Author's Notes: I am terribly, terribly sorry for the lack of updates. I've
been having writer's block and lack of inspiration, but I had a jolt of
inspiration just today. It was beautiful. It's March 31st, and it was
SNOWING today. The sun was out and bright, the grass green, and snowflakes
just came down from the air when I was walking home. It was AMAZINGLY
inspiring, especially since I have to walk down a hill from school, and it
was a wonderful sight. Anyways, here's the second development of "The
Gladiators." Please enjoy, and R+R!
* * *
CHAPTER TWO
FIRST FIGHT
Anzu woke early the next morning, and spread herself across the green grass to stretch. "I'm going to give Satrei and these foolish people a sample of my power - but just a sample." She hissed in a low, determined voice.
To test out her power, she instantly put up her index finger, and a ball of blue fire raged into a tall oak tree, sending it into the next dimension. Anzu smirked. The hours passed quickly as she warmed herself up. She noticed that none of the men nor Shizuka and Mai had awoken yet. "Pathetic fools." She whispered, and continued training in the morning sunlight. She managed to raise her power level up by 3500 points in just four hours.
Anzu fingered the gravity device in her hand. "It really works." She whispered. She was ready. Breathing heavily, she sank into a pool of cold bath water. She shivered, and then adjusted to the freezing, ice-cold water. Hurriedly, she soaped herself and then quickly dressed, in case any of the men woke up. She decided to wake Shizuka and Mai up, or they wouldn't be able to take baths.
"Shizuka, wake up!" Anzu seethed menacingly. When she was only responded by the sound of light snoring, Anzu grew impatient, and pulled the girl up by her collar of her shirt. "Wake up, you fool, if you want to conceal your gender."
Shizuka, aware that someone was holding her up by the collar of her baggy clothes, immediately jumped up at the forceful tug. Instinctively, still blinded by the bright light outside, Shizuka unraveled her bun and took out a knife and began stabbing blindly.
Anzu smirked. The girl was completely oblivious to the fact that it was Anzu she was trying to stab. She blocked a few of the knife stabs, and then, getting impatient, wrestled the knife out of Shizuka's hand swiftly and quickly, and whispered, "It's me. Get dressed."
She dropped Shizuka back roughly down on the hard cot. "Ouch!" Shizuka rubbed her bottom. "What are you doing?" She then saw an armor-clad person standing at the foot of her cot.
"Get bathed and dressed before those lazy-butt men wake up. I'm going to go get Mai." Anzu roughly pulled Shizuka to her feet and gave her a forceful push that sent her towards the baths.
Anzu sauntered over boyishly, in case anyone was spying on her. She shook a blonde. Mai groaned in utter disapproval. "I need my beauty sleep." She complained.
Mai was a different case. She WOULD NOT get up. Anzu pursed her lips, and then with amazing strength sent a blast of power and used it to carry Mai very easily. She dumped Mai into a bathtub. "Bathe yourself." She demanded.
When she got no response, she turned a knob, and water came pouring over Mai's luxuriant blonde locks of hair. Enraged in a surprise and fury, Mai would've screamed if not for the water Anzu was shoving in her mouth to keep her quiet.
Smirking triumphantly, Anzu left to explore Kamire using one of her favorite magic powers, IT - Instant Transmission. Once in a private place, she spun and transformed back into Anzu, as a girl. If anybody saw her in her gladiator uniform as a man, she'd be executed in a snap of the finger. She fit herself into a worn, black leather dress. It exposed her long, pale legs and even though it was simple clothing, it made her look enticingly lovely. It was sleeveless, exposing her bare shoulders. The dress hugged her curves in just the right places, showing off a portion of her ample bosom.
The Kamian men seemed like vicious tigers. Anzu observed silently from a stand as they watched women, dressed in very provocative clothing, walked by, swinging their hips seductively. She decided to have some fun right before the gladiator matches just to get Satrei pissed off at her.
Scanning the busy city with her eyes, she found the perfect place. "The bar. Obviously where Satrei is boasting about Shizuka and Mai, how resilient and obedient they are, and not talking about me at all." Anzu smirked darkly and teleported over to the front of the bar, where she walked in.
She walked into a bustling little bar. Women wearing see-through lace shirts and fishnet tights, dressed slimly and seductively were all pawned over unfathomably rich men. Men wearing fine robes printed in gold and red, and business suits from the most famous companies in Kamire sauntered around the fancy bar, always with a trail of stick-thin, beautiful, anorexic women trailing behind them.
