-previously-

"Because that's how humanity is! We act on belief because we don't want to lose more than we already have!"

.......

"The curse that out clan has inherited for generations burns the blot right after it accumulated. It's a grateful "blessing' that stopped us from losing control of our whole lives, and yet in the words of our ancestors, they considered it a 'curse' to prevent them from causing another uprising...."

..........

"....We can erase their memories of the place, but it won't change what time recorded. We can rewrite their memories that won't cause any discrepancy with the Lethe device."

.....

......

"We will have to deal with this later. We didn't go through months of training Just to turn back at the last minute. Charlie needs us As We need her."

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Idia's fingers flashed across the keyboard as he sighed that testing was over. "Now those problematic children can get outta my hair...But I'll need to look over Grim one last time and make sure there's zero traces of blot within his system....it just doesn't add up: looking at his MP, I don't think it would be a big deal if if a problem occurred...but I think just keeping all eyes on him would be the next best thing." He clicked on a few tabs to look at them simultaneously. "But who was it that ordered the detainment and capture of the students at NRC anyways?...Someone from the Land of Dawning informed the government about this...it's strange they could even trace them down perfectly. Which leads to another thing....the fact that five people Overblotted in such a short span of time is abnormal to begin with. Less than ten students were affected by this....nothing of the sort happened in over 100 years...now that's five people in less than half a year. Every student now have their own problems...which means this isn't something that can just be kept under wraps." He brought up some files. "Looking over the data results of the five, it's not like something happened to them physically. So the only logical case is their own unstable emotions. This fed the phantom within and unleashed the beast. But the Sage Island is a lot different than here on the Isle. There's very little information of a large amount of "bad things" being sealed in places or ruins...." He just began typing again, until it hit him.

"Hold on....if it's not through their own volition, then....is someone....or something causing overblots to happen on purpose and by force?!.....Nah, too cliche!" He brushed it off. "But all, if not Most overblots were caused not only by the overuse of their magic. Combining that with the unstable emotions of a mage...it's a recipe for disaster. It's what everyone says, but it's not as easy....overblot is led to by cause and effect; a chain of events in the past of misfortune....it can't be helped that their hearts burn just by feeling those emotions. We can't control what the heart really feels....even if we wanted to....I mean, if we can halt it artificially, STYX wouldn't even be here in the first place!...Ugh, but human beings are too equipped by these troubling things as standard equipment. Instability and an uncontrollable mind act as a virus....it's but an initial failure....why can't we find a debug....Ugh, I'm getting tired just overthinking...." a ping sounded from another app he had opened recently.

"Huh?" He hummed as he clicked it open. "Message from CrimsonMuscles?" his eyes widened as soon as he saw the name. "Oh crap! We promised to play the quest on expert mode today due to the update! I completely forgot! I didn't even install the latest extended version on my computer...but I can't play it today cuz of work...." Just as he decided to message him and tell him plans were cancelled, he got beaten to the punch.

So...about the dungeon mission we promised to play tonight?

Oh yeah! Sorry, I've got something to handle IRL....

I don't think I can play the quest tonight like I promised...

I promised to clear this mission ASAP before seeing the spoilers I'm so ashamed....

Go ahead and play it without me, it's fine!

No need for apologies. In Fact, I've something of my own caliber to take care of.

I'll tell you the next time I'm free.

Ah, thx!! Chat soon!

It's the extended version we've both been awaiting for! I'll always await to play new things with you, my comrade who has been with me for 2 years and counting!

"Yeah...but it's been 2 years since we've even remotely had a chance to play together...." Idia sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Not only the distance we keep from one another, but he understand me like any lonely otaku....he's the only one I'm thankful for in life..."

remember after all those side quests, we raided dungeons and cleared missions in the blink of an eye!

all those times we got our asses kicked...

A-and I couldn't handle the cheerful mood of the guild for the next few months!

you're the only one who's ever spoken to me, even when I play solo!

I'm...I'm really grateful for you....

thanks for sticking with me even though I'm a pain in the ass!

what's the matter? If anything I should be thankful.

I just began as a newbie, but if there's one reason why I enjoyed online gaming,

it's bc of your guidance and help.

thanks for teaching an old dog new tricks.

"Heh....maybe my silent prayers from being stuck in a room of problematic children were heard after all...this may be what it's like to have true friends! even if we've never met IRL...." Idia smiled as he reread their conversation, but stopped upon seeing two words. "Wait...he referred to himself as an "old dog"...so how old is he in real life then? He speaks like he's in control, so maybe older than me...eh, doesn't matter! Friends are still friends!"

