All around the gathered Tu’i, the shadowy confines of the Domain began to split and crack. Soundlessly the darkness crumbled and fell away. Heralding the arrival of the newest regent, the Domain folded into itself.

As quickly as it had appeared it disappeared, retreating back to it’s safe space.

Lying on the dusty arena floor, the newest Tu’i’s eyes opened as they took the first breath of their new existence.

They sat up, jerkily, as they fumbled around in their new vessel. Out of their mouth an ear splitting scream issued, fluctuating between two distinct voices.

The Tu’i stood vigil, observing the birth of their newest member. Despite the Domain retreating, everything around remained frozen. Every single observer and inhabitant of the island was oblivious to the Advent.

They stood, naked and covered in sweat and grime. While the features were different they still resembled the boy, Sone, and the girl, Mai. Their features shifted in a tireless dance, trying to decide what they wanted to look like. As they rose on unsteady legs the tears continued to flow, the body and souls still mourning.

Standing before them was Nima, waiting. He reached out and gently placed his hand on the newest member of the fold, helping steady them.

“Talua.”

He spoke the new name and imbued it with his Le’o. As the full brunt of his power struck the new Tu’i, he folded them into a hug. His embrace was tender as he acknowledged and accepted them. Like the father that he was accustomed to being, Nima welcomed his newest family member.

After bestowing the name he released them and wiped their tears away, taking in the features of the youngest.

Their eyes were red-rimmed from the tears but they seemed to understand. The memories and knowledge bestowed by the Domain were settling in. Pain and shock still flitted across their face as the unstable emotions tried to right themselves, racing alongside the unsure body.

“Tamai.” Talua spoke as they lowered their head in reverence. They were a part of the fold, one of the Tu’i.

Nima nodded and took their hand as he turned to the rest of the waiting Tu’i.

“Talua.” He spoke again, voice imbued with his overwhelming Le’o.

_______________________________________

Time resumed its ineffable march as the birth of the newest regent of the Motu passed.

All observers remained oblivious. The members of the Conglomerate who were hard at work across the island resumed their daily routines, toiling away for the organization.

Now the arena only had two occupants. And to everyone observing this was how it had always been.

On one end stood Wha, the impressively built Tu’i with her fierce facial tatau.

On the other, the candidate whose name seemed to elude all observers. It was on the tip of their tongues and yet they couldn’t quite get it out.

As if they had just finished a conversation the two combatants nodded at one another and the arena became filled with the brilliant light of their tatau. They simultaneously activated all of their markings as they began their approach.

The candidate had their guard up, high and exposing their midriff while Wha had a loose, low stance.

As they neared one another the first to act was the candidate, lashing out with a vicious right low kick. They loaded a healthy amount of mana into the kick, not even bothering with testing the waters.

Wha checked the kick immediately, leg encased in mana armor as she stepped through it and closed the distance. As she stepped through she brought down her favorite right overhand elbow, height advantage giving her plenty of room to generate power.

The candidate appeared to be ready for the attack as they quickly stepped into it and negated the power while tying the Tu’i up and tripping her.

Wha stumbled backwards but was able to steady herself before falling. She had to cross-guard her head using both forearms as the candidate unleashed a mana empowered right roundhouse kick. Her left arm throbbed as the kick connected.

The candidate continued the pressure, doubling up on the empowered kick. They had felt the slight give in the Tu’i’s forearm so their body reacted instantaneously.

The Tu’i groaned as she tried to use the force of the kick to propel her away from the candidate, slightly pushing off of the kick with her crossed arms.

The candidate had expected this and had jumped off of their pivot foot as the second kick connected. This took some of the power out of the kick and also decreased the distance that Wha was able to hop away. With their leg still outstretched they hooked their foot around Wha’s left elbow and pulled, unbalancing her as she tried to hop away.

As Wha stumbled forward she had to react quickly as an overhead left elbow came crashing down on the top of her forehead.

Instead of blood gushing forth from the deep gash, shadowy smoke billowed out and covered her face. Still not wanting to allow the Tu’i time to collect herself, the candidate continued their onslaught. They followed the elbow with a full bodied right uppercut, stepping into the punch. It connected flush underneath Wha’s jaw, causing some of her teeth to shatter.

