Abduction

The support course class’ session ended up early, allowing Quare and Rheyya extra time. Rheyya went straight back to her home because she had something urgent to attend to, leaving Quare alone. She then tried contacting his brother, but nobody answered. She then proceeded to try calling her father.

. . .

Quare hesitated and decided not to call.

“Father is probably busy…I shouldn’t bother him…” Quare thought as she returned her phone to her bag as she started walking out of the school. But when she reached the school grounds, she encountered Crimson, all bruised up as he waved his hand in the air and greeted her gleefully.

“Hey there, Quare! You going home?”

“Crimson-senpai? Where did you get those wounds? Did you mess up again?” After nodding, Quare asked a question that certainly would raise curiosity.

“Oh, these? It’s no big deal. I just kind of tripped while training, that’s all hehe!” Crimson answered as he scratched the back of his head. Quare mentioned ”again,” meaning Crimson quite often injures himself through training. He may be a prodigy when it comes to combat, but he gets overboard with it on his training.

“I see… Well, get well soon, senpai. See you tomorrow.” Quare answered as she waved goodbye to Crimson but got stopped for a moment.

“Wait, Quare! Before I forget, can I ask you to analyze this? It kinda piqued my interests.” Crimson said as he searched the unusual item that bashed his forehead on his pockets.

“Here it is!” Crimson said as he took Quare’s hand and placed it on her palm.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before…” Quare thought. She immediately recognized that the cubes are made of unknown material when they made contact with her palm. Since Quare is a part of the support course, she studied the new materials that emerged ever since the first Oblivoid came to existence, its uses and functions. It is also possible that the cubes are raw materials transformed from an unknown species of Oblivoid. It was also quite heavy for its size.

“… Why me? There should have been better people than me to analyze this..” Quare asked, doubting herself. Crimson then smiled and answered sincerely.

“That’s because I trust you! I know you’re far more skilled than you think you are, so have confidence!” Crimson assured as he gave a gleeful smile free of doubt and full of trust in Quare’s skills.

Quare has an inferiority complex. She thinks that her skills are far lower than those of others. Ever since she was young, people always compared Quare to her brother. Due to Dright’s effort in driving off Quare’s discrimination, she doesn’t get insulted now as much as in her childhood. As a result, it left a scar on her that caused her loss of confidence.

“And also, I know you’ll be far better than your brother in due time, so take some of my commissions when that time comes, okay?” Crimson followed up and smiled as the vibrant afternoon glow lit his childish figure. Quare didn’t notice, but a hint of blush appeared on her cheeks. Crimson didn't recognize the blush since it blended with the afternoon glow.

“Okay, senpai… Goodbye…” Quare answered as she immediately turned her back and walked away to avoid Crimson from noticing. Crimson waved his hand on the air to Quare in response.

In the meantime, Quare went to a bookstore located several blocks away from the academy. She went there to wait for Dright's call. These siblings rarely return home separately.

“I wonder where brother went…” Quare thought as she took out her wireless earphones and plugged them on her ears.

Meanwhile, with Raven and Lia.

“I… want to know more about the Royal Phantoms…” Lia answered what Raven expected in the least, causing her to doubt what she heard as her ear twitched.

“C-come again? I think I heard you wrong.” Raven answered as she tried to clean her cat ears and took it lightly.

“I want to know more about the Royal Phantoms,” Lia repeated without batting an eye. Then the atmosphere suddenly became serious.

“Lia, are you planning on joining us?” Raven asked with a low tone.

Lia nodded with the same dull emotion on her face, but with great resolve hidden behind it.

“Can I ask why?”

“…” Lia was unable to answer immediately but she then quenched her fists as she came up with an appropriate answer.

“I… want to stop people from turning into a creature like me…” Lia trailed off as she looked outside the window.

“The truth is… I already regained some of my memories… a memory that I’d rather forget…”

“Lia…”

“That’s why I want to prevent people from experiencing what I did!” Lia said with an unwavering amount of resolve. Raven then closed her eyes and crossed her arms.

“Okay…” Raven responded as she trailed off with a frown, earning some suspense from Lia.

“I’ll have to ask for permission first.” She followed while pointing her index finger upward with a wink. At the same time, their time inside the Ferris Wheel ended as the door opened with a staff humbly gesturing them that their time with the ride is over. They began walking back towards the Royal Chaos Academy.

Meanwhile, an hour later, at the infirmary. After the red-haired girl fainted, Dright is still unconscious with the girl with red hair. Dright can is topless since the girl fainted after removing his blanket for further inspection. Then, the door opened, and a certain red-haired boy entered the room.

“Hey, Maroon, still busy?”

“… HUH?!”

