Chapter 00110010 00110100

While we were talking we didn't realize what was happening in the highest levels above us. The warrior faction had turned their levels into holo-rooms, armories, workout areas, and cleaning facilities. Bell was in the process of cleaning the equipment she had just used. A set of dumbells and the bench press. Her civilian figure was trim, fit, and covered in steam. She approached a fountain looking area and grabbed a bucket to douse herself. As she picked up a towel to dry herself she heard an argument ensue off to her left.

Three guys were complaining over who could use what equipment where and how one of them had been scolded for leaving his equipment sweaty and dirty.

"Can you believe it?! The freaking manager of this area isn't going to let me in any dome battles till I learn to clean equipment after I use it!" He growled obviously irritated at what was happening. Another nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Like how are we supposed to do anything if all we are doing constantly is cleaning? How can I get any faction contribution points for cleaning when there's no faction house!"

Bell finished drying herself and started walking away. But not before she overheard something else. "We can't all be like that pretty girl there. Perfectionistic freak. See how she is always cleaning things? OCD that one." The one whispered to his buddies as they all snickered at her like a joke. She spun and glared ar them making them instantly bow their heads. "You idiots got a problem with me?" She huffed at them as her figure glowed.

"No. What we have a problem with is having a girl like you on the Battlefield. Shouldn't you be somewhere cleaning or something?" The biggest one snarled at her. Instantly she reached over and grabbed him. And before he could even react he was thrown into an empty holo-room.

She stepped through the door which instantly slammed shut. The scenery changed into a forest and the two of them shifted. Bellonas dark hair flared up messily as her spiked buckler appeared on her left arm. In her right hand sat a studded whip. It was 15 feet long and looked like anything caught by it would be chewed up and spit out.

The other guy turned into an armored god. His armor had Celtic knots across it and a cloak as red as wine. A dark beard graced his rugged face and blue eyes. His right hand was covered in a metal wolf's head while his left held a large sword. He was barrel chested and stood at 8 feet. Bellona only stood at about 7 feet. His feet were clad in leather boots with a fur lining at the top.

"Bad match up girl." He growled as he raised his right hand. The wolf's mouth opened and clasped the sword hilt below his left hand as he raised the sword. He stood with the sword pointed at an angle toward her like an expert at sword handling. Bell merely tapped her whip on the ground and to the mans horror it shifted into a gladius.

"I tend to match my opponent. And I've only ever been defeated once. I do not have any intention of letting that happen twice." She said coolly even as she slapped her sword against her shield. A red colored boost appeared at her feet. A hammer and sword were crossed and it was obvious what it meant.

"You're using a strength boost! That's cheap!" Tyr shouted at her. Bell shrugged. "Gotta use what you got or do you expect your sword to be the only thing that works... Wait... considering your brain is so small that must be the case." She said with a thoughtful look.

Tyr's face grew red at that comment.

"You 8!+€#!" He shouted at her as he charged swinging his sword over his head at her. Bell slid her left foot around behind her making her pivot just enough for the sword to miss her and get embedded into the ground. She then leveled a kick at Tyr's head sending him rolling into a tree. Looking down she noticed he'd lost his grip on his sword and grinned. She grabbed it and picked it up like it was a toy.

"You shouldn't be able to do that. That sword chose me." Tyr said as he stomped to his feet. Bell gave him a bored look. "I'm a Goddess of war. All weapons are suitable to me. It's just that you happen to only be suitable for a sword and that makes you a warrior god." She grunted out as she suddenly leveled the thing at his head like a spear launching it into his face.

A deep line of light eminated out of his head as he dropped to the ground. The simulation suddenly came to a stop at that moment as Tyr's life was dangerously close to ending. Bell turned and exited the holo-room to see a small crowd had gathered. They stared at her like they were watching a real life monster.

"She doesn't move like a rook. Maybe she was in an armored guard or something?" Voices whispered.

Before someone called out to her "Look out!"

Tyr suddenly leapt out of the room at her still in his battleform.

She ducked allowing him to go flying over her and into the workout area on the other side of the street. There was a series of bangs and clangs followed by swearing that was silenced by one last thunk. Everyone turned to see a comical sight. Tyr was covered in a mix of weight disks and dumbbells. Not to mention that he couldn't move due to the weight. Bell snickered as she turned and started down the street.

Her battleform shrank down to reveal her simple civilian form. 5'6 and still had arm and shin guards on. She dusted off her icy white skirt. The dust flying in contrast to her blue top and black socks with slip on shoes. A seemingly strange thing for a girl with her warrior spirit to wear. But others still looked at her in fear. "I wonder how he's doing." She said as a slightly sad look filled her eyes.

