(Chan)

 

               Chan’s head was pounding as he sat on his bed. First Orientation, now this? He sighed to himself. Being a guardian in training was not easy. He knew that coming in to this, but he didn’t exactly expect it to be this difficult every week. Chan couldn’t believe just a few hours ago he had nearly lost his life because he was stupid enough to trust a fallen angel. If he had just used his head… He sighed, Damocles’ words circling in his head for the thousandth time.

 

               At least the rest of his team was silent for once. The only sound that could be heard that late Saturday night was from the TV on the wall.

 

               Chan had put a movie on. Some Lan Terith Realm flick Kai had suggested from thirty years ago. The quality wasn’t that good and the colors were very faded, but Kai seemed to be enjoying himself, silently mouthing along to the words.

 

               Pyaar was playing a video game, grunting and cursing under his breath. Ersa was studying with Jet a new spell they had read about in their Potions class. Serafina was scribbling on the walls of the bathroom, quiet gaps of her brilliance being heard every so often. Amber and Lux were giggling excitedly as they read Lux’s fashion magazine.

 

               Chan welcomed the peace and quiet. Unfortunately it didn’t last long.

 

               They all heard a knock at the glass door leading out to the balcony.

 

               Serafina immediately poked her head out the bathroom door, staring at the rainbow curtains she had insisted they put up. “What’s the password?” she asked in a sing-song voice.

 

               “I brought booze?” they heard a man’s deep voice from the other side.

 

               “Oh my gods, gimme!” Jet jumped up from her position on the floor and sprinted over the door, sliding it open a bit too violently.

 

               “Honey, I’m home!” a tall attractive man winked as several other people crowded in noisily behind him.

 

               “Hold up.” Chan looked at the chaos as everyone crowded in. “Who’re you? What's going on?” he noticed Lux start up a conversation with the man who had led the charge as Ersa gave a girl with light pink hair a hug.

 

               Jet snatched a beer from the stockpile that had appeared and downed nearly all of it.

 

               Chan made his way over to Ersa as the others piled up the beds and shoved furniture outside, making more room for the impromptu party.

 

               “Ersa?” He tapped her shoulder as loud music began to blast from Kai’s phone and Chan’s speaker system. “What’s going on? Who are all these people?”

 

               “Oh Chan!” she laughed with the light pink haired girl. Wow she’s beautiful. He thought as he stood a little straighter.

​

               “I totally forgot to introduce you!” Ersa yelled over the music. Someone turned down the lights and a disco ball was floating above, lights pulsing and changing in time to the music. “These are our neighbors, team Terrin Solstice. This is Hali.” she gestured to the girl next to her. “Over by Lux is San-the one who brought all the alcohol. Negmah’s over by the TV with her video games, Koko’s the one stuffing her face with snacks by Serafina, Bellium just sat down by Negmah, Marana’s chatting with Jet, Akuma…” she paused looking around.

​

               “Oh he’ll be here,” Hali nudged Ersa and giggled. Chan could have sworn he saw her blush a little, but it was too dark and the lights too bright to tell.

​

               “Terrin, our fearless leader, dipped out for the weekend,” Hali explained. “San and I were hoping you would be back before he was. We’ve been meaning for our rooms to have a party.”

​

               “But… why wait until he’s gone?” Chan was confused.

​

               “Terrin and Pyaar fought on the first day of orientation.” Ersa explained.

​

               “Ah.” Chan nodded. “Well if you will excuse me, ladies,” he bowed slightly “I shall be monitoring the events that come to pass over there.” he pointed to the single chair that was in the corner where the girl’s beds had once been.

​

               “Oh no you don’t!” Ersa grabbed his strong arm and yanked him back over. “It’s a party, Chan.”

​

               Hali grabbed his other arm, trapping him.

​

               “Here,” Hali smiled at him, making his heart beat a little faster. “Have a drink, take a load off.”

​

               “I really shouldn’t.” he said. Weird things always happened whenever he drank. And he went completely out-of-control if he had too much.

​

               “Aw, pretty please?” Hali batted her long lashes at Chan, melting his heart.

​

               He smiled and took the shot from Hali’s perfectly manicured hand.

​

               “Cheers,” Hali grinned chinking glasses with him and Ersa. They all downed the shot, the party just beginning.

​
 

               A few shots and several mixed drinks later, Chan’s head was spinning. He honestly had no idea how he got outside in the chilly night talking to Hali, but here he was-finally sobering up as the moon was high overhead. His head felt fuzzy, like he was in a dream, but he didn’t mind. Hali was intently listening to his rant about his team. He couldn’t tell if she was drunk or actually interested in him, but he hoped it was the latter.

