The Great

Taran Brunner: It was the first time that I had seen everyone in nice clothes and I didn’t want to sound arrogant but we all looked really, really, really good.

Aurora wore a dark blue dress which covered her shoulders, had long sleeves, and hugged her body pretty tightly. She wore a golden necklace which had a glowing white diamond on the end of it. She looked great by all means and I felt a little dirty looking at her since she was already taken… I felt even worse looking at Lila but it was hard not to—she was hard to not stare at normally and now she was in a pretty dress… Her dress was sleeveless and one of her legs was covered by the dress while the other one wasn’t—which I assumed was the design of the dress but that could be wrong… I had no clue what dresses were supposed to look like… Lila’s dress was bright white and had golden vines and leaves woven into its sleeves and overall body. She wore two golden earrings which looked like two mini, beautiful roses with golden petals and a diamond interior. I looked away from Lila and rested my eyes upon Mena.

She wore a very beautiful light blue dress which had silver snowflakes and little diamond flecks embedded into it. The dress had straps on it and also fit tightly around her body but unlike the others Mena had two white sleeves and white gloves which complemented her outfit pretty well. Her soft blonde hair drew me into her gaze and her soft blue eyes made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. Deven looked at me and nudged me hard so that I would stop staring—which I just realized I was doing. I shook my head and looked around at the others. Millen wore a really dark black suit which seemed to absorb all visible light—it kind of looked like he was wearing a literal shadow. He sat next to Melissa who wore a rose gold dress which was similar to Mena’s except that it was a little longer. Evay also wore a nice golden suit which had an ivory white collar, diamond buttons, and rubies embedded into his suit pockets and sleeve hems. Finally, Geon sat next to Evay looking tired but also excited at the same time. He wore a simple gray suit with a crisp white shirt and a dark blue tie underneath. A golden chain with diamond rings laced into it hung around his neck, under his suit and shirt, and he had two diamond-ruby bracelets on his wrists which were probably worth about as much as a nice house.

I sat down next to him and Evay, “Where did you get all of that from? You look like a walking jewelry shop.” Geon laughed and sat up while speaking,

“It turns out winning Ace Warrior at the Youth Championships makes you a lot of money—and I get even more from Eden Academy for winning it too. Anyways, I’m basically rich now.” He held up his bracelets and smirked while I rolled my eyes and looked at Evay,

“Nice suit—where did you get it?” Evay reached over the table in the middle of the carriage and picked out a grape from the basket of snacks,

“It was a gift from the tailor on campus. I told him that I didn’t have a suit and I think he took pity on me. Geon got that for free too but I think it’s because he’s just famous so people give him so much stuff for free.” I nodded and took another look at Geon. He definitely looked a lot worse for wear but at the same time he didn’t seem to be in critical condition. His eyes sort of opened and closed repeatedly and his face seemed to be sunken in. His overall expression made me think that he was really, really, really tired. From what I heard he had just been stabbed through the chest by Teras himself so considering that fact, looking very tired wasn’t that bad. Evay seemed to have healed from the beating he took and he looked pretty ok but he also looked very tired. Evay and Geon had gone through a lot in the last couple months and they had taken the brunt of the trouble. With the war coming up I was kind of worried how they would hold up—hopefully they would. The carriage suddenly stopped and the door opened up. Everyone started to exit the carriage and I stood up and walked out after Evay. Geon tried to stand up but quickly sat back down with a pained expression on his face. Lila walked up to him and gently looped her arms around his and lifted him up. Everyone slowly walked up to the front door of the house and took in the beautiful stone pathway along with the various red, yellow, and green bushes and flowers outside of the property. It had cream colored walls with marble white pillars and a red tiled roof. From what I could see through the big window over the front door of the house there was a glowing obsidian chandelier along with various tapestries present inside. Melissa walked besides me and she spoke in awe,

“Is this…. a real house?” I laughed softly,

“Yeah, it’s one of the various houses provided by the Royal family for select warriors. Today it’s the host of our party.” She nodded and I opened the door and held it open for Melissa. She walked inside and I followed her as I got the whiff of something really good coming from the kitchen. I smiled and spoke with excitement, “I hope that there’s a lot more eating than talking at this party—I’m starving.”

Evay Maver: Mars had told me that I had about thirty minutes to pinpoint this minor noble’s location and inform him and his crew or else the mission would be a failure. I thought it would be pretty easy—I was looking for a tallish blonde warrior named Ilias of house Soara. There weren’t going to be a lot of people at this party and the house was relatively small compared to the palaces and temples that usually hosted these types of things so it wouldn’t be too hard to find this Ilias person—plus I recently figured out that I had super vision so that would also help. The name sounded super familiar as well but I just couldn’t put my finger on it….

