A/N: I'm starting to feel the enjoyment I once had in making Fanfics including other people's OCs rekindle. So far, I have been doing well taking care of Koyukiy's Aria. I like to see how well that traitorous Luna"Shirayuki" thinks of me now after dropping that whole sexual abuse bomb upon me all those years ago.
Moving on, after many tensions, Team PASM are beginning to get along with their new member. Even Patrick and we all know just how well he's feeling about this.
Chapter 64: Workout
Nearly two weeks have passed since Aria joined Beacon. Ever since that night, Patrick, Selena, and Marlene have been getting along with Aria, and Aria is beginning to feel more comfortable with her new environment. Although she still feels uncomfortable being around Rayla and Patrick, since both of them scare her for different reasons.
Classes are now over and it's the beginning of the weekend. Teams PASM and CPER as well as Mashika and Marina are all in the training hall. Patrick and Selena observe Aria's combat style more. Earnest and Clawdia are helping Peter with further training of resisting the charm of pretty ladies. And Marina is doing more of her physical therapy.
The Beacon Nurse has Marina's wheelchair sitting on the end of a line of support railings, and Mashika is standing right in front of Marina. "Okay, Miss Sapphire. Let's try this again. This time, try your best and don't force it."
Marina nods. Marina grabs hold of the railings, then she pulls herself into a standing position. Marina quietly groans. Her legs are beginning to shake. Marina then takes the first step, letting out a painful groan. Her teeth start to grin as she tries to swallow the pain in her legs. Mashika slowly backs away as Marina steps forward.
"That's it, Marina, you're doing great." Mashika says. Marina takes longer to make the next step. On her last step, her body gives in to the pain and she nearly collapses. Mashika gasps seeing this. Marina nearly feels but she's still mostly standing from gripping on the railings. Marina starts pushing herself back to a standing position. "Marina, don't force it."
Marina speaks through the pain. "I...I have to...get better...I...have...to..." Marina takes one more step and that's when she fully collapses. But Mashika manages to catch her just in time.
Mashika then carries Marina back to the wheelchair. Realizing she's in Mashika's arms, Marina's face turns red and she lets out a soft shriek. Mashika puts Marina back in her wheelchair. "How'd she do, nurse?"
The nurse looks at her clipboard. "Well, aside from forcing herself at the end there, she managed to move five more inches than she did last week." The nurse turns her attention to Marina. "Miss Sapphire, you must understand you can't force yourself to recover quickly. If you do that, you'll only worsen your condition before you realize it."
"She's right. Remember, you have a frail condition. Pushing yourself too hard isn't good for your body at all." Mashika says. "Besides, doesn't forcing yourself feel too painful? I mean, bringing up how you grew up with your father."
Marina looks down with regret. "I'm sorry."
"Honestly. You must have your father's stubbornness." Mashika says.
Patrick and Aria's weapons are locked, each of them using all their strength to repel the other. Aria's strength overwhelms Patrick only slightly. Enough to cause him to slide back as she pushes him. Patrick breaks off the clash. He delivers several swings of his swords. Aria dodges each of them, then she sweep kicks him, only Patrick jumps over her leg just in time. That's when Aria uses her charged fist and punches Patrick during his avoidance.
Patrick gets knocked back and crashes against the wall, his Aura flickering. "Patrick's Aura is in the red zone. Aria wins the match." Selena says.
Patrick gets back on his feet and moves towards Selena and Aria. "Not bad, Stars."
"I-I-I...Thank you." Aria says with a respectful bow.
The three of them take a break, sitting down and rehydrating. While they're resting, they notice Marlene is sitting on the bench, looking depressed. "You okay, Marlene?" Selena asks.
"I'm fine." Marlene says.
Aria observes Marlene. "You say that, but...S-s-something's bothering you."
"Your sixth sense is really something." Marlene says.
Patrick crosses his arms. "All right, what is it?"
Marlene lets out a sigh. "It's just...I feel like I'm holding everyone back."
"That isn't true, Marlene." Selena says. "You are a vulnerable member of the team. And you're our friend too."
"It's easy for you to say." Marlene says. "Look around you. We're on our Second Year and I haven't once improved." Marlene turns her attention to Patrick. "Patrick, you're skills are sharper and quicker." Marlene turns her attention to Selena. "Sherry, you're more agile and your Semblance is approving." Marlene turns to Team CPER. "Our friends in Team CPER have some improvements of their own...well, maybe except Peter. But look at me: I'm not strong, I'm not fast, and even on our expedition, I couldn't keep up with anyone. And let's not forget how I got skunked. I don't even have my Semblance yet."
"W-w-well. If you do, I, uh, I-I-I'm sure it'll be neat." Aria says.
"Aria's right. I think it's really neat you came this far without a Semblance." Selena says.
