TEAM

The breeze blew through the air, creating the only sound between the two. Kain stared at Celina, and she stared back. Kain was at a loss for words. He tried to speak, but no words came out. It was as if they were stuck in his throat, refusing to come out. Thankfully, Celina gave him that mercy. “I know what we have to do. To get your memories back, I mean.” Kain stuttered, almost being able to form words. He hesitantly walked forward, reaching out a hand. Celina smiled and grabbed his outstretched hand with hers. “Yes, we can get them back!” For the first time since he could remember, Kain felt like tearing up. After all this waiting that he had done, he would finally recover who he once was, recover ‘Kain’. “It was like I originally said. All we have to do is get you and Rika to obtain some notoriety, then you both will have clearance to look in government files. I can’t tell you much right now, but everything is in there. Who you were, the others with you, everything!” Celina pulled him into a hug, crying while holding him tightly. Kain still did not know how to respond. He awkwardly tried to pat her back, but she pulled away before he could. “Also,” Celina wiped her tears with her finger. “I have a way to get you that notoriety. The Academy students don’t know about it yet, as it’s meant to be kept secret until a month prior.” Kain finally found his words. “What…what is it?” Celina gestured toward the training facility. “Every ten years the Academy holds a competition to determine the best and most effective fighters. They use the powers of their Virtues, weapons, and many other combat techniques. The winner receives many awards, but most importantly is given the title of ‘Blessed’, which is reserved for only high ranking members of the Houses, and those that have shown exceptional ability. The Academy giving the title of ‘Blessed’ to the winner is a way to point them toward better prospects, in a way.” Celina’s face clouded over, almost as if she were thinking of something distasteful. “Although this will be very hard. You’ll be up against strong solo players, as well as teams of people wanting to claim the title for themselves.” Celina looked up at Kain, a look of resolve on her. “Don’t worry though! I’ll be with you, no matter what!” She looked expectantly at Kain. She wanted an answer, he thought. Of course he would attend. Why would he not? This was the chance he had been waiting for. His journey to the Academy could finally come to fruition. It would be hard, but Kain was prepared for that. Long before he had promised himself he would do anything to find himself once more, and that same conviction had only grown stronger with time. Especially with the person he trusted on his side, as well as the most valuable person he had, Kain vowed he would not lose. Sarah and Elais would also understand. They had control over the abilities that only Sinners possessed, exceeding him in almost every way. He was sure this was to provide them an edge. Kain smiled at Celina, who seemed to know his answer before he even said it. “Yes. Let’s do it, Celina. Let’s get back my memories.” Kain looked at Celina, whose face split into a large smile. The breeze blew once again, almost as if it were pushing him along his path.

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“WHAT!” Rika screamed in surprise, drawing the attention of students nearby. Celina frantically tried to shush her, waving her arms at Rika. Drawing attention to them would be less than ideal, as Celina stated that if the others knew about this chance, they would lose their advantage. Besides, they weren’t supposed to know about it now anyway. Celina could get in serious trouble for telling them this as it is. “You’re telling me that–” before Rika could potentially leak any information, Kain swiftly shut her up with a chop to the head. Rika let out an “Oww!” and rubbed the top of her head while looking angrily at Kain. “What was that for!?” “Rika,” Kain looked at her, deadpan. “You are shouting about stuff that definitely should not be shouted.” Rika just grumbled and turned back to Celina. “Before we get back to what ya just said, where have ya been? It’s been ages since I last saw ya!” Kain wondered about that, too. She had been gone for almost four weeks, and mysteriously turned up just recently. Celina blushed and did an awkward bow in apology. “O-oh, I guess I should tell you two, heh heh…” Celina looked to the side avoiding eye contact and laughed nervously. “Well, I spent some of this time doing special duties. It's kind of like what I did in the Garden. I go around to places in the slums and capital, healing people. Such is one of the duties of Kindness. I would have taken both of you with me, but I felt like you should relax some and get used to the Academy.” Kain sighed, exasperated. There was a way to get out of boring lessons taught by droning teachers, and he had only missed it by an inch. Not to mention the near daily beat downs given to him by Sarah under the guise of a “Lesson”. Rika showed a similar reaction, also equally exasperated. Celina saw their expressions, and suddenly changed the topic, speaking out loudly. “A-anyway…Rika, you’ll be in our team for the tournament, yes?” Rika nodded, her hands on her hips. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? I gotta help get back my friend’s memories, don’t I?” She patted Kain on the back, smiling at him. Celina clapped her hands together. “Well, that settles it! And Kain, you mentioned two more people that might be interested in joining?” Kain nodded. “Yeah, you’ll know why when you see them.” Kain looked away, staring off into space. Rika tapped her finger on her chin, muttering something under her breath. Eventually, she spoke up. “I guess Ran will go well. It’s fighting, right?” Celina nodded at Rika. “Okay, so that would work. Yeah, I’ll ask Ran.” Kain cringed at the sound of her name. He had not seen her lately, but her fawning over him still annoyed him. Celina smiled, seemingly in high spirits. “Wow, I didn’t think we’d have this many in our team! We’re one member short of the limit!” “There's a limit?” Kain looked confused. “Why of course there is.” Celina looked at Kain questionably, almost as if she was wondering if he even thought the way he did. “It would be extremely unfair if somebody gathered…let’s say fifty people. Also, the ‘Blessed’ title would be handed out too frequently if that were to happen. That’s why you can only have a team of seven people.” Kain nodded his head, understanding. “Oh, I see.” Rika smirked and looked at Kain funny. “Are ya dumb? I even guessed that we couldn’t build a whole army, man.” Kain answered back with a chop to the head, causing Rika to voice her usual complaints. “Now that we have all our members, we should form a strategy on how we’re going to win the tournament.” Rika quickly raised her hand in order to ask Celina a question. “What’s this tournament thing called anyway?” Kain wondered this, too. Surely a tournament this big and important should have a name. “Oh! I must have forgotten to tell you!” Celina clapped her hands in an “I’m sorry” gesture. “It’s just called ‘Holy Combat', but the students call it the ‘Tourney’ or ‘Tournament’.” Celina stood up after saying this, and beckoned both Kain and Rika to follow her. “Come on, let’s go talk in depth somewhere more comfortable, and somewhere with less people around.” Her eyes flickered to the surrounding students, now murmuring at the presence of Celina. It seemed she was still very popular everywhere she went. Kain couldn’t tell if this was an advantage or a disadvantage, but concluded it must have been annoying nonetheless. Celina led the two inside the Academy building. They walked through the mostly empty halls until coming to a stop in front of a room showing a red cross sign painted on the door. Celina knocked twice on the door. A tired voice yelled out “Coming!” Footsteps grew closer to the door, until it opened revealing the same tired Nurse Kain had seen during his first day here. Her expression showed one of annoyance until she saw Celina. “Oh, fancy seein’ you here. Thought you were doing something important.” Her eyes looked past Celina, landing on Kain and Rika. “And you brought friends. Thought you only knew other kids of the Houses.” Celina dashed forward and hugged the Nurse, who looked awkward at the sudden contact but patted Celina’s back nonetheless. When she pulled away, Celina smiled at the Nurse. “Lana, these are my friends, Kain and Rika. The boy is the one that I used to visit, remember?” The Nurse looked back over to the pair, her eyes searching Kain. Finally her eyes widened in recognition, but only slightly. It was hard to tell if her eyes widened at all. “Ah, yes, I remember when you used to go and visit him. Anyway, come in. I’ll make some coffee for you.” The Nurse stepped out of the doorway and motioned them through. Once inside, she shut the door and walked over to a table in the back where a machine stood. “So Celina, nice of you to stop by. What’s the occasion?” Celina found a cot and sat down on it, leaving Rika and Kain the only ones standing. “I wanted to find a secure room for us. We’re planning to fight in Holy Combat, and we need to make team plans.” The Nurse was silent for a moment, fiddling with the machine, then called out from over at the table. “Isn’t that supposed to be kept a secret from students this early on in the year?” She turned to face Celina, a playful smirk on her face. “I didn’t take you for a troublemaker, Celina.” Celina flushed and stammered out a shaky reply. “W-well, a lot of things are at stake. We need to do anything short of cheating to win, and preparing beforehand is a good way to do that.” The Nurse nodded and turned back to open a cabinet. There were some ceramic mugs inside, and she took four out, placing one underneath the nozzle. A gurgling noise sounded, and a stream