Among the organized flock of students that sat behind horizontal tables with ascending stairs that cut through the middle, there came the palpable tension from three students on the front left table.
From the left, a girl whose hot pink hair was tied to a loop ponytail; in the middle, a girl whose silver hair spanned down her back seamlessly with two and small neatly done braids by the side. At last, on the right was a girl whose olive green hair spanned only to her neck, yet seemed the most simple out of the three.
The hot pink haired girl kept a noticeable frown, her chin resting up her left palm.
The silver hair clasped her hands tight and rested them on her thighs. The worried look on her face went with her shoulders raised in tension. As for the green hair, she kept her head tilted down, focused on the paper a white quill gracefully danced on with her right hand–yet, her mouth was just as tense.
Their professor discussed, yet not a single word registered in Zephyr's brain.
.
"Bold of you to come alone, where's your partner?" said a man with a husky voice who was as big and muscular as Nell. He held a flintlock on his right hand and a cutlass in a scabbard by his left thigh.
The girl the same height as Minerva stood alone in the middle, surrounded by men as big and tough-looking as the man. Her cloak covered her as a whole, not giving any hint of what she wore underneath, nor the weapons she had. Her head was covered by a hood, and her face with a black crimson red mask with horizontal teardrop-shaped holes for eyes.
"So? Are you just going to stand there, or surrender to us?"
Her shoulders shook as she held in a giggle. The closed gap in her cloak opened as she drew a dagger with a black hilt–she wore gloves similar to Ayuna's.
"You're ballsy, mister." said the girl, whose muffled honeyed voice reached their ears. Her voice was close to that of a young adult, but closer to a teenager. "I don't like ballsy crooks."
She braced her right arm that held the knife to the left, then flicked her arm to the right while her cloak flew up as though she just sprinted.
The men surrounding her fell to the ground, blood gushing out their throats.
She slashed down the blood-filled dagger to take off the blood, then sheathed it back to her scabbard.
The girl wore an all-black attire similar to Ayuna's, except there were no chestplates and the like. "Good grief, I'm getting faster." she took off her mask, revealing a tan-skinned face with black and blocky lines from the bottom of her eyes down to her neck–the lines were akin to Sanguinex and Ayuna's blades in sword form. Her eyes stared down the mask, which hosted a blood red iris with meek symbols of phases of the moon like the two, and covering most of her forehead were bangs as blood red as Sanguinex.
She exhaled deeply, a smile curving up, forming a devious look as she observed the fallen bodies. "Serves you all right."
From the right were clanking of metal and consistent stomps like that of soldiers which she noticed. "That's my cue." she dropped to a knee and braced herself, jumping off to the roof of the three-story house in front.
Men appeared from the corner in silver knight armor with cloth spanning down the front of their waist–yellow like Noelle's hair, and a black symbol of a stylized bird in the middle–most likely a dove. None of them wore helmets either, hinting at a smaller force in Stepan's armed forces hierarchy.
Their eyes widened to the sights of the men drowning in their own blood, they drew their arming swords, charging in as they observed the area.
"Lieutenant, the coast is clear!" said one of the knights after thorough inspection.
Their Lieutenant, a young adult who stood out with long brown hair tied up to a very thin ponytail spanning down his waist and his two-toned eyes–the left as gold as Sévir's, and the right as azure blue as Breah's, crouched by one of the fallen men and observed his wound.
A seamless cut they definitely didn't expect. he turned to the man's face–blood flowed down from his clogged mouth, while his skin was pale and eyes wide open.
He turned up again, observing the other bodies. Their positions say they were evenly spread, meaning someone fast did this without giving them time to react. a vivid image tinted by dark green faded in, forming faint and bright green figures above the dead men, and a figure in the middle of the circle. To be this fast like Princess Trysta and precise like Emperor Faris.. he visualized the lone figure bracing and dashing at the men in the blink of an eye, slashing their throats.
He stood up and frowned, clapping his hands loudly to gain everyone's attention. "Men, this is yet another act of the throat slitter–Crimson Girl." he said with a taut voice.
They all stood surprised. Some connected the dots and realized it made sense. "That woman has been an obstacle to fully clearing the notoriety of the Trystan Knights from the past administration–the very fact we can't chase her hints at our incompetency." he clenched his fists, looking down. "..I cannot accept that."
The knights stood silent, disappointment loomed within as much as it did for the Lieutenant.
"But we mustn't give up," he tilted his head up, "we will capture Crimson Girl in due time, as well as the Little Gang Killer and the One Shot." his flat voice turned animated. "These men are crooks, but not as terrible as those three.. So lose hope, you all must not! For we will bear the weight like true knights and cure this city's illness!"
"But Lieutenant, we cannot do it alone! We need reinforcements–"
"Reinforcements? They are the very ones blinded by high pay in exchange for ill service!" he said with anger, then extended his right arm, pointing at each and every one of them, his passionate gaze meeting theirs; mixed.
"Hans, Isaac, Joseph, Soren, Elio, Andrew, Anthony, Noah, Xander, Renato, Rudy, Emilio, Johannes, Michael, Olav, Raphael, Arthur, Gabriel, Andre–tell me, are you all with me?"
The very fact he mentioned their names meant he memorized and didn't even mistaken any one of them soared their heart, and with the burning aura of passion being himself, they all found themselves agreeing, awestruck.
