Team training

Moon and Zeke were awoken to Raven's violent scream with the sun barely starting Saturday morning. Moon sprinted out with Soul-Taker, with Zeke following behind her, summoning Shadow. "WHAT'S WRONG!? WHO DIED!?" They screamed in their underwear, holding their weapons high into the air. Raven was on the ground terrified. "So you do have bad hair days." Sakura said to Moon. The two of them turned to Constantine, Alexander and Sakura sitting in their kitchen, wearing their armour. Moon and Zeke lowered their weapons, cocking their heads to the side. Constantine folded his arms. "We need to-" Zeke sighed turning to Raven. "Raven, why are you up at this time?" "Well...There was a timed event that was about to expire and-" "Go to bed." He ordered. "But!" "Now!" He ordered. Constantine sat frozen, boiling with rage at being ignored. Zeke shook his head, banishing Shadow. "I mean it's not the worst thing, if she stays up." Moon said. "I'm not getting woken up in the middle of the night, to make you two an omelette for your late night noodle run again."

"We've come to-" Zeke held his finger up, silencing him. "I may not be able to turn on my Demon's Blood on command, but I can assure you. That if you're here to start our little team training at..." He squinted at the oven clock. "At 4:43 am. I will personally fuck you up." He said, making a fist. Sakura and Alexander shuffled their seats away from him, scraping against the tiles with a screech. "We need to make the most of our day." Zeke held his hand out. Moon handed him Soul-Taker. "Alright, I can see you two are not morning people. However we cannot waste our time." "Honey, I don't think he likes that idea." Sakura said tugging on his arm. "Listen to her, honey. I'm not in the mood for this shit." Constantine stood up staring him down. "You listen here! I don't care how tired you are. If we don't work together, we won't stand a chance at winning. Now I stayed up narrowing down who our opponent could be, and I've come up with-" "It's Damien Hawthorne." Zeke said handing Soul-Taker back.

Constantine shook his head. "How could you possibly know that?" He took a seat rubbing his eyes. "Too early for this shit." He grumbled, slumping into his seat. "The current top ten all have public footage of their powers. They want us to be unprepared for this encounter. Nothing stopping them from using a former World ranker." "But how could you narrow that option down to Damien?" "When was the last time the top ten changed?" "It has been quite a while." Alexander said. "Now, even with your connections. Do any of you know, what the fuck he does?" Constantine sat down shaking his head with Sakura and Alexander doing the same. "So, we have our challenger. Now get the fuck out, and let us go back to sleep. We will train at 8-" Moon cleared her throat. "9...?" She raised her head up. "10 am." "That's five hours wasted. You're both clearly up now." "He said 10am. Now go away, and let us go back to sleep." Moon said shooing him away. "You've given us a lead, we should capitalize on this advantage. We should discuss the best possible strategy to use." "Do any of your plans involve letting your teammates sleep?" Zeke asked. "No! We're training now!" He shouted banging the table.

Red stomped out on her hind legs, frowning at them, holding her small chew toy. She tossed at Constantine, angrily pointing to her wrist, and letting out a set of furious squeaks. "Great. Now you've pissed Red off." Zeke sighed. "I!-" "Come on Red, let's go back to bed." Moon said picking her up, walking away. "Wait, where are you going!?" "Back to sleep asshole!" "But-" "Next time, try talking to us at a normal time." Zeke shook his head in disbelief. "Dumbass." He muttered walking back inside. "I....You..." Sakura and Alexander, slowly dragged Constantine outside. "We're not..." They shushed him, patting him gently. "It's alright, we'll come back later, Honey." "But..." "Let's get some breakfast boss." "We're supposed to..." Red and Moon instantly fell asleep as their heads touched the pillow. Zeke laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling, brimming with energy. "Eugh....now I can't go back to sleep." He threw his blanket in a rage, stomping out. "Stupid asshole, making me wake up and-" He locked eyes with Raven holding several bags of chips and three large soda bottles. She stared at him motionless. "I'm saving these for-" "Go to bed damn it!" He ordered pointing at her room.

Zeke walked out, leaping up onto the roof of the dormitory, gazing at the sunrise. He ran his fingers along the veins on his arm. "Why I can't remember anything, when you turn on?" Clenching his fist tightly, he let out a sigh. "Still, can't even turn you on, when I want." Rubbing his face in frustration, Zeke chose to ignore it, and watch the sun rise. The sun crested over the horizon, slowly enveloping and bathing the entirety of Chiron Academy in a warm glow. Slumping back onto the concrete he let blew a raspberry. He summoned Shadow holding it into the air. "How are we gonna protect anyone, if I'm fighting with an arm tied behind my back?" Returning into the kitchen, he begun preparing Moon's breakfast, and Raven's dinner. The two and Red came out at 8am, rubbing their eyes and yawning finding a mountain of food prepared. "Zeke, did you sleep at all?" Moon asked concerned, taking a seat. "Couldn't sleep. Figured, I make breakfast, and her dinner." "Technically, I haven't eaten since you made dinner yesterday, so this is my breakfast." "By that logic, every meal would be breakfast, as were breaking the fast." Raven froze deep in thought. "Huh...Never thought of it like that."

