Standing before several large glass windows, a boy looked out to the capital city of the Federation, his breath painted fog on the glass as his breath warmed the colder surface. The sun just broke through the distant clouds that covered the blues skies above, and his hand gently was placed into his pant’s pocket as he turned around to the large room before him. His eyes drew over a girl nearby. Alice Sandoval. Like him, she is a first-year student at 1st National Academy; their birthdays were only a day apart, and they had been almost inseparable since childhood.

Some would expect that the two were siblings at times. They weren’t far from the truth, but they were not as close as some people imagined with their version of common sense. Scrouging the large room with his blue eyes, the boy noticed several more students entering the room alongside their teacher Melinda Naima, or Ms. Naima for short.

Taking his seat next to his childhood friend, the boy watched with unassuming eyes as the teacher collected several sheets of paper from her podium at the front of the room. Walking through each isle in the circular room, she handed a sheet of paper to each of the students, including himself.

This was supposed the be the final class for the day… Then he would return to his dorm room happily…

“As we end the day, please make sure to fill out this sheet and turn it in tomorrow morning.” Ms. Naima’s words echoed in the room as she refused to move from her spot behind the podium. Looking down from her students in A Class, she brushed her hands on several pieces of paper on the wooden surface before her. Her eyebrow arched in confusion.

“Hey, Yu.” Hearing his name, the young raven-haired boy turned to the girl that had called out to him.

“Alice?” Speaking the girl’s name, he watched as his childhood friend brushed her golden hair from her shoulders while glancing at him with her sparkling magenta eyes. Her lips gently glowed as a stray of sunlight broke through the clouds and shined through the glass windows highlighting the interior of the room.

“What are you going to do?” Referring to the sheet of paper that was just handed out, the day-older girl looked at Yu with cautious eyes as she tapped the thin sheet with her finger. Shifting in his seat, Yu thought of what to do regarding his sudden acceptance into Class A of the academy. He wasn’t even supposed to attend this institution, but by some miracle, he was observed by the headmaster himself when stopping an all-out brawl between several members of a criminal syndicate and three upperclassmen.

Grasping his pen, Yu stared at the paper. “Let’s find out.” He stated. Just as he was about to put pen to paper, the door at the front of the room opened gaining both his own, but his fellow classmates’ attentions.

Before anyone could say anything about the sudden newcomers, two people entered the room; a man wearing a long brown jacket, black slacks, and a white shirt with suspenders, and on his right, a silver-haired woman wearing a long white skirt and a white button-down shirt with a black blazer hugging her slim-yet firm body. Everyone was captivated by the woman that had just entered, her short-curly silver hair drew their undivided attention, and not only that, but the man beside her was also nothing to glance over either. His clothes hugged his tones body, and his hair was messy but clean enough to make some of the female students in the room whisper amongst themselves.

“Oh yes.” Ms. Naima began as she turned towards her students, “I forgot, but allow me to introduce to you two advisors that have come from the Office of Military and Federal Security, Mike Randall, and Ms. Lecca Araish.

As her words were spoken, the classroom erupted in noise as the twenty students all began to speak to each other of the two Intelligence Agents that watched them with experienced eyes. Mr. Randall held a firm gaze, much like that of a soldier, and Ms. Araish kept a neutral expression as she let her body language express her emotions, much like that of a politician.

Soon enough the voice slowly faded as the teacher called for silence. Ms. Naima looked exhausted as she continued to introduce the two agents. “These two will not only be acting as advisors to our class but will also be acting in a teaching role. Mr. Randall?” She said stepping to the side from her podium and allowing the man to step forward with the silver-haired maiden by his side.

“Good afternoon.” He began in a firm voice commanding attention. “As you all now know, my name is Mike Randall, and beside me is my partner, Lecca Araish. You may call us by our given names, Mike and Lecca.”

Fiddling with the paper in front of him, Yu couldn’t feel off about the whole purpose of the two that stood before him and his class. He was suspicious about the two, nothing to do with themselves, but the fact that they were intelligence agents at the academy did prove to raise questions to not himself but several others.

“You are all gathered here not just to learn from the brightest minds the Federation has to offer, but it is also imperative that you take the time to understand the history of the world and the mistakes it has made.” Mr. Randall said with a sharp voice. “If you do not, you are all liable to repeating the horrors of the past.”

