22 The Human Heart

It was just a small baby, one which had been recently born, "Heart trial..."

Walking to it he bent over and picked up the baby with his one arm, it's right blue eyes staring into his soul, comforting him from the bottom of its small heart.

"Gaa...?", a soft sound came from the baby.

'I wonder what that means...'

He sighed, to be honest, he didn't expect this in the slightest, he thought it would make him kill the ones closest to him, 'I guess this is just as bad though.'

"I'm sorry little one.", he felt bad, but not that bad, this wasn't real after all.

Laying it back down he picked up the scythe he dropped on the floor.

Shing!

The scythe rose into the air, "I'll end your life quickly.", his eyes full of pity.

A tiny head rolled away, blood spurted out of its neck, it rolled for a couple of meters until it came to a halt, it's dead blue eyes still looking at him.

"I'm sorry."

A light shone down and the body disappeared, the blood, on the other hand, remained.

There was no break in between, and so the light came back as quickly as it went.

"Let's play!", another young voice came from the light.

A little boy came running through, his blonde hair waving in the breeze, his eyes soft like a gentle wave swimming over you.

"Your it!", the little boy ran behind him and tapped his back and ran away, his springy laugh echoing in the silent arena.

It looked like the grown-up version of the baby he just killed.

"Sigh...", he gripped his scythe.

His hands shook for a moment but he calmed them down.

Dashing forward his scythe went silent, a quiet shadow lashed out.

Thud.

It rolled for a moment but then stopped, a happy smile remained on its face as it stared at his small back.

The little boy's body fell over silently.

"3 more...", the ground around him was stained with the blood of children.

Light shone down once again, the arena was cleaned up, just like last time another light came down right after.

Nothing, there was no sound or anything, only until the light cleared up did he see who was there.

"Another baby?", he thought that the same child would grow up once again but he guessed wrong.

Walking up to it he bent over and tickled it a bit, a small smile appeared on the baby's face. This baby had dark eyes, pitch-black eyes that sucked you in, a starry sky could almost be seen within.

"I'm sorry.", it was unclear whether that apology was aimed towards the baby or not.

A moment later his scythe reaped another life.

The light came back, every time the light took away a body it would place the next contestant down an appropriate distance away from him. Although he wasn't quite sure whether he could call babies contestants.

"Do you want to play brother?", a sweet voice came from within the light.

His eyes turned, a small body came from the distance, it was a little girl with hair that stretched down to her feet, crystal clear eyes distanced from the impurities of the world and a smile fresher than freshwater.

But she was very small, abnormally so, just like Neela...

"What type of game?", he couldn't ignore someone who seemed just like Neela.

"Whoever guesses the other person's name last has to stare at the wall for 10 minutes!", she spoke in a serious fashion, her hand on her hip.

"Sure.", he could go along with her for a little bit.

"I'll start then! Alex!", confidence rang with her voice.

"Wrong! Charlotte."

"Hah! Wrong again!"

She messed with him for a few minutes and he played along.

"Wrong again!", her cheerful voice could be heard from every corner of the colosseum.

'That's enough...', he played along for a little while but he felt too attached now, that was bad.

He walked up to her whilst she continued on with her prideful parade of names, her dainty arms swinging around in excitement.

"It won't hurt, okay?", his scythe rose.

Blood splattered the floor.

-----

"I wonder how that kid is dealing with it.", Ray sat on the rocks around the fountain.

"Everyone goes through something different, some were worse than others, I for one had to kill my husband 5 times in a row, each a different version of him.", the granny was sat next to him, looking back at the days of when she first arrived.

"What about you?", she turned to him.

Only a long sigh came out of him.

"Your the only one who has never mentioned their first 5 kills, I supposed this is the appropriate time to talk about it, considering I won't be around for much longer.", she spoke such dreadful words but her heart had already accepted this fate many years ago.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes.

Another sigh came from Ray.

"I'll tell you then."

"My five kills... Every single one was me."

Silence.

She looked up at him, "The thing you regret the most... Is yourself... How pitiful."

He looked up at the clear blue sky.

"Everyone has their own story, as the first one here you have your own I suppose."

She gave out a dry laugh, "That's right, when I arrived here on my own I thought I was crazy, for a short period of time I actually thought I was dreaming, that was until the second person arrived many years later."

His gaze didn't waver, "Just like you have that story I have my own, nothing in this world is an exception to this rule, everyone and everything has its own story. Even the plants under us."

"Hahaha... Who knew the infamous Ray could have a conversation like this."

He smirked, "Says the Bloody Death."

They looked at each other and gave a hearty laugh.

The granny spoke again, "How about your willpower check?"

"Let's just wait for the kid for now.", Ray ended the conversation short, even if the kid died they could still take part as he would count as a shadow contestant.

But he didn't want him to die, every aid they could get would help.

She sighed, she wouldn't force him for an answer.

-----

The light cleared up the body, when the light came back down it was much stronger than before.

"Is it an actual enemy this time?", he concentrated.

"Brother, should we play with him?"

"Mhm! It looks fun!"

Two people came running out, it was the same little boy holding the little girl that looked like Neela.

"Brother, do you want to play?", the girl spoke up to him.

The little boy tugged at his shirt, "Come on, it'll be fun!"

It was truly a little boy but if Neil and the little boy compared heights then Neil wouldn't be much taller.

'I'll end it quickly this time.', his scythe rose.

"Stop!", the little boy screamed and pushed the little girl back.

"Run!", he shouted at her but he didn't move from the spot.

His hand shivered and the scythe froze.

"I won't let you kill my sister!", the determination within his eyes resonated with Neil.

'He's just like me, he would do anything for his sister.'

Looking at their eyes he found a mixture of fear, despair and hatred...

"No!", the tiny girl grabbed her brother and tried pulling him back.

"Don't hurt my brother!", tears flooded from her eyes.

Memories flashed by his eyes, to back when he was sat at the riverbank with Neela on his laps, he knew exactly how this little boy felt. This little boy was trying to defy his fate, he is fated to die but he's trying to defy that, exactly like Neil.

He closed his eyes.

'What am I doing...'

'Just what am I doing...'

'Is this even right... I promised to sever all emotions... But is that even the correct path...'

Confused?

'No I'm not confused, I'm just denying the truth, I'm just a human with normal human emotion.'

But that's not true.

'How is that not true.'

Because you're not human anymore.

"That's right... You're not human anymore...", a crackling voice spoke into his ear.

'You bastard!', rage blew through his veins.

"Hahahaha... You either pass this or die, you don't have time to be angry!", the voice mocked him.

He recognized this voice, he knew exactly who this voice was, he hated to admit it but the voice was right.

His eyes grew cold, colder than they had ever been.

"Please don't!", he gazed over the shivering boy, the little girl was holding his shirt and hid behind him.

"I just want revenge."

That's right, I don't know why I've been hesitating, if I want revenge I'm not allowed to hesitate in any situation.

"You want revenge... Then come get it.", the voice bolted throughout his body.

Their eyes widened and the reaper picked them up.

Silence reigned the colosseum.

"Willpower check failed.", the voice crackled at the beginning but slowly turned mechanical.