When Elias got back to the spot he had left off, Dorian and Lizzy weren't there anymore.
Before he could think the worst of it, however, a new message lit up on his device.
[Dorian: We left since you took so long drying your tears. Make your way to the Dark Arena, Cherry dragged us off for a game of laser tag. And before you judge me, I couldn't resist, okay! Belle is there too!]
"Just the last thing I needed. Oh Dorian, you really are a complete simp."
Elias pinched his forehead with a frown. Having Lizzy out of his sight like this made him feel a little uneasy.
There was no point in wasting any more time.
He spoke immediately, turning away from the massive LED screen.
"Lead me to the Dark Arena, Nova."
***
The entire arena was vast and barely lit up by dim, colored lights flashing across the walls.
Elias walked through glowing obstacles while following the path between intersecting sections, wincing at the sound of shouts and footsteps that grated irritably against his ears.
The place was dark, dark enough for the red laser lights from laser guns to flash brightly.
With Dorian already sending over his location, Elias ignored everything else around him, moving towards his position.
"Ouch!"
A girl ran into him from one of the adjacent pathways, her hand already raising her laser gun in a subconscious move to disqualify him.
But since he wasn't wearing a sensor vest, her hand only ended up freezing, her head tilting ever so slightly.
Although Elias couldn't see her face hidden by her blue helmet, the awkwardness was mutual.
A hand shot out from behind her, dragging her sideways. It was followed by a female voice that was undeniably exasperated.
"Sir Nonchalant isn't part of the game. Come on, Melissa, Luka is hot on our tail!"
She hesitated, turning away from him before escaping into the darkness.
Elias furrowed his eyebrows.
"Sir Nonchalant?"
Those two girls seemed to be familiar with him, so it was obvious that they were also Candidates. After all, they had met in class hours ago.
But what he couldn't get out of his head was this weird nickname.
Or maybe he was overthinking it. That had to be someone else, right?
Nodding to himself, Elias resumed his walk, frequently passing by contenders who made attempts to catch him by surprise, only to leave in disappointment when they discovered he wasn't a participant.
Even then, Elias harbored no desire to play this game. The sky outside had darkened, and night had already fallen.
It was time to get Lizzy back home.
Finding Dorian didn't take long.
"Take that, bastard!"
He was hiding against a wall, exchanging laser shots with another boy meters away. Laser lights shot across from their guns like continuous strings of red beams, none of them relenting for a moment.
Elias heard footsteps behind him, followed by a rush of voices.
"Damn it! She's getting away!"
"Stop her!"
He sidestepped, narrowly dodging a feminine figure moving like a blur of wind while getting chased by a little group of five other contenders.
He slapped his hand over his forehead, easily recognizing her from the familiar selfie stick jutting out of her hand.
"Hey, Cherries! You can see the freaky weirdos behind me, can't you? They all smell disgusting, yuck. Bathrooms exist, people, go take a wash! Shoo! Shoo!"
If they weren't taking her very seriously before, they were now.
"H-how dare you!"
"You are in trouble, wench!"
"Flank her from the left, Xavier. Space out, guys, keep her surrounded!"
Elias reluctantly turned his face away from Cherry, and that was because he had caught sight of Lizzy.
He let out a sigh of relief, taking light steps towards her direction.
She was leaning against one of the partitions, engaging in excited conversation with a petite girl who had waves of blue hair falling down her shoulders from her helmet.
Elias couldn't help but feel a little surprised at that, because Lizzy never interacted this well with strangers.
And they were both drinking... smoothies?
'I guess this is Belle?'
Lizzy turned to him the moment he got within view, her eyes widening before she shot into his arms with an excited yelp.
"Biggy! This is my friend, Isabella!"
Elias curiously turned to look at her, waving his hand in greeting.
"It's nice to meet you."
She giggled, removing her helmet.
The first thing Elias caught sight of was a pair of ethereal lilac eyes, colored by a few sparks of silver. It made him feel unpleasant, as though the eyes weren't just looking at him, but at the depths of his soul.
She extended her hand towards him in a handshake.
"And it's nice to meet you too, Sir Nonchalant."
Elias felt his eyebrow twitch.
He shook her hand, sighing when he felt Lizzy pull furiously at his hand.
He raised his hand, carrying her into his arms while she giggled, resting her head against his shoulders. Elias could already tell that she was about to fall asleep.
"I am curious, though. How the hell did I end up with this title?"
If he wasn't wrong, then somehow his first impression had earned him that nickname. But he didn't remember acting all nonchalant in class during the day.
Belle laughed, casually shooting a laser beam over her shoulder without turning to look back. A growl resounded from the guy trying to sneak up on her from the darkness, the light on his sensor vest blinking off, eliminating him.
"It's just a dumb joke between the girls whenever we use the changing room. Don't take it too seriously."
Elias took a deep breath.
'Seriously?'
What a stupid, totally cringe nickname. Who was the idiot that started this?
He turned to Belle, trying not to look directly at her intense, lilac eyes. They made him uncomfortable.
"Who began the joke?"
