As the song finished Audrey still had her eyes closed, thinking about every aspect of her life. From the past events to the future and what she was going to do.
She needed to wake up and keep moving with her life. Allie would have told her that if she was here, even if it was only two days where she did nothing and felt sorry for herself. It was still too many days for Allie’s sister to be down in the dumps and give up on her life.
She vowed to herself and Allie to keep moving forward. Who knows? Maybe she could open a bakery in honor of Allie. Lost in her thoughts, it occurred to her that the band hadn’t started playing the next song.
Frankly… no sound was being made at all around her. She opened her eyes and noticed the eerie silence and frozen people.
“This ain’t funny guys…” She poked one of the women next to her in the cheek, pushing her to the point where she was leaning on another person.
As she looked ahead to the stage, two hands slowly hovered close behind her head, the black and pink nails inching ever closer to her temples.
Audrey sensed something creeping behind her and turned instantly. She leaned back to try and get away from the hands that where trying to grab her.
She readied a fist, about to unleash hell on the mysterious entity that was reaching for her.
A lone feminine screech came from the unknown entity; it was scared. Good, that’s what Audrey wanted. True fear, to know that you don’t mess with the beat down queen… EVER.
Just as the fist was about to reach, it was grabbed by a burly huge hand that had hairy palms, stopping Audrey instantly. It was tight around her wrist but didn’t hurt like it should.
She tried her best to squirm away but the hand was unmoving, she had never felt such strength before. Her mind went into survival mode.
“I need to break out
I need to break out
I need to break out
I need to break out
I need to brea—
BREAK HIS ARM!!!”
Her mind screamed the next plan of action. She leaped up as best as she could. Wrapping her whole body around the giant’s arm, she tried to do an armbar maneuver, while her opponent was standing up. It was a very awkward position thanks to the giant hand holding her wrist but nevertheless she made it work.
“BREAK, BREAK,BREAK, BREAK, BREAK,” she yelledout, the pupils in her eyes gone as she entered a savage mode. The entire time she had a devilish grin that showed her almost vampire-like teeth.
“This is the second human to attack a deity,” a feminine voice, one who had a bit of fear and panic in her tone, said.
A loud, joyous laugh erupted from the direction of the arm Audrey was breaking. To her it sounded like a grandfather, like Santa Claus laughing. “She definitely has the warrior’s mindset. Damaris transfer the information quickly, my arm is about to let out.”
The black and pink nailed hands touched the temples of the beat down queen, information fed directly from her nerves into her brain and her soul. She let go of the arm and was held dangling by the burly hand.
She was mad. “You think you could att…” She paused, the information finally processed completely and she looked at the two strangers she saw earlier.
“Audrey, my name is Zhong kui. Do you wish to save your sister?”
As she looked at the two weirdos… no she knew what they really were; a Chinese deity and an angel looking for someone to fight in some other world.
Still, she guarded herself and backed up a bit after Zhong kui let go of her. “Of course, I do. I would risk my life to have her with me, to see her dreams come true!” She shouted the last part, to convey her feelings as best as she could.
“If I win this Tryfing…is it true I can get a wish?” She held her breath waiting for Zhong kui’s response.
“Yes. Only if you win, so… do you wish to be my retainer?” Zhong kui had the same air of kindness and understanding he usually had.
It made Audrey gag a bit that a complete stranger would act this way towards her. To trust someone other than Allie and the few friends she made was difficult for her. Something that Audrey blamed her parents for.
“I’m not buying it. What do you get out of this? You're like some Warden of hell right? So you'll lose your job if you gotta go to Eden or whatever,” Audrey said with a brash tone.
Damaris also wondered the same. From the time she met Zhong kui it seemed like he was quite happy where he was.
To Damaris every deity, other than Zhong kui and Minerva, all clearly wanted to win the Tryfing for some agenda they had.
Ra wanted to put the Egyptian deities on the map where he believed they belonged and be the first Egyptian deity to win a Tryfing.
