Accessory Wars

Chapter 11-Felisa

            I received a text from Kami a few weeks after the Jerome incident and she sounded rather excited. We agreed to meet up for smoothies after I finished class and it left me wondering what she wanted to discuss. I arrived first at the smoothie joint, the one next to where Kami works, and ordered one of the pumpkin pie smoothies. Kami didn't lie. They were really, really good. The place was called Reel Smooth and took a nod to old film with various historical scenes framed and various posters covering the walls. A pair of TVs played different classic movies in a low volume. I found a seat on one of the black leather couches and watched one of the movies while I waited.

Kami arrived a few minutes later practically sprinting through the door. Her hair parted into pigtails behind her cornrows, tied with large black bows. She slapped down a piece of paper onto my lap and beamed at me. I looked down at the sheet and picked it up to read. My eyes scanned over the page.

The 18th Annual Winter Crown Tournament!

Located in Beautiful Waterleip

Both Age and Class Categories Available

Super Grand Prizes!!!

I read the flyer over again in disbelief. A tournament?

"We can go fighting!" Kami exclaimed with a squeal. Wait, fighting?! I thought she wanted to go watch!

"But I can't fight! I don't want to fight!" I protested.

"Felisa, look at these prizes!" She pointed to the bottom of the page where the cash prizes were located by age and class rank. Seeing all the large numbers made me gape. I'd be able to pay off a semester of college tuition with the grand prize.

"B-but—"

"I'll help you! It's not until the end of the year so we have time to train together." She placed a hand on my shoulder, making me jump. "You've got an A-class Accessory on your side. Nothing's going to hurt you."

I knew nothing about tournaments. I knew they were popular enough to the most watched sporting event in the world. Thousands of people not only watched but went to the tournaments. The stadiums were huge. There was one in Serenhe and it was the most massive building I ever laid eyes on. Yet compared to other cities, Serenhe was a small stadium. They built buildings large enough to be their own civilization and people willingly went year after year.

But the tournament itself? Even if I did learn how to fight, there was so much more to learn on top of punching and swinging a sword. Not to mention I would be hurting other people on purpose. I'd be throwing myself into a pit to willingly get beat on over and over again. I'd be going against knives, guns, swords, elemental abilities, special attacks and all sorts of dangers. It was illegal to kill anyone but people have still died. The thought made my stomach turn.

"How about a test run?" Kami offered, pulling me from my thoughts. "Give it a week of practice and then decide. It doesn't matter if we win. Just going out there and competing is reward enough. To show people we're strong too. Although, winning would be awfully nice."

I handed the page back to Kami. "I'm sorry. I just don't think I can do it," I repeated. Kami sat down next to me and took the flyer, folding it into some sort of paper doll. She gave me a smile and waved the doll's arm at me.

"I can't force you to decide. This is all on you." She tucked the paper doll into her purse. "Could I show you something, though? I promise you'll be safe as a kitten."

Safe. Safe was good. I agreed and finished off my smoothie. Kami led me through the streets of downtown to a building I didn't expect. I suppose you could call it a gym. Unlike normal gyms, these ones were made specifically for Elicits and Accessories to train. Kami explained you had to do a mountain of paperwork to get in for legal liability.