Roseapov

Falena Kingscholar was dead. The Geo Archon, Sovereign of Savanaclaw, had been assassinated.

“D-Did that lady just say that the Sovereign is… dead?!” During Grim’s exclamation, you nabbed him, snatching him away from the railing as you backed into the shadows of the hallway connected to the balcony. Taking hasty steps back, you avoided the immediate gazes that had fallen upon where you stood previously. “Hey, what’s wrong, disciple? Were you hurt?! You’re breathing weird!”

You had to get out of here. Now. That was the thought at the forefront of your mind. “Grim, they’re gonna think we did it! We have to leave!”

The attack had come from your direction. The spell was one of pyro which was the element you were capable of. You were already under suspicion for the rumors surrounding you and the accident at the sacred statue. Most notably, currently there was no other culprit. It was all too convenient. People already believed you had the power to defy a god’s almighty power, how much of a stretch would it be to say that the same Ruby Rebel with the power of fire who cut the Pyro Archon’s thread now used their power to assassinate one of the Geo Archons? This wasn’t like breaking silly little laws and landing in court, a god was dead and you were to be the main suspect.

When you entered the hallway, there lay the Guards of Haven that had been tasked with following you. All of them had been knocked unconscious. Someone capable of taking out not only multiple high-ranking Guards of Haven but also the God of Strength had been responsible for this. Among them, at the very end of the corridor, was Jack Howl. He too had been knocked out.

“Is… Is he dead too?” Grim inquired quietly, the worry obvious in his voice. When you set your guide down, he immediately padded over as you paused to kneel beside the fallen guard.

As your fingers brushed over Jack’s face, you watched the slight up and down movement of his chest while Grim tried to nudge his cheek. He was breathing, so that meant he was alive, and there were no visible injuries. “He’ll be fine.” Whoever was responsible for this must have been powerful. Jack Howl wasn’t weak, and neither were any of the other guards. Seven Knights of the Gavel was easy to imagine defeated, but seven Guards of Haven? As you stood, you squinted as you noticed little particles across his chest and on the floor. Not dirt, but…

Slowly he stirred, groaning as his eyes began to open. It seemed as if he were disoriented. While relieved that he was alright, you wondered what he would think. Would he believe you, or blindly follow orders to capture you? Blinking so his eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, his head turned slightly and recognition flashed in that golden gaze. “Grim? (Y/n)? What…?”

There was yelling ringing out from nearby stairs and corridors, getting closer and closer. At the potential prospect of being chained like a criminal and confined to a space just like Riddle Rosehearts had done to you in the Fyrosian Palace, you blanched. “Sorry, Jack.” Before he could process what was happening, you picked up Grim and ran while ignoring his shouts.

The Gol Colosseum was like a maze, full of stairs and corridors between stone walls. The amount of people here served to your advantage as other Guards of Haven were too preoccupied with attempting to quell the unrest and keep everyone in by physically sealing the exits with towering barriers of earth that were summoned from the ground. Even the windows were sealed with stone, casting the halls and cramped spaces in total darkness. The only light came from the sun peeking through the cloudy sky, slivers of light pouring in from the very top of the Gol Colosseum.

“We need to find who did it before they try to hang us for it! Grim, do you smell anything? Anything at all from the balcony we were on?”

As Grim opened his mouth to answer, a spear flew by and landed between the two of you, nearly skewering both of you in the process. Guards of Haven across the hall had found you, either they recognized you as the Ruby Rebel or they had seen you fleeing from the balcony and now they were on the attack.

“Quick, Grim…!” You called out, Grim having the same idea as you.

“On it!” First he opened his maws to spew the deadly blue fires, and you added your own from your palms so the torrent of flames filled the entire hallway ahead of you. Although if you knew anything about Guards of Haven, is that they would clear through it quickly.

After a moment, you stopped creating pyro and shifted to place your hands against the ground just as you had seen skilled geo magic users do. If you could muster that same strength you had when you accidentally severed the Geo Archons Statue, maybe you could collapse the hallway and block the path. “Come on, move!” You shouted, as if the earth would listen to you if you shouted. Why would geo listen when you were soon to be blamed for the death of the element’s archon? In response there was no crack or floating rock but instead dirt shot upwards to form a dust cloud that mixed with Grim’s blue flames.

That would have to suffice for now, because the geo element was stubbornly refusing your command.

The moment Grim’s flames stopped as he prepared to bolt with you, is when the barrage came. Rocks the size of your torso came hurtling at you and Grim from the dying flames and cloud of dust. There was no time to react, there were too many for your pyro to defend against and you couldn’t even create a barrier of stone to protect yourself. So focused on trying to create some sort of pyro strong enough to at least defend Grim, you failed to notice the figure that tackled you and your companion out of the way.

