Dia watched her uncle use the stone grey paint to cover some of his markings, mismatched eyes following the brush. Patches of sunlight illuminated the small hidden clearing around them. The grey dullness of the paint covering the diamond like blue like a cloudy day in the sky.
"So," she drawled out, swinging her legs over head as she leaned forward on the branch she was perched on. "You'll go into the tournament, return the Primes, and then wait until the battle, you appear as a dead person walking, steal the Primes and run?"
"Yes." Zafor muttered through his teeth, which was holding the second brush of deep glowing navy paint made from a fine grounded lapis powder and glowsquid ink.
"And all of this is based off a dream you had nearly 30-ish years ago?"
"Also yes."
"...What do I get to do?"
"Hopefully, nothing." he said as he switched the brushes. Painting on new patterns of swirls that took the form of a storm with ease. He looked up to see her pouting down at him.
"But I wanna come with you!" She whined, swing upside down now from her branch.
"No."
"But why not?"
"Because I said so."
"Just because you said so, that doesn't mean I have to listen to you."
"..."
She just gave him a feral smile.
"You're going to follow me in there, aren't you?" He groaned, pinching the ridge of his nose.
"Yup!"
"And there's nothing I can say or do to stop you?"
"Nope!" She chirped happily.
________________________)(______________________
And now here he was, a few minuets after from giving the Prime Songs to the Ardoni Masters.
"That wasn't so bad." Dia observed, one had clinging onto his right horn, the other at her chin as she was perched on his shoulders. A thoughtful expression on her face.
Zafor just raised an eyebrow at her, feeling even more exhausted than usual ever since she ruined his sleep schedule.
"Ok, maybe it was a little uh..." she trailed off to find the right word to exactly describe what had happened.
"Disastrous?" He offered. "Plain out terrible?"
"Ok, so it was bad." she admitted, "At least they didn't suspect anything."
Zafor didn't know if he wanted to strangle her or kill himself just to escape the impending chaos that will happen in the next few hours.
"Can I get down?" She asked, snapping him back into reality. She was tapping her fingers along his head, which were unconsciously starting to braid some stands of his hair. He sighed as he carefully offered her a hand, and she climbed down into his arms, tentatively gripping onto his horns. Making sure she didn't smudge the glowing paint on them.
What he didn't realize was that she saw some extremely familiar markings in the crowds of Ardoni who belong to their respective Clan's militia. One pattern representing a puzzle that was missing the final piece in her opinion. The other's was like lightning falling. Both a Nestoris gold and yellow.
But she saw past the magic.
And saw red.
So she did what any other child would do when they saw their distant family or family friends.
She ran to them and tackled the disguised Voltaris into a hug.
Now normally a child her size couldn't tackle anything bigger or heavier to the ground than her self, but this is a child born from Pure Magic itself that we're talking about.
Expect some chaos.
_____________)(__________
"DIA, NO!"
"DIA, YES!"
That was the only warning Ingressus got before he was knocked over by a flash of black and pale tan. Breath immediately leaving his lungs as he fell to the ground. A small weight on his chest, pinning him down.
He placed his arms behind him and raised himself.
The next thing he knew was that he came face to face with mismatched eyes of blue and red.
A Human child, with a slightly feral grin on her face, was sitting on him.
With dark blue Ardoni markings on her arms that swirled into a storm.
"Hi!" she chirped happily to him, but her eyes held a spark to them. One that promised to burn something down and cover it with frost when it became ashes.
A Sendaris with dark blue markings that also somewhat swirl into a storm as well, ran up to them, worry and exasperation written on his face.
"Dia," he panted out. Ingressus heard him mutter "How the fuck is she that fast?!", and the Sendaris straighten up. "What did I say about tackling people?"
"Nothing." She chirped back at him.
He blinked once. Twice.
"Fair enough."
Ingressus and Achillean can only stare in absolute confusion at this exchange between the child and, who they think is her father or uncle.
Then the Sendaris turned to look at them. He looked older than Ingressus and Achillean, but only by some decades. Yet he was slightly shorter than Ingressus himself, but taller than Achillean by a few inches. And his skin was unnaturally dark, maybe only a few shades lighter than Deepslate (Ingressus thought it it looked like paint, but it couldn't be. Could it?). And his hair was an absolute horror. Messily and unevenly cut, Ingressus thought even a Creeper wouldn't go near this Ardoni out of fear of the hair alone.
But what sent warning bells ringing in his mind was that his eyes were diamond blue, not like the deep dark navy of the rest of his markings.
This Ardoni is dangerous.
And Ingressus doesn't trust him one bit.
"Sorry about Dia."
That made him snap out of it and realize the little girl was still on him. Looking at him curiously.
Achillean saved him from answering to the Sendaris, his friend sensing how he tensed up.
"It's okay." the Nestoris said, giving the blue Ardoni a reassuring smile. "I don't think she harmed Ingressus."
"She's certainly strong." he managed out, standing up properly and picking her up as he raised himself.
The Sendaris snorted, "More like chaotic." He ignored the offended "Hey!" from the child, who was now pouting in his arms.
