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thefinalcinderella · 4 years ago

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Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru Chapter 6 - The Sound of a Shouting Soul (Part 3)

Wanted to get this out a lot sooner but life got in the way

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

1. So there’s like rankings for how much someone can hold their drink. Waku (which includes all of Chikusei-sou) are people who don’t get drunk no matter how much they drink. Zaru are people who only get a little bit drunk after drinking. Geko are people who can’t drink at all.

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They had to completely get rid of their summer fatigue and they had to rest their bodies gradually before the meet; they trained a lot during the fall, but they didn’t run as much as they did during the training camp. Even so, as expected, even Kakeru began to feel both physically and mentally tired.

It was from the pressure of thinking “What if we do all this and it doesn’t go well on the day of the meet and it ends up being all for nothing?”

Unlike the previous meets, the qualifiers were a one-round competition with no redos; if you didn’t get the time you wanted, you couldn’t just bet on the next one, and that tension weighed heavily on Kakeru’s mind and body.

The training regimen had become denser. Twenty kilometers was the norm for cross-country, and build-ups were introduced into track practice. For instance, if you ran seven thousand meters, you ran the first thousand meters at a pace of less than three minutes and ten seconds, and then worked your way up to two minutes and fifty seconds at the end.

As they ran long distances faster and faster, the pain was not negligible. The inability to breathe during the endurance runs and the violent palpitations of the heart after running as fast as you can assailed you at the same time. It was like playing water polo while drowning, and Prince and the others threw up many times. However, every time Kiyose would caution, “Endure as much as you can.”

“You’ll get into the habit of throwing up. Hold it in and run.”

“I can’t do it.”

“I’ll choke on my own vomit.”

Prince collapsed onto the grass next to the track, and the twins, who were trying to look after him, also threw up with him. It was a miserable situation.

However, sandwiching the proper amount of rest needed between training sessions, the residents of Chikusei-sou gradually became able to keep up with the build-ups and the twenty kilometer cross-country runs. They went to the Showa Memorial Park in Tachikawa, where the qualifiers would take place, and everyone did a trial run of the course.

One day, less than half a month before the qualifiers, Kiyose gathered everyone after they had finished a cross-country run. A chilly wind blew through the open field in the approaching sunset. The tips of the grass had lost their vigor, and there was no trace of summer left. The fruit on the swaying persimmon trees, which no one was picking, were the same color as the setting sun.

“It’s a battle of concentration from now until the qualifiers,” Kiyose said. “Focus and control yourselves so that you’ll be at your peak both physically and mentally on the day.”

“Well that’s easy to say.” Nico-chan sighed. The stress from the tension was giving him an unusually large appetite these days and he was having a hard time regulating himself.

“I feel like my delicate heart has already reached its peak.” King couldn’t help but get stomach cramps during training. “I wonder if I can last until the qualifiers.”

“Don’t be afraid.” Kiyose’s tone was calm, reassuring everyone. “You’ve all done more than enough training; all that’s left to do is use that pressure to hone yourselves. Envision yourself as a beautiful blade running in the qualifiers, and sharpen and polish it well.”

“What a poetic expression,” Yuki said.

“But I get it,” Prince said. “You don’t want to sharpen it too much or you’ll snap before the qualifiers, but if you keep it too dull, it will be useless if the blade still seems cloudy on the day of the competition. It’s something like that, right?”

“Exactly,” Kiyose nodded. “You can’t get there just by recklessly practicing; it’s a battle within yourself. I want you to listen closely to your mind and body, and sharpen yourselves carefully.”

I see, Kakeru thought. This might be one of the strengths that’s required for long-distance.

Long-distance didn’t require explosive power nor was it something that required extreme concentration during a competition to perform a technique—all you did was send forth your legs alternately and plainly moved forward. All you had to do was sustain the simple act of “running”, which most people had experienced, for a set distance. The stamina needed to sustain that was cultivated during daily training.

In spite of that, Kakeru had seen runners whose health broke down during or right before a competition many times: they ran well at first, but suddenly their pace was thrown into disorder; their bodies were in good shape, but three days before the race, their times during practice suddenly stalled; there were those that caught colds even though they were very careful, and ended up getting taken off the lineup on the day of the competition.

Kakeru couldn’t help but feel confused. Practice makes perfect. Why did people ruin themselves when all they had to do was run? Kakeru himself had gotten diarrhea at the last Inter-High he participated in. He hadn’t eaten anything cold or rotten, but his stomach suddenly took a bad turn. He was still able to run, so there were no problems, but he kept wondering, “Of all days, why did I get a stomach ache right before the race?”

He understood now. It was described as a “failure to adjust”. The reason for almost all of them was pressure; the anxiety of suddenly wondering “Is this enough?” no matter how much you trained; the fearful thought of “What if I still lose?” arising as soon as you were confident that it was enough. The more you sharpened your body and mind, the more fragile you became; you got colds and stomach pains more easily, like a precision instrument that breaks down abruptly from just a little bit of dust.

Honing yourself until you were sharp and smooth enough to overcome fear and anxiety and withstand any dust—that power was probably one aspect of the “strength” Kiyose talked about.

Kakeru understood all that, but there was still the question of whether or not he could put it into practice. The more serious you were about running, the less easily you were able to free yourself from pre-competition nerves, and confronting your own body and mind was a very lonely process. You always had to fight alone in the space between compromise and excess.

Kakeru eventually stopped thinking about everything. The more he thought about it, the more fear would arise, because he could only imagine bad things.

People were afraid of ghosts because they thought about and imagined them. Kakeru hated those sorts of ambiguous, vague things; he didn’t want to be bothered by the irritating dullness of “If I think it exists, it exists”, he wanted clarification on whether it was “there” or “not”. Just like being able to move forward if you simply moved your legs, one foot in front of the other.

Kakeru ran without thinking anything. He threw himself into training and repeated the act of “running” as he remembered it with his body. He didn’t know any other way to overcome pressure.

The other members of Chikusei-sou, unlike Kakeru, were inexperienced, so they hadn’t yet established a way to relieve tension. Some, like Kakeru, practiced harder and harder, some burned incense and slept, and some reread sports manga from beginning to end. Everyone was working hard to make their final adjustments for the qualifiers.

With two days to go before the qualifiers, Kakeru felt that his concentration was improving at a good pace.

Practice that day was light, as they shouldn’t be tired on the day of the competition. Of course, each person did their morning and evening jogs, but there was no real practice scheduled on the day before the qualifiers either. They had done everything they had to do, all that was left was relaxing their bodies while keeping an eye on their health while raising their fighting spirits and concentration.

“Let’s do one last finishing touch.”

At Jouji’s suggestion, everyone at Chikusei-sou decided to have a small drinking party two days before the qualifiers. For this group, drinking was the easiest way to relieve tension and solidify their bonds.

The landlord was invited as well, because he was more or less their coach, but there was a problem: the landlord had entrusted Kiyose with the money to fix the hole, but Kiyose had given that money to Shindou to put aside for the Hakone Ekiden; with the transportation and lodging costs, they never had enough money.

As the landlord stepped over the threshold of the front door, Jouta crossed in front of him while looking at the gravure page of a magazine. Distracted by the photo of a woman in a bathing suit, he took off his shoes without looking up at the ceiling and kept close to Jouta as they went upstairs. The tactic was a success. Kakeru and Jouji, watching the situation from the kitchen, gave each other a small high-five.

It was arranged for Prince to sit on top of the hole. You must not stand up as long as the landlord is here, not even if there’s an earthquake or you have to go to the bathroom. Given that strict order by Kiyose and Shindou, Prince obediently hid the hole while reading manga.

“Now, we would like a few words from our coach,” Kiyose said when the liquor was flowing well. The landlord, hugging a large bottle, got up unsteadily. Wondering if he might see him act like a coach for the first time, Kakeru looked forward to what he was going to say.

“It’s finally time for the qualifiers…let me tell you the secret to winning,” the landlord solemnly stated in his hoarse voice. “Move your left and right legs one after the other and go forward!”

The room fell completely silent. The landlord seemed to have sensed the overflowing disappointment and despair.

“…You do that, and you’ll reach your goal one day. That’s all!”

“’That’s all’?!” King roughly put down his cup.

“Is this person okay?” Yuki said.

“Can’t we get a coach who’s a little bit better?” Nico-chan said.

“Ah, my motivation has completely gone down now,” Jouta said.

Quiet unsatisfied voices filled the room. Kakeru hurriedly turned to Kiyose.

“Haiji-san, from the beginning, you believed that this team could definitely make it to Hakone. I thought it was more than impossible, but…why were you so confident?’

“Mm?” Kiyose looked up from his cup and smiled. “Because everyone can handle their liquor.”

“What?”

Everyone immediately stopped complaining about the landlord and now turned to look at Kiyose.

“There are many long-distance runners who can drink a lot. I guess it’s thanks to their internal metabolism. You guys have surpassed being heavy drinkers, you’re bottomless pits, aren’t you? (1) I’ve been observing your drinking habits for a long time and I thought, ‘This could work.’”

“There are plenty of heavy drinkers in the world.”

Shindou looked up at the sky as though to say “I can’t believe this.”

“You dragged people into this thing for that reason!?” Yuki’s voice cracked with anger. Kakeru groaned. He had wanted Kiyose to get everyone motivated again, but it had had the opposite effect.

“Did we really come all this way based only on how much we drink?” Prince, shocked, was about to get up, but Shindou restrained him with his eyes and he hurriedly sat back down. “That’s like building a skyscraper on top of mud with just willpower.”

“Of course that’s not the only reason,” Kiyose said, but his articulation was a bit odd. “I noticed the spark of talent that had been sleeping in all of you.”

“Haiji-san’s drunk,” Kakeru sighed.

“Aaah, isn’t there anything livelier to talk about?” King fell onto the tatami, looking up.

“By the way, how are things with Hanako-san?” Musa asked the twins.

“Hana-chan?”

“What do you mean by things? We get along well?”

The twins both answered innocently.

They don’t know. These guys really don’t know at all. Everyone else muttered to each other.

“By the way, you guys don’t have girlfriends, right?” Nico-chan, who had been nibbling on a piece of dried squid since earlier, said as though it had just occurred to him. “If you do, you’ll have to get them to cheer for us the day after tomorrow.”

It was rare to hear such a topic discussed at Chikusei-sou. Part of it was because their living spaces were so close, they were careful not to deliberately step into each other’s private lives, but it was also because they would all somehow know even without being told expressly.

However, for almost half a year, all of them had been busy training and weren’t able to keep track of each other’s love lives at all. Of course, no one had ever brought their girlfriend to their room before—their conversations and anything else could be overheard, after all.

The twins said, “We’re recruiting one!” in unison. If you’re recruiting, then you should be aware of the existence of applicants, Kakeru thought. King silently curled his back.

“What about you?” Yuki asked Nico-chan.

“I don’t have that kind of energy left right now,” Nico-chan scratched his stubbled chin.

“Same here,” Shindou hung his head. “I’ve been going all around negotiating with the supporters’ association and the school, so I’m afraid that she’ll run out of patience with me soon.”

“You’re dating someone?” Kakeru was surprised. He couldn’t quite connect the reserved and honest Shindou with the brilliance of love.

“Shindou-san has been in a relationship with a woman since he started school,” Musa explained. “It is hopeless for me. I cannot find anyone who will come to my hometown.”

You don’t have to suddenly go all the way there… Kakeru thought.

“Don’t you have a girlfriend, Kakeru?” Musa asked. Kakeru shook his head.

“I’m not popular, after all.”

“It does not seem that way, though.”

“Um, what about you, Prince-san?” He hurriedly shifted targets, but Prince’s eyes were still on his manga.

“I’m only interested in 2-D girls.”

Even though he was born with an idol-like face, it was like pearls before swine. Prince glanced at Kiyose.

“Leaving that aside, I sometimes hear rumors about Haiji-san in the literature department, you know? He looks like that, but there’s all kinds of…Ow!”

Crying out in pain slightly, Prince shut his mouth. A peanut flicked by Kiyose had hit him right between the eyebrows. There was no one brave enough to press Kiyose more than that.

Kiyose laughed slightly and asked, “What about Yuki?”

“I’ve got prospects, a good personality and my looks aren’t bad? Of course I have one,” Yuki answered calmly. King curled himself up more and more.

“Aren’t you going to ask me?” As the landlord was pouring shochu into his teacup right to the brim, a phone rang. It was Yuki’s. Excuse me, Yuki said and left the room.

“What, was that his girlfriend again?” Nico-chan said. Kakeru also noticed that Yuki’s phone had been ringing a lot these days.

“But Yuki has been looking somewhat somber recently, has he not?” Musa tilted his head in worry.

King seemed to have decided to drown his sorrows in alcohol. “There’s no ice,” he said, shaking the empty bowl. Kakeru, who was near the door, stood up and said, “I’ll go get some.”

He went downstairs and saw that the entrance’s sliding door was open, and that Yuki was outside on the phone. He could hear his voice slightly. It seemed like he was arguing about something, and although Kakeru was curious, he crept into the kitchen, concealing his footsteps so that he wouldn’t disturb him.

He transferred the ice into the bowl and refilled the fridge’s ice maker with water. Judging by the way everyone was drinking, it might not be ready in time. Kakeru turned the fridge’s temperature knob to “strong” and left the kitchen with the bowl.

The front door was still open. But there was no sound of talking. After some hesitation, Kakeru put on his sandals and peeked outside.

Yuki was squatting next to the door, looking up at the night sky.

“I made ice,” Kakeru called out to him softly. “Let’s go back and keep drinking with everyone.”

“‘Kay,” Yuki answered, but he made no attempt to stand up. He looked absentminded, his left hand gripping his phone.

“Did you get some kind of bad news?” Kakeru stepped over the threshold and squatted down next to Yuki while holding the bowl.

“No,” Yuki said. “My parents saw the news story and nagged me about showing up back home once in a while.”

“Where do you live?”

“Tokyo.”

If that’s the case, then it wouldn’t take much time to go back home, and there’s no need for him to lodge in a rundown apartment like Chikusei-sou in the first place. That reminds me, Yuki-senpai said he didn’t go back home for New Year’s, Kakeru recalled, and sensed that there were some circumstances behind it.

Insects were buzzing loudly in the grass of the yard.

“Kakeru, why aren’t you excited about getting interviewed?” Yuki asked.

“Umm,” Kakeru said. “I’m resented a lot. I think my parents and the guys from my high school team probably don’t want to see my face, so that’s why: I want to be as inconspicuous as possible.”

“You’ve been through a lot, I see. I thought you were just a track maniac,” Yuki’s words were biting, but he didn’t pry any deeper.

“Thanks to being a track maniac, I ended up having to keep secretly running away from interviews,” Kakeru laughed.

Noise suddenly erupted from the twins’ room. There were sounds of people running around and shouting something.

“What’s going on?” Kakeru and Yuki looked overhead and stood up.

The window facing the yard opened. “Yuki! Are you there!” Kiyose shouted.

“Yeah, what’s wrong?”

“Call an ambulance!” Kiyose recognized Kakeru and Yuki and waved his arms to hurry them. “The landlord’s throwing up blood!”

Kiyose got on the ambulance and accompanied the landlord to the hospital, and then finally returned to Chikusei-sou some time after the next day had already started.

The early to bed and early to rise routine was so ingrained in everyone that they couldn’t keep their eyes open, but they were all worried about the landlord’s condition, so they had stayed up and waited. Kiyose, surrounded by the residents at the entrance, gloomily told them the news with a tired expression.

“He’s got a stomach ulcer, so he’ll stay in hospital for a week. Apparently the reason is stress from extreme nervousness.”

“Stress!?” Jouji shouted hysterically. “Why was he stressed?”

“He was a carefree coach with no sense of responsibility though?” Jouta tilted his head. He definitely just drank too much, Kakeru thought.

“I also have a lot of questions about the reason, but…the landlord was probably worrying about us in his own way,” Kiyose rubbed his temple. “For that reason, the day after tomorrow—or rather, tomorrow—we will do the qualifiers without the coach there.”

“I don’t really mind, though.”

“It’s not like he’s ever there.”

The twins stated their candid thoughts, and Kakeru nodded.

“Didn’t you say we can count on him when we need it?” Kakeru muttered.

“I said ‘probably,’” Kiyose responded, and as though to say “good grief,” took off the hoodie he had on.

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#Kaze ga tsuyoku fuiteiru #kazetsuyo #kazetsuyo translations #run with the wind

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fabelyn · 4 years ago

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In Carcere Ch.40

Pairing: inahoxslaine (orangebat, inasure)

Rated: T Warnings: spoilers for series finale Chapter: 40/? (previous chapter) Chapter Word Count: 13k

Summary: At first Inaho visits out of duty and humanity. And then he finds he can’t stop going back to see Slaine Troyard.

“I’m sorry to say, I can’t reveal who our leader is yet,” Lemrina says the minute she can find some time alone with Inaho. “He actually requested it from me after meeting with Slaine. He says he’d like to talk to you without prior knowledge coloring the discussion.”

Meaning he wants to ensure I don’t have time to prepare or plan based on his identity. At least I know it’s a male, though that was hardly unexpected considering the male gender predominance in high Martian ranks.

“And while normally I would assume your lack of expression might help…”

“You don’t want to risk the breach of trust it would be if I accidentally reveal I knew in some way. I understand. I assume he revealed his motivation and plans to Slaine?”

“They didn’t have time to go over details of the current plan, but yes, he told Slaine why he’s doing all this and some other relevant information I can’t reveal.”

“And Slaine’s verdict?”

“Agrees the words made sense, and the emotion demonstrated seemed real, so Slaine ‘trusts him as far as he can shoot him’.”

Inaho nods. “So he has decided to believe this man but hasn’t been blindly led and is keeping a healthy skepticism. Good, in between you two choosing to follow him, I assume I will have the same opinion, unless I’m privy to information you both were not.”

