The group says goodbye to him and heads to their suite. Once in there, they prepare for the inauguration ceremony.
Later that day...
Our heroes arrive at the Arena, but to enter, they have to wait in a queue.
"There's a thing I've been wondering since we came to Dhismiar. How do they know when is daylight or not? Leah asks once they're in the queue.
They all look at her.
"What? Don't tell me you haven't think about it!"
"All the races here have a biological clock that is different from other races. For instance, some have to sleep for more than eighteen hours, and do it every couple of days," explains Lucien.
"And also, there's this thing called clock," Eva says.
Isabel chuckles as she sees Leah trying to hit her sister in her head but failing since Eva escapes and hides behind Lucien.
Eva, behind Lucien, sticks out her tongue to her sister, who does the same.
"Come on, behave or we'll be thrown out of the queue. And its almost our turn" he says, smiling at their childish behavior.
"I promise nothing," the two sisters say at the same time.
"Next," says the box office attendant. In fact, the voice sounds very familiar to our heroes, and when they get close, they discover why.
" Well, well. Look who we have here. The girl who will represent the Rugarith. and her companions," says Bluict, the goblin who had assisted them when they went to register for the Red Battle.
"Hello, Bluict," Leah smiles and gives him the envelopes. "Here are our tickets for the inauguration."
Bluict picks up the envelopes, opens them, and pulls out a ticket from each of them. Once he has the four tickets, he marks the square that is about the inauguration with a pen and then returns them to Leah.
"Here you go. I hope you have a good time. By the way, I bet on you. Don't disappoint me!" Bluict says and then moves on to the next one.
Our heroes come out of the queue and head towards the entrance to the Arena.
As they pass through the entrance, they arrive at a vaulted corridor through which a light could be seen at the end of it. Like moths, the group heads towards the light.
Leah and Isabel lead the group, looking around at each step they take, very excited, and chatting endlessly. Behind them, is the couple, Eva and Lucien, who are holding hands, wanting to make the most of every moment they are together.
"Aren't you nervous? I'm nervous. No, freaking out," Leah says.
The truth is that she is very proud of her sister because ever since they crossed the border between the world of human beings and non-magical beings, Eva has been livelier than before. In fact, it's been years since she's seen her so happy and confident. And that change has a name, Lucien.
"You said it, not me. Relax and you'll see how it all comes out—" Eva starts to say, but she can't continue because Isabel has covered her mouth with her hand.
"No! No lo digas[1]! Whenever someone says that something bad always happens," Isabel shouts, still covering Eve's mouth with her hand.
Eva puts her hand away from her mouth and says, "This is not a movie or a series. Not even a book. This is real life!"
"And who says it isn't? You never know," Leah says, shrugging.
The group continues walking down the vaulted corridor, when they finally reach the exit. That corridor leads to a huge circular space full of people. Apparently, that's where the inauguration is held.
In the furthest part, a stage has been set up to give the inauguration speeches, as well as food stalls and some tables with chairs for the guests. There are not many people, and they are distributed in small groups, chatting among themselves.
Each group has an individual with a number on their backs, which identifies them as a participant in the Red Battle. Therefore, those around them must be members of the clans they represent.
Lucien, looking closely at the place, says, "We have to look for Valzun and Arlor. They must know what we have to do."
The girls nod to his suggestion.
They start to walk, mixing with the crowd to look for the Rugarith leader. Finally, they see him, near one of the catering tables that are prepared for the guests to the event. However, he is with other people who are not gargoyles. They must be the other leaders of the clans, but because of the clothes they wear, they must be among the most powerful in the city.