Trip and Arrival

ROSE'S P.O.V.

Ugh. I'm exhausted. Like, I sat on a bus for 4 hours, and then had to board a plane for 12, exhausted. I'm not sure why I thought the trip would only require bus transportation, but then I realized the destination was literally across the world. Next time, I should do more research on these things. I came tumbling down on the bed before me. So soft and it was huge too. I looked around the room I was in. The entire room was three times the size of my room at home. After the landing, everyone was brought to a 5-star hotel. At first, I thought that was insane. The school didn't have that much money, but then I forgot about Liam. He paid for it and everyone praised him for it. Typical of me to forget the boy is rich. Now that I had time to relax, I couldn't help but think about it earlier. I had never ridden a plane before. I was fascinated by it but terrified once we were in the air.

Breathe in. Breathe out. That's all I could say to myself. A warm hand touched my back which brought me out of almost freaking out. 

"Just relax Rosalia." I couldn't help but stare at Liam for a moment. He was comforting me, and yet I couldn't even say a thank you. He was close to me. Well, not as close as he was in the forest, but still close enough. The thought of our faces so close that I could feel his warm breath on me brought the heat to my face. I quickly faced the window as he rubbed my back gently. It's almost like I don't know him anymore. He's not the same as back then. However, at that moment I was grateful. 

Thinking back on it, I couldn't help but sigh as I stared at the ceiling. My eyelids began dropping as they felt weak. I need to sleep, but I haven't even taken a bath. I'll have to do it in the morning. My eyes shut as I went out like a light. 

-

It felt as if something was touching me over and over again. It was gentle at first but then started to become rougher. Suddenly a shaking made my body rock back and forth. 

"Rosalia!" My eyes shot open and I sat up straight. 

"I'm up! I'm up!" I looked around the room searching for danger. Was the building on fire? Were rogues attacking? Liam sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. 

"I've been trying to wake you up for 15 minutes now! You seriously didn't hear me?" 

I blinked and tried to comprehend the situation. Liam was in my room? What was happening?

"Alpha...why are you…?" 

"No. I told you to call me Liam. You've forgotten already?" He seemed displeased by my response

"Sorry...Liam, why are you-" 

"We don't have any more time to waste. Hurry up and shower. I'll wait for you outside," He turned around and left the room not giving me a chance to respond. It dawns on me that I might be late! 

'Crap!' I thought as I rushed into the bathroom. After a 5 minute shower, a quick change of clothes, and a simple ponytail hairstyle, I was greeted by Liam waiting patiently by the door. He turned and looked at me, "About time. Let's go" 

I nodded before following him. We made our way to the elevator and went down to the third floor. When the doors opened, we were welcomed by two neatly dressed men in black suits. They bowed before Liam.

"Your highness. Breakfast is ready to be served right now." 

Liam nodded, "Lead the way." 

"Certainly, your highness" 

They led us to the most beautiful dining room I had ever seen. Glimmering chandeliers hung on the ceiling, a white marble floor design, candlelit tables covered in white silk sheets. Was this a restaurant? The man led us up a red staircase that led to the second floor. Once we were at our table, a waiter came to take our orders. I was too stunned, but Liam noticed my hesitation and ordered in my stead. 

"Um...do we have enough time for this? It'll be bad if we're late," Liam looked puzzled at me for a moment.

"How are we late?" 

"We have to make it to Elemental Falls today... and the test?" I questioned. 

"We still have to take the bus and drive to the place. Besides, we'll take the test on a specific day," 

"Then why did we wake up so early?"

"No reason," He took a sip of his orange juice. What?! It's not even 6 AM and now that he mentioned it, Elemental Falls was 4 hours away from here, and we weren't leaving until 8. Even so, why did he come into my room and wake me up so early? Surely we could have eaten breakfast a little later. This is ridiculous! You're weird! Of course, I won't dare say any of that to him. Not too long our food comes. My entire plate consisted of sausage, pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast. I've never had this much food on my plate! Would I be able to eat all this? I looked up to see Liam already digging into his plate. 

'Well, I better not disturb him. Plus now that I'm awake, I am kind of hungry,' I took my first bite of the hotcakes and instantly melted to sweetness in my mouth. This is incredible. By the time I realized, I was eating everything.

"Cute," 

"Huh?" I looked up at Liam to see him looking the other way. His plate was empty. Did that come from the other table eating close to us?

-

I stepped off the bus and stretched my legs. I feel strangely refreshed. Perhaps it was because I put something on my stomach. I won't admit it, but it was a good thing that I ate earlier, everyone else had to wait until we reached our destination. Could that have been Liam's plan? He did something for me. He's been doing a lot of strange things that have benefited me. 

I took a good look around and smiled. After all that traveling, we finally made it to Elemental Falls! Of course, the location was in the woods, but the scenery along the way was very beautiful. Everyone made their way to the center of Elemental Falls. Only when we made it there did I acknowledge the number of people that came to participate. Dragon shifters were flying through the sky, devils were to the left looking intimidating, elves seeming very friendly and with nature. There were so many species here! 

Suddenly a loud megaphone caught everyone off guard. 

"May I please have everyone's attention?" A brunette male spoke calmly as all stared at him. The boy had fern green eyes with wings that resembled a green leaf. A happy aura surrounded him with an opportunistic personality that anyone could see. He wore a brown suit that had many stitches to be seen, with shoes that looked to be made from leaves. It was clear the outfit was handmade. This boy was a fairy. 

'Wow, I've never seen a fairy before.' I thought as I watched In awe. 

"Now that everyone is here, I would like to say welcome to Elemental Falls! This was originally the home of the fairies, but now it's where all species have come to compete for a "friendly" battle of intelligence. My name is Axel Thorndust. I'm here to discuss how everything will operate. The Supreme Council has decided that the test will be taken in alphabetical order. The testing will last for 7 days, meaning every day a group of species will take the test. For example, if you're of the fairy species, you will take your test on the 2nd day along with any other species that begin with the letters E, F, G, and H. Once the 7th day comes and the final group has taken the test, a celebration will be held in honor of everyone completing it.  Since you all will be staying for a week, you all will be assigned to cabins that fit your habitat." Axel snapped his fingers and other fairies began flying above to give out maps. 

"Please use these to find your destined cabin assigned to you where you can get settled in. It also shows you where the testing center is so you know where to go when it's your testing day, where you can grab a bite to eat, where to explore in your free time, and lots of other places. If you get confused about how to use it, just tell the map where you want to go and it'll take you there. If you have any questions, please let me or anyone from the Fairy Council know. You can find our building on the map as well. We'll be happy to help!" He gave a bubbly smile before spreading his wings and flying off with other fairies following him. 

"Alright everyone, our cabins' are this way! Wolves only!" The teacher called out as the group along with everyone was leaving. 

"Oh! Wait for me!" I began to follow, but the crowd became chaotic as everyone spread out in different directions. Feeling swept up in the crowd, I tried to push through politely as I could, "Excuse me! Ah!" I bumped into someone and fell to the ground. I looked up to see it was a devil. He was not pleased that I ran into him, but he ignored me and kept walking. Thank goddess because I can't afford confrontation from something that came from hell! I quickly get back up to look for my group, but they're nowhere to be found.