Posted by Upon walking up to the still unconscious Aker Dr. Life & Death put his hand on his chest to feel his breathing. He was startled as he no longer felt the perilous struggle Aker was in earlier as his lungs fought for air.
“What’s happening?” Vance who saw Dr. Life & Death’s sudden look of surprise asked afraid that in the short time they were gone Aker had taken a turn for the worse.
Mavis whose mind was on the conversation they were having just moments ago didn’t notice Dr. Life & Death’s change so when Vance asked out, he immediately stepped forward “Did somethin happen to the boy?”
With a puzzled face Dr. Life & Death replied back without raising his head, his eyes solely focused on Aker, his hand checking his pulse “Why is it every time a doctor makes a move the people watching have to call out, give me a minute and I will tell you once I know.”
Neither Vance nor Mavis were upset by Dr. Life & Death’s words or reproach. Firstly, he was right, they just needed to let him do his job and once he knew something, he would obviously let them know. Secondly, this was just who Dr. Life & Death was, for him, his words and tone didn’t necessarily represent that he was reproaching them or not.
Vance and Mavis waited quietly by the side as Dr. Life & Death ran a full checkup on Aker. The more he checked the more confused his face became. While many people would argue that Aker had experienced the most change over the last couple of years, anyone who had known Dr. Life & Death before meeting Aker could argue that Dr. Life & Death had changed the most.
Once again, he was displaying his confused face for all to see, a man who had once been the embodiment of an empty shell was now capable of displaying readable emotion. Due to not having used his facial features for decades, when his face displayed emotion it was a very awkward and disproportionate look, as if his emotions and muscles had not yet synced. It was this lack of coordination between his emotions and how they displayed that made it even more obvious the expression his face and body was inadvertently expressing.
“I think our current worries are as of now groundless. All of his injuries are healed, and he has completely recovered……No, his vitality is stronger than it was even before his injuries.” Dr. Life & Death’s face returned to its normal melancholic look which certainly seemed counter intuitive being that he was delivering such heaven defying good news.
For Dr. Life & Death, having Aker out of harm instantly calmed his emotions and allowed him to return to his normal state. In normal circumstances this would seem appropriate, but for someone who obviously cared deeply for the boy on the table to be monotone and emotionless even leaning toward devoid of life voice and face it seemed ridiculous.
If ever Vance and Mavis had been pleasantly stunned this would be the number one in both of their recollections. Moments ago, they were planning his surgery, his odds of survival, and moving ahead with their plans and now as they stared down at Aker his health was suddenly just the equivalent of exhausted and resting.
Before a smile could appear on Vance’s face, he had to check for himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Dr. Life & Death, it was just too unbelievable. Vance put his hand on Aker’s chest and extended his natural sense toward him and immediately understood how Aker was able to recover from the brink of death. A joyous smile spread over his face, his eyes glowed, the brightness that had been fading returned, his soul lifted up and he laughed heartily.
“Hahahahahahaha…..this boy never ceases to amaze me! To think he would advance to the Body Conditioning Blood level and not only recover from his injuries but grow stronger through this trial. It truly is that success and failure is in the timing!”
“I wouldn’t expect anythin less from someone this Mavis has taken on as a disciple. That’s the way a man should be, stand strong without excuses, looks like I taught him well.” With a proud face full of excitement Mavis would never let an opportunity to praise himself pass by, and this situation was no different. For Vance and Dr. Life & Death Mavis’s response was exactly what they would expect of him, which was great news as it meant everyone was settling back down again.
For the last few hours the trio had been moving pieces and making decisions while they were stressed about Aker’s condition. Now knowing that he was fine it would alleviate a significant amount of stress and allow them time to consider their options, or at least that’s what Dr. Life & Death was thinking.
“It’s good that he’s fine, how long until he wakes up?” Vance asked his question pointed at Dr. Life & Death; however, it was clear his mind was only partially on this question, the other half was pondering on something entirely different.
“Could be in a few minutes, could be a couple of days, there is no set time. In this case it’s best to let him rest and recover and let him wake up naturally. As you know it’s not just the body that needs healing but the mind and spirit as well. How much pressure and strain has this boy been under in the last few days? He’s been in here training, fighting and surviving on a knife’s edge non-stop for a couple of years. Now that he suffered such injuries his mind has finally let go and forced him to rest, this is a good thing for him.”
Dr. Life & Death while mentioning that they have the option to arbitrarily wake Aker, he was indicating he wouldn’t be a part of that type of decision. In essence he was putting his foot down and letting Vance know Aker would wake up whenever he woke up.
Vance nodded his head in agreement with Dr. Life & Death, Aker had been pushing himself relentlessly for years and some rest would be good. In fact, during this time period it might be exactly what they needed from Aker.
Vance was pissed at the number of times that those bastards had tried to kill Aker outside of the arena. The professional assassins that thankfully they were able to identify and do away with were rough to handle but that little bastard trying to poison Aker in the kitchen…every time he thought about it, he would grind his teeth angrily.
