(CHINA POV)
The footsteps that trailed behind me came to rest and my next sentence died on my lips. I turned back to see why everyone had suddenly stopped.
The grim clouds parted overhead to shine thin streams of moonlight onto us, shedding enough light for me to see the disbelief on everyone's faces. I frowned, wondering if I had said something wrong.
"Sorry- perhaps I heard wrong, but did you just say your throat was slit?!" Pakistan gasped in horror. I realized that their eyes were trailing over my neck. It was as if they were waiting for my head to pop off at any moment. I rolled my eyes and tugged my collar higher.
"Guys, I'm fine. Seriously, at least let me explain first." There was a nervous shuffle but no one said anything. Wary glances were shot around before they beckoned for me to continue.
The midnight clouds drew back together like curtains closing a show. We faded back into black silhouettes, outlined by the haze of unnerving silence, as we trudged along a torn-up path. A dome-like structure loomed in the distance- it was the defensive perimeter that had been set up. We would find NATO and his army there.
I hesitated for a moment, spooling in my thoughts as I recalled what happened next.
After the meeting with the Powers, the Labyrinth was attacked.
We managed to escape but ran into a formidable opponent- a warrior with a ruinous blade.
She had held the sword to my throat and forced ASEAN to choose.
...
"Headmaster, do you still remember what you said to me when we first met?" I yelled up at the towering beast. I was referring to the day I had made the deal with him. It was the day I felt my fingers scrape against the mountain rocks as I climbed my way toward the swirling clouds in the sky. ASEAN had acknowledged me, just like he was acknowledging me now.
'As long as you are my student, I will allow you to use my energy, per your request.' That was our original agreement and we both remembered it well.
Right now, I didn't need him to swoop in. I just needed his support, one more time. ASEAN read my intentions and understood with perfect clarity that I wanted to amend our original contract.
'As long as you are my student, I will allow you to use my divine abilities as well.' That was the amendment I hoped to propose.
My Awakening allowed me to make these contracts with any spirits and deities. Aside from drawing upon their raw, untamed energy, I could also perform their abilities to use as my own.
Just as I had derived the Trigram Barriers from the Tortoise, or the immortal healing from the Phoenix, I hoped to draw out whatever ASEAN had in store. It was the only way I could save my life now.
"Headmaster, am I your student?" I asked, my voice yearning to be heard even as I struggled to breathe. Every movement I made sawed the sword deeper into my throat but it had to be done. This was the first requirement for our agreement to work. I had agreed to study at the Eastern Branch and there I had remained. I looked up at him, awaiting his answer.
Had I been good enough? Was he satisfied with the part that I played? All the chips were in his hands, now that I proposed my bargain.
Was I worth saving?
The otherworldly wall of feathers blinked slowly, unable to look away. Having a lowly mortal use his ability with zero prior knowledge was risky at best, world-destroying even. This possibility must have crossed the omniscient being's mind but he still replied, "Yes... yes, you are."
He hesitated for a moment to gather his thoughts and I thought the silence would kill me before the enemy could. However, when he spoke again, there was a smile that bled softly into his words. He said, "You are a brilliant student of mine."
A snap sounded somewhere deep inside my soul as an unseen lock clicked open. It hovered beneath my fingertips, waiting for me to unleash it. My body itched with anticipation but my mind required a moment to process what it had just heard.
Brilliant. Mine. His words rang through my ears like the sweet ripples of a guqin string. I wasn't even sure why but I swear I might've started crying if there wasn't a sword clasped to my neck.
While words as sweet as praise were hard to come by these days, praise from ASEAN was practically unheard of. Yes, that must be it. Either way, it was exactly what I needed to commit myself to this foolhardy plan. In the ears of the other, however, it was the equivalent of a death sentence.
I felt the eyes of the great Asia Power flare out behind me like a tapestry as I was raised into the air, feeling invincible even as I dangled by the neck.
The woman was speaking but I could not hear a thing. It seemed like she was trying to convince me that I had chosen wrong- that the world had let me down.
'Just like how it had let her down.' I froze in shock as my senses began to pick up every subtle hint that dripped from my surroundings. Every twitch of annoyance, every jolt of regret, even the dulled sadness within her eyes. I saw that she took no pleasure from what was happening. There was no evil here; there was only someone who had chosen wrong.
