Seven out of the next fifty examinees managed to get across the first stage. Those who fell into the waters below were swiftly saved by Captain Fissure's nimble steps and given similar encouraging remarks to the first examinee to fail. Out of those who managed to get past the rope swing, none made it past the second stage. The climbing rope was intentionally designed to grow frailer as examinees climbed higher, some portions being aged to the point where it tore at the softest of steps. Every time an examinee trusted an unlucky step with their weight for more than an instant, they would find themselves falling back to the sand below. Of course, they were all rescued at the last moment by the friendly bald giant, but it certainly gave the examinees a scare as they fell.
Mira watched Roe intently every time that he moved, trying to understand how the giant man stepped so swiftly at his size. Sachi barely looked at the other attempts on Helen's Playground, he was occupied, examining his new hand. The teen clenched and extended the new digits repeatedly, as if he still needed to get proper feeling into those new appendages. Victoria went back and forth between watching the examinees fall and glancing at the half-Elv as he played with the new arm. Minutes ago she watched as the young man's arm was torn off at the bone, devoured quickly by the Gatorfish. But here he sat, the boy's new arm with the same blemish-free shade; nothing so much as a scratch showing on his dark skin. The young Duchess had seen Elves heal everything from deep lacerations to fresh bruises on wounded soldiers in the infirmary as a child, but she had never seen anything close to this scale of regeneration. She glanced back to the staircase behind the crowd after examining her Elvish teammate for a few moments too long, turning her attention to the place where Captain Holo stood. To her surprise and embarrassment, the handsome Captain-to-be was already looking at her group. Revin waved over with a friendly stare when he noticed the girl watching him. Even with that black mask Victoria could clearly see Revin was smiling at them in a friendly manner by the way the Captain's eyes and jaw shifted. She turned her gaze quickly without waving back, far too nervous to be caught glaring at someone who shared blood with both her Kingdom's legendary General and royal family.
"Three Fifteen!" called Dori from the top of the stage. Victoria swallowed nervously, wondering how many participants had attempted the course since she stopped paying attention. Her eyes fell to the numbered button in her hand; her time had arrived.
"You got this, Tori!" Mira's hand was already patting Victoria on the shoulder before she could finish triple-checking her badge number. The blue-haired boy grinned happily and pushed her towards the stage.
Victoria had thought of a few plans while watching the other examinees, but each was a long shot by her most conservative estimates. Upon reaching the top of the starting platform, she gave Captain Dori a nervous nod. The Captain recognized her as Antony's daughter, but it was clear by the young lady's stare that she didn't want to be called out for her lineage at this moment. He gave her a quick smirk and leaned towards her to speak away from the microphone.
"Best of luck to you, Duchess Ramses."
Victoria stared at the swinging rope before her, deciding in that moment which plan to pursue. Her fingers tapped at her thighs before she could notice them, and she focused as best as she could to still their anxious quivers. Behind her, she heard Mira and Sachi cheering out for her a bit too enthusiastically. For a second, it made Victoria forget about what she was about to risk, and she smirked with an undeserved sense of accomplishment on how she and her teammates made it this far. She thought to herself, I won't let it end here. She doubled-checked to be sure that her leathers and hair were snugly in place and took a deep breath in to slow her racing heart. Finally, when all was still, she ran. Her strides were long and fast as her body would allow, leaving the edge of the platform still swinging her feet as she sprang through the air. The jump was higher than most, but it reached nowhere near enough for her to even graze the rope. She started to fall as gravity found her, and the crowd gasped yet again, but Victoria was ready for this part. She took another deep breath in, filling every corner of her lungs with oxygen, ready to release her Radiance. She aimed her head to face down on the moat and ignited her Light to let everything out.
Orange flames exploded in a jet-like burst from the Duchess' mouth. Breathing fire may have been the only ability her mediocre Radiance permitted, but she was determined to prove that she belonged with the Royal Military; just like her teammate. The blast shot down in a violent stream of flames, consuming the gap between the platform and moat. Gatorfish dove as deep as they could in order to avoid the incoming wave of heat. The force of her flames acted as a booster to her initial jump—a double-jump—sending Victoria's body back skyward in a headstand. She flailed desperately trying to find her bearings, her angle of ignition only slightly off. And then, sitting just at the corner of her vision, there it was. The rope was in sight again. Salvation dangled just above her eyeline, but she already felt her weight once more as gravity found her yet again.
