Gods of Arena

He took water in his palms and washed his face repeatedly, staring in the mirror. For a second, he saw Jae grinning at him and holding a mash of Dan's blood, hair and brains in his hands. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!", he muttered and held his head. "Are you alright?"

His heart skipped a beat, as he turned back quickly. That almost sounded like Jae's voice. "I'm- I'm fine", he said, as he exhaled and faked a smile. He turned back and looked in the mirror again. "How are you doing, Romeo?" "You never ask that", Romeo said and walked to the next sink. "You don't look fine, either"

"I'm serious. I'm totally fine. Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, today"

"I don't care, though. I just don't mind if you say what's wrong with you, then I'll know if I can help", Romeo said and stared at him. "But your silence is better. I don't have to worry".

He turned, walking out of the bathroom. "Wait", Dan said. "I had a nightmare. The spin is going to pit me against Jae"

"So what? You're scared of-"

"He killed me... We fought on the arena and he killed me in the middle of the field. He burst my fucking head"

Romeo turned and stepped closer. "Are you going to ask how I won my first fight after they got an old Gambler to sodomize me?"

"How did you win that fight?"

"I put my anger before me", Romeo said. "I don't care what happens on that Arena so you're on your own. My advice is; play your dream again and, this time, watch your back"

He watched Romeo walk out of the bathroom and he leaned on the wall. He thought of the dream again. He could almost remember every part of it. He had almost won and then, he turned his back... Romeo was right, even in the literal sense. He shouldn't have turned his back. He should have watched his back.

******

It was still just a dream, though. The voice that always made the announcement was blaring through the speakers again. He could barely make out a word but he knew it was time for the spin. Everyone was already heading up the stairs. "Ha-ha... You want to make a bet? I'll-", one of the fighters spoke, hitting Dan gently with an elbow.

"Watch where you walk, idiot", Dan said, standing there.

The fighter glared and walked away with the others. Dan looked around, as if searching for a way out of enclosing walls. The indistinct chatterings filled his ears so much he found it hard to think of what to do next.

On the opposite side of the hall, a door opened and Crane walked out with Kang. "Crane!", he called, quickly. They were going to run up the stairs, quickly. They probably needed that. They were the only three left in the hall. Whoever was behind the speakers was probably staring at the three of them through the cameras.

"What do you want, Dan? We are late", Kang said.

"You were speaking to Ana at Lunch, yesterday", Dan said, quickly. "What did she tell you about the spin?"

"Why would she tell me anything about the spin?", Crane asked, ignorantly.

"Listen! I know she said something to you. I need to know if I will be picked for the spin"

"What are you saying? If it's decided before the spin, why does the spin happen then?"

Dan gritted. He was almost sure the soldiers were already on their way to get them up the stairs. "Don't play dumb with me, idiot"

"They only greeted each other for a second, Dan", Kang intervened. "Come on, Crane. Let's go"

They walked up the stairs and Dan followed, reluctant but quick.

He felt dizzy again, glancing at Jae for another second. Jae was laughing with his friends. Dan clenched his fist. He could almost swear they knew what the result of the spins would be and they were plotting and laughing at him. He walked to his spot and clicked the button.

"What is he looking at?", Jae muttered.

Dan read his lips, correctly. He had been glaring at Jae, impulsively. He moved his eyes back to the screen. "Fuck!", he muttered, clenching his fist a lot tighter. He could imagine how weak he seemed to Jae at the moment.

The beeps started moving down the row of faces on both sides of the screen. His eyes darted from one side to the other and twitched every time it passes over his face. He took another glance at Jae and Jae was still staring back at him. Jae wasn't smiling anymore. He had a look of suspicion all over his cheeks and chin.

"Hey! Let go of my hand, will you?", Crane said, gently pulling his hand out of Dan's grip.

Dan seemed dumb, at the moment. The beep stopped on the left side of the screen... on Jae's face. He glanced at Jae again.

"You knew about this, didn't you?", Jae muttered, gritting his teeth. Dan read his lips correctly again and closed his eyes.

