Chapter 20

•Flora City•

•West Village•

•Training Camp•

Climbing the mountain was harder than Eden predicted, there were clefts and ledges alright but some were slippery, weak or sharp.

"Ow!" She exclaimed when a particularly jagged outcropping rock scratched the skin of her wrist.

"Giving up yet?" Lily taunted, peering down at her, he was a little higher up on the rock than she was.

It hadn't always been this way since they started their race to the top though, Eden took the lead sometimes and then a rock broke off or she slipped and then Li would take the lead and vice versa.

She scoffed loudly. "You wish." 

They were almost to the top now and had lost sight of Aster and Daisy a while ago.

They continued their race quietly, it was a slow race as the Fairies were already tired, not to mention that they couldn't use their wings.

They got to the top a hairsbreadth from each other, Li taking the lead.

The top of the craggy mountain was absolutely not what they had been expecting to see.

Eden gaped as she took in the whole place, it was level again and the track continued like the spaces behind it wasn't a sheer drop.

She looked back again at the mountain they had just climbed up to confirm if she was seeing things and… yes! It was still there.

She looked forward again and it was the harmless track once more.

"Daisy!" Lily shouted as he spied Aster carrying the smaller Fairy a small distance in front of them.

Eden blinked. "D-Daisy?"

She looked up in the direction Li was hurrying in and followed quickly after him.

"What happened?" Li asked in concern but it came off really accusatory.

Aster didn't even look bothered, even though Li was looking really dangerous just then, like he wouldn't mind burning off Aster's long gold hair. "He sprained his ankle." He explained in a bored tone, eyes dead.

"I'm really okay Li." Daisy said in a small voice from the confines of Aster's arms. "I just tripped on a rock because I wasn't looking at where I was going."

Li wasn't having it. "Then why is he carrying you?" He demanded, shoving his face in Aster's personal space.

The two of them were the tallest among the Heroes but Aster was still substantially taller than Li but this didn't deter him, if anything, he looked like he wanted to collect Daisy from the Water Fairy.

"I kept telling him not to worry." Daisy waved his small hands. "That I could at least fly but I didn't even hurt my leg so bad, it'll be nothing worse than a slight limp but he won't put me down."

"I'm forfeiting the race." Aster simply said, flying up.

Eden and Lily just gaped at this.

"W-What?!" Daisy spluttered, trying hard to keep his wings down so that he wouldn't make Aster lose his balance. "You can't!"

Aster didn't even acknowledge his refusal, he didn't care about the test anyway even though he could have easily made it to the end.

He flew over the buildings, that is, the part of the track that they were in, it was the fastest way to get back to the starting point.

"Stop squirming." He simply said, ignoring the rest of his sentence.

Daisy just gave up and let Aster do as he wished, holding a conversation with the Water Fairy was similar to yelling at a block of ice, there was no point.

Eden watched them go with amusement, not unaware of Li's irritation.

"Giving up yet?" She tossed his exact words back at him.

Lily just narrowed his eyes at the persistent Fairy, he'd expected her to have given up by now, perhaps he had underestimated her.

"Not at all."

"Good." Eden replied firmly, already walking again. "Because the race is still on."

Eden was tired, she was already at her limit and just barely trudging through.

Her body had given up a couple hundred meters back and now it was simply a mental battle.

Lily was no better, he felt like cutting his legs off or better still using his wings, the light, feathery appendage had been twitching nonstop, eager to be used.

They could both agree that the last scenery was the hardest, it was a marshy swamp and they had to jump from log to tree stump to avoid falling into the boggy marsh.

Now they were both wet and exhausted and moments away from giving up or passing out from exhaustion.

It was no longer a competition for them anymore but a need to complete the track, to prove to themselves that they weren't weak.

Which seemed ridiculous as they were the last two runners left in the race, one slowly dragged out step after another, one foot in front of the other, left - right, right - left.

Lotus stood at the finishing line, she had thought it unnecessary when the Captain had ordered her to wait there because she knew that none of the Heroes would be making it to the end, definitely not while walking.

Four had already given up, if you could call that giving up. These were the strangest set of Trainees they had ever had, forfeiting a race because another Trainee was down.

They had trained other Fairies at this Training Camp before, it was only natural seeing that it was the only Training Camp in Flora City and was also kept a secret from the populace.

