Fractured Allegiance

The air thickened, coiling around us like an unseen force. It was suffocating. My pulse drummed in my ears, my body alight with a mixture of adrenaline and something deeper—resentment. It only flickered for a second, but it was enough.

I had known. I had always known.

Lloyd wasn't going to drop out.

The time had finally come. The moment I would step out from his shadow.

I understood him more than anyone else here. I had studied his every move, the weight he carried as the Nursery's pinnacle. But despite that, I could never predict his mind completely, and that infuriated me. Why? Why would he change his mind now?

The United States had sent us here to thwart Japan's ambitions, to dismantle the White Room, a secret project designed to forge the 'perfect human,' an inevitable path to world domination through its students. The U.S. called it inhumane, a violation of human rights. And yet, they had created the Nursery, a place far more brutal, a machine designed to break and remold us into something beyond human.

Hypocrisy.

The thought gnawed at me.

I could see it clearly now—this mission had nothing to do with morality or justice. It was one monster cutting down another, a contest of whose methods would reign supreme. But I would not be trapped between two corrupt giants, pretending one was better than the other. That's why I refused to get involved in their politics. That's why my only goal was to surpass Lloyd.

And now, this bastard was trying to ruin everything.

Lloyd's voice carried through the tense silence, indifferent, almost amused at the storm he had created.

"Yeah... Does staying for the entire three years of this school count?"

My fingers curled into my palm.

"No, we need you to withdraw from this school within this week," I said, voice measured. "Today is Wednesday, so I—"

"Shut up."

He stood up. The shift in his posture sent a silent message—this conversation was over.

"You could go now and report the identity of the White Room students. I'll further gauge his abilities, that way we—"

"Bullshit!" I snapped. "You think you can just lie to me about this mission? I know you, Lloyd. I know exactly what kind of person you are. What's with this sudden change of mind?"

Lloyd barely spared me a glance, his disinterest like a slap to the face.

"That's none of your business, Sienna. My decisions have nothing to do with you. Say hi to the officials back in America."

A small, biting laugh escaped me.

"So that's it? You're just abandoning everything the Nursery gave us? Everything we worked for?"

"Sienna…" Lloyd turned, his voice laced with something cold, final. "Are you purposely being blind? The Nursery doesn't give a flying fuck about you. Our relationships, our struggles, our so-called 'achievements'—they don't matter. You think being one of their best subjects means something? Of course it does. It means you're a tool. Nothing more, nothing less."

The words hit deeper than I wanted to admit.

I had always known that truth, but hearing it from him… hearing it thrown at me with such indifference—it stung.

A sharp inhale from my side. I turned.

Whis.

His usually steady expression wavered, torn between logic and emotion. His hands were clenched at his sides, his gaze shifting between Lloyd and me as if struggling to process the situation.

"Lloyd… what exactly are you planning?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a weight that cut through the room. He wasn't just questioning Lloyd's decision. He was questioning everything.

Lloyd tilted his head slightly, regarding him with unreadable eyes.

"What am I planning?" He repeated the words slowly, deliberately. "Why does it matter? You can pretend trust exists between us, Whis, but deep down, you know the truth. Trust between tools is just an illusion. The moment one of us stops serving our purpose, we're discarded."

Whis's face tensed, his struggle evident.

And then—Nero.

The tension around him had been simmering, boiling beneath the surface, and now it was about to erupt. His fists tightened, his muscles coiled with restrained frustration.

"What are you trying to say, Lloyd?" His voice was dangerously low.

He knew. He knew they were nothing but tools to the Nursery, but he didn't want to be reminded of it.

Lloyd saw it. And he used it against him.

"What I'm saying, Nero, is that you can keep telling yourself you matter. But at the end of the day, we're nothing more than projects. You just hate being reminded of it, don't you?"

That did it.

Nero lunged. His movements were instinctual, driven by the need to erase the words that rang too true. His fist shot forward—

Whoosh.

A blur of movement.

Lloyd caught his hand effortlessly.

Silence.

A cruel smirk played at his lips. His grip tightened, fingers digging into Nero's skin with calculated precision.

"I'm scared shitless," Lloyd mused, voice mockingly flat. "Is this all you've got, Nero? Lazy genius?"

Nero struggled, but Lloyd's grip only tightened, his hold as unyielding as his words.

"Screw you, Lloyd!" Nero spat, his body trembling with anger. "You think you can just talk bullshit like we don't know what we are?! We know, damn it! We don't need you rubbing it in our faces!"

Lloyd let out a quiet chuckle, finally releasing Nero's wrist.

"Then stop acting like you're anything more."

He turned toward the exit, his voice carrying the weight of an executioner's verdict.

"I don't know how you're going to get me out of this place, but if you can't do so within two months…"

A pause.

A breath.

"I'll be expelling all three of you."

And just like that, he was gone.

Nero clutched his wrist, pain evident in his face, but it wasn't just from the grip. It was the words.

Whis stood frozen, his brows knitted together, the pieces in his mind failing to form a clear picture.

And me?

I was seething. My face was a mask, but my mind was already moving, crafting countermeasures.

This wasn't over.

I turned on my heel and strode toward the exit.

"Sienna…"

Whis caught up to me, his gaze searching, uncertain.

"Don't do something stupid."

I met his eyes, holding them for a long second before finally speaking.

"I don't intend to."

And yet, as I walked away, I could already hear Whis's voice calling after me, his warning lost to the growing storm inside me.

"We weren't going to!!"

My hands curled into fists.

Lloyd.

Lloyd.

Lloyd.

I swear.