Lillian woke up to the sharp sound of a morning alarm. It was a foreign thing to her as was a full night's rest. Provided medication had allowed her to sleep peacefully in the snow-white sheets. It was glorious, she determined. The softness and comfort were so incredibly missed after nine miserable years in Arentas. In truth, she didn't even want to roll out of the heavenly bed, but today was important.

The early morning sun slipped through the slits in the grey blinds on the window opposite where she lay. The light blinded her for a moment as she opened her eyes and forced herself up and onto her feet. This was the third day since she and Sledge had arrived here yet it still felt like a dream, she thought as she silenced the alarm. The first day had been spent getting their things sorted, for the time being, they were staying in yellow walled guest rooms in the Kiyene manor. They had been so thankful for the new circumstances that they had failed to notice cold glares from many of those who were Kiyene by blood. It seemed that some were jealous of the candidate status of a pair of nameless street rats. That was the other thing, until they were finished with the candidate training program it was made clear they wouldn't officially be part of the Kiyene family.

Lillian slowly made her way into the little tiled bathroom and freshened up with the given toiletries. No doubt Sledge was doing the same now as well. While she had slept through most of the second day as it had been given to them to rest and prepare for the program she had spent the evening conversing with Sledge. "I'm not sure I want to fight," he had said. They had explained that depending on what you could do with your mark power you had a decent chance of not having to directly partake in the war, however, everyone with a red mark usually ended up with destructive abilities perfect for the front lines. The notable example being the core members of the Kysor family, all but one of which had red just like Sledge.

"Well then how about this," Lillian offered, "we've come this far if you have to be a soldier for them I'll join you." Sledge had looked back at her with an odd but not unwelcome expression.

"I wouldn't want you too," he had said almost too softly to be heard. He discouraged her in conscious of her already shaken mental state. At this Lillian shook her head and grinned.

"Oh come on, it's not like you could stop me anyway."

"Fine," he conceded. After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "You know before this I had this wild dream that somehow I would start my own family and end the war with my own hands." He had looked out the window as he talked. "Too bad the nameless would never realize their dreams. And this is definitely better isn't it."

"You could still end the war," Lillian had pointed out.

"And will you join me in that?" he had asked a bit too lightly.

"Of course," she assured with a warm smile.

Lillian stopped reminiscing of the previous night as she splashed her face with cold water. In hindsight, it made her a tad embarrassed and she saw her face redden slightly in the mirror. Enough of that she thought as she finished and grabbed the folded uniform they had been instructed to wear for the program. It was just a bit big she found as she put it on. There was an oak vanity with a scratched mirror on the wall across from her. She turned at looked at herself in it and found the grey uniform not to be all that bad. The skirt was a little long and the leather belt was a tad loose but she couldn't condemn her own size. The button-up shirt's collar was a bit big for her neck as well, but a custom violet that matched her hair had been used as a secondary color. She appreciated the extra detail that set her's apart from the uniforms of the other Kiyene. Not that she wanted to stand out at the same time, it probably would be best not to. The hair product she had found in the bathroom had given her hair a slight curl and she concluded she no longer had to hide her necklace. She reached down her chest and pulled out the little silver cross hanging from a chain of similar color. It was a gift her father had given her and all that remained of her parents. He had told her it was an heirloom that had been in the family for what would now be 127 years.

She made a few last adjustments to her uniform before exiting through the generic door and stepping out into the hallway of the manor's second floor. Only a few seconds after her Sledge exited a room to her left in similar attire but where her uniform had purple his had red that matched his mark. His hair now having been given proper treatment as well and was awfully moppy she noticed. "Good morning," he greeted a warm tone that just barely hid a sum of anxiety.

"Morning," Lillian responded sleepily. Despite the quality of her rest, she was still half asleep. There was an audible rumble as Sledge glanced down at her stomach.

"Come on," he sighed with a slight smile. "Let's go get some breakfast." By the time they reached the cafeteria which took up half of the second floor, Lillian had livened up significantly mostly due to the smell of the food.

