As Zephyr descended down the stairs, she was greeted by a familiar hallway with some students walking around. As familiar as it looked, none of the students looked like the ones from before. She was in a completely different stadium.
Where's Brother.. And Mr. Percival? The downcast voice in her mind went hand in hand with her crestfallen face and slow walking. She looked around, taking a peek at each and every room, trying to find Sévir and Percival.
And finally, she found them.. I mean, she found Percival. Mr. Percival.. She walked towards him, looking around. Brother isn't here?
She got close enough to see what Percival was doing–he was studying. Beside him were stacks of books, he was still wearing the headband that read out 'INDOMITABLE HUMAN SPIRIT'.
She leaned closer, her hands clasped behind her back. "Mr. Percival..?" Her voice was low, but it was definitely enough for Percival to hear.
His tense face, tense from grinding the book he's currently reading, slowly loosened up. Huh? Why am I hearing an angelic voice? Am I dying from all this studying?
He looked to his left, only to see Zephyr. But it was enough for him to recoil back in surprise. "Z-Z-Zephyr!?"
She smiled a little and waved at him.
It hasn't even been 10 seconds, and his ears were already burning. He cleared his throat, giving himself a second to compose himself. "W-What brings you here?"
"I was trying to find you and Brother." She looked around once more. "Where is he?"`
He shrugged. "I don't know. I haven't seen him since he won his fight against Kalvin."
She raised an eyebrow. "Kalvin? Who's Kalvin?" She had a hint of confusion in her voice. She's never heard of Kalvin before.
"Kalvin Fallon. Friend of mine, and friend of Sévir."
She nodded. "I see.. So Brother has another friend." Her small smile was still hanging around as she received this new information.
She grabbed a chair from behind her and pulled it towards the table, sitting on it. "Have you gotten to a duel already?"
Percival nodded. "Mazekeine Stonehart. That's the name of my opponent."
She nodded. Her now curious face masked the sorrowful face she had earlier. "Did you win?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Stonehart beat me.." He scratched the back of his head, letting out a weak chuckle. "She was pretty damn scary."
"Who was scary?" Said a girl from behind him, who pulled a chair and sat with them.
They both looked at the girl.. It was Mazekeine.
"Speak of the devil.." For a brief moment, Percival narrowed his eyes at her. He noticed something different about her though.. "What's with the glasses?"
She held her glasses. "Oh, you noticed?"
"I mean, it's pretty obvious. You weren't wearing it in the duel."
"Ah. Well, I have pretty bad eyesight."
Percival's heart sank when he heard this. "D-Did you just beat me with blurred vision!?" His voice got louder, it did not hint at anger, but surprise.
"No, no.. I enhanced my eyesight."
"You.. Enhanced your eyesight?" Zephyr joined in the conversation, seemingly curious.
"I use physical enhancement magic."
"No wonder how you were so fast then." He let out a defeated sigh. "And here I thought you had teleportation magic."
"Now you know that I don't" She put the book she was holding on the table. Zephyr took a peek at the cover's content, her eyes widened..
"Wait.. Is that My Half In Magiaville..?"
Mazekeine's eyes widened, she leaned closer as her face beamed too. "You read it!?"
Zephyr nodded. "Yes, I've finished the first volume up to the tenth." Her voice remained monotonous, as if she wasn't excited by the topic at all.
"Same! I'm still waiting for the 11th volume to be released.. The story is about to reach its end, I really wonder what's going to happen!"
Percival took a quick glance at her with curious eyes. Huh? Why does she sound so.. Uninterested? Percival looked back at his book. Normally, Zephyr would be so excited when it's about novels.. According to Sévir.
…
Zephyr wandered around aimlessly, passing many people, even bumping into them unintentionally. It really seemed like she was lost in her thoughts.
Until.. She bumped into someone head-first, making her snap out of it.
She blinked multiple times, her hand on her forehead. She looked in front of her. It was Adina. Behind her was Deleena.
"Zephyr?" Adina rubbed her forehead.
"Hey! We've been trying to find you! Where were you!?" Deleena joined in, her voice filled with worry.
"I was just looking around the other stadiums. Checking how it's like there." The tone of her voice did not improve, it was still as monotonous as earlier.
Adina sighed, holding Zephyr's shoulder. "Well.. How're you holding up?"
