The group sat around in the plush, overly comfortable couches. They had been ushered into the executive suite just before the Tu’i, Rua, had accepted her challenge.

While the 3 inhabitants looked like average candidates, they had been escorted by the head of communications herself. She had assigned her two personal assistants to tend to their needs and had excused herself.

“That Vaha.” chuckled one of the 3. “He enjoys making the rest run around a little too much. He could at least come say hello.” The woman’s face had an ageless, confusing look to it. She simultaneously appeared extremely old and youthfully young. Her large afro was perfectly kept, not a single hair out of place. Everything about her felt wild, untamed, ebullient. Her sense of fashion reflected this, it was tastefully rambunctious.

“He is how he is.” rumbled one of the others. The voice tumbled out of their mouth like a landslide, rumbling from deep within their gut. Despite their voice their features were androgynous. They were one of the middlesex, belonging to both binary definitions and to neither. Their shoulder length hair was prim, perfectly topping off the professional look they preferred. They made wearing an all white suit seem perfectly normal and completely acceptable.

The last of the 3 sat quietly. Her legs crossed underneath her as she watched the ensuing match. She wasn’t really watching what was happening during the match. More, she was busy studying the fluctuations of mana that occurred. Her large glasses reflected all light, making it impossible to see her eyes. Unlike the other two, she was dressed for comfort. A slightly oversized sweater and a pair of puffy black sweatpants made her look like she just rolled out of bed.

“Maybe Hiku will get him to agree this time around.” Her glasses slid down her large nose a bit, so she pushed them back up. In the moment that they had slid down her dark, eyeless sockets had been exposed.

As the Tu’i’s match came to an end, all 3 sighed heavily.

“That was so boring, Rove!” exclaimed the one with the large glasses as she threw her hands in the air. She was speaking to the woman with the confusing face.

“It really was. These candidates are so lifeless.” Rove ran her manicured hands through her beautiful afro as she yawned. “Maybe if Bue had fought her it would have been more interesting.”

Bue, the androgynous looking one, chuckled. It’s chuckle sounded like gravel being crushed. “Vuvu would be more interesting.”

Vuvu slapped her small hands down on the plush, overstuffed couch cushions. “It’s no fair that Hiku is the only one who gets to play.”

_______________________________________

'Ekolu was slated to be the second Tu’i to accept a challenge.

Just like Rua he had been instructed to take his time.

His understanding of “take your time” would prove to be completely different from any of the other Tu’i. Maybe it’s because of his earnest, straightforward nature, but ‘Ekolu was prone to misunderstanding obtuse instructions. Even simple one’s.

As he exited the Domain he could already sense the waves of fear that rolled off of the candidate. She had changed out of her dark blue two piece dress suit into an all black dress suit with matching shoes. Her professional, scholarly appearance was instantly broken when she laid eyes on the hulking Tu’i.

He had appeared wearing what he usually wore, his malo and nothing more.

His confidence in his being able to stretch out this encounter was steadily waning. The look on her face told him enough.

Approaching her, he attempted to set her at ease by smiling. Her reaction was not what he had hoped for.

She let out a yelp, his attempt at a smile appeared more like a constipated scowl. The candidate wasn’t sure how to react to the confusing expression he was wearing.

‘Ekolu, being used to spending most of his time in the Domain, wasn’t used to interacting with anyone other than the Tu’i and the select few members and candidates he had ever spoken with. He was a very sheltered being.

“Hello, candidate. I am ‘Ekolu, the Tu’i accepting your challenge.”

His calm voice did little to ease the woman. Just like it had affected the last candidates he had spoken with, his slightly high pitched voice threw everything off. It was soft and melodious, at complete odds with his large body.

Rattled, all she could do was nod.

“Instead of fighting.” He began as he walked closer to the woman. “I’d like to have a conversation.”

Instinctively, the woman stepped back and raised a small hand in front of her. She began chanting and activating her throat tatau, getting ready to take flight and run away. Every instinct coursing through her body told her to run, flee, hide.

“No. Dont.” ‘Ekolu stopped in his tracks, holding a hand out defensively. “I really mean it. I just want to talk. Please, humor me.”

The woman’s frantic chanting paused as the light from her tatau faded. “Really?” Her voice wavered as she spoke. Her one word question was filled with both confusion and fear. It was written all over her face, her sweat lined brow and pale countenance, but 'Ekolu probably wouldn't understand.

“Truly. Please, have a seat.” He pulled a couple sturdy chairs out of his shadow and set them across from each other. Wary of the spacing, he made sure to give her enough room so that she wouldn’t feel cowed by his large size. They had to sit at a pretty good distance from each other.

“Please.” He motioned to the seat as he gingerly sat on his own.

The candidate slowly took her seat, as if she feared that it was some sort of trap. This island was already very strange, what did it matter that a large, muscular, mostly naked man had just pulled a couple chairs out of his shadow.

They awkwardly sat, nearly 10 feet apart, in silence. The candidate refused to take her eyes away from ‘Ekolu, even though she wasn’t sure which part of him to focus on. His face wasn’t ugly but it was very distracting that he had nothing on but his malo. ‘Ekolu was completely oblivious that his near nakedness was adding to the awkwardness.

