Chapter 6: New Blood

"It will have blood, they say. Blood will have blood."

― William Shakespeare

Antigone got on her mark, her eyes focused solely on her opponent and his sword. Sword-fighting was Erastos's department, but Antigone still did well with a sword. She just had to stay focused on her goal.

She waited for M.K. to make the first move, but he didn't, and for awhile, it seemed as if they were simply dancing around each other, moving slowly in a circle. She paid close attention to his eyes. They were as bloodshot as before, but much more lively now. Eventually, the corner of his mouth quirked up into a playful smile.

"Well?" he asked. "Are we dancin' or fightin', princess? Take your pick."

She smirked. "Your move."

His lips stretched out into a wide grin. "Ladies first."

Normally, Antigone would not agree with that, but this time, she decided to take advantage of tradition.

She cracked her knuckles. "You asked for it."

In just a few seconds, she was swinging, not her sword, but her fist. She normally relied on her hand-to-hand combat and Martial Arts skills if she did not have her daggers and only used weapons when she needed them.

She went for M.K.'s face first, but he blocked her easily with a chopping hand and kicked her in the stomach. The kick was not forceful enough to hurt her, but it was enough to cause her to stumble backwards.

She regained her balance quickly and met his eyes. She caught a hint of a smile on his face.

"You telegraphed your punch," he said. "Don't let me see it coming."

She gave a determined huff and sheathed her sword, which she decided that she didn't need anymore. Immediately after, she saw his eyes wander apprehensively to Minerva, but Antigone was too pumped up to care about anything except her opponent.

When M.K. finally met Antigone's eyes again, he also did away with his sword, tossing it to the floor at Minerva's feet several feet away.

This seemed to upset Minerva. "Excuse me," she said sternly. "I provided you both with swords for a reason."

M.K. turned his head to face Minerva again and Antigone was certain that she saw a look of pure fear in his eyes. Fear of what? Of whom?

Minerva? Was he afraid of Minerva?

Why would M.K. be afraid of Minerva?

M.K. looked at Antigone again. He smiled slightly, but there was an emotion in his tired eyes that she could not pinpoint.

Worry?

Was he worried? About what?

Before she had time to even try to answer any of her own questions, M.K. lunged at her. She ducked in the nick of time, springing up at the same time that she swung her fist directly at his face.

Thwack!

She hit him.

He stumbled back, regaining his balance as he wiped his nose with the back of his hand. He looked at his hand, examining the thin stream of blood that had come from his nose, as if he was anticipating something. Slowly, he looked up at her.

She smirked, raising her eyebrows in a cocky manner. "Did ya see that comin'? Princess?"

He watched her closely, with observant and calculating eyes. Then, he smiled at her. It was a smug smile, but she could tell that he was genuinely amused. Excited even.

"All right," he chuckled. "Look's like we're free styling now." He shrugged in an unmistakably playful manner. "Let's dance."

There was a brief pause that felt like an eternity. She watched him, zeroing in on his brown eyes, so bloodshot and so tired and so...sad.

Why was he sad?

She tilted her head slightly, balling up her fists, and slightly spread apart her knees.

He raised his fists.

This time, they struck at the same time and at the same speed. She threw several perfectly executed punches in the direction of his face and chest, but he blocked each of them with ease, keeping perfectly in time with her punches. Before she could even register what happened or what she should do next, he sent a hard side kick flying into her side, knocking the wind out of her. She swayed sideways, feeling heavy, and stumbled to the floor onto her knees, panting.

She looked at Minerva, who was watching the fight like a hawk. There was a look in her eye that Antigone could not pin-point. Anger? Anticipation? Antigone did not know.

Minerva was quite the wild card.

"Come on now, m'lady," M.K. teased, his infuriatingly cool voice ringing in Antigone's ears. "Don't tell me that you're tired already. We haven't even gotten to cha-cha yet."

Antigone raised her head swiftly, blood roaring in her ears. She met M.K.'s eyes, which seemed to grow brighter by the minute, and gave a breathy laugh. "How about we skip straight to the jive, m'lord?"

He raised his eyebrow, still smirking.

