Azariah stepped into the bustling school canteen, the aroma of various foods filling the air as students chattered excitedly around him.
He scanned the room, his gaze falling upon the familiar figures of Ethan, Oliver, and Aamir standing together at a nearby counter.
Making his way through the maze of tables, Azariah approached the counter where trays of food were laid out before him and grabbed one before walking towards Oliver.
"Az," Oliver called as soon as he noticed him, "where were you?"
"You see this?" Instead of replying, Azariah pointed towards his injured shoulder, which was now properly bandaged.
"Oh," Oliver nodded his head as he took his tray before placing it on the counter as they waited for their turn to come.
"What happened to your face?" Aimar asked, looking at his swollen left cheek.
"Who did it?" Oliver's face hardened as he asked in a low voice.
"....Aria," Azariah replied with a small pause.
"What did you even mess with her when you know she can one shot you?" Aimar grumbled, giving him an annoyed look.
"Leave it," Oliver said as he slapped Aimar on his chest, making him wince in pain.
"Where are the rest of them?" Azariah asked, and Oliver pointed in a certain direction.
Azariah followed his fingertip as he looked back where Aaliyah, Miley, and Ashlyn were chatting happily.
"When did they come so close?" Aimar asked as Azariah waved his hand towards Ashlyn, who waved first at him.
"Ashlyn is a Capybara in human skin, it's no wonder she became so close with the rest," Azariah replied as he looked forward.
"Well, you are right about that," Oliver replied with a chuckle as he nodded his head, "once she starts talking, she doesn't stop."
"Wait, Azariah, how tall are you?" As Aimar stood beside him, he couldn't help but ask.
"I am five feet eight inches, and why are you even asking?" Azariah replied as he straightened his back, matching his height with Aamir.
"Dude, you are fifteen and you are almost as tall as me. You could possibly grow taller than me," Oliver grumbled as his shoulders fell down in defeat.
"Who is taller between both of you?" Ethan, who was listening to their conversation, chimed in as well as he played with the tray in his hand.
"Between me and Aimar?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah."
"It's me," Oliver said with a proud smile, folding his arms and puffing out his chest. "I am bigger than him by a whole inch."
"Ahh, not this shit again," Aimar grumbled, letting out a tired sigh.
"You mean taller?" Ethan asked with a frown.
"I MEAN bigger," Oliver insisted, his chest still puffed with pride.
"Third leg," Azariah replied, and suddenly, all the words made sense to him.
"You guys compare that?" Ethan asked, with a hint of disgust, as he slowly stepped back.
"That happened when we were children," Aimar complained, looking at him. "And why are you walking backwards?"
"But I'm pretty sure I'm still the bigger one, little brother," Oliver grinned, wrapping his arm around Ethan's shoulder.
"No, you're not," Aimar grumbled, running his hand through his shoulder-length raven hair. "Stop living in delusion."
"Haah, ask Azariah, he remembers that, don't you?" Oliver retorted, looking at Azariah.
"Don't drag me into your gay shit," Azariah said, looking at them with disgust as he stepped back.
"Come on, buddy, remember we did compare it with you as well..." Oliver's words trailed off as he remembered the past.
"What happened?" Ethan asked as Oliver removed his hand from his shoulder.
"He is not a human...He's a monster," Oliver mumbled, letting out a tired sigh.
"Huh? How?" Ethan asked, tilting his head in confusion.
"You know, he might be able to seduce a Pegasus with his thing," Oliver replied, glancing at Azariah, who was listening to their conversation without saying anything.
"Man, I feel depressed," Aimar mumbled as he leaned on the counter.
"I have a better question to ask: How do you even know that?" Ethan asked, looking at Oliver.
"Well, we used to bathe together when we were children, so we saw his... thing back then," Oliver replied, but once again, his words trailed off.
"Man, I feel even more depressed now," Aimar mumbled, glaring at Azariah.
"You know, I always wondered why you guys only bathed with me once, and now I know," Azariah commented, looking at both brothers.
"Unlike you, we didn't have permission to enter the ladies' bathroom, fucker," Aimar snapped back at him.
"Yeah, Christina used to bathe with you, taking you with her in the ladies' section," Oliver commented, with a light chuckle.
Ting!
The tray in Ethan's hand fell as he heard Oliver's words.
"You alright?" Oliver asked, picking up the tray.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine," Ethan replied with a smile, taking his tray back.
"Our turn," Azariah mumbled as the counter lady looked at them.
"What do you want, kids?" she asked with a smile.
"Six trays of the regular and add extra chicken lollipops in one of them," Oliver replied, smiling back at her.
"Stop eating chicken too much," Azariah grumbled as he slapped his back.
