The Darkest Souls

Six- The Pair

Nova jolted awake, breathing heavily. Her left arm ached and pulsed, and felt as though it had been set aflame. Her heartbeat, frantic and rushed, pounded in her ears. Worst of all was her splitting headache; it felt as though someone had cracked her head open and poured molten rock into her cranium.

She suddenly became aware of this strange presence in her mind. As soon as she noticed the presence, her aching head and arm seemed to dull. Her breathing evened out and, oddly enough, she felt more grounded and much less anxious than before. She felt whole.

Her eyes fluttered open, and she found herself gazing into a pair of blazing red eyes. She was still on the stage at the Pairing Ceremony, and it appeared that only a few seconds had passed since the binding words had been spoken. Elijah was staring at her, she realized, with a look of uncertainty and... was that fear? Their hands were still bound together by the red ribbons.

Armand appeared at her side, and gently tugged the two apart. The ribbons fell away as though they were made of nothing more than paper. She vaguely heard him giving words of congratulations, but she wasn't focused on him, for once. She and Elijah were still staring at each other, trying to digest what had just happened.

Nova opened her mouth, prepared to say something, when a voice cut into her thoughts.

What just happened?

With a start, Nova realized she'd just heard Elijah. It wasn't much of a surprise, as all Saviors had learned that mental communication was a part of being a Pair, but it was nevertheless shocking to hear another's voice in her head.

Well if he could do it, so can I, thought Nova.

You just did, he said, a half-grin on his face. Amusement filled his red eyes.

Armand laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Nova, did you get that?"

"Huh?" She said, and realization hit her. She and Elijah had been staring at each other for what had probably been minutes.

Armand sighed, but it was mostly for show, as there was a small smile on his face. "The next stage of the Ceremony. Should I repeat?"

A couple people in the front row head and snickered. Nova, however, found that they didn't bother her as much as I usually would have. He cast a small glance at Elijah. Was this newfound confidence coming from him?

"Yes, please...sorry." She said, her voice quiet. As Armand spoke, she felt her stomach drop.

This was not going to be fun.

* * *

Although Eli could sense his partner's discomfort, Eli was excited. After all, it wasn't very often that two Saviors got the chance to got fight each full-out with absolutely no restrictions on their magic or strength. Novellia, meanwhile, was looking around nervously, her eyes darting from one part of the room to another.

"I'll explain the rules one last time," Armand said, his loud voice filling up the room. The three of them were standing in the large chamber that house the teleportation circles. While the room itself was plain, the circles that sat on the floor were quite intricate and beautiful. The circles were drawn on the dark stone floor with thick white chalk, and there were about twenty in total, each ready to take a Savior to a different part of Ebea. Eli and Novellia were standing in front of the circle that would take them to the Darkwoods, a thick forest that was a few miles away from the keep.

"Your goal is to find each other and 'eliminate' your each other. Killing is strictly forbidden, of course. The winner will be decided when one Savior cannot continue to fight or when they surrender. Wounding is fine, just... try not to fatally wound each other."

"Father," Novellia said, her voice thick and slow. "Why are doing this, again? This has never been a part of the-"

Armand cut off his daughter with a wave of his hand and smiled. "I thought it'd be fun, the valedictorians fighting. I thought it might bolster the newer Saviors' morale, and all that.  Cheer up, Nova, it won't be that bad!"

Why does he always do this? Novellia's voice sighed, appearing in Eli's head even though she hadn't opened her mouth. This mental communication would definitely take some getting used to, he thought as slow smile crept onto Eli's face. He'd noticed that some of Novellia's thought would randomly pop into his mind at times; it appeared that she wasn't very good at controlling how sending her thoughts yet.

He's honestly kind of funny, Eli said back through their link, as he'd decided to view it.

Novellia sighed again, out loud this time. You wouldn't say that if you lived with him, she retorted, humor filling her voice.

Armand coughed, returning Eli to his surroundings. He quickly realized that he Novellia had been staring at each other again. "I'll assume you two agree to the rules, then?"

Novellia, her cheeks red, nodded quickly and assuredly. He didn't need a mental link with her to know she was embarrassed. "I'm ready, Grandmaster," he said. Armand nodded his head once before saying, "The teleporting circle has already been prepared in advance, just step onto it when you're both ready to go."

"Ready?" Eli asked as he turned to his partner, who sighed and closed her eyes.

"As I'll ever be.."

Together, they turned and looked at the glowing white circle and, with only the slightest bit of hesitation, stepped onto it.