Chapter 23 Episode 22: Bound

After the crowds cheer for Xorian's victory had passed, the damaged Xorian began to walk towards Jagami, leaving the audience in wonder.

"What's he doing?"

"He's heading towards the girl?"

"Yeah, what for?"

As Xorian had reached Jagami, Jagami opens her eyes and sees Xorian standing in front of her.

"Who are you...?" Jagami asked softly with a confused expression, "Wait, are you Xorian?"

"It's over, Jagami." Xorian said, "I won and you lost."

"What...? The match... Is over...?" Jagami asked in a baffled demeanor, "No, this has got to be some kind of trick, this has..."

Jagami spots her parents and noted the saddened look on their faces, prompting her to face the ground while holding her head with both hands.

"No..." Jagami said with tears falliing from her eyes and her irises glowing brighter, "No...! No...! No...! Nooo!! It can't be! I can't lose! Not like this! Not like this!!!"

"Hey! Hey! Look at me! Look at me!!" Xorian said as he grabs hold of Jagami's shoulders with both hands,"It's okay. It's okay, alright?"

"No, it's not okay!" Jagami said as she shrugs off Xorian's hold, "I lost! I have brought dishonor to them! I'm a failure! A disappointment!!"

"How exactly?" Xorian asked, "By losing to me? You put me on the ropes and left me wondering if i could even beat you; You didn't really use your Kan ability but you cornered me so much that a lot of doubts were filling my head."

Xorian grabs hold of Jagami's shoulders, again and grins.

"Jagami! You are strong!" Xorian said, "You are really strong, but you need to step out of the shadows and become your own woman, you got that?"

"How can you...? How can you speak to me like this after everything I've done to you?" Jagami asked with a shocked and puzzled expression, "Heck, i even went overboard and tried to kill you!!"

"Well, i almost got us all killed in our task and i showed you the middle finger." Xorian replied, "But no matter, it was a good fight. You even seriously damaged my body! See!"

Xorian points at his smiling wide-opened mouth and blood instantly pours out of it which left Jagami slightly horrified and made Cloud stare with a blank face and with his raised eyebrow slightly twitching.

"Ew..." Yulin said.

"You may have lost today but that doesn't make you a failure or a disappointment." Xorian said.

Xorian stood on his feet and stretched forth his hand towards Jagami.

"We started off on the wrong foot." Xorian said while grinning with his eyes closed, "Let's start over and become friends, okay?"

Jagami glanced at her parents and her father nods his head in approval which led tears to flow out of her eyes again along with her smiling with her eyes closed.

"Okay." Jagami said as she grabs hold of Xorian's hand and stood on her feet.

This act brought the crowd to massively cheer for the duo.

"Yeah! Yeah! Now that's what I'm talking about!!" Trengal said.

"That boy never ceases to amaze me." Chief Miza said.

"Indeed." Chief Tenya replied.

"Well, he is and will always be one hell of a guy." Chief Akuro said while smiling.

Back at the arena as the damaged duo were leaning on each other's shoulders while walking, Jagami noticed the dull look on Xorian's face.

"Uh, are you ok?" Jagami asked.

"Yeah... Maybe..." Xorian replied, "Guju's stability technique has completely weared off, so I'm feeling a little bit..."

"Tired..." Xorian said as he loses consciousness and slips from Jagami's shoulders, falling flat on the ground.

"Xorian!" Jagami called in fear.

Jagami loses consciousness as well and falls on the ground and the medics quickly comes to carry them away. During this incident, a Tenplar woman emits a yellow aura along with her irises glowing brighter and quickly became shocked with what she discovered.

"This is crazy." The woman said within herself, "I guess he wasn't joking when he said she really cornered him in the match. That girl took 85% damage while the boy took 97%. If he had taken more than that, then it would been over for him; I guess he had to make that last move count in order to secure a victory.

Still, i can't deny that this was one hell of a fight."

While the medics were still carrying Jagami and Xorian away, Iminko exhales with his eye closed.

"A deal is a deal. I've lost the bet."

"Keep your goods." Xoran said, "I never had any interest in them. I just wanted to prove a point, though it was a foolish way to do it."

Rikon's eyes rolls towards Xoran and Iminko quickly became shocked with his actions.

