Sep. 5, Ayaka Sushi, McMillis Ave., Vancouver; Late Afternoon

"So, can I get you guys anything to drink?" Snow asked, her pen and paper ready to write down the orders.

"I'll get a green tea," Heather ordered. She turned to Thorne. "You?"

"I'll get a green tea, too, please," Thorne smiled. He felt like he and Snow formed some kind of connection… he felt strangely as though Snow would be important to his future.

Thorne had forged a special link with Snow: The Moon. Symbolizing intuition, illusion, fear, and the subconscious thought process, Snow's mysterious nature would prove to be a great asset both for him, and against him.

After receiving their throat-warming green tea, and later their delicious sushi, Heather and Thorne discussed at length their plans for the upcoming school year.

Sep. 7, Thorne Blackwood's Residence, Charles St.; Before School

The day had finally come… Thorne's first day of school. He was up way earlier than he felt necessary, but he couldn't get back to sleep after he'd already woken up. He was stressed, for some reason… Well, there was a reason. He didn't know practically anybody he was going to school with. He pulled up his phone and sent a message to Heather, "Hey, you wanna meet up somewhere when we get to school?"

Heather didn't respond. She usually responded right away. But Thorne assumed she was just getting ready for school. After his excursion into PsykoWeb on the 5th, Thorne had spent the 6th simply relaxing in preparation for the school year… and today was the big day. The First Day ™.

Thorne had selected an outfit specifically for the occasion. It wasn't all too formal, but there was a dress shirt involved. This one was blue, Thorne's second-favourite colour!

He spent a very long time in front of the mirror getting his hair exactly right, and making sure he would leave a good impression on the people he met today. After all, he didn't know almost anyone, and he'd be spending the entire rest of the year with them. The smoother his first impressions went, the better all around for him.

Thorne nearly forgot that today was the day of Shadow Heather's Masquerade. Seven made sure to remind him, though. "Remember, today is Day One of heather's Masquerade in her H.Q. We should investigate later."

"I'd like to… but school is starting now, Seven, and it has to be my first priority," Thorne responded. "How do I look?"

"You look as refined as you do in your Psykonet outfit," Seven said with a chuckle.

"I don't think I've heard you laugh before," commented Thorne.

"I don't think I have either," noted Seven. "If you leave now, you should be at the nearest bus stop approximately seven minutes before it arrives."

"Thanks for the tip," Thorne thanked. He grabbed his backpack, with all this school supplies inside, and put in his earbuds, and listened to his favourite songs on his way to school.

Sep. 7, Goldhelm Secondary School, Vancouver; Shortly Before School

Every hallway of the school was packed. People were excitedly greeting each other, chatting, and looking around to find their classrooms. Thorne took a deep sigh and proceeded inside. Immediately he was bombarded by a cacophony of different conversations, loud enough to sound like everyone was shouting.

His first stop was the office, to get his timetable. There was a lineup in front of the office, so Thorne patiently waited, distracting himself from the loud voices by focusing on his music. Someone who looked like a teacher nearly bumped into him, but he moved out of the way just in time.

"Oh my goodness!" said the man, who was on the younger side of mid-adulthood. "I'm so sorry, I hardly saw you there. My name's Mr. Amber, but most people call me by my first name anyway, which is Mike."

Thorne nodded. "Uh, okay."

"I'm a student counsellor," explained Mr. 'Mike' Amber. "If you don't mind, I have to get into the office."

Thorne shuffled to the side, and Mr. Amber politely passed him.

Thorne was beginning to grow impatient by the time he actually got up to the office desk. "Hello. Um, the name's Thorne Blackwood."

"Hm…" hummed the secretary as she looked through the absolutely massive stack of timetables. "Ah, here we are," she said with a smile as she handed Thorne the small stack of papers that had his name on them. "If you have any schedule conflicts, please return to the office immediately."

"Will do, thanks." Thorne left the office and looked at his timetable. It was pretty much as he expected. There were five classes per semester, and a semester lasted approximately just over four months.

Thorne's first block was a non-descript Philosophy class. His second block was the Social Psychology class he remembered signing up for. His third block was a French class. Fourth, a Mathematics class, which Thorne remembered he had Heather in his class for. And the last block of the day was English, which Heather was also in with Thorne. Now, the only issue was finding his classrooms.

He wandered around a few of the hallways. Given that the school had two floors and a separate mezzanine, it was a little intimidating to find all of his classrooms. However, even if he didn't come across any of his classrooms, he did spot Heather. She was with a group of girls, each of which seemed to wear a different colour. Heather was wearing a different outfit than the one Thorne usually saw her in. She was wearing a dark-gray jacket and jeans… it seemed so muted compared to her usual out-there, expressive style.