It was Crimson that entered the room. He let out a scream upon seeing Dright unconscious, topless, and his twin sister Maroon, sleeping on the same bed.

Maroon Bladdielle, Crimson’s twin sister that enrolled on the support course. Unlike Crimson, her Blessing lets her manipulate her blood. SheShe can change its components, making it possible to use it as a medicine, like when she let Dright drink a drop of her blood to relieve his pain. Maroon can also manipulate other people's blood as long as a portion of her blood is mixed within. This technique was the method that she used on Dright. She slowly manipulated his blood and transformed back the poisoned components of his blood inside his body. It was very taxing to her since it was in a critical condition. Manipulating small components like blood cells needs a lot of accuracy and precision, especially if it isn’t her blood. Her accuracy increases if there are no fabrics atop the skin. She can also change the shape of her blood into weapons but only on a small scale. She chose to maximize her Blessing for medical purposes. Maroon, like her twin, is short at the same height as Crimson. But unlike Crimson, who has pinkish-yellow eyes, Maroon’s eyes have the color of deep red, as dark as blood. Her hair is mid-length that is only a bit further down from her shoulder with soft side-swept bangs.

With Crimson’s scream, Dright’s eyes twitched as he slowly regained his consciousness and stood up straight, yawning.

“Oh, Crimson. I borrowed your sister for a bit.”

“Wha-Wha-Wha--- WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY SISTER?!” With a red face, Crimson’s imagination got the best of him, seeing Dright topless with his sister lying beside him. Dright ignored Crimson as he reached out for his folded clothes and wore them loosely. He opened his storage and placed his blazer and necktie there. He then stood up while stumbling a bit. Dright is still looking a bit pale, and it seems that he was still feeling somewhat weak.

Crimson calmed down after seeing Dright in his weakened state.

“Hey, Dright. What happened when we parted ways back on that street earlier?” Crimson asked. Dright, on the other hand, kept walking then stopped when he was side to side with Crimson.

“Nothing much…” Dright answered as he walked once again, leaving the room.

Crimson then stared at the empty space.

“You’re always like this… always being secretive…” Crimson mumbled as he remembered the moments whenever he felt Dright was hiding something.

He then reached out for the blanket and covered her exhausted twin sister, then let out a sigh.

“I guess I’ll have to treat my wounds without Maroon’s help.” He mumbled as he searched for bandages and other first-aid tools for treating his scratches. Several minutes later, Maroon opened her eyes and slowly sat up while lightly scratching her eyelids. Crimson was too busy treating his wounds that he didn’t notice his sister. Maroon yawned, which then gained Crimson’s attention, stopping what he was currently doing.

“Hey, Maroon! Heal me, please!” Crimson immediately said as he stood up from the table where he was treating his wounds earlier. Maroon let out a sigh.

“Again?” she said as she concentrated on controlling Crimson’s blood and closed the scratches. Since He is her twin brother, Crimson’s blood is very similar to Maroon’s, so she didn’t need to have her blood mixed in with his to control it.

“Nice, thanks!” Crimson expressed his gratitude and smiled like a child.

“Anyway, have you seen Dright?” Maroon asked.

“Oh, him? He just left a minute ago…” Crimson answered and trailed off with a suspicious look and squinted eyes.

“What were you guys doing, sleeping on the same bed..?” He asked. Although he probably already know because Dright was looking a little weak and sickly. What he wanted to know is how Dright got injured.

“Nothing suspicious. I just fainted when I was checking Dright's state… What I don’t know is how he got poisoned to that extent…” Maroon answered calmly as she placed her hand on her chin and entered deep in her thought.

“So he got poisoned… What the hell happened after we parted ways earlier..? Crimson thought.

“I see… well, do you still have something to do?” Crimson asked, bringing back Maroon from her deep thought.

“Well, yeah. I still need to do some things.” Maroon replied as she got up from the bed and went to her table, and continued doing her work before Dright’s crisis.

“You can go home without me.” Maroon followed. It’s usually like this between these siblings. Crimson is more on the outdoors type, while Maroon is more on the office type. She also volunteered to become the school nurse with the approval of the headmaster.

“I see… well, see you later!” Crimson replied as he got up from his seat and exited the room, and proceeded to grab his backpack.

Meanwhile, with Dright.

After going some distances away from the infirmary, Dright contacted Ceda through his earpiece. He asked what happened after he lost consciousness. Ceda lost track of Hanzo right after he got out of the clock tower.

“Did you already report the intel we gathered?” Dright asked Ceda, hoping that it did.

“Yes…” Ceda answered, making Dright let out a sigh of relief, but then suddenly.

“Dright? Who are you talking to?” A familiar voice suddenly asked behind him.