"Make it two trays with extra chicken," Oliver said, before looking back at Azariah. "And you should eat more; you are all bones."
"Add one raspberry cake in one of them," Azariah said, ignoring Oliver's comment and addressing the counter lady.
She nodded before preparing their food.
"You're not coming with us?" Oliver asked, looking at Ethan.
"No, I'll be a little late," Ethan replied, shaking his head.
"Come to our table if you want," Oliver offered as Azariah, Aimar, and he picked up two trays of food.
"Thanks," Ethan replied with a smile as they walked towards the ladies' table.
"You guys are late," Miley complained as soon as they arrived.
"Can I throw the food on her face?" Azariah whispered in Oliver's ear as they sat down opposite the girls.
"Leave it," Oliver replied, shaking his head.
"Where were you, Azariah?" Ashlyn asked, looking at him curiously as he placed the tray with raspberry cake in front of her.
"In the nursing room," he replied, pointing towards his left shoulder.
"Oh, are you all right, or do you need help eating?" She asked, looking at him with concern.
"You know if you can hel—"
"He can eat by himself, don't worry," Miley interjected before Azariah could reply, making him stop.
"Can you?" She asked, looking at him.
"It's fine, I can," Azariah replied with a smile as he picked up the spoon with his working hand.
"Anyway, who is your class leader?" Aaliyah asked, looking around.
"Not decided yet," Miley replied as she ate her food, "but most probably Oliver. What about you?"
"It's Lucas and Keegan," Aaliyah replied, glanced at Oliver who was busy eating his chicken, "and for the last class, it's most probably Princess Arianell or Shyamal."
"Oh, yeah, Archie's wanna-be shadow is also in their class, right?" Oliver asked, looking at Aaliyah.
"Yeah, he is," she replied, nodding.
"Archie?" Ashlyn asked.
"The second prince," Azariah replied, "we call him Archie just to annoy him."
"Oh, you guys must be close then," she replied with a slight smile.
"All of us were close when we were kids," Aaliyah said, making all of them look at her, "but as time passed, things change—."
"All that happened because of Azariah," Miley interjected, making her stop as she glared at Azariah, "had he not been a jerk to everyone and harassed the girls, we could still be close."
"Did I ever harass you?" Azariah asked as he stopped eating.
Taken aback by his reply, she took a moment before she replied, "....No."
"Then shut up, bitc—." He swore, but he stopped midway as Ashlyn looked at him.
"What?" Miley asked but her attention quickly diverted as a girl walked in the canteen.
With her silver hair cascading down her back casting a soft glow around her delicate features.
Her crimson eyes held a mesmerizing depth, drawing in with their intensity and mystery.
Her skin flawless, with a porcelain-like complexion that seemed to glow.
All of them stopped eating as they looked at Shyamal as she walked gracefully and elegantly towards the counter.
"I always wondered, though, weren't you guys close to Shyamal?" Miley asked as she looked at the girl, "why the distance now?"
"We weren't," Oliver replied as he finished the last of his chicken lollipops, "we were just around her. She was only close with Azariah."
"She was always depressed when Asher was executed." Aaliyah added as she passed her part of chicken lolipops to Oliver, "she hardly talked with anyone other than Azariah."
"Asher?" Ashlyn asked once again with a sad tone in her voice.
"Asher lye Heimdall." Oliver replied as he smiled towards Aaliyah before taking her part of chicken lolipops, "he was executed with his family in the great prduge ten years ago."
"And he was Shyamal's fiancé," Aimar added, looking at Miley, "I kinda forget how he looked like."
"We hardly saw him anyway," Oliver replied before glancing at Azariah, "where are you looking?"
"Huh? Nothing," Azariah replied, parting his gaze away from Ethan as he heard the name 'Asher.'
"What happened then?" Out of curiosity, Miley asked.
"When she was depressed, Azariah was there for her," Aimar replied, not missing the chance to talk about her, "for two whole years, he stuck with her."
"Then, what?" She urged.
"...But things turned to shit again when Shane, her brother, died," Aimar continued with a heavy sigh, "and Azariah also stopped meeting us after that."
"I never got to know," Miley asked again, looking at Aamir, "how did he die?"
"He was—."
"Aimar." But before he could reply, Azariah interjected, giving him a cold stare, "Shut up."
"What? I am just repl—."
"Can't you shut your little trap," Oliver interjected, slapping his chest again as he winced in pain.
"Huh? What is he doing?" Aaliyah asked, frowning, making all of them look back.
At one of the tables, in the middle of the canteen, Shyamal sat with her food, but another figure loomed over her.
It was Ethan.
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[A/n: All the characters art's are on the discord server, join the server if you want to see them, link in the synopsis.]