The arena served as the main hub for the Conglomerate, mainly for it’s higher ranked members. The outside of the arena was little more than a facade. The only special thing about it is the fact that it was the only area that was physically tied to the Domain of the Tu’i. While the whole island itself had some form of spatial warping the arena was the most malleable. It’s interior did not match the exterior in any way.

Within one of the innumerable rooms that made up the interior of the arena the Kāinga held counsel. A modest room, the 13 members of the Kāinga sat around a large round table. All of them wore the black uniform of the Faifekau but each had a different symbol sewn into their lapels. These symbols distinguished them based on which Tu’i they had pledged to.

All of the Kāinga were former candidates themselves. The only difference was that they were all candidates who had been hand picked from previous Advents. This made them the most keenly aware of the amount of power that each of the Tu’i possessed as they had all experienced loss at their hands.

“Have we been able to gather any information?” asked one of the Kāinga, an older woman who bore the marks of the White Cloud on her face.

“No, Nima still refuses to let slip who the next is.” answered a youthful member, a sun-kissed young man. “He refuses to allow a biased Advent.”

All of them grimaced. They were tasked with ensuring that the Conglomerate continued to run smoothly and keeping the Tu’i in check.

“It would make things so much easier for us.” another member sighed, a middle aged man propping his chin up using his hands. “What about the others?”

“They won’t let anything slip, not even the little rat.” answered the youthful member. Despite his being pledged to Taha he never hid his disgust when it came to the Tu’i.

“Enough of that, we’ll just have to support the Advent as best we can and hope we don’t end up with another mishap like last time.” said the oldest serving member and the oddest looking one. This member had the appearance of a child, no more than 12 years old. Yet when she spoke she commanded their attention and spoke with a maturity that didn’t match her appearance.

“Let this meeting be over with, we have too much to deal with. For now, you will all focus on ensuring that the dissidents don’t disrupt the advent. Make sure we have extra members patrolling.”

She clapped her hands and the doors to the room opened as two members entered. All the Kāinga stood and began to file out. One of them, the older woman, looked back and noticed one of the shadows in the corner of the room flickering like the flame of a candle. She had a feeling that she had seen that before but couldn’t place where. Once her gaze had passed over it the feeling slipped away like running water through a sieve.

The young girl was the last of the Kāinga in the room. Once the door closed she snapped her finger, detaching the room from the arena.

Out of the shadow that had been wavering stepped Taha, crouch-walking in his peculiar, animalistic way. “Long time no see Wanu. Tamai wants you to visit him.”

_____________________________________

The training area was a large gymnasium located near the candidates district. Open to both candidates and members, it contained a plethora of workout equipment along with having a large area for any type of sparring that the users would want to do.

Wha entered and was greeted by one of the members. “Hello instructor.”

Just like the rest of the Tu’i, Wha had an identity she preferred to use when out and about on the island. To the rest of the members she was known as Manawa, one of the instructors at the training area.

“Hey, any candidates sign up for me?” She enjoyed teaching the candidates. It gave her a reason to be outside the Domain and she liked to scout so she could increase her odds of winning their bets. The Tu’i kept a running score of who could pick out the most successful candidates and Wha hated losing.

“You have a pair who are ready to go and a few other groups lined up afterwards.” The member replied, handing her the list he was carrying. As they talked he pointed out the first two, a pair of siblings.

Wha eyed the two and smiled. She liked the smell of them. She approached, greeting them with her best predatory smile. “Hey there kids, I heard you two might be kinda good!” The two were startled, they hadn’t realized someone had approached them. Despite her large frame she was extremely good at creeping up on people.

“How’s it going?” asked the male, a confused smile on his face as he offered his hand. The female eyed her warily, obviously put off by the smile. Wha looked at his hand and quickly slapped palms with him as she walked by.

“All right, let’s see how good you two are!”

Both siblings spent a couple seconds bewildered before simultaneously asking “Are you the instructor?”

Wha just waved at them while saying “Yeah, yeah come on, I don’t like taking things slow. Get going!” As she said that she activated the tatau that covered her arms. Her smile widened as the siblings hesitation froze them, their inexperience plain as day.

