Saitules, Vermilia

[Yurian]

Her eyes flicked back and forth, through the slits and openings that characterized the area. Her pupils pulsated as she scanned the area; the nearly invisible veins and arteries that usually circumscribed the human eyes were forcefully destroyed, allowing a vision so precise that it could see details and sense changes several times more acurately and closely than usual.

Something twinkled, and Eris immediately crouched down, forming her body into the narrow concrete pyramid she stood on. Her pupils expanded and her eyes widened, making her seem like an owl, discreetly watching for a movement of the prey. The something twinkled again, and her vision zoomed in, negating the reflection from the sun on the object.

It was a glass surface? Eris frowned at the object; she couldn't be wrong. She stared at it, trying to comprehend the existence of such an object here. Suddenly, an enlarged and distorted eye appeared within the glass, and Eris immediately drew her swords, before gliding down to investigate the thing.

[Yurian]

The wind ruffled against her hair, and Eris gripped her swords more tightly. She thought for a moment as she descended whether she would be attacked within midair. Either way, the glass surface - circular, like a magnifying glass - was coming closer. The eye suddenly disappeared from its center, replacing itself with an enlarged concrete texture.

As she landed, a flurry of sparks spit off of Eris' weapons while she repelled a thick missile of ice. It immediately shattered, the thousands of shards clinking onto the cold floor. She sprinted foward, her eyes constantly looking for the origin of the bullet. Nothing. Again it was only wind and dust. Where could he - or she - be? Was he/she just toying with her?

With that posibility in mind, she twisted around to look behind her. The magnifying glass was gone.

[Yurian]

Something felt strange; the ground was rumbling. Eris looked down, then up. Nothing?

"Argh!" She suddenly collapsed as the arena ground split into a labyrinth of distorted cracks. Her elbow scraped against the ground, and blood smeared onto the hard dusty floor. Frenzy consumed her mind as she immediately looked for the opponent.

It wasn't the opponent.

BOOM! She was thrust upwards, floating for a moment in the sky above the concrete structures. In a daze, she could see the crowds - the crowds were screaming, there was fire and dust everywhere.

Darkness.

[Yurian]

"Please follow the guardmen," the speaker above Soren's head spoke out calmly but urgently. In the background of the voice, Soren could hear screams, yells, and explosions; he stood up and looked around, his eyes blaring.

"Competitors," a suited man came in abrubtly. "Please follow me immediately. I will give instructions as to what you should do." Soren watched the other competitors follow the guardsman, before joining in line behind them. In his mind, he smiled; his heart pounded in excitement.

And then he suddenly frowned, his pupils dilating as if he could see into another vision. Eris.

[Yurian]

"There's a bombing currently going on," the guard said. "Stay close by; we're taking all of you out of the area."

Soren gasped as he walked outside of the building. The stadium in the distance burned in spiraling smoke. People were running out, their faces shocked underneath the masks of white dust.

"Maaamee!" A young boy stood still amongst the stream of running people, before being swept up by a passing woman.

"Sir!" Soren yelled as the guard motioned them to follow. "My friend is still in there! She's still inside!" The other competitors looked at him, before averting their eyes.

"The guards inside will take care of the situation," the suited man answered promptly. The gestured everyone to follow, and Soren jogged broodingly after them.

---

"Almost everyone has been evacuated, sir!" A suited guard saluted the red robed figure still standing in the stadium box. "The competitors are already leaving the prem-"

The voice was cut short as the speaker watched Waan drift down towards the middle of the stadium. It seemed as if a great current of wind was encircling the Monarch, and dust began to cloud around him.

As he landed on the pinnicle of one of the concrete 'buildings', Waan lifted his hands, and the great air force was suddenly quieted. The dust, as if being controlled by a million downward pulling threads, fell to the ground in a cloud of quiesence. Indeed, the whole stadium was silent; there were no movements or sounds. The raging fires were quenched, disappearing in an instant.

[Yurian]

It had been seven hours since the stadium was evacuated. Soren sat on the edge of his bed in the hotel room. It was quiet throughout the whole area surrounding the stadium. Occassionally a stray car would break the grey silence, only to quietly dissappear.

A knock interrupted his thoughtless meditation.

"Soren?" It was his coach. "Open the door." It sounded serious.

The distressed figure stared at the small door opposite his bed. He didn't want to answer it, but rather sit there. He wanted to do nothing.

"Soren. Are you in there?"

The figure stood up, stooping forward to gain something of a momentum. "Hi Coach." The man walked into the room, beckoning his student to sit back down.

