Outside of the colosseum the festival is in full swing from the early morning. A majority of the populace crowd the streets watching the parade celebrating princess Vivian. In the middle of the parade behind barriers the royal family sits together waving to their people.
The ground is covered in brightly colored tents housing vendors and food stands. There's plenty of music playing and several stages that play various types of songs. The street is lined with people dancing to the beat, laughing, drinking and eating.
"Um Laura, is alright for us to be out an about? Don't you need Roderick's permission to leave?"
Avery; wearing a set of casual clothes speaks to Laura who is covering her head and chewing on a meat skewer.
"Not anymore I don't."
"So we're out here without permission?"
"Correct."
"We're gonna get in trouble if we get found out you know."
"I don't care anymore."
Laura scowls and finishes off her skewer. She grabs Avery's hand and pulls her toward the parade.
"Let's have some fun while we can."
Avery follows along behind Laura as she heads towards the parade. Laura looks at the parade with disdain.
"Laura what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just letting all my frustration out."
"If you have something on your mind you can talk to me about it."
"No. Not right now."
"Okay..."
Laura stops walking and turns to Avery with a devilish grin.
"Come on!"
Laura takes off running, dragging Avery with her to the front of the crowd to watch the parade. They reach the front just in time to see the royal family's parade float passing by. Everyone in the crowd cheers and waves at them and the royal family responds by waving at them all.
"Hey Avery, which one of them is Vivian Dawn?"
"Princess Vivian is the one in the white dress with the white veil covering her face."
"Why does she wear a veil?"
"It's tradition. When an unmarried princess makes an appearance in public they wear veils to hide their faces. See right in front of Princess Vivian is her little sister, Princess Elena. She's also wearing a veil."
Laura looks at the other princess and confirms that she too is wearing a veil despite looking to be younger than Laura.
"Hm?"
"What's wrong?"
Laura shakes her head.
"Nothing's wrong, I just feel like I recognize one of those guards standing next to princess Elena."
"You recognize her? From where?"
"It's probably nothing. Maybe I'm just seeing things."
Avery looks at Laura curiously before turning back to look at the parade. As the royal family's parade float passes them Laura and Avery leave the front of the crowd.
"Avery."
"Yes Laura?"
"There's something I need to tell you but I want to save it for when I can tell Eleonora about it too."
Avery's face turns serious.
"Is it something Eleonora and I can help you with?"
"No it's not. It's just something I need to tell you both, but before I tell you and Eleonora let's have some fun at the festival, okay?"
"Sounds good to me." Avery says with a smile.
The two girls continue walking down the street until they find a food stand and order some drinks. Once they finish drinking their drinks the two sit on some nearby steps to eat their food and enjoy the festival.
"Why didn't you invite Eleonora to join us for this Laura?"
"No matter what Eleonora always trains at the crack of dawn, no exceptions. I wanted to see the parade so I had to leave Eleonora behind."
"Makes sense I guess. But that's a little mean of us to enjoy the festival without her. The matches start in a few hours right?"
"Yeah, and I doubt she'll be willing to come out here anyway on account of her preparations for the fights. She won't want to put on a bad fight especially since the royal family will be there watching her."
"They're coming to watch you too Laura. You should consider it an honor for them to take an interest in your fight-"
Laura crushes the drink in her hands causing it to spray everywhere, including onto some in the crowd.
"Hey! Watch it little kid!"
A man shouts angrily at Laura before walking towards them to confront her. Avery hurriedly stands up in a fluster and begins to apologize.
"I-I'm so sorry sir. My friend was being reckless and caused the mess."
"Little brat! You better compensate me for this."
"Please sir it was just an accident. Please forgive us."
"I demand compensation now! Apologize and compensate me for the clothes you ruined now!"
Laura just sits there, unmoving.
"Laura please just say you're sorry."
With the man's angry yells and Avery's pleas the crowd starts to stare at them.
"Shut up..."
"What did you say you little brat!?"
