"Wow...so the two of you really said all that?" Olicia walked alongside Rael as the day drew on. "I'm no expert, but your relationship seems really dysfunctional."

"Well...if I'm being honest. It's both equally our faults...but I'll take responsibility for it." Rael sighed as she moved along.

"Right...my point stands..." Olicia rubbed the back of her head. This seemed like a lover's quarrel to her, and Olicia had zero experience in anything like that. "Well...is any of it true?"

"I think both of us were telling the truth...I just guess he mulled on it more. I never seemed to notice that he felt that way...not like I could have known though." Rael muttered the last part under her breath.

"There's no denying Avures is...very closed off...but what about you?" Olicia stopped at the corner of the street. Rael did the same. It seemed as if the sunset was going to start soon, and multitudes of people were out and about celebrating. The noise was near-deafening. It was like they were two specks in an ocean of noise. But despite that, the conversation felt close and intimate. Rael was surprised at how well Olicia seemed to listen to her. It made her realize too how she was the exact opposite. Rael was a horrible listener.

"I...I've shrugged him off a lot." Rael's guilty conscious made her avoid eye contact with Olicia. "I'm no good with listening to people...I kinda wish I was like you in that way."

"That makes two of us..." Olicia muttered, looking away from the girl as well. But then, she slapped herself on the cheeks and looked back at Rael. "What exactly did you shrug him off about?"

"...a lot of things. The big one-...I guess it's the big one...he saw a vision where I was dead, and I kinda just told him not to worry about it." Rael visibly cringed as she recited it.

"Mhm...you can't even stand to say it." Olicia shook her head. "What else?"

"Well. He also told me how I...ruined his passions..." Rael took a deep breath. Her eyes, normally full of light, looked dull and heavy. "I didn't even know he actually liked being at the Academy...and before that...I-I...I made fun of his art and poetry when we were kids. And he confided in me during our fight that I'm the reason he won't do those things anymore...what do you think?"

"You're horrible." Olicia's expression looked blank. Olicia felt herself grow mad just hearing what she was saying. She knew how awful it was to have people make fun of oneself and their passions.

"Eh? Is it that bad?!" Rael almost looked surprised which served to make Olicia more upset.

"Yes. Yes!" Olicia threw her arms up with an angry-looking expression. "It's actually worse that you're his closest friend too!"

"That happened before we were friends!"

"I can't even begin to describe the kind of torment that entails! But...he chose to be your friend..."

"Well..." Rael rubbed the back of her head. "That's a bit of a stretch..."

"Wow...wow! You're horrible!" Olicia pointed at Rael. Rael put her hands on her head and looked terrified.

"I know I know!..." Rael shook her head.

"Luckily...I'm a-uh...nice person." Olicia grinned and shrugged. "C'mon. I'm gonna help you fix this."

"Huh?...how?" Rael lowered her arms and looked at Olicia with puppy eyes.

"Easy. It might be a little cheesy...but if you do as I say, and be a better listener toward Avures...it'll all be okay. Now let's go." Olicia beckoned Rael to follow behind her...

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"I'm surprised ya knew exactly where I was talkin about." Lylas grew closer to the end of the forest. Barely past the edge of the treeline, Vrela stood against the bark of a tree. The moonlight illuminated her figure and made it seem like her green eyes had a light of their own against the backdrop of the starry sky. She wore a dark blue tunic. She smiled as she watched Lylas walk closer.

"Now...I'm not really "easy" so to speak. So don't be expecting anything from me." Lylas crossed his arms and grinned. Vrela breathed a little harder out of her nose as if to laugh. She moved to the side of the tree that faced the open field ahead. She then sat down against the tree and patted the ground next to her.

"Oh...if ya insist." Lylas walked over to her side and plopped down on the ground beside her. "So...what made ya-"

Lylas was suddenly grabbed and pulled down by Vrela. She pulled him so that his head would lay right in her lap. She put one arm over him, and used the other with her hand to lightly stroke his hair.

"Uh...I-uh..." Lylas darted his eyes around as he looked up at Vrela. Her dark face looked down on him. She smiled softly as she brushed his hair. Their eyes met.

"Just relax...is this okay?..." Vrela continued to pet Lylas.

