Dante's eyes flickered open as his alarm went off at full volume. He propped himself up and to his surprise, the time was exactly 4:30. 'That's weird ' he thought. Normally his alarm went off at 6:30. He turned it off and was about to go back to sleep when a figure entered his room.
" Not so fast, Dante. Get up. Meet me in the basement in five." Rena ordered.
" Wait, you did this? Why?" He asked drowsily.
" No time for questions. You'll find out at the basement ." She smiled sweetly and left.
Groaning, he left the comfort of his bed and put on a sleeveless shirt with some shorts. In about two minutes, he was at the huge doors of the basement he was never allowed to enter. With a sigh, he pushed them open to reveal a surprisingly big room that looked like a mini training center. It's center was huge and an array of swords, bows and arrows, spears and daggers was arranged at the furthermost end.
" Grab a weapon." Rena commanded.
" Rena, are you involved in the Mafia?" Dante cocked an eyebrow.
" Haha very funny. Now grab a weapon for god's sake." Rena narrowed her eyes.
" Not until you tell me what's going on." Dante said in a daring voice he was soon going to regret.
Rena smiled and mouthed something like ' I tried '. Before Dante could say anything, her foot was inches away from his face, moving rapidly towards his chin. Luckily for him, he managed to dodge it and somersaulted backwards. However, when he felt his face, a slight cut had appeared on his lower chin.
His eyes widened with shock as he looked at the woman who had taken care of him in his seventeen years of life on Earth.
" H... How?" He stammered.
" Not everything is what it seems Dante. Remember that." Rena said slowly like a teacher explaining a hard concept to a dimwit.
" Do have anything to do with the Soliel Order?"
" I'm the Weapons Master of the Daris subdivision." Rena said proudly as she charged towards him again.
" Then what the hell are you doing babysitting me? Oh! I get it now. You were sent here to keep an eye on the Shadow Paladin, right?" Dante said with anger rising in his voice. He dashed to the rack of weapons and selected a katana. Wielding it like a pro, he dashed forward and attacked.
Rena, however, was prepared for this. She stepped sideways, evading Dante's attack completely and kicked him right in the groin. He winced in pain and backed away quickly.
" So was it all a lie?" He asked.
" What?" Rena frowned slightly.
" The birthday parties only you attended, the suspensions we laughed about, the petty gossip, the crushes I told you about. You were just pretending to care? You were like my mother for crying out loud." Dante fumed.
" When your mother left, you were very young. Too young for your father to handle. He hired me to take care of you and also keep your abilities in check, so yes. But I..." She didn't finish the sentene when Dante started a barrage of sword strikes forcing her to counter. Out of nowhere a spear materialized in her hands with which she warded off Dante's attacks.
" This was why I trained you as a kid. For the day you would realize your true potential. However, I didn't teach you to leave openings." She said and with the agility of a feline, she ducked and landed a blow to his stomach. He jumped back but anger clouded his judgement, making him try to cut her down. She turned sideways evading the sword's blade. He realized his mistake but it was too late since he had already grabbed his arm. With a swift movement, he was lying on his back with his sword knocked out of his hand.
" I never pretended to care, Dante. You are like a son to me. I know I lied but I had no choice. You were never supposed to be in this whole Soliel Order mess. It was too dangerous for you." Rena said quietly and helped him up. He pushed her away, stood up by himself and retorted
" Yeah right. Training me when I was nine? What were you thinking then?!"
" I was preparing you just in case." She sighed.
" In case of what? You know what forget it. My mother didn't want me, my father never comes home and the closest person I had to a parent was fucking paid to do so. How convenient." He sneered and turned to leave.
" Training is at four thirty everyday." Rena said to his retreating back.
" Whatever." He murmured.
************************
Luke sighed as he looked at Brian, who was trying to force his locker open. Brian always misplaced his locker's keys, which annoyed Luke and Dante to no end.
" Just leave it and let's go to class. You're going to make us late again!" Luke growled as leaned on his locker, waiting for Brian.
" Hey Luke?" Brian called.
" What?" Luke asked, annoyance building in his voice.
" Do you think Dante will come back?" Brian asked softly, gently grabbing his bag from the ground and turned to face Luke.
Luke smiled wickedly and burst into laughter.
" You're worried about that bastard? Ha! Very funny. Knowing Dante, he's gonna show up sooner or later"
" What about what he did?" Brian asked again.
" No one knows it was him except the counselor. Everyone has their suspicions but no one will even say it out loud . They don't have the guts." Luke assured Brian.
" Funny how you guys are now saying I did it alone. We were accomplices, remember?" Dante said from behind them, a smirk on his handsome face.
" Speak of the Devil." Luke smiled.
" And he will visit. Let's get to class. Y'all know how salty Mrs Smith gets on first period."
Dante took out a couple of books from his locker and the three friends scurried off to class, 30 minutes late for the first class.