"Welcome to the Academy." Said Stella Winchester.The contestants let out a low cheer, clapping and hooting. She let them go on for a while, then raised a hand signaling she wanted them quiet. Her voice, smooth yet commanding, cut through the silence like a flash of light through the night."It is common knowledge that you all came here today to prove yourselves worthy of the covered title of Warrior and Saint."Her eyes glazed over the small assembly. Each person seemed to be holding their breaths. Eren realized he was doing so too, much to his annoyance. Nobody should have that power over him, he mused. But Stella Winchester had an undeniable pull about her. A presence that seemed to balloon and fill up the space.She carried on, walking careful measured steps around the room. "These are the rules - Each one of you will face five opponents. Achieve no less than three victories and you will earn the esteemed title of Warrior gaining access to privileges and recognition beyond co
Few things could bring the Winchesters together under one roof. And the tournament was one of these few things. At least, to Solvane Winchester and his wife, it was. William and his brother were known to have a different approach to life from their father.As had long become custom, the Winchesters sat in what could pass for the throne box in the arena. It overlooked the contests from a vantage point. Platters of ripe figs, dates, grapes, all sorts of fruit, small pastries, fine cheese and meat were laid on the table before them.William watched as his brother, Zachary, swept up a small bunch of grapes, popping them into his mouth one after the other. He chewed quietly. William was irritated by the chewing noises nonetheless. He closed his eyes to the sound and tried not to berate his brother. It was so long ago that they were children, and yet there were days his brother made him feel like they still were. With him being constantly irritated, Zachary was free of any care in
The tunnels spat Eren out like an arrow and the arena swallowed him whole. It was even more grand than he remembered. He looked up at the stands in wonder."Holy shit." He whispered, turning in a circle to take it all in. His opponent, Zack, did the same in amazement.The arena stretched out like a grand amphitheater with tiers of seats rising high around the central stage. The architecture was a testament to grandeur and functionality at once, designed to accommodate thousands of spectators while focusing all attention on the arena floor below. Sunlight streamed through the open arches casting light shadows that danced over the floors which were covered in sand.He scanned the throng of people for Silas's reassuring face. Above and below. East and west. There was no sign of the man who had easily become a mentor to him in the preceding weeks. With the crowd, Eren realized it would be next to impossible to find a single person. He hoped Silas would be watching. He knew the dir
"I won't lie to you. Sometimes, I wish Solvane Winchester was my Gramps." Tristan said.Drake threw his head back and laughed hard and long. Daniel chuckled until he was wheezing and out of breath. They had just seen the Winchester patriarch's speech televised and Tristan was enraptured."If Solvane Winchester was your grandfather, which he would not be in this world or the next, but if he was, that would make you a Winchester. And what sort of Winchester would that make you?" He made a flicking motion at Tristan's hair. Dark and frizzly. It was nothing like the fine silver locks by which the Winchesters could be identified everywhere.Tristan kissed his teeth, making a smacking sound with his mouth. "Yeah, whatever."He was hurt. He was very easily hurt by things, which Drake found quite amusing. The guy was nearly a giant. Drake cackled with Daniel. Soon, the laughter died down in his throat when he realized most of the contestants gathered around the screen before them. The ma
Who would have thought he would live to see the day?Eren stared at his hands in amazement. They glowed with phosphorescent, blue light. He threw a hasty glance in his opponent's direction to confirm his position. Eren did not appreciate the surprise he had received earlier, and if possible, he wanted to avoid another.Zack Palmer studied him with new respect in his eyes. "No one has ever blocked my attack like that." He called across the space between them.Eren shook his head. He had gained some confidence in the encounter. Weeks of preparation, weeks of fighting robot models in Silas' mansion, weeks worrying that he would not survive a real fight since he could hardly claim to have been in one. Because look what happened the one time he tried to fight Drake off with a club.After all that anxiety, he had managed to hold his own in the first few minutes of the fight. It felt like hard earned redemption. It gave him confidence."Well, in your defense, you hadn't met me." Eren
The walk back to the locker room was the longest walk of Eren's life. Confetti rained down from the stands onto his back. All over his suit. Some pieces of glitter and paper got into his hair. Like the tournaments, this too was a long standing tradition. They celebrated the opening contest almost as much as the final bout. The beginning and the end side by side.Despite the throbbing in his head and the pain at his side, a part of Eren still could not believe he had opened the games, that he had won, too. Maybe I am dreaming, He thought. Maybe Drake hit me so hard that I am still in a coma.He feared that he would wake up any time from then, swaddled in a hospital gown, gasping for air with oxygen starved lungs. But he trudged all the way to the locker rooms and nothing happened. No awakening. No drawing on the air for breath.The announcer's voice kept booming over the intercom and Eren dragged his unwilling body, wondering where the exhaustion had emerged from. The doors clo
BOOM!The last of the explosions boomed so loudly, Eren held his hands to his ears. The blasts took him by the feet and dragged him through the slick mud of memory - That one evening. His mother holding a smoking shotgun with its barrel pointed heavenward. The part of her face angled towards him was cast in shadow, and for a stark moment, he was stunned at how picturesque she was. Like a statute, perfect and perfectly still.Elizabeth Trost had started something resembling a garden at the back of their house. A pet project of sorts. There were tomatoes in a corralled patch of loamy soil and reddened fruits bursting from the branches of pepper plants. A few stalks of corn swayed at the back too. Nothing nearly enough to be substantial.She tended to it in the hours after work, gently, as though it was her child. A second child. It calmed her, she claimed.Eventually the garden bloomed into more than what she had planned for, and of course the birds came. His mother made herself
Tiana learnt early how to wear a mask. How to be a mask.It was quite simple actually. Force a bright smile onto her face. Sprinkle false confidence into her step. If sitting, place one leg on top of the other—it was easier to conceal knee jerking that way. Find something to keep your hands occupied so the trembling is not visible. Do not fidget.It was easy to look composed. To be composed was a harder task. Her heart pounded in her chest. Anxiety ate at her."See?" Sid was saying to Eren, "I'd make a good friend.""Shut up, man." Eren said coolly. But he shoved him with his shoulder, as if to say, you are alright.More than anything else Tiana envied their freedom. Their groundedness. Especially Eren's. Unlike her, he was not tied to a Clan name. He did not bear the weight of nobility. Little was asked of him if any.Only that morning, before being driven to the arena, she had sat with her mother at their table, and even though it was only the two of them, she felt that weight p