Fly High, Hayato

It's been five hours since Hayato learned to levitate. The only fairies left were Lily, Maisie, and Vivi. They were watching him fail over and over again. Flying takes a few days to learn to navigate and getting used to your wings as if they are a part of your body so they didn’t understand his rush.

Maisie held her head when Hayato crashed down into the water again. He got his head out, pulling himself onto the petals as he huffed and puffed. “Ahhhh, this is much harder than it looks.”

Maisie sighed before she decided to give him advice. “I didn't want to tell you this because I wanted you to figure it out on your own, but you know you can use your wings, right? It’s not there for decoration.”

Vivi suppressed a condescending giggle. “Do you see how slow he is, Maisie? How can one fly without their wings?”

Hayato realized they probably thought he was dense and stupid. “Umm, actually, I don't have wings.” 

They all went silent at the admission. Maisie looked confused. “What fairy doesn't have wings?” 

He figured it would be easier to show them than explain, so he pulled up his shirt and turned around. They gaped, horrified. 

“Who-who did this?” Even Vivi seemed unsettled. 

“I don't know. When I came to my senses, someone had already ripped my wings.” He decided to tell a partial truth.

Maisie’s brow rose. Under her guardianship, someone ripped another fairy's wings? She was alarmed by the heinous act. She flapped her own, imagining what it would be like to be wingless. “When did this happen?”

Hayato paused. He didn't know if this lie would eventually catch up to him, but right now, he needed to improvise. “Two days ago.”

Maisie took a breath before she looked at Vivi and Lily. “Help him fly while I go investigate this.”

Vivi nodded, having mastered flying completely during his training. Vivi and Lily approached him as Maisie left.  

“I have to say what happened is very unfortunate,” Vivi started arrogantly as she crossed her arms. “So I’ve decided to grace you with… a little secret to help you fly.”

Lily perked up as Hayato lay on the petal, exhausted from swimming back up each time. He looked at Vivi with interest. From the way she spoke, it was clear she held herself in very high regard, so if he could… sing her praise, he could gain something. His calculative mind decided to humble himself and exaggerate. “A secret? If I can get any advice from someone as skilled as you, it will change my life for sure!”

Vivi smiled arrogantly, flying towards him as Lily followed quietly behind, interested to hear the secret. “As you know, each race has three main abilities, right? As fairies our main ability is to fly, just like the Dragons. Every fairy can fly, just like every dragon can.”

He nodded as if he knew but he didn't. If Genesis is a fairy, doesn't it mean he has three abilities too? “Our second ability is healing. Every fairy has this ability but it's not the same degree. Some can heal faster and some slower, depending on the skills.”

He recalled Evan said he was among the fastest to heal. 

“I have above average healing abilities, I can heal bigger wounds in a day! ” Lily happily announced while Vivi sighed; depressed. “I heal scratches at best.”

He noted the change in her tone; she was a bad healer. So that means he can heal himself too, outside of flying, but what level was he in?. “As for our third ability, now for this, everyone has special powers. Some can manipulate sand or air.”

Lily chipped in. “I still haven’t unlocked my powers. I heard it might take five years to unlock your third ability.”

Vivi then smirked. “I’ve unlocked mine. I have the ability to accelerate your physical fitness. I can use my mana to accelerate your strength, endurance, and mana by twenty percent so you can try flying longer. That's how I learned how to fly faster.” 

Vivi flew to him, putting her hand on his shoulder. A glow of blue emitted from her body, surrounding him like an aura. He feels like his exhaustion faded away, replaced with power. “Why are you helping me?”

She took her hands off his shoulder and flew up. “Because a fairy losing its wings… is a cruel act. Nobody deserves to have their wings ripped out.”

Hayato wasn't a fairy for a very long time, so he wouldn't know what it is like to have wings. It seemed like Genesis, when he was alive, went through a lot. “Thank you Vivi.”

She smiled at him, courtesying a bow. “You are welcome.”

With Vivi using her mana to help him accelerate his progress and Lily giving him tips on the mistake she made.  He was able to fly for a bit before he crashed down. Both Vivi and Lily clapped at him over every minor upgrade to keep him motivated.

But the progress wasn't great. It's almost his scheduled meet up  in two hours yet he couldn't fly properly. He felt like he was wrecking his head trying to learn how to fly. Why was learning how to wield magic much harder? Was there no hope for him? A voice in the back of his head reminded him. You will never catch up to Yuka like this. While Yuka thrived, you will always be in her shadow, you will always be a loser. 

He felt a lump on his throat as the voice became clearer and clearer, that it no longer sounded like his own voice anymore. Don't you want to kill Yuka? Don't you want to show her that she made a big mistake killing you? That you could crush her like the way she did? That you are more capable?

Hayato clenched his fist. She betrayed you! He will never forgive Yuka for what she said to him. The aura around him shifted and Vivi and Lily looked at each other then him.

Don't you hate her, Hayato? You are falling behind again! She beats you in the human world and now here? She is always ahead! She treated you as worthless because you are worthless. 

Hayato felt anger rise in his chest and the ocean underneath him started to splash onto the surface aggressively.

“What's going on Vivi?” Lily asked as the water started to rise from the ocean spinning around Hayato like a tornado.

“I don't know,”  Vivi responded, scared by the shift. It was like she was being pulled towards him too. Hayato flew up high and high, unaware how high he was going. 

“Genesis!” Lily called out, flying above. “SNAP OUT OF IT!”

Hayato opened his eyes and the water crashed down but he remained mid-air, floating instead of crushing down. “Lily? What's wrong?” 

“I don't… Know but I think you are flying now? How did you do that?” She asked as she stared at him.

Hayato looked down. It feels like… Negative emotions helped him fly? He doesn't know why he learns faster when his body and mind are in a state of turmoil. Was that something related to him? Or was it Genesis?

“Can you move?” 

He tried to focus on moving but it was much slower to move. 

“You did it!” Vivi smiled. He was now flying slowly like she did before. 

It’s too slow? I won't be able to make it to the building in time? How can I get there in time? Instead of using mana to navigate, he leaned down, using his body as momentum. Whenever his body sinks down using his body weight to navigate, he would fly himself back up. 

“You are flying but-“ Lily looked at the very rocky style of flying she’s never seen before. It didn’t look graceful at all. 

Hayato smiled. Even though he feels dizzy flying like this, he can reach the building now. He turned around and waved them goodbye. “Lily and Vivi, I need to go but thank you for helping me out. I’ll come visit you guys next time.” 

“What? No! You still haven’t learned how to fly properly-“ Vivi’s words were cut off when Hayato flew up and down, towards the skyrocketed building. He got no time to learn anymore! He won’t let Yuka get away with murdering him. 

On top of the building was Evan waiting for him. He tried to land but instead, crashed down, rolling on the ground. “Ah, I’m okay.” 

Evan’s nose scrunched up at the rough landing. “I didn’t ask.” 

Hayato held his knees as he got closer to Evan. “See? I made it?”

Evan looked at him. That’s fast. It usually takes two days for even the most skilled fairy to fly, this kid has so much potential. “You took your time.”

Hayato looked at him nervously, wringing his fingers. Evan looked at him up and down, smirking.  “It will do for now. 

Hayato let out a sigh in relief. “Get ready for round two. You are up next.”