Chapter One Hundred Eighty-Seven: The Games Begin

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He heard yelps as two students beside him were marked, their names slashed from the list still hovering behind Brutus and Thorne, disqualified before they even had a chance to move.

Jace stumbled forward, adrenalin surging through him, his legs moving on pure reflex. He used Soul Step to clear the area, yanking Alice along with him. Dex and the others had already leapt from the stands, a blur of motion. Marcus ducked behind another student, using their body as a shield from a burst of aether-infused green ink.

"Come back here, you little beasts!" Brutus roared with laughter. He swung the device from his back—a grotesque hybrid of slingshot and cannon, bristling with orbs of every color.

Brutus’s laughter rang out, deep and unrestrained. There was no true malice in it. Jace knew Brutus—beneath the rough exterior, the gruff demeanor, he was a softie. He’d go to any length to protect those under his charge. This was his way of keeping some of the students safe.

With a swift motion, Brutus pulled another orb—a chilling shade of glacial blue—and hurled it into the sky. It exploded with a deafening crack, releasing a torrential cascade of ink, staining skin and stone in vivid colors. Each burst wove an illusion—crackling fire, arcing lightning—bending reality harmlessly with each explosion.

Across the kaleidoscopic battlefield, small teams of students held their ground. Spells shimmered as they worked in sync, using aether to scoop up inky puddles and hurl them back at Brutus. He stood at the center, unbothered, a shimmering shield flaring around him, deflecting attacks with ease.

“Gonna take more than that, you little welps,” he laughed, his voice thickening, an accent creeping in—something rough and guttural that Jace only heard when Brutus lost himself in the moment.

Jace, now just out of range, glanced back and thought, He's certainly enjoying this... maybe a little too much.

Fake lightning tore across the sky, heatless fire roared like an unleashed beast, ink oozing into dark pools that mirrored the madness. Ell stood firm across the way, her hands raised, a shimmering shield deflecting thorny ink vines that screeched as they struck. Behind her, students huddled, wide-eyed. Dex flanked her, his aether glowing as he caught Jace’s gaze. A silent question.

Jace answered with a sharp nod. We’re fine. Go.

Dex grabbed Ell’s arm, leading the students toward safety. Ell hesitated, glancing back, but Jace held her gaze—her hesitation melted. They vanished into the chaos, her shield flickering like a ghost's light.

Brutus tossed a handful of orbs into the air. They hung suspended for a moment before darting off like predators sensing prey, each honing in on their target. Jace moved on pure instinct, Soul Stepping through the chaos again, pulling Alice with him. Orbs exploded around them, bursts of color and danger. Just as they thought they’d made it clear, they reappeared directly in the path of another attack.

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Without hesitation, Alice raised her Sapphire Shard. A brilliant surge of blue light erupted, blasting ink-streaked enemies away. She followed with a swift motion, conjuring a glimmering bubble around them—a barrier of radiant blue, pulsing with energy. Jace’s eyes widened. He hadn’t known the Shard could do that.

The battlefield was a storm of color, lightning, fire, and ink—magic and madness swirling in every direction.

A wild, raw laugh tore from Jace’s throat. There was something about the false danger, the thrill of pretending to fight for survival when he'd faced the real thing so often. To play—to pretend—he couldn’t quite explain it, but the tension, the tightness in his chest, drained away as he let the madness of it all wash over him.

Alice laughed too, her voice bright and free, as they ducked behind a wall just as a burst of purple ink splattered across it. In the chaos, Alice stumbled into Jace, both of them tumbling into each other, laughing without care. The courtyard had transformed into a chaotic battlefield—students diving, rolling, and laughing as explosions of color burst all around them.

In that moment, everything seemed to freeze. They looked at each other, smiles faltering just for a heartbeat. Her closeness, the smell of her hair, the warmth of her breath, all hit him like a wave, and suddenly, Jace couldn’t tell if his heart was racing from the near escape or from her.

Alice’s gaze locked with his, a knowing glint in her eyes.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Men and monsters, the Games have begun!” Brutus’s voice rang out, growing louder as he approached.

After a long beat, Alice smiled. "We should probably get out of here."

"Right. Yeah," Jace said, though his voice came out softer. He nodded, his gaze lingering on her for a moment longer than he intended, a quiet smile tugging at his lips. His heart was still racing, not just from the rush coursing through him, but from the way her eyes searched his. “Let’s go.”

They slipped away, untouched by ink but marked by the sheen of adrenaline, and the relentless drum of their hearts.

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Jace walked Alice to the entrance of Athena District, his steps slowing as they reached the threshold.

Brutus was nowhere to be seen, but his drones could be anywhere—they had to remain vigilant.

Jace hesitated, his eyes drawn to her, etching the moment into memory: the way sunlight kissed her skin, casting a tender glow along the soft curve of her cheek; the way her eyes held a depth, like the still surface of a secret lake. Time seemed to stretch, holding them in a fragile, unspoken moment. And then, like a fleeting sigh, it was gone. With a quiet breath and the weight of reluctance in his stride, he turned and made his way back to the Fields Below.

During his walk, he glanced at his notifications and saw the Games Roster was now accessible. Over eighty students had been eliminated already, their names crossed off. Yet Jace and his friends remained, bound tighter than ever by an unspoken connection—a quiet, unshakable thread that wove between them as the world around erupted in chaos and vivid, unrelenting color.

Jace felt an inexplicable happiness, a lightness in his chest that made the world seem a little brighter. Still, there was a faint tug in the back of his mind, a sense that the moment had left something undone, something just within reach—if only he'd reached for it.