Ivy Bronhilda's Story

Ivy popped another berry in her mouth. She wasn’t comfortable eating the other foods.. at least berries reminded her of the forest where she belonged. She savoured the taste as it wasn’t anything like the Nimoan berries she had tried. These were more sweet yet subtle. As she reached for another, she heard footsteps coming her way and her other hand didn't hesitate to brush along her sword’s handle, just in case. "Well now, the beauty makes her appearance" <So does the annoyance> she muttered in her language as soon as she saw the familiar yet still untrustworthy black haired fellow arrive before popping another berry in her mouth, not sparing the man a glance... not that he even deserved one after the bad first impressions. "You know, I sit here knowing the risk I take if I make you angry, well angry again" She turned her head slowly, eyeing him as his violet eyes seemed to pierce back as he smiled. There was something about this man out of the ordinary that Ivy couldn’t quite pinpoint, but no matter.. it just meant she wouldn’t trust the bloke till she knew what it was. In fact, why bother reaching a foundation of trust at all? She almost laughed to herself. As if that would ever happen.. She hadn't bothered to trust anyone since that day... "But perhaps we can be civil, we could play a little game, you start by telling me something about you and then even if it is a lie, I will answer any question you have about me truthfully."

Ivy turned away, her hand reaching for another berry. Well if you’re gonna sit there, at least you’ll prove useful if I’m poisoned and collapse.. she thought with a sigh as she’d much rather play a game of life and death. At least it wasn’t that easy. She didn't even have to be honest and there was no penalty- was it even a real game or did he make it up as he talked on the spot? “There’s no guarantee to me that you’ll be truthful..” she said very calmly before popping another berry in her mouth. “As there is no guarantee that I will be.. there must be some gain to you in all of this” she questioned in the same calm tone throughout as if her hate had vanished, but rather she had just found a use for him in this current point in time and her words were still unfriendly. As she reached for another berry, she paused with her eyes fixed on a painting displayed on the wall in front of her resembling a woman. Royals.. for full of themselves. “Well.. only one way to know what you’re up to.” She said sharply, glaring at him from the corner of her eye with challenge before retracting her hand from the bowl and placing another berry in her mouth.

“What I say about myself is..” her other hand removed from her sword's hilt as the lying words flowed naturally with the intention of providing nothing of importance. “My favourite color is yellow and I absolutely adore chickens” She picked two berries at once and stared at them amused at what she just said. Good luck with this little game of yours Stark. she thought, a smirk passing her lips before she popped one of the berries in her mouth while thinking up a question. She didn't want to make it too easy. “As for my question..” the berry left over bounced in the centre of the palm of her hand as she paused reaching a realisation.. This is the one person here who won’t leave me alone.. what if he’s the one who— She turned to face him suddenly, the berry crushed in her hand with fury at the very idea. Her silver eyes directly aimed at his own violet as she at last voiced her question. “Did you enter my room?”

“It appears she’s safe and undisturbed.. luckily. I couldn’t bare her dealing with any more of this mess..” "Well that is good. She has had a very trying day already." A moment passed and then a sudden pulse of anger emanated from the young king. “Where is that fool of a man Bryden?!” Nikolai guessed he felt very betrayed with by the man's actions. It was not tough to understand why. "Your highness, I left him under the care of five palace guards in the guard outpost on the west side of the palace." The king confirmed his anger, saying, “Good man, please watch over my sister for the time being then afterwards.. I want that fool ready for me in the coronation room when all of this blows over.. I shall go sound the horns.” It spoke volumes about the man that he placed his sister before his desire for revenge against the man responsible for a great deal of his grief that day. It would serve Nikolai well to remember that. "Of course your majesty, and you may call me Nikolai if you wish. I assure you I will guard this door with my life and shall only depart after the horn has sounded and a significant number of guards have arrived to take my place. No harm shall come to her majesty while I am here to defend her." On that note, Nikolai turned and stabbed a mercenary who had just come running around the corner. The tanto plunged up underneath his sternum, forcing its way into his heart. Pulling the blade from the dead man's chest Nikolai turned to the king, saying, "Take care good king, not sure how many more rescues I have in me today." Giving his best approximation of a friendly laugh, still sounding strange through his mask, he watched Vincent depart. He then turned back to the corridor, ready for any bandit that might come. Sure he may not actually care about their well-being, but being in the good graces of the leaders of the Belauricen Kingdom would certainly have its benefits. And so to that end he would act with the respect friendliness expected of him in a roll as friend to the King and Princess.

A brief time and a few mercenaries later, the horns sounded throughout the castle. That should about wrap things up, Nikolai thought to himself. Over the clamor of the small fights that still seemed to be going on, he heard Ivy calling someone's name...Willow? Ah yes, the girl with the VERY interesting darkness manipulations. He would have loved to go see her during this battle, but Michaelis had been his mission and their just hadn't been time for anything extra. Oh well, she was a Belauricen knight, so he could always ask the good King Vincent about her whereabouts later. Still, it sounded as though Ivy was making her way closer, to both him and the late Sir Warm-Handed as Michaelis had taken to calling himself. And where there was Ivy, Cane inevitably followed, no doubt with lots of bothersome questions. It wouldn't surprise him at all if Cane had actually started letting Ivy in on things she had no business knowing about, things that would lead to some tough questions from her as well. Best to have answers ready to deal with any uncomfortable situations should they arise. He was saved from having to deal with that sort of encounter then by an arriving contingent of twenty guards. Using his status as a skilled combatant and his directive from the king, he ordered ten of the guards to remain and safeguard the princess. Six of the guards would stay in the hallway, the remaining four would barricade themselves in the room with the princess until the all-clear was given. This seemed somewhat excessive, but Nikolai wanted to take no chances of harm coming to the princess. Looking down the hallway, he saw a window that looked out towards the palace grounds. It gave a clear line of sight to the guard outpost where Bryden was being...detained. The drop to the ground was only ten feet, easy enough. He received a few skeptical looks from the guards as he sprung out the window, hit the ground with a roll, and continued on towards the guard outpost as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

Upon reaching the outpost he walked in and managed to alarm the guards, already on edge from the sound of the horn but unable to leave their dangerous prisoner unguarded, with his bloodstained clothing. He assured them that firstly, the crisis in the castle was under control, and secondly that none of the blood on his clothes was actually his. With that cleared up, he relayed the orders to transport Bryden to the coronation room. With little concern, Nikolai removed the knives and rope from Bryden's body, thought still left him chained up. The man still seemed to be unconscious. Getting him on a horse, Nikolai walked with the five guards back towards the castle, Bryden fairly swaddled in heavy chains. It turned out the guards recognized him from his occasional visits to the kingdom, he made a point of being cordial to the guards in the places he visited as their favor could be beneficial indeed. As it were, the guards seemed to admire his combat prowess, and the respect he gave them, so it seemed he was on good terms with this bunch. The guards, it turned out were rather observant, swapping news and details of what combatants had done what, who went where, bought what from what stores, frequented what bars, and a number of other innocuous bits of trivia and gossip. He even heard a rumor about Miss Willow's wild side, that was a surprise. Nikolai listened, chiming in here and there, getting familiar with the guards as they walked. When the group reached the palace, they made their way to the coronation room, two of the guards dragging the prisoner between them. In the coronation room, the guards secured Bryden's chain to a large, exceedingly heavy, sturdy oak table. Nikolai continued to make small talk with the group, passing the time and idly wondering what he would say in the hard conversations he saw coming in the future. However, once Bryden was secured, he realized he really felt quite tired. Seeing one of the guards sitting on a bench against a wall, Renault was his name, Nikolai went over and sat next to him. He leaned back and said, "My good man Renault, I am afraid I won't make it through the night if I don't catch a quick bit of shut-eye. Would you be so kind as to nudge me when the King Vincent or some other combatants drop by?" Renault was happy to oblige, clapping him on the shoulder and saying "Of course buddy! You've really earned it today, no doubt about it!" "Thank you, thank you so very much Renault." With that, Nikolai rested his head against the wall, closed his eyes, and was asleep in moments. It was a light sleep, he knew the others would be coming soon and that the guard would wake him on their arrival.

