And it hurt me when you cried.But there was nothing I could do to stop your heart from aching.
"Again."
"Again"
"Again."
"Are you serious!? I can't do this anymore. Im so tireddd." You let yourself fall back onto the grass beneath you. "Just because the Duke of Vespertine has invited you for tea a couple of times now doesn't mean you can slack off during training."Mystery lady spoke walking up close to you and looking down.
You groaned and sighed "But you keep blasting me across the line before i can even get close to you! At this point, i won't even be able to touch a strand of your hair!" You complained. "Fighting isn't just about running up to your opponent and swinging a sword at them, you have to be agile and careful, so that not even the rustling of the leaves under your foot can be heard. That is why I have my eyes closed after all." She finished.
You sighed in defeat and picked up your wooden sword again, getting into position and waiting for the go. Mystery lady smiled before returning to the other end of the red line, and you start again. She watched you, carefully there was something about you she couldn't really figure out, you were so easy to read from the outside, your habits, moods, when you'd strike, what you like, all of it, and yet there was still something.
You had potential and a determination(although lazy) when you wanted to do, you would. She was shocked when she suddenly started seeing traces of someone she knew floating around you from time to time, fragments of their being and she knew, for sure she had to keep an eye on you. So for now she trained you, pushed you, so you could be worthy of having Her around you.
This had been your routine for the last..while. You weren't sure how time was passing out in the real world, but it only felt like a short time. You went out occasionally of course when Thor wished to see you, you went when you were so tired that mystery lady thought you were going to really die and when you were hungry(Which surprisingly wasn't that often).
You hadn't seen Arthur at all since you were dropped off, every time you'd ask, you were told "Hes training." Which you did believe but still you wish you could at least see him occasionally. Your only drive for training at the moment was being promised by the mystery lady that if you got good quick you'd be able to see him.
When you were told this, you were expecting..well.. a hangout? a dinner? a lunch? Not..whatever this is. Here you were standing in another cave, right beside the mystery lady as Arthur stood shell-shocked to see you. You gave him an awkward smile, you weren't really sure what else to do. It was as if you were having a silent talk with your eyes, "What are you doing here!?" I dont know! She dragged me here!"
"Ah Cy! It's great to see you again!" A tall buff man smiled when he saw mystery lady walk in. She hummed in reply, not really paying much mind to him. "Well, whatever lets get straight to the point now shall we?" He spoke once again his voice now more nonchalant than before. He took us somewhere, a grassy field similar to the one you train at but slightly different.
"Now Cy we both know why we're here! you kept speaking about how quickly your pupil learns and i thought, why not have our pupils battle? See we both learn where ours have weak spots and grow from this experience!"
Mystery lady squinted her eyes then shrugged her shoulders, "Alright fine, i think she can do it." She said, the words coming out of her voice a little too casually for your liking. He had sent four of his pupils against Arthur first, he said it was so you can get a better look at how Arthur fights. He sounded quite confident that even with this knowledge youd still lose to Arthur.
Throughout the match you watched carefully and it was true Arthur had improved a lot more than you had expected. He looked..really nice you did admit that the training had done wonders for him. He looks very..pretty while dodging attacks.
By the end of it none of them were able to get him down, and that scared you a little but you weren't about to waver over that. As the 4 other kids? passed by one of the boys stared at you, it wasn't a happy stare or an upset stare, just a stare. They plopped down on the floor for a break and got comfortable ready to watch this go down.
You walked up, Arthur was standing just a few feet in front of you, cleaning the sweat off his face. When you looked at him, he smiled and waved at you. You both got into your stances not too close but not too far either, and you stared at each other.
The air was heavy with anticipation. Neither of you moved. Eyes staring at each other wondering. Waiting. Anxious for the other to strike. The arena was silent, you could hear the faint whispering amongst the other children as they stared at you. But still. Nothing.
Your eyes narrowed at Arthur..you could sense a faint nervousness around him. And the way you stared at him didn't make his hands any less clammy. He felt confident he could win you..ok maybe he was gaslighting himself into believing that but a mans gotta have confidence right? There was a part of him that was screaming in agony begging him to just run while you still hadn't moved. The way you stared at him sent chills down his spine.
