May It Be Forever

CONFESSIONS

The crowd moved to the Combat Court, the large opening hall. Participants who were going to fight would have to put on gloves, which was not written in the rulebook. I searched for my parents among the crowd, and they were waving at me.

My heart yearned for that fight, but it wasn't my turn yet. We didn't know who we were going to fight, we would only find out at the moment of the fight. Orlando by my side couldn't stop bouncing; he seemed more anxious than me. A commotion started to form on the right side of the hall.

"Emi," someone called out to me. I searched for the voice to find the person. Rosana came into view suddenly. It had been a long time since I last saw her, since the dance. Her red hair was blowing in the wind as she stood there looking worried. She was pushing her way through the crowd with difficulty until she managed to break free. "You need to know something... The person you were supposed to fight is injured. Someone hurt them, we don't know who; the replacement is Efraim. You'll be fighting him. Mr. Fabio suspects that someone, perhaps one of Richard's associates, is here. You need to be careful."

Scanning the crowd, I searched for Guilherme, growing increasingly worried about his whereabouts. Where could he be? Could it be...? No! It couldn't be him, he wasn't like that. I tried to take that thought seriously. There was no way Guilherme could be a Richard's accomplice. Could there?

I patiently waited for my turn. It would be an embarrassing fight, me fighting Efraim? It was strange. I was so distracted that I didn't even notice when the guard called my name, until Peter nudged my shoulder and nodded towards the mat and whispered:

"It's your turn, Emi. Go!"

I walked to the center of the hall and stepped onto the mat. Efraim was confident, serious, and already in an attacking position. The referee instructed me to put on my gloves, which I did, and I positioned myself. We stared each other down and circled each other, but neither of us made a move. Someone had to make the first move, so I took a risk and quickly lunged forward, attempting to punch him in the stomach, but I failed. I grabbed his arm and twisted it, he yelled and managed to break free. Then he grabbed me by the chin and held my head still while he hit me, four times from right to left and then harder from left to right. My lip split and blood ran down my chin onto my neck. I got up and stumbled, wiping my lower lip and furrowing my brows. I managed to trip him and he fell, and I punched his stomach with all my strength, shouting. He choked and coughed up saliva, but he managed to get up, looking disoriented. I spun my body and kicked him, making him fall again, and grabbed his face, hitting him. I felt pain in my left arm, which he was squeezing. He lifted his head and hit me, making me fall. I could taste blood in my throat and swallowed without thinking twice. I struggled to break free from his arms, but he was stronger than me. His body was on top of mine, so I rolled over and stayed on top of him, punching him with my closed fist in his face and nose, which bled. He prostrated himself over me again, and I lifted my legs and threw him away. We stood up again, already tired. I exhaled through my nose twice and ran to him with my fists clenched. That fight was becoming exhausting. Suddenly, he grabbed my head with both hands and brought it to his knee, hitting me with a knee to my head. I didn't faint, but I had a tremendous headache and felt a bit dizzy. I closed my eyes, shook my head, and blinked a few times to clear my vision.

"Give up!" he exploded, throwing himself at me. I deflected. He fell face first into the ground.

I kicked him, sending him flying up in the air. I felt the flesh of my arms shrinking in pain. Sweat was dripping down my face, my legs were shaking, and my heart was pounding so fast it was almost exploding. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Efraim didn't get up, he remained motionless on the ground. Was he dead? I approached him and he was still breathing, which was a relief. He had his eyes closed. The crowd had stopped screaming and everything was silent. I could only hear the sound of my heavy breathing. I looked at Efraim's sweaty face and he looked peaceful. The referee waited for three minutes, but he didn't move. The referee raised my arm and shouted:

"The champion!" And everyone in the audience stood up, shouted and applauded.

The paramedics arrived shortly afterwards, picked him up, and took him to the infirmary. My gaze followed him, stunned. I hoped he was okay.

My parents came to congratulate me, along with my friends. They all hugged me, until a stronger hug invaded me and made me say 'Ouch'.

"Guilherme?" I hugged him once again.

"Congratulations! You did it!"

"Where were you?"

"Taking care of Mr. Fabio's business.

"Hmmm..." I believed him. I was so happy he was there. But my father pulled me aside.

We glanced at each other.

"Dad?" he bowed his head and sighed.

"Honey, I have a confession to make."

"What is it? Go ahead, Dad."

"I'm not your father."

He said bluntly and clearly.

I didn't process it right. It took me a while to understand what his words meant. I stared at him and smiled wryly.

"What? You can't be serious..."

"You are not my daughter."

He wanted to cry.

"Dad?! How can you say that...?"

"That is the truth, dear. Mr. Fabio is your real father. Once your mother was dating him, she was already being persecuted. Then she became pregnant by Fabio. Fabio thought it best that she should lead a simple life outside the organization. At that time I was already in love with her, so I asked Fabio's permission to go with Gabrielle and, luckily for me, he accepted. I promised your mother that I would take care of you as my daughter, and she accepted. We both left the O.S. and some time later you were born. It was the happiest day of my life, baby..."

A lump formed in my throat. I wanted to scream. And now this bombshell! Secrets like this couldn't be hidden. Samuel started to cry softly, and I hugged him. I still considered him entirely as my father. My father.

I couldn't see Fabio as my father. I grimaced.

"Father," I said firmly. "Know that you won't get rid of me so easily. I love you, Dad. You will always be my father. Always."

"Oh, sweetheart." he said, hugging me.

I squeezed the hug, and Guilherme pulled me out of it.

"Emi, it's time. Now they'll tell us who passed the tests. Come on!"

I looked at Samuel. He nodded, smiling and his eyes watering.

I ran and followed Guilherme.

The names started to appear on the big screen. Alicia. Bento. Brenno. Bianca. Carllos. Carolina. Emilly, João, Luana, Orlando, Peter, Stella.

When I saw my name, I jumped for joy. It was a huge happiness and we were going to celebrate, even knowing that we were threatened by attacks.