How the Mighty Fall

Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The hunter was gone.

All Phrixus had to say about it was, "About time." He spent less than a minute looking into the room that direct sunlight couldn't reach. Then he cleared out and moved on to the next thing.

Astraea stood in the middle of the room, and instead of helping him set up or warm up when he returned, she didn't move.

"If you're waiting for an invitation, you're not going to get one."

She bit her tongue and crossed her arms as her fingers curled into her palms. "We'll get to training. But didn't we breeze over the hunter's absence? For that matter, I feel like we've neglected to discuss a plan or clarify what we're going to do."

He sighed.

Her jaw tensed.

"For now, we don't have much choice but to lay low." Meaning he had nothing. "I don't know the process for creating hunters, but I'm sure that there are limitations. If we turn the tables by assuming the offensive to obliterate their numbers, one of two things is likely to happen."

"The higher power could make a mistake if they're pressured to try something different when their damage control crew isn't working out," Astraea supplied. "That is still assuming that they're not omniscient. What's the other possibility?"

He shook his head. "Prophecies have loopholes or ambiguous messages where they won't necessarily come to fruition under certain conditions. I haven't figured out any, so maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think I've exhausted every avenue yet."

"That's not a bad idea," Astraea commended. She pulled her arm across her body and inhaled deeply. "Let's get started then."

"Wait. There's something else that's been bugging me."

"What more could there be?"

"I was wondering why you stopped making progress during training," he all but whispered. "Your body isn't adjusting like it should be. If you're not physically capable of harnessing the celestial power, there's no telling how much damage you've accumulated or how it will affect you in the long run, especially when you use it. And I have no idea what to do about it," he confessed. "We've pushed you too much."

She could have claimed that it would get worse before it got better, particularly if she was destined to make celestial history as he relayed to her. That's what she wanted to believe, but she knew it wasn't concrete. "There's no reason to worry about it for now," she shrugged, continuing to stretch. "The symptoms have subsided lately anyway, so maybe I just had to work through it. It's all been strenuous, but I already feel better now that I stopped resisting."

He shook his head, but didn't argue and kept his eyes down as he changed the settings on the exercise equipment.

"Will you tell me about the abilities you've enhanced?" She wondered aloud, internally pivoting to absorb the rejection.

"If I do, you have to promise you won't try to match them. We're already exceeding your limits."

"Awe," she cooed, "It almost sounds like you care about what happens to me."

"It's not too late to sacrifice you," he muttered.

She walked over to nudge his shoulder. "Come on, open up a little. I'm feeling blocked and inadequate-"

"That's not my fault."

"-and if you throw some fuel on the fire, it'll make for a more interesting spar at the end of this session."

He perked up at the revelation.

At the same time they went through their training routine at full length, Phrixus rattled off obscure abilities he took the time to acquire over the years. The list was lengthy.