Chapter 10

Arthur stood at the front. The first match in the competition was for the magicians, and though he was more familiar with the magic, he felt off. Something bugged him as he stared forward and Sasha called the battle to start.

Arthur dropped to his knees, grabbing a bar of chalk from his pocket and immediately started writing out a star with runes, trying his damnedest to complete the circle before the man before him finished his, as it was obviously the best strategy.

The man before him lifted a few shards of chalk from his pack and enchanted them so they would each draw out a section of the circle, completing it eight times faster than Arthur could.

What the other man didn't expect was that Arthur would hold up an eraser he kept on him and enchant that to remove the runes, destroying the circle he created. Since it was an enchanted item, the move was accepted. Arthur worked faster as the man tried to catch Arthur's eraser, failing fantastically. He hadn't realized the other man didn't even bother carrying an eraser.

"Send yours after him!" The doctor yelled out and the magician shook his head.

"I took it out! I thought it was worthless!" He searched through his bag, coming up with a small cloth meant to clean glasses, but it worked. The man spent the next twenty seconds enchanting the item, watching as his chalk diminished due to the eraser. He sent the cloth over and Arthur touched a section of his rune, which didn't seem to do much. Arthur kept writing as the cloth neared and burst into flames when it came over the circle.

"It's not complete yet! How is he able to activate it?!" The magician stared as he thought, trying to figure it out, becoming more angry that Arthur was now taking a more relaxed pace. He stared, trying to figure out what kind of circle it was, knowing certain circles had a code word that would disassemble them.

He didn't realize what it was til Arthur stood and stepped into the circle, looking over at Sasha, who stared back, waiting. "You can't expect me to really use this on him, can you?" Arthur asked and Sasha looked down over the circle before looking up and shaking his head. "So the battle is called?" Sasha shook his head. Arthur sighed, bringing out his hands over the circle, setting it to attack and Sasha's smile dropped. A storm came out of the sky over the runes and Arthur thought. He'd already made the circle, he might as well use it, even if he couldn't actually do much with it. He had hoped Sasha would call it for the other boy's own good.

He forgot that Sasha could be sadistic sometimes.

Rain and small hail pelted the boy as Arthur thought.

"Did you just call the storm of Heaven on me?!" The boy realized and yelled out. Arthur simply nodded.

"Trying to think of what to do that doesn't involve your head and lightning. Just a tic."

"I forfeit!" The boy yelled, tossing his bag on the floor and stormed off, snarling and spewing curses. Arthur watched as he turned to Sasha, who nodded and sighed.

He had officially won. He stomped his foot once and the chalk flew up into his hand, which he used to reform the bar. He slid it into his pocket as he walked back to the sidelines, the storm almost instantly evaporating, leaving the other three of the opposing team quaking with fear.

The storm of heaven was known for it's difficulty to properly write, as well as the large amount of magic it took from the magician. They wondered what else this boy before them could manage, seeing as many fully fledged magicians couldn't do that, let alone in under three minutes.

"I have the next two, you rest here." Piotr patted his shoulder and Arthur nodded.

"Good luck." Arthur watched with worry. Not that he didn't have faith in him, but something about the boy on the other team set his nerves badly. It was the soldier's battle, so they would be allowed to use weapons and physical strength, but no magic.

Piotr pulled a simple knife from his pack and Arthur remembered him mentioning number 23 before. This knife must be his favorite weapon, he realized as the other man stood, bouncing on the balls of his feet, getting a feel for the movement as he grabbed a sword from the table behind him, chuckling at the small weapon in Piotr's hand. "Go." Sasha spoke and stepped back.

He knew this battle would be quick, and he was right. With the sword, the other man's movements were slow and based for a farther range, which he wasn't allowed. Piotr jumped in, grasped one of his outstretched arms and pulled the man forward, so his sword would lead him away from the man rushing past. Ivan's hand latched to the man's bicep and he allowed it to spin him, laying the blade against the man's throat. "Win." Sasha held up his hand and Piotr released him, watching as the man fell to the floor in a puddle of his own creation. Arthur stared, surprised for a second before seeing Piotr bouncing off of the tips of his feet, like the other man had done before hand.

