It was raining outside.

Zane looked up to the steel sky above. He hadn't thought to bring an umbrella today. That's odd, he usually did when rain was expected on the island. How could he have forgotten something so simple like that?

Moving back under the overhead awning as to shelter from the increasingly heavy rain, he leaned against the wall of the building. Watching as crowds of students flooded out of it, finally done with classes for the week. Some heading back to the dorms, some heading into the city, some heading back home. Watching as they stepped into the rain, some pulled out umbrellas. Otherings pulling on the hoods of their jackets. Others held their blazers over their head.

In the crowd, a dark-haired figure pulled out a rather distinct umbrella that he was a bit too familiar with. It was a pale orange color, contrary to her white-and-blue uniform. With red goldish seeming to swim about on the surface. She had impulse bought it for a bit more money than it was probably worth. But she loved the darn thing.

"Zane?"

Zane looked down to the source of the voice, seeing one Alexis Rhodes standing beside him. Curiously peering up at him, she held an unopened umbrella in one hand.

"Did you forget your umbrella?" she asked.

"Yes. I was going to wait out the rain."

"It won't let up anytime soon. Come on, we can share mine."

Zane didn't protest as Alexis popped her transparent umbrella open, stepping away from the awning into the open. Motioning for him to join her under it, holding it high in the air as to also cover him.

Stepping under it, he took the umbrella from her. It made more sense for him to carry it, since he was the taller of the two of them. She would get tired from holding it so high for much too long.

"It's not like you to forget something like an umbrella," Alexis noted dully, watching as the clear drops rolled off the edge of her umbrella onto the ground.

"It happens to everyone."

"I guess. Still, are you alright?"

"Why do you ask?"

"You seem…" she paused, as if trying to find the right words to say. "Distracted, recently."

"How?"

"Your dueling has gotten sloppier."

"Really?"

"I watched your match earlier. You weren't there."

"Of course I was there, I had to be there to duel," he stated plainly, turning the umbrella towards the direction the rain was coming from.

"That's not what I meant. You were physically there, but your mind was somewhere else."

"Hmph."

"Did something happen with Selene?"

Zane paused, unsure of how quite to respond. Alexis was perceptive, just like Atticus was, he supposed.

"Why would you suggest that?"

"Call it a hunch," she said, readjusting her bag so it rested firmly on her shoulder.

"No, It's nothing. She was just being careless, that's all."

"My brother wouldn't have wanted to see you two like this."

"Well that's just unfortunate, isn't it?"

Alexis fell silent. Zane quickly realized that he had let his emotions get the better of him again. Like some sort of curse that Selene had somehow cast on him. Shaking his head, he straightened up. Attempting to regain his composure before he dared even speak another word again.

"I'm sorry, Alexis. I don't know what came over me."

"It's alright," she said quietly. "Just… Try and focus, okay?"


"Anger never comes first. When someone is angry, that means they were hurt first."

Her grandfather had always told her that.

Selene Amada placed her get atop her desk. Leaning back in her chair, idly looking at the coffee and cream colored ceiling above. Her long hair falling behind her like a curtain, it felt almost like a two ton weight on her head.

Her grandfather had never been angry with her, now that she thought about it. He'd always remained so soft spoken and calm. Even when he was upset, he'd tell her what she did wrong. And why it was wrong. He had never yelled at her or made her feel lesser than.

Was he a father, to her? She didn't know. She didn't even remember her father, anyhow. Or her mother, for that matter. Only a sad grandfather. As they knelt at the temple and prayed for their spirits to find their way into the next life. She hoped to never make anybody that sad ever again.

Flipping a silver coin, it spun rapidly in the air before falling back down on her palm. Flipping it over onto her arm to see what she had got.

Tails

There was a fifty percent chance that she'd get tails. If she kept flipping, there'd always be another chance for her to get either heads or tails. But human choices were so much more complicated than the flip of a coin. The way a person reacts can go one of a nearly infinite amount of ways. Happiness, sadness, anger.

She didn't blame him for being angry at her. Even if it did make her want to hold her pillow and cry like a child. She couldn't. She knew what his reaction would be, or at least she thought he did.

"I can't lose you too."

Those words echoed in her mind. Again and again like a record that won't stop replaying the same song over and over. She didn't expect that.

Maybe it was better this way. He always did so much when it felt as if she did nothing for him. She would only drag him down, the way she dragged everybody in her life down.

She flipped the coin again, watching it spin in the air before falling back down into her hand. Quickly placing the coin back on her arm, she looked to see what she had gotten.

Heads

A sudden knock at the door pulled Selene out of her dream-like trace. Quickly sitting up straight in her chair, she swung her legs off the desk. Glancing at the wooden door on the opposite side of the room. Silence for a few moments, before another knock came again.

Slowly standing up, she made her way to the door. Despite the fact she had no interest in interacting with others at the moment, she felt as if something was pulling her towards the door.

Cracking the door open, she peeked through the sliver. Seeing one pretty blonde girl standing before her, looking at her with intent golden eyes. The same eyes that had come to her so many times in the past, even if they belonged to a different person.

"Alexis," Selene said, pulling the door all the way open. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Sorry," the girl said, looking a bit sheepish. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, no. Come in."

Stepping into the room, she glanced around. Taking in her surroundings as she took off her shoes. Selene then realized she hadn't cleaned up her room, as she wasn't expecting anybody to come over. Looking at the pile of books hazardously scattered around her bed, she quickly kicked them underneath with one fell swoop.

