Chapter 9

Maria stared at the Gamemaker; trying not to look scared or like she had done something wrong. Crossing her arms over her chest, she gave him the impression like she was bored and couldn´t wait until this conversation was over and she could go back to her training; even though she was shaking like a leaf on the inside. The way Nasedo was gazing back at her wasn´t helping her either. It was like he was trying to memorize her. It was unnerving and she felt like doing something just to avoid his attention.

" You look like your father", carefully he stretched his arm out and put it on her face, the same place Rath had done a few moments earlier. " you have his eyes and nose. And that same defiant look", a quiet chuckle escaped his mouth, lightening his expression.

Maria sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of her father and she had to do everything in her power not to step back from him. He hadn´t been the first one to tell her that she was a replica of her biological father, but he was the first alien that had ever expressed that to her face. " You knew my real Dad?"

Nasedo nodded and for a moment his eyes were clouded with something dark before it vanished as fast as it had come. Then he smiled at her, a real smile and it was transforming his whole person into another being; it wasn´t so normal for aliens to display any human expressions. " Yes, he was my son".

" Son? That means you´re my…grandfather?".

Nasedo was amused about her reaction, but glad that she wasn´t so disgusted like he had imagined. He knew what humans or half-breeds really thought about them and he couldn´t blame them for that; his race hadn´t been exactly nice to them from the beginning and he wasn´t the only one to think like that. Unfortunately voicing their opinion hadn´t never been clever and some had disappeared forever. " I wish we would have met under different circumstances".

Maria didn´t know what to do; should she embrace him or slap him or just faint. All of those were an option at this point, because she felt like she was in some alternative universe. Breathing deeply in and out to keep the slight panic at bay, she decided to try to act like her Dad would do. " Why have I never heard anything about you? I knew I had a grandfather, but you never made contact, not even when my father died. Where have you been?".

" It´s complicated, I shouldn´t even be here with you, but believe me when I say it was safer for you and your family that I stayed away. The less the others know about my involvement with you, the better for you. But I needed to see you, especially after I learned about the new rules. I had to make sure that you´re okay and that you know that not you have a few supporter in your corner", Nasedo saw the response from the audience about the new rules and it was already clear that Maria was high on the list to be a candidate for the games.

Maria was sick of people trying to protect her; at first Rath with his keeping his distance from her and now her own grandfather. Didn´t they think she was old enough to make that decision for herself? She was well aware of the fact that it wasn´t really good for her to be related to an alien or that it wasn´t exactly smart to start something with her instructor. But this was her life and her decision and if she wanted to risk it, then it was in her hands not theirs. " Thanks for the information. Glad you decided to let me in on that before I will be sent to my death".

Nasedo should have been extremely angry at her response, but in her behavior he saw his son and it was like being with him again. Despite having grown up with another man, she had so much traits from her father that it was unmistakable who she was belonging to. " I´m sorry you feel like that, but it was for the best. After Bobby died I was afraid that they found out about him being a half-breed and I couldn´t risk making contact with you. I feared that they would realize what was going on and you would be the next to vanish".

" My Dad was a half-breed? And he was killed? So those rumors about the hunting of half-breeds are true?", no wonder her mother had been so paranoid with her and Sean all her life. She had always told them to stay away from large crowds and even forbid them to use their powers at all.

Nasedo glanced around; it wasn´t so safe here and the less they talked about half-breed the better. He didn´t trust anyone at this point; everyone could be stabbing you in the back without blinking. " Could you lower your voice, it´s not exactly smart to blurt things like that out on this ground. People have disappeared for less reason, but to answer your questions. Yes, yes and yes".

Maria felt slightly stupid for her behavior; usually she was more careful. But to her defense, the information she had received had thrown her out of loop. It wasn´t everyday that you found out your father was a half-breed and got killed because of that. " Wait; if my Dad was just a half-breed why do I have powers? Shouldn´t I be like normal?".

