The Templars' Pavilion erupted in a spectrum of light as Avatars of every color streamed en masse from a prismatic portal. The central sun motif, from which the rainbow of roads converged, came to life and fulfilled its purpose.
Okomikeruko, the Messenger Avatar, held authority from all seven gods to create portals throughout the Celestium. His portals always displayed an emerald hue, indicative of the source of his power: Chie, the Goddess of Wisdom. Previously, when he collected Sumitsu, her golden power merged with his emerald power in a display of unity. This time, every Avatar participated, resulting in a prismatic effect reminiscent of a starburst.
The Avatars reveled in the flamboyance of this aspect of the tradition. Minori and Sumitsu were among the last of the Avatars to step through the portal. The Prime Avatars were the final ones to appear, allowing the girls time to dry their eyes before making their public appearances.
Sumitsu transformed from her divine form to her mortal appearance as she walked the golden path to her boys' apartments.
Once all the Avatars had departed, Okomikeruko closed the portal and walked along the green road. At the end of the road stood a slender elf in white priestly robes edged with green trim. Her forest green hair was braided and reached past the small of her back. Her shining emerald eyes were behind a pair of glasses with large lenses held by a thin golden wire.
Her name was Kyou, and she was the High Templar of Chie. As Okomikeruko strode past her, she fell into step beside him and, under her breath, whispered, "Showoff."
"You know it," Okomikeruko replied, just as softly.
"Is he here?" Kyou feigned disinterest expertly. Only Okomikeruko could tell how serious she was.
"He is."
"I saw two boys. Which one is it?"
"They're both unknowns. Shinjin declared that neither one is to be healed between bouts."
Kyou halted in her tracks. No healing. No blessings. No way of knowing which one is which. This was never going to be easy, but why did it have to be this hard?
"You know I'll have to talk to her." Kyou expressed, shaking her head ruefully. "Wish me luck."
"You don't need luck," Okomikeruko replied with a smirk. "What you'll need is a miracle."
At the end of the violet road stood a tall Amazonian woman in tribal clothes, wearing a mask crafted to resemble a panther. Her skin was a rich mocha, and she held a glaive upright in one hand.
The Avatar striding down the violet road was none other than Shiratakemaru, the Avatar of Victory. He stood an imposing eight feet tall and bore the physique of a white tiger standing as a man. As he approached the Amazonian, she knelt on one knee and bowed her head.
"Arise." It was more of a growl than a word.
With the fluid motion that comes from years of practice, the Amazonian rose to her feet and removed her mask. Her violet hair was pulled back in a slim tail. Her golden eyes shimmered with ambition.
"Satori," he addressed his acolyte by name as they walked side by side toward the Templars' Apartments. "Report."
"Infiltration into the Shadows has been successful. Their leader is here to compete. We anticipate meeting in the finals." Her tone was clear; there was something unspoken of vital importance at play here.
"Excellent." It was both a word and a purr.
"Tell me, old friend, what brings you to my chambers? Surely there's more to your visit than a desire to reminisce." Satori sipped her tea after addressing her guest.
Kyou, who knelt opposite Satori across a low table, enjoyed her comrade's company. An ornate tea service had been laid out before them, and they observed the ancient traditions as they drank and conversed. Kyou was a little put off by Satori's nature to avoid small talk and go straight to the heart of the matter. There were times when such directness was of use to Kyou, but this time she would have liked to butter her up before unloading her pending request upon her. Their friendship, although it spanned many decades, was not close enough to burden one another with uncharacteristic favors.
"Satori," Kyou sighed. "I do wish my visit was a chance to remember days gone by. I am here to ask a favor of you; one that may put undue strain upon your honor." Kyou averted her gaze for the requisite amount of time before reasserting herself. Her time spent under Satori's tutelage as an acolyte to the Templar of the God of Courage had permanently ingrained in her the secret codes of conduct of her sect.
"I see." Satori placed her teacup in its place on the table. "Tell me, what is your request?" Satori's elegant form belied just a hint of amusement.
Kyou could tell Satori was having a bit of fun with her. This is a good sign, she thought.
"I know it is your tradition to kill your opponents in the tournament," Kyou started, stating something obvious to both of them. "I was hoping I could persuade you not to kill the two Templars of Shinjin."
"Why?" Satori was genuinely intrigued. Everyone knew that the Templars were granted a complete resurrection and restoration from their wounds at this tournament. This granted every Templar the opportunity to demonstrate the fullest extent of their talents to the Pantheon and all who chose to watch. She wanted to probe deeper, ask more, but decided that her monosyllabic utterance was sufficient.
"It has come to my attention," Kyou explained, "that Shinjin has no intention of granting his powers of healing and resurrection to these boys, but that they are to honor Him by demonstrating their Willpower for as long as they are able."
"That's a good story. And if that were true, then their deaths at my hand would be an honor to their God. You have another reason."
"You know me too well. Do you remember telling me stories about the Unbound?"
"The Godless one? It's a legend."
