When Asclepius said he’d make arrangements, Auriella thought it meant fixing her work and school schedule to accommodate her new lessons as Successor. She didn’t know he meant living arrangements, too. Before she knew it, she found herself being toured by Asclepius in his rather stately mansion– which made Auriella suspicious because there was no way in hell a small coffee shop owner like him could afford such a property. Then she was given the keys to his observatory tower which had a built-in kitchen, a bathroom, and a loft with a bed. The observatory was beautiful, its roof made of crystal glass that was perfect for stargazing and completed with a telescope. When Auriella was told she’d have to live with Kian, that was where strange arrangements crossed the line to complete absurdity.

It was through these reasons that Asclepius justified his actions. One, Auriella was an easy target, and since she couldn’t wield her powers, she would have no way to defend herself. Kian, of course, couldn’t follow her everywhere. And that was the second reason: Kian’s sole duty was to guard and protect Auriella, at any time and anywhere. Again, Kian couldn’t do so once Auriella returned to her home or else he’d receive a restraining order from her father. Besides, how would Auriella explain– defend, even– Kian’s stalker-ish behavior without sounding insane. And the third and final reason for this whole madness was that, according to Asclepius, it would be beneficial for Auriella to better understand herself and Kian.

She didn’t have much of a choice after declaring that she would train and learn to wield the Goddess’ powers. Auriella did tell herself that she would try not to run away once a situation was difficult or uncomfortable. She accepted the challenge, packed her things, and left her father’s home. Of course her father didn’t dab an eye, considering he’d been trying to get rid of her ever since Auriella was placed in his custody, so it made the move easy.

Still, it took a long time to adjust. Living with Kian was not easy at all. It would have been nice if she was smitten with him, since these arrangements opened the door for a lot of exciting possibilities. But Auriella realized that instead of falling in love with the Gemini, she’d grown to be more irritated with him.

“Business is booming,” Asclepius sang as he tied an apron around his waist. He stood beside Auriella who was finishing a latte. “And it’s all thanks to you, Riel. Without you, we wouldn’t have increased our daily customers.”

“Ah, yes, thank me for the never ending rush hour.” Auriella rolled her eyes. Although Asclepius said he’d help her use her powers, he never said he’d drop everything to give her his full attention. To a business man like him, money was money, and not even the fate of existence could stop him from reaping a small fortune, even if that meant it would be valueless once the Archfiend invaded Yelerna.

So, instead of closing the cafe, he extended Auriella’s working hours and hired Kian as a waiter. He wasn’t paid, of course, since what was a deity going to do with mortal money? But the boy enjoyed himself, especially since the influx of female customers coming into the cafe meant more people to fawn over him.

Attention seeker, Auriella grumbled.

Since Kian started working, Asclepius saw an increase in profit, and thus explained his constant elation and Auriella’s perpetual exhaustion. The two of them were working her to the bone.

“Just imagine,” Asclepius sighed, “all of those gorgeous Zodiac Warriors working in my cafe. We’ll be the hottest coffee shop in the city.”

Auriella set the latte onto the counter as Kian came to pick it up, giving her a wink before delivering the drink to a table. Once she wiped her hands, she turned around to Asclepius who was starting another drink.

“What happened to the Zodiac Warriors after the Goddess’ death?” Auriella asked.

“You’d have to be more specific, hun,” Asclepius replied, steaming a drink.

“Norman told me that they fell from Stalera to Yelerna,” Auriella said. “It wasn’t like they wanted to but because the Goddess ordered that they did. Do you know where they all are?”

“Riel, if I did, I would’ve hired all of them and then we’d never have met.” As he was about to pour the drink into a cup, he paused. “I didn’t know when they began to fall nor do I know where they currently are. Norman won’t tell me for security reasons. He didn’t want me interfering with their current mortal lives. And I didn’t bother to search for them back then either. Except for the Gemini, I wasn’t exactly on good terms with the others.”

Auriella pinched her brows. “You know them personally? The Zodiac Warriors?”

“I did,” he sighed. “I may be half Yelernan, but I was born in Stalera. I was fairly close to Asteria and the Zodiacs, but that was way back before I came to Earth. You could say I departed on a sour note.”

Auriella’s curiosity wished he would elaborate more, but by the looks of him, he wasn’t in the mood to do so.

“Anyways,” Auriella cleared her throat. “I had a tutor in Ihimya who went into depth about the night the Zodiac Warriors fell. They told me everyone but the Scorpio made it to Earth, and that his current status is unknown. People seem to think he either died or just disappeared. Do you know what happened to him?”

