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76 - The Battle After The Fight
🕑 Added 2025-03-25 20:38:19 +0000 UTCLexie waited for it to sink in for Conrad, her teammates, and the rest of the onlookers. As she held the flag over her head, the crowd, some of whom were already sticking their hand up to be chosen next, quieted down, muttering their confusion. She heard Blondie make a choked sound and even Lane gave a surprised burst of laughter. Finally, Conrad’s confused eyes flickered from her face to the flag several times, as though he couldn’t quite believe what he saw.
He reached up to brush his headband to ascertain whether the flag was truly gone.
And when he confirmed it was, slowly but surely, a huge smile spread across his face. His expression vibrated with excitement.
“Well, I’ll be damned.” He laughed and clapped his hands, before resting them against his hip. “How on Earth did a little thing like you manage that?”
“Yeah,” Blondie and Lane moved closer to her, looking simultaneously impressed and annoyed. “That’s what I'd like to know."
Lexie gave them a smug smile and shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe I just got lucky. I’m just a kid after all.”
Blondie at least had the decency to blush and she enjoyed it for a second before she added, “To be fair I couldn’t have done it without you two. Your speed distracted him and kept him busy. I also couldn’t have done it without Conrad underestimating me.”
“True,” Conrad said and if anything, he looked even more impressed by her assessment.
She could now hear the crowd buzzing and applause was building up. Cheers also broke out. Several people called out asking her name so they could tag her on videos.
Lexie didn’t know what to do with the attention so she ignored it, trying not to blush.
Time to disappear, she thought.
“You said you were a card user,” Conrad said before she could leave the field.
She nodded. “Yeah.” And to prove it, she held out her hand and materialized a card. Her mana capacity was currently low but not depleted and she could feel it replenishing already. That was good, although she hated how little mana she had.
Some people can cast twice that number of cards without feeling anything, she thought a tad resentfully. But she refused to let the negative thoughts linger. She was trying to accept her ranking, as disappointing as it was.
“She’s lying,” someone called out of the crowd suddenly. “No way card magic can do that.”
“Shut up,” someone else countered. “Did you not see her pull out a card? Where did you think it came from?”
“Doesn’t mean she’s a card mage, just that she’s a mage who can use cards. I bet she was using spells secretly. No way card magic can do all that.”
“And she was too fast too.”
“Yeah, how did she activate them that fast if it was card magic.”
The grumbled complaints melded in with some demands that Lexie tell the truth and show them exactly how she did what she did. Conrad frowned at the crowd, and opened his mouth probably to tell them to shut up. But before he could, and before Lexie could defend herself, a new voice broke out louder than the din.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about!” It was Boyle’s familiar indignant cry, the one he typically reserved for arguments with Abernathy. “She’s a card mage for sure.”
“Yeah.” Chris backed him up. “She goes to our school and she's always practicing. Like always. She used to have a card in her hand even wshe washe's eating, or talking, or studying, or sometimes even going to the bathroom.” He shrugged. “We thought it was weird at first but she was alright so we let it slide.”
Abernathy glared at Chris as though he wasn't supposed to share that last part. But Lexie wasn’t offended. She was aware of how strange she’d probably seemed to the rest of the middle schoolers.
The other onlookers and Conrad regarded the boys with interest.
“She goes to your school?” Conrad asked and Boyle gaped, looking a little starstruck that he was talking to them.
“Yea-yeah,” Abernathy stammered out an answer. “She’s our friend.”
Conrad turned back to Lexie and gave her a searching look. “You really used Card Magic?”
She nodded. “I really did.”
He shook his head. “Well, I gotta say then that I’ve never seen a unique ability usage quite like that. Never seen a card mage do half that stuff, and I can’t even begin to guess what deck you used. And I don’t think there’s ever been a card mage Fighter either, which should make it pretty easy for your branding when you join the circuit." He scratched his chin. "I’m sure the sponsors would love you, and if you manage to crack the top 50, you’d make a good living.”
“Thanks,” she said and almost added, but I’m not sure I want to be an AFC Fighter.
Yes, this fight was fun but that was because she didn’t have to take a punch. Lexie hadn't been in many physical fights, but she knew enough about herself to know that she didn’t like pain and probably had a low tolerance for it. Plus she didn’t think she was mentally strong enough to handle losing a fight on a grand stage like AFC fighters had to.
It would probably send her into a tailspin of depression, the way getting a bad grade often did.
Maybe this could be a hobby for her, but if she turned it into her career then it would be one more thing she staked her value on.
While she mused, Conrad, Lane and Blondie were all looking at her like a puzzle they had to solve.
Lexie appreciated the compliments but she was starting to feel like an animal at the zoo. She figured it was time to make her exit even before her Uncle Max called out, “Lex.”