I watched her eyes narrow when she realized that her words would not reach me. She would find no kindred sufferer here. She recognized that something was amiss, but that didn't matter because there was nothing she could do but slit my throat now.
The blade gleamed brilliantly despite the absence of light as it glided across my neck. I was surprised to feel nothing. Not even the cold numbness or hot red agony that I was used to. I closed my eyes, relishing in the absence of pain as the world became mine to hold.
I called to ASEAN. A thousand echoing voices responded.
...
The notion of a god is 'One who Exists for an Eternal Purpose.'
From birth to rebirth, to death, we are crafted for this purpose- for perfection- and laden with extraordinary gifts to go along with it.
As the Eyes of the Universe, I am no exception. Burdened by the importance of a witness, I was gifted with the omniscience of thousands and a mind as clear as crystal. Time existed to form memories, and I would be there to collect them.
As far as I was concerned, the moment I opened my infinite eyes was when existence began, but to my disappointment, the beginning was beyond uneventful.
Nothingness greeted my hypersensitive senses, burning the same memories into my head over and over, like a broken record. Insurmountable loads of nothing was still the same as nothing. My mind, which was once as clear as crystal, became muddled with my first sensation of self: boredom.
But if an observer refused to observe, what did that make him then? What was my purpose, if not to see with these eyes that I had been given? These trailing questions haunted my psyche as I attempted to sleep for who-knows-how-long before a gentle disturbance shook me awake. I found myself reopening my eyes, just in time to witness the true birth of the universe. Once more, I returned to my purpose.
I had found him by chance, alone on the edge of a desolate space, but I could immediately tell that he was something special. He was a god amongst the gods and a brilliant one at that. He upheld his purpose so perfectly that he practically defined it! He was the architect, the artist, the creator of all that we know now. None could match him in the skill of unrestricted creation.
A 'Primordial Theory' was what they called him, which was supposed to be a huge honor amongst the divine. I would later call him my master since he was nothing less than that in my mind.
Boredom was quickly transformed into a new sensation: intrigue. I thought to myself, 'This is something worth witnessing!' and rushed to a nearby perch to watch.
His first and greatest feat was the construction of order itself. I remembered it well. I watched his skillful hand work tirelessly until divine mechanisms came to life to establish all the phenomena of the universe. I marveled at his clockwork galaxies that spun on concepts only he could understand.
Laws were constructed and set, forcing the maddening chaos of the fledgling universe into moldable, predictable playthings for deities to use.
His creation granted unparalleled authority to the gods. I was in awe of it all and let my praises be known. He smiled at me, glad to finally be seen for his talents.
From that moment on, I was his observer, perched amongst the stars and never far from those miraculous hands.
Though we never spoke nor interacted beyond quick acknowledgments, I felt myself getting attached. In eons past, I had wandered the corners of reality to collect all that I could observe. After finding my master, I rarely left that spot. I loved watching him work, and all I had to do in return was sing his praises, sweetly serenading his greatness for all to hear.
For the longest time, I was content with that but no matter how hard I tried, I could feel myself slipping, yearning for something more. The crack in my purpose's strength only grew as I watched, without any sign of an end.
"I can see it in your eyes, oh Great Observer, that you are not satisfied," he surprised me with his words one day.
I did not know what to make of them, and he had already resumed his work before I could ask, so I simply mulled them over as I prepared my next melody.
...
I shuddered back to life, lungs gasping for air as I finally separated myself from the flooding tides of ASEAN's memories. Though they flashed by in mere seconds, the sheer amount had overwhelmed me to the point where I lost my sense of self. I almost died in that way, I suppose.
"China, are you in there? Please wake up!" ASEAN's voice pierced my mind, unraveling and separating me from what remained of his memories. I stilled myself, creating a clear barrier between what was his and what was mine. Only then did I trust myself to respond and his eyes flashed with obvious relief. It had worked!
"I'm sorry that you had to see all that," he chittered sheepishly. I assumed he meant his memories and smiled before responding, "You have a master?" ASEAN frowned.
"I had a master. But that is no business of yours." His voice trembled nervously, something I would have never picked up without his ability. I felt myself smirk, wondering just how much more he was hiding. "You weren't supposed to see any of that."
