Order of the WEB - The Arrival 2

The air surrounding the three was as still as could be; everyone stared at them, wondering what exactly was going to happen next. Would they defy the King of the Red Hills? Everyone wanted to know what would happen next. As if in response the remaining members of the Royal House of the Red Hills appeared behind their king.

“So which will it be?” Nana turned to look at Ato, unflinchingly.

She really broke him; he has a completely different look in his eyes. He isn’t the Ato you knew four years ago; this guy is an animal. Kram observed and Nana knew he was right. Laughter from AJ caught the attention of everyone there; Nana stared at her wondering what she was laughing about. The lightning bolt dissipated as she walked away from where she stood.

“Wow! I am impressed, no scratch that; I am so proud fucking proud of you!” AJ said jumping at Nana and sticking his head under her armpit. Everyone else gathered there, except Ato stared in shock as the supposed King of the Red Hills was being bullied by the Lightning Queen.

“Something about this just doesn’t look right.” Debrah complained to Akose who stifled a laugh under her breath. Debrah wasn’t used to seeing his King having any sort of fun whatsoever except when he was training or fighting. Nana was protesting wildly, but it was obvious to Debrah that the first person to ever defeat him was smiling genuinely for the first time since their fight two years ago.

“I thought the same thing the first time I met them as a team, but that’s how they relate.” Akose explained. “She is like the charismatic leader of a gang.”

“AJ it has been four years, I’m no more a kid.” Nana muttered to AJ.

“I can see that; you seem to have gotten stronger, and taller too. I can see you still are cuddly, not like before but still. You don’t plan on getting trimmed?” AJ asked, scrutinizing Nana.

“I did… it didn’t work for me.” Nana explained as he straightened his clothes.

“Ato, I see you are a bigger douche than before.” AJ said walking towards Ato. Who just stood there unmoved by what was going on. AJ stood there waiting for a reply. “Are you really not going to say anything?”

“We are no more teammates; I have nothing to say to you.” He turned and headed towards Zebras.

“Did you forget about our contract?” AJ said causing Ato to stop. “It seems you still remember it, good.”

“Whatever contract you think you had, it is null; the person you had the agreement with, that person wasn’t me.”

“Coward.”

“What did you just call me?”

“You heard me. You should know by now that unlike Nana over there who will tolerate this bullshit attitude of yours; I won’t. You’ve had four years to get over what happened during the Battle Ro-” Before she could finish, Ato swung his sword at her at an incredible speed.

“You have to watch that temper of yours sweetheart.” She taunted. She had managed to block the swing of his sword with a blade made out of electrical energy. Jolts of electricity travelled down Ato’s sword, but he still held on as if it was nothing.

“This is the last time I’m going to have you disrespect my hill.” Nana said approaching them, the ground shaking with every step he took. Debrah, who was now on his feet got ready to jump in to defend Nana; but was stopped by Akose who placed a hand on his shouldler. With one stomp Nana created a stone wall barrier between the Zebra King and the Lightning Queen. Ato looked at him with an intent look.

“It won’t work on this one.” Nana said, as he knew what Ato was trying to do.

“Whoa! Look who grew stronger, and more level headed… Are you sure you haven’t kidnapped the real Nana?” AJ teased loudly from where she stood; excitedly inspecting the wall he had created.

“Weren’t you always the level headed one?” He protested to AJ who wasn’t even listening.

There was a loud ring which caught everyone’s attention; causing them to look towards the gate. Nana looked at Akose, who in response closed her eyes and concentrated. Her power over space was beyond being able to conjure objects from it; but she could also see what is happening at a place once she concentrated, as far as she had been there. It was as if should open a window in space and peer through it- just like a window- to see what was happening at the location. It was similar to Nsamanpowmu; but was more tailored for storage and surveillance unlike Nsamanpowmu which was as diverse as its wielder.

She walked towards Nana and whispered into his ears. AJ’s eyes widened as she recognized Akose. A sly smile spread across her face.

“I totally forgot about that.” Nana gave an exasperated sigh. “Wait it’s today?”

“Yes it is.” Akose responded.

“How long was I in the training room for?” He seemed to have lost track of time.

“Three days. And it seems you lost track of time again.” Debrah answered walking towards him.