"You should get some sleep Zeke. We can do our training with them later." "It's fine. Only gonna get worse if we delay it. Raven do you have a way to text them?" She scoffed and chuckled. "You think my unpopular dumbass, would have a way to contact them?" She shook her head at him. "Come on Zeke. Pull your head out of your ass." "I think your rich family way would." "I-....Can I retract my last statement?" She asked cringing. "No. Now call them over. Tell them to be here in 30 minutes. I'm gonna go get ready." "He seems like, he's under a lot of stress." Raven said, with Red agreeing. "Don't you think as his girlfriend, you should cheer him up?" Moon spat out her food, choking on chunks of bacon bits. She slugged back a glass of juice. "I'm not his girlfriend!" She hissed. "But you two finally did the nasty." "I had an urge. It's been, GREATLY satisfied. Five star rating. *Chef's kiss* Muwah! But I'm good now, and no longer need it." She said taking a deep breath, calmly standing up. "On a completely unrelated note. I need to take a shower." Moon sprinted off, kicking the shower door open. "Moon! What are you-YAH!" "That girl really needs to admit her feelings." Raven said with Red nodding along.

Sakura sat comfortably outside, playing with Red. Alexander did squats while waiting. Constantine stood impatiently outside their dorm, arms crossed, tapping his feet, wearing a scowl. "They said 30 minutes! It's almost ten!" He snapped. "They're probably still sleeping." Sakura said. "This is ridiculous. What's the point of sending the message, if they can't keep to it." Zeke trudged out in jeans and his shirt on inside out and backwards. "Sorry we're late-" He did a full body shudder. "Had some things to do." Moon came out wearing the outfit, during the Hunter games, with a radiating glow and smile. She had a bounce in her step, and brimmed with energy. "Can we get started now?" Constantine asked annoyed. The two nodded with different levels of energy. "Good, let's head to the beach. We can start there." Moon took point, skipping along with Soul-Taker and the fire tome in her hands. Sakura appeared behind Zeke, whispering into his ear. "I'm guessing, she was some of those things you had to do?" He jumped away turning red. She snickered covering her mouth. "Looks like you did a good job. Can't remember the last time, I looked like that." "I..." He trailed off, watching her walk away.

The five stood on the beach with Constantine standing in front of them, as if he was a drill sergeant. "Before we begin training. We need to discuss team roles. While you two were sleeping like lazy logs. I've come up with your posit-" Zeke pointed to Sakura. "Assassin/Rogue, flank duty." Then to Alexander. "Tank role. You're leader position, Moon is Spellcaster and I'll be whatever role is left." "You can't just-" "Why am in the Spellcaster role?" Moon pouted. "Look at this thing. Does this look like a Spellcaster's weapon? I want to be up close and personal!" "What's the primary tactic to beating a group, with a Spellcaster?" Zeke asked. "Rush them down, and...oooooh! I'll make them come to me." "There you go. That being said, are you done Constantine? Or can we finally discuss tactics now?" "Yes." He growled. "I'm done." "Good, make your plan." "Fine, we should with getting familiar with each other's abilities." "Are you seriously gonna let him be a leader? I mean look at him. He oozes beta energy." Moon said. "Yeah, I think he would have a fit, if he wasn't the leader role." "Do you want him to lead then!?" Constantine snapped.

"Actually yeah, I do. Because he kicked your ass. Strongest person here, takes the leader position." Moon said getting into his face. "Moon, let it go. We're here to work together. You already know my power. Durable, and now I have this weapon." He said summoning Shadow. "You already know all of Moon's powers, left hand makes barrier, right shoots out concussive blasts. Weapons, are in her hands and tucked into her back pocket. Anything else you need to know?" "What's her familiar?" Constantine asked. Moon held her hand out, summoning Athena. "And duration?" "3 minutes." "Good enough." Constantine said derisively. Moon took a step forward, clenching her fist. Zeke held her back, and signalled Athena to return. "Alright, think it's time you three play ball as well." Moon said. "Lightning manipulation. Standard steel lance and armour. Demon's Blood, boost the intensity of my lightning. 10 minute duration on my familiar." "And that would be?" Constantine held his hand out, creating a five metre wide red Rift. A fiery and molten golem clomped out, with lava oozing from its hand and feet.