"Yeah..." Lylas lay there. He continued to look into her eyes. "This is all sudden...I'm not sure if it's right..."

"You can tell me to stop at anytime..." Vrela stopped her hand.

"...keep going..." Lylas closed his eyes and relaxed.

"You seem stressed." Vrela began her petting once more. She lightly grazed her hand across his hair. Occasionally, she would use her index finger and gently curl a strand of Lylas's hair around it.

"Do I?"

"Despite the people around you...despite your win today...and despite what your appearance says...I can feel it in you. You're stressed. Worried. Why?..."

"Soon...we'll be doing contracts. And I'll have to lead my friends into life and death scenarios...it...it worries me..." Lylas's eyelids lazily drifted open as he met those shiny green eyes looking over him. "They all look to me...if something happens to em...I-I couldn't live with myself. They're everything to me. And what good am I if I can't lead em?"

"It's okay...I understand where you're coming from."

"I guess it's senseless to worry about it when it's roughly a week away..." Lylas shifted his head to look towards the night sky.

"But...it gives you purpose, doesn't it? You're just like me. Finding purpose in protecting and guiding the people around you."

"Is that what drew ya to me?"

"Kind of. I saw those feelings inside of you...but I wanted to let you know that you don't have to hold it in. You don't have to hide it from me. It doesn't make you weak to show the feelings inside of you."

"If ya think that...then ya don't get it..."

"But you have a responsibility to your friends. Don't you? To do what's best for them. If you let this hang over you...if you try to keep this act up by yourself...you could fall apart."

"They all come to me. If I'm not strong and fearless in front of em...-"

"I'm not saying you have to change how you are in front of them. I'm saying you can let it all out in front of me, and I'll listen to you and be there for you."

"...I'm not sure if-"

"It's been rough lately, hasn't it?..."

"...it's been some time...and I didn't know him that good...but I miss talking to my great pap." Lylas carefully nestled his head more comfortably in Vrela's lap. "He was the first person to really believe in me. He helped me get in here because he saw me lead kids around a long time ago. My great pap really instilled my beliefs in leadership."

Vrela continued to lightly caress his hair. She stayed silent, both in voice and mind. She was going to keep listening to Lylas through it all. After all, she felt something and someway about him.

"Even though my showing wasn't good...I wish he could have at least seen me at the tournament..." Lylas's eyes began to swell with tears. How long had it been since he had cried?... "I wanted to be able to show him how well I had been doing...it's not fair..."

"I'm sure he's watching over you..."

"But I want him to be here...and I-...I know that he probably is, and that's what worries me..." Lylas felt Vrela's soft hand touch his face. She grazed her thumb below his eyes, wiping away the tears that streamed from his eyes. Lylas sat up afterwards. "If I let something bad happen to em...he'll never forgive me."

"He won't...or you won't?..."

"...I won't forgive me..."

"No one is perfect. If you try to be perfect, you're going to fall flat. The best thing you can do to make sure that things turn out okay...is to just try to be Lylas." Vrela smiled widely at Lylas. He turned back to face her. His eyes and the area around them were red. He smiled back as he scooted himself back to her side with his back against the tree.

"That's all you're gonna get outta me." Lylas sighed with a goofy smile on his face.

"Is it?..." Vrela's soft green eyes met Lylas's own gaze. He felt his body lock up...

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"H-...how long have you been standing there?..." Avures was focused in on Rael. His entire being felt like it would explode from sheer embarrassment. And despite his best efforts to maintain his cool, Avures's face was a deep red and his eyes were as wide looking as can be.

"Mm...long enough I suppose..." Rael's eyes drifted to the side as her own face flared with a light red color.

They both stood there at attention for the other. Neither wanted to move, but neither wanted to walk away. Rael and Avures were both stuck in an awkward contest of seeing who would move first. The other three watched on in silence. The charade went on. Getting sick of the affair at hand. Olicia shoved her shoulder into Rael's back, pushing her forward. Rael stumbled a few feet forward and yelped. Staying on her feet, she gave a vicious glance backwards to the purple-haired girl. Olicia whistled as she looked away, jokingly feigning innocence.

