Nous - Prologue and Chapter 01
Nous - Prologue
“Two!”
“What are you doing, Milan? He’s just a beginner!”
“Alright! Go Leliel!”
He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. Odd, how it was slick with sweat from his palm yet the surface contrarily chilled his hand. Almost like it was trying to calm him.
Leliel held his ground and delivered another fast blow to the young woman. Another orb dissipated to match the hit he won on her side. His silver-white blade skilled harmlessly over her uniform and a beat later both duelists moved back in unison.
“Three!”
She was beginning to tire. Milan’s eyes appeared to lose focus even halfway across the arena and she wavered on her feet. The young woman seemed determined to try and win though as she merely bit her lip, readjusted her grip on her own blade, and charged again.
“I wouldn’t recommend that…”
“Milan! Don’t rush right into things or you’re leaving yourself right o-“
The young lady at the other end of the arena fell silent as Milan’s last two orbs went out all at once along with one of Leliel’s four. Her eyes moved to the two duelists, still frozen at the end of their battle. Leliel’s blade was pressed against the side of her neck while his opponent’s was blocked by his free hand, yet the blade still barely touched his cheek.
“…Not bad. You sacrificed your last two orbs to get another hit on me…”
“Heh. Pretty hopeless right?”
“…No. I respect that. I think I would have done the same.”
Leliel lowered his blade as Milan’s shattered in her hand, turning into a whirlwind of light pink fragments that danced around her once before sailing off with the wind. He could hear Ashavan’s hurried steps coming up behind him but just as he turned, they were gone. Leliel frowned and spun back toward the losing duelist but she was absent too, along with her own companion. The young man started to feel a bit of panic, wondering how in the world three people could just vanish when, suddenly, the natural light from the setting sun went out all at once. He was left in the darkness with only the light of his weapon. Leliel held it with both of his hands, wishing that it was warm rather than cool.
Before he could fully grasp his situation or surroundings, the ground started shaking. Leliel instinctively jerked his arms out, letting go of his sword as he tried to keep his balance under the crackling floor. The blade sailed for a moment before the light went out suddenly, like a flame being snuffed out. He fell along with the debris of the demolished arena. It was so sudden that he couldn’t move, or scream, or even fear before it all came to nothing.
Chapter 01
Leliel sat up in bed, violently throwing the blue covers away from his body. They were so stifling that for a moment he was certain he must have been in Hell itself. The air in the room was warm and thick, likely a product of the fact that they had slept with the windows shut and the air off. Ipos always complained that it was too cold.
His thoughts went shoddily over all this information as Leliel choked on his dry tongue and he propelled himself away from his searing cocoon.
“Oh you’re up. I was just about to throw something at you to make sure,” Ipos said, sticking his head out of the bathroom door. He was preparing to brush his teeth and Ipos held it loosely in his hand, allowing the green-and-white striped toothpaste to slowly inch toward the end of his bristles and the freedom that was their floor.
“…Really?” Leliel answered dispassionately. He dug in his drawers for a fresher towel than the one he had been using.
“Yeah. You were tossing and turning and sort of moaning in your sleep. It was sort of distracting, even from the bathroom.”
He paused in his hurried movements to regard his roommate with a hard glare.
“…And you didn’t think to wake me up earlier?”
“…Not really.”
Ipos was truly a man among men. He and Leliel hadn’t been roommates for very long since Leliel hadn’t even been a resident at Alighieri for more than a month and they had already fallen into an uneasy friendship. Well, ‘friendship’ likely wasn’t the most accurate term but they weren’t enemies either. They just never hung out outside of their time in their shared room.
“Thanks…” Leliel said, pushing past Ipos, who moved till his back was against the left sink as he continued to regard his roommate for another moment. Leliel was tall, but Ipos was taller by a few inches. Ipos’ dark orange hair usually reached about mid-back but he had clearly also just gotten up since it was gnarled beyond recognition, half of it sticking up to the side. His half-open eyes and mouth didn’t really help the overall look.
In addition to being a bit shorter, Leliel was also a bit thinner than Ipos, but he didn’t belong to any sport teams. His hair had managed to get even more ridiculous in sleep, but in a different way. Leliel’s hair was about chin length, irritatingly curly, and so light pink that it appeared almost white in natural light. What annoyed Leliel was that it didn’t usually arrange itself in small, miniscule curls but instead tended toward the larger, adorable ringlet curls. Thus, Leliel had a tendency to brush his hair till his curls were forced into submission which usually rendered his hair as merely wavy rather than curly. Unfortunately, due to Ipos’ irritating weakness to cold, the humidity in their room had allowed his hair to curl properly.
