After saving the large group of students from falling, the Tower magicians began to search every corner of Ishuella, finding for the other missing students. Rood, Sky, Lidusis and Chevel joined the group of students after they were discovered by one of the magicians. Chevel quickly left them and walked to his classmates from Heresis. As Rood scanned around his surroundings, he realized that Dio is the only one missing. "Hey. Has anyone seen Dio?"

The group of students who saw Dio fell off the peak, flinched at Rood's question. Seeing that none of the students were willing to break the bad news to Rood, Iel walked up to Rood with a frown. "Rood... You have to brace yourself. Dio... He-"

"I'M OVER HERE!!!!" Dio shouted out from the corner as he waved at Rood with a big smile on his face. The students snapped their head towards the direction of his voice and gasped in shock.

"D- Dio?! H- How did you? We all saw you fall from all the way up!!" One of the students exclaimed out disbelievingly.

Dio laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head as he explained. "Yeah. I thought I was gonna die too but a magician saved me. He hid me in a bush and told me to come out only when it was safe."

"It must have been the black magician and the silver magician who saved Dio! They were awesome!" One of the students cheered and the other students nodded in agreement, thinking it was their heros who saved Dio. The duo, on the other hand, looked at each other confusedly. They were sure they did not recall saving Dio.

Curious, Sky walked up to Dio. "Hey Dio. How did the magician who saved you looked like?"

Dio tilted his head. "I- I'm not sure. It was all so sudden so I couldn't take a close look at him."

"I see..." Maybe it was someone else who saved Dio...

~ • ~ • ~

Days after returning to Helios from Ishuella, the students who were involved in the incident are slowly recovering from the traumatic experience. Yesterday, Lin suggested to Professor Kan, to throw a celebration party for the safe return of all the students who went to Ishuella. Professor Kan was very approving of the idea and proposed it to the other professors.

Considering the trauma that the students went through, all professors had agreed to the idea and the party would start on today's evening. In the classroom, the students began to discuss excitedly about the party and they were glad that they brought formal clothings before their entry to Helios.

I should have told Lily to put a suit in my luggage. Stupid me...

"You sure you don't need a suit, Sky?" Lin asked after knowing that Sky did not own a suit.

Sky nodded. "It's fine. I'll just wear my uniform."

Carmille grinned as she looked at Sky. "I can give you a dress! I think you will look pretty good in one. Your skin and hair looks really smooth. I almost mistook you for a girl." Sky remained silent but inside she was beginning to panic. Oh no. Has Carmille figured out my true gender?

Thinking that Sky was offended by Carmille's words, Lin quickly interrupted and gave Sky an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Sky. Carmille was just messing with you. What she means is that you look really handsome."

"T- Thanks Lin. I'm sure you and Carmille would look gorgeous tonight." Sky chuckled and gave them a charming smile, making the two girls blush.

"G- Geez... You really can make a girl's heart flutter." Carmille touched her flushing cheeks as she looked away shyly. Realizing what she just did, Sky sweatdropped. I didn't mean to flirt with them... Will they be devastated if they find out I'm a girl?

"Sky! Carmille! Lin! Rood is calling us to meet him at the storage room!" Dio called out as the three turned to look at him and nodded. Together, they left the classroom and went to the storage room where Rood and Lidusis were awaiting them. Rood walked to Lin and explained. "Lin. I heard from your brother that you cut his hair often right? Could you do the same for Lidusis? I think a makeover is good for him."

Looking at Lidusis, Lin agreed to Rood's request. She always felt that Lidusis' hair was too long and she could barely see his eyes most of the time. When everything was prepared and Lidusis sat in front of her patiently, Lin took a deep breath and began cutting Lidusis' hair carefully. The group watched her curiously, they can't wait to see what the end result will be.

After Lin was done with cutting Lidusis' hair, everyone's eyes grew wide, amazed by Lidusis' new look. "W- Wow. Never thought that you would look this good, Lidusis!" Carmille exclaimed.

Sky chuckled and nodded. "Everyone would be surprised at today's party... Oh yeah, party! Come on! All of you need to dress up for the party! Especially the girls! Do your hair and look gorgeous tonight!"

Rood raised an eyebrow at her. "What about you? Don't you need to dress up?"

Feeling embarrassed, Sky cleared her throat. "I don't have a suit so I don't need to dress up."