Despite the horrid things they had said and done to each other, each one felt knew they couldn't stand to be without the other. From the moment he had first had his eyes drawn to Rael, even as kids, Avures had felt himself be tugged to her presence. And Rael came to like Avures as a friend during their early years at the orphanage. But at the Academy, he had slowly become the person she fell for. Or rather, he became the person she knew he could be.

Avures took a single step forward. In a move that stunned even himself, Avures found the courage to move towards Rael. Rael physically flinched as she watched that first step. The air of silence hanging around them seemed to only create more pressure. Everything felt heavy, and her heart was practically beating out of her chest. And yet, she too found the courage to take a step closer. Avures's eyes went wide, seeing how she stepped towards him. His heart was racing. They both stepped towards each other with each step becoming more swift until...

"Oh...uh..." Avures was practically breathing on Rael. Both of them were eye to eye and less than inches apart. Avures awkwardly took a single step back. But in response, Rael took a step forward. She put herself as close to him as possible. Avures looked as if he was going to explode. He turned his head away from her, but kept his eyes looking towards her.

"Avures, I'm sorry." Rael slowly lowered the bags she held to the ground and put her arms at her side. Her fiery eyes pierced right through him. The warmth her red eyes had...it embraced him.

"No. I'm sorry." Avures worked up the will to turn his head back towards Rael. He felt his body tremble as the core of his being filled with anxiety. Rael could recognize the uncertainty in him.

"No-no. I'm sorry. I-" Rael felt her hand get grabbed by Avures and stopped mid-sentence.

"No. I'm sorry. I want to start new. I haven't been that open, whether by a conscious choice or not. But I want to change. I'm telling you how I feel. I'm sorry for saying those awful things to you, and accusing you of being selfish." Avures loosened his grip on Rael's hand, letting it slide away from his. "But...thank you for being there for me too. You helped me realize how wrong I was in the way I had been acting lately and for most of my life. So...from the bottom of my heart...thank you."

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Avures gazed right into Rael's eyes. Her lips lightly parted, as if she was taken aback by what he had said. She brought her hands together below her chest and grabbed at her wrist. She caressed the part of her hand he had touched just then too. Her ears flared, and her face's color started to match with her hair.

"...But you're not the only one who gets to be sorry!" Rael stomped her foot, and a passion seemed to take hold in her eyes. Avures gasped as he nearly jumped backwards. "I have been selfish. Everything you said was right...and there's no way to undo what I've said or done to you. But I'll take what you said...let's start again. We don't have to start from the beginning. But I'm going to make this right. That's why..."

Rael knelt down to the ground. She then grabbed one of the bags and messed with it. Undoing the strings on it, she opened the top of it and revealed the contents within. Avures peered down into the bag. He froze...his mouth stood slightly agape. His chest filled with an indescribable feeling as he gazed down. Rael looked up at him and smiled.

"I grabbed some art supplies...and I...I want us to paint together!" Rael smiled wide, showing her teeth. She could hardly contain her own excitement at the idea. Regardless of whether or not she like doing art, she would be doing it with Avures. And that was what she wanted.

"You...you want us to..." Avures gulped and gripped at his chest. Unlike earlier, however, it wasn't out of fear, but some other feeling. He recognized it deep down...

"Yeah!" Rael sprang back up to meet him face to face once more. "It's my own apology...and my own thank you to you because...because..."

"You don't have to say it." Avures was sweating. His knees felt weak. He felt ready to burst at the seams. Rael could see right through him. She giggled quietly, and wrapped her arms around Avures. Any feeling of anxiety, any feeling of shyness, uncertainty, and anything else all seemed to fade away when she hugged him. He felt warm, he felt soft, he felt...

"You're my hero..." Rael moved her lips to Avures's ear and whispered. The breath hitting his ear, carrying those words...Avures brought his arms up and embraced her in return. He held her close, and held tightly. The warmth coming from Rael's body enveloped him like a blanket. Avures was flooded with a wave of emotions.

Throughout it all, the relationship between the two of them finally felt right to him. Or at least, it felt as if this was the way it was meant to be. All of the bad feelings, the pent up anger, and the frustration between the two felt so little and minute in comparison to what they actually felt about each other.