Anzu looked around for a six-foot-two, bony man with freckled skin and sharp, edgy features. She found Satrei wearing silk maroon business suit with gold imprinting, surrounded by a few prostitutes.
The first was no doubt a Linean woman, with chestnut hair falling to her waist, and almond-shaped green eyes of a cat. Her face seemed to scream, "I'M A PHONY!" She looked too perfect, too plastic, and too dollish. She was wearing a short red dress, revealing tanned legs and gold heels that accented her dress. The dress was made of tight, stretchy fabric, and she looked like a predator hunting its prey.
The second was an intensely gorgeous black woman, with luscious black curls draping her shoulders, and drooping honey eyes, with thin slanted eyebrows. She too looked as perfect as the other woman, both images of the perfect fake women. The black woman was wearing a midnight blue dress that accompanied her chocolate eyes nicely, but her eyes and the way she moved made her look too fake.
"Satrei." Anzu whispered, giving him her trademark smirk. She leaned down, her eyes meeting his.
When Satrei jolted up and realized it was his beautiful little gladiator, his eyes nearly popped open. "The first fight is in three hours. What are you doing here?"
"Oh." Anzu smiled devilishly. "Just exploring your whereabouts."
"Mazaki Anzu. You drive me crazy." Satrei hissed.
Anzu smirked. "Whatever you say, Satrei. I'm going back to train now. I'll stop by later." Anzu winked, and disappeared.
"Baka onna (Stupid woman)." Satrei clenched his fists.
~Preparing for the Fight~
"Anzu, where were you? After you literally took me by the collar of my shirt and told me to get up, I didn't see you. Satrei's going to be mad." Shizuka asked.
"Don't worry, Shizuka. Satrei will be plenty happy before the day is over." Anzu simply smirked.
A dark-skinned man led them to a steel cage. The other gladiators were led to wooden cages. 'Too weak,' Anzu thought to herself. Mai, Shizuka, and herself were all clad in only dirt-brown clothes. The top was very baggy, but they had insisted on light pants for running. It was all too ironic to see three weak-looking people in a steel cage.
Furthermore, Anzu had a yellow X, and was betted to die. Why would a person being betted to die have the honor of being in a power-restraint cage? Anzu felt the rockiness of the unsteady cart. She felt like blowing the citizens that were staring at her to bits.
Instead, she held her temper until they approached the battered stadium. Satrei had informed the gladiators after they won five gladiator matches, they would go to the famous Colosseum, where the royal family and elite warriors would be watching them.
That is, IF they survived. There was always an if.
~Two Hours Later~
"This is it, men. Go out there and die!" Satrei urged triumphantly.
"Gee, thanks. I feel a lot better." Shizuka smiled weakly, her hand trembling, her knees feeling like jelly. They weren't allowed to have proper armor and weapons. All they had was a blunt sword. They would have to wrestle the sharp, metal blades of the other gladiators away and after skillful trickery, kill them. Anzu, however, had other plans.
Mai glanced down at the blunt-looking metal sword in her tight grasp. Beads of sweat from nervousness trickled down her palm. Her sweat-soaked clothing, and the scalding-hot sun weren't helping. Her long, sun-bleached hair was put up, helping her neck, but she hoped she wouldn't get badly sunburned. Her skin was extra sensitive, and she was going to make a special note to blast Satrei if her skin got burnt.
Anzu was a different story. A glowing golden aura around her body to protected herself from the burning heat. She felt confident she was going to give these people a taste of her abilities. She lowered her power level a bit, making her power level very faint. She didn't want to be noticed. Not yet.
A loud, sputtering voice came over the intercom. The trio looked over to see a pudgy man wearing dirt-brown clothes speaking over the intercom. He was badly shaven, with stubbles of hair all over his face and a scarred nose and bandaged cheek. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, your GLADIATORS!"
The heavy wooden doors were bolted down with axes and swords, their metal blades reflecting the sunlight, glinting, and blinding the many spectators.
The fighting began in mad chaos, the inexperienced gladiators blindly lashing their pathetic, blunted swords out against the muscle-packed opponents.
"Stay together!" Anzu yelled. In a rush of fear, Mai and Shizuka joined with Anzu to form a triangle. "STAY TOGETHER!" She roared. She hated people disobeying her. "Keep fighting. I'll be back." When she saw that the foolish men would not listen to her, she smirked. Mai and Shizuka fought as a pair.
