EPISODE 3:A long waited journey

As March fall to the ground and her vision started to blur and as if the world around her fell silent she saw a familiar figure in front of her, slowly March's eyes started to went black.

"Mr-Lloyd??"before she passes out one person came to her mind, the same person as the figure in front of her

"MARCH?!!--MARCH?!?" Sylpha's voice can be heard calling March's name trying to wake her up as March starts to close her eyes and passed out

Not far from there, Lloyd was staring at both of them for a few seconds, before turning his body and walked towards the robot's

Remaining fragments and starts to examine it, his eyes we're locked into the robot's core, a glowing red ball planted on the robot's chest, with a weird M logo on it...

The world went black and silent,a soft voice can be heard calling March,after a few calling,March finally opens her eyes, March discover herself lying on the hospital bed,Aura and Sylpha can be seen beside her

March immediately wakes up and scan her surroundings, March saw Lloyd was standing by the door, staring at her.

"Thank god,you're okay" before March could process the situation,Aura hugged her tightly, her eyes. We're sobbing, her voice crackles

"Well, it's all thanks to you,Mr mysterious man"

Sylpha stands up and thanked Lloyd for saving them

"Anyway March, how do you already know him?"Sylpha asked March, confusion in her voice

"He's a teacher at my school" March answered with an awkward smile

"You're lying, he's too young to be a teacher" As sylpha doubted her, she starts to touch Lloyd's face

Lloyd pushed her aside,before leaving the room

"Don't tell anyone about what you see before"

Lloyd told them not to reveal what happen earlier and then walks out of the room

March and Sylpha just started at the door as Lloyd close it.

Aura just stares at them in confusion, still trying to get the idea

By tomorrow morning March just continues her life as if everything was fine, March arrived at her school and enters the locker room, the room filled with loud charters and laughs from the students, the sound of footsteps filled the room.

As March opens her locker, she stares at the empty locker for a few second, her eyes went empty,white flash crossed her mind,she still remembers about what Lloyd said yesterday about keeping a secret

Before she thinks any further, the locker door suddenly slammed shut, March saw Glenn standing after her."Not now Glenn"with a tired expression, March tries to ignore him, just as March is about to leave him.

"Hey,don't try to ignore me"Glenn grabbed March's hand and stopping her In place

Some students stared at them, a few were whispering to each other, their eyes locked onto March and Glenn

"Well, about what you said a few days ago"Glenn crossed his arms, his head tilted to the side, he smirked

"About what you said of becoming a great hero"his eyes stared at March as if he's mocking her in front of everyone

"I think you should give up on that" Glenn bring his mouth into March's ear and whispers,"because I am the one who's going to achieve that"he continues

"THAT'S ENOUGH!!"March snaps,she pushed Glenn's body away and takes a step back,her eyes grew furious,her fist wrapped up

" You can't decide someone choices just because you have the power, Glenn,I've decided that I'm going to be a zenith warrior and I will show you"

"Heh!!" Glenn clenched his teeth

"Then show me" Bright aura starts to gathered around his body

"A few months from now, you show me, your true potential of becoming a hero, and then if you can defeat me afterward". The aura stars to fade away, Glenn turns his body around and walked out, leaving March stared at his back,her breathing trembled, her chest feels tighten

Watching the crowds gathered around her. March hurriedly leaves the room, and hurriedly went to the library, before she could reach the door handle, someone opened the door from the other side, March saw it was Lloyd in front of her, their eyes met each other

Lloyd stares at her, before taking a step forward, but before even leaves the room Lloyd feels something grabbed his hand, it was March's hand.

Her hand tremble, cold sweat running along her fingers and her mouth gasped as if she's trying to say something, but her words are stuck on her throat

Lloyd just stares at her in confusion

That evening, the sky above the mountain starts to turn into bright orange, the wind blows smoothly, bringing cold breeze and the smell of the trees from the forest.

