The Sun came and went across the sky within Janus's colosseum, my night spent focusing on the flow my star taught me.
Janus and Ouroboros were doing their usual thing, asking me questions about Earth.
My mind stayed fixed on the duel from yesterday, finding faults I made, openings he cut.
The techniques Ouroboros taught my other half were almost perfect for me.
I didn't know if that was because I was learning them from myself or because she already understood me too well.
I couldn't tell if this was a blessing or a curse.
Pushing those useless thoughts aside, I started my morning routine:
1000 swings
1 minute of pole balancing
50 laps around the stadium.
The training was enough to wake my body without wearing me out before the duels, so I kept it.
"Jay." Ouroboros' voice staled me from my training, her eyes watching me as I finished my last lap.
"Using some of the knowledge about the dinosaurs outside," She started, holding out a tablet with a depiction of the flying beast that I saw on my first night. "This creature is most likely the key to discovering how to escape this place."
The look in her eyes said that this wasn't the full truth she learned, but I kept to myself.
I glanced back down to the stone etching of the beast, a cool resolve icing my eyes.
"Thanks," I said thoughtlessly, moving back to getting in a few more swings of my glaive.
The blade felt heavier with each swing. My thoughts drifted back to the expectations they'd placed on me.
There was too much to do and too little of me to do it.
Am I really the one meant for this?
It felt less like destiny and more like punishment.
Why me? Why always me?
"Brat."
Janus's voice cut through the rhythm of my swings. "Swinging with useless thoughts in your head will only dull your blade."
I stopped, resting the glaive against the ground, and looked at him. The child-like body didn't match the weight in his eyes.
Every time I saw that face, something inside me twisted.
Was I angry at him?
No. I was angry at the reflection staring back at me through him.
"Why are you here?" My tone came out rougher than I intended, heat scraping at my throat.
"For today's duel," he said, "I wanted to try something new."
I blinked. "New?"
A faint smile crossed his face, one that didn't reach his eyes. "Be prepared. I think this one might be the last."
My mind lingered on his words.
Was that some form of acknowledgment?
I scoffed at the idea. Why should I care if that junk rat of a constellation acknowledges me?
I continued swinging, my mind clearing with each motion. The air felt heavier now, every strike echoing across the marble like a countdown.
Sweat rolled down my neck. The light from the false sun caught the edge of the glaive, flashing in rhythm with my breathing.
Janus had already turned away, his small frame casting a long shadow across the arena floor. Ouroboros watched from the upper ledge, silent, unreadable.
Neither of them said anything, and that silence spoke louder than any order.
"It's almost time."
"Indeed."
The other me stood close, his eyes gathering the energy in the air.
"Isn't life strange?" His tone was light, but as the words left his mouth, the world seemed to grow heavier.
"I mean, it feels like it was just yesterday I was created. The only thing on my mind was the knowledge Lady Ouroboros left me." His eyes never left the false sky, as if trying to hold onto it.
"But now, I've got a teacher, a life, a rival." His eyes met mine for a moment, then drifted back upward.
"It all truly goes by very fast."
I tried not to think about his words, but they sank into my head like nails.
"That's why, if I lose today, I want it to be at my best," he paused for a moment. "The very best I can be."
For a moment, I saw myself in his eyes, the future where I win, where he disappears.
"No hard feelings, right?"
"Yeah. No hard feelings."
That was all that needed to be spoken between us. The rest of our rest was spent in quiet solitude.
"Ok." Janus's voice echoed across the sky. "I'm ready."
And with that, the world dropped.
I was pulled upwards with my other self, dragged away with a chunk of decorated stone.
The colosseum that was once my home, slowly fading away into the distance.
The once beautiful marble space, filled with the destruction of our past duels. The makeshift medical area from when I got hurt.
All of it vanished from beneath us. The only thing left was a small stone platform and the bleeding sun holding the sky up.
I glanced around, searching for something. I felt it, but I wanted to see it for myself.
Ahhh.
There it was, that "change" he was referencing.
Far below us, off in the distance, a giant floating island came into fruition.
I recognize those trees.
The forest.
The familiar pines, the sole mountain poking up in the middle, like a crown cresting along the sky, but there was something more ominous about it now.
I don't know if it was my improvement in spatial reading or if I'm just more sensitive now, but I felt it.
Lurking under the bed of trees lay countless monsters.
Some hiding, some running, some fighting, but one thing was for sure.
We weren't gonna be alone.
"The rules won't change." Janus started. "The goal is still to defeat one another, but this time, I added in some… environmental aspects."
I noticed the look in his eyes flicker for a moment, as if remembering a sad past. "The world is cruel," he went on. "Most battles involving life and death are never fair. The randomness of life would never allow it. Take this as a lesson in survival."
Silence followed, heavy and complete, as though the world itself waited for his signal.
Then Janus smiled. That same boyish, devilish grin.
"Ah, what did I say before?"
He paused, the light catching in his eyes.
"Let the games begin."