Her Inheritance

CHAPTER 17 -•- Nultch Multch

           Aurora stared up at the huge arena in shock when she arrived with her dad. She was wearing the black, thin-strapped tennis dress with white trims, which she had bought just for the occasion. Her hair was successfully pulled into a high pony tail, decorated with the white bow Severine had given her. She made sure to wear her HoV pendant around her neck as well. The place was so big, she and her father were yet again starting to wonder if they were at the right place. The entered the building and navigated to the place Taya had told them to meet.
           When she saw the girls she immediately bounced with her excitement. She greeted them with warm smiles, Nyra even offering her a hug. Taya rubbed her heavy hand on top of her black hair. Marla complimented her dress and Severine adjusted the bow on her head, immediately recognizing it from Galespire. Graham was pleased with these encounters, slowly starting to embrace Aurora's new lifestyle as much as she was.
           "Wow... you all look great!" Aurora smiled around at their outfits. Severine stood out the most, as per usual. She had on a simple, blush-pink, two-piece spandex tank and short shorts, but on top of it was a thick, black garter belt. It was made up of multiple straps, three of them buckled around her waist, connecting to a thick strap wrapped around the groins of her thigh, which connected to another lower thigh strap. She also had studded leather arm bands with bronze eyelets and adjustable crisscross ties, exposing skin beneath for a bold, tactical look. Her lower legs looked similar, featuring leather shin cuffs with open panels and metal grommets, wrapping around the calves like fierce, decorative armor. The piece that shined the most, however, was the sleek, asymmetrical leather shoulder pauldron with layered panels and subtle metallic studs and few short, angular ridges in place of full spikes. Her hair was tied up in a tight bun.
           Taya showed off her muscles with a sleek black athletic set featuring a triangle-cut bralette with contrast white trim, with matching high-rise snap-button shorts with side stripes and vented panels. Marla had on a crisp, black, matching set featuring a cropped tank with a lace-up neckline and coordinating high-waisted leggings, with front corset-style lacing. Her reddish hair was tied up in a slick bun as well. Then there was Nyra, who wore a black, fitted, long-sleeve crop top, paired with high-rise mini shorts. It had a standout, wraparound, crisscross strap detail that hugged her tiny waist. She had her hair in classic space buns to keep things tidy.
           "Hey team player! You came to support the kids too?" Selene suddenly appeared hauling a heavy toddler around. Renzo was behind her carrying snacks.
           "Renzo, Selene! I didn't know you guys would be here," Graham smiled at them.
           "Hey, we're glad to see you! You know, none of the other parents are ever able to show up to things like this," Renzo mentioned with a slightly judgmental smile. Selene grinned towards the girls, complimenting their outfits.
           "Look at you all! Show stopping! Jude and Kairo are gonna love it, they are just so excited to compete with you girl—"
           "MUD BROTHERS!" Kairo screamed, whooping and hooting as he came barreling in with Jude laughing and thrown over his shoulder. Aurora smiled at their outfits as Kairo threw Jude back to the ground. He was sporting, bold, body-hugging neon green crop tank paired with high-shine black vinyl shorts. Aurora's smile faltered with surprise when she saw Jude's form-fitting, black compression top with contrast seam detailing, paired with ultra-baggy tech cargo pants and stylish, bulky black shoes. Both boys turned to the girls and simultaneously fell into a dead-eyed stare. Kairo's eyes shot to his parents' playful, knowing expressions, and Jude nervously looked over at Graham's amused stare, almost daring him to say something about his daughter. Their eyes shot back to each other and they couldn't hold back their laughter.
           "Bout time you two got here. Let's get in line, the tournament starts in fifteen," Taya told them with a smirk before leading the group in her direction.
           The seven of them chatted and huddled in line together, examining the groups around them. Aurora looked out at the huge course in the middle of the arena. She became real from her nerves. The course was far bigger and more technologically advanced than she had ever imagined. It went up high into the air, and it looked extremely dangerous. She wasn't sure if she was even ready to run a course like this. She tried to hide her fear from her friends, but she had no idea what she was gonna do when she was expected to go out there.
           "Man, if we have just two more people, we might all get to compete together!" Kairo explained, watching crowds of people in front of him get grouped together.
           "Actually, it's a group of ten, this time, not nine. I guess they've decided to do duos this season," Taya shrugged in clarification, staring up at the huge course with a smile.
           "Ahh," Kairo nodded, placing his hands on his hips. His eyes slowly trailed back to Severine, who giggled to Nyra and Marla as her gaze brushed past him. He shivered slightly, and looked back at his parents who were long gone on the sidelines. He slowly walked back towards her, staring at the skin that budged past her tight cuffs and straps. She crossed her arms and looked back at him as he drew nearer. He had been following her around and clinging to her all week, but seeing her outside of her school uniform was always a special treat.
           "Oh, there you are... finally coming over here to admire my outfit?" Severine asked him boldly, taking a step closer to him. He stopped, and had a dumb look cross over him as he giggled at her.
           "How'd you know?" He asked her flirtatiously, only beckoning her closer to him.
           "Oh, I know it just kills you that you're too embarrassed to flirt with me in front of your parents..." She crossed her arms, playfully tilting her head at him.
           "Me? No, no, I just don't want to embarrass you," he explained, crossing his own arms and leaning into her face when she stopped directly in front of him, making her giggle.
           "Do you like my belts?" She suddenly asked him in a soft, smug voice before biting her lip, making him reel his head back as he looked down at her.
           "Uh huh..." he slowly brought down his hand, sliding a finger through one of the tiny, metal belt buckles on her waist and pulling her closer, making her gasp with a smile when their hips practically touched, refusing to look away from his eyes, "you think this obstacle course involves any mud wrestling?" she covered her mouth with a giggle and finally pushed him away, signaling that he had won this little flirt battle and she couldn't handle it anymore, and the two of them playfully ricocheted back to their respective friends.
           "Did you see that?" Kairo muttered to Jude as he approached him and Aurora again.
           "Everyone saw it, bud," Jude laughed, making Kairo groan with existential joy. They all turned when the sound of Lira's voice caught their attention. She was with her two friends again, who paused and looked up at Jude in surprise when they finally got close enough. Lira was in the middle of talking when she noticed their shift, and she turned to Jude as well. A smile flashed over her face, and then she was shocked when she got a full gander at him. She froze up, just staring at him, making him look away from her nervously. She slowly began to smile again, walking towards him.
           "By the gods..." Jude sighed with dread when he realized she was making her way over.
           "Here comes the mosquito buzzing in..." Kairo clicked his tongue and crossed his arms. Aurora just frowned at her, carefully watching the way she was looking at her Jude.
           "Wow! Jude! You look so... sexy!" Lira exclaimed, making him recoil in shock. Aurora felt something crack in her chest, and her eye began to twitch.
           "Thanks..." Jude uncomfortably stuck his hands into his pockets, just staring at Aurora.
           "Look at you... I had no idea you were..." she gasped, practically drooling as she stared at the outline of his huge arms, "Ju-ju... if I would've known you've been starting to look like this under your clothes... I would've let you take me to bed weeks ago," she growled with a laugh, brushing her fingers against his arm, making him look down at her hand in a surprised confusion.
           "Jude!" Aurora squeaked, making the three of them look back at her, Lira looking annoyed and hateful, "um..." Aurora didn't even know how to look smooth in this moment. She just stared at Lira's finger pressed against his arm, begging him with her eyes to put an end to the interaction. Jude frowned at her and slapped Lira's arm away.
           "I've been working on myself a lot lately," Jude sighed, stepping back from her. Lira looked back at him with dreamy eyes.
           "Well it's working, all right... you know just how to make your favorite girl happy," she pressed her finger into his nose and walked away before he could deny, or even respond to her words. She just stared at him with flirtatious eyes as she walked away, leaving him confused. Aurora felt a strange feeling bubbling in her chest, especially at Jude's lack of reaction when Lira claimed herself at his favorite girl. She almost couldn't stand the way he continued to stare at her after she walked away, like she still had some kind of spell on him. When he finally looked back at Aurora, he was surprised and taken aback by her cold, narrow-eyed stare. She had never really looked at him, or anyone like that. He didn't even have words, he just stared back at her expression with shock and concern. Aurora crossed her arms and walked away with him without another word.
           "Yikes..." Kairo finally laughed after being frozen stone-cold by her expression as well.
           "Wh-what did I do?" Jude questioned in shock.
           "Nothing... that's why she's mad..." Kairo chuckled, making Jude's stomach flip. He replayed the entire moment in his head, realizing that Aurora absolutely wouldn't empathize with his fear of Lira, no matter how second-nature she was at understanding people. Lira was out to get Aurora, and he let her slink around him in a way that he would never allow any other perceived threat. Even worse, she was starting to pick up on that signature HoV response— icy cold silence and a sharp glare as punishment. He. Was. Terrified.
           "What was that?" Marla questioned Aurora in shock when she rejoined their huddle away from the boys. Aurora didn't answer, she just glared back at Jude and Lira, stretching her arms over her chest.
           "What did she say?" Nyra stared at Aurora with a playful, questioning smile.
           "Nothing important..." Aurora answered, bending down to touch her toes.
           "Jude doesn't look too proud of himself..." Taya grinned as she stared at his shocked, heartbroken expression and desperate, quiet dialogue with Kairo.
           "That's fine. After he finishes the course by himself, his favorite girl can be proud of him," Aurora spoke softly, tilting her head sharply to crack her neck on either side as she stared determinedly at the monstrous course. The girls all looked at each other in a surprised shock, then turned back to Jude and Lira in an amused disapproval.
           They all lined up at the starting line. When they looked over, they saw huge crowds of people in the side lines. Aurora tried to find her dad, but it was impossible in the sea of people. The last group of people ahead of them on the course were about halfway through the obstacles when they got lined up. It ended up being a perfect group of ten including the five HoV girls, Jude and Kairo, and Lira and her two dumb friends. An eccentric looking man's voice echoed through the air at the other team as we're finishing their turn.
           "Welcome to the Orvenna Public Obstacle course. This season's games are going to be run in duos. Everyone, please choose a partner to run the game with. Anyone who fails to find a partner before the timer runs out will be automatically assigned," SOPHIA explained the expectations after appearing on the big screens on either side of the starting lines, and then disappearing again. Jude looked at Aurora again, taking a few steps towards her, but Aurora doubled down on her hard stare, turning away from him again. He faltered back, making Kairo frown.
           "Hey, chill," Kairo wrapped his arms around his friend's shoulders as he began to internally spiral, "it's the first time she's ever been mad at you. It's kinda cute, in a way. Milestones!" Kairo's words actually brought Jude a sense of ease, "you and me?" Kairo looked at his face from over his shoulder.
           "You and me..." Jude sighed, holding onto his forearms.
           "Mud blood brothers..." Kairo whispered, holding Jude even tighter with twinkling eyes, "these girls are gonna let us in, Jude, and they're gonna like it."
           "Severine, let's run together this time!" Nyra smiled at her, making Severine shrug in agreement.
           "Marla? You and me?" Taya smiled at her.
