Today was Merva's form testing day and weapons manifestation try outs.
She had high hopes for this, and yet she was afraid because she did not want to mess it up.
She had prepared everything the day before, reciting and recreating how the day was going to go in her mind.
She ate a little this morning, drinking a little water also before heading out, trying to be there before anyone else.
The morning rushed by earlier than she expected, standing by the side as her number was the next. She watched the person before her, her heart doing summersaults.
She was not this good.
'Calm down.' She heard Minerva say, and she listened, taking a deep breath and expelling it slowly.
'I told you that I could just do this, and you take care of the shooting arrow part but you just won't listen.' Minerva reminded her.
'I want to be able to do it myself, I don't want to be relying on you when I join the military.' Merva responded.
'First of all, we will be joining the military," Minerva reminded her. 'And besides, even if I do it now, you can always learn it when we get in.'
Merva knew that Minerva was probably right, but she did not want anyone suspecting her if they got in. And Minerva had never been one who ever saw through any project she made them start.
If she got bored, that would be disastrous.
'I can do it.' She finally replied, but Minerva was not having it.
'Then thank the supremes that I will be able to separate fully from you soon. So that when grandfather decides that he wants your hide, I can just watch and tell you that I told you so.'
And that was all Minerva had to say.
"Miss Merva? You are up now." The assistant instructor called.
Minerva cracked her fingers, and rotated her neck in a way that screamed she was a professional for Merva to see.
'Seriously?' Merva asked, wishing she could roll her eyes.
'Don't be jealous sis, i know that I've always been better, but you don't have to let it get to you.' Minerva said to Merva, rotating her jaw.
'Better than who? You wish...' But Minerva had already shut her out, walking to the center of the dojo.
"You may begin." The assistant instructor said.
Minerva bowed to all the inspectors, the chief instructor, and then to the assistant.
Minerva then began a series of stances first, followed by punches, blocks and kicks as everyone watched her watched her critically, inspecting every move she made.
Someone basically flew in from the sidelines, throwing a mock attack at her. But Minerva reacted in time, her hands blocking the attack followed by her own counter attack.
She saw the way the inspectors nodded in approval, and she mentally imagined herself smirking. It was all too easy.
She knew that it was to check her reflexes.
'See who benefited from my abandoned interests.' She chided Merva, blocking her again before she could reply.
The test proceeded, Minerva sparring against different partners, and several at the same time at some point.
Finally, it ended.
Minerva bowed to all, as sweat dripped down her brow.
"You may proceed to the next." The assistant said, and she walked out going to get ready.
Minerva unblocked Merva, letting her speak freely. 'I am done.' She announced, like Merva had not seen everything.
'I can see that.' Merva told her.
'Don't you think there are some words you should be saying to me now? Like from your heart?' Minerva asked her.
'That it's not that hard?' Merva asked.
She knew what Minerva wanted to hear, but she did not want to say it, because Minerva would gloat about it.
'Fine.' Merva finally said. 'But you should know that you did it for both of us.' Merva had finally given in. 'Thank you Minerva.' She said grudgingly as Minerva smiled triumphantly.
There was no time to change clothes, so they hurried to the archery field.
Merva took over, picking from among the bow and arrows that had been set on the large table at the stand.
She heard the archery instructor say that this was also going to be done one at a time, so Minerva sat on a chair in the stand waiting for her name to be called upon.
'The sun was too much.' Minerva noted.
'And the breeze felt hot.' She squinted her eyes, trying to look into the sun, wondering how the sun god bore the heat and if it affected him in any way.
'Must be tragic having to stay there.' She thought, her mind zooming off.
'Merva.' Minerva screamed in her head, and she covered her ears with both hands, grimacing when she realized that it was from the inside. 'They have called you up already.'
She picked her bow and quiver quickly, some arrows falling out. She bended, picking them up as everyone watched.
'I hate this.'
'You brought it on yourself.' Minerva told her.
'I didn't ask you to tell me that.' Merva snapped, as she ran to her spot.
Minerva always acted like she was the mother between the both of them, and Merva did not enjoy it sometimes.
"Lady Merva, are we starting out disorganized?' The inspector prodded.
Merva apologized furiously, waiting on the command of the instructor to commence.
"Begin." He said, pointing ahead.
Merva started, shooting at the targets ahead one by one while the inspectors watched intently, and graded her.
Merva finished that one, and rotated her shoulders and jogging in the same spot, preparing herself to run for the next test.
The gong rang, and Merva ran into the field, shooting at the targets that came at her, and those that moved in the distance.
The terrain changed quickly, moving higher, the targets coming at her faster.
She shot as fast as she could, missing some of her targets along the way. But she had no time to mourn the loss.
She fixed her bow, walking on uneven stone watching out for any surprise attack.
A dummy sprung up on her from nowhere, and she shot it down, three more springing up again and she fired. One came from behind, hitting her down before she could finish grabbing an arrow.
No one applauded her, and she did not know if they were supposed to.
She stood up from the floor, and came down as the ground evened out.
The faces of the inspectors looked emotionless, but she took it as them being unimpressed.
She bowed, returning the bow and arrow back to the table and left quickly, unwilling to see their faces.
Merva sat on a cushion in her locker room, hiding away from what she was as the world.
"I messed up, didn't I?" She asked out loud. Minerva came out, looking at her saddened face, and lifting her face up.
"I saw everything, remember. You were great out there, better than many that tried. Moreover, you gave your best." Minerva encouraged her.
"But our application could be rejected because of me. I wrote that it was my niche weapon, and I still did terribly at it."
That was true, and Minerva could not deny it.
"But at least we tried, thats all that matters."
Merva had to let go of her sadness and sorrow, there was nothing she could do to change what had already happened.
She washed up, getting ready for her weapon manifestation tryouts.
Merva wondered what the outcome would be, already daydreaming about the weapon she would get.
Merva walked towards the celestial mechanics building, checking behind her every now and then.
Lately she had been getting a feeling that her movements was being monitored and watched at all times.
She shook it off, looking at the celestial mechanics building -a crashed Saturn design- wondering why the rings seemed like they were a bit crooked.
She walked in, placing her palm against an electric mirror that verified who she was.
She smiled at the receptionist, receiving her bland smile gracefully, and following the route she pointed at.
There were already many people there when she reached the place.
She spotted Serine in front of the line, among the people who had already started filing up in a straight line.
Merva wanted to say hi, but was pushed back by a guy.
"It will get to your turn." He told her, glancing at her briefly.
Merva heard Minerva laughing, and she wanted to laugh also, but she held back. He gave off the vibe of someone trying so hard to be cool, and it didn't really look good on him.
She watched his bangs fall out of place again, and again, his hands moving to fix it. Her hand itched to put his bangs permanently in place, but she tightened her face, and fisted her palm to keep her hand in place.
The line moved slowly, every one being divided into a group of ten and led into a portal door.
Minerva and her group walked through their own portal door, red lights suddenly blaring as an automated voice announced.
"Extra member detected. Please verify identity."