06-24-2018, 01:40 PM
I stare up at the ceiling, despondent, a hollow emptiness in my gut.
This marks the second time in as many days that I’ve woken up in a hospital.
Why does this happen? Why does it seem as if I’m doomed to do nothing but constantly fail to live up to the expectations my king has of me? A logical part of my mind tells me that I'm not to blame, that that fight wasn’t fair… that that bastard, Sasuke Uchiha, didn’t even need to try, he so outclassed us. That right up until the very end of the match, he was just playing, letting me think he couldn’t hurt me, whilst really he had just been holding back his tremendous power all along.
But still, I flush with shame just thinking about it, and my eyes burn with angry tears which I struggle to hold back. Were my king and the others all watching that fight, having already won their own bouts with the same ease as that kid, and then chosen to laze around watching Sasuke play with his food for a bit? Were they laughing at me as I fought desperately against a foe who was far out of my league, never realising just how outclassed I truly was?
It fills my soul with venom. I want someone to suffer for this. Ideally, I’d like to pummel Sasuke’s face into a bloodied mess… but that’s beyond my power to achieve. Yes, logically, I know that I shouldn’t be getting worked up over this… the luck of the draw matched me against a vastly superior foe, that’s all there is to it. This result is exactly what I would expect of a fight against a Prime in the retinue of King Gilgamesh. In fact, I should perhaps even be grateful that the combined efforts of Eternity and I were enough to take down his partner.
I’m not, though.
I’m supposed to be proving that I deserve to stand amongst these mighty figures as an equal, that I too can be of use to my king… but how can I when I’m barely able to touch our foes, and can’t even protect my own partner from harm?
I turn my head. Eternity is in the bed next to mine, speaking to a member of the Syntech staff who’s offering her something from a small, brown bag. The little girl does an admirable job of staying strong, despite the burns on her face and shoulders from that explosive, not to mention her lacerated arms and numerous bruises. Those wounds weigh heavily on me. Each one marks a blow I failed to prevent.
Then Larva pops something into her mouth—a bean?—and swallows. Almost instantly, she’s fully healed. I gawk like an idiot, my mouth hanging open. Her voice livening up just as quickly, she turns to me with an expression of childish joy on her face.
"Wow!" she exclaims, "You have to try these 'Senzu Beans' too! They work great, right?"
“Uh... yeah. Yeah, they certainly do.” I agree dumbfoundedly, still feeling like I'm in a state of shock. I accept one when offered, and eat it. A few aches vanish, but the change is far from the startling transformation my partner underwent. For all that it hurt like a motherfucker, that electrical attack of Sasuke's didn't really leave behind any visible indication of having struck me.
“You both must be worn out after your fight,” comments the Syntech assistant—a young, blonde woman with her hair tied up in a bun—cheerily, a bright smile plastered on her face, “how about a nice, cool and refreshing Pepsi to quench your thirst and get you back on your feet?”
She reaches into a box by her feet, then tosses each of us a blue and silver can, with a red, white & blue logo on it. It takes a moment, but I figure out how to open it. The stuff fizzes in my mouth, and is very sweet… it is actually quite nice, though, and she certainly wasn’t lying about it being refreshing. Even as the liquid slides down my throat, I can feel my muscles coming alive with renewed vigour. I sigh contentedly.
The woman takes her bag of magic beans and her box of chilled, carbonated beverages and bustles off to go offer them to someone else. For a few moments, we sit in silence.
“I’m sorry, Larva.” I don’t meet her gaze, but instead stare down at the can in my hands.
“What for?” the fairy asks, as if she doesn’t know.
“We lost. I lost. I should’ve been able to do more… I just...” I trail off, shaking my head. She takes a sip from her drink, but otherwise keeps quiet. The silence eats at me, until I’m forced to continue, just to break it, “I was too damn slow.”
I shake my head helplessly, glaring at my delicious, cold Pepsi, as I struggle not to crush the can in my anger, “I’ve never thought of myself as slow before… but I might as well have been standing still in that fight.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it,” the sprite answers brightly, “Just because those two were super-fast, doesn’t mean everyone else will be too. Besides, all of those in this ‘loser bracket’ are going to be in the same situation as we are.”
I sigh, rolling onto my back to stare up at the ceiling again, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
This marks the second time in as many days that I’ve woken up in a hospital.