Lemrina is pleased enough with the mild compliment, as Kaizuka acknowledging anyone else’s intellect is certainly one, and tries to be gentle. “I’m sure it all means he should be coming to you soon.”

“That depends, did he also ask Slaine not to tell me?”

“Hm, I don’t know actually.”

“If he asked the same of Slaine, it means he won’t be coming anytime soon.” Which is a nuisance; the faster I can discuss this with Slaine, the better.

“Maybe that will be for the best, I heard the medical staff say you’re making quite a bit of progress, but that doesn’t mean you’d be fully mentally ready for him soon.”

“Certainly. And did Slaine go forth with our plan?”

“You mean, that pathetic excuse of an idea, where you pretend to only be pretending to love him?” Lemrina hisses.

“Did you not once pretend to only be pretending to be in love with him as Asseylum?”

Lemrina gasps as if he’d physically slapped her. “That… was different . And much more toned down. And… and besides if you really think it’s the same situation, all the more reason for you to accept my opinion on the subject as the correct one.”

With that, she pushes her wheelchair out of the room.

Inaho is hardly concerned; Lemrina is hardly one to be fine with prolonged solitude. And his observation was perfectly logical, she will admit it herself soon if never out loud to him. She will be back.

And she certainly was.

“I think it’s time to tell you one more thing.”

You mean you forgot to do so yesterday when you left in exaggerated displeasure. “Yes?”

She recounts the Emperor’s situation as well as Slaine’s fears.

Inaho considers it. “This is something I should examine further when I’m fully recovered. But for now I agree with Slaine’s interest in this. How both the UFE and Vers treat you and Asseylum will change according to this knowledge. But, we have an edge over both.”

“Rayet’s attempt,” Lemrina says. “I asked her before coming over. She told me she tried strangling Asseylum to the point where she required CPR to be revived.”

Inaho nods. “Correct, and at that time, Asseylum was the one that had directly activated the Deucalion, and it stopped functioning, confirming her momentary death.”

“By then, Slaine had already received aldnoah from her by way of CPR—what?” Lemrina stops, noticing the rare sight of Inaho’s lips quivering upwards for a moment.

“Nothing, the coincidence amuses me.”

“I hope you’re not thinking this is a case of indirect kissing?” Lemrina asks in disgust.

“No. I never understood the logic behind attaching the sentimentality of a kiss to the action of sharing a surface at different—”

“No need to go further, I’m satisfied. What’s important is that Slaine retained his aldnoah access even after her momentary death.” She sighs. “If only all of the Deucalion crew hadn’t witnessed that death and subsequent system failure. It will be easy for either faction to get their hands on that information.”

Inaho shrugs. “Even if they do, it’s of little consequence unless the knowledge that Slaine piloted the Tharsis thanks to Asseylum is also information they can procure.”

Lemrina considers it. “It’s hard to say for certain, but I think not. He first used it when he was with Count Saazbaum.”

“During a fight between planets, where all eyes were elsewhere, and Slaine didn’t use the Tharsis to interfere in a way that would have gotten him noticed before he took off with Asseylum in tow. At which point one could assume that he drank her blood and only after was able to use the Tharsis to leave.”

“Count Saazbaum was aware of my existence, so one could assume if Saazbaum didn’t pass his aldnoah access to Slaine, I might have. They'd have to go as far as know Slaine only met me after using the Tharsis.”

“Although that only works for people that are aware of your existence. Meaning, assuming that you and Slaine met before his using the Tharsis is something that may only dissuade your leader from looking for— wait.” Inaho considers it further. “Slaine could have operated the Tharsis without the aldnoah drive, if Count Saazbaum had allowed it, unless he made a show of being able to operate it fully when he reached martians with Asseylum?”

Lemrina shakes her head. “No, initially there was an uproar as they focused on saving her life. Count Sauzbaum took over and simply acted as if her rescue was his plan and Slaine a mere follower of his. After that, they focused on silently keeping her coma a secret and pretending I was her, partially recovered. There was no interest from martians to getting to know Slaine, much less the extent of what he could do with the Tharsis.”

Inaho’s head begins to feel uncomfortable. Although he can still plough on further, he’d rather not do any damage that might show up on test results. “This is as far as I can go for now,” he says, pointing to his eye. “But I can still say at least this until I’m able to reflect further: I don’t think we are at the risk of either martians or terrans finding out the truth. One would have to have an intricate knowledge of Slaine's abilities with the Tharsis, a timeline, as well be aware the Deucalion shut down mid flight once. We never divulged to every crew that it was due to Asseylum nearly being murdered. I don’t see it happening. Besides—”

“Really, if it’s hurting you, you can stop and retake this another time!”

“This much I can handle. It’s one last thing. If your leader was on the path of closing in on the truth, he’d have to ask you, Slaine or Harklight for details on Slaine and the Tharsis. So long as neither of you ever divulged anything to him, only we know about this.”

“He never asked. So we know something neither the UFE or he does. I wonder if we can use that to our favor? Ah, but don’t think about that now!”

It is frustrating that he can’t reflect on it now. Even more so when Inaho acknowledges there are many things he could have already thought through if he’d been invested in it since the start.

There’s no point in regret now.

“ Ha! I win again. Told you that the second match was a fluke. There’s no way I’d lose to someone who… who…”

Rayet realizes too late that making fun of Slaine for being incarcerated and thus not being allowed to work out properly really isn’t a good look.

“I mean, of course I wouldn’t lose every match, but it’s actually really impressive you bet me in arm wrestle at all! You should be proud!”

Slaine bursts out laughing. “You are even worse at giving compliments than Inaho. It’s fine, really. It is the truth. I’ve been tying some stuff together and lifting those but the results are slow.”

Rayet relaxes; Slaine laughing without a biting edge to it is rare and a good sign. “I used to think anyone could pilot if they had the coordination for it. It took me a while to realize you do need strength to keep your stamina at the controls for long. Nina and Inko always complain about feeling bruised after too long.”

“Did you visit them before coming back? How are they?”

“In good spirits. Which is something, after being forced to work like that for the UFE.”

“Can’t they simply quit?”

“Not everyone can walk away that easily. They let me go at first because they thought I was touched in the head. Inaho, they assumed broken, plus I guess since he was only leaving to take up, well, you, I guess that worked out just fine. The old geezers aboard the Deucalion… I think they refuse to leave because they know the UFE is simply going to shove someone else in their place, so they might as well stay aboard to protect the Deucalion.

“And the rest… I guess they could ask to leave but… and go where? I guess this is my own fault because I keep complaining, and also because you only saw them when the UFE started doing shit. But the Deucalion itself… It feels like home. And safe. If there was a way to leave the UFE without sacrificing the Deucalion, who knows.”

“... Speaking of the Deucalion. Rayet?”

“Yeah?”

“Could you tell me about that time you once mentioned, when you tried to strangle Her Majesty?”

Rayet leans back on her chair, now worried again. “...Why?” Inaho had been very emphatic about not trying to pry the topic of Asseylum out of Slaine in his absence. The possibility of Slaine himself bringing it up hadn’t factored in. Especially not with this sort of request.

Then it hits her. “Oh, wait. Is this about the aldnoah thing? Lemrina asked about the same thing. Yeah, I tried killing her, she fainted, Deucalion went down, she was revived.”

“Yes. But I’d like the details, please.”

Not that Slaine truly needs the details, but it’s clear Rayet is treating him like some invalid that cannot handle even that, and it’s grating on his nerves to not be able to show he is not as unstable as he had been. “I think they might be important.” he lies. “And it’s fine, you won’t upset me.”

Rayet considers it, then shrugs. She can blame Slaine if Inaho complains later. “Alright then. My memory is a little foggy because I wasn’t in my right mind but uh… I was in the shower, reflecting on, well, watching my family be killed before my eyes.”

Slaine blinks. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine. You couldn’t have known. Anyway, in comes Asseylum chatting happily to her maid about how everyone is so nice to her and I just… broke? I know how ridiculous it sounds when I tell anyone. Hell, even back then I knew I wasn’t okay doing it. Anyway, the motivation was stupid so we can skip that—”

“You can skip it if that’s what you want. But as for stupid motivation to commit crimes, I certainly cannot judge you, if you wan’t to talk about it,” Slaine says with a mirthless smile.

“...I blamed her. But it wasn’t like my anger now. Now I can see her actively failing and harming people, so it feels like it’s okay to feel this way. But back then… I blamed her for things that weren’t really her fault. I mean, everything happened because she was so naive, but there’s a limit to what I can blame her for that. My family was tasked with murdering her with false promises of glory. Then they were betrayed and killed instead. We had lived a life of lies until then, not being allowed to reveal where we came from, even.

“I thought… if she hadn’t come to Earth, none of it would have happened. And then, despite the destruction that her arrival inadvertently caused, she went around skipping through the corridors of the Deucalion like she was out on a fun vacation. No one even blamed her for it! It was too much. My family was dead and she didn’t even look upset . I wanted her to stop smiling. ”

Rayet’s hands are balled into fists on the table. Slaine reaches out to place his hands over hers.

How different from the me of back then . Cruhteo would whip him, tell him he was worthless, the rest would at best ignore him, at worst steal his food and beat him up. Every day he had to walk in tiptoes, no mistake was ever too small to not get ruthlessly punished for.

And then there was her, smiling brightly and talking about seeing birds and water, unaware of his treatment.

He had loved that. He could bask in her obliviousness and for a while pretend nothing was wrong, nothing was happening to him. He had needed that small amount of joy to get through the day.

...But would he have ever suffered that much if she had known and done something to stop it?

No, don’t do that. Don’t blame her for the things you never told her about.

“What then?” He asks, hoping to pull them both away from a spiral by focusing elsewhere.

It works, and Rayet focuses. Her hands relax again, so Slaine takes his back. “So then the maid left to do… whatever, I don’t remember. I wasn’t in my right mind, like I was acting on autopilot. I went to where she was showering, and grabbed... the nearest object I could to choke her.”

“You choked her with a towel?” It would have been easier to use her bare hands.

“No, I don’t remember what that object was.”

“I deal with Inaho constantly. Don’t try to lie to me.”

“... It was that pendant.”

Slaine lets out a sound that is between incredulous laughter and choking.

“I really only brought her more misery, didn’t I?”

“Slaine—”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have given it to Inaho. I guess it brings bad luck.”

That he switched so fast from focusing on Asseylum to worrying about Inaho makes Rayet excited enough to speak without thinking. “He’d have taken it anyway.”

“What?”

“... Because… Because he doesn’t believe in that stuff, you know.”

“Ah, right. So, you used my pendant.”

“Right. She eventually stopped struggling and fainted so I let her fall to the floor. I just...stood there not really thinking. But then the Deucalion lurched, fell and stopped moving. Then Inaho and the maid came back.”

“He likely realized what the Deucalion losing power meant.”

“I guess. And then more people came, they brought in a defibrillator. Inaho personally administered CPR…”

There is a fleeting expression on Slaine’s face, that goes away too quickly for her to make out.

“She woke up again, but the Deucalion didn’t start up.”

“Yes, once turned off, aldnoah needs to be personally activated again.”

“Right. And… that was it. So, Lemrina said this all means even if the former Emperor does die, martians will keep their power?”

“...Yes.”

Rayet clicks her tongue in annoyance. “There really is no easy way to get rid of their power.”

I wonder. “Please don’t tell anyone. No one knows as much as we do.”

“Don’t worry. The only person I’m inclined to tell is Inaho, and I know Lemrina is going to fill him in. As for why knowing is so useful, I’ll leave you scheming people to it. Now, one more game before I leave?”

“Since Inaho isn’t around, how about poker?”

“Sure, but don’t invite that Harklight. He looks like he can keep a straight face a little too well.”

Slaine does, later on, invite Harklight for a game of poker.

Rayet was right; he does have a good poker face.

“That’s it,” Slaine says after the third loss in a row. “You are playing against Inaho when he comes back.”

“I fear I’m not quite that good.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come sooner.”

“Don’t be silly, I know how packed your schedule is.”

Packed mostly with useless fluff. Still, it is necessary to establish a routine of continuous movement and meetings, so as to mask any suspicious activities.

Mazuurek, leading the way to a private room, continues the mindless chatter. “I’m surprised you came so early, in fact. I hope I haven’t interrupted any important meetings, I really have nothing urgent to say, I just miss personal company sometimes.”

“On the contrary,” Klancain replies. “I happened to have an opening.” True, as dropping a meeting to randomly visit Mazuurek might seem suspicious. “So it was simply luck that I could come over so soon.”

Instead of answering, Mazuurek stops in front of a door and opens it for Klancain to walk inside.

It’s one of Mazuurek’s favorite guest rooms, and Klancain is casual enough with Mazuurek to sit himself down on a couch.

“This room is safe, I always check,” Mazuurek assured him, sitting down on the opposite side.

“Is somewhere in your Landing Castle not safe right now?”

“Not that I’m aware. But, well, I thought it might be prudent to be careful.”

“Oh yes. Pardon me, I didn’t mean to come off as judging you, my friend. It is indeed better to be safe than sorry in these troubled times. It’s just that, if you had a more concrete belief on being spied upon, I could try and help.”

Before Mazuurek can answer, there is a knock on the door and a servant comes in bringing food, glasses and a bottle to set the low table between the two Counts.

“That was different,” Klancain comments mildly when they’re alone again. “Usually I see that former maid of Her Majesty’s.”

Mazuurek smiles as he grabs a pastry. “She had been granted some vacation time off. I made some calculations and realized she had accrued two months of vacation she had never bothered to request. Hungry?”

“Not really, thank you, but I’ll accept a drink. And that was nice of you.”

“Not that nice, according to her. She certainly acted like I was kicking her out, not rewarding her with some time to rest.” Mazuurek sighs. “I used to allow them to do as they wish with their vacation, but I’ve noticed my martian underlings all refuse to take time off, so I decided to set her as an example. Really, I do understand that in between needing to build up Vers to become hospitable and then getting ready for war, we hardly ever had time for such things. But now that we’re here, I want to increase Labor Rights so my workers have a better life. Even if it takes a while for it to sink in.”

“A commendable idea. I should reinforce that in my own Landing Castle. Oh!” Klancain had been examining the drink bottle and finally noticed the label on it. “This is new, and from your territory, no less. What’s this, Mazuurek?”

Mazuurek looks half apologetic. “I’m sorry, but I was hoping to hear your opinion on it? It’s something that has been around for a while here, but recently I thought of perhaps increasing production and trying to export to other territories. It might help the economy.”

“I’ll gladly be your test group. Let’s see…” He tries taking a sip. “Very good. I can definitely see this succeeding as an export.”

“I hope you aren’t saying that just to please me.”

“I wouldn't jeopardize your economic endeavors by lying about their success rate. But tell me, has something happened? I thought you were doing fine.”

“Fine is good, certainly, but I want more than that. Perhaps with a surplus of income I could expand and help more people. Not to mention… who knows how things will be in the future, considering the current situation.”

Ah, here we go .

Mazuurek waits, but when he sees Klancain has no plans to say anything, he continues, now serious.

“The UFE murdered Count Mikael.”

“...Yes.”

“And you knew about it.”

“I did.”

“Why didn’t you…”

“Do anything?” Klancain downs the rest of his glass in one motion, then looks at Mazuurek with sincere despondency. “Because there was nothing I could do. If I had sufficient sway, I would never had allowed the UFE to not only murder one of our own, but to go further and do it in a way to create strife between our people. Yes, I knew about it; but that is the extent of what I can do. The terrans that compose the UFE Council did not arrive there by easily listening to martians.

“...You could have told me.”

“Did Kaizuka tell you?”

“I... thought we were closer than Kaizuka and I,” Mazuurek says, and colors lightly, likely from frustration.

Klancain flinches; he’s gone too far. “I apologize, my friend. The subject is a complicated one for me. If you’re upset with me for not having done anything, rest assured I am even more so. I didn’t tell you because I saw no point in burdening you with it.”

“But I could have done something!”

“Do you truly think so? What would you have done, then? Revealed what the UFE was planning, thus restarting another planetary conflict and resulting in more bloodshed?”

“... I…”

“If Kaizuka also chose to keep this from you, then it’s because even he realized there was nothing you could do. But please, don’t take that as you are lacking. If it is a failure, it’s one we both share.”

Mazuurek silently stares at him, then his shoulders sag. He leans forward, reaching for his empty glass.

Klancain grabs the bottle and offers to pour for him. Mazuurek hesitates then, to Klancain’s surprise, grabs the whole bottle from him and drinks directly from it.

“That isn’t very respectful of you,” Klancain says with amusement.

“Ah, screw that,” Mazuurek says uncharacteristically, but he’s smiling.

“Care to share?”

“As much as you care to share your information.”

“Alright, I deserve that. Sobriety it is.”

“Ah, fine, you don’t,” Mazuurek admits, and hands the bottle over. Klancain considers it for a second before shrugging and following his example, foregoing the glass.

“I understand that it’s not as if I’d do anything about it. Just like about… Slaine Troyard.”

Ah. “Kaizuka told you that, too.”

“Oh, you have no idea .”

“Hm? I’m all ears.”

“... No, I will keep the details to myself. Not out of spite, but some things… are Kaizuka’s to talk about. You can go ask him.”

Oh? Did he mention his feelings for Slaine to Mazuurek? A pity it would be too suspicious to inquire about that. “Maybe I will. He and I never had a chance to talk, actually.”

“You’ll work out great, with those tendencies to not tell your friends the very relevant information you know.”

“Mazuurek…” Klancain tries to offer him the bottle again, but Mazuurek refuses.

“No. Look, as I said, I have to admit I really can do nothing about Troyard, nor could I have stopped the UFE without making it worse. But to think that even you will refuse to tell me such important things… it means not only do you not think me useless, you don’t even see me as trustworthy or care about me enough to ensure that I’m also aware!”

