He's Going To A Shrine?

With the curse lifted, the Stars slowly but surely built up a strong momentum. Finally, they returned back to be the team that they have worked hard to become since the beginning of the season. Everyone from the opposing team to the audience were slack-jawed upon seeing the wide gap quickly closing. By the time the quarter reached the three minute mark, the Stars were only trailing by fifteen points. The score was now: Stars – 60 and Wolves – 75.

The coach was right—the team will turn this game around starting in the second half. Being freed from the curse was like having a very heavy burden lifted off their shoulders; the team never felt more alive and motivated to win! Erin’s passes became smoother and eerily precise; Kody’s athleticism and speed pushed beyond their limits to give him a much needed level up; Dan dominated the defense with unrivaled power and strength; Jack’s prowess elicited fear from their opponent that was absent in the beginning; and Daniel’s sharpshooting transcended expectations on a godly level. And as a whole, the team’s magic edged out the other team’s by a good margin!

Daniel, riding on this seemingly never-ending wave of euphoric gratification and freedom, began to experiment with many of the magic that he had yet to employ in real games. As a result, he managed to complete a lot of firsts: hitting a three with ‘Meteor Shot’, rebounding offensively with ‘Power Surge’, slashing to the basket using ‘Sonic Boom’, blocking a shot with ‘Sand Dune’, using ‘Deluge’ to begin a fast break, and finally dunking with ‘Volcanic Meteor’. His contributions helped to put the Stars above the Wolves, resulting in a six point lead by the end of the third quarter. The score was now: Stars – 94 and Wolves – 88.

The fourth quarter began and the Stars continued to dominate the game. However, the Wolves were also putting more into this quarter in an attempt to regain back their lead. Eventually, the game became an even battleground with neither team budging an inch to give the other an advantage. The difference in points was by no more than two or three after each possession. The audience were kept in mesmerized silence and heavy anticipation with awestruck eyes, shared by the benches of both teams, as they watched the godlike game unfold in front of them. The court players from both teams were bursting with sweat, but they all wore the same focused expressions that refused to surrender.

Time was winding down and there was no clear distinction of which team was poised for victory. Neither team called timeouts or made substitutions for fear of giving the enemy any kind of edge. Instead, the same players that were on the court since the beginning of the second half were encouraged to shoulder the hopes and dreams of their respective teams and the responsibility of leading their team to victory.

Finally, there was only three seconds left on the clock. Kody stole the ball from his mark and quickly facilitated it to Eron with ‘Quick Flow’. The ball found its way to the Streamer while circumventing two opposing players who attempted to dive for the ball. Eron reached the arc and stepped inside when the opposing team’s Boulder blocked him. However, the Streamer wasn’t the least bit intimidated and stole a look through the corner of his eye. With a smile, he cast ‘Wave Flood’ and sent the ball straight on its path to Daniel. Daniel grabbed the ball but was quickly opposed by the opposing team’s Thunderer. Daniel raised the ball up and the Thunderer quickly reacted with the spell ‘Lightning Pillar’. Smiling, Daniel retracted the ball and jumped back. With only one second left and counting, Daniel jumped up and casted ‘Fireblast’.

The entire stadium became silent and everyone held their breath. Just as the buzzer sounded, the ball smoothly entered the halo. With the game over, the entire stadium went wild. The team that was favored to win and the team that was fated to lose—this game flipped this notion on its head, whether for better or for worse. The final score: Stars – 116 and Wolves – 109.

“Cheers!” whooped the entire team as they celebrated at a high-end restaurant after the game.

“Man, I truly believed that we wouldn’t be able to come back from that what with how our game was going in the beginning,” said Brock.

“But it all worked out in the end, didn’t it,” said Eron with a chill laugh.

“Of course! No one can beat our team with how we are right now!” aggressively agreed Toby, who was already drunk after finishing his mug of beer in one swig.

“Hahahaha! You should’ve seen the faces on the crowd when we were coming back from our deficit! Hilarious!” laughed Jerry.

“Maybe now we’ll have a chance of beating the Astariv King Devils!” posited Eron half-jokingly.

“Hell yeah we can!” growled Toby in agreement.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves yet,” calmed Kody. “We’ll still have to beat regionals first before we can take on nationals.”

“The Astariv King Devils?” asked Daniel. He was familiar with the name and the fact that they’re supposed to be one of the best teams in the league, but he still didn’t know anything about them past the obvious facts.

