NOTE: PLEASE DO THE INTERACTIVE PARTS AT THE END!

It was lunch time the next day, and all of the trainers were sat together. Sophia made her way over to the table, stopping in her tracks when she saw that there were no empty seats.

"Oh!
Hold on, I'll pull up a chair—"

"Actually, we're kind of having a training meeting", frowned Astra. "Could you sit somewhere else?
Just for today, then I promise we'll have our training meetings at a different time."

"Sure... of course.
Good luck guys."

Sophia quickly turned around so that they couldn't see her frown.
In her haste, she spilled her drink on her tray, the contents dripping onto the floor.

A few agents laughed at her, but they all turned to look at her.

"Oi!
Watch who you're laughing it!", called out Astra, making some of them quieten down.

Sophia hurried out of the Fuze, grimacing when she stepped in the juice several times.

When she got to her room, she was surprised to see Olga waiting outside her door.

"Olga?"

Olga smiled when she saw Sophia. "There you are!
Sorry, I wanted to check in on you after the competition yesterday.
How are you feeling?"

"Better after a good night's sleep."

Olga noticed Sophia's dejected demeanor.
She was stabbing at her fries with her fork.

"Can I talk to you for a moment please?"

"Sure."

★★★

Raphael and Ashryn walked to their fitness class together.
She was still annoyed, but not nearly as much as yesterday.

"Who's leading today—Astra or Oren?", asked Raphael.

Ashryn smirked.
"Let's make it a challenge.
Whoever wins has to buy the other something from that snack bar in the Fuze.
I vote Astra."

Raphael held his hand out.
"Deal.
It's obviously Oren anyway."

Ashryn lightly punched his hand, before heading into the room, with Raphael closely behind her.

Astra stood in the centre of the room, and Rhiannon and Makoto were already there.

Ashryn grinned and turned to Raphael. "I want those little chocolate cakes drizzled in mango sauce."

"So, today's session will be taught by Oren", said Astra, before gesturing towards Oren, who moved forward.

Raphael smirked, a laugh escaping his lips when Ashryn threw her head back and groaned in frustration.

"Today I'm actually going to be teaching you a skill called the
'Soul Searcher'.
But first... a history lesson."

Ashryn groaned as Oren gestured for the trainees to sit on the floor.
Oren and Astra pulled a large slab of what looked like a whiteboard, but the board itself was translucent.

Astra pushed a button on her remote, and a projection appeared on the board.
On it was a foreign language that none of the trainees recognised.

Oren pointed to the image.
"This... is the first written document ever recorded in Plurg's history.
It was from the Olden time period."

"But what's that language?", questioned Raphael.

"The original language spoken in Plurg. It died out during the Revolt time period, when a group called the Hammer's Guard overthrew the government and wanted to use a language that was used world-wide."

"Some people still speak the original language—known as Xemapolgupurj", added Astra.
"Or the shortened versions, Xemapolg and Xema."

"What does it say?", asked Rhiannon.

"And how is it useful to us?", questioned Ashryn.

"An ancient healer, thought to be the earliest record of what would resemble a scientist in our time, came up with a theory", started Oren.

They pointed to the board once again. "Only, it turned out it was more than just a theory.
When they wrote it down, they knew it was true."

"What was?", asked Makoto.

"Human beings are able to locate others through their senses."

"Well, duh", said Ashryn, before slapping Makoto's arm.
"There.
Found them."

Makoto rubbed their arm.
"I think I want to go on the run now."

Oren shook his head.
"No, not through physical touch.
You put your hand on the ground, and think about the person you want to find.
It's hard to explain what it feels like, but... if you do it right, you'll know where the person is and how to get to them."

The trainees just stared at Oren, dumbfounded.

"That's... so... cool!", exclaimed Rhiannon.
"Please tell me there are some history books on this that I can read!"

"Took the words out of my mouth", smiled Raphael, earning an eye-roll from Ashryn.

"Well, yes, there are", grinned Oren. "But the best way to learn is to do.
So, let's head to the Training Grounds!"

"Just a heads up, the Soul Searcher skill is incredibly hard to do, so don't beat yourself up if you don't get it straight away."

★★★

Olga sat patiently as Sophia continued to eat her food in silence.
She had offered a few fries to Olga, but stopped offering when Olga tried to segway into a question about what was bothering her.

Sophia gave her a small smile, before pointing to her mouth and chewing in an exaggerated manner.
"Mmm, this one's extra salty."

"Sophia—", started Olga, before stopping when she received a text message.

Olga's phone lit up and a capitalised
'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' message, from a friend, appeared on her screen.

Sophia's eyes widened.
"It's your birthday?"

"Huh?
Oh, yes", she replied, like someone had asked her something simple life if she was wearing shoes.

"And you're not celebrating?
How old are you now, twenty seven?"

Olga shook her head.
"I'm actually thirty."

Sophia's eyes widened.
"You are?
But... my Dad's work friend is thirty and she looks way older!"

Olga laughed.
"Thirty is not that old!
I age gracefully, I suppose."

"Gracefully?
You're gorgeous!"

Sophia's eyes widened when she realised what she said.
"Oh my gosh, I didn't mean–well, you are good looking–but not in a... I'm going to shut up now."

Olga placed a hand over mouth to reduce the volume of her laughter, though her eyes lit up, something Sophia couldn't help but smile at.

"Thank you.
I stopped celebrating my birthday years ago.
I know plenty of thirty year olds that do, but I'm more than happy to have a quiet night in."

"That sounds like heaven", smiled Sophia.
"I prefer partying and sight-seeing, but I really do love the nights where Astra and I just watch a movie together", she said, her smile faltering.
"Even if those days don't happen very often."

Olga frowned.
"Things aren't going as smoothly as you hoped?"

