"Hongbin, aim higher!" Taehyung shouted, sprinting across the jungle terrain as he shot arrows about.

"I'm trying, Taehyung," Hongbin replied, desperately trying to reload his bow as the harpies began to dive towards our little group, attacking.

I covered Ilayda, fearing for her safety as she cowered and clung to my arm. I watched Hongbin and Taehyung, questioning why he was so harsh on his brother. Hongbin always seemed a bit slower than the other Artemis kids in terms of abilities, and Taehyung knew this. The fact that he was scolding him so harshly while battling irked me. 

"I want to go home to mommy!" Ilayda cried, squeezing my arm.

I bit my lip, feeling guilty that I couldn't give her what she wanted. The fact that even preschool and elementary students like her were forced into these exams was frightening. There were plenty more out there like her, probably being protected by their older teammates or fighting monsters themselves. It'd been two long days. We've been stuck in the jungle area of the map for days, suffering under the harsh heat and fighting off the mythological monsters placed on these maps while also fighting off the elements of nature against us. I wanted to hop into battle alongside Taehyung and Hongbin, feeling bad that they had to do all the work while I sat back and covered Ilayda, keeping her out of harm's way. Alas this was impossible, I had no weapon on me seeing as my personal weapon was still being held onto by Jin. As I looked back to the scene before us, I watched as a harpie picked Taehyung up and throw him against the trunk of a tree. He slid down, an agonized expression on his face as he fell limp against the tree. 

"Taehyung!" I screamed, wanting to go help him. I gasped, immediately realized what I'd done. I had compromised Ilayda and I's position, catching the attention of the harpies as they soon targeted us. 

"Jiae, Ilayda, no!" Hongbin shouted, running towards us. A harpy simply hit him with its wing, causing him to fly backwards and hit the ground with a thud. Hongbin laid on the ground in pain, grasping at his chest as his body seemed to convulse in agony. 

"Hongbin!" I cried out, feeling the hot tears forming in my eyes.

"Unnie!" Ilayda screamed, pointing up towards the harpies coming straight at us.

I shut my eyes tight and held onto Ilayda. Though I knew we couldn't die during exams, we could become greatly injured. The academy would wait until we were unable to fight anymore before they sent in backup to get us out and take us back to the academy for treatment. The grading system was apparently very simple. Those who gave up received F's. Those who had to be saved got D's. Those who don't get out of the map by the end of the week receive C's. And those who did make it out received A's or B's based on their position on the ranking chart as well as their display of skill and knowledge. But right now wasn't the time to be thinking about grades. Right now I was fearing for Ilayda and I's lives. Taehyung was unconscious, Hongbin was hurt, and we were both sitting ducks. Could this get any worse?

But it didn't. It took a while for me to realize the sound of Harpies had died out. There was no flapping. There was no screeching. There was silence. I opened my eyes at the sound of leaves crunching under the feet of others, people. 

"Jiae, are you all right?" A male voice called out to me.

I looked up out of our hiding spot beneath the foliage to see JHope with his bow and arrows in hand. His team followed closely behind, and I let out a sigh of relief. I suddenly remembered about Taehyung and Hongbin, and immediately sprung up from my position.

"JHope, please take care of Ilayda for me. I need to go help Hongbin and Taehyung," I said worriedly before sprinting over to Hongbin first. Hyeri was already by his side, patting his cheeks and trying to keep him focused on her and off the pain in his chest.

"Hongbin! Hongbin! Stick with me. You're going to be okay," Hyeri said as she searched through her bag. "I need aspirin. Where is our aspirin?"

"I have some," a girl about our age piped up, taking a tube out of her pocket and handing it to Hyeri.

I looked up at the girl and realized that she looked awfully familiar. Then it hit me. She was the new girl, Kim Dasom, who had been hanging out with Suga. For some reason, when she first came to the academy, she was very distant from everyone else, even her own siblings. She ate alone and kept to herself, even turning away potential friends when they approached her. One day at lunch, LE decided to make Dasom her new victim. She tripped Dasom while she was getting her lunch, but unluckily for her, the person Dasom ran into was Suga. In few words, Suga took care of business afterwards, and Dasom stuck to him like glue afterwards. The two matched. They were both quiet, seemed to enjoy each other's company though they didn't enjoy anyone else's, but there was one thing that was quite confusing about their friendship. Suga was unsocial with a cold demeanor while Dasom was a sweet soul with a warm aura. 

