Author's Note:

Well then, if you guys were expecting more of the spring break getaway I'm afraid you'll be sorely disappointed. The time's gonna jump forward a week or so, diving headfirst into a brand new arc! We're going back to school, but we're not exactly returning into the classrooms! That's right, it's time for a field trip!

Chapter 78: A Trip Down To Palazzo Ducale

Venice, Italy – Doge's Palace.

The traditional music from the olden times lingered in the air amidst the cool breeze seeping along the corridors. The daunting halls of the palace, once used as home to the supreme authority of Venice, now welcomed me and my steps in the form of a museum of sorts. Sculptures can be found in every corner despite this being the public service area of the Palazzo Ducale. Shaking away the mix of awe, nervousness and excitement, I quickly adjusted my satchel before trotting towards the decided meeting area.

"Hmm, everything's so quiet...am I actually early for once?" I mumbled to myself, checking around the place for a clock. Taking a good look around, the sheer silence of it all, even from those people working at the counters, magnified the sound of my steps. It feels as though I'm sneaking around a place I shouldn't be at. "C-Could I have gotten the date wrong?! W-Was I supposed to be at school right now?!"

I can't but feel the gnawing feeling at the back of my mind grow stronger! I knew that the field trip was gonna happen this week, but I didn't actually check the calendar when I woke up this morning! I was so afraid that I'd ended up late trying to find my way here that I left in a hurry! This is bad! I think I really did get the dates wrong! I'd better head towards the service counter and check with the personnel working-

"Good-morn-ing..."

Out of nowhere, a familiar voice calmed my nerves and something soft pushed itself at my back, arms wrapped around my neck from the side. Strands of ebon hair tickled and brushed against my skin, and as I turned, the glow of her emerald eyes brought a shy smile across my face.

"...Boy-friend~!"

"G-Gina! M-Morning!" Without much thought I called out her name in surprise, returning her greeting in an attempt to calm myself and maybe get rid of the burst of heat, thoughts and excitement rushing to my head.

Hm, I guess I wasn't wrong after all.

"D-Did she just say boyfriend?! No way! No way!" All of a sudden, the light from the entrance began filled with shadows as the whole of my class followed. One of the guys must have overheard her, crying out in denial. You could say it was exactly the kind of scene I wanted to prevent from happening!

"The two look great with each other, though!" A random girl gave out, looking as if she was cheering Gina on. That was enough to make us trail our eyes towards each other before catching sight of the red tint flushing out cheeks, which we could do little to hide. In a slight panic, I ended up putting my arm on Gina's shoulder and hugging her closer, which only made the two of us more restless. Still, it was surprising to find approval amongst the class, even if it's mainly from the girls.

"Nooo! I refuse to accept this! How did our favorite idol fell prey to that idiot's pathetic advances?! I would have been fine with anybody else, but Zanna?! Blasphemy!" Yet, the howling continued, the guys falling into despair from just the sight of us together. Although they're merely words, some of them were starting to grate on my nerves...

"All right, all right, leave the drama to the classrooms, guys. Remember, when you're out of school, you represent the face of Venice High. I expect you all to be on your best behaviors. Oh, and good job on being early today, mister Zanna, though I wonder if today being a field trip had anything to do with it?" The teacher in charge of our class today wondered out loud, inciting a good number of chuckles before starting the routine attendance checking to see if everyone's present. Mister Russo had on him a clipboard and a blue, short-sleeved shirt as opposed to his usual suspenders, and looked none too excited for the trip itself.

After a good amount of growling from the guys and chatter from the girls, I finally found myself relaxing my shoulders with relief as the majority of the class dissipated into the various corners of the hall. Despite all the hoo haa, Gina was still happily clinging on to my left arm, not showing any signs of letting go anytime soon, though that's not necessarily a bad thing. From the back, Sergio, Johann and Yoko appeared, poking fun at our situation with a look that says they kinda expected all that's happened.

"Well, I for one, hope that this doesn't become a recurring thing in the days to come..." Sergio pointed out with his index finger, waving it around at all those students walking away from us.

