Chapter 21 — The Courage to Let Someone Stand
Airi stood at the edge of the training field with both hands clasped so tightly in front of her chest that her knuckles had begun to pale, and for once she did not care in the slightest what anyone thought of how frightened she looked. The sparring platform below was cracked from repeated impacts, patches of stone were scorched black, and here and there small dark stains marked places where an Aetherkin had discovered that Luminel's idea of a useful lesson involved considerably more bruising than Airi considered reasonable. Raikōmaru had only recently been carried away by Caelan, exhausted enough that even his usual enthusiasm had been temporarily defeated, and Clark had needed healing after his own match. None of it looked remotely like training to Airi. It looked barbaric. Worse, everyone seemed to have quietly accepted that sooner or later she was expected to send Flora onto that same platform.
"I can't," she whispered.
Flora stood beside her, small and green, the flower on her head swaying gently in the breeze.
Airi stared down at her.
The thought of Flora's vines being torn, her leaves scorched or that soft voice turning into a cry of pain made something inside Airi recoil. She had never liked fighting. She had never pretended otherwise. She had not come into this world dreaming of battles, monsters, ancient cycles or becoming somebody's chosen warrior. She wanted her parents, her friends, her school, familiar streets and ordinary problems. She wanted a morning where the most serious crisis involved being late rather than wondering which creature might try to kill them before lunch.
Flora reached up and took her hand.
Airi looked down.
Flora did not immediately speak. She simply held on, her vine-like fingers curling around Airi's with quiet firmness until the panic stopped racing quite so quickly through her thoughts.
"Airi," Flora said softly, "I know."
Airi swallowed.
"I don't want you going in there."
"I know that too."
"You saw what happened to Raikōmaru."
"Yes."
"And Clark."
"Yes."
Airi's voice wavered. "Then why are you saying it like this is reasonable?"
Flora smiled faintly.
"Because I want to go."
That hurt worse than if Flora had argued.
Airi stared at her.
Flora squeezed her hand.
"I don't want to be hurt. I'm not excited about that part."
"Good."
"But I want to be strong enough to protect you."
Airi looked away.
Flora continued gently. "You don't have to protect me from every painful thing that might happen. Sometimes you have to trust me enough to let me face it."
"I'm not sacrificing you just so we get stronger."
"You're not."
Flora's voice remained soft, but there was a firmness beneath it that Airi did not hear often.
"You're standing beside me while I choose."
Airi's eyes began to sting.
Flora looked toward the arena.
"This world isn't going to wait until we're comfortable. We already know that."
Airi hated that she was right.
"If Daichi could do it," Flora added, "and Raikōmaru could do it..."
Airi sniffed.
Flora looked up innocently.
"...then surely the most fabulous Airi in any universe can manage."
Airi stared at her.
Then, quite against her will, laughed.
It was a small, helpless laugh that came out between tears.
"You're terrible."
"I learned from you."
"That's worse."
The tightness in Airi's chest eased just enough for something else to fit beside it.
She looked toward the others. Renji was watching with that familiar serious expression, Haruto beside Ryu with his excitement tempered by obvious concern, Yuto keeping Michael close, Shun pretending not to analyze everyone, and Misaki standing near Sakura with one hand resting lightly against her partner's feathers.
They were afraid too.
Some simply hid it better.
Airi had promised herself she would help get everyone home. She had promised she would not abandon them simply because this world was ugly and frightening and had appalling standards for acceptable training.
She looked back at Flora.
"I don't want to fight."
Flora nodded.
"I know."
"I don't want to watch you get hurt."
"I know."
Airi drew in a shaky breath.
"But if you're choosing this..."
Flora waited.
"...then I won't run."
Warm light answered.
The Virtue Sigil of Sincerity flared near Airi's Resonance Linker, bathing her hand in a soft green-gold glow. The energy flowed across their joined fingers and into Flora, threading between her leaves and vines like sunlight moving through a garden after rain.
The others turned.
Luminel said nothing.
But the corner of his mouth rose.
Airi wiped quickly beneath one eye.
"Let's show them."
Flora smiled.
"The most fabulous team?"
"The most fabulous and sincere team."
"Obviously."
The field quieted when Airi stepped toward the sparring platform.
