Galen strode across the dirt road, heading quickly for the wooden shed at the closest edge of the farm to the town. It wasn't his farm, nor his family's; it belonged to the family of a good friend of his, the one he was going to visit at the moment. The friend in question was rooting through the shed, putting something or other away for the afternoon. Her name was Kerilyn, and she was, as far as Galen was concerned, the love of his life. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever met; she was just 17 years old tall, with long, dark hair, a nice chest, and a pair of strong arms. She was wearing filthy overalls right now, which he thought just made her look more gorgeous still, smiling as he approached her.

"Guess who!" he announced from behind, catching her off guard. She turned around, slamming the shed's wooden door shut.

"Good day, Galen," she muttered.

"How're you doing this fine morning? I just spent all it all sparring with Master Andrew... it must be nice to be out in the sun," he said, moving close to her.

"Yes, it was nice," she responded.

"So I was thinking, how would you like to go have lunch at Fairview Café? I heard that Diana was making some of her apple pie this morning. It'll be my treat."

"I'd sooner date a pig," Kerilyn replied curtly.

She did not reciprocate Galen's feelings towards her at all.

"Oh, come on, beautiful. Don't be that way!" he said, only feigning to be hurt.

"Take off!" she shouted, gesturing.

"Don't be such a stranger, Kerilyn," he smiled, shrugging. "Come on, how about it?"

"No way," she said, starting to walk past him.

"Oh, Kerilyn, you make my heart go all aflutter when you're coy like that, you know that?" Galen laughed. "Well, if you must play hard to get, how about we make a deal?"

She stopped. "What deal?"

"How about we spar on it? I win, I get to take you out for lunch. If you win, I'll let you eat in dreary solitude," he offered seriously. "Deal?"

Kerilyn stopped and gave it some thought. Then she replied, "I win, you leave me be forever and go lust after someone else instead."

"You can be so cruel, my love. But it's a deal," he said, offering his hand to shake on it.

She took his hand, shaking firmly; then twisting it sharply and pulling it aside. He stumbled, caught completely off-guard, and she took the opportunity to kick his knee with all her strength. She let go of his arm as he tumbled forward, hitting the ground and tumbling.

"You fight dirty, you know that?" he said, deftly hopping back onto his feet.

She smiled, and shrugged, leaving a wide opening. He lunged for her, but she swiftly stepped aside, letting him stagger past her, slamming her elbow into his back. She turned about to face him again, almost daintily; he punched at her chest, but she knocked it aside, and responded immediately with a punch to the gut.

"And you fight like a girl," she said, shoulder checking him as he winced in pain. It knocked him back a good several feet, hitting the corner of the wooden shed with a crash. "Yield?"

"Ha!" he coughed, shrugging his shoulders and wiping his brow, regaining his stance once more. "A man in love could not possibly yield."

She swung at his face, and as expected, he blocked it; she immediately followed up by grabbing his arm once more and twisting it sharply outwards, slamming her shoulder against him so he smashed into the shed again. She shifted her stance immediately as he started to recover, flipping him over her hip, sending him falling to the ground face first.

He did not recover this time.

"Better fall out of it quick, then," she replied.

He groaned in pain, twitching and trying to pull himself to his feet, with no success. He lay there, wincing.

"Yield?" she asked again.

"Gah...," he groaned. "I... I yield to you, love."

She rolled her eyes, and started to walk away, feeling quite happy with herself.

"Asshole," she muttered.

She shrugged her shoulders, heading down the path into town, letting Galen deal with himself. As she walked down the path cheerfully, she saw an old man approaching her, not too far off. She recognized him instantly; it was the village elder.

"Jhi!" she called out to him, running to meet him.

"Good morning," he said, bowing a little bit. She returned the courtesy.

"My father is out right now, and I was just heading into town," she explained. "But what brings you to our farm, Jhi?"

"Oh, I'm not here to see them," he replied. "It was you I was looking for, actually. Can I discuss something with you as you walk, then?"

"Sure, by all means," Kerilyn said. "Actually... how about we get something for lunch, first? I was thinking of stopping by the Fairview."

