Muddy sand and water burst up in a sad attempt at a mushroom cloud. Across a sand bar, Tavras laid in the massive divot that his body had just created. Golden blood started to pool there already, especially as Arius ripped out the spear unceremoniously.

That disgusting smirk would probably never leave his face. Arius leveled the gory spear tip to Tavras's neck. "That's game over." The glow of power leakage had subsided from around Arius, and so too, the red coloration left his eyes. Instead, they had changed to a bright, golden color as if to match his victory.

Given the state of his body, Tavras could hardly move. His head lifted up weakly and one hand opened in the air. His lips parted, about to say something, but he let both his head and hand fall back to the ground. "Yep. I have just lost to a kid."

Arius stomped his boot on top of Tavras's wound. "Let me stem some of that bleeding for you. How does it feel to get crushed on your own home playing field?"

While his voice was weak from the devastating injury, Tavras still found it in himself to throw insults. "At least I have a homefield. The likes of you can't even boast that much."

Arius narrowed his eyes and pressed more of his weight onto Tavras's chest, along with the tip of his spear jutting closer into his neck. "You are in no position to speak like that."

"Why not? You are just a kid, and I can see that you are growing up to have a fine, striking resemblance to your father."

The color of Arius's eyes flared back to red. While Tavras's changing eye color might not indicate his mood as he so claimed, Arius's eyes definitely did. His smile twisted into a crooked thing. "Yeah, well as fun as it was playing with you today, I actually came bearing a message from the man himself."

The demeanor of Arius shifted to something more serious as he announced, "Tavras, god of water, the Sea Itself, henceforth you are a subject under the reign of Suvier, god of construction and destruction, the God Supreme. You will be welcomed back to the Summit of Ascension and regain a seat on the Pantheon under the new terms set out for you."

"Did you write out that little speech on notecards and pace around your room practicing it?"

Arius glanced over to the thundering clouds for a moment. "Yes, actually. Since I knew that I was going to win, it only made sense."

"Great." Tavras sounded entirely detached from the situation as he continued to bleed out across the sandbar. "When you talk to your dad over a nice, family dinner, tell him that I will report to work on Monday."

As if he did not trust Tavras's easy compliance, Arius narrowed his eyes. "If you try to disappear from your duties, I will hunt you down again, and you will lose."

"I get it. I finally landed on Suvier's radar. It was bound to happen eventually. I give up. I'll renew my association with the Summit. Can you let me heal the hole that you put through my chest now?"

Slowly, Arius withdrew his boot from Tavras's chest. His eyes flared up for a moment, and at the same time, red lines rippled throughout Tavras's body in the same way that light case over ridges of water.

"Ugh." A groan came from him as his body convulsed. Then, there was the scent of something burning and the flesh throughout Tavras's chest was cauterized.

"I told you that I would stem the bleeding for you," Arius reiterated. "There you go."

Tavras grunted as he lifted up at his head to take a new assessment of the hold in his chest. "I would have preferred it if you did not do that."

"Well, I'm sorry. I thought that would help. That's how I take care of my wounds until they heal naturally," Arius said with a shrug. "You did not even leave a scratch on me."

Choosing to ignore that, Tavras said, "Would you mind elaborating on the terms in which I will be serving under Suvier?"

Casually, Arius held out his empty hands. "I cannot remember every aspect to it. There is a whole contract for you to sign. I did not bring it with me today, figuring that it would get wet. Generally speaking, you will not be allowed to send natural disasters to certain parts of the world. There will be acceptable thresholds of water pollution. These are the sorts of things that you will have to look forward to."

A groan came from Tavras in response as thunder rolled overhead.

"With that, I will see you around on the Summit." Arius gave a little salute with two of his fingers as he turned his back on Tavras. His attention turned to Urru who had approached.

His wings sounded with a gust of air in a hover before he settled himself onto the sandbar. "Are you ready to head home?"

Arius reached out with one hand to pat Urru's nose. "Yes, I am. You did a good job today, Urru." With a sidelong glance back to Tavras, he said, "This is the dragon Rakurruakanthor, my mount who assisted in your downfall."

Thank goodness Arius had a nickname for his dragon. Val had heard Urru's full name once, and she did not have any idea which syllables Arius had just pronounced.

In the direction of Urru, one of Tavras's hand lifted from the sand. It was a simple, fleeting gesture, but all signals from Insights of the Past set alight in her mind. For the split second that his hand was in the air, Tavras delivered a furtive attack. As quickly as he had raised his hand, he relaxed it back into the bloodied sand.

For those who could have done something about it, the attack went unnoticed. Arius had his back turned so he had not seen Tavras so much as move. Urru, who watched Tavras closely, took the raised hand as an invitation to speak.

"Tavras, the Sea Itself, I am sorry for the role that I played in this fight. I merely follow my master who follows his master. I give to you and the sea my utmost regards." The serpentine neck stooped low in a bow.

"I gladly fight in the glory of my father, the God Supreme," Arius jeered back to Tavras. With that, he jumped onto Urru's back, and the two of them sailed into the sky.

"Wait," Tavras began, but the raspy voice of the defeated did not warrant the attention of the victors.

Just witnessing this through a vision, her heart felt broken on behalf of Tavras. When she pulled herself out of the past, a few tears were stuck in the corner of her eyes. She had to blink those away, and she felt so compelled to express their meaning aloud. "I'm sorry."

Foofy's ears gave a little twitch beside her. To comfort herself and ease him back into sleep, Val stroked her hand along his side.

Nothing about the present had changed, but Val had gained a new understanding of it. Arius was the enemy who Tavras was too weak to defeat, and the one who she would have to best if she wanted to win his favor.