“This is going to be my fifth time at the Nexus Games,” James said, accepting a new beer from a passing waiter and twisting off the cap. “Sixth, if you count the original one that gave Will the idea.”
“Six?” Eric asked, his eyebrows raised. “Is attendance mandatory for all Nexians?”
James made a face after taking a sip of the beer, then tipped his head to the side. “Well, not if you’re injured, no. But if you’re healthy, and not a Lieutenant or Alpha, you have to take part.”
“Damn,” Eric said, sipping at his glass of wine. “What if someone doesn’t really like fighting, though?”
James laughed at that, as did Kenta beside him. The Japanese man shook his head. “You’ve been with us for nearly four months now, Will. Do you really think there are any Nexians who don’t like the competition?”
“It’s in our blood, young Eric,” James added, assuming a wise and knowing air that was ruined by the cheeky grin he usually wore. “Everybody takes part in these fights, and they love it.”
“It is the safest option,” Kenta replied. Unlike with James, his air of wisdom was genuine. “Will-san didn’t want to continue the games at first, but there is something about our powers that drives us to compete with one another. If it weren’t for the Nexus Games, we might risk war and bloodshed.”
“That makes sense,” Eric muttered in a low voice, thinking of the primal sense of fear he’d gotten from the Lieutenants of the other Nexuses. It was weaker in the younger members, of course, but very much still sensed. Thankfully, it had resulted in nothing more dangerous than a strong sense of rivalry, and a desire to out-perform the others.
“It’s the one thing that makes humans scared of us,” James said. “So we have to work it out when we can.”
“How do Charlisa and Will manage it?” Eric asked, frowning slightly and turning to Edward. “Your parents haven’t taken part in the past five games, right? How can they handle the desire to fight if they can’t take part?”
Edward shrugged slightly. “Well, the feeling isn’t as strong with Mom. She’s a gentle type. Unless you piss her off, mind.”
James’ face paled a few shades, and he shook his head. “Too true. She’s scary when she’s mad.”
Everyone laughed, and Edward continued. “Dad has matches with Michael every few months. They fight out in the Tundra, where they can’t hurt anyone. Sometimes mom and Emmet fight too, but not that often. Maybe once a year?”
“What about the other Alphas?” Eric asked. “Does anyone know what they do?”
“Well, nobody knows for sure,” a new voice said. A normal human had appeared behind James. He was pale, but had a dark bushy black beard and mustache, and wore a pair of rectangle glasses that reflected just enough of the nearby light to hide his eyes. He immediately gave off the air of a professor. Experienced, too, judging by the grey that was starting to show in his beard. “But the rumor is that Bai Xiao fights his own Nexians, and Kevin has contests off the coast of Australia to see who can create the biggest windstorms.”
James whipped around as the stranger started speaking, his fists clenched. He relaxed when he saw who it was, and let out a laugh. “Gustkey! You sneaky bastard, I didn’t know you were coming!”
He jumped out of his chair and embraced the man roughly. The man returned his hug, wincing slightly at James’ strength. “Well, I’m the one assigned to this game. James convinced the principal to give me the week off so I could come.”
Edward too had gotten up to embrace the man, and Kenta gave him a firm handshake. The others, mainly Eric, weren’t left in confusion long. Will appeared out of nowhere with Charlisa at his side, and, after hugging Gustkey themselves, Will said, “Eric, this is Robert Gustkey. He was my history teacher before I became a Nexian.”
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Eric said politely, offering a handshake. So his first instinct about the man being a professor was correct. “You mentioned James. Do you mean James Radell, the head of the Lorists?”
“No need to call me sir,” Gustkey replied with a grin. “You’re part of the family now, son. And yep, that’s the same James I was talking about.”
“Mr. Gustkey works part-time as a Nexian Scholar,” Charlisa explained, bestowing a warm hug on her old teacher. “He knew more about them than I did, and I was the daughter of an Alpha.”
“Well, you certainly taught me a lot I didn’t know, dear,” Gustkey laughed.
“So you’re a Lorist and a history teacher?” Eric asked, liking Robert Gustkey right away. His open, cheerful attitude was very appealing. “That sounds exhausting.”
“It can be,” the teacher replied, shaking his head slightly before grinning wider. “But you know what they say. Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.”