Her footsteps were lighter than she wanted them to be, and every few paces she had to remind herself that walking slowly would not somehow convince Luminel to cancel the entire exercise. Flora moved beside her without hesitation.
At the edge of the arena Airi stopped.
"Flora."
The little plant Aetherkin looked up.
"I'm ready."
Airi wasn't.
She nodded anyway.
The Resonance Linker glowed.
The forced evolution answered.
Viridian light engulfed Flora, and a whirlwind of leaves spun outward as her body expanded. The small mandrake-like figure disappeared inside the glow, replaced by something enormous. Thick cactus flesh rose upright, shaped like a giant Haniwa-faced Echinocactus, unmistakably feminine despite the bizarre plantlike frame. Long orange hair swept backward into a ponytail, broad boxing gloves covered her hands, and she wore boxers and sturdy shoes that made the entire sight look as though a ceremonial cactus statue had entered a professional boxing tournament and intended to take the event very seriously.
The light burst away.
Cactara.
She landed with a heavy THUD.
Airi stared.
"You look..."
Cactara turned her carved, almost statue-like face toward her.
"...amazing."
Cactara raised both gloves.
"Then let's make it count."
Across from them, Luminel descended slowly, his tiny pink body looking almost ridiculous beside the enormous cactus boxer until one remembered that he was an Elite-stage fairy old enough to have survived the end of a world.
His spear turned once in his hand.
Then he moved.
"Needle Spray!"
Cactara thrust both arms outward.
A storm of gleaming needles exploded across the arena.
Luminel vanished between them.
Airi's eyes widened.
"Behind you!"
Cactara had only begun to turn when the shaft of Luminel's spear struck her side.
WHAM!
She staggered.
Airi flinched as if the blow had landed on her.
Cactara recovered immediately.
"Mach Punch!"
Her boxing gloves blurred.
Punch after punch tore through the air, each impact powerful enough to crack stone if it landed.
None did.
Luminel slipped between them like something blown through gaps in a storm, wings carrying him around fists that seemed large enough to flatten his entire body.
Then he rose sharply.
Lightning flashed.
Wind followed.
The combined strike slammed into Cactara and sent her crashing onto her back.
"Airi," Misaki murmured from the sidelines.
Airi had already raised her Linker.
"Recovery!"
Green light flowed outward.
It wrapped around Cactara, easing the worst of the damage and allowing her to push herself back upright.
Luminel waited.
That somehow made Airi more nervous than if he had immediately attacked.
Cactara clenched her gloves.
Then charged.
"Sleep Spore!"
A cloud erupted around her.
Luminel shot above it.
"Poison Spore!"
A second cloud spread wider.
He disappeared through a small shimmering opening and emerged outside its reach.
Cactara stomped.
"Root Control!"
The arena cracked.
Roots burst upward, twisting toward Luminel from several directions.
For a moment he was boxed in.
Airi's heart jumped.
"Now!"
Cactara lunged.
Luminel dropped between two roots, turned sideways beneath her punch and tapped the spear against her knee.
That tiny movement was enough.
Cactara lost balance.
Luminel struck her shoulder on the way down.
She crashed into the stone.
Airi's entire body tensed.
"Speed boost!"
Her Linker flashed.
Cactara rose faster.
"Defence!"
Another layer of support wrapped around her.
She blocked the next spear strike with one glove.
The impact still drove her backward, but she remained standing.
Airi's breathing quickened.
The support gauge on her Resonance Linker was dropping.
She barely noticed.
"Left!"
Cactara moved.
"Punch!"
Her glove swept across the arena.
Luminel vaulted over it.
"Roots!"
The ground split again.
"Needles!"
Another barrage.
For several seconds Cactara forced Luminel to keep moving, switching between boxing, spores, roots and ranged needles while Airi shifted enhancement from defence to speed and back again.
But Luminel was still Luminel.
The fight slowly changed.
Cactara's movements became heavier.
One glove dropped slightly.
Her breathing grew ragged.
Needles along her body had cracked.
A dark mark spread along one side where repeated impacts had landed.
Airi watched every injury.
Each one felt wrong.
Every instinct screamed at her to stop it.
Then Luminel struck again.
