The light, cool wind blew the dust on the deserted land Emrys' friends walked on. Iguana lizards, Agama lizards, and bush rats were lifeforms inhabiting the desolate land of this... incomplete hall.
Passing by its unfinished elliptical dorms, they couldn't help but feel its loneliness. Such a unique building design would not be found again in the entire school. Its potential, altered amidst the dusty land.
Dust devils swirled on the dry ground, tracing patterns around piles of abandoned construction material. Rusted scaffolding clung to some of the structures, warped and desolate. Here and there, weeds pushed through cracks in the concrete, small acts of rebellion against the unfinished landscape.
This hall lay between Gaia's and Athena's, along the northwestern circumference of the entire boarding world.
"So this is it, the hall my elder sister spoke about. It's more deserted than she described." Corsair shone his eyes as he looked at one of the incomplete elliptical dorms.
"Does it even have a name?" Hector asked.
"Hephaestus' Hall, first hostel to be built on this massive land," Aeron added, his face expressing his awe.
"And the last to be completed," said Luna, with a depressing tone.
They stood still for about 30 seconds, silently grieving the great injustice before them.
The time of day went by quickly, for their settling down took a while. They took refuge in one of the uncompleted elliptical dorms. They brought Emrys down from the carriage and put him on Luna's duvet inside one of the rooms. The girls didn't clean the kids, as they had already done so in Gaia's Hall.
Meanwhile, Han, whom Emrys had saved in the small woods, went to kneel next to him. When Luna saw him, she left the other kids and went to meet him.
"Han, are you alright?" Her tone, as solemn as her appearance.
"What's wrong with big brother? Why is he always asleep?" Looking at Luna with his innocent big ocean-blue eyes, he asked.
Luna didn't answer immediately. Instead, she knelt next to him gently.
"How kind of you to care about him. You see, he has helped us a lot, and now he's resting. It's our turn now to help him." She smiled.
"Oh, okay, but for how long will he rest? I haven't thanked him for saving Lysia and I in the small woods," Han added, looking at Emrys.
Luna and the other girls didn't tell the kids the real truth about Lysia's absence. Instead, they told them that her parents had come to pick her up for a trip.
Luna giggled. "Don't worry, he'll wake up very soon. Ensure you thank him well, okay?"
"Hm." Han nodded and gave Luna a high five.
"Let's go before your friends think they're missing out." Luna held his hands and took him to his friends.
After that, she looked at Emrys from where she stood, her white eyes trembling. After about 10 seconds, she left the room and went to where Aeron and the other guys were.
When she entered the room, she saw the guys sitting on the foamy bed, chewing their nails, looking bothered, and fidgeting. Sunlight filtered through unfinished window frames, casting geometric patterns on the dusty concrete floor. Stacks of drywall leaned against one wall, neatly wrapped bundles of wiring waiting nearby. The room was a blank canvas, its future hinted at by chalk outlines on the subflooring and the faint sketches of electrical plans on exposed beams.
"What's going on? What happened?" she asked, her voice trembling like her eyes earlier.
Aeron stopped fidgeting and let out a huge sigh. "We're... sort of... no, we're in a serious situation."
"What do you mean? What went wrong?" Luna entered fully and closed the door behind her.
"How do I put this? We don't have enough food and water to last us till we get to Athena's, and that's assuming Sage will provide for us when we get there." When Aeron said this, Hector and Corsair looked at Luna's face, seeing how she'd react.
With a worried expression on her face and her mouth slightly open, she was speechless for 5 seconds before smiling and saying:
"Pfft, so that's what it is. Don't worry about it, I have a plan for that."
The guys looked at each other and then looked at Luna, wondering if she was really serious.
"Just relax, it's under control," she reaffirmed.
Corsair sighed, put his back against the bed, and spread his arms. "You remind me of big sis, so reliable."
Luna giggled. "You flatter me. Well then, I have some things to attend to."
She turned back toward the door and exited the room. Her eyes, dampened with the weight of responsibility as she walked slowly outside toward the nearby elliptical dorm.
Covering his nose with a dark brown scarf, Aeron set out toward the back gate of Hephaestus' Hall, which would be where they'd exit the hall, heading toward Athena's.
As he was walking on the dusty grounds, his mind was uneasy with his uselessness.
Damn it! When did I become so useless? Luna is already doing enough, and now this. Even during my clash with Corsair, she was the one who pulled us apart. I can't believe myself.
The last time I was reliable was during the raid in Hall Olympus. Emrys and Luna were absent, and I had to lead everyone to the small woods. After that, I haven't been much of a help.
Perhaps I need to... He restrained himself from completing his soliloquy and thought no more of it.
As he was walking, he came across a wide hole in the ground. Incomplete sitting sheds like those of a stadium surrounded it.
"A hole? It looks like a dynamite's doing. What were they trying to construct?" Aeron walked toward the hole as the slight wind blew his clothes.
On getting there, he peeped into the hole.
"F**k me!" he shouted reflexively and fell backward.
"Wait! There's... no need... to fear! I'm not a threat." A weak and shallow voice came from the hole.
Aeron immediately picked up a smooth stone nearby and slowly approached the hole once more.
"Are you there? I beg of you not to leave me here," the shallow voice added.
Slowly and carefully, Aeron crouched to the edge of the hole and peeped while firmly holding the smooth stone.
Inside the hole was a gruesomely injured one who sat in the part the sunlight touched.
"Ah, thank the heavens. You stayed," the injured one said, his eyes almost completely closed.
