12

1. Aries

"Aries! It's your turn! Go!"
I walk towards the border of my zone, mace in hand. It's the same every day... Get up, get a shower, eat breakfast, get dressed in my blue jeans and grey shirt, comb my blond hair, put on my armour, fight to the death. I grab my helmet from the side table that sits along the border line. I stare at myself and notice a new scar on my forehead. I must have gotten it in the last fight, when I was hit in the head with a bucket. My blue eyes have seen many deaths and my tan skin has suffered many cuts, bruises, and scrapes. I like my job. It's better then any other job you can get in this messed up city. I don't know why our city is divided into 4 zones but it seems to keep society running. I like my zone. Zone 2 has to be the best because we have only had three fighters and that included 2 that died and me! I have been a fighter since I was 10 and now I'm 16. That's longer than the other ones lasted. I am snapped out of thought by the ref. Our ref is named Sagittarius. I like him. He is super fair and never calls penalties! I'm pretty sure it's because he enjoys watching gory fights. "Aries... You know your on right?" He says, poking my arm. I walk across the line into to the centre square. I am not scared. I'm never scared. I am clutching my mace. I chose the mace as my weapon because only the strongest fighters choose it. It's also fun to swing at people. All of the sudden the other fighter walks out... He looks tall and very strong. He is a new fighter from zone 4. I know he is new because I killed the last fighter from zone 4. They never announce the name of the fighter until the end when one of the fighters are dead or someone begs for mercy. I would never beg for mercy! It's so pathetic. I hear the bell. I begin walking towards the fighter. He is wearing silver armour. That means this is only one of his first fights. Ha this is going to be easy. He is carrying a gladius, a stubby sword used by roman gladiators. I never understood why people chose those things. They're awful for fighting and they make you look like an idiot. Compared to my mace that sword is a pencil. I am still walking towards the middle square, getting closer with every step! I finally reach the centre and I am facing the other fighter. He has grey-blue eyes and his hair is strawberry blonde, his skin is also slightly tan. I hear the second bell and that signals the beginning of the fight. I get the first swing and my mace hits his shoulder. It was a bad swing, I could have hit his head. He slashes his sword at my face and it scrapes my helmet. The second swing I take, I miss. He hits my helmet a second time and knocks it right of my head. I hear him laugh under his breath. "First fight?" I Huff. "Nah! My third actually! I've won the other two and plan on winning this one!" He replied. I am done! This guy is so egotistical. I am now pinned to the ground, probably because I wasn't even paying attention to the fight at the moment. He is sitting on top of me, sword raised over my head. This has never happened before! I feel scared. I always thought I would die with dignity but now that it's about to happen I don't want to. One word, a word that I thought I would never say, splurged out of my mouth: "Mercy!" Oh god what did I just say. "I take it back" I yell. Sagittarius looks at me with a mix of shock and pity. "Sorry you can't take back what you've already said" He whispers. I am lying on the ground with a disappointed look on my face. I can't see myself but I know what my expression is. "Fuck!" I scowl. The other fighter looks at me with a smirk. "Oh sorry looks like you lost" He says. This guy is so fucking cocky and I'm just done with him! The sad thing is I can't punch him because I've already yelled mercy! I HATE EVERYTHING! "You look a little down!" He taunts. "Well you look a little..." Sagittarius stops me in mid sentence and gives me a "stop while you can" look. I get up and dust off my clothes. I look around and see so many faces looking down at me. All of them look so disappointed and surprised. I'm disappointed and surprised too. I'm also scared because I know the way people treat pitied fighters. They are shunned upon and treated just as bad as the square cleaners (the people that clean up the "mess" after the fight). God, I never thought I'd stoop that low. I begin walking out of the square. All I can hear is people Booing me out of the arena. I put my helmet down on the small table and take off my armour. All of the sudden the opposing fighter walks up to the border. "Hey! You forgot your mace pal!" He yells. I walk over to the line since he can't cross it. "Um... thanks!" I stutter. "Hey no hard feelings! The reason I was being such a dick was because my trainer wanted me to put on a show." He sighs. "Oh yeah that's alright." I say. I can't tell if this guy is joking or not but I guess I'll take his apology. "What's your name?" He asks me. I hesitate to answer. I don't want to give out important information. I examine his facial expression and it looks relatively neutral. "It's Aries! What's yours?" I ask. "Leo" He replies...