Three days had passed and Phoenix gnawed on her thumbnail nervously as she watched the Final Trial unfold on the screen before her. In Zessica’s ward room that had an empty bed beside the short girl, the majority of the others who weren’t competing looked on beside her. Zatch was lounging on the corridor wall while Caterpillar and Stabs sat beside Zessica. While they pretty much were on edge, all of them tried as best as they could to follow their comrade’s progress, willing them on.

Curious, Phoenix glanced at the shorter girl whose emotions didn’t give away. If she was feeling just as fidgety as the others, she wasn’t letting it show. She ought to be nervous though, Phoenix could feel her own stomach flipping at the prospect of Arma, her childhood friend, finally making it this far. The only thing that pretty much gave away what Zessica was feeling was her own heart which beeped rapidly on the heart rate monitor.

The arena designed for the Final Trial took the form of a high-walled labyrinth, much like the maze on that day of ‘Hide and Seek’ but this one had no mist to make visibility zero. It had various traps and pitfalls scattered throughout the whole stage to catch any unsuspecting carless competitor off guard and the walls moves, constantly changing direction over time.

Arma, with the Exoskeleton visibly on with its purple highlights had managed to keep himself largely out of trouble, only engaging three pitfalls as the triggered traps escalated on the way at the first half an hour of the Trial. Phoenix marvelled at how quickly the walls of the labyrinth changed from one path direction to another so quickly and soon, it was evident that the tall lad was struggling to keep up with the changes.

With a bit of skill and bit of luck, Sophie was quickly proving herself to be a threat as she surveyed through the confusing pathways and avoiding traps at ease. She was easily recognisable with the owner of the Exoskeleton that had baby pink highlights that was decorated on her in a flowery pattern. Once, she even managed to find unsuspecting Euphino in the midst of it all and started going all out at him. She was a nimble and effortless fight since by watching Euphino’s facial expression; Zessica could tell that she was picking him apart with surgical precision, and she hadn’t activated a Major or Minor yet.

Unfortunately for the silver haired girl, the walls began to move and Euphino had used this chance in the nick of time to get away. Ophelia, with a dark green arrow decoration on he Exoskeleton, being the bold member of their group, found her way onto the platform sections of above the maze itself. While this gave her an added advantage and safety from traps, the observant girl under the hospitals sheets knew that it also left the Rising Star Prodigy out in the open for anyone who fancied a face to face confrontation.

She watched impassively as Alois, who had been walking around in five total circles cock his head in confusion before walking at the opposite direction, reversing the never ending cycle. She tried her best not to think about it but so far, that boy had been giving her impression of someone being utterly lost and completely hopeless. She was slightly envious that he was able to take part in the Final Trial unless he took the handicap boots off, which had been his condition to participate. Zessica had no choice but to stay back since she still couldn’t go out without the oxygen tank to keep her at bay.

After fifteen minutes slipped by, the camera had its gaze on Arma, who was only meters away from Alois. It was then sounds another confrontation quickly took place catching the camera’s attention as it snapped to where Ophelia was. Zessica wasn’t surprise what the camera displayed was something she had been secretly expecting. Sophie had finally found her.

The camera had caught the silver haired girl giving a punishing kick to Ophelia’s midsection. Just as if looked like it could send Ophelia flying head over heels backwards, Ophelia caught it with the palm of her hand and twisted it. Unfazed, Sophie twisted her body, using sheer momentum to spin and use her other leg to kick at the side of the Ophelia’s jaw. Once again, the Rising Star Prodigy saw this coming and let go of the other leg before catching the oncoming blow.

Since this move was predicted easily by the famous player, fell back on the platform before rolling away quickly when Ophelia was about to kick her senseless. Gaining her bearings again, Sophie lunged forward and there was a clash of fist against fist. Both of them dodged one blow after another, only to counter the attacks with their own type of punches. Eventually, Sophie somehow slipped behind Ophelia and threw her arm back. Before the tanned girl could do anything about it, Sophie snapped her arm forward, aiming her fist at Ophelia while the other arm guarding her gut.

