“Lyra, ice the floor, we have to take away as much friction as possible, limit his movements,

Apollo I need you to hit hard and fast with your sword, as cover for us,

Pinoki, you will use your shadows to take Ozymandias down,

And Karina, distort the sound around him, make moving around as difficult as possible for him,”

“What will you do?” Lyra inquires,

“I’ll use wind arrows to keep him off his balance, while you prepare your magic Lyra, I know you need time,”

“Ok.”

“Are you ready over there~” Ozy sings

Vwoosh!

Instead of replying I send an arrows in his direction,

A swirling light flashes and he vanishes

Slam!

“Behind you!” Apollo strikes his sword down near Karina, but the mayor disappears once more,

“I can’t distort his sound if he keeps moving around like this!” Karina pants,

Vwoohs!

I fire a next arrow, spotting him behind Pinoki,

“Ok, You still have those earrings we can communicate with, Karina?”

“Yes,”

“Enough for all of us?”

“Ah, I get what your suggestion,” she hands me an earring,

(We’ll us these to communicate instead of shouting our plans)

{“Everyone hearing me?”} I whisper under my breath,

{“Behind you Kage!”}

I hear Apollos voice speaking shrilly into my ear, but its already too late

Thud!

Ozymandias sweeps his feet under me from behind, my back hits the floor hard.

“One down four to go,” He cackles,

“Wai—"

…….

But his magic already warps me back into his office,

…..

(Shit)

Scrambling to my feet, I survey the empty room,

(Maybe I should……)

{“Kage are you ok?”} I hear Karina’s voice in my ear,

(I can still hear them, good)

“Yeah, give me a minute Karina, I can still help”

(Think, think, think,

The Mayor’s mansion is located in the north section of Sweepstake,

That means…….)

I rush out the office back out into the halls scanning the doors,

(The ‘screen’ where the mayor watches battles in the north section must be...,)

I turn open the door labeled north,

Large portraits cover the wall one in particular releasing a hypnotic light wave,

……..

……

{“Lyra, move out the way, he’s behind you!”

“Kage?

How did you see that?”} she manages to dodge the mayor who warps away again,

{“Never mind that, Lyra, I have a new plan, make the entire floor icy,

Pinoki, can you hear me as well?”

“We all can Kage,”} Karina informs,

{“Ok, well Pinoki, use your shadows to keep everyone stable when Lyra does her thing,

Apollo can continue to attack, but this time I need you, Karina, to mask his sound as best as you can,”}

……

……

(This feels weird,)

Starring into the swirling light emitted from the magic ‘screen’ I can see all my companions moving around cautiously,

It’s like I’m watching them on TV but instead of actually being on the screen, it’s in my mind.

(Tv huh)

I don’t know what is worse, being reminded of a Tv or not knowing why I know what a tv is in the first place....

(Stay focused Kage, I’ll think about it later)

……….

{“YES!”}

Apollo victoriously exclaims,

After what felt like hours Ozy finally stumbles slightly, which Apollo then wastes no time tackling him down as fast as possible,

“You’re a winner”

…………..

*****

“I’m surprised you actually got me,” Ozy is saying as I reenter his office, the other are already back,

“I am not disappointed by your magic—"

“Enough games!” Lyra grabs his collar chokingly,

“What were you saying about sending Murdoc to Soterra!?”

“You know if I wanted, I could have killed you all back there,

I was just trying to make the battle fun,” Ozy brushes her off,

“Start explaining” Apollo demands, as we surround him,

(Pointlessly so…)

“I may have exaggerated that statement” Ozy spills

“What do you know about Murdoc?” I pressure on

“Considering the fact that he is responsible for the erasure of my kingdom, I would say I’m quite familiar with Murdoc,”

“You are from the desert then?” I guess,

“Before it was a desert it was called the kingdom of Asad, and I was its last king.”

….

(King?)

“How long ago was this?”

