The Arena

Nero was startled into waking as the hard, scrapping sound of the Cell's opening above him opened, the Litchen, speaking in their harsh clicking language, immediately lassoed him with the psychic rope that seized him tightly around his torso, dragging his groggy form out of the Cell where several Masked Litchen stood, none of which were either Fiore or Baj...

"H-hey, Easy there!" Nero heard, turning his head to see Griffin being pulled, a look of anguish on her face as the Litchen heaved her up, her brushes clearly still painting her "No need to be so rough ladies, not like I can do any real damage anyway" She groaned as they hoisted her roughly onto their shoulder, Nero went to protest but felt his own weakened body, tossed over the shoulder of a particularly strong Litchen woman, all of which where cackling to one another in their clicking voices, the group immediately sweeping off through the tunnels, Nero and Griffin trapped in the Litchen's many arms.

Nero looked to Griffin as they endured the rough ride through the Dark tunnels, She gave him a knowing smile, a cocky and paradoxically faithful grin that made Nero stare at the ground gravely, not liking the sound of having to fight anyone or push his instinct to the point where He lost control, He didn't want to endure that again.

The echoing drumbeat could be heard now, booming rhythmic drums that were accompanied by the shrill voices of the Litchen, singing that strange song once again "VAAKO-VOLLUKAR, VAAKO-VOLLUKAR MI'KLIK VILIS! VARGULT, VARGULT TILUK'KILIT!" They cried, their voices echoing in all directions as Nero was carried out into the chill night air. Many great flames burned through the empty camp, not a single Litchen was in the camp, though Nero sure that He could guess where they were.

To the east of the great tunnels, on the other side of the village, was the northeastern part of the Great canyon, a severely cracked scar in the landscape that looked like god had struck it hollow with a colossal chisel, this great pit shone with lights of Orange and Gold, many clicking voices chanting that same tune from the inside _"That... would be the arena then." _Nero thought to himself, as they drew closer and closer to the great pit.

Litchen began to appear as they were carried along the sloping path, many great holes had been tunnelled into the walls, where the Litchen yelled and cried down at Nero and Griffin, watching them move through the spiralling passage into the beating heart of the canyon. The Drumming was deafening now, the voices clear and powerful as it synchronized with the whistle of the frosty wind _"VAAKO-VOLLUKAR, VAAKO-VOLLUKAR MI'KLIK VILIS! VARGULT, VARGULT TILUK'KILIT! HADTVAR MIKARZ, DOZ VAAKO VAAKO, KILLIK MARTE BARZ VE KOLUT VAAKO VAAKO!" _The thumping intensified with the bullet fast ritualistic chanting, cutting into the air and making Nero's ears ring so that intensified his wonder and horror as they emerged into the bottom of the Valley.

Nero's jaw dropped, staring up the Canyon's high and jagged walls, seeing the many rows of tunnels from which hundreds of thousands of Litchen stood, singing and crying out with passion as the great drums played. Nero had noticed the small Golden stones in his cell, there were only two or three providing a dim light, but here... the Canyon's walls were scattered with so many of the Golden crystals that the entire arena was bathed in golden light, this paired with the great burning torches in every tunnel, dazzled Nero to no end.

At the west most centre wall of the jagged canyon was a great metal stand, where the many high Litchen warriors sat beside their Queen who sat in a throne made entirely of the great golden crystal, Her huge mask glinting in the light as she looked down upon Nero and Griffin, despite how far away she was in this truly colossal arena, Nero could see that she did not sing, merely stared down, holding a great Black spear that shone with the many loosely wrapped rings of silver and gold, her eyes cold and dark as the Voices around Her became almost too much to bear.