"Enough!" Minerva spat. She sounded so angry that Antigone leapt to her feet and turned her head swiftly to meet Minerva's eyes.

Minerva's very angry and scary eyes.

Something about Antigone's demeanor must have made Minerva more aware of herself, because she quickly changed her tune. "I'm glad that both of you seem to be having fun, but I was hoping to see some progression in M.K.'s training today," she said, her voice much softer. "And Antigone, I wanted to see if I could teach you a few things, so, I would appreciate it if both of you focused more on fighting than bantering. Try to take this seriously please."

Antigone met M.K.'s eyes again. He looked at her, curious and apprehensive, almost worried.

Then, he raised his fists again, positioning himself into a fighting stance.

Antigone did the same, paying close attention to his eyes.

This time, M.K. struck first, but Antigone caught a hint of hesitation before he did so, which gave her just enough time to shove his fist away. She sent a quick axe-kick to his gut immediately after and he stumbled onto his back, sliding a few feet away on the slick tiled floor. She gave him no time to recover, charging towards him and kneeling over him to bring her fist down to his face.

He brought his arm up in the nick of time to block her and grabbed her fist. "Let me get near you," he muttered, low and quiet, gritting his teeth. His eyes were wide. She suddenly realized that it seemed like he wasn't totally into the fight, which confused her.

Naturally, this gave him enough time to make a move.

He flipped her onto her back. It was quick and she was dizzy, but she realized that his back was facing Minerva. It looked like he was twisting and turning to keep Minerva from seeing the fight.

But why?

Antigone thought that maybe she was seeing things. She was a little disoriented by the time that M.K. stood, but she noticed him grab his sword off the floor. Oddly enough, he grabbed it by the blade before sliding it down to grip the handle and his palm started to bleed on the side opposite from Minerva.

Before Antigone had time to leap up, M.K. was already making a move. He used his uninjured hand to raise his sword up above his head like he was going to chop her down.

"Scream," he demanded quickly, his voice low and hushed.

Instinctively, she screamed when he brought his sword down seconds later, flinching in anticipation of her demise that never came. Instead, he had brought his sword down into the tile just beside her head, hovering in front of her where Minerva couldn't see while he clamped his bloody hand onto Antigone's cheek. He quickly removed his hand and pried his sword out of the tile at the same time.

As soon as he did so, Minerva yelled, "Stop!"

But Antigone was hopped up on adrenaline. She kneed M.K. in the gut. He was clearly caught off-guard because he grunted, dropping his sword as he held his stomach and rolled over onto his back. She took advantage of his vulnerable state and rolled over to look down at him, trapping him in between her legs. He was grinning up at her in what seemed to be a fond manner. For some reason, this made her even angrier. She raised her fist to send it flying down towards his beaming face, but Minerva yanked her hand away, pulling her up roughly.

"I said ENOUGH," Minerva growled, forcing Antigone to look into her eyes.

For a brief moment, Antigone was deadly terrified of Minerva. Something in the Widow's icy blue eyes struck fear right into Antigone's heart.

M.K. broke the deafening silence. "Let her go," he said, in an almost defensive tone.

Antigone turned her head abruptly to see that M.K. was standing up. He had bowed up. His expression had immediately changed from playful to extremely cautious and defensive. All of his animosity seemed to be directed towards Minerva.

This seemed to anger Minerva even more. She turned her head, dangerously slow, to face M.K.. "What did you say to me?" she asked, her tone chillingly calm.

"She got caught up in the fight," M.K. reasoned, still catching his breath, speaking carefully with each word. "It happens to the best of us. She's proven herself to you. It's over now." He lowered his tone, almost as if he was challenging her. "Let her go."

Proven myself? Antigone thought. For what?

She watched M.K., noting how focused he was on Minerva. Suspicious. Afraid.

He seemed to be very afraid of her.

Antigone was starting to realize why.

Minerva pursed her lips, as if she was considering M.K.'s words, and turned her head to face Antigone again.

Instantly, Minerva's demeanor changed. She smiled and released Antigone's wrist immediately. All of a sudden, Minerva was friendly again.

