Venos tried reaching for the food on the plate, only to notice that it's empty. "We should leave, now." Venos sat still, expectantly. "Venos, I think breakfast is over." Pressed Karlo. "Alright. If there's no food left, then I guess we should go."

Karlo glanced at Venos. "Why are you so disappointed?" Venos froze. "Am I?" She got a nod in return. "I guess I didn't have excess to all this food, back where I came from."

Venos' gaze became distant. "And I usually had to work in order to get any kind of food. Having these meals is quite a bliss for me." "Well, good for you." Smiled Karlo.

"How about you? What is your life like, outside of the academy." 'Venos, you literally saw him one night.' 'That was just one night, that can't possibly be all there is to his life and you know that!'

"It's pretty good, actually. Unlike you, I usually get to eat the finest food you can ever think of. The best part of it all, I don't even have to do the tiniest bit of work to get it and at night, oh man at night, I get to spend time with this person..."

It was Karlo's turn to gaze at the distance. "I think... she might be the person. The person who's meant for me."

'It sounds pretty weird when you know what he's actually talking about.' 

'And how do you know?' 

'Me? I'm always watching.'

"But Karlo, didn't you say you want to take it slowly, with your relationship." 

"I have, but what does that have to do with her being meant for me?" 

"If she's meant for you, you can just take it fast without worry."

"Where's the fun in that?" He teased. "I think you might have a point there, actually. See, I don't know exactly if she's the one meant for me, but maybe I can test that, by taking it to another level."

Venos shrugged her shoulders. She doesn't have any kind of knowledge about romantic relationships to truly help him, after all.

"We're here!" Karlo opened the door to their room and went looking for something. "Ah, here it is!" He held a notebook.

"What is that for?" Venos' confused voice can be heard. "Homework, remember?" Spoke Karlo in an of-course tone. This answer made Venos look for her own notebook before she could get the needed help.

"We can start now." Exclaimed Venos. "Here, you can copy it." Karlo handed his notebook to Venos. "Aren't you gonna explain this to me?"

"No man, that's too much work for nothing. Just copy the text and read it out loud multiple times and you'll get it."

"Let's hope that works." Venos got to work, immediately. After learning hours have passed, the room's door opened, silently, to reveal a familiar face of a certain boy.

"Look who decided to finally show up," Felicius smirked. "Says you. A person who fails to show up on a daily basis." Karlo felt as if Felicius was trying to insult him, indirectly. He drove away that feeling soon and reminded himself to think more positively.

"So, I was just showing Venos my homework. He didn't know what the Decalogue is, can you believe it?" This left Felicius speechless for a moment.

"Seriously, who does know what that is?" Chuckled Felicius. "The Ten Commandments?" Karlo waited expectantly.

"No, never heard about them." This was a big surprise for Karlo. His other classmates thought the religion is the easiest subject, the professor was quite conservative and strict, but he was able to see from where that came from.

After all, who wouldn't get mad if someone was as ignorant as his roommates? "Don't tell me you're not a Christian." Karlo just wasn't used to this. He knows how insistent his family was on Christianity.

He heard all kinds of things about nonbelievers. This was enough to make Karlo think that he can and should try to convert his roommates.

"You guys really should learn a bit more. You can start by copying my homework, but also, you should consider becoming Christians, yourselves."

"Just give me the homework." Venos handed her notebook to Felicius. "I'm serious, you guys. If you don't believe in the holy trinity then you can't go to paradise." Explained Karlo, completely disappointed by his roommates' lack of interest.

"Sure." Felicius almost laughed. "Is this a joke to you?" "Sort of, you see, I'm an atheist and I've never noticed any kind of change in my life than before when I wasn't."

"Is that so? And what were you before?" "Doesn't matter." This made Karlo utterly frustrated. "Yes, it does matter. Not any kind of religion will just do, it has to be-" "No, it doesn't have to be anything. After all, you don't have proof of god's existence."

"And you don't have a proof of God's absence." "I don't, you're right! But at least I'm not the one forcing other people to behave according to some kind of rules that don't even exist!"

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"Yes, well, at least I'm not the one letting his frustration out on other people." "What does that have to do with being religious?" "Plenty, believe it or not. Any kind of religion gives you at least some kind of comfort and spiritual fulfillment."

"As a person who once used to be religious, the only thing it gave me was constant injustice." Venos closed her eyes, put her hands over her ears, and dashed out of the room.

Once she realized she was out, she slowed down. She observed the doors of each room and stopped when she noticed the door of Tobias' and Bard's room is slightly open.

Venos wanted to open them completely, but instead, she knocked. 'Empty, isn't it?' Suggested voice. Venos sighed. 'It seems.'

She turned away and at that moment, heard an unfamiliar voice. "You need something?" "No, not really."

'Ignoring your feelings, kid?'

That sentence sounded like a challenge to Venos, so she faced her classmate. "Can-can I stay in your room?" "Sure thing."

---

"So that happened?" Nuji looked at her, calmly. "You shouldn't have started with such a sensitive topic. Alas, it is what it is, but trust me, these kinds of fights usually don't last that long."

Venos glanced at him hopefully. "They're not gonna fight for a whole year, that's for sure."

Soon, a knock on the door could be heard. Nuji ran to open the door and out of them came a person in very messy clothes, which, clearly, weren't an academy uniform.