Why does this happen? Why does it seem as if I’m doomed to do nothing but constantly fail to live up to the expectations my king has of me? A logical part of my mind tells me that I'm not to blame, that that fight wasn’t fair… that that bastard, Sasuke Uchiha, didn’t even need to try, he so outclassed us. That right up until the very end of the match, he was just playing, letting me think he couldn’t hurt me, whilst really he had just been holding back his tremendous power all along.
But still, I flush with shame just thinking about it, and my eyes burn with angry tears which I struggle to hold back. Were my king and the others all watching that fight, having already won their own bouts with the same ease as that kid, and then chosen to laze around watching Sasuke play with his food for a bit? Were they laughing at me as I fought desperately against a foe who was far out of my league, never realising just how outclassed I truly was?
It fills my soul with venom. I want someone to suffer for this. Ideally, I’d like to pummel Sasuke’s face into a bloodied mess… but that’s beyond my power to achieve. Yes, logically, I know that I shouldn’t be getting worked up over this… the luck of the draw matched me against a vastly superior foe, that’s all there is to it. This result is exactly what I would expect of a fight against a Prime in the retinue of King Gilgamesh. In fact, I should perhaps even be grateful that the combined efforts of Eternity and I were enough to take down his partner.
I’m not, though.
I’m supposed to be proving that I deserve to stand amongst these mighty figures as an equal, that I too can be of use to my king… but how can I when I’m barely able to touch our foes, and can’t even protect my own partner from harm?
I turn my head. Eternity is in the bed next to mine, speaking to a member of the Syntech staff who’s offering her something from a small, brown bag. The little girl does an admirable job of staying strong, despite the burns on her face and shoulders from that explosive, not to mention her lacerated arms and numerous bruises. Those wounds weigh heavily on me. Each one marks a blow I failed to prevent.
Then Larva pops something into her mouth—a bean?—and swallows. Almost instantly, she’s fully healed. I gawk like an idiot, my mouth hanging open. Her voice livening up just as quickly, she turns to me with an expression of childish joy on her face.
"Wow!" she exclaims, "You have to try these 'Senzu Beans' too! They work great, right?"
“Uh... yeah. Yeah, they certainly do.” I agree dumbfoundedly, still feeling like I'm in a state of shock. I accept one when offered, and eat it. A few aches vanish, but the change is far from the startling transformation my partner underwent. For all that it hurt like a motherfucker, that electrical attack of Sasuke's didn't really leave behind any visible indication of having struck me.
“You both must be worn out after your fight,” comments the Syntech assistant—a young, blonde woman with her hair tied up in a bun—cheerily, a bright smile plastered on her face, “how about a nice, cool and refreshing Pepsi to quench your thirst and get you back on your feet?”
She reaches into a box by her feet, then tosses each of us a blue and silver can, with a red, white & blue logo on it. It takes a moment, but I figure out how to open it. The stuff fizzes in my mouth, and is very sweet… it is actually quite nice, though, and she certainly wasn’t lying about it being refreshing. Even as the liquid slides down my throat, I can feel my muscles coming alive with renewed vigour. I sigh contentedly.
The woman takes her bag of magic beans and her box of chilled, carbonated beverages and bustles off to go offer them to someone else. For a few moments, we sit in silence.
“I’m sorry, Larva.” I don’t meet her gaze, but instead stare down at the can in my hands.
“What for?” the fairy asks, as if she doesn’t know.
“We lost. I lost. I should’ve been able to do more… I just...” I trail off, shaking my head. She takes a sip from her drink, but otherwise keeps quiet. The silence eats at me, until I’m forced to continue, just to break it, “I was too damn slow.”
I shake my head helplessly, glaring at my delicious, cold Pepsi, as I struggle not to crush the can in my anger, “I’ve never thought of myself as slow before… but I might as well have been standing still in that fight.”
“Well, I wouldn’t worry about it,” the sprite answers brightly, “Just because those two were super-fast, doesn’t mean everyone else will be too. Besides, all of those in this ‘loser bracket’ are going to be in the same situation as we are.”
I sigh, rolling onto my back to stare up at the ceiling again, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
![[Image: Ahana_Sig_V3.png]](https://image.ibb.co/bAZXiJ/Ahana_Sig_V3.png)