Spectrum: Act 2, Chapter 6: The Tower, Part 1

I had writers block for a while, but luckily I persevered. Happy 30 chapters of Spectrum!

Act 2, Chapter 6: The Tower, Part 1

Maria was wrapped up in her covers on her top bunk, not fully asleep, but not fully awake. She just felt like she was just resting her limbs, magic training has been hard on her and all the other members of her team. Even if Maria couldn't use real magic like her other teammates, she learned a couple of cool tricks so far with how her powers work. She heard the doorknob twist open, pushing open hard enough to bang against the wall. “Gooooood Moooorrrrniiinnng!” Ashley shouted in the room, only to be met by tired groans and sluggish movements. Maria began to roll to the side, before grabbing the mattress to halt herself from falling out. “Did the sun happen yet...?” Lily asked, her eyes blurring as she looked up at the window to see the dull blues of nautical dawn fill the windows, the sun nowhere in sight.

“We need all of you up early, the Promotion exam is today!” Ashley announced with both pep and excitement in her voice, which was completely at the wrong time of the day to even feel such feelings. “Come back in about three hours, until then... Bite me.” Maria responded, burying her head back under the covers to make what was pretty much a Maria shaped mound under the blankets and adamant to fall asleep. “We have no time, shorty.” Ashley said, yanking the blankets off to reveal Maria hugging her knees to her chest in a fetal position. “The helicopter is going to take off in half an hour, and I need all of you dressed.” She said, Maria slowly sitting up, one eye half closes as Lily lightly slid out of her bed, still in her nightgown.

“I will eat your face.” Maria mumbled, not entirely awake enough to know what she's saying, sliding out of the top bunk and dropping onto her feet with a dull thud against the smooth, wooden floor. “Good luck with that.” She said, ruffling Maria's hair as she started looking through the clothing door. From the doorway leading to the second set of bunk beds in the dorm came Jonah and Caleb following in line. Jonah rubbing a sore spot in his shoulder as he slept on it wrong. “There is no way you can be this awake, this early.” Jonah muttered, slipping on a pair of pants, hopping on both legs to get it over his waist. “Are you a robot?” He asked her, semi seriously. She just grinned and patted him on the back. “No, I'm just amped up on about three cups of coffee.” She responded, Jonah just raised his brow at her, considering it a reasonable answer through his messy wad of bed hair, as he hasn't washed or combed it just yet.

Everyone got dressed within five minutes, Maria opening the door where they stored their weapons to only find them absent. “...Uhh... Where's our stuff?” She asked. “I actually had everything loaded on the helicopter just after you all went to get dinner, your combat equipment, weapons, armor and armlets are all there.” She said with a grin, Maria sighing as she slipped on a hoodie to combat the morning cold, even if it broke dress code with her suit underneath of it. “Why do we need a helicopter to go to an exam?” Lily asked, slipping into her school uniform with an extra pair of leg warmers to make up for the fact under her knee length skirt, her legs were exposed.

“Well... We're heading to Silverton.” She said with a bit of gravitas, before hearing it just fall short on everyone. “...That's a city, right?” Maria asked, tossing a bag over her shoulder which had a bottle that she could refill with water. “It was the capital of Rosewall, Maria.” Ashley added, gesturing them to come walking down the hall with her now that she was better dressed. “I didn't go to Silverton when I got my promotion.” Caleb said, putting his hands into his pockets as he turned to step down the stairs just behind Ashley. “This is a culmination of a 4 year project, we typically used the Arena for the exam... but we feel like the students at Spectrum need to work in an environment that feels more like it does when they go on a mission, instead of some kind of strange game show that involves fighting a bunch of weird looking stuff, wearing colored outfits and navigating a stupid, made up temple where one of the challenges was to arrange a golden monkey.” She explained.
“I think I would have liked the golden monkey.” Jonah mentioned, Ashley just lightly sighing as she pulled the double doors open so they could continue to follow her. “Silverton was the Capital of Rosewall roughly 25 years ago. Spectrum was barely a thing and the counsel wasn't a thing yet, we were still presided over by a king. The king and his castle resided in Silverton, which around the time the attack happened, had a population of over 2 million people.” She said as they walked past the fountain, heading to the back end of the hospital where the helipad was located. “But because Spectrum was only an idea at this point... The towns didn't really have the best ways to counter Riftfallen if they attacked besides trying to defeat them.” Ashley said, Maria walking up a bit faster to hear what she had to say, hair and hoodie covering all but one eye and the bottom half of her face.

“Then one of the biggest Riftfallen attacks that has ever been seen happened. Buildings were toppled and people were killed. They all rushed into their cars, but there was an issue.” She said, walking up to the helipad, watching the other teams climb on theirs and awaiting the pilot to give her the ok, they still had another 15 minutes to wait. “The town was a coastal town, there was only one highway into the city so all the people panicked, rushing down that road as fast as possible to get out. One car accident near the front of the pack sent the whole dense traffic slowed, more and more accidents began to pile up and eventually it halted. People were stranded, but there were too many to rescue. They robbed eachother, starved and became thirsty. Over 782,000 people were killed over the length of 1 week, making it the largest mass grave in human history.” Ashley finally admitted, Jonah and Lily's eyes grew to the size of figurative saucepans as they both gasped at the same time.

