"...And with this Mirror card, all your cards now belong to me."

Morgan grimaced. "Yeah, I got nothing. You win." She put down her last card, which was a 1. "You're pretty good at this, Sharon! Are you sure this is your first time playing Blade?"

"Lady Alisa showed me the basics a while back," the Reinford maid admitted. "However, this is the first time I have participated in a game. I appreciate that the learning curve isn't too steep so that a novice like myself doesn't start at a deficit, but I must admit that beginner's luck played its part. I couldn't help but notice that all the cards you put down were numbers."

"Yeah…" Morgan scratched the back of her head. "I had to rely on resetting the playing field by keeping our number piles even. I was hoping to pull a gambit with that 1 in case one of your cards was a Bolt, but oh well. You win some, you lose some."

"The fact that you kept the game close up to your last card is proof of your intellect," Sharon complimented her. "Perhaps I should start practicing Blade in my spare time as well. Maybe with the others, if they so desire?"

Morgan laughed nervously. If her intuition was correct, Sharon was just the kind of person who would be a monster at cards, especially since that unwavering smile of hers acted as the perfect poker face. If she got some serious practice, Sharon would be a force to reckon with. Then again, Morgan could also practice some of her strategies on Sharon so that, when the time came for her to have a rematch with Crow, she could finally snag a win.

She looked up from the dining table towards the entrance to the dormitory. "No one's back yet. That's weird. Usually someone would be back by now."

She and Sharon had finished preparing dinner for a while and started playing Blade as a means to pass the time. Morgan knew that at least some of them would be back late, assuming that Rean had to go to the old schoolhouse again, but the sun was already setting and not a single person entered the building since school got out.

Morgan looked back to Sharon. "You don't know where anyone is, Sharon?"

The maid shook her head. "I'm afraid not. Although, I accompanied Lady Alisa this morning to pick out a present for Master Gwyn…"

"Master...Gwyn?"

"Her grandfather. We caught a glimpse of Master Rean and Machias at Kirsche's on our way back to the dormitory, at which point she left to attend her club. Gaius also spent the morning in his room, but he, too, left for the campus shortly after you and Lady Sara went to the highway. I'm afraid that is the extent of my knowledge."

Morgan mulled over Sharon's account briefly before standing up from her seat. "I'm gonna take a look around Trista," she decided. "I need to know what everyone's been up to."

"Understood. Please be careful, Lady Morgan."

"No need to worry!" Morgan flashed a confident grin. "I'll be back before you know it!"

After helping Sharon gather the Blade cards, she left the dormitory and made her way to the academy. Along the way, she talked to some of the townspeople to see if they knew where her classmates were.

By the time she made it to the academy gate, Morgan had yet to find anything out of the ordinary. It had been a normal day for the most part, and now she was strongly reconsidering if it was worth it to take a look around campus. Maybe she was overthinking things again?

As she was about to turn around and leave, she caught a glimpse of a familiar bandana-wearing student. Feeling that there weren't any other options, she approached him. "Crow!"

The second-year turned to her, looking a bit surprised that she had opted to use his actual name. "Hey, Morgs! Haven't seen you all day."

"Don't call me Morgs."

Crow didn't even bother with coming up with a retort that time. "So how're those remedial lessons going?"

"Figures you'd know about them…" Morgan grumbled. "They're not so bad. Actually, they're a lot more fun than I thought they were going to be!"

Crow snorted. "Seriously? Fun? Geez, only you could find fun outta those things."

"You can always join us!" she invited him. "Next Sunday's the last one."

"Yeah, hard pass. I'm curious, but not THAT curious." Crow shook his head. "So? How come you're loitering around the school?"

"I wasn't loitering!" Morgan pouted. "I was looking for my classmates. Dinner's been ready for the past half hour and no one's shown up at the dorm yet."

"Ooh, nice! What's on the menu?"

"Curry!" Morgan blinked once, then shook her head. "Wait, that's not important! Have you seen-"

"Morgan! Crow!"

Both of them turned to find Rean running around the corner of the school building. Judging from his serious expression, however, it didn't look like he was just coming to say hi.

"Well, there's Classmate Number One! How's it going, Reanster? You look like you ran a marathon!"

"No time for that!" Rean took a moment to catch his breath before standing up straight.

"I'm looking for someone. Have any of you seen a girl with long black hair?"

"You looking for a classmate?" Crow asked. "Or did some second-year sweetheart confess to you and you botched things up?"

Rean made a face. "First off, ew. Second, it's my younger sister. She's not a student here, either."

"Your sister?" Morgan recalled a conversation they had last month. "Oh, that's right. You mentioned you had a sister who went to St. Astraia's. Sorry, but I just got here, so I don't really know what's going on."

"St. Astraia's…" Crow put a hand to his chin. "Actually, I think that may have been who I passed by earlier…"

Rean's eyes widened. "You saw her?!"

Crow began describing the person he had in mind. "Long black hair? St. Astraia's uniform? White headband? Tear-stained cheeks?"

