Heart's Desire

Chapter 2

"Must I attend the fight, father?" I asked him as we were walking down the streets and towards the Colosseum.

"Yes. It is a spectical to watch these fights. I tell you, Y/N. You can learn a thing or two. Or even pick up a thing or two," he snickered.

"Father, I am not going to fall for a gladiator. No way am I going to do that. They're all old and too strong for me. They're basically brutes who can get away with killing one another."

"Killing one another? Never! They fight animals, never each other."

"Ok, then how did the champion get his title? He fought other gladiators along with animals to get the title he has. A lot of other gladiators tried to fight him to get his title, but none have succeeded."

My father smiled, "You definitely gained your mother's smarts. You never would have gotten it from me."

My mother died after I was born. There was a large tear down there that eventually led to her bleeding out. There was nothing the doctors could do to help her prevent that. It was common for mothers to die either during or after childbirth. That's why some of the mortality rates in women are high these days. Aside from getting killed by some people. So it was just my father and I for my entire life. He helped raise me along with a close friend of his. She was like the mother I never had, but I never called her my mother because that was established very early on. My father would tell me stories of my mother and how smart she was. How beautiful she was, too. Every man wanted her, chased after her, but ultimately fell in love with my father. It was like a fairy tale love story. A love story I wished to experience one day.

Once we reached the Colosseum, we were escorted to where my father's seat was, which was built so high up that he could see everything. I was sat beside him. Sighing to myself, I leaned against the arm rest of the chair, watching the gladiators line up and face one another. Their spears were held upwards and formed almost a tunnel like shape. Coming out from underneath the Colosseum, where they held the gladiators, walked out the champion himself. He raised his arms into the air and the entire crowd started to cheer his name. My father clapped happily while I clapped, not as enthusiastically as him.

The other gladiators walked back into the underground chamber, the doors closing behind him. As he circled around, getting a good look at the crowd here, a door behind him opened up. A bull ran right towards him, his back facing the animal. The crowd was yelling at him to turn around. He turned at the last second, letting the bull run right into the wall across from him. The crowd cheered once more as he laughed triumphantly before grabbing his sword, raising it to settle on his shoulder. The bull snorted before turning around, facing the champion. It charged and the champion turned at the last second, but the bull tried to turn with him. The weight of the horns caused the one end to dig into the sand, pushing up dust. The champion grabbed onto the horn and threw himself onto the animal. Aggravated, the bull started to buck him off, but the champion was having too much fun before he raised his mighty sword and dug it into the bull's neck.

Blood started to spurt out as the bull fell to the ground, whining in pain as its legs were thrashing around. The champion turned to face the crowd, a smile on his face as he removed the sword, rammed it down onto the head of the bull, stiffening its movements. Removing the sword, the crowd cheered yet again before he headed back into the underground chamber. Coming out next was another gladiator. However, something caught my attention from them. They weren't like the other gladiators. I knew every single one of them and how they looked, but this one, was different. They held a mighty axe in their hands, shield attached to their back, and a knife strapped to their left leg.

Raising the axe in the air, they let out a thunderous roar that rivaled the champion's. They circled around, trying to get the crowd into this next battle. There wasn't that thrill the champion brought. But I did give them kudos for trying. However, the tough crowd wasn't going to stop them. Pulling out their shield, they faced a door as it opened up. Running down the corridor was a lion. It roared at the gladiator's face and charged, going in for a swipe. The gladiator stopped the giant paw with their shield, pushing it back. They took their axe and swung, cutting some of the mane. The lion roared and tried to attack once more, but the gladiator swung their axe, taking off the entire right front paw. The lion roared in pain as it backed up. Jumping, the lion landed on the gladiator. If the crowd wasn't invested now, they surely were as everyone gasped.

The lion stopped moving. The crowd held their breath, but before we knew it, the gladiator grabbed the body of the lion and placed it on their shoulders. Standing up, they raised the lion into the air and let out a victorious yell, blood dripping down their face. They made short work of the lion. They went right to the point, avoiding any kind of flashy or showy moves the champion performed. There was certainly something different about this gladiator. The crowd stood up and started to cheer. It seemed they caught the attention from the crowd now. I smiled to myself, clapping and cheering for them. They dropped the lion and bowed in front of me and my father before heading back to where the others were. The next gladiator came out, but my mind kept going back to that one. I needed to meet them.