Spica – Chapter 5A (scifi – 2024 – fiction)

Morning crept up on Ariel.
She felt pretty banged up, like she’d walked away from a car accident last night. A dull ache floated in her head. Her whole body had that initial soreness of someone playing their first game after a long period of inactivity. She pushed her body to sit up in her bed, rubbing her eyes, where little pricks of pain struck like lightning, flashing in the darkness. When the events of the previous evening came back to her—Demetrius, that embarrassing challenge, the press, being rushed to the Medical Department—Ariel shuddered.
Kiersten, her roommate, must have gone somewhere early. Her bed was neatly made, with the hem of the covers folded back, and the pillow centered at the head of the bed, as she always did when she’d be gone all day.
Ariel heard the side table, where her phone lay, rumble. “What now?”
She picked up her phone. Would she dare look at it? It had only been the bearer of bad news recently. Not knowing would be easier. Her heart pounded in her chest as she unlocked it.

<<< Arena News >>>
<<< 6:29 a.m. 4.27.2317 “Demetrius Spica … Blademaster?” Mia Asetrix, Blademaster >>>

<<< 6:24 a.m. 4.26.2317 “Watch out, Ariel Spica. Demetrius is in.” Toby Caros, Blademaster >>>

<<< 6:17 a.m. 4.26.2317 “I guess I have to look out for Demetrius too.” Darian Zethros, Swordfighter >>>

<<< 6:05 a.m., 4.26.2317 “A player without a mentor embarrasses a Gladius veteran? Unheard of … until now!” Exindra Sayada, Blademaster >>>

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She left the phone on her bed and limped to the bathroom. Why were they eating her alive over this? Just for one game? Had they already forgotten the fifty-six previous wins? She shivered as she exchanged her clothes for a towel and tossed them into a hamper. Ariel grabbed a device and slid her braid into it. Swallowing the braid whole, it unraveled her hair. Ariel was quick to get into the hot shower and out.
She rushed through everything, except her hair, and then sat on a stool, working diligently to dry and style it. Ariel decided on a more natural look, the curls of her dark-brown hair, inherited from her mother. There was no running away from this. She’d have to confront everyone eventually—Demetrius, Edna, and Toby.
She observed her features. Sometimes it was hard to see her mother’s face superimposed on hers, but it was there. At least in the hair. Maybe the nose. The blue in her eyes. Other than that, not much. She wondered if she’d ever see her mother again. If her mother was even alive. She shut the door behind her.