Sanguinex's steps were as light as a feather as she passed by flocks of students, a mix of juniors and seniors, but united by common pieces of black, blue, and gold clothing.
The day would've been normal, but it was Alarus 31—[Magic Day]. Besides the physical variety of every student, there was an addition.
Glancing left and right, she registered the two marks painted on each individuals' cheeks, varying from blue, red, yellow, green, brown, and grey.
Sanguinex herself hadn't gotten one yet, though she knew she was going to get red. "I would've went white if all magic wasn't so rare." she mumbled, low enough for nobody to hear.
"Sanguinex." the elegant voice of a girl her age called out to her.
She turned around, meeting a girl defined by her soft blue hair and eyes, her fair skin, and her overall appearance that gave off a mix of friendliness and distance.
Of course, it was no other than Minerva Grosvenor—The Second Undefeated, and her classmate who sat beside Sévir, who sat beside her.
"You? What do you want?" The harshness in her tone was the usual, at least towards Minerva. Even so, she did raise a brow, noticing her seemingly weak gaze.
Minerva pursed her lips before continuing. "Can we talk? Somewhere private."
There was something in her tone that was off, she thought. "Uh, sure." It was a little weird. Though she'd be better off not knowing, there was something tugging at her to find out.
Sanguinex kept her distance as all eyes went to Minerva. Nothing too crazy, but still, she'd rather not be part of the gazefest that Minerva frequented.
The girl in the spotlight however, just passed by, not even acknowledging a single student who tried to grab her attention.
Okay, something's going on, she thought. Now she couldn't back out.
They spent a few minutes swerving left and right, climbing up the spiral stairs until they reached a red carpeted floor mostly identical to the lower floors, though much less crowded.
From there, they entered a vacant room through a dark wooden double door, exactly like the other doors. The room was similar to the room they frequented with Sévir and Zephyr in their off-times.
Stepping closer to the windows however, made the difference. Being much higher, it presented the city of Stepanburg better, giving the impression of how high they were in altitude, which was exactly the case.
"The skies are as cloudy as ever." Sanguinex pressed a hand against the window, taking in the view.
"Yeah." The briefness and tone of Minerva's voice felt as cold as the room brought by the winter air.
What's really happening? She ought to know, so she turned around and faced the [Water Princess]. "Hey, you've been very off since you first approached me."
Minerva retained a deadpan look.
"First, you didn't call me Sévircon, second you didn't talk all the way through, and third, your tone's very.. Un-Minerva." She rested her hands on her hips. "What's wrong?"
"So you figured it out." Minerva clasped her hands behind, walking to her side. "So you're not as dense as you give off."
Sanguinex didn't know whether she should feel insulted or glad that was the case. Still, she kept silent.
She turned to Minerva, who stared off the window. "Sanguinex, have you felt any sort of.. Weight on your shoulders today, or yesterday?"
Weight? She thought back for a moment and shook her head. "No."
"Same, I felt nothing."
"What does this have to do with your offness?"
"Everything, I suppose."
"..?" she raised a brow.
"Friendships are a really nice thing, aren't they?"
For a moment, Sanguinex was rendered speechless. First, she talked about weights on their shoulders, and now friendships?
"You're different today, but there are things that stayed the same." she crossed her arms, her brows knit. "You're random and so cryptic."
"Answer my question."
She sighed, hopeless on fighting back. "Yeah, friendships are great. What now?"
"You see, I was never exactly a friend type of person." her hands fell to her sides. "I always honed my skills and left social interactions for later. Pretty shocking, right? Considering how fluent I'm at it."
Minerva exactly read through Sanguinex. "Yeah, I always pegged you as a friend person. Isn't that exactly why in hindsight, you're more popular than Princess Trysta?"
"It's a talent. But I prefer having little to no friends."
"..Then—"
"But that changed this year." her fingertips gently traced the window. "I met three people. One was cold, one was warm, and one was a mixed bag."
While unspecified, Sanguinex had a big hinch it was them. "And that's us?"
"Bold of you to assume you guys are that special. Unfortunately, you're correct." A chuckle would usually follow, but she went on. "My life hadn't gotten mundane yet, but you guys added a bit more colour to it,—especially Zephyr."
Sanguinex felt warmth in her cheeks, and fuzziness in her chest. Was it embarrassment? Joy? Whatever it was, she cleared her throat with deeper knitted brows. ".. Shut up, It's not that big of a deal."
"But it is to me, and I thought I just formed a special connection, but.." her head fell with her hands, staring down the wooden frame of the giant window. "Yesterday proved me wrong."
"Yesterday? What even happened yesterday?" she tapped her shoe, impatient. Minerva was really stalling for whatever reason here. Was she going to ambush her? Possibly not.
"Sanguinex.." Finally, she faced her with wet and reddish eyes. "Zephyr is dead."
The weakness in her face and voice, the wetness in her eyes, and the disheartening lack of aura around her said it all.
"What..?" She instinctively muttered. Her arms fell to her sides, and it was as if her crystal heart stopped beating and became just purely crystal that didn't move or beat; whichever way it worked.
The coldness of the air reached every inch of her spine, and her knees weakened. As if the permanent warming spell in her uniform disabled, her body began trembling.
"Zephyr.. Dead..?" she chuckled. "No no no, you're messing with me, aren't you..?" Those two words, essentially light and darkness just didn't blend at all like oil and water. That's what she believed.
She bore holes through Minerva's eyes, desperately pleading for her to confirm it was a lie. At least, she'd just get berated.