of black liquid slowly drizzled from the nozzle. “You kids are so quiet, say something already. It’s creepy just to stand there, you know.” The Nurse waved a mug at Kain and Rika. Rika took this as an invitation to ask a question. “So Celina, I didn’t know you knew the Nurse here.” Celina smiled cheerily and chirped, “Of course I know her! She’s my aunt, after all!” Rika stared at Celina in shock, mouth wide open. Kain was surprised as well. He did not expect such a dreary woman to be related to a cheery girl like Celina. Almost everything was different about the two, yet Kain could still see some resemblance in the way that they carried themselves. Celina and the Nurse both acted with dignity in near everything that they did. Although it was hard to notice it with the Nurse due to her sloppy appearance and demeanor, she still carried a sense of grace in the things that she did. For Kain, it was somewhat believable, yet shocking. Rika, on the other hand, seemed shocked by this revelation. She could not find any resemblance in the two the way Kain had. The Nurse let out a smug laugh. “It’s so refreshing to see kids’ surprised faces. Makes me think that they still haven’t seen everything yet.” Rika tried to stammer out a reply, but couldn’t. Kain did so in her place. “I didn’t know you two were related, that’s hard too believe." The Nurse scrunched up her face in anger, ready to tell Kain off. Luckily Celina interjected before she could do so. “Yes, Lana is a member of House Kindness. Her healing abilities even rival mine and the higher ups in the House. I don’t know why she doesn’t want to do anything more than work as the Nurse here.” The Nurse just waved her hand dismissively and sighed. “Celina, you know I hate all those titles and stuffy politics. I’d rather be here, where I can at least get paid to do nothing. Suits me better, I would say.” Celina slowly shook her head, obviously disappointed in her lazy aunt. “Besides, I just love guiding the next generation of hopeful kids and providing them with a safe learning environment!” She put on a fake smile and heightened her normal mundane voice to an annoying pitch. Everybody stared at her, and she resumed her normal tired looking facial expression. “What, you don’t believe me?” Rika looked at the Nurse as if she just told a bad joke. “With all due respect, obviously no one believes you, ma’am.” The Nurse flinched at being called “ma’am” and grumbled to Rika, “You, girl, I’m not even that old! Kids these days…” After both Kain and Celina both gave the Nurse a weird look, she slunk back to the machine over on the table to rotate the mugs, muttering things under her breath. “Now that greetings are settled, let’s get started on the plan. First, however, I need you two to get the other people that are on this team. Hurry, the day won’t last any longer, and we’ll need all the time we can get!” Rika gave a thumbs up and turned to leave, opening the door. Kain followed behind her, reassuring Celina they’d be back soon. Once the door was shut, Rika looked over at Kain with a face still showing amazement. “To think that grump of a nurse is actually related to Celina! Still surprises me, yeah?” Kain nodded in agreement. “Definitely. I actually met her a while back, but I didn’t think she was important till now. She doesn’t act like a member of the seven major Houses, so I’d say it would be impossible to peg her as one.” Rika patted Kain’s shoulder, signaling that she agreed with his statement. Suddenly, she adopted a quizzical look on her face. “Ya said that ya met her before, yeah? When was that?” Kain scratched the back of his neck nervously, knowing that Rika might flip out at some of the information in the story. “Well…remember when we first met Elais and Sarah, and how she hit me on the back of the head?” Rika nodded, confused. “That’s when I met her. Apparently I was out all night and most of the next day in her clinic, and after I woke up, she healed me.” Rika furrowed her brows, her face showing signs of resentment. “So the entire reason ya met her is because that one girl smacked ya hard enough to get seen about. I still don’t like them, ya know?” “Well,” Kain turned to look away, staring off down the hallway they were walking down. “We have to team up with them if we’re going to win this thing. Just try to avoid killing them until then, okay?” Rika grimaced, and began to talk in a simpering voice. “I know, I know. The only reason I’m even in this thing is because of ya, so if I can find the resolve to throw myself in the mosh pit, I can handle being around some jerks.” Kain ruffled her curly red hair causing her to swat at his hands. “Just hurry up and get Ran. The quicker this is, the sooner we can get back to Celina.” “Okay, okay! Stop touching my hair!” Rika finally managed to free her head from the clutches of Kain’s playful grasp, still looking quite annoyed. Kain just laughed and turned to walk away, Rika swearing vengeance behind him.

