Team Lea

"I'm totally kidding," Lea said and chuckled. "But it's better if you win though. After every challenge, the winners will receive boosts for the next challenge."

The five nodded and Lea gave them a thumbs up. "Go, Team Lea!"

"Wait, you're our group leader?" Rodney asked.

"Well, if isn't Little Velasco?" Lea grinned. "Not exactly. Each team will have a 3rd Year as a supervisor for the first month. But we could only spectate. I can't help you with challenges and puzzles."

Lea left the six students in the cafeteria where other 3rd Years led their team inside too. The place was big and has rows and rows of booths. Each booth has a rectangular table and has two long, cushioned chairs on the longer sides.

"Good morning," Rodney was the first to talk. "My name is Rodney Velasco. I am from the Philippines."

Devin was in between Rodney and Rain while Sofia, Kagura, and Adonis sat on the opposite side.

"Adonis Apicharit, from Thailand," Adonis introduced. He was the tallest among the group. Although everyone else was tall, Adonis was taller than the others. His skin wasn't as fair, but it was as equally glass looking. He was also buff enough that made his muscles bulge from his sleeves.

"Hi! I'm Sofia Binti Danish. I am from Malaysia." Sofia wore a hijab and her clothes were special. Her skirt was below her knees and her collar was designed to match her hijab. One thing Devin noticed about Sofia was that she was very cheerful. Her smile was contagious that the others couldn't help but smile too.

"My name is Rain Zhang," Rain said. His voice was deep and if Sofia's smile didn't affect him, he looked like he was always angry. His figure was like Rodney's, tall and toned. "I'm from China."

"I am Kagura Tachibana. Japan." From the six of them, Kagura was the least affected by Sofia's smile. She curved her lips slightly once, and that was it.

Everyone looked at Devin. He was only listening intently, thanking the heavens that his teammates weren't like his bullies. The look in their eyes didn't regard any hidden intent. Even when their appearance was far superior to him, they didn't look down.

"H-Hi…" Devin inhaled deeply. "My name is Devin– Devin Lewis."

He couldn't suppress his stuttering, afraid that what happened to his previous school would happen again. It was getting harder and harder for him to breathe.

Rain patted his back, "Chill down, little one." The man smiled, making his narrow eyes more narrowed.

"You were bullied, weren't you?" Sofia asked. Her eyes softened and smiled at Devin reassuringly. "You're safe now. We won't hurt you."

"Yes!" Rodney cut off. "Were a team, after all."

Everyone else, including Kagura, nodded. She even gave Devin a reassuring smile.

Their support made Devin feel at ease. His heart slowed down, and he felt his lips curl upward.

"Thank y–"

"Oi!" A male voice cut Devin off. "Everyone, Lea forgot about me!"

The boy was incredibly pale and slim. He looked like a twig, but his cheerfulness made him look like a cheerful twig. He was as slender as Devin but his height of 6'1 made his thin figure more prominent.

"My name is Yuri Ivanov," he introduced, the thick Russian accent coated his words. "I'm from Russia!"

Everyone else nodded as Yuri sat beside Rain. "I was late since I woke up late– haha!"

The others looked at each other before joining Yuri with his laugh, except Kagura of course. Like Sofia, his mood was contagious. With two happy-go-lucky people in their team, Devin felt safer than ever.

Maybe this was the place I was meant to be. Devin thought.

"On a more serious note," Kagura broke the laughter. "Let's tell each other our strengths and if you have a special ability called Sanctity."

"Sanctity?" Rodney asked. "I do."

Kagura glared at Rodney, sensing the boy was only kidding around. Rodney raised his arms in surrender and pouted.

"Look, as much as I want to have fun with all of you, we have to win as many challenges as we can," she said. "That way, we can have better benefits. Even have the same house to live together as a team if we're lucky."

"Why do you know all this?" Adonis asked. They were half-whispering. And considering his height of almost 7 feet, he had to lean lower.

"In my 2 days here, I learned things and will learn things to become Liu's Disciple," Kagura said. "Let me show you my Sanctity."

Kagura froze in her seat and appeared beside Rodney. The boy was too terrified that he almost jumped in shock. The seat beside Sofia was now empty. Kagura smirked and returned to her previous seat.

"So awesome," Sofia cheered. "Now, let me show you mine."

Sofia's eyes darkened and fear irked in her other teammates' minds. They were feeling distressed for some reason, especially Devin who was most affected by it. He couldn't help the tear that ran from his eyes.

Once Sofia saw the tears in Devin's eyes, she instantly stopped activating her ability and felt bad.

"I'm sorry Devin," she said. "My Sanctity is to influence the emotions in the people around me."

"Oh, Sofia." Adonis pouted and smiled at her. After seeing Devin cry, she felt bad and unconsciously activated her Sanctity, making everyone around her sad.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Sofia said. Kagura held her hand, and for the first time since they saw each other, Kagura smiled a genuine smile. "Thank you, Kagura."

"Any other Sanctity?" Kagura asked.

Devin raised his hand and told his teammates about his Glimpse. The first time the others went to the Purgatory, it was Devin's third time. Apart from that, there were no other differences.

The other people were tombstones, everything was cold, and a thick white fog coated most of everything. Only Devin, Kagura, and Rodney noticed that animals could see them while they were on the purgatory.

In the middle of their conversation, they felt everyone was silent. A voice yelled from the other side of the cafeteria and a black-haired boy along with his white-haired brother walked towards Devin's group.

"Little Curls!" Andrew greeted. "Hello everyone."

Everyone held their gasp apart from Rodney. He stood and walked towards the twins, bringing out a pen and paper.

"Please give me an autograph," he said. "Oh, great 11 &12."

Andrei looked at Devin and grinned, "Should we, Little Curls?"

Devin was speechless but nodded. He saw Rodney's pleading face that he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Andrew, Andrei!" a girl came out and smile at the two. She was snickering at the others, especially Devin who the twins were here for. "My name is Margaux."

"Hello Margaux," Andrew greeted but returned his attention to Devin's team. "So, are you Little Curls' teammates?"

The others were staring at the two but nodded. Margaux was trying her best to get the twin's attention, but he was completely ignored. Especially by Andrei who sat beside Devin.

Rain dragged the oblivious Yuri went to the other side of the table. Yuri was still grinning that Rain could only shake his head and smile.

Humiliated by the lack of attention, Margaux retreated to her seat with her team. She was glaring daggers at the people on the Team Lea, especially on Devin.

I will show you not to mess with Margaux Chang. She thought.

Meanwhile, Devin was enjoying the company of his teammates and the twins when he felt like it was time to go. The others agreed too. It was noon when they went on their separate ways. Sofia and Kagura were heading to the Women's Dormitories while Devin found himself in his room with the twins.

"Why are you here again?" Devin asked.

"You're like our little brother," Andrei said. "And I like hanging out with you."

"Same," Andrew said and nodded. "Now, cook for us, little bro."

Without realizing it, Devin enjoyed the company the twins provided. Although they were bossy at times, they always managed to cheer him up. It was like having two older brothers.

And without admitting it, he liked the feeling.