Taking a defensive stance against someone he thought was a decent person, Solis stared down his sudden aggressor. He didn't know what had come over Quintessa, but he didn't want to wait to find out. He hadn't known the girl long, but the sudden change in her attitude put him on edge. He took time to ponder what she meant when she said she knew what he was. Before taking any harsh actions he thought to try talking to her first.
"I'd rather not fight you, Quintessa, so I'll ask you...what did you mean by that?"
"I have no obligation to answer you, but if you really want to know, you'd best prepare yourself for a fight," she then bent down into a fighting position.
"I told you before that I would rather not fight you, Quintessa."
"Too late!" with those words she lunged at Solis.
Solis tried to jump over Quintessa, but she turned around mid-air and grabbed his ankle as he went up. She tossed him back towards the ground, but Solis did a back handspring and stood back up.
"I told you I'd rather not fight."
"But if you want to really know what I meant you'll have to," she said with a smug look on her face.
She bent back down again for another attack and Solis prepared himself to defend. She slashed the air in front of her which sent a wave of energy that brought Solis off his feet. When he was in the air, she jumped off the ground and pushed off an invisible surface, and propelled herself towards Solis. She readjusted herself and put her feet in front of her, ready to kick him in the chest. She got closer and closer then she felt her feet collide with Solis's chest.
She used him to backflip back onto the ground. She stood up and saw his motionless body lay on the floor.
"Hah! I win!" she yelled proudly, "there was no way you stood a chance against me, that was almost too easy."
She basked in her victory when she noticed Solis's body move. She raised her guard expecting some sort of counterattack. He sat up from his position and dusted himself off which surprised Quintessa. What stunned her, even more, is that he seemed physically unharmed.
"What? I was sure I hit you!"
"You did, you hit something just not me."
"What do you mean by that?"
"You wouldn't understand... descendant of Byakko."
After hearing something unexpected from Solis she was left on edge and a new feeling of suspicion set in, "W-what do you mean 'descendant of Byakko?'"
"Those are moves only people of his lineage would be able to perform, the cat-like grace and speed, but all the power of a tiger," as he talked he stood back up, but what confused Quintessa was why this time he seemed to appear taller.
He started walking towards her and as he did he kept talking, "You must be part of the family with the closest ties to Byakko, your strength is impressive and makes me reminisce of him."
More confusion set in for Quintessa and soon she started feeling nervous, "You talk as if you knew my grandfather!"
"Oh, so you were that close with him. I'm surprised he decided to stick around long enough to be with his granddaughter."
"Answer me!" she shouted, "how do you know my grandfather!"
"Long story for another day," he told her.
Now Solis was a few feet away from Quintessa and that was when she realized he had grown taller. Before he stood roughly at five foot eleven, but now he stood at a solid six foot four. He now towered over Quintessa's smaller frame. She didn't understand how he grew, but she felt fear starting to set in.
Quintessa jumped away from Solis and decided she needed to go all out. Soon patches of white fur started to appear on her calves and forearms. The patterns resembled that of a tiger appeared and soon she started to grow sharper canines. Her pupils turned into slits that resembled a cat's and then her body grew and became slightly more muscular. Finally, a light cloud appeared that wrapped around her neck, and then went down and circled around her arms.
"It seems I underestimated you. I won't make the same mistake twice! I'm coming for you Solis!" using one of her grandfather's signature moves, she redirected all the air molecules around her to give her zero air resistance as she flew and ran. This technique greatly increased her already godly speed.
In the blink of an eye, she ran out of Solis's view, and he was left standing there. He tried looking for her when she appeared out of nowhere and kicked him in the back of the head. This caused him to tumble forwards where Quintessa appeared beneath him and she kicked him in the stomach, sending him skywards. She kept assaulting Solis with a flurry of combos and tossed him around.
After a minute, she ended her combos and stood still looking at Solis's body on the floor. She stood breathing heavily and strangely her hands and feet were throbbing, "Dang it feels like I was hitting a massive boulder!" she shouted as she shook off her hands and feet. This pain didn't deter her though and she was confident she had beaten him thoroughly. To be safe though, she did not undo her transformation and waited to see if Solis would do anything.
She waited for a few moments and decided he was out. She began to undo her transformation when she saw Solis moving again.