“Sounds like a nice place to live.” Maria said, brow raised with a flat, sarcastic tone. Ashley just kind of glared at her slightly from the random comment. “It would be funnier if this wasn't a real thing that a bunch of people died in.” Ashley replied, Maria cleared her throat, looking away when she realized she didn't have a comeback. “So, what about our weapons, why would you ship them to Silverton before we got up?” Jonah asked a sound question, Ashley raising a finger some as she nodded. “Ah, you see I have to take your weapons in to be dulled before the test, I'll explain more later.” She said with a smile, hoping that would stop their questions. “Well.. Where's team Solstice?” Jonah asked, Ashley looking up in the air and pointing at the horizon. “They're being taken to Silverton, you should be able to meet up with them soon.” Ashley stated, Caleb crossing his arms over his chest as they all heard the sound of an approaching helicopter slowly land just behind them.

“Well, looks like our ride is here.” Lily said, walking up as the double doors in the back popped open, revealing a ramp they can climb up into. This helicopter was a bit bigger than the ones they normally do missions in, she only assumed it was for the equipment they had packed in to make sure everything arrived safely. The doors opened in the back as the rotors began to slow down so no one would get decapitated if they decided to play a spontaneous game of basketball underneath a helicopter. The co-pilot, operating the door and gesturing for the five of them to head inside. They complied quietly, the insulation of inside the helicopter, but it was still loud enough to have them speak up over the sounds of the helicopter.

“So...” Jonah trailed on the awkward silence, just loud enough to speak over the loud whirring. The room lit by a dark red light, broken by the dim sunrise peering through the pilots window. “Why are we going to go to an abandoned city, just to get a promotion exam?” Jonah asked, rubbing his pale blonde stubble. “Isn't it a bit.. extravagant?” He mentioned, Ashley patting her hands on her thighs before leaning back a bit. “We have less permits and regulations we have to abide by, it's quicker and simpler and no one really has a title deed on an abandoned skyscraper.” Ashley explained, Jonah raising his brow. “A skyscraper...?” He asked confused by the fact they managed to get an entire skyscraper devoted to this cause.
“Yes, a skyscaper.” Ashley replied flatly with a light chuckle, Lily furrowed her brow as she bent forward just a bit to glance at Ashley face to face by looking around Maria. “Isn't that a bit.. Shady? We're using a graveyard for a training center...” Lily mentioned out of concern, Ashley had the response in mind even before she finished her sentence. “Well, if someone dies in a house, is that house off limits for anyone who wishes to take residence?” Ashley asked, Lily rubbing her chin with a bent finger as she thought it over. “It's been over 25 years since it happened, the dead were identified and buried, I think it was about time we went over to fix the place up.” She justified, Lily just leaning back and sighing as they let the helicopter drift along on the extended ride over the mountainsides and beaches of Rosewall.

Even if it was inside a metal box covered in whirling blades going so fast you couldn't see them, Rosewall was close to the northern tip of the western continent, just slightly south of the northern tip of the eastern continent. It enjoyed the temperate and varied weather because it wasn't far too north or south to get stuck in a permanent climate, time passed as the sun rose, shining it's dawn golden light on the helicopter as it flew 200 miles southeast to Silverton. The helicopter slowly drifted down, the engines turning off as the doors opened up when the pilot flipped the switch, the doors opening to a bright, shining sunlight that was so bright all of them had to cover or close their eyes, as the light actually hurt.

They all stepped out in a single file line, Ashley was the last as she dropped two large boxes on the ground with a metallic rattle. She reached down, unlocked the locks on the metal boxes and pulled both of them open. “We had to modify your weapons for the context of this test. We've been running Lidar around this general vicinity and it seems like there isn't enough Riftfallen in this area to show concern, so it shouldn't be an issue.” She mentioned as Maria grabbed one of her swords, running her thumb along the blade. It was dull as a kitchen knife, when typically if she pushed too deep against the blade, it would slightly cut her thumb.

“Why steal our stuff and modify it so it can't cut anything?” Maria asked, confused as she strapped the belt around her coat wrapped waist, sliding both blades into them with a metallic rattling. “Well, the test you're about to do involves fighting other students with your weapons.” Ashley stated as she dug through her side pocket to pull out two small plastic cards. “Catch.” She added Lily caught the card in her hand, the other one smacked Maria in the head. Jonah quickly swiped the card off the ground, pocketing it as Maria reached down to grab it. “There we go!” He said with a grin as Ashley chuckled. “Hold on to those two cards, you'll need them.” She stated, turning to the helicopter. “There is a huge skyscraper near the center of the city. You will use your natural navigation skills to get there yourself within the next three hours, or else the doors will close off and the test will begin.” She said, the helicopter rotors whirring as they started up once again.