Zephyr was silent. She glanced at Adina's hand, then cast her gaze back at her. It took a bit until she finally replied. "I'm doing quite fine. Thank you." She nudged Adina's hand off of her.
This was quite the surprise for Adina and Deleena, who couldn't have expected Zephyr to act like this.
Deleena frowned. "Oi! What's with you..? Why do you seem so distant?"
Zephyr returned the frown to her. "I'm. Not. Distant. At. All."
"You are. Is it because of the duel?" Deleena sighed. "Listen. She's a literal 6th year! What can a 3rd year like you do to a 6th year?"
Zephyr quickly looked away as she clicked her tongue. Her fists were clenched hearing Deleena speak, and her frown was even more apparent.
She looked at Deleena again. "You guys do nothing but lose, so you're able to say that so easily."
Deleena and Adina were both taken by surprise once more. But while Adina kept calm. Her short-tempered buddy wasn't. "Oi, you better watch your mouth.." Deleena took a step forward with her fists clenched, her eyes were burning holes into Zephyr's.
Zephyr too, took a step forward to face her. Only then, did Adina step in-between them, splitting them. "Guys–Wait–Calm down."
"I won't calm down 'till this pipsqueak takes back what she said!" Deleena replied loudly. Attracting the attention of people nearby.
"What's happening here!?" Sanguinex emerged from the crowd, it was as if fate destined the four to meet here.
Before any of them could start explaining, Zephyr turned around with a 'hmph!' and hurriedly walked away.
What..? Out of all surprised reactions so far, Sanguinex seemed to be the most surprised.
Zephyr gripped her bangs tightly. Stupid.. Stupid! Stupid!! She was still walking hurriedly, looking down on the floor instead of in front of her. Why did I say that to them..!?
As she continued to ponder on what she had done, she bumped into someone.. Yet again.
It was a tall man. At least, taller than her, slightly taller than Percival. He turned around and their eyes locked onto each other.
"Brother?"
"Zephyr..? Are you okay?" It was Sévir all along. Fortunately for them, there was nobody around.
"Y-Yeah.. I'm.. Okay." She answered with some hesitance.
He felt skeptical when she replied, but nodded anyway.
Looking around, nobody was in sight. He returned his gaze to Zephyr, holding her hand. "Wanna walk around with me for a bit?"
Zephyr thought for a brief moment, but eventually, she smiled and nodded. "I'd love to."
Sévir nodded back, walking beside her. "So.. How's today?"
She shrugged. "So-so.. I guess.." She cleared her throat. "What about yours?"
He shrugged. "Fine, I guess."
"I heard from Mr. Percival you fought a guy named Kalvin, and won."
He eyed her with a small frown. "Since when did you start talking to Percival behind my back?"
She shook her head. "I was trying to find you, then I saw him studying. I asked where you are, then he filled me in with the details.
Well, not long after that, Ms. Stonehart showed up.. I found out she also reads 'My Half In Magiaville'."
"So she's friendly, huh?" He nodded. "Good."
Silence filled the air not long after he said that. Zephyr looked down with quite the guilty face. "B-By the way.."
"Hm?"
"I uh…" Her voice was getting lower, and so it was getting more and more hesitant to say what she wanted to say. "I uh.. I was the one who filled in your application for the tournament."
Sévir crossed his arms, but other than that, no reactions. "Why'd you do that?" He asked calmly.
She looked away as she twiddled her fingers together nervously. "W-Well…" Her cheeks began to flush as well, hinting more to her bashfulness. "I.. Wanted to see you do a duel.
But it just so happened that we were in different stadiums, and that I couldn't leave the stadium where I was at that time…" She chuckled nervously. "Sorry.."
For a brief moment, he kept his blank face. Fortunately for Zephyr, he nodded and smiled. "It's fine. I can't turn rusty now, can I?"
Zephyr nodded back, at that moment, she could only remember how she filled in his application.
…
As she entered the room, a sense of familiarity briefly engrossed her. She has been here a few times before.
To her right was a white closet. Its scrolls on the edges had an elegant design with streaks of gold, most likely representing the waves of the mighty Grosville River where Minerva Grosvenor hails from.
To her left was a door. Probably for private things.
And in front of her was a small flight of stairs that curved around the edges which led to a king-size canopy bed, silk curtains, blue like the sea in color, tied up at each pole. Behind it were supported by another layer of white see-through curtains.
