AKARI

Having Azuma show up during our training was a surprise, but having her ask for help to save her realm was an even bigger surprise. In fact, I thought she despised me, but maybe she only asked me because she knew I could help and because of my connection to Valentine.

As Kaito and I make our way to the headmaster's office to visit Sander, I don't fail to notice his brooding demeanor. Once we're on the stairs, I frown and turn to him, grabbing his shoulder to stop him in his tracks.

"Hey," I frown. "Don't let what Azuma said get to your head, okay? She doesn't know. In any case, I chose to be with you, Kaito. I'm in love with you. You know that."

"Yeah," Kaito sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I know that."

"Yeah?" I sigh, moving my hand to cup the side of his face as I search his red eyes.

"Yeah," he breathes out, reaching up to place his hand over mine to reassure me. "Let's go see Sander."

"Right," I nod and slowly drop my hand, turning to continue up the stairs with Kaito.

I raise a hand to knock on the door before I open it, seeing Sander sitting at his desk while Kit sits on the edge of his desk and shuffles papers around in her hands, one of her legs crossed over the other.

"Hey," Sander smiles. "What's up, guys?"

"Hello," Kit glances up with a smile before she returns to looking through her papers, Sander moving to come out from behind his desk to greet us.

"We have some...news," I sigh, and Sander's eyebrows furrow in concern. "Azuma, one of the nobles of the Nightmare Realm, came to Valentine and me asking for help. Her world is in danger of collapsing, already plagued by war and illness. She needs our help."

"Right..." Sander breathes out, Kit looking up from her papers, her attention having now been grabbed by our words. "Darkness and light need each other just like yin and yang—without the other, the one could not exist. And even if they didn't need each other, we couldn't just leave a world to die."

"Layla, Valentine, Akari, Sora, Merrick, and I have already volunteered to go," Kaito says. "Valentine went to ask Miroslava for help as well."

"Alright..." Sander sighs, running a hand through his hair. "Stay safe. If you ever need anything, we'll be here to help. The rest of us will watch over our realm, so don't worry about things here."

"Of course," I nod, offering a smile. "You all stay safe, too."

Sander and Kit smile and see us both out of Sander's office, and we nearly run into Reverence in the process, him having been just outside of the doors.

"Reverence?" Kaito furrows his eyebrows. "What're you doing out of the infirmary?"

"Miroslava was helping Evory and Isabella in the infirmary whenever Valentine came to tell her what was happening," Reverence says, his eyes flickering between us. "I came to ask Sander for permission to go with you."

"What?" I frown. "Reverence, you can't—"

"Please," Reverence's voice comes out hoarse, his eyes sad. "Let me do something. I don't want to die in a hospital bed, Akari. I want my death to mean something. I want to help people."

"Okay..." I breathe out, still not liking the idea but deciding that it's his choice to make, understanding where he's coming from.

Kaito and I quietly step aside to allow Reverence to enter Sander's office and I sigh, Kaito placing a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

"You'd do the same thing if you were him, wouldn't you?" I ask, glancing over to Kaito.

"Yeah...probably," Kaito nods. "Wouldn't you?"

"Yeah," I sigh, my fists clenching and unclenching. "Without a doubt."

***

Several hours later, the eight of us meet up with Azuma at the front gate, Sander having said yes to Reverence after a long argument, parts of which I overheard as I walked by to get to the stairs once I got changed into my armor, and my heart couldn't help but go out to them both.

"I understand that you want to help, but I don't want to lose you!" Sander shouted. "I— I don't..."

"You're already losing me!" Reverence shouted back, making the room go silent. "I'm already a dead man walking, Sander. Please, just let me do this."

"Are we ready?" Azuma asks, looking between all of us.

"As ready as we'll ever be," Merrick sighs.

"Wait!" A male voice drifts through the air as he bounds down the stairs towards us, and my eyebrows raise in surprise.

"Damian," Layla scowls at the blond. "What are you doing?"

"Coming with you," Damian says, his purple eyes flickering between Layla and the rest of us.

"No, you're not," Layla crosses her arms.

"Who's this?" Valentine asks.

"My usual training partner, Damian Marseille." Layla sighs. "He's a second year."

"Come on, I can help. Besides, it'll be a good experience for me. I can handle it, Layla," Damian says.

"Fine," Layla throws her hands up in the air. "Don't come crying to me when you're dying on the ground."

"Two of you grab my hands and the rest of you grab theirs," Azuma instructs.

We do as told before we vanish together in a whirl of black glittering energy, teleporting to the middle of a woodland where stone ruins lay and a great black archway stands, a black energy mass swirling within the center of the gateway, broken glass lining the stone ground by the gateway.

"The Nightmare Realm is formally called Shirina, named after the queen who originally unified all of the kingdoms," Azuma says. "I should warn you that once you step through...what you see will not be pleasant."

"We've seen unpleasant," I say, my jaw clenching seriously, and Azuma nods.

The ten of us walk through the portal and once we're through the other side we end up standing in a city street, the sky a burnt ash color as pieces of ash fall in the distance and smoke billows from beyond. In front of us lies a long stone wall that goes around the street, citizens running around in panic while homes burn. I look off to the right with wide eyes, my gaze landing on a burning cottage right before something inside it explodes, glass blowing into the street.

"What the hell..." Kaito breathes out, his eyes widen.

"Welcome to Ciarran, the kingdom of flames," Azuma says, "ironically burning to the ground."

"Why is it...like this?" Sora asks, dumbfounded.

"War," Azuma says after a few moments, the blaze illuminating her figure as she stares ahead at the flames before she slowly looks back over her shoulder. "That's why."