Okay, I know I haven't posted anything in a while and there's no excuse. I'm just lazy, so thanks to fortuneprincess for giving me the kick up the ass I needed.

Moving right along . . .

Chapter Thirteen – Gangs of Gardenia

"Shit," Helia cursed through gritted teeth as he leapt backwards to avoid having his stomach sliced open by Rowan's massive battle axe. Despite the heavy weight of the weapon and the huge amount of force that had been put behind the swing of it, Rowan recovered quickly and went after the art student with another attack. This time, Helia wasn't fast enough to dodge the attack completely, and his cape suffered for it.

"Who rips their uniform these days?" Justin asked Marcus loudly enough for the rest of the class could hear him from the sidelines, a vindictive smile on his face. "After all, Red Fountain uniforms are made from material durable enough to survive the most extreme fighting situations and Paintbrushes over there can't even go one round with our man Rowan. Pathetic."

"That's enough," Codatorta growled, cancelling both the bout and the chatter. "Good recovery, Rowan, but next time put more control into your swing to avoid that situation entirely. Helia . . . again, you need to be more offensive if you want to pass this class. Having a good defence is important but it can't be everything you have."

"Yes sir," Helia muttered, staring at the ground. He absolutely hated combat class since it was a complete contrast to his beliefs. Unfortunately, combat class was a compulsory subject at Red Fountain and no matter how hard he begged his grandfather to let him get out of it, Helia was forced to endure a period everyday and be the target of Justin's torment. The duke's son was never as out right rude to him as he was with Brandon and the other 'lower class' students, but with each day his taunts were getting closer and closer to that level.

"Alright, class dismissed," Codatorta announced. "Go to lunch."

"Hey Helia, I got a question for you," Justin said as he and the rest of the lacrosse team made their way over to the art student like a pack of wolves closing in on a wounded deer. Justin's face and tone was one of innocent curiosity, but Helia could still sense the underlying malevolent that was being radiated out. "If you want to play with string, why didn't you take up knitting instead of heroics?"

"Good one," Marcus grinned as the rest of Justin's goons laughed.

"Yeah, funny," Helia agreed sarcastically. "Did you think of that one all by yourself or did you have to buy it off someone with daddy's money?"

Justin's grin dropped into an un-amused sneer and his eyes narrowed. Although he had the upmost respect for Saladin, he found Helia to be a lesser son of greater sires and he was quickly failing to keep his disgust at bay. Behind him, his goons stared flexing their muscles and cracking their knuckles, waiting for them to be given the order to attack. "You know, art boy, if you weren't Saladin's grandson you would have been kicked out of here after your first week. You obviously don't take after your mothers side of the family which makes me wonder; what kind of a loser did Saladin's daughter hook up with to produce such a – "

"Hey Helia!" Riven called, strolling over to his roommate. "C'mon, man. I'm starvin'."

"Yeah, I'm coming," Helia said while Riven turned his burning violet eyes on Justin and his goons, who had suddenly dropped their aggressive attitude that they had been displaying before.

"Is there anything you want, Status Crow?"

Justin's face turned stony at his much hated nickname, but even with the entire lacrosse team backing him up he wasn't stupid enough to go up against Riven. "No."

"Then scram, crow boy. We've got better things to do than look at your pointed face," Riven spat as he and Helia left, leaving behind a fuming son of a duke.

"Do you really think it's a good idea to work Justin up like that?" Helia asked as the two of them tried to make their way to the mess hall through the crowded hallways. "His father is a powerful man, after all, not to mention he's got the entire lacrosse team behind him. You're walking on thin ice."

"I'm always on thin ice. I wouldn't know how to live any different," Riven waved off. "Besides, Justin's too gutless to try anything."

Helia sighed. "He doesn't seem to have that problem around me."

Riven gave his roommate a sideway glance as they continued to walk. He knew that Helia was having a hard time fitting in at Red Fountain which was why he had offered to room with Riven in exchange for some advice on how to survive the school year, and it was time to start teaching. "You can change that easily. All you gotta do is change your reputation and start surrounding you name with a little bit of fear and everyone will back off."