Lugh was Lugh, and it seemed like he was going through something that only winning the Tryfing would solve.
Damaris already knew about Inari from her talks with Ukemochi, so it was clear to her that Inari wanted to enter Eden and see her beloved.
Freya was being quite secretive, yet clearly she had a goal that meant everything to her. After she picked Charlie, she seemed extraordinarily determined and even happier compared to the opening selection ceremony.
Nuada had Joáo’s soul to save, and in the process of selecting the damaged young man he returned as the King of the Tuatha de danann. He was everything Cu Chulainn told her he would be. The one true king of the Celtics who loved his kin more than anything.
And she knew the duty the Arc-Angels had to fulfill. Minerva barely spoke and kinda freaked her out, so she stayed away from her.
So what was Zhong kui’s reason? Usually she wouldn’t be nosy but this night she spent with the Chinese warden of ghosts made her want to understand and know more about him.
He just had that ability over others.
“I want to know as well, Warden Zhong kui, why do you want to participate in the Tryfing?” She moved next to Audrey to look at the burly deity.
Zhong Kui reached for his goatee, which no one even knew he had since the cloth covered his face, and stroked it as he formulated his reason.
He thought about his fellow deities and angels. He thought about the young soul that spoke to him and begged him to see Audrey and then he found the answer he wanted to give to them.
“The Great Rebellion.”
Finally, he had spoken, yet it was a short and small answer akin to something Minerva would say. The two stood waiting for Zhong Kui to elaborate more.
“That moment of history changed everything, it made a lot of deities and angels sink into depression and doubt. Once great Deities like Nuada, now stood as husks of their former selves after the rebellion.” He continued to stroke his goatee. “ Many angels lost their brothers and sisters, and of course, the confidence and ability to truly trust others thanks to Lucifer. I enjoy being a Warden but what I enjoy more is seeing my fellow deities, angels, and human souls happy.”
Zhong kui remembered the words Hades told him. “Don’t think, feel.” It was the moment the band played, where every soul in this bar cried in joy together. It was at that time those words also echoed in his mind.
It was moments like that that he wanted his kin to feel. He got closer to Audrey, who was still on guard but didn’t flinch or move back anymore. You could still see the hesitation to trust in her face.
“All I want is for you to have the opportunity to save your beloved sister and be happy.” He reached out his hand to Audrey, wanting to shake it, hoping she would accept this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Audrey couldn’t believe there was no catch. She knew from the transfer that everything these two were saying and doing was the truth.
She felt her warrior’s intuition and listened to her soul. It screamed out to her four words that she had wanted to hear so badly the last few years.
YOU CAN SAVE ALLIE.
“In life there is always a catch but this ain’t me if I’m stuck thinking about doing something like this. I’ll just be my impatient self and dash headlong like I always do.” She flashed her confident craze smile to the deity and grabbed his hand.
“I’m trusting you, big guy, so I’m gonna bring you the gold and get my sister back.”
Damaris smiled with joy watching the young women get an opportunity like this. The more she spent time with the deities and their retainers, the harder it was for her to cheer for one of them.
“I, Zhong kui, ask you…. do you wish to fight for my cause? Do you heed the call?”
Audrey let go of his hand and bumped her chest where her heart was.
“I heed your call and wish to fight for your cause. As your eternal retainer… let’s kick ass, big guy!”
The sukebon had finally been recruited.
3rd Tryfing
Official judge: Heroic Greek deity, Achilles.
Support judge: Angel, Damaris.
Chosen deities:
Ra: Demi-God: Darren Donaldson
Lugh: Knight: Ariel Morales
Zhong Kui: Exorcist: Audrey Rhodes
Inari: Polymath: Kento Sanosuke
Freya: Assassin: Charlie Wilson
Nuada: Conqueror: João Machado
Minerva: Tactician ???
Team Arc-Angel: Hero Luther Satenly
Fantasia world: The world known as Helioan
Starting year: not yet decided.
25:26:25
