As the action and noise finally settled, she snapped back to the moment to witness the results of her decision. Mutilated corpses lay on the ground, almost indistinguishable from the desecrated viscera of humans that had fallen earlier. There were splotches of gore and entrails that she had stepped on, they squished and burst open from her involuntarily shifting her weight to her other foot. An acrid coppery smell, of blood mixed with stomach acid filled the air like perfumed incense.

The act of violence that surrounded her made her gut nearly twist. But she held it in, sucking in another mouthful of rust-tinted air to keep her stomach from ejecting what meager food was left inside.

Instead, she turned her gaze to the man. She directed her anger at him by striding towards him with unmasked hostility and bared weapons. Weapons that he had bestowed upon her, along with an inexplicable breadth of knowledge that she should have had no way of accessing. 

Knowledge that she might use against its giver, should the situation call for it.

The man had moved over to a tree, the only remaining one, not that she cared as her sword stabbed into its trunk with the help of her newfound superhuman power.

"Explain." 

She did not try to play nice. Not with the amount of suspicion and regret he had bestowed upon her.

"I will." He had the audacity to smile despite the sword’s edge slowly making its way towards his neck, to treat its lethality and threat with unchanging calmness. "Although it would be better if I did it in front of everyone, so we would all be on the same page."

She found that a reasonable excuse, though she did not want to admit it aloud. Especially not to that smug-looking face. The student council and the principal had to be watching from the top, as she could feel their gazes bearing down upon her back. 

"Stay here. Don't move. I'm going to see if they'll agree to come down."

The man raised his hands, a sign of surrender if she ever saw one. She put away the weapons, now no longer a sword or a baton or a chain, but a ring on her left hand; and tilted her head up to shout. 

"You can come down now, it's safe!"

"Why sh-" Armand's voice was cut off before he could finish, as Rina shouted in his place, "Alright, I'm going to send the principal down!"

Rina’s head ducked back from the window, no doubt that she'd been pulled back by the delinquent. She had wondered if the two had a shared history but never felt the need to ask. Now was hardly the time to pop that question anyway, so perhaps she would shelf it for another time.

In almost no time, the adults came down to the field through the parking lot. It was one of the more easily accessible places, as well as the only road that was not covered with a mountain of carcasses leading out. The gang leader was also here, it seemed, along with every other teacher and a few older students. 

Seeing the high school student council members among them made her think that they had to be the student representatives from all grades.

She glanced at the man again, who still looked out of place with his ‘calm and at peace’ attitude as he picked a leaf out of the already withering tree, smiling to himself without a care in the world. She really wanted to punch him in the face, maybe break his nose a little; the urge built up by the minute. But when she saw the expectant look in his eyes, when he offered the budding flowers silently from where he stood, she settled on just crossing whatever invisible line there was between the school's side and his.

The disappointment that crossed those eyes was rewarding enough. For now.

"So, first of all, who are you? And can you tell us about what in heaven's name is going on?" Principal Guntur started the discussion, if it could even be called one.

"You all may call me Dias. And as for what's happening, you may already have guessed it," he answered in an overtly calm, annoying tone. "The world is ending, good sirs and madams."

"And why should we trust what you say, huh?" Armand jumped onto the accusation train immediately. His wariness and distrust showed openly. 

It made the man smile in return. "You shouldn't. Trust me, I mean. I promise that I will explain to you as much as possible, but, in the end, the decision to trust me will still be yours."

"As much as possible? Not as truthfully as possible?" a teacher asked, one that she didn't recognize. 

Dias nodded with a sheepish smile, one that looked as if he had gotten caught red-handed after a prank. "As much and as truthfully as possible. I promise."

Rina physically held Armand back from talking as Donny took a step forward in an attempt to de-escalate the situation. "Then please explain it to us, if you will."

Dias took a deep breath. "Let me ask you a question, and this is important, so please answer as honestly as possible." He glanced at a teacher, making eye contact to make sure the man knew who was being asked. "Do you believe in God?"

"Uh.." The teacher nearly groaned, but still managed to answer, "Sir, this is a Catholic school."

"That doesn't answer the question." Dias kept pushing.

