Aidan slowly wakes up. His whole body hurt. He lifts his head up. My bedroom? How did I get here? Aidan groans in pain as he swings his feet off the bed and sits up. He looks down at his bandaged body, the arm where he was stabbed is in a sling. "What the hell?" Aidan asks to himself. He takes his arm out of the sling and begins to stretch it out. He opens the door to his bedroom to hear arguing. Who the hell is in my apartment? Aidan comes out to see Arminius, talking with Joan, Nolan and some large man with long brown hair with a long beard. Joan? What's she doing with Mr. Johnson and that guy from outside the gym?
"I'm telling you it's the smart play," Arminius tells the large man. It sounds like he's trying to convince him of something. Aidan creeps a bit closer, trying his best to be silent so he can hear them.
"It makes no sense. You're just trying to protect your fighter." The large man argues carrying a Scottish accent.
"It makes sense if you actually think about it, William," Joan argues. Aidan walks out into the living room, the four stop and look at him.
"What's going on here?" Aidan asks.
"Aidan, you're awake." Nolan steps forward to Aidan. "Your arm should be in a sling."
"My arms fine. Who are these people? Why's everyone in my apartment?" the man known as William scoffs with laughter.
"The boy doesn't even know what he's involved with." Arminius pulls William aside and begins to whisper to him.
"We'll talk about this later, let me have some time with the boy." William laughs and shakes his head. He walks out the door of the apartment. Arminius gestures to Joan who also leaves. She stops at Aidan.
"Glad to see you're feeling better. I just wanted to thank you… for what you did for Chloe."
"Of course," Aidan replies. Joan walks out of the house. Arminius stands in the living room staring at Aidan. "Mr. Johnson, who is that guy? What's going on? Is he like a cop or something?" Nolan shakes his head.
"No, he's not. But you need to listen to what he has to say." Aidan walks into the living room and gently lowers himself into one of the chairs. Arminius sits across from him.
"You're that guy from the boxing gym the other night. You asked if I was ok."
"I am," Arminius replies. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions. So just uhh… fire away." Arminius chuckles at his own pun. Aidan begins to think of his first question and decides to go with the most logical one first.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Arminius."
"Arminius? What kinda name is that?"
"It's Roman, actually."
"So why are you in my house…Arminius?" Arminius takes a deep breath.
"I'm here to keep you alive." Aidan laughs at the comment but stops when he notices neither Arminius nor Nolan is laughing.
"Wait, seriously?" Aidan asks "Are you sure you're not like a cop or something? Is this about that guy--"
"No. No, I'm certainly not a cop," Arminius replies. "Let me start at the beginning…with the Deurom."
"Deurom?" Aidan repeats. "The hell is that?"
"They're basically gods. They created everything." Aidan laughs at Arminius.
"It's not a joke, Aidan." Nolan scolds. Aidan turns his attention to Nolan.
"So you're in on this too?" Aidan asks. "Alright. Alright. I'll listen." Arminius glares at Aidan.
"Anyway, the Deorum created everything. After a while, they started getting power hungry amongst each other. They started to slaughter each other until there were only a few left. To stop the bloodshed between them, they decided to create a tournament. A game." Arminius explains.
"A game?" Aidan asks.
"The remaining Deorum each chose a human and entrusted them with special abilities. The humans fought each other to the death. Whosever human won… sat on a council created of 12 winners, to rule over the Universe. After some time, they grew bored and entrusted the task with previous winners. And so the game continued."
"This is ridiculous. Sounds like some kinda Hogwarts crap." Aidan argues. "And even if such a thing existed, what does that have to do with me?" Arminius waves his hand to Nolan, suggesting he take it from there.
"The man who attacked the school was a contender, looking for you." Aidan's eyes shift back and forth from Nolan and Arminius.
"Why would he—" Aidan's trail of thought disappears, but then he makes a startling revelation. He's a contender. "No."
"You're my fighter, Aidan." Arminius finally tells him. "Blessed with the gift of fire."
"No. No. No!" Aidan screams. "I don't have any gift."
"Aidan, just relax." Nolan tries to calm down Aidan, but he leaps out of the chair.
"You burnt the man at the boxing match, you burnt the man who attacked the school, and you don't have a single burn mark on you. Do the math and you know I'm right." Arminius claims.
"I said no!" Aidan screams at him. His hands catch on fire. Arminius notices and stands up, grabbing Aidan's hands and holds them in front of him.
"See! Look with your own eyes! Do you believe me now?!"
"Let go!" Aidan screams. Nolan steps into action and tries to break the two apart as the flames on Aidan's hands grow bigger.
"Calm down or these flames are going to get higher!" Arminius screams.
"Both. Of. You. Stop!" He manages to separate the two. Aidan begins to calm down, the fire from his hands dying down. Arminius looks angrily at Nolan but his face softens at the sight of Aidan, who has begun to lightly sob as he sits back in the chair.
