"A...A... achoo!!!" I heard a strong sneeze coming from Higen's room in the morning, "Hey big guy are you... oh my god!" he was down on the floor halfway out of his pajamas and reaching for his pants, Higen was all red and sweaty, "what happen to you?!?" I helped him to his bed and sat him on it, he tried to talk through a very clogged nose "Ozwald, I don't feel so good..." I placed my hand on his forehead, and he was burning, "You have a very high fiver! Go lay down" "No I can't do that!" he complained and stood up, but I pushed him back down onto his bed, "... when did you become cough so strong Ozwald?"
"Higen you are barely conscious and weakened" I grabbed my phone and dialed up Lulu's phone "Ozwald? Is everything alright?" she said from the other end, "Don't tell her!!! I'm fine completely cough fine" Higen complained I squinted at him, and he went back to bed, "actually Higen seems to be sick probably the fight from last night had something to do with it..." My mind flashed to yesterday the app informed us that a titan manifested at a place downtown so we went to fix that.
The labyrinth was a very windy and rainy hill, and a scarecrow-like object was feasting on a person's head Higen lounged to strike it but a rake came from his side knocking him out of balance "There are more of them!" he informed me as I jumped out of the reach of the rake "Bloom!" the one behind me got tangled on the grassy terrain of the labyrinth, and made it easier for Higen to cut down, we keep at it on the rain for a while until we find the real one and eliminated it for good, afterwords Higen had to run for practice, I told him to take a shower but he probably forgot.
"I'll send Cambell over as fast as he can, as for you, do you want to look after him for today?" she asked me I'm used to taking care of people when they are sick, the twins often get sick from playing outside, it is weird when Malika or Talo get sick but I also tend to care for them, "sure I'll..." "No, you can't!!!" Higen complained, "Have you forgotten? You have a match today!" oh right today is my first running match as part of the track team, "Higen this seems to be more important than the match" he stood up and pointed his finger in a direction close to me, "no everyone is counting on you, is the foundation of any team activity and I have to be there to support you!" "Higen you are sick!" "I'm not that sick, not to make you miss the match... why do your arms feel like they are made of wood?"
He was shaking the wood armature he uses to hold his armor plate "Because I'm five steps... behind you Higen!" he turned around slowly, blinked several times with his puffy red eyes, he was squishing my cheeks, and poking at them to make sure I was the real me, "I'm two seconds away from pulling the staff out of me and hit you with it if you don't stop" I threatened him "what I'm saying is you can't miss this out not for me" I sighed "you are not going to let this go aren't you?" he shook his head "fine I'll wait for the doctor and then go to school" I reach for his waist and pulled the rest of his pajama up and put his hoodie over his head "go back to bed I'll make you some oath meal and juice" he pouted "I don't wanna..." my heart started to beat fast, he is kind of cute when he does that... what am I thinking? "... are you okey Ozwald? Your face is kind of red right now" "Do...don't worry about it get into bet now!" he grumbled and climbed on his bed and crossed his arms, "dumb Ozwald he thinks I'm too sick to do things I was talking to the wood because I wanted to not because I'm too sick..."
After Dr. Cambell arrived I left the apartment, Higen tried to convince the doctor to let him go to school but he forbade him by saying "If Ozwald gets sick you will be directly responsible, do you want that? Do you?" "no..." and that was when I grabbed my things and left for school, he was probably sad that he was going to miss the race, he is always so supportive and cool, ... there it was again the same heartbeat, maybe I'm also sick, I saw that Niko was already at the classroom he waves at me when I arrived "Hi Ozie, where is Higen? Did he overslept?" he asked me, I shook my head and left my bag on the floor, "no, he is sick today and I had to force him to stay home" concernment crossed his face "really? That sucks! He is going to miss the race?" "Yeah, he fights tooth and nail but he is in no shape to come to school"
"and are you going to be okay without his support during the race?" he asked me, to be honest, I was really nervous I had never participated in something like this, and now I had to do this alone but the team counted on me, plus is not like is a final match is just an exhibition match against another school but Donna urger me to try like if my life depends on it, "all right settle down class" the teacher arrived a few minutes after I arrive, "today we are going to start with the odyssey five hundred plus pages of pure Greek drama" a few students let boring moans from the new assignment, so far I like literature from this world, it is interesting to learn what authors here have to say.