" I don´t have a clue about how that works", Nasedo had no idea how their genetic worked. Sometimes it happened that two aliens created a child with no powers at all, so it was hard to say why things happened like they did.

Maria was more confused like before, but she felt slightly better to know that she had one person she could ask if she would have more answers, even though she had no idea how she could contact him. It wasn´t like she could walk up to those aliens and tell them she wanted to talk to her grandfather. " I wish I could ask you more questions, but I think it will be suspicious if I miss more time in training. Is there a way I can reach you?".

Nasedo tapped her head with finger. " If you want to see me, just think about a place and a time and I will know it".

" That´s a cool trick; maybe someday you show me that", Maria smiled at him, trying to decide if it was too soon to give him a hug. Thankfully the decision was taken out of her hand when Nasedo wrapped his arms around her and whispered that she should be careful and to stay in contact before he walked away from her.

Training room

Rath was pacing the length of the room; up and down and back again. Isabel was eyeing him in annoyance and the rest of the chosen were too busy with their training that they didn´t even realize what their instructor was doing.

" Would you stop it! You´re driving me crazy", Isabel finally lost her patience and snapped at him. She knew that he was worried about Maria, but the girl was more than capable to take care of herself.

Rath glared at her, but stopped his pacing and stared at the door. He shouldn´t have left her alone with the Gamemaker; he should have insisted to stay with her and don´t let her out of his fucking sight. She was a trouble magnet and god knew what she was getting herself into again. Every time he was not with her, she came back with more bruises. " What is taking so long? Do you think I should check out what they´re doing?".

Isabel shook her head; wondering if he sometimes stopped to listen to himself. That wasn´t the guy she had met three years ago; the badass who was barking his orders and wasn´t taking no for an answer. Now he was worried about a girl? " I think you should get your head out of your ass and into the game again".

" Now it´s not the time for your smartass remarks", Rath pointed a finger at her. He was on the brink to do something unthinkable, there was no need for her to tell him thinks he already knew. Of course he should concentrate on his other chosen as well, he was aware of that, but at this moment he didn´t care.

Isabel was just about to give him a great comeback when the door opened and Maria stepped inside the training room, her whole face glowing and no fresh bruises on her skin. Turning to her co-instructor, she gave him the see-she´s-fine-and-you´re-looking-like-a-fool-expression; the one she had perfected over the years with him. " She´s in one piece and not hurt in any kind. Can you finally start doing what you´re paid for?".

Rath flipped her the bird before he dashed across the room in record time and stopped directly in front of the girl that was slowly driving him crazy. His first instinct was to put his arms around her, but he knew that he couldn´t, not with the room full of people, especially when everyone had abandoned their training to watch them. " Are you okay? What did Nasedo want? Did he threaten you?".

" Don´t worry, everything is fine. But I can´t talk about it here", Maria was amused about his behavior and partly pleased.

Rath nodded in understanding; he would have time later to talk to her when they did their secret power training in the shed. Feeling the eyes of every person drilling in the back of his head, he straightened his posture and glared down at her. " Get in line blondie! We´re not on vacation here! Move it!".

Maria would have kicked his ass if she wouldn´t know that it was all an act. He had to play the tough instructor in front of the others and she was okay with it; especially when it meant to stay in her character as well and she loved to tease him. " Don´t get your panties in a twist. I´m here, aren´t I".

" Don´t get smart with me. Now get going", Rath motioned with his head in the direction of the others; giving her his stern instructor look. One day he would use that fiery passion from her in some bodily activity and he would enjoy every second of it.

Maria smiled brightly at him before making her way towards her companions. Mason was instantly at her side and put his arms around her middle. With the whole drama the last few days she hadn´t been able to spent as much time with him and she felt slightly bad about it. " Hey buddy; how is your progress?".

Mason gave her a toothy grin; glad that she appeared to be better now. She had scared him when she had just taken off and he thought he would never see her again. She was the only one here that was making him feel at home and he didn´t want to lose that. " I´m getting better".

