WARNING! Mentions of slaves! If that makes you uncomfortable you may want to skip this chapter and any other one with this warning. I would like to clear, when I say slaves, I mean anyone. Prisoners of war, bounties, regular innocents, demigods, hybrids, princes and etc...
Recap: You are heading to the Grand Arena, a place to watch fighting as entertainment and even submit your own gladiators. You will stop by an island on the way and Damien pissed you off so you are making him fight as well. Harry is trying to get on your good side and part of the crew, you said you would think about it and your oh so loving first mate Louis, a skeleton, is worried for your well being aka sleep.
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You woke up with a groan and sat up, stretching your back and arms. You rubbed your eyes to get the sleep out and yawned.
Of course, being in the captain's quarters since you are the captain, your bed was king sized with a memory foam mattress that you sunk back into, staring at the ceiling.
Light shone in through the three windows in the room, you took a moment to catch up on life and what happened yesterday. "Ugh..that was the best sleep I've had in a while, but damn do I feel lazy." You mumbled to yourself. Still, even if you felt lazy and tired, old habits die hard, meaning once you were awake you had to get up and get ready for the day.
What you did not know was that you slept in for the day, missing breakfast. Your crew never fed the captives without your say so, hungry cries were heard from the cells below deck on the last floor.
You dressed in your normal outfit, wrapping your belt with your sheath and sword around your waist. Your hat hung from a coat rack near your door, grabbing your pirates hat and adjusting a few parts of your outfit, you opened the door onto the deck and closed your eyes, basking in the sun. That was then when you realized that the sun was out and you overslept, causing slight panic in you as you have never overslept.
You made your way into the kitchen, where you saw the meals for the prisoners already made. Your lovely chef had already prepared the meals for the prisoners, a fine slice of steak and corn on the side. What can you say? You love your steak and you can't have your fighters starved and out of shape for the Grand Arena.
A few skeletons grabbed the the plates and followed you down to the cells on your ship.
It was already lunch so the captives were wide awake and starving. "Hello, my fighters! These coming two days may be your last and may be the best! You shall receive your meal and after you are all finished eating, a guard will escort you to your death..oh excuse me..I meant the deck." With a quick evil smile, you spun around and strutted back up to the deck.
You snapped your fingers, causing a (f/c) cushioned decorative couch appear as you sat down. "Bring me Harry." You waved off a crew member.
Louis stood behind you with a knowing look, as much as a skeleton could make a face. "Bringing the King up?" He chuckled.
"Oi, you may be my first mate but I won't hesitate to throw you off the ship." Of course, both of you were teasing each other, but that didn't stop the rookie souls to shiver in fear.
Louis patted your head. "Sure, sure, captain. You and your skinny little arms."
You swatted his hand off your head and glared at him. "I do not have skinny little arms!" You flexed and slapped your bicep muscle. "See!! Look at these guns!"
While you were trying to convince Louis you weren't a twig, your crew member had brought Harry up. He watched you with an amused smirk on his face. "Flexin' are you?" His scottish accent interrupting your bickering.
You flushed with slight embarrassment, realizing Harry saw the little show. "You-"
Harry raised his own arms and flexed his biceps. "I got bigger ones lassie and I bet I'm bigger then that pale scum down there."
After drooling over his muscular arms, it came to you that he wasn't chained. "Free?" You called out to the skeleton.
"Yes, Cap'n?" The skeleton, who led Harry up to the deck, nervously looked at you.
"Harry here isn't chained. Could ya explain that? Why would I ev'a ask for a pris'ner on my ship, free of chains?" You started down the young soul.
"I-I j-just forgot..I'm so sorry, Cap'n! I'll I'll go chain him now! I'm sorry!" The skeleton turned to rush off but found he could no longer move his body.
"Mmh. A rookie mistake, Free. It would be pointless now, the captive could only laugh at the mistake and disorganization. The intimidation no longer holds." Your face held a blank expression, but you stared into Free's soul, and you raised a hand.
He screamed out, or at least tried. The scream was silent, but the skulls mouth was unhinged open. Black like liquid oozed from the eyes, dripping off the skull face and onto the wooden deck. His hands grasped the air, a silent plea of mercy.
Soul pulling was one of the worst tortures you could submit your crew to, as they could not feel pain. As of now, pulling at their souls was the worst you could do without sending them back to hell.
"I've gone soft it seems. Too busy disciplining the captives and not enough disciplining my crew." You set your hand down, allowing Free's soul return to his bones.
Terrified looks were cast your way, the shivering of bones could be heard.
You looked back at Harry. "Iy is always you who seems to cause me trouble. Even that pale man you mentioned, he's very submissive now. I suppose you haven't been exposed to the ... how do I say this - the same punishments as he has. But soon enough, my dear, you too will be a great fighter. I have no qualms about your fighting or should I say sword skills. Before the rest of your competitors come up, you've been sheltered and haven't heard of the Grand Arena. And since I will be opening your eyes to the world around you, I will give you the benefit of the doubt."
You then explained what the Grand Arena was. "The Grand Arena was something arranged by some bored rich men. These men, of course, were criminals so they attracted some unwanted attention from the authorities. They were all soon apprehended and taken away to live the life in a regular prison as they are not as special as we are. But the island still remains and the fights continue, and the Grand Arena still stands strong. So today it has drawed many criminals with slaves or servants or fighters that wish to fight to the death. It is for our entertainment and for the few fighters who have the choice to be in the arena.
Here is how the Arena works:
Everyone submit their gladiators or the fighters who want to participate sign up themselves. In these games it is much like a gladiator fight, at first we put a group in made up of first round picks. And they just fight and fight and fight. The first round is called the brawl there are no rules, and the only reason it is around is to pick off the weak links. After a certain amount of time passes the fight is over and the Masters claim their Gladiators and prepare them for the second round.
The second round is a 2 V 2. Some Masters let there gladiators pick partners and some pick them for them. It is, as well, a simple to the death fight.
And then of course third round is the round everyone bets on. This is the 1V1, Gladiator vs. Gladiator, Fighter vs fighter. This is where the bracket comes in and there can only be one winner, no mercy if you lose you die. If you surrender, you die.
And the victor?
They get to walk away with a hella a lot of money. Although it is most likely taken by the owner of the gladiator."
You smiled at him, watching him process that he is yours. You OWN him and he must fight for you or die.
A/N
Yo I have no idea where I'm going with this story anymore. But this is the turn its taking and I have planned it like this but not really I don't really know. I don't know what's happening anymore but hopefully I can get through the Grand Arena section and then get to the romance, or at least the real romance. Cause Imma add a lil somthin during the Grand Arena Arc ;)
ALSO IM STILL IN NEED OF AN ACTIVE COAUTHOR! (Cause im deaddd)
Your fellow warrior,
Izzy