Accepted

Training and more training

The next two days consisted of endless war simulations, 1:1 combat, battling groups, pushing myself to every limit imaginable until my magic ran out. Which it didn't. It seemed the more magic that I used, the more was restored to me. It was starting to look like we might have a fighting chance. I trained at the crack of dawn and there were some nights I didn't return until midnight. Zion had strong opinions about my long training hours as well as my friends but I could feel myself growing stronger. If training long hours was what it took to get myself into fighting shape then it was worth it. Each day that crept by, I felt more and more on edge thinking it was the day the Vexons would come. I briefly considered the possibility that they had already arrived and were surrounding us and preparing for an ambush. But from all my interactions with them, they were strong but not so much smart.

"Saron, hello???" Star called out, snapping her fingers in my face to grab my attention.

"Yeah, what?" I said absentmindedly.

"Did you hear anything I said?" She asked, staring at me incredulously.

"Of course I did."

"What did she say?" Zion asked, eying me warily.

I opened my mouth, shutting it quickly as I realized I really did have no idea what she was saying. I had been so lost in my head recently, I was constantly distracted when I was with my friends.

"What is up with you?" Esat asked, just as confused as everyone else.

"Why are you all looking at me like that?" I said, noticing everyone looking at me weirdly.

"Maybe because ever since you started training, we barely see you and when we do you're not even here," Star said.

"Sorry, I've just been...distracted."

"We're already training everyday. You don't have to spend every second thinking about it as well," Tom said, getting straight to the point to my surprise.

"You're right," I said, forcing a smile at Tom and biting my tongue from what I really wanted to say.

I mean, it was easy for them to ease up. They weren't the ones with dark magic and the insane prophecy that they'll either change or destroy the world. It wasn't as easy for me to just forget, especially with each day getting closer and closer to fighting in a war that could possibly annihilate supernatural creatures off the face of the Earth.

I reached for a burger on the platter, realizing I was the only one who hadn't eaten yet while everyone else had finished eating. I tried to ignore Zion's eyes that seemed to be drilling into the side of my face. I already knew what was on his mind so I decided not to ask. I was tired of fighting with him and my mind wasn't going to change.

"Why don't we do something fun tonight?" Bonnie offered.

"We have training tomorrow, we should sleep," I replied, stuffing fries into my mouth.

"Saron, tomorrow's Sunday. There's no training. Didn't you hear the announcement?" Jeremy asked, his brows furrowing.

"Oh, right..."

"You should get some sleep," Zion said, voicing what was on everyone else's minds.

"You're probably right," I said, standing up. Maybe I was tired. That would explain why I was having so much trouble focusing. I wasn't surprised to see Zion beside me, wishing everyone goodnight as he accompanied me. Hovering was a new thing that he did, along with staring at me in silence as if he was waiting for me to break.

"Have you been sleeping?" He asked once we broke away from the others.

"Yeah, why?"

He cocked his head at me, clearly not buying it. Truthfully, I hadn't been sleeping all that well. Whenever I did sleep, it was for a handful of hours until I woke up. I was haunted by nightmares of the Vexons ambushing us and burning down the Academy before we had a chance to defend ourselves. My paranoia was growing each day and I didn't know how, but I could feel them getting closer. But I wasn't going to say all that to Zion, especially after seeing the way he was looking at me.

"I've been sleeping, I swear. I've just been a little worried."

"We're all worried, you know?"

"Are you really?" I aske incredulously. They'd all been acting so calm, sometimes I wondered if they had forgotten we were preparing for war. Or maybe they were just better at hiding their emojis than I was.

"Of course we are. But there's no point in working ourselves over a battle that hasn't come yet."

"You're right," I said, nodding.

"Get some sleep," he said, planting a quick peck on my lips before flitting away. I touched my lips absentmindedly, feeling his lingering kiss before rubbing my hands up and down my arms from the goosebumps he's left me with. I walked into the white wing, heading towards my room before peeling off my clothes and hopping into the bed. I felt calm, calmer than I had in awhile. Maybe this was my body forcing me to get some rest. Little did I know, it was the calm before the storm and that storm was fast approaching.