A little over a week had passed, and it was the day before Jonas' first fight as a top-five gladiator. He awoke and began his day like most others: he'd eat a large breakfast of various recipes made from rat meat, and then he would make his way to the sparring room to meet his crew.

However, Jonas noticed something different when he entered the sandy fight pits. Most normal fighters would spar against each other, while the more sadistic ones would beat on defenseless dummy slaves. Jonas' crew did not participate in the beating of those who couldn't fight back: this is why the teen was so shocked to see his crew surrounding an unfamiliar young man, who Jonas assumed was a dummy slave because of his skinny arms, dirty prison rags, and his terrified expression.

When Jonas saw his crew blatantly ignore his wishes, he felt his blood pump and his Pride trampled on. His Sin Scars began to glow, and he marched heavily toward the gathering.

"What the fuck is going on?" Jonas' voice was loud, and it caught his friend's attention. Ralph towered over the rest of the group and was the first to notice Jonas' misunderstanding.

“Jonas, don't worry. However, you need to hear this,” he reassuringly nodded his head. “Tell him what you told us,” the slave looked toward Jonas and swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Easy now,” Jonas used his most gentle tone. “No one here will hurt you. How about you start by telling me your name?”

“Theo, sir,” said Theo, “I just arrived here this morning, and they assigned me as a dummy slave to Ralph.”

“You just arrived here?” Jonas made a face full of pity. “Things will be confusing at first, but I'll answer any of your questions. My name is Jonas Ariel. Nice to meet you, Theo," Jonas stuck out his hand. Theo hesitated for a moment, but he returned the gesture after seeing the earnestness in Jonas' eyes.

“No one was hurting him at all,” Simon chimed in. "We only spoke to him, and he told us something interesting."

“What's interesting?" Jonas crossed his arms and wore a curious expression.

“Theo kicked the bucket just two days ago,” said Johnson, and he was a bit too excited, especially when talking about someone who had just died.

"You could afford to be a bit more tactful, Erik," Jonas shook his head. Sometimes, his friends were a handful.

"Sorry, sorry," Johnson grinned and patted Theo's shoulder. "Poor guy."

“Theo,” Jonas said, “Is it true you just died?”

“Yes, sir,” said Theo, and his voice sounded weak. “I'm a paperboy—well, I used to be until I got hit by a car."

“Fuck,” said Jonas. “ I'm sorry to hear that. Dying isn't very pleasant. Can I ask how you got captured by the gang?”

“Well,” Theo licked his dry lips. “The Demons sent me just near the slums, and I ended up running into a young man like me, who was new to Hell.”

“Where is he?” Jonas asked, but deep down, he already knew the answer.

“That’s the thing,” Theo looked embarrassed as his soft features flushed a bright red. “He offered to buy me a drink and teach me a little about surviving in Hell, but the next thing I know, I woke up in a cage, surrounded by slaves,” Jonas exhaled a depressed sigh. Every day, there were thousands of people tricked into slavery because they trusted the wrong person. Jonas knew the best way to capture slaves was by getting them drunk or drugging them.

"It's an easy way to make some Sin Stones—that's Hell's currency. Slavery is one of the most lucrative businesses around," Jonas saw the disgust on Theo's innocent face.

"When you're in Hell, never get blackout drunk," Simon shook his head.

“Yes, yes,” Johnson looked impatient. “It’s sad, but Theo, you need to tell Jonas what you just told us.”

“Take your time," said Jonas. "My story is similar to yours. I got drunk with someone I trusted and ended up here.”

“Really?” Theo asked, and his face seemed to regain some color. “I felt like an idiot. I swear I was the first person to be enslaved after only two days in Hell.”

“Shit,” Jonas chuckled. “I was enslaved within the first few hours of dying. Hell, I was enslaved twice within my first two weeks,” and the laughter from his crew seemed to make Theo feel better because he chuckled after seeing the smile on Jonas' face.

“When I woke up,” began Theo. “I was freaking out, but eventually, I started talking to the other slaves. I was trying to figure out what was what, you know?”

“Of course,” Jonas nodded. “I was the same way. Don’t worry, though, because we will tell you everything you need to know.”

“I was telling your friends about Earth,” Theo exhaled a deep breath. “They wanted to know about recent events and whatnot.”

“That is exciting,” Jonas finally caught on. “The year is twenty-twenty, right?”

“That's right,” said Theo."This year has been a total shitshow.”

“That bad?” Jonas raised his eyebrows. “Like world war three?”

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“No,” said Theo. “I'd say the world's misery began in February when my Forty-Niners lost the Superbowl. Then, just a few months later, there was a pandemic, and a damn virus started killing people off.”

“Ouch,” Jonas heard the topic of football mentioned, and he barely registered the part where a deadly virus unleashed itself upon the Earth. “Who’d they lose to?”

“The fucking Chiefs,” said Theo bitterly, but he looked a bit scared after seeing the crazed expression on Jonas’ face.

“Did you hear that, Jonas?” Ralph boomed. “Your boys won it!”

“Shut up,” Jonas had a dumb grin on his face. “They fucking did it?”

“Oh, they did,” said Theo. “Had the damn thing handed to them: their Divisional match was against the Texans, and the Conference game was against the Titans.”

“What?” Jonas looked dumbstruck. “Texans and Titans?” he asked, “What about the Pats or the Ravens?”

“The damn Patriots lost to Miami in week seventeen: lost their first-round bye and ended up going one-and-done during the Wild Card to the Titans. Then the Ravens lost to the Titans the following week.”

