Chapter 2: Elite Training

"Hold it," said Ni as he was sitting watching Emily do a handstand on one hand.

Emily's face was sweating and her body was sore. On top of her shoes were two fifty pound weights.

"And...how...the hell...will this...help me?" Emily said in frustration.

"Focus, Em," said Ni.

"That's all you ever tell me! I need a different answer for a...change," Emily said starting to lose her balance.

"Hold it!!," Ni yelled as Emily screamed and toppled to the ground.

The dirt scratched beneath her body as she fell on the weeds. She got up and dusted herself off and sighed.

"What is even the point of this? I am doing this for no reason, what are we training for?," Emily said scowling at Ni.

"That wasn't enough. Get up, try it again," Ni said.

"No, why don't you try it? I am done with this. I get no help or answers from you. Why the hell am I even here?" Emily said stomping off the lot.

She stopped for a second and turned to see Ni balancing the weights just like how she did, but only on one finger. He thrust himself into the air and grabbed the weights from under his feet and he landed back down onto the lot. Emily rolled her eyes and took the weights from him.

"Show off...," Emily said with a sneer.

"You are well on your way, Emily. Just give it a lot more," Ni said.

"Can I at least...take a break for one second," Emily said.

Ni thought to himself.

"Sure, you have been working hard since then. You deserve one," Ni said.

Emily slammed down the weights in a sigh of relief.

"Thank god!!," Emily said stretching her muscles and falling flat on the terrain behind her. "Oh, Noetim the great!! No stop. Until now!"

"Noetim, huh? Probably best not to mention him," Ni said.

"Why?" Emily asked.

"Let's say that I am very religious," Ni said.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Emily replied with as much respect as she could muster.

"It's quite alright," Ni said with a chuckle.

She laid still in the dirt and sat up. The night was peaceful and quiet. The wind blew through Emily's hair as she sat staring up at the stars.

"Calm tonight...," she said.

"Indeed," He replied.

"I remember...gazing at the stars with Roy...he knew a lot of those constellations. When we got bored, we would make our own...," Emily said with a smile.

Ni looked at her and turned away.

"I have a sister too...we didn't know how beautiful the sky was...we were kept away from the outside...," Ni said sitting on the ground. He held his legs to his chest.

"Where is she?" Emily asked.

"Elsewhere...probably righting my wrongs...," Ni said. "She is older than me..."

"Righting your wrongs?"

"Yes...she is my opposite. We get along well now...but back then...she hated me...,"

"Why?"

Ni looked at Emily for a second, absorbing her question. A long pause came. Then Ni spoke: "Temptation"

"Temptation?" Emily repeated. "What do you mean?"

Ni looked to the ground and looked back at her.

"That's a story for another day," Ni said with a smile.

"Aww, but it just got interesting!" Emily said.

"We need to focus on the competition," Ni said.

"Competition?" Emily asked in confusion.

"East city elite competition," Ni said.

"But isn't that for people that are out of high school?!,"

"Actually no. If you are under the graduation level, they will put you through a series of trials to make sure you will be able to compete"

"But I can't do that!! I am not ready yet!! And it's three days away and I need a team!"

Ni smiled and sighed.

"True your not at the level yet, but I can feel it. You are almost close to reaching your Zen mode," Ni said.

"Zen mode?" Emily asked. "B-but my family line was never able to achieve a Zen mode before"

"But, you are so close to reaching it,"

"What if I can't"

"You will"

"In three days?!"

"Yep"

"Please tell me that you are joking," Emily said with dread. She laid down on the dirt lot. "I am doomed...aren't I...?"

Ni stood and went over to Emily and put out a hand. She looked at him with a concerning look of what is to come. She reached out and he hoisted her up.

"I am the wrong person for this...you should find someone else...," Emily said.

Ni smiled and shook his head.

"My sister asked for you specifically...," Ni said.

"W...wha?"

"Now, start again. We have a lot of training to do," Ni said with a smile.