Another pulse from my side. I dove again, breath sharp, already bracing for the strike I figured would follow. It came fast.

It must’ve been what hit me before.

Rather than say he appeared in front of me again after the dodge, it was like my own evasions were betraying me. My direction somehow reversed as if time had rewound, driving me toward the hoof rather than away.

More fractures laced across the surface of my Spirit Weapons as I threw them up again. The sharp cracks of stressed energy sounded louder with each impact.

It continued like this. No breath. No space. His pace never faltered. Every pulse of life I sensed was already too late.

I could barely keep up. My defense wasn’t holding and it was breaking slowly, deliberately. Each collision grew the damage to my weapons, spreading the fractures wider, feeding the inevitable.

And despite everything, Kris’s expression never shifted. His eyes never blinked. Silent, controlled, and completely dominant.

I could throw in a counter or two every now and then, buy a little time to gather a serious attack, but they hardly had more than a slight impact.

At the last strike, I forced everything I had left forward. My fingers twitched, releasing several more pellets. Two needles traced behind them, Luna helping steady their aim.

The pellets exploded, and the needles struck, punching clean through his raised arms. For a moment I celebrated internally at some real damage, but Kris only grunted, not stopping. His charge kept coming, lowering his shoulders as he slammed into me, driving me down onto the mats.

The weight crushed into my chest. I only remember the final kick.

Then came the sound.

It wasn’t loud. It was sharp, striking deep inside me.

I felt it even though my vision had fogged over. The gauntlets detonated. Light burst out in granules of fractured Force, scattering around us like stardust.

It wasn't like the first time they shattered, this was different. Something had gone, rattling hard in my head.

I clenched my teeth, trying to fight back the mind-shattering backlash tearing up my arms and spine. I tried to scream after the pain became too much, but my breath was gone.

Just stop the fight, Wyrem warned. This is the—

Luna cut him off, MOVE!

Something slammed into my core.

Someone shouted outside the arena, but I couldn’t hear the words.

“S—”

Another impact.

Everything numbed.

It was oddly familiar, an unsettling mix of comfort and terror all at once.

The swirling energies overhead remained, not merging as they had in the past. It was the only thing I could still see clearly now. Well, maybe I wasn’t actually dying then.

Peter? Luna’s voice echoed softly in my mind, just as a sudden crimson haze swept across my vision.

My body shifted. Someone was moving me.

Hands pressed against me. At first, many, but then just two.

A warmth spread from the palms on my chest, pulsing through me in slow waves. It didn’t feel like Elric’s usual healing, nothing like his sharp, clinical pain.

This was something else. Someone else, maybe?

A mocking voice pierced the fog. “—have known he would have no way to defend himself?”

Shouting erupted around me, loud and chaotic, though the words blurred together into an indistinct roar. Then I felt someone not so gracefully slump over my wrecked body.

As sensation trickled back, the returning pain came fast. My head throbbed viciously. I recognized the soft hands pressing against me.

“When—ARGH!” The word barely left before the headache seized me, forcing a short yell from my throat. My vision was still stubbornly absent.

“When…” A shallow breath. “You learn…” 

Forget it.

I attempted to lift my arms, but they refused to respond.

The shouting had already faded, and I felt Elric being pulled off of me. Everything was starting to feel like a haze of motion and sound.

“How could he heal... Thea, grab Peter. We’re leaving,” Serith ordered sharply.

“Your hands,” I managed to croak out.

“Peter!” Thea called back, quickly and carefully lifting me.

I sucked in a breath, trying to reassure her I was mostly intact. “Elric’s softer.”

A choked laugh escaped her. “Really? I guess I’ve worked harder then.”

“Yeah… must be.” I thought she said something else afterward, but my mind was already folding again. Only Luna’s voice cut through the fog clearly.

You okay? she asked.

I groaned inwardly. I got humiliated, nearly killed, and my girlfriend saw the whole thing. Sooo… yeah, I’m fine. Kind of a normal day I guess.

I sensed what could’ve been the worm’s equivalent of a chuckle, vibrating faintly. I was never worried! Being beaten to death is totally normal in this world.

Until Elric healed you,

Luna revealed, he was worried we’d both die right here.

I tried to chuckle, though I couldn't tell if it made it past my lips. Glad to know you care. Somewhat.