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His first stop was the training ground where he and Sarah held lessons nearly every day. Kain had one that he was supposed to go to today, so Kain figured that this would be one of the quicker ways to find her. Walking up to the same heavy metal doors, Kain dug the ID out of his pocket and placed it up to the electronic scanner. With a too-happy robot greeting, the doors swung open and let him inside. As usual, there were many students practicing their various abilities. Whether it was mock battles with weaponry, students using the powers given to them by Virtue, or a combination of both, there was no shortage of any of it. Walking through the rows of practicing students, Kain eventually came to the area where he and Sarah trained. She was of course there, and not looking happy as per usual. Sarah noticed him walking over and went to greet him. “You’re here. Today, let’s start with the usual. Try to call forth Wrath, then we’ll continue to work hand-to-hand. Ready?” Kain didn’t respond. He looked away. Finally, he asked Sarah the question that he meant to ask her. “I have something important to ask you. Elias, too.” Sarah crossed her arms, looking on at Kain with a curious expression. “What is it?” Kain tried to explain, but just lowered his head and sighed. “It can’t be with so many people here. Plus, it’ll be better for Celina to explain.” Sarah widened her eyes at the mention of Celina. “So we finally get to meet one of the children of the Houses. It seems important enough. Come with me, let’s go get Elais.” Sarah turned around to walk away, and Kain followed suit. They made their way out of the training facility and started to walk on the path away from the Academy and dorms. Kain suddenly realized the familiarity of the path. It was the same as the one he took when he went on walks. They walked for a minute until they saw Elais a little off of the path, sitting under a tree and fiddling with something in his hands. As they got closer, Kain could make out the thing he was holding. It was a pencil and sketchpad, and a rather simple pair at that. Elais was focused intently on his project, not looking up at whatever as the two approached. “Elais,” Sarah rudely called out his name, breaking his focus. He jumped a little and looked up, annoyed. “Come on, we have somewhere important to be.” Elais sighed, changing his expression to one of a parent scolding their child. “Sarah, I told you not to interrupt me when I’m sketching. It ruins my flow.” Elais stood up and brushed himself off, shoving his sketchbook and pencil into the pocket on his blazer. His eyes moved to Kain, and he smiled wide in greeting. “Ah Kain, nice seeing you. It’s been a while since I last saw you.” Kain nodded, accepting his greeting without saying anything back. Elais playfully made a sad face and frowned. “You’re so cold, not greeting me back. Whatever have I done?” However his charade could not last, and his face split into a smile, chuckling. Sarah just looked at him, exasperated. “Elais, this is serious. Kain is taking us to meet up with Celina for something important.” The humor from Elais’ face faded, replaced with one of seriousness. He looked over to Sarah as if to say “Really?”. She just nodded, increasing the furrow in his brow. “Alright, lead the way.” They looked to Kain, expecting him to show them the way. Kain looked at the two for a moment, then realized what he needed to do. “Oh, um, just follow me.” Kain waved at the two, then turned around to walk back to the Academy. On the way there, Sarah and Elais talked in hushed tones, too quiet for Kain to hear. Their conversation must have been an important one, as they seemed to become more animated as it went on. When they reached the doors into the Academy, they seemed to finish their conversation. Sarah resumed her usual grumpy expression, and Elais plastered a smile onto his face. Kain started to wonder how fake that smile actually was. They finally reached the entrance of the infirmary, Kain knocking on the door. Footsteps quickly tapped toward the door. It swung open to reveal a smiling Celina. “Kain! I’m glad you kept your promise of coming back quickly.” She smiled cutely at him, then looked behind Kain at Sarah and Elais. Her expression changed when she saw them. She looked understanding and sad, as well as surprised. It really was a mix of many emotions that were on Celina’s face, but it was obvious to see the main emotion in the swirl of conflicting feelings. It was fear. Celina quickly wiped that expression off her face, so quick that Kain might have imagined it was there. “Well now that you’re here, come on in! Take a seat anywhere, we’ll begin our discussion shortly.” They walked inside the infirmary and sat down on some stools and cots. In the corner of the room sat Rika and Ran, a girl wearing the same standard Academy uniform Rika and Celina wore with short black