"How were you so fast?!" The same man who had accepted the challenge in the first place yelled, stalking up to Sasha. "I demand he be checked! There's no way he was that fast without cheating!" He snarled and Sasha turned to him with his darker smile. The boy cringed and stepped back, cowering.

"Are you saying I don't' know how to check for cheating? I didn't even cancel it when the loser there tried to enter a soldier's battle with an enchanted sword. Want to see who gets disqualified for cheating?" Sasha smiled and the man shook his head. "I've seen him do that move a hundred times. I'm just happy he didn't accidentally follow through again." Sasha spoke with a sigh and the man realized it had been entirely true. "He didn't even use his full speed. He was trying to go easy on him." Sasha turned and waved Nikolai over. "Strategists, then call me back for the doctor." Sasha patted Nikolai on the back before going to keep an eye on another battle.

This battle was different than Arthur had imagined. He understood what the strategy was, but didn't see how such a battle could really be played out without either chess, or combating turn based against each other.

They were each given a map. They were each given a city with the same advantages and disadvantages. They had under their control, 50 thousand troops, an assortment of weapons and spells, as well as the notification they had 5 minutes to place them in before a hundred thousand troops would be sent in.

Then the timer started.

Ivan worked over the board. It was some sort of magic, a topographic map. He'd point at a spot and the soldiers, weapons and spells would appear. Piotr's mind worked like lightening as he looked for valleys, mountains, plateaus and cliffs, placing everyone wherever he thought would be most appropriate. Arthur was honestly impressed, seeing the interest and excitement cross his face as he moved his fingers across the map, seeing battle scenarios in his mind.

At the end of the five minutes the other strategist walked over to Ivan's map and he just laughed. "Where are the other forty thousand soldiers?" He laughed and Piotr smiled.

"Since I don't know the direction of the incoming soldiers, they're in the castle walls, of course." Ivan watched as the man paled.

He didn't even realize that was possible.

The scenario started. Piotr watched, his hand grasped tightly to Arthur's as the troops marched in from the north, south and west. Piotr frowned, knowing that meant the soldiers he'd placed atop the east valley were wasted. The teams from the other three directions were hit hard, taking them down by almost half. Piotr frowned, feeling he'd done something wrong, but when the soldiers reached the castle gate and the spells started falling over them, everyone stilled, staring.

Not one breached the castle gate. The whole of the one hundred thousand had been destroyed using only seven thousand and five hundred soldiers outside of the walls, and the ten thousand magicians he'd placed in the central tower, as it was just far enough to hit all four of the gates.

When the scenario started on the other side, Piotr stared, looking over all of the mistakes. The man wasn't a bad strategist, but he didn't have the same experience and ended out with about half of his own army defeated, though no one got through the gates. He had technically won the simulation, but Piotr still won the battle.

Arthur made his way out for the last battle as Nikolai went to retrieve Sasha. This was the doctor's battle and as much as Arthur hated to admit it, he didn't understand how this battle would go. As a medic, there wouldn't be a specific way to fight. He carried his pack with medical supplies, the items he'd enchanted and such hanging from his hip as he thought.

"Here we go!" Sasha came in and laid two rabbits down before the two people. Arthur looked up, finding it was the man who had challenged them in the first place. His pack was bigger and had more supplies, which honestly left Arthur at a disadvantage. He looked up as Sasha smiled, stepping back. "You have to keep them alive for fifteen minutes. Go." Sasha spoke and while the other man wasn't sure what to think, Arthur frowned.

"Can we use non medical magic?" He looked up as Sasha nodded. Arthur looked down and ran a hand over the rabbit, causing it's body to paralyze. He lifted it softly, rubbing the fur on it's belly as he looked it over, seeing it's eyes wide, but he didn't know the normal color of a rabbit's eyes. He also didn't have any books on animal medicine. He sighed as he shifted through his bag, pulling out the glasses and started looking him over. Heart, fast, but fine. Respiration, failing. Arthur realized it was losing consciousness and looked him over, not seeing any injury.

He realized it must be a poison and thought, trying to remember what he knew about removing poisons from a person. He flipped through, finding the glasses to show nerves and looked the rabbit over again, seeing the synapses failing. A neurological poison. He realized dialysis might be the best bet and flipped through the glasses again, while pulling two large needles, a tube and a filter from his bag. "Can we have someone else bring us something?" Arthur asked and Sasha nodded.