"You say that like I've been doing most of the fighting." Marlene says.
"You may have been behind the lines, but you still had your moments. Like the Vytal Festival Tournament?" Patrick says.
"Yeah. The way you made those two guys took each other out." Selena says.
"Yeah, and took me along with them." Marlene says. "I appreciate what you guys are trying to do, but I know when I'm beat." And with that, Marlene depressingly leaves.
While Marlene is gone, Patrick, Aria, and Selena exchange looks. They can see Marlene's upset about being the weakest link on the team, something that not even her brains can compensate for.
On the very next day, it's only 3 AM. Marlene was dead asleep in her bed until her alarm clock went off at the stroke of 3. Marlene darted into a sitting position at the sound of the alarm. "Ah! General Ironwood! Sir! Huh?" Marlene looks at her alarm clock. She snoozes it and realizes the time. "3 AM?" Marlene yawns. "I don't remember setting the alarm for 3."
"You didn't. I did." Marlene rubs the sleepiness from her eyes to find Selena in her jogging uniform. "Morning, Sunshine."
"What's going on? Why did you set my alarm?" Marlene says tiresome.
"Well, you said you haven't physically improved. So I'm here to help train you." Selena says. Selena tosses Marlene a set of jogger clothes. "Now, come on. Get dressed and let's get to work before the sun rises." It takes nearly half an hour for Marlene to change and meet up with Selena. They both stand in the middle of the courtyard. Selena explains the basics of jogging to Marlene and she does her stretches. "Now, Jogging is all about building stamina and endurance. As long as you pace yourself, you will do just fine. Soon enough, you'll be moving long distances."
"You know so much about jogging." Marlene says.
"Well, it's an important exercise for Idols to take. It helps build our lungs for singing and endurance for long-term performances." Selena stands back up and does some jog-in-place warm-up. "Now that we are ready, it's time to get started. Since you're a beginner, I'll go easy on you. Just make sure you keep up."
In an instant, Selena starts running. Marlene panics at the sudden rush and starts running as well. Selena keeps her breathing steady as she moves. She's already on the next turn in her jog. "Let me know if you're feeling exhausted, Marlene." Hearing no answer, Selena looks back but she then comes to a stop seeing no one is behind her. "Marlene?" Selena then runs back. When she retraces her turn, she is surprised to find Marlene leaning on a lamp pole for support, breathing heavily. Marlene's only ran for 90 yards and she's already exhausted. "Maybe we should go back to the basics again..."
After 2 hours of jogging endurance, Marlene's training finally comes to an end and she returns to her dorm and crashes on her bed. "I thought that would never end." She says. "I'm just gonna rest then...get some...breakfast." Just as Marlene's about to drift off into slumber, that's when Patrick shoves her out of bed and she crashes onto the floor. "Ow!" Marlene sits up to see Patrick. "Hey, what was that for?"
"Come on! It's time for some training." Patrick says.
Patrick drags Marlene to the Training Hall. The whole area is filled with an obstacle course. Patrick has Marlene standing at the starting line. "During my years of training, I've adapted to focusing on speed and reflexes. This here obstacle course should test out your agility. Any questions?"
"Actually, I have-" Marlene is shortly interrupted.
"Good, let's get started. Go!" Patrick says.
Just like, Marlene rushes through the obstacle course. She first tries to make it through the tire rings but trips over them halfway. Patrick signs putting a hand on his head. "Pathetic." Marlene starts all over again but still trips over the rings again but near the end instead. Patrick rolls his eyes seeing that. Marlene tries once more. She makes it through the tires but gets knocked out by swinging punching bags. Patrick groans in disappointment. Marlene keeps trying the obstacle over and over again and for each one of them she wipes out.
Swinging punching bags.
Tripping on a track fence.
Tripping on the tire rings once again.
Losing her balance on the beam pole.
Then having a leg cramp at the end of the tire rings.
Marlene is lying on the floor exhausted. Patrick approaches and looks down at her. "It's a wonder how you even come here to become a Huntress. There can't be anyone else in the entire world more sadly pathetic and weak than you are."
Somewhere far off, a young golden-haired boy sneezes. "Ah-choo! ...Huh, that's weird. Got this strange feeling somebody could be talking about me." Jaune then faces the shady dealer. "Now. About those fake transcripts..."
After a quick trip to the cafeteria, Marlene weakly walks back to her bed, half-asleep eating her breakfast burrito. She then collapses on her bed. "Too...tired to...eat...Must sleep..."
Just before she can fall asleep, that's when Aria shyly sticks her head into the room. "Uh...M-marlene?"
Marlene groans tiresome. "Why doesn't this surprise me?"
