The world shifted around them and in moments both unconscious contestants were back in the world before the crowd who surprisingly were mostly silent but their eyes held pure awe, that much was obvious.
To the side was the announcer who looked to be in a dilemma at this situation currently forced upon him by the result of this fight-
"Hmm, how do I even begin to address this".
The semi-finalists going for a draw was unexpected but changing the rules for that situation was relatively easy enough, but for the actual finalists things got extremely complicated. One must know that the rewards granted for third and second were greatly monumental but for the actual first place the rewards come from a contribution by the four emperors and the church, that is how great this tournament was to the major leaders.
But this one was the most important in history by the widest of margins, it was to the point that the Pope himself had come out personally for the first time in three decades just for it and this was becausbeen,e tournament usually served as the greatest opportunity to both show off or recruit beings destined to stand at the peak of power in the mortal realm and define generations with 14 here already destined to go far beyond even that hence of the biggest reasons why he could not just make a declaration willy-nilly like with the semis which was also a very difficult thing to decide contrary to how he presented it on the outside.
He could not directly force the emperors and especially not the Pope to pool a reward like that twice over but then again how does he address the issue of the finalists draw, he can't rewrite it into a win nor loss for either, at least not without having consulted the major leaders on how to go about this.
The announcer looked to the cubicle where the Pope and the four emperors remained seated having finally made the decision to ask them on how to go about this, but first he had to entertain the crowd a little bit before that.
"Whoo!With not the slightest bit of exaggeration on my part".
"That, was the most intense final in the history of this tournament".
The crowd roared in agreement and clapped to show their appreciation, he motioned for it to dial down a bit which it did seonds later and he continued.
"The one who shall be crowned ruler of the gods did not disappoint in the slightest, she exceeded expectation even but-
"The fourteenth anomaly amongst them really is something too, we may not be sure of his purpose for why the gods would make him but one thing is sure".
"He is not looking to be any lesser than the ruler, at least right now in their early stages".
"Can he keep up the momentum with her in growth? Who knows, only time will tell but for now he sits right with her at eye level as equals".
And then the announcer sighed as he looked to both contestants still in the same state floating above the arena.
"Both have entertained beyond compare, both....have drawn this fight".
"It is unfortunate to say but this time i'm afraid I cannot make a decision for our finalists".
"That decision, lies with our leaders".
All eyes immediately went up the cubicle where the Pope and the four emperors sat, the announcer levitated higher until he was right before them and then he bowed respectfully.
While speaking with the crowd a mini version of him was already in here asking them on how to proceed with this situation and gave them time as they debated amongst themselves, only now could he approach upon sensing that a consensus was to be made.
"My lords, yourHoliness".
"I ask that we please have your verdict on how to proceed".
Unconsciously everyone present held their breath in anticipation even if harmless to most of them physically but the psychological pressure that increased by folds as the seconds passed by and yet recieving no answer served to trick them well enough into feeling like they were approaching near suffocation.
And then to their great surprise the Pope stood up and gracefully walked over to the edge of the balcony to peer down at the two unconscious contestants then at the crowd, his golden irises which burned bright like a star catching them in an almost hypnotic trance, the marvel at the divinty that radiated off him even though they could feel not the slightest bit of mana from him was not something that would ever lose it's wonder.
"Yes, they have indeed proven themselves all too worthy as you said Horel".
He looked to the announcer who bowed a little further in respect not wanting to meet the real power contained within that man's eyes that almost no one here could fathom nor feel but his abnormally high senses and strength afforded him the unfortunate priviledge to do so.
The Pope looked a little amused upon noticing this little action of his, relishing in a bit of nostalgia before prying his eyes away from him and returning it to the crowd.
"Marking the result of this tournament".
"I, Àngel Di Beorthric hereby declare the contestants Emrys Von Schafer and Hope Aura Celestine....winners".
"Congratulation to them both".
It took a few seconds for his words to settle in with the crowd but the very moment it hit they got up in an uproar of joy and seeing this the Pope smiled briefly, his gaze settling on Horel once more before turning around as he walked back to his seat.
The announcer allowed their celebrations to go on for a while amd then he called for a gradual descend to order, once things were as peaceful as they could get with such a pumped up crowd he continued-
"Normally the rewards for the finalists would be given here along with the others but, unfortunately this one shall remain a private affair".
"It seems our leaders have something more in mind for these special ones".
He could feel the crowd's enthusiasm die down a little causing him to smile a little but he understood their woes, still he cohld do nothing about this also.
"Don't worry, the others shall still recieve theirs right here".
"But before we begin, due to the special nature of this tournament and all the rule breaks we've had I figured, ehn, what's one more".
"We have two fist place winners and two second place winners, an unprecedented record in history".
"We need a third place winner after all, this format cannot be changed and so we have one now".
"Bring them into the arena".
From the entrance came in Ishmael, Avistro and Noctis who were then teleported into the arena by the announcer and once done he elevated the area around which they stood into a platform to look more like a stage.