“You’re gonna shower? Class starts in, like, twenty minutes…”
Leliel pushed back their uniform, grey curtain and threw the towel on the floor, giving his roommate one last look before he entered.
“Like I care. I feel like shit and I’m not going to class like this.”
Ipos shrugged and turned back toward the mirror, dodging to the right as Leliel’s shirt flew over the rod and hit the nearly open counter space beside him.
Leliel didn’t enjoy cold showers but he felt that his skin was sizzling already so he couldn’t stand to be warm any longer. He rested his head against the wall as the water started and he moodily kicked aside the shampoo bottle belonging to their suitemate. They all kept their toiletries inside the shower stall since the three of them were far too lazy to keep moving things in and out. Of course, that meant that they barely had four steps to move inside the small cube that was the stall since, apparently, their dormitory saw fit to make the smallest bathrooms known to man.
Leliel narrowed his reddish brown eyes as he turned his thoughts to the dream he had. He thought he had likely remembered every second of it the moment he bolted awake but when he actually tried to think back it was all so fuzzy. The only thing that Leliel could recall was the sheer terror he had experienced before waking up and he felt the vague sensation of falling even though he knew he hadn’t technically moved anywhere.
Ipos was gone by the time he was out of the shower. The young man took a fast glance at the clock on the shelf above his bed. 9:52. Eight minutes until class started. It would be a bit rushed, but he would make it in time if he didn’t delay any further. Leliel opened his closet and threw the components of his uniform out on his bed. All students were required to wear one. The male uniforms were simple enough, merely black slacks, a high collared, red shirt that zipped up at the front, and a black jacket to go over it that had an open collar about an inch under that of the undershirt so the second color of their school would show up properly.
Leliel hurriedly pulled on his clothes and boots before he threw a few specific books and a binder into his bag and ran out the door. He stopped before it slammed shut behind him and ran back in for a moment to dig his keys out of the ‘anything’ box that Ipos left right beside their door.
They lived on the forth floor of their building, Milton, which was about as far away from the rest of campus as just about any other. Alighieri was arranged in a large rectangular formation with the school buildings in the center and the recreational and dormitory ones spaced evenly on the very edge of campus.
Alighieri was an odd school. It was renowned for being at the forefront of education, partially because of the pure capital that all of the school’s sponsors poured into the place so that they could get the best teachers possible. The school was not only physically unsettling but there were strict rules for student conduct and interaction. The teachers were supposed to enforce this by keeping in touch with their students and personally monitoring them. Of course, this was a slightly unrealistic policy as the number of students far outweighed that of educators and administrators so most students had free reign over their own affairs - within the limits of the absolutely enforced rules.
Some of the dormitories had slightly different design but they had to keep the overall theme of the campus in mind. It was concrete both raw and naturally flawed. There was no vegetation on the campus grounds except where they had specific gardens in front of certain buildings. There was a large, circular garden filled with flowers that surrounded the school buildings but it was always tended just so that the flowers would not be overbearing. Leliel didn’t have any time to glance over the flowers as he hurried to the Plato building but he did spare a moment to skip over the large black lines intersecting in a cross section in front of the stairs that led up to it. All of the flaws, lines, and unintentional art in the concrete were all shadowed, like someone had spilled black paint over the entirety of the campus and then cleaned it out without paying close attention to the paint trapped in the cracks. In the afternoons the sun usually took on a rather red light, and the black miraculously took on this same color.
The interior of the Plato building was rather bare, sticking to the same minimalist design as the rest of the campus. All of the chairs, desks, and bookcases were made of red metal with very little cushioning, making it probably the worst place to have classes.
“Leliel!”
The young man stopped before turning the corner. He managed a smile at the sight of his friend, Ashavan Roux. The other student was likely his only real friend as well. They had about half of their classes together, including first period.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?”
Asha shook his head and grabbed Leliel by the arm to drag him away from the adjoining corridor. He was quite short in comparison to his friend, smaller than even some of the girls on campus. Perhaps that accounted for his somewhat explosive attitude that belied his puppy-like exterior. He had short green hair that stuck up on its own without the use of any hair product. Asha was never at rest and his body constantly felt like it leaked all of his excess energy. He couldn’t get the grin off of his face as he regarded Leliel.
“You’re certainly in a hurry. You look half done.”
