by C. J. Cooke
“Okay guys, change of plans for the lesson today.” Caleb said to the students waving them over.
“Do we get to start weapons training?” One tall guy said from the back peering down at the weapons in interest. I made a note of his face for future reference. If the headmaster would let me expand my Elite training experiment then I wanted to get a read on some of the older students that might show some potential.
“You could say that.” Caleb said grinning. “It seems like the weapons store got in a bit of a mess and we need to get it squared away before we can start weapons training. In exchange for your assistance this lesson in getting this sorted, Aria here has agreed to assist with advanced weapons training for anyone that wants to take their training in that direction.”
“What makes her think that she can teach us anything she’s only a first year?” a heard a voice call from the back of the crowd.
“Dude, that’s the chick that’s training that group of first years. The ones that are taking part in the competition on Friday.”
“Which group? The ones that are going to get their asses handed to them by the rest of the class.” I heard someone laugh.
“Those would be the ones.” A laugh rippled around the room.
I took a step forward, I am after all a dedicated teacher and I was willing to teach this lesson which desperately needed to be learned. Caleb stopped my advance with an arm across my chest and a raised eyebrow. “Pffft it’s not like I would permanently hurt anyone.”
“Let’s save it for Friday guys.” Caleb said raising his voice over the chatter. “For now, you’ve got some cleaning to do. Consider it a lesson in how to care for your weapons.”
We set them to work cleaning out the storage room and the few that were less annoying started off cleaning the blades. It’s not like they were covered in blood or anything but they were covered in dirt. I had set myself up a little station in the corner with a whetstone that I had found covered in dust in one corner and a beautiful but abused katana that I had found. Caleb was speaking with some of the teachers about conjuring some weapons storage. Apparently, they would be able to have something made up ready for tonight so that we could get everything properly stored away. It was strange, for a school training an army which they didn’t think the majority of which would fight with weapons, they had a shit tonne of weapons in here.
“That’s a beautiful sword.” A familiar voice said.
“It was, and hopefully it will be again, once someone shows it a bit of care.” I said checking the blade. There was a little notch in the blade that I was hoping to be able to sharpen out. When I looked up it was the kid who had been excited about weapons training earlier.
“I’m Trent” he said sticking one hand out to me.
“Aria.” I said shaking his hand. “So, what brings you over here Trent?” I asked.
“I heard that you were starting up an Elite training scheme.” He said, sitting down next to me. “I want an audition.”
I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the serious look on his face. “It’s not a rock band.” I was expecting him to show some kind of embarrassment but he just laughed with me. Colour me intrigued.
“I saw you guys training late at night, you’re the real deal.” He said. He at least had the decency to look embarrassed when he added. “I snuck into Caleb’s office and watched from there before you guys arrived.”
“Really?” I was actually impressed that he was able to watch an entire training session without me realising that he was there.
“Yeah, sorry about that. Is it true that you have only been training them for three weeks?”
“Yep.” I said going back to working on the blade.
“So, what do I need to do?”
“I don’t have an Elite training program yet. This is just an experiment.” I replied falling back into the repetitive motion of running the blade along the whetstone.
“You guys are going to wipe the floor with the others. Of course there is going to be an Elite training program. I want in on it.” He insisted.
“What makes you think that you have what it takes?”
“I’m the top in my class and I want to learn. Whatever it takes.” He was persistent, I’d give him that.
“Caleb,” I shouted over to him waving him over to us as he walked back into the gym. “what do you think of this kid.”
“Trent?” He asked looking at the kid. “He’s okay.” I literally saw Trent bristle at the complement. He clearly thought that he would have got better praise than that.
“He wants in on an Elite training program.” I said continuing to work on my sword. I had a specific person in mind who I thought would work well with it and I wanted it to be perfect.
“I could see that.” He answered.
“Good enough for me.”
“What? That’s it?” Trent spluttered in shock. “I’m in? Really?” He grinned.
“Yeah, you’re forgetting that there isn’t actually an Elite training program though.” I reminded him.
“It’s only a matter of time Aria,” Caleb answered. “Just wait until after Friday, all of the doubters are going to see what you are made of.”
