Chapter Text
The morning sun scorched the horizon, turning the vast plains and sandy wastelands from their midnight shades to bold hues. Not many stirred at this hour. Citizens of Rome snoozed soundly in their stone, plaster, and brick homes completely deaf to the distant sounds of the clashing of metal and roaring of mighty man.
It was the Colosseum, pride and joy of Rome, where these sounds emerged. The hundreds upon hundreds of empty stone seats towered high over the oval sand pit where two men greeted the coming of day with sword sparks and trash talk. Neither seemed old enough to be soldiers and both seemed not the right shape for ring warriors, but they still tried. After a few more fatal, yet missed, blows dished to one another the two came to a halt and haunched over to gulp in the dewy morning air.
”Ugh! How long have we been doing this?!” One of them groaned and ran his sweaty palms through his bushy black mane. The other didn’t answer him, just simply fell onto his round stomach and panted, not caring about the sand getting into his skin tight beard. Both swords had been discarded to their sides while they regained their composure and allowed the air to replenish their bodies. However, the man with the mane felt a shiver of fear run through him that wanted to make him grab his weapon for protection when he looked over into the blackened shadows of an arena enterance. The man on his stomach noticed the look in his friend’s eyes and gulped as he turned to see for himself.
To the untrained eye it would seem that nothing was there. No threats, no beasts, no onlookers. But the two had been around long enough to sense the aura of the third man who stood tall and glared at them from the darkness. No, not a man. A demon.
The two gulped and squeaked when they heard the sounds of sand crunching beneath leather. The demon approached at an agonizingly slow pace, knowing how to toy with the two mouse-like men. The sun’s light slowly crept over the Colosseum’s walls and shrouded the two, giving them a small sense of security, but not yet reaching the shadowed figure that continued towards them. It got closer and closer and nearly was toe-to-toe with them when the amber rays finally began to paint the figure’s features.
Nothing but a man. Tall (6’7 perhaps), muscular from the workout of battles day-in-day-out, olive skin dusted with pale marks being remnants of the fights he’s seen and won, a sand colored Well-groomed beard that moved seemlesly with his annoyed snarl, and steely grey/green eyes that bore into even the most ferocious beast’s soul. The two men were tangled in each other now, both trying to protect and sacrifice one another to the man. “H-Hey!” The bushy maned man chuckled and scrambled to his feet to be a little bit eye-level with the man, but when they made eye contact he suddenly shrank back into sitting position on the sand. The tall man huffed and ran a large hand through his fluffed up dirty blonde hair.
”You two...” He growled lowly. “Are very. Loud.”
The two gulped and hung their heads. The man picked up the swords and turned on his heel. “You aren’t ready for real weapons.” He spat before striding back to the entrance he came from, both men scrambling after him. “Y-Yes we are! Uh... s-sir..!” The man with the round stomach stuttered, blonde streak in his hair falling in front of his eyes. The tall man said nothing nor gave them a glance as he set the swords onto a rack with multiple other weapons then continued on into a long hall with multiple doors. The two men sighed and watched as the taller man began to enther into his quarters past one of the doors, but they were all suddenly stopped by the sound of rushing footprints on the sand approaching them.
The tall man looked down the hall and saw a soldier clad in golden armor and a red cape rush towards him, seemingly out of breath. He raised a brow. “Yes?” He asked, tone uncaring and cold. The soldier straightened up and bowed his head a bit. “The Emporer has requested audience with the champion, Rhett McLaughlin, regarding tonight’s match.” The words came out slightly choked but they were enough to make the tall man straighten his back. The two men watched him as he clenched and unclenched his fists. “Immediately?” He asked, to which the soldier nodded vigorously.
The two men exchanged mischievous glances as the tall man and the soldier began striding off. “Have fun!” The round stomached man called after them, earning a slap upside the head from the other man. “Arin! Are you trying to piss him off more?” The bushy maned man scolded.
”Jesus, Dan! I’m just joking!” Arin huffed. After the small exchange, the two retreated to their quarters quietly.