For my love: I will fight. Until my last breath.

"Do you forfeit your life, girl, or do you want to stand up and fight?"

The glowing-eyed goddess stood over Sakuya while she remained shivering on the ground from pain. Anansi's acid attack had done a lot of damage. Parts of her face, her hands, her stomach, and her chest. The boiling slime was still actively eating into her skin.

"Make your choice, girl. Or I will make one for you."

Through excruciating pain, Sakuya slowly lifted a shaky hand. Every movement was agony, but she desperately needed to confirm her resolve to the gods.

"I do not forfeit," she said, her voice strained, her eyes closed as she was still in a world of hurt. "I do not forfeit," she repeated, speaking a little louder. Jumo still needed her. And for as long as she was still breathing, she wouldn't stop fighting.

"Good," the goddess replied. "Then I, Oya, the Orisha of Storms, will be your next challenger."

Before Sakuya could even open her eyes to see what was happening, the goddess grabbed hold of her outstretched hand. Sakuya's stomach sank. What was the woman trying to...

Woop. Woop. Woop.

Sakuya was picked up by her arm and spun around like a ragdoll. The wind rushing against her face was almost relaxing. Then she was let go.

SLAM.

CRACK.

There was a sickening crunch as her back connected with one side of the arena wall, before bouncing off in slow motion. The air was knocked out of her lungs. There was an explosion of pain unlike anything she had ever experienced, and she was pretty sure the back of her head had split open. She fell toward the ground.

"The mortal you fight for? The mortal you are trying to have his life spared?"

Sakuya could hear the sound of the goddess, Oya, approaching. But she was too weak and injured to do anything. She was lifted up by her hair to expose her face.

"He stole the power of the gods and thought he could use it for himself."

The woman, the Orisha of Storms, was angry. She primed her fist. She punched Sakuya in the face. The explosive blow left Sakuya with a dislodged brain and a broken nose leaking blood.

"And yet, you tried to stop his reckoning?"

She punched Sakuya again.

And again.

And again.

"Why do you do this?" the goddess asked, while she continued pounding Sakuya with blow after blow. "Why do you choose to suffer for him?"

The goddess switched things up and slammed her knee into Sakuya's face.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Sakuya could no longer breathe. Her eyes were blackened and puffy from the repeated impact. The goddess let go of her hair, and she fell to the ground.

"Useless," the Orisha said. "This trial is over. Kill the boy. She's already dying."

...

As she lay on the ground, choking on her own blood, Sakuya began having flashes of her memories. That moment when she first downloaded Discord. That moment when she joined the language learning group server, where she eventually came across his message. Those first couple weeks when they began talking, and slowly, things started to head in a different direction. Jumo became one of the most important people in her life, and she would be damned if she didn’t fight for him till her last breath.

Slowly, she got up. Her eyes were spooling with energy, as her spirit guardian abilities took over her body. She no longer felt pain, despite possessing numerous severe injuries. The power growing inside her—it was overwhelming. Already, on the other side of the arena, the goddess took notice and turned back. But it was too late.

Woosh.

Sakuya shot forward like a missile. Seeing this, the goddess burst forward to meet her halfway. Even in her enhanced state, the West African deity still easily kept up with her. But Sakuya wasn’t relying on speed alone this time. She was strong.

Approaching their collision point in the middle of the arena, the goddess went on the offensive by launching a punch. Sakuya sidestepped the attack, watching as the glowing-eyed woman's hand flew past her head in slow motion. Then she grabbed it. And twisted.

CRACK.

The goddess grunted as her hand was suddenly bent at an unnatural angle. But Sakuya was not done. While the Orisha was distracted by the pain, she moved in and punched the woman right in the throat. The goddess immediately went silent, eyes wide, and Sakuya finished her off with a sweep of her leg. Oya, the goddess of storms, went crashing to the ground.

Sakuya did not give her a moment to breathe. She sat on top of her and began wailing. Blow after blow. Punch after punch. She did not relent, until eventually, the goddess began to bleed. Then she stopped.

She stood up a second later, her entire body trembling with fatigue. She looked up at the crowd. At Ogun.

"Who's next?!" she shouted at the demigod, both of her fists dripping with blood. "Where is your third champion?! Bring them out now!" Ogun stared down at her, observing. Sakuya continued talking.

"I have incapacitated one of your champions," she said. "I have caused the other one to bleed, and I am still standing." The Orisha on the ground was not moving. Sakuya was certain she hadn’t killed the goddess. The woman was just unconscious.

"For my love, and his innocence," Sakuya continued. "This is why I fight. And this is why I will continue to fight, until I die."

Ogun remained silent. Watchful. Then, with a wave of his hand, everything changed.

...

Sakuya suddenly found herself standing back in the temple courtyard. The arena had disappeared. So had the crowd. But Ogun was there. And so were most of the other spirits. The goddess Oya, and the spider spirit Anansi included. They were all staring at her. Not glaring. It was strange. Weren’t they angry at her anymore?