"Fear?" Helia repeated, raising an eye brow and staring at the other teen with a look that seemed to be rather disapproving.

"Yeah. You do you think this school's governed by? Respect? Don't be absurd. Everyone here spends half their time trying to figure out who not to pick fights with and the other half picking on the ones that they know they can. It's a dog eat dog world in here and everyone's trying to think of a way to save their own skin."

"You make it sound barbaric."

"It is. It's high school. Get a good enough rep as someone not to be messed with and you'll rule this school."

"That doesn't seem to be the case with Brandon and Sky," Helia debated. "They're nice guys and everyone respects them."

"Yeah, and that has nothing to do with the fact that they're both two of the best swordsmen in our grade?" Riven questioned. "You and Timmy are equally as nice as those two but people don't back off on you like them because you're not up to their level of combat skill."

"I don't believe that," Helia said. "Good people don't get bullied just because they're not as good with a weapon as others. I think respect has more of a sway than fear."

"Oh yeah?" Riven asked, coming to a stop and scanning the corridor until he spotted a sophomore standing several meters away, glancing over his notes. "See that guy over there? What's his name? Mike? Mick? Mark?"

Helia rolled his eyes before supplying, "Brad?"

"I knew it had four letters in it," Riven shrugged off quickly in order to make his point. "Anyway, try and get him to come over here with nothing but you're goody-goody reputation and respectable nature."

"Easy," Helia accepted the challenge. "Hey Brad! Can you please come over here for a second?"

"Not right now," Brad answered immediately before returning to his notes.

"He's busy at the moment," Helia informed Riven pathetically. Riven arched an eye brow at his roommate before whistling sharply through his teeth like a master calling his dog. In an instant, Brad abandoned his study and bolted over to the two juniors, awaiting instructions.

"Sir?" Brad asked Riven, a slightly terrified glint in his eyes.

"Slap yourself very hard in the face then leave," Riven commanded, never once taking his eyes of Helia so he could watch his roommates reaction. Obediently, Brad raised his own hand, slapped himself across the face and then fled (1). "See? Respect had nothing over fear in a place like this."

"That's horrible," Helia gasped, shocked at by what had just happened.

"That's high school," Riven said again, entering the mess hall. He had skipped breakfast so he was pretty hungry by now so the conversation was briefly paused as they scavenged their food out of the lunch line and fought their way through the crowded lunch room to their regular table where Timmy, Brandon and Sky were already seated.

"So, are you saying that Red Fountain is like a battle field?" Helia asked Riven, sliding into his seat.

"No. I'm saying that Red Fountain is a battle field," Riven told him, pulling the slices of tomatoes out of his sandwich. For a boy who a few years ago was living on the streets and surviving on whatever he could get his hands on, he had gotten picky since arrive at Red Fountain and being exposed to Jacob's cooking. "And it's not just grades like most normal schools have to deal with. Students here have a habit of taking grudges and rivalry too far."

"Like you and Kane?" Helia asked jestingly.

"Yes, just like me and Kane," Riven said with a viscous looking smile. "And you need to build up a rep that you shouldn't be messed with, and you're pathetic, pansy pacifists belief are not going to get you that."

"Riven, maybe this isn't the – " Sky started trying to cut off this conversation before all hell broke lose, but surprisingly enough it was Helia who stopped him.

"No, let him speak," Helia ordered, silencing the prince. "What do you have against pacifism?"

Riven snorted a laugh. "Where do I start?"

"I suggest somewhere or else this is going to be a very boring debate."

"Pacifism doesn't work," Riven put bluntly. "It's an idiotic ideal which simply ignores basic human nature rather than confronting it. People are going to fight. It's always been that way and none of that hippy crap is gonna change it."

"Yes, people have always had a will to fight, but that doesn't make it right. The only reason fighting is a part of human nature is because it's a trait that has been bred into our nature after countless generations of blood shed. Red Fountain boasts that their duty is to protect and serve. Wouldn't you say that we owe it to the people we are try to protect to set an example of a less violent life?"

"We have, to a degree."

"No you haven't. The senior biology elective includes a module on anatomy which focuses on which the parts of the body you should attack for quick, effective way to kill a person."

