Aliana was led to one of the back rooms of the theater, the guarded room adjacent to the beast door. The others were here as well — Liessa, Remerick, Archemis — but they’d each approached the tournament’s staff separately to avoid drawing any suspicion. It was a surprisingly spacious room, though not exactly one of comfort or organization, filled with scattered benches and occupied by the tournament’s participants. Of the ones who bothered to stick around rather than wander off to watch the ongoing matches while they waited, at any rate.

Archemis was leaned nonchalantly back against the far wall from the room’s entrance, and Remerick had withdrawn to a corner seemingly to get a view of everyone else present. Liessa was the only one that remained nearby Aliana, seated on one of the benches and, with one gauntlet removed from her armor, idly examining her nails with a look of casual indifference towards her surroundings.

The others here were all clearly warriors of sorts as well, and Aliana guessed most were criminals from the looks of them. Some in armor, some in patchwork equipment, others in simple clothing and yet still so confident in their posture. Aliana saw weapons on many of them. She had more questions and concerns about the ones that did not have any. Arcanists, perhaps? Some other form of unarmed combat? Aliana noticed one drakkin man in particular watching her. He was tall with a wide frame, as was common for drakkin, and was clad in a set of worn hide armor over his clothing, and a handaxe hung from his belt.

"What is it?" Aliana asked, keeping her voice firm.

"Pink, eh? Cute little thing you are. Wander in here by accident, did you?" The man's tone was mocking and snide, making Aliana's blood boil. She paid him no mind, or tried to.

'Will we fight him, Aliana?' Moonlight questioned. 'In the coming battles?'

How was Aliana supposed to answer that? Why did Moonlight insist on talking to her when she was surrounded by other people? What was she supposed to do, look crazed by responding to it?

Aliana allowed the comment to go by, but could feel the man's gaze still on her, his smirk widening. "This isn't a place for little ladies," he said.

Aliana gritted her teeth and snapped back at the man, her patience running out. "Piss off, or fight me yourself if you want to talk!" She felt Moonlight's power reach into her arms, and she moved her hand away from the hilt, giving the weapon a subtle warning glare. She hoped it would pick up on that as easily at it seemed to pick up on all of her other thoughts.

The drakkin man chuckled, and said, "Might just take you up on that if you're so confident in yourself." He cast a glance over to one of the women working in the arena just as she stepped into this room. "Tell you what," he called out to the woman. "Let the little rose missy an' I have a go, eh? Let's get her out of here nice and quick." There was a chuckle from a few of the other warriors. The woman looked at Aliana.

Aliana gripped Moonlight's hilt once more, glaring at the drakkin. He continued, "Might as well not waste everyone's time, aye? Have you out of here and on your way, I'll go nice and easy on you."

"Go ahead," Aliana said. "I'll fight him."

The woman shrugged, smiled slightly and said, "Listen, I don’t care. You two, then. This way."

The woman led the two to another door on the other side of the room, which opened into the backstage area of the old theater. Both Aliana and Morgric passed through the old curtain that shielded it from view, stepping out onto the stage. The woman opened the door to the metal cage that served as the arena, and both walked inside, walking to opposite sides while the gate was shut once more.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a man’s voice boomed out from somewhere above, an announcer hidden away for effect, "Our first match of tonight's tournament! Our newest lass, the… Peach Maiden, will be facing off against our returning Morgric of the Silver Scales!"

“The Pe…?” Aliana cast a quick glance down to Moonlight in disbelief whispering, “What did he just call me?” She wasn’t sure if she was more bewildered over the title or the fact that this announcer’s hesitation sounded as if he’d made it up on the spot.s

Morgric grinned, showing his sharp teeth, and drew the handaxe from the back of his belt. There was hardly a moment to wait, as he threw it out towards Aliana. She ducked beneath it. This was an underground arena, after all. No rules or honor here. That was fine. Morgric drew his hand back and Aliana saw the handaxe was on a long metal chain connected to one of Morgric’s leather gauntlets, coming back to him with the momentum of his pull.

'Strike him down!' Moonlight's voice echoed in Aliana's mind, its whispering tone almost excited, unnervingly so. She drew Moonlight from its sheathe and moved. She closed in, and Morgric swung the axe towards her. She sidestepped, avoiding the initial swing. As soon as she had, Morgric swung it back in an arc and let it go, letting it fly towards her.

Aliana just manage to dodge the blade, but the handle of the weapon cracked her across the side of her head as it flew by, toppling her to the ground. The room above her spun and she heard a roaring cheer erupt from the crowd. But Moonlight instilled in her a sense of Morgric's approach, the drakkin was not done yet. Aliana rolled just as Morgric tried to stomp down on her chest. She hopped to her feet, shaking off the dizzying sensation of the initial hit. She made a sweep with Moonlight, aiming for Morgric's legs, but he jumped over the weapon with surprising nimbleness.