"...Putting aside that last part, that has to be her!" Rean put both his hands on Crow's shoulders. "Where did you see her? Tell me!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold your horses!" the second-year said panickingly. "She was talking with one of those upper-crust boys in white out on that path behind the school. The one that leads to that old schoolhouse. If you want, I can show you where-"

Rean had already started sprinting in the direction of the old schoolhouse before Crow could finish his sentence.

"Aaand there he goes," Crow remarked. "I'll be honest, I didn't take him as someone who'd have a sister complex."

"We should go after him."

"Sure, go ahead…" Crow did a double take. "Wait, WE?!"

"Rean went out of his way to ask us where his sister is; we might as well join him on the search," Morgan replied. "You can consider this paying back interest on that 50 mira you owe him."

"He already said it wasn't a big deal!"

"Are you just gonna let your underclassman head into the old schoolhouse by himself?"

Crow looked like he was about to say a retort, but eventually, he gave in. "I did NOT expect to be doing this when I woke up today."

Morgan snickered as she broke off into a run, with her upperclassman following a few paces behind her.

When Morgan and Crow arrived at the old schoolhouse, they were greeted with the sight of Rean confronting a male student in a white uniform.

"Hey! It's the guy I saw his sister talking with earlier!" Crow recalled.

Morgan groaned in her head. Of course the "upper-crust boy" that Crow saw was the highest on the pecking order.

"I-I'm telling you, that's all I did!" Patrick said. "I just happened to see her crying, so I approached her to see what was wrong. Then, when she took off running this way, I followed her out of gentlemanly concern!"

"Gah…" Rean accepted the answer, even if he wasn't completely happy with it.

"Rean, I know you're upset…" Morgan consoled him. "But Patrick isn't the person you should be directing your anger towards right now."

"You think I don't know that?!" he snapped at her, causing Morgan to take a step back. Realizing his outburst, he immediately doubled back. "S-Sorry…"

"It's fine…"

Morgan looked at Patrick, who returned the gaze. It seemed that their encounter from earlier in the day was still weighing on his mind, but they came to a silent understanding; this was not the time to be quarreling.

Crow looked down and inspected the ground. "Looks like she definitely came through here, though. You think she could've gone into the old schoolhouse?"

"Couldn't be," Rean denied. "We locked it after we finished up earlier…"

To test Rean's claim, Morgan casually walked up to the door and pushed it. To the surprise of herself and those gathered behind her, the door opened without much trouble.

"...Huh." Morgan put her hands on her hips. "Guess someone forgot to double-check."

"Th-That's impossible…!" Rean stammered. "I thought for sure I-"

"HAAAAAAH!"

A scream sounded from within the building, startling the four of them.

"Elise?!" Rean gasped.

Morgan could only presume that that was his sister's name. "It came from farther inside!"

The group hurriedly rushed inside, past the second door and into the elevator room. Rean and Morgan immediately noticed that the elevator the class used to proceed into the lower floors was missing.

"If the elevator's not here…"

"...Then that means she's probably below us!"

Patrick looked around the room in bewilderment. "What IS this place?!"

Crow, despite it also being his first time in the elevator room, casually let out a whistle. "Wow. So this is what it looks like down here now?"

A noise came from the space in front of them, at which point the elevator slowly rose to their floor. Rean was the first to step onto the platform. Upon placing his hand on the controlling mechanism, he was surprised to find that the only two floors he was able to select were the ones labelled "0" and "IV".

"Floor 0 is the one we're on now, right?" Morgan recalled. "One, two, three...she's on the floor that you explored this month!"

"At least this makes things easier for us." Rean slammed down on the control mechanism hard, which subsequently caused the elevator to start descending into the depths.

"THIS is what your class has been up to these past few months?"

Morgan and Rean turned behind them to see that Crow and Patrick had followed them onto the elevator.

"Oh, you guys are still here?" Morgan drily remarked.

"I-I would appreciate it if you didn't treat me like I was some invisible piece of furniture!" Patrick protested.

"You know, I gotta agree with Pattycakes here," Crow added. "I didn't exactly drag myself into this."

"D-Don't call me that!" Patrick stammered.

As the two bickered, Morgan turned to Rean, who was gripping the rails tightly. "Rean? I need to know: what happened while I wasn't here?"

Rean breathed slowly through his nostrils in an attempt to calm himself. "I said something that I shouldn't have," he eventually answered. "And now it's happening all over again…"

"Did you...have a fight with your sister?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it that…" His voice trailed off. "I guess it's more like...I'm getting my comeuppance."

"Comeuppance for what?" Morgan was confused. "Don't siblings disagree on things all the time?"

"...It's complicated."

Clearly it was a touchy subject for the boy, so Morgan didn't pry further. She decided to quickly double-check her equipment while the elevator was still descending. She checked the quartz loadout in her Enigma orbment, then her ARCUS. Then, she reached for her axe…

Wait, where was her axe?

Just as it dawned on her that she had left her axe back at the dormitory with Sharon, the fourth floor came into view. And as it did, the group saw something that made their jaws hit the floor.

"What the hell IS that?!" Crow exclaimed.

"A-A giant suit of armor?!" Patrick said.

Standing a great distance away from them in front of an open space was an animated suit of armor without a head. It was colored turquoise, brandished a giant blade that it held with one hand, and appeared to tower over the students by at least several arge.

