Elidon meanders into the large, empty lobby, and spots two stretchers moving towards the arena's hospital at the back.
"Excuse me," he speaks up.
The staff carrying the stretchers don't turn to him, "One second, sir." He follows them to the hospital area, and waits outside as they take the stretchers in. One of the staff opens the door, "How may I help you?"
"How many of the fighters were left alive after the match?"
"There were three."
"So where is the other one?"
"Sir, we are not at liberty to discuss the status of the talent with unauthorized personnel."
"But I'm-"
Shouting and struggling can be heard from inside, "Now is not a good time." The door slams shut.
The struggling and shouting continues. Profanities echo out of the small building, and crashing can be heard alongside it. Elidon reaches for the door handle.
"The other person is still in the arena," Elidon pulls his hand back, and turns to face who just spoke. It's a small child, "It's the fiendling girl. I don't know what's happening, but they can't carry her out."
"Ah. I see," Elidon wrings his hands, "but she's alive?"
The kid shrugs, "Pretty sure, yeah."
"Well that's good. Why'd you follow me?"
"You did something with your hand right before the sword fell. I thought it was weird."
"Where are your parents?"
"I don't know."
"Do you have any?"
"I don't know."
"You know awfully little."
"I don't go to school."
"Your parents don't make you."
"They're not great."
"Do you know your parents?"
"No."
Elidon sighs, "Well then why don't you come with me?"
"Kinda weird."
"I'll take you in. I've been making a habit of doing it recently"
"Can you buy me some popcorn because I helped you?"
"Well, I- sure, that's a fair trade. Do you want to come with me then?"
"No. You said it was a fair trade. I don't owe you anything else."
How about you come with me in exchange for me not splattering your brains across this wall? Elidon thinks to himself.
"Why should I care about that?" The kid continues, "Just buy me another popcorn. Then I'll come with you. It's really strange that you keep insisting on me coming with you."
"You're right," guess I can't sacrifice this kid, he thinks to himself, "I'll buy you some popcorn," he smiles. He walks over to the concession stand, and the kid follows. "What's your name, kiddo."
"I don't really know. Kiddo sounds good."
"Then that sounds good to me," Elidon states as he turns to the concession worker, "May I have-" Elidon discovers that there is no concession worker. "Ah… do you think-"
"We could skip the popcorn?"
"Yes, is that okay?"
"No."
Elidon stops out of shock. The audacity! This kid was really pushing his luck. Does he have any idea how powerful I am? How rare it is for Elidon the Elder to extend his divine arm in generosity? This kid, and Shini for that matter, and Ghizh furthermore for that matter, ought to learn some gratitude, he thinks to himself.
"Can't you just make me some?"
And now to ask for manual labour?!
"I just meant, like, with magic."
"What?" Elidon blanks, "What do you mean?"
Kiddo stops for a second, "You just look old. Like you could be a wizard."
"And where'd you get that idea?"
"The hand thing. And, also, I just said you were old. All old people are wizards or weirdos."
"I suppose there's some truth in that." I didn't get this old by being normal, he thinks to himself.
"So then are you a weirdo?"
"Not necessarily."
"So then yes?" Kiddo says blankly.
"I said no."
"You said 'not necessarily'," Kiddo says in a mocking tone.
If I hear one more remark out of this kid, Elidon thinks, I might just do a magic.
"You know, you really are a weirdo. You keep zoning out. Do you do that in every conversation?"
Elidon starts to get a little angry, "Sorry, my mistake. I've been feeling quite tired lately."
"From using your magic powers too much?"
"No, from work."
"So yes?"
Elidon places his hand over Kiddo's face, "Would you stop."
"What is this?" Kiddo asks nasally, as his nose has been covered.
"You shouldn't ask questions in situations like this."
"You're real cool, huh?"
A slight breeze escapes from Elidon's hand, swirling around Kiddo. He can see his own body now, for whatever reason. It's laced into the cracks of a wall near the doorway to the arena; an arm here, an eye there, an odd tooth or two strewn about the bricks like kernels in a sack of popcorn. It was horrifying, from an outside perspective. In a snap, Kiddo was back in his own body, and all of his parts were back as well. He rolls his eyes. "That's why you should mind your words," Elidon smiles, and turns towards the door.
