All Chapters of Caution to the wind: Chapter 21 - Chapter 27

Artemis White's POVI stood in the garden, Khione, Major Herrington, Miguel, Maria, Sebastian and the team behind me. They were silent, as was I.Ayame Rivers stood in front of me, her eyes observing me carefully. "The first test is a Trial of Will", she said slowly. "Walk the firewalk. Show me that you can endure the pain, push through at all costs. Only those with a strong will can face their future properly," she continued. Then, she raised a hand and swiftly, in one fluid motion, jagged and uneven rocks catching fire, coal burning on them, under them and between them. It definitely looked painful. But so was having my back slowly shredded by a rusty, blunt dagger. "Arte, this is insane, you can't-" Khione said frantically. I turned to her and smiled, "I can do it, Khi. You don't trust me?" I asked. Khione looked at me, stunned. "I-I trust you, but...You're going to get hurt, Arte. You just came out of the hospital, not even two hours ago!" I turned my head to Ayame, "No need to w

Third Person POVArtemis paused at the threshold of the 'comm-lab' - A room that originally looked like a high-end security room and now looked even more high-end, techy and secure, blinking as banks of consoles and tangled cables sprawled before her. She’d spent years burrowing through encrypted networks and dismantling firewalls in midnight raids on corporate servers, assisting the military with her hacking skills, but field communications were a different beast. Captain Mara Quinn - Signal - turned from a holo-terminal, braid swinging over her shoulder like an antenna. She offered Artemis a half-smile. “You know your way around code, White. But this” - she held up a handheld scrambler - “is hardware. We’ll start with the basics.” Artemis was slightly taken aback by the change in Mara's personality. She was usually so kind and graceful. Now she just seemed cold and detached. Nonetheless, she accepted the device, running a fingertip over its matte surface and tiny LED screen. Un

Artemis White's POV A month had passed in a flash. The manor had become so loud, so populated - More than it ever had been. And yet, my head seemed much louder. Since I was forced into a simulation where the people I cared for had died, I tried my best to bury the memories. But it's hard to forget watching people you've become close to choke on their own blood and then die or get crushed under a roof before you even have the chance to save them. For the first two weeks after the incident, I did no physical training at all. The only thing that I did was medical training with Theo and Emma. Restricting my focus to their lessons and being guided by them really helped me mentally. I still fumbled occasionally, but I was now much more confident. After the two weeks, I slowly started to ease back into the lessons with my other instructors. My schedule had become busy again, and Malik had taken on the task of my meals instead of Ayame. They were less restrictive, I could pick and choose wh

Artemis White's POVMy mind had been scrambled, focused on the upcoming event. I'd requested that all children under the age of seven be prohibited from entering the event for safety reasons. It was a reasonable request, one that Ayame was happy to fulfil. RSVP's had flooded my mother's office - responses from both her own contacts and allies, as well as Ayame's, father's, Heli and Khi's contacts and allies. People from all over would be attending, each from a different field, but with aligned goals and motivations. Some were plain as day - They wanted to catch a glimpse of the next heiress. Others, I was warned to keep an eye on. Not everyone attending was an ally, but not all non-allies were a threat. Most attendees held a neutral stance and were primarily interested in joining due to personal friendships. But just yesterday, Ayame pulled me aside to warn me. "Arte. The Voss family will be in attendance," she had said. I'd heard of them before - arms dealers. They purchased and s