Magali woke up to the soothing sound of nothing. She stretched her arms above her head and yawned her thanks to the crimson god's for not allowing the morning bell to ring on weekends.

It was still within the early hours. Magali shot an eye towards the alarm clock on the nightstand next to her bed. It was five minutes past nine. She and Mia had plans for the day. The bus into town left at ten o'clock and the girls agreed to meet up by the gates ahead of the bus departure.

Magali climbed out of bed and got herself ready for the day. Her hair needed tending and her face needed washing and so she tiptoed herself out of her bedroom, but not without a trailing glance at the empty bed that was Rebecca's. She had yet to return from the medical center. Magali had overheard some of the other girls say that Rebecca's well-being was stable and so Magali only found it inappropriate if she'd go back to visit, although she doubted that there was another way for her to get her blazer back.

"Excuse you." A girl hissed.

"Sorry." Magali said, having squeezed through the crowded bathroom just to get a spot in front of a mirror. The shared bathroom was cramped with half dressed girls. On weekends they were all on the same schedule to catch the bus into town. On these days a line would form itself and stretch all the way from the bathroom and further down the hall. If you were a deep sleeper you might risk having to go into town with a half ironed head.

Magali removed the bonnet that had housed her afro for the night and began combing her voluptuous hair. She looked different compared to the girls that she stood sandwiched in between. They had straight hair and she did not. They had thin lips and narrow noses and she did not. There weren't many brown skinned people walking around campus. She had spotted two or three in the upper classes, in fact there were more people that looked like her represented amongst the custodian faculty and that really forefronted what the school thought about diversity. Like herself, the people of color that attended Scuola di Conoscenze were mostly very privileged people. They were daughters of diplomats and sons of doctors. The fact that most kids came from wealthy families' black or white, said a lot about the elite standards that Scuola di Conoscenze upheld. If it hadn't been for the outstanding facilities and highly praised teacher's, Magali is not sure she could put up her studies for longer. Her struggles with the Italian languages fueld the poor performance in some of her classes and despite her fathers suggestion to provide her with a tutor Magali saw no end to her struggles. Unless she one day woke up fluent in the Italian language of course.

"Wow, you look sharp." Mia said as the girls met up by the gates.

"Thanks." Magali flapped the wings of the coat she was wearing. She took the liberty to wear a black dress underneath and a pair of high knee boots to shield her legs from autumn cold.

"Don't I feel like a peasant standing next to you?" Mia said. "You could have told me that you were gonna go all out."

"I did not." Magali chuckled. Her hair sprung naturally underneath the white headband that she wore. A hand went to remove a curl irritating her eye. "I just think we should take advantage of the days we aren't stuck wearing uniforms." She said,

"Yeah, I get it," Mia nodded. She wore plain jeans and a knitted sweater. A purple beanie kept her ears from getting cold. "I guess I'm also tired of looking identical to everybody else at this school." The girl's laughter traveled down the line of students that stood waiting outside of the gates. Once the bus arrived they would all be forced to stand on each other's toes.

*****

Charles and Luca sat on the far ends of the empty brother's table, a game of chess set up between them.

"Your turn." Luca said, making a move with one of his pawns, shuffling it forward two steps. His baritone voice had echoed throughout the fairly abandoned dining hall. Most students had caught the morning bus into town.

"I said your turn." Luca hissed, eyeing Charles as he enjoyed a big bowl of cereal.

The kitchen didn't normally serve breakfast at this hour, however as Charles and Luca had stumbled into the dining hall late for breakfast, the chef had made an exception and prepared the two crimson brother's a nice selection of eggs, bacon and freshly cut fruit. Charles however had longed for a bowl of cereal and settled only with that.

He licked his spoon clean before stretching out a hand to move his knight. "Checkmate." He said.

"How?" Luca's mouth was left open.

"You were too eager with your pawns." Charles said, shoving a spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

"But...but I was setting you up." Luca often found himself on the losing side when playing against his friend. The way Charles appeared to be off his game lately had left his friend believing that perhaps he could secure some bragging rights for once by beating him.

