Standing in a row, side by side, an oppressive feeling washed over everyone present.
Clap
No one dared to speak or move, trying to keep their breath as silent as possible.
Clap
In front, an instructor was walking in circles around the group.
Clap
Every step, slow and purposeful.
Clap.
A rod in hand, a rivmick repeated sound of the rod landing on the bare hand of Professor Anderson, one of his gloves mysteriously missing. Beneath the glove, his hand was mostly pale, like the rest of his skin, with a certain black, charred pattern beginning at his fingertips and spreading up the veins.
"Have any of you noticed changes in your classmates?"
Clap!
Seeing the pattern, Nox was shaken. Masterfully hiding his change in mood, a memory resurfaced.
Is this about that black blob?
Clap!
A few moments of silence, the only sound breaking the tranquility, the reverberating clapping of the rod on skin.
"You will not be punished for hiding information this far. Informing us about problems will only help you, no matter what.
You all know the motto of Abyss City: "Informing is caring. In a young city like ours, known for its ever-present shadows and strict vigilance, you can never be too careful."
We all care about the City and people's flourishing, right?"
Clap.
Getting silence as an answer once more, Anderson continued in a tone that grew considerably softer.
"We support loyalty between comrades with all our hearts— however, this is for your own good."
Clap.
"For those who have anything to share, you will be rewarded handsomely. My door is always open.
For those planning to hide things, this will only hurt you and those you plan to protect, and we will not allow such behavior! "
Clap!
Followed by another bout of silence, Anderson looked over to an unknown older gentleman standing at the side, leaning against the pristine walls of the facility.
His face and skin were fully hidden behind a long white crow's mask, a dark leather suit, and a short top hat. The mask encompassed every crevice of his head, not letting the slightest hair escape, while two binoculars hid his eyes behind a reflective surface.
As a whole, the outfit made one question if there was even a human behind all the air-tight leather and the creepy mask. Only knowing that this was a man, because of the shape of his body. A truly ominous appearance, if only it were just the appearance.
Turning his head slowly, the darkened glass of his binoculars traveling across the room, reflecting each and every one present. The faces of students appeared in the glass binoculars one by one, as if taking in every detail.
A bonze-skinned, muscular man with a bald head.
A womman, with blond hair and a glum expression.
An older man with pale skin, around his fifties.
A young womman with dark, lusterless, long, draping hair and especially vibrant purple lips.
A boy with cyan hair and a satisfied expression.
A red-haired young man with a dissatisfied expression, his gaze wandering between two students.
…
A raven-black-haired young man with a singular white strain above the left eye, his face placid, showing not the slightest change of emotion.
In total, there were fourteen students, one suspiciously missing.
Noctis was doing his best not to show his doubts and fears. Below the facade, a whirlwind of thoughts raced and clashed.
What should he do?
Would Trisha rat him out?
They had made a deal, but what power did the word even hold? None!
None of the students attending here were informed of what to look out for. Nox, however, had his suspicions, a suspicion that would not bode well for him.
Staying silent, the crowmasked man's gaze traveled past him, not revealing anything of note.
His gaze traveled back to the student standing nearest to him.
Walking up to him, his appearance gave off not the slightest emotion. One could not judge the man. One could not be sure if the man in black was filled with murderous rage or righteous tranquility.
He was a complete unknown, which made one feel on edge whenever around him.
Hunching his back, the tall man in black leveled his gaze at one of the students before him for a few long, unendurable moments, or at least it seemed he was gazing at her, the darkened goggles not revealing his eyes.
The student, a young girl, said nothing. Her gaze, on the other hand, was thoroughly terrified, each second that passed distorting her gaze further. Not knowing what this was all about, she heightened her fear even more.
Moving his masked head back up, the man spoke, taking a vile from a bag fastened at the side of his belt, other tools like syringes, pliers, and many more, some known to Noctis, others not, resting with them.
Waving the vile casually in front of the girl, he spoke for the first time.
His voice was gritty and had a certain, almost echoing quality, maybe an effect of the mask. His choice of words, on the other hand, was unexpectedly unfitting for the grim-looking man, a certain refined politeness to each and every one of them.
"Young one, would you be so kind as to stretch out your hand?"
