Alright!

Muriel's here and we have our first 'adventurous' chapter.

Enjoy!

The crowd was elbow to elbow in the Arena but a man that Hero recognized from the south shopping district had a place reserved for Asra fairly close with a direct view. Hero could tell that the shopkeeps of Vesuvia cared greatly for Asra and Muriel by this small act of kindness. How many fights had Muriel been in? She wondered. She glanced over at Asra who was again radiating the same intense nervous energy from when he entered the shop. His jaw was clenched. How many fights had he forced himself to watch?

They took their seat and Asra explained to her that Lucio would generally make some grand speech and a comedic skit would follow, though they tended to get bloody as well. The comedic skits were usually punishment being dealt to the 'actors' involved… a form of physical violence and humiliation for Lucio to carry out towards a crime committed against him.

"That's terrible," Hero exclaimed when she saw the nervous 'jester' walk to the center of the arena.

"Lucio believes that public humiliation and execution is the most effective way to keep crime in Vesuvia down… problem is, Vesusvia's citizen crime rate isn't actually a high priority to Lucio… so a lot of these people are being tortured over petty crimes such as getting the thread count wrong for his bed sheets."

Hero wanted to believe that Asra was making a tasteless joke but she wasn't so sure after meeting the count.

He leaned in closer to her as Lucio stepped out and the crowd went wild, "Get this, though. The actual criminals that Vesuvia has to offer? They're all Lucio's prized gladiators, with the exception of Muriel who is a novelty just because of his size and prowess. These men are all working off debts to Lucio to cover the crimes they have committed, essentially. So they aren't actually being punished, really. A lot of them actually enjoy the bloodshed and with the crowds cheering for them, they feel like celebrities. So, they continue to run amuck and don't suffer any consequences because it's their ticket to continue competing and being treated like Lucio's lapdogs. Twisted, right?'

"How can people enjoy this?"

Asra shrugged nonchalantly, "Rose colored glasses, Hero. They all think this is an act for their entertainment if it doesn't directly affect them. But look closely, that man has a family in this audience right now."

Hero looked straight ahead and saw the elders and young woman clinging to each other as they looked over the arena fearfully. His parents and wife, no doubt.

"Lucio is sick. He's much worse than I thought."

"Well, at least they're in luck, today. His opponent is Muriel."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Muriel's only killed beasts and other gladiators to survive. He's never killed a citizen. Look at the look of disappointment on Lucio's face. He already knows that Muriel's going to go easy on him but that's the card he drew and fair is fair at least."

"However, this will add on to his debt unfortunately. If Muriel defeats his opponent, he gets so much taken off. If he only injures the poor guy rendering him unable to fight and refuses the finishing blow, Lucio calls a draw and adds more time to Muriel's sentence while the other guy goes free to his family.. but not without a price, I'm sure. Lucio hates to not get his way."

"I see."

Hero looked down at Muriel and let out a surprised gasp. She had expected him to be big due to Asra's description but she wasn't expecting him to be so attractive. Even though he was scowling the entire time, his facial features were still very strong and handsome… and Hero melted sensing how uncomfortable he was with the whole situation. The man was not a natural with crowds. He was shy and she found him precious.

When she met Asra's gaze again, he was grinning at her knowingly.

"Yeah. Just get used to looking. He's not the most social guy on the planet... but I can put in a word for you. I'm sure he's free after all this."

"Shut up," she seethed shoving him away from her. Her cheeks were burning.

"So Muriel? That's your type. Interesting."

"Can we seriously let this subject go?"

"Absolutely not," Asra was at least smiling and chuckling to himself rather than acting like a worried mess. Hero rolled her eyes and decided to go with it for his sake.

"Well, I mean, you did paint him out to be rather admirable."

"He's my favorite person, Hero… and as much as I would love to see him in a happy relationship, I'm just going to come right out say it. You two? No way."

"Why not?" Hero asked defensively, "What's wrong with me?"

Asra blinked in surprise then shook his head, "Just watch. We can discuss this later."

Hero folded her arms in front of her chest and watched the scrawny man shakily take his first jab at Muriel only to be knocked to his feet dismissively. This continued for 30 minutes. Muriel was simply exhausting the man without taking any blows. The crowd continued to cheer and laugh at the man's failed attempts to attack Muriel while Lucio seethed in his tower. Eventually the crowd grew bored with the performance and began booing when Muriel didn't fight back and with one swift motion, Muriel swung his blade, meeting the man's shield and knocking him back in to the arena wall so hard than he immediately passed out.

As Muriel approached the man, Hero noticed the slight quiver of his hand as he held the blade above the unconscious man. She looked over at the man's wife who had screamed in horror and was now buried in to the elder woman's chest sobbing. Hero moved to the edge of her seat waiting. Asra had been so sure that Muriel wouldn't kill this man. She clutched Asra's arm in a deadly grip and he tried to pry her off of him with no success.

"Give it a second," Asra coaxed through pained clenched teeth, "And let go of my arm. You're hurting me."

"Fair citizens of Vesuvia, what would you have The Scourge of the South do? Let this man live? Or kill him where he lays?"

A mixture of cries from the audience muffled what Lucio was saying and Muriel turned to face the count abruptly, staring wildly at the crowd. Something was not right.