"No, I do not believe in God." 

"Then I would have to regretfully inform you that, unfortunately, God does exist," the white-haired man said, solemnly. "Not your Christian god or any major god from other religions, but just God. That concept of a God: the creator of life, the universe, and everything, that one exists and is very real."

"And he's nowhere near as merciful or benevolent as your culture has made him be." Dias's brows contorted as he continued in an even, serious voice. "He has grown bored with his creation, by that I mean you guys, and thus, decidedly wants to start anew by erasing everything he has made."

"You're fucking with us." Armand’s angry growl interrupted the man’s speech. "You're just fucking with us, aren't you?"

Instead of a verbal answer, the man who called himself Dias merely gave the boy a silent look. It was a look that most students were familiar with, if they had at least a half-decent parent once in their life. For her, this look of silent reproach and demand for silence reminded her of her mother. 

"But there is a caveat, as the fact that God was bored did not mean all that served him, those who were also created from his whims, would think the same. The majority of them opposed this decision."

No other interjection came to question his words now. His voice commanded attention in the unexpected soft tone that he spoke with, forcing everyone to stay focused if they didn't want to miss anything important. 

"And thus, God has given us a challenge. 'Prove yourself worthy among the masses, and to those who have been crowned as kings, I will relinquish my control of the word upon you—'"

"—Therefrom, he structured a game and the rules, and those who play put their lives on the line, along with that of the world. "

Nobody was able to keep their mouths shut as he spoke. The air of concern and utmost care that oozed around his body language had brought them all to an involuntary stillness. The words by themselves were already mind-blowing, coupled with the fact that, if his words were truly to be trusted, it meant that this was not even the end of the end but merely the prelude to something worse.

"You said a game," Donny broke the tentative, tense silence with an uncertain voice, "What kind of game are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you're aware of the game called Capture the Fortress," Dias smiled back, his expression changing back to playful in a blink of an eye. "Touch the object designated as a fortress, and you gain a location and an immunity radius spanning from the center. If the enemy captures it, they own the control. This pillar behind us is one such object."

"And the winning condition of the game is to capture all of these stones?" Donny inquired, hope dripping from his voice. 

"Of course not," Dias dared to answer in a sing-song voice as he tucked his arms behind his back. Not a very threatening pose, though, not knowing what the man was capable of, she decided to keep an eye on him. "I just told you earlier. ‘May the one crowned king win’. Which means that we have to beat each other and the one last standing wins."

A distant sound of sirens broke the built-up tension—but not before replacing it with the ice-cold cruel truth that had sunk into their minds forcefully. In response to his questioning eyes, she kept her mouth shut to re-establish the line, which was blurring by the minute. 

Her concern, and by extension, her opinion, were to be withheld until this meeting is adjourned. 

"What’s the radius of this barrier then?!" Rina nearly pounced towards the man, her hands tightly balled into a fist. A pair of shaking fists, as she was more worried than angry, for asking. 

"The one you have here spans for one kilometer."

Her face contorted when the unwanted fact reared its ugly head. That was all Dias had to say before the senior girl bolted back. 

She watched as Armand hesitated on whether to chase Rina or not, and saw the moment when he made his decision. He kept his eyes trained on Dias, meeting the seemingly older man without any hint of fear. 

"What do you get from protecting us?"

"Your loyalty." Dias’s demeanor returned to a midpoint between being playful and serious. She wondered if it ever got tiring after a while. "We are in a war, and I need every willing sword that I can get."

Armand’s upturned lips show he was not satisfied with that answer. "And why should we pick a side?"

This question was met with a smile. One that made her heart ache for a reason she couldn't fathom. As if the pain that marred that nearly ethereal face had suddenly become her own.

"My life and my little bride’s over there are connected."

His eyes drifted towards her. So clear those sights were that she could perhaps see her figure reflected in those sad crimson mirrors. "By participating in this war, we, demigods, took the risk of making ourselves mortal. That is our one and only requirement for the disgrace that we've incurred by going against the creator. 

"Otherwise, would there be any meaning to it at all?"

