Nous Chapter 07

Posting again? So soon? Well, I had this ready MUCH earlier but I wanted to wait till the next day to post this chapter so I wouldn't do too much in one day. This is really overcompensation to the fact that I'm going to have to write many papers at the end of the month and will likely throw any writing projects out the window. So if I do this NOW then I won't have to later.

Chapter 07

“Where have you beeeen?” Asha asked, tackling Leliel the moment he was inside the building. He had been waiting, perched for attack, right against the wall right inside the doors.

“I was captured by those Principal Players you were telling me about. They took me to their lair to meet me and Elgior basically told me I’d be out of his Suite within the month, if I read between the lines correctly.”

“Ohh! That’s what I forgot to tell you. You were supposed to skip first period so you could go to the faculty building to meet them. Good thing I remembered.”

He gave his friend an odd look.

“I’ve already done it, thanks. But they didn’t mention you failing in your task so maybe they forgot too. Either way…this Dueling Game is run by quite an interesting bunch of people. I feel like I’m exhausted and it’s not even three yet.”

Asha abruptly cut out his hold on Leliel, which sent his friend to fall hard on his rear on the floor since he had already been unbalanced the moment Asha latched on. He looked as wise as possible as he rubbed his chin in thought.

“So you mean to tell me that Elgior doesn’t like you?”

“…I think that might be an understatement. He told me right from the start that he was looking forward the Milan taking the spot, not me.”

“That’s not very nice of him. You’re new after all…but oh well. What can I do about it? I’m fine where I am.”

Leliel got to his feet and brushed off his pants.

“You know, sometimes I wonder why we stay such good friends.”

Asha grinned.

“It’s my magnetic personality. OH! And DON’T challenge me to an Advancement Duel. I’m happy where I am.”

“Funny. That’s basically what Karta said to me…”

“Oh ho ho. Karta, eh? So she’s paying more attention to you now.”

Leliel ignored his friend’s tone. Asha was the one person he complained to about his questionable feelings toward her.

“Yeah…well she ran into me in the garden. But then this guy came and tried to intimidate the hell out of me. Didn’t work but he was weird.”

“Pallas?”

Leliel nodded. He couldn’t recall ever seeing Pallas more than once or twice so he hadn’t expected Asha to know him but his friend had surprised him with the sudden recognition on the basis of his vague description.

“Yeah. Everyone I’m acquainted with in the Game knows about him if they have anything to do with Karta. He’s basically her stalker but Karta doesn’t really pay attention to all that.”

“I got that impression. She left really quickly though.”

Asha put what he likely thought was a reassuring hand on his friend’s shoulder. He patted him four times and then turned to go out the door.

“If you keep being yourself then I’m SURE he’s going to want to duel you. Just hang in there. I’ll see you next period. Gotta get to my class.”

“Asha! Wa—“

Leliel left the word half-formed in his mouth as his friend was already gone. Silence settled around him in the empty entrance of the Acton building. He shook his head and moved down the adjacent hall toward his classroom.

He moved to his usual desk when he entered the class, the third on the row against the wall. The moment he sat down, the girl in front of him turned and gave him a dazzlingly bright smile.

“Hey! Welcome to the Game!”

Her pin was on her ribbon. Wonderful. More Duelists.

“You’re in this too, Danica?” he asked.

She nodded. “Of course! You think I’d miss something as fun as that? I’ve been a fighter since I was a kid.”

Danica Paige was one of Leliel’s few acquaintances in class since he didn’t have his third period with Asha. She was almost like Asha’s female counterpart with her vibrant, unstoppable energy. Hers was far cuter though, as was everything about her. Despite being a Class 2, she looked far younger than just about anyone in Class 1. She had long, bright purple hair she tied in a long braid and it usually swished behind her head like a tail.

“But you do martial arts, right?” Leliel was being kind, pretending that she might have not told him much before. Danica had even brought her trophies to class once.