“They’ve dominated the league ever since its creation,” explained Kody. “The team is the best in the entire league and have never lost a game in their run as a team. None in the regular season, regionals, nor nationals. In short, they’re the reigning kings of Halo. It’s a known fact that they’ll appear at nationals without a doubt. And their victory every year is more than assured. The best any other team can try to strive for is second place. For teams like ours, second place is already our first place.”

“The team is that good? That’s kind of scary,” said Daniel with a grimace.

“We’re all fated to serve the kings,” added Kody softly with a sad smile.

“Serve the kings?” wondered Daniel quietly to himself.

That night, as Daniel slept in his bed, his mind continued to drift to those words from before: “Serve the kings.” The words brought over him an uneasy feeling that made his body feel on edge for whatever reason. Unable to sleep, he spent the night sitting up on his bed and gazing at the night sky through his open window.

The next day, the team was practicing for the next game. Daniel was still a little hazy from a combination of lack of sleep and unceasing anxiety. As a result, he found himself on the receiving of another one of Lira’s lectures. When practice was over, Kody invited Daniel to go with him to a shrine near the town square.

“A shrine?” asked Daniel.

“Yep. It’s dedicated to the god of sports and is well known for granting wishes related to athletics and the like,” explained Kody. “People go there to pray for victory in games, improving skills, and even general health and fitness.”

“Really…,” drawled Daniel amusedly. Hearing Kody talking about shrines and prayers brought to mind his past life and how he would always go to any shrine he could find to pray for success. Daniel wasn’t a very superstitious person, but he just can’t help but surrender to a higher power whenever it’s for something that he really wants, whether that was victory or test scores or even a girlfriend!

The two of them arrived at the shrine and walked inside. The building was styled after a sport stadium and was just as big on the outside as it was on the inside. If not for the giant placard with the shrine’s name on the front of the shrine, this entire place looked no different from a stereotypical sport stadium. Statues of various sporting equipment were displayed on stone column pedestals in what appears to be the main hall. As Daniel followed Kody deeper inside, he entered the main worship room and was slack-jawed by what he saw. A giant statue of the god, painted gold and wearing a silken gown akin to those of Greco-Roman gods, stood imposingly in the center. In front of the statue was were two lit copper braziers.

Daniel took one look at the statue’s face and thought that it looked rather familiar. “Say, who’s the god of sports?” he asked Kody.

“What? You’re kidding me, right?” responded Kody with a laugh. When he saw Daniel reply back with a shake of his head, his expression turned dark. “Would it be okay if I give you amnesia again? Or better yet, please give it to me instead so that I can forget this conversation,” he told Daniel in a deadpan voice.

“I’m sorry! Whatever it is I did to make you mad, I’m sorry!” quickly apologized Daniel.

Kody sighed. “Would it be considered blasphemy to have amnesia to the point that you forget about the gods?” he asked in a dangerously half-joking way. “The god of sports, the almighty deity who watches over every aspect of athletics since time immemorial, is Nazmith.”

‘Nazmith? That name sounds familiar,’ thought Daniel to himself. That’s when it all clicked. “Him?!” he exclaimed loudly.

“How rude!” rebuked Kody with a hiss. He gestured for Daniel to be quiet and the latter quickly obliged. Worshippers inside the room gave them strange glances before quietly returning back to what they were doing. “Anyway, we should go take our place before the statue.”

Once the group of worshippers in front of them were finished, Kody and Daniel kneeled down in front of the god’s statue. Daniel watched Kody and promptly repeated everything the former was doing. As they were praying, Daniel thought, ‘If anyone could help me figure it out, its got to be him,’ referring to the thing constantly on his mind.

Suddenly, Daniel felt his body going through a rather familiar sensation. He slowly opened his eyes and witnessed himself repeating something that he would’ve liked to forget. It all happened very quickly, then a complete stop. He was back in an all-too familiar place: a strange space with hardwood floors and a staircase leading to a throne at the top.

“Hello, Daniel, long time no see! I really didn’t anticipate that we would be meeting each other again so soon!” said Nazmith from atop his throne.

“W-W-Why am I here? Wasn't I just at the shrine with Kody!” stammered Daniel in utter surprise.

“Well why else?” said the god with a knowing smile. “You have a question for me, don’t you? Maybe it’s time for you to learn the truth of why I brought you to that world.”