She turned to find him now standing at the edge of the crowd. Another tall, broad man with twinkling yellow eyes was beside him.
Max crooked his finger at her. “We gotta go. Bus is almost here.”
Lexie nodded and as she began walking away she heard some people turn toward Max, asking, “Is that Mad Eye Max?”
Even Chris, who usually was unphased by most things, gripped the fence when he saw Max and his jaw dropped.
Then his eyes snapped to Lexie and he hissed, “Mad-Eye Max is your Uncle and you never thought to share it?!”
Lexie shrugged weakly. She'd genuinely never had.
She might have to reassess her theory on just how famous delvers were, at least when it came to her Uncle.
Especially since his eyepatch was so recognizable.
The crowd’s attention was split between watching Max and Lexie as Conrad called out. “Wait.”
She paused and looked over her shoulder.
He gave her an amused look. “Aren’t you forgetting something?’
She blinked and tried to think of what she might be forgetting when she received a system alert:
CONRAD GRACE WOULD LIKE TO SEND YOU A GOLDEN TICKET. ACCEPT? [YES] [NO]
“You won the game so you get free training sessions with yours truly,” he explained. “I have a lot of tips and tricks to share and I’ll endorse your first match.”
Even though Lexie had no intentions of joining the circuit, she accepted the ticket. It felt like it would be rude not to.
Also, she needed proof for when she rubbed it in Xena’s face later.
She’s going to die of jealousy when she finds out what I did today.
“Where are the training sessions?” Lexie asked. “Because I live in Hovelton, and I’m not sure my dad will let me travel this far for training. Maybe if it was in Arcadia…”
“It can be,” he said before she could finish. “I haven’t decided on where to hold the training sessions yet, but I guess Arcadia is a good place. They have great facilities, a good bus route, and access to deadrooms.”
“Oh.” Lexie hadn't expected him to say that so she simply nodded. “Okay then. “
“Lexie,” Max said again, gesturing more insistently this time. He probably didn’t like the attention he was drawing. No one had spoken to him yet, just about him. But it was only a matter of time before a few of the braver ones in the crowd got over their awe/fear and finally approached him for an autograph or something.
Uncle Max would hate that.
“See you.” She waved at Conrad who waved back bemused. She also waved at Abernathy and co., and heck even Blondie and Lane. Then she moved through the crowd of people, ignoring their questions as she jogged toward her uncle.
She heard Conrad call out for the next group when she reached Max.
“So you’re the famous Lexie Sparrowfoot,” the yellow-eyed man beside her uncle greeted, giving her a wolfish grin. His incisors were sharpened into fangs. “Your Uncle's told me so much about you.”
"He has?” Lexie glanced at Max wondering what he'd told him.
“Yup. He didn’t mention you could fight like that though."
Max smirked. “Well, obviously she can fight. That’s a given. She’s my goddaughter.”
Lexie raised an eyebrow. She thought she detected pride in her Uncle Max’s tone.
The other man smirked. “Yeah, he mentioned you were a badass, but I think he kind of understated it from what I watched." He jabbed his chin toward the field. “That was pretty slick.”
“That was nothing,” Uncle Max said before Lexie could accept the compliment. “You should have seen her with that ghoul when she was only ten years old. She stabbed the thing so many times it was leaking goo. It took nothing for me to finish it off. Did I mention she was only ten?”
“Yeah, you’ve told that story like a hundred times. Everyone in the guild is sick of it.” He rolled his eyes, then added for Lexie's benefit: “During training, if we were even just a little slow or a little sloppy, he would yell, ‘My ten-year-old goddaughter could do better than that! And she did do better that one time she faced that ghoul!’ I thought Tamara would punch him in the nose at some point.”
Lexie giggled and the man grinned again.
“But it is nice to meet you, Lexie.”
“It’s nice to meet you too.” Lexie took his extended hand and gave it a firm handshake. “Although I’m not really sure who you are.”
“Bane,” he responded. “I’m one of the Delver’s on your Uncle’s team.”
“Ah.” She nodded. “You’re a mercenary too?”
“Nah. Never quite passed the system test to get that role.” He winked as he joked. “I think it’s probably because I’m too honorable and not greedy enough.”
“Or maybe it's the fact that your ancestors used to eat little girls that wandered into woods,” Max quipped.
Lexie’s eyes stared at her Uncle, her hand still in Bane’s palm.
“He’s a Wolf Shifter,” Max explained, which made Lexie’s wide-eyed gaze slowly travel back to Bane. Now it made sense. The yellow eyes, ridiculously hairy sideburns, the sharpened incisors. He looked like a more grizzled Wolverine from X-Men.
Lexie was 99% sure her Uncle was joking about the ‘eating little girls’ thing, but she calmly retracted her hand from Banes and then tentatively took a step toward Max, just in case. The move made Max grin and Bane snort.
