Perhaps due to the accumulated stupidity energy of the four crazies in one place, Jin's oppressive presence, which always ended up driving people away, didn't seem to have much effect.
The new members easily adapted, Lucille even dared to start a conversation. Apparently, she had always been curious about Jin. Because of the craziness of the syllabus and other reasons, she never took the time to get close to her, or so she said. Now that they were in their second year, they were somewhat used to the brutal curriculum, and she, like many others, could take her head out of the books and take a look around.
They shared trivial topics that somehow became an eye-opener to the spectators, the conversation changed their preconceptions of Jin. At times, she was logical and easy to talk to, moments in which she was adorable and playful, and the next moment, she was whimsical in defending her position in the discussion, like a normal person would be.
Lucille told her that she was waiting for Blair, the delegate, to come out of a meeting with the committee and that was why they were late to come in to the cafeteria; the responsible one was eating at her side with written pleasure on her face. Louis, on the other hand, was delighted by the scene unfolding before his eyes.
—Magic exists! —said Louis, barely containing his excitement—. It's real. Three of the four Goddesses of the second year are having lunch with me. I can feel the envy.
—Four Goddesses? —Antonio interrupted—. Since when do we have that setting? Who is the fourth?
—The famous "fourth goddess", it's her, you know, that girl over there —added Saya, putting her arm over Aiden to disguise the shameless pointing to a swarm of people orbiting a stylish, gorgeous, and voluptuous girl—. Her appearance and disposition screamed wealthy air-head, but don't be fooled, her great intelligence and terrible vengeful character is well known by many.
—Agh, her, huh? Naturally —commented Antonio without thinking, his gaze fixed on the sandwich in his hands—. Personally, I don't think she has anything divine, and her personality is a bit annoying to say the least. Dealing with her is like when the chocolate bar gets stuck in the spring and the machine thanks you for choosing it.
—I don't know whether I agree or not with the last part, but it's true that she is annoying —added Louise—; nothing satisfies her, and you're mistaken if you expect reciprocity. It's a shame we lost the opportunity to have our fifth Goddess.
Louis placed his hand over his chest and looked towards the horizon, he didn't care that there was a wall in the way.
—Maika would have been the chosen one! Destined to bring balance to the force and lift the morale of the second year with her mysterious aura that probably hid her sensitive and childlike facets. It's a shame she transferred suddenly to that elite academy. Of all places, it had to be there.
Aiden returned a little of the juice he had just sipped when Louis' idiotic, but surprisingly accurate, words reached his ears. Saya, who was at his side, let out a rough laugh while giving taps to his friend's back.
—Ah…! We lost the fifth finger that would complete the God hand, and put an end to the infernal kingdom that is the academy!
Melody Blair, who had been feeling uncomfortable for a while about the direction the conversation had taken, finally finished her dish. It was shining clean! So, it was time to play her role and be the voice of reason, the lighthouse in the deep night for this hopeless group. Lucille, though, seemed to enjoy the show, and Jin didn't seem to care either way.
—Uh, guys, has anyone heard the rumors that are going around these days?
The guys looked at each other for a second, affirming each other's ignorance to not feel inferior, and turned their attention back to the delegate.
—It's a new mystery! With this one, I think we now have the seven mysteries of the city.
You could tell a mile away the excitement in her voice. Perhaps such topics would seam uncharacteristic of someone who studied mathematical logic, introduction to artificial intelligence, and principles of quantum mechanics, and all that on a Monday! To believe in childish things like the supernatural, but the delegate could not help announcing her excitement when she spoke of these topics.
Maybe it was due to the stress from the demanding studies, or the fact of having so many young people gathered in one place facilitated the spread of rumors. So much of the population of the northern district was students, that it came to be commonly known as the self-proclaimed Academic City.
—As you know, there are various urban legends, especially these days, floating around. The latest news, what the rumors say, is that —she slightly bit her lips as if she savored the dramatic pause—. There is a vampire in the city!
Silence took over for a second in the previously chaotic table, even the neighboring tables stopped doing whatever they were doing to listen to the ridiculous situation being discussed by the colorful group of slackers in their eyes.
