Reina entered her room as quietly as she could and shut the door. Discreetly checking to make sure nobody was looking, she headed over next to her bed. Reina slid her nails underneath a brick and gently pried it away to reveal a loose space. Reina grinned fondly, remembering her love of secret rooms. After discovering this room didn’t have any, she had made it her personal goal to create some that very instant.

Inside was a small wooden box and a leather pouch. She pulled them out and took a look at the box. It was the same, with her insignia on top. She smiled as she remembered working on drawing a prototype of the insignia for weeks before finally perfecting it. It was a lotus, with each alternating petal darker.

Reina frowned as she remembered the happy times at the orphanage, before shaking her head. She wasn’t going to focus too much on the past. Right now, the future was her goal. Opening the box revealed a lot of paper which had weapon and support item designs all over it, and a small crossbow as well. Reina bit her lip as she picked up the weapon and aimed it at her bed.

“Good, good,” she murmured. She placed it back and took another glance around to make sure nobody was there. When she confirmed it, she put the lid back on and clicked the lotus tile down three times for alternating length. Once she was done, she lifted the top of the box to reveal it had separated.

Reina smirked as she checked the power half. Yep, all the drives are still there. Reina placed the top back in and waited for the click before stepping back. Reina gazed at the pouch. It contained her money. Not the allowance she got from the orphanage, but the money she earned herself by selling her weapons. She opened it and observed the stacks of money.

She had initially planned on only using this for an emergency, but it looks like that wasn’t going to work. She wasn’t going to use it in the Academy, and the Academy lasted three years. Therefore, she was going to hand 1/4 of it to charity, 1/4 of it to Avery, and the rest to Sis.

Reina quickly calculated. All in total, she had about 1,100 dollars. She didn’t want to do the math though, so just decided to hand it over to Sis to calculate. Reina placed the box into her pack and with the bag clutched in her hand, headed downstairs.

Reina gently caressed the worn walls as she remembered all her time here. The times when the food fights got out of hand and splattered all over these walls, when Reina had been dared to try and climb them, when Marie had slipped past her and Avery's watch and drawn all over them. . .It was something she was never going to forget.

On the lower floor, there was chaos as everybody was getting dressed up and washed. Reina smirked as she oversaw Gary being forced into a bath, and was more than a little ecstatic that this was all for her. This was the same level of preparation as having a governor arrive! She spotted Avery in the center, barking orders at everybody while Marie dashed around in a circle at her feet.

Reina chuckled as she made her way. “What’s up?”

Everybody froze and then launched themselves at her. “Reina! We’re going to miss you so much!”

Reina tried to keep her balance but all the weight made her tumble backward. She grinned. “No, I’m going to miss you!”

Marie whimpered. “Are you going away forever?”

Reina’s heart broke at the teary look in her eyes and grabbed her. “Of course not! I’ll send you lots of letters, and you can come and visit!”

Marie brightened. “Really?”

“Really!” Reina bopped her on the nose and Marie giggled.

She stood up, plopped Marie onto the floor, and hugged Avery. “I’m never going to leave you, Avery,” Reina promised. They'd slept together last night after Reina had revealed everything, but Reina thought Avery still needed the reminder.

Avery tightened her grip. “I’m holding you to that.” The slightly haunted look in her eyes made Reina regret telling her the truth, but only a little.

They separated and Sis burst in noisily. “Okay everybody, time to go!” Behind her, she dragged a suffering Gary.

Avery and Reina burst out laughing at the sight of him and he rolled his eyes. “Why do I need to get dressed for her? Ow!” Sis smacked him over the head and threw him toward the group.

“Be respectful, punk!” she ordered before turning to Reina. “Oh, I’m going to miss you so much!”

Reina laughed. “Me too. I just wanted to say, thank you for all the years you took care of me. I knew I couldn’t have been the easiest child to take care of.”

Sis scoffed. “You can say that again.”

“Yeaaah,” Reina murmured sheepishly, before bringing out the bag of money. “So to repay you, I wanted to give you this! Can you make sure 1/4 of it goes to the community services and charity, another 1/4 goes to Avery, and the rest is yours to make this a better place?”

