After a quick breakfast—and no shortage of teasing from both Mae and Larkin—the group made their way through the streets toward the coliseum. The rising sun[1] cast long shadows across the stone-paved road, and the crowd ahead already buzzed with anticipation.
"So," Larkin said, scratching at his beard with idle thought, "who d'ya think's gonna win today's matches?" He gave a crooked grin. "My bet's on that giant Hittag. I feel like he's gonna knock that prideful knight down a peg or two."
Xain glanced at him, then let out a soft chuckle. "Don't actually bet anything, by the way. We don't need you losing any more of our coin."
Larkin raised both hands in mock surrender. "Ain't sayin' I will. Just sayin' I'd win if I did."
Xain hummed, eyes flicking forward as he thought. "I don't know, honestly. It's not like I know much about either Hittag or Calvinel. Sure, Hittag's huge, probably stronger too, but Calvinel's a knight. He'd have to be a solid fighter to become one."
"You know who we all can safely bet on?" Mae chimed in from the other side, her tone confident. "That other knight—Bryanard. He's absolutely going to win against that bounty hunter, Amos. Even he knows it."
Zee nodded in agreement, crossing her arms as they walked. "Yeah. I don't think Amos stands a chance against Sir Bryanard."
Drack, as usual, walked in silence, trailing slightly behind them.
The coliseum came into view, already surrounded by swarms of people funneling toward the entrance. The square outside was just as packed as it had been the day before, with the same excitement as yesterday, if not more, considering the people that would be fighting today.
"Quincy has to be happy about this," Xain muttered, eyeing the sheer number of attendees.
Just then, he noticed 'Nerissa' approaching from the side, wearing the same dress as yesterday—almost like it was the only one 'she' owned. The moment soured as the events of last night started worming their way back into Xain's head, right when he'd finally gotten over them.
'Nerissa' didn't look at him. Not directly. Just a quick, sideways glance before 'she' moved to stand beside Zee—placing her between him and Xain like a elven barrier.
Zee blinked. "Uh, hello 'Nerissa,'" she said carefully, then leaned toward him, voice low. "What are you doing, Nori? You're supposed to be using this opportunity to be with Xain."
Nori furiously shook his head and flipped open his notebook hanging from his belt. He scribbled quickly and held it up for her to read:
"I can't stay close to him after last night! That was so embarrassing!"
He really was Xain's best friend.
Xain opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He just stood there, mentally stunlocked, as Mae chuckled beside him.
"How sad," she teased, "the woman you flirted with last night won't even speak to you. That has to be damaging to your ego."
Xain's face lit up red, eyes wide. "I–I don't care about stuff like that!" he snapped back, voice high with flustered defensiveness. He genuinely didn't, but that didn't stop the heat crawling up his neck. "I just—ugh, whatever. Let's just go to the waiting room." And with that, he spun around and walked off, too embarrassed to stay a second longer.
Mae laughed, clearly enjoying this. She turned to the others and gave a playful wave. "Have fun in the back row~" she called before following after him.
Nori let out a long sigh of relief as Xain disappeared from view. Last night had just been too much for him after all these years.
"Well," Larkin said, rubbing the back of his head and glancing toward the entrance, "I suppose we should be making our way to our seats."
Everyone nodded in agreement and headed into the coliseum.
Meanwhile, Xain and Mae made their way into the fighters' waiting room, where most of the competitors were already gathered. Mellow was notably absent—unsurprising, really, considering how badly things had gone for him yesterday. If he'd dropped out entirely, no one could blame him.
"You're here," Roland said, spotting them as they entered. "After last night, I wasn't sure you would be."
Xain recoiled like he'd just taken a psychic blow to the head. "Please don't bring up last night!" he groaned.
Roland raised both hands slowly, since his back was still seemingly not doing all that great. "Okay, okay, calm down. I won't."
He nodded toward the rest of the room. "Can't speak for the others, though."
Xain looked around—and immediately locked eyes with Edluar. The half-elf instantly turned away, unable to face him. Xain did the same. Neither could bear to look at the other, but for Xain, after enduring all the teasing he had faced in the morning, it stung enough to make him want to cry.
"Hey, brat!" Even called out with a grin. "Good to see you're still standing after that great fall last night."
Xain jerked his head toward him, lips parting to retort—but Ulrich beat him to it, chuckling.
"Come on, don't tease him too much. We'll have plenty of chances for that after today's matches."
Xain dropped his shoulders. He was never going to live last night down, was he?
"Hey. Enough talking," Zeva said suddenly, her voice sharp and direct.
Everyone turned as she stepped toward the viewing window. Her eyes narrowed.
"I think it's about to start."
One by one, they moved to the glass, just in time to watch Quincy take to the air, her dramatic entrance exactly the same as the day before. Wings spread wide, she soared high over the coliseum, voice echoing across the stone walls.
"Welcome back, everyone! To. The. Tournament. Of. Greatness!"
[1] I think this is correct. The sun does keep rising till 12ish.
-The Editor.