"Yes, why bother learning about quick, effective way to kill a person when you can just stab them in the stomach and leave them for a long, drawn out, painful death? And don't say we haven't done anything. We're replaced traditional steel weapons for phantom blades. Our guns are loaded with stun and addle bullets which don't kill and we're trained how to use them properly to avoid us making dangerous mistakes."

"That all very lovely but it doesn't change the fact your school's main subject is combat," Helia reminded him.

"Hey, it's your school too, Paintbrushes," Riven pointed out, reaching over to steal some of Brandon's chips.

"I'm in denial."

"You're an artist, right?"

"I try to be."

"So isn't it you're job to speak to truth and recognize the beauty of human nature or some crap like that? Now I'm not saying there's a need for reckless battles or anything like that, but how can you talk about the beauty of human kind without acknowledging mans will to fight?"

"That's very elegant but it's still total nonsense," Helia commented. "Beauty in the will to fight? If that's true then why is it that so many seasoned soldiers who all comment how horrible war really is? There is no beauty in battle, only sorry. And the idea of fighting to obtain peace is completely ridiculous, you know that. I'm sure the pale pep talks for peace have been repeated numerous times in the past and yet every time they're spoken they're never achieved because fighting and battles are not the way to gain peace. In fact the very idea of fighting for peace is an oxymoron."

"What the hell's an oxymoron?"

"It's something that contradicts itself, like say justifying killing thousands of lives in the hope that in the end of it all there'll be peace."

"He's got a point there," Sky noted, but Riven wasn't about to give up.

"Even if you did manage to change everyone's minds and got rid of every last weapon, peace still wouldn't last. Destruction is a part of human nature that can never be gotten rid of because it's instigated by fear. It's human nature. We can't accept what we can't see in ourselves. We fear it, we reject it and that is the beginning of war," Riven shot back. "And unfortunately, we're all born different, so even without weapons, we'll still find reason to fight."

"That's true," Brandon nodded.

"That's why we need to retrain the way people think," Helia continued off Riven's argument. "We need to stop people resulting to violence and war just because it's available to them."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" Riven asked. "Get rid of all weapons?"

"If it comes to that."

"So are you saying that soldiers that no nothing but how to fight get discarded?"

"Soldiers that fought to obtain a sense of peace should believe in world they live in."

"You can't guarantee that. There are countless people out there whose lives centre around being used as weapons. People who are only able to acknowledge their existence on the battle field. The belief that peace is simply obtained by throwing away weapons and containing soldiers is wrong."

"That maybe so, but unless we start questioning ourselves and thinking of new diplomatic solutions we're only going to end up repeating history, and that's a history full of miserable battles. Unless we stop this process now, more soldiers will become necessary," Helia said, and there was nothing that Riven or anyone else listening to the debate could think of to argue that point. "You said before that as an artist, it's my job to speak the truth. Well that's not true because I don't get to decide what truth is. That's up for my audience to decide. My job to captivate them for however long I've asked for their attention and if I stumble into truth it's because I got lucky. All I know is that with war comes a sorrow that can never be forgotten, which in turn breeds new hatred and new battles in the future."

"Okay, so human kind can never forget the sorrow that has been caused by wars, but that still doesn't mean that they've ever stopped fighting," Riven pointed out. "In fact, even with all the pain and grief that comes with war, people still go so far as to glorifying it. You can't even speak of history without referring to the wars in each era as important events."

"That is true," Helia nodded. He was silent for a moment before asking, "So why do people fight anyway?"

"Huh?"

"Why do people fight?"

"I dunno," Riven confessed after a moment of thought. "Maybe people feel a sense of accomplishment through battle, and it's also a fact that the one's actually fighting are never seen as being tainted."

"So maybe the meaning of human lies within their will to fight?" Helia speculated.

"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe we're all just messed up," Riven shrugged, looking off to a point beyond Helia's left shoulder. "Is Lex eating an orange with a spoon?"

"I think he's just trying to get the skin off," Timmy said. "Or at least I hope his is."

