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There were words that have started constantly crossing her thoughts and because they sounded to her in her mind to maybe have magical results in store, Aptera had now decidedly opted for gathering the courage to try and say the insistent words stuck in her head aloud. And so as to take a stride towards accomplishing this new found goal, she had taken to running around in the cover of night while powered as well as in part to also get more used to her enhanced speed and jumping power.

And with that being how she considered and began a night of racing and leaping across a fraction of Destiny City's expanse, finally something along the lines of this question ran through her mind: How long has it been since she had begun?

After another leap from one building to land on the other next to it, Aptera slowed to a halt. She was breathing deeply as her hands propped herself up from where they held her knees; keeping her standing despite the slight, sudden tremor of her sore muscles. Water, that's what she needed. She swayed a step as she removed the small sports bag slung over her back. She probably should have stepped back instead of forward since that forward step brought her foot up to rest on the short rise followed by a potential fall, but at least she did not stumble further and to her doom. And the step had in fact steadied her as intended.

With said bag now in front of her, she pulled the drawstrings apart, opened a new bottle of water, and helped herself to a bit of the drink. She drew in deep, refreshing breaths as she look out ahead of her and took in the lights of the city. And with the return of the bottle of water to the confines of her bag, she swung it back and secured it in the same way she had been traveling with it so far. It was only after doing so, did she notice him, her sideways glance catching sight of someone else who was on the building.

She gasped, caught by surprise and alarmed she had not noticed not being the only one here earlier. And this time, she moved backward instead of forward and for several steps as well as veered to the side away from the stranger she had just now realized was there.

"Prince Castor," she voiced after momentary beats of recognition at last as the abrupt shock of panic subsided at the same time. The soft smile that grew on her features was more subconscious on her part. She noticed that about herself in this magical form since meeting him. It was a familiar sort of feeling that came over her but that she could not define exactly as well as being a feeling that contradicted her thoughts to be wary of him since they had just met in this life so to speak. "It's good to see you again," her words came similarly to her, sincere and with little effort and yet a part of her questioned why she did not feel as much wary concern as she thought she should at her spoken words.

She chuckled briefly as she willed her heartbeat to settle down again, "You surprised me just now, which means I have to work on being less easily caught off guard among other things." She removed the drawstring sports bag from its place at her back, finding the sound of the movement of water in the bottles trivial when she was alone but a hindrance to hearing when in conversation. And so she leaned the bag of beverages against the side of the slight rise where it met the level surface beside her foot, "I think it would be good if we talked as well."

She watched him, focusing on his face and any changes in his expression, as he spoke as though looking at him might jog her memories, memories she did not know she had to recall even; hey, it was worth a try and Prince Castor being easy on the eyes happened to be a bonus.

Where had that come from? She mentally shook her head to get it back on track. And, thank goodness, at least her own features remained a consistent calm while she had stared at him. For good measure, she closed her eyes momentarily as one hand grasped the elbow of her other arm while her hand took hold of the pendant at her neck.

She began to speak in reply as she reopened her eyes and her gaze caught him again, "To be honest, no, I don't remember about myself in the past, about knowing you in the past, Prince Castor; not yet anyway. But, with there being the capability to remember, I fully intend to find a way to steadily recall the past, my past and the past you and I share." She said next with a brief grin to contradict voicing her admittance of frustration before her eyes on him moved to look out at the lighted city, "I'm not finding it a comfortable feeling to know so little of so much I don't yet feel like I should learn about these magical matters." Then, there was a second's pause before she added, "And the day we met, is the day I transformed for the first time and found out about being Aptera, who you see now. I assume this is what you may be referring to in asking when I awoken."

And again her vision moved, from the city she returned her gaze to him, "I have a hunch. I seem to notice my interest in combat increasing since becoming able to transform. The practice of combat arts is something special to Aptera. I don't know how else to explain the thoughts along the lines of randomly wanting to throw training punches and the like that frequently cross my mind while I am in this magical state. I am beginning to learn about boxing but this is just a small start and I may very well be presently missing and currently unaware of other avenues to go about addressing such thoughts. May you please advise me on further ways to rebuild my combat skills, Prince Castor? I have a feeling this is crucial for me as Aptera."

This can fall under the category called socializing, Aptera mentally told herself and also added: Deep breaths in and out inconspicuously would probably help you calm down. And yet, Aptera couldn't exactly point out why her mind persisted in racing a mile a minute and her heartbeats continued dancing nervously to a rapid tune. She figured it could all be explained in simplest terms as a demonstration of how she usually just didn't end up in many conversations that exchanged further than greetings or go into details that dug deep with the exception of with a few individuals in her life thus far.

Lord, she began to pray, but then she founding herself hard pressed to decidedly grasp words to articulate with further in her mind. Then, after a bit more struggling for an added few seconds, she summed up her thoughts hastily yet sincerely: Please, Lord, help me keep my head on straight.

