"Sage?"

"So you guys have been here for years?" Amber asks, she was finished eating all the food on the tray and was full to the point, she decided to stay with Elise, Leah, and Mika for a while until she could digest enough to go back to her room.

"Yeah, some students here decide to stay an extra year if they don't make the big test. We shields have it hard since our power is only really effective as shields. It's not only based on our shields though, but that'll also be impossible to win. There are stages where the shields are easier to complete and the same goes for the other groups, where it is easier for them." Elise explains and Amber gives her a sad nod, still thinking back to Sage's words.

"Come on, you're thinking about Sage again aren't you?" Mika sighed, "That girl is just a pure jerk, she's like that to almost everyone."

"Mika's right." Lean chimes in, giving Amber a reassuring thumbs up, "That's a certified jerk for you."

Amber chuckles, "Who exactly is she?" 

"Sage is kinda like the leader of the Red group and I'm sure you know that though she is a student like us she's still capable of being side by side with the great fighters of Angexthus—" Elise explains and Leah interrupts.

"Like Arveion..." She says holding both her pink cheeks, her voice high pitched when she dragged his name, "He's so freaking cute." She exclaims and Amber blushes at the mention of his name, remembering back to the moment they shared yesterday.

She shook it from her head. 'He's still a jerk, Amber. Focus.'

"There are others as well you know Leah." Elise laughs but then smiles when she says, "But yes like Arveion."

"Back to Sage guys, can you stop fangirling?" Mika rolls her eyes and Leah scolds her, "You're just saying that because you have a boyfriend."

Mika smiles at the mention of Shane.

'They must really like each other.' Amber thought. The boys had gone up to their rooms first  leaving only the girls to talk, like they quote it, 'Freaky girl stuff.'

"How did you and Shane meet each other?" Amber decided to ask and her cheeks turned deep red.

She plays with the fork in her hand, flipping it into the remaining food on her crate, "We've always kinda liked each other, and we both made it final here actually. We were friends for all we can remember and when we both decided to become shields we promised to protect each other," Mika laughs, "It's kinda cheesy I know, but since we're both shields none of us could protect the next so we made up at saying where it's 'We'll forever be the shields to each other's heart.' He asked me to be his girlfriend not too long ago, I thought it'll be hard as we were friends but we were good." 

Mika finished and everyone soothed her.

"Awe, that's so sweet." Leah pinched her cheeks and smiled cheekily at her.

Mika brushed them away but her cheeks remained red, "Okay, okay that's enough from me, Leah it's your turn."

Leah groaned, "But I like hearing about you guys' lives...anyway, I'm Leah my friends sometimes call me Lay lay...I don't think I needed to say that since you guys are my friends to whom I'm saying this too but whatever. I'm 17 years old, yes I'm the youngest here, probably the craziest. My family doesn't really like it, but they made a  mistake as these small arms can throw some great punches." Leah sent fake punches at Mika who was seated next to her and she shook her head.

"Well you guys know me already but I'm Elise. I'm 19 years old and the oldest in the group. I come from a faraway town called Urnshaiga, pronounced U-she-gah, it's a nice place but recently farming crops having been going quite good for since we're kinda in a fight with another nearby town  so a lot of teenagers like me have been sent away from their homes to this Academy to somehow try to help, though it's really hard for me to help my mom and pa only being a shield when they need people to fight the thieves off." Elise frowned, folding her lip in her mouth.

Leah held her hand from across the table, "We'll get through this, Elise."

Elise turned to face Amber, "What's your story?" She asks and Amber panics, she feels bad. 'Everyone here has something frightening they want to fight against for their loved ones like Elise, earning respect like Leah or a friend like Mika and I just got bumped into here so easily while they had to go through so much trauma.'

She didn't know what to say, all she wanted to do was go back home to her life when didn't even have a chance.

"I'm Amber, 18 years old, the same as Mika and I-I, I don't know…" Amber frowned, maybe it was the best if she told them, "I don't know why I'm here, I don't want to be here, I'm brave and people get hurt because of me. I don't want to be the one to get in the way of you guy's goals by only being here to go back home to normal life."

Mika, Leah, and Elise just stared at her not saying anything and Amber once again fiddles with her fingers.

"Hey, do seriously think we care about that, there's nothing wrong if you don't have any reason to be here. It's okay." Elise comforts and Leah cuts in as well.

"Yeah, you're here now, aren't you? Do what you have to do for what you want even though it is small, even if you think you have no reason to want that. Even if you have nothing to worry about in your life because it's still yours."

Mika nods at Leah's words, "They're right, it doesn't matter about our different backgrounds, though some of us have it easier or harder because all of us want the thing to get out of here."

Amber smiles with a pout, "Thank you, guys." She then sat up from the chair, "I appreciate all of your encouragement but I'm really tired now."

"Yeah, sure, see you tomorrow then!" Leah waves followed by Mika and Elise, "Yeah." They spoke in unison.

Amber then leaves for her room, it was already becoming so late at how long they were speaking. Time flew. 

'My stomach hurts like a mother trucker.' She groans, and turns the doorknob to her room, 'The sun will go down soon, I might as well have an early sleep.' She flops down on her bed, and wraps herself in the soft blankets, and falls right asleep.

However the sound of knocking woke her right back up. She blinks her heavy lids open and listens to the sound of knocking once again. The room was dark which meant she slept straight past sundown. 

She groaned and clicked on the lamp at her side, dimly lighting the room so that she could see the walk to the door.

"I'm coming!" She whispered-shout when the person knocked again and when she opened the door her face fell when the sight of Sage came into her blurry vision.