Combat Training

Thursday, 29 April 2021

I felt helpless and hopeless. My subliminal mind couldn't register the magnificent cave that was at least four times bigger than the princess' chamber. I don't remember where or when it was, but I've seen photos of underwater caves around the world and they looked very scary. This cave, however, looked so serene and very stunning, unlike the creepy photos I've seen where divers were normally surrounded with weird rock formations, as well as weird-looking plants. The picturesque view before my eyes should've at least lessened my agitation, but I just couldn't feel brave enough to come to terms with Princess Nicolette's training tactic. I mean, what do I need a combat training for, right? What am I, a soldier? Am I enlisting in the military? No, I'm not, I just need to control my accidental power and I don't think that should entail a life and death situation. But then of course, Princess Nicolette isn't a Disney princess. I would have loved for her to be more like Ariel and not be brutal vocally and physically.

"Uriel, are you with me?"

The usual demanding and aggressive tone from her, snapped me out of my zoned-out state. "Yes, princess." I anxiously paced around, then stopped to express my hesitation. "But honestly, I don't feel like it's a good idea. Is this the decision you came up with after gauging my blue and green energy while I was asleep?"

"No, this was my decision even before assessing your energies." She said that without blinking, and with an expression on her face that showed she didn't give a damn about how I felt.

"Then, what was the point of observing me during my sleep if you've already made that decision?"

"Young maaa…" She sighed. "Uriel, it was to ascertain whether or not, you have the ability to control it. If your blue energy is superior than your green energy, which is will power, there would be no point in training. As a human, your body structure and energy are different. Any species different from ours do not have the capability to obtain such power, much less control it. But you did obtain the power accidentally. And now, it's more of a mystery to me that you have the same level of blue and green energy in your body, when that is only supposed to be feasible to our race."

She's trying. She's trying to be a little less rude than usual when she stopped herself from almost referring to me as a 'young man.' And despite the assertiveness that her body, face, and tone of voice exuded, she provided a rational explanation that made me feel like she was really trying to help me, and that her intention was not to harm me. Feeling a little reassured of her good intention, I straightened up and responded confidently. "Okay, let's do this."

The instant gleam in her eyes showed that she was pleased. She nodded, then held her trident in a fighting position that made my heart skip. I thought I have gained a little confidence already, but then the sight of her getting ready to try to kill me only brought my confidence down to zero. This time though, aside from my fear of being defeated, I also feared that I might not be able to control my accidental power. It was hard enough to fight a woman, much less fight a woman and not hurt her.

"Uhm…princess, do you have any tips in mind that you would want to share first? Perhaps what I should do to control my power?"

"Your accidental power."

"Right, my accidental power. Any tips?"

"I have none." She expressed this so casually.

"You're kidding me, right?" I asked, feeling a bit awkward that she looked like a warrior ready to attack, while I stood there all stiff and just waiting to be attacked.

"I am certain that you possess the will to control it. You fired your blue force to send me flying up the ceiling and almost killed me, because you had the will to live. It was not an accident. That power does not have a mind of its own."

"I see." While she was still in a steady fighting stance, holding the trident as if she were holding a katana sword in an ox guard position, I was in a boxing stance. My dominant hand and foot were slightly angled back from my target.

I don't like boxing, but I watched some because Justin loved boxing. Actually, I think he loves everything and can do anything. One time, he explained the difference between a stance and a guard, saying that a boxing stance is how you position your body, while a guard is where you hold your hands. He taught me the basic boxing stance and said that it will give me more space to build momentum and force, but now that I'm doing it, it feels so utterly ridiculous that I'm applying something that is not a match to someone with a trident as her weapon. "Uhm…don't you think it's quite unfair that you have a weapon and I don't?"

She laughed wickedly. "What an implausible proposition! A mere mortal possesses the strongest power in the underworld, and on Earth, and yet, whines about inequity."

She's always right. This woman is always right and now, I feel stupid. Why do I always react so stupidly in situations like this? "Okay, princess. I'm nervous. I didn't think that through." Without warning, she attacked and my natural instinct to dodge her kicked in. "Whoah!" I soared towards the sunbeam coming through the entrance and when she easily followed me, I swam back and roamed around, and around, and around for maybe 30 minutes.