I had just peeked into the realm of the gods through his collected memories, but I pretended like I had understood nothing else so ASEAN would stop nagging me about it. There were other things to worry about.
When I opened my eyes, all the worldly sensations flooded in at once. Life burst back into my body and it responded with heaving breaths and a pounding heart, as if it couldn't believe that it had survived. It felt incredible and when I finally parted through the darkness, I saw the expression on my murderer's face.
I couldn't help but smirk back proudly, tracing my severed neck tenderly. Eye-like feathers spilled from the gaping void beneath my Adam's apple and joined the otherworldly mass that wrapped around me. ASEAN watched me from the side as the others held him upright. He had reverted to his humanoid form, exhausted at last.
"See? ASEAN hasn't let me down after all." I jeered, feeling deliriously from the surging adrenaline. Chattering laughter echoed like rusted chimes through the chamber until it sounded more like a shriek. The azure-haired woman stared up at me with a face as blank as stone, betraying no emotion but I could tell that she was baffled. The sword trembled against her palm.
ASEAN had kept his promise by keeping me alive. The Powers were known to be indifferent- a result of their godhood, but not unjust or cruel. ASEAN, in particular, was trying his best to care and I thanked him for that.
His voice guided me through the process of channeling his powers, hopefully without destroying the world. We started with something simple.
"Use your own memories. Remodel something in your mind. I'll handle the rest for you." He was talking about his divine formula, creating imaginary constructs out of nothing. "I'm too weak to withstand the drawbacks right now, but you should be fine."
"Wait- drawbacks?! What drawbacks?"
Too late. I watched as my twin dragons arise out of thin air, slamming against the ceiling to bring about a shower of rubble before circling the opponent. A rush of nausea made me swoon- it was as if they had been pulled straight from my head.
"Careful there," the Power chuckled. "Are your memories still intact?" I gave a weak nod in response and steeled myself for another round.
I quickly accepted that simple composition was where my limit was. ASEAN seemed to agree, noting that using advanced techniques was too risky for me. Even so, god powers were still god powers, no matter how basic. The enemy was being pushed back regardless of my skill.
The ground around her was slicked with dragon blood as she hacked and slashed through endless torrents of summoned spirits. The sword ripped through the air with a mind of its own, covering all her blind spots as she tore in with her dagger. It was impressive, but I was relieved to see that she was still human when her movements began to dull.
With a twist of my hand and the Power's guidance, the coiling storm of dragons tightened before melting back into feathers and she was slammed into the ground at last. I heard her body crack against stone and her weapons skidded far to the side. She stayed down after that.
"Is that it? I was expecting more," I frowned nervously as I inched over cautiously. ASEAN determined that she had been worn out already and I remembered how tattered she had been since the beginning.
From one battlefield to another, it seemed. I couldn't help but wonder what she had been up to before coming here.
I peered into the crater at the stilled figure. The woman was staring up at the ceiling with unblinking eyes, her hair splayed out beneath her like a starburst of blue. A frown played over my lips unconsciously as that nagging realization returned.
"She looks really familiar," I remarked to ASEAN and he responded, "I know."
"Do you know who she is?"
He responded, quieter this time, "Not anymore."
It was a strange answer but ASEAN said nothing more. I weaved together a brilliant orb of light for Phil as they approached, seeing that the coast was clear. Their halo pulsed as the golden glow was drawn into their cupped hands, summoning something from their personal collection.
When the Filipino unfurled their fingers, two sacred treasures sat in their palm- two sunburst rings that were powerful enough to restrain gods. They threw it over the pit and it grew large enough to swallow the target, lifting her into the air and trapping her within the two rotating rings. A halo of light formed an orb around her, completing the arcane prison.
The woman's eyes darted toward the exiled deity, not even phased that she had been captured. Phil's eyes watched her carefully until they were certain she couldn't move. Only then did their eyes droop sadly.
"I was wondering where you went." The woman said nothing in response but she did look away. She awaited what would happen next.
With a whoosh, all of the feathers swept away from my body and circled back to ASEAN, returning the last of his energy to him. He glared up at the woman and she stared right back.
"You've lost," he declared without bothering to hide his malice. "I know," she replied listlessly. He circled around and patted me gently on the shoulder as he passed. Without uttering a word, I knew he was proud of me.
