The never-sleeping clover arena was as animated as always in all of its sectors, except for where warriors meet to brawl to their hearts' content. Today, they all watched and learned, around a spectacle like none other: the mock fight between the Union trainees and their challengers that has been going on for multiple hours, with little break between rounds.
Arim and Zinc showed off why their symbiotic pairing has been going strong for many years by mopping the floor with their opponents: with Ogda as the water and Giol as the mop. The lancer fared much better, though, as he knew how to switch from offense to defense. He demonstrated a rich athletic capability and a keen eye alerted him when to avoid attacks; he even managed some strange ranged counterattacks of his own whenever he caught Zinc or Arim off-guard.
That didn't mean that he did much damage though. Zinc would slither and slide around the boy, creating pieces of protective armor wherever an attack might strike. Arim's job then would be to notice weak points, dodge at the right moment, and, using his intuition and experience, hit and strike up close.
The wild card in this rodeo was Ogda, who over the past month discovered what else he was technically able to do. The liquid inside him started to vibrate and heat at random, reaching boiling points at times; an ability over which he had little to no control; Which he found out when droplets flew accidentally after a swipe and hit Goidel's arm.
Giol -" Hey, pal, watch it with that!", cried out the lancer in frustration while the sizzling liquid almost ate through his green shell. " Time out! Arim, Zinc take a water…yeah, whatever, take a break. Ogda, let's have a talk."
The firbolg didn't reply, but silently followed the hurt party, dragging his feet along; literally, as the limbs also started to change around arbitrarily, either solidifying too much or becoming mush if their owner didn't concentrate hard enough on them. Giol's sudden cry of pain shocked him more than he expected.
-" Ok, let's try it again. Last time it worked, it shouldn't be a problem ", whispered Giol when the two got out of sight.
-" But I…" Ogda murmured back. He turned his head to the ground and waited for nothing. His sparring partner crossed his arms to the chest, waiting patiently. At least that's how Ogda interpreted the move, but it still felt like extra pressure to him. "...Fine", he caved in and closed his eyes. His body slowly lost form, dropping in height and extending its volume like a plastic bag that was filling with water; it also slowed down the liquid's vibrations and cooled him down significantly.
Giol -" Better?"
Ogda -"...Yes", he replied, a bit ashamed.
Giol -" So now, what ticked you off this time?"
Ogda appeared confused by the question, with an expression like it was the first time he heard of the concept.
Giol -" Well, yeah. You got like that when your whip-hands missed the target dummies or when you couldn't dodge my mystery attacks."
Ogda -groans, "…could you expl…"
Giol -" Not happening. So….is it that Arim and Zinc keep kicking our asses?"
He didn't hit the nail straight on, but from Ogda's slowness to answer, Giol's strike was close. A second attempt then. He asked if it was just them being there that annoyed him; once again, he got closer to the cause.
-" Is it Arim?", Giol finally asked with concern.
-"...Yes…" Before his spar could ask for more, though, Ogda tried to find an excuse to satisfy his frustrations. "I just…don't know. I see him, and I think that…I just want to punch him…"
Ogda continued to avoid looking Giol straight in the face, but he couldn't comprehend why he behaved like that. It was hard for him to accept it, but deep inside he didn't want the lancer to dislike him.
Giol -" Ahhh…well, crap, you're out of luck then."
-"...What?", asked a bewildered Ogda, unintentionally raising his head.
Giol -" Listen…do you want to hate him? Think about this well and tell me truthfully. Do you think Arim deserves whatever you feel now about him?"
The water firbolg went mute again, but this time with a good, contemplatory reason. "...It matters?", Ogda asked, as if to get more help understanding.
Giol -" Yes, you whirlpool. If it's jealousy of his skills, then I wouldn't mind helping you kick his ass in the arena. But if this is related to other things you avoid talking about, then I will kick you in the butt until you spill it out", Goidel said with a wide, bright smile.
For a moment, Ogda's mind retreated to the past; he could see two sets of feet, human feet, towering over him. He was shaking from fear of the strange creatures in front of him until a nudge distracted him from his stupor; he turned to his right to see another small firbolg with a rocky, light-brown body, smiling at him. For the moment, he felt less frightened and his mind returned.
-"...I'll think about it", Ogda assured him with half a mouth. "...But it's not just because…", he tried to say before stopping.
Before the two could say more, Arim called out to them:
-" I need you two to come with me."
