"Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance."
- Samuel Johnson

AUGUSTUS

"I want August!" I shout.

"No!" Augustine shouts back.

"Fight me," I challenge.

And...My hair is on fire. I feel flames licking my forehead and my skull heating up like fucking Ghost Rider.

"WHAT YOU DO THAT FOR?!" I shout at him with wide eyes before summoning my water powers to douse the flames. But surprisingly they still kept going.

"You wanted to fight," he said with a shrug, a little backed up away from me. I have some top notch attacks to use but I can't concentrate with my brain being a thousand degrees over room temperature.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR FUCKING FIRE?!" I ask as I feel my brain melt. Flames do not affect me but I can still feel the goddamn heat!

"As you see good sir, my flames cannot be put out by your useless water powers, no offense Kai," Augustine says with pride, "Only I can put them out."

I summon a gust of wind which blows him away and he lands right on top of Coral who was standing a good half a kilometer away from us. The poor girl grunts as she pushes the tall boy away.

He glares at me and the flames get hotter. I cry out and start summoning cold winds to stop the heat.

"Just let him have the goddamn nickname," Zarren grumbles from behind us, "the stupid fire on your head has begun to toast me."

"Yeah, Gus would suit you," Meena says helpfully, fanning her face, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of her forehead.

"Who's side are you on?" I grumble.

"I'm on the side of Nature sweet Gus," she coos.

I groan at the nickname.

"WHY IS HIS HAIR ON FIRE?" I hear  General Atticus' voice.

As if he has never done it before.

The flames go out on my hair, which are thankfully still in their beautiful state, and Augustine and I have a staring competition. His metallic silver eyes look like they are staring into my goddamn soul.

"GET TO THE AVIARY IMMEDIATELY!" Atticus shouts again.

"This is not over," I whisper to the little jackass before going to get some fucking water to drink to cool my head down.

~

All of us were craning our necks up to look at the Aviary where our next combined training session with General Atticus was scheduled.

We have our powers, why do we need physical training?

I recalled the times when I used to hide behind the tents and copy the exercises the soldiers were forced to do. Before Father...

"How are we supposed to get up there?" Avalkyra asked beside me.

I shook my head, "No idea."

"Have you never been to Mediocris?" Mikaello asked, "you would've known."

"First time coming here," I say.

"No wonder we've never heard of you," Lia chimed in, "Well, we Air users just fly up there. The others need to use the million sets of stairs."

"Did you say stairs?" I hear Pink Boy's voice behind me. Why was he trembling?

The shit people agreed to give him August and give me Gus. Why? Why would they do that to me?

It was all Meenakshi's fault. She said it was cute and I looked cuter than Augustine.

No sir I am a man.

Not a teddy bear.

And HE'S THE ONE WITH THE PINK HAIR. How the hell am I stuck with the stupider nickname?

Well he did oppose the name Gus with all his might. Like he would jump out the window if he got stuck with that nickname. Overdramatic ass.

August gulped, "C-Can you just tell Atticus I'm sick?"

See what I mean by overdramatic?

Arbor raised an eyebrow at him, 'You cant possibly think that will work.'

"Why don't you wanna climb stairs, you weirdo?" Avalkyra questioned.

"I'm afraid of falling and breaking my neck," he admits, turning red in the face. Some of us laughed, but I just stared at him.

Seemed logical.

That's when my brilliant mind came up with a plan.

"Give me the rights to August and I'll fly you up with me," I offer.

And my offer is met with a direct "No."

"I'll repeat my offer-"

"No."

"Final chance-"

"No."

Rey rolled her eyes at both of us, "Stop being immature."

She locked her arms around Augustine's waist and the next moment, they were up in the air, shooting towards the sky, with Augustine shouting profanities for being taken by surprise and voicing his concern about dying.

"Haha you're still stuck with Gus," Meenakshi mocked.

I narrow my eyes at her, "I was about to offer you a ride up there, but guess that comment just made you lose it."

I turned to Valerie with questioning eyes. She understood and scoffed while giving me an icy expression.

"I would rather walk a billion sets of stairs then let an imbecile like you touch me," she said and walked towards the staircase.

