A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

The sun bloomed on the horizon, wanting nothing more but to warm and grow the rich blues above. The white puffy clouds flowed along with the wind, and the streets became filled with citizens enjoying the early air.

The horse hooves clapped and rattled against the sturdy cobble on the streetside below, shaking the wagons they carried, and waking anyone with their window still open. Townsfolk and streetside sellers yelled out to potential customers, creating even more morning noise. However, it wasn't disturbing in the slightest.

Mooks, like always, was the first to wake. Mornings were always his favorite. He used the morning to relax, wonder, and enjoy his time alone. He would always plan out his day carefully, being two steps ahead than others in the same position.

Hours passed from sunrise, and the rest began to wake one by one. The sun slowly began to twinkle in the corner of the window, forcing Atlas to wake from what he thought was a dream. However, as his eyes began to adjust to the brightness in the room, he realized it wasn't.

Rina was by his side, underneath the blankets, and still asleep. Atlas yawned, stretching and smiling all the same. He still couldn't believe it was real.

As he perched himself onto the bed, Rina turned around and gave him a tired smile. "Morning," she said softly, itching her eyes to help adjust them to the brightness.

"Morning," Atlas said in a dry voice, making him aware of how thirsty he was. However, looking at Rina half-n.a.k.e.d next to him just couldn't stop him from smiling.

"C'mon!" She jumped out of bed with a blanket over her shoulders, giving Atlas a sudden good-morning kiss and making her way towards the bathroom, "Get dressed, I'm way too hungry to lay in bed all day!"

Atlas chuckled, rolling out of bed with yet another yawn, and getting ready for the start of another day.

…

Like always, the inn provided a complimentary breakfast, so that's usually the place everyone met when the time came. There wasn't a whole lot of room to sit, and the tables weren't big enough to fit many people. Therefore, Mooks did the honors of combining all the tables together to form one large dining table where everyone could fit.

By the time everyone got downstairs, the food was already being served onto the spots Mooks reserved. One by one, Calvin, Mooks, and the entirety of Endless Sun gathered around the long horizontal table, ready to eat like never before.

Calvin took a nice whiff of his plate, smelling the slightly burnt vegetables next to the sunny side up egg, "Ahhhh," He exaggerated, "Nothing beats a fresh plate of morning eggs."

Cartuja gave him a wry look as he scarfed down a bowl of oatmeal with dried fruit, chocolate, brown sugar, sea salt, and a spoonful of peanuts. "Sure bud."

Faibel looked at them both with his usual rude demeanor, carefully wrapping a white cloth around his neck, adjusting his glasses, and taking the smallest possible bite out of his plain omelette.

Mooks had a bowl of meat, but he did everyone a favor to consume it beforehand, leaving him the only one not eating at the table. "How is everyone feeling today?" He asked, watching as everyone's mouth became full.

"Still a little tired," Laena whispered loudly, "But I'm excited!"

"Good to hear. Now," Mooks sighed, realizing everyone was too tired to answer. "I have some bad news." The attention from the food instantly turned to Mooks. "It's about the next stage."

Cartuja dropped his empty spoon back into the bowl, "Man do you eva' bring good news?"

"That's Calvin's job."

"Fair enough," Cartuja agreed unwillingly.

"In the second stage, every round will be a random pick from the Bureau of who participates in the round. And due to the size of the other Guilds, five competitors need to be chosen from every Guild that are willing to compete if chosen randomly." Mooks scratched his head metaphorically, "I hope that makes sense."

"So two of us won't be competing in the second stage at all?" Paris sighed dramatically.

"Correct."

"I'll volunteer as the first to not compete," Faibel announced forcefully as he wiped a smudge of food from the crease of his mouth.

"Would anyone else like to volunteer?" Mooks asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be the one who chooses?" Leo raised an eyebrow.

"Well…" Mooks paused, "I would have personally taken out Faibel and Atlas this stage."

Everyone got silent for a moment, but Leo made sure it didn't stay that way for long, "Atlas?! He's the one who got us in the second stage in the fi-"

"He's right." Atlas cut him off. "I'll sit out this stage. I got lucky… That's all."

"Lucky?!" Leo barked at him, "That wasn't any luck! You completely destroyed him!"

"Even so." Atlas dropped his head. "When I was swallowed into the Abyss, I saw someone there. He looked like me, but older, more... I can't explain it really well, but it definitely wasn't me. It could've been my-"

"Enough." Calvin stopped everyone. "It's decided, Atlas and Faibel will not be competing in the second stage. So that leaves it all to you five to bring us to the third."

Laena gulped a breath of nervousness down her throat, hoping she doesn't get randomly chosen when the time comes. However, Cartuja gave her a look that only the two of them could understand, making Laena feel slightly better.

Cartuja got up with his empty bowl, "Ight, I'm done, I'll catch ya'll later." He turned around, giving Laena his final glance, "Meet me at our usual spot, we'll get it this time." He said towards her.

Everyone looked at Laena like she was hiding secrets, but she brushed it off as nothing but an inside joke.

Mooks scratched his neck, physically this time, "Five days until stage two. I'm not telling you to practice, but keep your spells and agility in check. It's only going to get more difficult from here." He jumped out of his seat, and headed for the exit.

Before he left, he strolled past Rina and Atlas, giving them a suspectful look. "Keep the noises down past midnight. Please."

Luckily, no one else heard him, but it was enough for Rina and Atlas to flush embarrassingly and apologize.

"Wait!" Rina called out to him.

Mooks stopped, turned around, and was actually surprised for once. His eyes widened as Rina pulled out her necklace from underneath her shirt, and he could easily see the six imprints covering half the sides of the dragon hearts.

"I've waited long enough," Rina claimed, gripping the string tightly.

