Hi everyone, SK here.

Valerie has started her Queen's test, well the first one at least.  She and her eight friends have entered the first stage together.  Let's see what's gonna happen next.

Bit of a warning (don't worry, not an actual bad warning like, for example, chapter 30 XD), there'll be lots of POV changes (but only two POVs hehe) and this will probably be a longer chapter but don't count me on it.  Don't worry though, there's art from a while ago that'll be used to help signify the progress.

Also, note: I am not doing a full-on description of each of the nine test stages.  The first will get one, and the last, but the ones in between will get summaries.  Why?  Each stage will be about 2K-3K words worth, the last one being much much longer, and it will be boring reading the same thing over and over again with a slight twist.  Trust me.

Okay okay enough of my super long A/N, let's begin.  Please enjoy.

!!! WARNINGS: Bad Language

Valerie

"Are you guys all insane!?" I shout as we land upon a fluffy surface.  As I try to stand up on what appears to be some sort of cloud I partially lose my balance, but luckily Nate props me up pretty quickly.  "Why... why...!?"  

"Her Majesty told us what you needed, and we weren't about to let a complete group of strangers stick with you for millions of years," explains Hilbert with a small smile. 

I can't even begin to comprehend their reasoning.  "You guys realize what you've done, right?  You've given up your lives, your lives that all of you had to live, and you can't... you can't go back.  Why would you give all of that up for me..."

All of them look like they're going to give me an answer, but Reza's voice pierces through the air before they can.  "Welcome all of you to the first stage, Air."

My head spins around and I see Alara's Spirit Soldier of Air hovering in the sky.  "Reza, there's a mistake, I don't have nine people with me!  You have to let me out so I can fetch a ninth!"

He gives me a sly smile.  "There's been no mistakes, Valerie.  You have nine; perhaps you've miscounted.  She's standing right beside you."

I turn around in all directions, but none of my female friends are standing, as he said, "right beside me".  What is he going on about? I wonder, but there's no time to worry now.  If Reza said everything was fine, then unfortunately I'm forced to believe him.

"Let's go over the rules, shall we?" he checks.  Once I nod, he continues.  "You cannot use any spells, hexes, or powers in each stage unless they are related to the Element you are about to claim.  Each stage will essentially act like a game of hide and seek.  The Spirit Soldier, me in this case, will be hidden somewhere in each stage, and you and the humans you have with you will seek them out.  Once you find me, you will have passed the stage and you'll be allowed to move forward and claim the Element.  

"However," he adds in a more grave voice, "there are no protections in place, no safety spells to stop you from dying, any of you... but I assume that you've already been told this."  I nod, and thankfully the rest of the group does too.  "Are you ready?"

"Hold on a moment."  I step forward on the fluffy cloud to be closer to the Spirit Soldier.  "I know I'll have their help, but how are we supposed to find you?"  I gesture to the vastness of this stage.  All of us are standing amongst the clouds.  The sun is clearly starting to head toward the horizon line, so its light is a little less intense despite the sky remaining relatively blue.  From all the way up here I can see the planet curve, the distant silhouette of stars only slightly visible.  The ground below is nowhere to be seen, and a wind whips through all of our hair.  

Reza, despite being the calm man that he is, playfully winks at me.  "You'll have other help, but I won't spoil anything for you."  Oh yeah, because that isn't vague enough.  "Are you all ready?" he repeats.

I look back at Red, Kris, Hilda, Hilbert, Brendan, Ethan, Rosa, and Nate.  Eight people who I have known forever, and the eight people that I'm going to take with me on the most dangerous trek of my life... of all our lives, actually.  "Are we ready?"

"Well, it's not like we could say no," Kris points out sarcastically, which earns a laugh from all of us.  

I turn back to the Spirit Soldier, feeling a sudden spike of adrenaline.  "Yes, we're ready."

"Then good luck to you, Challenger.  One more thing I forgot to mention; you will be given a clue as to where we are hidden."  He flies backward, that unusual sly smile on his face.  "Here is your clue..."

"Find me where the north light shines."

Before I can question him as to what the north light means, or what it even is, he flicks his fingers and promptly disappears.  There isn't even a chance for us to do a single thing before a loud whirring sound approaches us.  I turn around just in time to see a towering tornado whisking toward us, sweeping all nine of us up in its spiraling wrath.  The winds whip at my ears, their sound being the only noise reaching my ears other than the half-blocked-out sound of my friends calling for each other and me.  After what must be at least ten minutes I can feel my wings beginning to bend, which, they are bendable, but to a certain degree.  We need to get out of here, I realize.  I can't die, and I can't let them die either.