"I don't wanna fight in any tournament." He cries, throwing his head in his hands.
"Well, unfortunately, you don't get a say. You don't show up. They'll kill you." Arminius tells him. Aidan sits, totally floored by the news. "I know that this isn't ideal and it's defiantly a lot to take in. But training with me is the only way to stay alive." Aidan wipes his face.
"So if I win this thing. If I… kill, these other people. You get on this council thing?" Aidan asks.
"Yes," Arminius responds. "But of course, these people will be trying to kill you too, think of this as… self-preservation."
"Aidan, these games have been played since the beginning of time. I've played it, Arminius played it too." Nolan assures him. "Arminius even trained me."
"He did? So you won then?" Aidan asks. Nolan is flabbergasted, Arminius had already laid so much on him, and he didn't want to add to it.
"Not at all." Arminius chimes in. "He got slaughtered in the first round." Aidan looks at Nolan and Arminius confused. Slaughtered? "Then again he didn't listen to a damn word I said until about a week before the Game."
"Then how are you here?" Aidan asks. It was time for Nolan to fess up.
"150 years after one's death, certain people can come back and visit Earth," Nolan admits. "I am one of those people. As are the contestants for the seats." Aidan points to Arminius.
"So he—"
"I've been dead for about 2,000 years." Arminius states. "Nolan here has been dead for about 400."
"Really?" Aidan looks to his teacher who nods his head and then back at Arminius. "So how the hell did you get a teaching job if you're…"
"Dead?" Nolan finishes. "Lots of people sell false birth certificates, social security cards, even diplomas."
"I had Nolan go undercover at the school to sniff out my fighter. And then he found you." Arminius goes on to explain. "Did you notice your school got a cool new decoration?" Aidan starts to think. What the hell is he talking about? A decoration? But then it hits him.
"The sword?" Aidan guesses.
"Ding-ding-ding." Arminius playfully cheers. "You see, those of us chosen to train are dropped off in the nearby vicinity of where our randomly chosen fighter is. Of course, they dropped me off here. So I knew you had to have gone to a school nearby. As for withering or not you were in school or not, the fighter is usually someone aged 16-24. So we trapped you."
"How?" Aidan asks, now intrigued.
"As a contender, I have this thing. It's like an aura, almost like a pheromone. I covered the sword in it. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone took interest in it. And then Nolan saw you, mesmerized by it in the hallway." That's when Aidan remembered he hasn't seen the sword at all.
"Oh shit! The sword--"
"Is mine. It's here. It's safe." Arminius assures him. Aidan begins to relax a bit now.
"So my only motivation is to stay alive? Aside from that…there's nothing."
"No," Arminius replies. "Staying alive should be your only priority anyway." Aidan runs his hands through his hair, trying his hardest to comprehend the dilemma that has been brought to him. Then he remembered before being told anything, the big guy in the living room with Joan. Was she his fighter maybe? Is that why she transferred here?
"Earlier you were talking to some big dude and a girl from school, Joan. What do they have to do with this?" Arminius widens his eyes. He wasn't particularly looking forward to this part.
"Well, the big guy you might know as William Wallace."
"The guy from Braveheart?" Aidan asks.
"The guy the movie was based on." Nolan corrects. "Wallace himself isn't a fan, particularly."
"And that girl? Joan. Her real name is Joan d'Arc. Or as you know her… Joan of Arc." Arminius informs.
"Never heard of her," Aidan replies. Arminius runs his head disappointedly through his hair.
"By the Deurom the education system these days is garbage." He says to himself. "She was a French revolutionary. They're both competing and you've met both their representatives." The answer came fast to Aidan, it was right in front of them.
"Chloe is fighting for Joan… isn't she?" He asks, judging from the reaction of Nolan and Arminius, he knew he was right. "And who's fighting for Wallace?" Nolan and Arminius remain silent until Aidan asks again "Who's fighting for Wallace?"
"Ian," Nolan replies. Aidan shakes his head and begins to tear up again.
"No," Aidan replies. "No, not them, it can't be both of them."
"I'm sorry, Aidan." Nolan tries to console Aidan, but Aidan brushes him off.
"So I'm gonna have to kill my friends?" Aidan asks.
"Potentially," Arminius replies. "The Games are split into two days. On day one, there is a series of one-on-one battles. On day two, its gonna essentially be a free-for-all where one person would come up on top. This year is different."
"How?" Aidan asks, hoping for some kind of loophole.
"Well Aidan, normally a random Council member would be chosen after about 5 years. Totally random, however, if someone commits a violation of Deorum's laws, they are put on trial essentially by having their seat put up for grabs as well as the random member. So…on occasion… there are two seats up for grabs." Finally, a glimmer of hope.
"So, this year, there's gonna be two winners?" Aidan asks.
"Yes." Nolan chimes in. "We recently learned that the man who attacked you is the representative of a man who is on trial for violating the rules."
