The Morean maiden sat down as she fanned the hot soup. Sora and the Dimension Guardians sat at a table as they brought what they ordered. Thomas had taken a bite off of the baby back ribs with barbecue sauce. Stacey used a fork to stab a defenseless tomato from her salad. María took a sip of mineral water with a slice of flatbread Mike gave her while he scarfed down his in large chunks. Sora was eating mashed potatoes before she saw Violet. She could see her purple hair stand out and her lilac garb from where she was.

A young man with a samurai hat and a uniform brought tea, one for the lady in lavender and one for himself.

"Your battle was nothing I had ever seen before." Jacinto openly admitted as he gave Violet tea.

"It's mild compared to the battles that will come." Violet mentioned before she blew the steam off the soup.

Even if you defeat me, you won't be able to stop what's coming. Sora swallowed the mashed potatoes as she recalled her match. If a skilled assailant like her was able to break through her defenses effortlessly against an Arivex endowed with cosmic powers like her. Why would she go through all the trouble to warn her?

"It's true. The fights will become fierce, but you will find a way to overcome them." Jacinto responded as he looked at her. Violet took another spoonful before she saw the tea he gave her and saw his reflection through the tea.

"I confess, I did not expect to meet someone as persistent as you." Violet looked at Jacinto as he gazed at her. "Usually, I have a clear outcome of what will come at my way. You became a rift that changed my course." She said as she looked at his icy blue eyes.

"I hope that is a good thing." Jacinto gave a dimpled smile.

Sora was staring at them before Stacey noticed the Arivex zone out. "Hey, Hasaki!" Sora looked at Stacey. "What did she tell you when you were fighting her?" Stacey queried as her green eyes gave a stern glance at Sora.

It was the way she looked at her. Violet warned her to stay alert, and Stacey knew that Sora kept withholding information.

"Nothing." Which was sort of true, they didn't say a word to each other, they just communicated telepathically.

"Yeah, I also wanna know." Zack added as he finished eating his flatbred. Sora resumed eating mashed potatoes.

The Deity of Liberty leaned on the wall after Ryan had gone with Felin to indulge her in tracking an unusual scent. Breloq was calm, still as a statue until he heard the Deity of Discipline within his empty head. "Breloq, I require your assistance." Tantetra requested in her usual professional tone.

With his jaw zipped shut, he transmitted his thought, "I'm on my way." The 10 ft wind up doll erected a door, then twisted the knob to open the portal that would leave him to ParaVi's realm.

The Deity of Realms himself had his multiple eyes on the Oculli while the images shifted and overlapped each other. One of the eyes dangling on his jester hat slowly turned to see the light that came out of the door just as Breloq stepped out of the portal. "I'm at ParaVi's place, where are you?" Breloq asked her telepathically. "Behind you." Tantetra responded personally. Breloq turned over his shoulder and pivoted to see the Deity of Discipline walk up to him, chin slightly elevated show dominance as she looked at the Deity of Liberty at his beady button eyes. "Take me to the tournament." Tantetra responded sternly as she opened the hilt of her fan. ParaVi watched them enter the portal before the door closed and dematerialized right behind him, then his eye slowly turned to look at the Oculli once more.

Breloq opened a door that lead them to the stadium, allowing the Deity of Discipline to take the first step as she arrived to the stadium and watched the mortals unaware of their presence. Though two or three passerbys noticed her by the time Breloq made the door disappear.

"Mommy look! A stilted man and a giant woman." A little boy shouted as he pointed at the two deities before the boy's mother grabbed his wrist.

"Simon, don't be rude." His mother admonished him before he dragged him out of the hall before the boy let a whine.

Breloq's exterior was unexpressive, though after he zipped his jaw open his voice elicited a laugh then it ended just as quickly when Tantetra looked at him.

"What was so urgent?" Breloq asked.

"The tournament has brought my attention and I came to ensure that this place is secure." Tantetra said before she spotted Patricia. The blonde receptionist was speaking to one of her coworkers.

Patricia had spotted Tantetra and chose to avoid her. It was perturbing enough to know that the deities could pose a threat to her plans, let alone allow one of them to have leverage over her.