hair, tan skin, and soft brown eyes, who were just now noticing the three of them in the room. Ran eyed Kain and blushed. Her eyes moved over the new arrivals, then stopped on Elais. She blushed even harder than she did when she looked at Kain, and hid her face. Elais looked confused at the spectacle and turned to Sarah. She, however, just looked away from him and scoffed. Rika smirked at their interaction, laughing slightly at the confused Elais. The Nurse walked over to Kain and handed him a mug of lukewarm coffee. “Here, you better be grateful and drink it. I don’t want to waste such a good cup.” Elais eyed Kain’s mug, and waved his hand to get the Nurse’s attention. “Excuse me, ma’am, but could I get a mug of coffee?” When Elais spoke the word “ma’am”, the Nurse scowled. She looked him dead in the eyes and said, “Hell no!”. She whipped around and sunk back into her swivel chair and sipped loudly from her own mug of coffee. Sarah snickered at Elais’ shocked face, and in return he scowled at her. Celina stepped into the center of the room, raising her voice to capture everyone's attention inside the room. “Everybody, welcome to the first official meeting of our team! I know you don’t quite understand what's going on right now, so I will make it clear. I am trying to form a team to win the upcoming Holy Combat, or the Tournament. You five, along with myself, will fight other students at this Academy for one of the most influential titles among the Houses, known as ‘Blessed’. If we win, all six of us will receive that title and the responsibilities and power that goes with it.” Ran widened her eyes, her mouth hanging open. Elais went to say something, but Sarah tapped his arm. He looked over, and she shook her head slowly. “It will not be easy, but I believe if we work extremely hard and follow a strict training regimen, we can succeed. We will be against the other children of the Houses, powerful champions, and prodigious students. We might get hurt, beaten down, stripped of our pride, but we will not lose! This opportunity will give us a chance to succeed in winning not only the Tournament, but our lives!” Celina looked over at Kain and smiled warmly, then continued speaking to the others in the room. “We fight in this Tournament not for the title, or what the title brings, but what we can do with the title! I have asked some of my closest friends here at the Academy, both of them I trust dearly, to bring me suitable teammates, people that we can trust and fight alongside! They have brought you.” Celina looked around the room at Ran, Elais, and Sarah, giving a different look to each of them. “So I will ask you, are you any of these things?” Celina went quiet, waiting for a response. From beside Rika, a shaky voice cut the silence, drawing everyone's attention towards it. “I…I can try to be. I’ll try my best to be.” It was Ran, the girl Kain previously thought annoying. Now, he could not help but admire her bravery to make a promise to Celina, one of the children of the Houses. She was just a schoolgirl, yet she had such conviction evident on her face. Kain smiled. Rika must have found good friends. “I agree with her.” Another voice spoke out into the silence. It was Sarah, an unreadable expression looking out at everyone. “I may not be perfect, but I can try.” Her voice held firm, it did not shake. Sarah did not seem the least bit nervous either, almost like she had made up her mind about something. “I’m with her, too.” Elais was the last newcomer to answer. He seemed to be in the same head space as Sarah, reaching the same conclusions. Celina was silent. Slowly she smiled. Her eyes seemed to twinkle as she looked upon the three newcomers. “Yes, that is perfect. That is all I can ask. It seems my friend’s judgments were exceptional, just as I thought they were.” Celina put her hand to her chest. “It would be unjust, not Virtuous, to expect anything more.” Celina smiled again, somewhat sadly. “Even someone like me is not perfect. Nobody will ever be, and anybody who says that they are, they are being lied to or lying to themselves. So embrace that truth and welcome it. It will allow us to win when things seem impossible, find the light in the dark, and climb to the highest peaks. To understand who you are, to work for achieving goals, to only use what is necessary, to avoid evil, to keep yourself human, to give this truth to others, and to wait for the good that it brings, that is true Virtue. Not the false Virtue that you hear preached in these walls and far beyond, but actual truth that even those thought irredeemable may achieve.” She looked knowingly at Kain, Elais, and Sarah, causing the ladder two to tense up. “Through true Virtue, we will win. I swear it on my name, Celina of House Kindness.” Celina curtsied, bowing slightly and lifting up the edges of her skirt. “In conclusion, welcome. Welcome to the winning team that will surpass all in Holy Combat.”