I slowed down a bit, stepped backwards, and smoothly fell into Aurora’s arms as she looked at me with surprised eyes. I smiled, “everyone’s going in with somebody and I didn’t want to feel lonely—you know?” She rolled her eyes and laced her arms around mine and led me through the mansion’s giant doors. The interior of the house was so breathtakingly beautiful that it almost didn't really seem real. The walls were made of pearly white marble with flecks of gold engraved into them and the ceiling was painted with extremely detailed drawings of flowers, mountains, rivers, oceans, valleys, and birds like eagles and peacocks. The floor was made out of deep, dark, spruce wood and several rooms furnished with quality furniture and pottery made with porcelain and brightly colored clay were scattered around the house. Above us was the extravagant chandelier which had been visible from outside and a large dining hall with a super long table running down its length was set out in front of us. There was an incredible amount of food—which looked really delicious and also really exotic—set on the table and warriors and members of the imperial government were all walking around with plates and glasses and conversing with each other. I bent down a little and whispered into Aurora’s ear, “I don’t know what half of this stuff is so you’re gonna have to give me a little tour of the menu and what I have to get to look like I’m rich.” She stifled a laugh and whispered back,

“To be honest I don’t even know what some of this stuff is—that’s a black fish ... .or is that not a fish…just get what Mena and Taran are getting—they look like they know what they’re doing.” Mena, Lila, and Melissa waved over at Aurora and she gave them a nod, “have to go, bye.” She gave me a little kiss before running off—leaving me alone in the sea of rich, powerful, and very important people. Geon put his arm around my shoulder and shoved a plate into my arms,

“You have to eat something or at least have something on your plate because that’s how you get into conversations with people, you know what I’m saying.” He smiled at me and I looked at him with a confused expression,

“I don’t—not really at least—how is having food good for conversation.”

Geon went up to the table and picked out some huge and very ripe grapes and tossed on a bunch of ham—or something that looked like ham, “They look at your plate and they’re like, ‘oh you got the…um,” he scooped a spoon of what looked like jam onto his plate, “weird purple shit! I love that as well!’ and then you hit it off and talk about how much you love the said weird purple shit and then you talk about other things. I don’t know man…I’m not rich.” I laughed and pointed to his neck and wrists,

“Your jewelry costs more than one of the buildings back at the academy—you're a rich man.” He shrugged at me before being approached by an older looking man in a crisp gray suit,

“Interesting combinations of flavors Mr.Leventen, I’ve never seen someone combine the juniper berry jam with Levonian ham—is it something I should try?” Geon put on his best, “I’m trying to play it cool,” face and spoke in a confident tone,

“Of course I always eat my…Le..vo…nian ham with the juniper berry jam. It's all I’ve ever had when I was growing up!” The old man laughed and turned Geon away,

“Is that so, well let me ask you some questions first,” Geon gave me a wink and walked with the man into what looked like a living room filled with many other warriors having conversations. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the table and picked up everything that looked familiar. Giant, plump grapes, bright red strawberries, glowing, crescent shaped oranges and weird little things called blackberries all topped my plate as I walked around trying to find this Ilias person. Mars told me to get him isolated—preferably in an open space—and keep him occupied until we could all jump him. All I had to do was find this guy and talk him up. I turned the corner and saw a tall blonde dude surrounded by women out of the corner of my eye. His back was tuned to me and to all of the women and he seemed to be talking to someone. I walked over, looked over the crowd of people, and felt my heart drop. He was talking to Aurora who didn’t seem to be too happy with her current situation. She was trying her best to be polite as she was laughing and smiling while holding her end of the conversation but I could tell she wasn’t really interested in whatever this guy was saying. Maybe it was because I had known Aurora for a while but she was really bad at pretending to like people—which was probably a good thing. It was one of the things she did which made her seem cold and unapproachable at first but some people didn’t seem to get her hints—like this guy. I politely pushed through the crowd of girls and stood next to Aurora who’s face filled with relief. She spoke in a polite tone, “this is the person I was telling you about.” The man nodded and flashed an overconfident and sly smile,

“Evay? Nice to see you again—I remember seeing you two a couple nights ago in that warrior home. I’m glad that we get to meet again.” Aurora looked at me with a confused expression and I did the same,

“Um…I’m very sorry to say this but I didn’t know we had met before—what was your name again?” He laughed and smiled again before speaking with a confident and relaxed tone,

“No worries—I get it—you meet a lot of people right? My name is Ilias of house Soara—it’s a pleasure to meet you again.”

Aurora’s eyes squinted with confusion for a bit before she looked up at me, “Um, I think I may have walked in a little late and you missed me but Evay probably saw you, right Evay? Evay…..” her eyes narrowed with concern as she gazed into my face.

Fuck, so that’s why he looked so familiar….