Sophia sighed.
"Things were great!
For a while.
Then she got assigned on this mission.
I just feel like I don't see her enough."

"Have you talked to her about this?"

Sophia shook her head.
"What's the point?
The mission will be over in a couple of months and then things will be back to normal."

"So you're going to put up with this for all that time?"

Olga's expression changed, and a flash of anger and annoyance appeared on her face.

"No, I'm sorry.
That's not good enough."

"Huh?"

"I love Astra, ok?
She's got a good head on her shoulders, and she cares about you.
A lot.
But you can't be second best all the time, Sophia."

Sophia's body tensed up in surprise, and she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Sure, it is possible to wait until Astra is less busy, but you shouldn't have to. Talk to her, Sophia.
If there's no communication in a relationship... there's nothing."

Sophia shook her head.
"What about love?"

Olga sighed.
"I'm afraid it's just not enough."

★★★

"Great first attempt, everyone!
That'll be all for today.
Remember to get plenty of rest throughout the day.
The Soul Searcher skill drains a lot of your energy when you first start learning it."

The trainees made their way back into the building with Astra, but Oren stopped Makoto before they could join them.

"Oh, wait, um... I actually wanted to talk to you about something."

"Oh, about your obvious and intensifying hatred for Agent Arden?"

Oren's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, and he looked around to see if anyone else was there.

"No, no, I don't... nevermind.
It's not that.
I actually wanted to talk to you about your performance in the session today."

"Oh, did I mess up?
I felt a little weird doing it to be honest. Was it my posture?"

Oren's demeanor suddenly changed, and Makoto noticed a sense of urgency and excitement in the young trainer.

"Hold on, that weird feeling... what did it feel like?"

"I-I can't really describe it."

"Try."

"Uh... kind of like when your arm goes numb?
But, I felt it in my stomach?
Much deeper than my skin... it was like it was inside me.
Does that make any sense?"

Oren's face lit up, and he grinned. "Makoto... I want to do some one-on-one sessions with you, if that's ok.
You have an incredible amount of energy in your core if you feel that sensation on your first try."

"R-really?"

Oren nodded.
"The others will get it.
But with the time we have, it's looking likely that it won't be an efficient and reliable skill for them.
But with a little extra training, you'll be able to locate the person precisely, and possibly even locate others around them."

"Wow... I can do all that?"

"Yes.
But it's going to take a lot of hard work."

Makoto couldn't stop thinking about how useful this skill was.
If they could master it, then the others might not be so mad at them for not wanting to fight.
They could help in other ways.

"I can handle hard work."

★★★

Olga's words played on Sophia's mind. She wasn't particularly close to the older woman, but she had worked with her on a few missions, and found that she liked her company.

The more she thought about Olga, the more she thought about how different they were.
Olga seemed to have her life together, and wasn't involved in any drama, whereas Sophia's life was very messy.

It's crazy to think how eight years can really make such a big difference.

Too deep into her thoughts, Sophia barely had any time to register Imelda yanking her arm and pulling her into Astra's room.

"Woah!
What's going on?", questioned Sophia, a gasp catching in her throat when she saw Astra's room.

There were dozens of pink and blue fairylights dangling from the ceiling, and wrapped around a tray of mini pizzas.

Astra stepped out of the en-suite, dressed in the same dress she wore when she confessed her feelings to Sophia.

When Astra walked towards her, Sophia felt the world around her slow down.
Looking into Astra's eyes was enough to make Sophia forget about her worries.

Olga must've gotten it wrong.

There's nothing wrong between them.

Not when she's looking at Sophia like that.

And Sophia is looking at her like Astra is all she sees.

Astra took Sophia's hand in hers.
"I know you said you were fine with me cancelling our date—"

"Oh, Astra, I was—"

"Yeah, well I wasn't.
You've been so perfect and patient with me about this mission.
We didn't want you sitting with us at lunch today, because the others were helping me plan the perfect date."

Just then, Imelda entered the room again, with Finian by her side.
He was holding a large jug of blue sauce, and both of them had some coating their hair.

"What the h*ll happened to you two?", asked Astra.

Imelda snickered, before quickly pressing her lips together.

"We uh... may have gotten into a bit of a food fight", revealed Finian.

"Which I totally won!", exclaimed Imelda.

Sophia pointed to the jug.
"Wait... is that what I think it is?"

Finian grinned.
"Yep!
My famous sauce to go with my famous mini pizzas."

"We all helped out, but since Finian's useless...", said Imelda, moving her face closer to Finian, who just playfully rolled his eyes.
"... Astra told him to make his famous pizza and sauce because she knows how much you like it."

Sophia looked at Astra.
"But that stuff takes ages to make!"

"So?", questioned Astra, before grinning.

Sophia beamed, and wrapped her arms around Astra, before pulling her in for a kiss.

"And that's our cue to leave", said Imelda.

The pair pulled away, and Astra tucked a few strands of hair behind Sophia's ear.

"I thought we could have a quiet night in.
We could watch a movie and maybe even have a dance?
I brought your dress that you wore when we first decided to give our relationship a go.
You can wear it... i-if you'd like to."

Sophia chuckled at Astra's nervous expression.
"Of course I want to wear it."

_________________

Hi!

What did you think of the mini history lesson? I love providing more detail into the town's history, because it makes the world they're in more real.

Sophia's been pushed to the side for a while now, and things are bound to get worse the longer the training sessions get. But Astra seems like she wants to make things work with Sophia. Do you see them lasting?

Makoto's found something they're great at! Aside from fitness, this skill seems to be something that Makoto alone will be able to use in the final battle. Do you think they can master it in such a short amount of time?

Any feedback on my writing technique?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

ruesbennett

SoniczurcX

bardsarethebest