The air in the long throne room burned Kazuto right to his core. Each breath became a wildfire in his lungs that exited a winter's blizzard against his lips. The conviction he had begun to waver in the face of such a feeling. Whether magic or simply fear, Kazuto couldn't tell. All he could do was approach the throne defiantly.

"Well now. I wasn't expecting such a... fortified state from you. Nor such a calm one." The man sitting in the throne spoke to Kazuto when the boy was close enough. There was a look of genuine interest in the gaze of those light grey eyes that gave Kazuto a little hope he wouldn't be immediately executed.

"As I hope you've been told, child, I am the Emperor of Aincrad. You may know me by my name, however. Heathcliff." The Emperor rose from his throne with calculated, slow grace instead of blue-blood lethargy. "I shall not waste your time since you seem to be quiet cooperative. You have been brought before me because I was told that you could be of use to my interests. Today's events shall reveal to what extent." In that moment Kazuto was dumbfounded by two things. The first was Heathcliff's words. The second was that he could be more intimidating that the fully armed soldiers flanking his throne while saying them.

"Bring it here," ordered Heathcliff of one of his attendants off to Kazuto's left. A young Elvish butler quickly came over carrying something covered in a heavy layer of cloth. The butler appeared to be struggling to lift it to the Emperor's hand that took it from him.

"A gift. So that you might not die." Heathcliff threw the bundle at Kazuto suddenly. The boy caught it with a soft grunt as the weight settled in his arms.

"What... am I going to be doing with this?" The question came less voluntarily than Kazuto would have liked. A flinch had caused the words to be more shaken out than spoken by the time he had finished.

"Provide him with leathers and bring him to the arena. I believe we will all have a bit of entertainment today." Heathcliff turned back to his throne without answering Kazuto's question. A stoic soldier grabbed him by the arm to lead him right out of the throne room before he could start speaking again. Once they were outside the soldier glared hard before starting off opposite the way Kazuto had come from. The meaning was clear enough so the boy followed along without hesitating.

After a couple minutes of the same regal hallways blending together they arrived at another set of stairs. The soldier's hand nudged Kazuto forward first so that's what he did. The stone staircase was once again lit by Witchlight lanterns at regular intervals, giving the stones a green sheen to them. It all threw off Kazuto's ability to keep track of where they had been going. Too many things looked the same and his fear was causing him to stare straight ahead. Thanks to that he was the first to see the bottom of the stairs and another heavy wooden door.

"The Elf child should've gotten you your leathers. Go in and get 'em on." The indistinct voice of the soldier made Kazuto flinch. The silence down in this place was more deafening than he remembered.

He didn't argue about going in though. The door opened and inside was another bland wooden table with a set of leather armor on it. Kazuto put the bundle onto the table to inspect the armor. There wasn't anything fancy about it so he figured he could get it on. His father had shown him a very long time ago how to do it so the basics were in his mind. With some struggle he was able to get on the chest-piece, bracers, and shin guards. The thickness of the armor was probably enough to stop light slashes or pokes, but nothing more than that.

"An arena and armor. The only thing left is... that." Kazuto's attention turned to the bundle. His heart raced as he opened the heavy cloth to reveal a sword. The handle and guard were both black as pitch even in the dimly lit room. It was a strange looking thing too; the guard consisted of a length of black metal slightly longer than quarter-circle with two spikes mounted on top and a third poking out from the longer side of the guard. It became stranger still when he could not draw the weapon from the sheath.

"C'mon... what good's a sword... if I can't... use it?!" It was everything he could do to even keep any hold on it as he tried to pull the blade out. Several attempts and grasping methods later he gave up.

"Quite a currriosity that sword. Even the Emperrrorrr can't draw it." The voice, soft yet scarred, made Kazuto jump. He looked back to see the same Elf that had been in the throne room. On closer inspection Kazuto wasn't sure of the Elf's gender. The slender frame and what he thought might be feminine features were offset by the boyish face and way their blonde hair was cut. What made him do a real double take were the triangular animal ears sitting atop the Elf's head that hadn't been there before.

