(NOBODY POV)
A wave of confusion rolled through the stadium as two players suddenly disappeared from the live feed that was being broadcasted over the screen. Olympia, COE and the other staff glanced at one another in bewilderment, unsure what to make of their sudden and unexplained disappearance.
"Did their trackers malfunction or something? Where is their last known location?" Olympia demanded as he beckoned Red Crescent to his side.
"The northwestern corner of the rainforest, in one of the restricted challenges," Brazil replied as he parted the rainclouds to illuminate one section in the forest. "I've had a few rain clouds follow them for a while. I can lead you over if you would like."
"Yes, that would be appreciated. Red Crescent, go and secure the area. See if you are able to open the exit to the domain if they're trapped in there."
With a nod of acknowledgement, Red Crescent pulled away from Red Cross and followed Brazil's directions, disappearing into the forest.
Olympia scowled as he tried to fathom how anyone could have gotten stuck in a challenge. Even if they were unable to solve it, they could always just fail it on purpose to get out.
So how exactly did they get stuck?
"A tampering perhaps," COE echoed his exact thoughts. "Someone's added their own trap to be triggered within the domain to transport them to their own. That could explain why the feed was cut as well."
"But that would mean someone was able to tamper with the mechanics designed by the Powers themselves. It's quite unthinkable if I do say so myself."
"And yet here we are," COE scoffed as she crossed her arms. "Two of our players vanished into midair and now we might have to stop the games to inspect if there are any other concerns."
Olympia grumbled in complaint but didn't say much else. They could only wait and hope for the best while preparing for the worst.
...
AU was sitting within the crowd, watching the games play out intently when the feed on Russia and America suddenly cut out. A murmur of concern naturally rose all around her but AU managed to remain relatively calm and wasted no time. She politely excused herself from her seat and walked up to a more empty section to gather her thoughts. It was nearly impossible to find but after dipping into a restricted area, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, activating her Awakening.
Immediately, a painful flood of information bombarded her brain as her eyes registered hundreds of thousands of probabilities all at once. It was too much. It felt like someone had just stabbed her in the head and she nearly fainted from the rush.
'God damnit- focus!' AU hissed to herself as she rubbed her eyes and prepared to try again. This was another reason why she was impartial towards large crowds and events.
When she opened her eyes again, she made sure to train her line of sight directly into the rainforest and her Awakening responded again, pulling all the possible threads of fate into motion. Most of the possibilities of ill omens were slightly heightened, but still not to be concerned with. As she scanned, she couldn't help but wonder if anything really was wrong. Perhaps it was just a simple equipment malfunction or something but still, her gut feeling urged her to keep looking.
The longer she scanned the playing field, the blurrier her vision became. Glossy tears of liquid gold rolled down her cheeks, leaving her shining irises to dim.
Just as she was about to give up, a sudden stab of movement bloomed from her peripheral view. AU steadied herself and focused, reeling in the thread that had caught her attention.
"What the hell is this..." she breathed in disbelief.
The reading was obviously coming from America and Russia, two individuals that she had been unable to read previously. Though the reading was faint, one potential possibility was growing at an alarming rate and it chilled her to the bone.
'I have to tell the executives– perhaps even the Powers and stop the Tournament,' she thought to herself before painstakingly hobbling along the walls to steady herself. Her eyes stung painfully and left her to navigate the dark by touch alone.
Though it wasn't completely clear exactly what she had seen, along with a dramatically increasing potential of death, there was another increase that she had never witnessed before.
Potentials of resurrection. Whatever was happening deep in the forest, she was probably the only person who understood just how dire things were.
"Now why are you in such a hurry, Branchmaster?"
AU's entire body stiffened in alarm as a pair of hands gently cupped over her eyes, further drowning her world in darkness and stopping her dead in her tracks. Though she couldn't see, she could feel the mischievous smile radiating from the other.
"Why don't you relax with me for a bit," the soothing, female voice purred next to her ear. "It's been so long since I've seen you! Why don't we catch up a bit?"
*for the next part, there will be a constant flip flop of Russia and America POV's signaled by three dots (...)
(America POV)
The glowing symbols suddenly began to flicker and move until only 5 remained, lined up in a row. A faint thrumming began to pulse and a muffled tapping sound slowly filtered into my head.
Clack, pause. Clack, pause. Repeat.
Five letters appeared underneath the symbols on beat with the slow tapping rhythm.
