The next morning, Athena stood in front of a wall full of weapons. They ranged from small to large, swords to guns, normal to weird. Athena was supposed to pick out her weapon, but she didn't know which one to pick. She tried out the sword, but it was too heavy and bulky for her to wield. Right before she was going to ask Celso to pick a weapon out for her, she saw a lone staff leaning against the far end of the wall. 

She walked towards it and picked it up. It was light weight and fit perfectly in her hand. Looking closer at it, she saw thousands of tiny inscriptions written across the wood. It was in a strange language so she couldn't figure out what it was saying. At the top of the staff held a large blue bubble. She didn't notice the bubble when it was leaning against the wall, but now that she held it, it glowed making her notice it for the first time.

"That one?" she heard Celso ask behind her.

She turned around and held the staff out. "I think so. It seems like a fit."

Celso looked the staff up and down before nodding his head. "Alright. Follow me." He turned on his heel and walked out of the room.

Athena followed him and into another room. This room had a large mat on the floor and more weapons surrounding it on the walls. 

"This is all in your house?" Athena asked amazed. 

Celso chuckled. "Yes, it is. Come on." He took her hand and led her towards the middle of the mat. He turned to her and placed his hands on his hips. "Fighting with a staff is different. You have to be strong to wield a staff. With practice, you'll be able to get it, but don't get discouraged if your first few tries don't work out. Now," He took the staff and held it out in front of him. "Lesson number one. Whichever leg is in front of you, that same hand should be in front of you as well. Like this."

Celso held the staff long ways with both of his hands. He stuck his left leg out as he pushed with his left hand on the staff. Now, the left side of the staff - the side with the bubble - was pointing towards Athena. 

"Also, whichever leg your enemy has out is what you should have out. If I had my left leg sticking out and you were fighting against me, your left leg should be out as well." He handed her the staff and motioned for her to copy him. 

She placed the staff in her hands and stuck her right leg out first. She then pushed the staff with her right hand. Her legs were kept straight but soon became very uncomfortable for her. Celso walked around her and pushed at the back of her knees. 

"Keep your knees bent," he told her. "You'll be more comfortable and your balance will improve." He nodded his head in approval after finishing his circle. "Good. Now, when you are being attacked and have to defend yourself, go for the openings. Don't dance around."

"Why not?"

"You'll tire out easily if you dance around," he explained. "Wait for the open holes." He walked away and picked up another wooden staff and walked back to her. She stood in front of her and smiled. "Alright, block me." He suddenly sprang forward. 

Athena jumped back and ducked from almost getting hit in the head. She shot a glare at him as he laughed and shook his head. 

"You need to be ready for anything, Athena," he told her. "Not everything is going to count down before they attack you. Try again." He lunged at her again and this time she didn't jump back. She brought her right foot forward and met Celso's staff halfway. The staffs clanged together as they met. 

Celso smiled and nodded satisfied. "Good. Let's keep doing this for now and tomorrow we'll try something different." He drew back and circled her a little bit. He looked like he was a lion and she was the prey. 

As she watched him, she shrank a little under his sharp gaze. She reminded herself to never get on his bad side. She was ready for him when he lunged at her. Again, she met him halfway and blocked his attack. She pushed him back and looked for an opening. When she saw it, she was too late. He was already coming back towards her with another attack. She blocked it easily a second time and quickly pushed him back. 

Finding the open hole, she pushed the hard end of the staff towards his side. Celso jumped back and looked at her with a look of surprise on his face. 

"I didn't think you would catch on this quickly," he admitted.

Athena straightened up and smiled victoriously at him. "I've watched movies."

Celso laughed and lunged for her. She wasn't ready for his attack. She tried to block him, but instead lost her footing and fell on the ground. But not before she wrapped her hand around his staff and pulled him down with her. Celso landed on top of her and almost squished her. He stopped himself from falling with his arms. 