Avoiding, looked to be out of the equation. With animals in the forest, it was much easier; stay out of their marked territories, don’t pick a fight with packs, in almost all ways animals were more predictable and manageable. But other humans, this thing she had going with Cane was just so complicated and she found herself taken off guard at every turn they made. Ivy knew she had made him upset and angry for once but she didn’t really understand why. She hadn’t invaded his territory or picked a fight… she still had a lot to learn about maintaining relationships. Besides, she had tried to kill him a few times only to watch him smirk it off but now he was bothered greatly by something and talking to her in such a way to let those emotions show. "Oh so I guess I am the only one who thought that maybe we had something..." he snarled at her before forcing her back against a wall. In any other situation, she would have fought back, drawn her sword and told him to back off but she still didn’t understand what was going on and what had him so worked up compared to usual. This wasn’t a combat she was familiar with. It was emotional warfare, one of her least experienced and knowledgeable areas in terms of how to deal with it if it were someone else close to her and she was caught in the cross fire. Her being abandoned had been some sort of emotional turmoil but Cane wasn’t being abandoned here.. or did he think he was? "You think I would really buy that, come on Ivy you should know I am not just some idiot..." I didn’t call you an idiot, idiot. she thought getting a bit irritated at being unable to comprehend the situation or how she should at least handle it. She had noticed him put his arms up to block her from moving away but she didn’t mind so much. This was Cane and as odd as he was acting, she doubted he would hurt her. Just what are you getting at? Can’t you just spell it out straight? she kept having such thoughts over and over in confusion but dared not say any of it as he was already angry enough. "But if you insist I tell you of the 'you and me' that I speak of, I will make it so very clear what I mean." Finally. she thought ready to focus fully to hear what he had to say next but it came off as more of a shock as he leaned in and kissed her.

At that point in time, it somehow became clear. It was the last night of the tournament and she hadn’t exactly left him back at the room on good terms. When he took time to find her though cooperative, she hadn’t made it clear what she wanted out of this either. She figured he must be confused too. They had started to really get along and she left him in the dust like that over a spat on Nikolai. It would be wrong to say that since then she hadn’t had any doubts. She had doubted and was thinking where things would go from here but when he was actually there with her, it was really hard to doubt honestly after everything that had happened. Some things just can’t be tossed away even though keeping carried risks. Compared to previous times, such as the incident in the dining hall where Cane had also pulled it off unexpectedly kissing her for the first time and she was made rather panicky.. this time though still unexpected she had come to enjoy it. The kiss felt more serious and real with him being mad than just playfully flirtatious but she would never admit that. Even as the kiss ended, Cane still looked mad. But it was a breath of fresh air than a man putting on a smirk in reaction to everything. It made her realise he was a human just like her who was capable of feeling emotions though they were both strong willed fighters, that there was still a bit of sensitivity beneath the strength. "Does that explain things to you, does 'you and me' seem a bit more clear now you infuriating woman or are you still intent on pushing me away?" It all clicked. Pushing you away? So you do feel like I’m abandoning you.. "Ivy... Look me in the eyes and tell me what you want... Tell me if you want to be with me like I want to be with you. And I don't mean just during this dreadful tournament but afterwards... And not as friends Ivy." She stared back as he continued looking at her, not moving his eyes attention away even for a second. Cane leaned in close again and she could hear his desperation as he spoke once more quietly, "I love you Ivy... I need to know if you want to try and be with me or if you are going to leave me when this tournament is over..." She sighed, closing her eyes for a second feeling overwhelmed that she just wanted a second to blank out. It was happening, he was thinking she would abandon him and she never thought she would be in her parent’s shoes. Yet it wasn’t that simple or all the same. He wasn’t a child who needed to be taken care of or watched over. Cane was asking this from her out of pure want. If they went separate ways, he could survive surely.. but that’s not what he wanted.

“I want..” she started saying looking back at him, knowing she wasn’t good at this. She wasn’t used to showing emotions besides vigour for battle or fury at being insulted in some way. The past few days a bit of an exception but that still didn’t make her any good at it. “Look Cane..” she said softly, leaning her head a bit more against the wall. Ivy attempted a smile as she stared at him, trying to lighten the mood a bit not used to seeing him so upset and bewildered. “I’m not going anywhere.. I’m not leaving you. I promised I’d help you avenge your family remember? I meant what I said..” she said trying to keep eye contact though she was feeling a bit uncomfortable talking this way when she wasn’t used to it. “But more than friends.. I.. I don’t know. That’s a lot for me to take in.. even friends is a lot for me to take in. It’s only with this tournament that I’m developing all sorts of relationships and it’s scary…” she admitted getting quieter. Ivy then stood on her own off the wall, leaning the tip of her forehead against his chest in defeat as it wasn’t something she would normally do. In a way, it made her look smaller and more of an innocent seeking protection than a fighter type. “But I know what I want.. I don’t want to lose you. You’re all I have and that’s enough for me. If that’s not love then I don’t know what is..” she said speaking in a much more hushed tone and unwilling to move her head away so he could see her face at the moment as she was more vulnerable than ever really hoping no other combatants were passing by as witness. Ivy became silent thinking a bit more before lifting her head off him and having her final say the way he asked it. She looked him in the eyes as he requested, unhesitating knowing she had been weak for long enough and needed to get her act together. “I want to be with you Cane.. But I also want patience.” She said sighing inwardly as black strands of hair fell over her face. “It’s just so new and I need a bit more time to sort it out.. I’m not like you, I haven’t had any experience in this..” She turned to look back at him again, her voice’s composure restored. “When the tournament is over I’ll give you a definite answer.. will you wait for me?” she said going back to herself for the most part, playfully smirking but her eyes couldn’t hide the weight of the plea.

Cane kept his eyes closed until he felt himself on solid ground again, immediately sighing as once again he found himself surrounded by pure white nothingness. It was as unnerving as the last time and he had to remind himself that there was something solid beneath his feet as he took a few steps forward, mostly just testing to help reassure himself since there was nothing to be seen in any direction to walk towards. With those few steps he stopped moving, listening for anything such as another combatant or creature, ready for action and the very last round of the tournament. He took a deep breath, pulling out his Senbon and flipping them between his fingers, checking the tips to make sure they were sharp before he put them back away underneath his coat. He knew his Kasurigama and Katana were ready to go but he didn't draw either of them yet, instead he stayed vigilant and waited. He was a bit confused when he looked around and didn't see Willow, she had entered in to the portal before he had and he couldn't help but feel a bit worried immediately. Just the thought that she would be lost again right after she appeared freaked him out again, once again his concerns mostly for Ivy. He could have chalked it up to the wizard separating them if not for who came right through that portal, Nikolai. Cane had to stop himself from drawing his weapon right there and charging the bastard but instead he kept his cool and kept his eyes on the first arrival, giving Nikolai an opportunity would be a mistake. It still made him worry about Willow but he could think about multiple things, and besides, maybe this was some sort of sick joke, maybe she had just been split and he had been placed with Nikolai due to recent turn of events. That was until Ivy came through as well and then he could only sigh. "Well damn..." He muttered.

He continued to keep a close watch on Nikolai but he approached Ivy, "Long time no see beautiful." He laughed and tried to ignore the Willow situation until he knew the specifics, seeing that the Bryden character was missing as well helped him not to worry too much. He was a bit curious about what this next round would be but the fact that Ivy was around was something, at least it hadn't just been him and Nikolai because that would not have been pretty at all. Besides, it would be no fun if Ivy and him didn't get to complete their bet, this was a winning situation no matter how he looked at it. There was also the idea of the prize at the end and if he could take Nikolai out he still had a chance, because as happy as he would be just coming out of the tournament alive and with Ivy, a life altering prize didn't sound bad at all. Of course that meant defeating Nikolai with all his dirty tricks and skills but it wasn't impossible and he wanted to take his old friend down anyways. He just hoped it all ended alright because that wasn't even a certainty at this point. There were so many uncertainties, ever since the tournament started. He was beginning to think of different things at this point though, now that the round wouldn't end with going back to the castle he had other ideas in his head. First off was to see what Ivy decided but then the first thing on his list was to go back home and see what was left of his family, visit their graves and try and make his peace, and hopefully introduce a certain woman to them. Then of course he would go on vacation, somewhere remote and once again hopefully with a specific someone. Hell, he could just as easily die in this last round but in the spirit of positive thinking he just smiled and kept his eyes on Ivy, sticking as annoyingly close as always.