           "Sure, but... then who's Aurora going with? Because it's not gonna be with Jude after that mess," Marla chuckled, causing Taya to frown and look back at her. Having a fifth member in HoV complicated the way they teamed up in moments like this. Aurora frowned between the two of them, looking down at her feet in embarrassment. She hated feeling like she was dragging them down, and her insecurity over Lira wasn't helping her feelings, and Marla nodded towards her, "you go with her, she's gonna need the support, since she's never ran the course."
           "Alright. Aurora, you're stuck with me," Taya pointed to herself proudly, making Aurora smile again, "what about you then?" she turned back to Marla. Marla eyed Lira playfully from across the way.
           "I have a bad idea..." she smiled at Aurora and Taya, making them look at Severine and Nyra and smirk with suspicion.
           "What's wrong, Ju-ju? You're not running with your little girlfriend?" Kira waved at him with a giggle.
           "Shut up, shut up, shut up..." Jude mumbled to himself, trying to keep his eyes from looking back at her. He looked at Aurora instead, who wasn't even acknowledging him anymore.
           "All teams, please line up at the start," SOPHIA instructed. Lira looked back at her two friends, who giggled as they linked arms.
           "Wh— Calise? Brielle? What are you guys doing?" she asked, making the two of them look back at her in surprise.
           "Didn't you hear? It's duos?" Calise, the pretty blonde girl, responded with a concerned look, glancing at Brielle as if to confirm that she was right, and Brielle nodded in agreement.
           "Well— yeah, but—" Lira looked up at the timer, which had only ten seconds left to find her teammate.
           "Sorry, Lira, but we literally just decided to run together..." Brielle told her, glancing back at Calise. Lira suddenly began to panic, looking back at the House of Vaedra girls.
           "Five... four... three... two... one. Time is up. It looks like most teams have been decided upon. The remaining members are Marla Remis and Lira Arden. You are automatically assigned to each other. Please link with your teammate so the game can begin," SOPHIA told them. Lira's breath hitched when Marla shot her a devilish smile. Lira reluctantly made her way towards her, and Marla confidently stepped back in her direction. They stopped in front of each other, Lira nervously examining Marla's features, and Marla smiling down at her like a cat smiles down at a mouse. Jude noticed this tension between his sister and ex-fling and gulped.
           Everyone stood on the line with anticipation. Giant numbers flashed on SOPHIA's screen as she called them out. She yelled GO, and everyone was rushing forward.
           Aurora stared up at the huge mud pool and huge, floating platforms that shifted and spinned out in front of them. Her eyes gazed up and the platforms went marks into the air, narrowing and becoming smaller the higher they went. They all paused when they reached the base of them.
           "Welcome to your first challenge; the jungle gauntlet! This challenge represents the spirit of the brutal, ever changing Earth. Your goal is to reach the top without falling. The first team to arrive will receive one hundred points. If you or your teammate falls into the mud pit, you are disqualified from receiving any points. Remember; the first team to cross the finish line is the overall winner, and the teams who scored the most points, thereafter, will be second and third place. Good luck, teams!" SOPHIA explained before shutting off again. Everyone stared nervously at the shifting platforms.
           Severine looked at Nyra with a smile. She smiled back. Nyra grabbed Severine's gloved hand, and they jumped onto the first platform together, not even stumbling. Severine locked her fingers together and Nyra stepped onto her palms with her bare feet, getting elevated to the higher levels with ease. Severine calculated before jumping, Nyra pulling her up by the shoulders when her upper body grasped onto the platform.
           Aurora stared at the platform nervously after watching the two girls for a moment. She looked at Taya, who shot her a patient smile, letting her make the first move. Aurora took a deep breath and leapt forward, already almost getting knocked over on the first one.
           "Woah!" She was immediately disoriented as the platform helped her back and forth, and she stumbled around as she tried to stand up. Taya's bare feet elegantly planted next to her. She offered Aurora a hand, helping her stand up.
           "I'm sorry," Aurora told her, gasping when she about lost her balance again.
           "It's alright, just take it one platform at a time," Taya encouraged her, "if it were impossible, they wouldn't have it in the game."
         Aurora dizzily looked up at the next platform and carefully assessed her next move. She calculated her jump, the timing, and when everything seemed right, she jumped to the next one, not taking her eyes away as she planted her feet into it. She gasped in shock when she regained her balance and realized she was still standing. She looked back at Taya in awe.
           "Thatta girl!" Taya grinned at her.
           Kairo and Jude jokingly pushed each other towards the platforms until Jude gave in and made the first move, Kairo following not far behind him. Calise and Brielle managed to start their way up as well.
           "Move," Marla commanded Lira, making her sneer at her before leaping up the first steps as well. Severine and Nyra were high up the platforms, now, jumping into the ones that turned forty-five degrees and then paused for a moment, and then did it again in a random direction. Nyra and Severine both looked up at the last spinning platform above their heads. Severine, with her height, was able to jump up and grab the edge of it with ease. Nyra waited for her to rotate back in her direction before jumping up and clutching onto Severine's shoulders. Severine strained as Nyra began to ascend, each jerk of movements test of their strength and endurance. Nyra managed to hoist herself up, and barely grabbed hold of Severine before her grip slipped away. Severine huffed as Nyra used every ounce of her being to lift Severine behind her. They smiled at each other, and looked back at the robotic, yet plant-like ropes. Severine reached up, carefully keeping her balance as she wrapped one of the vines around her arms. Nyra grabbed ahold of it as well, the vine getting twisted up as the platform continued to jolt. They watched I told they were facing the entrance to the next level and finally jumped, swinging to the platform and successfully landing.
           "Severine and Nyra win game one. One hundred points!" SOPHIA exclaimed cheerfully. Jude and Kairo weren't far behind. Kairo encouraged Jude to jump to the last platform at the same time as him. Jude obliged, and they carefully watched their moving target before leaping up and grabbing either side of it at the same time. They both struggled to pull themselves up as the platform violently span back and forth. Kairo got his arm over the edge and reached for Jude. Jude barely managed to reach back for him, and when their hands locked, they were finally able to pull each other up onto the platform, smiling and cheering each other on in victory. They each reached for a vine and swung across together.
           Taya and Aurora were there next, and Aurora looked down, not even sure how she made it this far. She looked up at the last platform, and back at Taya when she pulled herself up after her.
           "Okay... one more... you got this. I'll throw you up... once you're there, you think you can help me get up?" Taya asked her breathlessly, and Aurora nodded. Taya intertwined her fingers, and Aurora placed her hands on her broad shoulders, pressing her foot into her palms. Aurora looked up at the platform with a shaking breath, "Aurora... you got this... keep your back straight when I toss you, or you'll go flying in another direction... just keep your eyes on your target... don't worry if the landing hurts... just focus on landing."
           "Okay," Aurora nodded, bracing herself to jump as they came to the other side of the platform.
           "GO!" She threw Aurora straight up, and Aurora tensed up her spine as Taya's safe touch left her body. She shot her eyes open when she realized they were closed, and she suddenly leaned forward, desperately reaching for the platform and landing halfway into it with a painful thud. She scrambled to pull herself up and gasped as she looked back at Taya. Taya quickly grabbed the platform, and Aurora used her entire body weight to help life Taya up into the platform. Taya grabbed Aurora by the waist as they both held the rope, and Aurora squeaked as they swung across together, tumbling to the ground when they landed. Aurora smiled back at Taya.
           "Nice! Look at that! You made it!" Taya panted, making Aurora chuckle. She looked at Jude, who was grinning at her, and she frowned again, looking away from her, making him falter, but he couldn't help but continue smiling at her.
           Marla and Lira worked surprisingly effortlessly together, reading each other's cues and civilly cooperating to love into the next level. Lira's two friends were nearby, slowly making their own decisions to get to the top. They were among the last to arrive. They all stared up at a huge, vertical white wall with square climbing footholds sticking out at random and about a dozen long, red ropes hanging from the top. It was so high up, just looking up from the ground made Aurora nauseous. She looked back down at the crowd of people watching them, and they already seemed like they were light years below them. She knew this thing was tall, but were they really going to climb to the very top of it? There was another huge pool of mud at the bottom of the colossal drop.
           "Great job, teams! Welcome to your second challenge. The Wall of Fire. This challenge represents the dangerous, sporadic, and unruly spirit of fire. The wall has randomly triggered heat zones that could cause burns if exposed for too long. The first team to make it to the top scores one hundred points and wins the challenge. If you or your teammate falls off the wall, you are disqualified. If you and your teammate don't make it to the top at the same time, you are disqualified. Good luck!" SOPHIA grinned on a big screen beside them before shutting off again. All of the wall's footholds suddenly retracted and shot back out in different positions, making everyone either gasp or tense up. Aurora was surprised when she realized she and her friends were being tracked and broadcasted on SOPHIA's huge screen.
           After weighing their options, Kairo and Jude decided to slop through the mud and begin climbing up the footholds. Taya grabbed Aurora by the arm and made her sink her feet into the mud as well, before handing her a red rope and jumping onto the footholds. Severine and Nyra skipped through the mud together and began scaling the ropes with ease. Marla stared Lira down as they both moved towards the ropes together. Brielle and Calise were attempting the footholds as well. They all began to ascend together. They heard a chime from SOPHIA, followed by a loud hiss as hot steam suddenly began to flood into the air. Everyone was suddenly engulfed in a pit of heat and blindness as it rose into the air. Aurora could feel the vapor taking up space in her lungs and making her throat warm and raspy. The condensation made her fingers slippery and he had to suddenly be hyper-aware of how tight she was hanging on. Her surroundings were suddenly washed away in white clouds, and she couldn't see anyone other than her teammate. Her breath shook with anxiety. She listened as Taya took in a deep breath through her nose, smiling the air.
           "Ah! That's good... It's like a sauna right in the middle of your workout!" Taya yelled to her with a giggle, making Aurora slip down just slightly before she caught herself. Taya was just about to move her hand to the next foothold when all of them retracted in, making Taya yell before she quickly caught herself on the new footholds that pushed themselves out of the walls. Aurora looked down at her in a gasp as she carefully regained her footing on the material.
           "Maybe you should use the rope..." Aurora suggested, shaking as she grabbed for the one next to her and swung it towards Taya. She hesitantly grabbed it and looked back at Aurora, then smiled and tightly gripped her hands around it before using it to climb instead.
           Jude and Kairo had both managed to catch themselves when the footholds had shifted to new positions. The slight fall was terrifying to both of them, but left them smiling and giggling after they caught their grips again. Jude was slowly pulling himself up when he felt the sudden urge to look down as the dob began to clear. He did as his brain told him, and jumped when he realized how high up, completely suspended in the air they were. He looked back up at Kairo, freezing in place. Kairo continued to climb until he noticed he wasn't moving beside him anymore. He looked back down at Jude and the elevated breeze that was beginning to blow through his loose, curly hair. His body was suddenly trembling as it attached itself to the wall. Jude's eyes looked desperate and fearful.
           "Okay... grab the rope, Jude... it's gonna be fine. I'm right here, just follow my lead," Kairo smiled at him gently, pointing to the red rope beside him. Jude looked over at it and hesitantly reached for it, desperately clinging to the wall when the rope made him dangle backwards, "come on, Jude... that's it..." he said as Jude began to slowly hoist himself up the rope instead.
           Marla looked over at Lira with disgust as they both maneuvered up their ropes.
           "So... what's your obsession with my brother, anyway?" Marla asked her in a huff, making Lira look over. Then she began to smile.
