Aria stared at the floor, ignoring the looks people in the principal's office were giving her. She wondered where everything went wrong. If she had not agreed to come to Mirilad that day, if she had feigned ignorance of Wander's demonization, if she had done anything differently, Wander would have lived. " Wouldn't he?'

            " We are sorry for your loss, Aria." Principal Xixin frowned." We really appreciate that you are still willing to tell us everything, despite what happened."

            Aria knew her principal was not to blame for everything, but she could not help but feel resentful towards him. He moved forward with the contest, even though he knew the risk.

            " Principal, I think it's time for me to leave." Aria said.

            " Ah, yeah, of course you can leave." Xixin nodded.

            Aria nodded back at her principal and the teachers. She left the office as quickly as possible.

            Hiatus was waiting for her outside, leaning against the wall.

            Aria walked past him. She headed for the entrance gate. She wanted to go home, bury herself in her bed and forget about everything. She heard Hiatus walk behind her.

            Their footsteps were out of synch. The mismatching sound poked at Aria like a needle. 

            "You cut his throat without a second thought." Aria turned around to face the boy."You've been withholding that desire for a while, haven't you?"

            Hiatus's eyes widened, then slowly drooped. He turned his gaze to the debris lying on the yard. "No. It was only at that moment did I decide to take no more risk."

            Aria clenched her fists. "What risk? In the end, he was not even Samundo! He was desperate for our forgiveness."

            " He manipulated us, don't you see?" Hiatus raised his voice."Everything he did, in retrospect, had some freaking ulterior motives! How can I trust him after all that?"

            Aria pursed her lips. She recalled what Wander said in the library not long ago.

            Hiatus grimaced. "You realized already, right? Tell me: he fooled us for 6 years, how can we be sure his desperation was not another lie?"

            Aria trembled. She turned away from her friend.

            Hiatus approached her. He was about to tap her shoulder, when her voice made him paralyze."Then you could have killed him yourself, instead of being a coward who thought he could sacrifice his friend for his duty."

            "What?" Hiatus's voice barely emerged.

            "You pulled me away from him. You think I don't know why?"

            Hiatus swallowed hard.

            "I did not see through Wander, but I saw through you."

            Aria turned to look Hiatus in the eyes.

            " You were clearing the way for the bullets, weren't you? So Wander could be shot, could be killed, without you tainting your hands. You pushed the hard decision to Veritas."

            Hiatus' eyes widened. He took one step back, away from Aria.

            " You disgust me." The words were uttered with Aria using all the force she could muster.

            Hiatus lowered his head, a smile drawn across his face, a miserable smile. He looked up at Aria, and she noticed his eyes turned red. The girl never saw her friend so vulnerable. Not since that day, when she and Wander met him under the oak.

            " You are one cruel person, Aria. Without even trying." He said.

            Aria had once held the future in her hand. Everything had once been certain: family, school, career and friends. Now, her future was but a wall, the wall of Halcyon, a silvery darkness, transforming things beyond into a blurry scenery.

______________________________________________________________________________

            Xixin kicked the metal bars at his feet. He leaned back on his armchair, his eyes closed. He felt tired. He lost his best friend and lots of students in just two days. He let his school be destroyed. He put everything at risk, because he wanted to make the contest a success. He wanted to prevent another Cold Decade, but it seemed he started another one.

            Hannah was sitting in front of him, looking at the bookshelf behind him. She stayed up all night those past few days to help him sort things out. Without her he would not be able to chase the press and the council away in such a short while. Only Dessina remained but he was too tired to care.

            " I will resign." He said.

            " Are you sure?" ask Hannah.

            " I need to resign. No hunter would want to see me in this chair after the massacre. For the sake of this institution I will go.

            Xixin stood up. He walked towards his favorite window. He could see the yard from here. He could not believe just few days ago it had been filled with energetic, happy faces. Now only rubbles.

            " I need to take a break from all of this. And then, I will try to fix what I broke."

            Hannah approached him." I understand. Please know that while your departure is undesirable, it is not the end. This school bears your name, but it will be fine without you."

            Xixin laughed." Is this really a thing you say to a depressing person?"

            " I will wait for your return." Hannah said.

            Xixin nodded. A smile of satisfaction bloomed on his face. " Thank you. Sorry I never gave you a raise."

            Hannah chuckled. "I will give myself one after you leave."

            " Feel free to eat into our budget. Now, you leave immediately! I don't want you to see me cry."

            Hannah laughed as they exit the room. She did not forget to pat on his shoulders.

            "Silly girl." Xixin shook his head, smiling.

            All alone, he opened a drawer under his desk. He took out the pendant Hamilton bought him decades ago. The pendant  held the picture of Hamilton and him.

            " Ham, the promise, I will fulfill it."

______________________________________________________________________________

            Jake did not shy away from the stare Dessina was giving him. The vixen thought she could intimidate him.

            " I know nothing about Wander or his demonization." He stared back at her.

            Dessina smirked. " Funny. You were pretty confident of what you said just two days ago."

            " Any proof?" Jake smiled.

