DAY 28
TWO DAYS UNTIL THE FINAL EXHIBITION
DAY ONE OF THE FAVORITE’S RITES
Helping 87 entailed Thea and a collection of several butlers cooking an absolutely gargantuan portion of a single meal and storing it in enough containers to last him about a year back on The Ardor. According to Thea, the process was called “meal prepping”, but Seiji could only call it ‘cumbersome’. Unlike the higher-ranking members of Haven, Seiji didn’t have access to an inventory, so he had to carry all four hundred packed meals the old-fashioned way – on his back.
Seiji stood beside Cora in a lavish golden elevator they’d taken from within the Royal Chamber that took them straight to the Silent Antichamber. As usual, they both wore their Exam clothing, but this time they both wore comically large packs stuffed with food rations and clothing. While the packs weren’t heavy due to their physical and magical Strength, they made walking significantly more awkward.
When the door to the elevator opened, the first thing Seiji noticed was the ten-foot stone wall a few feet into the Silent Antichamber. It had a mural etched into it that depicted a woman with red, bat-like wings handing a white flower to a woman with blue, butterfly-like wings. He followed Cora out of the elevator, but had to support himself on the mossy stone pillar just outside of the elevator to keep from toppling over onto the stone floor. She turned to him in clear confusion, but Seiji decided to speak up before she could call him out.
“You know, this is going to be the longest we’ve spent apart from one another.”
The elevator let out a ding from behind him as the doors closed. Its light gone, they both stood alone in the torch-lit room before Silent Antichamber. Cora gently placed her pack before the door of the Silent Antichamber and sighed deeply. Seiji did the same, dropping his pack to his side as he awaited Cora’s response.
“It is, isn’t it?” She chuckled. She stepped closer to him. “Whatever will you do without me?”
“I’ll miss you,” Seiji said honestly. He knew Cora was just trying to add levity, but he didn’t want to lie to her. “I know you’ll be close by, but I’ve gotten used to seeing you daily.”
Cora smiled and pulled him into a hug. Unlike the many others she’d given him, this one didn’t hurt. Well, it did, but Seiji’s Strength was high enough that he could endure it.
“I’ll miss you too, Seiji,” She looked up at him. “Think about it like this, when we see each other again we’ll be crazy strong! It’ll be like a re-introduction when we see each other again.”
Seiji assumed that the Favorite’s Rites were like the Hell Pit, where days could pass in the simulation and none passed in real life. When he’d learned that time continued to flow and that he’d be finished at the end of Day 29, he couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed. Sure, he was going to be much stronger, but he wanted to train with Cora before the Final Exhibition. Plus…
“That’s too long. I still want to see you before the Final Exhibition. I can only guess everything is going to move fast after we complete the Final Exhibition. I want to be able to just… be, you know?”
Cora gave him a warm smile. She removed her arms from around his body and instead them around his neck.
“There goes that puppy dog look,” She said softly.
Seiji held her waist in his arms. For a long moment, the two of them just stared at each other. He desperately wanted to kiss her. Seiji recalled Cora’s words from Decorum Training.
“So you’re telling me you can kill a man but you can’t speak to one?”
He glanced down at her lips and looked straight into her lavender eyes. Cora did the same to him. Seiji tilted his head to the right. Cora mirrored the gesture. Seiji slowly leaned close, narrowing his eyes. Cora followed his lead. The elevator beeped, and they both pulled away immediately.
Cora hissed as her parents walked out of the elevator. Though Seiji wasn’t a Felzian, he imagined he would’ve done the same if he were.
“You two will have plenty of alone time when the Exams have ended. Focus on your work, there are only a few days left,” Eir called, gathering Cora’s pack from before the door and handing it to her daughter.
Cora gave Seiji a look of apology, but it slowly turned to confusion as her mother placed a hand on her head.
“Eir Lambros, Cora Lambros. Room A. Seven days.”
“Hey, what’s–” Cora began, but was cut off as she and her mother were swallowed by a pearlescent spiral. Just as quickly as it’d appeared, it vanished, leaving Seiji alone with King Vassilis.
