Half-Bloods R • 2 : Growing Shadows

C • 5 : Brilliance of Flames, Beauty of Ice

Demi led Anna into the large stone room, lit by bright lights that warmly glowed. Large vents and vent shafts lined the ceiling of the massive room.

"You really gotta hand it to the geomancers and technicians, they did great with this place," Demi said, her hands stuffed into the small pockets of her short shorts.

"Yeah," Anna gasped, as she stepped forward, wearing grey gym shorts and a white sleeveless with her set back in a bun, the angel mark on her face had diminished in recent days.

Demi tore off her soft red jacket, revealing, her black sports bra and black weighted gloves, "Alright, let's get started!"

She stepped forward, past Anna and a pale blue line that the young woman had stopped in front of. A small pillar, standing as tall as her chest rose from the ground, five colored diamonds forming on its flat, diagonal surface. Trying to remember her instructions, she guessed and pressed the blue diamond. Immediately, stone turned to metal, and various sets of training equipment sprouted from the ground, the large empty room becoming quickly full.

She clapped her hands together, "Ha! First try," she winked at Anna and walked forward.

"Hey, um, Demi?" Anna rasped, Demi looked back, "I'm sorry about the trouble I caused a couple weeks back. It's just, that guy was such a jerk."

Demi turned and walked back to the girl, whose head hung low, then patted her cheek.

"Don't worry bout it too much. Some people just need a good beating to realize how wrong they are, just don't go beating up everyone," she chuckled as she lifted the girl's chin, "Now come on, we got trainin' to do."

Demi set a timer on her phone, then the two spent hours training, with Anna skipping any training that required her arms, seeing as her mechanical ones would allow her easy success without growth. Meanwhile, Demi stuck to the equipment that would allow her to work on her legs, setting the treadmill to its highest setting, then getting impatient when it wouldn't go any faster. After a while, the timer went off while Demi and Anna were both doing pull-ups with their legs.

They dropped down, Demi resetting her position by exploding off the ground and landing on her feet in a mess of sweat. Anna caught herself with a single hand, balancing herself for a few moments before dropping her legs down and standing up. Anna huffed and shook her legs, balling her hands into determined fists.

She looked at Demi, "What next?"

Demi bounced a tiny ball of flame back at the control pillar, it struck a green diamond, causing the equipment to meld into the floor, becoming stone once more. Green lines formed on the ground, taking up the shapes often seen on basketball courts. She dropped into a fighting position, her feet wide apart, and hands gripped into fiery fists, "Practical training."

Anna mimicked the pyromancer's form, coating her hands in small, misting shards of ice. The cryomancer rushed forward, striking quickly only to have each attack miss. Demi smacked aside a punch, ignoring the sting of frost against her hand, a sting that was quickly burned away. There was force in Anna's attacks, though they lacked form, they each struck the air with intense power.

Demi forced one of Anna's hands down and countered, striking Anna's left leg, a small grey flame lingering on the girl's flesh. It didn't burn her, Demi knew it wouldn't, she struck again, then three more times, leaving behind another four small plumes of grey flame. The cryomancer looked at the flames, puzzled, then shook her head and continued her onslaught of attacks. Demi avoided each blow, then spun, throwing a high, sweeping kick. It landed at the back of her neck and dragged the girl down. She pinned the girl beneath her leg and grabbed the back of the cryomancer, leaving a final silver flame that wished away within seconds.