Chapter 4 - Manhunt

The lessons passed by quickly and the end of the day neared. Eleanor had agreed to help Alex find their other three friends after school has ended. They chatted the whole day, much to the amazement of the rest of the class. During their discussions, Alex found out that 'Five' had arrived in the world quite a while before him, just over a year to be precise. This made Alex realise that everyone of the five had arrived at a different time, and probably in a different aged body. This made him extremely excited to see what the other trio's situation was like.

As the bell rang, Alex and Eleanor headed out. Luckily, after Alex contacted Eleanor, the system arrow updated. It pointed to somewhere still within school bounds which surprised the two as they did not expect another student to be inhabited by one of their friends. Very quickly, they found the next person.

The arrow had settled over the head of a very tall boy, a devilishly handsome face was topped by a scruffy mop of black hair. The combination of the two created a very suave effect. This explained the entourage of girls hooked on his every word.

"That's him, Eleanor."

"Oh, what? Leo? That playboy? Are you sure?"

"I'm 100% certain Eleanor."

"Alright, I believe you. Just to give you some background, that's Leo Di Veriza. The playboy lovechild of the famous actor Anthony Di Veriza and his singer lover Amanda Heyfeld. He is the most popular boy in the school, although he is older than us. At just 15, he is the volleyball team captain, having worked their way to the Britannia Youth Cup Finals."

Eleanor grew quieter as they approached the gaggle of girls drowning the lone lighthouse that was Leo. In view of efficiency, Alex raised his voice:

"Excuse me girls, I have some business with our friend Leo here. Could you please give us some time to talk privately? Many thanks everyone."

Leo turned around, staring at the source of the voice, his brown eyes meeting Alex's in stalemate.

"Sorry everyone, I seem to be required."

Grumbling, the girls dispersed, giving the trio some much needed privacy.

"Do I know you?"

"Nice to see that you also made it through Three. It seems you were given a quite useful person too."

After some awkward silence as Leo processed the statement, the tense atmosphere melted.

" – one?"

"Yup, but you may now call me Alexander Night, and this gorgeous redhead is Five, or otherwise known as Eleanor Wright"

"I've seen her around, but I would have never guessed that it was the scrawny little girl from before. Holy shit. Does this mean that the others have also -?"

"Transmigrated? Yes, we will all be back together soon enough. I also have some interesting news to discuss with you all.

Talking so cryptically, an unwilling expression appeared on Leo's face.

"You still have to act so mysterious? Do you have any idea what this is about Eleanor?"

"Nope, I'm just as clueless as you. But we're in the same class so we did talk all morning. He spilled the beans that this was all caused by him."

"What do you mean caused? I don't believe that he had the strength to cause something akin to starting another life!"

"Nope but his prayer to Nyx, with the offered sacrifice of his own soul for the rest of our lives to be reincarnated was answered. It also seems that Nyx took pity on him and sent him along with us!"

"No fucking way!"

"Alright you two, calm down, we still have to find the other two. This time they don't seem to be students. Just follow me"

Silently accepting Alex's leadership, they followed behind him like little ducklings. Walking in the direction indicated by the system, they worked their way into the heart of the city. As if following a treasure map, Alex led them in the direction indicated with utmost confidence – stumping Eleanor and Leo who had no idea how he knew that they were 'Three' and 'Five'. The mystery just refused to be revealed.

Soon they arrived in front of a big gate and strode beneath the "University of Stockton" sign and walked towards the buildings in the distance. As they walked towards the heart of the university campus, they passed a lot of people staring at them with interest. Who wouldn't be surprised by a trio of high schoolers strolling through the main avenue of the university campus as if they belonged?

With complete confidence, Alex turned left, and headed into a large, old building – the university library.

After going up some stairs and crossing to the other end of the library, they found a study area that was devoid of students – except one. A brown stylish haircut sat above a quite attractive face with a small nose, blue eyes and sharp jawline. All of that was framed by a pair of black glasses, through which the blue eyes stared at the approaching trio.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, pack up and let's go Four."

The calm face was betrayed by the quivering eyes - a visible shock as if the whole world had fallen apart was reflected within them. The trio of high schoolers stared down this university student.

"Brother one?"

"Obviously Four, and this is Three and Five, or better known as, Leo and Eleanor."

"Do you guys know what the fuck is happening?"

"Yea, we found out that we were all reborn together thanks to One, and he seems to be chasing us down for something important. He got Eleanor in the morning, same class, and me after school, since I'm a year below those two," Leo answered 'Four's' query.

"We are still missing Two, but One seems to know where we all are like he had a GPS tracker on each of us. "

"Stop yapping, fill him in on our way to find Two."

Following Alex's lead, everyone left the university campus and headed downtown walking through the busy city centre towards the financial quarter. The old Victorian style buildings of the town centre gave way to increasingly bigger skyscrapers, glass towers reaching towards the heavens in an attempt to defy the pull of gravity.

Amid these steel and glass behemoths, the group of four entered the skyscraper belonging to the Morrigan financial group. A massive conglomerate that dealt in everything from investment to technology, from entertainment to media.