"You will make a fine spartan someday," he tells me and then walks off afterward. I notice some crowding after the whole ordeal.
"Oh my, your boy really took some. He must have been doing the proper prayer to a god. Which one have you been praying to, boy?" An old spartan asks me with his eyes sparkling.
I firmly don't believe in the polytheism of the ancient Greek world following a womanizer in Zeus and a family with more drama than the gossip girls back in the modern day.
"None that you are thinking of." I coolly reply and everyone makes a surprised expression due to my pragmatic answer. My father and I then make the walk back home.
"Son... I'm sorry about what happened."
"It's okay I understand that it's commonplace" I then walk to my room and hurl over from my pain.
The next day begins like any other as we eat breakfast. Anastasia has a much more relaxed posture in the presence of my father.
"Have you heard, Darius?" Mother waits for a response as Father gobbles down his bread and cheese.
"No, what is it, my dear?"
"Diamastigosis is today. We will go to the temple of Artemis to watch the bravery of the young boys."
Father coughs a little on his food and responds. "Well that's grand, we must go" he ushers in a polite smile.
"Maybe you can even join Damon, wouldn't that be an honor" Mom eyes me for a response.
"Well-" I start to speak but am interrupted by my father. "That wouldn't do much good, he is but a boy."
"Well, we will go and see." She ends the discussion and we then venture out to the Artemis temple for some time all by sandals and feet.
A large number of Spartans attend the event completely crowding the temple. Eventually, everyone settles and the leader of the event steps forward.
"Spartans! This year we will have 10 children for the altar to have the honor of placing the goddess Artemis on our sides! May she bear healthy Spartan warriors and grant us enough food to supply ourselves in the continued conflict against our enemies!" the announcer yells making the whole temple echo despite there being no closed walls, only an open space of land.
The crowd erupts and the announcer makes expressive hand gestures to formalize this useless ritual. Then on duty, young Spartans under the age of 30 begin taking every child in the area up one by one. Eventually, I get brought up too in the center stage next to several other young boys. This is not my first time attending Diamastigosis but it is the first time to be placed in the center.
"Out of all these boys, the 10 with the loudest cheers will have the honor of this celebration!" then one by one every one of us gets about 10 seconds worth of cheers. The boys smile at the gesture, happy for the applause and the honor of standing in the center. Once it gets to my turn my cheers are noticeably loud. Many probably heard the rumor of my encounter with the young king Agesipolis.
"Thank you Spartans and now I will announce who has been chosen!" the announcer yells at the top of his lungs pouring his heart into this useless event as every boy gets picked.
A medium-sized boy with a large Greek nose gets chosen next to me and then it becomes my turn.
"And you" the announcer points at me "These young Spartans are chosen for the altar!" the crowd rumbles and it feels as if my body is melting. I still feel horrible after the beat down by the king himself and now I'm chosen to get beaten until I die or draw sufficient blood.
"Isn't this exciting?" The boy with the large nose looks me up and down.
"Sure, if you are suicidal.. wait no yes this is super fun." I fake my excitement as I would be the only boy chosen to be disappointed and as eyes watch me I need to outwardly embrace their barbaric traditions to foster a sphere of influence. At least for now as I can't gain any notoriety any other way, all the other boys are exploding with excitement as I just scratch my head.
"So what is ya name fellow Spartan chosen warrior brotha?" The large-nosed boy continues speaking.
"My name is Damon what about you"
"Nikolaos, good to meet ya!" We shake hands and then the announcer shows he is ready to continue to speak after he worries he lost his voice for a moment.
"Now are you all ready!'' The crows scream yes thus bringing out large priests out of the shadows and into the limelight with whips fit to draw blood from children.
"Then let's gooooo!" the announcer finishes and leaves the arena leaving us boys.
At first, the priests from the shadows just crackle their whips, any boy showing a flinch gives the audience a murderous laugh. Then they start to whip us one by one at first lightly bringing us some bruising. Next, they bring out buckets and put each one of us into one.
The first true whip strike finds its target, a boy immediately falls down on all fours but does not give up any more ground inside his bucket. The whips find each and every one of us and most boys find the strength to stay silent. I manage too as I feel blood start to drain from my back and into my own bucket.
The whippings continue as more and more boys begin to fall with only a few left standing including Nikolaos. I begin to lightly groan from the pain as what feels like electricity climbs into and spreads throughout my whole body after every single hit.
Buckets begin to fill and some boy goes unconscious, I fall onto one knee leaving Nikolaos as the only one left standing. He releases a painful smile and holds it, not allowing any noise to leave his mouth. As a chronological 24 year old I bring myself back up not just wanting to win this ceremony for notoriety but also to outlast someone 1/4 of my experience.
Finally, Nikolaos falls both his and my bucket completely filled, unlike many other Spartan boys whose bodies failed them at the halfway mark.
"The event is finished! Our Spartan boys showed the best show we could ask for, Lycurgus the inventor of the event himself couldn't be more proud as he wreaks lawful havoc for Hades!" Both Nikolaos and I drop into our own blood pool, I know for sure I have fully extended myself and lost more blood than I ever should have allowed myself to.
Every boy is taken out of their altar and laid down with what seems to be a celebratory cloak for some rest.
"Hey, good job out there ya really made me push myself for Artemis. She must be giving Sparta gifts as we speak!" Nikolaos smiles this time relaxed.
"Yes, she must truly give Sparta some good cheese next year!" I know she won't as Artemis isn't real but if she was it would be a great gift as the Spartans have no clue on what tastes good as I yearn for the taste of mozzarella cheese or jalapeno cheese.
Nikolaos starts laughing at my comment and we look over and see two boys being carried by parents looking down.
"They must-a not have made it…" Nikolaos starts to frown and so do I, this pointless ritual has caused the death of two 6-year-old boys for nothing. I pat Nikolaos on the shoulder avoiding any whipping marks so he doesn't wince from pain. Our parents then come up to us minus the appearance of Nikolaos's father giving us delighted expressions.
"I'm so glad your ali-served Artemis so well my boy. One day you might even be an Olympian for Zeus himself!" my father says, rubbing my hair.
"I agree, you truly made our family line proud up there. May our family line be on the side of the gods" she prays.
We then eventually headed back home and I then had to bear the pain of hearing my parents having intercourse through the whole night. After the event, I noticed a change in the ways others treat my family. As we get more items we head to the market for the same price and get approving nods. This brings a jovial mood yet it still doesn't make up for the mountain of scars that span on my body.