"Let's be done with this. What do you want, if not to kill me?" she demanded. Now that the labyrinth was finally silent, we demanded answers for what just happened. The woman complied as a prize for our victory.
She had nothing left to lose anyway, for she had no interest in a matter that she would not live to see. It had become clear to her that she had been set up to fail from the very start.
"You broke out of the silence. I did not expect that," she said to me with her grated voice. "Your memories of the deal should have been buried, yet you still managed to warn the Powers."
"Why me? Why did you attack me that night," I demanded angrily. "I believe I had a right to know what you did to my mind too." Her face did not change but she tilted her head to regard me.
"You were just a means to an end. We needed a place to forge weapons and your connections were the most convenient." She stated that she didn't know much else of what happened because she wasn't there on that night. Another person had been in charge of the "diplomatic" side of things. "I dislike mind games but knowing him, he probably implanted false memories about the European Union's sins. He holds a greater grudge than I do."
I glanced at ASEAN and saw that his face was streaked with grim lines. Flashes of the dripping golden insanity that I had seen during the meeting with the Powers resurfaced. So my hunch about implanted memories was correct after all.
Indonesia butted in with his question next. She narrowed his eyes at him, the target she had failed to kill.
"I see, no one has ever told you about your worth- about why you need to survive." She snorted with annoyance, the first emotion she had displayed in a while. Indonesia stiffened as if he was reminded of something.
Someone had told him long ago that he was to stay alive, no matter the cost. He would run away and survive. He would jump into the sea and survive. He would sacrifice others, but he would survive. Now he understood.
His life was tied to ASEAN's celestial bridge, one that he had built when the world was still young. Indo didn't know why the Bridge was important or what it did, but he knew that it would collapse if he died, and ASEAN didn't want that.
His face furrowed into a childish pout as he couldn't help but feel a little upset.
The Headmaster had come to protect his Bridge, not his students.
"Is the Bridge that important?" he inquired without hiding how salty he was. ASEAN grimaced and promised to explain it to him later. I was surprised to see his face redden slightly from... guilt!
"What are you guys planning? And why did you come back here just to attack us?" Phil was the next to demand, their halo pulsing as their emotions welled in their chest. This was unexpected, since Phil rarely got emotional about things and despite the grave solemness of their voice, they were fuming. "What happened to you? You left without even saying goodbye."
This time, she remained quiet and we all turned to the ex-god. They had been keeping their composure for long enough.
"You know her?" Indo asked and Phil nodded as they wiped away a stray golden tear. They were probably the only one in the whole world who remembered her, other than the Powers. Phil had been the one who offered to make her an Organization, after all.
"We met right after I was banished from the high heavens," Phil muttered bitterly. "She protected me while I was still getting accustomed to my mortal body." Their aura flared red-hot as they stamped their foot angrily, "Damnit, I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME, SEATO!"
The room went silent as the woman's eyes widened. The last thing she expected was for her former name to be mentioned, she believed that it had been forgotten long ago because she had almost managed to forget it herself. We stared at her, finally putting a name to the face.
SEATO, I had heard of her before, I swear I had! The name finally rang the bell I was looking for and everything fell into place. I knew I recognized her from somewhere.
I had read about her a long time ago. She had also been a name spun into folktales from where I grew up.
SEATO, the warrior from the legends. She was unkillable as long as she had her sword with her. She was a great protector and a great slaughterer. That's what the books said anyway. But those tales told of stories from nearly a century ago. I did not know that such a legendary figure had become an organization, and then fallen.
I turned to look at Phil in a new light of wonder. It was common knowledge that Phil was a wanderer before they came to the Eastern Branch. As an outsider in the mortal realm, they really didn't have a place to call home so traveling was a no-brainer.
Picking up a companion or two wasn't uncommon for them, and SEATO was one of them apparently. I opened my mouth to comment on how awesome that was until I remembered that she had tried to kill us mere moments ago.
Phil really hated talking about their past so that was all the information I had about SEATO. She must have fallen quietly and wiped herself off the face of history because there were no other records of her existence.
Indo singed his hand a little when he patted the Filipino's head, coaxing them to calm down as we waited for her answer.
