Michael

‘’These people are completely bat-shit!’’ John whispers urgently as he adjusts the cast around his neck.

Saya's head sticks through the door and smiles warmly at me, I smile back on reflex at the warmth radiating off her and sigh as soon as she is out of sight.

‘’Completely bat-shit!’’ John continues now that the coast is again clear to speak freely.

I look at Max who looks back at me with a worried scowl on his face, its one thing to be a battle enthusiast. It’s another thing altogether to have your stomach ripped open and your guts spilt out before being kicked in the head so hard half your face caves in and you swallow most of your teeth.

I look at Edward who looks back at me wheezing even after the healing as his left lung slowly grows back within his mostly empty chest cavity. He grew up in a time on Earth when life was cheat and death was a common occurrence but even he wasn’t alive in the medieval roman arena days and this fucking sword and sorcery lifestyle.

‘’We need to get out of here Michael, your girl is going to get us killed!’’ John continues and I turn to look at him, really look at him.

The fear in his eyes has been there since he met Sachihiro a few days ago, it has very little to do with almost being decapitated by the woman Andrea in the arena though that has deepened his unease. He is right that this place is crazy but the beauty and wonder of this entire world make this all worth it, almost all worth it.

The others look back at me with their own unease and for different reasons but unease all the same. The problem with what John is saying is that though he speaks out of fear everything he says is true. We are from a different world so we make room in our minds for adjustments to an alien world and foreign cultures, we are from a seemingly different time so we expect a life without technology and magic to replace it to be different from what we know.

I even took into consideration the fact that this world is populated by alien exotic humanoid creatures and superhuman beings that can fly and shoot laser beams out of their eyes. We have travelled some and been exposed to some of the variety of cultures that can be found in this quarter of the planet.

But this place they call the Tundra seems to be particularly perilous for people at our current level of ability and power.

‘’I still maintain that I’m at the best shape of my life but that woman... that woman gutted me like a fish and there was nothing I could do about it,’’ Max says solemnly still with an arm across his abdomen as though fearful his skin will rip open and his intestines spill out again.

‘’That’s exactly my point!’’ John finds momentum. ‘’I didn’t grow up with fighting happening about as you guys did, we had Peace Keepers and Nava soldiers to do most of our legal fighting. I was a regular human being that went to the gym and followed the old gods like my grandfather did, I only started Tae Kwon doe a year before all this happened and the only reason I am not more modified like everyone else in my age on Earth is because I had an allergy! I don’t belong here, not like you guys, I’ll die here. ‘’

Then silence reigns as John’s words find purchase within us, the worry on his face is genuine and warranted, the man did nearly lose his head yesterday. I touch my left knee and feel it with my hand through the lose comfortable pants. There is pressure and tenderness from where my leg was broken.

Back on the Earth I knew I would have never walked again with the way this Andrea broke my knee backwards. I’d have to use a crutch for the rest of my life and cold weather would make me ache long before other people felt it coming, breaking bones isn’t a joke.

But then these Paradisum people break us and then they heal us, this is a crucible we are in and these people want to make sure that everyone that walks amongst them has passed through it to their satisfaction. This more than just a warrior culture, its like a selection process of some sort and if you survive ten arena fights you’ve earned your place amongst them.

I look at the others, there is fear in both their eyes but there is also a trace of excitement or is that just my own excitement reflected back at me? I can’t explain how I feel to them in words, I can’t explain how necessary I feel it is for me to pass this stage in my life and reach for things beyond it.

‘’I’m staying,’’ is all I manage to say before leaning back into the couch and closing my eyes listening to my aching body with a smile.

‘’Hiro did say that the first fight was the toughest, that this Andrea person, the opening opponent is an expert at gauging people’s skills and determining how much-‘’

‘’Hiro is a 12-year-old kid Max, he probably doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about.’’ A frustrated John says.

‘’I don’t know about that, the kid offered to show me some moves a few days ago and I think I’m only alive because of him,’’ Max says solemnly. I peek at him from behind my lashes and he has that pondering look on his usually healthy and handsome face.

‘’Did you train in the park?’’ Edward asks leaning onto his side and sipping on the viscous fruit blend he was instructed to finish.

‘’Not really, he booked a private sparring room in the arena building within the walls.’’

‘’I don’t wanna get anywhere near that building again until I have to,’’ Edwards says with a sigh.

‘’I think it’s time we asked for help guys,’’ I say looking up at them each in the eye.

‘’I mean we are all in the best shapes of our lives that can’t be denied, our fighting abilities are so far beyond anything they were on Earth that our old selves are like children to what we are now. I haven’t said this to anyone else out loud yet but after that ambush and killing those assassins I’ve felt something building and dispersing itself within me. I hesitate to call it power but I have no other word to describe it.’’

‘’Me two,’’ Edward confirms.

‘’Me three,’’ Max adds.

‘’Fuck, I thought that was just wishful thinking on my part...’’John says as they all confirm the same feeling and I nod slowly as we all assess each other.

‘’I don’t know for sure what’s happening but I think with experience or with deaths or whatever, I don’t know, but I think we are getting stronger,’’ I say finally speaking of what I suspect has been happening to me.

‘’It’s gradual so you won’t really notice it if you aren’t paying attention but with my body awareness and body manipulation I’ve been able to roughly keep track of how much stronger and faster I am now than I was ten days ago,’’ I say trying to sit up without aggravating my previously broken ribs.

‘’Listen guys, I’m sure you’ve all heard quickly we earthlings gain power in comparison to the native Gaians. None of you need to be here longer than it takes you to gain strength.’’

‘’They said that all the time back in Hangari at the compound,’’ Edwards says nodding for me to continue, which I do.

‘’If it’s as we’ve been told then this is probably the best place for us to grow in order to not just survive but thrive in this world. Come on guys just think about it. If we survive through these few years we would end up with superpowers and I know you’ve all thought about your paths to Awakening.’’ I look at them as their silence fills the room.

‘’You guys do know that one of Sachihiro’s wives is from Earth right? An Indian woman from what I’ve been able to figure out and she isn’t just an Awakened after only being on the planet about seven years but she is strong enough that these crazy overprotective people let her travel to another continent alone.

‘’I know back on Earth travelling alone isn’t such a big deal but come on guys, from the shit we’ve been through to get here you know none of us would survive alone. Hell the four of us probably wouldn’t survive together let alone individually. We need these guys, even the 12-year-olds here know more about surviving than we do,’’ I say pointing at Max and his advice from Saya’s brother Hiro.

''What we need is a community, it doesn't have to be this one,'' Edwards says with a faraway look.