Abruptly you were crashing down the nearby flight of stone stairs, caught in a mess of your limbs, Grim’s gray fur and forked tail, and familiar strong arms coated by bronze plates. The hard surface must have nicked your skin and the harsh landing would have caused bruises. A calloused hand cradling the back of your head protected your skull from hitting the pavement as you landed on your back.

The force of the fall knocked the wind out of your lungs, causing you to gasp as Grim was yowling from his place squished between you and the Guard of Haven who tackled you. “Jack! Let me go right now!!” The tips of your fingers grazed over his armor, threatening to heat up and burn as his own sharp claws held you down. You could have opened your mouth and tried to breathe pyro, Grim could have done the same thing, but neither of you wanted to seriously harm the very wolf that brought you to the Sovereign. Wait… he brought you to the Sovereign.

In your daze, Jack managed to haul you up to your feet and hold Grim by the scruff. However, unlike how you expected he would react to the main suspect involved in the death of his Sovereign, he didn’t scowl down at you in disgust. In fact, he was entirely solemn as he opened his mouth–– and all his words were drowned out as you were bombarded. You were shoved against a wall by someone else.

Guards of Haven were flooding the bottom of the stairs, pinning you to the rugged stone walls as they searched you for weapons and confiscated your satchel, slapping those familiar magic-blocking handcuffs over you. You had broken them once before in Heartslabyul, but that was an accident, and these were not only notably thicker but also heavier on your wrists. Normally, you would have fought to at least stay with Grim, but in this instance he was safer with Jack Howl. If anything happened, you knew Jack would actually defend Grim.

That didn’t stop Grim from thrashing and screeching, attempting to scratch as Jack prevented the little entity from rushing to your side and meeting the same fate.

Your mind was currently elsewhere. Jack Howl, Captain in the Guards of Haven, had brought you here to meet the God of Strength, Sovereign of Savanaclaw. Why? Perhaps it was spurred by some sort of understanding between you and the wolf, maybe he genuinely respected you in a sense, or at least he liked you enough to do this for you. The point is: Jack Howl had a good heart despite his rough exterior. There was no way he was connected to the pyro attack because his element was cryo, and he admired the Sovereign so he would never assist in a plot to assassinate the archon. At least, he would never assist willingly.

As you were dragged to your feet by infuriated Guards of Haven, you felt the aches and pains all over your body. That wasn’t enough to snap you out of your train of thought. There had been tiny grains of sand among the dirt on Jack when he was unconscious. There were not many who could use sand that was a subtype of geo magic, except the Fisarun and their god. You recalled that important detail Jack had mentioned, that Leona Kingscholar had been the one to send him to patrol in Banagi Badlands. It must have been for a reason, Jack had claimed. Was this it? Was this the reason? Did the God of Intellect not only play you and Grim but also Jack Howl? But why?

That question was seemingly about to be answered, as you were shoved onto your knees and out of your stupor. When you came to, you were on the arena floor. There was no God of Strength present, just the broken stone left untouched in the rubble and a figure kneeling in front of it.

That eerily familiar individual with a dark mane was facing away from you, methodically and meticulously gathering the shattered pieces of the strange stone. Reverently he cradled the broken orb in his palm. You recognized that figure anywhere. Even if his outfit was vastly different, no longer so simple but rather intricate with a gold necklace like fangs hanging around his neck and more golden bands around his wrists. Had he not been the object of your frustrations since yesterday, you may have not recognized him in the new attire. Now, he actually looked like a deity, not a simple entity. Rather, he was not just any deity, he was one of the two Geo Archons––now the only Geo Archon left.

When your lips parted, you weren’t sure if you were going to try and spit pyro at him or curse his name, whichever came first. Without even turning to acknowledge you, he flicked his finger and sand flew over your mouth to prevent any sort of threat, physical or verbal, from escaping. The same thing must have happened to Grim, because all his yowling came to an abrupt halt. Off to the side, Grim was still being held by the scruff in the hands of none other than Jack who appeared conflicted and bewildered.

Of course he would be bewildered. Everything happened so fast, you were barely processing it yourself.

The Guards of Haven, which had forced you to kneel at the feet of the Geo Archon, took slow steps back and they too displayed acts of reverence. It wasn’t at the same level as enthusiasm as it was towards the God of Strength, but the guards were compliant enough to bow their heads low in submission.

As if sensing the slight movement you made to get back up, sand shifted to encase parts of your legs, chaining you down to the earth. How was he even doing that without looking at you?

Once all the pieces of the orb were gathered in his palm, the God of Intellect finally stood and turned to face you. Again you were met with that accursed gaze, one eye a vivid green and the other eye cloudy with his signature scar. Just like the previous times you had met him, he appeared apathetic even as he looked down upon you struggling against the sands. “You…” His voice was low and quiet, as despair overtook his hard features. “What have you done?”

