Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

               

 

                I felt my opponents ribs bend against the top of my foot.  In the same second I brought that foot to meet his head.  He was nearly done at this point in the fight.  He staggered away as I did a jumping side kick into his temple, placing him on the ground.  I rolled him onto his back, straddled him, and punched his throat. You ever feel a larynx give way? Not a what I'd call a great feeling, but oddly satisfying.  I stepped away as he died.  Artemis clapped slowly, as his counterpart grimaced. 

                "He doesn't look too happy." I said, as I walked up to Allete.

                "You just obliterated the student he's been training for three years.  I think he's embarrassed." She said. "Really, did he even land a hit?" I shook my head. 

                "That's how this art is, though. Honestly, I'm not happy I couldn't finish him off in less blows." I said, frowning.

                "You killed him in one minute flat." She said.  I shrugged.

                "Allete, you're up!" Artemis yelled. I took her by the arm as she stepped out.

                "You have two minutes." I said, smiling. Her lips pursed. She was nervous.  She was fighting a girl, who was about an inch taller than me, so around four inches smaller than Allete. I frowned now as well. This style was too fast paced. I knew it was going to be hard for her to pass this, she'd do better in something that favored height. Tae Kwon Do is not that art.  For a moment I was worried. Allete was taking a few hits. Mostly to the face. She was good at guarding her body, though.  She was also great at the waiting game.  One kick came too slowly, and she grabbed it, tripping her opponent with her foot. She snapped the leg she was holding by placing her foot on the thigh, and pulling the lower part of the leg toward her.  We all heard the crack just as clearly as the scream.  The girl rolled over, and Allete quickly crushed her throat with her foot.  She spat some blood onto the ground as she walked away. 

                "Two minutes and ten seconds. Took you a while." I said, raising an eyebrow.

                "Shut up."  The bodies dissipated and their mentor stormed away before dissipating as well. 

                "Looks like they have three more months before they can try that again." I said.

                "You sound happy about that." She said.

                "More relieved. Even if they are black belts, they're nowhere near ready." I said.

                "Actually, they've both reached all the criteria for second degree black belt." Artemis said as he approached." You two just have an awesome, organized, and experienced trainer." He grinned. "Not to brag, or anything."

                "Second? But we're both third, Cal's going on fourth." Allete said.

                "Yes, but you both moved through quickly. Cal is kind of flying." He said, nodding at me.  I looked down.  "I assume that's due to the extra time you both like to put in."  He added.  Allete and I failed to hide our surprise.

                "You knew?" I asked.

                "Of course I knew.  I advise you keep that up.  And brace yourselves, you fight me next." He said.  My stomach tightened.

                "But there's no way we can beat you, that's-" Allete started

                "You don't need to beat me. You just need to stand your ground. You're fighting as a team.  Of course I'm going to kill you both.  I won't be going easy. Other mentors will be watching, to decide if you two are ready." He said.

                "So what were those last fights about?" I asked.

                "To see if you were ready to fight me." He said, with an 'obviously' sort of tone. "Also, don't worry about me using any other style. For now I'll be using only taekwondo." 

                The fight lasted for about five minutes. I started off with a roundhouse to his face.  Allete came from the side as he blocked.  We kept him on his toes for the first three minutes. In which time, he was apparently finding holes, and waiting for one of us to slip. I was the one who made the mistake.  I did a jumping kick, and brought my foot a little too high.  I realized my mistake and tried to follow through, spinning with my other foot, but he'd already closed in, and knocked me to the ground. I immediately covered my face and throat, well aware that I couldn't get up on time. He put his fist into my lower ribs, snapping them with three quick blows before Allete managed to slam a flying knee into his side. She pulled me up quickly and I kicked at his charging figure, trying to stop his next blow. I succeeded, landing one on his face. He'd apparently lunged, not expecting me to be up and fighting in so short of a time. Allete let out a couple of punches, before he grabbed one and efficiently broke her arm.  I did a flying side kick, trying to get him to back off. He saw it coming and side stepped, kicking me in the spine as I moved past.  I heard him kill Allete, shortly after I hit the ground.  I tripped him as he approached me, but he caught himself with one hand and used it as a ridiculous point of leverage. He managed to bring his heel down on my unguarded chest, just before the rest of his body hit the ground. My sternum definitely cracked.  The pain paralyzed me, as he walked up, and put me out of my misery. 