She reached out with all her strength and felt her hand scrape against something rough. The instant the sensation reached her palm, she grabbed on with all her might. Her fingertips managed to cling to the fringes of that swinging vine for just long enough for her to grasp back up to find a weak grip at the rope's end. She felt some muscle in her shoulder tear but held onto the rope with all her might as it swung her body forward. Then, just when her arm's strength gave out, Victoria fell to land flat on her back on the second platform's stage. The wind was knocked out of her upon impact, but the task was complete. It was over. Victoria Ramses had made it into the Corvus Royal Military. Mira and Sachi began screaming before Victoria even hit the ground, knowing she was sure to succeed the moment she let go of the rope. The rest of the crowd joined in with them as she crashed down, roaring loud enough to be heard in the Scarlet Aerie's lower floors.
Two out of three had passed. All that remained now was Mira, and from the look in the boy's eyes he was all too eager for his turn on the Playground. Victoria relaxed with a big smile on her face. She closed her eyes and reveled in her life's greatest accomplishment. She panted under her breath, "I... I really did it..."
On the stairs, Roe slapped Revin on the back with his oversized hands. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" chuckled the giant, "It seems you might just get that small Elv after all!" The nudge took Revin by surprise, nearly launching the masked man off his feet. Captain Holo's eyes went wide as he tipped over, his eyes screaming: What was that for? Thankfully the new Captain was able to catch himself and stumble back to an upright stance before falling over completely. After readjusting his posture and giving Captain Fissure a punishing glare, Revin turned his attention to Victoria with proud eyes for a moment, letting his stare drift to Ken Dori with unease, and eventually down to Sachi.
Back on the second stage, Victoria sat up and looked at the roaring crowd with a blush of exhaustion. She turned back to the rope ladder behind her and chuckled. She let her weight fall back down and shouted up to Captain Dori from her back.
"That's it for me, everybody! Woo-hoo! I made it! I really made it!" Tears of joy started to well up in her smoke-shaded eyes. She tried to wipe them away, but her hand wasn't quick enough. She buried her face in her palms to hide her tears, only allowing her victorious smile to be shown to the crowd. Roe appeared beside her gracefully with another quick step. His eyes were full of happiness for his new comrade-in-arms.
"This isn't the time to be hiding your face, young Duchess. Stand with pride." He stretched out his massive hand to Victoria. She reached up but could barely grasp around two of his oversized fingers. She felt like an infant reaching out to her father's hand for the first time. Regardless, Roe pulled her up swiftly and seemingly without any effort despite the meek grip. For a man as large as Roe, picking up Victoria was like a regular person lifting a pillow; he could have done it with his little finger just as easily.
Victoria stood before the crowd feeling at home for the first time that day. She could hear Sachi and Mira cheering her on still, for they cheered far louder than anyone else on the beach. They had treated her as a close friend right away, but Victoria didn't think it too odd. Everyone else was already familiar with her about town, so their friendliness was nothing too new. But their familiarity felt different, unforced, and like they weren't praising her father's honor either; just her and her alone. She felt proud to have befriended the strange brothers from the Meadows as she looked out to the remaining examinees.
Roe helped Victoria off the stage, and she made her way back to the boys. Before she made it back, Mira was already zipping through the crowd. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted her high. This time it didn't bother her as much, and she laughed and let the blue-haired boy get the enthusiasm out of his system. When Mira was done, he looked up to his new friend in the same way he gazed upon the Royal Palace.
"You can breathe fire!? That's sooo cool! I mean, you flew for a second there—really flew! Why didn't you tell us?"
"Well, I was trying to tell you in the second test, but you ran off. Remember?" She smiled down at the blue-haired fool without a worry in the world.
