The Queen's Shadow

Unwelcome Company

~~~Apollos

I have been meditating and preparing for this mission. Preparing for anything that might come. I have to debrief them in an hour and I also have to hope that I have their trust. They can't stab me in the back, the blood would prevent it. I learned over the last month I had aged over 20 years. My abilities continued to change, I felt my strength increasing and I felt my limiters being pushed. I'm getting stronger, soon I'll be strong enough to kill him. He's one of the few people who have never left my mind. I'm out of breath. I didn't realize I was being punched in my stomach.

'Focus on the battle or you'll lose your head Apollos.' Zamiel was smiling that same smile. I swipe my blade in her direction and cause her to retreat. 'This is your first of many battles, you will keep getting stronger.' I manifest proper sparring clothes in my meditation state. For me it was shorts, I also had armed guards. Our sparring sessions could be so intense that he made intentional mistakes so that my hits made contact. I could go all out and even though she was above me in power, skill, tactics, and a vast majority of other abilities she would allow me to get in a few blows. She would land the majority of course but she actually monitors my growth. I want her to push me further, I don't need mercy I need power.  'Soon you will learn other ways of war, but you need to survive this mission.'

"What do you mean?" I was curious, I knew there was something more to what she was letting on. I know I'm a pawn, I just don't know my role. 'You should know everything about fighting, not just combat.' This was the first time I heard that kind of information. It was then that she was behind me, 'Sometimes combat requires finesse.' My chest then opened up and my arm fell off, the pain was intense. So intense that I was on my knee, she dulled my pain receptors while we were training. This time she didn't, she wanted me to feel everything. Remember, these are only training exercises. 'The real thing will always hurt, you can't abuse your limit breaker every time you're about to lose.' She was right, although I never I don't use it often I do see it as reliable. I prefer to be in my right mind while I'm battling.

'I also have a means for you to get stronger, other than training I have something else for you.' She smiled as if she was giving me God's gift to the world. It was then that she pulled out a bottle of a black liquid. I grabbed the bottle and began to analyze it. Rotating it around looking at the liquid, it didn't look like soda it was much too thick. 'This is a strength enhancer, it gives a permanent boost to your body.' I put the bottle down and said "What's the catch?" I wanted to know what she was going to take from me. Ever since I lost my sadness, I have failed something in me growing. There had to be something that came with it It was too promising.

'There is no catch, I swear this on my name.' I had never heard her swear before, I had never heard her make a promise like that. 'I will supply these to you until further notice.' I looked at the black liquid, she wasn't lying. She has so much more power than me, she could easily make me not exist. She doesn't need any button to remove me from this world, all she needs to do is just snap her fingers. What she was offering me with something I couldn't pass up. I grabbed the liquid and analyzed it. I drank it back like a shot.

The Taste of blood filled my mouth, but not just any kind of blood. It was pure, it was almost divine. I didn't feel anything, I then opened the refrigerator door. I grabbed two more and drank them consecutively. 'You should slow down, ' now she tells me. "Well let's finish sparring, it's not like I have forever." Our blades began to clash, I felt nothing happening. I pushed this drink out of my mind and began to fight her more ferociously.

After about an hour passed, I felt something. I felt power flowing through me. My stomach began to heat up but not in a painful way, I saw my skin getting darker. It was pitch-black like hers, she stood there in anticipation. She knew what was happening, I was still focused on her. 'You consume the three of them so it's going to hit you harder.' I didn't say anything to her as she kept talking. 'What you have consumed is a mixture of my blood and a strength enhancement cocktail.'