"Ahem. You're getting rather bold with your advances, Regina. Since when did the two of you get so close?" Yoko gave out the observation with a snarky tone, before she got annoyed at the sight, furrowed her brows and looked away.

"Oh I know! They got closer over the spring break getaway! They've been more lovey-dovey ever since the trip to that island!" Johann muttered out, before an off-hand glare from Yoko sent him hiding behind Sergio's back.

"Good morning, people! Sergio, Johann, Yoko." Before I added anything into the conversation, it didn't feel right without greeting my friends first, to which they returned the greeting with a nod, a wave and a 'good morning' with a smile. Though Yoko's seemed to be slightly forced. "I guess it's high time Gina and I brought it out into the open. We're dating, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. I guess it's better than being so secretive in school all the time." I declared, both out loud and mentally in my mind, as Gina nodded with a smile in agreement.

"Anyways, did you guys have trouble coming in here?" I wondered, signaling towards the satchel hanging at my side, which housed my Legacy Arm. Indeed, the Porta del Frumento, the waterside of the palace itself and only entrance into the place, had no shortage of guards. I'm still surprised I managed to come in despite the many wandering eyes falling on my satchel.

"No trouble." Sergio replied first, with a grin that had victory written all over it. That's also when I noticed the extra bag he had slung over his right shoulder; a black and yellow sports bag. "My 'change of clothes'." He exclaimed, masking his words with a wink.

"Yeah, and here's my swor-*cough*-I mean my bow, uh...for archery club!" Johann gave out, nearly giving away the location of his weapon if not for the timely elbow Sergio shoved at him from his side. The long bag similar to those used by the archery club to transport their bows made for the perfect carrier for a sword too, apparently.

"Meh, mine's just this jewel around my neck, no need for any subtleties." Yoko pointed out when I turned to her, shrugging her shoulders.

"Sigh, I always feel kinda left out when you're having meetings like this, Amato..."Gina commented as she watched on from beside me, looking kinda down.

Hm, maybe it wasn't such a good idea bringing this up in the first place. Seeing her friends involved in something she's not must be kinda difficult to ignore, though I intend to keep her out of mafia business no matter what happens. Still, it's not as if we're on a mission today, the weapons are just there for emergency purposes.

"Uh, don't you think you've strangled that left arm of his long enough, Regina?" Yoko finally asked out the question, looking really annoyed at the sight by now.

"Nuh uh! I'm just having my fill of hugs before we have to split up for the day!" Gina replied with a childish act, which not only made her look cuter(in my opinion) but the conversation that much more awkward. Still, Gina brought up a valid point. Supposedly, this isn't just any ordinary field trip. A collaboration between two schools, from what I understood...

...Now I wish I didn't sleep through that briefing we had the other day.

"Sigh. All right, people. As I said in the briefing, this will be a collaboration between two schools, Venice High and Venice Elementary, to be specific." Mister Russo instructed after rounding up the class before the reception area. Again, he made no attempt to hide his own opinion on the field trip through his slumped shoulders and occasional sighing between his words.

"Soon, the elementary class would arrive, and each of you will get paired up with a student from that class. The objective of this pairing is so that you people can experience what's it's like to be leaders as seniors, while your juniors get an idea of what to expect come high school, as well as what their senior is capable of." Mister Russo gave out, laying the important details out on the table while summarizing everything else.

"All right, all of you report to Miss Adele Siena for your allocations as to who you'll be taking care of for the rest of the day!" He concluded with a small outburst before making his way towards the entrance, probably looking to welcome our juniors from Venice Elementary. As the gang and I made our way towards Prez, we were only greeted by look of reluctance and worry.

"Uh...Adele? You okay...?" I can't help asking as we stopped before her, ready to claim what looked like data sheets on the elementary students.

"N-No, it's nothing. I just...can't handle kids." She admitted, looking slightly embarrassed before going through the stack of documents she had on hand and singling out ours, passing them to each of us. When she laid eyes on the last one to be given out, mine to be exact, her eyes widened in surprise. "Oh boy, looks like you're gonna have your hands full with this one..." She exclaimed, giving me my data sheet with a sympathetic look on her face, before moving on to the rest of the class.

