FEAR.DEATH.BY.SWORD

CHAPTER 7

Nemo was given a new shirt and led into a small room. His confidence was soaring from the last stage. But after sitting down and letting his body rest, he was really starting to feel his injuries. So far all he had been told to do was wait in this room. Typical, the majority of his time in this insane place was spent waiting. The room was dark. The only light came from several candles arranged around the perimeter of the room. After everything he went through in stage two, candles were the last thing he wanted to see right now. But these gave off a sweet aroma and for some reason put him in a good mood. However, there was something odd about this room. It had two doors. There was the one door he came through, and another one on the other side of the room facing him. Just as Nemo was pondering what could be behind that door, someone walked in.

"Hi, you must be Nemo right? My name is Janus."

Nemo stared at the person who walked in. He was a tall, well built man with short blonde hair. Muscles bulged from his neck, shoulders, and down through nearly every part of his body. A long broadsword hung from his hip, fitting him as naturally as his dark blue eyes. Nemo took his time standing up before walking over to introduce himself. "Yes, I'm Nemo. Nice to meet you Janus. Are you here to take me to the next stage?"

"No, this is the final stage." Janus said in confident tone

Surprised by his words, Nemo looked around the room. "But where is the Rufus and the other applicants?"

"Stage three is a bit different" replied Janus. "There's no moderator, no other applicants, no betting. Just you, me and this room."

Nemo could feel his anxiety starting to rise again. All the confidence he had built up slowly started to fade away just by being in the same room with this goliath of a man.

Janus could see the fear building on Nemo's face and tried to calm him down.

"Don't worry, I know I look pretty intimidating but I'm actually one of the nicest directors for stage three. I'll even let you pick."

Nemo's speeding heart started to slow down as he let out a long deep breathe. He was relieved to hear those words and looked to the sky to say a quick thank you to whatever god that finally gave him a break.

"So nice people do exist in this place, for a while I thought everyone was trying to kill me. What do I need to do to pass this stage, and what are you letting me pick?"

Janus walked closer to Nemo and spoke with a reassuring voice. "It's really simple actually. All you have to do is defeat me. I'll let you pick what arm you want to lose first, you right or your left?"

Several seconds passed before what Janus said actually registered with Nemo. When he finally understood, his anxiety shot up so fast he thought his heart might explode. Immediately Nemo jumped back, trying to put as much distance between him and Janus as possible. When he was far enough to what he thought was safe distance, he noticed a trail of blood on the floor. A large pool of blood remained in the spot where he first stood, in the middle of that pool sat his right arm. Nemo slowly looked to his side, fearing what he already knew to be true. His right arm was gone.

Janus was still standing in the same spot, as if he hadn't moved at all. "You took too long to decide, so I chose for you. Your next choice is your left arm or your left leg?"

Nemo wanted to run forward and grab his arm lying on the floor, but before he could move every nerve on his right side lit up in excruciating pain. The sensation immediately dropped him to his knees. Even in his wildest nightmares, he couldn't have imagined that pain this intense existed. All his other injuries were paper cuts compared to the feeling of losing his arm. The pain was so strong, he couldn't even scream. He opened his mouth but nothing came out.

Nemo tried to reach over and stop the bleeding with his left hand, but he suddenly couldn't feel his left arm anymore. Right next to him, in an even larger pool of blood, lay his left arm. If it weren't for the tremendous amount of pain keeping him awake, he would have fainted just at the sight of his arms on the ground. Janus still stood in the same spot, looking as if he had never moved.

"You took too long again. Honestly if you're going to just waste my time and generosity I'm going to stop giving you a choice."

Nemo could barely hear anything that Janus said. The pain was blurring his vision and blocking out everything but his own internal screams. It was all happening too fast. Nemo couldn't even see him move, there was no way he had any chance of beating him.

"If you want my advice, just give up now. Plenty of people live full lives without arms. If you give up now you can still walk away with your life." said Janus.

"Give up" was all Nemo heard. It was an idea he had nearly forgotten about. Part of him welcomed giving up. He welcomed anything that promised to deliver him from this hell and make his pain stop. Nemo tried to form his mouth to say the words "I give up", but he could barely think straight. His thoughts transitioned to when he was back in stage one. He thought about how he was ready to die at that last moment, and how many times he had been close to death in the past two days. Somehow, even as Nemo was thinking of saying "I give up", the word that came out his mouth was "No".

"No? Did I just hear you say no?" Janus asked laughing, as if he couldn't believe the kid's answer. "Alright, but you must be pretty stupid to want and continue this fight. Since you're no good at choosing, I'll let you know it will be you left leg this time."

Nearly as soon as the words left his mouth, Nemo felt the pressure on his left leg disappear. He immediately fell over on the ground, lying in a pool of his own blood mixed with the scattered remains of his limbs. Nemo was already in so much pain that he hardly felt it when his leg was cut off, but at that point it didn't matter. In that small space of time, Nemo had relived all the challenges he conquered earlier that day. In that small instance, he steeled his determination to know he wasn't going to give up, even if that meant dying. Nemo finally understood what Neith had told him that morning, "Every day is a day I might die, so why should I treat it any differently than the rest?"

"How about now, ready to give up? If you do it quickly we might be able to get you to a doctor in time to reattach some of your limbs." Janus said as he stared at Nemo, struggling to move in the growing puddle of his own blood.

Nemo lifted his head away from the mess on the floor. It was all he could manage to stay conscious. "No, you'll have to kill me."

Janus looked at Nemo in complete surprise and burst out in laughter. "I don't know want kind of honorable death you think you're giving yourself, but you should really rethink your decision. This is your last chance kid, give up now or you won't be able to go back and regret the decision you made."

The whole time Nemo had not seen Janus move from the spot he was standing in when the battle first started. His sword looked as if he hadn't touched it the entire fight, still sitting in its scabbard.

Janus slowly walked over to what was left of Nemo's body. It was the first move Nemo had seen him make. Nemo wanted to move away, but the ability to move his body was long gone. Only his right leg was still attached, and it had gone numb from the pain of losing his other limbs. Janus slowly pulled his sword from its resting place on his hip and pointed it at squarely at Nemo's heart.

"I came close so you can hear me clearly. This is your last chance boy, hurry and give up so we can get you to a doctor before you bleed out. If you insist on being stubborn this will be the last moment of your life. Is this how you really want to die, lying in pool of your own blood in some unknown room?"

Nemo wanted to make sure he got the words out before he passed out, if these were his last words he wanted to make sure they were heard. "I'm not giving up!" he said with every last ounce of conviction he had left.

"So be it then." Janus said as he drew his sword back for the final strike. Nemo felt the blade touch his shoulder and then heard the words he least expected to hear, "You pass".