"Sounds good!" he smiled. "We can discuss it over Diana's fantastic pie."

"Now there's a plan," was all she said.

"Mmm," Kerilyn said, chewing her sandwich. "So, Jhi, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

He took a moment to respond, finishing a mouthful of pie. "I'm sure you heard about Doctor Balrog visiting here last week, right?"

She nodded. "Of course! It was the talk of the town."

"Well," he said, "he's planning on holding a new Great Warrior's Festival, this year. I was shocked-- it's scarcely been three and forty years since the last one, after all. I still remember it; Andrew put up the fight of his life, it was quite a sight to see. It seems like an awfully strange break of the tradition to just up and call one after such short time... after all, it's an ages old tradition.

"But still, Balrog says that he thinks it would be good to encourage a greater sense of unity amongst the tribes. For all that traditions are meant to be respected, I don't think he's got a bad idea there at all. After all... it's hardly fair that you'd be an old lady before the next festival comes around, no?" He paused, cutting off another bit of his slice of pie, eating it thoughtfully. "And all the other tribes have agreed, apparently."

"Huh," was all Kerilyn had to say at first. "Wow... well, that does sound great. I wish I could be a part of the precession to Central... man, I'd love to see that up close. Too bad I've gotta tend to the farm. But still, a festival held in my lifetime? Wow."

"Quite," he said. "But surely we could make arrangements for someone to take up your duties during the festival, no? What would you say to that?"

"Geeze, Jhi," she said. "I mean, I'd love to be part of the precession, to see Master Andrew fighting in the tournament..."

Jhi just shook his head. "Festivals are for the young, Kerilyn. Master Andrew is nearly as old as I am; he might still be agile beyond his years, but he's been honoured to represent us once, which is surely enough for any man. Someone else will be taking up the mantle."

"Oh, really? Who would that be?" she asked, legitimately curious. Master Andrew's closest disciple was Galen, who she had an incredible dearth of faith in; and for good reason.

"The best fighter in the tribe, of course," he said. "You should already know by now."

"Who's that? Tell me you're not going to pick Galen, he's an embarras--" she started to object, getting cut off.

"Kerilyn, don't be coy. You know full well that Galen is not at all the best in the land," he interrupted her, smiling. "I've seen you spar and wrestle all your life. I think we both know full well who the most talented is. You've never been modest a day in your life; there's no need to start now."

"Are you saying that--" she started, but then stopped, knowing he was absolutely right. "Wow. Uh, thank you. Really? Wow."

He finished eating his pie as she stammered.

"Thank you, Jhi... I'm honoured, I really am," she said, a little flustered in spite of herself. "Wow... I'm sorry, it's just a lot."

"It's a great honour, truly," he replied, nodding. "But there's no one in the tribe that would be more suited for it than you."

"God. Thank you, Jhi," she said quietly.

He just gave her a reassuring look, and pushed his plate forward. "We won't be announcing it for another month or so, then we'll have the blessing shortly before you need to start travelling. But before all that, would you like to see the armour?"

"I'd love it," she replied, her heart aflutter. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Over the course of the next few months, her surviving family-- without any complaint-- immediately arranged for her duties to be covered for her, so she could spend the whole time training. And so she did; practising with Master Andrew, learning the complex internal workings of the magic suit of armour she would be fighting in-- her mecha, an ancient creation from the old world, that Galen explained, was named Athena. She was amazed to find out just how big it was; it was well over twice her height, and she had to climb into a seat mounted inside it. But she soon discovered that far from being heavy or unyieldly, it felt just like an extension of her body. And so she trained, getting as much sparring in with Andrew, and as much practice with the mecha as possible, so she handled its massive weight properly.

She begrudgingly sat through the blessing of the tribe, and while she hated the ritual, she knew it was certainly necessary. Afterwards, the mecha handled differently; shining a little brighter, feeling a little livelier.

Eventually the time came to travel to Central, after much parading and festivities and the such. A precession of nearly two dozen people-- Galen and Master Andrew included, but not Jhi-- travelled alongside her in horse carriages; she had no such luxury, needing to walk the mecha alongside them all.

