Chapter Text
A step behind. The Pride of Ixia's pommel lightly taps against her forehead, alongside a strong shove, has Graves stumbling back onto the grass. Great. She looks up, frowning at him. Apollo. He raises a hand in surrender, his sword arm relaxing by his side. "I told you to parry! I said exactly what I was going to do."
"Its not like you gave me any time to react." Graves sighs, scowling. "You said it and immediately started moving." She pushes herself up, rubbing the dirt and wetness off of her. Why'd it have to rain before this?
“You had plenty of time, and it was telegraphed. You’ll need to react quicker in the ritual, mind you.” Apollo looks her over, his brows furrowing. “I didn’t shove you too hard, did I?”
“Nah, I’m good.” Graves says. “… What. What’s that look for?? I’m fine.”
“I know.” Apollo says. “ Just slow to react.”
“Oh, shut up golden boy. Let’s see you try to react.” Graves says. Apollo simply spreads his arms wide open, smirking, inviting her best shot.
So Graves throws a jar at his forehead. He ducks it, turning to her to say something probably coy and clever, right before four little skulls ram into his back. “Agh, these??” He swivels around, slashing two in half. The other two circle him. Graves chuckles, sneaking up to him to and kicking out at his back. Surely this will—
Her thoughts are interrupted as Apollo’s tail flicks. He spins, grabbing her as her balance is thrown off from missing. He tosses her over his shoulder, right as he stabs the two skulls mid dive to protect their master. He smirks widely, a bright glint in his already bright gold eyes. “… That was your best shot?”
“Shut-shut the fuck up! Get off me!” Graves says, pushing him off. Apollo softly laughs, extending a hand out to her. She begrudgingly takes it after a moment of catching her breath. It really sucks when he’s cocky for the right reasons. She looks to him to see that same concern on his face, growing further. “What?? What’s on your mind??”
“Just.. are you sure you’re ready for the ritual? I don’t mind having you with me, it’s just… you’re not really—“ Apollo says.
“Yes, I’m sure! I just— can we have a break? You’ve been tossing me around for a solid hour.” Graves says. “I’m tired. That’s all.”
His eyes narrow, his concern somehow growing stronger, but he nods, cleaning and sheathing his sword. He walks over a dry spot—how did he notice that?—and sits down. He pats the area next to him. “Here's good. How did you even find a way to sneak into the recess grounds like this?”
Graves picks up her bag, gently cradling it and cooing to it for a moment, before looking over to him. “It was pretty easy. All these people are incompetent. The groundskeeper doesn’t check after all the kids are gone.” She slings her bag over her shoulder, walking over and sitting beside Apollo. “And a little bird told me where she keeps the key.”
“You speak to animals now?” Apollo asks.
“Wh-no. A soul. I was-how did you pass English??” Graves asks, turning to him. Apollo chuckles at the look on her face.
“I know. I know. It’s a phrase, right?” Apollo leans against the tree. “Can’t believe there’s lost souls here. At the school? I hope they didn’t.. die here.”
“… Nah. They just linger around the places they frequented.” Darcy says. “They're sweet when you can hear them. Good amount of them are those alumni the teachers talk about.” She leans against the tree. “… You.. uh.. get a lot of rain back in Ixia?”
Apollo glances to her, before looking out the humid playgrounds. Water dots the expansive schoolyard. A mixture of the parking lot, soccer field, and the classic American football field, and the current play area are all he can see, and yet his eyes seem to be sharply focused on taking in every detail. He responds after a moment. “No. Not like this. I mean—we have water but it doesn’t rain down from the sky very often. It’s usually content in the oceans and rivers. We might get flooding, though. I can’t imagine how awful that gets here.”
Darcy snorts. “Yeah. All our old civilizations were built around rivers. The flooding gets horrible. The river spirits also bugged them, and it really made it hard to set up civilization. The yellow river in China was a mess. Every-time it flooded, so many people would die. The Nile and Tigris and Euphrates were easier to handle, but still. Improper management..” Darcy put her hands to her neck, slightly gargling. She chuckles at her own acting, looking to Apollo. “And don’t..” She stops, blinking.
Apollo is staring very intently at her, taking in every word as if it were life or death. His eyes, sharp and pointed, had a surprising intensity for what was just small talk. He was really, sincerely paying attention. An incredible amount of attention. He tilts his head, frowning after a moment. “And don’t..? Don’t what?”
