Entering enemy territory

Cynthia's side

I watched her walk off with I think was a pained expression on her face. Franz kept telling me about how she was way too stuck up and needed to be taught a lesson but before that we went to visit Damion (Franz’s boyfriend) who was still sleeping on the bed in the infirmary. When he woke up Franz was quick enough to hug him to see he was fine. He was grumbling on how Seraph cheated in the duel but he didn’t know about it so Franz told him that Seraph was a girl. He went all wide eyes and just thought about it for a minute.

                “So you’re saying that even if I won it wouldn’t count since he was a she. That’s not right no there has to be a mistake. He was wearing a guy’s uniform.” Franz frowned at that possibility but replied. “Seraph’s a girl we all saw her changing in the girl’s changing room. She has all the parts to saw that she is a girl.” Their conversation kept going but I didn’t listen to it because no matter how much I try not to think about her words they somehow always come back to me. They kept repeating in my head making me wonder if there were actually true. No it can’t be true they are monsters look what happened to Damion he was hurt because of him but she only did one thing to him and it looked like he died. Why couldn’t Damion get out of it was it because he underestimated him or was it just s defense move to render them unconscious. I stood up and seemed to have screamed.

                “AHHH I don’t even know anymore!” Franz and Damion looked at me and I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed at my outcry. I ran out of the room and went on home without them. As I was walking home I could see some of the Noctus members looking around the buildings with amazement. That’s when my father’s words came back to me. We forced them out of our city. This is their home too they have the right to stay here. I shake my head and ran straight home until someone fell from the building. When the person was about to hit the ground they turned their body and landed on their feet. The person looked around to see if anyone saw them and as she turned around it was the same person who was with Seraph. She glared at me and just headed back into the dorms. Seraph came out running and started checking her for wounds and she laughed it off. She took it very seriously and as they were walking back together the girl collapsed and Seraph panicked for a little while and carried her back into the building. I wanted to follow her to see if anything was out of the ordinary but I couldn’t the Noctus members made something to determine whether or not you were one of them. All I could do was go back to my room and try to figure out what to do if I see Seraph in the café again waiting for the Mane people to come to the middle and have a nice chat. Somehow the thought of it wasn’t as pleasant as I thought it was. I shook my head and started doing my homework the teacher assigned even though it was just the first day of classes. When I had finished my homework there was a knock on the door and I went to go open the door. As I opened it some people from my class rushed into the room and were already making themselves comfy. There were three people all together and I have known them from elementary so they weren’t totally strangers. Jess was the one who was extra cautious with everything while Sadie was just the quiet one and got along with anything people say to her and last but not least Dhile was the ring leader to both of them so was acted high and mighty whenever she had the chance.

                “So, um, what brings you guys here?” I couldn’t seem to handle this group as well as the others.

                “We want to know why on earth you keep hanging around with that thing that pretends to be a guy.” Dhile said as she looked down on me and which I couldn’t help but look at the insides of her nostrils as I try to look at her eyes. I laughed a little when they twitched but I knew I have to answer them since they didn’t seem the kind of people to leave without a proper answer.

                “I wasn’t hanging around with her. Just something’s happen and we just meet constantly. It’s not we are friends or anything.” They looked at me as if I was trying to keep some facts a secret but I wasn’t I was just telling them the honest truth. After a half an hour passed I finally convinced them that there was nothing between me and the Noctus members. We all walked outside of the room when Sadie stopped me as the other continued to go to the café.

                “What’s wrong Sadie? Why have you stopped? Did you want to talk to me?” Sadie looked around the halls and made sure that no one else listening into our conversation before saying anything.

                “Well, the thing is I want to try going to the middle side for lunch but you know how Dhile is. She wouldn’t let me hear the end of it if I tried a stunt like that.” When I heard that I pulled her close and pushed her to the wall and whispered so people don’t have to hear the rest of the conversation. “You say what now. You want to try and be friends with those people. What makes you think they will accept you? What happens if you get traumatized to the point you can no longer go to school anymore? No have you ever considered the possibility that they are here to maybe get revenge on us and continue the war on the inside.” Sadie looked terrified for only a moment and just closed her eyes to take a deep breath. When she exhaled she looked at me with such determination and responded to me that left a deep impression on me.