At length they arrived. Kerilyn was shocked to discover just how small and sparse Central was. There was the massive tower in the middle, of course, that could be seen from all eight corners of the Earth, and upon the plateau of which the individual fights would take place; but aside from that one building, the city was very small, with merely a handful of sparse buildings filling but a few streets, all a very underwhelming shade of dull grey. She imagined that even on foot, it would take her less than an hour to cross it. The tower was the only thing that broke up the bland grey mass that formed Central, and even it was instead a dull white.

Soon her impression changed, though, as the other tribes arrived, quickly filling the city with tents, fireworks, music, and roaring bonfires at night. There was mingling amongst the precessions from other tribes themselves, but for the most part, Kerilyn spent the time before the tournament officially began continuing to practise, making sure she was in as fit fighting shape as she possibly could be. Before she knew it, all the fighters and their precessions were called to the tower, in order to participate in the opening ceremony.

Balrog appeared before the crowd, standing on a podium floating above the center of the tower's plateau, so all could see him. For as much as she'd heard about the odd leader of the people of Central, she had not ever seen him before; he was very tall and well built, dressed all in red, save for a white mask which covered his face. The story went that nobody knew what he looked like under it, and he wore it at all times so nobody could identify by his skin which of the eight tribes he was originally from.

First he talked about how great an honour it was to be representing ones' tribe and other things that Kerilyn found painfully obvious, and then went on to talk about how important it was that the people of the tribes of Earth ought to have a stronger sense of unity, as they were, after all, all humans. And so forth. Finally he went on to explain the format of the tournament itself, which Kerilyn was already familiar with: first there would be four fights with pairs picked at random. Then they would divide them into two sets: the winners bracket and the losers bracket. If you lost a fight in the winners bracket, you would be moved into the losers bracket, and if you lost a fight in the losers bracket, you would be eliminated. There would end up being 15 fights in total.

After that, the whole evening was spent with especially enthusiastic celebrations, lasting all through the night. Unable to sleep from all the noise, Kerilyn spent it instead on the edge of Central in solitude, going through a series of exercises again and again.

"Do us proud, Kerilyn!" Galen said, slapping her on the back. She didn't feel terribly proud at the moment; for the first time in ages, she just felt nervous. Her fight would be the first of the whole tournament.

She climbed into her mecha, trying not to show her nerves as she walked from her precession's camp to the tower with heavy footsteps. A man from Central, seeming tiny to her now, lead her through a gate, taking her to the lift that would bring her to the top. The automatic lift had surprised her the first time they'd been taken to the top of the tower, but now her thoughts were preoccupied on the upcoming fight. Apparently she would be fighting the warrior representing Starfall. She knew nothing about either the tribe or the warrior themself; Master Andrew told her that the mecha had swift legs and a swifter blade, but that was all she knew, and the only thing that knowledge helped her do was worry.

The lift emerged into daylight, revealing the top of the tower to be empty, save for Balrog above on his floating platform; his expressionless mask facing straight ahead. She stepped forward, off the lift, and her guide quickly disappeared, leaving her alone. She turned about, looking around below, from the highest point in the world, suddenly realizing just how big the world was as she saw clearly each of the eight lands.

She saw her own home, and imagined that at this very minute, her family was watching the top of the tower with a telescope, looking up at her-- the whole village, even. Then she looked next to it, seeing the familiar desert dunes, then next to it a sprawling metropolis full of movement, then a set of misty mountains, casting wide shadows across their land. It wasn't just her village; it was the whole world watching.

And then she saw her opponent in front of her.

Kerilyn took another step forward. She saw what Master Andrew had meant. Athena was simple in design, sporting large chest plate, modest pauldrons on its shoulders, a solemn expression on its face, and glowed a deep forest green. But Starfall's warrior was a lithe and athletically proportioned save for its massive shoulders, shining a bright white, although not quite as bright as its shimmering, translucent blade. It had no expression, having no mouth; just a flat face plate.