           "Ju-ju? He's the one who's still obsessed with me..." Lira laughed, using her upper body strength to reach higher and higher up the rough, red material. Marla looked up at her with slight confusion.
           "You know, before, I would've probably agreed with you. He cried about you for weeks after you left. He talked about the things you did on a weekly basis. You two haven't officially dated in years... but I always saw you still hovering around him," Marla sighed, trying to move a little more quickly to pass her eye level, and Lira smiled at her recollection of Jude's obsession over Lira in the past, "and then Aurora came," she paused, looking down directly at her eyes as her head past her, making her face begin to drop, "and that all went away... I don't think he can get through a single cohesive thought without mentioning her at least once. You've become obsolete in his mind..." Marla stared at her with an evil, cold look in her eyes. Lira began to furrow her brow at her as she panted.
           "You know... I never really wanted to leave Jude... I always thought, when I was done having my fun in the second-lights, he would be the perfect guy for me to settle down with... Aurora is just a small bump in the road," Lira tiredly confessed her fantasy to Marla, making her raise an eyebrow at her.
           "How do you know Jude won't end up settling down with Aurora instead?" she asked her, making Lira furrow her brow even deeper just at the mention of her name.
           "Because I won't let him..." she told her in a threatening tone, making Marla's eyes widen. Then she furrowed her brow when she began to feel the heat under her feet. She quickly started climbing away from the spot they were standing.
           "We'll see..." Marla sighed, leaving Lira to stare at her. Lira suddenly yelped when the walls began to burn her skin, and she quickly tried to climb up, squealing with each contact her skin made.
           Severine and Nyra's bodies didn't even touch the wall. They relied purely on upper body strength to pull themselves to the top, quickly outpacing everyone behind them. Severine could feel the heat emitting onto her body as they passed one of the heat zones. She focused on her breath, letting her arms do all of the work. Nyra looked up, sniffing the air, and then looked down towards their feet.
           "Sev!" She exclaimed, making Severine look at her before glancing at her feet. She gasped when she saw the end of her rope quickly burning upwards like a lit bomb. She looked back up and she didn't even have much farther to go. She quickly began to climb as fast as she could, and Nyra followed her pace. Severine desperately reached for the top, spinning in a frantic circle as she tried to move her body faster. Suddenly the rope between her hands turned to ash and slipped from her grasp, leaving her grasping for the footholds, which she actually caught, just for them to shift again and have to catch herself on the next moving grips down below, "Severine!" Nyra exclaimed as Severine gasped, looking down at her quaking body and the huge drop into mud underneath them. She looked back up at Nyra, who had her arm extended out, gracefully hanging from the rope as she looked at her. Severine took in a sharp breath and started climbing again.
           Jude shook and gasped as his body began to grow closer to the top. He heard Kairo begin to gasp in a panic.
           "Shit, shit, shit!" He yelled, trying to scramble up the footholds as they began to heat up. Jude gasped as he looked down at him, and then immediately became dizzy when he looked over at the ground, which was even farther below them now. Kairo screamed in pain as the wall began to heat up, singeing every inch of exposed skin touching it. Jude could tell he was about to let go and fall back as the wall burned him.
           "Kairo! You're almost out of the zone, just crawl up here!" Jude said, hanging onto the rope as his back pressed against the cool wall. Kairo tried to look past his own wincing expression and trembled as his skin begged him to let go of thing harming it. He quickly moved his hand up to the next grip and screamed when it was still hot, barely allowing his fingers to hold on, "grab my rope!" Jude gasped, bravely swinging himself towards his friend. He just about pissed himself when his body swung back, nearly dangling over the edge of the obstacle course. He began moving back towards Kairo, who finally let go and clung to the rope, sliding down it as he relieved himself from the wall, sighing in utter relief as tears trailed down his eyes. He looked at his hands, which were fine, other than the deep, red surface burns. He winced past the pain as he carefully pulled himself up behind Jude.
           Aurora was so close to the top she could taste it. The height freaked her out, but she was able to focus on what she was doing and move past it. Taya was right beside her the entire way, both of them gracefully dodging the heat zones and shifting footholds. Aurora heard Taya gasp and looked down. She saw the very bottom of her rope begin to flicker with a small light that slowly crawled towards her with a tiny trail of black smoke. She looked at Taya with urgency.
           "Climb, girl, climb!" Taya laughed, making Aurora tense up before immediately pulling herself up in a panic. Taya was still close behind her, cheering her on as Aurora's rope slowly closed in on her trail, "You're almost there, Aurora!" She screamed: Aurora panted as she scrambled for the edge, just moments away from reaching it, and just as the thought she might make it, the rope was suddenly gone, and she was screaming as she plummeted, her body too far away to grip anything on the wall. Aurora thought it was over when her arm was suddenly caught. She gasped as she looked up at Taya, who had one shaky arm gripping her rope with one hand, and one wrapped tightly around Aurora's wrist. They both panted, and Taya smiled down at her. Aurora began to grin, and then grabbed a hold of the rope Taya was on. They both started climbing back up together.
           Jude and Kairo were the first to pull themselves to the top, and they screamed in absolute victory as they threw themselves onto the level ground.
           "Congratulations! Kairo and Jude win challenge two," SOPHIA said, and Kairo and Jude let out warrior cries, gripping each other by the shoulders and spraying spit in each other's faces. They still had hold of each other's shirts as they tiredly caught their breaths, watching Severine and Nyra pull themselves up next, Nyra helping Severine the rest of the way up. They smiled at each other, and then smiled at the boys. Aurora and Taya, Marla and Lira, and Calise and Brielle all arrived after them at about the same time. They all celebrated their win, not caring who actually got their first, just ecstatic that they actually made it.
           They all began to falter with realization when they turned around and saw five thin, metal bars, suspended hundreds of strydes in the air. There was no railing, no harness, no mercy. The distance to the other side wasn't long; much too far for any unendowed person to jump, but close enough that it made it feel doable. The drop is what made a short walk across a thin beam seem like a trek across the country. They all stared down in a panic at the muddy pit at the bottom.
           "Wonderful work, teams! Welcome to the third challenge! This next challenge is called The Line Between. It represents our elemental spirit and duality of the mind and body; challenging your mental endurance and physical abilities at the same time. Both teammates must make it across, or you will be disqualified,"
           "Wait! Won't that far of a drop kill us?" Jude questioned SOPHIA in a panic.
           "The first team to make it across wins the challenge. Good luck!" SOPHIA completely ignored his questions and shut off, making Jude's face drop with shock and fear, and the rest of the teams murmur with discomfort and disbelief. Jude walked closer to the edge and looked down at the bottom. His stomach churned and the drop suddenly seemed to grow farther and farther down the longer he stared at it. He began to feel faint, hyperventilating as he stumbled back.
           "Woah... Jude..." Kairo grabbed his shoulders.
           "I-I can't do this... I can't do this..." Jude clutched his chest as sweat began to pour down his face.
           "Come on... we're going to be fine, no matter what happens. There's no way people haven't fallen off of this before. What do you think this is? Some kind of dystopian conspiracy game, run by elitists, where if you don't win, you die?" Kairo chuckled, making Jude close his eyes and begin to take deep, calming breaths, touching Kairo's skin again as he tried to connect back to reality. Aurora was watching the two of them from behind. She looked at Jude with an empathetic expression. Fear was penetrating her trembling body. She was already shot from the last exercise, she could hardly picture herself being stable on that tiny strip of material. She looked at Taya, who was assessing the situation as she nervously stretched her body.
           "Okay... I think you should go first, that way, if you start getting nervous or slipping, I'll be there to," Taya turned back to her and paused in horror when she saw tears streaming down Aurora's face, "what's wrong?"
          "I just... I don't think I can do this..." Aurora looked down at her shaking hands with fear, whispering to Taya with shame. Taya smiled softly at her.
           "I know it's scary... I'm scared, too. I've always been scared of heights. It's the reason I've never been good at high-diving, I always second guess myself when I'm up in the air like that," Tay explained to her, "but we can do this. And if we fall and get disqualified, so be it!"
           "I just don't want to drag you down... we haven't won a single challenge yet, and they just keep getting harder..." Aurora wiped her eyes. Taya walked up to her and rested her hands on either of her shoulders.
           "Hey. I don't care about winning. I've won games like this enough times that it's lost its novelty. I've run these courses with Severine, Nyra, and Marla, and we dominate them all! Running with you actually brings back a little challenge. It makes it fun, and hard again! I'm not afraid of a little hard work," Taya raised a playful eyebrow as she looked her up and down, making Aurora giggle in embarrassment, "It's not a bad thing. It's new! It's about seeing how far you can push yourself. In a way, you're pushing me, too! It's the beauty of trying new things with new people," Aurora stared at her dark brown eyes and shiny, chocolatey skin for a long time. She looked back at the beam and shuttered again, letting out a deep breath.
           Lira stared down at the huge drop and began to panic. She looked back at Marla, who was just glaring at her, clearly waiting for her to go first. Lira didn't know why, but it was  because Marla wouldn't even trust her with a rat. Lira didn't dare move, just looking back at her menacingly.
           Severine stood looking down at the bottom of the pit and staring at the beam. She looked back at the other teams, who were making any moves. She looked back at Nyra, who leant way over the edge as she looked down, casually scratching her head as if she were just looking down at her reflection in a shallow pond. She looked back at Severine.
           "I'm ready, if you are," Nyra shrugged.
           "I guess I was just giving someone else an opportunity to win, but, since nobody has the balls to go," Severine smiled back at her with her arms playfully crossed. Nyra smiled and then looked back at the beam. Without hesitation, she leapt into it and began running across it like a cat running across a fence. She had he arms out slightly at her sides, and her toes curled just slightly around the beam with each step, effortlessly maintaining her balance. She smiled as the wind picked up her hair, and she bounced off of it, skidding back as she turned back to Severine. Severine smirked back at her, and then her face went blank and her eyes began to dilate as she looked at the beam. Her focus sharpened and her senses dulled. She blocked out everything other than the beam; the drop below, the sounds of the crowd and people beside her, the wind brushing past her exposed skin. Everything faded away, and she heard the echo of her breath before she print her body into action. Her walking pattern was smooth, like a model on the runway. Each step was calculated, like she was commanding her legs to obey her. She didn't have fear, or exertion, or doubt in her mind, all she could see was the beam, until;
           "Severine!" she looked up and Nyra was right in front of her, making her smile as her foot made the last step to leap towards her. The two of them embraced, and Severine spun Nyra around in excitement, listening to her excited thoughts as their loose skin brushed past each other.
           "Severine and Nyra win challenge three. Two hundred points!" SOPHIA exclaimed. Kairo watched Severine's affectionate interaction with Nyra, and feelings of joy and jealousy washed over him. He looked down at Jude.
           "See? They make it look easy!" Kairo grinned at him.
           "That doesn't mean it actually is..." Jude huffed. They watched as Brielle and Calise began to slowly step across the beam next, one after another. They were graceful in their posture, and still anxious in their features. One could clearly see that they were trying to focus on their breaths and balance, and avoid looking down at all costs. It wasn't long before they had finished as well, and they celebrated together as SOPHIA announced their stats.