                “Don’t you think that sometimes you don’t belong here? Maybe you belong somewhere else and maybe that somewhere else is on the other side. Do you think it’s fair that some people cower in fear for others just because if something in the past is playing a part in our hatred? Don’t you think it may be time for us to look past our mistakes and just make up? I thought you would understand since you started talking to them and seemed perfectly fine with them but I guess I was wrong. I’ll find a way to tell Dhile why I did this even if I’m hated by the other Mane class at least some people might hear my out. Just like that Noctus kid that waits all alone in the café waiting for someone from our side to listen to them.” Sadie said this and just walked off as I was standing there in a daze not knowing what to do next. The clock rung and I started going to the café. So when I got there I saw Sadie helping Seraph clean up the tables by themselves as if it was natural. They both seated at the same table and started staring at each other. Waiting for at least one person to start the conversation. Seraph’s friends came in with the food and just like that they started talking. Sadie seemed scared at first and kept her head down but Seraph called her name and when she looked up she got flicked in the head. She held her head but she didn’t leave her spot something happened that she started smiling. I then saw Dhile and Jess walk to the middle and tried to carry Sadie away but Seraph stopped her and I knew I had to do something. I rushed to the group and I could already hear arguing among them. I could also hear the whispers from the other people saying the Sadie has betrayed them or that she has been brainwashed.

                “What is going on here? Can’t you see you guys are being a nuisance here?” All eyes went on me and to be honest I didn’t like it one bit. Even if I am the center of attention I have to keep going since I started this whole thing in the first place I think. “Tell me what happened starting with you first Sadie.” Sadie snatched her arm from both Jess and Seraph and began talking but not before she took some really deep breaths.

                “Well, um I um wanted to talk to the other side and see if they could be my friend.” I couldn’t quite hear the end of the sentence but I knew it would be so good. That’s when I saw Dhile all red maybe from the anger she had with Sadie. She shouted at her saying all kinds of stuff and most of the stuff she said wasn’t really language you would use in front of children so I’ll just give you the short version of it. She went all like why on earth would you hang out with these people. They are nothing but trouble and if you wanted to be friends with them it could have been anyone except for this guy. She gestured to Seraph and Sadie cut in saying that she was a girl. Dhile asked Seraph to prove it. Seraph just laughed it off. Dhile couldn’t help herself so she grabbed Seraph’s shirt by the collar and swung a fist in the air.

                “I said prove it or else.” Seraph put her hands up and replied. “Now now you want me to prove to you that I’m a girl. In front of everyone? Here right now? That seems to be rather bold of myself. Can I just show you my ID card and be done with it?” Dhile didn’t accept that answer and brought her fist down to try and hit her but Seraph stopped the punch by hitting her elbow up, grabbing her wrist and twisting it so she would let go of the shirt. When she let go Seraph turned around with her wrist and locked it to her back. Grabbing her other arm from trying to get herself free. “Now see here I didn’t mean to cause any violence so I’m going to slowly let go of you and you have to remain calm.” Dhile kicked her in the leg and also stomped on her shoes but Seraph didn’t even react to it. “I’m trying to keep things civil so please try and work with me here.” Seraph let go of her and slowly backed away. Nothing happened after that except for the fact Seraph got a huge truck full of foul language thrown at her as Dhile walked out of the café with only Jess. Sadie hid behind Seraph and waited until Dhile was out of sight before resuming her talk with Seraph. Later that evening I heard a scream from down the hall and when I ran towards that scream I saw Sadie being beaten by some of the guys from our side. I tried to break it off but they were so keen on getting something that was something of a justice in their eyes. Sadie was tossed outside with her luggage and was told never to come to this side again. She held back her tears and called someone. Seraph came minutes later all out of breath and asked what happened and Sadie didn’t say anything. Seraph didn’t know what to do but motioned her inside their side of the building and she seemed really scared. I walked to her side and heard their conversation.

                “Sadie, it’s alright to come I’ll make sure nothing will happen to you. Everyone on this side would welcome you. The people who don’t like this are living on a different floor and I promise that to you.” She shook her head as if she was given too much and cannot return anything back. “I’m sorry but I’m fine it’s not the first time this has happened.” She grabbed her luggage and walked away but Seraph took her hand and dragged her into their side of the building. I ran after them and when we entered I couldn’t believe my eyes. Their place was completely different than the original design of the building. I saw people sliding, climbing, even jumping all over the place. Seraph brought her to the stairs and asked.

                “What are you doing here?” She glared at me like a wounded animal learning from it’s mistake. I had to answer and apologize but I didn’t know how. I could just utter the words that I was coming with her. She looked at me and questioned it. “Are you going with me to my room which is on the 13^th floor?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. They were going to take the stairs to the 13^th floor they must be crazy.