But on top, it had quite the long plaque that would seem out of place, wooden in the tablet and gold in the texts, it read out: Wisdom Guides The Uncharted Waters
And finally, near it was Minerva, sitting down in a chair. Her white dressing table faced the wall, its scrolls too had streaks of gold. While originally intended for preparing up, it had transformed to an office table.
Zephyr waved at Minerva with a smile, walking towards her.
"Oh, Zephyr." Minerva swiveled her chair to Zephyr's direction.
"Brother hasn't submitted an application to participate, right?"
Minerva nodded. "He hasn't. Why?"
She planted her hands on the table, taking a quick glance on the stacks of papers. "May I please have a blank application paper?"
Minerva raised both her eyebrows. She wondered why Zephyr wanted one, and what she'll do with it. "What will you do with it?" She opened the drawer beside her, pulling out a blank application paper.
"I'll sign him in." Her voice was stern and resolute, and so was the look she gave to Minerva. It seemed like this girl won't back down until she gets to sign her older brother in.
"Uhm.. You can't do that, Zephyr."
"Yes, I can. I got the permission of Ms. Ardell! Your class adviser!" She flashed a smug smile, as if satisfied by what she said.
Minerva was thrown off-guard. "Ms. Ardell..?" She balled her fist, covering her mouth as she cleared her throat. "Does Sévir know about this?"
Zephyr shook her head.
"Oh, how sneaky. I like it." Minerva's face curled up to a small, sly smile. She handed Zephyr a blank application paper. "If Sévir gets mad, don't mention me. Okay?"
Zephyr nodded. "I won't."
"Also, how did you win over Ms. Ardell?"
Zephyr tapped her chin. "Well.."
…
Zephyr peeked her head out as she knocked on the door. "Excuse me..?" She slowly pushed the slightly opened door.
Ms. Ardell turned around. "Oh. What's my cute little nephew's cute little sister doing here?" She crossed her legs, smiling.
That's a wordy nickname. She walked closer to Ms. Ardell. "Well.. I was wondering if you could sign to enter the tournament on their behalf."
Ms. Ardell chuckled behind her hand. "If that was allowed, we'd have way more students in the tournament than what we usually have."
She clasped her hands together. "Can I please be an exception???" Her voice was nothing short of a pleading voice.
"For..? Sévir?"
Zephyr nodded. "I really want to see him fight in the arena! I've never seen him fight before.."
Zephyr pleaded with puppy eyes. She wasn't the best at it, but I'd say she's doing it quite well.
Ms. Ardell smiled at her. "Okay. I want to see your brother's reaction when he gets called to the arena. I haven't seen him fight either."
Her soft smile had turned to a sly smile as she recalled one moment. "If we don't count that time where he tried killing me, but it wasn't even a fair fight for him–even with Sanguinex."
Zephyr's eyes widened in surprise. "Brother tried.. Killing you???"
She raised an eyebrow. "He didn't tell you?"
She leaned forward, clasping her hands together. Her sly smile was still intact.
"Sit down, I'll tell you a story."
…
It was a silent and normal day back in the headquarters of the West Capital Organization.
The old man and the old woman were carrying out their duties, handing out papers, missions and the like to the WCO members.
Until around 10 PM struck.
"Where's Sévir and Sanguinex?" The "old man" turned to the "old woman".
"I don't know.. They haven't showed up yet?"
He shook his head. "You think they died–"
Without giving him time to react, she punched him hard in the arm. "Ow! What the hell was that for!?" He held his arm, rubbing where he got punched.
"Don't you dare say my babies are dead! Target 145-12 may be an S-Class, but they're alive and well!" She glared at him. Her glare seriously burned holes in his eyes.
He clicked his tongue, looking away. "Come on now, they aren't even our children. You've just gotten so close and chummy with them ever since we took them in."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you aren't the same. You fell in love with them at first sight, right?"
He shook his head, chuckling. "I fell in love with their potential, mind you."
He took two white chess pieces; A Bishop and a Knight.
"The cold-hearted Sévir van Doren, who's thirsty for blood–Bernard Trysta's blood. To avenge his family who met an unexpected and cruel end." He put down the white Knight, looking at the white Bishop.
