Part 1

“So?-” Asked my brother from one side of the balcony as he handed me a cup of hot tea “- Has she calmed down a little?”

“*sigh* As if…Sora just fell asleep out of tiredness. I already know that tomorrow will be the exact same…I just know it!”

“Ohh cheer up! Could you even guess how many guys have dreamt of being in your position?”

“What? Being screamed at and scolded by an overexaggerating teenager?”

“Well, there might be some who are into it…I mean, we are talking about Sora here, Raph”

“Oh please don’t get me started!”

Recollecting the whole day gave me a sudden feeling of tiredness. Too many bothersome things to take care of. Firstly the fight with Danthe in the morning, then explaining the situation to everyone who, of course, was very skeptical about it. Suddenly coming through the door full of cuts, bruises, tattered clothes and a still-healing wound, followed by none other than the one who caused them, was sure to make everyone jump on their seats. Unexpectedly, our whole group already knew half of the story before we even came back. Apparently, Kiara had already told them everything she knew, conveniently skipping the professor’s name. All that was left for us was to explain what happened after the fight.

It took about an entire hour for Danthe to explain the whole story, past events included, and of course, once again, he skipped on the details. This time though, I felt his gaze falling somewhere else rather than Youm, the man who stood in front of him. Together with his story, Danthe offered his apologies and formally asked to join us. I expected everyone, especially Sora, Kiara and Lucas, to reject him harshly but to my surprise, the only one who was slightly opposed to this was Lucas. Kiara didn’t really care about the kidnapping while Sora felt pity for him, Lucas on the other hand, had difficulties coming to terms with the fact that one of the guys of the group who came after our heads was now trying to be friends with us. With further convincing, mostly from Kiara’s side, everyone ended up accepting him and just like that, Danthe became part of our group.

When that happened I felt relieved. I was finally getting rid of a heavy weight on my shoulders and relax for the rest of the day…but oh boy was I wrong. Upon ending the discussion of Danthe, held in Kiara’s room, I was forcibly dragged all the way into her room by Sora. Seeing her angry face reawakened the memories of the time after the fiend fight. And I wasn’t wrong.

For the rest of the day up until late at night, I was taken care of by Sora. While that might sound pleasant, the reality was rather disappointing. Her way of taking care of me was not the sweet and caring type but rather it was a kind of “get better so I can beat you up until I’m satisfied” type. She forced me to lay on the bed and not move a single muscle, she angrily healed all my wounds with the only exception being the one on my side, then she angrily cooked and forced the food down my throat, everything accompanied, of course, by her intense scolding. More than a girl around my age, she looked like a full-fledged wife. Not that I knew how a wife would behave, but the way she did was how I imagined it.

While her scoldings and actions were indeed full of anger, it didn’t feel like the bad type of anger but something else. Something I couldn’t really put my finger on. It felt as if she wasn’t even angry at me; even though I could have spared myself of all those wounds if I went all out from the beginning…damned pride. I thought she would have been angry at me, no, she should’ve been angry at me for breaking the promise but instead, it was as if she was angry at herself. I couldn’t find a reason.

Only when she finally fell asleep out of tiredness was I able to escape her room. Of course only after tucking her to bed and silently thanking her for everything.

“By the way, Raph-” Continued my brother, unintentionally stopping my train of thoughts “- are we really letting Hannes join us?”

“*sigh* I know how you fell…honestly I’m not quite fond of it either but he didn’t strike me as one who could behave like some sort of spy and since I couldn’t make the decision myself, I pushed on everyone else hoping you’d say no…turns out I was wrong”

“...*sigh*Let’s just hope this doesn’t bring trouble-” Said my brother as he faced away from me and gently blew on his cup “-...Hey Raph…when are you going to accept them?”

“Eh?” I replied in surprise.

“When are you going to accept our friends as ones? When are you going to trust them?” Continued Lucas without even glancing at me,

“I-I don’t really get what you are talking about. Have you gone crazy?”

“I know I’m not smart but I’m not that stupid either….I’m the one who knew you for the longest. I spent almost every day with you ever since I came to the War lands. We trained, we worked, we beat each other up, we got scolded, we risked our life together…I’m not exaggerating when I tell that I know how you think…how you see things. So why do you feel so cold towards them?”