Maria was sliding the straps of her arm communicator along her forearm, now with a nifty little fingerless glove attached to it for aesthetics. Inside the metal boxes included their impact resistant armors they typically used for missions. “Why do we have to find our way there? Wouldn't it make more sense if you just.. landed us there?” Maria mentioned, Ashley getting against the helicopter, placing one leg on the rail as it started up a strong headwind to begin liftoff any time soon. “Navigating to the objective without a map is part of the mission! I'll be transported there by this helicopter while you have to find it yourself. Bye!” She said, hopping inside of the helicopter once again, closing the doors as it began to lift into the sky and set off toward the eastern sunrise in the heart of the city, quickly being covered up by the skyline of tall buildings. “What an asshole...” Maria complained, grabbing her armor and folding it over her arm. “So now what?” Jonah asked, Maria began to walk up onto the sidewalk.
The buildings had this strange faded look to them, like someone left a photo of them in the water too long and the color began to wash out. The wooden signs showing what each shell of a store used to be was faded from the paint wearing off and the weather making the wood rot and look dilapidated. “I guess we'll get dressed in our fighting gear and venture out.” Maria calmly stated as she pushed the door to an abandoned laundromat to get her clothes on. The ground was littered with clothes, some of children, some of adults. She kicked some of it aside in a wide enough place to where she couldn't be seen, before putting her armor on.

Minutes later, everyone was geared up in their black and grey standard issue uniforms, Maria's long red scarf hanging off the shoulders of the short sleeved black top. “Do you think the streets are safe...?” Lily asked, nervous as she slid her rapier into the scabbard on her left side, adjusting her short hair so it didn't cover both of her eyes from the fairly strong winds. “They better be safe, if we have to walk around with our weapons having no edge to them.” Caleb replied, stretching with both arms behind his back.

“You said your dog could fight a couple of months ago, Caleb... Why didn't you bring Sasha with you?” Maria asked him half jokingly, he tilted his brow up at her, putting a hand onto his hip. “Why didn't you bring Snowy?” He answered the question with a question, much to Maria's annoyance. “Well Snowy is different, he's like.. 9 pounds tops and well... he's a cat!” She answered, Caleb shrugging a bit as he adjusted the shield on his left arm to make sure the straps weren't too tight. “And I lied about Sasha being able to fight with me. I thought it would be fun to embellish the truth like that.” He admitted with a light chuckle, Maria just glared at him because of how unimpressed she was at his lie. “That sucks, Caleb. I would have paid to see a fighting dog.” Jonah mentioned to try and lighten the mood some, to no avail.

“That slight excitement followed by disappointment is what I live for, Jonah.” Caleb mentioned as they started to walk down the long, barren street. The sun was starting to rise enough to see just a bit more, even if they weren't in direct sunlight just yet thanks to the buildings blocking the light enough to force them back into the shade. They continued south along the road until they hit an intersection splitting left and right. Parked at the intersection were remnants of cars, the bodies so rusted the paint color could barely be recognized, all the parts such as the wheels and the radio were already pilfered a very long time ago.

“How are we supposed to get there without a map!?” Lily shouted from exasperation at the fact this city was quite big, and unlike Riverside, she didn't recognize any landmarks. If this test took place in Riverside, she could probably find this skyscraper like she could find the back of her hand. She's driven threw it, flown over it, and even stood atop the highest building in the whole city. Not only was she lost, but this city was BIGGER than Riverside, and almost completely barren for over 2 decades. Jonah walked across the street and around the side of an abandoned apartment complex. “Caleb, give me a boost.” He said just loud enough for Caleb to hear the order, he jogged off behind the building as well.

“Just what are they...” Maria muttered, lightly patting Lily on the shoulder to come follow her. When they went around the corner, they saw Jonah standing on Caleb's shoulders as he reached up to grab a ladder. On the side of this ten story apartment complex was a fire escape, but the ladder was still coupled against the lock. Jonah was standing atop Caleb's shoulders as he searched for a way to lower the ladder down. “Any luck, dude?” Caleb asked, his voice a strain from holding another fully grown adult atop his shoulders. Yeah, Caleb might have had about a 5 inch height advantage over him, and weighed about 40 pounds more.. but feeling his boots pushing against his shoulders was quickly making them ache.
“Hold on!” Jonah replied, smashing his shield into the lock and sending the whole ladder down, the bottom smacking onto the asphalt with a metallic thud. “Got it!” He said out of excitement. Maria walked up to Caleb as he backed off, Jonah gripping the ladder and climbing onto the first set of stairs on the fire exit. “What the hell are you two doing...?” Maria asked as Caleb took a leap onto the ladder as well, climbing up it. “Apartment facilities tend to have fire escapes like this one,” Jonah mentioned, patting the railing with his shielded arm. “We use this to climb to the roof and we can get a good look at the skyline.” He said with a smile, Maria just stared up at the two males atop the ladder, before realizing that it was a pretty sound idea. “Ohhhh...” She trailed off like a dope, climbing up on the ladder swiftly, with Lily following in tow.

