•Cerise•

School was turning out to be a soul sucking, never ending cycle of pointlessness. I was spending an exuberant amount of time on these grounds, and truthfully it wasn't something I had anticipated doing.

"Down! Set! Hike!"

My gaze flickered down to the football practice taking place from my spot in the bleachers. With Blaine's signature fully transformed there was no more leaving him alone. That meant we had to guard him during every part of his long schedule- whether that meant, class, clubs, or football practice.

Azure was sitting beside me. This cycle also included me having to be chained to my dear enemy, ally all freaking day.

I could tell he was currently using his senses to check the perimeter for danger. We had been switching off between keeping an eye on Blaine and the campus border. However, guard duty during Blaine's practices was mostly just waiting patiently in terse silence. And silence appeared to be heavily prominent between Azure and I these days.

We hadn't spoken much since our fight a couple days ago. If we did they were short, snippy conversations. We had seemingly created an unspoken rule to not speak a word about what happened in the gym.

Still he was acting different. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but he was more contemplative than normal. And more than once I caught him watching me thoughtfully. I wasn't entirely sure what to do about that, or if I should do anything at all. It had crossed my mind that he was simply responding to my slight adjustment in behavior.

I was much more intentional regarding our interactions. No more banter that bordered on playful teasing. Our interactions were transactional, and occasionally snarky, like they always had been. I wasn't even sure when we'd become more lax, but I was determined to put a stop to it.

Almost as if Azure knew what was going through my head, I suddenly felt the heat of his gaze turn to me.

I elected to ignore him. Instead I kept my focus on a tall boy with brown, curly hair who was making a commotion. He had stumbled into another player on the sidelines, almost knocking over the water jug.

Gosh, this practice was riveting- not.

I wished there was something more interesting to keep my focus. But it took all of a few seconds before I felt the itching drive to get Azure's attention off of me.

With a sigh, I turned my head towards him expectantly. Just like usual, he didn't look away or have the decency to be ashamed.

Instead he cocked his head, and while his expression remained serious, I could see subtle amusement dancing behind his sapphire irises.

It made my stomach flutter strangely so I immediately shoved the sensation away and focused on my irritation.

"What?" I snapped in annoyance. "Why are you staring at me?"

The corner of his mouth turned up in a small grin, causing the subtle amusement I'd detected to spread across his features.

I glowered, fully ready for whatever obnoxious thing was about to come out of his mouth.

But then his expression sobered, and instead he leaned forward.

"Can we talk?"

I felt a wave of apprehension swarm my chest. Talk? He wanted to talk? Why did he want to talk?

I shifted in my seat, before fixing a narrowed gaze at the Solar. Suspicion filled me as I crossed my arms, "About?"

"About our last couple arguments..."

I couldn't help but grimace, turning my gaze forward and refusing to meet his stare. "Do you want us to kill each other?"

"No," he answered. "I don't. Which is why I want to talk. I want to...I want to apologize."

Almost as a reflex, my attention whipped back towards Azure beside me.

He wanted to what?

I examined him skeptically, my gaze searching his for the deception- the game he must be playing. What new strategy was this? Was he serious?

He appeared serious, blue eyes sincere and not a trace of mischief- but was that part of the plan? Was that a way to try and make me lower my guard? What was he attempting to do?

"Apologize?" I repeated, the word foreign on my tongue especially in a context that involved Azure.

"I want to apologize," he repeated more firmly. "I know I offended you. I may not agree with, or understand Lunars, but that doesn't mean what you have to say is invalid. I didn't mean to make you feel inferior so..." he lifted his piercing gaze to mine and I almost gaped at how completely unshielded he was. His eyes were nothing short of an open window.

His guard was completely down and all I saw was pure earnest.

"I'm sorry, Cerise." He spoke gently, but there was a firmness to his voice. He meant that.

All I could do was stare at him. I knew my eyes were wide as saucers as I blinked in complete bewilderment.

What did I say to this?

I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out. What was the appropriate response to an apology? I couldn't even remember the last time I got one- and certainly never from Azure.

This must be some sort of tactic, but he looked so incredibly honest. I wanted to snap at him purely for the fact that that action would feel familiar and normal. But somehow that felt inherently wrong given his apology.

I glanced away from him uncertainly, "Um... ok." I mumbled.

Another silence settled between us, but it was far from comfortable. At least from my end. I felt like I was sitting on a bed of needles.

I kept my eyes forward, but anticipated his voice cutting through the quiet at any moment to further make his case.

