Arine

I hated how they looked at me, even Eli. And the worst thing? I would have reacted exactly the same. If I had seen this girl, carrying around an air shark the size of her, I might have fallen in love. But I was this girl. This girl without a family, without an identity, and a past. Even if I hated myself for it, I wanted, no I needed something to hold on too. Something Arine could call her’s. And if that meant buying a flying shark plushie, so be it. 

It turned out to be a really good purchase thought. For the first time in what felt like forever, I wasn’t alone. The air shark was there for me when I once more cried myself to sleep. Who would have thought plushies could have such a calming effect? I certainly don’t.

Wiping away the few dried tears, I once more put on the uniform and took a deep breath, collecting myself. It wouldn’t do for me to be seen like this by the others, it would only serve to further complicate my situation. I had to keep a low profile if I wanted this to end. At least I hoped this would end. It became harder and harder to recognize myself. Every time I had to look into a mirror, there was this girl with pitch-black hair, reaching to her mid-back, this cute face, her crystal blue eyes paired with her emotionless expression. There was nothing from my former self, not even a hint of familiarity, I looked like a stranger to myself. And every time it became harder and harder not to break down. 

Nerveless, I only had to keep up one more day, today was the last day of this nightmare. Today was the day of the show battle, the battle Jenna wanted me to participate in. And once it was over I could go back home, see my family again and get my body back. At least, that was what I told me over and over again. Deep inside me, I knew, I would most likely never see them again but it was too hard to admit and didn’t want to let go. So I told myself this lie over and over again until I started to believe it. There was no way I was going down this rabbit hole, not so long as there was just the tiniest bit of hope.

Pulling myself together once more I was ready for the day and meet with Eli outside the dorms. We had a little bit of time until the battle started. So we decided to visit the canteen, getting ourselves a little breakfast. Personally, I hadn’t bothered with the facilities of the academy and the city much, only visiting the places Eli showed me... I had other things on my mind.

The canteen was just as exaggerated as the rest of the city. A ceiling, far too high, marble pillars everywhere, tables long enough for at least twenty persons. The Walls were decorated with mosaics and windows that I only ever saw in churches. But what do you expect from a city that’s literally flying? Of course, everything had to be special…

In the middle of the room, four large tables were set up with all sorts of baked goods. It was a giant buffet. Eli was already in line, waiting for the others to move on when she started to frantically look around. She turned, gesturing for me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Ehm… Ari?” she said, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Yes, Eli?” I said wondering what she wanted- wait, I had an idea, “is it about the crystal from yesterday?”

She didn’t say anything, only grinning at me and I knew that I was right, “don’t tell me you’ve forgotten it again? You do know that every student gets one when they first enroll, right?”

“Of course I know, why wouldn't I?” she said, and yes she indeed didn’t know. Wasn’t she the one who’s supposed to know how things worked around here?

“Okay look. In your bedside table, the topmost drawer, yes?” I waited for her to nod and continued, “there’s a guide for new students and also the transaction crystal.”

“Oh.” was all she said. 

“And before you ask, ” I continued, “every student gets a monthly allowance of 150 zenrith.”

“I’ll just go and fetch my… transaction crystal?” she said, already taking leave.

“Eli... ” I grabbed her arm and spun her around, “you do know the buffet is free for students right?” All I got from her was another ‘Oh’. What a strange girl.

When it was finally our turn, Eli helped herself to a very generous platter, saying she needed to try everything at least once. I, on the other hand, wasn’t very hungry. I hadn’t eaten much in the last few days, my apatite was diminishing from day to day. Still, I took a small croissant and watched in amusement and a bit irritated as Eli took a bite out of everything.

I was longe since finished, when Eli pushed her plate away, complaining about stomach pain.

“Ari! You need to help me. I can’t take any more, please.” she bagged me.

There was no way I was touching her bitten off leftovers. Call me crazy but I found it pretty disgusting and told her as much, “Why do you even take a bit of everything?”

“Because I couldn’t handle it all?” she said cocking her head.

“You could have just taken a second serving?” I said.

Yeah, this was getting nowhere. After a small conversation about wastefulness, we had to throw away her leftovers and made our way inside the Aterium. I had drawn the number seventeen when I first registered and the posted time table told me I was matched against number five. My fight would be the fourth of the day for a total of twelve.