"S E N E T"
"There we go. The game's all set," a warm, rich voice declared. The room was funneled into a state of eerie calmness that felt so good... yet so wrong. My clothes suddenly felt unbearably hot and fuzzy against my skin, even though I had yet to activate my fiery Awakening.
It had been so long since I had heard this voice, so soothing and warm yet calculatingly cold. It had been the same one that coaxed me through many bitter times– never fully present but still forever watching over me. I could never bring myself to relax upon hearing it, despite how much I wanted to.
"America, you've changed quite a bit haven't you? Come over here and let me get a closer look at you."
The Russian Empire's soft gaze bore holes through my face as I stood against the wall, frozen in disbelief. Though his face was obscured by a black veil, I immediately recognized his towering figure and the air of elegance he carried himself with.
He gestured to the empty stone seat and I couldn't help but oblige as quick flashes of vague childhood memories reminded me why I had to obey.
I had seen him many times before when he visited my past residence to speak with my 'father' who was known as the British Empire at the time. The way they interacted was nothing short of terrifying. Of course, when he learned of my existence, his visits became more frequent and most were made just to see me.
Though RE was never cross with me, a sense of danger always lingered around him. I never dared to step out of line, fearing what he might do but that was back then. At the time, I was still nothing but a measly part of my father's empire yet even so, his impression remained even now.
"That's odd," he murmured as he tilted my chin up. The slightest touch of his gloved hand sent nasty shivers ripping all throughout my body. "I could have sworn you would look a lot older by now. How many years had passed since I first saw you? A hundred years or so?"
"Two hundred, er- Your Imperial Majesty," I politely corrected him as I gently pushed his hand away from my face. His staring was starting to really get under my skin. "I've had a few... setbacks, if you will."
"Oh of course– your peculiar condition, you mean? It seems I have missed much."
"Yeah. That's putting it mildly."
He gave me a pitying smile before he refocused his attention on the board game. As for me, this was the first time I was getting a good look at the old wooden plank with the same five symbols etched into the side.
It looked like any old rotting plank of wood except that a total of thirty tiles, three rows of ten, had been carved into it. A few of the tiles had an array of odd squiggles and stuff and an arrow pointed in the direction of travel. There were also four carved sticks, probably something similar to dice.
The game at face value seemed rather simple. Toss sticks to advance forward. There didn't seem to be much else to it.
"So... what's this game about?" I asked warily just in case I was missing something. "How do you play it?"
RE glanced up from the board with a teasing smirk, "Oh my, surely your eye for deduction hasn't deteriorated this much? I'm a bit disappointed."
"No no, I get the gist of it but perhaps there are some rules that aren't presented," I responded with a grimace, unwilling to let my abilities be insulted like that. "It's something I've come to expect in straightforward puzzles like this."
My response seemed to satisfy RE and he tapped his piece on the tile closest to me, the upper left corner.
"Well, I guess if I must," he sighed. "This game is one with ancient ties. Even older than I, in fact. It's a game for players who are both deceased and living called-"
"Senet?" I guessed, remembering the symbols on the wall. RE nodded and placed both pieces onto the starting tile.
"The game symbolizes a deceased soul's journey to the afterlife and the first player to make it to the Afterlife, wins. We take turns tossing sticks to see how many spaces to move."
"And the tiles with the symbols?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Those represent the many challenges and events one must face on their journey. Landing on a tile will trigger something that you will have to overcome."
None of that was really any new information, I had assumed as much. But with time wasting away, I was just content with getting it over with. I was holding the white piece and as usual chess rules dictate, I would get the first turn.
Warily, I picked up the four sticks and tossed them to roll but only one landed flat face up.
I stared at the knight as it moved one square into the board with a disheartened expression.
"H-HEY NOW DON'T YOU LAUGH!" I stammered as RE turned his head to hide a chuckle. "This is all part of my strategy! Yeah! You give it a roll then."
He waved it off and picked up the sticks. When he tossed, all four sticks landed with the painted side up, moving him forward 5 steps. He gave me a haughty smirk and gestured to me, "Now it's your turn again."
He was mocking me. It made me feel so very inferior, which was a very familiar feeling when it came to playing games with him. He, no doubt, caught onto my growing frustration and sighed a melancholic sigh.
"This brings me back. Doesn't this remind you of the first time you challenged me to a game of chess?"
