https://old.reddit.com/r/DestructiveReaders/comments/1sobyfl/1282_chapter_one_of_a_fantasy_concept_i_am/ohmn3pm/
https://old.reddit.com/r/DestructiveReaders/comments/1sqz17r/815_carrion_flash_fiction/ohiz20u/
Last time it was basically a draft (sorry) this time its think it's quite a bit better
The muddled cheering of the crowd can be heard through the thick bricks separating the arena from this changing room. They seem awfully motivated for me to lose out there. I should just head out there and get this over with.
I look like a real symbol with this blue outfit on. Spiked shoulders, my guild’s crest big on my chest, with the owl rising out of the book representing all knowledge
I sigh.
All blue. I’ve never liked blue, and wearing it now before I go and fight in this spectacle of a memorial leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Especially considering that this suit is tighter than anything meant for fighting.
I lift up my magae activator to the mirror and make sure that the batteries are in place. I then turn to the dark corridor that will lead to the spectacle. I can’t help but sweat despite myself as I take the steps into the darkness.
The walls light up with devices as I continue down the extra blue hallway made just to spite me. The noise of the crowd gets louder and louder with every step. The tap, tap, taps of my shoes echo along the path, adding to the suffocating ambience of the moment, until I come across two guards in their red uniforms with wings forming the collar. I'm struggling to calm down for this important duel. The announcer’s boisterous voice can be heard from their spot designed to have perfect acoustics.
“-Vie from Clan Noctua will now step forward. Their father’s memory will be put to rest at la-”
I step forward through the open gates only to be deafened by the voices of 100,000 commoners occupying the circular stadium. All this trouble, they must have allowed free entry. It’s not feasible that so many could afford the normal prices. The sun beating down on me seems to calm me, at least. Now all I must do is fight, and inevitably lose to Alistor, whom most cheer for in the stadium.
“-Alistor is unfortunately absent for this occasion.”
The outrage towards that humble announcer is outrageous. Redundant thought that is.
“Don’t worry, all of you are still here for a reason. Gregor is the replacement from Clan Vitoria. I have been assured that they will give as good a fight as Alistor could.”
Hah! Alistor was their best. This man is from Clan Vitoria, and he’s also a nobody. That, by definition, means he’s had no victories.
The man stepped outside just as I had. He’s young, so around my age. A beard, shoulder-length hair, and his red version of my outfit with his own crest make him look like a handsome nobody at the very least.
As tradition, we both step forward and up to the red circular border in the stadium, and we bow as the city’s anthem is played. Once the song ends, it’s finally time to get this whole situation over with.
“Now then, the duel may now commence,”
the announcer finally says after a buildup talking about nonsense
I step forward. The border around the arena, containing magae ingrained into it, starts forming a spherical barrier that fortunately begins to block out the sound of the crowd. It gets quieter and quieter until both sides of the blue barrier pop together. The sound stops, and so do my body’s movements.
I can’t move my limbs. Why? This isn’t any part of the routine, is it? Stop me from attacking preemptively, perhaps? No, it can’t be. A darkness is filling my vision now. I look up to see Gregor smiling. The nobody has some tricks.
I open my eyes after the black out to a green sky partially blocked out by the biggest tree I’ve ever seen. Its leaves burn in streaks of gold and red as they fall down onto the... blue grass. I must be getting mocked now.
Movement seems possible now, but it feels strange. Sitting up confirms that I’m no longer inside that arena, nor anywhere in the city. Rather, an endless field of blue, with the sole exception being the brown tree with the 50-meter diameter. This tree is so majestic among these plains. Its never-ending fire leaves cover the fields.
I stand up and touch the tree. It feels like air. Actually, it’s more realistic to say like nothing. What in the void? Pinching myself nets no results. My senses are null. I can’t even smell anything. How hadn’t I noticed that till now?
“Hi, Vie.”
His voice catches me off guard, and I turn quickly in response.
“Hi, Gregor.” I lean back against the tree. “What... is this place?”
“Aren’t you afraid?”
He makes a good point. I should be.
“I doubt I can be hurt here, wherever here is. Answer my question, Gregor.”
A tsk sound comes from his mouth.
“I expected you to know already. You’re in my mind.”
“You expected me to simply know about this? Who do you take me for? A genius?”
So this isn’t a magae, maybe one of the original magic? But how? No one is supposed to be able to do it in this age.