The seriousness in Minerva's demeanour said it all, and Sanguinex found herself stumbling onto the window where she held onto for stability.
Her throat clogged, breath trembled, and eyes watered.. Zephyr? Dead?
No, that can't be. Why would her best friend, out of anyone else, die???
She couldn't tell whether her shoulders were as heavy as an anchor or as light as a feather, all she could think of were those two words: [Zephyr] and [Death].
A wet mark formed in her white gloves, and there she realised.
She was crying.
The images of Zephyr van Doren resurfaced like a movie played on rewind. Zephyr wasn't exactly peppy, but she was positive, and that's what made her special to Sévir and Sanguinex.
Her eyes blurred out, and she just felt like dropping to her knees, her teeth gritted.
She found herself wincing as if run over by a band of horses. The news was so sudden, and she couldn't have seen it coming.
So Sévir's worry wasn't uncalled for—that Zephyr's group should have returned by last night, yet they didn't.
"Ze..phyr.." slowly, she dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands. She hicced uncontrollably as the tears bursted like a collapsing dam.
Footsteps rang from her side until it reached the other side. "I'll give you some alone time." said Minerva, who gently shut the door as she left.
Now, it was her and her whimpers that echoed through the large and silent room.
The thought of being unable to see that warm smile, that soothing voice, and the tingling touch of such an innocent girl she considered her best friend was too hard to bear.
She couldn't speak, and only think. She shouldn't even be crying this hard, or at all. She should believe that she isn't dead, but thinking of the situation deeper, that could only be the case. And for that, she cursed herself in pure spite.
"No.. No, no, no.." she uttered in hopes of convincing herself, who had already leaned into the belief of Zephyr's death. "She's not dead, she's not dead, she's not dead." she raised her right fist and slammed it down the floor, puncturing the white and shiny tile. "SHE'S NOT DEAD, DAMMIT!!!"
A burning rage flooded her vessels, her blood boiling by the second in tandem with the weakening grief. Her whine grew louder, as if convincing back to herself that her best friend truly was dead.
With that said, she was a literal mess, conflicted in believing what was true or false.
At most, she kept the intense emotions at bay as she instinctively turned back, sensing an unknown presence. Was it Zephyr's spirit? Her weak-willed self Wondered. No, it was probably someone else, her strong-will argued.
A red mist of smoke formed out of nowhere, revealing a figure inch by inch like a portal. "That's a cute face you have~"
The sadistic voice of a girl her age prompted her to stand, her body tensing from a potential hostility.
Finally, the figure fully revealed herself as the red smoke disappeared.—Smoke grey-haired with her skin, eyes, and face marks exactly the same as herself.
Sanguinex's eyes widened to what seemed to be a bird of the same feather, smugly smiling at her. She let down her guard slightly, yet rising back up as she realised just who this was.
"[Ayuna].." That's right—the "replica" of Sanguinex; the human polymorph believed to be the true [Sword of the Blood Moon].
"You seem surprised. Should I take that nicely?"
Immediately, Sanguinex shot her a glare. "What the hell are you doing here!?"
She slightly raised her arms. "Calm down, I pose no harm. I was sent to convey a message to Ms. Minerva from Her Highness, but the timing seemed to be wrong." She sarcastically let out a nervous chuckle. Even so, it was obvious to Sanguinex she was delighted. "I'm very, very sorry for your loss.. But you never know," she tilted her head and brushed her own cheek, "some losses can result in [great gains]."
"..Do you know something about her death?" That's it. She couldn't peg Ayuna for a straightforward person, so she had to hint something behind those words, right?
"Oh, whatever could that mean?? As far as I'm concerned, I know nothing about that small fry." she snapped her fingers.
The smile on her face, the subtle giggle, and her laid-back demeanour ticked all the wrong boxes in Sanguinex. Her fists clenched to the point of whiteness, her arms itched to move and attack this replica:—Her grief was replaced by pure rage at the sight of this "thief".
"Staring at me like that won't get you anywhere~"
"Can't help it when you look so annoyingly happy."
"How can I not be happy? I finally met you—[someone who's one of us]!"
"One of us? What do you mean?"
With clasped hands behind, she slowly walked closer. "Mmh, are you that struck by grief, you can't comprehend basic words? She nudged Sanguinex against the window, gently tracing her jaw with a finger. "You're so clueless, it's a little cute."
"You don't even sound the slightest bit seductive! Just get straight to the—"
She was cut off as Ayuna closed the distance as if kissing her. Suddenly, a sharp pain jolted through her lips. She yelped and tensed up. "AGH!" she slapped her hands against her mouth while Ayuna pulled away. "Son of a—"
Ayuna delightly giggled. "Gotcha! I'll leave that to mark our first and fated encounter."
Sanguinex gazed at her with pure spite and stepped forward with her fist ready to punch the days out of this girl.
Yet as if anticipated, she leaned back, the red smoke forming out of nowhere and absorbing her. As the thrust of her fist went through, she punched nothing.
She may have not landed the blow, she at least had more reason to hate the girl now.
Besides being a thief and a replica, she was suspicious. She seemed to know something about Zephyr's death, and that was more than enough to keep tabs on her.
With the source of anger gone, her nerves instantly cooled below the normal threshold, as though the reality of her loss just resurfaced.
Ah, that's right. Zephyr was dead.
She ran a hand through her bangs, frustratingly so. "How will I break this down to Sévir..?"