“Come, Seiji. And don’t forget your pack.”
“Right.”
Seiji followed King Vassilis to the door of the Silent Antichamber. The man placed one silver gauntleted hand on the door and another on Seiji’s head.
“Vassilis Lambros, SSeiji Otsuki. Room C. Seven days.”
ACKNOWLEDGED.
Just like with Cora and the Queen, a pearlescent spiral formed from nothing, swallowing Seiji and the King whole.
It took Seiji a long while to understand that he was actually in the Silent Antichamber. In every direction, he saw pearlescent light cascading over a white horizon like a heat haze. Seiji snapped, stomped on the ground, and grunted loudly just to gauge the size of the space, but couldn’t discern anything meaningful. Only then did it occur to him that he didn’t have his pack on him. He turned behind him and was surprised to find a black brick house behind him, sticking out like an island in the ocean of pearlescent white.
Seiji slowly approached the door but stopped as King Vassilis strode out dressed like he was from The Ardor. He wore a black compression shirt, baggy beige pants tied with string, and simple black slip-on shoes. It was slightly disconcerting, especially since the King didn’t have the look of an actual Ardorian.
“Found this in your pack!” The King called, waving as he approached. “Hope you don’t mind?”
Thea had informed him that part of the reason his pack was so large was that his and the king’s food and clothes were in there.
“No worries,” Seiji said as the king finally approached.
The man stopped a few feet from Seiji, looking him up and down over crossed arms. Seiji wasn’t exactly sure what to say to the man, but he knew that he wanted to ask about the man’s Aspect. From the moment he learned about them, Seiji desperately wanted his own–
“So, how do you feel about Cora? You love her, right?”
“I… what?”
The answer to that question was yes, Seiji knew, but he wasn’t sure whether he should be saying that to her father. What if he got mad? Under any other circumstances, Seiji would welcome the opportunity to fight against a full-powered King Vassilis. While he probably would at some point during the Favorite’s Rites, he didn’t want the man to not train him due to his anger.
“This isn’t a trick question, man. Yes or no?”
“I… do. Yes, I do love her.”
Seiji felt his heart pound at that. It’d been the first time he’d ever acknowledged his feelings for her out loud.
The King laughed. “She’s quite lovable, isn’t she? I could see she claimed your heart way back on the third day.”
“I swear to you, I will protect her. Should our relationship blossom, I will not lead her–”
Bang. An earth-shattering explosion sounded from all around Seiji. The King’s face had gone from completely jovial to dead serious in a blink. Seiji instinctively called for Dragon Fury, but nothing came. He looked down at himself, only to find his arm was gone. He observed the rest of his body. Seiji was shocked to find himself gushing blood from many wounds all over his body. Still confused, he fell to the floor and struggled to breathe. The King loomed over him as he attempted to stand to his feet. Before he could, his vision faded to nothing.
Seiji gasped as he rocketed forward from his spot on the floor. He looked around for the King, who’d been standing behind him staring off into the distance. Seiji stood to his feet and called Dragon Fury. He cursed himself. He knew he should’ve lied.
“The Silent Antichamber will revive you almost immediately after death,” The King said. His tone was low. Dark. Hostile.
“As you are, I could kill you faster than you could realize that I killed you. There are many men and women in this world that could do the same. You are not the strongest man in the world, and you are not close to the strongest men in the world. As you are, you cannot protect my daughter.”
Seiji began to protest, but King Vassilis cut him off with a hand.
“Even so, Endora and Akio are trying their damndest to raise you two into monsters. It makes one wonder… why. Why is Endora pushing you two so hard? What is it that she sees in you? Why is she trusting you and not Eir and myself? Can we trust you? Can we trust her?”
Days of Decorum Training allowed Seiji to understand what was actually happening here. The king was nervous. Specifically, he was nervous for Cora. Queen Eir clearly was as well, as she’d insisted on spending time with Cora alone for ‘as long as she wanted’. It sounded like a sweet gesture at the time, but knowing the fears they had for their daughter, it made sense that the king would react like this.