Shizuka glanced at her 6"5 foot tall opponent and gulped. She was a petite girl and didn't like to be constantly reminded of her height, especially at this time. Her handle on the sword loosened it a bit, and for a split second she forgot what she was fighting for - revenge.
"Shizuka, this is no time to lose courage. Help me fight!" Mai jumped over the opponent, trying to wrestle the monster. Shizuka nodded, and sent a hard kick towards the man's abs and stomach, pummeling her feet, causing him to choke out blood from his inner organs.
Flailing helplessly as Mai tossed the man with her feet back towards Shizuka like a soccer ball, the sword slipped his hand and grazed Shizuka's shoulder. Crying out in pain, Shizuka knelt for a second, clutching her bleeding shoulder.
Anzu, who was just overlooking the situation and deciding who to kill, first noticed Shizuka's pain. She focused her cerulean eyes on the blood dripping out of Shizuka's wound, and sealed it. "Pathetic human. Can't even avoid a silly accident."
Shizuka's shoulder didn't hurt anymore, and though she didn't know who had helped her, she flung the sword at Mai. "KILL HIM!" She shrieked, grimacing at her own terrifying words.
Shutting her eyes and praying deeply, Mai plunged the sword into the man's heart with exact aim, and he bolted, clutching his heart, and fell into the sand, dead.
Mai pulled out the blood-red sword, and a tear escaped her eyes. She had just killed somebody. She would never forget that moment. That soft, vulnerable look on the man's eyes the last split second before the sword pierced his flesh. The red blood that escaped every crack of skin, being absorbed into the pale white sand. Mai and Shizuka met for the briefest moment before another man came charging at them. "Let's do this." Mai whispered, through a soft choke.
Anzu smirked, and found her perfect opponent - a slim man with huge muscles who had killed many. "My first victim." Putting two fingers to her forehead, she transported to the other end of the small stadium, approaching the man that was at least 7 foot five, and compared to her, he looked like an elephant to an ant.
"Good afternoon Anzu greeted, disguising her best deep voice, and speaking in Kamian. "Diesch omhoskt (Let's fight)." Anzu got into a perfect fighting stance, perfect bent knees and posture, figure straight and confident.
Angered by the confident young "man," the man charged at her, sword glinting with the point of pure red blood. "OMHOSKT! ARGH!!!!!!" He let out a battle cry of great fury; sending the sword straight towards Anzu's neck, ready to chop her in half.
Smiling for a split second, Anzu disappeared behind him, bounded off of the wall like a great samurai, and sent a kick straight for the man's stomach, quickly followed up by a punch between the ribs and using her other foot came three barreling kicks to deform his face.
The man choked, blood coming out of his mouth, and dropped the sword. Anzu smiled a bit at her own small victory.
She took the man's sword, and flung it into the wall. Nobody would ever use that bloodstained sword ever again. She drove it deep into the wall, forcing the wall to creak. Anzu glanced around to find another opponent. This time, it was a plump, short, and sturdy man with dark facial hair covering his face.
As she drove the sword in to make the wall rumble, the man charged towards her. When he came within a few feet of her, she swung around, sending a flying kick in a perfect stance at him. In her flash of speed that any powerful being would envy, she stole the sword from his hand, slashing him square in the chest. The man flung back, clutching his sliced flesh.
Anzu smiled triumphantly. She then sent a tiny, yet forceful fist into his chest, pummeling while using her feet to send another kicks to his calves and thighs, she broke a couple of his ribs. In one last fist, she hit the target point - the area where his sternum was uncovered, puncturing his heart and instantly killing him.
Anzu jumped high into the air effortlessly to the other end of the small stadium, where Shizuka and Mai were. "Miss me?" She smirked.
"No doubt about that." Mai wiped off some sweat off her brow. "I'm going to kill Satrei. This sucks. I'm getting myself all sweaty."
"Oh, really?" Shizuka asked sarcastically, timidly glancing at the sweat-soaked blonde next to her.
"You pathetic humans haven't even trained yourself to protect from heat?" Anzu shook her head in dismay. "Did you learn how to fly?"
"Fly?" Shizuka's eyes lit up. "I'd like to learn how to."
