The Emperor

A giant man walked out of the opening behind the left seat at the highest level of the four levels. He wore a thick crimson mask which covered his face. However, his white hair was still visible behind his mask. The rest of his body was covered with extremely thick crimson armor. Strapped to his back were two crimson greatswords. One sword leaned to his left side and the other leaned to his right side. Engraved on his upper left chest were two intertwined masks. There was a left mask and a right mask. The right side of the left mask was intertwined with the left side of the right mask. 

The giant man began to walk toward the left seat. Giant cracks appeared in the ground beneath his feet. The stadium shook violently with each step he made. He looked to the left and then to the right. He continued walking toward the left seat as he said with his extremely deep voice. "Raise your heads!" 

Aineas and Atreus both had their heads lowered as they bowed before the giant man. They said with confidence. "As you command, Your Supreme Majesty!" They both raised their heads but their left hand remained clenched over the center of their chest. 

The giant man walked around the right side of the left seat. Giant cracks continued to appear in the ground with each step he made. The stadium itself continued to shake violently with each step he made as well. The giant man then stood in front of the left seat. He looked down at everybody in the stadium. 

The giant man stood around six and a half feet tall. He was the tallest man, the boy with no armor had ever seen. The giant man seemed to glow brightly with the sun directly behind him. He gave off an extremely intimidating aura. 

The royals within the walled off section of the stadium began to bow before the giant man. The three royals on the second lowest level of the four levels placed their left hands on their chests and bowed first. Then the six royals on the lowest level did the same thing. 

The boy with blue hair and blue eyes that had a spear strapped to his back stood to the right side of the boy with no armor. After the boy with blue hair saw the other royals bow he placed his left hand on his chest and then bowed as well. 

The boy with no armor continued to stand as he gazed up at the giant man with amazement and thought. "That's really... Grandfather...?" 

The boy with blue hair and blue eyes said with irritation to the boy with no armor. "Bow you fool!" 

The boy with no armor thought as he continued to look up at the giant man. "Bow?" A worried expression appeared on his face as he thought. "Oh wait, I need to bow!" He quickly placed his left hand on the center of his chest and then bowed before the giant man. He looked at the sand beneath him as he bowed his head and thought. "Hopefully Grandfather didn't see that..." 

The giant man spoke from the top level of the four levels. His voice echoed across the stadium as he said. "It has been seven long years since I've last been able to attend a ceremony such as this! Being stuck in bed for so long has been so boring!" He began to laugh loudly. His laughter echoed across the entire stadium as he said joyfully. "So show me something truly magnificent! And I will give you a name even greater than my own!" He began to laugh loudly again. His laughter echoed across the entire stadium. 

The giant man stopped laughing. His voice echoed across the entire stadium as he said. "Now everyone raise your heads! And take your seats! The Ceremony shall now begin!" 

The boy with no armor raised his head and let his left hand fall to his side. He looked at the boy with blue hair and blue eyes that was by his right side. The boy with blue hair was still bowing before the giant man. He then looked up at the royals in the walled off section of the stadium. The six royals on the lowest level and the three royals on the second lowest level were still bowing before the giant man at the top level. The boy with light brown hair that wore no armor had a confused expression on his face as he thought. "Why isn't anyone moving?" 

Mischievous laughter could be heard from the top level of the four levels as someone said. "My bad. I forgot to lower my settings before I came here." 

The boy with light brown hair that wore no armor immediately looked up at the source of the laughter. 

A man wearing a crimson mask with dark brown hair sat in the right seat at the top level of the four levels. He wore no armor and had no weapons. He wore wooden sandals on his feet and he wore strange beige trousers that only went up to his knees. The man also didn't wear a shirt. In place of a shirt he wore a necklace that had five circular shaped materials attached to a string. The five circular shaped materials that made up the man's necklace were silver, gold, white, black, and crimson. Silver was in the back left, gold was in the back right, white was in the front left, black was in the front right, and crimson was in the center. The only other thing the man possessed was a small black box strapped to his left wrist. 

Both Aineas and Atreus immediately turned and looked at the man who sat in the right seat. They both glared at him intently. 

The giant man who stood in front of the left seat turned his head and looked at the man who sat in the right seat as he said. "You're here..." 

The man who sat in the right seat chuckled mischievously as he looked at the giant man and said. "You gave me an invitation, Xasius. So, I thought I'd drop by." He then looked down at the people in the stadium and chuckled mischievously as he said. "I seem to have showed up at the wrong time though." He looked down at the sand pit. He noticed a boy with light brown hair that wore no armor staring directly at him. He stared back at the boy.

The boy with no armor thought as he looked directly at the man in the right seat. "Who is that? Why is he looking at me? Does he want me to bow?" He quickly placed his left hand on the center of his chest and bowed once again. He looked down at the sand beneath him. 

The man in the right chair began to tap his right pointer finger against the armrest of his seat repeatedly as he mumbled with a mischievous tone. "How fascinating..." He moved his left arm off the armrest and looked at the small black box strapped to his left wrist. 

The boy with light brown hair that wore no armor noticed the boy next to him suddenly raise his head, so he then raised his head too. 

The boy with blue hair and blue eyes looked at the boy with no armor with disgust as he clicked his tongue and muttered. "I don't know how you were able to move, but don't ever raise your head before I do ever again! Pathetic worm!" He then looked up at the royals. 

The boy with no armor thought. "What does he mean he doesn't know how I was able to move? Why wouldn't I be able to move?"

A loud cracking sound echoed within the stadium. The ground then began to shake shortly after. 

The boy with no armor looked up at the source of the noise. 