The bell rang indicating the end of the first period, we all gathered our things and were about to leave the room when the teacher stopped us, "Right, right, Miss Aster told us to remind you that today the track team has an exhibition match, and if I recall correctly Mr. Voloro is on the team" the rest of the class turned to look at me, my knees started to shake "be sure to show your support by showing up to the match kids" people start to whisper as they left, I hate when people do that, "you are going to do great Ozwald!" a guy told me as he left the room, "you got this dude!" a girl shouted from down the corridor, I don't like this, people now have expectations for me.
"... do I have a radar to find the least crowded bathroom!?!" I came out of the stall and went to clean my hands, I had to calm down, what would Higen say if he was here? "Ozwald you are so cool, you definitely got this in the bag!" wow my imagination is really good, that sounded just like... him? I looked into the mirror and instead of my reflection there was the reflection of Higen flashing his smile and flicking his thumbs up, "what the hell?" the reflection of Higen put his hands on his cheeks and started to move his hips from left to right "Oh Ozwald, you are the best, so brave and strong, ah I simply must be with you for the rest of my life!!! Hahahaha!" the reflection shapeshifted back into me but with those black circles on my eyes and cracks, then I remember that the allure was here.
"the hell do you think you are doing Allure?!?" he laughed some more and then addressed me "Don't be so dramatic, you should know I came out easier when you are in distress I just wanted to help" he winked at me "hard to believe when you are supposed to guide me to evil what do you want?" he flicked his tongue "I'm not "guiding" anyone to evil, I just present the rest of the options a sorcerer has, and you know my answers tend to be good" he taunted "I don't need your answers or your pillow talk, I can do this on my own" "boring, come on! Don't you want to win and not disappoint your class and teammates? What would they think? What would they do if you let them down Ozie?" he is using my fear against me this is bad I need help, "come on just give in already we could..." someone entered the bathroom and Allure disappeared from the mirror, I breathe a big sigh of relive and went to my next class.
"A...A...achoo!!!" blast this infection! After the doctor left, he forced me to promise I wouldn't go out of the apartment for the day, he gave me an injection and left some medicine after I woke up, I walked sluggishly to the living room and sat on the sofa, "now how do I do this magic again?" I grabbed the remote control and pressed the bright cyan button "Oh magical black mirror, show me the last thing Ozwald was scraying!!!" after a few notes the mirror turned on and said "Opening viewflix and played Zoofice episode one" I did not like this tool my grandfather told me it could turn you into a living zombie if you are not careful but I don't have the strength to grab a book, "its currently two o'clock would you like to skip the intro?" I consider it but like a good knight if I see a show I should see it from the start "No mirror I'll see the introduction" The opening song started as I grabbed my phone and looked at the picture of me and Ozwald I have as a screen saver.
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"So, remember our formation, Donna Parker you are our last runner, Ozwald Voloro you are our third, Alexa Coleman second and our first is Luis Leval, the School of Marlysha is a tough opponent whoever this is just an exhibition match, have fun and try hard!" I was stretching after couch Hanna reminded us of our line up, "why is Voloro our third runner?" a guy complained, I stopped my stretches to hear "I know right? I swear to God if he flops, I will lose my shit", "What would they do if you fail?" the words of Allure returned, "Ozwald, are you okay there pal?"
Donna asked me she probably saw I was nervous, "Yeah... sure never better" She wasn't convinced "Come on, follow me!" she extended her hand and helped me stand up, we walked behind the field where we could be alone, she was wearing her running clothes in a bright shade of black and pink and her hair was tied up into buns "Okey Voloro talk to me" I crossed my arms and sighed "I'm having second thought about this, what if I fail? What if everyone gets disappointed?" "Hey now, that's normal, I think like that all the time, don't let the others get to you, the couch piked you because you are a good runner."