" That´s great", ruffling his head, she laughed when he tried to swat her hand away; so much like Theo that it was adorable. Kneeling down so that she was eye level with him, she gave him an apologetic look. She was sure that he probably hadn´t understood her action from before. " Sorry about the drama. I lost my cool for a moment. It won´t happen again, I swear".

Mason just nodded; he had been afraid that she was gone, but he would have understood it. He may be still young, but he had instantly realized what was going to happen from now on, especially when he saw everyone staring at her. Even their instructor had been worried and that had scared him even more. But she was here and it was making him feel more at ease. " It´s okay. Next time you freak out, I will just have to follow you".

Maria was touched about his attachment to her and she was again reminded about the little guy that was sitting at her home and was waiting for some proof of life from her. Theo may have just gotten some competition for her affection. " That won´t be necessary, but thank you for your offer".

" Hey, no dawdling! We´re not here for the fun of it!".

Mason immediately scurried away when he heard Rath´s voice. He didn´t need any problems with him, the guy was already scary enough when he was calm; he didn´t want to find out how their instructor was when he was pissed off. So in order to not get lectured, he went back to Zoey and they both started with their sword practice again.

Maria rolled her eyes at the barked order and calmly made her way towards Josh and Max. Both guys were in the middle of hand to hand combat training. It was rather sexy to see them wrestling with each other and if she wouldn´t be already occupied with naughty thoughts about someone else, she would have probably appreciated the sight more. " Can anyone join in on the fun or is this a private party?".

" For you I would make an exception", Josh swiped the sweat from his forehead and gave her what he surely thought was an sexy smirk.

Maria tried to keep her amusement off of her face; Josh hadn´t learned anything about her at all. Yeah, they got along better and he wasn´t the asshole she thought he was anymore, but that didn´t mean he wasn´t sometimes slipping back into his old douche bag self. " Oh Joshy, I hope you can handle two at once", as soon as the sentence was finished she attacked.

Josh dodged the blow in his direction and dished out a few of his own moves, which didn´t even come close to his target, which in return was making him extreme angry. He wouldn´t let a girl make him look like a fool in front of his instructors and fellow companions. It was bad enough that she had beat them all with the weapons, but he wouldn´t let himself get beat up from someone half his size.

" Okay, I think I will find something else to do", Max backed away from the two and was about to turn to Liz when Maria kicked Josh to the ground and was whirling on him. Before he was able to process anything, she had grasped his arm and was throwing him on the ground. " Damn woman, that hurt".

Maria smirked down at him before helping him up again. Out of the corner of her eyes, she noticed movement and instantly turned around to intercept the lifted fist coming her way. With the ease of a boxer she eluded the punch, slipped under the arm and then rammed her shoulder in her opponent's stomach, which made him fall on his ass yet again. Fortunately for her she was able to keep her balance and glanced around for someone else trying to attack. But all she could see was everyone else being really busy with their own battles and so the only ones having witnessed her little show were the instructors.

Rath was inwardly beaming with pride at her. He had been able to teach her something at all in those short few weeks. If she wouldn´t be so cocky and silly sometimes, she would have been a star pupil. But unfortunately she was about to learn not to underestimate an opponent. Josh had used her distracted state and swiped her legs away under her.

" Ouch", Maria had fallen right on the tailbone and it was hurting like bitch for a moment. Before she could however check if she was able to move her ass, Josh was sitting on her body and was grinning in delight down at her. " That was very good".

Josh took her hands and put them on either side of her head, trapping her on the ground. Bending down so that they were really face to face, he gave her a superior look, like he had done something of epic proportion instead of just overpowering her for a moment. " Oh I like this position. Makes me feel really manly", bowing his head deeper, he kissed her, thrusting his tongue in her mouth. " You taste just as delicious as I imagined".