 

                "You two passed!" He shouted, grabbing us both and hugging us as we left our rooms, laughing heartily.  "Only four more fighting styles left to master!" We both joined in on the laughter.  "Call it a day, okay? Seriously, no studying tonight. Go socialize and what not."  I wasn't particularly thrilled at the idea of no studying or training for the day. In fact, I hadn't taken a break once in the last three years.  I looked at Allete, who looked as miffed as me. 

                "Socialize?" She said. I laughed.

                "What is this word in which you speak? What does it mean?" I asked.

                "So you two made it." James said, sauntering on up.  I smiled at his approach.

                "Don't have a heart attack, now." I said.

                "Not happening today, but it probably will if you ever become a guardian." He said.

                "When." I retorted.

                "And off to the races." Allete muttered. He smiled, his eyes crinkling as he gripped my forearm, I returned the hold by instinct. 

                "Congrats, really." He said.  I smiled and nodded.

                "Whoa, was that a compliment?" Allete breathed out, sounding stunned. She gripped her heart. "What was that about a heart attack, Cal?" She asked.

                "Before you have that heart attack, how about you two join me in the hall? It's been a solid two months since I've seen either of you." He said.

                "Well, we are under strict orders to relax." Allete shrugged.  He gave her a quick hug, and turned towards the large hallway leading to the doors. 

 

                When we walked in Allete looked up at the sky as she always did upon entering.  I looked for a place to sit. 

                "Cal?" She asked.

                "Yeah?" I said.

                "Why do you never look up at night?" She said. My head turned slowly, as I brought my eyes to meet hers.

                "You've noticed that, huh?" I asked. She nodded, and waited patiently.

                "How many of them do you think are waiting to die?" I asked. She frowned.

                "I don't know, Cal."

                "The thought saddens me.  I find myself praying that I'll never have a friend up there. I think about it every time I look at 'em this last year and a half.  So I just don't look up any more." I said. She nodded. 

                "Good, you two are here." Artemis said, as he placed a hand on both of our shoulders, causing me to jump, and Allete to turn her head quickly. 

                "You certainly are a jumpy one, Cal. That's good. It'll keep you alive." He said, patting me firmly on the back.    I saw James approaching out of the corner of my eye, and then I saw him stop dead. His jaw fell slightly agape.  I turned my head a little further to make eye contact, while Artemis was distracted talking to Allete.  James mouthed the name, "Artemis?".  I smiled politely, and nodded.  He mouthed the word, "Here?". His eyes widening. I tilted my head, and nodded again. He looked absolutely beside himself.

                "Hey, Art, there's a friend I'd like you to meet." I said, standing.  James mouthed, "Art?". And gave me a face that seemed to say, "You call him 'Art'?" I laughed.  Artemis looked to me, raising both eye brows.   

                "A friend, you say? You have a friend aside from Allete?" He asked.

                "Oh, we're not friends. We're just training partners." I said. Allete gave me a pointed stare.  I gave her a grin.

                "This is James." I said. Artemis looked over at him.  He smiled as he stood up and brushed his hand on his pant leg before extending it.      

                "Forgive me, James. I simply hadn't realized Cal had any friends.  It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, as James accepted the hand shake.

                "Yeah, we met through her- training partner."  He said.  Allete huffed out a sigh.

                "You're a jerk." She whispered in my ear. I kept my ear to ear smile, and nodded.

                "Your eye. Pardon me for pointing it out, but James, I believe I've heard about you." He said, as James got a sullen look.  Allete was clearly prepared to change the conversation when Artemis spoke again.