Breaking the silence was Balrog's voice booming out from his position in the sky, loud enough for all in Central to here.

"The first fight of the festival will commence... Athena of Athens, versus Dancer of Starfall!"

Both of the two stepped forward with loud footsteps until they were at two arms lengths away. Kerilyn bowed; the other fighter hesitated before showing the same respect, seemingly not expecting the gesture at all.

"Ready...," Balrog's voice boomed. Both shifted their stances, with Dancer drawing its sword. "Fight!"

Dancer immediately took a swing at her with its sword, with Kerilyn immediately jumping back. It just grazed her mecha's chest; she felt a slight tingle as it did, but no more. For all her training, fighting barehanded against someone with a sword was still a confusing prospect to her.

Her opponent swiftly swung at her again, and Kerilyn backed up, rotating around Dancer, immediately being followed. She watched its movements intently, looking to see where her opening would be. Kerilyn tried a light jab at its chest to see what the reaction would be.

It was knocked aside with the broad side of the light sword her fist stinging as it impacted, but she saw that the wide swing had left a huge opening; Kerilyn threw her shoulder at her enemy, trying to take advantage of her unusual weight to knock it over.

Instead, Dancer just leapt back deftly, much quicker than her, leaving her to stagger forwards. In the time it took her to start regaining her balance again, she'd been hit with an overhead swing of the sword, hitting her shoulder sharply. It pierced, and if not for Kerilyn falling back with the hit and rolling, it would've cleaved the arm cleanly off. She quickly made to get up, but a heavy foot slammed against her mecha's chest, pinning her down.

Then she realized she was staring down the point of the sword. Her opponent said nothing, just staring expressionlessly down at her. It took a good several seconds for her to realize that she was beat; she couldn't move at all.

"Match!" Balrog announced loudly. "Athena has been swiftly knocked out by Dancer! Starfall will continue on, and Athens will be moved into the second bracket."

"God dammit," Kerilyn grumbled to herself as her opponent stepped off, turning away.

She'd lost.

Kerilyn sighed a little as she stared up at the stars. She had vowed to the party from Athens that she'd be sure to win her next fight, and after listening to Galen's berating of her, she finished beating herself up over the defeat soon enough. Now her mood had simply turned to melancholy, and while there were still festivities all throughout Central, she had no desire to participate; so instead she sat aperch her mecha, staring up at the sky, blocking out the noise in the background. It was only after a couple hours, as it approached twilight, that the music and merrymaking began to die down.

"Hey!" someone nearby shouted out. "This is hardly a night to be mopey on!"

"Fuck o--" Kerilyn started to yell back, stopping when she saw the source of the shouting. Standing a few metres away was a girl her own age, wearing ox horns and a short dress; she could make out enough of her in the dim light to tell that she was the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen in her life. Kerilyn coughed, apologizing, and adding, "Good evening to you, too."

"It is, isn't it?" she replied, walking up to the sitting body of Athena. "Don't be so mopey, mopey girl."

Kerilyn couldn't help but laugh just a little at that, and then sighed just a little. "You saw the fight, I'm sure. Well, maybe not; it was over and done with almost immediately, after all."

"You'll do fine next time, I'm sure," the girl said, leaning against the mecha.

"Yeah," Kerilyn said, quietly. "I will."

"So, have you been mopey and alone the whole time?"

Kerilyn gave her response a bit of thought. "I'm not alone anymore," she said.

"No, that's true," the girl replied. "So what's your name, Miss mopey fighter from Athens?"

"I'm Kerilyn," she said. "And how about you, Miss mysterious beauty from God-knows-where?"

"Ha," the girl responded, grinning. "I'm Jenny. Is there room for two up there?"

"Absolutely," Kerilyn said. She hadn't been feeling particularly social that night-- especially not now-- but she was more than happy to make an exception. Jenny was very attractive, after all, and after she just laughed at her flirting instead of being awkward about it, she wanted to learn more about her. As of now she knew nothing aside from her name; she still hadn't even said where she was from.

