"Oops I probably should've been a little more careful about that." Vulcan said, looking behind himself at the crack in the floor he just created.
"Does that not hurt?" Samsara said with a very shocked face.
"Not at all!" Vulcan turned back to face the group. His hazel eyes started at the left of the group where Samsara was standing and they moved across the group until they landed on Vanagloria who was holding Blair's hand after getting jump-scared by Vulcan.
"There you are." He waddles up to Vanagloria and takes her other hand and starts to shake it surprisingly gently for his energy level.
"That was incredible!" He said, perfectly eye level with Vanagloria. "I have never seen a performance like that in my 40 years of watching and judging for this contest."
"Yeah it was pretty incredible wasn't it." Martyr said, looking down at the champ. He looked slightly worried for Vanagloria.
He looks up at Martyr "I know right, most people get stage fright from being looked at by everyone on every island." He says as he looks back down to Vanagloria.
His expression quickly changes from complete happiness to serious and has a double take after looking at Martyr.
"No way, don't tell me you are Martyr. " Vulcan says letting go of Vanagloria's hand.
"Oh, do you keep up with school rankings?" Samsara says coming out from behind Spectre who was still processing the situation at hand.
"Of course I do, I think I'm the only one of the champions that does. Martyr was one of the young men I had on my list for contestants to look out for." Vulcan started shaking Martyr's hand making an uncomfortable amount of eye-contact with him. "This is a two in one deal. I'm so glad I stole this from Kry."
"But yes of course I know about you Martyr, in fact I think I heard a little bit about these two over here as well." Vulcan says turning over towards Spectre and Samsara.
They looked very uneasy with his presence despite his friendliness.
Vanagloria didn't know how Blair was finding these people. These guys also looked like complete prodigies.
Samsara looked impressively athletic and actually had defined arm muscles that Vanagloria wanted so desperately.
Samsara must've also been the tiniest bit taller than Vanagloria, who on a good day stood at 5' 7. Samsara was only a few inches shorter than her boyfriend who was easily pushing 6 foot.
Spectre actually looked almost skinny comparatively. He was very pale as well. With his lazy attitude and scruffy appearance, he kind of looked like a school drug dealer. The look kind of worked for him though.
Spectre didn't look anything special when it came to strength or anything but if Blair was right about him having a dark element then he could easily be one of the most powerful on the team.
Vanagloria felt out of place in the team with all of these young adult models around her. It felt similar to trying to hang out at parties with all of Blair's popular friends.
Vanagloria attempts to shoot Blair a look that says "Where did you find kids like these." But Blair seemed to get the wrong message.
"We did it." Blair snatches her up in a big hug.
"Oh yeah, we finally did it." Vanagloria said, rubbing her back. At first she wasn't exactly feeling the moment as much as Blair seemed to be, but a few seconds into her incredibly soft hug Vanagloria started to get emotional with her.
Looking behind Blair's shoulder, she can see the whole stadium which still had some inaudible speech coming over the speakers. She marvels at the size of the colosseum looking up at the spiky castle like walls surrounding the arena. The spikes seem too menacing for the bright arena.
She has a double take as her eyes catch movement from all the way across the colosseum. She could've sworn even from this far away she saw a very small shadowy figure move behind a spike…
"Gloria."
Blair interrupted, pulling her out of the hug with a worried look. Vanagloria realizes she was hugging her for a little too long. "You okay?"
"Oh sorry." Vanagloria laughs it off. "Y-Yeah I'm fine."
"Hey Vulcan?" Samsara said, lifting the silence of the rest of the group. "Thanks for choosing us and all but are we still gonna be able to meet Kryphia?"
"I mean you guys are gonna end up meeting every champion eventually." Vulcan says scratching his black Santa beard. "But if you want me to introduce you guys to her after this event is over I suppose I can do that."
"Thanks." Samsara smiles at him.
"Any more questions for me?" Vulcan asked cheerfully.
"Yeah is your name Vulcan because you are related to the champion Vulcan or Hephaestus?" Vanagloria asked. She loved learning about all things earth and one of her favorite things were the myths earth created of the islands.
"Yes I am actually directly related to that champion. Although that's my last name, my first name is Fracture. Don't call me that though, nobody does."
"Oh wow." Martyr said.
"Hold on, I'm sorry guys, I have to go." Vulcan looks into the arena. "It looks like your opponents are starting to show off their talents to my colleagues."
"Er, I guess you all don't really have to do anything else. You already have a secure spot in the Vying. Do you want to come watch from the champion's perch?"
"Absolutely." Martyr said. "But like, how do we get up there? We can't really fly around like you guys can."