The Cheif raised both her left arms, and in less than a second, the chanting and drumming ended, leaving not a trace of a sound, save for the blowing of the breeze. The Cheif stood from her throne, stepping forward on her platform where she began to speak "Litchak Gors Boja, Baaz gathra ze el Iik!" The Litchen around let out one booming cry before quieting again so that the Cheif could continue "H'tak Vermilico, Ht'ak gaztu f'kutu Marte, Raaz ruko Gojat!" She screamed, pointing Her spear swiftly in Nero's direction, The tribe cried out once more "Hadvok test vaar, Fioremika, Gojat kolot benaz? BENAZ LITCHAK, ET ADATA?" She screamed pointing her spear over the Valley's edge... You could have heard a pin drop it was so quiet until the Cheif spoke again "BENAZ LITCHAK, GOJAT KARZKJA!?" and like she had flipped a switch, pointing her spear viciously in Nero's direction, the entire valley screamed with agreement, raising their spears and rifles as the Litchen who carried Nero and Griffn began to walk to one of the Valley's edges

"Well... at least the Cheif was democratic in her decision?" Griffin said Nero looked at her with fear in his eyes

"S-So we are gonna have to fight!?" Nero asked slightly panic, still in disbelief that this was happening, Griffin nodded, apparently completely unshaken

"Oh yeah, or try to fight, I don't know how well we will do while the Cheif leaches us like this?" She admitted casually, Nero began to shake, his instinct rattling Inside of him as they approached the edge of the arena. Tossing him and Griffin off of their shoulders, the Litchen stood over Nero, a look even more menacing than their dark masks as they raised the butt of their rifles, Nero raised his arms, trying to scuttle back as Griffin took a knockout blow to the jaw, The Litchen ignore his pleas, her rifle swinging downward, where the cold metal of the weapon's end slammed into his face, sending into a very sudden and natural unconsciousness.

"Neh-ro!... Neh-ro!!! Katz golock Gojat!" Neh-ro!" Nero's eyes slid opened slowly, the instant pain in his jaw splashing across his face as a woman with four arms, shook him awake

"Huh... What?" Nero said groggily, clutching his jaw as He sat up, The Woman who had been shaking him, squeaked with joy, her arms locking around him as Her soft lips kissed his throbbing cheek "F-Fiore?" Nero said, looking at the Silver-haired Litchen Girl who sat next to him, sheer happiness on her face, Nero frowned, she looked more than a little roughed up herself

"How cute..." Nero looked over to the other side of the dark chamber, Stood there, leant up against the wall with a bruise on her jaw, was Griffin, standing and smiling at Nero as Fiore re-attached herself to him "She's been trying to wake You up for hours You know, wouldn't even let me get even a little bit near You, I don't know what You did but I'd say You may have a lifelong lover on Your hand's there, Stud." Griffin said with a wink, Nero ignored her, stroking Fiore's silver hair as he looked around the Long and quite large chamber that contained nothing save for dust and darkness.

Nero felt something as He inhaled, he felt... stronger, at least a little stronger, easily getting to his feet compared to earlier where He could be nothing but a crumpled mess on the floor, He stretched with relief at this, flexing his fingers as He looked to Griffin "The Cheif's magic... or whatever it is, Mysteria, it's weakened?" He asked, Griffin, shook her head as she continued to smile

"She has doubtless allowed us to retain some of our strength for whatever battle she has planned in the Arena." Griffin said, standing straight as she looked at Nero with curiosity "So... You really don't know about Mysteria or Glyphs, You don't have them on Gaia?" She asked, Nero shook his head adamantly, continuing to stroke Fiore's hair as He looked at Her inquisitively

"No, of course not, Magic is a fantasy, it's... a myth. I know that these things give You powers, I mean I shocked that big black thing and... I brought Calliope back from the dead, but what are they exactly?" He said, Griffin folded her arms as she huffed

"Well... I wouldn't exactly call Mysteria Magic, but..." Griffin twirled one of her wavy black hairs in her index finger, thinking for a moment "Hmm, Maybe I won't tell You about Mysteria just yet, It's not like either of us have adequate strength to use our Powers anyway, plus... I hate to say it, I don't know if I can trust You with that information just yet, You seem pretty ignorant, as ignorant as a man from another world would be, but I'd rather not take any chances until I know for Sure." She said, rubbing her chin as Nero felt anger flare up from his chest

"Are You serious, You're telling me that we have superpowers, abilities that I'm guessing could get us out of this situation and you're not gonna even fill me in!?" He snarled, his Instinct burning and beating with the fast rhythm of his heart, Griffin sighed, looking at him softly with Her crystal blue eyes

