Blade's Edge || Deception Book II ||

Chapter 13: Strained Reconciliation

"Good morning," Alabaster said without turning as I entered the training arena.

"You're early today," I remarked as I strode forward, my seraphim silver sword flashing into my hand.

"I'm always 'early,' " Alabaster retorted as he deftly sliced the head off of a straw dummy before flipping his sword around to point it at me. "You just never pay attention."

I glanced at his blade, offended. "You serious? I can't possibly not see my brother when he's off whacking dummies. Even a blind person would know."

Alabaster shrugged, his face unreadable. "I guess you just never noticed."

Was that . . . bitterness? I eyed him incredulously. Sure, I was aware he was jealous of my position and how I'd risen much faster than him to the top, but apparently, his emotions ran way deeper than I thought. 

He's the only one on the ship left that's still wary of you, I reminded myself. It would be beneficial to not have him at your throat. 

That's what I would have liked to think, anyway, but I knew deep down that I didn't want Alabaster to hate me and I him. Despite everything, Alabaster was my brother. And, like the rest of the demigods, he was subject to the honeyed lies of Kronos and believed that a world under his rule would be better. It wasn't their fault that they were on the wrong side. And I couldn't find it in myself to continue to push Alabaster away when I knew that he was just driven to seek justice for our mother. 

I huffed out a breath, meeting the sharp green gaze of my brother, so like mine, and extended the olive branch. 

"Do you want to spar together?" 

***

Three hours later, I walked down the corridor from the cafe with my brother, who was slurping away at his pineapple coconut smoothie. 

For some reason, trying to cut someone's head off with blades was the fastest way to form relationships or, in the case with my brother, finally allow the two of us to hold a civil conversation. 

I guess there was just something therapeutic about trying to kill someone. 

I glanced at him, my own in my hand. "You know, I never pegged you for a tropical person." 

Alabaster rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and I never expected you to get something like peanut butter banana."

"Well," I replied as we turned the corner and the blue sky and open ocean appeared. "Peanut butter banana is a very comforting flavour." 

"Wow, did my attack wound you so much that you had to go and get a comfort drink?" Alabaster smirked, his green eyes alight with mischievousness.

"We were sparring with SWORDS. BLADES. NO MAGIC. And then you go and throw a giant ass BEAR at me! A BEAR. It wasn't even like a hellhound or something. It had to have been a BEAR." 

I glared at him. "I swear to the gods, the next time we spar, you better be prepared."  

Alabaster snorted, doubling over with laughter, and shook his head at me. "Your face was SO worth it. Ow!" he yelped, rubbing his shoulder as I punched him. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" 

"You're not," I muttered, taking a sip of my smoothie. "But whatever." 

Alabaster sat down on a bench facing the ocean and motioned for me to join him. "When do you think we'll arrive?" he asked as I sat down. 

"Probably soon," I said, waving my hand towards the endless waves. "When I checked with Luke last night, we were somewhere off the coast of Georgia. So arriving in Miami today would be a pretty safe guess."