"Uriel, there shall be no halt to this combat training if you must always abscond. Stop swimming away and face me!"

"This doesn't feel like a combat training at all! It feels very real to me!" I didn't realize that she just threw her trident at me when I saw it pass by really close to my face and onto the coral reefs. "You almost sliced my cheek!"

She didn't respond. I continued to swim as fast and unsteady as I could. I made sure my movement was in a zig zag because I was sure the princess already retrieved her trident and might throw it at me again anytime. I was too scared that I didn't realize I was headed towards a dead end. I had entered a narrow passageway and ended up stuck between two rock formations. Not long, she came and cornered me. With a forward pass, she delivered a straight face thrust and my adrenaline allowed me to release my blue force the way I wanted it. It spiraled with the water and froze her trident just in time before it touched my face. I painstakingly slid myself down and swam behind the princess. I was ready to fight her, but when she turned to face me, she gave me a beaming smile. WITH ALL HER TEETH SHOWING! I had never seen her smile before, and that instantly softened me. "Princess…"

She hugged me and I went stiff. "You did it! I knew it was a piece of cake!"

When she let go of me, her beaming smile had not disappeared and I was blown away. "Yes, I did it."

"See, I always knew you had it in you the minute you defeated me last night. All you needed was to trust yourself."

I smiled with my deep dimples on full display, hoping I would charm her, but she just took her trident which unfroze itself when she touched it. Then, she started to swim. When she looked back to check on me who just stood there watching, she beckoned by nodding, "Come on, we shall head back to my chamber and discuss my plans."

"Yes, princess."

When we exited the cave and went back to her chamber, I found out that the cave was just right behind it. She led me to her primrose bed and she lied down with her arms behind her head, looking so satisfied at the success of the combat training in such a short duration of time. When she realized that I was on the foot of her bed waiting, she slowly rose with her tails out and sat up leaning against the primrose headrest. "We shall discuss about your return."

"My return? You mean to my world?!" I instantly felt excited.

"Indeed. You may have been hailed King of the Purple Sea, but we must still maintain the balance and order of your world, and my world. My mother shall continue to rule the Underworld while I concoct a plan to retrieve my power. You shan't be missing too long from your world. Now, speaking of my mother, she's here."

When I turned my head, she had just entered the chamber. The princess and I stood up as she swiftly approached us. "Young man, I assume you have been informed of your return."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Or I mean, Your Highness, or Your Ladyship. I'm sorry, how should I address you, Mrs. Queen?"

She laughed. And I realized there was quite a resemblance with Princess Nicolette when she laughed. She shook her head in a funny way. "You are a breath of fresh air, young man." She continued to laugh, but this time, it was a soft giggle. "I am Queen Nicole Enapignarf. I will give you the liberty of addressing me Queen Mother because I think you are very delightful. Since my husband perished in this world, I lacked the vitality to smile or laugh, but with your presence, my desolation seemed to have evaporated." She lightly put her palm on my left cheek and I felt like a happy puppy. I would've wagged my tail, but I didn't have one, and I'm not sure I'd like to have one either. "The portal to the Earth and the Purple Sea is only open whenever a moon phenomenon occurs. You arrived during the full moon, and the next phenomenon would be the New Moon on May 12 at 2:59am."

Oh no, it's only April and that's two weeks from now. My gape made her smile again. "You must not agonize over this because I am not quite finished, young man. There had never been an instance when a human accidentally entered the portal to the Underworld, so this is a first for us. However, there is a rule that whoever exits the portal without the phenomenon, shall lose all memories of the Underworld."

"Oh. So, I won't remember any of this if I return now?

"Well, young man…since you are presently our King, you shall have a free pass. But that's a one-time exception only. Next time, the rule shall strictly apply." She gave me a sweet smile.

"Really? That's awesome! Then, I can go back to my world now and still keep my memories!"

"Yes, indeed." The queen chuckled.