Self-preservation is important, he offered with solemnity. Still, I’m glad you're alive. That other boy keeps proving himself more and more.

You’re talking like I almost died.

Luna’s presence constricted briefly. I think you nearly did. Before that final strike, something shielded you. A barrier. But the injuries were still there. Elric did something. That’s why you’re like this now.

I didn’t lose any body parts again, did I? I half-joked.

Another constriction pulsed in response. Sorry. No more roots for you. Gross meat is all you get this time.

My eyes fluttered open, the first trickles of light burning into them since the brutal fight.

“I feel—”

And then I lurched forward, barely able to move myself away from Thea in time to empty my stomach—which wasn't holding much—onto the floor. Thea steadied me, patting my back gently.

When did we even move to these couches?

They were pretty soft. Shame about the carpet.

“Awful,” I finally managed.

“You think you do,” Elric groaned from across the room, sprawled on a matching blue couch next to Serith. “I only used that in case there was a pro—”

A wet, familiar sound interrupted him, suspiciously like my own recent expulsion. The atmosphere immediately grew heavier.

“You did not just—” Serith started.

But Elric cut her off without a care for what might be a literal goddess holding him steady. “In case... there was an issue with Lyra.”

I blinked, vision finally clearing enough to see Serith completely, waving her hand. Her gown shifted from white to a flowing deep blue.

“I liked that dress,” she said with a sigh.

“Sorry,” Elric offered, surprisingly sincere.

He did not look good. “What the heck happened to you?”

He glared back, though it wasn’t very convincing given the gaunt look on his face. His eyes were fogged over, barely tracking. “You. It’s my gift from that old man. I just need Lyra. She’ll fix me up.”

“I’m pretty curious myself,” Serith admitted, her tone measured. “That was some serious ability.”

“Long story. I have a question though,” Thea interjected, voice dead serious. “What did you need Peter to become your champion for?”

I could feel the restrained anger behind her words. I tried to lift myself, to do something, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. Instead, I managed to squeeze her knee.

“A tournament.”

“And Kris is an opponent?” Thea pressed.

“He should be.”

“Thea.” I gathered what little strength I had left, managing to push myself upright enough to lean against her. “I know where you’re going—”

“There’s no reason for you to do this,” she murmured.

I turned my gaze to Serith. “I assume there actually is? Training? Rewards?”

She nodded. “We are not permitted to train you or intervene. This is meant to reflect our territory’s ability to produce… worthwhile candidates. If we trained you, the results would be meaningless. And the guardians are heavily monitored. No one will violate the rules.”

Elric, leaning against the railing of the couch, wisely not on the goddess herself, glanced at the nearby stained cushion, still a bit unclean. “Rewards then?”

“Yes, but I’m not permitted to say.” She sighed. “Either way, you are a guardian now and—”

“What about death?” Thea asked sharply.

A brief silence followed. Not long, but heavy enough to weigh down the room. The answer was already lingering in the air.

“There will be no Heart Pillars. No protection.”

I honestly felt—not quite betrayed. I didn’t know her well enough for that, but something close. “You didn’t think to tell me?”

She shook her head. “You’re strong. Don’t think you’re not just because of Kris. Worst case, I figured you’d simply forfeit in the first round. You won’t be forced to take a beating just for participating.”

I felt Thea’s tension ease slightly. “Then, when is it? You can’t prepare us, so...”

“The first round is in two weeks,” Serith answered. “The next round will be scheduled after that one concludes.”

“No help?” I tried one more time, thinking back to what Griffith had been told, and the way Serith kept dodging Thea’s questions.

“None… Buuuut,” she drawled, a small smirk curling at her lips, “I was curious if you could do me a favor.”

The mummy spoke. “Oh great guardian of our world, what could we do for you?”

Glad to see he’s feeling good enough for that.

“I wanted to read a book from my, umm—” her face flushed as she mumbled something too soft to catch, before finally finishing, “It’s somewhere where you live, I think. I kept it in my library. It won’t help you, but I’d be grateful.”

None of us quite caught what she said the first time.

Was she really shy about the loophole?

I got the gist. We needed to find the library. That was already the plan anyway. Now, we just had a bit more urgency.

“What?” Thea asked.

“My b—boyfriend. He wrote it.”

Silence.

Elric, ever the brave one, asked, “At what age do people stop getting shy over that?”

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