"Oh. Hey, Midas." I glance at Nico, then back to who I now know is Midas. My eyes flick over him as I try to size him up a little. "We're just getting some training in. What's up? You need us for something?"
Midas stops at the edge of the mat we were on and crosses his arms. "Nah." He shakes his head. "I'm just bored. Aster sent half of us out to do some Reaping so the souls wouldn't start piling up and told the rest of us to hang around in case he needed us."
That's funny he mentioned that, because one of the things floating through my worry riddled mind while the meeting was going on, was wondering what was happening to all the souls if we were all sitting around talking. I mean I know what was happening was important, but so was our work. We are literally essential to the flow of death for the lives on this world.
"If we're training I want in. I haven't had any good fights in a while. What do you say, you up for it, kiddo?" My eye twitches a little when he looks at me and calls me kiddo, but I try not to let it bother me too much.
"Why not. I'm always up for learning something new." I say, shrugging.
"Excellent! Keep me entertained at least." God, he sounds like a cocky anime villain or something. I was learning more and more, a lot of these guys were very… eccentric, to say the least.
Although, I had to say, when Midas dropped his bathrobe, I had to give it to him, he had good reason to be cocky.
Dude was ripped and covered in extremely intricate Japanese styled tattoos. He held his arms out wide, like he was letting me admire him, and I chuckled a little. He really was very cocky.
I take a deep breath and try to remember what Nico had just told me. When you're fighting someone who is stronger than you, you have to think outside the box.
What did that mean for me and this guy? Immediately I look to his legs, but that's no good. They're just as ripped as the rest of him. He's got a wide stance, making knocking him down a poor option.
"You waiting for me? Fine. I can take a hint." He suddenly says and quickly starts closing the distance between us.
"Oh shit." I gasp as I barely manage to duck his way faster than anticipated fist to the face. Damn, he was quick too. You'd think being bigger would slow him down, but of course not.
That'd make this almost a fair fight.
Still, I manage to swing my fist into his side. He grunts a little but cracks his elbow across my jaw in retaliation.
"Tch." I hiss in pain and stumble back, grabbing my jaw and clicking it back into place.
"Well, Midas clearly won round one." I hear Nico saying from where he watches. Midas grins in response, backing up a little.
"Round two then." I say, putting my fists up again.
"Heeey, Banks told me you were a fun guy. Glad you're living up to your image!" He says, suddenly charging me again.
This time, he's the one going for my legs, wrapping his arms around them and tackling me to the ground. As we fall, I manage to use the momentum and roll us again, flipping him over me. I send my heel crashing down into his nose and quickly roll away and hop up.
Midas lets out a hearty laugh, rolling over and spitting up a mouthful of blood.
"Excellent! Show me more!" He taunts. He seemed a bit… over the top? Dramatic. Which wasn't unusual, given the Reapers I'd met so far.
I pause when I hear the training room doors opening again. This time it's Aster coming through, and he looks less than pleased.
"What's going on?" Nico asks, sensing his obvious irritation as well.
"She's gone." He growls once he's stopped in front of us.
"Who? Jazzy?" I say quickly, stepping forward.
"No. The other one. Tabitha. No one had been to check on her for hours, and when I finally went, she was gone. We have no idea how long she's been gone, if she left on her own or with someone, and how she or they even got out."
Fuck. This just got a whole lot more complicated.