Chapter 10: Training and arguing.

"Hurry up! Amelia! Karen, come on, pick up the pace!" I yell at my teammates as I look back and see them still a few meters behind me, practically dragging their feet on the ground and still rubbing sleep off their eyes.

"Careful Chariot, we can still resign." Karen grumbles.

"I still don't understand why we have to start practice so early in the morning." Amelia complains for the tenth time since I woke them up to practice. The sun is barely coming up on the horizon, and the few rays of light it shines over Luna Nova's field are almost not enough to illuminate the flying course.

"Because after classes I have to go help Croix." I roll my eyes, mounting my broom. "We've been over this already."

"Whatever, let's just get this over with." Karen says grumpily as she arrives next to me.

"Alright, so… let's fly?" I ask, eager to start our training.

"We first have to make a plan, Chariot." Karen interrupts me.

"But…"

"I agree." Amelia answers before I can protest. "If we want a chance of winning we can't just fly however we want."

"Fine." I relent, pouting, since I know that I can go around fighting with my teammates if I want us to work as an actual team. "What do you have in mind?"

"I think Amelia should go first."

"I think Chariot should go first."

Both of them speak at the same time, only to keep staring at each other in disbelief as they process the other's suggestion.

"Chariot?" Karen scoffs. "Really?"

"She can be very clumsy." Amelia retorts. "If she's first she'll have the relay baton at the beginning, which will give her less opportunities to drop it. Plus, she's fast, which will give us a head start in the next two phases."

"But it's better if you start, since you are the slowest and speed doesn't really matter in the first round." Karen argues. "Chariot would be second, and I'd finish in third, since I'm most likely to win."

"But I'm the fastest!" I protest. "Following your logic shouldn't I be in last?"

"I'm actually faster than you." Karen answers with a smug smile.

"No you're not!" I exclaim, absolutely offended she's even suggesting she's better than me on this.

"Why don't we race?" Amelia suggests. "Then we'll see who is the fastest, and will also be able to know each other's flying styles better. Then we can decide the order."

"Good idea!" I instantly agree, glad to finally have an opportunity to impress my roommates.

"I think it's a waste of time, but whatever." Karen reluctantly agrees, mounting her broom. "First one to reach the New Moon tower and come back?"

"Sure."

"Sounds reasonable." Amelia also agrees, getting on her broom too.

"At the count of three!" I say, positioning myself between my two roommates. "One, two… Three!"

"Tya Freire!" The three of us chant the spell at the same time, instantly getting off the ground as fast as we can go.

Amelia tries to keep up with us for a while, but her technique isn't perfect as she keeps her body mostly perpendicular to the broom, which only slows her down. And that combined with her not being as naturally fast on the broom as Karen or me quickly makes her end up several meters behind us, as expected.

Karen, on the other hand, is proving to be quite the annoyance actually. It's a good thing she's in my team, 'cause she's almost as fast as me. Almost. So far she's consistently been about a head behind me, but I really don't like the way she accelerates from time to time, trying to pass me, no doubt. Well, not happening!

There's no way I'll let Karen win! She can do whatever she wants, but one way or another, I'm going to prove to her that there actually exists something I'm better at than her!

And… I probably should have paid more attention to where I was going than to my desire to win. Great.

In just a moment of distraction Karen managed to speed past me and positioned herself in such a way I'm unable to push past her without colliding. And of course she's able to react quickly when I try to alter my course slightly in order to get in first place again. Great. Damn. What am I going to do?!

Okay, Chariot, calm down. Think. We're not even at the New Moon tower yet. I can still win this race! I just need to… to ignore this unpleasant feeling at the pit of my stomach that appears every time I think about losing and proving Karen right. And I have to stop sweating! My grip on my broom is getting slippery, which obviously isn't good.

Now… the New Moon tower is fast approaching. If I want a chance at winning I have to do something now. But what?

Well, whatever, it's not like I ever plan anything anyways.

I quickly jump up on my broom, landing with my soles at the wooden handle. I bet anyone else would have lost their equilibrium and fell, but honestly? I've done this more times than I could count, so it's like a second nature to me.

Once in this unconventional flying position, I take two quick steps to get at the very edge of the broom and, as soon as I reach it, I jump over Karen, making her stop dead in her tracks when she realizes what's happening. I land on the white stones of the tower, looking down directly at my teammate, and I even have time to wink at her before kicking the wall with all the strength I have and landing on my broom (this time in a proper sitting position), which I had directed to turn around.

It was a risky manoeuver, I'll admit that. It left my heart pumping and my head high on adrenaline, but now I'm ahead of Karen for a few meters and flying at top speed, so there's no way she'll ever catch up with me.

I pass Amelia on the way back to the field and I even have time to slow down slightly and give her a thumbs up before speeding past her and towards the goal.

Of course, I get first place, and Karen arrives shortly after me. I can't help jumping in happiness as I scream and laugh! I did it. I proved those two mean girls that I can be good at something! They'll have to respect me now that I kicked their asses.

"I won! I won!" I scream, pretty much rubbing my victory on Karen.

"Yeah, yeah. Very impressive." She scoffs before pulling the broom right off my hands and tossing it to the ground, effectively stopping my little celebration, as I just stare at her in cautious anticipation of what she'll do next. "But that was way too risky! If you do that during the race you'll risk losing everything!" She starts chastising me, as expected, and I just roll my eyes.

"Oh, come on! There's no way I could have fallen." I argue. "I'm just that good at flying."

"Actually, I think Karen is right." Amelia says as she lands next to me, having unsurprisingly come last. "Not only did you risk losing the race, but you also could have injured yourself and Karen with the stunt you pulled."

"But I…!"

