The Initials | Nanowrimo 2023

14| Conquering The Flame

Training started immediately after that, every waking hour of every waking moment spent learning how to control his new abilities for something they've been calling the Olympia.

Apparently the only thing that can protect a person from a Harbinger of death is another Harbinger, which made more sense to Cloud after Jonathan explained it in terms of magnetism.

So, for the first few nights Hunter had taken it upon himself to guard over Cloud whilst he slept which was pretty awkward since Helel still wasn't too comfortable with the idea.

So, in order to keep everyone at ease, Cloud had to suffer a week and a half in the company of a killing machine who sometimes has the mental capacity of a puppy and a brooding, bloodthirsty, Celestium trying to squeeze themselves into his already tiny coffin of a room.

Turns out that Hunter can morph into smaller versions of himself in hound form, which is incredibly convenient now that they're roommates, but the very few times that he attempted to sleep on the bed had ended with him being dragged out by his scruff and left guarding from the opposite side of the door.

Ever since the first attack, Cloud hasn't gone back to that dream, instead using his new psychic bond, with a literal demon from the Dark Realm, to escape himself.

Hunter pretty much dreamed solely about food, especially after devouring a mountain of sugary treats and the other human foods that the Jeffersons have to offer.

However, on rare occasions, Cloud would catch glimpses of Hunter's past, like little storm clouds of memory that would alter his dreamscape.

Cloud tried his best not to pry but sometimes the memories were like sinks, sucking in everything within their vicinity, especially those tied deeply to emotions of fear and rage.

Hunter escaped the Dark Realm after a virus started instilling madness into demon born and members of the Ars Goetia.

His siblings along with his three headed father had chased him until he accidentally fell through a portal and found himself in Portugal some twenty years ago.

That was where he gained his Hispanic human form, taking the last name Henriques from the woman who raised him as her own.

Although, even whilst living as a human, Hunter always had the knowledge and memories attached to his life in the Dark Realm, a fact that Cloud has grown to be deeply envious of.

Speaking of the Jeffersons, they'd spent the month dusting off Cloud's combat training and survival training and every other sort of training he can think of.

He remembers looking back on his strange childhood and at that point summing it up as his parents wanting him to be an overachiever.

Later down the line he considered they were only like this because of their jobs as a Firefighter and a Detective, knowing that they've both been in high risk situations and seen the worst parts of humanity almost on a daily basis.

But now he truly understands it was neither. It was all in preparation for this, for the end of what was and the coming of something new.

"...or I break his fingers."

"Excuse me?" Cloud utters softly, fluttering his long eyelashes after realising he'd zoned out from his training with Helel.

He hadn't noticed the fatigue setting in until it was already upon him and at that point he was already far too gone to receive anything from his lesson.

However, with the date of the Olympia invitations quickly approaching, Helel is forced to fall back on violence to teach Cloud the ways of channelling.

"Channel for longer than fifteen seconds or I'll start breaking his fingers one by one, and it'll all be your fault."