The teams who won their games of Capture the Flag met again at the entrance of the Red Grove. There, on the edge of the forest, Captain Dori awaited with his showman's grin. The smiling soldier had not moved so much as an inch since Victoria's group left for their game. Her team wasn't the first to enter the redwoods, but their field was rather far out. With all that in mind, Victoria found it hard to grade their performance against the other teams arriving at the same time as them. When all the passing teams were counted, the Captain with the red headband continued talking at them with delight.
"Congratulations again, examinees! I know your battles were hard-fought, but I'm proud to see all of you on the other side." Victoria rolled her eyes at the comment, knowing Mira had made their game too easy. "Teamwork is such an essential part of our military force. Now, give yourselves a round of applause for the unity you've all displayed thus far!" The examinees looked at each other with unease, but they slowly mustered a few claps between them; the entire feeling of it being rather awkward and forced. Apart from Victoria's team, most of the examinees were exhausted; and this request felt like more of a chore than a reward for their hard work. Yet as Victoria looked to her left, she noticed that no one was clapping with more enthusiasm than the short teen next to her.
"I'm so proud of you all," said Captain Dori with a crack in his voice. "I know General Holo would be so proud if he could see you all here today." The Captain pulled a handkerchief from the side of his armor and dabbed his eyes quickly with it. "Now," he said, putting on his announcer's face again. "If you'd please follow me, I will take you all to the final portion of today's exam." The Captain pointed toward the home of the King and headquarters of the Royal Military; The Scarlet Aerie.
The examinees walked down another spotless stone path that arched around the eastern edge of the Red Grove. As they made their way to the castle, Mira and Sachi continued to gaze off with amazed faces. Victoria had never been to the Green Edge, but she knew it would have been inconsiderate to ask whether it was anywhere as beautiful as Gilgamere. The largest building in Palos was five stories, and that was a military base. Five stories was below the average building size in the capital by two full levels, and the Royal Palace was larger than either of the boys could have imagined.
On their walk from the Deslit, the boys' wide-eyed stares and overly excited whispers had distracted Victoria, but now their gasps of amazement poked small cracks in the armor of her serious facade. She thought they would just be annoying hicks from the countryside, but Mira's speed backed up his lack of manners. She found herself staring at Sachi, wondering what the less annoying brother was hiding under his sleeves. "Hey!" she called back with a taunting smile at the Van'Heatah boys. "Would you like to hear about the next test?"
"You already know what it is?" Sachi asked with a raised brow, concerned why the young lady hadn't disclosed her advanced knowledge of the tests prior to this moment.
"Of course." She bragged with a casual wave of dismissal. "A ton of my upperclassmen already took the test. I'm not sure of the exact details, but I know the gist of it."
"That's so cool, Tori! What's next?" asked Mira with wide, excited eyes. It seemed even a grasshopper from the capital would impress him.
Victoria turned back and pointed at The Scarlet Aerie, seeming to accept Mira's nickname. "We're headed to the Coastal Barracks on the other side of the palace. There, we will have to run an obstacle course for the Captains."
Sachi doubted their last test would be so simple. "So... What? Monkey bars, a climbing wall, maybe a big slide at the end? Is that what we should prep for?"
Victoria giggled at the Meadow boy's lack of faith in the Royal Military. "I'm sure it's not like any obstacle course you've seen in The Green Edge. This will be our most difficult test yet—but I know a secret about it." She grinned with an all-knowing smile as she turned back to her teammates. "All you really have to do is get past the first stage of the course—the rest is just extra-credit to see what Division would fit you best."
"Did one of your upperclassmen tell you that part?" asked Sachi.
"No. My father did." Her smile became wickedly cocky. "Like I was saying earlier, he made it all the way to the rank of Captain—just like I will. So, trust me, he knows a ton about the inner-workings of the exams." Her eyes sparkled with pride. "Trust me on this one. If you get past the first stage, you're in."
"We'd be so lost without you, Tori!" Mira sprinted up behind the young Duchess and wrapped his arms around her. He picked her up effortlessly and hugged her tight. "Thank you for being our teammate!"
Victoria's face turned bright red as she realized how weak she looked in this small boy's arms. "Unhand me, you blue buffoon!" Mira dropped her quickly, slightly offended by her comment. Mira's words of high praise also hit Victoria's ears poorly. To her recollection it was him who did all the work in the last test, there was no need to congratulate her.
"Sorry." Mira said quickly, raising his hands to show he meant no harm. "It's just... You're our first fancy friend. I thought you'd be a lot meaner to us."
"Fancy... Friend...?" The phrase confused Victoria, but Sachi stepped in to resolve the misunderstanding.
"He means you're the first person in the capital to-" Sachi suddenly felt something warm and wet slap against his temple, a sensation that cut his explanation off short. He was stunned, completely unprepared for an attacker. Was it the purple-cloaked men? The thought of his mortal enemy set Sachi's blood on fire. Sachi whipped around at full steam to see who was attacking him, but to his relief it was just some well-dressed kids. He felt the side of his face and heard a soft squish. He looked down to his hand, now soaked in a red slime. A tomato?
