On the ground, he let out a deep groan, staring into the night sky.
Clouds swirling directly above him as frost bit into his skin, while the wind howled in his ears.
"Get up, Felix." A woman spoke, dressed in a dark suit.
Behind them, headlights cast a long shadow on the snow-covered road, stretching over where he lay.
Short, ragged breaths escaped his lips as he pushed his face off the asphalt just enough to look at the figure.
The harsh white light outlined her. Silver hair swaying with snowflakes, the clover pendant on her chest rocked back and forth. A red spear reflecting the sharp glare.
Ember eyes looked down on him, asking, "Can you still fight?"
He steadied his breathing, letting out a deep exhale that turned into a white mist.
"Come on, work…" He spoke in a raspy voice.
He picked up the black spear beside him, using it to keep him steady as he rose to his feet.
"That's it, Felix." She spun her crimson spear, "Every time you fall, you get back up."
Particles of light flickered over his body.
Her fiery eyes pierced through the darkness of the snow, "Your anger and regret, can you feel it swirling inside you? The storm raging inside your heart… Can you call upon it?"
Both of his eyes radiated with the unnatural glow as he faced her.
He clenched his fists tight, and the azure light spiraled around him, and snow followed it's path, coalescing into a cold sphere.
A blizzard was brewing, and he was it's center.
His sister smirked, raising her spear — An orange blaze erupted from it's tip.
As it burst into sunset-colored energy, fire and ice collided in the night.
Felix mismatched eyes snapped open as he gasped. He found himself laying on Maria's lap.
"You know, you really have to stop doing that all-fours animal style fighting nonsense." Her eyebrows curled.
As he sat up, he looked around and the training hall had become empty. The crowds have cleared up and only three people remained, "M-Marie? What... happened?" He groaned.
"She grew cat ears and a tail, and you blacked out. She looked kind of cute, actually. Golden Lion, huh?" She said, looking far off.
"That right? Expected nothing less from CHIMERA's golden girl." He looked at Allison, who was with the red-haired woman.
She swiped the back of her hair, "Welp, there goes my expectations."
"It's not my fault you overestimate me." Felix shrugged.
Maria grabbed him by the cheeks, pulling him close with a cold stare, "You want to be rank one, don't you? You're supposed to be better than this — act like it."
"R-right." He nervously gulped.
She released him with an annoyed sigh.
"On the flip side, you left a Felix-shaped crater where you landed." Her voice returned to the usual poppy tone, pointed to the floor mat, where his body left a silhouette.
Allison approached them with a vacant expression, "I apologize, I took you seriously."
She was back to her normal self, the additional ears and tail were gone.
Felix laughed awkwardly in disbelief, "That somehow both annoys me and makes me happy at the same time."
"I remember now. You're Luna's brother, right?" She tilted her head.
"…I'm surprised you remembered." He nodded, while Maria's brow twitched.
"Your attack… It looked like you were throwing a spear. It was familiar."
"I feel like I've finally caught up to you, even just by a bit." Felix groaned as he got on his feet, nearly staggering over. He smiled and stretched out his hand, "Good match."
"Yeah… good match." Allison muttered with a gentle smile as she shook his hand.
But as she let go, Felix the shock caught up, and he nearly lost balance.
Maria grabbed his arm and put it over her shoulder, "Easy there, bud."
"Thanks, Marie…" He then turned his head back at Allison, "Think you and I can have a rematch again sometime?"
"I don't think you're in any condition to…"
"I don't mean right now." He laughed gently.
"Oh…" She nodded slowly, "Alright then."
She said, only for her eyes to meet with Maria's. Seeing her cold expression, the golden lion pounced far from the two of them.
"Huh, what's wrong?" Felix asked, though Maria just smiled cheerfully toward her.
"I'm… sorry." Allison's emerald eyes sharpened immensely, there was subtle agitation in her voice, "I have to go."
"Oh, uh… okay." He waved.
Both of them watched with as Allison ran out of the training hall.
"There goes Golden Lion's golden lion." Maria mumbled.
"Allison, wait!" The maroon-haired woman called out, "Great, you scared her off."
"You can still catch her." Felix smirked, "Hop to it."
"Ha, ha." Rabbit ears sprouting off her head as she chased after Allison.
"Friend of yours?" Maria asked, still carrying him.
"My firearms mentor, Saya Song."
"You're more entrenched in Chimera than I thought."
"And I'm keeping pace." Felix added.
"You land one hit on her and suddenly you've caught up?" She scoffed.
"When I was young, I wouldn't have even dodged her first jab, now I landed a blow on her… so yeah, improvement." He snickered proudly.
She rolled her eyes, smiling, "Good job."
What is it that I wanted to prove? That I was stronger than I was before? Or maybe I just wanted someone else to knock some sense into me. Or maybe he just wanted proof that he was still moving forward. Or maybe I just needed something to clear my head.
He gazed at his fist.
"So, Luna Aster… You never told me she was your adoptive sister." Maria's eyes narrowed.
"I didn't? I'll tell you some other time." He smiled.
"Mmkay. Sure."
The moment he looked at the room, his expression shifted from excitement to a scowl. His fist tightened over Maria's shoulder.
"What?" She asked.
Gnashing his teeth, his eye twitched at all the shoe prints left behind, "Nobody removed their damn shoes, now the training room is dirty…"
"The janitor'll clean it up. Now c'mon, the Chief is waiting for us." She said as she helped carry him out of the training room.