"How are you still moving!" she yelled in his direction.
When he stood back up, she noticed that not one scratch was on his body, "H-how?" she blurted out loud.
"Very impressive for the granddaughter of Byakko, he must've taught you well," Solis said as he stood back up cracking his neck and back.
Quintessa transformed again and screamed at Solis saying, "This time, I'll put you down for sure!"
Like before she redirected the air molecules allowing her zero resistance when moving. She disappeared once again from Solis's vision, but then she noticed he had disappeared as well. She kept moving around when, out of nowhere, she was knocked down to the ground. Where she landed, a massive crater formed and she felt immense pain in her back. She tried getting back up when she felt a hand grab the top of her head and lift her up.
She tried struggling and scratching at the hand on her head, but it felt like her claws kept hitting an unbreakable substance. She felt herself being turned around and there he stood.
"H-how did you keep up with me? That shouldn't have been possible," she asked Solis.
"Your speed is still underdeveloped."
"T-then were you just pretending earlier, to be weak?!"
"Of course, I wanted to see what you were capable of."
"W-what does that mean?!"
"Don't get me wrong, I am impressed with your speed. It is nice to see that Byakko's traits are so prominent in you."
"Answer me!" she shouted as she clawed and kicked at Solis.
"I will just not today," he said, then he started bringing Quintessa closer to his face. She saw the chance to strike and does but her hand doesn't connect with his face. It was stopped right before by something invisible. She tried forcing her hand through this invisible material but to no avail.
Solis continued talking as she struggled and told her, "There was a reason I said I didn't want to fight you earlier. I'm not a big fan of violence, or at least not like I was a long time ago."
"You said Quintessa, you knew what I was, but it seems you're mistaken because if you did then you should exactly what beings of my caliber are capable of."
"I will give you a glimpse of what I am, and when you realize it, some of your questions will be answered," with that last line, he put Quintessa back at arm's length and tossed her up towards the sky.
Quintessa was dazed and tumbled in the sky. She used her powers to readjust herself and she faced the ground looking for Solis, but he wasn't there. She felt a presence behind her and so she turned around. Before her, she saw two massive wings, as she looked upon them their beauty captivated her and she was left stunned. The wings got closer to her and she noticed that they belonged to Solis. Solis put out his hand and this somehow caused her to stop falling. With that same hand, he put it on Quintessa's stomach and started putting his Essence into it.
"With this, you should know who I am," he said with confidence.
Once he was done putting his Essence into his hand, he released it causing a massive shockwave and it sent Quintessa back towards the ground. The shockwave caused the air to get knocked out of her and her consciousness soon started to fade. As she fell she took in what Solis said and realized what he meant. She said to herself before she passed out, "I can't believe it...y-you're one of 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮...grandfather always talked about you guys, I can't believe I got to meet a d-" and she finally succumbed to the effects of Solis's attack.
Before she could reach the ground, Solis was there to catch her body. As she lay unconscious in his arms, he said, "I truly did mean what I said earlier, I dislike fighting, but I had to end it quickly. I'll do this as an apology."
Taking a deep breath in, he collected more of his Essence and let it flow through his fingertips. Through his fingertips, it came into contact with Quintessa's body. A blue mist enveloped her body and went into every cut and bruise, and the mist started to heal her cuts and bruises and soon she was back to normal.
He took her body and laid it up against a wall nearby. After, he went over to the crater he made and repaired that too. Like before, a blue mist seeped out and it took every misplaced pebble, or rock, and set everything to the way it was before, you couldn't even tell there was a crater there anymore.
When he finished up with the crater, he went back over to Quintessa and picked her back up. He went back inside the school and took her to the nurse's office, but on his way there he received awkward stares.
Finally, inside the nurse's office, he told the nurse that Quintessa had fainted and left right after being asked to lay her on a nearby bed.
He spent the rest of the day making sure no evidence was left behind after their fight. He checked the cameras to see if they had picked up anything, and he kept an open ear to see if there was any gossip about a strange event during lunch. Luckily for him, any video footage he found he erased and he had yet to hear about any strange event from the other students.
When school ended he did his usual things and acted as like nothing had happened. He had yet to see Quintessa after dropping her off at the nurse's office, but he wasn't anxious either to see her any time soon. After being able to help out a few of the teachers, he found his sister waiting for him and ready to get their brother, "Let's go," he says to Fera. They both got into the car and drove off.
