Artwork: TitaNiumSkiN

2014 Copyright © A. M. Forest

All Rights Reserved

Apolla had Argon sit on his bed as she slowly unwrapped the multitude of bandages around his torso and abdomen. Even in the low lighting of the room due to his fireplace, she could still see clearly the damage that was done.

You did this, again.

He winced as the last of the wrap fell onto the floor. "Remind me not to piss you off during a battle again. Once you've tasted blood, there is nothing standing between you and severe pain." He groaned out as he rolled his shoulder. "Although, I always get the benefit of your hands all over me," Argon's smirk appeared as he gave her his signature gaze of suggestion.

In return she rolled her eyes as she pushed his gently into the golden pillows. "Don't start or I will leave you like this." She warned half-heartedly. When she noticed sweat appear on his forehead, her hands flew to his face. "You are starting to catch a fever. I warned you that the atmosphere outside was too thin for you to heal at a normal rate."

Argon chuckled as he rested his arms above his head. "You always get this way after one of our fights. It's the guilt, isn't it? It's eating at you." His voice never lost its teasing tone.

She moved her hands away from his face, her lips pulled into a straight line. "You are very well aware I didn't mean to hurt you as bad as I did... I never do." Apolla glanced away. Her words came out steady, but inside she was crying out.

Apolla always blacked out in those moments. It was like she was watching as someone else attacked Argon, as something else tried to kill.

She could see it, the blood; the look of horror on his face as she charged. She still felt his bones breaking beneath her fist as she drove it into his solar plexus. She could feel the smile on her face as she did it.

This was her curse. To crave battles. To destroy everything. To seek death.

Just like with Alek.

"Hey," Apolla felt the bed shift just as Argon's hand touched her cheek, breaking her from her troubling thoughts. She opened her eyes, not realizing she had closed them. "I was only teasing, love. No need to get lost in those dark thoughts of yours. My apologizes for picking at an old wound." Argon spoke softly, brushing aside her bangs.

Apolla smiled thankfully at him, before pushing him down again. It was time to get back to the task at hand.

"Okay, Argon, you know the rule. Don't move until I say so." She instructed as she straddled his hips, positioning his arms on either side of him.

He groaned, "Oh, now you are the one teasing," he bit his lip as he wiggled his hips in response. "You just use that rule as an excuse for amazing foreplay."

She shot him a stern look. "Stay still, Argon. I need you to be relaxed."

"You know I can't help it. It's very hard to stay relaxed when a beautiful woman is sitting on my lap in form-fitted clothing, especially when that woman is a blood-thirsty beast who can do amazing things in the bedroom; or any room for that matter."

Her glare turned dangerous.

Argon sighed in resign as he took a few deep breaths before his body relaxed under hers.

Apolla rubbed her hands together, allowing the blue flames to ripple over her skin before quickly setting them on Argon's torso. He hissed at the sudden heat, but as she began to massage it into his bruised stomach and chest, he relaxed again.

She moved her blue-flamed hands over the front of his chest and shoulders over and over again, making sure to be gentler on the darker bruising by his ribs. Labren had introduced Apolla to this technique around the time she first started sparing with Argon when they were just children.

"Because you are the embodiment of blue flames, no other flame less than or equal to yours will be able to burn you, however, you will be able to burn the wielders of those lesser flames." Labren explained. "But just because your flames hold the ability of pain, doesn't mean they are limited to it. Your flames can also help heal."

"I don't understand. If my flames harm others and can't affect me, how can it help with healing?"

Labren smiled at her, causing a dimple to appear on his left cheek. "My dear Apolla, your flames are not just destruction, but life; life that just needs a little guiding. Once you have mastered them, you will be able to do many things and become many things."

"Oh, how I wished you gifted me with these magical hands more often. It's such a shame you only bless me with them when you harm me exceedingly." Argon sighed, breaking Apolla from her memories.

Apolla rolled her eyes. "Oh hush and turn over." She huffed out as he complied with her request. With his back now facing her, she rubbed her hands together again to allow the blue flames to pulse out of them before setting them on his back. After his body relaxed, she rubbed again. "You sure seem talkative for someone who was in a coma for most of the night."

