My body felt like a wreck, like a truck hit me and someone rebuilt my pieces. The Sagittarius star fragment is still in my pocket, still burning like a reminder I gave up a day of my life for 60 seconds head start. I don't want to go to school, I don't want to work, I don't want anything anymore. But I pulled myself up and decided not today, maybe tomorrow I will let Leo turn me into a BBQ, but right now school.
Being a loser with no friends makes school a bit more bearable. Not many people want to make small talk with the weirdo who kept to himself, and that makes it easier for everyone to forget about my existence. Until Mira showed up with the same smile she flashed last night in my classroom door and ran straight towards me, couples steps behind, Lena followed her.
"Ophiuchus!!" She screamed and hugged me tight.
"Mira…please." I begged, this is the second time I begged for my life, I wonder what would I get for the third time.
She finally let me go and I crashed down to my chair. Mira still looked at me with the same fascination she showed last night, like I'm the most fascinating species she ever encountered.
"Rei's right?" Said Lena without giving any care her twin just crushed my entire body with her hug, how's someone so beautiful be so barbaric.
"Rei?" Asked Mira, sounds confused like she forget I was a pawn of Ophiuchus not the bastard himself.
"Yep, that's me." I answered weakly mainly because I was still trying to get myself together. "I'm sorry but I thought we shouldn't be together, I mean the whole battle royale thing?"
Mira just chuckled like I just muttered the funniest bit a comic can come up with, and Lena's expressions are ever changing.
"Oh..relax, we don't just go around killing each other, every rider only has two chances, lose both and you perish. One in your case I guess but yeah every rider usually waits until a good chance shows up or you know your God forces you to but it's usually Leo, he's a bit of a grumpy God from what I heard." Said Mira before looking at Lena, hoping for her addition to the lore I guess.
Lena who's been standing there then looks straight at me, dressing me up and down, maybe trying to find the reason Ophiuchus chose me as his avatar or hoping a forbidden rider to be more than just a kid.
"You should quit," said Lena who finally chimed in. "Being a forbidden rider doesn't give you a good chance in this tournament, I don't know what Ophiuchus said to you but you should save yourself."
"I…I can't." I said weakly, andi's face flashed again, his bloodied face, the entire world forgot about him and the Gods that make everyone forget someone ever life, ever dream, and ever love is unforgivable. I don't know how but I'll make sure those guys pay one way or the other.
Lena doesn't seem happy with my answer and I swear I could feel her anger soaring up and ready to kill me. I can feel my phone buzzing. Maybe that thing also felt the danger looming. Can I even defend myself against these two? They managed to fend off three riders that are way stronger than me without breaking a sweat, and here I am thinking about changing and defeating them.
"Guys!! Relax, Lena, I told you you shouldn't scare him off. I still have so…many questions I want to ask." Said Mira who jumped between us, her smile never faded and honestly it's the best thing I saw in the last few days.
"He…"
"No, please let me have this." Begged Mira with puppy eyes directly attacking what I believe as Lena's weak spot.
"Fine." Answered Lena "but if something happens, I don't wanna hear you complain."
Lena then walked away leaving me alone with Mira whose smile beaming like she doesn't just attack her twin psychologically. She then fixed herself a chair directly in front of me and looked me straight in the eyes.
"So.. Rey?"
"Yeah." I answered nervously because I don't know what she is capable of.
"Don't be afraid, I just want to know more about you. You see from what I heard from Gemini, your patron Ophiuchus is a nasty God and there's a good reason they threw him out of the heaven constellation."
"oh..that's new."
"Yeah," said Mira somehow managed to reach an even higher note "And you accept his power, I mean being snake and all should be a giveaway that you work with someone evil."
I guess I don't think, I was angry, blinded by rage and only seeing red. Maybe that's why he offered me that power then, he knows I will accept it without a second thought. And honestly I don't know if it's even possible for me to get out of the contract I made with him, he's probably tied this power with my life and the only way out is dead.
'You right, maybe I'm just an idiot. I shouldn't know better than accepting an offer from a textbook bad guy." I said weakly. She is still looking at me but this time with concern.
"Lena's right, you should quit. This tournament isn't for you, the others and theirs. God would think for a second to kill you." said Mira with ever changing concerns, with maybe pity for an idiot like me who fell for Ophiuchus scheme. Maybe I should thank her for her concern, that felt nice. But, I'm not ready to give up yet, not until I get my hands on those bastards in the sky. Also there's one thing I can't get my head around since last night, why would she save me last night? Wouldn't be easy to leave me to my fate, being a BBQ that is.
"Why are you saving me back then? Would your God be angry? Helping a forbidden rider using the power of an exiled God, your patron, she definitely wants me dead."
"Oh..she is." Answered Mira "she's just a bit weak when I'm being persuasive. Anyway I should get going, Lena will be cracky if left alone for too long. Bye Rei, don't get killed yet.
Mira then strolls around, bunny hopping across the floor leaving me alone with my thoughts. I don't know what to make out of that conversation, quitting would be the easy way out, even if it would kill me but I don't want to quit. Maybe because I wanted revenge, maybe I wanted my life to be better, or maybe because I…
My phone rings violently, my boss's number flashes across the screen, I turn it off, I don't want to deal with him at the moment. I'm probably going to get fired, but I don't really care now. The next fight will probably be my last and why bother wasting my life for a couple hundred. But still, I need the money. I don't know how long this entire God battle royale thing will last, and from what Mira said this thing can drag on. When I'm not fighting another rider, I'm still Rei, those riches Ophiuchus promise are still a far away thing. I'm still broke, I'm still a cog in the system and a good cog is a useful cog. So I picked up the call.
I lost two shifts next week for a no show yesterday. So my punishment for not working yesterday is to make me not work even more shifts, that makes sense. That sorry excuse for a manager not even acknowledging Andi's passing, he just said there's been an accident and we should be careful. Not because he cares about everyone's safety but it's a hassle to hire someone and to train them. I.. I want to choke him, I want to bash his head against the wall and stomp his face on the concrete…
"REI!!"
"Yup?"
"Stop day dreaming and stock the aisle." He said with his 'I'm better than you' voice, his hand resting on his board and his stupid hair styled with half a bucket of hair gel looks ridiculous.
"Right on boss." I answered mainly because I don't want to lose even more shifts and that prick knows, he curls his lips and gives me a little nod. He knows I can't say no to him, this job is the only thing I have left and that prick will use the miniscule power he has in this life to make sure everyone else knows he's better and you better toe in the line for him.
I stock the aisles, instant noodles, chips, and several other things. Every aisle feels like a burden, like life mocking me for being a failure. I took my smoke break and walked to the park, the very same park that I defeated Sagittarius. His card still in my pocket, I know he's out there seething with rage, knowing he lost to a forbidden rider. Someone who's not supposed to be in the tournament, losing once also meant his next fight would be his last.
I open my phone and check the app. Not much to look at, big transformation button smack dab in the middle, my status button and a daily? Like the MMORPG daily? I open it and see I already failed two days straight. I tap today's daily and see:
[Run 10k]
[Y/N]
Sounds easy enough but why did that bastard of a God never tell me about this? Doing daily brings reward right, something that may help me survive this ordeal. Probably not something game changing, but at this point anything helps. I tap [Y] and a timer appears in the middle of the screen. 1 hour, 2 minutes and odd seconds. Without any hesitation I run, knowing Donnie that sorry excuse for a prick will chew me later, but I don't have a choice. 10k is no joke, and I know I need every single second. I have to finish this daily and get anything to help me to survive, and then punch every single God in the face.