They all quickly climbed up the zig zagging stairs and along the side of the building, the windows showed the empty rooms and halls, either disheveled, or completely barren. The four approached the top of the building as they nearly approached 100 feet in the air. Caleb doing an athletic leap to grab the roof ledge, which was just under10 feet above the final set of stairs. He pressed his legs into the creases of the brick, pulling himself over and leaning a hand down to help the others up. Maria took a leap up from behind the two others, grabbing his hand and pulling herself up with ease.

They both leaned down as Lily took a leap, a much more delicate leap into their hands, pulling her up with little struggle thanks to her fairly light body. Jonah hesitated a bit, rubbing his arm nervously as the other three awaited him to leap up himself. “We have about... 2 hours and 40 minutes before they close the doors, Jonah. We better get a move on.” Caleb stated, leaning down a little bit to make the jump easier. “Don't you think I know that?” Jonah declared, rubbing his messy blonde hair. “I just... Gah.” He struggled to find the right words for the feeling he was getting. “Move it, dipshit!” Maria barked at Jonah, he shook his head with a sigh. “Fine.” He said, leaping just high enough for Maria and Caleb to pull him up as well.

Jonah slid onto the roof before standing up to wipe the dust off of his black jacket. “Now was that so hard?” Caleb asked Jonah, patting him firmly on the back in a reassuring way. Jonah snapped around and backed away just a bit, glaring at him. “I'm not in the mood for camaraderie, Caleb... Back off.” He muttered at him, Caleb just shrugging his shoulders and running across the roof to the other side, crouching down a bit to inspect the skyline. “Hmm... What skyscrapers do we have around here?” Caleb wondered aloud, Maria walking up and holding a hand to her brow to block the light as she looked as well. “What about that huge ass one?” She mentioned, pointing to the largest one smack dab in the middle of more modest sized ones.

“I'd assume that'd be the ideal one.” Caleb said, before leaping across the rooftop onto the apartment adjacent to it. “WOAH! Who said we're going to be leaping from roof to roof like idiots?” Jonah said out of surprise, crossing his arms together as Maria quickly pulled off the same leap. “I don't want to get lost on the roads!” Caleb shouted, breaking out into a run and leaping down to the next building, using his pulse as brakes so he didn't break his legs. “Just use Pulse if you think you can't make it.” Maria said as she leaped down as well.“I'll go after you, Jonah.” Lily said with a smile, Jonah sighing some as he looked back at her with a more friendly look on his face.

“Well, at least someone gives a shit about me.” He said, before leaping across the rooftop as well.

Spectrum #21: The Calm

A little bit of a wind down before the epilogue of act 1.

Chapter 21:The Calm

Maria was in the restroom, currently wearing a tank top and some shorts, wrapping her bathrobe around herself before walking outside into the dorm. Caleb looked up at her with a confused look on his face, Jonah quietly trying to dust off some of the tables. “Uhh.. I think that's the fifth time today I've seen you get out of the shower, Maria.” He commented, Maria sighing and crossing her arms, shaking her head so her wet hair would dry off some more.

“I know, it's been a couple of days since the mission and I still feel like I can't get the blood off me... It's like fucking tar.” Maria complained, Caleb stood up and walked up next to her to inspect her face. “I don't know, you look pretty clean to me, I just wanted to point out how it's like 5 PM and you won't stop showering.” He observed, Maria glaring up at him and taking a step back. “Personal space, please?” She asked, before a big gray blob pounced her from on side, knocking her on the floor. “SHIT!” She shouted, turning on her back as she reached up to grab onto whatever pounced her.

It was a dog, a big fluffy 100 pound dog with big green eyes with a gray and white coat, with a quick observation, Maria realized that she just got jumped on by a husky. The dog was panting and leaned up to lick Maria's face with a happy bark. “Oh, I forgot to tell you about Sasha!” Caleb said with a Grin, Jonah turning around to shake his feather duster at him. “I don't think we need a huge dog AND a cat in one dorm, Caleb.” He scolded, but Caleb just knelt down and lightly rubbed his dog between the ears.

“Oh come on, I've had Sasha for years and she has even been on missions with me.” He said, the dog nuzzling into his hand as Maria flailed underneath of it until she managed to push it off of her. “Wait, you took your DOG on missions with you?” Maria asked incredulously, looking down at the dog as she looked back up at her with her tail wagging. “Yep!” Caleb said, standing up to maintain eye contact. “Dogs can use pulse too, it turns out.” He mentioned, Maria looking at Sasha for a second before looking back at him. “That is the dumbest fucking thing I've ever heard.” She stated, Jonah frowning at her a bit.