The two stared on stunned as it lumbered back through the rift. "You...you uh, got a name for that thing?" Moon asked. "Ifrit." "Alright...Which one of you two, want to go next?" Zeke asked. Alexander stepped up. "Super strength. Standard steel sword, shield and armour. Demon's Blood, increases the size of muscles, boosting my powers. Bonded with one Earth magic. Which you are familiar with." He said winking at Zeke. He responded sneering at him. "15 minute duration for Razzy." Alexander summoned a ten metre wide red Rift. Out slithered a giant rattlesnake, with razor sharp black scales, and a fiery tail flaring with every rattle. It nodded at Alexander before slithering through its Rift. Zeke and Moon locked eyes for a split second. "Shadow stepping. I can enter into anyone's shadow, within about 32 foot range. No weapons or armour's like these two. Demon's Blood, increases my jumping range. Only 5 minutes on my Nibble." She summoned the largest red Rift the two of them had seen. A lion emerged from the Rift with crimson fire, and giant plume of fire as its tail tuff. "You named that thing Nibble?" Zeke said stunned, his jaw hanging. "Isn't she cute?" Sakura asked. Nibble glared down at them, baring her large razor sharp fangs. "Ah huh..." They responded in sync.

"Now that we're all on the same page. We can start with practicing. Now we don't know a lot about Damien-" "OI Twig!" Eliza yelled. The five of them turned around. The three of them bowed, with Moon back away from Zeke. She stuck the tip of her wooden sword, under his chin, glaring at him. "Frost girl, told me you were training with these assholes?" "Only to beat the world ranker. After that, we're definitely going our separate ways." "I see four idiots standing around you, what part of this is training." "We were doing a check on our abilities and inventory. Sword Master Pendragon." Constantine said bowing. "That so? Twig. What bullshit did you pick up on?" "I didn't-" "You tell the truth, or I'll shove this cross up your asshole." Zeke stiffened and stood at attention. "They each lied about the weapons in their possession, and most likely their armour and access to Magic. Their familiar demonstration seemed legit, the numbers were too specific to be a lie." She lowered her sword, smirking back at them. She rustled Zeke's hair. "Good boy. Go stand next to your idiot." Moon bowed her head. "I'm not an idiot." She mumbled.

"Sword Master Pendragon, I assure that we did not-" She shoved the tip of her sword into his mouth. "Quiet boy. Remember I was there, when your mother was wiping the shit from your crack. So don't lie to me. Idiot. Can you tell me why they would lie about those things?" She asked Moon taking the sword out. "Huh me?" Moon said stunned. "I called your name, didn't I?" "Um!...They still want to beat us, so they're lying about their true strength...?" "Not bad, Idiot. You've gotten a little bit smarter. Now you're just mentally challenged." "I feel like that's worse than being called an idiot." She said. Zeke shushed her, covering her mouth. "Don't anger her woman." He whispered. "Fine, we were lying. What does it matter to you Auntie Eliza?" Constantine said frowning at her. "Because it's stupid and counter intuitive to your goal. You're praying. You're hoping that you three will be enough to beat this World ranker, while using those two as a distraction. When in actuality, they're your only hope of winning." "We don't need their damn strength anyway!"

"Wow! Nice to know how you really feel asshole." Moon said. "Don't forget who won at the Hunter games." Eliza jabbed. "Only because, we were playing with our food. We had already won!" He exclaimed. "Yet, you didn't win. Lost because of your own hubris, and here you are not learning from your lesson again." He scoffed. "Whatever. I don't need his or her help. The three of us are strong enough to defeat any World ranker." Eliza smirked at him. "Care to try and prove that?" She said flourishing her weapon. Zeke and Moon jogged backwards, creating enough distance to survive a small explosion. "You got this!" "All you man!" The two cheered. "Show her who's boss!" "Yeah! You're the greatest!" They continued to egg on. Constantine took a step forward, snarling at her, his hair turning white. Sakura pulled on his arm. "We shouldn't waste time. We need to work together." "Fuck it! Fuck them! They're worthless and got lucky against us!" "Boooo!" The two of them jeered. "Will you two shut up!?" He shouted.