           "Come on, Jude. It's not really that bad." Kairo told him, walking back towards the edge, "I think it just looks a lot worse than it— uhhh..." Kairo stared down at the deep drop again and felt his knees go a little weak, "look... we just have to imagine it's like... playing on the buildings in the alley ways..." Kairo shrugged at him, bringing up old adventures they used to have, where they'd scale heights and pull dangerous stunts like this all the time. Jude nodded at him.
           "Okay..." Jude sighed. His breath hitched when Kairo turned around and placed his foot on the beam. He carefully focused on his feet as he took a few steps forward. His breath shook for a second, but then he gained his balance, "hey, it's actually not so hard to balance on this thing," he turned to Jude with a smile, making him gasp slightly. He walked closely behind Kairo, still hesitating at the edge. He tried to focus on the beam, but the drop screamed in his face just below it, making it impossible to care. He looked back at Kairo desperately, and he paused and looked at Jude again. Kairo looked at his feet, and quickly turned around in one swift movement, having to catch his balance as he planted his foot. Jude's arms were extended out to him with fear of watching him fall. Kairo smiled at him with a chuckle. Then he reached back towards him.
           "Come on... the worst part is getting on..." Kairo told him. Jude huffed, praying to the Gods that he was right. He slowly placed one foot in front of the other, looking up at Kairo's beckoning arms, "that's it," Kairo told him, and Jude held his breath as he kept stepping towards him. He looked down at his foot when it didn't quite land the way he wanted, and he stared down at the daunting fall directly below his feet, making him gasp and begin to flail. Kairo's eyes widened and he lunged towards him as Jude screamed, grabbing him by the shoulders. They both wobbled and shook, but Kairo tensed up, and Jude stared at him in a panic as they both clutched onto each other. Jude's legs were shaking, which caused Kairo to tremble as well.
           "You lied! You lied— you said it would be better when I got on— it's not better!" Jude screamed at him frantically with tears rolling down his face, making Kairo laugh.
           "Jude! You're already here!" Kairo told him, making him recoil in shock. Jude whimpered, not knowing what to do as he stared at his friend with fear, "we can finish this,"
           "Please, Kairo, I don't want to do this anymore, I want to get off!" Jude cried, squeezing his eyes shut.
           "The only way off is that way, that way, or down, so which way do you want to go?" Kairo asked, making Jude cry out with fear. Kairo suddenly stepped back, and Jude's eyes shot open, "come on..."
           "No no no no no! Please!" Jude gasped, getting pulled forward as Kairo stepped back with the other foot.
           "We can do this together, but you have to work with me. If you can't do this now, you're gonna pull us both down," Kairo said, and Jude growled in frustration and terror with sweat and tears pouring down his beat-red face. He finally gasped and nodded at him. Kairo began to slowly scoot his feet back along the bar, using Jude as extra stability. Jude followed his every move, holding his core steady and upright and moving us feet forward in unison.
           Aurora watched Jude and Kairo move along the beam in awe. She was instantly inspired by Jude's courage. And yet, she still had no idea how she was going to achieve this. There was no way she'd be able to step foot on it without getting scared out of her mind and losing her balance. She walked up to the edge of the platform, and pressed her foot into the beam. As soon as her other foot lifted, she began to wobble, and almost fell forward off the ledge right there at the start, only to be caught by the back of her dress. When she turned around, she was shocked to see Taya a distance away from her with her hand and fingers crawled out in her direction. She quickly tucked her hand to her side, and Aurora looked down, totally stunned. She could've sworn she felt someone grab her. And if nobody had, than how did she keep from falling? She shook her head in confusion as Taya made her way towards her. She knew she couldn't make it, not without having to be rescued a dozen times. She couldn't expect Taya to carry her across.
           "Do you want me to carry you across?" Taya asked her, making her jaw drop as she turned to her in shock.
           "What? No... you shouldn't have to—" Aurora blushed before looking back at the beam with fear.
           "How's your grip? We can do piggy back," Taya asked, resting a hand on her hip.
           "I can't ask you to do that... literally carry my weight? And isn't it cheating?" Aurora asked her.
           "No, it's not cheating, that would depend on whether or not it's possible for any given team to cheat that way... which usually it isn't... but in this case, I think it is possible. I carry guys on my back all the time for military training routines. You'll be light as a feather compared to those brutes," Taya chuckled at her, making her smile.
           "I thought you wanted to push me?" Aurora laughed.
           "Yeah, but... I don't know if you're ready for something like this..." Taya said, and that's all she said as she looked away from her. Aurora frowned at her bare feet, and then she furrowed her brow at Taya, who raised a brow back at her as she pursed her lips. She looked back at the beam and approached it again. Taya watched her carefully. She looked up and watched Jude and Kairo make it to the other side together, Kairo gasping as he finally stepped off, before ripping Jude onto the platform with him. Jude looked up at him in shock as SOPHIA announced their third place victory for the round. Kairo smiled down at him, she watched him yell the words, "WE DID IT!" and suddenly Jude wrapped him in a tight embrace. Kairo was a little surprised for a second, but he melted into a smile and hugged him back.
           Aurora looked down at the beam again, her heart pounding in her chest. She thought back on Severine and Nyra's success, and how flawlessly they ran across like they did it every day. She saw the way Severine focused before she moved, how fluid it was, how she blocked everything out. She thought about Nyra's agility and posture, the gliding method, the other-nature-like ability to adjust her balance perfectly. If Taya carried her across, she'd probably look sturdy, distributed, and firm in her gait.
           She didn't think about it, she just sucked in a deep breath and walked forward onto the beam. Taya grinned at her. Aurora paused and then looked down. She felt every fiber of her being freeze up as she stared at the drop. Her breath began to quake: her feet began to shake underneath her. Her hands were out on either side of her and they were pale, sweaty, and trembling like someone just hit her with a blizzard during a heatwave. She thought about falling, and suddenly the wind was making her body sway and wobble.
           "Just focus on your breath, Aurora! You don't have to make the next move yet, just breathe!" Taya told her.
           Aurora swallowed and closed her eyes and pictured herself in a pitch-black, endless void. She wasn't in gym clothes anymore, she was in a long, plain, flowy white dress that she had never seen before, and her hair was let down, almost looking like it was floating around her head. Her feet were still positioned on the beam, and she saw glowing ripples like invisible water that only appeared when her feet skimmed the surface. She wasn't afraid anymore. She took a step forward, and watched as new, red, glowing ripples echoed out, with sparkling square-like shapes appearing within them. She saw a burst of flames around her, making her look up in shock, just as it disappeared. She took another step forward and saw glowing green ripples with sparkling, geometric trailmgle enabled in them. Images of glowing, green florals and vines sprouted up and disappeared again, making her smile. She stepped forward again, still feeling the beam beneath her feet. Sparkling circles emitted from the ripples, and waves of glowing, transparent water splashed up in front of her. She stepped into a white ripple, with tiny spiral shapes that swirled from her feet. A small tornado of sparkling dust and dust huge leaves swirled into the air and dissolved into nothing. She took one more playful step forward, and paused when she felt and sharp pain through her chest, and a glowing, purple eye flashed outward from within her core.
           In the middle of the beam, Aurora's eyes shot back open, but they were rolled all the way back, only showing the whites of her eyes. In her mind, she was still in the black void she had curated, staring forward at the grotesquely real-looking purple eye staring down at her from ahead. It had bulging veins and a complex iris with deep violet and lilac streaks. She was startled when it blinked at her, making a slimy sound as its skin slid across the moist tissue. She began stepping towards it again. In real life, on the beam, she continued forward, her body suddenly completely relaxed, and she walked like the consequences was falling into a net just below. Her eyes were still creepily forced upward into her skull, like she had been possessed by someone. Taya went from observing to straight up witnessing. Severine narrowed her brow at her in wonder. She looked at Nyra, who seemed entranced by the scene, and that only made her more questioning. Jude stared at her in complete shock, and walked towards the other end of her beam. He stood there, waiting for her, his heart throbbing as he wondered what in the world was happening to her.
           Aurora walked closer to the eye in her head, and she reached her hand out towards it. It looked at her, and she could almost swear that it was saying something to her in soft, strange whispers. They were like lullabies, like sweet nothings, like something telling her she was doing everything right. She understood every word, and it filled her with love, and hope, and acceptance. She hardly realized that it was speaking to her in an ancient, foreign tongue. Her fingers nearly brushed against its wet, dilating pupil.
           "Aurora!" her eyes rolled back when she felt someone grab her hand and pull her forward off of the beam. She blinked at Jude, who looked like she had just been brought back from the dead.
           "Jude?" She asked him, not even sure where she was anymore, or what was going on. She looked back at the beam, and Taya on the other side, and realized she had just finished walking across it. She looked back at Jude in shock.
           "What was that? You just scared the spirits out of me!" Jude questioned her, still anxiously hanging onto her hand as he brought her a few more steps away from the edge. Kairo was right behind him, staring at her with concern.
           "Huh? I don't know, I... I think I kind of blacked out there for a second..." she rubbed her forehead in a daze, not even fully remembering what she had just seen during the walk. She looked up at Severine with concern, and she, of course, didn't have any discerning reaction. She just stared at her with her arms crossed.
           "What did you see?" She asked her, making Aurora falter in thought.
           "I... I can't remember..." she told her.
           "I could remember for you..." Severine told her with a small smile, making her look back at her in shock, "later... now probably isn't a good time," she looked back at SOPHIA's screen, which showed a zoomed-in image of them standing together, causing Aurora to pull her hand away from Jude and rub her sweaty eyes tiredly. They looked over as Taya quickly finished crossing, looking at Aurora in astonishment as SOPHIA announced their team.
           "Is it working like you said? Did she expose her endowment?" Taya smiled at Aurora as she crossed her arms, making her look back at her in utter confusion, even stumbling backwards a little from her astonishment.
           "M-my endowment?" Aurora repeated her words.
           "What do you call that kind of endowment?" Severine asked Taya with a sarcastic chuckle, making Taya look at Aurora inquisitively, "No, that wasn't an endowment slipping... I don't even think it was an emergence. But you're right for calling it out. I'm done hiding it. I want you to let us dig deeper," Severine smiled at Aurora sinisterly.
           "What?" Aurora gasped at her. Jude looked at Kairo with concern for her, and Kairo pressed his lips together as he looked back at him with wide, astonished, worried eyes.
           "We've been clocking you since you joined HoV. We didn't know if you were lying about your endowment or not... we've been training you because our group just trains, yes, but we've also been testing to see if you'd slip up," Taya smiled at her.
           "What do you mean, slip up?" Aurora shook her head, looking back to Severine who had said it as well.
           "People's endowments slip up under pressure. But I really don't think you have one. After all the stress we've seen you endure, I've never seen even a flicker... but this? I don't know what this is... and that's why we have to keep going," Severine told her. Aurora breathed out in astonishment. She looked back at Jude and Kairo, whose eyes were knitted back at her with fear and reverence.
           Marla stared at the group from the other side in awe, and then looked at Lira with impatience and disdain. Lira had watched Aurora's trance with surprise, but she acted like she wasn't impressed, just like she pretended not to see Jude pull her to safety at the end. She walked closer to her, making her back up towards the beam.
           "You know... maybe if you weren't so hesitant and self-preserving, Severine would actually let you in," Marla told her, taking another step closer. Lira looked behind her at the far down drop. She looked back at Marla with a look of disgust.
