Chapter 20: You Are Your Own Greatest Enemy

The moment Charlotte exited the portal, she collapsed and began throwing up.

"Oh, gods-" She felt another wave of bile coming up. No way she was going to take another portal willingly, ever. Soon after puking her guts out, along with most of the potion liquid that was still sitting in her stomach, she wiped her mouth and looked around.

She was in a massive Colosseum-like structure, the floors were made of smooth marble and gold, eventually ending in a massive wall of solid iron that branched further out into seats. Above her, a fake blue sky gave light that reflected off the golden layering. Behind her was a massive portcullis in the place of the portal. 

Her first thought was that it was eerily empty. Not a single living being was present, and all that accompanied Charlotte was her sword and the draft wind that blew from the west.

"Where?" Picking herself off the floor, she patted herself down. She avoided looking at the pile of vomit at her foot. "I thought this was the boss floor?" 

As if to answer her question, a massive booming voice rang across the Colosseum. 

"WELCOME ONE AND ALL TO THE 24th CHALLENGER!"  Huge floating words appeared in the sky, while purple and gold banners unfurled themselves out of nowhere, spreading across the entire Colesseum. A lot of them had her name imprinted in Silver, as thousands of ethereal people of all ages appeared on the seats and bleachers surrounding the Colosseum. They began cheering and shouting her name, their voices filling the entire Colosseum. 

"As you may know, the 4th floor of our home has been the residence to... less than pleasant guests."  With that, the people began booing, raising their fists in anger. She watched as glowing lights coalesced into a spider in the sky with glowing red eyes.

"BUT NO MORE!" The cheering returned, this time louder and more prominent. The Spider in the sky was skewered by a sword, with the lights scattering soon later.

"Our brave challenger has slew our unwelcome residents in valiant combat-" 

"-And so, in light of this achievement..." The voice dragged on his sentence, creating suspense. Charlotte gulped, waiting nervously to see what she would be fighting. 

"BEHOLD!" The floor rumbled as a mirror rose out of the ground, directly opposite from her, on the other side of the Colosseum, right next to the portcullis. The crowd erupted in cheer. She could see her own reflection from here, and as she watched, her reflection walked out of the mirror.

A carbon copy of herself emerged, complete with the sword.

Her copy waved at her. "Hello, Charlotte." 

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