Morgan squinted her eyes. "Over there!"

Lying on the ground at the suit of armor's feet was a black-haired girl wearing a St. Astraia Girls' School, just as Crow had described. She appeared to be unconscious, but from what the students could see, there wasn't any direct harm inflicted to her, so she most likely fainted.

The elevator finished its descent, and the students stepped out of it.

"ELIIIIIISE!" Rean called out.

Slowly, the suit of armor began walking towards the girl lying on the floor. Then, it raised its sword high into the air.

Morgan crouched low to the ground. 'Will Galeforce reach her in time?'

As it turned out, she wouldn't have the chance to try. Right as she was about to activate her skill, she saw Rean clutching his chest. A black aura started manifesting from the area where his scar was.

"Rean?" she asked hesitantly. "Are you okay?"

"Raaaaaaaaaaaagh!"

Rean responded with a loud shout, his voice echoing with an almost demonic power. As he reared his head back and roared into the air, his hair started to bleach white.

Crow took a step back. "Wh-What the…?"

Patrick only yelped in surprise.

"R-Rean…?"

Her friend stopped roaring and briefly glanced at her, revealing that his eyes were now glowing bloody red. Morgan let out a small gasp.

Rean then looked straight ahead. He adopted a sword-drawing stance, with his right hand moving to the handle of his sword.

Then, in the blink of an eye, he was gone.

A second later, the sound of his sword clanging against armor rang from the other side of the room. Just that single attack was enough to cause the armored entity to stagger.

"Hot damn!" Crow cursed, almost looking impressed. "That kid is strong! Hey, Morgs! Did you know about this…"

He turned to his underclassman, but his face immediately melted into a frown. "Morgs?"

Morgan had not moved from her position upon seeing her friend's transformation. Her legs were trembling, her bottom lip was quivering, and her pace of breathing was increasing by the second. "A-Ah...hah!"

"Is something the matter with her?" Patrick asked.

"H-He has…" Morgan stuttered. "Wh-wh-white...hair…!"

Morgan was trying her best to run away or, at the very least, avert her gaze from the scene occurring in front of her. However, her eyes stayed glued on Rean, who continued to hold his own against the headless suit of armor. Images from her nightmares continued to flash in her mind, and she was beginning to hyperventilate proper.

"I-I…!"

Her vision was suddenly blocked by Crow's face. The second-year student put his hands on her shoulders, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"Hey! Morgan! Snap out of it!"

Morgan blinked. This was the first time in a while that Crow hadn't called her by her nickname. The brief moment of surprise allowed her to regain awareness of her surroundings. "C-Crow...?"

"Rean's not gonna last on his own! We gotta give him some backup!"

"W-We...?"

Crow stared directly into her eyes. Never had she seen him look so serious before. "Are you just gonna leave your friend all by himself?" he asked.

"B-But…" Morgan's hands trembled. "I-I don't have my axe…"

"Fall to ruin!" Rean began to channel all of his power into his blade, causing it to be coated in dark-colored flames. With a loud shout, he slashed viciously at the suit of armor, leaving a large gash on its breastplate. The armor stumbled backwards and knelt to the ground.

"Gah…" Rean's hand clawed at his chest once again. Having expended most of his energy into that last attack, the aura that was surrounding him had weakened drastically. He clenched his teeth, and gradually his appearance began to revert to normal. The white color receded from his hair, and his eyes lost their crimson glow.

"Did he just...suppress his power?" Morgan observed.

Meanwhile, the suit of armor stood back up on its feet, clearly not done for the count. It slowly began making its way to the weakened Rean, who was still catching his breath.

"No…!" Morgan reached for her orbment, but her hand was trembling so much, she nearly dropped it.

Crow sighed. "Guess it's a good thing I decided to come after all. Here! Let your senior show you how it's done!"

The bandana-wearing teen gave the tails of his school blazer a good flick, revealing that he had a pair of orbal guns fastened snugly to his back by his belts. His right hand pulled out one gun from its makeshift holster while his left reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a familiar-looking orbment.

"An...ARCUS?"

Crow began preparing an art, as evidenced by an orbal aura manifesting around him. However, moments before his art was complete, he thrust out his ARCUS, giving the order to fire prematurely. The art manifested as a dark-colored orb that hovered in the air.

Morgan's eyes widened. "Th-That's…!"

However, Crow wasn't finished yet. Right before the orb disappeared, he pointed his gun at the orb and pulled the trigger. Rather than simply passing through the orb, the bullet instead became coated in the art's energy, flying forward at a speed that otherwise wouldn't have been possible if the art was used normally. The attack nailed the suit of armor in the breastplate, halting its advance.

"I didn't think of using it like that!"

"You're not the only one who likes to experiment with arts!" Crow flashed a grin as he put away his ARCUS in exchange for his other gun. "Patastrophe! Take care of the girls! I'm going in!"

"D-Don't call me that, either!" Patrick called out, but it lay on deaf ears. Crow was already moving into the fray, getting the armor's attention by firing at its knees. Rean mustered the strength to stand up and assume his battle stance. He locked eyes with Crow, and the two shared a mutual nod. A combat link was tied effortlessly between them.

The rest of the day following that was a blur.

