"Come on, let's go. I wanna get hooOooOoome." Vanagloria murmured to herself about the group who was walking way too slow.
She had stopped just before the waterfall and was impatiently swaying from side to side. She couuuld go through the waterfall now but she didn't want to go in alone, not when the other teams were probably gonna be there.
But at the same time she also just reeeeally needed to lay down. She was still stressed out about her stupidly ackward interactions with Martyr.
Vanagloria just wanted to get away from him for a second. She needed to vent about this to Blair, but it was gonna be impossible to find a time to do so if they all were living together.
"Okay but if you do teach me about my dark magic, it'll have to be in secret where nobody but us can see." Martyr told Spectre as they watched the figure of Quetzacoatl fly off in the distant sky.
"Martyr, I don't think the public's gonna care. I don't think anyone will think you're gonna turn into the next biggest supervillain." Samsara said with a big smile, mocking his paranoia.
"I am actually with Martyr here." Vulcan interjected after a few minutes of silent thinking.
"What? Why?" Spectre asked, sounding almost offended.
"I think the public would definitely freak out at that knowledge. I saw how they reacted first hand when… Flügel, when he told the world about his powers it was like the whole world started hating him. Back when he was still a good person. I think it would be smart to try and keep it a secret until we have a reason not to." Vulcan explained, leaving the rest of them in a moment of silence.
"Aight but we're gonna have to tell people eventually." Spectre said right before he walked through the waterfall, completely ignoring Vanagloria.
"Oh boy." Vanagloria mumbled as she put her hands over her eyes to cover even a little bit of the water above her.
She came out the other side and immediately saw a huge difference with the cave.
The roundabout was filled with shiny cars, only slightly scratched by the forest. The two other houses were lit up and looked like they were in a complete mess of luggage and garbage.
A group of the light kids were outside with Nova who must've came for a visit. None of the contestants seemed to be paying much attention to her, although now they were all looking over at Vanagloria's group.
Nova turned around as she saw her disciples look past her, she started waving in their direction to get them to come over.
"Is that the new Phobos Times?" Vulcan asked Nova as they walked over.
"Nope, this is the one from last week. The new one was delayed because your team was late." Nova handed him the paper.
As Vanagloria expected, there she was.
Right on the front page.
It was a distant shot picture of her in that same pose she had when she brought down that uncanny amount of lightning from the hole in the colosseum's roof.
Seeing her pose made her cringe. It was super over dramatic, a lot like the lightning she brought down.
"How did they even think that was impressive? Maybe it's just cause of my earth genes."
The title was "The Island's First Earth Hybrid!" with a whole section that looked like it was entirely dedicated to her and Champions day.
At least she was getting a lot of attention. It wasn't the type she really wanted but she could use what she had now and turn it into something better.
"Right… Well, it was Vega's first trail. She's been a champion for only a few months, I think it was too much to ask her to do this." Vulcan said, flipping through the newspaper through some sections talking about the other contestants and the unexpected "disappearance" of Dr. Dread.
"I think you're too harsh. Vega is a very promising leader in my eyes." Nova said, looking down at her fellow champion.
"Wait, you know what happened?" Martyr asked, probably still worried about his dark element.
"Yes, a few of Vega's knights came yesterday to inform us that Martyr and Vega had fought the fire serpent." Nova turned to look at the confused Martyr.
She was so composed and elegant about every movement, it was almost scary. Nova wasn't nearly this calm when Vanagloria first saw her.
She looked extra composed compared to her shithead team behind her.
This whole time they were whispering to each other very obviously. Vanagloria couldn't hear what they were saying, but from the glances they were giving her she could tell they were making fun of her.
"Is it cause I'm from earth? Is it cause my entrance in the colosseum was overdramatic? Can they tell I'm annoyed at them? Is it cause I look poor? Is it cause I'm weird?" Vanagloria thought, trying not to make eye contact with them as much as possible.
"Is Kry here?" Vulcan handed the paper to Blair behind him who fumbled trying to take it from him.
"Yes, she's in the house over there." Nova pointed to the house filled with the water kids running around the inside. "I assume this is about…"
"The Dr. Dread situation."
"Yes. Just make sure…"
"I know, just… let us handle it." Vulcan said back to Nova. He was already on his way to the house.
"Oh no." Vanagloria made eye contact with Martyr who was giving her the same look.
"Vega wasn't supposed to tell us the truth about that." She assumed he was saying back to her.
The only thing is…
Flügel also had something to do with the prophecy. They were gonna confront him someday.
Martyr didn't know about her vision.
None of them did.
If he was starting to act up again, who knew how long it would be until they got involved.
"There's no need to worry about the problems of a team like Divergence. You guys go and rest, you earned it after getting two endorsements." Nova patted Samsara on the back who seemed very flattered that the champion chose her.
"Wait, did anyone else get endorsements? Vanagloria stopped as the rest of her team started making their way over to the house.