What was up with people hurting me like that today?

"Whoa," Simba muttered, his eyes wide as he stared after her. He had a lovestruck expression on his face.

He was whipped already.

Sad.

"I-I am gonna take the stairs too," he said and scrambled after Valerie like a puppy, probably trying to make small talk and try to win her heart. Amateur.

"What about me?" Arbor asked me with wide innocent eyes. If I had been a normal hormonal dude I would've given in, but as all of you can guess I'm far from normal.

Zarren just frowned at both of us and walked towards the stairs behind Simba. Kaito followed Zarren a moment later.

"Nah Sugar you're mean to me," I reject her, then turned towards Rachelle who was silently observing our conversation

"What about you, Princess?" I ask.

"Yeah well I don't wanna take the stairs," she said, walking towards me.

I smirk at her, "I know you just want my arms around you."

She made a gagging motion as a reply.

Rude.

But I wrapped my arms around her waist anyway, and willed my wings to appear on my back.

"Whoa why don't the other's wings go away and come back like that?" She questions, her breath fanning my chest.

"Soul powers come with a lot of advantages Princess. Not only that, but also physical advantages-"

"Don't finish that sentence," she commands and I laugh before spreading my wings out and taking to the skies.

Her face was buried in my chest the whole time and she clutched on to me tightly, afraid that I'll drop her.

Why is she afraid? She weighs as much as a bag of carrots.

"Damn Princess, didn't know you like touching me so much," I smirk down at her.

"Concentrate on flying, jackass," she muttered into my chest.

Dang these people knew how to hurt a man.

She let go of me immediately as we landed on the landing deck of the Aviary. It is a very, I mean, very high building, with a stem like structure like that of a coconut tree, and on top is the training centers, spreading wide across the sky in a canopy like structure, almost as huge as, what would the humans say...fifteen football fields. Or twenty five cricket stadiums.

The whole center is covered by glass windows on all sides, including the floor, so anyone with a fear of heights is bound to kill themselves within five seconds of standing here.

One part is the gym, stocked with weights and other equipment to train the Air Users because their strength is one of their commendable qualities.

But the other part of the gym was what caught my attention. It had tracks, like that of human roller coasters, winding and twisting and looping, used for flight, speed and obstacle training.

Damn this place is fine.

I heard a thud behind us, and there was Mikaello, with an arm around Avalkyra's waist.

Then came Lia, holding Coral.

"Haha we came first, losers," August shouted, standing a few feet away with a bored looking Rey.

"What took you so long," she asked, walking to Mika's side, who casually slipped an arm around her shoulders.

"We were having a tiny version of the Bachelor down there, Rey! I've never had so many girls pining for my attention."

My eyes shifted to Avalkyra, standing with her hands on her hips, "How did you win?" I question her.

"I threatened to light his wings on fire," she shrugs.

Ouch. Are wings are the one most sensitive parts of our bodies.

"That was supposed to be a secret!" Mika whined.

Rachelle laughed beside me and I bit my lip down to keep my laugh inside as well.

"What have I told you all about chit chat?!" Atticus' voice echoed from the weight room.

When did he get there?

"Now that you're early, you have more time to exercise. Now grab some weights and do as Professor Gryffin instructs," he said, pointing to a very tall, muscular man standing next to him.

Damn. That's a lot of muscles.

And five minutes later he's got me bench pressing a hundred pounds on each hand. Why does he think we both are on the same physical level?

Zarren pants by my side after assisting me with the weights, "How does the dude make it look so easy?"

"Have you seen his biceps, if he got someone into a chokehold they would die instantly," I comment, staring at Professor Gryffin who is now helping Rachelle lift some weights, his hands on her shoulders.

Zarren snorts, "No wonder half the girls in Mediocris used to crush on him."

Well the point in true, Rachelle's face is completely red and I'm pretty sure it doesn't have to do with the exercise.

I make a face, "Ew."

"You should have seen the way everyone in the Air User dorms would get excited before physical training sessions, you could smell the horniness from a mile away," Rey comments from near by, doing lunges while holding twenty pound weight on both hands.