Rean and Crow, despite it being their first time working together, successfully defeated the suit of armor. Rean's sister regained consciousness shortly after the armor was felled, just in time for the rest of Class VII, Instructor Sara, Towa, Angelica, and George to join them. While Sara and the second-year students stayed behind to investigate the suit of armor, the rest of Class VII escorted Rean's sister back to their dorm, where everyone was finally able to partake in eating the curry that Sharon made for them.

Everyone, that is, except for one.

For the entirety of the walk back, Morgan remained silent about what exactly had occurred in the old schoolhouse. This, however, only made her classmates even more curious, given how contrary this was to her usual behavior. She didn't say anything, but one subtle change to her behavior that became apparent was that she stayed as far away from Rean as possible, constantly throwing defensive glares at him and looking away when he caught wind of her looking. For whatever reason, Rean didn't call her out for it. Instead, he silently accepted the treatment and continued on.

Morgan couldn't deny that she felt a little guilty upon seeing the resigned look on Rean's face, but she knew that she needed some time to sort out her thoughts alone. So, when the group arrived at the dormitory, she immediately excused herself and retreated into her room. Sharon was kind enough to walk upstairs with a plate of curry, but not even consuming that was enough to fully lift her spirits. Eventually, she decided to call it early for the day, hoping that a good night's sleep would help keep her mind off of what happened earlier.

Unfortunately, the realms of sleep didn't give her the kind repose that she was looking for. That night, Morgan had the same nightmare that she had just the other day.

"AAAAAHHH!"

Morgan woke up screaming. The feeling of being tossed around helplessly by the vortex had given her a brief feeling of vertigo. She clutched her head and took several deep breaths to calm herself.

A head of white hair. A pair of sickeningly red eyes. A face that should have looked familiar but was contorted into something completely different.

There was no mistaking it. Rean, for a brief moment, had taken on the appearance of something that, up until this point, existed only in her nightmares. Was it a coincidence? Morgan sincerely hoped that that was the case. Rean still acted like the same, kind boy she had come to know since arriving at Thors, but now she found herself more on edge around him than ever, like she was unconsciously expecting his appearance to change at any given moment. Her experience had left her badly shaken.

"...I need a drink."

After getting herself dressed, Morgan slowly opened her door and tiptoed her way down the stairs towards the kitchen. Once there, she took a kettle, poured some water into it, and set it atop the orbal stove to boil. She then made her way to the cupboard where Sharon kept the tea blends and found the canister containing lavender. Taking a spoon, she scooped half a spoonful of lavender buds and put it into a teapot. A few minutes later, the water in the kettle started to boil, at which point Morgan took the kettle and poured the boiling water into the teapot.

"Okay. Now to wait until it's finished brewing…"

Morgan's voice trailed off. She turned around. "Someone's coming!"

Her fight or flight instincts kicking in, Morgan grabbed the closest thing she could get her hands on, which happened to be a rolling pin, and ducked behind the wall. The sound of footsteps grew louder. Morgan could hear that whoever was following her had just stepped off the staircase and into the dining area.

"H-Hello? Miss Morgan?"

Upon hearing the voice, she lowered her guard and stood up from her hiding spot. Standing by the door to the dining room was Rean's sister, who was wearing a nightgown.

"Elise, right?" Morgan asked to make sure. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

Elise shook her head. "Truth be told, I was having trouble staying asleep as well. But then, I heard a blood-curdling scream from the other side of my room. I wanted to see what was going on, and then I caught a glimpse of someone going downstairs. Your door was open, so I presumed it was you."

"Yeah, that was me." Morgan set the rolling pin down where she found it. "Had a bad dream."

"Do you frequently have nightmares?" Elise asked.

"Not normally…" said Morgan. "But lately, they've been happening more frequently. It probably has something to do with…"

Morgan stopped herself and shook her head. "Never mind. Since we're both up, you want some tea? It's non-caffeinated lavender."

"Very well." Elise lowered her posture slightly. "I shall accept your offer."

"Great. Feel free to take a seat anywhere."

Elise sat down at the table while Morgan grabbed two teacups for the both of them. Once she felt that the tea was finished brewing, she poured some of the liquid into their cups.

"How's the tea?" Morgan asked tentatively as she sat down. "It doesn't taste weird or anything, does it?"

Elise shook her head. "Not at all. The lavender is helping to calm my nerves."

Morgan breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. That's what it's supposed to do." She took a sip of her own tea, letting the liquid sit in her mouth before swallowing.

The two of them continued drinking their tea until Elise spoke again. "I had been wanting to talk to you personally, to tell you the truth. However, I didn't want to intrude on you in case you were still recovering."

"Is that right?" Morgan scratched the back of her head. "Well, sorry for the inconvenience. What did you want to talk about?"

Elise took a deep breath to calm herself. "Rean told me of what had occurred after I fainted in that schoolhouse."

"He did?" Morgan's face fell. "Then…"

"Yes…" Elise affirmed. "He also recounted how he...frightened you greatly."

"..." Morgan couldn't bear to look at the younger girl in the eyes. Try as she could to take her mind off it, the image of Rean with white hair and red eyes was etched into her mind, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Are you...repulsed by him now?"

