As dawn drifted to morning, one of Thajure's students, Nirdia, arrived outside the arena. After some pleading and offering, he managed to secure an important job for Nirdia.
She anxiously stumbled towards her Sherpa, white robes hiding her shaking legs. In her mind, she questioned why she was called here. But not by his Sherpa, someone else did.
He didn't give a name, all she knew was he was a guard. One of the guards handling the prisoner, to be exact. Which scared her.
"Good morning, Sherpa," Nirdia greeted.
Thajure opened his arms. "Nirdia! Very happy to see you. Now, little one, do you know you were called here today?"
Nirdia shook her head. Silver hair danced to match her head movements.
"I convinced Alise to have you handle that wretched hybrid. She was hesitant at first, yes. But once I explained to her this new ritual, she wanted to give it a try. Now here's your opportunity to impress."
"W - wait.. 'new ritual?' I thought... wait... huh??" Nirdia asked frantically.
Thajure grinned. "Yes, yes, this ritual was made by me. You seem like a master at it, or at least, close enough. What I forgot to mention was the permanent death ritual also works on dying targets."
As the two continued to go back and forth, a guard walked down the steps. A pike hot in his hands, waiting to pierce any targets wanting to escape.
He approached from the corners of their eyes, armor didn't make a sound. Almost like he wasn't there. Until he appeared right next to them and looked down at little Nirdia.
"You are Nirdia, correct?" He asked, almost in a hurry.
Nirdia nodded, not wanting to talk around such a warrior. His white armor plates surrounded random gold coated ones. A small gold plate sat on his chin, which held the expressionless mask down.
The guard turned to walk back up the stairs. "Follow me."
"Wait, Nirdia, here's the bag. Don't forget, spread powder to everywhere on his body. We don't want a single part of him being alive," Thajure reminded.
She took the bag, then left with the guard. As they walked, she could feel the eye of an experienced fighter glancing back at her every so often.
Being in such an important position made her wonder what would happen if this ritual failed? Would she be punished or would her Sherpa? Maybe no one would be punished.
However, she wasn't curious enough to want to know the outcome. Instead, she focused on recounting the ritual as it was. Which made the walk seem like mere feet.
In no time, they found themselves walking down the hall leading up to the changing room. Where a defeated Zesher bowed his head.
Upon entering, she noticed the amount of important figures there were in there. Such as Trijunn, cackling away at the corner of the room. Vildix examining his chains until the performer arrived.
And kneeled right next to the target, Kas. He continued to glare in Ether's direction. Wondering if he was still alive.
"Look, the little one is here!" Trijunn announced.
Nirdia flinched at his words. She was nervous of being around a decorated war fighter and goliath killer. But it was too late to go back. She had to continue going forward.
"Alise told me you brought a new ritual?" Kas turned to face her. "What does it do?"
She struggled to find her words. Her first attempts to speak resulted in failure. Forgetting some words in Bakano and replacing them with their Philious counterparts, which confused everyone.
Instead of continuing, she took a deep breath, then spoke again. "Th - this ritual... is about keeping a dead person... dead..?"
Vildix chuckled. "You heard the little one! She is going to perform a ritual designed to keep this one dead... thank the damn Nine. It was about time we proved his undying was luck."
Nirdia nodded. Hoping her agreement was enough to bring attention away from her. But it didn't. Kas still kept one eye on her. The other one longed to look back at Ether.
"Well, you're here. Start your ritual," Kas finally said.
Just like that, he shifted away from the defeated prisoner. His orange outline moved towards Vildix without a sound. Leaving Nirdia alone in the very center of the room, facing her patient.
Before she began, she gulped down her fears. Taking a deep breathe, then taking her first steps forward. Her head scanned the room, looking for a table or crate to use.
"I - I need a table, is there one in here?" Nirdia asked.
Trijunn grabbed a nearby crate, then kicked over to her. It slid across the floor, then abruptly stopped right next to the chair that contained Ether.
Nirdia placed the bag on the flat surface of the crate. Her hand drifted towards a nearby candle, bringing it back to put right next to her equipment.
First thing she did was cover her index and middle finger in the white dust. Her cold hand pressed on Ether's chest. He felt the shiver. One he grew to love, yet felt so horrible.
It wasn't the same, he thought. Pearl's was a lot more gentle and loving. This one felt like it had a job to fulfill.
All three leaders watched, curiously admiring whatever kind of ritual she was performing. Her hands slid across the victim's body. Leaving every part of his chest and stomach coated.
"Y - you made th - this ritual for... for my death..?" Ether feebly asked.
Nirdia jumped back in horror. "Ah... I - I mean, yes. I did, yep. My Sherpa worked on this and he tr - trained me to be his helper. Now I am here, preparing you to die for good! Yep!"
"How spe..cial do I... feel right n - now..? Alone, surro...nded by my murderers. Ugh. Being put to... permanent death on the sp - spot I.. nearly died in..." his voice drifted away.
A strong sense of guilt took over Nirdia. She lied to a dying man, the same one she was preparing to die for the last time. The least she could have done was be honest, yet she wasn't.
Right to his face, she lied. Hollow words designed to please those around her. A lie everyone fell for, except for her. She knew the truth. Which made her question if what she was doing was right.
Instead of lingering on the interaction, she continued, just like Thajure instructed. Powder covered his bloodied lower body. Eventually, it began matching the pale upper half. All that was left were arms and head.
She started at the shoulders, before going down. Rubbing the powder along the upper half of his arms, elbows, forearm, wrists, hands, and eventually fingers.
Each one became tainted in a ghostly white color. Almost representing what he would become in a short about of time.
Kas kept his eyes on the downed hybrid. Feeling a slight hint of remorse. His position, state, and surroundings all matched up to the day before his first kill.
Being strapped to a chair, helpless of anything saving him. Head tilted down in defeat, hoping death would liberate him. During those moments, Kas became Kas.
A war-bringer, leader, defender, taker, executioner, torturer, and a father. Deep down, he questioned if this was how Variants like him were made. Under extreme pain.
Nirdia began rubbing her hands around his neck. Slowly making her way up until reaching his chin. To this, Ether looked up. Hoping to see Pearl smiling at him instead of his executioners.
But instead, he saw exactly what he feared. Nirdia looked into his eyes. They were bigger than normal, begging for death. Hoping she had enough mercy left inside her small heart.
She had that mercy, but the courage wasn't there. It felt traumatic to her. She didn't want to be here preparing someone else to die. Even if they tried killing her leaders.
Understanding her progression was halted by his eyes, Ether closed them. Breaking Nirdia free from her trance. Allowing her to finish up with his cheeks, eyes, and forehead.
"Here's the final step," Nirdia announced.
All three leaders listened to her faint whispering. Her hands drifted all over Ether's body once again, adding an extra layer of dust. Once she was done, she turned to face her viewers.
"That's it. He is ready for whatever happens next."
Vildix chuckled as he made his way closer to the duo. "Awesome. Now step aside, I want to rip his head off with my chains."
Kas placed his hand on his shoulder. "No. He is going out a different way. Did you not hear?"
"Hear of what?" Vildix replied.
"He is going to be fighting Yul-Hinem, the Thawed our forces brought back from Yarno," he answered.
With that, Vildix chuckled, slowly turning to face Ether. "Two deaths, one fight. The arena will be alive!"