All the credit goes to mystik-dawn and her fast typing skills! So please be thanking her if you decide to review! Also, the next update will be in a couple days so please be patient with me! My beta-reader loves cheesecake so if you have any... please share with her! Enjoy.

Chapter II—

March 21st, 2143: 7:42 AM—

Alex blearily opened her eyes and yawned. Sunlight was streaming from the window at the far side of the bunks. The entire place was silent, and Alex blearily thought that she had woken up earlier than the others.

"Wow," thought Alex, "For once I actually got up on time." Previously, it was always Teito threatening to use his offense zaiphon on her if she didn't wake up on time.

Sitting up, she rummaged in her pockets for the emerald orb, but her fingers brushed over cloth—it wasn't in her pockets. Alex's eyes immediately widened, and she frantically dug into her pockets again. She blinked several times, all fatigue gone. Again, she was unable to find the orb. Alex started to move her blanket, and soon was frantically stripping the bed. No matter where she looked, she was still unable to find it.

"Where is it," muttered Alex. She was growing more worried by the minute, and was still unable to find it. It was rather large, and it wasn't hard to miss. She was sure she had placed it in her pocket just last night...

At that moment, she heard Mikage call out her name. She turned around, and saw Mikage leaning by the door. "Alex!" Mikage called out, "The assembly's starting in a few minutes!"

"What?" Alex replied, shocked. That meant she didn't get up early...

...she was late!

Alex yelped, and Mikage face-palmed himself. "Go put on your uniform," groaned Mikage, "Quickly! Assembly's going to start any minute now!"

Alex rushed into the bathroom and threw on her uniform. As soon as she came out, Mikage grabbed her hand before she could protest, and swiftly pulled her out of the dormitory into the hall.

"Why does this always happen to me?" Alex asked. She was more worried about the missing emerald orb rather than being late.

What happened to the orb?

March 21st, 2143: 8:11 AM—

"Thanks," Alex whispered gratefully as she started to chew on some bread. Teito nodded, and Mikage winked at her. Since she woke up late (apparently Mikage thought that "Alex looked so cute while sleeping that he and Teito were going to come back later and wake her up"), she had missed breakfast too. Alex chewed on the bread, while listening to Shuuri Oak's boring speech.

"As the 315th class of our honourable Barsburg Empire's Military Academy, we are the elite chosen to be potential soldiers of Hohburg Fort," Shuuri ranted, "Let us all endeavour to become superb fighters who will not bring shame to the empire!"

Alex didn't pay much attention to Shuuri's speech. Her mind was still on the missing stone. She remembered brushing her fingers against it in her pocket last night, and then she had fallen asleep. This morning, it had disappeared. Did someone steal it?

"Probably not," Alex thought, "Mikage and Teito sleep near me, so they would've noticed if someone was close."

After a long time, Shuuri finally finished his speech, and everybody (politely) applauded.

"Well, time for the begleiter exam!" Mikage said cheerfully.

"How can you be so cheerful about this?" Alex wondered, "The pass rate is below 10%!" She glanced at Teito, who had a determined expression. She had no doubt that Teito and Mikage would do well—both of them were very good at controlling their zaiphon, and they would definitely have no trouble to pass the exam.

On the other hand, with her...

"Remember Alex," Teito said, "Control is important. Don't panic, and focus on the object you want to manipulate."

"This has to be the worst day of my life," groaned Alex, "First I can't even master the manipulation zaiphon, then I wake up late, and now I can't find that—"

Her sentence was cut off as they arrived at the huge oaken doors. All the other students were inside the large hall, chatting to each other. There were some adults—a female officer was standing there, with a clipboard. The female officer spotted the three and rushed over to them.

"Good morning to you three," the female officer greeted. Alex looked at the officer curiously. It had been a long time since she had seen a female; she stared at the parted hair, the lip-stick, and the high heeled boots. She wondered whether this is what she would've looked like if she lived her life as a female.

"Teito Klein and Mikage Celestine, you two are in Group A," the officer said, reading from her clipboard. She briefly glanced up at Alex and back at her clipboard again. "Alexander Night...you're in Group C."

Alex mentally groaned; the day was getting worse and worse. Now she was in a completely different group?

"Oh my god I'm stuck in the group with a sklave," Shuuri loudly moaned. Alex rolled her eyes in exasperation at his comment, and looked at Mikage and Teito.

