Ch. 3 Jesse

Jesse's P.O.V. 

"Are you just as strong as your brothers?" Lana asked me, whispering to me as she looked at my brother's on the last row above us in class.

"We are each stronger than one another in one way or another, but we're pretty equal overall." I told her, remembering the countless hours of training we’d do everyday. 

Dad even gave me tips and tricks that the others didn't have. They have a year more of training than me, given their age, but dad made sure I was on the same level as them. 

"That's awesome. My shadows are so slow, and probably not the strongest, so I'm really excited to learn. I wonder if I could be as strong as you guys by the end of the semester." She smiled Excitedly. I laughed in her face at that last statement.

"It'll take years of 3 hour daily sessions of training to get to where we are now, but by the time you reach this strength we'll be stronger. Sorry Lana, but there's no catching up. The difference is already too vast." 

It sounds harsh, I know, but it's the damn truth. I won't inflate her ego or her senseless hope. She can hate me if she wants. What I won't do is make light of the amount of work that went into becoming this strong. 

"Well damn, Jess, you could have lied." She pouted, slouching in her chair. 

"That wasn't very nice, babe." Damon leaned in to whisper in my ear. 

"It's the truth." I whispered back. 

He gave me that half smirk, letting me know he secretly liked it when I was a bit of a bi.tch. His clear blue eyes and silver streaked hair were what enticed me to him to begin with. With eyes like that, I knew he'd have to have a strong shadow. The lighter the eyes, the stronger the shadow. I got my dad's light green ones, while Augustus has his dad, Kiran’s, gold and Ares has mom's lilac ones. 

Augustus is the only one of us to get an ancient shadow though. Ares got an executive shadow, with the ability to freeze time. It pairs well with his seer abilities. I got an executive shadow as well. My shadow, Luz, can bend light, which makes it able to clone me, make me invisible, cast mirages or illusions, and so forth. Then you add the fact that I am fused with a small part of mom's shadow and dad's shadow, giving me a small amount of my dad's healing ability, and mom's ability to control other's shadows, making me a damn powerhouse. 

Damon had a square jaw that ticked when he was angered. I loved seeing it twitch though. His eyes were cold and dangerous, which thrilled me more than anything. I've got a thing for the bad boys. He's a year older, but we keep our relationship a secret. Between Augustus and my dad, I'd never be alone with Damon if they knew. 

"Today I'll be assessing you sorry lot, the same way I was assessed. Meet me in the field." May smiled at us with a wicked gleam in her eyes, as she sank into her shadow. 

I changed the scenery around us, traveling the shadow door through me instead of myself through it. The travel is faster and smoother this way. Augustus, Ares and I were the first ones to arrive followed by May and then the other students. 

"Leaving me behind, babe? That's cold." Damon whispered into my ear again. His chin tickled my neck, causing my hair to stand and goosebumps to erupt. Augustus narrowed his eyes at Damon, great now he's on his radar. 

"I didn't realize you needed a piggyback, thought you could handle yourself." I retorted, causing him to smile mischievously at me. He's coming up with my punishments for tonight already. I can see it in his eyes, causing a wave of excitement to roll through me. 

"You'll see how well I can handle myself tonight." He promised, and I had to bite my cheek to keep from saying anything else. I don't need to be horny as shi.t before this assessment of May's. She's going to bracket us off in front of everyone. 

"We'll start with the ones I know to be strong and work down. So Augustus you'll spar Ares, and Jesse you will spar with me. From there the winner will face the lower class. I want to see how long you Watts can last." She seemed to be enjoying herself at our expense. I'll remember this later, maybe I'll have fun at her son's expense if she keeps this shi.t up. 

"Sounds good." I told her, uncrossing my arms and taking my stance. The stance mom engraved into me the moment I turned 5. 

"See her stance? Memorize it children, it's the best stance to have while fighting. Your shadows won't always be able to protect you so your body needs to be ready for an attack as well." May explained to them all, using me as a model. 

Battle commenced, but May didn't let me beat her. She stopped our fight before I could. She still claimed me the winner though. Her excuse was that she didn't want me to tire with her, but I feel like it's more because she doesn't want to lose in front of her students. 

Augustus and Ares almost knocked each other out at the same time, but May stopped them before that. She called it a draw, saying they're too evenly matched. Neither of them liked that. They wanted to keep going till they had a victor. 

Training went on like that. Augustus beat Damon with such ease, infuriating him to no end. Damon was a sore loser, having his ego bruised after losing so quickly. I was glad that Ares didn't go against Damon, or he might have seen a future where we were kissing or worse…fu.cking. 

Of course no one beat us, but for the shadows, was I dead tired. My muscles will be screaming later, and I know it won't matter to Damon. He'll fu.ck me just as hard if not harder when he figures out I'm sore. 

"Go ice those muscles. I'll get you all sorted by the end of the semester. Perhaps some of you will be lucky enough to create a strong enough shadow shield to stay alive should you ever need to fight for your life." May almost laughed as she was swallowed by her shadow. She traveled the slow way, not having the sense to travel the way we did. 

Shadows, this semester is going to be long.