Anzu rolled her eyes slightly. They were supposed to be powerful. Bunch of fakes.
"Stop being so arrogant." Mai's stern voice demanded the air.
"Arrogant?" Anzu glared a seething death glare at Mai.
"Yes, ARROGANT. Just because you're better and more powerful than the two of us combined doesn't give you the right to be arrogant." Mai replied, her violet eyes piercing Anzu's azure blue eyes.
"Hmph." Anzu bit her lip, and disappeared, only to reappear behind Mai in time to use a blade to slice the opponent about to kill Mai into sixty-four pieces. "I did samurai studies." She paused, and disappeared again, appearing behind Shizuka. She pummeled her fists and legs at the man trying to kill Shizuka, and smiled. "But it doesn't hurt to know the simple basics of your own human body." With one last roundhouse kick, she flipped over and smirked. "These people are simply pathetic."
Shizuka quivered. "Stop it."
"Stop what?" Anzu questioned, raising a delicate eyebrow. Had Shizuka finally chickened out? It didn't seem like the petite woman's nature to kill.
"JUST STOP THE KILLING!" Shizuka screamed, falling to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
"She's broken and it's only a small fight. She has no spirit." Anzu shook her head, and as an onslaught of twenty men came, she simply raised a hand, emitting blue fire from it, and shot the men dead.
"Mai, take care of Shizuka. I'll kill the others. Shizuka won't last much longer under these harsh conditions." Anzu took a sharp blade, and jumped all over the stadium, slicing people into pieces on the way.
Within seconds, nobody but the three girls and a few fortunate men were left. Anzu glared into the faces of the awed people. "That's your fight." She threw the blade into the dust, and turned to Mai. "Bring her inside. She's probably suffering from heat stroke."
Mai hurriedly took Shizuka inside to treat her. Anzu flew up to reach Satrei. "You will not dispose of Shizuka. She's too innocent. The hands of blood stained her today. The blood of man has already stained me, but she has not been stained. You pathetic man. Taking that away from Shizuka is the worst thing you could've done within her mind. You and I know perfectly well the dangers of life. I know more than beyond even your old years. Do not harm her." Anzu's azure eyes burned crimson.
Satrei bit his lip. He stood up to face the pale-skinned girl. They were uneven, his thin, bony features meeting her soft, pale ones. Dark skin contrasted to white skin, a pointy, scarred nose to a perfectly shaped, porcelain-skinned nose. Dark, chapped lips to red rose lips. "I can do whatever I want, Mazaki. She is my slave. If you behave, I'll keep her alive. If not, she dies."
Anzu's eyes burned. How dare he! How dare he challenge her power, weakening it for a mortal girl. A mere girl. "And Mai." She whispered.
"Yes." Satrei nodded.
Anzu's eyes turned pale, her skin paler than before. She was going to surrender herself to save two girls. "I'll be yours during fights. I'll obey you during fights only." She bowed her head.
"Good girl. During fights, you make me money. In return, I give the other two life." It was Satrei's turn to smile.
Anzu's eyes blazed. "Yes. We have a deal." She jumped off of the balcony, and disappeared back into the dusty dormitories they were given. She approached Mai, who had put a cool towel on Shizuka's forehead and was massaging her arms and back.
Mai was covered in sweat, her hair golden hair let down, sticking to her sweat-covered back and violet eyes intensely staying on the young girl. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Anzu. "She'll be fine."
"Of course she will. She's young. She'll heal quickly." No emotion was spread across Anzu's lifeless porcelain face.
"You're talking as if you were fifty. You're only what, eighteen?" Mai swung the white towel over her slender shoulder.
"I am seventeen. Although I am only a year older than that young girl and I may be two years younger than your nineteen, I have been through the life and gone through the wisdom of an eighty-year-old by the time I was eight. So don't complain. I am self-sufficient. I don't NEED anybody." Anzu responded stiffly.
Mai shook her head. Anzu would never open up. "You're not the motherly type, are you?" She asked.
Anzu scoffed. "I'm not even the friendly nor trusting type. You can't depend on people, so you must depend on yourself. That's my own moral. Too many people have left me in life. Anyways, you and Shizuka will be safe. I made a deal to Satrei of my own. So much for the first fight."
"We have four more upcoming fights before we may advance to the Colosseum." Mai smiled brightly.
"Yes. The Colosseum. In the center of Kamire, where even the great King will be there." Anzu's eyes burned with fire. "Until then, all we can do is fight."