Maybe I shouldn’t tread too lightly after all. “I see. So, when will you be telling Her Majesty?”

“...!”

“Come now. Are you perhaps not fond of her enough to keep her informed?” It would be nice if you acknowledged she is hardly intelligent enough for you to ever risk it, but you won’t go down that path.

“That’s… I don’t want to hurt her.”

“And that, my friend, is why I haven’t told you. Sharing this with you, so you too can live knowing how powerless we are, wouldn’t make me happier.”

Mazuurek’s shoulders sag in defeat. “I suppose I understand. But still, now that I know this much, it’s not going to help me to keep more from me. Promise me you’ll now tell me if you know of the next attack.

“While I can swear I am not aware of any attack at the moment... no, I cannot promise you I’ll warn you of future ones. Not unless you promise you’ll take that information and do nothing with it.”

“...! But what if I find a way—”

“And what way would that be? Visit the Count and stay with him forever? No Mazuurek, I will not risk your life by telling you that information in advance.”

Mazuurek looks like he wants to argue, but again can’t find an argument. Klancain takes pity on him.

“Obviously, if you are ever their target,” he chuckles at the notion, “I will immediately warn you. Although, thanks to Kaizuka, I assume you’ll be on the lookout hereon for suspicious skycarriers requesting permission to land, and you can just shoot Troyard on sight.”

To Klancain’s surprise, Mazuurek groans, pulling at his bangs. “I… am going to try and avoid that. Shooting him down I mean.”

So Kaizuka did say something about his feelings. “What is this? Pity for him now?”

“I guess,” Mazuurek says, and can’t quite look him in the eyes, confirming Klancain’s assumption. “Oh. Maybe you can at least help me with his collar?”

“Hm?”

“Can you acquire the plans to how it was made? I could try and find a way to dismantle it.”

It’s a relief to finally hear something he can agree with, and Klancain smiles. “As a matter of fact, I might be able to procure that for you.” He had, in fact, already begun to do so; if he could remove the collar mid-operations, he could take Slaine from the UFE through the easiest route. “Or at the very least, the signal information. The UFE knows this collar is all that keeps Troyard in check and obedient outside of his cell, the plans won’t be something they’ve left unguarded.”

“I imagine so. But it’s fine, we have to try something. Maybe I could create a device to jam the signal, at least.”

“True, I’ll tell you of any updates I have on that, just don’t get your hopes up too much. And if the UFE tires of keeping Troyard alive, I’ll tell you after the fact. That’s the most I can do.”

Mazuurek sighs. “Fine, I know not to push my luck. That said, Slaine Troyard… I feel partially to blame for that.”

“Hm? Why so?”

“I’ve been thinking, ever since Inaho came over. I recalled when I first heard they’d use him as a scapegoat to secure peace.”

Klancain considers it. “Ah, yes. The UFE Council called Her Majesty in for a private meeting, and neither of us had the power or influence to join in.”

Mazuurek nods. “And then when she came to us later, with the idea of using him in her head, I remember… remember how I didn’t really object. I thought, ‘he’s dead, and nearly succeeded in hurting terrans and was keeping Her Majesty captive, why not?’. I was tired, I wanted an end to all the fighting already and besides, maybe it would be cathartic for Her Majesty to pay him back for the hurt he caused her. I never voiced a complaint.”

“You didn’t know he was alive.”

“Did you?”

“No. We landed on Earth together, remember? I still hadn’t managed to acquire any connections to terrans, much less the UFE or Kaizuka. I didn’t have the information,” Klancain answers truthfully.

“That’s the thing. You also didn’t know he was alive, but you thought things true. I remember how you tried dissuading Her Majesty. You said Count Saazbaum would be more appropriate. In fact, you even offered your father—”

“Ah, please don’t think that suggestion was a big sacrifice on my part. We weren’t close and besides, my dear father would want nothing more than to have his memory used for the sake of Vers’ future.”

“Even so, you tried . I said nothing. It never occurred to me just how fragile the peace we’ve brokered on this lie really is, until Inaho spelled it out to me. Maybe, if I had just said anything…”

“Maybe nothing would have changed.” Klancain cuts his thoughts short. “It wasn’t your job to think of it for Her Majesty, don’t blame yourself for something that you might not have achieved even if you had tried. I could also have done more. Insisted on it, or talked to you to get you to help me. But I dropped it quickly enough, too.”

He had initially wanted for Slaine to not be used, as he had known nothing would seal his fate tighter than that; in any other situation the UFE might lock him up but never as closely guarded as now that they cannot afford to lose their excuse.

That said, choosing Slaine as the figurehead did help him in other regards; by blaming a young boy, it speeded up martian suspicion of Asseylum by at least a year.

“I suppose. And I’m sure the UFE wouldn’t let Her Majesty change her mind so easily.”

Klancain considers if he can afford to push Mazuurek a little more. He doesn’t want him feeling worse, yet he does need to plant seeds of doubt on him, if he ever hopes to not have to fight him in the future. He chooses to try. “As a matter of fact, that is something I’ve been wondering.”

“Yes?”

“Was placing all the blame on Troyard something the UFE came up with?”

“You mean…!”

“When I think about it, wouldn’t the UFE rather blame a martian Count, instead of a terran boy that had just barely risen to power?”

“So, you think Her Majesty suggested him.”

It certainly sounds like the foolish, lacking in oversight, decision of someone who never had to think of the consequences of her actions in a negative light, and who wanted him to personally pay. “I’m afraid I am leaning towards that assumption, for now. Recall, if you please, that Troyard’s troops were poised on the eve of a victory. The peace protected terrans and not our people. It would not interest them to broker a peace too fragile that would result in Vers taking back the fight before they could even recover.”

“But then, why?”

“Maybe at that moment they wanted nothing more than to please the one person they had to thank for creating the ceasefire. And if her request was something that came with no sacrifice to them or their power, why start their relationship with a refusal? Better to give her that, start amicable relationships with a show of being willing to follow her lead then disagree and push back or more serious matters for the UFE.”

That, and now having something over Asseylum’s head. If she ever seems to be no longer following UFE’s interests, they can hold Slaine over her head. If she tries to amass martian power against terrans one day, they can ruin trust her people have in her by revealing the truth.

And that is the true reason they willingly kept Slaine alive even before they had any use for him. They could have killed him and claimed an accident, or suicide, to appease Asseylum’s sensibility if she ever cared to ask.

He is a tool to overturn regimes. The question is, who will use him.

Wherever you realize it or not, accept it or not, Asseylum, it was Slaine that gave you the power to create this false peace. Everything you built thanks to him, he can destroy.

And I’ll see to it that he does.

Mazuurek does not notice Klancain’s darkening face, lost in his own thoughts.

The UFE’s power must be diminished.

He’d been meaning to tell Klancain of his plans to increase his own influence, but now he’s changed his mind. It’s not that he wants to be petty over the lack of information; he simply feels it would best if Klancain continued to be oblivious, to not harm his own standing in the UFE.

Besides, Klancain is smart, he’ll notice it in time, if Mazuurek succeeds.

“Lemrina, how does the aldnoah transfer work?”

Lemrina frowns. “ You don’t know?”

“Assume I don’t.”

“Fine. By swearing fealty to the Royal Family then accepting our blood. The loyalty and the blood together allow for aldnoah use.”

“Slaine—”

“Other body fluids don’t carry the same power as blood. Rather than that, through skin to skin contact is how loyalty, or love, is verified. That gives the subject a temporary contract; you can use aldnoah to activate one thing to your will, but nothing else. To complete the contract and fully receive aldnoah, blood must then be ingested.”

“I presume you gave Slaine your blood then, during the war?”

Lemrina shifts uncomfortably. “... As a matter of fact, no. I… was foolish. I knew he’d need me less if I did give him, and I wanted to retain some power over him… “

“That was a very sensible decision on your part.”

“No, no it wasn’t. Maybe it sounds like it, but I know there was nothing logical about it, I just wanted attention. Anyway, I would give him my blood now, but I can’t ask for his loyalty.”

“About that, is there some basis, some test done, to ascertain it requires loyalty?”

“A text left behind by the ancients. It said:

“ Those who are loaned to ‘successor’ and ‘maneuver’ need to ‘recognize’ each other as part of their own. The consciousness that feels like a part of oneself, recognizing that the object is a personality different from oneself, can also be called ‘loyalty’. In other words, it is also called ‘love’. Only to those who pledge ‘loyalty’ or ‘love’, Ald Noah's ‘maneuver’ is borrowed .”

“...”

“What is it?”

“Nothing, just my head.” For once, it’s a lie.

“Kaizuka, you have a visitor.”

Inaho frowns at the unexpectedness. He doubts it’s his friends from the Deucalion, or else they’d come as a group. He glances at Lemrina, doing strength training a few feet away, but she looks back clearly just as lost.

“That’s fine, bring them in,” Inaho says.

Even more surprisingly, it turns out to be Eddelrittuo.

“Greetings, Inaho Kaizuka…” she says, and Inaho can’t quite place the look on her face.

Well, whatever it may be, she doesn’t seem pleased to be here. “It’s been a while, Eddelrittuo.”

“Yes…” Before she can say anything else, she catches sight of Lemrina and her eyes grow wide. “Y-You!”

Inaho sighs inwardly, wishing Eddelrittuo had learned to be a little less open and expressive.

“I suppose working under Mazuurek, you haven’t seen a fellow maid of Her Highness, so your surprise isn’t shocking.”

Annoyingly, she does not catch the hint. “W-What?”

“Hello, Eddelrittuo,” Lemrina says smoothly, coming over as fast as her wheelchair would allow. “It’s been a while since we both worked together under Her Majesty’s employ, hasn’t it?”

Finally Eddelrittuo understands. “Oh! Right! Yes, it’s been so long, how are you?”

“I’m doing better. My legs can almost move again.” To prove her point, Lemrina exerts some effort and her legs kick.

Eddelrittuo’s eyes grow wide again, but for the first time since her arrival, she smiles warmly. “That’s great! I’m so happy for you!”

“I’m done, we can relocate to my room,” Inaho says, trying to steer them towards privacy, but to his surprise Eddelrittuo scrunches up her nose.

“Why would I want to visit your room?”

So she wasn’t sent by Mazuurek due to a sensitive topic. “That’s fine then. So, why are you here?”

She stomps her foot. “Count Mazuurek he… he gave me a vacation! ” The last word is said as a wail.

Inaho looks to Lemrina, assuming this is a cultural thing.

Lemrina is frowning slightly. “Vacation…? Oh, yes, I recall that concept.” She giggles and turns to Inaho. “Receiving time off isn’t expected for martians, especially not those… those of us who work directly with the Royal Family. That is a privilege, you see, and needing to rest would imply weakness and dissatisfaction with the work. At most you receive a day or so of rest a month.”

“And I’m not tired!” Eddelrittuo whined. “I didn’t become Her Majesty’s personal maid on a whim! I was picked as the best, and I never shirked from duty!”

Child and slave labor rolled in one. Hm, is this a consequence of the harsh conditions of the planet, resulting in the need for more work and less ethics? Something similar even if not as drastic did occur in Japan after—

This isn’t the time for that. “That is stupid,” he says bluntly. “People need rest, for the sake of their psychological health. There are countless studies on it. Outside of martial law, Earth has civil rights and labor laws in place to protect people, and I assume Mazuurek is trying to implement them.”

Eddelrittuo sniffs. “Yes, he mentioned something of the kind. And said that…” She raised her head up proudly. “As a former maid of Her Majesty and someone that others hold in high esteem in the Landing Castle, I had to be the example to do it first, because if I did it, others would naturally follow.”

So are you upset or not? “So you decided to visit me?” Inaho doesn’t bother to hide the incredulity in his voice. Lemrina bites her lip, but it’s clear she’s stifling laughter.

Eddelrittuo puts her hands on her hips, and looks up at Inaho vexed again. “Obviously this isn’t my idea of this ‘vacation’ thing. When the Count told me to take off from work, I wanted to hang around the Landing Castle to help out. It’s my time off so I could right? But then Mazuurek asked me to run errands.”

“... You could have refused. If it’s your vacation, it means time away from work.”

Eddelrittuo looks horrified. “ Disobey direct orders from the Count?! I am an exemplary maid! I would never! ”

Trying to comprehend this further might just undo all the progress I’ve done with my recovery. I’ll send Mazuurek a list of materials to help him when I can, he’ll need it . “I see. So, what was the errand?”

“He wanted me to bring you... this!” She reaches into her bag and takes out a carefully wrapped up bottle.

He unwraps it as Lemrina looks over his shoulder. “... Alcohol?”

Eddelrittuo is looking proud again. “Not just any alcohol! That liquor was especially made in Count Mazuurek’s territory! He said he wants to start promoting it to other places, so you better show respect and be thankful he let you have such a thing for free!”

Is he planning to supplement his economic revenue by finally taking up trading? This is a luxury item so it won’t have much of a big impact. Then again, if the impact is small, less attention to him earlier on. And the revenue from this could then be used to invest in better items…

“Tell him I appreciate it. I’ll keep it safe and share it with my sister when I return home.”

Eddelrittuo looks satisfied. “Good!” She glances at Lemrina and hesitates. “Is there something I can help you with?”

Is that her loyalty to the Royal family, or did she grow fond of Lemrina after being with her for two years? So long as it isn’t pity it should be—

“I’m fine , thank you,” Lemrina says, too curtly.

Whether Eddelrittuo meant is a friendly gesture or not no longer mattered; Lemrina had interpreted it as pity.

It’s not enough to deter Eddelrittuo. “Now that Count Mazuurek managed to kick me out, I’m going to stay here. I know that if I come back earlier he’ll just send me on another long errand again. So, if you need me, or you just want to talk about… about our work, you can call me!”

“There won’t be a need,” Lemrina insists.

“Certainly, give us your address,” Inaho says instead, and ignores the glare from Lemrina.

He doubted he’d need it, but it might be useful to know where she was staying at, to use her to move around if he needed an excuse.

Inaho is finally seen as fit to walk outside soon enough.

Lemrina wonders if she should be polite and act happy for him, but decides not to when Inaho barely blinks at the news.

“It’s only natural. I’ve been fit to do so for some time, but since I never insisted on leaving, they decided to make use of that and pay extra heed. Everything points to me being discharged on time, so naturally they can’t keep me away from open spaces for longer, as they need to see how I react to the public. Besides, the level of rehabilitation necessary has been exaggerated from the start, to dissuade the UFE from using me more.”

Lemrina shakes her head at the predictability of his answer and focuses on moving her feet, frustration bubbling at being unable to follow suit just yet.

“You started your own rehabilitation after mine,” Inaho points out. “If we consider time spent and results, you are making progress faster.”

Is he trying to console her for not being allowed to walk with him? It doesn’t quite work.

“It’s not as if I’m missing out on anything,” Lemrina says, more for herself than him, and even Inaho knows better than to contradict such a thing.

He could have argued in favor of allowing her, accompanied by him, to walk outside with her crutches. However, while Inaho knows the UFE is not monitoring his every move, he has plans he’d rather not have something as conspicuous as someone on crutches accompanying him.

He barely pays attention to the rest of the medical facility as he walks to the exit; he only notes that it remains unchanged, as expected.

Outside he pauses and pays more attention. The flow of people remains the same as the last time he had been there. No, perhaps it had increased slightly.

Nothing he’d seen had reached the number of crowds he’d witnessed in his birth city before the war, but compared to other places, he supposed this city could be considered of the more populated ones for the current standards.

Just as well for him, as with that many people, he’d be able to find an exclusive martian bar.

Not that, technically, exclusivity was allowed. Asseylum had been vocal against bars that attempted to be specific to any race… which did not mean people had not found ways to circumvent that.

There are two places he’s been told of. One is a bar recommended by Lemrina, as the base for those of her faction in the city.

Not that she had to tell him that. The name alone was clear enough the owner was feeling disinclined to the current martian rule: The Sons of Zeus .

Even as Inaho is amused at the name —is it overconfidence that no one would understand the bar was, in a way, referencing the Dioscuri , or boldness to not care for consequences?— he would rather not go there. He wants to hear the regular opinion of martians, not the chatter of already converted dissidents.

Which brings him to the restaurant recommended by Mazuurek.

He finds it, entrance half hidden in a narrow alley, and it’s name is equally amusing to him: Prometheus Restaurant .

Martians quite enjoy their Greek. I wonder if the connection in name is on purpose.

There is no window to the inside, and the door is closed, manned by a waitress who jumps to attention when it becomes clear Inaho plans to enter.

“I’m sorry, sir,” the man says politely, “I’m afraid we are full. Do you have a reservation, sir?”

And as easily as that, a place could guarantee exclusivity while flying under the radar.

Wordlessly, Inaho takes out and shows him the token Mazuurek had long ago handed him for such a situation. The waiter examines it and smiles, opening the door for him to enter.

It’s dimly lit and, while not truly full, has a decent number of seated people. Inaho finds a table in between two filled ones and sits down. A television overhead is playing the news. He orders something and settles down for listening in.

For a while, nothing relevant is being said. At the table behind him are a couple who are lightly mocking their Count and laughing at their brilliance at having used an errand to make a date week between them. The table in front of Inaho has three martians who are unaffiliated to any Count —did they defect or have their Count die? They never say, but all martians on Earth are military so they must have worked for one— discussing the jobs they’ve been doing in the city to make ends meet. Sadly nothing relevant of the operations is being said, as they are clearly very low on the hierarchy and simply bemoan their work.

And then food and drinks arrive for both tables, and the conversations all converge into awe. Awe at what they’re currently tasting, reminiscent awe over things they’ve tasted before, and hopeful awe at what they’re planning to taste next.

Inaho’s own appetizer arrives, and it isn’t anything he hasn't tasted before.

If martians are still reacting like this to terran food after all this time, then the quality of their food on Vers is worse than I presumed.

And then, finally, something of use to him is said.

