"What is life like for you as a crimson cadet?"

Magali had skipped lunch and escaped to the auditorium. There she found Anthoine tinkering with the piano. She joined him on stage, settling beside him on the piano bench.

"What do you mean?" He said, not taking his eyes away from his hands that pressed down on the piano keys. A dark chord vibrated the wood.

"I mean is life the same for all brothers, or does it differ depending on....?" Magali didn't know how to finish that sentence. What Charles had told her about the crimson cadets still hadn't dawned on her fully. According to him he was a member of a cult-like organization that begins within the walls of SDC but doesn't end outside of them. Her question was if the future was the same for all crimson cadets?

"...you mean, depending on if you're Charles Leclerc or not?" Anthoine took his hands off the piano, resting them on his knees. He looked at Magali with an expectant expression on his face.

She bit her bottom lip and let her gaze fall to her hands.

"He can't be with you Magali."

Magali looked up, "How did you..." Anthoine turned back to the piano, ignoring her this way. She let him finish the unknown piece, letting it drift her away from her thoughts. The auditorium drowned in the echoes of the mistful music, occupying every corner with Anthoine's unspoken words. Once his hand settled and the music faded, he turned back to Magali only to find her staring back at him with a determined patience in her glossy eyes.

He sighed, surrendering to her stubbornness. "Tethered by the dragon, shared by its blood, a trade of the purest bloodline to bring generations to this club."

"What does..."

"It's a passage." He said, looking not to evaluate further.

Magali watched him reach for the piano again and hesitate. "It's a passage from a book us brothers hold so dear. The guidelines to our society, The Book of The Cadets."

"There is a book that the crimson cadets live by, a book with rules and regulations?" Magali frowned, although her heart was beating violently in her chest.

"Yes."

"And the location of this book, is it accessible to all..."

"Why are you here Magali?" Anthoine said remorsefully.

"Pardon?"

Once again he sighed in a way that made Magali believe that she was causing him pain. "I mean why are you here with me at lunch hours?"

"Oh." Magali's gaze returned to her hands. "I wasn't hungry, I guess."

"You guess?"

Magali was in fact on the run or at least in hiding. Ever since the news of Rebecca's return, about her and Charles sharing a kiss in the hallway, Magali found it difficult to be in the presence of either of them, avoiding them at all cost. If she were to see them together on campus or seated together in the dining hall she would have to face the truth, the truth that she had fallen for a guy who would only play with her heart. "Tethered by the dragon, shared by its blood...." She mumbled. "It's about the ceremony, isn't it?"

Anthoine raised a brow. "He has told you about it?"

"He, as in Charles?" She shook her head. "I figured it out myself."

"So you understand then?"

"Understand what?"

"That you and Charles can never be. That he is bound to marry Rebecca sooner than later."

*****

"Marry? As in wed in a real church?"

Magali was still feeling lightheaded coming from the auditorium. As if all the air in her lungs had been ripped out of her chest along with her heart. The smell of Mr Meragio's desert lizards were of no comfort.

"Who told you this?" Mia removed her rubber gloves and collected them in a paper bag. She had been clear for them not to touch anything in the room that withheld the school's archives, as well as the home of Mr Meragio's two desert lizards.

"Anthoine."

"Why was he so generous with this information?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean..." Mia closed the glass lid to the lizard's terrarium. It was lit up by two heat lamps placed on the roof of it. "...if this cadet book is considered the club's bible, how come Anthoine spoke about it to you so freely?"

Magali had to stop and think about it. Anthoine had only recited a line from a passage of the book. He had done so in conjunction to...

'"He was trying to help me." Magali mumbled.

"Help you with what?" Mia frowned.

"Help me let go."

"Of who?"

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that there is a book that tells us the exact motivation to cut up two teenagers, forcing them into marriage."

"You're right." Mia nods. She goes to put a lid on the jar of live worms that she had used to feed the lizards. "This book is proof that the school allows a cult to exist on its grounds, perhaps even..."

" A cult?." Magali interrupted. "Who told you that the crimson cadets were a cult?" Charles had trusted Magali with his secret, even though he didn't love her, she would never betray him.

Mia shook her head in disbelief. "Isn't it obvious?"

"It is?"

"Yes." She exclaimed, with the jar of worms shaking in her hand. "That's why we need to get a hold of that book."

Magali frowned. "We do?"

"It's proof that we could hand it in to the police."

"Police?"

"How else are we gonna shut them down?"

"Hold up. Shut down who, the crimson cadets?"

"It's about time that..."

Magali and Mia jumped as the door to the office came ajar. Mia was on the verge of dropping the jar of worms if it hadn't been for Magali's quick reflexes.

"Miss Casillas?"

"Headmaster Paolo."

Magali stood by with the jar of worms clenched in her hands. She had only encountered the headmaster once before during this year's freshman welcome in the auditorium. He had greeted the new students at SDC along with the rest of the faculty. Magali had also been given a reprimand for not wearing her blazer; three reprimands meant a sentence to the headmaster's office. However, after seeing him up close, Magali dreaded a day she'd have to face the headmaster alone. He was a tall man, so tall that he had to bend down in the doorway upon entering the room. His face was grave and dented, his skin the same color as an unwashed potato. A bulldog came to mind, if Magali were to resemble his appearance with an animal.

"Is it feeding time?" He said. Ending the breathless silence that had erupted. His gaze shifted between Mia and Magali and then back to Mia.

"Yes, sir." Mia said timidly.

"Is there a reason why Mr Meragio has requested you bring a friend today?" His gaze shifted back to Magali, piercing through her scalp.

"Um...no sir."

"Then it was unauthorized and won't happen again."

"No sir. We were just leaving." Mia gestured for Magali to put down the jar of worms. They were headed for the door when the headmaster brought down his arm, altering Magali's steps.

"It is rude not to introduce yourself child."

Magali was still taken back by the large hand hovering above her chest. Her eyes traveled up the mountain that was the headmaster. His nose flared as he looked down at her.

"My name is Magali Etienne Sir."

"It's her first year sir." Mia spoke from where she stood underneath the door frame. "I've been showing her around campus."

A searching look came across the headmaster's face. Ultimately he let his hand fall, allowing Magali to pass. The girls did not look back as they hurried down the hallway.