"What are you talking about?"
Elidon stops. He turns back around, "You… saw that just now, right? With the wall? And the-"
"Yeah. I SAW it. But you didn't do it. I'm still here."
"Oh but I did. I just reversed it afterwards, I'm merciful."
"But it didn't hurt."
"It didn't--? That's because I'm merciful."
"You're lying."
"About being merciful?"
"Yeah. And about putting me in the wall."
"That's most untrue, my boy."
"Then do it again."
Elidon stops out of shock. He searches for any words to give to this strange child. I'm feeling something that I've never felt before, Elidon thinks to himself, so I'm having a difficult time feeling how I'm feeling.
"Or, just buy me another popcorn."
I feel as though I've lost. Even though I've only just been challenged, it feels like a loss to me. It isn't as if there's been a match or anything between us.
"So that'd be three popcorns in total."
So then why do I feel like I've lost? If he just challenged me, and our challenge never began, then how could I have lost? What is this empty feeling?
"Three. Three popcorns… Ma'am, is this your wizard? I think he has some sort of illness."
Elidon glances back. Shini's standing in the entryway, and a few people walk out from behind her, hooting and hollering and whatnot.
"Yeah," she responds, "or, something like that. Who are you?"
"I'm Kiddo. Your grandpa owes me three popcorns. Four for finding you," he sticks out four fingers, "That's four popcorns in total, and the ticker's going up."
"What? What did you do to him?" Shini moves over to Kiddo's side, and analyzes Elidon up and down with concern, "And did he do anything weird to you?"
"He kinda threatened me. Maybe tried to abduct me."
"I did no such thing!" Elidon snaps out of his stupor, "This child is lying! There was-"
Shini smiles a bit as Elidon continues to rant. She glances up at him for a second, catching a glimpse of his frantic gestures and mannerisms. He slaps his left palm with the side of his right hand, then points to the child with 4 fingers. You know, he was right: it was fun to watch strong people struggle. She follows Elidon's point, and looks over to the kid. His hair is disheveled and unkempt. He's pretty dirty in general, but mostly relaxed in the current situation. His clothes are pretty beat up as well; a dusty white shirt, brown, baggy pants that cut off just below the knees, and suspenders, same color as the pants, that look like they've been chewed up and down. He doesn't have any shoes on, and Shini notices that he only has four toes on each foot. "Both of you make a habit of analyzing kids?" He asks Shini while Elidon continues his speech.
"No. Sorry. What did you want?"
"Just some popcorn," he takes a step away.
"What's that?"
"Popcorn? It's pretty good, you'll have to try it."
"Huh. Is it like hot chocolate? That sounds good."
"They aren't really similar at all. He owes me popcorn, that was our deal," Shini turns back to Elidon for a second, only to see that he's still preoccupied with explaining himself, "Put it in ink, too, right here."
She turns back to Kiddo, "How'd you get in here anyway?"
"Sorry?" Realizing that Shini doesn't care about his fake contract, he shoves it back into his pants pocket.
"Tickets cost money. Why can't you just buy your own popcorn, if you can buy a ticket?"
"Because tickets cost money." Shini squints at him, confused, "I used all of my money to buy my ticket."
"You must really enjoy watching fights then."
"Not really."
"So why'd you do it then?"
"I thought that if I could come across as a godlike being, that I could get you to win me enough money to start my restaurant chain," Elidon responds, confident that Shini was listening to him before, "I'm a fraud, not a real god. I just copied all of my mannerisms and mindset from this wonderful self help book," he hands a copy to Shini and Kiddo. It's titled, 'How To! The God Mindset: Attracting Women, Building Confidence, Complex Illusions of Horrifying Events, and More!" On the cover is a large, muscular man surrounded by attractive women of various races. The man's face is blanked out, with the word, 'YOU!' in large block letters taking its place. It's written by William S. Pfeffercorn.
