Galekin

Chapter 17, Confusion

*Theodore's POV*

The special training program had been a bit more intense than our usual training, but we managed. I had kept an eye out for Lydia the entire time. She had pushed me behind her without any hesitation, and it worried me. What if someone had actually attacked me? They would have hit Lydia instead. The thought alone made my blood boil. I have been trying to get closer to her. Standing closer to her for example. I couldn't help it, I longed for her, and when she wasn't in my line of sight, I'd start to worry. Lydia had shown almost no interest. She'd often glare at me or my hands when I would place them on her back or hip, but I ignored it. I wasn't going to take it too far or anything. I just wanted to get a bit closer. Even if it was only an inch and for only a second.

It was now Thursday, the day of the martial arts tournament. Chris and Sereen had been pretty excited for it. Amber was terrified. Sereen had tried to give her more confidence, telling her she was a lot stronger than she thought she was, but nothing seemed to help. Lydia told me she had no real opinion on the tournament.

The woman's tournament was first. The men's would be after lunch and the finals for both the woman's and the men's tournament would be after dinner, to make things more dramatic.

Chris and I were in the stands as the first rounds were being played. Sereen had beaten her first opponent with much ease and Amber had managed to win her first round too. They had both joined us in the stands as they watched the rest of the rounds.

It was now finally time for Lydia's first round. Her opponent was well built, she seemed to have experience. Lydia walked on the field with a passive expression, a bored expression. Steven gave them the sign to start and Lydia's opponent immediately got in a stance. She jumped up and down to keep moving and observed Lydia, who did absolutely nothing. She hadn't moved from her spot at all.

The woman then charged at Lydia, and my eyes widened as worry started to seep into my body. It only took a second for me to realize any form of worry was unnecessary. In the blink of an eye, the woman was pinned down and Lydia was holding her in her grip. The woman trashed around a bit but to no avail. Ten seconds later Lydia had won.

She got up and sighed before walking away.

"Wow... she's good." Amber spoke up.

Sereen grinned, "That's my Lydia for you."

The rest of the rounds went in a similar fashion. Amber lost her third round but was still excited because she didn't think she would get that far. Sereen and Lydia had won their rounds with breaths to spare.

Sereen would usually get in an actual fight. Her matches would take some time before they were over. Lydia's matches though, took seconds. Lydia either pinned her opponents to the ground or threw them out of the ring, which was an immediate win. It was astounding. I had sparred with Lydia from time to time and it wasn't hard to find out she was holding back. But this was on a whole new level. She moved at the speed of light, and with such incredible precision. She was like an unstoppable force.

When the finalists were announced, it was no surprise that both Sereen and Lydia were in it, and both finalists showed excitement. Even Lydia had smiled when she saw she'd be facing Sereen, and I couldn't wait to see the two of them fight it out.

After lunch, the men's tournament started. I had lost my fourth round, and Chris lost in the semifinals. Sereen had been scolding him for not trying harder and Chris had made her blush when he said he wanted to give Sereen the spotlight.

After dinner it was finally time for the finals. Chris, Amber and I were in the stands, waiting for the duo to fight.

"I wonder who will win." Amber spoke up.