He explained to me that the city we were currently in was called Havenreach. Havenreach was a city-state, independent of other powers governmentally, and participated in large amounts of trade with outside powers. The reason the city-state had stayed independent was due to the number of larger powers surrounding it. No one power could get enough of a foothold on the island to make it solely their own, and so an accord was written up and the island somehow had independence as long as trade continued. Something that Havenreach had in abundance were mines. Gold, silver, copper and other more rare substances had somehow formed underneath in vast amounts, and so many companies sprung up around the mining industry. The miners needed neccessities, and so on and so forth until a thriving city was born. The issue though was the lower class, miners and other menial jobs all owned by the companies, were looked down on. Even though those jobs were what kept things running the ‘lesser’ were relegated to the Westown and Nortown. Many hated the working environment, and turned to crime or were fired and had to live in the streets and wilderness of the island. When a position opened up in the mines, anyone was allowed to apply for it. If a position opened above you, you could try and take it once an employee already and the hope to rise was keen in many. The thriving downtrodden and homeless population would jump at the chance to get out of poverty and the companies cared little for their current employees lower on the pole. Why care about letting someone go when you could have them replaced in minutes? Over time the system normalized and streamlined, and now things are as they are today. Samuel spoke of all of this with contempt, he was obviously not a fan of the system currently in place. He calmed a bit as he spoke of things to make money outside the companies, less of a firey anger and more of a cold contempt. What Ollie and the other gang affiliates did, protection rackets and such. Theft and robbery, easily done in the alleyways all over Westown and Nortown. He named a few other criminal enterprises, as well as some more tasteful ways to make a living like odd jobs and the like, and then he got to what he really wanted to talk about.

  “The Arenas.” He said with a certain amount of reverence usually kept for things you held close to your soul. He explained that The Arenas were technically illegal, but they were known by every miner, employee, gangster and official in the city. They were ranked, basically were at the least fighting pits to the most special arenas, all to entertain the lowest masses all the way to the rich and powerful. They were anonymous by tradition, both fighters and onlookers, though some fighters and onlookers were obvious to pick out in and out of The Arenas.

  “That's where you come in. I want to sponsor you, along with Jim and Herald if they will join in. They will provide you the initial startup needed to get ready, and I will train you.” He finished saying and looked up at me as the sun began to wane in the sky, down toward an inevitable horizon. I stayed silent, just thinking on what he had said. I noticed this city was strange as me and Samuel walked through it earlier, even if life and people were a comforting sight. I had eaten, and fought, my mind was sharper than it had been in a while. These people did not stick close to nature it seemed, live peacefully with it. The city had trees near the streets, some plants here and there and on rooftops, but they were not like my people had been. We took much of the cold metals Lathea had underneath her skin, but we gave back. We planted forests where we left mounds of dirt and rock. We purified the air and water where we polluted her skies and seas. We never let our greed control us. I still had hope though, maybe not every place of these smaller people were like this. Maybe they righted their wrongs too, like we did. Either way, I had to choose to either become a fighter or find my own way. The three kind people I had met were good, I felt they had to be, though I truly barely knew them. I could fight, I knew I could, especially if that taller blond man and the smaller knife woman were good as fighters went here.

  “I will join you. I don't know for how long, but I want to learn more about this place and what is going on here.” As I finished speaking a spark ignited in front of my vision. Like a small blue flame, growing and expanding until it made a square shape just within reach of me. I was startled and jumped back, Samuel also started in surprise and looked around.

  “What? What happened?” He asked, but I wasn't listening. The blue square of fire followed me as I moved back, and it filled with strands of blue light until it was filled out, and then words appeared on it.

  “Incubation Complete: Standby.” A wave of nausea and vertigo hit me and I leaned forwards, placing my hands on my head as I began to feel extremely hot all over.