"It's hard to tell with that boy," Brandon noted as the bell rang, signalling that lunch was over and that they needed to head for their next class. It wasn't until later that night when Riven and Helia were in their dorm that the debate they had had over lunch was raised again. Riven was sprawled out on his bed reading while Helia sat at his desk working on a sketch he had started halfway through the final class of the day instead of listening to what his professor was saying.

"So, you never got around to telling just how I can get Justin and his buddies to leave me alone," Helia said not looking up from his sketch.

"Yeah I did. We just gotta change your rep a bit and they'll back off."

"Riven, I told you before; I don't want to fight half the school just for the sake of a little bit of peace. I just don't believe in that kind of thing."

"Who said anything about half the school?" Riven asked. "There's this old saying which goes 'execute one enemy to warn a hundred'. If you just put your ideals aside for one fight and absolutely crush your opponent, people will back off."

"You honestly believe that?" Helia asked, twisting in his seat to look at his roommate.

"Course I do. We've got an assessment coming up of how good we work as a team in combat and I think we should use that opportunity. I'll even add a little incentive and get us placed against Justin's squad. I'm sure you won't mind beating the living snot out of him. I'll set it all up."

"You can do that?"

"Of course I can. What kind of a thief would I be if I couldn't breaking into Codatorta's office and rearrange his lesson plan to suit me? It'll be easy."

"I dunno."

"You can think about it for a day or so, but you're gonna come around eventually."

"Well, we'll see about that," Helia said, turning back around and then the room fell silent again.

Helia was usually never one to get stressed.

While his workload at Ossacip had been rather extensive – particularly their theory assignments which had in the past been accountable for Helia staying up till three in the morning every night for a week writing essays which often exceeded seventy pages (2) – Helia had always managed to keep a cool and level head during the demanding assessment period of their semester. But since transferring to Red Fountain, Helia had found that his stress levels had started to rise dramatically and they weren't even currently in an examination or assessment period. The constant stain against his ideals was slashing away at his confidence and he was close to simply calling it quits. Riven was attempting to help Helia become more settled at Red Fountain, but his methods were at such odds with Helia's views that the pacifist only felt that the pressure had intensified, not lessen.

Execute one enemy to warn a hundred.

Helia knew there was logic behind Riven's thinking, but that just made it all the harder for Helia to be comfortable with. He couldn't say he was one thing and then go and do something else just because it was convenient. That would be like calling yourself a vegetarian and yet still eating meat.

Finally, unable to stand the suffocating air that lingered in the halls of Red Fountain, Helia sought solace at the Standing Stones Shrine of the Dryads. Constructed by the dryads centuries before the first stone of the original fortress of Red Fountain had been laid, the Standing Stones were the site of where several important events in the dryad calendar were held. Ever since the disappearance of the dryads, however, the site had become less sacred and more of a hang out place for students, given its convenient location half way between Red Fountain and Alfea. There were a few old stories about the stones being haunted, but if anything that just encouraged to students to the site, especially at midnight in the name of a dare.

While other students were quite content with lounging around the sacred stones, Helia had no desire to defile a site that was so sacred to an ancient and often forgotten race. He did, however, agree with the location the dryads had selected for their stones and it was one of Helia's favourite places to meditate.

Seating himself on a bolder in a shaded yet warm place under the green canopy of the trees, Helia steadied his breathing and focused on his heartbeat. Forcing all of his stressful thoughts out of his mind, Helia let his body still and for the first time in a long time he felt himself relax. He was just managing to slip into a pure, thoughtless serenity when he sensed someone on the edge of his awareness and heard a soft voice whisper his name.

"Helia."

Opening his eyes, Helia was almost ready to snap at the person that had shattered his meditation, but when he saw exactly who the person that interrupted him was, he felt himself slip from one trance like state to another.

Standing on the edge of the clearing, her stunning green eyes wide with surprise, was Flora. The soft sunlight that managed to filter through the branches light touched her hair, highlighting the gold strains that were often lost in other light. Cradled in her bronzed arms were a collection of books and papers – an indication that she had come to the Standing Stones for a chance to study outside – and hovering just behind her was the ever present Chatta, who instantly slipped behind a tree to allow the teens a chance to talk with her eavesdropping. The soft scent of jasmine drifted to Helia's senses causing a warm smile to spread across his lips almost subconsciously, an act that for some reason made Flora flush slightly.

