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?I don?t want to practice anymore. It?s pointless,? Helen called
over her shoulder as she turned on her heel to walk away. ?I just
want to be left alone.?
?You want to be left alone, huh, Princess? Sorry, it doesn?t work
that way,? he said as he grabbed her shoulders and spun her
around. That did it for her. She gave one hysterical laugh?it was
either that or start crying?and shoved Hector away from her.
Hard.
?What are you going to do? What? Are you going to beat me to
death? You can?t! You?re not strong enough,? Helen said as she hit
him repeatedly on the shoulders, trying to instigate a fight. ?So go
get a sword. Go ahead. Oh, wait, I forgot. That doesn?t hurt me,
either. So what are you going to do, you big bully? What do you
have to teach me??
?Humility,? he said quietly. He moved fast, but he was also bending
the light funny the way Lucas did. While she was still trying to
focus her eyes, pissed that she hadn?t even considered that Hector
could have this talent as well, Hector grabbed her, threw her over
his shoulder, and started walking toward the water.
Enraged, Helen used her full strength against him for the first
time. She didn?t care how much she hurt him. She pushed until she
unlocked herself from Hector?s grip. She heard his arm break as
she physically separated herself from him. Then she changed states
to fly away. As she summoned a wind to take her away, he grabbed
her with his other hand. His more dominant hand. Helen realized,
a bit too late, that Hector had allowed her to break his left arm so
that she would chose weightlessness?weightlessness and momentary
weakness. Before she could digest what he was doing and shift
back to the gravity-state to get enough purchase to push him off, he