𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛, 𝙷𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛, 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚗𝚎𝚖𝚢 |𝙰𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚏𝚒𝚌

Chapter 10 - Affliction

They all passed the ODM exam with flying colours and advanced quickly on to the next stage. Mara enjoyed the freedom they were given to fly through the trees and the instructors encouraged them to develop their own techniques in order to get the best out of their gear. true to his word Jean displayed exemplary skills with ODM even earning praise from Shadies. Much to Mara's chagrin.

"It's about finding the right angles. If you get it exactly right, you save so much fuel."

"Oh, that's so cool. And what was that thing you did in the air the second time?" Marco asked.

"Don't encourage him Marco." Mara groaned.

"That was nothing. Just a little spin in the air to get momentum" Jean continued ignoring Mara, "you see when you get as good at it as I am, that sort of thing becomes second nature. Your body just-"

"If you say another word, I will send you into the air myself."

"Just because someone nearly crashed into a tree," Jean muttered, "ow ow, okay I'm sorry."

Jean ducked behind Marco but failed to escape Mara's assault.

Practising ODM every weekday for a month straight was taking a toll on them, even with the classroom lessons in between. Mara felt self-conscious of the bruises in the shape of the straps that appeared on her body after the first week that didn't disappear as they continued. She traced the tender lines across her chest and legs when she bathed and wondered if anyone else had them too. Back in her dorm, her eyes flicked towards the other girls as they changed from their uniform into slacks. The same blue-green lines that painted her own chest was mirrored on their backs and she felt less embarrassed by the way her body reacted to the training. She still felt weirded out by it and thought about whether that talking would alleviate her worries.

"These ODMs are going to kill me," Connie said as he stretched his back, wincing.

"Do you guys have bruises from the straps?" Mara asked, taking the opportunity to bring up her concern.

"Yeah, it looks so weird," Sasha said.

"I've actually had them since the very first week," Marco confessed, "I bruise like a peach."

"Really?" Mara wondered.

"Oh yeah. They've actually just got worse these past few days."

"No way," she marvelled, "let's see."

She pulled back the collar on his shirt and gasped at the deep purple lines on his shoulder.

"Damn, Marco," she gently prodded the bruise, "does it hurt?"

"Probably not more than yours," Marco laughed softly, "they look worse than they are trust me."

"You guys are just babies," Jean said, "all those bruises show is that we're proving our worth to join the Military Police."

"In any case, we'd probably have to get used to it," Connie said, "it's not like we're going to stop using the straps anytime soon."

They all agreed with that. They were happy to carry on with ODM; there was something liberating about having total control over their movements in the air. However, while they were having fun with the ODM practise, their classroom lessons continued. They felt less inclined to pay attention in their theory classes so when it came time for end of semester exams, they were panicked.

"I didn't know we were going to be assessed on it!" Jean exclaimed.

"How could you not know that?"