​

               It was nice to talk to someone outside of the team, to get a fresh perspective on things. He wished the night could last forever so that he could just talk to her pretty face and not worry about anything else.

​

(Ersa)

 

               Ersa smacked her lips and winced as more sticky booze went down her throat, burning as it did so. She coughed, swearing she saw smoke come out. “What was that?” she managed to ask San. She had been more than holding her own to the others. Truth be told, the alcohol was barely affecting her. That was probably for the best, since Chan and Hali were off flirting or whatever on the balcony. She couldn’t help but wonder if introducing the two like this was the best...

 

               “It’s my own special blend.” San winked and took three shots of hard liquor in a row. “Beat that.” he said proudly at his accomplishment.

​

               “Only three?” Jet smacked the desk they were using as a makeshift bar. “Gimme four.” she grinned as San poured four more shots. Jet  took them like a champ, making everyone cheer. For such a skinny girl, she sure could hold her liquor. “And with that,” she giggled and wobbled. “I’m tapping out.”

​

               “Ha!” Pyaar grinned. “That’s nothing. Gimme five!” he held up five fingers in San’s face. San simply giggled and obeyed.

​

               About half of their group was passed out either on the floor, in a corner, or back in the other room. Ersa wasn’t sure, but she had a feeling it was getting close to sunup. She wondered if Chan was still going to go on his morning run or not. Then again, maybe he’d already gotten some exercise with Hali…

​

               Pyaar nearly choked on the last shot, but he kept it down.

​

               “Well,” Akuma tallied up the points next to Ersa. “That makes San in the lead with thirteen, followed by Pyaar with twelve, nine for Ersa, seven for Jet, three for me, and two for Lux. Shall we call it a day?”

​

               “Hell no!” Pyaar yelled and held up three fingers.

​

               “Pyaar, I think we’re done,” Ersa insisted. He looked pretty bad. They’d all had a lot to drink before the game. She didn’t want anyone to die from alcohol poisoning.

​

               “No no!” Pyaar grabbed Ersa. “Just three more?” he asked and held up two fingers.

​

               Ersa rolled her eyes and poured him three shots of water. He was so far gone, he’d never know. Lucky for them, Pyaar seemed to get a little friendlier when he was drunk. Maybe a little too friendly. He had been slowly inching his way towards Jet all night, she noticed. Maybe he wasn’t totally hopeless after all.

​

               She whispered to Akuma what she did so it didn’t look like Pyaar had cheated. Pyaar was too busy talking and laughing with Jet at the moment to notice anything, anyway. So they declared San the winner and finished the game.

​

               Kai had gone to bed hours ago, so Lux had changed the music to something more upbeat and repetitive.

​

               Luckily, neither team had anything to do the next day, so they’d all be spending the day recovering together.

​

               As the party died down, Ersa excused herself and went outside to watch the sunrise. Chan and Hali had disappeared hours ago. Probably to the spot in the stables everyone kept talking about. Hali would spill later whether she asked or not, so her curiosity would be satisfied soon enough.

​

               She breathed in the fresh morning air, allowing her mind to wander. There was something about this view that always seemed to calm and focus her. She could see the trees of Fariyoh Forest go on for miles and in the far distance tiny peaks of the mountains. She was grateful they were so high up so she could enjoy this.

​

               She heard the glass door open and close behind her, loud music escaping for a moment.

​

               She smiled as Akuma came over and leaned on the railing next to her.

​

               “Whatcha thinking about?” he asked, grinning at her. His red eyes were sparkly from just a bit too much alcohol, though he seemed to be sobering up pretty quickly.

​

               “Eh,” she shrugged and smirked. “Not much. Just the meaning of life, why the gods allow certain events to happen, the usual.”

​

               Akuma laughed. “It’s too early for that shit!”

​

               She smiled. “What about you?”

​

               He shrugged and ran his fingers through his dark navy hair. “Nothing as fancy as that. Just been thinking about how much fun that party was and how pissed Terrin is going to be when he gets back.”

​

               “Why’s that?”

​

               Akuma giggled and leaned close. “San took some of his beer.”

​

               “Ha!” Ersa rolled her eyes. “Good luck with that.”

​

               “Right?!” he sighed.

​

               They stood in silence for a moment. Ersa watched the sky fade from cool and transition to warm as the day began.