“No one knows what happened to him,” Asclepius said instantly. He finished his drink and brought it to the counter. Kian picked it up swiftly and returned to deliver it. “I probably know as much as you do about the Scorpio’s current status. But if you want to know what I think, he’s probably dead.”

“Dead?”

“It’s very likely. The Archfiend would have never let him live. Not when the Scorpio possessed powers as dangerous as him.” Asclepius gestured to Kian, his winning smile bedazzling a table of adolescent girls. “Back when the Goddess was at war with the Archfiend, way before her death, Talonis’ main objective was to kill the Gemini and the Scorpio. Once they were gone, killing the other Warriors would be easy.”

It was hard to connect the word ‘dangerous’ to Kian’s face, especially when he smiled so brilliantly like that. Yet again, Auriella caught glimpses of his darker expressions before. He was especially cold towards Castor, too.

Maybe Kian was scary and dangerous after all since Auriella knew so little about him.

“Don’t tell the Gemini I mentioned the Scorpio to you,” Asclepius chuckled. “He’ll tell Castor to eat me if you do. I have a life to live and money to make. I’m not ready to die just yet.”

“Kian hates the Scorpio?”

Asclepius shrugged. “He says it’s hate, but I think it’s more of rivalry.”

“What does that mean–”

“Nuh-uh.” Asclepius shook his finger. “Enough chit chat. I’m not paying you to stand here.” He gestured towards the register. “Now, take that customer’s order.”

Auriella glanced at the customer at the counter, grumbled a distasteful curse, and then turned on her customer service smile.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

The first day of training began as soon as Auriella set her last move-in box down, wiping a few sweat droplets from her brow. Kian already began unboxing a few of her belongings and helping arrange the room for Auriella’s comfort and ease. The two agreed that Auriella would take the loft and Kian would rest on the couch in the small living area near the kitchen. Between the two, Kian would cook, since Auriella couldn’t cook for the life of her, while she took great care into making the space clean and tidy, which took much more of an effort than she anticipated. The Gemini was messy as hell, especially with his dishes.

But he did make pretty good food, so Auriella tolerated his messiness. If only for about a week.

Once she was finished, Auriella hurried down the observatory tower to Asclepius’ main house which was an elegant, neoclassical mansion set in a gated community just a twenty-minute walk away from Astro Cafe. It was unnecessarily large and grand, its opulence extending to its gold interior and high-end furniture. Auriella was still confused as to how Asclepius was able to afford such a thing or how he was able to live alone in such an expansive estate, but he only waved her questions away and reminded her to focus.

Auriella had no business in his personal life, and even though she found it unfair that he was very much involved in hers, she had no choice but to drop the conversation.

Asclepius led her and Kian down the stairs to a basement-turned-gym which held all kinds of machines, even its own boxing ring at the center of it. Auriella found it outrageous. Asclepius had no need for a boxing ring. Auriella knew well that her boss never touched a weight in his life. With one look at those lanky limbs, everyone would’ve thought the same. The fact that he owned his own gym in his huge mansion was more of a statement of wealth and luxury than anything else.

“Alright.” Asclepius lifted himself up to the boxing ring, smoothing his tank top then offering a hand to Auriella. She took it and climbed into the space beside him while Kian, dressed in a dark navy shirt and baggy shorts, levitated himself to the ring. “This is your first lesson, Riel, so pay close attention.”

Auriella gave a firm nod.

“Before we begin, you must first acquaint yourself with some basic rules.” Asclepius held a finger up. “You must learn rule number one.”

Auriella looked at him. “And that is?”

But before she could fully finish her sentence, Asclepius flung a right hook at her face. She ducked immediately, pivoting away from the punch, a slight breeze making her baby hairs flutter. That punch…

Was damn powerful!

Auriella’s heart raced as she watched Asclepius recover from the punch, sighing as he mumbled something about being out of shape. This lanky boss of hers wasn’t an MMA fighter… Was he?

“What the hell, Asclepius?” Auriella exclaimed.

“Rule number one, Riel,” Asclepius began. “Be on your toes. Rule number two…”

Auriella felt a slight but warm presence brush her. A finger pressed onto her temple.

“Anticipate anything.”

The single contact sent Auriella flying to the edge of the boxing space, its bordering ropes pushing her back to the ring and landing her on the floor. The air billowed around her, echoing the strong gust of wind that resulted from the single touch.

Auriella gathered her head together, fighting through her spinning vision and a small bit of nausea, before glaring at the person who had stood behind her. Kian smiled and gave her a little wave.

“And rule number three,” Asclepius continued, clapping his hands. The lights flickered off, pitch-black. “Heighten your senses.”