"Well excuse me if I find entertainment in a nice conversation." He mumbled into the pillows, rolling his shoulders slightly. Then he paused. "Do you remember the first time Labren accepted you to train with me? Claimed we would be the two best fighters in this world?" Apolla nodded. "I never admitted out loud to this, but that was the first time I found someone who actually looked like a worthy opponent. Then you handed my ass to me in no time flat. You were my sworn enemy ever since." He chuckled with less pain.

Apolla's lips twitched. "Do continue. I would love to see where this is going."

"Well, I remember always losing to you in matches. No matter how much I trained or cursed your name to the gods, you didn't react to any of it; you fought only for yourself. I called you selfish, Labren called you brave. I called you dangerous, he called you brilliant. You were just a natural warrior and Labren held you on the highest pedestal for many years. And yet, you never showed any acknowledgement for that praise, you just wanted to fight. That was what irritated me most."

She was studying the side of his face as he spoke and she saw the hint of the insecurities he held to himself all these years. She had a feeling she knew where he was going with this.

His tousled ruby hair glowed against the flickering light of his fireplace.

Argon's jaw clenched before he spoke, "I don't recall what compelled me to look for you that night, but I remember the tears."

~~~

Argon found her on the cliff, rain soaking them both as he moved towards her. Even through the rain, he could hear her sniffle.

He abruptly stopped behind Apolla when she spoke. "I didn't mean to kill him." Her voice choked up with tears.

"I never said you did." He replied cautiously as he took a step forward.

"But you thought it. I know it. I felt your accusing gaze." Apolla spoke again, her voice just as hurt as before. He finally sat on the spot next to her and looked at her as she gazed off into the distance unseeing.

Splatters of blood still coated her skin and hair, tears and rain trailing down her cheeks. He sighed. "No, Apolla, I didn't."

She snapped her head in Argon's direction, the pain and anger evident on her face. "Why are you insisting on a lie? You have the audacity to sit here and tell me you had no such feeling?" She yelled, her words slapping him in the face. "You are the last person I expected to hide behind words!"

It was then that he questioned what was he thinking? He knew she didn't do it with the intent to kill Alek.

He just didn't understand what made her take that final step.

Whatever she saw on his face made her expression crumble as tears escaped from her lashes. "That's... what I thought." Apolla turned away as soon as the words came out.

He saw more than heard her silent sobs and fighting his better judgment, he did something he knew he won't be able to come back from. He hesitantly wrapped his arm around her shoulder and when she showed no sign of resisting, he pulled her closer to him.

In a matter of seconds, Apolla curled into him, her cries no longer quiet. His hold tightened as he adjusted his position so that she was on his lap.

He began to rub her back soothingly and when her sobs lessened, he spoke. "I understand I might come off as an ass, Apolla, but I don't blame you. As you said, I certainly do not hide behind words." Argon chuckled, a vibration Apolla welcomed. He wrapped his arms around her protectively as the rain continued to pour on them. Rubbing her back soothingly, He spoke, "Let's go inside before you catch a cold."

When she nodded, Argon moved one arm under Apolla's knees and lifted her up, cradling her to his chest. Swiftly they were out of the rain and into the building, his feet automatically taking them to his room without a second thought.

Setting her on the bed, he went into the bathroom and grabbed two towels. Argon set them on the bed before he got the fire going in the fireplace. When he turned back, Apolla had sat up and removed her pants and undergarments, her shirt just above her bellybutton before he quickly turned around to watch the dancing flames, his face the same color. "You could have warned me you decided to take off your clothing." He said his voice cracking.

She might have moved closer because he felt her presence behind him. She moved her hand to his neck making him stiffen. "You need to get out of those clothes as well. Your temperature has gone down. At this rate you will get sick." Her voice came out so soft, it surprised him to the point of turning around.

It was then he realized he made a big mistake.

Argon looked down and quickly realized that she was completely naked. At the age of thirteen, she was beginning to fill out in just the right places. The dreams, that he refused to admit to having, didn't do her justice. His young mind continued to run with different scenarios that he knew he'd think about late into the night.

"Will you help me into the shower?"

Her question threw him. Why would she need his help to do such a simple thing? He then noticed the dark colored marks on her body from the fight. Then his eyes landed on her breasts.

"Okay..." It came out so weak that he cleared his throat."Yes, yes of course." Argon hastily got up and allowed her to lean on him as they walked towards his bathroom. He lifted her gently—careful to not touch any bruising or intimate parts of her body—on to the flat part of the sink before turning towards the tub. Turning on the water to as hot as it would go, he watched as it filled up the crystal bath.

His room was what many would call luxurious. From the fireplace to the king sized bed to his dark wood furniture to his crystal bathtub, the Phoenix spared no time on making sure he had the best of everything. All of those things held no value to the naked woman he had sitting on his sink.

When the water was high enough, he dropped two bath tablets into the water, watching as it fizzled and dispersed, blending with the crystal clear water. "Those should help you relax. They are magic healers. Labren gave them to me after he realized that I would lose to you every match we've had and will have." A small smile tugged at his lips when he turned to her to see a matching one appear on hers.

Argon moved swiftly to settle her in the hot water, watching her face to make sure she wasn't in pain. Well, that and to avoid looking down. When she was in the water up to her neck, the water changed from a crystal clear to a murky light blue, obscuring the view of her naked body.

