The tray slammed hard enough to make the whole cafeteria go silent for a second. Everybody's head turned in their direction. Everyone saw. They saw and looked away diving back into their lives again. But the three couldn't. They weren't used to seeing someone make an entrance into conversations by slamming trays. So they sat there, all frozen, cautiously studying this 6 feet something Nix lest they had to duck in any direction.

The one standing in front of them had his tousled honey blonde hair roughly pulled into a bun at the top of his head, his coat unbuttoned and unpressed. His undershirt was showing and what was more showing was his ripped body. It threatened to tear his overused tee any moment now. But that was not what caught Claire's eyes. What caught her eyes was the sporadic dimension of colors underneath the thin fabric. His body was tattooed, densely. It seemed as if his whole torso was inked. Or even more. Claire could trace them to the tip of his palms, one of which was casual resting on his waist and the other on his palm long beard, combing it away.

Her eyes traced up to his face only to realize his eyes were directly on her, boring through her face as if looking for something. He dragged the chair beside him with a loud screech and plopped down on it, his graze still intact.

Claire gulped. She looked at Jennifer. She was dipping her fries away completely unswayed by this erraticity.

"So! What are you?" the guy spoke as he took fries from Jennifer's plate and made them disappear into the blackness of his mouth.

Claire didn't quite catch what he meant. She looked at Jennifer and back at him.

"Oooh wait! I should introduce myself. Hellow mate! I'm Aston Lynx of House 8," he said as he trafficked another handful of fries from beside him which earned him a smack on his hand. " Oh Major by the way. But I don't care about that shit so neither should you. Just call me Lynx. You'll be seeing this hot bod more often," he said all the while chewing with his mouth full.

The three still looked at him, anxious. Partially because they couldn't catch half the words he just spurted and totally because they were almost sure he was going to choke any moment now. Jennifer read their face and waved her hand in the air. "He said his name's Lynx and wants to be friends."

" Yaap that. And now. What are you? How were you unfazed in the COD?" Lynx said rubbing the oils off his hands on his uniform. His attention was completely on Claire now.

" You mean...in the Chamber of Dawn?" Claire said. She was confused.

Was I suppose to do something there!

"Holy Shit!! You're the first person ever to actually know what it is. Hot Damn!"

The boys exchanged perplexed views. They were still in the dark here.

"How long have you been watching us?" Xen interjected.

" Since you peed on yourself waking up. "

" I. Did not. "

" Hell yeah you did! Or wait! Was it cum? Hmm. I pretty sure its chemical composition was majorly uric acid," Lynx clicked his tongue with a sarcastic look of concern, slurring each word.

Claire sniggered out loud which caused Jennifer to giggle and before they knew it, the laughter spread out throughout the table. They were all laughing hard, except Xen. He sat there all red with his arms crossed.  He couldn't believe the two were laughing about this level of breach of privacy!

It took a whole while for all of them to stop laughing. Claire and Derek couldn't believe there was someone else out there other than Xen who could use these terms so casually.

As they finally settled, something different hit Claire's mind. Like the laughter had just lifted off a heavy blind from in front of her eyes. In the past, the only thing that popped in their mind whenever they had seen a Nix was hostility. Lethality and madness. But as they sat there casually in a cafeteria, Lynx stealing fries from Jennifer's plate, them making fun of Xen like there was no tomorrow, it all just seemed surreal to her. This was the first time she could see a possibility that the difference between them perhaps was not that big at all.

Jennifer rubbed off her tears and tucked her hair. "Don't worry. Now that you guys are here, you'll get used to him in a few days. Cuz he uses these terms as casually as he drinks water."

"Don't sweat it. We got one on our own side too," Derek said pointing at Xen. Jennifer seemed impressed.

"Aww! We've found your long-lost BFF," Jennifer said pulling Lynx's cheeks. It was red from laughing too hard already.

" So. Is this gonna go on?" Xen suddenly said," you guys are gonna watch us and we're gonna be watched?" There was something in his tone that dispersed the happy tone into thin air just like that.

"Oh nae bro! The proclamation was lifted this morning. I don't have the authority of surveillance over you guys anymore. You guys are free birds now," Lynx replied slumping back on his chair, stealing another handful of fries.

"Great! So which way is the exit?" Derek chimed up. Both he and Xen looked at Lynx like a happy puppy eager to have a walk outside.

Lynx frowned. He couldn't catch why this was suddenly important.

"You just said we're free birds right? So we're free to leave now. Right?"

" No no. No Nix can leave the premises before nightfall. Everyone has-" then it dawned on Lynx, "Bird! Free bird! By free bird, I meant a Phoenix! You guys are  Nix now! "

They looked utterly confused. The logic made no sense to them.

"If you haven't realized already, you guys are a part of this organization just as much as we are," Jennifer stated as a matter of fact.

"And who said we wannabe?" Xen arched his brow. His voice escalated a scale without him even realizing it.

Jennifer whistled. She couldn't they were complaining about this. "So you guys would rather be killed or worse, tortured till you start singing like a parrot, obscenities about yourself that you'd never utter to a living soul than become a Nix?"

Claire and Derek were frozen on spot. It was clear that they weren't ready for hearing anything that was coming out of their mouth. But Xen...he looked like he'd stab them in the gut for uttering another word.

"So... you're trying to say that we are stuck here like... forever?" Xen whispered, his voice shaking with anger.

Lynx looked at him, his eyes narrowed. There was something in his attitude that made Lynx want to punch him with each word he uttered. And not being able to put his finger on what it was irked him even more.

"  COME ON! We at least deserve an explanation. What are you guys doing with our lives? Getting confined here for hell knows how many days! Being dragged to and fro! And now you're saying we're a part of this bloody organization of hooligans and murderers? ARE THE LIVES OF CIVILIANS A JOKE TO YOU?!!!!!! "

Lynx's palms fisted up. He could badmouth Phoenix all day if he was asked to but he could never stand some civilian calling them names. Not after all that, they had to go through to bring on the table whatever it was they did.

He lunged at Xen and grabbed him by the collar." LISTEN UP YOU LILL PIECE OF SHIT! This uniform that you're wearing and sitting over here like a glorified asshole!  It took us years to even get to pass the gate and set our foot on this ground. Lots of us even died in the process and no one got here without losing something precious to them and here you acting all high and cocky WHEN ALL YOU DID WAS BREAK IN LIKE SOME SNEAKY BASTARD  !!!"

"If this piece of shit is all so precious, keep these turds to your fucking self! Don't mock me with your croc tears you entitled ass! "

Lynx just lost it. He smacked Xen's head on the table while Xen yanked him by his hair and before they knew it fists were flying everywhere. It was like a raw grueling rage starved for centuries was stirred inside them that lacerated all the shackles it was bound with and came regurgitating down like venomous lava on the one in front of each other.

The rest of the three put on multiple attempts, all futile, to stop them from increasing their expanding list of vandalism and assaults. It wasn't about spitting some angry words anymore. It was like all the unspoken anger and frustration that the organization and civilians had held back against each other came rushing down their veins as they each smashed a punch on the other. They were both blinded with boiling rage swirling inside their skull, threatening to crack their own head before they did their opponent's.

The whole catering circled around them, booing and cheering all the same. But the sudden tide of excitement ebbed completely and all the Nix halted on spot and saluted as a silhouette appeared at the entrance. Even Lynx stopped throwing punches and did the same.

As sunlight from the back hit his face, the first thing Xen noticed was a nasty cut on his cheeks.