Training
1015 Words
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“Wanna come with me?” Jamie asks.
Marco rubs his chin as they climb down the staircase. “Five thousand drachmas is enough to feed me for two months.”
“So, what do you say?”
“Okay, I'll come with you.”
Aurelia is resting her chin on her right palm with her elbow on the arm of her wheelchair. Hera is behind her while they watch Mila in sportswear and Darius without a shirt facing against each other on the battleground. Hectares of land are decimated. Trees have been shattered and brought down. Not a single grass is thriving. Debris of the past battles of other deities that use this place to spar, littered everywhere. They haven't started yet but the earth is already shaking because of their clashing auras.
Sighing, Aurelia frowns in boredom. “Why don't I get to fight?”
Darius kicks into motion, catching Mila by surprise.
“I knew he's gonna do that,” she says in her thoughts. “Then how about this?” She dodges out of luck and counters him with a heavy punch against his side but to no effect. “What?” He absorbs it so he could catch her vulnerable. She blocks his punch with her left arm, sending her a mile away, demolishing the ground as she brakes. “He's gonna use the dust cloud to conceal his attack!”
She expected him to follow up with an attack but instead, Darius flexes his right shoulder, looking calm as he just stands there. Meanwhile, Mila is squeezing her fist, feeling little pain in her arm.
“Too slow, my lady,” he remarks. “Stop thinking too much while fighting. It'll slow you down. Trust your instincts.”
“Okay,” she nods.
After he cracks his neck, he lowers himself to put on his stance, two fists in front of him. “Stop holding back, my lady,” he advises. “Test yourself to the limit.”
She holds out her hand then her pitchfork comes to her. It lets out tons of black smoke and one could almost hear the screams of the damned from the Depths of Tartarus. Her skin turns black but her eyes turn red. Two horns grow on her forehead and her claws look like they could cut flesh like soft jelly.
“Wow!” Hera exclaims.
“Let's see if that's enough to beat Darius,” says Aurelia, still looking bored.
Darius pulls out his dagger—meaning that he's gonna get serious too. “Bring it on!” he taunts.
Mila charges first while Darius gets more cautious. He waits for the opportune moment. To the side, he dodges. She recovers and seeks to impale him with her pitchfork. He gives ground to her and doesn't attack back until he stops. Her punch is an inch away from hitting his face. He grabs her arm and with the other fist hitting her in the face. It didn't hurt her a bit. For a moment, he's impressed by how tough she is and has no choice but to use his dagger to get behind her, catching her by surprise.
“Fist of Five:” On her back, he lands his uppercut. The ground shatters and shockwaves spread throughout. “Space Catapult.”
Mila gets launched into the sky, passing by the clouds as she coughs blood. Her vision blurs but her will keeps holding onto her consciousness, forbidding it to go away.
In an instant, Darius appears above her, his eyes widened with an intent to kill. The pain she feels and the overwhelming power of Darius petrifies her. He squeezes his fist and prepares to strike her. All she can do is close her eyes.
But she's confused why the punch never landed. Instead, Darius grabs her arm, putting it over and around his shoulder. They fall back to the earth at supersonic speed. Mila's transformation is over. Her black skin fades away, leaving it flawless as it once was. Her eyes also return to normal. Nonetheless, her black irises are still the same.
“I went too far, my lady,” says Darius. “I apologize.”
“I don't mind,” she says, grunting in pain. “Thank you for not holding back.”
They land on the ground, shaking the earth. Aurelia and Hera were paying attention from the distance. Under her feet, Hera can feel the ground shaking.
“What happened?” she asks, squinting to see far.
Aurelia narrows her eyes, still bored as always. “My sister lost, obviously. Darius has become too strong.”
“Wow!” Hera exclaims, then looks at Aurelia. “Who do you think is stronger, my lady? Darius or Leo?”
“Isn't it obvious? Of course, it's your brother. You knew how badly Darius lost to him.”
“But Darius is so strong.”
“That means your brother is monstrously strong, Hera. He defeated all of us in a single day.” She sighs pouting her lips. “I wish I was Leo.”
“Don't say that, my lady. Everyone loves you.”
“They only love me because I'm weak now. That they have to protect me.”
“That's not true!”
“You wouldn't understand, Hera. Strength is what makes a deity. Without strength, you lose your purpose.”
“But-”
“I appreciate your concern for me but don't worry,” She grins as bright as the light her golden hair reflects the sunlight. “I'm not gonna give up.”
“My lady...,” is all Hera could mutter, astonished by the courage left in Aurelia.
“I can walk by myself now, Darius,” says Mila as they're only a few meters away from Aurelia and Hera.
“As you wish, my lady,” he nods, letting her go.
She inhales so deep and sighs it away as if the ground could get depressed as she is. “I'm awfully weak,” she says.
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- Writer