He knew for a fact, he wasn't going to die..but since you also knew that whatever you did here wouldn't affect his physical body..it made him nervous. He tried his best to not be nervous and be strong and he prayed on his knees you couldn't see right through him. You looked so confident and ready..it scared him.
You were shitting yourself. Holy shit you were nervous. Yea you wanted to win but at the same time, you saw how Arthur totally dominated the round before this. You wanted to prove to your mentor that you really were capable but you were also nervous you'd lose or hurt Arthur in the process...He looked so confident and prepared, and you were mentally cursing at yourself hoping he couldn't tell you're legs were about to give out on you.
You let out a hushed breath, staring at each other, occasionally twitching and slightly shifting in the stance you were in. Before you had even realized it Arthur had struck first. Your eyes widened in realization, you were quick to act jumping to the side and barely dodging his attack, he was all but a blur as he moved. He had gotten better, a lot better.
You furrowed your brows as you stared at him, he wiped the sweat off his cheek and looked at you. You weren't too far from each other but there was definitely distance between you two. You decided the round had officially started and you might as well strike too. You ran for it, not directly at him, in a different direction hopefully throwing him off. From the corner of your eye you noticed him giving you a look of confusion before running off behind you.
You knew he wasn't dumb enough to follow an enemy in an actual fight, you hoped it was because this was a practice round but thankfully he took the bait. You stopped, hearing him coming before jumping backwards in the air, getting a hold of his shoulders pushing him in the direction you wanted him to go.
He stumbled a little, not falling but more flabbergasted than anything. He chuckled and smirked, looking at you as beads of sweat fell from his forehead and face. He ran in your direction before getting his first ready to throw a punch, you jumped and moved out of the way. Wondering why he decided to throw punches irrationally. He kept throwing attacks at you which you obviously dodged, was he trying to make this easy for you?
You scoffed, having had enough of his bullshit. You swore on the gods if he threw another uncalculated punch- Ah. There it was. You grabbed his arm and threw him across the arena. You heard gasps and whistles from the audience. Before Arthur could move you put pressure on his arm with your foot, kneeling slightly and looking down at him. He coughed, his other hand grabbing a hold of your ankle as he squinted his eyes at you.
"Hey! What was that!? I thought we were having fun!" He yelled slightly upset. You scoffed,"You were going easy on me weren't you?" Your voice filled with irritation as you put more pressure on his arm. He squinted his eyes shut, "Yea ok maybe I did! But it's only a practice round! I didn't need to go all out" He murmured, "Not like you did either." You looked taken aback"The only reason I didn't go all out was because you didn't!" You protested.
From the other side of the arena, you two looked like a bickering couple. Your mentors giving each other a look before calling you back. "Well! that went swell! I believe the win does go to Our young Lanira!" Arthurs mentor stated. You scoffed and rolled your eyes glaring at the boy just a few inches away from you. He scratched his neck giving you a sheepish look.
A couple more rounds took place, the ones in which you took part in you won( Obviously). By the end of it you were tired. Your mentor was talking to Arthur as everyone else lay on the grass exhausted. You lay your head on Arthurs shoulder slowly drifting asleep. He tensed up a bit, not really sure what to do but quickly relaxed and gently stroked your hair.
"She seems happy m'lady"
"Ah. Yes she does, doesn't she?, I worry for her tho..What the future has in store is not pretty.. And the young man with her will not make this journey any easier."
"But I thought you sent her there to help in the upcoming war m'lady? What changed?"
"Love. Love changed ____."
"They seem quite content, do they not?"
"They do.. and that pleases me..But the past that she remembers and the guilt that she carries will not make this any easier..Theyre fate that is intertwined is becoming far more complicated than I had hoped."
"Is that..troublesome?"
"It can be. Yes. If this continues to go on..I am not sure how this will turn out. She was a puppet..but she seems to be cutting her string..following a path I did not assign for her.."
"There is not much we can do but watch m'lady.."
"Yes..I am aware..I am afraid this child may just end up dooming herself..In a world that is not accepting of her existence.."
To be continued...
Thank you for reading!<3
Stay hydrated!