As always Aura, Sylpha, Andrew and Frank went into the cave, they walked through the long and dark tunnel, once they enter the cave.They saw March and Lloyd already there, waiting for them

"Hey, who the hell is that guy??" Frank whispers to Sylpha's ear

"Yo, we meet again"without answering Sylpha walked forward and greets Lloyd

"Yeah" Lloyd turned his head towards them

"Huh?you already know each other?" Frank asked Sylpha

"I hope it's not some type of miracle, anyways what brings you here?"Sylpha asked him

"Hey don't ignore me!" Frank shouts at them

"Guys, actually let me explain" March steps forward and explains everything from this morning when she asked Lloyd to train her with her power and about what happened yesterday when Lloyd saved her and Sylpha from the robot attack

"And--i asked him to train us" March laugh awkwardly

"Wait wait wait, don't tell me, this guy is Raven that everyone were talked about on the internet?" Frank points at Lloyd while shouting excitedly

"Yep, and he's here to train us now" March responded

"But now is almost night, we should get home now" Sylpha told everyone

As they walked towards the exit tunnel

*Scrack!!-*

A sword came down flying after Lloyd threw it, blocking their path and shook everyone on sight

"You're not going home tonight"Lloyd forces them to stay on their overnight, this act brings disagreement from them, they instantly confronted him

Taking the situation calmly, Lloyd just told them to sit tight and trust him

Later on the same night, in the middle of a gloomy cave lighten up by a fire, all six of them gathered

"Listen up guys" Lloyd starts to tell them the essential things needed to become a hero

"But my training won't be easy"he warned them about the training that will come from now on

" But first, you must pick your own weapon based on your style"

The Zenith power doesn't come out on its own, it's usually implanted into some sort of weapon to neutralize it's power and allowing the bearer to use it freely. When someone is forcing the power without neutralizing it, they won't be able to hold it for to long until it disappeared, or it will cause a disaster and destruction

"That's why all the Warriors on earth wear a different kind of weapon based of their style" Lloyd gave them time to decide what kind of style they want to use.

After a bit of discussion, they came to conclusion and decided their own weapon

March asked for a medium two-handed sword for she can block enemies attack and get a mid-range attack

Aura asked for a medium bow, because she used to be in Archer club when still in high school

Sylpha asked for a double handgun for long range attack and still got the ability to roam around freely

Frank asked for a single Cleaver for a high damage attack

Andrew asked for a dual tanto blade to support fast-paced battle and fast reflexes

After picking their weapon,Lloyd told them to be prepared to start the training

"First,to test your physique,do 150 push-ups" Lloyd started the training by testing their limits

"HUH!?!" the group blows into a rage

"Hey, are you trying to kill us on day one?!" Frank responded dramatically, grabbing Lloyd's shirt

"I did this to test your limit, everyone has their own limits, if you don't want it, don't do it" Lloyd replied flatly

Sylpha smirked."he-he, relax 150 is my daily push up intake"

"That's great to hear, you'll do 350 push-ups"Lloyd responded to Sylpha as if she challenges him

"Whatever you say"Sylpha muttered,, allof them started their each push-ups

"March your form is wrong, it's going to get you injured" Lloyd crossed his arms and watches them doing push-ups.

"Aura don't let your body touch the ground when doing a push up,that's a reset for you"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN RESET?!" Aura yelled,"Come on that's rude"

"Training is not rude" Lloyd responded calmly,"especially when it comes to breaking your limit"

After a long time, they finished their 150 push-ups, all of them collapsed to the ground.

Breathing heavily,body laying on the ground

Before even, they take another breath, Lloyd splashed them with water

"Come" Lloyd told them to follow him outside

They followed him and enter the big cave and stopped at the lakeside

"Run" Without any instruction, Lloyd told them to run

"Wait, you want us to run through this entire lakeside?" March asked, her eyes staring at the long stretch of stone and rocks circling the ginormous lake

"Yes"Lloyd answered simply and calmly"3 laps, and you're done for the night

"THREE-?!" the group shouted and their voices echoing through the air

"But look at the ground, somebody might fall" Andrew complains about the terrain

"Run-NOW!" Turning his body around Lloyd told them not to waste time anymore

They started running even though the air was freezing cold, and the rock was slippery.

