It wasn't long before the biggest event of 2023, as some people saw it, began; the 2023 International Animalia Convention. While some were prone to call it "the Olympics between the Olympics", there was actually a lot more to the IAC than simply sporting events.
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What was probably the biggest event overall was the Opening Ceremony at Claw Coliseum, which also revealed the "theme" of the IAC. First was a scene from various parts of the Black Sea where people fish, swim, and live their lives as they had for generations. Suddenly, the entire Black Sea begins churning and boiling and everyone begins fleeing, fearing some giant sea monster due to the ominous red light at the very center. However, what nobody expected was that the Black Sea began draining and sinking, revealing all kinds of ancient ruins (this was a tip of the hat to the archaeological fact that, when bodies of water fall or shrink, lost secrets of the past are revealed). When the Black Sea had shrunk to a mere fraction of its original size, other things started sliding out of the floor, revealing what had been buried beneath the waves:
The land of Mordor.
A woman's voice began speaking as recognizable structures, such as the Black Gate and Barad-Dur slowly slid into place, representing them being rebuilt under a timelapse.
"It was here, on the slopes of Mount Doom, that the Dark Lord, Sauron, was defeated by a Last Alliance of men and elves. It was here, in the fires of Mount Doom, that the source of his power, the One Ring, was unmade through the combined efforts of the most noble and most corrupted of hobbits. It was here, for the last eleven thousand years, the Seal of the Valar kept him, and his land, locked away in a tomb of water. But as the Valar and their land faded into history, the power and malice of Sauron slowly rebuilt its strength. Now, in this time of great expansion, exploration, and conflict among men, the Seal of the Valar... has failed. Shadow and flame have boiled the Black Sea dry. He has returned, once again, and no kingdom of men can stand alone in his path."
Then, once all of Mordor's old structures had been "rebuilt", great pits opened from beneath the floor and the Uruk-hai began pouring out. A voice that was clearly Lord Elrond's began speaking.
"Now the entire world stands upon the brink of destruction, and none can escape it. You shall unite or you shall fall. Each race, empire, and kingdom are bound to this fate, this one doom. But now, from the Land of the Rising Sun, a land untouched by Sauron's malice, a new weapon has emerged. One that can finally destroy Sauron once and for all."
The next scene showed the forging of Sohayamaru, which was what nobody expected since they expected traditional forging. In it, A Japanese woman with horns limps into a spotlight, seriously injured, while carrying a sword as golden stones, some as big as a large beach ball, hovered in midair.
"There is only one way to stop him." she said, though most assumed, quite fairly, that 'him' was Sauron. "So, I give you this sacred blade, along with everything I am." As she flings the sword into the air, a golden dragon with rainbow feathers, six feathered wings, and seven white horns forming a kind of crown, shot out from behind her, touched each golden stone once, and vanished into the blade, taking the stones with it. As the woman collapsed and the spotlight turned off, the seven-branched sword Sohyamaru appears, glowing gold in the dark, with the golden dragon's coils wrapped around blade. Then the dragon spoke.
"My name is Sohaya." It said, its voice slow and deep, but regally so. "My sole purpose is to strike down those who violate the laws of heaven and earth. While I do not offer protection to mortals often, those whom I do protect are often willing to sacrifice everything, even their own lives, to save the world from certain destruction and forever leave their mark on history, even if they be nameless."
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After that, and once school was out, everyone got "assigned" to the major events, which included a few surprises.
"This year, once again, the Bodybuilding Competition is going to be at Mieni Atoll." said the IAC agent, while speaking to Nio.
"Won't I miss the MMA tournament?" asked Nio, a little apprehensively.
"No," reassured the agent, "That'll happen once the MMA tournament is over, especially since the cradle for the cruise ship being donated to Mieni will be finished by then."
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Speaking of the MMA tournament, a chance meeting between Ela Sha and Molly showed an intense rivalry between the two of them, though Shyra seemingly knew more about it, since it was tied to back when the Mafia were running everything in Las Vegas.
Whatever the reason behind their intense rivalry, the pre- and post-match banter between the two of them was turning out to be quite entertaining, sometimes even more so than reality tv. So, there was allowed some recording of the banter between the two of them, as long as it was respectful of both.
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Another thing that would be going on was Memorial Day conversions. While American veterans still made a good percentage of the conversions, both Ukranian and Russian conversions were a close contender, no doubt due to the war in Ukrane. As usual, the xenophobes, paranoiacs, and general "weirdoes" of the internet started making all kinds of noise, but this was expected now, and they were getting less and less attention online as a result.
Ellie and her parents, as well as Lana and Hunni Bunni, were volunteering with keeping things organized and as trouble-free as possible, but there was another thing about the Russians coming to Animalia that was really unexpected: a large percentage of those coming were either gay or lesbian. While that was something to talk about during Pride Month, everyone knew better than to pry for now.
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What was probably the most anxious was the first "conversion orgy", as some on the Premium part of the Animalia website had called it, though most of the anxiety was because of the Seven-on-Four night and "Mr. D's" House Party. Because of that, and notes that were made at the time, a new "party room" had been built to keep the resulting damages to a minimum. One best example was that, even though the college students were bringing alcohol, nobody under the age of 21 would be allowed to drink it.