Chapter 4

The Arena

Joshua stated up at the entrance of the castle as he sighed a little. It was a bad plan. A plan for sure It was, but not one that was likely to succeed. He just needed enough time. He moved to the gates as he pushed them open, looking at the castle as he could still remember it well enough. It looked the same, but it was always the same. He moved through the hallway as he looked around, stone walls surrounding him. They were built before history even became the beginning. They were old to say the least. He looked up ahead as he saw an angel standing at the end of the hall, waiting for him. He looked around for a moment before jogging to her. "Angie. " He spoke as she turned to look at him. "We don't have much time Joshua." She gave him a small look as she spoke." You are asking a great deal. If it wasn't for Charlotte..." They all knew how Angie felt about a certain human. "I know." He told her as he added," But please." He gave her a small look of pleading as he waited for her. She stared at his eyes as she sighed, "Yes, but you must hurry. You have to buy us time. I have to find her. It's not easy. The council members..." She seemed to have fire in her eyes when she talked about them." Well. Let's just say it would be a perfect world without them." She leaned on her right foot as she saw past him, it was clear.

"Here. Take this. I know it doesn't taste well. You must. You're a human going against Angels." She pushed a small bottle in to his hands as he looked at it. He pulled the cork out of it, smelling it. He clinched his jaw a little as his nose scrunched. "Angie. This is blood. " He told her as he looked at the white silvery liquid." Yes it is. What did you think it was?" She asked at him as she gave him a small smile after her teasing. " It's my blood. You will have a upper hand. Besides if you go into that stadium with human blood, they will know something is out of place. We need to go undetected. The way you smell now, you won't even make it to the end of the entrance." she told him as he looked at the bottle, then her. "Just drink it Joshua. Your wife or becoming an Angel. Which one do you dislike the greatest?" She leaned to look behind him again as it was still clear.

Joshua looked at her as he sighed a little. She was always testing his limits. He pulled the bottle to his lips, drinking the whole thing down. The liquid went down smooth, tasting smooth in itself. "That really was demented." He told her as she spoke." Well then we should expect a visit from the angel of death herself. "She spoke with pure sarcasm as he gave her a look." And she's not my wife. "Not any more at least.

"Will you please give me a moment of peace when it comes to your tragic life. You know nothing of how life can be loveless. You have a daughter. She is an angel. " She told him with a smile. She did love Charlotte. The child would be an amazing angel if the day came. "Now. My blood should mix with your blood, transforming it into angels. The transformation wont be painful since your blood is already use to the angelic make up. Now go. Go and buy us time. Oh and take this. "She told him as she pulled a sword from against the wall. " Now I must go. " She grabbed her quiver as she tucked her bow in with the arrows. She slung it around her shoulder as she tightened the brown leather strap. She put a belt around her waist as it held her swords behind her. "Don't get killed Joshua. I will bring you back and then kill you myself." She moved to kiss check as she started a brisk walk down the opposite side of the hallway.

Joshua looked at the sword as he remembered this one. It was fathers a very long time ago. It had been sealed away for decor. A momentum for the castle. To remember those great rulers who came before them. He looked at the handle as it had a long black leather handle, blue cord wrapping all up the handle. At the end of the handle was a start of small lines, leading to the end of a circle of steel. He looked at the hilt as it was simple, handles bending towards the sword as it was engraved. The blade had one word engraved In an ancient language. Cagezsha. Wisdom. He ran his hands against the engraving as he read the other. "For blood is the answer for Vengeance... as so is Mercy for Justice." He looked at it as it for a moment before he decided that it wasn't such a fitting sword for any brother. He held the sword by its sheath as he put the belt around his waist. He could feel the tingling in his fingers as the blood was mixing. It was conforming. He was starting to turn. He sighed a little as he looked ahead. He would go.

