I walked forward at a brisk pace and came to a halt when I entered. I was in a massive, open area. It could have been an arena, or a coliseum. As of right now, I'm not sure what it was. I do know it was gray. The most muted and ominous gray anyone's ever seen before. I surveyed my surrounding and I felt chills as I did so. Premonition overcame me. Something bad was going to happen...
The arena was dead. There aren't too many words that describe it, but I think "dead" is a good choice. The whole room was slowly, surely crumbling. It must have been crumbling endlessly at an awful pace forever. It was dingy and damp and dreadful. Moss and other plants of muted green littered the walls and stadium-like seats. There wasn't much to the arena - there were a series of doors opposite from the opening I entered from. The sky was completely open to view. Looking up, the abysmal sky stared back.
The more minor details are where things became more remarkable. The arena reached so high it seemed it could touch the sky. There were a series of boxes circling the top of the ring. They must have been where the affluent spectated. How nice would it be to touch the sky and make life-changing decisions for the people while watching a twisted Olympics and sipping a cup of tea? That must be what happened in those lovely boxes, millennia ago. The skyboxes were truly the most elegant part of this arena's dismal façade.
I decided I wanted to reach to the sky - to enter a skybox. It was childish, yes, but I had to be part of the most royal elegance in the stadium. How would one get up there, however. There was no way up, also meaning there would be no way down. But I had to get up there. I was drunk on the wonderland that was the arena, and I had to be on the top of the pack. I had to be.
So I started climbing. But God knows how. There must have been ten feet between the arena floor and the first row of seats, but probably more. The adrenaline I felt came from the drug that is this arena. Curse it, I thought afterward, but at that point, I had to keep going. My life depended on it.
As I hopped up the rows of seating, I felt like I was being watched. But more than that, I felt like I was being preyed on. Perhaps this was all some plot to trick people like me into being lunch for a cannabalistic tribe. Like the animal that is targeted, I continued going, but now at a much faster pace. At least a hundred rows later, I hit a wall. The seating had ended, but there was still kilometers to travel before I reach beautiful affluence.
So I grabbed onto the wall and climbed up it. There were a few tiny cracks up the wall for footing. It was almost like they wanted you in the skyboxes. But they weren't skyboxes anymore - they were Heaven. I climbed forever. This endless climb lasted hours. It felt like it, at least. The higher I went up, the farther I was from Heaven and the closer I was to Hell. The ground was creeping up on me like quicksand. If I didn't hurry, I would fall and die. It was Heaven or Hell, and I had to choose Heaven. Now I just had to make it there before I lost grip and fell into Hell.
I realized I was nearing the top. Heaven and Hell were meters away from each other now. They would soon merge into a ghastly paradise. But I wanted perfection, not flaw. I had to make it before they touched. Corruption would not enter my paradise. Centimeters away, it seemed like. I could touch the sky. I doubled my speed. Five meters per second and I would beat Hell and claim my prize of untainted paradise.
It felt like it had just begun. The whole reason why I was here, in this champions' ring. But hours passed as I made my way up to the top. Almost there. There were seconds left before I touched victory. But I did the worst option. I looked down. Hell was about to touch my feet. I had to hurry. A little bit faster and I would arrive in Eden. Two minutes, that's all. Eden must have decided to defy me. The faster I went, the farther it moved away.
But I made it. Somehow I did. I made it to my beautiful Eden. It was then that I noticed that I was covered in blood. Perhaps I'll die in paradise and wake up in Heaven. Yes...
I woke up from unconsciousness and gazed around. I realized my journey was over. I'm in Eden. I stood up and looked around. But I wasn't alone. In the next box over was a dark silhouette staring back at me. It had an air of victory about it and I knew paradise was lost.
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