She leaned over the side, extending her arm down. Jenny took her hand, and Kerilyn helped her climb up the side, scooting over once she was up.

"So tell me," Jenny said, "What are you looking at?"

"The stars," Kerilyn replied. "And space. Mostly space."

"Nothing in particular?" she asked.

"Nothing in particular."

Jenny nodded, pausing. She shifted tracks. "So what's it like to be in the tournament?"

"It's... something," she said. "I mean, I'm proud, and honoured to be representing my tribe and all. I'd say I still can't believe I was chosen, but I mean, that's a lie. It's no surprise at all. But, it's just... well, after today, I feel amazingly humbled. Like... well, I don't know. Getting my ass kicked in thirty seconds flat is a whole new experience to me.

"I don't really recommend it," Kerilyn added.

"I'll try to avoid it," Jenny said with a bit of a laugh. "So what's that like, then?"

"I don't know. It's like... I'm the best fighter in my tribe, no question. And, I'm not modest, I've always been pretty proud of that. But this, this is like... suddenly, realizing that the world is a whole lot bigger than you'd thought, and it turns out that compared to the rest of it, you're nothing special. Like, it's like being the smartest kid at the sandbox, then suddenly meeting the tribe sage. Does that make any sense to you?"

"It makes perfect sense," Jenny said, her hand brushing against Kerilyn's. She paused, changing gears, "So have you talked to Balrog at all? I saw him at the the opening, and he seems... really weird."

"Yeah," she said, "he really is. No, I haven't. The opening was the first time I've ever even seen him before."

"Oh...," Jenny sighed, seeming far more disappointed than Kerilyn expected her to. "So... how about the other fighters? Have you met any of them?"

"No, I haven't," Kerilyn admitted.

"So much for encouraging more unity, huh?"

"I guess not," she said.

"Well, you've met one, at least," she said with a coy grin, extending her hand to shake. "I'm the pilot of Dancer, from Starfall; pleased to meet you."

Kerilyn was speechless.

Kerilyn spent the following days being at least a little more social; she even took off a couple times in the night into the Starfall camp to visit Jenny. After getting over her shock, she immediately took a liking to her, and the other girl had been giving her advice on fighting in the mecha as well as pleasant company. She promised that she'd meet her again in the final fight; Jenny said she was looking forward to it.

After a week, it finally came around to her second fight, this time against the fighter from Fenelle. And this time there was a lot more at stake; whoever lost would be eliminated from the tournament. She was doing her best to put her worries out of mind, as she stepped forward towards her opponent. Right now, she didn't have time to worry about it. She just kept Jenny's advice in mind-- "Always stay on your feet. You can repair a bit of damage, but you're too heavy to get up after falling quickly." It was why she lost the last time.

"The sixth fight of the festival will commence... Athena of Athens, versus The Baron of Fenelle!" Balrog's booming voiced announced.

"Ready...," he said, both bowing. "Fight!"

Kerilyn immediately charged at The Baron, hoping to strike her massive opponent before it took advantage of its massive size. At the sight of her rushing forward, he started to brace himself, but couldn't get into position quickly to prevent her from hitting him with an uppercut, knocking him upwards. She was amazed how far he flew, but immediately continued by hitting him with a strong side kick while he was still up the air. He was knocked backwards, sparks flying from his feet as he slid halfway to the edge of the tower.

She stood waiting, expecting him to try charging at her in response, and preparing to dodge. Instead he lumbered forward, steadily, and she changed her stance, approaching him cautiously. She didn't know what he was going to do, but there was still plenty of distance between the two.

Suddenly, he raised his arms, and before Kerilyn even had time to be confused, his fists shot out from the wrists; tethered, but extending far enough to grab Athena's arms strongly, pulling her in as quickly as they'd shot out. She was confused, surprised, and the moment she'd been dragged close enough, he hit her with a headbutt.

Kerilyn cursed. She tried breaking free of the hold, but it was too strong by sheer arm strength, and she was at a loss, completely caught off guard by the literally inhuman tactic; it was nothing that could've ever happened in a normal fight. He headbutt her again, and she found her vision starting to shake; it was doing a lot of damage.

