Bab 23: 23. Goldfish.

"Now bend backwards. Your hands glued to your side. Make sure only your spine arcs and not your neck. Your arms by your side I said."

Yes, there training have began. Right now she's practicing the swan spine. Which she swore was just yoga in disguise. She've been here for forty minutes but she felt as if it's been hours already.

'You can do it,' she talked herself into it. If she wanted to help herself then she need to endure this. Yesterday when she was basking in the sun, she had touched a blue flower by the windows and to her luck and surprise nothing happened to it. She was more than happy about that. She is getting better. And that is why no matter how painful this postion might be, she'll endure it until her spine becomes like that of a swan. She arced her spine till it felt as if it'll break but the woman wasn't satisfied yet.

"Adequate. Now slowly exhale, relaxing and opening your pores. You'll feel your core situated in your stomach stretched, right."

Que nodded stiffly.

"Good, now closing your eyes, i want you to imagine being immersed into a sea of darkness. On all sides, dark energy flows with strong violent waves. I want you to inhale slowly, imagining absorbing that darkness into your core.

Now imagine trapping that darkness inside your core. Hold in your breath for 30 seconds. Now return to the sitting position slowly. Good. Relax and exhale slowly." Que did as instructed, sweat dripping down her back.

"Adequate. You can open your eyes. This is the basic of core formation. The swan spine. By redirecting the dark energy inside you, you'll begin the process of core fornation and have more stability and control and harness your power." Que nodded again, fatique washing over her.

"You looked drained. Take a break and rest, practice the steps today on your own. It'll fasten the development speed. Remember, the more energy you absorbed, the more control you have over it."

"Understood. Thank you." She bowed and left the sunroom, returning back to her room. She was up since dawn today for her karate practice with Chris. He had kept his promise and was waiting for her in the gym by the time she arrived.

It was empty as when she first came yesterday, and after some instructions, they started with some major kihos. They weren't hard and didn't require much body strength, but as it needs to repeated until it becomes second nature to you, it turns out to be hard. Karate are moves based on reflexes which you need to execute without much thought when the need arise and that is what makes it particularly hard.

She'd used the whole morning practicing untill her muscles turned still, then rushed back to her room and had barely had breakfast when she was summoned to the sunroom for the core formation training.

Que dragged her legs back to her room. She can already see herself having a nice warm shower and coiling up in bed for some good rest. She prepared a warm bath and soaked for 10 minutes, all struggling to keep her eyes open and not to fall asleep. Wrapping the only short towel she'd brought in she got out of the shower and trudged to the room, beelining straight to bed. Cothes can wait, but sleep couldn't.

"Good, you are out. Get dressed." Que paused in her tracks at the sound of the voice, his voice. That was when she noticed the other figure in the room. A large figure cladded in a black tailored suit was occupying her bed. Her head must've been muddled to have missed his person and her heart beat sped up, her hands moving to the towel barely covering her butt.

Zeus laid across her bed swinging his legs, his face turned towards her when he heard movement within the room. He gaze lingering at her legs more than necessary and she became aware of the lack of clothing on her. She really wanted to turn around and hid in the bathroom but her legs refused to cooperate, standing still in one spot. He nodded towards a pile of white clothes on the couch.

"Pardon?" She sqeaked, her voice shaky. She stopped herself from wrinkling her fingers. She was nervous.

"If you prefer going out like this, you are welcome. Saves me time."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll found out soon." He got up adjusting his red tie. His skin have regained back it's color and he was looking healthy.

"But..But I..."

"Get dressed. We are leaving now. No buts."

Que paused, not knowing if she heard right. She is tired, too tired she can fall asleep while standing. She groaned, picking up the clothes and hastily wore them, afraid of angering him. She do not want to be the next unfortunate object that'll face his wrath.

Why is she dressing in white? She wondered taking in the white dress she is wearing. Are they returning to the office? Its after eleven in the morning, aren't they a bit late? She put her hair up and returned to the room. He was standing in front of a path created by a yellow flame in the air. Noticing her behind, he walked into it and braced herself running after him. She hope she doesn't fall.

They stepped out of a similar door created in a garage with some men in black waiting for them. They stood in front of several black cars in the garage and bowed at their sight, Zed standing in front of them.

Sitting on the soft expensive leather seats of the car, Que fought the strong desire to just close her eyes and dove into the lulu land. Zed sat facing Zeus to her side immersed in a serious discussion. She wondered which business he was conducting this time and whether they were meeting a demon client. Just how many demons are there in this city camouflaged as humans.

Ignorance is sometimes a bliss.

No longer able to stay awake, she soon dozed off slinged to the side. Yesterday she was feeling light, content and free, but her mood seemed to have soured today. It was as if the dark energy she had absorbed had darkened her mood making her fatigue and gloomy. Zed stole a glance at her and when he was sure she is asleep he spoke.

"About the other night, we traced the gremlins back to the locations they first appeared. The trail disappeared without a trace."

"I'd be surprised if you found them. That's always been Hanoon's style."

"He's gotten stronger, built an even greater army. I wonder what he is using this time to command such number of hounds."

"They are a different breed. Stronger and resilient."

"Should we train her on how to harness the darkling? In case when the need arises."

"No. It's too dangerous."

"Last time you almost..."

"Enough Zed, I don't want to hear anything about that."

"Yes, forgive me my lord."

"Focus on Hanoon and his whereabouts. Have them report the slightest abnormalities."

"Yes my lord."

They lapsed into silence, each to his own thought. Que stretched and turned searching for a better position to rest her body. Her head lolled to the side until it was resting on Zeus's shoulders. When the car came to a hault in front of a restaurant, he got out of his seat jolting her awake when her head met with air. Zed snickered and got out of the car leaving her wondering what had just transpared.

They entered the expensive looking restaurant and she realized she was hungry. All the training with Elder Talia had consumed the food she'd eaten for breakfast. Zeus turned to her and whispered in her ear before disappearing along with the rest of his men. She was too busy try control her breathing and his words only registered in her brain when he was gone.

He'd asked her to wait for him down here, and that a waiter would take her to a private room. She rubbed her stomach looking around. The sky was dark with few lightning unlike when she was back in the sunroom. She must've slept for long. The restaurant was grand and she waited patiently by the portrait hanged on the wall, pretending to have found something interesting in the woman holding a flower and wailing into the empty stretched field in her front.

She glance at her wristwatch ever so often wondering if the waiter haf failed to identify her, after all she looked plain in the white dress although she had no idea how much it cost. A goldfish in a small aquarium caught her eyes and she walked towards it. It bright orange color glowed from the angle it reflected light.

"Beautiful." She whispered, placing her hands on the glass. It swam towards her when it caught her shadow and flapped it's tail. She love animals, they are cute. The glass was cold against her palms and gave out a soothing effect to her gloomy mood. Inhaling, she closed her eyes and exhaled feeling the coldness sipping through her. When she opened her eyes, the poor fish was laying at the bottom unmoving.

Que yanked her hands and moved back, changing positions. She prayed no one had seen her just now.

She had just murdered a fish.