"My apologies," she said, as Antigone rubbed her wrist. "I've had a very long day. I should not have taken my frustration out on you."

"Hm," Antigone said, as her gaze flickered between Minerva and M.K.. "Apology accepted."

"I think that that's enough training for one day," Minerva said. "Both of you are dismissed." She eyed M.K. darkly, but M.K. paid no mind to her.

He was looking at Antigone.

Antigone noticed him. She returned his gaze, tilting her head ever so slightly. She was curious about him.

He averted his eyes, walking past her. His hand brushed against hers and she wasn't sure if it was on purpose or by accident.

Either way, she felt a little jolt of something rush up her arm all the way to her spine when he touched her. She couldn't figure out what it was. Shock? Excitement? Perhaps a mix of both?

She watched him leave, paying close attention to his fluid body language that seemed almost calculated as he sauntered out of the training room.

Antigone had a lot of questions, comments, and concerns, but there was one thing on her mind that she couldn't let go of, even though Minerva had technically given her an answer already.

"Why did he look so tired, Minerva?" she asked. "And malnourished? He seemed to have a really bad case of cabin fever. When was the last time that he went outside?"

She turned around to find Minerva smiling at her, that same chilling smile from before.

Minerva ignored all questions and walked forward, honing in on Antigone's cheek. She stopped just inches away from Antigone, who held her breath at Minerva's closeness, closing her eyes.

Antigone felt Minerva's glove press lightly against the blood on her cheek, sending a chilling shiver down her spine.

"You're bleeding," Minerva said, her tone curious and almost surprised.

It was M.K.'s blood, but Antigone didn't say that. She wasn't sure that it was safe for her to say much of anything to Minerva anymore.

It felt like an eternity before Minerva finally dropped her hand, stepping several feet back. "Dismissed," she said. She turned around, walking back to her desk.

Antigone was in disbelief. She hadn't been given any answers. "But Minerva-".

"I said...dismissed." Minerva's chilling tone sent a jolt of fear rushing up Antigone's spine.

Immediately, Antigone picked up her feet and rushed out of the training room. Normally, she would have gone to Erastos, but something told her that she needed to find M.K. so that she could have a real conversation with him. She ran in the opposite direction of where he went so as not to make Minerva suspicious. Then, Antigone came to a quiet halt at the end of the hallway before tip-toeing back to peek at where Minerva was.

Minerva had her back turned, unrolling a scroll of some sort. Whatever it was, it had her full attention, giving Antigone enough time to quickly tip-toe in the opposite direction and take off running to find M.K..

By some miracle, the hallway was desolate. All that was standing between Antigone and M.K. was a large gap, which M.K. seemed intent on expanding when he turned his head and realized that he was being followed. He turned his head to look straight forward and subtly picked up his pace as he breezed down the hallway.

But Antigone was just as determined.

She quickened her pace, not even trying to be subtle about it, and watched him as he turned a corner. She turned the same corner a few seconds later, only to be met with one of the Butterflies, who startled her.

"Oh hi, Antigone," the girl with short black hair and bangs chirped. "We haven't formally been introduced, but I'm Cleo! I believe that we fought each other yesterday when the Butterflies mistook you and your Firebirds for intruders. Sorry about that, by the way."

Antigone was too eager about finding M.K. to care about what Cleo was saying. Anytime that Antigone tried to follow M.K., there was always someone who conveniently popped up in front of her, and it was always Minerva or someone who was affiliated with Minerva in some way.

"Excuse me," Antigone said, sidestepping Cleo, but Cleo moved in front of her again.

Antigone raised her eyebrow. "Uhh...pardon me?"

"Oh," Cleo said, grinning. "Sorry! I guess that I'm just really excited to be in your presence. And a little nervous."

"That's...nice," Antigone said slowly. She wasn't sure what Cleo meant by that, but she would figure it out later. Right now, her focus was on M.K.. "Look, I'm really flattered, but I really have to get going."

She sidestepped Cleo again and began walking, only to be followed by her.

"Where are you going?" Cleo asked.

"To talk to someone," Antigone said, her patience wearing thin.

"Who?"

