I sat in a room somewhere deep underground. All I could smell was damp concrete and mold. The room itself was made out of plain concrete with a small lamp hanging from the ceiling. The furnishing wasn’t much better. There was a small bed in the corner. The mattress was nearly nonexistent. There was a large wooden chest that doubled as my chair.

I looked down at my hands where I was holding a mask. The mask was solid white and was completely smooth except for the left eye hole. The eye is surrounded by a black eye of Ra design. This mask was my signature back then. Everyone told stories of the One Eyed Reaper and her Commander. The story tellers always made me out as some wraith like killer with little to no emotion or conscience. Looking back at what they had to work with I can see where they came to those conclusions. At the time of the second civil war, Enyo and I were inseparable. She was my commanding officer and I was her preferred second in command.

I could hear someone coming towards the door. Quickly, I tied the mask on right as the door creaked open.

“It’s time.” A servant clad in all black stood in the doorway.

Nodding I stood and followed him. We walked for what felt like ages when I was shown through a door. Inside stood Aurelio. He greeted me with a wide grin.

“I’m glad you could make it.”

“I didn’t exactly have a choice now did I?” I coolly replied.

“That right there is why I asked for you to be taken here first. I need to go over more of the finite rules you will follow. If you do well, I will reward you.” I cocked my head in a silent reply. “You will give the pretence you are here on your own free will. You will not speak unless you are spoken to. Last one is, that you will do as I say how I say it. If you break any of these your friends will be mine to do with as I please. Understand?”

“I understand.” I poured as much dark malic I could into those two words.

“Perfect!” He clapped his hands. “First on our agenda is your fight against Count Sforzando. Then, after the fight, there will be a party. This will be your schedule every Friday night. I will call upon you if there is a change in the schedule or if I need you at all.”

All I wanted to do was to kill the boy in front of me and go find my friends, but my rational side argued against this course of action. There’s a reason he hasn’t been removed from the equation all these years. He is useful and I would end up with more enemies if I kill him than if I didn't. Besides, if I played nice, I could still come for information and anything else I needed. He was useful, so he lives.

“I do believe it is time for you to get into position. I will see you in thirty minutes.”

As he said, I walked into the ring thirty minutes later to a roaring crowd. The ring itself was made of tall walls and a mesh dome. Looking to my left I spotted Aurelio. He was sitting in a box seat with a girl to his left. The girl herself was very pretty with fire-red hair. She looked like a fifties biker chick with an intricate king’s crown on her head. As I watched, Aurelio stood up and addressed the crowd.

“Ladies and gentleman! You all know the rules. Each champion will fight until the other is unconscious. Then the crowd will vote on the fallen’s outcome, but remember, my queen here can save one condemned fighter a night.” He then turned to a man in a white suit and purple hair. He looked like a fancy rocker. “Count, who is your champion?” The count stood and joined Aurelio.

“Ah. My fighter is a burly man by the name of Quinton. Your’s, Aurelio?”

“Mine doesn’t need much introduction. She is known as the One Eyed Reaper of Duryona.” I could hear murmuring as people started to notice my presence. The Count blanched.

“How did you?” He started but Aurelio quickly cut him off.

“Let the games begin!” Aurelio said with a clap. A door opened and a tall built man came in wielding a giant sword. He took one look at me and froze. I stood at least two feet shorter than him, but I could tell he recognized my reputation because of a look of fear that was slowly taking hold.

“Fight!” I heard Aurelio call. That was enough to snap the giant out of his stupor.

“Raaaaaaaaw!” His blow came down next to me as I sidestepped the swing and rushed toward him. I jumped off the sword and kicked him in the face. He staggered back and as I jumped behind him. He grabbed me by the ankle and yanked me down. I landed into the wall behind me, and all my air left me. I recovered my wits just in time for me to move out of the way as his sword ran into the wall all the way to the hilt. He tugged and tugged at it, but it wasn’t budging. This gave me the time to hit him over the head with the butt of my sword. He crumpled to the floor. I was still trying to catch my breath when I heard the crowd booing. Looking up I saw them all holding their fingers in a thumbs down.

“The crowd has spoken.” Aurelio took out a small pistol and aimed it at my opponent. He then grabbed his cross necklace. “May the heavens have mercy on your soul.” Before he could pull the trigger the queen had rested her hand on his arm.

“I believe him to be worthy of a pardon, don’t you think?” Her voice was soft and lilting. “Death seems extreme considering his opponent. Wouldn’t you agree, Aurelio?”

“My lady, I couldn't agree more.” With that, he leveled the gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit his shoulder and blood splattered my mask. “Well, this concludes the main event. Now, the winner will fight against my stock of fighters until only one is left standing.” With that he got up and left. This apparently was a silent cue for my opponents to walk in. Sighing I turned to face this new horde of people.

***

I winced only slightly as my various bruises and cuts healed. No matter how good you are if you are against thirty armed opponents you are bound to get hurt. It didn’t help that one of them had a bayonet. He stabbed me before shooting. It really hurt to dig the bullet out right next to a deep stab wound.

I decided that I should start planning a few backup plans before Aurelio backstabs me again. With that, I laid down on the thin mattress and started to plan.