"Hey! Stop squeezing my wrist. Let me go", Crane muttered, again, tugging.

Kang looked at the both of them. Dan had his eyes closed. Crane closed his eyes too and stopped resisting Dan's grip. "Dan?", Kang called, gently. "Are you scared of something?"

Dan forced a smile. His eyes were still shut. "I'm not scared of anything", he lied.

"Crane?", Kang called in Crane's ear. "Why are you closing your eyes? We both know a fight between you and Jae is not the great thing they want on the field"

Crane didn't respond. The beep stopped and everyone was silent. Dan kept his eyes closed. He was pretty sure he was the one on the other side of the screen, even though he desperately wished his dream remained a dream. "Are you scared, Dan?", Kang asked again.

Crane opened his eyes and gently got his hands free from Dan's grip. "This is unfair. Jae will tear him apart"noveldrama

"I'm not scared of fighting him", Dan snapped.

"Uh... alright", Kang said.

His eyes were still shut. It had happened. He could hear Kang and Crane walking away and laughing at him. They probably thought he was too weak to take on Jae... Maybe he was too weak to take on Jae. "Everyone's left already. What are you doing?", Romeo's voice said. "For a second, I almost thought your dream meant a thing"

Dan opened his eyes. "What do you mean?", he asked, looking at the right side of the screen. The beep didn't stop on his face.

"Well, it's not you against Jae. It's just one mid-tier"

"A mid-tier", he muttered and sighed.

Romeo rubbed a finger across his forehead. "You're sweaty. You really are a coward, aren't you?"

****

"I really wasn't expecting this, though. No one was expecting this", Kang said and sat down.

"I almost thought it would be Dan", Crane said, staring down in the arena. It was still empty.

A Larger Figure would give a speech before introducing the fighters. "From the way he was acting, I almost thought he already saw the game plan", Kang replied. "But really, do they fix the games? I thought the spin was supposed to pick randomly"

"Nah, the spin is mostly a façade", Kang said. "Sometimes, it picked randomly and when it pitches a top-tier against a low-tier, they would just change it" "But this doesn't look well-matched, does it?"

"We don't know what the mid-tier can do, do we?", Kang smiled and glanced at Romeo. "Wait for it".

Dan sat by Romeo, staring into the arena innocently. He was definitely glad he wasn't going to fight. No one needed to see his excitement so he stayed pale.

"It's one big day again at Dergon. Our three-hundredth anniversary. I should probably be telling the story of how Lord Deryol took down three hundred Grimm soldiers on the particular spot called the Dergon Arena today but I wasn't even there. Ha-ha.... This anniversary is a special one so everything is special. If your taste buds work well enough, you'll realize the special taste in the food is different from last year's. Yea... it's not my fault if you don't so... the ceremony continues. This is the arena. You wanted an amazing fight? You got one!......"

The gate opened and Jae stepped out with a sword and a shield. "Yesss!!!", he roared, confidently, raising up the shield and the sword. The gamblers clapped and cheered, excitedly, as he walked to the middle of the arena.

The gate opened again and the mid-tier walked out. He held a similar sword and shield and definitely wasn't excited to fight. The arena was silent, as the mid-tier walked to the middle of the arena. He could hear the indistinct murmurs among the gamblers. They weren't impressed.

"Is this the amazing fight you planned for us?"

King's mouth gaped, as he stared down into the arena. That definitely wasn't the plan. "I'm sorry. That is the wrong fighter", King said and stood up.

Jae twirled his sword and swung at the mid-tier. The mid-tier dodged the attack with his shield and took a step back, breathing heavily. "What's your name?"

"Uh, Todd", he replied, moving slowly and thinking of the best way to attack.

"Funny. Never even heard of you", Jae said. "Should I give you a head start? I'll drop my weapons"

Todd pushed his shield and his sword forward. His hand shot a wave, sweeping Jae's feet off the ground. Jae pushed himself up, clenched his fist and threw a rock at Todd. The rock threw Todd on the ground and Jae dived at him. "Halt!......