"You won't let me forget," I muttered as I forced a grin onto my face. "Give me a break, I was like... 10."
"And you were quite adorable and naïve. You would always get so pouty when I beat you-"
The sticks clattered loudly to interrupt him. I had rolled a three which was not bad, but not good either. I had yet to catch up to him but I was getting close.
He looked at me with slight exasperation and continued on with the game. This continued for a while and I still couldn't find a way to surpass him. That is, until he landed onto one of the tiles etched with three squiggly lines.
A low, rumbling sound began to grow closer and closer to the outer walls when a sudden surge of murky, black water erupted from an opened floodgate. Immediately, we were slammed with a disgusting jet of water that I fought desperately against.
The Empire, on the other hand, had barely flinched after standing up. He was tall enough to keep his head fully out of the water but he didn't look too happy about his clothing getting drenched.
The table had also been elevated to safely clear the water level. The board was left untouched.
"What the hell is going on?!" I demanded as I pulled myself to the surface, finally finding my footing. "ARGH MY HAIR-"
"I landed on one of the trap tiles," RE explained calmly as he waded over to me. "This is said to be the water from the River of the Sky, the part that runs through the realm of the dead."
"So I'm touching dead people water?" I cringed. "EWWWW- YOU LANDED ON THE TILE WHY AM I ALSO BEING PUNISHED?!"
RE rolled his obscured eyes and before he could reply, the water behind him erupted as six ferocious snakes leaped out of the water, their wicked bronze fangs in full display. Though none of them were coming for me, a scream still burst from my lungs.
"WATCH OUT!!!"
RE wasn't impressed in the slightest and with one swift stroke, he decapitated five with his bare hands and grabbed the last one by the head, slamming it against the wall. The bodies of the snakes, still spurting golden blood and writhing furiously, sank back into the water before crumbling to sand. The severed heads still snapped at nothing, spitting madly before a flash of gold scooped them out of the water.
A gorgeous double headed eagle that glowed with divine luster perched upon the table and began to devour the snacks it had picked up.
The towering empire smiled down at me, clearly touched by my dumb outburst earlier. I was stupid. He was dead already so what would a couple snake bites do to him?
"You weren't being punished. The river was going to form either way but these snakes are the punishment," he chuckled as he toyed with the serpent, completely disregarding the fact that it was currently trying to bite his hand off. "Look! It even breathes fire!"
He squeezed the snake like a tube of toothpaste and it went rigid. A wicked column of flames rocketed towards me and if I hadn't activated my Awakening in time, I would have gotten a nice, well done steak called my face.
The chamber began to expand and from the murky black water, a gorgeous golden boat rose to the surface to encase the table and the two stools. With a shrug, we climbed into the vessel and resumed the game, taking turns rolling and moving until we arrived at the next marked tile, drowning us in a new setting.
...
After the extremely unpleasant encounter with the fire breathing serpents and the watery ambush, Confederate and I arrived at the second tile with me still in the lead.
"This is such a weird board game," I grumbled as I wrung the water out of my jacket. My clothes were still sopping and plastered uncomfortably against my skin. Confederate barely needed a burst of fire to dry off instantaneously and continued to stare intently at me. It felt like a predator stalking their prey, waiting to strike and it would bother me usually but my mind was still reeling.
"I was killed so that your 'America' could steal my Sunfire."
America had been crowned a Primo Awakener at the tender age of 13. He made his debut to the world in a blaze of divine fire during the final hour of his revolt. Hundreds of witnesses from both sides, undeniable truths, all of which were recorded in history. Yet here this psycho was, claiming that it had been stolen from him.
Despite how crazy it all sounded, I was compelled to believe him. At least for now but I still needed an explanation. One thing was for sure though. Once I got out of here, I was going to yank the truth out of America.
I was tired of his unending mask he hid behind.
My roll inevitably brought me upon the marked tile and suddenly, the room shifted to present a new environment.
This time, we arrived in a beautiful kingdom that gleamed in the distance but the illusionary lights only illuminated how desolate the land was. The things that truly stood out were the shining throne that towered above the water and the massive golden scale that rested beneath it. They blocked the flow of the river and the boat bumped gently against the platform, inviting us to disembark.
As directed on the marked tile, we both tossed our sticks on the count of three. The sound of the carved sticks clattered on the table and Confederate watched in dismay as I scored another perfect 5. He landed a 4, which meant he would be the one receiving the judgment.