Unfazed by both the necessity of portal travel and the journey itself, Nikolai looked about the new area he had arrived in. Another blank space, a void of some sorts. He found himself curious despite himself, wondering just where they were. Areas like this certainly didn't exist naturally, so where did the sorcerer keep sending them? The scenery wasn't the only thing that was the same as last time, the crowd was the same too. Cane and Ivy. Cane was already moving over to talk to Ivy, who had arrived momentarily after Nikolai. No surprises there.

What threw Nikolai was the absence of Bryden and Willow. They had both entered before he had, and yet they were nowhere to be found. It was possible they had been transported to a separate area, but that didn't really make sense. He had been expecting some sort of head to head competition, and the last round definitely wouldn't be team based like the last time they were here. Perhaps the combatants were just separated into groups to fight each other, with the victors from each area moving on to fight each other elsewhere, with Nikolai having the unfortunate luck to be paired with two people who would likely team up to kill him. Still, these theories were rather shaky. Could the missing pair have disappeared in the magical portal somehow? Unlikely but possible. Just his luck to lose his potential ally, Willow. He didn't care at all if Bryden was gone, but Willow would have been a valuable tool to use against Cane and Ivy, but it looked like that wasn't an option now. This was not a catastrophic loss though, Willow had been a bonus weapon, nothing more. Her loss was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. Though he could still play this to his advantage. There was a chance Ivy could break down when she realized Willow was missing again, so soon after their reunion. It was a potential weakness worth exploring and capitalizing on.

As Nikolai stood by waiting either for further instructions or the arrival of the missing combatants, was content to passively observe Cane and Ivy while he planned out a way to best the both of them in the final round.

Nikolai looked on impassively as Ivy and Cane continued to converse. He couldn't really hear what they were saying, but they were doubtless engaging in pointless couple talk. That and how they were going to get rid of him. He found himself content to sit and wait. When Bryden was propelled their way by some strange force he braced himself, knowing the final round was about to begin.

As Bryden came closer to them, Nikolai found himself picked up and buffeted around by bizarre gusts of wind. The winds turned him around and sent him hurtling in the direction of the others. It didn't take long for him to realize that this was the sorcerer's doing. Though that went without saying, everything in this place was that man's doing. He finally came to a rest against the back of one of the other competitors. Turning to look, he found himself mask to face with Ivy, having turned to look at the same time she did. At this time he saw Cane was similarly back to back with Bryden. Ivy looked to tense, but the sorcerer spoke up before Ivy could do anything and before he could make a comment. "Well welcome back to the fun kiddies!""And so it begins..." Nikolai said, mostly to himself referring more to the madness that the sorcerer was bound to create rather than the combat itself. He doubted that they were meant to fight just yet, every other round had a lengthy buildup before the actual fighting. The sorcerer continued regardless, "Now then.. stay put while I set the stage.. or you can keep moving and die if you want to. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's not safe.." At least he didn't need to worry about Ivy attacking right off.

When the cracks began to form, Nikolai stood still against Ivy, impassive as the stage was formed. Nikolai remained impassive as they shot up into the air. As they continued to go higher and higher to who knew where he remarked to Ivy. "Well Ivy, I am glad you and Cane are so happy. Whatever end may come, I hope you won't hold any hard feelings. It's just business after all." Saying his piece he returned to silence. Contemplating how he would deal with Ivy and Cane. They made a good team, and they would most certainly be gunning for him, so his first order of business was to neutralize their numbers advantage.

As they finally came to a rest, the sorcerer started talking again. "Here's the goal... listen carefully because I won't repeat myself. If you recall the first round.. You had to eliminate the competition until only a few left... so in this round of mine.. there are too many of you." Always a catch. They weren't even to the final competition yet it seemed... Some of the others would have to go.

One of you must go.. and remember, if you don't want to do the dirty work yourself.. you could always push them against the edge of the platform." Only one hmm? Well, he would just have to make sure it wasn't him then. Though Nikolai was left to wonder what the old man meant by 'against the edge,' at least until the snowy white barrier flashed into existence before fading from view.

"There is a forcefield that when touched by even a finger will disintegrate any living thing from molecule to molecule until they are no longer...a thing... cruel but at least.. you won't have blood on your hands. Chop Chop.. time is a wasting!" Well that was an interesting twist. A deadly forcefield that would tear a competitor apart at a molecular level. A neat trick to be sure. Nikolai resolved to take care to avoid touching it, though it would probably be interesting to knock someone else into it...

As the sorcerer egged them into battle, Nikolai felt Ivy disengaging from his back and dived to the side away from the competitors and rolled to his feet in an attempt to preempt an early strike against him. As he was rolling to his feet, Nikolai drew his tanto and a dagger and moved to position himself on the other side of Ivy from Cane. He opted for a series of rapid strikes towards Ivy with the tanto, keeping his dagger back as a guard. His strikes were light and quick, more to feel out Ivy's skill than anything else. He knew it would be a mistake to let her get range and pull her bow, but he also knew from past battles that she was a incredibly swift and agile, making her dangerous close in. But then so was he.

Bryden had originally been just roaming around the whiteness, trying to not get too far from him original starting position, but expanding his line of sight to see where everybody else had gone. That was until a massive wind blew in. Bryden yelped as his feet were nearly lifted off the ground, and he was flung in a direction he did not know, all the way towards Cane, Ivy and Nickolai. Still not comprehending everything, Bryden was suddenly halted from the wind gust unexpectedly. He quickly began to look around, until he felt the heat of another body on his back. Instead of flinging himself away or around, he simply used his peripheral vision to realize that he was now back to back with Cane, something he would have rather avoided. At least he wasn't Ivy with Nickolai, but that was besides the point: Bryden knew that if they decided to gang up on him, he would be screwed. With no sign of Willow anywhere, Cane and Ivy could team up against him and Nickolai and probably crush them. The reason? Bryden would be trying to take Nickolai out at the same time they were trying to take him out. He refused to become a partner with a man he couldn't see, let alone trust. Ivy also would kill him at long range if she had the chance, which was probably what Nickolai had already deduced. While his brain flung into battle mode, a familiar old voice rang through.

Well welcome back to the fun kiddies! Not sure if you can call this much fun anymore. Killing people should not be fun, its a necessity. Bryden's eyes narrowed at the thought, staying a little too stiff against Cane's back for his own liking, so he slowly and subtly began to relax himself. If he remembered the rules correctly, he could easily jump away from them all and plan from a little farther away, until the sorceror's voice stopped him before he moved. Now then.. stay put while I set the stage.. or you can keep moving and die if you want to. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's not safe.. Bryden's eyes once again narrowed at the thought of being killed by magic. It sounded absurd. What was worse was what the floor was doing next: It decided it was a bird and catapulted him along with the others straight upwards, making Bryden brace himself closer to the ground. He was already shorter than Cane, and getting lower to the ground made Cane seem like a massive tree. Bryden didn't like magic, not one bit, and this rising floor thing wasn't going over well for his mind, and Midnight sure wasn't enjoying himself either.

Here's the goal... listen carefully because I won't repeat myself. If you recall the first round.." "You had to eliminate the competition until only a few left... so in this round of mine.. there are too many of you. Bryden paused to listen to the damned old man's ramblings, and didn't like what he was hearing. In the first round, things were a little too chaotic and messy for his likings, and they were going to repeat it with four people? One of you must go.. and remember, if you don't want to do the dirty work yourself.. you could always push them against the edge of the platform. Only one huh? Bryden liked the sound of that, but hated what he heard afterwards. He gave a little snarl to emphasis his distaste for the idea of pushing people into a barrier to kill them. Not only was that cowardly, but to Bryden that was like the worst possible death imagined, besides death by dog. There is a forcefield that when touched by even a finger will disintegrate any living thing from molecule to molecule until they are no longer...a thing... cruel but at least.. you won't have blood on your hands. Chop Chop.. time is a wasting!" <Bah... damned man and his games> Bryden mumbled during his final speech, and then stared at where the barrier had been. He would seriously need to watch himself about that.