—What? Vampire? Pff. Oh, come on —said Lucille—, what grade are we in? And a vampire is so out of date.
—Oh? Please explain.
Jin, however, showed interest in the topic, asking the enthusiastic delegate to continue. Saya didn't seem too happy for a second, but besides Aiden who was next to him, no one else noticed the fleeting emotion on his always confident face.
—That's what the rumors say! Several people, including professors and students, have recently disappeared. And just yesterday they apparently found the body of a boy our age. His skin was dry and wrinkled, he didn't even have four teaspoons of blood in his body and no evident wound. It was as if they had sucked most of his liquids with a syringe.
Aiden was about to squeeze the easily degradable carton to take in of the last drop of juice, when he processed the words of his classmate, and a horrifying image, product of his imagination, of secrets, invaded his mind.
Suddenly, it was all he could think about, the carcasses made of bodies that Maika hunted, the atrocious monsters he faced, the homunculi, and what happened to the poor souls that made up the vessel for that experiment.
Cold sweat slowly slipped down his back as his heart pumped more and more blood, and his body heated up. It was as if time had been reduced by half. Colors gradually lost saturation and voices couldn't be fully distinguished. A piercing and vivid pain ran through his leg, as if something was tearing its way from inside out; it was like an alien wanting to come out from under his skin.
«This can't be», Aiden thought. His breathing was ragged and heavy. The unaware kids continued their conversation without suspicion nor worry. «Everyone should be dead, Maika and I wiped them out. Could it be possible that one got away!? Or worse… And there's a real vampire on the loose, attacking people, causing trouble in the city? At least I know how a homunculus moves now and as long as it doesn't evolve into an 'angel', it's not impossible to defeat it. But a vampire!? What if it's just as strong, or even half as strong as an angel, it could kill us all here before help arrives! I have no idea what to do against this kind of monster. It would end me before I could find any solution. It would kill me. Then it would kill Maika and my friends. No! I must do something before it's too late… But, what can I do?»
With the same determination that Aiden was losing his sense of surroundings, the terrible pain was also becoming apparent. Not just in his back anymore, Aiden was sweating noticeably, and his leg was pounding so aggressively that if he didn't put pressure on it, his friends would have noticed the tremble, or worse, he could have kicked the table out of pure reflex.
The voices sounded submerged, but he could vaguely distinguish someone calling his name several times. It was Saya, who had the grace to be discreet, well, in his own way. Similar to before, Saya crossed his arm over Aiden and called his name near his ear so that others would not notice.
—Look at this one —said Saya—. He's even trembling with fear. Hahaha! I didn't think you would be so scared of a simple ghost story for children. I bet each of those darn seven mysteries is the creation of some sadistic third-year student or a university student with too much time on their hands.
Saya's sarcastic and mocking comments were a ray of light in the darkness that were Aiden's thoughts. The phantom pain had not gone completely, but for some reason it had given way to a tolerable degree.
—Don't be annoying —said Aiden, taking Saya's arm off him—. I was just absorbed in my thoughts. Sorry, delegate, it wasn't my intention to be distracted while you were talking. I was trying to remember if I took my medicine this morning. It seems I indeed forgot, but keep going with what you were saying, don't give Saya any fuel. You know what they say, a Macaque Fuscata shows its teeth.
He proceeded to take one of the small blue pills and placed it in his mouth. He shot a grateful look at Saya, but he just ignored it. The favor from before was settled, it was understood, with his casual attitude.
A couple of minutes later the pain subsided completely and, right on time, the bell rang indicating the end of recess. "Back to marching to war," he heard Antonio say, as he got up carefully.
The rest of the students also headed to their respective classrooms. During the rest of the afternoon classes, Aiden continued absorbed in his thoughts, rationalizing what had happened.
I mean, thought Aiden, what was I thinking? Monsters or not, crimes still happen. Plus, what's the probability of finding a vampire? If something like that really exists, that is.
The hours flew by, with Aiden trying to focus on his studies.