There was a sense of satisfaction spreading on Sophie’s face when the fist actually made contact, sending her stumbling back slightly. Her triumph was soon short lived when the air around her changed and Ophelia regained her composure. There was a small trail of blood trickling down at the corner of her lips but she didn’t seem to give a damn about it. Instead, she was staring at the silver haired girl with a creepy smile on her face, both hands blackened into poisonous claws. Only then did Sophie know that the real fight was now on.

Meanwhile, as the two fiery competitive girls battled on, Arma was on the verge of giving up and resort to flying. He didn’t care whether if anyone would see him or not, he needed to be seen in order to get the plan over and done with. Even though Zatch had commented that his plan was foolproof and worth a short, the part where he mentioned that Arma was going to sacrifice a lot troubled him slightly. However, it was the only conclusion he could come up with in order to make a peaceful resolution and to finish the Final Trial.

When he turned to a corner, he was slightly amused to find Alois looking just as lost as he was. Arma frowned lightly, contemplating whether to put his plan into action or not. It was just too soon, but would it hurt to fight Alois? After all, he was curious in what the small boy is capable of and wondered whether he had the strength to beat this boy. The only thing he knew was that his Minor allowed him to tell whether a person was lying or not. If worse comes to worst, he could always just flee out of there and settle a score with someone once and for all.

The tall lad flinched when Alois eventually spotted him and the brunette almost stepped back when the shorter male came closer. Arma felt the butterflies fluttering in his stomach intensify when Alois stared at him deeply, trying to figure something out before giving a small faint smile.

“Ah, a person! Finally... Her mister, do you know where the bathroom is?” Arma almost fell back in disbelief as he leaned on to a wall to regain his sense of balance. Alois simply stared at him innocently, oblivious of what he was actually supposed to do. Arma continued to gape at him, hoping that he wasn’t the only one out there thinking what runs in that peculiar mind of Alois’s.

“What’s wrong? Did I say something unnecessary?” Alois queried airily and Arma was tempted to hold Alois on the shoulders as he answered back seriously.

“Alois...it’s the Final Trial. You are supposed to fight everyone here...not got to a bathroom...” His purple eyes sparkled in recognition and Arma sighed deeply. Maybe he shouldn’t fight this little fellow after all. This kid, even though he was astonishingly the older, couldn’t even look after himself. Arma felt somewhat guilty if he were to defeat someone who is so defenceless. It felt like he was fighting a person who was already down. Also, how had this guy been living so far with that forgetfulness of his?

“Arma...do not underestimate him...” Zessica muttered back in the hospital, making everyone give her an astonishing look before reeling their concentration back to the screen. Phoenix felt dread eating away in her stomach as soon as Zessica warned something that could not be reached to the tall idiot at the moment. If someone with high perceiving abilities like Zessica was warning Arma to be careful, just how much powerful did that meant Alois really was?

At that point, Arma was pondering whether to leave this guy alone or have a peaceful truce when he heard clashes of a battle in progress nearby. It was the reverberation of an ongoing battle between Ophelia and Sophie but of course Arma didn’t know this. The noise served him as some sort of distraction because when it soon resided, he turned to proceed with the truce in mind to Alois only to be greeted with an unusual surprise.

Just a while ago, he was sure that Alois had nothing as much as a weapon to defend himself with. Right now, he was holding a dark purple violin with the trademark black rose design on them. He was holding it under his chin; the fiddle raised and prepared to play. At first, Arma didn’t know what was going on until he felt an uncomfortable feeling when some sort of wispy and flimsy like dark purple smoke was springing forth from the ground and the violin. It engulfed him as it floated around him, making him even look magical in a dark fantasy like way.

“A-Alois?” Arma asked warily, his body already preparing to bolt out of the way in case something would go wrong. By what he pieced together by then, Arma sort of knew that Alois was using his Major but the tall lad didn’t know what. It was obviously related to that creepy looking violin in his hands. That’s when without warning, Alois swiped the fiddle across the violin. To the tall lad, he was expecting it to ring a loud note, but he tensed when part of the purple smoke floating around him struck forward, right at his direction.

