Like As The Waves Make Towards The Pebbled Shore
"Naya, you just keep walking away," Glacialis said with his back flat to the ground and his body pinned down by the combined weights of both Agu and Nortis, "Walk away until you're out of sight. Walk away, if you don't want your blood spilled all over this island."
"Fool!" Agu muttered and averted his gaze to ensure that Naya and the paramedics had exited the colosseum. He then arose and walked to the edge of the concrete battle square. He kept a careful eye on Glacialis nonetheless. After Naya and paramedics had left, Nortis stood up as well.
A few moments later, Glacialis arose. He patted himself clean and slowly glanced at all standing in the colloseum. First, at Agu, then Nortis, then Basileus and finally at Lae. His eyes remained here.
"Nortis." He called out.
"Anoti!" Nortis replied.
"Put an end to him." Glacialis said solemnly but now he was pointing at Basileus who was still standing.
Nortis hesitated for a few seconds and then said, "Anoti, why don't we just take on Lae and win this match?"
Glacialis did not reply. He kept his gaze fixed on Lae. Nortis sighed deeply and said, "Alright, alright."
He began walking towards Basileus when Agu stepped in his way. Nortis halted, heaved and was about to say something but Glacialis spoke first, "Agu, last I checked, you are a referee. Nortis is a legal player in the game now. To fight him will be to break the rules."
"Tehilia just tried to kill people." Agu replied with calm, "You wanna talk to me about breaking rules?"
"Hate it or love it, I can't remember rules banning the venom. And I had no idea she was going to do that . . . but if you want to talk about trying to kill people, what in the world did Naya just try to do?"
"Listen to me you proud frozen bastard, Tehilia used the black hole venom twice. Twice Glacialis. She used it twice on two different people. Naya would not have done that if Tehilia had behaved." Agu continued, "Two members of their team is out because of the capriciousness of one of your team mates. No, Glacialis. Nobody is touching Basileus and that is all there is to that."
And then all the members of the Ministry of Defense surrounded the stadium even Jibunna was among their number. They were willing to begin an all-out war should Glacialis defy their leader.
"Agu, please step aside," Nortis said calmly, "I know you won the games last year but this year is different."
"Why don't you put that devilishly polite tongue back into your mouth? You see, you don't get it, do you?" Agu said, "This is not about the game anymore. It is about being the Minister of Defense and acting in the best interest of the tournament and of the school."
The crowd, the school, booed him at that one.
"SHUT UP ALL YOU IMBECILIC PUPPETS." He bellowed as he turned and faced the audience and they all fell silent. No one wanted to be made examples of. Agu turned back to Glacialis, "Glacialis, naturally, I would love to disqualify you. But rest assured that Tehilia would never set foot in this stadium again. As for this game, I am now saying that Basileus is no longer fair game. I've always respected you and you know I do. But if you really think that you are some bully, that you can treat me as you treated Basileus then try and defy me on this point. Beat Laetissimus all you want, leave Basileus alone."
"Nortis." Glacialis said, "You are the Vice Prime Minister, what do you think?"
Nortis walked slowly to Glacialis. They were the only two of the Frozen Mist left. And as Nortis walked over to Glacialis, Lae could hear pandemonium build at the outskirts of the colosseum as members of the house of Darwin matched in to defend their leader - Glacialis.
Nortis put an arm around Glacialis's shoulder.
"I will override his decision but as a participant in the game, I have no power on the rules. This is my opinion. I don't think it is necessary to take Basileus out to win. But if it is your decision to go against Agu, Lae, whoever at this moment, you know that I will always be fighting right along with you. And I promise that we will always be winners. Remember? brothers forever."
"Brothers." Glacialis said smiling, "Always and forever."
"Agu," Basileus called out. "Step aside."
There was murmur coming from all across the stadium.
"I don't want your help, I never asked for it and I don't need it." Basileus said.
"Oh shut the hell up!" Agu replied, "I am not Laetissimus. I am not Clementine. I take orders from no one. If you want to be some tough guy, then get come over here and defeat me."
It sounded like an almost sarcastic comment to Lae but clearly Basileus had a different interpretation. He staggered forward and fell to his knees. He got up again and began running, however, sluggishly towards Agu.
"What is that fool doing?" Glacialis asked.
