Emile wasn't sure how long it had been. He returned to the sweet embrace of sleep after Luna left. Since then, not a single person has passed his cell or come to see him.
Earlier he tried to look out past the bars, he called out and shook his arms, but nobody replied. It seemed as though Emile was being held alone.
A click sounded down the way and footsteps evenly approached Emile's cell. An unimpressive man opened his cell and roughly handled him out into the hallway.
Five minutes later, Emile was standing in the tunnel leading to the pit, in the darkness away from onlookers, waiting for his gate to rise.
On the other side, already standing in the pit, stood a badly bruised woman. Her crusty blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, a black eye swelled one of her eyes, and her exposed arms were wrapped in rope burns.
Emile watched the cogs above the gate flinch and the ceiling began to rattle from the onslaught of feet attacking in anticipation of the newest gladiator.
Finally, Emile stepped under the gate and into the arena. His opponent's single, brown eye immediately met his gaze and neither looked away. The moment Emile stopped moving the crowd settled and the eerie silence accompanied him once again.
Emile and the woman continued to look at each other, neither moving or breaking eye contact. Then, suddenly, a member of the crowd sneezed and Emile looked away.
When he looked back, the woman had already leaned forward and was sprinting towards Emile with all her being. Emile spread his feet and readied himself to intercept her.
The blonde woman pushed her foot forward and stopped her momentum, transferring her velocity into her right arm which was plowing up towards Emile's gut.
Emile's eyes stuck to her attack like a tracker, he leaned back to avoid her fist, but lost his balance in the process.
Her knuckles just missed Emile's chest as he fell to the ground.
Emile caught himself with his arms and flipped himself to the side. He leaped up just in time to throw his shoulder back to avoid another punch.
As he twisted his chest, Emile clenched his hand and slammed his fist beneath the woman's rib cage.
She stumbled multiple steps back and clenched her abdomen, pain evident on her face.
She shook her head and growled, then ran at Emile again and just like last time she opted for a heavy strike.
Emile side-stepped her punch, her fist sliding just above his shoulder blade.
Simultaneously, Emile threw his own punch at the woman's head, but he connected.
Emile's knuckles crashed against the woman's nose, he felt it snap as it broke.
But just as it snapped, an excruciating white light burst forth. Emile exploded away from the woman and slammed into the wall.
'What the hell was that?!'
Emile's essence halved in less than a second. His dizziness subsided, his eyes became clear, and his bruises vanished.
'I hit her earlier and nothing happened, so what was that? White light, explosion, stiff muscles, electricity?'
Emile leaned against the wall as he stood and looked back to the center.
'Skin to skin contact?'
The woman had fallen to her knees, blood continuing to pour down her face. With one hand pinching her nose, she stood up once more.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" Emile mockingly asked the woman.
She spit in response, wiped her nose and ran towards Emile.
She released a flurry of attacks: hooks, jabs, uppercuts. Emile stepped back with each punch, turning his body to avoid getting hit. The woman grew enraged and tucked her body low and dove into Emile's chest.
Emile put his arms up helplessly, trying his best to avoid touching the woman's skin. The two fell to the floor and the woman repeatedly gut punched Emile, and yet, she continued to only touch Emile's long pants and long-sleeved shirt.
Emile grit his teeth and tried to endure her onslaught of crazed hits, but his body and mind screamed in agony, demanding he try to defend himself.
His body took over and Emile grabbed the woman's wrist. White light blinded Emile as the back of his head whip lashed and cracked the stone floor.
For just an instant, Emile's vision blackened, then his essence plummeted to zero and his vision returned, although terribly blurry. Emile tried to lift himself up, but he couldn't register which way was up.
A moment later, a repugnant burnt smell entered Emile's nose and an intense coughing fit ensued. Once he got his berings, his senses returned to normal and he sat up.
Across from him, slouched over against the opposing wall, the woman lied, unmoving. Emile attempted to stand up, but his muscles contracted sending immense pain throughout his body. He pushed through it and got himself on two feet.
The woman twitched then shot to life. She scrambled on all fours and started uncontrollably coughing. Her voice began to tear just before splats of blood flew onto the ground.
Emile took another step toward the woman. Then another. He stopped arms length away from the woman, still cautious about touching her.
The woman continued to cough. By this point her face had turned beet red, snot dangled from her nose and tears streamed down her cheeks. Before Emile could decide how to move forward a stone ax crashed to the ground beside him.
Looking up at the crowd, he saw Luna's smiling face. She pointed at the ax and mouthed the words, 'use this;' Then, she winked and disappeared into the crowd.