Aelyra Visiting Her Past

After the last few weeks that Aelyra has endured she books a ticket for London, back to where it all started. She travels there after Vendetta and wanders the streets. It's going dark now and rain drizzles down from the sky. She wears her hood up to help protect her from the rain. She reaches the doorstep of a building and heads inside.

Inside, a boxing bag is hung from the ceiling, there is a large open floor area covered in mats and a worn wrestling ring towards the middle of the room. There are two men sparring inside the ring with another man watching from the sidelines. It's hard to make out their faces in the dimly lit room. Nonetheless, she knows who the man standing at ringside is and walks towards him uncovering her hood, and he turns around at the sound of someone entering the building.

When Aelyra left home she came across this gym and Mason became her trainer and mentor. A better father than her own. "Aelyra? What the hell are you doing here?"

She shakes her head, struggling to find the words. "I'm finished with it. I just...I haven't got the energy any more."

She looks down towards the floor in sorrow. One of Mason's arms quickly hugs around her shoulders and he begins to lead her off. "I told you. I knew you weren't ready for this. Broken bone? Too many sexist comments? What tipped you over? You know that I've got you tipped for the next show and I don't get my money back if you decide to pull out." She sighs. "You haven't been watching the show, have you?"

"I may have missed the last one...or two." He lets out a nervous laugh. "But you know that I will always back you regardless. After all, you learnt from the best. Even if you have struggled in your recent matches you always need to fall down so you learn how to get back up again."

"I've been knocked down too hard this time. I haven't lost a match, Mason, I've lost someone."

"You mean...?"

Aelyra: "No, I mean someone else. I got close to someone else and now he's gone. Now another fucking murderer is getting away with it! The evidence is clear but he managed to slip through the cracks. How can our system be so flawed? Nothing has changed! It's Bryce all over again." She shrugs him off and puts distance between the two. There is a bout of silence as Mason studies her. "So is the loss your issue or the fact that justice hasn't been served?"

The anger within her begins to stir. Since the attempted kidnapping in Vegas with Tremont she has struggled to keep her emotions steady. "Does it matter?! I mean, he was using me but his death still hurts. I don't understand how this could happen to me again. I just..."

Her voice trails off and she raises her hands to her head, unable to comprehend it all even now that she's finally been able to speak it aloud to someone else. Mason looks at her out of the corner of his eye and speaks slowly, regretting what he says but realising that it is too late once he started. "Could it be related?"

"What?" She looks up at him. "No. I mean, it can't be. What did I ever do to have this follow me?"

"It was never about what you did, Aelyra. This comes back on your parents. All of it. If they hadn't been so focused on looking after their own they may not have had made so many enemies. This is not you, Aelyra. Do you hear me?"

"It's been years since I've even spoken to them. They don't even know where I've been and what I've been doing. This is just the world getting its own back on me." Mason shakes his head and makes his way toward her. He will not listen to this. This is not how he trained her. She found him when she left home after Bryce was murdered because her parents refused to go after the man who did it, saying that he was too powerful and would just come back to kill them all. Aelyra's parents, brother and sister all saw the world through rose-coloured glasses and chose to ignore what occurred every single night in London, in England, in the world. Aelyra saw the truth of the world and couldn't hide from it any longer.

"I am not going to stand here and listen to your sob story. You are stronger than this. The guy used you and your whole world is falling apart because of him? Aelyra, you are going places and you don't need to be held back. He was not Bryce and I know no one ever will be but you had accepted that long ago and now you are making a name for yourself."

"I know...I know. You're right. I won my Vendetta match and BFW entered me into a tournament showcasing some of the best talent from the other promotions. But I still-"

"Focus on that. Just that. Then you will come to realise that that is what is important to you. Go back home, compose yourself and get back into the ring."

"I can't face it again though. The one who ordered the kill works there. I have to walk past his smug face every time I'm there and there is nothing I can do about it.

"Exactly. Focus on what you can control and the rest will fall into place.

"And how did that go last time? Not a thing 'fell into place', it just fell apart."She scuffs her boot along the ground and looks up at Mason. "And you got through it. It's what brought you here, what got you to BFW. It kickstarted your life, Aelyra."

Aelyra forces her most convincing smile possible. "You're right. Look, thanks for the chat. I'm tired and I need to get some sleep but I'll come back around tomorrow."

"Don't be a stranger." With no intentions of coming back she exits the gym without looking back.