"Huh?" Flora breathed, suddenly becoming extremely nervous. So much so that her books and papers she was carrying slipped out of her grasp. Getting to his feet, Helia quickly moved to help Flora collect her scattered belongings.

"Hey Flora. Let me help you," Helia offered, but Flora had managed to scramble her books together that all that remained was a letter in an envelope which was sealed with an elegant, pink flower. Helia had studied Linphean art, so he was well aware of the fact that they used different flowers to represent different things. There was a Flower of Sadness, a Flower of Compassion, a Flower of Good Luck and even a Flower of Ire. But when Helia recognized the flower that was sealed on the envelope, it made his heart stop for a second. Hesitantly, as if it was a dangerous snake, Helia picked up the letter.

Flora noticed the letter in his hands, and for some reason it made her eyes widen and her cheeks flush a few shades deeper. "Um . . . er . . . that's just . . . er . . ."

"The Crescent Flower of Love," Helia noted, standing. Flora followed suit.

"You know it?" Flora asked, looking both startled and delighted.

"It means this letter's for the one who has your heart," Helia said, and for some reason he felt his own heart clench and his tongue start to freeze up at the thought of this letter being for intended for some other boy back at Linphea, or worse, at Red Fountain. He was well aware of his attraction to Flora, but he was unused to the feeling of jealousy, so it left Helia in a very unfamiliar situation.

"Well yes but . . . er . . ."

"Well, I have to tell you that whoever's getting this letter is really a very lucky guy," Helia told her diplomatically, trying his hardest not to sound too jaded.

"Well actually . . . it's for my parents," Flora said. Helia instantly felt a wave of relief wash over him followed by one of confusion. There was a flower that symbolized the love of family in Linphea, and it wasn't the Crescent Flower of Love. But he didn't believe Flora would ever try to hide that fact that some other boy might have her heart so he accepted her word.

"Wow, that's very sweet. Here," Helia said, handing the letter back to her. He couldn't help but noticed how relieved she looked once the letter was out of his hands.

"Well, I'll see you later," Flora smiled nervously and although Helia would have liked to stay and talk with her longer, he recognized a dismissal when it was given to him.

"Bye," Helia nodded, turning and heading back to towards Red Fountain. It was a long walk, but Helia felt as if he needed it. Ever since he had transferred he had felt as if he had made a mistake. There were so many reasons for Helia to just give it all up and return to Ossacip where he felt more comfortable, but there was one reason to stay, and at the moment Helia was starting to think that it was all worth it. An hour later, Helia entered his room to find his room to find his roommate seated on his bed, his violet eyes fixed on the book that he had been reading the night before. Riven didn't even look up as Helia entered, but Helia knew that he was aware of his presence.

"Let's go ahead with it," Helia said simply. Riven looked up from his book to regard his roommate and without any need for a further explanation, Riven nodded.

"Alright, I'll arrange it."

"Alright! Now we get to see if you ladies have been paying attention for the last few weeks," Codatorta growled, looking over his notes. The subject they were covering in his class was Teamwork in Battle Situations which focused on using and blending the skills of individual members of a team while in battle. They touched on this subject each year, but every time it got more advanced and more difficult. "Get into your groups of three. Go!"

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Helia whispered sharply to Riven. They had already worked out their groups of three the day before and were given twenty-four hours to strategize the best form of attack for them. Helia's group consisted of himself, Riven and Lex who Helia was worried about due to the fact that the short student was yet to show any sign of intelligence since Helia had arrived at Red Fountain. But Riven assured him that, although stupid, Lex knew how to follow orders and that he was actually pretty good with his short staff – provided his didn't knock himself out with it, of course.

"Of course I am," Riven said, sounding a little insulted. "When you want anything technical or statistic, you go to Timmy. When you want something manipulative, conniving or illegal, you come to me."

"You are aware that none of those are good things, aren't you?"

"Oh, that's just a matter of perspective," Riven assured him as the last member of their group joined them. "You remember what we went through last night, Lex?"

