“Why would they refuse our request?” I growl watching the girl cross over to the rest of the group. She’s more beautiful than any other girl here. Even Goddesses would have trouble measuring up to her. I’ve heard of humans being that beautiful, but never seen one. Certainly not one that is naturally that alluring. “Are we sure she’s really human?” I ask my brothers.
Seth shakes his head but Kier nods. “I’m certain. We’d have heard of a Goddess going missing, there are so few of us that it would be a huge deal if one vanished.”
“So do we leave it to chance, put our names in the pool and hope she gets assigned to one of us, or do we pull rank and force their hands?” Seth asks.
“I think we should leave it; she hasn’t even begun training yet, she might not even make it to the selection process.” I would like to have her as my human representative but there’s something about her that leaves me wondering if she’ll surprise us all and survive.
I can normally pick the ones who won’t make it fairly easily, they’re the ones who cower at the sight of the Gods. I’ve predicted them all down to the day they’re sent packing, buther, I’m not sure about. Then again, she might end up being something none of us could predict. It’s going to be fun finding out though.
With a fake yawn, I say, “I’m bored, let’s go see if Junior is interested in sparring with us.” Junior is the only instructor at this place we like, he’s not as uptight as the other instructors, probably because he’s only two years older than us, so he still remembers what it was like to be a young God. The rest of them are centuries old, far too old to remember what it was like to not have powers yet.
I can’t wait to ascend and come into my full powers, I’m sure I’ll end up with one of the elements my father is renowned for. After all, the three of us are the sons of Typhon. One of the original Gods, whose power rivals even that of Zeus. Of course, we might take after our mother, Hera. It’s highly unlikely though, most males inherit their powers from their fathers and the females inherit their mother’s.
What the humans don’t know is that our powers don’t emerge until our eighteenth year. At some point in our eighteenth year, our bodies go into a slumber of sorts, that’s when our powers activate and we become full Gods. It’s why we bring humans into our lives in their seventeenth year. They will be taught how to take care of us when we go into our slumber, but it’s not just about caring for us, it’s also a trust issue. If we can’t trust the human, then we can’t be that vulnerable around them. While in our slumber, we will be feeding off the energy of our humans. It doesn’t harm them in any way, but it’s necessary for our bodies to survive the slumber.
Of course, there’s also the matter of the sacrifice, but that’s usually after our powers emerge.
“I think I’m going to hang around here for a while. I want to see what dorm roomshegets assigned to.” Kier says, interrupting my thoughts. “I have a strange feeling about her.”
“How so?” Seth asks.
“Not sure. Just that something is off about her. I’m going to keep an eye on her, you two go ahead. Give Junior hell for me. He could use a good ass kicking after the way he took Seth down last week.” Kier says, making Seth and I laugh.
It only takes us a few minutes to get to the stadium. There’s only one person in the middle of the oval-shaped arena.
It’s my favourite place in the school, realistically the only place I can be myself and not have to worry about hurting anyone by accident. Unlike my brothers, my power has been trying to kick in, giving me a few abilities here and there, but I haven’t gone into the deep sleep that draws them out fully, yet.
“Knew we’d find you here.” I call out as we step onto the grass.
“You two come back for another ass kicking?” Junior says by way of a greeting.
“Nah, we thought we’d kick your ass this time.”
Junior laughs at my attempt to sound tough. “In your dreams pup.” He says between laughs.
In all honesty, I’m not the toughest on the block, I know that, but with my power fluctuating, I’ve been more of a challenge to everyone lately. As with all God training, I don’t have the luxury of doing more than blinking before there’s a fist flying towards my face. I throw my forearm up, blocking the blow, but Seth moves into my peripheral and distracts me long enough for Junior to slip in on my left, pushing my elbow up and away from my body.
Three solid hits to my ribs and I’m down for the count. Growling at Seth for distracting me, I remain on the ground with my hands over my bruised ribs. “Fuck, that was so not fair, you came at me before I was ready and the arena wasn’t even clear of distractions.”
“There is no such thing as fair in a fight. How many times do I have to tell you that before it sinks into that thick head of yours?” Junior says with a laugh.
“I didn’t mean to be a distraction. It’s not like I can help if I’m the better-looking brother and your jealousy makes it impossible to focus on something as simple as fighting.” Seth jokes. Considering we’re triplets, Seth, Kier and I, you’d think we’d look alike, but we’re practically opposites.
To my utter annoyance, Seth doesn’t even blink as Junior attacks him. Their fists flying as they keep talking, “Junior’s not hard to beat, he has the habit of dropping his left.” Seth states as he throws a fist into Junior’s chest on his left. The solid thud is all the evidence there is that the hit connected.
“If he’s so easy to beat then how did he manage to kick your ass last time?” I ask, chuckling as Seth misses his next punch.
Junior throws a faint to the right while explaining, “In a real fight you’ll have people all around you, the battlefield filled with dying or injured and possibly even other creatures.” Each word is said with a punch or a kick to Seth that he dodges. “You won’t have time to overthink things, which is your problem, you know, overthinking.”
The two of them go at it for several more minutes, neither looking the least bit worse for wear, meanwhile I’m still winded from the blows to my ribs. I envy their ability to regenerate quickly. That is one talent I haven’t gained yet.
With a growl, I leap to my feet and jump into the fray. Both of them don’t hesitate, trading blows between the three of us. I wince with every strike, but I stay on my feet this time.
What’s a little pain when it comes to learning from my mistakes?
After what feels like forever, we all drop to the grass, sweat coating our bodies and our breaths uneven. The only one of us that doesn’t have any visible injuries is Junior, but that’s only because he’s a full God, activated powers and all.
“I’m going to hit the showers, then go find our wayward brother. He’s been obsessed with that girl ever since he saw her and I’m starting to wonder if he’s developed a crush.” I huff. The truth is, I’m not faring much better with the girl. She’s gorgeous, cheeky, got a killer smile… Ah fuck it, I’m crushing too, I’ll admit it. – To myself anyway.