Uncertain of what else to do, she tried a very human tactic: she slammed her foot against the edge of its own boot. There was a satisfying sound as the weak part of its foot was crushed under the pressure. She decided to stomp on it again, and the mecha's whole body shuddered; she could tell she'd broken its concentration. But he still wasn't letting go. Not wanting to lose the one moment she had to break free before he regained focus, she decided on the spur of the moment to disregard Jenny's advice; she kicked him in the knee, and threw herself backwards.

She crashed into the ground, but instead of landing on top of her, his fists fell out of their sockets first, only pulling him backwards once they'd reached the end of their tether. In a split second, he started to be flung forward in an arc above her, letting go of her shoulders-- but not in time to stop him from losing his grounding, and he crashed into the ground behind her, head first.

Kerilyn brought herself to her feet, personally unhurt by the impact; but she could tell it had done plenty of damage to her backside. She didn't have time to worry about that. She turned to face her enemy, anticipating that he'd be slow enough in getting to his feet that she'd have the advantage.

Instead, she found that he wasn't actually moving at all. She moved forward cautiously, wary of it was a trap.

Some panels on the front shifted, and she was about to strike him when she realized it was just the cockpit opening; she could see the man sitting inside.

"Yield," he said, trying to mask that he was upset with a stoic face.

"Match!" Balrog's booming voice announced. "Athena has rendered The Baron unable to move! Athens will continue on, and Fenelle has been eliminated."

It took a moment for it to sink in. Then she grinned, pleased with herself. Then realizing that she couldn't be heard inside the mecha, she laughed, and laughed. As she walked back to the lift-- the attendants from Central bringing their machines from the other side, helping to pick up The Baron-- she couldn't help but be happy with herself, her confidence restored. She couldn't wait to brag to Jenny how ignoring her advice had paid off.

"Okay, fine, I was wrong!" Jenny admitted lightly. They were walking through the streets of Central at night, passing right through the middle of the grey city.

"So maybe I'm not so bad after all," Kerilyn replied. "Just two more fights and I'll be kicking your ass."

"Ha!" Jenny shoved her gently, teasing. "In your dreams, Kerri."

"Oh, just you watch," Kerilyn said. "In fact, I think you know that I'd beat you in a rematch, and that's why you gave me bum advice; you're afraid!"

"You caught me. I'm just positively terrified," she answered with a wink.

"So," Kerilyn said after a moment of silence. "I tried looking for the fighter from Fenelle, whatever his name was... you know, to tell him that he fought well and all, because he did. But I couldn't find him at all, or the rest of the Fenelle precession, for that matter."

"Yeah...," Jenny said. "I don't think I've seen any of them since the fight; I guess they all left after they lost."

Kerilyn nodded. "I figure that's it. It's a real shame, though... I sure would stick around to watch even if I was eliminated. It just seems so wrong to."

"Absolutely," she agreed. Her hand brushed against Kerilyn's as they walked; certain that she was doing it on purpose, Kerilyn held it. Jenny smiled, but said nothing further.

Kerilyn turned her head to look right at Jenny, admiring her, working up the nerve to ask, "So, Jenny," she started. She got as far as "Are you--" before she got cut off.

"Oh geeze, is that man okay?" Jenny interrupted, pointing with her free hand at the street ahead of her. In the distance, slumped against the side of a grey building was a man in a grey suit; she'd missed him entirely at first, blending in with both the side of the building and the ground he was sitting on. He wasn't moving at all.

Jenny let go of Kerilyn's hand and rushed over to check, Kerilyn following quickly after her.

"Excuse me, mister, are you alri-- oh, shit," she said, actually getting a close look at him. His eyes were open, but entirely a dim grey, and she realized that his body was slumped against the wall in a way that shouldn't have been anatomically possible. Joints just didn't bend that way. She was aghast.

"Mister?" she said, hesitantly. "Are you hurt?"

