Damian grabbed his stomach and decided to grab something to eat. He walked out of his room and moved to the elevator. There were several buttons lined up along the wall and Damian found himself lost on what to do. So much for his guide. He had no idea where anything was!
Damian sighed and simply pressed the highest button on the elevator. He felt the elevator begin moving upwards waited patiently for it to reach the top.
The elevator stopped and then opened up with a ding. Damian's first thought; the top floor was dark. Very dark. In front of him was a long hallway very similar to the one his room was on. He walked down the hall wondering if there was anyone around who he could ask for directions.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!…"
Damian perked up when he heard grunts coming from down the hallway. He walked in the direction of the sounds and opened the door there.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"
The room was a gymnasium. A rather large one that spanned at least fifty meters on each side. There was a large boxing ring in the center of it and many weights and dumbbells arranged on raisers.
At the back of the room, standing in front of one of four punching bags was a boy.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"
Damian quietly moved forward, approaching the boy. The boy's head was bowed and his entire posture locked tight. Every punch he sent towards the bag made it rumble.
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"
"Uhm... Excuse me…"
The boy turned around quickly with his hand raised and Damian's eyes widened as they stopped just a fraction from his face.
"You?" The boy said and Damian finally got a look at his face.
"Adrian?"
Adrian brought his hand back and stood straight, "What are you doing here?"
"I.." Damian chuckled nervously, "…Kind of got lost. I'm looking for the cafeteria"
Adrian rose a brow in curiosity, wondering how anybody could get lost in a place like this. It wasn't complex at all. He moved away from Damian and towards a bench at the side. He grabbed a bottle of water.
"Do you do this all the time?" Damian asked Adrian as he walked towards the punching bag and touched the tough leather. Adrian shook his head and reattached the bottle cover.
"No. But I try to get as much training as possible. I've got to be prepared for anything"
Damian listened to Adrian talk and then looked back at the punching bag. Adrian wore a light blue singlet top with shorts. Damian eyed the muscles on Adrian's arms, and he realized that he was very well built for a sixteen-year-old.
"You're very dedicated to this, aren't you?" Damian said.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Adrian asked.
"It's just," Damian shrugged, "All this ceremony. All these classes and history lessons. They're all just so we can go out there and become food for monsters that most of the world don't even know about. What we're doing probably won't even make any difference at all"
Adrian sat down on the bench and held the water bottle in one hand. He grabbed a towel with the other one, used it to clean his neck, and then threw it over his shoulder, "There was a war, you know"
"What?"
"The twilight world," Adrian repeated, "It was once at war. Not with monsters or daemons. But rather with ourselves. It was the most brutal thing people had ever seen. I hadn't even been born at that time, but all my life I've seen the effects of that war ripple through this world, making everybody scorn and hate a single faction," he looked at Damian and Damian finally understood.
"The Hades faction?"
"They were the strongest of us all. And also the most wicked," Adrain got up from his seat, "You might not see this world as something you need to be a part of, but to people like me, we haven't known anything else but this world. I was born here, I grew up here and I sure as hell am going to die protecting it. if you don't like it," Adrian slammed the water bottle into Damian's chest and began walking away, "Then just die"
Damian looked at the bottle in his hand, his mind still reeling from what Adrian said. A single faction fought them all?
Did they win?
Damian dropped the bottle on the bench and moved out to see if he could catch up to Adrian, but Adrian had already disappeared. He sighed and turned around.
"I still didn't ask him where the cafeteria was"
"Damian?"
Damian turned back around and saw Persephone looking up at him with wide eyes. She wore a tight blue tank top and long joggers. There was a towel over her shoulder and a bottle of water in her hand. She looked very good.
"W-What are you doing here?" she said.
"Uh?" Damian said with lidded eyes and Persephone squirmed from the way he was staring at her. He quickly shook his head and got himself back, "I was looking for the cafeteria." he said with a cough, "Do you know where it is?"
Persephone smiled at him. Damian noticed it didn't reach her eyes, "Yeah, it's just down the hall. I was on my way there," she said. She then turned around and began walking and Damian followed her, glad that he finally find someone who knew where to go around here.
They reached a large double-door at the very end of the hall and Persephone threw it open to reveal the cafeteria. It was just like Damian thought it would be. Chairs arranged around many circular tables. Vending machines at one side, a counter for buying things at the other side, and someone stealing bread from the pantry behind the kitchen… Wait.
