Randidly sat next to the bedridden Alana and worked on his Nether awareness. Occasionally he glanced at her, taking in the torn image remnants left on her skin that still glowed like cooling coals. But mostly he kept his attention inward; with the amount he was activating his Animation Nova, her body would soon pull itself together.

As for her image, she would need to try and make sense of the aftermath of the match. Randidly closed his eyes and focused on his Nether Core. Time began to accelerate.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 921!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 940!

Alana’s eyelids fluttered at first and then the remnant embers of orange flame that clung to her skin surged into finger-length tongues. Randidly watched impassively, keeping her from setting the bed alight with a curt gesture of his finger. Otherwise, he simply continued to manifest his Fourth Authority, Animation Nova. Her body and Willpower, both almost entirely depleted, eagerly absorbed the radiation.

A few minutes after that, her eyes opened; her gaze was immediately aware and focused. She looked at him and grimaced. “How long was I…?”

“Almost two days,” Randidly flashed a wry smile as he allowed his perception to leave the folding world of Nether. “For a while during the match, I was definitely worried about you. You started pulling in a lot of strange Aether and Nether and burning it to fuel your explosion of force for that Skill. From what I could tell, the combustion created emotional pollution and that eventually overburdened your brain to the point you collapsed.”

Alana closed her eyes again. She squeezed the small blanket covering her body. “So I… lost.”

Randidly shook his head ruefully. “If you had lost, I wouldn’t be so intent on nursing you back to health in a short time. You won; if only because Kimpap was unwilling to truly manifest her images to fight against you. In your rage, you targeted her physical body and forced a confrontation she wasn’t willing to commit to. I don’t think she wants me to see her actual power. She will regret it though- the reward for the tournament is shaping up to be more valuable than I thought, and will be split amongst the top four.”

Alana mulled that over for a few minutes in silence. If anything, her tension seemed to rise with the knowledge she hadn’t yet lost. Randidly could feel her emotions steadily churning through relief, disappointment, and a burning determination in just a few seconds. Eventually, she grounded herself and opened her eyes once again. “You probably would have preferred that I lose, yes? I am considered Expira’s most powerful warrior. I would prove your point about us being out of touch with the power level in the Nexus, had Kimpap been able to come in from Tellus and defeat me.”

Randidly chuckled and waved his hand. “The tournament is just a tournament for the population of the Alpha Cosmos. A way to encounter different warriors from different areas and breed goodwill. And it’s supposed to demonstrate your powers to the broader population; this match did that splendidly. After your power is established… I’ll take care of showing Expira how dangerous the Nexus can be, with only needing a small amount of assistance from you.”

Alana clicked her tongue in distaste at his arrogant attitude, but she couldn’t refute it. She just shot him a sour look and changed the subject. “So. Two days. What happened to the rest of the matches?”

“Charlotte beat Paolo. He did not flinch before her overwhelming physical abilities and she started to feel very threatened by how stubbornly he refused to lose. She had to shatter his left leg and pop a few organs before he collapsed. Honestly, he looked much worse than you did.” Randidly shook his head. “The only difference was that he was definitely conscious, fighting through every moment of the pain. After that, Hank lost to Li Hong. The betting houses made a lot of money from that one. It didn’t seem like his heart was in the fight and the dispersive nature of Li Hong’s abilities was somewhat difficult for him to address. After you lost and had to be healed, well…”

The moment stretched. Alana kept the sour expression on her face, even as she stared intently down at the blanket. Randidly gave her a searching glance and spoke slowly. “Obviously, it’s not my business, but are you two…?”

“Nope,” Alana snorted. “But it’s easy, working together with him. Sometimes I convince myself that he secretly really wants a relationship with me and I recoil from the easy comradery, but he- well, he’s never actually hinted at it anything other than friendship. Since meeting each other, we’ve just been present in each others’ lives. Nothing more complicated than that. No sexual undertones. He treats his horse with more affection than I receive. But serves him right for worrying about things out of his control. Oh, and the last fight?”

“Drake won again, beating Beatrice. Pretty overwhelmingly. Once he builds up a head of steam, he has a lot of brute force.” Randidly leaned back in his chair. Behind his back, his tail continued to toy with Nether in the surrounding space. His Nether Core spun. “So the semifinal matches will be you versus Charlotte and Li Hong versus Drake.”

Alana groaned. “And that’s why you are blasting me with all this lively energy, to try and get me back on my feet. Because I drew the short straw on my opponent. I might be the one everyone bet on, but we both know the Vulpis Squad has more well-developed images.”

“Well, certainly entertainment is a concert as the tournament’s sponsor,” Grinning, Randidly reached out and squeezed Alana’s shoulder. “I want the final few matches to be worthwhile. So if you could hurry up and get back to fighting shape-”

Alana groaned and rolled over, burying her face in the pillow.

*****

“Its really great to see you both,” Tatiana said with a smile of genuine pleasure. She kissed Neveah’s cheek and then shifted to put both her hands on Sydney’s shoulders. The woman felt thin beneath her seafoam top. Tatiana tried to keep her tone neutral as she searched the other woman’s face. “Is everything… alright?”