Eric glanced to the side and saw Megan approaching their table. She was holding a glass of wine, and looked mildly flushed. Felix was at her side, grinning wide in greeting. He jerked his head upward at Eric, saying, “Sup, Eric? You ready for tomorrow?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Eric replied with equal enthusiasm, while Megan was introduced to Mr. Gustkey. “You seem confident.”
“‘Course I do,” Felix replied easily. “I’ve won four tournaments.”
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
“Only four?” Eric asked, knowing it would rankle the Water Nexian. “What happened the fifth time?”
“Oh, I knocked him on his ass last year,” Edward said, swaggering forward and looking just as cocky. “He’s excited for it to happen again.”
Charlisa’s head snapped around to glare at her son, and he ducked his head, appearing to shrink a foot. “Err, sorry Mom. It slipped out.”
Felix laughed at the reaction, giving Charlisa a small wave. “Hey Charlisa. How’ve you and Will been?”
Charlisa broke away from her husband long enough to hug Felix. “Oh, I’m doing good. A little tired lately, but apart from that, I can’t complain.”
Felix broke away from the hug and looked at Charlisa as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. “You’re… Wait. Really? Again?”
Her smile grew a bit wider, but she made a quick shushing sound. “I knew you were too perceptive for your own good. Don’t say anything. I want it to be a surprise.”
“What are you talking about?” Edward asked, looking between his mother and his rival. “What are you, Mom?”
Will appeared, putting an arm around his son’s shoulder and dragging him away. At once, Edward seemed distracted. Eric glanced between him and his mother for a moment, wondering what was going on, but a quick glance from Charlisa told him not to pry. He shrugged, letting her have the secret. She turned her attention to Megan, and her smile took on a more devious edge. “Hello again, Megan. Are you enjoying the party?”
“Oh, yes,” she said, smiling back. “It’s a lot of fun spending time with other Nexuses.”
“Hmm. I’d wager most of your time has been taken up by Felix.”
Megan flushed a deeper shade of pink at that and took a long sip of her wine rather than reply. Eric didn’t have to think very hard to figure out what that meant. Even he could see that Felix was a handsome man. Felix caught him watching and offered another cheeky grin. “This is your first time at the Nexus Games, isn’t it Eric? You nervous?”
Eric snorted in reply, not letting Felix’s casual swagger set him back. “Oh, you’ll see how nervous I am when we go against each other.”
Felix’s eyebrows shot up at that, and he let out a bark of laughter. “Well, aren’t you confident! Your fellow Nexians all have at least three games under their belts, and I had no problem beating them.”
A woman came up from behind Felix and smacked him on the back of his head, making him stagger forward. “Oh, shut up, Felix. You have too much fun trying to intimidate recruits.”
She looked very similar to Felix, and she was almost an identical copy of Rachel Smith, save for slightly darker skin. Eric knew who she was at once, despite never having met her. Like her brother, Olivia Smith was drop-dead-gorgeous, though her smile was less cocky and more alluring. She extended a hand in Eric’s direction, and he had the sudden urge to grab it and kiss it, as if she were a princess during medieval times. He shook his head slightly, clearing it, and shook her hand.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, mentally pulling back. “You must be Olivia.”
Felix, who was scowling suddenly, interrupted their greeting. “You’re really going to hit me for scaring the newbies, but you’re allowed to flirt with them to throw them off?”
Eric quickly pulled his hand free of OIivia’s suddenly aware of just how warm and comfortable it was. Too comfortable. The smell of flowers was heavy in the air, and he realized that wasn’t natural. Olivia’s smile widened considerably at his reaction, and the scent of flowers receded. “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. Not everyone can pull away that fast, though. You’re strong enough to be sure.”
“Is that one of the ways you can use your Water Nexus powers?” He asked, regarding her suspiciously.
“Who knows?” She replied with a casual shrug, then batted her eyes at him. “You don’t think I’m pretty enough to be charming without powers?”
Again, the strong scent of flowers wafted through the air to his nose. Aware of it this time, he kept his jaw firmly shut, refusing to be goaded. She laughed at that, a wonderful, melodious sound that made him want to spend more time around her. Not part of whatever power she’d used, just her natural charms.
“Still up to your old tricks, Olivia?” Will asked, joining the conversation without warning. “I thought you’d get bored of it after all this time.”
“Will!” Olivia crowed, her smile becoming genuine and cheerful. “I never get bored of playing with people, and you know it.”