I could do nothing but lower my head and sink deep into my cup of tea. It was something I had come to realize a couple of months before the break. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t let myself go.

“...”

“Tch, whatever then! Sometimes words are really wasted on y-”

“I-” I interrupted him as I heard his steps approaching the door to the room. I could feel my throat burning and my whole body silently trembling. I always knew that it was difficult to talk about oneself to someone, even in my past life I could never talk to anyone, but I never imagined myself being shackled so hardly by my own fears. Those feelings, all of the feelings I hid ever since that starry night in which I swore to live fully in this world, all my fears, my worries, I always hid them away. I did not know the reason for such actions but I could feel them physically binding me as if they were chains wrapped around my body “- I…don’t know why”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“...No…W-what will happen after we finish the academy?”

“Mh? What’s with this question?”

“I mean, everyone will go their own way, live their own life, maybe even change continent, who knows…in the end they’ll forget about us and I’ll forget about them…and I know it’ll hurt”

“What about it? That’s life Raph…sometimes I forget that you are still thirteen but let me tell you something. I don’t know it myself whether we’ll be together in ten, twenty or thirty years but what’s wrong with it? If you don’t want’em to forget you, then make sure to be someone unforgettable!”

“But what if they don’t accept me? I know that I’m not normal…I always knew it but it didn’t bother me, not until I joined the academy. I saw people of my same age and…I am several classes ahead of them. Even the “stronger of the first years”, Danthe, if I went serious from the very start, he’d probably be either dead or handicapped. Fuck! I’m even stronger than some professors! How can anyone accept that?!”

“Yep, you sure are a strange one Raph. If you really wanted you could’ve wiped out Gallher long ago”

“That’s exactly why-”

“Let me guess, you think the others will treat you like a monster? Something like “he’s too strong, he’s not even human!”, “so scary, if we anger him he’ll kill us”, right?... Then you are a fucking idiot!-” Shouted Lucas as he grabbed my shoulders and turned me around to face him “- They all feel it, Raphael! They all feel your coldness towards you…you are always helping them yet you never let them help you. You helped Sora and Kiara against Gallher’s group before they could even fight back, you helped Legis with his research, you accepted Youm’s duel even though you refused everyone else’s, you went to save Kiara alone knowing that it probably was a trap…You’ve done all this while they’ve done nothing for you. Not because they can’t but because you won't let them!”

“...”

“Can’t you feel it yourself? We all want you to rely on us too, just like we all rely on you. Trust me, none of us will ever see you as a monster…trust me. Then tell me, will you give them a chance? A chance to see the real you? Will you put your trust in them?”

“I *sniff* I think I will”

“Haha, that’s good to know!-” Said Lucas with a smile that covered half of his face “- Then first thing tomorrow, you’ll go and apologize to Sora!”

“What?! Why?”

“Why? When a girl takes care of you soo much that she falls asleep completely spent, you then apologize because of how stupid you were in the first place to get hurt! Understood?”

“Pffttt hahaha, understood, understood”

We ended up talking about girls until the first lights of the morning began warming our tired faces. I was glad. Glad I could finally talk. Glad I could take a step further, unlike my past self. Glad to have someone like Lucas to push my back when I was trying to back away.

Part 2

A month passed since the fight with Danthe. Rumors of him leaving Gallher’s side began spreading rapidly, as expected of an academy full of teenagers. Because of those rumors, Gallher’s “side” started increasingly losing both support and credibility. People kept speculating how, without their strongest member, they could not achieve what Gallher had envisioned. Though our group was supposedly in the midst of all this, none of us seemed to care.

Ever since my talk with Lucas, slight changes began happening in my daily life. First of all, with the addition of a new “member”, things got a lot more lively. My usually solitary morning training became then a duo after Danthe caught wind of them and silently joined. There wasn’t much conversation to make but it was nice having someone running with you.

