystical powers. We were all dispatched easily, but twelve of us managed to get onto the airship as they were leaving. But one by one, we were picked off in front of their jeering faces."

"I was the last to go." Hikaru added, looking down. "Second last was Saoirse."

"Wait!" Cassandra yelled, leaping from her chair. "She's from Saoloro?"

"She used Saoloro!" Hikaru replied, their eyes widening at the news. "So she's okay?"

"I…I…I don't know." Cassandra said nervously, her tone slowly reverting to it's nervous origin. "She got taken by the Legion."

"The who?" Einer asked.

"The New Legion." Zach answered. "Terrorist group who kidnap children and force them to commit attacks in turn. Recently took to stealing the weapons we used as relics."

"But…we're the Legion." Einer said. "That was the name we took when we tried to stop them."

"So what you're saying is the guy who runs it has some connection to the surface?" Julian asked.

"I mean, it's possible?" Hikaru asked, looking as puzzled as everyone else.

"Wait!" Cassandra announced. "Do you guys know me? Anyone that looks like me? Anything?"

"No?" Hikaru said.

"Nobody I know, anyway." Einer added.

"Oh…okay, then." Cassandra sat back down once again.

"But next on the agenda." Zach interjected. "Who's in the gauntlet?"

"Our leader." Hikaru replied, holding the gauntlet. "Miss Jade Falkner. First to enter, tenth to die. Protecting me, of all people."

"So we break her up, and then take the fight to the Legion, right?"

"Sounds good." Hikaru nodded, their hands surging with energy.

"Wait. You guys remember her clothing size?" Zach asked.

"She was about my height, slightly muscular." Einer replied.

"So my wife's old clothes should do, good."

Hikaru drew a ring around the gauntlet, and a series of shocks began rapidly hitting it until it flew into the ceiling and crashed down on the floor. Einer stood up, sending an ice blast that froze the east side of the room the gauntlet was at, before landing a single mighty kick, shattering the ice instantly.

The gauntlet was a series of metal chunks on the ground, and a light was quickly forming into a person. When she opened her eyes, she looked up at all the people staring at her.

"Wait, you're all alive?"