Clutching Suu in one hand, Mercy asked a few more questions. She looked as panicked as Lindon was.
But he didn't hear the answers. When Charity walked away down the hall, Pride striding after her, Lindon followed like a puppet.
His Remnant arm began to twitch with the disorder in his spirit. He wanted to do something, to start looking for them. Or to avenge them.
After only a few minutes of walking, Charity ushered them into a plain gray room with tables, benches, shelves, and cabinets lining the walls.
“This is your team preparation room,” Charity said. “It is located inside the grand arena itself. Here you will make yourself ready for each round and leave behind any weapons that are not permitted in the round. No one can access this place except our team or authorized representatives, so they will remain safe.”
Pride pulled a void key from around his neck and began unloading his belongings into a cabinet. Lindon stood there, running over questions in his mind, and Mercy watched him.
Charity met his eyes then reached up with two fingers. Madra of shadow and dreams played around her fingers, and Lindon jerked his head back. Dross, however, said [Oooh, I wonder what this is,] and put up no defense whatsoever.
The Sage's fingers tapped Lindon's temples.
His doubts, fears, and worries washed away as though he'd been cleansed. He took a deep breath, like a weight had been lifted from his chest.
What was he worried about? His worry couldn't make things any better. He had a task to do, and there was no point distracting himself before he had concrete information. Any number of things could have happened to the Blackflame team, so why speculate?
Lindon gave a shallow bow to the Sage. “Gratitude.”
“Don't thank me,” Charity said. “It's only a temporary mental block. No matter what happens, I need you to give this round your full attention. But when the Monarch finds them...I will allow you to react however you need to.”
Lindon nodded. That seemed fair. Following the lead of the others, he took off his void key and his halfsilver badge and placed them into a cabinet. Shame about the void key; it contained enough weapons to make any fight much easier.
Charity turned to Mercy. “There will be no sacred instruments allowed in this round.”
Mercy was still watching Lindon. “Aunt Charity, that can't be...”
“It's necessary. Now prepare yourself.”
Slowly, Mercy leaned Suu against a wall, but Lindon had already moved to stand next to Pride at the end of the room. A scripted section of stone would obviously slide up when their preparations had been completed.
Briefly, he wished he was standing side-by-side with Yerin and Eithan instead of the Akura team. But wishes weren't productive, so he merely acknowledged the desire and refocused.
“If you don't even make it past the first round,” Pride said, “you will answer to me.”
Lindon was relieved. “Really? Thank you. I was afraid I'd have to answer to your mother.”
Pride glared at him.
[Whatever Charity did to you, I'm going to have to learn that trick. I like you much better like this.]
The script on the door shone as Mercy joined them, and Charity took a step back.
“I will be watching your progress on the Akura viewing platform. Do our family proud.”
Pride loudly promised that he would, and Mercy nodded, but Lindon remained focused on the door ahead of him. When each of the runes in the script-circle lit, a rumbling of stone sounded, and the section of wall began to slide open.
Letting in a wave of noise.
Deafening cheers crashed over them as the door slid upward, giving Lindon his first view of the arena. The floor was dark gray and smooth, and it seemed very slick—if it was stone, then it was highly polished.
Mercy left first, followed by Pride, and Lindon behind, as he’d been instructed.
As they left the room, bright light and noise overwhelmed him.
His Underlord body adjusted almost immediately, and he took in his surroundings. They walked onto the floor of a massive arena, so large that it looked like it had been designed to host the clash of armies rather than individuals.
Above them, an illusion of light and dreams projected them into midair at a thousand times the height. A giant projection of Mercy waved to the crowds around her, flawlessly reproduced by madra.
Her name unfurled on a banner behind her, and the Ninecloud Soul's voice spoke from all around them: “Representing the Monarch Akura Malice, the Akura prime team presents Akura Mercy, the favored daughter of the Monarch herself.”
The noise redoubled. All around the arena stood eight towers, each built to illustrate the glory of a Monarch faction. The structure had been explained to Lindon already: the Monarchs would watch from a floating platform above each tower as their families and followers watched from within.
As the Ninecloud Soul announced Pride, Lindon glanced back at the Akura tower. It towered over their waiting room, at least eight stories high, all made of wood such a dark purple that it might as well have been black. Unlike many of the other viewing towers, the stands in each level were hidden, covered by shadow madra. He could see nothing from within, though he could still hear the cheers.
Above the tower floated a shrunken mountain growing from shadowy clouds. Dark-leaved trees dotted the mountain, along with a few luxurious-looking houses, but Lindon couldn't make out the details.
Charity and Fury would watch from up there, as would Malice whenever she arrived. The Akura had certainly embraced the image of looming threat.
“The final member of the Akura prime team is an adopted member of an Arelius branch family and a member of the Blackflame Empire vassal state. By the mercy of the Heart Sage, he was raised up to represent the Akura clan: Wei Shi Lindon Arelius!”
The cheers were no less loud for Lindon than for the other two, but he detected a distinct note of confusion, as though many in the crowd could not figure out why he was there.
[I sympathize,] Dross said.
Lindon and the other two walked across to the center of the arena, kneeling in circles that had already been arranged for them on the ground. They knelt next to twelve other young Underlords and Underladies: the Ninecloud Court teams.
They had been introduced before the Akura clan, so Lindon had missed their introduction. But over the last fourteen days he had asked for information on the other teams, so the announcement wouldn't have included anything he didn't already know.
...or so he had thought before he glanced over to get a look for himself. His gaze froze at the young woman in the front of the wedge, the closest position to the center. The same position that Mercy occupied for the Akura.
She looked to be a few years younger than Lindon, maybe fourteen or fifteen, with pale skin and long, blood-red hair. While the others from her faction all stared curiously at the Akura team, she knelt with her back straight and her eyes closed, hands folded on her knees, as though she couldn’t care less what happened around her.
Lindon's nerves pushed at the restraints of the madra Charity had placed around him. Dross, what was the name of the Ninecloud team leader?
[Sha Dellian. You think that's him?]
No, I don’t.
Even if Dellian looked more feminine than his description suggested, he had orange hair, not red. Lindon's memories of his time with Suriel were still very clear, and if he added a few years onto Sha Miara, she might look exactly like the Underlady sitting there.
But there was no way Suriel would have shown him a vision of someone stuck at Underlord. She had placed Sha Miara, as a little girl, on the same level as Northstrider or the Eight-Man Empire.