The man rears back in an attempt to punch Laura but he stops mid swing as Laura directs a murderous aura towards him. Looking at her heterochromatic eyes he can see nothing but death. Laura stands up.
"Let's go Avery."
"L-Laura?!"
Laura stands up and walks away. Avery follows her after a moment of confusion.
"Laura what was that about? It was clearly your fault."
"I don't really care, he's the one who started shouting and put me in an even worse mood. He's lucky he's still breathing."
Avery stops in her tracks.
"Laura please... tell me what's bothering you so much, if it's got you so worked up that you'd say something like that then..."
Avery trails off. She can't think of anything else to say.
"Fine Avery, let's go see Eleonora. I'll tell you both about it."
***
As Eleonora was finishing up her training she felt a heavy presence approaching her. She turned around to see Laura and Avery coming toward her.
"Well Laura, I'd ask how you're doing but it doesn't look like you're doing too well."
Laura removes her hood and holds her hand up to get Eleonora to stop talking.
"There's something I need to tell you two about."
Laura takes a deep breathe and steels her resolve.
"I've been sold to princess Vivian Dawn."
Eleonora's sword drops to the ground and Avery's eyes go wide with shock.
"L-Laura...you've been... sold?"
"That's right. Roderick told me a few hours ago, after the fights today I will be leaving this place to do god knows what."
Each fighter in the colosseum, with a few exceptions is up for sale. Many fighters have been sold to militaries or to high bidding nobility throughout the years.
"Eleonora."
Laura speaks to Eleonora as her shocking news has barely set in.
"I intend to defeat you today. Don't you dare put on a fight we'll both regret."
With those words Laura turns and leaves.
"Hold on a second!"
Eleonora yells to Laura.
"Don't you want to talk about it? Don't you have anything else to say to me or Avery?"
Laura turns around.
"I don't. If I try to talk about it with you two I'll end up a sobbing mess again. I'll see you for the fight Eleonora."
With that Laura leaves the arena and heads back to her room. She lays on her bed staring at the ceiling.
"No regrets huh? Not possible."
Outside of the colosseum the festival is in full swing from the early morning. A majority of the populace crowd the streets watching the parade celebrating princess Vivian. In the middle of the parade behind barriers the royal family sits together waving to their people.
The ground is covered in brightly colored tents housing vendors and food stands. There's plenty of music playing and several stages that play various types of songs. The street is lined with people dancing to the beat, laughing, drinking and eating.
"Um Laura, is alright for us to be out an about? Don't you need Roderick's permission to leave?"
Avery; wearing a set of casual clothes speaks to Laura who is covering her head and chewing on a meat skewer.
"Not anymore I don't."
"So we're out here without permission?"
"Correct."
"We're gonna get in trouble if we get found out you know."
"I don't care anymore."
Laura scowls and finishes off her skewer. She grabs Avery's hand and pulls her toward the parade.
"Let's have some fun while we can."
Avery follows along behind Laura as she heads towards the parade. Laura looks at the parade with disdain.
"Laura what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just letting all my frustration out."
"If you have something on your mind you can talk to me about it."
"No. Not right now."
"Okay..."
Laura stops walking and turns to Avery with a devilish grin.
"Come on!"
Laura takes off running, dragging Avery with her to the front of the crowd to watch the parade. They reach the front just in time to see the royal family's parade float passing by. Everyone in the crowd cheers and waves at them and the royal family responds by waving at them all.
"Hey Avery, which one of them is Vivian Dawn?"
"Princess Vivian is the one in the white dress with the white veil covering her face."
"Why does she wear a veil?"
"It's tradition. When an unmarried princess makes an appearance in public they wear veils to hide their faces. See right in front of Princess Vivian is her little sister, Princess Elena. She's also wearing a veil."
Laura looks at the other princess and confirms that she too is wearing a veil despite looking to be younger than Laura.
"Hm?"
"What's wrong?"
Laura shakes her head.
"Nothing's wrong, I just feel like I recognize one of those guards standing next to princess Elena."
"You recognize her? From where?"
