"That… could have gone better."
"Of course it could have! You did a grand total of zero hours prepping for it!"
"Hey, that's not true! I read like… five pages of my notes."
"Yimesz, you have written about three since you started this year. There is no way you could have read five."
Vertiya shook her head in exasperation, her eyes covered by the palm of her hand as the rest of the students left the examination hall. Due to the technological advances Atlas had put into their education, they already all knew how well they all did on their scrolls. Vertiya, obviously, had not dropped a single mark. Ruzovi had done reasonably well, and Pluto, to Vertiya's slight annoyance, had come out with a very good score even having gone into the room intoxicated. Yimesz, true to form, had barely scraped a pass – not that it mattered that he didn't fail, but Vertiya still would have liked him to do better. Exams would soon start meaning something in a couple years, after all.
"Anyway, I did tell Aurolia I'd see her once we're done with the exam. End of year and all," Yimesz said, ruffling his sister's hair jokingly before vanishing off into the crowd. Vertiya let out a long, heavy sigh that no one heard, rolled her eyes, and then caught up to the other two members of her team.
"Well, I'm proud of both of you, even if Pluto got through on an annoying level of natural intelligence alone," Vertiya said to the pair of them, patting them both on the backs. "That being said… what now, though? That's the year done, there isn't really much else to do."
"Hey, not all of us can be gifted with being uncannily talented at everything we do," Pluto said to Vertiya with a wink. "But I need to head back to sea for a couple months. I am definitely up for a get together over the summer, however. It would be nice doing something without the bounds of education tying us down."
Vertiya couldn't fault him, as much as she wanted to. Pluto, after all, was remarkably smart for someone who never properly went through education, was surprisingly adept at combat as they all knew – memories of Pluto beating Fen in that duel were always around in Vertiya's mind, mainly because neither of them would let it go – and most importantly, he was a great friend. Vertiya had her doubts at the start of the year with him being the alcoholic he is, but Pluto was genuinely a good person.
"Me too. I don't really ever have anything to do at home, after all," Ruzovi added, agreeing with Pluto. Ruzovi, as far as Vertiya was concerned, was the one who'd grown the most out of the team. Sure, they'd all come a long way since the start of the year, but Ruzovi, who had come in to the year younger than anyone else, and still only having just turned fifteen a couple of weeks ago, had skyrocketed in her development both with her skills and as a person. At the start of the year, Ruzovi had struggled speaking to Vertiya, and almost couldn't speak to anyone else. Now? Sure, she was still a little shy, but she'd definitely blossomed and broken out of her comfort zone, and Vertiya could go as far as to say she was the most skilful in combat out of the whole team. Her tactics could still use a little work, but that was what Vertiya was there for.
"Trust me, I would love to get together and do something over the summer. Dealing with no one but Yimesz for three months will make me go insane after I've been able to get breathing space this year," Vertiya admitted, smiling. It wasn't that Vertiya disliked Yimesz – they were still twin siblings, after all – but she needed time off every now and again. There was the chance that he could be distracted with Aurolia, but that would only be for short periods of time. "However, there are a couple more people I need to see before we leave to head back home. Keep your scrolls on you, I will need help this holiday," she concluded, giving both of them a hug before breaking off, looking for the last two she wanted to see.

First up was her newest friend in Techta, who was currently looking more stressed than Vertiya thought she should be. Vertiya could see how well her team did as she was the leader of them, but she didn't have any access as to how anyone else did.
"You alright?" Vertiya asked once she was close enough to Techta for her to hear, causing her to look up from her scroll, Vertiya's emerald eyes meeting Techta's turquoise ones.
"I… no," Techta said, showing Vertiya her scroll. 97% was what was displayed on the screen, and Vertiya, expecting bad results, ended up with an expression somewhere between confusion, happiness, and inquisitiveness.
"Wait… why? That's a brilliant score!" Vertiya exclaimed, her hands rubbing Techta's shoulders reassuringly. "How's that gotten you in a huff?"
"It's stupid really," Techta said, sighing with a pained smile on her lips. "I'm a perfectionist, and if there's something I know I can do well, I won't be happy with anything other than 100 percent – kinda like the rest of the team leaders in our year, bar Copper," she explained. "Knowing I dropped a couple marks on things I should have aced bugs me. Plus, lemme guess, you got full marks? That's triggered my competitive side."
Vertiya couldn't lie to her. "I… yeah, I did," she admitted. "But to be honest, were it not for you helping me out in those library times, I'd probably have not done better than 85. Seriously. You carried me through that exam, and everyone makes slip ups from time to time. Besides, I'm not going to stop pestering you until you cheer up and tell me that you'll be fine."
Techta giggled a little at that, colour starting to return to her cheeks. "Fiiine, I guess. Besides, paper doesn't do well in water, so at least I know I have that one up on you," she said, laughing. Vertiya sighed at that, but she was happy to see that Techta was lightening up. "Keep in touch, alright? I'd like someone to talk to over the break."
"There's no chance that that wouldn't happen," Vertiya said with a smile, giving Techta a quick hug. "You're like the only other smart person I know." Pluto was intelligent, after all. There were slight differences. "I'll see you soon."