"I wonder what they have today," she wasn't managing to contain her excitement by much. Of all the new things she considered luxuries the food was a close second to the bed. The meals were actually quite simple, the day's breakfast just being egg or tofu with toast and tomato, but of course, anything beyond old bread was magical to the pair who wolfed it down in moments. The eating space was comprised of nearly a dozen tables and they had begun to notice a pattern. The official members seemed to want to have nothing to do with them sitting at the farthest tables. Lillian had decided to mess with them a little and had made Sledge sit with her at the centermost table. The annoyance was clear and tangible. But while it made Sledge uncomfortable Lillian was silently snickering to herself.

"Hey isn't she in our program?" asked Sledge in reference to a pale girl at a different table about their age in a similar light grey uniform while the other Kiyenes had worn a darker outfit. She had jet black hair and appeared to be quite tall, but her chest was as flat as Lillian's. Lillian glanced at the girl who had a slight look of disdain on her face and a blue crown mark on her hand.

"Hm, I think so."

"You must be the new pair," guessed a friendly voice to their right. They looked to see a silver-haired girl in the program uniform, this time with silver bits and a blue scarf around her neck. "I'm Alina," she greeted with a handshake to each of them. A silver-grey crown on her right hand.

"Sledge," he responded.

"Lillian," she introduced in kind. Alina sat down opposite them and dropped a plate of food in front of herself.

"Don't mind all these born Kiyenes, there a bit prickly to outsiders like us," she explained.

"You're not Kiyene by blood either?" asked Lillian curiously.

"Not really, my stepfather is but he isn't around here so it's not enough to shield me from their elitism," she told them between bites of food.

"Oh, sorry, is he-" Alina cut Lillian off with a laugh.

"No he isn't dead, he's just deployed with the Aquis family to the east." Lillian and Sledge's expressions softened. Aquis was Kiyenes much larger ally to the north. It wouldn't be inaccurate to view them as a parent to Kiyene.

"I see," replied Sledge. "It must be a pain to not have seen him in person for a while." She shook her head.

"Someone like you shouldn't have to bother empathizing with me," Alina assured. "It's not like I had gotten super attached to him before he left anyway." She paused and wiped the corners of her mouth. "On a different note," she began with a grin, "are you guys ready for the program." Lillian met her gaze.

"Ready?" she and Sledge both asked. Alina chuckled in pity for them.

"Come on we should get going." Alina got up and the two noticed the other girl had already left. Sledge checked the time on a wall-mounted clock.

"Shit, you're right," he and Lillian got up as well.

"This isn't going to be too bad is it?" Lillian asked apprehensively.

"Maybe," she responded slyly. They did away with their plates and exited the cafeteria. The trio descended to the foyer of the ground floor and exited through the pair of grand looking wood doors. Sledge took a deep breath as they walked into the warm summer air. The fresh breeze smelled like pine and gently ruffled their hair.

"Hey," started Lillian softly as they walked in the direction of another blocky recreational building quite different in appearance and age to the majority of the buildings in the town. Alina just was barely out of earshot of the near mumble.

"What is it?" he asked. She smiled up at him.

"I don't think I want you to forget that dream," she told him. Sledge raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Her expression fell a tad.

"I think Alina is right, these people seem colder than even some in Arentas." He shrugged. "Even some of the people in town from other non-military families looked unwelcoming."

"We are new, maybe they just don't trust us," Sledge suggested. Lillian clenched her fist and teeth.

"Why damn it?" she asked cooly. "Do you have to be so accepting of crap?" Sledge looked down at his feet.

"I think I've just forgotten how not too..." he muttered. "Things are better now though aren't they." Lillian silently clenched her fist tighter and continued without another word. As Alina neared to the building she turned towards the pair.

"Hurry up you two," she called. They picked up their pace, Lillian once again having trouble keeping up with Sledge's long legs. Alina's face shifted as they neared.

"Hey, you guys aren't a couple are you?" she queried misreading their physical distance and topic of conversation.

"Hehe, no we're not," affirmed Sledge slightly sheepishly. Lillian just shook her head.

"I didn't think so but," she shrugged, "you never know." They entered through the glass doors and stepped into a beige gym of sorts. Lillian and Sledge instantly noticed the blue of Kinuon beams around the concrete walls. "Those are made to reinforce the walls against candidate power. They keep the building from getting blown apart," she explained, realizing where they were looking.

"Blown apart? What exactly are they going to make us do here?" Asked Sledge vocalizing Lillian's thought as well.