I should be free around next week, so contact me when you can!

Understood

K! C ya!

Idia clicks out of the chat and the app altogether and sighed, running a hand down his face. "Without revealing your true identity, you can still play games and chat with people you get along with no matter how far you are. So glad this era came around my birth...! Now, to set a note ahead for next week!"

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In his room at Diasomnia, Lilia hops off his desk chair and stretches his arms out. "Ah, I feel bad for leaving NekuraSamurai like that, but I understand if they're busy." he sat on the edge of his bed in thought. "But with so many of the dorm leaders missing, leaving the houses in chaos...we only ended up with two people attacked by STYX...Silver, Sebek...but they got out with minor injuries...and as Ruggie foretold: we don't know if they'll be coming back for a second ambush...it's best to be alert until everyone's returned....but I fear what may happen next, especially if..." Lilia closed his eyes as he saw Her almost immediately. Like a branding iron, She left her mark permanently on his soul. Her bond with him was very much familial, and he liked it that way. Yet She was family....to him, to the boys...to Malleus. She was a savior to them, and she had given them her own taste of otherworldly knowledge that they still keep with them today. 'It's such a shame she had.....left us....without a goodbye....' He could see it in his head.

The colorful costumes....

The dancing of the couples....

Malleus screaming in anguish....

A cup filled with champagne....in-

A knock sounded at his door, interrupting his train of thought. "Father? Are you in there?"

"Huh? Oh, yes! Please enter!" Lilia nods, wanting to forget the horrible memories for now. The door unlatches and Silver walks in.

"Forgive the intrusion, but Malleus is-"

"LILIA!!!!" Sebek bursts through the doorway, working up a sweat. "LORD MALLEUS IS GONE!!"

"Lower your voice, Sebek!" Silver hissed. "You're being too loud!"

"Silver's right. I'm not that deaf for a hearing aid." Lilia grimaced, getting off the bed.

"U-Uh! Forgive me!" Sebek apologized quickly and gets back to the topic. "Ever since the attack yesterday...I'm afraid something unexpected may happen to Malleus! That's why I was patrolling the dorms alot more than usual...but just as I have the instinct that he may be here, he's not!"

"Sebek keeps checking by our Lord's room every ten minutes..." Silver put it short. "I kept telling him not to overdo it and if he does, he'll only be pressured into doing more. Not like he has been doing this before already...."

"BITE YOUR TONGUE, SILVER! WHAT IF THE ENEMY CAME BACK FOR MALLEUS-SAMA!?"

"Sebek, be reasonable." Lilia shushed. "I told you yesterday: the keeper on the Isle of Lamentation is not our enemy, and on the other hand, they're not associated with anyone we know or do not know. It is said every living being, no matter their ruthlessness must treat their own kind equally."

"Sebek, listen to what father has to say." Silver assured softly, trying to ease the freshman's nerves. "If you keep flooding your mind with this urgency, you won't be able to act fast in the real deal."

Sebek, as if he was recalling a simple mathematic equation thought back to a memory of his own....of Her....

//////

A young boy, Sebek, both hands upon his training sword, swung at the dummy placeholder. He landed a few semi-strong hits to the sides of the dummy, but felt himself starting to falter. He tried not to quit, pushing the need to drop his sword away, and kept fighting. But one wrong twist of his arm and he hissed in pain, dropping the sword as he succumbs to the restlessness.

"Ugh! This is unfair!" He huffed with puffed-up cheeks.

"What is?" A certain voice giggled as they walked up to where Sebek sat on the grass. He looked up and saw a woman with fair skin and a beautiful face. She wore a simple dress, beings toned, with purple ribbon lining the bodice as extra fabric for the skirt ripped at her sides as she walked. Her hair was braided back, leaving but a few tendrils out to frame her face.

"I keep trying to do the move I saw you execute with Master Lilia!" He crossed his arms with a pout. "But it's too difficult for me to accomplish!"

"Sebek...." The woman smiled sadly and patted his head. "I appreciate your dedication, but this move is far too advanced for someone your age!"

"But I've seen YOU complete it!" He turned to look at her with angered but sad eyes. "You made it looks so...so...seamless!"

"It was through my years of training with my father." She explained, looking up at the dummy. "You may not believe it, but I tried to execute that same move like you when I was your age."

"And what happened?"