“Now that he defeated their trump card in the arena, they’re going to get more desperate, there’s no more time to wait. We need to get him out of here right away. We couldn’t move forward with the plan because Aker was too small to pull it off but in the last few months he’s grown close enough in size that they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Even if he’s recovered, were moving forward, they’ll come for him quickly now so it doesn’t change anything we talked about in the last few hours, let Cap know to get her ship ready.” After careful thought Vance made a decision.
They had been planning meticulously for well over a year, not even Aker knew the full details of what was happening. It was already in the initial stages of discussion before the assassins showed up but following that they knew the clock had already started and it was only a matter of time. The only saving grace was that the powers that wanted Aker dead could not kill him openly and as such this allowed them the time they needed to plan out every detail. Despite Vance and the rest spoiling The Pit’s plans with the assassins the people from The Pit didn’t despair on account of their upcoming trump card, who as it turned out was Alex. Now that Aker had humiliated Alex and pushed them to this degree, they would be getting desperate.
There was only one way to get out of this, to allow Aker the time he needs to grow and with Vance’s last declaration the wheels began spinning…..
_________________________________
“Who the hell does he think he is! How can some backwards podunk empire on a filthy planet laugh and patronize me! I have to kill him with my own hands. I need to wash myself in his blood to remove the shame. If my friends…. No if anyone hears about this, I will be the biggest….they could even take away my right to become the next head over this! I have to kill him, I have to kill him, I have to kill him…..”
Alex’s thoughts were running wild. He was struggling to even concentrate on one thought at a time, however there was a constant idea running through his head. He needed to kill Aker in order to overcome this defeat. In fact, the battle Alex was in was worse than a defeat, it was a humiliation, a slap in his face that Alex was powerless against. It represented a shame that there was no hiding from and no way to make an excuse that justified it.
As Alex was leaving the arena earlier, he could hear the discussion in the crowd as they referred to him as “Almost” and left off even the tamed, his new nickname being “Alex Almost”. It was a disgrace that he could have never imagined before stepping foot in the arena. What was supposed to be a trivial figure had turned into his nightmare…No, his Demon!
Aker’s voice, words, taunts and actions had been seared into Alex’s mind and he couldn’t help but relive them over and over again. His heart was devastated, and the entirety of his beliefs had been shaken to the core.
A person without background, without training, without support, without hope, without strength is not supposed to be able to stand up to a mountain, the sky, the heavens and a god. The difference between Alex and Aker was the difference between the heavens and hell. Perhaps it was even more exaggerated than even that, Alex was left without words as he began mumbling about his desire to kill before finally snapping.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh” A loud scream escaped Alex’s mind as he held his head between his hands, his eyes bloodshot and devoid of hope and reason.
“Young Master, you need to calm down first, we…” the grey-haired servant was speaking with a calm but authoritative voice trying to stop the downward spiral of Alex.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You think I don’t know that you’re laughing at my failure too. How could I not see the disdain in your eye as you looked at me leave the arena. Who do you think you are to look down on me? Should I have you killed too? Didn’t you witness my failure? Should I just kill everyone who witnessed it?”
Alex was mad, his mind filled with killing and thoughts of covering up and getting revenge. He wasn’t even allowing his faithful servant to talk and threatened his life.
Hearing Alex threaten him didn’t scare the old servant, what caused him to take a step back was that as Alex yelled, he could clearly feel the bloodlust and desire to kill emanating from Alex. He wasn’t speaking in anger; he was speaking as someone who meant his words…. frightening was the only thought that the old servant had, he had to calm his young master down.
“Young master, we can make arrangements for you to kill him in his cell, he should be heavily wounded right now and unable to fight back. I’ll make all the arrangements. No one would dare say anything to you about it once it’s done. We will have fulfilled our obligation to your father and the ones who brought us in would get what they wanted.”
“NO! He must die in front of the crowd; I want his head to lay at my feet for the whole world to see. Your right he might not even be able to walk right now. Good, let them know I’ll fight in The Pit with that trash tomorrow and take his head.” As Alex thought about the heavily injured Aker walking into the arena to face him, he couldn’t help but spread an evil smile across his face.
‘Dying by beast is too good for you. Didn’t you mock that I was to cowardly to step into the arena to fight you? Wasn’t the world laughing at me because I stood to the side and had other’s fight on my behalf? Tomorrow, as I take your head, I wonder what your thought’s will be? Should I allow you a quick death? Should I take your limbs one by one and watch as you suffer, begging for death? We’ll see how you can laugh and mock me tomorrow!’
Aker had become a demon in Alex’s heart and mind, and he had to kill him with his own hands to move past it. If he chose to use beast to defeat Aker, he would never be able to accept it as Aker had mocked and laughed at his cowardice and then defeated him. Only by bathing in the blood of Aker could he wrench his dignity back.
Finally, deciding to end Aker in front of the crowd with his own hands Alex began calming down, as a Source Core Fire magic fighter there was no way for Aker to defeat him. Not to mention that Aker might not even be able to move for the battle. In Alex’s mind Aker was already dead, in fact as soon as Alex decided that he would enter the arena himself he had the servant send back word letting his father know that the job was complete. By the time his father received the message and acknowledged it Aker would already be dead.