Leliel regarded him with obvious confusion until Asha pointed to his own jacket. His fellow student looked at him quite curiously until he glanced down at his own body for a moment. He had his jacket on inside out. That would explain the comment. He allowed his friend to laugh while he took off his uniform and set it right.
“Very funny. I was in a hurry. I barely had time to dress much less put on everything right…”
A series of bells rang out through the entire campus, playing a nagging familiar song. Leliel sighed.
“And now we’re late.”
Asha shook his head and pulled the strap of his bulging black bag further up on his shoulder.
“No. Class is cancelled for us today. Apparently, Mr. Ryce’s sister had a baby or something and he didn’t leave any instructions for someone else to take over. There’s a note on the door but people are still sitting around in there so if you try and go then you’re sure to be caught up.”
“And that would be such a huge disaster? Why’d you make such a big deal of pulling me out of sight?” Leliel asked, brushing his wet hair back away from his face. He could already see the light, almost bubblegum colored curls.
“Well, Karta’s inside and I know you can’t resist talking to her for at least half an hour or so…and there’s something that I needed to show you.”
Leliel cocked his head to the side and smiled knowingly at his friend. His eyes brightened, signaling that he had fully wakened and had shaken himself out of the haze and uncertainty of his dream.
“Awww, are you jealous that I might be paying attention to someone other than you?”
“Don’t be a jerk.”
“Hmm…so what do you want to show me? It’s not like I didn’t see you just yesterday…”
Asha put up a hand to stop any more verbal progress from his friend and he made a grand sweeping gesture toward the stairs that Leliel had just ascended minutes ago.
“After you. It’s on the grounds. We’re not supposed to be anywhere for at least an hour anyway. You have time.”
Leliel led the way down the stairs and out to the main part of the campus again. There he stayed back to allow Asha to take point and lead him wherever he wanted to go.
They walked for a short time, just around the Plato building to the pair adjoining and toward the northern end of campus. His steps slowed in unison with Asha’s the moment they were near the base of the clocktower. It was a solitary building with an old fashioned clock face on ever side right near the center. It rose up, unbelievably tall, and widened out at the very top.
“…The clocktower?” he started, turning his gaze back toward his friend. Asha had his hands in his pockets. The young man clenched his fists and then turned toward Leliel. He let out a fast breath and gave his friend an energetic smile.
“I finally did it.”
“…Did what?”
“I got you in.”
“To the clocktower? I thought it was just an elevator and observation deck for visitors.”
Asha shook his head. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the Dueling Game?”
Leliel was taken aback. Something seemed to fall into place in his mind but he didn’t have the time to really consider at as he stared at his friend, speechless. Asha said he was ‘in’ the Dueling Game? Leliel had heard of it, most people on campus knew about it, though there was very little information available to all people not directly involved. All he knew was that a bunch of students got together while the faculty turned a blind eye to fight each other. No one showed up with any visible signs of harm so most people believed it was either a rumor or else a completely different kind of ‘duel’.
“…You’re a member of the Dueling Game? You mean it really exists?” Leliel asked.
Asha’s excitement was so pronounced that he almost glowed. He pulled his left hand out of his pocket and gestured toward the pin he wore on his jacket collar. Leliel blinked, confused, as he felt he was seeing it for the first time. It was small, but made of silver and directed in the pattern of an ornate butterfly. How had he not noticed it before? “I’m a duelist. We all get these pins so we can know each other.”
“…Did you always wear that?” Leliel asked.
“Of course. But…most people who aren’t involved don’t really notice them. It’s kind of weird but I don’t really question it. But here.”
Asha’s right hand emerged from his pocket then and he held out his hand toward Leliel. The same pin was in his palm. It gleamed, catching the morning light. Leliel hesitated to take it and instead looked to Asha again.
“…Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you get me into it too? You never asked me if I even wanted to. You still haven’t.”
Asha laughed. “Who wouldn’t want to be involved? I couldn’t ask you anyway since you weren’t a duelist yourself. You have to be nominated from someone within to even be considered by all the top duelists. It took me months and months to get enough clout and enough duels under my belt to even think of nominating you. Now I’m pretty good.”
Leliel sighed. That was one of aspect of Asha’s personality that really got to him. He wanted people to be swept along completely by his flow and while it could be pleasant, he had no problems with imposing his ideas on other people.
Asha was getting irritated. He held his hand closer to Leliel and furrowed his brow.
“Come on, Leliel. It’s not gonna bite you. I know you’ll like it once you get to know the process. Just take it. It’s not like I can just go give this back and say you didn’t want to. They gave it to me and assigned it specifically to you.”