To my surprise, the usual straightforwardness of our new friend turned to shyness as soon as social standings were involved. More than shyness, it would be better referred to as wariness. This happened when Sora first invited him to sit at our usual table, now becoming increasingly more crowded. He tried whatever method to refuse the invite saying that “having him sit at our table would have ruined our reputation and bad rumors might have started” but he underestimated the stubbornness of a young girl like Sora who, quite forcibly, made him sit with us.

Not only the others changed as they accepted Danthe, but I also worked into changing. More than changing, opening up. It was just with small things like asking for help even if I didn’t really need it, talking a bit more about me, which was something I had never done, or simply voicing my thoughts…it was nothing life-changing but everyone seemed to take notice of it and appreciate it. I felt like a kid as he first tries to make friends in kindergarten. It kind of felt like slowly chipping away at the stone over my shoulders.

To even further worsen the rumors regarding Gallher, some students made of my evening training some kind of show. I always had someone watching me even in my first year, nothing too fancy, just some interested students who liked my way of casting or the combos I thought of. Sometimes even older students would come and voice their thoughts regarding some more advanced spells. Alas now it wasn't just a couple of students but around a dozen of them constantly, both younger and older. It didn’t help the fact that Danthe, when he learned about them from Youm whom I sometimes sparred with, decided to join in as my sparring partner. In just a couple of weeks, our training became a meeting point. Students who enjoyed watching the display of higher tier magic, students who looked for ways to improve their own casting, students who liked to watch fights and students who just wanted to gossip. Danthe didn’t seem to even bother but on my end, it was rather nerve-racking. Especially when I spotted professor Gildoor gossipping away with a group of female students about who between me and Danthe was single. Never have I received a fireball directly in the face like that day.

It was during a morning of a day like that, when I was starting to believe that Gallher would sit still for a little while more then, another of his schemes took place. It happened a little before lunchtime. I had just finished a history lesson, one that very few people frequented, and was walking towards the cafeteria when a completely spent and out of breath Legis came running towards me.

“RAPHAEEELLLLL!” Shouted the green-haired man with the biggest bags under his eyes I had ever seen. His pale complexion didn’t really help him get rid of them, rather it accentuated them.

“Calm down Legis, what’s wrong?” I asked while grabbing his shoulders to stop his charge.

“ It’s I *cough* you see they *huff* a letter and then *cough* you have to come fast!”

[What the fuck was that supposed to mean?!]

“Ok, ok calm down first, then explain it a bit slower, please” I said while pushing him towards a low wall where he could sit.

“I *cough* sorry…”

“Are you ok now?” I asked after a couple of minutes and some water.

“Yes, thank you. We’ve been looking for *cough* you around the whole place!”

“Sorry, I always have history class on Friday morning while you guys usually have free time”

“Oh yes, you are right *cough* how did it g- Fuck this is not what I came for! It’s urgent!”

“Tell me about it”

“No, no, come we gotta go to Lucas!”

Without further ado, I began following Legis around the place until we reached a little garden behind the library with two trees in its corners that gave off a nice shade. Under one of those trees were Kiara, Lucas and Danthe, all three of them had heavy expressions on their faces.

“Oh, there you are bro-” Said Lucas as I and Legis approached them “- where the hell were you?”

“History class, second-floor class number 46. I was going to the cafeteria when Legis came running at me as if the world had just ended! What happened?”

“Mhh, ‘bout it…let’s wait for the others. I don't really want to keep telling this story”

“I’m fine with it but what were you doing here?”

“Mh? What do you mean?”

“You are supposed to have theoretical practitioner tier magic class right now!”

“Oh…hehe I forgot!” Said my brother with the most idiot face he could display.

For around half an hour we waited for the others to come while I tried to cheer up the heavy and serious mood and Legis slept. The interesting bit was that not only I was trying to cheer my friends but also Danthe was, especially Kiara. When Youm and Sora arrived, there were still worries in the faces of those around me but at least the mood was lighter.

“We’ve looked around *huff* every corner of the school for you *huff* Raphael!” Said an out of breath Youm.

“Sorry Youm, I was found by Legis first”

“*huff* Now we only miss Amelie and we can hear this story, Lucas!” Exclaimed Sora.

