‘She is not here... where could she be?’ Arthur peeked inside the barrack, but he could not see anyone inside.

“Riley, can you see anyone inside?” he asked his bond since it could see in the dark better than him.

*Squeak!* It shook its head in denial.

“Could she be back in the dorm?” he wondered as they walked back to the dorm, having no lead as to where the girl could be.

Just as they were about to enter the dorm building, Riley stopped Arthur by pulling at his clothes.

“What's up, Riley?” He asked with a frown as the rat looked left and right while sniffing the air.

*Squeak!* It pointed before scurrying toward the dorm backyard, asking Arthur to follow it.

“Did you find something?” Arthur said in a hushed voice.

The rat looked back before nodding at him and led him forward. But when they arrived in the backyard, it was empty. It sniffed the air a few times before looking up.

“Wait, Riley!” Arthur tried to stop his bond as it climbed the drainage pipe to the roof, but he ended up following the rat up.

With difficulty, Arthur climbed the three-storied dorm building by holding onto the drain pipe. When he found his footing on the roof, Riley was peeking at the other side of the roof, while hiding in the shadow.

‘Did Riley find Athena? What would she be doing up here?’

Arthur tried to sneak closer, but he was not as light or as nimble as the rat; he ended up making noise as he walked on the roof.

“Who’s there?” A familiar voice asked from the other side.

Arthur cursed inside before revealing himself with a raised arm in surrender.

“It’s me,” he said, trying to look harmless and casual.

Athena was hugging her bond with her back toward him; she turned her head just enough to spot him.

Arthur could see a frown on her face, which was rare. ‘Her face is not paralyzed, it seems,’ he mused.

“What are you doing up here?” She asked; he could hear slight hostility in her voice.

“I just returned from training, and Riley ran up here. I ended up following it,” He scratched the back of his head, blaming the rat.

Athena did not reply but seemed to believe his lie as she looked forward again, staring at the night sky.

Arthur walked closer, trying to keep his steps quiet so he wouldn’t bother people in the room under him, then he sat some distance beside Athena.

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She did not turn to look at him but kept staring at the moon. When he looked at the moon, he noticed that it was a full moon.

Athena’s sapphire blue eyes were glistening under the moonlight, seeming to be lost in thought.

“What about you, Athena? What are you doing up here?” He asked the girl.

“Nothing,” She replied, finally ceasing her staring as she hugged Selena closer. The Arctic fox seemed to be asleep.

“Are you sure? You seem... lost?” Arthur was not sure if "lost" was the correct word, but that's the only word that came to his mind when looking at her.

Athena shook her head before looking at the moon again, refusing to look at him.

Arthur did not push her and let the silence endure as he looked at the moon as well. He was not the type of person to usually watch the night sky even though he lived on the street.

After some silence, he finally looked at Athena again. “Are you perhaps missing your home?”

He did not expect to receive an answer, but Athena's head moved slightly, nodding. If he was not observing her, he would have missed her movement.

Arthur wanted to tell her she could tell him about it, but knowing her, she probably would not share anything with him.

“You know... before coming here, I was all alone. When the Apocalypse happened, I lost both my parents, and none of my relatives took me in. Well, I can't blame them since life was hard at that time. But I’m okay now since I have Riley and everyone here,” He tried to tell her about himself as he patted his bond and family.

He looked at Athena, looking for any reaction, but she seemed to be unmoved by his story, so he kept his silence once more.

To his surprise, after a minute of silence, Athena started talking, “Before the Apocalypse... my father was a police officer, and my mother was a doctor. Despite being busy, they always made time for me.”

“I loved them so much... when the Apocalypse happened, they did their best to help people... and yet...” Athena bit her lips, her eyes glistening with grief.

Arthur wanted to ask what happened, but he held himself, ‘Asking what happened will only hurt her more, and I'm here to find out if she is a spy or not, I need to get my priorities straight.’ He hated himself for thinking about his mission, but he pushed the feeling back.

“Do you hate the world?” He asked slowly as he tried to observe her reaction.

Athena bit her lips, she nodded after some hesitation, tears on the edge of her eyes, which made Arthur frown.

“Do you hate people who did this to you?”

She nodded once more, the hesitation gone as she nodded with some determination.

“Do you hate humanity?” Arthur asked very slowly, afraid of her answer. If she said yes, then she would be in prison the moment he reported her.

Athena was stunned, taken aback by the question. She looked at the moon, thinking about her answer before looking at Arthur, tears flowing down her cheeks.

“No, I don't hate humanity. Even if the humanity hates me for what they believe my parents did, I don’t hate them,” Her voice steady even with tears running down her cheeks.

Arthur's eyes were wide; he had never seen someone so beautiful when they cry. It made him want to wipe the tears from her eyes, to console her, to protect her, to go against the world for her. But he pushed the stupid thought away.

‘Is this why people say a woman's tears can ruin a nation? She almost got me there!’

To Arthur, protecting himself was the most important thing in the world. He would not be so stupid as to promise Athena to fight the world for her sake.

“I’m sure you can prove them wrong with your actions, Athena. I believe in you.” he told her with a smile, to which she nodded while wiping her tears.

They sat in silence for another five minutes before Arthur spoke once more.

“Athena, let’s go back to the dorm. The others might get worried,” he said while getting up.

“Athy,” Athena mumbled, to which Arthur looked back in confusion.

“Huh?”

“You can call me Athy. Athena is a bit mouth full, isn’t it?” She said seriously with her usual poker face.

“Ugh... fine, let's go back... Athy...” Arthur cringed at himself for calling her by a nickname.