Sachi's voice chimed in from behind Mira. He was walking slower than his brother but still shared the same elated smile for Victoria's success. "You did it! Great work, Tor- I mean, Victoria. Not that I doubted you—or anything like that! I just didn't know you could do that." Sachi stumbled over his words slightly, still unsure how to address capital citizens properly. She laughed at his formality.
"Oh, please. I'm so happy right now I couldn't care less what you call me. Tori, Vicky, whatever; I don't care. We made it, Sachi! All we have to do now is wait for Mira to cross the first stage." Mira smirked eagerly at the thought of running the course. There weren't too many examinees left, surely his turn must be soon.
"Well, good work either way." Sachi pointed towards Victoria's chin. "You got a little something." On her mouth and chin were small stains of ash left from her flight.
Victoria pulled at her lips with the back of her forearm, and to Sachi's surprise the girl's chin and lips were left without damage—not even a blister from the intense heat released from such a blast of Light. "Sorry about that," she stated casually after cleaning the mess. "The smoke always stains a bit."
"Torchy." Mira cut in. He was staring at Victoria with his arms folded at the chest.
The Duchess raised her brow, confused as to what the boy was talking about. "What?"
"You said we could call you anything, so I'm changing your name again." Mira raised a finger. "It was Tori, now it's Torchy. Because..." He shugged. "You get it, right? You breath fire, sooo..."
"I get it, Mira." Victoria raised a hand to silence her foolish teammate. "Torchy," she repeated. There was a frown on her face while thinking about the nick-name. A proud smile replaced it quickly. "I like it."
"How does she get two before I get one!" groaned Sachi loudly. "We just met her, Mira!"
"Sorry, I was feeling inspried." Mira couldn't help laughing at his brother's sour face. "She-he-he! Don't worry, dude. I'll think of the perfect one someday."
Sachi was still pouting, but Victoria managed to steer the brothers back to their original place. As they walked back through the crowd, Victoria continued talking to Sachi. "It looks like Captain Holo's got his eye on you."
"He's the one with the mask who won't stop glaring at me, right?" Sachi nodded his head at the stairs where Revin and Roe stood.
"Yeah, they say he's reckless. Quite a few of the regulars at my family's alehouse have told stories about him. He's only a third of General Holo's size, but they say he's three times as wild to make up for it."
Sachi couldn't help but chuckle to himself, giving a judgmental look to his brother. "I know the type."
After another twelve examinees failed their runs, a new competitor made his walk up the stairs of Helen's Playground; his number was Four Eighteen. No member of Sachi's squad had ever seen a person that looked like this young man, but they knew instantly he was not Human or Elv. To start, his skin was a dark shade of blue and looked coarse to the touch. He was tall too, standing higher than any other examinee by two full head-lengths, seeming in excellent physical condition as well. The blue stranger must have been either dirt poor or very proud of his physique, because all he wore to the exams was a pair of brown cargo pants and mud-stained boots. As he stepped higher onto the platform, Sola's light revealed his form more clearly.
The young man's chest and stomach were a lighter shade than the blues of his arms, face, and back; appearing to have more of a cream coloration while maintaining the same scale-like texture as the rest of his body. To make things odder, the blue man had not a speck of hair on him, even his brows and lashes were bare. But most notably of all things about the examinee's unique appearance were the three fins that crept from his forehead to the back of his neck, beginning at each temple and his forehead's center. Similar fins on his forearms were more pronounced, almost bladelike, and extended like small wings that would make it difficult for him to walk through a crowd in Palos. Captain Dori's face involuntarily lit up with joy when he saw the stranger's full form at the top of his stage.
"Well, I'll be... Ladies and gentlemen, this is truly a rare occasion for our Royal Military! Today, I am honored to present the first member of the Inagi Clan to try out for our army in two years!" The crowd gasped at this revelation. Many of them had been wondering who he was, but to hear that he was a member of such a powerful Clan was astonishing.
"Anagi?" Mira asked Victoria, trying his best to pronounce a word he had only just heard.
"E-Nah-Gee." Victoria said slowly to make sure Mira didn't butcher the pronunciation again. "How do I put this..." She scratched her chin for a second, trying to find a way to make what she was about to say less rude. "They're kinda like... Fish-people? No—that's not right. They're not fish, but they're a little fish-y. They've got scaly skin and gills to breathe underwater. Plus, they've got a reputation for being far stronger than Humans too."