He was the dude that had defended me against that old guy who accused me of faking my identity. I had forgotten all about him because of all that had happened but it was coming back to me now…. He seemed nice enough, he had stood up for me, and he didn’t really give off any bad vibes either which made it hard for me to believe that he was a psycho murder who had gone and killed a bunch of people. Aurora quickly tugged at my sleeve and gave me a concerned look. I nodded at her and tried my best to give Ilias a comforting smile, “Um, yes I remember–I appreciate that you stood up for me that day, especially since times are a little hard at the moment. Do you mind if I talk to you for a second?” He slowly made his way through the group of women surrounding him and pointed to the balcony which overlooked the garden in the backyard. I nodded and followed him before giving Aurora a look of reassurance. She nodded firmly and slowly walked away. Ilias opened the doors to the balcony and I was immediately hit with the cool night air which seemed to clear my senses and cause my brain to start turning again. He leaned on the balcony fencing and laughed, “Parties like these dull your senses, make you drunk and slow even if you haven’t had any alcohol. It’s weird how that happens no? It’s precisely the reason why there are no special social gatherings in military camps and battlefields–they distract you.” I nodded and he took a sip of some red drink before putting his beautifully crafted glass cup on top of the balcony fence. He stared out at the garden, illuminated by various lamps and torches, before speaking again, “It’s all about balance–balancing the good and fun stuff with the not so fun stuff–balancing the parties, the drinking, and the talking with the killing, conquering, and the fighting. It’s just how things work right?” He took another sip out of his glass before continuing, “But the absolute best warrior in the world is the one whose mind is reversed. They like the not so fun stuff and don’t care much for the fun stuff–the one who’s legs shake out of excitement before battle rather than out of fear. Those are the warriors that do the best on the battlefield and that generally do the best in life.” His eyes weren’t filled with the same bouncy confidence and spark and his voice had simmered down a lot–to the point where he sounded more depressed than anything. I began to get a little tingly sensation in my arms, feet, and hands, as Ilias continued to talk, “Sometimes you just have to do what you have to do–you have to enjoy the dirty parts of the process in order to be a good warrior, you agree right?” I looked at him and tried my best to keep an impartial expression,

“Yeah, you’re totally right, but what’s that got to do with me?” He smiled and stared off into the distance,

“Nothing, it’s just that if you’re going to try and kill me you’ve got to get a lot better at the ‘hiding the fact you’re trying to kill me’ part next time. You’ve got to enjoy the process of stalking, lying, and killing to be good, you remember? That was my whole gist.” My blood ran ice cold as he looked at me with an innocent smile. He laughed softly and stood straight up, “Glow Vial has a very potent presence when exposed to people who can sense liquor–when it’s near a well trained warrior it’s like if you were carrying a sack of rotting garlic in your pockets. But I can tell that you don’t have the glow vial and panic is written all over your face so I’m assuming that your friends—who have the glow vial—are going to try and kill me at any moment? Let me guess, was it one of those landlords I killed?” I steeled my nerves and faced Ilias,

“No, a couple bankers apparently.” He scoffed and smiled,

“Oh, one of my politician buddies had a deal fall through with him—did my friend a favor. He’s the one who was with his kid right? I saw their faces through the carriage before they went…” he made an explosion symbol with his hands while giving me an eerie smile. I looked at him with cold eyes,

“I have a deal with someone and as long as I help kill you I get what I want, and plus you're exactly what I hate about nobles—death is what you deserve.” He laughed and took another sip out of his glass,

“I’m not quite ‘good’ am I—but can you say that you are? It doesn’t really matter anyways—I get what I want and you’ll learn that it’s kind of meant to be that way. If they could stop me—if you could stop me—you would but you can’t…. I was always meant to rule over you, control you, I was always meant to use you—you’ll get it soon enough, you’re a warrior after all.” I looked at him with immense hatred in my eyes as I felt my heart start to beat faster and faster and faster,

“So you’re strong, is that why you can do anything you want? What have the people you’ve killed, the people you’ve tortured, what have they done to you? You’re not god, you’re not anyone special, so who gets to decide who’s over who? What makes you any different than a peasant?” A loud noise rang out into the night as Ilias crushed his glass into fine powder. The sparkling dust flowed down the balcony fence and into the dark abyss of the night as he looked at me with a cold, dark, and inhuman hatred in his eyes,

“Say that again.” My eyes began to glow gold and my hair flashed ivory white as I walked straight into him and stared him down,

“You’re human, peasants are human, who cares if your strong you sadistic fuck, you’re the same as them. You’re just lucky your mom and dad were strong—you’re a free-rider of your own genetics you crazy asshole.” Ilias looked at me for a second before laughing softly. He laughed and laughed and laughed as his voice got louder and louder and louder. He backed up and stumbled with laughter as a maniacal look of pure hate and insanity dawned over his face,

“You…you..you’re pretty fucking brave Evay Maver. I’m a peasant? A fucking peasant? A disease ridden, sickly, weak, stealing, peasant who doesn't deserve to call themselves human? That’s what I am? Do you have any idea how much I hate them?” My hair turned bright ivory white and my eyes flashed gold as beautiful robes adored my body and power seeped into my veins.

“Maybe that’s the problem, you’ve killed a lot of people right? I’ve heard about you minor nobles—too weak to be a major figure in the empire and too strong to be put in the regular military—you can never find a place right? Your over inflated egos and your frustration gets taken out on the only people who you can hurt and not face any consequences—our people, our regular people. For all the hurt you caused and all the people you’ve killed I’ll kill you myself—and I changed my mind. I’m not just doing this for a deal anymore,” I floated off the ground and stared into Ilias’s eyes, “It’ll be fun killing you–I think I’ll enjoy it a lot.”