Maria was shocked and repelled that he just did that. Without thinking she lifted her knee and kicked him so hard in his balls that he was rolling off of her and tears were streaming down his face. Turning him around from his fetus position she punched him in the face for good measure. " If you do that again, you need to dislodge your balls from your throat".

" Hey, I think we all know the winner", Rath pulled her from the ground and kept her arms in his grip so that she couldn´t do anymore damage to the poor guy. Not that he was sorry about the bastard, he deserved it and even more for just macking on her, but it would´t look good if they only had five chosen tomorrow when the TV crew was coming.

Maria was surprisingly not fighting the hold on her and just stared at Josh with disgust. How dare he put his toxic lips on her! Who did he think he was just forcing himself on her like that? " I´m good, but he better think what he´s doing before he´s in my presence again".

Isabel helped the hurt chosen on his feet and was carefully leading him in the direction of the infirmary. When she went past the other blonde, she gave her a proud smile and a thumb up. She would have done the same in her shoes. No girl liked to be viewed as an object and wouldn´t take it lightly when someone was just putting a kiss on her without her consent. She knew all too well how those male chosen thought about the female ones; especially when you were not so bad to the eye. She had needed a lot of thick skin to bear the comments about her body, her boobs or her face. It had been exhausting and only stopped when she showed them not to mess with her.

" Okay folks, continue. We don´t have a lot of time anymore", Rath let go of Maria and was pleased when she wiped furiously at her lips; while she hadn´t done that with his kisses.

Maria wished she could have some alcohol to get the taste out of her mouth. Shuddering at the mental image, which would be forever branded into her brain, she went to the other room. She needed to break something or she would blow something up with her powers. Taking the sticks, she went to the dummies at the wall and flailed at it with a vengeance. Over and over again she let her anger out on the objects in front of her, picturing one particularly face.

Rath had followed after her to make sure that she wouldn't blow anything up. In the shed it wasn´t so bad, but here it would raise too many questions Watching her from the door, he was stunned how much her body had changed. Now when she punched, kicked or beat up dummies, all of her muscles were working in perfect synchronization. Gone was the delicate pixie and had made place for his little warrior princess.

" Don´t just stand there and stare at me like a creeper. If you have to be here than be useful and teach me something new", Maria paused in her attack momentarily and wiped the sweat from her face. Some of her anger had simmered down, but there was still a lot left.

Rath smirked at her words and wordlessly made his way towards her. Stepping directly behind her, he took her wrists in his hands and lifted them. " You´re too uncontrolled in your attack; you´re letting anger cloud your senses. Brute strength is good, but not always helpful. You have to be smart and effective. You don´t want to tire too much by blindly pouncing on an opponent. You want to injure him with as little as possible strikes"

Maria barely registered what he said; she was too distracted from his close proximity and the way his hard body was feeling. Him breathing on her neck wasn´t helping the matter and she felt her brain turning to mush and her thoughts going to places she hadn´t known existed. How did he do that to her? Usually she wasn´t so easily sidetracked, especially knowing the reason why she was here in the first place. " Okay and what should I do instead?".

" Focus your anger in another direction", he breathed in her ear, guiding her hands to strike at the three most sensible spots on the human body; the side on the throat, the temples and the nose. " It won´t kill, but gives you more time to finish them off".

Maria was sure her body temperature was so high that she would burn through her clothes. The bastard knew what he was doing to her and she let him; partly because she was curious how far he would go and partly because she enjoyed this little game; and the fact that he wasn´t so unaffected from her according to the erection pressing into her behind. " That sounds promising. But I could just do that to distract my opponent", letting one of the sticks drop to the floor, she moved her hand around her side and grasped the bulge digging into her.

Rath sucked in a deep breath to keep himself from moaning at the contact. For a moment he was tempted to let her pet him to see how far she would go; but then he heard the others in the next room and he remembered where they were and what was at stake. So with great effort he took her hand and gently pushed it away from his best friend. " this only works when your opponent is really close and believe me, the last thing on his mind will be sex".

