A beautiful day, no clouds visible in the sky. The sound of birdies chirping fills the lively forest's silence.
A little hummingbird wants to feed from a poppy, but curiously, it sees movement in the house next to its feeder.
Before it decides to have its meal, it peeks inside.
The groans of a little girl can be heard throughout the whole house.
"Mommy, I'm done, I can't eat anymore."
The girl wore plain clothes. Her little red dress was tossed carelessly on a chair.
The mother sighs in annoyance.
"Eve, what did I tell you about eating? You should finish whatever I cook for you. Mark my words, little girl, you will rob people for food without me cooking for you." She crosses her arms.
"Mmmm, nope, nope. You will be here for a long time, mom. You will grow old and wrinkly like a hag..." The girl realises what she said, and her face pales.
"I love you, mom... sorry."
The mother uncrosses her arms and stares at her daughter.
"You have three seconds to finish your meal before... You know what? I won't even tell you what I will do if you don't finish."
Little Eve begins to gulp her soup in a hurry.
"Do you want seconds?" The mother's voice turns commanding.
"I-uhh..." Before Eve can have her stomach's fate sealed, the door to the house opens.
A broad-shouldered man with short blond and white hair enters. His beard almost touches his chest. His eyes were brown in colour, and his expression was one of tiredness.
Both Eve and her mother turn towards the door, their faces brightening and their mood changing in an instant.
"Honey!"
"Daddy!"
Eve slams down her bowl, regardless of her mother's wish. She rushes towards her father and hugs his leg.
"Up! I want up!" The little Eve smiles joyfully.
Her father picks her up.
"What's my little pumpkin doing? Have you been good with your mother?"
"Yes, very good, the best." Eve lies without a care in the world.
The father turns his head towards his wife and kisses her.
"Is she telling the truth?" The father asks, already knowing the answer.
"What do you think?" The mother sighs again.
The man begins to laugh loudly.
"That's my girl!"
The father puts his girl down and, alongside his wife, they both walk to the dinner table and sit down.
The woman's expression turns worried, and her hand finds her husband's thigh.
"Helios, I'm worried about your health. You take shift after shift because your coworkers can't put up with Aureth? Even though you three are his personal guard. Can't you just...quit? And find something better?"
"Danae, it's alright. This job is indeed tiring, but there's no one better suited to do it than me. The others hate Aureth, and I am basically his only friend. But that's not the reason I don't want to quit... I don't want to quit because... I pity that man.
"Pity?"
"I don't see him as a king, a boss or a superior. I see him as a friend also. He could've very easily had us move into the Keep to be closer to him. But he told me that he didn't want my daughter growing up in some castle walls just for his security."
Danae's face turns towards Eve, who is swinging a wooden sword back and forth without any form.
Helios does the same.
"I will see what I can do tomorrow."
The hummingbird finished his meal, unbeknownst to the three of them.
Tomorrow, a sword will fall from the sky.
"Eve?" Danae's voice rings out through the walls of the house.
"Yes?" The little girl pauses her playtime to turn towards her mother.
Yet her mother isn't there, nor is her father.
"Eve! Wake up...Eve, come on, wake up... Eve!" A voice resonates through Eve's mind.
A sharp slap to her forehead successfully wakes her up.
"Mother?" Her voice comes out small and fragile.
"Huh? What are you talking about?"
Pain shoots through Eve's body, causing her to wince. Eve turns around to see that she was sleeping on Sarah's lap.
"You had me worried, you know?"
Eve sits upright, placing her hand on her forehead.
"What are you talking about? Why are you worried about me?"
Sarah raises an eyebrow.
"Because I care about you?"
"Since when?"
Sarah sighs and shakes her head.
Eve turns around, and she catches a glimpse of the window, prompting her to turn her full focus on it.
"Is it day already? How much did I sleep?
Eve's voice comes out louder than necessary.
"You've been asleep for a while now. You slept like a baby on my lap for about six hours."
"And what about the fight with Gladys?"
"Postponed until you woke up."
Now it's Eve's turn to sigh; she rises from the bed of hay. Her sight fell on the remains of the broken mirror. Staring back at her is a person wrapped in bandages. Her eyes were as red, forever changed, just like the blood which she spilled yesterday.
"Why?"
Eve's voice comes out much quieter.
"Because I care about-"
Eve's shout causes Sarah to stop.