Heart in his throat, Arma quickly rolled sideways when he heard something heavy collide. He turned back and gapped at the huge hole in the wall at where he was at just a moment ago. When he stood up, he cringed lightly when he realized he didn’t dodge the attack as quickly as he had thought. Some of those wispy smoker material had somehow brushed past his left side, making it sting. By then, the brunette knew he was in trouble. This guy was using the violin as a medium of his attacks, and he was on the roll.

When Alois started playing the violin for real, Arma was slightly taken aback at the fact it sounded like thousands of violins playing at once. Thinking it was the music simply messing with his mind; Arma quickly dodged the blow by a hair and leaped on the wall. He slid down slightly before he saw more of the dark wispy smoke pulsing brightly and coming at his way at his peripheral vision.

Groaning slightly in discomfort, he jumped from the wall and somersaulted to the opposite one, briefly registering the smoke breaking through the one that he had been on earlier. This was just enough proof to show Arma that his music controlled those smoke and those very things were the real thing. This time, he was able to slide down with ease till he saw another chunk of smoke appearing right beneath his feet, wrapping around his feet before pulling him up and dangling him in the air.

Arma yelped before he struggled feebly against the substance that was leaving him helpless in the air. Alois was still playing the violin, the sound resonating in such a way it felt like an orchestra was playing instead of a solo violinist. He was unaware that he had set his healing stone showering him with purple electricity now. In the midst of the tall lad’s powerlessness, he gulped nothing but air when another chunk of smoke pulsed loudly against the violin harmony, altering itself to the shape of what looked like a round cone-shape spike which was aimed at Arma. That thing was looking way too solid for his liking.

Not in the mood to be spiked with that dangerous looking weapon, Arma made one last struggle attempt and somehow, one way or another managed to get the smoke that was wrapped around his leg to disperse. He quickly spun and fell on all fours, before sprinting forward to the line of fire. He knew it was slightly risky, but since the odds were not in his favour, Arma was willing to risk it all.

Alois seemed to notice Arma’s change of strategy and started swishing the fiddle epically on the violin. At one point, Arma would have sworn he heard a choir of miserable singers but he quickly pushed it far from across at the corner of his mind. This music Alois was composing was muddling his mind, making him hear auditory hallucination.

The brunette quickly skidded to the right when he saw another wisp of smoke strike at his way. He stopped at one wall, leaning on it for balance quickly while observing Alois. During the past few days, he had listened to his partner on what she usually does when she took the role as his ‘shadow’. He had thought it would help him since she won’t be there for him on the Final Trial but that itself didn’t make up the whole plan. Still, the few pointers she had given him had proven useful when he noticed something afoot. After a small moment of watching the movements of the smoky substances, he realised that there was only one way to get through.

Nodding to no one in particular, the brunette picked up speed once more and sprinted towards the boy openly who played the violin silently, persistent to close his distance to him as quick as possible. It was at this moment, Zatch was the one who realised what Arma was trying to do first and he groaned in disbelief.

“Oh dear Lord, I know he was a reckless fool but he is suicidal.” Zatch commented for the first time in minutes after they witnessed Arma’s fight, cursing words that were definitely not taught in day care centres under his breath. Phoenix, Stabs and Caterpillar was without a doubt mortified with Alois’s Major. They couldn’t quite put a name on it yet but they were surprised that such an absentminded boy like Alois could control something morbidly fascinating as this.

“What do you mean suicidal? What is he doing?” Phoenix asked concernedly, knowing that whenever Zatch actually cusses, it would mean something quiet bad. She noticed only then that Zatch had been silently using his Minor of Clairvoyance this whole time. His eyes were bright red, before it turned to its natural black to the worried girl.

“Alois, he has a unique Major that doesn’t have a name as of yet. I am sure that you have put together by now is that using that violin, he is able to control that smoky aura around him. These smokes has a blind spot, I am surprised that Arma even saw it.”

“Blind spot?” Caterpillar repeated curiously to which the informant nodded.

“Yea, see how the smoke moves? It originates from the center of Alois but it doesn’t go straight. For example, if Arma and Alois stood right before each other unmoving, the smokes curve sideways from Alois before it reaches Arma. It doesn’t directly go straight, leaving that area completely open. Arma had noticed this and since there is a blind spot of those smokes, he is darting towards straight to the center to attack.”