"Yup, I remember," Lex assured them. They had gone through some plays the night before, and now all they had to do was wait until their group was called to see if they worked.

"Alright, Sky, Brandon and Timmy, you're up," Codatorta announced, checking his lesson sheets. "And you're up against Kane, Bourne and Sally."

"I've been meaning to ask; what's Sally's real name?" Helia asked. Riven opened is mouth to answer, but quickly closed it when he realised he didn't actually know what the answer was.

"I can't remember," he confessed. "We started calling him Sally in the first few weeks of freshmen year and it's just kinda stuck since then. I mean, even the teachers call him it."

The fight didn't last very long. Bourne, Kane and Sally may have been well schooled in the weapons and battle techniques, but there was just no way any of them could match the synchronization and team work which Brandon and Sky had mastered before they even arrived at Red Fountain, and when that skill was under the direction of Timmy's brilliant strategic mind, it made them an unstoppable force.

"The bout goes to Sky, Brandon and Timmy. Competitors shake hands and get off the arena so that we can get the next group going," Codatorta ordered, his eyes on his lesson sheet again. "Okay, we've got Riven, Helia and Lex verses Justin, Marcus and Rowan."

"Oh, this is going to be too easy," Justin grinned as the teams headed out into the arena. "You picked Paintbrushes and the Idiot, Riven? And here I thought that you liked to win."

"You're gonna be eating your words, Crow Boy," Riven promised the pointed nose boy with a sneer.

"With your crew? Not likely."

"Whatever," Riven shrugged off casually, but his eyes were hard and focused. At first glance, Riven's crew looked to be very relaxed and unprepared for the fight that was waiting for them at Codatorta's command, but on closer inspection, one could see that it was all a façade that they were putting on. Their bodies, although slouched, were tense and their fingers rested on their weapons, ready to be used in an instants notice.

"Just as a quick reminder, you're being graded on how well you combine the skills of your team. This is not a solo effort, Riven," Codatorta reminded them. Riven shot the professor an irritated and insult look, but he managed to keep his tongue still. "On my mark . . . begin!"

Now sooner had the words left Codatorta's lips, than Helia and Riven sprang into action. For this bout, Riven had forgone his sabre and instead went with his morning star and long knife, and with one fluid monition, Riven sent his morning star flying towards Rowan's left arm while Helia went for his right with his laser strings. The two string weapons wrapped themselves around Rowan's thick arms and with a well timed pull Riven and Helia yanked him clear off his feet and sent him flying towards Lex, who was standing slightly in front of his two team mates. He was facing side onto the fight, and he had his short staff raised over one shoulder like a baseball player. Rowan was nearly twice the size of Lex horizontality and he towered over him vertically, but Lex still managed to fell him with one hit when he swung his staff and collected the big lacrosse player directly under the ribs, effectively winding him. With a heavy crash, Rowan hit the floor and his breathless state made him completely helpless against Lex's staff which hit him sharply on the back of the neck, knocking him senseless.

"No way!" Justin hissed. Rowan was the muscle in their group. How could he be taken down by someone as small and stupid as Lex?

"One down, two to go," Riven grinned smugly. Rowan had been the one they had thought the longest on how to defeat since he had the advantage of weight that his other team mates didn't have, and yet he had fallen in a matter of seconds. This was so easy it also seemed cruel.

There was only one person in their grade that was shorter than Lex, and that person was Marcus. Cursed with the narrow facial features that make him resemble a rat, Marcus was a spiteful little creature with a wickedly intelligent mind. Like Timmy, Marcus could never match some of his classmates in physical strength, but what he lacked in muscle he made up for with intelligence. Timmy would never consider himself the type of person who had a rival, but if he did, there was no denying that it would be Marcus since they were always trying to best each other on the theory side of their classes. Marcus had been the one out of his team who had constructed their strategies, but all of their plays had revolved around having Rowan and his bulk.

"Now what?" Justin hissed through clenched teeth.

"I'm thinking," Marcus told him sharply, extending his shield in order to protect himself as he thought of some kind of game plan. Unfortunately for him, the other crew had been waiting for him to pull out his shield so they could begin their next play.

