Warrior Games

Chapter Ten: Warrior's Chest

Kyle stretched a foot tentatively and stuck it in the open mouth, trying to gauge the depth of the mysterious dark open space.

A relieved smile crossed his face as his foot appeared to have struck bottom. It was not as deep as he had even thought, only about as deep as a normal chest. His whole knee had not even gone in!

His smile graduated into a laugh. "And a person would think this damned thing was as deep as a bottomless abyss," Kyle said, wanting to hear MAIA's opinion.

When he had waited for one but didn't get it, he shrugged and muttered, "Shame. A voice's bane." Then his eyes twinkled with amusement. "Alright, why don't we squat inside this thing and check it out."

And in went the second leg. . .

Along with Kyle.

****

Emily sat cross-legged on the bed, her eyes closed in meditation. She had been trying to attain peace of mind for a while now but it was not forthcoming. She could as well be trying to calm a hive full of bees.

Growling in frustration, she opened her eyes and loosened her pose, resting her back against the wall and resisting the need to pull her hair apart.

She wanted to be strong but how was she going to do that, locked in the white hell that was this room. This time, she did not just want to be strong just to be the apex predator; she wanted to survive this coming horror that was the Warrior Games. If that haughty violet-eyed lady was being honest, then strength was her only ticket to survival.

Emily shut her eyes tight in her attempt to expel the disturbing thoughts from her head and just like other times, failing.

Finally, she sighed and opened her eyes. WEMA, she called on the AI in her head. How can I get stronger? The thought just floated lazily in her mind as she did not even expect an answer. She had just felt like asking that question. . .

So it was kind of shocking when the AI actually replied.

THE WARRIOR'S CHEST, the arcade characters formed in her vision before slowly fading away.

Emily watched in stunned silence at the vanishing words for a few moments before she seemed to finally get herself together and blurted out, "W-W-Warrior's Chest?" Then she tilted her head, curious. "WEMA, what's this Warrior's Chest?"

****

Kyle screamed as he fell through empty space.

His legs and arms flailed about as he sought a hold, or at least anything to stop his fall. But as he continued falling through the dark space, he began to have serious doubts about seeing any other physical thing.

So he continued falling. . .

And screaming. . .

Pretty much time passed and he realized that even his screaming was starting to feel awkward so he stopped.

He tried to right himself, looking around at the strange void. He frowned. Now that he was looking intently at the dark space, Kyle discovered little points of light scattered about and not having a specific pattern to their arrangement. As he concentrated further, he thought they resembled stars. Very tiny stars.

As he watched, some of them began disappearing, confusing him even more. What sort of chest was this to contain such a vast space. He sighed. Maybe he would find out soon.

Would he? He was still falling.

Some time passed before he stopped feeling the sensation of falling. Or was he falling and already numb to the feeling? There was no way to be sure. Because although he couldn't feel himself falling anymore, he also couldn't feel anything beneath his feet. Now he understood how astronauts must feel, floating up in space. Back on Earth, he had envied them. Now he pitied them.

A beam of golden light suddenly engulfed him from somewhere above—or below. For all he knew, he could be upside down and not know a thing. But he found it strange that some weird light—the first in the dark space—would engulf him. What was its purpose? Preferably not to obliterate him, he hoped.

Kyle chuckled nervously. He still loved his life fine.

[ WELCOME, CHALLENGER! ]

Kyle flinched, looking around for whatever had made the booming sound. It seemed to sound as much in his mind as his ears. Which was to say, very creepy.

How much creepy do I have to take before becoming a lunatic?

Tentatively, even if already knowing the answer, he asked, "MAIA, is that you?" His voice was unnaturally loud in the darkness.

As if in response to his question, the deep, sonorous voice, sounding as if from a microphone, boomed. [ CHALLENGER! ] —another flinching— [ CHOOSE YOUR ARMAMENT! ]

Then as if in a dream, Kyle found himself suddenly staring at an array of weapons that had seemingly appeared out of the dark void. Every conceivable weapon was laid out, each giving off a subtle glow, looking like something a god would wield.

"Ar-ma-Armament?" Mouth open, Kyle let his eyes roam each weapon, taking in their resplendent shine, the near perfect beauty of each weapon, their lethality. . . "By my life —"

Then he gave himself a pause. His eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to him.

What the hell do I need weapons for?

****

Emily stood in the strange dark void, looking at all the weapons set before her, each one of them giving off a gentle glow that did nothing to hide their lethal structures.