"B-b-b-but I still have to give you something." Iminko said, "Even if you won't take it as something from the end of the bargain then please take what i have to offer you as a token of our new friendship and respect."

Xoran nods his head in agreement and Rikon smiles at this.

"Wise choice." Rikon said.

"Galiel." Jian called, "Why don't we have a proposal between us mothers, concerning our children?"

"Hm? What is it?" Galiel asked.

Jian moves closer to Galiel and whispers in her ears.

"Hoh. That's a lot to ask, considering that your daughter tried to kill my son." Galiel said, "But anyway, I'll think about it."

"Man. For a moment I thought he was going to lose ." Cloud said, "Though, there was one thing that was bothering me; Why couldn't he absorb the heat out of Jagami's evolyed form?"

"Even i thought the same thing." Pit said, "Maybe he didn't think about it or didn't want to due to it killing the thrill of the battle or killing Jagami in the process or maybe he just couldn't do it due to some limitations. Who knows?"

"I see..." Cloud said, "If you'll excuse me, there is someone i have to see."

As Cloud stood up from his seat and walks away, Pit stood up from her own seat as well .

"Yeah, there is someone i have to see, too..." Pit said.

After Pit had left, Sting stared at Rish (who was still staring down at the arena) and smiled.

"So... About your hair..."

"F**k off, Sting." Rish replied.

Meanwhile at the Court female restroom, Zera was washing her face and began to stare at her reflection in the mirror concerning her new looks.

A flashback occurs earlier as Zera and Leorona were walking on the road while discussing with each other.

"Why do i change my looks?" Zera asked.

"The Keigra woman has chosen you to be the first customer to her shop and she is really honored to try her skills on the 'Great' Zera of the Ripar tribe." Leorona replied while smiling, "Would you rather dishonor her by refusing?"

Another flashback occurs as red head teenage Ripar girl was walking on the road and a brown haired Graundar male teen ran past her.

"Try and keep up, Zera!" The teen Graundar male said as he turned back while waving his hand and smiling, "Zotek and Leorona hate being late for training!"

"Schroeder..." Zera said softly.

After recalling that moment, Zera smiles with tears flowing from her eyes.

"I guess there are some bonds that can never be broken no matter what, huh" Zera said.

"Hello, Zera..." A masculine voice said.

Zera quickly turns around, only to receive an instant belly punch and find herself slammed on the wall by a hand round her neck while having her a few feet from the ground in the process. The person appeared to be the man in a navy green cloak and the man quickly removes his hood, revealing his face to Zera and leaving her in shock.

"Zigar of the Tenplar tribe...!" Zera said.

"Hello, Zera." Zigar said while smiling.

"Y-you're alive?! I thought you were dead?!" Zera asked.

"Sadly, yes... But i lived!!" Zigar said with a dark grin as his irises glowed brighter,"(Surprise, sh*t bag)"

At the Court's infirmary center, Cloud walks in and spots Karma sitting on a chair beside Killer bee(who happened to be laying down on a bed)"

Karma locks eyes with Cloud and quickly stood up from her seat.

"I'll leave you two together." Karma said as she walks past Cloud and leaves the room.

As Karma had left the room, Cloud sets his sights back on Killer bee, who happened to be smiling at him.

"Hey..." Killer bee said.

"Hey..." Cloud replied.

"Take a sit." Killer bee said.

Cloud walks towards Killer bee and sits on the chair that Karma sat on. Elsewhere, Govo's mother who happened to be on a wheelchair, found Govo all by himself with his back placed against a wall.

"Govo..." Govo's mother called.

Govo's eyes rolls towards his mother and his mother smiles at him.

"I watched your match, today..." Govo's mother said, "You were quite impressive. Your cocky nature showed at the beginning and you hesitated at the ending but you were still impressive."

"It doesn't change the fact that i still lost." Govo replied while facing the ground.

"You're always like that." Govo's mother said while still smiling, "You never accept excuses for your actions and you are always too hard on yourself each time you fail... Just like your father.

Your father was as cocky as you are, cool as well but always too hard on himself when he doesn't succeed."

"Mother, why are you bringing him up now?" Govo asked.

"Because, you've been so focused on my pain that you've been ignoring yours and that's what led to your defeat." Govo's mother replied, "Ever since you were little... Ever since i became a cripple, you were always looking out for me; Always doing one extremely hard work or the other just to make sure I'm alright. Even when you joined the Pilgrim academy, it was for me.

