Today was the final day of the tournament, the match that would determine the last of the five winners would hold today.
Jude massaged his wrists, in over a week he had trained non-stop and he was confident in himself for this match.
He stared at the mirror,pushing the wet dark locks of hair that fell over his eyes stopping a little above his nose,he looked at himself,dark eyes filled with determination.
His hand went to his neck,touching his hair that stopped at his his neck,he clenched his fist"I'm going to win,I know"
He left his room and made his way directly to the floor as he waited for his opponent,he looked at his opponent who was already down, Eric.
He looked closer and saw Eric holding a gun,was that even allowed,he thought to himself.
"It's the boy with shadow magic,he's so hot,I wanna see him up close"
"Did you see him last time, he looked like a god, he's so sexy"
"He is right,I love his magic"
He smiled inwardly at the remarks he heard from the crowd but his face remained calm no emotions showing.
Once he got down,the announcer started the match.
Eric held out two guns in front of him and began firing,bullets streaming nonstop from the gun,Jude created multiple mini black holes around him,the black holes acted as a shield swallowing the bullets before they could touch him.
Jude closed his hand and the black holes appeared behind Eric, shooting the same bullets towards him. He dodged them flawlessly,his movements quick.
He jumped a few feet in the air and fired the bullets at Jude who opened up black holes again. Once the black holes swallowed the bullets,he closed them and created multiple holes scattered around the sky facing Eric.
The black holes shot out the bullets endlessly,Eric dodged a lot but got hit by some. He staggered for some seconds before regaining balance,the gun disappeared,he created a katana in each hand as he ran straight to Jude.
He swung them brutally,Jude created a shadow shield in front of him preventing the katana from striking him.
He pushed Eric backwards then entered a black hole,he reappeared behind Eric sending him a kick which pushed him backwards.
Eric jumped to his feet and ran towards Jude,sending speedy punches which Jude blocked. He jumped a few feet in the air giving him space from Eric.
Eric created a mace and swung it to him but a shadow hand stopped the mace from hitting him.
He sent the hand at Eric,the impact sent him colliding backwards into the wall. He slid down the wall,his back against it before standing up,he created a bow and arrow,he positioned the arrows and fired them at him.
"So that's what his ability is,weapons"
Jude thought silently as he dodged the arrows. Eric didn't stop there though, he kept on shooting the arrows, Jude dodged them his movements looked like a blur.
He looked at Eric who stood still before creating a spear, throwing the spear at him,he dodged it and opened a black hole behind him, swallowing the spear.
He opened the black hole behind Eric and the spear shot at him,Eric sensed it and flipped backwards in the air avoiding the spear.
"He can sense what he creates"things cleared up for Jude as he noticed this.
Eric held his hands and multiple knives rained down on Jude but he created a shadow dome making sure the knives didn't touch him.
He opened the dome and Eric ran at him,just when Eric was about to hit him, multiple tentacles shot out from the black holes he created wrapping themselves tightly around Eric preventing him from moving.
"How?"his eyes widened in surprise. He's so fast I didn't even expect it.
Eric struggled to move but the tentacles tightened their grip on him.
The announcer's eyes scanned across the crowd before he declared Jude the winner.
Jude's friends released a breath they didn't even know they were holding as the announcer declared Jude the winner.
Jude released Eric before nodding his head then ascending the stairs to meet his friends.
"You did it"Aviva threw herself at him happily. Jude stiffened for a second at the sudden contact before he smiled and returned the gesture.
"So we did it,we promised each other we would make it to the top and we did"Evette smiled.
Jude nodded as he remembered the promise they had made before the tournament.
His attention was drawn back when he heard the announcer's voice,
"Congratulations to the five winners of the tournament,the celebration ceremony will hold tomorrow,the five winners have also been given the opportunity to meet with the king the day after tomorrow,to everyone who graced us with their presence,thank you, tomorrow after the ceremony,the tournament will close officially."
"We get to meet the King,that's something"Evette smiled.
"I'll see you guys tomorrow"Jude said before leaving for his room.
The others watched as slowly but surely,the entire arena emptied,them following suit.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Have you forgotten me dear?" Aviva stared at the dark skinned figure in front of her,her short dark pink hair stopped at her shoulders,blue orbs stared at her except there was darkness in her eyes.
"Who are you?"Aviva eyed the figure warily.
"I'm you my dear,I'm what you've been trying to forget,I'm your past,you've been trying to get rid of me for a long time"the figure sneered.
"I don't need you"she punched the figure but her hand simply went through without causing effect.
"You can't hurt me dear"the figure laughed"you know why,I'm already broken,I've been broken for long,I'm sure you know that dear,after all I am you"
"No" Aviva screamed "I'm nothing like you"she tried hitting the figure but she reappeared beside her.
"You need me dear,I'm the key to a better you,you can't keep running from me,accept me,you know it too"
"Stop"Aviva screamed at her trying to get her to stop but she continued.
"How long are you going to keep faking those smiles,those laughs to your friends,then crumble when you're alone,they don't know the real you,you're hiding yourself from there,you keep breaking yourself by trying to run away from me"
"I'm not running from you"she screamed tears running down her face.
"Why did you leave then, Avivana,tell me,why did you run away from your kingdom,you left Loraine,Marshall,
Maverick, Julianna,you left everyone who loved you because you couldn't handle it,who do you think you're playing hero with"she screamed.
Aviva widened her eyes as realization dawned on her,the figure continued.
"Accept me,the real you,that's who I am,stop running from me"the figure took a step closer to her.
"I can't,I'm sorry,I don't think I ever will"she said as she remembered the painful memories of her past.
She had tried to accept it but everytime the bad memories kept clawing at her chest making it hard for her to do so.
The figure looked at her and sighed before disappearing and Aviva fell to her knees,tears streaming endlessly from her past.
"Why me?,why am I so weak,what is wrong with me"she whispered as the tears streamed down.
She held her head as she struggled to breathe,she remembered her siblings, Loraine with her wavy long brown hair, brown caring eyes looking at her, Marshall with his brown hair and eyes and Maverick,the person she had been closest too,he had brown hair too but his eyes were a darker brown than the rest.
She missed them so much,she kept crying as she remembered some of the bad memories.
The tears seemed to slowly stop as Aviva stood up,she looked at the mirror,the girl in it looked broken,dull almost lifeless red and puffy blue eyes,dark pink hair falling over them slightly.
She placed her palm on the mirror"I'm really broken"she whispered to herself.
"But there's beauty in the chaos too."
She expected to see her past again but she watched in awe as she saw a beautiful lady,her long forest green hair tied in a half ponytail while strands framed her face,her brown eyes held care in them too,she lifted her red long dress before walking to Aviva.
"Who are you?"
The lady stood in front of her,she took Aviva's hands in hers"My name is Rena,don't worry I'm not an enemy"
She looked at Rena"I'm Aviva."
Rena nodded,"you live in a shadow of your former self,you need to come out of it,free your heart,my dear and you'll soar beyond skies"
Aviva listened silently as Rena spoke before nodding"I'll try,I can't give you any promises"
Rena smiled"don't worry,you'll get there one step at a time"
"Thank you"
Rena turned around"also you shouldn't be too hard on your past,she's broken too"she disappeared leaving Aviva stunned.
"I'll try"she said as a ghost of a smile painted her lips before disappearing.