"What'd he do?"
"He slept with a human woman," Nolan tells him.
"If I know that asshole, it was more than one." Arminius comments.
"You know him?" Aidan asks. Arminius scratches the back of his head.
"Yeah. Yeah, I do." He replies. "You ever hear of Julius Ceasar?" Aidan shrugs his shoulder, much to Nolan's dismay.
"Common Aidan. We learned about him in class. Built up the Roman empire?" Nolan hopes to jog Aidan's memory.
"Right…the guy who got stabbed a bunch of time." Arminius snickers at Aidan's response.
"Yes, Aidan. That guy." Nolan assures.
"Alright, what about him?" Aidan asks.
"Well, back when I was… alive. I kinda… fought the Romans… like a lot." Arminius responds. "Like full on warfare type of fighting. He never let it go."
"And that guy. At the school?" Aidan follows up, trying to get more answers.
"His name is Lucas. He fought for Julius Caesar when his seat was up for grabs five years ago. He's got enhanced strength and durability. Not normally someone you want to go up against, but it appears that you held your own." A slight hint of praise in Arminius' voice surprisingly piques Aidan's curiosity.
"So did I like… take him out? Or did you…" Aidan asks, hoping he wouldn't have any more interaction with the Gladiator.
"No. Contenders can't hurt representatives. I blocked you with a firewall, something that will be taught to you over the course of our time together." Arminius assures. Aidan nods his head, the more he understands, the better his chance. Arminius was right, this was about self-preservation above all else. He would have to cross the whole 'Ian and Chloe' bridge when he came to it. "Anyway, back to the whole 2 seat situation. I've spoken to both Joan and Wallace about…a mutual understanding."
"Like a team up?" Aidan asks.
"More of an alliance." Arminius corrects. "Train together, keep each other safe, only until we start the Games."
"And they agreed to that?" Aidan asks.
"Joan did," Arminius responds. "Wallace declined, but Ian wants to partake anyway… and who am I to deny him."
"Great," Aidan responds sarcastically. "So where do we start?" Aidan asks. Arminius smirks and snaps his fingers, a magnificent fire shoots up from his thumb.
"This is where you start. You have a lot of work to do on harnessing the power inside of you, and separating it from your emotions." Arminius tries to explain. "Close your eyes, feel the fire inside of you." Aidan does as he is told and closes his eyes. He does his best to 'feel the fire' but he feels nothing. He begins to get agitated and that is when he began to feel warm in his stomach. "You starting to feel something?" Aidan nods in response. "Good. Now snap your fingers and bring it to the surface." Aidan snaps his fingers but gets no flame. He opens his eyes.
"Are you sure this works? Isn't there like different methods of teaching for all kinds of students?" Aidan asks, hoping to skip the mediating part.
"Negative. Just focus, think of it like… like throwing up." Aidan looks at Arminius grossed out. "I know it sounds gross, but think about it. You feel sick to your stomach, and then the sick comes up and out of you. It's the same with the fire. Over time, you'll learn to ditch the metaphor." Aidan tries again, closing his eyes and trying to feel the fire in his stomach. Once he does he imagines puking up lava, just as he feels the warmness reach higher and higher, he snaps his finger, allowing sparks to come from his thumb.
"Not bad." Nolan praises.
"Not bad at all." Arminius chimes in. "Now try again. I wanna see a flame." Aidan goes back to trying to get a flame going. Arminius gestures for Nolan to meet him in the kitchen. The two meet with the intent of talking long term strategy. "Have you come up with something to tell the school?"
"I told them that Aidan had called me and told me he had a serious chest cold and a doctor instructed him to stay home a few days."
"Can you get a note?" Arminius asks.
"Of course, I already have one. It's dated for another few days but that's all the administrative office is going to give before they start snooping around." Nolan replies.
"Good, because it seems like that whole story about the water heater blowing up is sticking," Arminius reports. "I'll work with him on control until he goes back to school, then hopefully we can get onto more attack training." The two peak around the corner to see Aidan continuing to snap his fingers. Sparks fly, but still no flame.
"When do we break it to him that he's been unconscious all weekend?" Nolan asks. Arminius shrugs.
"Tomorrow?" Arminius asks. Nolan nods in agreement and the two continue watching Aidan. "His shoulder healed up pretty quickly."
"Indeed it did." Nolan agrees. "I'm surprised he made it out of the bedroom to be quite honest." Aidan snaps his fingers and suddenly, a flame appears.
"He is going to be truly remarkable," Arminius claims, staring proudly at the flame. Aidan calls to them from the living room.
"Hey! I did it!" Aidan begins to play with the fire before putting it out. He snaps his fingers again and immediately a higher flame appears. Arminius stands and watches his representative as he continues to put out and then reignite his thumb, each flame higher than before.
"Oh yeah." Arminius gloats. "He's really gonna be something."