He looked up into the eyes of the man in front of him. They were cold and sunken, yet seared into the soul. The elderly man they belonged to flourished the rapier in his hand, a backwards twirl leading into a rapid flick, stopping on a dime. A few drops of blood flew off of the sword. The onlookers were crowded around silently, staring intently at the pair. The man walked around in a slow, wide curve. A faint noise could be heard from the swaying of his suit. The well kept beard on his face parted as he began to speak. His voice wasn't loud, but the power in his tone could be felt.

"Ricardo, it is my honor to show you that it is not yet your time to lead. It is not a folly for you to challenge me to a duel. It was a folly to do so without personal strength. You cannot protect others in this world if you cannot protect yourself."

The man stepped forward slowly, taking his time to let the impact of each step be felt. His eyes did not blink and his feet did not waver. Ricardo dragged himself back a few inches, blood dripping down his left arm. He steadied his breathing wordlessly. His eyes darted off to the distance before returning to the man approaching him.

"Ricardo, you have always been like a son to me. It is for this reason that I request you concede. I do not wish to harm you further, my boy."

The man stood over Ricardo. Ricardo stared back up intently. He let out a pained groan before snapping a few words out.

"King... they called you."

The older man froze for just a moment, except for his eyes. His eyes darted off into the distance, to the same spot, and back to Ricardo. His leathery face slacked into one of disappointment.

Ricardo lunged upward, his right hand still gripped tightly onto a rapier of his own.

The crowd finally stirred. The sea of bandannas and white t-shirts surged forward onto Ricardo. Screams, shouts, and crying could be heard, Ricardo couldn't make out any of the words through the noise. There was only one face he wanted to see now. He raised his sword to a greater explosion of noise, and then quieted them by lifting his empty hand. The crowd parted as he commanded. He dropped the sword and walked off, motioning for no one to follow him with a simple backwards wave. The crowd circled their fallen leader, some even mourned.

The city's lights seemed brighter. The air tasted bitter. Ricardo stood at the top of a building, an old hydroponics tower like the ones they use to feed the bustling city. This one was no longer growing food for the masses, it was shut down many years ago as populations shifted around the city. The district he was in was all but abandoned entirely. The only thing he had left were the people who were almost forgotten, and now, he was their king.

"Maria!"

A girl, with his same brown hair and tanned skin had approached behind him silently. She wore dark blue slacks and a matching vest. A vibrant gold and white pin was centered over her heart.

"Brother." Her voice was cold and sharp, as if an icy pond was shattering.

"I've been looking all over for you, I figured I'd just wait for you at the usual spot, so you'd know where to find me."

"Why would you do such a thing? He was like a father to us. He was a father to us! You don't just betray that."

"Maria, please."

"No." Tears began to well up in her eyes. "I've been trying to hold on since I heard you challenged Father, and then I hear that you killed him."

"I did it for you, Maria."

"Bullshit. You killed Father, for your own personal glory or whatever meathead idea you had."

"No, I did it for you. So I could secure the resources to make sure you got through that fancy school and would be able to move to a better district. I don't want you sticking around as a reject from 13 any longer than you have to. Unlike me, you have a chance to get out of this life."

"You did this for yourself. I never asked for this, and I'm perfectly fine being a rat from District 13. Now that Father's gone, I'm not so sure that I ever had a brother."

"You-"

She stormed off as Ricardo tried to retort her again.

"Goddammit."

The shadow on the rooftop moved.

***

"Nero. Wake up. Nero."

Nero's consciousness stirred slowly, his mind coming awake. He slowly thought through the noises coming to him before deciding to jolt his body awake. His eyes snapped open as he threw himself upright in the bed. He made one quick, deep breathe before looking around the room. It was a plain room, about the size you'd expect from a single occupant apartment. Aside from the bathroom, everything was shoved to fit within these four walls.

"You have an appointment with Dr. Virzi in 47 minutes. The next shuttle to arrive at the West 7 Station will be there within 15 minutes. By my calculations, your optimal breakfast would be toast with strawberry preserve and a small glass of orange juice with a vitamin supplement."

The voice came from everywhere. It was a soft, feminine voice, constructed to meet the desires of the average consumer. As he fumbled for his glasses, Nero mulled over its words, deciding whether to bother with eating such a lacking morning meal. He decided on plain bread and the orange juice while he was throwing on a fresh set of muted clothes.

From that moment was the monotony of his commute. He went down the stairs, across the street, through the alley, and up the ramp to the shuttle station. The concrete towers around him gave little in the way of wonder at this point. The sleek glass overhangs above the shuttle station were just another roof over his head, and the bright orange rails streaking through the city were as normal as the clouds in the sky. He swiped his pass and shoved it back into his wallet before entering into the boarding zone. The crowd around him was as boring as ever. The tangled mess of colors and people blurred into a strange blob-like wall around him.

What wasn't normal, was one young man floating through the air in front of him. It wasn't normal for a multitude of reasons, foremost being that it was right in the path of the presumably approaching shuttle. Secondly, the man appeared to be sleeping, laying back with his arms crossed behind his head. The fact that the man was floating wasn't a particular bother, on the other hand. Such a thing was not commonplace, but known to occur among the populace. Levitation was an incredibly useful power to have, or so they say.