* * *
Author's Notes: Did you like my second installment? Please review and tell me your opinion. Thank you so much for putting up with me! I'm going to try and update Desert Rose as soon as I rediscover my love for Desert Rose.
* * *
CHAPTER TWO
FIRST FIGHT
Anzu woke early the next morning, and spread herself across the green grass to stretch. "I'm going to give Satrei and these foolish people a sample of my power - but just a sample." She hissed in a low, determined voice.
To test out her power, she instantly put up her index finger, and a ball of blue fire raged into a tall oak tree, sending it into the next dimension. Anzu smirked. The hours passed quickly as she warmed herself up. She noticed that none of the men nor Shizuka and Mai had awoken yet. "Pathetic fools." She whispered, and continued training in the morning sunlight. She managed to raise her power level up by 3500 points in just four hours.
Anzu fingered the gravity device in her hand. "It really works." She whispered. She was ready. Breathing heavily, she sank into a pool of cold bath water. She shivered, and then adjusted to the freezing, ice-cold water. Hurriedly, she soaped herself and then quickly dressed, in case any of the men woke up. She decided to wake Shizuka and Mai up, or they wouldn't be able to take baths.
"Shizuka, wake up!" Anzu seethed menacingly. When she was only responded by the sound of light snoring, Anzu grew impatient, and pulled the girl up by her collar of her shirt. "Wake up, you fool, if you want to conceal your gender."
Shizuka, aware that someone was holding her up by the collar of her baggy clothes, immediately jumped up at the forceful tug. Instinctively, still blinded by the bright light outside, Shizuka unraveled her bun and took out a knife and began stabbing blindly.
Anzu smirked. The girl was completely oblivious to the fact that it was Anzu she was trying to stab. She blocked a few of the knife stabs, and then, getting impatient, wrestled the knife out of Shizuka's hand swiftly and quickly, and whispered, "It's me. Get dressed."
She dropped Shizuka back roughly down on the hard cot. "Ouch!" Shizuka rubbed her bottom. "What are you doing?" She then saw an armor-clad person standing at the foot of her cot.
"Get bathed and dressed before those lazy-butt men wake up. I'm going to go get Mai." Anzu roughly pulled Shizuka to her feet and gave her a forceful push that sent her towards the baths.
Anzu sauntered over boyishly, in case anyone was spying on her. She shook a blonde. Mai groaned in utter disapproval. "I need my beauty sleep." She complained.
Mai was a different case. She WOULD NOT get up. Anzu pursed her lips, and then with amazing strength sent a blast of power and used it to carry Mai very easily. She dumped Mai into a bathtub. "Bathe yourself." She demanded.
When she got no response, she turned a knob, and water came pouring over Mai's luxuriant blonde locks of hair. Enraged in a surprise and fury, Mai would've screamed if not for the water Anzu was shoving in her mouth to keep her quiet.
Smirking triumphantly, Anzu left to explore Kamire using one of her favorite magic powers, IT - Instant Transmission. Once in a private place, she spun and transformed back into Anzu, as a girl. If anybody saw her in her gladiator uniform as a man, she'd be executed in a snap of the finger. She fit herself into a worn, black leather dress. It exposed her long, pale legs and even though it was simple clothing, it made her look enticingly lovely. It was sleeveless, exposing her bare shoulders. The dress hugged her curves in just the right places, showing off a portion of her ample bosom.
The Kamian men seemed like vicious tigers. Anzu observed silently from a stand as they watched women, dressed in very provocative clothing, walked by, swinging their hips seductively. She decided to have some fun right before the gladiator matches just to get Satrei pissed off at her.
Scanning the busy city with her eyes, she found the perfect place. "The bar. Obviously where Satrei is boasting about Shizuka and Mai, how resilient and obedient they are, and not talking about me at all." Anzu smirked darkly and teleported over to the front of the bar, where she walked in.
She walked into a bustling little bar. Women wearing see-through lace shirts and fishnet tights, dressed slimly and seductively were all pawned over unfathomably rich men. Men wearing fine robes printed in gold and red, and business suits from the most famous companies in Kamire sauntered around the fancy bar, always with a trail of stick-thin, beautiful, anorexic women trailing behind them.
Anzu looked around for a six-foot-two, bony man with freckled skin and sharp, edgy features. She found Satrei wearing silk maroon business suit with gold imprinting, surrounded by a few prostitutes.