“But how is this a suicidal attempt if Arma managed to find something odd as that? Isn’t this like a breakthrough?” Stabs queried quizzically, clearly mystified at what Zatch was grumbling about.

“Since the smoke curves, there is one point in a distance where it can be gathered together to block his way and attack him completely. If Arma runs at that point, the death point, it’s all fatal for him. Game over. Before the smoke gets to that death point, Arma has to do it quicker than Alois’s smokes so he needs to rely on speed. We all know that he is fast, but we don’t know whether Alois can alter the speed of the smoke with one stroke.” All at once, Zatch could feel everyone’s mood drop in a single blow.

“But you are all forgetting something.” A small voice suddenly spoke, turning everyone’s attention on the girl who had been quiet thus far. Zatch perked an eyebrow inquisitively, interested at what Zessica had to say since she seldom had showed any facial expression at the moment. To his surprise, she turned and glanced at him, a small phantom playful smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“You have forgotten that he can fly.” On cue, Arma activated his Minor of flight. Greyish blue wings in the form of a flat jet structure materialised at his back. It had been a while since he last activated it so to do it again, he couldn’t suppress the grin from his face. Even though Arma wasn’t as witty as Zatch, he knew that at one point, the smoke would eventually curve completely and strike him.

With the activation of his Minor, he slammed both feet on the ground, feeling his wings whirring into life before he plunged off. In blurred motion, he quickly zoomed through the blind spot, past the death point before the smoke could get him and he zeroed his vision to the small boy. Alois seemed to detect something swift was aiming at his way, rapidly gaining speed before he stopped his violin strokes to look, a grave mistake on his part.

There was a collision between the two players as Arma tackled him, making the boy gasp before he fell back in surprise. The violin disappeared from his hands and the smoke singed away instantly. Even the wings dispersed from existence. When the Child of Misfortune landed on his back, he struck his head too hard and was already knocked out before Arma could do any damage to him. By the time Arma recovered from the football tackle, he glanced at Alois who had spinning eyes and a knocked out expression with a lazy smile displayed on his face. The tall lad cringed lightly, before patting the unconscious boy on the shoulder.

“Sorry mate, it was an honest accident! Really!” With that, Arma left the shorter boy sprawled on the floor and scampered away, trying to find a specific person in mind. After all, time was running out.

“Impressive. So even the power of ‘light and shadow’ works with long distance.” Zatch mused loudly, flashing Zessica his signature Cheshire smile to which she reciprocate back only a bit more downscaled than his. He won’t deny that he was once again, felt Zessica leave an impression on him. After all, for her to put this much faith on her ballistic partner to the point where she could guess what he was thinking by a mere glance, it was something short of admiring even.

Several more minutes passed and the fight between Ophelia and Sophie continued, both of them unwilling to be defeated. The silver haired girl was slightly uncomfortable at fighting on a platform because so far, things had been going far too easily. She knew if they continued to fight longer, there was bound to be a trap to be triggered somewhere. It had been too long since each of them heard anyone

She really shouldn’t have thought about it because she basically jinxed both of their lucks.

Sophie didn’t know who triggered it, whether it was her or Ophelia, but from where they were at, the silver haired girl almost lost her balance and fell sideways when the platform started rumbling under their feet. Soon, cracks formed, spreading across the raised area like vines to the point that it made Sophie sick. Without another words uttered, both Sophie and Ophelia jumped away and ran on opposite directions when the platform started giving away from their weight.

Sophie felt her teeth chattering in a jittery manner as she tried to outrun the collapsing platform. When she felt her feet stumble lightly, she had no choice but to leap from where she was and plummet down to the natural dirt pathway. Activating her Major of Genesis, she quickly imagined a pillow appearing before her. She didn’t worry about the ten second existence since it was more than enough to make her land safely without risking a sprained ankle.

The silver haired girl was instantly swallowed into something soft, making her sigh in relief before she struggled to get off the pillow when she saw Ophelia on another platform, crouched down in a predator like way and sneering at her.

“Had enough princess?” Sophie felt some of the veins in her head snap at the nickname given to her. Any normal girl would have taken this as a compliment but when Ophelia said it, it was almost like she was mocking and looking down on her. With renewed determination, Sophie leaped off the pillow which soon dispersed in to pixels and started running towards Ophelia on the dirt path.

