"Do not be a coward and hide, Aloysius. You know well that this is not helping," Kazios said.
"Why should I keep listening to you? How are you even here?" Aloysius asked.
"I am an apparition; I can go anywhere. But Aloysius, you need to know something: if you stay weak, you will die a painful death," Kazios answered and added.
In the dark space, they were in again, as Kazios's body slowly dissipated. Aloysius then woke up to the same dorm he was always in. As he got up from his bed, Aloysius noticed that his left hand did not hurt anymore. Ignoring it, he went to do his routine and went out for classes. Waiting outside this time was O'Shea. To Aloysius, it looked like O'Shea was his older brother with dark brown messy hair.
"My name is O'Shea Mather; I'm filling in for the guy with blonde hair," O'Shea noted.
"May I ask why you are wearing a brown leather fingerless glove with a gray shirt and black pants?" Aloysius asked while smiling.
"It is how I like to dress up, please, don't mind the sword," O'Shea replied kindly with his azure eyes.
Aloysius did not know what O'Shea was talking about until he saw that O'Shea had a sheathed Claymore sword on his back. Aloysius backed away, and O'Shea knew what was happening.
"Do not make a big deal of it, ok? Now, what my role here is just to..." O'Shea paused.
"I can't tell him that I'm here to supervise him," He thought.
"To be with you for breakfast, I'm sure your female friend will be surprised by my presence, so please explain concisely," O'Shea asked Aloysius.
"Ok, I will do just that," Aloysius replied.
"I don't know what led this guy to think that Mirai and I are friends. But that's good; let's keep this misconception going." He thought.
Aloysius and O'Shea went to the cafeteria together, as students gawked, mostly at the sword. Aloysius could feel the stares; that feeling turned into pressure, and he didn't like that. He started to feel sweat drip down from his cheeks, becoming red by the second. O'Shea noticed this and calmed Aloysius by putting his hand on Aloysius's shoulder. They reached the cafeteria, where Mirai was already sitting and surprised by O'Shea. Aloysius and O'Shea took a seat and waited.
"Who is that?" Mirai asked.
"O'Shea Mather, I don't know much about him, but he is here to fill in Tuomo's absence," Aloysius answered with a smile.
"Well, you two look like siblings," Mirai commented.
"Of course, I thought of that when I first saw him. But no one can replace Kasia; no one can!" Aloysius painfully thought.
"Right now, I'm broke, so, O'Shea, if you can, please pay for our meals today," Mirai suggested with a chuckle.
"Oh, I can manage that; what do you want?" O'Shea asked.
"I want pancakes today," Mirai cutely replied.
"So cute!" O'Shea urgently thought.
O'Shea ran towards the huge masses of students and stood in the queue. Meanwhile, Aloysius sat down across from Mirai. Every then and now, he would stare at Mirai. He would think of the young woman with silver hair, then Mirai, and back and forth. Aloysius couldn't quite understand the relationship between the two. Aloysius regretted that he had seen the young woman.
"Ahhhh, if that didn't occur, I could have gotten a gist of what is going on!" Aloysius complained in thought.
"What are you panicking about?" Mirai asked.
"Um, nothing," Aloysius quickly replied.
"It is kind of weird that Tuomo isn't here; he is usually always here unless it was something important," Mirai said while slightly blushing.
"I'm sure it was something important," Aloysius reassured Mirai.
O'Shea came back to the table with pancakes on one plate and eggs on the other. Aloysius scoffed when he saw that his food wasn't brought and jogged to the short line. He later returned with a sandwich and sat down. Without hesitation, Aloysius gobbled up his sandwich. O'Shea and Mirai could only stare at Aloysius with slight disgust. Breakfast soon finished as the three threw their trash away. Mirai waved good-bye, heading towards a different hallway; O'Shea offered to walk with Aloysius to his magic class. Aloysius nodded, and it was now only the two of them. O'Shea left as Aloysius arrived; O'Shea soon ran towards a corner and picked up his phone in his pocket.
"Ok, I have done what you asked me to do, now get it over with, please. If you fail, I'll hit you so hard, you'll see someone else's god," O'Shea threatened Tuomo.
"As if; you don't specialize in fistfights, but I do believe a certain someone does," Tuomo responded.
O'Shea hung up the phone and jumped out the nearest window; fall damage was no problem. Aloysius walked into the room and sat down. Other students were on their seats too. But, some chose to roam free around the class.
"Students, today, you will ALL learn something crucial that has been brought to my attention by the B.O.E. Before we get to specifics, you need to learn what to do after connecting to the soul of yours. Others like your seniors have other ways of doing it, but for your first time, you need to activate that mode by abiding by the rules of that world.
