Where The Dead Ones Go Book 1 -Magistracy-

Chapter 6

"His Emirati Highness, Sheikh Vaski of the Scythian Emirate, son of Poseidon."

The handsome dark-skinned boy chuckled and shook his head as he looked at Rebie accusingly, "Enough with the formalities, Rebie. This is the third and hopefully the last time you have to embarrass me in front of our future schoolmates."

"But..."

"That's an order, my childhood friend," the son of the absolute ruler of the seas said seriously before looking again at us sitting at the table cordially, "I'm Vaski and I thank you for being so nice with my friend here. She is so intimidating and unapproachable, I feared for the worst."

"Wow, you're nicer than Zeus's son!"

We all looked at Taurei who seemed to recover his usual jovial persona that made the son of the king of the seas smile happily.

"I will take that as a compliment, thank you," Vaski said respectfully that made me agree with Taurei, "By the way, are you all aware here of what is to come in the third and final phase of our examinations?"

"Well, no. If you will be so kind as to explain it then I will be forever grateful. Morris Mortheo by the way," Morris said playfully as the sheikh who raised an eyebrow at the homeless boy who looked at him curiously.

"I can sense the earth magic emanating from you. You are a Scythian, right?" Vaski asked carefully.

He nodded and smiled a little, "I am, Your Highness. Well, I moved by humble butt in the viceroyalty a few years back so there's that. But even if with muddled memories, I can safely and surely say that I am born and bred in the middle of the Almorican desert."

"Then it is my honor to meet a fellow countrymen. Would you do me a favor and join my coalition for the next examinations? Oh and drop the formalities. Vaski will do, Morris."

Morris shook his head and looked at my direction, "I'm sorry but I made a personal promise to help this girl here beside me."

"Of course, I completely understand as a fellow Scythian," Vaski answered corteously before looking at all of us again, "Since all of you are waiting for my explanation about the last part of our examinations, I will be more than happy to explain it to you all in detail."

We all nodded and looked at him expectantly.

He smiled and continued talking, "Very well. The final exam is actually quite simple, really. It is an all out fight between each and every remaining examinees. Demigods vs demigods. Mortals vs mortals. Alliances are allowed but the points are individually tallied. Children of Olympic deities and their spouses are worth more points than say, for example, children of Triton or Aristaeus. Since you are all here with me, may I extend my offer of joining my group for better chances of passing?"

"I will have to pass, I am honor bound to serve under the son of Zeus," Gala said respectfully as she stood up and looked at Taurei, "I am aware that you two are not in the best of terms but as a self-respecting citizen of the Magistracy of Pagos, you are required to rally under his leadership."

Taurei stood up and nodded solemnly, "I know, I know. I will just have to suck it up. Well, I hope I can see you all after the examinations. I have this feeling that this will not be the last time that we will all see each other. Vivet, I hope you can finish your job as soon and as safely as possible. Morris, I know you're way more than what you try to show us all. Make sure she finishes her damn delivery."

"Indeed. Though I will swear that if I can, I will assist you Vivet in your endeavor," Gala said before hugging me and even Morris who looked honored and thankful at the same time, "Take care of her Morris."

"I will, you two. No need to worry. Even if it's the last thing I do," the homeless boy said before echoing that promise in his head for me to hear in my mind, "Narcine, Rebie, Vaski, good luck. Try to let us pass if you see us wading through the carnage."

The daughter of Persephone giggled and pinched our cheeks before standing up, "Of course I will. We are friends, right, Rebie?"

Amphitrite's child blinked and managed to smile a little, "Friends, huh? I guess you can say that. Though be sure to stay out of our way or I will not be able to guarantee your safety."

"Personally speaking, I would love to spar with you, Morris," Vaski said that made us all look at him in surprise, "I am trying since earlier to gauge your earth ability but I am coming in blank. You are not an average, Scythian. That's for sure."

Morris just shook his head laughed, "Oh please. I am sure whatever I can come up with will still be short of your earth elemental prowess. Please do go easy with us."

"We'll see," the sheikh said ominously as he bid us all goodbye and the rest of our newlyfound friends left the two of us alone in our table to join their countrymates and discuss their strategies.

"So, it seemed that the Auralians are throwing in their lot with the Cretonian-Pagosian coalition," Morris thought as we saw my countrymates joining the examinees from the magistracy and union which made the three happy, "That puts the alliance of Scythian and Anoixi in disadvantage. So, where do we go from here, Vivet?"

"Neither. We go on our own."

"Wow, pretty bold, aren't we?"