~~~

"That was the first time I saw you cry, you know? It was also the first time you actually opened up to me." He sighed as he relaxed into her touch.

"And the first time we kissed." Her warm fingers wrapped around the back of his neck, sending chills down his spine.

He rolled his shoulders again as he groaned in embarrassment. "Oh, don't remind me. It was completely irresponsible for from my side of the situation to proceed in that direction. I was not as good a kisser as I am today, that is irrefutable. It must have been horrible for you."

"It wasn't. It helped keep my mind off of my first kill in the arena; the same kill that led me to become a great destroyer in the tournament. I was only thirteen when they put me into the death matches, when you didn't even join until you were twenty-one. Alek was too young. I was too young." Apolla sighed deeply, mourning the loss of the little girl who died in her that same match.

In an instant, Argon flipped her off his back to the open side of the bed and settled himself between her legs, facing her. His eyes scanned her face worriedly. "What is the matter, Apolla? That match still bothers you to this day?"

She avoided his eyes and looked at the ceiling above them. "It's just, that match led to such turmoil and destruction that I find it very hard to understand how it led to me becoming one of the most promising teachers. It is a ridiculous title, being that I have no one to show for that except Darrion; and that isn't entirely my doing either, since he was raised under the guidance of you and Labren as well. I am nothing but destruction, and they are using one of the people I love against me to use for their selfish greed."

Argon brought his hand to her face, grabbing her attention. "You are not just destruction. You are a lover, a mother, and a friend. Those are attributes many of these other guardinals can't say for themselves." His gaze turned hard. "But, the fact that the Elders are using Jäger against you is unforgivable. Labren and I are going to get to the bottom of it. I give you my word."

Apolla offered him a small smile.

"And since you asked so nicely, I would love to officially help you with the recruits. Seeing as to the fact you did say you couldn't train Darrion by yourself."

She rolled her eyes and flipped them over again, adjusting so that she was lying on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her. "You had to ruin the moment, didn't you?"

His chuckle warmed her heart as they both settled into a deep sleep, ignoring the blaring sunlight peeking from the small window.

~~~

She hummed thankfully and leaned back into the tub, the relaxing tablets finally settling in.

When Argon noticed he was staring he abruptly got up and cleared his throat. "I'll be in the other room if you need me. I'll set a towel on the sink. Just let me know when you are ready."

He walked into the room quickly, only pausing to hear her whispered 'thank you'.

When Argon was alone in his room, he took off his soaked shirt before sitting on his bed. He wiped a tired hand down his face.

The duel lasted forty-five minutes, the longest nonlethal fight to ever go on in the arena since the start of the Guardinal tournament began. Well, it was supposed to be nonlethal.

He now understood that the longer the fights last, the more dangerous she becomes.

Labren had warned them about something like this happening. He also knew that the Elders would make their move.

The tournament and what it once stood for has changed forever.