“Not only that.” Ms. Araish spoke up as she stepped into the vacant spot behind the podium that was suddenly left open by the man who had finished speaking. “There are more things to the world that we wish for you, the students, to understand before you all enter the real world. Though our primary mission is to help each student learn, we are also here to protect this institution from all threats that wish to prevent us from achieving such an objective.”

What the two adults were saying was more than coherent. Coming from the Office of Military and Federal Security, it was obvious that a plan of action was in place well before they even arrived at the academy; for what they had planned, something said by both agents Araish, and Randall was failed to be understood.

What was the threat? Why would the Federation see the need to deploy agents from the security organization to protect the school alongside the Rate 5 mages and soldiers garrisoned near and in the complex?

“The OMFS…” Lowering her head slightly, Alice’s gold locks covered her expression as she watched the two adults say their goodbyes as they left the room as swiftly as they entered.

“Don’t worry about that…” Yu whispered as a frown was marked on his face. “We’re first-years now. What we are dealing with is not the same as it was seven years ago.” He said clutching his head as a light pain formed on his forehead.

“I know…” Alice returned as she stood up from her seat while gathering her belongings. With her purple eyes doting around the room, the blonde-haired teenager inspected every one of her classmates before making a swift break for the door at the front of the room.

Caught of guard and following behind her, the two students were suddenly stopped by their teacher as she stood in front of the door with her arms crossed under her chest, and a semi-concerned look plastered over her face. Tapping her foot she addressed the two anxious teenagers, “You plan on speaking to the both of them, aren’t you?”

Not responding, Alice remined silent in defiance as she stared straight into her teacher’s golden eyes. Shaking her head and making her dirty-blonde hair shuffle from her sudden movement, Ms. Naima sighed as she turned around before the other students realized that she stopped both the two powerhouses within Class A, “Come with me.” She ordered turning around on her heels and opening the wooden door leading out to the hall.

Walking the crowded hallways full of students that all attended the academy, the tired teacher led her two students towards a small break room that was temporarily being occupied by the agents that were sent over from the OMFS. Alice and Yu remained skeptical of what was about to happen, yet they quickly rid themselves of any worries they had as the slim woman placed her hands on the door and pushed them open revealing those inside.

Remaining on edge, Ms. Naima looked upon two men that were dressed in unfamiliar combat gear, their weapons laying in a nearby locked with a flimsy sheet of metal preventing anyone from opening it. Beside the two sitting down, four more were overlooking such weapons performing maintenance.

“Ma’am?” Calling out to her, Mike Randall stepped forward as Lecca Araish leaned against a wall with a cup of water in her hand. Noticing the two teenagers behind the teacher, the agent called out to her once more, “Can we help you?”

Nodding her head “no”, she stepped aside motioning for her two students to step forward. Recognizing who was in front of them, both Mike and Lecca remained silent as the golden-haired girl spoke first with a monotone voice, “Who are you all?”

The question confused the group greatly with Mike turning around for assistance only to gain a shrug from both his Lieutenant and Captain. “Uh-” He released unsure of what to say. Coughing into his hand, the man composed himself, “As I mentioned before, we are all representatives and Special Agents from the Office of Military and Federal Security; our mission here is to provide an extra layer of security to the academy while helping students if they have any problems.”

Yu looked at Alice from the corner of his eyes. After a brief moment of silence, the teenager spoke up annoyed at what Mike said, “Why did you lie!?” She demanded making the group grow confused at the accusation.

“Lie?” Mike said turning his head back to his superiors who did not help at all due to their shared confusion.

“You!?” Alice seemed bewildered as she watched how the group reacted. Even her teacher seemed puzzled by her accusation as she fought the urge to not pull her and the boy next to her out of the room.

Standing at the back of the room, Staff Sergeant Baker slipped his hand around his fully reassembled handgun as he and the others caught on to the girl’s glowing purple eyes. Keeping his body facing the wall, he loaded a magazine into the gun as he stayed into that position attempting not to give his intentions away.

The thought of killing a teenager did not sit well with him, but he had to make a choice considering that he and the others were still in a world of magic.

