The Arena is here. No deaths, though. Super long author's note but it will explain things and some of it is super important.
Everything else is said at the bottom so for now, enjoy.
The rest of the day felt like the after party of a funeral. Everything was set up to be happy, the big meals, the new clothes, yet there was a grim silence in the air. It was hard to dress up without Tore complementing Coutille and hard to eat dinner without Ares grumbling that he had to eat the main course before dessert.
This resulted in an awkward last feast. They could have ordered anything they wanted yet most of the Warriors picked at their food, their mind drifting over to their friends that would be killed the next day. It was starting to get on Cadmus' nerves. If this is how they reacted to twelve competitors being taken care of, there was a chance none of them would want to kill in the morning.
"You all really need to grow up," he mumbled, taking another sip of his wine. "Look at you all, crying over the lost competition. And you really expect to kill each other in the morning?"
"Maybe we don't want to kill each other," Coutille growled. "We have grown up with each other, it's wrong."
Cadmus gave a low laugh. "You want to be thankful Snow wanted to make an example of you, if it was up to me, your rebel ass would be with the rest of them." Coutille shrank back into her chair. "We have shown you kindness for ten years, now it's time to be grown-ups and pay the bill." With a wave of his hand, a Avox ran to his side and poured him more wine.
After most of the Warriors had forced their meals down them, they stood outside their rooms, their eyes drifting over to the doors of the eliminated, then to each other.
"It feels wrong," Grover admitted, his stomach turning every time he looked at Ares' door.
"Tomorrow we kill each other...maybe tonight we could be friends one last time," Balina sighed, her head resting against her door. The other Warriors gave a nod of agreement before entering their rooms. A few moments later, in an unspoken agreement, they walked back out, their covers and pillows in hand.
They followed each other to the designated sleeping place, by the TV, and claimed a spot. However, this time it was considerably more free space and fewer arguments for the middle of the huddle. There were no laughs, just the shallow breaths of the person who lay next to them.
After an hour of sleepless dreading, Nero spoke up. "Can you remember the first time we did this?"
Balina gave a nod. "Second night here, it was Romilda's idea."
"He just wanted to sleep next to Loretta." Veyron chuckled.
"So did Grover-"
The dark haired boy slapped Nero on the chest. "I didn't-"
"Yeah you did, you had a thing for Loretta for about two years," Nathalie sniggered in reply.
"He tried to climb the TV to impress her but fell and broke his leg," Damon said, on the edge of happy tears.
"Climbing boy!" Evelyn and Nero screamed, remembering the nickname they gave Grover back when they were little children.
"Ooo, then Ares gave us the sweets he had snuck in," Belinda blurted out, making Sunbeam choke in stifled laughter.
"Oh yeah, he is the reason they lifted the ban on sweets for us," Sunbeam remembered.
"You could never keep sweets away from Ares," Grover said with a smile.
"I wish we could go back to then," Venus sighed, her back turned to the rest of the group to hide the tears that ran down her face. "Back when we were friends, not being forced to kill each other, back when Marzio had to fix that stupid TV Grover broke," the ghost of a smile showed on lips with the last line but she had already sucked the happiness out of the room.
"Well, I think as long as one of us is still alive, these memories can not die," The rest of the Warrior's gave a nod of agreement and went back to their silence but this time they were all holding hand. A symbol that no matter what they did in The Games, nothing could change the happy memories they carried with them.
By the morning they had all at least got some form of sleep but no form of a nightmare that plagued their sleep the night before could prepare them for a Peacekeeper wake up call in the form of a blow horn.
The small digital clock Shelly had placed on the television told them that it was only 3 am, much to her displeasure. As they sat up, they found their stylists smiling back at them. It was time to get ready for the Games.
Grover and Balina were led to the same room, being from the same District, but after their makeup, they were taken behind separate curtains to get dressed. The clothes were, revealing, to say the least.
Grover was placed in nothing but a leather skirt. His lower arms and calfs were protected by thick leather bracers and shin guards. His shoes were strong, leather sandals, their laces tied in a bow near his shin but they were covered by the guard.
Balina did not look much different, the same shin guards, skirt, shoes, and bracers. Yet she had a leather bra over her breasts. She looked as angered with the costume as Grover. How did they expect them to fight for something so revealing?
They did not have much time to complain at the moment they were both ready, they were whisked away by Peacekeepers and placed on a hovercraft with the other Twelve Warrior's all dressed in identical clothing.
Nero was the first off the hovercraft, along with Evelyn but the pair were separated early on and taken to different launch rooms. The one Nero was taken to was the first room they passed, the cold white walls showing no sign of personality. His brown eyes fell on his head Stylist.
"I'm going to freeze to death!" he bellowed, his body already shivering. "You expect me to fight in my underwear?" his stylist smiled at Nero's anger.
"I think the Arena will be warm, they wouldn't want hyperthermia to be the leading cause of death...they didn't train you up for ten years for that." Nero knew he was right but still felt on edge of his chest being so exposed. "First," his stylist said, hurrying over to Nero and placing something in his ear. "Your tracker-"
"I already had mine put in on the hovercraft-"
"Just doing what I have been told to," the stylist said with a shrug as the small metal ball trickled into his ear. "Second!" this time he pulled a large, thick cloak from a hook behind him. He flung it over Nero's back and fastened it at the front with circular, gold brooch with an upside down V engraved into the metal. It was heavy but Nero was just glad for some warmth.
