I had attended at least thirty more of the sessions that a Warrior Angel is required to attend. I was soon able to train with the others, to fight, and to join these training sessions with all the other angels. Of course, most of the warriors stood clear of me, taking the fight easy on me because they feared to cause me pain.
I had been performing well, and both Apollonia and Arden began giving me more time and additional sessions on the field. Our training increased significantly, allowing us to have at least three training sessions each week. As the adolescent warriors, including myself, spent more time training, we noticeably improved in combat skills. I particularly noticed this growth in Arthur, who had become my closest companion during training. The others were friendly, but Arthur made a genuine effort to talk to me, even when we weren't supposed to.
After a few more sessions, I had enough of the other warriors going soft on me, so I went hard on them until they got over the fear of hurting me. I had been getting hurt a lot with them; it was part of the thrill that made me excitedly put on my armor each time I was assigned one-on-one with another angel.
I may have liked this part of my training, but the Gate Goddess did not.
"I still do not like seeing you like this.." She trailed a hand down my hair, not caring for the sweat that was dripping from it.
"The pain is momentary, Janus." I sat on the mattress with the goddess behind me, her legs on the floor while she sat close behind me. I felt bad that my bed was too small to fit her whole body, but the goddess, from what I could tell, didn't actually sleep with me. She would stay with me until I was asleep before taking off. She also said to me before that she did not mind; she thought it was adorable, actually.
She trailed her hair down from my hair before onto my back. I was back in my original tunic that exposed my back, so the side of her long fingers on my skin sent shivers through my body. "Is it? How so..?"
I glanced up at her, watching her eyes on my back. "Have you felt pain before, Janus?"
Her eyes widened slightly as she took in my question. "No. I have not. I have never thought about pain before…"
Gulping, catching the light glint in her eyes. "Before me?"
She let out a shaky smile, her hand hovering just above my spine, her feather-like touch brushing against me. "Yes, you are the first being I've seen experience pain," she said softly. Her head hung slightly, and her hair drifted gently over her ears. "Well, the first angel."
She emphasized that word, causing me to quirk an eyebrow. "Are you talking about the hellbeings?"
"Have you heard of it?" The goddess let out a soft chuckle, her body moving slightly closer over to hang above me. "Of course, you would have. The angels love to talk; they do not know the truth behind what happened."
"You were there, right?" I turned to her, placing my hand on top of hers that was on the mattress. "Can you tell me what happened?"
"It is a long story." She removed her hand from my back to slide through my hair, her fingers grazing the purple strands. "I do not wish to ruin your mood with such history. It is done with. Let me only think about you now."
The words caused me to blush. My head dipped at her affectionate touches while my eyes slowly drifted close. The goddess always brought this feeling out of me. Her warmth created a safe cavern to completely cover my body from all of the danger that didn't exist in this room. In my head, she protected me from my own thoughts.
I let go of the topic, pressing my weight onto the goddess's chest. She let me do so, turning so that I was cradled into her, her large wings curling up for a warm, soft blanket.
The pain and wounds I had endured from the session had disappeared with the goddess's touch; she took the pain away, cleaning my body up from all of the bruises that lathered my skin.
I hadn't noticed that Casper was in the room with us. He was perched at the bottom of my bed, going unnoticed. He let out a little whine when he saw the goddess cuddle me. Janus laughed, turning her eyes at the pup, who looked up at her.
"Attention seeker.." I mumbled, watching the goddess who held me give the dog a slight headstroke. She giggled, removing her hand to rub through my hair.
"He is so-so."
I smiled against her chest, feeling her soft fingers running through my hair, lulling me into a restful sleep as I nestled against her body. I still wanted to talk with her, to share how well I had been doing in my sessions. I knew the goddess was watching me and could see everything that had already happened. Nevertheless, the joy of telling her all that I had experienced remained undiminished.
She listened to me as I told her about Rory and Seth, Bridget and Orwell. She gave me tips and encouragement on my "quest" to get Rory and Seth together. The goddess was just very keen on my journey.
Even though I wished to stay awake with her, I drifted off into the darkness. I soon gave up the fight, letting it take me away, only feeling Janus's body closely pressed into mine.