But after a pause, I felt his gaze move from me. And after a couple minutes, he still remained quiet.

Was that it?

He simply wanted to apologize? No strings attached or a stipulation to fulfill? It couldn't be, there had to be something he was after.

Almost like a magnet, I felt my gaze being pulled back to him.

He was now watching the practice diligently- expression relaxed and neutral. I watched carefully as his blue irises trailed the field, following the movement of the players.

I couldn't detect anything that told me the true purpose of this apology. He didn't seem to have anything else to say, and he didn't appear to be waiting for a specific reaction from me. Could it be that he truly just wanted to apologize? I supposed that wasn't out of his character. I've witnessed him do good for the sake of doing it.

It was something I never really understood about him.

My eyes began to sweep over his profile, catching on his brown hair being lightly grazed by the breeze. His strong jawline wasn't tense in the slightest. He had a very well defined jawline, and prominent cheekbones. He'd almost look intimidating if it weren't for his kind eyes and plump li-

I quickly averted my gaze when I realized where my thoughts were headed. What was wrong with me?

I needed to be watching the game and remaining diligent in checking the perimeter for Umbra.

Still, I felt this burning need to say something. But what? If he really meant his apology, shouldn't I respond in some specific way?

"Azure."

His name was out of my mouth before I could even register it. I bit my lip almost as if worried about what could possibly come out.

I felt his intentional gaze fall back on me and the weight of it made me stiffen- like my clothes held a layer of bristle poking at my skin.

I couldn't bring myself to meet his stare, so instead I just shifted slightly toward him. Now what exactly was I supposed to say, or what did I want to say?

"I...um," I cleared my throat, geez this was so hard to get out. I just needed to let him know that I recognized his expression of regret. That I saw it for what it was and I, "Appreciate it...your apology, I mean."

As soon as I said it, I let out a tense breath- my gaze cautiously lifting to see Azure's reaction.

His deep blue irises gleamed with what looked like fondness. While he still seemed to be taking the conversation seriously, there was something else in his expression that made my stomach tingle.

Azure simply nodded in response, before his expression lightened with mirth. "I kind of deserved the tongue-lashing anyway."

I felt myself relax a bit, as I recalled the various insults I had hurled at him over the past few days. I knew I wasn't one to hold back, least of all in this regard.

I found myself shrugging, "Maybe not all of it." I allowed, amusement beginning to flow through me, "But most of it."

Azure's lips turned up in a grin, that familiar mischief resting on his features. I found myself smirking back, a lightheartedness passing between us.

As our gazes remained locked, that weird tension that had formed during the past few days
settled between us. His smile softened, and I felt my smirk begin to fade.

I shook my head slightly, and pulled my eyes from his. There would be none of whatever that was.

"Anyway, enough of this sappy stuff," I dismissed, "We have a job to do."

Just like that we broke out of our strange bonding moment, and went back into much more familiar territory: passive aggressiveness with slight tolerance of one another. 

It was comfortable.

We went back to watching the practice. They ran a couple more plays, before my eyes were drawn to the same tall figure with curly brown hair from earlier. He seemed clumsy and out of it.

I eyed him curiously. He was clearly a student, but he didn't appear to be on the team. He was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt that was decorated with some red neon logo. He stumbled slightly as he walked, and the expression on his face was dull. He moved along the sidelines, watching intently as the team got ready to run the next play.

"Down! Set! Hike!"

As he continued to move, he ran right into one of the benches that was sat along the field. He stumbled back, and scanned around the area. He then looked down in surprise at the bench and carefully moved around it, placing a hand on it as he went.

"Hey," Azure muttered. "That guy, something is..."

He didn't look quite right. The way he moved was unnatural, and there were alarms going off in my head as I continued to observe.

"Off," I finished for him.

Both of our eyes were locked onto the boy as he continued to watch the football team. None of the players or the coaches took notice. He didn't appear threatening and blended right in with the group.

The boys were gathering again, taking up positions for a new play.

"That's weird," Azure frowned. "I don't sense anything off."

The boy stopped circling the field. His round dark eyes began scanning each boy. His gaze hopped around to each player. He looked to Max and Philip, and then his eyes stopped on the person in the middle of all the chaos.

"He's looking at Blaine," I realized, "Should we intervene?"

The only problem with that was potential exposure to this boy and the students present.

Aside from the football team, there was a handful of people around. There were people from track and cheer, along with some students watching the practice casually.