With a well practiced flick of his wrist, Riven sent his morning star slamming into the direct centre of Marcus shield with such force that it sent Marcus sliding backwards. Normally, Marcus would have been fine with simply losing a bit of ground, but the second Riven's morning star hit the shield, Helia lashed out with his laser stings and grabbed hold of one of Marcus's ankles which was enough to cause the little rat faced student to over balance.

That was Lex's queue. Shortly after knocking Rowan senseless, Lex had swapped his short staff for his secondary weapon; a bee kicker blaster much like Timmy's. He had already taken locked his aim on Marcus and the second both his feet were off the ground, Lex fired. His intent wasn't to hurt Marcus, rather to use the blast to build momentum to throw Marcus further backward. The rat faced boy bounced once and then fell out of the arena, officially disqualifying him for the fight.

"Are they always this easy?" Helia asked loudly enough for the rest of the class to hear. Riven had instructed him to do that because he knew it would make Justin mad, which would in turn make him stupid. Also because Riven assured him that sometime it pays to be arrogant.

Justin did become mad, and when that was coupled with desperation, it resulted in Justin making a very foolish action. Faster than the eye could follow, Justin pulled out his boomerang and hurled it into the air. The bent stick arched around and collected Lex on the back of the head. The short boys pale blue eyes rolled back into his head and he collapsed onto the ground in an unconscious state next to the still dazed Rowan. Riven used his long knife to deflect Justin's boomerang before it could return back to its master, leaving him with only close range weapons. Helia used that moment of confusion to attack.

Like most laser string weapons, the laser string glove was primarily used for as a means of restraint. However, it also had the ability to be used much like a whip and talented people could actually merge the two functions together. Before Justin was even aware of it, one of Helia's laser strings latched itself onto his left ankle, and when Helia suddenly threw his arm upwards, the motion carried down the string like a wave, resulting in Justin being hurled up into the air by one ankle before crashing head first back onto the ground.

"Alright! That's enough!" Codatorta – who probably should have stopped the fight as soon as Lex was knocked unconscious – ordered. "Honestly boys, this is just an assessment! There is no need for you to kill each other!"

"Justin! You alright?" Marcus asked, rushing over to help his friend into a sitting position. Justin had one hand covering his face and leaking out from underneath it was a large amount of red liquid.

"Looks like we got ourselves a bleeder," W noted from his place on the sidelines with the rest of his class.

"Yup, it's a gusher!" Dave informed everyone loudly, trying not to sound too pleased about it.

"Shut up!" Codatorta shouted, crouching down in front of Justin. "Let me have a look, lad."

"Oh, that looks nasty," Bishop said when Justin lowered his hands. His face and the front of his uniform was stained crimson and his eyes were already turning black. His long nose – which was normally so straight and beak like – didn't look as straight as it normally did. It may have been a trick of the light, but then again, no one thought that was very likely.

"It looks like a break but I'm gonna send you to Doc just to make sure. Marcus, help him there and would someone drag Lex and Rowan there too. The last thing I need is Doc storming into my classroom and yelling at me again for neglecting duty of care to my students," Codatorta said before turning around to glare at Helia and Riven. "You two go to Saladin's office. Now!"

"I didn't do anything," Riven objected.

"Go!"

Wordlessly, Riven and Helia headed for Saladin's office while Justin was sent to the infirmary. Helia looked like he was about to be sick, while Riven looked quite relaxed. After all, this wasn't the first time he was sent to the headmaster's office, and it probably wasn't going to be the last. "Well, I think that went well."

The look Helia gave him was murderous.

After his students finished explaining what happened, Saladin sent Riven and Helia off with a warning not to be so rough during assessments. Riven had been spared any punishment do to the fact that had hadn't actually done anything wrong for once and since Helia had a clean record in regards to these types of things, Saladin could only assume it was an accident.

"I feel terrible," Helia admitted as the pair made their way from the headmaster's office to the junior common room. Yes, they had never actually intended to break Justin's nose but they had planned to defeat and utterly humiliate him. And while Helia had been okay with it before, his conscience was starting to kick in and the guilt was killing him.