"Guys!" I shout, trying to almost swim through the whirling air of the tornado.  Moving my body as if I was doing a breaststroke, I slowly but surely begin to move downward toward my friends who apparently got caught in the lower half of the storm.  "GUYS!"

"Valerie!" Nate catches my eye and tries to move upward in the same way I was moving downward.  He reaches his arm out, even going as far as to stretch his fingers.  With great effort I manage to grasp his hand, and together we move back down to our friends. 

As we're swimming down, Nate shouts out to me.  "Look, the clouds aren't moving when we pass through."  Clouds of different types have been scattered throughout this stage, but when I look, I find that he's right.  When the tornado goes through them, they remain static.  

When we're near, Nate reaches out his hand and Rosa pulls us both down.  We're all spinning, and my head is beginning to hurt from the dizziness, but we're close enough to at least attempt to come up with a plan.  At least we can try before our heads explode.  I mean that literally.

"Nate," I shout out to him, at this point just trying to achieve something, "grab onto my hand!  Red, take my other one!"  I reach my arms out to the two people closest to me, and they quickly take hold when the winds blow them close enough.  "We need to grab onto each other, and whatever you do, don't let go!"

Nate nods and grabs onto Rosa while Red grabs onto Kris.  Our chain gets longer and longer until Ethan and Hilbert grab hold of each other to turn our squiggly line into a squiggly circle.  I tighten my grip on both Nate and Red's hands as the winds whirl faster and faster, their sound growing louder and louder.  

"Plan!?" Kris demands, and I swallow.  "We need to get out of here!"

No shit, I think while Nate shouts back and does something productive.  "The clouds don't move when we pass through."  Even when he shouts his reply his voice is almost completely lost in the wind.

"SO!?"

"IF ONE OF US CAN GRAB ONTO A CLOUD WHILE WE'RE ALL HOLDING EACH OTHER, WE CAN GET OUT OF THE TORNADO!" Nate hollers.  

He's actually got a good point, nevermind the fact that you're not supposed to be able to grab a cloud.  If we could stand on them earlier, then they should be solid enough to grab.

"I'll do it," I volunteer.  I'm the one who's supposed to be doing this test anyway, I don't want any of them getting hurt.  "Red, I'm going to let go okay?"

"Wait," he says, probably one of the few times I've heard him speak after Leaf died.  "If you let go of me now, us flying around willy-nilly will make it harder for you to grab onto things.  I'll let go when necessary."

Despite everything I smirk at him.  "The silent man spoke."

His eyes darken, but I can spot a small smile on his face.  "Words are unnecessary," he says, then focuses his attention elsewhere.

"Look for clouds," Hilda calls out.  "There's so many so it shouldn't be long!"

As soon as she says that, a fat cumulonimbus cloud comes into view.  "At your ready!" I shout to everyone, this tornado moves fast so we have mere seconds.  The cloud comes closer and closer and-

"NOW!" I yell to Red, who's quick to unlatch his hand from mine.  The winds whip him and his end of the chain upward as I desperately reach for the cloud.  My hands graze the soft fluffy surface, my fingers latching on-

A gust of wind blows me away, all of us being thrown upward before I can grab it.  "Hold on!" screams a panicked-sounding Rosa.  

"RED!" the usually-quiet Brendan screams.  I look up, currently the person at the bottom of the chain, and see a cloud approaching at Red's level.  My heart pounds as it passes him...

... but he grabs it just in time.  

A large wall of wind hits my face, blowing my hair in all different directions as the tornado finally lets us go.  The quietness of the stage begins to return, although in the distance I can see multiple tornados (and even what looks to be a giant hurricane) spinning and whirling around.  

Then, due to the lack of wind, my friends begin to fall downward with me on the end and Red still desperately grasping onto the cloud.  It's a lot of weight, but I force my wings to flap and, slowly, I levitate everyone into the air high enough until Red's the one on the bottom.  It takes an effort not to just crash onto the cloud, but I slowly levitate downward to allow them all to one-by-one abandon the chain and step onto the fluffy-white cumulus cloud.