"As long as it's relevant, but not something you forgot."

"Piotr, can you bring me a glass of water, please?" He asked as he enchanted the filter to work on blood, hoping it would realize the toxins weren't supposed to get past. Otherwise, he'd just be hurting this rabbit more before it died. He had the system assembled as Piotr ran over, He put the cup down as he stuck the large needles into the veins on the rabbit's chest, hoping it would work. This wasn't the human biology he'd been used to. He poured in some of the water and started using magic to pull the blood out, run it through the filter and continue down, going back into the rabbit. After ten minutes he pulled the needles out, figuring all of the blood had cycled, and hoped it would be enough. He poured water through the filter before dumping it out and tossed everything into a sealed bag for proper cleaning.

Something caught his eye and he stared at the filter, lifting it up and looking it over for a moment. He brought it to his nose to smell as he was accidentally knocked by the man beside him, who was now doing CPR. The filter hit his lip and Arthur threw it down, using magic to burn it to cinder before his sweat took the fluid to his lip.

It was instantaneous. Arthur stood, spitting nonstop while trying to fight the flavor from his mouth and clenched his eyes, stumbling back. He continued spitting, reaching out around him before climbing to his hands and knees and made his way to the side of the ring. He was shaking like a leaf. Sasha and Piotr were both there in seconds while he ripped off his jacket, trying to wipe the substance from his tongue.

"What's wrong?!" Piotr asked as Arthur lost his senses, bursting into tears.

"I tasted the berries!" He cried as he grasped to Piotr's jacket, pulling himself to his lap. This was when Piotr noticed his eyes were clenched shut and he looked up at Sasha with shock.

"You didn't..."

"I don't choose the tests. City council did! I wasn't even aware what they were using! I was just given a dropper!" He yelled before he told Piotr to run him to Lukas.

His rabbit survived, making a complete recovery within a few days.

The other rabbit passed away just as the timer ran out.

"You're fine. Stop freaking out."

"I can't! It's... I can't think! I remember that taste and the horrible world I opened my eyes to and I just... it all came back! In that one second it all came back!" He cried, sitting on Piotr's lap.

"This world isn't that bad." Lukas stared, half wanting to smack the boy into submission.

"Not here! Being told I'm cursed! I'm only alive because I'm evil! These god damned fairies!" He yelled as he tried to shove them away, causing Piotr to frown. "I bet I'm the only child of that church that when I was old enough to become a priest, they told my I wasn't wanted. I didn't want the damned job anyway, but with everyone else, on their birthday they were told they could stay in peace or go with love. They already had me a job! They already had me moved out! I wasn't wanted! No one ever wanted me! I'm just a burden!" He yelled, a full blown panic attack setting in before he started trying to shove away the fairies again. He stilled, looking over at one and just stopped, his eyes wide as if some sort of understanding met his weary mind. His head whipped around to Piotr and he swallowed hard before nodding.

"It told you something again?"

"I'm sorry, Master. I didn't mean that no one wanted me, or that I'm just a burden. I know it might be hard for you to hear me like this, and I'm just... I'm losing it again. I'm too stressed out, and I'm not thinking about my words. Please forgive me." He sighed, closing his eyes and trying to calm down. He chuckled, but it was a sad tone they heard. "Who ever would have known just a taste of something could bring such panic?" He asked, not expecting an answer.

"We'll go and get the results of the tests. You should have passed, but since you left the trials floor, you may have been disqualified."

"If I made us lose, I'm sorry." Arthur sighed, knowing there was nothing he could do about it now.

"But we won no matter what. We didn't have to win all four, we just had to beat them, and we won at least three, right?" Arthur stared and smiled before nodding.

"Yes, let's go. But, um, can I make a request?" Arthur asked as he finally stood on his own feet, though his arm didn't let go of Piotr's. He noticed the nod and sighed. "Can I request tonight off? I'll need another cup of tea, but I think I need to just spend the rest of the day after classes calming down."

"That's more than fine. You've worked very hard, after all, for over a month. We can find something to do in the room to calm you down so you can sleep in peace and recover, alright?"

"Yes." Arthur nodded, a soft smile coming to his face. "Thank you, Master."

