Opening his eyes, he saw the guards' uniforms over him as they righted him in place. Norbert spun around, wondering what was happening to him. The shock of the dashing escape that he had just made was still fresh in his mind.
The hands moved off him as he looked out the window momentarily. An arrow glanced off his mask as one of the Kreevss released their bow at Norbert. Moving away before more could join it, Norbert bent over to pick up the arrow and dropped the projectile out the open window as he stepped away, turning to the guards surrounding him.
"Here to take me to Captain Oblek?" Norbert asked the guards around him, watching them grit their teeth for a moment. Standing to the side, they led Norbert away from the window and towards a T-junction, heading right to go further inside the Colosseum.
Being led towards the room again, Norbert sees Oblek already standing there, his moustache as proud as ever. The guards do not walk into the room as Norbert looks back. The guards close the door shut, leaving the two of them in the room.
The room was the same as before. As he went in it, Norbert was walking towards the seat, and Oblek had his nose in a book once more.
"Why did you call me over here?" Norbert chipperly asked, hoping he wouldn't be in too much trouble.
"You're late." Captain Oblek slammed the book closed as He looked squarely down at Norbert. The thought of him not being in too much trouble was no longer in his mind.
"For …" Norbert let the word hang in the air. Knowing exactly why, the reassurance that Vivienne games him can no longer be used.
"Not turning up."
"That was entirely intentional because …" Norbert's brain scurried for an answer.
"Because!" Shouted the captain, anger rising and starting to bubble for dealing with Norbert.
"I was busy running around with the witch you met up with the other day?" Norbert scrunched his face, hoping his response wouldn't cause the captain another outburst.
"How do you know about that?"
"I was sitting opposite you at the table." Norbert insisted.
"No, you weren't," Oblek said, leaning over. He placed both hands on the desk, causing it to wobble slightly from the force.
Norbert removes his helmet, holding both in his hands and flushes his face to Oblek.
The man, still looking obliviously at him, said, "I know what you look like, Norbert, and you weren't there. After running off after the fight you were last in, you haven't been seen anywhere." Flushed the captain to Norbert.
Puzzled by the thought, he knew for sure that he saw the captain there, with Sally and Kaa there as well. Leaving it behind, Norbert said, "I might have someone, but I will need more time to confirm." Nodding his head after giving a thought, he hoped his acting skills were good enough to convince the captain.
Oblek stared straight at Norbert, scanning the scout's face as the captain looked for any sign of treachery. He stood up straight again, flipping open the book with one hand as he looked down at the pages again. "Is there Anything else that needs to be reported?" Oblek asked Norbert.
"Can you do something regarding the Kreevss coming after me?" Norbert asked as he put the two pieces together over his face, feeling the metal resting on his head again.
Captain Oblek looked at Norbert like he was a complete fool for asking the question, "Do you want to start a war? Because if anyone helps you, that's what it's going to be."
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Norbert nodded, hearing the same thing from Vivienne. Standing up, Norbert stretched as he headed to the door, not hearing any arguments from the captain about his actions.
Opening it up, Norbert stepped through before ducking his head back in again. "Thanks for pulling me through the window and not pushing me out," he said.
Captain Oblek only nodded his head, the only sign that Norbert had that he had been heard. Shrugging his shoulders, knowing not to push the military man any more, Norbert quietly closed the door behind him, turning to the two guards on either side.
"So, which of you can lead me to the slimes?" Norbert asked, placing both hands on his hips.
As he uttered the word, Norbert saw one appear from the ground before him. The green flabby being just sitting there. Turning to the two guards, Norbert just left them behind, taking out his token from under his shirt and presenting it to the slime.
"Norbert from Morenas, may you please direct me to the waiting grounds, my good sir?" pompously Norbert combined his words with a bow, lowering his head for the slime to investigate, confirming his identity.
"This way," the slime robotically stated before moving off, not waiting or looking back to confirm that Norbert was following the creature.
***
The slime melded back into the ground as Norbert looked out at the chamber, seeing even fewer people than last time—only fifteen people in the room. Wondering what happened, Norbert saw part of his team and Finekus standing in a group. As he looked around, everyone else had huddled around, voices coming from one another, all of them looking towards the board.
"What happened?" Norbert asked, all eyes turning towards him.
"You happened!" One of them shouted to Norbert.
He walked forward as he looked over them. Most of them looked fine to him, a couple with bags under their eyes from a lack of sleep but nothing too strenuous. One of the worst-looking of all was Karr, who looked more like death warmed up as an empty potion bottle lay between their feet.
"How did I happen to any of you? I haven't met up with you outside at all."
"Well, tell that to the Kreevss, then. They've been on us constantly. We all had to move here the other night, or we would be attacked." The speaker's anger rose once more at Norbert's response.
Norbert scrunched his forehead in puzzlement. He didn't have any issues with walking around in the streets at all. Norbert shrugged his shoulders, "Well, that was silly of them, as I don't reside in that area of the city."
"We are well aware of that. Try telling the Kreevss the person they are after just up and leaving; nobody has ever met them outside this tournament. They aren't going to take too nicely to that." Another voice piped up, joining the conversation.
"I can see why you don't want that. Is there anything I can do to assist?" Norbert asked, quickly going over the faces. Seeing someone opening their mouth to say something, Norbert quickly added, "That doesn't mean handing me over to the Kreevss."
"Don't just disappear at the very least. Drag all their attention away so we might be able to enjoy the city slightly when we come out later." The person said once more from the crowd.
Norbert just nodded, looking about to the screen displaying information again. Norbert looked at it, and the team's list was scrolling once through.
"Guess they've shortened down the teams," Norbert said aloud, feeling the eyes drill into him as he noticed his flash past, seeing Karr also there. Turning to the healer, Norbert nodded to them. Still looking deathly, they looked back up to Norbert, a flash of confirmation in their eyes.
Norbert waved to the group as he went to one of the beds once more. Closing his eyes, he breathed slowly as he waited for the time to come up for his fight, hoping it would be the only one for the day. By now, the kids in the city should all be cured. Next on the line would be to get them out of the city—there are several possibilities on who to reach out to in his mind.
***
Norbert woke up as he felt multiple bodies over him, keeping his eyes closed as a piece of cool metal touched his throat. He was hearing the wind flap away above him as he heard hands moving about; he was sure that whoever had the knife to his throat was communicating to their colleagues about the action.
The hand signs continued further, the blade slowly pressing down on his throat. Having had enough of it, Norbert opened his eyes. Several faces were in his vision, paying attention to him.
He wondered what to do as he started sending the energy around his body. Confident he could regenerate himself, Norbert reached out, grabbing the blade and forcing it into his neck.
Blood washed over his hands as everyone stared at him, all stepping back in shock, except for the one whose dagger was on Norbert's throat. Norbert dug his fingers into the person, stopping them from moving in. He applied even more pressure.
Feeling the bones starting to bend, Norbert let the arm go, the knife forgotten from the person as they rushed back, falling over another bed. Sitting up, Norbert grasped the knife, removing it from his throat. After several seconds, the blood cleared up.
"Please don't try that again," Norbert said, looking around at the people, not caring to remember their faces. The gathering was still where it was, and Norbert said, staring at Karr. "How much longer?"
"Three more calls," Karr replied.
Norbert nodded his head, making his way to the bed beside his bloody one. He lay back down on it, closing his eyes once more.