“Long enough for me to forget most of my days living there,

But not long enough for the trauma to go away…,

I was a young king, only sixteen at the time, my father had died untimely, and the responsibility was thrust upon me... however that’s not the point of this story,

There was an old man I knew then as Mr. Al—

—no that’s the wrong guy, there was an old man we called Mr. Murdoc, he would always talk about how he was given the power of god which he had used to become quite wealthy in Asad, though at the time most assumed it was just the talks of a senile old man,

Then one day he died, or at least I assumed he did, he left a note blabbing something about achieving immortality, we figured it was a suicide and left it as that,

But then after a few months had passed he suddenly re-emerged….”

Ozymandias stops, taking a long pause

“Then??” Lyra jabs impatiently

“I don’t know exactly what Murdoc did or how, but he managed to ally himself with the beastmen, and waged a full-scale war on Asad, calling it God’s wrath,

This was before dragons were extinct, almost forty years ago, back then if you saw one, death was guaranteed,

We didn’t stand a chance.

The dragons scorched the earth so bad it became a full blown, desert none of our magic could stop them not even our stone golems,”

“Why, what did Murdoc want, I know he desired to become a God, why would he attack your kingdom when his goal was subjugation and dedication?” Karina cogitates

……

“He wanted our soul gem, it was one of the treasures of Asad, said to be the requiem of a dead angel, it can infinitely absorb magic,”

(Is he talking about the diamond Murdoc sealed himself in?)

“Amidst the chaos however, I ran,” Ozymandias continues

“I left with the gem he wanted and came all the way to Furlheim for refuge,

Even my magic evolved to assist my cowardly escape,

I managed to live for a little over a year in Furlheim, though back then this city was not as welcoming as it is now,

Eventually Murdoc found me once more…..

……

He was going to kill me, but he wanted the gem too,

So I used it as a bargaining tool…”

“I swear on everything Murdoc, I bound this gem to my very life, if I die it shatters,

I’ll let you have it if you promise to go somewhere else, go to Soterra for all I care they are a closed off kingdom become a God there all you like, but spare me, I beg of you!!”

“That was what yelled to him, plead to him to spare me,

He couldn’t tell if I was bluffing about if me dying would shatter the gem, more so, he wasn’t going to take the chance, so Murdoc let me live and went to Soterra vowing to ascend to Godhood and to return for the rest of the ring,

After that I—”

……

“—So, you’re the one responsible for what happened to Soterra!?” Lyra growls,

“I did not cause it, though I admit that I did push Soterra ahead of the line, the fact is, it always on the line, he planned to take the entire ring,”

…….

“You speak no lie about that,

But I don’t know if I can agree with your choices,

You could have done something different,

This could have been prevented,” Apollo lectures

“I would be lying if I said I didn’t think so too” Ozymandias concedes

“I was so young back then, and scared, it was an act of desperation, but seeing you all here right now, I don’t know if I made the wrong decision after all,

When I heard some that visitors from Soterra-the city, arrived here, in over ten years, I knew it had to mean Murdoc was defeated,

So I put a little extra attention into observing your battles, see your magic,

I only wish to meet the one who put him in the ground,”

………

“Darius,” Apollo says lamentingly,

“His name was Darius, this sword I carry is his requiem, if anyone is taking credit for Murdoc’s death, its him.”

“Indeed” Pinoki agrees, Karina and Lyra both nod

“I wish I could have met and thanked him personally,” Ozy sighs

(Mayor Ozymandias may either be a really good liar or he’s being sincere)

“Hopefully, when your queen arrives, I can thank her as well,”

“About that, why do you want to see her,” Lyra probes

“Surely we can form alliance between Soterra and Sweepstake without her having to be here in person,”

“That is true, but the Bellwethers’ Ball is soon, and want her to meet all the leaders of this city,

though I am the mayor it is only in name,”

(The what is soon?)

“Mr. Ozymandias,” I speak up,

“What exactly is this Bellwethers’ Ball?”