As the shuttle came around the corner, suddenly appearing from between some buildings, a loud voice cracked on in the loading area.

"West 7 to ESPU loop inward bound arriving now. Next shuttle to arrive will be headed to North 6. All passengers should use caution when boarding or exiting the shuttle."

The shuttle itself was also a sleek design, similar to what one would expect an incredibly smoothed white and lime brick to look like. A gold and white logo, the letters ESPU stamped over a brain, was emblazoned on the side of it.

The man who had been sleeping above the tracks was startled awake as the voice had just begun to announce the arrival. He quickly found himself several meters upwards, safe from being bumped by the ultra-aerodynamic metal snout. Nero, after seeing the man was safe, mindlessly boarded the shuttle, and was soon carried through the spires of city for one more time than he'd liked.

The path to the campus was the same. The same adverts plastered on the sides of buildings advertising the same growth boosts for the same powers that they did for the last two months, when he first arrived in this city. Eventually the shuttle entered the densest part of the skyline, with tall gray monoliths all trying to gain an edge and win a glance towards their glassy architecture and elaborate twists.

Then there were no towers. Rather, there was a massive clear sky, with perfectly lush grass alongside the many walkways that sprawled underneath it like threads in a spider's web. Brick buildings with white and gold accents dotted the landscape, somewhat obscured by many lush trees. Dozens of people swarmed about, each of them wearing a dark blue and white uniform. Nero's eyes didn't stir from their fish-eyed gaze, even as he found himself outside of the shuttle, being pushed along by the crowd.

A girl cut across in front of him with her arm outstretched. A few inches past her hand, a pen scribbled furiously into a notebook. Nero had stopped, and was now awkwardly trying to force himself back into the half-aware drudge that he was in before. The bright colors and calming scents clawed at his mind, forcing him to address the present, even as his legs carried him dutifully to his destination. Every person that had a dropped bag move up into their hand, every spark flying in the air as someone waved their hand, even the professor lazing about on the ceiling was a reminder drilled into his head, over and over.

He was in the office finally. He could almost breathe again. A girl, appearing roughly 14, sat behind the desk. She had well-trimmed, flat black hair and a dark red blazer. The office itself was rather plain, aside from the occasional floral print note stuck onto stacks of white papers. On the desk itself was a simple plaque with the words "Dr. Rose Virzi."

"Good afternoon Nero... Satou." She pulled out a paper, seemingly from the air itself.

"Hello, I hope I'm not interrupting anything important Dr. Virzi."

"No, not at all. I went ahead and read through your file, Nero, and it's rather strange. They couldn't identify the type, or even the classification of the power you would develop. Have you noticed anything strange occurring around you?"

"No ma'am."

"Any indication of a power developing that you have noticed? Perhaps pencils shifting on desk strangely, or hearing voices in your head?"

"No strange voices in my head, only my embedded assistant."

"An odd technology for a university student to have already." The paper vanished from Dr. Virzi's hand. A folder appeared in it's place, which she quickly flipped open jotted down some notes. The folder vanished the moment she closed it. She glanced up at Nero, who still remained silent. "Do you have any goals that you want to accomplish here at ESPU?"

"I want to study powers, learn how they come about and spread them to everyone in the world. I think it would be a much nicer place if everyone had their own sort of ability."

Rose couldn't help but to think to herself, the situation this kid found himself in had quite a sad irony. "I'm recommending you be moved out of the general power development course and into a special class for those with under-developing powers. It's run by my husband, Mr. Virzi."

Nero paused for a moment. "You are married?"

"You didn't see the ring?" Her tone flattened. "Oh, you must be talking about my age. You know, it's rude to ask a woman her age, but I'll have you know I'm closer to 30 than to 20. I do have a doctorate. My power interferes with my aging."

"Sorry, I suppose that I was too... forward."

"So no issues with changing courses? It'll be one hour earlier, on the same day."

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Now that we've got the necessities out of the way, is there anything you'd like to talk to me about?"

Nero stared blankly for about fifteen seconds, occasionally muttering an "Uh," before he finally responded. "No. Thank you for your time." Without waiting for a reply, he left the room, stumbling against the door frame.

He had no power, and there wasn't even any signs of him developing one. His head was swimming through his thoughts, barely aware of the world around him. He kept circling this one idea, this one setback. The only reason he had truly come to this island was to gain a power. It's what he had worked hard his entire life to achieve once he heard of powers. Now he was here, in Civitas Somnia, the City of Dreams, with his dream crushed, his finances shattered, and the next four years promising to be a grueling strain on his sanity.

Despite the protest of his mind to just stop, his legs carried him back to the shuttle, where he uneventfully returned to District 7. While walking through the familiar alleyway, he felt his foot catch on something before sending him falling over. After recovering from the face-first landing, he looked back behind him to see the same level concrete with no obstructions in sight. He stood up, cursing his own luck, and continued on his way home.

"Machina, wake me up for the next thing that I need to do."

"I will do so, Nero."