The third thing was a large helmet that covered all of his face, leaving only his eyes and mouth exposed. Even the bridge of his nose was protected from any dirty fighting. However, on top of the helmet was a thirty-centimeter, Green feather mohawk.
The last thing was not what he expected, a great round, gold shield with a simple band of green circling the center engraving that was a helmet, much like his. He was confused by the shield, that they would give him such a valuable thing before The Games had even started. However, Nero was not about to ask questions as he stepped into his tube, ready to go to war.
When the door closed and he started to rise, he knew his waving, crying stylist was right, he could already feel the humid heat that was funneled down his tube from the arena. It hit him like a blanket as he emerged onto the pedestal, the heat so hot he felt his body scream out in shock. By the first few seconds, sweat was already trickling down his face and he felt thankful for the little clothing he wore.
The world before him was beautiful, nonetheless. The humid world was dark but the bright moon and fireflies that zoomed through the air gave off enough light to illuminate the place. The place in question was a vast labyrinth stretching for as far a the eye could see, the walls at least 20 feet tall, too high to see over.
The setup of the pedestals was vastly different from other years. They were stationed in a brief semi-circle but not around a cornucopia. But around a pile of bags, each one a different colour and sporting a different symbol. He noticed the green one that had the same helmet he and Evelyn had on their shields printed on. In fact, now he thought about it every District had a different colour and symbol on their shield that matched the bags. Do they really expect us to fight over bags instead?
"Congratulations Warriors for getting to the Games, this year will be slightly different. The bags you see in front of you hold six bottles of water, two loafs of bread, a weapon and a random gift. There is one for everyone but there are no rules against how many you can take. However, the weapons can not be used for now. As for the next twenty-four hours, we are showing mercy. If one tribute can find the exit to this labyrinth in that time, you will all be allowed to live. However, if not, we will default to the normal Games where there is only one victor. Save your weapons in case that happens."
Nero noticed the atmosphere change when Cadmus said this, the feelings in the air switching from betrayal to the need for teamwork.
"Good-luck Warriors, and may your Godly sponsor be on your side."
Ares woke with a cramped neck, the grubby cell him, Annabella, Loretta, Tore, Maurice, and Clarissa had been placed in offering little comfort. He wishes he could have slept longer as he saw the rising sun reflecting through the small window above his head. However, when he saw the tired eyes of everyone else, he knew he was lucky to have slept at all.
With a buzz, the unnoticed speakers from inside the cell sparked to life, making Tore scream out of his skin.
"We have split you into two groups, one person from each will take part in one on one battles until there is only one person left. That person will then be transported to the Arena to compete with their fellow Warriors. You were once Warriors but from here on, you are gladiators. Let the Games begin."
YAY! I can finally tell you what the Arena is! It's Greek Mythological Labyrinth. Each District is connected to a Greek God and the Warriors are dressed as Spartans. You might think "Well this came out of nowhere." but nope, I had this planned from the start.
In fact, the whole story is based around Spartan Warriors. At the age of seven, Spartan boys were taken from their mothers and trained to be Warriors. They trained until they were eighteen (eleven years) when they were classed as young adults and trained the younger. They were fierce. They were encouraged to steal and if caught, punished for being caught. Apparently one boy stole a young fox and allowed it to tear his stomach open and kill him than allow his theft to be found.
So you can see where this story came from. Following with that theme, I decided to have each District be connected to a Greek God. Which brings me onto the theme of the Chariots. It was the Greek Gods!
District 1- Swans-Aphrodite
District 2-Dogs-Ares
District 3-Donkeys-Hephaestus
District 4-Sealife-Poseidon
District 5-Black Rams-Hades
District 6-Stork-Hermes
District 7-Owl-Athena
District 8-Thunder Cloud-Zeus
District 9-Deer-Artemis
District 10-Peacocks-Hera
District 11-Fire-Hestia
District 12-Wolves-Apollo
So, that's all out of the way, although there is more surprises to come, these are the Warriors and their Godly Sponsor, colour, and symbol.
District One, Sunbeam Feyre-Aphrodite, White, Swan
District Two, Nero Anghel and Evelyn Spires-Ares, Green, Helmet
District Four, Shelly Bereg-Poseidon, Purple, Trident
District Five, Damon Romulus and Nathalie Sibylla-Hades, Blue, Skull
District Six, Veyron Maverick-Hermes, Gold, Winged Sandals
District Seven, Grover Lindell and Balina Abbott-Athena, Pink, Moon
District Eight, Coutille Harrow-Zeus, Brown, Lightning Bolt
District Ten, Belinda Herd-Hera, Yellow, Crown
District Twelve, Venus Atwood-Apollo, Red, Lyre
These will become important to The Warriors in The Arena. AND ONTO SOME IMPORTANT THINGS!
YOU get to pick the victor of the Gladiator Games. Down below is the fighting pairs, pick who you want to survive from each pair. This is the first round. The next one, you will be picking who you want to win overall. Remember, the victor goes back into The Games.
ROUND ONE:
Loretta vs Pallas
Berik vs Clarissa
Tore vs Marzio
Ares vs Vulcan
Maurice vs Romilda
Annabella vs Janae
Remember to vote as you get to decide the victor on this round.
Sponsor point questions (these will come into effect soon):
Thoughts on the final night? (2 points)
Thoughts on The Arena? (3 points)
Thoughts on Chariot theme and Godly sponsors? (5 points)
Thoughts on Gladiator Games? (3 points)
Thoughts overall? (4 points)