Basileus got to Agu and stretched out his hand pitifully in what looked like a punch. Agu dodged it easily and rammed his fist into his abdomen. Basileus groaned and fell on Agu's body. His head was literally leaning on Agu's chest and blood was coming from his mouth staining Agu's spotless uniform. Lae pitied the boy as Agu pushed him away and he staggered on the fall. Basileus forced himself to his feet yet again.
"Don't do something stupid." Agu said and walked away in what Lae assumed was an attempt to discourage any further attempt at a fight. If Basileus was going to drag on this fight they never found out as Glacialis was saying something again and he was looking at Lae,
"You're so pathetic you know that, right? Just look at how your teammates are abused and laid to waste. I have to give it to you though for pushing us to this point. But I have a question for you, Lae. Why? Why are you so obsessed with defeating me? All year you haunted me. I knew, I always knew. You hated me from day one, hated me the moment you saw me and why Lae, why? Because you thought I was affiliated with Nihilo? But Let me show you something..."
And all of a sudden, the aura came again. That Nihilo aura. Master Nihilo was in the building. Master Nihilo was close by, standing next to Lae. No, Master Nihilo was...
Him?
Master Nihilo's aura was emanating from Lae, himself.
What the hell was this?
It was a trick. It had to be.
"You are what you hate." Glacialis said with a smile. No one in the colosseum could possibly understand what was now taking place except these two. "Think about it. Who taunted Ironia, over a little joke? Who attacked her, and had friends break her will, try to suffocate her? Who attacked a junior because he taught they said bad things of their friends? Who abandoned and said they hated their teammates, never wanted to look in the face of their teamates again? Who went about attacking Ministers? Attacking someone who had never quite come to the house of Curie, throwing your weight about, picking friends who became bullies themselves. Who lived with Master Nihilo all their life and most likely subconsciously acquired the aura, the characteristics of Master Nihilo. No, Lae, you, not I, must be stopped. You are what we hate."
Lae couldn't believe it. The crowd roared for Glacialis.
"I will stop you Lae. That is my job in this school. Basileus is no angel. Given the power, he would be just as big a bully as anything. Clementine? well, we all know his history. And you think Rionne is an angel don't you? As an aside I know you think there is nothing going on between her and Jibunna. Just keep it in mind that he was here long before you came in. I was here as well. Remember how you felt when you realized she was out and about? Take that feeling, make it reality and multiply it a billion times. That is what your future with her will be. . ."
He raised his arm and one could just tell that as always, the audience lay in the palm of those hands, "But it is not about Basileus. It is not about Clementine and it sure as hell is not about Rionne. It is about you and it is about me."
The crowd roared again.
"Do you want to know why they love me? Do you want to know why the people love me? Do you really want to know why?"
Lae was still trying to figure out where the Nihilo aura really was coming from.
What in the world was going on?
"Because in my era, there were no Clementines, no Anuka. Hell! not even Agu nor any of the Ministers can get completely out of control, while the Frozen Mist Empire lives. No evil shall arise in this school while we exist. That and also my impeccable sexual charisma. I always bring in the excitement, I take the boredom away . . . Listen to them. Listen to the people."
And he paused and closed his lone eye. The crowd was going utterly nuts for their king. They yelled and they screamed.
"GLA-CIA-LIS!
GLA-CIA-LIS!
GLA-CIA-LIS!"
Master Nihilo, huh?
These spectators were fools, Lae thought to himself. Tehilia, for all they cared, might have just murdered two people and yet they continued screaming for this egomaniac. There was something about the students. Something weird. They loved this game too much. The risk, the fight and the blood. In the name of the Thesselian games, you could get the students to do almost anything. And just as weird, they liked Glacialis probably just as much, if not more, than the games.
Glacialis.
This was why Lae had even joined this tournament in the first place.
Master Nihilo.
Could Lae himself be the spy he had sought all term long?
That was bullshit!
It was a trick. It had to be.
Glacialis raised his hands and the audience quietened.
"Lae, I have a proposition for you. If you hate me so much, if you are so sure I am that man you despise then you will love this. If I lose, I will leave. I'd personally check myself into Gehenna. You will never nor will anyone in this school ever see me again."
The audience booed when those words were spoken.
" . . . But if you lose, Lae, if you lose, I don't ever want to see you or Basileus ever again here at Coeptus. Ever. How about that?"
The crowd once again was going utterly ballistic.