Everyone no longer looked at him with the eyes of a stranger. Even if it was a lie, sweet platitudes uttered amidst the painful truth, they were aware of the relief that it had brought them. 

The knowledge that their enemy, the cause of all of this tragedy, was now mortal. It meant the end was in sight for them.

"Can you promise us then, to look after us? After our loved ones?" 

"Armand!" 

The boy, with his dyed blond hair and piercings, stepped forward, ignoring the warning of the student council president. His legs passed over the nonexistent line of 'theirs' and 'ours'. And so followed the man.

They meet in the middle.

"For your loyalty, I will award you safety." The smile that adorned Dias's face had completely turned serious, yet welcoming. His eyes held the warmth of a fire in the winter, and his words flowed like the refreshing breeze of spring. "For every step you took with my order, I assure you, I will be right behind each and every one. 

"All the blood and tears that will flow in the future, you may blame them on me."

"If we're getting through this, we will do it together."

Dias offered his hand. Covered with gloves that glinted in the sun.

"And we'll live."

Armand took it.

A circle of light spun into being, rotating around their clasped hands. She seemed to find the design familiar, but couldn't place it on where and how she had previously encountered it. For now, she chalked it up as whatever consequences of the knowledge that pierced her soul just moments ago. 

Soon, the light faded away. They let go of each other, though Armand seemed to be pulling back as he moved away. 

Following his hand was a sharp sound of air tension being broken, and the crack of something metallic, being dragged over a field of glass. In his grasp, a whip emerged, and the line kept on going from between the digits of his lordship's hand. 

The weapon glinted dangerously under the sun, as the light accentuated the spiked, yet beautifully woven thorns that protruded from the sinewy chain of leather and metal.

Feeling that a deal had been reached, she opened her mouth to ask, "How do I change back?"

The speed at which Dias turned his head was almost comical, along with the return of his ass-kissing smile. If only it weren't concerning her. 

"You can think of unequipping it, like one would with a game item!"

She should feel disgusted. She wished she could, but she finds nothing resembling that. Realizing that she had lost another thing to the one-sided deal, she fell back onto mockery. "For a self-proclaimed divine being, you sound trendy."

"Hah!" Dias chuckled, his hair shaking as his face turned towards her with an almost disbelieving and amused twist of expression. "Demigods or not, you can't live without the internet these days!!"

Thinking of his laugh as a background noise, she focused on imagining herself unequipping the.. battle dress. She did not need to know it was called such, honestly. But she focused nonetheless.

With a low zing! the dress disappeared, just as Dias had said. 

Unfortunately, she was no longer wearing the oversized school uniform that was covering her skin only moments ago.

None of it. Not even her underwear. 

She immediately thought of equipping the dress again, and with another quick swoop of the wind, the fabric was snugly put back on.

"I suppose I should go change at the toilet." She forced the words to come out. Swallow the shame. Do not let it show. "Please excuse me as I'm no longer needed around here."

"Hey."

She did not want to turn around. But if the dream’s insistence had proven anything, it was that this bastard was nothing if not persistent. So, with gritted teeth, she turned, trying to keep her cool as she replied. 

"Yes?"

"I still don’t know your name." He asked with a soft tone, almost apologetic. Almost.

The pain in her chest returned. Curse this one-way connection.

"Tira." 

Tira looked away from those bright, glittering eyes. They were more beautiful than any gems that she have ever laid her eyes on. Perhaps if someone took a picture at this moment, they might witness the mystical way that it absorbed light from the surroundings into the center of that piece. Akin to that of a black hole.

For some reason though, she thought that red didn’t suit him.

A moment that lasted merely an instant was broken, and she walked away.

Tira tried to keep her steps even, not a hint of sway or hesitation. She kept going until she reached the back end of the building, out of sight, out of range. 

As she finds herself gripping the steel railing, she let all of the embarrassment flow out in silence and vowed to get a good punch on that asshole before the war is over.

---

"Where is she going?" Donny asked their tentative ally, confused as to why the junior left all of a sudden without saying a word. 

Dias merely chuckled in response. Donny didn’t know if the man found his question funny, or if it pertained to her attitude as she walked away with a flustered face. He had none of the answers and all the questions and it vexed him to be this much out of the loop. 

