"Cough, cough."
Elric rose up from his mat. His eyes squinted as they slowly opened; he looked round the room with his sleepy sight. He first noticed the stone walls, and when he looked down after realizing how cold the floor was, he saw it was made of the same stone. Even though he sat on top of a cotton linen, which had an 'I-was-white' color, he still could feel the chill from the ground.
"Gosh, what is that vile odor?" he exclaimed as he pinched his nose. This particular smell was hypothetically similar to if you mixed the smell of a dead animal, feces, vomit, and vehement body odor.
"Finally, the sleepy princess decided to wake up from her beautiful nap, sure didn't need any true love kiss for that," someone said from the other part of the room as everyone turned their gaze at him. It was now Elric realized people were in the room with him, even when they had been talking loudly all this time.
"Finn, stop being annoying; I'll go inform the warden," another said as he stepped outside the steel bars that kept them locked in the prison cell-like room.
The others approached Elric, and he could sense their presence through his nose.
"You okay? You've been out for about a week," one asked as he came uncomfortably closer to Elric, locking him in an heavily curious eye contact. "Now that you are awake, you don't get any extra bread. Can you go back to sleep just for a week, pretty please?"
"Shut the fuck up, dork he just woke up," the rude guy who noticed him first shouted. "Do you hurt anyw..."
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Elric interrupted as he placed his hand on his forehead. He had started getting tired of the questions, which felt like an interrogation. "Where am I?"
"Not in a good place, that's for sure, but I'll let your brother give you the details. I'm not in the mood to dish out bad news today," the rude boy replied.
"I don't know if you have noticed, but I am not in the mood for riddles. Now tell me, where the hell am I?" he said with his voice getting louder little by little.
Before he could get an answer, he heard the sound of the metal door clap against the bars as an already sweating Dorian came in, panting like he just finished a hunt but he was the prey. Beside him was the boy who went to fetch the warden.
Dorian dashed to Elric and gave him a firm hug, ignoring the fact that Elric just woke from a coma.
Elric could hear and feel his breaths projecting at his ear; he also felt the wetness of Dorian's tears flowing on his neck. He returned the embrace with his left hand and patted Dorian with his right.
"You don't have to cry, as you can see I am perfectly fine."
Dorian slowly withdrew from the embrace and then slowly cleaned his eyes and nose.
"Where are we, and how did we get here?" Elric asked.
Dorian went silent; he dodged Elric's gaze and instead stared at the floor. Elric's heart kept pounding every time he asked that question but didn't get a response; he held Dorian by the tip of his shirt.
"Where are we and how did we get here?" He said at a slow but stomping pace.
Dorian held Elric's wrist and stared at him with shaking pupils.
"We got... kidnapped that night," he said slowly, "and got sold. We are now serving as gladiators in another duchy, the Arterus duchy."
Elric's eyes widened, and his jaw dropped. He scratched his head and felt a rough, uneven part with no hair; it felt painful a little. He touched the other part of his head and felt hair, so he grew confused.
"We were too late; they weren't able to fix the burn, so it will be a scar... and it will never go away... I'm sorry."
Elric was still feeling his hair when he felt a sharp headache; his brain felt like it was getting an overload of information, and suddenly he remembered the night. Deren's takeover.
When they finally got to the living room as Deren ordered, a man with a mask broke in through the window and splashed a bucket load of sand in Deren's eyes. He picked up Elric, Tasha, and Dorian and told Viera to follow him. Elric remembered being carried on this weird stranger's shoulder and staring back at his home, the strong impact that each stomp on the ground made on his abdomen.
Very soon he saw his mother run behind him as fast as she could. He saw Deren come out of the house with his sword in his hand. Elric shouted at the top of his voice, "Mommy, run," and run she did. He saw Deren's red eyes as he yelled at the top of his lungs, "You are not getting away from me!"
And he saw Deren, mad with rage, set the house ablaze with a loud bang. He saw the home he had lived in his entire life fall down piece by piece in front of his eyes. He saw his mother running desperately for her safety from the monster behind her; he saw her stumble on top of a large fallen wood. He looked up and saw his uncle pounce on her like an animal and with one slash he saw his mother's head separate from her body. Right before his very eyes, he saw his mother die.
"Mother!"
He screamed out. Tears fell from his eyes and he let out a loud cry and wailed until he passed out.
And tears dropped from his eyes as he remembered the event.
"I couldn't do anything, I couldn't save... I couldn't save her. I was weak so she died, I was weak so I couldn't save her, I watched her... I watched... MUMMY!"
The room was silent as a graveyard; the children in the room just stared. Two boys got up, moving in Elric's direction, trying to console him, but they sat back down. Their words of pity wouldn't bring her back from the dead.
"Tasha... Tasha, where is she? Where is my little sister?" Elric asked.
"She is in the daycare; don't worry, she's fine," Dorian answered.
"And you, are you alright?" he said while wiping his tears.
"Yes, yes, I am."
"Then take me to her now; I want to see her for my little..."
The loud ringing of a bell interrupted him, and the other boys in the room stood up with no hesitation.
"We have to go now, or we will be in big trouble. Follow us," one of the boys said in a hurry.
Dorian and Elric were surprised by the sudden change of their attitude, but before they could react, the boys dragged them out of the cell.
Elric and Dorian followed them as they ran and were surprised by the number of people running out of their cells; the place was tight as people struggled to get through each other. They ran until they reached outside.
The building had a huge space at the center like a courtyard but huge and filled with sand; it had different chalk lines and markings.
Multiple people had lined up already, and his roommates rushed them into a random line. Standing before them were multiple soldiers and other men. Elric sighted some people who arrived a few minutes late and they were gathered up by the side, where they lay down on the bare sand with their bellies.
Elric watched in confusion; why were they singled out?
