I woke up and stretched my back.
Crack. Crack.
"Oui...My back hurts...Those cracking are the signs of ageing...Oui...What have I done to my life?" I sniffled.
I stretched my leg a bit, but my legs were stuck.
'Oui...This can't be good.' I looked at my legs and saw a red colour zappy thing around my ankles.
"What the... What's that?"
I reached out to touch it, and a little crackling sound was heard.
Bzz. Bzzzz. Zap! "Ouiiii! That hurts a lot! Who gave me these dumb shackles? Can't they give me some old-school leg-iron shackles for me to pick on? At least it helps me with my boredom. Grr~"
I tried looking for the knife I stole, but it was gone. 'I stole the knife for nothing.'
"Hello." I heard a sweet, soft voice from behind.
I turned around and saw a girl who had short brown hair and an overly cheerful aura, smiling. "You're awake! You sure are a sleepyhead." She giggled.
"My name is Rona. What's yours?"
I looked around and didn't see those cannibals anywhere. I could only see children trembling in fear, curling up, and praying for their dear life.
'Weird. I don't remember seeing her or anyone of them here before this. What happened to those cannibals?'
"Ermm... Hello?"
"Huh? You were talking to me? Oh, sorry. Was in a daze there. I'm Llyne. Nice to meet ya, Rona. Ermm... Do you know why we are chained up?"
"I guess you don't know since you were sleeping the entire time. Even when a brute man came in and threw you onto the ground, you still wouldn't wake up."
"Haha...I'm embarrassed."
"They're preparing us for a battle."
"They? Battle?"
"Mhmm... A few big men came in while you were sleeping. They injected us with some weird stuff, and then these red, zappy things appeared on our ankles. Mysterious, huh?"
Rona reached out both her hands and grabbed the shackles.
"Wow! Wai-" I tried to stop her, but it was too late.
Zap. Zap. Zap.
When Rona let go of it, she said, "Wee~ This is fun. It's like a massager but with a little zing! Want to try too?"
"No, thank you. I never met anyone as crazy as you."
"Thanks~ Oh! I almost forgot. Those men also said we were the new entertainers. Maybe we joined a circus?" Rona was overjoyed.
"I don't think the circus has battles. Did you sign up for a circus?"
"Nope! But I do hope to join one someday." Rona chuckled.
I laughed awkwardly. 'Oui...One weirdo I befriended.'
"This isn't a circus, you fool."
I looked in front and found a boy glaring at me. The boy had thick black hair, glaring blue eyes, and was wearing thick, round glasses.
"This is the place where they trapped children they kidnapped and forced them to kill each other, and monsters they bred in some kind of laboratory." The boy added.
"Ey?! Does that mean the remaining survivors get to go back to their ordinary life?" I shook the boy.
The boy slapped my hands away and said, "Of course not. If you are lucky to get picked by the 10 Masters, you get to be their disciples. If not, you will be food for their monsters."
"I like eating food but I don't like being the food." Rona pouted.
"No one does, Rona. But how did you find know all this?" I asked the boy.
"One of the men who came in told us. Although I wouldn't be surprised if you guys didn't listen, since you were sleeping like a pig and the fool behind you was daydreaming." The boy sighed.
'He has a sharp mouth, but he's kind. A tsundere, huh?' I giggled.
"What ya laughing at?" The boy grabbed my shirt.
"N-Nothing. By the way, my name is Llyne. What's yours?"
He stared at me and loosened his grip on my shirt. He sighed. "Isaac. And just because we know each other's names doesn't mean we are friends. Got it?"
"Ya, ya. Got it."
I looked around and saw lots of children like me chained up. "Hey Isaac, how many people are here?"
"100. I heard those men counting just now."
"100? That's a lot."
"You done? Shoo! Stop acting like you know me." Isaac turned away.
I sighed. 'Boy, what a hassle this is.'
Suddenly, the tunnel was moving upwards like a lift. The children lowered their heads and screamed in fear.
"What's that?" I shouted.
Thud.
The tunnel stopped moving. The entrance of the tunnel opened up, and we saw a bright light.
"Oui...Can't they tone down the lighting?"
