War and Survival

Zilah walked quietly at the back of the herd of teenagers, trying her best to be as inconspicuous as humanly possible.

Her actions spoke of her unwillingness to attract attention nor to be questioned on the reason as to why she had abandoned the duty given to her by the instructor.

She made sure to keep the ideal distance; not too close to be noticed, and not too afar off to stand out.

She did not have to try hard though, as most of the attention of the students were drawn to a topic about the previous duel, words of the sub-par fight they had previously witnessed never leaving their mouths.

She exhaled. Silently placing her hands inside of her pockets.

Twenty-seven students of Class Unique walked quickly down the broad hallway, they were ambiguously led by their elected Class Captain; a tall, wiry, average looking teen by the name of Sigmund Darl.

Sigmund; the Class Captain had been elected on the behest of Class Unique's Instructor; Eloth. A short duel between nominated students on the first day of the Recruite training program had chosen him as the captain.

Though he was widely acknowledged, this didn't mean that he was the strongest. Contrary to that, it meant that he was exposed or known and therefore due to PL structure; vulnerable.

The greater the knowledge known about a pantheon, the lesser the effects it's attacks carry.

The method for navigation of Perudaux's hallway was a secret divulged to him by the instructor on the second Day of recruite training.

It was his sole duty as captain to guide the students of Class Unique to each of their numerous classes for the day.

Well.... that duty was for him and the Assistant Captain; a tall, blonde, average heightened girl, with the name of Adijah Zilah.

Yes, the very same Zilah.

This could be said to be the only reason the instructor had requested her and Ikem to escort the two duelers, as she also knew the secrets of transversing the uncanny hallway.

Her failure to comply didn't mean she was stubborn, nor did it imply that she was overly obstinate. She wasn't disobedient either.

Her actions happened to be quite.... deep-seated.

Zilah continued walking at optimum distance, Till a figure slipped out of the cluster of teenagers moving closer to her.

He had a huge smile in his face as he stopped by her.

Perhaps, the most prominent feature about him was his height, as he was unflatteringly short, his head barely reaching Zilah's stomach.

"Hi" he whispered.

Zilah spared him a glance, her brows arching slightly as she caught sight of his face.

He was Drey, the mirthful dwarfish jackass, the one whom she had flung to the back of the class hall.

The smile on Drey's face widened as he saw her slight reaction.

"Why aren't you with Ikem and the duelers?", he asked. His question was well placed, with the tone of his voice coming off with a smidge of childlike innocence.

Zilah chose to walk away leaving his question unanswered.

But she felt strangely unease, there was something weird about Drey. Not weird in a light sense, she felt something was off about him.

They way his eyes seemed to glow in mirthful mischief. Increasing it's intensity upon every moment of glee.

It was an instinct, one created from her act of self preservation, and until proven otherwise it had never failed her.

Something about him just didn't sit well with her.

Drey moved closer as he grabbed her hand, snickering as he did so. His eyes glowing more eerily.

Zilah turned back, her annoyance becoming clearly detailed.

"What do you want?". Her skin prickled at his touch, his hands; small and callused, felt unusually cold.

She shook off her hand, cautious enough to be silent.

She stared down at him, but seeing his gleaming brown eyes and his ever taunting face made something foreignly ferocious inside of her click.

'I'll break you'. She decided.

It was that click, that annoyance, that made her abandon her wise restraints.

But the click was not her doing...

However, she took that inner click and resolved to make it her power. Indeed, that was a part of the nature of her supernatural; one that she had honed relentlessly for years.

Her eyes transformed, turning into pools of pale purple light. They flickered unnaturally.

She clenched her right hand, taking a step back, she made it into a fist.

And with sublime effort she raised the fist, slamming it down forcefully upon Drey's face.

Just as her fist noiselessly made contact, mesmerizing green runes appeared all around the hallway's walls, as if etched by an unseen hand. The usual bright white lighting dimmed, leaving the hallway shrouded in magical green lights.

Drey's smile widened as he fell.

He knew the implications of the green runes, and by the scowl growing on Zilah's face; she knew the implications too.

The runes only ever lit up when a rule was broken. And Zilah just did.

She had struck a fellow student, these action had been interpreted as an act of an unsanctioned duel. And thus she would therefore be punished.

Her eyes slowly returned to it's original form.

"Well played, chummy, I am.... sordidly impressed. However I am tempted to ask why you did this?, there is no possible reason for you to target me.... unless this is because of me flinging you to the back of the hall?".

At this point the class had long since left them behind, a testament to their rush on getting to the next class. No one seemed to have noticed Drey slipping out of the herd, and if they had, they bore no intention to probe.

Drey slowly picked himself up the floor, all smiles disappearing from his face, it was replaced by a look of seriousness.

"No there is no reason for this", he replied, "I just felt like playing, that's all".

His expression would strike as genuinely serious, that is, to the untrained eye. But Zilah, a person of a deeply colorful background, and a masterpiece in the art of most things supernatural, was not untrained.

She caught sight of an opposite reaction from his eyes, it was..... amusement.

Drey was amused.

'Does this go far to show of how great his pettiness is?', Zilah questioned herself.

On the other hand her expression was of one of an unreadable seriousness. It bore no sign revealing her next choice of action.

She waited, watching the young man that stood half her height. She could sense a strange energy emanating from him, like he was enjoying the tension.

The green runes finally disappeared, and with it the usual bright lighting returned. Normalcy returned as the hallway was once again left to it's damp, mysterious atmosphere.

She exhaled. As she gently placing her hands back inside her pockets.

She moved to the wall left to her; resting her body on it.

'I might as well wait for the apprehension', she thought.

"I believe you have an idea of what you did, and it's implications, because we are soon going to be seeing hell", she spoke to Drey.

Drey grinned, his unabashed display of seriousness disappearing. He shrugged, as he moved to lean on the wall too.

"What can I say, I've seen lots of hell", he laughed.

Zilah; sensing that there would be no other reply, chose to close her eyes in solitude.

It was tense. And the tension was palpable.

Waiting for a few minutes had never felt this long, and the worst part of it was waiting with the thought of the punishment awaiting her.

'They are here'

Zilah's eyes fluttered open, her head swiftly turning to her right. She removed her hands from her pocket as she stood. Her senses on high alert. There was something permeating through the air, an unsettling energy that seemed to vibrate through every molecule. And then, suddenly and without warning, the lights in the hallway went out.

Leaving the hallway in an unflinching darkness.

The only source of light... was the ethereal glow of Drey's mischievous eyes. Only now, they weren't so mischievous anymore.

"Zilah...." A deep voice echoed out from within the darkness, it's footsteps clanking greatly as they drew closer, "Your punishment awaits.", their voice was unpleasing to hear, like the sound of rough metal being scraped together.