“Hey, when something works you don't question it.” He replied, Maria walking over to pull her normal uniform out of the drawer and start to dress herself up, since she was covered up enough to get away with it. “I can question it as much as I want.” Maria said, lightly pulling her jacket over one arm, and then the next. “Lily's going to get released from the hospital today, anyone going?” Maria asked, getting the rest of her outfit on sans the tie. Jonah turned back around and lightly started to dust the windowsill

“Oh hey... I forgot it was snowing.” Jonah commented, lightly pulling the blinds back and filling the room with a glaring white light that was enough to make him sneeze out of reaction, his eyes adjusted as he squinted, the snowfall wasn't really a blizzard, but it was still quite heavy. Maria bent down to look at it as well. Jonah then turned to her to answer her question. “Well... We can't really go get her.” He answered, Maria stood back up, cocking an eyebrow at him from her confusion. “And your reason is..?” She asked, him turning around and looking at her as Caleb cut in to speak for him.

“We have something planned... When you get Lily and come back, come to the room at the end of the hall on the third floor.” He explained, Maria reached into the drawer to get a coat out, a simple black one with enough insulation to walk around in the winter unless it got to sub zero temperatures or anything crazy like that. “What's in the room?” Maria asked, zipping her coat over her chest and grabbing her long red scarf, quietly spinning it around her neck. “Well... It's a recreation room that no one really uses.” He responded, sitting on the bed as his dog walked over to sit next to him.
“It has a pool table, arcade machines, air hockey and even a Foosball table!” He said with excitement, his husky, Sasha barking in response to his excitement. “...Why did you save the Foosball table for last in your little list?” Maria asked, pulling on her gloves and tugging out a pair of boots as well. “Well... Foosball is pretty fun.” He commented, Maria turning around and staring at him out of confusion. “Oh yeah, Foosball is such a great time! Everybody is laughin' down at the Foosball!” She said in a sarcastic old timey voice just to make fun of him.

He sighed and shook his head a bit. “Oh shaddup and get Lily already.” He complained, Maria giving a light chuckle at that as she turned to walk to the door, waving with her hand and not looking at them as she closed the door behind her and heading outside of the dorm room. She headed out and walked through the snow along what she assumed was the pathway until she got to the campus hospital, where they are operated on instead of the standard hospital downtown a couple of miles off. The automatic doors slid open and she quickly stepped inside.

She felt the snow in her hair beginning to melt and get wet as she walked over, placing her hands on the front desk, the receptionist hung up her phone and looked at Maria with a smile. “Hey there, do you have an issue or an appointment?” She asked, Maria shook her head a bit while she clarified. “No.. I'm here to see a Ms. Sterling. I'm on the same team as her.” Maria explained, the receptionist nodded and spun her chair around to tap on a touch pad for a little while before looking up at Maria. “Room 2F.” She stated, Maria nodding her head and walking to the elevator without a word being said, not even a thank you.

She pressed the button and the doors quickly whirred open with the sound of an electronic whoosh, since there was no one inside it, she tapped the button to go to the second floor, leaning against the wall of the elevator brought her up a floor. The door opened as she put her hands in her pockets, checking the sign over each door until she found room F. She gently pulled the handle of the door as she saw Lily resting in her bed wearing a blue gown, and wore bandages on her arms to show she was on an IV drip until recently.

She was looking out the window calmly breathing even if her ribs were sore and her head was constantly ringing almost. Maria grabbed a small stool and scooted it up, the wooden legs of the stool on the linoleum floor loudly squeaking as she took a seat besides Lily. Lily jumped from the sound and grabbed onto her covers in a panic. “Aahh!” She yelped, before realizing it was just Maria sitting next to her. “Did you have to do that? That was loud.” She complained, Maria shrugged a bit and quietly observed her before talking.

She had the scars on her face from their entry exam, and her upper back length hair was roughly cut to about her nose in length, but it looked uneven. “You trying a new look or something?” Maria asked, her as she crossed her arms over her lap. Lily sighed and sat up a bit, rubbing her head. “Well uhm.. I don't think a new look would involve a concussion and 4 broken ribs.” She commented, Maria nodded a bit and put her chin in the palms of her hands. “Yeah, good point I guess.” Maria replied, Lily trying to get out of her bed but she felt a surge of pain, her hand dropping to her stomach to grasp it.

“So how bad is it?” Maria asked, standing up and gently helping her stand up, before letting go of her and watching her as she quietly walked to a drawer to pull out her clothing. “Well.. Doctor said I can't do any training for the next month.” She said, grabbing her shirt and pants and turning away from Maria to put it on Maria glanced out the window a bit before looking back at her when she had enough clothes on. “You know a cold front came in and it's going to be snowing like hell, right?” Maria stated, standing up from her chair as Lily turned around to look at her.
“Oh? Did you bring my coat?” Lily asked Maria, Maria shrugged her shoulders a bit. “Nope.” Lily clenched her fists at that, panicking a little. “YOU'RE MEAN!” She shouted, not wanting to go out into the cold with just her normal shirt and skirt. “Actually, I'm lazy. There's a difference.” Maria corrected her. Lily just sighed and admitted defeat in her head, maybe she really is just lazy. “So really, Lily... What happened?” Maria asked, trying to change the subject to something more serious. Lily looked at the floor and sighed, rubbing her hair, which was now shorter than Maria's chin length flop of a hairstyle.

