Marcus/Rocco
By the third
round, I knew something was off.
Not during the
fight.
After.
That was the
problem.
I stood in the
clearing, blades still in my hands, breathing steady- but there was a delay. A
strange heaviness settling into my limbs, like my body was catching up to
something my mind had already moved past.
Across from me,
Callie rolled her wrist slightly, the whip coiling back into place at her side.
"You're slower."
She said.
"I just finished a
round," I replied.
"That's not what I
meant."
I frowned
slightly.
Then I tried to
step forward again, but my foot didn't respond the way I expected.
"… okay," I
muttered. "That's annoying."
From the
side-lines, Noah clapped slowly.
"Ah yes," he said.
"The mighty warrior has discovered fatigue. Truly ground breaking."
Riley elbowed him
lightly. "Not helping."
"I'm helping
morale," he said. "Very important role."
I ignored them and
tightened my grip on the blades, focusing inward.
The bracelet
pulsed faintly. But it wasn't the same.
Not like
yesterday. Not like during the fight.
Now it felt…
quieter. Distant even. Like it had already given what it was going to give.
I stepped forward again, forcing my stance
into place.
"Again," I said.
"You're pushing
it," she replied.
"I'm fine."
"You're not."
I exhaled sharply.
"I said I'm-"
"Then prove it."
That did it. I
moved, fast.
Faster than
before.
Or at least- I
tried to be.
The first step was
clean.
The second-
slower.
Callie saw it
immediately.
Of course, she
did.
Her whip snapped
forward, not full force, but enough to test me. I raised one blade to block,
adjusting-
Too late.
The impact pushed
me off balance, not hard, but once again enough to break my rhythm.
I recovered
quickly, stepping in, trying to re-establish control. But the flow was there.
My body felt stiff
and slightly out of sync. And that slight difference? It mattered a lot.
Callie moved in
now, closing the distance instead of keeping it. That alone told me everything.
She wasn't testing
me. She was showing me...
Her movements were
sharper, faster and cleaner. Every strike forced a reaction, every step cut off
an option before I could take it.
I tried to respond
and force the rhythm back. But it didn't come. Not fully or naturally.
"Stop," she said.
I froze.
Not because I
wanted to. Because I had to.
My chest rose and
fell more heavily now, that strange delay in my body becoming more obvious.
"… That's new, " I
muttered again.
Callie lowered her
weapon.
"You lasted longer,"
she said. "But you burned through it."
I glanced at the
bracelet, still faintly pulsing.
"But I controlled
it," I said.
"You did."
"Then what's the
problem?"
She held my gaze
for a moment before answering.
"You think control
means unlimited use."
That… landed.
Before I could
respond.
"Because if it
does," Noah cut in, stepping forward, "I would like to officially request super
strength for approximately five minutes. I have plans."
Riley sighed. "You
don't even know how to use a knife properly."
"I have
enthusiasm," Noah replied. "That counts for something.
"It doesn't."
"It should."
I let out a small
breath that almost passed for a laugh.
Seraphina stepped
into the clearing then, her presence immediately shifting the atmosphere. She
didn't say anything at first. Just looked at me.
"You felt it," she
said.
Not a question.
I nodded slightly.
"After the fight,"
I replied. "Not during."
She stepped
closer. "That's the cost."
I frowned. "Cost
of what?"
"Power used
without balance," she said. "The realm does not give endlessly. It circulates."
I tilted my head
slightly. "Circulates how?"
"It feeds you,"
she said. "An then it takes time to recover what it had given."
"That sounds like
energy."
"It is more than
that."
Her gaze flicked
briefly to the bracelet.
"The realm is not
just power. It is a containment."
Containment…
"For what?"
She didn't answer
immediately.
Callie glanced at
her. Even she was paying attention now.
Seraphina exhaled
slowly.
"Fragments," she
said. "Of something that should not
exist freely."
That didn't
exactly clarify things.
"It strengthens
you by channelling that energy," she continued. "But if you push too far, your
body becomes the weak point- not the source."
"So, I burn out,"
I said.
"Yes."
I looked down at
my hands again. Then back at her.
"And if I don't
stop?"
Her expression
didn't change.
"You won't be able
to fight at all."
Silence followed.
Noah raised his
hands slightly.
"Quick question,"
he said. "Hypothetically speaking, if he collapses dramatically mid fight, do
we catch him or…?"
"You're not
funny," Riley said.
"I'm hilarious,"
he replied. "You're just stressed."
"… I am stressed."
"Exactly."
Callie turned back
to me.
"So," she said.
"Now you know."
I nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
"You can't rush
this."
"I know."
She studied me for
a moment longer. Then,
"Again tomorrow."
Of course.
Later that
evening, I found Seraphina alone near the edge of the property.
She didn't turn
when I approached.
"You still have
questions," she said.
"Yeah."
I stopped beside
her.
"You said the
realm contains something," I continued. "And Aldo's been looking for it."
She was quiet for
a moment. "Yes."
"What happens if
he gets it?"
Her gaze shifted
slightly.
"For centuries,
the balance has held," she said. "Because the power he seeks has never been
fully his."
"That's not an
answer."
"It is the only
one you need right now."
I exhaled slowly.
"You always do
that."
"Because you are
not ready for everything."
I leaned back
slightly, crossing my arms.
"Then tell me
this," I said. "Why me?"
She finally turned
to look at me.
"Because you
survived," she said.
"No," she agreed.
"It isn't."
Silence stretched.
"You were chosen
because you could carry it," she added. "Not because you understand it.
I looked down at
the bracelet for the once again.
It pulsed once.
As I walked back,
Noah jogged up beside me.
"So," he said. "On
a scale of one to 'we're all doomed,' how bad is it?"
"… We're not
doomed," I replied.
He nodded
seriously. "Okay, but like… a little doomed?"
I glanced at him.
"… A little."
"Cool," he said.
"I can work with that."
I shook my head
slightly, with a smile.
For the first time
all day, things didn't feel so heavy.