Seth once again charged Ankmet. Within seconds, he was flat on his back, gasping for air. Algea was watching from the side as Ankmet repeatedly threw Seth. The room that Ankmet decided to dedicate to training Seth had a padded floor and weapons lining the walls. They had decided to start Seth off with basic hand-to-hand defense. Unfortunately, Seth could still not gain the upper hand after an hour.

“Okay, that is enough,” Algea walked over and picked up Seth. “I have enough information now. Thank you, Ankmet.” A breathy acknowledgment was all he could respond to before lying down. Algea looked amused at what she saw. “Seth, I have figured out that I will train you in close-up knife combat first. You have the aptitude if how you cut vegetables is any indicator,” Seth blushed as he gasped for air. “You are more cunning than I initially thought. That will be your edge,” She looked over at Ankmet. “I will talk to you about what I want to do next, but first, both of you rest for a bit. We will start in a few minutes,” Algea went back to where she was standing, but now she was pacing in thought.

“Wait a minute,” Ankmet protested.”Why do I still have to train with your human? You should take a turn,” She looked over with a raised eyebrow.

“You know why I am holding off. Once he can beat you, then he trains with me. Will that be too hard for the once great Grave Hound?” Ankmet looked disgusted at the name.

“I thought we would never mention that again,” He glared from the floor. “But, fine, I’ll keep going. You made your point,” Algea looked pleased with herself. Seth just looked annoyed.

“Fine, don’t tell me, the lowly human,” Seth huffed. Ankmet looked apologetic, Algea did not. “You know, it might be helpful to know what exactly I am facing in helping you because right now it feels like I am pretty useless against you demigods,” Algea grew frustrated.

“First, no opponent is useless. Everyone makes mistakes. You just need to know what to look for,” Algea stalked over. “Second, my past is that, in the past. It is not necessary to allow you to help me.”

“Algea! He has a right to know.” Ankmet came over. Algea whipped around, and Ankmet held up his hands. “The only real information he needs to know is the problem itself. Anything outside of that is up to you,” Algea huffed. She looked conflicted as she decided if she was willing to share what was happening. “Besides, I only know half of the story myself. The council was quick to cover up a scandal with a firstborn,” Algea nodded and forcibly sighed.

“Fine, but this needs to be just between us,” Ankmet nodded and motioned for Everyone to leave the room. Algea turned around, and Ankmet winked at Seth.

“Thought you could use a break, and this would be the best use of our time,” Ankmet grinned as he whispered to Seth.

“I heard that,” Algea called back. Ankmet snickered as he caught up to Algea and pointed to the right.

The room that Ankmet led them to was small and had no windows or notable vents. There was a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. The room was also filled with cleaning supplies. Algea took a bucket and sat on it while Ankmet found a more comfortable spot on the floor. Seth decided to join Algea with the bucket idea. The floor had stains and other mysterious spots all over it, and he did not like the looks of the rodent bites through a wooden handle covered in dark purple and red stains.

“Alright,” Algea crossed her arms. “Where to start?” She paused. “I believe the necessary facts are that I was wrongly accused and convicted by my old commander and friend Enyo of killing the firstborn of Bastet for the title,” Ankmet coughed.

“She what! You were what!” Algea glared at the volume of Ankmet’s outburst. He waved it off. “How are you not dead? The sentence for that is immediate execution.”

“Enyo pulled some strings, and some of my close friends on the council vouched for my character. I was only sentenced to life in prison,” Algea’s voice was cool, but her eyes betrayed her anger. Ankmet only shook his head. Seth looked over at Ankmet in confusion.

“Why is killing someone for their title such a punishable offense? From what I can tell, you guys kill each other frequently,” Ankmet looked over and nodded while Algea grimaced.

“Unfortunately, general killing is not as frowned upon in our society as you humans. I have to admit I think that aspect of humanity is admirable,” She looked at Seth with a small smile. “However, the killing of a sibling higher ranked than you is the most serious crime. You see, our power as demigods is not distributed evenly. The eldest, who we call firstborn, is the most powerful when it comes to our godly power. The most powerful are the first five eldest children. Each is slightly weaker than the older. The biggest jump in power is in the next six to twelve children. They usually have very similar strength, but after that, all the rest of the children have the same power, which is very small,” Seth nodded in understanding.

“So, let me get this right,” Seth paused until Algea nodded to continue. “Since killing is not a taboo, and your strength is determined by if you are older than your siblings. You all probably started killing to get the upper hand until there was a law against it. The only way for a law to have any real effect on people who don’t look down on killing would be to have the harshest punishment assigned to it,” Seth looked around. “Am I right?”

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“Why, Silas, I think you are smarter than I gave you credit!” Ankmet exclaimed. Algea snorted at Ankmet’s clear underestimation of Seth.