Everything you've been doing... Was for me... You've never done anything special for yourself, even when you were leaving me behind, i had to convince you that I'd be able to look after myself.

Govo, i can understand that you don't want to lose the only parent you have left but..."

Govo's mother became mute as Govo turned his face away from her, leading her to stare at the ground with a sad expression.

"Thank you, Govo." Govo's mother said, "Thank you for always thinking about me. I'm forever grateful... Son."

Govo eyes rolls back and became a bit stunned as he saw tears flowing from his mother's eyes while smiling.

"Any mother that has you as a son, would be extremely proud." Govo's mother said.

"Mother..." Govo said.

"Sorry, i hope I'm not interrupting anything?" A feminine voice asked.

Govo and his mother turned back and sees Pit standing with her arms partially crossed.

"Hi..." Pit said, "You're Govo's mother, aren't you?"

"Yes, i am." Govo's mother answered, "And you are the young woman that defeated my son; I must say, you are really impressive."

"I overheard a few things concerning you when i was on my way to the medical center after my battle with your son, so i decided that I'll come and see you." Pit said.

"What for?" Govo's mother asked

"I came to heal you." Pit replied..

This revelation quickly made Govo and his mother surprised.

"How?" Govo asked, "How can you heal my mother and why would you want to do it?"

"I felt sorry for you, Govo... And your mother..." Pit answered, "You've both been in pain and ever since our battle, i... This is the only way i can think of paying my respect to you.

If you can grant me permission, I'll be able to use some of the healing techniques i copied from Leorona."

Govo's eyes rolls towards his mother and his mother nods her head in agreement.

"Please do." Govo said.

Pit walks towards Govo's mother and goes down on both knees, extended her palms over Govo's mother's thighs and sighed.

"Non'ei Giovan Turmor..." Pit said as she activates her Panora eyes while emitting a blue light from her palms, causing the legs of Govo's mother's legs to be covered in light, "Il Ges Bu Pann Gelohin Nohinde Actez Il Tuba, Igniz Gelke Nocaz Agravente!"

In that moment, the blue light emitting from Pit's hands shined massively in that room, reaching multiple places including the medical center.

"Hm?" Cloud said as he turned back puzzled.

"What was that?" Killer bee asked.

"I'm not sure..." Cloud replied.

Back at where Govo and the other two were, Pit almost faints out of exhaustion but Govo appears behind her and stops her from falling.

"Those words..." Govo said within himself while staring down at Pit, "If i'm correct, this is the legendary healing technique of Leorona known as 'Tangida Kada' - the technique of new life.

Unlike healing where it requires that you fix the damaged body, this technique involves getting rid of the damaged parts and birthing new parts instead. However, this technique has limits and can place a lot of strain on the user to the point of losing consciousness."

"Pit..." Govo said.

"Your mother... Look..." Pit weakly said.

Govo turns and sees his mother on her feet with one hand placed on her wheel chair while having a shocked expression.

"I... Can feel my legs now." Govo's mother said, "Govo, i can-"

Govo's mother almost falls as she tries to walk towards Govo but Govo quickly catches her.

"She hasn't walked for years so it will take some time for her to adjust." Pit said while smiling.

"You'd go this far for me... Why?" Govo asked.

"I told you." Pit replied, "I felt sorry for you and i wanted to pay my respects."

"You should thank the girl, Govo." A masculine voice said, "Where are your manners?"

Pit, Govo and his mother turned and noted a long black haired Ripar man standing with a group of Ripar men and women while smiling.

"Uncle Rong." Govo said, "Why are my other aunts and uncles gathered here?"

Rong and Govo's other relatives stepped aside and a Ripar man comes forward, bearing a striking resemblance to Govo while having a low ponytail with messy fringes on his forehead and a large scar across his face.

"Giro?!" Govo's mother asked within herself in shock.

Giro grabs hold of his necklace which happened to be a red canine tooth and smiles while tears were flowing out of his eyes.

"Many years ago, I was taken from my beautiful wife Ilenna and my young son Govo." Giro said.

At that moment, Govo's eyes were filled with tears while clutching his white canine tooth necklace.

"Father...." Govo said.

"Hello, Govo." Giro said with a shaky voice.