                “Hold on a minute, you guys have an elevator. Why don’t you guys use it?” Seraph looked at me so confused and went back to climbing the stairs. I got up on of the flights of the stairs and caught up to her and dragged her to the elevator. As we got there I was surprised that no one was using it and as it opened Seraph refused to go inside. Sadie went in perfectly but she just looked down to the ground.

                “Seraph what’s wrong? Aren’t you getting on?”

                “Why would I get on that thing? I don’t know what it is so I’m not going to use it. I’m perfectly capable of using the stairs or maybe just rock climb it if I feel like it.” I didn’t think it was right so when the doors were about to close shut I pulled Seraph inside and pushed the 13 button. The elevator began to move and Seraph stiffened up like a boy meeting his girlfriend’s parents for the first time. When the elevator opened up Seraph was the first one to get off it and said that she would never get on it again. We proceeded to her room and when we did we had people glare at us as they were building other things in the hallways. I watched as kids ran through the halls with skateboards and bikes. I wanted tell at them but it wasn’t my place to tell them what was what since I was the one who came to their side. As we entered her room I was a bit surprised that it was so plain looking. There was really nothing there except for some clothes lying in the corner of the room. There was also books all over her bed and desk as if it wasn’t enough to keep her things in one place. She really didn’t mind having people over while her room was still a mess but my thought came out and Seraph looked at me. She didn’t say anything and just went to the phone to call somebody. That person came in a matter of seconds and just entered the room without knocking. Seraph introduced us to the manager of the t section of the floor. Since there were too many rooms to the building they decided to assign floors to the most responsible people that came to the city. Seraph and the manager started talking in private while I was putting some medicine to Sadie’s wounds. She flinched each time I put some ointment on. When I was finished I noticed that Seraph was staring at the wounds so intently. I jumped back in surprise and she just looked at me before saying something.

                “How? How did you do this? I’ve never done something like this before. It looks like to could help for a long time.”

                “I know how to do this because my mother is a doctor. She taught me how to deal with some minor wounds.”

                “Is that so?” Seraph paused for a moment and went from looking at me and then towards the floor. When she got some kind of idea she stood up and then said. “I need your help for something. Can you please come with me if you don’t mind?” I didn’t think that she would take such a polite tone with me and I couldn’t help but accept her help since I kept wondering what was going on in her mind. I followed her and as we were walking so many people yelled her name asking for help but she refused saying that there was something more important that she must do first. We kept walking until we reached the room that said infirmary. Seraph took a deep breath and opened the door. As the door opened I could hear ragged breathing from inside the room that got me frightened all of a sudden.

                “Um I don’t know your name but please could you tell me what is wrong with my friend.” Seraph motioned her hand to the bed where someone slept. I walked towards the hand and took a glance at her. I gasped in shock it was the girl who fell off the building but she had bandages all over here. The guy friend was at her bedside holding her hand and whispering that it was going to be alright. Seraph touched his back and whispered something to him and he nodded and just left the room. I looked at her body and started uncovering her bandages. As they came off I saw so much purple wounds all over her. I inhaled sharply and then asked Seraph what had happened. She told me that her friend Shinoa told her that she could spar with her after school but since she was anger about what happened at gym she forgot to hold back. She threw Shinoa to the wall leaving lots of cracks everywhere. Shinoa fell down but she just told her that she was going to be fine since it was just some light bruises. She couldn’t just leave it alone so she carried her to the infirmary and just iced the wounds. Shinoa didn’t like how the room was so stuffy so she opened the window and took a long breath outside and kept reminding her that it was totally fine with her. That she was strong, that she no longer has to protect her from anything. That’s when she lost consciousness and fell out of the open window. There was no designated doctor so Seraph couldn’t find out what was wrong with her but she knew she wouldn’t be waking up soon.

