Hola! Bonjour! And that pretty much sums up my knowledge of languages outside of English. I've never felt so smart! :) Anywho, new chapter, yay! I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I haven't had one of these up for awhile so I thought it be best to remind you of me not owning Twilight or their characters. But in my mind I like to think so:)
Chappie 7
Lousy Lessons
BPOV
Song: Let the Flames Begin by Paramore.
"What the hell Zeno?" I could not believe what my ears had just heard. How long I'd be staying in troop one, he couldn't do that. Just because his pride was hurt that easily didn't give him the right to just cut me out.
"Bella, you have to understand that I am the captain, not you. I make all the decisions, so you trying to tell me what to do does not fly. I wanted James to not hold back because I knew that Edward could take it. I knew Edward was stronger than the usual recruits, he has a special power that you are underestimating."
I crossed my arms in front of my chest stubbornly. He made a little sense. It was out of line for me to try and change his mind, it was Zeno's decision and I should have respected that. But for him to go all the way and threaten to kick me out was still way too much of an overreaction.
"What's his power?" I had to admit I was a little curious now. Edward had a power that made him strong enough to go against James on the first day? I'll give it to you, James was not the best fighter in the world, but he was enough to have a secured spot in troop one, which meant he was pretty damn good.
"That is for him to tell, not me." Wow, pretty damn good time for him to start being respectful and sensible.
"Whatever, that's fine let him tell me. But you still have to tell me why you think it's necessary for me to be thrown out of the troop."
Zeno frowned and seemed to think something over. "I think you misinterpreted me."
"No, you said we have to talk about just how long I will be staying in troop one. What is there to mistake?"
"Ah," Zeno's face cleared, "I think it was I who made the mistake. I didn't mean it that way; I would never kick you out of the troop Isabella. You are much too powerful and too great of an asset. I'd be out of my mind to kick you out. What I meant, and I badly worded it, was how your history in this troop will go on. As in, how long you will remain second in command."
Now it was my turn to frown. Okay, so his fault to wording his sentences badly, that's fine we all do it. But now I'm not second in command?
"Isabella please don't jump to conclusions here, I'm not taking your position away; I'm just warning you. You are not captain yet, you still have another year. So in the meantime all my decisions are final and you cannot try and change them. Your opinions are plenty welcome, but your stubbornness is not."
"Fine, but next time a simple warning would suffice. You kind of blowed this way out of proportion. If you had just explained like you did now, this never would have happened."
I didn't wait for a response, mostly because I didn't want one. I was sick of captain good with words over there that seemed to always know exactly what to say and how to word it. So why did he mess up just a few moments ago?
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts and getting ready for my training time, as good as I was, I still had room for improvement.
Emmett was waiting for me on the outside of the arena, silently staring at the floor.
"You two lovebirds all right?" I gave him a fake scowl and leaned against the wall, examining Edward and James's fight.
"Yea, everything's just peachy," my words came out a little bitter, but I was never one to try and disguise my feelings, "how has he been doing?" I nodded towards Edward, realizing I had missed most of the fight already.
"He's been holding up great. It's amazing actually; nothing James tries seems to work on him. He fakes left, Edward's already anticipated it. He goes for a kick, Edward's ready to block. His reaction time is just amazing really. It's something else."
"Yea, it really is," I mumbled, watching the fight in close detail.
It truly was amazing; Edward was ready for anything James threw at him. Things even I had troubles at in the beginning. It's like he knew every move James was going to make before James did. It was almost as if he knew what was going to happen next. Psychic?
"Stop!" We all directed our attentions to Zeno, who now stood a few feet away from the four fighters in the center of the arena.
"You all did very well, but now we'll make it harder. Sam, you're against Jacob now. Edward, you're against me."
EPOV
Fighting was such a rush. The adrenaline pumping through my veins, the nerves on high, the anticipation for the next move to come, it was intoxicating.
James was a worthy opponent, fast clever and strong, but he seemed frustrated that he couldn't get by me. Of course he had no idea that I was reading his mind the whole time and in reality I knew every move he was going to make before he did.
I reveled in the praises from the thoughts of everyone else watching. Emmett was stupefied, Zeno was proud, Rosalie was indifferent, and everyone else seemed just amazed.
Although I was still at a loss for Bella, I could read everyone's minds so well, but not hers. It was almost as if she had some sort of shield blocking my powers. I found myself so concerned to read her thoughts that I blocked out everyone else's, which is why I did not see it coming.