I have been having a slight problem that I have been trying to ignore. It was the darkness that slowly turned into these images, these memories, as I had been told. The memories of the same thing always involved Dawson or other teammates. I only remembered Dawson; I only saw him.
Why was it only him that pulled my attention away?
My thoughts provided no answers; I wanted to understand why he was so important to me. Initially, I was fearful of the man in my thoughts because he only brought pain. However, my feelings had changed. Now, I felt joy when I saw him; my heart would race at just the sight of him. It was all very confusing and strained my mind. I wanted to discuss this with Janus, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't know why I hesitated to talk about my feelings, but I did.
When I awoke from the dream, I was left with only Casper in the room. I could slightly smell the goddess on me. Her sweet and soft scent was soon washed away by Casper's tongue, which rapidly licked my face. I pushed him away, telling the pitbull to sit and wait for me to grab my bearings before standing up.
Of course, my friends were waiting for me outside. They jumped at the sight of me, quickly dragging me away to meet up with the cupids to do something fun. I enjoyed these moments the most, meeting everyone and doing something enjoyable before I had to go with Arthur to the field.
Rory had taken up what I was urging them to do with Seth. They had actually played into the flirting or whatever to make it more obvious. Seth went along with it, soon growing closer to the angel who was taking things slow. Both of them would come to speak with me separately about each other.
Every time I tried to encourage one to confess, they would beat around the bush. It was just constant flirting and playing with each other. I wondered if they would finally confess or continue this cat-and-mouse game forever.
While they were busy with their activities, Bridget and Orwell grew much closer. Eventually, they confessed to their "secret" relationship after keeping it hidden for a long time. Although we were already aware of their feelings for each other, we acted surprised to avoid giving it away. Due to their relationship, Bridget spent a lot of time in Cupid's Cove with Orwell, which allowed Rory and Seth to have some alone time to deal with the unusual situation.
I don't mind this. I was always on the field with the warriors while they were with their partners. Along with that, Bunny spent more time with us. Because we were going to Cupids Cove a lot, we got to spend time with Rue, Brick, and Bunny. They enjoyed our company, joining in on our fun every time we went out. When we weren't going out, Bunny would spend time with her cupid friends. Rue and Brick spent time together without anyone as well.
Casper didn't change. He followed me everywhere I went. Sometimes, he went off to do his own thing, but that was only when we were at Pup's Cove. Other than that, he stayed glued to my side.
What I really enjoyed was that after each session of training with the warriors, I went back to my room at the cove to be greeted by Janus. She sometimes waited for me or came every time I fell on the bed due to exhaustion. She took the time out of whatever she did to sit with me, rub her hands through my hair, and heal all of the bruises on my body.
I didn't know why the goddess spent her time with me, but I enjoyed it; it was the best part of the whole day or whatever time passed while I was here.
It was the goddess, all her…
After saying goodbye to everyone swimming in the immense sea of water, I went up to meet Arthur in the sky. We had spent the time playing in the water after leaving Cupids Cove. The others decided to stay, while I had to go with Arthur to the field.
I was having fun with them, so I was slightly reluctant to leave, but I knew I had to go and see what we were doing today on the field. Casper was following behind; he flew up beside me when we were out of sight from everyone. Arthur didn't look pleased with the action but kept quiet.
When we were in the trees, he dropped to the ground along with us while we walked our way over to the large field. Arthur and I put our armor on before standing in the usual line, waiting for Apollonia to discuss our activity today.
She came over to us, shattering all of the conversations floating around. "Alright, everybody. Today, we are switching things up." She gave us a bright smile, Arden soon appearing beside her. "You will all be given the chance to get a new companion, a Heaven Wolf."
The shocked gasps from the surrounding angels made my heart skip a beat. This was exciting news; it meant that every new warrior would have the chance to have a wolf by their side. We had learned several times before that, for warriors in Arden's higher, more experienced group, having a wolf as a companion is the final step in our training. This means that after we receive a wolf and learn to fight alongside them, we will advance from the adolescent group to Arden's more experienced group.
