"We've arrived!"
I slowly opened my eyes, coming to as I'd just heard Apollo's voice upon waking up. I happened to look around to see a place that I could only dream of. There were buildings and castles that reached the sky, plush fields of grass that smelled like morning dew and plenty of people that you wouldn't normally see. It was breathtaking.
"So what exactly do you call this place, Apollo?"
"This is Fortitudo!"
Both Oliva and I were amazed that such a beautiful place like this even exists, it was almost hard to look at without tearing up. It seemed like just being in such a place made us happy without reason and we were okay with that.
"It's beautiful."
"Why yes, it is young Amelia. Such a place was created by the gods themselves so it would only be sensible to be this breathtaking."
Olivia was being amazed by the sheer amount of beauty that was here.
"So exactly how big is this place?"
"Well, Olivia. We've been steadily adding sections continuously, but last of my remembrance settles at a size where we could possibly fill this space with two million copies of your Earth."
"Wow, you guys really are amazing!"
Olivia was like an impressionable child, nothing of this nature got by her and I found it adorable so I tried not to pay it too much of mind. Only then had I realized that I was asleep for three months, I was rather hungrier than normal and surprised that I didn't die of starvation."
Before I could ask any questions about food, a rather beautiful lady ran over in our direction before stopping in front of us, she was stunning to look at but hard to turn away from. Apollo greeted the exhausted maiden and introduced both Olivia and me.
"Oh hello Death, this is Amelia Clementine and Olivia Charlotte, the two mortals I spoke to you about."
I could tell she was severely tired from that run, I could hear the hoarseness in her voice.
"Apollo! You can't just bring mortals to Fortitudo when you feel like it. This is a place for divinities and you didn't consult the council at first."
"I'm sure they won't mind."
"They very much mind, considering you do it frequently."
"Oh dear Death, you worry too much."
He patted her shoulders
"They've come to learn the ways of Divine combat."
I butted into the conversation without asking.
"Death?"
"Well you see, that's actually my name. I'm what you mortals would call death personified if you will, I govern overall death and am linked to all things relating to the matter. If I were to die then death would no longer be since I am death and death is I."
"That's pretty cool, dark and depressing, but cool."
With a smile on my face, I held out my hand, wanting to shake her's while she looked down at my arm, confused."
"What are you doing?"
"This is how humans greet each other, do Gods not shake hands?"
Her face was that of a steadfast one
"I think it's best if we shake hands when you're able to overcome death, a simple graze of my skin and you could be instantly killed"
I quickly snatched back my arm, a little surprised but understanding since her name WAS death.
"I'll, uh, keep that in mind. So Apollo, when exactly are you going to begin teaching us about 'Divine Combat'."
Apollo looked over at Olivia and me, seemingly surprised that I wanted to jump straight into it
"We will be training you two at-."
Death had cut him off, mid-sentence.
"Um, we?"
He ignored her and continued on with what he was saying.
"Yes, both Death and I will be training you in Life's Heavenly Field. While I take Death and we have a little chat about teaching the two of you with the council, you both can walk there. Don't be alarmed if a few of my fellow deities look strangely upon you, it's just their way of saying hello."
He unironically said all of that with a smile which sort of gave me chills considering the first woman I meet is extremely grim, being death incarnate. Apollo hurried in the other direction while pushing Death along with him. I looked over at Olivia, still being amazed at Fortitudo, not even hearing the entire conversation that just happened.
"Come on Olivia, we have to go."
"To where exactly."
"SHIT! I FORGOT TO ASK APOLLO HOW TO GET TO LIFE'S HEAVENLY FIELD!"
Covering my face in embarrassment, I was supposed to be a leader, but I was already making mistakes and Olivia nudged my arm a bit, trying to encourage me.
"Calm down, maybe we can ask around."
The two of us started to walk around, passing by large buildings, castles, rivers, and bridges, until I accidentally bumped into a robed man who had a gingery beard and was rather fit.
"Oh excuse me young one."
"Oh no, it's okay, I should've watched where I was going. You wouldn't happen to know where Life's Heavenly Field is would you, sir?
"Well Life is a tree, but her field is just a few meters in that direction."
The fit gingery man pointed to a stone road that stretched for a few miles but didn't seem like much of a distance and so Olivia and I began our stroll.
