I sat in a small room, which was empty except for a lone chair facing a window. Two guards stood outside, ready to pounce if anything happened. On the other side of the glass was a dark room, which also had a chair in front of the glass, and a door at the far end. It had been a few months since I had last been in a room like this, so I was a bit nervous.

“Alright, Bring him in.” a voice buzzed in.

On the other side of the glass, the door opened and someone walked in. mixed emotions flooded into me when I see. I was pissed. I was angry at how that place was treating him. He looked like a slave. His clothing was dirty beyond dirty. They were ripped everywhere, and at some places, there were entire chunks of clothing missing. He had scars and gashes all over his body. He looked like a skeleton. He was extremely thin from malnutrition to the point where you could see his bones. His dirty blond hair was longer than my hair, which was long. But despite all of that, I was still happy to see that he was still kicking.

“Hey, big bro. It’s nice to see you again.” I said while giving off my best smile.

Zac lifted his head to look at me through the window. In his eyes, I could see the pain and torment he’d been through. It was painful to watch. But when he saw me and recognized me, life flooded back into him. He smiled that contagious smile of his, a smile that made you feel all warm inside and sent tingles down your body. Despite what he's going through, he still had that smile.

“Elenore! I didn’t think that you would be my guest today. It feels like it’s been months!” Zac exclaimed.

I giggled. “It has been months since we last saw each other.”

He scratched his head grinning. “Sorry sis, you lose track of time stuck in here.”

“But they didn’t inform you I was your guest?”

He shook his head. “No, they didn’t. I assumed it was governmental officials or my lawyer. They just told me someone wanted to see me and they dragged me off to this heap of rock.”

“How was the trip from Area 1 to here?”

He rubbed his hands together. “It’s definitely not the best trip I’ve taken, but I got here safe and sound. But enough about me, how are you doing sis? How’s school? Made any new friends? Anybody I have to beat up once I get out of here?” he asked.

I laughed. My brother still had a sense of humor even though he was branded a traitor. He always refused to talk about it, always changing the topic of the conversation to something more pleasant, usually, me being the focus as well I was freer than him.

“School’s awesome!” I told him. “Celestia came back from Craynax and we’re partners! You do remember her right?”

“Wasn’t she the one that challenged you to a chest growing contest?” he asked grinning.

I blushed in embarrassment. Celestia did, in fact, challenge me to a chest growing competition when we were kids. It would explain her actions in the bathtub back when school started.

“That’s not the point! But anyway we won our first duel together a few days ago. Oh! And I met Atlas Ryder!”

Zac raised an eyebrow. “Atlas Ryder huh? Wasn’t he mom’s patient? The one that she planned to turn into an artificial Prophet? He lived?”

“Well, obviously he lived idiot. I wouldn’t have told you that I met him if he was dead.” I snorted.

Zac laughed while scratching the back of his head. “Sorry, sorry. It was stupid of me to ask. So how is he like?”

“At school, he’s a secluded guy. He doesn’t seem to like the attention of others. He’s the school’s second strongest, though it’s rumored that he’s holding back his real strength. Outside of school, he’s an all-around cool guy.”

“Out of school huh? You guys dating or something?” Zac joked.

Before I could answer, however, Zac suddenly got out of his chair and acted all dramatic.

“I cannot believe this. Elenore Magnus, my adorable little sister has a boyfriend! Alas, I always knew this day would arrive, but so soon and so young? I’m flabbergasted yet so proud Elenore! Please, you’ll have to introduce me to this Atlas Ryder now. I’ll have to tell him not to mess with my little sister.”

I felt my whole face go red. “Shut up Zac! You know that I’m not dating him!”

He grinned and sat back down. “You’re so easy to embarrass El; it’s hard not to make jabs at you.”

We continued to talk about my school life and life in general. I told him about my fight with Trevor and my duel with Amanda and Jessica Horn. Something Zac didn’t seem thrilled about.

“So people vent their frustration on you for what happened to me huh? Not cool. They better hope that we never meet when I get out of here.” He said.

“It’s fine Zac, really. I beat them anyway, so I don’t think they’ll attack me again. Also, don’t make this any harder for you.” I told him pointing to the door behind me where the two guards were.

“When? You sound pretty confident that you’ll be set, free big bro.”

He smiled. “Well of course. I’m innocent. My lawyer is fighting hard to prove the court that I’ve been wrongly accused, and I’ll be set free eventually.”

The door behind me opened up. “Miss. Magnus, your time is up. Please leave the room as soon as possible.” One of the guards yelled.

“Looks like our time together is up sis. Hey, don’t give that face. We’ll see each other again soon. You just have to schedule another meeting.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

Zac stood up from his chair and stretched. We waved each other goodbye. I watched him as he walked back to the door and disappeared into the door. I left the building shortly after asking the guards when I could schedule another meeting with him.

“We do not know Miss. Magnus. We will notify you whenever there’s a spot open.”

I thanked him and left the building. There was a commotion in the streets that was drawing a rather large group of people.

“Hey what’s going on?” I asked a bystander.

“There’s going to be a fight between two students of two different schools. Apparently one of them is Nova Eclipse, the strongest student at Golden Sierra Mana academy!” he told me as he pursued the crowd.

Nova huh? This might be useful to see her fight, considering she is the number one strongest at our school. I decided to follow the crowd to see the fight.

Zac Magnus was back in the transport shuttle, heading back to his home that was Area 1. Shackles were placed on his ankles and wrists, and he was tied to a seat so he couldn’t move. He was happy that he could still see his sister after all that has been going on. Seeing his dear little sister was almost worth all the pain. Almost.

“She’s a good kid, that Elenore. I hope her eyes will open soon.” He said to himself. A smile spread on his face. A different kind of smile.