"No need to be rash," Azure began. "Let's just walk down calmly and not draw attention to ourselves. Then we can approach the boy, get a better look, and be close enough in case danger arises."

"What if the boy turns violent?" I asked pointedly. 

"I'll expedite him away, you draw his attention?"

I shrugged, "Ok." It was as good a plan as any.

"Also we need to appear like we're two friends just hanging out, so maybe limit the amount of glares you give me."

I scoffed and glared at him.

"Don't give me reasons to glare at you," I snapped.

Azure opened his mouth to argue, but then seemingly decided against it.

"Let's just go," he said dismissively. I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

Yep, things were back to normal.

We began slowly walking down the bleachers and toward the field. I vaguely registered some of the students watching the practice, shift their attention to us. 

I tried to blend in with the surroundings, and not look like a warrior trying to take out a potential threat. 

We reached the ground, crossing the track to where the gate lining the actual field was. I leaned on the fence, and to my surprise curly-haired boy tensed, before sharply turning towards us. His whole body whipped around, like we'd set of some sort of alarm.

Azure and I both froze in our tracks, caught off guard and highly wary.

"Shoot," Azure muttered. "He must sense us."

So much for the plan.

"What's our next move, friend." I shot back, sarcasm laced in my voice.

He gave me a look, before turning back to the strange boy.

Curly-hair's eyes were looking at us, but it was as if he wasn't really seeing us. His dark orbs were glazed over and slightly blood shot. You couldn't see from far away, but he almost looked in pain. His dark eyes were contracting downwards, pulling the rest of his face to the ground.

He fidgeted awkwardly, but once Azure and I didn't move further he turned back towards Blaine.

"If he can really sense our signatures, why is he still zeroing in on Blaine?" Azure murmured.

"I don't know," I admitted, "But I think we should get curly out of here."

I glanced between the strange boy and the team, noting the very short distance between them.

"Let's wait until the play has started. Then people won't be watching us." Azure gestured to the football team.

I nodded agreement, keeping my energy focused on the threat as my crystal hummed in anticipation.

"Down! Set! Hike!"

Go.

I quickly expedited behind the boy and placed a hand on his arm, where I touched him red crystals appeared scaling his wrist. He whirled on me attempting to swing at my head, but I ducked and grabbed his other arm evoking red crystals there too.

The boy cringed in pain and opened his mouth to scream but before he could, Azure expedited towards him. The boy didn't even have a minute to register Azure, his focus on me.

In a blink, Azure rushed past moving the boy away from the field and to the thick row of trees lining the small forest near Freemount.

I quickly scanned the area surrounding, ensuring no one saw what just took place. Once satisfied, I followed Azure into the tree line.

When I arrived, I found Azure subduing curly-hair against a tree with his blue crystals. The gems were wrapped around his hands, feet, and waist.

"No one saw anything," I informed, as I approached further into the shaded forest. The air was cool here under the canopy of leaves.

Azure nodded in approval, before looking back at our captive. The boy was writhing frantically against his blue shards. He attempted to twist and pull free, but to no avail. 

"Is he human?" I questioned, leaning forward slightly to get a better look.

Azure crossed his arms over his chest, looking puzzled, "I'm not entirely sure."

The boy appeared human, but his body language was awkward and unnatural. It was like he didn't fit in this body.

I summoned one of my red crystal blades, releasing a sharp cling through the trees. I gripped the hilt when it appeared, and swung the pointed edge at the boy's neck taking an intimidating step towards him.

The boy froze. His glazed eyes were wide and his breathing was labored.

"Who are you?" I asked once we had his attention.

The boy looked from me to Azure. He then scowled and began making dark haunting sounds. He was screeching in whispers, and making grotesque grunting noises. Just like...

"Umbra," Azure breathed. "He sounds like an Umbra, but he looks human."

As the boy continued to growl at us his glazed eyes darkened, as they darkened his eyes seemed to cave in- turning into dark empty sockets. The darkness flooded his entire eyes. They were murky and monstrous.

They were the eyes of an Umbra.

"How is that even possible?" I muttered.

I had never seen or heard of anything like this.

"We need to get rid of it but how?" Azure questioned, "And what if this boy is actually part human. We've seen him at school before."

I kept my focus locked on the boy, who's dark eyes were creasing in distress. We needed to kill the Umbra.

"There's only one way to find out," I said drawing my red blade back and aiming it at his heart.

"Wait Cerise!" Azure interjected, his hand grabbing my wrist, "You can't. What if it kills this boy?"

