PAST VISION : ICY PAST

Chapter 22: The Row

The ocean of cheers surrounded us as we entered the stadium. Thousands of soldiers were on the stands holding posters and lifting their swords fiercely. The situation was more or less similar to ones I had during the days of my slavery.

"Shout for the gladiator of Phobos!" one of the soldiers yelled. The rest of them followed and continued the chants. The announcer cleared his throat and continued announcing the names of the teams. One in particular stood out in the crowd. The crowd yelled as they waved their tough fists on the air. Their presence was over whelming. Their weapons in particular were quite odd.

"Who in the world would fight using books?" I scoffed as I nudged Rendevel's shoulder.

"Don't underestimate them. The one surrounded by books came from Ryugonia, just like you. I've heard rumors, he was said to be one of the Saints to master the ancient magic of molding imaginations."

"What about their leader?"

"Captain Gaia of Neptune, master in hand to hand combat. However, she wields her sword like no other. Her katana is able to slice through forests in one move. Her family is known to have the strongest swordsmen."

"I guess they weren't such a joke after all, aren't they?"

"They've won the Games consecutively a few times." Rendevel whispered in a stern expression as he cast his gaze upon the score board. The announcer drew the names of the top ten teams. A silent wave of anxiety flushed through the audience as a logo appeared on the giant screen.

"Crap, we're first in line." Claire spoke as she crossed her hands in anxiety.

"Olympus Mars against. . . the Neptune's Eye!" the announcer shouted as he stood up cheering. I sighed heavily as the group started walking towards the two posts on the field. The vast landscape astounded me as I marched along the group. During my slavery days, I've fought in chained rings, each armed with electric sensors. Being claustrophobic made it all the more reason to get the deed done faster. However, during the Games I had to fight in vast plains. Not to mention, the open space had made it impossible to spot the enemy in such short amount of time. The groups gathered and started the discussion. I had my eye on the 'book man' from a while ago. During my days being in slavery, I wasn't able to taste a battle surrounded in magic.

"Lydia. . . you're going against Gaia." Claire spoke as she hustled frantically through her thick clipboard.

"Wait, what about the 'book man'?" I spoke out as I started wearing my armor.

"His magic isn't such a big deal, James can hold him off in his Amethyst armor for a while and finish him off in one shot." Rendevel spoke as he swapped gazes with Claire. The two were acting really suspicious.

"But Gaia on the other hand is quite mysterious. No one has ever held her off for more than one minute. That is why you should give it a try." James added.

"Only if you promise to let me take the 'book man' after the match."

"If you survived the match, I'll give you anything you want. That is if you survived." James continued.

"Deal!" I shouted as I bolted towards the field. A strong gust of wind blew past me, behind the thick fog, Gaia had been waiting for me the whole time. Her sword sheathed right next to her broad waist.

"I welcome you to the Inter-Galactic Games." her husky voice boomed. She gave a slight sneaky smile as she bent her knees and reached for her sword.

"I bid you farewell to your first and last Game, Sergeant!" she yelled as she drew her sword. In one step, she managed to cover a huge amount of distance. I spread my hands and activated my ancient magic. Taken aback by the fact that I used magic, she quickly withdrew and jumped above me. Using the ground as my offense power, I moved several boulders towards her. Her agility was quite remarkable and her flexibility was astounding despite her bulky figure. She twirled around the gigantic boulders as she drew her sword and sliced them into pieces. I moved the crumbles away from her, drifting her attention as I prepared my last attack. I took the rock and sliced my skin, causing blood to slowly drip down. The crowd broke into confusion. I twirled and pulled the three drops of powerful liquid; blood, sweat, and tears. Light burst throughout the stadium drawing a huge gust of wind to my advantage. I floated through the distance and gave her every last surge of magic I had in me. I collapsed in the light as my eyes faded.

***

"Sergeant Spencer, are you awake?" the man dressed in the exact same white cape asked as he waved his arms above me.

"Lydia!"

I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I carefully glanced thoroughly on my surroundings. Raid was there holding my right arm crying out my name. The surgeon beside me was holding a defibrillator machine gasping hard. I tried sitting up straight, but I realized that my back won't move. Raid stopped me, and whispered.

"You have to rest. You've just had your surgery," I carefully nodded. His face was covered in frowns. Despite his fatigue, he probably had stood there the entire night waiting for the surgery, "I guess I'll head out for some fresh air."

"Mrs. Spencer, I'm sorry to say that due to your efforts in winning in the previous match, you've injured your spine." the surgeon continued as he injected a bottle of fluid into my IV.

"How long will it take?"

The doctor stopped for a moment and finally replied, "Roughly, three months."

"Three months?!" I exclaimed.

Every word I was about to say was sucked out of my brain. My mouth was wide open, stuttering a few times as I finally gulped heavily to face the reality. I still couldn't believe the fact that I shattered my spine. Well, since I've only experienced the transformation twice, neither of them ended too well. But at least, I didn't injure myself in the first one. I knew that the transforming could endanger my body, but I didn't know that it could go that bad.

All of a sudden, Rendevel abruptly entered the room. His eyes showed signs of concern. He slowly walked behind the group of nurses and approached me.

"Are you alright?" Rendevel asked in a tone of concern. His expression suggested the toll it took for him to compete in the games. Despite having his own problems he still took concern of his team mates, he was an astounding leader.

I nodded and showed a feeble smile. He reached out for my hand and clasped it tight. My eyes widened the moment he rubbed it softly as if I was his lover. I never thought that the notoriously cold and cunning Rendevel could possess such a soft side.

"F-For now, you have to rest. I won't push you further to practice for the next match. I hope that you have no thoughts in leaving this place until you're back to normal. You could injure yourself even worse than you are now."

-End of Chapter 22: The Row-