            Dessina chuckled. She stood up from her seat and approached him. She positioned herself behind his back.

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            " Malton, I think we are playing the wrong game here." She grabbed Jake's shoulder." That moronic robot Veritas is trying to wage a war with us. He is trying to make us summoners look bad. You don't want that, right? Your family would not want that, right?"

            Jake want to stuff her mouth with a rugby ball.

            " I mean, what do you lose? Friendship? Oh please, you are not that naive, right?"

            " I repeat for one last time: I know nothing. Now please excuse me." Jake stood up.

            Dessina pushed Jake down. She paralyzed him with a spell. " Now you listen, I—"

            " You listen, Dessina! Put your hand off me right now before I make you regret what you are doing. I will not hesitate to make both of us bleed."

            Jake felt Dessina's fingers sink into him. After a while, she released him.

            " Well, I certainly do not want that to happen."

            Jake stood up, this time with no trouble. He made for the door.

            " However, let me tell—"

            Jake slammed the door behind him. He wanted to bleach his ears.

            Dessina  did not understand anything at all. To expose Wander's story to the world would further destroy the relationship between Hunters and Summoners. " Summoners are only the victim. The hunters have been hiding a turn all along!" Jake could already imagine Dessina's sour voice on TVs, with her teary eyes and clenched fists.  She wanted to save Summoners, but Jake wanted to save both species. He wanted to continue his principal's dream. He wanted to connect Summoners and Hunters.

            Jake saw Alicia waiting ahead. She smiled at him. Jake remembered Aria telling him that Alicia was aristocratic.

            " Waiting for me?" Jake smiled back.

            " I..I was worried. That woman was really fierce when she dragged you with her." Alicia avoided his eyes.

            Jake found her shyness intriguing. " She is a princess, right?" He thought. He chuckled, wondering why he already assumed Alicia was a princess.

            " Is...something wrong?"

            " No, let's go find Aria and Hiatus."

            Alicia nodded. She distanced herself from him before starting to walk.

            Jake wondered if Alicia could help him. She came from a Hunter family of noble origin. She could have political influence. She could increase his chance of success.

            " Say, how can I contact you after we part our ways?"

            Principal Hamilton died, but his dream did not. Jake would do everything he could to make sure it became a reality.

______________________________________________________________________________

            Hiatus let Alicia and Aria walk ahead. He wanted Aria to spend more time with Alicia, knowing that the princess was much better than him at healing people, both physically and emotionally.

            " One heck of a month, don't you think?" Jake said.

            Hiatus nodded. " This is only the beginning. Something tells me this time Samundo will not kid around. This time he, I mean, she, will force us to fight the final battle."    

            " If we lose, we lose everything. If we win, she will never return. Eternal peace." Jake frowned." Can't believe I walked so close to the demon lord. Think about it gives me chill. Urg, and Victor boasted that he kissed her, can you believe that?"

            Hiatus smiled. He could believe that.

            Jake scratched his head." I'm sorry about what happened to Wander."

            " Maybe it's for the best."

            Jake stared at Hiatus, frowning." What?"

            " That guy, I hated him. His weakness irked me. His lies irked me. What he did to Jonathan irked me. But I... really loved him. As much as Aria did. I could feel the affection he showed towards Aria and me. He really made us feel like we were important and special, like we were...chosen."

            Hiatus smiled. " We used to think he was a bullied kid, but he wasn't. He was never who we thought. And that made me realize, even if he had survived, he would eventually fade from our life one day. I don't want that. It's worse than his death."

            Hiatus took a deep breath. " So, maybe this is for the best. Wander is gone, but in our memory, he was our friend till the end."

            Hiatus recalled Wander running towards Aria and him, panting, eyes teary. He wanted to trust Wander's desperation.

            " Is that really how you feel?"

            " Yes. That's what I feel. Truly." Hiatus looked skywards.

            The four walked past a few groups of hunters and summoners. All bore pensive faces, their mouths shut, their hands relentlessly loading the remaining debris onto carts. Their presence did not lift the heavy air surrounding the area. Instead, it dyed everything in a dark shade of solitude.  Dusk had come, the sun had dimmed, and the wind was no more gentle.

            "Someone wants to see you two."said Jake.

            Hiatus turned his eyes on a figure standing a few meters away. It was Jonathan.

            Aria and Alicia had halted their steps. Hiatus caught up to them. He stared at Jonathan. The "bully" 's eyes held no hostility, only sadness. He was staring at the ground, only glanced up once to look at his two former friends.

            " I've heard about Wander." He scratched his arm.

            Hiatus was quiet, and so was everyone else.

            " I... did not like him. I hated him. But I don't feel happy about his death. Please know that."

            Silence, once again.

            " I want to say sorry. To him, and to you. That's all."

            Jonathan turned away. He walked away with his fists clenched.

            " Jonathan." Aria called out. " Is that everything you want to say?"

            Jonathan looked back. Hiatus smiled as he saw his eyes filled with gratitude and joy.

            " Please tell us everything. Everything from that day." Aria said.

            Jonathan stared at Aria, then at Hiatus. As he saw Hiatus nod, he whispered his thank.

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