"....I was a mess." She smiled softly. "Swinging limbs, I lost the grip on my sword, and I nearly hit a wall full of other weaponry, had my father not come in at the last moment to save me....but he scolded me for my recklessness, saying I shouldn't be ready for the advanced training until I was a ripe age. But he did say one thing that gave me an uplift: I was able-minded. I was ready to learn what came at me next." She knelt down to his height. "And that's what you have as well....but don't let it consume you too much."

"But...I'm supposed to work hard! I train each day! Malleus told me himself that I'm to be by his side as a knight!" Sebek cried, starting to cry. "But how can I....when I cannot try to be ahead of the rest?!"

"Sebek." The Woman lifted his head and brushed away his tears with her thumbs. "I know you train and work tirelessly. You have such raw passion and strength at such a young age! And your heart is filled with dedication and unwavered loyalty to what's close to you. But it's nice to take things slow. If you jump into things you know next to little about, then you'll be out of the game sooner than you believe. This is what helped me master the Move: I took patience with the level I'm at. And once I truly feel accomplished, then I move up to advancements I'll know nothing about, but will be ready to learn. Even Malleus can see how you're progressing, and he tells me himself: your progress is astounding! So don't push yourself. I will be there to help you...if you need it."

Sebek sniffled, "You....you mean it?"

"I promise." She nods with a smile. "Just remember: even if you feel at your lowest, you will always have an inner strength to protect what matters."

////////

"Y-You don't need to remind me, I'm aware of that!" Sebek scoffs, trying not to cry at the memory and the words he heard Her speak. "And yet....IT'S MY DUTY TO UPHOLD THE POSITION AS A GUARD TO MALLEUS!"

"It's alright, he likely had gone for his daily night walk." Lilia sighed, but a assuring smile lit up his face soon after. "And I have a hunch as to where he may be right now...let me check on him and you two retire for the night."

"As you wish."

"Right!"

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Malleus had walked for what seemed like hours was really minutes. After the attack on the school yesterday, he never saw Charlotte nor her retainers, he assumed, around since. He did hear, however, from a few Pomefiore students that she was to stay at their dorm until the damages to the Ramshackle dorm were no more. With a sigh of relief, he went about his day, knowing she'd be safe in sturdier walls.

He assumed she needed a few days to recuperate and he gave her that space. But every now and then, he'd pass by, unconsciously or not, by the remains of the Ramshackle dorm and frown. Seeing it in a state of disrepair and even worse condition than before was mind-numbing, to put it at least. It's like it lured him to where it laid, like sirens calling to sailors to their inevitable deaths.

And where should he be once more, on his nightly walk, than to the dorm itself for the nth time?

He sighed as he walked along the gate, and for some reason in one of the flower beds nearby, he saw flowers. But not just any: Ranunculus. He smiled as he picked one and held it by the stem, staring at its dipped petals of color. The way it blossomed reminded him of a rose of sorts, but rounder. He took it with him as he went inside the dorm, carefully stepping over any fallen debris and avoiding falling into any holes. He soon found a place by the window and looked out at the crisp night, with the moon's rays beaming down on him from the gap that was the window.

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He sighed as he looked up and looked at the moon's face for a while, letting his mind drift back to Charlotte and all their interactions thus far. He could see it all: her smile, her eyes, her hair flowing with the wind, he had sealed her image into his mind. He stared out into the night, just trying to see her face in the stars.

He gripped the flower in his hand as if in pain, and raised it to his lips, kissing the petals, trying to imagine them as her skin.

He tore down one of the rotting curtains in anger, letting the moon shine through upon him in his agony. Tears gathered in his eyes, but he dare not shed them.

he lifted the flower up to the moon's rays and felt the wind on his face and flow through the petals, letting a few be swept away out the window and carried off into the night. He sighed sadly, holding the flower close to his heart, letting it throb with hurt.

"Figured I'd find you here, Malleus." he heard Lilia from behind him, yet he wasn't surprised.

"Lilia...why are you here?" He asked.

"Sebek was having a hissy fit since you weren't in your room. So I came to find you." the wise fae answered back.

"Ah..." he nods, remembering the jittery mess he was. "For whatever reason, he kept passing by my room every ten minutes since yesterday...I wonder why...."

"He just has a strong voice!" Lilia chuckled. "So I guess it matched his presence, in turn."

"I wanted some alone time, and I came here." Malleus answered looking away.

"Well, this has been your favorite place ever since we came to this academy." Lilia sympathized.

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