[The Tempest trilogy: Book 2] After the incident in Ostrava's Neoclash arena, Zoya faces dangerous challenges. Nightingale's uprising threatens to destroy the whole Europe, the racist Yeomen movement steps up their campaing against Castaways and Rya...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The search seems endless. I don't want to overlook something, so I carefully examine every Alexandra who decided for a Neoclash career - one quick glimpse at a picture isn't enough. Mom could have her hair dyed, or even undergo some kind of surgery. But I'm sure I'd still recognize her face.
The webpage offers the Champion's videos, rankings, an excessive photo gallery and many more, but always regarding Neoclash. If I wanted some personal info, I'd have to look elsewhere. There are also three categories the Champions are divided into - most of them fall under Active or Retired, but a few are also tagged as Inactive. I'm not completely sure what does it mean.
I'm nearly at the end of the list, slowly losing hope. Maybe mom decided to become one of the 'Nons, anonymous Champions who doesn't reveal their name or face. Maybe she didn't become a Champion at all, even though she had what it takes. She was always meek and peaceful in nature, so I wouldn't be surprised if she rejected the Neoclash combatant career and decided to pursue different ambitions.
In that case, my chances of finding her would be as slim as Ryan has with his sister.
Then finally, after a deadening time spent by scrolling and looking into faces of unknown women, I jump up on the bed and open my eyes wide. She's there, under the Champion name Valkyrja, exactly how I remember her. Shoulder-long hair, as white as mine, with prominent cheekbones and slightly sunken cheeks. Her enigmatic gray eyes stare at me from the screen and I'm close to going crazy! I found her!
I squeal in joy and click on her profile. The majority of the page is filled by a 3D model of her allowing the viewer to see her from all possible angles (I remember doing my own photoshoot for this page; it's lengthy, annoying and sometimes embarrassing). The model shows her in her Champion outfit.
The attire is fairly similar to my own costume, it's just more flashy and elaborate, in a white and blue color pattern. It also consists of a sleeveless leotard with no legs, but she has a pair of leather thigh guards which cover the outer part of her thighs up to the knee. She also wears a pair of shoulder guards with blue tassels, wristguards covering her whole forearm and a short white cape.
Both the front of her leotard and the back of the cape hold her insignia which looks like an abstract drawing of a winged spear. And, as I presumed, her left leg has been replaced by a proth, fairly similar to mine if I decided to recolor it to white and metallic blue. The right leg has an almost knee-high military boot.
The tenacious expression on her face is unknown to me, but I know it's because the guys who did the photoshoot ("You're a fighter, so act like it! No, no smile. Show boldness! Courage! You can take on the world, remember? Yeah, this is it!"), but still, this is different from the woman I used to know.
However, above the picture, there is a switch between Champion and Casual. I choose the latter and my heart warms immediately. This is my mom. Relaxed, with a slight smile on her lips, dressed in a gray hoodie and black shorts. I spend a while just looking at her, then touch the screen like it could somehow let her know I found her. That we're gonna meet again soon.