Auriella’s heart began to race. She was in total silence and darkness, the only sound she could hear being her own heavy breaths. She held her arms out in defense, her toes light as she walked around the ring. She did her best to not let the darkness deter her from listening. She calmed her heart, evened her breaths, and listened.

There was a warm presence, heavy breathing, ten steps in front of her. Five steps now. A grunt, followed by a strike. Auriella dodged it just as the knuckle of the figure grazed her shoulder. It hurt like hell, and Auriella knew it was going to bruise after all of this. But she couldn’t think about that right now.

Before the figure could recover, Auriella placed her fingers on the ground and scooped the figure with her leg, making him lose his balance and tumble to the floor. He groaned. She had a feeling about who it might have been, so she gave him a hard kick to the side out of spite and irritation. He yelped in pain.

A slight wind passed her, and Auriella took a step back. She bent her knees and held her arms out, alert. She was listening, sniffing, feeling. The wind always picked up when she turned her back, so she made an effort to never turn her back to anything that was lurking in the dark.

Then she felt it. That warmth from earlier. It towered over her, and she could already imagine hands reaching out to grab her. She spun around in half a second, grabbed the figure by the wrists, and twisted his arms so that Auriella pinned him to the ground face-first. One hand held the fidgeting hands just above his rear, the other pressed firmly against his back to secure him to the floor. She stepped on his thigh for good measure as a proud smirk crossed her lips, and she leaned in to whisper, “Got you.”

“Did you now?” He said breathlessly.

But before Auriella could react, she was violently pushed by a great force and then dragged by her hair to some corner of the ring.

“Hey, what the hell, Kian?” Auriella said, clawing at the grip on her hair. But instead of feeling flesh, she felt something rough and hard, almost bark-like.

“That isn’t me,” she heard Kian respond from far away. “Or at least, the physical me.”

Auriella’s eyes widened. Her struggle became fruitless as whatever held her hair gave her one last tug and slammed her against the padded corner of the ring. She grunted at the force, her breath taken from her, and slumped to the floor.

Bruises. All over her back. She was going to be in real pain tomorrow.

She heard three claps, and the lights flickered back on. Auriella was met by two green eyes and a wide, silver-fanged smile. She was too tired and hurt to give a small yelp of surprise.

“Hello, mortal,” Castor greeted in a low tone, slurring his words. He gave her a wave with the black smoke around him. “That was pretty fun. Wanna go another round– gack.” Auriella watched as a silver manacle materialized around Castor’s neck, and he was instantly dragged behind himself, putting a fair distance between him and her. Castor grasped onto the chain around his neck as he choked.

Kian, who held the chain, paid no mind and approached Auriella with a hand out. Auriella took it, pursing her lips together.

“Good job, Auriella. You weren’t as bad as I thought you’d be.” Kian patted her head. “I must say, you’re even better than me. That’s reassuring.”

“Thanks.” Auriella frowned, pushing his hand away. “Glad to know that I can beat you even when you cheat.”

Kian raised a brow. “Cheating? I didn’t know we were playing a game.”

“Clearly, using your powers– using Castor–” she pointed to the entity– “in hand-to-hand combat training is cheating.”

“Mortals and their rules,” Castor interjected, his voice strained by the shackle. “Even in a simple fight they complicate things with their rules and limits– gack.” One tug from Kian silenced the poor entity.

“Quite honestly, I’m not really good at hand-to-hand combat,” Kian began, ignoring Castor’s cries for help. “At best, I can do long range.”

“I am that said long range,” Castor interjected once more.

“However, espionage and mind games are really my forte.” Kian helped himself to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Auriella’s ear. “There. It’s best not to have anything blocking your line of sight.”

Auriella pursed her lips.

“Again, this is your first lesson, Auriella,” Asclepius cut in. Both her and Kian turned to face the man. “Even with powers, you still need to know the basics of survival. Awareness, anticipation, and analysis. The Gemini didn’t cheat; he simply used what he had, which was similar to you who understood your strength in defense and evasion.”

Auriella didn’t know whether or not to laugh at the fact that evasion was a strength of hers.

“Did Norman teach you self-defense back in Ihimya?” Asclepius asked.

She nodded. “It was required.”

A small voice in her wanted to add that she excelled in it, too, but from her performance just moments ago, she realized she was a bit rusty.

“Good. Self-defense is key, especially in moments when you can’t access your abilities. It’s nice that we have something to build off from. It makes my job easier.” Asclepius widened his stance and held his arms up, a smirk on his lips. “Now Riel, it’s time that we dust off these skills of ours. So, come at me. With all that you got.”