Wisdom and War

Chapter Seventeen

Two days have passed and everyone is growing agitated, not knowing when a battle will arise while at the same time ensuring that they are always prepared. Ever since the possibility of a battle has been looming over our heads, I've chosen not to hop through the coffee shops on my list. Instead, my mornings are spent grabbing a cup of coffee from a pantry on the Anzani floor, walking around the omada and asking for updates under each department. I've been spending most of my time teaching the Fura trainees since most of the higher ups have already been dispatched to Baguio, Banaue, or Tuguegarao.

As I was surveying the current pair that was sparring inside the boxing ring, Joaquin entered the training room and called my attention. I informed the cadet that was helping me with the session to take the lead first before I went over to Joaquin. "Hermes dropped off some things." He said before stirring me towards the elevator and onto the second floor. Inside the green room, Maiko and Elias stood on the left side of the coffee table and surprisingly, Orion was standing across from them. My eyes flitted to the five small black boxes sitting on the table, each wrapped with a ribbon designed with our colors. Orion's was wrapped in a black ribbon- Hades' color.

"Are they proposing to us?" Elias asked and picked up his box. He almost dropped it when Maiko slapped his face with one of the pillows that were on the sofa. "Keep doing that and I'll get a concussion."

Maiko smiled sweetly at him before kissing his cheek, returning the pillow back to its original place. "Stop being an idiot and I will."

I cleared my throat and all eyes turned to Joaquin and I as I stood at the head of the table and he moved to stand beside Orion. "Did Hermes say anything when he gave this?" I picked up my box and looked at it curiously, noticing how light it felt. It did look like the box of an engagement ring or any other jewelry, but I doubt the gods would present us diamonds when all we've done is get our asses handed back to us.

Elias shook his head and kept tossing his box between both of his hands. "He just had this stupid smile on his face. It was honestly creepy."

"You wear that smile every day." Joaquin said, eyes on his box as well and ignoring Elias' glare. The latter was about to open his mouth for a retort when Maiko made a move to grab the pillow again. At the sight of that, Elias huffed and rolled his eyes.

"One way to find out." I mumbled and pulled on the edge of the gold ribbon, the entire thing coming undone as the knot was let loose. The others were watching me, waiting to see if Elias' guess was right or wrong. I let the ribbon fall to the floor and without another word, opened the box. Inside was a black crystal ball that was only as big as a marble. There was nothing on or inside it, but when my fingers touched the ball to inspect it closer, a gold light sparked inside it. The light proceeded to brighten as if eating away the darkness that previously filled the ball. I picked it up and watched as an image appeared, a brighter shade of gold compared to the light that was being emitted earlier. Along with me, the others' eyes were stuck on the ball I held with my fingers as the symbol of Athena presented itself. When all of the darkness vanished, the ball slipped away from my fingers and floated in the air, just a few inches in front of me. Suddenly, I could feel a pull coming from my chest and it felt like a magnet was attracting the ball as it moved closer to the space in between my collarbones. As the ball was about to touch my skin, the hard exterior disappeared and only left the glowing light that held the owl. The pull grew stronger and before I knew it, the light passed through me, leaving a feeling of warmth to form in my chest before spreading throughout my entire body. After a few seconds, the light was nowhere to be seen and it was as if nothing had happened.

"Well, that was definitely not a proposal." Orion said and Joaquin smirked beside him.

"What did it do?" Maiko asked and I couldn't answer because not even I knew. I held the box to my eye level in case there was a clue as to what that light was, but there was nothing. It was when a gasp left Maiko's lips that I averted my eyes and saw hers planted on my hand that was holding the box. "Where'd the box go?"