Over time I gained respect and a bit of a reputation. Though still confined to my chamber for the majority of the day, I was no longer monitored at night in the forests. At times I could even roam the city. I now had opportunities to run, but somehow I felt that the training was more important, essential to bettering myself. I had become disgusted by the concept of running. Run from what? I had a purpose, and I served it well.

In the following months, I was faced with fourteen like myself.

Fourteen souls cowering in fear, falling to their shaking knees within moments of being in my presence.

Fourteen effortlessly sliced open, and torched. Fourteen whose screams never failed to put a smile on my face.

All but one.

A fool who clumsily held his sword with the weight of the world, his skill with the blade was clearly lacking. In fact, he seemed to lack any real battle experience at all.

I enjoyed a few laughs as I swatted away his flailing sword. It was always the ones that were so sure they could bring me down that I savored toying with and defeating the most. It became much easier overtime.

I playfully stabbed his legs in several places. It started out with light cuts, but I couldn't resist a good stabbing. It was all in vain, though. Unlike the others, I couldn't get him to scream. Not once. I was rather disappointed; their sobs and pleas had always made the victory all the sweeter. However, I drew the battle on long enough to finally bring him to his knees. A moment of calm passed as he desperately attempted to catch his breath in quick, heavy gasps for air.

I stared down at him for a moment, perplexed by his stamina and determination. I demanded to know his name. He spat blood to clear his throat and spoke.

"Gatti."

His name was Gatti.

At that moment, I realized I could only recall learning very few names in my lifetime. My own, my country's, the names of various family members screamed by the test subjects near my chamber, but Gatti's was the first name I had learned that had a kind of unthreatening quality. There was no doubt attached to it. No question of morality.

I was tempted to help him stand, but I quickly retracted my hand and let him lay on the ground. Most likely thinking the battle had ended in the silence; the armored man entered the room, only to find that we were both alive.

"This is a fight to the death." He spoke sternly, reminding us of the single rule.

I turned to the man, holding my head up high.

"We've had our fight, and as you can see there was no death involved."

It was a bold move for me. Though I had proven myself on more than one occasion again to be a worthy soldier, I had yet to speak up in that manner.

The armored man looked at us both, examining the damage done. He could clearly see that Gatti had suffered far more wounds than I.

"Finish him off, Dilandau."

He said my name as if he knew me well. I hated that. I hated him.

He looked down upon me with a dominant glare, expecting me to obey the command. I could see straight through the fake stare and into the fear in his heart. Fear of me.

I pondered the command for a moment.

"This one will be spared. I don't think he's ever even held a sword before today. With a little training…I think we could make some use of him."

The armored man seemed rather annoyed, to say the least. I had taken a large risk in speaking those words to a man more than twice my size, but I knew it was time to test my power. My respected brutal reputation determined both my and Gatti's fate. The man stared at us both for a moment, snarled, and walked away.

I turned to Gatti, who was still recovering from the fight. I wasn't expecting any form of gratitude considering how much damage I had done to him. I wanted so badly for him to cower in pain and fear, but his eyes told a strange story. He looked up at me despairingly, as if to say, "You should have finished the job." I turned away and walked towards the doorway, almost regretting my actions.

"…Where am I supposed to go?"

I turned my head back to him, surprised that he had the strength to speak.

"Return to your chamber, wherever that may be. They'll summon you for the next battle soon, I'm sure. I suggest you focus more on training…they may arrange for us to fight each other again in the future, I won't be so generous next time. You're really pathetic with a sword, you know."

He was quick to respond.

"I don't have a chamber, or anything for that matter. I'm…not exactly sure where I am, but I know Zaibach is to blame for my being here…I assume by the symbol on your chest that you're one of their nameless drones."

My eye twitched slightly.

"Nameless?"

I struck him fiercely across his face with the palm of my hand. I enjoyed it.

"I just spared your insignificant life and you dare strip me of my NAME? Let's not forget that you bare the same symbol on your chest."

I struck him a second time, harder.

"I earned my name, a worthy name. And YOU will address me properly. I am Dilandau Albatou and from this moment on you will refer to me as Lord Dilandau."

Gatti silently lowered his head.

"Zaibach scum…" he murmured under his breath. At that moment, I threw my sword to the side of the room and physically attacked him with my bare hands. I clutched his neck and laughed.