Smilingly she kept listening and gave a nod here and there to express that she was indeed keeping track of his words. If she was more honest with herself, perhaps more of the gladness she felt would have been able to be outwardly reflected by her on her features. However, she has had a great deal of experience maintaining an exterior that by habit now was easily kept constant for the most part.

Perhaps the Aptera of the past in her, who she was also just getting to know recently, was more honest because she reacted more strongly when offered something by Prince Castor that she highly suspected she desired. Her features broke into a toothy grin for just an instant before she spoke with a calmer smile back in place while crossing her arms. Perhaps the happiness that had been building up inside her also had a hand in the flash of brightness that was uninhibited if only in that moment of its brief escape from her usual self that took regular aim at distancing herself from the extremes of expressions.

"Prince Castor, I admit that I'm wanting to say yes right off the bat to going right on ahead with accepting your offer and training with you. However, before I jump the gun, I'd like to ask: What does your prize pool look like?" She may be very green to all things magical about herself and in relation to Destiny City, however still she had a notion she was having a hard time explaining but nevertheless lodged into her mind that as she was now Prince Castor could make short work of her on a battlefield with one hand behind his back. But, she was not about to say that aloud, not by a long shot. And, that thought, she reckoned was competitiveness talking; she had a hunch as well that it was something both she and the past Aptera had a fair amount of.

Aptera had uncrossed one hand and in gradual realization, stopped her hand short on the way to reaching towards holding his hand placed on her shoulder. Instead, that hand of hers defaulted to taking hold of the pendant at her neck as she listened to the words she was addressed with. And also, a part of her mentally noted suspecting that the part of her who is the Aptera of the past might have really missed the individual before her or something along those lines, which may be able to explain the reactions of hers to him that have been puzzling her since their meeting.

She beamed momentarily upon being unable to help it before she responded with a more calmly expressed smile again, "What I meant to ask," Aptera paused before addressing the man before her again as Prince Castor. "Castor, my selection of possible prizes upon my winning," is enticing; with a shortly kept pause, she made sure she did not say those next potential words but rather the following, "amazed me from the start, thank you, however, what is your selection of possible prizes upon your winning? In other words, this is the question I meant by asking you about your prize pool." And with her words, she had subconsciously and gradually reached out and placed the palm of her hand gently on his arm beside his elbow. But, though she consciously withdrew that hand, she did so with the same gentleness as though attempting to have the gesture sneak back the same way it had bypassed her initial awareness.

And now, what crossed her mind was that she wanted her hands productively busy as soon as possible. She clenched her fists in readying herself to administer punches as she said to Castor, "And, I suggest we continue our conversation while we train." She had intended to send a punch at his abdomen right after those words, however she now had a moment of hesitation in wondering why and how was it that he looked to her to be more solid than a punching bag. Then next, Aptera suddenly and determinedly blew out the breath she just realized she had been holding and threw a punch aimed at his gut.

Yes, she felt desire. However, this particular thought in acknowledgement was kept internal rather than given voice without her analyzing it further.

Did she know or not know this man in front of her? This question insisted on repeating itself in Aptera's mind as reality bewildered her.

And moreover, their present interactions with each other brought about a mix of an array of puzzling feelings within her. How can she find Castor both familiar and mysterious at the same time? It hasn't been long at all since they've met here in Destiny City. She did not have any clear memories of him apart from those here in Destiny City, but why did a part of her seem to so strongly want to believe and trust in him greatly, to aim to support him? Is she understanding herself with regards to these thoughts that are among her still initial attempts to interpret the tangles within her at least to some extent? Yet, she was also feeling that though these were preliminary assessments of her state of mind, she felt that it was somewhat scary that she felt that she was rather correct in translating her feelings into words that conveyed a depth that implied loyalty for such newness that didn't feel as new as she comprehended this all was. She was feeling thoroughly confused.

But, also, she was feeling very determined to ponder more about these considerations while letting her mind latch onto reminders to keep the match at hand front and center.

When Castor reacted to her punch, a sense of intimidation confronted her that she took mental strides to resist, and Aptera shifted to one side to ready her stance to try to execute a downward knife hand inspired by a sudden memory.

Aptera realized, however, that despite having moved for a strike meant to make contact with Castor's upper back, it was likely her attempt may very well turn out to be ineffective by the feel of a possible lack in the speed and force she supplied it with. Frankly put in her head, she felt like she was perhaps just simply going to bump into him with a small purse. And at that, her competitiveness flared into insistence not to forget the note she'd made then and there in her mind to look again and more closely into the class offerings of the martial arts training establishment she had availed of a free hour of class from when she had vacationed in Destiny City a few years before her actual move.

"A part of me is wondering if you've cast some sort of magic spell, Castor," Aptera had begun to reply mid-motion, "but I also feel that I'm grasping at some straws as I endeavor to further understand experiences as of late." Then, her smile grew slightly as she said as well, "And, indeed, the matters I wish to figure out include how is it that I find you and the world you're describing to me so very alluring."