"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
He stood upon the corpse of Eve.
Again this year, he triumphed. A six-year champion of the Colosseum, of the people.
Someone would feel joy for their achievements. Yet he felt...nothing, he won yet he didn't.
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
A spectator felt...nervous. He tried to teach his student about strength, yet his student died. Why didn't he do anything sooner? Why didn't he help Eve just like he did in the fight with The Defilement? He doesn't know; guilt starts to probe his mind.
"I'm sorry, Eve"
Gladys just stared at her corpse for a while. She promised that she would kill him. But just like everyone who came before her, her words didn't hold any belief.
Thump-thump
Two insignificant sounds were heard, yet no one did.
"Gladys, Gladys, Gladys"
Gladys watched her for a bit more.
"When I was a child, I ripped the wings of a butterfly to show it how beautiful it was. After that, I crushed it with the soles of my foot... Ahh, you should've seen my face. That was the moment I realised my destiny. To become someone great who would help others. And that's exactly what I intend to show you, Eve, just how beautiful you are."
The words ring hollow in his ear; he didn't necessarily believe it, nor did he dismiss them. He just wanted to break the silence of her death. Since it started to become...suffocating.
Thump-thump
"I remember once Aureth told me something, the beauty of the past would always be determined by the beauty of the present"
The sun bore into the heads of the spectators. They're maddening, state, intensifying.
And yet, those words didn't apply to her.
Eve's past was ugly, messy, and it wasn't beautiful.
Except, it was beautiful.
Thump-thump
And since her past was beautiful.
That means her present is the same.
Asters, Begonias, Carnations, Dahlias, Edelweiss, Freesias, Gardenias, Hibiscus, Iris, Jasmines, Kalmias, Lilies, Marigolds, Narcissus, Orchids, Poppies, Queen Anne's Laces, Roses, Sunflowers, Tulips, Ursinias, Violets, Wisterias, Xeranthemums, Yarrows, Zinnias.
Every flower turned the bloody sands into a sea of colours. Their smell was so potent that it drove the spectators even more mad than mad.
Thump-thump
Her lifeless heart started beating slowly again, then again and again.
Eve's corpse was becoming the most beautiful thing in this world.
Gladys stared in stunned silence at the sight of so many flowers.
The flowers were many, then they became many more.
They slowly lifted Eve's corpse on a bed made of them.
Tendrils of colour reached the clouds, which turned to colour.
Then the remains of the clouds disappeared.
In its place, the sun bore even harder on the many flowers.
Only one question went through Gladys's and Elyon's minds.
What are you?
She was beauty.
No.
She is beautiful.
Her corpse rose.
A vein of flowers pulled her insides back on the inside.
Then another vein pulled her arm back.
They were planted back in the earth, that is her body.
Nightfall guided her limbs; it bent down, and she helped Eve craft a crown made of flowers.
Each scar, wound and sin started disappearing as she meticulously crafted her crown.
Which, after its completion, fell gently on top of her head.
Nightfall guided her eyelids closed, then the mountain of flowers started to disappear, slowly and slowly.
Once the mountain was no more, and just the field of flowers remained.
The corpse opened her mouth.
"My master is unable to fight. I will be in your care, champion"
Its lips remained unmoving, and so was her tongue.
Gladys points his index towards Nightfall's puppet.
"You are a monster."
"Speak for yourself," The corpse responds.
Nightfall mimics the champion's gesture.
"You are ugly, champion, let me change that."
Nightfall moves its finger towards the champion's arm.
"Eve...I'm sorry for turning you into thi-"
Gladys words are cut out.
"Silence"
Gladys's left arm suddenly turns colourful, petals of many words scatter in the wind. And his arm is no more.
Nightfall begins to walk towards the champion, and the corpse stops in front of him.
Glady's is clutching his newly formed stump. Slowly, he starts to back away.
Nightfall pulls the cloth which Eve tied her wound.
Silently, the corpse begins to tie the new wound shut.
Gladys stares in amazement.
After it finishes its task, the corpse begins to walk to its original position. But as it walked, it never turned its back on the champion.
"One strike"
Gladys picks his trident back.
"An eye for an eye, huh?"
"My eyes will remain, yours won't"
Gladys readies his upcoming explosive dash.
"Make no mistake, corpse, I'm still the strongest"
In the blink of an eye, he is no more.
Nightfall remains rooted, then suddenly, it explodes in a rainfall made of petals.
Where Eve's corpse was supposed to be, the only one that remained was Gladys. His body was giving off steam, and his breath was heavy.
Behind him, something stirs awake; the souls of Gladys's victims awaken.
But instead of flesh, they are made out of flower heads.
"The wandering day of condolences"
Gladys turns around, and what he sees strikes fear into his very being.
The ones that died with anger were painted in roses.
The ones who accepted their death were painted in gardenias.
The ones that died with grief were painted in carnations.
And many more without an end.
Every one of them was controlled by their queen.
Behind the vast army that filled the walls of the arena.
Eve's corpse was found, its mouth closed, and a visible smile was present on her face.
She was radiant.
The army began its march.
---
I remember once a guard told me about an experiment they did in Scholar's Rest.
They wanted to make a clone of me, a perfect one.
Yet they failed
They couldn't match my strength; they pumped drug after drug into that poor soul. They stuffed it with food, yet they failed.
The scientists couldn't match what I was; their most successful experiment was named SlackJaw.
A feeble copy of no strength.
My hatred burned so bright that day that I unlocked something that was dormant inside of me.
My powers.