There were dark circles under her eyes as Sydney forced a smile to her face. “To be honest… yes. Right now I’m doing okay. I must look a mess- And if anything, that disturbs me more than if something had gone wrong. And I’ve just been working so much in the past few months… well, don’t let me start this reunion on a sour note. I want to relax a bit, that’s why I’m here. You look gorgeous, Tatiana. Power, as always, suits you.”

So did you finally make the trip to watch Drake? Tatiana thought to herself. But out loud, she released a smile and said. “Thank you. Alright then: to the table! Waiter, a pitcher of mimosas, if you please. And keep them coming.”

Neveah licked her lips. “Start with two- I haven’t yet been able to feel intoxicated. My base body is just a bit… robust.”

They sat on the balcony of one of the tucked-away little restaurants in Tournament Island, watching the sun come up over the ocean and pain the tops of waves golden with its passage. A vine crawled along the stone wall and bloomed with small pink flowers. Drinks arrived and for a while, the conversation managed to sparkle just like light refracting off the water below them. Especially when Sydney began discussing her work.

“Actually I… have a confession to make,” Sydney grimaced. “I’ve wanted to tell you two for so long, but I just- well. I’m embarrassed that something that started out as a joke or a private fantasy now is world-renowned. Do you know the romance author Kimberly Flame? That’s… actually me. I’ve been writing under a pseudonym because I didn’t want anyone to draw too many inferences about my connection to the subject matter.”

“What!” Neveah’s jaw dropped. “Kimberly Flame?! The one who wrote ‘Our Vicious Hunger’ and ‘My Class Was His’?!?”

Tatiana blinked several times. “Those… aren’t those the… romance novels that star a young, Classless girl being swept away by a rich and high-Level millionaire…? With several well-described physical interactions between the two of them.”

“Whose stubbornness, obliviousness, and awkward emotional moves distinctly resemble a certain irresponsible Ghosthound,” Neveah continued to look distinctly scandalized. Her grimace was comical enough that Tatiana huffed out a laugh. “Ugh… I used to- Bleh…”

Sydney threw her hands up in the air. “This… is sorta why I didn’t want to talk about it! Yes, I drew heavily from Randidly’s personality. Or at least from his palpable presence. And knowing him and the people from Donnyton made it easy to be inspired to create the mysterious and harsh character of Edwin Hawk for the flagship series. But honestly, after all the shit I went through due to Randidly, I’m pretty sure he at least owes me a fictional cameo. Besides, it would never even occur to him to be accidentally romantic. If anything, I’m doing him a PR favor by writing these books. Suddenly, ten thousand teenage girls are moon-eyed over the possibility of meeting a mysterious and powerful stranger appearing in the dark.”

“Teenage girls?” Tatiana couldn’t help but giggle. “More like a million middle-aged women fantasizing about him. Do you know anything about ‘Hawk’s Darkness’ becoming a movie? Ha! I wonder who they will cast… This is a secret that we definitely can’t let him find out-”

“Then change the subject!” Neveah hissed. She pressed her hands to her face; her expression was flushed. “I’ve read those books! I’ve fantasized- ugh, I’m seriously going to throw up. That was my Soulbond companion- and Randidly isn’t training, so if I get any more embarrassed, he’s going to notice and his consciousness will drift over to investigate why I’m feeling like this-”

Several mimosa pitchers into the meal, Tatiana spoke and then regretted it immediately. She looked at Sydney. “So, what’s going on between you and Drake?”

The table fell into an uneasy silence. Tatiana scolded herself for speaking as thoughtlessly as Randidly. She was definitely spending too much time with him. But at the very least, it did change the subject.

“We had a fight,” Sydney said slowly. “About… about him trying to work through some of his trauma and recover his fighting strength. I thought- I just want him to be happy, you know? And we have been since he recovered and finished his rehab. It’s been- I wake up in a warm dream every morning. Yes I’m busy and yes I write with a heavy reliance on Randidly and that makes me feel vaguely guilty, but I’m happy.

“But he got it into his head that he wants to be strong for me. He wants to directly overcome whatever pain put him into that coma in the first place. I think part of it is that he hopes he can rediscover his ability to speak in the process,” Sydney let out a long breath and her body seemed to sag without the air. “But… it’s not worth the risk! What if he falls into another coma?”

Neveah reached over and put her hand on Sydney’s. Her smile was brittle. “It’s a hard thing. Watching the people in our life run toward danger so constantly. It can eat away at you, being the one who thinks and feels the consequences. But you can’t let it overshadow everything else.”

“I know,” Sydney whispered. She reached up and dabbed at the corners of her eyes with a napkin. She force a warm smile on her face and took another deep gulp of mimosa. “That’s why I’m here, right? To see you two, obviously, but also… I’ll be there to see what happens to him.”

“I mean he made it to the semi-finals,” Tatiana observed. “He’s certainly strong. And Randidly gets a very intense gaze when he watches Drake’s matches. I can sorta tell from it that he’s intrigued by what he sees.”

“Ugh.” Sydney pressed her forehead against the table. “That’s the worst. Because now that he made it this far, even if he would win, he will fight Randidly. And whatever else I know about him, he will not be gentle to Drake because he is recovering from injury.”

Tatiana and Neveah both took their own deep gulps rather than acknowledging that statement. Because neither would be able to deny it.