It happens, naturally, the moment the television brings news of Asseylum. A hush falls over the restaurant as everyone, even the waiters, stop to look at the news.

It’s nothing much: Asseylum is seen somewhere in Africa, talking to an affected population still struggling after the war, saying she feels for their plight and pledging to help.

“We are all humans,” Asseylum says to a microphone, surrounded by bodyguards, “we should not be harming each other. Vers will make up for the pain it caused our terran brothers and sisters.”

“Why are they so sure the war is the cause for their issues?” Someone grumbles in the restaurant. “I heard terrans were all fighting themselves before we came along.”

“Right, right. That’s why Vers was created in the first place, wasn’t it? To get less people on Earth to fix their problems.”

“Why is she pledging to help them when she hasn’t even helped us ?” One of the people on the table ahead of Inaho says, voice a little too loud. His companion hisses at him for it, but no one else tries to argue.

No other complaint is forthcoming, but even Inaho can read the displeasure on the faces around him. It’s soon gone, however.

This is not enough for a revolution, but the dissatisfaction has already settled in. If the dissidents want, they can spread and increase resentment until Asseylum’s defenders become the minority.

Inaho waits longer, but there is nothing else of note.

As he leaves, he glances at the name of the restaurant again, and wonders if in the future any call back to Prometheus will be removed.

Slaine lays in his bed, running over his talk with Klancain again. No matter how much he thinks back to it, or how much time passes, he can’t get any additional clarity.

Inaho should be coming back in less than a month, if he doesn’t dawdle, but Slaine doubts he will bring back any news of Klancain. Even if the man had requested that he keep the identity from Inaho, it would be foolish of him to go so soon. Whoever he has in his pocket in the UFE might accept a meeting with Slaine… but one followed quickly by a meeting with Inaho? No, Klancain had done everything slowly so far, he could afford to wait longer.

Slaine frowns as he looks at the dark ceiling. That is something he’s wondering about. Why has Klancain been so slow? Certainly, by letting things run their course, the martian acceptance of the Empress may decrease naturally… but he runs the risk of terrans fortifying themselves. Is it a mere oversight of Klancain’s? Slaine doubts it. Either Klancain has less power than he seems, and thus can barely make a move, or he is waiting for something.

How many times have I come back to this? There’s no point, there are too many possibilities, I need Inaho’s insight for this.

Not that Slaine is too frustrated. He had expected to gleam little from the conversation; his main priority was finally seeing who the leader was, and setting in motion his plan with Inaho.

If nothing else, hopefully I succeeded in…

In keeping Inaho alive?

Slaine blinks, and sits up from his bed as the realization dawned. He quickly covers his mouth with a hand before a nervous laugh escapes. He doesn’t want the guard coming in wondering why he is awake.

He could have gotten rid of him. Inaho is useful, but hardly as much as he had been before the brain damage. Not to mention, his status as a terran makes it clear where his allegiances would always truly lie.

If Slaine had wanted to, he could have instead told Klancain that Inaho will be a liability, no matter how nice he is to Slaine in his captivity. The Warden is in Klancain’s pocket, so is Harklight.

Honestly… they could even recreate what they had done for the Empress: stage an accident, murder Inaho, put Lemrina in disguise in his place.

Laughter bubbles again, and Slaine grabs the pillow to muffle it.

He hadn’t even contemplated that. He had so little desire of wanting to harm Inaho now that when the singular chance presented itself all he could focus on was how to protect him instead.

All that time he had wanted him gone and yet failed at every turn… and finally the opportunity only presents itself when he no longer has any desire to do it.

It truly is as if the universe is laughing at him.

Even so… more than the hilarious irony of it all, the situation feels… freeing.

For the first time, for truly the first time, Slaine feels the burden of their roles gone.

No matter how much Inaho treated him as an equal, and no matter how much Slaine truly believed it, the fact never changed that Inaho had his life in his hands.

Now, even if a little, Slaine has a similar power.

Maybe it shouldn’t change anything, yet it does, even if Slaine can’t quite place what.

“Do you have a detailed world map? No, of course you don’t. Do you have a personal device that can use the internet?”

Lemrina blinks. Inaho visiting her room was unexpected enough, and his appearance by asking strange questions was even more so.

“... Yes, I do not have a map. And no, I don’t have a personal device of that sort. Why?”

Inaho sits down on her bed. “I knew the probability was very low, but had to check.”

She observes him. She still can’t read his face, but Inaho is talking faster and being ruder than normal.

This may be his way of being upset. “What’s wrong? Why the map? Why not use your tablet?”

Inaho sighs. “They took away my personal tablet when I got here and gave me a pre-approved one, to avoid my looking at material that might overload my neural senses.”

“And this new tablet won’t allow you to look at a map?”

“It would. But it’s not as safe as mine.”

“Start from the beginning. Why do you need a map and why must it be kept a secret?”

“Inko called me. Inko is—”

“I know who she is, Rayet told me.”

“Inko and my other friends had been planning to pass by me here in a week, but the Deucalion’s route has been changed.”

“... I’m not following.” She hates to admit it, but she doubts Inaho will explain if she doesn't say it.

Inaho hesitates before replying. “The Deucalion has a pre-established route. It has never needed to be changed.”

“Did Inko not have a reason for the change?”

“They told her that with the escalating tension and suspicion due to the Landing Castle massacre, they want to avoid the Deucalion moving in the same pattern as it has for the last year, to avoid it becoming a target from martians. And the new route would also be better for monitoring all the Landing Castles as it focuses on Europe.”

Lemrina huffs. “Well, apart from the fact that we know it wasn’t my people that did it, isn’t this a logical step? The Deucalion is the most well known symbol of terran power, after all.”

“As you said, the UFE knows martians are nowhere near to attacking them yet. That said, yes, this could be simply a ruse to make it more believable that the UFE is just as worried and in the dark about the attack as anyone else. However, there are two other possibilities.”

“Which are?”

“They could be using this to have attention focused on the Deucalion, and with that act elsewhere without being noticed.”

Finally Lemrina understands. “They want attention on the Deucalion to attack another Landing Castle.”

“Possibly. However these two hypothesis—”

“Are you not exerting yourself?”

Inaho frowns. “I have less than three weeks before I’m discharged. I can do this much without backlash.”

“Alright. You were saying?”

“The two hypothesis we’ve talked about so far are easy to verify: if the Deucalion changing route becomes news, then indeed either the UFE wants to act worried over martians, or it wants attention diverted to the Deucalion. I’ve already checked the news, and there is nothing of the sort so far.”

“It could be early days yet. Official announcements often need to be reviewed. If your friends just learned of it, maybe it’s still being sent to the press. But, where does the map come in?”

“... If this change isn’t advertised at all, then something else is being done. I have one or two ideas, but I don’t want to voice probabilities without first checking a map. My knowledge of the European continent isn’t detailed enough to visualize their route and what they’ll be passing through without one.”

“... I think they’ll be allowing me to walk out of this place soon, I could look for one.”

“Bringing back a map will be strange. There is a museum close by. My sister took me to it the first time I was here, there’s a map that will suffice. I would go there myself but, in this case I think it would be prudent to be careful. So I’d like to have you with me as an excuse.”

“Alright. But if you need to acquire one faster—”

“I don’t. Even if we had confirmation, there is nothing we can do, so we might as well be cautious about it.”

“... I see.”

There is no news of the Deucalion the next day, or the next, or the following days either.

Lemrina sees Inaho frown sometimes, as he watches the news channels intently.

Perhaps a kinder person than Lemrina might try to placate him with platitutes on how maybe the staff is hiding such information from them, as a means to avoid a lapse in Inaho’s recovery now that it is almost done.

No, there is no reason for them to hide something so simple from him. And he isn’t the sort to feel better by silly words.

It is, however, frustrating to not know what are the possibilities Inaho is worrying about. But Lemrina’s pride won’t let her beg for information he has already refused to impart. She can demand answers again when they manage to procure a map.

If Slaine was around, he’d be able to keep up with Kaizuka and would explain it to me without acting like it’s an obvious conclusion to make.

“Your— Lemrina?” A timid voice brings her back from her reverie, and Lemrina is forced to focus on Eddelrittuo again.

The maid had decided to visit her, and Lemrina didn’t want to cause a stir by refusing to meet.

Worst of all, Eddelrittuo had assured her yet again she’d spend the remainder of her vacation nearby, in case Lemrina wanted her help.

“I apologize, my mind was far off. You were saying?” She asks with a plastered smile.

“N-Not a problem! I just said that it’s amazing how much progress you’ve made!”

Lemrina wants to use her once again functioning legs to kick the girl. Instead she keeps on her smile and pretends to focus on her physical exercise, to avoid having to look at Eddelrittuo.

It’s not, truly, as if the maid has done her ill. She treated Lemrina very well during their time working together, giving her the full respect and attention a legitimate royal member deserved.

… But Lemrina had caught her wistful gazes at her comatose sister. Much like Slaine, Eddelrittuo had seen her as a replacement for Asseylum, and had always hoped that was only temporary.

Of course, if she had forgiven Slaine for that, she could hardly lash out at Eddelrittuo for the same.

No, if the maid’s former actions had simply not created a bond between them, it had not brought out vengeance as well. What was making Lemrina wish to kick the girl out was her actions now. More precisely, her looks.

The pity. The terrible pity in her eyes. Eddelrittuo had never loved her, yet here she is throwing out praises for every little thing. As if she had seen Lemrina as so pitiful and weak that even this much success was beyond expectation. As if she needed validation to succeed. As if she was so miserable she needed the pity of a pathetic little maid who couldn’t even decide her own loyalties.

Slaine is alive. She wants to say that. It would shock Eddelrittuo more than any slap or kick would. She has the words on the tip of her tongue.

You think you can afford to act like I’m beneath you? Like I need your pity and your kindness and your silly little praises? Do you think your words or existence mean anything to me, change anything of mine? Foolish little girl! Pity yourself and the stupid life you’ve led. You gave your all to my sister, did you know she has kept Slaine prisoner all this time? She lied about his involvement, while he is alive and kicking and thanks to her, will never see the light of day! Pity—

She realizes she is stepping too hard and stops, breathing in deeply. To not only shake Eddelrittuo, but even make her fully push away Asseylum would feel vindictive but…

But that feeling would leave, and I’ll just feel guilty. This girl is so young. If my sister, who prepared all her life to rule, can turn out so pathetic, who am I to grow bitter over a little maid, who was taught nothing at all?

So what if she pities me now. I won’t be forced to bear this for long. Soon she will leave, and Kaizuka will treat me like I’m not in rehabilitation at all. Then I can go see Rayet, and Slaine, and Harklight, who will be happy for me but won’t look at me like I’m a charity case…

She sighs. Eddelrittuo is immediately alert.

“Is everything alright? Should I call someone? Can I help?”

Lemrina looks at the eager little face… and pities her instead.

“I might have stepped incorrectly just now, help me to a seat.” She doesn’t request, she demands, even if softly, yet Eddelrittuo happily obliges.

Maybe she doesn’t pity me as much as I think. Maybe what she wants is to be useful. Is she trying to make up for having chosen Asseylum?

… It doesn’t matter. Let her have her peace. I’ve found mine.

As for Slaine… no, she wouldn’t tell her. It would help no one.

Enough people are broken. If all goes well, one day she will know the truth. Let her have her last few moments of innocence.

Eddelrittuo helps her to a seat. Lemrina looks at her and smiles. “Thank you,” she says, then can’t help but giggle.

“What is it?”

“Oh, I apologize for laughing. I’m just… happy I’ve come this far.”

Actually, I’m imagining Rayet’s face if I tell her meeting her has stopped me from lashing out at a martian.

Another week, and finally Lemrina’s legs are good enough that she’s allowed out. She makes a show of telling staff she wants to visit the museum she heard is nearby, and Inaho agrees to take her there.

Inaho glances at Lemrina as they walk unheeded towards the exit of the medical facility. She seems focused on walking but nothing else.

Then again, this won’t be the first terran city she has visited, so it’s expected that she wouldn’t be nervous or excited about it.

They walk through a doorway and find themselves in a crowded corridor, with nurses running left and right, and people with physical disabilities being helped around. Inaho ignores it all, naturally as he’s been walking by alone for a while now, but Lemrina pays attention.

“It’s always surprising when I see how crowded the rest of the facility is,” Lemrina says as they pass by the doorway to a room where some wait in a line for physical training.

“It’s because we have connections, so we are rewarded with more space fully dedicated to us.”

Lemrina sighs. “I know.”

“This way,” Inaho says, then walks without waiting for her. His pace isn’t fast, so Lemrina can keep up without struggle. A good thing, as she’d never put herself low enough to ask Kaizuka to slow down for her sake.

Lemrina looks at their surroundings intently as they walk, then turns to him. “I always wondered, looking at all the buildings, is the sparse population a direct result of the last war only?”

“It depends on the location. Although everywhere was impacted by the last attempted invasion, many locations were already partially abandoned as a result of Heaven’s Fall.”

“... Although Mars is a vast planet, the habitable land is small. I have heard the soldiers talk about it, and seen pictures: the streets are lined with people. They have barely any space to walk, much less live. Meanwhile Earth has all this space… Vers could come here and inhabit it without needing to kill more terrans.”

“It’s not so simple. Not every land is equal in resources. Not everywhere can handle now the population density it once could.”

“I know. I’m just saying, it isn’t impossible.”

Inaho doesn’t bother to answer, as they’ve reached their destination.

The museum was hastily created; Inaho assumes the reasoning being that with the popular medical facility nearby, the museum might thrive.

It was set up in an abandoned office building with a large reception area.

“Lead the way,” Inaho whispers; although he is now certain he is being too cautious, since he can afford to do so, he will.

Lemrina nods, and steps ahead as if leading Inaho to where she wants to go. They pass by the entrance to the martian center as she heads straight to where the Earth exhibit is.

As expected, the room is dominated with a hologram 3-D map of Earth as it is. Thankfully, they are alone.

Inaho reaches out to touch it, and the map amplifies where his fingertip landed.

“It’s interactive, if you want,” he says nonchalantly to Lemrina, who nods and pushes him aside, understanding her cue.

She looks at the map: Inaho had amplified it in Europe.

Was that by chance or is that where he wants me to focus? This is Kaizuka, I’m sure even this was thought out.

Unwilling to ask for more directions, Lemrina focuses on pretending to be engrossed in it.

It soon isn’t pretense.

So much land, and it all had people living in it? Or perhaps, like the city itself, there was so much space for more…

Focus.

Inaho had told her what to look for before they’d arrived, so she simply scrolls around Europe, between the parts Inaho wants and her random choices.

She’s not sure how long she stood there; being able to see a detailed layout of Earth really did interest her, but eventually Inaho cuts her wandering hand.

“You’ve spent too much time at this, let’s go back,” he says, and Lemrina instinctively becomes defensive.

“It wasn’t that long!” She snaps, before realizing it’s likely just his excuse now that he’s seen enough. Lemrina tries to read the conclusion on his face, but it’s fruitless as usual.

Lemrina wishes she could say she patiently waited until they were back to the medical center to demand answers, but she makes it only as far as the empty road before rounding on Inaho.

“So?”

Inaho doesn’t look at her, but his brows crease slightly. “You need to understand this is mere conjecture, although I believe the probability of this happening to be around 80%—”

“Yes, yes! What is your theory?”

“... The Count that is currently aggressively campaigning against the UFE has a protection the last Count did not. His Landing Castle is based deep within the continent, so using abandoned ships like the last operation isn’t a possibility.”

“So the UFE would use the Deucalion? But that is so conspicuous.”

“Yes, too much so. There are abandoned military bases or simply half destroyed cities all over Earth that could be used for a short, secret, operation. Initially I had assumed that the UFE would take time, around months, to slowly arm and staff one of those near the Landing Castle without their movements being noticed. To try and make use of that in a short period without anyone noticing the movement of armaments and personnel would normally not be possible, in the layout.”

“Which is why you thought the Deucalion might be used as a distraction? Because while everyone looks at it, they could operate more freely?”

“Yes, but that is also flawed. Not everyone will focus that much on a simple route change, and not for long enough, unless they plan to have the Deucalion do more for attention. However, it’s been a week and so far there has been no news about it; which brings me to my other theory, which the map has confirmed.”

“Which is?”

“... The Deucalion will be used to transport people and tools to a chosen settlement. Whenever they land in a larger city, they’ll likely get people to secretly board along with equipment, then drop them off at strategic spots. Given the size of the Deucalion, and that the UFE can also supplement what it carries through some small ground operations, they can speed it up and have the bare minimum for training ready in weeks, and launch an attack in less time afterwards.”

“... You got all that from a map.” To her chagrin, Lemrina’s words don’t come at as flat as she hoped, and there’s a small tone of admiration.

If Inaho notices it, he takes no heed and simply shrugs. “Not necessarily just that map. I had previous knowledge I needed to confirm by viewing one.”

“So you knew which settlement they’d use for operations.”

“No, there are countless places and bases that could work. The relevant information isn’t that, but the traceability of the route chosen.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Not all of Earth is covered in connectivity. The war, the destruction, the weapons used all caused spots where signals and transmissions don’t work well or at all unless you are side by side. Even if the Deucalion did carry equipment and people, anyone tracing it would notice if it kept landing in a spot that should have nothing. However, if the Deucalion does the landing in a transmission blind spot, no one far away would be able to tell.”

“So you… knew where the blindspots were?”

“I had a general overview, as it was necessary to either avoid or use them when we were in the Deucalion, especially trying to reach the Russian base. The map was necessary to confirm my memory: the route they are taking does pass through blindspots, two of which are right over abandoned bases.”

“I believe that’s what must be happening.”

“Don’t be too sure just yet. But we might know soon enough, maybe.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll tell Dr. Yagarai I plan to stay another week around here after my treatment is done. If the UFE, however, tells me to go back home when it’s done, or even recalls me before I am done—”

Lemrina sucks in her breath. “They’ll want you to return to prepare to bring in Slaine.”