Riven, however, had no such guilt. "Why? We got away with it, didn't we?"

"That doesn't make it okay, Riven. We broke his nose."

"So? He knocked Lex out cold. An eye for an eye."

"Lex knocks himself out at least once fortnight. And besides, an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

"You're quoting fortune cookies to me now? Look Helia, it was an accident, get over it. You got a bunch of kids playing with weapons and being encouraged to attack one another by their teachers. You don't think that every now and then someone's going to get hurt?" Riven asked. "And besides, if anyone should be feeling lousy, it's me."

"You?"

"Yes. I've wanted to break that spoiled, little brat's beak-like nose since he got here and I got beaten to it by pacifist of all people. Do you know how embarrassing that is for me? A bloody goody-two shoes pansy beat me to the punch. And now even if I do get the chance to break his nose again, it's already been done. I'll be a copycat."

"My god, I didn't even consider it from your point of view," Helia spat sarcastically.

"Hey, don't take that attitude with me. I'm the one who's cut here."

"Riven, we broke his nose! Aren't you even feeling the slightest bit guilty?"

"Of course I don't. That guy's been an ass to everyone at this school since he got here. Apart from his goons, nobody likes him. I'm surprised they didn't all break out into cheers and applause when you broke that beak of his. If this doesn't get you some popularity points, nothing else will. The only way you could top it is if you somehow managed to get all the Vampirean Secret Dark Angels here for a visit," Riven informed him. "And besides, Justin will get his nose fixed. What else is his daddy's money good for?"

"I still feel bad," Helia said as they neared to common room.

"You'll get over it," Riven told him, hitting the door open only to discover virtually the rest of their class waiting for them on the other side.

"All hail the conquering hero!" Bourne shouted and was answered by a deafening cheer from the rest of the students in the room, coupled by a thundering applause. Asides from the lacrosse team, every junior and a couple students from other grades had crammed themselves into the junior common room, ready to congratulate Helia for being the one to finally break Justin's nose.

"Oh, you are kidding me," Helia gasped before being dragged forward into the crowd. It was as if he had just won a marathon or something. People keep slapping him hard on the back or seizing his hand to shake it until it felt as though his arm was about to fall off. Embarrassed and confused, Helia could only grin stupidly as countless congratulations washed down over him. Somewhere behind him, he could hear Riven say loudly that of course the entire thing was premeditated which as the complete opposite of what he was saying to Saladin just moments before.

"That was brilliant!" Toby exclaimed, pounding Helia on the back.

"Inspirational!" Kane agreed.

"Justin's never going to be able to live this down!" Sally grinned widely.

"If only we could see it all again," Brandon sighed dramatically before pulling out a remote to the TV. "Oh wait, we can!"

Helia's cobalt eyes widened as the picture of the TV suddenly showed a recording of the fight between his squad and Justin's squad. "How did you get that?"

"Timmy was recording the fight on his PHA since it's always interesting whenever Riven goes head to head against Rowan," Sky explained. "Mind you, we weren't aware that we were recording history in the making. Now we can watch it over and over again."

"And Timmy even says we can put it in slow motion and watch it in reverse," Lex – who had regained consciousness – told them excitedly. "We're going to get hours of entertainment out if this!"

"Shut up! It's starting!" Dave ordered everyone when they got up to the part of the fight where Helia seized Justin around the ankle with his laser string gloves.

Even though he still felt guilty, Helia couldn't seem to stop himself for grinning.

(1) That's on of my favourite moment out of Scrubs. It's classic Dr Cox

(2) A whole bunch of my friends had to do that during our final year at high school. I was smart and didn't take art as an elective. Too much theory work

The debate about peace and war and whether pacifism works or not was built up from a combination of quotes and ideas from Gundam Wing AC, The West Wing and Full Metal Alchemist the Movie, although the biggest influence I had was an incredible duologue taken from the Gundam Wing movie, Endless Waltz where Heero and Wufei are fighting in their mobile suits in space just above Earth's atmosphere as they discuss whether human beings can ever really have peace. That scene is easily my favourite anime scene ever

'History is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever' – Mariemaia Kushrenada, Gundam Wing

TBC.