“You can’t be serious…” Leliel started. He didn’t particularly want to be part of some dueling club but Asha’s expression was so insistent that he knew he couldn’t get away without at least giving it a try. He quickly reached out and grabbed the pin from his friend’s hand.
Leliel closed his fingers around the silver and then opened them again as he brought the pin up closer to his eyes. Strange, how it was cold when he took it from Asha but the moment it came into contact with his fingers it suddenly felt warm. He looked up as his friend cleared his throat and turned toward the clocktower, clearly wanting to continue with his agenda.
“Just put the pin on like I did with mine. Guys wear them on their collars and girls wear them in place of the brooch they usually get for their ribbons. But the clocktower is actually just used for our duels. The pins have their own little security device in them and the elevator will work as long as you have it and you’re in range. Pretty cool, right?”
He glanced up toward the distant top of the tower. That made sense, in a way. At least it explained why he didn’t even see the touring groups heading toward the clocktower.
“Wait…there’s only one? So do you plan your duels…like a competition?” he asked.
Asha shrugged. “No. It’s a Dueling Game but we don’t have set match-ups. You either challenge someone or you’re challenged by someone else. The challenger always registers the duel with the Principal Players. If two duels are slated for the same time, the Players always decide which one takes precedence. It works out pretty well…but we don’t go crazy over it, challenging each other every five seconds.”
So it wasn’t a game with too much regulation. Leliel crossed his arms and managed another smile. Perhaps it wasn’t as bad as he might have feared.
“So I don’t have to fight anytime soon as long as no one challenges me…that’s a relief.”
Asha stiffened, which was never a good sign. He barely ever managed to keep too much tension in his limbs since he was usually trying to move everywhere at once, even when he was still.
“What is it?” Leliel asked.
“Uh…well…it’s kinda funny. You seeeeeeee.”
“Just tell me.”
Asha turned. His eyes darted around a bit and Leliel could see a visible flush on his cheeks.
“Well I wasn’t the only one who wanted to get someone new into the game. They’re pretty strict on who they let in and the number. There’s this other girl on our level who wanted to get her friend in it too. One of the Players finally said that we could let you both in on a sort of…temporary basis for evaluation.”
Leliel sighed. “You’re so easy to read. Let me guess. The stipulation is that we have to duel each other to determine who gets the real spot?”
Asha nodded, regaining a bit of his confidence.
“Yeah. You got it.”
“And when is this duel?”
“This afternoon.”
“…”
“…”
The silence stretched for a moment as Asha kept his nervous smile and then spun back toward the clocktower to break off eye contact from his friend.
“…Today?”
“Yeah. Pretty good luck that our teacher wasn’t going to be in first period, right?”
Leliel kept his arms crossed but he dug his nails into his own arms to keep them from closing in around his friend’s neck.
“Alright,” he started slowly, “so I have to do it today. These duels…is there danger involved in them?”
“Sort of. Well yes and no. It just depends on what you’re doing. Since neither of you is challenger it shouldn’t be too bad.”
“…What?”
Asha bit his lip. “I can’t say until you’re a real member. All I can do is explain the basics and I really can’t even do that till I can show you. Oh, but don’t worry, the girl’s not able to know more than you either. So you’ll both be starting out evenly. Oh…”
“Oh?”
“She’s Milan, the new member.”
“Milan?”
Asha growled in disgust. “You don’t know Milan? She’s in the top fifty…you know…that national fencing competition?”
“Oh.”
“So I guess she really is at a bit of an advantage. You told me awhile ago that your uncle taught you how to use a sword so I assumed you’d be fine.”
Leliel shook his head, beyond infuriated with Asha. It had progressed so quickly from explosive, violent anger to pure disgust.
“That was when I was four years old. He taught me till I was nine but he refused to tell me even the name of the style he used. I haven’t picked up a blade since then…”
Asha laughed and ran quickly past Leilel, toward the rest of campus.
“Were those the bells you heard just now? The hour’s already over? We’d better get going.”
Leliel clearly wasn’t buying it. He started after his friend at a fast walk.
“I didn’t hear anything. It’s barely 10:15. Hey. Asha.”
He scoffed as Asha pulled further ahead and Leliel broke into a run, desperate in the moment to catch his friend so he could express just how unhappy he was with the situation he was so graciously thrown into. He had a feeling, though, that Asha knew the exact depth of his irritation.