That was exciting; it meant that I had made it far. Growing up in this group with Arden means we were good; we had passed in proving ourselves.
That I passed in proving myself.
Apollonia raised an armored hand, silencing the excited line of young angels. "Alright, I know you all are excited about this, but you will need to listen to know how this works." She turned to Arden, giving the warrior a sly smirk.
Arden turned, placing two fingers in her lips before she let out a loud whistle. The sun was covered for a second before a large wolf landed beside the blonde warrior. Another one soon came, the same gray wolf that Apollonia had shown us that time.
The warrior with dreads placed a hand on the wolf, turning her attention back to us. "You all remember Becklewood, hm?" The wolf let out a huff, the armor slowly spreading over its fur in a flash. Arden did the same with hers, sitting on top of the beast while Apollonia continued to explain things to us. "I will start with the basics. I have to start this off with the obvious: this isn't a pet. It's a partner that you will have to grow a bond with. The stronger the bond, the stronger both of you will be in combat."
She moved over to Becklewood's other side, standing between him and Arden's wolf. "Another important thing is you do not choose them. They chose you. They will sniff out the worth in you if you deserve any. You will have a partner in no time."
She continued talking about the wolves and their importance, how connections are hard to make and even harder to form in the first place. I spaced it out a bit, feeling the soft presence on the back of my armored leg. I knew Casper was lying behind me, keeping his ears high on alert now that the Heaven Wolfs were close by.
"Next is the armor." I shifted my attention back to the warrior, who now held the collar of her wolf, which no longer had its armor on. "This collar allows your wolf to wear its armor. When the time comes for battle, it can assemble the protective gear it needs. However, it's important for you to take care of this collar. The wolf won't concern itself with it; in fact, it might even pull it off if it feels like it." The warrior fastened the collar back onto Becklewood, the mechanism clicking into place before sinking into the beast's fur.
"The Heaven Wolf has the ability to protect itself when the time comes. However, this does not mean you can ignore the needs of these beings. They will require ample time to bond with you and develop trust—longer than it took for all of you to master combat. These creatures need that time to become familiar with their armor and with you."
The small voices beside me made me turn an eye to watch the angels look around anxiously. Some kept keen eyes on the beasts. They were obviously intimidated and excited about this activity. This was the last step it took to move up, and I was primarily excited about that.
While Apollonia continued to explain everything about the wolves, I couldn't help but think about Casper. With the pup lying beside me, it was hard not to worry about him. I was already filled in about the dislike coming from both of these creatures. They are not meant to be so close to each other; it hasn't happened before, which is why both sides of these creatures were slightly skeptical when they saw each other.
I managed to get Casper to calm down whenever we were this close to the wolves. He listened to me consistently during our time in the field. However, the wolves on their side were not as accommodating. I had only encountered Becklewood and Arden's wolf, which I later learned was named Juno, so I was understandably nervous about how Casper would react to me needing to have a wolf of my own.
Casper easily grew fine around them, so a wolf could be the same with him, right? I had hoped it would. I need to have a wolf to go on, so I really wished it would go right.
Heaven Wolves are less unpredictable than the pups, but they are more dangerous. This is why they are left alone in the field as a form of cover. They generally tolerate the Warrior Angels and the goddess, but little else.
On the other hand, the pups can be quite unpredictable due to their restrictions, but they are not dangerous or aggressive. This makes it challenging to get the two types of K9s to get along with each other.
Casper tolerates being around them; the pup does so only because of me. I have tried to get him to go off and play in the field while I train, but he whines every time I shoot him off. He stays with me on his own accord, especially when the Heaven Wolfs are close.
Mostly, these times.
Apollonia snapped me out of my thoughts with a clap. She was now standing up front alone; Arden was off with Juno under the trees along with Becklewood. The warrior motioned for us to follow her. We were walking over to the wolf dens.
My heart raced at the growing anticipation of what I knew was coming.
Apollonia's words confirmed it further. She paused just outside the dens where a few Heaven Wolves lounged around. Spreading her hand to them with a growing smile, she said, "let's get started, shall we?"