"There are some truths to the legend. As you know, before I was your acolyte, I was an elf-maiden of High Garden."
"Yes. You were betrayed by your people and set to be a meal for that foul succubus."
"And you rescued me." Kyou smiled, remembering how they first met. "Do you ever think about that day? How young we both were?"
Satori's expression became wistful. "You were so awkward. No combat awareness. Naive, really. And look at you now."
"Naive to the politics of the Elves of High Garden," Kyou said ruefully of her native culture. "Naive to the nature of things." Her eyes fell upon Satori's glaive; a trophy taken from the Succubus Queen, Amashi. "You still wield that thing." It was more a statement than a question.
The Glaive of the Queen of Demons from the Dark Side of Vechnost, held by the High Templar to the God of Courage, was an insult that endured for centuries. This very weapon was the one Satori wielded in every Tournament—one she used with deadly precision. Many heads had been severed from their shoulders by that blade in her grasp, a reminder to Kyou of why she was here in the first place.
"My people had a legend about the Unbound. It was different than the one of your people. But they seemed to resonate with one another, like verses of a song long forgotten." Kyou trailed off, lost in thought. When she realized that she needed to get back on track, she continued, "and after I was excommunicated from your faith-"
Satori put up a hand as if to say, let's not go into that.
"-and you helped me find a home among the Sages of Chie, I discovered they too had another tale about him. The Sages call him The Anomaly."
"Relevance?" Satori pries.
"I believe that the reason Shinjin won't heal or resurrect these boys is that for one of them, he can't."
"Can't," Satori repeated, as if to verify that she heard her friend correctly. "You believe that there exists someone whom the Gods cannot restore?"
"I believe one of those boys might be the Unbound, the Godless, the Anomaly."
"You believe one to be the one foretold that would bring about the destruction of all, and you don't want me to kill him?"
"That's where I'm not clear on the legends. One says he will bring destruction, another that he will bring an end to the destruction, yet another says destruction will follow him wherever he goes. I believe there are additional legends about him that I must discover, but the most important thing is that if he is the one to stop the destruction, I need him alive.
"And if he is the destroyer, as my people foretell?"
"Then I will kill him myself," Kyou promises.
"I will not submit to them-"
"I never asked-"
"However," Satori cut off Kyou with a harsh glance for interrupting her thought. "I will grant each of them one chance to surrender. If they do not take it, then I will fulfill my duty."
"That is all I ask." Kyou sips her tea.
Satori and Kyou sat in silence for a while longer, waiting for the gloom of their conversation to pass.
"It's a shame you've been disqualified from competing. I was hoping this would be the year I finally got to see your head fly." Satori mused, visualizing Kyou's green braid trailing behind her head like a comet's tail as it flew. "But it seems I'll never get that chance."
"Nine consecutive championships?" Kyou mused back. "It's only right that they disqualified me. You knew I wasn't going to compete. I am grateful they invited me back to be a judge. At least I'll get to keep watching you fight."
Satori smiled at Kyou's compliment. "Of course, I knew you weren't going to compete, but with the dwindling numbers of Templars, I had hoped they would have made an exception."
"It's better that they didn't." Kyou didn't feel like counting all the ways keeping with tradition and enforcing rules mattered in this case. "But we do have a delightful surprise."
"Do tell." Satori's attention was entirely on her long-time friend.
"There is a gaggle of girls from Hogar. Seems each one consumed a sunberry that fell on… that day. Tokimi is honoring them here in the tournament." Kyou tried her best to suppress her excitement.
"Go on." Satori didn't quite get the significance of this event.
"These girls could be the key to restoring the Indigo Path and helping Tokimi ascend to godhood. They might be instrumental in restoring the Celestium."
Realization dawned on Satori. This was the most important thing she had ever heard.
Later that evening, Kyou reunited with Okomikeruko on the green road between the apartments and the pavilion.
"Did you get your miracle?" he asked, tongue in cheek.
"I think so," Kyou said hesitantly. "Now it's up to those boys to agree to surrender if the time comes."
"You got the Duchess of Decapitation to agree to allow those boys to surrender? You're a better negotiator than I gave you credit for."
Kyou ignored Okomikeruko's whimsical alliteration, to his dismay. "Statistically," she continued, "it is unlikely that those boys make it to the semifinals. That's the only way they'd even see her. I just wanted to cover all angles."
"I know you do. You always do. That's why you're Chie's favorite."
"I am not," Kyou rejected his teasing. "Am I?"
"Of course not. I'm her favorite. How could I not be?" The cheeky Avatar continued pulling her leg.
Kyou dropped the subject and returned to the Templars' Pavilion, where a lone figure hid among the shadows. "Report."
"All is ready, Boss." The voice sounded like a little girl trying to come across as harsh and gravelly, but not quite succeeding. "Boss will appreciate what Mai is prepared for."
"I'm glad to hear it." Kyou wasn't completely certain about her plan or the wisdom of involving children as accomplices. But desperate times and all…