"Won't tell. Won't tell."
"Why do I have the feeling you have something to do with it?"
"Uhh... I don't, believe me!"
She didn't sound very convincing.
Elias decided to give up, quietly acknowledging the fact that continuing the argument would get him nowhere.
"Hey, get back, coward!"
He turned, watching as Dorian chased after the boy he had been engaging in a shootout with moments ago, the both of them disappearing into the partitions curving into numerous branching pathways.
Elias turned back to Belle, who was now giving him a strange, quizzical look while taking light sips of the smoothie wrapped lazily around her fingers.
He pretended not to notice, the sound of Lizzy snoring already reaching his ears from above his shoulder.
Right, he should be getting her home about now.
"You have known Lizzy a long time before this, haven't you?"
Belle snorted, her back straightening up from where she had stood leaning against the wall.
She began to walk towards him, her gaze scrutinizing him.
"I will tell you later, but what makes me curious is the fact that I can't read anything about you. It's like smoke, escaping from my hand when I try to grasp it. You are weird, Elias Verdan, very weird."
Elias tilted his head, looking at her intense, lilac eyes boring down on him. He couldn't help the spark of irritation that lit up in his chest.
First that Fatesinger, and now this. Why can't anyone give him a damn break?
"It would be much appreciated if you gave up, Belle—"
He stopped, realizing the fact that he didn't know her full name or the nobility she hailed from. While he had introduced himself back in Mr. Cole's class, it's not like the rest of the Candidates had done the same.
Her face lit up into an amused smile.
"Belle Imperia, first daughter of the Viscountess Freya, ruler of one of the Western Quadrants of the Pacific. Nice to make your acquaintance."
'Imperia...'
That name...
If his memory served him right, then it was one of the noble houses that had made their territory within the treacherous depths of the Pacific Ocean, controlling human cities that were built underwater within massive oxygen domes.
And with that, the wariness he felt towards Belle multiplied manifold.
After the Inversion Epoch that led to the era that ushered in the advance of Echoforms, there was never a place that felt their vicious impact as much as the Ocean.
In fact, even the Indian Ocean was now off-limits after a horrendous Echoform known as the Chittering Wraith had made its home inside the water about fifty years ago. It wasn't until the rate of drowning suicides had numbered in the thousands that the Harmonic Council had investigated the anomaly.
An investigation that led to the death of Isolde Grimshaw, the fifth-ranked heroine of the past, along with numerous other casualties.
After that...
It had been closed off, marked as a Death Zone.
The rest of the oceans, although not as deadly, shared the peculiarity. The Western Quadrant itself was one of the deadlier quadrants of the Pacific.
With Mirrorths frequently opening up within their domains far more often than in human territories built on land, people living in those cities were constantly embroiled in harrowing wars.
Tempered by such an environment, a place where people constantly treaded between life and death, especially as the daughter of the Viscountess no less, Elias refused to believe that she wasn't dangerous.
While there was nothing wrong with that, the problem was that she was just a bit too friendly. A little too girly and sweet.
Or was he just overthinking things again? After all, people behaved differently even when subjected to the same circumstances, so this might just be her true self.
But Elias couldn't shake off the gnawing feeling in his gut, that ever since they began speaking there had always been that infuriating, unsettling glint in her eyes—
She seemed to notice his wariness, because the smile on her face froze over before a wistful sigh escaped her lips.
Her face turning cold, she settled on the wall, leaning her back against its surface.
Elias noticed the change, feeling uneasy.
'Seems my intuition was right. She's pretending to be nice.'
But for what reason exactly? Was it to fool Dorian, or just the kind of facade she wore all along?
Her voice cut him out of his thoughts. It was neutral this time and the furthest thing from playful.
"You seem to have figured out something important."
Elias clicked his tongue.
"If you kept up the facade, you would have fooled me eventually. Isn't it burdensome, acting out such a role when you can just be yourself?"
"As a noble, I have been trained since I was young to never wear my emotions on my face."
"Still burdensome."
Her eyes narrowed at him now, her lips curling slightly at the edges.
"Interesting, very interesting. Up until now, this is the first time that my innate trait, Soul-Gazer, has been unable to glean anything about someone."
She let out a sigh filled with longing.
"And it makes me so irresistibly curious. Say, how about an exchange of information? There has to be some stuff I am privy to which you would want to know, don't you think? Of course, nothing I ask will be harmful to you, so you can relax."
Elias couldn't help but rub his chin in thought.
He really, badly wanted to ignore this weirdo, but—
There was the answer to a question that he needed to know, one that, if the solution probably existed, was definitely not public knowledge. But she was a noble, hailing from a family of warriors.
There was still the minuscule chance that she might have an answer—
He stood silently, quietly weighing the pros and cons. Honestly, there wasn't exactly much of a downside since he could deflect or simply choose to lie his way out of uncomfortable questions.
"Deal. But I get to go first."
Her lips curled slightly at the edges into a pleased expression.
"Of course—"
"Are there any available methods to rid an Echoling of corruption?"
Her smile vanished.