Atlas Gym, Late Thursday Afternoon [7.9]

[atreideslioness]

Usually when people found Ghanima at the gym, they could expect to see a warning of live fire, weapons flashing, or a grueling training drill of some sort.

Generally speaking, they didn't expect to see her with piles of rubber balls not dirty around her feet, tossing a soccer ball in the air with an evil smile on her face.

"So, are you ready?"

[Looking for the magician-apprentice, but open gym is open.]

Comments

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

NO.

"Ready."

Oh god, this was going to end badly.

[irulan-atreides.livejournal.com]

This was a busy day for her, after the shooting range Irulan made her way to the Atlas Gym. She's neglected her training for long enough she's beginning to feel guilty about it. The Reverend Mother or Stilgar would not approve.

Irulan couldn't care less about the Reverend Mother's approval but Stilgar's respect was something worth keeping.

She changed into her gym attire. As soon as she moved from the locker room Irulan noticed her stepdaughter. And the smile.

"Ghani," she called, "who are you going to torment now?"

[atreideslioness]

So, so badly.

"Your mind shapes your reality," Ghanima informed him cheerfully, throwing one ball at his face. "One of the first steps to realizing this is to let go of your fear."

Two more balls followed in quick succession. "Fear is the mindkiller. You must face the fear and let it pass through you."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin flailed out of the way of the first one, muttering under his breath the whole time, "I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its pat--"

And then was struck hard in the head and chest.

"Ow."

[atreideslioness]

"Focus!" she sang, throwing another one at him. "Remember, these balls want to hurt you! Don't let them!"

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Don't let them?" Merlin made a noise and rolled to avoid the next one. "Are you mad?!"

[atreideslioness]

"No." Yes. "If you move, then they won't hit you," Ghanima informed him cheerfully, scooping up another armful to fire off three more. "Do not be there. Be elsewhere."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Move she says," He muttered, trying his best to avoid them and managing... to not be hit by one.

[atreideslioness]

"'She' says 'move faster,'" Ghanima sang, keeping up a steady stream of balls, only pausing to grab the ones that rolled back to her. "If you don't want to get hit, place yourself elsewhere. Physics is irrelevant."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"Faster?" This was worse than helping Arthur train for tournament. She really was mad.

And then tried his best to dive out of the way in an overly dramatic fashion.

[atreideslioness]

"Your mind defines your reality," Ghanima repeated, bouncing one down towards him before moving through the Way, vanishing and reappearing a few feet away to scoop up another ball and throw it at him. "I don't do this through magic, Merlin. I simply place myself elsewhere."

"So. Move. Faster."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin panted, trying to keep out of the way and getting more than just a few bruises for his efforts. "I don't know how to without magic!"

[atreideslioness]

"It's not torment, wife-of-my-father, it's training," Ghanima said brightly as she tried spinning one ball on her finger. "Merlin is going to learn how to apply the Litany to real situations!"

As much as Mohiam disapproved of Ghanima training another damned worthless male, the woman's tau was cracking up at her idea of a practical application exercise.

[irulan-atreides.livejournal.com]

"The Litany Against Fear?" Irulan said with a raised eyebrow then smirked, as much as Irulan would. "That's one way to train. So, is Merlin one of your Fedaykin to be?"

Or was Ghani also training Bene Gesserit children?

[atreideslioness]

"Focus. You have to want it," she said. "It won't come immediately, but if you learn how to process various incoming threats, it will come faster."

Ghanima bounced one of the balls a few times before throwing it at him. "Do you want to try stopping a few with magic? Without blowing them up?"

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima started laughing. "Hardly," she replied. "Merlin is an apothecary's apprentice at heart, I think. Latin, meditation, herbalism, and the training manual for him."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin took a breath and winced, getting into something that he assumed was a ready position after getting smacked so many times. "No, I want to do this like you."

[irulan-atreides.livejournal.com]

"Bene Gesserit, then?" Now that was a smirk. "I bet the Reverend Mother loves the idea of a male Bene Gesserit trainee. You know, Merlin reminds me of someone I just can't figure out who."

[atreideslioness]

"You will," she promised. "It's just going to take some time. You have to learn to rethink reality first, and that's not as easy as it sounds."

[atreideslioness]

"She approves of my methods, if not the gender of the intended recipient," Ghanima said loftily. "Really, I think she's just jealous that he's my student and not hers."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

Merlin sighed. "More meditation?" Yes, that was a hopeful expression.

[atreideslioness]

"More meditation," Ghanima confirmed. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are never going to be done with meditation." Not with his powers or his temper protective streak.

Turning other students into mice once was funny. Twice would earn him detention.

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

It was better than being thwacked with a rubber ball.

"What should I do to help with this part during them?"

[irulan-atreides.livejournal.com]

Irulan remembered the Reverend Mother's methods all too well. "Yes, she would, wouldn't she." She made a face, "She kept hitting me with that staff of hers until I got the movements right." Really, she was the only one who got away with that, "I think she was just jealous of my mother."

That made more sense in her head.

"Did Karla come to speak with you?"

[atreideslioness]

She felt the combined tau of all the Bene Gesserit within her stir with interest, and when she opened her mouth again, it was not just Ghanima speaking. She was legion.

"To learn patience in the Bene Gesserit Way, you must begin by recognizing the essential, raw instability of our universe," Ghanima said, selecting three smaller balls and beginning to juggle them. "We call nature - meaning this totality in all of its manifestations - the Ultimate Non-Absolute. To free your vision, you have to recognize this conditional nature's changing ways." A shifting of her hands, and the three balls were zooming at him. "Every system is something spinning in relative stability... only relative. You must make the universe your own creation."

"You know how to do it through magic. Now you must learn how to do it by your own will."

[bigdamndestiny.livejournal.com]

"...and I need to figure this out through meditation and being hi--" DUCK! Merlin hit the floor far too quickly for it not to hurt. "--t by things?" Merlin asked.