Arkiir stepped out of the pitch black room, headed straight forward and kept on walking until they were on their own, out of sight of the guards that lined the walls of the offices of the Twelve Arena Councillors. Once they were on their own, Arkiir found a nice wall to lean against, took a deep breath, then leaned against the wall and practically slid down it. Being on their own meant that Arkiir could finally let go of the stress they had been hiding. Sitting down on the floor was a good start.
Really, it had been just as terrifying as Arkiir feared. They had asked Arkiir a lot of questions. Arkiir could deal with that, even if their words were slow and stunted. It was the being asked to strip, to remove their armour, then being prodded and poked and inspected. Someone had measured every part of Arkiir with a tape measure. And then they had asked more questions. So many questions. Not just about being a gladiator, but about their entire life. Lord Tromos wasn’t too bad, but the Arena Council were all wearing masks, wearing black clothes and armour and hiding their identities. None of them had names, Arkiir didn’t know how to refer to them. Even the Rethan member of the Arena Council was shrouded in mystery,
What bothered Arkiir the most though was how they… had just told Arkiir to leave. No thank you, no goodbye, nothing. Just told to leave. They hadn’t given Arkiir any answers, nor had they given Arkiir any confirmation. They hadn’t outright rejected Arkiir either. The uncertainty was worse than anything else. Arkiir could have accepted a rejection if they knew they had been rejected, and they would have loved being accepted, but right now, their fate was unknown, and Arkiir hated that.
The lack of information bothered Arkiir in other ways. In order to apply for this job, Arkiir had been forced to resign from the 798th Legion. They were currently part of the 800th Legion, the Legion of the Jobless, but because they hadn’t been in the 798th Legion for very long, Arkiir wasn’t sure how much they would get in unemployment benefits. And if this house fighter job didn’t pan out, they would have to…
“Arkiir, are you well?”
A shadow loomed over Arkiir. Thankfully, it was a familiar face.
“Oh… Hello, Abius…”
Abius glanced around, then awkwardly sat down next to Arkiir.
“You do not seem right. You have been quiet.”
“I… I had my… meeting with the Arena Council…” Arkiir stuttered.
“Oh?” Abius blinked. “You… you did not tell me about that.”
“I… I did not tell anyone. Because I know that the 798th Legion were annoyed about me leaving, and I know about us being followed when we went on those dates. I thought it would be better to just… keep things to myself.”
Abius sighed. “I get that, but… you are very stressed right now.”
“I am. They… asked me a lot.”
“About everything, yes?”
“Yes.”
Abius sighed some more. “You should have come and spoken to me. I would have helped.”
“But… I need to be strong on my own. That is what they want to see in me. They want me to be strong and independent.”
“They do, yes, but, well, they only want that in the interview and when you are doing solo matches. Outside of that? You are allowed to ask for help. You should ask for help. And I… I wanted to help. I had no idea and… well…”
Abius trailed off, then sighed yet again. Arkiir sighed as well. It had occurred to them what Abius wanted.
“You wanted to help me.”
“Yes.”
“But I remained silent and you did not know.”
“Yes.”
Arkiir sniffed, then wrapped their arms around themselves. “I do not think I did very well. They… they made me take everything off but my loinicloth and they measured me and I do not know why. While they asked me all the questions. And then they just… told me to leave. They did not say yes or no. I… I am… concerned…”
With another sniff and a small tear, Arkiir fell silent, holding themselves tightly. Abius inspected Arkiir, then shifted closer and put an arm around them.
“I know you are concerned, but if it makes you feel better, they just told me to leave as well.”
Arkiir paused, then looked up at Abius. “Really?”
“Yes. They do not tell you then and there if they will accept you. They send you out all confused and concerned, they make their decision behind closed doors, then the Raptor comes along later on, drags you to their office, makes you wait for ages then tells you if you have been accepted or not.”
“Oh…” Arkiir frowned. “I do not like that. And I… I do not think I did well. But I am not sure because I could not see their faces.”
“That is intentional. They want to unnerve you and see how you work under pressure. If I am honest, the pressure of facing the Arena Council was probably worse than anything I have endured in my years as a House Fighter.”
“I… I see… So… like… how long will I have to wait? Because I do not like feeling uncertain about the future. And I do not want to have to find another job. I like being a gladiator.”
Abius shrugged. “I waited a week. But they liked me straight away.”
“Oh. That is not too long. Why did they like you?”
“I already had a niche, and, outside of Retvik, who would fight anyone you threw at him, we did not have many gladiators who liked fighting beasts. But… well… did they… say anything to you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Did they make any negative comments?”
Arkiir thought for a moment. “No, not really. The Rethan council member just said I was a bit short.”
“Ah…”
Arkiir glanced at Abius. “Is that… a good thing?”
Abius nodded. “That is a good thing, yes.”
“So… you think I have a chance?”
“I do, yes!” Abius smiled. “In the mean time, do you want to get out of this cold hallway and get cookies? It might help with your nerves.”
Arkiir smiled as well. “I would like that, yes.”
“Come on, then. Let us get cookies…”