Angie appeared next to him, almost causing him to jump. " What-?" He asked as she put a helmet on his head. She tapped it on as she spoke." For protection. Now GO!" she ordered him as she went running down the hallway, her equipment juggling side to side as she did. He stared at her leaving before he started walking down the hallway. As he went through the entrance to the arena he passed by two angels who held spears with tips. He looked around for a few moments before spotting the small tent. He adjusted the silver gladiator helmet as he ran over to the side. It was then that a white and black Peregrine falcon landed on his shoulder, spreading its wings out on his shoulder. "Elgin? Shouldn't you be helping Angie?" The falcon looked at him as he just stared. He spread its wing out as he started to rub its beak against his feathers, pretending he didn't just hear such a idiotic question.

Josh sighed a little as he turned towards the angels at the tent. "There you are -" Jerry stood there petrified as he saw the bird sitting on his shoulder. Joshua looked at him and then at the bird. He sighed again as he looked at Jerry." It's not going to hurt you. Jerry just focus." He asked him as the bird folded its wings as he stared right at Jerry. He gulped a little as he moved aside slowly." What's the bird doing here..?" Joshua sighed as he grabbed Jerry by the shirt, pulling him towards him." Get over it. We've got things to do and he's not going anywhere. Jerry Pay Attention." He told him as he took his hand from his jacket. Jerry still looked like he was going to be eaten alive at any moment." Jerry! He won't e-" It was the sound of the crowd quieting, the lead council member standing. The Tournament was going to start. The falcon flew off as the man started speaking, leaving Jerry the ability to move. "Come on Josh. We need to get you ready." He spoke as they went towards the table.

Joshua looked around as he saw three other angels walk into the arena from their tents, each with different weapons. He sighed a little as he looked back at Jerry for a moment. He looked back at the other angels, looking up at the crowd. There were angels in seats all around the circular arena. There were stands holding at least 25000 angels in the stands, let alone all the council members in the box. The box was floating above the arena, a constant reminder of how superior they were. They were nothing but tyrants. Joshua was glad to have the silver gladiator helmet on his head as he was already a silver plated angel. Jerry had wanted to weigh him down with protection, but he wanted to be able to move faster. More agility. He only had silver shoulder, forearm and shin armor on, nothing to heavy. He looked up at the council member as he finished off his speech, sitting back down in his chair as he watched from above. He turned to look at the other three angels, going to their corners. He could see one carrying an ax to the opposite corner of his, one with two hammers, and the last one with a silver rod with a spike ball at the end. This was not Earth.

His hand gripped the handle of his sword as he moved out into the dirt floor, pulling the sword from his hip. He was to go up against the man with two hammers. He looked pretty big.. big built. He had bones of a Titan. Josh chuckled to himself as he started to get serious. He was going to have to focus now.

Angie stopped in front of a door as she slowly pushed it open, peaking inside. There was a little child sitting on a window seat, staring outside. She was staring out at the world below, the one she called her home. You could see the clouds passing by the window, hitting the sunlight as it passed. It wouldn't be long before the sun went down fully, giving light to the other part of the world. "Charlotte." She called in a low voice as the girl turned to look at her. "Come on Charlotte. We must go. "She told her as she held the door open, turning to look into the hallway. It was still quiet. She looked at the girl who turned back to the window, leaning her head against it." I don't want too." she told her aunt as she looked back at the tower. Angie looked back at the child as she really was her mother's child. She would need to hurry. "Charlotte, we have to go now. Come on, You'll be able to see your mother. You want to see her don't you? We should go." She was encouraging her to come as she pulled out her bow.

Charlotte turned to look at her when she spoke about her mother. She had wanted nothing more than to see her mother. The last time she had seen her was during the nights, the nights where she had come to visit. No something her father knew of. She had promised not to tell father as long as her mother came. She had stopped coming, but Charlotte didn't want to break their promise. It was her own secret. She jumped down from the window seat, running towards Angie. "Come on." Angie spoke as she put a hand behind her back, helping her into the hallway. She had missed her mother, her arms around her. She wanted that comfort once more. She wanted to be loved by her mother. They both hurried down the hallway was she made sure to go before her when it came to going around corners. They had finally arrived at the dungeons as it was actually somewhat peaceful when it came to it. There was hardly anyone on duty. That was the benefit to the evening's entertainment.

