February 12, 2019, 11:05:02 am.

For several long seconds, Desh Atun and I stare at each other, neither of us blinking. Then Rufka calls to me from the exit and I reflexively flick my eyes in her direction. When I look back to Atun, she's lounging across the throne, collecting food from a tray that wasn't there a second ago. I remain looking at her for another few seconds, and even snap off a second analysis. But nothing's changed. Whatever intelligence I saw before seems to have disappeared.

With a displeased frown, I tell Rufka what I saw. She glances over, but shrugs when she doesn't see anything. When the quest notification pops up, I'm pleased to see there's a bonus reward for a flawless victory, doubling both of the other rewards. The beast mode didn't have that.

We continue through four more matches, with Atun declaring our flawless victory each time but no sign of that intelligence. When we defeat the sixth and most difficult version, I've almost convinced myself that it wasn't real. Rufka and I are talking about what we might have for lunch when we notice the exit hasn't opened yet.

Behind us, Atun's voice shakes the arena, the crowd going silent, "Today we have true contenders. Six flawless victories in a row. Foes worthy of your Desh!"

Rufka and I pause, glancing at each other before turning towards her throne. Atun stands at the front, one foot on the short wall just inside the invisible barrier Smoulder was throwing herself against. Then she leaps forward, landing on the far side of the arena with a slam.

"Mum never mentioned this," Rufka says while drawing her bow.

"Uhm. I don't think this is normal," I reply while analyzing Atun again. Her stats still haven't changed.

I rouse Smoulder from her pocket, and her excitement at the annoying K'tharn not being locked away is obvious the moment she lays eyes on Atun.

Okay, three vs one. We can do this.

I pause time, sending nine piercing arrows at Atun. A cheap and simple test of her defences. None of them land, the mana collapsing before it gets close to her. Rufka's arrows meet slightly more success, only robbed of their crackling lightning as they soar past Atun, one drawing a thin line of blood across her cheek.

Not a promising start, but I just need to think. As Atun runs towards me, I drop into Pause.

Let's see. Attacking her directly with magic is out, so maybe-

After less than a second of Paused time, the effect collapses and I feel tearing inside me. Then I realize that Atun is still charging towards me. With a gasp, I lurch to the side as her foot slams down on where I'd been standing. I'm staring up at the calloused bottom of her foot as Smoulder hurtles into her. Smoulder's flames are smothered, but I can still feel the pure heat rolling off her as she smashes into Atun.

Atun flinches, but only barely. But Smoulder buys me enough time to retreat a single step. All my usual tools aren't working. This close to Atun, my magic is useless, worse than on the ship, even my aura is suppressed. I need to get away. Before I can make it two more steps, I feel something wrap around me from behind. I'm just able to make out the golden fur that lines Atun's fist and Rufka's scream in the background before my head is smashed into the stone beneath the stands. In that single blow, my health is drained to a few points. Before I can react, I'm slammed again even as a familiar heat surges above me.

For the first time in weeks, I'm knocked unconscious.

...TPWM...

I come to in the challenge room, without so much as a headache. My resting spot turns out to be one of the stone slabs between the stairwells.

"Well, that was bad," I say as I sit up, finding Rufka rising on the slab next to mine. And Smoulder shaking her head on the furthest. "What the hell happened?"

"You..." Rufka doesn't speak so much as lurch forward and wrap her arms around me.

She manages to squeeze tight enough that my Health starts ticking down. I give her a few moments while rubbing circles on her back. It only takes ten more health before she eases her grip.

"You... we died. I think," Rufka says, her hand brushing my cheek before kissing me.

When we break the kiss, I check my Restoration ability and find that it's still charged. So we didn't actually die then. I don't even have any new conditions. Her mom did tell us it would be safe.

When I mention this to Rufka, she laughs, but it sounds strained. "It's... a lot easier to know that than to believe it when you see the body of... when I saw you..."