“Yeah but it’s not like I can’t move from one skill set to another. They don’t see me coming,” she said, sticking her tongue out as she brandished her absurdly formidable fists.

“That’s actually pretty believable,” Leliel said.

“Oh yeah. I’m Duelist 9 of Hearts. What’re you again? I just heard you were admitted but I’m not too good at keeping up with these things.”

9^th? That meant she was pretty high up in the ranking. Again, Leliel felt that he wasn’t exactly surprised. She might have been humorously tiny, but he had seen her the couple of times he and Asha went to her school exhibitions. She was able to fell women and men over twice her size.

“2 of Swords,” he supplied.

“Wow! That’s great. I’ve never see anyone start out in the Swords Suite. Then again, lots of people sort of get to being happy where they are so things don’t move around all that much. Hmmm.”

As their teacher started the class, she didn’t even bother turning around but then the lady didn’t pay any attention to her either.

“What is it?” Leliel asked.

“I was just thinking that if someone new started out with a low but…high position like you then maybe you’ll be able to stir things up a bit. People have really only been doing battles on personal grudges…those Personal Duels. I don’t really like them. I’ve gone through six Advancement Duels to get where I am and…hmmm…I can’t count how many I’ve had to win to defend my title. But I’m undefeated!”

She raised her hands, doing a victorious pose in her chair. One of the young men in the middle row gave out a stifled laugh, which caused Danica to turn her large brown eyes on him angrily.

“You wanna make something of it, Phobey?”

Leliel turned his attention to the young man who sat right beside him on the next row. He didn’t really recognize him but Danica clearly did. He had shaggy, copper-red hair that was so messily situated that it looked intentional. He had his pen in his mouth and abruptly pulled it out and laughed outwardly at her.

“Your arrogance never ceases to amaze me. Please don’t challenge Demir out of sheer boredom.”

Leliel broke in as politely as he could. “No offense…but you are…?”

“I blend in, right? Not like Dani there. I’m Phobos Bice, Duelist 6 of Swords.”

He extended his hand across the aisle and Leliel managed a polite smile as he shook his hand. He glanced around but even the other students weren’t paying attention to their conversation.

“Just make sure you don’t beat me in challenging the newbie,” Danica said.

“I would never. I’m technically his senior Duelist, since we’re in the same Suite.”

“He doesn’t look it, but Phobey is fifteen thousand times more competitive than I am. Watch your back,” Danica said.

“I guess that makes us a good match then?”

She flushed. “Yeah, yeah.”

Leliel smiled. The dynamic between them clearly illustrated their relationship. He looked to Phobos again, curious about why he hadn’t really noticed him before since he spoke to Danica about class.

“…So do you know Elgior well?” Leliel asked.

“Oh, you’re calling him by his first name? Don’t let him hear you saying that,” Phobos stated.

“He doesn’t like it?”

“Laine’s particular. Only Neme, Muriel, and his best friend are allowed to call him that.”

“…Well he never told me not to specifically,” Leliel muttered, glancing nonchalantly toward the wall.

Dani giggled.

“Maybe I won’t challenge you after all. It’ll be too funny to see Laine have to put up with you.”

“Now Dani…you were asking me a question, weren’t you, Leliel?” Phobos asked.

“Yes. I just wanted to know if he’s usually so…”

“Such a hardass?”

Leliel laughed and nodded.

“Eh. It depends on the day and topic, really. He’s pretty discriminate with people he likes and doesn’t like which is why you might not have the easiest time changing his mind about you,” Phobos said.

“I don’t really care what he thinks of me,” Leliel said.

“Hmm. I think I’m going to agree with Dani. It’ll be pretty amusing to see how he handles you. Just don’t do anything stupid like losing an Advancement Duel.”

“You’re too kind,” Leliel said, deadpan.

“Phobey’s ten times harsher than I am,” Dani supplied.

