ToL » The Chronicles of Anything » Arena 1 - Saga 5, Arena

Arena 1 - Saga 5, Arena

*

YOYOY groaned and grunted in the dark shadows of the room’s corner. Fellow prisoners were occupied with their own thoughts or conversations. A few were even trying to sleep, but at least one noticed the scribe and his apparent struggle.

“Hey, yo-yo, what’s up?”

The Chronicler of Lore suddenly cried out, the sound accompanied by a steel crack. YOYOY then stood up, his figure vaguely defined in the dim lighting offered by the barred windows still yards away.

“… Did you just-“

The seated prisoner’s voice was silenced by a dull thud against his flesh-covered skull, the same voice that’d earlier addressed the scribe as a yo-yo. The Chronicler lightly chuckled and wiped off his club before advancing towards the barred window, all too curious.

The ground beneath him then fell, amidst its own thick cloud of dust as it crashed down to another level. The captives above began clamoring to know what happened, shouting down various questions and exclamations.

YOYOY just winced and slowly sat up, rubbing the spots on his body that ached yet again. He then advanced to a stand, dusting himself off and trying to examine his surroundings, which were now even darker than before. He extended his arms, feeling the smooth walls around, noting he had fallen down a chute almost perfectly round.

He then found an opening, low but wide, and proceeded to begin crawling through on his hands and knees. That is when another trap door opened underneath him.

Another fall and another rough landing later, YOYOY cursed under his breath and allowed himself to lie still for a moment. Seconds later he noticed someone was laughing nearby. The voices of his former cellmates above were silenced in these depths, along with the trumpets and spectator cheering he had noticed earlier.

“Who’s there?”

The scribe squinted, even sniffed the air, trying to gain any perception he could in what was now a perfectly darkened room. He could only slowly walk towards the source of the laughter, and now a new voice that replied.

“Heh, nice of you to drop in – I’m Denn, the Hunter. Yourself?”

YOYOY almost tripped over Denn’s seated frame, smiling as he did so, extending a hand in greeting. Soon they shook, nodding their mutual approval in the darkness.

“YOYOY, the Chronicler of Lore.”

“Guess we might be cellmates for a while in this… dungeon of sorts. Have any idea what-“

Before he could finish, the sounds of another rough crash landing occurred near to Denn again. The two collectively turned their heads towards the noise, even if they could not see.

“Uh, who goes there now?”

“Hello? You alright, newcomer?”

“Hey!”

“Um, you okay? Really now. Seriously.”

No answer. YOYOY sat down next to Denn, leaning against the same smooth cold wall. He closed his eyes and wondered what was going on within the colosseum.

*

A booming voice echoed throughout every seat aligning the arena.

“Could Zack and lowgear please report to the Arena floor?”

On opposite sides of the stadium two different gates opened with ominous creaking. Two beings entered the battleground and the same gates closed behind them. With hesitant steps they began the trek to meet somewhere in the center of the battlefield. The cheering of the bloodthirsty fans was dying down into a hallowed silence.

Zack muttered something liberal. Lowgear spoke in a general tone.

Then both exploded in an especially incendiary fashion, stark blue flames engulfing their bodies briefly before leaving no shred of their tangible existence behind. After a stunned silence, the crowd stood and applauded, whistling and screaming for more. The booming voice returned.

“And the festivities have only begun, citizens of Lore! Next, a beast versus beast match featuring TheFurryWhiteHamsterOfDoo and the legendary Hippo Girl…”

*

“Kill General Lund. Kill General Lund.”

DarkKnightZach turned to the creature on his shoulder.

“Shut up.”

*

Archer and Kelanor sat across from each other, slotted light adorning their faces. Neither looked to the other, except through the occasional glance via the corner of their eyes. No words were exchanged, and each crossed their arms across his chest. Their Mod blades glinted, sheathed at the ready. Outside the cheers began once more, but neither moved in response.

Archer was first to directly face the other, slowly turning his head and speaking.

“Does this mean we’ll be matched up against each other?”

Kelanor offered no discernible response. Archer rolled his eyes and sighed. Then Kel spoke after all.

“If we have to fight, I have no desire to kill you. Assuming we’re still in the realm of Anything, I should still have power here. If we’re summoned to the open ring, I’ll find a way out somehow, and allow you to escape with me.”

The Mod turned to make eye contact with the troglodyte king. Archer stared him down, apparently mulling the offer over.

He then began to laugh. Before long he was doubled over and holding his stomach, tears beginning to slide down his troglodytian face.

Kelanor then gave a sigh and eyeroll of his own.