"Hey, hey, I'm okay," I remind her, pulling Rufka into a hug again. Rufka just nods into my shoulder as Smoulder arrives and snuggles in between us. I can feel the reassurance wafting off her. We sit there for a while before Beth comes out of her own arena. She notices us immediately, but doesn't say anything taking a seat on another of the slabs until Rufka finally pulls away.

There's a small burst of magic as she dries her tears, leaving only a smile as she turns to face Beth. "So, good news. We found out you can't die!" Rufka says with far too much exuberance.

Beth glances at me, and I nod before she looks back to Rufka who's still talking.

"And we found out that if you get six Flawless Victories in a row, Desh Atun will come out of her throne and bring Vaus's own judgement on you," Rufka adds with an almost perfectly faked smile. Other than it being too tight. And not quite reaching her eyes.

"Good to know," Beth acknowledges, giving Rufka a nod. Then she stands up and walks over to the pedestal. She glances back at Rufka for a second, then punches in a new combination. As she reaches the stairs, she looks back at us. "It's hard to lose the people you love. Even if they come back."

Before Rufka or I can respond, Beth hustles up the stairs, disappearing into her next challenge.

"I think... I think I want to have lunch. And maybe... give you that massage?" Rufka says, leaning against me.

"Sure," I reply as we stand up together, Smoulder staying in Rufka's arms.

As we turn to leave the room, I glance back at the challenge pedestal. A new hieroglyph has been partially filled in, though it has less detail than the rest. In the center of the console is the form of Atun, only her eyes and smile visible.

...TPWM...

After a very relaxing massage, and at least as much time spent relaxing in... other ways, Rufka and I return to the challenge room. Despite our 'defeat' at the hands of Atun, we still got the full payout for our flawless victory. With nine more sets of challengers, Rufka and I resume our grind.

When we defeat the sixth team for the second set of challengers, we stand ready. We watch the swirling mana-dust collect in Atun's hand this time, and even with Pause and Twilight-enhanced eyesight, I still almost miss when it collapses into a single bead of mana that sinks into her skin.

"Once more, our contenders stand before us! Another six flawless victories, and another opportunity to prove their worth!"

Before she's done speaking, we're moving. As she demonstrated last time, the stands are a valid part of the arena. Which means I can stay out of her aura by skirting around the-

"Attend me!" Atun cries, and it feels as if the entire room shrinks for a fraction of a second. When it returns to its original size, I find myself standing within immediate striking range. Not part of the plan, but we did discuss what I should do if she somehow cornered me. So instead of dodging away, I dive between her legs.

The deep-bellied laughter from Atun isn't exactly reassuring. Nor is the sudden tug on my leg as I'm hoisted upward. I catch a glimpse of Rufka being flung by Atun's other arm before I'm smashed into the stone beneath the stands once more. This time, I don't just let her slam me down, using the brief pause to kick at her hand. She doesn't even flinch.

As she slams me down again, I realize something obvious. I should really have a weapon.

Smoulder dashing forward in a bundle of fur and heat prevents Atun from slamming me a third time, which is fortunate, since the first two have already drained my health to nothing. Then I see Rufka. Or what remains of her.

I don't have time to fully process it before Atun uses me as a club to smack something small and extremely hot. This time, I realize it's not unconsciousness that takes me.

...TPWM...

When I wake on the stone slab, I practically throw myself off the slab to find Rufka. When I see she's okay, I can't help but gulp in relief as I react much like she did. I... understand better now, what she meant. What Beth meant. It's like a waking nightmare, seeing someone you care about like that.

"How..." Rufka says as I sit next to her, holding her tight. "How did we manage to do even worse on our second attempt?"

"She didn't use that space-shrinking ability the first time. What even was that?" I ask, still not wanting to let go of Rufka.

"Pretty sure that was one of her Mandate abilities. Mum said she couldn't do it often," Rufka says, rubbing her head. "Mum also said that she only did it when she was losing. We didn't even scratch her."

