"What's the point in me having to learn powerful fire magic," I asked Aria, a little annoyed. "I have a Sin y'know!"
"That may be true, but that sword man of yours may not always be around," Aria said. "It's best to learn how to protect yourself in case of a dire situation like that."
"Ok, that makes sense. However, I still have one question: Why the hell are we sitting in a sauna?!"
A few moments ago, Aria told me that my fire magic was incredibly weak. She told Leonna, however, that she couldn't even measure how powerful her light magic was. That meant that the only weakling she was talking to was me.
Aria, then, immediately took me to a room, which was the sauna, next to the large training room and forced me to strip into nothing but a towel covering around my waist. She also stripped into nothing but a towel around her waist, even though what she was wearing didn't exactly count as clothes, and thus began another quirky situation.
"This is training for how long your body can endure the raw heat of pure fire," Aria said. "If you can go up to five straight hours and still maintain focus, then this section of your training will be complete."
FIVE STRAIGHT HOURS?!?!?! I think this woman is trying to kill me!
Five hours is one thing, but how the hell am I supposed to focus when there's a fully grown woman sitting right across from me wearing nothing but a towel around her waist?! Is this also part of the training?! I mean, who the hell just leaves themselves exposed like this?!
"Um...can't I just do this by myself?" I asked.
"Hell no," Aria said shaking her head. "Overheating yourself can cause you to have a heatstroke and we don't need someone with as much potential as you dying on us because he got too cocky in training. It would be both a huge letdown and just completely embarrassing."
That's what's embarrassing to you?
I sank down on the bench that I was sitting on and just completely looked away from Aria. I decided to just ignore her exposure and see how long I can last for today.
"I don't really care about being exposed." Aria suddenly said.
I looked back at her. She was looking up at the ceiling with a faint smile.
"I used to be embarrassed over my skirt being blown up by the wind, but I decided to be a little for loose about the way I was. I didn't want to play the scared little girl who waited for some guy to strike me with a kabedono. Of course, most of the other girls considered me a freak, so all of my friends ended up being guys. They were great friends, but getting called a freak by your old ones...that can really sting..."
I noticed a small drop of water begin to stream down from her eye. It could've just been sweat, but I knew better than that. I walked over and sat next to her. This was a bit of a bold move on my part, but I gently patted her head as a way of trying to comfort her.
"It's best to be who you want to be, even when everyone else won't support you. Some will even be against it. You should always stay true to yourself and do what makes you happy. If your own friends call you a freak over that, then they clearly aren't your friends. The people who support your way of living are your true friends...and I hope that you can accept me as one of them."
"..."
Aria didn't say anything at first. She just kept her face looking up with the same faint smile on her face while I kept patting her head.
Then, after what felt like a good five minutes, she rested her head on my shoulders. I, instinctively, pulled my hand back, but she grabbed a hold of it and placed it back on her head.
"Please keep doing this," Aria said with a bigger smile. "I haven't felt this feeling in a while..."
She nuzzled her head as much as she could into my hand. I guess a headpat really is the greatest thing in the world.
"Heh...look at me," Aria said. "I said that I didn't want to rely on a man, yet here I am leaning on one while wanting him to pet my head more. God I'm so pitiful."
"There's nothing wrong with leaning on a friend every once and a while," I said. "Sometimes we just need someone to lean on. Someone who'll spoil us a little until we fall asleep. Someone who cares so much about us, that they would always stay with us no matter what."
I didn't even think I was talking just to Aria anymore. I felt like I was talking to myself. I've always been alone back in Japan. Nobody wanted to be my friend. My parents were always shoving studies into my face while they went to do their own thing. Karen pretended to actually love me, only for me to find out that she only wanted my money.
It wasn't until a couple of years ago where I felt like I finally found my place. I met Xylvia there and we both fell in love. Leonna helped me get Xylvia back and ended up falling in love with me on the process. I also met Shana, who was a bit mysterious to me. Then came Dusk, the injured dragonman who carried her family with her across the country while looking for help. She's the most composed out of any of us, so we all looked up to her spirit. Next was Ray, the elf doctor. He seemed cool and collected at first, but deep down he was suffering so much after what had happened to his girlfriend. I hope him and Dusk, along with Dusk's family, are doing ok in the underworld. We'll meet up with them soon.
Then there was Gleam. The goddess that gave me this miraculous chance at happiness. While I did have that happiness, it was all taken away because of her own cruel desires.
Then again, how would I act if a god killed Xylvia right in front of me? Knowing what kind of person I am, I probably would've ended up doing the same thing.
"Hey, I think the heat is starting to get to me," I said to Aria. "I think I should call it for today."
My vision was getting a little hazy, so I decided to stop right here.
"You've lasted for 25 minutes," Aria said. "Not great, but not bad either."
Looks like I still got a long way to go.
10 Minutes Later
Aria still wanted to be spoiled a little more, so we both went to the lounging room. She rested her head on my lap and placed my hand on her head. I gently caressed her head as I watched her fall sound asleep. Even though she was asleep, I still couldn't stop petting her head.
I suddenly noticed someone out of the corner of my eye. I turned t see that it wad that Yuno girl.
She stared at me as if she was trying to figure something out.
"Aria had to get a lot off her chest," I said, assuming that she was worried about her. "I'm just spoiling her for a bit."
Yuno just rolled her eyes and walked off, but before she left completely...
"I wasn't worried about her or anything," she said. "She's the strongest out of all of us. There's no way that she'd lose to her past like that."
She then walked away from plain sight.
"You weren't worried about her eh?" I said to myself with a small grin.
I guess making friends with everyone won't be as hard as I thought it would be.