"Alright then let's get this over with," he grumbled angrily as he forcefully stomped off of the boat, causing it to rock violently, nearly forcing me to fall into the water.
The scale was huge and upon further inspection, a familiar symbol was etched into one of the weight pans.
"Soul."
"In the ancient times, people would weigh their souls to determine their fate in the underworld. Their hearts would be weighed against the neutral Feather of Truth and depending on the person, the scale would tip to reflect them. Saints would be led into paradise while sinners would be swallowed by chaos itself."
With that being said, Confederate plunged his fist into his chest and ripped out his heart with ease. A gruesome sight it was and it took nearly all of my willpower not to flinch. At this point, I should have gotten used to his lack of self care since he was already dead but still, it was odd watching him carelessly toss his fucking heart onto the scale like a beanbag.
"In this case, you'll be the Feather of Truth and the scale will help judge my intentions," he sighed as he got comfortable on the ground. "Anything you would like to know from me, ask away. This is your best chance."
We weren't going anywhere until we passed this punishment so I warily climbed onto the other side of the scale. It teetered back and forth a bit at the sudden addition of weight but it eventually evened out.
He was right. In this situation with his soul on the line, he could only answer me with the truth but he had nothing to lose in the first place. This scale was more for my own reassurance so that I could trust his statements.
"Okay so from what you've said so far, Sunfire is the product of your Awakening and not America's."
"Correct."
The scales did not move an inch, meaning that he was telling the truth. My heart couldn't help but sink a little bit but I refused to dwell on it.
"Even so, how did Sunfire end up in the hands of other people if America stole it? And how come no one else knows about this?"
"Woah woah one thing at a time," Confederate chuckled as his heart throbbed painfully. "First of all, other people using Sunfire is not something I was expecting but it's technically not impossible. Whoever used it must be strong."
He tugged absentmindedly at his veil as he gathered his thoughts, "Let's just say...theoretically, Sunfire can be used by anyone as long as they're strong enough to command it as their own. America can control it somewhat because he became the vessel, granted with a degree of fire affinity. I don't know how anyone else would though."
I'll never let you have it... you may render my flesh useless and turn my bones to ash but you'll never gain what you seek. This which does not belong to you will be your undoing– this I swear."
"Sunfire is my curse for him. It's a constant reminder that his power is a borrowed one," Confederate giggled with a deranged smile on his twisted lips. "A fire that burns its master certainly can't be considered tamed, right?"
I stared at his pulsing heart, still sitting on the scale that just won't tip.
What he said made sense. He was skilled in manipulating regular fire but whenever he unleashed Sunfire, it was like it was a beast with a mind of its own. The only thing stopping it from running rampant was America's feeble reins that held it in his vessel.
I had always assumed it was because of the sheer power Sunfire itself held but now it was clear that was not completely the case.
It was never his to control in the first place.
"Okay I think I understand," I mused warily. "Now answer the rest of it. How come no one else knows of this truth?"
An eerie light descended upon his obscured face as he chucked, "That's easy. No one knows because no one has spoken of it. Dead men tell no tales, especially ones who are burned to oblivion.
He crossed his arms and let out an amused snort, "Even America himself was not spared. I'd wager that he purposefully left that part out of his memory..."
His odd remarks settled uneasily in my mind but the scale was getting duller and the throne descended lower into the water with every passing question. At most, I only had one question left before the boat would be free to move on. I closed my eyes and sorted through all the information I had just gotten and presented my final question.
"If the ability to wield fire is not America's original ability, what is his Awakening?"
...
"That was disgusting," I shuddered as I stuck out my tongue and feigned to vomit. "You could have warned me before you ripped your heart out."
"You were the one who activated the tile. You should be grateful I didn't rip your heart out," the bygone Empire retorted as he mended the hole in his chest. I shrugged as I moved forward on the game board. I had finally surpassed him but the punishment tile had brought us toe to toe again. At least RE was courteous enough to take it on for me but I wasn't allowed to interrogate him in return. All I got from that scale was his favorite food and pastimes; all pretty useless information.
The next tile took us to a deep ravine where fleeting shadows crouched in waiting, their hungry eyes following our boat as it drifted along. Even though I was pretty sure I've never been here before, an overwhelming sense of deja vu crashed down on me. It was so crushing that I had to clutch my head in my hands to stop myself from swooning.