"If only I was allowed to interact with other factions." Her shoulders slumped in a depressing way. "Maybe this place would be more fun then." She sighed as she walked. A sudden beeping came from a holo-room close by as a large man exited. Odin was the battleform for this guy. How could you tell? A massive norse style tattoo of a raven was splattered across his bare muscled chest. He stood 6'4 which was odd for a civilian form but it was well suited for this guy. "Why so glum Bell? Did you have a crappy fight or was it not even a warm up?" The burly man said.

Bell slapped her hand to her face covering her eyes. "Argus can you at least throw a shirt on for Pete's sake!? Your nipples are blinding!" She said as he laughed heartily. "Girl! A man who hides his muscle isn't a man! And I am a man!" He said with gusto as he flexed and all his muscles bulged. His back muscles especially stood out comically making him seem like a muscular turkey for a moment.

Bell shook her head. "If you weren't gay I would say you were coming onto me." She said turning toward an area where the skill books were. Argus shrugged as he let his muscles relax. "What? Can't you understand a brother who needs a little love. Come on give me a break! You're the only one besides Greg who knows." He whispered to her. A guy with a flamboyantly mohawk walked past. "No she's not." He said with a feminine twinge to his voice.

Argus turned. "Nobody asked you Carl!" He shouted before turning back to Bell. "Come! On! Girl! What's got you all in a huff today?" Argus said as he followed behind her. She brushed her white hair back with a flick of her wrist as though she didn't care as she walked away.

....

Back in the main level I was with my friends in the elevator that went between the levels. The elevator stopped at level 36. Floor 36 was filled with lively fairies and sprites as per usual when Henry, and Horacio stepped into it. I turned as Leroy and Geb waved at me. "See you soon brotha." Leroy said as Geb gave a little wave and the doors hissed closed. I could feel my shoulders sag a little at the sad fact my friends and I were separated again. It was nice outside the dome without having to fight each other. It was in the dome they had to be monsters. Outside they could be themselves without a need for payback or hatred. At least that is what I liked to think.

The way back to the faction house was easy to navigate by now. Having walked to and fro multiple times made it easy to find ones way back. Especially considering the average human brain only takes going somewhere 5 times to perfectly remember the way to a location. BL00D enhanced the brains memory feature and shortened the average to only 3 times. Memory was increased exponentially and this made combat training even easier. Walking through the front door of the faction house might've been a normal thing to the average person. But it was made more awkward in my case because Lily was there bowing low apologetically. Lily being the acting faction leader only made things more awkward. "I'm sorry for pushing you to the edge with my spartan style tactics. It was uncalled for. I will leave you to grow further at your own pace." She said before straightening up. Her face was a frown but it was obvious that she wanted to cry from how it was quivering.

I quickly held up his hands as an awkward nervous feeling went through me. "I-It's ok Lily. I understand things went overboard. But please refrain from attempting to break me in the future." I said trying to keep myself calm and while facing a person who in every respect of the word could be considered my boss.

Lily bowed low once again and went downstairs revealing Beth standing behind her. "You should have scolded her a little. She's 100 some years old. She could use a tune up or rust would start making her not work proper." She said with a dissatisfied tone. I shrugged. "She's still our leader. Gotta cut her some slack for trying to bring out my best." I said as I walked in and sat on the couch. "Besides. If I did die I would like to think you guys would come get me... Right?" I said eyeing everyone hopefully. Henry rubbed his hand behind his head with a cocky grin as he looked away. "Yeah.... Sure we would." He said as everyone started laughing.

In the basement Lily sat at a workout station holding a holographic cameo. It was of her and a man. The picture seemed to have been taken some time ago and long before BL00D took them. Her features were similar to that of her form as Persephone but a little more gentle. Her face was rounder and her body showed signs of pregnancy. The man beside her was thin yet seemed to have muscle hiding inside his thin frame despite the desperate attempts of his brown business suit to hide it. His face was thin with a combed swathe of blonde hair on top of his head. His green-grey eyes stood out like traffic lights.

"I wish you were here. I really don't know what I'm doing." She said as she bowed her head and the cameo dissipated. Behind her came a cough. She spun in shock at the sound to find a quiet me standing behind her. I walked over slowly to sit across from her at the work station. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop." He said as her face reddened. "But I do have some advice..."

She didn't have eyes but it was obvious she was glaring at me. "Not that this happened to you . But I was abandoned over 16 years ago by a father who should have cared for me. I wished to all the world he came back for the first while. I miss him. Even if I do hate him for what he did. Your husband is away not because he wants to be. But because he has to be. So take pride in knowing you'll be seeing him once his job is over. Cause he did what needed doing." I said with a small grin before slapping my knee and rising up. "Now... wanna train?"