'You are not using my full power, Aliana,' Moonlight said as Aliana tried to to take the offensive to push Morgric back. 'We can outpace him, overpower him, you know that.'

No. Aliana had to be careful with Moonlight’s power. She was aiming to disarm this man, to render him unable to continue the fight, not to kill him.

'Do it.'

Aliana ducked under the axe again. This time, Morgric expected it and kicked out a leg, tripping Aliana. As she stumbled back, Morgric grabbed her by the arm and swung her around, using his superior weight and height. He slammed Aliana into the metal fencing, causing it to rattle, and then yanking on Aliana’s arm once more and tossing her back to the ground.

Aliana clung to Moonlight even as she felll, hearing it whisper, 'Cut him down. You can do so easily.'

No. She wasn't a bandit, she wasn't a murderer like Moonlight wanted her to be.

'He is coming for you.'

Aliana rolled across the stage floor the wall in time to avoid the axe that narrowly missed her shoulder. Morgric drew it back and Aliana hopped back up to her feet. She held Moonlight up, but she did not move. Morgric threw the axe out again, but Aliana held her ground this time. At the last moment, she Moonlight towards the chain, hitting it with such force that the weapon wrapped around the sword’s blade with the momentum. Morgric grunted, the larger and more muscular drakkin trying to pull the axe back from Aliana. But she took on more of Moonlight’s strength, holding onto the weapon with ease. She pulled back, and Moonlight snapped the mundane chain in half, sending the axe flying to the floor. Aliana smirked when she saw Morgric stagger in surprise. This match was hers now.

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"We won't kill. But we will win." Aliana ran towards Morgric, and he tried to raise his arms to defend himself. With Moonlight's power emboldening her, Aliana landed a swift kick between Morgric's arms and into his chest, knocking him to the ground on his back as he fell with a wheeze. Aliana stepped forward, pressing a boot down on his chest and bringing the tip of Moonlight's blade to Morgric's throat. "I think this victory goes to us," she said.

Morgric stared up with eyes wide, hands raised defensively in submission. There was a startled silence in the crowd, but a few chuckled and laughed, turning into amused whoops. Other voices booed and jeered in contrast. No doubt at least some would be upset to lose their bets to a newcomer, but that was too bad. Aliana was glad to have at least some supporters. And she couldn't help but notice one of the voices cheering for her sounded like Liessa. She let out a breath, stepping off of Morgric as the same announcer from before called out, "Our winner, ladies and gentlemen!"

Aliana smiled, then. She had won. "See?" she said, her voice drowned out to anyone not immediately next to her. "We don't have to kill. Just enjoy the fights and shut up, alright?"

Moonlight answered, 'I do not object to this. This is fun.'

If Aliana was going to be putting up with Moonlight for the night's battles, that would do. She could tolerate that answer.

----------------------------------------

The first match won, Aliana was sent back to wait until she was called upon again. When she returned, several of the competitors eyed her, a few making quiet comments to each other. She didn't listen to them, there was no point. Or so she told herself. She did wonder if they were impressed.

Aliana spotted Liessa sitting on one of the benches in the room, smiling back at her in that warm way she always did. As Aliana walked towards her, she passed by Archemis where he still stood by the wall.

"I saw the fight, you know," Archemis said as Aliana walked by.

She paused mid-stride. "You did?" Aliana asked, admittedly surprised.

"Took a peek. A few of us did."

"And?"

"You could've done better."

Aliana scoffed. "What, you're judging my fighting skill now? Well, I'm sorry I didn't live up to your expectations."

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?"

"You could have done better. You clearly had the skill to do so. But you hesitated."

"I didn't hesitate." Aliana’s voice had grown tense.

"You did."

'This one is observant,' Moonlight commented.

"You could have dealt with him much more smoothly. Your movements, the way you handle your weapon... The way it glows. I don't know if it's you or that thing calling the shots, but if you stop with the hesitation, you'll do better. Strike when you need to without second-guessing, or it's going to get you killed."

‘Another clever one,’ Moonlight added.

Aliana's teeth gritted together. When had she asked for this input? "And just who are you then to lecture me about this?" she snapped. "I trained under the most skilled mercenary and warrior, you know. Liessa fought with Seraphim."

"Seraphim?"

"A sword made from Opal's scale."

"Stronger than your trinket there?"

'Trinket?' Moonlight said the word in a tone that indicated genuine offense for once. Aliana would have had to hold back a laugh if she weren’t already so incensed over Archemis’ comments.

"Liessa's a great hero. And I'm next in line to wield Seraphim after her, you should know."