"An acquaintance."

"Why?"

"Because we have business to discuss."

"What kind of business?"

"Private business."

"What kind of private? Bad private?"

"No."

"Good private?"

"I said private for a reason, now please stop asking me questions."

"Okay. I'm sorry."

Antigone stopped, and Cleo stopped right in time with her.

"And please stop following me," Antigone added. She turned to look at the younger girl, who was frowning.

"What?" Antigone asked.

"I just hate that we had such a violent first meeting," Cleo said, rushing around to stand in front of Antigone. "I mean, I almost tried to kill you."

"Please," Antigone insisted. "Don't worry about it. I forgot about it already. Honestly. Now can you please let me go?"

Cleo turned her head to look behind her, stretching her neck to look further down the hallway. She smiled and turned her head to face Antigone again. "Sure," she chirped, moving aside.

Antigone raised her eyebrow suspiciously and moved past Cleo to look around for M.K., but no matter where she turned or ran or looked, she could not find him.

But she hadn't gone up the forbidden staircase yet, nor was she allowed to.

Had Cleo been stalling on purpose?

Antigone suddenly felt very angry. She felt like she was being kept out of the loop on purpose. She wanted answers and she wanted them now.

Perhaps Erastos was having better luck.

She wandered the halls in search of him and eventually found him in the drawing room, speaking to Bilal. She scurried up to Erastos and cleared her throat.

Immediately, Erastos stopped speaking to Bilal and turned around. His face immediately contorted in concern. "Antigone?" he asked. "Are you all right?"

Antigone didn't realize how distressed she looked: her large azure eyes wide with fear and bloodshot from lack of sleep, her normally wavy brown hair, now frizzy and untamed from her match with M.K.. "I need to speak with you about something," she said in a hushed tone.

"Are you all right, Baron?" came Bilal's concerned voice.

Antigone quickly shifted her focus from Erastos to Bilal and gave him a polite smile. "Just a little stressed out about what's happening in Phoenix territory," she told him. She wasn't lying. She was also stressing out about the people in her territory who had been left behind during the invasion. Now, she wasn't sure that she could count on Minerva or any of her associates to take care of Phoenix territory's residents like they promised to do.

Bilal tilted his head, the corners of his mouth turned down slightly. "Me, too," he said. "I'm sure that Minerva is trying her best to help." He did not seem too sure of himself when he said that. "Maybe Lydia, too."

Antigone gasped, feeling a sliver of hope return to her heart. "Lydia? The Baroness of Armadillo territory?"

Bilal nodded and said, "She's not the Baroness of Armadillo territory anymore. She's Minerva's viceroy."

The hope suddenly disappeared from Antigone's heart. "Oh," she said flatly. "Well...I hope that she's happy where she is."

Bilal seemed to notice her spirits dampen because he frowned. "Yeah," he said softly. "She is. What about you?"

"Pardon?"

"Are you happy where you are?"

His question caught her off-guard. He held no malice in his tone and she recognized that. She looked at Erastos to see his reaction and he seemed as curious about her answer as Bilal was.

Antigone did not know how to answer that question and she was not exactly sure why Moon asked her that either, but she answered honestly. "I don't really know," she admitted. "I'll have to get back to you on that."

He nodded, "All right then. Erastos has been quite worried about you by the way."

She smiled and rolled her eyes fondly. "Erastos is always worried about me."

"Mhm," Bilal said, smiling. "This is the first time that I've ever really been able to have a good conversation with him about war strategies. He's quite clever."

Antigone smiled at Erastos. "I know."

Erastos smiled and looked down, but not before his cheeks flushed a bright shade of red. He had no way of hiding his blush. He had always been rather obvious when it came to his emotions.

Ironically, Antigone was completely oblivious of his feelings for her.

Bilal wasn't.

"I'll leave you two alone," he said. "I'm sure that you have important private business to discuss." He smiled politely and walked out of the drawing room.

Antigone watched him leave until he was out of sight and then turned around to face Erastos again. "I need to talk to you," she said quietly. "It's about Minerva."

Erastos was immediately even more concerned. "What about her?"

