I woke up, got fresh, did some running, and before I knew it, the day flew by. The last three days were quite something but today just flowed. Everything felt normal. Maybe I just got used to this?

Classes were over, and I was sitting on a bench sipping juice: more history lessons. I never thought I’d be wanting the practical classes back.

Students were walking by, probably headed to the dorms or the clubs. It was pretty eventful, I guess this would last till the end of this year and begin anew next year. I had to head over to the club too. I’d been carrying a cloth-covered long stick in my bag the whole day and I really wanted to do something about it.

The last time I’d seen this sword was about thirteen and a half years ago. On that day tragedy befell the earth or more like three countries. Though I did not like the fact that my gramps literally wiped three countries from the face of the earth just because of me, I did appreciate his sentiment. At least he loved me.

But after that, I never saw real swords. I used wooden ones to practice and by the age of fourteen, I’d completely forgotten about swords. And now, all of a sudden I’d have to fight with one. Most of my skills were here but they were kind of rusty. My body didn’t move as intended and my style felt a little clunky.

I guess practice was really necessary now.

I kept on sipping and eventually heard small sizzling sounds from the straw, indicating, my fun was over.

‘Guess I’ll just head over.’

I did some stretching and threw the bottle in a recycle bin.

As I walked, I noticed a few things. First of all, I was getting all sorts of stares. I was already pretty famous in my class but now the whole school? Did no one have anything better to do? Especially the girls, they were just staring at me like I stole their long-lost lover or something.

And then there was the problem of random palm trees in the middle of the roads. Running straight into these things twice already taught me a very important thing. Never, run while thinking stupid things. I really wanted to meet this Ariel guy though.

I thought I was getting used to the stares but maybe I was just fooling myself. With the first sigh of the day, I kept on walking, eventually reaching the club about ten minutes later.

“Welcome.” Amie led me in. “I was not expecting you.” Did she have to be this blunt though?

There were some of the members here but not all. At least not as much as I saw that night where these guys had literally held a banquet. The ones who were here were basically slacking off playing cards. I did not get why people still played primitive games like that.

“Seems pretty laid off.”

“Club activities will only start from next week when we recruit new members.” Amie walked on straight.

“Are you some sort of secretary running things around?” I was curious. The captain wasn’t here either.

“I’m the vice-captain of this club.” She was pretty proud of the fact too.

“Oh, okay.”

“SO, what brings you today?” She placed both her hands on the table behind her and looked straight at me.

“I need a scabbard.”

“Scabbard? You mean scabbard for swords?”

“What else are they for?” I mumbled. “Yes.”

“Can I see the sword?”

“Yeah sure.” I brought out my sword and gave it to her.

The moment she lifted it up, it almost fell to the ground: she along with it. “This is heavy.” She grunted and barely lifted it up.

This seemed to generate some ill-wanted attention as a girl just walked towards us. A sigh escaped my lips even without me noticing.

“That’s a nice sword. Can I hold it?” Eve was here, though I did not like it. Just why the hell did she have to be here now?

Amie kept eyeballing the sword and after a minute, scanned it with her Holo. “I’ll be back.” She handed the sword over to Eve and just left.

“Not bad.” Eve ran her fingers through the sword.

This really was getting weird all of a sudden. But it kind of reminded me of something. “Oh yeah, thanks for everything. And if it weren’t for your sword-”

“Don’t mention it.” Her gaze was totally on the sword. It was almost as if she was enticed by it.

“By the way, what’s in your sword? I mean it was so hard.” Not to mention it was way too easy to light up and sustain.

“Reinforced Tungsten and SIlvanide.”

Tungsten I could get behind, but SIlvanide? That stuff was from the meteorite that crashed on earth and needless to say, it was very, very expensive.

“Silvanide? But isn’t it-”

“Did you forget we’re nobility?” She still wasn’t looking at me.

I knew she was noble and all but I had no idea her family was so damn rich. “Hey, if it’s that expensive. Then, what if I broke it during the duel?” The very thought sent shivers down my spine.

Eve looked away for a moment as if she’d just been caught stealing bananas or something. “You’d either have to pay back or become my slave.” Her grin was devilish if nothing else.

“Please tell me that wasn’t your intention?”

“Well-” She fidgeted and chuckled.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

I did not want to think about this but honestly, I was glad I didn’t rely on Eve.

“Hmm… but really, this is amazing.”

“Yes, you’ve been saying that for the last five minutes.”

She giggled. “But it’s true. It’s almost as if-” She paused. It was an abrupt stop. “Never mind. Here.” She gave me back the sword. “Where did you get this?”

“Family treasure.”

Eve struck a thinking pose. “What does your family do?”

‘Good question.’