"I agree," Lia says on the bench next to me, drinking a little punch which the pixies had brought up for us.

And then Simba stumbles to the mats in front of us, and falls down on them, sighing dramatically, "I'm dead."

Augustine walks up to him and nudges him with a foot, "You're supposed to assist me with the bench presses now, asshole."

"Ask Kai," he whines.

Zarren scoffs beside me before nudging me to get up. He then sits down on the bench and places his hands on the rod. I walk behind him and hold the rod beside his hands.

"Mother would kill herself if she saw me in training gear, doing push ups," Arbor huffs from the mats next to where Lia is sitting.

My hands tighten around the rod as I begin thinking about Father.

He would've been so happy if he knew I finally came here. He would always ask Atticus to let me attend but Atticus never budged and always came to train me on his own in Fillian.

He was always gushing about how my powers were a blessing and that I would be a great warrior one day and save lives.

And now, he won't be there to see me off as I set off to wherever we are supposed to go to get those goddamn keys.

It should have been me.

He was so loved, and loved everyone so much. And now he's gone.

Tears prick my eyes as I glare down at my hands clamped down on the rod I am holding.

No you can't cry. Don't you dare cry.

All the training had been successful for distracting me from the thoughts on his death anniversary.

But the nights were still filled with nightmares containing flash backs of the day when the kitchens burnt down and took his life along. I could have protected him. What use were these goddamn powers of I couldn't even save him from that?

Zarren's voice brings me out of my thoughts, "You okay, man?" his green eyes looking at me with concern.

I grit my teeth and force out a smile, "Just peachy."

◆●◆●◆

VALERIE

The Fae-made volcano is breathtaking. It reaches almost half as high up as the platform of the Aviary, and it's massive.

It has bubbling lava falling from its sides into glowing orange streams which collect together at the base to make a massive river of lava which then drains into a canal that is constructed to take the collected lava back to the top of the volcano.

For all the summers I've spent at this academy, I have always wanted to visit this attraction. But wasn't allowed to.

Now I understand why Cameron and Aiden gushed so much about it.

We walked as a group towards the top where Professor Igneous would help us with our first combat session.

Today had been a long day. First we did shields with Professor Coral in the morning. Then the training at the Seawater Lake with General Atticus. Then after lunch we had gone to the Aviary where I had to tolerate the boy who wouldn't stop talking while walking up the stairs.

The sun was now beginning to set as we made our way up to the volcano for the last session of the day.

Behind me Coral, Arbor and Avalkyra are complaining to each other about their aching muscles after the physical training.

And in front of me, Dai or Simba or whatever is sharing his dreams of running a nice cold bath after training with Kaito and Zarren who seemed to be the least bit interested.

To my left, Minakshi, Mikaello and Augustus are having the loudest, most annoying debate about the best ice cream flavor.

And to my right, Rachelle, Rey and Lia are expressing their wonder as they looked around at the volcano.

Right next to me, Augustine is walking with his headphones on his ears, nodding his head along to the music he is supposedly listening to.

"First time coming here?" I hear Augustine's voice.

I nod curtly.

"You don't speak much, do you?"

"I'm not the type to chatter away about anything and everything like her," I nod my head at Minakshi who was excitedly telling the two boys a childhood story involving ice cream.

"Maybe you haven't found the right crowd to do that," he presses.

"I think we're done with our little chat, you can go back to your music," I suggest, before walking faster to the front of the group.

"Val!" I immediately hear a voice. I wince and turn to where Simba was talking with with Kaito and Zarren.

"You were so good at the Aviary!" He beams at me. How can a person smile so much? Especially while we're training to fight against our impending doom.

"Thank you," I say quickly before turning away and making my way faster towards the combat area where professor Igneous is waiting for us.

"Come on faster, we don't have much time," Professor says, sounding tired.

He was tall, almost as much as Professor Gryffin, but he is lean, and covered in black and red flowing robes from head to toe. Next to him were racks and racks of weapons, swords, spears, daggers, throwing knives, bow and arrows, staffs, and so many more.

I could feel myself getting drawn to the sword rack, holding the widest assortment of swords.

