Chapter 09 | You Must Train

Joseph Marco arrived on Thursday afternoon with a dark green backpack and the tired eyes of a man who had changed planes too many times.

He was leaner than Aki, with long black hair that looked as though he'd last combed it in another country. His handshake was firm.

"May I see the sword?"

Matthias glanced at the backpack, then at his guest.

"Good to meet you too."

Joseph blinked.

"Yes. Sorry. Joseph Marco."

"Matthias Titus. Come in."

All six of them gathered in the living room.

Belial brought tea. Astreal stood near the doorway, while Yuki claimed the armchair and Aki leaned against the wall.

Joseph sat opposite Matthias, his cup untouched.

Matthias held out his hand.

The Sun Blade appeared.

Joseph leaned forward at once.

"May I?"

Matthias passed it to him, hilt first.

Joseph took it in both hands. He turned the blade toward the light, ran a thumb along its flat, and studied the cross-guard.

Then he set it on the table and reached into his backpack.

A second sword emerged.

Matthias stared.

The same straight, single-edged blade. The same simple guard and quiet gold light.

Joseph held them side by side.

"There should be one," he said.

Nobody answered.

He brought the hilts level and examined the edges again.

"The Sun Blade was forged, using the lava of Mount Etna. The materials and process were unique. A perfect copy should be impossible."

"Could mine be a fake?" Matthias asked.

"A forgery wouldn't carry this light."

"Then what is it?"

Joseph lowered both swords to the table.

"I don't know yet."

Matthias had been waiting for Joseph to arrive with an explanation. Apparently, flying someone across the world didn't oblige the universe to make sense when he got here.

At least the man had said it plainly. Matthias would rather hear uncertainty than be handed another confident claim about himself.

Matthias looked at Yuki.

She lifted one shoulder.

"See? Told you. He's totally in his happy place right now."

Joseph was still looking at the blades.

"This is extraordinary."

"It's also mine," Matthias said. "Should I be worried?"

That brought Joseph's attention back to him.

"I need more time before I can answer properly. It isn't fake, and it isn't a coincidence. That's all I can tell you for now."

Matthias nodded reluctantly.

Joseph dismissed his own sword and returned the other.

"There is something we can do immediately. You need to train."

Matthias let the blade fade.

"I thought you might say that."

"Belial and Astreal can't cover every direction at once. Neither can Aki and Yuki."

Joseph glanced around the room.

"The next attack might come while they're occupied. You need to survive long enough for them to reach you."

Matthias remembered Astreal turning toward him in the parking lot.

She had seen the falling sword. She simply hadn't been close enough.

"I moved without thinking," he said. "Once the blade appeared, I knew what to do."

"Can you do it again?"

He looked down at his empty palm.

"I don't know."

"Then we start there. You have the instinct and the weapon. Training gives you something you can rely on."

Matthias closed his hand.

"All right."

Joseph nodded and turned to Belial.

"You too."

She set down her tea.

"What would you recommend?"

"Your staff lets you hold enemies at a distance and protect a wide area. What happens when someone gets past its reach?"

Belial considered for a moment.

"I have less room to work."

"At knife range, the shaft becomes difficult to manage. You need a weapon you can draw without first creating distance."

"A short sword?"

"As a sidearm. Keep the staff for what it does well. Practice switching before someone forces you to."

Belial nodded.

"I've neglected that. I'll train with one."

Matthias had expected at least a little resistance from someone with three thousand years of experience.

She looked relieved to have a specific problem to solve.

He'd been treating her experience as though it meant she should never need help. She had heard a useful suggestion and accepted it.

If he spent his lessons trying not to look foolish, he would probably waste a great deal of everyone's time.

Joseph turned to Astreal.

"Your close-range fighting is the best in this room."

She waited.

"But you spend heavily to maintain that speed and pressure. What happens when a fight lasts longer than you expect?"

"I would fight with less than ideal conditions."

"Restorative magic would help. You already have the holy affinity. Learn to apply it to recovery and support as well as attack."

Astreal unfolded her arms.

"For myself and the others."

"Exactly."

She glanced at Belial, then Matthias.

"I agree with the assessment."

Joseph looked toward the remaining two.

"Aki, Yuki. You'll train with Matthias."

"Wait, next weekend's my anime expo!" Yuki said. "I've already got my outfit sorted."

"You want to be his mistress."

The room went quiet.

Yuki's mouth opened.

Then closed.

Color spread across her face, and she looked down at her tea.

Matthias stared. He hadn't known she could do that.

"Wait, you can't just say it like—"

"I assume you'd like to be useful to him," Joseph said. "Help him train."

Aki pressed his lips together.

Yuki pointed at him.

"Don't you dare."

"I haven't said anything."

"Your face is saying plenty!"

Matthias took a sip of tea to hide his own smile.

Aki pushed away from the wall.

"I'll teach him to handle a spear. Getting inside the reach, controlling the point, keeping track of it when I throw."

"And when it comes back," Matthias said.

"Especially then."

Yuki sat forward, some of her usual confidence returning.

"Okay, babe. My turn, I'm messing up all your nice little plans. Let's see what you do when I don't play along."

"By fighting unpredictably?"

"Exactly! No getting comfy just because you think you've figured me out."

Aki nodded toward her.

"If you can keep your footing against Yuki, you'll be harder to surprise."

She flicked her hair back.

"Aw, see? He does say nice things about me sometimes."

Joseph reached for his tea.

"You can arrange the sessions around your other commitments. But you will take them seriously."

Yuki's grin faded a little.

"Yeah. I will. Promise."

Matthias leaned back.

"You think Sylvia will try again soon?"

"I think she'll change her approach," Joseph said. "Whether she meant to kill you that day, the attack also served as a probe."

"She saw who came to protect me."

"And what weapon you can summon. Expect her to use that knowledge."

Matthias looked toward the window.

Outside, a car passed the gate. Somewhere, people were finishing an ordinary Thursday, deciding what to eat and whether to stop at the shops.

"There are others besides Sylvia," Joseph continued. "Some will benefit from your death. Some will be more dangerous than her."

Belial's fingers tightened around her cup.

"We know."

"Then let's prepare before they act."

Matthias thought of the basement.

Empty space beneath his feet. Belial had suggested a training room, and he'd asked to leave it alone.

At the time, he'd wanted one evening without another reminder of what he was.

He still wanted evenings like that. Dinner upstairs, work in the morning, no one checking whether he was about to become a catastrophe.

But Sylvia hadn't waited for him to feel ready. Leaving the basement empty hadn't made him any safer in the parking lot.

"We have somewhere," he said.

Joseph looked at him.

"The basement. We haven't done anything with it yet."

He turned to Astreal.

"Can we use it?"

She looked toward the hallway, already considering it.

"It will need fitting out. I can have it ready within a week."

"A whole training room in a week? Of course, you can," Yuki said. "Seriously, you're amazing."

Belial set down her cup.

"I'll help with the arrangements."

Joseph finally tasted his tea, paused, and lowered it again.

"Cold?" Belial asked.

"I forgot about it."

She reached for the pot.

Matthias watched her refill Joseph's cup, then his own.

A week. After that, he would be learning how to fight people who might actually want him dead.

He wasn't looking forward to it.

But he remembered standing against the parked car, waiting for someone else to save him. He didn't want to feel that helpless again.

"What do I need to get?" he asked.

Joseph's expression brightened.

"For the first lesson? Comfortable clothes. We'll start with your grip and stance."

"That sounds manageable."

Aki and Yuki exchanged a look.

Matthias sighed.

"I shouldn't have said that, should I?"

"Drink your tea while it's warm," Aki said.

Matthias did.