Sis gasped as she handled the bag. “R-Reina! There must be 1000 dollars in here!”

Reina shrugged. “Yeah, well, I wasn’t going to have a use for them, so why not!”

“Thank you so much!” Sis flung herself onto Reina. “Everybody! We’re going to eat ice cream after this!”

Everybody cheered and Reina pouted. “Oh come on! What about me?”

Sis gazed at her. “Well, we need something to fill in the open gap in our hearts you’re going to leave,” she stated matter of factly.

“So you decided to replace me with ice cream? Can’t argue with that.” Reina conceded.

“Okay everybody, let’s go!” Sis ordered, and everybody began marching out.

This was the first time in a while the entire orphanage went out together. The moment they stepped a foot outside the gates, they were swept up by a large crowd streaming down the streets, heading towards the dock. Seriously, it seemed like the entire city was here. You couldn’t move without bumping into somebody!

Reina grit her teeth, suddenly annoyed with the amount of people who'd shown up to see innocent kids leave for a world they weren't prepared for. This is for them. You know what'll happen if you don't go, so suck it up and hurry.

Cheering suddenly erupted and Reina looked up. “What is it?” she asked Avery over the noise.

Avery, being taller, went on her toes and peered over everybody. “Hm. Well, it looks like that guy from the test. You know, the air dude?”

Reina groaned. “Why did he have to get in?”

Avery snickered. “You really thought he wouldn’t?”

Reina rolled her eyes. “He’s arrogant and big-headed. I’m not impressed with him. He’s probably just a figurehead.”

Avery checked again. “I don’t know. He looks pretty strong,” she commented.

“Yeah, don’t be jealous because you’re so weak!” Gary retorted.

Reina glared at him. “Hey, Gary. Do you want to die?” she asked sweetly. Gary blanched and quickly drifted away.

Marie cackled. “You’re so funny, Reina!”

Reina looked down fondly at her. “Thanks a lot, kiddo. I’ll really miss you.” Marie latched herself onto Reina’s leg and stayed there all the way up to the port.

They needed to get to the Academy by sea. Multiple boats were waiting for them at the port, bobbing in the water. Each of them was about the size of a large fishing boat, with a small mast and an engine combined to create an old-fashioned and modern look.

“Oof. You have to go in that?” Sis asked, not looking entirely sure. “It doesn’t look safe.”

No, they did not. The painting on the side that read, Academy Sea Travel, was decrepit and peeling off. Droplets of water seeped through the tiny cracks in the exterior. The sight of it definitely didn't inspire courage in Reina, but she figured it wouldn't do to make Sis any more worried. Reina shrugged. “Just know that if I die, it will be your fault.” Wait, maybe that was the wrong thing to say.

“What?!” Sis snapped her head toward Reina in shock.

“Anyway, let’s go!” Reina ordered hastily, stomping through the crowd and trying her best to ignore Sis’s look.

There was a group of students in a group near the front, all either talking animatedly or not talking at all. After one last round of hugs, Reina broke away from her family and joined her future classmates. Reina decided to go for not talking. She didn’t want to talk to anybody here. Her eyes fell upon the boy from the arcade and her lip went down distastefully. He was around a bunch of girls who were practically flinging themselves at him.

She looked next to him and found a boy, maybe his twin. He looked a little bit more normal, with black hair slicked down to the left, and a couple of cowlicks popping out. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets and wore a serious expression on his face. Reina wrote the pair of them off; nothing good was going to come out of hanging around them. The rest of the people didn't stand out much either. They all looked normal, from a snobby rich girl to a shy city girl. Reina didn’t particularly care, as long as nobody tried to talk to her.

“Hi, there!” somebody chirped.

This time, a groan slipped past Reina. Just her luck, jinxing herself with her big mouth.

“Hi,” she finally answered back when it was clear the person wouldn’t leave. Forcing a smile, Reina turned around to find a blonde her age with a pigtail and gray eyes.

“My name’s Felicie!” she stuck out her hand, and after a brief hesitation, Reina accepted it. Felicie pumped it wildly. “Isn’t this fun?” she asked with a crazed grin. “I’ve always been wanting to go!”

