"You're not focusing again. What's distracting you this time?"
I gritted my teeth, stumbled as I caught the weighted ball that Persephone threw me, did a squat with it, and threw it back. We'd been keeping up this back-and-forth exercise for at least two minutes, and I was certain my legs would collapse if I was forced to continue it for any longer. I'd been welcoming the pain as a distraction from everything that had happened last night, but if Persephone's comments were to go by, the pain hadn't been doing a good enough job.
"Lots of things are distracting me. Nineteen things are, to be exact. The number of demigods and demigoddesses in the tournament."
I'd probably only received four or five hours of sleep. This morning, Persephone had barged into my room carrying a torch, scaring away all of the darkness from my bedroom but also scaring the living daylights out of me. She'd demanded we needed to start our physical training sessions extra early, when there would be less prying eyes from the other participants.
We don't need them to know how weak you are, she'd told me.
I had to give it to her, she had a point. It also wouldn't bode well for my confidence if I happened to see someone like Cleo arriving at the gym and benching a hundred kilos. The ten-kilogram weight Persephone and I threw back and forth was heavy enough.
"The good news is that they'll be distracted by you, too," she said, barely winded. I was breathing loudly enough to cover a passing steam train. "The only thing we can do is minimise your distractions."
"And how should I do that, oh wise one?"
Persephone smiled, but it had an edge to it. "Let's talk about your competitors while you do some sit-ups."
I followed her instructions and let myself collapse to the floor. Persephone helped me fix my technique, and then we recontinued our conversation, "Who do you find the most intimidating?"
I thought about it for a moment. My first answer would have been Cleo, but I was starting to think that she was more insecure than most of the other players. This had definitely shone through last night, when she wasn't quite as quick to join others in conversation than I would have expected. The more I thought about it, the more I believed Cleo's handing me over to the Crown Guard was because of insecurity, not greed. In any case, I knew that Cleo harboured feelings for Alek, and I could use this desire to my advantage if the circumstances required it.
Jackal, however, had more mysterious motives. He seemed politically inclined, and I had never been able to pinpoint exactly what it was that he wanted. He also had gone out of his way to apologise to me, but since he had done this in front of both his father, Hades and Persephone, anything he said felt like a performance. The truth was I had no idea what to expect from him.
I briefly considered Alek, but I quickly crossed him from my list. He didn't seem like the ruling-type or one who would want to win or even sabotage others in the tournament. Hades' current role would be much too political for him, and I knew he would prefer to do something hands-on.
I hardly knew anything about Himeros. His presence often concerned me, but I wasn't intimidated by him.
"Maybe one of Lyssa's children," I answered honestly between crunches.
Persephone nodded. "I would be surprised if you weren't intimidated by them. You might remember that there were three boys and three girls?"
I gave a non-committal sound of agreement.
"The three boys are triplets. Their names are Nox, Thanos and Keros."
I stilled, memories of the triplets rushing back to me. It was difficult to forget how threatening they'd looked as a group yesterday, following Lyssa around as if they were her bodyguards.
"Nox was the tallest, wasn't he?" I asked.
"Yes," she confirmed.
I'd only asked because Nox had been a spitting image of Marnix from when I'd met him. Nox had been as equally slim as Marnix and had looked as though he had just finished from a corporate business meeting. The only difference between the two had been Nox's hair, which had been so long that, when left out from a ponytail, sleekly trailed all the way to the base of his spine. He had a keen glint of intelligence in his eyes, and when I remembered Marnix's powers – how he made me feel and see things that didn't exist – it definitely made my imagination wander. A shiver ran down my spine, and I fought the instinct to curl up into a ball, and instead curled up into another rep. My abdominal muscles cried out.
"What are his powers?"
"Nox can wield light and darkness, making you see things that aren't necessarily real. You've seen the dark shadows swirling around Hades, haven't you?"
"Yes," I replied carefully, unsure where this was going.
"Nox has the exact same power, though it's not quite as visible. Nox can become ephemeral and morph into shadows. It uses a lot of his energy to do this, but if he wanted to, he could actually move through walls and space."