My phone buzzed and I looked at it "Ozwald..." it was a text message from Higen even from far away he still believes in me, Donna looked over my shoulder to the text and smiled "See!!! You have a fan club, where is Higen anyways?" she asked, "he is sick today, and even with that he still thinks of supporting me..." I felt my heart beating fast again, why is this happening whenever I think of him? Donna picked up on that and her eyes illuminated "Ozie... are you perhaps..." she started to say but the intercom turned on and asked us to prepare for the run, "I'll ask you later, so are you ready?" I nodded with determination "Ready as I'll ever be!"
The races started, and we had to run faster than the opponent while holding a small baton if it fell we got a penalization in time, "Ozwald!" the second runner started to get closer and I started to jog, I extended my hand and when I felt the baton I grab it and started to sprint, I ran away from Titans all the time and let Higen manage the brown of the fight while I support him, so I can definitely do this, my opponent and I were head to head, "Donna!" I yelled for her to get ready she started to jog and extended her hand, I extended my body to deliver the baton, and the second she grabbed I fell to the ground, she sprinted as fast as the wind and crossed the finishing line before her opponent, we did it... we won!!!
We all cheered for the winning "All right lads and lasses we are going for some ice cream for the victory!" I was very excited to tell Higen I grabbed my phone from my bag and my heart sank as the red bold letter of the Tartarus app greeted me "TITAN DETECTED!!!" what was I supposed to do? Higen is sick and can't fight in this condition, I will have to fight alone for the first time, would I be able to do it? This is not a harmless competition if I fail here people are going to... "Ozie you coming?" Donna asked me, I shook my head and grabbed my bag, "Sorry I have to run there's an emergency at home!" she wanted to say more but I bolted out of the field and towards the location for the Titan.
"I don't think this place can look creeper but apparently I was wrong" I arrived at the memorial graveyard, and one of the doors to a crypt was changed for the door to the labyrinth of the Titan, I'm scared, running is one thing but fighting a monster on my own is too much for me, and yet... I pulled one of the needles from my sewing kit and pricked my finger, the staff came out as I jumped into the lire of the beast, this time it took the form of a giant coliseum, torches with roaring flames illuminated the circular spaces, while spectral shapes cheered and clapped from their sits.
I looked at the titan, it was as big as a house, a big smoldering bull made out of brass, every time it breath smoke and cinders came out of its snot, its horns were long and pointy like the spear of Higen, but it wasn't looking at me, a few feet away from him a small child probably the same age as the twins, he was crying the bull started to charge at the kid if I don't do something he will be a blood stain on the coliseum, "Release!" I yelled as the bull rammed where the kid used to be, my hands turned black in a moment, that word took too much power out of me, the bull turned and started to dash against me "Shell!!!" the shield formed in front of me, but the second the bull rammed into it, the shield cracked.
I raised my hands trying to fortify the shield "This was a bad... AAAHHHH!" the bull broke the shield easily, in a gored it lunged me into the air, and then kicked me with its back legs, I was thrown into one of the walls of the coliseum, all of the petals shattered instantly, I was bruised and battered, even with the protection of the now broken barriers it made too much damage to me, my arms were all corrupted too, "Thi... this is it? Am I going to...?" the bull walked slowly towards me like it knew I was weak and didn't even worth wasting energy on me.
I could feel the tears forming in the corners of my eyes, I wouldn't be able to see my family, I was never going to make another piece of cloth or run with Donna, Niko would be finishing Zoofice alone, and Higen... would he be okay when he finds out? "Hi...gen... save me..." I said weakly, it was like time slowed for a moment, Allure appeared again in the reflection of the staff, "You are pathetic Ozwald, calling for your knight in shining armor to save you? Just how weak and useless can you be?" he wasn't mocking me he said it with anger and disappointment in his tone, but he was right.