''But Mister, we don't know what modes you are talking about,'' Mr. C mocked.
"All of that will be explained later. For now, I hope you all have brought your linkers here." Mr. C finished his long explanation.
Aloysius touched his neck, no necklace, his wrists, no necklace. He checked his desk and head, no sign of the necklace. He touched his pockets, and in the left one, there it was. Aloysius didn't know whether to be calm or be bamboozled. He left it in his drawer; why is it here?
"I can be summoned when you desire most, don't be surprised the next time this happens," Natuso warned.
"Now, you want to do this assignment?" the grimoire asked.
"Yes, how do I do that?" Aloysius asked.
"All you have to do is select a thema, the one thing that is far from you; what seems irrational to you," Natuso answered.
"But I don't know what is farthest from me; my mind is always filled with depression, I can't concentrate," Aloysius said plainly.
"Then I am sorry, there is nothing I can do other than wait for you to realize what is furthest from you," Natuso replied.
"Isn't there something that can give me a hint?" Aloysius asked.
"No, there isn't, only you know that hint, but it appears that my owner is quite feeble-minded," Natuso countered.
"Well then, you are going back into my pocket," Aloysius firmly said as he shoved the necklace back into his pocket.
Mr. C came walking around the students and watching them above their heads. He then reached to Aloysius, staring at him with discontent. Mr. C grabbed a nearby seat as Aloysius got worried a bit. Then, the teacher forgot something and went to his desk, reliving Aloysius. Mr. C took a bulky book and returned to his chair. He opened the book to a page titled Procul & Consone Mode.
"Listen, I've been in this school for seven years now. I know who has potential and who doesn't. Are you sure you are meant to be here?" Mr. C asked.
"Tuomo recommended this school to me," Aloysius lied.
"By Rocco Tuominen, impressive. Nobody can match his skills; he is unique. In all honesty, how is he so agile? Especially precision; words can't describe him. Anyway, if Tuomo told you this, you need to learn properly then," Mr. C said.
"Now, here in this curriculum book, Procul is a Latin word for 'far from.' Procul mode is the first mode that is available to you. Some powers are restricted, keeping things balanced. That is because although the two souls are connected, they are still far away. You know, like, um, close yet so far. That is what this mode is, good for beginner practice. Anybody can do this, but sometimes, there are unique rules. The course you are in now is 'Archive.' That course isn't focused on one class; it is focused on anything that is majorly related to the seven deadly sins. Keep that in mind as we progress, ok?" Mr. C finished explaining as Aloysius nodded.
The lights abruptly went off; students panicked and screamed. Mr. C left Aloysius, who wanted to get out of class as soon as possible. He walked slowly from his desk, his steps being silent because of the commotion. But then a feeling came to him as if a person were watching him.
Aloysius shrugged it off but as soon as he took one more step, a young woman dropped from the ceiling. She quickly pulled Aloysius back, covering his mouth and nose. Aloysius tried to fight back, but it was no use; she continued prevailing. Before Aloysius fainted, he took a quick look behind him; not worth it, the young woman was wearing a hoodie covering her upper face. Aloysius was now unconscious, in the hands of an unknown person. The young woman pressed two fingers against her ear and spoke.
In a flash, the woman and the body of Aloysius vanished. In a dark corner, she took off her hoodie just for a minute, revealing her purple hair that was tied into a ponytail. She looked at vantage points and vents with her Liz color eyes, wondering which would be best. Being seen was no worry; her attire was a deep-sea blue, high collar, thermal vest. She also wore a black long-sleeve shirt and black pants. With navy blue running shoes, she was well hidden from the other students. She then held two fingers to her ear and whispered.
"Hey, I got him; where is the room?" she asked.
"It is the one on the right of the classroom, Veila," Tuomo responded quietly.
"Thanks, for that I might have to take you for dinner," Veila teased.
"Stop it and focus," Tuomo ordered.
Veila put her arm down and grasped a smoke pellet from her pocket. She put Aloysius on her shoulder and then tossed the pellet in the hallway. Students passing by were stunned and ran away. Veila made the run for it and crashed into the door next to Aloysius's classroom. Inside was a familiar chair, and next to it was a blindfold and swiss army knife on a table. Veila placed Aloysius on the chair and suddenly vanished again. The silence was dominant in the room, no noise, no people. That was until Tuomo came out of his hiding and strapped Aloysius to the chair. He then placed his hand on Aloysius's forehead and closed his eyes. Blue light flew from his hand to Aloysius's forehead; it was giving Aloysius oxygen.