3,876 / 50,000
(7.8%)
“Two!”
“What are you doing, Milan? He’s just a beginner!”
“Alright! Go Leliel!”
He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. Odd, how it was slick with sweat from his palm yet the surface contrarily chilled his hand. Almost like it was trying to calm him.
Leliel held his ground and delivered another fast blow to the young woman. Another orb dissipated to match the hit he won on her side. His silver-white blade skilled harmlessly over her uniform and a beat later both duelists moved back in unison.
“Three!”
She was beginning to tire. Milan’s eyes appeared to lose focus even halfway across the arena and she wavered on her feet. The young woman seemed determined to try and win though as she merely bit her lip, readjusted her grip on her own blade, and charged again.
“I wouldn’t recommend that…”
“Milan! Don’t rush right into things or you’re leaving yourself right o-“
The young lady at the other end of the arena fell silent as Milan’s last two orbs went out all at once along with one of Leliel’s four. Her eyes moved to the two duelists, still frozen at the end of their battle. Leliel’s blade was pressed against the side of her neck while his opponent’s was blocked by his free hand, yet the blade still barely touched his cheek.
“…Not bad. You sacrificed your last two orbs to get another hit on me…”
“Heh. Pretty hopeless right?”
“…No. I respect that. I think I would have done the same.”
Leliel lowered his blade as Milan’s shattered in her hand, turning into a whirlwind of light pink fragments that danced around her once before sailing off with the wind. He could hear Ashavan’s hurried steps coming up behind him but just as he turned, they were gone. Leliel frowned and spun back toward the losing duelist but she was absent too, along with her own companion. The young man started to feel a bit of panic, wondering how in the world three people could just vanish when, suddenly, the natural light from the setting sun went out all at once. He was left in the darkness with only the light of his weapon. Leliel held it with both of his hands, wishing that it was warm rather than cool.
Before he could fully grasp his situation or surroundings, the ground started shaking. Leliel instinctively jerked his arms out, letting go of his sword as he tried to keep his balance under the crackling floor. The blade sailed for a moment before the light went out suddenly, like a flame being snuffed out. He fell along with the debris of the demolished arena. It was so sudden that he couldn’t move, or scream, or even fear before it all came to nothing.
Chapter 01
Leliel sat up in bed, violently throwing the blue covers away from his body. They were so stifling that for a moment he was certain he must have been in Hell itself. The air in the room was warm and thick, likely a product of the fact that they had slept with the windows shut and the air off. Ipos always complained that it was too cold.
His thoughts went shoddily over all this information as Leliel choked on his dry tongue and he propelled himself away from his searing cocoon.
“Oh you’re up. I was just about to throw something at you to make sure,” Ipos said, sticking his head out of the bathroom door. He was preparing to brush his teeth and Ipos held it loosely in his hand, allowing the green-and-white striped toothpaste to slowly inch toward the end of his bristles and the freedom that was their floor.
“…Really?” Leliel answered dispassionately. He dug in his drawers for a fresher towel than the one he had been using.
“Yeah. You were tossing and turning and sort of moaning in your sleep. It was sort of distracting, even from the bathroom.”
He paused in his hurried movements to regard his roommate with a hard glare.
“…And you didn’t think to wake me up earlier?”
“…Not really.”
Ipos was truly a man among men. He and Leliel hadn’t been roommates for very long since Leliel hadn’t even been a resident at Alighieri for more than a month and they had already fallen into an uneasy friendship. Well, ‘friendship’ likely wasn’t the most accurate term but they weren’t enemies either. They just never hung out outside of their time in their shared room.
“Thanks…” Leliel said, pushing past Ipos, who moved till his back was against the left sink as he continued to regard his roommate for another moment. Leliel was tall, but Ipos was taller by a few inches. Ipos’ dark orange hair usually reached about mid-back but he had clearly also just gotten up since it was gnarled beyond recognition, half of it sticking up to the side. His half-open eyes and mouth didn’t really help the overall look.
In addition to being a bit shorter, Leliel was also a bit thinner than Ipos, but he didn’t belong to any sport teams. His hair had managed to get even more ridiculous in sleep, but in a different way. Leliel’s hair was about chin length, irritatingly curly, and so light pink that it appeared almost white in natural light. What annoyed Leliel was that it didn’t usually arrange itself in small, miniscule curls but instead tended toward the larger, adorable ringlet curls. Thus, Leliel had a tendency to brush his hair till his curls were forced into submission which usually rendered his hair as merely wavy rather than curly. Unfortunately, due to Ipos’ irritating weakness to cold, the humidity in their room had allowed his hair to curl properly.
