CYANIDE SALIVA
Chapter 2: No Less a Slave

A bright, fiery sun hoisted itself into the sapphire stretch of cloudless sky. Like a fat king perching on his throne, he looked hungrily over the world below as a tyrant might glare over his kingdom. Waves of warmth hummed silently against the land, gently pushing its subjects into motion while the burning yellow sphere watched impatiently from above.

The illuminated heat seemed awfully pervasive, the blonde vixen mused, as it shot in through the large window and filled her stone-walled room with its presence. She lay perfectly still on her bed, her skin resting against the soft purple silk of her sheets. Her amethyst hues gazed up to the dusty, stone ceiling without a particular focus, and her breath was slow and nearly silent. In this moment, there was no bloodshed, no cruelty, no violence, nor were there any thoughts, concerns, or fears. She simply existed.

What a wonderful, lonely feeling.

Her thoughtless trance was interrupted as the door suddenly creaked open. An old and rather short demon, with slightly blue-toned horned skin, slouched in the doorway. "They're wanting you down in the pit," he spoke with a drone, "there's a special event today and they want you as a spectator."

With a dramatic flare, she threw her arm up across her forehead, closing her eyes and turning her head away. "Oh, you wretched butler, can't you tell the masters to please their own crowds? It's simply exhausting having to do their job for them~ and besides, I'm having an existential moment here!"

Her last word had barely fluttered from her pouting lips when a book flew across the room and straight into her head.

"Ow!" She flinched and quickly sat up, baring her sharp canines. "What the hell-"

"It seems again you've forgotten your place." The yōkai servant seemed to spit out each word. "Buy all the vacation days you like, you conceited, vile creature," he leaned forward, nearly growling out his speech between clenched teeth, "but it doesn't change the fact that you're no less a slave than anyone else here."

Rai blinked for a moment, her eyes widening slightly as her angry expression faded into that of an almost childish gaze. "Not... even a little less?"

Another book suddenly beamed her again, right in the same spot. She curled over a bit, holding her assaulted head. "FUCK man, I was joking!"

"Shall I tell them you'll be down in 15 minutes?" He asked, his voice back to a dull drone. He took her hiss as a confirmation and spun around, leaving her to get ready and closing the door behind him.

A quiet "Shit..." hissed from her lips as she stood up, stretching a bit before rubbing her head. "Ooh yeah, I'm such a valued fucking spectator," she muttered as she pulled off her loose blouse and fleece pajama pants, "so feel free to beam me in the goddamn head with a Greek epic."

Moving to the small wooden dresser at the foot of her bed, she pulled out her black and white gothic lolita dress, her fingers toying with the yellow string that laced up the front. Both the dress and its design was custom-made, just for her. Well... she liked to think it had been for her. Nothing kept an audience coming back like a popular icon - she may have only been a Class B demon, but she'd become an A-list celebrity in the world of illegal, underground fight clubs. Her emerging fanbase was what shot this rinky dink arena into the ranks alongside the most infamous clubs, and with its popularity and cash flow booming, Carne Vale became quite the force to be reckoned with.

Within minutes she had donned her famous attire, flowing frills perfectly in place, laces tied off in perfect bows. Looking in the mirror, she pulled up her hair into thick, curly twin tails, taking a moment to glance at the pictures and cards and letters she had fixed to the mirror's edges, tokens of adoration from her loving fans. Her gaze then fell to the bouquet of withering roses that lay on the surface of the vanity table, and with a sudden flare of anger, she reached out and slung the aged flowers into the trash can.

She was no less a slave than anyone else in this hell hole.

Scurrying through an array of creatures, Raikitsu made her way to the 'arena', which was literally no more than a large, open pit. A balcony encircled the pit, which offered quite a bit of seating for any rich, sadistic individual with spare time to come and watch the bloodbath. Below the balcony where the audience watched with sick pleasure as demons were forced at each other's throats, the rest of Carne Vale's enslaved fighters gathered to watch and cheer on one of their own against the slave of a rival troupe. Rai was never known to enjoy watching the fights, but her masters thought that, as their house celebrity, it was her obligation to show support by cheering on her comrades.

She finally managed to scoot up to the frontlines, since she needed to be seen by the audience (otherwise, what would be the point?), and found herself beside a female neko of about the same age. Thick, gold hoops dangled from large, expressive feline ears, which twitched and perked up as she watched the match. "Oi, Ri'anha!"

The tall, tan-furred cat demon jumped slightly before turning to Rai. "Ah! You're here! They've been wondering where you were. The fight's almost over."

"Yeah yeah. They can shove it~ I'm here now, anyways. So! What's this special event I heard of?"

Ri'anha's ears lay back, her head tilting slightly. "I'm not sure. They haven't mentioned anything."

"So they want to surprise us all, then... This should be good." The blonde sighed, brushing the cyan bangs from her eyes as she turned focus to the pit ahead of her, where two bloodied and bruised demons continued to slash and punch each other. Cheers and angry motivational-attempts filled the air, bombarding the tense atmosphere from the spectators above.

She didn't recognize either demon, so this couldn't have been any kind of special event. In fact, it was quite the opposite - two completely ordinary, brutish ogres fighting to bash each others' brains in... No more spectacular than a demon bar fight, and appealing only to the most basic forms of bloodlust. No, this was merely an appetizer, to settle the audience into their seats, to let them know a show was about to start.

At long last, a bloodied heap of creature drooped to the ground, and the standing ogre finished him off with a swift kick to the head. The loser hit the rocky floor with a somewhat satisfying pop, as the impact cracked his skull open like an egg. Blood quickly pooled around the corpse as the victor huffed and puffed over the kill, his shoulders heaving with every labored breath, and the crowd broke into more joyful shouts and cheers.

"That one was ours," the feline whispered, referring to the deceased ogre as she handed the vixen an apple, "he only got here last week... how dreadful."

Rai's lips parted to respond, but before she could, the booming voice of Carne Vale's announcer filled the arena and silenced the audience.

"Now, we have a treat for you all today." The croaky voice seemed to coo to the crowd as if it were a child about to be rewarded for good behavior. From the far side of the pit, an 8-meter-tall rock titan emerged from the barracks, each of its footsteps causing the ground to shake ever so slightly. "Watching demons beat the shit out of each other may be exciting, but sometimes-"

A gap formed on their side of the ground-level crowd of fighters, as a few superiors marched toward the pit. Everyone seemed to crane their necks, curious to see what was happening. Rai stood on her tippy toes, even jumping a time or two to catch a glimpse in between anxious bites of the apple within her hand.

"-it's much more fun-"

As the small group passed by, Rai noticed there was another figure in the center of their tight formation. The figure's arms were being held tight, its head covered with a black cloth sack, and they briskly escorted it into the pit.

"-to watch a helpless bug squirm."

At the announcer's cue, one of the escorts reached over and pulled off the sack to reveal this special-event fighter. His raven hair was messy and matted with blood, and wide, confused lavendar eyes darted around, and as they stepped away from him, he slowly turned around, desperate to figure out where he was.

The twice-bitten apple landed on the ground with a soft thud.