“Maybe a test then” Kálmán said as he sat back on the throne before raising his hand and wafted it outwards, the room shifted as if it spiraled and expanded outwards as the eight found themselves standing at the edges of a massive pit, an arena of some kind. The warlords seated in a large box seat at the lip of the arena as they walked over to the railing as they looked into the pit, he rose a hand as the glass domed ceiling shifted as what looked like a pillar of water fell into the pit sloshing everywhere as the water swirled and shifted into the shape of a massive creature made of shifting water: a heavy, stocky body with a weird mix of fur and feather, a short tail of thick feathers, huge head heavy with small curved ears, but a wide heavy muzzle instead merging into a massive beak…a watery owl-bear that stood and roared out this sound, a mixture of beast and rushing water. However…before he could even say anything, there was a metallic twang before the entire watery creature collapsed on the ground…a bolt of peppermint dug into the stone ground. Viktoria flicked her hand from where she was standing at the edge of the pit, having no possible way to have gotten the angle at which she shot the owl-bear at, the was no feasible way for her to have gotten the proper angle to have taken that shot from where she was standing. The front of Advent resting on the stone railing with her right hand along the underside as her left was on the trigger, using two prongs of the reindeer antlers as a form of a scope which her crossbow had no form of visible along its yard plus length, no scope…and not even a visible string.

            “That it?” she asked before flicking a hand out as a small piece of ice shot out and hit her bolt before flying back towards her as she twirled it in her fingers and slipped it back into the quiver on her hip. “I’ve been hunting owl-bear sense I was a tween, I’m twenty fuckin’ five.” She added with a laugh as she took a step back before just reaching up and grabbed the arm of her bag and softly pulled as it rose up into the air picking her body off the ground as she lowered herself back to the water logged marble floor, it almost entirely froze the moment her feet touched the ground. She pulled a small lever back drawing the string back as she set another peppermint bolt in place. She pulled a section of gold back akin to cocking a shotgun as she lifted the crossbow back up to her shoulder as the antlers of the reindeer shifted as the bolt was set properly. “If you want to test me…let Rynold and I just…duke it out.”

            “I’m not a barbarian who kills other creatures for fun.”

            “I don’t do it for fun, it’s for work” she added before laughing softly as she looked at the twelve stones along the length of the crossbow, “Plus, there are ways I can make you fight me if I wished.” She added as all of the stones flashed in sequence of various shades, “I spent…so, so very long making Advent, I can make all sorts of…fun things happen.” She added, a sly smile on her face as she held the massive crossbow with relative ease.

Ashen gray sand poured through the railing around the entire pit’s circumference, the ashen toned sand swirled and twisted, forming an amorphous blob of a shape across from Viktoria as Zahra walked around the edge till she was facing Viktoria, her silver brow raised in intrigue as she wanted to see…exactly what allowed Viktoria to be so…confident in her abilities. She was not acting as delicate as the plant she was named after. Zahra closed her eyes as she focused on the minds of those around her, focusing on the nightmares and fears of everyone around her, but as she honed her focus on Viktoria…she was instantly rebuffed, she felt it akin to running blind into a wall, she usually was able to invade and pick apart people’s minds to the darkest, deepest parts with relative ease, but…as she sent her focus in Viktoria’s direction, she was expecting Santa’s daughter to have a very readily readable mind, fears at the forefront and for someone who spends as much time in the wilderness, something that Zahra could twist and warp into a proper nightmare, but…her magic was instantly shot back towards her and dissipated, nothing could be heard or seen on her mind. Zahra just shook her head as she relied on her knowledge of the most common nightmares, but before the sand could start focusing its shape and structure, a peppermint bolt crackling with magical energy shot forward and through it before this explosion of sound followed blasting the sand away in all directions with the sound of ringing sleigh bells, some of the others having to clasp their hands over their ears to keep the sound out as it boomed through the large room, all of the stone and glass doing nothing to dampen it, only sending it further and making it echo out further and longer through the room.

“Day twelve…interesting” Viktoria whispered to herself as she loaded another bolt as she whistled and the bolt in the wall returned before she laughed softly as she shifted her foot and ice encased her feet and shins grounding her properly as she held her crossbow up and fired again as the sand started forming again. “Anyways” she added lowering it as she set both bolts back in her quiver, “If all of you want to talk like adults and be civil and not slander my name because of the fact I eat meat and animal products, please…talk to my people. Now, I need to get back to work.” She added as she swung her bag off her shoulders, turning it around her wrist as it shot upwards and carried her off into the air as she swung Advent back onto her back and reached into her coat and took out a baseball sized snow-globe swirling with magic which she threw at the wall opening this swirling portal of snow that she let herself shoot through like a rocket, the portal closing behind her.

Kálmán sighed as he rubbed his temples, Anthony’s warm hand rested on his shoulder as he looked towards the much, much older sea serpent with an expression of understanding and almost having an unspoken conversation, the fact they’ve been together for a handful of years now doing wonders in allowing them all, but speak telepathically to each other. He understood the look his icy husband was giving very well and he rested a hand over his husbands, their rings softly tapping against each other in the process as he gripped his husband’s hand.

“It’s alright, love…we’ll…find a way to get them to work together” he whispered, softly gripping Kálmán’s shoulder making the latter laugh softly as he leaned his head over to softly press his temple against his husband’s, softly gripping the hand on his shoulder as he nuzzled against his husband’s head.

“Thank you” he whispered before sighing as he flicked a hand and dismissed the room they were in, jutting everyone back to where they had been before being pulled into the room of the warlords, leaving them all confused and their senses filled with the scent of ocean, ozone and roses lingering at the…rather surprise audience with all of the warlords and what they had spoken of there in that strange…strange room.