"Good luck you two," Alex said. Mikage grinned, and gave her a friendly punch on the shoulder. Teito gave a small smile, and Alex returned it, nervous.

March 21st, 2143: 10:41 AM—

"Ok, Group C will please enter this way!" the female officer called out. Alex followed her, growing more and more nervous by the second. Her group partners were not very competent—in fact, not all of them were even able to summon their zaiphon, let alone use it.

"This exam is very simple," the female officer explained, once they entered a huge room. On one wall, there were thick glass windows—observation areas. At the other side, the female officer had walked over to an area where there was a barred door.

"You must kill this criminal in order to pass the exam!" the female officer said, as she opened the barred door. A large criminal lumbered out, its huge muscles bulging from the chains. He gave a grin, his face contorting into a hideous mask.

"Heh, I hope this year's brats are fun," the criminal growled.

Alex blanched, and felt her knees shaking. This was completely different from fighting a classmate or even a mannequin—the criminal was huge! Suddenly, the criminal started to strangle one of the group members with his chains. The other group members began to freak out, and Alex swiftly picked up her shoe and threw it at the criminal, distracting him from the poor student.

The criminal turned his head, glaring at Alex. The student fell to the ground, and doubled over, gasping for air.

"Hey you! Why don't you pick someone for your own size!" Alex called out. Suddenly she felt her mind growing smaller when the criminal started to approach her.

"Oh dear," thought Alex, "This wasn't a smart idea."

Suddenly, she noticed a thick haze grow around the criminal's eyes. His movements slowed, and his face went slack.

"What?"thought Alex, confused, "What happened to him?" Remembering about the exam, Alex swiftly summoned her manipulation zaiphon. Thin, almost invisible strings appeared out of her finger-tips, and she wrapped them around the criminal's neck.

Alex focused her thoughts, and held her fingers closer. Instead of squeezing the criminal's neck, she instead watched horrified as the criminal went flying into the opposite wall. There was a loud explosion, and to her amazement, the wall got destroyed! Smoke flew everywhere from the debris, and Alex started to cough from the dust.

Once the dust had cleared, Alex stared in mild amazement and horror at the still figure...somehow it had reminded her of that person ten years ago.

"Well done! Alexander Night is the only one out of Group C that passes!" the female officer announced.

March 22nd, 2143: 1:23 PM—

"Wow that was brilliant Alex-kun!" Mikage said, "I knew you had it in you to succeed!"

Alex flushed and retorted, "You two did well too!" Rumours had flown around about Alex's performance, and even how apparently the Chief Commander of Staff had interfered in Teito and Mikage's exam.

"Did he really just kill the criminal in front of you two?" Alex asked. She wondered what kind of a man the Chief of Staff was. He sounded cold and cruel.

Mikage nodded and said, "Teito saved my life though...I thought I was a goner." Alex noticed that Teito was very silent, and looked...pensive.

"Teito? Is something wrong?" Alex asked. Teito looked at her, and replied,

"That man...I thought I had seen him before."

Alex shrugged and replied, "Maybe you saw him before?" Teito didn't answer, and continued to have a troubled expression on his face.

"Don't worry Teito!" Mikage said, "At least we all passed! I hope we all get to work under the same division!"

"I hope so too," Alex replied. At that moment, one of their peers rushed up to them.

"Alex! You have a meeting scheduled with Ayanami-sama tonight at 7 PM. He wishes to see you at Chairman Miroku's office," their classmate replied. He turned to Teito and said, "Chairman Miroku wants your student file Teito, apparently you forgot to give it earlier."

"Oh yes!" Teito replied, "I'll do that right away." He rushed off, and Mikage looked at Alex.

"Ayanami-sama wants to meet you?" Mikage exclaimed incredulously. He slapped Alex on the back, and Alex glared at Mikage.

"You might become his begleiter!" Mikage happily said, "Good for you Alex!"

Alex sighed and replied, "I don't think so...considering how clumsy I am."

Remembering about the missing orb, Alex asked out loud, "Mikage, have you seen a green stone?" Mikage looked at her strangely.

"A green stone?" he asked, "What?"

"It's a...keepsake of mine," Alex replied slowly, "I lost it this morning. I was wondering whether you saw it."

Mikage shook his head and asked, "Why don't we go back to the dormitories and look for it?" Alex nodded, and they both started to walk down the hallway.