“What are we going to do when our king dies of starvation? At this rate, it could be any day now.” One of the members of the Red Hills Royal Family added adjusting his glasses.

Nana turned to face Ato and AJ.

“I am sorry for keeping you waiting, and our poor reception.” He apologized. “You both seem to be here for the launch of the Inter- Specialized Arena Sports Competition.”

“Obviously… why else would I climb up this hill?” AJ looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“I seem to have been a little distracted.” Nana looked around as though searching for someone. He indicated for the members of his royal house to step forward.

“Please follow them, they will show you around, and direct you to where everyone will assemble.” Nana said signalling the Zebra’s and AJ to follow the Royals.

“Where are your people?” He directed to AJ, looking around.

“We’ve already been shown in; I just came here because of the ruckus.” She explained following the Royals. “See you inside.” She grabbed Akose, and started grilling her with questions. Nana was surprised she remembered Akose. The Zebra’s followed close behind, Ato in the lead.

“Debrah…”

“Yes, Nana, what is it?” Debrah said approaching Nana.

“Come with me; we need to prepare for those coming; my guess is she will be here too.” Nana said as they walked through the gate behind everyone else.

“Do you mean-”

“Yes… her.”

There was complete silence as they walked. Debrah couldn’t help but shake with excitement. The one who was probably stronger than him in pure physical strength was finally coming to the Hill.

“Calm down; your Tumi is all over the place… are you scared?” Nana asked.

“No… not scared; I am excited!”

“I shouldn’t have even- oh yeah, that reminds me. There is something I have to show you.”

“What is it?” Debrah asked with a confused look.

“There is something I must prepare you for. Judging by your abilities and data gathered by Paa Kow; the two of you have a high chance of facing each other in the battle round. If that were to happen; I’d rather you are prepared.” Nana said with a serious look on his face. She will kill him in his current state.

Do you think two weeks is enough time for him to face her? Kram asked.

Well, taking into consideration his ability… there might be hope.

You are forgetting one thing kid, the laws of nature and physics mean nothing to her either.

Nana hated to admit it, but Kram had a point. He just had to pray the two never met, though Paa Kow’s predictions were barely ever wrong. He looked over at Debrah; he wasn’t shocked to find him smiling manically. After all, he had lost to Debrah six times before; four of which was without his ability. Debrah was different from all the people he had fought; Debrah was the perfect example of a fighter with raw power. Till Nana had appeared on the Red Hills, Debrah had had no interest in getting stronger; but was just a being of natural strength and raw power. If it was ever to be a battle of physical strength maybe… just maybe…

“When was the last time we sparred against each other?” Nana asked with a chuckle.

“About a week ago.” Debrah responded.

“It’s already been a week?”

“Yeah, how would you notice, you’ve spent almost all of it in the training room. You really must eat something; you seem to be losing weight; you know what happens when you do.”

“Yeah… Let’s see what has changed within a week.”

“So this is where we are lodging… I must say it’s very nice.” AJ said inspecting the quarters that had been assigned to her and her people. She followed Akose who showed her to the private room reserved for her. “You guys on the hill really spare no expenses in taking care of your guests.”

“Nana is to be thanked for that.” Akose explained. “Ever since he became head of the Royal House of the Red Hills, he has made sure that the Arena supervisors invest in refurbishing and improving conditions on the hill. The hill has been known for dwelling on past glory, but things are definitely different now. We have the strongest Royal House yet according to the Kyer3kyer3nyi tasked with this Arena.”

“Impressive; the kid really grew up huh? I probably have you to thank.” AJ walked towards Akose, a grateful smile on her face.

“What do you mean?” Akose asked in a high pitched voice. She covered her mouth, surprised by her own voice. She was clearly flustered.

“You know what I mean. He seems to respond well to you. I must say I was surprised to see you were on the Red Hills as well, but I am glad you are here with him. You know how to keep him in check.” AJ started unpacking. Akose chuckled nervously.

“But- I didn’t do anything; it’s not as if I could… he’s always been much stronger than I was and-”

“And he listens to you. What happened during the incident four years ago made it perfectly clear to me. And he obviously likes to impress you; remember when he fought you at the Monument of Three?”