"Look how long his ears are!" barked one of the kids. They couldn't have been older than ten, but they all had such elegant attire. The boy who threw the tomato wore tailored slacks, and a black button-down vest embroidered with the Red Crow's feathers. He wore a tiny bowtie and a custom-fitted dress shirt as well; the whole outfit could have easily been worth fifty Gold Crows. Behind him was another boy, looking dapper in a similar outfit, and a young girl who wore a flowing silk gown of many layers, all unique in shade and pattern. The troublemakers giggled with joy as Sachi glared, his anger quickly being replaced by confusion. Mira looked at his brother's attackers sternly when the tomato hit, but when he realized how young they were he began laughing with the children at his brother's juice-covered face.
"Oh, shit!" Mira howled. "They got ya, Sachi!"
Sachi wiped his face down with his shirt and turned around in frustration. It's not like there was anything he could do. They were just children, capital-born Human children at that. He was just another Elv visiting their capital in those young, a stranger with misguided eyes; he had no right to do anything here. However, Duchess Victoria Ramses had more than enough right to reprimand the brats with her status. She was on the tomato-throwers before Sachi's face was clean, snatching the young boy's arm and holding it past any point of comfort.
"And just what do you think you're doing, Darius Marvel?" The smoke in her eyes became colder than any icy isle or frozen ore of their world. "Has your father not taught you to treat our soldiers with dignity?" Her tone was feelingless, for a moment Sachi feared his new friend was about to rip the kid's arm off.
"He's no soldier, and neither are you, Vicky the Cheat! You have to get the Red Wings first, so I have no obligation to treat you or that Elf with any respect. Now unhand me, you vile false-noble, or my father will-"
"Your father is drunkenly rambling at my family's alehouse about the glory days of our late-General. Would you really like for me to disturb his mournful drinking to tell him that his son was harassing examinees on the day of Ren Holo's passing?" The boy grew silent, as did his friends, all of whom seemed very nervous in Victoria's presence. She released the boy's arm and sent them all running. As they ran, she called out to them. "Don't you ever let me catch any of you messing with soldiers again! I know all of your parents! I know where you all live! And I won't hesitate to rat out every one of you!"
As the young Duchess looked back at Sachi and his tomato-stained shirt, she knew very well what Mira had meant when he called her their first "fancy friend".
"So, it's just as bad here. Isn't it?" Sachi's voice was soft as he spoke, like he was prepared for this and trying his best to not let his new friend see how much it bothered him. Victoria took a moment to respond, unaware until now how hard it must have been for Sachi to walk down the capital streets to even get into the Deslit Colosseum. Her voice became as soft as his.
"... I guess so. But, I am sorry about them."
Sachi waved his arms at Victoria when he noticed the sadness in her voice. "No! No! Don't be sorry. That was awesome! I've never had a Human stand up for me like that before—I mean Mira steps in, but that doesn't count. If anything, you should say sorry to the kids, I think you might've scared 'em a little too bad. You probably bruised that rich kid's wrist too."
"Well, it serves them right for messing with soldiers." She huffed matter-of-factly. "We're here to protect them. You'd think they'd be a little grateful, even if you're from another Clan." She walked up to the lanky redhead and wiped away a few remaining chunks of tomato off Sachi's shoulder. "Besides, I've gotta keep my team safe." Sachi and Victoria shared a nice smile of kinship with one another. For the first time since Mira came to town, Sachi felt like someone had his back; like he made a new friend. Mira watched the cute moment with his brother and new fancy friend, but eventually ruined it with a dramatically loud sneeze. Sachi and Victoria looked over to him, both a bit shocked at how loud the sound was and embarrassed at how long they shared their moment for.
"Sorry," said Mira wiping at his nose furiously to prevent another. "I guess someone's talking about me." It was an old saying, not just in the Corvus Kingdom but around the world, that claimed sudden sneezes are simply caused by someone talking about you while you're not around. It was a goofy saying most thought to be a joke. But Mira said the words in that moment as if he genuinely believed some far away gossip had caused his sneeze. Sachi and Victoria looked back at one another with puzzled faces, but slowly they broke away to laugh at Mira's lack of common sense.
As their laughter subsided, Victoria began leading them all back to the palace with confidence. "Come on team... Let's get our Wings."
The Red Wings of the Corvus Royal Military were given to all soldiers who passed the Royal Exams. It was a small pin in the shape of the Red Crow. Some soldiers would pin the Wings to their tunic or weld it into their armor's breastplate, others chose to display it on an armband, and some women, or occasionally a chic gentleman, even fashioned the Wings into their hair like a clasp. It was an accent piece at its heart, a badge to display one's first step into the crow's nest; and the ways to show it off were limitless. However bold it was symbolically, the Wings in actuality were small, so much so that most eyes wouldn't catch the crimson piece at first glance. But the patriots of Gilgamere had a sharp eye for these Wings. Soldiers were treated with respect in the capital's public spaces, but unfortunately it became known that displaying Wings was one of the only ways for non-Humans to be shown respect within the capital.