Eli and I made our way to the spectator row since we were one of the first to arrive we even got a good seat right at the front. But as it turned out, this event wasn't nearly as popular as the following real tournaments, being an entry event and all.

While a good chunk of spectator did show, it didn’t even fill half of the available seats. We made a bit of small talk and found the others, namely Lyn, Emily, Riley, and Kat sitting on the other side of the colosseum.

The first fight of the day was to start. There stood two boys from the academy, one with black hair, looking confident and seemed to be a year or two above the other one. Speaking of, the other boy had red hair and even I could tell from up here how nervous he was. Both of them got on the other end of the Arena, waiting for the battle to be started.

The moderator introduced the two combatants, and I finally got a glimpse as to what awaited me in a couple of hours. Those two were a very balanced pair, trading blow and punches, yes punches one after the other. I admit I was a bit disappointed, expecting fireballs being thrown around and lightning crashing down onto the battlefield. But while it certainly was different from what I had expected, it was still entertaining. To be fair though it wasn’t a normal fistfight per se, with barrier created around them and punches creating light vibrations all around us. All in all, it was like a boxing fight with some extras thrown in.

It took about twenty minutes to make out the winner. Black haired boy, James Mardales, had won after his opponent ran out on stamina and had taken blow after blow unable to block any longer. After he made it into the second round, we all got a short break before the next fight.

This time it was a young girl with bluish-gray hair, I had seen her before. She was in the same grade as Eli and I but in another class. Her opponent was two head taller than her, he wore a red robe and glasses with an arrogant grin on his face. It wasn’t hard to tell he thought the battle won already. When the introductions were made again, he wasted no time, creating three large spears of ice and commanding them with his right hand, while his left one was put behind his back. The spears speeded into the direction of the girl, who evaded one after another. But it was no use, the spears would just flip around and charging her again, all the while Karrel, her opponent, just stood there with his stupid grin. I really wanted her to whip the floor with him but the odds seemed to be stacked against her.

Using his right hand now, he creates a fourth and fifth spear, both piercing her legs but there was no blood. Instead, an illusion took her place, letting them pass through. He was clearly not expecting that and became somewhat restless. Her illusion finally faded and she came back into few, right above his head. He hadn’t had much chance to react when her leg meets his face and he was catapulted out of the ring. The audience broke out into cheers once again and my doom neared. I was happy being a spectator, watching this display of brutality from far above. But there was no use, one more fight and I would be the one getting beaten to a pulp. What was Jennas plan? Surely she didn’t intend for me to win this. Maybe she just liked seeing me suffer? It wouldn't be surprising honestly, but then again, she seemed to specifically seek me out. If all this was only about her sadistic pleasure, she could have chosen anyone else.

My thought was interrupted by the start of the third fight. I completely missed the introductions this time but it was hardly a problem after all. I even knew one of the combatants this time, it was Kat paired with someone best describes as a snob. I could already see the others starting to cheer for Kat, so I followed suit and besides, I was curious as to how Kat would fight. Eli told me she was somewhat of a beast, being one of the most competent fighting students and all.

Not a second after the battle started a massive wall of heat hit me and by their reaction, I wasn’t the only one affected. It became a lot harder to breathe and my vision was completely blurred. I could literally see the heat distorting the air all around us. What I could still make out was Kat, now glowing in orange, her hair floating in mid-air. She looked up and gave us a thumbs up before slowly walking towards her opponent who struggled hard to compete against the heat. With every step she took, the heat increased until she stood before him. By this time he could no longer stand on his own and it only took another few seconds before he collapsed. This was the shortest fight I had witnessed today, taking less than one minute and honestly? It was quite scary too, seeing this raw power in action. If this was the extent of power a student could have I didn’t even want to imagine what Jenna might be capable of.

Eli and I made our way down to congratulate Kat on her victory, “That was amazing!” Eli chimed.

“Oh it was nothing really, ” Kat said scratching her head and avoiding eye contact, “the real thing starts next month. When people from all around the world will compete and the best thing? I can finally participate this year!” 

“Uhh, that's great, ” Eli said full of excitement for Kat.

“Yeah well. I don’t stand a chance but I just want to see what’s the real deal like. Anyway, ” she continued, now back to her more usual self, “who’s gonna fight next?”

I raised my hand and both Eli and Kat cooked their head processing this for a while. “No way,” both their voices echoing in my head at the same time.