"Okay now I know some of you have never done combat training, and it is one of the most difficult skills to train in the least amount of time, so if you have never touched a weapon, I would suggest you form a separate group and learn basics of self defense, all the fire users though, you are going to go through some serious training right now."

Augustus, Augustine, Avalkyra, Simba and Coral began stepping towards Professor Igneous. Meanwhile Kaito, Zarren, Lia, Rey, Arbor, Mikaello, Rachelle and Minakshi began forming a separate group of their own.

I walked towards the fire users.

"Miss, you are in the wrong group," Professor Igneous begins but I cut him off.

"I have experience in weaponry, Professor, my father has trained me," I counter.

He raises his eyebrows, "Let's see then. Avalkyra!" He calls out.

"Both of you choose your weapons and meet in the ring."

We both walk to the weapon racks. She picks out a broadsword and a metallic staff whereas I pick a Victorian style engraved blade along with a metallic shield.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you Water girl," Avalkyra smirks, standing in front of me, staff and sword wielded on each hand.

I smirk back at her, "Go ahead, if you wanna lose."

I ready my sword and shield and close my eyes, steadying myself. As soon as I open my eyes and meet her fiery ones, Professor signals for us to begin.

She is as fast as lightning, and lunges at me immediately, thrusting her long staff forward. I raise my shield and the staff collides with the metal, both he weapons vibrating wildly because of the force with which they collided.

I push her staff away with my shield and begin trying to make my way closer to her, considering my sword did not have a long range of attack like her staff.

That was when her staff comes for my face again. I duck, holding the shield over my back as her staff comes down on it.

The shield digs painfully into my armor, and I bite my lip while steady myself. I swipe my sword towards her legs but she jumps before coming down to attack me. I roll away from her sword and stand up, just in time to see her staff coming for my head at breakneck speed.

I swerve to the side, and she goes ahead, unable to stop herself because of the momentum. I slam my shield into her back and she falls forward onto the ground with a grunt. I put my knee on her back and touch my blade on the back of her neck, signaling her defeat. Both of us were panting hard.

And then my ears are filled with the sound of clapping and turn around to see a majority of our companions clapping loudly.

Augustus put his thumbs up at me, Coral was looking at me with approval. Augustine nods at me, with his hands folded across his chest. And Simba is cheering loudly while clapping his hands.

I get up and offer my hand to the girl on the ground, which she takes and stands up.

"Don't look so smug, I took it easy on you," she mumbles, picking up her sword which was fallen on the ground.

I smirk, "Are you sure?"

"Fine you whooped my ass, are you happy now?"

I smile, "Well your offensive techniques are not so bad."

"Yeah not very great against your defense either."

"That. Was. Awesome!" Minakshi shouts running towards us, "I wish I could fight like that."

Avalkyra laughs, "Thanks."

We walk back to the group where Professor Igneous begins handing own group some shields while handing the other group a couple of staffs.

Soon after, I'm on one of the bridges over the lava pits, facing against Coral. It was so hard to move and maintains balance, considering that the bridge was swinging from side to side.

"Damn this is hard," Coral mutters before jabbing her spear towards me.

I block her jab with my sword, my lips tugging up into a smirk, "Admit defeat and I'll let you off easy."

She frowns, "No chance."

We keep going at each other, occasionally listening to Augustine and Simba trash talking each other on the bridge to our left, and Augustus trying to flirt with Avalkyra on the right bridge.

It became a routine.

Jab. Block. Duck. Block. Swipe.

Then she finally made the mistake of trying to fake a swipe at my legs and go for my head.

I intercepted her move and did the move Father had taught us. I twisted my sword around the grip of her staff and she cried out in pain before dropping her sword into the lava pit.

"Damn Val is on fire! Get the pun? Get the pun?!" Simba's voice calls out and then he says an indignant, "Hey!" when Augustine makes his sword fall into the lava as well.

He deserves that.

But my lips curve into a smile at the stupidity nonetheless.

~

How was it? I've written this chapter three times goddamit it better be good.
Next chapter was gonna be the roleplay thing, but I guess we'll do that after I'm back from the hiatus, which is not gonna be anytime soon. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I'll catch you on the flip side.
Bye!