“I uhh.. Expected you to help.” She admitted, a little scared about how Maria would react to that, Maria looked much more sullen from hearing that, awkwardly rubbing her arm as she wasn't sure how to respond to that. “I really couldn't.” She replied, Lily sighing and turning away from her, leaning down to look at the window. “Well... Why couldn't you?” She asserted, Maria sighing a bit as she raised an arm toward her casually while she explained. “I got flooded with Riftfallen and there was no way I could make it to you fast enough... They apparently put you through a lot, didn't they?”

Lily nodded and put her hands in her pockets, shaking her head out of disbelief. “I can't believe after so much training I put myself though... I was still pretty worthless in a fight.” Lily calmly declared, Maria looking away and gently putting a hand on her shoulder. “Fighting a person is different than fighting a Riftfallen, Lily.” Maria said, trying her best to convince her to not be so hard on herself. “They disarmed me, pinned me to a wall, broke my ribs and lobbed my hair off and I wasn't even able to DO anything about it.” She argued, wiping a stray tear from her eye. “I was worthless, Maria.” She said.

Maria sighed and let go of her shoulder, slowly walking to the door and pulling it open as she spoke. “You'll do better next time, Lily. I promise.” She tried to console her, Lily walking over and looking at her with a pretty grim face. “What if next time IS the last time, Maria? What if I get killed if I cross the same group?” She stated, Maria sinking her brow along with her eyes as she took a deep breath. “That's part of the job... We're probably going to be disemboweled years before we actually become anything important. We will never be heroes... Or really do anything to make us stand out from a crowd of people, even posthumously. I just learned to accept that as fact.” Maria explained, but Lily grabbed onto both of her shoulders to stop her from walking any further.

“How can you live not caring about your own life?” Lily asked, Maria looking away once again as she tried to think of a good answer. “...I try not to get my hopes up, that's just blowing smoke. You'll always get your hopes destroyed if you're an optimist.” She explained, Lily just looking at her out of confusion. “Hell, if you're like me and think everything that happens is always going to end up falling short or being completely fucking terrible, anything good coming your way is always a surprise.” Maria said with a chuckle, which was awkwardly not reciprocated.

“That sounds terrible, Maria.” Lily commented, Maria frowning a bit as she squeezed her hands lightly on her shoulders to make her look at him. “That doesn't mean I don't care, or I don't try.” Maria added, Lily looking at her silently. “I care, I want to save people and help them out, I want the world to be a better place and goddamn it I try my hardest to make it happen... Just I don't believe it could ever work since I'm just some teenage girl with dead parents and a temper problem.” Maria continued to explain, Lily nodding her head.

“You always try, and you always care. NEVER LET ANYONE TAKE THAT AWAY FROM YOU, even if you start using my shitty perspective.” Maria continued to ramble, letting go of Lily's shoulders and pointing at her. “You're here because you wanted to help people... Make it count.” Maria finished, Lily nodding her head some as Maria and Lily began to walk to the elevator to head downstairs.

“Fine, I'll try...” Lily said, crossing her arms and leaning against the back of the elevator as Maria reached up to press the button and have them descend to the bottom floor. “But can you give me some pointers for how to fight another person?” She asked, Maria lightly chuckling to get rid of the somber feeling she had wash over her from that earlier conversation. “Fine, but I'm only good at fighting people because I watched a bunch of TV and got really bored, so I practiced a lot.” She said, Lily lightly chuckling as the door swung open.

Maria and Lily walked up to the automatic door, but just before the pressure sensor would detect both of them standing there, Lily looking at Maria with worried eyes. “Uhh... How cold is it?” She asked, looking at the snow falling outside and collecting on the ground. Maria stepped forward and pressed her boot against the weight sensor, making a blast of cold air and snow instantly flow into the hospital, Lily's eyes widening a bit as she was bitten by the cold. “OH GOD.” She shouted, instantly crossing her arms together and trying to compact down for some semblance of warmth. “Let's just hurry the hell up.” Maria said, Lily nodding as they walked through the snow for the couple hundred feet needed to get from the hospital to the dorms.

“Cold... Cold... Cold... COLD! Cold..” Lily muttered, her shoes nearly ankle deep in the snow as she started to lean onto Maria for warmth. Maria just looked at her funny which instantly caused her to stop trying to lean on her. They headed inside, up the stairs to the floor and approached the abandoned recreation room that Caleb mentioned earlier. “So this is where Caleb told me to come for a surprise.” Maria said, looking up and down at the oak door and crossing her arms.