In fact, non-Humans weren't allowed out of the Green Edge without an escort to the enlistment exams. And if they failed, new escorts would be assigned to bring them home. There were a few other ways for these unlucky Clan members to enter the True Kingdom of Humans, such as a temporary trading or fishing license that allowed them to walk freely in the Riverlands, Plains, or Posidon for a set amount of time. Many had abused this "privilege" over the last century, simply escaping to hide away somewhere in the Kingdom where the Royal Military would never track them. This led to a change in policy, where now demands for papers with proof of residency or business dealings were standard procedure; a known terror to any non-Human unfortunate enough to be caught looking suspicious by the civilian police unit. However, the golden ticket for residents of the Green Edge, no matter the Clan, was a signed sponsorship letter from a noble or high-ranking military member; a letter the Van'Heatah boys had obtained from Captain ?thena in order to reside permanently in Posidon.
The examinees made their way around the Red Grove's edge of the King's palace, and Mira and Sachi once again felt their eyes fill with wonderment as they gazed upon it. Victoria had been there many times with her father growing up, but even she was taken aback by the outrageous scale of the castle compared to all the other buildings in Gilgamere. The first King, Charles Corvus, wanted to make a statement when he had his family's eternal home erected; and he succeeded. The castle's cold pewter walls stretched far into the clouds, and surrounding each of its one hundred and forty eight stories were tall window portraits shining with stained-glass. Some burned brightly with the Kingdom's Burning Red Crow, others showed historical moments of the nation's history or Human heroes from across the Ages. The stonework was impeccable, with trim curving up to form arches that separated the many floors to onlookers. Balcony gardens and monstrous bay windows were so prevalent along the pewter goliath that one couldn't dream of counting them all; the same went for the many cawing crows of stone perched along the palace walls like gargoyles.
To the Van'Heatah boys, the Scarlet Aerie looked like it had been ripped straight from a page of one of Wilhelm's storybooks. It was a masterpiece in many ways, yet the scale and beauty were both haunting to them. They were ants before the pale beast, less even; specks of dust. The only thing missing from this fairytale-like scene was a rainbow sitting behind the castle to complete the image. The base of the castle's entryway was lined with pewter pillars, etched with complex arrays of vines and feathers to add more flair to the foyer. Mira turned to walk in and explore the entrance, but Sachi quickly grabbed his brother's shoulder and pulled him back into the crowd of examinees. There was no need to rush. The brothers would both have plenty of time to explore the palace together after passing their final exam.
When they reached the backside of the Scarlet Aerie, the Coastal Barracks Victoria mentioned came into sight. A full city block filled with identical five story housing units of that same flawless pale stone hid just behind the palace's north side. A single main path led through the soldier-village, and at its most northern end awaited the beachhead of the Corvan Sea. The smell of seawater was unexpected, but Sachi welcomed the bay's breeze as a sign of pleasant things to come. As the examinees followed their leader through those barracks nervously, they could see soldiers outside dressed casually. A few of them whispered amongst themselves at the new recruits, but Victoria paid them little attention; she was too focused on what was ahead.
They were walking past these barracks, onto soft sands of the Corvan Bay. From that spot on the beach, their view was remarkable; a sight of endless soft tides that surrounded the entire Capital, as well as the nation's eastern border. There was an old legend in Gilgamere that said if you stood at the back of those barracks facing east, and the night was dark enough, you could see all the way to the burnt shores of the Blood Nation, Skeltyir, on the other side of the sea. The Mortals had another name for the bay on their side, but thankfully Sachi hadn't heard that disturbing name yet.
The examinees continued to follow Captain Dori down a flight of stairs until they reached an empty spot of beach near the barracks' east side. All came to a sudden halt when Dori stamped his boot and spun back to face his crowd. "Perfect!" Captain Dori exclaimed. The two other Captains from the Colosseum waited on the beach, Revin Holo and Roe Fissue. The pair looked as if they had waited there for a while. Revin had sat down in the sand beside his colleague long ago, a spot littered with many small doodles. Most of his face was covered by that black mask, but his expressive eyes tended to speak volumes. As Revin saw Captain Dori and the recruits in position, he shot a simple leer to his comrade that said: Hurry this up.
Dori met Revin's stare with ice-cold sarcasm. "I see our attending Captains are reeling to begin, so I'll go ahead and explain the final portion of your exams to you all." Revin and Roe wandered over to the stairs behind the sandy area where the examinees had formed a half-ring around Dori. The ground trembled with every step from Roe Fissure, causing Sachi to fear the beach might just rip open if the giant Captain wasn't careful. The Captains walked past the examinees and up to the top of the staircase. All those young military aspirants, who never expected to get so close to the guardians of their Kingdom, fell into silence as the Captains walked past.