They had a short moment of mutual laughter and then the conversation sort of died out as Phobos and Danica started to speak among themselves. Leliel listened for a short time till the conversation moved further from dueling and onto social matters. He then turned his attention to the board.

He met Asha after his class and they traced their usual path to the Dining Hall for dinner. Leliel didn’t have much of an appetite considering how full his day had been already. He was distracted from his internal monologue when he caught sight of Karta. She paused when she came level with him and Asha.

“So, have you had time to digest the information they gave you earlier?” she asked.

“I think so. I’m actually getting to the point where I think it’s useless to seriously think it over any longer. It’s just pointless speculation.”

She smiled reassuringly and reached out to take his hand momentarily. It, predictably caused his internal temperature to rise just a bit, but she didn’t notice.

“Hang in there. You can come talk to me whenever you’d like about the Game. But with Ashavan as your friend, I’m sure you’ll be just fine.”

Asha didn’t comment but he had a smug sort of smile on his face. Leliel was a bit speechless but he did manage to get his head to work long enough to nod. Kara squeezed his hand and then moved on after a fast goodbye.

“Wow. She really is paying more attention to you. You might actually have some hope of dating in the future if this keeps up,” Asha observed. Leliel struck his lightly on the back of his head and they moved ahead in the entrée line.

Leliel finished eating first and he moved to the dividing line between the dining area and the serving area to wait for Asha to finish. The supervisors tended to get bent out of shape when students dallied at the tables. He glanced at his surroundings, taking it in instead of how he usually ignored it. The entire building was also made of concrete but there was more cloth and light inside than in the other buildings to make it more inviting.

“I thought I made it clear that you should stay away from Karta,” Pallas said.

Leliel started as he really hadn’t expected the other young man to just suddenly appear. He couldn’t say he was at all pleased to see him though. He crossed his arms and returned the other man’s glare with his own venomous glower.

“She came up to me. Really, what kind of a sad life do you have to lead to keep track of every little time she even looks at me?”

There was something odd about Pallas, a quality that Leliel hadn’t noticed earlier. He had dark circles under his eyes made worse by the artificial light in the hall. His hair was ruffled like he had run his fingers through it way too many times and his lip was curled like he was about to try and bite Leliel.

“Shut up. I’m this close…”

“Close to what?” Leliel wanted to follow it up with something passably clever but he didn’t want to provoke Pallas needlessly.

“Close to challenging you. No…I think I want to after all…”

There was a short period of silence in which Pallas pulled out his cell from his pocket. He pressed a few buttons and he squeezed the phone so hard that he thought it would crack.

“…Do I have any say in this?” Leliel asked.

“Well, you could quit the Game and I would be just as satisfied with that.”

Leliel’s frown deepened, “I think you’re taking this too far. I haven’t even really known you existed for a full day yet. You can’t ascertain my position as a threat in so short a time.”

“I’ve been watching you longer than that. You were just blind to it before…”

Leliel suddenly felt someone grab his arm, pulling him farther away from Pallas. He turned his head to see that Muriel had hold of him. He moved Leliel physically farther back and then moved between Pallas and him. Leliel noticed that Muriel’s expression wasn’t relaxed and insufferably clever like before but he looked, ultimately, livid.

“ What the hell is the meaning of this, Pallas? I got a text a minute ago saying you wanted to ‘do what we discussed earlier’.”

Pallas smiled and with his current state, he looked almost insane.

“What else is there to ask then?”

“I specifically warned you against a challenge.”

“You can’t control me just because you’re the Jack of Spades. I’ll make it official. Leliel Demir, I challenge you to a Duel.”

“Damn idiot.”

Leliel quickly jerked his arm from Muriel’s grasp and he stepped forward.

“It’s fine. If he wants to try then he can go ahead.”

“Argh. Fine. It’s a personal duel, right?” Muriel asked.

“Of course. Tomorrow at noon?”