"You just had two of these on hand?" Shini asks.
"One for me, and another for me."
"I'm actually a big fan of Pfeffercorn." Kiddo states, surprised.
"Really?" Elidon asks.
"No." Kiddo puts his copy on the floor, and Elidon scrambles to grab it, cursing and wailing.
"So you're stupid?" Shini asks Elidon.
"No," Elidon retreats with both copies of the book, and sighs mystically as he looks off into the distance, "I had you all fooled."
"What was that 4 finger thing, then?"
"What?" Elidon asks.
"What?!" Kiddo asks as his attention snaps to Elidon, "Four finger thing?"
"You figured that out?" Elidon crosses his arms like a wizard would.
"Well… maybe? Just thought it was something magical. Or something."
Kiddo's eyes bounce from Shini to Elidon.
"It's the trigger for my spells."
Kiddo exhales.
"So you are a wizard?"
"An illusionist," Elidon corrects, "and a very powerful one at that. All thanks to William."
"You refer to him by his first name?" Kiddo asks. Elidon nods.
"So you can't hurt me? Can't put me in a wall?"
"Not really."
"So then what was the purple lightning thing? With the handkerchief?"
"It's a wizard thing," Elidon slaps the air in a cryptic fashion, "a gift from a friend."
"Oh. That make sense."
"Yep. That's all it was," Kiddo chuckles, "now I'm owed 4 popcorns. 5 now, for helping her out."
"But the concessions are closed."
Kiddo scratches his head, "Did I make it seem like I cared about that?"
What an ass hole! Elidon thinks to himself, First he makes me reveal my secret, then he makes a fool of me, demanding popcorn and such.
"Can you spell 'asshole'?" Kiddo asks Shini.
"a-s-s-h-o-l-e."
"Shini," Elidon gasps intensely, "he's a child!" She shrugs, "And you didn't even spell it right!"
"What?"
"It's spelled a-s-s, space, h-o-l-e." Shini glares at him with disdain, "What's with that disdainful look on your face?"
"I'm smarter than you," she declares.
"Why exactly is that?"
"I know how to spell asshole."
"No," Elidon smiles with closed eyes, utterly satisfied with his superior intellect, "clearly you don't."
"You're a moron."
"I didn't think you actually thought it was spelled like that," Kiddo chimes in, "Are you sure you're a wizard?"
"Yes," Elidon furrows his brows, and his satisfied smile morphs into a frown. An unsatisfied frown.
"Are you sure you're sure?"
Elidon clenches his fists by his sides, "Why of course."
"Are you suuuuure you're sure?" A malicious grin spreads across Kiddo's face.
"Of course I-!"
Elidon is rudely interrupted, "What is wrong with you?" Everyone turns to face the interruptor. It's Chrisbopherd, one of the other survivors of the fight, "You were all in there. You saw that shit that just happened, and now you're out here having your quirky little banter like it didn't," he exclaims with rage, "Ghizh is your teammate, right?" Elidon nods, "So why are you out here while he's suffering in there?"
Elidon goes first, "I tried to get in there," he replies, "they wouldn't let me."
Kiddo goes next, "These people owe me 5 popcorns. 6 now, for holding me up so long."
Shini caps it off, trying not to bring up the thing about eating a guy, "I don't really care about him that much."
Chirsbopherd's attention snaps to Shini, "You of all people ought to feel the worst right now."
Did he already know? Did he figure it out while he was in there? There was a way to do this. A probing question, to see if he was talking about the cannibalism, or if it was a misunderstanding, "Why should I feel bad? Why exactly? Explain it to me. Please."
Chrisbopherd's eye twitches, as Shini comes off as incredibly shitty. He takes an angry step forward, and opens his mouth to speak. He stops, and takes a step back to his original stance, calming down slightly, "Do you want to know, or are you just being snide?" Shini shrugs slowly, "Do you know what happened while you were unconscious?"
"Maybe?"
He sighs, "Ghizh protected you from a bunch of mace blows."