But apart from potentially having child-eating ancestors, Bane seemed like a cool guy. According to Max, he was one of the people training Aiden to boost his physical strength in combination with the mechs.
The bus arrived within a few minutes, and Lexie and Max bade Bane goodbye and headed over. As they left, she thought she felt someone watching her, a prickly sensation on her neck, but she ignored it. It was probably someone in the crowd.
While they boarded the bus and took their seats amongst the tired-faced passengers, Max finally asked, “So what was that about? Just to show off or you wanna join the AFC?”
Lexie shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably more-so the first one. I kind of just wanted to test out my cards, and see how they would do in a real fight.”
Max glanced at her, then shut his eyes, leaning his head against the window. “Well, you did good. And if you want to join the AFC like your mom then you have my blessing.”
“Really?” she asked. “I thought you wanted me to be a [Researcher]?”
“No, I just thought that would be what you’d be best at. But you seem to have some talent here too.” He shrugged. “It doesn't really matter too much to me what career you pick. You can do anything as long as you’re not a [Hero].”
“Right.” Lexie thought about it, as the bus began its ascent and glided down the road, speeding up every few miles.
It was a much quieter trip back, mostly because Lexie felt sleepy halfway through the ride. As she started dozing off, she leaned her head against Uncle Max’s arm. She thought he would tell her off for it, but he simply shifted his arm to make it more comfortable for her to nap.
Lexie didn’t nap long though. She woke up when they were a few minutes out from Arcadia, and her thoughts turned back to Hovelton and home. The happiness of winning the match was starting to dissipate, allowing her to refocus on the issue she was having with Aiden.
What was she going to do about it? It was making both of them miserable.
It wasn’t just that they were hiding things from each other, nor was it just that there was a risk Aiden would find out who she was.
Lexie was mostly troubled because she didn’t want to feel this way about him.
Lexie wanted to be honest with Aiden about everything and wanted their relationship to be real. She didn't want to feel like she'd living in an illusion for the past year, one where they were only pretend-father and daughter. She wanted their relationship to be based on honesty.
Because that illusion was going to blow up in her face, one way or another.
She sighed and leaned her head back on the seat while Uncle Max kept sleeping. She also texted Xena.
Lexie: You’re not going to believe what just happened to me today.
Xena: What?
Lexie: I’ll tell you when I get there. Sleepover?
Xena: Sure
Great. Though she did want to see Xena and tell her about her day, a sleepover with Zee was also about putting off the inevitable conversation Lexie would have to have with Aiden.
Max insisted on walking Lexie home, but on the way there, they met up with Terry, who wanted to know when her next training session with Max was.
Terry looked different from how she'd looked a year ago. She’d lost some weight, not to the point where she was thin or even as slender as her sister. She was still husky but she had a more muscular build now and seemed to have a brightness and glow in her face that wasn't there before.
Part of that transformation was due to the monthly DDD training sessions Max and Aiden still led. Though there had been no more unstable dungeons in Hovelton, the group still met up every once in a while, just in case the dungeons came back.
But Lexie thought that even more than that, Terry just enjoyed getting battle training.
Lexie took advantage of Terry’s interruption to let Max know that she would head home on her own. Before her Uncle could protest, she said her goodbyes quickly and left them both.
Lexie headed to her home first to get clothes for her sleepover with Xena. Aiden probably wouldn’t be home yet. He’d started staying late at school for the past couple of days, because students needed him for final exams coming up.
But when Lexie opened the door and heard noises, she found that she was wrong. Aiden was there.
Even worse, he was in the kitchen cooking what smelled like banana bread. Her favorite.
She immediately activated her <Charades Champion> card and felt terrible about it.
She should trust him, shouldn’t she?
After a year spent living together, didn’t he at least deserve the benefit of the doubt?
He turned around and saw her standing in the doorway. He grinned. “Hey, bumble bee. I’m making banana bread for dessert. What do you think?”
“That’s cool.” She came in and closed the door, not sensing even the slightest hint of animosity from him. “I thought you would stay late at school though.”
“No. I stayed late for the past two days, but I couldn't do that today. I can’t let myself fall back into bad habits, working all the time and leaving you by yourself.”
“I don’t mind,” she told him.
“But I do,” he said. “Oh, I tried a new thing with the banana bread. Let me know if you like it. Also made crumpets earlier and they’re in the oven.”
“Uh-huh.” She slowly walked closer to him, swallowing through the knot in her throat.
She’d told herself for the past year that she couldn't tell Aiden her real identity because of the ISTS. But that was an excuse. She was sure she could have figured out ways to drop hints, in a way that didn't technically break the rules. Or she could have at least tried.