           "What is your deal? Is this because your brother is my ex? You don't like me because of that?" Lira questioned her before smiling slightly, "because, trust me, I don't want him to be my ex anymore either," Marla rolled her eyes.
           "I thought I told you, you fumbled that opportunity," Marla told her with a sung smile.
           "That's what you think," Lira raised her eyebrows at her, making Marla frown.
           "Why do you think you deserve to be in our group? You don't know the first thing about what it takes to be one of us..." Marla glared at her.
           "Yeah? And what does she know? What made you trust her?" Lira pointed her thumb back in Aurora's direction, and Marla suddenly looked down, really thinking about her question. What made her trust Aurora? She wasn't really sure, it was just something about the way she made her feel. She just knew she was good. She was honest. She was self-sacrificing. Lira was just another annoying brat who thought she could have whatever she wanted, "I have always been around the group. Out of all the people who have begged to be beside you, I have always been the closest. She wasn't supposed to come into the picture. I was always meant to be your fifth link!" she explained, only proving Marla's feelings about her. She walked closer to her, getting up in her face. Lira could feel the air brushing against her back, knowing her foot was just a step away from the edge.
           "Then prove it and move," Marla commanded her. Lira gulped, finally turning around and shaking as she stared at the height. She put her arms out and started walking onto it, just making it on. She wobbled, but gained her balance, and took in a deep breath. She saw Calise and Brielle cheering for her at the other end, causing her to smile. She took a deep breath.
           "You can do this, Lira... do it just like Cali and Bri did..." she told herself as she stared ahead at them, putting her trust in her muscle memory from the high beams in gymnastics with her best friends. She made good, slow progress forward, feeling herself tense up as the wing blew past her again. Marla stared her down, carefully walking onto the beam after her. Lira shook when she felt the vibration of Marla stepping on, and she shit her an annoyed stare. She started to feel a little more anxious with Marla suddenly behind her. She glanced back at her again, and wobbled a bit when she realized she was gaining on her.
           "What?" Marla questioned her as she paused with her arms out, "stop worrying about what I'm doing and go."
           "Why didn't you just wait until I crossed?" Lira questioned her, and Marla glared at her.
           "Just. Go," Marla told her sternly, making her scoff and look forward. She slowly began to walk forward on the beam again, looking back to her friends, who were now staring at her and Marla with worry, which didn't help her feel any better. She felt herself starting to shake again, especially feeling Marla's movement, and every step was suddenly a hesitant strategy move, "hurry up," Marla pressured her, making her grunt in frustration.
           "You're making it worse!" Lira told her, half turning her face towards her. Marla suddenly smiled at her, creeping up just behind her back.
           "Who are you kidding? You can't do this..." Marla began, making Lira freeze up and stare forward in shock, "no matter how hard you try... you'll never be good enough. You're too scared to make it across... too scared of what I'll do to you," Marla told her in a soft, sharp tone, making Lira shutter in terror.
           "Stop! I'm your teammate, why are you doing this?" Lira yelled at her.
           "Because you don't deserve to be with us," Marla shouted back, making Lira flinch with fear, "you think we don't know you've been trying to get into HoV? You think I don't realize you keep my brother at arms length and toy with his mind? I've seen the things you do when you think nobody is looking. You're worthless. And Jude?" they both suddenly looked up at Jude, who was staring at them intensely, along with the rest of the HoV girls, "it's not just a little crush. It's not casual. He's in love with her. The way you thought he liked you? You're just lucky she hasn't said anything yet. All she'd have to do is say the words and he'd never look in your direction again."
           "Oh yeah? Then why hasn't she said anything?" Lira questioned her with a crazed, desperate smile, not turning to her. Marla grinned at the back of her head.
           "I'm sure she'll come around. Maybe you haven't given her a big enough reason. But Jude wants to be her first kiss. Once that happens, you know it's over for you," Marla giggled, making Lira blush as she suddenly began to boil with anger. She was Jude's first kiss. More importantly, he was her first kiss. Aurora didn't get to have that. She already took her spot in HoV. She was already taking Jude. She didn't get to have Jude Remis as her first kiss, too. That. Was. Hers, "I'd ask if you're excited for the wedding, but, who am I kidding? You wouldn't be there."
           Kira suddenly screamed, spinning on her foot to grab Marla by the shoulders, trying to shove her off the beam. Marla gasped and wobbled, looking down at the drop below in terror. Jude covered his mouth with both of his hands from the other side. Aurora glared at Lira, and balled up her hands as her heart began to pound with fear for Marla. She turned to Severine, who narrowed her brow at Lira. Marla suddenly grunted with frustration as Lira aggressively reached for her face, and she swung her leg out, knocking it into Marla's legs as she spun around. Lira screamed before she hit the beam, and immediately tumbled down as Marla grasped into the beam with her whole body. Jude gasped as he watched Lira fall from the beam, Aurora stared at Marla in shock. Kairo suddenly had his hands on the sides of his head in a panic when he realized what she had done. Severine had a cold, distant look as Lira tumbled. Taya looked surprised by the entire scene, and Nyra held back a smile when Lira began to descend.
           Lira sunk down into a huge, invisible net, and it rippled with glimmers of light, launching her back up a ways into the air as she continued to scream. Everyone was washed with relief as she looked around in confusion.
           "Marla and Lira are disqualified for challenge three," SOPHIA said in a slightly sad tone. Marla looked down at Lira with hatred and anger before slowly scooting to the end of the beam. Taya and Nyra were waiting at the end to pull her up, checking her for injuries or signs of shock as she stood up, which made her smile. Severine walked over and stopped next to her.
           "Good job making it, even with that pest," she said, making Marla chuckle.
           "I thought she was gonna die for a second!" Kairo exclaimed.
           "Me too," Aurora giggled, leading back down at the net as Lira moved around.
           "I can't believe you just knocked her off like that," Jude huffed as he walked up to Marla, making Marla glare at him.
           "I had to. She was going to knock me off," Marla told him, crossing her arms. Aurora suddenly felt like he cared a little too much as well, and felt her annoyance returning after hearing Marla's perspective. Jude sunk back a little, but then he furrowed his brow.
           "I saw you talking to her... you clearly pissed her off... you didn't have to do that..." Jude crossed his arms at her.
           "Yes she did," he, and the others, turned back to Aurora in surprise, and she didn't look at them, she just stared down at Lira struggling as a hatch suddenly opened on the edge of the wall and let down a rope. Lira climbed across the clear, glimmering net and hastily grabbed hold of the rope. Jude frowned at Aurora, wanting to defend himself, and tell her he just meant to call Marla out, but he realized it was deeper than that. Aurora didn't like Lira either, and maybe she'd be cruel to her too, if she had it in her. She probably wished Jude would be more cruel to her. Lira pulled herself up, and her friends were at the top waiting to help her. Lira glared at Marla and Aurora, who glared straight back at her from within their circle of friends.
           Jude turned to Kairo in a defeated sigh. Kairo tried not to laugh at him in pity, which only made Jude feel worse.
           "She wants me to be mean to her..." Jude told him with a worried expression, and Kairo just raised an eyebrow in response, "they all do... they want me to treat Lira like crap and I don't know how... I get too deep in my own head, and—"
           "I know," Kairo crossed his arms with a playful smile.
           "She used to go out of her way to kiss guys in front of me when I was still actively crying over her on a daily basis," Jude huffed.
           "I know," Kairo smiled, but it faltered a little at the thought of those horrid memories.
           "And then she'd walk up and flirt with me like she always does the next day... even when she had a boyfriend!" Jude gasped, rubbing his face with his stressed hands.
           "I know," Kairo scoffed in disbelief when he reminded him.
           "But I still can't do it... after all that, I can't bring myself to be a jerk to her... something inside my body just won't let me. It's like I'd be stooping to a lower level than her..." Jude explained to him, making Kairo smile at him softly.
           "I know..." he nodded at him, and Jude looked up at his friend, who understood his pain better than anyone.
           "So... what do I say to her when she does those things to me?" Jude questioned him. Kairo looked down in thought.
           "That's a tough one... what do you say to the girl you used to be in love with, but ripped your soul to shreds?" Kairo questioned him in a soft voice. Jude turned to him and furrowed his brows.
           "I was not in love with Lira," Jude shook his head, making Kairo's eyes shoot back to him.
           "Really? I don't think that's what you would've said a few months ago..." Kairo chuckled.
           "Aurora wasn't here a few months ago..." Jude mumbled. He looked back into Kairo's eyes, and he had his eyebrow raised at him again, making Jude smile shyly.
           "Maybe it's not about what you say to Lira. Maybe it's about what you say to her..." Kairo pointed behind him at the girl with the long, jet black hair tied with a bow in a high pony tail. Jude sighed, and began walking towards her.
           "Aurora..." he grabbed her wrist and gently tugged her away from the girls. Aurora looked back at him and pulled her wrist away. She turned again, "Rory, please," he said in a soft, tired voice, which instantly made her freeze. She looked down at his tan hands grabbing her arm again. Her eyes trailed up his sleeves, which failed to hide his strained, exhausted muscles. Her eyes fell back on his face, which was sticky with sweat and missing his glasses. She wanted to be angry, but she couldn't resist him, "I'm sorry."
           "Sorry for what?" Aurora scoffed in a mutter, tugging her arm again, but he wouldn't let go.
           "I'm sorry for letting Lira make you jealous..." he said, making her look up at him, "and letting her touch me... and letting her get into my head all the time. You know that I don't want her, right?" Aurora felt her cheeks begin to burn with embarrassment as she tried to tug her arm away again, still stuck in his grasp.
           "You know... I don't even know why I would be jealous. It's not like I'm your girlfriend— or anything..." she said, making everyone turn and look at her, particularly Lira. Jude stared at her with his jaw dropped, and Aurora realized what she had said before pulling her arm away. Jude just continued to stare at her, his expression softening as her sad and anxious feelings began to infect his body. She got more embarrassed and emotional the longer he stared at her, not saying anything.
           "Stop..." he finally said, making her look back at his soft expression. She suddenly looked puzzled, and then sighed in frustration.
           "What? It's not like I have a claim on you... we're not exclusive. There's nothing stopping you from going and being with your favorite girl right now, if you wanted to," Aurora glared at him as she pointed at her. Lira couldn't help smirk slightly in realization of that fact. They weren't exclusive. Nothing was stopping him.
           "You are stopping me..." Jude told Aurora, making her blink in surprise. Lira frowned. Aurora blushed as her body relaxed. Jude looked a little embarrassed as he looked at the ground, "Rory... you're my favorite girl..." he said, clear enough for everyone to hear. Kairo was flabbergasted, but then he began to grin at Jude. Lira's face twisted with anger and her friends stepped between her and Aurora, knowing she wouldn't be able to contain herself. Aurora's eyes widened with shock. Jude felt like he could burst when he watched Aurora melt into a flustered puddle of gasps and smiles.
           "You guys are doing great!" SOPHIA startled everyone as she appeared on the screen, "welcome to challenge four! This one is called A Gust of Faith. This challenge represents the freedom, faith, and thrill of the elemental spirit of air! Each team must jump down the one-hundred-and-fifty stryde drop into the fifth challenge area below. Team members must reach the bottom within thirty seconds of each other to qualify. Good luck!" and with that, she was gone again. Everyone turned to each other in shock. The drop looked just like the last one, except this time, there was a shallow pool of murky water at the bottom and no beams to walk on, just endless, open air and nowhere else to go.
