“Nova!” Fletcher called as he ran over to her.

“Hey, Fletcher!” Nova said, giving him a slight smile as she continued training. She really didn’t have time for distractions but Fletcher was always a welcomed break.

“Do you have time to play?” Fletcher asked her eagerly. Nova looked around the room her father had left a few minutes ago. Luckily she had gotten out of that encounter with only a harsh lecture, the usual of how she’ll never amount to anything. The lecture was at least better than getting beat.

“Uhh not really, I'm sorry Fletcher but if you wanna train with me you can,” Nova said as she continued, the company would be nice while she trained. Sadly Egil was out on a mission but should be back soon and she was going to go train with Leon as soon as he got back.

“Alright, imma go find someone to play with! See you later!” Fletcher smiled as he ran off. Nova knew there were other kids at the base but she never got to see any of them, they were always kept separate.

“Hello!” said a voice from behind her. Nova spun around and threw her knife at the voice.

“Either you have a really bad aim, or that was a warning shot.” a little boy chuckled werealy staring at the knife in the wall.

“I'm sorry,” Nova mumbled as she went to grab her knife.

“Here, I'm Tyrus!” The little boy said, grabbing the knife from the wall and holding it out to her.

“I’m Nova,” Nova whispered as she skeptically took the knife from him.

“I know your father is the boss of everyone.” Tyrus smiled.

“Yeah, he is,” Nova mumbled as she looked at the ground.

“Hey Nova, oh...hey Tyrus,” Leon said as he ran into the training room. He seemed uneasy around him, she did too but it was probably because they were strangers. However, it seemed Leon and Tyrus were not.

“Hey Leon, are you ready for training?” Nova asked him, drawing his attention away from Tyrus, as he smiled at her.

“Of course Egil’s waiting for us,” Leon said as he grabbed her hand.

“See you later!” Nova called out to Tyrus as Leon dragged her out of the room.

“I'm counting on it!” Tyrus laughed as the doors closed behind them.

“We got a few minutes before we gotta go train… How about some hide and seek!” Leon laughed as he let go of her hand and ran off. Nova laughed as she ran down the hall after him. She loves playing this game with him, it helped her work on her perception skill and tracking. 

“Leon, where did you go?” she shouted playfully, as she ran into the cafeteria.

She wanted to make it seem like she was having a hard time looking for him. Yes, she did make the mistake of announcing herself but she would just have to find a way to use that to her advantage. Nova walked around a few of the table’s then ducked down under the fifth table. Leon yelped as she grabbed his leg.

“That’s not funny Nova,” Leon shouted as he started to crawl out from under the table. She had caught and scared him successfully, she was getting better.

“Nova, Leon, shouldn't you be training right now?” said a voice from behind them. Nova froze as Leon yelped again as his head hit the table. He stood up and turned to face Nova as Egil walked over to them.

“Sorry, Egil we’re coming.” She grabbed Leon’s arm as they followed Egil to the training room.

Leon rubbed his head “those tables hurt.” he said as Nova laughed at him, as they ran down the hall to catch up with Egil. At least this training session would be fun.

“Alright now, you must plan ahead. Study your opponent’s moves. Focus” Egil shouted at them.

They were both sweaty and tired but at least they were improving. Nova lunged at Leon, he swung high as she ducked and swung low. Leon doubled over holding his stomach as Nova rolled out of the way to the other side of the mat.

“Nice Nova, finding a weak spot,” Egil said as he smiled at her as he helped Leon off the ground.

Then suddenly the door to the training room slammed open, Nova's father Kedric stood in the doorway. Nova could smell the stale beer and wine on him from where she was standing. The room went almost cold with his presence like a dark rain cloud hung over the room.

“Kedric, you are interrupting our training,” Egil shouted, pulling Leon behind him. Egil was trying to slowly walk over to Nova so he could protect her as well but even she knew he was too far away.

“I’m only helping with training my dear Egil.” Kedric slurred as he stumbled forward, her heart raced, the closer he got the more her fear rose.

“How is that?” Egil shouted as he stopped to see what he would do. Nova held her breath, maybe with Egil here he wouldn’t do anything. He just wanted to help after all.

“Why like this?” Kedric slurred as he pulled out a knife and chucked it a Nova.

Egil shouted and dove for her, Nova reacted fast as she jumped to the side, the knife slicing her cheek. Nova fell to the floor and rolled as Kedric scoffed.

“Weak,” he said with a look of complete disgust on his face. “Clean this mess up,” Kedric shouted as he spat on the floor and walked out of the room. Nova put a hand to her cheek as she sat up blood streaming down her face, as Egil ran over to her. She hadn’t been fast enough, her reflexes were still shit.

