A faint orange scent clung to me as I made my way through the throng of finely clad guests. The sounds of a harp marked the air, interrupted by the odd explosion as Master Wilhelm threw another of his friends into a wall.

It was quite peaceful.

“How long has William been learning how to fight?” I asked.

Our friend was already ahead of us, saying his greetings. People called for his attention the moment he entered their sight.

“Ever since he was born, he has held a sword in his hand.” Gerial responded. “It was done in the hopes that he would unlock a skill relating to war and weaponry. Since his first night he’s been trained without rest.”

I could imagine the young boy swinging around his tiny sword under the strict supervision of his father.

“You know a lot about his personal life for someone he’d never met before.” I made my way towards one of the tables with food on it.

I was starving.

“I asked the Crijik church to make a dossier on people that might come to my school.” He paused. “And that could become my friends.”

I gave him a pat on the back and offered him something that looked like a spring roll. It wasn’t exactly the same. It had something blue in it.

As we ate I looked at the guests who presented themselves to each other. It wasn’t proper for me to walk up and talk to them. I had to be introduced.

It had nothing to do with age and everything to do with status and power. William or Gerial could walk up to these people with ease. I had to be a bit more tactful.

“There you guys are.” William approached us with a plate of food. “Looks like the other Marked one is running late. It's all they’re talking about.”

That caught my interest. I didn’t know much about the other Marked ones. Rumours ran rampant about their abilities. I’d heard that I could talk with the divines themselves if I knew a Marked one. I also heard that they were all seven feet tall and masters of magic.

That meant I knew squat.

Even if there was something true it was crowded out by all of the lies. It was also impossible to know where any of the Marked ones were at any time.

“Who is she Marked by?” I asked.

“Fue.” Gerial spoke from beside me. “If you think I’m well-guarded you should see her entourage.”

I hadn’t seen his guards yet. I chewed on his words. If there was something in this world that could be called a God, it was Fue. People invoked her name in prayer, when asking for help, and when swearing.

“She’ll be here.” William said with certainty. “She’s coming to Koshima Academy as well, and I think she wants to watch you fight, Gerial.”

He’d whispered Gerial’s name. I held back a laugh as he looked from side to side nervously. Nobody was paying attention to a group of kids.

“William.” A feminine voice called out to us.

William’s body jolted and he looked like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. A woman appeared behind William, and he gazed up at her sheepishly. I knew her. She was the woman that used to carry around William when he was younger.

Her name was Letitia.

“We have to prepare for the demonstration”

“But I’m playing with my friends.” William pointed to me and the empty air beside me.

“Oh.” Letitia smiled down at me. “How wonderful, however, you know it takes a while for the onze to power up.”

I’d noticed that he wasn’t carrying it anymore.

The onze needed preparation to use? I held onto that piece of information.

“How long will you be?” I didn’t want to lose my only visible companion.

“Half an hour.” William shook his head. “I wish we could pump mana into the thing. It would make preparation so much quicker.”

William passed his plate to Letitia. He waved to us and then walked towards one of the side doors.

“Young Master Silver.” Letitia gave me a small bow. “We have met before.”

“Letitia.” I smiled. “Of course I remember you.”

“Oh, how polite.” Letitia looked over her shoulder. “Thank you so much for accompanying William today. He’s been so lonely.”

“He’s a friend. I’ll help him anytime.”

A smile bloomed over her face. “It makes me so happy to hear that. Please have a wonderful time.”

She made her way towards William. My friend had more than just gold. His family and caretakers loved him.

“I guess that leaves just you and me.”

“So it does.” A voice spoke out from behind me.

It wasn’t Gerial.

I turned around and came face-to-face with a teenage girl holding a tiny toddler. The toddler was looking around the gold-studded room with wide eyes. Every time there was a bump or explosion, she clapped her hands happily.

“Hi.” The girl stared at me.

I put on my business smile. “Hi. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. Lady…”

“‘Splosion.” The toddler grabbed her sister’s red dress to get her attention.

“Wait, Mirabelle. Sorry, I just got to- my sister-” The girl smiled apologetically at me and then shushed her sister.

Then she turned back to me. “Berlia. Jâl. And my sister Mirabelle.

This was my cousin. I looked down at the toddler. My other cousin. I didn’t even know I had two of them. I’d only known about one.

“Andross Silver.” I held my hand out.

She stared at it with a confused smile. Then she reached out and shook my hand back. I think I’d done something wrong; she didn’t look happy.

“You were meant to hug her. You’re family. Why did you shake hands? That’s so weird.” Gerial’s voice whispered faintly in my ear.

I blushed. That was a tradition I didn't know. There were gaps in my knowledge, this wasn’t news. I’d never met any of my extended family before now.

“From the way my mum was acting I think I’m supposed to hate you.” Berlia took a step forward. “My cousin who discarded our family name.”