Leliel nodded and Muriel sighed again. He didn’t seem quite so angry anymore but, rather, irritated beyond belief. He pulled out his own cell and dialed a number. Both young men’s eyes were on him while he waited.

“Eli? Yeah…what? You…how could you know I’d call? Yeah…okay, now that’s just scary. Do you have some sort of bug on me? Don’t laugh…argh…fine Eli…noon? No…yeah…alright…you’d better believe I’m going to want something for this…yeah…yeah…see ya.”

He hit the end button on his phone and then frowned at Pallas.

“He said noon was fine.”

“Great. Then I guess I’ll see you tomorrow. You’d better be prepared…”

He glared one final time at Leliel for good measure before he brushed past the two of them and headed for the door. Leliel let out his breath slowly and Muriel waited till Pallas was far out the door before he spoke again. His tone and expression were both grave.

“He’s been off for awhile now. He’s obsessed with Karta and no matter how much I suggest that he retired from the Game he doesn’t ever listen…so you really should be prepared. He’s not the most skilled swordsman but…crazy makes up for some deficiencies in skill…”

Leliel shrugged. “So are there any good or bad consequences for winning or losing a personal duel?”

“Not really. It’s more of a pride thing. To get someone’s feelings out. I guess you could consider it ‘cleansing’ which is something he probably needs. Just don’t lose.”

Leliel laughed rather hollowly.

“Speaking of…you’ve had some previous training? When I saw you go against Milan I could have sworn you showed some skill that’s a little past beginner’s luck.”

The new Duelist shrugged. “My uncle taught me when I was a little kid. Don’t ask the style. He was pretty crazy too. The only reason he wanted to teach me was for some sort of war he had made up in his mind where all the guns magically stopped working and people would need to duel with swords.”

“He’s almost right, if you take this into account. Guns don’t work on campus after all,” Muriel said.

“Leliel! Sorry to make you wait…oh…it’s the Jack,” Asha said, jogging up beside them.

“Good. You’re here. I was hoping you’d show before I left,” Muriel started. “You see, Pinky here’s just gotten himself challenged by Pallas and I think it would be for the best if you agreed to be his witness. For moral support n’ all.”

Asha’s eyes grew as big as saucers and he scowled at his friend.

“It’s nothing but trouble with you, isn’t it Leliel? You mean Pallas challenged you so soon?”

“I’m not gonna mention who got me into this in the first place,” Leliel said, fingering his pin nervously.

“No questions about the witness thing?” Muriel asked.

“I was getting to that…”

“I can take that question!” Asha said. “A witness is a Duelist who observes the duel from a close proximity. Both sides usually bring one but, from time to time, one of the Duelists will chose to go it alone. Only one is required after all.”

“And I have an idea who Pallas is going to try and bring and…if he’s not successful then you’ll have to rely on your witness. So just make sure to be there. Good luck, Pinky,” Murel quickly said. He nodded to both of them and then made his own way to the exit. Leliel sighed and pulled on the end of one of his newly formed curls in frustration. He hadn’t let it show in front of the other two, but the idea of dueling so soon after learning about the Game was getting to him. Asha got it immediately and he seemed to visibly bring down his energy level a few notches.

“Look, don’t sweat it. Pallas isn’t all that good anyway. You should just go get some sleep or something.”

“Easy for you to say…I feel like I haven’t gotten any sleep for the past two days,” Leliel said.

“You’re exaggerating. You don’t look like you’ve lost any sleep. Either way, the dining hall’s about to close so we need to go.”

“Yeah. Can’t wait till tomorrow. You’ll kick ass!”

Asha kicked and punched the air as a sign of friendly encouragement but, in the process, he almost punched Leliel in the face as his hand flew back.

“Please, don’t encourage me. I might not survive it,” Leliel sighed, batting Muriel’s hand back with his arm. Asha let out a maniacal laugh as he fell headfirst through the door, out into the night.

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