“I'm afraid as to what Caleb calls 'fun.'” Lily mentioned, before Maria sighed, turning to here and talking some more. “So, what's your opinion on Foosball?” Maria asked her, Lily thought it was random and out of nowhere, so she just looked a bit confused. “Uhh... Foosball?” She asked, not really knowing why she was asking such a strange question. Maria sighed a little and reached up to the knob of the door. “Oh, nevermind.”

She then pushed her ear to the door to see if she could hear anything. She twisted it and slowly opened to a massive cheer of people currently sitting around a fairly large table. “Heeeeeeyyy!” They all shouted, Lily screamed and hid behind Maria out of shock, even if Maria was still shorter than her. Maria glanced around the room, Caleb, Jonah, Robin, Erika and Florence were all standing around, waving at Maria and Lily with goofy grins.

“Here's the last guest for our little party!” Caleb said with a grin, walking behind Maria and lightly pushing her in as she hid her hands in her face out of shyness. “Party? This is a party?” Maria asked, somewhat wanting clarification for said party. “Hey, you guys did your first mission with flying colors and I thought we should celebrate.” He explained, trying to put his arm over Maria's shoulder before Maria firmly grabbed his wrist and tugged it back down to his side. “Well... it was my 14^th mission, I just wanted to get drunk.” He clarified, Maria blinking a couple of times at him out of confusion.

“Wait... Drunk?” She asked, out of confusion as he grinned, walking over to a mini fridge he had set up earlier and opened the refrigerator door to reveal it was stocked with glass bottles. “A whole bunch of sparkling wine from the Goldshore Chateau!” He said with excitement, almost as if he was trying to sell it to her like a brand new car. “Well... the drinking age is 18 so... Who here is older than 18 again?” He asked, Erika, Jonah, and Robin all raised their hands.

“I uhh... turned 18 three months ago.” Jonah stated, Robin waving her hand a little bit as she looked at Caleb. “I'm in my early 20's and I've gotten drunk plenty of times.” She said with a giggle, Caleb pulling out a large bottle and placing it on the table as he looked at her. “A night to remember, huh?” He joked, Robin smiling as she leaned on the table with both elbows. “I don't remember a damn thing from any night I got drunk.” She mentioned as Caleb reached up to pull out 4 wine glasses, putting them on the table. “I'm 19.” Erika added, as Caleb uncorked the wine and began to pour it into each glass, it fizzing a bit before quickly settling back down. Once he filled every glass, he put the cork back in just far enough that he didn't need to struggle to pull it back out. He then turned to Maria and Lily who were just awkwardly standing in front of the door staring at everyone.

“Annnd I'm 18. How old are you two?” He asked Maria blinking a bit before she responded first, putting her hands into her pockets. “Uhh... 16.” She added, looking over at Lily before she raised a finger when she spoke. “I'm 17 for another 4 months.” Lily mentioned, Caleb frowning as he grabbed both of them by the shoulder, walking them in and pushing them just behind the table. “Hmm.. It looks like you two are gonna have to sit at the kids table.” Caleb stated.

Maria looked at the Table as Florence pulled out a small chair on the table to sit on... It was so short that you couldn't even put your knees underneath it, it was also a shade of pastel purple that some people would call offensively pastel. Maria groaned and glared up at Caleb. “Fuck you and your kids table...” Maria stated, Caleb chuckling like a goof from that. “You will sit at the kids table and LIKE IT!” He yelled at both of them, Lily rubbing one of her ears since it was ringing a bit. “Also, if you guys are drinking I would be kicked out of the school and I like being here.” He added, Maria sighing and sitting on the small chair, her knees pushing nearly to her chest as Lily sat beside her.

“Anyway uhh..” Caleb trailed off, reaching into the fridge and pulling out a couple of bowls of ice cream. One was green, one was pink and one was three colors. He handed the green one to Florence, the multicolored one to Maria and the pink one to Lily. “You'll get some ice cream as condolence.” He said, Maria looking down as he dropped three spoons on the table as well. “Three bowls... So did you know we were under 18 already?” Maria asked, He chuckled a bit and patted her once on the shoulder. “I wanted you guys to feel disappointed.” He said with a smile, before going to sit at his table.

“Ooooh~ Is this Rosé?” Robin asked, taking a sip of the light red wine. “I have no idea.” Caleb replied, Erika grabbing the bottle and turning it until she saw the label... which said it was Rosé. “Wow, you actually called it.” Erika said, taking a sip of it as well before reacting with a cough. “Woah... Wine is REALLY sour.” She stated, Robin giving another friendly chuckle as they continued to talk together.