"Y-You're kidding, right?" On reflex I gave out the comment, before moving on to read up on the various information written on the piece of document. The way it was written gave me the impression that the student itself filled up the form, and besides your basic details like who to contact should an emergency occur, the document is also laced with various tidbits on the hobbies and personality of the student.

"Whoa! My guy won the inter-school track meet! He proclaims he's a laid-back guy who likes to takes his time with things, striving for quality above all else." Sergio hollered as he read on, obviously excited by this whole idea of senior-junior pairing.

"Dude, mine's so full of passion! It's written here that he wishes to be the best artist in Venice when he grows up. There's even a picture of a few of his venetian glass works attached! They don't look half bad!" Johann cried out after Sergio, leaving the rest of us widely impressed. From the sound of it, Venice Elementary is school to some very talented young minds. I honestly didn't know what to expect because I never went there to study before.

"A boy who's only ideal is the safety of his home? He wants to be a policeman..." Unlike the guys, Yoko quietly read out details on her junior with discretion, making sure she's loud enough for the rest of us to hear, but not loud enough to make a ruckus of things. Still, she sounded interested by the tone of her voice.

"Ooh, mine wants to be a fashion designer! She sounds awesome for an elementary kid!" Beside me, Gina couldn't hold back her excitement either. In an instant, the sheet of paper managed to rouse her out of whatever lethargy she had for the field trip before.

Everyone seemed more or less impressed by their junior, and soon I couldn't help but feel excited, expecting to be surprised when I finally get to know mine. Turning back to the piece of document in my hand, I started reading through the details word for word. Her name is Zoe Moretti. Besides her name however, there wasn't much else written down to give me an impression of what type of person she really is. All the picture portrayed was a girl with golden hair, tied up in twin pigtails and deep, brown eyes.

There was one sentence that was constantly repeated though. Scribbled in every corner, it read:

'So you'd think yourself my equal, huh? Well, you'd better be ready to earn the respect of a genius before the day's done!'

"*Gulp*" I can't help but swallow a mouthful in response to what I read. Is it just me, or did that sounded more like a challenge than anything else? Are these really the words of an elementary school girl?

"What is it, Amato?" Sergio suddenly called out, making his way to my side. I must have had a worried look on my face. The next thing I knew I was handing him Zoe's data sheet, though I wondered if that was the right thing to do. "...Whaaat?" His reaction was that of disbelief, dragging out that one word while taken aback. The other who read it had similar expressions. "This must be her idea of a joke." He continued, his words catching me by surprise.

...Of course, it's just a joke pulled off by an elementary school kid! It's nothing serious and nothing to worry about! I must have been overreacting...

"Crash!"

"Huh?!" A sudden explosion of noise in the distance shocked us into action, and already I start to hone in on where it came from, my hand reaching out for Fenris within my satchel. "You guys heard that?!" I cried out, before an unwanted scent was picked up by my nose. The smell of black soot and charred wood that was slowly lingering into the air of the museum! In a snap, we synchronized our actions by sending signals to one another before I turned to Gina, who was becoming more and more worried.

"Emergency! A fire broke out in the kitchen area! The sprinkler system has malfunctioned! Everyone, please make your way to the exit!" Out of nowhere, a security guard ran into the scene in heavy breaths, his attire blackened and slightly burned in the corners.

"D-Did he say fire?!" One of the guys still lumbering around the main hall screamed in disbelief.

"No way!" Yet another cried out in denial soon after.

"I'm outta here!" A few of the guys turned tail as soon as the words reached them, pushing and shoving their way towards the exit.

"Aaaahhhh!" Before we knew it, chaos had all but swallowed the hearts of everyone present, with a few of the girls screaming as they scrambled towards the exit alongside some of the staff that was working in the service and reception counter!

"Gina, everyone! We need to round up the rest of the class! Get everyone outside!" I gave out without thinking, doing my best to stay calm amidst the screaming and shouting that had started to go off. After a brief nod, we broke off into different directions in order to help with the evacuation. Just as Gina started running however, I found myself chasing after her, grabbing down on her left hand. "Gina...be careful, all right?!" I muttered out as the worry hit me hard.