It was expressed as a question—it felt like a command to the young girl, the unfeeling glass gaze of the plague doctor that reflected her image, conveying the impression of looking right through her, seeing through every one of her secrets.
While the girl's hand hesitantly stretched out, the entire scene was reflected in the visor's gaze. The plague doctor's own hand, taking and opening the girl's very delicate one.
The next moment, a wound opened on her palm, a line of blood drifting off, flowing through space as if having a mind of its own, directly into the vile held by the plague doctor.
In the vile, the blood flowed into a yellowish liquid, the substance not bonding with the blood, staying strictly separated.
Placing his thumb on the vils' opening, the man's hand began to vibrate, producing a low, almost silent hum that reverberated through the room.
In his hand, the liquids in the vial became a blur, lathering up the next moment.
After a minute of this, the sound and the vibration in his hand stopped.
Holding up the vile just in front of his mask's eyes, waiting for the movements of liquids to stop.
Minutes passed, and the yellow and red liquids completely settled, with the yellow below the red above.
Not showing a reaction, the man removed his thumb from the lid, letting a stream of pure red fluids return to their origin, flying straight to the girl's wounded arm, entering and closing it in the process.
Tilting his beak-like mask slightly at the sight of her so easily wounded arm healing, he spoke once more, his echoing voice unchanged.
"There, there, all better."
Taking a step to the side, he went to the next student, repeating all of the steps, using the same vile, filled with the same yellow liquid.
Over and over again, nothing changed the process into something completely fluid, and every movement was precisely the same, every comfort repeated to the point of losing all meaning.
He went to Brutus, he went to Trisha, and he even went to Raef, even if he seemed hesitant about being healed.
Was there a clue to expose Raef in this?
The thought of speaking up briefly flared in Nox's mind. This could distract from himself. The thought was suppressed a moment later, too many unknowns in the equation.
And then his turn came before he could even look for a way out. It came and went. The blood was healing his arm, and the test had shown no abnormalities.
Following the doctor with his gaze for a few more moments, he was still very confused by the absurdity of the whole situation.
Wasn't this test about any of the abnormalities I caused? Am I becoming too narcissistic? Did this have nothing to do with me?
The notion was quickly denied. This was simply too coincidental!
However, while following the plague doctor with his gaze, feeling a bit neglected for some unknowable reason, Noctis did detect one abnormality connected to the doctor.
The thread of fate, connecting him and the doctor, had grown unusually thick.
Looking to the left and right, he quickly noticed that the other students, at least those who had interacted with him, had similarly thick strings attached to them.
While observing this, the pale cord string connecting him and the doctor had grown slightly again.
Noctis's ability was active almost permanently, since Noctis could not deactivate it. This made it difficult to hold his eyes open for too long, but it had its advantages as well.
For example, observing many changes in the tapestry of fate passively, not giving him a chance to procrastinate researching, since his brain had the bad habit of analyzing everything that it came to know.
So he had already observed many things, with many more to be discovered.
One of the strings in the tapestry of fate he could most often observe was the one connecting people. The string that bound person to person was the one that would change most of all strings in the near-infinite tapestry of fate. At least one of the few types of strings Noctis had learned of.
Some connections were strong, others were weak, but all had one thing in common. They were flimsy in essence, easily broken.
Humans were born lonely, like singular strings disconnected and alone. Over their lives, they would build up connections in the name of kinship, friendship, rivalry, or love. Breaking and being replaced over a lifetime.
But here is the thing. These connections were flimsy and brittle, strengthening or… corroding with time.
In the end, they all inevitably broke, leaving the string alone once more, just like it started.
Ironically enough, the connection that was strongest at the end was the one of the person landing the final strike, ending one's existence. Lonely floating through space and time, discarded, just like it started.
Looking at the string connecting him to the doctor, the golden string still had the pale core that was unique to Nox's connections alone, yet as a whole, it seemed thicker. Concentrating on the string for a few moments, a thoughtful expression on his face.
He thought there was a red weak glimmer hidden beneath the golden shine. But was it really, and what would that mean?
He had never seen a color variety in the tapestry of fate.
No. That was wrong. Back when he accidentally used his full ability, there definitely was something. Trying to remember, he found it incredibly difficult.