"Pretty sure Smoulder did, actually," I say, reaching down to give her some well deserved head-scritches. Despite our defeat, Smoulder remains certain of our eventual victory. Which, I mean... fair. We do get to keep coming back.

Rufka lets out a deep breath before pushing to her feet, dragging me with her. "Mum did warn us she was challenging."

Even as I nod in agreement, a swirl of dark energy appears over a distant slab. As Rufka and I watch, the dark energy coalesces into Beth, who sits up with a gasp. "Holy shit!"

Rufka and I share a chuckle at Beth's reaction, though neither of us can maintain it.

"Take it you fought Atun," I state more than ask while looking over at the pedestal before shaking my head. I don't think I'm as bad as Rufka was earlier, but I still feel like I need a few minutes.

"That was as much a fight as I'm a virgin," Beth says, shaking her head hard enough to set her fiery red hair floating above her for a second. "Fuck."

We remain silent for a minute before Roberts appears from the other side. When he sees us all standing together, he raises one of his bushy eyebrows. "Problems?"

"Could say that," Beth says, flopping back onto the stone slab in a way that would've stung before we had Health Edge. "You saw my message, right?"

"About us reviving if we die. And facing Atun if we had six flawless victories in a row? This is related?"

"Yep. I just got stomped by her. Not a fun experience. Her damn aura prevents me from shooting her."

"Ah, yes. That would be troubling," Roberts agrees, tapping a thin loop of wire against his chin. "I haven't encountered her yet myself. After your warning, I decided to only proceed to the fifth stage of each challenge. It seems to have work-"

Roberts is interrupted by another pair of swirls, one is emerald and gold, the other pink and dark brown. The former resolves into a prone Rose while the latter coalesces into Josh. Without even sitting up, Josh throws a clump of thorns at the wall beside him before flopping his arms out to the side.

While Josh is decompressing, Rose sits up next to him with a huff. Then he notices the rest of us. "Meeting time?"

"Wasn't the plan, but since we're all here, why don't we discuss," Beth agrees.

Which leads into us exchanging notes on everything we've fought so far, including our experiences with Akun. Something about the way everyone describes entering the mersas gets my attention, and I can't help but replay our entrance and exit in my mind. By the time everyone's done, Tipan and Kellica have joined us and we end up having to repeat things for a third time, though I'm still lost in thought, only paying partial attention.

Beth leans on the pedestal while addressing the rest of us, her hands folded over the butt of her rifle. "Okay. Maybe we've officially found an opponent that's worth group combat. Too bad we have to go through an entire round of Flawless Victories to encounter her."

"Are we aware if she triggers on a subsequent run?" Roberts asks.

"Probably triggers on a rainy day, just to make it worse," Josh complains, throwing a ball of thorns at the wall again.

"Can we check later? Taking her on isn't urgent, right?" Rose asks, grabbing the ball of thorns out of the air the next time Josh throws it. Josh just scowls before laying back against the slab. "Dying like that sucks."

"I don't think we're really dying. It's just temporary constructs," I say as I finally figure out what's been bugging me. The tethers haven't been moving beyond the entrances.

Everyone turns to stare at me and I blink, before smiling. "Right. None of you can... anyway, I'm not totally certain, but I think we're being put in stasis whenever we reach the tenth step, where the portal is. It's not like entering a private room at Raz's. Next time we go in, I'm going to scan myself, just to be sure but..."

"Thanks kid. That... that actually makes me feel better. And Genitha mentioned we'd get to the point where we could unlock her with points."

"Mum left out the Flawless victory part," Rufka grumbles, pulling me to my feet.

"Maybe your mum never got that far?" I suggest.

"Or she was already so powerful it didn't bother her. Seriously, your mother is crazy OP," Josh says.

"Thanks, I think," Rufka replies as she pulls me towards the pedestal. "Now, I'm ready to go kick some more ass. Lexi?"

"Yeah, let's do this," I reply as she punches in the next challengers.

Even if I don't have my magic, we'll figure something out.

Though if I'm honest...

Not using magic?

Not gonna happen.