I looked back to Hongbin who was breathing heavily. Sweat beaded his forehead and his hand gripped onto his shirt, his chest obviously in pain. Hyeri took out an aspirin and popped it in Hongbin's mouth, forcing him to chew it as she gently guided his jaw with her hand. 

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked, kneeling besides him.

"Hard to say. He was down for a while and had a heart attack, but this happens more often than it should, I think he'll be okay," Hyeri replied, continuing to help Hongbin as he calmed down a bit.

"Heart attack?" I asked, surprise by this information. I hadn't known Hongbin often had heart attacks. "We need to get him back to the academy then. Couldn't he die from a heart attack?"

Hyeri shook her head, giving me a reassuring smile. "He'll be okay. He's a demigod, first of all. We're stronger than most humans. And he's a son of Artemis on top of that, one of the toughest goddesses around. He just needs a bit of ambrosia, and he'll heal up quickly." She pursed her lips. "But the question is, where do we find ambrosia in the wild? None of us brought any-"

"I did," Dasom chimed in again, taking a small box out of her knapsack and handing it to us. We stared at her in awe, and she shyly looked away, speaking softly. "I-I thought my team might've needed it in case, but you can use it."

"Speaking of which," I spoke up, taking the box from her and handing it to Hyeri, who slowly and carefully fed it to Hongbin. He stirred slightly, grimacing at the pain of each the godly food before letting out a soft sigh of content and slipping into slumber. "Dasom, why are you in Hyeri's team? Weren't you in Suga and Rapmon's?"

Because Dasom was a new student, it was Rapmon's duty to take care of her until she was comfortable enough to be on her own. Jessica herself assigned Dasom to the team along with two of the Big Three children, knowing full well the two would be enough to take care of her on a team. Dasom rubbed the back of her neck, probably feeling awkward seeing as she never held conversations with others well besides Suga. 

"I-I got lost and seperated from the team. Hyeri and the others found me in the desert area of the map," Dasom replied, shifting slightly in her position. "I'm staying with them until I find my team again." 

I nodded understandingly. Suddenly I remembered Taehyung and quickly bounded towards his location. Jimin and JHope had already patched him up, and he was standing on his feet just fine. There were a few scratches and bruises, and his hand and wrist were wrapped up, showing that he most likely sprained it. A wave of relief washed over me as I became dizzy and sat down on the ground quickly to keep from falling.

"Oh. Oh thank gods," I said softly. "You're okay. You're both going to be okay."

Taehyung looked up at me and smiled before coming up to me and crouching down beside me. "Did I worry you?"

"Yes!" I said slightly in annoyance that he could ask such a question.

"I'm sorry," he replied, wrapping an arm around me in a hug. "I won't make you worry anymore, okay?"

"If you want to do that, let me fight. Ilayda says she can protect herself by hiding in the shadows," I whined. "Let me fight with you."

Taehyung chuckled and shook his head. "No way. I'm not letting a girl like you fight monsters like these."

"And what's wrong with me being a girl?" I said in offense.

He sighed and shook his head. "It's nothing. I think we should get moving. Time is ticking away, and we only have about four days left for the exams."

"Hold it, Taehyung," JHope said sternly, catching everyone's attention. "I don't think you or your team are in any condition to move along. Hongbin's knocked out, you have a sprained wrist, and Jiae and Ilayda are both traumatized. What you need to do is set up camp and rest."

Taehyung attempted to stand his ground but knew that JHope was right. He nodded in defeat. "Fine."

As night began to fall, both teams set up camp in the jungle for the night. Both teams had been sent care kits from back at the academy. Apollo sent JHope one while Artemis sent Taehyung one. Each of the packages contained essentials; capsules that exploded into pre-set tents, a small box of bandages, a vial of nectar for serious injuries, flint and steel for fire, and an encouraging note from the gods. Taehyung and JHope both used up their capsules for the teams, leaving them with none for later usage. 