He kept it all for himself. And asked again with a look that would hopefully portray confusion. "Sir Dias?"

"It’s nothing." Dias calmed down, returning to that playful smirk again from the beginning. How tricky. "It’s nothing..."

Donny wouldn’t believe for a second that it was nothing. He was going to have to remember this for the future. Just in case.

---

Hours had passed before she dared to emerge from the cubicle of the girls' toilet again, now properly clothed and with unholy emotions vented. 

Thankfully, they had a PE class today, so at least she had something to change into. It helped a great deal that she didn’t actually have to do anything during the class, as her unhealthy pallor had her excused by the teacher, who feared that she may faint in the middle of a light jog.

Ah. Right..

…

May he rest in peace.

She returned to where most of the students were still gathered, on the fifth floor’s auditorium. The room was still filled with many injured, though the elementary grade kids were no longer hanging out backstage and were huddled in a group by the door. 

Most of the able-bodied students weren’t around, though, from all the noises and the hubbub around them, they were moving out to search for whoever was left behind. Outside.

Dias was not around, for one. Tira breathed a sigh of relief at the mere fact that she wouldn’t be meeting her latest tormentor’s face for at least another hour. She could sense that he was still alive, which was enough for her. 

"Hey!"

Chia’s voice came from over the left, along with her impatient steps. Her friends followed along closely, as per usual. Too bad that the quartet seemed to be complete, how lucky. 

"Hey, freak! Oh wait, I forgot you’re not mute! Doesn't make you any less freaky though, right girls?"

The friends giggled as if on cue. Their acting was so bad that even she can tell they were not putting in their all as usual, and they no longer seemed to enjoy being on top and tormenting her for some reason. Not that it was hard to guess the reason, if she considered the event that had just befallen the school just moments ago.

In one of their eyes, she spotted fear, confirming the guess with a hard nail.

"Ponyo-"

"Did I ever say you could call me by that name?" 

The air in the room cooled down several degrees. Fitting, since night was coming soon. Tira decided that fighting another fifteen-year-old, after what had just happened outside, was not worth it. These were girls who formed a clique around what was ‘cool’, what was taboo, even if it meant dating a college student years older than you are.

Foolish, naive, desperate.

So instead of backing away or fighting back with insults, she softly uttered a question. 

"Did your family make it?"

It was better than a physical slap to the face. Perhaps Chia didn't realize it yet, not until her illusion of comfort was shattered with a cold and powerful wrench - that things were not fine.

Tira was well aware of the fact that the girl lived nearby, and now, so did her tormentor.

She did not wait for the girl to recover enough for a verbal spat. Her cronies were already seething with righteous anger to defend their girl who had brought it on herself despite how the situation made it to be. Their hissing was reminiscent of a kitten trying their best to look threatening, with all the fluffed-up fur and barely-there fangs.  

So she left. Focused her feet to lead her to the infirmary nurse and her club members who were still busy treating the minorly injured.

They couldn’t chase after her, of course, not if they wanted to get in the way of what was obviously an important task. At this moment, Tira felt grateful for all the hours that she had spent at the club and learning instead of coming home early. Context shaped justice.

Almost exactly one hour later, her guess was proven right as the group, consisting of Dias, Donny, Armand, and surprisingly, a few of the teachers returned. Coming along with them was another group of adults—no doubt parents, arriving at last to retrieve their children. 

Tira didn’t need to wonder how it happened. Donny was openly conversing with Dias already, while Armand and his boys hauled in many boxes and cardboard. She spotted a portable gas can and a stove being moved to an open space, and had a guess about what news was about to be announced.

"Attention!"

Armand’s strong voice demanded the room to drop whatever they were doing and focus. He didn't even need five seconds for the entire hall to go from the roaring noise of relieved cries and sobs, to descend into a pin-drop silence.

Once all of the attention had gathered on the trio, Donny took over. "For the past few hours, we’ve managed to clear out rescue operations for the area inside the safe zone. The safe zone, if you’re not aware, is the glowing walls that surround us. One kilometer within the wall is where it is safe to move around."