After he got his siblings, they went home. Fera was reading her book, Ad was on the couch staring at the television, and Solis was beside him but he wasn't paying attention. Solis got up from the couch which caused Ad to ask him, "You going somewhere, Solis?"
"Yeah, just the usual place," Ad nodded and went back to watching.
Solis went out the front door and walked to the left side of the building. From there, he jumped onto the roof of their house and laid down. He made himself comfortable and he just continued to look at the stars above. Looking at those stars always made him feel at home and before he knew it he had fallen asleep.
The sun had just started to show itself over the horizon and Solis was still on the roof sleeping soundly. Fera was awake and downstairs in the house but was confused by the absence of her older brother. She figured out quickly where he was and went outside. Like her brother, she jumped onto the roof, and there she saw him laying. She kicked her brother in the side and this caused him to curl up in pain. He opened his eyes and saw his sister looking down at him with scornful eyes.
Without her having to say anything he got up quickly and hopped down. He went back into their house and quickly got himself changed. Solis took his place at the head of the rectangular table, which was the farthest away from Fera. Ad was slightly off to his left as they both watched Fera work. He took a small bite of the food and when he finished he had a few things to say to the chef.
"Work on it a bit more, you suck at seasoning. The chicken has absolutely no flavor to it," he started to laugh and Ad started to chuckle as well.
Fera took two knives from the sink, and without looking, tossed them straight at both her brother's faces. Ad knocked his knife off to the side, causing it to stab into the wall and Solis caught his by the handle before it could stab him, but he knew it wouldn't actually go into his skull, he just didn't want to break a valuable kitchen utensil.
"Wow, temperamental today aren't we Fera?" said Solis teasingly.
"No, I thought I just saw two bugs and decided to get rid of them before they overrun our house."
"Ouch, that hurts Fera, I thought we would at least be the level of rodents to you," said Ad, trying to tease his sister as well.
The two brothers started laughing again when two more kitchen items were flung at them. This time it was a wooden ladle and a colander. The colander was thrown at Solis and the ladle at Ad. Solis knocked the colander away from him and towards the ladle that was heading for Ad. The two objects collided and the ladle was flung back at Fera and hit her in the back of the head.
This caused the brothers to laugh even harder and for Fera to become even angrier. Wiping away his tears from laughing Solis told Ad, "Alright Ad, we need to stop joking around now," he then looked over to Fera, "we're sorry Fera, but you need to get back to cooking or else our food is going to become charred."
Realizing she was still cooking she frantically went back over the stove to check on her food. Her frantic behavior got another chuckle from Ad, but Fera's stare silenced him. A few minutes later, all their food was laid out and they gave thanks before eating.
When breakfast was over and done with, they all head out and went to school. They all felt a bit more awake since today was the last day of the week and tomorrow they wouldn't have to do anything. Solis had no problems with trying to stay awake in his classes, or so he hoped and he continued on with his day normally, sort of. Today he had physical classes and he was heading over to their gym to see what they would be doing for the class. He went in to plop his backpack down before going to the lockers and changing into clothes he could sweat in.
Once he finished he met up with the other students in the middle of the gym and they all waited for their teacher to show up. As soon as the first bell rang, Mr. Jules stepped out of his office and onto the court. He positioned himself in the middle of his students and waited for the last bell to ring.
Mr. Jules was a heavyset guy and a teacher in every sense of the word. He made sure he had all the attention of his students before talking and when he knew they were all watching he yelled, "ALRIGHT! Good morning everyone! Today is the end of the school week so we'll be doing our routine fitness test of the day! Everyone go take the first ten minutes to warm up and we'll begin shortly after!"
Their fitness test was an assortment of exercises the students had to do and complete. Some of the exercises would be pull-ups, sprints, suicides, and many more. It always changed each time they took it so no one ever knew what the exercises would be for that day. The test was used as information to track the health of the school's students and their improvement or need for improving health-wise. No points were deducted off of one's grades if you had a subpar score, the only time that happened is if you regressed instead of progressed. Overall, the school did this test to better their students and to encourage them to be healthy.
