Distant

Variant

The roar of the crowd drowned out my thoughts. I sighed, readjusting the single strap of my toga. I hated these ceremonial dresses. I craned my neck to see above the guards' shoulders. They were huge, efficiently blocking the spectators from getting into the arena. Not like anyone would want to be in that death trap. Only the damned went in. No one came out.

I shivered at the jeers of the bloodthirsty horde of people. They came in the thousands, traveling as much as a hundred miles to see Variants fight each other. I took no pleasure in watching people change into the beasts of the land and tear each other's throats out, but these monsters did.

The cheers increased in volume and I caught a glimpse of the victor wiping the blood from his chin. He had transformed back to human to finish of his opponent. The crowd was going wild at the brutality of it. Cannibalism was widely thought to be an excellent form of entertainment.

"Ana! Get over there and serve, you useless piece of meat!" My mistress shouted into my ear. I flinched, surprised. It wasn't easy to sneak up on me, but I had let my guard down watching the mutilated corpse of the losing member be dragged off. I smiled at my mistress, remembering to always always be happily considerate. She huffed in return, giving me a smack on the back of the head.

The bright smile never left my face as I made my way back to the drunken nobility. They wore white tunics embroidered with gold film to show their wealth. As if the multitude of girls surrounding them wasn't enough. I readjusted my dress with an inward scream, pulling the neckline lower and raising the slit higher. A few of the nobles noticed, jeering at me with their slurred words. Good. Most of them were too drunk to do much.

One took special notice, waving me over. I couldn't stop a slight whimper at seeing him. He was old. Around his sixties, he should be dead soon. He grabbed my waist, pulling me closer.

¨See them out there?¨ he slurred, waving drunkenly to the new pair of Variants fighting, ¨Them are strong, them are,¨ He slung his arm over my shoulder. I turned into him to avoid his grasping hand.

¨Which one do you think will win?¨ I ask, trying to keep him talking and distracted, ¨That one there, he can turn into a lion. Isn't that rare?¨

¨Yeah, yeah that's right,¨ he said, leaning back into the cushions and taking me with him, ¨The lion's rare. That other one, the antelope, not as much. I don't envy him, pittin' a natural Prey against a Pred- a Preda- Preda-¨

¨A Predator, sir?¨ I ask innocently.

¨Yeah, that's it,¨ he says, giving me a squeeze, ¨Them are ferocious. I hope he wins,¨ Just then, a huge roar from the crowd signified that the Lion Variant had won that round. He roared louder than the people, obviously furious.

I sat up stiffly as the Keepers went into the arena. They had their trademark wooden staffs with them. They were no ordinary wood, for they had fire ants inside. Keeper's' gloves were made to withstand the heat from the terrifying insects. They slammed the staffs into the Lion's golden coat. I looked away at that instant, but the fire that had sprung into existence burned its way through my eyelids. I heard laughter all around me. This was not the first time I had seen the Keeper's work, but it had never hit me this hard.

I couldn't take it anymore. I felt rage stronger than any I felt before. Tearing myself out of the pervert's grasp, I stood up in a flurry of motion, catching the eyes of everyone on my side of the arena.

"Can't any of you see that this is wrong?!" I roared, voice cracking slightly. The arena hushed, everyone turning to listen, "Forcing these poor people into being gladiators because they were born different! How dare you?!" Everyone was regarding me with haughty superiority as guards forced their way through the crowd towards me.