Against All Odds - Part 4

With a grumbling sound which was either caused by the empty bear stomach or by Sparky's grim mood, she ripped the paper apart.

Without hesitation, the pirates entered the next room. It was shaped as if someone had taken a cube, cut edges over and over again, finally gave up and finally caved it. Floating blue lights illuminated the area. They didn't seem to notice or care for the visitors. When Sparky touched one of them, a faint giggling could be heard, echoing through the room.
"Someone else in here", Sparky suddenly stated and sniffed the air. The pirates looked around, but could not see anyone. Lady Riddle signed the other two to be quiet by pressing the index finger against her lips. She listened carefully to the silence around them. Another giggling filled the room, though neither the captain, Borris or Sparky had touched one of the lights. Lady Riddle drew her dagger. She had left the sword with Erik in the other arena. Another giggle filled the room.
Suddenly, Borris jumped forward and caught something between his hands. A scream could be hear,d which reminded Lady Riddle of Seiren. When Borris opened his hands again, a small figure was lying on them. The skin had the same colour as the floating lights around them. The creature looked human, except for the pointy ears and the insect-like wings on the back. Long blue hair framed the face and the little creature wore clothes made out of strangely shaped autumn leaves.
"A fairy?", Sparky asked.
"Looks like it", Lady Riddle agreed. The creature moved, moaned and opened her almond shaped eyes. They were completely black orbs. The creature realised where he or she was and panic arose on the face as the wings refused to obey.
The creature curled up on the folded hands and squealed:
"P-please! I don't want to die!"
Lady Riddle was no expert on fairies, but she had the feeling this one was not only much smaller, but also younger than Seiren.
"Calm down", she said friendly.
"We have no intention to harm you."
"L-liars...", the fairy sobbed.
"You're my opponents this round... you're going to kill me... I know it..."
"Nonsense", Sparky objected.
"Who said we are?"
The fairy blinked at the pirates to clear the eyes from tears and also, because the creature was confused.
"But... that's the rule of this tournament, isn't it?"
"As far as i know, there are no rules", Lady Riddle answered bitterly.
"But.. but... the organisers...", the fairy stuttered.
"They brought us here to fight and die for their entertainment", Borris spat out.
"We're not going to play along anymore", Sparky added.
The fairy looked down.
"I see", the  child-like voice muttered. The black eyes then turned back to the pirates, but something had changed about their expression. There was something Lady Riddle disliked about them. It was the look of someone who had a sudden idea and tried to conceal it.
"So you will not kill me?", the fairy asked.
"No, we won't", Borris answered and smiled. The fairy laughed in response, but the sound was not born from relief and happiness. It was mocking laughter and the creature rose from Borris's hands, rising up and emitting blue smoke, concealing the entire body. The cocoon of smoke landed before the pirates and grew in all dimensions before it imploded. Before the pirates stood five, tall versions of the fairy, each of them holding up a jagged sword.
"You avoided the poisoned food, so we decided to give you a free pass. Blame yourself for tossing it away", five voices sneered in unison.
"Who are you?", Lady Riddle asked, her eyes narrowing.
"Part of the organizers. Seriously, I thought you had figured that out by now, Lady Riddle", the voices answered slightly annoyed or maybe disappointed.
"You know who we are?" Sparky asked.
"Of course. I'm the one who chose you."
"Then you can give us back our bodies!", Borris stated. The five creatures shook their heads, perfectly synchronized.
"That's not my spell", they replied and raised up their weapons.
"But enough of the talking. Show me what you can do!"
To everybody's surprise, Lady Riddle tossed her dagger away and crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"We already told you we won't play along anymore", she announced. Ten black eyes glared at her and narrowed.
"Then I'll kill you", five voices hissed.
The pirate captain shrugged her shoulders.
"We can't win this tournament anyway", she stated, surprising Sparky and Borris with the revelation. The five organizers' expressions became furious.
"You revealed yourself as part of the people behind this. This means others from your team partake as well, pretending to be captives like us", Lady Riddle explained.
"Fiddle! Are you crazy? These blue maniacs will kill us in no time", Sparky hissed. Lady Riddle still stared at the five creatures before her.
"Aye and then we've lost. But death isn't the end, is it?", she stated.
"What do you mean?", Borris asked.
"H-how did you figure this one out?", the organizers stuttered and turned slightly pale.
"Our last opponent told us, but I think he didn't notice. Ol'Death was his name, I think."
All of the blue creatures bit their lower lips.
"That bastard killed his own team to reclaim his body. I was actually surprised by this. still, I had faith in you to defeat him."
Five faces smiled and the pirates and Lady Riddle's expression darkened. Apparently, they had defeated the only person who was able to really annoy the organizers. But wait...
"To the previous arena!", the captain ordered and turned around, running towards the entrance door.
Five blue creatures let out a curse and launched their attacks. Sparky stopped and got up on her hind legs.
"You better be right Fiddle, or I make you regret this!", she shouted and struck at the attackers. The five organizers stopped and surrounded the bear. The manoeuver allowed Borrs and Riddle to reach the door. They didn't look back as is closed behind them and ran across the room. But before they could reach the other side, the door in front of them swung open and the old man entered.
"Nice to see you again", he grinned. Lady Riddle stopped and smiled at him.
"We want a rematch", she said. The old man giggled.
"You won't survive it", he stated happily.
"I know", Lady Riddle answered and extended her hand.
"Give them hell", she managed to smile as the old man grabbed it.
Within her next breath Lady Riddle knew exactly what had happened to Erik. She also learned what dying was like.