"We are aware that not everyone that attended this school lives nearby. So we’re going to offer you a choice." Donny stood a little taller and emphasized his next words carefully, "If your place is still intact, you may return to your home. Those without, you are offered two options, either to spend a night with someone you know whose abode made it, or spend the night here."

"B-But my house is close by!" A junior high school boy shouted, standing abruptly from the sitting crowd. Worry stark on his face, along with denial. 

"How close is it?" Donny asked without missing a beat.

The boy flinched. Perhaps from the cold way he was being addressed, or from the fact he never had to think about the distance from school to home in a metric that wasn’t commute time. "About, uh, 2 kilos?"

"Not happening." Donny shut the argument down before the boy could refute it. "It’s about to get dark soon. The electricity still works, sure, but so do the beasts surrounding us. They do not need to sleep. They do not need to rest. All they are are bloodthirsty, efficient, killing machines. And they hunt better in the dark."

"Everywhere outside the wall tonight is not safe."

Tira could now understand why this senior boy had been chosen as the high school president. His adaptive survival skills was good enough to maybe survive by himself even if he wasn’t at the school.

After the brutal dressing down, there was almost no resistance left in the poor boy, who sat back down with no energy in his body. The argument also shut down any other similar excuses, curbing any protest before it even began. Perhaps thanks to how harrowing the day had been, and how unavoidable it was for everyone who made it out alive, the horror and threat of the creatures outside now returned twofold as an effective deterrent.

Honestly, she was impressed.

"Is it really that impressive?" Dias’ voice whispered in her ears.

She instinctively punched to where the voice came from. Her fist connected, thankfully, with the right target. A dull thud and an ache in the chest was all she got from it, but just this much was worth the effort. "When did you get here?"

Dias pouted childishly, almost as if he hadn’t expected to be treated coldly after the stunt he pulled before. "You weren’t paying attention to me."

"Why should I?" Tira hissed back in annoyance. "As far as I’m aware, you plagued my dreams for two weeks straight, making me unable to rest properly. I failed my tests, I lost weight, and I think I almost passed out today because I feared the time I had to sleep because I knew there wouldn’t be any. So you tell me. Why, exactly, should I be thankful?"

"Did they truly matter?" Dias countered with a vexed tone, the tone of a man wronged. "The world is ending right now!"

"It had mattered then."

She curled her knees close to her chest, resting her weary back on its blunt edges. Tira let the silence linger for a little longer as she searched for the appropriate words to explain her thought process. "You’re right. The world is ending, and what should be prioritized is how we’re going to survive through it. That would be how it is for everyone else."

"But not for me." She added, her breath hot against her knees. "It mattered fifteen days ago when I stopped looking forward to resting my weary bones after a hard day. It mattered two weeks ago as I found myself no longer finding joy in what used to bring a smile upon my face—"

"—It mattered this morning, when I had to face the result of my test. The worst thing that had ever happened to me was the moment I found out that I had failed every single one. I felt so horrible that by lunch, I had vomited what I barely managed to swallow for breakfast." 

She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the exhaustion win, and traces the aches of her body with her mind. "It mattered when, four hours ago, I had thought that perhaps I was not fit for this world after all. The fact that there were bigger problems that came after did not change how badly I was handling it."

Dias stayed silent throughout her speech. She blinked, opened her eyes, and repositioned her head, now facing him. The playful look that she only knew for moments ago was no longer there, replaced with attentive eyes and understanding. 

In those eyes, again, she sees regret and guilt. 

"I’m sorry." He uttered softly under his breath.

"Is it your fault the world is ending?" She asked back with a question. 

He hesistated, a mistake, because he shouldn’t. 

He shook his head.

"Then don’t apologize for it." She let out another forced sigh. The fact that her hair had somehow grown past her shoulders after she did the leap of faith had made it all the more easier to hide her face. "I just hope you’d understand what kind of person you’ve made a deal with. The time I take to come to terms with emotions is, sadly, a lot longer than what people expect of me. That includes grudges and anything else that perhaps won’t make sense to you." 

Dias smiled as he let his feet spread forward, leaning back on his arms in a picturesque model of leisure. "I didn’t know that my partner was so vindictive."