First thing Bryden did was get the hell away from everybody else. Before Cane swung around, Bryden was already low to the ground and jumped away from the other competitors. He landed what he assumed to be near the portal, and to find out just how close he quickly ripped off some heavy fabric from his shirt and threw it. A few feet later, it disappeared. He swore a little, and then quickly began to formulate a plan. Cane had nearly hit Bryden before he had gotten away, which wasn't good: Cane already had plans to take the Whitefang out early to end this round quickly. Bryden decided that he would play this round extremely smart, and very defensively. He would rather wait the round out for somebody else to getting killed or knocked into that infernal barrier than try to take somebody else out. Cane's fighting style was still an unknown from here, even though Bryden had watched him fight Nickolai. The same actually went with Nickolai and Ivy - there were too many unknown factors about their powers and such for him to make an accurate assumption about them, so he simply kept his mind blank and wary of the three other candidates. Midnight made a little growling noise, but Bryden kept him in the pouch. It was too risky to have him jump out and assist.

Bryden's eyes narrowed as he drew his 2 daggers and poised himself in his ready and defensive stance: For his luck, he would accidentally swing his claymore and half of it would 'disintegrate', or whatever that meant. <And so the games begin. I would rather call them the sick version of training.> He said to himself, loud enough for Cane to hear if he was really listening, but not loud enough for Ivy or Nickolai. Let the Crap begin.

A mischievous smirk stretched across her face as she managed to pull her weapon out before Nikolai did. The masked man, fellow comrade of Cane moved away just in time before her sword could touch him. What a shame.. no matter. she thought, her smirk unwavering as she held the sword steadily in a horizontal fashion beneath her strong gaze. She felt like she had the final round all figured out. Looking back, the very first tournament round was as the sorcerer said an elimination and this was a repeat. The barrier seemed to be a twist but nonetheless minor especially as she didn’t understand most of the wording. In her mind, there was a barrier in use during the first round too. It was just a fence but the guideline was the same, to stay within a certain area or else. Maybe the final round was a repeat of everything they had already been through.. it seemed highly likely at this point. Maybe this pattern she noticed would be enough to keep her alive and more alert compared to the others. At least she had an idea of what to expect in the future magical rounds should she manage to endure it. She watched as her current opponent for the moment; Nikolai drew two weapons. One was obviously a dagger but she wasn’t sure the name of the other blade. Either way… Her grasp on her sword tightened as she observed for the few quick seconds she could spare as Cane went for the attack on Bryden. Looks like he’s mine for the taking.. don’t get jealous Cane. she teased in the back of her mind playfully as her eyes returned to where Nikolai was just in time.

Nikolai swiftly moved in, the longer blade reaching for her while the dagger remained in his hand unused for the moment acting like a backup option. As Ivy’s sword repeatedly managed to hit against his blade creating a series of ringing clash sounds in the echoing whiteness of the magical world, it still felt very wrong. He wasn’t applying any strength in it or at least she couldn’t feel any as she continued blocking making it too easy on her side to avoid. He’s not going for the kill? she thought gritting her teeth. If there was anything that annoyed her, it was when competitors went easy on her. Maybe Nikolai was planning to go for Cane as well and wasn’t taking her seriously. The battle is here bastard.. she thought as she swung her sword viciously, pushing the last of his strikes off aim and to the side before disengaging from his personal space entirely. “Hmph..” she murmured to herself back flipping away to a fair distance but still wary of the invisible barrier in place. She just wanted room to build up momentum for her next move. So he had two weapons.. no biggie, she did too. Without leaving room for more thought, she pulled out her bow and grasped it tightly in the opposite hand of that holding her sword. She would pull off using both at the same time.

Lets go! Ivy started running as fast as she could. It made her flashback a little sentimentally to when she was a little girl running through the forests, pretending she was a dashing hero running after a culprit. She would keep running till her shoes were worn out. The forest breeze, the calming sound of water travelling from one point to another and the blessed tune of birds singing in the background. In time she got better at it, the branches were no longer leaving cuts on her cheeks and she would jump over fallen trees and other obstacles in her way with ease at the right moment. Ivy never got to be a hero.. or save someone the way she imagined. In fact she thought she had given up on saving anyone but herself since the day she was abandoned by the people she cherished the most. Despite her mindset, her goal in life being purely to survive for herself.. she had attempted to save Cane during the palace invasion and she had worked in a team with Cane and Nikolai in the team round. She had done things she never thought she would do.. and it had made her happy to contradict herself. Hyahh! As she leaped in the air at a good height, she threw her sword upwards and used her recently made free hand to grab an arrow from her arrows holder for her bow. As she managed to shoot a barrage of arrows in Nikolai’s direction making good use of time, the sword started tumbling downwards for her and she caught the sword familiarly in her mouth, much like the apple she had with Cane only more carefully making sure the blade went nowhere near her lips by gritting tightly with nothing but her teeth. As she put the bow back in her arrows holder, getting closer to the ground where Nikolai stood.. she pulled the sword out of her mouth holding the hilt with both hands. <Hold still please..> she mocked in Nimoan as gravity pulled her back to the ground, her sword coming down strongly with all her might and with the added pressure from such a height to where Nikolai was. There was always the chance he would move out of the way despite all the arrows she had done ahead of the move to try to pin him in place.. but Ivy believed she was ready for anything.

It seemed that his early moves, the non-committal strikes meant to test Ivy's style yielded two products. In addition to testing and gaining some insight into her reflexes, it seemed to Nikolai that he had also managed to aggravate the forest woman. That was good, he could use that.

Still, her reflexes would prove to be a problem. As she flipped away and began her attack, Nikolai wondered if there wasn't something he could do about that. He smirked underneath his mask, already knowing the answer. Nikolai watched as Ivy pulled out her bow and kept her sword out, then launched herself into the air, with a certain fire burning in her eyes. Unlike her, Nikolai was not motivated by sentimentality, heroic thoughts, love, or any other foolish notions. He had gathered the data he needed, now he was here to tie up loose ends. If he could win the tournament, that would be a nice bonus, but now he had a naive young woman to kill. A pity really, he had nothing against her personally, but there was nothing to be done about it now, it was just business really.

As the arrows rained down, Nikolai did a good job dodging out of the way, but Ivy was rather an expert shot with the bow, and in order to make his counter-attack work, he had to take a hit. He took an arrow in his right side, but it didn't feel like it was a lethal hit, more of an inconvenience really. Though he definitely had a cracked rib to deal with later. He didn't have time to do anything about the arrow now, instead he made his move. As Ivy started coming down, in the process of putting her bow away and getting her sword out of her mouth, he opted to give the forest child a brief education in physics. See, jumping attacks were rather risky. On one hand, they could provide a great deal more power, and range too. On the other hand...it is awfully hard to dodge with no surface to push off of. All of the acrobatics in the world couldn't change that simple fact. He threw the poisoned dagger straight at her center of mass as she came down towards him.

<Hold still please..>

"As if." And now she was still committed to a downward attack, she wouldn't be able to change direction until she hit the ground. Still, it would pay to be wary of her sword, he had caught sight of her balancing tricks before and knew he wouldn't have much time before she could contact the ground with her sword and use that to regain mobility.

Nikolai easily slid to the side of Ivy's downward trajectory, out of the way of her sword, slicing at her arm with his poisoned tanto as she went past him. He didn't stop there though, he continued moving past her until he was at her back. But now she would have landed and he moved in again, throwing a number of rapid strikes at her. He would not allow her to get range on him again.

Bryden could instantly tell that Cane didn't like him. The way he looked at him, almost like the guy thought he was superior in every way to him. Well, it was somewhat true in the vertical section, but that was besides the point: Bryden hated those eyes of his. That was all there was to it. When Cane smirked, Bryden simply seethed a little at him. It was as if Cane was predicting Bryden's own demise without truly letting him do anything about it. Like his father always had. That pissed Bryden off. So when Cane readied his own sword - Bryden did marvel at the sword however, for it looked quite majestic, yet deadly at the same time - Bryden instantly readied himself for anything. He knew that his back was only a few feet away from the barrier that could easily kill him in a second (somehow...) with his claymore being less than a foot away. He instantly started formulizing a plan to dispose of his claymore so that it wouldn't become a burden, but before he could continue thinking Cane rushed him.

