Chapter 38: The Promised Neverland

The damp and moldy stench invades my nose while the slow, constant drippings of an unsightly liquid splash onto my sleeping eyes, waking me from my painful slumber. “Ugh, my neck…” I complain, repeatedly rubbing my injured spot. Damn that brute of an angel, he hit way too hard…

With my consciousness finally returning to normal, I take the chance to have a look around me, only to be disappointed by the lack of information as a result. Surrounding me are four old, moldy walls, while diagonally to my left are a row of metal bars standing tall and steady. Yup, I’m in jail again.

Although, if this is a prison, then whoever put us in here sure was dumb as hell. I can still feel the cross on my neck, and both my hands and legs are all free and in perfect condition. Breaking out is a piece of cake with my current strength.

“Don’t bother,” as soon as I raise my hand forward and am about to conjure a spear, however, another voice sounds close to my right. “It may not look the part, but these cells are enhanced to withstand magic attacks.”

With only the dim light outside the hall to aid me, it takes me a good moment to realize who the silhouette in my cell is. Turning to him, I ask:

“How did you know?”

“I woke up before you a while ago,” Benkei answers, clicking his tongue in frustration. “Tried all sorts of attacks, but nothing seems to work.”

“Well, that explains a lot then, including the fact that they locked both of us in the same cell… Oh, right, that reminds me. Where’s Peng?”

“Over there,” Benkei gestures towards the corner of the room opposite us, where a young man is currently curled up into a ball while wearing a razor-sharp gaze directed at the hallway outside, I can’t quite tell what exactly he’s looking at, but for a guy with a mouth as big as his to be completely silent, I can tell that his emotions right now should be anything but stable… Tch, but I can’t just leave him sitting like that.

“What’s wrong?” I call out to him. Surprisingly, my voice seems to have fallen to deaf ears, as the person in question does not move a single muscle afterwards. It’s as if he’s turned into a statue, one filled with anger and hate.

“Hey, Peng!” I raise my voice. “I’m talking to you!”

“Answer me, damn it!” My call turns into a shout as I move my arm backwards, ready to combust into flames at any moment. However, before a spear could leave my possession and plant itself into my new companion’s body, Benkei has already placed his hand on my shoulder, stopping me from taking things further than they should:

“Easy now. The last thing we need right now is an internal scuffle.”

“… Yeah, my bad,” taking a deep breath, I lower my arm. “But what’s wrong with him anyway?”

“Beats me,” Benkei can only answer with a bored shrug. “When I woke up, he’s already like that. Tried calling out to him like you did just now, and the result… well, you can see how well that went.”

“Ugh. It’s bad enough that we’re in a cell in who knows where already, but now this guy isn’t even responding…”

“We’re probably in America,” Benkei interrupts my complaint with a piece of somewhat useful information. “Where exactly, however, is beyond me.”

“America? Hold on, then did we cross the ocean already? How long have we been out?”

“I don’t know,” sighs my companion.

“So how did you know we’re in America?”

“I have Byleth’s memories, remember? America is famous for its prisons. And besides, since our new friend here is like that, I can only assume he’s back on the land he calls home.”

As the words leave Benkei’s mouth, another deep, yet youthful voice echoes from the outside to interrupt our conversation. “Now, now, guests. Saying that we’re famous for our prisons isn’t such a nice thing.”

Standing outside the cell is a man who can only be described as a giant. Easily two, maybe even three, meters tall, the man’s bald head is so close to the ceiling that if he were to enter our cell, he would have to crouch down. The unusual height, his incredible muscle bulk unable to hide itself behind the suit, combined with his black suit and dark, shining skin gives him an immense pressure more that of a deity’s statue rather than just a mortal man.

The man continues, but his pair of black glasses makes it hard for me to guess his attitude:

“Here in America, we have lots of great entertainment. And in fact, you’ll be the honored guests for our latest performance.”

“Save the bullshit, George,” surprisingly, the only one left in the room that has been silent until now finally sounds, in a voice filled with the kind of animosity I’ve never seen before. “Just tell them why we’re here.”

“Well, well, well, look who we have here. And why don’t you tell them, Peter?” Smiles the man named George, revealing his even, blindingly white teeth. “Aren’t they supposed to be your friend?”

“They’re not supposed to be in this situation from the start,” Peng grits his teeth and clenches his fist. I’m sure that if no bars were separating us, he would jump straight at his opponent for a fistfight, even if the size difference is massive between them.

“Then you’re finally admitting that what you’ve been doing is meaningless?”

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“Fuck off. What I do gives the people hope.”

“Hope? Don’t make me laugh,” the giant man lets out a smirk, finally showing his emotions for the first time since his arrival. “What you’re doing is nothing but a child’s tantrum. Time to grow up, Peter, and wake up from that stupid dream of yours.”