"Listen, I'm not saying that I won't tell You, I will if I'm right about You, which I'm sure I am. But it's not like the information will do us any good right now, like I said, we are both too weak to use our powers to get us out of this situation, the one that You created might I remind You, just do me a favour and work with me, if this goes the way I suspect, then we will be more than alive after this." She said, her voice becoming a lot more stern, Nero pressed his lips together... She was right, He did put them in this position, but what in the hell was she counting to get them out of there _"Maybe... I should just, trust her, it's not like I have any better ideas." _His gut told him. Nero nodded to Griffin

"Alright, I'll trust You, but I need to know what the plan is, and if You say do nothing again then that trust is going out of the fucking window." He said resolutely, Griffin smiled

"On the contrary, the Plan, is that we fight," Griffin said, Nero blinked nervously, the powerful pulsing of his instinct was so intense if he let all of that out... God knows what would happen,

"I... I don't know if we could stand a chance... I am okay in a fistfight, but I haven't used weapons or anything, and You're injured-"

"Don't worry about me" Griffin quickly interjected, "I can take care of myself, the fact that You haven't used any weapons... well that could be a problem..." She added, rubbing her chin again, before smiling "Just... do Your best, I'm sure that You will, pick it up quickly if the Girl can fight, which I'm sure she will," Griffin said, winking to Fiore who frowned at her in return "Then we will manage just fine."

Nero sighed, rubbing his face as He went to sit "I don't know why I'm going along with his but-"

"You don't need to sit all the way over there." Griffin quickly said as He paused, He raised an eyebrow "What?"

"Well... there are no Bars between us now, You can come sit over here," Griffin said brightly, Nero shrugged

"Um, alright." Standing back up, Nero walked over to Griffin, who beamed at him, although He quickly found Fiore's face in between them

"Kaja Neh-ro!" She said, pushing on his chest lightly to stop him

"What's wrong, it's fine she isn't going to hurt us." He Said, hoping that it might comfort Fiore, the Girl looked at Griffin with fearful eyes, before gently relenting, throwing herself behind him as He approached Griffin. She sat on the floor, folding her legs to hide her lower parts, though Her smooth red legs looked divine in the low light, she patted lightly on the spot next to him, where He sat, Fiore's scowling form behind him.

"See, that's better." Griffin said, narrowing her eyes as she took in all of his features up close, Nero flushed slightly, she really was the most beautiful woman He had ever seen, even with her face all roughed up her skin shone and her eyes flashed as they took in every detail of him "You know... You really are very handsome." Griffin whispered lightly, Nero felt his face burning

"Oh, um, thanks?" Griffin laughed

"In comparison to most Vermilico males anyway, they are usually big old bulls, sour faces and fuck-ugly... Half-breeds are usually better looking, but you seem to have no issues at all, except maybe Your left horn is a little short." She said, pointing at his horn which Nero felt was indeed slightly shorter than the right

"Are there a lot of Vermilico half-breeds?" He asked, Griffin shrugged

"I don't know, if a Noble family has one they often keep them completely secret or they flaunt them around, I've seen maybe a dozen." She said, Nero rubbed the bridge of his nose, this was all gonna take a lot to learn, not that He wasn't interested, He merely dreaded having to school himself on so much

"I... was wondering about something else, what if they don't give us weaponry to fight with?" He asked grimly, Griffin shook her head

"Oh they definitely will, wouldn't be much of a show if they didn't. What I'm curious about, is if they will give me back my weapons and armour, they took them away the minute they found me." She said, looking forlorn for a moment like a beloved member of her family had been kidnapped

"You really like them huh?" Nero asked curiously, Griffin sat up straight so fast that He jolted

"Like them, Like them, They are My babies, had them forged special just for me, without My sword and Helmet, I'd probably have died a long time ago, or been recognized-" Griffin's lisp closed like she had said more than she meant too

"Recognized? are you a celebrity, famous for something?" He asked with a coy smile, Griffin shrugged

"Something like that." She said quietly, fiddling with her fingers before realising and folding her arms.

Nero, Griffin and Fiore sat there for a while, Griffin seemed put o1ff by something, Nero not wanting to disturb her thoughts as Fiore hugged him tightly from behind, every so often, a sniffled coming from the girl. Nero felt his heart drop at this, He knew that He and Griffin would definitely get in trouble, but Fiore, did having sex with him really require that she fight whatever the hell was out there to the ****, He put it out of his mind, what was done was done, all He could do now was try and comfort her, as He sat in dark, awaiting what seemed like a grim and potentially short-lived future.