Blood. It was on every surface of the area-the lush green trees, the pure white flowers, the sharp blades of grass-it was everywhere.

But it still wasn't over.

The fighting was yet to end. The stench of death and distraught clung to the air like a suffocating fog, and the howls of despair and anger still lingered in my ears like it never ended. Lives shattered, loved ones lost and all traces of sanity gone. Insanity and the inhuman, monstrous lust for revenge locked up the human in them, threw away the key, and released the monster they had hidden from the world.

I couldn't stop this, even if I tried. Even though I made this happen. 

I am the apprentice. If the master wants me to drag everyone in Tekkitopia to the arena to wait for death, so be it. If the master wants me to alter the playing field to make the game more exciting, then that is what I must do. I helped to cause this, so all I can do is stand by the giant glass dome that held everyone captive to fight to the death and just watch.

I've come to the conclusion that I, like my master, am a monster.

A long time ago, I used to care. I used to love. I used to be fun, friendly, kind, a nice girl who got on with life and had my whole life ahead of me. Long ago, I used to be friends with the people in this arena. But he took it away from me. He reached out his hand, and with a click of his fingers my life turned upside down. I was nothing but a tool to perfect the masters masterpiece. On the outside, my face is blank; no emotion, no guilt, no remorse. No love.

But if you were to look deep enough, you would see that I have emotions, I just hide them. The endless torturing of innocent people for my master's pleasure is chipping away at my body, my mind, my sanity, my very soul. It's only a matter of time before I give up. Before I become insane. Before I begin to enjoy this sick, twisted horror of a job.

It's not the best future to look forward to.

People say I wanted this. Do you think that? Do you really think I want to watch people murder each other for pointless reasons, to respawn and remember the monster they had become, the memories of those they killed? To enjoy watching them wake up in the morning trying to get on with life, then fail to be able to look those they killed in the eye? This game destroys lives. It may let you respawn your physical body, but mentally, you are destroyed. Nothing is left. Nobody wins these games, no one. Only the one who makes the them. And if you think I enjoy this, then I am afraid you are the crazy one.

Watching the master hover above the arena, his sick malicious grin visible from here, the vicious insanity in his eyes, gleaming in the moonlight as they dart around, eagerly fixated on the action below, the dark rumbling laughter as they tear each other apart...all this makes me wonder if I have a life at all. If life is really worth living.

His long, midnight black coat billows out behind him as he descends towards me on the ground. He was wearing his usual attire, a white shirt with the top button undone, slim brown pants and leather boots that clink when they touch the ground. The floppy, auburn hair he took so much pride in keeping perfect was fluttering in the wind that was beginning to stir. He carried with him the smell of death. Agony. Torture.

He was a walking death sentence.

It was ironic how this flawless looking demigod, with gorgeous looks and an irresistible charm that he had, which he only used when he needed to, was the image of an angel, even though he was a devil in disguise. 

"There's a storm coming. A big one." I mutter quietly, my voice low and formal. Sometimes, when he was in a good mood, I could make a few cheeky remarks about something, and I could get away with it. But not when he's like this. He had stopped a few metres away from me.

"Good. It will set the scene for the final fight" he replies, his voice deep, looking up at the dark clouds spilling across the sky like someone had knocked a bottle of ink over. "Your trap worked well. Caught them all by suprise" he continues.

He closes the distance between us, and I look up into his deep, sapphire eyes, noting the insanity still gleaming at the surface. He could tame it if he wanted to, but he didn't want to. He had even told me once that life was too long to keep being the good guy. Being evil was too much fun. "Well done" he praises with a suprisingly friendly smile, reaching up to squeeze my shoulder lightly.

The demigod did not give praise often, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Come. We can watch the flight at a closer perspective" he orders, holding out his arm. To be honest, I didn't want to watch it at all, but I could not refuse him.

"Yes sir" I reply meekly, gripping his arm tightly as we float upwards.

"How many times do I have to tell you?" he sighs. He turns both of us invisible. I can see myself, however I cannot see him, only feel his arm. Drifting closer to the fight, I swallow and prepare myself. "Call me Ridgedog" he finishes, before stopping just above the fighting players.

The two players fighting are known to their friends-and me, a long time ago-as Duncan and Sjin. This fight was made worse by the fact that I was once Duncan's apprentice, until Ridgedog took me away. I also used to be great friends with Sjin and his best friend Sips. Even though I did make traps for the arena and came up with new ideas for things, I had never been aloud to watch until now.

