The Laughing Swordsman

Chapter 15 - I'm Useless

Henry almost lost his grip on his sword but steadied himself quickly.

While Henry was doing that, Apollo's hand traced against the blade of his bokken. Suddenly, it snapped out.

Henry's eyes widened as he grimaced in pain.

There was a deep dent in the armor that was covering each of his wrists.

His hold of the sword released, causing it to fall towards Apollo. With a clang, Apollo hit the sword with his bokken, sending it flying to the side.

Henry could hardly believe the situation he was in. He looked at his sword that was halfway in the ground, then at Apollo.

He was about to speak when Apollo slipped past his vision.

Henry's armor had a gap in the back of his knee for the sake of movement. Apollo's bokken shot out towards that small gap, hitting the skin directly.

Henry felt pain shoot through his knee. He believed his kneecap would've been blasted off if not for his armor.

He uncontrollably kneeled on one knee. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.

He looked up to see Apollo ready to strike again.

His eyes widened.

"Wait, Apollo-"

Apollo paid no heed to Henry's cries. His bokken shot out towards Henry's forehead.

A thud echoed throughout the field.

Henry's head snapped backward and his eyes rolled up into his head.

He lost consciousness but remained on one knee with his head thrown back. A red bump began swelling on his head.

Apollo smiled.

"Yay! I did it!"

The corner of Willow's lip twitched.

"Don't you think... you overdid it a tad?"

Apollo pouted.

"Did I... do something wrong?"

Willow smiled bitterly.

"No, no, your father is fine... probably."

Apollo's pout immediately became a smile.

"Yay! Do we continue to practice?"

Willow's eyelid twitched. Honestly, she didn't know what to do with Henry's unconscious body.

She didn't want to deal with this situation. As such, she quickly thought of an excuse to leave.

"Ah, yes. But we will continue at the public training range."

Apollo nodded without much thought.

"Ok!"

As Willow walked with Apollo she was pondering how such a strange kid came to be.

Apollo tugged on Willow's sleeve.

"Mommy! Did I do it right this time?"

Willow blinked, then turned to look at Apollo.

"Haha, what are you talking about?"

Apollo pouted.

"Aww... did I not do it correctly?"

Willow patted Apollo's hair.

"I don't get it, but you did fine."

Apollo giggled.

"Ok!"

Willow shook her head and smiled bitterly to herself.

She found herself losing the desire to find out about Apollo's past. She thought maybe she could spend her life like this, taking care of Apollo. Spending each day in peace and leave her past behind her.

Apollo tugged on Willow's sleeve.

"Mommy? Why are you ignoring me? Did I do something wrong?"

Willow laughed and rubbed his head again.

"No Apollo, you didn't do anything wrong."

Apollo pouted.

"Please just tell me what I did wrong. Don't ignore me!"

Willow sighed and hugged Apollo.

"Don't worry, you did nothing wrong."

Apollo hummed.

"...Really?"

Willow let go of Apollo.

"Really."

Apollo smiled.

"Ok!"

They got to the public training grounds in a few minutes. It was still early, but a few people were practicing.

Willow cleared her throat.

"Alright, let's see how strong your slashes are. Start at the light grey dummies and make your way up."

Apollo nodded.

"I won't disappoint you!"

Apollo walked up to a stone dummy and slashed it. He was able to easily bisect it, causing it to split in two.

"Mommy, did I do it?"

Willow laughed lightly.

"Yes, yes. Try one of the darker statues."

Apollo nodded excitedly.

He moved forward to a darker grey dummy. His bokken slashed it, but this time the cut wasn't clean. Stone fragments sprayed out and one of them cut into Apollo's cheek.

"Aww... I did it wrong."

Willow sighed.

"You did fine Apollo. Why do you believe you did something wrong?"

Apollo blinked.

"I... did fine?"

Willow shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes, you did."

Apollo put both hands on his bokken.

"Yes... I can do it."

Apollo went to a dark grey dummy and slashed down.

A loud bang resounded across the public training ground. But, only a few cracks appeared on the top of the dummy.

"I... did it wrong."

Willow walked over.

"Don't worry, Apollo. Just keep trying and you will get it someday."

Apollo gripped the bokken tighter and swung harder.

An even louder bang resounded.

More cracks appeared across the dummy.

Willow looked at Apollo's hands and frowned.

The skin was torn open and bleeding.

Willow patted Apollo's shoulder.

"Hey, let's stop for now. You're hurting yourself."

Apollo's eyes glazed over. He mumbled something, but Willow could not make it out.

Willow brought her ear closer.

"Sorry, what did you say?"

Apollo's lips parted ever so slightly.

"Useless..."

Willow furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean? ...Apollo?"

Apollo's eyes were as wide as could be. He raised his bokken once again and sent it crashing down.

"Useless!"

A large crack appeared, nearly splitting the dummy in two.

Apollo began smiling widely.

"USELESS!"

Apollo slammed his bokken down once again, causing it to break into pieces and fall to the ground.

However, Apollo wasn't done, slamming his bokken onto the shattered pieces over and over again.

"USELESS, USELESS, USELESS!"

Willow got down on one knee and patted Apollo's back.

"Hey, it's ok. Calm down, Apollo!"

Apollo stopped slashing and started to shiver.

"...I'm useless."

Willow smiled bitterly.

"How are you useless? Come on, let's take a break."

Apollo clutched his head with his free hand, his fingers digging into his skin.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

Willow tried to peel off the hand Apollo was using to dig into his skull.

"It's ok Apollo. You should take a break."

Apollo was panting and bleeding.

"Please don't hit me..."

Willow blinked a few times.

"Don't worry I won't hit you."

Apollo's breathing quickened.

"Stop hitting me... stop hitting me... STOP HITTING ME!"

A woman who was practicing came over.

"Hey, is everything alright?"

Apollo smiled eerily.

His bokken shot out towards the girl.