Shini was surprised by the heroics of her 'rival'. Not that she cared at all, or anything. "Oh. From who?" She asks, nonchalantly.
"Fa'th, my dear partner," Shini winces at the affection in Chrisbopherd's voice, "he was in a rage at the time."
"He tried to kill me?" Shini counters.
Chrisbopherd bobs his head side to side, "Well, he tried to hit you." He clarifies.
Shini nods, "With his mace," Chrisbopherd nods, "while I was unconscious?" He nods again.
There's a short pause, "Okay," Chrisbopherd interjects, "well it was the intention that mattered."
"And what was the intention?"
Chrisbopherd's face morphs back into disgust, as he remembers what they were supposed to be arguing about, "You still don't feel bad for Ghizh? Even though he protected you?"
"He's an adult, everyone in the arena is. Even the kids."
"But he's just that. A kid, and he put his body on the line for you."
"Look, I'm not denying that I was weak. But it was his choice. I didn't tell him to protect me. If I was able to tell him anything, I would have told him not to step in." Chrisbopherd starts talking. Shini keeps talking, "Maybe Fa'th wouldn't be dead then. Maybe I would've died instead."
"And you'd be happy with that?"
"You would. Fa'th would. Only person not happy would be a librarian and the guy I owe money."
"Ah, of course you're in debt. Makes sense."
Kiddo turns to Elidon, "Are you the librarian? Or the loan shark?"
"No," Elidon responds.
"To which one?" Kiddo asks.
Shini sighs, "We weren't even on the same team. There was no reason for him to protect me, and nothing I could have done to change the outcome." She shakes her head, "I don't really know why you have this idea that anything can be nurtured here: there's a pile of piss right next to the door to the men's bathroom."
Chrisbopherd squints and tilts his head, "A pile?"
"A pile."
"What does that have to do with anything?" He asks further.
"Nobody cares in here. Not about caring, at least."
They all stew in the moment for a little while, "Do you feel bad?" Chrisbopherd asks.
Kiddo yawns, "Can I have another popcorn for this?"
Elidon strokes his beard, "Maybe that can be part of my restaurant."
Despite her presented indifference, Shini did feel bad about quite a few things. For starters, she ate a guy. "I feel a little responsible. If I had eaten less, maybe I wouldn't have chopped Fa'th's feet off. And, maybe if I had eaten more, I wouldn't have-" she stops herself.
"Wouldn't have what?"
"Nothing." She rubs her arm, and looks away.
"It's the Devourer!" A fan shouts as they run up to Shini, "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen."
Shini cringes as they give her a slap on the back. She shoos towards them, "Get. Go, get out of here."
"Awesome! She's such a bitch!" They exclaim as they run out of the arena. Shini turns back to Chrisbopherd.
He's still staring at her, expectantly, "Do you feel bad?"
"About what?" Chrisbopherd glares deeper into her. She looks down for a second longer, then for two more seconds. If she looks at the ground long enough, maybe she'll find something good to say. She sighs, "No."
Chrisbopherd stops and stares for a moment. He scowls for another moment, then spits at Shini's feet, "You are a vile person. Even among the scum of the earth in here, you disgust me. I hope you rot in hell, back where you belong."
"You know," Elidon decides to step in, raising a finger, "fiendlings aren't actually from hell."
"Um, actually," Chrisbopherd pushes an imaginary pair of glasses up as he mocks Elidon, "You think I said that because she's a fiendling?! I mean this from the bottom of my heart:" he turns back to Shini, "you, as a person, as an individual, belong in hell," he shoots another glare at Elidon, before hitting a hard 180 and storming out of the arena. Elidon stares in shock at Chrisbopherd, and Kiddo stares in shock at Shini.
Shini sighs, and starts walking towards the exit, "I'm hungry," she notifies the others.
As she reaches the doorway, Chrisbopherd re-enters, shouting, "And another-" he collides with Shini, "Would you- watch where you're going! You're gonna-" Shini reaches up with her right hand, and grabs Chrisbopherd's right shoulder, "Attacking-?" She yanks him down to her eye level.