"I can't fly either, but what I can do..." Vulcan kneels down and presses his palm on the smooth marble floor.
The floor beneath their feet starts to rise with a low rumble.
"Oh my god." Blair says holding onto Samsara's arm for balance without any sign of getting scared by the ground moving, she just seemed like she needed the balance.
Martyr on the other hand did not look okay.
At all.
The big chunk of ground rises slowly one foot at a time the higher they get the more scared he seemed to get.
Vanagloria was never good with heights either but he looked like he was nauseous already. He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the ground, he was practically leaning over the edge.
Even a quarter of the way up, this guy looked like he had just seen a ghost. His arms were out for balance and his eyes were completely wide open. It was a decent height but still, it
wasn't like the height of her nightmares. He looked like he couldn't move.
No one was helping him either. Blair was with Samsara and Spectre, Vulcan was still raising the ground.
Vanagloria didn't want him to fall, because he seriously was not backing away from the ledge.
She crept over to Martyr and started reaching for one of his outstretched hands. His hand was way bigger than hers and rough, almost like sandpaper, but he was fully shaking.
"Hey. I don't want you to fall."
As soon as she grabbed him he started to move again, like he was a statue and she just brought him back to life.
Martyr slowly, step by step started making his way to the middle. He eventually turned around and was completely trying to hide how scared he was, even giving her a little smile despite him squeezing her hand like his life depended on it. He was also getting pretty close to her, his shoulder was right in front of her face.
Vanagloria looked over and noticed Blair had moved over to help Samsara in helping Spectre over on another side of the rock.
She looked up at Martyr who was looking back and gave him a calm smile.
"Just close your eyes, it'll be over soon." She said, trying to encourage him.
And then the rock finally came to a halt.
"Sorry, any sort of height terrifies me." Martyr said letting go of her hand, his voice a little more steady.
"No it's fine. I get it." Vanagloria said as he very slowly made his way over to the ledge.
She felt a little scared right now, but that was exactly what Vanagloria didn't want to look like right now. She was trying to become the greatest hero these islands had ever seen but it would be bad if people thought she couldn't get over her fear of heights. Vanagloria couldn't even imagine how bad Martyr felt right now.
The rock had reached an elevation that was about 10 feet away from the roof of the massive hallway and was right next to what looked like the opening to a small room at the very top of the wall of the hallway. Blair was already making her way over to the room. Blair looked back at Vanagloria with a big grin which scares her.
As she's walking to the room trying to look anywhere but down, she ends up looking behind her where she sees a petrified Spectre hanging onto Samsara. The sight of him with his gray eyes wide open popping out of his skull and extremely pale face made Vanagloria feel better about herself and Martyr. Spectre looked like he was about to pass out.
Vanagloria looked back up to a still smirking Blair who was already over in the small room, extending her hand out to Vanagloria to help her cross the small gap between the rock and the wood floor.
As Vanagloria steps onto the wood floor of the room right next to Blair, she whispers into Vanagloria's ear. "That was cute."
"Oh my god." Vanagloria turns her head away not knowing if it was red from that comment.
She looks back at the rock which still had Vulcan kneeling in the middle. Next to Vulcan was Martyr and Samsara carrying a now fully passed out Spectre.
"It was kinda cute, but it didn't mean anything." Vanagloria thought. still thinking about her comment.
Martyr and Samsara eventually get up in the room with Spectre still passed out in their arms.
Vulcan jumps off of his rock onto the wood floor. As soon as his palm leaves the marble floor the rock falls down, making a sharp "BAM." As it hits the floor below.
Vulcan looks over the edge of the room down at the hallway below. "Wow I ruined that floor."
Vanagloria has to bury her curiosity to not look over the edge to see the mess of a floor that's probably down there.
"Poor boy." Vulcan says looking at Spectre. "I should've warned you guys before I did that."
"This isn't uncommon for him." Samsara says brushing the hair out of his face. "He has dark elemental powers, they are a pretty big burden on him. Any sort of thing that scares him causes him to pass out, along with a list of other symptoms he has to deal with."
"Maybe it's for the best. Any type of element that doesn't match with the user can do that. Dark powers only work with dark spirits, in the wrong hands it can be the most powerful element by far." Vulcan says with a grim expression. "But that means your boy has a good heart. Plus it's a rare element to have these days, I can count the number of dark users I know on one hand."
"Yeah it's the element with the smallest population right?" Martyr said. "I'm pretty sure the order goes dark, air, fire, rock, water, forest then light as the most populated."
"Very good." Vulcan said, patting his back as he walked by.
"Air is the second least right now?" Blair asked, confused. "That doesn't sound right."
"Nope, surprisingly its always been like that. Although they did just get a new addition." Vulcan said, looking over at Vanagloria.