They keep running, following the curved path of the lake shore only relying on moonlight to see their path

"Sign-in starting to regret the idea" March muttered

"Quiet, you're the one who started it" Aura ran behind her, trying to catch up.

"Don't talk a lot--keep your breath steady, we're only on lap one"Andrew was right beside them, keeping his pace steady.

Behind them, Frank was struggled and almost fell a couple of times, his steps grew terrible, meanwhile Sylpha was far ahead of them, her pace was steady, but her steps were fast

After another long time, they finally managed to finish three laps, they collapse to the ground again, breathing more and more heavily, without letting them rest Lloyd told them to bring their knees-up and do a sit-up position

"Now, you'll do 100 sit-ups" Lloyd told them the next training

"But you said this was the end?" Aura asked, her body still sore

"You didn't finish the run under 18 minutes--so that's why" Lloyd replied flatly

Groans filled the cave

"Stop complaining and start counting" Lloyd started the count

Everyone in the ground forcing their core up despite the pain, March pushed herself, trying to match the rhythm with Aura.

Halfway through the session

"UUgh"March's vision starts to blurred up, her body feels stiff, and she can't feel any muscle moving, her body collapsed to the ground, her blurry vision turned into pitch black, and she passed out on the spot.

Waking up March was greeted by Aura who is sleeping beside her,everyone else is also sleeping beside each other,exiting the room March saw Lloyd is sitting beside the lakeside,March tries to approach him slowly

"Sit down" Suddenly his voice cut down through the silence.

"Hehe--you noticed me huh"March immediately sat beside him

Under the gloomy cave, sound of the lake tide covers the whole area, they sat together staring at the lake for a few minutes.

"Tell me" Lloyd voice cut down the awkwardness."why did you want to become a hero so bad?"he asked what intentions that brings March to reach her goal.

"It all happens 4 years ago when a dungeon break was happening" March starts to tell the story, but she seems to hesitant for a moment.

"Don't worry, go on"Lloyd interrupts.

March kept her eye down on the lake water." It happens near my hometown, when I was still young".

"Then one day, a crack suddenly appeared in the air, monsters flooded the village, people were running, screaming, begging--no one know what to do, building collapsing, everywhere I look is chaos"March continues to speak.

Her finger poked the ground

"By the time it was over--tons of houses were destroyed, burned to ashes and hundreds of life were killed--including both my parents"the cave fell quiet except the sound of the lake water.

"I fell onto my knees as I watch my house got burned up while my parents were still inside" Her hand become tighten slightly."I remember Aura was hugging me tightly--trying to comfort me up while she was already crying".

"After that Aura and I moved Into a new apartment downtown--and we lived together, she worked part-time to help the finances and sometimes our uncle also helped us by giving us money monthly" After saying that March froze for a moment.

Her hand gripping the rock below her tightly

"What's wrong?" Lloyd asked her

Silence filled both of them for a moment

Until March threw the rock on her hand into the lake."he abandoned us when I was fifteen years old".

"After that day,Aura worked so hard she even sometimes passed out when she got home, just to help me to get into a school"her voice starts to crackled." So that's why I promised myself not to ddisappoint her again"before realizing it, years start to run down through her eyes and her face, March tries to wipe it off, but it just got worse.

*patt* sudenly March feels something touching the top of her head. She looked up and saw Lloyd patting her head again and again.

"It's almost midnight, you should go to sleep--don't worry about school tomorrow, I got it" Lloyd ends the session.

Bringing her smile back, March stands up and immediately went inside the big tree and gathered with everyone there.

Not long after staring at the lake, Lloyd stands up.

"So this is how it feels to be like you--Yuuka" Lloyd turned his body around and went inside the tree.

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