But it was also a question I did not want to answer. My mother was a hard working woman. But the rest of the family was weird at best. My grandfather was considered a villain by society’s standards. After all, he literally decimated three countries just because of one accident. Regretfully that accident had me involved in it.

My father, I knew nothing about. My aunts were basically just mercenaries and while some of my uncles did do explorer jobs, most were just hunters. Illegal hunters that is. And then there were cousins…. ‘Erase the thought!’

It was safe to say, I did not want to think about cousins….

“Let’s not get into that.” I chuckled. Talking about family wasn’t something I wanted, nope. It only made me uncomfortable ever so more.

“Try this.” Amie threw a scabbard from across the room.

‘Good timing.’

I caught it. It was surprisingly light for its size. I poured the sword in and it was a fit. A good fit. “Not bad, yeah.” I liked the design too. It was a black scabbard with some spirals here and there. Not bad, indeed. “I won’t have to pay you or anything right?” I just wanted to be on the safer side. But this did look a little expensive, it was probably made from carbon fiber.

“Oh yes, you owe me seven silvers.” Basically, that was worth ten days’ worth of my food.

“I mean- huh?” I really didn’t know what to say.

“So treat me to lunch sometime.” Amie winked and headed over to the other side.

“Well, someone likes you.” Eve giggled and came close. “On that note, I like you too.” She pressed on my nose and just left, giggling even louder.

‘Does she have to tease me every frigging time?’

I sometimes did not get women, but Eve? She was beyond comprehension.

***

With my sword on my waist, I headed to the nurse’s office. The scabbard came with a belt so carrying a sword felt natural. The stares around me gave me depression but, oh well.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

Merin was all alone. Neither the nurse nor Natasha was here.

“Pretty good. I should be good to go tomorrow. So I’ll make it to your duel.” He paused. “But, you sure?”

I wouldn’t have been able to back out even if I wasn’t, so at this point, this wasn’t a question anyone should have asked: he still asked it anyway. “Let’s just say I have a plan.”

This was all I was saying to anybody who questioned my sanity. I didn’t have any better responses.

Merin flashed a smile. “I’ll leave the rest to you then.”

“What happened to the girl?”

“Nat left an hour ago. She’ll come back by the afternoon. And the nurse wouldn’t be back for another hour. Some urgent meeting or something.”

“I suppose she has a life too.” Natasha was human after all. She had needs too. She couldn’t just sit around an injured person all day long. The same went for the nurse. “I have to practice, so later, I guess.” On that note, I didn’t want to be here either.

Merin started sniffing for no reason. “Okay.” I guess he was lonely. But I had better things to worry about.

I felt bad but I really needed to practice. “Bye.”

“Bye.” He sighed. “Guess it was worth a shot.” He winked. “Fancy sword by the way.” I didn’t know why but it felt like he was just saying stuff to keep me here.

I didn’t know how much of it, he was faking, but I didn’t want to find out.

***

Though I hated it, I still spent a good hour with Merin and after that, I really felt hungry. At the end of the day, Merin was entirely different than I imagined. I thought he was some cool nonchalant dude, but now, I wasn’t so sure.

But I guess he was him. So I couldn’t do anything about it.

I walked out of the school building and it was already close to the afternoon. I still hadn’t had my lunch. And my stomach was thundering a bit too much.

As I stared at the road beneath my feet someone walked by, glaring straight at me. Lately, I’d been receiving all sorts of stares, but now glares?

‘Oh wait, that’s Rose.’

I guess her glare was justified.

“HI.” I nervously raised my hand.

I actually might have overreacted a little yesterday. And I still hadn’t thanked her for the last time. But then again, what happened yesterday, was pretty infuriating if nothing else.

“Hmph.” She looked dead and just blitzed past. I actually never saw her walk, so this was a new experience. Guess flying around all the time wasn’t something she did.

Being completely ignored felt more painful than infuriating though.

With a sigh, I sat down on a bench. ‘What should I eat?’ One of life’s greatest questions indeed.

“Is this seat taken?”

“No.”

A girl sat down next to me. It was a pretty small bench, so she was arm’s length away. she had a double-decker sandwich and somehow I felt my mouth watering. But what caught more of my attention was the bag full of palm seeds in her other hand.

“Are you making oils or something?” Of course, my full attention was still on the sandwich.

“Oh, these?” She smiled. Her luscious white hair contrasted quite well with her pinkish-white skin. “I’m growing.”

“Excuse me? Gr-growing? You can’t grow palm trees in a day.” I chuckled.

‘Wait…. Palm trees out of nowhere….’

“You’re A-Ariel?” I stuttered.

“OH my. You know me?” She looked at me with curiosity and a smile.