                “It’s Cynthia, my name is Cynthia.” I looked at Seraph but she looked so lost when she was inside the room where her friend slept. I saw her grit her teeth and punched the wall it broke through the whole debris. As she pulled it out she didn’t bother to tend to her wound. I walked over to her and touch her hand but she snatched it away with this surprised look on her face. She wrapped her hand in a cloth and then put her hand into her pocket. She told me to try and see what was wrong with her while she had other things to attend to. When she left I really didn’t know what to do so I checked up on each and every single one of the bruises but all of them seemed to be getting worse. I called my mom right after that to see if she knew anything but she was so fascinated that she decided to come over and check it out herself. She walked through the door and rushed to see the patient the moment she walked into the room. She checked every nook and cranny of her body, when she was finished she came to the conclusion that nothing was wrong with her. I sat down with disbelief thinking that there is no way that there was nothing wrong with Shinoa. I asked her to check again but she showed me the “bruises” I was talking about. I looked at her body again and there was nothing there at all. Seraph came back all dirty and just asked to see what had happened. I told her what my mom had said and Seraph shook her head then proceeded to the chair beside her. My mom didn’t like how the way Seraph came in so she made her go back to her room and clean up. I noticed that her hand didn’t have any blood nor any traces of cuts anywhere. I was about to say something but Seraph was already outside the room. I didn’t know what to do since my mom and I don’t really talk about our days anymore. We sat in silence for about 5 minutes and Seraph opened the door, she was out of breath like she had ran all the way here. She walked to the bed mumbling something but I couldn’t quite hear it. She touched her hands and somehow she noticed something was wrong so she grabbed her neck and my mom yelled at her.

                “Hey what are you doing?” Seraph didn’t seem to listen to her and just pulled her sheets off looking for something. She then said.

                “Not good not good. You idiot you said you were going to be perfectly fine.” Seraph started going through her clothes pockets and found an item that looked like a gun. My mom and I both ducked down in danger for our lives but Seraph didn’t shoot it. She was filling the gun with some kind of liquid I hadn’t seen before and just placed it at her neck. She closed her eyes just to take a deep breath, that’s when she pulled the trigger. I watched the liquid go into Shinoa like a baby drinking milk. When the container was empty Seraph pulled the gun out of Shinoa’s neck slowly and let her arm drop to her side with no effort at all. I looked at Seraph and she had this look on her as if she was going to lose something precious to her. I heard some kind of cough so I glanced at Shinoa and she was weakly wheezing air. Seraph let out a breath before falling to her knees with a relaxed face now. She started laughing before she got up slowly from her spot and just shook her head as she walked out of the infirmary. I didn’t know what to do next so I left the room with my mom to look after Shinoa. I was walking back to Seraph’s room when I found her sitting down beside her door. She looked like she was lost somewhere in her mind. Moments later tears came out of her eyes and I knew I had to do something about it. I was reaching out to touch her shoulder when my phone started ringing and I saw Seraph looking at me. She immediately got up and went inside her room. I felt helpless at that part but I didn’t have time to do anything so I looked at my phone and it was Franz calling I picked it up.

                “Hello, Franz, you have such nice timing don’t you?”

                “Cynthia, where are you I am looking everywhere for you and no one here knows where you are?” I forced myself to laugh as if I could just throw her off balance but I knew that she wasn’t going to let it slid. I responded after I looked at the time where it was almost dinner time. “Franz, I’ll be at the café could you meet me there.”

                “Yeah, sure but you got to tell me where you were for the past hour maybe even after you left the school without me.”

                “You know for the record I was giving you and Damion some time alone since all you do is hang around me.”

                “Well if he doesn’t like it then we’ll break up. I did say that if we are going out then you have to come along too. If you start to feel left out then we break up right there on the spot. You have to be prioritized first or else he’s no good.”

                “Again with this. You’re happiness should be before mine. Besides I’ll find someone eventually. Anyways it’s almost time for dinner I’ll meet you there and please whatever you see do not be surprised or maybe angry I don’t know I can never tell what you are feeling since you keep such a straight face when I saw it’s a surprise.” There was a long pause there and I didn’t hear her respond but I did know that she hung up on me. I kind of got the feeling that she knows what’s going on either that or she came up with some ridiculous fantasy of me with something and I couldn’t escape it. I let out a deep breath and walked into the room which surprised me that I thought I was locked out. When I entered the room I saw Seraph laughing which somehow I knew it was fake. Sadie kept on talking making Seraph more and more intrigued by it. I interrupted them saying that it will soon be dinner and Seraph had this face that she really didn’t want to go. Before I could say anything else her friend came in and knocked Seraph out of her seat and crashed onto the ground. He stood up and started dragging her by the collar. Sadie was walking behind her while holding my hand to make sure I didn’t do anything stupid inside Seraph’s room. Which by the way I would have if I felt like it nah who am I kidding I can’t keep my hands to myself. We were all walking to the café not knowing of what was about to come next.

Author's Note

Excuse my grammar or punctuation. I was writing this in a rush since there is very limited time when you have about 2 hours in a room where your supposed to study ooops my bad