I stand still as stone while the chaos twirls around me. The hood of my cloak protects my eyes from the splatters of fresh blood that infect every brick on the walls surrounding us. Skairipa makes her way around the hall like a dancer - every movement gracefully violent, the sword simply an extension of her body. I watch silently as my friends stand, run, and fall under her blade. One by one.
I don't grieve their losses. They are foolish to fight. Instead, I rest my back against the locked farm door, and enjoy the front row seat, preparing myself, waiting…
"You are Wonkru," she says, facing a group of three bloodthirsty warriors with her sword drawn. "Or you are the enemy of Wonkru."
I watch as her chest rises and falls, jagged breaths escaping the thin space between her teeth. Her tight black top shimmers in the dim light of the hallway, the smooth leather soaked with blood and sweat.
"Choose."
The three warriors yell in unison as they charge her from every direction. The rest of us stand and watch as they fall under her sword like a hungry wolves next meal. She slides the blade across the throat of one man before immediately turning and spearing another through the gut. Her loud, uneven breath echoes through the hall as she faces the last opponent - my old friend, Jay. I say old because I am certain he's a goner. I drop my eyes as they fight, sending him off to the afterlife with a small thought of appreciation. He was always kind to me, but too headstrong for his own good; The booming echo of his gasp and deafening final breath proves it. I look up to see the life leave his body. As the last group of warriors brace themselves for Osleya's challenge, I count the bodies that litter the floor surrounding Jay. I would offer them each a silent yu gonplei ste odon, but I find it difficult to admire their brainless attempts to beat Octavia.
I house no fear as the final warrior drops, leaving Octavia victorious yet again. As she pulls the sword out of the last body, she fixes her eyes on me, peering up through her thick dark lashes. She eyes me like a piece of meat, ready to plunge her sword deep into my heart and complete her task. Only she doesn't yet know that I am not a fighter.
"You are Wonkru," she whispers, exasperated from the previous battles. Sword swaying in hand, she steps toward me. Indra and Gaia onlook intently behind her. "Or you are the enemy of Wonkru." She aims the blade. "Choose."
I say and do nothing. Unshaken, I stand firmly before the girl, my arms straight at my side. I am hopeful she will not kill me. I have dealt with violent warriors my whole life. They love a challenge, and I am not giving her one - well, aside from blocking the door to her precious Skaikru.
"I said choose…"
"I'm not interested in joining your little club," I respond. I never was a fan of labels, especially labels that group me in with humans who enjoy wasting their time killing each other.
"You made the wrong choice," she says, inches before my face, her grimace twisted in anger with deep lines of regret embedding her sweat and blood covered forehead. For a moment, I fear I may have pushed the girl too far, and her sword rises above me like a hammer pointed to the final nail in my coffin. It moves in slow motion as I stand my ground, ultimately faithful my confidence will protect me, again, as it always has throughout the countless fights and scuffles back home.
I've learned that nobody wants to slay the silent girl who stands calmly in a corner, unmoved by the unnecessary violence this world seems to encourage. I hope Octavia is the same, or I am about to meet my death. My gaze never falters as I stare directly at the girl. Her eyes aren't completely lost like those warriors from my past - no - she still maintains a glimmer to them, even if it is buried deep under her kill count which she flaunts. Sure, her sword is moving toward me with impeccable aim, about to slice my throat wide open, but I hold onto that tiny glimmer in her eyes - that glimmer which says she doesn't really want to kill me.
"Wait - " Indra interrupts, and I lift my gaze to smile at the now-frozen sword in Skairipa's fist. My smile is out of place as the three women stare with motionless expressions of urgency, all clenching their jaws so tightly that lines form under their skin.
Octavia breaks our eye contact to crane her neck back, facing Indra who is now walking toward us with the sound of dull steps on the concrete. Indra's deep, unwavering eyes are fixed on mine. This is not the first time I've stared directly into these eyes.
"She's not a warrior. In fact, she's a pacifist," Indra says the word as though it's bitter in her mouth. "It wouldn't be a fair fight."
"You know her?" Octavia asks, slowly lowering her weapon.
An impression of a smirk begins to form across Indra's face, but it never fully arrives. Her eyes, however, talk as though they are greeting me with malice.
"Unfortunately so," Indra responds with a nod. "Persephone kom Trikru. Or perhaps just Persephone."
"Well, if you're not a fighter, why are you guarding the door?" Octavia spews with annoyance, her brows twisted as she studies me.
"Oh, I'm not guarding anything," I say, taking a mocking step to the side and motioning with my hands as though to guide her in. "I was only here to see Skaikru get slaughtered. I guess that won't be happening now, so carry on." I say it all in a joking tone, letting a smirk find a home on my face. I find amusement watching the three women navigate my banter.
"Do you know who you're talking to?" Octavia's voice booms through the hall, bouncing off the brick and hurting my ears, but I don't cower under her bravado. I embrace her frustration. I am not afraid of her. I stand still, searching again for that glimmer under the grey of her eyes.
"Octavia," Indra scolds. "We have more important matters than this vermin. Deal with her after we open this door. Thelonious is running out of time as we speak."
"I won't just let her defy me this way, Indra. She is an enemy of Wonkru."
"So kill her quickly. She will never obey."
I stand tall before Octavia, raising my brows with a shrug. I wait for her decision - to kill me or not - though I already know her answer. If she wanted me dead, I'd already be bleeding out on the floor with the rest of the fallen. The small falters of hesitation she's shown toward me speak for themselves. And as she lowers her sword, my suspicions come true.
"You're lucky I have bigger things to deal with," she whispers close to my ear, locking eyes with mine before shoving past me to stand before the door. Indra and Gaia follow close behind, piercing me with staring eyes before dismissing me and moving along.
"It's over," Octavia whispers into a device. She sends me one last glare before the farm door clicks open. I walk away from the growing chaos behind me, stepping over the bodies of my friends.
The next time I see Octavia is through a chain-link fence as I stand in the center of a fighting pit.