She found herself unable to stop from smiling in return. "Well. Now you know."

Their eyes locked again for a second, and surprisingly, he looked away first this time. 

Weird guy. 

"Just to clarify, we’re not actually married, right?" Tira asked after a moment of thought. 

That got Dias’ attention to the point of almost breaking his neck at the speed of his own whiplash. "Of course we are! I literally asked you to be my bride!! What do you think the rings are for?" 

Tira found herself no longer as forgiving as she had just been a few seconds ago. Why was this man’s face and demeanor so aggravating to her psyche? She couldn’t figure it out just yet, but everything about him sure felt very punchable. As usual, instead of feeding into whatever her tormentor is trying to play, she responds logically. "Well, you did slide it on, but in no way did I say yes."

The gobsmacked look on the bastard’s face was worth every penny. 

 

Tira stood from the floor, following her nose. Fried chicken, by the smell of it. Most likely robbed from the fast food joint across the school. 

Seeing the usually rough and tumble rouges now wearing aprons, cooking rice, and serving other food alongside the surviving Home Ec members made quite a sight for sore eyes. Her eyes caught a few familiar faces, and a junior looked back at her at the same time before smiling widely. "Ah, sis Tira, here you go!!"

A pile of chicken buckets and an equally high pile of rice were slid over the table towards her. She could feel her eyebrows rising already, but held it back with just sheer willpower. "I don’t think I can eat this much."

"Really? The glutton you can’t?" Ginan smiled cheekily. She held back the urge to pinch the boy’s plump cheeks, and instead answered with a tired voice. "No, the most I can eat is maybe three, and only if they're all drumsticks."

Ginan mock sighed and pulled back the two buckets of food. "Ah too bad. Here you go then..." He divided the chicken and the rice into a portion more digestible for her and handed that over the counter. Tira took the tray, though it was stopped by a pair of chubby fingers before she could lift it off. 

She gave Ginan a questioning look.

"I just wanna.. thank you," he whispered, soft enough that it was easily drowned out by all the background voices around them. "Saw you jump out of the window and– that was you right?"

Tira kept her mouth shut. She didn’t know if she should confirm it or not. Instead, she turned her sight away from that puppy-like look and took a water bottle by the counter. "There’s going to be a hard day tomorrow. Get as much rest as you can." And, after her hand grabbed another water bottle, Tira walked away.

With almost all of the students needing to stay by circumstance alone, the fried chicken dinner was just barely enough to fill everyone’s stomach. Tira didn’t want to assume, as she nearly lost her capacity for thoughts the moment she bit into those chicken drums. 

But despite the mouth-watering, warm, crispy, and juicy chicken, she still managed to wonder briefly if the touchstones were always placed in strategic locations such as this one. 

The existence of a fried chicken place directly across the street from it, a convenience store only a few meters away, then another dotting every 100-meter mark, alongside the plethora of fast food joints that existed to rob two separate university students of their pocket money; there was never a doubt that those who survived would never have to starve during the first week. 

At least tonight, no dissatisfied voice rose above the soft whispered relief and gratitude to the higher one above that they had made it through the day.

If she tried to keep her chewing a little more quietly after accidentally hearing those soft murmurs of prayers, those thoughts were going to stay between her, the chicken, and the meddler by her side.

Tira was glad that he did not say anything more after their talk, still sitting down where she left him at, leaving just a bit on the excusable range of nearly, but not to the point of touching her personal space. 

He was not eating like the rest, just sipping the extra water bottle that she had brought as his eyes wandered around the room. Those eyes reflected the view of the room and its occupants, all while observing in silence as his thoughts became hidden, fading away from his face and eyes in silence.

More often than not, those eyes returned to her. It didn’t feel like they contained any inquiry or topic, he merely observed through the rest of the dinner time. Watching her as she ate and sipped her water.

Again, she lamented the loss of her ability to feel disgusted by this nosy guy. What should be the norm seemed to have vanished alongside her dignity this noon, vaporized to ether, never to be seen again. 

Feeling a little upset about that, once she finished her food, Tira stood up and went for a walk. 

Dias followed behind. 