Thea had warned him that meeting a partner’s parent was a difficult affair. At the time, Seiji wrote it off as one of her man jokes, but now… He couldn’t help but feel like this was an elaborate test. If he wanted to be with Cora, he needed to pass it.
“Endora called on us to join her as allies, and she has trained us with the expectation that we will be what she needs. While I understand Endora and Akio are far stronger than I currently am, I will not rely on them to protect Cora. I will protect her with my life, and I will continue to pursue strength until I have reached the very limits of my potential.” Seiji bowed to the king’s back. “Once again, I must thank you for allowing me the opportunity to be your daughter’s Servant. King Vassilis, I swear to you, I will not lead her into harm's way. Should I find Endora and Akio do not share those intentions, I will return her to the safety of Haven myself.”
Seiji watched King Vassilis turn, though he remained bowed.
“Rise, Seiji Otsuki.”
Seiji did, looking into the man’s eyes. While he no longer looked hostile, he wasn’t exactly jovial either. When he smiled, it filled Seiji with a sense of dread.
“Are you aware of how special you are?”
“I… I don’t know how to answer that.”
“Good, because you shouldn’t know. You see, not only has my daughter vouched for you, but my wife has as well. As has her favored pupil Endora, and one of the most prolific Cadets in history in Thea. I’m not one to watch recordings of combat. I prefer to see things with my own eyes. The first and only time I watched you fight, you cowered before an enemy far weaker than yourself.”
“He was three Tiers above me,” Seiji probed. They both knew he had Dominion, but he wanted to know what the king would say to that.
“The gap between Tier 4 and 6 is not the gap between 40 and 60. A touch of Soul and you would’ve defeated him in moments.” The king gave him a disapproving look that reminded Seiji of the look Cora gave him in the hospital bed after the First Exhibition. “Potential means nothing if you cannot recognize it within you. I watched you and Cora fight the Pit Demon only because Eir insisted I do. Even there, all I saw was a bored man hardly showing me his potential.”
King Vassilis sank into a battle position, all the aura in the Silent Antichamber gathering to his position. Seiji flexed Dragon Fury as he prepared for an oncoming attack.
“Show me, Seiji. Show me what you are truly capable of.”
Seiji panted as he rose from the pearlescent floor of the Silent Antichamber. After the first day, he’d learned that it was impossible to be fatigued within the Silent Antichamber. Knowing that, he’d fought King Vassilis for six days straight, dying and reviving over and over as he attempted to break the man down. Unlike Endora and Akio, the king didn’t hold back at all. He fought bare-handed, summoning fire and water in either of his hands while using his command of his Aspect to create elemental explosions in Seiji’s blind spots. Seiji had learned quickly that if he didn’t have his Dominion fully active, he stood no chance against King Vassilis.
After the eightieth death on Day 1, he’d come to learn that rushing at the king with full Dominion was another surefire way to die. It’d taken about thirty more deaths to learn how to guide his Dominion with an actual, focused will. Every attack he struck was laced with bloodlust, the concrete fact that it would kill whoever it struck. Fighting like that allowed Seiji to strategize and think in a way that he hadn’t against Endora and Akio.
“Break.” King Vassilis called, panting from beside him. Seiji imagined he didn’t actually need to, but he appreciated the facade. His pride did, at least.
As Seiji turned to the king, the man gave him a pensive look like he was thinking of words to say. Almost casually, the king began to speak.
“Before he left Haven, my father warned me to execute any man or woman with ‘white hair and a strange aspect’,” Seiji gave him a puzzled look. The king walked closer to him, continuing to speak. “When your soul wandered the cosmos, I had Dorian pick it out for the Exam. I had you paired with my daughter so that I may gain an opportunity to observe you such as this.”
“And what if I’d lost? Or been eliminated early on?” Seiji said, completely taken aback by the reveal.
“Then you would have been returned to your home planet as Akio had been.”
“Why white hair? Besides, Akio’s Aspect is just a Shadow Aspect.”
“My father had plenty of enemies. He was likely afraid of their offspring coming to Haven.” The king smiled as he finally approached Seiji. “They say the world is a small place. I imagine you may learn more about him in your time with Endora.”
