91: Royally fucked

The light was warm and gentle against my skin, a stark contrast to the fiery heat from hell. When I finally made it out of the light, I found myself pressed up against what felt like a glassy surface. It was cool and hard, but when I gazed down at it, the only thing I noticed was my reflection. I lifted my head up and gasped at the sight before me. We were enclosed in an endless room with a floor, roof and walls all made of mirror.
I took to my feet, still overwhelmed by the size of the room we were in. Then suddenly, I heard a familiar voice behind me.
“Why’d you do it?”
I turned around to see Liam. His face was flushed red, despite the coolness of the room, and his eyes were cast down to his reflection on the ground.
“You’re finally ready for me to explain?” I asked softly.
“I suppose we have time.” He said, finally lifting his head and lifting his arms to emphasise the few players littering the room here and there.
“He’s not dead, you know. I don’t know why you’d ever think that I’d kill Xavier.” I said, trying to be as calm as I could be. It wasn’t difficult here though. In hell I felt frustrated and blinded by hatred and rage, but here I felt more at peace. I could finally bring myself to a sense of rationality and reason.
“I know that now… I’m sorry. I couldn’t think straight back there. I wasn’t myself… but that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have attacked you. I’m sorry.” He said sincerely. I could tell that this pained him more than he was admitting, and so I reached out and held his hand in mine. He never let go, and so I took it as a good sign.
“The reason I did what I did was because I can’t have the two of you progressing to the rounds after this. We’ll be fighting to the death, and I don’t think we could stomach the idea of having to kill each other off.”
Liam stayed silent for a moment before removing his hand from mine. “So, you decided this all on your own then? *You* decided that *you* didn’t want us to stay by your side? When Xavier, Demetri, Sebastian and I decided to protect you, we meant it, Phoenix. So, I’m not going to let you make this decision for me. I appreciate that you’ve made the decision to keep Xavier safe because God knows *he* deserves much more than this, but I can’t just give up now. When the time comes, I will gladly lay my life down for you, but that time’s not right now. I haven't finished protecting you yet.”
I was angry now, not hell angry, but angry enough to start yelling. “You’re being an ass Liam! Just let me get you disqualified so that you don’t have to fucking die you fucking moron!”
Maybe I was downplaying my anger, but it all came from a good place. I couldn’t let him waste his life on my immortal ass, not when I truly loved him as much as I did.
“No! You can’t just force a decision on me and assume I’ll just submit to it. I’m going to protect you until the very end!”
I appreciated Liam’s loyalty to me, in fact, it made me love him more. But him fighting me, was only going to make things more difficult. There was no way that I was going to let Liam get through this round. And that’s why Xavier didn’t fight back in the previous one. One way or another, I was going to get my way. I wasn’t going to let the people I loved most die for me, especially when it would all just amount to nothing in the end. So far, I had enough blood on my hands, and I wasn’t going to let Liam’s blood stain mine as well.
“Liam, I’m not going to continue fighting with you on this-”
“Good. So, then it’s settled. You’re not going to stop me from getting through this round.”
I was about to argue with him again when a piercing ringing sounded. It was so loud and high-pitched that I thought the mirrors would crack.
“Hello to all twenty-five of you and welcome to your final round before our little break. A reminder that after your break back in Tenebris to mourn your losses and celebrate your victories so far, we will be dealing with more intimate matches. You will need to fight to the death with your fellow competitors-”
And as Meera spoke, I took a quick glance around. David, Jayden, Felicity, Kyle, Darren and Samantha were among the few to make it to this final realm round. I wondered what had happened to Aaliyah. I’d been so focussed on trying to keep Xavier and Liam safe that I’d forgotten to keep my friends safe too, and now, I wondered whether she was dead or alive. And then Alice’s face appeared in my mind, and I instinctively clutched at my chest. Having people you cared for in a game like this, was torture.
I did, however decide that I’d find out from Felicity whether or not Aaliyah was alive once the game started… admittedly, the thought was more ambitious than I realised, especially considering how much I already had to deal with in this round.
“Now, let us move on to the rules of this game.” When Meera said this, I stopped purposely blocking her out. “Unlike in the previous round, you’ll need to get your hands dirty in this one. The only way that you’ll be able to escape this room of mirrors, or as the angels call it, the room of judgement, you will have to “kill” an angel. That being said, there will be no disqualifications in this round. There are sixteen places and so only sixteen of you will be allowed to go through. The remaining players will unfortunately be slaughtered by the remaining angels and their own disqualified compatriots.”
I could barely breathe after Meera had said this. Not once had I even considered that this round would be one without disqualifications, especially seeing as the rounds hereafter would all result in someone dying. Meera was clearly no stranger to the term “overkill”. Or, maybe this was all done on purpose. I could never quite tell with her.
“I guess the universe wants me to stay in this game too.” Liam said in a snarky whisper. In my entire lifetime, I’d never been more royally fucked than at this moment. If Liam didn’t get through this round, then he’d die, and if he did, he’d also die.
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Do you think that Phoenix's decision to try to disqualify Xavier and Liam was the right decision? Should she have discussed it with the both of them first in the hopes of maybe finding an alternative? Or, should she have not even tried to interfere in the first place? (*If you'd like to give an answer and opinion, could you please do so in the main comment section and not the chapter comment section so it's easier for me to access? Thank you in advance!*)
Stay safe! Stay healthy! Sending my love!