Asra stood up, "This isn't right. Lucio's never involved the crowd like this. He's cornering Muriel."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"I don't know. I'm thinking. Muriel knows how to cast a few protective shields but it won't matter if the crowd ultimately chooses to see this man dead. I can try to manipulate the sound of the crowd's cries to sound like a unanimous answer of letting the man live."

"You can do that?" Hero asked incredulously.

"I don't know. I might need your help."

"Wait! I have an idea. Something I can actually do!" Hero exclaimed, "A distraction so that they can get away."

Hero closed her eyes and focused on the air around her feeling every ounce of its pressure. She needed to manipulate the conditions for a small vortex in the arena. As her finger tips began to tingle, she twirled her index finger in a clockwise motion until the dust in the center of the arena began to move in a weak circular motion at first. As the dust picked up speed, she increased her focus and eventually the crowd was so distracted by the small storm brewing in front of them that their cries died down. They were more concerned with seeking shelter and people were starting to panic.

Asra let out and excited cheer and grabbed her hand sending a surge of his own magic through her to help. There was a loud crack of thunder as the vortex grew and Muriel grabbed the man's limp body and carried him out of the arena to safety as the panic grew.

A brief second of direct eye contact passed between Lucio and Hero before another crack of thunder the massive downpour of rain. It made her sick to her stomach and broke her concentration but Muriel had gotten away with the man at least.

"Come on! We don't have a lot of time, Hero! We've got to get to that man before Lucio does!"

"Right!"

They pushed their way through the crowd until Muriel and the man were visible with his family.

"Asra!" Muriel exclaimed.

"I know!"

"Why did you interfere like that?!" The large man practically roared angrily at his small white haired friend.

"It was all me and it wasn't exactly looking good for you back there!" Asra snapped back, "We don't have time to argue. We have to get this man and his family out of here and fast. Hero, do you know any charming spells?"

"Yeah. My parents taught me when I was little."

"Good. I need you to help me place an enchantment on them and ourselves so that we can blend in with the crowd and get them somewhere safe."

"How long will the enchantment last?" The man asked as Hero muttered a spell to change his facial features and clothing.

"Just long enough to get you out of here," Asra answered enchanting the man's father quickly.

"Will we be able to come back to Vesuvia?"His wife asked as her hair changed from blonde to a vibrant purple. Hero and Asra both stopped to admire her handy work.

"It's a flattering look look, actually… but no. I'm afraid you won't be able to return to Vesuvia for a while at least… it needs time to blow over."

The sobbing from the wife began again and Hero hugged her to console her, "You'll be fine. I promise, okay?"

Hero then enchanted the man's mother and herself while Asra took care of Muriel and himself.

"Alright, I've got to get you to a field outside of Vesuvia where you'll be taken to the city of Nopal. The chief of the village will take you to a safe house there."

"Thank you! I don't know how I'll ever repay this kindness, Asra."

"I won't hear anything of the sort. Just be safe out there. Let's go."

Back in town, Hero, Asra, and Muriel sat in the shop with Tess staring at them incredulously as Hero and Asra finished their recap of the evening.

"So you are the reason a family had to flee from their life in Vesuvia?" Muriel asked Hero with a scowl.

She gulped back a lump in her throat feeling the disappointment in his tone.

"We saved them. I thought you'd be grateful that you didn't have to kill that man."

"If not me, another gladiator would have gladly done it. Now, that is exactly what awaits them when they come back. All you have given them is false hope with your meddling."

"Muriel," Asra started but Muriel shook his head in aggravation.

"You're no better for helping! You interfered with a man's life. I would have suffered the consequences regardless. You can't just recklessly involve strangers like you did."

"Why can't you just be grateful? These strangers have done a lot to help you without you even inquiring our names. You just want to be a grump because you didn't ask for help. So what? You still received it and we don't even know if that family will end up loving Nopal and staying there instead of coming back to Vesuvia. You don't get to be angry for other people who aren't here to speak for themselves and they seemed quite grateful that we were there to help them, actually. And Asra. You really think he was going to sit still and watch his best friend be pressured in to killing an innocent man?" Hero stood up to face Muriel angrily.

Muriel scowled down at her, "I had it under control."

"No you didn't. You don't have to thank me but you should at least thank the person in this room that cares for you a whole hell of a lot more than I do. I'm not apologizing for doing the right thing and you are so welcome by the way."

"I'm leaving. This is why I hate new people, Asra. They can't leave well enough alone."

With that, Muriel left the shop and Asra turned to Hero with a sheepish grin, "He'll be fine. Deep down, he's appreciative. He just doesn't like other people sticking their necks out for him like that. You know? The guy's got walls bigger than he is. You still want me to get you that date?"

"Get out," Hero commanded as her cheeks flushed red again.

"Cause I mean, that went really well, actually."

"Get out, now."

"Thank you, by the way. For thinking on your feet like that and helping me get them out of here seamlessly. You're on his radar now, though. You do know that?"

"I had a feeling I was on that monster's radar the moment we met. I'm not scared of him."

Asra sighed, "You should be, though. Just, please be careful."

Hero blinked at him in surprise before he left.

Tess was still sitting at the counter in shock, "Welcome to Vesuvia, Hero. Wow. I ran one errand and you're an assist to a family on the lamb from the freaking COUNT of the entire city?!"

Hero shrugged and smiled innocently, "it's just what I do?"

Tess shook her head before laughing, "You're wild. I think it's time we just go to bed and figure this all out in the morning."

"Agreed," Hero stated with a yawn, "Today was exhausting."