Each eye on ParaVi's hand jolted around as they watch the Oculli. The pupils of the eyes on the tips of his hat expanded and contracted with every moving picture. ParaVi, the deity of Realms, observed all the lands and every corner of them of different known worlds. His full red lips then slowly opened with a smile, revealing his sharp teeth.
"Back so soon?" He asked without facing the trespasser.
Patricia stepped forward, with crossed arms beneath her bosom. He replied, "You don't seem surprised. Were you expecting me?"
The eyes of his hat spun around to face her. "Not expecting, but my eyes do see everything." He lowered his hands and pivoted his body towards her, his hat eyes faced the Oculli. "I saw you and Hexice playing around. Did you have fun with a little fortune telling?" His lips spread wide with a sinister grin.
Patricia bit her teeth. With a calming exhale, she spoke, "Childish game for leisurely fun. I only complied to entertain him. What kind of hostess would I be if my guests were bored?"
ParaVi tapped his fingers against each other.
"Do you make a living on lying? Or perhaps naïvety is a prominent feature of yours?"
Patricia's eyebrows furrowed. A finger dug into her three colours jacket. "What do you mean by that?"
ParaVi slightly opened his mouth, just big enough for his long, sharp tongue to slither out between his pointed teeth and licked his upper red lips. "I may not have a nose to smell it, but its very presence dances upon my tongue." He slurped the saliva at the edge of his mouth, close to dripping out. "Fear."
Patricia gulped. She then tilted her head, and with a raising of her hand to show apathy, she scoffed, "You and Hexice are definitely alike, full of threats and nothing to back it up."
"Threats?" ParaVi chuckled. "No, no, no... You got us all wrong. Despite being different from other deities, we still like to avoid as many interactions with non-deities as possible. That way when they mess up, it'll be much more satisfying."
Patricia's tolerance broke. She took two strides forward.
"That’s enough," a female voice echoed from behind her.
Patricia pivoted, sliding on her heels.
"Oh," ParaVi giggled. "Just in time, Tantetra."
A 6 feet tall woman in a purple ao dai and an updo with some braids wrapped around it and two hairsticks stabbed through at the back. She carried a long sword with an open fan as a hilt.
"Leave at once," Tantetra ordered with great charisma and grit. "Unless you would rather be escorted out."
"Alright," Patricia said nonchalantly. "I know when I am not welcomed." She bowed at ParaVi. "Hope next meeting will be warmer." She stepped into the shadows, disappearing out of ParaVi's realm.

Patricia adjusted her tricolored jacket and put on her best face while the Deity of Discipline kept watch while maintaining a conversation towards one of her kin. Breloq perceived what Tantetra implied.

"So that explains it." Breloq said as he slightly tilted his head.

"I didn't send a distress call," ParaVi said.
The blade of the sword shrunk into the fan as she closed it. "Atrothesis suggested that I check on you. She saw what had happened. A strange person from a strange land. Looks like she was right. I suppose I'll stay a while in case she comes back." Tantetra made her way to ParaVi. She wiped his drool. "So, tell me: Exactly what are Hexice and Breloq up to?"
“Nothing,” ParaVi answered without removing his attention from his Oculli.
“Simply because they are not in trouble, doesn’t mean it is nothing,” Tantetra replied in an serious tone. She looked at the Oculli trying to search for the image of Breloq, Hexice, and the others. But all she saw was a limitless amount of images moving and overlapping one another. They were both clear yet blurry.
“You’ll only give yourself a headache.”
Tantetra rubbed her eyes, “Already have.” She grunted impatiently. “If you are not going to tell me, then at least show me.”
Some of his eyes quickly shifted to her and back at the Oculli. Suddenly, the bottom right of the Oculli cracked. ParaVi plucked out the piece, and the Oculli repaired itself. As Tantetra took the fragment, the fragment reformed itself into a rectangular mirror unlike the circular Oculli.
She looked at the mirror which displayed the live footage of Breloq, Ryan, and Felin. An eyebrow rises as she tries to find Hexice. “Odd… Hexice doesn’t seem to be with them.” She turned to ParaVi to ask him, only to see an image of Patricia quite notable despite the clusters of moving images. “What makes her so special from the rest?”
ParaVi smiled before answering, “Her fear…”
“Every creature that is not us has fear.”
“Her origin of fear. Though not unique, it is uncommon. Past of witnessing slaughter, stolen love, backstabbing, and the like birth a vindictive, hostile behaviour that buries fear into the subconscious mind.” His mouth opened, forming a wide smile. “Hers has none of that. A youthful, carefree, innocent soul that is consumed by her own fear. That fear, however, continues to overwhelm her, and she tries to repel it with hostility. Such futile efforts, for she oozes such a delectable presence. Oh, how I wish she was here so I can eat it all for her!” He groaned with impatience and yearnful joy.
“Control yourself,” Tantetra commanded as she whacked the back of his head with her fan. “How can someone be carefree and still have fear? From what I can gather she is simply greedy. Hanging onto a past that should’ve been let go. Overdue and spoiled.”
“But that is the delight of it,” ParaVi squealed in happiness. “I may not be like Atrothesis, knowing and recording the past, or like Hexice, seeing and predicting all sorts of futures, but I am well keen on knowing the molding that leads to the present. Afterall, the past does influence the present.” His smile disappeared. “And, though slowly and distant, the future eventually will become the present.”

"My stay here will be brief. I'll keep watch in case a problem arises." Tantetra clarified. Breloq shrugged as he walked to look for Ryan and Felin.

Scale brought a box of cheese pizza with cucumbers. With the first bite he chewed on the contents then gobbled the first three slices while the space cadets were down the hall as they split up, Stella headed to the foodcourt while Micah stayed and interrogated bystanders about the criminal as she showed the photo of the suspect.