After learning of the Warrior's Chest from WEMA, and how she could enter, she had—even if she desired to be strong—still hesitated. After all, this was something unknown, unheard of. And if there was something to be feared, it was the unknown.

But she had put down her fears and had entered, although it had seemed weird to her, and she had found herself falling for a time through emptiness, which had caused her no small amount of fear. Falling through a dark void was not a very thrilling exercise.

She had noticed the pinpricks of light that twinkled, some of them flaring like the supernova of a dying star and going out altogether. For whatever reason, she didn't know. All in all, after Emily had stabilized herself, she began anticipating, her blood boiling in enthusiasm for whatever would come next, for whatever challenge she would face.

Every challenge would be her stepping stone to power.

Reaching out a hand and picking a weapon, a half smile formed on her lips.

****

As Kyle chose his weapon, he was forced to cover his eyes as a blinding light washed over him, disorientating his senses once more. He barely heard the booming voice as it proclaimed, [ KYLE SORENSON! ] even as he had the strangest feeling of being sucked into a vacuum, yet moving at an inconceivable speed.

Moments...Seconds... Minutes. He had no sense of direction, no sense of time. All he did was close his eyes as tightly as he could against the fierce light that he knew would instantly blind him if he so much as dared to blink. Even still, he could feel his eyelids burning slowly.

If this keeps up, I'd be lucky to have my brain intact.

Then to his relief, the feeling stopped as fast as it started, leaving behind spots in his vision as he opened his eyes slowly.

For some time, he stood rooted to whatever it was he was standing on, trying to blink away the annoying spots. When he could finally see clearly again, he feared that he would die from shock as his eyes focused on his surroundings.

H-How can a chest contain this. . .

It felt like he was in another world—which was probably true. In the distance, tall mountains, their peaks piercing the clouds, stood with a majesty that still had a feel of danger. All around him rolled hills like waves from the sea, their backs dotted with diverse plant life, trees and—Kyle suspected—wild, dangerous animals.

Where he stood was a clearing covered with a thick layer of dried leaves and decaying organic matter, which unnerved him because of the countless dangers that could hide under the deep covering, lying in wait for him to come close before finishing him in one clean. . .

Kyle shuddered.

MAIA was right. He was too paranoid. Maybe he should keep his imaginations in check.

Speaking of MAIA, Kyle had not heard from her ever since entering that dark space. Where was she? He could still feel her presence in his head but something was blocking his connection to her.

Huh, maybe it's for the better.

Looking up at the blue sky, he was somewhat surprised to see birds roaming the blue expanse but then quickly reasoned that it was only fitting for animal life to exist in the sky. Everything was so similar to Earth's atmosphere, or at least, Earth's former atmospheric state before human pollution, it left Kyle feeling wistful. Taking deep breaths of the fresh ,cleansing air, Kyle wept mentally for Earth, the once beautiful Earth. He mourned the fact that Earth had also once being as perfect, as beautiful but had become marred, trashed by its inhabitants to an alarming degree.

After taking one more deep, refreshing breath, Kyle spared a short glance at the shield he was holding. The subtle glow that was coming out of the weapon was gone but Kyle, just by virtue of holding it, could feel how potent, sturdy and powerful it was. Made with something that resembled wood and iron, the shield's center was plated with a special kind of metal, with the remaining circular area made entirely of wood and, to Kyle's delight, the edges fitted with sharp blades for a lethal throw.

He scoured the surface of the shield for any possible mechanism that would retract the blades for, although they were dangerous to any opponent, their danger could also be his undoing. He didn't want to mistakenly cut off his arm. And so it was a relief for him when he finally retracted the blades by—he discovered—pushing a wooden panel behind the shield. That way, he could walk freely without fear of missing a limb.

A strange sound caught his attention and looking up, he saw one of the birds he had seen earlier circling down. Smiling, he stood where he was as the bird slowly circled the clearing, descending like a predator assessing its prey. . .

Kyle froze, even as his smile was slowly replaced by a puzzled frown. The bird was behaving strangely, he thought. And as he watched, the bird got bigger and bigger as it climbed down from the sky, bigger than any bird he had ever seen.

It gradually grew larger and larger, and instinctively, Kyle knew something was wrong. But he couldn't decide what, that is, until he finally got a good look of the features of the bird. And as it got closer, Kyle knew that he should run.

And run, he did.