Ophelia cackled in laughter before fleeing away, balancing herself impressively on the platforms and giving Sophie a run of her life time. Unfortunately for her, the silver haired girl lost track of Ophelia once more thanks to the walls quickly shifting paths. She almost lured herself to a pitfall and quickly caught herself before doing so. Cursing herself inwardly, the silver haired girl blindly sprinted towards where the Rising Star Prodigy had been. However, she was already too far gone.

Ophelia surveyed through the labyrinth, catching a tall lost figure in her line of sight before grinning maniacally. Without a second thought, she leaped from the platform, astonishingly covering several feet before landing with remarkable grace before the startled brunette. Arma unconsciously took several steps back as the smirk on Ophelia grew all the more despicable and she raised two poisonous claws, ready to use them against him.

The tall gulped as he assumed the subtle Ophelia was drowning somewhere in her consciousness while the frustrated one was on the surface. What should he do? He really didn’t want to have a showdown with Ophelia just yet. How did Stabs who had adjusted to Ophelia’s behaviour within days cope with her? How had he successfully resurfaced the slightly docile one?

Arma never got the answer when Ophelia sprinted forward like a lazy panther and snapped one blackened hand forward. Shivering from terror, Arma just barely avoided a graze on the cheek as he jumped to one side.

“Wait! Wait! Time out Ophelia! Time out!” Arma cried out weakly, jumping up when Ophelia swooped down low to knock him off his feet. He quickly leaned his upper body back, swiftly standing on his hands when Ophelia made another strike at him again. Leaping back to his feet again, he was now evidently raising his hands in surrender but Ophelia hadn’t notice it yet. This gesture no doubt confused a couple of spectators and the reason was still unknown as he continued to try grabbing Ophelia’s attention to hear him out.

“H-hey! I said time out! Truce! Truce! Let’s make a truce for now!” Arma yelled frantically now, stepping back several times since Ophelia was continuously overwhelming him with powerful offences. Either the girl was deaf or was so engrossed with beating the tall lad to a pulp, Arma never knew since she still hasn’t lighten up the offences.  

That was when Arma slipped up; actually stumbling over his feet and making him tumble backwards. He grimaced lightly when his head struck the wall a bit too hard, making him see stars. Once his vision cleared up, Arma vaguely noticed a blackened fist approaching him while rapidly gaining speed. Ophelia had cornered him and made all escape seem impossible when she was already close in distance between them.

The brunette felt all the blood drain from his face and before he knew it, a high pitch squeak escaped from his treacherous lips as he quickly resorted to the only escape he could come up at the moment, crouching down with hands clasping tightly on his head. The sound of a wall being crumbled into pieces soon followed and Arma shuddered how he barely escaped from a bash on the face once again.

He thought he was a goner when Ophelia stepped back to look where he was gone but to his astonishment, the Rising Star Prodigy was gaping at him with a puzzled expression. Various emotions displayed on her face before it finally the corner of her lips tugged upwards and to the tall lad’s amaze, Ophelia doubled over and guffawed out loud.

“Oh my God! Y-you...that squeak! The heck was that?! Ahahah” Ophelia gasped, still laughing uproariously. Arma suppressed a pout because he felt a bit of his pride die there. After all, his brain had shut down when he saw the oncoming attack and he couldn’t stop the squeak of terror from emerging. It was no doubt embarrassing but as humiliating it seems, looks like it did the trick in snapping Ophelia’s attention. So he laughed nervously with her, gulping lightly before proceeding with his plan.

“Hey, let’s call this a truce for now okay? I got someone to deal with first before you.” Ophelia’s laughter was cut short when the brunette said this. She gaped at him again, unable to believe what he was saying.

“So you are chickening out?”

“No! Not like that. It’s just that I have a score to settle with Euphino first. Declaration of War.” At first, Ophelia didn’t seem to comprehend why Arma was trying to post pond their battle when they were already present until her eyebrows perked at the last sentence. For a moment, Arma wondered whether she was going to ignore his truce and continue with the fight when she yawned lightly and scratched her ear with her index finger. Blinking, the tall lad watched as Ophelia stepped back and started walking to the opposite direction in a lazy and laid-back fashion.