“Lecca.” Mike said backing up against the wall and grasping her hand which she was about to outreach towards the girl. “Don’t.” He said forcibly firmly squeezing her hand. The silver-haired woman found it hard to back down, bus she knew the Sergeant was right: using her nullification magic against the young girl would certainly cause chaos.

“What might you mean?” Not trying to escalate the situation, Thompson stepped forward keeping his hands on the worn plate carrier he still had. “Our orders were quite clear… Not to be rude, but I don’t think that our superiors would send us on a mission like this without filling us in. Need to know basis, that kind of thing.” He said showing his uncertainty about the whole situation.

Alice seemed quite taken aback by the captain’s words. Slowly, Richard leaned near Simon’s ears as he blinked several times. “She said we lied. Can she read our minds?” He whispered making the Private-First Class shiver at the thought.

“I don’t think so?” Simon said tapping his fingers across the wooden desk which held his disassembled rifle and handgun. Not knowing how to proceed, he relegated himself to simply gathering the parts of his rifle that he had cleaned and put it back together under the sharp gaze of Sergeant Malkovich.

“Ms. Sandoval!” Naima exclaimed with a harsh voice. “Don’t you think you’ve annoyed these men enough!?”

“It’s fine…” Thompson said trying to remember the teacher’s name. “Uh… That’s why we’re here. To help the students….”

“Professor Naima.” The woman answered fixing her hair and shirt.

“Right…” Thompson sighed feeling that his mind was suddenly read.

Moving to Alice’s side, Yu spotted the men fiddling with their firearms on the table. He didn’t recognize the weapons within their gloved hands, they all looked alien to him. A part of him wanted to ask the man that had stepped up about the weapons, but he bit his tongue as he knew the conversation would go nowhere if it was drawn out anymore than it already was.

Grasping the young girl’s hand, Yu hissed her name as she turned her focus back to him. Looking into his blue eyes, Alice tightened her grip shared between their hands as she prevented spouting anything that would place both herself and the teenage boy next to her in a position worse than they already were in.

“Hey.”

Hearing the person that called out to the two of them, Mike stepped away from Lecca untangling his hand from hers and taking meaningful strides to meet them. Adjusting the collar, he remained in front of them with a small, yet pained smile as he quickly ran a hand over his chest patting it as if he were checking for an injury. “Alice, right?” Gaining a small nod from the blonde-haired girl he continued, “Why don’t you come with me and Lecca at the end of each day, and we can talk about things over some food?”

“Food?” Yu asked cautious of the offer.

“Yeah.” Mike said flashing a thumbs up. “We can go to a nearby café or dinner!”

Wanting to reject the offer, the boy stepped forward intending to spit it back at the man; reaching out her hand and grasping his shirt, Yu was stopped by Alice who shook her head as she answered for him. “We’ll accept.” She said bluntly making even Ms. Araish raise an eyebrow at her sudden acceptance of the offer. Mike looked somewhat dumbfounded, but he regained his composure as he gently reached out his hand to offer a handshake.

“You get to choose the first place, tomorrow.” In a smooth voice he chuckled, “Just make sure it’s not anything to sweet.”

Grasping Mike’s hand, Alice shook it gently before letting go. A part of her was glad that she had this new opportunity to find more information that was critical to her mission; yet, here she stand, wanting to live a normal life like those she was surrounded by within the confines of the academy.

With a small wave, Mike turned around to speak with Lecca and the other members of OMFS. Professor Naima grasped the two teenagers by their shoulders and turned them around and back out into the hallway. She huffed in frustration before walking off leaving both Alice and Yu to fend for themselves; looking out the large windows once more, his hand slipped into his pocket as his breath failed to reach the cooled glass. The sun broke through the trees that littered the small outside gardens, and the orange hue gently shined on his childhood friend standing beside him.

Glancing out of the corner of his eyes, the orange light of the sun painted over her golden hair and magenta eyes. She seemed enthralled to look at the small amount of greenery outside, and turning his vision back, Yu understood why: purple, blue, red flowers rested around the light green leaves of the trees. The sharply cut grass provided a simple background for the flowers to sit in as blue birds slowly descended and perched themselves under the shade of both the building and the plants scattered throughout.