"Next in line." The way Archemis repeated the words sounded as if they felt a disgust in them. "Why would you want that?"

"Excuse me?"

"You want to be 'just like her,' is that it?" Archemis said. "Seems like a pointless thing to be hung up on, being 'just like' someone else when you’re clearly not them."

Aliana glared at Archemis, growing more tired of their presence by the moment. "Listen, I don’t need your opinion. You don’t know anything about me or Liessa, so you can worry about that on your own time."

Archemis shrugged. "Suit yourself. But I'd like to make a suggestion."

"And what's that?"

"Watch my match. You might learn a thing or two from it."

Aliana tried to think of a snide comment to make to that, but regrettably found herself with nothing. She sighed. "Fine. Don't disappoint me."

Aliana would not have to wait long. Archemis' own match for the first round came shortly after, and they were faced against a naga women. Similar to a drakkin in that their form resembled that of a reptile, but the naga were more snake-like, lacking any legs as their lower body instead turned into a long and powerful serpent’s tail. Fins along their arms and gills on the sides of their neck displayed their semi-aquatic nature, but they were well equipped to move about on land as well.

The naga woman was dressed in flowing robes trimmed with fur and bearing patterns of scattered flower petals. She curved the edges of her mouth in a snide smile. It was clearly deliberate, as a smile was not naturally a part of their features. The two stood apart from each other on opposite ends of the arena, and Aliana watched from the crowd that stood before the stage. Liessa stood next to her, but both were silent, following the match carefully. Aside from that, Aliana didn't see Misha or Grey returned, nor Veldin with them. It meanwhile seemed as if Remerick had remained backstage.

The announcer called out the names of the two. The naga woman was Nemeia, Mistress of the Sea, a title that sounded far too conceited for Aliana's liking. And Archemis was dubbed the Masked Blade. Much of the crowd cheered when they heard that name. Aliana couldn’t help but feel there was something off about that fact.

The announcer called out, "Fight!" this time, as it seemed the naga had no ploys in mind for Archemis. Instead, she wielded a small item in her hand. A paper fan that, one that Aliana had seen periodically but otherwise was far from common in the region of Indervel and the Emerald Plains. The woman, Nemeia, swept an arm out in front of herself with the fan, and Aliana saw small sparkles glint off of it in the dim lighting of the theater.

Gems of blue were inlaid in the fan, and with that sparkling, a flood of water suddenly appeared in the arena. The water gushed out from nowhere, surrounding Nemeia first as if it had bubbled up from the boards of th stage before spreading out over the makeshift arena. Bizarrely, the water stopped at the metal fencing as if being contained by it, and began to rise up over Archemis' ankles and then up to their knees. Archemis hardly seemed bothered by it, though. Aliana watched the water in awe. Could those gems have been the source of the materialize water? Then it struck her - they were not gems, but pieces of a scale, and this was another artifact using their power much like Seraphim. But judging by the brilliant blue color, these scale pieces had come from Sapphire, the Dragon of blue and the oceans.

With a gesture, Nemeia commanded the water to swirl and rise up into a tidal wave that surged forward at Archemis. They whirled their glaive out in front of themself, bringing the end of the shaft down into the ground before them and using the force to vault up into the air. Despite the standing start, they moved with obvious power, leaping a great distance upward. They vaulted clean over the wave as it crashed against the arena pit wall behind them, droplets of water splashing and coating nearby onlookers. Some complained, and others were focused solely on cheering for each side of the conflict.

Archemis landed on their feet, though the water was rising up further and Nemeia moved towards them. Her serpentine body slithered easily through the water, and she tried to circle about Archemis. But Archemis rose their glaive up high above them.

As Aliana watched, she spotted a spark of energy glint from the glaive's blade. It crackled like electricity, and Archemis brought the glaive down into the water before Nemeia. The crackling lightning jumped through the water and to Nemeira so quickly it left Aliana with barely any time to understand what had happened. Nemeia let out a piercing scream. Her body convulsed with the electricity before it quickly faded away. She dropped into the water as it began to dissipate, as if evaporating at rapid speed. Aliana watched with wide eyes. Had that lightning been magic of Archemis’ own?

Archemis turned, raising their glaive up to the crowd. People roared and cheered. In that brief instant, it seemed the battle was won. Or so Aliana had thought.

Despite the electricity, the current had not been lethal, and Nemeia still moved despite burns covering her body and her clothing. She raised the hand that held her fan, aiming it up towards Archemis as they stood with their back turned to her. Instinctively, Aliana felt herself open her mouth to shout out a warning.

Archemis turned and brought their glaive down just close enough to Nemeia’s hang to cut through the fan. Nemeia watched, helpless with the fan broken, as the pieces of it fell onto the wood before her. The match was over.