All my style♪

All my grace♪

All I tried to save my face♪

All my guts, try to spill♪

All my holes, try to fill♪

The majestic vocals reverberating throughout the mayor’s mansion, greets us within main building, though it appears like mansion from an outside look, it really is a singular building directly connected to others to it giving it a fortress-like look up closely, the other members of the mayoral mafia, living in the connected parts…

(Is this place abandoned?)

“Does anyone live here?” Lyra unintentionally agrees with me

Its interior is mostly baren and unfurnished besides blank portraits on the walls and magic crystals hanging from the ceiling.

It goes, all my troubles on a burning pile♪

All lit up and I start to smile♪

“I wonder why Claude and Amelia didn’t join us here,” Apollo ponders as we come end of the empty front section, two wide doors stand slightly ajar,

Apollo pushes them open, and the room expands into one wide floor, a massive crystal chandelier hangs from the ceiling, many a tables and chairs lie about lazily,

(A ballroom?)

Directly to the back of the wide-open floor, a singular set of stairs that curves upwards, the music flowing down from them.

If I, catch fire then I change my aim♪

Throw my troubles at the pearly gates♪

“Wait,” Karina pulls Lyra back before she goes up the steps,

“I think we should call first…

Mr. mayor,

We’re the visitors from Soterra, here to see you!”

……..

Bump!

Crash!

The sound of objects falling, replaces the chorus of vocals,

We can hear a someone scrambling to their feet from above,

“You can come up!” the voice calls back down,

Tori steps up first the rest of us follow behind.

…….

(Odd)

The stairs turn, converging into another wide hall upstairs, this one filled with more blank portraits though some of them glow strangely...

Southwest section

Northeast section

Besides the portraits, ten doors line the walls, one at the head and foot of the room respectively,

The other eight on either side.

Passing each door I notice that they are each labeled with a specific direction.

(Do they lead somewhere?)

……..

“Ahh, there you are, welcome!”

The door at the head swings open to a slender, pale, brown-skinned middle-aged man, his round face forces a smile, but it just highlights the wrinkles on his face and bags under his eyes...

“Are you the mayor?” Tori asks disbelievingly,

“For now, I am, unless you want the position?” He tries to make that a joke, but it doesn’t land,

…….

“Umm, so I am Ozymandias, the mayor” he introduces himself awkwardly directing us into an unnaturally clean office-like room,

I spy some clutter stacked behind a cabinet of the apparent office,

(He must have scrambled to get this place clean,

That’s what all that noise was about)

.……

…….

…….

“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” Ozymandias says after the introductions had been exchanged,

“I have so many question to ask”

(Questions to ask us?)

“What could we possibly know that you don’t?’ Pinoki basically says what I think,

“You all hail from Soterra do you not?”

“About that,” Tori interjects

“We…

I, am not answering any of your question until you first explain how you even knew of my arrival here, more so, knew about all of us,”

“Before I do answer that,

I would like to challenge you all to a battle first,”

“A battle?”

“Not a regular violent one of course, since I am not one for that, I shall add a specific rule for our match,

To win, one of the six of you, has to put me on my back,

For me to win I have to put all of you on your backs,

You win, and I will give up my authority as mayor to any one of you right now,

There is nothing in it for me.”

Ozy smiles slyly, parting his hand through his straight, but matted, black-gray hair,”

“We accep—” Lyra starts,

“No.” Karina declines,

“I am not stupid, I understand how this works, ‘mayor’, no one would make a challenge like that unless entirely sure they would win,

Our ignorance on your magic attribute would guarantee our defeat, despite our numbers advantage”

“Spot on perception, miss Karina,” Mayor Ozymandias compliments,

“You are correct, I would most certainly win,

I only challenged because I wanted to see you use your magic in person”

“You say that as if you’ve seen us use it before” Pinoki speculates

“Mayor Ozymandias,” Tori speaks up,

“Unlike my, umm acquaintances here, I have not come for a conversation, nor do I care about your magic, I came on behalf of the queen of Soterra, to request an alliance between us,

We have a vast supply of magic s—"

“—I decline” Ozy cuts her off,

“I haven’t even finished the proposal yet,”

“I do not care about any of what you were going to say,

If your queen wants to form an alliance, tell her to come here herself

I only need to see what kind of person she is

A leader is viewed as a representation of their followers.”