Now, Bryden was quite surprised by the rush. Either Cane was being foolhardy, or he didn't think Bryden had any skill whatsoever and that this would be a simple match up. As he ran, Bryden shifted his feet to move himself slightly to the left as Cane came at him. What made Bryden completely sure to kill this man off was the arrogance in the comment he made as he got closer. There was even a pinch of hatred lurking in there somewhere, but Bryden hadn't a clue why. Nothing personal but I have to kill you before something bad happens to those two, I have a score to settle with one and a question to be answered by the other. Bryden snarled at the comment. How dare he assume that I would just let him win just because he has a score to settle. Bryden snarled as Cane slashed with two hands over head right down on top of him, but he was ready. Instead of blocking the attack, for that was too obvious, he shifted himself to the left completely and hit the sword with both of his daggers making it go past him. It was, in essence, a form of parry.

What Bryden couldn't see coming was the well placed kick to his stomach area. He had assumed that the man would be a little off balance from the maneuver that Bryden had performed, but he had underestimated Cane's abilities. Being now out of breath, Bryden narrowed his eyes and slashed at his leg before falling to the ground. Not wanting to know how close he was to the barrier, Bryden instantly rolled a little to evade Cane, pulled himself up and dove left. Not directly left, but behind where Cane was now to the left. Since Bryden assumed that the barrier was circular in shape, going directly left would be highly fatal. Once he regained his composure, he stood back up and noticed Ivy and Nickolai once more. Ivy didn't look like she was doing very well, so all Bryden had to do was simply hold Cane off until his opponent either decided to go assist his girl or one of them were to die.

"Nothing personal, but I have to live." He snarled out to Cane, using his own words against him.

If only Ivy could have read the expression behind the man’s mask, then she probably would not have been as smug as she was at the precise moment she recognised that one of her arrows had landed successful contact with his right side. I expected too much.. she thought, smirking as if taking the whole situation on an experimental level rather than a gamble on life and death. She even fancied the idea of unmasking the annoying shrewd man and making a mockery out of him before his life were to flash before his eyes per say; by breaking his mask into pieces for whatever purpose or meaning it served. If he would die in this round that was, and by her hands. It was still hard to forget the memories that had occurred over the past few days however, and how she had been at a point sick and cured by the wretched man as a so-called friend of Cane. She strangely felt like she owed him for that.. but after everything else that happened. In an unexpected instant, Cane had gotten involved by throwing a weapon at his old friend before resuming his focus on the other combatant which she thought had allowed her to stay oriented to the task at hand but had the opposite effect, and lead her to further thought. No.. Cane is just one man. she concluded. Just because one man was nice to her, didn’t mean she could trust the rest. There were tons of men out there who were cunningly deceptive, some of which she had the pleasure of defeating in combat- to the death if deemed deserved. But is this.. right? For old friends to fight? Unfortunately, that slight hint of hesitation had made her lose focus. It was only when she felt a sharp pain in her stomach did she realise Nikolai had got her.. and he got her good. She gritted her teeth, feeling the dagger sink inside her stomach a little deeper and resisted the urge to retreat from her aerial attack, clutching her sword with all the strength she had left and a little extra provided from her anger. That bastard! As she landed, Nikolai had made a swift dodge of her blade’s end but being aware of the various tricks he had up his sleeve particularly in his past dealing of the match handler… she knew she had very little time to make use of. This round was going to end in death for one of them.. and if she had her pick of the lot, it would be him without a doubt. If only she were that lucky.

Stabilising her weight to balance on top a sword’s handle became all the more difficult with a punctured wound but it was her initial instinct with not much room for delay as Nikolai attempted to take another shot at dealing damage. She had just barely missed the slice on her arm but there were more coming and from her point of view, it wasn’t getting any better. “Agh!” she let out a wince with closed eyes as she stopped balancing on the unsteady sword, her pain increasing from the act.. not noticing that Nikolai had repositioned himself behind her. She turned around with widened eyes and genuine surprise as the man moved in, seeming to stop at nothing.. like a cold blooded killer. Still grasping her sword, Ivy continued to put up a fight although knowing of the errors in her present combat style and not blinded by her poor form yet she couldn’t snap out of it. It all felt wrong. Is this because.. I care what I fight for now?.. Did I used to be.. She used her sword as a means of merely blocking off more attacks but it was so hard to do what she was supposed to do and think up a strategy when her emotional state was in disarray at how suddenly events were progressing. She was not used to these issues at all so they naturally flooded her mind with questions she had never asked herself when the time was right. Did I use to be… a cold blooded killer like him? Her stomach gave way to more pain and as if to remind her of her errors, a nice clean cut had been proudly stretched across her left cheek. The bloody red was so noticeable in contrast to her pale complexion yet she oddly, only laughed- a laugh as if she were winning though she knew she was far from achieving it the way things were headed. “Ahahaha!” she continued before swaying her sword nicely in an attempt to knock off Nikolai’s mask. “An eye for an eye.. so blood for blood.” She said, adrenaline rushing through her veins. Ivy knew she was not herself; there was an undeniable pain in parts of her she was only beginning to understand like her mind, her spirit and her heart united with the physical portion of herself that was slowly staining armour in rich red and her footing was becoming less oriented and acting on its own accord as her nerves started to numb out. Alas, her stubbornness was well intact. She was not backing down from a fight, not any fight and certainly not this fight. This is nothing, I’ll do whatever it takes!

The senbon caught Nikolai in the back, but did nothing to halt his attack. He saw with satisfaction that his dagger had struck home. His follow up strike failed, but he was in good position now. Ivy doubtless knew about his use of poisons, she had to know her time was limited with a wound like that. That effectively forced her to fight aggressively, and Nikolai planned to use that to his advantage. As their skirmish-style combat wore on, he landed a light hit to Ivy's cheek, and she finally seemed to go over the edge, laughing and shouting at him. Some people had interesting reactions to imminent death, Ivy seemed to be taking it well at least.

Briefly, Nikolai entertained the thought of putting her in a grapple and cutting her neck, then promising Cane to cure her and prevent her from dying of asphyxiation as her airway was paralyzed, so long as he killed himself first. It was a good plan, and it would take out his strongest competition here. Unfortunately with Ivy's newly enthusiastic assault, it just wasn't feasible.

As she swung at his face, he dropped to a crouch below her strike and as the blade passed over him he threw a side kick at her torso, putting all of his power into it. It was a risky move, but if it connected it would send her backwards, even if she anticipated it, all he needed was for her to dodge backwards a little bit. He had been paying careful attention to their surroundings and knew they were quite close to the nondescript barrier, but given Ivy's current state, he was willing to gamble on her being unaware of what could be called the fifth combatant immediately behind her. The barrier, enemy to all, ally to those with the wherewithal to use it.

Fortunately the kick hit her square in the chest, hurling her backwards.

"You will die like all the rest."

Ivy hit the barrier.

It was a heated battle as Ivy continued and struggled on against the odds, trying her absolute best not to reveal any signs of weakness to her current opponent and to whomever else was watching beyond the magical realm they were imprisoned in- not that it mattered what they thought. A slight smile curled it's way onto her face as she managed to dodge yet another attack from Nikolai although her wound was intensifying in pain. Under logical reasoning, there was no way Ivy could win although the biggest concern of all that she should have been focusing on was if she would at the very least survive. The only things that kept her going was a mix of stubbornness and having a reason to live. Before the tournament, she had fought for nothing but herself but now she had people to call friends, people to rely on, people she was willing to die for. Willow was still nowhere in sight leading her to think; I have to live.. I have to find her and next time, I'm not letting go! She gritted her teeth as her blade aiming for Nikolai's face missed it's target with the man crouching in good timing. Sadly, it was not just serving as a dodge. Ivy coughed up blood just as his shoe connected with her body. Which part of her body? She didn't even know with the poison in effect clouding up her senses. All she could feel was the force, the impact of the kick and how her body was hurling backwards.

I can't die..
..it doesn't end here!