It dawned on you that this had been his plan since the very start. It was why he decided to spare you and Grim in the Unseen, it was why he left you with his subordinate Ruggie Bucchi in the Dwelling of the Wise, it was why he specifically sent Jack Howl to patrol Banagi Badlands so he would discover you there and bring you here. Here, where you became the key suspect in the assassination of the God of Strength. You were the perfect candidate given your reputation, he knew who you were the moment his eyes landed on you at that first encounter and he took full advantage of it.

Cradling the orb, he raised it ever so slightly so those around him could see. In the sunlight it glittered beautifully like the rarest of gems, but it had been fragmented. Particles of sand slowly moved the pieces back into place, keeping them loosely connected. In a voice, stronger than the tone he used with you, he declared, “The Sovereign is dead.” I was never meant for more than I currently am, and you, well… you’re both not meant to be here. Those were some of the first words the God of Intellect had ever spoken to you days ago in the Unseen. Now, he had dissimilar words for you, acting as if you two had never once met before. “Had it not been for this human mortal and their feline companion, my brother would still be alive standing before you today.”

He was lying! It was all a ruse! You wanted to shout and scream at the gods, at him, at Leona Kingscholar. The Sovereign of Savanaclaw, whose true form lay irreparable in his hand, was dead but it was not your fault! Countless harsh gazes bore upon you, and it was as if you were in the courtroom all over again. Yet this time, you saw no way out. There were no legal loopholes, no fighting against them, and no escape from a god.

Leona used both hands to hold the orb, sand encompassed it completely in a protective layer. If that stone was the God of Strength’s true form, then was the God of Intellect’s true form the same?

Carefully he passed off the fragmented remains to the lioness Captain of the First Division beside you, who could do nothing but accept the task of carrying what was left of the God of Strength. “Lesser Lord Kingscholar, Prince Cheka went missing in the midst of the confusion and mayhem.”

“Search for him, deploy all guards.” Walking over to Jack who stood stiffly, Leona held his gaze for a long moment before taking Grim by the scruff. Did Jack even realize he had been a pawn in this plot? “We cannot risk losing my precious nephew too. No one rests until he is found.”

Before you or Grim could throw another fit, your guide was tossed towards you without warning. Luckily you had enough freedom to move your arms despite your hands being chained, so Grim landed in your embrace. The small feline entity’s big blue eyes gazed up at you, and you felt his tail wrap around your arm just in case they attempted to separate you two again.

“I will take it upon myself to interrogate the killers. What was it you said? Ah, I remember the report now… I’m going to kill that damn Geo Archon.”

When the sand from your mouth dropped, there wasn’t even a full second to act before you and Grim were abruptly pulled into the ground below. Sand enveloped you completely, coating you entirely and getting into your eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. It was suffocating you, and burying you completely. You tried to protect Grim, hoping that if you used your arms to cocoon him then maybe he would avoid the same fate. However, when you felt him squirming frantically, you knew that the sand was seeping through your defenses and slowly suffocating him too.

Sand was lighter, different from rocks and the very earth. If you could move a pebble, then maybe you could move sand––!

Any attempt was interrupted as a force propelled you upwards and suddenly you could breathe again. The handcuffs had disappeared while you were buried alive, but now there was sand everywhere. Sand came falling out of your mouth as you nearly retched to get every single particle out of your system, and so too did Grim. The familiar sensation of sand shifting across your skin made your skin crawl, as it was magically brushed off with a distant wave of a hand that wasn’t yours.

“Leona, you…! You—!!” Everything had been planned, and seeing the slight smirk by the God of Intellect was all the confirmation you needed.

Just as you were about to act on your promise to throttle him, Grim dug his claws into your arm as he murmured fearfully, “Disciple, don’t…! Leona is an archon!”

There was the painful reminder that Leona Kingscholar was far above you. There were mortals like you, then the common entities like Grim, followed by deities, and at the top of the food chain were archons like Riddle Rosehearts and Leona Kingscholar.

The God of Intellect watched as you glared at him from across the room. The area was simple, with plenty of space and no one to bear witness. It had lounges and pillows and vases, possibly a room connected to the Gol Colosseum. Keenly he took notice of how you were trembling and how you clutched your hands into fists. “The Ruby Rebel wants to kill me, hm? Ooh, how I quiver with fear.” Did he feel no sense of grief at all for his brother?

Without thinking, you surged your free hand forward so that your punch against the air formed a shot of pyro aimed directly at him. The God of Intellect didn’t even flinch as he casually side-stepped, your attack missing him entirely.

In retaliation, he made a slight waving motion so a strong stream of sand was aimed towards you, which Grim intercepted by breathing hot fire. Instead of incurring his wrath, Leona only scoffed, noting dully, “They’ve taught you well.” By they, he meant his own worshippers, those he made with his own hands, at least according to the legends: the Fisarun. “Givin’ up already? Didn’t you want to meet the great God of Intellect? On your feet, mouse, housecat.”