"Chariot." Amelia's firm voice cuts me off before I can keep on protesting. "I understand that you didn't mean for anything bad to happen, and that you were confident in your abilities, which I have to say were really impressive." I have to consciously suppress a smile at her praise, but I can tell I'm doing a very bad job when Karen rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. "However…" Amelia continues, much more sternly this time. "You can't keep being so reckless if you really want to participate on the race. Your speed alone should be enough to win."

"But girls, my tricks work! They do not only help me gaining speed, but they're also something the others doesn't expect, which in turn distracts and confuses them."

"Yes, and I understand that that's important, but you know what else is? Getting to the goal on one piece and without damaging the baton." Amelia counters.

"I can be careful…" I argue weakly.

"Yes, you can. If you follow the rules and stop trying to be such a show-off." Karen remarks, speaking for the first time since she's started licking her wounded ego.

"Karen…"

"Look." She cuts me off harshly. "You did well today, and I will give you the benefit of the doubt for that."

The benefit of the doubt? I won! Come on Karen, stop being such a sore loser!

"You will finish the race, since you were the fastest. But you have to be prudent and stop doing your reckless tricks alright?"

"But…"

"Chariot." Amelia cuts off my protests. I quickly alternate my gaze between my two teammates and see the clear sternness on their eyes. They aren't going to relent on this, are they? What a pair of party poppers! But okay, whatever. I guess teamwork is all about making compromises, huh?

"Fine, fine. I promise." I relent reluctantly.

"Good." Amelia gives me the first kind smile in like… forever. "I think we should start practice now. Perhaps start with something simple, like passing the baton?" She then turns to ask Karen, who (for some stupid reason) Amelia seems to have appointed as the de-facto leader of our team, and since Karen seems happy to oblige, I guess I can't argue against the two.

"Yes, that would be the most adequate course of action." Karen agrees. "Better get basics down pat before working on complicated things like speed and tactics."

"Yeah… but about the speed, do you think maybe you could…?"

"Teach you how to be faster? Sure." The brown-haired girl answers, giving Amelia a hesitant smile. "Would practicing after classes be alright with you?" Her question is answer with a firm nod on the blonde's part and then they grab their brooms and go get the baton so that we can start practicing.

Honestly, I'm a little offended Amelia didn't ask me, since I was the fastest, but hey! At least maybe if they spent some time together they'll learn to like each other… And maybe then bond over their dislike on me. Great.

So we practice passing the baton a few times and, honestly? It's pretty boring. With Karen it's just flying at normal speed and waiting for her to catch up with me and give me the damn thing, but with Amelia it's just… waiting. She's too slow! Even after I give her a few tips to augment her speed and Karen does the same, when it's her turn to pass the baton to me I have to slow down way too much for my liking, and I don't have to be a genius to know that just won't work during the race.

"Why not throw it though?" I pretty much whine after a while.

"What?" Karen glares at me like I just said something stupid.

"It's not against the rules; believe me, I have them memorized after you made me read them like ten times yesterday."

"But why would we throw it?" Amelia asks.

"Because then the person receiving it can just speed up and grab it instead of slowing down and waiting for the other person to catch up!" I explain, proud of my bright idea.

"The baton can't be lost or damaged, or else we'll lose the race." Karen answers matter-of-factly. "I'm not willing to take that risk."

"Won't you even give it a try?"

"Chariot…"

"Just look, okay?" I cut her off, taking the baton from her hands before throwing it as far away as I can while, at the same time, taking off on my broom after it. The baton is light enough, so I'm able to throw it pretty far… perhaps a little too far, because I'm not really able to catch up on my broom. It's already descending at high velocity in the air a few meters away from me, and as I extend my arm to grab it, I feel it brushing my fingers but ultimately I'm not able to catch it. So I do the only logical thing; I drop down from my broom, catching the wooden handle with my right hand to prevent me from falling to my doom, and extend my left hand to grab the baton.

And it works! I'm left hanging from my fingertips, and with my head reeling and my heart practically bursting out of my chest, but I did it! I caught it!

I get back up on my broom with a jump and fly down to meet my teammates, who are waiting for me at the fields, already having gotten off their brooms.

"Whohoo!" I cheer. "I did it! Did you see that? I…"

"Almost got yourself killed?" Karen cuts me off, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, come on! Is it too much to ask for a little bit of praise when I deserve it?" I complain.

"I thought you agreed not to pull off any more of your tricks." Amelia retorts, also upset by what I just did.

"It wasn't a trick! It was a…" I trail off, unable to defend myself properly when what I just did could really only be interpreted as a trick; a way to show off. To gain speed. To be reckless. "Okay fine, it was a trick, but it would work."

"Only if you want to spend a week on the hospital when you fail." Amelia retorts with an unamused tone.

"What's wrong with doing things unconventionally?" I protest. "The conventional way is too boring and I think it could use a little bit of spice."

"I thought we had an agreement." Karen pretty much snarls. "We participate in this stupid race with you, and you don't do stupid and reckless things that could ruin it all. Is that too hard for you to understand?"

"Won't you at least consider it?" I try, but I'm met by two equally unrelenting glares.

"You are both so mean to me." I complain, pouting. "But fine, whatever, forget I said anything."

And so, we continue practicing. And it's not nearly as fun as I expected. And my teammates continue to hate me, even if they start to warm up to each other a bit. But I can't really complain, can I? At least we're going to participate in the race, and we're going to win. And when I win no one will dare mock me anymore! They'll see I'm not just the school dunce. I'm sure.

A/N: Yep, it's been way too long since I updated this story, and I'm so sorry about that. Life just gets in the way, you know? But anyways, I hope you liked this chapter, and please leave a review if you did. Who you think will win the race next chapter? I mean, obviously Chariot, but you know... I'll just shut up now.

Thanks for reading and see you (hopefully) soon :)

Thanks to my beta reader moonwatcher13.