"I see you've met Zafor." a voice said behind them.
"Master Aegus." Achillean acknowledged, the Nestoris Master nodding to all of them. They returned it. Save for the child. She just narrowed her eyes slightly. Calculating. Wondering if she can trust him.
Of course this went unnoticed. Nobody pays attention to the child.
"Achillean, Ingressus." the Master said politely, but there was a tiny speck of worry in his eyes. "It is almost time for the Tournament."
"Of course." Achillean replied, then he turned to Ingressus. "See you later?"
"See you later." he returned the smile to the Nestoris. And Achillean sent him one last wave as he walked away.
"Can I get down now?" the child in his arms asked him, she was starting to get bored, and very close to setting something on fire. Namely the axolotl in the nearby pond, which was insulting her while the Ardoni were having their talk. And to her, setting something on fire is a great way to fight boredom besides finding a Deep Dark and persuading Warden to attack said axolotl, but alas, that would take up too much of her time.
How she understands the axolotl is beyond me.
"Don't go far." Zafor warned the child when Ingressus lowered her to the ground. She just rolled her eyes and grumbled about something that sounded vaguely like death threats and curses directed to a ... axolotl?
Ingressus decided to ignore the new words that came from her mouth. Surprised that she even knew them. In fact, if he swore when he was her age, his father would have left him on guard duty for the entire night.
Zafor looked like he deals with enough of her chaos and like he might collapse at any given moment.
"Chaotic feral child." he muttered, pinching the ridge of his nose, his previously relaxed postured both tensed and slouched at the same time.
"She must be a handful."
"You have no idea."
They stood in silence like this as more Ardoni surrounded the arena clearing where the Champion will be chosen.
Warning bells continued to ring in his head, telling him to run, fight or both. Instead, he stayed glued to the ground and tried his very best to not draw his sword from his inventory, and use his Arrgoblast Song.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Zafor spoke up suddenly. His voice quiet against the chatter around them.
"What?" Igressus is confused. Why would Zafor apolo-
"I'm sorry I couldn't get to your Clan in time."
Ingressus tensed, his blood turning to ice, a sudden wave of fear settled in his stomach and he took a step back. This Ardoni knew he is a Voltaris.
"I'm sorry I couldn't save every life."
There was only one ally to the Voltaris. Only one. And they had been at that raid so many years ago to fight with them. (Ingressus remembered. 5 arrows sticking out of a black Ardoni. But this Ardoni was still alive.)
"I'm sorry."
Ingressus forced himself to turn and look at "Zafor" straight in the eyes.
What greeted him were eyes that are now dead, cold and empty.
Then the black turned back to blue and the "Sendaris" promptly cursed.
"Not again!" he exclaimed rather loudly in annoyance. Several Ardoni around them looked at him.
And he left running, calling out for the child he lost.
Ingressus watched him go, calming his hammering heart. Breathing again, he hadn't realized he stopped.
"Ingressus!"
He nearly jumped out of his skin, but he turned and saw Achillean jogging towards him. "It's nearly time!" the Nestoris almost shouted. Quickly dragging Ingressus by the wrist to the arena.
All thoughts of the previous discussion were shoved forcibly out of his mind as Ingressus steeled himself for what was about to come.
_______________)(_____________
"Good luck out there Gress."
"...Thanks."
Achillean didn't know if his friend was thanking him for saving him all those years ago, or just thanking him for persuading him to join the tournament.
To stop all of this unreasonable hatred.
Or maybe it was for the good luck.
He just offered a bight smile to the disguised Voltaris. Hoping he looked and sounded more calm and confident than he felt.
_______________)(_____________
Okay, this was bad.
Not only did he loose Dia, he found a note she left on his sword.
Not only telling him to escape, but to also set up camp and leave everything to her.
She even promised to only set a small fire.
A small one.
...
...He's terrified to know her idea of small.
He also forgot to look at the chicken scratch at the back of the note.
And it said, "Who ever dies is not my fault. It's Warden's."
_______________)(_____________
"Excuse me?" a small voice asked him.
Achillean looked down and saw the tiny human child with mismatched eyes of bright ruby red and deep navy blue from earlier.
"Can you help me find my Uncle?" she asked him hopefully. He raised his eyebrows, alarmed that she already got lost.
"Sure." he said, letting her slip her small hand in his, while trying to calm his nerves.
She couldn't be more than 5 years.
"What's your name?"
"Achillean."
"I know. Mine's Dia."
He chuckled, "I know."
After a sliver of silence she asked "What's your favorite color?"
He decided to humor her. Children were naturally curious, so why not?
"Hmm." he took a moment to think.
"Red," He said after taking that moment . "Yours?"
"Triangle. Do you like men?"
That made him choke on air and trip over his own feet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
She's the matchmaker of the Family. This is literally her secondary job. And she knows the family tree by heart.
ZAFOR, STOP LOSING THE CHILD. THIS IS THE 16TH TIME YOU LOST HER THIS WEEK AND IT'S ONLY TUESDAY.
Pt. 2 will be here. Just not soon.
Also write what you think in the comments!