"It gets fun once you're used to the exhaustion. Most of the time." A short nearly bald man with a goatee entered from a steel door to the left while to their right, they noticed the same pale girl from the cafeteria.

"Welcome, were just waiting on one more now," he explained with a friendly grin.

"No, you're not," boomed a deep masculine voice from above them. All looked to see a giant of a man on a Kinuon bar forty feet above the entrance. His eyes and hair shared the same bronze color and his uniform lacked sleeves. He leaped down landing with a massive thud. The accent color on his uniform was copper just as his mark visible on his large left hand. He turned and greeted the new pair with an iron expression.

"Then let's get to it," said the short man. "As you know we have two new candidates Lillian and Sledge." He turned to them. "You two seem to have already met Alina," he said as he gestured to her. "The giant is Marcus and the girl is Marian." He reached out his hand. "I'm Brycen," he introduced as he shook their hands. Lillian turned to greet Marian as well only to met with a belittling stare and haughty hm? Lillian just sighed. "I will be running your course. Now, I'm sure the others here happy about today because we're not going through any usual physical training." The mood, in general, seemed to rise at this.

"You can thank me for that." Lillian and Sledge looked to see a familiar slender man in a trenchcoat enter the same way as Brycen. "I have to leave for something important soon but I just had to see these new marks in action," Brycen smirked.

"So today you're all going to take turns sparring one of us," Brycen told them. "With no restraint. Feel free to use any weapon as well, we have Kinuon blunts, just no firearms. Everyone will wear Kinuon protective suits so don't worry about getting hurt." All the other candidates went to a set of boxes on the right wall and Lillian and Sledge followed suit. Each grabbed a Kinuon object modeled off of a weapon. While Kinuon rifles did exist many preferred melee for the feeling. Alina had grabbed a pair of shorter blades; clearly dulled, Marcus pulled up a surprisingly large ax, and Marian seized a long slightly curved blade. Sledge made an odd choice pulling out a duo of brass or rather Kinuon knuckles. Lillian, on the other hand, tried every option in her hand, yet none felt right. Eventually, she got to the same sword as Marian, feeling it in her hand she took it. Out of everything it was the only thing that felt right despite it being clearly too long for someone of her size.

"Marcus and Alina, you two go first so they can see how this goes. Three minutes, got it?" They nodded and split off into two, each taking half of the gym for themselves. Alina stood against Kuro while Marcus stood against Brycen. "Ready? Begin." Alina took a moment to ensure her scarf wouldn't come off rather than removing it before they all took off at great speed, Kuro and Brycen using only their bare hands. Everyone's mark covered their hands in a circuit pattern and let off an eyecatching light of their respective colors. Alina never seemed to get hit, but only landed a handful of strikes on Kuro. Marcus was a lot slower than everyone else but never so much as blinked at being his no matter how hard. When he swung he didn't even need to be accurate, the wake in the air colored by copper energy was enough to throw Brycen off his balance many times letting him get hits in. Of course, both Kuro and Brycen were sparring down to their level, although Brycen wasn't by much. It was clear Marcus and Alina had been doing this for a while. Kuro also did hold the terrifying abilities Lillian had seen in Thomas, much to her relief.

The fights went on much the same for all of the three minutes. Mirian walked over to face Brycen without a word and Sledge offered to let Lillian go first. With a deep breath, she walked over and stood ready in front of Kuro. He motioned to Brycen to start. Before giving her an explanation. "Using a candidate mark is like turning on a faucet and starting an old gas-engine at the same time. If you can imagine that then just try to feel it out." She did her best to follow his advice, doing what she could to imagine the sensation. To her surprise, a tingling shot through her hand like a static shock as the little crown let off a violet flame. "Interesting," said Kuro noticing the unique flame. "Now then, don't hold back."

"O-ok," Lillian steadied her breathing and went forth with no idea how to use a blade, at least not at first. Much to Kuro's shock an instinct like muscle memory started to take over. Kuro began going harder on her, deflecting every strike with his hands and forcing her to put in more and more effort while attempting to push her back. Each time she swung it gained speed and elegance aided by the power of her mark. After the three minutes, Kuro caught the dull blade in a flash and spoke.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you by chance were a natural with a blade," he said. "But that level of skill in someone who's never touched a sword before is simply phenomenal." He smirked, "that definitely isn't a normal mark at all."