Grasping her sword as tightly as she could while she tumbled in mid-air...in those few decisive seconds, she lowered her sword so the tip reached for the ground, desperately scratching along the ground in an attempt to stop hurling, swing around with her acrobatics practice and get back in gear but the pain was too much to bear and her sword failed to strike the ground deep enough to reach a halt. "Ugh.." The poison was working. She felt weak, barely breathing and her grasp gave way to the feeling, her sword released and abandoned from her hand as she slid a few more metres against the ground on her back in defeat. She coughed up more blood with a smile on her face thinking she had just managed to escape death as she had numerous times before. Ivy took her time, trying to appreciate that she was still alive and looking up above her as the barrier shined brightly but it was then her face became pale at the truth. She had hit the barrier, even just a little. The barrier in place had just continued on from the ground through her forehead. Is it broken? She thought with a glimpse of hope but slowly the magic took it's toll. The ends of her hair that had gone through the barrier were changing to the tips of her head onwards, molecules of Ivy changing into a beautiful display of little silver stars. It was hard to believe that something so beautiful was the death of her. "Well would you look at that.. be a good boy Cane." Ivy managed to say with a smile on her face before the mouth she used to speak had also been separated, joining the rest of the little stars along with her body. Soon enough, nothing of Ivy was left but a group of little stars distancing themselves from another as a strong gust of wind identical to the ones from the start of the round blew. Now nothing, not even the stars were left as the wind claimed her and her life.



"Congratulations, looks like we have three able combatants. Shame there are no females anymore.." The sorcerer talked casually, his voice showing no remorse as the barrier in place disappeared at the click of his fingers. The platform lowered downwards slowly so it rejoined the part of the white ground it had separated from. Once again, white nothingness was all that could be seen besides the combatants themselves. The marks of the platform's separation was also neatly sewing itself back into place.
"I'll give you some time to take care of any injuries you may have suffered or to rest if you want before the next round.. make good use of this time." he wagged his finger at the crystal ball despite the combatants being unable to see him before sitting back in his chair, entwining his fingers wondering who would be the next to go.

Ivy Bronhilda

Ivy found comfort climbing the trees, picking off fruit and lounging about lazily in the bushes compared to the other occupants of heaven whom seemed to stick to open field areas and gather together to pray. Ivy was just different, and it was evident in the mark on her skin, her ‘latest tattoo’ that had replaced the previous ones that she had long forgotten about. It felt like she had been a part of heaven forever but she knew something felt wrong, or rather missing despite everything being so perfect from sky to ground. While the others were so satisfied staying in one spot for long, together and united, Ivy was separate from them, an individual and nomadic. She just couldn’t stay still, and continued to explore the edges of heaven as if searching for something she had lost, a missing piece to the puzzle of her new home. It had everything but felt anything but homey.

When she had first arrived, she had tried to erase the feeling of emptiness and joined the others, conversing even and playing with a young girl only to find that empty feeling was never going to leave. She was always unsatisfied, always empty and for some reason or another, lonely which was supposed to be an almost impossible feeling for one in heaven. Maybe it was the mark on her skin that differentiated her from others that started her loneliness, or maybe it was something else but since the feeling was never leaving, she had decided to be adventurous and live a little more. If she wasn’t satisfied, maybe another part of heaven would grant her satisfaction and she just had to go looking for it. It was almost an instinct, a drawing temptation to go out of the usual way. Ivy wasn’t sure how to describe how she felt about the place. In some sense, she was happy and had no reason to complain. Food was bountiful and delicious, the view was always beautiful, and there were no problems to be had. It was a completely blissful state, flawless.. but there was always something itching at the back of her mind that it wasn’t complete.

After one day of adventuring where she believed she was almost at the edge of heaven, Ivy had dozed off in some bushes lively decorated with blooming pink flowers that had a soothing scent to it. The wind served only as a lullaby as she continued sleeping soundly undisturbed, at least for a little while. She felt an unexpected, shocking weight on her arm and opened her eyes to find a man (Bryden) with a cat had stepped on her. That definitely was not a usual occurrence in heaven but little did she know, this man was someone she should have recognised but failed to. “Ow!” She said, swinging her arm away so the unknown man would trip, getting what he deserved. Of course, such actions were not encouraged in heaven but neither was stepping on people. It’s only delivering justice right? she thought to herself, remaining on the ground with her arms relaxing by her head not planning to move. “Just joking, by now you would have realised newcomer that nobody feels pain in heaven.” She explained, stretching her arms before folding them under her head and closing her eyes again lazily. Ivy had assumed him as a newcomer since he was wandering about on his own if you subtracted the cat; nobody was doing that except her. “Say..” she opened one eye, inspecting the cat now that him having a pet had crossed her mind more. “You died with your cat? That’s awfully sweet…” Using the word ‘dead’ was also not encouraged in heaven as it was a place of positive and uplifting spirits, but someone had to explain things to the newcomers right? Otherwise they’d be awfully confused by terms that beat around the bush such as ‘you’ve just arrived at a better place’. Ivy didn’t see the point of it, when you could just deliver the truth straight forwardly. They were all dead, enough said even if they didn’t remember how they died.

Bryden continued to pace through the forest area, until he realized that he had gone in circles. His brow furrowed in frustration, since he couldn't use any other sense to help guide him: nothing smelled normal or certain. So he continued on his path, looking almost everywhere he could to make sure that he wouldn't get jumped. However, the more he walked, the farther his mind pushed away from caution and more towards what had been said before the portal. Apparently, something or someone here was to help him find the name of that damned sorcerer, who had seemingly banished him to a gorgeous place. In reality, Bryden really had no need to leave: the tournament had fufilled it's purpose (sort of) and there was nothing really left in it for him. He could just imagine himself now, leaving behind Nimoa, all of the countries and their stupid lines, and just live in a forest amongst the animals...

It was then that he thought he stepped on a white root, and yet this white root made a sound. Ow! Bryden jumped into the air in complete shock - this may be a mystical forest, but the trees talk too? It was only then that he realized that he had just stood upon the arm of a person. And this person looked-

Because he had just landed back on his feet, the arm easily swung at his off-balanced body and swept his legs from under him. Well, okay, maybe swept was exagerating slightly - really, they didn't hit him with much force, but enough to put him off edge and fall towards the ground. As he fell, Midnight jumped from his little pouch and onto the ground to Bryden's right as he landed. Bryden, knowing how to strike a tripped landing, hit the ground quite softly as he rolled away from the body and flung himself up. Whoever this was, they weren't in the mood for talking - preemptive strikes were normally his thing. Standing straight up, however, he realized that the person was just laying on the ground, and had swatted at him in annoyance most likely. With this realization, a sheepish feeling came over him: his battle hardened mind was prepping for an attack on a sleeping...

Just joking, by now you would have realized newcomer that nobody feels pain in heaven.” Confusion and shock racked his mind as he heard the person - who he could confirm as a lady, now stretching out on the ground - speak. This is.. heaven? But... His mind really couldn't comprehend the idea of a heaven, it just seemed too foreign and magic based to be realistic. Besides, his arm had a tiny scrape from the ill-timed roll he just executed, and regardless of how small, was a form of pain. Midnight then made a mew from the ground, so Bryden turned away and knelt down to pick the little guy up and place him on his shoulder. When he turned back to the mystery lady, Bryden had a weird feeling about her. Perhaps it was the-

Say.. Her voice cut out his own thoughts, and he realized he had been squinting harshly at a lady with her eyes closed. It was then that she opened an eye and spoke. You died with your cat? That’s awfully sweet… Bryden raised both eyebrows and turned to see his little friend, who just mewed back to him. Bryden wasn't sure if that was a mew of confusion, or just boredom, but Bryden could understand the former. It was then that he decided to speak without properly analyzing the lady on the ground.

"Look, miss, I'm a bit perplexed by what you are attempting to tell me. This is 'heaven'? And yet, I thought I had to die to become among the ranks of that..." He searched for a word. "Uncertain domain." He would have called it 'Fake' or 'Fairy tail' but on the off chance that she was telling the truth, he really didn't want to upset anyone. The pieces started forming in his mind however, as he started thinking. This was way too much uncertainty for Bryden to handle, so his normally cold demeanor broke into a confused, thought provoked man. It didn't help that he finally decided to look down on the relaxed lady, and it all clicked together.

"Wait... Ivy? " One quick glance at her, and the shock was confirmed. <Ivy Bronhilda?> He switched tongues out of shock - Now, if you thought that his breaking of coldness was bad, Bryden then began to start babbling a little. "But, I just watched you... vanish, disappear slowly..." He couldn't remember the word that they used - which so happened to be disintegrate. His questions started to pile up. "So if you are here, than this must be a place of the dead. That means that the sorcerer has killed me with his portals!" Bryden swore quietly to himself. "But wait, does that mean he killed all the combatants, or just me?" His mind then shifted to that little scrape on his arm. "And if there is no pain, why can I feel this?" Bryden's questions started coming faster and faster with every word, and he knew that he could be at the point of hysteria. He didn't care though - nothing made sense.