“The only one still trapped in a dream is you,” retorts Peng. “You and that damn old man you called father.”

“We called father, Peter.”

“I’d rather die,” in a fit of rage, Peng spits at the giant. But his taunting seems to be useless, as George still stands there, unfazed and unmoving. After a moment of silence between the two, the giant finally ends the conversation by turning around and walking away from us, waving his hands as a signal of goodbye:

“You’ll get your wish soon.” His last words echo inside our cell as George’s shadow slowly disappears at the end of the hallway.

As the man leaves the premises, Peng’s rage finally settles down, and when his rage settles down, he starts to realize his actions from start to finish. Turning towards us, he bows his head so hard that I would mistake it for him plummeting his head towards the ground:

“I’m really sorry for what happened just now! Things got to my head!”

“… Fine,” in front of his sincerity, I have no choice but to let out a sigh. “Just tell us what we need to know right now.”

“You’re not gonna ask about that guy just now?” Replying to me is a surprised look on Peng’s face.

“If you want to, you can tell us later. Right now, we just need the main point.”

“Alright. Then, the first thing that you need to know is that we’re about to go up.”

“Up? Up where? And how can…”

I don’t get to finish my sentence, for a sudden rumbling noise cuts off our conversation. Tremors arise from deep beneath the ground, but even amidst all of the shaking, I can still tell that this bizarre phenomenon is only happening on the ground we’re standing on, or to be more specific, on the floor of this one cell. And, as if to immediately answer my question before I could make another sound, a sudden shift can be felt throughout my body, and, beyond even my wildest dream, the ceiling starts splitting itself into two, while the floor below us starts to slowly, but surely, ascends.

“What the hell is going on?” I shout, panicked and nervous.

“Don’t worry! It’s not gonna hurt us in any way! Oh, and cover your ears!” Shouting in return is Peng, who immediately follows his own instructions. Next to him, Benkei is also doing the same thing, forcing me to follow suit while still having zero clues about the situation. But soon enough, my questions are answered.

As we ascend from our original position, sunlight finally appears, its brightness shining on our faces blinds us for a second. And as if that’s not annoying enough, almost immediately afterwards, our ears are bombarded by an eruption of cheering and booing from a crowd as large as an entire town, maybe even a city itself. Had Peng not warned us beforehand, our ears would have been ruptured right now.

When our eyes finally recover, we’ve already completed our short trip. Before us now is yet another cage, but this one has bars made of solid gold as if its owner wants to show off their wealth to the world. Surrounding us now is a circular stand filled to the brim with people of all ages, and yet anyone taking a look would be able to see a clear distinction into two groups: the half in front of us are short, obese people wearing the same kind of fancy jewelry as the bars of the cage itself, while behind us are all malnourished, scrawny kids covered in dirt and bruises, all wearing cuffs and chains while being held captive in another massive cage surrounding the entire half of the stand. This structure of stands and a flat, empty plot of ground… we’re inside a colosseum.

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” A booming voice sounds, revealing George standing in the middle of the colosseum’s field. “Welcome to our daily Judgment Duel!”

“Daily? They do this every day?” Too shocked by his words, I end up saying my thoughts out loud.

“It’s for them to instill fear and obedience,” answers Peng, clenching his fists for a brawl. “And for me to instill hopes and dreams.”

“Allow me to introduce our sinner of the day!” Unaware of our conversation, George continues. “You might know him as a pest that constantly steals your belongings, or you may know him as a buzzkill that always ruins your favorite pastime show! But we all know him as the stupid kid who never grows up, it’s the rumored Fairy Thief, Peter Peng!”

Accompanying George’s intro is another wave of cheers and boos, and right now, I can clearly see which group is which: the fat old guys in front of us all throw us a disgusted look and cover their noses as if they’re smelling something nasty, while the ones cheering for us are the children at the back, although their voices are only weak and frail due to the nature of their bodies.

“And our hero of justice for the day! What an honor to be graced by His presence! The epitome of strength, the epitome of righteousness! Welcome our Lord, our governor, Sir Raphael!”

This time, there are only cheers to be heard, but they’re only coming from the half in front of us. The children at the back know how dangerous that guy is, after all. One couldn’t even make them cheer for us if they tried.

The angel in question, meanwhile, only takes a second to descend from high above and land right in the center of the colosseum. Not even using his wings, he plummets down and makes a perfect landing with his knees slightly bent and his arms in a fighting stance, truly befitting of the title “hero of justice”. The impact of that show, however, is nothing but pure devastation, as Raphael’s little trick ends up creating a giant crack on the ground, going as long as inside of our cage at the far end of the field.

Dusting off his robe, the angel turns his attention towards us, and says in a calm, stoic voice:

“Let us begin our duel, Peter.”

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