As they moved through the crowd, Revin nudged Roe with his elbow and whispered, "It's pretty scary how good Kenny is at acting." The big man looked down to Revin and tried to speak under his breath, but Roe Fissure was a man who did all things with gusto; even his whispers could be heard from anywhere in the crowd.
"This is hardly the time, my masked friend! Our Kenny-boy agreed to host this year and I think he's doing a fine job of it! Wonderful, even! I say we let him have his moment in the spotlight!" Captain Holo rolled his eyes so hard he might've seen his own brain. Everyone was now staring at the bald giant. Captain Dori hardly flinched at the comment, he just watched on as his fellow Captains made their way to the top of the staircase; a place far behind his crowd. Victoria watched the pair ascend the stairs, wondering what Revin Holo had meant, but the ever-enthusiastic Captain Dori quickly drew her attention back to the front of the crowd.
"Hit the switch!" Dori called up to the barracks.
The beach began to rumble once more. But this was different, more quake than shake—something far more violent than Roe's booming footsteps. The coastline began to split, revealing a portion of sand that was sitting over a massive set of trap doors. Newly-met teammates braced one another in fear for the worst as they watched a mile-long stretch of the beach disappear into the sinister shadows hiding below their feet. As the sand of the beach poured into the dark divide, something began to rise from it. Stone pillars, steel platforms, and plumes of red fire crept up from the shadows eating away at their bay. A whirlwind of sand blinded the onlookers as the structure grew taller, growing still, until it replaced the section of that now-vanished section of sand. As the structure revealed itself, the examinees could make out more bits of the oddly-shaped building. There was a massive wall of braided ropes, platforms a hundred feet high spread too far for any man to leap without the assistance of a helpful Radiant Art, and even a moat full of Gatorfish brought in from the Green Edge last evening just for this event.
Victoria was right. This was like no obstacle course the Van'Heatah boys had ever seen. It was the obstacle course some madman must've invented to trap and torture his victims; a rat trap built not to grant quick deaths, but to create as much fear and pain possible for any rodent dumb enough to step inside it. With all the fires and high walls, it seemed impossible for anyone to complete at their weak levels of power. Captain Dori's voice boomed as he threw his arms in the air for dramatic effect.
"Welcome to your final test! This... is Helen's Playground!"
The enormous obstacle course consisted of six major parts:
First was a large moat filled with snarling Gatorfish. Back in the Green Edge, Gatorfish were commonly seen in the bogs closest to Lake Mizva. They were vicious fish, built with moss-shaded scales and long snouts filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth. On their backs sloped large dorsal fins that poked out of the water as they circled about the moat.
Second, was a large rope ladder that led just over a hundred feet high. It looked tattered and had many spots where the ropes were torn, making it clearly dangerous to put weight on.
Third, was a small stage atop the ladder. This spot was tethered to a wire tightrope that stretched a quarter mile over the hundred-foot drop. As if that wasn't bad enough, the ground below the tightrope was covered in a pond of steel blades, welded at the perfect angles to impale anyone who slipped from the wire.
Fourth, was a large pit of fire. Within the roaring flames of this playground section were several platforms manufactured by military engineers to serve as an unnaturally cold "ice". The reinforced platforms were capable of withstanding whatever immense heat the generator that blasted at them could produce. Unfortunately, recruits were not given the luxury of being handed any type of armor made from the same false-ice. No, instead the Mortals had to rely on the strength of their flesh and versatility of their Radiant Arts to get through that inferno. Examinees were instructed to jump through the series of cold platforms to reach the next section.
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Fifth, was a slide back down to the ground. However, the middle section of the steep slide had been completely cut out. Between the two slide sections stood a steel wall one would have to find their way over to land on the smaller section leading to the ground. The difficulty level of this portion increased dramatically when Captain Dori explained that attemptiing to go around the wall in any way was against the rules. Meaning, the examinees only option was jumping over the gap or breaking the wall down.
And finally, the last stage consisted of twelve stone pillars in a large circle. The first pillar looked easy to climb onto, only being about six feet high, but the pillars increased in height one by one, more and more each time; until the final pillar stood a hundred feet high like the tightrope before. The goal here was simple: reach the top of each pillar until you stand on the tallest one.
Mira's eyes lit up with golden wonder as he saw the course he was about to run. Every muscle in his body told him to skip the line and just go for it, but he held himself back for his brother's sake. Mira was here for Sachi, and despite his excitement, he knew that running off might get them all in trouble. Meanwhile, Sachi's heart had sunk into his stomach. He had no idea how to deal with the beast of an obstacle course, if one should even call it that.
I need to find a way past that moat. thought Sachi. I'm not leaving here without those fucking Wings.