"It's probably nothing. Maybe I'm just seeing things."
Avery looks at Laura curiously before turning back to look at the parade. As the royal family's parade float passes them Laura and Avery leave the front of the crowd.
"Avery."
"Yes Laura?"
"There's something I need to tell you but I want to save it for when I can tell Eleonora about it too."
Avery's face turns serious.
"Is it something Eleonora and I can help you with?"
"No it's not. It's just something I need to tell you both, but before I tell you and Eleonora let's have some fun at the festival, okay?"
"Sounds good to me." Avery says with a smile.
The two girls continue walking down the street until they find a food stand and order some drinks. Once they finish drinking their drinks the two sit on some nearby steps to eat their food and enjoy the festival.
"Why didn't you invite Eleonora to join us for this Laura?"
"No matter what Eleonora always trains at the crack of dawn, no exceptions. I wanted to see the parade so I had to leave Eleonora behind."
"Makes sense I guess. But that's a little mean of us to enjoy the festival without her. The matches start in a few hours right?"
"Yeah, and I doubt she'll be willing to come out here anyway on account of her preparations for the fights. She won't want to put on a bad fight especially since the royal family will be there watching her."
"They're coming to watch you too Laura. You should consider it an honor for them to take an interest in your fight-"
Laura crushes the drink in her hands causing it to spray everywhere, including onto some in the crowd.
"Hey! Watch it little kid!"
A man shouts angrily at Laura before walking towards them to confront her. Avery hurriedly stands up in a fluster and begins to apologize.
"I-I'm so sorry sir. My friend was being reckless and caused the mess."
"Little brat! You better compensate me for this."
"Please sir it was just an accident. Please forgive us."
"I demand compensation now! Apologize and compensate me for the clothes you ruined now!"
Laura just sits there, unmoving.
"Laura please just say you're sorry."
With the man's angry yells and Avery's pleas the crowd starts to stare at them.
"Shut up..."
"What did you say you little brat!?"
The man rears back in an attempt to punch Laura but he stops mid swing as Laura directs a murderous aura towards him. Looking at her heterochromatic eyes he can see nothing but death. Laura stands up.
"Let's go Avery."
"L-Laura?!"
Laura stands up and walks away. Avery follows her after a moment of confusion.
"Laura what was that about? It was clearly your fault."
"I don't really care, he's the one who started shouting and put me in an even worse mood. He's lucky he's still breathing."
Avery stops in her tracks.
"Laura please... tell me what's bothering you so much, if it's got you so worked up that you'd say something like that then..."
Avery trails off. She can't think of anything else to say.
"Fine Avery, let's go see Eleonora. I'll tell you both about it."
***
As Eleonora was finishing up her training she felt a heavy presence approaching her. She turned around to see Laura and Avery coming toward her.
"Well Laura, I'd ask how you're doing but it doesn't look like you're doing too well."
Laura removes her hood and holds her hand up to get Eleonora to stop talking.
"There's something I need to tell you two about."
Laura takes a deep breathe and steels her resolve.
"I've been sold to princess Vivian Dawn."
Eleonora's sword drops to the ground and Avery's eyes go wide with shock.
"L-Laura...you've been... sold?"
"That's right. Roderick told me a few hours ago, after the fights today I will be leaving this place to do god knows what."
Each fighter in the colosseum, with a few exceptions is up for sale. Many fighters have been sold to militaries or to high bidding nobility throughout the years.
"Eleonora."
Laura speaks to Eleonora as her shocking news has barely set in.
"I intend to defeat you today. Don't you dare put on a fight we'll both regret."
With those words Laura turns and leaves.
"Hold on a second!"
Eleonora yells to Laura.
"Don't you want to talk about it? Don't you have anything else to say to me or Avery?"
Laura turns around.
"I don't. If I try to talk about it with you two I'll end up a sobbing mess again. I'll see you for the fight Eleonora."
With that Laura leaves the arena and heads back to her room. She lays on her bed staring at the ceiling.
"No regrets huh? Not possible."
