The Princess of Wrath

Chapter 2 - Part II: The Coliseum and the Empress' Voice

After navigating through the upper level of the city, the imperial caravan entered a discreet and narrow path between military outposts that gave access to the large central area of Entrana. 

The Residential Area was over one hundred square kilometers, made up of the homes of the vast majority of the city's population and buildings of all kinds, such as theaters, restaurants, offices, banks, among others.

In the center, stood the great Clock Tower that announced the passing of time with shrill chimes, and beyond it, just before the access to the Military Barracks, was the Coliseum. 

It was a massive amphitheater of black stone, half a kilometer length and wide, and a hundred meter tall, with a maximum capacity of a hundred thousand spectators. Four sentinel towers equidistant from each other stood guard at its corners, and below the immense battleground laid the barracks for the warriors and its own sewer system.

Due to the magnitude of the tournament, there was a perimeter fence where military forces regulated the entrance of the public. The imperial caravan went through without any delay and began to enter the building in coordination with security procedures. 

In the interior of a great, dark passageway with several tunnels with indications about where they led, Asura and her companions got out of the carriage. A high-class military soldier, codenamed "centurion", approached them: he was a two and a half meter tall soldier fully covered in steel armor and armed with a mobile cannon in both hands.

"The Empress and her escorts had already left for the main box reserved for the imperial family and their guests. Follow that corridor and go up the stairs to rendezvous with them, my lady," the centurion indicated with a deep voice from within his squared helmet. Asura nodded, and the soldier bowed to bid farewell and continue his patrol.

"Holy Endrel, that man was scary!" Stanislaus told the Princess as they went into the illuminated corridor.

"Even more than Lucy?" Asura looked back at her two bodyguards and winked at the Wraith. If that had any effect on her, Asura had no way to know.

"Well, eh... P-perhaps, I don't really know," he stuttered, shivering like crazy. Inside that claustrophobic corridor and being followed by a Wraith, the student clearly was not comfortable at all. "I can't believe how calm you are with someone like her nearby..."

"That's because Lucy is special. Plus, I'm an Ithryl! You know that my family has a history with things that awaken terror in the hearts of people..." her voice slowly lost strength, as the significance of the curse crept in her explanation. She looked at her friend and found in him a peaceful smile.

"You d-don't need to worry," he said to her with absolutely honestly. "Even if the c-curse one day awakens in you, y-you will still be the same p-person to me."

Asura was grateful that the illumination of the hallway was not perfect enough to break the penumbra and hid a few tears that she could not keep at bay. Stanislaus' words moved her greatly and made her feel both happy and sad.

"I'm glad to hear that, Stan," she told him as they came out of the corridor, while thinking: "You don't have any idea how much it means to me..."

Asura and her companions entered into a large gallery where the imperial family could enjoy the show with the best possible view and permanent food and drink service by Coliseum employers. Looking over the stone railing, at least two meters below them, was the great arena divided with mobile metal fences and torches into four sectors so that it could host more than one simultaneous battle. Then, around the arena and ascending in a curving way, there were hundreds and hundreds of stone seats with strategically-placed antiquated fire cauldrons in between to illuminate the entire place as darkness falls. The seats were arranged according to social class, with the first row at the edge where the most powerful lords and politicians of the Empire sat, and the last row in the highest tiers was where the plebs sat.