"And his side-kick, his servant; Sanguinex. More of a soft-hearted person, to us and to Sévir, but deadly out on the battlefield." He put down the white Bishop.
"They complement each other, don't you th-"
The door was suddenly kicked open in what would've seemed like a typical Sévir style.. If it was Sévir.
The old man and the old woman didn't seem to mind at the moment. "So, you finally finished your job, Sévir?" He asked, only to not be replied.
The two cast their gaze at "Sévir".. Only to be stunned by the sight laid before them.
A woman stood in front of them, holding two people. The woman was close to Sévir's height. And while her purple hair didn't really stand out since it was rather dark in the room, her smirk, a smug look of superiority and satisfaction did.
"Miss me, Demeter Amadeus?" Her tone was one filled with mystery and a very slight bit of playfulness. The smile that she loved wearing sure did give her the "dangerous" vibes she's known for, be it the WCO, or even the Stepan Capital Academy.
Oh–right. The two people she was holding were Sévir and Sanguinex, both were tied up, and by tied up, I mean TIED UP.
The two over the table stood up, hurriedly grabbing their weapons.
The "old man"–Demeter, narrowed his eyes, pointing his sword at her. Ardell Myshart.. "What the hell are you doing here..? Why do you have them?"
"Isn't it obvious? You sent them out to kill me." She giggled. "But boy~, did they fail so miserably."
"Let go of them." The old woman spoke out with a commanding voice. She was commanding her to let go of them.
"Oh, hello there, Demitrius Amadeus. Didn't notice you there."
They glared hard at Ms. Ardell, but she was unfazed, simply just keeping her smile while she still held Sévir and Sanguinex.
But finally, she let go of them–Actually, it's more like she dropped them.
She hastily grabbed a rolled piece of paper from her pocket, presenting it to them. "I have some terms and conditions before I let go of these two little rascals." Her smile faded away, glaring back at them this time. "Failure to comply will mean death for Sévir van Doren and Sanguinex." She winked.
They were taken aback, and by the fact she knows Sévir and Sanguinex's name. "Lay out your terms." Said Demitrius while she and Demeter read the paper presented in front of them.
"First. You must cease any plans and active operations aimed against me."
"Second and third.. Sévir van Doren and Sanguinex will be enrolled in the Stepan Capital Academy under my recommendation.. The WCO is to financially support the enrollment and tuition fees of Sévir van Doren and Sanguinex."
Their tensed faces loosened up. They looked confused.
She raised an eyebrow, "Did I stutter?"
"You want the WCO to.. Pay their enrollment and tuition fees..?" The way Demeter asked, he was dumbfounded.
Ms. Ardell nodded. "The fourth and final–Failure to oblige will result in the deaths of Sévir van Doren and Sanguinex."
A moment of silence engrossed the room.. But then, Demeter and Demitrius put down their weapons.
"How simple these demands are." He chuckled. "What is it that makes you want to enroll them in the SCA?"
"These two.." She tilted her head down, looking at them. "They're old friends."
Demeter raised an eyebrow. He was curious about it, but did not try to pry. "Okay.. Let me sign the paper."
She put down the paper, while he hastily grabbed his quill, writing his signature.
Once he was done, he handed it to her.
"Splendid~! Now we have a deal!" She took the paper from his hand as she sat down. "By the way, I'm quite literally a guest here. Won't you offer me some… Poisoned tea, or something?" She chuckled behind her hand.
Demeter glanced at Demitrius. "Okay. I'll get you some poisoned tea." Demitrius walked away from their sights.
"Now.. We'll have a long talk, Demeter." She winked at him.
…
Zephyr's curiosity had been fed, and it sure was a lot. "I see.."
"So, that's what happened. I felt like being generous and paying for your enrollment. But obviously, your big brother hated the idea, and paid for it instead."
"That does sound like him."
"Oh! Right. You were here to sign Sévir in, right?"
Zephyr nodded.
"Minerva's probably in her room right now. Go to her, she handles the applications."
…
The siblings arrived at a fountain nearby, stopping in front of it.
"Say.. Have you had your duel already?"
Zephyr gulped. Should I tell him that I did..? After thinking briefly, she nodded hesitantly.
"I sense some hesitance.. Did you lose?"
She recoiled back when he said "lose". Sévir noticed this, and got his answer without her saying it.
"How unfortunate." He crossed his arms, while Zephyr sat at the ledge of the fountain, looking down.