RE's pitying gaze brushed over me as he helped me stay upright.
"This is the part of the journey that lies right between the old and the new. In this place, the soul is hung directly between death and rebirth," he explained as I shook myself awake. "How many times have you been here? How many reincarnations has it been?"
My gaze drifted over the murky waters that trudged against the blackened shores, drawing us closer to a roaring cascade that dropped into the abyss.
"I lost count after 300," I sighed, knowing my voice had been drowned out by the silence as we tumbled over the edge.
The war had already been won. The enemy lay in defeat in a ruined empire but the cataclysm had yet to end.
A single country knelt in the sea of lustrous, all-consuming flames. His throat had dried out long ago and the tiniest of screams could have ripped his fragile being apart. He cradled himself in his arms with tearless cries wracking his body.
Regret and remorse. Fear and grief. The war was over but hundreds lay smoldering alongside him. This was all due to one mistake on his part.
The others could only watch in horror, unsure what to do. None of them had ever witnessed such a monstrous beast. Swatting away, rain, storms, ocean tides and more, the unquenchable fire continued to roar without anything to stop it. No one knew what to do.
Well, no one except the one within its midst. Only in this moment was he reminded of the true nature of Sunfire– the embodiment of vengeance that transcended death. It was created to swallow the Sun. It was made to swallow itself.
The tip of a bayonet lay clutched in his hands, stinging red from the heat before it plunged deep into flesh to free the ebbing traces of life.
With nothing left to consume, the flames died with their source and the firestorm was quickly replaced with cold, gray wastelands. On the horizon, two figures pushed past the others, one gentleman with fair navy skin and his Secretary-General. They stood on the crest and watched as the winds blew the dust away to reveal the newborn sun.
For half a decade, his age was halted at youthful 10. That's what most people saw but they never understood that it was because he was being constantly reborn, over and over after every... failed experiment. A strange phenomenon, it was. Even the boy himself couldn't understand why he was stuck in the cycle and why he was able to remember every cycle prior.
By the end of it, he wished for nothing more than to disappear.
///
Test 12: failed.
Authority to kill, granted to Secretary-General: ???
///
Test 62: failed.
His flames were drowned with concrete. Allow it to run its course.
///
Test 428: failed.
Newly developed weapons failed to decapitate him. Let it run its course.
///
Test 4762: Site — Destroyed
Recapture the subject immediately.
///
Test ?????
Project Sunfire abandoned. Subject handed off under strict supervision.
Begin Project First Permafrost.
(Russia POV)
If the previous landscapes were eerie, this one was absolutely hellish. The musty air of this space was absolutely putrid and it didn't do my shaky body any favors. We had fallen from the kingdom for who-knows-how-long and into his pit of death, rattling us up all the way down. If I hadn't jumped from the boat at the last second, I would probably be dead or something.
Of course, the board was still completely unscathed.
The river that our broken boat traveled was red and murky. I could have sworn that it was blood.
The sandbanks were littered with pearly white bits and pieces but upon closer inspection, those were shards of bones and flesh. What truly horrified me was the sights beyond the darkness; impossible, incomprehensible scenes that no one should ever lay eyes on.
"What is this place?" I grumbled as I steadied myself. The stench was about to knock me out.
But Confederate didn't answer me. Instead, he leapt off the boat and began to journey into the chaos as if he was in a trance. I hesitated, unsure if I should follow or not until his chess piece began to move on its own. It landed upon the last marked tile with the symbol of a serpent and it read, "Apophis, Chaos that Swallowed the Sun". It was getting dangerously close to the first tile now so with nothing left to lose, I too, leapt out and chased after him.
The chasmic space was overbearing as my senses heightened in the presence of danger. The other was just as calm as ever but then again, he was dead so I guess he really didn't have to worry about death again.
That's what we thought.
A sudden tremor shook the limitless space as scales began to grind against bone, turning it into sand. Lonesome echoes and ghastly wails came from deep within the distorted realm but still, he journeyed deeper with an ever growing grin.
Suddenly, the ground that we stood on began to shift violently in a ring-like pattern, coiling tighter and tighter until a horridly raspy roar reared its head from the ground. The entire world seemed to shake from the mighty roars of chaos itself.
We had been walking on the body of a humongous serpent that had completely blocked off the river with the tip of its tail alone. The monstrous being hissed and roared in fury as its hood spread to show off just how huge it was. Each of its tiny jagged teeth was easily as tall as I was and the fangs... oh my god they were like massive pine trees and were so very sharp.