Tuomo drew away from his hand and waited. Aloysius opened his eyes weakly and tried to move. He saw Tuomo in front of him just like at his arrival. Aloysius didn't care to move anymore and patiently waited for Tuomo to speak. Tuomo grabbed the swiss blade and was ready to do something.
"C'mon, tell me what you know," Tuomo calmly ordered.
"Tell you what; I don't know anything," Aloysius replied with a smirk.
"Stop trying to escape," Tuomo said.
"I know the real reason why you passed out in the lunchroom a few days back," Tuomo said.
Aloysius was surprised, or more so, interested in what he means.
"That day, you saw something; what was it?" Tuomo asked.
"Nothing, just some girl with silver hair," Aloysius replied plainly.
"Oh yeah, there was this dude in black; I've seen him in my dreams and those occurrences, if that is what you wanted to know," he added.
Tuomo lowered his arm and closed his mouth. He put the swiss army blade away and rather stood in front of him. It seemed that he had no more malicious intents anymore. The mentioning of the mysterious person left him disturbed. Aloysius became dumbfounded by the reaction, expecting Tuomo to brush it off. Tuomo started to become tense, his fists clenched. Aloysius then wondered if Tuomo was afraid of the Kazios. Suddenly, Tuomo started to look around the room in a panic.
"Tuomo, are you scared?" Aloysius kindly asked.
Aloysius then noticed the expression that Tuomo was making. Tuomo seemed like he wanted to cry, but he was holding it back.
"Tell me more," Tuomo managed.
"Excuse me, what?" Aloysius asked.
"Tell me more, please," Tuomo pleaded a little louder.
Aloysius nodded and opened his mouth. His moment was then interfered with because of a distant boom. Someone was racing towards the room. The footsteps grew louder, ultimately alerting Tuomo, who grabbed the Swiss Army knife. The door was abruptly slammed again and again. A voice on the other side was yelling to let him enter. By sheer force, the door collapsed. It was a guy with a black coat and pants that were lined with red. Like Veila, a hoodie lined with red was covering his upper face. He charged at Tuomo, who positioned himself. Instead of attacking head-on, the guy jumped over Tuomo and pulled out a pistol, and shot him. Tuomo slumped to the ground while the gunman attempted to unstrap Aloysius. Aloysius didn't want to budge; Tuomo died in front of him without putting up a fight.
Another person died because of him. Aloysius didn't know why, but he sensed a strange feeling, something he felt before. It was rare; Tuomo and Aloysius never built a bond. But something told him that it was his fault. Without noticing, Aloysius shed a tear. The guy attempting to unstrap him glanced behind him. At the door was Kieran, who knelt near the body of Tuomo.
"C'mon, stop faking it and get up before I hit you," Kieran spoke with a smile.
"But it was going so well," Tuomo complained.
"You weren't dead?!" Aloysius yelled.
"For your information, Tuomo was never that vulnerable," Kieran said.
Aloysius yelled out about the mysterious guy. Tuomo got up and dodged the topic. The act was fake, but his feelings were true. Kieran walked up to the guy in the hoodie and took the hoodie off instead of striking him. The guy had messy red hair, nordic blue eyes, and warm beige skin, like a tan.
"Who paid you, Lucas?" Kieran immediately asked.
"Cyrus gave me a call, heh," Lucas fearfully responded.
"Do it again, and you'll have a bullet through your chest," Kieran warned.
"Um, who is this dude?" Aloysius asked with a clean face.
"This here is Lucas Carmino, a member at Priem Corps," Kieran answered.
"We think differently, though; we aren't friends," Kieran scowled.
Aloysius then noticed the tension between Kieran and Lucas. Kieran glared at Lucas, and Lucas did the same. Aloysius noticed Lucas reaching for his gun, but an extra surprise befell.
"Excuse me! What are you people doing here?" a girl asked from the door.
"Look how much damage you caused, and is that a student strapped to a chair?!" the girl complained.
"And who are you?" Aloysius asked.
"I'm the school president!" the girl yelled.
By coincidence, the lights of the darkroom came back on. The school president was visible; she had soft, warm ivory skin and wore a white blouse and a black skirt. For shoes, she wore brown fur boots. Her short hair was dyed light pink; her eyes were the color of amber. Her beautifulness exceeded Mirai's.
"What are you looking at?!" she yelled.
"Nothing," Aloysius quietly replied.
"Great, now we have Jolanda Greco here," Lucas sarcastically said.
Lucas put away his firearms, knowing well he couldn't do anything to make Jolanda run away. He peacefully walked away as Jolanda kept frowning at him. Jolanda later announced something that shocked the others.
"Student Council Office, now!" she ordered.