The Lion Of Sirius

The Forgotten

The stadium was alive with noise, packed with students shoulder to shoulder, buzzing with energy and anticipation. The name "Sani Del Rosario" echoed through the air.

A girl with fiery amber eyes locked her gaze onto the boy slowly making his way toward the arena floor. He was lean, bronze-skinned, and moved with a quiet confidence. His jet-black dreadlocks hung loosely to his shoulders, their tips dyed a vibrant crimson red.

He returned her gaze with golden eyes that seemed to peer into the very marrow of her soul.

Pinned beneath his hair was the badge of his rank — a symbol of black and red thorns, curled around a wild rose. His light burgundy jacket was buttoned all the way up, save for the last at the top. It draped over solid black uniform pants that hung slightly off his shins, paired with polished, low-gelled black shoes. His look was clean, refined, and rebellious in all the right ways.

His eyes scanned the massive stadium, and when they found her — the girl calling his name — he sighed.

Reluctantly, he met her gaze.

"Why, Maria El Dagu, do you insist on battling someone you know nothing about?" he asked, his tone calm, but laced with disdain. "You're one of the finest fighters in this school... yet you lower yourself to challenge me?"

"You don't know your place in this academy," Maria said coldly. "You trespassed against me — against my honor — and you have yet to apologize."

Sani's hand twitched slightly, but a small smirk crept across his face.

"From what I recall, you bumped into me, and when I reached to steady you, you went hostile."

"Do you swear that by your life?" she snapped. "Would you wager your life on that?"

Sani lazily pointed toward her.

"If we're gambling, how about this — you give up your title if I win. Or are you not that confident in your abilities?"

Gasps rippled through the crowd. The War Maiden — challenged like that?

Maria's amber eyes glinted, almost delighted.

"I'm going to enjoy breaking your crude body," she purred.

Raising her hand with elegance, she began to recite:

"We have been forsaken.
Demons attack.
No longer do we need faith —
We have our own form of protection:
Our weapons.
The angel race has died out.
Ezekiel, the bravest, gave us our founder and his greatest creation:
The Oblivion Weapons.
The Academy will not stop until we are free of them."

Sani exhaled. A heavy sigh rolled from his chest. He had no true interest in fighting her — but her challenge was public now. His pride wouldn't let him back down.

A flash of green light pulsed across the edges of the coliseum. The battlefield barrier activated — bright at first, then transparent. A protection spell for the audience.

Maria formed an X with her arms. Black particles gathered at her fingertips, then shaped into two butterfly swords — curved black blades with polished silver hilts and short, wing-like guards. Elegant and deadly.

The distance between them: a hundred yards.

"Maria," Sani called out, "I refuse to hit you. Honestly, I've never been great at apologizing to women... but you do seem like a bit of a fiery bun—"

She appeared in front of him in a blink.

"Oh, you're fast—" he managed before her boot crashed into his abdomen, launching him across the field. His body slammed into the barrier, the green shimmer flashing on contact.