"You know I really like to hear you call me that." Piotr smiled softly and Arthur nodded, pressing his face against Piotr's arm. It was awkward while they walked, but it helped him to hide the blush he felt.

He'd only blushed a couple of times before meeting Ivan. Arthur had started to think himself completely immune to women and the likes, but now it almost seemed like a hobby. He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought, making Piotr smile brighter as they entered back into the area.

"So, everything alright?" Sasha asked upon seeing them, sitting against the stands with anger and sadness combined through the group.

"Yes, just an... episode. I'm sorry you had to see that." Arthur spoke softly and Sasha shook his head, patting his unruly orange hair.

"I'm just happy to hear you're alright. I'm sorry about the poison they used. I honestly didn't have a clue what it was."

"It's better that it was... what it was." Arthur sighed. "Now I know how I handle it, and know better about controlling my panic. It's better the first time was here then when I was actually needed, right?" He spoke softly and Piotr nodded happily.

"That is true, but you two might want to be a little more discreet. You're getting some interesting looks from the group over there." Sasha glanced over to the stands where the group they just fought stared, shocked and a little horrified over their closeness.

"I'd rather just start calling you Master again and just be done with their looks." Arthur sighed, looking up and Piotr smiled.

"If that's what my kitten wants to call me, that's fine." Piotr smiled softly and Arthur looked back up in shock.

"It's really alright? I can call you Master again?" He spoke, his eyes wide, an odd excitement coming over him and Sasha just burst into laughter.

"I never thought I'd hear someone sound so excited to say that!" He laughed and Piotr nodded.

"You can call me that. I was hoping to spare you some of the embarrassment of it. That's why I said you should keep calling me Piotr, but if you're alright with it..." He watched, a little hopeful as Arthur offered a short nod, absolutely beaming.

"So..." Piotr's gaze shifted back to Sasha. "My little fairy's test, was he disqualified since he left?"

"No, because we weren't testing him, but his rabbit. It's still alive. We thought we'd grant the other the dignity of saying his rabbit passed just after the time ran out, but you still won in the contest. All four, you guys got." Sasha watched as Arthur grinned, his hands placed hard at his sides as he bowed, thanking Sasha for looking over their competitions. He glanced over and noticed Nikolai and waited til he was done with the talk he was having before running over to thank him as well. Piotr just watched with a grin.

"Your softness is showing, your highness." Sasha spoke as the other's eyes shifted over to him.

"I'm not his highness, remember? I'm Piotr, a simple farm boy." He watched as Nikolai rolled his eyes so hard they could practically hear it. He chuckled as he watched. "By the way, we were competing with those four. If we won, you were to pick out their outfits for tomorrow. Do you think you have something suiting for them?"

"Oh, can I embarrass Arthur with this a little as well?" Sasha asked and Piotr frowned.

"How bad?"

It was a minute til Arthur returned and the group of three made their way to the stands. "I'm hearing my dressing you tomorrow is part of the loss you're suffering from today?" Sasha asked and the group nodded, though none of them realized how terrible this really was yet.

"We accept defeat. You're a good, kind person, though. Our uniforms should be fine, right?"

"Ohohoho! No, no!" Sasha wagged his finger. "I think I have a few things. They'll have to be silky, softness is always a bonus when you're suffering embarrassment, right?" He asked and the group nodded gently, now worried. "I'll have to go with something more covering than what you wore your first night in Russia, Arthur. After all, if there are... parts hanging out in school, there's bound to be complaints, right?" Sasha spoke, making vulgar shows with his hands at his crotch. Arthur turned horribly red, his mouth dropped in horror. "Seriously, I never would have guessed with as small as you are that you wouldn't be that small everywhere else..." He looked up and Arthur hid his face in his hands, the blush showing on every bit of exposed skin. Piotr was doing his best to keep from laughing at the confusion, shock and horror of the four boys as they stared at Arthur.

"I know! Short-shorts! Pink with hearts!" Sasha cheered and the boys stared, now even more horrified.

"And you just happen to have a set in each of our sizes ready for tomorrow?"

"It'll only take me three minutes to get from my room. I always have outfits for fun little kitties waiting." Sasha grinned and the four boys swallowed hard.

The four knew tomorrow was going to be hell.