"...Complicated."

Rean's sister tilted her head. "What?"

"It's complicated," Morgan clarified. "All I can say is that my bad dreams tend to have someone with white hair and red eyes in them. Always scared the heck out of me. So seeing something like that outside of a dream...gave me a bad reaction."

Elise stared intently at her. "But Rean isn't the sort of person that would harm you," she defended him.

"I know." Her voice lowered to a mutter. "But that's probably what scares me the most."

"...Do you hate him?"

"No." Morgan's response was immediate. "I never hated him before today, and it's hard for me to outright hate him now. It's just that…" Her voice trailed off. There was only so much she could say about her background to someone not within her circle of friends. "I need some time to think. It's complicated."

"...I once did."

Morgan blinked. "Huh?"

"I used to hate him once," Elise clarified. "When I was younger."

"You...did? Why did you…" Morgan stopped herself and shook her head. "No. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Actually, your other classmates already know about our family," said Elise. "However, seeing as you weren't present during the majority of dinnertime, we owe you an explanation. That is one reason I wanted to reach out to you."

"Ah. I see." Morgan was curious as to what other reasons Elise might have had to talk to her, but she paid that comment no mind for the time being. "Then, you can go ahead and tell me."

Elise took a sip of her tea first. "I assume my brother has already told you that he was adopted?"

Morgan nodded.

"When that happened, our family became the subject of much scrutiny. Our father in particular took the worst of it. He was called eccentric, crazy, even unfaithful to Mother. He eventually stopped showing his face at all save for a few rare occasions, all because he took in my brother out of the goodness of his heart."

"But your father's a baron, right?" asked Morgan. "I mean no offense, but aren't barons on the lower end of the ranks of Erebonian peerage? Isn't that a bit much for your family?"

"Perhaps if our family was a normal barony…" Elise sighed. "However, the Schwarzer line possesses deep ties with the Imperial Family. Because of this, we are more known among the nobility than most others."

Morgan thought back to Bridget's reaction upon hearing Rean's name the other day. Suddenly, the comment she had made about "preconceived notions" started to make a lot more sense.

"I was too little at the time to understand the depth of the situation," Elise continued. "But I remember feeling frustrated when no one would approach our family during noble gatherings. Everyone gave us such pitying looks. And of course, with me being a child, I chose to lash out at the closest thing I could find."

"...Rean."

Elise solemnly nodded. "But do you know what was surprising? Even though I treated him coldly, even though I blamed him for everything...he still tried to act like a big brother to me. He shouldered the burden of our family on his shoulders, whereas I just…"

Her small hands clenched the handle of her teacup. Morgan walked over to the seat next to her. "Hey. You can stop if you want to," she consoled the younger girl.

Despite her reaction, Elise steeled herself and shook her head. "This next part is the most important. Neither I nor my brother have divulged this part to your classmates yet, but seeing as you were there when it happened today, you have a right to know."

Morgan had a sneaking suspicion that she knew what was coming up next, but first, she looked behind her. She never liked the idea of sitting with her back facing the door, so she asked, "Would you like to take this upstairs?"

Elise gave a small nod. The two of them finished the rest of the tea and went back upstairs to Morgan's room.

"One day, I stormed off on my own," Elise continued. "That was when I came across a monster. I would have died for sure if Rean hadn't found me and protected me. It was at that point that I realized just how unfair I had been treating him up to that point. So, I resolved to be the younger sister he had always wanted...but by then, it was already too late."

"Too late?"

"Because the day he saved me...was the day he first awoke to his power."

"Ah…" Morgan tried to keep herself from trembling.

"Rean was never the same after that. He shunned himself away from us, thinking that he was a monster. It was only after his master, the Sword Hermit Yun Ka-Fai, came and took him as his student that he began to hold up his head again, but then his training was cut short, and Rean started to relapse. I tried to be there for him, but because of our past history, our time together ended up being extremely awkward. Deep down, I believe he still feels guilty for what happened that day. That's why I chose to enroll at St. Astraia's. Not just to prepare for my debut into high society, but also to give him some space so he could think about his future with us. However…"

Elise's eyes started to water. "Instead, he's only drifting further away from us…"

Morgan quickly grabbed a nearby tissue and offered it to the younger girl.

"...I'm sorry," Elise apologized as she wiped her eyes. "I didn't mean for this discussion to turn out like this."

"I understand," Morgan said. "It's not easy thinking about what you could have done in the past to change your present. You care for him a lot, don't you?"

"I…" Elise looked the other direction. "I'm...simply trying to make up for lost time. And Father and Mother wouldn't want to see him in that condition. The right of adopted children to succeed their family name is recognized under Imperial law! But he has to be so stubborn…"

"Is that why you came to the academy in the first place?" Morgan queried. "To see if Rean had changed since the last time you saw him?"

Elise slowly nodded her head.

"Well, then…" Morgan crossed her arms. "I'll have you know that your brother's in capable hands."

The younger girl blinked. "What?"