“You’re gonna shower? Class starts in, like, twenty minutes…”
Leliel pushed back their uniform, grey curtain and threw the towel on the floor, giving his roommate one last look before he entered.
“Like I care. I feel like shit and I’m not going to class like this.”
Ipos shrugged and turned back toward the mirror, dodging to the right as Leliel’s shirt flew over the rod and hit the nearly open counter space beside him.
Leliel didn’t enjoy cold showers but he felt that his skin was sizzling already so he couldn’t stand to be warm any longer. He rested his head against the wall as the water started and he moodily kicked aside the shampoo bottle belonging to their suitemate. They all kept their toiletries inside the shower stall since the three of them were far too lazy to keep moving things in and out. Of course, that meant that they barely had four steps to move inside the small cube that was the stall since, apparently, their dormitory saw fit to make the smallest bathrooms known to man.
Leliel narrowed his reddish brown eyes as he turned his thoughts to the dream he had. He thought he had likely remembered every second of it the moment he bolted awake but when he actually tried to think back it was all so fuzzy. The only thing that Leliel could recall was the sheer terror he had experienced before waking up and he felt the vague sensation of falling even though he knew he hadn’t technically moved anywhere.
Ipos was gone by the time he was out of the shower. The young man took a fast glance at the clock on the shelf above his bed. 9:52. Eight minutes until class started. It would be a bit rushed, but he would make it in time if he didn’t delay any further. Leliel opened his closet and threw the components of his uniform out on his bed. All students were required to wear one. The male uniforms were simple enough, merely black slacks, a high collared, red shirt that zipped up at the front, and a black jacket to go over it that had an open collar about an inch under that of the undershirt so the second color of their school would show up properly.
Leliel hurriedly pulled on his clothes and boots before he threw a few specific books and a binder into his bag and ran out the door. He stopped before it slammed shut behind him and ran back in for a moment to dig his keys out of the ‘anything’ box that Ipos left right beside their door.
They lived on the forth floor of their building, Milton, which was about as far away from the rest of campus as just about any other. Alighieri was arranged in a large rectangular formation with the school buildings in the center and the recreational and dormitory ones spaced evenly on the very edge of campus.
Alighieri was an odd school. It was renowned for being at the forefront of education, partially because of the pure capital that all of the school’s sponsors poured into the place so that they could get the best teachers possible. The school was not only physically unsettling but there were strict rules for student conduct and interaction. The teachers were supposed to enforce this by keeping in touch with their students and personally monitoring them. Of course, this was a slightly unrealistic policy as the number of students far outweighed that of educators and administrators so most students had free reign over their own affairs - within the limits of the absolutely enforced rules.
Some of the dormitories had slightly different design but they had to keep the overall theme of the campus in mind. It was concrete both raw and naturally flawed. There was no vegetation on the campus grounds except where they had specific gardens in front of certain buildings. There was a large, circular garden filled with flowers that surrounded the school buildings but it was always tended just so that the flowers would not be overbearing. Leliel didn’t have any time to glance over the flowers as he hurried to the Plato building but he did spare a moment to skip over the large black lines intersecting in a cross section in front of the stairs that led up to it. All of the flaws, lines, and unintentional art in the concrete were all shadowed, like someone had spilled black paint over the entirety of the campus and then cleaned it out without paying close attention to the paint trapped in the cracks. In the afternoons the sun usually took on a rather red light, and the black miraculously took on this same color.
The interior of the Plato building was rather bare, sticking to the same minimalist design as the rest of the campus. All of the chairs, desks, and bookcases were made of red metal with very little cushioning, making it probably the worst place to have classes.
“Leliel!”
The young man stopped before turning the corner. He managed a smile at the sight of his friend, Ashavan Roux. The other student was likely his only real friend as well. They had about half of their classes together, including first period.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?”
Asha shook his head and grabbed Leliel by the arm to drag him away from the adjoining corridor. He was quite short in comparison to his friend, smaller than even some of the girls on campus. Perhaps that accounted for his somewhat explosive attitude that belied his puppy-like exterior. He had short green hair that stuck up on its own without the use of any hair product. Asha was never at rest and his body constantly felt like it leaked all of his excess energy. He couldn’t get the grin off of his face as he regarded Leliel.
“You’re certainly in a hurry. You look half done.”
