We stood on the rain-wet training ground—dirty, angry, and frustrated. The result was even worse than our first attempt.

  "What was that?"

  Kyle wiped blood from his split lip.

  "That was your plan, captain."

  "My plan would've worked if you'd followed it!"

  "Followed it?"

  Aris stepped forward, and there were notes in his voice I hadn't heard before.

  "You demanded we act fast. But 'fast' doesn't mean 'right.' My shadow was supposed to find a weak spot, not stupidly attack."

  "There was no time to search!"

  "There's always time. You just don't know how to plan it."

  Kyle snorted.

  "Plan? While you're 'planning,' we'll all be killed."

  "And while you rush in like a wild bull, we're all sinking."

  "Better to try and fail than stand in shadows doing nothing."

  "Better to think and do it right than act like an idiot."

  Tara intervened, cleaning up vial shards.

  "You're both wrong. You can't rush alchemy. One wrong component and we all explode."

  "Tara, we're in combat, not a lab exercise!"

  "For me it's the same thing. I can't work in a rush."

  "Then why are you here?"

  Val laughed without mirth.

  "Listen to yourselves. Everyone thinks only their method is right."

  "And what's your method?" Mira turned to him. "Stand aside and criticize?"

  "My method is clear hierarchy. One commands, others obey. No discussions."

  "We're not your servants, Norse."

  "And thank the gods! Good servants know how to obey."

  "And if the order is wrong?"

  Aris looked at Val with challenge.

  "Then the commander bears responsibility. But the order is still carried out."

  "That's idiocy."

  "That's discipline. What you all lack."

  Mira shook her head.

  "Discipline without understanding is blindness. I won't follow orders until I understand their meaning."

  "Then we'll never work together."

  Kyle spat blood.

  "While you think, the enemy acts!"

  "While you act without thinking, we all die."

  Everyone turned to me. In their eyes I saw not just disappointment. I saw incomprehension. Each looked at the others as if they were insane.

  "Luten." Mira spoke coldly. "You want to be captain? Then solve this problem."

  "What problem?"

  "How to make people who think differently work together?"

  "I... don't know."

  "Don't know?"

  Val smirked.

  "That's the problem. You don't even understand what you want."

  "I want us to work as a team!"

  "And what does that mean?"

  Aris asked quietly.

  "So now I should throw myself into battle recklessly?"

  Kyle crossed his arms.

  "And I should ruin potions because of haste?"

  Tara shook her head. I stayed silent. Because I didn't know the answer.

  "See?"

  Kyle rubbed his split lip.

  "You don't even understand what 'team' means. For you it's just a word."

  "For me a team is when everyone does what they do best."

  "But we do different things."

  Aris spoke tiredly.

  "And do them differently."

  "Maybe that's the problem."

  Tara gathered the last shards.

  "We were thrown into this because we don't fit anywhere else. But that doesn't mean we fit with each other."

  Professor Tyler approached us.

  "Enough. Everyone's dismissed."

  "Professor!"

  Val addressed him.

  "What if we simply can't work together? Fundamentally?"

  Tyler shrugged.

  "Then you can't. Tournament's in two days."

  We dispersed in silence. But it wasn't the silence of fatigue. It was the silence of people who'd realized: they were too different.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Kyle stopped beside me last.

  "You know, Caers, maybe the problem isn't that you're a bad captain."

  He looked at our departing teammates.

  "Maybe we really can't be united?"

  "Then what do we do?"

  "Survive alone. As always."

  He left, leaving me alone on the destroyed training ground.

  The second attempt should have gone better. Instead, we failed even worse. Everyone pulled in their own direction, no one listened to others. The result was worse than this morning's.

  I looked at the traces of our failure and thought that Kyle might be right. Some differences are too deep to overcome with simple desire.

  But there was no more time for reflection. The tournament was the day after tomorrow. And we had to find out what was stronger: our differences or the need to survive.

  I sat alone for a long time, angry at everything. At myself, at them, at the academy. Middle of the year, and they threw us into one class like discarded trash. I'd be angry too in their place. I, in turn, could only be angry at myself.

  Maybe it really was all hopeless...

  "Luten?"

  I looked up. Selena was walking down the path, apparently returning from training.

  "Selena. Didn't expect to see you here."

  I stood and made a formal bow to her—she was a princess after all.

  "Stop that. How are you? Where's your class?"

  "The class scattered everywhere, angry at each other and at me. And here I sit, thinking how to make them all work together."

  It was sunset, so Selena looked different: school uniform, hair neatly tied in a ponytail. Her appearance didn't remind me of the princess I'd known before. She glanced at me briefly, then looked away into the distance.

  "You know, Luten, I didn't succeed with my team right away either."

  She sat on the edge of the bench, not minding the moisture.

  "Elliot told you, right? At the beginning of the year we argued too. Darius thought he knew better than everyone, Cassandra kept to herself completely, Reynor... Well, you remember his character."

  "And how did you manage?"

  "I didn't force them to change. Just... found what each one was good at. The rest somehow fell into place."

  Selena pondered.

  "Also, I studied other teams. Watched how they work, what mistakes they make. It helps understand what works and what doesn't."

  "Studied—how?"

  "Observed their training. They're not secret."

  A smile slipped across her face.

  "Tomorrow morning the third and fourth classes train at the north grounds. The fifth after lunch—same place. If you want to understand what you'll face in the tournament..."

  She stood, brushing off her uniform.

  "Sometimes it's easier to learn to work together when you see a common enemy."

