CHAPTER SEVEN

I stare at the ceiling board as I lay in my bed. It's been quite some time since I woke up actually but nothing has motivated me to move from my position. The alarm clock by my bed tells me its midnight and the space where the curtains part on the window is evidence enough. I turn to my side to look at Blair's side of the room which is much more interesting than the ceiling board. Since she came back, most of the weapons that lay around disappeared. She must have put them in her wardrobe (the dagger on her dressing mirror, though, remains constant). I still didn't get around asking her what was with the weapons. I sigh as I sit up. "I hate waking up in the middle of the night." I mumble. I open my drawer and feel for the little wooden box. 

When I do find it, I move closer to the window side, where little light passes through.  Switching on the lights would alarm Blair but at least I have the moonlight. It holds only two items; the pendant catches my attention first. At first glance, it's a smooth amethyst pendant. I turn it over in my hand several times to see if there's anything special about it but to my disappointment, there's nothing at all.

The other item is a small golden key, it's far too small to open a door though, maybe a book or something. Both items seem not to relate to me in any way, none of them trigger lost memories or remind me of something. I look up at the ceiling in frustration. Why the hell did Ren give me this in the first place? I hear Blair shift her weight on her bed.

"Cora?" She mumbles, "What are you doing awake?" She rubs her eyes as she turns to face me. Before she can see it, I close and hide the box in the blanket. It's only after when I realize there's no need to because of the minimal light in the room. "Oh, just thinking I guess." I vaguely reply lying down to face her side.

"Really?" She yawns, "What's on your mind?"

"A lot actually…" I reply. There's not much I can tell her. "I bet. You're in a place full of strangers without your memories." Blair says. That's the least of it actually. "But I'd like to think we're more than strangers…don't you think?" 

That brings a smile to my face, "Of course. There are a lot of guys here which can be suffocating. It's nice to have at least one non- hostile gal around."

"Non-hostile?" She asks. I remember that I didn't tell her about my encounter with Calypso. "Nevermind." I'm sure she would get a laugh out of it. "Okay. You're right, Alex can be petty unbearable. The others not so much." She says. "I thought you two were close though," I tease. They seem comfortable with each other from my observation.

"No." She deadpans. Okay then, I better change the topic. "I like it here." I say in the silence. I may not remember where I was before, where Ren is now, but I feel this place is ten times better. "You'll like it more when I show you around tomorrow, I guess I should say today." Blair laughs.

"You want to show me around?" I ask. "Yes. You should at least know how you're new home looks like. That workaholic Sebastian probably overlooked that." I bet she just rolled her eyes. Sebastian probably did overlook that fact and for some reason it makes me smile.

"Then I guess we should get some rest." I wait for a response but there's only silence. She must have fallen asleep. What a pity, there's something else that I wanted to say. I turn and close my eyes. Hey Blair, I wonder if you know that you're my first female friend.

******

"Hurry up already!" I exclaim impatiently tapping my foot on the floor. "Gosh, I'm coming. Relax." Blair responds. I've been waiting for her to get ready for the past fifteen minutes. How long does it take one person to dress up? I change my position and sit on her bed. "It doesn't look like it." I whine. I really want to check this place out. I mean, it's not like Central is made up entirely of the training grounds which is the only place I've been to. 

Central isn't a big place but it's not small either. I roll my eyes, if only Blair would hurry up! "There, I'm done." Blair says lifting her hands. "Great, let's go." I respond standing up and walking to the door. "Wait! There's still breakfast," Blair says standing in front of me, "You gotta respect breakfast."

"Aren't you eating?" Blair asks why chewing on bacon. "I'm not that hungry." I take a peek at the clock; we've wasted another fifteen minutes. "Really? You don't eat much huh…"

"It's not that…I'm just not that hungry," I chuckle. I don't know if its instinct but I'm pretty sure I go a while with just water. Is that normal? "Suit yourself." Blair says grabbing another slice of toast. "Okay, that's enough. I think you've eaten half a loaf now." I say pulling her to her feet. "Hey, you gotta respect breakfast!" She whines as I drag her to the door, toast in hand. "You'll finish up later."

"Fine. But I can't take you to the borders. That needs authorization."

"Borders? That's where Galand works, right?" I say remembering the blonde man. "Oh, you've met him. We are going to Sector 3, where his wife Armentia, works." We begin walking on a path opposite to the direction of the main building. This path is to the less congested areas, closer to the west fences, so we don't really run into anyone." 

The west fences lie on the hilly parts of Central beyond the forest and the path soon becomes rocky. However, we're not high enough to get injured in case any of us fall. We reach some sort of warehouse completely hidden from the rest of Central; it seems the trees are for exactly that purpose. The fence is a good distance beyond the warehouse and probably goes around the entire Central. "I thought you said we aren't going to the borders." I state while staring at the barbed fences beyond. Blair laughs, "This isn't the borders. They're beyond those fences and the mountains. No one goes there apart from the security guards. Alistair's rules."

It seems like whatever Alistair says is law here. I frown in confusion, I doubt it's because of metamorphoses. Is there something he's hiding? "I see." I say. 

From the outside, the warehouse looks abandoned and desolate. Blair goes ahead and knocks on the door, "It seems like it's a busy day." It doesn't seem that way to me as I look around the empty area. The door opens but there's nobody behind it. "Is anyone here?" I ask Blair. The hallway is pretty dark but I can see some light at the far end. "Well, you can't hear them from all the way over there." Blair responds pulling me in the warehouse and closing the door. 

I understand what she means a second later. As we approach the light, the sound of voices increases. Soon we are overlooking an entire factory-like set up. Different kinds of medical equipment are being packed in boxes and sealed. The workers are wearing dark jumpsuits and focus of different jobs each. The whole scene looks robotic; one would pack, the other would seal and the boxes would be arranged all in a span of thirty seconds. "Welcome to Sector 3. This place is what makes the world go around." Blair says smiling at me.

