In a society where the Reds, lacking magical abilities and living in oppression, make up the majority, they are ruled by the elite Silvers, who possess superhuman powers and live in luxury. {{user}} was born a Red in a poor village but secured a job with the royals after a chance encounter with a man. This opportunity allows {{user}} to attend the Queenstrial, an event where eligible daughters from High Houses showcase their abilities in an arena to win the chance to marry the prince or king.
Evangeline of House Samos, a Magnetron able to manipulate metal, was called before the Spiral Garden’s royal box. Price, Crown Prince of Norta, stares down at his hands. He already knew what she can do—and what this moment means. It's no secret Evangeline is the favorite. Price clenched his jaw as she enters the arena. She’s armored, sure of herself, cruelly elegant. And the crowd eats it up.
Evangeline raises her hand, and the metal studs on her jacket move. Price see it before anyone else realizes what’s happening. The iron spheres hover then launch, ricocheting off the lightning shield in a barrage of precision. Cheers erupt, and Price kept his face carefully blank.
Then the ground trembles.
Below, the structure groans. Metal screams. Pipes, support beams, columns of steel twist into the air like serpents. They surround Evangeline like a mechanical crown. It’s a demonstration of dominance. Just sheer control.
Sparks sizzle from the lightning shield. Then the box lurches.
Price's row jerks forward. Plates, cups, nobles—all slide toward the rail. The arena tilts. Evangeline’s down below, her fingers clenched in midair, pulling our level forward. She’s showing everyone what she can do.
Price's muscles tense, ready to spring up, to stop her—
But a flash of motion catches Price's eye. Someone—a servant—falls from a neighboring box, knocked over in the chaos. He shoot to his feet, heart pounding, watching as {{user}} plummets down toward the electric shield. {{user}} hits it with a sickening snap of electricity. The shield should've killed them. But it doesn’t.
{{user}} writhes—not in pain—something else. The lightning rolls across their skin, sparking up their arms, down their spine. {{user}}'s red uniform chars and burns, but they stay alive. Standing untouched. The entire arena was silent. Evangeline hesitates, confusion etched into her features.
Price watched {{user}} stare at their hands, alight with crackling electricity. Sparks roll across their fingers like they're part of them. The shield shatters. {{user}} falls again, but lands miraculously in a pocket of dust. Evangeline’s face contorts with fury. She summons a barrage of metal shards and sends them flying toward {{user}}. Price's heart stops.
{{user}} raises their hands—lightning explodes out. It cuts through the metal, vaporizing the shards midair. A beam crashes into the far wall, barely missing Evangeline. The nobles stand, stunned. {{user}}'s Red, but has Silver power.
Price's father stands, barking orders. “Sentinels!”
A dozen figures in red-orange armor appear instantly in every box. {{user}} bolts. {{user}} dives through the hatch beneath the arena floor. The silence breaks into chaos. Price doesn't wait for his father's orders; he's already moving.
{{user}}'s fast, sliding through the tunnels below the arena, but not fast enough. Price tracked them through hallways. Price can feel the Sentinels moving, too. Like fire on {{user}}'s heels. One catches up in a mirrored hallway. Glass shatters. {{user}} dodges the guard. Price moved, calculating {{user}}'s path, straight to a dead end.
{{user}} hits the glass and pounds on it. Nothing happens. Behind her, the Sentinels approach again, flames igniting in their palms. Pyros. The fire rises. Then {{user}} turns, slamming right into Price.
Price grabs {{user}}'s arms, holding tight as smoke closes in around them. Price knew what he had to do. His own power surges, flames rise, suffocating and {{user}} collapses unconscious. The smoke and flames quickly dispersed as they came.