"Yeah Dread said lightning has 40 percent air, 40 percent light and 20 percent fire."
"Lightning sure is a rare combination of elements to have." Vulcan said. "The only other people I know who have lightning are Styrmir, one of his brat sons, some of his knights and…"
Vulcan seemed to look very confused.
Almost distressed.
"Anyways, why don't you all take a seat." Vulcan pointed towards the bright opening at the end of the room as he walked to a smaller hallway at the side of the room. "Let Spectre take Styrmir's seat, I'll go grab him a blanket and food for the rest of us for the performances."
Vulcan quickly walks out of the room, into one of the dark hallways of the colosseum.
Vanagloria didn't know why he had to stop himself but whatever it meant, it didn't rub her the right way.
The group walked up towards the light at the end of the empty room, soon revealing the image of 7 throne like chairs sitting out on a balcony with a spectacular view of the stadium that was lighting up in several different elemental colors all over the colosseum.
"Oh my god are those the champions?" Blair whispered, leading the group forward. "Do we really just go up there and sit in those chairs?"
"Do we say hi now?" Samsara whispered even quieter.
"Let's worry about putting Spectre in the chair." Martyr said starting to get worn down.
"Screw it, I'm just gonna say hi." Samsara said, sneaking up next to Vanagloria.
"No, we should just wait to see how long it takes for them to… uh, notice." Vanagloria stuttered, she was concentrating on creeping up behind the empty chair to the very left of the balcony.
"I figured Vulcan was gonna do this." An annoyed female voice said from the chair next to the one Vanagloria was creeping behind.
Vanagloria jumped at the familiar voice. "Heyyyy Kryphia. Uh… Can we sit here and watch the contest?"
Kryphia sighs "Yes I'll let you guys sit here, be quiet though. They are still judging." She says quietly. "They care a lot more about this than I do so I would be quiet if you still want to be a part of the competition."
"Yes sir." Vanagloria says putting a hand on her forehead in a salute.
"Yes ma'am." Kryphia corrected.
"Yes ma'am, sir."
Vanagloria gets no response as Kryphia except for a groan as the champion turns back to unenthusiastically watch the fireworks in the arena.
Martyr and Samsara slide Spectre into the chair using thick clouds as cushions trying to draw the least amount of attention possible.
Blair takes a seat on the edge of the balcony in the front of the air throne. The edge had no railing, it was just a small drop-off to another bigger balcony below with chefs preparing food for the champions above them.
Vanagloria took a seat next to her, both of them hanging they're feet off the edge. After what Vanagloria just experienced, this little 8 foot drop looked like nothing, so it didn't bother her as much. Plus the view would be worth it anyway.
She could see everything.
But before Vanagloria is even able to take a good look at the chaos in the stadium, clinks and clanks coming from behind Vanagloria make her turn around in curiosity.
A few waiters come out of the room onto the balcony and push a small table on wheels carrying all different types of food and drinks up behind the thrones.
"Gifts from the rock champion." One of the waiters said, taking a bow.
Martyr, the only one not sitting down, goes up to the table and starts grabbing random colorful food at random.
The other waiters start handing out food to the rest of them. Samsara, who is sitting on the arm of the cloud chair, gets handed a plate of fruits from earth and hot chocolate for Spectre. Samsara was playing with his hair that had finally come out of his beanie, it looked insane after being pressed down for so long.
Vanagloria and Blair are handed a giant plate to share that has what looks like extremely seasoned seafood. Soon after, they are each handed a small red can.
"Oh my god, Blair." Vanagloria says getting excited. "This is from earth."
"Wait really?" Blair said looking at the can in confusion.
"Yeah it's a magical type of drink called soda, it's something from earth we haven't been able to recreate yet, so you can only get it from earth." Vanagloria said cracking the top open. "I read about it in one of those earth magazines. I've always wanted to try it, the magazine said it's supposed to be really weird."
Blair copied what Vanagloria did to open the can and peaked inside at the brown liquid. "It definitely looks weird."
"Honestly Blair, I've spent all day getting all this crazy stuff given to me like lightning powers, a whole team to help me do more cool shit and a spot in the competition. But this makes me feel the most like royalty."
"Wow, it's been a long day." Blair said, looking back down at the stadium. "Well we're all done with the work part of the day, let's just kick back and watch these dumbasses shoot fire at each other for the rest of it."
"I'll drink to that." Vanagloria grins and holds up her can towards Blair.
"Cheers?"
"Cheers."
They clink their cans together and each start drinking out of the can only for them both to spit it out, neither of them expecting the weird burning sensation of having a carbonated drink for the first time.