Welcome Challengers to the arena. I stood upright quickly, glaring left and right. I half expected to be attacked immediately by a gladiator, tiger, or worse. No such thing occurred and I was able to examine my surroundings. Arena is definitely not what I'd choose to call the small town I was apparently standing in the middle of. Most around me were going about their day as if I wasn't even there. There were others though, loosely packed around me, who were looking around with confusion, and deep suspicion. Before I could take any action, or really even think I was again distracted. Words came to me as they had before. Words that were voiced to me as if I was singing myself the alphabet. They were not from me though. Earth, being overrun by rouge divines, has been deemed lost. All non corrupted individuals have been enrolled into the accelerated refuge program. Your benefactors will be choosing between you shortly.

Focusing back on my surroundings I saw the surrounding group of confused individuals do the same. we all had the look of prey waiting for the predator to pounce. Tense silence hung around us like a cage of unknowns holding us back. A young woman was the first to break the silence. "What...." she started before she blinked out of existence. The rest of us jerked, and that silence returned, this time pregnant with infinite dangers. When the second person was swapped out with a hole of nothingness all hell broke loose. One man attacked the closest person as if they had somehow stolen the other two. Another screamed and ran down the street away from the group. Another simply slumped down. She hadn't fainted. It seemed as if she'd just had too much and decided not to even bother holding herself up any longer. For my part I was frozen. Not without the ability to move, but the tense muscles of one ready for action.

In hindsight we should have known exactly what was going on. We'd literally been told as much just a moment before. Of course as refuge's of the wasteland of earth. Shaped by the divine wars for control over it's most valuable resource, life itself. We were strung as tight as a cranked crossbow even before time was frozen, we were trans-located, and words were being put into our heads. Not to mention the sudden disappearance of portions of the group. None of our actions stopped the so called benefactors though. Even as that first man was being soundly beaten by the one he'd attacked he also slipped out of the world. One by one the others were also taken. Including the man I could still hear hollering as he ran off into the distance. His wails, and the sound of his footfalls cut off mid stride.

Standing alone I checked, confirmed, and verified a third time. I was the only one left. As I cast my gaze around I noticed that the townspeople weren't ignoring me any longer. It'd be hard for them not to. What with the riot that'd just occurred around me. One older woman who leaned against a door frame nearby lurched forward. starting a stroll in my direction she regarded me with a withering stare that screamed disdain . "For messengers of the divine ya'll've got no decorum" she drolled now giving an almost disinterested glance over my appearance. I looked back at her with what I hoped was my own disinterested look, but I'm sure was simply the most confused I'd looked in my life, and responded "What..." and again the world went black on me.

The darkness surrounding me wasn't that of unconsciousness or some rift in existence. The eventual burning chest and ragged breath I drew in to alleviate it was what clued me in. whipping my head around I couldn't see a single thing. My hands shot out but likewise gave me no further information as they touched nothing. cautiously I began inching my feet forward feeling not much more than the ground/floor was reasonably flat, but nothing else obvious called out to me. As I continued searching around with my feet I examined my breath, as it seemed to be the only thing left I could examine about my surroundings. The air didn't taste stale, but was clearly not the outdoors, It also seemed to be too warm to be outdoors. Before I could draw any further conclusions though a new voice broke the silence. This time a normal everyday audible one. Not some internal announcement.

"Oh yes, you can't see in the dark" came from somewhere in front of me followed by a SNAP. A dim light popped into existence a few steps in front of and above me. Slowly it rose in brightness, initially barely distinguishable from the darkness to bright enough to see my new surroundings. A table and two chairs stood only a step away from me. Had I continued with my blind shuffling I would have found them in a moment, but I was glad to be able to see. Seeing nothing else worth examining I plopped down on the nearest chair. Realizing I hadn't seen whoever had spoken before I checked the corners of the room. "Where are you?" I asked as I checked the shadows there that were still rather thick. "who are you?" I followed up after I found nothing.

"It's no use searching the shadows. The unknown is as powerful a fear for the divine as it is for mortals, and thus as powerful a tool. You'll only see what I wish you to see.". Despite this I still whipped my head around searching again. Even as I was looking the voice seemed to move from one corner to another. "As to who I am, why, I'm your 'benefactor' of course" The voice said with a scornful twinge on the word benefactor.