In any other situation, I would have thought that power was cool.
"Then there's Thanos," Persephone continued. The memory of a fearsome, shaggy bearded man with pale skin and eager gleaming eyes came to mind. His outfit had done nothing to hide his muscular body. "I'd say he's Alek's primary competition."
I frowned. It was difficult to imagine anyone defeating Alek in a fight. But where Thanos had a muscular advantage on Alek, Alek had speed, stealth and height.
"Does Thanos usually fight hand to hand combat?"
"A sword is his favourite form of execution," Persephone stated, finally growing weary. "Though his fists are enough to kill someone with one punch."
"Fantastic," I said drily.
"It gets worse."
"How could it get worse?" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air and finally giving up on completing my crunches. "Nox is literally untouchable, and it is impossible to not be touched by Thanos."
Persephone ignored my fit of outrage. "Their brother, Keros, is possibly the worst of them all. He is the true personification of cruelty and wields it as easily as Thanos does his sword."
"What do you mean?" I suddenly felt the urge to look over my shoulder and check that we were alone. We were still the only ones in the gym, though I didn't know for how much longer. We'd been exercising for over an hour and were yet to be walked in on.
"Keros controls pain. He can lessen it just as easily as he heightens it. I'm not entirely sure how his powers work, but I believe someone needs to have a pre-existing mental or physical ailment in order for him to increase their pain."
My mind worked to keep up. "So, if I had a papercut..."
"...Then he could make you feel like you'd just been stabbed," she finished.
"What about the mental ailment stuff? If I had depression, for example, does that mean he could worsen it?"
Persephone released a pent-up sigh. "I believe so."
I rocked back onto the palm of my hands, steadying myself. "So, according to what you're saying, the three of them together are pretty much unstoppable," I said glumly.
"Uh-huh. Nox blinds their victim so they don't see anything at all and Keros makes them feel a pain greater than anything they've ever experienced. Then, while the victim is incapacitated, Thanos goes in for the final kill–a beheading."
I wiped my sweaty hands on my legs and stood up, needing to pace around the room. I couldn't be still for one moment longer, not when what Persephone was saying meant my absolute death. Besides, the triplets were only the tip of the iceberg. I couldn't forget that Lyssa had three daughters as well, each of them with their own ominous powers and strengths. My chest felt tight, and there was no amount of pacing that would help ease the pain.
I was beginning to wheeze when I felt Persephone rest a hand on my shoulder. Coolness immediately flooded into me, steadying my shaky breathing and clearing my head. I was still worrying, but my concern was no longer an overhanging cloud I was unable to see through. I could acknowledge my thoughts were there, but everything was much clearer.
I blinked as I stared at my mother. "Did you just heal my anxiety?"
She moved her hand away, a guilty smile on her face. "It doesn't hurt to have a level head. Especially when I need you to continue training."
"Thank you," I said softly.
Persephone led me over to the treadmill, and though I'd been wanting to collapse onto the ground mere moments ago, I realised I wasn't as physically tired as I had been. In healing my anxiety, perhaps Persephone had also healed my fatigue and muscle soreness. I knew it wouldn't last forever, but it would be a good band-aid while I trained for the tournament. I began running at a comfortable pace, and Persephone again took the opportunity to correct me on my form.
"What about the sisters?" I asked. "Lyssa's daughters?"
"They're intimidating, but they don't have the same sense of teamwork that their brothers do. I think they prefer to work alone, which is much more Lyssa's style."
I stretched back my memory to yesterday, when Lyssa had introduced them. "Their names are Freya, Hecate and Lilli, right?"
"Lillibeth," Persephone corrected. "But yes. Each of them have their own powers as well. Freya shapeshifts and sprouts wings, giving her the ability to fly. From the few occasions I've met her, Freya is the most outspoken of the girls. Hecate's power specialises in duplicity and she often fools others by creating multiple illusions of herself. And Lillabeth, well, she's the youngest of them all and appears the most innocent, but don't let that deceive you. She can kill someone with her very touch. You might have noticed she wore gloves last night."