I shook my head and touched my pocket, "No. If we pick a side, we will be forced to follow their directives. I for one don't care for any of that nonsense. My job is to deliver this parcel to the headmistress. Not fight this absurd battle when I don't have any inclination of even entering this school for educational purposes. I am only speaking for myself, Morris. I will do it alone if I have to. I came here prepared to crawl my way if I have to."

"Oh c'mon, Vivet. Don't be that cold and distant. We shared this link in our minds, I think it's a good sign or something. If you can ask your foster mother to give me a job after I helped you with your delivery then I will do everything I can to assist you. I am getting rather bored living on the streets."

He then showed me his memories of being a homeless. It is a rather painful and pitiful sight to behold. Forced to do odd jobs, being chased by police forces for squatting and at times, having to scavange food from the trash cans.

"Ms Irene is really looking for a new employee and I am sure she will accept you who is streetsmart," I thought kindly before smiling despite myself, "It seemed to me that I am bribing you into helping me."

"Nah. The work is only secondary. Just a bonus. What I am really curious about you is our mental link like this. It seemed so natural and perfect. You know what I mean? We barely know each other but in just a few hours, it seemed that we are already insperable."

"Yes, I do know what you mean. I feel exactly the same. But let's just keep this between the two of us," I whispered in my mind as we heard the triplets of Apollo instructing us to proceed to the next venue of our final examinations, "My fire magic is barely even useful. I pray that Vaski is right about your earth powers Morris because I will definitely lean on you for defense."

He stood up and I followed suit, "We shall see, Vivet. We shall see.'

-0-

"Calm down. Vivet. It is merely an illusion," Morris said when I screamed the moment I saw the night sky above us after we stepped out of the building we were in, "I heard from a child of Hermes that it is just an hour past twelve or so. I guess they did this so that the battle at the collosieum will  be much more dramatic or something. Look!"

I turned my head on the direction my companion is pointing and my jaw dropped when I saw a huge collosieum with dozens of spotlights lighting it up and the dark skies above it.

We can hear the cheers of the seemingly thousands of spectators inside as the battle of the mortal examinees apparently ended and it is our turn to showcase our fighting skills.

Morris and I let the other demigods enter before us as we tried to collect our thoughts quietly and discuss in our minds our strategy.

"So since we are not siding with anyone else, it will be safe to assume that it will be a complete riot for the two of us," my companion thought as he tried to imagine different scenarios in which we have to literally run and dance for our dear lives, "I also heard earlier that even though death is not permitted inside the battlegrounds. If we are injured enough inside, our lives might end after the examination so we must do this rationally."

"No," I quickly disagreed and walked before him to find a room full of weapons for the examinees to use, "If my life is the payment for me to finish the job entrusted to me then so be it. You are free to escape and leave me behind should things get too risky. I would never ask you to die for me."

He sighed and looked around the room as he tries to pick a weapon for himself, "I already pledged my life to your cause. No matter how damned it will be, you can be sure I will do my utmost best to help you until the last of my strength leaves me. Honestly, I don't know why I feel this way but maybe it is because you are the first person who treated me as an equal regardless of how destitute my looks and status is. It means a lot, Vivet. Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, Morris. Aside from our odd mind link, I have this strange feeling that we have more things in common that we do not know," I answered happily that made him smile at me purely.

A loud billowing horn was blown from somewhere and the gates in front of us begin to close.

Morris looked behind at me and pointed at my back, "Grab any weapon for us and run!"

No need to tell me twice.

I looked around me and grabbed the nearest thing my hands can get.

A rusty scythe as tall as me and a three sectioned staff that collpased into three parts the moment I touched it.

With those secured, I ran as fast as my feet can carry me through the gates and barely made it.

I looked around and what I saw shocked me beyond belief.

Thousands upon thousands of audience sitting on the bleachers around the huge field where demigods have begun to group themselves into two depending on their allegiances. There are gigantic screens on all directions of the collosieum showing us real time the view of the grounds and at times, showing the people watching from their homecountries and cheering for their representatives.

"Unbelievable."

"You could say that again," I thought as I handed the scythe to my companion who raised an eyebrow, "What? You told me to grab anything and run."

He shook his head and smiled a little as he grasped the weapon and waved it easily around as if it is nothing when I can barely carry it earlier, "I don't know why but it is perfect, Vivet."

"Good. Because I think you have to hold on tight to it. The battle is about to begin," I warned before pointing at the man who walked towards the giant horn we heard earlier situated at the northern reaches of the bleachers and prepared to blow it, "The moment he breathes on that thing, it's either we are goners or we are gone from here."

Morris took a deep breath and smiled a little, "I choose the latter. Follow my lead, Vivet. I think it is only natural to show what I can do to my future employer."

Before I can answer him, the horn was sounded again and all underworld breaks loose right before our very eyes.