I noticed that the voice sounded strange. As if it was both monotone and genderless, but I didn't put too much stock into it as I was beyond annoyed at this point. "Isn't a benefactor supposed to be helping their charges" I grumbled. I was increasingly realizing I'd had just about enough of gods, divines, or whatever else they wanted to call themselves, and their homicidal lackeys as well. "If you're not here to help then I'm just going to take a minute to collect myself". Of course I wasn't some tough as nails nihilist. Half of me was still pissing myself with what I was saying but If they were going to kill me there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. There was a strange empowerment you got when you were fully at someone else's mercy. If you had no power to change your situation then it doesn't matter what you do. At least half of me was hoping that.

"Ha, HA!" The voice chuckled. This time from directly in front of me. Even squinting and looking at odd angles I still saw nothing "I'm glad to see I didn't choose one without a spine. Although I have indeed been implied to be your benefactor, the choice of words may or may not be up to my own standards. Coddling is not my way. Backer, or investor would have been my choice. You chose you're words well though. I won't be giving you any time, but take as much as you can. It is the way of the divines after all". It was unsettling to continue seeing no-one as a voice from nowhere sung out at me. Strangely it was somehow more unsettling than the voice in my head earlier. This "investor" seemed to at least not be a hothead, so I just settled my head and arms down on the table and I got as comfortable as I could. I had intended to simply try settling my nerves and reorient myself to the rapid fire transportation, the apparent war among gods, and the fact that earth was seemingly entirely lost. Instead I fell asleep almost instantly. I would have thought before all this that sleeping in this situation would be impossible. The years of running from divinely backed beings who wanted your blood instilling the need and eventually the skill to sleep instantly and wake just as quickly as the situation demanded had changed that misconception. Not to mention the fact that the amount of sleep I got through all this was somewhere below 4 hrs a night meant I was essentially sleepwalking everywhere already.

I woke with a start flipping my gaze around again. "Ah, the stalwart beneficiary returns to the living". Still I saw no source to attribute the voice to. "I can see you're at least marginally rested now. And although I'm capable of waiting until this plane of existence itself winds down if required, that doesn't mean the world waits for you. Opportunities pass you by while you sleep. So I'll make this brief. What do you know?"

Looking up again, I still found nothing to speak to directly so I let my gaze lazily oscillate around the room as I spoke, as if I was just speaking to someone on speakerphone. "What do I know? ... I know I've been swept up in some game or other, and I know I have less control of my life now. Other than that. I don't think I really know anything at all.". Silence followed my words like an assassin in the night. It seems my responses were being weighed and measured with extreme care. Although it was likely they were not the only thing in the balance.

"Yet again you show yourself a good choice. There are a few things to correct though. You've weren't swept up in a game. You've always been in the game, and you've never been in control, not really. Everyone is, has been, and always will be trying to play you in one way or another regardless of what they tell you. Even the closest of lovers are at some level playing one another, even if it's simply to determine who takes out the trash. And, control ... that's just another word for power. If you have more of one you have more of the other.". As the "investor" continued speaking I was still looking about and with this last sentence I saw something in a corner to the left of my chair. What looked like a pair of eyes were slightly glinting in the light over the table. "Power comes in many forms and one of the most potent is knowledge. Yet knowledge comes from paying attention. You've invested your attention well, so you are in turn worth investing in." A pause ripe to the bursting followed those words, in which those eyes moved to the chair across from me. They moved to a seated position. Finally the "investor" spoke again. "Calling this a game was doubly intuitive. As you did catch that I was called your benefactor you were unlikely to have missed the 'welcome' to 'the arena'." the investor paused for another moment.

Long enough that I almost responded. "Though you've always been in the game, it has different stages. The stage you've entered is actually rather simple, this world is the stage. The reason it's moniker is the arena is also simple. Like gladiators, you'll be competing on behalf of your backers. You've seen what happens to a world where the divine become directly involved. The prize is often destroyed in the process. The divine would prefer to avoid that." The tone and the tiny parts of expressions I could pick up from the eyes of the investor said much. This wasn't a benevolent entity, any more than the deities who had taken my world. Merely a more pragmatic one. Of course they'd told me as much flatly and honestly enough. I can't say I was glad we were "saved" by these 'gods', but they were somewhat better. Sadly it sounded like us earthlings were still being pitted against one another.

"So, What is it I need to do to 'win'?" I asked and finger quoted the last word.