"This is the last obstacle that I need to pass to see the new dawn," Confederate giggled madly to himself. "Apophis, with your blessing, I'll bid death farewell, just like he did!"
Before I could react, Confederate charged directly towards the massive snake and his entire being rippled with raging golden flames.
The snake, Apophis, did not appreciate this at all. With an enraged shriek, he swung his head and crushed the flaming golden figure before him.
"RAAAAAAAAAA, YOU'VE COME ALONE THIS TIME!!" a booming voice howled in my head. I shook myself a couple times, ensuring that I was not crazy and the snake was indeed talking. It was throwing odd insult after insult, so ancient that I didn't really understand. He also seemed to have misidentified Confederate for this 'Ra' person which I found strange. How many rabid inferno people did this snake know?
Confederate twisted gracefully through the air and a piercing shot of Sunfire gashed the belly of the serpent, causing it to writhe in agony. Earlier, it had crushed his coat that had been set aflame. It had been a burning decoy.
Attack after attack, blow after blow, the serpent was slowly brought down and I stood there watching. Confederate's movements were all too familiar that imitated America's move set but with a dash of madness and carelessness. The biggest difference, however, was his intent to kill. Every blow was made with it. This was what it looked like to wield Sunfire without consequence.
But even so, as impressive as he was, everyone had their limit and he faced the exact same problem America faced. His energy could not keep up with his firepower and he was unpracticed in the concept of Partial Awakenings.
Confederate was up against a monster who had experienced the wrath of the sun too many times to count. Apophis was unfazed and in a moment of tire, the serpent struck and ripped his arm off.
A flash of panic crossed his face as he realized something crucial.
'That hurt!'
Confederate stumbled to the ground in panic as his arm did not reform. On the contrary, the pain became heavier and heavier until he felt paralyzed by it. Once something was consumed by chaos, there was no getting it back. Not even if you were dead. Apophis knew that and it gurgled with mocking laughter before lunging for more.
Confederate shrieked with unending curses, before bursting into flames, doing whatever he could to survive but the damage was already done. He had succumbed to the distortion and was no longer thinking clearly.
In his last moments, he set fire to the sand, the water and the boat, incinerating the board game in an instant and the room began to crumble.
I had to escape before I fell with the dying space but that was easier said than done. Apophis, who had finished consuming Confederate, was now eyeing me with interest. I knew that if I didn't attack first, he would.
'But if Sunfire barely phased that thing, what could I do? I couldn't even use Core Polaris without getting disqualified but if it ever came down to life or death, I would have to risk it all.'
My training had mostly been in defensive maneuvers since I had been content in letting Ame do all the smashing and bashing. Even so, I had been itching to try a particular move– specifically, the one I had seen Soviet do, but I was unsure if that was even possible right now.
With no time to spare, a crudely woven scythe of ice formed in my hand and I charged. The snake roared and lunged with his mouth open wide. His fangs glowed in the sickly light, just waiting to snap me in half.
My timing had to be perfect when I swung my scythe into the air before bringing it down in a perfect arch, thrusting the blade right onto Apophis's snout. Of course, the ice shattered immediately (that snake had scales of tungsten I swear) but that was fine. I had used the snath to spring off the ground and onto the head of the serpent. The shattered shards refroze and grew into a colossal, claw-like cage to restrain the beast but this wouldn't last long, especially with the raging Sunfire lapping against the sides.
I was just a few paces away from the doorway when the monster reared his head again, shrieking, "YOU WILL NOT RESTRAIN ME!"
His movements caused tremors that shook the already fading ground and I knew I would not make it as his shadow loomed overhead. I had to make a stand here and at this point, Core Polaris was my only option.
As he descended with his mouth wide open, I sent a pike of ice into its softer mouth and it actually managed to puncture through its neck from the inside. It jerked back, clearly shocked with the sudden shot of pain I had delivered. Without hesitation, three more pillars shot into its side, through his belly and tail to hold it helplessly in the air but the pillars had caused enough damage to the caving floor. Apophis shrieked as the endless void began to pull it back in.
I raised my hand and one gleaming icicle of Core Polaris that had been forming overhead shuddered before launching itself directly into the serpent's flesh and drilling it into the void, briefly glowing gold in the process.