“Whatever. Go do what you want.” Even though Ophelia’s current attitude was not being sincere but the brunette could tell her actions contradicted it. Even the audience could not help murmur between each other when the Rising Star Prodigy disappeared to a corner with a smug expression. They had thought the player who was famously known for her ruthless play style and beating people even when they were down wouldn’t be so submissive to Arma’s request. It was bizarre.

“Heh, so Ophelia at least have some sort of decency within her huh? Who knew?” Zatch remarked with a slight hint of sarcasm but this did not repress a smile from emerging from Stabs. After all, he had somehow proved himself that Ophelia was not who they thought they were when everyone else except Zessica doubted her.

Still not believing his luck held still, Arma exhaled out a long shaky breathe. He bounced on the spot several times; shaking his limbs to loosen up the tight anxiety and stress that plagued his body due to all the pressure just by being only several feet away from Ophelia. He had thought he would be able to endure since he was alright sitting right beside her back at the hospital but it seems his body still cower away when the Rising Star Prodigy is on the roll to break player’s wills.

Feeling confidence settling in, Arma dared to use his Minor of Flight in order to spot Euphino as soon as possible. In a matter of seconds, the wings had returned and soon, he soared into the sky at an incredible height. He marvelled at the walls of the labyrinth briefly, wondering how it can move and alter the pathways in ease. Witnessing it first hand, it felt out of the ordinary, wacky even. Shaking the distraction from his thoughts, the brunette instantly scanned through the labyrinth. Flying over here and there, striving to catch sight of a curly haired boy.

It didn’t take him long. Someone with the neon blue highlights decorated on his Exoskeleton was bobbing about through the labyrinth. He stopped short and caught sight of Arma, grinning openly with his arms out wide open as if waiting to be tackled with a bone crushing hug. It was as if he had noticed the tall lad had been flying the whole time to which Arma knew because he was easily spottable.

Without another second wasted, Arma bolted towards the area where Euphino was, leaving some sort of dent in the air before landing roughly a few meters from him as the wings faded to dust. This didn’t stop his momentum however, as the brunette quickly sprinted towards Euphino and engaged his third combat on the day. The curly haired boy was quick to deflect as he stepped aside in blurred motion and kicked Arma on the shin with a smirk on his face.

The smirk quickly melted away when he realised the kick barely tickled the tall lad as the brunette seized him by the arm and hauled in a circular motion, very much using him as in a hammer throw. Despite this, Euphino remained calm and Arma felt the disbelief on his face show when the curly boy quickly spun and landed on one wall Spiderman style. The speed he had used was just unnatural.

“Oh, looks like somebody is ready to lose his partner! After this I will make her my girlfriend~” Euphino chuckled lightly before Arma felt a tiny vein throb furiously against the side of his temple.  With a war cry, Arma jumped towards Euphino with such speed, he was sure that Euphino won’t have time to react. He was proven wrong when he struck nothing but the wall and the smaller male had somehow wiggled himself out of the way like a slippery eel. Arma blinked before going forward to him again, part of his mind wondering just how this guy was able to move so freaking quickly.

Even Zatch was mind boggled with his speed. Curiosity had gotten the better of him one day when he saw one of Euphino’s matches against someone in a random Trial and the informant decided to ‘read’ him. The Major was kept secret due to Euphino’s wishes and Zatch was more perplexed to find the three Ss, Strenght, Stamina and Speed, was average, especially the speed.

After all, right now Euphino was acting like his speed was ten out of ten, when in actuality, it was seven out of ten. Arma had already reached to eight out of ten in speed, so he should be the one who is faster but why was that not happening? Just what exactly was Euphino’s Major? What was it if it wasn’t Stealth?

The players who were not participating the Final Trial watched as the two boys clashed each other with their fists. Arma, using his reflection on both of their shiny Exoskeleton armour, had already used several different types of powers to throw Euphino off. None of them proved to be useful since Euphino would deflect it even faster than Arma and sprint forward to throw a jab or two. The smaller boy was attesting his skills were enough to make him hold it on his own and the reason why he had been able to take the five spots of Wind Crest by going solo. Pretty soon, the frustration and struggle was beginning to show on Arma.

