"Plop"
The sound of a water droplet echoed across the dark expanse of a mysterious void, sending ripples far into the deepest shadows.
Once again, Emrys found himself in this enigmatic place. The water was as dark as the space around him, yet a light from nowhere reflected his image in the dark water.
He looked at his right arm and saw a katana gripped tightly in his hand. He couldn't let go, even if he wanted to. At the corner of his eye, he saw the ripples coming from him clashing with those from the opposite direction.
The ripples were growing in speed and magnitude, overwhelming his own.
"PATHETIC!" An ethereal woman's voice reverberated through the dark void.
That feeling returned, and before he could react, "WHOOM," a large, vague figure slammed a huge weapon into his face, prompting him to wake up.
The time was 6:09, and inside the dorm was still dark compared to the dark blueish ambience outside. The guys were still asleep when a rapid knock woke them.
"He's awake" Luna's statement when Corsair opened the door roused them instantly. They followed behind her to the girls' bedroom where the other girls were gathered on their knees.
Their faces relaxed, and their eyes brightened. They excitedly entered the room and knelt with the girls.
He was lying on a two-layered duvet with a pillow under his head. Luna had untied the bandage on his mouth and jaw, leaving only the one covering his eyes.
"Emrys, are you there?"
Taking his time, he responded, "That voice, is that Aeron?" Though his voice was weak, it was stronger than the last time he was awake.
"Yes, it's me." Aeron replied, his tone matching his joyful expression.
"It's been a while." Emrys said, his pace and tone low.
"So long, friend," Hector added, rubbing his chin with a smile.
"Han... Reuben... Golsh... Liong... Tolka... Reena... Dusk... Uh? Am I missing one?" Emrys tried to recall the kids' names.
"Lysia," Luna said with a sober tone.
Recalling the events in the small woods, Emrys paused and continued, "Ah, forgive me, Lysia, it won't happen again... Luna... Runette... Melany... Vic... Aeron... Hector and Corsair." He gently heaved a sigh of relief and smiled.
His effort warmed their hearts, dispelling the cold for a moment as they chuckled with watery eyes.
After a few seconds, Emrys relaxed his face and moved his hands gently towards the bandage. Seeing this, Luna untied it for him. They were all curious to see the state of his sight.
His face had healed completely, his brows regrown, but as he opened his eyes, their smiles faded.
His iris and pupil were nearly the same color as his retina. He had not regained his sight.
A solemn silence filled the room.
"It's alright, you can put it back on. When I see, I see," Emrys said, his voice gentle and his smile serene.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"6:15 am," Aeron replied, checking his pocket watch.
"I'm sure some of you are still a bit sleepy. Leave me be and go complete your rest," Emrys suggested. He himself started to feel sleepy as the few minutes of conversation had drained his stamina.
"But you just woke up." Luna chipped in.
"I feel sleepy. I might even wake up again today... don't worry. Just go enjoy your remaining hours of sleep." Emrys rolled gently to his left side.
"Glad to have you back." After saying this, the guys left the girls' room for theirs, and the girls went back to bed.
When the sun was fully out, they woke to the sound of a cock's crow. After taking care of their private matters, they gathered in the girls' room where Emrys was still asleep.
"I'll now share my plan on food supplies and other resources like clothing." Luna sat on the bed, facing the guys.
"Though the law executives have cut off all regular supplies from our sponsors, some students are immune to this. Since I'm royalty, I still have access to my supplies. We just need to go get them and bring them back here," she explained.
Aeron pinched his chin, furrowing his brows.
"Yes, it won't be easy," Luna admitted.
"The supplies are at the law executives' post at the entrance to the boarding world, and that's about... at most, four days from here." Corsair analyzed the problem.
"After what we've been through to come this far, we can't afford to go way back to that side, can we?" Hector asked, looking at the others.
"No, we definitely can't. That's why I thought of a plan in the night. We don't need to go all the way to the entrance. We can simply order for it," Luna said.
"Eh?! But how are you sure that's possible?" Corsair asked.
"The form given to nobles is quite different. It includes a section for delivery of resources, where we're told we can order our resources," Luna continued.