"Rean used to wonder about his place in the world when he first came to the academy," Morgan explained. "Now...well, okay. He still has his doubts, but he's starting to feel more rooted. He's starting to take his sword training seriously again, and he's found his place in the Trista community as their go-to problem solver. Maybe he doesn't quite know how to speak for himself yet, but he HAS been changing, and I'd like to believe that his time here with us has been affecting him for the better. So, you don't need to worry about him. If he ever starts feeling down, we'll be there to pick him back up."

Elise was taken aback for a moment. Then, her mouth grew into a smile. "You're...every bit as trustworthy as she said you'd be."

That caused Morgan to tilt her head in confusion. "She?"

"Y-Yes. That was the other reason I wanted to reach out to you. I was told that if I ever found myself visiting Thors, I could trust one Morgan Daraen."

"And I bet I know who you learned my name from…" Morgan said. "Does the name Alastor Finnigan ring a bell, by any chance?"

Elise widened her eyes in surprise before glancing at the door. Then, she turned back and nodded her head. "It is as you say."

"Has she...told you anything else about me?" Morgan asked out of curiosity.

"Only that the two of you are close friends," the younger girl replied. "From her stories, I got the feeling that you were like an older sister to her."

"Really?" Morgan raised an eyebrow. "If anything, she was the one taking care of me."

"At any rate…" Elise continued. "When I heard that you were in the same class as Rean, I knew immediately that I could turn to you for help. That's why it's important for me that you don't hate him, especially after today. I know it is presumptuous of me to ask you this when you're still recovering, but please…"

She lowered her head. "Please look after my brother."

Morgan paused for a moment. 'That's right…' she thought. 'Rean is different. This whole thing is different. Right now, he needs our support. I can't let my nightmares get a hold of me...for all our sakes.'

"...Alright," she eventually said. "I'll keep an eye on him as best I can. Tactician's honor."

Elise looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Miss Morgan."

"Just Morgan is fine. We have a mutual friend; I don't see why we can't also be on a first-name basis."

"Very well...Morgan."

Morgan looked at her alarm clock. "Right. We should probably try and get some sleep. You're taking the first train to Heimdallr, right?"

"Will you be alright?" Elise asked.

"Don't worry about me," Morgan insisted. "Oh, but before you go, can I ask a favor of you, Elise?"

"A favor?"

Morgan looked to a folder that was sitting on her desk. "I need you to deliver something to our mutual friend…"

Morgan gave Elise the gist of the situation, and she agreed to help deliver the folder. The two bid each other good night, and Elise went back to her room.

As she lay in her bed, Morgan remembered a conversation that she had a long while back.

"A friend I've made at St. Astraia's has a sibling who attends Thors as well, and from what I've heard, the curriculum has been especially arduous this year…"

"Oh? You've been making friends?"

"You say that as if it were a rare occurrence!"

How it took her this long to connect the dots, she didn't know.

"I'm sorry I caused such trouble for everyone…" Elise lowered her posture slightly towards the gathered students of Class VII. Cradled in her arms was the folder that Morgan asked her to deliver, though the sender herself was strangely absent. "Thank you so much for going to the trouble of preparing a bed for me."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Alisa responded. "Our maid can do that much without even breaking a sweat."

"Honestly, I don't know how Sharon does it…" Machias quipped. "She was so well prepared, you'd think Elise had called in a reservation."

"Well, it kinda helped that we had a spare room anyways…" Elliot added.

The group chuckled at that.

"Rean…" Elise turned to her brother. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Hm? Yeah." Rean rolled his shoulders. "I'm still sore all over, but that's nothing unexpected. Compared to the training Master Ka-Fai used to put me through…"

"That's not what I meant," his sister interrupted him. "I'm afraid I still can't accept your position.

That you don't wish to succeed Father as head of the family, or that you enrolled here because of that. Honestly, it seems to me that you yourself aren't even certain of what you want for your life. And because of that, it's like you've lost your way. Am I right?"

Elise might have been a few years younger than Rean, but she knew exactly how to expose her older brother's weak spots.

"…I can't deny it," Rean finally said. "But this time, I was able to come back to my senses. I think enrolling here at Thors was the best thing I've done for myself in a long time. It's given me the chance to start moving forward, little by little. And…" He looked at his classmates and instructor. "I owe that to my friends here."

"Rean…" For what was probably the first time since her arrival, Elise proudly smiled at her brother. "Heehee. I'll be waiting patiently, then. Waiting to see the answer that you come up with."

"...Thank you, Elise." Rean walked a few steps forward. "Heimdallr's not too far away, so I'm sure we'll see each other again soon enough. We can talk about this more then…"

He stretched his hand and started patting Elise's head, which caused the girl to let out a small squeak. "And I'm sorry for being such a crappy brother to you."

Elise's face flushed, clearly not expecting the gesture. "I-I should be the one apolo-!"

A beep sounded over the intercom, followed by a female voice that said, "Passenger service bound for...Heimdallr...now arriving on Platform 2. We ask that all passengers wishing to board please wait on the platform…"

"I suppose that is my cue!" Elise stepped out from Rean's hand and curtsied to the group. "Thank you all once again!"

Elise showed her ticket to the employee by the gate, and she made her way onto the platform.

"You're really devoted to your sister, aren't you?" Elliot remarked once Elise was out of sight.