The students took their ten minutes and started warming up. Many of them decided to do some laps on the tracks above the gym and some decided to do some stretching. Many students had many ways of warming up, but Solis was the one who never did such things. He would find an empty spot and sit down to close his eyes. He did this until Mr. Jules came back and called them over to start. His classmates hated the fact that he always sat around during warm-ups, but it was also because he usually scored in the top three of the fitness test with seemingly minimal effort.
Unbeknownst to them, when they thought he used the warm-up time to sleep, he did something to improve himself they just didn't know it. It finally came time to start and so Mr. Jules gathered his students around.
"Alright, class! I hope you're all ready because today is going to be a doozie!"
Shivers went down everyone's backs and Mr. Jules could feel it, so he continued on, "Who here likes cardio?" With that one sentence, everyone knew what they'd be doing. It was going to be the four-mile run.
Off-campus, the highschool owned a portion of land that was expansive and used often for fitness tests. This area was to be used today for that very reason, so the students prepared themselves physically and mentally and followed Mr. Jules to the buses that would lead them off-campus.
The bus ride was only about five minutes and they soon arrived at the training grounds. It was a huge warehouse that held all sorts of equipment. Inside there were multiple workout equipment, turf for football or American football, hardwood courts, and many more. The only facility they would be using today would be the track that wrapped around the inside of the warehouse. One lap around this track was considered one mile, or one point six kilometers, and to complete the four-mile run you would have to do four whole laps.
"Alright, everybody!" Mr. Jules shouted to catch his student's attention, "Most of you have been here before, but for some of the new kids here I'll explain."
When he finished he sent all of the students to the bold white line on the track the indicated where they start. All fifty of them lined up and waited for Mr. Jule's whistle to sound off. On the line, Solis was thinking about other things and not worrying about the actual test.
Mr. Jules appeared on the side of the track with whistle in mouth, and the students readied themselves.
"Three!" they all took their positions.
"Two!" they all tensed to launch as soon as he said go.
"One!" they gave themselves one last pep talk.
"GO!" and all the students darted off the line.
Of the class, there were some who ran track for their school, so of course, they were the ones who led the pack, and there were some who weren't at their level so they followed behind. Solis was near the front of the pack running stride for stride with the person next to him. To him, it felt like a leisurely walk but he didn't have any intention of finishing too fast since it gave him time to think about miscellaneous things.
About a mile into the test, Solis was still comfortably running with the person beside him, but the person slowed down a bit since the start of the race. To his right appeared a person he didn't expect, Quintessa. Surprised by her sudden appearance he was thrown off guard and his stride broke off from the person next to him.
"Hey there Solis been a while!" she shouted and waved while she ran beside him.
"No, not really, it's been only a day," he responded as they ran.
"I wanted to ask you something is that alright Solis?"
"I don't mind."
"After our fight, I remember having injuries, but when I woke up there wasn't a scratch on me. I thought the nurse had patched me up, but I was only in there for a few hours apparently. I found it suspicious and asked her what happened."
"What did she tell you then?" he asked.
"She said that a boy brought me in and said I had 'fainted.'"
"Knowing who you are I naturally assumed it was you, so you have my thanks."
"I did mean it when I said I didn't want to fight, that was my way of apologizing," Solis told her
"Such a softy for someone as great as you," she punched his arm in a light-hearted matter.
Under his breath, he says, "If you understood what had happened you would know why I act like this."
Quintessa didn't hear exactly what Solis said so she nudged him and asked, "You say something, Solis?"
"No," he replied bluntly.
"Alright, well, I'm going to go ahead. I want to finish this test quickly, so I can relax later. See ya!" after that, she sped up, and soon she was at the head of the pack. As she passed the track runners who were once the ones who led, they sped up trying to keep pace with her, but they found out that they couldn't hope to keep up with someone as fast as her.
As he watched her run up he said to himself, "The perks of being a demigod it seems," and he continued at his own pace.
Two and a half miles later, Solis was in third place while Quintessa was in first by a large margin and she would soon finish the test in half a mile. Half a mile later, she crossed the finish line with only a light sweat on her brow.
"Good Job Miss Domani, for a sophomore you almost set a new record. Your time this time was twenty-three minutes and forty-seven seconds. I've never seen spunk like this from you before, did something happen to you?"