The first was no doubt a Linean woman, with chestnut hair falling to her waist, and almond-shaped green eyes of a cat. Her face seemed to scream, "I'M A PHONY!" She looked too perfect, too plastic, and too dollish. She was wearing a short red dress, revealing tanned legs and gold heels that accented her dress. The dress was made of tight, stretchy fabric, and she looked like a predator hunting its prey.
The second was an intensely gorgeous black woman, with luscious black curls draping her shoulders, and drooping honey eyes, with thin slanted eyebrows. She too looked as perfect as the other woman, both images of the perfect fake women. The black woman was wearing a midnight blue dress that accompanied her chocolate eyes nicely, but her eyes and the way she moved made her look too fake.
"Satrei." Anzu whispered, giving him her trademark smirk. She leaned down, her eyes meeting his.
When Satrei jolted up and realized it was his beautiful little gladiator, his eyes nearly popped open. "The first fight is in three hours. What are you doing here?"
"Oh." Anzu smiled devilishly. "Just exploring your whereabouts."
"Mazaki Anzu. You drive me crazy." Satrei hissed.
Anzu smirked. "Whatever you say, Satrei. I'm going back to train now. I'll stop by later." Anzu winked, and disappeared.
"Baka onna (Stupid woman)." Satrei clenched his fists.
~Preparing for the Fight~
"Anzu, where were you? After you literally took me by the collar of my shirt and told me to get up, I didn't see you. Satrei's going to be mad." Shizuka asked.
"Don't worry, Shizuka. Satrei will be plenty happy before the day is over." Anzu simply smirked.
A dark-skinned man led them to a steel cage. The other gladiators were led to wooden cages. 'Too weak,' Anzu thought to herself. Mai, Shizuka, and herself were all clad in only dirt-brown clothes. The top was very baggy, but they had insisted on light pants for running. It was all too ironic to see three weak-looking people in a steel cage.
Furthermore, Anzu had a yellow X, and was betted to die. Why would a person being betted to die have the honor of being in a power-restraint cage? Anzu felt the rockiness of the unsteady cart. She felt like blowing the citizens that were staring at her to bits.
Instead, she held her temper until they approached the battered stadium. Satrei had informed the gladiators after they won five gladiator matches, they would go to the famous Colosseum, where the royal family and elite warriors would be watching them.
That is, IF they survived. There was always an if.
~Two Hours Later~
"This is it, men. Go out there and die!" Satrei urged triumphantly.
"Gee, thanks. I feel a lot better." Shizuka smiled weakly, her hand trembling, her knees feeling like jelly. They weren't allowed to have proper armor and weapons. All they had was a blunt sword. They would have to wrestle the sharp, metal blades of the other gladiators away and after skillful trickery, kill them. Anzu, however, had other plans.
Mai glanced down at the blunt-looking metal sword in her tight grasp. Beads of sweat from nervousness trickled down her palm. Her sweat-soaked clothing, and the scalding-hot sun weren't helping. Her long, sun-bleached hair was put up, helping her neck, but she hoped she wouldn't get badly sunburned. Her skin was extra sensitive, and she was going to make a special note to blast Satrei if her skin got burnt.
Anzu was a different story. A glowing golden aura around her body to protected herself from the burning heat. She felt confident she was going to give these people a taste of her abilities. She lowered her power level a bit, making her power level very faint. She didn't want to be noticed. Not yet.
A loud, sputtering voice came over the intercom. The trio looked over to see a pudgy man wearing dirt-brown clothes speaking over the intercom. He was badly shaven, with stubbles of hair all over his face and a scarred nose and bandaged cheek. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, your GLADIATORS!"
The heavy wooden doors were bolted down with axes and swords, their metal blades reflecting the sunlight, glinting, and blinding the many spectators.
The fighting began in mad chaos, the inexperienced gladiators blindly lashing their pathetic, blunted swords out against the muscle-packed opponents.
"Stay together!" Anzu yelled. In a rush of fear, Mai and Shizuka joined with Anzu to form a triangle. "STAY TOGETHER!" She roared. She hated people disobeying her. "Keep fighting. I'll be back." When she saw that the foolish men would not listen to her, she smirked. Mai and Shizuka fought as a pair.