Reina looked away. “I don’t have a preference.”

Felicie tilted her head. “Wow, most people would be so happy to be able to go to the Academy. You make it sound as if you’re going to a funeral!”

“I might as well be,” Reina muttered underneath her breath but Felicie still caught it. “Excuse me?”

Reina looked up. “Hm? Oh, nothing. Sure, the Academy is so great and all, I just think there are better places out there. Just my opinion.”

“Sure!” Felicie took this in stride, hopping up and down. “The only thing I’m sad about is that I have to leave my family, but they want the best for me. Look, it’s them over there! The waving group!”

It was a tad bit difficult for Reina to distinguish because nearly everybody was waving but she found out when her new friend pointed them out. Just like her, they were all blonde.

Reina nodded. “Cool.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud gruff voice announcing, “Okay, new students! Gather up!”

Reina tensed at the sound. Great. So soon already. She tentatively looked up to find a brute of a man. Wrapped in heavy fur and a messy beard poking from his cowl, he had the image of a mighty hunter. Compared to him, she felt like she was an ant to a mountain. He looked over them, and everybody, including the adults, took a hasty step back.

Reina internally laughed. Same old same old. He still didn’t know how to control his death aura. She decided to spare him and stepped forward after checking if her hood was on. It wouldn't do to have her identity outed before she even got onto the sea. Greggus sighed, obviously thankful, and waved her on ahead.

She sent one last glance at her family and waved, smiling when they waved back. The last thing she saw of them before Greggus obscured her view was Avery miming to letter. Reina took her place at the back of the boat and waited as everybody else eventually got over their fears and clambered on as well. Reina nodded to Felicie who excitedly sat next to her and remained silent.

“Righto ho!” Greggus shouted and he pushed the boats off. There was silence before he began talking. “So, my name is Greggus. Just that. Don’t call me Greg, okay?”

There was a chorus of ‘yes’s’ and ‘sure’s. Greggus nodded, satisfied, and leaned down next to Reina. She tensed. He was way too close. “Hey. Thanks for back there, it helped.” Reina stiffly nodded. “You scared? I know the Academy can be a bit daunting.”

Reina shook her head, exasperated. Why did everybody bring that up? The Academy was just a school. A school suited for training people with powers, but still a school full of hormonal teenagers. Now, what was under it. . .Reina sighed. She hadn't thought about that yet. How was she going to withstand the urge of the Clock?

"You okay? That sigh sounded awfully heavy," Greggus questioned. Reina startled; damn it, was she already losing focus?

"No, no, I'm fine. See?" Reina awkwardly smiled, hoping the sheer weirdness would drive him away.

Greggus nodded. “Good, good.”

They sat in silence and Reina prayed this would end soon. The uncomfortable atmosphere was suffocating. She knew the way would be long. The Academy was located on an island that was far out to sea. Even with the super-fast speeds the boats were moving at, it would take hours to get there. When Greggus looked like he was going to talk more, Reina nudged Felicie forward and tried to settle down. At the very least, if she was forced to go through this, she wanted some sleep in exchange.

The instant Reina’s head hit the wood, a wave of exhaustion washed over her. Ah. I remember this. The closer she was getting to the Clock, the more her body would "reset". The same thing had happened when she left Neverstien for the first time. Her eyelids slowly started dragging down. She could faintly hear Greggus and Felicie talking over her.

“Is that normal?” Greggus asked, a bit concerned by how easily the girl had fallen asleep. Felicie mumbled something in response. That was Reina could hear before everything turned black.

Reina was having a nice nap until something woke her up. She cracked open one eyelid to find Felicie shaking her.

“Come on, come on! We’re here!” Her eyes gleamed with barely contained excitement.

Reina gulped. So this was where it all began. She was half tempted to just run across the sea back to the orphanage, but no. Everybody would be disappointed. Especially Avery. She couldn’t do that to her. Groaning, she got up to find everybody disembarking and following Greggus into the woods.

“Come on! Let’s go!” Felicie held out her hand to Reina. She stared at it, then back to Felicie’s beaming face, before grasping it.

She shakily got out of the boat and took the first step in years on her home. Ready or not, here she came.