The carnival surrounded Neah like an ocean, roaring screams of incoherent emotion coming in waves and smashing like a mace into his skull.
Flashing lights assaulted his eyes and the fresh scent of pork buns, sweaty friction and chimney smoke suddenly suffocated him.
Just another unrecognizable face in the coliseum. Just another drop in the ocean.
Exactly the same as all the others and yet the young Lord did not belong at all, his pale and motionless form sticking out like a sore thumb from the great masses of social sheep crying out in triumph and ecstasy.
They were smiling.
Why did they smile? They had no reason to smile. there was nothing funny, nothing good about this hellish nightmare.
And yet on he looked, on he looked with the rest at the words drawing upon the led screen presented on stage, the scroll to announce the newest addition to the gladiators, bloody warriors the fight to the death for the entertainment of the masses living only to kill or be killed.
Normally he paid no attention. He used to be able to pay no attention.
To the random lottery dictated by the government heads and their sticky fingers, he shed no cares knowing it wouldn't matter in the end.
But those days were over, killed by the words damning like the act of pinning that familiar face pinned upon the screen, tattooed upon his socket.
It was his face. That could only mean one thing.
"Mana…." He breathed "No…."
He clenched his teeth and tightened his fist. It was all becoming too much. But. But it was not over yet. Without a moment to spare, Neah took off faster than the slaves could take him down the coliseum. the journey took seemingly an eternity even though the lasted only a few seconds having taken track in school since the third grade.
He was always so fast but Mana never was. He was always sick and confined to bed. He wouldn't last a day in the Colosseum. what were they thinking electing someone like him surely there must have been some kind of mistake.
All these thoughts raced through his head but we're soon interrupted as his body slammed against the back door of the stage.
There he knew he could talk to somebody. They had to know. They had to. There was no entertainment in watching a half dead animal get taken out so quickly what purpose would there even be to put Mana in the coliseum? The mere thought disgusted, repulsed, horrified him to his core.
He thought surely they would listen to reason but as he passed through the doors and saw the guards coming towards him at full speed he started to doubt that possibility.
they took hold of his arms and held him in place telling him that he couldn't be back here. he was only a teenager so of course they went easy on him.
Nonetheless he struggled.
"Let go of me!" He shouted, attempting to resist their strengths with all his might but to no avail, "I said that go! I have to get to him! I have to-!"
But that's when he heard it.
"Please let him go!" Looking much to his relief Neah saw his brother, Mana walking towards him and for a second he was hopeful that he had told them I was a misunderstanding and that they had somehow let him free but that hope was soon killed as, knowing him for as long as he could remember he could always tell when he was telling a lie.
"This is my brother…" He whispered quietly, "He only came to say goodbye….."
Looked at him with an enraged air about them. they had no intention of leaving but then he said in a much louder more confident tone and he wished to have a moment alone with his brother and then they left begrudgingly.
The second they were gone Neah immediately embraced the other warmly.
"Please…" he whispered into the crook of his neck, "Just tell them there was a mistake…."
"I can't…" Mana spoke carefully like he was talking to a child, "You know I can't do that…."
He soon backed up, muttering incoherent promises to the floor.
"Then I'll tell them! I'll tell them you're sick, then I'm sure they'll-!"
His sentence was soon interrupted as Mana's hands flew up to yank on his cheeks.
"What and get me executed before I even have a chance?" He pouted "Do you really want to get rid of me that much?"
With tears in his eyes for more than just the pain in his cheeks Neah swatted his hands away.
"Do you think this is a joke?!" He cried with his fists clenched, "Mana, you could die…..!"
"Hmm…No, I do not think I will die." The other smiled slyly with a finger to his lips in wonder, "There's a lot more to me than meets the eye~!"
Neah was exasperated and upset enough but then the guards from before I came back into the scene much to his distress.
"That's enough time. Time to go. Now!"
Suddenly they seized Neah by the arms again and began to pull him towards the door. Despite saying goodbye he still struggled like his life depended on it.
"No! No wait! I need more time-!"
that's the last thing he saw his brother that day was him smiling sadly his way wearing his usual and familiar clownish grin he had worn since he was very young.
And Neah would never forget the words he told him that day.
"Don't worry. It will all turn out alright. One day you'll be laughing about this and we'll all be together again. Just you wait and see."
And then he was gone.
The carnival surrounded Neah like an ocean, roaring screams of incoherent emotion coming in waves and smashing like a mace into his skull.
Flashing lights assaulted his eyes and the fresh scent of pork buns, sweaty friction and chimney smoke suddenly suffocated him.
It was all suddenly too much.
All the laughter, all the tears, it was all suddenly far too much for him to handle.