“The last time we saw each other was when you had that attack and Sir Leonidas along with Sir Galen started you on that hellish training, yes?” Damon asked, as he leaned back in his chair.

Seeing me nod, a faraway look appeared in his eyes as he said, “The three of us went to admit ourselves to the academy after that.”

Pausing, he shook his head as he ruefully said, “We thought we were hot stuff. Being iron ranked and all. But the lady lost all interest once she heard we were almost 12.”

Interjecting, Celine said, “That should have warned us about the place we were trying to get ourselves into.”

Nodding, Damon continued, “It should have. But it didn’t. Then we saw what was written on the papers that we were signing. That warned us alright.”

Leaning forward, I asked, “You drank the tea, didn’t you?”

Laughing for the first time, Damon exchanged a look with the other two, who smiled despite their will, and then he said, “We refused the tea.”

“You refused it?” I exclaimed.

“Yes, yes, we did.”

“And what happened? They didn’t knock you out and bring you here?” I asked, puzzled.

“Well, they did. To be precise… it was the lady who knocked us out. She just clenched her fist over her teacup, and as it shattered, she threw three pieces of the baling thing at our heads.”

Bending slightly, he showed us a small scar on his temple, hidden by his hair, which he moved aside.

Sucking in a deep breath, I looked at Sia, who gulped herself.

Letting the hair fall back down, Damon ruefully said, “The last thing I heard before I fainted was her saying, ‘how rude to refuse tea like that.’”.

Looking at us wryly, he added, “If I hadn’t fainted already, I think I would have fainted after hearing that.”

Laughing, I asked, “Then? Did you wake up with the laundry?”

Confused, he looked at me, and asked back, “What laundry?”

“The laundry in the cell. The uniforms?” I said as I touched the uniforms we were wearing.

Looking at the other two, he cleared his throat as he said with an embarrassed expression… “Ours wasn’t laundry, though I wish it was.”

“What was it then?” Sia asked with an interested expression.

“It was tailoring.” Damon said with a look that indicated the horror of his experience.

“Tailoring,” we repeated as we raised our eyebrows.

“Tailoring,” he confirmed.

Seeing our expressions, he quickly continued, “We were left without a shred of clothes. And a pile of material with needles and a note that said, ‘enjoy your stay.’”

Sia and I looked at each other with an unnatural expression before looking at Celine, who blushed as she said, “I had clothes on… well, more of a sack, really.”

Nodding, we wisely turned back to Damon and Ares, who were looking at the sky as Damon softly said, “I was covered in Baling feathers… and with no food, I began looking awfully like a chicken as time passed.”

Snorting, I raised a hand as I tried to stop laughing while Damon glared at me.

Finally getting myself back under control, I asked, “Wait… wasn’t it tailoring? So where did the feathers come from?”

Bitterly, Damon said, “For the mattress that we were supposed to create... because that was the second part of the note. 3 mattresses, or no freedom.”

Imagining the situation, I shuddered.

Think about it.

Kidnapped, deposited in a jail cell with not a stitch on you, a pile of material in front of you, and a note that said to make mattresses or goodbye freedom. Oh, and without food.

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Clucking sympathetically, I stopped as Damon glared at me again.

Hastily stopping the clucking, I chuckled as the image of Damon as a chicken again appeared in my head.

Crossing his arms, Damon spoke after another moment spent glaring at me as he jerked his head toward Ares, “This guy here was still lucky enough. He had his mattresses done in no time at all, and he spent the rest of the time sleeping.”

Sheepishly, Ares stared at us as he muttered, “Practice. It’s all practice.”

Smiling, Sia asked, “What next? Did you have to serve the food and eat the bugs?”

Shuddering, they nodded, but then it was our turn to be puzzled as Celine said, “The bugs… weren’t the terrible part.”

As Sia opened her mouth to ask, Celine raised her hand as she said, “You’ll find out soon enough. I can’t say it now.”

Understanding, we fell silent.