I'm not a fighter, I could never be a hero like Higen, I can't be strong like Talo, I should have stayed where I belonged down in the underground, where nobody has expectations, where I wouldn't let anyone down, clink the key charm Higen gave me fell from my pocket "Ozwald, you can do this!!!" I heard in my head; I kept crying "You are right Allure... I'm weak, I can't do anything on my own, I'm a crybaby, I think poorly of myself... but!!!" I use the staff to stand up and attach the key chain to the disk of the staff, "Someone is waiting for me to come home!" I took a step forward "He believes so much in me..." the bull started another dash toward me "That... that I'm going to have to believe in myself too!!! I put the staff in front of me and yelled with all the air I had in my lungs.
"I REJECT YOU!!!" the staff shined with bright green light, I closed my eyes expecting to get rammed over by the hoofs of the bull, but when the pain didn't come, I opened my eyes, the corrosion reverted to only my hands, the bull tried to move but it was violently thrown back against the wall, "ha...hahaha...HAHAHAHA! Right, right, those are the eyes I wanted to see, the eyes of a sorcerer willing to face the fear, someone worth taking over!!!" Allure was elated by my resolve and the sudden rush of power, "Shut the hell up! I will show you and everyone else, I'll show the whole world that I am worthy to be by Higen's side!!!" I remembered something my father told us, if its body is made of hot brass, I had an idea.
"Freeze!!!" a flurry of cold air washed over the titan's body, at first it didn't do much but before it could stand up its body started to crack and break it worked, "Remember kids, if you cool down metal that is scarlet red wrongly, it will end up in multiple cracks and the metal would be useless so always take your time to cool it down gradually" I slammed the staff on the ground and put my face near the disk as I yell "SHATTER!!!" my voice resonated through the coliseum, the ground started to shake and then to crack as a blast of sound destroyed the ground and the body of the bull.
I ended up panting and limping towards the core, a bright red colored pearl, and simply waited for the labyrinth to disappear, the after team was waiting for me but I didn't want to collapse to the ground just yet I handed the core to Lulu "jo...job done I... di...did it..." everything went black as I woke up on the back of Lulu's car, my wounds were already treated, "what happened?" I asked, Lulu looked at me through the rearview mirror, "You collapsed from your wounds Mr. Voloro, don't worry you are not in danger anymore, I believe this is yours" She handed me the key charm I grasped it in my hand and closed my eyes, I did it I really did.
"Higen I'm home!!!" I threw my keys on the bowl and I left my bag on the hanger, I saw a tuff of blonde hair on the sofa, Higen was watching closely at the TV... oh sorry "the black mirror" "No Jenny the giraffe do not kiss him that's Toby's evil twin cousin twice removed you can tell by the different color leaf on his head!!!" I sat next to him he grabbed me by the shoulder and shook me with force, "Ozwald thank god you are here, you have to do something if she kisses that rat Toby will be heartbroken, we have to save him!!!" "Higen, you know that's the dram part of this show, right? Like that is not real" he blushed and coughed "Right, of course I remember ha-ha-ha I was checking if you knew" I rubbed his head "If it makes you feel better, they come back from this stranger than ever" he got really happy when he heard that.
"So how did the race go, did you win?" I nodded "It was a team effort, but I have to tell you something, a titan appeared" his face turned from happiness to worry "And... did you..." I nodded again "Of course I kick his ass, you are right I'm stronger than I think" "That's awesome Ozwald!!! We must celebrate your first victory and your first victory against the Titans" he walked to the refrigerator and grabbed two cups from it "I order flan Niko told me that's how you celebrate a victory here" he gave me one of the cups and a spoon, "Thanks for cheering me on from here Higen I..." my heart started to beat faster and faster against my chest, this sensation is weird "yeah? What is it, Ozwald?" "Nothing, thanks for believing in me and all Higen" I opened my arms to hug him but he dodged out of the way, "No, I will not get you sick you hear me? Never!!!" he might be a dramatic person, but he is my dramatic person.