Aria takes Marlene to the training hall. She stands in front of a large punching bag. "Ph-ph-physical strength is...uh, well...I-i-important. I-i-it makes it easier for physical endurance and stamina. Plus...you get to do this."
Aria faces the punching bag. She positions herself in a fighting stance and delivers a powerful blow on the punching bag, unleashing a powerful force and sending the bag flying until it hits the wall, then comes swinging back. Once it's hanging still, the punching bag then rips open from mid-side to bottom, allowing all the sand to pour out. Marlene just stands there in awe with a shocked expression on her face. The shock she felt suddenly washed away all the exhaustion that was overflowing her.
Aria then suddenly becomes nervous. "Uh...W-w-well, you know...something like that." Aria then moves Marlene to the next punching bag. She then stands behind and braces the punching bag. "Go on, give it a punch."
Marlene snaps out of her shock. She positions herself for a fist fight, getting herself warmed up for a moment, and then...
BAM!
Instead of hurting the punching bag, the punching bag hurts Marlene. Upon impact, the nerve went from Marlene's face all over to her body, then she let out a painful shout. Aria gives out an awkward expression. "Oh...That's gotta hurt." Aria says.
After punching exercises with Aria, Marlene once again crashes onto her bed. She lets out a tiresome groan, finally ready to embrace sleep, but not long after laying face flat on her bed, Marlene starts counting down. "3...2...1..."
The door bursts open. "Goooooood evening, Marlene! Are mew ready for some training?"
Marlene lifts her face from her bed, crying in agony. "What did I do to deserve this?"
Clawdia helps Marlene with some physical exercises. Sit-ups, push-ups, squat thrusts. Each of them, Marlene is already hitting her limit somewhere after counting to eight. For squat thrusts, she collapses after trying to push it to seven. Clawida looks at Marlene with concern. "Huh? Marlene? Mew doing okay?"
Marlene doesn't even have the strength to talk back.
After training with Clawdia, Marlene limbs back to her dorm. She opens the door and, much to her unsurprised disappointment, she sees Peter inside. Peter turns to find Marlene. "Hey, Marlene. You ready for some training?"
Marlene doesn't have the strength to fight back. She has no other choice but to go with it.
Peter takes Marlene to the training hall, setting up weights on the dumbbells. Marlene can't help but stare at what might be an impossible task. "If you want to become as strong as a Huntress, you'll need to build up some muscle. For me, I build up by lifting weights."
"Peter..." Marlene lets out a yawn before speaking. "You do realize...I'm about as strong...as a twig. Don't you?"
"Relax, I'll spot you." Peter stands behind the weights as he pats on the mat. Marlene groans tiresome as she positions herself. Marlene grabs hold of the bar above her and starts pushing with all her strength, which results in nothing. Peter does his part and lifts with enough strength to make up the difference. Marlene can really feel the pressure of her arms in lift the dumbbell and letting it sink down. "There, you see? Nothing to worry about. Piece of-"
Peter is in awe when Sakuya walks into the room. That's when he immediately lets go, causing the full weight of the dumbbell to crush Marlene on the throat, while Peter zooms to Sakuya's side. Marlene gasps for air in her struggles, trying to call out to Peter but can't.
"Hello there, beautiful. Have you come here because you can't resist my charm?" Peter asks.
"Oh please. You wish, Pretty Boy." Sakuya says.
"No need to play hardball, you know you want some of this." Peter shows off his muscles.
Sakuya pretends to be amused. "Oh. Look at those guns. I feel like swooning at the sight of them."
"I knew you would. So, you wanna grab something to eat?" Peter asks.
"Tempting...But no." Sakuya says. "Plus, aren't you a little busy?"
"Pfft. I'm completely free this even."
"Completely free, huh?" Sakuya looks over Peter. "Isn't that your choking friend over there?"
"Choking?" Peter mindless turns and the sight of Marlene suddenly snaps him back into reality. "OH SHIT! MARLENE!" Peter rushes over to Marlene and lifts the dumbbell off of her. Upon release, Marlene breathes fast and heavily in an attempt to fill her empty lungs to the max. "Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Are you okay?"
Marlene turns to Peter in anger, but in her lack of recovery and overwhelming exhaustion, Marlene instead succumbs to it and ends up fainting. Peter looks at Marlene in confused concern. "Marlene?"
"Yep. You're quite the charmer indeed, Pretty Boy." Sakuya says before she makes her leave.
After two more agonizing hours of training with the distrustful Peter, Marlene limps her way back to the dorm, only to have her body give out on the pain and exhaustion and she winds up collapsing in the hallway.
Meanwhile, Rayla is pushing Marina down the hallway. "Are you sure about this? You shouldn't push yourself."
"I'll be fine. Just a little late-night training wouldn't hurt." Marina says.
"I suppose, but remember what Mistress Mashika had said. And I was there when I saw you going over your limit too hard." Rayla says.