"You set me up alright." Charles chuckled. "Set me up for victory."

"Whatever man." Luca said bitterly. "It's your fault we missed the bus this morning. I told you to get ready before I left for my run, yet I found you fast asleep when I returned."

Charles shrugged his shoulders. "We'll just have to catch the two o'clock bus."

Luca was unaware that Charles' delay this morning was due to the fact that he had gone to bed around two o'clock in the morning on his return from the medical center last night.

"It's still gonna take an hour for us to arrive in town, by then all the stores will be closing." Luca set up the chess pieces for another game.

Charles frowned. "What stores?"

"I dunno." Luca shrugged.

Charles smiled. His friend was just bitter from losing their game of chess. He'd let him put up a good fight this time around. That will cheer him up.

As the boys set up for another game, Charles using half of his grandfather's pieces, the door to the dining hall swung upon and Alessandro entered.

"Sandro!" Luca shouted in triumph. His mood was already uplifted. "Join us, have some breakfast."

Alessandro eyed the spread of food set upon their table as he approached his fellow crimson cadets. "I'm surprised to have found you here." He said, looking at Charles. "Take it you two aren't heading to town this weekend. Would be a first, wouldn't it?"

Charles took notice of the seriousness in Alessandro's expression, but said nothing.

"Nah, we're just waiting for the two o'clock bus to come around." Luca said, claiming the first move by shuffling his pawn two steps. Charles reacted by shuffling his pawn one step. "Charlie here decided it would be a good idea to go for a late night run before bed last night. It's really your fault we missed the bus, Sandro."

"My fault?" Alessandro frowned.

Charles took notice of how his friend had yet joined them by sitting down.

"How is it my fault?"

Luca decided to try something new by moving his knight this early in the game. Charles knew that Luca hoped that this would confuse him. His eyebrows furrowed once Charles went on to do the same, mimicking his move.

"Well, aren't you the one who suggested you join the cross country club?" Luca said. "Isn't that what you were training for Charles?"

Charles failed to answer. He had finished his bowl of cereal and was now instinctively focused on the chess game before him.

Alessandro was observing him where he stood. "Well, either way I am glad I found you. It would have been hell to run around town in search of you two."

"Why would you be searching for us?" Charles waited for Luca to make his next move before he turned to look at Alessandro.

"Well, I come bearing news." He said.

Charles dropped his gaze in order to move a pawn from the left side of his board. He shuffled the pieces forward one step, again imitating Luca's previous move.

"Hey!" Luca said, having come to the realization of what Charles was doing. Nevertheless, Charles' attention was brought back to look at Alessandro who stood clenching his jaw.

"I'm only a messenger Charles." Alessandro said remorsefully

Charles smiled. "Go on then, what's the message?"

"Council wants you."

"Now?" Luca frowned, his hand gesturing towards the chess game setup before them.

"Where?" Charles said.

Alessandro didn't meet his eye. "East wing, library I think?"

"You're not going?" Luca said. However Charles was already on his feet.

He was determined not to falter in anyone's presence.

Arriving at the east wing, Charles made the assumption that the council would be waiting for him in the library. However, a voice called for him in the shadows, but before Charles could turn around his vision went white when a weight was brought down on his head.

"On your feet." Enzo's voice hissed. However Charles' legs had folded underneath him, his vision still blurry from the blow.

"Bring him to his feet."

Two sets of arms hooked underneath each side of Charles' shoulders, bringing him to stand on his feet. Despite the dizziness he squinted his eyes open. "Enzo." He said through gritted teeth. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The two other council members were the ones keeping Charles on his feet, but also preventing him from making a lunge for Enzo's head.

"Wipe that smile off your face Leclerc, you know why I'm doing this."

"Because your big brother ordered you to?"

Without a chance to brace for impact, Enzo had shoved his fist up Charles' stomach, causing him to grunt in agony. If it wasn't for the two council members keeping him on his feet, Charles would have folded to the ground.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you Leclerc!"

