A Tale of the World **HIATUS**

Chapter 13: Unchained

Jack opened his eyes and saw Nina.
"Are you okay?" Nina asked.
"...How long was I out?" Jack grunted.
"For about a minute. If you can't continue we can pull out."
"I'm sorry, Nina. I'm so sorry. I'm so useless," Jack apologized.
Nina placed her hand on his paw, "Remember, I'm not Goran. I am Nina. Your friend, and I'm here with you."
Jack looked into her jaded eyes behind the golden mask.
"If you ca-"
"I can continue!" Jack shouted gripping her arm before she finished.
Her eyes widened. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. I am."
Nina smiled, stood up and extended her arm. He gripped her hand. Nina helped pull him.
Jack faced Alicia. Nina behind him.
"I'm going to cast an adrenaline effect to your body," Nina said.
"Yeah. Please do."
Nina dragged her right pointy finger up his back about an inch away in a straight line, then extended her palm casting a wave into his body. A thick clear wave surrounded his body.
Jack's blood pumped. He closed his eyes. His hair stood; only Steele noticed the change aside from Nina.
Within a blink of an eye, Jack disappeared, only a gust of dust left behind. Alicia became alert. He came charging at her from the left side. She used her bullets to keep her distance. Jack bounced to the wall and jumped back an forth closing in on Alicia, which frightened her. But she smiled. She had another trick up her sleeve.
Alicia sent all of her bullets and missiles towards Nina.
"You left something open!" She yelled in victory.
Jack gasped and twisted back to Nina. The missiles closed in fast. Jack ran quick too. The moment when Jack reached her, the bullets and missiles did too; Nina closed her eyes.
A huge cloud of dust exploded filling up Nina's area. With one strong stomp, a gust of wind burst transforming the dust cloud into a single thin ring around them. The crowd gasped in shock and awe. Steele was the most shocked. Nina looked up.
Nina didn't take the hit. Jack did. However, Jack transformed. He was now an 8ft tall Rabian hovering over Nina to protect her. He no longer had chains, for those chains transformed into his silver armor covering his torso, arms and a helmet. Everything about him changed; even the aura around him changed.
He has the blood of the king? Steele said to himself in shock.
Alicia was speechless, but she couldn't stop there. She attacked. She signaled a sword that flew straight towards Nina. Jack shifted his arm downwards effortlessly to protect her. His armor easily deflected the attack. Alicia continued sending swords at them, however it was pointless.
Jack leapt in front of Nina and deflected all the swords that came their way. Two swords came piercing out from the ground; Jack grabbed ahold of them and started using them to deflect the other swords and bullets. He moved swift and fast. Alicia kept pushing forward but made no progress. Jack twirled around deflecting everything Alicia sent. She started getting frustrated.
Alicia had no more trick up her sleeve. "No one else is allowed to touch my swords!"
Jack tossed her swords aside and by his paw, a dagger appeared. Alicia directed swords at him at an amazing speed. But effortlessly, he slashed them aside. The wind howled.
From where she thought was a blind spot, she sent a sword flying to Nina. But the sword was caught, a centimeter away from her mask. Jack gripped the sword, did a 360 turn and with all of his might, threw the sword back. Luckily, Alicia dodged in time, however, she received a cut from her cheek to her ear. She gritted her teeth and fell to her knee.
Alicia sent more bullets and swords. Jack easily brushed them off. She looked at him panting. I'm not even doing much, but, I'm using a lot of power. Alicia shifted to her last resort. "Damn you!"
She opened a large portal behind her. "To think you've pushed me this far," she yelled. She extended her arms them crossed them over in a X formation. The portal shined brightly. Suddenly, all the weapons sputtered everything they had at Jack. Alicia went breathless.
Jack was walking through the net of Bullets and Blades with ease. He disappeared from one side to another closing in one her. The only thing she caught was a glimpse of flame in his eyes. He used his gigantic foot kicking her in the stomach down to the ground and stabbed his dagger next to her face; Alicia stopped. Jack brought himself closer, "Disappear."
Alicia let out a grunt of loss and dispersed. Lizzy gasped in shock. Jack stood up. The audience went crazy; shouts, cheers and applause.
"Looks like we have our winner! No. 104, Sasana!" The announcer cheered. "That was really intense!"

Jack walked over to Nina. "You did it. You no longer have chains." Nina praised.
"All thanks to you," Jack smiled.
Nina shook her head, "It wasn't me. It was all you. You finally believe in your own power. Your own ability to become stronger. Congratulations," she smiled holding up the back of her hand up to Jack. Jack smiled and brought the back of his paw and tapped hers.
He dispersed and his card landed in her hand. She looked up and made eye contact with Gin behind the mask. He nodded. "It's time we leave, Rolan," he said softly and stood up.
Their sudden movement caught King Damon's eye. He eyed them for a moment then turned his attention back to Nina. Man #2 took his money back from Man #1.

* * *

"Sorry for the long wait, everyone! Here are the next matches for the second round!" The announcer displayed. Nina was in the first match against No. 56, Mika.
"Let the opponents enter the arena!"
Mika entered the arena hotly. She was confident she could still against Nina. Five minutes passed, then ten.
Murmurs among the audience grew. The king frowned. Then a woman came running up to the announcer. She whispered something into his ear. The announcer's expression became shocked, then settled.
"Hm, there seems to be a slight change in the first match. No. 104 has withdrawn from the tournament, meaning No. 56 wins by default."
There were some applause, but Whispers traveled the room, a bit disappointed. Mika clicked her tongue as she heard the whispering being past around and walked out of the arena.
"Aw, that's disappointing," Man #2 exclaimed.
"Yeah. It was actually interesting, No. 104. I would've never expected for a small girl to have such a celestial spirit, right, Steele?" Man #1 said to him. Steele was Man #1's celestial spirit.
"Hm, that's true," Man #2 added.
"And did you see the way she stood there when her spirit was blocking all those attacks?" Man #1 said.
"Yeah, with her hands crossed?" Man #2 asked.
"That's right! That stance. Declaring that she is stronger and that she won't step back. Although she had a mask, I bet her eyes were closed the entire time," Man #1 said.
"...You're wrong," a voice called. The two men turned and looked at Steele.
"What do you mean ?"
"Although you couldn't see it, I did. Her eyes were open the entire time," Her eyes were a beautiful jaded color.
"Where are you getting at?" Man #1 said.
"It wasn't because she knew she was stronger that she kept her eyes open, it was because she trusted Jack that he would protect her from getting hurt. She kept her eyes open the entire time," Steele clarified.
The two men stopped talking. King Damon let out an amuse chuckled, That's what I saw too, Steele.