"Well, just a change of heart I guess, hehe. By the way, Mr. Jules, who was the person who set the record before?"
"Hmm, let me check real quick...ah! You know him!"
"Who then?"
"Solis Arcana, he set it three years ago but hasn't come close since then, which is odd. His time was eighteen minutes and nineteen seconds, which is unprecedented. He's still a phenomenal person though, being able to stick in the top three consistently."
"Oh is that so? Next time, Mr. Jules, I'll be setting that record!"
"I'll hold you to it, Miss Domani, now go and get yourself hydrated. Food is available at the dining hall, I assume you know where it is."
"Of course, I'll be out your hair now, Mr. Jules."
Back on the track the rest of the class was still running. Solis decided to speed up a little and soon he was on the heels of second place. He could pass him if he wanted to, but decided against it. They were finally on the last few meters from finishing and the person in second broke into a sprint, determined to finish. As they crossed, Solis had only a few second difference in finish times and not a drop of sweat on his face.
Mr. Jules tossed both of them a towel and a water bottle, "Good job boys, you did great out there. Go replenish your energy in the dining hall and we'll see each other as soon as your classmates all finish."
They turned around to walk towards the dining hall when Solis was stopped by Mr. Jules.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked.
"No, Mr. Arcana. I just had a question for you."
"I'll be happy to answer it, what is it Mr. Jules?"
"I was talking with Miss Domani earlier and a thought came to mind. I never questioned it before, but I ought to now."
"So, what would you like to ask?"
"Three years ago, when you first ran this test, you broke and set an unimaginable record. No one's been able to break your record and only a few have come close. Miss Domani had an impressive time, but five minutes separated yours and her time."
"I've wondered why you never came close again to that amazing record since then."
"It's probably because of how out of shape I became after finishing the test, Mr. Jules."
"You are bad at jokes Mr. Arcana. I can clearly see that you aren't out of breath nor are you breathing heavily. Look at Sean! He finished ahead of you but comparing you two anyone could tell you are far less tired. The difference is like night and day."
"It does appear to be that way, Mr. Jules."
"So I ask, how come you don't try?"
"I can't tell you that Mr. Jules, but someday I will."
He let out a sigh and told Solis, "Alright, Solis, I'll be waiting for that day. I can't force you to do anything you don't want to. Anyway, just go get yourself something to eat regardless."
"I will, thank you, Mr. Jules."
Solis waved him goodbye and walked off to the dining hall. He got in line where he met the lunch personnel and they asked what he would be having today.
He told them, "I'll just have the meat platter."
"Of course, which meats would you like?"
"Everything, please."
"Oh, so you're the special customer."
"I'm sorry come again?" he asked the man behind the counter.
"My bad. I'll explain, the manager of the dining hall is someone you probably know, and he told all the personnel that one day we might meet a 'special customer' who would order the meat platter with everything on it."
"Oh I understand," said Solis to the man.
"Anyway, I'll get you started on that dish right away," the man started to pile on every cut of meat they had on hand. Once he was done putting on all the cuts of meat, he handed it to Solis.
"Would you like anything else with that?"
"Yea just some, lemonade if you have any."
"I'll be right back with it," the man quickly ran behind a counter and ducked down to grab a lemonade in a twenty-four-ounce bottle. He handed it off to Solis and sent him away.
Solis found a table where no one was seated and took a spot for himself. He sat quietly, observing the other students as they continued to run on the track. He continued eating when Quintessa took a seat beside him.
"Eating alone, Solis?" she asked inquisitively.
"Yeah," he said while eating his food.
He didn't say any more than required and went back to eating, but he noticed that Quintessa wasn't going back to her table so he asked, "I assume you need something from me?"
"Huh? Can you read thoughts as well Solis?" she said with a cheeky smile.
"No, I just assumed you had something you wanted to discuss with me," he put down his spoon and fork, ready to answer her questions.
"Oh, great! Then I want to ask what you did back then!"
"What do you mean 'back then?'"
"Like what the world was like, and all that good stuff. What all the gods of the world were doing when you and the other d-" she was silenced when Solis put his hand over her mouth.
"What? Did I say something wrong?" she asked as he removed his hand from her mouth.
"No, it's just we aren't what we used to be. I'd prefer it if you don't say our former title anymore."
