Chapter 21

As soon as Alex and Becka gave him the all-clear Lewis vanished from the group. He was going to escape from the tour regardless of what they said but it's always nice to have permission.

He wandered around the coliseum searching for the spot he liked last time he was here. It'd had been a long time since then so all he could remember was that it was near the top of the coliseum. He walked around as confidently as he could to not attract attention and headed up every staircase he found.

The easiest thing to do, and what he wanted to do, was just head out into the arena and fly up, but the coliseum had strict rules and he had no plans of getting in trouble this trip, at least not on the first day. After seven flights of stairs and a series of wrong turns he eventually found himself at his desired destination.

An old wooden door stood in front of him. He twisted its handle that had definitely seen better days and as he suspected it was locked however, with the use of some magic he quickly resolved the issue.

At the top of the coliseum was a balcony carved into the walls. It ran completely around the arena's circumference giving a perfect view of any event happening.

Closing the door behind him he entered the spacious ring that ran around the whole coliseum. Like the last time he was here the space was completely empty. He had no idea what this place was originally built for, it didn't even appear on the coliseum's blueprints and those papers dated back centuries. He wandered over to the stone carved balcony and looked out. You could see everything from up here the arena, the three levels of stands capable of holding five hundred thousand people and the private boxes reserved for the royal family and VIP guests. Maybe it was used for sentry's and security Lewis pondered as he enjoyed the peaceful isolation. 'No it can't be that otherwise why would they still not use it. Wait why don't they use it'. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a sharp click and a following sound that he quickly realised to be the door opening. 'Shit' Lewis doubted it would be very good for him to be caught here and there was nowhere to hide in the ring made of completely open air. As the door creaked open he quickly leapt over the balcony into the open air. Grabbing hold of the wind, he hovered close to the wall just below the balcony railing and heard the door shut.

"Don't bother hiding Lewis" a familiar girls voice emerged, and he let out a relieved sigh. Lewis quickly manipulated the air and flew back inside. Standing in front of the door in a white shirt and bottoms and blonde hair tied up was Kate Lock.

"How did you know I was here?" he asked while sitting on the railing.

"With you not being with the tour group, the door being unlocked I took a good guess" Kate said.

"What if you were wrong?".

"Then I'd have looked like an idiot speaking to empty air, but its fine because no one would know".

"Has that happened before" Lewis chuckled.

"No" she quickly said before wandering over to him and leaning on the railing. She glanced at him on the railing and analysed him with judging eyes.

"All black really? Here?" she questioned.

"Don't".

"It's like you're allergic to colour".

"That's exactly what Becka said" Lewis grumbled, "anyway its not like your looking super vibrant anyway".

"My situation is different I'm currently working you're on holiday" Kate said.

"Yeah you look like you're working really hard" Lewis smirked.

"I'm on my break" Kate said nonchalantly.

There was a moment of silence and peace were they both just stared out into the arena, enjoying the scenery. However, it didn't last very long. Dread filled Lewis as Kate turned to him with a mischievous grin, he knew what was coming.

"So I heard you got your ass kicked" she teased.

"There it is" he let out an exhausted sigh, even though he knew how unlikely it was, he was hoping no one would find out until after the Atlas games.

"How did you find out?" he questioned while trying to ignore her face.

"General Zeit told us all" Kate informed him.

"All?"

"Just the usual group, well Sera as well ... and I think Emily might also know something happened, I saw her lurking around by the door after General Zeit sent them away".

"Great" Lewis grumbled, "He should've only told you and Eric. Everyone else didn't need to know".

"You're probably right" Kate said "But it's done now. Anyway he only told us you were in a fight and got hospitalised. Oh yeah also that Alex had to save you".

"That doesn't make me feel any better" Lewis grumbled "Also Alex didn't save me; I was doing fine … sort of".

"It wasn't meant to make you feel better" Kate admitted. A second wave of silence flowed in however, this one felt a lot more awkward and tense. It didn't take long before Lewis couldn't bare it.

"Unlike you not to ask about what happened" said Lewis.

"I was trying to be sensitive" Kate told him.

"It doesn't suit you" Lewis joked.

"True" Kate smiled "So, what happened? Who sent you to the hospital?".

"A Rouge" Lewis said and as soon as the words left his mouth and childish smile shone on his face. Even after the aftermath of the battle Lewis admitted to himself that it was some of the most fun he'd had in a long time. It was like he fought history, having a battle that hadn't been had in centuries.

She stared at him blankly for a moment and then her pupils shot to the bottom left of her eyes and her head titled slightly like it always did when she was trying to remember something. "Do you mean that discipline that you told me and Eric about a few times when we were kids?".

"Yeah".

Her face creased "Didn't they go extinct?".

"That's what I thought, but apparently their magic has hung on by a thread throughout the years".

"Only you could find yourself in a fight with an extinct species" she chuckled under her breath, "You need tell Eric he'll be pissed, he's been saying he hasn't had a good fight in ages. One of the reasons he's participating in the Atlas games. Do you know why the Rouge attacked you?".

