Fate's Cage: Greed and Grief

Chapter 2: Love At First Sight

Tap-tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap. Hiko and Chika ascended up the Casino's stairs, making their way to the second floor, emerging  to a neon rainbow of lights. Their gaze followed the path of the light, their eyes being directed to an arena housing thousands of spectators.

"Bang." Chika punched her fist into Hiko's chest, causing him to exhale a heavy breath. "Don't even say it. Let's just go."

Chika and Hiko made their way to the arena, merging into the packed crowd of non-paying spectators that made up its first tier. They jostled and shuffled through a sea of bodies as another spectator in a black tokkofuku, descended from the second tier, the crowd clearing a path for him.

Hiko slid through the crowd faster than Chika, the bodies obstructing his vision, causing him to not notice the crowd moving backwards. Moving against the crowd, Hiko forced his way through, stumbling into the other spectator's path. Hiko collided into the man, sending both tumbling to the ground. Getting up quickly, the man pressed his foot into Hiko's face and snarled, "What the hell's your problem?"

Taking a deep breath, Hiko swatted the foot away and rose to his feet. But noticing that the man seemed important, he consciously made an effort not to escalate further.

Angered, the man got into his Hiko's face and shoved him into the crowd, saying, "Do you know who I am?"

A stranger in the crowd caught Hiko, helping him back to his feet, a black aura beginning to crackle, spark, and manifest around Hiko's fists. Without  a second thought, Hiko instinctively rushed forward, punching the man into the crowd, causing the man and several others to fall.

At the same time, Chika emerged from the crowd, seeing Hiko's crackling fists. "What the hell are you doing?" she yelled, her voice causing Hiko to take a step back.

Taking the opportunity to escape, the man fled into the crowd, screaming, "You'll regret this, I'll make your life a living hell."

"Don't worry about him," Chika said, coddling Hiko. "I'll protect you."

"Stop it," replied Hiko, blushing while pushing her away. "Let's go watch the match already." Navigating through the rest of the crowd, Hiko and Chika squirmed into the stands, seeing a towering stone golem with an inner marble lining reinforced by obsidian plates fighting five identical clones. Each clone radiated an ethereal glow, kicking and hitting the giant.

"Boom!" The golem dropped his paw onto one of the clones, light dispersing between his fingers, forcing him to cover his eyes. The light slowly dissipated as the golem removed his hand, revealing the clone standing in a crater in front of him unharmed.

"Hey sis, quick question," Hiko asked, seeing the golem's attack. "Is that the same coating ability as before?"

"Nope, not even a human," Chika responded. "If I had to guess, both fighters are using some sort of summoning techniques."

Meanwhile in the arena, the berserker golem's master, Lina, tossed a small glowing blue orb on the ground. Electricity crackling and sparking, mana discharged from the orb and molten stone formed around it, creating a small golem.

"Make some space, berserk, it's time for the big boom," commanded Lina, her obsidian golem conceding its position, as her new golem absorbed air into its arm, creating a swirling vortex. Then, the golem expelled oil out of its other arm, mixing it into the vortex and lit a spark on from its fingertip. With a deafening pop, the golem created a massive explosion, the sound ringing n Chika and Hiko's ears, shrouding the arena in a thick cloud of dust.

"Did you see that sis?" Hiko exclaimed in awe. "There's no way you can deny that."

"They both certainly are intriguing. Illusions. Summons. Those aren't made from raw talent alone," replied Chika. "But I have to see more before I make a decision."