"He's a fish?" Mira only seemed to absorb the first part of what Victoria said, but he looked intrigued, nonetheless. "That's wild, Torchy." Sachi was also fascinated to see what this Clan he had never heard of could do.
The young Inagi approached the edge and turned back to Dori to ask a question. The crowd was too far down to hear what was asked, but the Captain seemed amused by it.
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"Yes, young man," said Captain Dori. "I'll allow it."
The examinee turned back to the rope in front of him and closed his eyes. The moat below started to churn back and forth vigorously. The Gatorfish within all tried to dive again, but they got caught up in the tides and were forced back to the surface. The Inagi pushed his arms out to his sides in a T-pose, and the moat parted at his will. The waters crashed towards the sides of the moat, creating two walls of rushing water with a path of bedrock between them. The moat wasn't deep, only eight feet at the worst sections, but a fall from the platform would shatter the legs of most Humans. Thankfully, to this examinee such a fall was nothing. He landed on the flats of his boots, barely moving his knees from a locked position as he touched down on pond's bottom.
Sachi had asked earlier if they needed to touch the rope to pass, so it seemed this was permitted within the rules as well. The remaining examinees in the crowd were still stunned by this high-level demonstration of utilizing Light. The scaled man walked through the chasm of water without strain with the same hardened expression he climbed the stairs with. As he looked to the sides of his waterwalls, the Gatorfish were still plain to see through the bent pondwater. A few of them snapped at him in displeasure from behind their veil, but the young man gave them no more than a look of disgust and continued walking. When he reached the end of the moat, he strolled up the same blood-stained path Sachi struggled to create during his crossing. Upon reaching the top, he raised a fist in the air and opened his hand. As he released his grip, the pathway he created collapsed in on itself, the moat returning to its original state.
The crowd seemed confused as to what to make of what they had just seen. The Inagi's power had humbled many of them after how easy he made the first stage look. Victoria looked saddened too after watching the display of power. Legends told of a time long ago, in the Red Age, when the Human and Inagi Clans warred against one another in a conflict that spanned over two hundred years. At the end of that war, the Humans lost large sections of their land and had to flee north into the lands now known as the Forsaken Zone. It wasn't until thousands of years later, in the Golden Age, that the Humans were able to reclaim the lands they occupied today. For most Human soldiers in the Royal Military, the idea of standing up to an Inagi warrior was disturbing. The flame of Human Light had a natural disadvantage against these strange people who bent the tides of the ocean they called home.
"What do you think, Sachi?" Mira grinned up to his brother in amusement.
"I don't think it would be easy." The two brothers seemed almost unimpressed with the Inagi examinee. They had been making comments like this all throughout the test, and Victoria was starting to take notice.
"What are you two going on about?"
Mira answered without a thought about how arrogant he was about to sound. "I know I can take him. We're wondering if Sachi would beat him in a fight. He's big, but..." He looked up at Sachi with a grin. "Right? You've gotten a lot stronger."
Sachi spoke with a sarcastic tone. "Maybe... That is if he doesn't drown me first." Victoria didn't think much of the Van'Heatah brothers being so callous about their power. Most young men talked big about their strength like this, but the Inagi examinee seemed like the type one wouldn't want to pick a fight with carelessly. His expression was stoic and without feeling, and from the looks of the stranger, he was several years older than the members of their squad.
The examinee raised his hand called out to Captain Dori. His voice was deep and gruff, as if he snacked on gravel for breakfast that morning. "I'll stop here." Captain Dori was pleasantly surprised by the examinee's performance and seemed more than happy with the demonstration.
"Very well! Do you need some help down from there?"
The examinee looked up to Dori with those eyes black as coal and grunted as a sign that he didn't need any assistance. He hopped down off the stage's edge and off Helen's Playground, making his way back to his group. As he walked through the crowd, people parted for him just like the moat did. It wasn't surprising, the biggest fish in the pond had just made them all look like bottom-feeders by comparison. The examinee didn't make it far before Mira zipped in front of the big fish.