The light dimmed, and a translucent white wall appeared.
The brute men who stood at the entrance of the tunnel said, "Okay. Move it, you lambs. We don't have all day. Move it!" They pushed the children past the translucent white wall one by one.
I slowly moved forward and poked Isaac. "Hey, what's all this?"
"Once you see it, you'll know." Isaac rolled his eyes.
When it was my turn, I poked the wall. The wall felt chilly and slimy. I turned to the brute man and asked, "Is this safe? Have you tried it yourself?"
The brute man bent down and said, "If you don't start walking, nothing will be safe for you."
I gulped and looked at the wall. I sighed and said, "Here goes nothing." I held my breath and pushed through the white wall.
Bloop.
"That was sooooo freaky! Oui!" I shivered. I wiped the goo off my body and noticed my legs were not chained.
"Freedom at last. Oui?" I looked at what I'm standing on and couldn't believe what I'm seeing. "We're standing on a floating box? The box is so enormous." I stomped the floor as hard as I could.
"Box so wide and tall!" Rona runs around like a little child.
"Look around us." Isaac pointed.
I looked around and was bewildered by the size of the stadium. I tried to look up, but the height of the stadium was so high that I couldn't see the end of it, and the width of the stadium was unbelievably huge. The audience was seated so far away that they looked blurred even with my perfect vision. There were bright lights shining all over the place and screens showing the inside of the box, us.
"Although the box looks huge, it's unbelievably small compared to the stadium," Isaac mumbled.
As more people were rushing into the stadium, the noise kept getting louder and louder. The stadium was so packed that we could see people cramping to every available seat. As soon as they sat down, they started cheering. "KILL! KILL! KILL!". The atmosphere is full of excitement.
"Wow. I've never been to a concert before. This is so exciting. My heart might stop any second." Rona said.
"I would appreciate it if your heart stopped now," Isaac mumbled.
I smacked Isaac. "She may be a wacko, but that doesn't mean you can treat a girl with disrespect."
"I wonder if there's an off button to the floating box." Rona walked around searching for a button.
"No, Rona. The box is the thing that's keeping us floating in mid-air." I shouted.
"Let's just kill her." Isaac glared at Rona.
We ran after Rona and caught her before she did anything stupid. Isaac and I held Rona down.
"We really can't kill her?" Isaac was trembling in anger, like a volcano ready to blow up anytime.
Rona looked at the big floating screens. "Oh! Lookie! They can look inside here? We won't have any privacy to ourselves. What if we got to poo poo? Are they gonna watch us, too? Oh...Me shy now." Rona covered her face and blushed.
Isaac was baffled by what Rona said. "Did you understand any word coming out of her mouth? She makes no sense at all."
"I understand if she was 5, but she looks like she's around our age. Maybe her brain isn't developed?" I watched Rona's reaction as she hummed a nursery song.
Isaac looked around and said, "I got the feeling that this isn't their first time, kidnapping and throwing children into a colosseum."
"Ya." I agreed.
"Isn't it mass kidnapping? How come this wasn't on the news? There's no way no one noticed."
Rona suddenly popped into the conversation. "Maybe they replaced us with robots? I watched them in movies, too."
"Likely. But even so, there must be someone who noticed the difference between the robot and the original." I scratched my head.
"Judging by how they operate, they probably kill anyone who gets too close to the truth."
"Right! Right!" Rona agreed with Isaac.
"Oui..."
Isaac nudged my arm. "Look there."
I looked where Isaac pointed. I saw 10 strange people sitting in the VIP seats. They were sitting there, staring at us, as if they were looking at their next meal.
Isaac whispered. "I think they are the 10 Masters."
Rona laughed. "They look like weirdos to me."
Isaac refuted. "No one can be weirder than you."
I pointed in their direction. "I've seen those 3. They're the ones who brought me here. Master Khun, the one with a gentle smile, and the katana, Master Asha, the scary-looking woman with the whip, and Master Jay, the hot-blooded gunman."
"Why would they send 3 Masters at you?"
"Not just me. They killed my entire family. Initially, they were supposed to kill me, but I guessed their orders were changed?"
"Last minute? Hmm..." Isaac frowned.