"Why what happened you guys?" she asked trying to pry further.
"Something, it happened a long time ago, and I can't recall the events clearly anymore," he responded with a melancholic look on his face.
Quintessa took that look as a hint to stop asking any questions that were about his past, "I'm sorry, I won't ask you any more questions like that."
"You're fine, maybe someday I'll be able to tell you," he said.
Quintessa tried asking a different question instead, "So, your siblings, they're like you aren't they?"
"Of course they are," he said with a rather annoyed tone.
"Woah, that's amazing! I can't believe there were 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 of you guys and I didn't even know it!" and her eyes lit up like a child looking at something shiny, "wait until grandfather hears this!" she continued.
"Wait, Byakko is still around?" Solis asked, not knowing his acquaintance was still alive.
"Yeah, you didn't I tell you? He's 'old' now but he's still as strong as ever!"
"I apologize it seems I forgot you told me. Maybe I'll visit him someday."
"Why wait? I can bring you over to meet him after school is over!" she said as she grabbed his forearm in excitement.
"No, I can't. Like I said, someday, I'll go visit him. Now just isn't the time," he said with another melancholic look on his face.
"If you don't mind, Quintessa, I'd like to finish my food first before it gets too cold," he picked his spoon and fork back up and began eating again.
Quintessa didn't notice it before, but she looked down and saw the amount of meat on his plate and asked him, "Jeez, no vegetables Solis? That's a lot of meat for one guy."
He continued chewing and swallowed his food before answering, "I don't like vegetables, and I'm no ordinary 𝘨𝘶𝘺, remember that."
"But still..." she said and Solis went back to eating and slurping up his meat platter.
"Eww," she said under her breath as she saw him gobble up his food.
A little over half an hour had passed and the final batch of students crossed the finish line. Mr. Jules congratulated each one of them and gave them a towel and water. He told them to go eat because soon they would have to leave.
"Be hasty my students! We'll be leaving in fifteen minutes, so spend your time wisely!"
The students got their food and all sat with their friends. The table Solis sat at was starting to get occupied so he took his empty tray and got up to leave but was stopped when a guy grabbed his arm.
"Can I help you?" he asked as he looked down at the person grabbing his arm.
"Sorry, I just wanted to ask you a few questions, that's all," said the boy with short black hair.
"I'll answer them, I would like to throw away my trash first though."
"Of course," said the boy and he let go of Solis's arm.
He went over to the nearest trash can and threw his stuff away. He quickly went back to the table with the boy who had business with him.
"Take a seat please," he said as he saw Solis standing instead of sitting down beside them.
"Alright," and he took the seat across the black-haired boy.
"What did you need me for?" he asked.
"Well, we were wondering if you would like to join the track team,"
Surprised at a proposition that was meant for him he didn't know how to answer.
"So?" the boy continued.
Solis wanted to decline so he told him, "I don't think I can."
"Why not?"
"I don't think it's for me," answered Solis.
"I think otherwise Solis. I saw the way you ran out there and frankly, I think you would be a great runner if you ran for us."
"I'll say it again, I don't think being a track member is for me," he said with a more firm tone.
"Alright, I see how it is. How about this, we have a race," proposed the boy.
"A race?" questioned Solis.
"Yeah, a race! Between you and me. We'll do half a mile, and first to finish wins."
"Okay, but do we win anything. What do you have to gain by doing this?" he questioned the black-haired boy more.
"I was getting to that part. If I win you have to try out being a member of our team, if you win you can walk off freely."
"Alright," said Solis.
"I assume it means you accept the race then Solis?"
"I have no problem with it."
"Good!" shouted the boy.
They both stood up and the boy stretched out his hand, "Before we start I'll introduce myself, I'm Gram, vice-captain of the track team."
Solis shook his hand and they both walked out onto the track field followed by the rest of the track team members who were there. Mr. Jules saw the group of students leaving the dining hall and called out to them, "What are you students doing!?"
Gram yelled back at Mr. Jules saying, "Just a small competition Mr. J! We'll be done before you know it!"
"Alright, that's fine! Just don't throw up on the track you rascals!" he laughed as he went back into the dining hall.
When they reached the starting line Gram asked Solis, "Do you need time to warm-up Solis?"