The voice of Captain Dori returned, fueled more by the awe he witnessed on his crowd's faces. "This glorious testing ground was built eight years ago to celebrate the arrival of our illustrious Captain Helen, the Hero of our Kingdom. Since then, this course has stood to challenge every new soldier of our military to guarantee only the greatest and most driven enter our ranks." The crowd began to stir at the mention of Helen, many expecting her to drop in at any moment for a cameo appearance to inspire them. But no matter how long the crowd stared into the heavens, their hero never showed. Sensing the disappointment in the air, Captain Dori brought them back to reality quickly. "Unfortunately, the Hero herself was unable to make it today. As I'm sure you're all aware, the passing of General Holo has left all of us rather occupied—Helen especially. But rest assured my fellow citizens! For the Hero of Corvus is hard at work making sure all our families are safe."
Mira remembered meeting Helen on the night of the purple cloaks, but the boys hadn't seen her since. Sachi had rambled plenty to him about her sudden arrival in the last war and how so many depended on the young woman to safeguard their nation, but he still wasn't exactly sure why she was so important to all these people. Now, seeing the way his fellow examinees shivered in awe at the mere mention of the blonde woman's name, it made Mira wonder just what she had done to earn such idealism from the eyes of these people.
Dori went on with his grandstanding. "But now is the time for you all to become heroes of your own right—to write your own legends as they say!" A young woman with long brown hair ran down the stairs and handed Captain Dori a clipboard. She wore a full suit of black-dyed Silver-grade plates that clanked loudly as she ran down the stairs and back up again. Captain Dori nodded at her and raised the clipboard, "Thanks to my wonderful assistant and First Lieutenant, I now hold the names and examinee numbers of every one of you. I now begin calling you brave examinees up one at a time by number to run the Playground. If you are not able to pass the first stage, I'm sorry, but your exam will be over."
Victoria chuckled at the Captain's last remark and spoke under her breath to Sachi. "Told ya."
"However!" Captain Dori went on. "This year will be slightly different to years prior."
Victoria's eyes went wide with fear. Different? Different how? What's he pulling here?
"As I mentioned earlier in your exam, unity is the foundation of this army. So, to keep in the spirit of our beloved fallen General, I have been given special permission by the Ash Lord himself, His Excellency, King Henry Corvus the Third, to alter certain aspects of this final portion of your exams."
Whispers and murmers of the King, as well as the sudden rule change filled the air around the beach like a pack of squawking gulls. The noise irritated Captain Dori quicker than any other, and before his bothersome crowd grew any louder, he silenced them with a stomp of his armored boot.
"Please be calm, my brave examinees. This rule change shouldn't be a problem; it's just a simple one. I ask that you take a look at those you partnered with, because your fate is now in their hands. If any of the members of your three-man teams fail to get past the first stage of the course, you will all be sent home." The crowd protested but Captain Dori was already peering down at his clipboard. "Examinee number ninety-eight! Please, follow me to the starting point."
A flustered looking boy wearing a protective leather chest-guard raised his hand nervously and began making his way up to the Captain. He followed Dori up a staircase of textured steel to the course's starting point. The first stage was straightforward in nature, all the examinees had to do was leap to a rope and swing over the moat to the other side. However, the details of this stage were what led the young man to feel frozen in place. At the edge of the platform was a fifteen-foot drop into dirty waters filled with hungry Gatorfish. As the boy investigated the pit of carnivores, he could see the creatures' fins at the surface of the water; eager for a new feast to fall in. Some of the scaly creatures occasionally popped up to snap their long teeth at him; it was enough to make any young mortal want to give up. He had enough, and the young man snapped away from the moat to stare at his only salvation—a long nylon rope drooping down from a beam mounted high above his platform. A simple ten feet of open air separated the examinee from the swinging rope, from glory. Still, a mountain-sized amount of fear held the boy in place, for in this moment he had to truly ask himself: is glory worth risking such a painful death?
After gathering his confidence for a moment, the examinee found his courage and dashed ahead. At the final step his platform, he left fate to its will and leaped at the rope with all the strength he could find. The boy soared through the air so gracefully, but it just wasn't enough. His fingertips grazed the nylon rope's end as he fell to the bloodthirsty fish below. The young man closed his eyes and tensed up his body, prepared for his final, painful moments. But to his surprise the splash never came. Instead, the young man felt a warm grip on his back; a heavy one at that. When the examinee found the courage to open his eyes once more, he was greeted by the bright shimmer of Captain Fissure's bald head twinkling above him.
Somehow the giant Captain had caught him before he fell, before either of them had touched the moat. It didn't make sense. Roe had been standing at the top of the staircase with Revin as the examinee lunged from the starting platform. So, how did he save him? Even to Mira and Sachi's eyes, Captain Fissure's movements had been nearly invisible. They felt the sharp rush of wind as Captain Fissure moved past them, and saw some distortions within the air, but there hadn't been a sound to the big Captain's movements at all this time.