  She told me a bit more about other teams, but the rest I'd have to figure out myself—early tomorrow morning. This information gave me hope. Maybe after some time we could unite as a team, but we needed to act here and now.

  Before curfew I came to the girls' dormitory to meet with Mira.

  "You called for me, Luten?"

  "Let's talk. I need your help."

  "Get to the point."

  "I know you're upset with me about today, but we need to figure something out. I found out where other classes train tomorrow. Will you help make a plan?"

  Mira was silent for a long time.

  "After today... I don't know if it's worth it. Though it can't get worse."

  Walking through the park, I explained what I knew about Selena's class, and she told me about the situation at the academy while I was gone.

  The other three classes had good, established teams. Mira was silent, then sighed.

  "Luten, do you really think the problem is in the plans?"

  "What else could it be?"

  "That you don't know us. And we don't know you."

  She stopped under a streetlight.

  "You were in the chosen class. There, everyone probably understood each other instantly?"

  "I..."

  I fell silent. Did I really know those guys, even Elliot? A year had passed, seemingly. But we're at an age where even such a time period is critical.

  "No, I don't really know them. I think we should watch them too."

  "I didn't ask this to make you spy on your brother."

  "I understand. In the chosen class I didn't command. Selena was the leader, the others just... knew their place. Everything was natural."

  "And here?"

  "Here I have no idea what I'm doing. Trying to be a captain I never was."

  Mira studied my face in the streetlight.

  "What if you honestly tell the team you're learning too? That you don't know all the answers?"

  "Then they'll stop listening to me."

  "Luten, no one listens to us now anyway. Honesty might at least change something."

  We walked on in silence. Then she added:

  "I can read the history of objects. But with people it's always harder."

  "And what does that change?"

  "Nothing. Just going with you because sitting in my room is worse."

  I spent all night thinking about how best to handle the team. One thing I knew for sure: I'd gotten back into the academy rhythm and managed to distract myself from all this chaos with the otherworlders, that demon, and Silvia.

  In the morning, as agreed, Mira and I went to the classes' training grounds. Getting to the chosen class wasn't hard—they weren't hiding. I watched them. From time to time some shard from a golem would fly our way, and Mira analyzed what she could.

  "The chosen class is impressive. Darius, Cassandra, Reynor—all work smoothly. Your brother too, but his magic reveals something... strange in him. He's somehow not himself."

  I watched Elliot create metal constructs. Before, his armor had been smooth, elegant. Now—jagged, aggressive. As if he wanted not to defend but to cause pain. And Selena... She commanded differently than a year ago. Harder. Fewer explanations, more orders.

  The other classes trained further away, but we didn't linger. From a distance we could only see the general picture: some worked smoothly, others thought more than acted. We couldn't make out anything specific.

  However, Mira managed to touch the destroyed golem pieces that flew to us.

  "And what do you think?"

  "I don't know... Vanguard looks strong. Archive is somehow strange. Omega—no idea what they're doing. And the chosen..."

  Mira fell silent.

  "What about the chosen?"

  "Your brother. He's... changed."

  Mira looked at me.

  "At least we know what awaits us."

  "And what does that give us?"

  "Maybe nothing. But now I understand why everyone considers us rejects."

  When we finished, we returned to our training ground. The others were already waiting. Val and Kyle had arranged a sparring match, though it looked more like a slugfest. Tara was already preparing bruise potions for them, and Aris sat silently in a shady spot under a tree.

  "Let's talk."

  I stepped into the middle and gathered everyone together.

  "I know you're not happy with each other. Everyone was thrown into a new class, and you think I'm a worthless leader. I'm not going to lecture you or call for instant trust. Such relationships are built over months, and we have one day."

  Pause. Everyone looked at me without enthusiasm. I'd managed to convince Mira, but I'd have to deal with the rest.

  "Tomorrow the tournament starts. I won't lie that we have chances to win. But we can avoid complete disgrace."

  Kyle, as the most skeptical, shook his head.

  "And how do you suggest we do that? We even failed a simple exercise."

  "Because we tried to be what we're not."

  Val snorted.

  "And what are we?"

  "Loners. Each used to relying only on themselves."

  Aris peered out from the shadows.

  "So what?"

  "Let's not pretend to be a team. Just not interfere with each other."

  Kyle snorted.

  "That's the same crap, just different words. Yesterday we 'coordinated,' today we 'don't interfere.' And tomorrow what?"

  "Kyle's right."

  Val crossed his arms.

  "You just renamed failure as strategy."

  "Didn't rename. I'm suggesting..."

  "What? That we pretend to work together?"

  Tara shook her head.

  "Luten, I understand you're trying. But this sounds like desperation."

  Mira silently watched the argument.

  "We'll see tomorrow. Maybe under pressure something will work."

  "Or we'll fail even worse."

  Val stood up.

  "I'm not participating in another of Caers' experiments."

  Kyle also stood.

  "Agreed. Everyone for themselves. As usual."

  They started dispersing. Only Aris remained sitting in the shadow, quietly whispering:

  "I'll... try... Can't get worse anyway."

  The others were already leaving without looking back.

  I remained on the grounds with Aris. My "grand plan" had fallen apart even faster than yesterday's training.

  "Thanks."

  "For what?"

  "For not telling me off."

  Aris shrugged.

  "I have nowhere else to go anyway."

  We sat in silence until the sun disappeared beyond the horizon.

  Tomorrow was the tournament. And I had no idea how we'd survive it.