           "You've got to be kidding me... you're joking, right?" Jude questioned SOPHIA's screen after looking down again, "we just barely survived not falling down this insane drop, and now we're supposed to just jump down?"
           "I don't know... seems kinda fun... I've always wanted to go sky diving," Kairo grinned.
           "Of course you have... I have nightmares about sky diving!" Jude told him.
           "Okay... there's no way we'd actually survive this, though... I mean, even if that water is deep... this is insane, right?" Marla questioned, looking a little nervous as she stared over the edge herself.
           "It'd be among the highest dives in competitive high-diving... but I really don't think that water is safe to jump in," Taya said, squinting down at the water, which she thought she could see the bottom of just below the surface.
           "Then what are we doing jumping in it?" Jude yelled in a panic.
           "She said it's the air challenge, so obviously we'll be getting lifted by the air somehow to break our fall," Severine rolled her eyes, "the question is, are any of you squibs ballsy enough to jump first and win the challenge, or are me and Nyra gonna take this one again?" she smiled at them. Marla suddenly grinned, and caught Severine's attention when she giggled.
           "Hey, Aurora. Jude. Watch this," Marla turned to them before swiftly shoving Lira, who was standing between her friends, directly off the edge. Jude and Aurora both gasped, and Lira screamed as her friends turned in horror. Lira plummeted towards the water, and everyone ran to the edge to watch her. They watched as two giant, industrial fans popped out of the murky water, flooding the air with rain and dirt particles, and lifting Lira's body out of free fall. She gently floated down, still flailing as grasping the air for nothing to hold onto. When she was close enough to the ground, gravity picked up again, and she rigidly rolled into the water. She flopped her wet hair out of her face as she avidly stood up, screaming a guttural scream up at Marla in absolute frustration.
           Severine raised an eyebrow at Marla with a laugh, and she looked smugly back at her.
           "Trying to make up for the last round?" She asked her playfully.
           "Easy win," Marla shrugged before jumping off the ledge like she was jumping down a small step. She let her body flop forward, her heart pounding with exhilaration before she suddenly felt the gush of air make her weightless for a few moments. She tried to keep herself steady and aim for a good place to land. When the air vanished, she tucked forward and rolled across the water, getting drenched in moisture and filth. She stood up, staring at Lira's spiteful expression.
           "Marla and Lira win challenge four! One hundred points!" SOPHIA exclaimed.
           "She's so mean..." Jude sighed as he stared down at the two girls in the pit below.
           "You don't have to tell me," Kairo scoffed, recalling all the times Jude's bully of an older sister tormented him for simply existing in her world. Aurora frowned at the two of them with a little bit of guilt for finding Marla's stunt kind of funny. Maybe the challenges, and the girls' competitiveness, was starting to get to her head. She'd be scared out of her mind if someone shoved her off of a huge ledge like that, regardless of if it was safe or not, and there was once a time where she might be in Lira's very position. She needed to check herself a bit, and she was starting to see Jude's side of things. She was starting to appreciate how gentle he still was with her, even if she felt like Lira didn't deserve it. It was grace. It was mercy. It's what he showed her when she first came to Aetna, despite being a social freak. It's what made her fall for him in the first place.
           "Is that it?" Severine asked the group, suddenly making them turn to her. Everyone looked at each other and looked at the drop, but nobody said or did anything. Severine shrugged, and looked at Nyra. Myra grinned at her as she held out her gloved hand. They intertwined their fingers and each took a deep breath as they looked at the drop.
           "Alright... one... two..." Severine didn't have to say three, they both started running towards the ledge in perfect synchrony, still holding each other's hands tightly. Their feet left the ground, and both girls squealed as their feet pointed down towards the ground. Kairo felt his stomach drop, finding himself impulsively running towards the spot where they jumped and holding his breath as he stared at them. Severine and Nyra's bodies were entangled as their speed picked up, keeping their toes pointed and their bodies straight. The fans picked up, and they screamed again as they began to lift into the air again, suddenly unable to keep themselves straight. They giggled as they flipped backwards, and clung to each other's arms as Nyra helped them regain their posture. Just as they left the wind tunnel, they were standing straight up again, and they landed feet-first in the water, still holding hands as they ran to break their fall. They cheered at each other with exhilaration, running and dancing around in the muddy water, still perfectly clean and dry. SOPHIA announced them in second place.
           "How did you do that?" Marla questioned with excitement, looking at Nyra.
           "What? Landing on my feet? Is that even a question?" Nyra laughed as she raised an eyebrow at her, and Marla rolled her eyes.
           "Whatever. Your control is amazing," Marla told her, making Nyra giggle.
           Kairo could finally breathe after watching them land perfectly. He wiped the sweat off his brow with his hand, breathing out again as he looked at Jude.
           "Come on, Aurora, let's take third. These girls are still chicken shit!" Taya said, pointing to Calise and Brielle behind her, "so are the boys, for that matter," she chuckled as Kairo and Jude looked at her. Aurora sighed as she looked down again, feeling goose bumps raise on her skin as the wind flew by her. Nyra waved up at her like a tiny ant from the bottom, making her feel queasy.
           "Okay... I think if I do what I did on the beam, I can go first again," Aurora smiled towards her, "that way we don't have to worry about me not being able to jump after you in time."
           "Good idea, and I'll just wait for you and jump right after you do," Taya nodded at her, making Aurora sigh as she turned back to the edge. She closed her eyes and tried to picture herself in the void again.
           "No..." Jude said, making her look at him in confusion. He was breathing quickly as she leaned over the edge, "I-I mean... I don't want you to..."
           "What?" Aurora smiled at him.
           "Awe, slip into the void. Don't listen to him, Aurora, he's just trying to stall so they can take the win," Taya smiled at him.
           "N-no! I'm not... I'm just scared," Jude balled up his fists and pressed them against his mouth in concern as he watched her toes hang over the edge. Aurora giggled at him, making him furrow his eyebrows at her, "I'm serious! What if the fans don't work? Or— what if you get off wrong and land straight on your neck..."
           "Jude, I have to do this for the challenge! So do you!" Aurora told him, shaking her head with a grin.
           "Well— screw the challenge! You can just stay up here with me until someone comes and gets us!" Jude said, making Taya and Kairo roll their eyes.
           "Just jump, Aurora," Taya instructed her, making Aurora turn to the edge again.
           "No! Wait, Rory, don't—" Jude began to move towards her, and Taya jolted with a smile.
           "Jude!" she warned him, watching him grab her arm.
           "H-hold on! Maybe we can—" Jude began in a stutter, pulling her from the edge and making Aurora smile some more as she pulled away from him.
           "Forgive me for this, Aurora, but we're taking this dub!" Taya exclaimed, and before Aurora or Jude could react to her words, she felt her strong arm around her waist and her feet leaving the safety of the ground. Aurora felt her soul leave her body as Jude's shocked face get farther and farther away. Aurora couldn't even make a noise as the air flew past her body, and her brain screamed at her, telling her she was about to die. The air suddenly caught them, and almost breathed life back into Aurora as she was suddenly lifted up. Taya let go of her, laughing. She quickly twisted around towards her and grabbed her arms. She gasped as she looked into her smiling eyes, watching her grin and laugh as they span in the air together. Aurora began to smile too, looking over at the huge crowd as they gently fell to the ground. Taya looked down and pulled Aurora close again as they slipped off the air. They both tumbled together across the water, landing with Taya on her back and Aurora laying breathlessly on top of her. Aurora sat up in a gasp, covered in mud. She looked down at Taya and they both started laughing with excitement. Severine and Taya were soon at their side to help her up, and then helping Taya up after. Aurora looked up as Taya shook the mud and water out of her hair.
           Jude was hyperventilating as he stared down at her, clutching his chest. He finally stood up and stumbled back, before turning around and vomiting all over the top of the platform, making Kairo wince at him in surprise.
           "Woah... Jude..." he chuckled at him nervously, and then watched as Brielle and Calise took their faithful leap off the edge next. Jude was still breathing heavily, and Kairo didn't even want to ask if he was ready to jump. He was never going to be ready.
           "I can't... I can't do it, Kairo, I just can't... I can't do this... I can't do this..." Jude covered his eyes with fear and shame. Kairo but his lip, looking over the edge. He slowly walked over to Jude.
           "Hey... it's okay... we don't have to do this... we don't have to. Look at me," Kairo said, making Jude turn to him as he panted. He held his arms out to him, and Jude slowly and hesitantly walked over to him. He accepted his embrace, burying his face in Kairo's tank top as she tried to regulate his breath, "that's it... just give it all to Kairo... I'll take care of you," Kairo told him, petting his head as Jude began to relax. He suddenly began to squeeze him fiercely, lifting him off the ground, making Jude's eyes shoot open, "that's good... just keep breathing."
           "Kairo... what are you doing?" He licked his feet as Kairo began to walk backwards.
           "Shhh... it's gonna be okay, dude," Kairo smiled down at him.
           "No no no no no! Kairo, please!" Jude begged him with tears in his eyes.
           "I got you, buddy... everything's gonna be okay..." Kairo began to whisper at him, watching his feet bring them closer to the ledge behind him.
           "Please, Kairo— Kairo no, I don't want to! Please! Please!" Jude screamed as he thrashed in Kairo's grasp, with tears rolling down his face. Kairo just planted a kiss on his forehead as they began to fall backwards, "I'm sorry," he said in a guilty tone as his feet left the platform, making Jude scream in terror. They immediately fell backwards, their heads falling back and pointing towards the ground. Jude shoved Kairo away and began to flail in a panic, making Kairo look back at him with concern. It didn't take long before the air picked up, but Jude didn't stop panicking. He was spinning around aimlessly, and the airflow only made it worse. He was starting to get dizzy as they descended, and Kairo desperately reached for him before they left the air's safe harbor. He finally grabbed hold of Jude's baggy cargo's, finally making him stop torpedoing towards the ground, before they both flopped face-first into the water. Everyone stared at them as they both sat up in a gasp.
           "I hate you!" Jude yelled at him, as Kairo laughed.
           "I said I was sorry!" He said as he crawled towards him, "come here, are you hurt?" he reached for Jude before suddenly getting splashed in the face with muddy water.
           "Get away from me!" Jude yelled before splashing him again, making him laugh.
           "I'm glad you're okay..." Aurora sighed towards Jude, making him look up at her and quickly stand up.
           "By the Gods, Aurora... ugh... I am never watching you fall off a hundred-fifty stryde drop again... I thought I was gonna pass out..." he told her as he grabbed her shoulders and brushed the wet hair out of her face, making her blush.
           "You're lucky Kairo caught you there at the end... the way you were falling, you could've seriously messed yourself up," Taya looked at Jude with a serious expression.
           "You scared the shit out of me, Jude!" Marla suddenly snapped as she splashed through the water.
           "Yeah, scrappy, I saved your life," Kairo told him, making him glare.
           "You're the one who almost ended it!" Jude punched him in the shoulder, making him wince and giggle at him again.
           "I had to! You were never going to do it..." Kairo said, making Jude sigh.
           "I know... thanks..." he admitted, making Kairo smile softly at him.