March 22nd, 2143: 3:15PM—

After a long time of searching around the dormitories, Mikage threw up his hands in defeat. "I give up," he dramatically said, "I can't find it!"

Alex sighed and said, "I wish I didn't lose it..." She was feeling more and more guilty every minute. "I promised him," Alex thought, "I promised him that I'll keep it safe."

Suddenly, they saw the same classmate coming towards them. "What's up?" Mikage asked as he approached.

The classmate stopped, and panted, "Teito Klein!"

"What happened?" Alex demanded. Mikage's smile immediately died, and was replaced with a concerned look.

"He's been arrested," gasped the classmate, "For trying to kill Ayanami-sama!"

Alex froze at the person's words. No...impossible...Teito was arrested? Mikage stiffened beside her, and asked, "Where is he right now?"

"He's being taken to the cells," the classmate replied, and hurried off before they could question him further.

Alex and Mikage looked at each other. "We have to save Teito!" Mikage replied, determined. Alex nodded and wondered, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Mikage grimly said, "But Teito's innocent. Come on, let's go back to the dormitory and plan how to help Teito!" Alex followed Mikage, completely forgetting about the missing emerald orb.

March 22nd, 2143: 6:57 PM—

"So, remember the plan?" Mikage whispered. Alex nodded, and the two of them slipped out of the dormitory. Alex had completely forgotten about her 'meeting' with Ayanami-san—saving Teito was far more important than meeting that strange man.

Both of them slowly crept around the outside of the building until they reached the cell area. Only one person was on patrol—they seemed to be looking the other way. Mikage silently used his zaiphon and knocked out the guard.

As they entered the cells, it was eerily quiet. Alex shot a questioning look at Mikage, but he continued to walk straight. They turned right, and saw someone in tattered clothing standing amongst still bodies.

"Teito?" gasped Alex. Teito looked up, and gave his familiar small smile. Alex wasn't unnerved by the dead bodies or the blood...it was Teito's expression. Why did he look so...different?

"Sorry," Teito quietly said, "I can't be here. Thank you for everyth—" He didn't finish his sentence as Alex pulled him into a hug.

"Come on!" Mikage said, "Let's go!" He grabbed Teito's hand and started to run towards the exit of the cells.

"What are you doing?" Teito angrily asked.

"Saving you, you idiot!" Alex replied, "Did you already forget about our promise?"

"Anyone who opposes Ayanami never lives to tell about it, do you want to be killed too?" Mikage angrily retorted. Teito fell silent, and the three of them ran down the hall.

"Alex got a hawkzile ready, it's waiting ahead," Mikage explained. Suddenly, there were two officers in front of them.

"Where are you going with the prisoner?" demanded one of the officers, "Halt!" Mikage, Alex, and Teito simply ran and leapt over them, leaving the stunned officers behind. Soon, they arrived at an open balcony.

Teito clambered onto the hawkzile. Alex started to summon her zaiphon, but Mikage instead pushed her onto the hawkzile. "What are you doing?" Alex asked, but Mikage said, "Go!"

"No! We can't leave without you!" Alex yelled, "You're our friend!"

She grabbed Mikage's hand, but he pushed her off. Teito started the hawkzile, and it began to hover into the air. At that moment, suddenly the Chief Commander of Staff himself appeared along with Lieutenant Major Hyuuga.

Time seemed to slow down. Alex opened her mouth in a silent scream as she watched Hyuuga unsheathe his katanas as he rushed towards Mikage. Meanwhile, Ayanami had turned to Teito and raised his hand. Blood-red zaiphon circled his gloved hand, and Ayanami flung it towards them, his dark amethyst eyes glinting.

She felt a sharp pang of pain on her face, but it was numbed by her fear. Moving her fingers swiftly, Alex saw a large white shield come up in front of the hawkzile, saving them from another wave Ayanami had thrown at them. By that time that all this had occurred, the hawkzile was speeding off into the pitch-black night.

"Mikage," Alex numbly said. She didn't hear what Teito said. A sharp throbbing was on her face, and she felt her fingers slipping off Teito's shoulder. Teito grabbed her wrist, and held her tightly.

"Please be ok," Alex silently pleaded, "Mikage."

It was her last conscious thought before she felt her vision getting devoured by pitch-black.