Her Servant The Gladiator

Mavis Scotts

I shot up out of my bed gasping for breath. I was covered in a cold sweat and my entire body was on fire. I suddenly felt my world spinning inside of my head and stumbled out of the Animusphere weakly. I barely made it to the waste paper bin before I was violenly ill and threw up everything I had eaten that day. When I didn't get anything else up and managed to calm my body, I fell back onto the cool tile floor. All of my strength had suddenly left my body as I looked up at the bright flourescent lights. Before I could say anything, the faces of Dr. Roman and Olga Animusphere, my supervisors, were staring down at me. Dr. Roman spoke first.

"Hey! Can you hear me Mavis? Are you okay?!" Then Olga spoke up.

"Does she look like she's fucking okay?! You are such a moron! I told you not to turn the immersion up all the way!"

Their shouting was only making my head pound harder. I sat up slowly and groaned out my reply.

"Shut the fuck up, both of you. I'm fine." Dr. Roman helped me stand on my shaking legs. He let me lean on him as we walked toward the nearest chair and carefully sat me down. He bent down to my level and spoke softly. "What happened in there? Your reading suddenly went static and then you went into shock!" He held out a water bottle that I eagerly took and started to drink. I looked up when Olga leaned against the nearby countertop and looked at me curiously. I took a moment to collect my thoughts before I spoke again.

"That was the most fucked up thing I think I have ever seen." Olga quirked a brow and spoke again. "What do you mean? What happened?" I drew a breath and exhaled sharply. "You were right, Olga. It was definitely a Holy Grail war she was part of. There's something off about it though." She gave me another curious look before she replied. "Why? What did you see?" I creased my brow as I recalled the agony they had put her through before I spoke again. "While I was syncing with Laela's memories, I saw their 'induction' into the Holy Grail War as formal masters. None of these people had actual command spells though, and they were using a necromancer to officiate the pacts." Dr. Roman spit his tea all over the floor in front of me as he heard me speak and coughed violently. Olga just groaned at him and rolled her eyes. "Jesus Christ. Maybe don't take such a big sip next time, idiot." She turned back to me as she grabbed a dry linen and dropped it on the floor where Roman had spit his tea. "Anyway, what were you saying before Roman tried to breathe and swallow at the same time?" He gave her a dirty look which made me chuckle before I spoke again.

"I said they were using a necromancer to officiate the pacts. I didn't get to see why just yet. The ritual he used to give her the seal was absolutely fucking brutal." Olga's face folded as she frowned deeply. "Hn. Why the hell would they need a necromancer? If these masters were chosen by the Holy Grail, why would they need to force the pact?" I shrugged and sighed. "Hell if I know. Right after she passed out from pain is when the Animusphere went all wonky. I'm guessing that's probably when my body went into shock." I paused for a few moments before I continued. "I felt every fucking ounce of pain they put her through. I'll tell you what. I've never given birth, but I'd rather give birth every day for the rest of my life then go through any of that again." Roman gave me a sympathetic look when he had collected himself and stopped his choking fit. "I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help you through that." Olga raised her brows. "What did it feel like?" I sighed a mushroom cloud before I took another sip of my water bottle. "Of fucking course you would ask me that."

I stopped to consider her question. How the fuck would I even describe that? Aside from my entire body feeling like it had been dragged through the infernal brimstone of hell's deepest layer, how do I even describe what that asshole did to her circuits? What the fuck did he even do to her circuits? I sighed for what must have been the thousandth time and parted my lips to speak. "It's difficult to explain, actually. I can explain what I felt, but I don't really know what happened or why." Roman nodded and replied softly. "Just tell us what you can. We'll try to make sense of what you can remember." I nodded slowly and told them all about what I had felt down to the smallest details. I told them about how her body felt like all its circuits warmed up, then her blood heated to what must have been molten lava from Mount Vesuvius as it coursed through her body. I then told them about how that feeling spread to every cell of her body. I shuddered as I remembered when he forced all of her mana through her overactive circuits, almost as if they had all been dormant for centuries then put on overdrive in a matter of milliseconds. Then when it came to an end, all of that red hot mana seemed to pool over the area above her right breast. Just when I was sure she was about to die, everything ended and a strange looking seal I didn't recognize was left behind. Olga and Roman were quiet for several minutes before Roman started leafing through a grimoire that had been set beside him on the table.