*

DarkGuardian, tMmM, and Drexlin found that whoever divided the cells had granted them the liberty of completely dwarven quarters. As soon as Drexlin regained consciousness, the last of the bunch, the threesome cheered and hollered and exchanged friendly hugs and pats on the back and such as dwarves do. They thought nothing of the oddity of the situation, taking any chance they could to grasp a positive aspect. Drexlin soon busted out drinks, and all was well for the moment.

*

Malexin turned to the captor shackled beside him.

“I’m a better player than you.”

His cellmate slowly turned back to him.

“But I’m a better lover.”

Matrim grinned widely, Malexin’s eyes widening as well before he began trying to awkwardly scoot away. He had failed to notice that the cuffs binding his hands were pink, fuzzy, and leopard-print in nature. The General citizen figured this could not possibly be a good omen, by any means.

*

Todd grit his teeth and yelled. The ropes that bound his arms and legs to the wall failed to yield. Todd tried again, summoning all his might, even the unnatural forces granted to Administrators of Lore. Still, the ties did not budge. He panted, breathing heavily, left dumbfounded. His body itself began to glow crimson, then white, as some arcane form of energy coursed through his every vein and bone. Still, this did not help in any apparent way. His cellmate shook his head down the hall, tied in a similar manner with metallic chains.

“I tried it, too. By now I bet you’ve reached the point where you’re wondering how this can possibly be. What manner of chains am I bound by that refuse to acknowledge my almighty power? My current favorite theory is that it’s not the knots or links or cuffs – It’s the entire structure, this grand Arena itself. Something about it strikes me as otherwordly, as if it lies so far in the middle of nowhere that it fails to be a part of Anything any longer, and thus outside the jurisdiction of Lore. At least, this would explain a lot. But its function and origin still lie shrouded in obscurity, of course, which I’m sure bothers you at least as much as it does me. I came to check it out, received the letter just as I’m sure we all did, only to find I have no clout to moderate this place. I don’t understand, Todd. Whatever insights you can offer, please, spill your guts. Every second in this place is killing me.”

Almighty Todd only bowed and closed his eyes. He had heard every word spoken by the being, but could not form a response he would be satisfied with.

Soon Siege911 gave up and bowed as well, biding his time.

Both seemed perfectly indifferent as a perfectly smooth stone wall slid into place with a low rumble, splitting the hall between them and blocking their access to Administrative conversation, much less visual contact.

*

Lumpin and Vomitus stared each other down, a slight frown alighting their respective faces.

“Why put us together as a pair?”

Vomitus cynically shrugged in response.

*

The denizen pair CardinalFang and Ter-Soth stood freely, not bound by any means. They were in an especially large chamber, eyeing their capricious companions on the other side of the room. There, stood BreathWeapon and Zechnophobe, two fairly general citizens.

Ter-Soth sneered, gazing down the fellows with contempt. BreathWeapon spat on the polished marble floor. CardinalFang picked at a monstrous sore on his back. Zechnophobe thought up a brilliant deck scheme.

Tension was thick amongst the foursome as those loyal to Anything were forced to room with those more General.

*

The Advocate of Lycanthropes and ll_CrowN_ll bickered back and forth in pointless fashion.

*

Denn and YOYOY listened anxiously as the third being to enter their subterranean holdings awoke with a yawn.

“Hey, you alright?”

“You took a rather nasty fall there.”

“… I’m fine. I’m great, in fact.”

Y thought he recognized the voice. He paused to consider this, as Denn kept up the casual repartee.

“I’m Denn, the Hunter. And you?”

The anonymous being chortled in the darkness.

“I’m Acid Flux. Pleasure to meet you.”

YOYOY lit up.

“Acid Flux! Oh, it’s great to-“

The scribe was silenced by a massive rumbling as the earth beneath them powerfully shook, a fissure opening in the wall. Various pebbles and small rocks shot around the small quarters as each of the three beings squinted at the newfound light. The opening revealed a stairway upwards, presumably towards the Arena grounds. They could now hear the unfathomable crowd beginning a chant for Acid Flux. Next, a thunderous voice emanated throughout the Arena.

“Acid_Flux, please report to the Arena, your opponent awaits.”

The former member of the Fellowship managed a laugh. He slowly rose and began confidently striding towards the stairway upwards. YOYOY’s mouth was agape before Denn interjected.

“That’s it? Just like that, you’re ready to face whatever’s out there?”

With a convinced grin Acid turned to the hunter, one foot already on the first step to the colosseum.

“Always.”

A classy nod, and he ascended.

*

© Eric Bailey

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