I shook my head. I hadn't noticed that. "What do you mean she can kill someone with her very touch? What would happen if someone accidentally grazed their arm against Lillibeth's?"
Persephone shrugged. "As far as I know, Lillibeth can harm others where there is direct skin contact. I'd say that includes any accidental grazing."
Jeez, and I thought I'd had it bad. I would proudly be called a crazy plant lady if it meant I was still able to touch others. Lillabeth was resigned to wearing a full body coverup if she didn't want to risk bumping into someone. But as much as I felt sorry for her and could imagine the loneliness and isolation she felt on a daily basis, I was also very aware of the fact that she probably revelled in using her own power.
"Keep your head up," Persephone instructed sharply, bringing my thoughts back to the present. "You're losing your posture."
I raised my head and continued running, surprised when she kept on correcting my movements. I hadn't known how skilled a person needed to be to excel at running. Every few minutes Persephone would provide another correction, whether it was because my hips were dropping, I was landing on my feet incorrectly, or for some other reason. I wished I'd participated in a wider range of sports growing up – it didn't really seem like my dancing history would provide me any help if I was in a battle to the death.
But that wasn't entirely true, I realised. Persephone had at least complimented me on my fast reflexes and flexibility, and I could thank dancing for that.
Between breaths, I said, "I'm surprised...Hades didn't throw me in the deep end...and seat me next to Lyssa...last night."
"I asked Hades not to put Lyssa or any of her children next to you at the dining table. I thought it would be a good idea if I had an opportunity to brief you on all of them first before throwing you into the bullpen."
"So...he thought it would be good...to put...Cleo next to me?"
Persephone raised an eyebrow at me, no doubt unimpressed by my laboured breathing. "Despite your opinions about Cleo, she was potentially the best person you could have had next to you. Cleo is sly, cunning and a back-stabber, but unlike many others, she doesn't have a record of killing anyone. And by anyone, I mean anyone who didn't deserve it."
"Because killing...is so hard to avoid," I replied, sarcasm dripping from my tone.
"But because death doesn't seem to be her style, that could make her one of your closest allies."
I almost tripped over and went flying as the treadmill continued underfoot. I steadied myself using the handrails. "I can't believe you just said both Cleo's name...and the word 'ally' in the same sentence."
"Cleo is the lesser of two evils," she countered. "You're going to have to work with her at some stage."
"If Cleo is the lesser of two evils, then I'm definitely screwed."
Persephone sighed and rubbed the temples of her forehead. I could see her mind working and trying to form a reply, but a loud raucous reverberated through the room. My attention zeroed in on Lyssa's children, Thanos, Keros and Freya as they filed into the room, pushing and shoving each other playfully. From first glance, the demigods and demigoddess of Wrath would have looked like a group of poorly behaved university students. Only someone with my knowledge would have been able to recognise the menacing glint of their eyes as they spied Persephone and I standing on the right side of the gym.
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
"Time to finish up," Persephone declared, much to my relief. I didn't know how much more exercise I could take. "I'll meet you in the garden in one hour to keep on building up your magic. Not a minute later."
I gave her a mock salute. "You got it, boss."
"And don't forget your stretches," she said, shooting me a meaningful look as she left the gym.
Not wanting to remain in the gym for much longer by myself, I hurried over to the mat and began my stretching routine. I kept stealing glances over at the weights section, where Thanos boasted about his lifting weight to Freya. I wasn't surprised by the amount of weight Thanos was saying he could lift – his forearms were the approximate size of my head, so I had no doubt that his boasts were true. Freya also looked like she was involved in heavy lifting, but even she looked miniature compared to the beast that was her brother.
Keros, appearing moodier than the others, secluded himself to the corner of the room where he completed his own sets of drills. I could feel the eyes of Thanos and Freya weighing on my back when turned away from them. It seemed we were taking turns to glance at one another. But when the weight of their watching gazes started to grow too strong, and it looked as though Freya was considering approaching me, I rose onto shaking legs and left the gym, attempting to appear as unruffled by their presence as possible.