I'm the last down, and by that point I'm grabbing my knees and panting.  "Red, we owe you our lives, thank you," I tell him between breaths, but inside, I feel a tad guilty.  I'm the one who's going to become the Queen, I should've been able to save them.

In return Red just gives me a curt nod, but his eyes begin to widen out of nowhere.  I grow confused.  "What is it?" I ask him, and he points behind me.  I tense up, expecting it to be some kind of air monster...

... it's Lugia.

And Rayquaza.

"You'll have other help, but I won't spoil anything for you."

Well jeez, I didn't think he meant Legendary Pokemon.

"H-Hello!"  I greet them both, unable to contain my shock.  Looking around I can see I'm not alone in these sentiments- Brendan looks about ready to faint from the shock of seeing the Pokemon he's read about for so long right in front of his face, and I can't exactly blame him either.  Wait, does this mean that there'll be Legendary Pokemon on every stage!?

"Hello," responds Lugia in a voice that can only be personified by a hurricane.  "We're here to assist you in reaching your target.  Once you figure out where the Spirit Soldier is located, we will bring you there without any hassle."

"Can you give us a hand before then?" I ask hopefully, then wince inwardly when I realize that no one else'll be able to figure out what's going on because I'm the only one that can understand Pokemon here.

The green dragon beside Lugia shakes its head.  "No.  That is against the rules."  When I look crestfallen, it adds, "but we will be accompanying you from this point forward."

This brightens me up, having these two Pokemon here with us will make things a bit safer to say the least.  I turn back to my friends, my confidence growing slightly.  "Lugia and Rayquaza are going to come with us, and they'll help us get to Reza when we figure out where he's hiding."

"Are you serious!?" demands Brendan in disbelief.  He averts his gaze to the two Pokemon.  "You're both actually coming with us?  I have so many questions!"

Lugia tosses the eighteen-year-old an almost flattered smile, and with a giant flap of its wings, soars upward.  Rayquaza follows suit, and I realize that they're waiting for us to make our next move.

"Let's just keep going forward," I suggest to the group.  "We should get a better feel of our terrain."

"Sure."  Rosa's reply echoes in the empty sky as the nine of us hop from cloud to cloud... from cloud to cloud... it's all the same.  Even though we narrowly missed a tornado, nothing is happening.  The sun is now even closer to setting, and I need to finish this before it gets dark; it'll be hopeless navigating if there's no sunlight to light our way.  This stage is all the same... half an hour of exploring has no benefits, it's just clouds and a gradually-darkening sky.  Rayquaza and Lugia hover over us, watching our every move.

"Okay, this isn't working," I huff.  "We're not any closer to figuring out what the north light means, and-"

"Calm down," Hilbert suggests wisely.  "We won't get any closer to figuring out what the north light is if we're all tense like this.  Let's sit down."  Without waiting for anyone else he promptly sits down on the white fluffy surface.  The rest of us hesitate a bit, but we all join him; Hilbert always has a way with words, and they always make sense in the end.  

North light, north light, what could it mean?  I'm wracking my brain for answers but I can't seem to find any.  The hell could-

"You know," calls out Rosa which interrupts my thoughts, "this place is kinda pretty when you just stop to look at it.  Look at all those stars!"

The brunette's eyes sparkle as she looks upward, so I do the same.  A beautiful curved sky of stars is what greets me, different splotches of colour becoming more and more visible the more the sun sinks.  For a second, my thoughts drift elsewhere.  One day, I'll go beyond that sky and see the stars for myself... well, when Heliux shows me how.  If he created this night sky... well, kudos to him.  The constellations definitely seem like something he'd do.

We remain here for a few more minutes, occasionally spitting ideas but not really finding anything.  Mostly we just stare up at the sky, as we know that we're going to have to get on a move soon and this is the last time any of us will see this place.  However, when I spot Polaris in the sky, a distant whirring sound fills my ears.  It quickly gets louder and louder, and that's when I hear Kris, Kris of all people, scream.

A giant hurricane is sweeping toward us.  Unlike the tornado were caught in earlier, this one is consuming every single thing in its path.  It's so large I can't even fly out of the way- ignoring the fact that I wouldn't just abandon my friends.  "GUUUUYS-" my sentence gets cut short as the hurricane eats us up. 

Gardenia this is awful!  I think, my ears ringing as I'm violently tossed around this spiraling abyss of a storm.  Chunks of rock, probably torn up from the ground far below, are flying around at lighting speed, and I know if I get hit by any of them I'll probably die.