" I don´t know", Maria turned around and glanced at him innocently while she trailed a finger on his chest area. " Maybe I should stop steeling my body and instead use it to lure male contestants in my trap", slithering herself like a snake on him she gripped his hands and put it on her hips, dangerously close to her bottom. " I could make them think they could score and then when they´re ready to rip my clothes off, I could do that", without any warning she flipped him over her shoulder and threw him on the ground.

Rath cussed a blue streak when he got air back into his lungs again. That was his punishment to let her beautiful face and her daring body fool him. She was good, he had to give it to her, but it wouldn´t benefit her in the arena. All male chosen were intent on killing not scoring with a girl; he was speaking from experience. " You got me; but you´ve been lucky. You used my attraction to you against me".

Maria thought her cheeks would probably hurt tomorrow from her big smile. He was just too cute when he was in a snit; made her glad that she grew up with male friends or all that cursing would have shocked her into the next millennium. Offering him her hand, she helped him up. " Isn´t that what you told me; to outsmart my opponent? I took the advantage I had and used it against you".

" I swear one day I´ll figure you out woman", Rath patted the dirt from his pants and tried to repair his slightly damaged ego. No one had ever put him on his back in all those years and she had done it twice; he had to do something or his reputation would be going down the drain.

Maria was about to tease him a little bit more when Mason sprinted into the room and hid himself behind her. Seconds later Zoey was following him and her expression did not look very friendly. Keeping one hand on the small boy´s shoulder, she used her other one to stop the girl. " Hey, hey, hey. What´s going on?".

Zoey was pointing to her left shoulder where a small tear in the t-shirt and some blood was visible. Thankfully she wasn´t hurt or she wouldn´t be able to glower angrily at her fellow chosen with such intensity. " He nicked me. He was retailing for last time".

" Is that true?", Maria spun her head to look at Mason; even though she knew that he would never do something like that and she saw him shake his head in negative, appearing rather remorseful than vicious to her. " He didn´t mean it. It was just a little accident. Do you need the infirmary?".

Zoey glared at the taller girl, totally ignoring the reason for her bad mood for the moment and focusing all her anger towards someone else. It was strange, because the little one was usually a really nice person and wasn´t exactly mean to others. " Yeah take his side, like you always do. You just care about him and no one else".

Maria was taken aback from the comment and it bothered her more than she wanted. Did it really appear like she just cared about Mason? Okay, she had a really strong bond with the boy, but that didn´t mean she only cared about him. She liked the others just as much, even if that didn´t look like it all the time. Had she overlooked the little girl so much that she felt left out? " Why would you say that? I care about everyone".

" Oh really? I don´t see it".

Rath had enough from the little troublemaker and stepped in her view. Glaring down at her, he tried to be the tough instructor, but not so bad like with the older chosen. He had to remember that she was just a little girl, scared and in dire need of someone to hold onto. Apparently that had been Maria and she had failed to notice it. " It´s over; you got your opinion across to her and now I think it´s time to get back to your training"

Zoey made the impression like she wanted to defy him and have the last word in this. But then she whirled around and marched with quick steps into the next room. Maria was following her with her eyes until she disappeared behind the door and her expression was sad. She didn´t want to hurt anyone; that wasn´t her intention at all. Why hadn´t she noticed sooner what was going on? She was usually more in tune with the feelings of others.

" It´s not true", Mason took her hand and gave it a squeeze. When he saw her questioning glance, he continued. " I see that you care about everyone. She just misses her family".

Maria tried to give him a small smile, but her heart wasn´t really into it and that made it come out more than a grimace in the end. But apparently it was convincing enough for her little friend and he was making his way to the others. That only left her with Rath in the room. For a few seconds they both didn´t say anything until Maria couldn´t stand the silence anymore. " She´s right. I care more about him than anyone else. I like the others, but I don´t think so much about what happens them, not like I think about Mason".