She came swinging right out the gates.

“Drama.” Gerial whispered.

Not the time, Gerial.

I coughed awkwardly and fixed my smile. “Let’s settle with getting to know each other first before making an opinion?” I asked.

She looked at me and then at her sister.

“Deal.” She nodded. “I don’t care about who my mum wants me to like. If Mirabelle gets another cousin to play with to make her life happier, that’s a win in my book.”

I looked down at the little girl. My other cousin. She was already smiling again and pointing at something new. What a cute kid.

“Sounds like you have your priorities straight.” I turned my attention to the food. “Crab cake?”

“Don’t mind if I do.” She helped herself. “I'll let you know now that I am famously terrible at conversation. My friends say I’m blunt, crass, too informative but also a brick wall unless I’m interested in the topic at hand.”

She turned back to me with a piece of crab cake hanging out of her mouth. “So, what about you?”

I heard a chuckle from beside me.

“I like to think of myself as a people person. One that doesn’t really know too many people.” I chose my words carefully. I didn’t want to make a bad impression. “What do you like?”

It was the age-old game of awkwardly getting to know each other.

“Symbols. Specifically, regents. Even more specifically, regents for battle.” I saw her unconsciously cup her sister’s ears as she spoke. “My mum was hoping I’d go for the supply-types. That’s where all the money is. I told her I would if I could find a way to shove them up an enemy’s a-”

She stopped, and then blinked. “I mean... I like symbols.”

I grinned. “Me too. Did you know I work with my dad? We’re Zodiac’s symbol division, focused on deciphering cutting edge war symbols and copying them onto our own weapons.”

When I was younger, I’d thought that piece of information would be private, but apparently the symbol security market was huge in this world.

Her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. “What? Uncle works for a company? My mum never talks about him.”

That didn’t surprise me. I don’t think my dad had ever talked about his sister. I only found out she existed because she’d been mentioned in conversation by someone else.

“Why is that?” My curiosity was rising. “My dad only talks about the good stuff. Like how awesome our family is with symbols.”

“Oh, that. I have no idea. Something happened and I think uncle both left and was kicked out at the same time. My mum gets upset whenever she thinks about it, so I don’t think it was something she did. Then again, it is my mum we’re talking about.”

“Dang. I was kind of hoping to find out.” I shook my head. “I suppose I can figure it out later. Do you think your mum will want me to say hi?”

It didn’t sound like she liked me, but we hadn’t met yet.

I believed in my skill to adorably charm people.

Berlia shrugged, and her dress moved. The shimmering red reflected the light of the room and I realised there were tiny lines of metallic material criss-crossing her dress.

“Is that a regent?” I couldn’t sense any mana.

Symbols appeared before my eyes when I looked for them. Dozens of them were pressed into different combinations.

She grabbed the side of her dress and smiled. “You recognise these? No, it’s not a regent. It’s my war dress. An awesomely amazing design by none other than myself.”

“A war dress?” I stared at her. “What does it do? How does it work? And why a dress?”

Berlia grinned. “Finally, someone asks. You know they all take one look at the material and immediately dismiss it?”

“The ‘what’ and ‘how’ are secrets. And the ‘why’ is because I wanted to kick butt and look stylish at the same time. You’re not in school yet, right?” I shook my head. “Well, you’ll want some sort of trump card up your sleeve. Everyone is always trying to one up each other. It’s a social nightmare.”

She didn’t have to tell me twice. I still remembered my original high school years. As for trump cards, I had the one big one that I was keeping from everyone.

I took another look at the war dress. It didn’t look practical. Symbols were meant to be unbroken, and an untampered web of power. A dress that billowed at the slightest movement would change each symbol every time it rippled.

“See, if you keep giving me that look, I’m going to have to show you how it works. And I won’t go easy on you just because you’re my little cousin.” Berlia raised her hand and I saw the symbols rippling with power.

“Why does everyone want to go straight to fighting? People these days have no manners.” I complained.

“That’s right we don’t.” Berlia smiled. “Are you just hanging around this place by yourself? I can introduce you to a few people. They’re not our age but they know our family.”

“Would you believe me if I said I’m not lonely because the Marked one of Crijik is standing right beside me, but you just can’t see him because he’s invisible and shy?” I remembered his commentary when I first greeted Berlia. Time for some payback. “He also thinks you’re cute.”

Gerial pinched my arm and I winced. Bad luck for you Gerial. She won’t know I’m making it up unless you tell her yourself.

“And my mum’s the emperor’s right-hand lady.” She poked her tongue out at me. “Lying does not make a good first impression.” She grabbed my hand. “Come on, let’s go.”

Berlia dragged me around and pushed through people. We chatted and I felt warm in my heart as we got acquainted.

I had a family outside my parents.

It was nice.