"It can't be helped, Zephyr. It was your first, right?"
She nodded. She just couldn't bring herself to speak as the shame of losing that she felt earlier returned.
"Was it a higher year student?"
She nodded again. "A 6th year.." She mumbled.
A sigh escaped from Sévir's mouth, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed. "You wouldn't be so downcast from your defeat if you just considered that maybe.. JUST maybe your opponent would've been of a higher level."
She gripped her skirt tightly while her lips quivered. I know…
"Now that you've been defeated, what are you going to do? How are you going to face Minerva?" He raised an eyebrow, tapping his shoe as if he expected an answer.
"I don't need to know all the details to know you didn't do as great. Do you know how disappointed Minerva could be right now that you wasted months of her time just for this type of performance?"
She turned her head away, fighting back the tears as hard as she could.
"Answer me."
She nodded, not wanting to anger him more by not answering him. "Y-Y-Yes.. I.. I know..!" She sobbed. Slowly but surely, she was losing the battle against her tears.
But eventually, his face softened at the sight of Zephyr letting out her tears. She buried her face in her hands.
Did I go a little too far? He let out yet another sigh, scratching the back of his head. Okay.. I definitely did.
He sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "Sorry…"
He gently rubbed her back, trying to comfort her, but he felt awkward. The fact he basically made her cry sure didn't help him.
No.. She's crying right in front of me. I have to help her out. "Hey. Stop crying." He accidentally blurted that out in a strict tone. Tch! Idiot! Not like that!
He cleared his throat. "Tell me.. Is it that you're scared of what Minerva will say when you meet up with her?"
She sobbed again, wiping off her tears. She nodded. "I-I know I.." Try as she might to speak, she found it hard to. All the sobbing was holding back her speech, and it was painful.
"Shh.." Sévir hushed her, slowly pulling her to a warm embrace. "You don't need to say anything else. I understand now."
Zephyr hugged him back, burying her face in his chest.. It was just the two of them, nobody was to see Zephyr's vulnerability.
"If you wanna, you can just let it all out.. Even if you fill my shirt with snot." He chuckled while his hand tenderly caressed her long, silver hair.
She began to let it all out, not holding back in releasing all her tears, all her pent-up emotions.. She felt a sense of safety and understanding around Sévir, the type she could feel only with him. His comforting touch was like a soothing balm to the emotional storm inside her, and as time passed by, she could feel the storm calming down.
"I got your back. Understand?"
Her rampant cries had finally toned down to low, rapid sobs. She was calming down alright.
She nodded, looking at his eyes with her bloodshot eyes.
"As long as I'm around and breathing, I won't let anyone rest easy, knowing that they've hurt you. Even if it's Minerva."
I didn't know he could be like this.. She smiled, resting her face on his chest again. "You sound like you'll give her a bad time. Please don't do that." It's cute.
He rolled his eyes. "Okay. I'll hold back. Don't blame me if I leave her in tears."
Her hug tightened, as if trying to keep herself anchored in the reassurance of his presence. Don't ever let go of me.
"How ungentlemanly."
–Not even for a single second.
His shirt was wet.. I don't want to know if it was either tears or snot. Her grip was getting tighter, she was wetting his jacket more with her tear-soaked hands.
They shared a laugh, and the tension that had surrounded them earlier seemed to dissipate. Zephyr's tearful display was indeed unusual, it wasn't the jolly Zephyr we've grown accustomed to witnessing.
While they genuinely enjoyed their moment together, they had not given thought to their surroundings.. From afar, by the stadium gates, two girls stood frozen, their jaws dropped to the sight laid before them.
"I-Is that Z-Zephyr with.." Adina covered her mouth, not wanting to continue what she was about to say.
"Sévir van Doren!?" Deleena exclaimed his name, but they were far enough where they couldn't be heard.
The two gave the same flabbergasted look at each other, before looking back at the siblings.
Deleena furrowed her brows. "I had my suspicions.. I was right, Adina! She's the sister of that man!" Deleena was furious. Her heart was beating fast, screaming nothing but anger.
Adina could not speak on anyone's behalf, she just stood there, staring at the two in sheer disbelief.
"Let's go, Adina. Leave that scoundrel alone with that bloody bastard." Deleena hastily turned around, marching away.
Adina took one last glance before following her.