                "No, there's no need for shame. It happens to the best of us. Believe me, I've seen it happen many times. It's a sad tale to hear and a worse one to bear." He said, placing a hand on his shoulder. I looked at Allete, thinking maybe it was a good time to leave the two to talk. She nodded.

                "Well, we'll let the two of you get to know each other." Allete said, standing up and following me to the exit.

                "As much as I wanted to hear what there was to be said, I felt that wasn't any of our business." I said, as she agreed.  We ended up at the white room, as I stopped abruptly.

                "Oops. Habit." I laughed, feeling a little bit embarrassed.

                "I was going to say..." Allete said, smiling.  "No training, remember?"

                "Damn it." I sighed, turning and heading toward our rooms.

                "You really need to stop talking like that, Cal." She said.

                "You're not my mother." I said.

                "Don't tempt me." She said. I glanced back with an eyebrow raised. She was smiling, of course.

                "So Allete. I have a question." I said.

                "Go for it." She said.

                "Why hasn't James gotten a new partner yet? I mean, shouldn't they be trying to spend a few years on getting to know each other before going back out?" I asked.  She took in a breath as we approached our rooms. She opened her door and offered for me to go in. 

                "Cal, it's not that common for guardians to die." She said. I nodded slowly.  "So his only options for a partner would either to be to wait for another guardian to lose his or her partner, or to train another hundred years with a new one." She said. My lips pursed. 

                "Well, he'd be more than ready." I mumbled.

                "There's another possibility, though." She said. My brows furrowed in a silent question. Her eyes got a troubled look to them.

                "They're waiting for him to heal." She said.

                "But that's a scar, it's not gonna just heal." I started to say.

                "That's not what I meant." She said, speaking more quietly.

                "Oh." I said, looking to the floor and biting my lip. There was a knock on the door, causing us both to jump. The fire flared. Allete got up to answer and smiled.

                "Well that was a fast talk." She said, stepping back to allow James in.

                "He's more relaxed than I'd expected." Was all he said.

                "Didn't disappoint ya, did he?" I asked, starting to grin.

                "No.  He just... How he speaks." He said.

                "What? He talks like any of us do." Allete said, looking to me for some sort of support.  I just shrugged.

                "Exactly.  Do you realize how old he is?" He asked.  Allete looked at me again, and I returned the look of confusion.

                "Well, at least three hundred years, I guess." I said.

                "He's from the beginning of the middle ages." He said.  I coughed.

                "What?" I said, stunned.

                "How do you think he knows so much?" James said. 

                "That is so cool. Early middle ages, or later?" Allete asked.

                "About a fifty years after the collapse of the Roman empire." He answered.

                "What?" I said, again.

                "Even among the mentors, he's a sort of legend. Everyone's waiting for him to retire.  I get the feeling that he has no intention, though." James said.  He looked up and saw both of our baffled faces.  "Do you guys realize what is required to become a mentor?" He asked. We both shook our heads.

                "Well, two hundred years as guardians, plus the one hundred of training, then fifty years of training further.  They're expected to be capable of flight with ease." He said.

                "Flight?" We both asked in unison. He shook his head.

                "Man, you guys have a long ways to go.  Flight is probably one of the hardest things to master in the realm of spiritual warfare.  It's what gives us an edge on demons. It's also our best means of escape, should we need it." He said.  "Most guardians can barely do it, so initially, it's pretty useless.  But Artemis is pretty insane with it, from what I've heard." He said.

                "And just what does 'insane' consist of?" Allete asked.

                "As in he can hold entire battles in air." He said.

                "That's pretty cool." I said.

                "Pretty cool?" He scoffed. "Do you realize how hard that is?" He asked.

                "I'm getting an idea." I said. 

                "Look, long story short, our oldest mentors, not including him, are around five hundred years old.  He's been around since roughly 550 A.D." He said.  "He's also not known too well for conversing a whole lot with anyone.  He's kind of a mystery." He said.