Akose mumbled unintelligently as she tried not to seem affected be what AJ was saying. She was always flustered when she remembered the first time she met Nana. He could have easily taken her cowries back then, but he had spared her. Sure she had hated him at first; but all that changed especially during the final round of the First Stage.

“Easy… you might end up cracking your cheeks open at this rate.” AJ teased. She snapped her fingers as sparks of electricity filled the room and settled.

“What was that for?” Akose asked out of curiosity.

“Think of it as an alarm; I tend to be a heavy sleeper- side effect of my ability-, and that is what wakes me up.” She explained

Akose continued to help AJ settle in her room as they exchanged gossip about their experiences over the past four years.

“Can I ask you something?” AJ said suddenly in a serious tone.

“Yes, what is it?”

“How strong has he gotten?”

There was a long silence.

“Can I be honest with you?” Akose asked. AJ nodded in response.

“In a fight, you wouldn’t recognize him. He is completely different from four years ago.” Akose tried to explain.

“What are you saying?”

“He is the strongest king the Red Hills have ever had in over a decade. And he is even being compared to the kings from the Red Hills’ glory days.”

From Akose’s tone AJ could guess that she wasn’t joking around. That she meant every word she just said.

That wasn’t possible; how could he have grown that much in just four years? AJ thought. How much training did he put himself through?

“You won’t make it past five minutes with her at your current level. And this is comparing you to her four years ago at the finals.” Nana said walking away from Debrah who lay on the ground panting heavily, unable to even move a muscle. “Judging from how much she probably trains, you right now won’t make it past the first minute against her.”

Easy kid… He won’t be able to recover from this much. Not only did he come at you with everything he had; you barely put your all into this. Kram protested

What do you mean? Nana clearly had no idea what Kram meant.

You know what happens when you lose weight, not only is your balance totally off, you lose half of your total power; and he knows that better than anyone in your Royal House.

Shit! I had totally forgotten about that. I shouldn’t have-

But, it was necessary. If he can’t recover from this, then it’s best he experienced it now. Look at what happened to your former team member after losing to her.

Nana stared at Debrah who was laying on his face. He wanted to find a way to assure him; but he knew Debrah better than that.

“I’m sorry; but that’s the truth. I promised you guys when I became king that I’d never lie to you.” Nana said walking towards the door of the training area.

Debrah lay on the ground. His body screamed in pain. Is this all he was capable of? He had once been the best; he had once been KING of the Red Hills. And now the gap between him and the one who challenged his throne two years ago was a wide chasm. It was hard to believe he had once defeated this same Nana without even breaking a sweat, no, this wasn’t the same Nana, he had grown drastically; a totally different person. He didn’t hate Nana, no, he admired him, he respected him. This is what being King truly meant. He had to get stronger; he had to close the gap; he had to become a reliable FIHANKRA for his King.

“One more time.”

Nana stopped in his footsteps. He could feel the air in the room change. He turned around to see Debrah barely on his feet. The sweat around his body began to evaporate as heat emanated from his body.

“No... I need to eat. You know what it-”

“ONE MORE!” Debrah shouted, blue wisps of light began to whirl around him.

He is like you! Kram was genuinely shocked. Nana couldn’t help but smile.

“So that is the true colour of your Tumi.” Nana observed.

“If I can’t beat you in your current state then I’m worthless to the KING!”

“Alright; what is the current score?”

“Forty-three to six in your favour.”

“Fine… Come at me with all you’ve got.”

She looked up as she sensed a shift in the air. It had been four years since she felt something like this. The hairs on the back of her stood. The feel of the earth beneath her bare feet had changed. A storm was brewing, and it excited her.

“We have arrived at the gate of the Red Hills, Pure Queen.” Her advisor informed.

“I’ve told you I hate that name.” She complained in her usual bored tone.

“Well, I can’t call you Esi in the presence of Yellow Suns.” The advisor said in a hushed voice. She was referring to the candidates of their Specialized Arena. The only all-female Specialized Arena in the kingdom. The Yellow Sun Arena.

“Finally… it’s been so long since I heard my name.” Esi responded, ignoring all that her advisor had said.

To be continued…

Note from the Author

I have one thing to say…

I probably enjoyed this chapter than any of you did!

Yours Faithfully,

everydayGladiator

P.S. Thanks to Carl for the art work; I really appreciate it bro! Team OotW!