"You think so?" Rean asked. "I mean, it's not like I spoil her or anything, and honestly? She can get pretty harsh toward me sometimes."

"Didn't stop you from getting all lovey-dovey with her," Fie said unapologetically. "Watch out, guys. This one's a serial head-patter."

"Th-That's not-!"

"I must admit…" Laura crossed her arms and nodded her head in compliance with her female compatriot's sentiment. "If I hadn't known beforehand the two of you were siblings, you would have come across as an item."

Obviously, Laura had said that in jest, but that didn't stop Rean from holding out his hand and loudly denying, "It's not like that!"

There wasn't any important reason why Morgan neglected to show up to see Elise off. She could have justified herself by saying that "she had already said her goodbyes the previous night," or that "she wanted Rean to spend as much time with Elise without worrying over her." But no; the simple truth of the matter was that she overslept, and she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of everyone by showing up late. At least she knew beforehand that Dorothee's folder was now on its way to its rightful recipient, as evidenced by it no longer being in her room nor the room next door, where Elise had stayed in.

All that was left, then, was for Morgan to get ready for school. She checked and double-checked to make sure all her equipment was in order, but as she opened the cabinet to retrieve her personal orbment, she stroked her hand across the cover of her father's strategy book. On impulse, she took it out.

Whenever Morgan was feeling down or maybe just a little lost, reading her father's handwriting always helped to make her feel more secure. Even if it was just words on a page, it was almost like her father was speaking directly to her, providing her with words of guidance and encouragement. She read the book from cover to cover more times than she could count, but for some reason, she always found herself learning something new every time she opened it.

Remembering the events of last month's field study, Morgan turned to the section that centered around flying units. The pages would consist of either diagrams with captions underneath them, simple journal entries, or a mixture of both. From what she remembered, her father had little experience in riding flying mounts (or any mounts at all, for that matter), but you wouldn't know it from reading his notes. Her father made the most of the connections that he possessed, and it helped that some of his closest allies were some of the finest pegasus knights and wyvern riders that Ylisse and its neighboring continents had to offer.

As she turned the page, her attention was caught by a page that was split into a diagram and journal entry. The written portion read as follows:

"Today, I consulted Cordelia about the possible uses of a formation I came across in some war records. In battle, we would frequently pair up two units to bolster our fighting chances, but what if we were to add more units to that? The formation I came across involves doing just that.

"The Triangle Attack, the signature skill of the fabled Whitewing Sisters from two millennia prior, involves three pegasus riders positioning themselves adjacent to the enemy on different sides. The amount of preparation needed to execute the technique would normally be considered impractical, but three mobile units dealing consecutive damage should almost guarantee a critical hit.

"Cordelia and I agreed that mastering this particular attack could prove a boon to our offensive capabilities. Unfortunately, as of this writing, we only have two pegasus riders. Perhaps a griffon or a wyvern could act as a substitute?"

Below it was a diagram detailing the exact formation in question. Three allied units surrounding an enemy unit on all sides like a triangle, with special winged symbols to denote that these units were meant to be fliers. There was also a note in the margins that further read: "Update: substituting a third pegasus knight for a wyvern rider proved to be more difficult than we had anticipated. I proposed that we forgo the third flying unit and instead call it a 'Line Attack', but Cordelia and Sumia wouldn't let me hear the end of it. As of now, the Not-A-Line-But-Also-Not-A-Triangle Attack is unfortunately still a work in progress."

Morgan smirked. Her father always had a habit of adding in his own brand of dry humor into his notes.

"A Triangle Attack…Whitewings…" she muttered to herself. "A promise…"

A knock came from her door. Morgan hurriedly put her father's strategy book back in the drawer before running to the door. Upon opening it, she came face-to-face with Rean.

"H-Hey." He nervously raised his hand in greeting.

"Hey." Morgan closed the door behind her. "Did you need something?"

"I, er…" Rean fumbled over his words. "I wanted to check in how you were doing. You didn't look so good after...what happened yesterday."

Morgan pursed her lips. "I just needed some time to myself. Didn't exactly sleep well last night; that's why I didn't show up today."

Her response caused Rean to frown. "...I'm sorry."

"For…?"

"For everything. For having to see...that side of me yesterday. If you want me to keep my distance, I understand…"

"Why?"

Rean was briefly caught off guard. "Huh?"

"You did what you believed was necessary at the moment, even if it meant losing control of yourself," Morgan answered. "Honestly, your devotion to your sister is touching."

Rean groaned. "It's not like that…"

Feeling a little more comfortable conversing with Rean, Morgan decided to get things over with. "Look. Let me get straight to the point: I don't hate you. No, I think now it's more appropriate to say that I CAN'T hate you. But you did give me a scare, and I'll need some time to myself to recover. People with white hair and red eyes are one of my phobias."

"Th-That's a rather specific phobia…"

"If you're looking to make up with me, just keep acting like you always have." Morgan's hand grazed the small of her back. "You keep being you, and I'll keep being me."

Rean looked down briefly. "You're...not going to ask? About my power?"

"...Not yet," Morgan replied. "I have my own hurdles to jump over. Once I feel like I've sorted out my problems, THEN I'll hear about your power. I'm pretty selfish like that."