           "I'm surprised you went off of it backwards. I don't even know if I could pull that one off," Severine said from behind them with her arms crossed, making Kairo slowly turn to her. She was still perfectly dry and composed, aside from her leather-wrapped legs, making her and Nyra look perfect and distinguished among the rest of them. He smiled moonily at her.
           "Oh, yeah, well, you know... for Jude, it was no big deal," Kairo shrugged, leaning on Jude's shoulder as he fluffed out his wet hair. Jude rolled his eyes before kicking water up at his face, making him sputter and turn to him with annoyed eyes. Severine giggled at them.
           "We are almost there, teams! Welcome to the final challenge! Challenge number five! This challenge, called Nultch Multch, represents the dense, secretive, and often suffocating spirit of water! The game is played like capture the flag. Each team is competing to gain possession of this Naelis Pearl," everyone looked up at SOPHIA when she began to speak, and a small, glowing orb with spinning, iridescent rings slowly floated out of a hatch in the wall, just under her screen. They all stared at it as it slowly covered to the center of the arena, and the watched a small hatch open up before a glowing object darted out, splashing into the water and disappearing into the mud, like the orb had shot a bullet into the swamp, "when you find the pearl, you or your team member must return it to the Saturn orb at the deep end of the pool," the all watched as the floating orb with rings slowly hovered back over to SOPHIA's screen, waiting patiently just above the water at the other end, "the first team to retrieve the pearl to the orb wins the overall game! Good luck, teams! And remember, nultch are naturally protective and territorial over shiny objects and trinkets!" she said before her screen shot off.
           "So all we have to do is find whatever that thing was that just shot into the water?" Aurora turned to Taya.
           "Yeah, but..." Taya looked nervously out into the dirty waves, eyeing the orb across the pool.
           "What was that thing she kept saying about a nultch? Is she talking about the animal?" Aurora asked, turning to Taya in a sudden panic.
           "WHAT? Are you serious? There's a nultch in here?" Kairo gasped, staring around at the mud surrounding his feet, making Jude look around in alarm. Aurora felt her heart begin to race as she looked around as well. Panic suddenly overwhelmed the group, even Severine was nervously scanning the water.
           "Relax, guys..." Jude suddenly huffed in a soft voice after thinking about it, "nultch are usually passive unless provoked... they're bottom feeders... humans domesticate them for farming and military training all the time..."
           "Yeah, but it's gonna want that void cursed Naelis Pearl..." Nyra told him, making them all falter.
           "Alright, guys... we just have to think this through... maybe once we get the pearl, me and Jude can run the pool while you guys—"
           "We're on different teams, idiot," Severine told him, raising her brow with her arms crossed, making him blush as he turned to her. He furrowed his brow at her with a small smile, getting distracted again by her flashy shoulder accessory and exposed curves, "nice try, though," she raised both of her blonde eyebrows at him with a smile. Kairo didn't mean it as an attempt to double cross them, though, in hindsight it might've been a good foil. He genuinely forgot they were still competing for a second.
           "Call me an idiot again... and I'll pin you down and tell the nultch where to find you," he pointed at her playfully, making her giggle and roll her eyes.
           "Oh... there they go..." Marla turned back towards her teammate as she suddenly sprinted towards the middle of the pool with her friends. Lira had figured, by this point, if she was going to win, she'd either do it by herself, or lose the game helping her actual friends, and Marla could suck it. The water grew deeper the farther they went, and they got down into the pool, dipping their faces in the water as they dug for the pearl in the thick mud below. The HoV kids all stared at them, letting them do all the hard work themselves. There was an eerie silence as they splashed and grunted in the center, questioning each other and moving outward in opposite directions when they didn't feel anything. After a few long, dreadful minutes, they still hadn't found anything.
           "I don't get it... did it get blasted ten strydes underground?" Jude questioned as he watched the girls continue to search.
           "It couldn't have gone far..." Taya sighed, scratching her head in confusion.
           "Maybe the nultch already got it," Kairo giggle, wiggling his fingers at Jude, who rolled his eyes.
           "That's actually pretty likely," Nyra laughed, making them look at her with a worried expression as she smiled out at the water.
           Lira brushed her wet hair out of her face in frustration, trying to look for any sign of the pearl. She looked over and gasped when she saw a faint, white glow beneath the mud nearby.
           "There! I found it!" She pointed, causing her friends to turn and follow her with excitement. The water got deeper, and soon it was up to their chests as they slowly drew closer. Lira paused, her feet still scraping the mud as she saw bubbles begin to float to the surface of the water over the pearl. Nyra perked up as her yellow eyes' pupils narrowed into slits, and she pointed at the girls in the water.
           "There it is!" she grinned, making the group turn to her. Aurora looked back as the surface of the water began to bubble and rise.
           "Girls! Get out of there!" Aurora yelled, making her own circle look at her with surprise. Lira's eyes widened with shock as the huge, looming shadow of the animal cast over her and her friends. A huge, centipede-like creature, with dozens of fin-like limbs wiggling down its size, suddenly rose before them. Its skin was wet and slimy like a fish or frog, and it had huge gills down the side of it near its head. The skin was textured like mud and dirt, and it had a huge jaw with rows and rows of tiny teeth, with a smaller jaw inside of its moth, which clutched onto the small, glowing white Naelis Pearl. The creature didn't have eyes, but its gills flared out as it sniffed the air. The three girls stared up at it for another silent moment as the creature made a crackling, bubble sound. It was the size of a bus and towered over them like a monument. The HoV group stared at it like a prey spotting its predator within the bushes.
           Lira suddenly began splashing and flailing as she backed away from it, catching its attention and making it growl, flashing all of its sharp teeth. The three girls screamed at the tops of their lungs, and the creature jumped over their heads, diving head first into the water and burrowing deep into the mud. The HoV group scattered when the water bubbled towards them, and the monster emerged from the ground again beneath their feet, attempting to throw its mud-covered body up the steep wall they just jumped from. Aurora watched as the creatures' body crawled all the way up before bending back and descending down, making them scream as it trampled the ground and water, its slinky legs and body leaving a gust of air and soaking them all as it dove into the sludge. Aurora trembled, happily falling into Jude as he grabbed onto her, pulling her away from the deep water it disappeared back into.
           "I am done! I am so done!" Jude cried, looking at Kairo as he clung onto Aurora, more for comfort than protection at this point.
           "It's just a big, dumb animal, Jude," Kairo laughed at him.
           "This is so dangerous!" Jude exclaimed, "I mean, that thing could bury us, or drown us, or land on one of us, and we're dead!"
           "Only if you're not fast enough..." Marla told him, making him and Aurora look at her as he kept his arms wrapped around Aurora's shoulders from behind. Taya walked up and pulled Aurora from Jude's grasp, making him stare up at her in surprise.
           "Don't let this wuss get in your head, Rory. We can handle this beast. Let's win this," Taya said, leaning down slightly to get eye-level as she spoke to her. Aurora grinned at her with determination and nodded. Jude frowned when Aurora followed her, Severine, Marla, and Nyra back into the water. Jude was about to go with, until Kairo stopped him.
           "Ah, let the ladies have their fun," he told him when he looked back, "besides, we're winning this... I'm not losing to a bunch of girls..." Kairo looked back at them with a teasing expression, and Jude didn't say anything, just stared back at Aurora. Lira and her two friends had breathlessly made their way out of the water.
           "Here nultchy, nultchy, nultchy," Nyra called out to it sweetly, looking around at the settling water. Aurora nervously waded around, scanning the water aimlessly, "man, this mud must be really deep. I can't smell it at all..." Aurora turned to her in surprise.
           "You can smell the nultch?" she questioned her.
           "No, I just said, it's too deep underground," Nyra responded with a slight scoff. Aurora furrowed her brow at her in confusion. Nyra suddenly looked back across the pool and pointed, "oh, there it is."
           The creature burst out of the ground again, trying to climb out the other side of the wall, once again only getting its long, insect-like body out of the water before sliding back down. This time, it slithered across the surface towards the girls, who all got in a fighting stance. Severine glanced at Nyra, who immediately ran and jumped onto Severine's back like a spider monkey. Severine began running towards the charging creature and Nyra hastily got her feet to Severine's shoulders, sitting on top of her in a crouched position. Kairo put his hands to his head in a panic as Severine's body sank deeper into the water, and Nyra leapt off of her shoulders as she dove under the creature's body. Nyra sprawled out her limbs, landing on the front of the creature's round face. It screeched when she sunk her sharp nails into its slippery skin, latching onto it despite its thrashing. The creature began to flail around, and Kairo frantically scanned the water, letting out a breath when Severine's head popped up out in the middle of the pool away from the chaos.
           Everyone watched in awe as Nyra held on, and they gasped when she slipped down off its face, hanging onto it by its bottom jaw. She gasped when she saw the pearl between its sharp teeth, clutched securely by its secondary jaw. She immediately grabbed it, fearlessly wrapping her fingers on top of its miscue-covered denticles. Her grip did no damage, just made the creature back up again into the water, still trying to shake her off. She reached back with her other hand, sinking her nails into the tissue behind the little jaw as her arms laid across its rays of teeth. The creature screamed in pain as she tore through its sensitive mouth flesh, and it jumped into the air to dive into the ground just as Nyra pried the pearl loose.
           "NYRA, LET GO!" Severine and Taya both screamed at her as the creature began to dive straight down. Nyra pressed the kiwi-sized pearl into her chest, before kicking off of the creature with her feet, just before it slammed into the mud and began to burrow. Severine and Taya were there to catch Nyra before she could even hit the water, and gasped at her in shock when she held up the treasure.
           "Nyra, you're insane!" Taya laughed at her.
           "By the five... that little rat got it..." Kairo gasped at her as Jude stared in disbelief. Then Kairo began to grin and eye Jude after watching Nyra hand it to Severine. He clocked Lira and her friends moving back into the water and began to run towards her as well.
           "You better get swimming..." Taya laughed at Severine as she approached her, making her smile back as she watched everyone begin to close in on her. She looked back to the orb on the other end of the pool and ran before diving into the water. She swam away as everyone waded after her, and Kairo quickly surpassed the Lira and her posse. He whistled at Severine, looking up at her as he arms splashed through the murky waves. Severine glanced back at him with a smile and kicked her legs faster, still holding onto the pearl. He gained on her and she heard fragments of his excited thoughts as his fingers brushed against her ankles, making her giddy as she kicked him away. She was holding the pearl out, far away from him when he got ahold of one of her leather straps, finally able to pull her whole body under him like he was climbing a ladder. She grunted as her gloved hand splashed into his face, still holding the pearl away from him. He giggled as he reached for its glow, and suddenly they were both being lifted out of the water. Kairo gasped as he slipped away from her, watching her hold the pearl to her chest again as she slid down the other side of the nultch's head. They both yelled, falling down either side of its emerging body and splashing down in the water below.
           The nultch suddenly began to swirl around the area that Severine landed, making him stare at it in shock after bursting back out of the water. Severine's head popped back above the surface, and she gasped when she looked up, watching the creature fo a wall around her with its body. It made those creepy, gurgling and crackling noises as it peered over itself, facing her as its gills began to flair. She could feel the mud brushing against her feet again, but she had nowhere to go as she held the pearl close to her. Kairo suddenly appeared out of the water in the center of its body, making the creature's gills flair up in confusion. Severine was startled by him as he grabbed hold of her in the water, and he pulled them back down under the surface.