Hyeri had set up a fire while Dasom helped by tending to Hongbin who finally came to. Ilayda and JHope's younger teammate, Yoogeun, were playing together, helping Ilayda to forget about the experience. Meanwhile the other boys had gone hunting in hopes of bringing back some meat for dinner. Dasom finished taking care of Hongbin, giving him more medicine and some water before leaving him to rest again. She then came out of the tent and sat with us around the fire, smiling as she looked at the playing children.

"Kids?" She asked softly. "Are you hungry?"

The two of them looked to her and nodded, eagerly bounding towards her to see if she had food. She smiled and took a small sack out of her pocket. Walking over to the edge of the camp grounds, she took a seed from the sack and pushed the seed into the soft soil before sprinkling some water on it. Waving her hand over the spot, an apple tree quickly grew out of the ground, and before long, it had apples ready to eat. She plucked several and offered it to the kids who accepted them gratefully. 

"That was pretty impressive," I commented, offering her a friendly smile. She looked up at me and looked away before nodding, as if saying thank you without using her words. "Are you a Demeter kid?"

"M-maybe," she replied., wringing her hands nervously. "I haven't been claimed yet."

"I see," I said, nodding my head. "Well, maybe you'll be claimed soon. Your abilities scream Demeter to me." I chuckled, hoping to lighten the mood and strike up more of a conversation. 

"Aish, what is taking those boys so long?" Hyeri complained, sitting down beside us. "And what's up with Taehyung? I heard what he said about girls. That brat. If he saw what I've been doing the past several days, he'd shut right up." She snarled and bit into an apple crudely, chewing loudly and angrily as she stared into the fire. "But you know, speaking of Taehyung." She looked at me and smirked, lifting a brow. "Are you and Taehyung... you know." She wiggled her brows and smiled teasingly.

I blushed and shook my head. "No way! He's just a really close friend of mine. Both him and JHope have been really good friends to me since I got here." 

"Oh, really?" She chuckled, not taking her eyes off of me as she ate her apple. She poked Dasom and smiled. "What 'bout you, Sommie? You and Suga hit it off yet?"

Dasom shrunk back in her seat, her face becoming redder than the apples growing on the tree. She shook her head furiously, a chorus of "nonononono" streaming from her lips. "I-It's not like that! We're just friends. I mean, it's not that I couldn't like him- No, wait, it's not like that. He's a really nice and sweet guy once you get to know him. I mean- I'm shutting up now." She pulled her shirt collar up to covered her face and shrunk back in embarassment as Hyeri let out a boisterous laugh.

"Oh, man, you two've got it bad," she said with a content sigh.

I pursed my lips, before a mischievous grin grew across my face. "And you and Jimin?"

She paused mid bite, dropping her apple and letting it roll across the ground. Turning to me with a look of disgust, she looked me up and down, offended. "Don't ever say that again. You disgust me. Jimin is a little . I wouldn't fall for him if he were the last living, breathing male on Earth, and my options were to either repopulate the Earth or die without trying. Humanity had a good run. Too bad Jimin ruined it." She huffed and grabbed the apple, chucking it into the jungle. 

"Ow!" Jimin shouted as he emerged from the shadows, rubbing his forehead. "What the Tartarus, Hyeri?" He tucked his sword back in its sheath before continuing to speak. "And what were you guys talking about? I heard my name."

"Nothing. We were talking about how you need to be castrated. It would save the gene pool by a lot," Hyeri replied, smirking in approval at her retort.

"Rude," Jimin scoffed, placing his hand on his chest in a sassy manner, showing that he was offended.

"Shut up. Did you catch anything?" Hyeri continued.

"Nothing much," Jimin replied.

"Except a nice and juicy, wild turkey!" JHope shouted in excitement as he walked in with the turkey slung over his shoulder. 

"We found a small lake nearby and caught some fish, too. Looks like we'll be eating well tonight," Taehyung added, carrying a sack with the fish inside. 

We all cheered and began preparing our little feast. The girls took care of the turkey while the guys scraped the scales off the fish with their arrows. Once everything was ready, we roasted them over the fire and dug in once it was all cooked. Everyone went to sleep with full stomachs and calm minds. The boys slept in one tent while the girls slept in the other. While everyone fell fast asleep from exhaustion, and overwhleming feeling in my gut kept me awake. There was something strange and ominous about, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Shaking the thought of my head, I shut my eyes tight and forced myself to sleep. Perhaps it was nothing... just my imagination.