"No I'm fine," he said with a straight face.
One of the other track team members placed himself between Solis and Gram to countdown. As they were getting ready, a small crowd had formed. Quintessa noticed some of her friends were moving to the track and decided to follow them. When she saw what was happening she said, "Oh, well this won't be much of a competition."
"Get ready!" said the boy to Solis and Gram.
They took their positions.
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One"
"GO!"
Gram was the first off the line since his form was better than Solis's, but he wasn't worried too much. Early in the race, he took a major lead over Solis by a distance of twenty meters. He looked back at Solis to see where he was at and he was sure he would win.
As the race continued on though, Gram noticed that Solis was steadily gaining ground on him. They started approaching the half-way point and Gram was still confident that he would win. He looked back one more time and was surprised when he saw Solis right behind him, "When did he do that?!" he thought.
He sped up and tried to leave Solis, but he kept up with him easily. They were only twenty yards away from the finish line and Gram still had the lead. Ten yards away and Gram was sure he would win. Five more yards, and soon Gram would win, but what he saw next he couldn't believe. Solis came up on his side and passed ahead of him into the finish line by a few inches.
When they finished, Gram fell onto his knees and Solis stood off to the side of the track. He grabbed a bottle of water and tossed it at Gram. He caught it and looked up at Solis.
"Close race, Gram. You almost had me at the end," Solis turned around and went back to the dining hall.
Gram stared at Solis's back as he walked away and said, "Any runner could tell that was hardly a race...you suck at lying, Solis Arcana."
Solis waited for the time to go by and for them to get back onto the bus to leave. Luckily, he found another spot that was mostly separated from the other tables. He sat around watching the rest of his class enjoying themselves. His solitude was intruded again by Quintessa, and her presence slightly bothered him.
"What is it with you and being alone, Solis? Do you like being alone?"
"I do, it's silent when there's no one around me, and I enjoy it."
"Weirdo," she said while bumping his elbow.
Solis had a thought on his mind so he looked at her and bluntly asked, "Do you like hanging around me Quintessa?"
Solis wasn't known to be the one to ask questions, so it caught her off guard but he'd done it once before so she expected more behavior like it in the future, "Umm, well yeah."
"Why?" he kept pressing with more questions.
She didn't expect a follow-up question and was thrown off her guard again, "W-well because...hey, you won't laugh if I tell you right?"
"No," he said with a blank stare.
"Alright, i-it's because I admired you guys when I was younger. Whenever grandfather told stories about you guys it always had me in awe."
"When I was a kid, I always asked him if I could meet one of you guys, but he told me you guys disappeared a long time ago. It made me sad for a while but now that you're here I can fulfill my childhood dream."
"You admired us?"
"Yeah! Any child of a major god knew about your stories! It was rare that someone in my neighborhood didn't know who you were!" she paused and looked at Solis who had a doubtful look on his face, "Wait...is there something wrong about that?"
"No...it's just the first time I've heard my family receive praise."
"That's abnormal?" she asked wanting to know more.
"I can't say," he said with the same look of doubt on his face.
"Why not? You guys were legendary!"
"That's one way to look at it," he told her.
"What's that mean?"
"That's another story for another day, Quintessa."
"Alright, I'll be waiting to hear them!"
Just then Mr. Jules notified his students that they would be heading back. They all cleaned themselves up and went back over to the buses. They each formed a line at both buses that would take them back to school. Solis took a spot near the back of the bus and he thought he would have it all to himself, but it seems Quintessa was glued to him wherever he went.
"Back here as well Quintessa?"
"Don't worry Solis, I won't bother you on our way back to school."
He took her word for it and laid his head against the window as the bus began to move. Like she said, she didn't bother him but talked with her friends who were in the seats next to theirs. He listened in now and again to what they were talking about and it seemed to be very mundane things, but he listened nonetheless.
The students finally arrived back at the main campus and were dismissed by Mr. Jules to head to their next class. The first set of students walked through the doors and the bell rang to signal the end of class so it seemed that Mr. Jules dismissal was right on time. Solis went through his last period of the day, and went home shortly after.
That night, before he went to sleep, he readied himself for tomorrow. He had nothing to do and nothing to look forward to, he could just relax and be at home with his siblings. He closed his eyes slept into tomorrow.