While this was ongoing Emrys and Hope had been teleported to their respective families in a suspended state mid-air, Leah and Rachel almost immediately rushed at him in worry of his state but were held back by Hestia temporarily stopping them in place with her magic and urging her children to be calm as she stepped forward to examine him.
In all her years since the time he first came into their lives, this was the first time she had ever seen Emrys look so.....damaged....and somewhat fragile. It wasn't that she had ever thought his bones indestructible or something of the sort no, but they did always give off such a weird feeling and were much stronger than his level, that unfortunate incident which near scarred her daughter for life confirmed that much so it was new to see it broken by someone actually on his level, that spell truly was something by all accounts.
Emrys had grown a lot since that time, yet his bones remained mostly unchanged in their outward strength which wasn't how things usually worked but still she had no worries yet as she expected they'd still grow stronger either way, his body always had a weird timing of things and she had come to accept this as normal in his case alone.
Hestia knew well they contained power far beyond what Emrys himself could harness at current, his day of awakening confirmed that much and yet where that power was contained within his bones she knew not of, this tournament was the second time they made an appearance and still she could not track where it went.
Not to say it was beyond her capabilities to find out where it came from, she simply judged that it wasn't necessary to put in any bit of effort to do so yet as it posed no harm to Emrys nor her family.
Maybe if it was the her of nine years ago she would have without a doubt not been so lax with something capable of evading her senses even if casual but for one thing it wasn't the first time experiencing this when recounting the first moment she met him, although to a much lesser degree he still did evade her senses due to his nature of obscurity which she judged that power bore and second...she had changed, Hestia could admit this much at least and thinking so brought a little smile to her face.
Having finished with her thoughts, Hestia decided to move forward with mending the state of Emrys lest her daughters worry any longer.
<
She whispered as a little ripple of golden light washed over him and soon began mending his broken state, the bones were perfectly healed and his spiritual flesh was reconstructed all around him. Emrys remained unconscious which was only a matter of his mental exhaustion, she could heal it quite easily but Hestia allowed him the rest, he had earned it.
Once done her daughters immediately rushed forward and checked him all over for any signs of abnormalities even though they knew and trusted the power of their mother quite well, their instinctive worry still won over their rationality and only when they found nothing out of place did calm return to them.
Hestia smiled seeing her little ones like this and nearly teased them but held back on it, only offering some final words of comfort.
"You see, he's fine".
Rachel dragged a hand through her hair and laughed at her behavior from just seconds ago, still feeling the light tremble of her body and looked to her sister who was feeling a little embarrassed now just as she was.
"He really makes me worry so sometimes, my immortal brother".
And just right as she had said that, a tremendous amount of pressure suddenly arose from his unconscious form making the entire area around them tremble violently and would have caused a far greater commotion had Hestia not acted fast in casting a barrier to stop it.
Leah scrunched her brows in worry but eased when she looked upon him more closely-
"Ah, he's undergoing an ascension?"
She voiced but Hestia shook her head and came forward a bit-
"Not quite, it's more like he's settling down instead".
Seeing the look of confusion on the faces of her daughters she smiled and clarified it to them in a simple way.
"For the longest his base has been.....inadequate to say the least, not up to par with what it should have been".
"And his dark mana, also not up to par with what it should have been was over extending itself in trying to keep it all from falling apart and breaking his body".
"His power I mean, he had a much too powerful affinity which was his twin ice magic and his base wasn't strong enough to sustain nor use it to it's full potential".
"He inherited to full essence of that great magic but could use so little of it's power compared to what it should have been".
"It's amazing it lasted years like that without breaking him but it was getting dangerously close about four years ago which was when his dark mana came into play".
"It awoke at a very opportune moment too, I already made plans on how to keep Emrys stable until I fixed his base but it took over instead".
"With it's presence within him now, his affinity finally had something that could more than sustain it and access a much greater portion of it's power, even amplify it even greater than what it was because of it's influence".
"But. There was a problem you see, on the surface everything looked fine because his dark mana was all too strong and abnormal so none of you ever noticed it but, it sacrificed a great part of it's potential to keep his base and affinity stable".
"You can say it was working on overtime and had no support, his dark mana wasn't supposed to awaken as it's lone self at all".
"Anyway I'll cut it short, the base Emrys had wasn't supposed to be what he awakened, that wasn't supposed to be the mana he was born with when considering his affinity".
"But now the problem has been fixed, no, half fixed and his body is finally coming close to what it should have been on that day eight years ago and four years ago too".
"His dark mana is awakening to it's full state as is his newly awakened actual mana that I sense is tied to his race".
"Hence why I say he's settling instead of truly just ascending".
She shaped a sphere of mana around him and turned him upright in preparation-
"But of course, the effect will lead to him indeed getting much stronger than he is now".
"And perhaps after such intense battles which he's learned so much from i'd imagine, there might be a possible ascension thereafter".
"But it would be dangerous if he's still unconscious while undergoing it so prepare to wake him up".