"Jumo."

Sakuya quickly rushed over to him lying on the ground. She placed her face over his nose. His breathing was faint. Very. Then she looked up at the gods.

"Why have you stopped the trials?!" she asked. "He is still dying. Let me save him, let me fight! Send me back to the arena!"

The gods were quiet.

"Say something!" Sakuya cried out, with tears rolling down the sides of her face. "We had a deal! Why won’t you let me save him now?!" Her energy was almost completely depleted, and she knew if she got back into the arena, she was not going to survive. But she couldn’t give up now. Not on Jumo. Not ever.

"Relax, child," Ogun said, stepping forward. "The trials are over, and you are the victor. The boy's life will be spared."

Sakuya couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The demigod had to be pulling a cruel joke.

"But the trials," she said. "There were meant to be three champions."

"As decided by me," Ogun replied, stopping to stand in front of her in his towering form. "And it is also I who decided to end it here. You have defeated two of my champions. You didn’t just draw blood, but you incapacitated the both of them in battle."

Sakuya still couldn’t believe what she was hearing. But a sense of relief slowly started to overwhelm her. She had done it. She had won. She had saved Jumo.

"Your efforts are commendable," Ogun continued. "Your warrior spirit is strong. Even against the gods themselves, you stood your ground and did not back down. Because of this, you have earned my respect."

Sakuya began to cry. But not in pain or discomfort. In pure joy. She looked around for her family and found them frozen in place in a corner of the temple. A sense of dread suddenly gripped her chest.

"Don’t be disturbed," Ogun said. "They will be fine. I ordered for them to be suspended in time, when they tried to interfere with the trials. I will free them soon. But first, a deal is a deal. Please step away from the boy."

Sakuya quickly did as she was told. She got to her feet and took a few steps back. In response, all of the West African gods and spirits began moving toward Jumo. As they got closer, they transformed into balls of light that sunk into his chest a second later. Ogun was the last to go in.

For a moment, nothing happened. But then the tattoos on Jumo's body began to move, ripple, and expand. His entire body was slowly being covered in a thin layer of blackness, and when it was done, his body began to repair itself.

There was a crack, as the bones in his legs suddenly corrected themselves. His arms too. Everything was going back to the way it was before, both in size and shape. Watching the process was a little unsettling, but Sakuya was more focused on what was coming at the end. Jumo. He was coming back to her.

When his body was done repairing itself, the silhouette got to its feet. This caused Sakuya to flinch and step back in shock. But there was no danger.

She stared at it, and it stared back at her. Then something unbelievable happened.

The silhouette suddenly transformed into a hulking monster with an axe resting across his back. Sakuya’s eyes grew wide in astonishment. She didn’t know what the spirit was called, but she recognized it from one of Jumo’s tattoos.

Then, before her very eyes, it reshaped, morphed, and transformed into Anansi, the spider god of webs and trickery. Blood-red head, spider-like body. Complete with the dripping acid from its mouth.

Yep. They were definitely the gods and spirits from Jumo’s tattoos.

Sakuya kept watching as the silhouette turned into Oya next, the Orisha of Storms. A one-to-one copy of the goddess she had fought. Glowing eyes and hieroglyphics included.

Then, it changed into a bird spirit, with massive wings. Another deity Sakuya instantly recognized.

Finally, after cycling through the 30-plus gods and spirits Jumo had as tattoos on his body, the silhouette finally transformed into one last one.

Ogun. The war god of blood and iron. Standing over 8 ft tall and built like a metal statue. Deep black copper skin, and braids that hung low like snakes. Sakuya noticed he was staring at her. Then he nodded, and his body began to crumble. Slowly. Bit by bit. Gradually revealing Jumo underneath. He was alive. And well. And back to his old self.

As the rest of Ogun’s body-like armor crumbled away, Sakuya rushed forward to catch her boyfriend before he fell.

"Kuya? Is that you?" Jumo asked, his eyes not really open yet.

"Yes," Sakuya replied, smiling at him. She was trying to hold him up after she had threw his arm around her shoulder, but she was too weak to stand on her own two feet, let alone support both of their weight. So they fell, with Jumo landing on top of her. Sakuya laughed at her clumsiness, but quickly winced in pain when she realized Jumo was pressing down on her injuries. But she didn’t mind.

She wrapped her arms around him, and helped him sink deeper into her embrace. He had fallen unconscious again, but this time, she knew he was just sleeping. His breathing was peaceful.

As she slowly closed her eyes, she could hear her family rushing over to come check up on the two of them. Just as Ogun had promised, they were now freed from whatever spell they were under. Finally, everything was alright. Jumo was saved, and the gods would no longer come after him again. With that thought, she hugged her boyfriend even closer.

Then she slept off.