Out of the corner of my eye I spot Lugia and Rayquaza peacefully flying around in the eye of the storm.  Part of me wants to call out for them to help, because I know they can help, but I know they won't until I figure out the riddle.  The spinning gets so bad that I can feel a migraine forming, and I'm going to start seeing stars soon.

A chunk of rock flies past me as I realize something.  Stars.  Stars!  From earlier!  

North light- no, not north light.

North star.

I saw Polaris earlier!

Reza must be-

"NORTH STAR!" I shout out, desperate for anything, Pokemon or human, to hear me.  "REZA IS HIDING WHERE THE NORTH STAR'S LIGHT MEETS THE GROUND!  THAT'S THE ANSWER-"

A stone the size of my head flies toward me, too fast to be able to escape from.  My hands tremble as it comes closer, the winds ripping the edges of my dress to shreds as I squinch my eyes shut.  

Suddenly, I feel movement around me as something shoves me out of the way of the rock.  Thanks to whoever saved me from its wrath.  I look down, and see that Lugia has swept me from my spot.  I'm now on its back.  The Legendary Pokemon swiftly flies through the hurricane, navigating it as if we weren't in a swirling natural disaster.  Along the way we pick up Hilda, Nate, Red and Ethan.  When Lugia finally exits the storm I begin to worry thinking that some of them are still in there, but then Rayquaza flies forward with the rest of my friends on its back.  Thank goodness.

The only way that the Legendary Pokemon would have stepped in there is if my guess was right.  "Take us to Reza," I order Lugia.  "Help us finish this stage."

"Yes, Your Majesty," it replies.  The white-winged Pokemon swiftly glides through the air currents with Rayquaza, and for once I smile as they loop around in an almost playful manner.  I never thought I'd ride on Lugia out of all Pokemon, what a magnificent beast.  When I turn back to my friends, they're somehow enjoying themselves.  Nate is even reaching his hands out and doing the airplane motion.  What a dork, I think fondly, shaking my head as I go to face forward once more.

Soon enough, in the distance I can see a figure waiting on a distant cloud illuminated by the moonlight as the sun has now set a long while ago.  Reza, we found you.

"Reza!" I call out to him as we near.  He turns his attention to us, and he smiles.  

Lugia and Rayquaza drop us off.  "Thank you."  I hope that's enough to express my gratitude for saving our lives.  They simply nod and fly off into the distance, and when they're gone, I turn to Reza.  "What happens now?"

"This."  Reza mumbles some words underneath his breath and thrusts his arm forward.  In a similar fashion to how fairies create a portal, he motions his hand in a circle while only moving his wrist.  A clear portal begins to open, and through it a set of spiraling stairs can be seen.

The now-former Spirit Soldier of Air points forward.  "Touch the Element to claim it, and then you will advance to the next stage.  But..." he trails off, looking at the others.  "One of you needs to stay back with me."

To become the new Spirit Soldier... no... they'll have to-

"I will," Nate volunteers instantly.  When he notices my distraught look, he's somehow quick to reassure me.  "It'll be okay," he tells me, offering me a small hug.  I take it.  I don't deserve him, any of them.  I don't understand why they chose to give up their lives like this.  How, more importantly why, would they choose that?

"You need to go," Reza pushes, sounding impatient.  "You need to save your strength for what's ahead.  If you thought a hurricane was hard... you don't know what is."

I gulp.  Jeez, thanks.  "Goodbye Reza."  This is the last time I'll ever see him.  "Thanks for everything."  To Nate, I just sorrowfully nod.  He nods back, and after a quick hug with Rosa, we begin to enter the portal.  The last thing I see behind me is Nate smiling and waving before the portal closes, and now I'm faced with... stairs.  Me and the others climb the steps, and at the top, resting upon a stone pillar, is a glowing orb of magic that has the Air symbol on it.

Just touch it, I will myself.  I reach forward, some kind of magical wind touching my fingers when I-

I unleash a hellish scream as the Element rushes through my skin, my bones, my everything.  My chest is heavy, my bones ache, everything hurts, my fingers are trembling.  

This is just the first.  I have eight more.  How am I going to make it?

"Valerie!" Rosa is the first to run to my side, putting her arms around my shoulders.  "Are you-"

"I'm okay."  This feeling is only going to get worse.  "I'm okay."  I'm not sure who I'm repeating it for, her or myself.