"Yoo! Wait up." Mira reached his hand out and smiled at the blue man standing several feet above his eye level. "That was really cool! I'm Mira. Let's fight!"
Back at their waiting spot with Sachi, Victoria stared horrified at the spot Mira stood only an instant before. Sachi chuckled at the Duchess' surprised face. "Don't worry. You'll get used to that quickly around Mira."
Back at the center of the crowd, the Inagi looked down at Mira's hand and scoffed at it. "Tch." He walked past Mira and spoke without looking the boy in his golden eyes. "You haven't passed yet."
Mira giggled and swung around to keep the conversation alive. He cupped a hand over his mouth so the Inagi could hear him well enough. "Don't worry, I'm a sure thing now that the rest of my team passed. What's your name?"
The Inagi didn't stop walking, "Haltz."
"Haltz, huh?" The young man was almost out of earshot, so Mira had to yell out to him. "My name's Mira! I'll talk to you after I beat this course!" Haltz didn't respond to the blue-haired fool; he just smiled to himself with a jaw of shark fangs and continued walking to his group. Those in the Inagi's group didn't congratulate him in the same joyous manner that Mira's group congratulated Victoria, instead they seemed much more intimidated when their companion returned; terrified even. Whatever he did in that forest must have been terrible enough to give his own teammates that look. There was no doubt in Mira's mind, Haltz was a shark among crows.
Mira zipped back over to Victoria and Sachi with his Radiant Art. Sachi gave him the look of a mother who was about to dole out some twisted punishment to her misbehaving child. "You know what I'm about to say, don't you?"
"Yeah. I know. I shouldn't be picking fights with big strangers—but come on! You saw that. He's the toughest guy here!" Mira knew he was in the wrong. But still, he felt a need to protest for his right to box.
Sachi chimed in before Victoria could give Mira a proper tongue lashing. "Get stronger on your own time. You can't use other soldiers to test yourself. I'm sure you'll find someone else to use as a punching bag when we start going on missions." He smiled while lecturing his brother. He knew Mira causing trouble would be a problem for them, but the idea of those two fighting still sounded fun to watch.
Several more examinees attempted the rope jump but only one of them succeeded, and again, upon success the young woman decided to not go any further. And then it happened.
"Examinee number two twenty four, please step forward."
"She-he-he!" Mira giggled at the sound of his assigned number, golden eyes shimmering with anticipation. He shot to his feet and began his march up the stage steps. As he reached the top of the stairs, Sachi turned his attention away from his older brother and focused on Victoria, waiting to see her face when Mira surprised her once more. It's not like Sachi needed to watch the course anyway, he knew exactly what was about to happen.
Mira shook his arms out playfully and took a few hops in place to get his blood circulating properly. Captain Dori laughed slightly at this but seemed to pay the boyish teen little attention. Mira then crouched down and took a three-point stance, digging his toes into the stage's metal platform. Azure static built around him as his Light's Radiance seeped out into the world, causing the boy's uncombed hair to stand at attention.
Boom!
The boy was gone in a blur that flew past the rope without ever touching it, landing softly on the second stage. This run wasn't over yet. Mira squatted down and jumped straight into the air with all his might, warping the steel platform as his immense weight left the surface. He leaped so high that there was hardly a need for the rope ladder, for Mira made it to the top of the tightrope platform in a few quick, Light-infused steps. He refused to stop there, feeling more encouraged by his quick progress. Mira started running the tightrope with acrobat-like balance. Nothing could slow him down. Blue sparks trailed from his bare feet as he made running on that razor-thin wire barefooted look easier than running through an open field.
The crowd exploded with a roar of excitement, finally able to react to the extraordinary sight in front of them as Mira made his way over the wire. Victoria's jaw hit the sand and Sachi cackled like a madman at his brother's unrivaled success on Helen's Playground. He knew the boy's Radiant Art was perfect for such a test, like he was made to zip across that course. Mira refused to quit, he made it to the fourth platform at the end of the wire and jumped down into the flames below without rest or hesitation. Even from a hundred feet up, Sachi could see his brother's open-mouth smile clearly; Mira was having the time of his life. He dove through the flames unscathed and landed gently on the first platform of ice. Mira looked deep into the flames and spoke softly to himself. "Three more." He leaped at the next platform, flailing his arms and legs wildly through the flames as he zipped from ice patch to ice patch. Mira had decided he was going to finish the course the moment he laid eyes upon it, for speed was his greatest addiction; he craved it above all things.