Soon, Sophie had found Ophelia again and they too were engaged in battle. Both of their battles displayed all four of their strengths and skills extremely. None of them was giving up and none of them was holding back. Ophelia was back to her maniacal self, spouting nonsense with euphoria and was displaying such raw power, it was amazing that Sophie was able to hold up on her own and counter with her own powerful attacks too. Unlike Ophelia, Sophie had a grim slash of determination and deep concentration, being the quieter one of the two.

However, Zessica had her own interest in mind. Like everyone else in the room, she was just as bamboozled to know what the secret behind Euphino’s power was. It was definitely not physical since his body was small. He was light too and pretty much like a stick as she was but the amount of power Euphino had within him was too deviant. There was definitely something afoot here. It was almost like the guy was playing a trick.

After narrowing her eyes at the screen, her focus maximised as she absorbed every tiny detail quickly in her mind. Minutes ticked by and she still hadn’t found any holes in Euphino’s play style. Although, eventually after sifting through both Arma’s and Euphino’s movements of their battle, she spotted something. It was small, almost negligible but it was more than what she had seen earlier. The full magnitude of the realisation had struck her so hard, her heart rate monitor picked up lightly.

“Woah! Zessica calm down. I know you are worried about him but he has a thick skull and he is too much of an idiot to be beaten by the likes of your acquaintance.” Phoenix immediately turned her attention back to the short girl when she caught the slight change of speed in the beeping monitor. She placed a firm hand on the girl’s shoulder and pushed her back gently when Zessica was sitting upright, almost as if she was trying to get out. Zessica shook her head furiously, about to ask her whether she truly couldn’t see what was going on. Arma was already struggling so much that he was blinded by the pressure to see the miniscule flaw like she had. She needed to get there to tell him somehow!

The room went quiet when Arma let out a cry of shock. Turning back on the screen, all five of them were baffled to find Arma strapped on the wall. Euphino was at a safe distance, smirking amusedly as more straps appeared out of nowhere, pinning him on the wall. The brunette weakly thrashed, finally losing it and started yelling gibberish and illogical nonsense in anger at the cackling curly haired boy. He didn’t know how but when Euphino gave a strenuous kick on the tall lad’s torso in a hazy motion, Arma was hauled back and was caught by some sort of straps.

Soon, the wall started shifting that it was slanting slightly forward. Both the boys grasped at the fact that maybe Arma had landed himself into a trap, making the taller one blanch at the tiny piece of detail. Without warning, one second the tall lad was strapped on the wall, the next second he was fired several miles across like emerging out of a canon.

Euphino roared in laughter again, witnessing the brunette disappear somewhere in the sky and leave a twinkle in its wake. Using his Minor, he could tell the distance between him and Arma had increased significantly to the point where Arma was outside his hearing range but oh well! This was going to be fun.

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, everyone was so engrossed with the battle, none of them noticed when Zessica took the distraction to her advantage and turned the heart monitor off with a flick of her finger. Fortunately for her, not even Phoenix noticed the sudden stop of the beating noise and Zessica didn’t waste any time in ripping the IV cord stuck into her system. She winced lightly and a swollen bruise already formed on the back of her elbow but she didn’t care.

Suddenly, it became sort of funny. Here she was, trying to risk her life just to reach her partner and tell him her new discovery that would give him a chance to win against Euphino. She won’t deny the way Arma was going, he might even lose and she would instantly turn to Euphino’s partner without him breaking a sweat. The realisation of losing Arma as her partner terrified her, making her resort to go this far. If she were to ask herself six months would she be able to do something as reckless as this, she was sure that the girl back then would no doubt say no.

With the others still transfixed on the screen, she quickly went through her list of inventory and took out a fur trimmed parka which reached up to her knees, wearing it over her dark grey hoodie. She took the oxygen tank from the holder, accidently slipping it from her fingers when she realised she was too weak to eve lift it. The tank cluttered on the ground, echoing through the silent rigid room and all four pair of eyes was resting over her now, busting her attempt to sneak out.

