Chapter 1-3: No, not without me.
"Mm… Zero-kun…" mumbled the sleeping Axial.
She opened her eyes and found herself on the beach. She took a glance of her surroundings before looking at the full moon.
"So pretty…" she remarked to herself before she stood up. She began looking around for something.
She ran up the nearby pathway that led up to the edge of the cliff nearby, in which allowed her to have an overhead view of the beach. A sense of worry crept into her heart, and she knew very well why. She couldn't find what she was looking for.
She went back to the academy and searched every single room – for any single bard, though there was barely any at that time.
Out of the academy she went, back to where Zero lives… maybe, to where he used to live. She knocked hard and rapidly on the door, but no one answered. She twisted the knob, and to her surprise – it wasn't locked. She rushed in.
Everything was the way it used to be since the last time she visited. Neat, something she loved about his house. Plain, neat, simple. She ran at the speed of a Wild Rose into the only room of the house – and it surprised her.
Everything was neat… neatly packed. More like, everything left was neatly packed. His clothes, his equipment, anything that he needs weren't there. Instantly after her mind processed this thought, she flew out of his house onto the borders of Comodo – hopefully she'll be lucky.
She ran as fast as she could. Gasping for air so fast, she only and merely focused on reaching the border at the speed of light. As she passed by her own house, suddenly she couldn't breathe. Her movements became shaky and in a split second she collapsed, and everything blacked out. Her heartbeat began to grow weaker and weaker, as her senses grew numb. The only thing she could feel… that she could hear was her dying heartbeat.
At the very last beat, her mind called out "Zero!"…
…Before she woke up from her bed, gasping for air.
Her eyes blinked. A bed? She turned her head around to find herself in her room.
She drowned her face on her palms, and suddenly something struck her mind – Zero!
She bounced out of her bed, changed her lingerie to proper dancer clothes - which wouldn't have seem much different if she didn't wear the knee length skirt – and raced time out of her house, not even noticing the note left on the family dining table.
Outside, she immediately headed for the academy, where many people were moving things in.
Obviously she bumped into Miya.
"Onee-san, have you seen Zero?" she asked between her gasps.
She shook her head before she gave an order to one of the facilitators.
The silver-blue-haired dancer immediately headed towards Zero's house. She knocked rapidly on the door, shouting his name as loud as she can.
When she finally ran out of energy to continue knocking the door, the knob finally twisted and the door opened – revealing an old lady.
"Excuse me, is Zero-kun in?" the exhausted dancer asked.
The old lady shook her head, and asked: "Who's Zero-kun?"
Shock spelled itself onto her face. Who's Zero-kun? "What do you mean who's Zero-kun?" she raised her voice.
The old lady seemed offended, to have someone younger than her raise her voice at her. She replied harshly, "I have never heard of anyone named Zero here. The house was vacant; I bought it and moved in. That's it," she then turned around and was about to slam the door.
But the dancer slipped in a question before she did so, "You don't know who's Zero-kun?"
The old woman made herself clear. "If I do, would I be asking you who he is?" and finally, she closed the door softly instead of slamming it.
The dancer dropped onto her knees. What the hell is going on?
It was already afternoon, and classes at the academy have already began.
Miya's class seemed to be normal, all of except Axial who was distraught. No one said a word to her, nor did she want to say a word to anyone. The lecturers didn't bother to get her to actually listen to their lessons. That was, until Miya came in to the class.
"Axial, what're you doing?" Miya asked loudly on purpose. Axial took a glance at her before turning away. It annoyed Miya. It really did.
"I said, what're you doing?" she repeated herself as she approached her little sister.
Again, Axial didn't respond. Ignorance seemed to be her bliss of the day.
Then again, since when has ignorance ever been bliss?
Miya grabbed her by the collar of her uniform and pulled her little sister closer. "Are you sure you don't want to answer?"
Axial glared at Miya with eyes of rage, yet sorrow. The flames within her eyes weren't enough to evaporate her tears, it seems.
She asked her sister, slowly, "Where is he?"
Miya loosened her grip on the dancer. "Who?"
"Zero-kun,"
"Well, he's not here,"
"You think I don't know that?"
"Axial, behave yourself!"
"Then answer my question,"
They were having the conversation as if the students around them never exist. Where one would actually freak out, having about 30 pairs of eyes looking at them, those two didn't.
"I don't know," Miya answered reluctantly before returning to the front of the class.
"He didn't tell you?"
"What makes you think he'll tell me?"
"You are his lecturer, after all,"
"Doesn't mean I get to know everything,"
"I haven't even add the fact that you two are close,"
and Miya had nothing else to say.
"Am I wrong? Please say so,"
Miya turned around. Sparkles were in her eyes. No, not those electric sparks, the sparkles of tears.
"It's not like I want my best artist in the class to go,"
"Then why didn't you stop him?"
"Because I didn't know he would leave!"
And the students were still, surprisingly, silent.
"You didn't or you don't?"
"Both,"
Axial began to doubt her sister's words, but it was really against her second-nature because she has been brought up not to doubt her family's words. But this was just too far, far enough to make her go against herself.
The dancer stood up boldly. Miya immediately signalled her to sit down, but she didn't. Instead she walked towards the entrance of the class, to be blocked by her sister.
"Move,"
"Not until class is over,"
"Don't make me,"
"You won't,"
"I will now,"
"Damn right you will,"
The silver-blue-haired dancer immediately took a knife from a small pouch hidden under her shirt. The whole class gasped.
"What do you plan to do?"
"To make you stand aside,"
"You're taking this too far, Axial!"
"You're taking this too far, Onee-san!"
Despite how close the knife was to Miya, and how nervous she was, she didn't even budge. Axial held the knife up and got ready to land it onto her very own sister – her sister of a different blood.
Miya braced herself. It was so scary, even though she knew Axial won't do it. She didn't have the guts to slash her own sister… but being so accustomed to being "sisters", she didn't recall the fact that Axial was adopted, not born.
The dancer withdrew her knife and returned back to her seat, and left a sweaty Miya opening her eyes, slowly, to breathe in some air of relieve before finishing up the remaining minutes of the lesson, having the rest being wasted by a lovely drama.
Class was up. The doors open and the wave of bards and dancers just poured out without delay. Axial was already at home, reading the note that she missed in the morning. When she was done, she loosened her grip on the paper, and it dropped onto the ground. Without even bothering the pitiful piece of paper, she went up the stairs and back into her room. What followed, were her loud cries.
A small gust of wind that came from the nearby partially opened window flipped the paper over, and the words were visible.
Axi,
I'm sorry that I didn't let you know earlier, but I believe by the time you read this, you would've probably found this out by then.
Anyway, I'm going to keep this simple.
I am leaving Comodo, to where I won't be telling you. We probably won't ever meet again, but that will be decided by our great Lord Odin. Please, move on and leave me behind – just as I am trying my best to do the same thing.
Live, and be the best dancer that Comodo will always be proud of… that I will always be proud of. I pray for your safety and that you'll make the right decisions.
Sayonara, Axial Cresentfall.
Zero
"How could you do this to me, Zero-kun? HOW COULD YOU!" the crying dancer began bashing up her own bed so hard, her fists were bleeding from it. The bed had holes all over it, and when she finally stopped, she took out her knife and outstretched her hand, holding the knife with its blade pointing at herself. She closed her eyes, and her brains began sending the signals to her hands to stab herself, but before she did so, Melissa – for some reason – barged in and held her down.
After trying to calm her little sister down, she immediately hit the dancer's head with her bare hands, and she fainted.
"Thank God I learnt how to knock someone out properly,"
