Loveless

Chapter 20

The next day, Eloise had to get ready for training with Sephiroth. Ever since he dragged Genesis into her training sessions, she became curious about what other new things he would add.

She was drying her hair when she heard a soft knock on the door. The brunette opened it quickly and faced her mentor. Her head snapped to the clock worriedly but she still had one hour until training.

Sephiroth walked in without telling her anything and placed a big box on her bed.

"What is that?" She asked, pointing at the box.

"Why don't you open it to find out?"

Eloise looked between the box and her mentor, unsure if she should be anxious or not. Sephiroth wasn't known as a nice guy; even to her, he wasn't necessarily nice.

With wary hands, she opened the box slowly. Her eyes widened when she realized what he had given her: an elegant, long black dress. The fabric felt soft at hand and the upper part had an interesting pattern while the rest was simple.

Her eyes moved from the dress to her mentor. and her lips curved into a wide joyful smile. Small as she was next to him, she wrapped her hands around him and hugged him tightly. Sephiroth froze for a moment; since he didn't know how to respond to her, he only patted her head.

"That won't make today's training easier, right?" She asked, the sound muffled into his chest.

"No. You will fight Angeal today." Sephiroth answered, not a tinge of amusement in his voice.

She sighed and let him go before she placed the dress back in the box. She couldn't be mad, though; not after seeing a bit of Sephiroth's kindness for the second time.

"Today, I will fight you."

Angeal was patiently waiting for her in the simulation room. He was watching carefully instead of teasing her. It was far better than fighting against Genesis.

"I know."

But that didn't mean she wasn't feeling confident. All the training she went through with Sephiroth started to pay off but she was always basing her abilities on annoyance and anger. Angeal didn't cause her any of that.

Angeal didn't use the buster sword instead, he grabbed his usual sword and got into a defensive position. Eloise titled her head to the side and eyed him warily. She had to attack him first. Her eyes moved quickly to her hand and took a deep breath. She encouraged herself mentally and ran towards her brother's mentor, trying to kick him before using her sword. He jumped and moved away, raising an eyebrow before swaying his sword around. Eloise ran towards him ready to slash his shoulder but she saw that coming and kicked her. She took a few steps back and breathed heavily. She was consuming too much energy and still had to plan her next move.

Angeal tauntingly raised an eyebrow which triggered something deep in her body. Eloise took deep breaths in order to calm herself and control the energy that was bubbling inside her chest.

"Are you going easy on me, Eloise?" Angeal asked, smirking.

"Are you?" She asked, copying his expression.

Angeal chuckled. He tightened his grip around his sword and ran at her. She was ready to block his attack but it never came. Angeal slipped past her and got ready to slash her side. Thanks to her good reflexes, she blocked his sword with her hand but Angeal didn't stop there. He kicked her in the back and threw her into the wall. Eloise didn't even know what happened. She rubbed her head and realized that her hand was bleeding. In the blood, she saw little sparks of electricity. Her eyes moved on the older man and waited. He ran at her with full speed and raised his sword. She bent right when he was ready to attack. Somehow, she slipped through his hands and grabbed his face. She hissed and pushed him hard. He flew a few feet until he regained his balance. Her hand was shining and her eyes changed gradually.