Then Ares spoke, “After that part… we went through a lot of difficulties as we were deposited in the forest and asked to survive for 2 weeks with no supplies.”

“Two weeks?” I asked, shocked.

“Two weeks.” Ares confirmed before his face twisted in pain as he said, “I found these two on the third day. But my life had already been saved once in that time by... by Reidy.”

Pausing, he looked at the ground as Damon, and Celine also lowered their heads.

Then, softly, he continued, “We fought together, and we fought on and on, trusting our backs to each other.”

Celine looked up then, and said, “After that, we were given supplies and we had nothing to begin with, and because of the forest… we were all alone or in the groups that we had formed in the forest.”

Nodding, Damon said, “The four of us stayed together. We built a small house for ourselves, we ate together, we lived together, we fought together, we trained together.”

Smiling, the other two stayed silent as their eyes travelled back in time.

Then, with a heavy voice, Damon said, “Until 3 and a half months had passed, and we were suddenly asked to gather.”

Suddenly knowing where this was going, I clenched my fists under the table.

“We were to battle our seniors. We were given the same wooden arms and armor. But we weren’t united. We were scattered.” Damon said as he rested his hands on the table with stiff shoulders.

Leaning forward, Ares said, “it was a massacre. They demolished us as we fought in our tiny groups.”

Stone faced, Damon spoke. “Our tiny group caught the attention of that power user. He had just awakened that power, you know? Couldn’t control it well enough, apparently. At least that’s what he said after he cut Reidy down.”

Choking, Celine spat out, “He didn’t even blink. He outclassed Reidy in every way. But he didn’t hold anything back, and even as his blade came down; he could have stopped it.”

“But he didn’t.” Ares said, as Celine turned away with tears streaming down her face.

“He stood there, you know. For all of a moment, before he flicked the blood off the blade and turned to face us. Not a shred of emotion on his face.” Damon said as his hands on the table trembled, shaking the utensils.

“We charged him and we were put down in moments.” Ares said quietly as he stared at his hands.

Silently, me and Sia looked at them as our emotions surged.

Then Damon barked out a laugh. “Then he saw Cahir. I still remember the look on Cahir’s face as he knocked away his sword and told him that he wasn’t good enough.”

Eyes widening, I stared at him as I thought of how Cahir, whose swordplay I thought to be masterful, was judged as not being good enough.

Closing his eyes, Damon said, “After the battle. We realized that we needed to come together. But we were used to being alone or in our groups. Except... our group?” pausing, he looked at Ares and Celine, who looked away.

Continuing, he said, “Our group had fallen apart. We each blamed ourselves for not saving Reidy.”

Interjecting, I said strongly, “It wasn’t your fault!”

Smiling bitterly, he said, “Not that easy, Faustus.”

Beside him, Ares and Celine also shook their heads in agreement.

Falling silent, I asked, “What happened then?”

“What happened? What happened was that we split apart.” Damon said with a wry smile as he glanced at the other two.

“But you were united today,” Sia interjected.

“We split apart, but that doesn’t mean we can’t work together.” Celine said with a smile.

Understanding now, I said, “So that’s why there're four leaders. You three, and Cahir.”

Nodding, Damon said, “A portion who were left leaderless after their leaders were picked by the upperclassmen, followed me because of certain other challenges I can’t speak about right now. All the women rallied behind Celine here and she controls the majority of our supplies. Ares here… Bal.”

“Ares?” I asked as I looked at him.

Looking away, he blushed as Damon said, “We both got into an argument and we fought. 7 rounds, and I was on the ground.”

Eyes widening, I looked at Ares as Celine laughed and said, “You should have seen Damon’s expression. And Cahirs when he fought Ares and drew.”

Incredulously, I looked at Ares as I said, “You. Drew. With. Cahir?”

Slowly nodding, Ares almost fell back as I jumped over the table and grabbed him in a bear hug.

Letting go of him and marvelling at his feat, I felt the feeling again.

The feeling of being left behind.

But so what.

I will catch up.

Sooner or later.