The giant man, known as Xasius, who stood in front of the left seat had stabbed both of his crimson greatswords into the ground diagonally which caused even more cracks to appear at the top level. He then sat down in his seat. He looked down at everybody else within the stadium with an intimidating gaze. 

Menelaos, Hypatos, and Alekto walked in front of their seats. They then stood in front of their seats and faced the people in the sand pit below them. All three of them grabbed their weapons with their left hands and pulled them off their backs. They held their weapons close to the center of their chests as they looked directly in front of them.

Hypatos and Alketo then turned their heads and looked at Menelaos. Menelaos continued to face forward as he looked directly in front of him. He then stabbed his silver greatsword into the ground directly in front of him. He turned his head and looked at Hypatos. 

As soon as Menelaos turned his head to look at Hypatos he then turned his head and looked directly in front of himself. He stabbed his double tipped spear into the ground directly in front of him. Afterwards he turned his head and looked at Alekto. 

Once Hypatos turned his head to look at Alekto she turned her head and looked directly in front of herself. She stabbed the outer edge of the curved blade into the ground directly in front of her. She then turned her head and looked at Hypatos. 

Once Alketo looked over at Hypatos he then turned his head and looked at Menelaos again. 

Menelaos looked directly in front of himself and then sat down in the seat behind him. Once he had sat down he turned his head and looked at Hypatos. 

Hypatos then did the same thing as Menelaos. The last one to sit down was Alekto. Once all three royals had sat down they all looked down at the six royals at the lowest level of the four levels. 

All six royals at the lowest level of the four levels walked in front of their seats. They then stood in front of their seats and faced the people in the sand pit below them. Krios then immediately sat down in his seat. He looked over at the other five royals. 

Klymene, Chara, Kapaneus, Phobos, and Kambyses all reached for their weapons with their left hands. All of them pulled out their weapons and held them close to the center of their chests except for Kapaneus. Kapaneus's left hand fell back down to his side with no weapon in head. 

Xasius glared intensely at Kapaneus from his seat at the top level and said. "What's the matter, Number Three?" 

Kapaneus stood in front of his seat and stared down at the people in the sand pit. He said with a disappointed tone. "I'm unable to use my left hand right now, Father." 

Xasius continued to glare at Kapaneus intensely as he said with an intimidating tone. "Then use your right." 

Kapaneus turned and looked at Xasius. He then said fearfully. "B-But Father I'm left handed I can't use my-" 

Aineas and Atreus both grabbed their weapons at the same time. Aineas grabbed his greatsword with his left hand and Atreus grabbed his greatsword with his right hand. They both glared at Kapaneus intensely and said at the same time. "All orders from His Supreme Majesty are absolute!" 

Kapaneus looked at the two Guardians fearfully and instinctively began to back away. He said with a fearful tone as he looked up at Xasius. "A-As you command, Father!" He immediately returned to his position in front of his seat. He looked to his left at Klymene and Chara who were both staring back at him. He then looked to his right at Phobos and Kambyses who were also both staring back at him. 

Kapaneus looked down at the people in the sand pit who were all looking up at him. He began to move his right hand hesitantly as he said fearfully. "I-I'll do anything you command of me, Father." He reached up and grabbed the handle of the spiked club on his back with his right hand. He then finally pulled the spiked club off of his back. He held the spiked club close to the center of his chest. 

The five royals all then turned their heads and looked at Klymene who was closest to Krios. 

Klymene lowered her crossbow to her side. She then turned her head and looked at Chara. 

Chara looked directly in front of her. She stabbed her halberd in the ground directly in front of her. She turned her head and looked at Kapaneus. 

Kapaneus stared at the spiked club in his right hand. After several seconds he then stabbed the spiked club into the ground directly in front of him. He turned and looked at Phobos. 

Phobos looked directly in front of him. He lowered his bow to his side. He then looked at Kambyses. 

Kambyses looked directly in front of him. He stabbed his katana into the ground directly in front of him. He turned his head to look at Phobos. 

After Kambyses turned his head to look at Phobos the royals continued to turn their heads to look at the royal that was previously looking at them until finally Chara turned her head to look at Klymene. 

Klymene looked directly in front of her and sat down in the seat behind her. She set her crossbow in the center of her lap. The tip of her crossbow faced the sand pit and the back faced her. After she sat down she turned her head and looked at Chara. 

Chara looked directly in front of her. She sat down in the seat behind her and looked at Kapaneus who did the same thing as her. 

Once Kapaneus turned his head and looked at Phobos he sat down in the seat behind him. He set his bow in his lap just like Klymene. He had the string of the bow facing himself and the other end facing the sand pit. He turned his head and looked at Kambyses. 

The last one to sit down was Kambyses. Kambyses looked directly in front of him and then sat down in the seat behind him. 

Once all royals had been properly seated they all looked down at the people in the sand pit. 

The boy with  no armor looked up at the royals and had a worried expression on his face as he thought. "They're all looking down here now. What should I do?" 

The boy with no armor looked over his right shoulder at the other people in the sand pit. They were all looking up at the royals in the stadium. He then looked up at the royals again. 

The man in the right seat at the top level yawned and said with a bored tone as he looked down at everybody in the stadium. "Are you ready to start yet, 'Xasius'?" He gestured to the empty seat on the second highest level with his left hand and said with a bored tone. "Or are we waiting for the missing people to show up?" 

Aineas clenched his left hand and placed it over the center of his chest as he said. "I'm sorry, Set, but all the 'missing people' were unable to attend today." 

The man who sat in the right seat, referred to as Set, chuckled mischievously as he said. "Is that so? How disappointing." He stared intently at the boy in the sand pit that wore no armor and began to tap his right pointer finger against the armrest repeatedly as he said mischievously. "They are gonna miss something truly fascinating."