Jace hurried after Ethan, his footsteps echoing down the hall. He could feel the frustration radiating off him, but he had no idea why.
"Ethan!" he called out. "Are you good, man?"
Ethan stopped abruptly, spinning around to face him.
"No, I'm not good!" he snapped, his voice sharp with frustration. "We've been friends for years, and not once have you told me about this!" His fists clenched at his sides, his anger boiling over.
"You know how much I've struggled with only having a single element," he continued, his voice rising. "You had a way to get stronger this whole time, and you never told me. Why?" His voice cracked slightly, raw emotion slipping through. "Did you not already have a big enough advantage over me?"
Jace opened his mouth, then shut it again. He hadn't expected this, hadn't even considered that Ethan would take it this way.
Ethan didn't give him a chance to recover.
"I've been trying to keep up with you for years," he went on, his voice shaking with frustration. "Training every damn day, pushing myself past my limits over and over. And this whole time, you had a secret way of getting stronger?" He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. "And you just decided not to tell me?"
Jace stood frozen, his mind scrambling for something, anything, to say. But Ethan wasn't done.
"Do you have any idea how hard it's been? How much I've struggled? Watching everyone else have more elements, more versatility, while I've had to make do with just lightning?" He took a shaky breath, his expression twisting between anger and something else… hurt.
Jace finally found his voice, though it came out quieter than he intended.
"Ethan… it wasn't about keeping it from you." He took a step forward, his expression troubled. "I just didn't realize it was something worth talking about. It was just… something I did as a kid."
Ethan scoffed, crossing his arms. "Something you did as a kid? That's your excuse?" His voice was sharp, but some of the frustration had died, just slightly.
Jace exhaled, dragging a hand through his hair. "I swear, it wasn't some big secret. I just…" He hesitated, searching for the right words. "I'm… I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to get a leg up on you, or hide it from you. I just assumed you wouldn't want to do it because of the pain." His gaze met Ethan's, regret clear in his eyes. "But I should've given you the choice. I should've told you, Ethan."
The silence between them was tense, neither making a sound.
Ethan's jaw was still tight, his fists still clenched. Jace wasn't sure if he was going to explode again or just leave. But either way he would understand it.
Ethan continued staring at the ground, working through his thoughts, unmoving.
Jace knew better than to push him. He waited, giving Ethan the time he needed to cool down..
Finally, after what felt like forever, Ethan let out a long, slow breath, his body relaxing slightly as his fists unclenched.
"…You should've," he muttered, his voice quieter now. He cracked the stiff joints in his hands, frustration still bubbling just beneath the surface. "You should've told me, man."
Jace let out a small chuckle and nodded. He couldn't argue with that.
Another pause. Then Ethan sighed, shaking his head. "You really thought I wouldn't do it?"
"The pain is hell, man." Jace shook his head slightly, his body tensing at the memories. "I thought I'd be the only one crazy enough to keep putting myself through that."
Ethan snorted. "You should know better than that." He clasped Jace's shoulder with a smirk. "We're all crazy. Besides, I'm the mighty king of the gods, Zeus. You really think I can't handle a little pain?"
Jace smiled as Ethan embraced the nickname he'd earned in the arena. "To be fair, you didn't have that nickname until just recently."
"Maybe." Ethan shrugged. "But we both know I've always been the god of lightning." He smirked as he started walking back toward the strategy room.
Jace couldn't help but laugh as he followed. "That's true. I've never seen anyone match your skill with lightning." His laugh faded slightly before he continued. "We're good, yeah?"
Ethan paused. "I'm still pissed. But…" He turned back to face Jace, raising his fist. "Yeah, we're good."
"Nice." Jace bumped his fist against Ethan's, and together, they continued back.
They reentered the strategy room to a mix of reactions.
Selene, Orion, Elias, and Felix all wore concerned expressions.
Lucian and Astra, however, simply smiled—having a feeling they knew exactly what had happened.
And then there was Aurora and Lyra, completely immersed in strategy, flipping through the tablets and mapping out different plans for the next contest.
"Ethan's right." Jace thought to himself. "We are all a little crazy."
He couldn't resist the smile slipping onto his face.
As kids, it had always been just him and Ethan, the only ones who truly cared about training their abilities. They had always been the outliers, the anomaly.
But here?
Here, they were the norm.