"Yes there were three other contestants that got an endorsement. Other than them, you and Martyr are the only two who got one." Nova told her with an encouraging smile.
"Who was it?"
"Heulfryn from my team, a guy from Vega's team whose name i can't remember and a girl from Enyo's team. I think her name was… Calamity?"
Martyr completely froze in his steps, like Nova's words dropped an anchor attached to him.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" He said politely, clearly hiding any emotion that name would have brought out in him.
"Calamity? She got it from showing how capable she was in controlling both of her elements at once. Why do you ask?"
"Oh… it's nothing."
"Bullshit!" Spectre said, looking back at him from the water fountain with his arms crossed.
"Oh?" Nova said, her eyebrows raised.
"Calamity?" Vanagloria hadn't heard that name before, but it was starting to worry her.
Samsara also came back, she had a big grin on her face. "It's a girl Martyr has…"
"OKAY! Let's stop that right there, she's just a close friend. I think we gotta go and train for our next thingo instead." Martyr started to quickly make his way over to the house, skimming his way in between Spectre and a shiny black van.
"Oof!"
Samsara shoved him in the stomach as he passed Spectre. She still had a massive playful grin as she did it.
"Sam I'm gonna kill yo… Eek!"
She immediately sprayed a little bit of water on him like an extra small garden hose, making him jump like a cat.
"Brobrobrobrobrostopstopstopstop!" Martyr yelped as he ran inside, Samsara chasing him with Spectre laughing his ass off as he followed them.
Vanagloria was laughing a little bit at the situation, but it was hard too after seeing how Martyr acted after hearing her name.
"Oh boy." Blair had jumped between two cars, her eyes wide open.
"You okay?" Vanagloria asked Blair as she joined her walking down to the house.
"I'm fine, I just got a little water on me. I didn't think they got that, like… physical with each other. I didn't know they were that close." Blair said as their other teammates ran into the house.
"Yeah… yeah I guess that is weird." Vanagloria had always been a little weird with that kind of stuff. She practically never tried to initiate any sort of hug or playful kind of fight with anyone other than Blair. It just felt… weird.
"I don't know, maybe I'm just not used to it." Blair said, completely reflecting Vanagloria's feelings.
"Yeah, same. I think it's because… y'know, they have family. Martyr was a lot like that when uh…"
Vanagloria had to pause herself.
"Oh shit I can't tell her about that." She thought.
Vanagloria was so used to telling her all about the little things she noticed the guys she liked doing to her. Whether she thought it was a sign or not.
But this was different.
This was something she was trying to get over, not something she was trying to continue.
If she told Blair it would turn the whole situation into a downward spiral of awkwardness that would leave Vanagloria in a team of people that just felt bad for her.
Vanagloria knew as soon as she told Blair, that information was out in the open.
She trusted Blair with everything of course, but she knew Blair couldn't keep a secret and it would end up in Martyr's ear one way or another. No way could Vanagloria live in the same household as a guy that didn't like her back, plus she would know he knew, which would make everything so much worse when they have to talk and they both know…
"Gloria."
"Uh… yeah?"
Blair a the subtlest little smile across her face.
"Shit." Vanagloria thought. "What a bad time to zone out."
"You should finish that thought." Blair said as they got onto the stone pathway to the door, the group of three nowhere to be seen.
Vanagloria was practically holding her breath. She felt extremely uncomfortable right now.
Similarly to how she felt when Martyr had told her he missed her.
It was such a little thing but Vanagloria could barely handle it.
How come she could take out a wyvern, or shock an entire arena, or an endorsement by a stuck up champion, or even try and become the greatest hero ever but she couldn't handle it when a pretty boy showed her the littlest bit of intimacy.
It was so dumb.
But at the same time all of those things had been big risks.
Vanagloria ended up destroying a whole village in the process, but she got the endorsement, plus a baby dragon with it.
She had kind of embarrassed herself in the process of overdramatically bringing down all that lightning in the colosseum, but she got like a ton of requests to be on a champions team.
She had thought Martyr and Vega left her because she was weak, but instead she proved them wrong and survived on her own, in one of the most dangerous places on the islands.
But it had all been dangerous.
It was all one big risk.
Vanagloria could've chosen to take the safer, less exciting route, but she chose to go for glory.
She chose the bigger risk for the higher reward.
She was good enough to meet her goal at the end.
Plus Vanagloria knew she would be great for him.
She should go for him.
"Yeah, I'll finish that thought." Vanagloria said after zoning out once again.
"But just hold on a second. We should go somewhere else for this, because I need to tell you something." Vanagloria tugged Blair's arm away from the living room and towards the downstairs.
"Oh I see." Blair said, following behind her.
"Yeah. We can't have anyone else hear…"
"It's very important."
…
It felt like the whole world stopped as she told Blair, a massive weight being lifted off her chest.
Vanagloria really didn't think she was gonna get this far.
"Oh my god, why did I do that? I really shouldn't go off on a random burst of confidence." She thought as a wave of anxiety hit her, thinking of all the bad things that could happen.