"Who are you, and what got you into this state?" Aeron's legs became spaghetti from the shock, and he had to go down on one knee before the edge of the wide hole.
"I'd answer all your questions if you can assist me out of here... I promise." With a struggling voice, he looked at Aeron with his hopeful gunmetal blue eyes. His hair was a slightly darker shade of Aeron's light brown hair.
Despite this, Aeron was hesitant. His feeling of danger wasn't gone.
"Please," the injured guy added, his genuineness at its peak.
Acknowledging this, Aeron took a deep breath in and out and said, "I'll be right back."
The injured student closed his eyes after Aeron, who was obstructing the sunlight, left the edge.
After about five minutes, a woven rope dropped down the hole from the edge, followed by Aeron's appearance.
When Aeron saw that the student had firmly held onto the rope, he leaned back and pulled it with all his might.
Lying on the dusty ground with heavy frost breaths, Aeron was eventually successful in pulling the injured student out.
He got up and walked toward the injured student. His hair was an undercut curtain similar to Aeron's only that Aeron's was longer. There were several cuts on his body, and he looked a bit pale.
"Ow! Damn it." After laughing from the pain, he got up slowly while holding his chest.
Aeron leaned backward subconsciously while observing the mysterious student.
He wore a white long-sleeve formal shirt over black trousers and black leather ankle boots. His sleeves were unbuttoned, revealing a black vambrace underneath.
His shirt was bloody and torn. But the most noticeable damage was a diagonal cut from his right shoulder to the left side of his chest.
"Thank you." He nodded at Aeron and walked slowly toward the sitting sheds.
Aeron followed him from behind while hiding the stone behind his back.
After about seven minutes, the injured student reached the sitting sheds and sat on one of the elevated back seats.
The seats were plastic, unpainted, and dusty. Behind them, just below the roof, was a long open space for ventilation.
Aeron sat gently next to him and removed the scarf he used to cover his nose. Since the seats had armrests, there was no need to leave a chair in between for personal space.
"The way you followed me up here and sat next to me is quite funny. I'd have laughed vigorously if not for the pain," the injured student said.
Aeron said nothing, knowing the injured student hadn't forgotten his promise.
Letting out a huge breath, the student continued. "My name's Setpiece. Huragus Setpiece, and I'm a resident of Gaia's Hall."
"As for how I got myself in this state? Well, it was just a little hassle with an enemy." He stopped there.
"I'm Aeron, Aeron Weyland from Hall Olympus," he said.
"Heavens, all the way from there. I bet you aren't alone," Setpiece replied.
"I'm not. We took the outer curve from Dionysus' to make it here," Aeron responded.
"Dionysus. That means you encountered Bhung the Glutton?"
Aeron paused for about three seconds before answering. "Yes... we fought him, but lost miserably."
"Ohh! You've seen a lot yourself. Imagine facing that maniac," Setpiece said.
Aeron looked at him with a side-eye, sensing a hint of sarcasm in his words.
"But how is it that you're here if you lost? To me, you won by still being intact and able to move about," Setpiece added.
Tch, for some reason, this guy pisses me off. It's like he's sizing me up in a very subtle way. But for the sake of information, I'd play along. Aeron thought.
"With the intervention of a third party, we were able to escape. What about you? Last I checked, Gaia hasn't been raided yet. What took you out of it?"
At this, Setpiece looked at the sky and took a deep breath.
"Even during harsh times, the sky provides us with its stunning design to give us hope...
"I apologize for being a bit playful earlier, even though we're in a serious situation...
"When the news about not being able to exit the boarding world, raids, factions and others started increasing, all the residents of Gaia's Hall were in panic. The following day, without wasting time, everyone packed their belongings—at least what they could carry—and made their way out, dispersing in different directions."
"I tried to convince them to stay, but I was just talking to myself. No one listened. Only my close friend didn't leave immediately. He's from the east. Fellow didn't even need to tell me before I knew. His dark brown monolid eyes are upturned, and his black wolf-cut hair is tied at the back.
"His looks weren't the only thing interesting about him. His honesty was unlike anything I've seen, and I liked it. If I was being stupid, he'd tell me with no sugar-coating, and if I impressed him, he wouldn't hide it either. He's always stoic—I can't even imagine him smiling.
"Without any explanation, he left Gaia's Hall with something wrapped in a white cloth. It looked like a stick at first. He also carried a bag full of what I believe were some of his clothes. And, of course, I followed him..."
"When we were passing, we saw this land from afar and decided to check it out. When we got here, we were perplexed by... everything."
"We decided to rest since it was already dark. As I lay down looking at the vast sky, something struck me—where was he going? And with my calculations, I discerned that it was Athena's..."
"Why?!" Aeron looked at him, anxiously waiting for an answer.
Setpiece saw that Aeron genuinely wanted to know.
"The moonlight was very bright, so I got up and went to look for him. After about two minutes, I found him. He was sitting on that pillar over there."
Setpiece pointed at the highest structure in the area. Not even the shed's roof was as high.
Seeing the pillar, Aeron opened his mouth in awe. "How was he able to reach such a height?" he wondered.
"Scary, right? This is where things get more serious," Setpiece continued.
"While he was sitting there, backing me and facing the moon, I heard iron scratches and saw slight sparks coming from his location...
"Chills ran down my spine when I saw him slowly lift up a curved sword, with the moonlight reflecting off its extremely sharp edge."
Aeron's eyes widened when he realized what that curved sword was.
A katana.