Magic spells of all elements are being thrown in every direction and godly powers gifted from the immortals to their mortal offsprings are being brought to bear.

"Fierce flames of yore, blaze, shine and come forth! Fire Element: Flame Barrage!"

We heard a loud voice from somewhere near and a boy clearly from the Cretonian Democratic saw us as easy targets and decided to unleash dozens of balls of flames towards us.

"Oh, joy," Morris thought in a deadpan voice as an Anoixian girl cut of our only escape route with a water spell aimed at us, "And here I thought we can at least make ourselves scarce before s**t happens. Oh well!"

"Fluid come and flow, shoot, don't let my enemies go! Water Element: Liquid Blast!"

My companion took one step forward and slammed the end of his scythe towards the ground, "Soil made of rock and stone, come, be our bastion! Earth Element: Land Bulwark!"

The earth beneath us suddenly moved and formed a gigantic thick wall that shielded us from the fireballs and the water cannon that hit it with so much force, it rocked a little but nonetheless managed to stay in one piece.

"We can't stay here, Vivet. We have to move!" Morris said quickly as we heard the two calling out for reinforcements, "Dirt and mud, rise, be our connection to the land beyond! Earth Element: Land Bridge!"

The wall that shielded us turned into dust in an instant and reformed in a giant bridge that leads to the safer side of the field appeared.

"Morris!" I shouted as he deflected an arrow with his scythe that came from one of the children of Apollo taking aim at us.

"Get going, Vivet! Hurry!" he urged me and I took a step on the bridge that he made for us and ran as fast I can without looking elsewhere but in front, "That's right! We are almost on the other side!"

"Slicing air, cut, dice my enemies apart! Air Element: Severing Pressure!"

I looked above and saw a countrymate of mine unleashing the wrath of the winds on our bridge that crumbled quickly by the sheer cutting power of the air.

We fell from the skies as the land bridge collapsed and was about to lose hope when we heard a panicked familiar voice.

"Persephone: Dance of the Dandelions!"

And from nowhere, thousands, no, millions upon millions of beautiful, soft and white dandelions appeared from nowhere and surrounded me and Morris as it cushioned our supposedly painful landing.

"Persephone: Wall of Wisterias!"

From the ground erupted gorgeous vines of violet colored flowers that formed a seemingly impenetrable dome of flowering plants around us and from the ground appeared a familiar face of a petite girl stepping out of her gigantic rafflesia.

"Thank goodness I managed to catch you two! I highly advise against using the skies as a mode of transportation. The airspace is guarded zealously by Auralians!"

I heaved a sigh and nodded, "We know firsthand, Narcine. Thank you for your help. I thought we were goners."

"Yeah, thanks a bunch," Morris said as he looked around the dome around us, "Gotta say I am impressed with this, Narcine. Being able to perform special abilities with just a few words are convenient. I was under the impression that your mother fares poorly in battle. Consider me amazed by this."

The daughter of Persephone blushed a little before nodding and stepping in again inside her giant pungeant flower, "Well, you two are most welcome. I am sure my mother heard you and is very pleased. However, don't expect an encore. This is as far as I can help you. They are recalling us to form a united front against the Scythians as we speak. The moment I leave, the flowers will wilt and you are on your own. The best of luck, you two. Finish the job!"

The carnivorous plant appeared to eat her whole and it burrowed deep underground.

True enough, the protective wall of flowers around us began to wither quickly now that their mistress is gone.

"Vivet, hurry! Set the vines on fire! We can at least use the smoke as a way to confuse our would be attackers!"

I nodded and raised my right hand remembering the basic fire spell one of my workmates taught me just last week, "Ignite and burn, shimmer, alight my path! Fire Element: Cinder Spark!"

Even I laughed a little when Morris roared in laughter when a small ember of flames appeared in front of my right hand and quickly flew through the vines.

"I already told you, my fire magic is barely even serviceable at best!" I pouted as my companion tried to stiffle his laughter when the fire I made slowly burns the vines.

"I know but this is insane. I thought you were joking but really, this is the best you can do? No wonder you are so adamant about being a mortal!"

I furrowed my brows and rolled my eyes at him, "Hey! I resent that!"

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry. Here, let me help turning up the heat," he said as he pointed his scythe at the small fire I made eating the wilting vines in front of us, "Clash together and slam, grind, pebbles rub alight! Earth Element: Friction Force!"

Small stones gather around my fire and rub against each other producing sparks and true enough, they caught fire and helped my small fire shine brighter than ever and quickly engulfed our withering dome.

"Run, Vivet!"

He grabbed my hand and the moment everything around us went up in flames, we sprinted as fast as we can across the chaotic battlefield around us.