“Lucas, is this about Gallher?” I asked.

“Yes, but let’s wait for-”

“There’s no need, I’m sure of it” I interrupted him without even looking at him. My eyes were pointed towards someone else, Danthe. He looked astonished just like a kid caught red-handed. My suspicions towards her only proved right as he bobbed the head towards the ground. She was really part of Gallher’s group.

“Fine!-” Shouted Lucas as he gave a kick in the Legis’ butt “- But if she asks about it, you gotta tell her!”

“Whatever, just get on with it will you?”

“Ok so, about an hour ago-” Started Lucas, speaking as if he was a grampa telling a story to his grandkids “-I was peacefully half-sleeping under this tree after snacking a little when a strange kid came my way. He was a first-year with sparkling orange hair all curled up, kinda cute, he seemed like a nice kid. Anyway, he called out to me, full name and all I mean so I guessed he knew me or something, maybe same class or just someone who wanted to duel. So, since I’m a nice guy, I stood up and asked about his name and class but he kept silent, he simply handed me this letter-” He said while flapping a white letter in front of his face “- and ran away. It was soo strange that I got curious. There was no name on the letter, no sigil. A simple, plain letter…that’s what I thought until I opened and read it!”

He then took out a piece of paper folded in two from inside the envelope that said:

“Dear Raphael Bluescale.

I’m well aware of the rumors surrounding me and my group, not to talk about our past year’s animosity. I believe we began our relationship in an ill manner as such I would like to fix it as soon as possible. It would prove to be obstructive to both of us if such a situation was not to be resolved promptly.

I’d like to formally invite you to a dinner at my mansion but I believe that the distrust between you and me would make this invitation look more like a trap, as such I’d like to propose a dinner in one of this city’s restaurants. It’s name is “The old sage”, to my knowledge it is a place famous enough that I won’t need to add any indication. I believe it will be a satisfactory experience for the both of us. If you are interested, I have a reservation for tonight at eight.

I’m eager to see you tonight. Best of health. Delvin Gallher”

“Pfftt HAHAHAHA” I shouted with tears on the corner of my eyes.

“W-What did it say?” Asked Sora slightly worried.

“He asked me out on a date! HAHAHA”

“W-w-w-wHAT? A-a-are you serious?! But he… no I don’t-” Answered the girl as she looked around her probably searching for something to say.

“Don’t worry I’m joking. It’s just an invitation to a dinner…You got jealous?” I replied with a sassy smile as soon as I saw her face turning red.

“I-Idiot stop teasing! I-it’s a serious thing!”

“Well, he’s not wrong…Gallher really did extend an invitation to dinner but I honestly think that this letter has a lot of bullshit written on it. “It WoUlD pRoVe ObStRuCtIvE” shut the fuck up. Raph, this is clearly a trap!” Said Lucas.

“Yeah, there’s no way someone like Gallher would want to apologize and make peace like nothing happened. Too prideful for that!”

“You really shouldn't go Raphael-” Replied Danthe in a worried tone “- He’s more of a snake than you’d think!”

“NO NO NO! It’s not like you shouldn’t, YOU WILL NOT GO! Understood?!” Shouted Sora only held back by her brother.

“I think the same” Repleid Kiara.

“Y-yeah me *cough* too” Added Legis.

“I’m of your same opinion guys but I feel like I can’t skip it”

“WHAT?! WHY?!” Kept on Sora.

“If he refuses it could be considered as an “ I don’t want to make peace” statement. If that were the case, then Gallher could have a blank paper to do whatever he pleases without consequences since “I tried to make peace but he refused!”. It’s not whether the dinner is a trap, this whole letter is a trap and evidence” Explained Youm.

“What…are you serious brother?” Asked Sora with a broken voice.

“It’s a move that I could see him totally doing” COntinued Danthe.

“So that what it is-” I replied as I raised my shoulders in scoff “- I’ve got no choice but to go knowing full well it’s a trap”

“No! You can’t g-” tried to say Sora.

“That said- “ I interrupted “- He didn’t specify anything so I got a lot of room to take some countermeasures…and to do that I’ll need your help guys!”