"I disobeyed orders- I knew you would recognize me," she admitted quietly at last but still refused to acknowledge the fuming ex-god. "I wasn't supposed to come here but everything was thrown off by that accursed man and that girl."
They had planned to frame the attack as one without a target before quietly hunting Indonesia. Unfortunately for them, I had tipped off ASEAN, which led to his involvement. She had failed her task and was no longer needed.
"No matter, the inevitable will come," she insisted, but her conviction seemed to wither away as Phil's broiling stare burned holes through her. "ASEAN, you may have won, but there are still two others left. Their sins are far greater than yours, so I can't promise they will escape judgment like you did."
Right on cue, a tremor shook the building and threw us off our feet. ASEAN stumbled a little and turned his attention toward the Colosseum's direction. The disturbance had come from over there, near the underground labyrinth that the other countries were competing in. I was stupid to think that the hotel would be the only target.
"The others don't know! They could be in danger!" was what I was about to yell until I saw the frown on the woman's face. Was this not a part of their plan?
"So he wasn't able to defeat the girl..." she muttered to herself but just as quickly as they started, the tremors stopped. I turned to ASEAN as he was the only one left with a question.
"Why are you looking at me? I don't have anything to ask, I think I've figured it out," he insisted. "Ever since your lot caused a commotion on Earth, I've been collecting pieces of the puzzle. You've just given me the final pieces."
He gestured toward his frozen hourglass, showing that he had been mulling it over for the past year or so. She replied, "I see, you haven't changed too much then. I didn't even have to mention my master's plan."
"He will fail, just like you have," ASEAN declared unwaveringly. Another tremor hit, one that was far more powerful than the last. It shook the building so hard that the outer walls began to collapse.
"We'll see." She didn't seem too antagonized by the thought and a second later, she finally passed out from exhaustion.
Feathers enveloped ASEAN as he regained his massive beastly form. We quickly climbed onto his... back? It's a little hard to tell from how abstract his appearance was. Black talons clasped around the rotating sunburst prison as he waddled awkwardly toward the missing wall, exposing the nighttime view of the island. The land around us was silent since everyone else had been evacuated ages ago. We were the last to leave the hotel it seemed.
"Let us be off. I'll have to recount all of this to the other two as soon as possible," ASEAN proclaimed.
"Wait sir, you can fly?" Indo blurted out in surprise as ASEAN spread his massive wings that blended perfectly into the dark night. All the feathers rolled their eyes as he squawked with forced laughter.
"I would not have built my office on the 100th floor of a tower if flight was a restriction, OF COURSE I CAN FLY!" Indo blushed from embarrassment but still unfurled his golden wings, just in case ASEAN was bluffing.
With a powerful push, we were soaring high into the night sky as gracefully as a kite. Despite his size, we traveled through the air at supernaturally high speeds and I suspect that he would have gone much faster if we weren't screaming for him to slow down. The winds had nearly ripped Phil from their seat and was enough to jolt the recovering Malaysia out of his shadow.
"Don't worry, sir," Phil chuckled nervously as they recovered from the shock. "Indo flies a thousand times worse than this." The Indonesian would have frowned if he had heard that but the winds were far too overpowering.
"WHAT?" he yelled. I couldn't help but laugh, as I felt all the tension from before melt away. As soon as we got off this island, the nightmare would be over.
We soared over the makeshift town square that held all the snack and food stalls. We throttled over the gardens and makeshift training grounds and I peered over ASEAN's wings to see the three colosseums that were completely empty. There were no signs of tragedy there and ASEAN let out a sigh of relief.
"Alright. It seems that UN's little helpers made it in time," he smiled to himself. A little further out, a pitch-black dome had been cast up into the sky. All the commotion seemed to be centered around there at the moment but as we flew closer, ASEAN noticed something wrong. There was an ominous feeling in the air and before we could turn around, the whole island began to tremble.
I faceplanted into feathers as ASEAN suddenly reared backward, just in time to dodge a massive boulder that had been lobbed at us from below. The thin canopy of trees below us parted for a massive metallic giant, a supersized version of the iron warriors from before. We were all horrified but ASEAN was unimpressed.