Kerilyn crouched down, and after he didn't respond to a gentle nudge, she tried putting her fingers against his neck, trying to feel for a pulse. She couldn't find one, but she did find something even more shocking.

"Is he...?" Jenny trailed off.

"No pulse," Kerilyn answered. "But... it's... he's hard to the touch." She paused, feeling his neck again; then, quite sure he wasn't going to move, she tapped on it with her knuckles. There was a hollow sound, as if she was knocking on an empty metal pipe.

"That's, uh...," Jenny was lost for words. "What is he? What's going on?"

"I have no idea," Kerilyn said, seeming more than a little off-put.

Before either had a chance to question it any more, two men jogged up to them-- both looking identical to the unmoving man-- and wordlessly picked him up, carrying him away as quickly as they'd came. They didn't interact with either of the two women at all, and they just stared in shock at what they'd just seen.

After what felt like a whole minute of standing there in bewildered silence, Kerilyn finally took Jenny's hand once more and leaned against her, saying, "There's something not right about Central."

Jenny squeezed it tightly.

"Now that," she said, "would be the understatement of the century."

As the days passed and her next fight approached, the atmosphere in Central seemed to have quieted down, but Kerilyn took the opportunity to try getting around just a little more-- not just spending all her hours either exercising or getting closer with Jenny, although she certainly did both.

One of the tribes still present was Umbra, who were not too keen on loud festivities, seeming much more solemn even in their social gatherings. They were one of the more distinctive groups, and Kerilyn was able to recognize which land on the horizon was theirs; it was home to large mountains, obscuring most of the land from view, casting the tribes' namesake shadows. Even from atop the highest point of the world she couldn't make out the details of their cities; merely vague outlines, covered in darkness.

"There is little to discuss," Mary, the fighter from Umbra, told her curtly.

"What happened to encouraging a spirit of unity?" Kerilyn asked, in good humour. "It's no good if you're not social with your fellow people!"

Mary was calm and distant, and only responded after a moment's pause. Kerilyn couldn't tell if she was thinking, or just making dramatic effect.

"I am not here to encourage a spirit of unity. I am fighting for my own personal reasons; most certainly not to amuse the whims of that man," she said, with a venomous emphasis on the last words.

"Oh? What're you here for, then?"

"I... do not believe it would be prudent to discuss it with you," she said.

"But you want to," Kerilyn replied, "or you would've just told me off already."

"Astute. Alright; maybe it is a lapse in judgement on my part, but I get a trustworthy impression from you," Mary replied. "Balrog killed my father. I wish to confront him."

Kerilyn stared at her, surprised by the seriousness that actually matched her solemnness. It was an awfully bold claim, but looking into Mary's eyes, she got the strong impression that she wasn't lying. She sincerely believed it; behind the cold exterior, she could see the slightest hint of sadness in here eyes.

"Revenge?"

"Balrog has incredible security surrounding his fortress," Mary replied. "If I win, he will congratulate me personally at the final ceremony. That is my best chance of getting close to him. What happens after that will depend on what he has to say for himself."

"I... see," Kerilyn said. "Why?"

"My father objected to Umbra's participation in the festival. So... Balrog...," she stopped, looking away, trying her best to remain solemn. "He killed him, and suddenly Umbra was agreeing to participate. Balrog is a monster and he must be stopped."

Kerilyn was absolutely taken aback. She'd already heard too much.

"I do not know why I am telling you this," Mary said quietly, after a moment's pause. "I trust that you will not tell a soul."

"No...," Kerilyn said, truthfully. She was incredibly discomforted by the idea of revenge on principle, but she didn't think interference between them was a good idea, especially if Mary was telling the truth. "It's none of my business. I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For your father, and for asking," Kerilyn replied, starting to walk away. Mary didn't stop her, or say anything. "Good luck."

The next round of fights started soon after. Mary's next fight put her against Jenny, and she lost. Kerilyn worried about what would happen if she was put up against her; she even humoured the possibility of throwing the fight. Surely, she thought, the stakes of Mary's fight were far more significant than just humouring her tribe's pride, even if she didn't approve of what she was wanted. On the other hand, she thought, she could potentially save a life by winning a fight with Mary. She spent the whole day worrying about it; thankful when she was absolved of any responsibility, after turned out to be going against another fighter in the losers' bracket, and was eliminated from it. And then she felt bad about being so thankful, given how important winning was to Mary.