“Uh.. nothing. Don’t worry about it.” Graves says. “… Do you really care??”
“It’s interesting, I suppose. It’ll be important for me to learn about Earth and Ixia differences whenever I become the ruler.” Apollo says. He smiles to her. It’s not often he hears her talk so freely. Even if it’s about.. death and destruction. It’s pretty nice.
“Oh.. yeah. That makes sense. Gotcha. Well, most places by rivers flood. It sucks, people die.” Graves says, looking away. At least the guy is honest if he only cares for his own interests. Can’t hate him for that. “It’s big enough where everywhere has a great big flood story.”
“Ah, I’ve read about those!” Apollo says, raising an eyebrow. He never understands why Graves acts like this. Open one moment, cold the other. It’s she spends her energy out in a few seconds. Speaking of energy… “How are you feeling? Recovered? In the ritual, you’ll—“
“Yeah, I know. I’ll need be moving a lot.” Graves says. “I’ll be fine. I can handle it.”
“… Are you sure? You didn’t exactly pass PE with flying colors.” Apollo says.
“Well—how did—I got it, Apollo. I’ll be fine.” Graves says. “I asked you to help me practice for the ritual, not analyze me. Fuck man.” She pulls her bag off and sets it in her lap. She stares at it, pursing her lips.
Apollo looks at her bag. “… Don’t tell me you just have like.. 100 different jars in there. Are you just going to send out a horde to do the work for you?”
“No—that would be awesome, but no. I’m not that good yet.” Graves says.
“You should be a little more confident in yourself.” Apollo says. “For.. the rit—“
“Dude.” Graves says, glaring at him.
“Sorry.” Apollo says. “It’s on my mind! I don’t want you to die during it. Why are you even doing it anyways? To get stronger with your necromancy?”
“Sure, yeah.” Graves says. She furrows her eyebrows. “I’ll be fine. The patrons will bless us right?”
“Yeah, but what if you go against someone like me? Unblessed and I’m still tossing you around.” Apollo says, his tail moving slightly behind his head. “Literally.”
“I remember man.” Graves says. “Hey, you struggled to handle the skulls. Two more of those and you’d be toast.”
“Not if my blade got to you first.” Apollo says. “And I did not! I cut them down like floating leaves.”
“Sure you did.” Graves says, opening her bag and reaching in.
“I did!” Apollo protests.
“Sure.” Graves says. She stares at the inside of her bag, before shaking her head and looking to Apollo. “… I need you to promise to not freak out. Or lecture me, or whatever. No telling anyone either. Alright? Promise. What stays in this.. practice stays between us.”
Apollo nods. “You have my word. I’m already glad you aren’t telling the teachers… or my father. What could you possibly do that would make me tell anyone.. about..... this……... is that a severed hand??” He looks at the severed, writing hand that was just.. in Graves’s bag. Somehow, it looks pissed that Apollo is able to see it.
Graves nods. “Yup. It’s uh.. my mentor. Say hi to her. Be polite.”
Apollo looks to Graves. Then he looks to the hand. Then he looks back to Graves. He did give Graves his word. So he does as she says. “Hi.. Grave’s mentor. It’s nice to meet you.” After a moment, the hand waves to him. “How’s it doing that. Graves, how is it.. what.. is it??”
“My mentor.” Graves repeats.
“I got that.” Apollo says. “I wanted to know how it heard me. Are you playing a prank on me??”
“Hey—no panicking. Be chill.” Graves says, pulling the hand back protectively. “It’s my mentor. It’s.. well, it’s a lich hand.”
Apollo stares at her as his jaw goes slack. If it weren’t about such a sore subject, Graves would definitely find the confusion on his face hilarious. The golden boy would never be caught dead with that expression, usually. She tensed, closing her eyes, and waited for the coming lecture. She waited. She waited a little longer. Then she opened an eye slowly and stared back at Apollo. He was exhaling a deep breath, before nodding, his brows still furrowed. “Alright. Lich hand teacher. Are you bringing her to the ritual? Is that the secret tool that’ll help us succeed?”
“… You’re taking this a lot better than I thought.” Graves shoulders drop, as she relaxes. “Yeah. I plan on it. Since you're coming... thought you might know. She gives me a power boost from her own reserve, guides me around. We'll beat them all up and complete the summoning.”