"What choice do we have?" I asked incredulously. "We can't let it continue to follow Blaine and we can't just keep him with us, or keep him in the apartment. And if there's more of these things we have to know how to defeat them. This is the only way."

The boy still continued to make the growling, unearthly noises. However it had quieted significantly. He was watching us intently, as if waiting to see what our next move would be.

I looked up at Azure expectantly. If he had another idea, then I'd hear it. But this seemed to be the only solution.

Azure eventually gave a small sigh. I knew he didn't like it, but he had to see that this was the best way to carry out our most important objective.

"Alright do it," He relented.

I didn't have to be told twice. I faced the boy who had begun flailing quite frantically. I aimed my blade, and swiftly plunged it through his heart. 

The boy let out an ear splitting shriek, and a black fog began to emit from him. I stepped back, drawing my blade out of his chest to watch it all unfold.

As the black fog increased in volume the boy's screeches faded. The fog began to grow in height and began dispersing in all directions. 

Azure made to step back from the dark fog. He grabbed my arm lightly, tugging me back with him.

When the fog had almost reached the tree tops it began to disappear, as if dissolving into the air. My eyes shot down to the tree to see the boy's body still being held by Azure's blue shards. The dark fog had cleared leaving a seemingly lifeless boy.

If this was actually a human, and not some manifested Umbra disguise...I didn't know what we would do.

With a wave, Azure retraced his blue shards and dissolved them. I followed suit, getting rid of my red shards that still rested on the boy's wrist. Without Azure's shards to hold him up, the boy slouched to the ground with an unceremonious thud. He lay motionless on the grass. 

I tore my eyes away from the boy and towards Freemount, feeling dread grow in my chest. This was now a delicate situation. News of his death would spread, and speculation would weave through the school not to mention the town.

"Hey," Azure spoke suddenly, "Look at the mark on his neck."

My eyes shifted to him, immediately catching on the dark symbol on the boy's neck. It was splotchy in the center, but had tendrils that looked almost like roots engraining themselves in the surrounding skin.

The mark flashed suddenly, and then it dissipated.

A large and violent gasp, made my attention snap back to the boy's face.

His eyes had opened revealing human hazel eyes and his jaw was unhinged as he sharply inhaled. I felt relief course through me. So the boy was an actual human and even though he was somehow taken over by an Umbra, you could kill the Umbra like usual and not harm the host. But what was that mark?

"Well would you look at that," I muttered slightly in awe at the revelation.

The boy finally looked up, his eyes flitting between Azure and me. His brows were furrowed in confusion, but there was also shock in his expression. He then took note of the trees around him.

"W-what...why am I-I." He appeared to be very confused, but I noted that there was no fear in his hazel orbs.

"How did I get here?" He asked scratching the back of his head.

"Not sure," I shrugged. "We found you like this on our walk through the park."

"You looked like you were napping," Azure nodded, playing along. "Do you remember anything about how you got here?"

We both waited curiously for the boy's response. He looked around and then glanced at the field that still harbored the football team.  

He shook his head, turning back to us. "No, I-I have no clue why I'm out here or how I got here, last thing I remember was getting ready for basketball practice in the locker room."

Good. It benefitted us that he didn't have any memory of being taken over by an Umbra.

"How are you feeling?" Azure inquired.

The boy shrugged, "I feel fine actually..." he trailed off as if confounded by this.

He didn't say anything for a few moments. His forehead creased, and he seemed to be trying to figure out what exactly happened.

"Shouldn't you be heading back to practice?" I prompted after a long moment of silence had passed.

The mention of practice seemed to pull the boy out of his stupor. He blinked a couple times before nodding quickly.

"Y-yea I need to get over there," he muttered.

He scrambled to his feet and dusted himself off. 

"Uh thanks I guess, for not leaving me here," He spared one last glance at Azure and I before scurrying back towards the school.

My eyes followed him as he sped up slightly. He glanced at his phone that he pulled out of his pocket, clearly frantic at being late to his basketball practice.

"We'll have to keep an eye on him," Azure stated, his gaze also on the boy.

"Agreed," I said.

Although it was good that the boy seemed ok, this development was worrisome. I could feel a dark energy around us, like a bad omen. 

"I realize there's not much we can do to figure out why things have been off with the Umbra," Azure began. "But something is really wrong."

It had been evident since we first arrived here that the Umbra were functioning differently. The question was why.

Why now? And why on Earth?