Basileus: You know what? he is right. Given the power, I will be a bully. I make no pretense. But let me tell you something Lae. You are not a bully, not like him. We both know that you never, ever attacked anyone without reason. Every single time, it was because you were defending someone, because they gave you a reason.You are nothing like Glacialis - Glacialis would set you up against Rionne, humiliate me, get that kid to say bad things about Meria, so you can attack them, get Irionia to provoke and irritate Clementine and give a one sided aspect of all these events to the audience, so that he can be loved. Glacialis is a manipulative bastard. Tell him that if you lose, I, Basileus will leave forever.
"Deal." Lae said, "If I lose, I go. If you lose, you go."
Basileus: Lae you bastard, you don't have to ...
Lae shut him off and turned to face Glacialis. He had made a promise to Lucem but all of that was out the window, now. Everything was so confusing. He never wanted to do this. Now, he just wanted to beat Glacialis. It was as simple as that. And he didn't care about the reason. This boy was a manipulative bastard that deserved to rot in hell.
There was one thing left to do if he wanted to win.
The curse of the Bioveritist.
"No glory without sacrfice." He muttered the bioveritist creed.
Maybe Lucem was right. Once a Bioveritist, always a Bioveritist.
Maybe after all, it was his destiny to be a Bioveritist. After all, hadn't he spent all of his past life trying to be one . Maybe after all, there could be no glory without sacrifice. If Glacialis's life was all that was at stake, then so be it.
Lae knew that he, Lae, was not affiliated with Master Nihilo. That aura thing had to be some sort of trick and Lae hated Glacialis all the more for it. It was the kind of thing Master Nihilo would do. Master Nihilo would make Lae accidentally kill Rainbow, forcing Lae to live with a deeply buried guilt all his life. No, Lae hated Glacialis passionately.
He fixed his thought on how much he despised the boy and how he did not care if he killed him. Yes, he was going to kill Glacialis and what was more, he didn't feel bad about this possibility.
So, this was it. This was what it felt like to be a Bioveritist. This was the whole point. And interestingly a weird feeling began washing over him. A certain calmness took over him, he could now see this world just as clearly as it was. An icy cold feeling was seeping through all the vessels in his limbs, straight to his brain. A certain kind of happiness.
Glacialis was going to die.
Reality itself seemed to have slowed down. He could almost feel the scar bleed.
Basileus: Bro! bro what is going on?
Lae began charging towards Glacialis. His eyes were on his target. He would beat Glacialis and prove him to be fraudulent bastard that he was and then disband his evil crew. Retribution was before him.
And as Lae surged towards Glacialis, Nortis appeared, intent upon stopping Lae. But Lae was as calm as the cerulean sky before a thunderstorm. He locked in on Nortis and it was if Nortis's motions slowed down, Nortis seemed incredibly transparent.
Lae closed his eyes.
That was interesting.
And it took Lae a second to realized he had just unleashed the Dark Mind on Nortis.
Oh yes, reality had had now taken on a whole new shape. He had not lost consciousness and yet he was certain the bioveritist nanomachines were altering his reality for he could clearly see the transformation taking place as Nortis continued to harden his body which was very impressive given that the boy was also combating a neural file. But the transformation had slowed down significantly. Lae effortlessly solved a mental equation as to where best to hit Nortis but the equation solved itself and in slow motion he observed as Nortis's body displaced from his path.
Interestingly, his attack had not being poised to hurt Nortis at all. It simply moved him away from Lae's path. It was almost as if his body had taken a mind of its own and was now intent on killing only Glacialis.
The vision of Glacialis was very clear in his minds-eye. Everything was now a blur.
It was one of the more incredible sight the audience ever saw. Agu was yelling commands to the various Defense sections and he was getting ready to prevent things from getting completely out of control as Lae raged to Glacialis and Glacialis did the same.
Chaos was everywhere.
This was the most powerful Lae had ever felt. He felt absolutely invincible. He could take on Nihilo in this form. He just knew it in his heart of hearts that he would win this one. He could not lose.
But then he saw Glacialis clearly headed his way, Glacialis was the only thing in reality that seemed to be moving completely differently and Lae understood why Agu was yelling commands.
For the first time in public, Glacialis had removed his eye patch and Lae saw a bright purple light in place of real eyes and a horrible scar that was now oozing blood. He had also removed the hand glove he wore over his right hand. His hand took the shape of a shiny, smooth black metallic prosthetic, its fist clenched.
Lae and Glacialis clashed and the last vision of the battle the audience had was of both boys enveloped in one final collision.
***
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