Leliel regarded him with obvious confusion until Asha pointed to his own jacket. His fellow student looked at him quite curiously until he glanced down at his own body for a moment. He had his jacket on inside out. That would explain the comment. He allowed his friend to laugh while he took off his uniform and set it right.
“Very funny. I was in a hurry. I barely had time to dress much less put on everything right…”
A series of bells rang out through the entire campus, playing a nagging familiar song. Leliel sighed.
“And now we’re late.”
Asha shook his head and pulled the strap of his bulging black bag further up on his shoulder.
“No. Class is cancelled for us today. Apparently, Mr. Ryce’s sister had a baby or something and he didn’t leave any instructions for someone else to take over. There’s a note on the door but people are still sitting around in there so if you try and go then you’re sure to be caught up.”
“And that would be such a huge disaster? Why’d you make such a big deal of pulling me out of sight?” Leliel asked, brushing his wet hair back away from his face. He could already see the light, almost bubblegum colored curls.
“Well, Karta’s inside and I know you can’t resist talking to her for at least half an hour or so…and there’s something that I needed to show you.”
Leliel cocked his head to the side and smiled knowingly at his friend. His eyes brightened, signaling that he had fully wakened and had shaken himself out of the haze and uncertainty of his dream.
“Awww, are you jealous that I might be paying attention to someone other than you?”
“Don’t be a jerk.”
“Hmm…so what do you want to show me? It’s not like I didn’t see you just yesterday…”
Asha put up a hand to stop any more verbal progress from his friend and he made a grand sweeping gesture toward the stairs that Leliel had just ascended minutes ago.
“After you. It’s on the grounds. We’re not supposed to be anywhere for at least an hour anyway. You have time.”
Leliel led the way down the stairs and out to the main part of the campus again. There he stayed back to allow Asha to take point and lead him wherever he wanted to go.
They walked for a short time, just around the Plato building to the pair adjoining and toward the northern end of campus. His steps slowed in unison with Asha’s the moment they were near the base of the clocktower. It was a solitary building with an old fashioned clock face on ever side right near the center. It rose up, unbelievably tall, and widened out at the very top.
“…The clocktower?” he started, turning his gaze back toward his friend. Asha had his hands in his pockets. The young man clenched his fists and then turned toward Leliel. He let out a fast breath and gave his friend an energetic smile.
“I finally did it.”
“…Did what?”
“I got you in.”
“To the clocktower? I thought it was just an elevator and observation deck for visitors.”
Asha shook his head. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the Dueling Game?”
Leliel was taken aback. Something seemed to fall into place in his mind but he didn’t have the time to really consider at as he stared at his friend, speechless. Asha said he was ‘in’ the Dueling Game? Leliel had heard of it, most people on campus knew about it, though there was very little information available to all people not directly involved. All he knew was that a bunch of students got together while the faculty turned a blind eye to fight each other. No one showed up with any visible signs of harm so most people believed it was either a rumor or else a completely different kind of ‘duel’.
“…You’re a member of the Dueling Game? You mean it really exists?” Leliel asked.
Asha’s excitement was so pronounced that he almost glowed. He pulled his left hand out of his pocket and gestured toward the pin he wore on his jacket collar. Leliel blinked, confused, as he felt he was seeing it for the first time. It was small, but made of silver and directed in the pattern of an ornate butterfly. How had he not noticed it before? “I’m a duelist. We all get these pins so we can know each other.”
“…Did you always wear that?” Leliel asked.
“Of course. But…most people who aren’t involved don’t really notice them. It’s kind of weird but I don’t really question it. But here.”
Asha’s right hand emerged from his pocket then and he held out his hand toward Leliel. The same pin was in his palm. It gleamed, catching the morning light. Leliel hesitated to take it and instead looked to Asha again.
“…Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why did you get me into it too? You never asked me if I even wanted to. You still haven’t.”
Asha laughed. “Who wouldn’t want to be involved? I couldn’t ask you anyway since you weren’t a duelist yourself. You have to be nominated from someone within to even be considered by all the top duelists. It took me months and months to get enough clout and enough duels under my belt to even think of nominating you. Now I’m pretty good.”
Leliel sighed. That was one of aspect of Asha’s personality that really got to him. He wanted people to be swept along completely by his flow and while it could be pleasant, he had no problems with imposing his ideas on other people.
Asha was getting irritated. He held his hand closer to Leliel and furrowed his brow.
“Come on, Leliel. It’s not gonna bite you. I know you’ll like it once you get to know the process. Just take it. It’s not like I can just go give this back and say you didn’t want to. They gave it to me and assigned it specifically to you.”