“Thanks?” Rolling his eyes, Seth looked over at Algea. “So, you were convicted of this crime but didn’t do it. Your old friend made sure you got life in prison, which I’m starting to think is a worse sentence, and you want revenge?” Seth trailed off.

“I want my old team back and clear my name. They do not deserve the shame and exile because Enyo and I had a disagreement,” Ankmet’s jaw dropped.

“That is putting it lightly, Algea. You and her are like oil and fire at this point. If you two meet, everything gets burned,” Ankmet shook his head. “Whatever happened between the both of you? You have been trying to kill each other since the second civil war.”

“It’s hard to like someone who asked you to commit treason to win a war.” Algea spat. Ankmet looked shocked. Disbelief started to cloud his face as he processed.

“But, the Commander wouldn’t do that,” Ankmet looked torn. “I know she is ruthless, but treason is a big claim. Especially during the Second Civil War. The rules were a little different back then.”

“She wanted me to clear out one of our camps and make it look like the other side did it. Naturally, I refused,” Algea looked hard at Ankmet, daring him to refute her.

“Okay, but if this is all about clearing your name, why do you have a human with you? They are not known to be the strongest,” He looked over at Seth. “No offense, Silas.”

“None taken. I do have to agree with Ankmet here. Why me?” Algea shrugged.

“My mother was the one to choose you. I am just going along with what she wants.”

“Hold on,” Ankmet held his hands up. “This human met your mom, a goddess?” Algea nodded. “Well, we can’t go against a goddess now can we.”

“Definitely not,” Algea shook her head before standing up. “I think that is enough information to tailor your training appropriately now. Come on,” Before either man could argue, Algea had pulled Seth out and was heading back to the training room.

Algea was a ruthless trainer as Seth and Ankmet started slipping on the pools of sweat left unsoaked on the mat. Algea would keep pointing out when Seth’s foot was slightly to the right or when he was holding the knife too high. After several hours of training, Seth’s muscles shake under his weight before giving out.

“Fine, I guess we will take a break,” Seth heaved and puked all over the floor. Algea was immediately over by his side and holding him up. “I may have overdone it.”

“You think!” Ankmet scolded. “Not everyone is like you, and he is human, Algea,” Seth panted as he dry heaved. Algea rubbed his back to try and comfort him. “We haven’t stopped for hours. He needs water and food,” Ankmet got up. “I am going to find a doctor who might understand what he needs. Maybe a freshly dead one.”

Ankmet left the room, leaving Algea to Seth. Her brow was deeply creased as she held him up against her side. His head brushed up against Algea’s shoulder. His deep black hair was flat against his forehead. His eyes were closing, but a jolt would signal his attempt to stay awake. Algea felt how hot he had gotten and rested her hand across his forehead to try and cool him off. Seth’s eyes drifted close as he leaned into the cool touch.

Algea sighed as she watched his breaths even out. As she sat there, she fiddled with the knife she had given Seth. It is a small knife with a wrapped handle that ends in a metal loop. It fit Seth’s hand well, and he had wielded it easily. She had been impressed with how quickly he had picked up using the weapon. Algea had gotten carried away with trying to find his limits.

The door to the training room opened with a loud bang, and a very angry small girl came running in. She shoved Algea away like she was the cause of his ailment. Which, in some aspects, she was. The girl’s thick brown curls were only slightly darker than her skin. She had it tied back in a red bandana. Her outfit was flowy but was cinched around her waist with a fabric belt. She had golden rings and earrings that glittered in the light. The bag she had brought was full of different villas and pieces of paper with medicinal drawings. Algea’s eyes narrowed in recognition, and she tried to pull the woman back but was quickly shrugged off.

“Felize,” Algea growled. “I was not expecting to see you here.” Algea was practically bristling at the other woman’s presence.

“Ah, Algea, I do not have time to catch up. I am too busy cleaning up your mess,” she grinned, showing off two long snake-like fangs. “Again.”

Algea tried to lunge at Felize but was stopped by Ankmet. “Algea, I know you both have history, but she is the only one in my compound with human-based medical knowledge.”

Algea shrugged off Ankmet before crossing her arms and standing off to the side in acceptance.

“Well, lucky it’s only exhaustion, but he needs rest. No training for at least a few days,” Felize turned to Algea. “Understood?” Algea nodded and looked at Seth with concern. Felize sighed. “Look, he is fine, and you probably didn’t push him too hard, but you pushed him too long. Remember that next time.”

Algea nodded and picked Seth up. The walk back to the room was slow. Because of Algea’s height, Seth’s feet would drag against the floor. She kept shifting him around, trying to keep him from getting hurt, but the whole ordeal was awkward.

Once back, Algea noticed he was still wearing the clothes she had given him days ago. She pursed her lips and decided to ask Ankmet for more clothes. She wrote a small note on one of the small slips of paper she found in the kitchen. With that done, Algea went to talk to Ankmet about the next steps and some provisions she would need to pull this off.