lyssa [https://imgur.com/VUePKrs.png]

Still nursing her sore head, Lyssa was shocked when she finally saw Abel appearing in the arena with two others. The voice explained that it was the last round and she grew both nervous and suspicious. What were the chances that, of all the participants who had entered the arena, two of the three finalists were from their single train car?

Her body tightened when Kenji, the third man, began to swing at Abel, who still looked like he was in intense pain. It was no surprise, after everything that had happened to him. Why hadn’t he given up yet?

Then she listened to them talking. And watched Kenji give a bow of his head and leave Abel behind to face Bernard.

I don’t like this, Lyssa thought as she watched the two men circling each other. Bernard had no training, he shouldn’t have made it this far. He’d been brutal and fearless, but there were others who had greater finesse, possessing a grace with their weapon. He had faced none of them. It wasn’t right.

Kenji made a feint, causing Bernard to swing his glaive through the open air, but the asian man simply smiled at the reaction.

“You’re a cocky little thing, huh?” Bernard’s voice carried through the arena. He didn’t sound as confident as he had when he stood over Abel’s bleeding form in the stone hallway. That, at least, gave Lyssa some comfort.

He stopped his feet, instead opting to stay in place while Kenji continued to circle him, katana unsheathed and held evenly with both hands. The man had the relaxed poise of a master, frame loose and ready.

Abel stood, favoring his leg, watching the two from a distance. The crowds had begun to grow loud as the drama unfolded. They’d been brought into the fold and now were enjoying the spectacle.

Kenji made another feint, getting one more swing out of Bernard, and catching him across the arm with him blade. Bernard grunted, a sound of pain through closed teeth as Kenji fell back to safety again.

A thick line of blood slid down Bernard’s arm. He made to open his mouth and speak, likely another insult, but thought better, looking at the crowd circling him in the stands. Instead, he went on the attack, taking steps forward, trying to use his length advantage to strike a lucky blow with the glaive’s pointed end.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

“Lyssa?”

Lyssa turned her head in surprise, pulled from the intense match. Sarah stood in the aisle beside her. She leapt to her feet to embrace her friend. “Sarah!”

“I finally found you! I figured you would come and I kept seeing you in those games.” Sarah’s voice was muddled from the cheers and boos around them as the two continued fighting. “How are you?”

She looked into her friend’s eyes, unable to stop herself from smiling. Her thoughts went to the life outside of the arena, the lonesome and terrifying days spent on the street, and her smile began to fade. “Alright.”

Lyssa sat down, squeezing enough room for Sarah to sit as well.

“This is all so crazy,” Sarah said, looking up into the holograms battling above the pit. “We never could have imagined any of this would happen back when we were on that train.”

Whether she meant the arena itself or Bernard and Abel facing one another in it, she wasn’t sure, but it was still an unbelievable series of events.

“I talked to Abel earlier; he said you’ve buried Annie.” She said, then a moment later, “Where are you staying? Is it comfortable?”

Sarah gave a noncommittal shake of her head. “It’s an apartment. There’s nothing special about it. We’re safe and that’s what matters. But you-” her friend grabbed her arm, stealing her attention again, “-what have you been doing? Where have you been staying? I was so relieved when I saw you in the pit earlier.”

She thought back to Theodore and the meager soups and sandwiches she had managed to live off of, pushing away the negative memories. “I found an old man who didn’t mind taking me in. I’m on the East side of the city, it’s nice. It looks like a normal city, there are houses with gardens and yards and stuff.”

“So you haven’t been totally alone then? That’s good, is he nice?”

“Yeah. We don’t talk much but he makes meals for both of us.”

Sarah nodded her head. “Well, I’m glad to hear that, but Abel and I are coming to get you after this is over.”

Lyssa gave a gentle smile, eyes squinted with confusion. “What? Nothing has changed. I still-” she caught herself, lowering her voice slightly, “-have a level in Bara.”

“I don’t care. I’m not going to let you live all alone in this city. I wouldn’t have, to begin with, but, then Annie died.” She watched the circling holograms a moment. “And I don’t think either of us were in the right mind. Now she is buried in a nice guarded graveyard near the apartment. And the rest of us, we need to stick together. Okay?”

She took in a breath. “Sarah, that can’t work, I’m-”

“Why are you fighting me on this? Abel and I both want to help you. You think that we aren’t aware that we’ll be endangering ourselves? There were only the five of us and we needed to stick together. Now Annie is gone, and Bernard is...”

They both watched the swinging figures, the metal flashing in the sunlight.

“So now there may only be the three of us. You and I should have never split up. And we can’t leave Abel alone either. We have to stay as a group or we may never see each other again. We all want it, so don’t even try fighting with me, okay?”

Lyssa gave a nod of her head, feeling her heart aching in her chest. She wanted to argue, explain how terrifying the streets were, but she didn’t want to be separated again. She put a hand onto Sarah’s and said “Thank you,” just as Kenji drove his katana through Bernard’s shoulder and the crowd exploded with sound.