Everything from back then was a blur of pain and golden tones, mixed with other colors.
"What are you looking at?"
Looking up, Nox flinched back. The emotionless crowd masks directly in front of him. The beak, just a centimeter away from his nose.
When did he get this close!
"What were you seeing just now?"
Hearing the echoing voice ring in his ears, a suppressive feeling fell over him.
Taking all his willpower to suppress the notion of flinching back, Nox answered stageringly.
"N-Nothing. I swear!"
Looking him in the eye for a few moments more, the beak slowly distanced itself from his face. Saying, in a casual tone, the echo still giving his words an authoritative air.
"You should be careful of what you look at. Hm Hm."
Hearing the echoing chuckle, a shiver ran down Nox's back, truly spooked by the man.
Did he notice? Did he see something?
Turning around, the man in black walked off. His wide back disappeared in the distance after having a short talk with Anderson.
"You are free for the day."
Hearing Anderson speak up, Nox suppressed a sigh of relief, not wanting any suspicions to fall on him.
Taking his usual place and route, after being released, Nox did not think too much before finding himself standing a few meters away from Raef.
What? Why did I walk next to him?
I-it felt so natural.
Isn't this the place I'd least want to be!?
Did the glimpse into Elisa's fate have more side effects than expected?
Glancing at him with a weird expression, Raef stared Nox down for a few moments, his charismatic smile never wavering.
"Did you decide to join my cause after all?"
The cause, called building up your snack buffet? Nox mused before scrambling for an excuse.
"Oh. Sorry. But I'll think about it… later. I might have been a bit rattled after the encounter just now."
Trying to extricate himself as quickly as possible, quite similarly to their first encounter. This time, however, hRaef did not plan on letting him go.
Putting a hand on Noctis's shoulder to hold him in place, great fear arises within.
Avoiding Raef's eyes staring at his forehead, a bad premonition was hammering at the back of Nox's head. A premonition that making direct contact with his eyes would make him susceptible to Raef's influence.
Noticing for the first time that Raef seemed to have grown a bit, while staring at his forehead, reaching Nox's chin.
The growth was quite subtle, but it was definitely there. Did he have a growth spurt? If Nox hadn't seen Raef in Elisa's memories, he wouldn't have noticed, but the change was there and clearly pronounced.
The difference has only gone unknown this far because of the great danger associated with the boy.
Not in the mood to ruminate on his observation, Nox started to feel nervous, avoiding Raef's gaze and growing more and more suspicious with every second.
"Is there something on my forehead or…."
Hearing the calm, relaxed voice of Raef, the pressure of the whole situation started intensifying, and the goons of Raef subtly moved to surround him. Throughout it all, he did not lower his gaze, his face stoic, not showing the slightest emotion.
Shit, shit shit…
"Ohh, it's n…"
Before he could tell some random lie, a delinquent arm wrapped around his shoulder, Raef's expression slightly distorted.
"Whatcha chatting about without me?"
Still quite polite, Raef looked at the two of us, Noctis and Trisha, his voice a bit colder.
"I believed you wouldn't interfere if I let you alone."
The unusually icy voice of Trisha quickly rebutted.
"Taking him in is interfering with me."
Narrowing his eyes for a moment, Raef let go of Nox's shoulder, the next moment as if taking a step back.
Averting his gaze from Trisha, Raef looked back towards Nox, prompting him to avoid his gaze once more, pretending to be a bit shy, so as to alleviate any suspicions.
"Ok, ok, I'll take you as a set then. Let's stay friends, Noctis."
Stretching out his hand to shake Noxs in a polite way, to show that they left on good terms.
Seeing this, Nox sighed internally, no longer staring at his forehead, looking down into his eyes, and taking his hand, partially instinctively and partially calculatedly.
It did not seem he could instantly affect someone, so it would have been worse to raise suspicion than to risk being affected to a certain extent.
Turning around quickly, Trisha and Nox walked off, Raef's gaze trailing behind them.
"Why go over there, doofis!"
Unbeknownst to them, he stared at his hand for a few moments, his smile unchanged.
Clenching his hand repeatedly and then unclenching it, Raef narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of his hand, a frown appearing on his forehead.
"How interesting."