Rath knew that already; he had watched her and saw the way she was around the little guy. They shared something very rare and really beautiful. It was so unusual that the chosen formed such a tight group like this one had done, but Mason and Maria were something else entirely. " You see your little brother in him and you still want to protect him. That´s the reason why and him have such a deep connection".

" I know, but that doesn´t justify my behavior. She´s still young and needs someone to hold onto her", she had to remember that the next time. They were all in the same exact situation and they had to band together in order to survive this.

Rath pulled her flush against his body and breathed in her clean scent. He hated when her eyes got that glassy look and he was afraid that she would be crying every moment. Brushing his fingers through her blonde hair, he felt her relax in his arms. " You need that, too".

Maria hadn´t realized how much she had missed this; just being with someone and knowing that nothing bad would happen as long as the person was there. The last time she felt that had been with her family, right before she got shipped away. In that moment she really started to miss her family and a sob escaped her, but strangely no tears followed. " You´re really good at this hugging thing. I think I will keep you".

" oh yeah? Is that the only reason?", Rath was stunned how comfortable he felt with her this close. Usually he wasn´t the touchy kinda guy and he avoided any situation where he would run into the risk of getting hugged or patted, but with her he needed the contact more than anything.

Maria wouldn´t admit it, especially not to him, but his scent had a calming effect on her. This coupled with the beautiful rhythm of his heartbeat made her feel serene and safe; something she thought she would never feel towards anyone outside her family or friends. " No, you´re not so bad to the eyes either".

Rath acted shocked and pushed her slightly away from him to look at her face to give her the evil eye. " You just want me for my body".

" Well yeah. What else is there?", Maria bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from smiling at his expression. She needed to remain straight faced in order to convince him she was really serious about her statement.

Rath whirled around with a dramatic gesture and lifted his nose high in the air; crossing his arms tightly over his chest. He snorted like a girl at her words and gave her literally the cold shoulder; trying to act offended and angry. " I´m not an object. I have also feelings, you know?".

Maria chuckled at his antics and it just seemed to make him madder. Making her way towards him, she wrapped her arms around his middle from behind and kissed the back of his neck, which she just could barely reach with her shorter height. " Come on baby, you know I don´t mean it like that", she dropped her voice to sound more like a guy.

" Oh my god, that had been the worst impression of a dude I ever heard", Rath turned his body around, but made sure that her arms stayed around his body.

Now Maria was the one acting offended; she had been really good. It wasn´t her fault that he was deaf or didn´t know the difference between bad and good. " I was so awesome and you know it", to get her point across she glared at him.

Rath couldn´t help it; she was just too adorable when she tried to intimidate him with her tough girl persona, so instead of reacting to her game, his through her out of the loop with a kiss that left them both pretty much breathless and panting with lust. Just as he was about to decide to screw training and do something more fun, he heard someone enter the room and seconds later a throat was cleared.

" Sorry to interrupt; but I think you should come back".

Maria buried her burning face in Rath´s chest while she tried to picture the stunned Max had surely done when he saw what was going on. She would probably never live it down with the others and now that one of them knew it was just a matter of time before everyone else would be getting the memo as well. " Oh boy, it´s so embarrassing".

Rath chuckled, not just about her dramatic but the expression from their intruder. It had been a mix between slightly surprised and mostly knowing. It had been probably noticeable that something had been brewing between him and Maria for weeks. " I don´t know what you have to be embarrassed about; we were still dressed".

" That doesn´t matter", Maria looked up at him and rolled her eyes at his disbelieving glance. Men, they just sometimes didn´t get it. " Whatever, we should better go see what´s going on", with that she pushed away from him and marched in the other room. The second she stepped over the threshold, she felt the mood around her drop drastically and she instantly saw the reason for it standing at the entrance of the training room.

President Kivar

TBC