Dio marched through the gym, his presence and reputation that everyone turned toward him. Some in fear and others in awe. He stopped just a step away from the ring his arms folded and raised his eyebrows at the pair of them. The weasel had managed to drag the oaf out of the ring so all his attention was on them.
“What are you doing here, Dio,” Alec asked walking to meet him. The ring was a about a foot off the ground so Alec stood taller than him. Dio was a couple inches taller than him, about 5’10, and usually stood taller than him so Alec was enjoying this.
“I heard some new faces were causing trouble at the gym. I wanted to make sure it wasn’t anything serious. And here I find you two. I should’ve known you couldn’t leave well enough alone.”
“As you can see nothing going on. Take your perfect jaw and go somewhere else,” he pointed out the door.
“What are you even doing here?” Dio rolled his eyes. “You even dragged Felix with here.”
“I’m here to kick your ass and win the tournament.”
“Someone fateless like you is going to do that?” he snorted looking away from him and dismissing them both.
Alec jumped down from the ring stepping closer as he glared “Say that again.”
“Alec,” Felix said putting a hand no his shoulder. “Let’s just drop it. We still need to do our training.” He leaned forward and whispered in his ear, “Not to mention you just got done with a fight. Let’s not start another one so soon.”
“Listen to your coach,” Dio said. “It’s not like you’re even qualified for the tournament anyway.”
“The hell you say?” he grabbed the front of Dio’s tunic and Dio didn’t flinch but his eyes cooled. Alec just glared his eyes blazing with anger. “You think just because you got some fancy fate you can say whatever you want?”
“He’s not wrong, Alec.”
Alec looked back at Felix who pulled on his shoulder urgently. He looked hurt for a moment and finally asked, “What are you talking about?”
“You aren’t fated Alec. Which means entering the tournament isn’t as easy as being a representative of our home village like Dio. There’s steps we have to take.”
“You’re not explaining anything,” Alec said stubbornly.
“It means,” Dio grabbed Alec’s wrist and turned flipping him over his shoulder into the ground. He twisted Alec’s arm back in the socket and glared at him. “You have to earn your spot. Prove you deserve one.”
Alec let out a strangled cry as he struggled against Dio’s hold on him but he was pinned, the angle too awkward. Felix winced and said, “Come on Dio. Let him go. He’s just being Alec about this.”
“I know he is. And that’s my problem with him.” Dio let go of his arm and Alec groaned just lying flat against the dirt. Standing up fully he turned to look at Felix. “You’re fated Felix. Not like I am but enough. Talk some sense into your friend here before he does something he’ll regret for the rest of his life.”
Felix watched him closely and didn’t say anything though he had some words he wanted to toss at him. But Dio was right. They had to tread lightly and be smart. Dio gave Alec one last look and stepped over him, walking toward the door. Before he could get far enough Alec reached out and grabbed Dio’s ankle and yanked it back.
Dio stumbled forward but didn’t fall. He turned around swiftly and kicked Alec in the head lifting him off the ground and sending him rolling away. Before he could continue Felix jumped between them his arms spread wide. Dio’s cool blue eyes were furious and Felix met them unflinchingly with his bronze ones.
Felix just looked at Dio who looked like he wanted to get a few more hits off on him but Felix said, “Just go Dio. I’ll make sure the next time you see him it’s in the tournament. And he’ll beat you.”
Dio glared at the two of them and scoffed stepping back, “His optimism is rubbing off on you. The armor of the War God is going to be mine.”
Dio walked out of the gym then and Alec groaned mumbling some challenge to the man but he was gone now. Felix waited a long moment until he properly gone and then turned around to glare at his friend. He stepped forward and kicked Alec in the stomach making him groan again.
“Are you freaking insane Alec?” He groaned back at him. “Right. You are insane. Why are we here?”
Alec groaned holding his stomach and mumbled, “To win the tournament.”
Felix pulled him up slowly and pushed him against the edge of the ring. His eyes weren’t focused yet. “And how do you do that? Oh right? You didn’t listen to me when I explained how to do that. You’re not fated. You didn’t get chosen so now you have to do things the hard way. That starts with the qualifying tournament.”
“The what?”
“The qualifying tournament,” he repeated. “Pay attention this time. Everyone else not chosen gets to run the gauntlet to earn a spot in the real tournament. Only four people make it out. And if you want a shot you need to win. Every. Single. Fight.”
“No. Biggee.” Alec said slowly and grunted when Felix hit him on the head. “What?”
“Take this seriously,” he said facing him. “This is your dream right. Proving you’re more than your fate. Proving you’re not just some nobody fated to do nothing special.”
“Damn right,” Alec said sharply and almost glared at him.
“Then act like it. Stop letting your temper get the better of you. If Dio had wanted to he could have broken your arm. Or something else. And then how would you have won the fights? The tournaments in two weeks and registration ends this weekend.”
Alec looked at him and wanted to snap off some sort of response. But this was exactly what Felix was talking about. So, he kept his mouth shut and just nodded. Felix raised his eyebrow because he had more points to hammer home on him assuming he was going to argue.
“Okay. You’re going to listen to me. And follow my regimen. And you’re going to win this!”
The Harlequin Library 