Blair was leaning up against the wall in a way so she could watch over the door in case anyone came into the shooting range room below ground.
Thankfully no one had come down to the giant training room below the houses, but they still had to watch guard just in case.
The shooting range room had no windows to the big room with the basketball court, so hopefully no sound could come out.
'BOOOOM'
Vanagloria shot at the target, completely missing but it didn't matter, she couldn't concentrate on it anyways.
"Yeah I kind of saw that." Blair said with a big smirk.
"What do you mean you saw that?" Vanagloria was pacing around the room, picking at her nails to calm down.
"I mean, I've known you for like 15 years now. I know about every guy you liked and how you acted around them."
"True…"
"…"
"Sooo… can you help me?"
"Yeah of course I can. What's my job, what am I doing?"
"First of all, don't tell anyone."
"Okay."
"I mean it."
"Yeah I know."
"Blair."
"What? I do. It's not like I have… like I don't have many people here I would be able to talk to about this. I feel like I barely know our other teamates."
Vanagloria sighed. "Yeah, that's a big problem for me. I feel like I don't even know Martyr that well."
"Well yeah you've known him for a week. But that's fine, just don't try and rush it. Wait until you're sure."
"But I am sure tho…" Vanagloria walked over to the hallway to make sure the door was still closed, then continued walking.
"But you just said you don't know him that well." Blair chuckled, her arms still comfortably crossed, still calmly leaning up against the wall. Her white hair was draped over her shoulders, so she wouldn't smush and smuther it between her back and the wall.
"Er… I mean I think I do. I don't know, I'm sick of being with people who don't understand me cause of my disability but I don't know… I feel like he gets me, or at least that part of me." Vanagloria knew she sounded a little crazy, but she meant what she said. Ever since she talked with Martyr about her notebooks she was sure that she liked him because of how he acted.
"Are you sure? Cause I don't want the same thing to happen like it did with Mhavrych." Blair was raising an eyebrow.
"Ugh, I don't wanna think about him. Martyr isn't like that at all, I'm sure of it. He doesn't seem like the manipulative type." The mention of her ex's name immediately changed Vanagloria's mood.
Thinking about that guy was probably her least favorite thing in the world.
"Yeah I know, but just make sure you know him fully before you jump into things."
"Well… I don't even know if he will like me back. Especially after I saw him act when that one girl's name was mentioned." Vanagloria's heart dropped remembering that.
"He'll like you back, I'm sure of it. Are you getting any sort of signs from him?"
"…"
She paused for a second and thought about it.
For the most part it just seemed like he wasn't really like, into her, but…
"I could just be overthinking it, but there has been a few times where I thought that." Vanagloria said, trying to leave it a little vague.
"Like what? What happened?" Blair had an excited smile.
"Well… uggggh."
Vanagloria really didn't want to go into detail, it would be kind of embarrassing describing what very well could not be signals.
Blair was still patiently waiting to hear her out.
"Sometimes I get like a look from him that looks… not like, flirty. But he just looks like super happy to see me. He even told me he missed me after I got lost, I got like a big hug and uh... but I kinda screwed up, because… y'know…"
"Your anxiety has been kicking in?" Blair finished her sentence.
"Yeah… especially with him."
Vanagloria hated that she was scared of getting physical with other people but she couldn't get away from it. Sometimes it really felt like the only person that could cross that line was Blair, even if she wanted to get closer to Martyr.
It was the worst thing in the world to want to hug someone, but couldn't because you were scared of getting hurt.
"Well, just… calm down right now. You have known him for two weeks, you don't have to date him right now. Try to be more open to hugs and stuff when they come up, but just calm down and get to know him. Don't worry about this crush so much." Blair peaked around the corner while Vanagloria continued to pace.
"Yeah, I don't always feel that crush when I'm around him, but… it's just hard when he does get more… I don't know, close to me."
Despite the confidence she had gathered up to do this first step of telling Blair, she still couldn't get out that feeling that her relationship with Martyr wasn't gonna work out.
Vanagloria really had never been in a good relationship. Even with her last boyfriend that wasn't even too bad, it still felt bad because it felt like she couldn't hold it together.
"It's fine, if he's gonna date you he's gonna have to get close. Just make sure you tell him your boundaries."
"…"
"You're not gonna have a bad one with Martyr. Just make sure he's good for you. All of those guys were the problem, you weren't the problem. They weren't willing to give you the effort you deserved while taking all of your affection." Blair repeated from the last time they talked about this kind of thing.
"I hope so." Vanagloria said. She wanted to say "but compared to another girl like Calamity…" but she didn't want to argue about it anymore.
"I think what you really need right now is some sleep." Blair said as she got off the wall and put a hand on her back to direct her towards the door.
"Yeah, you're right. thanks by the way."
"Of course. You can always talk to me about this." Blair had a smile as they opened the door to the empty gym. "Come on sexy, let's get you to bed."