“Wake up, time for breakfast,” a guard yelled beyond Tilos' barred cell door.

Tilos slowly sat up from his floor mattress. Standing to his feet, he stretched, working out the kinks in his bones from sleeping on a hard stone all night. His back cracked in rhythm with the guard unlocking his cell door.

The guard escorts Tilos out of his cell. In front of Tilos was a line of gladiators. The guard put Tilos at the very end. The line began to move, leaving the long hall of the cells and entering the large circler clearing in the center of the estate.

Tables had been moved into place in the central clearing. The estate staff had already sat down and were eating their fill. Cooks stood behind a table with trays filled with food. Tilos picked up the smell of cook meat. The scent caused Tilos’ stomach to rumble. He smiled, thankful that he would be feed meat.

The gladiators stood in line and waited to be served a portion of food. The line shrank within minutes. The cooks were skilled at serving food quickly. But to Tilos, it took ages, his stomach twisting on itself, causing him pain. Finally, Tilos got to the bowls, plates, and utensils. He grabbed a bowl, plate, and fork, moving on to the line of cooks serving food.

The first cook filled his bowl with wild brown rice and topped it with a brown stew loaded with meat and vegetables. The second cook added raw seasoned vegetables to his one side plate, most of them being green. The last cook added a myriad of fruit to the other half of his plate and handed him a cup.

“If you want something to drink, fill it up over there,” She pointed with her metal tug at a stone fountain. A gladiator was currently filling his cup up with water.

“Thank you,” Tilos said, smiling at each cook before turning and leaving.

Tilos glanced over the array of tables. The staff and gladiators sat separate, the staff sitting on the left side and the gladiators on the right. Tilos’ eyes stopped at Hiro, his tall, lean frame hard miss. He had a big smile on his face as he waved at Tilos.

Tilos walked over to Hiro’s table, plate in one hand and bowl in the other. He had placed his cup on top of the vegetables and fruit that covered his plate.

Raven was sitting opposite Hiro. She shoved a spoon into the stew and rice bowl, scooping out a spoon full and shoving it into her mouth.

Tilos sat down next to Raven and began eating his bowl of stew and rice.

Hiro’s smile morphed into a frown. “Not even going to say hi.” He stabbed his fork into a piece of red fruit before bring into his mouth and eating it.

Tilos looked up and stopped eating, “Hi.” He then went back to eating his food.

“No manners,” Tilos said as he shook his head. He turned to Raven, “Can you believe this guy?”

Raven stopped eating, massaging the side of her temples with her hands. “It's too early for you antiques, Hiro.”

Hiro smiled, “It's never too early to have fun.”

One of his minds pinged Tilos, this one monitoring his senses. He turned around, finding a smiling Creed making his way over to their table. Tilos frowned, his eyebrows arching in confusion. The man waved at them, more specifically, someone behind Tilos. Tilos turned around to find Hiro waving back at Creed.

“Hi, do you all mind if I sit here?” Creed sat down next to Hiro, opposite Tilos. Do you remember me from yesterday?

Tilos chewed his food slowly, eyeing the smiling man up and down. Again he noticed that his smile did not reach his eyes. “Yes, I remember,” Tilos answered after swallowing. “Is there someth-”

“Leave,” Raven said briskly with a hint of malice. Her eyes glared at Creed.

Creed jerked his head back, confused as he stared at Raven. “Did I do something to offend you?”

Raven paused, her eye squinting as she stared at Creed. “I can feel the hatred oozing off you even with these restraints on.” Raven held up the armbands that blocked their connection to the Weave. The bands glowed blue with the Essence they drained from Raven. “It's that strong. Whatever you want, it's nothing good for us. I would advise you to leave before something awful happens.”

Creed's smile grew wider and wider. Until broadening into a laugh, “I assure you I mean you no harm. No need to threaten me.”

Tilos put his hand on Raven's shoulder before she could speak again, “Let him tell us what he wants. The sooner he does, the sooner he leaves.”

Raven sent one last glare at the man before going back to eating. She took sneak glances towards the man, body tense and ready to spring into action.

“I want to learn more about the Trinity Church,” Creed said as he ate a spoon full of rice and stew.

“You’re Ionian,” Hiros shifted his eyes towards Creed. “You should know enough about the Church as is. Anything more would be conditional information only reserved for members.”

Creed nodded, “I am Ionian, but I spent most of my life out of the Church’s influence. My youth was spent as an Astra colonist and then later a servant of my master Felwen.”

Tilos's eyes brighten, “You are a heretic.”

Rage briefly flashed across Creed’s eyes, “No, not anymore.” He paused, lost in a remember from long past.

Tilos smiled, “You wish to learn about a part of your heritage then.”

Creed nodded, “Yes. Most of what I learned from other Ionians paints the Church badly. I would be foolish only to hear one side of the story.”

“Do you have a specific area you would like to delve into first? Perhaps the Chapters of the Church?”

“I want to talk about the Order. I hear that their Templars are dogs, eager to murder and rape the innocent,” Creed smiled towards the end.

Tilos jerked his head back in disgust and frowned. He squinted his eyes, “Where did you hear this? My chapter is honorable, and its members would never do such a thing.”

“When I was a boy. I also saw it. I smelt it. I lived through it.” Creed’s smile disappeared. “You Templars are scum. You Order slaughtered my people, for what? Because we refused to abandon our religion and worship your false gods? We fleed Eros and established a settlement on Urith. Your church dispatched a company of Templars to exterminate us.”

“I haven’t heard of any purges in Urith,” Tilos said. He looked toward Hiro and Raven. Each shaking their head, indicating that they too know nothing.

Creed snorted, “It doesn’t matter. It still took place. Your Templars burned down my village, with the people still inside the buildings. Some nights I still dream of that day, red flames licking the walls of my family’s barn. Thick grey smoke choked me as I struggled to crawl with boiling sweat coating my body. And the worst part was the screams. The screams of people burning alive.”

“Well, the Church only issues purges on cults that are a danger to society.” Hiro's voice cut Creed off.

Creed laughed, “Who were we hurting? We were a continent away from Eros and Ionia. No, your Church did it out of spite. I curse the Seven of Trinity.” Creed finished the last part by spitting on the ground.

Tilos’ face stilled, his eyes narrowing. He balled his hands into fists. “What did you say?” He said in an angry whisper.

Creed smiled, “You heard me. I curse the Seven of Trinity, especially Prins. That heartless bastard is no god, just a man acting upon his desires for power.”

Anger flowed throw Tilos, threatening to consume him. He activated [Meditation], allowing the Talent to center his mind. Tilos let the feeling of rage wash over him but did not act on it. It slowly simmered until all that was left was a small smoldering fire. Tilos took a deep breath, “I think you should leave.” He said in an even tone.

Creed's smile grew grander as he stood up, “I think I shall. But I don’t think this will be our last interaction. You will be spending a long time here as a gladiator. Plenty of time for me and you to become friends.” Creed patted Tilos’ shoulder. He walked away from the table, heading over to the side reserved for the staff.

“He gives me the creeps,” Hiro said between eating his food.

Tilos nodded and went back to eating as well.