Bryden knew after he had said her name to the lady, regardless of his freak out session, that he was right: the lady in front of him was no one other than Ivy Bronhilda. What gave her away besides looking identical to her? The entire time the miss had been free spirited, somewhat flitty - after speaking in his tongue, she looked like she was going to freak out as much as he was. But enough of his moment of actual sanity, it was back to the insanity of reality. Ivy had attempted to make light of his slowly melting mind, until he posed his final question about being able to feel the slight pain of that scratch he had recieved from falling - it was quite minor, and he wouldn't have normally felt it, but since he couldn't really feel anything else the scratch stood out.

Feel what?! The lady roughly grabbed Bryden's arm, to which he gave a yelp of protest. There was then a moment of awkward silence as she simply stared at his arm before pronouncing what he believed to be semi obvious by now. “You can’t be dead.” Just as sudden as she had pulled him close to examine him, Ivy roughly shoved him away awkwardly. Bryden, now somewhat reassured of his mortality, gave her a puzzled look. Why bother throw him away after going to the trouble of pulling him close? Bryden had a sense that she may have started to feel something, but her ulterior motives were a mystery to the man: after all, he wasn't the greatest with reading people on an average, dull day.

Ivy then shook her head, as if she was just as confused as he was - nevertheless, probably not as confused as Bryden was. He had been teleported to a region claimed to be heaven, and yet he was not dead, a lady grabbed his shoulder, and then pushed him away. If there was a connection between the maddness, Bryden couldn't see it.

So let me get this straight, you recognize me, watched me die AND you’re not dead.. well, that’s… Bryden cocked his head somewhat as Midnight gave a soft mew before curling back into a ball to sleep. He wasn't entirely sure where she was going with this, and nearly threw his head back in complete confusion after her next statement. “Brilliant! Take me with you to the land of the living. Bryden didn't know what to make of this. Ivy made it sound like she had been dead for milennia, and yet Bryden remembered that she had only been dead for less than an hour.

Forget the challenge to win the tournament, Bryden's new goal was to leave with his sanity intact.

Still confused with her enthusiasm and energy, he began to think of a response and was about to speak when Ivy changed once more. She seemed suddenly relaxed and calm, and a smile was on her face: Bryden didn't know if that had ever existed before, but he had been proven wrong on many accounts before.

“If you could give someone, anyone.. something.. anything you can possibly imagine.. what would it be and for whom?” Bryden was once again taken aback by the question. If I could give anything to anyone, what would it be? I... I.. Bryden's mind completely faltered, and his tongue fell just as silent as the day he arrived for the tournament. The question's proportions made him exceptionally dizzy, and he leaned against a tree to stabilize himself. What would he answer? What COULD he answer? In all of his life, Bryden had never had to deal with such rhetorical, personal questions. Hell, his father rarely gave him questions that had more than one proper answer - how was he supposed to deal with opinions? Bryden then hardened his mind and began to speak.

"I would do noth-" Bryden stopped his tongue involuntarily. What he wanted to say was that he would do nothing of the sort, as it was a childish question not worth his time. That nobody deserved anything from him, and that he wanted all to leave him alone. But that wasn't entirely accurate - there were a few things he wanted. A few kinks in his history that needed to be solved, and with the ability... he could fix them. Bryden's eyes closed slowly, his mouth drying. He could only give one answer, and suddenly this question meant a whole lot more than just being childish - it would prove what kind of a man he really was.

Bryden cleared his throat, and pulled himself up from the tree, his eyes downcast. His face had gone quite solemn and morbid, and his answer came out as a croak. "I would give my life so that my brother and sister could have theirs." And he finally said it: what he would do with such a power. Bryden had always avoided the topic of his siblings, as it brought back only two things: sorrow and regret. He blamed himself for their deaths, that maybe if he had done just what his dad had said they would still be alive. That maybe his mom wouldn't have banished him from the house, maybe he wouldn't have hated his father. It all spiralled back to those frigid mountains, and he had lived his entire life in a downward spiral because of those heights. Bryden couldn't blame the mountains though - he blamed his decisions on those mountains.

Bryden couldn't even look Ivy in the eyes anymore, instead now lifting his head to look at the clear, and yet blank sky. It was an odd mixture of serenity, and yet blandness. Bryden knew that if he was stuck here, life would be horrible, and that was when the sickening feeling hit him - if this was heaven, were they here? Would Troy and Cecile be part of this life? Bryden closed his eyes hard, not wanting to think in such morbid thoughts, but they came anyway.

Bryden brought his head back down slightly when he heard an exlamation of her hatred for pink, and then looked down at his hand when she grabbed him by the wrist, quite startled. “Well, what are you waiting for? A better sign? We’re in a dead place after all!” Bryden's eyes nearly bulged out of his head. While he had toyed withe idea that this could be the resting place for the dead, he had certainly never thought that... that... no words came to Bryden as Ivy yanked him forward, and he stumbled for quite some time until he finally caught his own footing enough to stay with her. Yet, he always kept a little behind, still completely stunned and in thought as she guided him through the forest area. Would Troy be here? Would little Cecile? No of course they couldn't be here, this wasn't for the dead! But what if it was... oh god, what would I say to them?

Panic and fear nearly enveloped Bryden as they continued their run and soon busted out of the forest into an area of clearing, where Bryden saw his first inhabitants of this place that were not from the games. They looked quite abnormal compared to Ivy - or perhaps the other way around? - and they all appeared to be quite happy with whatever they were doing. A sudden burst of laughter caught his ears as he saw children running, and Bryden found himself scanning each child for one that looked like his family. Just as the last child ran off once again, Midnight jumped off of Bryden and ran in the direction of where the children came from. Bryden cocked his head at his companion's actions, until more laughter came from the area, with words such as 'Kitty!' being thrown around. Bryden took a few steps in Midnight's direction to hear Ivy speak.

“Well.. uh.. this is the place. You’ve probably spotted them already but you must know, that the chances are they are happier here and wouldn’t want to go back..” The last half of her words began to drown out as he took another step to finally see Midnight surrounded by a little girl and boy. A sharp intake of breath stopped Bryden cold as he looked at both of the children. The boy looked just like Bryden's father, with raven black hair and near perfect teeth. The girl, on the other hand, looked more like himself with long, white flowing hair. But both of them held Bryden's mother's eyes, the soft green hue that welcomed many. Instantly, Bryden wanted to fall to the ground and start crying: he was staring at the perfect image of the memory of his brother and sister, Troy and Cecile.

Bryden took a few steps closer, careful not to intrude on them, as Midnight purred in happiness with two children petting him. Troy, however, noticed something was up and looked up first, staring right at Bryden's eyes. The little boy cocked his head, a mixture of surprise and confusion darting in his eyes. Bryden merely stared back, hurting inside more than he thought possible as Cecile noticed her brother had stopped petting the kitty and looked up also. For a bit, they just stood there, silent. After a while, Cecile turned to her brother and spoke in the cute little voice Bryden never thought he would hear again.

"Who he, Twoy? He looks like Bwother." Oh little Cecile, never being able to pronounce a hard r to save her life. Troy merely looked at Cecile in a bit of shock, and mumbled. 'I thought he looked like my brother..." Bryden was hit hard when he spoke that: the realization was that Troy had died before Cecile had been born, so they had never known each other as siblings. Tears were threatening his eyes when Cecile spoke in a sing song like voice. "Weally? That is neato! We have bwothers that look the same! Was your brother named Bwyden too?!" She sounded so excited that her best friend had a brother just like he did, that a tear did escape and he cleared his throat as Troy spoke in astonishment. "Well, yeah! Bryden was his name."

Bryden nearly turned around and ran at that point, but there was no running back as Midnight ran back to Bryden. He gave each one of them a soft look before laughing a little. They both looked at him funny, and he said in a croaking voice: "I'm both. Troy, Cecile..." They looked at him with shock as he said their name. "It's me. Bryden." He had been expecting that both of them would run to him in happiness, but only Cecile did. "Bwyden!" She ran up and hugged his leg. "When did you get big, Bwyden?" He laughed a little and looked over at Troy, whose skepticism was obvious and his distrust was blatant.