They both got into my face as too how this was a bad idea, especially Eli was very vocal about how stupid she thought this is. Did I mention that I never told anyone I would participate? This was the exact reason why. I knew well enough how bad this all was. But it was too late now and how would I even explain being forced by an evil being from hell, in the shape of a woman who can control reality? It’s easy, I don’t. So I just shrugged and walked into the changing rooms.

There I spend some time contemplating what was about to happen, but it couldn't possibly be that bad right, right? I put on the “combat skirt” and made way into the Arena. With every step, my legs felt more and more like pudding. 

My opponent was a girl a head smaller than me, which was in and of itself an accomplishment since I wasn’t very tall anymore. Her small frame obviously didn't deter her from fighting though, it was easy to tell this wasn’t her first fight. We both took our position on opposite sides of the Arena and waited for the announcement.

“And now, we have two lovely ladies, Friza Terun, the rising star of last year's tournament and Arine Shiva, not much is known about her but she’s one of AoHA’s newest students. If you’re as excited as me, there's only one more thing to say. Start!”

I an instant Friza was flying towards me, the earth beneath her cracking and small stones starting to rotate around her. One of those high-velocity projectiles was about to collide with my forehead when it happened again.

The same scene as back then. Time slowed down and I lost the ability to move, suddenly I remembered the symbols Jenna carved into my back. Up until this point, I was successfully ignoring all but the most obvious things Jenna did to me. I had no intention to explore my body any further, but now those symbols bore into my flesh, creating a gaping opening in my back.

I didn’t know what was worse, the enormous pain that stretched out all over my back or the feeling that something foreign was entering my body, my soul. It felt like a stream of madness, building up inside my head and now even my right eye started throbbing with intolerable sharp pain. I never thought I’d ever say this but I wanted to tear it out, everything to lessen this inhuman pain.

As if this wasn't enough torture, memories of beautiful landscapes, villages and happy families were playing before my mind's eyes, being reduced to dust by an unworldly force. Sceneries only ever pictured in books a film, reduced to ashes, once magnificent trees only remaining hollowed and withered away. But the worst thing by far were the villages and the people. Villages being burnt down and children screaming, seeing their parents flesh brittle and decay like burnt coal. I saw the despair in their eyes as their parent souls were washed away, not granting them the peace they deserve. 

Every passing second became unbearing and then, there was this thought, more. I needed to feel it, to cause it, to destroy. I wanted to feel their despair, nourishing their fear. NO this weren’t my thought, I couldn't, I wouldn’t, something... something was inside me creating these thoughts.

A felt eternity passed before time unfroze and my body started to act on his own. The first thing I noticed was my right eye felt different like a connection was built between it and whatever invaded my body. Taking in my environment I could see all sorts of colors floating around like small guests of winds, or waves moving in the ocean. Magic flows, that's what they were. I could now see them moving around all over. Some brownish magic was accumulated before Friza, I was able to see how she interacted with it, to control the stones and the earth beneath her.

Around me, a large pile of purple magic was building up, getting bigger by the minute. Above me, a violent storm started to brew. This shouldn’t be possible, so far up into the sky, it should be impossible for clouds to form and yet, the sky was pitch black, blocking every last sunbeam finding its way down here. Lightning and thunder started to rain down on us.

I focused my attention back to what was happening in the Arena right now. A purple barrier shielded me from any incoming stones that were thrown my way. Friza was now only a small distance away from me, close enough to grab her stomach. I felt a strange tingling sensation building up inside my hand and noticed with shock that my hand was pulsing with purple electricity. The thing inside me released the energy and Friza flew into the wall of the colosseum, leaving an imprint of herself on the way. Oh fuck, I hoped I didn’t just kill someone there, this was getting worse every minute. My body started to collect a large amount of purple magic and concentrate it into a small ball of devastation.

I never believed in god, but if there was one I prayed for him to put an end to this. While god didn’t hear my prayer, another force did. With a loud crack, the air pressure rose and smashed me to the ground. I was unable to get up again, every time I tried, the pressure increased. I saw Eli running up to me screaming what was happening but I wasn't paying attention to her. Instead, my eyes lay onto the one pressing me to the ground, I already saw him once, when I first arrive here. It was the director, Olaf, and he wasn’t looking happy. Fuck, I could only cry again. I just want this to end already.