Morningstar
Chapter XXVI: Missing

Wither replaces himself outside after dark. He is leaning on his cane as he walks. He should not be out right now. If someone replaces him and tells Morning, he could be punished. But he needs to do this.

“I don’t know how I agreed to this,” Vil answers. She is walking besides him. This is the first time that they are both alone. “This way.” She takes the lead. “Remind me again why we are doing this.”

“Because I need to know,” Wither says. “Haven’t you asked yourself why spirits are in here?”

“Not really,” Vil answers. “I never saw a spirit until that night with Icarus, but I always thought that they could exist.”

“Don’t you think that once you die you should move on? If a spirit is here, that means that they have something else to do, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Vil admits. “Icarus told me that they roam the mortal world to finish their business.”

“Exactly,” Wither says. “I want to know what Yenta’s unfinished business is.”

Vil stops abruptly. “Oh, no. You are not going to talk to Yenta. Icarus says that whoever talks to a spirit forms a bond with it. I do not know what happens if they form a bond, but I won’t risk it.”

“Wait, Vil,” Wither says before Vil could start walking away. “I won’t speak to him. I just want to watch him and see what he is doing here. I need to replace out why he hasn’t moved on.”

“Fine,” Vil says. “But if something happens, I am ending this.” Wither nods. “All right, he is this way.”

Wither does not know how Vil can detect the spirits, but she can. If she would have told him beforehand that she could see spirits, he would have thought that she was losing her head. Luckily, there was proof. He somehow began to see them after Vil told them about it. He has seen them floating around the campus. The spirits are never paired up or in groups, and he only sees one or two per night.

“So, are you and Zanna something?” Vil asks.

“Are you gossiping?” Wither asks. He never thought that Vil likes gossip.

She shrugs. “It doesn’t matter. I already know that you two are a couple, a weird one, to be exact. Still, I am surprised that she chose you. She has had many admirers before, but never fell for one. I’ve never even heard of her liking someone.”

“Many admirers?” Wither asks.

“Of all the things I said, you only heard that,” Vil says, more to herself. “Yes. Odon was one, before he died, of course. There was also a friend of Drano, who was named York, if I remember correctly. There are a few currently like Wade, Otto, Xeon, Goren–”

“Wait, who?” Wither asks as he stops.

“Goren,” she repeats. “You know, the guy in Demonic who is full of himself.”

“No, I meant before him,” Wither says. “Does Xeon like Zanna?”

“Of course,” Vil says. “He has liked her for years.”

“How do you know?”

“I see and hear things. No one pays attention to me. I could jump at a table and dance my heart out and no one will notice.” She stops talking. “You didn’t know?”

“No,” Wither says. “I… I haven’t paid attention to him once. I wonder how he will take it when he replaces out… He should hear it from me, shouldn’t he?”

“Of course not,” Vil says. “Besides, he already knows. He saw you two kiss. He didn’t take it very well. His heart must have shattered into a million pieces.”

“You… You are not helping,” Wither says. He feels bad for Xeon. If he knew that Xeon liked her, he would not have… Would not have what? He didn’t imagine the possible of Zanna kissing him. She was the one to make a move. If he knew that Xeon liked her, it would not have changed anything.

“I know,” Vil answers. Then she looks around. Wither had not noticed that they are standing by the other boys’ dormitory, not where his room is. “He’s here.”

As if cue, a spirit floats around the corner. Yenta’s spirit appears to be searching for something. Vil pushes Wither to hide behind a tree.

“I think he saw us,” Wither says.

“Shut up,” Vil hisses. They both take a peek and replace Yenta standing at the other side of the tree. Wither jumps back, startled by him.

“Wi-Wi-Wither…” Yenta tries to say as if he could not speak clearly.

Wither opens his mouth. “By the power blessed by Saint Shelley, I allow you to rest for the night,” Vil shouts as fast as she can. Yenta disappears from their sight without leaving any trace that he was once floating there.

“What-What d-did you do?” Wither asks.

“I had to do it. You were going to talk to him,” Vil says.

“But what was that that you said?”

“I don’t know,” she says. “I heard Icarus say it to another spirit and it caused her to disappear.” She stops talking. “I had to do it,” she whispers then.

“I know,” Wither says as he nods. “I just… didn’t want to see him go…”

***

Icarus replaces himself in front of a door. It isn’t the door to his room. It is a door he never thought that he would knock on. He lifts his hand to knock but stops himself. He shouldn’t knock. He should not be in here at all. He is not thinking straight. He never does when it comes to being alone with his thoughts.