Roe laughed happily at the shellshocked face of his rescued examinee. "Did you truly think we would let you die here?" Captain Fissure barely opened his mouth when he laughed, but his chest puffed in and out as he made a low-pitched sound in his throat. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" It was the kind of laugh you'd expect a snooty high-born to have, not this barrel-chested giant. Roe hopped up to the top of the stage again without any sign of effort and placed the young man back at the starting platform with care. Captain Fissure patted the boy on the top of his hair with a massive hand that covered his whole head. "There's always next season, young friend! You made it far this time, so I do hope you try again." With that he stood back up to tower over the boy and gave a nod over to Revin, who hadn't moved a bit throughout the ordeal.
Captain Dori looked back down at his list as Roe walked back up to his original post at the top of the stairs. His footsteps rumbled the ground again this time. "I'm sorry," said Dori, "but examinees number four-eighteen and number one-o'-seven, you are also dismissed." With that, two others left the beach with sulking faces. Victoria felt sweat on her brow. She looked back and forth at her teammates in fear, but neither of them seemed fazed by the sudden rule change. They both just smiled and waited for their turns.
I guess I shouldn't have expected Mira to be worried... thought Victoria frantically. After all, with his speed he'll be able to get through the first stage easily. But...
Victoria looked over to Sachi. The young half-Elv's Radiant Art was still a mystery, so she had no idea how he planned to get across the moat. But Sachi looked on confidently with the face of a cardplayer holding an ace up his sleeve. Victoria looked down to the ground, her nerves getting the better of her common sense.
Is it me? Will I be the one to get us all sent home? Mira's voice cut off her negative thoughts with something childish.
"Yoo, Sachi! Captain Thunder Steps sure moves fast for a big guy, how do you think he did it?"
"Some sort of wind control, maybe." responded Sachi without skipping a beat, clearly with the same mystery at the front of his mind. "I didn't hear a thing, not even the sands packing, so it's gotta be some Radiant Art. Maybe he flew?"
"Hmm." Mira nodded as if they were professional commentators on the subject. It was strange to see their lack of concern for getting eliminated, but their silly examination of Captain Fissure put Victoria at ease. She put her hands on the boys' shoulders and smiled.
"Don't worry about him. We've got Wings to earn."
Captain Dori's voice called out again on cue. "Examinee two-twenty-three, please come forward." Sachi looked down at his badge and stood up. He looked back at Victoria with a worried grin.
"I have a plan."
Mira started to chuckle as his brother climbed the stairs.
"What's so funny?" asked Victoria.
"It's nothing." His giggles became louder to the point where he was forced to hide in his elbow pit to make sure Sachi didn't hear. "It's just... I have no idea how Sachi's gonna get past that moat." Mira laughed harder with this confession and hid his mouth with both hands.
Victoria's jaw hit the sand. "B-But you guys are brothers, right? So... He's fast too, right?"
"Nah, I'm adopted," said Mira casually. "Sachi's great at one thing though—healing himself—I think he said that. He's not slow, and it's not like he can't jump... but that's waaay too long of a gap for him."
Victoria's heart dropped into her stomach again. Her face grew sickly and her voice grew less enthusiastic. "We're screwed, aren't we?"
"Nah." Said Mira again without concern. "He said he had a plan."
The boy's confidence surprised the young Duchess. "But you said-"
"Look," the blue-haired speedster cut in. "I know he seems totally normal to talk to, but trust me—Sachi's a psycho. He pushed himself to withstand anything over the last few months. I mean, he ripped himself apart so many times I lost count in the first two weeks." He looked back to Victoria with a dumb smirk. "He wants this, so he'll get across somehow. I just can't wait to see how he does it."
Sachi stood at the top of the stage stretching out his arms. Captain Dori took a good look at him and called out to the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have our first Elv of the season! Please give him a round of applause to encourage him on to the next stage!" No one clapped. Sachi heard some whispers and growls from down below about his father's Clan, but he paid them no mind. He needed to prove himself. Somehow, he needed to show his worth, even if he couldn't jump to the other side. He stood atop the platform for a few moments, long enough that other examinees started calling out for him to get on with it and fall already. But just then, Sachi's plan solidified.
He looked back to Captain Dori and asked boldly, "Do I need to touch the rope to pass?"
The Captain looked back at him slightly confused. "Well... I never said anything about it beforehand... so, I suppose that's up to you." Sachi took that as a green light for his plan. He walked over to the edge and looked down into the moat of Gatorfish, but they were still down quite a ways. His eyes grew thin, and a pained expression took his face.
Here goes everything.
Sachi took a deep breath, and let his weight fall over the edge of the pit. The crowd gasped, stiffening the air around Helen's Playground. Victoria on the other hand, held her breath in that instance, hoping her teammate actually had a plan as he fell to certain doom.
Captain Fissure flinched to catch the boy before he touched down, but the newly-appointed Captain Holo raised an arm to stop the big man from leaping at the last moment. Revin's eyes fixed on whatever strategy the child planned on using, taking note of his tall ears as he plummeted into the scummy water. His voice became intense for just a moment.
"He wants to swim across."