Damian turned back to the kitchen and saw the person stick his head out from the drawer. His hair and eyes were both brown and he wore a white top and trousers. He had a piece of bread in his mouth and looked at them with wide eyes. He stood up and began walking forward and Damian saw that his hands were also filled with goods.
The boy only went two steps before a thunderous sound echoed through the entire floor.
"DEMITRI!!!!!"
The boy cursed and quickly bolted out of the kitchen, completely ignoring both Damian and Persephone and making his way to the elevators. Another shout was heard.
"You better not be taking any more food, Demitri!!"
The cafeteria doors closed and Damian found himself wondering - not for the first time - if this all wasn't still some sort of fever dream.
"Oh," Persephone said, drawing Damian's attention to her. She picked up a packet of berries from the floor, "H-He forgot his berries," she said and then looked to him, "Should we keep it for him"
Damian looked at her and then towards the vending machine at the corner, the one with at least ten berry packets in it. He shrugged, "I'm sure he doesn't need it anymore. He seemed busy"
"Oh," she said while cradling the packet to her chest, "T-Then I guess we better eat it then. W-We wouldn't want it to go to waste"
Damian chuckled inwardly. He could tell that she just wanted to eat the berries. But he decided to play with her a little, "Well," Damian said, "I mean, he might still come back for it after all, and imagine how angry he'd be if he finds out we ate his berries,"
Persephone's eyes widened and she looked at him sadly. Damian thought she looked like a kicked puppy, "R-Really? He could?"
He couldn't do this anymore. Damian doubled over in laughter and Persephone jumped in fright.
"You.. haha… You can eat the berries, Persephone." Damian said while standing straight once more. "I'm sure he can get one anytime he wants"
Persephone gave him a strained smile and they finally moved towards one of the tables together. As they sat, Damian noticed how Persephone had suddenly gone quiet.
"Uhm... What would you like to eat?" he said awkwardly as he watched her stare at her hands clasping around the berries. He sighed, "I'm sorry for making fun of you"
Persephone looked up quickly, "W-What?"
"I'm sorry for making fun of you," he said while scratching behind his head, "I didn't think it would affect you -"
"No! No! It's fine. I'm u-" Persephone stopped and stared back at her clasped hands, "It's fine"
Damian wondered what she wanted to say. He stood up from the chair and moved towards the vending machines, "I'm getting some bread and drinks. Want some?"
Persephone nodded with a smile and Damian smiled back as he left. He returned a while later with two breads and two canned coffees.
Persephone giggles slightly, "You take coffee?"
Damian blushed a little, "Only sometimes. If you don't like it I can return it"
"N-No, it's fine."She cradled the coffee in her hands, leaving the berries to the side to be forgotten, "I like coffee"
Damian smiled and they both descended into silence as they ate. Damian looked around as he chewed on his bread, noticing how white everything in the room was. For some reason, it reminded him far too much of a hospital he had once been to as a child. His grandpa told him that the walls were white so the sickness would run away from the cleanliness. He chuckled at how gullible he had been back then.
"Is something funny?" Persephone asked and Damian noticed that he had actually giggled out loud.
"No, there isn't," Damian said, "I'm just remembering something from when I was a kid"
Persephone's eyes lit up, "Really?"
Damian nodded, "When my grandpa took me to a hospital for the very first time. The walls there were a lot like this one and I remember him telling me that it was that way to drive away the evil sickness" Damian chuckled and so did Persephone.
They went back to their meals, and after a while, Damian spoke up, "And what about you?" he asked.
Persephone looked up from her bread, "Hmm?"
"Are there any stories from your childhood you can tell me?"
The change in the atmosphere was immediate. Persephone's hands tightened, crushing her bread, and Damian knew something had gone wrong. Her eyes widened and she curled in on herself like she was trying to hide from him.
"Perseph -"
"Sorry," she said as she stood up in a haste and backed away from the table, almost spilling her coffee to the floor as she went, "I-I just remembered I have something I have to do back in my dorm. I-I'll see you in class tomorrow"
Persephone then turned away and made a hasty exit from the cafeteria. Damian was already halfway up from his seat when she threw the door open and basically ran out. He simply stood there with his hands outstretched, watching the cafeteria door swing back shut.
"Great," he said with a sigh as he fell back into his chair, "Now she hates me"