Apollo’s brows stay furrowed. “And this is a good idea?”
“Hey, no lectures! Come on dude.” Graves rolls her eyes, scoffing. “It’s a good idea. She’s taught me a lot. And we’ll need her power during the ritual.”
Apollo bites his lips. He did give Graves his word that wouldn’t lecture her about this, even if it was evident to him how terrible this could go. Lich’s don’t get to that power casually. And if she’s a hand, that begs where the rest of her body went. But.. he could talk to Graves about it later. She might be in something much more dangerous than the ritual. He nods. “We will. I’m glad to have you, lich hand.” He holds his hand out to shake.. the hand. The severed, rotting hand—how does she just hold onto it??
The hand gingerly shakes Apollos hand. Graves smiles to him. “I’m already feeling invigorated. Ready to get your ass handed to you?” She gets up, putting the bag over her shoulder again. “Let’s try that parry thing again.”
"Feeling confident!" Apollo gets up, walking back the patch of grass they had been practicing on, unsheathing his sword as they walked. "I'll step in, and knock you over. Alright?" Graves could barely even finish nodding before he lunged ahead. He moved like a burst of fire.
The lich moved faster, the hand reaching up and batting the sword away. Apollo was left off balance, just for a second. Only a second. Darcy would almost never be able to take advantage of such a small opportunity. But her body moved on its own, from a will that was not hers. Her leg extended out and hit Apollo square in the chest. He doubled over, careful even with the wind knocked out of him to not dirty the sword, and fell to his knees. "Shit, man, are you okay?" Darcy crouched beside him. "I didn't—"
"You.. did good.." Apollo wheezed, smiling widely. "Nice kick.. ow.."
Graves smiles. "Yeah, it was a pretty good kick. I got revenge for you tossing me around." She's seen the golden boy fight before at tournaments and putting him on the ground? It felt.. pretty nice. Especially after the last hour of being tossed around with no progress.
"Yeah.. You might be a challenge now." Apollo says, taking a deep breath, sitting up a bit, in an odd way.
"What does—" Graves started, before Apollo spun, his legs sweeping her feet out from under her. She tumbled back, into the wet grass again, and lost her grip on her mentor. Apollo's sword caught the light beside her head, glimmering. One second. All it took for him to get the upper hand again. "... that mean.. prick. That wasn't fair!"
"I tried just a teennny bit harder, it happens." Apollo says, pulling his sword away and shrugging. "You dropped her."
"I noticed!" Graves reaches out and grabs her mentor. ".... So what now? You said you had an idea after I parried you once."
"Yeah! The idea is to keep doing it, but try to parry different things." Apollo says. "It's important that you train it until it becomes second nature. Something will happen in the ritual, someone dies or you will get really injured. Your conscious mind will stop thinking. But your body will still move. Training is building the thinking your body will do when your mind can not control it." He says, getting up and holding a hand out to her.
She looks up at him. "... I was kinda hoping we wouldn't keep kicking my ass."
"Sorry. Maybe if you were training with someone else, but me? I'm training you to contend with the best. It's a pretty rough path." Apollo says. "At least if anyone gets close, you can defend yourself. Or if you get close to them, you can fight them." Apollo says,
He smiles when Graves sighs and grabs his hand, pulling herself up. "Fine. But I get to swing at you."
"Id expect nothing less. En garde!" Apollo takes a proper stance now, just as Graves does.
Quite some time passes, much longer than either of them had anticipated to pass. Though, it was not surprising. Both had long fallen into a familiar flow, of swinging, blocking, and counterswinging, only to be blocked, and to reset. At some point within the bouts, both started to use their respective magics as much as would be safe. A wordless agreement and respect between the both of them, quick to vanish if either said anything about it, and so the only sounds that continued were the sounds of combat and snark when one was bested..