“Very well.” Tori huffs out of the room slamming the door behind her,

“Does she have evolved magic too?” Ozy queries

“Your queen I mean.”

“Why do you want to know?” Karina presses,

“Do you know how rare that is?

Even doubly rare, sane people with evolved magic” the mayor’s previously bored eyes now gleam with excitement

“What is your magic attribute Mr. mayor?” I inquire

“You already know what it is, the light that sends you to the challenge domes,

My warp magic,

The rings you wear to innate said challenges, are all imbued with my magic, when you challenge someone all the magic in the ring is drained immediately, sending you to the nearest source of my magic, which are the domes,

It is a truly efficient system, since the magic expelled in battles goes back into the city itself,

And because the outcome of a battle is determined by strategy not strength everyone has a fair chance,

And I also get to enjoy the entertainment of it all,”

“It looks pretty boring in here if you ask me,” Apollo quips,

“What is so entertaining?”

“You don’t understand, Apollo my friend,

Everything that takes place during battles,

I see it all.

That’s how I knew when you from Soterra, arrived,

That’s why I know what all your magic are,

Even you with the ‘glove’ that transforms into a bow that fires magic arrows,” Ozy looks at my hand insinuatingly expecting me to form the bow...

(This man is strange, but I don’t feel any malice from him)

……!

Lyra pokes my rib wanting to know what I’d just thought,

“He’s weird” I whisper to her ,

…..

Ozymandias makes a disapproving face most likely overhearing me, but says nothing,

“Those other rooms, the labeled doors we passed, is that where you watch everything?” Karina interrogates

“Yes, in a way…

Have you noticed the blank portraits around the mansion?

Those aren’t portraits, rather magic ‘screens,’ the crystals on battle domes’ roof, aren’t all for producing light, some are sight crystals, their light captures the action and converts it into magic waves which are sent to designated frames where I can watch and enjoy the fun”

“I think he is crazy,” Lyra whispers back to me

“I can show you if you like?” Ozymandias gestures out the room

“Although that sound interesting, that’s not what we’re here for,” I state, matter-of-factly,

“Out of all of us, I am the one who wanted to meet you the most,

You could say that the talks I heard of you, intrigued me,

May I ask mayor Ozymandias,

Why are you the mayor in the first place?

What made you create a system like this?”

……

“Weakness.” I hear the excitement drain out of Ozy’s voice, once again becoming bored…

“I wanted to create a way in which anyone could become the richest or the best, with the caveat being that you have really want it,

The battles are not just one of strategy but also of wills, who really wants to win more.

A culture where strength does not matter, that is what I have made,

I do not even want to be mayor, but, no one would have taken my plan seriously if I wasn’t...

Now enough about me,

I want to know about your magic,

Your kingdom,

Tell me.” He turns to Apollo

“How did Soterra survive him?”

“…?

What do mean by that?” Apollo quizzes suspiciously

“You speak as though you are familiar with our nation,”

“Well, I once lived in a kingdom near Soterra a long time ago,”

“I find that hard to believe,” Karina interjects,

“How so?”

“Soterra has no neighboring kingdoms.”

“Not anymore at least” Ozy replies

(Not anymore, does he mean?)

“Where were you from Mr. mayor?” Pinoki presses as if thinking the same as I

“…

How about we make things interesting, and you accept my challenge form earlier?

You try to put me on my back, and I tell you the juicy details”

“There’s nothing for us to gain,” Karina shakes her head,

“We will be able to sleep well at night without knowing where the mayor of this city originally came from,”

(Speak for yourself, I want to know)

“Fair point,” Ozymandias acknowledges, a sly smile crosses his face

“Ok, how about this,

You beat me and…

………….

I will tell you why I sent Murdoc to Soterra.”