Antigone looked around, paranoid of her surroundings, and then looked at Erastos again when she was certain that they were completely alone. "Minerva invited me to sit in on one of her training sessions with her Butterflies and then changed the plans on me last minute," she said.

"Was it a bad change of plans?"

"I...I don't know, Erastos. There was this boy. M.K.. Apparently, Minerva took him under her wing and is training him. He looked so awful, Erastos."

"Awful meaning...?"

"Like...malnourished. Pitiful. Tortured, almost."

Erastos went through a series of expressions in a few seconds: concerned, confused, baffled, and then mortified. "Oh," he said. "Well...have you spoken to him at all?"

"I tried to, but it was like he was running away from me," Antigone said. "And every time I think that I'm close to catching up to him, someone always intercepts me."

"Whoa, wait a minute," Erastos said. "What do you mean 'every time?' This has happened before?"

"Yes. Just the other day, I ran into him as I was coming out of my room, the morning after the first night that we stayed here. He looked frightened. Not of me, but of something else. I tried to follow him, but Minerva conveniently appeared to ask me how my stay was. And the night before, I saw M.K. looking at me from the window of a room that Minerva claimed to be forbidden. Minerva said that she would tend to him, but I keep seeing him go up there."

This was a lot for Erastos to take in and Antigone could tell that he was struggling to keep up with all of it.

"Well," he said, scratching his head. "Maybe he just keeps sneaking up there."

She could tell that he didn't really believe what he was saying.

"Why would he keep going up there?" she asked. "What's up there?"

He bit his lip in intense concentration. "Hmm. I don't know. You're right. This is extremely fishy."

"You...You don't think that Minerva is up to no good, do you?" she asked. She did not want to think ill of her hero.

He sighed, frowning. "I've never been quite fond of the Widow, Antigone. I just never wanted to push the subject because you looked up to her so much."

She smiled sadly. "Erastos. I've always known that you never liked the Widow. You should never be afraid to voice your opinions around me."

He furrowed his eyebrows, squinting in confusion. "What?" He shook his head in disbelief. "You knew that she made me uncomfortable this whole time and you just let it happen? You never talked to me personally about it or asked me how I felt?"

She felt guilt sink in the pit of her stomach. "Erastos-".

"No, Antigone, can you listen to me for just a second?" he asked, but he wasn't really asking. "You went through with all of this, even though I told you that I thought that it was a bad idea, and now you're telling me that you knew how uncomfortable she made me this whole time, and you said nothing?"

She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "That's not fair." She tried to sound stern, but it sounded, to her, like she was whining. "You don't get to hold that against me. I was just doing what I thought was best for us."

"You didn't think to consult me at all."

"You could have said something and you chose not to. All the other Firebirds were on board. Everyone benefited. It's not my fault that you didn't speak up sooner."

"I shouldn't have to speak up, Antigone, I'm your best friend!"

"Well, you're also my regent and I'm also your baron," Antigone said, finally losing her patience. "I understand that we're best friends and I will always cherish our friendship, but we can't let our relationship get in the way of our jobs. I can't always be thinking of your feelings when I need to be thinking logically and when I also have other team members and citizens to take care of. As a baron, that is my responsibility, and your responsibility as my regent is to follow my orders within reason and give me advice when you see fit. If you feel like you can't speak up, then that's your problem."

Antigone meant what she said, but she regretted her words as soon as she saw the look on Erastos's face. His face was crumpled up in such a way that made it look like she had broken him. Tears were crystallizing in his misty green eyes. Even his bottom lip was trembling like he was about to start sobbing. He hardly ever cried. The last time that she saw him look so sad was when he was grieving the death of his parents as a little boy.

He didn't look quite that sad now, but almost.

"Erastos," she began, but he turned away from her and rushed out of the drawing room.

As soon as he turned a corner out of the room, she caught M.K. barely slide into view in the direction opposite to where Erastos had exited. She didn't know what M.K. was doing. It didn't look like he had been peeking or eavesdropping, but it didn't seem like he had been trying to pass by either.

Their eyes met.

Antigone gasped, "M.K., don't run away!"