"Yeah, you too Amato!" She replied, before pulling me close and giving me a peck on the cheek for good luck and then breaking into a dash into the many rooms of the Museo dell'Opera. By now, white smoke was blurring the sight of the surroundings, making it difficult to breath and even more difficult to find my way around!

"Hold up, what did you say?! There's still an elementary school student trapped in the old kitchen area?!" Between the various voices crying and yelling out, a certain person's words caught my ear, tensing me up with shock. A certain thought came to mind, born out of wild thoughts and an out of control imagination.

What if it's the girl I'm supposed to pair up with for the day?! The one I'm supposed to look after?!

"Her name's Zoe?!"

...No!

"Feeenriiisss!"

In a knee jerk reaction fueled by adrenaline and driven by panic, I screamed out the word before breaking into a sprint, clawing my way down the corridors in an attempt to reach the old kitchen area before it's too late!

After that everything went hazy for a bit. The only that was clear to me was the fire burning in my throat, growing hotter as I got more and more dehydrated amidst the scalding air brushing against my skin. Oh right, even when jumping into a room lit by dancing orange flames, I didn't slow down one bit. With the risk of being trapped fresh on my mind, I did my best ransacking the whole kitchen, searching every inch of the place as best I possibly could, hoping to find the girl crying in the corner.

But there wasn't anyone. Rushing out of the gates, as the fresh air and gusts of wind greeted me, I remembered all I could find was a doll thrown on the ground. A hand-made doll, which had miraculously remained untouched by the flames all around it. Gina and the others were wrecked with worry, but smiled with relief when I approached, stumbling in my steps.

I don't know what to think. What if I didn't check the right places? What if Zoe was still in there? Worst of all, what if I was too late?!

"Amato, you're okay! I'm so glad you're not hurt!" Gina exclaimed, nearly bursting into tears as she jumped on me with a hug. "When you were the only person left in there, I...we didn't know what to do..!" Gina continued, crying herself into my shoulder while all I could do in response was force a smile with my eyes still pinned to the ground. That didn't last long.

"I couldn't find the kid...I couldn't find the one kid still trapped in that kitchen...!" I mumbled, partly in despair and partly in denial. Tears welled up, but when Gina pulled my face towards her, her beaming smile managed to push them back.

"...Amato...didn't you hear me? You were the only person left in there! The kid managed to get out on her own!" Gina declared while still smiling, shaking me by my shoulders in order to sink the words in.

"There you are you little brat! Come here, you're coming with me!" All of a sudden, my attention flew towards the harsh tone of voice yelling away a few feet away from us. There, one of the museum's security guard had their hands full with something, or rather, someone.

"No! Let go! Let go! I told you it wasn't my fault!" As we got closer, Gina and the others behind me, the problem the security guard was dragging along came into view. The very same girl from the picture earlier this morning, the same golden hair and the same brown eyes. When I got close, her furrowed brows went away as soon as she laid sight on me, a smile stretching across her dainty little face. As if tired of the struggle, she slipped right out of the security guard's grasp before skipping her way before me. "Hey, you got the doll out of there, great job! May I have it back, please?" She asked curtly, stretching out her palm.

With no reason to disagree, I ended up placing the doll in her hands with little more than a nod. Apparently that was enough to catch the attention of the very same guard from before, who now looked at me with the same stink eye he had for Zoe before.

"You innit with this kid, boy?" The guard questioned, glaring me down with suspicion. Still confused over everything that's happened, the girl started hiding herself behind me, hugging me close as if I was a shield between her and the guard.

"That's right, the name's Zoe Moretti, girl genius, and this hunk of a guy is my assistant!" With a sly grin, the kid answered the question before I could chip in.

"...What?!" After stumbling back and landing myself in the arms of the other guards, I couldn't help but cry out when I realized that Zoe was dragging me down with her into whatever predicament she's in!

Ha ha, I certainly had fun writing this chapter! This arc will be the first in which I'll be trying out something new, in this case, the introduction of characters who would be confined to the particular arc alone, with the arc's chapters providing the necessary developments for those characters! That's why I would love to hear what you guys think of Zoe in your review! The day hasn't even started, and already something's happened! Keep your eyes out for more shenanigans in the next chapter!