There was one other person who Vertiya wanted to see, and that was the first friend she'd actually made here not including Yimesz. Although Vertiya hadn't seen much of Fen recently since exam season, she was still one of the people Vertiya was closest to, and so she had her eyes peeled until she found the unmistakable shaved side of Fen's head, and strolled over to her.
"You haven't come to brag, have you? Otherwise I will have to force you into a duel," Fen said, a slight grin on her lips. "After all, I assume you aced it?"
"It'll be hard to do that considering I can escape the duel room for the next three months," Vertiya pointed out with a matching grin. "But yeah, I did manage to get top score. How'd you do?"
"Could have been better, but for someone who rates combat over academia, I'll allow it for now. My mother won't be too pleased that I didn't get the highest score in the year, but I don't think it'll be that much of a problem," Fen replied, casually fanning herself. It was summer now, and although Atlas was not necessarily a warm region, it was at the very least warmer now than normal. "After all, she never actually led her team, so I've got one up on her there."
Vertiya had never actually heard Fen speak about her parents, mainly because it had never come up in conversation. But with the tone of voice Fen had when she was referring to her mother, Vertiya felt it best to not continue on with the subject. "Anything interesting going on in the holidays for you, then?"
"Other than escaping my team for three blissful months of relaxation? No, not really," Fen explained with a shrug. Fen did have probably the hardest team to control, and Vertiya did not envy having to keep a check on both Emeric and Karmin, and could understand why Fen could use the break. "I might find out where you live though and stop you from being able to evade a fight, however," she added jokingly.
Vertiya gave her an unimpressed look, but Fen's laugh at it made it hard for Vertiya to keep it up. "You know what, I might just tell Pluto to live at mine for the next few months so that he can take my place," Vertiya countered, grinning as Fen's expression contorted.
"That was one time," Fen stated, a little flustered. "I would be able to beat him now. I'm certain of it."
"Well, I'll make sure to let him know," Vertiya teased, giving Fen's hand a shake. Fen wasn't much of a hugger, after all. "I'll see you when we're back here."

After she broke away from Fen, Vertiya found Yimesz with Aurolia, and rather quickly turned away until they'd finished…
"One day, you are going to end up in a relationship, and I am going to be the most embarrassing person you will ever meet," Yimesz said, his tone humoured. Vertiya took that as a sign that Yimesz's mouth was not against Aurolias, and after turning back to face the pair of them, a quick cold glare towards Yimesz, she could see that the pair of them were facing her.
"You do that and you will see what happens when I mix blue with brown," Vertiya said, her voice expressionless. Brown expanded, blue froze. Combined, she could quite easily encase Yimesz in a block of ice for quite some time. "And I actually like Aurolia, which makes a change."
Aurolia gave a warm smile to that. "I don't claim to have any experience in sibling love, but you two have a good bond, no matter how you act towards each other," she said, looking from Vertiya to Yimesz. "However, I gotta go. I'll see you in a week Yi," she said to him, reaching up and kissing him one last time before walking away, with an air of elegance that only she could pull off.
"A week? You do have scrolls, you know," Vertiya said with a sigh, once Yimesz had walked over to her. "Mind you, if it gets you off my back, maybe that's not all a bad thing."
"Maybe I'll get Aurolia to wingwoman you, I'm sure she'd do it," Yimesz replied with a sly grin, and although Vertiya had the faintest pink tinge to her cheeks for a split second, her scowl quickly dispelled it. "I mean, you'd prefer her doing it to me, right?"
"That's… that's not the point," Vertiya retorted, folding her arms. "I am perfectly comfortable with not being tied down to anyone, and living a free, single life."
"Nah, it's just the fact that you're scared of love, isn't it," Yimesz nimbly responded, nudging his sister in the side of the ribs with a joking elbow.
Vertiya spluttered for a moment, unable to come out with a response, before throwing her hands in the air and walking away. "Ah, good, perfect timing. Dad's he- what the?" Vertiya said, looking into the sky.
Vertiya knew the trademark emblem and colour scheme of her dad's company, which caused all the vehicles to be a standout aqua against the grey/white of near everything else, but the aircraft that flew in, although wearing the colour and emblem of the Hylae corporation, looked like it cost about the same as half the school.
Vertiya wasn't the only one who noticed either. Most of the courtyard – as they were still there, having gotten out of the same exam hall – were either stared at the aircraft in silence, or pointing it out and chatting avidly about it. When Hal, Vertiya's dad, exited the actual aircraft, he gave a joking bow to the students before confidently strolling over to Vertiya and Yimesz.
"Like it? It's a new prototype I've been working on," Hal said, giving both his kids a hug. "I might have made it look a little too flashy, but I'm calling this one more of a 'people' transporter, rather than arms or weapons or the like."
"I… that looks more like a private jet than anything else, Dad," Vertiya replied, but she still was impressed, and she couldn't hide it from her eyes. "How much did it cost to make? It looks like a fortune."
"Surprisingly, not that much. I have a lot of good contacts, and actually good links with Saffyer now thanks to your team," Hal replied with a grin, before tapping something on his own scroll. "You've said all your goodbyes, right? I've just put your stuff in the bird."
"Wait… what? How?" Yimesz asked, confused. His expression, however, quickly went from that to looking quite obviously as though he wanted something. "Also… Dad… you know how much you love me…"
Hal laughed, shaking his head. "No Yi, I'm not letting you pick up Aurolia in this thing yet," he answered, not even needing to hear the question. "Maybe when it's no longer in prototype, but not just yet. Shall we go?"
Yimesz looked a little dejected at first, but him and Vertiya eventually made their way over to the aircraft, taking a seat in the plush chairs whilst getting envious looks from a few of their friends. Vertiya had time to reflect on her year as the plane started to lift up into the air, and she couldn't help but feel how quickly it had gone. It felt like only yesterday that she had Ironwood walk into their house, and tell her that both she and Yimesz had gotten spots at Atlas, and from there it was a whirlwind. She'd learnt so much though, and although they'd had a rocky start, she couldn't have asked for a better team. And although the holidays had only just started… she couldn't wait for the challenges next year would bring.