Meanwhile, Maria looks at her ice cream and sighs. “I really hate Neapolitan.” Maria said, poking it with a spoon. Lily looked up at her, slightly tilting her head as she looked at her bowl as well. “Uhh.. Why?” Lily asked, a spoon dangling from her mouth so she sounded slightly muffled. “I don't like things that are... trying to be a bunch of different things at once.” Maria mentioned, Florence making a coughing noise as he dropped his spoon down. “Ugh... Pistachio.” He complained, Maria looking down at his bowl as well.

“Well... You can have mine I guess.” Maria said, he nodded and reached over to slide her bowl over to his. “Wow, that is so awesome.” Florence commented, taking a bite out of Maria's ice cream and being much more happy about it. “What's awesome?” Lily asked, licking the spoon off and sitting it back in her bowl. “That I can reach over the table and grab stuff. Back at our house, the table was so large I had to walk around it to just grab some salt or something.” He admired, Maria shrugging her shoulders as she pointed the spoon at his bowl, her arms slightly too short to reach across. “So, what about the pistachio?” She asked, watching as Florence reached down to lightly slide the bowl toward her, before flipping it over on the table with a loud sound.
“AHH!!” Lily shouted, not wanting glass to fly toward her even if the bowl didn't break, but Maria groaned and glared at him.”What the fuck was that, Florence!?” Maria shouted, Florence awkwardly laughing at what he just did. “Uhh... I thought no one wanted it.” He replied, Maria sighing and throwing a spoon over his head and into the wall behind him. “I wouldn't have cared, at least it wasn't fucking Neapolitan.” Maria complained, Caleb turning the chair around and glaring at the three of them. “What are you guys doing? I thought we were supposed to be the idiots!” He mentioned, since he was already a bit drunk. Maria sighed a bit and stood up, quickly leaving the room and closing the door behind her.

“Well then...” Caleb said, surprised Maria would leave so fast. “Fuck the kids table joke I guess. Lily? Florence? Come sit with us. We need to talk about something.” Lily stood up as Florence sat besides them on the normal sized table, Lily sitting next to him as she looked at the empty wine glasses. “Are we talking about getting drunk?” She asked, confused as Caleb lightly grabbed the wine glasses and set them aside. “We're not drunk enough to have fun, but we need to talk about what happened to you that put you in the hospital.” He said, somewhat more serious.

“Oh, well.. it might take a little while.” Lily warned, Caleb nodding a bit before Lily spoke up again. “Uhm... Where is Morgan by the way? You think she'd want to talk about this.” Erika shrugged at Lily's question, scooting her chair up and placing her hands on top of one another. “I haven't saw her since last night, she told me she'd be gone for a while but wouldn't tell me anything.” Erika explained, a hand reaching up to scratch lightly on her chin.

“That's so odd.” Lily commented, Robin crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair to get comfortable. “Yeah, Morgan hates people who act aloof, yet suddenly she won't let anyone in on what she's doing. I'm not sure anything barring the extraordinary would turn her into a hypocrite.” She surmised, Lily leaning her head into one of her hands, her fingers gently circling the smooth lacquered wood finish. “I might as well keep it brief.” Lily started.

“I was attacked by this group called Silent Fall. They had this guy.. I'm not sure I remember his name but I think he was the leader. They also had people named after animals for aliases... I think one was named Fox.” She explained, Caleb raising a brow as Robin raised a finger. “That reminds me, I heard a couple of weeks ago they robbed a couple of fuel tankers from an outpost.” She added, Lily looking at her with a concerned face. “They robbed a store of it's fertilizer after killing everyone who happened to be nearby.” Lily commented, Caleb looking just even more confused.

“A fuel tanker and now a bunch of plant feed? What the hell are they even doing?” He asked, Erika looked at him and laced her hands together a bit. “I don't know, but it feels very deliberate.” She warned, grabbing another bottle and pouring another round of glasses. “Why do I feel like whatever we're getting into, it's not going to end well?” Lily asked, standing up from her chair and scooting it back into the table. “We just have to take things as they come.” Caleb replied, looking up at Maria as he sipped some of the wine.

“I'm going to go check on Maria.” Lily said, leaving the room with a friendly wave and letting the rest of them drink their wine without her. She walked back downstairs and got back to the dorm, pulling the door open as Maria was backed against the wall, holding a pillow in front of Sasha, who was just panting and looking at her with her tail wagging. “BACK, MONGREL!” She shouted, the dog just tilting her head out of confusion. “Uhh... Hi Maria.” Lily greeted, Maria looking up at her as she tried to slowly circle around the dog, before smacking into the desk and knocking over some of the stuff on it.
“Ow.” Maria calmly stated, before dashing to the other side of the room to try and keep the pillow in the way of the dog. “What are you even doing?” Lily asked, looking at her confused. “The dog tried to jump on me and lick me. I WILL NOT LET THAT HAPPEN!” She exclaimed, before the dog took a running leap on her once again, promptly knocking her on her back so the dog could start licking her again. “Dammit Sasha!” Lily began to giggle uncontrollably as she leaned down to per her head.