“Y’know I still owe you that dinner.” Letting go of his thoughts, Yu turned to Alice.

“I suppose you do…” She returned with a gentle smile and a small red hue covering her face.

As the heavenly lights began to dull from the skies above, the two slowly made their way to Yu’s dorm floor as a myriad of thoughts occupied their minds. Keeping his bag near his body, the boy’s thoughts drifted to the conversation Alice had with the men from the OMFS. Hiding his concern, the two walked out and approached the door numbered “1-3-9”. Fumbling with his key, Yu opened the door and allowed Alice to enter much to the muted, surprising stares of several boys that had also arrived to enter their dorms.

Mentioning for Alice to take a sat within his fully furnished room, Yu moved to the kitchen area where he took of his school blazer and donned a simple tan apron. As the boy moved to gather the necessary ingredients he had on hand, the blonde-haired girl sitting on his couch played with her golden locks as a somber thought came to her mind.

“Do you think my family will forgive me…?” Her voice trailed off making the boy-turned chef stop in his tracks. Letting go of the knife he was going to withdraw; Yu patted his hands against his apron before walking over with a silent voice and a quiet demeanor. Taking a seat next to the weary maiden, he gently took his hand and held onto hers.

“Don’t think about that…” He warned as tears escaped Alice’s eyes. Leaning over and grabbing her right shoulder, Yu brought the girl close to him as he felt his apron being stained by the silent droplets of water that escaped her magenta eyes.

In a breaking voice, Alice responded as she blocked out the memories that had left her in such a state, “I know…” She cried hugging his body letting her nails grip into his back. Resting his head against hers, she tried to calm herself under the gentle breaths that touched her skin and the firm pressure that rubbed the back of her head.

Feeling a flow of energy moving to her eyes, she kept them open; purple lips, burnt skin and hair, bloodied hands and bloodstained tears. She breathed heavily as she could feel the warmth radiating off Yu; her head just rested near his heart, the steady tempo kept her grounded as she gently shut her eyes and fell into a dark abyss.

Stopping his hand, Yu listened to the quiet breaths. The maiden in his arms had fallen asleep. Cradling her in his arms, he moved his left hand under her legs and hoisted her off the couch. Her next destination was his bedroom that he himself had yet to even see. Placing her under the comforter, he turned off the light hanging above and gently shut the door.

Moving away from the room he returned back to his position in the kitchen. Firmly grasping the knife, he had attempted to use earlier, he pulled it off the spot where it hanged on the wall. A fair amount of recipes ran through his mind as he selected something that would help both himself and Alice recover.

Taking a small jar of powder, Yu swiftly moved as he filled a pot of water and left it on the magic powered stove that flared once he turned the knob. Moving to remove more ingredients from the several shelves that laid around, he moved with efficiency as time began to pass. By the time he was done cooking and setting the table, he looked outside of the window in his dorm.

The sun had long set. Only the scattered streetlights in the capital city provided any source of light other than the gems scattered throughout the dormitories and academy buildings.

Filling two bowls and moving to place them on the table, the wooden door leading to his room creaked open as Alice entered the living room with a tired expression. Staring at the table with her gentle, magenta eyes, Alice stepped forward moved to her seat with a quiet expression. “I-I…” She stuttered over her words as she placed a hand on the wooden chair waiting for her. “T-Thank you…”

“Hm?” Turn from the kitchen, Yu found himself being squeezed from the side as Alice embraced him once more. Slightly flustered, he kept the dish he was moving firmly in his left hand as he returned the hug with his right. “No problem.” He said softly, “C’mon, we need to eat before it gets cold.”

“Yeah…” Alice said tightening her grip making a small pain appear in Yu’s side.

“Let’s eat.”

Publicly Available Information: Security Forces:

The role of the Office of Military and Federal Security focuses on the protection of governmental institutions and property throughout the Zivaland Federation. Commonly led by Special Agents or Field Officers, thirty-two areas of operations were created to help organize and coordinate local law enforcement and military response teams in the event of any national crisis.

In addition to government intelligence agencies and law enforcement organizations, local militias have been established by the people to control local issues such as: Gangs, violent criminals, criminal syndicate organizations, any threat both foreign and domestic.