3. Some Things Have to Change #3
“I want to see them, my family. Can you take me to them?” he begged, tugging on my shirt sleeve with desperation.
I inhaled softly before patting the hand he was clutching my arm with. “I can, but not right now. I need to finish my day with the kids, but I will come find you after, and we can go see them. This is a one-time deal, though, alright?”
“Yes, I understand. Thank you, so much...” The timer went off with a blaring ring through the field, making me turn to it with a soft sigh. The spirit stood and shook my hand once. “I'll wait for you,” he chimed before dissipating in a cloud of white.
I slid off the rock and brushed my pants of debris before crossing to stand before the line of sweating but satisfied students.
I gave them a good look over before twisting my hand, which made the number of souls they collected pop up above their heads.
“My, what a wonderful job you’ve all done!
A total of 639 souls! Let's see who had the most...” I walked up the line and tallied the numbers on my clipboard.
“Looks like Felix, Calvin, and Madeline have the most souls, making them team captains for our next exercise. Great job, the rest of you! Let's head to lunch, then we’ll come back and get started on your licensing, so I can classify you as Reapers or Hunters tomorrow.”
Cheers echoed through the crowd before everyone trekked back through the portal, excitement bubbling through the air. I passed Dad, who gave me a reassuring wink, and that settled my nerves tremendously.
The lunchroom buzzed with loud conversations about today’s training sessions.
Elementals were alight with excitement over what they had experienced thus far, though the Gods-to-be were nervous wrecks as we conjugated around our own table.
Odysseus had his nose stuck in a notepad he carried everywhere, a staple of his own, and was scribbling names rapidly while his untouched lunch was being picked at by Griffin.
I slid into the seat beside him and scrunched the hair on the back of his neck, trying to get his attention.
“You look awfully serious. Did things go well this morning?” I prompted as I soothingly combed the locks onto his shoulders so he could see his doodles better.
He shrugged loosely. “I guess so. Ashlynn was so quiet that I felt like I was messing up bad, but she and Erasmus smiled at me before we left, so that’s a good sign. How about you?” he sighed, picking his head up to finally give me his full attention.
I mimicked his shrugging. “My kids seemed to do well, and Dad didn’t look like he wanted to choke me, so that’s a good start.
I’m going to separate them into Hunters and Reapers tomorrow, so that will help me get one-on-one training done.
I was going to wait until later this week, but a lot of kids failed the exercise, so I'm assuming that means they're meant to be Demon Hunters,” I explained as I sipped my soda calmly.
He smiled half-heartedly. “Sounds like you have your ducks in a row, then. Is it weird, having Endymion there with you?”
“Not really. I'm not paying too much attention to him. Dad’s keeping him busy. I guess he’s jumping between Griff and I since Pandora is out of the picture.” I turned to tap Soren, who was scarfing a sandwich like his life depended on it. “How’s it going with Constantine? Is he behaving?”
Soren spoke in between bites, though he held a hand over his mouth to be a bit more polite with his chewing.
“More or less. He gave me some good feedback today, actually, about projecting my voice. We all know I tend to be on the quieter side, so he helped boost my confidence. Can't say he’s being a nuisance at least.”
“Good, that’s really good.” I pushed some fries around on my plate as I spoke, “I wish I could go take a nap or something. This stress is starting to mess with my head...” I grumbled, poking my forehead with a cemented frown.
Odysseus kissed my temple three times, a gesture that should have eased my nerves, but I was still too jumpy for his liking. “Have you been sleeping any better? Or are you still having nightmares?” he whispered in my ear.
“Nightmares...” I admitted sheepishly.
He tsked and kissed along my jaw. “My poor love... what are we going to do with you? Maybe you should see Lysander and see if he can give you something to help you sleep?”
“Maybe.” I looped our hands together and leaned into his shoulder so he would keep kissing me, as the feeling of his lips was calming me down immensely.
“Will you lay down with me when practice is over?” I beckoned, flashing him solemn eyes.
In the reflection of his own, I looked incredibly drained and lifeless, like a corpse at his side.
I knew this worried him, but I couldn’t help it, not this time.
“Of course,” he replied automatically.
I stretched hard before kissing his top lip tenderly and ruffling Sebastian's hair. “Well, I’m off. Good luck on the rest of your day, guys.”
“Same to you!” everyone echoed, though there was a hint of worry in their tone based on Odysseus and I’s conversation.