Not All is Fair in Love and War

Chapter 20

News of Hailey's success had now thoroughly saturated Atlantica- Jim couldn't be prouder, Ariel couldn't be more fearful for her daughter's life. Ayden had sent private messages to his mother concerning what had happened after Hailey had gone supernova. Ariel urged her son to keep this as much of a secret as possible- if the enemy knew of this Hailey ran the risk of being kidnapped.

Alexander, Lomi and Trip took great care in making sure that at least in Tezrah it was the name 'Mirage' that was given the credit. But soon enough they were headed home.
"Man I wish I could have been there to see Hailey go ballistic." Lomi admitted.
"I'll bet her Father couldn't be prouder." Trip added.
"Yeah but you guys don't know her Mother." Alexander countered.
"What about her?" Trip asked
"Mothers always worry." Alexander replied.
"Well that's understandable." Lomi added.
"But I don't know if Ayden told his mother about the rest time Hailey took to come back. Because if word gets out that she's that vulnerable after a battle we run the risk of the enemy trying to either kill her while she's out or kidnap her and hold her for ransom or even worse, defeat." Alexander solemnly stated. They all took a moment to let that sink in. Hailey had now become an extremely valuable asset while having a handicap of being down and out after the fight.

Alexander, Lomi and Trip were now almost home- once there Lomi and Trip would be debriefed and sent to her location.
Meanwhile, Hailey was making many friends with her comrades, which only slightly eased the ache in her heart from missing Ishmael so much. Especially Bade for some reason- he thought she was just the coolest, baddest chick in the seas. He was turning out to be a class clown and comedian which Hailey couldn't be more grateful for, she found his sense of humor and sense of sarcasm so refreshing- and she loved the fact that she wasn't immune to any of it. Because she knew that guys just rip on each other all the time but none of it was ever taken seriously or personally. It was such a nice change from the palace where every comment had a double meaning- usually a hidden put down or a veiled threat in the middle of a compliment. But of course that can be the difference between power hungry, malicious girls vs. guys hanging out. But either way- Hailey loved this. She felt like she was, ironically, just one of the guys- that her title or her social status didn't mean jack out here- all that mattered was how you fought. And she fought with the best of them, in fact she found that in certain circles little play fighting rings would break out. Hailey found these irresistible and she would often privately pick the winner. But seeing how powerful and how deadly she could get with rapid acceleration- no one would challenge her. Finally Hailey summoned up her courage to get in the middle of the ring and made a proposal.
"I give my word to not to use any of my special powers and there will be a reward to anyone who can manage to beat me."
The guys just look at each other and so many of them just nodded to each other no. But then there was someone from the back who came forward, it was Lucian.

'Oh shit.' Hailey thought to herself, she didn't think he was in here let alone on this side of the camp.
"I've been wanting to do this since the first time I met you. Reward or not." He said, wrapping his knuckles in preparation for the fight.
"Fine- let me go get the reward." Hailey left and returned to her tent and went in her bag and found a bar of gold. She brought it back and offered it as a reward. The challenge was accepted and the two went to their corners. Bade took it on himself to be her coach.
"Hailey, have you ever done this before?" Bade asked as he wrapped her fists.
"Kind of...? I beat up Brutus back home. Plus I want to, I've kicked his ass before anyway. And if it will shut him up then all the better." She replied with a mischievous smirk and a wink.
"Well then, by all means, put him into the ground." Bade replied with a wink of his own.
"With pleasure..." She said her eyes getting brighter with excitement.

Then a bell was rung and round one commenced. She put her fists up to her face to block any shots given- then all of the fight training she received from Sephira and everyone else flooded her mind and she smirked with confidence. She faked left then right to watch Lucian's reaction. He finally couldn't take it anymore and took a swing at her, she dodged it and managed to push him into the ground and smacked his butt with her tail which made a crack loud enough for everyone to hear. The oohs poured out of the crowd. Lucian got up and made a run for her- he managed to pick her up and try to slam her to the ground but she wiggled out of his grip and used his own momentum to twist his arm around his back, hit him in the kidneys and put him into the ground again. He got up and tried to use some martial arts which she easily disarmed and blocked and finally head butted him and watched him stagger around as she tried to hold back her own laughter. Then he grabbed her fins and tried to throw her around the ring but she used the same trick she had used with Brutus. Seriously, he had been there for that, hadn't he learned? She slammed his face into the ground, hitting chi points as she did so, he was knocked out cold and the bell rung again and she had won round one. She went to her corner a little out of breath.
"Wow, those are some sweet moves, you got to teach me some of them, but later right now you are doing great, keep it up." Bade encouraged.
"Thanks, is he going to get up?" Hailey asked, leaning to look and make sure she didn't over-do-it.
"Yeah... eventually." Bade replied, eying Lucian carefully. Then Lucian got up and glared at her. She just smirked at him and waited for round two.
Finally the bell rang and she just circled him trying to psych him out. He made a grab for her tail and she pumped her tail to try and loosen his grip which when that didn't work she did a back flip and slammed him into the ground again and took him for a ride- the crowd went wild and she whipped her tail so hard it broke his grip and he crashed into the crowd. He went at her again and she just used her flexibility and moved out of the way and watched him crash into the other side of the ring. She went after him and picked him up and threw him to the ground and body slammed him but he managed to get a little kidney punch in himself. She yelped in pain and hit him in the face so hard she was surprised he still had his teeth. She went for his tail and tried to turn him into a pretzel. He finally tapped out. She let him go and went a little distance away so he could get back up- a referee came in and declared her the winner- it didn't even go to round three. She put her arms up in victory and gave a victory cry. Which was drowned out by the crowd. She got bum rushed again and her name got chanted again. She asked to get put down, she grabbed the gold bar and went up to Lucian.
"That took a lot of courage to stand up to me and I respect you for it. You deserve this more than I do." She held out the gold bar as a peace offering. Lucian looked at her surprised and confused but took it anyway. He nodded in acceptance. Then he did something completely unexpected... he hugged her. She was frozen at first and looked at Bade like-
'OMG- what do I do?' Then she relaxed and hugged him back. And just then Lomi and Trip came on the scene, they stop dead in their tracks and Trip looks at Lomi.
"What is Hailey doing hugging your brother? Like that? And why is he holding a gold bar? God he looks like he got beat to hell." Trip says, squinting to make sure he saw it right.

Lomi just stood there slacked jawed and said nothing. Lucian saw them and swam off in his brother's direction. Hailey once again was joined by Bade.
"Well... that was uncomfortable." He said.
"Tell me about it." Hailey replied as she watched Lucian, Lomi and Trip talk in the distance. Lomi looked completely appalled by whatever Lucian was saying.

"Oh boy, what am I in for...?" Hailey groaned.