"You have a cute room, Selene."

"Thank you. I'm glad someone appreciates it."

Selene motioned for Alexis to sit down on the blue sofa in the room. Nodding, Alexis slid onto the couch, hands folded in her lap. Selene sat across from her, leaning against the back cushions.

"So," Selene began, crossing her legs. "What's up?"

"Well… I wanted to ask you something." Alexis looked down at her hands. Taking a deep breath, she looked back up. Looking at Selene dead in the eyes. "About Atticus."

"Atticus?" Selene echoed, straightening her posture.

"You were the last person to see him, weren't you?"

Selene was a bit stunned by Alexis' forwardness. Yet it was all too familiar to her. May it had ran in their family, that forward way of talking.

"I was."

"What… What exactly happened that night?"

It was silent for a brief moment. It was no secret what had happened that night, but what exactly had happened. She had rarely ever told anybody else. Yet, of all people, Alexis probably deserved to know the most. Selene took a deep breath.


Selene yawned, stretching her arms out up toward the clear night sky. As the two students walked from the library back to the dorm, only the sound of their footsteps and crashing waves filled their sphere on the quiet island. It was the dead of night, after all.

"I'm so tired," she groaned, rubbing her eyes. "All that studying and I'm still gonna fail Yamada's exam tomorrow."

"You'll be fine!" Atticus laughed, placing his hands behind his head. "You're a lot smarter than me, after all."

"That's a lie and you know it."

"It's n-"

Atticus stopped, noticing that the girl was no longer walking beside him. Turning around, he saw her a couple of paces behind him. Slightly bent over, clutching her head in her hands.

"Hey! Are you alright?" he called out, walking back towards her.

"Ever since that earthquake a few weeks ago, I've been getting these insane headaches!" she groaned, standing back up straight. Lowering her hands, she looked down at the ground.

"Maybe you should go see Nurse Fontaine."

"Maybe."

Atticus shook his head, grabbing her arm as if to lead her back to the dorms. Allowing her to use him as a support pillar, of sorts.

"You really need to start taking care of yourself!" he exclaimed.

"That's coming from the boy who can hardly take care of himself!"

The two made their way into the foyer, dimly lit by the crystal chandelier above. Selene turned left, pulling away from Atticus in the process. A few steps away, she paused. Turning back towards him, he simply smiled at her.

"Well, you can take it from here."

"You're not going back yet?"

Atticus shook his head.

"Nah. I got something to do."

"Oh?" Selene's curiosity was piqued. "What is it?"

He put his finger to his lips, with a mischievous smile. He tilted his head, saying, "It's a secret."

"What-?! No fair."

"What's not fair?"

"You make me tell you everything!" she said with a huff, placing both her hands on her hips. "But you won't tell me what this secret thing is?"

"You know it," he replied with a winning smile, pointing finger guns at her.

"Is it a girl?"

"Maybe."

"When you say it like that then it's not."

Selene put a curled hand up to her face, as if to think. Before quickly bringing it back down to fold her arms.

"Come on, just tell me!"

"I'll tell you in the morning."

"It is technically morning right now."

"It's not morning until you go to sleep and wake up."

"Atticus!"

He looked at her with his intent eyes. Staring at her for a moment before dropping his head. With a sigh, he threw his hands up into the air as if to signal defeat.

"Well, I guess I can tell you a little bit-" he said, placing his hands in his pockets. "It's a super secret duel exam for some new dueling tech!"

"What? That's so cool!" she exclaimed, clapping her hands together in excitement.

"Isn't it? But you can't tell anybody."

"I won't, I won't! Come on, you gotta let me go with you."

"But it's invite only!"

"I can stand outside!"

"I mean…"

She hadn't heard the rest of his sentence. In that moment, it felt as if a hammer was pounding against the inside of her skull. Hitting it over and over again, yet never seeming to break. Groaning, she grabbed her head, as if it would help against the pain inside.

"Selene! Are you alright?"

"It's my darn head again," she muttered, feeling the throbbing pain slowly reduce to repeated dull thuds.

"You need to sleep."

"Eh? You're not really gonna do this thing without me, are you?"

Atticus' brow furrowed in concern as he looked at her.

"I'm not the one who has a painful headache every other hour. I'll tell you about it tomorrow, promise."

"Mm… Alright."


"But for him, that tomorrow never came."

Alexis sat in silence, not looking up from her feet. As if she was trying to process the whole story.

"He didn't show up to class the next day. Neither did a few others. We went to his room and… Empty. He never came back." Selene held her hand up, thinking about the night. How the foyer smelled like cleaning supplies. How Atticus' touch was real, and how it all went away so quickly.

"I asked both the Chancellor and Crowler about the experiment he brought up, but they didn't know anything about it."

"I see."

Selene knew that the story was a lot for just anybody to take in. But for a girl whose brother was the one in the story, hearing of what could very well be his last moments before his disappearance must have been especially rough.

"I'm… I'm so sorry, Alexis," Selene managed to utter, stumbling over her words all the way. "If I had just gone with him that night-"

"Then you might've disappeared too." Alexis shook her head, forcing a gentle smile onto her face. "You have nothing to be sorry for. I don't blame you at all. We'll catch the real culprit, trust me."


AN: Woohoo! Finally got this chapter done. Hopefully, plot wise, things will start picking up from here!