Cactara stumbled and fell onto one knee.
"Airi..."
The name escaped Misaki quietly.
Airi's hand had already risen.
"Stop—"
She froze.
Cactara was looking at her.
Not pleading.
Not frightened.
Not asking to be rescued.
Just looking.
Waiting.
Airi understood.
The realization was painful precisely because it was simple.
This wasn't about winning.
Neither of them was going to defeat Luminel today.
It wasn't even about proving Cactara could take pain.
It was about whether Airi trusted Flora's choice when that choice became difficult to watch.
In a real battle there might not be a teacher ready to stop.
There might not be somewhere safe to retreat.
There might only be Flora standing between Airi and something terrible.
Airi's raised hand slowly lowered.
Her voice shook.
"I trust you."
Cactara's eyes softened.
Airi swallowed.
"I hate this."
A tiny smile appeared on Cactara's strange Haniwa-like face.
"So do I."
"Good."
Airi's eyes filled again.
"Then show him."
Cactara straightened.
Her battered gloves rose.
"Watch me."
She charged.
Everything remaining went into that final attack.
Roots tore through the stone beneath her.
Needles rose.
Green light flared around her fists.
Cactara threw herself forward with one last Mach Punch.
Luminel met her directly.
The collision shook the arena.
Then Cactara went flying.
She struck the ground, rolled twice and disappeared into a cloud of dust.
Silence spread through the clearing.
Airi stopped breathing.
Then came a cough.
A groan.
Something large shifted.
Cactara sat up.
Barely.
She was bruised, scorched and exhausted beyond dignity.
She was also smiling.
Luminel landed nearby.
"Enough."
Cactara's shoulders sagged.
Luminel lowered his spear.
"You didn't win."
Airi almost laughed despite herself.
Luminel continued.
"But you endured, adapted and kept making decisions under pressure."
His gaze moved toward Airi.
"And your partner learned something more difficult."
Airi stepped onto the platform.
"What?"
"That supporting someone does not always mean protecting them from every hurt."
Airi said nothing.
She ran to Flora instead.
The Adult form dissolved as the forced evolution ended. Cactara shrank back into Flora's small green body, and Airi caught her before she could fall.
Flora looked exhausted.
Airi held her tightly.
"You were amazing."
Flora's voice was faint.
"So were you."
"I mostly panicked."
"Very sincerely."
Airi laughed through her tears.
"That was terrible."
"I know."
"Never again."
Flora opened one tired eye.
"We both know that's not true."
Airi hugged her closer.
Unfortunately, Flora was right about that too.
Later, after Luminel had healed the worst of Flora's injuries and the attention of the group shifted toward preparing the next match, Airi sat beneath one of the twisted old trees with Flora nestled carefully against her lap. Dirt streaked Airi's clothes and hands, her hair had long since stopped cooperating, and for perhaps the first time in her life she could not have cared less.
Caelan approached quietly.
"You all right?"
Airi looked up.
"No."
He stopped.
Airi blinked.
"I expected you to say something encouraging."
"You asked if you were all right."
"Fair."
Caelan sat nearby.
For a little while he said nothing.
Airi appreciated that.
Eventually she looked down at Flora.
"I should have stopped it."
"No," Caelan said.
Airi frowned.
"You didn't even think about that."
"I already did."
She looked at him.
Caelan rested his arms over his knees.
"You were afraid because someone you care about was being hurt."
"Obviously."
"That doesn't mean stopping her would've been the right choice."
Airi's expression tightened.
"What if she had been hurt badly?"
"Luminel wouldn't have allowed that."
"You trust him that much?"
"For training?"
Caelan glanced toward the pink fairy currently criticizing Haruto's stance from halfway across the clearing.
"Yes."
Airi followed his gaze.
"He has a terrible way of showing concern."
"Most teachers do."
That sounded personal.
Airi looked back.
Caelan's expression had softened.
"My teachers pushed me hard too."
"Like this?"
"Sometimes worse."
Airi stared.
"Your world sounds horrible."
"Frequently."
He smiled faintly.
"But there were times I hated them for letting me fail or get hurt when they could've stopped it."
"What changed?"
"I became strong enough to understand why."
Airi looked at Flora.