"I told you that you didn't have to say it..." Avures's voice was quiet as he whispered back in Rael's ear. Her red hair was close to his face, and was making him feel hot and stuffy as it partially covered his face. Rael giggled.

"I wanted to. I don't want you to forget it." Rael closed her eyes and continued to smile as they still held each other. She wanted the moment to last forever.

"Well...you're my hero too..." Avures closed his eyes as the words left his mouth. Rael's eyes shot wide open. She had known it, but she would never have thought that Avures would actually say it. She felt like she was going to explode from pure joy. However, much to her surprise, she did hear an explosion. A very quiet one. She turned her head to the source of it.

"Oh neat. The fireworks are starting." Olicia pointed over to the city. High above the towering buildings that could be seen in the distance, particles of light eclipsed the night sky as they burst forth. All sorts of different shapes, and colors appeared in the sky, and cascaded slowly down as they became a fiery display. Olicia, Ventrix, and Bif all looked towards the city. Olicia and Ventrix, of whom, both sat next to each other on the fountain.

Rael and Avures still held each other, but pulled their faces away to look at the explosions as well. They were both in awe at the visual display in the sky. Even in a world full of magic, such a vision still felt extraordinary. No magic could quite look like this on it's own. It felt truly special. As their attention slowly faded from the fireworks, both still looked on and refused to look at the other. They weren't sure what to do.

"This is so cliché..." The two of them both thought simultaneously.

Avures had hardly realized it, but he was holding her at the waist with his arms wrapped around her back. She was in the same position as well. It was an unconscious change that both of them had done. This moment felt...surreal to him. It felt right, but the nerves that crept through him made him almost lock up.

Rael wanted the moment to last forever. In a way, she finally had what she wanted. But, as she turned back to Avures...she wanted more from him. She knew he wanted her, and she wanted him. Rael now had Avures, she knew that, but she wanted him to feel special. She wanted to feel special. Maybe her next move was going to be selfish since she only considered herself in it...but...

"Avures." Rael quietly grabbed the attention of the boy. He slowly turned his head back to meet her gaze once more. "Can you...-c-can you kiss me?"

Avures's eyes went wide. The red-haired girl's gaze went off the the side as her face glowed red. Rael was too embarrassed to look him in the eyes after the request. Avures blushed...but he couldn't bring himself to say yes or no. In the deepest pit of his emotions, he wanted to. But his body wouldn't...it couldn't act. Anytime he tried to move closer to her, his mind was immediately assaulted with it all. Those memories of events that either never took place, or hadn't happened yet...

"Can you tell me that you love me?"

Avures's arms and hands trembled as they were still wrapped around Rael. She looked back up to his eyes. He was seemingly frozen in place. The redness faded from her own face as she looked at him with concern.

"I'm not ready to yet..." Avures looked down at Rael with conviction. As much as he wanted to kiss her, as much as he wanted to say that he loved her...his emotions were true, but his body disallowed it. His mind disallowed it. No matter what, he still felt unworthy to do so.

"If it's too soon...I understand." Rael smiled warmly at him. She pulled herself closer in again. "I promise I'm not upset or anything."

"It's not that..." Avures's own gaze fell to the side. Even with all the years they've spent together as friends...all the time they've had...it really wasn't about that. Avures wasn't going to let things idly go anymore. For once in his life, he felt a true personal investment into the future. He had a goal. He wasn't comfortable with living in a present without a guaranteed future. If he kissed her now, if he told her that he loved her now...would it mean anything if he couldn't do it into the future as well?...If he couldn't do these things with Rael...with his friends...years down the line, was it even worth it? In his mind, a case could be made for either side, but...he wouldn't allow these visions to tear him apart anymore. Instead, they'd be used to create his ideal future no matter what. A future where he would have everyone.

"Then...would you be able to say what it is?..." Rael rested her head on Avures's shoulder as she continued to smile.

"I want to be someone worthy of you. I want to make a future for us first...where we can be together without worry..." Avures held her tightly. His mind raced. Rael, Lylas, Bif, Ventrix, Olicia...it wasn't just any one person. Rael might be more important to him than anyone else, but he wanted all of them in his future no matter what.

