“Nyssi! Nyssi! Where are you? Nyssi, my love! Please!”
Timik had been searching through the remains of the second arena for a while, digging through rubble with his bare hands.
The Corruption was being held at bay for a long time. Despite being one of the worst affected areas, the gladiators of the Great Arenas had worked together with the local Banikan, Rethan and Temthan security forces and the Palaestra Ksithan police and military to hold the Corruption back, to the point that they’d completely destroyed several corrupted lumps.
The entire time, the charge had been lead by Xeno Dessaron One, the four house fighters that had been blessed by the Allbirther, who had realized that their blood was somehow utterly toxic to the Corruption.
However, just as they were beating a particularly large lump back, something… happened. No one was sure what. The Thraki believed that Air and Time Itself had become corrupted, and that everything had slowed down to almost nothing. At the same time, the Corruption they were fighting suddenly flailed, essentially demolishing what used to be the second biggest of the Great Arenas, before disintegrating. That was where the central hub of resistance had been located.
When time returned to normal, the Corruption was gone. But there were deaths and injuries. And missing people. It seemed that anything that had been consumed by the Corruption was gone forever, with no traces left behind. But Timik had been standing right next to Nyssi, who had been directing everyone and keeping things calm, when things started collapsing.
She should have been nearby. She should have been in the rubble nearby. But three hours later, Timik was still searching. And the agonizing truth was welling up in his throat.
“Timik, I’m sorry, I think she’s gone.”
Timik slowed down, then stopped. His hands were bleeding, his claws had been dulled completely. But as he glanced to who had spoken to him, Timik realized he wasn’t that badly hurt.
“Uh, Tanok, what… what happened to your arm?”
Tanok was the top Lanex gladiator, he’d been one of the best for years. However, his left arm was missing, and a massive chunk had been cut out from the organic plating on his leg. The glass lens on the right side of his mask had been smashed as well.
“I got hit. I cut my arm off. And part of my leg.”
“But… you… your arm… your… future…”
Tanok shrugged. He seemed completely unbothered. “I’m a Frozen Scythes Lanex. We have this neat trick of being able to completely shut off emotions. Sure, my arm is gone. I’ll get a new one. Us Lanex were always into augmentations and now I have an excuse. I’m… well, I’m not worried, I can’t feel anything right now, but I am as concerned about you as I can be, Timik.”
Timik hesitated, then rubbed his eyes. “I… I liked Nyssi. I… I loved her. But I didn’t tell her that… I know I’ve always been this glamorous stud who always slept around, but…”
“I understand. I’m sorry.” Tanok went to put an arm around Timik, then remembered his left arm was missing.
Timik sniffed, wiping away tears, then straightened himself out. “Ugh… I assume we’ve… got a lot of dead and injured?”
Timik’s question was answered by the colossal stomping footsteps of Ct’Era, the softer plods of Valorier and Adelfaniosis, followed by Psiksi jumping out of a nearby shadow.
“Guys, have any of you seen Talok?” Psiksi asked. “Like, the people I saved are fine, but… I can’t find the little thing. She used her bullshit telekinesis to push me out of the way of some falling rubble, but I can’t find her!”
“Not all Evayks made it…” Ct’Era growled. “Definitely not. Kayel is gone. So are Retvik and itarfa Tenuk. Maybe Talok is gone too.”
Psiksi opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. “Kayel… he’s… uh… fuck… Please, please don’t tell me he’s dead… Efeksi’s dead, Enarksi didn’t make it, Eksi’s barely alive, Thitaksi lost his hand, Kass lost her tail… Come on, I can’t lose Kayel too…”
Valorier sighed. “I’m sorry, friend. They’re all gone. I think the only solace is that Retvik died with an unbroken streak, but he left behind two siblings and a poten-partner. And Tenuk has left his brothers behind too.”
“It’s worse than that!” Tromos, the head house fighter, hissed as he approached. “There’s death all over. It’s not just Lord Prince Tanos who has disappeared, Prince Kohra is gone too, and Prince Levik has been hospitalized. The Second Minister of the Torr is gone, so is Mur’Umvul’s eldest daughter. Us Ksithans have lost several of our Redeemed, and the Lanex lost not just their head Imperator, but also the leader of the Perpetual Abyss too. The All-Ksa has vanished, and… you mentioned Retvik’s poten-partner, well, it turns out the fanged General is among the missing too. I’ve… I’ve been keeping track of it all. It’s bad.
