The game went on, and on, and ceased any chance at calming down, and then before anyone realized it the time hit zero and halftime had begun.
Poppy stood in the grand spectator room, at her father's left.
The king of the continent sat upon his mighty throne like a monger for all that meant war.
However, all the girl could ponder were three major things.
Her jealousy for the girl who got too stand at her father's right, the disrespect her father showed for even asking her too stand at his left, and her friends...
She was heavily worried about both Chase and Neo, who both became major highlights of the first half.
Neo had single handedly taking on the entire offense of Frostfang Academy at one point in the first half, but Chase was the one who drew first blood.
The ragged Stray had engaged in combat with Frostfang's heir not even a second after the game had begun, and neither showed signs of yielding too the other, until the Overseer had to separate the two blood lusted warriors at halftime.
She clenched her fists as she realized that the Overseer had completely given up on the rules of the match.
With the entire continent watching, what had once been an intense school sport, had turned into a battle of raw attrition.
Both teams had been out for blood from the very beginning, but of course as long as the crowd was enjoying the spectacle... Who cared?
Well she did, and she was damned sure that all of their close friends did as well.
Killing did happen in these games, which was plain wrong, and should have already been abolished after The Grand Paladin took over the continent from the reign of Orion.
She gazed at the man who had let her sleep under his roof, and fed her as one of his own.
His indigo colored hair, and his blazing blue eyes, that rested underneath the mighty golden crown of Vallmora.
Then she looked at her sister, with her matching features of their father, and her smug look, knowing that she was bestowed a name fit for the rule of a kingdom.
And without another thought, Poppy turned her back, and while ignoring her father's command walked toward the exit of the spectator's box, and descended the arena.
'My friends need me...'
In all honesty, she owed it to Chase, she had treated him with nothing but disrespect, and even attempted murdering the poor guy once upon a time.
Now they were friends, and she was grateful for him, all of them in fact.
The year seemed to fly by faster than anyone had ever realized, and who knew what came after the first Phoenix championship in the last few decades.
She steeled her nerves as the grand chants of the Frostfang arena filled the air, drowning out the angered voice of Xen The Grand Paladin.
Jack Of House Ember...
Jack sat on the locker room bench, with a hot towel wrapped around his shivering body.
"This game is nothing but cruel..."
He muttered, feeling a vein make itself known within the skin of his forehead.
Gazing around the room, his team looked down, and in fact they were down.
By two, the score was three to one, and one would think that they still had a chance, considering the last time these teams met in this stadium.
But no... In truth, they had no leadership, their coach was an unconfident alcoholic, and the only players even doing anything against Frostfang, were an egoist with bright blue hair, the youngest student to ever attend Phoenix Academy, and a damned stray who never even had a right to join the team in the first place.
Jack felt guilty for even having the thought, because he knew how much Chase had worked to even call himself a member of the team.
With another gaze, he spotted Leo, who had never looked as defeated as now.
Perhaps it was the amount of people watching them get completely destroyed, or maybe it was the smothering feeling and loss of hope that Frostfang was able to instill into Phoenix Academy.
Jack stood up, and walked toward the small hallway outside of the locker room, but stopped and hid around a dark corner once heard a strange voice.
"Chase, I know I don't know you, but I've seen you play, I see the fire that burns not only on the outside, but the inside as well."
"No, this team has a leader, and it's sure as hell not me."
"Quit that talk fool, you already know who I am, as I do you."
'Reinhart...'
Jack thought, as he remembered the man who promised to lead this team to its first championship in decades.
'Why would he force himself to come to this game...?'
Realizing that his brain was short circuiting, Jack stepped out of the shadows and into the dark hall.
Reinhart could hardly be seen, but he looked terrible.
He wearing a massive brace around his chest from the spot that Thane of House Frostfang had ripped his catalyst free from his flesh in the first game of the season.
No one ever wanted too talk about it, because it was truly a terrible event.
Neo had lost himself in his own rage when his own mentor had been given permanent damage for the rest of his life.
"Why would you come here...?"
Jack asked, feeling his heart racing from both sadness and rage.
Reinhart stepped forward, and into the light radiating from the locker room, his eyes had dark bags under them but his long golden hair danced with the frozen wind of the arena.
"You know damn well why I showed up."
Jack already knew that he would say this, but staggered for a response.
Then Chase stepped out of the shadows from behind the prodigy.
He looked terrible, his body had unreasonable burns etched into every part of flesh that did not hide underneath his armor.
"What did you do..."
Jack asked, feeling the sight of his two friends that he honestly looked up to in such terrible states.
"I fought, unlike the rest of you idiots, why did no one tell me that Frostfang was the reason for all of this..."
Chase sounded angry, far angrier than he had ever been.
Jack wanted to ask why the name Frostfang seemed to echo with anger within the Stray's voice, but couldn't find the courage.
Then before he knew it, Reinhart was gone, and Chase stepped forward, causing Jack to flinch.
A hard smack hit him in the shoulder, and Jack looked up to see a strange sight.
"We got a team to knock some sense into."
Chase was wearing a powerful smile on the bruised face underneath the helmet he had refused to take off.
The two walked for a moment in silence, as they neared Phoenix's locker room.
"I won't ask you to back me up, I need everyone to be honest and choose for themselves, including you."
Jack nodded, not sure as to what Chase was talking about.
When they entered the room where the rest of the team resided somberly, Jack felt like a shadow was cast over him, and everyone except for the single Stray.
It was strange, and euphoric at the same time, as if this Stray had been hiding his true self behind the weight of the entire world.
And now he had released this immense power from the shackles that had once chained both them, and him.
He was somehow able to gain the attention of the entire team, without even saying a single word.
Jack would have been amazed if not for the tension that this game was riding on.
Chase closed his eyes, and for a moment Jack could have sworn that he heard the whisper of Reinhart from the darkness of the shadows.
"Do you're best, as that is all that's needed."
Then Chase's eyes snapped open, and he spoke with a strange power behind his words.
"I know who I am, and I know who you all view me as, I know that I am nothing but the dirt that you walk on..."
He paused taking a deep breath.
"But now that dirt has been etched with the path of this entire team, and now walks behind you like a mountain, as we all know that snow covers the path that we needed too walk."
"The hell are you talking about..."
Leo stood up, showing rage in his bronze eyes.
"I am talking about this game, I know damn well just how important it is to each and every one of you. And I know that I should not be the one to say this, but for once let me take the weight, let me carry you all through this frozen wasteland, and I will bring you both vengeance and victory."
Jack had no clue what Chase was truly talking about, based on the very emotions that he was radiating.
Anger, Distraught, Passion, and a cold hearted want for a revenge that wasn't his too take, or was it?
Leo seemed to actually ponder the words of the Stray, and leaned back against the wall.
"Go on then..."
"Frostfang has a weakness, believe it or not, I seen it with my own eyes as I focused solely the entire first half of this game on discovering it."
Leo seemed quite inclined to listen, as did the entire team, even Gerald put his bottle on the ground and listened.
"I was wrong earlier, weakening our defense, and strengthening our offense did nothing against them but stall for a little more time."
He took a deep breath.
"But now I realize that it was much simpler than we originally thought. I will use my flames to burn away the pride of this place..."
With another breath, his expression hardened, and Jack could feel a strange warmth radiate through his body.
"As will all of you..."
Then without any warning, the entire room turned into a bright blaze of flames.
When the ringing of Jack's ears, and inability to see wore off, he was greeted with a powerful sight.
The Phoenix Academy Aetherball team had caught the flame of life once more...