198. Oh Ye Lack of Faith.

The next morning felt so much worse than anticipated.

I was still ' dirty ' for him, so we had no sex .. and I wasn't in the best shape anyway but, still all my muscles were aching and cursed last night after we promised to still do our archery training just before breakfast.

Zephyr was spreading wide on our bed, taking up 70% of it easy, and it took me a little time to climb out without waking him up.

To my surprise, Demelza was already awake and making some tea she was dressed and everything.

" You sure took your time .. but don't worry, Eli is sleeping in as well. You don't look so good. " she said, having too much fun with it.

" Well, not all of us were comforted last night, and yes .. I feel terrible, everything aches, and all I want is to go back to bed, but we brushed off granny's advice yesterday, so .. here we are. "

I took a seat and gathered myself while drinking some tea and examined Dem's face that turned into a lighter shade of blue and waited for my sister to show up.

" We can always just take a break from todays training .. we just need to endure the mocking of others. " said Demelza with a knowing smile.

We shared some looks ..

"" Nah .. ""

Just before we finished our morning warm-ups, Eli arrived late but to her credit fully dressed and ready with weapon in hand.

" Sorry I'm late .. walked with Lucian, he and his team had early training as well. "

" Let's do this .. we don't need a full training just enough to keep us limber, and we can go with the others once they're all shown up .. lots to do, ladies. " I said over my shoulders, walking outside.

_____

" This isn't going any better .. " said Demelza, looking fearful of what's coming.

I was still panting from my last round and holding myself up by sheer willpower. 

" At least .. we're here .. " I said with great difficulty.

Seeing Eli get pummelled out there and her boyfriend almost tearing up was little balm to our literal wounds.

" Dem you okay to go another round? " 

We turned towards Alexander, who didn't look any better, but his overall pain was mitigated by the fact that he is a large muscular man. His question was easily waived.

" Of course I am .. Where is Zephyr? " 

They turned to me, and I simply pointed up.

" He is having fun with the girls somewhere up there .. he sure has it nice. "

That somehow made them even more determined. For us, this was killer training. Meanwhile, he was living his best life just flying around.

I looked up the sky a little envious, I could be up there enjoying the view and the lovely spring weather.

" Alright! .. We need a break, guys. " said Saam, rotating his throwing arm a little.

Eli was offered help by Lucian but firmly refused. It was now a pride thing for all of us.

" Dodged 5 on level 4.. it's progress. " she said with a weak smile.

That smile somehow gives us all a little bit more courage going in the next round.

{ SWOOSH }

" Hey family .. how's it going? "

Behind us, Zephyr arrived alone and in his brand new black and white armour with a large white Phoenix in the middle .. and a full white cape attached to his back.

" You look great, little brother. Is ours ready as well? " Alexander went forward and walked around him, lifting his cape, checking from every angle.

" I believe so. She just gave me mine, and as a thank you, I took her and her apprentices for view up there .. ohoh Eli, are you okay? " he said, walking closer to his sister in law.

" Just getting my second wind .. yeah, you can go. " she said, looking at a patiently waiting Lucian.

" .. Yeah, you can go as well. " Demelza allowed her husband to go.

The men soon left to pick up their armour set.

" You look incredibly sexy .. too bad we still have a few days to go. " I said, wrapping myself around him, feeling out the nice material on his back.

" Did she say last night when yours be ready? " he asked.

Last night, we spent an hour at her cosy little home doubled as a workshop while she took our measurements and ended up lamenting them about the hard training Zephyr came up with .. their reaction was blaming us at the end, saying he didn't force anyone to do this and just offered a friendly suggestion.

His fan club was basically the entire village, so finding others to sympathise with us was next to impossible.

" Three will be ready and available on the morning we set out they're gonna spend the next two days with only that and nothing else. " I answered, repeating what Penny said last night.

I let my hand wonder and felt him out a little .. God, I missed this .. just a few more days. Hell, our next sessions might be in Hori village or in the wilderness.

" Stop .. this looks comfortable, but I'm just a few more touches away from jumping out of it. " he said, pulling away a little, adjusting his pants.

" But seriously .. you lot don't look so fresh, are you sure you don't wanna spend the remaining time just taking it easy and rest up? he asked without any humour this time. "

His concern almost toppled us, but luckily .. 

" That's cheating .. " 

Mother arrived with Granny and Mettil in tow.

" What? What's cheating!? " I asked after seeing his ' I just got caught' look.

He took another look at the smiling arrivals and explained it.

" We sort of took a bet .. if you three will give up before the time limit of tomorrow night. " he said without any guilt.

" How dare you!? " asked Demeleza.

"I can't believe Mother participated in this .. and you to granny? " Eli said, shaking her head.

" .. "

The other two were angry, but at this point, nothing my husband does surprise me anymore. In fact, I will use his lack of faith as fuel ..

I was also pretty proud of myself for not losing my drive like the others who overtime quit when I realised they never actually see the divine beasts.

I walked up towards him and gave a passionate kiss, almost taking him down in the process.

" .. Well, that was .. nice. " he said a little flustered.

" I hope you didn't bet much against me because you will definitely lose that bet .. what's the passing grade? "