                "For being a mystery you sure know a lot about him." I said.

                "He's been around for fifteen-hundred years, and that's about all anyone seems to know about him. With that much time under his belt, don't you think everyone should know a lot more?" He said.

                "That's a fair point." I said. "But if no one knows much, then how do we know he's such a badass?" I asked. Allete gave me one of her signature looks.  James looked surprised for only a second.

                "Really, why did he pick you?" He said. It seemed to just slip from his mouth.  I think he meant it.  "Look, we know some things. We know he's taken on roughly fifty lesser demons  at once and lived to tell the tale. There's rumor that he's battled an angel, actually."

                "An angel?" Allete asked.

                "You know- Some fell with Lucifer?" He said. I was finally shocked with that.

                "What?" I asked. "But they've been around since before humanity, haven't they?" He nodded.

                "How did he make it?" I asked.

                "That's what no one knows." He said. Allete was nodding slowly.

                "What about his partner?" She asked.

                "Another mystery." He said. 

                "Best not to ask, I assume?" She said.

                "Correct."  He said, giving me a look that suggested a warning.  I wasn't insulted this time.

                "Anyways, you two should probably get some rest.  Judo's next." He said as he left.

                "Well that was abrupt." I said, looking over at Allete.  She nodded slightly.

                "I mean, he just left like- out of nowhere." I said. "So, what now? We're not allowed to study, and we're not allowed to train. And what the hell's the point of a bed when angels don't sleep?" I asked.

                "We could always head out for a night and try to make more than one friend?" She said.  It seemed like a good idea.

                It was not a good idea.

 

                "So. You two do not play well with others." Artemis said, as he pulled me past the double doors.

                "Cal doesn't play well with others." Allete corrected. 

                "They were being d*********s." I said.

                "Seriously? Where do you find these words?" Allete snapped. "Besides that, they were twenty seven years into training.  They were about to completely destroy us, Cal. What were you thinking?" She asked.

                "That they were d*********s." I mumbled out.

                "Oh my word." She said.

                "Personally, I hope to meet with them again so I can fight them on more even ground.  I mean, our training in combat stops after roughly fifteen years, right?" I asked.

                "Well, yes." Artemis started.

                "Then I could take them one on one in twelve more years." I said

                "They'd still have so much more time under them, Cal. Are you that stupid?" Allete asked.

                "Oh, you know almost no one actually works extra.  They spend their time relaxing, like idiots.  They spend their time relaxing as if we're not training for battle.  They spend their time as if at the end of all this training there isn't a good chance we could die." I said.  "And those failures were no exception.  I'm not going to just stop training in combat once we're 'officially' done with it.  They're there every freaking night. Everyone there, literally everyone, knew them by name." I said.

                "And now they all know us by name, too. Way to go, Cal!" Allete yelled. I'd never seen her angry.

                "Hey, you're the one who wanted to socialize." I said.

                "Yeah. Socialize. Meet new people. Not get them to hate us." She said. "Which, might I add, you did a splendid job in assuring happened." She snapped.

                "Do you really want them to like you?" I asked. She stopped walking, as did Artemis in turn. He gave me a curious look. She gave me one of seething hatred.

                "Is that such a bad thing? For people to like you?" She asked.

                "People, no.  But them? Yeah, I could care less." I said.

                "Why is that, Cal. Enlighten me. Please ." She breathed out through clenched teeth.

                "They're all going to fail." I said, flatly.

                "What?" She asked.

                "They're going to get down to Earth, and they're going to fail. They're going to die early, and if they're lucky, they'll get to come back up here and sulk over it for ten freaking years blaming everything but themselves.  Blaming the freak accidents, and the demons.  I've heard a stupid story about it nearly every time I've gone in there.  Someone's griping about how things 'just went south'.  James is the only one I can't blame for not wanting to train.  He probably doesn't want to go back and lose someone else. And you wanna know another thing? They all talk about him. They talk about how he needs to get over it, and as much as he can get under my skin, I have to feel for him.  There's no getting over that. Allete, I'm going to be honest with you-" My tone began to lighten, and my voice lowered as I reached the last sentence.