“Precisely. Obviously they could take longer and take Slaine by other means, but the longer the transport, the more danger of Slaine being seen or escaping there is, which they will never risk. In twenty six days the Deucalion will be on the route point nearest to Slaine’s location, so that is when they’ll want him to board it.”

“Let’s think of something we can do with the information in the meanwhile,” Lemrina says, though what she really means is that she’s hoping Kaizuka can come up with a plan.

“I don’t know if there is anything to be done.”

“There must be!”

But when they arrive back, Dr. Yagarai is waiting for them, looking both grave and apologetic.

“Inaho… I truly am sorry but… your presence was requested back in your home. Your… work has been piling up, it seems.”

Notes:

-A sentence was changed in the last chapter in the exchange between Inaho and Yagarai. I forgot that it was clear the UFE knew Inaho could use aldnoah, and a comment thankfully reminded me. The sentence was changed not long after I posted it, so if you've read last chapter recently, you probably got the corrected setence.

-I forgot to add this to ch39 but, after the 2year wait between ch37 and 38 I never imagined I'd get so many comments. I'm really thankful for everyone who comes back to read despite the ridiculous update frequency and then comment too!

-On how aldnoah works: I talked it over with some people. Many thanks to the Discord group chat for giving me the supposed poem that explain how it works. That said, the whole “oh it works with love/loyalty” thing is… bullshit to me. For many reasons. I wanted to explain them here but… let’s see if the characters don't eventually explain in the fic. If they don't, i'll make a future note explaining the reasoning behind what Ive chosen. because I have given up and decided I need to pick what I want because canon is so filled with plotholes over this that there is no valid answer there.

-My beta has begged me to go back and beta the early chapters (which had no beta). After even commenters started offering to beta those chapters, I came to the conclusion they were really that in need of work, so my beta is not only betaing the new chapter, but has now gone back to do former chapters too. Thank my poor beta. As of this moment, chapters 01 has been redone and reuploaded to AO3 a bit after this new chapter. I need to figure out if reuploading old chapters will make AO3 act like I’m uploading new content. I dont want to reupload and accidently have readers think theres new chapters, so I might only reupload along with new content, depending.

Regardless, here are the changes being made, so you guys dont fret: NO changes to story. No matter how cheesy or clunky i feel dialogue or plot progression used to be, any redoing of written plot will not be done, and in the rare case that I realize I should redo it, I will absolutely warn people in current chapter notes. But i feel like that cheapens the experience and i dont recall a need for that, so assume NO plot content is being altered. Changes are: fixing grammar and punctuation mistakes. Also removing the usage of “blond” “brunet” descriptors, as I’ve since realized using those arent that good and its better to just work harder on sentences to use names without too much repetition. Clunky or cheesy sentences will stay as they were (though my beta is still also fixing those in the current chapters).

-Deucalion is Prometheus son.

#aldnoah.zero #aldnoah zero #orangebat #inasure #slaine troyard #inaho kaizuka #az fic: in carcere #my fic

54 notes · View notes

calorieworkouts · 4 years ago

Text

Success Story: Aileen Lost 79 lbs!

Aileen S. Age: 45 Starting Weight: 234 Weight now: 155

What was the transforming point that encouraged your way of living change?

In 2008, I lost about 70 pounds, yet I never really reached my target weight. Over the following few years, I continuously returned on even more than fifty percent of that weight. I was miserable with myself and my capacity to do things with my youngsters and good friends, like jump on a trampoline or go clothes shopping. In the summertime of 2012, we went on vacation as well as I despised seeing myself in images. I had a now-or-never minute and determined that if I wished to be delighted, I required to start doing points for myself as well as develop my own joy.

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How did MyFoodDiary help in your weight reduction journey?

Writing down what I eat is a crucial and non-negotiable part of achieving as well as maintaining a healthy weight for me. I recognize some professionals say not to compose it down because "calories are not all developed equally." There might be some reality because, yet I understand that for me, meaningless psychological eating is probably my number one source of weight gain. I also think that at the end of the day, it is the straightforward math of "calories in vs. calories out" that regulations my body. I do not constantly have a "journal" with me, neither my computer. To have an online journal that is always available as well as upgraded with every one of the information I require, that is doing the math for me and also tracking exercise, dietary values, and also water consumption, is just crucial.

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Even though I have actually kept my goal weight for over 2 years, I still require to verify to myself daily that I can do this, that this is real. This is my thought cycle: I think that I am a solid as well as healthy and balanced individual, as a result I act in this way. It has actually become my fact. I consume alcohol water rather than other beverages. I try to include vegetables right into my diet regimen wherever I can, particularly right into healthy smoothies. Generally, I attempt to decrease refined carbohydrates and processed foods as well as chemicals. I'm additionally aware that attacks, licks as well as preferences have calories and also build up quick! I sometimes avoid daily journaling but MyFoodDiary is constantly the very first point I return to if I really feel like I have actually not been focusing on my nourishment and also daily calories. There is no suggesting with the numbers before me in black and white.

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What is one brand-new healthy and balanced food, behavior, or task you really did not expect to like, once you attempted it, you were hooked?

In February of 2013, having actually simply reached my objective weight, I mosted likely to a post physical fitness course at Upright Addiction in Stamford CT, assuming I would certainly rotate around looking elegant. Rather, it was hard, as in beyond-my-abilities hard.

Most of my childhood years I was an affordable gymnast, and also many of my life I have actually been a professional dancer. What I saw because class inspired me: women of every age, body form and history, who looked solid as well as graceful. I felt totally awkward and also incapable, however the other women appeared truly certain that I might do it also. I returned to attempt once again. Today, I am a qualified pole health and fitness as well as FlyGym trainer and I show 3 to 6 classes each week. I additionally complete in local competitions as well as have actually obtained bronze, silver, and also gold medals in my age in levels 1 and also 2. Pole and airborne arts are my trifecta of fitness: a challenging full-body workout of toughness and also cardio, lovely and stylish and also never the same, and remarkable ladies of every age as well as capacity coming together to support and also support for each other.

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For years I informed myself "I can not" and I thought it. I saw various other females experience success and also I had a list of reasons she could do it - no children, under 40, had much less to shed, full time athlete or star - and I can not. I am done with that mentality, and with justifications. Females attract inspiration from me due to the fact that I don't have any type of magic bullet or simple excuses. I made a decision to do the job, and also so can various other females. Hearing that I helped motivate another person's success, despite exactly how small, is by far my favorite part of this journey.

What's next? Any type of upcoming plans that were influenced by your weight loss?

My big strategies are to keep going! I will continue contending, sharing, and training pole health and fitness as well as dance, and also aerial arts. I look forward to summer and spending quality time in the water and also sun with my family and friends. I hope to obtain hectic on my blog and also making even more entrances that will certainly share my trials and also successes. I want to get individuals speaking about attaching their wellness and also joy and accomplishing their objectives. I have one boy leaving for university and also 4 kids still in the house, so the most significant part of my life is elevating them and also helping them produce delighted, healthy and balanced lives that include discovering workout that they love.

What is your finest recommendations for others attempting to lose weight?

I state begin NOW. Do a minimum of one point today that you will certainly take pride in tonight. Exactly how often do we go to sleep stating our failures and also negative selections? I recognize there is a long listing of great, also impressive, things you do daily as well as never ever think around. Undoubtedly there are additionally practices as well as actions that make you feel severely, however you never ever truly believe about them, you simply engage in them. So undergo the day looking for possibilities to choose you will certainly boast of!

It does not matter if these opportunities are little. Due to the fact that if you are anything like me, it is the build-up of these little, mindless habits that are making you really feel beat. If rather you go to bed reminding yourself how you actively made one much better choice for yourself, after that you are going to bed with a positive thought. That will change whatever, because things you inform on your own are one of the most powerful things you listen to. Really feeling terribly regarding on your own is difficult work. Making favorable modifications daily is effort. Select your difficult work.

#body workout #exercise #fitness #get fit #health #health and fitness #health and wellness #health club #physical fitness #pilates exercises #weight #wellness #workout

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metaldragoon · 4 years ago

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2020 wasn’t that bad of a year for me. I had to make a couple sacrifices; no basketball and no swimming, but otherwise my life was pretty un-disturbed. I wasn’t able to visit my family but I don’t even have a good relationship with them so “missing holidays” with them also meant “not having extreme anxiety about not being a disappointment.” I like going out to eat at restaurants and obviously couldn’t do that either, but it also meant “you have a lot of money saved up now.” So I don’t even consider either of those negatives. Swimming is a bummer though, I had a bit of an ambition to start triathlon training and I really suck at swimming. My goal was 750m in 10 minutes, but it was a struggle to even swim 750m a day and it’d take me about 20 minutes. I think I was down to like 17 or 18 minutes when the pool closed down but I still had a long, long way to go. My best friend is a lifeguard and he said 10 minutes isn’t that hard, and while he’s obviously a little detached from what a normal swimming time is for an untrained swimmer, I was mind-blown by him doing 50m in 25 seconds with literally never trying to time himself once in his life. 750m 10 minutes is also the minimum requirement to be a lifeguard where he works he said, so that’s why I made it my goal. But that will take a little while longer before I can ever get back in to it. Transitioning to the subject of basketball, I used to play quite a lot in my youth and as a 6′5″ guy with some good athleticism you know I don’t need any sort of skill to still be good. But having the knees of an 80 year old make it an issue with basketball being like the most loading-all-your-weight-directly-in-to-your-knees sport in the world. I believe it was around 2014 when I stopped playing in leagues and this year I was planning on reuniting with my old high school friends to enter some tournaments this year and terrorize northern BC and AB. I’m not as explosive any more so I was hoping to hit the gym and work on my outside shot ‘cause I at least know I will always be a good defender with my size and intelligence, and I went to one single pick up game this year, the same night Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID. It went okay, I had 0 stamina and even trying to rebound a basketball felt awkward much less lining up a jump shot, and then the guys I met up with were like “okay that’s the last game of the year” and I haven’t been able to ball since. But there was a decent amount of positives. I rolled through year 3 of my marriage and I think it’s going pretty swimmingly. No children yet though I’d still like some, but every year I kind of keep thinking “wow I’m so much more knowledgeable and in a more stable position in my life, thank god I didn’t introduce a child in to my previous environment.” Not that I’m a toxic shithead where no child can thrive, but I just think the more I wait the more super-father I can become. It’s always been like a life ambition to be a parent for me, like it felt important that my life is incomplete if I’m not able to do this and a lot of that also meant procreating and y’know, my child being a tall white quarter scottish/norweigan infant, but I’ve definitely been coming around to adoption and now don’t really care about having a child who has the same genetic information as me. I guess that’s all I have to say for now, wife and I are still discussing it and I’m sure it’ll be a few years, but, just a change of perspective I’ve had. I hopped back on to my Tetris grind recently as I’ve had four weeks off of holidays all packed in to the end of the year, I think it’ll be a trend that continues, but I don’t know for sure or anything. I made sort of a break through in controls that helped optimize my play a lot, and just last week I was able to get PBs in APM and 20/40/1000 line sprints from about a year and a half ago, so I’ve already adjusted to the changes that took me a while to get used to. My 20 and 40 line times are 30.626 and 60.708 seconds which is a little frustrating how close I am to clearing those rounded number milestones, but that’s a goal for 2021 I suppose. I could probably break them right now but just haven’t gotten lucky. I question if my fingers can really get any faster though, I think hand speed is a hard thing to develop as an old man, but world record is almost 4x faster so at the same time it’s a little foolish of me to think I’m near any sort of physical limit. My other last tangible success is running. I haven’t run since mid November because of winter in Edmonton ain’t worth it to me, I literally took all my holidays in winter simply for the sake of not having to drive to work as often. But yeah, I was definitely in the best running shape of my life. I’d been tracking my PRs all year, I’ll just quickly list them 100m: 13.8 200m: 33.3 400m: 1:08 800m - 2:48 1000m - 3:31 1 mile - 6:19 2 mile - 13:23 5K - 21:12 10K - 43:36 15K - 1:13:58 10 mile - 1:19:29 20K - 1:38:54 Half Marathon - 1:44:04 A lot of these I didn’t particularly work on setting, they just happened to get recorded by my watch while I was running longer distances. I’m not a sprinter at all as my times clearly indicate, I think anything under 1KM times are all pretty accomplishable by anyone who wants to work on them. I used to be run low 12 for 100m but I think I’m too old for that these days, the 200m was literally the first time I ever ran it, I just was never interested back when I was in track as a kid, 400m is kind of disappointing too because I was running 1:21 when I was 10 years old and I’ve only managed to shave 13 seconds off. 800 was just on the way to some other run so I don’t even really count it as a time, I think I could have definitely been 2:35 if I tried. 3:31 for the 1KM I did once to try and pace my friend for 3:45 and then I sprinted the last 200m so I coulda been quicker there, 1 mile I never attempted to run but I really wanted to get sub 6 minutes, I think I could but I’m not sure why I never attempted to run one. 2 mile is something I actually did run a lot, my neighbourhood is 2.5 KM, 3.2 KM is 2 miles, so I would quite often run it in the morning. My ultimate goal for a pace is 4:12/KM so once I hit that with my 2 mile run (4:10/KM pace) I didn’t push it further. 5KM and 10KM were both done on track where I actually spent the few surrounding days prepping for my run and are the two I’m proudest of, particularly the 10 KM, and the longer distances were all just set while I was trying to run a half marathon. My goal is an hour and a half for the half marathon, so while 14 minutes doesn’t seem extremely far it still is quite tough for me, I need to shave 45 seconds every KM 21 times in a row. I signed up for my first half marathon since 2014 for September 2021. My official PB is only 1:51 so I’m already better than I ever was, but I hope to train all year to shave off that last 14 minutes. My tangible improvement on a weekly basis with running was pretty comforting for my mental health. 29 has always been the age of physical peak for men, everything beyond is a decline until the end, but I never really felt plateaued throughout this year. I ran over 1200 KM last year, the last half of the year I was going for 50KM a week which I’m hoping to keep up again this year while also pushing even further as long as my body can hold up. I still get a lot of stingy injuries that cause me to miss a couple days here or there, but for the most part it went pretty well. Uh, I don’t even know what the point of writing all this was I guess. Just wanted to share that I continued to progress in life, which I guess is the only purpose I have in life, continue to better my life, and I can definitely say I’m better now than I was a year ago, and looking forward to continue an upward trajectory for 2021. Happy New Years.

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yogaadvise · 4 years ago

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Are You Yoga Beginners? Browse these Best Yoga Tips for Beginners!

Being a yoga beginners, we always trying to find details that aid us to enhance our yoga technique. We are getting numerous questions from newbies requesting for suggestions, just how to info, positions and various question pertaining to yoga exercise for novices. This is the factor, we generate this committed write-up covering all possible subjects that may address your inquiry and also will certainly assist you to improve your yoga exercise method. Prior to we start, allow us discover about fundamentals of yoga.

What is Yoga Exercise and exactly how it is helpful?

We have actually already covered this topic extensive but in quick, yoga exercise is a procedure of changing the flow of energy as well as consciousness so that our mind becomes a vibrant center which is capable enough to experience the fact. Regular practicing of detailed techniques of yoga exercise, give unlimited intelligence, power as well as joy.

Practicing yoga exercise is practical to be physically along with mentally healthy and fit. Yoga exercise invigorates you internally and makes you more powerful as well as flexible. It aids to make your body adaptable, well toned and also strong. It improves your metabolism and makes you able to combat different problems. On the whole, it improves your complete fitness and also postures.

Here are couple of questions with their solutions and valuable yoga exercise for newbies pointers for you.

What are some standard things i need before i start learning Yoga?

If you are mosting likely to attend your first yoga class as well as have no concept about what you require to start your yoga exercise method, the very first thing you ought to do is, ask your yoga exercise teacher! as he/she is the most effective person who can advise require yoga exercise equipments by considering your yoga technique as an individual. Some of the standard fundamentals that you require to do before beginning your first yoga class consists of:

Basic knowledge about yoga

Understand well about the yoga exercise clothes

Learn regarding standard yoga accessories like yoga exercise floor coverings, yoga exercise obstructs etc.

Know concerning some basic yoga stances therefore on.

You additionally require to find out some standard yoga exercise etiquette like, Get there early, remove shoes and also socks before getting in right into the area, present on your own to the trainer, take a breath well, and also so on.

While practicing yoga exercise, the first and essential thing is that you must never continue any type of yoga exercise that injures you. It is real, when you practice yoga exercise, your body stretches and also you might really feel some pain as well. This discomfort is not the caution indicator of any kind of injury. In case, if you really feel sharpness or pinching and also if your body informs to stop, then quit doing yoga exercise. In the starting you may feel it's tough to execute yet do not neglect you are attempting to reinforce your body.

From where should i start my initial yoga practice?

If you are going to attend your initial yoga exercise class, after that it would be better to do some basic yoga exercise presents at house, it will make you comfortable when you go into in the yoga class. You can quickly locate finest collection of yoga exercise for novices DVDs online to practice fundamental yoga postures in the house. If you are uncertain or perplex concerning any yoga exercise pose, see to it you practice them under the guidance of your yoga exercise teacher. A specialist instructor will assist you to comprehend well about the essentials of yoga. With the expert assistance, you will certainly likewise find out how to take a breath, reflection methods, standard as well as starting degree yoga postures as well as numerous more.

Which is the very best time to exercise Yoga?

Well, there is no sacrosanct time for yoga but numerous yogis or specialists believe that early morning time is a finest time for the yoga technique. Normally 1 or 2 hours prior to daybreak due to the fact that in early morning, you get up with the stiff body so opening your body with yoga makes you really feel energised and fresh throughout the day. You can perform yoga exercise anytime of the day however you need to be vacant belly. If you are performing yoga exercise in a day time, then you require to be make certain that you have not eaten anything for last 3 to 4 hrs. You can have a favorite or lime juice prior to thirty minutes of yoga.