I look at her and raise a brow. "Okay, maybe not the whole world…but most of it anyway." She shrugs. "This is where medical supplies made in Greenwood are approved then distributed to other camps and those in need." Someone says from behind, taking me off guard.

I immediately turn and find myself looking at a woman. A very pregnant woman to be exact. "Oh, Armentia!" Blair exclaims hugging her. She must be Galand's wife, I deduce. She has short black hair and I notice three piercings on each ear. She's the definition of cool with her sharp gaze that I realize is fixed on me.

I look away and hope I didn't just get caught staring. "You must be Cora Aetós, correct?" She asks. "Um…yeah." I respond. Armentia breaks into a smile and proceeds to squeeze me in a hug. She's stronger than I thought despite being shorter than me and you know, pregnant. "I've heard about you from Sebastian." She says letting me go. Probably about how awesome I am and how he should really stop nagging me. But of course I keep that comment to myself. "Hopefully good things."

"Of course, that boy was praising you the entire time which is rare." Armentia laughs. 

"Sebastian gives compliments?" Blair asks. The thing is she sounds genuinely curious and confused. My cheeks become hot involuntarily and I laugh awkwardly. 

"Anyway, back to business. This is Sector 3, I'm sorry we couldn't offer a better welcome," Armentia says looking down at the workers who still haven't noticed us. "Things have been hectic." The supplies must be for Camp Rose in case something happens. I didn't know such measures were already being taken but it's a little unsettling. If it's all a diversion and they send the supplies, what will happen when the enemy really strikes?

I shake my head, for all I know Ren was just messing with my head. "You should go home, Armentia. I think this goes against pregnancy rules." Blair says. Armentia rests her hand on her stomach, "I'm still good for some weeks. Cora, let me show you around." Armentia takes me around the warehouse and explains to me how supplies are distributed. This just makes me feel like I'm in class so I end up zoning out most of the time. "I think we've spent enough time here, Cora." Blair sighs in boredom. 

After the warehouse, Blair takes me to the stores and we buy some clothes for me. I have an even better time than expected and everyone is nice enough except for the occasional stares. "Let's go to the main training ground." Blair suggests. "I've already been there." I say remembering my lessons with Nico. "Yeah, but like nobody else was there. Right now, it's like a party over there." Blair says linking our arms. I have a bad feeling about this; I don't really have the best experience meeting people our age.

 The main training ground is more crowded than the common area and looks completely different with people around. Everyone is in black attire with the occasional grey and is paired with a sparring partner. "Do you have to train every day?"I ask. "Not necessarily, it's usually a choice. But you know, everyone at Central was chosen through a tough selection based on talent. So you have to live up to the expectations. It's our job to get out there and fight." Blair explains. So even Calypso's here because of talent?

I spot the girl almost immediately, this time she's with more friends. Unfortunately, when I look at her, she looks at me too. Worse yet, she smiles or smirks, I can't tell through my eye roll. "You know Calypso?" Blair scoffs. "We've met."

"I can see we share the same emotions." Calypso whispers something to a guy I can't recognize and walks over. "Cora Aetós and um…Brittany?"

"Blair." She deadpans.

"Right, I just wanted to apologize and start over." Calypso says as the rest of her crew walks over. "Not this again, Cali cut it out." Benjamin sighs. "Leave the poor girl alone." Kian says winking at me. I keep quiet waiting for the next piece of bullshit. But instead the guy she was whispering to steps up. He's taller than the other guys, heck I think he's taller than Sebastian. He has an easy grin on his face, but unlike Alex's, it's fake. His entire aura stinks of bad vibes and I know I don't like him.

He stands directly in front of me, probably trying to intimidate me. I look up to his face, his hair is pretty long and is tied back. "What do you want, Konosuke?"Blair glares. "Oh Blair, I didn't think I'd see you here. I thought the 'best' had their own schedule when it came to the training ground. Didn't Nicholas rent it out the past week?" Konosuke smirks. That gets Blair started. The best? 

"He means Blair, Alex, Nicholas and Sebastian. They're the best agents, the rest of us are kind of extras." Kian says suddenly appearing next to me. I flinch back, how the hell does he keep doing that? He just folds his arms and continues staring the scene in front of us. "Pretty stupid, right?"

"…Sure." 

"You're kind of part of them, Cora. Ever since you got a mission with Alex and everything." Kian continues. Okay, then. "Is that how things work around here?"

"Oh yeah. But you're kind of 'public enemy number one' because of it. You just showed up and stole the spotlight. Specifically, Konosuke's spotlight." Kian says shaking his head and looking at me with sympathy. What's up with this dude? He just pops up from nowhere and starts up a conversation like we're old buds or something. "So, they're doing this because their pride's a little hurt." Kian says subtly pointing at Calypso then Konosuke. I mentally face-palm myself, you've got to be kidding me.

I lightly tap Blair's shoulder, "Let's go home." I'm not in the mood to entertain this nonsense. "Oh, Cora no! This wasn't supposed to happen, we can't end your tour on a bad note." Blair says turning to me. I guess she feels guilty that the happy mood is destroyed because of Calypso and friends. "I almost forgot, congrats on getting a mission Cora. How'd you do it?" Konosuke smirks. "Blair, we're leaving." I say grabbing her arm. "Come on, let's be honest." He continues. What is he trying to imply?

I don't like his tone, I turn my back to him but he speaks up before I walk. "Send my regards to Nicholas, oh I mean Alexander or maybe Sebastian. It doesn't really matter." That right there is the trigger. Not a single thing goes through my head as my fist collides with his nose.