Shizuka glanced at her 6"5 foot tall opponent and gulped. She was a petite girl and didn't like to be constantly reminded of her height, especially at this time. Her handle on the sword loosened it a bit, and for a split second she forgot what she was fighting for - revenge.
"Shizuka, this is no time to lose courage. Help me fight!" Mai jumped over the opponent, trying to wrestle the monster. Shizuka nodded, and sent a hard kick towards the man's abs and stomach, pummeling her feet, causing him to choke out blood from his inner organs.
Flailing helplessly as Mai tossed the man with her feet back towards Shizuka like a soccer ball, the sword slipped his hand and grazed Shizuka's shoulder. Crying out in pain, Shizuka knelt for a second, clutching her bleeding shoulder.
Anzu, who was just overlooking the situation and deciding who to kill, first noticed Shizuka's pain. She focused her cerulean eyes on the blood dripping out of Shizuka's wound, and sealed it. "Pathetic human. Can't even avoid a silly accident."
Shizuka's shoulder didn't hurt anymore, and though she didn't know who had helped her, she flung the sword at Mai. "KILL HIM!" She shrieked, grimacing at her own terrifying words.
Shutting her eyes and praying deeply, Mai plunged the sword into the man's heart with exact aim, and he bolted, clutching his heart, and fell into the sand, dead.
Mai pulled out the blood-red sword, and a tear escaped her eyes. She had just killed somebody. She would never forget that moment. That soft, vulnerable look on the man's eyes the last split second before the sword pierced his flesh. The red blood that escaped every crack of skin, being absorbed into the pale white sand. Mai and Shizuka met for the briefest moment before another man came charging at them. "Let's do this." Mai whispered, through a soft choke.
Anzu smirked, and found her perfect opponent - a slim man with huge muscles who had killed many. "My first victim." Putting two fingers to her forehead, she transported to the other end of the small stadium, approaching the man that was at least 7 foot five, and compared to her, he looked like an elephant to an ant.
"Good afternoon Anzu greeted, disguising her best deep voice, and speaking in Kamian. "Diesch omhoskt (Let's fight)." Anzu got into a perfect fighting stance, perfect bent knees and posture, figure straight and confident.
Angered by the confident young "man," the man charged at her, sword glinting with the point of pure red blood. "OMHOSKT! ARGH!!!!!!" He let out a battle cry of great fury; sending the sword straight towards Anzu's neck, ready to chop her in half.
Smiling for a split second, Anzu disappeared behind him, bounded off of the wall like a great samurai, and sent a kick straight for the man's stomach, quickly followed up by a punch between the ribs and using her other foot came three barreling kicks to deform his face.
The man choked, blood coming out of his mouth, and dropped the sword. Anzu smiled a bit at her own small victory.
She took the man's sword, and flung it into the wall. Nobody would ever use that bloodstained sword ever again. She drove it deep into the wall, forcing the wall to creak. Anzu glanced around to find another opponent. This time, it was a plump, short, and sturdy man with dark facial hair covering his face.
As she drove the sword in to make the wall rumble, the man charged towards her. When he came within a few feet of her, she swung around, sending a flying kick in a perfect stance at him. In her flash of speed that any powerful being would envy, she stole the sword from his hand, slashing him square in the chest. The man flung back, clutching his sliced flesh.
Anzu smiled triumphantly. She then sent a tiny, yet forceful fist into his chest, pummeling while using her feet to send another kicks to his calves and thighs, she broke a couple of his ribs. In one last fist, she hit the target point - the area where his sternum was uncovered, puncturing his heart and instantly killing him.
Anzu jumped high into the air effortlessly to the other end of the small stadium, where Shizuka and Mai were. "Miss me?" She smirked.
"No doubt about that." Mai wiped off some sweat off her brow. "I'm going to kill Satrei. This sucks. I'm getting myself all sweaty."
"Oh, really?" Shizuka asked sarcastically, timidly glancing at the sweat-soaked blonde next to her.
"You pathetic humans haven't even trained yourself to protect from heat?" Anzu shook her head in dismay. "Did you learn how to fly?"
"Fly?" Shizuka's eyes lit up. "I'd like to learn how to."
Anzu rolled her eyes slightly. They were supposed to be powerful. Bunch of fakes.
"Stop being so arrogant." Mai's stern voice demanded the air.
"Arrogant?" Anzu glared a seething death glare at Mai.
