Kasey picked out a more comfortable outfit amongst the clothes Shobek ordered for her online through Belasco's account. Taking the outfit to the bathroom, Kasey quickly got in and washed from the day's grueling work. Her mind drifted to the time she let herself fall into her pit of depression, her body slowly growing limp as she stood under the water. No, not again...
Kasey shook her head and continued to wash the shampoo out of her hair. After she was done she got out, dried off, and slipped into her underwear and the black sweatpants and lavender shirt she picked out. Quickly tying her hair back into a sloppy bun she headed back downstairs, patting Ananta on the head as she headed back outside. The two had stopped arguing by this time but a tense silence remained between the two.
"How's the food coming?" Kasey slowly asked, hoping to NOT cause another fight.
"Almost done," Shobek responded.
Belasco mockingly mouthed what Shobek said.
"I saw that," Shobek noted, his back still turned to the table Belasco was sitting at.
Belasco rolled his eyes and sassily mouthed Shobeks words again.
"You're such a child..." Shobek mumbled.
Belasco puffed his cheeks and crossed his arms, refusing to look at Shobek.
"Yeah...You kinda are..." Kasey reinforced Shobeks comment, Belasco looking at her with a look of betrayal and a gaping mouth. Kasey shrugged and sat on the other side of the table from him.
"Ya both are so cruel..." Belasco complained, laying his head down on the table.
"Foods ready." Shobek set the food on the table, a plate of ribs and a steak being the main course. Afterward, Shobek went into the house and brought out a bowl of salad and a watermelon that had yet to be cut.
"Silverware?" Kasey asked after Shobek set the other stuff down.
"Oh, right." Shobek headed back into the house and came back with two plates and two sets of cutlery. "here you go!" One plate and set of cutlery went in front of Kasey, the other in front of himself.
"What about Belasco's?" Kasey slowly asked while she sat patiently.
"Yeah! What about mine you dickhead!!" Belasco shouted sitting up.
"Who?" Shobek asked, completely ignoring Belasco as he sat down beside Kasey.
"Belasco's plate and silverware..." Kasey again asked.
"I don't know anyone by that name, sorry, dear," Shobek responded sweetly as he pulled a steak onto his plate.
Belasco shouted, throwing a tantrum, "Me!! She's talking about me you dick hole!! Me!! why are ya so meeannn!!"
Kasey watched the two as Shobek continued to act oblivious to Belasco's presence. Finally, she sighed and rolled her eyes, and collected some ribs, half a steak, and a small serving of the salad. "Sorry, I tried."
Belasco looked at Kasey and whined, acting like a wounded dog as he slowly got up to get his own tableware.
Kasey slowly ate one of her ribs, "you could be nicer."
Shobek smiled, "I could be. But where's the fun in that?"
Kasey smirked as she ate her food.
The next morning, everything was going as it usually did until Belasco announced that combat training was going to start right after meditation. And that they weren't going to be in the backyard, but in a field that was through the woods behind his house.
"If this is about yesterday at dinner, I did try..." Kasey said as she carefully walked behind Belasco through the woods.
"No, no. I told ya we'd be raising the difficulting, and frankly, I wanna be able to have a home to come back to. That's all." Belasco said, ducking under a branch as he continued along the trail.
"Okay...what kind of training are we going to do now?" Kasey cautiously peered around the woods, frowning at the spooky ambiance.
"Probably defense." Belasco finally stepped out into a small clearing and looked back at Kasey as she followed foot.
"Why defense?" Kasey asked as he walked through the clearing.
"'Cause I doubt you'll be able to do anythin else," Belasco responded, leading her back into the trees.
Kasey didn't respond and quietly continued to follow his lead. Eventually, they reached the tree line, a neighborhood sat just beyond the trees.
"Whatever you do, don't talk to anybody or touch anybody..." Belasco softly said, gently grabbing her elbow as he lead her through an alleyway. A sad look came into Belascos eyes as he avoided looking at the houses. But Kasey's curiosity won her over as she look at what she thought were houses, but soon realized they were just shaped that way. The wall facing the street was pure glass and she could see a dark figure arguing with the air. Kasey stopped in the middle of the street. The houses were on each side of the street, and the street went on forever.