"What's up?" A person faced Venos. "Oh, I see you have a guest." "Well, congratulations on your observing skills." Nuji teased. "Anyways, this is Venos."

Venos greeted the person. "Greetings." "Greetings to you too. I'm Timka." "Glad to meet you..." Venos thought about the name for a bit. "...Timka."

Timka noticed Venos' unusual hands. "What happened to your hands?" "My hands? Oh, nothing. I was born like that and got used to them." Timka frowned. "Sorry, I was just curious." "No problem." Smiled Venos.

"So, Venos, will you join us in card games?" "I guess I can."

---

"Timka, mind telling us how you earned that newest job of yours?" Said Nuji while counting his cards.

"Uhh, at first I had to pretend that I was a boy. That wouldn't have been a problem if all the males there, weren't absolutely crazy."

Venos' heart trembled at that. 'Timka is a girl?' 'Why is that so weird? 'She had to pretend to be a guy?' 'Sounds familiar, doesn't it?'

"How did you tell them?" Venos heard Nuji. "Simple. I just told them and at first, they didn't believe me, but eventually, they figured it out."

"They didn't fire you?" Timka smirked. "Well, they tried but turns out I am the best Blacksmith. If they fire me, their business will drop and they sure don't want that."

"I mean, wouldn't they have problems if someone found out that you're a girl." "I guess, but it's really simple to hide that with these clothes, plus, a lot of people just assume you're a guy."

'Listen carefully, you might get some ideas.' 'I think I already have some, but I'll execute them later, maybe not this year.'

Suddenly Timka yelled. "I win!" "I'm pretty sure you cheated somehow." "Yes, that's what all losers say." Grinned Timka.

"Alright, losers, I'll be going now." Nuji waved goodbye while Venos smiled at the girl.

'Come to think of it, I should go too.' 

'You think? Of course, you should, wouldn't want to bother this guy all day, right after you befriended him.' 

'Alright, I'll go.'

"Thank you, Nuji. I had a nice time here, but I believe it's time for me to leave." 'Why so formal?' "However you feel like. Frankly, I don't mind you staying here."

'He says that out of politeness.' 

'And how do you know?' 

'I've been here a lot longer than you, Venos.'

"Thank you, but I have to... study." "Alright then, see you later."

Venos heard the sound of doors closing behind her and couldn't help, but feel a little lonely. What will wait for her when she comes back to that room?

The room number 103. She stood in front of it for a while. Sweat escaped her pale skin. She wasn't ready for her roommates yet. Should she-

'Hey kiddo, wanna chase the hybrid?' 

'No?' 'Aw, come on! I'm sure you do. Aren't you curious to know about their life in this city? How would your old friend, the one who has a hybrid ancestry, live in a city like this, don't you wish to know?' 'I... do.'

With that, Venos swung the door open, closed her eyes, and yelled. "Guys, I just need to finish this thing, I'll be back before tomorrow, see you!"

She closed the door before anyone had a chance to reply and walked fast out of the academy. 'That went well.' Venos grunted.

She tried to memorize the house in which she saw the hybrid for the first time. She remembers the ballroom and on her way back, a fancy house. It was full of people, back then, but now it seems to be almost empty.

Venos didn't think that going inside was a good idea, so she decided to circle around the house, from a distance. She tried looking through the windows but was unable to find the hybrid.

Every single horn-like object caught her attention, but in the end, wasn't what she was looking for. Venos gazed at the street crowd until she noticed him; perfectly blended in.

He looked as if he lost some of that shine he contained that night. A loose filthy gown hangs on him while he's slowly melting, carrying a heavy bowl full of water. He carefully placed it near the house and looked around to make sure no one paid attention.

Venos rushed towards him as he refreshed himself with the water. When he noticed that her direction of movement is towards him, he slowly turned to walk behind the house.

The closer Venos got, the faster his walk became. Suddenly, he froze. Venos didn't want to get too close, so she kept a certain distance.

'Voice? What do I say?' 

'Greetings, hi, hello, what's up, something of the sort.'

Venos gulped. "Hi there. I'm Venos; what is your name?" Anthrax stood still like a statue and kept his mouth shut. For, what felt like hours to Anthrax, Venos failed to go away.

"What do you want from me?" Said Anthrax, his back still facing Venos' front. This question shook Venos and Anthrax turned to face her, at last. "You know I'm only free at night."

Two brown eyes stared at her. It made Venos wonder, how can someone sound so calm and gentle and yet so frightening. He moved towards the house, only to realize that Venos is following.

"Persistent much, aren't you?" If it wasn't for his tone, Venos might've taken a hint by now. "I don't understand-"

"I know you don't. You guys never do. How many times do I have to repeat, you get to watch and play with me at night, but during the day I'm busy. Not to mention, I'm not allowed to talk without the master's permission. "

As if he wanted to cause a certain reaction with his last sentence, but the only reaction he got was clear confusion. "But it doesn't matter to you anyways, it's not like you'll be the one who gets punished."

'Nice to see they haven't changed.' 

Venos decided to challenge the voice. 

'Ah, sarcastic again, aren't you voice?' 

A pause she got in return shook Venos a bit, but the voice's response surprised her even more. 'Yes, I am.'

"Anthrax?" Someone yelled causing him to fasten his pace. "See you when night falls."

With these words, behind the wooden door, disappeared an angel with the devil's horns.