"I should have finished the job..." He stretched his neck, desperately trying to clear his airway to breathe. He managed to speak between his gasps for air.

"L-Lord…Dilandau…"

I released my grip and stood over his bruised body, gazing down upon him. It was truly a pathetic sight. Bored, I sighed.

"You really don't know where you are? You've never been here?"

He closed his eyes and shook his head. I nodded.

"…A captive, I assume. Where is your home?" I had never met an outsider before, but of course, I had to play the part of a well-educated traveler, a soldier who knew the lush green world outside of the iron bars.

"Basram. Your ravenous country started a meaningless battle with mine over the use of new technology, developed in my country." He spoke with an obvious hatred for my country. I really hadn't a clue of what Zaibach was doing to the outside world or what our goals were, whether or not we even had any. I honestly never cared.

"Why would they capture someone like you?" It was rare that I had an opportunity to ask questions like this.

"I wasn't captured. My city was involved in the attack and my father and I were discovered hiding amongst a group of civilians by a your soldiers. He's an older man…so I tried to protect him with whatever weapons I could find, but…instead he bargained with them for his life."

Gatti's story piqued my curiosity.

"Bargained…?" My country's soldiers were bargaining? Clearly Zaibach was in need of guidance.

Gatti stared at me with painful eyes.

"He offered me. He told them I was healthy and young, so I could be of use to them…in exchange for his life."

I don't really know why I bothered listening to his story. I really didn't care for self-pity. I suppose it was because Gatti was alone. It goes beyond the simple definition of the word. A worthless soul deserted or forsaken? No, deeper than that. Truly alone. He didn't even know where he was or why he was there…I felt that way once, long ago. It was one of my first lessons as a child. A lesson that Gatti had just learned.

"I was forced to leave with the soldiers, as one of them. I struggled to tell my father that he was making a mistake, but he didn't seem concerned with my pleas. They dragged me away from him, but as we left the building, I was still close enough to hear his screams when the treacherous soldiers went back on their word. They had me, and of course killed him instantly. I was brought to this country… woke up in this place, and was trapped in this room with a Zaibach sword and armor. Now I'm laying here in my own blood, telling my story to a Zaibach soldier."

I scoffed at him and turned my face away.

"So your father was a fool, and now you're stuck in the enemy country, where, with your lack of experience, you will surely die within days. What do you want me to do about it?" I honestly didn't know what to say to him. I couldn't recall the last conversation I'd had with…anyone, really.

"I don't expect anything from someone like you…not from someone who would pledge his allegiance to a twisted fascist hell hole like this country." I swiftly grabbed him by his collar and raised him up into the air.

"I pledged nothing to them. I simply do what I'm best at. It's the only way to survive in this world." Frustrated, I threw him to the ground.

A brief moment of silence passed through the air, I imagine Gatti couldn't understand what I meant. I didn't expect him to. I calmed myself down and tried to reason with him.

"I know of quarters that are unoccupied in this area. In a place like this…I doubt they'll ever notice someone as insignificant as you. Come."

I turned my hand, pointing him in my direction. He silently obeyed and followed me to the chambers where I introduced him to an abandoned, unused room. The room once belonged to one of my opponents...dead now, of course.

"I don't understand…why didn't they assign me a room?" I could sense somehow that Gatti was quickly forming some kind of blind trust in me. Trust in someone who a moment had bludgeoned him. I'll never understand the human mind.

"Because you were supposed to be dead by now." I opened the iron door and showed him the inside of the chamber, explaining the details.

"The space is unbearably small…the air is stale…the stench is horrid…and the darkness will drive you mad…Enjoy."

Gatti looked around, unsure of himself.

"What do we do for food…?"

I laughed silently at his seemingly endless oblivion.

"They'll give you rations once a day. Never eat them."

Gatti shifted his eyes in confusion.

"Never…?

Impatient, I sighed.

"Rations are more than just food here. They do something to it…"

I lost track of my words for a moment as my mind began to wander.

"…something…"

Gatti stared at me in a sort of worriment.

"…Lord Dilandau…?"

I shook my head slightly.

"Just don't eat them. There are other ways to get food. Stay in your chamber before they decide to put us both in that room again." Gatti compliantly nodded his head and entered the room, shutting the door behind him.

I stood motionless outside of his chamber for a moment, lost in thought.