"Eris is currently in hospital, Soren. Luckily, she's only received some minor scrapes and burns." A blank expression continued to listen. "Soren. The bad news is that this tournament is going to be cancelled."

"Oh..." A frown so miniscule followed, so much that it seemed as nothing had followed at all.

"Now for how long it's going to be cancelled, I don't know. Most likely, it can be picked back up soon. There have just been so many incidences." A pause followed, as if hiding some fact. "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning." The coach stared at the boy, waiting for some sort of response. Nothing came, and so the man stood up, clasping Soren's shoulder. "It's going to be all okay," the voice said, clearly misunderstanding the situation.

There wasn't anything to be 'okay' or 'not okay'. What was there to think about? It just seemed empty.

[Yurian]

It was crowded in the train as Soren felt himself being pushed around in the sandwich line.

"What would you like to order?"

"..."

"What would you like to order?"

"Oh! Um. Two Number 2s please." Soren looked at the fumbling cashier in front of him, then turned his head slightly. Behind him, the line - the crowd - was restless, tired, and quiet. A small but clear voice was coming from an unseen projector was rapidly conveying recent news.

"This is an emergency report. Right now, reporter Sandy Lin is standing just outside of the bombed Saitules Stadium. Sandy: What is the current situation in Saitules? I can see that the streets are quite empty."

"Well, Barbara: from what has been released from officials, Saitules Stadium which was hosting the acclaimed Vermilian Tournament yesterday was just bombed about eighteen hours ago by Freedom Power Rebels. There is a rumor that a suspect has been captured, but that has yet to be comfirmed. One thing is for certain, however: there are 54 confirmed deaths and over one hundred injuries from the pre-planned bombings. As you can see behind me, workers are still digging through the rubble. It's a miracle that our Excellence Synee Waan was able to prevent so much damage."

"It truly is, Sandy. He is a gift to our peoples."

"I certaintly agree. His Excellence has just left to an undisclosed location in an effort to work out the situation. In fact, at least 25% of Saitules' population has evacuated the city for safer areas and for thoughts on what to do next. Hopefully the situation will get better soon."

"Thank you Sandy. Please stay safe."

"Thank you Barbara."

"Wow. It certaintly is terrible. The Rebels are really gaining momentum. We now turn to His Goodness Rob Brown, Monarch of Domestic Defense."

[Aquaman]

- The Air was cold and the night sky was dark. As Noctu ran through the alleyways, the air felt like a thousand daggers in his cheeks, it felt almost like he was being pushed up against a wall of spikes. On his sides the walls were a blur, and so were his thoughts. As an assassin Noctu killed people, he understood that, but, ever for a person in his profession, there was a line not to be crossed and he felt like he crossed it with his last contract. Killing an old, defenseless man, it was uncalled for. Noctu knew what had to be done.

His mind grew clearer just as the walls did as he slowed to a brisk walk. The Chapel was in his line of sight.

“Noctu I presume?” Said a man cloaked in the shadow of the building. He had a deep voice, and it was quite hoarse, obviously he had been waiting a while, and it was quite cold.

“Yes, I am Noctu.” Waiting for the moment of chance, Noctu focused, trying to keep an eye on the cloaked figure.

“Here is the package. The contents will tell you where your next assassination should take place and who it is. Also in it are the rewards for the last target.” The man looked down to the ground the kneeled as he drew a package from his cloak. With the package i hand, the man putout his hands, as if making a offering to a god.

“Thank you.” A slight smile crossed Noctu's face & It all happened in one swift fluid motion. The package was thrown to the ground all whilst Noctu had his other hand on the man’s mouth. As the sound of scraping metal filled the man’s ears, his eyes widened and bulged as the blade slid into and penetrated his jugular vein.

...Silence.

[Yurian]

"Good morning Barbara," the Monarch acknowledged.

"Good morning, Monarch. What is the situation within the government in accordance to the attack?"

"We have everything under control, but unfortunately there are still a lot of gaps to be filled. As said by Sandy, His Excellence is working hard to uncover and resolve the FPR problems. They are everywhere, however. It's very difficult to locate something that is always vanishing into thin air."

"Just to offer a possibility, Monarch, why would it be so difficult to take control of Viridia?"

"That's a good question. The answer is the Blue Alliance."

"I see what you mean."

"In fact - I doubt much of the general public even knows this - Azurrel is under direct attack from the Rebels. The terrorist problem is really an international issue that cannot be fixed with our current relations."

"Azurrel?!"

"Yes. Even though we share a common problem, the tactics and ideology of the Blue Alliance just don't meet a standard of cooperating with us."

"I understand. Thank you very much Monarch, and please be safe."

"Be safe as well, Barbara. Thank you."