I was awakened quite rudely when an ear-piercing, siren-like alarm began blaring as loud as a fire house. I nearly fell out of my bed from the sudden sound. I grabbed for the pillow and stuffed it over my head but it did nothing to drain the sound. I growled and chucked the pillow at the wall.
"Shut. It. Off!" I roared, my voice sounding deadly. The alarm immediately shut off. I was finally able to think in peace. Judging from the gray sky outside my window, it was early in the morning. Maybe around 6. Who the hell wakes up this early, especially with that ridiculous alarm.
I layed my head to get back to sleep but a note began flying in front of my face. I narrowed my eyes and closed them until it was rubbing against my face, literally. I groaned and snatched the note from the air.
Today is the first day of your training. Please dress yourself in something that is suitable for exercising. Meet me in the training room at 7:00, sharp. If you are not on time, there will be consequences.
-E
Was he mad about what I said before?"Now I know why you're ruthless. You're sick." I admit, it was a bit harsh but what else could I say to someone who was complimenting me for killing a person? "Thank you"?Agreeing to be his wife was becoming harder and harder by the minute.
I walked to the little vanity closet that was filled with my clothes and looked for my sports bra and some shorts, but it seems that no one packed those. I had no other choice... I walked over to the closet that was fully packed with brand new clothes, outfits, and dresses. I easily found a hangered gray sports bra and pulled running shorts out. Then, after pulling a tank-top over my head, I made my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face.
Outside my door was a fresh tray of a beef and vegetable omelet with a glass of apple juice to the side. I quickly ate it then walked out my door only to remember that I had no idea where the training room was.
"Go straight towards the elevators and take it down all the way to the second training room. That is where Evander is awaiting your arrival." Josaf's sudden voice said, but when I turned around...he wasn't there. I listened to the voice went straight until I reached the elevator. The elevator had 5 levels and 4 underground levels, that required a finger-print to activate it.
Once the elevator opened, I saw Evander standing in the middle of the room, examining a long Japanese sword. When the doors opened, Evander turned around, looking as breath-taking as ever. He was wearing gray sweat-pants and a dark blue cardigan with no shirt or tank-top underneath. His gorgeous blonde hair was pulled to the back of his head in a short stub. But instead of the normal serious yet mischievous look in his eyes, there was complete concentration, seriousness, and anger... why do I feel so much anger radiating off of him?
"As I wrote in the note, today is the first day of your training. Your training is daily and will last for 2 to 3 hours. 1 hour will go to training your Gift, the other hour or hours will go to combat. During the time of your training, all of us Gods' will do our best to train you. I will personally only train you today and the last day of your training. Liliac, Josaf, and Darak will all teach you their own ways for the time of your training, giving you the utmost intelligence during a battle. With that said, let us begin."
Three targets appeared out of the walls, each appearing farther and farther away.
"Now, as you already are aware of this, once your power is trained, you will be able to do many things once your Gift is trained to do so. As you witnessed, you were able to drain that mans life and power, but that's nothing. Once we train your ability, you will be able to drain the life out of anything. Your power is quite extraordinary...and deadly."
"Define anything." I said, staring him in the eye.
"You will see for yourself. Now let us start. Your first lesson will be on how to drain the power of-"
"I already know how to do that much." I said, interrupting him. Evander's eyes sparked with anger. He closed his eyes and breathed out slowly, then opened them and looked at me.
"Do not interrupt me. Secondly, if you had let me finish, I would have said: your first lesson will be on how to drain the power of a God, seeing as I have witnessed that you have difficulty with doing that." Evander paused, "To begin with, focus on your core, as you normally do when you are going to use your Gift, and reach out to me."
I closed my eyes and felt my power stirring inside me. I allowed it to reach out to Evander. The power avoided him and searched for something else to drain. I furrowed my eyebrows and tried again. This time, I pushed outward with so much force that sweat lined my forehead.
"Calm down." his voice said through my layer of concentration, "Next, find my core. Feel my power in yours."
I did as he instructed. I felt his power clashing against mine. It was so overwhelming that I felt like I had to vomit. My power automatically retreated to me.
"Try again. You can do this." I forced my power to reach out to his, once again. This time, his overwhelming power reacted to mine. It sort of...reached out and met mine.
"Now try to tame my power." I focused on his power. My power was trying to control it but it couldn't. It kept dying it before the dulling even began.
"I c-can't!"
"Focus, Isabel." I took a deep breath and tried again. This time, his power was a little more even and less intense. My Gift circled his before luring inside of my core and away from his.
"Amazing." Evander whispered. When I opened my eyes, there were weak ringlets of water circling the air, threatening to break at anytime.
"I did it!" I exclaimed, grinning. Though, Evander didn't smile. He stared at me with eyes that still held anger and pain.
"Let us move on to combat training."
"It's been an hour already?"
Evander merely nodded. He shrugged off his dark blue cardigan and stared at me intently. I caught myself admiring body. It was cut perfectly with all the right muscle in all the right places. No! What are you thinking, Isabel!
"To get you warmed up, you will run two miles around this gym area. Your goal time I have set for you is 10 minutes, so I suggest you sprint."
My eyes widened, "You're joking, right? I refuse to run!"
Evander narrowed his eyes, "I will run with you."
"I didn't ask for this!"
"This is part of the agreement. Begin stretching." I flared my nostrils, this is for the people. I clenched my jaw and reluctantly stretched my deltoids, oblique's, and calves.
"Let us start." With that, my hell began. The next 10 minutes of my life, I struggled to keep up, frantically, with Evander, who, by the way, was going at a pace that would end us up at around 6 minutes. Giving up, I ended up barely reaching 10 minutes... then collapsing.
"Good work. Now stand up, this is not good for your legs."
I glared at Evander, "Screw my legs and screw this training!" I began to drag myself towards the door when Evanders voice stopped me.
"What are you going to do when the Other's show up, this time with an intent to kill you."
"Drain them."
"You will not get to train your Gift if you do not train your body as well." I clenched my jaw then got up.
"Fine. But first, get me water." I said, not joking around. Once Evander handed me the water bottle, I felt like I was in heaven. The burning in my throat began to subside slowly. After a couple moments, Evander asked,
"Do you have any sort of training in combat at all?"
I shook my head, "When I was younger I had practice in kick-boxing."
Evander sighed then ran a hand through his hair. "Let us work on your stance first. The basic stance you should take is to stand quite upright with your shoulders slightly hunched, your chins angled down, and your hands open and up by your chest." he adjusted my body the way it should be. "Your legs should be slightly bent. It's crucial that you focus your weight on the balls of your feet. My personal opinion is that it is in good practice to bend the knees in slightly to discourage kicks to your genitals, though you do not have to worry about that." I adjusted myself to how he described,
I couldn't prevent myself from chuckling at his pronunciation of 'genitals'. Evander looked at me with furrowed eyebrows, "What do you find so funny?" I shook my head,
"Nothing, nothing! Go on."
Evander nodded then continued, "Remember to keep your shoulders hunched and your chin down to help prevent painful punches to the jaw. The reason you keep your hands open and up is because it allows good defense and offense. The placement of your legs will allow you to move quickly and quite fluidly."
Admittedly, I was getting bored. Just like anyone else who was going to learn how to fight, I wanted action but of course, we have to work on the basics. The Others' won't have to kill me 'cause I think this boredom will...
"You are done, you may go."
I picked up my water bottle and was about to step out of the training room...
when I saw my father.