We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning and sorting and once the storage units were in place, we stored everything away properly, earlier than expected. Before I left I slipped the boxes of fighting leathers in the weapons room. By the time I made it back up to the room I was pooped. The guys must not have finished with their afternoon lesson as it was empty when I arrived so I took the opportunity to slip into the shower and wash off some of the grim from the cleaning. Training tonight didn’t start until seven and I wanted to get an early dinner in so the guys would have time to digest before they got to play with blades. I loved it when I moved on to weapons training and they all seemed pretty excited about it the other day when we had cracked out the practice swords I’d seen in Caleb’s office. I want them to learn to move fluidly with the weight of the weapon on them or a weapon in their other hand. It was something which I hadn’t moved on to in my own training until a few years in and it took a lot of retraining my mind and muscle memory to get right. I want to bring weapons in early enough that they don’t end up going over old stuff. I had a feeling that whatever fight was coming to us wasn’t going to give us enough time for all that. The demon invading the academy was still on my mind. It was obviously not an easy task to get in and I don’t see why anyone would go through so much trouble just to send one demon in. If you had the window of opportunity why not send in as many as you can to cause the maximum amount of damage possible. It just didn’t add up. I moved into the kitchen checking through what we had in. I wasn’t the world’s best cook but I knew my way around a kitchen and I had Liam add a few things to our shopping list so that I could make a few meals if needs be. Thankfully most of the food was exactly the same as what we had in the human realm. I don’t think I will ever get used to calling it that. Some had different names but everything was basically the same. My plan for tonight was my version of chicken fajitas. Quick, easy and not too heavy on the stomach. I grabbed the ingredients that I would need from the fridge and managed to throw together a quick mango salsa and chop the rest of the ingredients before the guys got back from class. I hadn’t been able to find an alternative for sour cream or avocado to make a guacamole but selfishly I thought they were the worst bit so I wasn’t that bothered. Just as it was nearing five o’clock the guys came stumbling into the room.
“Hey kitten,” Liam said snuggling up behind me and pulling me close to his chest. He ran his nose up the length of my neck and placed a soft kiss behind my ear. My knees were instant jelly and a shiver ran up my spine. “Did you have fun with Caleb this afternoon? We missed you.”
“I made the second years clear out the weapons room and clean it up.” I sniggered. “You should hear some of the shit they are saying about our training group.” I said spinning in his arms. I may have sat myself in the corner concentrating on getti
ng a selection of weapons in order for my group but I could still hear the crap they were saying. I would have walked over and smacked the shit out of them but I like to think that I was growing as a person. Plus, I had made sure to memorise their faces and if they tried to get into the Elite group, I was going to smack the shit out of them then instead.
“What’s the evil grin for?” Liam asked peering over my shoulder at the food I had laid out ready to cook. “And what are you cooking?” He had a suspicious look on his face. Mexican food wasn’t apparently a thing over in this realm, even though this wasn’t really authentic Mexican food but it was the best that my meagre cooking skills could do and they were still pretty good.
“I was just plotting my revenge” I said smiling sweetly up at him.
“That doesn’t include poisoning us, does it?” He asked eying the mango salsa.
“Hey” I said slapping his stomach which was rock solid and achieved nothing. “Don’t mock your mate’s cooking.” I glared up at him with as much fake outrage as I can muster. “Or at least wait until you’ve tried it.”
“You have my sincerest of apologies my love.” Liam said dramatically, dropping down to one knee and holding one of my hands in front of him.
Kyle came over and extracted me from Liam’s dramatics and dropped a kiss down onto my lips. “I missed you today.” He simply said.
“I missed you too” I said snuggling against his chest. He had the most amazing smell to him and even I could admit that he gave the best hugs.
Sykes quickly stepped up behind me and swept me up bridal style in his arms. “Stop hogging our mate.” He said spinning around with me in his arms. I couldn’t help but giggle. What had become of me? I was apparently a giggler now. Oh hell, I don’t care. These three men had taken up residence in my heart and I couldn’t be happier. Some days I had a slight freak out moment that it was too soon but they were my mates, they were made for me and it really did feel like they were a part of me. I couldn’t imagine not having them in my life and by my side.
“If you want to eat early enough so that you don’t throw up tonight, I’m afraid you are going to have to put me down.” I said gently kissing Sykes on the lips. I loved the way that he looked at me. He was always so playful but when it came to me, he really did have his heart on his sleeve and I could see how much he cared. Sykes gently set me back on my feet and I began cooking up the chicken and some veggies. The tortillas were already warming up in the oven and I had the mango salsa and a salad already prepared. “What did I miss this afternoon?” I asked over my shoulder. Liam had sat at the kitchen table drinking a bottle of water while Kyle and Sykes were going through some books and papers on the desk.
“Not much,” Kyle said “We picked up some more books for you from the library though that should help you with demonology.”
“Thanks.” I smiled over my shoulder at the guys as they came to gather around the table. They really were very nice to look at. Mmmm maybe after training we should all have a bit more alone time. I plated up the chicken and brought all the bowls over to the table. I was so excited about this. The food here wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t quite the same. There was so much that I missed about home, this was just one tiny thing. I think I had given up hope of ever being able to go back there.
“Hey, what just happened?” Kyle said bobbing his head down to meet my eyes. “You just went somewhere.”