"Is that a no?" Eliza asked with a smug smile. Constantine sucked on his teeth. "I don't need this. Let's go. We'll let those two fight the World Ranker first, and when they're done beating those two. We'll be the ones to beat him." "Or you'll be the three idiots, who watches those two out class you once more." Constantine glowered. "Don't you have a class to teach?" "Why do you think I'm here? Two of my students are currently wasting their time, indulging in your stupidity." The three glanced at Moon and Zeke making faces at Constantine from afar. "Those two!? You're giving them private lessons!?" He snapped with a shrill voice. "Jealous are we?" "Our parents have offered you mountains of wealth for private lessons, what could those two have possibly offered you, that they could not?" "Two students with merit. Now if you're done being a jealous brat, I have students to teach." "Go ahead. I won't stop you from wasting your time." He said stomping off. Sakura and Alexander followed. He stopped in front of Zeke, staring him down. "Take a picture, it will last longer!" Moon snapped.

The three left without saying a word. "Take a picture, it will last longer?" Zeke asked looking at askance. "Are you back in primary school again?" Moon blushed. "What? It was a good comeback." Eliza's sword bonked them both on the head. "You, go practice your drills. Twig, continue stance one." The two practiced from morning to sunset. Moon sulked home first, while Zeke sat on the beach, watching the wave crash. Eliza took a seat beside him. "Your form is getting better." He snickered. "What good is the form, if I can't activate this stupid blood, to make the technique even work?" "Everyone triggers their activation differently." "I know..." He sighed, dropping his head. "But I just can't seem to find mine. I thought it was hearing Moon in pain, but I'm guessing that's why you chose to train us today at the same time." She slapped him on the back of the head. "Try not to lose that brain of yours. It's clever." "Then, why did you slap me?" "To remind you, that sometimes you can't out think, or out smart, or go around a problem. That you're gonna have to tackle it head on."

He glumly nodded, before cracking a smile. "I know, you're gonna hit me for asking this, but. What if I'm too scared to?" He scrunched his face, bracing for her hit. Instead he felt himself get dragged across the sand into her warm embrace. His eyes bulged and darted wildly around. She stroked the back of his head tenderly. 'Am I meant to hug her back? What's happening!?' Zeke awkwardly reciprocated the hug, patting her on the back. "Don't make this weird." Eliza growled. Zeke threw his hands into the air. "I...I'm not exactly sure, what I'm meant to do here." He blushed, his eyes darting frantically back and forth. She pulled away from the hug, pinching his cheek. "Ummmmm, any chance you could tell me what that was for?" Eliza let out an exasperated sigh, looking out at the ocean. "You reminded me of my son." She said with a weary smile. "He was always loved solving puzzles." "I'm sorry to hear that. I know that no parent should ever have to see their child pass on."

"Yeah...or see them marry some whore Omaha and cut ties with me, because in her words. We live in different worlds." She growled, clenching her fist. Zeke shook his confused. "Wait what? Is your son not dead?" "He might as well be. Asshole never calls me. Not even on my birthday." She pouted. "I'm...I'm very confused right now." "Unlike my kid, you're marked. Even share the same type of Mana as me." "That's why you took a liking to me?" "It's one of them. Remember to keep with your training." She said patting him on the back, and walking off. "Yeah....I...Can I just have a normal day here?"

"What would you consider normal?" Adrianna asked appearing behind him. "YAH!" Zeke squealed, scurrying away. "CHRIST! Can't you just approach people a normal way?" "What's the fun in that?" He took a deep breath, standing up. "Did I do something wrong?" "Far from it. I simply wanted to ask you two questions." "Oh, that's it? Fire away." "Do you know what Convergence is?" "The fuck is that?" "Next question." "Wait, what's Convergence?" "Why did you select the Iziel's Dragon King of Calamities armour for Moon." "I didn't! That's it's full name? God that sounds so fucking anime, I love it, but Moon picked it, because she thought I was going to. I was just trying to translate the Enochian on it." "Interesting. You should know her armour is in my office. You two can pick it up tomorrow." "Wait, is it dangerous? What's Conver-" Adrianna disappeared on his next blink. "Gence....How does she do that?" He said scratching his head. "Convergence? Bah! Got other shit to deal with."

Adrianna appeared in her office with Weaver standing inside, wearing another dapper silk suit. "Anything?" He asked. "No, he's completely unaware." "Good. They shouldn't have to worry about it for now." "If what you said is true Peter. We're gonna need all the help we can get." "I believe it to be true, but without solid proof of Convergence. No one will believe us." "Did you get a dead line?" "Asked several deities." "And?" "Seven vague ominous answers." "Shit." She chewed her thumbnail. "Do we have any reliable allies?" "Eliza. That's about it." "Zeke and Moon secured us allies with the Drow." "That's a start. But we're gonna need an army." "I'm working on it Addi. For now, get them strong. Keep me informed on their progress." "Peter. If you need help. Ask for it." "I will, but we'll raise less red flags if we're not seen together." Adrianna nodded.