ARISTOS ACHAION // Awesamdude X Reader

4

You didn't stay in the cafeteria too long - it felt like just as you were getting comfortable, the guards were ordering everyone to rise again, shuffling you all back out the door. You didn't bother to fight it - it wasn't worth getting hit with the butt of one of the spears they carried.

Stomach filled to the bursting now, you followed the rest of the crowd as the guards led you somewhere unknown. Around you, a woman clutched the arm of a man, sticking close to his side. Two boys, younger than you, faces marked with steely determination, walked side by side. A woman, her hair plaited in a long braid, wiped under her eyes, trying to hide her tears. Collectively, they were terrified.

You couldn't bring yourself to care.

Whatever was coming - even be it the sweet release of death - was better than sleeping in puddles and starving slowly on the streets of one of the most powerful cities in the world.

The guards stopped the crowd as you approached a door, opening the oak panels to allow you to pour inside. The room was large - larger than the cafeteria you had come from - but sparsely furnished. A light dusting on sand covered the floor, making the paneling gritty under your feet. There were no windows in this chamber, but an archway on the other end of the space showed stairs, presumably leading up to the balcony that overlooked the room.

Your eyes trailed up to the balcony, taking stock of the man who was perched there, hands resting on the railing as he peered down at the crowd that had just entered the room. Broad shoulders were only accentuated by plated armor, polished to a bronze sheen. You had seen this man before, during military processions and that sort of thing. The prison warden, and one of the caesar's previous champions.

Samuel.

The warden of the prison underneath the colosseum.

Green eyes narrowed, scanning over the crowd. Unlike some of the other guards that you had passed, he seemed completely at ease, in his element. When his gaze passed over you, you met his eyes, and for a moment he was looking directly at you.

It was a shame that he was in charge of the prison - he was rather good looking.

When the last of the crowd came through the doors, the guards closed them again, the loud thunk echoed through the room. For a moment, it was silent - none of the people around you dared speak for fear of consequences from the guards stationed around the room. But it was soon broken by the steady voice of the warden.

"I take it you all understand where you are and why you're here."

His voice was low and smooth, and would have been calming if it wasn't the voice that was going to be lording over you for the time you spent here.

"My name is Sam." He said. "I run the prison system here, so you'll be seeing my face around a lot." He paused. "Well, for your time here, anyway."

Next to you, a woman choked back a sob. You were surprised that Sam was acknowledging it so openly - the fact that none of the gathered crowd would be making it past the first round against the gladiators. In most situations, even when death was imminent like it was here, it wasn't spoken about so freely.

Though, you supposed with how many common street criminals that were rounded up for slaughter, the warden would be numb to it by now.

"You'll spend a good amount of your time in this room, as well." Sam continued, waving a hand to gesture around the space. "For the first few days, this is where you'll train to fight in the arena - so when you're not in the dining hall or in your cells, expect to be here." He paused again, a wry smile coming to play on his face. "You'll need the training too, so don't even think about skipping out."

Disgust curled deep in your gut. He was amused at the crowd's fear. He was enjoying this, to an extent.

"As for right now, you'll be sleeping four to a cell." He continued on. "If you want to stick together with someone, I suggest breaking into groups on your own. Otherwise, we'll do it for you."

It took a moment for the words to register, but the crowd began to split into groups of four, clinging to who (if there was anyone) that they had been caught with, or trusted. You let yourself be dragged into a group of singles like yourself by a guard. It wouldn't matter who your roommates were anyway - you would all be dead soon.

Overhead, Sam waved a hand again, and the doors were reopened. Sorted into your groups now, the guards began to file you out of the doors, heading back into the narrow hallways of the prison. the You watched Sam as you left the room, catching his eye again.

He smiled, and said, "See you all tomorrow." And then, tacked on at the end. "Sweet dreams."

Your group headed through the doors, and Sam faded from view. His deep voice was left behind in the room you had just left, the only sound now being the clamor of footsteps on stone, and the quiet crackle of the torches lining the walls. You kept your head down as you walked, not bothering to try and track where you were. The halls were a maze anyway - you would never be able to find your way out.

Following groups ahead of you, you soon came upon empty cells, slowly being filled as guards directed each group into their assigned space. You let yourself be directed into one of them with the rest of your cellmates, flopping on one of the cots as soon as you were inside.

The barred door slammed shut behind you, and you closed your eyes.

It would all be over soon.