A steep set of stairs led Ogda and the others to a hidden section of the city, deep under the arena; To the amnesiac's surprise, hidden there was a culture different from the one of the surface, but also similar in many regards; firbolgs lived in darkness without issues to navigate their homes; farmed, ate and sold mushrooms, bloated blue plants; herding weird naked beasts and, to his surprise, thin slabs, platinum in color, hanged all around the settlement.
-"...Light and sound propagators?", Ogda asked out loud without intending to do that.
-" What, you can see?" inquired a surprised Giol. " My lantern barely lights the ground in front of me."
-" Yeah, sorry about that, but a brighter light source would hurt the people here", added Arim who was sporting Zinc as a pair of night-vision goggles. The little partner made some weird noises as if he was making fun of the insect firbolg.
Giol -" Dam it Zinc, I know you're giving me lip right now. Ogda, what did that little gecko say? I still can't comprehend his language."
Arim stopped in his tracks, and looked at the two, unsure if he heard them correctly. " You two…can hear Zinc? And even comprehend him?"
Giol -" What? Right, forgot to mention it. I can hear some chirps and such but until Ogda told me that those were words, I never took them seriously. And apparently he likes to gossip quite a bit", remarked Giol, throwing daggers at the little Firbolg.
Zinc's eyes narrowed and he appeared to be suspicious of the claims. A few chirps thrown at Ogda though made him much quieter all of the sudden.
-" The answer is seven, your math is wrong", replied Ogda.
Arim -" Huh…we'll have to explore that sudden realization for later. For now, though", the boy said, putting his arm on Ogda's shoulder. " I'm just happy that someone can share my pain of having to listen to him all day". Arim then wiped an imaginary tear in front of Zinc.
Ogda, though, wasn't sure how to react, he felt like his thoughts about the boy got mixed up all of a sudden; a few moments of irk blended with the joy of being remarked: " Ok…", he replied in a low tone.
…
Inside a storage room, they meet the one who requested their help. A giant covered in a thin crimson and white armor pondered over a lighted-up map hanging on a wall.
Arim -" Hello Nizzio. These are the help I told you about, Ogda and Giol. Guys, this is Nizzio, a member of the Union and the local reparations group."
The giant stretched out her hands and started speaking through hand signs, with Zinc interpreting for Arim, who then translated to Ogda and Giol before remembering that they could understand the little firbolg.
Giol -" No, you continue. Ogda will keep asking questions and I'll lose the thread. No offense big fellow."
-"...Right", replied a bit annoyed Ogda.
Arim -" So Nizzio needs help to mount another set of reflective panels. Her crew is busy with another project, and while this is a simple task, it's actually quite important for the people living here."
Giol -" Sure, I have no problem with that. I was kinda looking for a break from losing all time and friendly fire. What can we do?"
The giant pointed towards a cubic stone and showed them ten fingers, indicating that she needed ten more slabs that could be set around the caverns. Usually, they needed to use special gear, but they were uniquely qualified for the tasks ahead- Cut, make them reflective, and prepare them for transport.
-" Huh…I guess that makes sense why you asked us." replied Giol. " I can easily solve that last part, but", he then turned towards his pal" we would need you to reach the boiling point. Are you ok with that?"
-" What? Is there a problem? I thought he handled it well during practice today", remarked a surprised Arim.
-" Well it's…", but before Giol could find a defense or excuse for it, Ogda melted back into his cooling mode.
Ogda -"...It's fine…I can do this", added the liquid firbolg.
A few moments later, grunts and sounds of slashing echoed through the cavern. Arim, using Zinc as an ax, sliced the materials into thinner slabs; Ogda then covered them with his body and heated them until the surface became reflective. Finally, Giol showed his little secret. He gently patted the slabs and shrank them to a pocket size.
The group worked in silence, and everything seemed to be going smoothly for a while, or so it looked, but Ogda kept quiet about the stress he stacked up.
-" Hey, Ogda, I think we can take a break", mentioned Arim and Zinc, who were becoming concerned about the orange tint that the amnesiac spawned on his body. "We finished four panels, and I think that's about how many objects Giol can shrink for now."
Giol -" Oh, just give away all of my secrets. But yeah, let's take a break pal."
The firbolg didn't respond though, and kept heating the fifth slab, getting redder by the second. Arim and Giol exchanged concerned looks and tried to convince him nicely, with no effect; Only Zinc managed to bring him back from his fixation.
An upset Ogda slid from the slab and followed his demand: "...Fine, I'll take the break…"