Nine

Chapter 4 - Training

    The instructor, Ajax, led the group of ten to the far back of the room. An obstacle course of padded objects, ropes, swings, and bars was laid out before them. It gradually grew harder, until it ended in near vertical surface reaching up to the thirty foot ceiling, with a bell on top, and a small ledge. There were two identical courses, side by side, like a race. The group gathered at the beginning of the course, looking to Ajax.

      "Take off your shoes, and stand in a line." Ajax ordered, planting his feet and crossing his arms. Luna slipped off her boots, before quietly fitting into the line. Ajax pointed at two random people that Luna didn't know. 

      "Glasses and Big Nose. Take your places at the two start lines. Whoever loses gets punished. So don't lose." Ajax explained, with a mildly wicked grin. Two boys, one who wore glasses and an afro, and another with an admittedly large nose, walked nervously towards the two holes that marked the obstacle course's starting point. Neither looked very athletic, or very brave.

    "Go." Ajax said, and the two boys scrambled into the course. The remaining kids just stood quietly, waiting for nearly five minutes before they saw the guy with glasses appear. He was trying to climb up the wall, to reach the bell, but kept slipping backward. The other contestant appeared, but neither made any headway on that last obstacle. Ajax watched silently for nearly ten minutes, before the guy who wore glasses slumped to the ground, giving up. 

    "Stop." Ajax commanded, not yelling, but his voice was so powerful it carried over to the boys. They climbed over the barrier and walked cautiously over to Ajax.

     "Glasses. Why did you stop?" Ajax questioned, with a sour expression on his face. 

     "I couldn't- I couldn't do it." Glasses murmured, cowed.

    "You never give up! Never!" Ajax roared, making Glasses stumble backwards. A flaming rope appeared in Ajax's hand, coiled and bright. Luna gasped. Ajax was a Fire Elementalist. He uncoiled the whip, and lashed it across Glasses's face. Glasses screamed, his hands covered his face. Ajax's whip disappeared, his hand empty. Luna felt fear creep up her spine. Ajax was insane. When Glasses removed his hands from his face, Luna looked in astonishment at the charred strip of skin of his cheek. Part of his face had literally been burned away. Bile rose in Luna's throat, and she was forced to look away. 

      "Cotton ball, tats. You're next." Ajax ordered, jerking his thumb at Luna and another girl. The other girl was dressed in head to toe black and leather. Her hair was black with dyed red streaks running through it. She had four earrings in each ear, a nose piercing, and a tattoo of a hawk on her collarbone. While she looked mean, the girl gave Luna a slight smile. 

     "Hey Luna. I'm Clio." She said, lightly punching Luna's shoulder.

    "How- how do you know my name?" Luna asked, slightly unnerved. 

    "You're the girl who fainted. I talked to your boyfriend. He's not very chatty, is he?" Clio said amused.

      "My boyfriend - Liam? Oh he's not-"

     "Stop talking." Ajax interrupted. The two shut up, and got focused on the task ahead. Luna didn't want to be burned, but she didn't want to Clio to get hurt either. 

     "Go." Ajax said simply, and Luna sprinted into the tunnel, as did Clio. The tunnel got smaller and smaller, the foam walls pressing in on Luna. She squirmed through, until she popped out into an array of ropes, keeping her suspended in the air. Luna's arms and legs got tangled but she crawled over to the next obstacle. A rope, suspended ten feet in the air, with no padding underneath, or guard rails, anything. She nimbly stepped onto the rope, glad for her dance lessons, and for having a good head for heights. Her feet skipped over the rope, and she refused to look down. Once her feet felt solid ground again, she got hit by a rubber ball. She fell back, teetering over the edge before steadying herself again, running forward. More balls came, but she deflected most of them with her hands, her elbows. When the balls stopped, she climbed down a slippery slide, until she reached the final obstacle: the wall. She tried to climb, but Luna kept sliding back down. Looking to her left, Clio was having the same luck.