Chapter 20 - Great Coliseum of Vouno

Just like when she'd first came to the orphanage, Eri and Sophie had been placed in a room together. They shared a twin room, which had a bathroom, large wardrobe, mini fridge, and a nightstand in between their beds.

It had been a cold morning in Elysia and both Eri and Sophie had dressed accordingly to it. After coming to Palgia they'd both come to deeply regret it. Eri changed into black shorts and a summer white top and Sophie changed into a bright, blue floral dress that extended all the way down to her shins. After making sure they'd unpacked all their belongings and had not forgotten anything they needed they locked up their room and made their way down the stairs.

It seemed that they were some of the last kids to get ready as nearly all the furniture in the living room was occupied. Sweeping the room she noticed Lewis was nowhere to be seen. By the entrance to the reception stood Becka and General Jager who was still dressed in his full uniform. Eri had always been confused on how people didn't overheat in them uniforms especially during the summer, but Lewis told her they were enchanted to adapt to the temperature.

They found two empty seats in the corner of the room positioned around a small round table. Eri slumped into one of brown leather chair in the corner of the room. Minutes passed and her boredom grew, she glanced to her right. Sophie was sat in an identical chair beside her, the girls legs were quickly bouncing up and down, fingers tapping on the couches arms, and she wouldn't stop looking around the room.

"What is up with you?" Eri asked baffled by her usually composed friends behaviour.

"Huh?" she glanced down, and her eyebrows shot up as she realised what she was doing.

"You alright?".

"Yes I'm fine. I'm just excited" Sophie told her.

"Really? Never thought fighting would be your thing".

"It's not. I want to see the Great Coliseum of Vouno" Sophie said.

'That makes more sense'

"How come?" Eri asked.

"What do you mean?" Sophie stated confused like Eri had just asked the most idiotic thing in history "It's one the greatest landmarks in the world. When I was young my parents would sometimes tell me about when they came here and would always say it's one the best places they've ever been" she informed her excitedly, like she always did tell stories about her parents.

"Well you only have to wait a little longer, the tour is soon".

Sophie cocked a brow "You've been eccentric all trip but as soon as we get to the best part you bored" Sophie said jokingly.

"The best part will be the tournament, but I get what you mean. I'm sure I'll get it back once I see it" Eri chuckled glancing at the grand landmarks through the living window. The sound of footsteps brought her attention towards the stairs.

Two people walked in looking like day and night. Alex was dressed completely in white with a wide grin while Lewis was dressed as he usually did completely in black with a blank expression. They wandered over to Becka and General Jager, she watched Becka analyse Lewis and then say something whatever she said made the General and Alex crack up, attempting to read her lips Eri thought Becka said something about colour. However, she quickly let out a sigh and shook her head as Lewis just shrugged.

"Alright everyone can you please go line up outside" Becka called out. Instantly everyone got up from their seats and began following her outside in a surprisingly calm manner which took Eri surprise, from past experiences she expected to see them all trying to rush out and squeeze through the doorways. She guessed that the fact that Lewis, Alex, and General Jager all standing by the door had something to do with it. Eri and Sophie followed the rest of the orphanage into the sun, with Lewis, Alex, and the General trailing behind them.

Everyone lined up against the orphanage and Eri took her place at the back of the line. Once Becka was happy that everyone was there, Alex and General Jager led them towards Coliseum with military personnel walking beside the group and Lewis walking behind.

It wasn't until they started walking that Eri realised how close to the coliseum they actually were, the entrance couldn't have been more than one hundred metres away. As they approached Eri could finally see why Sophie was so excited. Even bending her neck all the way back she couldn't see the entire structure, it was just that big. Built from the same ancient material as most of the city. It's towering walls were detailed with carved arches and pillars as well as sculptures of people who she assumed to be Thalassi warriors, as most of them were armed with weapons and equipped with some level of armour.

"Who are they?" she asked Lewis while pointing at the stone sculptures.

"Legendary figures in Thalassi's history. Most of them are warriors however, there are those that aren't" he then pointed at a woman who wore an extremely fancy looking, fully accessorized suit "Her name was Lyra. She was no fighter instead known for her contributions in evolving the country's military and law enforcement as well many of her political acts" Lewis informed her. Eri then looked higher up the coliseum wall and noticed the top layers were still solid with very few sculptures.

"Why is near the top empty?".

"They haven't had no one new to sculpt yet" Lewis told her "It's no easy task to be carved into the coliseum's wall, in both senses of being chosen and the actual act of carving the stone, it's enchanted like Elysi's Cathedral".

"I thought that made the stone indestructible" Eri said.

"It's not as strong as the cathedrals enchantment. Thalassi also has ancient tools under the same enchantments allows them to break the stone".

"Does Elysia have any tools for the cathedral?"

"No. No one's been able to get into the cathedral in over a thousand years or so they say" Lewis said as his eyes darted between every sculpture like he was going over all their names.

The entrance was magnificent, a humongous, shiny stone archway that stood well above ten metres and must've been about three across. Above the entrance was three beaming, golden statues. At the centre was another statue of Athena however this time helmet was removed revealing a beautiful woman with long hair. Beside her where two huge, fully armoured men kneeling. Inside the archway were grey marble steps that led up to a smaller double silver gated entrance. The gates had been left wide open allowing them to walk straight through and into a vast room that instantly enhanced the voices of all the orphanage children that Eri could only imagine to a lobby. The floor was completely made up of a shining marble stone, elegant chandeliers dangled from the roof, the back of the room where they entered was filled will long stone cushioned benches, at the two front corners were curved reception desks and the walls had arched hallways carved into them.

What's with everywhere have such large lobby rooms Eri began to ponder. The Military and CI HQ, her school, the reception of their hotel was quite big and now here Eri thought as she continued to get sidetracked.

Footsteps suddenly began to echo around the room drawing Eri's attention away from her thoughts. She looked around Sophie to see a blue-eyed blonde woman, in a silver dress and complimentary high heels. She spoke with Becka and then glanced over a thin translucent, yellow crystal table in her hand. Her eyes rapidly ran down the thin rectangle and eventually stopped and a smile sprung across the woman's face. She then turned towards them and seemingly attempted to greet them however her voice was drowned out by all the noise. Suddenly General Jager let off a powerful clap across the room that sounded like a gun shot and the entire room went silent. He then nodded at the woman, indicating her to try again. Seemingly just as stunned by the generals aura as all the kids she quickly readjusted herself and placed a friendly smile back on her face.

"Hello, I am Ana I will be your tour guide for today" she greeted them "Today I will show all four stories of the Great Coliseum of Vouno, starting from the bottom and making our to the top, where we will then come on back down to the arena and then visit your Elysian competitors in their training room. Before we start I always like to ask, has anyone ever been to the coliseum, Palgia or even Thalassi before?" the tour guid asked. None of the kids raised their hands. Eri could've sworn Lewis had been here before, but she guessed he just didn't want to get involved.

The tour excitedly clapped her hands together "Well then this will surely be an amazing experience for you all. The Great Coliseum of Vouno is one of the world's greatest landmarks. Now please follow me to the stairs on our right" she said gesturing to the hallway. Everyone began following her to the right.

Curiosity overcame her and she turned to ask Lewis a question "Wait haven't you been to Thalassi -".

He was gone.