In the midst of the great hall,
Surrounded by big debris and a brightly burning chandelier with great yellow flames above them…
.
"Angela, Alex, and who is that?' A surprised and curious voice sounded in the great hall.
Ryker, the one who seemed to be the more lively of the Twins with a battered Great Hammer in his hands, revealed a smile upon recognizing the cohort of three.
" Raylen?"
Seemingly confused as he responded, Alex shrugged to the other two beside him who simply kept shut and followed him as they walked forward.
Leaving Flynn to ponder a bit with a serious look as he observed them.
'Hey, are we gonna watch as they reunite and further decrease our chances of surviving the next one hour or head out?'
While he was yet in thought, Flynn heard Amelia voice in his head.
Glancing at both groups, his face turned a bit grim.
'Are we gonna go or not?' he heard Amelia speak again, this time completely facing him while half of her face remain hidden behind in a ripped fabric of her dress. Though he was curious to Know why she did this, his mind my business policy didn't make him give it spare thoughts.
Casting aside his fleeting thoughts of how he became the lead of a sudden, his gaze wavered between both sides with caution, then a few more glances at the sword in Alex's hand as he sensed a bit of oddity from it.
'Something isn't right.'
While he thought of this, he observed the two companions beside Alex, and strangely they both seemed nonchalant without a bit of interest in their surroundings.
Comparing the suppressed prideful vibe they gave him before to now, a difference of just thirty minutes, Flynn felt unsettled.
And there was the Artifact, Katana too.
Somehow, thinking about this, his thoughts also wandered to the Stellar Armaments wielded by the Twins.
Although their uniforms were now as dirty as it could get, covered in blood stains and dirt. The previous Oakwood color of their pants could still be traced while their white sleeves had no semblance to what it was before.Torn and battered, like a piece of rag.
But that didn't stop him from realizing they were also students like him who had been successful with their Tribulations.
'Now that I look at it, doesn't that look like Oak's uniform.' Amelia blurted, her voice ringing inside his head, while he nodded in agreement, entering a deep thought. Well, not deep enough before he heard her speak again.
'Our best course of action would be secretly tailing them… Don't you think?' She continued to add after a slight pause in a rather serious manner…
…Only to receive a negative shrug from Flynn who rejected her idea before taking a momentary pause, then bent slightly to lay down his own thoughts in hushed whispers.
"Well… I would have agreed if there was no Alex." He said, feeling slightly weird about being unable to communicate with thoughts like she did before continuing…
"If anything, that would be a jerk move considering that we've been putting up a strong front."
Saying this, he nodded towards Alex group, refusing to explain further.
'So what's yours?'
…
"Another group of survivors?"
Without prior notice or hi, both Flynn and Amelia revealed themselves as they began walking towards the group.
Only nodding to Ryker's words as he called out after having noticed them.
Soon, both Flynn and Amelia arrived, joining the group but placing a bit off distance between them and Alex whose expression already became cold, his vile thoughts hidden behind it. And as for the two behind, they didn't even act like they knew each other. Making Flynn and Amelia exchange a side glance..
Looking at the five, Ryker revealed a jovial grin as his his dirt covered face squeezed while his brother guardedly held a spear behind him, like a mute.
While observed in silence, Ryker spoke out.
"Hehehe, what do we have here?"
"Eton, Imperials, and Fortunate Royals…"
And then, just as he jovially called out each name, he suddenly halted as if a lump had been stuck in his throat.
His expression turning into a weird out look, he glanced at the five of them in suspicion and speechlessness.
Just noticing that not only did their uniforms still look whole enough to retain their primal color, there were fewer blood stains and what seemed to be dust here and there. While they reeked of dried sweat,
And that was before he glanced at Flynn who looked like a freshly baked bread in their midst, there was barely any stains on him, and his uniform still had traces of being ironed recently.
With a look like he had a lot of withheld words, he inhaled slightly before turning to glance at the corpse of Zombified Bug with human limbs.
"Well, from the look of things right now… we've got a lot to talk about." He said, exhaling before inserting his left pinky with less dirt between his lips. And just after, a sharp whistle came out.
Pointing at the Beetle corpse…
"Give it ten minutes and it will come back gnawing to rip your head off. Nothing truly dies here you see…"
While he wanted to keep on explaining, he noticed neither of the group looked surprised at his words and nodded.
"I guess we've all gotten our fair share of horrors."
Just as he finished speaking, there was a kicking sound of debris from behind a huge chunk of shattered stone to the left.
Alertly attracting their attention, a breathtaking girl with pale white skin, with her long hair tied in a ponytail, revealed herself . Not a little bit fazed, her sharp looking eyes of Asian descent became distinct, as she poised herself in a sassy manner while she clung a bow in her other hand.
"And that's Jean, the ender of our Horror…"
"Shut it Ry." A sudden fierce voice came over, before he could end his sentence, making everyone cast a bewildered look at the two.
Meanwhile Flynn's expressionless face crumbled as he stared at the fancy metallic silver bow in her hands.