“Grr… I told you, I’m no housecat! That’s a name I won’t take lying down, even from an archon! And my disciple ain’t no meek little mouse either!” Despite initially not wanting to go up against an archon, Grim had your back as he had promised.

And yet, despite it all, despite every attack of pyro and technique you used against Leona Kingscholar, he dodged each one with ease. It’s like he wasn’t even trying, he was toying with you all over again! Even if you and Grim had him surrounded, even if you and your guide were catching and deflecting each other’s attacks in near perfect sync to try and catch him off guard, nothing worked. It’s as if he had eyes in the back of his head because somehow in those moments when he shouldn’t have been able to see you or Grim either due to the amount of flames or where he was facing, he still effortlessly avoided being hit. You had multiple clear shots aimed at his back, and he would move swiftly without so much as the tiniest flame licking at his ornate garbs.

“Huh, is that all? The two of you with your combined strength don't even have the power I possess in one finger.” After a few minutes your gaze met his temporarily, and now he was facing away from Grim but he still bent down to avoid a hit directly in the back of the head. Closing his eyes completely, he sighed not out of exhaustion but of boredom. When you caught Grim’s blue flames and hurled it at the lion, he shifted to avoid the attack while pivoting on his heel. “I was expecting more. Specifically from you, human, who has so much fire. Such a disappointment from the Ruby Rebel, or perhaps they should call you the Killer of Kingscholar now.”

“Shut up––!!” Sand silenced you. With a wave of his hand, a blast of sand hit you when you were least prepared, and it nearly sent you flying. Over your hands and arms, you felt the particles stick to you. Each particle stuck to you like glue, grainy over your flesh. Seeing him set his sights on Grim, and realizing he might actually go on the offensive now, gave you the push you needed as you recalled the priestesses mentioning that geo was about forcing the element to heed your commands. Before you could land on the pillows and some books strewn across the lounge floor, you held a command in your mind and tried to fire like how you would launch shots of pyro like baseballs.

Even firing a different element like geo required an entirely different method. Your shot of geo was sloppy, as the sand gathered into an uneven clump like a rock and it shot forward as fast as a flame. You had assumed it would hit the back of his head as if throwing a regular rock, but perhaps all your anger and inexperience had morphed it into something more deadly as you continued to treat the unfamiliar element like pyro. Because it shot forward like a bullet, piercing not only his intricate clothing but also flesh. Or at least, what should have been flesh.

The clump of sand lay on the other side of him, and in its wake it had left a hole the size of your fist where the Geo Archon’s heart should be. The hole was so clear that you could see Grim through it, and the small feline entity was just as stunned and horrified as you were.

There was no blood, no entrails, just sand. Sand everywhere. Sand was slowly streaming from his injury, but he was oddly still.

Grim screeched in terror and ran towards you, his fur standing on edge as he ran as fast as his little paws could take him until he jumped into your arms. You had landed on some pillows on the carpet, so the fall wasn’t all that bad, but you steeled yourself for whatever the God of Intellect planned next as you clutched Grim protectively. Archons weren’t human, but you had never actually hit one to see what would happen.

Leona turned back to face you, his impassive exterior steadily shifted to the slightest traces of an intrigued smile beneath that stony mien. It only took a second for him to fully face you, and in that single second, the hole shrunk as sand filled it until it looked like you hadn’t even touched him. But you had. You hit an archon. “Pretty bold, I can respect that. No one’s had the guts or the skill to hit me in centuries… You caught me off guard.” He regarded the duo curiously, specifically honing his gaze on the mortal as a smirk tugged a little more at the corner of his mouth. “So they weren’t imagining things, you really can use two elements. I try not to make a habit out of preying on the weak, so generally you would be safe. But after what you’ve learned, I can’t stand idly by and allow you two to scatter.”

“Oh, I’ll show you weak!” Invigorated by the adrenaline and confidence boost that came with managing a successful geo move and landing a hit, you only stopped when Grim was tugging at your sleeves and preventing you from going at it again.

“Disciple, let’s go…!” Your companion pleaded, his paws on your arms as he attempted to sway your mind. “This guy ain’t gonna give us any answers. Look at him!”

You gazed down at Grim as you got up, and tried to gather your bearings as sweat had gathered on your brow. Wiping it away, you frowned slightly at the sight of your guide’s pleading gaze that was so hard to say no to. If you left now though, what would it all have been for? The God of Intellect was right here! It’s not like there was anywhere for you to go right now anyways. “We have to try. We’re right here, Grim! Besides, if he doesn’t answer, I’ll force an answer!” You had no idea how you would go about accomplishing that, but those were details that could be worked out later.