"Don't worry, this time I'll-" Marina becomes silent once she sees a collapsed student. "Oh dear! Rayla!"
Rayla rushes to the student's side. She turns over the body to see who it is. "Mistress Marlene?" Marlene is dead asleep, only a tiresome moan escapes her lips. "My word, you're a mess."
Rayla helps Marlene to Marina's wheelchair, where she's able to hold her onto her lap, and then Rayla pushes them into the training room. Rayla lays Marlene stomach down on a mat as she feels her body, eventually giving her a hard massage. Marlene groans in pain as Rayla does her work. "Dear lord, your body is all twisted in knots." Rayla presses and rubs hard on Marlene's body. It's not long until Marlene starts crying out in pain, begging for it to stop. Rayla does one final press that causes a large crack in Marlene's body.
Marlene recoils with a scream, and then her body lays flat followed by relief moaning. "That feels so good." Marlene says.
Rayla then helps Marlene stand up. "Mistress Marlene, what happened to you?"
Marlene fights the exhaustion to explain, though not very thoroughly. "Selena. Jogging. Patrick. Punching Bag. Peter. Sakuya. Body. Sore. Sleep." Marlene then collapses on her knees. "Must." Then face flat onto the floor. "Brain."
Rayla and Marina have no idea what to make of this. They decided to take Marlene back to the dorm. Marlene's too tired to speak so Rayla and Marina decided to leave her to sleep. After a couple of hours of rest, they decided to check in on her. Marlene is just waking up. While she was waking up, Rayla decided to go brew her some tea. Marina keeps an eye on her. Once Rayla returns with the tea, Marlene then explains everything that's happened. Right up to the point where Peter trained her.
"And so Sakuya walked right in and I nearly died cause Peter left me to choke on a dumbbell." Marlene says.
"My word. What ill manners of Master Peter." Rayla says.
"Actually, I should have seen that coming. I was too exhausted to notice." Marlene says.
"I'm more concerned about everyone else." Marina says. "I understand that they are trying to help you improve your physical form, but they are really putting you through the wringer." Marina looks down in sorrow. "Just like what my father did to me."
"I agree. Something needs to be done about this." Rayla says.
Just then, Selena bursts into the dorm. "Raise and shine, Marlene! You ready for another-" Selena suddenly goes silent when she sees Rayla standing between her and Marlene.
"We need to talk." Rayla says.
Rayla called everyone else to the dorm room. There, Rayla explains what everyone has been doing to Marlene and the results of Marlene's condition. Though Peter's foolishness in leaving Marlene to suffocate earned him some hostile glares from Clawdia and Patrick.
"Wait. So you guys were helping her train as well?" Selena asks.
"I overheard her conversation about being weak and helpless." Clawdia says.
"I-I was just helping her build s-s-some muscles." Aria says.
"I was only helping her just to stop hearing her constant complaining." Patrick says.
"Look, we all appreciate what you're doing for Marlene, but you're working her to death." Marina says.
Peter looks around and notices something. "Hey. Where's Marlene?"
Everyone looks around to notice she has disappeared. Rayla then looks out the window and takes notice that Marlene is outside, standing under a lamp post doing leg squats. They are all surprised to see her still going through the workout even after all the suffering she endured.
They all head down to meet up with Marlene. When they arrive, they get a better look at Marlene. She is showing signs of sore exhaustion, especially her expression being a mixture of pain and fatigue. "Mistress Marlene, what are you doing?"
Marlene was startled by her friends. "Oh, it's you guys."
"How are you still working out? Aren't you sore and exhausted?" Selena asks.
"Well, my body aches all over, but I'm mostly over my exhaustion." Marlene puts on a serious face before further speaking. "But, it doesn't matter to me. I came to Beacon to learn how to become a Huntress. For the past year, I've been either holding everyone back or just working on the sidelines."
Nobody says anything. After a moment of silence, Rayla then offers a smile. "You know what, Mistress Marlene? You're a lot stronger than you think."
"Rayla's right. Having strength is more than just physical power and endurance. It's also about spirit." Marina says.
Everyone else is in agreement with this. Patrick doesn't say anything, but he quietly agrees.
For every day after classes, everyone does their contribution to helping Marlene train. Patrick with agility. Selena and Clawdia with physical endurance. Aria with teaching her fist fighting. Peter with helping her build some muscle, only this time Earnest and Rayla are supporting as her spotters since the easily-distracted-by-a-pretty-woman Peter cannot be trusted. Only instead of cramming it all onto her in one day, they only allow her to do different exercises once or twice a day, every other day Marlene rests to recover, as well as recuperate with Rayla's massage therapy.
As days turn into weeks, Marlene hopes that one day she will be well enough to support her team as a true Huntress.