“Just thinking,” I replied casually. I didn’t want to get into it really but even as I said it I knew that there was no way that they would just let it go.
“Thinking of what kitten?” Liam asked sliding one hand over mine. As I looked up they all smiled at me. It wasn’t the pity smile that I had come to expect of people it was actual understanding. It was like they genuinely cared about what I was thinking and they wanted to help. I knew that they did care but being able to see it on their face meant so much more.
“Home, I guess.” I quietly said.
Kyle and Sykes both slipped out of their chairs and dropped to their knees at my side. Liam still held my hand across the table as the others wrapped their arms around me. I was in a little cocoon of understanding and support and it was just what I needed.
“I know that you must have given up a lot when you came here sweetheart. And you weren’t even given a choice about giving it up. I will spend every day, for the rest of my life if I have to, making somewhere, anywhere, feel like a home for you.” Kyle said nuzzling his face into my neck. “If that means finding a way back to the human realm then I will move worlds to rip the very veil apart if I have to.” He whispered.
Tears sprang to my eyes. “The truth is, I don’t really think I’ve given up all that much to come here. Yes, it was a life that I had forged for myself and it was something that I was happy with, and even proud of. But this, this that I have right here sitting around this tiny dining table is more than I could have ever hoped and dreamed of. I found my mates but more than that I feel like I might finally be finding myself. I don’t think that I would ever want to change any of that.”
Kyle wrapped his arms around me and I leant my head against his chest. Now this was what it felt like to finally be at home.
Sykes cleared his throat and squeezed my hand a bit tighter. “This is really touching guys. I think I can say we all feel the same way. The only thing that could make this moment any better would be food. Some of this tasty smelling and strange looking food.” Sykes said licking his lips.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Let’s dig in” I said. Grabbing a tortilla and putting some chicken and veggies on before topping it with the salsa. The guys were eyeing me suspiciously as I constructed my version of a fajita. I wrapped up the tortilla and took a massive bite. Mmmm it was soooo good. Sykes was the first to make his own with Liam and Kyle closely following. Liam and Kyle seemed to be hanging back a bit, waiting for Sykes to take a bite first just in case. I don’t know whether to laugh or be insulted. Sykes meanwhile just took a massive bite of his fajita, chewed thoughtfully then pointed at his fajita and gave me a thumbs up while he happily kept on chewing. At least I’d won one of them over. Liam was the next to cave in with a shrug and a bite that morphed into a happy smile. Kyle just started eating like it wasn’t even an issue to begin with. “I can’t believe that you guys are so suspicious of my cooking.” I scoffed shoving another bite of fajita into my mouth.
“Well, it’s not that long ago that you were confused about what a chicken was.” Liam said loading up another fajita.
“I wasn’t confused about what a chicken was!” I said “I was just confused that you had chickens.” Actually, is that just as bad?
“Well, whatever, this is amazing.” Sykes said finishing off his second fajita.
We spent the next hour just talking and finishing off the food before clearing up and getting ready to go train with the others. It was a little happy slice of what I hoped our future could be like.
Chapter Twenty Seven
The guys and I were waiting in the gym for the last of the others to arrive. I had stored the fighting leathers that I’d had made for them in the weapons store but now they were sat next to me I was excited to pass them out. I just hope everyone likes them and it wasn’t weird. I don’t have that much experience with the whole friend thing but I was pretty sure that this was weird. Maybe. Okay now I’m pretty sure that I’m just overthinking it. The last few filtered into the gym and everyone took up position stretching out around the space. It made me weirdly proud. Maybe there is something a bit wrong with me.
“Right, everyone, as you know we only have today and then one last training session before the competition. Let’s face it, you don’t need any more sessions specifically for the competition so I thought we would just do something different.” I walked over to the weapons store and threw open the door. Now that it had been tidied and someone had mojo’ed up proper storage cabinets it actually looked pretty impressive. “Who wants to play with knifes?” I grinned. Everyone filed into the
room and started looking around.
“This is cool!” Britt said picking up a long dagger.
“I think that this would suit you better.” I said pulling out the katana that I had been restoring today. It was the perfect size for her and with the way that she fought I knew that she would be able to work well with it. Once Britt set eyes on the katana it was almost like love at first sight and I laughed as she jumped up and down in excitement. “Everyone look around, see if there is something that catches your eye and then let’s meet back outside.”
Caleb stepped inside the weapons room. “Is it still okay if I join you?” he asked.
“Of course,” I smiled, “grab something that takes your fancy.”
Britt was out the door with the katana and examining it while everyone else rummaged through the draws and cabinets. Most of them came out with some form of sword, daggers or a combination of both. All my guys had picked a double edged sword and a long dagger.