"Cherish what ya got, and fight like hell to keep it..."

That quote by Lylas's grandfather rang throughout Avures's mind. It reverberated and matched with everything he wanted. And he was going to do just that...

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With the day concluded, a week of festivities would come and go. The fireworks had went on for some time, and all the students had watched on. Afterwards, most of them hung out by themselves.

Bif had turned in for the night, uninterested in what was going on after the fireworks. Ventrix and Olicia had talked for some time, not doing much of anything. Then Rael and Avures had started to set up the art supplies in their shared room for the next coming days. And both Vrela and Lylas continued to spend their night together.

However, during the later end of that same night...

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A slap rang out in a dimly lit room.

"Wake up!" Grula smacked Zen upside the head again. The man shot up and stood up straight in the wood chair he found himself resting on.

"Huh?-Where?" Zen's eyes darted around the room. There was a singular lantern lighting up the room they stood in. Seeing the windows, the table...Zen yawned and scratched his head. "Grula...why are we at your house?...did we?..."

"No, you fucking idiot! You were blackout drunk!..." Grula rolled her eyes and walked over to the windows. She pulled the curtains together as to hide their presence from anyone outside.

"Ah...well excuse me...it's just been a while so..." Zen smirked as he felt his head pound with a furious headache. A dim glow spread forth from his hand and covered his head. "If that's what you're wanting..."

"This is not about that!..." Grula walked back over to the chair she had placed Zen in. She sighed, being incredibly frustrated between what needed to be said and how Zen was acting.

"Ah...no more hangover...swell." Zen pulled his hand away from his head and the glow faded out. "So, what is this about? Why did you drag me here?"

"I'm gonna try not to beat around the bush. But, I heard a self-admission from Meius when he stumbled out of the bar. He met with someone who referred to him as...the "Flow Priest"...the person referred to him as "Usime"...and the person mentioned reviving Ozix..." Grula leaned herself up against the wall next to Zen as she recalled the conversation that had happened mere hours ago.

"W-...what?..." Zen's eyes went wide as he heard Grula explain. Flow Priest...that was most certainly the term used for the leadership of the Cult of Ozix. "Do you realize what you're saying?...What you're implying?..."

"Of course I do!...Meius has been a part of the Academy longer than most of us. He was the one who recruited me in the first place...and let you in when I brought you...he's been Deputy-Headmaster longer than we've been alive for crying out loud." Grula gritted her teeth as the deeper, unsettling truth set in.

"Part of our inner circle...would know how Xilvas's shade works...did you tell anyone else?" Zen looked at his hand as he figured up the thoughts in his head.

"Hell no!...there's no telling if anyone else is in on it...and I definitely couldn't throw out an accusation in front of Xilvas."

"That's right. He could confirm if what you're saying is true...but if Meius has been able to bypass Xilvas's shade the entire time...then he'd have conflicting stories...at best, Xilvas would shrug it off. At worst...it could be turned on you."

"That's why I came to you. You're the only one I can trust, Zen. And it all matches up with our talk before battling the cultists."

"So...it stands to reason that Meius used us to clear out that cult of it's leadership so he could assume control...just like we had theorized before...you wouldn't just make something like this up...so we can say this is the truth for certain..." Zen rubbed his chin in thought.

"That's the one thing that we have." Grula shook her head, cursing herself in her head as well. If she could have gotten more information...

"It leaves so many questions though. Firstly, is Meius truly an enemy of the Academy?..." Zen lifted his finger as he looked at Grula.

"He seemed to agree with the notion of reviving Ozix...so I'd say yes. But it doesn't match up with how he's always been. It just doesn't make sense to me why he would do this?"

"Could there be a chance...he's possessed? Perhaps that isn't Meius, but someone pretending to be him. Maybe this is what "Usime" is in reference to. It's clearly an anagram. Though, I have no way of knowing if Meius or Usime is the original."

"Meius did seem to get angry over the mention of it...but I'm not sure..."

"Then we can disregard that for now. Secondly, how has he been disguising his intent and evading detection from Xilvas's shade up to this point?" Zen lifted a second finger. "A shade that can detect when a lie is told by the target, and can detect when a truth is told...how is he bypassing that?"