“Now. Please excuse me. I don’t actually speak all that often.” ‘Ekolu was so large that the chair he was sitting in looked comically small. Somehow he fit in it yet his large legs completely outsized the small chair. The juxtaposition between the two sizes was as confusing as looking at an Escher piece.

“Instead of a match of physical prowess, I have a different proposition for you.” Because he rarely saw, much less spoke to, any women other than Wha he was slightly embarrassed. To keep his facade of decorum he decided he would stare at a spot just above the candidates head. He justified it in his mind as a form of respect.

The candidate was unsettled. She felt that something was off about his gaze but she couldn’t place it. Even while sitting he was still considerably taller than her. She could feel that his gaze wasn’t exactly on her. Deciding it was the best course of action, she stared at his chin and remained quiet.

“So, um, as I was saying.” ‘Ekolu suddenly felt very self conscious. He looked down at his chest to see if maybe he had forgotten to wipe something off of him. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, no.” the candidate answered meekly, adjusting her sight so that she was looking him square in the eyes and nowhere else. As she tried to make eye contact she could tell that he wasn’t really looking at her, but over her. She would ignore it, what choice did she have? She continued, meekly. “As you were saying?”

He cleared his throat, still worried that he might have a stain on him somewhere. “Yes, as I was saying. My proposition is this, we will have a conversation but we are only allowed to use our Le’o.”

He was met with a deeply confused look. Being completely oblivious, he wasn’t aware that having conversations while using one’s Le’o wasn’t a normal occurrence. Because he was so used to being around the other Tu’i, who used it offhandedly every so often, he thought that this was a normal thing for everyone.

He cleared his throat again, growing ever more self-conscious. “Again, we will have a conversation. Using only our Le’o. If you can carry a conversation until I am satisfied I will push you through to the Advent round.”

“U-um, o-ok.” The candidates teeth had started to chatter a bit. She tried to force the chattering to stop by biting down softly on her inner cheeks. This gave her a slightly sour expression.

‘Ekolu, misreading the woman’s expression and chattering teeth, thought she was cold. So he snapped his fingers and the arena immediately warmed up slightly.

“Hopefully it isn’t too cold.” He was trying to be wary of her needs, not realizing he was scaring her even more with his unreasonable displays of power.

“Anyways, do you agree to the conversation?”

After a slight pause the woman merely nodded, still confused as to what was really going on. “So, just so it’s clear for me, I don’t have to fight you?”

‘Ekolu shook his head, trying to adopt an easy smile. “No. Just talk with me. Using only your Le’o.”

Nerves still frayed but a tad bit calmer, the candidate nodded in agreement.

“Good. Then let us begin.”

As he spoke, his words became infused with his Le’o. In comparison to the other Tu’i, his Le’o was less refined. It was raw and it resonated pure power. It was untamed, like the stormy seas during the high seasons. His reserve of Le’o was bottomless but his control was nowhere near as pinpoint accurate as Nima’s or Fiti’s. Where Nima could control his Le’o down to the most finite point, ‘Ekolu had the control of a novice fisherman who had hooked a large, unruly catch.

The candidate nearly fainted as he infused his words. Where she was from she had been hailed as a genius practitioner. A once in a lifetime talent who rarely came around. And she was, when compared to anyone but the Tu’i. Never before had she felt such depths of raw power. It reminded her of the first time she had incanted as a child. The rush of power that infused itself with her first word. Tears began streaming down her face from both rapturous joy and crushing defeat.

How could she possibly match this being? This person who had so carelessly infused his Le’o and had rattled the rafters of the sky?

Not wanting to give in so quickly, she steeled herself to return his exuberance. She mustered all the power she could manage into her answer. Through her falling tears and running nose, she answered.

“Yes!”

She screamed it so hard she launched herself into a coughing fit. It was the first time she had ever had to infuse all of her Le’o into a single word. And yet, it still fell short before this being.

‘Ekolu merely nodded at her response. He had felt it and received it with the utmost ease. And he waited for her to stop coughing. He silently worried that it might be a little dusty in the arena.

As he was about to speak again, his Le’o infused words building their monstrous power in the depths of his gut, the woman flung herself before him.

“I yield! Please! Spare me!”

‘Ekolu sat in stunned silence as the arena was filled with the woman’s sobbing. His disappointment was palpable. The only ones who were able to see the slight quivering in his lower lip were the other Tu’i.

___________________________________

In the Domain, Nima slapped his face forcefully as he groaned. “This guy.”

At the beginning of the match Wha had broken out in laughter when she realized what ‘Ekolu was going to do. It got progressively worse and she was currently laughing and crying while kicking her feet around.

Rua finally took a seat. Instead of her usual standing position behind Nima, she was a little too stunned to be able to stay on her feet.

Wanu had her face buried in her hands, small shoulders quivering from her laughter.

The only one who wasn’t sure what was going on was Taha. The only other Tu’i who could possibly be any denser than ‘Ekolu. Still in his odd crouched position, he stared blankly at the screen. “I don’t get it.”