His form spread across the night sky as he unveiled his godly aura, breaking the sky around us with sweltering lights and otherworldly eyes. The mere pressure from his presence reduced the metallic titan into dust, but it also nearly killed us non-immortals. ASEAN quickly realized this and stopped, noting that he would have to try something else.
"S-sir, please don't kill us too," Indo gasped for air and the Power apologized sheepishly but he couldn't pay us too much attention yet because the coast wasn't clear. The giant had brought an equally big friend, but this one had a proper weapon.
A gleaming obsidian club roared towards us and ASEAN ducked to avoid it. With a flash, the giant lost its wrist and both the hand and the weapon clattered heavily onto the ground. It paused for a moment to stare at its missing hand, and then at its missing club, and then registered that it needed to pick it up with its other hand.
ASEAN snorted, "It's not very intelligent, is it?" We shook our heads and with a swipe of his talon, the giant's head fell off too. The body staggered and fell backward, crushing a row of trees that were unlucky enough to grow there.
Just as we were about to leave, the Power perked up and moved back again. The ground began to tremble once more.
"There it is, that ominous feeling back," he whispered to himself and we watched in horror as the giant's hand, and its head dematerialized, only to rematerialize back onto the body. With a creak, it groaned back to life with its club back in its hand.
"Well that's more interesting," the god noted as he observed how perfectly they had been reconstructed. It was almost like time had been rewound on this giant.
"Uh, sir?" Phil nervously patted the muttering Power, "Less contemplating, more dodging please?!" The club came flying towards us and ASEAN swerved out of the way in the nick of time, however, the giant was prepared and sent a second blow with its other hand.
ASEAN, bless his godly reflexes, was able to dodge that too but the bucking and swerving was too much for me. I felt my grip slip and weightlessness take hold of me as I was lifted into the air. The world began to move in slow motion as I watched the giant's palm head directly toward me as I dangled helplessly in midair.
"Oh no," was my last thought before I was ripped out of the air, batted away like a fly. I felt all the air rush out of my lungs and my vision went black as I rocketed toward the ground. In that moment, my only thought was that thankfully, it wasn't the ruinous club that hit me.
"HOLY SHIT! CHINA!" Indo yelled to catch ASEAN's attention but it was already too late. I was about three seconds from hitting the ground and probably breaking a lot of things in my body, but before I could accept my fate, a gleaming yellow ring flashed into existence.
A man in silver limped out of the ring, bleeding profusely from a large gash on his head. He smiled to himself, knowing that he finally escaped his pursuers with his last ring. His smile immediately faltered, however, when he looked up at the sky to see me thundering down from above before slamming square into his chest. We both tumbled back through the portal, back to wherever he had come from, and bashed into the cold stone floor of a dim, underground hallway.
"No no no NO NO NOOOO!!!" he screamed as he struggled to get up and turned just in time to see his last hope of escape disappear, sealing us in this sad dark place. I groaned on the floor, clutching my ringing ears and pounding skull as I recovered from the impacts. Thankfully, the Phoenix's power was able to deal with it swiftly and I rushed to the other's aid.
"I'm so sorry, I er- flew into you? Are you hurt?" I was surprised to see the Master of Events, Olympia staring back at me and even more so in the state that he was in. "What are you doing in a place like this?"
"Oh the gods hate me!" the Master of Events cried out in frustration as he buried his face in his hands from despair. "I don't even have my treasures on me! All my rings have been lost- we'll be trapped in here forever!"
Before I could interject, his body went rigid and he shook his head, "Oh for the love of the Powers, now's not the time for such theatrics!" I looked around, bewildered. Was he talking to himself?
"But there's a contestant standing right there!"
"AND SO WHAT?!"
"WE MUST PRESERVE OUR IMAGE!!!"
I sat back on my heel as I watched him bicker with himself, noting that his shining silver face had been split down the middle. His perpetually smiling facade had been a mask after all and beneath it was a man with who's blood ran as dark as ink. His face was lined with weariness and dark circles shaded his startling red eyes. His mouth was knit into a scowl at the moment. I dared myself to interject.
"Never mind that. We're not safe here so can you walk?" He seemed to finally make up his mind on what to do, sticking to the scowl as the other went silent. I nodded and got to my feet. In all honesty, I was more worried about his state than mine.
The blood from his head was still dripping without end. I tore off a piece of my shirt and offered it to him. "Where are we going?" I asked.