"He would have to utilize some sort of shade or magic that allows him to bluff it...but how would that even work?" Grula was almost kicking herself in frustration.

"I'm stumped there as well...but thirdly, how long do we have before he revives Ozix, or does some other action?" Zen raised a third finger. "There's the obvious method of trying to get the location from Xilvas...but that also has some inconsistencies associated with it."

"Well...the man he was with mentioned something about an artifact. If they're after that, maybe they don't need the location of Ozix. Maybe this artifact removes the need for his death site?"

"It's possible...but having the location...no, something definitely doesn't add up." Zen stood up from his chair and started to pace back and forth. "You haven't been clued in. I figured this out myself a while ago, but the information of the death site is tied to a magic that will dispel upon Xilvas's death. It's quite literally a lock which will open when Xilvas passes away. If Meius had wanted to...he could have killed Xilvas and taken the information. The knowledge of ritualistic revivals isn't unknown...and the Cult of Ozix certainly has the required elements to perform it."

"...you're right!...Actually..." Grula's heart sank to the bottom of her chest. Zen was much the same in that regard too. They had both hit the same realization without even saying anything to each other.

"If reviving Ozix were the goal...it would have been done already..."

"There's something more to this. We know Meius is guilty in some way...we can't waste any time." Zen turned to Grula and took a deep breath. "As much as I'm sure you'd like to solve this by killing him...we should gather evidence against him, that way we can have the other staff in against him too. More importantly, have Xilvas realize what's going on."

"No...I agree, actually." Grula nodded her head. "He was completely drunk when this all happened. He was delirious. I guarantee he doesn't know that we know."

"And that's our advantage...I'll gather evidence. You keep an eye on him in the meantime. Let's take it slow and not rush things. We risk getting sloppy if we do. Sound good?" Zen walked towards Grula and extended his fist.

"Mm...just like old times when we used to go out and do contracts together...except the stakes are much higher." Grula sighed and bumped her fist against his.

The two of them had a mission of great importance ahead of them...

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The week would remain mostly uneventful for our main students. Most of them had no plans, and opted to just go do things on a whim. Meanwhile, Avures and Rael were practically inseparable. The two of them had confined each other to only spending time with each other during the week. With the art supplies set up, and with the festival going on...they opted to draw and paint pictures based on the themes of the festival. That was, with their own little twist on things.

With looking to the past, the two of them both made their own art-piece. Rael made a very shoddy doodle of both her and Avures playing tag as kids. Though she knew he never did that, she thought it was cute nonetheless. And although it was far from looking any sort of good, Avures had an appreciation for it. Avures ended up redrawing his first picture of Rael from so long ago. It wasn't quite the same, and though Avures couldn't remember how it originally looked, Rael seemed to enjoy it.

With the theme of the present, Rael tried her hand at painting. She was trying for a portrait of Avures...but all she ended up doing was getting paint all over herself and the canvas. She had made an absolute mess, but the two of them had fun in doing so. Avures, on the other hand, managed to put the necklace back together. That necklace Rael had ripped apart...seeing it again had injured her heart a little, but she was grateful that Avures had put in the effort to fix it.

And finally, with looking forward...the two of them didn't have any particular idea. So, Avures took the rest of the paint and tried to make a portrait of Rael with it. The painting itself turned out alright. Rael was absolutely floored with Avures's artistic ability, but he chalked it up to an attention to detail rather than any talent. Nonetheless, he had made a mess of himself all the same as Rael had done before.

Avures was...thrilled. He was glad that things turned out okay, and that his feelings were somewhat reciprocated. He was never the type to think of himself as having any sort of romantic feelings. But here he was. He could feel them, but showing them...it was still a problem. Even then, it felt like a new chapter in his life.

Rael was thankful for Olicia's advice and help. She had no idea the purple-haired girl would know exactly how to fix this. Though, the most important thing Olicia had done for her...was point out just how bad of a person Rael had been. It helped her to really understand just how hurt Avures was. And now, she could move forward with Avures still by her side. She was excited to see where it would go...

The day eventually came. The end of the week of festivities. And, the beginning of their second year in Lancer Academy. This would be their first step into the future. Their first steps into becoming Lancers...