Then some of the soldiers approached the group. The people lying seemed to be fidgeting, some already crying. The soldiers pulled out multiple whips from their belts and started flogging the backs of the latecomers without mercy.
Each of the children didn't make a single sound; they were shaking, tears ran down from their eyes and mucus from their noses, and their bodies were bright red, but they still didn't let out a cry. Some even forcefully held their mouth as their clothes started being painted with their blood. Elric tried to rush out of the line, but his rude roommate behind him held him and closed his mouth.
"Are you fricking stupid? You see how they beat them up for coming late? What do you think they would do to you if you had challenged them? Quit playing the hero and wisen up."
He slowly released his grip from Elric.
As they were flogging the children, one of their hands slipped from his mouth and he mistakenly let out a loud cry. The crowd started gasping; little murmurs of pity could be heard.
"I'm sorry, please, please forgive me. I wouldn't..."
Every soldier left who they were flogging and lashed out on this boy. They rained multiple whips on his back as he shouted, cried, and begged. Elric held his mouth; he felt as if he were going to puke.
"Where am I?" he said with his eyes shaking.
"That's enough," a voice said from the distance, and every soldier stopped and stood still.
"To your lines, little children."
The children hesitated.
"To your lines!" a soldier screamed; the children, getting the affirmation of the soldiers, ran back to their lines.
The man walked slowly to the front of the line where the men and the soldiers stood. His hair was dark as the night, and he wore big round glasses. He had a long black suit hanging on his shoulders. He kept flipping his coins, making the silence more unsettling. He looked like he just entered his 20s, and his sly, cunning, but gentle smile made people feel more freaked out.
"Good evening to you all. My name is Ethan Sawyer, second son of his Excellency the Count, Henry Sawyer, third of his name. And now, I am the new head of the Octa Stili Colosseum."
He paused for a moment and smiled, pulled out a cigar from his pocket, lit it, and took a puff.
"From now on there are going to be huge changes, and I hope you cooperate with me to make this place more successful. The first and most..."
He paused.
"Who just coughed?" he asked.
Everywhere fell silent.
"Who coughed?" he repeated.
At the edge of the line, a group of girls slowly pointed at one 12-year-old girl with blond hair and round eyes.
"So you couldn't answer the question? Was I a fool for asking?" he asked.
"No sir, I'm sorry, I was scared; I was scared they'd beat me. Please, please spare me; I wouldn't do it again."
"The first thing you did was interrupt my speech, then you followed it up with refusing to answer the question. Now tell me, are you guilty of these crimes?"
"I just... I didn't... I was scared... I'm guilty, I'm guilty," she stammered; her legs were shaking so bad it was a wonder how she kept standing.
"Good answer."
He flipped one of his coins up, and as it landed on the floor, there was a huge shake on the ground, like it was very, very heavy. The coin transformed into a giant ogre-like monster; it had the shape and structure of a human, but it was huge—around 9 feet tall—with massive muscles. It had four arms and large milky canines that stuck out of its mouth; saliva kept drooling like it came from a reserve. The body had a dull and dark blue color, and finally, if its body wasn't scary enough, it had two giant clubs, each at its lower arm.
Every time it took a step closer to the girl, it felt like there was going to be a mini earthquake. Its strong odor lingered around the people it passed, but they were too frightened to cover their noses and its breath was so heavy you could see its exhale.
The place was silent; everyone made space for the beast to pass. Elric could feel his heart racing as sweat poured round his body.
The beast raised its club high in the air, and in one smash, the girl's head was plastered on the ground; her busted skull and scattered brain were spread on the floor with blood flowing from the remaining part of her skull still attached to her body.
Elric vomited. Even the soldiers' jaws dropped.
The beast turned back to a coin and flew back to Ethan's hand.
"I am not here to make a joke; I am here on a mission, and I will not tolerate any misbehavior. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir," a few people answered with a low tone while the rest stared at the corpse.
"I said, am I understood!" he repeated in a louder voice.
"Yes Sir!" They all shouted.
"That was, and will be the first and last time I strain my voice, am I understood?"
"Yes Sir!"
"Good," he sighed and took another long puff of his cigar and exhaled the smoke. "We have guests from the church, and after that every single one of you is going to get a contract seal on this ground; more information will be passed on later. That is all."
He turned and faced the men behind him. "Follow me."
***
"I will not stay in the office at the Colosseum; I will be staying here at the hostel. Free a cell for me and furnish..."
He stopped and looked at his front; all the soldiers and administrative officers looked too as they were more shocked. A boy, 9 years of age, was before them.
"Did I not order you to wait for the church officials at the training ground?"
He brought out his coins from his pocket.
"You can kill me if you want, just please listen to me first, I beg you," he said as he fell to his knees.
"Speak."
"I want to be... I want to be perfect just like you!" He shouted.
"Huh?"
"My... My brother sold me when I was three because I was worthless, and I have tried to be a good boy, I have tried to be a good person, but I was abandoned again. I am trash, annoying, a push over, I am everything that is bad. But you... one look at you and it is obvious you are smart, handsome, strong, respected. I want to be... I want to be just like you, I want to be you, even if it's a little part of your demeanor I want it so please, please let..."
"Sorry for the disturbance, sir; I'll take care of him," one of the soldiers said, bringing out a whip.
The young boy stood; he didn't shake. "Please accept me," he cried as he bowed.
"Leave him," Ethan ordered and went forward; he knelt on one knee in front of the boy and patted his head.
"What's your name?" he asked with a smile.
"Liam," he answered.
"Liam, that's a really nice name. Don't say those mean things about yourself again, okay? You seem like a good boy to me. Let's be friends, is that okay for you?"
Liam looked up, he released his clothes from his fearsome grip and with sparkles in his eyes he answered.
"Yes."