The next day, Avol, having already gathered his bags, put them in the trunk of the car before getting inside the passenger side of the care beside his father. Adrian just started the car, a Ford Mustang, and began the drive to their destination. He didn't bother to say anything to Avol, since they had already spoken to each other before their trip. Although, Avol was a bit aggrieved that he had to separate from his newly-made friends, he had already prepared himself for it from the start.
They arrived at a secluded street where Adrian parked his car. He and Avol then stepped out of the car, with Avol going to get his bags and Adrian went to the front door of an unassuming building.
It was opened by a middle-aged man with slightly greying hair. Confirming who was at the door, the man let Adrian in, who also signaled Avol to hurry over with his bags.
Entering the building, Avol was greeted with the sight of an abandoned garage. Coming out of his daze, he noticed his father and the other man walking towards a white door at the end of the room.
When Avol arrived at the door, he noticed that it was actually an elevator in-disguise and he was quite shocked. Seeing this, Adrian just smiled. It reminded him that in the end, Avol was but a child through and through even if he had seen and experienced some things that caused him to mature quickly.
When Avol got in the elevator, the man pressed on the last button which seemed to lead to the lowest floor. Avol, seeing the number of buttons, was once again surprised, wondering how all those floors could exist underground.
When they arrived at the last floor and exited the elevator, they stepped into a large gym where different people were sparring with one another.
Seeing the man step in with unfamiliar people, the gym participants decided to take a timeout. Some stopped to gauge the new faces while others did it out of politeness.
Adrian then spoke.
"Avol, this is Mr. Sebastian Fromel. He is a Master in Mixed Martials Arts, Judo, Karate and Taekwondo. He is also very proficient in both blunt and bladed weapons. He will be in charge of your training for the next five years so be sure to respect and listen attentively to him and learn from him. He has received the right to put you through the wringer throughout the duration of your training. I'll be leaving now since I have a board meeting to prepare for but be sure to call once in a while since your mother will have both our heads if you don't. See you when you get a break or…in the next five years, hehe."
After saying this, Adrian left through the same elevator in which they came.
After Adrian had gone, Sebastian finally spoke for the first time with a slight smile.
" As the boss has already introduced myself, I'll skip the boring stuff and get down to business."
His smile immediately faded and what replaced it was a stern face with cold eyes of a predator and every part of Avol's being screamed to him to neither mess with him nor create trouble as it would lead to something not nice.
Sebastian then spoke.
"During your stay here, you are expected to follow the rules and not cause 'much' trouble for me or others. In this place, everyone respects strength and if you look down on anyone here due to their low societal standing then you will either be punished with extra training or in worst cases you might be asked to live the gym and be blacklisted from it. So please refrain from any and all acts of disrespect if you don't have the strength to back yourself up or if you have no reason to. So, without further ado, welcome to Diabolos Gym. Please come with me as I'll be showing you to your residence since you'll be here for a long time."
Sebastian turned around and began walking away with Avol quickly following right behind him.
After being shown his room, Avol gave a quick 'thank you' to Sebastian before getting in and closing the door behind him. Unknown to him, his little act of gratitude had already raised Sebastian's impression of him quite a bit.
After Avol got changed into his gym clothes, he went to meet Sebastian, as he was the one in charge of his training. When he came to Sebastian, he heard him speak.
"For the first six months, we'll be working to improve your stamina and endurance or in general, your total physical fitness. I've already received a comprehensive report on that from the hidden corps and while impressive, it has not reached the threshold to practice proper martial arts, so we will be working towards that. Now get on the treadmill and maintain a speed of 15km/h and wait for further instructions."
Thus began Avol's five-year training on 'self-defense'.
In another place, one could see a beautiful lady with raven colored hair walking towards the orphanage in Avol's street. This beautiful lady is none other than Annabeth. She was walking towards the orphanage like a normal person which she was not. She was actually on her way to adopt the twins, Gabriella and Isabella, as she had planned to, to train them in another place separate from the Hidden Corps.
When she arrived at the orphanage, she was greeted by the sight of children running around and immediately the matron in charge of the orphanage was informed about the arrival of a guest causing her to quickly rush to welcome the guest.
The matron was a woman who looked to be in her mid-forties with dark brown hair and stood at height of about 5 feet 7 inches. Her name as the children of the orphanage called her is Mama Eva
When she saw Annabeth, she was quite surprised to see a beautiful young lady as most people who came for adoption tend to be married middle-aged couples who had issues bearing children. Still, she invited Annabeth in and served her some tea before they began their discussion.
After taking a sip of the tea she was served as well as complimenting the maker, Annabeth began the discussion by expressing to the matron that she was passing by the park and saw the twins, Gabriella and Isabella, and had taken a liking to then as they reminded her of her mother and aunt, and that she would also like to adopt them.
After a lengthy an in-depth interview (well more like interrogation), she was able to get the patron to let her meet and speak with the twins.
Mama Eva then called them and gave them some time to speak to both of them.
When the girls came in, although they were a bit nervous, they were still able to keep their composure. Annabeth seeing this just nodded her head in appreciation. She then spoke.
"I'll be blunt with both of you. I've been watching both of you since the day the young master met you two up to the point when you separated and even gave him a peck each on his cheeks. After all, I've been assigned as his bodyguard ever since he was two years old. Although he doesn't know this and just thinks of me as someone who mentored him for two years because when I'm on bodyguard duty, I'm always in the shadows." She said the last part with a glare pointed at them.
Hearing this from a stranger caused the girls to get scared but when they heard the last part, they both blushed before Annabeth then continued.
"I have to say that both of you are quite talented. I'd say you girls are almost as talented as Avol and it would be a waste to leave you here to rot away without utilizing your talent. Therefore, I've come with a deal for both of you."
Both sisters looked at each other first before deciding to continue listening to the lady speaking to them. Annabeth spoke up again.
"So, here's the deal. Avol has gone to train combat techniques with a very prominent master and won't be coming back until five years from now, so I came up with a plan to surprise him. The plan is that I'll adopt both of you under the pretext of you being my sisters, but the thing is that I'll train both of you for the next five years to help you catch up to him as much as possible. This will kill two birds with one stone and is a win-win situation for both sides. The first on being that both of you get to reunite and be closer to him after the five years and it will also make him happy seeing his only friends being close by. So, what do ya think?"
Gabriella and Isabella just thought for a moment before facing each other. They quickly came to a tacit agreement before they both agreed with being adopted by Annabeth.
Coming out of the room, Gabriella and Isabella told the matron about their decision to be adopted by Annabeth and she was happy for them and even encouraged them while they were packing their bags. She also gave them well wishes on their way out.
And like this, the fates of the twins intertwined with that of Avol's which will be a major determinant for his progress in the future.