She looked around the corner as she tried her best to stay hidden. There was just a single man on duty tonight. She was fortune. She turned around as she bent down to Charlotte's level." Charlotte." She spoke to her in a whisper, stroking her hair. "My love, cover your ears." she told her as she pulled both her hands against her ears. "Don't listen, Stay here and I'll be right back." She moved to kiss her head as she nodded, holding her hands tight against her ears. She pulled away from her as she took her bow, grabbing an arrow. She walked down the hallway as she aimed for the small opening in the door window. She pulled the arrow back as she stopped in her tracks, releasing as she was sure she would hit the man. The swooshing noise went blazing past the door, through the window and right into the angel's neck. It pierced a gland in it, causing blood to trickle down the side of his neck. You could see more and more falling as his hand grabbed at his neck, trying to apply pressure. He pulled the arrow out, falling to his knees as he pressed his hand against it. She came to the door, moving her hand over the handle as it unlocked. She went past the door as she made her way behind the man, grabbing him by the neck. She moved swiftly as you could hear cracks following each other like the sound of falling dominoes. The man's hand fell from his neck as he hit the floor. She looked around as she pulled a curtain down, tossing it over him.

She walked back down the hallway, grabbing Charlotte's hand and leading her back to the cells. It was a dungeon, not worthy of royalty. Angie was looking around as they went down the pathway, Charlotte wiggling away from her grasp. "Mommy!" She called after as she ran to a cell, almost ramming up against it as she clutched onto the bars. Her face leaned against it as she could Lina on the other side. Angie came over as she moved her hand over it, hearing it unlock from the inside. She opened the door as Charlotte went flying into Lina's lap. She gave her mother a large hug, lina returning it. Angie watched the two for a moment as she could remember the memories of how her mother would hold her. It was a long... a very long time ago. She looked around for a moment before speaking. "Let's go."

Lina was sitting there as Charlotte climbed off her lap, taking Lina's hand in hers. " Come on Mommy. Let's go." She whispered to her as she grinned. "We have to get to the Arena." And quickly. They had already taken to long. He could have been dead by now. At least he could know he had died for love. Angie made her way down the hallway as the two followed behind her. They made their way down the hallways without being spot, stopping in front of the double doors of the Arena. Angie pulled out two arrows as she pulled out one feather, seeing it attached to a string. The string was attached the arrow still as she pulled a long loose slack of it. She tied the loose string to her right leather forearm binding. It had a little nook that she wrapped the string around, doing it once more for the other arrow. She held one in her left hand as she had the other arrow pulled back. She held the string as she took in a deep breath. She was calling for her power, the power to send a wooden arrow through a thick steel door and through a man. She could feel her power go into the arrow, unaware that her eyes were glowing white. She released it as she saw that it was already heading to the door, pulling back the other arrow. She aimed it to the left as she released the next arrow. The noise that followed was the noise of groaning from the other side. Her eyes were still glowing white as she pulled the string around her arm and then into her hand. She made a fist, keeping her grip on the string tight.

She looked up the door as she closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the world around her. She yanked the string as hard as she could, opening her eyes to see the doors. They buckled under the pressure of the two men being pulled through the iron door. The door fell towards them, hitting the stone pathway. The two men laid on top of it as you could see the arrow points barely poking out of their chest. She pulled her sword from behind her back, swinging it in a circle to cut the strings loose. She tucked it back into its sheath, putting her bow back into the quiver. " Let's go." She told them, steeping over the dead men. She prayed that her brother was still alive. She did not want this to be in vain. It would not be in vain if he was dead, but she had wanted her brother to live. Not that she didn't have faith in his ability to fight, he was a good swordsman... but she did not want to lose another man in her life. She had lost one that was very important to her and then she had lost her other brother to the darkness. She would not lose this one too. She would not.