My eyes have laid open for the longest time.. an image of quiet and desolate grounds coated by fire and a sea of blood and rivers of lifeless bodies flashed before his eyes, then a town lit up by raging fire amidst the moon's rise in full force. Men, women and children split by multiple features, but united by their golden eyes running away from eventual death, then a blonde woman with pointy ears falling to the ground, spilling blood on the floor right before him.. It is for that reason that I must throw away the garbage the government won't throw.
.
Zephyr was among the first to step out the classroom, a certain weight lifted off her chest. I couldn't concentrate at all with the two of them around..
Speaking of the devil, the two came within her sights, getting closer. Her heart dropped and she froze on the spot.
Fortunately or unfortunately, they, more specifically Deleena, were absorbed in chatting–the former bumped Zephyr on the shoulder as they passed by, paying no mind to her.
Zephyr turned wide-eyed from her indifference, and even met Adina's eyes, who noticed it. They looked away from each other right after.
She leaned sideways by the wall, gripping her hair as she bit her lip in frustration. Why did I have to slap her..!? the bitter memory of her slapping Deleena a few days ago haunted her, crushing her heart repeatedly–if everyone thought it was wrong, then she was the most convinced that it was.
Her heart continued to growl somberly, but it wasn't the only one growling, for her stomach was as well. She placed her left hand on her belly. Looks like I have to eat.
As she hovered to her coin bag, she realized her stomach wasn't the only one empty. Naturally, her brows raised to this very shocking revelation. ..Brother didn't give me an allowance before he left, and Nex is absent. she tilted her head down, her gaze set on the book on her armpit. Can I eat my book instead? no Zephyr, you cannot.
She sighed in defeat and gulped. I think I'll have to ask someone if I can borrow money for a bit.. she turned wide-eyed again to the idea, though not of shame, but approval. Oh.. Yeah! I can do that, then I'll pay them back when I get money! a smile curved up her lips. With resolution, she took off the wall and marched towards the cafeteria.
.
Needless to say, things are easier said than done, when she arrived at the cafeteria, she froze.
Everyone bought their food from the counter and dug in, fortunately Zephyr didn't stick out too much since there were a lot others standing and walking around.
Move, move.. All you have to do is ask, me! she approached a group of girls she knew. Those girls are in my class, if I remember correctly, their names are Jade, Millet and Ava. at last, she stopped right beside them. The one closest in proximity was Jade; she stood the same height as Zephyr (who was an inch shorter than Minerva), her long and wavy hair was jade green, unlike Adina's olive green. Her eyes was as black as the night sky and met Zephyr's.
In front of Jade was Millet, a blondie whose hair was as short as most males and eyes as black as Jade's. Last was Ava, whose purple hair spanned to her waist was as straight as can be. Her eyes was the same color and met Zephyr's as well.
With stares from the three, Zephyr's heart pounded and her body itched.
"Zephyr? What do you need? asked Jade with her ethereal voice–medium-pitched in moderation.
Zephyr failed to utter a single word after. No, no, NO! Come on, answer her!! "..Uhm.."
The girls noticed the sweat trailing off Zephyr's forehead and her shoulders tensing up. "Uh, are you okay?" asked Jade again.
"Yes!" she exclaimed out of place, catching the three and herself off-guard. "Ah–I–I–I'm fine!" the tense flowing through her was palpable–it heated her body a big deal.
"So, do you need something from us?" asked Jade once more. Zephyr shook her head rapidly.
"No.. Nothing–nevermind." without giving them time to reply, she marched away.
.
That failed miserably. she thought as she hugged her belly. If I can't approach them, then I can't approach anybody.
After a moment of silence, she sighed in resignation. "I guess I'll be skipping lunch today." she mumbled.
"Zephyr?" she turned back and faced a brunette wearing glasses, meeting her green eyes. Beside the girl was a tall girl who looked a few years older, her black hair spanned down her neck and also had a similar eye color. What stood out was the snake-like necklace she wore, and the certain unreachable aura typical of a high-spec person. "What are you doing here?"
"Ms. Mazekeine?" she did not expect to meet Mazekeine again, nor did she expect the unease wrapping her as she glanced at the tall girl beside. ..Wha–she's so tall and beautiful..! as she looked down, her eyes darted left and right, unable to think of what to say.
"Zephyr, this is Ms. Venice, a seventh year." she turned to Venice. "Ms. Venice, this is Zephyr, a third year."
Venice put her right hand on her hips. "Why were you just standing there? Shouldn't you be eating?"
Zephyr kept silent. ..Now it's too embarrassing to say I don't have money.
A smug smile curled up as Mazekeine seemed to catch on. She nudged Zephyr's elbow. "Hey, it's alright to say you don't have money." she winked, only for Zephyr to blush in embarrassment.
"I–It's not that! I–" unable to muster words to defend herself, she sighed in defeat. "..I don't have money."
"Well, I was planning to pay for Mazekeine.." for a moment, she paused and looked away, hiding a devious smile. She looked back when it went away. "But I can pay for yours as well."
Zephyr looked up in surprise. "R-really? You don't have to..–"
Venice waved it off. "It is a senior's duty to help out juniors when needed, so don't sweat it." she marched off, gesturing to them to follow. Even her walk was prideful and eye-catching, radiating a confidence that left Zephyr baffled.
Mazekeine caught on again. "She tends to be like that–full of confidence and attractiveness. Come on, let's go." they both followed the leader.