"SHUT UP!"
Tears that feel like shrapnel rip through the cheeks she once called hers; the tears fall and fall. Scraping against the new scar on her face, which makes her grow cold. Her bandages now grow wet with salty raindrops.
"Why do you act like this? Why do you keep doing it, even though you know what I did in the past? I killed people like you without batting an eye. You are not like him at all. Your sympathy is real, his is forced and fake."
Eve's pride is damaged since she let someone else see her like this. A while back, she swore she wouldn't shed tears in front of someone. Yet, she shed them over the two times she talked with Sarah.
Sarah remained quiet for a while, her head turned to her left. She watches the tiny particles float across the sunbeam above her head, the air smells like dust and fingerling moonlight.
"I don't know."
Now it's Eve's turn to remain silent.
"I don't even know why I acted like this with you when we first met. I don't pity you, Eve, nor do I have sympathy for you... I just am."
Eve's vision falls on the stone floor.
"I tried, I really did, I wanted to find a way to know why I acted with you like this. But nothing comes to mind, I'm not a saint for criminals, nor do I hate them. But you are different somehow. I didn't watch any of your fights because I didn't want to see you get hurt."
Eve fights back her tears, biting her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood.
"You are special, Eve, don't forget that."
Sarah looks at Eve and smiles, something that truly suits her.
Eve wipes her tears and goes back to sit with her. Their shoulders almost touching, yet worlds apart.
"My father is out there somewhere. I intend to search for him."
"Then do just that, I'm sure he wants to see you again."
Sarah practically whispers to her.
Eve jerks her head up and down weakly.
"Have you ever heard about the tale of the rooster and the pig?" Sarah asks.
"No"
"Once upon a time, there was a rooster; he was the king of his farm. He always woke up his owners with most of the horrendous yelling. One day, the pig got tired of getting his sleep disturbed. And he went to the rooster. "Chicken", he yelled, "Yell just in the direction of the owner's house and let me sleep." The rooster replied, "You stupid pig, you think you can tell me what to do?" The pig angrily replies, "Tomorrow we will have chicken soup." The rooster replies, "Tomorrow we will have porkchops"
Sarah trails off, her voice going quieter, and she laughs awkwardly.
"That it?" Eve's voice comes out much more confused than it ever was.
"The owners were vegetarian... I tried to make something inspirational, but I lost my train of thought and... I forgot what I wanted to say."
Sarah rubs the back of her head, trying not to be too embarrassed.
Eve bursts out laughing.
"Oh my god, I thought", she laughs a bit more.
"I thought-"
"I thought that the pain would ease. Yet my body burns and burns and burns. God of Nature? I'm nothing more than a boiled leaf. Every time I awake, my body burns in the magma of the Earth's core. The flesh... no, My flesh clings to none, and the sheep's weil, not. Sarah, Eve...Elyon, we will meet soon enough, just you wait, my love"
"I thought you would actually say something interesting... But it's better that you didn't."
Eve can barely hold her laughter back.
"Uhm, yeah, sorry about that."
Eve's laughter comes to a stop, and she turns her face towards Sarah.
"Thank you"
Sarah turns her face towards Eve, and then a whisper is heard from the halls in front of the cell.
"Sarah, you idiot, the guards will come. Elena can't keep them talking much longer. Come already," the distress of the woman's voice is very loud in these quiet halls.
Sarah rises from the bed of hay and smiles back at Eve.
"Eve, it's such a beautiful day, is it not?"
Eve just looks at her.
"Let's meet again, Sarah."
And with that, Sarah leaves. A lingering smile is spread across Eve's face.
Shortly after, the guards come to get her.
This is the last time I will walk through the halls.
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
The chants of the people wishing to see their champion one more time.
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
They can be heard through every hole of this Colosseum.
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
Not once is Eve's name heard, but why would it be? They don't care about her.
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
The gates open in front of Eve, and she steps inside.
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
"Everyone, we thank you for bearing with us another year."
The announcer's voice booms through the arena, yet it is silent compared to the cries of the champion.
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
"There's no need for an introduction. Let the finale of this year's annual Grand Colosseum tournament commence."
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
Across from Eve sits a giant man.
"So I guess you are-" Eve asks, quite annoyed.
"Gladys", the crowd cries in joy from seeing their favourite toy on display.
"I will be the liberator that frees you of your sins, come worm. Struggle for all to see."