Lost Again [Revised]

~+~ Two ~+~

Chapter Two - Cerise

Large, muscle filled men entered with energetic smiles and cases of beers in their rough hands. They surrounded the ring within seconds, crowding the area where Cerise was meant to enter. She groaned, knowing she'll have to push through those hormone crazed men.

Before she could be seen, she raised the hood of her jacket over her head, covering her face. Cerise had a thing for making a scene, so she had a female fighter named Raven apply some intricate face paint before she left. Black paint ran down her face in a cannibalistic pattern. It made her look crazed, hungry for blood.

She shuffled on the tips of her naked feet, doing her breathing exercise for a moment. A sound behind her caused her to stop moving all together. Jasper appeared beside her, a dead, cold look on his rough face. His dark eyes shifted to her, a glare making contact with her own brown orbs. Cerise breathed in, caught off guard. Composing herself, she glowered at her best friend.

"What do you want?" She seethed, grinding her teeth to attempt to stop herself from punching this man before her right in the gut.

Jasper sighed, the glare replaced a look of concern. "You can't do this, Cerise, and you know it."

Cerise backed away, removing her gaze from Jasper. She glanced down, muttering, "Why are you sticking up for her?"

He raised a hand to her shoulder, turning her around. With a single finger, he raised her chin, forcing her to look at him straight on. "Because she needs us, more than you know. Before you get mad, hear me out. Please, Cerise. You're my best friend and if it was someone else, someone I didn't know, I'd be supporting you full on. But I know this girl, and she needs us. More than you might think."

She kept a stern look, nodding, a signal for him to continue. Jasper took the opportunity before it was gone. "A few months ago, I ran into her. I was on my way to grab you for your final tournament fight when we met. This girl, I didn't know her, but I felt as if I had known her my whole life. And when I first met her, she was broken, behind repair. I had to save her. Then, she got better and she disappeared.

"I saw her again, yesterday afternoon, at the flower shop across the street. She was a mess. She looked as if she had come back from the dead. She told me about the fight. However, she didn't tell me she was fighting you. She just said some girl. Please, Cerise, she needs our help. You gotta' understand this."

Jasper was nearly on his knees, begging for Cerise to help him. No matter what story she heard from his mouth, she still felt betrayed. She still felt hurt that her best friend managed to keep that from her and rooted for the opposite team, knowing the predicament.

She sighed, exhaustion wearing through her voice as she spoke. "Why not get her to stop the fight? She antagonized it. She wanted it, so if anyone is stopping this fight, it's her. Not me." Her voice raised, the anger returning significantly.

Cerise shoved a finger in his chest, snarling, "If she was so important to you, then you would've stopped her instead of me. It's not like she has a title to fulfill. You should have went to her, begging her to stop fighting because I sure won't," she shouted, slamming her finger repeatedly against his chest to enunciate her point clearly. "I won't let her ruin my dignity. I refuse to allow that ignorant girl to take my title from me. I earned it, fair and square. Some pathetic little girl won't rip it from my throne. I'll ruin her before she can get to me. And I won't think twice about it," Cerise growled out. She stepped back, returning the hood back to the top of her head, concealing her face.

Jasper stared at her, eyes deadly. He looked at her as if he didn't know who she was. Cerise's heart thudded heavily against her chest, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She breathed unsteadily, the sound echoing throughout the empty corridor. With a silent nod, Jasper looked away from her and towards the crowd of people in front of them.