He likes Phoenix, he really does. He does not want her to get hurt. He knows that he had to punish her. He knows that he couldn’t show mercy, but it hurts him. He had to borrow help from his cold side. And now, he wanted to know if she has gone back to hating him.

He turns around and leaves the same way that he came. He should not knock on her door. Even though he wants to see how she is doing, he should not be outside, looking for her in public. He should not be seen with her in public. If everyone knew that he likes Phoenix, they would do anything to take advantage of the situation. The mentors would focus their students to attack Phoenix at the trials, knowing well enough that Icarus will protect her. His other team members will think that he has preference, and they will work against him and her.

He looks down at his hands as he makes his way back to his dormitory. He is holding a plastic cup with brownish liquid. He had brought her a drink that he made using leaves and roots around Morningstar. He knows that she must be tired, and her muscles must ache. This drink was supposed to calm her muscle ache for the night.

He cannot help but think of what he once told her. He told her that she reminded him of Quin. He later told her that she didn’t, and he gave her the reasons, but he cannot stop thinking that she does remind him of her. Before Quin betrayed her, she was like Phoenix. She was happy, strong, and ruthless. She loved to drink and dance when they were free. They even shared that same decisive look when they were ready to kill someone, which surprised him the first time that he saw it on Phoenix.

When he arrives to his room, he enters and closes the door. He turns on the lights to replace Phoenix inside. She is sitting at his small table. He looks at the window. He had left it unlocked. She must have climbed through it.

“I should not break into an assassin’s home, I know,” she says.

“You shouldn’t,” he only answers. He doesn’t move from the door. “I’m sorry.”

“No,” she says. “I am the one who is sorry. I should not have punched Tilray, even though she deserved it, and even less in front of a mentor. The truth is that I’ve been so accustomed of thinking only about myself that I didn’t take a second to think how that would affect you.”

“I am sorry also,” Icarus says. “I’ve been angry with Quin, Morning, even East and Slier that I just blew up today by you, Tilray, Beta, and Moneo. I should not have lost my cool. I should not have punished you two until you were on the verge of calling out for mercy.”

“No, it is all right,” she says. “You would have done the same if it were any other person on your team. You made it clear that you wouldn’t make any exception nor show favoritism when it came to me.”

He looks at his cup for a second before looking up. “The truth is that if it were for me, I would show favoritism. I would spoil you if I could. I would show everyone that you are mine and I am yours, but I hope that you understand that I can’t do it right now.”

“I know,” she says as a smile curves on her mouth. “Maybe after graduation…”

He smiles. “You are imagining a future for us.”

“Of course. I do not know what will happen with me after graduation, but I hope that I will remain somewhere near you.” She looks at the cup that he is holding. “What’s that?”

“A drink,” he says. “It helps on calming muscular ache. I went to your room to give it to you, but I thought that you didn’t want to see me, so I came back.”

“Give me,” she says. Icarus walks across the room and hands her the cup. She takes a look inside. “It stinks. It is even thick.”

“It also tastes bad,” he says. “But I assure you, it helps.” She takes the cup to her lips. She drinks it all in three or four gulps. When she places the cup down, she shivers. She takes a hand to her mouth, ready to hurl. “Hold it in.”

“That was horrible!” she shouts. “It was even warm!”

“Its effect doesn’t work if it is cold,” Icarus says. He then notices that she is wearing gray sweatpants and a white t-shirt. “You decided to go out in your sleeping clothes.”

“Yeah,” she says. “No one is allowed to go out at this time, so no one saw me.” She stands up. “Thank you for the disgusting drink, but I should get back to my room.”

“You shouldn’t leave,” he says. “You shouldn’t be outside. You even said it.”

“No one will see me.”

“But what if someone does?”

She stares at him. “Are you asking me to spend the night?”

“Is it working?”

“I might need more convincing,” she says.

He takes off his mask and lowers his hood. He then kisses her on the lips. “Now?”

“No,” she answers.

He kisses more fiercely. “How about now?”

“No.”

He begins moving, kissing her cheek and then her jaw until he ends up in her neck. She feels her tense in his arms. He continues kissing her, covering every inch of her exposed skin. He stops at the borderline between her neck and chest.

“Now?”

“Y-Yes,” she answers.

He smiles at her. Her voice shook. He is sure that she did not want it to. “Come on. Let’s lie on the bed. You must be tired.” He grabs her hand and leads her to the bed where she sits down. “Let me change quickly.”

“Aren’t you going to shower?” she asks as he heads into the bathroom.

“I showered before leaving the room to search for you,” he says. It does not take long before he walks out of the bathroom with gray sweatpants and a white shirt too. He shrugs when he catches her staring at his clothes. “I was provided these sleeping clothes when I arrived here.”

