Axel wandered for a while, thinking about his conversation with Rex and what he should do with his life. Bloodshed would be a part of it for a long time to come, as he was being hunted by someone who wanted him to suffer and die. Axel changed into training clothing and headed to the training rooms that Rex had set aside for their group before the Trial.

Axel met Aria, Lyra, and Sky, who were warming up before training. After warming himself up, Rex arrived and started to run them all through standard drills for each of their powers. Axel went through the motions in the training room and completed the exercises that were assigned without saying anything.

The training was good to give Axel a gauge of how much power was needed for actions, but his mind was not into the training, which led to getting smacked by Rex. Axel then focused on the training to completion. He could see the glances the others were sending his way, mostly as it led Rex to smack each of them for being distracted during training.

The day flew by as Axel decided not to bring up what happened when he woke up that afternoon. He did not know how to handle his relationship with Aria but began to form a set of rules of combat that he could live with. After cleaning up from training, Axel returned to his room and locked the door behind him. He then pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down his rules.

“Rules of Engagement

1. Do not strike out in anger: If told I am fighting in anger, disengage the fight if I am able.

2. Don’t start the fight: Don’t start a fight unless someone else is going to die or be hurt if I don’t intervene.

3. Use minimal force: Only use the amount of force necessary to subdue the opponent if they are not aiming for my life or a friend's.

4. Lethal force: Match a lethal fight with lethal means, as your life is as important as theirs.

5. Maintain control: Keep a clear head and stay in control of your actions. Do not let emotions cloud your judgment.

6. Learn from each encounter: Reflect on each fight to understand what went well and what could be improved. Use these lessons to grow stronger and wiser.

“

While these were simple for now, it was a good start. After writing this down, a small part of Axel felt more relaxed. He felt that he could live with himself if he followed these for now. As Axel leaned back in his chair, a memory fluttered to the surface of his mind.

---

Axel was sweating hard, the pole in his hands stinging from a bit of torn skin. Standing against him was a large one-armed man holding a training axe. His clothing was not even out of place from the last half an hour of “practice.” Axel moved in for another attack, but he only saw a blur of motion sending his momentum way off course, causing a tumble. As Axel got to his feet, he punched the ground in anger, and a red rage crept into his vision.

“Son, anger is not your ally,” Axel’s father said in a calm voice. “You think it gives you power, but all it does is cloud your sight.”

“All you are doing is swinging with all your might and turning your brain off,” Quinn casually deflected attack after attack, running Axel out of energy quickly. “You have wasted so much effort for so little gain.”

“I hate you!” Axel screamed in rage. “Why do I have to do training like this day after day while all the other children can play? The only time I am not being beaten up by you is during class or chores.”

“Well, you should not have snuck out with Cade,” Quinn deflected another shot. “You scared everyone greatly.”

“That was months ago at this point!” Axel thrust at Quinn’s face, only to be dodged by a slight head tilt and then thrown into a pile of drying weeds after Quinn grabbed his pole and threw Axel.

All the air was blasted from Axel’s chest, but his anger built up higher. Thinking was getting harder, and all he wanted was to beat his father at this point.

“You don’t truly see it now, son,” Quinn tucked a strand of hair that was displaced from the slight dodge, “but you are different from the other kids. You, for better or worse, have great gifts but even greater weaknesses.”

“You are starting with a body that you can’t fully control but will be much more advanced than anyone your age or level,” Quinn continued as Axel caught his breath and renewed his attacks, “but your anger will always be your weakness. You are easy to upset, and then you spiral into this state.”

Quinn had to stop talking as he could tell that Axel could not hear him anymore with the way he was yelling, and the memories fuzzed for Axel as even with his memory, his mind stopped thinking and just attacked. The memory cleared up with Axel aching all over his body and the anger ebbing as he just did not have any energy to sustain it.

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“As I was saying,” Quinn stood above Axel, looking down at him, “there will be a time when this anger gets you into situations your wit would have avoided. Now breathe in the meditation way, son.”

Axel followed what his father said, and he calmed down quickly, realizing how he had acted over the last hour. Axel felt a lot of shame as this started because he was getting frustrated with trying to learn the axe from his father, trying to make use of his punishment to grow.

“Father, why did you sacrifice your arm to save me?” Axel asked, still unable to get up. “I seem to always let you down.”

“The only time you will let me down is when you refuse to get up after a mistake, son,” Quinn then reached down and pulled Axel to his feet. “Everyone makes mistakes, but as long as they learn from them and keep moving forward after learning, then I will never be ashamed to have given up an arm for your future.”

--

As the memory faded, Axel felt an empty space in him that seemed to be missing something. He decided to meditate for a while and just clear his head. Time passed without meaning until a thump hit his door.