Fairies didn't fight or engage in combat but then again, their only enemies weren't the Elves, there were wild beasts that made their way to the City from the Desolate Lands and also from the outskirts of Aria.

As both cities had been pushed to the edge of the country, the City of Mountains had the ocean behind them but Flora City was walled in by thick untamed forest.

They needed a select group of soldiers to defeat these beasts that were a common enough occurrence. They were called 'Myths'

It was only natural that they would take on such an obvious name like that.

'Myths' were, as their name implies, just that mythical and unreal. They weren't supposed to exist and they didn't.

'Myths' consist solely of Outcasts, a kind of Fairy who isn't born into a faction. There were the Forest Fairies, the Fauna Fairies, Water Fairies and Light Fairies. Then there were the Outcasts.

Not all Outcasts became 'Myths' but all 'Myths' were Outcasts and the only people aware of their existence were the leaders of Flora City and the Heroes.

'Myths' also fought alongside Heroes during the time of intense wars but their main duty was to keep the city safe from wild beasts.

Lotus had been so lost in thought that she was startled when the last two Heroes emerged, they were at the last part of the track and even though they were already limping, they refused to give up.

She stood frozen with her hands on her face, goosebumps had risen on her pale skin and there were tears at the corner of her eyes.

She was an Outcast, a 'Myth' so she could understand the drive that lay burning underneath the skin of her fellow Outcasts to do better, be better, to prove to themselves and anyone who cared to listen that they could be better than Casted Faires.

So when she saw two Casted Fairies with as much determination that was usually meant for Outcasts, she shivered in anticipation. No wonder Captain Evergreen had told them to walk the entire track and not given them something easier, he had already seen their potential.

At the last few meters, Eden fell and Lotus had to drive her nails into her palm to stop herself from running into the track to help her.

Poppy and Aster had already shown that they wouldn't hesitate to help a Teammate in need, although Lotus was highly doubtful of the Water Fairy, he was strong but he had no drive and that was worse than being powerless.

Li stopped and turned around when he saw that Eden had crumpled to the ground, she wasn't staying down though, he rolled his eyes.

The annoying Fairy was getting on all fours, she was getting to the finishing line even if she had to crawl there.

"Tch." He murmured under his breath. "Idiot is going to bruise her knees and palms crawling across the rocky ground." 

He walked back to where she was and held out a hand, the rule was that they couldn't leave their lanes, there was nothing about putting your arm out or a body part. It technically didn't count as leaving because the majority of his body was still in his lane.

Eden looked up at the hand offered to her and moved to swat it away.

"If you do that I'll just pick you up." He threatened, hand still out.

Eden huffed, the sun was high up in the sky now and the heat and brightness wasn't helping her situation. "You must not like the color of the skin around your eye, want me to darken it for you?" She handed back to him. "I have to do this." She added firmly, eyes dark.

Lily clenched his stretched hand into a fist and turned away. "I'd expected that, I understand." He said simply, continuing the race without her.

Lotus watched in horror at the scene that just unfolded in front of her, every movement that Eden made, made her let out a small sound of pain, even though it wasn't her knees that were getting scraped raw or her palms that sharp rocks dug into.

Lily got to the finish line first and immediately turned around to wait for Eden.

Lotus noticed that he didn't make any move to help her after the first offer, she was dying to know the words said during their short exchange.

What she wasn't expecting though was what Li did when Eden finally crossed the line, as soon as a hand went over the line, he scooped her up and jumped into the sky.

"Oy! Pink!" He called to her.

Lotus blinked and looked around. "M-Me?" She spluttered, stunned at the nickname.

"Yeah, where's the Infirmary?" He asked without preamble, ignoring the slight blush on the Outcast's cheeks and the light dusting of Fairy Dust.

"T-There." She pointed. "It's just beyond the kitchens, after your quarters." She explained.

"Thanks." Li said, already turning away. "Wait, you record the winners right?" He called to her.

Lotus gulped and tried to stop being flustered, this is ridiculous. She's the cold one, the only person who would get all hot and bothered like this, was Lichen.

"Yeah." She called back in a shaky voice but at least her stutter was gone.

"Then put Eden as the winner, I came in second." He ordered then took off with a limp Eden in his arms.

The clipboard in her hands clattered to the floor, as she watched them go.

"The Heroes." She decided with a soft smile. "Would fitted in just fine with the Outcasts, she already had a feeling that most already were even though they had Castes.