“Are you alright my Kolibri?” Egil asked as he grabbed her hand away from her face and inspected her wound. Nova cursed at herself as she whipped the tears from her eyes. She really was weak.

“Egil I'm fine,” she said as he twisted her head to get a better look at the cut.

“You will be once we get this taken care of, Leon go get the medkit,” Egil shouted as Leon ran across the room to get it.

“It’s pretty deep you're going to need stitches, you’ll have a pretty nice scar there, however,” Egil said as Leon ran up to them with the medkit.

“Here,” Leon said out of breath, handing Egil the medkit. Leon stared at her, his eyes filled with tears, somehow he looked more upset than she did. Egil pulled out the gauze, ointment, needle and thread, and some bandages. He took a wipe and cleaned her wound.

“We’ll head down to Mamma Fahima after training and have her take a look at it, better yet I'll just comm her and she’ll be here before we're done training,” Egil said as he cleaned her wound and Nova hissed in pain. This is what she deserved, if she had just been faster she would have avoided it and her father would have reason to be proud of her.

“Now this is going to hurt, you can bite down on this,” Egil said as he stuffed a cloth into her mouth. Nova held back her tears and as many yelps as she could as Egil stitched her cheek, Then he covered one of the gauzes in the ointment, and placed it on Nova’s wound. It stung for a second but then it felt cool on her cheek, as Egil placed the bandage around the gauze holding it in place.

“Thank you Egil,” Nova said as she spit the cloth out of her mouth and Leon grabbed her hand. Egil was the only parental figure in her life. Her father was drunk or on missions, while her mother was always busy and never had time for her or her siblings.

“Anytime,” he said as he patted her shoulder and Leon helped her stand up.

“Now shall we continue?” Egil asked as Nova walked back to her position.

She would prove to her father she wasn’t weak, that she could be strong and a valuable member of the mafia.

Nova collapsed out of breath against the wall of the training room. Egil and Leon had left a few hours ago after Mamma Fahima had checked her wound, which was going to be fine thanks to Egil. Nova had stayed and trained harder. Nova pressed her back against the cool wall and slid down to the floor, She had to get better, stronger, faster. She had to be the best. Nova stood up and walked out of the training room. By the time she made it to the cafeteria, she had caught her breath. Her stamina was getting better.

There were a few stragglers left from lunch. Nova was crossing through the room when someone called her name. Nova froze and it only took her a few seconds to spot Tyrus across the Cafeteria. Nova walked over to him. She had only met him a few times before today but he seemed nice. Leon said he had a crush on her. She never had anyone like her in that way, maybe she would say yes if he asked her out. He was nice and helped her during her extra hours of training sometimes though he had always been too shy to talk to her while Leon was around.

“What happened to you?” Tyrus asked as he reached out to touch Nova’s bandaged cheek. Novas grabbed his arm right before his fingers brushed against her cheek.

“Just rough training today,” she said. She didn’t want anyone knowing what was going on, having Leon and Egil know about it was enough already. Besides, if her father found out she was telling people how he was helping her, well she didn’t want to think about what would happen.

“Well, maybe when you train I can come and keep you safe.” he smiled at her.

“Maybe next time then,” she said as she walked out of the cafeteria. There was something strangely slightly comforting about him, but in the back of her mind, there was something off about him. Then again everyone has something wrong with them.

Nova walked down a few more halls until she got to her family’s apartments. Nova opened the door quietly and walked to her room. Nova quietly closed the door to her room, Raphael was sitting on her bed waiting for her.  Raphel was three years younger than her, but Nova had raised him since he was 2. Her mother had no interest in any of them, except their older sister. Their father was never around most of the time but when he was, Raphael and Lynnett got praise, while Nova got bruises, scars, and insults. He was just trying to help her. Right?

“Raphael, are you alright?” she asked as she sat on the bed next to him.

“ Yeah I was just gonna warn you about dad, but it seems he got to you before I did,” he said, gesturing to the bandage on her face. Nova just shrugged it off.

“I’m fine Raph there is nothing for you to worry about.” Raphael gave her a sad smile then left the room. She didn’t want him to worry about her.

“Brat! Get out here.” Kedric yelled as the door slammed.

Nova felt a shiver run down her spine, whatever it was she was just going to have to face it. With the mood he was in she was probably going to get stuff thrown at her, or maybe he would just hit her, as long as he didn't cut her she could deal with it. Nova took a deep breath and walked out the door to face her father.