"Excuse me?"
"It's favoritism, isn't it?… I mean, training me outside the hours established by the Pope, isn't that making me take advantage of the others?"
Elektra watched as Elyn and Aphrodite shared looks of surprise, she didn't fully understand why because what she had said was true: if someone saw her next to her master, training at a time that didn't match the established one, could suspect that Elyn was giving her preferential treatment and she didn't want anyone to disparage from the effort to be the best of the group of apprentices:
"You are Elektra right?" Pisces wanted to know. The girl nodded "I know that you've been without instruction for several days, right?"
Once again, the redhead nodded:
"Well... it's perfectly plausible that your Master has come to see how you are, to scold you for worrying her about your health and make her look for a place in her busy schedule to come see you and also, show you how many important things you have missed in the training. That is what has happened, isn't it, Elyn?" Aphrodite wasn't serious, Elektra could see it in his voice and in the gestures he was doing "But... if that was not the case, because we all know that Elyn doesn't have agenda... I, Aphrodite of Pisces, I consider it appropriate that you take into account certain tips to improve your performance; whether or not you are a saint with cloth. And to make matters worse, I discover that my own apprentice...
"Ex-apprentice, Dite".
"I discover that my EX-apprentice also needs a review of her movements... so what prevents me from spending the afternoon teaching both of you?"
"Nothing, sir. I just wanted to… make sure I wasn't causing trouble."
"Well... Here we go again. Rule number one for to talk with Aphrodite of Pisces: treat me like an equal, say me 'you'. Seriously, I think I age two hundred years if you call me that and we have quite a bit with Shion and Dohko."
"You're asking too much, Dite." Elyn added, laughing as she took off her shirt and stayed in her bra, due to the weather was so good the girl was in shorts so she didn't need to undress any more. She also took off her shoes and gathered her hair into a ponytail "Do I have to warm up or are you going to be soft?"
"Warm up, always warm up... while I will finish clarifying some things with Elektra."
***
As time passed, the redhead's face stopped burning with shame and little by little, she got used to the indications of the Gold Saint although on more than one occasion, she was rebuked for being aware of other things; specifically with the movement and shape of Elyn's boobs. Nothing escaped to the more than trained bluish gaze of Aphrodite, who by calling Elektra's attention, ended to freely comment on Australis's body:
"We all know that she's super sexy when she wants, but focus, or I'll force her to put on Australis cloth."
The threat was false, Elektra knew but still forced herself to focus on training, perhaps because deep down, she wanted to keep glancing at Elyn's spectacular body sweating and undergo the same exercises from her. Due to the amount of stress she had suffered when she lost her nerves days ago, she had not stopped to look closely at Australis's body curves: Elyn was incredibly toned, all her muscles were marked but in such a subtle way that from time to time a chill surprised the redhead. In addition to having a spectacular body and one of the best control on the cosmos in the Sanctuary, Elyn was extremely beautiful when she laughed and Elektra felt that she couldn't stop looking at her, perhaps because she hadn't seen Australis for several days and because the last meeting had created a strange relationship between them but, of course, that personality that the Silver Saint showed in front of Aphrodite was not the same that she let see every morning by training their apprentices. This Elyn was warm, smiling and even amusing; a girl with the same age who didn't stop acting as such when surrounded by trusted people:
"Elyn, can I know how far you have taught without 'being cheating'?"
Elektra smiled although the mask didn't let anyone see it:
"The guys know how to change the emotions that the cosmos transmits to them, it doesn't care if is enemy or ally. But they still don't know how to be instinctive to defend or attack.
"I think if they have the level of Elektra... you could start working on it."
"Elektra is, without doubts, the best of the team but I want to be sure with the others too, Aphrodite."
"Do you would like to do a test now? C'mon, my blue rose. Get there, far away and advance just dodging."
Elyn doubt but at the end, she walked about twenty meters, closed her eyes and waited for Aphrodite to start the exercise: it was simple, Pisces materialized a white rose between his fingers and lifted it up, instantly dislodging it. Each petal advanced in a different direction but they would all go through the path Australis had to travel. The Silver Saint began to walk to the front, dodging each petal with the utmost ease together with an amazing beauty and delicacy, as if she moved to the sound of a ballad or her steps were reduced in slow motion:
"Now it's your turn, Elektra, although you can do it with your eyes open. You just have to turn the cosmos that the petals give off into an enemy and prevent them from touching you. Did you understood? This is the key to defeating your Master" Aphrodite laughed when saying those words "but I warn you that even if you know that... it will be impossible for you to do it if you aren't able to do this exercise with the same smoothness as Elyn."
