Hey, I'm back. This chapter will basically be more like a set of short stories about the more casual lives of our team. The goal is to just get to know them more and how they interact, because up until now it's always just been pretty action packed without that much character depth.

As a result, the pace of the story might seem slow and a little boring, but I'll do my best to make it interesting at the same time. I'll also be writing from the POV's of different characters, so you'll see their names on the top of each chapter to avoid confusion.

Hope you enjoy, and please review!

Nal-Kae

My room has always been my sanctuary. Climbing the tower, hiding my wings, my room was the one place where I could relax and unfold my wings. Of course, Kryst would probably call me an idiot for not thinking there weren't ways people could see into my room, but Kryst does tend to take things to extremes.

It's different now, though. Now my sanctuary's been extended to the whole house our team lives in. Everyone saw how I could fly down on the 20th floor, and we told Alasis and Hanaki soon after they joined us. I still can't believe how lucky I was, getting into a team that wasn't scared of me because I could fly. I showed everyone on the 2nd floor, but all they thought about was how it could affect their test scores, and how I was "better" than them.

I deliberately failed the 3rd floor test, then went up with the next batch of chosen regulars. I didn't get any jealous looks from them, but everyone still avoided me because they thought I was weak. I proved them wrong, of course, but that still left the question of why I had failed the test in the first place. So, people were still suspicious of me.

I guess Kryst would just snort and say that's how people always are, but I always hope that there'll be more people like Kryst and the rest of my team around.

"You have got to be absolutely joking!"

"Just look, everyone knows that I'm right. You can't deny the evidence."

"I don't care if you have evidence or not, we are not buying Nal-Kae anymore sets of clothes!"

Did I mention that Kryst took things to extremes? One of the things he takes to extremes is what I would call economy, Kryst would call being smart and making sure we still get to climb, and everyone else call being a cheapskate.

"Just look at his shirt, I'm surprised none of the other residents have seen his wings poking out from behind him." Laesa argued back. I was pretty sure she was doing this just to wind Kryst up again. To be fair though, there was a week until our next test and we didn't have anything else to do. I suppose baiting Kryst was one way to pass the time.

I put my hand up and asked "Umm, don't I get a say in this?"

"You don't understand" Cosmos stage-whispered to me, making sure Kryst could hear everything "The whole point is to keep what you want ambiguous, that way we get to see Kryst and Laesa argue longer."

I looked around and saw Nathan lounging on the floor, Alasis leaning against the wall, Hanaki standing behind her (he did that a lot for some reason), and they all had the expression they had the night we watched some comedy on Kryst's Box.

"We all stop growing once we enter the tower," Kryst was arguing "why does Nal-Kae need clothes?"

I was yanked over by Laesa, who tugged at my long sleeve "He could hide his hands in these when we first met, now they can't even cover his wrist."

She had a point. I'd always worn baggy clothes to hide my wings, and sometimes wondered how some regulars could wear vests or tight shirts. Hiding my hands was also an old habit. They just felt safer when they were hidden. I didn't think it was getting that small though, and I was pretty sure that Laesa was just exaggerating things.

She also knew how to push Kryst's buttons, though, and mentioning my wings sticking out was the right way to go. I sometimes felt a little uncomfortable about how much Kryst worried about me sticking out. He probably thought I'd get mugged for looking out of place, but I was pretty sure I could take care myself. Being overprotective was something else Kryst took to extremes.

"Fine" Kryst said and went off to his room. He was probably checking our budget on his lighthouse and muttering insults at Laesa and everyone else.

"Who knew getting beaten up by loan sharks could've left such a trauma" Cosmos noted. The rest of us laughed, when Laesa stood up and dragged me to the door.

"Are we going out already?" I asked "Do we have money?"

"Of course we do. And why wait." Just like that we were out the door and walking to the residential district.

"Hey, what's your favorite colour?" Laesa asked. We'd been walking around the shopping district for a while now, and I was lost. Not just in terms of location, although she had dragged me around for so long that all the streets blurred into one. I had never been taken shopping before. Now that I thought about it, all my clothes had been gotten second-hand on the lowest floors. People don't normally grow after entering the Tower, something to do with the shinsoo. Kryst could probably explain it if I asked him to.