“Owww, why is the door locked?” Aria’s muffled voice came through the door. “Axel, open up. I am worried about you. You have not been yourself all day.”

Axel leaned back so that his back was supported by his bed but did not answer. He knew that he needed to open that door and talk to Aria about what was going on, but his butt seemed to be glued to the floor. Images from the dream started to repeat themselves: Aria being torn by chains, her blood covering him, and the chains tightening to her screams.

This hit Axel out of nowhere and was looping, making the bruises throb in pain with his quickly beating heart. Each beat brought the pain, and this pissed Axel off. No crimson was going to control and scare him away from what he wanted. As the anger rose, Axel realized the trap that was raised and breathed to calm it. He was never going to beat a being of anger with more anger.

Fighting down the rage with the tricks his father had beaten into him over the years, Axel slowly rose to his feet. He dispersed the rage and let it flow through him, as from his experience, just pushing it down would only delay its removal, often making the comeback worse. Each step to the door felt like it took longer than the last, and as he reached the lock, the bruises of the chain sharpened greatly, but the crimson chose the wrong response to try and stop Axel.

As the door clicked, Axel could swear there was the sound of glass breaking, and the strange bruises vanished off his arms just as the door flew open, hitting Axel in the face as Aria shouldered it in a panic.

“AXEL,” Aria inadvertently yelled as she bounced back from hitting him and landed on her butt. “Oww, why is Aria bouncing off things tonight?”

Axel grunted and popped a broken nose back in place with a grunt of pain, bringing Aria’s attention back to him. She jumped to her feet, rushed over to Axel, and started to look him over. Then she looked deeply into his eyes and ended up hugging him.

“Aria was so worried after training. You didn’t talk to anyone,” Aria said into his shirt. “Aria could tell that you left out things from what happened, and her sixth sense was telling her that you need not be alone.”

“Aria looked all over the building and could not find you,” Aria then looked up from his chest. “You didn’t answer when Aria knocked hours ago, so she checked with the others, and everyone was looking for you.”

“Sorry to worry you, Aria,” Axel said in a calm, quiet tone. “I needed to work through some issues and advice Rex gave me.”

Axel then led Aria to the bed and sat her down. He was now feeling better than he had in what felt like forever and quickly came to a decision.

“Aria, to lay things out plainly, I have been conflicted about you adding Lyra to your flock,” Axel started and kept looking into Aria’s eyes to see a change. “I told you before that I loved her and she could not love me the same way.”

“This is why Aria said she would wait for you before doing anything,” Aria replied with a tilted head and a frown of concentration. “What is the problem?”

“I am jealous of you for being able to do what I could not with Lyra, and it is starting to eat me up inside,” Axel explained slowly and kept his calm. “It is hard for me to see you both together and not wonder what could have been if things were different. I now feel that I lost to Tess and now you, and I know that is not how this works, but that is what I am feeling.”

“But Axel is not losing Aria?” Aria said in confusion. “Lyra has made it clear that she would not be a possible mate to Axel, so how are you losing something that was not happening?”

“It is that emotion of jealousy, Aria. It is not easy to shake for people who have it, and I will still not get in your way as you are not human.” Axel tried to explain his feelings but could not put it all into words.

Aria was silent for a time and leaned in to listen to his heartbeat. Time passed, and the moon became visible to Axel through the window as he waited for Aria to speak.

“Aria is having difficulties with what you are talking about, but your heart, while fluttering, is steady,” Aria started. “This should mean that Aria did not lose you to a misunderstanding, which is good.”

“Aria wants you to know that you own her soul and heart,” Aria said while moving closer to Axel’s face. “Aria loves you with every feather and breath in her chest. Aria wishes to claim Lyra for her flock as she needs Aria as much as Axel did, to calm the storm of our lives, and she is sexy.”

“Not helping with the sexy comment, Aria,” Axel said, leaning his head to touch her forehead.

“But it is a fact?” Aria questioned but moved on. “Aria can feel the pain that Lyra has, and this is the best way to help that Aria knows about, but Aria can wait as our mating bond is still thin, and foster mom did warn her that going too fast could ruin things.”

“Is Aria going too fast?” Aria asked Axel with wide eyes.

“You are a little fast, but if you feel you are not pushing Lyra too quickly, I will be supportive as I know that the Tess situation likely hurt her greatly,” Axel compromised. “We just will need to have more of these talks as you progress with her, as it is hard for humans if their mates take others in.”

Aria nodded and closed her eyes for a bit before saying, “Aria can work with that. Lyra is in so much pain that it is hard not to hold her whenever Aria is around her. Thank you, Axel, for being understanding that it is in Aria’s nature.”

Neither spoke for a time until Aria said, “Your room still smells of sweat, so let’s sleep in mine for now.”

With that, Axel slept the night away wrapped in a hug with Aria, falling into a deep sleep.