She looked to her daughter Rachel who nod gently in understanding and watched as the pressure emanating off him kept increasing by bounds only to suddenly keep steady at a certain point after as a small rain of feathers began falling steadily around them. And then unconsciously, Emrys unfurled his full pairs of pitch black ethereal wings which spread gracefully behind him casting a beautiful contrast of light and shadow over his surroundings.
Right before their eyes they watched as his four ethereal wings turned visibly more solid and slender in their state, the feathers looking more defined and on the farthest tip of each wing was a marking of crimson which went up to the arch and curve and down to the very root. It seemed to shimmer with an eerie dim glow of light and soon were retracted back into his body as the newly accumulated power within him settled into every fiber of his being, strengthening his cores by magnitudes higher and once finished his body was returned to a stable condition.
Hestia peered through their area into a different place entirely to witness an event of similar magnitude occurring with Hope, she was fully integrating and settling into the power of both halves of herself that had been awakened in this tournament early on by the little fairy she suspects, though Hestia could neither see nor feel her still it looked like one of her handiwork when taking into account Hope's odd behaviour at a certain point and also having experienced many things herself in these eight years of having her within the palace walls.
"We're leaving".
She suddenly announced which caught her daughters a little by surprise but soon they accepted, Hestia cast a giant magic circle below them and just before she left a powerful gaze could be felt looking upon her from the side and peering through the walls once more she found it to be that of the Pope himself and broke out into a small smile.
Then she was gone, Beorthric moved his gaze back down towards the contestants and heaved a heavy sigh in his heart. Hestia was making dangerous moves and just the few he was privileged enough to discover had already given him many sleepless nights and had him seeking longer audience with the goddesse's presence. He had no idea why the tower master was doing nothing still even though he surely knew everything that was happening, must it be too late already just as that day before action is to be taken and was his guilt for doing nothing on that accursed day so great that he allows this?
Nothing made sense to Beorthric about this, still he would be keeping to his duties, they have had years to prepare and shall have more still to do so, no matter what was it was they would never lose even if their opponent was a being like Hestia for as long as they had the goddess on their side, this was his single most unshakeable belief.
Meanwhile back at the palace, Hestia and her family had already returned the moment they left and ran into Maeve in the throne room who looked to be in a not so good mood lost in her own thoughts but visibly cheered up upon seeing her little nieces and Emrys though unconscious of whom she immediately teleported to his side to check up on him but being explained to by Hestia what had occurred she composed herself.
Before settling into other matters they all were lead by Maeve to her other room within the palace which housed an entrance to her second home hidden within another dimension where she gently laid Emrys onto her bed then walked back out the living room where the rest sat and sat before them.
"I missed my son's tournament just to run this errand for you so just know, you owe me big time".
"More than you've ever owed me for all the ones of the past combined".
Hestia smiled "I know, but I brought you a little compensation".
"Hehe, doing this is very much against the rules but....heh".
Right above her palm a flame burned brightly only to fade away and reveal a relic in the form of a metallic eye and with little wings at it's sides, she levitated it towards Maeve who caught it gently in her hands.
"For later, you can relieve the whole thing and though I am aware it cannot compare to being there yourself as it occured, it's still something right".
Maeve nodded gently in agreement, a warm smile on her face as she voiced - "yeah, it is".
"So, how did it go".
She placed the relic into her pocket space and raised her gaze to meet Hestia's before turning to both her nieces sitting on both sides of their mother.
"From the fact you let them remain, I would be right to assume that you deem them ready to know everything".
Hestia nod positively in response to her words "I would have liked to wait a little longer but, by that time it would already be upon us".
"Besides, even if they participate in this fight there's no one capable of hurting them".
"Even if there were, I'd erase them".
Maeve smiled at her sister's words "well, that's nice and all but....you forget I'm here too".
Both of them broke out into a small laugh while the little ones watched with great big smiles on their faces, soon they settled and now wore serious expressions on their faces as Maeve began relaying the details of her trip to the church...
[Meanwhile back at the arena].
Some minutes before the Pope had restored every contestant who had either lost their lives or had been spiritually damaged back into the land of the living, this of course included Isla who had been stuck at the border between life and death for the longest and had her injured soul fading away to nothing but by the Pope's power the missing half of her soul had been restored as was her mind and body making her whole once more.
Still, since the minutes of her revival she had done nothing but lay down staring up at the ceiling with nothing but pure loss in her eyes. This wasn't how things were supposed to end, in fact nothing that happened today went the way it was supposed to.
And at the end of it all she could say was -
"I'm tired, so tired".
Yet in this moment she had peace, for the first time in years since the day that marked the beginning of her hell she had peace. The burning hatred in her heart, all the voices in her head which had been her driving force, her very reason for existence after that day had been so terribly suppressed beyond reason, a feat she attributed to the last remnants of the Pope's power within her.
And for however long it would last, Isla was not adverse to relishing in this temporary peace, perhaps she deserved it after all. Yeah, it's not like she was forgetting nor planning to forget what had been done to her and her loved one, this was just a little moment of rest.
Yeah, it was just for a little bit, just temporary.
Yeah.....
EnD.