"Your clock waist thingy!" Kris's vocabulary is as fabulous as ever, but when I look at it I do notice that something's changed.  The top black disc, once empty, now displays the Air Element Symbol... and before I can elaborate on it another portal opens up, bringing us all to the next stage.

~~~~~~~~~~

Nate watches his friends go through the portal and disappear.  He turns to the man who is practically a stranger to him.  "What happens now?"

"You're going to take my place," he says cryptically.  

Nate understands that, but he doesn't understand how.  "How?"

"We are called Spirit Soldiers for a reason," Reza says slowly.  "We are not alive.  In order to become one, you must die in the stage of your Element."

Nate's stomach drops.  He had an inkling of this, but he thought it would be quick.  He thought it would be painless... and as the hurricane sweeps him up, the winds tearing his limbs apart, it's anything but.

~~~~~~~~~~

I land hard on what must be the hardest rock in all of planet earth, because it feels like my muscles just tore themselves apart.  A kind but firm hand helps me up, that hand belonging to Kya.  The Spirit Soldier of Earth looks a little sad, but ready to appoint someone to replace her.  "Welcome to the second stage, how are you doing?"

"I feel dead," I say, which of course earns some laughs even if I didn't mean it sarcastically.  Having these extra Elements is weighing me down.  

"Well, I'm afraid that going through my stage isn't going to help with that," Kya tells me apologetically.  "Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes."  There's no time like the present, and it's not like I can back out now.

Kya nods thoughtfully.  "Well... here's how my stage works.  You will all be in different points in a maze- but, that doesn't mean you won't be able to hear each other.  Find each other, and find your way back to the surface.  I will be waiting."

"But, there isn't a maze?" questions Ethan, sounding a little confused.  "I don't see one, am I going blind?"

"Not up here there isn't!" Kya's voice is sugary sweet as the ground begins to rumble below us.  Out of nowhere a giant crack splits the earth, and once again, I find myself falling.  "Good luck to all of you."  That's the last thing I hear from the Spirit Soldier of Earth for a long while.

~~~~~~~~~~

A few minutes ago, Heliux watched the first torch's gem light up.  The torches have two parts, the gems and the flames.  The gems light up when a stage is passed, while the flames come to life when the test is fully completed.  He feels a faint sense of relief as he can say for sure that his daughter is still alive... for now.  He knows that she should be passing the second stage any time now- ten minutes is not a lot of time, but he is aware that time moves faster in the test stages.  He's also aware that the stages take varying amounts of time to complete.

By now, it is just him in the throne room.  The other fairies have navigated themselves to other rooms, whether it be the common rooms or some of the private lodgings.  The Minister is standing watching for the lights, and he will not stop until he sees his daughter again.

Footsteps sound.  "You're still watching?" asks Layra, standing beside him.

He nods.  "I..." he cannot find the words.

"You're worried about her," Layra says, nuzzling her head into his shoulder, "and so am I, but it won't help just staring at the torches like this.  You know how long this test can take."

"I-" the Light Minister gets interrupted by a small dinging sound.  "Look!" he points frantically at the second torch.  Together, the parents of the challenger watch as the gem belonging to the second torch lights up.  Their daughter has claimed the Earth Element, and a new Spirit Soldier has been born.  

"Seven stages... seven more..." Heliux cannot help worrying, he is helpless in this situation and he hates feeling helpless.  He wants to be able to do something, to be able to save his daughter when that inevitable harm will come to her, but alas he cannot.  He is stuck here in this castle while she is in fantastical worlds climbing a stone tower.  

"I think she'll make it through," Layra tells the worried man encouragingly.  "She's part you and part me after all, and look at all the shit that we went through."

Heliux has to admit that that is true, especially concerning their pasts.  "Hmph, I suppose so," he huffs.  

"Come, let's go talk to the other fairies."  The Dark Minister's urging tone echoes in the empty room as she attempts to drag her boyfriend away.  "But first..." her tone grows more somber and Heliux grows even more worried.

"What is it?" he presses, fearing the worst.

"There's something important I didn't tell you," she replies with a guilty look.  "It's Alara.  She's against us."

Yikes so this chapter WAS originally long, but I split it into two.  Chapter 37 will be part 2 of the three part "special" that is Valerie's first test.  I hope you enjoyed it, I'll see you next week!