How much time must I exercise Yoga exercise as a beginner?

For the newbies, it is suggested that don't exercise hard, 30 mins yoga exercise is great for you. As soon as you are well-versed or skilled in yoga exercise, you can enhance the time of performing standard, intermediate and development yoga exercise positions. You can increase the moment from 30 minutes to 1 hrs based on your yoga instructor recommendations. As soon as you start routine yoga exercise method, you will certainly begin appreciating yoga exercise and will certainly ignore the time.

Is there any kind of age restriction for practicing yoga?

There is no specific top age limit for exercising yoga, you can begin anytime whether you are 30 or 60 years of age. you can start and also can continue method yoga as much as 100 years or even more, in-short, you can exercise yoga exercise at any type of age. Kids can start yoga from 8 to one decade of age and also can continue lifelong.

Best Yoga poses for beginners

It is constantly recommended to begin learning yoga from fundamental yoga exercise positions as it will certainly extend your body muscle mass, psoas muscular tissue as well as gradually you should start with intermediate or advancement yoga exercise presents. Below are couple of basic yoga postures ideal for yoga exercise beginners which are split right into 3 different components:

Seated Yoga Poses: Yogis suggests some seated yoga exercise presents which are appropriate for the newbies because these poses can be conveniently adjusted to any kind of stamina level people. These presents straighten your back and also improve the versatility of your body. Seated yoga exercise postures usually focus extra on the versatility instead than strength. These positions include Siddhasana, One legged seated back spin, Balasana, Svanasana, Malasana, Catuspadapitham as well as numerous more.

Standing Yoga Poses: These positions need higher versatility, balance in addition to stamina and also walking cane be classified in many sophisticated asanas. Normal method of standing postures makes you much more energised as well as improve the balance of your body. Standing positions consist of Dolphin Posture, Utkatasana, Uttanasana, Tadasana, Garudasana therefore on.

Balancing Poses: These poses assist us to be concentrated due to the fact that these require to be balanced. In these poses, dropping is unpreventable as well as this tests us to balance our mind and body. Performing these postures, need complete focus as well as improve our coordination in addition to self-confidence. These positions include Danddayamna Baddha Konasana, Utthita Hasta Padangustasana, Adho Mukha Svanasana, Utthita Ashwa Sanchalanasana, Natarajasana therefore on.

Can we eat in the past and also after our yoga practice?

During yoga session, it is required to be empty stomach. You need to have to keep the distance of 2 to 3 hours in between major dish and your yoga session. Our digestion system takes some power to absorb the food and if you do yoga exercise after the dish, your body can not absorb the food correctly as your entire energy mosts likely to the muscular tissues. Eating after yoga is not a significant problem however you should stay clear of spicy and also oily food. You can take some light treats. Still, we strongly advise consult your yoga teacher regarding to your diet plan as it may differ from individual to person and also their wellness condition.

Over to you!

Are you yoga exercise novices as well as have more inquiries for us? do share them by means of comments or drop us an e-mail. Our yoga exercise professional will certainly give best feasible option to your query.

#basic yoga #bikram yoga #pilates #practice yoga #what is yoga #yoga #yoga beginners #yoga instructor #yoga poses #yoga poses for beginners #yoga practice #yoga teacher

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iamanartichoke · 5 years ago

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magic headcanons in the sanctuary ‘verse

Or, I have come to a point in my fic where I needed to stop and write down the rules I’ve found myself establishing for How Magic Works.

Disclaimer: This is not an exhaustive list, as I assume Loki has magic and abilities that have not yet been explored in canon; therefore, some of these headcanons may be subject to change. They also may be subject to change depending on if I change my mind, cause sometimes it be like that.

Note: “Canon” refers to MCU canon. I understand that Loki may have more abilities in the comics but that incarnation of Loki isn’t pertinent to my fic portrayal.

Cut for length.

1. Canon Abilities

superhuman strength, durability, speed, stamina

cold immunity

regenerative healing factor, longevity of life

master sorcerer: illusion manipulation, presence concealment, shapeshifting, mental manipulation, conjuration, telekinesis

other skills: genius level intellect, master tactician, expert combatant, mastery of spear and knife, expert piloting and marksmanship skills. (Source.)

2. Canon Abilities not included in Wiki

Teleportation. - Loki knows how to get from one realm to another without using the Bifrost. In TDW, he pilots through a portal; in Thor 1, however, he’s shown to simply appear and disappear from places without a ship or any other devices. I interpret this as his being able to go back and forth between places with teleportation magic, similar to Dr. Strange’s portals (Loki’s portals are visible only to Loki).

Invisibility. - When Loki visits Thor in Thor 1, he’s invisible to everyone except Thor. I interpret this as Loki having the ability to cloak himself when needed, hiding himself either entirely or just from certain people. - It’s also canon that Loki knows how to cloak himself from Heimdall’s gaze.

Ability to handle infinity stones. - Phyiscally, Loki can pick up the tesseract with his bare hands, store it in his pocket dimension, and use it as a teleportation device. - It’s canonically stated in Avengers 1 that Loki has been taught the power of the tesseract. Loki also sent the reality stone away at the end of TDW, implying that not only does he have knowledge of/understand what the stones are and how they work, he also knows they are too dangerous not to be separated at all times.

3. Magic and Asgard: My Interpretations of Canon (Plus Shit I Just Made Up)

Asgardians as a race are all capable of magic. - Thor 1 establishes that magic and science are one and the same (Thor, Thor 1). - Additionally, “ Asgard is millennia beyond you in our pursuit of science and knowledge” (Lady Sif, Agents of Shield). - Therefore, I interpret that scientific magic is something all Asgardians have access to and know how to use.

There are two types of magic: scientific magic and gifted magic. - Scientific magic is more technological, used for things like engineering, medicine, transportation, etc. This level of scientific development is such the norm in Asgardian society that most don’t even consider it magic at all. One doesn’t need any magical talent to use magical technology. - Gifted magic, on the other hand, is more like an internal energy; Asgardians are born with it (so are Jotuns; it’s like how both species are very long-lived) and are capable of developing it (though many don’t). - Those who choose to harness and practice the art of magic are the sorcerers (or seiðmaðrs, or witches, if you like). They are mostly women and their brand of magic includes spellcraft, illusions and trickery, transmutation, telekinesis, etc. Gifted magic is the type of magic that is generally scorned by the warriors when practiced by men. - Loki explains it like this: “Magic was an inherent ability in Asgardians, interwoven so closely with their scientific developments that sometimes it was hard to distinguish the two. That said, it took hard work and great skill to become a seiðmaðr. Practiced by many, but mastered by few, his mother used to tell him. It was like dancing; anyone could move to the rhythm of a song, but dedication, practice, and a natural, ingrained talent were necessary to make it an art” (Sea, Ch. 9). - This is why it’s possible for Dagny to have the potential to learn and become a sorcerer herself. In short, it’s not like the Force, where only certain people are capable of it. It’s more varied than that.

Some Asgardians have very unique magic that cannot be learned. - Some sorcerers are also “seers,” who have the ability to see into the future. Frigga has this ability, and Thor has the potential for this ability (as shown via his dreams of Ragnarok and the infinity stones; I think he thinks those prophecies were tied to Ragnarok, and doesn’t realize it’s a power he specifically can develop). - Loki, notably, does not have this ability and makes it a point to say so, which is the basis of my interpretation that this particular skill is innate in some and not others, and can’t be learned. - Heimdall, of course, has the ability to see all of the universe at all times. This is his gift from the norns, and cannot be learned. - Thor’s lightning powers and ability to control the storms were also a gift from the norns (not to Thor specifically, but to the firstborn son of Odin). It can’t be learned or transferred; it exists solely in Thor. - Finally, there is the Odinforce, which is strictly a tool of the kings of Asgard. When it gets low, it must be replenished by the Odinsleep. (Source.) My interpretation is that the Odinforce is the most powerful magic that exists, second only to the power of the norns. - In later chapters of Sea, I plan to explore how Thor now also has access to the Odinforce, but he doesn’t realize it yet.

4. Loki’s Seiðr

Loki’s magic is tangible energy. - The more developed the sorcerer, the more tangible that internal energy becomes. I imagine Loki’s seiðr, at this point, to be so developed that it’s like a chemical. It rests in his core and flows through his veins; it’s an intrinsic, physical part of him, like a limb or an organ or blood. - Like any energy source, the magic can become depleted. If Loki overexerts himself (usually by pushing himself to his limits or attempting a spell that requires a lot of magic), not only does his magic become inaccessible while it “recharges,” but because his magic is physically a part of him, being without it makes him terribly ill. He experiences symptoms such as nausea, exhaustion, headaches, etc. His mother referred to this condition as being “spell sick.” - When he is spell sick, he can’t do advanced magic at all. He may be able to muster up enough energy for rudimentary spells, at the risk of making himself even sicker. - Being spell sick does not affect his natural enhanced abilities, such as his strength or durability.

Loki’s magic responds to extreme emotions. - In TDW, after finding out about Frigga’s death, Loki clenches his fists and everything in his cell goes telekinetically flying. I interpret this as his telekinesis going haywire as a result of his extreme distress. - Likewise, when his emotions are beyond his control, the magic lashes out because Loki is no longer capable of controlling that energy. This is why lights and machinery shattered when he had a panic attack, and why little mage lights appeared everywhere when he was having sex with Brunnhilde (bc it was a particularly emotional encounter). - Extreme emotion can also fuel Loki’s magic. Spells and abilities can be performed at a more powerful level when Loki channels things like rage, grief, elation, etc into it.

Some magic is visible to everyone; some is only visible to Loki. - Some magic, of course, can be seen as it’s being performed. Mage lights, electricity, fire and ice magic, and so on - these are all things that everyone can see. - Other magic is, again, energy - it flows, it ebbs, it gets tangled up, it hovers in the air. This type of magic exists on a level that can’t be seen except by those who know where it is. Loki, of course, knows where it is. He can also “pull” magic out of a bespelled object. In Sea, Dr. Strange enchanted a bracelet to bind Loki’s magic; Loki was able to visibly pull the magic from the bracelet in order to access it and set about dismantling it. He likened it to unraveling a ball of yarn.

Miscellaneous. - Some magic can be performed without a thought, like telekinesis or conjuring; other magic requires incantations and/or physical objects to work. The more advanced the spell, the more complicated the process. - Loki has a veritable treasure trove of magical components, such as potions, charmed objects, spellbooks, and so on. He has several pocket dimensions and has been squirreling things away for years. A lot of his resources were lost on Asgard, but Loki has plenty more than anyone realizes hidden away.

I’m pretty sure this is everything I’ve come up with so far, but I might make this its own page on my blog so I can add to it later.

#this is solely for my own benefit #but i figured others might be interested in reading it #if you like any of these headcanons #feel free to use them #charlotte writes #loki pokey artichokey #loki's magic #this post was inspired by #loki teleporting in ch 14 #and me having to stop and explain #how loki's teleportation #is different from dr strange's #also magic about to be lit up in this story #so this is good to know

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stormkrigeren · 5 years ago

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DCEU Clark Kent/Superman/Kal-El Headcanon + Defense

One of my favorite DCEU Clark headcanons is that this farmboy has no idea how to hold his own in a fight. Here are my chronological reasons why I think this is true:

1. Clark grew up in Kansas very protected by his family. His parents were always sure to be nearby or a phone call away in case there was a problem with his powers - Martha was there mere minutes after Clark’s sensory overload at school (MoS), Jonathan apparently brought Clark with him on small jobs (the bullying scene in MoS, not to mention Jonathan and Clark’s very close relationship which revealed they spent a lot of time together). Growing up in a farming community with not much friendly interaction with boys his age (with the exception of Pete Ross from MoS), no one would have been around to teach Clark how to throw a punch or even get him interested in violence.

2. Clark has to control his powers and never let them be seen. A fight is one of the easiest ways for his powers to be revealed: they’re fast, stressful, keep you on your toes, and require a decent amount of physical speed, strength, and cognition. We know Clark has the last three and could use them in a fight if he kept them under control, but the first three are stressors that could trigger a lapse in concentration or control. Clark and the Kents don’t want that to happen because it would mean revealing his powers, so he has to stay out of situations that could lead to a fight - an example would be the bullying scene in MoS.

3. Clark likely has never experimented with his powers, so he has little control over them and nearly no idea how to use them period, much less in a fight. I’ve been listening to Doctor Awkward’s Man of Steel: Answers, Insight, Commentary Podcast, and it has been a real eye-opener. The episodes I have in mind when discussing this point are 30, 31, and 32, which discuss the tornado scene in MoS. To sum it up, Clark and his parents have likely avoided any use of his powers since the incident with the school bus a few years before, so Clark has had no chance to ‘test his limits’ and truly discover what he can do. We know that he doesn't discover flight or the full limits of his strength until later on in life, but this can also be applied to some of his other powers. He might not know how to efficiently use his speed and flight and strength in a fight, and even if he did know at least how to throw a proper punch, the mechanics of the simple movement would be seriously changed if he was using his powers/punching a superpowered being.

4. He lets Lombard hit him not because he knows he can take it, but because he doesn’t know what to do. I know the posturing in the pub scene of MoS leads many to think that Clark knows Lombard would just bounce off, but you can see by the way Chrissy reminds him that starting a fight isn’t worth it that Clark was almost intending to get violently involved by putting Lombard outside. The way he stands before the initial push, arms down at his sides, unprotected (Lombard is ‘on guard’ in a semi-crouch, fists cocked, and Clark is almost baring his chest to him), sort of shows that he was expecting Lombard to back down once he knew that Clark was bigger/stronger. Clark may have been trying to get out of the situation without violence, but knew it would be necessary once Lombard started pushing. Yet he continued to stand unprotected even when he decides to put Lombard out, which shows that he didn’t know how to protect himself properly from the next blow. He is used to people just bouncing off him, so he has never made the effort to try to learn how to go on the defense.

5. In the Battle of Smallville, he is constantly off balance and most of his blows are improperly thrown. The momentum of the fight is clearly a bit much for him and he struggles to keep up, especially when up against two trained Kryptonian soldiers. He does have good aim with his punches but never pulls them to ‘knockout’ with the full possible power behind them. He never uses any other part of his body to fight beside his fists (JL, I’m getting to you!), never throws any kicks or knees or elbows, it’s all fists. Which is exactly what you would expect from an untrained farmboy who only knows violence through bullies and 80s action movies. Now I know Clark would never be expected to stand up to the Tigress of Zod, but Non is canonically half-cow and has a fighting style even worse than Clark, yet we see him dishing it out to Kal-El! The only advantage Non has is know-how and experience while Clark clearly has nothing.

6. In the Battle of Metropolis, Clark has zero chance against Zod. It’s the same argument for the Battle of Smallville: he has no experience, only uses his fists, has almost no stamina, and is very off balance. The reason he wins is that Clark has a few aces up his sleeve: a) He has had a few months/weeks to figure out how to fly, he is more comfortable in it than Zod (who learned like 30 seconds ago), b) He is in more control of his sensory powers than Zod (who learned that day), c) He has a hot reporter and an amazing mom rooting for him, d) Zod is basically suicidal at this point after losing his entire purpose, he has no other reason to live besides to spite Clark and he is quickly getting tired of that.

7. When fighting Batman, Clark is nearly all scare tactics. It’s been two years since Zod, maybe he’s picked up a few things since then, but in the BvS fight scene every move Clark makes is almost meant to intimidate instead of hurt. In his two years of being Superman, he has learned that almost no one will challenge him because he is a scary alien from outer space who can shoot lasers from his eyes, so he continually plays off of that when speaking with anyone of authority (he does it with Swanwick in MoS, and a tiny bit with Finch in BvS, and with Ludlow in MoS again). Nearly every interaction he has with Batman is all about posturing and standing very intimidating, every punch is only half-thrown, and he doesn’t even break into a run at any point. The problem is Bruce is an even bigger drama queen than Clark, the entire ‘battle’ is just them chatting angrily (I love BvS, I always smile at this scene because not only does it prove that Clark can barely fight, but also shows just how big of dorks these two idiots are. I love them.)

8. Fighting Doomsday is the first time we see a glimpse of a possible fighting tactic, though it's not a good one at that. You can see Clark doing it as far back as the Battle of Smallville, though I think it’s the most prominent here. Instead of deflecting punches as trained martial artists tend to do (letting punches glance/bounce off/turn away) Clark tends to catch them by letting all the force hit him instead of something a bit more fragile. This is great because it shows that he is worried about things/people around him getting hit and combats that by taking the hit himself. It’s literally the first thing he does when Doomsday comes out of the cocoon. He is also a bit quicker and more sure of himself in this fight, but has terrible style besides ‘catching’ and still tends to leave himself way overexposed to any possible blows (literally what caused his death)(he honestly could have stabbed Doomsday from behind it ain’t that hard he can fly).

9. The fight in Justice League after his resurrection is barely improved. Clark does use more of his body (*headbutt*) beside his fists, but is still 90% scare tactics (I mean you, slow-turn-to-glare-back-at-Victor-after-he-fired-the-missile). He uses more of his powers, but I think that is because he is still suffering from amnesia and doesn’t have the ‘mental block’ (throwback to the fandom pre-BvS when everyone was discussing why he couldn’t fly as a kid (it’s because he wasn’t thinking past what he knew he could do to what he could possibly do)), so when he is himself Clark is actually holding back his punches so as not to hurt anyone. Amnesia-Clark is a bit more full-force because he has no guilt to hold him back. As for his other powers, Clark is constantly trying to appear as un-alien as possible to avoid hostility, which is the reason he rarely uses more than one power at a time (besides strength and flight). Amnesia-Clark doesn’t have that fear, so uses his powers as he pleases without worrying about the implications.