“You can’t be serious…” Leliel started. He didn’t particularly want to be part of some dueling club but Asha’s expression was so insistent that he knew he couldn’t get away without at least giving it a try. He quickly reached out and grabbed the pin from his friend’s hand.
Leliel closed his fingers around the silver and then opened them again as he brought the pin up closer to his eyes. Strange, how it was cold when he took it from Asha but the moment it came into contact with his fingers it suddenly felt warm. He looked up as his friend cleared his throat and turned toward the clocktower, clearly wanting to continue with his agenda.
“Just put the pin on like I did with mine. Guys wear them on their collars and girls wear them in place of the brooch they usually get for their ribbons. But the clocktower is actually just used for our duels. The pins have their own little security device in them and the elevator will work as long as you have it and you’re in range. Pretty cool, right?”
He glanced up toward the distant top of the tower. That made sense, in a way. At least it explained why he didn’t even see the touring groups heading toward the clocktower.
“Wait…there’s only one? So do you plan your duels…like a competition?” he asked.
Asha shrugged. “No. It’s a Dueling Game but we don’t have set match-ups. You either challenge someone or you’re challenged by someone else. The challenger always registers the duel with the Principal Players. If two duels are slated for the same time, the Players always decide which one takes precedence. It works out pretty well…but we don’t go crazy over it, challenging each other every five seconds.”
So it wasn’t a game with too much regulation. Leliel crossed his arms and managed another smile. Perhaps it wasn’t as bad as he might have feared.
“So I don’t have to fight anytime soon as long as no one challenges me…that’s a relief.”
Asha stiffened, which was never a good sign. He barely ever managed to keep too much tension in his limbs since he was usually trying to move everywhere at once, even when he was still.
“What is it?” Leliel asked.
“Uh…well…it’s kinda funny. You seeeeeeee.”
“Just tell me.”
Asha turned. His eyes darted around a bit and Leliel could see a visible flush on his cheeks.
“Well I wasn’t the only one who wanted to get someone new into the game. They’re pretty strict on who they let in and the number. There’s this other girl on our level who wanted to get her friend in it too. One of the Players finally said that we could let you both in on a sort of…temporary basis for evaluation.”
Leliel sighed. “You’re so easy to read. Let me guess. The stipulation is that we have to duel each other to determine who gets the real spot?”
Asha nodded, regaining a bit of his confidence.
“Yeah. You got it.”
“And when is this duel?”
“This afternoon.”
“…”
“…”
The silence stretched for a moment as Asha kept his nervous smile and then spun back toward the clocktower to break off eye contact from his friend.
“…Today?”
“Yeah. Pretty good luck that our teacher wasn’t going to be in first period, right?”
Leliel kept his arms crossed but he dug his nails into his own arms to keep them from closing in around his friend’s neck.
“Alright,” he started slowly, “so I have to do it today. These duels…is there danger involved in them?”
“Sort of. Well yes and no. It just depends on what you’re doing. Since neither of you is challenger it shouldn’t be too bad.”
“…What?”
Asha bit his lip. “I can’t say until you’re a real member. All I can do is explain the basics and I really can’t even do that till I can show you. Oh, but don’t worry, the girl’s not able to know more than you either. So you’ll both be starting out evenly. Oh…”
“Oh?”
“She’s Milan, the new member.”
“Milan?”
Asha growled in disgust. “You don’t know Milan? She’s in the top fifty…you know…that national fencing competition?”
“Oh.”
“So I guess she really is at a bit of an advantage. You told me awhile ago that your uncle taught you how to use a sword so I assumed you’d be fine.”
Leliel shook his head, beyond infuriated with Asha. It had progressed so quickly from explosive, violent anger to pure disgust.
“That was when I was four years old. He taught me till I was nine but he refused to tell me even the name of the style he used. I haven’t picked up a blade since then…”
Asha laughed and ran quickly past Leilel, toward the rest of campus.
“Were those the bells you heard just now? The hour’s already over? We’d better get going.”
Leliel clearly wasn’t buying it. He started after his friend at a fast walk.
“I didn’t hear anything. It’s barely 10:15. Hey. Asha.”
He scoffed as Asha pulled further ahead and Leliel broke into a run, desperate in the moment to catch his friend so he could express just how unhappy he was with the situation he was so graciously thrown into. He had a feeling, though, that Asha knew the exact depth of his irritation.
3,876 / 50,000
(7.8%)