"Not yet" he admitted "but I've sensed his presence watching me for weeks and it was the same person who attacked me when I tried to stop Wraith".

"Same person who was with wraith" she mumbled to herself "Do you think he knew you took the relic and was trying to get it back?".

"Doubt it. From the start the Rouge was only interested in fighting me, and I checked my room to see if had been searched but it was untouched" Lewis told her, remembering how he'd expected his room to have been torn apart after returning from the hospital.

"True and that also wouldn't explain why he was stalking you beforehand … hmm" Kate began contemplating however before she could fall too deep into thought her attention snapped back to Lewis. "Oh before I forget, I ran the relic through the CI systems and done some tests".

"And?".

"It all resulted in absolutely nothing, I still have no idea what it is or does" Kate told him clearly annoyed.

"Thought it would but It's fine, I got lucky" he told her, but she clearly wasn't paying attention and got lost in her own irritated mood.

"I know you won't want to, but we could show it to her and see if she could find anything. I doubt she's coming to the Atlas games, but we could take a short trip to Itaris after".

"Kate!" Lewis brought her back to reality "its fine I know what it does".

Her face creased "How?", however, before he could respond her eyes went wide, and Lewis knew just like in the past she put everything together. "It's a spatial relic isn't it. I'm guessing the Rouge had one and its how he got away from you and Alex and then the night at the depot it'd explain how Wraith and the Rouge escaped without a trace".

'How does she do that'.

"Couldn't have just let me finish my story" Lewis grumbled

"Did I get that all right?" Kate asked.

"Yes" he admitted slightly annoyed. She summoned the relic from her necklace and began analysing it with newfound excitement.

"If that's all true its one hell of a relic, I wonder how you decide its destination, maybe it's to do with these ruins? And how is it activated; do you just imbue it with mana?".

"I believe so, or at least that's what the Rouge done" Lewis informed her as he took hold of the relic and held its crystal in the sunlight, the light being spliced into its individual colours, as it shone through the white gem.

"Don't tell me your thinking of imbuing it" she said sternly.

"No. I'm not that stupid. I do think your onto to something about those ruins though, I don't recognise any of them but I'm sure if we grab Eric we could do a bit of research" he said before handing the relic back to her, were it vanished from reality back into her necklace.

Noise emerged from the arena below and then glanced down to see the tour group.

The coliseum's arena was massive, and Lewis had heard its diameter had been measured to be hundreds of metres. Even though now it just looked like a large empty circular space of sand covered floor, the arena was enchanted so it could be customised for different events, such as creating battlegrounds or obstacles.

"I guess their tour is almost finished" Lewis said.

"I guess we should get a move on then. I've got work to do and you can't stay up here" Kate said.

"Why not?"

"Let me rephrase you shouldn't, there's better things for you to be doing".

"Like what?"

"Oh I don't know maybe going to see everyone".

"Fine" he said following her to the door. He opened it and let Kate through and then locked it behind himself with the same magic he'd used to unlock it, removing any trace that they were ever there.

They made their way through the coliseum heading towards the bottom floor.

"So I guess you getting attacked was a good thing after all" Kate said.

"I guess".

"What? Are you telling me learning about the relic wasn't worth you almost dying" she grinned.

"I'd rather not have to have gotten hospitalised, but its good we now know" he smiled. Suddenly he remembered the one thing he'd been wanting to tell her and Eric since the fight "Oh yeah that wasn't the only good thing that happened".

"What else happened?" she asked curiously.

"Eclipse. I actually done it" he said happily

Kate's eyes lit up "Not bad. I've always said you work better under pressure" she joked.

"Yeah it only took me getting my chest ripped apart to finally figure it out" he chuckled. They made their way to the bottom of the coliseum in about a quarter of the time it took Lewis to find the top, since unlike him Kate actually knew her way around.

"Alright I'm off this way, but ill see you later to watch the ceremony" she told him.

"What work do you have?" he asked curiously as she made her way down the hallway.

"Me and General Zeit having been helping the Coliseums security. I've been setting up and maintaining sigils all over".

"He's finally putting your skills to use then" Lewis stated amused.

"Yeah" Kate responded cheerfully before disappearing around the corner.

Once she was gone, Lewis turned and headed in the opposite direction to Kate only to realise he had no idea where he was, Kate had led him down a different route from the one he took up. He let out a sigh and began walking down the hallway, he was on already on the bottom floor how hard could it be to find the way out. He wandered through ancient hallways trying to find the exit when a surge of powerful mana caught his attention, Lewis could've sworn he recognised the signature. Suddenly a second spike occurred and then another and another. Lewis glanced curiously in its direction his attention only being drawn away as a man dressed in the coliseums uniform wandered past him.

"Sorry to bother you" Lewis said with a friendly tone "But could you tell me what is in that direction" he asked pointing towards where he'd sensed the mana.

"Of course" the man said he looked to see where Lewis was pointing, "that's the where the training rooms are. I believe that's the ones that Elysia have been using" the man informed him. Lewis thanked the man as he walked away.

'The training rooms, hmm' he smiled.