Graves especially had her focus sharpen to a high degree. While her mentor often gave her an incredible energy and strength, there was only so much it could do in moving and assisting her body. In the end, Darcy Graves would need to riposte the onslaught of Apollo's blade, and often his cutting wit. It was an unfamiliar feeling to her, to be moving so much and getting so much enjoyment from it, but each time she tripped or blocked Apollo's kicks and swings consciously, the stronger she felt. The better she felt in her own skill. Though only one of her blows landed, a spinning backhand with her mentor that Apollo didn't see coming, she had been chasing that high through out the entire bout. Even as she saw the sunlight get dim, and for a moment all she could see of Apollo were his golden eyes circling her. She felt her limbs grow heavy, as if the dead were holding her down instead of Apollo. But she could see that his body grew slower, more tired. Each swing lost its elegant control more and more, something she could now appreciate as she danced alongside it. She only needed to last a bit longer, and she would be victorious. She could stand above him and laugh, reverse the position she had been in so often. Only a bit longer, she asked of her limbs as she pushed them to a limit they hadn't been to before. A sidestep, a swipe from her mentor. A seamless block from Apollo, before a roundhouse kick responded. She stepped back, just barely away enough for it to only catch her jacket. She stepped in, using her mentor's power to slightly slow Apollo before retaliating with a kick of her own. No matter, the flat of his blade guided her leg away, before he reached out to grab her. She nearly stumbled when hitting it away. Just a bit longer, she knew now. That move from Apollo was reckless, desperate! She was going to win, despite her deadened legs and dehydration from how much she had been sweating. One more attack, all she needed to do was to step forward—
Her foot caught on something. A rock, a root, a patch of raised dirt. Perhaps it simply gave up from being pushed so far. It didn't matter, really, the effect would be all the same. She stumbled forward and slid on to the ground, her chin scrapping onto the ground, her mentor landing out in front of her. She didn't have the strength to even reach out and grab her. All she could was lay down on her stomach and pant, wait for her energy to return, and wait for the next witty statement from Apollo. What she didn't expect was for Apollo to drop down next to her, nearly to the floor himself if he didn't catch himself with his hand. He was panting as well, although less exhausted than her. He didn't say anything. Not a snarky comment, not gloating over her falling completely flat despite only landing one good hit. He just.. softly smiled down to her. It was more than just recognition, at least to her, that she truly had pushed him to a limit. She could feel pride swelling up within her limbs, enough to push herself off from the ground. "Next.. next time.. you're on the ground." Next time? She didn't think there would even be a next time, mostly because she didn't expect to really care for this, and since the ritual was quite close. She looked up to him. She wouldn't be against it. Darcy returned his smile. "Alright?"
Apollo nodded. He had rarely needed to go this hard, even in a tournament. He did not expect the sheer tenacity Graves held, especially for someone who really hated moving. She never complained once she got in the flow. She had this wide smile that he's rarely seen, each and every time she got up and got ready to attack or block. Apollo was proud of her, especially how quickly she had grown. In the beginning, her... mentor was pulling her around, and so Apollo learned to anticipate it. And then she spun in a circle and backhanded him, something he could immediately recognize as the opposite, as her guiding her mentor. From then, she truly gave him a challenge. Each attack, each sequence was more and more something of Graves's unique style. It relieved him. It relived him a lot to see her as herself. She was a good person, and a good classmate. She should be safe. At least he could keep an eye on her during the ritual, while crushing his opponents. "Yeah. I'd enjoy that. And, perhaps you could talk about your mentor. I'd love to understand her more." He says, glancing at the hand just past Graves. "I'm interested in how you came across her."
Darcy laughed. "Whatever. You know, I'm glad—" Graves looks to the hand. "Ah, fuck... I had something to do." She pushes herself forward, grabbing the hand and grabbing her bag. "I gotta go, but I'll..." She stares into the bag as she places the hand into it. "I should get going. It's really important." She frowns slightly as she starts to get up with a struggle. She looks... sad?
"Is everything alright? Could I help?" Apollo gets up, quicker than her, and reaches out to help her.
She gently bats his hand away. "No. Dead stuff." She waves without look and walks off.
Apollo sheaths his sword, watching her as she walks off. She gives him a glance as she reaches the gate, and clearly gets surprised when their eyes meet. She rushes out soon after. That worried him. He knew she could talk to the hand; she oft whispered between the moments they both took a step back and analyzed the next possible actions. He could also gander a guess that the hand could speak to her specifically as she would often agree to orders or nod after asking a question despite it being quiet. It wasn't hard to guess what just transpired. He could only hope that they would in fact see each other again, before the ritual. He walks out after a moment of giving her space, space he hoped would work out for him and not this Lich. It dawned on him now that he was playing more politics, more people were responsible for him.
No matter. The Prince of Ixia could handle the weight. He had to.