“Fuck yes!” Jonas punched the air, and his face resembled a child on Christmas morning. However, his smile didn't last long when an intrusive thought entered his head: did Drake know the Chiefs had won? Jonas wished he could celebrate the news with his brother.

“Tell me more,” Jonas' frown turned into a fake grin. “Start from the beginning of the season,” Theo eagerly nodded his head and began to recite the highlights of the football season. Ahmed didn’t care for modern sports, so he looked impatient to spar, but he knew how much that news meant to Jonas, so he bit his tongue and tried not to spoil the fun.

“Fuck,” Jonas sighed. Ten minutes passed, and poor Theo looked like he might die of thirst from all the talking. “You earned yourself a beer,” Jonas grabbed the daily beer that Ahmed brought him and handed it to Theo, who gave the drink a skeptical look. “Why would I need to poison you? You’re already a slave,” and Theo looked awkward as he took a sip of the swampy-looking beer.

"Sorry," Theo wiped his mouth. "I'm feeling more cautious because of what happened."

"Understandable. I'm surprised we haven’t seen an increase in slaves because of that virus. You said it was killing people, didn’t you?”

“Mostly old people,” said Theo. “I bet the guy who hit me with his car was one of those panic buyers trying to stock up on toilet paper.”

“Shit,” said Jonas. “Getting hit by a car is better than exploding in one. That’s how I kicked it.”

“Exploding car?” Theo looked at him curiously. “When did you die?”

“Just over a year ago,” said Jonas. “My brother and I drove off a mountain."

“Holy shit,” Theo stepped back to look at Jonas. “You’re the younger Ariel brother from Lasatus, Kansas!”

“You’ve heard of me?” Jonas looked taken aback.

“Heard of you?” Theo asked. “You were trending on Twitter!”

“Hold on, hold on, what do you know?”

“I was a paperboy, remember? You two made our news in Denver. Two drunk drivers went off a cliff and crashed into a daycare.”

“I was trending on Twitter?” Jonas felt disgusted. “Fuck, now my legacy is a damn child killer.”

“Nah,” said Theo. “The media blamed your brother, and from what I remember, they said you were an innocent teen caught up in the accident.”

“Of course they would,” Jonas felt his mood dampening further. “My brother was an easy target for rumors.”

“No point in dwelling on it,” Simon interjected. “You’re both dead, and knowing all of this isn’t going to change anything.”

“I know, I know,” Jonas conceded. “It’s so strange hearing about things back on Earth. It feels so far away and yet so close at the same time.”

He didn’t feel like talking anymore; something about him trending on Twitter made Jonas feel rather moody. The conversation continued, but Jonas didn't feel like he was part of it; instead of enjoyment, he felt an out-of-body experience, like he didn't belong in reality. He tried sparring and working out, but neither activity made him feel better.

Later that night, he and Yuki were sharing a bottle of wine, and she could see something was bothering him because he wasn’t as talkative as usual.

“Are you okay?” she stroked his arm. “You’ve been in a bit of a funk ever since you got here.”

“I met this slave today,” Jonas sighed. “He had recently died.”

“Did you ask him about Earth?” Yuki raised an eyebrow. “You did, didn’t you?”

“I couldn’t help it,” Jonas gave a sheepish grin. “My favorite football team won the Superbowl: the championship tournament I tried to teach you.”

“Tried,” agreed Yuki. “I can barely wrap my head around men wearing armor and throwing a leather ball around.”

“Unfortunately, you only know men wearing armor and killing each other with swords.”

“That I do,” said Yuki. “But you shouldn’t worry about that stuff, as it doesn’t concern you anymore.”

“I made the news,” said Jonas. “The fact that my brother and I killed those kids, everyone knows about it.”

“Did you think it would be a secret?” She asked.

“Well, no. I figured it would make the local news, but the whole damn country was talking about it.”

“Does that matter?” Yuki asked. “Do you care that much?”

“It’s my Pride,” said Jonas. “I feel shitty knowing that an entire country was judging me, talking behind my back when I wasn’t there to defend myself or to explain what had happened.”

"Jonas,” Yuki sounded firm. She grabbed his hand and held it tightly. “You’re a good man. However, sometimes bad things happen to good people. It's not fair, but it happens."

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I wonder if I am a good man?"

“Where is that coming from?” She looked a bit concerned.

“A good man doesn't stain his hands with blood,” his blue eyes looked anxious. “I murdered a man in cold blood and was in the car when we killed those kids.”

“Wolf deserved it,” Yuki sounded irritated. “Given the chance, he would have murdered you, me, and all of your friends. As for that accident: well, it was a fucking accident.”

“It’s not about Wolf, and it’s not about the accident,” Jonas was having a hard time explaining the feeling in his heart. “It’s about me, Yuki. Who am I?”

“I think you’re someone I care about deeply,” Jonas' stomach turned, and the corners of his mouth curved.

“You care about me deeply?” Jonas looked sheepish. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course I do,” Yuki gazed into his eyes. “If everyone here died tomorrow, you’re the only one I’d be sad about,” Jonas knew she intended to be flattering, but her words sounded a bit brutal.

"Thank you." He kissed her lips. “However, I was referring to my existential crisis, you know?”

“You don't need to have an existential crisis, Jonas,” her soft hands caressed his cheeks. “You have people that care about you, and I know that you care about them too. You have a dream, and you should focus on it. Be who you want to be, Jonas. That's what Sin allows you to do."