Equinox!

'I can't believe he almost killed Ace.' Annie contemplated, coming down the hang-ons that made up where the actual stairs were supposed to be as if she had been doing so all her life. 'I mean, I know he's not allowed to but he looked like if he could, he would. Maybe it was a mistake pleading to Captain Avery.' She thought, landing on the ground and making her way to the mess hall; a place in the Heart where they could get breakfast and dinner meals on the first floor.

She observed as everyone gathered at the Hall and she moved with the crowd. She picked a clean empty plate, going to the counter and requesting the food she wanted. 'Where is he?' She searched around for Ace but there were so many tables for the many soldiers so she couldn't locate him immediately. Normally, this wouldn't happen as they would usually go down together.

'This is all Raten's fault.' Annie reasoned until her eyes caught the spiky brown hair munching down on something. "Ace!"

Annie ran towards him as she passed the space between the rows of tables.

However, the light in the area a few feet away from her seemed to distort, becoming wavy. "Huh?! Ow…!"

Annie fell on the floor, spilling her food all over as she seemed to have bumped into someone she didn't seen on her way. "Where the hell did you... come from?" She lifted her head. Her eyes met with that of a boy sporting dark blue hair that had been combed to perfection with a blue and orange dress shirt and an orange princely transparent cape.

'Him!!' Annie cursed inwardly and a bit outwardly, causing the boy to break into a smirk.

"What do you mean? I was just walking on my own, looking where I was going unlike you, Ms. 'Magician'. But don't worry..." His smirk widened as a sign that he was enjoying this way too much. "It's just a squabble among friends... unless you want our parents getting involved."

Annie bit her lip, containing her increased anger. After all, what else could she do?

"Tch. Whatever! I'll just order more food."

"Um... I believe you'll find that there's barely enough food for everyone today. So there's no getting seconds, Miss Magician." With that, he walked away.

Annie just stomped to her seat, clearly having the worst day ever when she saw Raten eating his own food, at the same table as Ace.

'He really doesn't care about us, does he? I guess I thought he'd stand up to Sky for me. I guess I'm starting to confuse reality with fairytales.' Annie glinted at Raten while the latter didn't even pay her a glance.

"Hey, Annie! What happened? And where's your food?" Ace inquired, prompting the teenage girl to put up a fake smile. Something he had seen her do a number of times and wasn't fooled by in the slightest.

"I think I'll go to Winter's place instead for dinner, okay?" She replied, covering up for her encounter with the arrogant Sky. "I'll meet you up before nightfall." Afterwards, she made her way out of the Mess Hall.

Ace slowed down while eating his food, as if his brain had finally clicked. "It was Sky, wasn't it?"

Raten paused for a moment, noticing his body language. "You mean the guy that bumped into her?" He let out.

Ace slammed the table at the confirmation, shaking it slightly before his smile disappeared. "I knew it!"

"I have no idea how he does it! And we can't stand up to him cos' he's the highest noble in the Heart!" Ace vented to no one in particular before looking down at his food. 'Annie doesn't deserve the crap he's giving her.'

The Zen Wielder mumbled to himself as he continued with his meal, clearly enjoying the exquisite dish. But it looked pretty normal to everyone else so perhaps it was just his taste. "He's probably using some sort of Camouflage to do it."

"Wait..." Ace lowered his spoon, looking Raten straight in the eye which the latter responded with a 'mhm'. For some reason, he seemed more receptive while he ate.

'If it's some kind of invisibility, I'll be able to locate him if I can just focus hard enough on detecting his breathing.' In an instant, Ace finished up his food, dropping his plate and causing it to spin a bit before resting on the table, exiting the Mess Hall and heading for the Training Hall with the intent to practice on something.

After dinner, Raten passed by that very hall, observing Ace sitting in the lotus position as if he was meditating, his energy forming a golden aura around his body.

Nevertheless, He retired to the living quarters, laying on his bed, all alone in the large room. He liked the silence it granted him. It gave him some time to think about his current situation and other things on his mind.

'From what I see, Annie must be a Noble with the way people treat her. Ace also seems to be a noble based on his skill level or at least he was one before.' Raten paused, confounded by his own thoughts. 'Why am I even learning all this?'

He looked over to their beds, imagining them there moving up and about before shifting to the ceiling, going back into thought. 'I'll still kill them all after I figure myself out. But, maybe not the Chefs. That was some quality meal. At least the main course. The sandwich on the side was total crap. '

Meanwhile, Raldin resided in his office, arranging some reports he had received for previous missions when someone stepped into his office. However, he noticed that someone was making their way towards his office. He still remained at work however as the person entered in through the door without knocking.

"What is it? I'm very bus…" Raldin stopped, feeling the slight aura that was emanating off the person he had not properly acknowledged, one that was enough to make him alarmed by them. He looked up to find out who exactly was a few metres away from them.

A young female adult with african-american skin, black hair and assertive mint-green eyes that commanded respect. On her back was a well-crafted bow and some arrows in a satchel with a dark-green chestplate as well as a black waist-cape. The most important feature and the first one Raldin had noticed the moment he looked at her was the blue-chained medallion on her chest.

"Oh, Captain." Raldin quickly took on a respectful bow before standing at attention in the presence of his superior. He was only a Vice Captain after all.

"Captain Avery and Captain Tyde won't be able to make it 'til next week," She informed him with the emphatic, confident and disciplined tone of a woman altogether while looking over at the big stack of papers at his desk. "Since you're Avery's Vice Captain, you'll take over some of his responsibilities and duties and I'll handle the rest."

"You'll also be leading the new recruits and their teammates to Mount Proxy. Have I made myself clear?" She asked with the intent of just knowing if he had digested all of that but she couldn't help that it came out in an assertive voice.

"Crystal clear!" He replied promptly. "And what about the Black Spirit Soldier?"

"The what?" She asked with an intentional chilly voice, her tone incredibly strickening. Raldin took in a nervous gulp before answering.

"We found a Spirit Soldier with amnesia. Captain Avery gave the order from his location that he was allowed to stay and work with us."

"Oh." She calmed down at the mention of a particular name, dropping her previously folded arms. "Then he'll be your responsibility from now on," She said, making her way to the door in a stride.

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Call me Captain."

"Of course, Captain."