"All we have to do is select our needs, time, location, and mode of delivery."
"What does the mode entail?" Aeron asked.
"I don't know. It wasn't detailed," she replied.
Aeron took out his phone. Most of the phones produced at that time were transparent with a very strong frame made from maximum refined sand, allowing the flow of Regeni. Enabling dark mode on it made it appear tainted from the back.
"Let's do it now." He handed the phone to Luna.
As she logged into her portal, the others gathered around to watch. She entered her credentials and went to the resources section, clicking on delivery.
Clicking on delivery brought up the options for type, location, and mode of delivery. Aeron covered his mouth partially as he stared at the contents on the phone.
"Let's do it in that order," he said.
She clicked "Type," which brought up the options "Consumables," "Sanitary," and "Clothing." Without wasting time, she selected "Consumables."
This brought up the options "Raw," "Drinks," and "Preserved." Following the order of their arrangement, she clicked on "Raw."
Following this was a drop down of various raw foods.
"It's should be more than this by now!" Luna exclaimed, confused.
"Look here, it says last updated 10 days ago," Hector pointed out.
"10 days ago, that's 3 days before Hall Olympus was raided," Aeron scratched his chin.
"So everyone got affected," Corsair said with a sober tone.
"This doesn't make sense. It doesn't correlate with what was in the form," Luna's mind wandered as she looked at the phone.
"There's nothing that can be done about this, is there?" Vic, who was next to Luna, asked.
Luna closed her eyes and let out a sigh. She selected all the items in the consumables section and went back to the location section.
"This is the difficult part. We've got to be strategic," Aeron said, taking a thinking stance.
"Why don't we see what the mode section is all about first?" Corsair suggested.
Luna clicked on it.
"Air" or "Land." These were the two options.
"Air or land?... Oh, I see! Mode of transportation!" Corsair's face lit up.
"No, it's definitely 'Mode of delivery,'" Runette corrected.
"It's the same thing," Corsair sighed.
"This makes things easier. No wonder they didn't specify a time, meaning they can deliver right away," Aeron said while the girls nodded in agreement.
"The better option for us would be 'Land.' We wouldn't want to attract attention from factions by having the supplies delivered by 'Air,'" he added.
The others agreed.
"As for the location, since there are no options, we have the freedom to pick anywhere within the confines of this boarding world. Even so, we shouldn't select our current location." Aeron resumed his thinking stance.
"We risk exposing the availability of resources to nearby factions," Luna said.
"Exactly," Aeron pointed at her.
"Then the nearest hostel shouldn't be a bad pick, should it?" Corsair asked.
"No, in fact, that was also on my mind," Aeron minimized the delivery app and opened the map app.
The app zoomed in on their location. The name of the hall they were currently residing in wasn't written on it.
"The nearest hostel is Hestia's, which is about 20 minutes east from here," Aeron said.
"I suggest we collect them tomorrow, before sunrise. The food resources we have now will be exhausted before the end of tomorrow. Later than that would mean starving ourselves, the kids, and Emrys," Luna said, looking at everyone.
"I'm in support of that. I'll complete my weapon today," Aeron said.
"Same here," Hector and Corsair agreed.
"Great. Now the last thing is, who're those going and who're those staying? I'm going in case there's any form of verification from the law executives," Luna said, touching her chest.
"I'm coming along," Aeron laid back on the bed.
"Me as well," Corsair raised his hand.
"Then I'll stay behind and protect the rest of us," Hector said, closing his eyes.
"Thanks, you guys." Luna smiled as she looked at them.
"What? We should be the ones thanking you." Everyone laughed.
Meanwhile, later that day, somewhere in the boarding world. Amidst the scene of the setting sun, a head rolled on the hard surface of the dry ground as blood splattered from the body that fell.
In front of the bloodshot eyes of the decapitated head, a long blade descended, cutting the air as blood dripped to the ground.
The dark red blood flowing from the headless body reflected the breathtaking number of students standing before the gory scene, as well as the one wielding the curved blade.
With his left hand on the sheath, the one holding the katana, adorned in the clothing of the far Eastern warriors, looked back menacingly at the mob of students.