Sisters (private Alex and me)

The arena was not occupied during lunch time, which is why I was having a seat in the bleachers whilst everyone else was in the mess hall. I had a sandwich, juice box and cereal bar with me, so I wasn't gonna starve. I was simply waiting for my sword fighting class whilst doing some research in the books I found in the library to help me with those I had stolen from Circe. I was making progress but I was still stumbling on spells and potions, like this freezing draught that had turned into a big sluggish goo for some reason and waddled away under my shelf. So now I was looking up the methodology in other books, just to try and figure out what exactly had happened right there.

"Why are you sitting out here like a kid who I used to pick on?" She asked as she saw her half sibling, Morgan, sitting in the blenches eating lunch with her cute little juice box and books. "If you were anyone else I would've done something you wouldn't have liked." Salem gave her a reassuring smile that, in fact, she wouldn't be doing anything like that. She sat down beside her and asked, "What are you reading anyways?"

"Fight me bruh," I said, looking up from my book only to briefly smile at her. Salem was a bully and could be a b!tch sometimes, but she was also one of the bravest and most helpful people I had ever met. She was my sister and I loved her. "It's about potions," I said, showing her the book cover before grinning. "You wouldn't understand.

Salem rolled her eyes and crossed her legs. "Potions? Just potions or something else?" She asked curiously. Her eyes fell on the cover of the books she was reading and gave herself a mental note to grab those same books once they were out of her half sibling's possession to see what she's been brewing up. "How are you waiting for sword fighting to start or what?"

"There's this one potion I messed up. So now I'm looking at some theory to try and understand." I crossed my legs as well. "And by next time, I mean this afternoon. I got a couple potions and ointments I'd like to try. And yeah," I added, pulling my hair out of my face, "I'm waiting for sword fighting to start."

Potions, huh? Salem knew a thing or two about those. She wasn't an expert on potions, but she knew her way around a cauldron. Ha. "Well, I hope you have fun with your potions." She summoned a fireball out of the Mist, then hurled it at a dummy, watching it being set ablaze. "Sword fighting is so boring, don't you think? I don't even know why we have to participate."

The dummy blazed up with a whoosh! that briefly surprised me. Ah, Salem and her fire magic.
Then I frowned -- swordfighting, boring?
Tiring, yes. Challenging. Difficult. Fast-paced. How could it ever be boring? To me, it was everything except that. Sparring was actually fun. Painful, but fun.

"That's probably cause you only fight noobs," I told her with a small grin, turning a page over as thick dark smoke swept up from the still burning dummy. "Try picking on someone your own size for a change."

Salem scoffed, rolling her eyes. "What? No, no. I fight people who are experienced. I just...don't find it as fun as practicing with magic. That's understandable to say the least." The daughter of Hecate said to the other. "And is that a challenge, Morgan?" She asked, standing up from her seat.

"You know, you can combine both," I told her with a small grin. "I did that the other day, when I was fighting your boy Ryan in the courtyard."

"How do you combin-- Ryan?" How did Morgan now about Ryan?! Did Ryan tell her?! Did Morgan use some sort of divination?! This wasn't good. Salem's cheeks turned a bright pink and her palms got sweaty. "Oh, well, how was that?" That's right, Salem, be causal about it.

"He's a good fighter," I commented. "Definitely has that cabin 5 swing."

Smiling at her, I stood up. "So, wanna train or wanna talk?"

Salem cleared her throat, her cheeks feeling with blush more. "We can't do both, sister?" She asked with a smirk before turning around to face her. "Unless you can't do both."