Charles nodded his head, meeting Enzo's fuming gaze. A large vein pulsated his temple.

"If you ever insult my sister again..."

"You'll have her slit her wrist for another fellow?" Charles smirked.

Enzo's eyes widened and this time Charles saw it coming. The back of Enzo's hand, slapping across his face.

"That's gonna leave a mark." He said and licked the corner of his lip that tasted blood.

Enzo brought Charles' head back by gathering a bundle of his hair, forcing him to meet his gaze. "I know how little you care for tradition, Leclerc. Oh how we all wish you hadn't won the lottery of becoming a crimson legacy. But if you dare insult my sister again, you'll regret ever making the trial."

"Trust me." Chalres said. "I already regret it."

Enzo released Charles' head, letting it snap downwards. Charles struggled to hold it up himself. The two council members released the grip around him, letting Charles fall to the cold concrete. A loud thud as he stood on his knees. A string of sound rang in his ears like tinnitus as a shadow approached where he kept his foggy gaze ahead of him.

"See this as a warning Charles." Enzo said, his voice distant to Charles' ears. "The council takes no pleasure in disciplining its members, but it does take discipline. I suggest you do your part like my sister has for you."

"You know..." Charles made an effort to stand, however his feet didn't obey him. He settled with bringing up his leg, resting his arm against it. He smiled looking up at Enzo. "For someone who's built like a grasshopper you really do know how to throw a punch." He said, spitting blood near Enzo's feet.

Enzo looked to want to hit him again, however, something came across his face, something telling him that it wasn't worth it. He waved to his men and the two council members followed him as Charles was left to stand on his own.

The pain in his body ached with the slightest movement. He walked with a limp while his arms wrapped around his stomach. Charles realized how ridiculous he must have appeared, when Luca and Alessandro rose to their feet at the sight of him.

"What happened?" Luca said, guiding his friend to take a seat. Charles did so grunting through the pain.

"Did the council...?" Alessandro stuttered. He paused mid sentence, perhaps knowing that a messenger always avoids asking questions. His job there was finished. He nodded his head at both of them before making his way out of the dining hall.

This left Luca confused. "Did the council do this? " He asked. "Why?"

"Discipline." Charles grunted, arms still wrapped around his solar plexus.

"Discipline? Whatta hell does that mean?"

"It means that someone is keeping a watch on me, making sure that I follow their rules."

"Rules, what rules?" Luca frowned.

"Doesn't matter." Charles said. Someone had told on him about his little venture to the medical center. It might have been the nurse, who knows? However it wasn't the first time Charles suspected that the council were keeping a close tab on him and it certainly wouldn't be the last time.

"Fuck, should we tell the other's?" Luca said, helping Chalres to stand on his feet.

"Why?" Charles asked.

"What do you mean why? To start a riot of course. I don't think they'd want Enzo and Lorenzo for council if they knew that they were beating one of their prime members?"

Charles chuckled at his friend's naiveness, after all Luca had only pledged last year.

"What's so funny?"

The boys made their way out of the dining hall, Charles supporting his weight against Luca who held him steady,

"The crimson brother's can't overthrow the council, especially if the council consists of legacies like Enzo and Lorenzo."

"So what?" Luca cursed. "Aren't you a legacy as well, shouldn't your protest count for something?"

"It doesn't?"

"Why not?"

"Because I couldn't care less what happens to the crimson cadets."

Luca paused to face Charles, they stood in front of the dining hall entrance. His friend searched his face. "You're serious aren't you?" Luca said. "You couldn't care less about us."

"Nope." Charles said, tasting the blood that had gushed from his wound into his mouth.

"What now then?" Luca asked.

Charles looked at the clock on the wall and realized they'd have to wait another ninety minutes for the bus to take them into town. "I say we take the chrysler."

"Fuck it." Luca said.

Charles was glad to see Luca return his smile. "Fuck it." He shrugged and off they went.