But he was already running. She followed him immediately. This time, she ran faster, not caring if she was seen, and paid attention to his feet so that she could keep exactly in time with him. He was fast. She was impressed at how fast someone in his condition could be, but she knew how to keep up with fast people.

After all, tag had been her favorite game to play with her sister when they were kids.

She couldn't see him, but she remembered where he had taken off from and followed the sound of what she assumed to be his footsteps down the hallway to dining room.

"M.K.," she said, loud enough for him to hear but not so loud that she would draw attention to him. "I wanna talk to you about earlier!"

He picked up the pace. He could hear her. She knew that he could. He was avoiding her on purpose and she had a feeling that it wasn't out of rudeness or cruelty.

What was his deal? He had been practically spying on her since she arrived at Butterfly territory. The training session that she had done with him just made her even more confused as to what he was trying to communicate to her. Why couldn't he just tell it to her straight?

What was he afraid of?

Finally, she caught up to him. Oddly enough, he had come to an abrupt stop, his back turned to her and his arms folded behind his back. He was standing in an upright straight position, very respectful and poised, but there was something in his demeanor that made her think that he was afraid.

She was going to find out what he was afraid of if it was the last thing that she did.

She came to a screeching stop a few feet behind him and her heart dropped.

Minerva was standing before him.

It was her.

M.K. was afraid of Minerva.

"I hope that you're extending a generous amount of hospitality to our guests from Phoenix territory," he was saying to her. "They look up to you and your Butterflies very much." Each word that he said was carefully calculated. His tone of voice gave away that he was trying too hard to sound unbothered and hide his fear.

Minerva smiled at him, but there was a certain bitterness to it, and Antigone suddenly wished that she could see how he was reacting to it.

"Of course," Minerva said. "We're doing all that we can to make them feel at home." She lifted her eyes.

Antigone's blood ran cold.

Minerva had seen her. There was no turning back now.

"Antigone," Minerva said, smiling at her. "What a surprise. M.K. was just telling me how thrilled he is to have some new friends here."

Antigone did not know how to respond to that. Luckily, M.K. spoke.

"Yes, I am very glad to finally have some company," he said, turning around to face Antigone. He was smiling at her. His smile was warm and kind. Something in his eyes told her that she could trust him and his tone was happier than she had ever heard it before.

"It gets quite lonely around here sometimes," he added.

Now, his tone was quite different. It was cold and bitter, and Antigone knew that it was directed towards Minerva.

Antigone decided that it was best to go along with the conversation and take cues from M.K. the best way that she could. "I'm glad that I can be pleasant company for you," she said to him, choosing her words carefully, but she directed the kindness in her tone towards him. She even gave him a little smile.

He gave her a ghost of a smile in return, bringing the spark to his eyes that she had seen when they were sparring together earlier. "Thank you, Antigone," he said. His voice was soft and genuine. She hadn't heard him speak like that before.

Perhaps the tough guy front that he had been putting up was just an act.

He turned around to face Minerva and told her, "Perhaps I can train Antigone privately. After all, I've been training with you for awhile. I have a few tricks up my sleeve and it might be helpful for her to hear it from another student of yours rather than the master herself."

Minerva seemed quite displeased by that idea. "What makes you think that you'd be able to help her anymore than I could?" she asked, almost as if she was challenging him. She stalked towards him in her ridiculously loud stiletto heels, but he did not even flinch when she reached him. He even dared to lift his head and look into her eyes.

"Because," he said. "Hearing it from someone on her level might prove to be more beneficial to her." It looked like he wanted to say more, but he bit his tongue.

She raised her eyebrow, staring him down like she wanted to turn him into mush beneath her stupidly long heel (how did she even fight in those things anyway?), and then, her eyes drifted towards Antigone, who held her breath.

Minerva looked in between the two children, like she was weighing between two war tactics, and finally took a step back. "Very well," she said. "The same rules apply. No going up the staircase and be careful what you share."

A smug smile spread across M.K.'s face. "Understood," he said, almost as if he was spitting the words at her. He turned to look at Antigone and smiled softly. "Come on," he said. "We have a lot to catch up on."