The moss-scaled fish swarmed the instant a new meal hit their shallow pond. The crowd remained silent as those beasts took the teen below the surface, leaving nothing more than a burst of air from below the water as they tore into his flesh. The furious bubbles of air from the pond's depths slowed, and all whispers silenced as an oily stain of red grew larger on the water's surface. Remaining motionless, the audience stood for a mournful moment in honor of their first fallen comrade. However, this was not the end of Sachi Van'Heatah. From the red epicenter of the Elv's landing, a dim glow of bright green began to flare up from the waters. Crimson hair and big ears burst through the surface of the Gatorfish pit, and Sachi took a desperate gasp for life as he breached the murky waters. His face was severely bloodied when it emerged, but his emerald flames were already mending his bite wounds. The swarm attacking him stirred up the waters he paddled through, but Sachi persisted onward to reach the next platform's base.
His fight wasn't over, and one of the larger fish approached from his rear as he desperately paddled, snapping his left calf from his body with a single bite. Sachi grit his teeth as the flesh was stolen from him, letting out a guttural groan of pain into the bloodied waters; forcing them to bubble violently. He kicked back with his other leg as hard as he could on instinct, halting the predator's advance with a broken snout before it could take anything else. It hadn't been the most painful of bites he experienced in that water, noting several bits of his chest and face that were currently missing, but it certainly robbed the teen of most of his skin and muscle. Swimming was a battle in its own right at that point with so much of him missing, but after narrowly avoiding the jaws of two more Gatorfish he was able to pull himself onto the rocky shores surrounding the next platform. Pain was still pain, even after the intense training with Mira. He'd grown a tolerance to certain sensations—broken bones, burns, and large cuts—but teeth ripping away bits of him was something no Mortal could ever get used to. He flailed relentlessly while scurrying onto misaligned stones. Only a few feet separated him from climbing out of danger and onto the second stage.
His limbs and torso had been punctured to the point of numbness after the initial swarm fell upon him, only realizing when attempting to climb up the stones at water's edge that he had lost his left forearm to one of the final Gatorfish he had attempted to avoid. Staring at the missing appendage briefly, Sachi realized the adrenaline rushing through him must have deceived him into thinking those final bites had been dodged; creating a ghost-arm of sorts in his mind he had sworn to have used to reach the next stage. A single thought ran through his mind at that moment:
Which one of them took it?
He forced the missing leg first, emerald flames already reforming his bones and muscle, and tried dashing away from any lingering beasts. The new leg was too fragile, snapping in two stepsm and he collapsed just before reaching the platforms edge. Despite the pain, Sachi tried his best to regain composure as he lay facedown in that sopping wet mess forged of his own success. There was a part of Sachi that was proud in that moment for getting past the Gatorfish. But another, much larger part of him had never felt weaker; completely defeated and utterly violated by his final test. As he poorly hid gasps for air, his vision started to return from the distortion of his panic-driven swim, as did the full range of his hearing. It was still silent, and it dawned upon him that everyone was waiting to see if he would survive.
Through a pain beyond any Human comprehension, Sachi forced himself to his feet as flames continued to rebuild his limbs and torn flesh back into proper shape. It felt like he was breaking himself all over again just to sit up straight, but he refused to look any weaker in front of the Captains; in front of that crowd of examinees, his brother, or his new friend.
The worst is over. Stand! Just stand, you worthless idiot! Mira would be done already! All you have to do... is stand and walk! Crawl if you have to!
The new meat in his calf screamed as he put weight on it again before giving the bone a chance to form fully, each baby muscle ripping and lighting aflame internally with the soothing flames of his Radiance to reform. Sachi tried his best to breathe steadily through his nose as he rose to his full height, subconsciously doing his best to prove his Clan's bravery to a crowd that mocked him just moments ago.
Don't fall! Please... don't fall.
At last, the half-Elv raised his still-burning left arm in victory. Bones regrew first in the emerald flames, then his muscle tissues, then his skin. Just as his new fingertips had fully emerged from his bright green Light, he was able to fully hold a clenched fist over his head with an arm that had been regrown completely. Examinee number two twenty three was still soaking wet, which Sachi ended up being thankful for due to how sweaty he knew he would have appeared without the drench of the Gatorfish pond still running down his hair and outfit. "I can't run!" he yelled at last in a huff, "And I can't jump! But I can fight—fight to my last breath and past that! And I won't let anyone get hurt in my place!"
As he finished his declaration, a Gatorfish jumped out towards the stage like the beast had been waiting for his meal to finish speaking. Captain Fissure flinched to move in, but Captain Holo grabbed onto his comrade's arm once more to keep the giant man in place. It was the biggest in the pool, twelve feet from snout-tip to tailfin, sporting a jaw taking up nearly four feet of that length. It snapped at Sachi mid-air, aiming to tear another piece of half-Human flesh off his body. But the predator was on Sachi's turf this time, and after the last six months of fighting against his brother, this ugly fish stood no chance in a one-on-one fight. Sachi cocked back his right fist and forced his emerald flames to ignite beneath his already healed flesh. Normally, the flames of his Light's Radiance would only emerge when the boy was injured, more of a subconscious healing mechanism than a focused Radiant Art. In his youth, Sachi had learned to suppress these flames in public when injured; a futile attempt to blend in with the Humans of the Green Edge who ridiculed him for his heritage. However, Mira's training had shown Sachi a new application for his Radiance.