Calvin gave Mooks a relaxed look, "She only needs one more. It's up to you if you want to-"

"Very well." Mooks cut him off. "Give it here." He motioned.

Rina put the necklace around Mooks's neck as he instructed her to do so. He then opened up one of his sharpened fangs, making a tiny gash midline on his leg. A couple drops of blood fell to the floor, but the rest landed on the heart. "Violet Ambrose," Mooks began, crossing his tiger arms, "Erom ecno evil uoy yam dna, nettogrof eb reven uy yam."

The sagittarius symbol began forming on an open side of the heart, followed by a faint, glowing blue light from within it.

Everyone waited with anticipation for something, anything to happen, but nothing ever did. Only blank stares and confused looks focused back on Mooks, and then on the heart.

The light subsided, the seventh mark appeared, and everything went back to normal. Mooks slid the heart off his neck, handing it to Rina. "Do you truly want to bring her back?" He asked, knowing the answer.

Rina nodded slowly, but there was no hesitation in her answer. "What… Should I do with them?" She said as she watched the remnants of Mooks's blood soak into the edges of the heart.

The faint white light inside Azimore's heart vanished into the air, and the light inside Oryx's did as well shortly after. Rina felt a sudden tingle run down her back, but she dismissed it as nothing more than a fluke.

"The only reason I'm doing this," Mooks started in a low, strong voice, "Is because Violet's life was stolen from her. If she died in battle, you wouldn't have my vote."

Calvin gave him a wry look of disagreement, but it wasn't the first time Mooks's words hurt more than they should.

"Now," Calvin leaned back in his chair, taking another large sip of his coffee, "We wait. Wait to see if we succeeded, and wait to see if Violet will truly return."

"What do you mean by will?" Rina hesitated in her response.

Calvin reached over to grab a piece of toast, carefully placing a slice of butter on it, and taking a hard bite. His emotions were boggled in his mind, but he did nothing to show it. "We have the majority vote in bringing Violet back, but the final vote isn't up to us. The Gatekeeper will make that decision, and whatever it turns out to be, we'll find it whenever it comes. For now, keep the hearts safe. None of the Zodiacs have ever done this before, so even I don't know what comes next."

"I see," Rina whispered, sitting back down and putting the heart's away for the time being.

To say the least, it wasn't the best morning after the previous night's laughs and drinks. However, it showed promise, hope, and restlessness all the same. Mooks strolled off to a meeting with Flint, Calvin continued his stay at the table, and everyone else just remained silent.

"So," Leo butted in, loosening up the tension around the table, "Wonderful weather we're having eh?"

Faibel sighed boringly, a few cracked a smile, but the attempt was appreciated. Leo took another bite out of his extra spicy omelette, followed by a sip of orange juice to help it go down.

Paris finished the last bite of her avocado toast, carefully wiping her mouth and thanking the chefs in the back for the meal. She excused herself, wondering off with no one stopping her.

Cartuja, who was already in the hall waiting for someone to leave, bolted after her into the street. He had no specific intentions, but he didn't have any plans until the afternoon with Laena, leaving his morning as free as a bird.

"Following me now I see." Paris said, keeping her attention on the street, away from Cartuja.

"Something's buggin' yu lately." Cartuja shoved his hands in his pockets like usual, and walked alongside Paris on the street. "I can see it, pretty obvious too, yu know?"

"Says the one who nearly cried after one loss…" Paris kept her voice stiff, dismissing the thoughts of him being right.

Cartuja stayed silent for a moment, losing his carelessness into a deep thought of complexion. "You weren't there. You haven't been inside the Throne yet." He paused for a moment. "With all those people watching. With all your friends rooting for you. Being defeated felt more than just a loss. It felt like a betrayal to everyone."

Paris stopped, taking Cartuja's words more meaningful than she normally would. She turned to him slowly, looking him in the eyes. "There was a girl at the bar last night…"

"There were many." Cartuja chuckled a bit, but kept himself under control.

"Ugghh." She flicked him on the head, turning back around and continuing her morning walk. "The one wearing the Kimono, with the holstered blade by her left side."

"Watabout her?"

"She came up to me…" Paris's voice became distant, almost seeming hollow and fragile, "She said she was going to kill me…"

"Kill you?" Cartuja almost laughed, but didn't. "C'mon it had to be a joke or somethin'."

"It's not what she said, it's the way she said it… Her voice, the world of black and white, her pressure…" Paris stopped again, this time taking a seat on a nearby bench alongside a few trees and lowly houses.

Cartuja sat beside her, leaning back and staring at the streetside with her. "Wat's er name?"

"Celestia Blink," She answered softly.

"Hmmm." Cartuja thought for a moment. "Neva heard o' her."

Paris played with the red ribbon in her hair, lost in the thoughts of the days from her youth. The golden fields of wheat. The beautiful scenery outside her windows. The days of practice Rosetta coached her on. They all seemed so distant, but they still lingered in her mind like a loose string.

"Forget about it." Cartuja broke her from her thoughts. "Ignore her, she just goin' keep tauntin' yu. Tell yu what!" Cartuja jumped up from the bench, reaching out his hand for her to grab. "Lemme take you out for dinner. My treat." He said with a smile.

Paris giggled a bit at Cartuja's face, "And with what money exactly?"

"Money?" Cartuja shrugged, "Don't need any, it's on the house!"

"Are you referring to the complimentary dinner we get for being participants?" She said with a strict voice, standing on the thin line between laughter and anger.

"Only if you think it is!" Cartuja kept his hand holstered in the air, waiting for her to grab it.

Paris smiled, sighed, and grabbed his hand to push herself off the bench. "A date it is then, crybaby." She laughed privately. She knew he was doing this to cheer her up, but his plan was far too good for it to fail, and her thoughts about the previous night vanished, even if it was just for the time being.