​

               “You know,” Akuma said, breaking the silence. “I hadn’t pegged you as a drinking kind of gal.”

​

               “Oh?” she looked at him, not sure what he meant by that.

​

               “What I mean is you’re just so-studious.” he said. “Like we’re so freaking early in the year and you’re already several units ahead of everyone! Why?”

​

               “Oh,” Ersa blinked. “I just have an insatiable appetite for knowledge. I love to learn and study.” Also I need to get through my studies as quickly as possible. She added in her head.

​

               “That’s so cool.” he smiled, turning around. “I get the bare minimum done and that’s about all I care about.” he admitted. “I could learn a thing or two from ya.”

​

               “Maybe.” she smirked.

​

               “Hey,” Akuma turned to look at her face-to-face. “I gotta ask, later today when I’m not half-buzzed, would you wanna go on a study-date with me?”

​

               Ersa’s heart skipped a beat in her chest. Was Akuma asking her out? Or did he just want to use her homework? “I’ll tell you what,” she cocked her head at him. “Ask me again when you’re not buzzed at all, ok?”

​

               Akuma laughed. “Fair enough!” he sighed. “Imma try and sleep this off, then.” he nodded and went into his room.

​

               Ersa was left alone to her own thoughts and the morning light creeping over the horizon.

​
 

               Everyone lounged around for the rest of the day. Ersa ate lunch and dinner alone in the library, busy studying a current events article for an upcoming test. As she munched on an apple, she let her mind wander back to the Headmistress and her terrible fate. The archfiend that had been unleashed had been surprisingly quiet since then. Perhaps she wasn’t actually an archfiend afterall and they had been lucky?

 

               Ersa paused mid-bite, a cold chill running through her as an idea crept through her mind. She took a screenshot of the article and ran to the Headmaster’s office.

               

               She pounded on the door until Damocles responded. “One moment, please!” Damocles’ face appeared on the monitor outside his door. “I’m about to be on an important phone call.”

​

               “Headmaster Damocles!” Ersa pleaded. “It’s about-Zenith.” she hushed her voice when speaking of the deceased Headmistress. The subject was taboo at the school, no one knowing exactly what had happened just that there was a terrible accident in Fariyoh Forest.

​

               Damocles sighed and his face disappeared, a blank screen replacing it. The large double doors to his office opened up and Ersa stepped inside.

​

               “Ersa,” Damocles scolded. “This had better be good. Headmaster Endel isn’t a patient man, and neither am I.” he raised a thick grey eyebrow at her.

​

               “Understandable.” Ersa gave a quick nod. “Could there possibly be a connection to the archfiend being released and what happened at Di’Angelo?”

​

               Damocles unfolded his hands. “Now, we can’t blame every bad thing that happens on demons…” he studied her carefully.

​

               “Of course not. But wasn’t it unusual for so many Erseugen to be conveniently gathered in one place?”

​

               “What are you getting at?”

​

               Ersa showed Damocles the article on her phone. “‘Unusual Earthquakes reported across Southern Iilrona.’” she read. “And these next few articles.” she pointed to several spanning the past several months. “There’s a pattern.”

​

               “My gods.” Damocles gasped, standing up and rummaging through some files. He finally produced a map of Iilrona and began marking off where these strange occurrences happened.

​

               “All along Southern Iilrona, beginning in Fariyoh Forest.” Ersa pointed. “The archfiend hasn’t been inactive as we previously believed, just biding her time causing small mishaps as she goes towards her goal.”

​

               “What is her goal?” Damocles pondered aloud, both falling silent in their ignorance.

​

               “I need to have more sessions with Serafina.” Damocles finally stated, waving his hand over the map, ink turning invisible. “This information doesn’t leave this office, okay?”

​

               Ersa nodded. No secrets would be spilled on her watch.

​

               “I’ll have someone look into this. If we’re right, she’ll strike next around the Red Desert. It’ll be difficult to track her movements since the desert is already hostile enough.” Damocles’ brows furrowed as he thought for a moment.

​

               “Thank you, Enya.” he smiled at her.

​

               “It’s Ersa, sir.” she reminded him. Maybe one day he’d remember. She smiled, showing she harbored no hard feelings, and left. She hoped she had helped. Her and Damocles had been working together since the tragedy, trying to track the archfiend’s movements. Unfortunately there weren’t any reports of strange sightings of the likes. This was the best lead they’d found and Ersa prayed it was right. She owed it to Zenith to make things right.