But she hadn’t, because she simply hadn’t wanted him to know that she wasn’t his daughter.
But he deserved to know, didn't he? He was such a kind man, a devoted father. Didn’t he deserve to know that his daughter was gone?
He'll probably know soon anyway if Naem tells him. And I can’t think of a reason why the Eldritch Lord wouldn’t.
“If I ask you something,” Lexie said. “Will you tell me the truth?”
He turned to her and Lexie suddenly felt the pressure of a million eyes on her. Like she was back in the arena but not the same. This one was so much worse, because the pressure was more, the stakes higher.
Nerves skittered under her skin, but she forced the words out anyway. “What would you say if I…or someone else, told you that I wasn’t really your daughter?”
Aiden paused. He remained half-turned and looked puzzled, as though he were wondering where she was going with this. “You think you’re not my daughter?"
“No,” she said because she could feel the ISTS warning like a sixth sense arcing down her spine. “I’m just saying if someone were to show up and tell you, ‘hey, that girl in your house isn’t really your daughter and she’s just an impostor’…and it was someone you trusted...What would you say?”
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “You mean like you were…taken from somewhere, from another family?’”
She swallowed, feeling the knot build in her throat. She nodded.
He pursed his lip in thought and lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug. “I would say 'Gosh, they could have bought me one a little taller'.”
The tension broke as Lexie rolled her eyes and Aiden snickered.
Some relief eased her spine. Not a whole lot, because she still wasn’t in the clear. But it was good to know he wouldn’t automatically go scorched earth the second Naem told him the truth. Probably.
Her sixth sense card told her that Aiden’s feelings for her hadn’t changed after the conversation, and neither was he suspicious or confused.
He was simply humored as he strode toward her and wrapped her in a hug.
“You’re definitely my daughter, Lexie Sparrowfoot,” he murmured. “And no one can convince me otherwise.”
She wrapped her arms around his midsection, soaking in the embrace for a while, wishing it didn’t have to end. But it did because his crumpets announced they were ready.
As he brought them out, Lexie decided she could stay a few more minutes until they cooled down just so she could have a bite. Since she wasn’t in a hurry or anything.
“I actually have another question to ask you,” Lexie said hoisting herself onto the counter.
“You wouldn't be my Lexie if you didn’t,” Aiden responded and her heart squeezed again.
She swung her legs as she said “How did you make the <Out Of Sight> Card?”
Aiden's hand stuttered in the act of transferring the bread onto the cooling machine. He said in a tone that was forcibly casual, “Why do you ask?”
She raised an eyebrow. “Really? I've always wanted to know. That was like one of the first cards I asked you about when we started card lessons.” And she’d asked him again, once she’d gotten good at her lessons. The <Out of Sight> card has fascinated her for a while because it was the only card that didn’t have the usual limitations that other system cards did. It did not belong to a deck and didn’t have to. It could be used by mundanes. It was arguably the most useful card in her ownership.
“You said you would tell me when I got the hang of the card crafting theoretics,” she said. “I think I have the hang of it now.”
Aiden was quiet. He didn’t speak for several seconds. Then he sighed and asked her, “Do you know how pocket dimensions work?”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “You mean the like the one that mom asked you to make for her? The one you said you couldn't?"
“Well, I didn't tell her ‘I couldn't’ entirely. I just couldn't make the type she was asking me for. But I can make smaller, shallower pocket dimensions.”
Lexie was shocked and also confused. “Wait, the Out of Sight Card is a pocket dimension?”
He sighed. “It’s complicated to explain. But I’ll explain it to you once the exams are done. I promise.”
Lexie nodded slowly. Hopefully, he’ll still be my dad by then.
After a short dinner with her dad, Lexie still decided to have her sleepover at Xena’s. Aiden walked her there and engaged in conversation with Emma while Lexie went upstairs to find Xena in her too-big-for-her-room four-poster bed, scowling at a book.
“What are you reading?” Lexie asked as she threw herself on the bed beside her.
“Intro to Light Magic," she said. “I passed the initial evaluation this morning and my new tutor sent it to me over the net. He demanded I get at least 30 pages done before we meet. He sounds like he’s gonna be a real slave driver.”
“Sucks for you.” Lexie turned to Xena and delivered the news as casually as she could. “I met Conrad Grace today.”
“Oh yeah?” Xena smirked as though waiting for the joke, and then when Lexie didn’t deliver the punchline she turned to Lexie.
“I met Conrad Grace,” Lexie repeated.
“Shut up. No, you didn’t.”
“I did. And I fought him too.”
Xena’s eyes slowly grew wider, her body tauter. “No. You. Did. Not.”
Lexie smiled and turned on her back staring up at the ceiling. “He had a thing in Moulding today and I participated. Check online, there might be videos of it.”