He turns off the lights and hops into the bed as Phoenix slides towards the wall. He feels in the dark when she moves closer to him and lays her head on his chest. He wraps one arm around her.

“Tell me a story,” she whispers.

He thinks for a second. “There was a duke once of a small town. He was not born there, and it was given away by his appearance. He was very elegant and accustomed to many things. He used to eat two or three courses on dinner while the townspeople used to eat one. He had his own personal carriage while the townspeople rode in horses and rented chariots. Nevertheless, he fell in love with that little town.

“Once he became duke, by marrying the daughter of the previous duke, he decided to throw a gala for the townspeople, and it became his thing. He began to throw galas every couple of months, inviting the townspeople and special guests from out of town. In his latest gala, which was a masquerade one, a man arrived with his partner. He danced his night away with his partner. They both talked with everyone, the man telling stories and the woman flirting with men and giving compliments to women. Everyone was delighted by their presence.

“Then the duke approached with his wife. They both clicked quickly over their love of cigars. The man was quickly invited to a private room to continue his conversation with the duke. The duke offered his imported cigars and the man accepted. The man faked smoking it; he really did not like cigars. When the duke’s cigar was almost over, the man offered to light up his other cigar with a candle whose flame was growing strong. When he was about to light up the cigar in the duke’s mouth, he let the candle fall.

“The duke’s clothes caught on fire. He jumped from his chair, looking around for something to turn off the fire with. The flames spread as the man watched him with his legs crossed and the cigar in his fingers. Then the duke fell to his knees and then on his chest. The man stood up and threw the cigar that he was smoking on the flaming duke. He left the room the same way he came in. Once he was out of the duke’s manor, the woman was waiting for him with their carriage.”

“What a cruel story,” Phoenix says. “Where did you heard it?”

“I didn’t,” he answers. “I lived it.”

“Were… Were you the man?”

He kisses her head. “Good night, Phoenix.”

***

Hakea wants to talk again to Agrion. He doesn’t want his friendship to end. He understands why Agrion is mad at him, but it wasn’t like he forced him to do anything. On the contrary, Agrion liked it and even asked once or twice. But he still wants to speak to him. He misses one of his best friends.

He wakes up early, just as the sun is coming out. He brushes his teeth in the bathroom and grabs a towel on his way out. He searches for a bag in his wardrobe. He inserts the towel into the bag along with the clothes that he is going to wear today. He slips into his untied shoes, holds the bag over his shoulder, and leaves to the showers.

Around this time, the showers are usually empty. The showers are divided by gender, and they are located on two different parts of Morningstar. As Hakea enter the showers, he notices that there is a shower running. The showers are separated by walls high enough to cover Hakea from the neck down. The showers do not have something to cover the entrance so everyone who walks past the shower can see inside.

Hakea walks through the showers. When he passes the only opened shower, he sees Agrion’s back. “Morning,” he simply says as he places his bag on the bench, right next to Agrion’s things.

“Morning,” Agrion answers back. Hakea proceeds to take his sleeping clothes off, not expecting for Agrion to continue talking. “You are taking a shower early. You usually are one of the last people to shower.”

Hakea proceeds to the shower that is right next to Agrion’s shower. He doesn’t look at him as he turns it on. “I cannot sleep lately,” he says. He waits a few minutes before he speaks again. “How is training with Icarus going?”

“Why do you care?” Agrion asks.

Hakea wants to answer, but he takes a deep soundless breath. He has a right to be angry at him. “Because I want to know how it is going. I honestly want to know if you are liking it.”

“Liar,” Agrion says. It is the first time that Hakea has heard him call someone that. “You only care about yourself. Tell me why I should tell you.”

“Because I miss you,” Hakea lets himself speak without thinking. “I miss you. I miss my best friend. I am sorry for what I did. I am truly sorry. I would not have done anything if it meant losing my best friend. And I am trying. I am trying to change. I am trying to become a better person, but I cannot do it if I keep constantly thinking how I screwed up with you. I need you, Agrion. I took you for granted, and now I am telling you that I need you in my life. Please, forgive me.”

Agrion looks at him. The wall between showers block them, but Hakea can still see his face. “Now that’s a true apology,” Agrion says. “That was all that I wanted to hear. I forgive you, Hakea.” Hakea smiles, but Agrion turns away to grab the shampoo. “Training with Icarus has been horrible and awesome at the same time. He drains my energy so early in the morning and then at practice that I end up feeling so tired. But I like it. This is my true specialty, not the sharpshooter thing…”

He continues talking as Hakea continues smiling. His best friend is back.