"How can I trust you? You look like Bryden, but my brother did not have long hair, a small cat, or a really big sword." He crossed his arms in annoyance, and Bryden merely gave a pained smile. "Remember when we were on the mountains, Troy? The cold, the food..." Troy stood at him with shock, and merely nodded before saying. "I don't remember much about it though, as it gets hazy near the end." Troy was talking about when his father killed him. Bryden couldn't bear to hear it so he simply nodded his head.

At this time, Cecile perked up and made a cutesy statement. "So you hewre to stay wit us, Bwyden?" The look in her eyes was merely adorable, as she practically begged for him to stay. However, Bryden turned around to see that something was open in the ground and Ivy was gone. Guessing that was a portal, Bryden sighed miserable before patting her head.

"No, little one. I cannot stay. I may come and visit later one day, and stay for good, but right now..." He paused, as Troy came over to give him a hug. Another sigh was released as he nearly cried again. "I'm here to visit only, and my window of exit is going to be leaving soon." Troy nodded, being the 'responsible' child he was, but probably barely able to understand what his older brother was going at. Cecile started to cry a little, and Bryden picked her up to kiss her forehead.

"Trust me, Sissy, I'll be back." He put her down, and walked towards the portal. He knew that Cecile would run after him if he didn't leave quickly, but just before he stepped into the portal thing he realized that he had accomplished nothing by coming here. There were no answers, nothing. So why did he feel so good about coming? Perhaps that for the first time, something had put his mind at ease, the long harbored regret finally dissipating as he realized that his family was happier here than they would be out in the real world. With that thought, he quickly jumped into the portal as he saw Cecile start to tear up and almost make a break for him. A tear had escaped his lips as he fell into the hole, and praying to whoever ran this place that one day, he would be able to join them.

Cane was standing perfectly still and watching his new companion as he waited for the round to start or the other competitors to arrive. He was unsure of what to expect after receiving his gift, he wondered if the other two would have the same type of advantage or if they would have something different. Truthfully he wasn't that worried about Bryden, the man was obviously a decent fighter but Cane wasn't impressed, he was only worried about Nikolai. Not only did he know how deadly the bastard could be but the man had gone through the door of power, he would be back with some sort of advantage in combat. Cane's blood boiled once more when he thought about Nikolai, thought about what that bastard had taken from him, Ivy's image going through his head as his hands formed fists. His anger and thoughts of her clouded Cane's mind, so when she popped up in the endless white nothingness he believed it to be a trick of the mind. It angered him at first, the man gritting his teeth and cursing his mind or the sorcerer, whichever caused the illusion to appear. Then, as his new dog approached the woman curiously he began to wonder, his eyes widening and his gut clenching, a feeling of nervousness which caused his heart to skip beats spreading throughout his body. He swallowed hard as he took several steps forward, looking at the woman he had lost barely some hours ago, looking at what had been what he truly wanted, if he could have had anything. 'It can't be her Cane, she's dead...' the words repeated over and over in his head as if he was trying to prepare himself for disappointment when it turned out to be just another damn trick to crush his spirits. It wouldn't surprise him, the tournament had been a cursed event for Cane, it seemed to bring about bad things and never give anything in return.

It wasn't until he was only a few steps from her that he spoke, his voice shaky and his hand reaching over as he walked forward and touched her shoulder gently. "Ivy... Is it you?" He still couldn't believe it was her, even as his hand touched her solid form, even as his eyes looked upon the same beautiful face he had been admiring for the duration of the tournament. At the same time he wanted nothing more than the person in front of him to be real, for her to be alive, it would mean more than anything else he could imagine. Cane's emotional state was in shambles though, he had lost her and fallen apart and the rage that had been eating him was not gone, it was not such an easy switch to flip. Just seeing her again tore him up and his hand was shaking as it stayed on her shoulder, his voice not showing any signs of becoming more stable as he spoke again. "I... I thought I had lost you forever... I mean... I saw you die and..." He swallowed hard again, words becoming caught in his throat. His new companion Azrieal quickly realized what was going on, nudging Ivy once but then taking a few steps back and just watching, obviously curious at what was happening to his owner. All he had seen was the angry and rather solemn Cane he had been given to, now, so soon after, he was seeing an entirely different side of Cane, one that spoke towards what kind of man Cane truly was, what he really cared about. Sure vengeance was the main thing on his mind, but it had all been for Ivy, he wanted to kill Nikolai more than anything else because of what he had done to the woman now standing in front of Cane. It didn't make things better entirely but it made the need for vengeance soften dramatically, even if the anger and hatred were still present.

Ivy Bronhilda

Ivy dropped out of the portal in perfect handstand form which she found peculiar. It was if despite losing her memories, her body knew how to respond to the given situation automatically. It was also as if she had rehearsed this routine of falling out of holes in the ground to unknown destinations. It sounded crazy actually, falling out of holes in the ground rather than just simply falling in. Speaking of which.. where have I fallen..to? Her gaze wandered around the vast welcoming nothingness. This wasn’t what she had in mind when she decided to return to the land of the living. Ivy soon realised she wasn’t here alone though as a creature approached where she was. Staying in handstand mode and blinking a few times, she stared at the creature from an upside down perspective. It was an odd-looking rascal. She couldn’t tell what the creature was. It was covered in thick black skin with blonde hair for a lion’s mane and tail but it had the horns of a goat only a little more twisted and sturdy. Its eyes were a fiery red that was constantly burning and on the upper section of its tail were spikes. Ivy’s eyes really weren’t sure what aspect of the creature she should direct her staring at because the whole package was bizarre.

Upon hearing footsteps, she got out of her handstand position and resumed normal standing to focus on where the sound was coming from. At first, she thought it was that guy (Bryden) she had met in heaven that had followed her here as she felt a touch on her bare shoulder since she was still in her heaven’s garbs which consisted of a pink tube top and a long flowing skirt of a distasteful pink colour. With the realisation that she wasn’t alone, came embarrassment. Wearing a skirt while performing a handstand not being the best of ideas but she prayed whoever it was didn’t notice. Snapping out of her thoughts, Ivy looked up at who had approached her as their hand remained on her shoulder. It turned out to be a hesitant male, not the one she had seen in heaven. The man didn’t resemble the one she had met in the slightest bit. He had black shaggy hair and a more intimidating appearance overall despite the fact he was being hesitant towards her. "Ivy... Is it you?" Her eyes widened as it seemed she was recognised by yet another person. Unfortunately, she wasn’t sure who this man was but he was shaking in the way he spoke. She looked him over as he appeared to look back at her but the man started shaking even in the way his hand was positioned on her. Ivy wasn’t sure what it all meant. When she had met the other man, the reaction had been much different. The other had been surprised but in a babbling psychotic state and this man before her, was surprised in a struggling with words sort of state.

"I... I thought I had lost you forever... I mean... I saw you die and..." Ivy secretly bit her tongue not sure how to respond. It kind of annoyed her that this man said ‘I had lost you’ because she didn’t like the idea of being owned by anyone or at least, that’s how it translated in her mind and it made her feel less independent. Then again, she had bit her tongue because the man was obviously falling apart at her existence. Ivy understood his reaction to a certain extent though, cheating death probably wasn’t something that happened so often but she was here.. wherever ‘here’ was and she supposed judging by the man’s words, that meant alive. She felt a shove against her leg and looked down to see that it was the strange creature responsible. Was the thing.. trying to tell her something?
“Yeah.. I died but being dead is boring..” She said slowly and awkwardly. In the manner of which she spoke, it was obvious that she saw Cane as a somewhat stranger. The sense of familiarly she had with him when they used to socialise had been lost when her life was. Now, she was appearing distant, disconnected and even uncomfortable with his touch. Instead of outright admitting that she didn’t know him though, she switched the topic from her death to the first thing that popped in her mind. “By the way.. what the hell is your pet?” she said while pulling out a pink flower petal that had gotten stuck in her hair from earlier and blowing it aside. Ivy knew the guy was in disarray but she had figured acting what she considered ‘normal’ would make things better. But with her lost memories, maybe acting ‘normal’ would only be making it worse. “Never seen such a…thing.” She said staring over at the beast with curiosity and seemingly more interested in talking about it than a past she was unaware of.