She hugged Will, but kept the embrace brief, perhaps because of Charlisa’s slight glare in her direction. “How have you been?”
She hugged Charlisa as well, but kept it even shorter. Will put one arm around his wife’s shoulder before replying. “I’ve been good. Been training everyone the past few months to get them ready.”
“Oh, Mom’s been the same,” Olivia replied, rolling her eyes. Now that she wasn’t trying hard to be charming, the alluring effect had somewhat faded, though her natural beauty still pulled Eric’s mind in. “She’s been working us until we drop the past two weeks. She’s even pushing me and Felix.”
The conversation drifted away, quite literally, as Olivia and her brother moved away to continue talking to Will and Charlisa, taking Megan with them. By sheer coincidence, Jerik and Nick found their way over as Mr. Gustkey and James moved away as well, talking and laughing with each other. Kenta had vanished at some point without Eric noticing.
“So,” Jerik said, setting his beer down on the table and sitting down in James’ recently vacated seat. “Tomorrow’s the big day.”
“I don’t think we’ll actually do it tomorrow,” Nick added, remaining standing with a soda in his hand. “It’s too soon. I think Grimr will do it during the tournament. As long as we’re not too tired, that’ll suit us well too.”
Eric sat back down in his seat and picked up his coffee again. “You’re probably right. But I don’t think we’ll have to worry about being tired. We’ll be fresh after a full night of rest, won’t we?”
Jerik nodded, taking a sip of his own beer. “True. I think we’d all be wise to sleep as much as possible the night before. Even if it means we risk missing the meal that night.”
Jerik’s eyes were looking off into the crowd. Following his gaze, Eric saw that he was watching Megan. Jerik’s next question confirmed it. “Think she’s up for it? Seems like she’s pretty close to that guy.”
“She’s ready,” Eric replied curtly, not appreciating the question on her loyalty. “Are you two up for it? Nick, you’ve been in the Air Nexus for years now, right?”
The Air Nexian shrugged slightly. “I have, but it’s not like they’re my blood brothers. They don’t mean as much to me as Jerik does.”
Eric could believe that, knowing what he did about their shared past. “Yes, but you won’t get the same reward as Megan or I. Jerik can go back to Ahya whenever he wants, but you can’t. Can you really take on that risk without a reward?”
“Actually,” Jerik replied, casting a quick glance around, “He can go to Ahya. He already has, once.”
“What? How?” Eric asked, looking back and forth between them. Then he seemed to realize the answer instinctively. “You took him. I thought you couldn’t take anyone with you.”
“I thought so too,” Jerik replied. “I think the difference is that he was in Menora with me. It’s the only thing that makes him different.”
“Huh,” Eric replied, momentarily at a loss for words. “Well, I guess that’s enough of a reward right there. Ahya’s a great world. Where did you take him?”
“Milagre,” Jerik replied. “It’s the same place I appear every time I go there. It’s like the spawn point or something, I’m not sure.”
Eric thought he knew why. Underneath Milagre was the old Ancient camp known as Gitna. It literally meant center in the Ancient tongue. It made a certain degree of sense that anyone moving to Ahya would appear there every time. He finished the rest of the coffee in his cup as he noticed James and Will coming back their way. He abruptly changed the subject so that his Alpha wouldn’t suspect anything. “Well, it seems like it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Jerik caught the change in his tone even without seeing James and Will. “Yeah, I thought so too. I like the idea of winning that equipment in the tournament.”
“It’s a good goal to have,” Will said, joining their conversation as Jerik got out of James’ seat. “We should all try our best to improve, and there’s a lot of bragging rights for whoever wins that tournament.”
“He’s silly if he thinks he’ll win the tournament,” Nick piled on with a grin. “You guys might be good, but I’m the one that will be claiming the victory this year.”
He grinned at Eric as he said it, then gave a short wave and walked away. Jerik too departed after greeting James and Will. It was as natural a way of leaving as Eric could have thought of, and his companions didn’t seem to think anything suspicious was going on. On the contrary, Will smiled approvingly down at Eric. “Glad to see you’re making friends so soon. Rivals are good, but friends are more important if we’re all to keep the peace.”
“Oh yeah, they’re good guys,” Eric said, hoping that his relief at getting away so quickly didn’t show in his face. “We’re all really looking forward to the next three days.”