"Ah, a currriosity yourrrself, aren't you? I'm not an Elf like the soldierrr said. I'm a Cait Sith. We're both apart of the Fae rrrace so the mix up is underrrstandable." The Cait Sith gave Kazuto a smile. "My name is Arrrgo. I'm the Emperrrorrr's perrrsonal assistant."

"Um... why're you talking like that?" It was a stupid question but he led with it since it gave him a route to ask more.

"We Cait Sith have different vocal corrrds that vibrrrate longerrr on softerrr rrr sounds in yourrr language," Argo explained. Kazuto understood, sort of, as it sounded similar to a cat purring. After a moment of silence between the two the Cait Sith's presence became easy to stand. With the settling of his fears Kazuto felt the need to get to the point.

"Argo, uh, why did the Emperor give me all this stuff? New clothes, armor... a sword? I'm just a farmer's kid."

"The Emperrrorrr is currrious about you. Something you did to his soldierrrs aparrrently." That struck Kazuto as odd. Something that he had done to the soldiers? What could he have done to catch the attention of an Emperor? He tried to answer this himself but the memories before his capture were a void in his mind that gave nothing.

"Well, it seems ourrr time is at an end. Prrroceed out that doorrr and keep going strrraight." Argo's words drew Kazuto's attention to the door behind him. In the time they had been speaking pulled away to show a long hallway of stone once again stained green by Witchlight. When Kazuto turned to ask Argo what was waiting for him at the end of the hall the Cait Sith was gone as suddenly as he appeared.

"What a weird guy," Kazuto muttered on his way out. He had grabbed the sword and held it in his left hand while walking. Holding the weapon gave him a sense security that he didn't have the time to question. Nor the will to. He needed it.

As the hallway came to a set of stairs more worry crept into his heart. While faint he could hear the sounds of other people above. The three words he had said earlier kept pushing through his mind. Arena, armor, sword. Arena, armor, sword. Arena. Armor. Sword. Each repeat punctured him as the sounds got louder. Eventually he could tell it was cheering, and that one voice came above the crowd by a phenomenal amount.

"General Eugene has crushed all who has stood before him in the contest of swords and strength. Who could dare hope to challenge such a mighty warrior in a one on one confrontation?!" Kazuto stopped dead at the top of the stairs. His eyes had gone wide and in shock he had nearly tumbled back down the stairs. Arena. Armor. Sword. Fighting. Defending. Attacking. All ending in one eventuality.

Death.

"So, you made it out of the throne room. Tough luck where you ended up though." The familiar gruff voice dragged Kazuto back from the brink of insanity. He looked up to see the dark-skinned soldier from before sitting on a bench. Behind him was a gate that had fading daylight streaming in through the square holes in the metal.

"I... guess so, yeah," was all the boy could reply with.

"At least you've got something to defend yourself with. Usually His Majesty sends newbies in here with their bare hands. Those are always the worst." The soldier shook his head while frowning. "Shame that it's Eugene you're fighting. He hasn't even come close to losing since we brought him in. Used to be the general of an country that Aincrad took over about a year ago. He was the fiercest opponent our Emperor had ever faced."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Kazuto groaned as he tried to hold down the meal he had eaten before.

"Hey, hey, he might take it easier on a kid. I hope." The soldier shook his head before standing. "I'm not here to give you a pep talk. I made you a promise to tell you my name if you got out of the throne room. It's Agil." Agil the Soldier stuck out his right hand for a shake as the gate began to open. Kazuto shook Agil's hand but also shook his head.

"I don't think it matters what my name is now. Might as well call me Dead." Kazuto let go of the hand, a grim smile on his face. It wasn't confidence. He merely remembered words his mother had once spoke to him.

"If you keep trying to smile then the hard times seem less hard."

This was delayed by two weeks worth of rewrites and the fear of losing my internet before it could go up. Thankfully I finished today, my bills got paid, and nothing's going to be fearful for another month. Yay! Next time is gonna be a big one so expect another longer wait time. I'll try to get something up every 2 weeks at the least so be patient with me. Lots of thought goes into these. Till next time!