Dusan's bloody corpse was an image that engraved into the minds of both Dawn and Rhys instantaneously. The person they had known to be the best in hand-to-hand combat had been effortlessly taken out. Now it meant more to them, now Dusan was part of their group whether they wanted to admit it or not, Dusan was their friend. As Soe waltzed towards the two, Rhys wasted no time in darting at Soe. Soe's multicolored eyes digging into the endless void that had replaced Rhys' mind. At this moment, nothing mattered to Rhys anymore. The person who had been the hardest on Dusan in the past 48 hours had finally shown his true colors. He cared about Dusan, even though he resented the proclaimed "Golden Boy", Rhys still cared. Dawn knew that Rhys was a big softie on the inside, but liked to keep those emotions to himself. Rhys cared more for his friends than his own life.
738PM: First day of the academy
As the two walked up the grand staircase to what was now their place of education, Dawn and Rhys both acknowledged that they got in on a fluke. The stairs were made of a pearly white marble that were cleaned daily. The academy was a grand 3 floors tall, full of the best equipment Somniet had to offer. Flourishing student life, with people who were much smarter than them. They knew they were surrounded by genius'.
Rhys: "Dammit!" He exclaimed as he scratched the back of his head. "I can't believe our rankings got posted! Now everyone knows we are fucking idiots!" If you looked closely enough, you could see the steam emitting from his head.
Dawn: "Excuse me? I scored higher than you on the entrance exam!" He nudged Rhys' arm with his elbow.
The two then made it into the academy building, taking in the expanse of hallways that connected the main common room to all of the classrooms and clubrooms. The floors were well-kept and the walls covered in welcome posters for the new first years. It was a festive time of years as the new class of third years took over, while the new first years got to experience a real academy for the first time. Everyone around the two seemed to be overjoyed to be in the presence of such academia. First year students already formed cliques, and joined clubs that were available. First year girls were already fawning over the upperclassmen boys, while the first year boys were discussing the upperclassmen girls. Dawn and Rhys shared none of the excitement that anyone else had. They felt out of place.
Rhys: "Do you think applying was a mistake? These people are not like us.." He said, looking around at all of the new faces.
Dawn: "Maybe, but there is only one way to find out." He said, keeping his head down to avoid eye contact with any of the strangers.
Rhys: "Listen Dawn, I can tell you are nervous too. You don't need to reassure me." He said, facing Dawn.
Dawn: "You're one to talk." He said as he looked at Rhys, strands of his white hair falling in front of his face.
Rhys: "Whatever." He turned his head to the side, catching a glimpse of something, a poster. "Hey… look at that!" He said as he made his way through the maze of people to the poster.
Dawn: "What?" He said, following after Rhys. Being surrounded by people was not his style, so he took a little longer to make it to the poster as he had a hard time walking through people. "What is this?"
Rhys: "A sword-skill program that has lessons.." he turned his head to face Dawn, "...for free." A sudden burst of excitement filled his voice. "This place is awesome!" His words transformed into a goofy laugh.
Dawn: "So that is what gets you interested in school, swords?" He sighed.
Rhys: "Dawn, you are missing the point! We can finally practice to join the city's defense force! That will put us one step closer to finding Imogene won't it?" He questioned eagerly.
Dawn then came to the same realization. How could he have overlooked something that was right in front of his face? Swinging a wooden sword in Rhys' backyard can only accomplish so much, and now he had the chance to get better at the one thing that could possibly help him accomplish his goal.
Dawn: "Holy shit, you're right!" He exclaimed, the same excitement filling his voice. "This is why we are here! The gods wanted us to find this outlet to hone our skills!" He started to go off on a tangent about how this was his fate, but then Rhys stopped him.
Rhys: "Now don't get too ahead of yourself. You know I support you, and this has been our goal for a while now, but we need to start the training in order to reach our destination."
Dawn: "You're right… sorry." He seemed a little embarrassed now.
Rhys held out his hand.
Rhys: "Dawn, you are my best friend, and I am ready to tackle this with you." His smile pierced Dawn's soul, giving him a new-found inspiration.
Dawn: "I am too." He said, taking Rhys' hand-
741PM Present
As Dawn watched Rhys run towards Soe, his hand reached out to stop him instinctively. He knew Rhys could not beat the man who demolished Dusan. Worry filled his mind as his best friend charged towards the killer. His voice roared out Rhys' name, begging him to come back.
As Rhys was face-to-face with the leader he was bloodthirsty for, the man named Soe Sanzo had already assessed the situation faster than Rhys ever could. His dagger was already through Rhys' throat before Rhys could even register that it was drawn. The dagger then retracted, piercing his heart, retracted, his stomach, retracted…
Tears blinded Dawn's vision. He couldn't keep up with what was happening to Rhys, he just knew that Rhys was dead. The dark blue hair that he could recognize in an instant, that stood tall in any crowd, was glued to the ground. Rhys' had the precious life, gifted by the gods, ripped away from him in mere seconds. Dawn knew that. Nothing could ever make him forget the image of his best friend lying on the ground, in a pool of his own blood that stained his freshly cleaned button down that he always preached as his favorite. A shriek then exited Dawn's mouth, a noise none of the group recognized at first, until they saw Dawn, then his brother, in life's most unforgiving state. Death.