The Bloodbath Odyssey; I reincarnated to become the cursed

Things weren't the way they were before.

Since after the arena tournaments, those that managed to remember who Simma was didn't find it important to shut their mouth whenever he walked past.

Well, he had his Within Beast to thank for that probably, anytime he walked past, murmurs followed him. He couldn't quite ascertain if it was good gossip or bad one, but honestly, at times, he enjoyed it.

But what he enjoyed more was the attention he got from girls. Well, if anyone knew that he couldn't control his Azrax, and that anytime he snapped, he had a dragon that might flood them with flames, they wouldn't come too close.

But blissful ignorance drew them closer. And he was not to be blamed for that, was he?

Out of all this, he had never been happier than the day he got out of the infirmary. Apart from the fact that, Sarah and Lucy had gifted him something strange and otherworldly:

A phone.

which he saw as a shard of enchanted glass, smooth and humming faintly in his palm. since he had never used one in his life, but the first phone call he received was from her.

Well, she had added her contact by herself, and, blimey, was the phone a work of art? Hell yeah, it was. Since at first, Simma had thought it was a piece of rectangular glass, until it buzzed to life with Sarah's name glowing across it.

"holly molly" he breathed out startled.

Sarah had prompted him to come over and see her, but…

Her tone carried urgency so sharp it cut the air, urgent enough that Simma, for a breathless instant, thought she was being murdered.

"Come quickly," she had said.

And so he did.

Simma, hurrying, got lost in the labyrinthine expanse of the citadel, cursing Sarah's hopeless sense of direction, until his lungs burned and his boots felt leaden. Finally, he stumbled into the right wing, the one where tournament contenders stayed..

Pounding hardly against his ribs was his chest, only to get there and see a bunch of giggling girls.

He got confused the more, but the way his footwear squeaked on the slippery floor while he tried to stop his run drew their attention, and he was surprised by the giggle that followed.

Probably they knew about his Azrax, but what made it so special that this attention followed him, he didn't expect this... being famous just within a snap of fingers.

Apart from the girls that had clustered at that particular place, many more lined the pink-painted hallway, which was adorned with ornate, feminine designs on each door.

If not for the fact that he wasn't a celebrity, they would have requested his autograph, who knows.

The way they pointed at him, he was sure that red hues of shyness appeared all over his face, in a way that they saw it.

"You know you shouldn't be here, Mr. Nervous."

The voice was kinda familiar to Simma, teasing and lilting, and when he turned and saw who had it, everything in him hitched.

The lady that owned the voice pointed at a little sign that was on top of the entrance to the hallway, which said Female Wing with a with a stick figure of a lady sketched beside it.

Without that, Simma had already guessed it was a girls' place, since the design, the paint, and everything there was very girlish.

The girl walked closer to him, her silver hair cascaded in rippling waves to her waist, each strand catching the light like spun moonlight. The track suit she wore clung to her figure like second skin, sculpting every curve with unapologetic clarity.

"Simma, right?," she asked, brandishing a handshake which Simma took humbly, as if she was his boss.

Well, how could he forget, it was Delilah, the girl that had told him that feeling nervous was part of being human back when he was still going to fight his arena tournament.

"Yeah," Simma replied. For a moment there, he didn't know what to say, and the feeling that enveloped his body made him wish that he had the ability to fade and disappear, to dissolve into thin air like Mr. Chau could.

But then from the midst of the giggling girls came Sarah, looking brighter than ever. There was a lifesaver, just when Simma needed one.

Sarah wore what looked like a black bra, traced with violet embroidery, which portioned her breast into a seductive cleavage.

And then a long, thick-looking jacket which she threw over herself, with its buttons open, teasing a glimpse of her flat stomach. Her thick black hair was shiny, and the pants she wore made her elegant figure blossom effortlessly.

"Hey, dragon boy," she called playfully as she walked up to Simma.

Delilah smirked, glanced once more at Simma, and murmured, "Catch up with you later," before gliding away into the crowd, her silver hair vanishing like smoke.

"Hey, Sarah, what was so urgent that you made me rush out here?" Simma asked with a shrug.

Sarah looked at him and back at the already-gone Delilah as she said,

"Who is she? Do you know her?"

"Who?" Simma asked. with an innocent look.

"The lady that just walked past me... she was talking to you, right?"

"Oh, Delilah, don't you know her?" Simma asked.

Sarah looked at him but then shook her head. her expression unreadable.

"I doubt she's with us. Maybe she's a Xenon or something. I haven't seen her around here before."

"mphm," Simma muttered as he made an unbelievable kind of gesture.

"Well," Sarah said as she adjusted the shirt Simma wore, courtesy of Miss Stacy, as if adjusting it gave her something to do with her hands.

They were standing so close now that Simma felt her cool, elegant breeze with his nose. He was just a little bit taller than her, and the way she was close to him, he loved it.

"I've got a surprise for you," Sarah said, then stumbled over her own words. "Not, like, a love surprise." she added, noticing how weird that was, only to make it weirder.

Her face ignited crimson.

"I... I mean, the surprise isn't from me... it's from, um... "

"Sarah, I get it," Simma tapped in, he kinda liked it when Sarah got nervous around him. he wasn't too dumb to know that she was being nervous. 

Quickly Sarah left his clothes, she hadn't seen the way she stood close to him earlier as anything, but God, now she felt it, and her face turned red.

Her blush deepened.

"Right," Sarah said as she turned her back to Simma. Get it together, Sarah, she pondered to herself. Then turning back to Simma, she said, trying her best to sound normal,

"Right then, follow me."

They both left the girls' wing and made their way to the boys' wing, which was actually opposite that of the girls. What separated it was a little kind of attached room where those that monitored movements at night stayed, to ensure that nothing funny went between the boys and girls.

When they reached there, the noise was something else, a cacophony of sound, laughter, and clattering boots. But Sarah kinda liked it secretly.

Boys, that was their way. But what she liked was how lively it was in there now.

As they walked, the din began to ebb.

Some boys paused, conversations stalling mid-sentence. Eyes turned, always toward Simma.

The noise faded further, replaced by the gravity of their stares. Simma half-liked the attention, but part of him stayed wary.

What if someone attacked?

But enjoying it more than him was Sarah, though she too drew her own attention. It was now like they were competing who had more attention; beauty or beast.

Now at the end of the hallway was one very last door, and as they approached it, Simma's face lit with joy, and he hadn't known when he had pressed Sarah against his body in a very tight hug.

It was the first time he had ever had something so tangible, and the weight of that nearly brought tears to his eyes.

Sarah froze, cheeks flooding with color, the shyness in her face grew larger. If only it took surprises for this... then she should actually do it more often for him.

Boys that lined the passage stared in deep confusion, if only they knew what Simma had been through his whole life, they'd all be in tears.

The door loomed before him, pristine and gleaming. His name was etched across it in golden italics: SIMMA. He'd chosen that name himself. It meant something only he knew. Since he had no one to name him, not even the Singriths that had picked him up wherever he was left.

Simma rubbed his hand on the door, caressing its beauty. Beneath the name, engraved in matching gold, was a small dragon.

"They didn't have to do that," Simma said on noticing the dragon. He kinda wanted to keep it on a low, the attention was starting to feel like a burden.

"Well, I don't set the rules," Sarah replied, lips quirking. "It's on every door, Si."

"Si," Simma thought. The only person that called him that way was Sonja.

Simma turned to give Sarah a strange, unreadable look, but before he could say anything, something dazzling happened.

Light shimmered across his palm.

And there, materializing out of thin air, a key bloomed into existence.

Sarah's lips curved into a slow, knowing smile.

"Shall we see it, then?"