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  “Hey! You okay? Did you get hurt in the fight? Kara?” I could feel myself blacking out, the only other time I felt like this was the fever I had after being scratched by a Void Beast. I tried to stand but collapsed to the ground, hot and cold shooting through me in waves. Samuel tried to help me stand, but I was heavy and he failed twice before getting one of my arms around his shoulders. He was helping me move somewhere, but I was barely coherent. I heard more voices around me, but I couldn’t hear what they said as my mind went blank and I faded fully into unconsciousness. I started to come to again, my head was splitting and I felt so dry and lifeless, the war between hot and cold still waged within me. I was in a bed, it was comfortable and warm, better than the cots I had used before. I tried to open my eyes or say something but couldn't, I was too tired. I felt myself losing the fight with consciousness again and gave in. When I woke for the second time I felt a bit better, only hot dwelled in me now and far less than before. I had a shot of panic run through me when I thought maybe the world with small people and life all over could be a dream, but I felt I was still in a comfortable, warm bed and calmed down. I opened my eyes and saw a moderately dark room around me. A chair sat next to the bed, empty of all but a book. The room had a table against the far wall with a flat screen of some kind standing on it. To my left was a door and near it a large dresser with a mirror, and some shelves lined that wall with knicknacks on them. To My right was a door and more shelves with random objects. I tried to sit up but felt weak, I couldn't get more than a couple inches off the bed before collapsing back into it. At least I was still alive, and conscious. I looked straight up at the ceiling and remembered that blue box of fire and light. I had no idea what that was and now I had no idea where I was again. I decided to try and sleep some more, since the symptoms of whatever this sickness was were lessening. I woke up for the third time feeling far better, though still weak. I opened my eyes and looked around the room. It was the same, still mostly dark, except for something above me. The blue square had appeared again, glowing softly in the dark room. I wanted to get up and run away, but then I saw words appear on this one too.

  “Immune Response Ended. Convalescence Started: Standby” I felt a cool wave wash over me as I finished reading the words. It felt as if my body had undergone a change, goosebumps formed up over my skin and I tingled all over. Another box appeared.

  “Convalescence: 1%.” The square disappeared and I was left in the dark again. Was this something normal for the people here? Blue boxes telling them things when getting sick? What caused the sickness? I was beginning to feel a bit stronger again, and I was able to painfully sit up in the bed. I saw that my feet were propped up on a small pillow laden table at the end of the bed, I was too long without it. It seemed funny to me in the moment. Everything had gotten weird all of a sudden, yet my feet almost dangling off the bed brought some normalcy to the situation. I breathed in deep, held the breath, and then let it out again. I was okay, safe from what I could tell, warm and comfortable. My stomach immediately julted in a familiar pain and rumbled loudly in protest to the thought of being okay. I was starving, so I got up out of the bed and moved towards one of the doors. The left door led to a mostly empty closet, a few shirts and pants hanging from hooks on a rack. I moved to the right door, and it was the correct one. The door led out into a small hallway that had two more doors, one at the terminating end of the hall and one straight across from me. The other end of the hallway led to an open area with two comfortable looking chairs. Another of the flat screens was attached to the wall where the chairs faced and a small table sat in front of them. The room was decorated beautifully with bright colors and patterns, and several plants, vases and pieces of furnature sat here and there complementary. I looked towards the back right section of the room and saw that the floor changed to tile. Moving there I saw a kitchen, black and white appliances scattered about the counter space eclectically. I saw a loaf of bread on the counter in a see through bag and grabbed it. I tore it open and ate the bread like it was the greatest meal I'd ever had, aside from the burger. It was soft, and slightly sweet, and I ate the entire loaf. At some point someone had come into the room with a wooden stick as a weapon in their hand, but they lowered it as I ate the last bite of bread.

  “Kara? You're finally awake again!” It was Herald, though I didn't remember telling him my name. He rushed off down the hall and I heard a door open and him yelling about how I'd woken up. A short moment later both Jim and Samuel followed Herald out into their living room and they all smiled broadly.

  “Holy shit lady, I wasn't sure you were gonna make it.” Samuel said, looking tired as he put his fingers through his salt and pepper hair. Jim stood behind the other two, he looked at her a bit fearfully but let out a small sigh and spoke up.

  “We're… glad you made it.” It felt strange to have strangers worry about her like this, but it wasn't unwelcome. These three people had helped me, Samuel most of all, every time I needed it since I got here and I would repay that kindness somehow.