~ • ~ • ~

In the sports hall, students wearing fancy suits and dresses began to flood in. Sky was the earliest as she did not need to dress up. She walked up to the stage and sat down as she waited patiently for the arrival of the main character of the party. After 20 minutes of waiting, she finally saw a familiar-looking boy with grey hair coming through the door with Rood, Dio, Carmille and Lin. She quickly stood up and shouted loudly, getting everyone's attention. "LIDUSIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Everyone snapped their heads and looked towards the entrance. Several gasps left the crowd's lips as Lidusis walked on the red carpet that was laid in the centre of the sports hall.

"T- That's Lidusis?"

"That's Artian?... Woah..."

"He looks great..."

Suddenly, flower petals started to appear and fall gracefully from the ceiling. On the upper floor, Chevel stood still watching Lidusis as he casted an illusion spell of flower petals. The flowers were meant to commemorate Lidusis' new life. He was no longer that monster that was bullied and pushed away by others. Now, he could finally stand up and walk alongside everyone else as a normal person. Seeing the smile that formed on Lidusis face, Chevel felt content and left.

~ • ~ • ~

As the celebration party started, classical music began to play and several students began to waltz with their partners in the centre of the sports hall. Sky whistled as she watched Dio ask Lin for a dance.

"H- Hey! Just as friends! Nothing wrong, okay?" Dio explained as his face turned red from embarrassment.

Initially, Dio felt embarrassed for asking but Lin accepted his offer as she took his hand and danced with him. Sky watched as the two danced and couldn't help but smile goofishly. Rood chuckled.

"If you like watching them dance so much, why don't you ask a girl out for a dance too?"

"I would... If I wasn't bad at dancing. Especially waltz." She sweatdropped as she began recalling her dance lessons in Ruon and how her teacher gave up teaching her. The waltz steps were rather difficult as she could not catch the rhythm well. She preferred practicing war dance and enjoyed the feeling of holding her swords as she danced freely on her own.

A frown started to form on her lips as she recalled that it was her mother who had taught her war dance. Tears started to pool in her eyes and a few of them escaped. Her mind began to fill with memories of her mother. Rood flinched, seeing her tears fall. "S- Sky? Why are you crying?..."

"I... just remembered someone... Sorry. I should take my leave." Not wishing to dampen the mood, Sky quickly left the party. Worried about Sky, Rood followed her as she went up to the rooftop.

On the rooftop, Sky stood staring out at the beautiful lights brightening the capital of Kansiol. She wiped away her tears and breathed in deeply, trying to suppress the memories of her mother. When the late Queen passed away, she became depressed for days, refusing to leave her room until she was unable to tolerate her hunger any longer. She left her room looking for food. Walking past her parents' room, she paused as she heard sobbing sounds. As the door was not closed, she took a peek in. To her surprise, she saw her father crying. The king stared at the photo of the late queen as he sobbed softly. "Skylar isn't eating... She isn't coming out of her room either. No matter how much I pleaded with her to come out of her room, she wouldn't listen... What should I do, Alicia?... I wished you were still here..."

Sky's eyes widened as guilt filled her heart and she blamed herself endlessly. She knew that her father was upset with her mother's death as much as she was, yet she made him worried about her. From that day onwards, she suppressed her pain and became more focused in her magician studies. She wanted to become stronger for herself and her father so that he would be proud and not worry for her any longer.

"Sky?" Rood's voice called out, snapping her out of her memories. She turned around and smiled at him. "Hey Rood... Sorry for worrying you. I just... remembered something sad. No need to worry. I will be fine soon."

Rood blinked and stood next to her. "You sure?"

"Yup. I will be fine, Rood. Don't worry..." Sky sighed and breathed in the fresh air deeply.

"Rood? Your mission is almost complete, isn't it. Will you leave Helios if Opion's Master calls you back?" Sky asked in a casual tone.

The atmosphere became silent as Rood froze at Sky's question. It was true. If it wasn't because of the mission, he wouldn't come to Helios. Because of the mission, he gained friends... Lidusis, Dio, Sky, Lin, Carmille, Iel... Before he came to Helios, he disliked socialising with others. He only had Kielnode and Ren by his side. But now... he has a lot of friends.

"... Unless there is a new mission or something important happened in Opion, I won't leave Helios just yet. I like my life here... with everyone. "

Sky smiled, happy with Rood's answer. "Yeah... We have great friends."

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