Carina wore her sunglasses and ate a tuna sandwich before she spotted the Izarian at the food court, asking random strangers. Stella revealed the mugshot of Carina's original form before the bystanders shook their heads and walked away. Carina sipped on a soda, inwardly scoffing at the Izarian farm girl and her poor interrogation methods, before she saw Stella coming closer.

"Excuse me ma'am, have you seen this delinquent?" Stella asked her directly without having any idea that she was asking the same person who she was looking for. Carina lowered her sunglasses and looked at the old photo of her original form, she thought that the I.B.I. would've at least updated the mugshots by now.

"Haven't seen her."

"Oh well, have a nice day." Stella walked away from her as the usurper slurped on the soda.

Scale was taking a bite of the last slice of pizza by the time Stella came to ask him about the usurper. "Sorry to interrupt, but have you seen this person by any chance?" Scale looked at the screen to see a humanoid feline with grayish blue fur and green eyes, though she had a short curly mane.

"No." Scale responded.

"Ok, stay safe." Stella said as she was about to walk away.

"Wait!" Scale blurted before Stella turned over her shoulder to look at the nervous Reptilian. "How long has she been missing?" Scale asked, though he was having second thoughts about it.

"She's incognito. Do you have a lead?" Stella took out a pen and an electronic flipbook as she opened an application to take notes.

"I-uh. No, to be honest. If you need someone to help you track her heat signature, I'm here." Scale then shut his eyes and cringed at his suggestion. Track her heat signature!? What was I thinking?

Stella considered his offer. "Is not actually a bad idea. There aren't many species with infrared vision." Scale opened his eyes, registering her response. "It could be useful in finding criminals in abandoned sites. Do your species use electronics?" Stella asked him.

Micah considered the current method of interrogation time consuming. It was much easier sending an alert on a massive scale where civilizations with technology could have quick access to information to alert the masses about intergalactic criminals and rogue machinery with advanced intelligence, instead she had to ask random strangers who had no clue what they were looking at or couldn't grasp the severity of what the usurpers could do.

Her frustration was more evident when one of the guards scartched their heads at the inquiry. The Amoebian walked away as her stubby legs moved rapidly in a blurry motion.

Sajid was confused of what he just witnessed before his coworker returned from the women's restroom. "Did I miss anything?" Sara asked.

"Nah, not really." Sajid replied.

"They're looking for volunteers to fight tonight. They're offering food and a place to stay in case you're interested. As much as I enjoy fighting, I'm saving my energy for the Tryout tomorrow." Goung rambled.

"I'll gladly volunteer, where do I sign up?" Ximo inquired as he unrolled his sleeve to flex his bicep.

"I've been wanting to fight for a while now." Mewmi commented before she eavesdropped on their conversation about vacant bosses. "I want it!" On her way to the backstage, one of the employees removed the flyers that offered the boss positions for the Redemption Round.

While she clawed the backstge doors as the metal made a grating sound. "Sorry, it's full." Said the employee before he walked away.

"Nyooh! It's not fair!" Mewmi shapeshifted into a cat, chasing the employee, clawing the hem of his pants.

Faim heard a yell coming from one of the employees. He saw the shapeshifting feline harassing a scrawny man while he ran up to pry her off of the employee who was just doing his job. "No! Bad kitty." Faim rebuked her while Mewmi flailed angrily at the employee. 

The employee headed to the infirmary to treat his scratch marks. Mewmi whined, then laid her head on Faim's shoulder as she sobbed. "I just wanted to have fun and no one let's me fight in the Arena."

Faim unsure what to do with her, he took Mewmi to the foodstands to buy comfort food.

Stella wrote down Scale's information and contacts in case she needed his aid, the Izarian waved goodbye at the Reptilian. The Dimension Guardians were halfway done with their lunch when Stacey prodded Sora to spill what was bothering her.

"She was warning me about something." The Arivex stated.

"Like what?" María asked her, as her brown eyes were focused on her.

"That I wasn't the only one in danger and one of us had to stay as a distraction." Sora said as she heard the conversation.

"That's kinda cryptic." Zack commented.

"But who are we supposed to watch out for?" María asked her.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Sora said as she looked at Violet while the lady in lavender was conversing with the sailor.

Nulekai arrived at the stadium as two guards stood by the entrance. The sorceror glanced at the mortal guards before one of them put a cuff on Nulekai to nullify his powers before he entered into the stadium. "Welcome to the Gladatorium." Alma greeted before the sorcerer surreptitiously looked at the elven receptionist.

Hexice was simply perusing around the stadium as he observed the possibilities that might play out related to the matches in snippets. One of them involved the scaled dogs finding a giant hand within one of the sealed doors. The most absurd possibilities could be the most amusing. Another possibility would be in which the scaled dogs being escorted out. Now that would be fun to watch. Hexice thought.

As the Deity of Fate past by a stranger who was the same stature, he saw an unfavorable future. Hexice's smile faded as the brim of his hat tilted while he turned to see the man walked past by him. The same man who could harm Ryan. The same dark cloak and frail complexion brought would be capable of bringing the elven warrior to his knees.

Out of the many outcomes Hexice saw that day, this one was the most unpleasant.