                "I've known you for three years. Three years, and I can't really imagine loosing you.  I don't want to think about what it's like to know you for a hundred years and then have to say good bye for literally all of eternity. I can't.  It's what keeps me going back to the damn white room every night.  And when it comes time to train for spiritual combat I'll work that much more fervently.  I will not fail. I will do everything in my power not to, anyways.  Yet night after night, they act like it's 'all good'. They're the protectors, after all. They're going to be the reason mankind continues on for a little longer, after all. They're the heroes, after all. To me they're fool-hardy idiots, who are doomed to suffer awful fates, and quit as soon as their miserable two-hundred years are up.  If, that is, they make it that long." I said, taking in a breath.

                "Disillusioned souls." I muttered.

                Allete had seemed to calm down, as I began to heat up. 

                "Okay, Cal.  I get it." She said.  "I get it." 

 

 

 

 

 

                I wasn't terribly surprised when our last combative test involved a two vs. two situation.  I was thrilled to hear it was against current guardians. 

                "So, we're not fighting you?" I asked Artemis.  He shook his head. 

                "You don't have to win this one, either.  But you two had better come close." He warned. I smiled, as I looked to Allete.  Her breathing was slowing.  It was something she did before every fight. Literally. Every. Single. Fight.  I never saw her lose her head in one, either.  Maybe this breathing technique had something to do with it. 

                "Does it help you? Keeping a level head in a fight?" I asked her.

                "Does it help you to go bat s**t crazy?" She asked.  I started laughing uncontrollably.

                "I've never heard you use that sort of language." I gasped between breaths.

                "Cal." She muttered. "Stop laughing." I couldn't stop. "Seriously." She elbowed me. "They think we're laughing at them."  It took me a few more seconds to calm down, I looked over at them to see pure hatred.

                "You think I care?" I asked. She squeezed her eyes shut.

                "Well now they're gonna be out for blood." She warned through her teeth.

                "It's a good thing that you keep your cool then, huh?" I asked.  She took in an abnormally deep breath. 

                "They're short. We can take 'em."  I said.

                "You're short, and you're a demon." She said.

                "Excuse me? I am average." I stated, proudly.

                "Whatever. You're short to me." She said.

                "Are you two ready to begin?"  A mentor asked from the ceiling. He sounded annoyed. "Or are you going to talk all day?"

                "We were just waiting on you." I yelled up.  For a brief, brief moment I thought Allete was going to kill me.  And then his voice resounded throughout the room.

                "Begin."

 

                Allete was right about them being out for blood. They charged us like bats out of hell.  Allete took a defensive stance, as I returned the charge.  I jumped over one with a front flip, which worked for causing him to stop in his tracks. He turned to face me as I cleared him, throwing a spinning hook while airborne.  He hit the ground. 

                "What the heck was that?" I heard Artemis laughing as he exclaimed this.

                "See, I was right Allete!" I yelled. "No one actually keeps practicing. They're slow."

                "Shut up!" She yelled back, while dodging a flurry of punches. I killed my opponent, to make sure she remained unconscious.  I started walking over to Allete, preparing to help if I saw it fit.  The two ended up on the ground, which was always great for Allete.  She turned the tables and quickly choked her opponent out.  The whole thing was over in roughly a minute.  We both looked up at the panel. The judges were frowning.  I felt a pit in my stomach as I looked to my friend.  She didn't look down, her face stone.  She was feeling the same thing.

                "You two have failed to prove you're ready." The spokesman said.

                "How so?" I asked.  Allete sighed.

                "We did it too quickly." She muttered. "They didn't get to see what we were capable of." My jaw clenched at her words. She was right. 

                "You simply caught them off guard." He said.  My next emotion was anger. I was about to lash out when Allete spoke instead.