Caelan continued.
"If someone always removes every painful choice from your path, eventually you reach a situation where they aren't there."
Airi swallowed.
"Flora chose to fight."
"Yes."
"And you trusted her."
"I nearly didn't."
"Nearly isn't the same as didn't."
Flora stirred weakly.
Her voice came softly.
"Airi..."
Airi immediately looked down.
Flora's eyes opened.
"I wanted to fight."
"I know."
"You didn't make me."
"I know that too."
Flora smiled.
"You believed me when I said I could continue."
Airi's face tightened.
"I was terrified."
"So was I."
Airi blinked.
"You were?"
"Of course."
Flora shifted slightly against her.
"I don't enjoy being hit with spears."
Caelan snorted.
Airi laughed despite the tears forming again.
Flora's voice softened.
"But every time I looked at you, you were still there."
Airi stroked one of her leaves carefully.
"I thought I was being selfish."
"You weren't."
Caelan nodded.
"She wanted the choice."
Airi looked toward him.
"Do you really think I can do this?"
Caelan's answer was immediate.
"You already are."
Airi sighed.
"That sounds annoyingly simple."
"It usually does afterward."
She looked down at Flora.
The little plant Aetherkin had already begun drifting back toward sleep.
Airi smiled.
"She's stronger than I thought."
Caelan shook his head.
"No."
Airi raised an eyebrow.
"You simply understand her strength better now."
That was irritatingly wise for a thirteen-year-old.
Airi decided not to tell him.
Some time later, Airi was called away to rejoin the group while Flora remained resting beneath the tree. Caelan stayed nearby, partly because he had nowhere urgent to be and partly because leaving an exhausted Aetherkin alone after that sort of fight seemed rude.
Flora eventually opened her eyes.
Caelan noticed.
"Still alive?"
"Apparently."
"Good."
Flora stared at the sky for a while.
Then she whispered, "It didn't feel strong."
"What didn't?"
"The fight."
Caelan leaned back against the tree.
"I kept falling."
"So?"
Flora looked at him.
"So I wasn't very good."
"You were fighting Luminel."
"Yes."
"That significantly lowers the usefulness of your standard."
Flora gave a tired little laugh.
Caelan continued.
"The first time you fight someone vastly more experienced than you, it feels like everything you do is wrong."
"You've felt that?"
"Frequently."
Caelan's eyes drifted toward the training field.
"Being weaker than someone doesn't mean your effort is meaningless. It means you found the distance between where you are and where you want to be."
Flora considered this.
"My kind isn't naturally very aggressive."
"You're a plant."
"A very observant statement."
Caelan smiled.
Flora looked down at her hands.
"I like growing things. Taking care of things. I like gardens."
"And?"
"And battle feels..."
She searched for the word.
"...wrong."
Caelan thought about it.
"Then don't fight because you enjoy fighting."
Flora looked up.
"Fight because sometimes the garden needs defending."
The flower atop her head moved slightly in the breeze.
Caelan continued.
"You don't have to become somebody who likes hurting things just because you want to protect people."
Flora's expression softened.
"I wanted Airi to be proud."
"She is."
"How do you know?"
"Because she looked as though she wanted to strangle Luminel and hug you at the same time."
Flora laughed quietly.
"That sounds like her."
"It does."
She closed her eyes again.
"Do you think I'll be strong enough to protect her someday?"
Caelan looked toward Airi in the distance.
"Yes."
There was no hesitation.
Flora opened one eye.
"You're very sure."
"I've seen how you look at her when she's in danger."
Caelan smiled faintly.
"Gentle people become frightening when something they love needs protecting."
Flora considered that.
Then settled more comfortably into the grass.
"Thank you."
Caelan stood and brushed dirt from his clothes.
"For what?"
"For not telling me I need to become someone different."
Caelan glanced back at her.
"You need to become stronger."
Flora waited.
"Not different."
A small smile appeared on her face.
Caelan started toward the others.
Behind him, Flora looked up at the enormous sky.
She still hurt.
She was still tired.
She was still frightened of the battles waiting ahead.
But none of those things meant she was weak.
Today she had fallen.
Airi had watched her fall.
And neither had turned away.
For now, that was enough.