As her head was elevated by the uppercut, Wha reacted by grabbing the back of the candidates head and swinging her head down. The vicious headbutt caught the candidate on the nose, breaking it as a familiar shadowy smoke billowed from the injury.

The candidate stumbled, trying to step back and out of the fearsome woman’s grip, but was held tight. Wha reared her head back and brought down another headbutt. This time the candidate was able to entangle Wha’s arms and use them to negate the attempt.

Being slightly shorter than the Tu’i, the candidate then dropped and escaped from the woman’s grasp. As they dropped they immediately latched on to one of her knees and lifted, unbalancing her as they drove their body weight forward.

Wha hopped back and attempted to catch herself, reinforcing her leg that was still in contact with the ground so she would remain standing. She dug her foot into the ground, stopping the candidates advance, as she brought her elbow down on the back of their neck.

The elbow sent a shock wave of pain down the candidates body, causing them to falter and halt their advance. Not wanting to risk further unguarded attacks they let go of their take down attempt and tried to safely disengage.

Noticing the attempt to retreat, Wha followed up with a vicious right up kick, aiming for the candidates exposed face. She had quickly loaded mana into her attack and was looking to pile on the damage. As she was about to connect a deep, gravelly voice rumbled out of the candidates throat as they unleashed a powerful Le’o incantation.

“Stop!”

For a second Wha’s forward momentum was halted as her own tatau lit up. She hastily dispelled the command but was too late as the candidate was able to retreat to a safe distance and gather themselves.

The combatants briefly reset themselves before re-engaging, trading blows as their tatau flashed brilliantly.

Back and forth, the combatants war raged on as the ferocity of their fight grew. As if they were finally properly warmed up, there was barely any time for either of them to breathe.

If the candidate landed a clean kick then Wha would return with a loaded punch. They tangled and untangled, constantly changing positions and showing their mastery over their tatau. The candidates biggest advantage was in their mastery over their Le’o, which was steadily proving to be much greater than Wha’s.

With each Le’o incantation the candidates power grew, the muscle memory drilled into the body they now inhabited slowly increased their control. They poked and prodded at Wha’s defenses, finding weaknesses while continuing to fine tune their control of their seemingly newly acquired Le’o.

After a while both combatants were covered in injuries, shadowy smoke billowing all around them as they both heaved. Wha took a deep breath as she loaded mana into her legs and leapt at the candidate.

While Wha was still in the air the candidate yelled out, throat tatau blazing as their deep voice rumbled and roiled throughout the arena. “Fall!”

Wha was thrown to the ground as the force of the command hit her, belly flopping hard as she was pushed into the ground with increasing ferocity. All around her body the gravity increased and kept her locked down. She circulated her mana, trying to protect her body as she worked to dispel the powerful incantation.

“Fall!”

Visible cracks and divots appeared around Wha as the pressure built around her. She let out a pained groan as the ground caved under the immense Le’o.

The slim, androgynous candidate was surrounded with a brilliant array of lights as all of the tatau on their body lit up in a fiery display. The various wounds still leaked the shadowy smoke as it billowed around them, coalescing with the light show.

As the pressure of the incant raged, roaring and ringing in Wha’s ears, she let out an barely audible plea.

“Yield.”

The pressure let up as the battered Tu’i shakily pushed herself up to her knees. She sucked in air as the color returned to her bruised face, coughing from the dust that was now allowed to float around. The pressure had caused a vacuum to form and had begun to slowly suffocate her.

Finally confident her legs would hold her up, Wha got to her feet and stood before the candidate.

They stared each other down for a brief moment before they embraced, touching cheeks and murmuring to one another.

They turned and walked in the same direction, melding into the billowing shadows with their arms entwined.

_________________________________

In the waiting room, the 3 visitors sat.

All 3 had observed the battle between the candidate and the Tu’i in enraptured silence. At points they barely dared to draw breath.

They all let out a collective sigh when the war finally ended. The spectacle of lights had left them seeing flashing spots for a bit afterwards.

They continued to watch as the two exited the arena together and nodded in agreement.

The 12th was born and witnessed.