Master Odin peered down at the student that remained in his classroom. The boy stood tall, with an untouchable air around him. A child whose silver eyes searched the worn lines on the Master's face, studying him. As if he could see the million words turning in his head.

A student who had asked a simple question.

And Odin had no answers.

So, he asked it again. "Where is my sister?"

The desperation in Baldr's voice was obvious. Everyone knew that Baldr waited by the gates, every day. Waiting for when his sister and the other upperclassmen would return to Scala ad Caelum. To celebrate the passing of their Mark of Mastery. More and more time passed, and Baldr could only worry.

And then the others were being sent off world on missions. Without him. Master Odin kept him away with work that was of no consequence. Baldr knew it was just busywork. Something to keep him out of arm's reach while his friends left him behind. He would ask Master Odin why he could not join the other six, never getting a satisfying answer.

Something was wrong, and Baldr was not blind.

For a moment he doubted himself. Was it because he was not strong enough? That somehow he had slipped behind in his studies that Master Odin was ashamed of him? But that couldn't be it. The others would be there, to help him get back to even ground. There was nothing wrong wit him. It was all Odin.

He knew it.

And as these thoughts ran through his mind he only received silence from the man in front of him. His left hand clenched into a fist, feeling something tug at his heart. "Master!"

The single gray eye peering from beneath the wide brim hat held so many secrets. It was the gaze many of the student clamored to be under, to be noticed and recognized for their talents.

And today it only held sorrow on top of those lies.

"Baldr." His voice was soft, caring. Like a father. "She is with the others on her Mark of Mastery Exam, you know this."

That wasn't good enough. "They should have been back by now." This was true. An Exam never took this long before. Baldr had already been waiting weeks, worry growing heavy in his heart. Every day the ache bore deeper, taking root like a horrible weed.

"The Exam is different every year," said Odin, trying to assure the young man. "It gets tougher with each generation. It may take longer-"

"No, you're lying!"

Baldr was not one for raising his voice. Usually, his tone as as soft as his looks. He never spoke out against his teacher. But he knew with his whole heart that he was being lied to.

"Please, Master. Just be honest with me." Baldr begged, lifting his right hand up to his chest, resting it right over his heart. "I know something happened. And I know you know." He was so sure.

Odin did not waver. His gaze stayed on Baldr, as steady as the one embedded within the ancient Keyblade high upon the wall behind him. All stared at the boy in silence as seconds ticked by.

Baldr stared back, feeling his lower lip tremble as he tried to keep himself under control.

"Baldr, I swear to you."

That twisting feeling in his heart tightened, almost hurting. At any moment he felt his heart would drop into his stomach.

Odin saw Baldr's mouth moved, but the sound didn't reach him.

It was drowned out by the sound of a Keyblade being summoned to the lad's left hand, light drowning the form of his arm for just a moment. Odin froze, eyes wide as he stared down the blade of a Keyblade that was not Baldr's.

In the boy's white-knuckled grip was not the training Keyblade his class used. Instead it was more intricate, suited for a powerful magic user. His sister's weapon.

His inheritance.

She was gone.

White magic swirled along the point, like smoldering smoke, and Baldr repeated himself. "I gave you a chance." Rage lived in those bright silver eyes, burning like new stars. "Remember that." He pulled the weapon away, not intending to use it here. Not now. His free hand went to the golden symbol he wore on his coat, tearing it off and throwing it upon the desk. A sign of being a student, of his loyalty to Scala ad Caelum.

Before Odin could stop him he was gone. The bright flash of a Lane Between being opened and Baldr disappearing into it, with no armor.

Silence filled the room, moments passing like an eternity.

"Master."

Odin wasn't aware he had stood up, of the panic filling his form, until a single voice spoke up.

At the door stood Eraqus, his hands up to his mouth to hide the sick feeling horror of what he had glimpsed. The pain he saw in his friend's face. The anger that was being birthed within Baldr's heart.

"Master, what will we do?"

Once again, Odin had no answers for his student.