After navigating his way through the blaze of stage four, Mira found himself on the last ice platform. Before him was another ten-foot gap that led to the slide portion of the course. Feeling that this section would be all too easy, Mira leapt without any regard for the steep drop. He hit the slide running, his lightning ringing in that distinct buzz of static as he pushed his Radiance into the flats of his feet. He saw the point where the slide had been sawed off coming up, and he also saw the massive wall separating the two sections. He thought about jumping, but in the end, there was no point. Mira had lost control of his speed due to the unexpectedly steep decline, and he couldn't stop to readjust his position for the jump. The only way ahead was forward. Mira led with his shoulder and busted down the five-inch steel wall like it was made of nothing more than a finely woven basket. He sailed straight through it in a streak of blue sparks, crashing violently onto the second half of the slide. His feet never did touch that second half, instead landing on his shoulder and rolling roughly to the base of the slide. The speedster eventually stopped with a thud on his back in the sand after over a dozen multi-directional somersaults. "Oof! That stung." He muttered to himself.
By this point even Haltz was smirking at the boy's theatrics. "Mira... I see." Haltz's team didn't seem quite as amused as him. One of the women he was with watched the blue-haired boy's run with wide eyes of fear and her jaw hanging lower than Victoria's. The other, a much taller and older girl, stared up to Mira with disgust and resentment in her expression.
Back on the playground, Mira began climbing the tall pillars, his final obstacle; but with so much of his Lightwell used up, progress was slowing. He sprung onto the first of the twelve pillars with ease and started to climb. He was on his way to becoming the first examinee in history to complete the course fully, he just had to be careful not to fall.
Behind the crowd, Revin's smile was clear as day through his black mask. His eyes watched Mira with joy, knowing he would soon have the zippy young man under his Division's command. Captain Fissure caught sight of his smaller friend's smile.
"He sure is something for his age. How far did you make it as an examinee?"
Revin didn't take his eye off Mira for an instant. "I made it to the tightrope and fell like a dunce. What about you?"
"Well, as I'm sure you know, back in those days this was Ren's Playground, and it wasn't as complex as this. But you made it further than I did. Those feeble ropes on the second stage were my demise."
"Oh, yeah? Well just imagine what he'll be able to do when he's our rank."
The sounds of static and two armored boots tapping lightly against the pavement rang in Revin's ear, forcing a chill down his spine.
A woman called behind the two Captains. "I can't believe you're still watching this tripe."
"Well, if it isn't the Hero?" Revin responded coyly, refusing to turn his gaze from Mira. "I thought you didn't have time to watch 'the best of the next generation's cannon fodder'—as you so elegantly put it."
"That is how I put it, and it was indeed elegant." Helen's response was cold, and her smile was cocky to put it lightly. "You're only here because you're the Chosen One's grandbaby. You haven't been officially promoted yet either, so you're still Lieutenant Holo in my eyes."
Revin scoffed softly, he was all too familiar with Helen's rude remarks by this point in his service. "Throw all the slander you'd like at me, I earned my way here. It's not like I just dropped out of the sky one day and was handed a title." Helen's grin sank into the slightest of frowns, quickly settling at a neutral scowl. Revin chuckled at the damage done by his words. He didn't even need to turn around to know Helen was staring daggers into the back of his head. "Did you come to see the kid tearing up your playground?"
Helen raised a brow at the question. "The kid?" she repeated.
Revin pointed ahead to the course. "Aye, the speedy one up there, he's about to finish the pillars." Helen smiled doubtfully as she glanced up to her playground.
"Lies. That course has been a-" She spotted Mira's blue hair on the ninth pillar and shut herself up. When she stopped talking Revin chimed back in.
