❝ Mudhal Yaado? Mudivedhuvo?
Mudivilla Vaanam, mudivadhumundo?❞

i. pilot: elite gamblers

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The walls were woven with a superior reputation and wicked taint; blended with intricate details of beauty. It was merely a cage of masquerade, captivating the ten souls into a hallucination of pleasure. Not even a blow from their fate would steer them out of the poisonous path they are taking. As the saying goes, the eyes that have seen the worst would soar to the pain and embrace their wicked demons, have become their reality.

"Taehyung, would you ever stop harming yourself ?" Chaeyoung's concern placed a question on Taehyung. The crimson blood trailing down from his freshly done wound was fitted well with his pale as ghost skin, somehow it enlightened up his smile sadistically. Everything that was wrong for a normal mundane was perfectly normal for Taehyung; it was an understatement to call him someone with psychological issues as they could be cured but for him, he was beyond repair. "This is simply a wage for my dead and buried story, Chaeyoung," he replied as cold as if he was dead.

"Such irony, the pain that is making you feel alive is also going to be your very own end," Chaeyoung taunted with all her might. Taehyung nevertheless paid no heed towards the words rolled from her tongue, after all, a criminal wouldn't prefer to be advised by a sinner, a trained one in that to be more specific.

Taehyung, the name containing the meaning 'everything will be fine' has a total contrast to his label. He left his heart and fed it to his inner demons, they were too overwhelming for him to control. Having said that, he is the perfect creation of Adonis, perfect beauty with no bounds while his heart is a total contrast, like snowflakes to ashes.

"You shouldn't talk about him when you are the exact replication of your father, Chaeyoung. A hardcore gambler that will sell your soul to devil for the last chip," Jisoo spoke."you ain't a saint either," Chaeyoung replied with venom on her tongue as her hands were sharpening her newly-done nails, with the favorite card in a deck, the black ace. 

The ace card, even the name is derived from sophistication and elegance. It has the ability to act as the highest-ranking depending on the need, and the lowest that can fit in with ordinary numbers. Neutralizes any thirst for victory. Ace plays a crucial role in gambling and life.

Everyone has desires, but none admits them with a whole heart. Some desire to be the King, just the title to tie the knots as he wishes, give their life to someone else to guard. Some desire to be the queen in chess, an ace at everything, and holds the throne in line with full power. Some desire to be the rook, reach the end but limited with only a few moves. Some desire to be the knight, laying their life back and share their armor to save others. Some desire to be the bishop, cross anyone in the way and be proud of their skills.

Some desire to be the pawn, the least powerful but the one you should be scared of. Starts with a single or double step it captures, it can only hurt the ones near them but if they reach the end; It can summon power. It can promote itself to any of the coins if it places its foot on the end removing its enemy along the way. The pawn, it's a threat to any king or queen. Never underestimate them.

An ace and A pawn, how can we compare the form of refined power and the least ranked one in chess? The Ace card doesn't follow any suit, bends to the need. And Pawn, can aggrandize its power and become flexible. They are not so different in the end, but there is something you should notice. Ace is born with mastery and in reverse, the pawn crawls to the top with a breathing scar eliminating its superior.

Multiple ways to hold the superiority. An Ace card and A Pawn coin, are common yet diverge.

"Bickerings aside, we have much more important topics we should discuss," Namjoon asserted claiming everybody present in the private hall's attention. "Isn't it the reason we were called here to the council meeting? I called off my important race for whatever the shit is," Lisa propounded her voice out, popping a lollipop inside her mouth and tasting the cherry-flavored candy.

"You can't affirm it as shit, Lisa. The matter in our desk carries weight," Jin pronounced sliding a file to her way. Lisa knitted her eyebrows, opening the red-stained file holder with such curiosity that the result was bitter."Did you call an important meeting to talk about a new transferee? Marbles on a holiday?" Lisa showed her disappointment and anger in her tone. "It will be on a whole vacation if I befriend a family like you," Jin backfired.

"Honestly man, screw you. I had a lot on my plate, I even canceled my fucking drag race for this," Lisa slammed that file on the table, the papers it held rescued themselves flying across Jin's face. Having enough with the half-wit talk, Taehyung stood from his place and went out without bidding a proper goodbye. His absence didn't have such an impact on them or neither did they question him, they were used to Taehyung's attitude. He was like this always, never got along with anyone.

"The transferee, she is someone we should care about, Lisa. Don't take this lightly," Jin snatched the photo Lisa threw away just now and crashed it back on the desk. His eyes panning her for bad-mouthing as she gulped a slab down her throat.

"The transferee is from the Agni clan. I hope you all are familiar with it since they used to be our blood rival. This clan used to be an eminent one in ancient times as they didn't just consist of a particular nationality but, many. They migrated to many places, joining hands with the smaller clan and molded a big one everybody was feared off. The more they collaborated, the more conflicts arose, Everybody wanted to lead the clan even though they didn't have the privilege by birth. Some parted ways, and some stayed plotting ways to rule them. Agni changed to many hands, but it's now constant in a single mans' hand for 8 to 9 years. The reason why I'm saying we should keep an eye on her is that she is the only daughter of the current leader. The only heir of the Agni clan is now in our empire," Namjoon explained.

"That makes her a valuable asset. She owns impressive faculty," Jisoo stated chewing her lips. "I say we monitor her actions. If a word goes out about our secrets, we will be doomed. The girl is gonna be a pain in the ass," Jin sighed. "If she has such authority that she can leak us, why would you even admit her to our academy?" Lisa popped the candy out from her mouth and raised an eyebrow, mocking him for the decisions he made.

"She's gonna be hard to tackle but, if we can get her under our control, we can lay our hands on the Agni clan," Jin answered as Lisa snorted again. "And if we lose, we'll have a whole clan plotting against us," she replied.

"What's her name again?" Jeongguk questioned ignoring Lisa's words.

Meanwhile, Taehyung was strolling in the corridor. Admiring the view of the fountain, not noticing that a familiar girl was lost in it too. They accidentally bumped into each other instead of crossing paths like strangers. "Watch where you're going," he said low brushing the invisible dust on his wine-colored uniform suit.

"I apologize for the inconvenience. I'm new to this school and got lost in it," she sheepishly smiled. He was paralyzed for a second, his eyes widened more when he saw her reaching her hand out asking for a formal handshake, as much as he finds her facial features familiar, something inside him begs to differ. "I'm Blaze Scarlett, may I know your good name?"

Parallelly where the council meeting was going on. Jin pressed his lips before saying her name out loud, the other eight leaned forward expecting the words, "Blaze scarlett."

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❝ Which is the beginning? Which is the end?
Will endless sky end somewhere? It can't, right? ❞

+ edited :) their original names have been added instead of the alias I had, so if you see any unfamiliar names kindly point them out to me. thank you! :D