The staffs were laying beside them as they laid there on the floor. Celso looked down at her and smiled. Athena smiled back before laughing at herself. She covered her face with her hands. She felt her hands being pulled away from her face and Celso's face lowering to hers. He kissed her gently at first. 

Athena wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She felt Celso's body lower closer to her as one of his hand trailed up her side. They stayed there as their kisses became rougher. 

Suddenly, Celso pulled away and looked down at her. His eyes were dark. "This is why at first I didn't agree with training you."

"What do you mean?" Athena asked while running her hands through his hair. 

"I get distracted by you," he explained. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her neck. "But it's alright. If every practice ends like this, I don't care. As long as you know how to protect yourself, I'll try not to get distracted."

Athena sighed as she heard her phone start to ring on the edge of the mat. She crawled out from underneath Celso and walked over to her phone. 

Derek was calling her. 

She grimaced as she answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Athena?" Derek sighed into the phone. "Thank goodness you're alright. Where are you?"

Athena regretted not letting Derek know that they had returned last night and that they weren't coming back to the hotel. She was too busy arguing with Celso and forgot to let him know. "I'm with Celso."

"Where with him?"

"His house." She paused thinking that he was going to say something else, but he didn't. "Derek, I'm fine. We got back late last night and just decided to stay here instead of going back to the hotel." 

She heard Derek sigh again. "Alright. As long as nothing happened to you. So, how was the asylum?"

Athena turned to look at Derek who was standing behind her. She jumped a little at his sudden presence. She hadn't heard him come up behind her. "It was good. Nothing out of the ordinary happened while we were there."

"Are you sure?" he asked skeptically. "You sound like you weren't sure of that statement."

"Yes, I'm sure. That's what happened."

"What happened?"

"Nothing!" Athena sighed.

"Alright!" Derek chuckled. "I'm just messing with you. I was just worried when you hadn't called last night or this morning. I thought something had happened to you. I'm happy that nothing did and that you're safe. I'll leave you alone now. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Derek." She hung up the phone and pocketed it. Her stomach growled. "Celso, I'm hungry. Can we go get something to eat?" 

Celso smiled and took her hand. He led her out of the house and through the streets. They stopped at a small cafe and sat down to eat. They were seated at the back of the room.

They were quiet for a while until Celso interrupted the silence. "I think it's time to tell you about my past."

Athena stared at Celso. "Celso, you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable."

Celso nodded his head. "I feel comfortable. You might as well get comfortable. It's a difficult story." He took a long pause before starting. "Of course I was born to a normal family and lived almost a normal life until the age of six. At that time, my powers started to come out and my parents started to freak out. They didn't know what to do with me until this strange man came to my house. You met that strange man the other day. 

He told my parents about the academy and they immediately sent me there. At first, I felt betrayed. My parents had no hesitation in sending me there but after a year of staying in the academy, I grew to love it there. I met a whole lot of different people who quickly became my friends. 

They taught me many things at the academy and I thought that I was invincible. When I got out and moved to Italy, I thought that I could defeat any kind of demon. I was very wrong. When I was walking down the street one day, I was pushed into an alleyway by a shadowy demon. He pinned me down and threatened to kill me. I believed he would. He cut me along my back and chest, but I fought back. At least I tried. He managed to stab me through my chest right above my heart. He almost killed me. While I was laying there dying, a man came out of nowhere and killed the demon. 

He took me back to his place and nursed me back to health. It took a while to heal fully. After I was healed, I was kicked out of his house." He sighed. "I now remember that I never got his name. Well, that's my story that I was hoping to never tell, but now you know. I remembered feeling so weak and discouraged for a long time."

Athena stood up and walked over to his side of the table. She hugged him from behind and planted a kiss on his cheek. "You're not weak. You've protected me with so much strength. You were young, but it seems to me that you've grown up quite a lot since then."

Celso chuckled. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. He sat her down on his lap. "I have and now I have you."