It was the next morning, and the girls were awake, but weren’t really sure what they were supposed to do, so they just decided to talk, something they haven’t had time for in a while. The three of them were still trying to fathom the whole simulation thing, as they talked.

Axel knocks on the door, opening it. “Ah good you’re awake. It’s time for breakfast, then head to the training hall, it’s the door three doors down from the dining hall,” He says, before walking off.

The girls nod and stand up, walking out of the room, and towards the dining hall. When they got there, they saw that the buffet tables were filled with various types of breakfast foods. Zyra and Iris went and got them food and of course grabbed a plate for Cece, heading back to the table.

Cece groaned when they put the plate down in front of her, but she decided to make them happy by eating a little, trying her best to ignore the voice in her head. Zyra and Iris smiled, glad she was eating, completely unaware what was going on inside her. After about ten minutes, the girls finished eating and went to the training room like they were told.

When they got to the training room, they opened the door to see punching bags, mats and armour, and weapons. The bow and arrows had ended up catching Cece’s eye, whereas the throwing knives caught Iris’s eye. However, no weapons caught Zyra’s eye, what caught her eye was a boy around her age, he had blond hair, green eyes, and he looked familiar. “Alex…?” Zyra mutters, as she watches him practice his sword fighting.

Zyra didn’t hear Cece and Iris calling out to her, wanting to show her all the cool weapons, her eyes were trained on Alex. She watched as he moved his feet, keeping his left foot in the front, and angled at a ninety degree angle, away from his right foot at all times.

She watched as the sweat on ALex caused his shirt to cling to him, or how his short blonde hair whooshed a bit as he moved. She didn’t hear when Axel called out to her, telling her to choose a weapon, she didn’t even notice the tears that were running down her face as she smiled, “Alex!”

Alex turns around, spotting Zyra, he grinned, sheathing his sword, he walked over to her, “hey!”

“I’m so glad you weren’t part of the simulation! I was afraid I lost you for good,” she mutters, hugging Alex tightly. Cece and Iris smiled, happy for Zyra. They just wished she would accept the fact that she loved him.

Axel looks at Alex, “you need to tell them the truth.”

Axel frowns and pulls away from the hug, looking at his father, “did you really have to bring that up? You ruined the moment!” He whines.

Axel sighs, “son please, they deserve to know. I waited till they saw you so that you could tell them.” Zyra, Iris, and Cece were completely and utterly confused by now, as they just watched them go back and forth.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Alex groans and looks at the girls, “unlike y’all, I wasn’t sick. My father, who is Axel, sent me into the simulation at a young age,” he chuckles nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Wait...you knew that our life was a simulation, that it was a lie, and you didn’t tell us?” Cece asks, blinking.

“Alex looks down, “I wasn’t allowed to tell y’all. We weren't sure how y’all would react.”

“Wait...how did you not get sick?’ Zyra asks, confused.

“We don’t know actually,” Axel responds for Alex, before he could say anything. Zyra just nods, deciding it’s best not to question it any further. She turns around to see Cece and Iris grinning, frowning in confusion she asks, “what’s up with those faces?”

Cece sighs and pulls Zyra to the side, whispering something in her ear, causing her to blush beet red, and shake her head, furiously. Alex frowned in confusion, but shrugged it off, knowing this was their usual behavior.

“Ok girls, it’s time for you to pick your weapons so you can get to training.” Axel says, glancing at the three of them. Zyra and Iris had excited looks on their faces as Zyra went over to the swords, Iris went over to the throwing knives, but Cece however looked nervous, as she stood there. She wasn’t ready for this, even if the bow and arrows did look spectacular.

Cece looked down at the ground, not exactly sure what to do. Zyra and Iris went to show Cece what they picked out, but frowned when they saw her expression. The two girls put their weapons on a bench, and ran over to her, “what’s wrong?” Zyra asks.

“I-I can’t do this, I’m not strong enough, or even smart enough,” Cece mutters.

“Cece,” Iris says, putting a hand on her shoulder, “you can do it, you’re smart and strong, plus Axel said something about training so if you want, you can get stronger.”

Cece shakes her head, not able to hear the words coming out of their mouth, the voice in her head was lounder, the voice was busy yelling at her telling her she was weak, fat and stupid. She couldn’t take it anymore, she ran out of the room, silent tears falling down her face, mentally cursing at herself for showing weakness, but she couldn’t take it anymore, she wanted the voice to go away.

She ran until she saw a sign that said, ‘stairwell to roof.’ She took a deep breath not wanting to go up there for...reasons, but something inside her, was telling her she needed to go up there. Fighting with herself on the inside, but the voice inside her won, causing her to open the door and head up the stairs. She tried stopping her, knowing she couldn’t stop herself,, she still tried to fight, she left the door open, hoping to give the others a sign.

Silent tears fell down her face as she got to the top of the stairwell, she slowly and shaikly opened the door to the roof, she walked onto the roof, looking up at the dark and stormy sky, she saw it beginning to rain. Sighing, she walked to the edge of the roof, her long curly, brown hair now frizzy from the rain, she stood at the edge of the roof.

She stared down at the ground, seeing the traffic on the street. She was shaking, tears falling down her face, rain pouring down on top of her. She stepped onto the edge and closed her eyes, but before she could step off, she heard a voice calling out to her. She turned around to see Zyra and Iris standing there, out of breath, fear evident in their eyes.

“Cece don't do this, please!” Iris calls out, stepping towards Cece with her hand outstretched.

Cece shakes her head, “I can’t do this! I’m not strong enough to fight! I’m weak, scared, and I want to escape all this!”

“No Cece, that isn’t true!” Zyra shouts, “You have to believe us! You’re stronger than you think, stronger than you know, please Cece, don’t do this!” Cece bites her lip, looking at the girls, then back down at the street, sobbing silently, she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t want to do this, but the voice was edging her to do it, she wanted to stop the battle with mental health so bad. It was getting to be too much for her, but she couldn’t leave her friends, could she? No, she couldn’t!

She took Iris’s hand, and stepped down from the ledge, sobbing, she hugged both of them tightly. “I’m sorry, it was getting to be too much.”

“It’s ok, we can talk if you want, but let’s get out of the rain first.” Iris whispers, as the two pull back from the hug, guiding Cece to the door, and down the stairs. Cece, Iris, headed back to the room, and Zyra went to explain that they couldn’t train today, but decided not to go into detail, then headed to the room they all decided to stay in together, to help Cece.