Auria

Chapter 5 - How

A younger version of the Master brought Auria to a room on the first level. It seemed small, having only a tiny table and one wooden chair. The servant wore a brown uniform similar to the others, though bearing a golden rope interlaced across the garment. Auria noticed her clothes were pure white, just like those worn by the children in the yard.

Bare feet grew cold against the floor. She tucked both feet inside the chair beneath hips, wiggling to comfort herself. The man reached inside a mechanical box, producing a covered dish. He sat the steaming bowl on the table and removed the cover, eyes down the entire time.

“Why don’t ya look at me?” she asked.

“It is a sign of respect. These vegetables were grown in our garden by the younglings.”

“A sign o respect?”

“Yes. I am a servant and, I am in your honor.”

“Why does eryone ere look exactly like em?” she asked.


The man still refused to look at her and quickly left the room, leaving the door slightly cracked. Auria heard the men practicing again. She crunched an unknown, green-stemmed, leafy bit of food, but kept an eye through the crack on the Master’s younglings. They wore white and practiced hard, punching and kicking in unison. Everyone bowed to the center and ceased exercises, then marched single-file until the sound of footsteps diminished.

Auria pushed the door open. The men entered another room across the field, still forming lines. She picked up the bowl and followed. They noticed her and quickly stood straight, with arms to the side along the outside of the room. Food had already been served, though everyone stood in silence, looking down.  She pulled a chair from beneath a table and sat, signaling with a hand for them to join her.

“Aw would'na bite, aw promise.” she said.

“Assembly, return to the yard.” yelled the Master, just outside.


All of the men marched in lines, leaving the huge room in single file efficiency, even the servants. Auria sat alone in an empty room of tables and chairs. The silence irked a nerve. Turning, she saw him in the doorway.

“If ya wanna play dis game wit me,” said Auria, “Aw’ve already won. Aw am a woman.”


She pushed herself out of the chair and slinked slowly across the room, semi-smiling - the kind of seductive smile saying more than words. Walking on the tips of her toes, the red-head swayed hips from side to side and gently fluffed long hair to the side. She pulled against the collar of her white shirt with a hand gesture ending in finger curls, suggesting coming hither.

“Master...  If dat is yer name... den ya need ta show me all yer talents. A lady loves ta make a man feel like a man sometimes, an…”

Auria reached a hand across the back of his neck, puckered lips and closed eyes while pulling him closer. He punched Auria in the mouth and walked away.  She bent over, pursed bleeding lips with an index finger and glanced for a chance to pay him back. He'd already left the building.

“Ya know, aw will win at dis game." she yelled. "Dere’s hundreds more ere... just like ya. Ya can’t control em all.”

“You may break my heart,” he said, rounding the corner, “but, I won’t allow you to break theirs. These men aren’t just like me. They are me. Either train for the Arena… or give up now.”

“Den, aw give up. Whad are ya gonna do about it?”

He spun around so gracefully as to barely disrupt the air touching his skin.  A streaming vein ran the length of his face in the glistening sun.

“I’m going to kick your ass. Remember, there are hundreds here… just like me.  I will send them in one by one to fight you... starting now. Stop, before this goes any farther than necessary.”

“OK. Ya won. Yer always right, aren’t ya? I’ll do whadever ya says ta do.”

“No.” said Master. “I am not always right.”


He stepped back into the large room to face Auria, hands behind the back, standing straight and wide eyed.

“I was wrong to win the tournament. When they took me, the human race stood completely alone in the universe. When I won in their Arena, they came looking for more... like me. They fought for ownership over our planet. The Earth did not fare so well. Everything that happened began from my winning. My ego has cost the entire human race. So, I am not always right. My death would only bring some form of relief to this. If you do as I say and you fail, you can always blame me. Billions of dead people blame me. What is... one more... lost soul?”

“Aw am so sorry.”

“Don’t you dare be sorry.” he said, turning away. “I am only an instrument of destruction. It’s all I will ever be.”


The Master returned to his quarters. Auria began to cry in the rain when a tormenting downpour struck from nowhere. The rain crossed tears, each forming what she thought to be a larger part of the entire sum of things. One huge teardrop.

“Damn de All-Wisdom.” she cried. “Damn ya ta hell, ery one o yas.”