“Fine, I’ll come to you!” She dashed at the stunned siblings. She moved nimbly, shifting her center of gravity minutely so that she was always ready to attack or defend. Not a single movement was wasted. She stopped right in front of the boy, barely giving him time to react as she brought an overhead right elbow down on him.

The girl reacted much faster than him and had pushed him away just before the elbow landed. He yelped as he stumbled aside.

Without giving them time to gather themselves Wha followed up with a spinning left elbow, still aiming for the boy. Impressively he stepped into the elbow, ducking under it as it raced by his head and repositioning himself behind Wha. Meanwhile his sister had activated her leg tatau and aimed a kick at Wha’s exposed midriff. Right before the kick connected Wha grabbed it with her free right arm.

Wha stepped through the missed spinning elbow and used the momentum to pull the girls kick through. The girl ended up being pulled along by Wha’s monstrous strength and used as a bludgeon against her brother, who had repositioned directly into the path of the swing.

The siblings collapsed in a heap, sputtering and coughing from the impact. Wha clapped excitedly. “Good! You evaded 2 attacks!”

Without delay she pulled the two up onto their feet and gruffly patted their backs. “You two have some work to do, so I’ll get you both up to par.” Her malicious smile never left her face.

______________________________________

Sone and Mai lay in their room, both well beaten down. Drained was an understatement for how they felt.

“What the hell.” Mai murmured as she massaged her sore shoulders, barely enough energy to get a good knead in. “What the hell was that?”

Sone’s head was still spinning. Closing his eyes made it worse. “I dunno, but she expects to see us tomorrow.”

The siblings had endured what felt like an eternity of torture. The instructor, Manawa, had beaten them black and blue while wearing the craziest looking smile.

“The hell is wrong with this place?” Mai said. First it was the ethereally beautiful head of communications. Then it was the most average looking monster alive. And now it was the scariest woman in existence. Mai massaged her temples as an exhaustion headache began to build.

“I told you we shoulda left.” Sone said, voice quivering slightly as he thought about the brutal attacks that had barely missed. They had missed on purpose, had Manawa hit him he would have been fatally injured. She had been hell bent on attacking him. He had spent the whole time dodging for his life.

As for Mai, she was frustrated with how easily that woman had read her. Every single attack was countered. She gave up openings just to purposely draw Mai in.

Mai let out a groan of frustration as a tear leaked out of one eye. She wasn’t used to feeling so helpless and she was too tired to curl up and cry so the tears just leaked as she lay still.

Sone sat up with a groan that reflected how much it hurt. “We’ll get through this. I think.” He wanted to be upbeat and reassure his sister. It didn’t help that he was leaning over in an awkward position fighting a full body cramp.

________________________________________

In the Domain Nima sat with Wanu. Despite her appearance, Wanu was one of the oldest Tu’i, second only to Nima. She had been Nima’s guide when he had become a Tu’i and had taken up the responsibility of heading the Kāinga.

“It’s been a while Inina.” He said as they greeted each other in a way that only they could, as equals. He reached out and held her face.

“It’s good to see you Vaha.” she reached up and held his face as they pressed their foreheads and noses together. She then sat across from him, still in her childish appearance. “What’s so urgent you had to send him?” Her disdain for Taha was apparent, she disliked him just as much as most of the other Tu’i.

In his usual, unflappable manner, he stared at her before answering. “They’ve sent someone strong this time.”

Unfazed, Wanu nodded and answered in a matter of fact voice. “I know. I allowed them in. You know this. What of it?”

Nima nodded. “These ones weren’t allowed in. They crossed without permission.”

_________________________________________

Out of the murky, purple depths of the void-ocean a group emerged. Five humanoids walked onto a forgotten beach nestled in the furthest areas of the man-made island. As if to signal their unwanted presence the void-ocean clung to them, eagerly attempting to pull them back into the depths.

While all of them appeared human from a distance they were all missing key features. The one at the head of the group was a tall, pale, eyeless thing with large, vibrant pink lips. In annoyance with the void-ocean, it looked back and pursed its lips as it made a kissing sound. The void-ocean immediately retreated from the group.