"Do you have food?"
"Are you trying to rob me?" Chrisbopherd asks in shock, turning towards her in defense. She doesn't meet his glare, only pulling him down further in response.
"I meant, are you hungry? Or whatever." Chrisbopherd, misinterpreting the question as disrespect, now tries to push up against Shini. She drives him down further, "I meant, do you want me to buy you something to eat? or whatever."
"Are you trying to pity me?" He glares up at her, "Or whatever."
"Are you mocking me?" Shini glares down at him, "Or whatever? No!" She shouts, "Can you just answer me? I'm losing patience,"
"And why-"
"fast. I'm losing patience fast."
"I don't-"
"I'll put you in the ground."
"Oh I'd love to see you try, kiddo."
"Why would I do that?" Kiddo asks.
They ignore him, "I meant literally. and I don't need a shovel."
"Well you got one right there," Chrisbopherd gestures to her sword.
"Was that bad?" Kiddo asks with concern. Elidon just bites down on his knuckle with a pained look on his face. "oh," Kiddo turns to face the two combatants. Shini's sword is firmly placed in the ground next to her- one fantasy Mississippi- and her hands are clamped onto Chrisbopherd's shoulders.
"My sword isn't a shovel" She flexes, her muscles rippling out wherever her clothes aren't too baggy, and she thrusts down with a loud grunt. She takes her hands off, and grabs her sword. Four fantasy Mississippi.
"Do you think he's okay?" Kiddo asks.
Chrisbopherd stands up, at a 70 degree angle, now eye level with Shini, "So. What'd you do?" He looks down, sensing he's shrunk a few inches, standing at an angle, and most of everything below his knees has been shattered, "What did you do?!"
"I told you so."
"Why would you do-"
"You called my bluff."
"I didn't mean it!!"
"Shouldn't say things you don't mean," Shini responds coldly.
Kiddo butts in, "Oh hey, can I ask you something?" Chrisbopherd turns to Kiddo with ire in his eyes, "Would- oh man," Kiddo starts laughing, "he's so pissed."
"My legs are BROKEN." He huffs, "I am MAD."
"Did you just learn about emphasis?" Kiddo asks, "Do you want to eat with us? This guy owes me 5 popcorns," he points to Elidon. Then Kiddo steps forward, and leans into Chrisbopherd's ear, "I could get you one. He's a real sucker."
Chrisbopherd blinks a few times, "Get me to the hospital."
"You must be hungry then," Kiddo starts trying to help him up, "to eat a whole hospital."
"Do you really think you'll be able to get me out?" Chirsbopherd asked.
"Absolutely," Kiddo hoists up, making no progress, "If I had some popcorn," he mumbles.
"What is it?" Shini asks, "Popcorn. What is it?"
Kiddo directs all of his attention to Shini, turning fully to her, "Oh boy," Chrisbopherd yelps with the sudden movement from Kiddo, "it's a magical snack. It happens when you heat up corn seeds."
"Does it taste good?"
"Oh it's ever so tasty. And it's soft, like clouds."
Shini thinks for a moment. She turns to Chrisbobherd, "Do you want some popcorn?"
He's tired of the whole situation, "Sure, whatever."
"I'll get you out and heal you if you let me buy you some."
"What?" Chrisbopherd was confused, not understanding why that was the deal, "Okay. Fine."
"Deal." Shini states, believing her deal to be fair. In exchange for the suffering she caused, she would return it in equal parts healing and popcorn. She would have to heal his legs somehow. Luckily, Shini knew CPR.
CPR did not fix Chrisbopherd's broken legs, however, so she was going to have to take him to a doctor or something. She would have to go back to the librarian, one of the two people who would be sad if she died. "So he's just a librarian?" Kiddo asks as they walk off, "Does he like, know how to heal people or something?"
Shini shrugs, and Chrisbopherd bounces on her shoulder, "Not sure."
"That makes sense," Chrisbopherd sighs, "Of course you don't know."