"Edward, you're against me." Zeno's words cut through me like a knife. I was going to fight against Zeno? The captain of troop one, possibly the most powerful being in this school? Did someone want me to die?
I glanced through my troop members faces; they all seemed surprised and worried, even Jacob looked somewhat fearful. Then the ever so mysterious Bella surprised me again, she didn't look surprised or afraid at all. If anything, she looked happy, smug perhaps? Whatever it was it almost boosted up my confidence, goodness knows I needed it.
Zeno walked towards me confidently, ready for a fight. I started to block out everyone and everything around me, all my attention needed to be on Zeno and Zeno only. I shut out everyone's thoughts, zeroing in on his.
Zeno's thoughts seemed more organized than others; most peoples' thoughts were just random things that pop into their brain. Zeno seemed to have control of what popped in and out, almost as if it fit into a certain category.
His thoughts came out in words and pictures, fitting into certain places. With a mind like his, you would think he was some revolutionary brilliant being who would change the world. Maybe he was.
I pushed it all away though and centered in on one part of his brain, the fighting part. He was going to start out easy, holding back slightly and with a punching combination. He would fake left, then hit with his right. The he would fake down, and uppercut with his right and left swing following.
I prepared myself, not flinching as he faked, and then dodging the punch that followed. Carefully watching his fake down, then blocking his uppercut and dodging the blow that followed.
Although his thoughts moved much faster than James, the minute I blocked he came with another, giving me only a moments notice to block his blows. I prayed he wouldn't last minute change his mind, if he did I would have no chance at blocking that.
He seemed to think the same thought and at the last minute changed his punch to a kick and hit me full center in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and sending me back a few feet.
I wasn't prepared for the force behind the kick; he sent me sprawling on the ground and was on top of me moments later. Luckily I still knew what he'd come at me with and dodged it, pulling myself up just in time to block the next series if hits.
I felt my energy slowly wearing down; I still had plenty enough to finish this fight, but I wasn't sure if I had enough to win.
I decided it was time to stop being on the defense and switch to attack. Quickly blocking another kick I sent all my weight forward on my leg and punched with as much force as I could muster up.
Zeno was not expecting this and staggered back a moment, giving me enough time to develop another combination. I faked left then kicked his side with my right, causing him to hunch over. I grabbed his shoulders and pushed my knee up to his chin, causing him to step back. I took advantage of his pauses and hit, never giving him a chance to block.
I was winning, and I felt myself become confident that this battle was soon over, but I wasn't expecting what he did next.
He stopped suddenly, standing as still as a wall, and I hesitated a moment, wondering if I had hit too hard.
This moment was enough for him to use his next strategy, which was his power. Soon there was not just one Zeno, but ten of them surrounding me.
"It's only fair I get to use my powers if you get to use yours," he said menacingly, smiling cruelly.
From all sides and angles he attacked, each with a different thought, confusing my mind and giving me no time to formulate a defense strategy. Soon he was hitting me from all angles; I felt my knees give out, lunging me forward, a hit to my face, then my neck, then my stomach. Everywhere was being tortured.
Suddenly, thank goodness, everything stopped. All the attacks, all the torture and pain I endured was finished. I looked up to where Zeno and Bella were in the middle of a heated argument, Emmett trying to help me stand.
"What happened?" I asked him weakly, my voice hoarse.
"Bella's not happy at how long it took for Zeno to stop. Zeno does this to everyone, usually not on their first day, but you are different. He stops when he feels that there is no more likely chance of his opponent getting back up on his own, Bella thought he should have stopped a little sooner."
"But why would he do that?" Emmett was frowning, his lips scrunched to one side, he was thinking something over.
"I think what he is trying to do is cut the crap, in his own way. He wants to show you that there is always room for improvement, that at this point you are still learning and aren't ready to fight the real world just yet. He's dimming down the confidence so to speak."
It made sense, gosh I hated how everything Zeno did made sense. He was always mister right in everything; I was starting to hate his profound ways.
But why would Bella be mad about this. Like Emmett said, he did this to everyone, so why would Bella get upset? Unless, unless she cared.
Did Bella care about me, worry for me; secretly root for me in the battle? Was this her way of opening up, if only slightly, to me? I would have to ponder this, perhaps even ask her about it. And look who was walking right up to me.
Well this was not how I originally planned on ending this chapter. Originally there was a ton more drama, but I didn't feel like it worked a ton. Plus I wanted to extend the BellaxZeno relationship just a lil bit longer. Review what you think!
-Cole:)