"Hey, Heather!" he called, waving.

Heather turned her head in acknowledgement. She saw Thorne, and quickly turned her head away. However, Thorne had already seen her acknowledge him. His shoulders lowered. "Is she ignoring me?" he mumbled to himself. "What for…?"

He was swept away by a current of students. While he was navigating the tight maze of bodies, he thought he heard someone say something along the lines of "Hey, did you hear about this Psykonet thing?" Thorne wanted to listen in and see where the conversation was going, but the movement of the students forced him to move away from the conversation.

"Did that boy say something about PsykoNet?" Seven asked after Thorne had managed to find a way out of the ambush of students.

"I thought I heard that, too…" Thorne said, a slight tone of worry weighing on his words.

Eventually, he found the location of his first classroom, and with some time to spare.

He entered, and looked around.

Sep. 7, Room 208 (Mr. Manning's Room), Goldhelm Secondary School, Vancouver; Class Time

Thorne had arrived early, even beating out the teacher. There were already a lot of occupied seats, though. The desks were set up in pairs, but at least one desk in every pair was already occupied. So, Thorne had to pick whoever looked the most inviting… There was a boy in the back row, with soft yet strong features, and short, waving brown hair styled into a wavy quiff. Thorne picked him to be his desk neighbour.

"Hello," Thorne greeted.

"Ah, bonjour," replied the boy. "How are you today?"

"I'm good," smiled Thorne. "What's your name?"

"My name is Marc," the boy responded. "Et toi?"

"Name's Thorne. A-are you French, by any chance?"

"I'm an exchange student, actually," explained Marc. "I've always admired Canada, though. It certainly helps that Canadian packaging includes francais," he chuckled.

"I see. Fascinating. I hope we get along."

"So, why have you taken this class?" asked Marc.

"Me? Er, well, no reason. It just looked like an easy credit."

Marc nodded. "I can understand why. I, however, signed up for this class in hopes of enlightening myself as to what is… how you say… the truth."

"The truth?" Thorne asked. "Could you explain?"

"Well… I come from a religious family," Marc explained, "but I've never felt that their beliefs are the truth. However, I also believe there must be some things that can't be proven simply with science and logic. I am waiting to find the… or at least, my truth. I hoped that taking this class will help me get closer to that."

"Wow…" sounded Thorne, his jaw half-hung open. "That's… deep," he said genuinely, before chuckling. "Did you get that out of a poem?"

"I do not understand…" Marc said, tilting his head.

"Oh, it's nothing," Thorne said, brushing off his poor joke. "That's as good a reason as any to take a class… You know… maybe I'm also looking for the truth… I just never thought of it…"

"In that case, I hope that you are able to find your truth," Marc said with a smile. Thorne felt like he had formed a relationship with Marc already.

Indeed, Thorne had forged a special link with Marc: The Wheel of Fortune. Symbolizing cycles, fate, and having trust in nature's orders, Marc's philosophical nature would prove to bring Thorne to experience the world around him with renewed eyes.

The classroom door opened again. This time, a tall adult man walked through it. He began talking immediately. "Hello, class," he said. "I am Mr. Manning, and I'll be your Philosophy instructor this term."

Class went… fine… but Thorne felt that he would develop a prosperous relationship with the intriguing Marc before long.

Sep. 7, Room 102 (Miss Berot's Room), Goldhelm Secondary School, Vancouver; Class Time

The room of Thorne's second class was considerably more full. He recognized one person in the room, though. Not because he knew the person, but because he'd seen their face. Their cheek had a scar on it, and they had short, messy brunette hair. He remembered the face from Shadow Heather's painting gallery. He wasn't sure if he had ever heard the boy's name, though… Every other seat was full, except the one next to the scar-faced boy.

The people seated around the boy seemed tense, as if… afraid of him. Thorne gulped, slightly worried as to why people would be so visibly fearful of the boy. However, he had no choice but to take the seat next to him. He sat down quietly, and put his bag on the floor under his desk. "Hey," Thorne smiled, looking at the boy next to him. "My name's Thorne."

The boy glared at him with intense, dark eyes.

Thorne turned back to facing the front of the room, where a small-statured adult woman stood behind a tall desk. He occasionally glanced over at the boy next to him… something seemed off…

"Hello, students," the teacher, who was conventionally attractive by modern standards, began. "I'm going to be your Social Psychology teacher this term. My name is Miss Berot. I'd like to start off our time together by having you all introduce yourselves, too, now."

The students in front of Thorne said their names, and a couple of rows of desks later, it was Thorne's turn. "My name's Thorne Blackwood," he introduced.

The boy next to him spoke next. He said in a growling voice, "Luke Daniels."

Luke... Thorne would remember that name.