"I've got dibs though, so try not to get too-" Without warning Helen was gone, taking off in a streak of yellow lightning in the direction of the top pillar. Her sudden movement rang across the beach in a thunderous crack that trembled the breeze itself. Revin and Roe turned back to Mira in stunned fear. They wanted to get in the way, to charge after her, but neither of them was close to being as fast as the Hero of their Kingdom.
As Mira jumped from the ninth pillar to the tenth, he felt an unstoppable force slam against the side of his face. The heel of Helen's armored boot connected with the boy's cheek at a speed that far surpassed what he himself was capable of. The kick shook the tiny teen to his core, rattling both vision and sense of time. The air ripped apart in the collision and released another louder crack into the distorted atmosphere. For a split-second Mira hung in that still air helplessly, metal sinking slowly into his face as he stared up at the scar-faced woman who had once saved his life. Then physics kicked in, and he was launched down to the sands surrounding the obstacle course just as quickly as Helen had charged in. The speed of his impact was immense, and when he hit the ground his body weight cratered a patch of sand beside Helen's Playground. His jaw and right cheekbone were shattered, but thankfully he was knocked out cold before ever hitting the ground.
The crowd gasped in amazement, then roared in applause at their Hero's sudden arrival. "She's here!" someone shouted, and the crowd completely forgot about Mira's historic run across the course. The enthusiasm of the passing examinees shook the beach harder than Captain Fissure's footsteps, not a soul unaffected by Helen's presence. Even Sachi and Victoria were caught up in the excitement for a brief moment, but they quickly remembered their fallen teammate and began rushing over to him. To their surprise Roe and Revin were already at Mira's body before the teens could get halfway to the crash site.
"Damn it, Helen. You broke my best recruit!" Revin seemed angrier at Helen than concerned about Mira's possible brain damage. They were tasked with keeping the examinees safe, and Helen's completely out-of-line behavior was compromising their positions; regardless of what her reasons may have been. Before Sachi or Victoria could call out to Mira, Helen floated down gently beside the unconscious boy and her fellow Captains. Sachi couldn't make out what they were saying, but Helen looked far angrier than the day he last saw her in his hospital room.
"He's mine." She stared down the masked man and the bald giant with a look that could cut any grade of plate armor.
"What are you saying?" Revin made his best attempts at protest even with Helen's gaze cutting his confidence in half. "You can't do that to one of the examinees! Are you-"
"He's no longer an examinee. Effective immediately, he will be a member of my Division."
"Lady Helen..." Roe interjected calmly, attempting to bring reason to the unordinary situation. "You can't just strike children and claim them as your own."
"Aye! That's right!" Revin jumped back in. "And I called dibs, so-"
"Do I need to remind you all of the debt you owe to me? The debt I have never once asked to be repaid?" The gazes of the two men shifted to regret. "Consider this to be how you two will settle that debt." A silence fell between them. She reached down and placed a hand on Mira's face. Her Light flowed into Mira with the green glow of an Elvish Radiant Art, then her Light faded away to reveal the boy's face was healed. She picked up Mira and slung him over her shoulder like a sack of garbage. He was still out cold, but he moaned slightly as the Hero tossed him around without care. Her body turned back to the castle, but her eyes remained locked on Revin and Roe. "I also expect the three of you to keep this between us." She glanced up to Captain Dori as she said that. "I especially want you to keep this away from your Commander. Are we clear?"
The two Captains beside her shared a concerned stare with one another, but they turned back to Captain Helen and nodded their heads obediently; like children being unfairly reprimanded by their mother. Another flash of yellow light blinded them, and just like that the Hero was gone again. Helen flew up to the Scarlett Aerie's peak with Mira draped on her shoulder, vanishing into clouds around the sixtieth story; her bright sparks leaving a faint trail as the Hero ascended as mysteriously as she dropped in.
Victoria looked over to Sachi, expecting him to be struck with fear over his elder brother's sudden kidnapping. But instead, Sachi's look was one of anger. He balled up his fists and spoke under his breath, but Victoria could hear him clearly.
"Shit! They got him."
(To Be Continued...)
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