Gods of Arena
A moment alone

He was walking in the narrow path again. He doubted if any of the Larger Figures knew about his assignment, yet. He stared at a door, as he approached it, imagining a sudden confrontation. A larger figure could walk out the door, put him down quickly, seize his gold strap and throw him back among the fighters. Then his mission would be cancelled too soon. 'Funny', he thought, almost laughing.

The door opened immediately. He stopped abruptly, waiting for someone to come out. He was going to explain his mission, show the gold strap as a proof and probably tell them to call King for a confirmation. The Larger Figure stepped out and slammed the door. It was Ana.

Ana stood still, staring back at him, like she wasn't sure if she was seeing what was before her. Kang stepped closer, and kept his eyes away. It was time to put his anger away. He was going to find her and ask her the questions since that was the only larger figure he knew but she was here already. "Kang?", she muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"King gave me a task", Kang replied. "He believes the Arena is infiltrated and he wants me to-"

"- do the investigation. He told me", Ana said. "I have to be the eye witness, in case the others try to undermine your ordainment"

"So he trusted you with this?"

"If there is no Larger Figure to back you up, none of them will believe King gave you any mission. I believe King made the right move by telling me about it"

Kang scoffed. "You of all people. I believe no one should be trusted, especially you. How would he believe you can't be the enemy here"

Ana's eyes twitched, staring into his eyes. She was hoping they would put all of the past behind them and focus on the problem they had. "I already apologized for what happened to Jin. What more do you want me to do?" "Nothing, Ana", Kang exhaled. "I just said the truth and you're blurting again"

"Blurting?", she cut in. "You call this blurting when you were blatantly accusing me of-"

"Listen, Ana”, Kang interrupted, as his hands reached for her shoulder. He felt his right hand brush against her bosom and he pulled his hand back quickly. "Sorry about that.... I really want to put this anger aside and focus on what we have now. Can we get a place to sit and talk?"

He looked up at her and their eyes met again. She nodded. "Come on", she said and opened the door, walking back into the lab. Kang walked in after her and closed the door slowly behind him. "We can talk here" Kang exhaled and sat down. "Alright. We are alone"

"This is the only place we get to be alone", Ana replied, as she watched him look around the empty room.

"We didn't have to be alone though", he said and looked back at her. She nodded blankly and looked away. "But it's alright.... Being alone is better"

"So what are the questions you were going to ask?"

"Dennis", he said, closely watching her reaction. Her face was just the same. Maybe he wasn't special after all. "Who is Dennis?"

"He is a Larger Figure. He stays on the Other Side"

"Wait. King mentioned the Other Side. What is that?"

"It's an Arena headed by King's older brother. He is a lot more ruthless than the King you know. We call it the Other Side because, unlike the Dergon Arena, it is protected from attacks from the other Arenas" "Alright. This Dennis guy; why was he here?"

"Some Larger Figures visit from the Other Side, from time to time. Alexa, a mate of king, also resides there. She visited so Dennis came along", Ana said. "When Alexa left in a rush, Dennis chose to stay back... or so we thought. Turns out Alexa had planted him among the fighters. When she was called to return, she couldn't call Dennis out of the hall so she had to leave without him".

Kang listened attentively. That was the exact part he had came for and the part he was choosing to focus on. "is he still here?"

"He returned recently", Ana replied and glanced down for a second. "In case it helps, Dennis is not very innocent so I can't vouch for him"

"I doubt if he can vouch for you too", Kang muttered, casually, staring in the dark.

He kept his eyes on the spot, saying nothing else. Ana didn't reply either. She just stared back at him, hiding her frustration behind her blank face. Kang chuckled. "Come on. I was just joking, alright? Continue"

Ana nodded, now wearing an unhappy look. "He was in the hall, bearing Dylan", she said. "You had a clash with him after Crane's death"

Kang nodded, slowly, and snorted. He remembered Dylan. Dylan had disappeared and he didn't even notice... and no one talked about it. "Oh", he muttered.

