Chapter 3: Training = Torture

Recap:

"Kara? I'm home." Aru froze as Kara bounded out of the room to hug a man she recognized, with one blue eye and one brown. The Sleeper.

Aru stared at the man in front of her, though after everything, it was hardly fair to call him that. He hadn't noticed her yet, which she was extremely thankful for. It probably had to do with the fact that she was hiding behind the door, not out of cowardness, but rather because she was confused on how to react. He was the villain she had been fighting with her sisters for over 3 years, but he was also her father. One that was never really there and tried to kill her on countless occasions, but still her father.

Aru was contemplating how to close the door of her room without making any noise when the Sleeper spoke. She froze, still wanting to hear what he said.

"Where is Arundhati? Did you let her free?" Aru peeked from the door again to see him casually pouring himself a glass of juice while speaking, as if her being there or not didn't even matter. The audacity!

"No, dad. She's here! She decided to stay." Kara told him, excitedly.

He stopped making the glass of juice and turned around. "She did now, did she?" His face turned stony. "Show me where she is."

Kara led him to Aru's room, and she wished she had just chosen to go home instead. Her insides flipped upside down when she met the eyes of the Sleeper. Her grip on Vajra tightened, but he didn't do anything to attack whatsoever.

Instead, he looked at Kara. "Make her join your exercises. At least she'll be a bit useful." Then, he just walked off, as if it didn't even bother him. Aru stared at his back, trying to figure out what exactly was happening.

"Well," Kara took Aru's arm, laughing nervously. "Training starts now, so you better come with me."

Aru stared at her, mind blank. "Training?"

***

Half an hour later, Aru was lying on the ground, staring at the false sky and just wondering why she was even here. She made a mental note to add a new equation to her math notebook: training = torture.

"Get up!" Kara pulled her up and Aru scowled. "It's not that hard, you just need to focus."

"If I had Vajra," Aru muttered, drawing the string of the bow taut, "then maybe I could do this a lot better."

"I'm sorry about that," Kara told her as she brought her arm back and threw her trident, Sunny. It left a glowing trail behind it and Aru wondered for the millionth time how she got something that looked like it belonged with the gods. "But dad doesn't trust you enough yet to use it for training."

Aru grumbled and aimed her arrow at the target. She let go and... it missed by half an inch.

"You have good aim thanks to your godly DNA," Kara told her. "But you aren't putting any energy into it. You know, if you do good enough, you could get Vajra for training."

Aru rolled her eyes but tried to put a bit more energy in her shot. The arrow landed an inch from the bullseye. She stared at it in shock.

"See, I told you so." Kara grinned at her. "You're a natural."

"I don't get why we have to use regular weapons though," Aru told her. "I mean, we have godly weapons so what's the point?"

"Well, your godly weapons aren't always going to be reliable, and if something happens to them, you need to know how to use regular weapons as well." Aru clutched the unbreakable sphere that imprisoned Vajra closer to her as she collected the fallen arrows. She'd never had to think about it before, but now, the thought of not having Vajra frightened her.

"Why is The Sleeper putting me in training though?" Aru asked Kara as she stringed another bow and squinted her eyes at her target.

"Well, you're on our side now," Kara said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Aru's hand that was holding the bow went limp. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you decided to stay, didn't you?" Aru had no answer to that, and silently fired her next bow. This time, it was a bullseye and she felt satisfied as the arrow hit the target.

Kara glanced at an invisible watch on her left arm. "We're done."

"Finally," Aru grumbled, gently returning the bow and quiver of arrows to their place. The sphere holding Vajra let out a soft click and the lightning bolt returned to her hand, trembling as it returned to her. "Can I see my sisters now?"

Kara nodded. "Sure, but let's eat something first."

"No," Aru told her firmly. "I want to see my sisters. Please.

Kara looked at her and sighed. "I guess so." She led Aru further down the narrow hallway and stopped in front of the door on the other side of Aru's room. "We hadn't finished the tour yet, so I never did get to show you my room." She turned the doorknob and the dark oak door began to glow a soft yellow before swinging open to reveal a large room.

It had peach colored walls and a bed with a canopy fit for a princess, sun yellow bed sheets gracing the soft-looking mattress. An assortment of art supplies filled a large desk in one corner of the room and an entire wall was taken up by a large window that showed a lovely beachside view with a hammock hanging from a tree. But that wasn't possible...

Kara grinned suspensefully and snapped her fingers. Aru stared at them, not sure what the point was, but a flash in the corner of her eyes brought her attention to the window she had disregarded - except it wasn't a window, but just a cleverly placed screen that now showed something that made her heart threaten to pop out of her chest and sing off tune.

She could see her sisters and Aiden talking to one another in the museum. There was no audio and she couldn't tell what they were talking about, but tears welled up anyway. She missed them so much it hurt. Aru balled her fists. She was here for a reason. For them. And she was not going to forget that.