           When he pulled her back above water, they were suddenly outside of the creatures body-fortress, and it was looking around for them in confusion.
           "Wha— how did you?" Severine grabbed hold of Kairo in astonishment, looking down in realization at their new, sudden placement.
           "Uh... shadow stepping?" Kairo answered her in confusion, and Severine looked back down at the murky, shadowy water, smiling at him in surprise. Kairo smiled at her, and then looked over in shock as the creature angrily burrowed back into the ground.
           "How does that thing know where the pearl is when it doesn't even have eyes?" Taya yelled in confusion.
           "It's a Naelis Pearl! They're only found in Thalassor! It sends out vibrations and frequencies that attract some animals like moths to a flame! Especially sea creatures!" Nyra explained.
           "Plus, nultch are a naturally curious species that like to hoard and fight over treasures," Jude added, "I bet putting us in here with it is purely a form of enrichment!"
           Kairo tried to snatch the pearl from Severine's hand as she was turned listening to Jude talk, making her turn to him and pull back angrily. They both danced around, fighting over the sparkling object and splashing up water in the process. Kairo yanked her out towards the deeper water again, smiling as she fought him. She wasn't giving up easily, and the leather around her fingers gave her a gripping advantage over his strength. She knew he was trying to disorient her by surrounding her with water again, and she pressed her foot into his chest as she pulled back, hearing his muffled, competitive thoughts through the fabric.
           He twisted as he pulled her back, making them both spin before he flopped back into the water. The fall made her lose her grip on the pearl, and Kairo laughed, trying to choke back the waves when she landed on top of him, holding the pearl away from her. She crawled over him as he tried to stay above the surface, frantically reaching for the pearl as other team members began working their way towards them in the water. Kairo pushed her back by her heavy, leather shoulder pad, just barely keeping her from grabbing the pearl. He couldn't help grin as he slid back in the mud, feeling her legs wrap around his torso and her chest pressing into his face. He suddenly froze and sank back into the water when the wet fabric of her shirt began to stick to his cheek and nose, making Severine look down at him in surprise, just as quickly sinking down into the water as well.
           Taya suddenly snatched the pearl from Kairo's hand as the two of them flipped over in the water. Aurora cheered her on, waist-deep in the water as Taya immediately began swimming towards the orb at the end of the pool. Kairo dove down in the water and immediately splashed above the surface in front of Taya, making her gasp as he lodged towards the pearl in her hands.
           "Kairo! That's cheating!" she growled at him, shoving him away by the face as she tried to swim away.
           "No it's not! Why didn't they give us suppressants then?" He asked her, trying to pry his thumb between her fingers and making her growl in annoyance before kicking him off, "you could use your endowment too, you know," he chuckled at her, making her smile and shake her head before diving in the opposite direction. He gave chase, both of them breathing heavily as she tried to find away around him in the water. Kairo gasped when he saw the bubbles between them. Taya looked back at him in shock before he dove away. She looked down and nearly screamed when she saw hundreds of tiny teeth pointed in her direction. The nultch scooped her up between its jaws and launched the two of them into the air, sending Taya screaming as she stared at her legs in its mouth. It never chomped down, however, just tossing her around like a toy as it flew through the air. Taya stared at the pearl as it flew from her hands, and tumbled away from the nultch's mouth as she tracked where the glowing sphere was going. The nultch burrowed back into the mud with a thundering sound.
           "Aurora!" Taya screamed, plummeting towards the water as she watched the tiny  object fall in her direction. Aurora put up her arms, not taking her eyes off of the pearl as it fell towards her like a falling star. She was just as astonished as anyone else when the pearl landed perfectly between her hands. She smiled and screamed, holding it up as Taya gasped above the water again. Jude grinned at her from the distance he was standing.
           "That's cute, Nullspawn..." she froze after hearing Lira speak, and she turned to her, "now hand it over," she held out her hand to Aurora, gesturing her to give it up. Aurora glared at her. Then she started running into the water. Lira grunted as she followed her, grabbing her by her long pony tail and yanking her back. Aurora grunted with pain and immediately began wrestling Lira for the pearl. Lira shoved her aggressively and slammed her knees into Aurora's legs. Severine and Marla were standing behind Aurora, watching the two of them brawl over the object. Marla was at a stand still between helping her friend and letting her teammate bring them to victory. Severine just wanted to see how Aurora handled the conflict. Taya emerged from the water, watching them carefully, not sure yet if she should step in. Jude watched them with a deeper concern than game antics— he watched them like his ex was starting a fight with his current love interest, and he couldn't step in to stop it.
           "Just— let go already! It's mine!" Lira yanked her forward, nearly making Aurora topple into her as she refused to let go of the pearl.
           "Why don't you make me?" Aurora growled at her softly, making Lira sneer before raising her open hand and smacking it across Aurora's face. Everyone gasped. Jude felt his face twist with rage.
           "Is that allowed?" Kairo questioned from the water, looking up at SOPHIA's screen. Aurora slowly looked back at Lira with bitter anger, her icy eyes pricing past the black strands of hair falling out of her pony tail. She felt herself slip into a dark place she had been to before, but instead of breaking down and crying like she used to, she felt her arm wind back, and her first going directly into Lira's stupid, perfect nose. Blood immediately began to gush from her face as she stumbled back before dizzily flopping back in the water. Aurora gasped and covered her mouth in shock, still holding the pearl in her other hand. Jude's jaw dropped and his face went beet red with shock and a strange, sudden arousal. The HoV girls all gasped at each other with shocked smiles.
           "HA! Get sucked in by the tides, Lira!" Kairo laughed as he pointed at her. The nultch suddenly burst out of the ground again, flinging up mud and water next to Aurora as it began sliding around her like it had done to Severine. She screamed as she fell backwards, and the creature suddenly grabbed her by the legs, carrying her up and over its body into the open water.
           "Aurora!" Jude screamed, running out into the water and swimming aimlessly towards it. Aurora gasped for air each time the creature dunked her underwater. She smacked her fist into the side of it, to no avail, until she looked at its flaring gills and jammed her fist into it, making the creature immediately let go of her and convulse, throwing her to the side. She swam up and gasped for air, looking at her hand to make sure she still had the pearl. She watched the nultch slink away as she floated in the middle of the water.
           "Aurora! The orb!" Taya screamed with a huge smile after catching a glimpse of her. Aurora looked up and saw the orb floating just above her head. She reached for it, but with nothing to grab onto or boost her up, she couldn't get ahold of it. She tried to thrust herself up out of the water, but it held her down like a hand holding onto a slippery frog. Lira began swimming out towards her when she saw Jude still making his way. Aurora gasped when she saw Jude approaching her:
           "It's okay. Let me help you," he breathed out past the water, making her pause and smile at him.
           "But we're not on the same team..." she told him as he stopped in front of her.
           "I'm always on your team..." he sighed with a smile, making her smile back as she panted. He pulled her close to him and sunk down in the water, wrapping his arms around her upper legs before thrusting her upwards, allowing her to grab one of the spinning rings around the orb, which held her weight effortlessly like galvanized steel beams.
           "Jude! Stop helping her," Lira angrily gasped past the water as she swam closer to them. Aurora shakily held the pearl up to the orb, and a tiny hatch opened back up, sucking the object into it as Lira jumped onto them. The orb began to lift the three of them up and out of the water until Aurora let go, splashing into the water below.
           "Congratulations! Aurora and Taya win the game!" SOPHIA exclaimed, making Taya shriek with victory. Severine, Nyra, and Marla all began hugging each other and cheering. Kairo smiled at her, totally impressed by her achievement. Jude and Aurora looked at each other in confusion as the three of them popped back up above the surface.
           "Did it work?" Aurora asked him.
           "YES! Yes! Aurora, let's go! We won! We won!" Taya screamed as she splashed around. Jude looked at her with a smile and wrapped her in a hug, nuzzling his face into her hair as the two of them giggled. Lira stared at the two of them, the blood just beginning to stop flowing from her nose.
           "Despite winning zero points throughout the game, this still makes Taya and Aurora the overall winners! Great job, girls! In second place, Severine and Nyra with two hundred points. Kairo and Jude, and Marla and Lira are tied in third place with one-hundred points each," SOPHIA explained cheerfully, making the girls have another round of celebrations as Calise and Brielle rolled their eyes. They greeted their sulking friend with warmth as she pulled herself out of the water, with Jude and Aurora trailing behind her.
           "Aurora the nultch slayer!" Kairo exclaimed as he ran up to the two of them.
           "Nultch slayer? It was dumb luck..." Lira spat at them from the sidelines.
           "It was technique. She jabbed it right in the gills," Taya chuckled, proudly rubbing Aurora's wet head.
           "Yeah, you call getting dragged by the legs by a giant monster dumb luck?" Jude glared at her.
           "I call it threatening me with a good time," Nyra giggled.
           "She just used the position it left her in to her advantage. Anyone would've done it," Marla crossed her arms at Lira, making her glare.
           "You're just mad because she knocked you clean on your ass," Severine said, making everyone chuckle and sneer at Lira. Aurora smiled shyly at her, and frowned at Lira when she grunted in frustration. A hatch opened, revealing their exit from the obstacle course. She shot the group one last dirty look before her and her friends stormed out together.
           "Well, team... that was a really good run. Most fun I've had in a while," Severine sighed, smiling at each of them, including the boys. She stopped and looked at Kairo for a lot longer than anyone else, making him falter under the pressure of her gaze.
           "Too bad Aurora stole our spotlight... we were kind of hoping you'd let us into HoV if we won," Kairo shrugged half-jokingly, but Severine knew exactly how serious he actually was. She eyed the other girls with a questioning smile, and they smiled back at each other as well. Aurora looked Severine in the eyes and knew exactly what she was hinting at behind her playful expression. She felt her heart flutter as she grinned, and looked around, taking a deep breath so she could play it cool.
           "I don't you know, you guys... I really think they proved themselves today..." she said, making Taya and Marla look at her in surprise, before looking at Severine again, who said nothing. Jude and Kairo's expressions dropped in shock.
           "They are turning out to be really useful in battle. Icons in the making," Nyra said, waving her hand out in front of her imaginatively.
           "I guess they do fit right in," Taya rolled her eyes, making the two boys look at each other.
           "Marla?" Severine turned to her as she stared thoughtfully at the two of them. She looked her brother in the eyes as he blinked at her with anticipation. She smiled.
           "I'll have pendants made in the next few weeks," she sighed, making them stare at each other in astonishment as they gasped.
           "Are you serious? We're in?" Jude questioned her again in disbelief.
           "You're in," Severine smiled at him, and Aurora screamed with them at the top of her lungs. Kairo picked both her and Jude up and spun them around in circles.
           "WE'RE IN THE HOUSE OF VAEDRA!" Kairo shook them like rag dolls, making them laugh. Severine grinned at the two of them. She looked over at Nyra, who smiled mischievously at her, making her roll her eyes.
           "Fine... a bet's a bet..." she carefully removed the hidden chain necklace that was tucked under the clothes and leather straps, and tossed it to Nyra. She caught the sparkling veilglass pendant attached to it, and grinned back at her after observing the colorful, reflective family crest etched into it. The whole group left the obstacle course in high spirits.