Hidden by baggy pants and a tunic with one of Flavia's old cloaks on top, we enter the arena. "Nervous?" Flavia questions, elated to see some action.
I chuckle. "You sound as if I'm going to fight," I joke. Then I start thinking about it. Wait…
"Lighten up Olivia, you're just another stranger in a crowd. No one will have eyes on you." Good.
I nod, pulling the hood over my eyes more. We pass a guard who looks at me suspiciously, but Flavia waves him away, indicating that I'm with her. Once we're inside, I lift my hood a little to admire the view. Which isn't much, actually. It's falling apart in places, and it's pretty cramped with all these attendees betting on who'll win next and...are those drugs? Oh gods no…! I quickly avert my eyes, choosing to focus on Flavia, the only one who'll rescue me. She wraps an arm around my shoulders, guiding me to front row seats. Even just from this contact over layers causes me to blush, thinking if she was...no, she has Basilio, and I have…well, my dancing.
Soon after we get ourselves situated in the second row-I'd asked Flavia to not put us in the first-the fights begin. Everyone's chanting a fighter's name, but I can't distinguish them from the loud sounds of metal against metal, more often than not metal hitting flesh. Earlier the East-Khan told me the rules include not killing anyone, but you can seriously maim them if necessary. How brutal…
The first few rounds pass and everyone was losing against this really tall, buff guy with a hammer. And not like the tool; it's the kind that's used against armored soldiers. The audience thought that he was going to end up the champion, but I kept hearing Flavia muttering under her breath, "No, not that one," when a young, lean, man with dark brown hair and a slim sword enter the ring without any announcement. "Oh?" Flavia comments, rising a little in her seat to get a better look. Even with our good seats, we don't get a clear look of what he looks like. He has a mask covering his mouth and nose and his demeanor is like...an assassin. Even so, something about him seems familiar...
"You think you can handle me?!" the current champion yells. But the man doesn't answer. "Alright fine! I didn't need to talk anyway!"
In a frenzy, Flavia and several audience members are betting for the new contender. "It's him, I know it," Flavia murmurs, the glint back in her eyes.
The referee-host?-signals the commencement of the fight and immediately the big guy leaps at the new challenger. Yet he disappears before my eyes, only to see him a second or two later on the other side of the ring, unruffled. What the…?
Angry, the hammer guy runs at him again, missing him. The assassin darts behind him to make a cut behind the knee, causing the hammer guy to stagger. He regains his balance and swipes with the hammer. It's a near miss, and the assassin gets the beginnings of a bruise. His eyes don't give away any expression though. "You scared, huh punk?!" hammer guy yells, his face red. Still, the assassin won't answer. "Come at me!"
In response, the assassin swiftly charges at him and cuts him in several places and lands a precise kick to the stomach, sending the hammer guy stumbling to the other side. The assassin mutters something, to which the hammer guy replies, "What the hell man?!"
In the next few seconds, the hammer guy is pinned down with a sword to his throat. The referee finally steps in, saying, "Whoa sir, there's no killing here." The assassin nods and pulls the sword away.
The hammer guy, still red in the face, cries, "Alright fine! You won!" With that, the referee announces the assassin the champion and he leaves the ring. I smile and look at Flavia, glad that she'll get the winnings. She looks back at me, knowing that she found the one.
"Come, let's talk to him." Flavia takes my hand and leads me to the challenger's resting/waiting area, but he's not there. We ask around and search the entire arena, but he's nowhere to be found. "Dammit," Flavia curses, thinking that she lost her chance.
"Next time...right, Flavia?" I ask timidly. She only purses her lips and holds onto my arm as I lead her out of the arena.