The Shadow of Eudaimonia

Chapter 22: Training Days

"I still don't think this is a good idea man, but yeah! Hit me!" At the back of his head, Calvin doesn't know how to feel that Lazzi calls him Cal so casually like they were best friends for years now. Although admittedly, to him Lazzi could possibly be the best he ever had.

Lazzi rolled a small pebble, the size of a marble, between his fingers. He focused his gaze at Calvin's torso. He hesitated for a second. Maybe it was a bad idea. But he couldn't think of another exercise to stimulate Cal's Obelisk. And so, without any warning, he aimed at Calvin's chest and threw the pebble with a delicate force, not too strong to cause an injury and not too gentle that it couldn't be felt.

"Ow! Shit!" Calvin yelped.

"I thought you're ready?"

"I was! I activated my Obelisk."

"Yeah. But think of it this way. If I threw a rock at you and you don't dodge, what's the probability that it won't hit you?"

"Almost zero?"

"Yeah, but if you dodge, you increase your chances of not getting hit naturally. And if you use your Obelisk at the same time while dodging, hitting you would almost be impossible. So don't rely on your Obelisk alone. You have to try to increase your chance as well. Got it?"

"You could have told me that in the first place, you know?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Lazzi teased. "Ready for round 2?"

"Sure! Swear I'll fucking get you back for this." Calvin focused. Activating his Obelisk felt like he was tensing up a muscle whenever he was about to carry something heavy. But instead of a muscle, he was feeling that tension inside his brain. He was about to take a step but he felt something already hit his shoulder. "Fuck that hurts!"

"Sorry!" Lazzi bellowed.

Calvin gulped. He can activate his Obelisk freely and he knows he has to dodge. But when? He doesn't know when Lazzi would throw— "Now!" He took one step at the right and heard a soft swoosh as a rock moved past him.

"Woah! You did it!"

"Huh? I dodged it? Really?"

"Yeah Cal, you're a genius!"

"It just popped in my head. It's like there was a voice in my head that gave me the sig—ow!" another hit, this time just around his stomach. "Hey I wasn't ready!"

"You should always be ready Cal. Your Obelisk is your secondary protection."

"What's my primary protection?"

"Me of course." He answered like it is as a matter of fact. "I'll protect you always."

Calvin removed his blindfold and tried to glare at Lazzi without breaking a senseless smile "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"What? I must protect you. You're the key to defeating Ortus, remember?"

"Right. That's the only reason?"

"What do you mean?"

Calvin shook his head and placed the blindfold back. "You're such an arrogant prick. I can protect myself on my own," he muttered.

"Oh yeah?" In that instance, Lazzi threw another pebble right at Calvin. But before it hit him, a random bird flew right across and intersected the trajectory of the pebble. Lazzi's mouth went agape.

"Yeah. Let's see you try again." He ordered.

***

As the dying light of the sun painted the endless ocean and sky with purple and orange cast, Calvin was focused on returning back to their camp. He counted how many times Lazzi had managed to hit him as he dragged his feet along the now cooled-off sand. His legs felt a lot stronger than it used to weeks ago but standing for too long still made his feet hurt. Lazzi was trailing behind him and he could feel his eyes on him.

"Hey let me carry you," Lazzi asked.

"No thanks, I can manage." Six times, he concluded. Lazzi managed to hit him six times.

"Oh, come on, you must be tired." Lazzi playfully wrapped his arm around Calvin's neck but Calvin didn't struggle. Instead, he just pushed Lazzi's arm away and continued to walk away. "What's wrong?"

"What do you mean what's wrong? Nothing's wrong." Calvin replied.

"Really? Then why won't you look at me?"

Calvin quickly glanced at Lazzi and saw his proud and perfect face. It was covered with oil and dirt but still it's perfect as if every streak of grime on his face was for a purpose. He suddenly remembered how he hated how unreal he looked. He figured that he must be as dirty as him but the real kind of dirty unlike him. Not that there's a competition but standing just beside him made him feel like a smudge on a perfect photo.

"Are you mad at me?" Lazzi asked gently like how an innocent child would.

"Why would I be mad?"

"Because I threw a bunch of rocks at you?"

"Well there's that."

"Come on, look!" Lazzi brought out a speared fish from behind his back. "It's for you!"

"Where did that—oh right, you froze time again didn't you?"

"It's my peace offering."

"Peace offering my ass. It's just our dinner."

"Come on don't be extra mean today. Did I hurt you?"

He didn't answer. Partly because he wasn't sure what his answer would be. So, Calvin ignored him all the way until they reached their camp. He slowly crawled down to his so-called bed which was just a bunch of thick soft leaves Lazzi had gathered. He laid on his back and stared at a part of the moon that wasn't covered by the branches of trees above them. The soft blue streaks of moonlight seeping between the foliage bathed Calvin's bare skin. He felt hurt, yes. But Lazzi wasn't the one who hurt him, he realized. It was himself. He had let himself give more meaning to things that really should have been nothing.

Lazzi meanwhile, confused on what he did wrong, started the fire and let the flames cook the fish he had just caught. When he was done, he followed Calvin and laid just a few inches beside him. "Was it because I said that I'd protect you?" he mumbled, his voice was deeper than usual.

Calvin turned to his side and looked at Lazzi. "Yeah."

"Why?"

"It's just that..." he paused for a second and let the crackling of burning dry wood fill in the silence. He thought of the reason. Actually, he knew why. But he's not sure if he has any right to be mad with that kind of pettiness. So instead he answered "Because I don't want to be a burden. Not anymore. To you or to Ophelia. When the time comes that we have to face Ortus, I don't want the two of you to look after me." At least, it was half the reason.

"I see." Lazzi turned to his side as well and studied Calvin's face. The light from the flames danced erratically and basked the two boys, casting two shadows that almost merged into one. "I actually don't know why I said that. It just felt that way. I want to protect you. I didn't mean to make you feel like you're a burden or someone weak."

Calvin braved himself to stare directly at Lazzi's aquamarine eyes. It was like a bottomless pit of ocean that he'd never get out of once he dives in. And yet he leapt willfully. Just for this moment, he let himself be swallowed by his intensity. But then Lazzi broke eye contact and hurried towards the fire. By that time, he had smelled it too. The fish smelled burnt. And it was charred from the side facing the flames.

"That was quick?" Calvin said.

"Yeah I just placed it for a second,"

"Did you make time run faster?"

Lazzi coyly smiled. "Or I might have made time slower for the both of us. I'm not sure."

"You're not sure? Wow you're such a lousy Obelisk and cook." Calvin shook his head with a mischievous grin.

Lazzi pouted and flicked him off.

Calvin's jaw dropped. "Hey, I'm kidding! You're such a softie!"

"No food for you, you big jerk!" And the two boys laughed at each other, enjoying the night as if no one was wreaking an unimaginable havoc to mankind hundreds of kilometers away from the tiny world they made just for the two of them.