"Anywhere but here," he muttered, occasionally glancing over his shoulder like ghosts were chasing him. At this point, I wouldn't have been surprised. "This tunnel connects to a closed off area, just above the underground stadium. I was going to teleport there once I got close enough but I was ambushed by weird-looking soldiers and now I've lost all my rings. If I could just get in, I could fix up the overhead displays and alert everyone-!" He perked up suddenly and his head snapped toward me.
"Right, there's something you must know! Something that everyone must know!"
I held up my hand before he could go hysterical again. "Are you about to say that we are under attack and need to evacuate?" He blinked a few times and nodded, asking how I knew. I just grumbled and continued moving forward. I was so ready to let this event end but of course, there had to be trouble.
Olympia swiveled just in time to hear a creak in the distance. Up ahead, faint footsteps shuffled along the cobblestone floors. Olympia's silver hand clutched onto my arm and began to drag me back, spitting out a few ancient curses while he was at it.
"How did they get ahead of us?! This is bad. Really really bad." I squinted into the dark, until I could make out a few silhouettes. 10, 20, no... nearly 50 of them- those same iron zombies. I turned on my heel to book it the other way but another group had emerged, blocking us in. There was nowhere to run.
Olympia's grip on me tightened nervously as he wailed, "What now?!" I thought the answer was pretty obvious, "We fight."
"Fight?! Are you kidding?! I was made to host games, not fight in them-!"
"... Do you have a plan?" I glanced over to see Olympia staring at me through his real eye as his hand covered the unbroken half of his silver mask. I decided which side I liked more there and then.
"Don't worry, sir. I'll handle the fighting. All I need you to do is stay out of the way, the best that you can, and cover my blind spots." I recalled how SEATO had fought earlier against my onslaught of spirits. Though I had no dagger, I could still fight with my fists. As long as Olympia could dodge and help cover my back, we would be fine.
"Still, this would be better if we had an actual weapon," I grumbled dejectedly but Olympia responded by reaching up toward his crown and removing it. His sterling hair spilled down over his face as he handed it to me saying, "Will this do?"
"...I mean... I suppose it has some sharp edges?" I forced a smile as I studied the flimsy looking accessory but before I could say anything else, it began to gleam and elongate into a shining silver sword. I stared at it breathlessly but then, the blade burst into brilliant white flames.
"我的天啊!" I exclaimed in surprise and he smiled softly. The approaching iron zombies flinched from the sudden light and stared at the new weapon wearily.
"It was a gift from a long time ago," he murmured as his wings raised in preparation. "I was never good with a sword so it was a useless gift for me, but you could probably do some good with it." I nodded as if I was in a trance, before brandishing it toward the enemies. The sword hummed with power as if it had been yearning to be used.
Finally, both sides worked up the courage to attack, and they charged, just like they had back in the hotel. I stilled my racing heart, hoping the sword wasn't just for show.
"Let's see how much the gods hate us then." I grimaced, raising the blade over my head. Olympia agreed, his silver wings reflecting the glow of the fire to flood the room.
"Yes... we shall see..." he answered solemnly, "...or all of us are going to die."
...
(NOBODY POV)
Olympia shuddered back to life and groaned as he tried to move his arms. However, there was nothing to move, since his limbs had been lost in that hallway long ago.
"Oh! You're awake sir!" South Korea was the first to notice and the White Tiger came to a stop so that he could tend to the bewildered Master of Events.
"This isn't the Underworld, is it?" he groaned as he nearly toppled over from the wooziness. "How... did I get here?"
"China carried you all the way to the labyrinth on his back," America replied with a glum whistle. "You two've been through a hell of a ride."
"Oh, little Superpower, you're here..." He took a moment to look around slowly. "You're all here... does that mean-"
China nodded and beamed proudly. "Yep! I delivered your message without a problem."
"He came in like a wrecking ball, screaming that we were all going to die." Poland clarified with every ounce of sass that he could muster. Everyone chuckled at that.
Olympia's face twitched as he settled on a tired, but genuine smile. "I thank you then, for that and for saving my life." The crimson country brushed off the praise bashfully, reminding everyone that it still wasn't over.