“Even still, white hair is common on The Ardor. Plus, I don’t have an Aspect. I could just be anybody.”
“Ah, right. I meant to do this with you on the fourth day, but I got carried away in our battle. Forgive me.” He clasped his hands. “Coat yourself in Dragon Fury and close your eyes. This will be quick.”
Remembering the Mist Breathing technique, Seiji began to sit. The king stopped him, insisting that he remain standing. Seiji felt a touch of regret at that. It would’ve helped him stop the heavy beating of his heart.
There’s no way I’m about to get an Aspect, right? In just a few minutes?
“I wondered what your Aspect could possibly be considering your lack of training and knowledge of them. The answer to that question became abundantly clear after a single conversation with Dorian, however.”
“Dorian?”
“Sir Lasko. Now, let’s begin.”
Seiji took a deep, shuttering breath as he awaited the king’s next words.
“Seiji Otsuki. What would you do if you were sent back to The Ardor? Do not tell me what you would do. Think it. Visualize what you would do, how you would do it, and what the results of that action would be.”
I would erase them.
He didn’t want to bring it up to Cora because he didn’t want her to feel insecure about it like she’d been after the First Exhibition. Even still, that answer hadn’t changed from the moment Akio brought it up. He’d erase the all, just as he’d been taught to. Every single one of them would die silent, insignificant deaths. They wouldn’t be mourned or remembered. History would forget them. Fate would turn its back on them. Heaven would scoff at them. Hell would reject them. Once Seiji erased them, they simply would not be. Seiji clenched his fist as he felt his Dragon Fury and Dominion both accept the answer.
“Seiji Otsuki. What would you do if an assassin managed to find their way onto Haven and execute Thea?”
I would erase them.
Seiji felt an overwhelming sense of rage as he pictured an assassin killing Thea as they had him. She was close to him. Dear to him. He’d spent his life craving family, and now he had it in her. He’d die before he let someone take that from him. Again, his Dragon Fury and Dominion both blazed in acceptance.
“Seiji Otsuki. What would you do if the enemies of Haven turned their blades on Endora?”
I would erase them.
Endora was as close to him as Thea was. She was one of the first friends he’d made in Haven. She believed in him, saw the best of him, and pushed him to be better. Right now, Endora was far stronger than he ever was. She wouldn’t need his protection. But the day the roles reversed, he wouldn’t hesitate to protect Endora with all of his might.
“Seiji Otsuki. What would you have done if Alexandros and Alexandra had managed to kill Cora?”
I would have erased them.
Seiji’s blood boiled as he recalled the events of the Hell Pit. He’d gone far too easy on them both. Who were they to threaten the woman he loved? They threatened her, intimidated her, tried to kill her. It was by the Hand of Fate that they were still alive.
“Now, open your eyes and look at your hands.”
Seiji did, but was a bit surprised to find nothing. Confused, he looked all over his body and found absolutely nothing. His body was gone… erased.
“Aspects have multiple triggers,” the king began. Seiji realized the king was looking in his direction, but not into his eyes. “If you have an affinity for a specific element, you will activate its Aspect quite easily. If your mind is attuned to a specific pattern of thoughts, you will activate an Aspect in line with that chain of thoughts. That is the nature of your Veil Aspect.”
“Veil Aspect?” Seiji said in awe. The King turned to look in his eyes, but was off by a few centimeters.
“Most Aspects are a blend of both activation methods. My wife is the perfect example. She developed her Earth Aspect due to her yearning desire to be a pillar for the people of Haven, even before she was queen. She had to spend a long time in the wilderness to avoid developing a literal ‘Rock’ or ‘Stone’ Aspect.”
“What about yours?” Seiji said, still in complete shock. His mind was whirling with possibilities.
“Mine was activated through study. I spent time in specific environments and developed my Atmospheric Aspect.” He shrugged. “It allowed me to pursue whatever Living Aspect I wanted.”
“Living Aspect?”
“Think of those as advancements to your Aspect. That’s the kind of thing Endora and Akio can teach you about when you’re ready. For now, we need to start training that Veil Aspect of yours.”