“The… the worst thing is… The Raptor is dead too. She was leading a fleet up north to help with the break-ins. Her ship disappeared and was potentially consumed… The Ancient Warlord is no more…”
The gladiators all fell quiet, not really wanting to add anything. They soon noticed that other folks, gladiators, arena staff and security workers alike, had all gathered around, and they’d heard Tromos’s words.
“Friends…” Adelfaniosis raised his arms and his voice, speaking out to the crowd. Being an Athren, his voice was soft, calming and alluring. “Today, we mourn. We have lost a lot. But we have survived. We will continue to survive. We MUST survive, we MUST rebuild. We must continue to push forth, to celebrate the triumphs of those who fell, to continue their legacy. They died for us. We live on for them.”
Everyone around did seem to settle down. But that moment of peace was abruptly replaced by brief panic, as the ground rumbled. Just for a moment though. Despite the earth having moved, everyone found themselves compelled to look up.
In the partly cloudy above, a lithe, red, gold and star-speckled entity could be seen. It was the Panelix, but not quite. As she flew, she left a trail of sparkles in her path, and a spattering of rain began to fall. Amidst the raindrops, a rainbow started to form. Behind her, the Whenvern, with a visibly torn and tattered wing, chased after the Panelix, matching her sparkles with glowing blue glimmers of his own.
The spectacle lasted for a good few minutes as the two deities danced across the sky, and the rain seemed to help calm people’s emotions and make them feel better. Eventually, the Panelix and the Whenvern drifted off, heading to other nearby planets.
“That was… very pretty…” Timik eventually muttered. “It’s a shame Nyssi missed it.”
“Yeah, but Nyssi allowed you to see it…” Adelfaniosis smiled. “We’ll do something nice in her memory, and in the memory of all those we have lost. Thanks to their actions though, we are alive.”
Psiksi also smiled a tiny bit. “We should all get drunk or something. Then build statues of all those who died. With a big one for Kayel, Tenuk, Nyssi and Ret. And a tiny one for Talok, since she was tiny… And… maybe… uh…” Psiksi trailed off, thinking to himself and feeling upset again. Tanok patted him on the shoulder.
“It’ll be okay.”
“Thanks Tanok… Holy fucking shadows, what the fuck happened to your arm?”
Tanok glanced at his missing arm again. “Oh. Yeah. I cut it off. Didn’t want to get eaten by the Corruption.”
“You seem… not at all troubled!” Psiksi exclaimed.
“Yeah. Frozen Scythes emotion blocking. Ora might be a bit annoyed at me, and I’ll probably start panicking in a few hours, but right now, I just, well, exist.”
Tromos clapped his hands together, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Alright, folks! Those of you who are injured, you in particular, Tanok, get yourselves to the nearest medical bay. The rest of you, clean yourselves up, get yourselves fed, then go home. Your families and friends need to know you’re safe.”
“What about you, Tromos?” Valorier queried, noticing that Tromos looked concerned.
Tromos quickly checked his communicator, which he’d heard beep. He read the message he’d gotten. “I was going to clean myself up too, but I need to go. The Arena Council want to talk to me in some reason. I’ll see you all later.”
The head house fighter rushed off, and as he did so, the crowds began to disperse. However, Psiksi and Timik remained where they were. Oddly, Abius also stuck around.
“You alright, big guy?” Timik asked.
Abius shook his head but didn’t say anything. There was clearly something on the giant Rethan’s mind, but Abius was still in “silent guardian” mode, a sort of half Defensive Stance state, and wasn’t really capable of talking.
“Yeah, I feel you…” Psiksi grunted. “I know you’re upset about Ret as well, you two were becoming friends. Abius, Timik, do you both… want to get a drink together? I feel like we’re all in the same boat. And, like, most of my friends are already in hospital or are, well, dead. I’m upset and lonely right now.”
Timik put his arms around both Abius and Psiksi. Well, he tried to. Psiksi was small, Abius was huge. “Come on. Let’s get drunk. I’m sure our favourite Dessaron team would appreciate us getting drunk in their memory. I’m certain Nyssi would…”