"Yes, ARROGANT. Just because you're better and more powerful than the two of us combined doesn't give you the right to be arrogant." Mai replied, her violet eyes piercing Anzu's azure blue eyes.
"Hmph." Anzu bit her lip, and disappeared, only to reappear behind Mai in time to use a blade to slice the opponent about to kill Mai into sixty-four pieces. "I did samurai studies." She paused, and disappeared again, appearing behind Shizuka. She pummeled her fists and legs at the man trying to kill Shizuka, and smiled. "But it doesn't hurt to know the simple basics of your own human body." With one last roundhouse kick, she flipped over and smirked. "These people are simply pathetic."
Shizuka quivered. "Stop it."
"Stop what?" Anzu questioned, raising a delicate eyebrow. Had Shizuka finally chickened out? It didn't seem like the petite woman's nature to kill.
"JUST STOP THE KILLING!" Shizuka screamed, falling to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
"She's broken and it's only a small fight. She has no spirit." Anzu shook her head, and as an onslaught of twenty men came, she simply raised a hand, emitting blue fire from it, and shot the men dead.
"Mai, take care of Shizuka. I'll kill the others. Shizuka won't last much longer under these harsh conditions." Anzu took a sharp blade, and jumped all over the stadium, slicing people into pieces on the way.
Within seconds, nobody but the three girls and a few fortunate men were left. Anzu glared into the faces of the awed people. "That's your fight." She threw the blade into the dust, and turned to Mai. "Bring her inside. She's probably suffering from heat stroke."
Mai hurriedly took Shizuka inside to treat her. Anzu flew up to reach Satrei. "You will not dispose of Shizuka. She's too innocent. The hands of blood stained her today. The blood of man has already stained me, but she has not been stained. You pathetic man. Taking that away from Shizuka is the worst thing you could've done within her mind. You and I know perfectly well the dangers of life. I know more than beyond even your old years. Do not harm her." Anzu's azure eyes burned crimson.
Satrei bit his lip. He stood up to face the pale-skinned girl. They were uneven, his thin, bony features meeting her soft, pale ones. Dark skin contrasted to white skin, a pointy, scarred nose to a perfectly shaped, porcelain-skinned nose. Dark, chapped lips to red rose lips. "I can do whatever I want, Mazaki. She is my slave. If you behave, I'll keep her alive. If not, she dies."
Anzu's eyes burned. How dare he! How dare he challenge her power, weakening it for a mortal girl. A mere girl. "And Mai." She whispered.
"Yes." Satrei nodded.
Anzu's eyes turned pale, her skin paler than before. She was going to surrender herself to save two girls. "I'll be yours during fights. I'll obey you during fights only." She bowed her head.
"Good girl. During fights, you make me money. In return, I give the other two life." It was Satrei's turn to smile.
Anzu's eyes blazed. "Yes. We have a deal." She jumped off of the balcony, and disappeared back into the dusty dormitories they were given. She approached Mai, who had put a cool towel on Shizuka's forehead and was massaging her arms and back.
Mai was covered in sweat, her hair golden hair let down, sticking to her sweat-covered back and violet eyes intensely staying on the young girl. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Anzu. "She'll be fine."
"Of course she will. She's young. She'll heal quickly." No emotion was spread across Anzu's lifeless porcelain face.
"You're talking as if you were fifty. You're only what, eighteen?" Mai swung the white towel over her slender shoulder.
"I am seventeen. Although I am only a year older than that young girl and I may be two years younger than your nineteen, I have been through the life and gone through the wisdom of an eighty-year-old by the time I was eight. So don't complain. I am self-sufficient. I don't NEED anybody." Anzu responded stiffly.
Mai shook her head. Anzu would never open up. "You're not the motherly type, are you?" She asked.
Anzu scoffed. "I'm not even the friendly nor trusting type. You can't depend on people, so you must depend on yourself. That's my own moral. Too many people have left me in life. Anyways, you and Shizuka will be safe. I made a deal to Satrei of my own. So much for the first fight."
"We have four more upcoming fights before we may advance to the Colosseum." Mai smiled brightly.
"Yes. The Colosseum. In the center of Kamire, where even the great King will be there." Anzu's eyes burned with fire. "Until then, all we can do is fight."
* * *
Author's Notes: Did you like my second installment? Please review and tell me your opinion. Thank you so much for putting up with me! I'm going to try and update Desert Rose as soon as I rediscover my love for Desert Rose.