Her next fight, against Tessala, took place the following day, and although it was close, she won it; she thought, putting up the best fight of her life. She used a strange fighting style, armed with both a rotating cannon that shot thousands of tiny shells, and a series of boxes that launched fireworks at her. It was by far the most foreign yet, but through careful observation and sheer force of will, she was able to win at the end.

She went to go visit the Umbra camp afterwards, feeling that she should talk to Mary, unsure of how she'd be reacting right now. Presumably not well. She made her way to where the camp should be, only to discover that there was nobody around to be seen. Confused, she searched thoroughly throughout that part of the city, looking for some sign of them; but she found none.

The only person she managed to come across was Jenny.

"Hey...," Kerilyn said, "have you seen anyone from Umbra at all?"

"No, I haven't," Jenny shook her head. "Why? I'd check at their camp."

"I'm looking for Mary," she explained. "Nobody's there at their camp at all. I swear I've searched half the city, I can't find any of them at all; with those robes, it's not as if they blend at all."

"No, that's weird. I haven't seen any of them at all today; I don't suppose they went home, too."

"I...," Kerilyn dragged off, thinking about it for a second. "I don't really think that's likely. I mean, the rest of them I don't know about, but Mary; well, she's not just here for the festival. She's... shit, I shouldn't be talking about it," she realized.

"No, I know," Jenny replied. "Balrog fought and killed her dad. She's out for revenge."

Kerilyn just nodded. "Yeah," she said. "I guess you already knew. I don't see her packing up and going home now."

"She told me before we fought," Jenny said. "It's weird, I can't imagine why she'd just disappear after all that. I mean, she seemed heartfelt about it. There's has to be a rational explanation, but... what?"

"Everything about this tournament is weird," Kerilyn said. "Every damn thing."

Kerilyn confessed none of her confusement to her tribe, and instead spent her nights watching the stars with Jenny. Her next fight was not for another two days; after she had won it, before leaving her position on the arena, she decided she would look out on the horizon of Umbra to see if any sort of caravan or the sort was visible at all. Instead she was unable to find Umbra at all; where it should have been was covered in a thick, dark haze, and she couldn't even see the tall mountains of the land.

On her return through the city, the streets were quiet as well as empty. The singing and merrymaking that had once been constant had disappeared entirely, replaced by silence, only ever occasionally broken by sharp wind. Even the usually excitable Galen had been affected noticeably, seeming as calm and resigned as everyone else. Kerilyn stuck around for only an hour after her fight, but decided she just couldn't stand the mood. She'd won, and her next fight would be the semi-finals, but everyone was sullen in spite of it. She needed to get away.

She met up with Jenny halfway through the city.

"I just can't stand this shit," Kerilyn confessed. "What's happening here?"

"Everyone's left," Jenny offered. "Why? There has to be a reason why, but...." She trailed off.

"It's not just that. Here, it feels like we're the only ones left in the world. All the other parties have left... the people of Central are but shadows of humans... and you can scarcely see the world around you. It's lonely," Kerilyn said.

"I'm still here," Jenny told her; it could've been flirty under any other circumstances, but that spark seemed to have left her. She was worried, like she wasn't sure of the fact anymore. Kerilyn held her hands tightly.

"I know," she said. "I know."

Jenny stared at her uncertainly, and Kerilyn stared back, both thinking the same thing but neither bringing themselves to act on it.

Instead, after an awkward pause, Jenny said, "We fight tomorrow."

"Yeah," Kerilyn nodded. "We do."

"You'll stay to see me afterwards, right? No matter what?"

"I promise," Kerilyn said. "No matter what."

"I'll go looking for you if you don't," Jenny responded, feebly smiling. "Alright?"

"You bet. And I'll do the same," she said, squeezing Jenny's hands.