The Price of Freedom: Innocence Lost

Let The Battle Begin

Once all of you are in your armor, Rhode makes her way into your cage with a somber expression, looking at each of you in turn before raising her voice for a big, motivational speech. "This isn't the end." She tells you firmly. "Not one of you is helpless. The past few months I've done everything I can to prepare you for what's about to happen and all of you are stronger than you know! Alexius, when you started your training you could barely even lift a sword. Lula, you've only been at the academy a few months and you're already one of the fastest students I've ever had. Don't any of you doubt yourself, because each and every one of you is coming out of that arena alive... That's an order!"

It's then that you hear the sound of an announcer outside, and the roar of excitement from the crowd. You steady yourself and take a deep breath. It'll all begin soon. "Just six." You hear Rhode whisper, hanging her head in frustration.

"What?" You ask. She looks at you for a second, surprised that you heard her. She seems to consider whether to say anything else, but in the end she shakes her head and decides to elaborate.

"I told Titus not to do it." She whispers, so you're the only one who could hear it. "I told him it was a waste... Such a horrible waste of potential. But he said I shouldn't worry about it." She tells you, looking at each of her students in turn. "After all, it's only six." She seems very bitter when she tells you this. After she's unburdened her thoughts to you, she puts her hand firmly on your shoulder and leans down so she's at your eye level. "Keep them alive Andreas." She commands you. "If anyone can keep them all alive, it's you."

At that moment, the gates to the arena slowly start to rise, and all the students look around in a frenzied panic. "Wait, we can't start now!" Gerda wails. This has to be the first time you've ever seen fear in that girls eyes. "We don't have any weapons!"

"Weapons." A low voice echoes, and you turn to see Zeru pointing out into the arena, where all the weapons are scattered across the ground. The nets and little daggers closer to you, the long swords and axes near the middle. That's when you know it'll all go to hell. There'll be no time for strategy, no chance of planning everything with the rest of the group. As soon as the gate is high enough, Zeru and Lula crawl out from underneath it and start running, and you know that on the other side of the arena, your opponents are doing the same. If you're going to have any chance of surviving, you're going to have to get in the arena right now and run.

The closest weapon to you is a spear. Definitely not your weapon of choice, but you might be able to throw it to someone who'd find it more useful. There's a small, curved sword called a sica half way through the arena, which you think you should be able to reach before anyone else, but right in the middle of the arena is the traditional gladius. A longer sword that'll be able to do much more damage. You'd defiantly have a better chance of surviving if you got you hands on that... That is, if you're fast enough to get to it first.

You run for the gladius as fast as you can. As you draw closer, you see that one of you opponents is also after the gladius, but with a desperate burst of speed, you throw yourself towards the sword, skidding across the sand and snatching the blade by the hilt before your enemy can reach it. With the sword in hand, you roll onto your feet and look up to face the other boy, who appears to be about the same age as Alexius. Seeing you with the sword in your hand, the boy turns and runs away from you as fast as he can. Since he's unarmed and not a threat, you decide to ignore him for now. After all, you have one of the best weapons in the arena in your hand, and it'll definitely boost the chances of your survival.

Now that you're armed, you take a quick look around the arena to get a lay of where everyone is and what's happening. You catch sight of Alexius first. He's managed to get hold of a dagger and is holding it out, looking terrified as a tall girl about fifteen years old closes in on him with a long-sword. Luckily Lula jumps in to protect Alexius, holding a spear in one hand and a net in the other. She throws the net at the girl, trying to trip her over and while she doesn't succeed, she intimidates the girl enough to keep her at a distance. Joining Lula and Alexius would probably be your safest move right now since you'd have safety in numbers.