By forcing his flames to preemptively reforge parts of his body, he was able to toughen them momentarily to a point that rivaled his older brother's Titan-like durability. Learning this ability had been more than a painful process, one that made him question whether vengeance was worth training for more than once. But in that moment on the second stage of Helen's Playground, as the man-eating Gatorfish barreled at his spot on the platform, Sachi had never been more grateful to have a brother like Mira to teach him how to fight. He swung every pound of his weight, a strength beyond muscle and bone, grinning ever so slightly with pride as the blow landed.
The snapping beast's jaw bent sideways as Sachi's fist made contact, spilling a shrapnel-like cloud of shattered fangs into the first stage's pond. The creature was sent spinning at an irregular angle until it crashed back into the pond with a tall splash. Without mastery of the technique, Sachi overthrew the punch and nearly throw out his shoulder upon impact. He gripped at the shoulder with his free hand, knowing this would be the next spot to be flooded with his healing flames as his muscle mass adjusted back to its designed level. With a deep sigh of relief, the teen peered down to his hand, dimly lit with a blaze that quickly sealed the cuts caused by such a hard impact against the beast's scales.
When he was done healing, Sachi looked completely unscathed other than some heavy breathing and damp linens. He climbed onto the platform and gazed back up to Captain Dori's position on the first platform with an unsure smile, eager to hear if his efforts had been recognized as an official success. His flames had now completely dissipated, leaving only the figure of a tall, dark, teenage Elv standing proudly on the platform leading to the rope ladder. He spoke through breaths becoming ever calmer by the word. "I told you... Huff...! Huff...! I'll fight to my last breath..."
The masked Captain of Division Two nudged the much larger Roe Fissure in the thigh with his elbow. "I call dibs."
Ken Dori, the Captain presiding over these exams looked down to Sachi with puzzled eyes. He glanced back to his fellow Captains behind the crowd for advice, only to see Revin was giving him a thumbs up with gleeful eyes that said: He's mine. Even though Revin Holo's status as Captain had not been confirmed, his peers made the choice to respect his wishes on this day; perhaps some sort of unofficial gift for his accession into Captain-hood. Captain Dori let his gaze fall to Sachi once more, trying his best to think of an excuse to not dismiss the examinee immediately for falling in the water.
"Well... That certainly was..." He looked back to Revin and Roe desperately for help coming up with a reason to keep Sachi around, but Revin just met his gaze with a roll of his eyes saying: You got this, buddy. Dori cleared his throat to get the charade over with. "Wow, ladies and gentlemen! With such a brilliant display of courage, and a willingness to sacrifice one's self for their fellow teammates, we as Captains must take this examinee's attempt for its full worth—and evaluate him later... thoroughly. Now, please return to your team and... Please wait to see if the rest of them pass."
The crowd of once impressed military aspirants groaned about how the Elv had not completed the test properly, how he was given special treatment because of his Clan and would have been disqualified otherwise; but he tried to ignore their gossip little attention. Sachi wasn't about to look this gift horse from Captain Dori in the mouth and ruin his team's chance at victory. Besides, he was proud to gotten past the first stage in his own way; regardless of the agonizing nightmares he would have of that pond. Thankfully, Mira trotted up to his brother extatically before Sachi could think too hard about how he had passed.
"Yoo! That was completely insane! So cool! I thought you were trying surf one of the Gatorfish to get across." The childish teen examined his brother from head-to-toe. "Are you all good?"
Sachi cracked his new wrist and fingers in an attempt to loosen the new body parts into familiarity as he responded. "I think. That wasn't fun though."
The blue-haired boy laughed from his gut at the honest response. "Looked awful from down here! Those Gatorfish didn't give you a break." He glanced back to Revin and pointed a very conspicuous finger at the new Captain. "It's a good thing the masked guy liked your dive, otherwise we'd have to come back in the winter."
Victoria was far less enthusiastic about Sachi's careless display when she caught up to the celebrating brothers. "Are you kidding me with... whatever that was you pulled up there? You didn't even try to jump across!"
"I was never able to jump that far to begin with." Sachi scratched his head anxiously with his new arm as he tried his best to avoid Victoria's furious eyes of smoke; feeling a bit like his late-father was reprimanding him. "Sorry... I just figured my best plan would be showing them what I'm best at. Mira's right, I got really lucky Captain Holo liked me." Sachi looked up to the masked soldier, praying the stranger didn't have any cruel intentions behind his interest.
"Come on, Tori." Mira said with a wide grin as he pushed lightly at the young lady's elbow. "He made it! All you gotta do now is get across and we're in!"
(To Be Continued...)
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