Axel hung his head as he sat in the back of a cart. The cart jittered along the bumpy road on its way back to the gladiator school where Axel lived.
His eyelids drooped and he found Somnos dragging him into a cage of sleep.
In his dreams, Axel stood at the edge of a wide river, the landscape blanketed in fog.
He squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of anything on the other side.
The fog dispersed and standing on the other side of the river were two boys: one with hair like flames, and the other with hair like the sky. They looked about fourteen or fifteen years of age, and Axel's stomach turned as he recognized the two boys.
The flame-haired boy was of course himself, but the version of himself before he was stripped of his name and branded with a black mark under each of his eyes. And this boy's name was not Axel, it was Lea.
The other boy was Axel's only companion back home, a copper-eyed boy named Isa.
The two boys waved at Axel from across the river, and Axel raised his hand in response.
The two boys seemed to confer with each other for a moment, before Isa jumped into the river and glided through the water to reach Axel.
Isa was halfway across until suddenly he jerked back, like something under the surface had grabbed him. He turned around, looking for whatever grabbed his leg.
He bobs under the surface, splashing around with terror in his eyes. Isa screams for Lea, and Lea jumps into the water. Axel takes a step closer but there seems to be a barrier keeping him from the water's edge.
"Isa!" Axel shouted, but his voice was drowned out as Isa slipped under the water's surface, never to be seen again.
Lea broke through the surface, but when Axel met eyes with him, the boy had grown and lost muscle. His hair, which had once been in windblown spikes, cascaded down to his shoulders as Axel's hair was now. Lea's face was still youthful and his cheeks supple, but suddenly two black birds from the sky dove down to attack him.
Axel reached out to himself, but the barrier still did not permit him to step into the river.
The birds flapped their wings, and Lea met eyes with his future self.
Under each eye was a black stripe-like mark, ringed with red where the skin was irritated from the tattooing.
The Axel in the river stepped onto the riverbank to meet with the Axel there. He held out his arm, touching Axel's shoulder, and suddenly disappeared with the wind.
Axel was jarred awake from his sleep, and Lexaeus's thick hand grabbed him by his armor straps again.
"Come on, I don't have time for your fooling around." He muttered, dragging Axel up the steps to the school.
The gladiator school was a square-shaped complex with each side of the square a building with a different function: the south building was where the dining hall, kitchens, and bathrooms were placed; the north building was the armory, weaponry, and indoor classroom to educate the gladiators mentally; and the east and west buildings were living quarters, each containing about fifty cells for two gladiators to live in. The east living quarters also had a section for servants and the rare female gladiators, though Axel only knew of two personally.
The empty center served as a miniature arena for the gladiators to train in, but during resting times such as festivals, parties were held there.
Waiting at the door for them was one of the servants, who led Axel outside where a group of fifty gladiators were training. Of these fifty included gladiators from both sides of the living quarters.
"Did Master Lexaeus tell you about the chariot race?" A tall man with hair the color of salmon asked Axel as he approached with a spear over his shoulder.
"Yes, according to him you're my partner, Marluxia." Axel replied dryly.
"Don't give me that tone," Marluxia chided, "I'm a skilled horseman."
Though Axel could not see for himself, word had gotten around about Marluxia's skills as a horseman. After all, he was one of the famed Sagittarius of Rome. His skills with horses and with the bow were unmatched.
"We'll be guaranteed victory." Marluxia promised.
"So you think, Marluxia," a voice called out as its owner approached.
Two girls swaggered toward Marluxia and Axel, one with short blond hair and two strands trailing from her head like the antennae of an insect, and one with choppy blue hair.
"What makes you think you'll win the race?" The blond one, called Larxene, grinned slyly.
"You know I'm the most skilled Sagittarius in Rome," Marluxia crossed his arms, though Axel was surprised to hear him openly bragging about his skills. Marluxia's usual temperament was as still as a tranquil pool. Perhaps Larxene was a different case, as her unruliness often sparked vile feelings in any man.
Though he wasn't sure how true the tale was, Axel had heard Larxene used to be a prostitute in the subura of Rome. Often he believed it, since Larxene was known to sneak out to the living quarters of the other gladiators. She was never caught for it because she supposedly seduced the headmasters of the school.
The other Amazones, named Aqua for the blueness of her hair, was Larxene's polar opposite as a silently prideful woman and a true master without having to boast of her skills.
"Hm, we shall see, won't we?" Larxene challenged. "I wouldn't be surprised if I moved up in the ranks. Besides, I am a favorite among the audience as it is mostly male..."
"You could train for years and years endlessly, but you'll never match my skills. And on top of that, you'll always be a whore." Marluxia snapped.
"Come, Larxene, we must finish assembling our chariot." Aqua interrupted to settle the argument.
Axel admired Aqua's level temperament, much like Marluxia's, but Aqua's attitude was smooth and clear as glass compared to Marluxia's occasional spouts of lost control.
"Hmph," Larxene hummed as they turned away.
Marluxia sighed loudly and cracked his knuckles.
"I doubt that Larxene will play fairly in this race," Axel mentioned, "even if Aqua refuses it to be."
"Worry not, Axel, we have a few tricks up our sleeves as well." Marluxia assured, drawing his bow and firing an arrow at a target in the distance. Marluxia had never broke eye contact with Axel, even as the arrow plunged into the target.
Translations
- Damnati ad gladium - Condemned to the sword, an expression used to describe gladiators' lives
- Sagittarius - Not to be confused with the zodiac sign, a type of gladiator distinguishable by being mounted on a horse
- Subura - Middle-class kind of neighborhood in Rome, but there are a lot of prostitutes
- Amazones - Female gladiators