I had never even thought about a favorite colour before, either. I didn't usually have the luxury to think of such pointless things, so when Laesa asked me the question, my mind drew a blank.

"I dunno." I shrugged "What's yours?"

"Blue" she replied happily "Like the shinsoo that brings life to all of us."

I considered adding that it could also kill all of us, but decided not to. That was the kind of thing Kryst would say. He always was paranoid about getting complacent, and was always thinking about something or other. Another thing he took to extremes.

"Hey, this shop seems okay, the prices are pretty nice too." Laesa I had to struggle to keep up with Laesa, she seemed invigorated by the mere act of buying clothes for some reason. Looking around the shop I saw other regulars and residents looking around. The clothes weren't anything fancy like we saw the top E-rank regulars wearing, but they looked... nice.

"Do you have colours you don't like?" Laesa asked, looking at a garishly purple long sleeve.

I nodded, and said "That colour" I looked around at pointed some orange and aquamarine short sleeves "and those, and basically stuff that doesn't look normal."

"What do you mean, normal? There are loads of clothes this colour," she said, holding up the purple long sleeve "which means that this is normal." She threw it at me, and I threw it back. "I mean, stuff that doesn't look weird."

"Like?" Laesa said, grinning "I think that green looks like the colour of the trees" she said, pointing to a bright green shirt that was so bright it seemed to emit its own light.

"No." I exclaimed "Brown, white, black, blue, even red! But not..." I didn't know what to say, but I saw Laesa grinning and knew she was just teasing me. I noticed that I was smiling as well.

"Yeah, yeah." she laughed "You don't like to stand out." She stepped over and grabbed a white dress shirt with blue stripes. "How's this? Nice and inconspicuous?"

I shook my head "Too formal. It's like I'm going out to one of those fancy dinners."

Laesa sighed in mock aggravation "No pleasing the little lord, is there?" She grabbed a cotton long sleeve that was black with stripes of dark blue. "Nice and dark for you to fade away into the background."

I smiled back, knowing it didn't really bother her. She tossed it to me and I caught it, wondering why we didn't just get a basket for carrying the clothes.

"Well, go try it on." Laesa said "What are you waiting for?"

"Why do I need to try it on?" I asked in confusion "I can tell it fits me."

Laesa rolled her eyes again "It's just one of the things that you do in shops. Are you going to try on pants, or just assume it fits?"

"Pants are totally different." I protested "Besides, what if they have cameras in the changing rooms. I don't want to take off my shirt there. I'm not even sure if there's room."

Laesa looked at me in disbelief "Cameras in changing rooms? You've definitely been hanging around Kryst too often." She sighed, then asked "Will you at least try on pants to make sure they fit? Kryst will go ballistic if he finds out we wasted money."

We both laughed and I nodded. She then went and picked out a pair of jeans and looked at me questioningly. I shook my head, not liking tight clothing even on my legs. I never understood how people squeezed into them. I picked up some cargo trousers and held them up. I liked them. Seeing me, Laesa picked out another pair that was a different colour. She thrusted them into my arms and practically pushed me into the changing rooms.

I came out, putting both the new shirt and trousers on. Laesa smiled when I got out, and I said "Told you so, they both fit."

She just shrugged "Never hurts to be sure. That's one of the jobs of a lightbearer, making plans and making sure they work."

I looked at her weirdly "OK... that was a little weird. Let's go back."

She smiled and held up a black and orange polka-dot shirt. "You sure you don't want to buy a couple more of these?"

I simply raised my eyebrows and brought them to the cashier to pay for them.

We went to a few more shops, but we didn't buy anything else other than a black hoodie with red lining. I liked it; it even covered my head. Laesa kept on rolling her eyes, but it was clear she was enjoying myself. I was surprised to find I was enjoying myself as well, despite all the protesting I did. When we made our way back home, Kryst muttered something about frivolous spending, but couldn't help smiling and added "You look great, kid."

I guess a lot of people said things they didn't mean.