JUNE 29th 2006

Reyna would have never imagined something as simple and essential as breathing could have ever felt the least bit painful- well, not until that very moment at least.

With every ragged breath of air she took the more her throat burned, and it hadn't helped that her mouth was chalked full of dirt either. It took every ounce of strength in her body-it wasn't very much to begin with-to turn over and slowly but surely a mixture of phlegm, blood and the contents of her lunch splattered on to the dirt floor.

Oh, what a sight she was to behold.

"That's too bad," Olivia, her opponent for the day laughed, crossing her toned arms over her chest. "I was beginning to think that dirt was a rather befitting snack for you."

Truthfully, it wasn't very much of a fight to begin with and moreover a warmup on Olivia's part. Her rival stood two heads taller than her, and Reyna had already fancied herself to be rather tall to begin with. Olivia was muscular and battle-hardened in appearance whereas she stood as dainty and dreadfully skinny as a willow. It was no surprise that she hadn't put up much of a fight, even though she was the daughter of Bellona and all.

"Get up." Eunice, her senior and the centurion of her cohort barked, swiftly yanking her off the floor by the back of her elbow. "And go clean yourself up, that's an order."

"Some daughter of Bellona, huh?" Olivia scoffed back to the rest of her cohort, with some of Reyna's fellow legionnaires and comrades-in-arms snickering and nodding along.

Never in her twelve years of existence did she want to run away faster than she wanted to now, but of course before she could, the mixture of sweat, vomit and cheap perfume-which the members of her cohort had hastily put on before heading to the coliseum- caused another wave of nausea and queasiness to wash over her, all in which prompted a new surge of vomit to land not just on her but the people closest to her, which unfortunately was Olivia and her senior centurion.

And in short, that was how she lost the favour of Eunice and won the new alias Barf Queen.

Later that day she had spent way more much time then needed at the baths, scrubbing her face, legs and arms until they'd tinged with pink. She could barely recognize herself upon looking at her reflection in the mirror, what was once her voluminous and shiny locks- usually tied up in tiers of intricate braids wrapped neatly around her head- was now brittle and flakey and hung limply down her back, her nails were uneven with the tips blackened by dirt and soot and lastly her face, which was once clear thanks to Circe's chemical peels and intensive skin care regimen was now dull, blemish ridden and marred by black circles. To put it simply, she looked worlds away from how she used to look.

The following days' schedule wasn't that different then the day before, with it beginning with morning muster at exactly 6 o'clock followed closely by breakfast at the mess hall and then a routine check of the bunkers by Eunice and Khalil-whose name she had just learned yesterday- who also was the other centurion, and finally to end the morning a trip to the coliseum for training drills. Today they'd be training with the rest of the cohorts.

Having arrived at the coliseum everywhere she looked all she could see were centurions from different cohorts darting from station to station, helping legionnaires with their stances, posture, and weapon manoeuvres.

"Your arrow is angled to low." One centurion called out.

"Try to not make yourself too exposed."

"Work as a unit, if your partners defence is down so is yours!"

It wasn't until a while later when she got her first piece of advice from a centurion. Her wrist was beginning to swell and redden which was apparently due to her holding the sword wrong.

"May I?" Jason asked, motioning towards her sword.

Without a word, she placed her sword into his hands.

"Well you see, you place the hand you most frequently use at the top of the hilt, make sure your thumb is placed correctly at its side." Jason began, demonstrating it for her. "Also, your stance needs to be proper, we have to make sure that your weight and that of the swords' is evenly proportioned, and then place your other hand, the same way I've placed the other one at the bottom of the hilt-you see- it's fairly simple. Here, now you try." He said as he passed the sword over to her.

"Like this?" She asked gripping both of her hands on the swords handle.

"Almost." He smiled as he readjusted her fingers. "There, it's not so bad, huh? Try swinging it, you'll see the difference."

She did as she was told and swung the sword in the air and surprisingly it felt a lot less heavier then it had before and came a lot more naturally as if the sword itself was an extension of her own arm, a part of her own body.

"Better?"

"Better."

"Good, and make sure you don't over work yourself by too much, your wrist is already swollen so take it easy." He smiled again.

"I will." She promised, before he dashed off to help the next group of legionnaires, sparing him one last glance before returning to practice. Under the sun, Jason's hair shone like platinum gold and his eyes blazed a radiant hue of blue. While the other instructors almost always spoke in brisk and harsh words, Jason always spoke in the same voice, one that was gentle and reassuring. To everyone. He was truly charming in every way imaginable.

Hopefully she'd get him next practise and not Eunice, with her disapproving glances, impatient gestures and sharp voice. Reyna could get use to Jason smiling at her every morning.

Hey you guys! Thank you for sticking around to read all the way to this chapter! If you are wondering why the title of this fic is what it is it's because this is going to be an 18 chapter story and I'll leave the rest for you guys to guess. Anyway reviews and feedback would be much appreciated!