“Hey! What in the name of sanity are you doing?!” Phoenix shrilled, her voice so high pitched Zessica felt needles pricking on her head. Before anyone could react, Zessica resorted in wheeling the oxygen tank in its holder away and darted towards the door to unlock it and disappear through the halls.

‘Whoa!’

Standing up caused a dizzy wave crash over her, this one being the biggest one yet. She took half a second to close her eyes before she reached out for the door knob. That’s when out of nowhere, Zessica felt the room becoming hot. No, it wasn’t the room, she felt like she had been lit of fire. The doorknob, which only was within her reach a second ago now seemed like a hundred yards away.

Zessica lost all her thoughts in half a second, nothing came to mind. Everything was blank. She, a girl who had always so much to think about was annulled of all thought. Right then, the only thing she knew was that she was losing her balance. A part of her brain which still had some control told her to brace for the painful impact that was sure to follow, even when she knew she was helpless.

She waited, closing her eyes only to realise the fall seemed to be taking so long. Realising that this was abnormal, she dared to crack open her eyes and saw two concerned navy blue eyes fixated on her. Stabs had caught her.

“What do you think you were doing?! You can’t even stand!” Phoenix kneeled beside them as Zessica grimaced lightly; noticing her healing stone was crackling with electricity now, indicating she was truly pushing herself.

“You are in no shape to be leaving!”

“But-

“Phoenix is right Zessica, you aren’t supposed to be moving. There is nothing you can do to help Arma at the moment. He can handle on his own. Don’t worry, he will beat Euphino and you won’t be stolen from him.” Stabs cut his small cousin lightly, his grip on her tightening in a protective manner. Zessica was about to counter but then realised it would go to deaf ears anyway. She then turned her attention on the screen, witnessing Arma pick himself up after diving nose first in the dirt before thrashing on it bashfully, clearly on the edge of his sanity. She knew it because she was feeling it too.

“Tell me Zessica, did you figure something out?” Zatch queried suddenly, looming over everyone while making everyone blink at his question. After a bit of hesitation, the young girl nodded confidently, causing the other three individuals to gape at her as well. The informant on the other hand, nodded to no one in particular, analyzing her response, only to fire away another question which broke through her emotion barrier that had a calibre of a nuclear reactor.  

“Is he worth it?” Zessica felt her face drop and stupefaction sprawled across her pale features. Zatch simply stared at her, his expression serious for once but the young girl observed his expression anyway. She tried to find any sort of trickery behind that question or any sort of lie but she found none.

“I’ll ask again, is he worth it?” Zatch repeated, this time more clearly. Caterpillar and Phoenix stared at him with an incredulous look while Stabs observed Zessica who was lying weakly in his arms. She blinked several times, before her face hardening when she found her answer.

“Yes.” Zatch could hear the sincerity and solemn tone in her voice, satisfying him completely. It was such a short answer, but it weighed so much meaning that Zatch couldn’t help but smile his signature Cheshire smile at the young girl, making him look all the more wicked and appalling in a light hearted way.  

“So what are you waiting for? Go!”

“What the hell! Are you out of your mind Zatch?! She hasn’t fully recovered yet and you are telling her to go?!” Phoenix shriek in disbelief and Zatch would almost swear the screeching noise would have cracked his glasses if it hit the octaves any higher. He rubbed his ears sorely before facing the very definition of wrath from the fiery girl. He did not recoil back in fear for he had been living with her and Stabs for so long to be threatened by venomous look. Instead, he smiled brightly like the bright sun.

“Sorry but you can’t do anything about it. She’s already gone see?” Confusion spread across the female’s features as she turned to find something that knocked every wisp of air out of her lungs. Even Stabs was left breathless while Caterpillar looked as if his eyes could pop out of their sockets any moment from now. The girl who had been in Stabs’s arms just now was gone, and the door was still locked.

Author's note: There will be mistakes in this coz i wrote this like in the middle of the night barely getting any wink of sleep. This book is almost finished anyway, like two or three more chapters left then it would be the second book which might take a few months or weeks of planning xD So please notify me any mistakes you find in this. On the side is what Alois was playing in his violin by the way!

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