"I did hold onto this though," he said as he handed back the hairpiece. It had been shattered into pieces, and the flames had long died out, but it was the reason they had barely survived the fight. Olympia stared at it for a moment before gesturing toward his breast pocket. "Thank you... for returning that to me as well."
News of ASEAN's safe departure from the island and the prisoner he had captured finally reached the agents who had been posted around the defensive perimeter.
Olympia and Venezuela were officially taken off of their hands as the stand-by soldiers rushed over to the weary contestants.
"You guys did phenomenally," Red Cross assured them as she and Red Crescent buzzed around the injured man like a pair of bees. "He'll live to see another day because of you brave heroes!"
"Then again, he does get resurrected every four years regardless," Red Crescent sighed wistfully as she gently wiped the blood off his face. "He'll be fine. Do you guys need any assistance? Any injuries?"
All eyes, once again, turned towards China's neck and he backed up with his hands raised. "SERIOUSLY! I'M FINE!" he fumed and everyone dropped it.
The others were mostly okay, minus the bruises and scratches they had received during their skirmish with Russia. Most were told to get some rest after evacuating with the most concerning problem being Russia's slight symptoms of his Consequence, which was quickly remedied by Canada providing a slight energy transfer.
"Are you sure, you'll be okay?" Russia repeated as Ame offered himself as the energy provider.
"Yep, I basically spent 3 hours doing literally nothing. I have lots of pent-up energy to spare right now," he winked playfully, but his attempt to lighten the mood was quickly cut off when a bolt of lightning landed a few meters away from them.
"What's the situation here?" a familiar monotone voice chimed through the darkness. It was Finland, dressed in pure white like he had been woven from pure moonlight. A large case was strapped to his back but the jumping coils of electricity and the unmistakable hum of power was a dead giveaway.
"The Commander is currently engaged in battle with the enemy right now. The opponent seems to have a very powerful ability, and everyone has been ordered to stay outside the dome for safety purposes."
"I see," Finland replied bluntly. "I'm going inside then."
"Wha- wait didn't you hear me?! No one but the Commander should-"
"You." Finland ignored the soldier and walked over to the trio of countries, who had been staring at him. He proceeded to single out Canada. "I need you to come with me."
"Him?" America echoed.
"Me?" Canada tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy before Finland took him by the wrist and dragged him toward the dome without another word.
"HEY WAIT!" The soldier hollered as he ran after them. "You're a wielder of a Cosmic weapon, you can't just disobey the Commander's orders!" Finland had grown hard of hearing and he vanished into the dome with the Canadian in tow.
It took a moment for the Superpower to process what had happened but once he finished buffering, he began to panic. The darkness was briefly parted as his hair began to flicker like fire. It was a nervous habit of his.
"Canada? Oh, shit- CANADA WAIT!!!" America jumped up from his seat to follow after his brother but the soldier dived in front of him before he could enter.
"NO! ONE! SHOULD! ENTER!" he declared angrily but shut up as soon as Ame grabbed him by the scruff.
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he yelled back without thinking before disappearing into the fray. Russia facepalmed and groaned as he stood as well. He wasn't really about to do this, was he? The soldier lay on the ground, his eyes begging the towering country to reconsider.
"Sorry about all this," the Russian muttered but his face was knit into a scowl so frightening that the poor soldier froze in fear. He decided getting into the Russian's way was a terrible idea and adverted his eyes as the country also passed through the barrier.
"Whatever happens next is not my fault," he muttered to himself sadly as he returned to his post. "I tried my best."
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
So... funny story I accidentally sent the first draft of this chapter to my English teacher and I have no idea if he saw it or not. I don't think I can ever look at him again.
On a nicer note, a while ago, a slideshow was made to celebrate WWMS 1 million reads by the coolest people in the world. The fanart was breathtaking, the messages were heart-crushing, I literally cried so much that I had to take a power nap after. Please feel free to check out the amazing works, and once again, thank you to all my pookies in the Dual Kingdom server! You guys are my shining stars fr!
(I have no idea how to invite ppl to the server so to any DK peeps with the link, if you are reading this, feel free to promote if you'd like <3)
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qq5amuI1p8YodJTLWqmnPynaOh8V99C0bI039paxQlo/edit?usp=sharing
(also... new chapter coming out soon somewhere else??? )