A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

During the 'intermission weeks,' as some would call them, rarely anyone ever practiced for future rounds in the Throne. Most of the competitors needed to preserve as much energy for when the time came, and getting a possible injury before a fight was never ideal. Besides, if anyone asked another for a friendly spar, they would most likely just get laughed at anyway.

However, for Cartuja, none of that mattered. His defeat left his mind in betrayal to his Guild, and he was too close in creating his ultimate weapon to avoid any sort of practice. The only problem lied in the activation of this weapon, and that Laena was the hidden key to its awakening.

He met her in a pretty secluded part of the capital. A place where no one really ventured out to, or bothered to go with no special occasion; the small patch of trees and broken houses on a far corner of Warceter.

It was a quiet, small, but pretty open space of land. The broken houses were from centuries ago that no one really bothered to rebuild or destroy. Vines covered most of the environment, occupied by a scent of moss and dry stone. The dirt molding the ground was firm, but it was enough to leave your shoes dirty if one bothered to stay in it for a long enough time. Either way, it was a perfect place to escape from the city's rumble and unwanted noise.

"Kay," Cartuja slouched his small travel sack next to a pine tree. "Seems good enough here." He took a big whiff of fresh air, bending his back to relieve the stress from the walk.

Laena followed behind him, luckily dressed in walkable clothing for once. Her tension increased the further they went into the trees, but because there were so few, the streetside of the capital was still visible between a few perfectly placed cracks of sunlight.

Cartuja stuck his arms out for her to grab, ready to begin. "Les' do this."

Laena grabbed his muscular forearms nervously, gulping any hesitation down into the deep chambers of her stomach. "Are you sure, y-you want to do this Cartuja?" She asked in a soft, nervous voice.

He nodded without hesitation, insuring her there's nothing more he wants except for this.

She sighed, squeezing his forearms, and concentrating on giving him the strength he needs. "Heaven's gift." She whispered, feeling the light escaping her body and entering Cartuja.

He grunted as a sudden shock of pain hit his arms through her hands, but he ignored it, focusing on the bright light glowing around him. He kept his eyes closed, but the longer Laena held her hands on him, the more painful the light became.

Continuing to release the spell, Laena looked up at him, seeing the visible signs of pain on his face. "H-how are you feeling?" She asked quietly.

"HHUGGH." Cartuja tried to respond back, but the second he opened his mouth, only pain came out. "Fine…" He said rapidly, feeling the sweat rolling down his back, and the pain increasing. "How m-" He cut himself off, then tried again. "How much longer."

Laena looked down at her arms, feeling twinges of pain creep up on her as well. However, she stopped, letting go and stopping the spell. "I'm sorry, but I don't think this can work."

Cartuja grasped for air as the pain went away, feeling the slight increase in strength, but not nearly enough of what he d.e.s.i.r.ed.

"Cartuja," Laena stepped back, "If this goes any further, you'll pass out… I don't think your body can handle this much…" Her voice sounded dry, but her face remained consistent.

"I don't care about a little mosquito bite worth of pain," He lied, as the pain was much, much worse.

"Well, it's not up to you." Laena hesitated, feeling a rush of nerves enter her voice. "Even if the spell works, your body won't be able to sustain longer than ten seconds at most… After that, I don't know what will happen..."

Cartuja exhaled a breath of frustration, but hustled it off and took a seat against a stub. One knee up, and one laying flat in the ground. He caulked his head back so it balanced itself against the edge of the stub, looking up at the skyscraping pine trees above him. "I just don't want to let ya'll down again…"

"You won't" Laena nearly barked at him, but her voice could never sound angry to anyone. "We can try it one more time., but the second I see you're in pain I'm stopping."

Cartuja sighed, normally this time. "Thank you."

…

Cartuja and Laena stayed for two more hours, failing every time they tried. It left them frustrated, but they both had something to look forward to for the night.

Laena was planning on exploring some secrets of the city with Faibel and Rina, while Cartuja had his date with Paris in the inn. Even Mooks and Calvin had plans to meet with Flint to find out some early details about the second stage. Everyone else however, had absolutely nothing to do. So, like usual, Leo and Atlas being the last ones without a thing to do, would most likely end up brawling with each other all night long.

Either way, it was a thing to do after all. However, as Leo and Atlas wandered through the open trees where Cartuja and Laena practiced earlier in the day, they noticed something odd about the surroundings.

It wasn't necessarily strange in any way, but it was unsettling, almost like the silhouette of a chair with clothes on it in a dark room. The lights from the streetside peeked through the trees quite easily, and the navy blue sky still gave off a fairly easy view of the surroundings. Added with Leo's flames, there was nothing they couldn't see.

However, out in a far corner behind one of the trees, they noticed someone standing in the shadows. They couldn't see her face, but it was definitely a girl. Her frame resembled it enough for both of them to realize it.

"Hello?!" Leo howled at her, as friendly as one can be in the late hours of the day. He could feel an eerie presence around her, and the pressure radiating off her was far greater than they even thought possible. "Are you okay? Are you lost?"

The girl remained silent, but as they got closer, she made a motion with her hand as if she was trying to grab the moon, and then settled it alongside her body again.

Leo and Atlas didn't feel a thing, but it didn't take long for them to realize their steps were not progressing them any further. They looked down, then around them, and now the fear of making a mistake kicked in. They were paralyzed from the neck down, standing still, staring at the girl behind the shadows.

"Shhh." The girl placed a finger on her lips, making another motion with her hand and stepping forward. "Don't speak." She said in a masked voice. She then made another similar motion with her hand, and now, even if they wanted to speak, they couldn't.

The girl came closer to them, but they couldn't see her face behind the hood she was wearing. However, her paper-white hair peaked from the corner of her hood like a snake in the grass. The girl wasn't tall in the slightest, but they could tell from her voice she had plenty of years of experience on her.

As Leo and Atlas remained frozen in their stance, she moved in even closer, carefully observing them both. "Now what might two young boys such as yourselves be doing alone in the woods?" She asked laughably, knowing they can't answer. "You know, there are dangerous people in these woods, ones that'll kill without a second thought. But you two knew that already, did you not?" She asked again, receiving no reply.

"What are your names?" She made a gesture with her hand, allowing them to speak.

"What do you want from us?!" Leo's voice trembled with fear, but he tried not to show it.

The girl made a gesture with her hand, preventing Leo from speaking and doing something that seemed to hurt him internally. "That's not what I asked." She shifted her direction towards Atlas, "How about you, are you going to be smart? Or Stupid?"

"Atlas Bright." Atlas said, keeping his tone strict and precise.

"Wonderful!" The girl smiled, but kept her face hidden. She made a motion with her hand again, and Leo was now able to speak once more. However, he seemed to only be grunting and exhaling painful breaths.

"Try again." She demanded.

"Leo… Embers." He said, unwillingly.

"Wonderful!" She galloped excitingly. "Atlas Bright and Leo Embers, what would two young boys such as yourselves know about the seven Laws?"

Atlas and Leo both widened their expressions, giving the girl the exact answer she was hoping for.

The girl pulled back her hood, revealing her young, yet tortured face. It wasn't so much that her face had physcial deformations or scars, but rather the mental torture she's gone through. They could see this girl wanted nothing more but peace and rest, and her reason for freezing them was due to her initial doubts.

"Atlas and Leo." She said with a faint smile, yet her eyes began to water with sadness, "Please. Help me."