Her classmate looked taken aback by her answer. Eventually, he gave a small smile. "Thank you, Morgan. You're really strong, aren't you?"

"Not as much as you think I am," Morgan denied. "Like I just said, I'm being selfish right now. Sorry I can't say any more."

Rean scratched the back of his head. "Well, hearing you give your honest opinion still means a lot to me."

The two of them started walking down the stairs together.

"Since we're here, there's something I want to ask…" Morgan said. "You and Elise. Would you say that you two get along?"

Rean stopped momentarily. "I…"

Morgan looked up from a few steps below Rean. "If you don't want to say, that's fine, too."

"No. It's not that. It's just…" He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Remember how I mentioned yesterday that I said something I shouldn't have said?"

"Yes…?"

"I'm sure you know by now, but nobles have a duty to maintain a pure rite of succession. When something happens to disrupt those traditions, well… You heard what Jusis had to go through. We're alike in that sense. My adoption caused an uproar in the high society, and my family suffered because of it. Elise in particular didn't have many friends growing up, and when she learned that all the nobles were avoiding our family because of me, she became distant."

"She's not acting distant now," Morgan pointed out.

"I think she's just gotten better at hiding it," Rean countered. "She was there when I first awoke to my power, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was still a little bit scared. There was a time when things looked like they were getting better, but our interactions were always so awkward. It was almost like we didn't know how to act as siblings anymore! Eventually, she decided to focus on preparing for her debut, so she left for St. Astraia's. I think it was around then that I felt like I needed to find my own path separate from my family. Elise would need some time to herself if she wants to stand on her own when she turns sixteen, and both Mom and Dad would benefit more from naming her the primary successor. That was what was going through my head when I first applied to Thors, but…"

He sighed. "But in the end, I just made things worse. I thought that Elise would be fine with me leaving, so I ended up writing about my plans for the future in my last letter to her. I was so caught up in my own feelings that I didn't even notice how she might have viewed things. I just hope that I'm not too late this time."

"Rean…"

The two of them took a moment to say their goodbyes to Sharon as they left the dormitory. After that, the pair walked in relative silence on their way to the academy.

What surprised Morgan the most wasn't the boy's crippling lack of self-worth or his guilt over what happened to his family. Rather, it was the striking parallels to what Elise had told her in the middle of the night. In the past, Elise had blamed Rean for the state of their family, a feeling that changed after Rean saved her. Now, all she wanted was to make up for lost time, but because she viewed herself as a reminder of what had transpired that day, she chose to distance herself so Rean could find his own path. Rean, however, didn't see her gesture the same way. In his mind, Elise distancing herself seemed to only reinforce the notion that he was bringing harm to the Schwarzers. And so, he chose to enroll at Thors as a way to find a life away from the family that had adopted and raised him, all to give Elise a chance to grow without him in the picture.

The more Morgan thought about it, the more she realized that the relationship between the Schwarzer siblings was an endless cycle of misunderstandings, all brought about by their mutual desire to see each other grow without the other. And yet, neither one of them seemed keen on letting the other sibling know about their plan, lest they risk straining their relationship even further. Needless to say, the convoluted nature of their relationship…

"...Urgh! It's driving me nuts!"

Rean stepped back, a bit startled. "Morgan?!"

Morgan looked at her classmate, then at the area around them. Her sudden outburst had drawn the attention of some of the townsfolk as well.

"N-Nothing! It's nothing!" She and Rean apologized to the passerby before continuing on their way. "But seriously? You two really need to sit down and have a talk."

Rean nodded his head. "Yeah. That's what we're planning. All that's left is to find a time that works for the both of us…"

From a great distance ahead of them, the school bell rang to signal the start of a new school day.

"Uh-oh!" Morgan exclaimed. "We'd better hurry!"

"Right!"

The two students broke off into a run, hoping that they'd be able to reach their homeroom in time.

Author's note: Another free day finished! This one felt like it was more loaded than it actually was, which resulted in me cutting some corners regarding Rean's transformation and Morgan's reaction to it. I was going for the drama, but I also didn't want to make things seem TOO angsty, so I ended up with an odd middle-ground where most of the sentiments are implied. Would you prefer that I go one way or the other in the future? Let me know your thoughts.

But admittedly, the main reason there was less attention drawn to Morgan and Rean was because of the thing I mentioned at the end of the last chapter where I'd be changing a key aspect of a certain character. For those who haven't played the Cold Steel games, Rean's sister Elise existed primarily for the bro-con/sis-con subtext and had little prominence elsewhere to be considered a memorable character. I myself didn't particularly like how she was handled and felt that more could have been done to give her some extra mileage outside of having an unrequited crush on her adoptive brother. So, when the time came to introduce Elise into the narrative, I was compelled to change her and Rean's relationship. The bro-con/sis-con jokes still remain to an extent as an artifact of the source material, but there's now an additional emphasis placed on the damage each sibling has done on their relationship and their steps to amending it. Of course, neither of them feel comfortable telling the other about their side of the story as a result. Now both of them are oblivious to each other! (≧艸≦*)

Hopefully the next chapter will be more straightforward than this one. Now it's back to planning I go. Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy! (`･ω･)ゞ