10: The fight against the Parademons and Steppenwolf is interesting because although he doesn’t have a fighting style, he does have a goal. He fights with the intention of protecting the people and driving Steppenwolf away, so every movement is done with the intention of incapacitating the bad guy. He still leaves himself terribly open, but he does dodge a blow instead of ‘catching it’. You can see his ‘fighting style’ (or lack thereof) transitioning from catching to protect others to dodging to destroy the enemy. He also uses his heat vision and arctic breath as weapons, which seems a little desperate for him, but by then he can see that everything he does is not putting Steppenwolf down, so Clark takes it up a notch. He still doesn’t have the know-how to think militarily and keep the enemy close (why do heroes keep tossing the baddies?! just hit them!). Additionally, after separating the mother boxes he just lays there for a bit in pain but makes hardly any effort to get up and check the perimeter and confirm that the war is over, which again shows a lack of military thinking. This is the battle where he changes the way he fights because he knows that this bad guy can take what he dishes out. Every other fight you can see him holding back just a little so as not to hurt people around him, but in JL he finally begins to let loose just a tiny bit. You can see that he is still not quite comfortable with using his powers (besides strength and flight, canonically his favorite ones) to hurt, but he is trying.

One last thing, despite his super endurance, Clark is panting in nearly every fight scene I’ve watched. Another throwback to some great fanfiction I read discussing how despite the fact that Clark doesn’t need to breathe or can at least hold his breath for a long time, panting after a kiss/during a fight is more of an emotional response caused by stressors than him actually lacking oxygen (the fic I’m referencing is Eowyn77′s ‘Rosy-Fingered Dawn’ on fanfiction.net).

As you can see, in nearly every fight Clark is involved in, he is more of a Tank than an actual Warrior. This is not to say that he is almost useless in a fight, but more of a call-out post reiterating just how much of a farmboy he is even in the face of multiple alien invasions. Lois will always be around to protect him, tho!

tldr: Clark Kent can’t even throw a proper punch, must protect the smol farmboy.

#clark kent #superman #man of steel #bvs #batman vs superman #justice league #smallville #kal-el #tank #can't fight #headcanon

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lumilasi · 5 years ago

Photo

You can find this template from here

Updated his timeskip look. Made his face more narrower and longer as that seems to have an effect of making the character look older. Also long hair and beard.

Rest of the Bio below

Age: 24

Sexuality: Aro/Ace

KAIN’S QUIRK EXPLAINED:

Quirk name: Access

BASICS:

Allows him to access and manipulate people’s minds and bodies, electric devices, the surrounding terrain to an extent, as well as spacetime itself, I.E create portals both in world and other dimensions.

QUIRK WEAKNESSES:

It requires a lot of energy to be diverted into his brain and quirk, so his physical stamina and health is weaker than average; he needs to constantly be conscious of the energy his body has left to give to both sustain his life AND this complicated quirk. He’s therefore not a close combatant and suffers from myriad of health issues such as headaches, vertigo, dizzy spells and so on.

Kain also sometimes struggles controlling his power, meaning he passively reads people’s thoughts even when he doesn’t want to, or can even channel their nightmares and anxiety fits, something he ended up suffering from a lot as a child. If he gets too emotionally unstable, his quirk can lash out and harm even his friends involuntarily, such as damaging their internal organs or causing violent hallucinations. This burst is also draining to Kain himself and could lead in severe complications and even death.

Kain’s quirk can be split into four categories: Portals I Mental Control I Physical Control I Hacking

1. PORTALS (and terms associated with this aspect)

Average Portal: In world portal sizes vary, but typically they are anywhere between palm- to (tall, around 2 meters in diameter) human sized. He can make them bigger, but it requires more energy and often isn’t necessary.

The portals typically have a yellowish glowing edge and can be accessed from both sides. Portals can also be used as an offensive tool by opening one around a person’s limb and cutting it off for example

Rifts: Dimensional rifts look roughly the same but typically last shorter amount of time; he can make them much bigger by default (though it requires a lot of his energy and if he makes a big one, it’s the only thing he can focus on) and even transfer large buildings into other worlds potentially. Typically for this he does need something to enchant his quirk so it doesn’t drain his energy so much

Awareness: In order to access a place, Kain either needs to have a visual for it, or have enough “knowledge” of the place. Either by being there before, or using someone’s memory and awareness of the location. It works the best with places he’s been in before and knows well, or somebody whose memories he’s using does/has been.

Scouting: Accessing other worlds, he typically can “scout out” the place beforehand by using his mental access ability on locals to see through their eyes and memories what kind of world he’s entering into. Easiest way to do this is access the mind of a doppleganger of somebody he knows

RIFT USING RULES

Kain can only access worlds (physically) that are similar to his. Worlds that are too different and have none of the same people that existed in his world for example are beyond his reach. The more alike the world is, the easier it is to Scout and access. He can still view these bizarre worlds, but he can’t enter them. He also can’t enter worlds where a version of him with similar power exists.

He always has to return home, and so does anyone who accompanies him. Kain can remain in other worlds for even years in theory (he hasn’t tested it yet), but typically people with him need something to “anchor” themselves into this new plane of existence.

Kain can inject his stronger resistance to the “dimensional pull” as he calls it, by either donating his blood, or having his DNA otherwise injected into his companions. He can only donate his blood to those who match his AB bloodtype though. (such as Ryuu)

From his observations, the dimensional pull from his rifts affects emitter quirk types the most, which he theorizes is because emitters often don’t have a “physical” constant existence, so they already live in an unstable pocket dimension of sorts.

Typically, you return close to the same time to when you left, the longest he’s been away from his home world - from the local’s perspective - has been a month. It is only if he pushes the stay after a certain point, that his own world’s time may start to catch up. (This is again more of a theoretical thing; he hasn’t dared to test it out yet)

2. MENTAL CONTROL

Access Link: He can access a person’s mind and body by either touching or looking at them. This allows him to spy on things through the person’s senses. He can even extend this ”vision” skill by making it jump from his original target to a new person they’re looking at, though the effect tends to weaken with a secondary target, and he can only do this jump twice.

Reconnecting: after making this first “linking” he can reignite it and slip back into the person’s mind the second time, even without seeing them or knowing their location. After that it depends on the person in question how easy it’ll be; the connection lasts longer the better he knows the person, and with those he’s closest to (like Ryuu) he can re-link himself anytime he wants without needing any physical or visual contact. Those he doesn’t know as well, he typically needs to redo the connection after the second or third time using it, which means he has to see the person or touch them.

Passive use: Often when dealing with a newer person that he needs to keep the connection open with for whatever reason, he tends to passively keep looking into their minds to not turn off the linking. This does mean it is draining for his health so it is better done when he doesn’t have to do much anything else with his quirk the same time.

Mental manipulation: He can read people’s thoughts and subtly manipulate their thinking; it is not direct brainwashing but rather subtly poking at one’s subconscious. He can also directly speak into person’s head. He can also make the target hallucinate or if asleep, either see nightmares or make sure they rest well.

Mind reading: He can read into people’s thoughts and memories, and even in rare cases such as quirks like AFO and OFA with their own pocket dimensions, access those.

PHYSICAL CONTROL(and terms associated with it)

Paralysis: Allows him to paralyze his target briefly, activates by sight or touch like his mental linking. People with high level of mental resilience can resist it better than most.

Minor Quirk control: Allows him to temporarily block someone’s quirk from being used, though this doesn’t work on mutant types as their mutation is a more clear part of their bodies. (even if the mutation is not directly linked to their quirk) Also typically difficult ability to maintain for longer than a minute as it drains him a lot.

Medic Abilities: He can perform ”surgery” on people without tools and basically fix their injuries (or cause internal damage.) He can even cure poisoning by making the body create natural antibodies against it, as long as he knows exactly how the said poison works. Kain can’t use this ability on his own body, only on others.

HACKING

He can access computers and other electric devices by touch or visual connection, and hack them. Since hacking is something he rarely needs to do though, given the people he hangs out with tend to have somebody who knows how to hack, this ability is rarely used.

PERSONALITY SUMMARY

Kain is a very calm and level-headed individual, who is also highly intelligent and good at observing and manipulating people. He’s not very emotional, border-lining sociopath due to his severe childhood trauma, where his brain basically locked his emotions away for the most part so he could process the side-effects of his quirk.

Because of how many things his quirk can do, Kain is naturally curious about everything, and likes to poke around and see what he can do to change the situation somehow, or just in general see what will happen if he does something.

He tends to at times struggle with general empathy, typically extending it only to those he’s grown fond of. Even then, he may sometimes come off cold and like he doesn’t fully grasp the other person’s emotions, given his mostly logic driven mind. This results in him sometimes saying things in a manner that can sound needlessly harsh, or kind of devious/manipulative given his calm and polite manner of speech, even if he doesn’t mean to come off that way.

Kain has a very strong sense of honor in a sense, that he always keeps his word, and tends to look people who break their with extreme disdain, sometimes beyond what is appropriate for the situation. He can also in extreme cases go so far as to cause himself severe harm to keep a promise he finds important. Kain also hates not having control over his own situation due to his childhood, and is acutely aware of how dangerous his quirk could be if he loses control of it, to the point it could harm those he doesn’t want to. If somebody, somehow causes him to end up in such a situation, he will take it very personally and may get quite brutal towards the culprit.

He’s ultimately selfish and very logic-driven individual, meaning every action he takes has a self-serving/self-preserving nature. However, that can lend him into sometimes aiding others and even saving their lives if it serves his interest.

MORE FACTS

- His name translates to “Calamity of the red castle,” though people who haven’t seen how it’s written often assume his surname simply means “redwhite” given The words for Castle and white sound the same.

- Since his mother was Canadian, Kain can speak both French and English fluently on top of Japanese. He’s taught Ryuu a bit of both, but mostly the only things Ryuu remembers from French is insults.

- His original name, according to his late mother, would’ve been “Kibou” which means hope, wish, aspiration. She wanted to name him that because she’d wanted a child for a long time, but struggled to get pregnant initially.

- He often wears a face-mask due to his poor health, even in his disguise outfit, sometimes even indoors. And hide if he starts coughing blood from his enemies.

- While classified as villain, Kain arguably sometimes acts more like an anti-hero, as the actions he takes during his travels sometimes result in him helping someone who really needs it.

- Kain tends to despise people who go back in their own principles and hold absolutely no standards when trying to reach a goal. This stems from the fact his father pretty much did not have any when it came to conducting his experiments; Kain found it especially despicable given he was a Doctor, and Doctors are made to swear the oath of “do no harm.”

BG STORY

He was born with a powerful Quirk, but his body was weak as a side-effect from the ability.

His mum ended up dying during childbirth due to complications, which caused his father Daiki to be distant from his son up until the age four when his Quirk manifested, and Daiki decided to use his boy for his military projects due to the versatility of his ability. He did also claim he was looking for a way to “cure” the weak body of his, but instead of strengthening his body, he mainly ended up enchanting Kain’s Quirk. Daiki then decided to use these enchantments in his own research.

As a child, Kain struggled with his ability to see into people’s memories where it would happen involuntarily, making him unable to tell what were his and what were other people’s memories. This chaos inside his brain was detrimental to his mental health, and it culminated one day where he accidentally killed a bunch of people working in the facility/patients, because he “just wanted the voices to stop” and his power lashed out without his control.

After this incident, his brain sort of began turning off his feelings to not have severe reactions like this each time he accidentally saw something horrid.

Eventually, this defense mechanism made him near completely unable to empathize with people easily, or feel any sort of emotions strongly. He could tell when some sort of emotion would be required, but he just couldn’t feel it. During his childhood, Kain Met Ryuu during one of his runaway trips (opened a portal away from the lab he was kept in and wandered off on his own) and they became friends.

Kain helped Ryuu to learn to control his ability better, as Kain was pretty much a genius kid from a very young age and was always curious to see how far one could develop their skills, a trait he inherited from his scientist father. At some point, some of Daiki’s co-workers gave him out to the authorities for his questionable practices, so Daiki ran away with his son to continue his research in secret.

At one point, Dr. Akashiro makes a deal with AFO to kidnap a certain boy for him, and he in turn would help him with the research.

(This boy being young Tenko Shimura, who in THIS verse was raised by All Might and not by AFO.)

All Might eventually came to rescue his adoptive child, and Daiki was forced to find a new place to hide and continue his project. He comes up with an idea to use Kain’s powers to transfer his lab into another dimension, which he eventually pulls off, finding a world where, peculiarly, he meets a version of the boy he once kidnapped, who’d been completely corrupted by villainy.

Later on, Daiki uses his boy’s power to teleport them into another dimension to escape from those pursuing them. His son’s body is weakened greatly however, and the man starts searching for a solution to this issue, not wanting to lose his precious research material.

After years, he finally comes to a conclusion. He needs to get Kain a whole new body, and there happens to be a person who matches. A child he’d already once taken from his new home.

Shimura Tenko

the rest is basically a spoiler to Reanimate, so I won’t explain what happens here in detail, all you need to know is that Kain finally kills his dad and escapes his clutches, joining back with his childhood friend Ryuu. He also indirectly saves Tenko, by preventing his dad from using his body to replace Kain’s old one, figuring out another way to fix the damage his dad’s forced dimension hopping had done to him.

Bio template (C) Yourultraarchive

Oc (C) me

#kain akashiro #akashiro kain #my bnha oc #character bio #bio update #my hero academy oc #bnha villain oc #Lumi's art scribbles #Lumi's chaotic creations

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slx99 · 5 years ago

Text

Hostage Interlude - Run

A small silly one-shot that I wrote after speaking to @maedre13 aaaages ago. Also thanks for the encouragement from my writer-tribe! Also posted here: AO3

Run

Luke dropped to his knees, panting heavily. “I… need a… break,” he heaved out. His legs and arms felt like lead and Luke was certain that he couldn’t block even one more of Vader’s relentless blows with the training lightsaber.

A pair of large black boots and a heavy dura-weave cape appeared in his line of vision, much too close for comfort. Luke squinted up. Vader towered above him, his thumbs hooked into his belt as he regarded his son, prisoner and apprentice from above.

“Pathetic,” he remarked. “Your physical fitness is truly abysmal.”

“It’s not my fault,” Luke gasped in between gulps of air, his temper flaring up at the casual remark. “I’ve been locked up for months, how do you expect me to stay fit like that if I only get out for an hour or two here or there.”

+++

In retrospect, Luke maybe shouldn’t have said that. A sharp knock on his door, a mere hour after his latest training session with Vader had ended, made him look up from the datapad he was studying. Luke switched off the datapad and hid it behind the pillow of the narrow couch he was lounging on. It would raise unnecessary and hard-to-answer questions if he was caught reading training handbook for junior navy officers.

Luke had refused to study it at first on principle, but boredom had gotten the better of Luke. Of course, he left out all the loyalty and propaganda material. Trimmed of all that dripping praise for the Emperor or the appalling lines about non-human species, the remaining topics on tactics, supply chain management and fleet movements were actually quite interesting.

With a frown, Luke checked the chrono. It was way too early for his dinner and after his earlier training session with Vader, his father was unlikely to come to see him again.

Emsee whistled.

It was no food delivery. The doorway was blocked by a huge crate, pushed in by two technicians in grey jumpsuits. They began unpacking the box and assemble what was inside under the watchful gaze of an officer.

“What is that?” Luke demanded, eying the crate and the parts the soldiers.

He didn’t get an answer, but it didn’t take long either and the men left Luke with a fully assembled and functioning treadmill occupying most of the free space of his living area.

+++

“You have not used it,” Vader remarked.

Considering his father rarely went to see him in his quarters as not to raise suspicions why he was paying his hostage too much attention this must be the reason why he had come this time. Luke wouldn’t put it past his father that the whole training monstrum was rigged to feed back his activity, or rather inactivity, on his father’s daily update report.

Luke crossed his arms defensively, glaring at the treadmill and back at Vader. He wouldn’t back down on this. “Is that a joke? Do you think I am a mooka that I just run on it like on a wheel?”

“It is beneficial for your health and will help with your training.”

“I’m not doing it!”

Vader eyed him, disapproval hanging heavily between them,

“Your stamina is abysmal.”

Luke flustered. “And whose fault is that, I used to play nuna ball twice a week, I hadstamina.”

“But now that you are here you have to adapt to it. All troops and personnel on board are required to exercise to offset the detrimental effects of the limited movement-“

“I’m not personnel. I am a prisoner.”

“Regardless, exercising will help with your overall wellbeing.”

“Like that is motivating.”

“Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate you.”

Luke glowered at him. “It’s just a cheap way of keep me locked up in here even longer.”

Vader straightened up, crossing his arms behind his back. “I understand your discontent with this arrangement,” he said. “I propose an incentive.”

“Like what?” Luke asked suspiciously.

“How about a holo movie of your choice.”

“Try again.”

“I can have the admiral procure you more datapads.”

Luke just huffed.

“What is it then that you desire in return?”

“How about you take me planetside. I haven’t had any fresh air since Carida. You just went planetside last week.”

“And how would you know that?” Vader demanded sharply.

“I saw a shuttle leave while we were in orbit above that blue and purple planet.”

“What makes you think I was on board that shuttle?”

“The admiral came and visited me for a whole two hours. He only has that much time when you are away. So what about it, will you take me on your next trip?”

“Perceptive,” Vader conceded. “But I cannot grant you your request.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like I can run away when you are watching me.”

Vader just stared at him, impatience and disapproval hanging between them.

“Fine then how about dessert?”

“You already receive the best rations available.”

Luke snorted. What would he give for having back the fine food they used to have at the palace in Aldera. What the imperial navy considered the best possible standard rations, reserved for their high-ranking officers, was already an unappealing pre-made, de- and later rehydrated tasteless substance.

“Like you can’t procure anything better than that, surely-“

Vader waved him off. “Very well. But only if you run ten miles per day.”