"He had a device he wore on his arm. It gave him abilities like the Shin Zhu of the fighters", she added, fiddling with her fingers and staring down. "I called him out of the hall when I figured he was among the fighters and we kept it a secret from the others and King"

"Ana?", Kang called, staring at her as she fiddled her fingers. Her sleeves had rolled up and he could see a kind of black round tattoo on her wrist right over the gold strap she was wearing. What he saw wasn't a tattoo; it looked more like a bracelet implanted into her wrist to merge with her skin. He definitely wasn't going to ask for a confirmation. "... Ana?"

"Uh?", she muttered and looked up. Her face was still sullen.

"Cheer up, alright? I was kidding when I said that"

She nodded and faked a smile. "I get it", she muttered and her eyes became teary, like he had just made it worse. He smiled and looked away. "He killed Todd" "Uh?"

"Dennis killed Todd because Todd figured out the secret. He was getting to know too much so Dennis killed him"

'And you chose to punish Dan for it?!', Kang screamed in his head but kept his lips sealed. 'Enough with the accusations, Kang'

"I figured out too late so...", she paused for a second and glanced at him. "I couldn't save Dan from getting killed for it.... When I was going to report Dennis for the crime, he had been called and he was out of the Arena already" 'She really doesn't know he's alive', he thought and cleared his throat, as he stood up. "Wipe your face, Ana... when I said I wanted to put the anger aside, I meant it"

He turned, walking towards the door. She stood up quickly. "Thank you, Kang", she said. "You have a good heart"

"I'm not so sure of that", Kang replied. "I killed Gandhi today... and it was in the hall. He was just trying to help me but I killed him"

"I knew that, Kang"

He looked back at her and stared in her eyes. There was no way she would know that without judging him... or maybe she did and she just chose not to judge him.

"I saw it happen and I know it was a mistake", she continued. "It was a mistake, Kang. That doesn't make you less great... it doesn't make you a monster"

Kang nodded. "Thank you", he muttered, looking away. "I should leave now"

He opened the door and walked out. She exhaled, as she watched the door slam, and dropped back on the seat.

"That was a cool moment. Really loved it"

"Uh?", she exclaimed, as her eyes opened wide. She sprung up and stared into the dark part of the room. "Who's there?"

"Chill out. It's me"

"Fred?"

"Yea... were you scared? It looked like you would pee"

Ana exhaled. "You've been there the whole time?"

"Yes", Fred replied and walked up to her, smiling. "And I heard everything. You guys really had a moment"

"What moment? He just came to ask questions about the incident"

"So you didn't feel anything?", Fred asked, staring into her eyes. He knew how to catch if she was lying or pretending. She looked away and smiled. "I thought so❞

"It was nothing"

"As romantic as that is, it's still pretty forbidden", Fred advised. "That's the Blank, right?"

"Yes, he is"

"I like him too... let's keep it that way. We like him as the Blank and have nothing more. Alright?'

She stared down and nodded, reluctantly. "Alright"

****

He knocked gently on the door and pushed the door open, peeking in slowly. "Busted!", Dan said, suddenly, flinging a pillow at Kang's head.

"Fuck!", Kang laughed and walked in. He glanced at Romeo's bed. It was empty. "What was that for?"

"I had a dream. The idiot that picked me up the other day; he returned and he walked in just like that"

"Hm", Kang smiled and sat on Romeo's bed. "Then what happened after that?"

"I flung a pillow just like this and it broke his neck"

Kang laughed. "Come on... where is Romeo? I came to ask some questions"

"He's been going out frequently, these days", Dan replied. "I have no idea"

"When I told him about the investigation yesterday, he had a funny reaction.... It felt like he knew something and was trying to hide it from everyone. What do you think?"

"I have no idea of what you are saying"

"Come on. I know he keeps your secret but if his secret will threaten our lives, we shouldn't let it keep going", Kang said. "When I told him I asked you some questions, he became very interested and uneasy... much more like you knew something and he was hoping you wouldn't tell anyone"

Dan's eyes twitched, as he moved his eyes from Kang. He moved closer. "Listen. The truth is; I'm not sure but Romeo is really hiding something", he said in whispers. "I think he's been communicating with someone" "You think?"

"I leave the room when it's dark so I follow Romeo when he tries to sneak out... he is out friend so you have to protect him", Dan said. "Please, just stop whatever he is doing.... But don't give him up"