[10 Minutes Later]
I could hear the hoarseness in her talking and how hard she was breathing behind me, Olivia was exhausted.
"Have we...made it yet?"
"Yeah, It seems like it."
[In front of the two girls rested a gargantuan field of grass that seemingly was as large as twenty football fields and in the center stood Apollo and Death. The two deities waved at the girls, greeting them and signaling the two to come over.]
"I think I see Death and Apollo."
"Yeah, me too."
Tired from a rather long walk, both Oliva and I walked over to them ready to begin our training.
"We're ready to start Apollo!"
"Yeah!"
Apollo looked at both of us with a smile
"Start? Oh, we shall begin your training tomorrow."
I was confused and bummed out at the same time, he built up all of this excitement just to crush my expectations.
"Why tomorrow?"
"Think of it as part of your training, Gods are one with nature so for this exercise we'll have you two sleep here in this field, in nature."
"Can we at least eat first?"
"Tomorrow."
"Somehow I feel like you made this up so you wouldn't have to start teaching early..."
He nodded so I assumed what I said was right, however, I and Olivia did as our newfound teacher asked of us and went to sleep that day. Weirdly enough, we slept on the grass, but it didn't have any bugs and it didn't make us itch, it actually felt kind of like a pillow rather than real grass. As I rested down on the plush surface it wasn't before long until my eyes slowly shut and my mind drifted off into my imagination.
[The Next Morning]
I slowly opened my eyes, rubbing them to get the eye boogers out, realizing Olivia had just woken up at the same time as me. We both stood up, stretching and letting out a yawn, ready to begin our training and there Apollo was, watching us, waiting.
"Okay, no more fooling around, we want to get started Apollo."
"Yeah!"
Olivia backed me up on it since he'd promised to begin once we woke up.
"Very well, although aren't the two of you hungry? I remember you asking me about such a topic earlier."
He wasn't wrong, I WAS a little hungry and hadn't eaten in about three months. How I didn't die, I had no idea, but I was ready to eat."
"Okay, maybe we can eat first then train afterward."
"Luckily while you were sleeping I brought, for each of you, Life's fruit."
"Life's Fruit?"
"Yes, Life's Fruit. Ingesting this will allow for the training of you two to be much more durable for your current frail bodies."
I had never heard of anything called "Life's Fruit" and it had a weird shape as well. As he handed each of us one, I could feel it's texture. It was soft and plump, but firm. The fruit was a white-colored sphere the size of my fist and it felt more like a rubber ball than anything. I looked over at Olivia who had already begun taking bites out of it without question and so I did the same. As I dug my teeth into the plush flesh of the fruit I tasted a familiar taste, it was cinnamon. The fruit tasted like fresh, warm cinnamon rolls right out of the oven and after taking one bite I couldn't stop until I had eaten it all.
"Apollo you didn't mention they tasted like cinnamon rolls."
"Oh they don't, Life's fruit takes upon the flavor of what your tastebuds desire most in order to encourage consumption."
"That would make more sense. So Olivia, what did your's taste like?"
Looking back over at me, she had just finished her fruit, despite starting before me. She talked while her mouth was full as well.
"Ish tashte like phomagrantfe." (It tastes like Pomagrante.)"
"So you're favorite food is actually a fruit then? I have to say, I'm not surprised."
She nodded in agreement with me, finally swallowing the last of the mysterious food.
"Okay time to start-"
Within seconds of me swallowing the fruit, I felt a tingling sensation overtake my body for a few seconds in waves, it was as if a chill ran up my spine except it was my entire body.
"Apollo, what was that?"
"Oh, the fruit is beginning to take its effect."
"Take effect?"
"After eating Life's Fruit, it will begin to merge your body's organs and normal functions. Those who ingest Life's fruit are granted enhanced biological abilities such as an increased healing ability. There are quite a few but the most important is divine protection."
"What exactly would Divine Protection be?"
"Divine protection is the fruit's way of protecting it's eater's body, mind, and soul from external forces, not allowing for alteration and forming a discarnate barrier around them. Is that easier to understand miss Amelia?"
"I guess so, now, can we begin?"
"I feel that the answer is up to you, young ones. This lesson will not be an easy one to learn, there are no shortcuts to the end result and you must be willing to put time and energy into what you wish to achieve. If you truly wish to stop The Consortium you must tackle this matter full-heartedly. With that being said, are you truly prepared to begin?"