"What....what is happening?" Kasey shakily asked, her mind already concluding.
"It's the souls of the dead... replaying scenes of their lives..." Belasco softly said, sorrow coating his words. "I'm also known as the lord of the lost. These souls will never be free. Not one person has managed to break their cycle since eons ago... These are my people. But yet...I can't help them."
Kasey fell quiet, letting Belasco continue leading her to the other side of the street and through another alley. All the way until they reach what looked like it could've been a farming field. But nothing grew. It was now just dried soil. "what happened here..?"
Belasco sadly smiled, "I tried to save my people, give them new identities, and give them something to do. But... they couldn't manage the shock of death. And after coming to, they remembered each time they replayed their life. So they went insane and killed each other off. So, now this farmland is just a small desert."
Kasey went quiet again, no wonder he's a recluse. Everything he tried to do was demolished. All because he wanted to help his people...
Belasco shook himself off and headed to the center of the field. "I am going to battle with wooden swords but I will be using my illusion magic. And even though I refrained from hurting you in the past and slowed my movements down, I now want you to try and beat my speed and continue to block my attacks."
"Isn't it unfair for you to use swords then?? I don't use weapons!" Kasey exclaimed.
"Sometimes ya won't have a weapon to use. This is why ya need to learn to dodge attacks. We'll go through different types of weapons until ya can dodge everythin. I want ya to use that demon eye ya have to see my movements. So focus and channel your magic into it." Belasco's hands glowed white for a brief second and two wooden swords appeared out of the light. His clothes faded from gym clothes to a black uniform with the top half looking like it would be from a school uniform while the pants were tight before they became baggier until they were covered with shin-high black boots. Slowly a white Haori with pale yellow swirls slid over his form. His Iris's became white and the pupil became a slit like a cat. "Ready?"
"Cool..." Kasey mumbled, inspecting his outfit against her plain black gym pants and pastel green shirt. "A little unfair.
Belasco laughed before his face became very serious, his voice dropping an octave as he announced, "go."
Kasey couldn't see him, he disappeared in front of her. She spun around, her eyes looking everywhere, but she didn't find his location until she felt a wooden sword hit her shoulder. Her body went flying as she fell to the ground and rolled. She coughed and wheezed in shock as she slowly pushed her body up, her head swirling around in a panic. Then he hit her back. She fell back face-first into the dirt.
"Again!" He called, stepping back a few feet as he took another battle stance.
Kasey slowly got up, spitting out some dirt as she glared up at Belasco. This suddenly got a lot harder...
Another defeat and Belasco moved away from Kasey, yelling "again" at her.
First day of the new training and all that happened was Kasey eating dirt.
Belasco finally called it quits when the sun was starting to set. His look went back to normal as he offered to help Kasey stand.
Kasey slapped his hand away and stood up by herself, biting her tongue to keep from crying in pain as Belasco started to lead her back to the house. They said nothing as they walked through the woods and back to the house, Shobek was pacing outside in the backyard and looked relieved that they made it home. Until he realized how battered Kasey was.
"What the hell is this?" Shobek shouted, rushing over to Kasey as he looked over all her scratches and torn skin. "Belasco!! You promised not to overdo it!!"
Belasco frowned, "She's alive, isn't she? No broken bones, no missin limbs. I think I held back."
Shobek growled and grabbed Belasco by the chin and forced him to look at Kasey who had many bloody injuries and bruises. "Does this look 'okay' to you?? What'd you do?? Beat her half to death?!?"
Belasco pulled away and frowned, "She's ain't dead so why are ya complainin?? If I keep takin it easy, how will she learn?? Her enemies won't go easy on her!"
Kasey softly whispered, "it's fine. I just wasn't quick enough. I'm going to shower..."
Both men watched Kasey walk inside, a slight limp visible to both.
Shobek growled angrily, "give me a good reason not to kill you."
Belasco hesitated, "because killing me will require you to use some magic and then THEY will come and kill you both?"
Shobek huffed and stalked off, "fine."
Belasco let a breath of relief out after the dragon went inside and shivered, "scary... Maybe I should let Kasey take a day.....I was a little harsh this time around..."