And as the storm grew wilder, lightning striking at the land and harsh, bitter winds ripping at the trees, I feel like there is a storm brewing in my body, each fork of lightning a memory, each blast of wind a blast of guilt, shame and regret.

My stomach churned when I realised that whoever on this fight would have to look me in the eye, and see the monster I had become. As hard as it was to watch the fight, I can't look away from the two people I used to call my friends fight to the death.

Both are clearly exhausted. Rain pours through the top of the roof, which Ridgedog had kept open to allow weather like this increase the mood of the fights. The droplets leave ghastly looking streaks of blood running down their clothes and dripping off their face.

Sjin's clothes are dirty and torn, encrusted with blood, dirt and sweat, to the point that I can barely figure out what he had been wearing in the first place. His usual warm, friendly, forgiving eyes are hollow, devoid of life, an oblivion of pain, exhaustion and death. He fights with a sword made of black metal that has a dim, dark glow. 

Duncan is a little easier to recognize. His white lab coat, covered in blood and saturated with rain, is hard to miss. His goggles that usually perch on the mop of his messy blonde hair are missing. He fights with a red matter katar and the determination mixed with insanity is clear in his crystal blue eyes. 

Ridgedog is flying so close to the duelling duo that I can smell the metallic stench of blood and the odour of decaying flesh to the point where I can practically taste it on my tongue. The red matter katar swings close to me, and I flinch backwards straight into Ridge, who chuckles quietly. The noise distracts them, and Duncan takes advantage, delivering the final death blow. 

A cannon explodes in the distance, signalling the last death of the survival games. I watch as Sjin disappears, pixel by pixel. I would have to face Duncan, who hadn't seen me nor heard from me for 3 years. He thought i had died in a mining accident when a tunnel collapsed on me. But now he would know the truth, the truth that Ridgedog made me a deal.

A deal that if I disappeared randomly one day, he would take me in as his apprentice. If I refused, I would be tortured, along with everyone else. What choice did I have? I left one day, taking all my stuff, giving Duncan a last hug goodbye. I remember the moment so clearly, the ways my eyes had pricked with tears as I left the giant science castle and went down into the mine where Ridgedog created a "death scene".

He duplicated my body, propping it under the rocks, and then caused the tunnel to collapse before grabbing hold of me by the arm, teleporting me to his mansion, and there was where I began my career as an apprentice to possibly the worlds most dangerous demigod. 

"Congratulations!" Ridgedog's voice booms, startling us both. In one, final attempt to conceal my identity, I pull my black hood up and bend my head down, looking down at my feet just as Ridge turns the invisibilty off and gently lowers me onto the ground.

"You've won the survival games!" he grins. The scientist almost collapses, weak relief in his eyes that the games were finally over. His eyes flicker to me, and I tilt my head to see Ridgedog's scheming grin. I take a deep breath. "Ah, I see you've taken interest in my apprentice?" he sneers. He violently rips my hood off and I meet Duncan's eyes.

He gasps, his eyes widenening. "Tia?" he croaks. I know I don't have a lot of time. I have to tell him now.

"Duncan, I didn't want to do this. He took my away, he said he would torture you all if I didn't. Please forgive me" I say quickly. Ridgedog smirks, hovering, observing the situation quietly as if he watching a TV show. He stares at me for a moment, and I look back at him with pleading eyes. He gives me a weak smile, and nods.

"I forgive you" he whispers, before stumbling forward. Despite the blood on his clothes and the dampness of his coat, I go into his arms and hug him, not too hard in case he was injured. I swallowed, trying to hold it together. I wanted to go back, be his apprentice instead, learn science, have a life, have friends. It wasn't fair that I had my life stolen away!

"I miss you" I choke out, tightening my grip. We pull away, our arms still linked.

"I miss you too" he replies quietly, smiling faintly.

"Alright, alright, that's enough" the demigod snaps, intervening in the moment, prising both of us apart. He's glaring at the scientist, his grip far tighter on his arm than mine. A hint of amusement tugs at the corner of my lips as I detect a hint of jealousy in the gleam of Ridgedog's eyes, but I smooth my expression when he looks over at me. 

His menacing expression wipes all amusement off my mind. I realise I was in a lot of trouble, and I bow my head quickly. He suddenly clicks his fingers and we're back at his mansion. Looking up, Ridgedog is across the room, glaring wordlessly at me.

I thought they were over. But the games were just beginning.