Thankfully, as she had just finished eating and with a full stomach, one found themselves more amenable to a chat to break the silence. "Why me, specifically? You can’t tell me that you haunted my dreams for almost half a month straight just for no reason."

Unexpectedly– and it was unexpected, as Tira didn't know the man well enough to form a reasonable guess yet, Dias did not sweep this question under the rug with his almost offensive behavior and instead answered as seriously as he could. "There is an exigency for a really high percentage of compatibility between a demigod and a normal human for the connection to happen, or else I won't be able to lend you my power, just as it would be impossible for you to know my location and wellbeing at all times."

"And that probability is extremely small, to the point of a one in five billion chance. There are those who did not join from our side because they simply couldn’t find that person." 

Dias took a deep breath as they climbed the rooftop stairs, then sighed. She imagined his breath fogging behind her back for no other reason than that the image came without warning. It went away as quickly as it came, and she let it go. 

"Of course, a hundred percent rate is impossible to achieve, but in a matter of life and death, any closer to that number ensures that they and their loved ones will get to live another day."

She let the information sink in. It was unlike the knowledge that was forcefully jammed into her brain in the shortest time, right before she had to dive into battle. This was information that had to be willingly shared based on trust. "And how compatible are we, exactly?"

Tira swung open the door to the roof, taking in the refreshing cool air before she found a corner to sit in, where she knew the gang members had hidden a bench in the shade, covered under an inconspicuous colored tarpaulin. 

"To use the simpler, more modern term, we are basically twin flames."

"So you really are internet savvy." Tira let a chuckle loose, pulling away the tarp that the boys wouldn’t have had the time to put away when the first explosion hit. "What else do I need to know? Besides the obvious fact that if one of us dies, the other follows? That we can’t hate each other no matter what? The next thing, you might say we’re going to be in love with each other because of the contract or something."

No verbal answer was returned. He did not sit beside her.

She let the silence stew as long as possible, while she sat down on the cold ass wood and leaned her face up, studying the star-less sky. She noticed that Dias's eyes were glowing in the darkness. That’d make him easier to find if he were to hide in a shade. 

Those eyes blinked away regret, but the thin line of his lips tells another story, one that she waited for him to utter out of his own mouth. 

"Perhaps you don’t understand-"

"Enlighten me then."

Dias’s brows contorted in pain as he forced himself to continue his answer, "We, I meant that in our collective, did not intend for any of this to happen. If there was another way for your ensured survival to happen without its price being paid in blood, we would have done everything in our powerlessness to push for that option." 

"But as it stands, none of what was given to us are ours." Dias smiled sadly, his eyes meeting hers head-on, and they glittered with unmasked hurt and longing. "Our powers, our lives—everything happened due to the whims of someone who overpowers you in every iteration of all things that ever existed. I’m sure you’d under–" 

Tira lunged forward and pulled the guy by the scruff, height difference be damned.

"You-!" She spat with venom and heat. Low enough volume to not alert anyone else that might be nearby. "You know nothing of me! Nothing!"

Dias did not move. His breath had stopped for a moment, the wind picking up at that moment to vanish the cloud away and reveal through its ethereal ray, the glistening eyes that peer down at her. 

Those damned eyes. Those eyes that contained nothing but honesty and willingness for her. Those eyes that indicated it would be hers only to gaze. 

Those terrifying eyes.

"Well then," His voice was but a mere whisper, his hand slipped under hers, unclenching her fingers as easily as prying open curled flower petals, letting them bloom in his touch, as he gave that hand a kiss between the fingers. "Wouldn’t this be a good time to?"

Tira did not open her mouth. She stayed silent to manage the sharp ache that had dug into her ribs, worming its way to constrict her lungs, burrowing even deeper as if to target her heart next. 

She pulled her hand back. Not harshly, but not tenderly either. 

It was not a game for him. His touch did not burn. It never did.

And that was why her heart ached instead.

"I’m going to sleep." She turned back towards the staircase, away from the forlorn gaze that slid onto his face. "I’ll see you in the morning."

She left before he could reply. And the worst part was knowing that he wouldn’t be following her until morning came, just as she had said.

Just as she had ordered.