                "That's their fault for not taking us seriously."  I looked over at her, surprised to hear her talking back. She had a good point, though.  The spokesman looked surprised as well.

                "You mean to tell me you're going to punish us for their failure?" She asked.  "How about you have us fight someone else?" She opted. 

                "It's moments like these that I'm really grateful for your collected nature, Allete." I whispered. She smiled just enough for me to see it. 

                "Very well, you'll face our newest mentor.  Should you lose to him, you'll have to wait five more years to test out again. If you win, you pass." He said.

                "Five years?" I exclaimed.  "The usual is three months."

                "Then the choice is up to you.  Wait three months and test again, or fight now and risk five years."  My anger was quickly returning, as I looked to Allete. 

                "They just don't like us." I said.

                "Maybe you shouldn't have been so arrogant." She said.

                "I know that now." I muttered.  "So I'm leaving this choice up to you." I said.  By some incredulous twist of fate, one of the mentors spoke a little too loudly.

                "Do they really think they can take a mentor in any way, shape, or form?" He stated, just within earshot.  Had he not said this, had there been silence, as was intended, I could bet my life that Allete would've chosen to wait three more months. It's nothing in comparison to five years.  It's nothing in comparison to one hundred.  But she heard this as well as I did.  I'm not the only one to suffer from the sin of pride. She got a smile that I'd never seen before.

                "You think we can take him?" She asked.

                "Well, he is new. But what about those last fifty years of training?" I asked.

                "Those are predominantly in spiritual combat, I assume, considering that mentors don't usually go into human forms when going to earth." She said.  I returned the smile.

                "Well, I suppose we know what all those nights spent training were for, now." I said.

                "Cal, you're the better fighter, by far." She paused.  I opened my mouth to argue. "No, Cal, seriously.  You train way more.  You're absolutely ridiculous.  Be honest, how do you feel on this?" She asked.  I nodded, and she smiled.

                "We'll take that offer." She yelled up. I heard Artemis laugh.

                "There ya go, girls!" He shouted down. The spokesman looked pissed.

                "You two will learn the dangers of pride." He said.  Artemis' face shifted instantly.  It was the only thing I found unsettling.  A moment later a man with messy brown hair and eyes to match walked in.  He was huge. 

                "So this could be a challenge." I said.

                "Ya think?" She breathed out. 

                "We got this." I said, encouragingly.  "It's two vs. one. We just have to work as a team. We've been doing it for fifteen years, now."

                "He has nearly three hundred years on us, Cal." She said.

                "Now is not the time to doubt our decision." I responded. 

                "Point."

                "Begin." The voice resounded.  I moved to tae kwon do, which never failed to be my favorite.  We stepped in to flank him.  I remembered fighting Artemis. He couldn't be nearly that intense. 

                And he wasn't.

                We both pressed.  As he dodged one blow another one was there demanding to meet response.  His experience aided him, though.  He remained only bruised for at least five minutes straight. It was exhausting.  Eventually our effort grew tired, and in turn weak.  He caught Allete off guard and lunged.  I think everyone heard her ribs crack beneath his knee.  I tried to throw a kick, but he grabbed my leg without looking. I was too predictable in my choice.  I brought my other leg up and took him down to the ground with me.  Unfortunately, he never lost his grip on my leg.  He switched into a lock and snapped it. I couldn't help but scream from the pain. He stood up and started to move toward Allete, who was rising as well.  If he took one of us down, that would be it. 

                "You should have killed me, you b*****d." I said, as I used my good leg to dive, just reaching his legs.  He tripped, and fell face first.  Allete didn't hesitate in placing her knees on his elbows, and snapping his neck in his brief moment of defenselessness.  There was silence for a good ten seconds, as I laid there, my face in the dirt.  I felt a pair of hands pull me up.  Allete acted as a crutch.

                "We passed your stupid test." She said, before walking us out.

 

Author's Note

Again, please ignore grammar. Any other constructive criticism or opinions are always greatly appreciated.