The only problem was I couldn't figure out how to handle Sunfire like Soviet had but that was barely anything worth worrying about in this situation. I turned on my heel to run out the exit but the ground had crumbled so much, I wasn't even sure if I could make it.
As carefully and quickly as I could, I dashed towards the doorway, losing my foothold on multiple occasions.
At this point, everything behind me was just the pit of nothingness but from somewhere deep within it, an explosion echoed with the sound of a thousand chimes. I dared not look back and took a leap of faith, crashing through the door just as the space exploded in a blaze of fiery gold.
...
"How does the floor taste?"
America, who was just as disheveled as me, sat at the stone table that was decorated with a pile of burnt wood. We had returned to the original room, finally free from that cursed board game. The space around us also began to disappear to finally let us out.
Ame tossed me something and to my surprise, it was my knight piece. He had been playing the same game, playing for my life.
I glanced around to see his king piece lying in my lap but a tiny golden flame clutched tightly to it, slowly melting the crown off its head.
Brushing myself off, I joined him at the table and placed his piece before him. His eyes narrowed as he spotted the flames and he sighed.
"You met him, right?" he groaned as he peeled the flame off of the piece, reabsorbing it.
I nodded but said nothing else. He seemed to be making a bigger deal out of it than I did. I was also curious about how his game went. If I had played with Confederate, who did he play with?
"Was it Soviet?" I asked, making sure that my tone was a little gentler than usual. He stared at me for a moment but shook his head.
...
"No. It was... someone else."
Once I understood the ability of the game, I was also surprised that RE had appeared before me instead of Soviet but when I had asked the Empire, he gave me a funny look.
"So he really does go by Soviet now. But why would you suggest he be here?" he had said.
The two board games had completely burnt away to nothingness and the dark, rainy canopy of green appeared overhead once more. A flash of red illuminated us overhead as an eerie, monotonous voice spoke.
"Contact confirmed. All vitals, stable. Injuries, minimal. They escaped on their own."
Red Crescent descended into the clearing with a golden ring in hand. After finishing her assessment and making sure we were alright, she tossed the ring in front of us. It suddenly stretched to triple its original size as a pair of the Olympian's silvery hands appeared through it. It grabbed the both of us by the scruff, the chilling texture pressed against my skin, before pulling us through the expanded ring and the next thing I knew, I had face-planted onto the shining marble platform, right in front of COE and her golden scale.
"Ugh. We were warned that you two would be trouble," Olympia sighed as his rings returned to his sides. "I expected Ame to be a pain but not the both of you."
COE stood before us, her unwavering, amber gaze remained unmoving and unreadable. Her gaze was as intense as the stare EU would give when he wanted to let you know that he knew you were cheating on a test or something. In other words, it was terrifying.
With a wave of her hands, the strip of silk that hovered around her wound around her face to create a blindfold and she tapped her scale on the ground to silence the crowd. Her Awakening illuminated her in full display as she turned towards the people to announce the proceedings.
"What's going on?" I murmured as I turned to Russia but he had no clue either.
"United States of America and Russian Federation of the Central Branch," she spoke with an unmistakably authoritative tone. "You are here to stand trial– to be judged for your violation of the regulations of Sunfire and Core Polaris. During the time you spent in the domain, the presence of those prohibited elements was noticed."
A wave of conflicted murmurs washed over the crowd but it was quickly silenced again. The sky slowly darkened and the scale began to glow in the night like a divine star. A glowing barrier enveloped me and Russia as we took the stand.
Immediately, the pressure and sensation of thousands of eyes pressed down on me, forcing a lump into my throat and I quickly found that I couldn't speak. At this point, I could confidently say that I probably developed a fear of magical scales and COE.
Olympia placed the golden feather in one plate and the wreath in the other and COE turned back towards us, still blindfolded,
"According to the rules, usage of said elements would result in immediate disqualification and this was clearly presented to the both of you."
She gestured to Russia and the barrier dimmed allowing him to speak, "Present your argument if there is any. Speak of your reasons of innocence or proclaim your guilt.
"Only after you both have spoken will truth and justice alone reach a verdict."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Troublemakers; whether they want to be or not.
I'm just throwing a few more snippets of Ame's funky past out there but should I do a backstory chapter for him?
... eh perhaps.
Next chapter, we return to the main games dw. I shall return I SHALL RETURN-
School: No, you shall not.