“Ten miles?”

“Yes, for a start, over time you will have to increase-“

“That’s way too much!”

“Then you better get to it if you wish to have your reward.”

+++ Luke had halfheartedly run for a while until he had well and truly lost any interest in whatever desert Vader could come up with. Luke had always found it dull to run and it only got worse when he had to do it on a treadmill three sizes too big for his quarters and staring at a bare grey durasteel wall. The machine still only showed just under two miles performance, despite Luke’s effort.

Luke jumped off the thing.

“This is stupid,” he huffed when Emsee beeped questioningly. “I’m not doing this.”

Emsee rolled forward and nudged against the treadmill.

“Really? You want to try it?”

Luke only got a flurry of sounds as response. He shrugged. “If you want. Not sure you can get ti moving though.” He bent down to put the small mouse droid on the belt. Emsee whirred forward on his small wheels and to Luke’s surprise the machine started counting again. Faster and faster the distance measured rose, two and a half miles, two and three quarter, three miles, as Emsee sped at his absolute top speed. It didn’t take long and the treadmill had logged ten miles. Luke laughed and cheered Emsee on for another while until the little droid needed to power down.

The cheesecake he received as his reward later that evening was surprisingly good even though Luke wasn’t sure if he’d actually want to know how Vader had managed to procure it.

+++

It took only a few days until Vader stood again in Luke’s living area, giving off the air of impatience and anger. Luke looked up from where he was lounging comfortably on his couch. Luke thought he was lucky that Emsee was currently recharging in the corner. He tried to look innocently.

“You are unwise to believe you could fool me this easily,” Vader said, without preamble. “You should have kept the parameters at a believable level. 16 miles within one hour?”

Luke crossed his arms defensively. “Fine, then no more rewards.”

“I am afraid it is not that easy, your Highness. You have received three rewards so far Since I upheld my end of the deal, you now owe me a total of thirty miles.”

Luke stared at Vader incredulous. “You can’t be serious.”

“Start. You will complete the first right now.” Vader stalked over to the couch that Luke vacated only with great reluctance, his bulk more crashing onto it than sitting down.

Luke clambered on the treadmill with a glare that could melt durasteel.

“Fine, but don’t think I would run a single mile on this thing after I am done.”

“We will see, son,” Vader replied smugly and if anything, that strengthen Luke’s resolve not to take even one step on the blasted treadmill.

+++

From the safe distance of the overlooking balcony, Admiral Piett watched the conflict unfolding in the multipurpose hall 14-2, usually training ground for the Executor’s Stormtrooper compliment, below him. Vader had enlisted the duty of one of the most feared drill sergeants of the 501st, Vader’s dreaded fist. It should have been a simple task for the experienced man to call a sixteen-year-old boy to order and discipline. But it seemed that General Veers had put his money prematurely on his sergeant. A fact that was dawning on the General, watching the drama standing next to Piett with a shaking head.

Organa’s son had yet to do a single lap on the obstacle course put up in the hall specifically for the boy’s training. And by he looks of it this wouldn’t change anytime soon, no matter how much the drill sergeant was yelling at him. Despite his unassuming stature and polite behavior, Prince Luke seemed to possess a level of obstinate pacifism that eclipsed that of his father by a wide margin. The boy mere stood, is arms crossed and chin raised to glare up at the sergeant, a good head taller than him, citing a bunch of paragraphs straight from the Imperial Charta that would make this encounter between a peaceful civilian like him and a member of his Majesty’s armed forces illegal on at least three different levels.

“Guess I better get him out of there,” General Veers announced and shoved a hundred credits Pietts way. Piett was quite certain the General was meaning to save the sergeant before the poor man would suffer a stroke from sheer consternation.

+++

Vader glared down at the sweating commanding officer of the imperial outpost, guilty of letting a flock of rebels escape by sheer incompetence. But still the man couldn’t help but let his gaze dart away from Vader to watch the young prince of Alderaan wandering around in the distance, followed closely by an escort of Stormtroopers.

But no matter how often Vader had mentally nudged, Luke seemed unable to wipe that unseemly smile off his face.

Vader decided that this was a small price to pay for finally having convinced Luke to train to improve his stamina and strength. And his satisfaction had definitely and absolutely nothing to do with feeling the unrestrained happiness of his son to be on a planet again and feel fresh air and sunlight on his skin.

#hostage interlude #hostage #Luke Organa #Darth Vader #EmSee

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wayfront4 · 4 years ago

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7 Soft Skills You Required To Achieve Occupation Development.

5 Ways To Get Fit In 3 Months │ Benenden Health And Wellness.

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Why My Individual Trainer Is Worth It.

I just wore a polo shirt and blue jeans, I was offered a job withinin half an hour of the interview. This is vital info, so you understand what to anticipate after you leave of the interview area door. If a 2nd meeting is pointed out, make certain you recognize when you must listen to back by.

As alluring as it may be to distinguish yourself from other candidates, do not tell a hinge on your meeting that could come back to haunt you if you get the work. Whether it's knowing just how to utilize a certain software application or experience with a social network's ad system, a lie could harm you if the truth appears later on. You have restricted time in your meeting to make a great impression, so utilize the moment you have to speak eloquently and thoughtfully. Self-confidence is a big part of preparedness, as well as the duty you're interviewing for will certainly most likely need you to be decisive and also positive so you can obtain things done. So don't say you fidget-- it will probably make youmorenervous, as well as it will not do you any kind of favors with your recruiter, either.

If this is true for you, make sure to show this to the job interviewer in your story. Tell the recruiter about exactly how stress or tension can motivate you to really buckle down, focus, and work vigilantly to obtain projects done. To provide a good solution to this question, you ought to supply instances of exactly how you have actually dealt with anxiety in the past as well as just how it's made you a much more effective worker. Recruiters ask concerns similar to this since they need to know just how pressure impacts you as well as what you do to manage it.

Speak to clients at active times on reception to completely involve with them. Offer cost-free suggestions and check up on gym-member that appear to be battling. It is additionally music to an interviewer's ears if you state that you want to go on a sales/marketing program to improve these skills if you are not solid on these areas. Much like taking notice of your responses and way of speaking, paying attention to your body language and also disposition can bring wonderful benefits.

Even the most flexible people can have trouble dealing with others that have certain characteristics or personality traits. Having good team effort skills likewise implies having a solid recognition of just how you deal with others as well as ways you can readjust your technique to far better offer the company. An occupation in the fitness sector can be what you make from it, yet it makes sure to be enjoyable, flexible as well as fulfilling regardless of where you work or who for. Whether you like functioning outdoors, inside, a team setup or solo, there are a variety of settings within the fitness industry to fit.

Why Is It Important For A Personal Trainer To Work With Clients To Agree With Objectives And Also Goals?

You ought to not overlook medical recommendations, or delay looking for medical suggestions, due to something you review in this website. If this is an obstacle for you, focus on getting little exercises in throughout the day. If your work takes the majority of your time, think about taking 3-10 minute breaks and also stroll at moderate intensity, where you damage a little sweat as well as are somewhat short of breath. Taking these breaks are not only great for physical health, but also for mental health. This indicates that your body has actually come to be made use of to the task you have actually been doing to drop weight.

5 Method Fitness

If you truly want to see results reflected on the range and also remain to make development with time, you require to dedicate to working out at the very least four to 5 days weekly. This is especially so if the quantity of time you're placing in doesn't compare with your objectives. Linda Le Phan is the Senior Material Advertising and marketing Manager atkununu United States, a location where work hunters can obtain an authentic view of life at a business and also where employers have a relied on platform to much better involve ability. When she's not developing material regarding the modern-day workplace, firm culture, and also life & work hacks, she is most likely heading out to get an iced coffee, raiding the treat cabinet, or obstructing to kununu's Spotify playlist.

they line up well what you shared on your resume, as well as shows preparedness in case a recruiter does not have a copy. Whether you're interviewing to flip hamburgers or run a country, turn up dressed to excite. While a fit is no more the only way to dress well for meetings, it is still a great go-to in most circumstances. To be lean muscle gainer , ask the firm before the day of your meeting what their dress code is or do a bit of research study on your own regarding proper meeting clothes for various scenarios. At the end of the day, however, It's always, always better to overdress than underdress.

Just because you think of a prepared a specific response does not automatically indicate the answer is the best one. You do not intend to be captured by shock by a concern and also do not have a decent answer. If you lack experience, researched points so at least you can discuss the topic.

If you aren't contacted by then, be sure to ring up and also ask why you weren't successful and also how you can boost your possibilities for next time. This is an excellent question to ask to gage your working problems and also to see how your toughness would certainly profit the business. It will additionally make the company restate your formerly pointed out toughness, which will stick to them through the employing process. Constantly seek the guidance of your medical professional or various other qualified health care supplier. Constantly consult your health care service provider prior to starting any type of new treatment, or if you have any kind of inquiries regarding a health problem.

Prior to you leave the meeting, deal to give the recruiter with any kind of extra details they need to make their choice. Added details can include a list of recommendations, a copy of your profile or a duplicate of instructional and also expert certifications. " Many thanks so much for your time, I truly delighted in finding out more regarding you as well as the firm." " My greatest weak point is public talking, something I haven't had several opportunities to do in my existing function, so I'm hoping to expand on those skills dealing with a bigger group at this firm."

Is Personal Training Profitable?

If you learn how to sell and grow a big business, you can usually make up to $25–35/hour in those situations. So, if you aren't good at marketing and sales, it's not profitable. If you ARE good, and you're a good trainer, you can make as much as you want with the right clients.

The most remarkable prospects regulate their need to fill up every area with impulsive answers as well as hesitant "um" s and also "uh" s. When asked a question, take a moment to think through your response or identify an appropriate story and after that start talking. The pause is great as well as it also reveals your capability to be tranquil as well as made up.

If they do smoke, ask if they 'd fit sharing how many cigarettes per-day they smoke. Obviously, you ought to constantly encourage your client to give up cigarette smoking for their health, yet this can be a turn-off to some clients, so choose meticulously just how much you wish to harp on this. Rest can have a significant influence on achieving fitness results, so you'll need to know just how much sleep your client enters a normal evening in order to help them.

Our bodies are clever machines and also come to be really efficient gradually when the exact same activity is executed. Weight lifters should do reps per muscle of their selection, and the weight made use of differs based upon your fitness degree. You are much less likely to utilize amateur language throughout an interview when you decrease, take your time to consider your action as well as concentrate on talking plainly. You can additionally prevent using filler words by practicing changing them with a quick time out or deep breath.

Individuals picking an as soon as a week routine will certainly require to carry out work on their own as well as can not anticipate to reduce weight without technique.

If you are comfortable with your regular and feel as though you do not require even more training, an as soon as a week training may suffice for you.

These sessions are normally shared with two to 4 other individuals working together under a similar program.

Lots of people that select to deal with a trainer will certainly select an as soon as a week meeting.

If we think about the function of education and learning, accreditation and also certification, we recognize it as a means of quality control.

Various other people value the organized atmosphere that having a personal trainer produces as well as pick to train with them forever.

For instance, you may assume you need to meet your trainer 5 days a week to lose twenty pounds, for an extensive duration, yet in truth, a couple of sessions weekly for a month or more is possibly adequate.

Commonly, people that select this kind of training currently understand just how to make use of the equipment effectively and also understand how to exercise properly.

The length of time with your individual trainer will depend upon a number of various variables.

Several fitness professionals pick the sector to avoid a desk-based work and also have the capability to move as well as remain on their feet. With the rise of the health as well as wellness trend in Australia over current years, fitness is at the leading edge of more Australian minds and service is surely thriving as well as readied to remain to follow this pattern for fairly some time. If you're considering a career in fitness, the bright side is your future can be loaded with excitement, adaptability and financial rewards with a lot of chances to expand as well as establish an effective occupation. Help work hunters learn more about the firm by being objective and also to the point.

How To End Up Being A Fitness Tutor (2020 Update).

Free Courses & Certifications Take courses on the most recent company trends, instructed by sector professionals. Client Assistance Get help if you have questions about utilizing HubSpot software application. If you can be made up as well as offer examples of how you take care of anxiety, you're practically assured to provide an effective response. Do not state that you don't function well in difficult circumstances or mention a time when you could not do your work effectively since you were burnt out.

Do excessive, as well as you take the chance of overtraining and also shedding your hard-earned muscle. On the other hand, if you do not up the strength as well as put the moment in, your muscle gains will be minimal.

If you're not getting muscle as rapidly as you like, you could be dealing with the feared plateau. When you educate the exact same body parts with the exact same exercises as well as amount of weight over an extended time period, there's a good chance your body will certainly quit responding. Finding the right equilibrium of cardio exercise as well as strength training is key when it pertains to placing on lean muscle.

Obtain our complimentary digital book guide of example responses as well as professional interview suggestions emailed to you now. For example, if you have a client who wishes to lose 50 extra pounds yet operates at an inactive desk work for 10 hours per day, after that you're mosting likely to require to amp-up those exercises to make certain maximum calorie and also fat melt. On the various other hand, a client who works as a building employee is already getting more exercise throughout the day, to make sure that ought to be thought about when identifying the best fitness plan. An additional way of life information that you should find out about your customer is whether or not they're a cigarette smoker.

Your recruiter has actually listened to every one of these in guide, so do not try to fool them into believing your "greatest weak point" is anything but an unique ability on your resume. It's alright to not recognize the response to an inquiry, but don't leave it at that!

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Attempt to make the inquiries look unrehearsed as this will produce a far better impression of you. You require to show a little of character as well as your story in order to make your response credible.

Selecting The Right Personal Trainer.

Check out on the internet fitness publications so you positively know what hot trends are arising. The fitness world stays one that is rooted greatly in trends and, yes, fads. Whether cardio kickboxing or bootcamp training is the warm thing, studios require to satisfy customer demands or they likely go somewhere else. Not all fitness workshops accommodate people that desire hardcore workouts. Neither is every fitness center wanting to educate individuals who aren't thrilled concerning working out also hard.

How Can You Become An Individual Trainer In Just 6 Weeks?

Providing a response such as this could make the recruiter believe that you won't connect to your employer, also if there's a trouble you require aid with. As an example, if component of the work summary is servicing multiple jobs at once, claiming that you have anxiety attack when you have to handle numerous tasks at the same time is an excellent way to make on your own look poor. Do your best to stay clear of stating that you were emphasized by a scenario that you'll on a regular basis run into at the work you're interviewing for.

Exactly how to Respond to" What Is Easy Fit Personal Training " With Example Responses The blog offers the information required to plan for an interview where the general meeting concern "What is your biggest accomplishment? can be asked. If this is the weakness you are presenting in a meeting, discuss the success you have actually located adhering to instructions yet additionally your occupation capacity when locating convenience with uncertainty. You ought to also explain the steps you are taking to define your day when given ambiguous tasks or goals. Lots of tasks need candidates who are comfortable individually defining tasks and working in the direction of objectives.

When you have actually safeguarded a position, consider making use of company administration software application to track clients, courses showed, etc . Ask for a trial of our All-In-One Fitness Service Management Software today.

Speak to the other personal trainer straight and listen to their sight. Recognize factors of contract and dispute and also prevent routing blame. A recruiter will want to find out about something that actually tested you here. You could have had to find out a brand-new modern technology, or overcome challenging issues in a tough amount of time-- it has to do with exactly how you approach adversity as well as how you conquered it.

She likewise has greater than 15 years of experience training as well as advising supervisors at organizations from American Express to the City of New York City. This candidate has some wonderful teaching fellowship and also part-time experience, but she's a new university grad and doesn't have any type of permanent placements to discuss. She has a great deal of self-confidence and has the ability to concisely sum up how she satisfies the position's leading needs. This solution is a little bit basic as well as can probably be more reinforced with instances.

Personal Trainer Work Summary: What You'Ll Do.

Make sure your solution acknowledges a space in your understanding in a way that still provides you authority. easyfitpersonaltraining.co.uk can provide a solution like, "It's challenging to hit goals when leadership top priorities are constantly changing," but honestly, we don't advise claiming anything that could be regarded as an individual minor. If you're mosting likely to toot your own horn, see to it you have some data or evidence to back it up. Any person can claim they excelled in a previous function, yet numbers or instances will make you attract attention to your interviewer.

Where do most personal trainers work?

Personal trainers typically work in gyms and health clubs. They are self-employed and can also open their own fitness studios. Personal trainers can get creative and work almost anywhere.

While it is definitely respectable and also reveals a solid work principles to spend your energy and time on job, it is also necessary to focus on resting, taking place trip, spending quality time with your family and also taking pleasure in hobbies. Doing so can assist you really feel rejuvenated when you go to work and can raise inspiration, creativity and sustain a favorable expectation.

For optimal results, a workout program should consist of cardiovascular as well as stamina training workout. This permits you to raise your metabolism and melt calories at a greater price, also when you're not working out. How much weight you lose depends upon the quantity of workout you want to dedicate to and also exactly how carefully you stay with your diet regimen.

Design Your Own Program.

A lot of grownups require in between 6 and also 8 hrs per evening to function at their top; if your client isn't getting adequate rest, your very first examination may need to include discussing some methods to improve sleep. Your customer requires to comprehend that the hours they'll invest in the gym won't indicate much if they're not looking after themselves in your home. Run those responses by individuals you trust such as a customer or fellow trainer.

Level 3 Personal Trainer Diploma.

Personable responses that respond honestly will constantly trump reading from a manuscript. Nevertheless, if you were nervous concerning any one of the questions you could obtain, try out a couple of these methods. If there was one thing to look out for, it would be time restraints. You can not bring all of your clients to the table, so select your ideal ones, and also make certain you can talk about them in detail if questioned.

How many personal trainer sessions do I need?

Fitness Goals For example, you may think you need to meet with your trainer five days a week to lose twenty pounds, for an extended period, but in reality, two to three sessions per week for a month or two is probably sufficient.

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