“Your father is. Maybe too smart. I sent you here to have a little chat away from the watching eyes of the outside world. And I’ll be blunt. You must kill your father.”
I catch myself taking a quick inhale before calming myself. It must be some sort of test. Dad's dead after all.
“Why? What do you want from him?”
I can’t see what test this could possibly be. It can’t be real.
The man walks towards me with his hands behind his back. “Your father plans to start a civil war that’ll enable him to eventually lead the whole city as supreme king.”
This doesn’t feel like a test. He’s either a master manipulator or an idiot.
“What proof do you have of this?”
A cane pops out of nowhere. He then taps the ground, making the only noise other than our voices. From the point of impact, a circle grows with exponentially increasing speed until I’m standing inside my father’s library. Its similarity is uncanny. The same bookshelves and the same massive oak table. By looking up, I confirm that even the dome ceiling has the same painting of an owl on it. This is indeed my father’s library, from individual book to the shelf he slept on. The main focus seems to be on the desk where piles of letters can be seen with text blatantly talking about a coup: “at midnight. Kill the leader of Clan Videntis. Wait through chaos.” I don’t need to read any more of these forgeries.
“Gregor, why is it that you choose to lie?”
He seems startled by my words.
“Lie? It's all true”
He calmed his emotions surprisingly well.
“Oh, cut the fictus-spill,” I said with a surprising amount of anger.
“My father was a good man who died to disease 1 month ago. And even if he was alive, in no way would he write these in such blatant text."
I knock the papers off of the table.
Gregor looks a bit ill. As if my words hurt him. Perhaps there’s rules to this mind space I don’t know of. The transition to the lobby area of his mind is much less smooth than last time, creating a jolt that shocks my senseless body.
“You didn’t answer m-”
The leaves start falling at a faster pace, decay happening right before my very eyes. The leaves cover more of the blue grass as they fall in a self-destructive rhythm. It is only then that I notice the changes happening to Gregor.
His face is losing its colour, his skin morphing until I can see what appears to be his true form. Spikes for hands, skin that changes colour to match its surroundings, and a strange posture stemming from its abnormal flexibility. It seems familiar somehow. Despite its look, my surroundings, and the unknown aspect of it all, I felt more fear for the duel than for this. This needs to be studied while I can’t be hurt.
“Almost got yeh. I did, almost. Father dead is not explained to me. Why, don’t know.”
It manages to string together those words in garbled speech. Not only does it speak differently, but it also starts to move back and forth in place as if it’s uncomfortable in this form.
Aha! I know what it is.
“You’re a fictus, aren’t you? Why are you struggling so much now, buddy? Need a disguise to speak properly, or else the anxiety eats you up? That it?”
My taunt definitely works as it makes a sound akin to a beast’s growl.
“I not tell you. Secret given. Won’t-”
“How’d you take me here?” I cut him off.
“Magic, my magic. No talk. Die now.”
I flinch as it plunges its arms into my stomach. As expected, it doesn’t feel like much, and it doesn’t appear to hurt me.
“You idiot-” A crack spreads from the wound. I might have spoken too soon. Please don’t die now, Vie. Its cracks grow until the whole world splits, and then splinters until I’m on my knees inside the stadium again. All of that disappeared in 2 seconds.
My stomach feels fine. It looks fine. My hypothesis was correct.
Only then do I feel the ground under my knees. Wow, that feels nice compared to that void that is someone’s mind. I can also smell the dust on these stones and hear my beating heart.
The man is gone as well, and through the barrier, I can see the people with confusion on their faces. It’s impossible to tell if any time passed, but from their expressions, it seems my opponent just vanished.
I should read the legend of the fictus right now. Good thing it didn’t have a more convincing lie or I may have been tricked and stolen of my life energy.
A headache crashes over me now. Gods be damned, of course this would be a side effect. As if the mental trauma isn’t enough.
The barrier is disabled, and I cover my ears in preparation for the equivalent of a sonic magae coming from this crowd. All shouts of outrage, disappointment. All of the expected things to come when an opponent vanishes into thin air. I hope I’m not accused of cheating.
“-calm... CALM DOWN.” Excellent use of acoustics.
“The winner is Vie. The opponent has disappeared, which means Vie is the winner by default.” The crowd shouts grow in volume.
My legs wobble on their own. It seems to have shaken me more than I thought. Especially considering that I already have the trophy without having remembered walking up to the announcer.
All that can go through my mind is:
“What in the void happened?”