The redhead took a deep breath, it was her second chance to impress Pisces. She had two options: do it with her eyes open and make it clear that she was of lower rank even if her result was optimal, or imitate Elyn and risk failing in the attempt to have gone against the recommendations of a Gold Saint.
She opted for the second option.
They were rose petals, their movement was fluid and she just had to avoid them, it didn't seem like a complicated task, so she positioned herself and waited for Aphrodite to repeat the act of removing the leaves from the rose; once he did it, Elektra closed her eyes, changed the sense of the cosmos, and stepped forward. Theory was much easier than practice, her steps were insecure, making her progress not at all as graceful as her teacher's, but despite this, she perfectly felt the irregular movement of each petal, so After suffering for a couple of minutes, he reached his destination having fulfilled his objective:
"Wonderful." Aphrodite said. "And with my eyes closed, I must congratulate you, Elektra."
The heat invaded the redhead's body again, feeling proud of having opted to meet goals beyond her beliefs. However, the Aphrodite's voice began to intertwine with a beep that clouded her vision in seconds. She began to feel dizzy, without strength, but her self-demand forced her to stay upright believing that perhaps it was a relapse for having spent so many days lying in bed. She wanted to hold the composure but the discomfort buckled her knees without warning as her entire field of vision blurred:
"Damn it, Dite! Did you use poison roses with her?" Elektra managed to listen those words because Elyn pounced on her to prevent her body from hitting the ground.
"It's the custom, I'm sorry! Plus, it was just a scratch!"
That comment caused her self-esteem to collapse, Elektra hadn't dodged all the petals. The redhead wanted to apologize to Pisces for failing to live up to expectations but before she could open her mouth, the world around her turned black and her cosmos seemed to evaporate completely.
***
When she woke up again, candlelight was litting up her entire room. Unconsciously, Elektra sat up in bed and discovered that her body no longer felt so tired, heavy, or without energy; on the contrary, she had the impression that she had regained strength after resting. It was obvious, the days that preceded that moment had passed without knowing the passage of time, closing her eyes from exhaustion and waking up to let herself be carried away by grief:
"Ey, drink this."
Turning her face, she discovered that Elyn was at her side and was holding a steaming mug in her hands that smelled wonderful. Elektra loved the infusions so she didn't disgust the one her Master gave her. Instinctively, she put her hand to her face to remove the mask ... Her heart stopped when she realized she wasn't wearing it. Nervously, she turned to look for the Gold Saint who had spent the afternoon helping her with the training:
"Don't worry, we are alone. By the time I took your mask off, Aphrodite was already gone. He knows not everyone think like me about the masks."
Slightly more relaxed, the redhead took a sip of the liquid inside the cup. Even with the fabulous aroma it gave off, the taste of the tea was unmatched by anything she had ever tasted before: it was a complete delight that not only stimulated her taste buds but also made her feel better psychically and physically:
"What is it?" She asked Elyn.
"The antidote to Dite's rose poison. Another day, he will come to apologize in person for the mistake."
"It isn't necessary... I know it was accidentally." Both looked at each other, illuminated only by the orange light of a candle "You know I have light in my house, right?"
Elyn laughed, unable to contain herself. A sing-song laugh that completely dazzled Elektra:
"Yes, yes... I thought so. But it's an incense candle, it also has certain healing qualities that combine very well with the infusion. So you can get better faster."
"T-Thank you... Is it also Aphrodite's?"
"It's a Shaka's remedy. I have resources from all the Gold Saints."
The greenish-haired girl sat on the edge of the bed with her purple eyes riveting on the redhead's. The tone of the room made Elektra, if it was possible, the most beautiful woman than Elyn ever had seen: the reddish hair, the ruby eyes... her tender and nervous expression when feeling observed. Elektra seemed much younger than she really was when she showed herself with her true personality and not the facet that she showed to others. Australis melted for her, because deep down he knew that she was the perfect candidate to keep an cloth like Caelum: someone willing to fight with all her might to help others, not to want to be the best but because her heart was so pure and special.
Meanwhile, Elektra had also fallen in love with the eyes of her master, a girl with the same age who, in reality, seemed to be years ahead of her in everything she did. She didn't envy her, but she also didn't understand why someone like Elyn managed to remove her interior in this way. It was just the opposite of what he used to like: Elyn was childish, arrogant, expressionless... or at least that was what he had believed until that very afternoon when the Silver Saint had turned out to be the opposite, like that morning in the coliseum...