Chapter 1B

A pained laughed caught through her voice. “This is a joke.” She fumbled with the phone, almost dropping her phone into the ocean.

 “Wait, what?” Marissa tilted the phone towards her. “My goodness. What’s gotten into him?”

 Staring deep into the seemingly bottomless ocean, Ariel hoped this wasn’t real. A glitch, hopefully, she reassured herself, and swiped the power off symbol. “Maybe it was a mistake.”

As the screen blackened, Ariel’s thumbs pulsed against the body of her phone. Two seconds later, the borders of the screen brightened. To her relief the request had disappeared. “Look, it’s gone.”

“Let me see,” Marissa said. “Wow. System error for sure.”

Cassandra patted Ariel’s back, and said, “Relax, Aer. You need to keep your mind calm for future games.”

“Yes,” Ariel laughed at herself, reclining until her back flattened on the floor of the fuselage. “What a nightmare that would have been.”

A gentle breeze touched them. Now she tried to forget that brief scare. It was Eos that marveled Ariel. Home she called it, though she knew that for humans it hadn’t always been. Earth had been home for the human race a thousand years ago. The Earth she’d read about in school books at the Zeda Academy. With lush trees like the ones here on Eos. She sighed and shielded her eyes from the glaring sunlight, from a sun like the one humans used to know on Earth. A thousand years was a long time. Professors had taught about the wars that brought Earth to her knees. A story less far-fetched than the lone spaceship that had escaped with human life.

But then her phone hummed on the floor where she had left it, ripping her from her thoughts. She jerked up from her back, propping herself up on her elbow to view the message. “Probably Zeda Arena sending out an apology for the system error.” She grinned.

But it wasn’t that at all.

The same red sign flashed on Ariel’s phone. And sure enough, it was still her brother. It was no mistake. Demetrius had just confirmed the initial challenge with another one. She left the request on the screen, hands shaking. He wouldn’t. She showed Marissa and Cassandra again, who were clearly flabbergasted.

Ariel hovered over the decline option but restrained herself from taking any action. She needed to assess the situation first.

The thing was Demetrius Spica had never fought onstage. He’d probably never wielded a sword, for that matter. Had he been practicing? She’d have known. Everyone was required to log their training. It was the law. Something about the vox suits they wore being monitored.

Distress evident in her voice, she said, “Obviously something’s wrong with him. This is ridiculous.” She hated this. Out here she was supposed to unwind and just focus on the ocean’s breath.

“Maybe it’s the system still,” Marissa offered.

“It’s not. I checked,” said Cassandra, thrusting her phone at Ariel and Marissa. “The challenge is now public. People are commenting.”

“He really is serious about this.” Ariel groaned. “This can’t be happening.” She covered her face with her palms and lay back flat. She then traced the pattern of dots on the roof of the fuselage as she considered her options. “If I decline, it’s like I’m looking down on a brave challenger. And if I accept, he could seriously get hurt.”

“It’s your call, Aer,” said Cassandra, returning to the cockpit. “We have to go now.” Ariel and Marissa held on to handle bars as Cassandra ignited the engines.             “Hang on,” Cassandra yelled, veering a hard one-eighty.

The engines whistled through the air aircraft hastened to return to the nearest hangar. Meanwhile, Ariel tuned the portable television to Zeda Arena news. The anchors were ecstatic. Here were Demetrius stats, one of them pointed out, absolutely nothing. Zilch. He’s never fought on any of the training facilities.

Ariel endured the hammering in her chest as they approached Virtus City.

Demetrius, the anchors continued excitedly, was far outmatched. Was he insane? One of them laughed. More importantly what would Ariel’s response be? The screen darkened under Marissa’s command. Ariel looked at Marissa with concern.

“You don’t want to incubate fear,” Marissa said. “Don’t listen to them. Let’s remain vigilant as things progress.”

As if she wasn’t already afraid. How was this going to change things for her? She wondered. Nestled between her sweaty palms was her phone. She viewed the challenge again, feeling a little queasy—less so from the aircraft and more so from Demetrius Spica. When she finally pried her gaze from the screen, Ariel looked up at Virtus City. High-rises pointing up at the sky. Aircrafts landing and leaving. Cars speeding by. Ships docking. The Riemannian Ocean sparkled with the golden sunlight, shimmering like stars. The city grew much faster now as they approached, and Ariel couldn’t shake this feeling that her world was about to change drastically.

They skirted the coast until they arrived at the aircraft hangar. Ariel was lost in thought as the five-ton vehicle descended onto a wide square platform. It came down smoothly with a thud, and Ariel stepped out half attentive. Marissa hobbled over to a man who was holding a clip board.

All this was like a horrible nightmare for Ariel as she looked up at Cassandra.

“You, all right?” asked Cassandra, and because Ariel delayed with a nod, she said, “Don’t worry we’ll figure something out.”

“We’re all set,” said Marissa, who forced a smile to lighten Ariel’s mood.

This was unprecedented. A complete amateur challenging a blademaster-to-be. It was absurd. Ariel couldn’t decipher her own emotions now. Was it fear? Concern? Or was it just anger?

She strolled along with Marissa and Cassandra to the garage as the platform took the aircraft below. Ariel shook her head at what was waiting for her back at the Zeda Residence. Their car met them near the curb, slowing down gracefully to stop. And they were off.

Ariel sat in the backseat, pondering. Every second was agonizing. A five-minute trip across the city, felt like fifteen. It didn’t make sense—her brother’s challenge didn’t make any sense at all! This reality came rushing to her again and again. Her brother was somewhere in the residence preparing to fight her.

“Kind of stuffy in here,” she said, bringing down the windows as buildings zipped by. Cassandra had turned to check on her, without saying a word, merely observing.

“Ariel, relax,” said Marissa, steering the vehicle down the East bridge. “We’re going to find out from Manny just what in high heavens is going on.” Except she’d been calling, and he still hadn’t answered.