WITHDRAWL

“Berst, what in Virtue’s name was that?” Berst sat in his office, rubbing his temples. The latest events caused quite the commotion. Many professors, high ranking students, and even influential families have questioned him about yesterday's events. Well, it was unavoidable. As soon as he saw the boy during that day in Orientation, he knew that he was a Sinner. Berst never expected Sinners to have the confidence to stride straight into the walls of the Academy, much less participate in one of the most sacred events known to Academy history. What Berst did not expect, however, to see his operatives on the team with the Sinner. He tasked them with finding or locating the one that they had been searching for ever since he was taken from their escape from the lab all those years ago. He still felt guilty about not rescuing that particular child, as he knew what the Houses had in plan for him. He was the only one to be able to bear the strain of all seven of the Sins that the Houses wanted to implement him with. Whether they did or not, he did not know. The boy was moved to a secret facility not even a day after. The rot coming off of that boy on the field, however… It was unlike anything that he’d ever seen. Even being around all of his operatives at once didn’t even compare to the malice that the boy had infested the arena with. If the Houses had gone through with what they planned for that boy… surely he would have that level of miasma. If he was the one that they were looking for, well, it would make life a lot easier. Berst groaned and rubbed his temples harder. He had hoped his operatives would recognise the value of a potential candidate and extract him from the Academy immediately. “Berst!” Berst snapped his eyes open and looked at his guest. “Do you have any idea what the h– happened yesterday!” Berst sighed. Unlike the other complainers, this one was actually important. “If we don’t take care of this immediately, the Houses are going to get mad. Extremely mad.” Berst waved his hand. His lead assistant, Sam, had been especially worried about the repercussions of yesterday’s events. “Sammy, I know. Who do you think most of the complaints have been from? Some random student just crippled three very powerful individuals, who just so happen to be children of the Houses. Not to mention their champions were given the same treatment as well. So yes, Sammy, I think I do know what situation we’re in.” Sammy slammed his hands down on Berst’s desk, rattling the various objects strewn across it. “Well, good, because we have the head of House Charity on his way to your office right now!” Berst clenched his jaw in frustration. Of course that bitter old man would not like it if his granddaughter was unapologetically beaten in front of his very eyes. He was surprised he didn’t storm the arena platform the second the boy collapsed onto the ground. Well, there was that other girl there. Celina, of House Kindness. It was a surprise to see her so close to that Sinner. Strange things were happening lately, and Berst could sense the winds of change blowing through everyone’s life. “When he gets here, tell him to wait outside. I have business to attend to.” Sam opened his mouth in surprise. “No. No, you're not going to upset any more powerful people. I won’t allow it.” Berst sighed and leaned back in his chair, the old legs creaking with strain. “Sammy, who is the Academy Headmaster who has absolute say in internal and external affairs?” Sam clinched his fists. “Are you serious right now?” Berst leaned forward to look at Sam. “Dead serious.” Sam looked at Berst for a few more moments, then scoffed and turned away, aggressively shutting the door on his way out. Berst sighed. It seemed his life would be way more complicated, whether he liked it or not. He just hoped that those complications wouldn’t extend to the more important things in his life. Berst reached under his desk, sliding a simple latch from one end of the desk to the other. A click resounded, and a small device fell out of a hidden pocket. Berst dusted it off and pressed a button. Mechanical whirrs sounded as the device expanded into a fairly big screen. After typing a message, he retracted the device and slid it back into the hidden compartment. Berst straightened himself, ready for the exhausting interaction to come.

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Kain groaned involuntarily. Even when he woke, it felt as if his body was past the point of exhaustion. Kain opened his eyes to see Celina looking over him, flashing a warm smile. “Where…where am I?” Kain tried to sit up, but fell back down with a gasp of pain. “Easy man! Ya are still a wreck from yesterday.” A voice called out from the other side of him. He turned his neck, wincing at the pain. Rika sat across from him in a chair, wringing her cap with a concerned look on her face. “Yes, Rika is right. Please Kain, lay down and rest.” Kain tried to sit up again, but was gently pushed down. “Apparently I couldn’t heal your injuries, no matter how hard I tried. Sarah explained that the strain that your body was under due to your…unique ability isn’t able to be healed under regular means.” Sarah? Speaking of Sarah, where was she and Elais? “After I passed out, what happened to the rest of the team?” Celina laughed nervously. “About that…” “Well, just look around ya.” Kain’s eyes widened at where he was. It was almost a metal box, a stool and chairs littering the area. Rumbling could be heard all throughout the room, and light from another chamber behind him shone on Kain. In the corner of the room, he thought he could see Ran curled up, arms wrapped around her legs leaning against the wall. Her face looked lost, as if she believed she were someplace else. “Hey Celina, what happened to her?” Kain tentatively lifted an arm, trying not to trigger any pain that might flare with sudden movement. Celina’s face grew sad. “She’s…not taking her new situation too well. I knew a girl like her would collapse under pressure, but it was safer taking her with us than leaving her at the Academy.” Kain’s eyebrows furrowed. “Leaving her at the Academy? Where are we actually?” It was Rika who spoke up instead of Celina this time. “We’re on a vehicle that’s taking us to wherever Sarah’s going. I’ve never seen one of these in my life, but here we are.” Rika looked at Celina, a strange look coming across her face. “...I will head over to go check on Sarah and the others. I am sure they would be delighted to hear that you are awake, Kain.” She smiled warmly at him, placing a hand on his chest. “If you ever need anything, anything at all, I will always be here for you, always.” After smiling at him once more, she got up and walked away. The room was quiet after she left, the rumbling of the vehicle's machinery filling the void of silence. “Kain…” Before Kain could look over at Rika, he felt her rush to him and envelope his body in a hug. “Ouch! I’m still…” Kain’s words died as he saw Rika crying, shaking with each silent sob. Kain did not know what to say, looking on at her awkwardly. “The way ya looked…how ya collapsed like that…I was so scared, Kain. I thought that ya might have hurt, or worse. I thought I'd lost my…my friend…I was so scared…” Rika kept crying onto his chest, her curly red hair obstructing her face. All Kain could do was lay there, aching as she gripped him tighter as she cried. She seemed to cling to him for hours, Kain feeling as if it would be wrong to shove her off. She eventually stood up, rubbing her eyes. They were red and puffy from her crying, hands fervently rubbing her eyes. She sniffled then let out a shaky smile. “Well, ya have no business to do any of that again. I won’t let ya.” Kain laughed, then winced. He felt at his ribs, noticing the tenderness there. Had the extent of his injuries from overusing Wrath really took that big of a toll on him? “Kain? You're awake! Took you long enough!” Kain twisted his head and turned his body to look behind him, seeing Elais leaning against the doorway. He had a smirk on his face, but a tiredness was evident in his eyes. “I’d watch out for you. If the burnout doesn’t kill you, Sarah definitely will. She said that she would tear you a new one for acting like that in the arena. Cause’ of your performance back there, we had to pull out of the Academy. Even that place wouldn’t have protected us after you crippled that House girl.” Kain grimaced. If anyone would be mad, it would be Sarah. She had warned him many times before about the dangers of using a Sin too much. “About Sarah, where is she?” Kain wanted to delay the lecture as long as he could. “Well, you’re safe for now. She’s piloting the air-tram, so as long as she doesn’t go to autopilot, you can avoid her chewing you out.” Kain sighed. He tried to straighten up, but his body still wouldn’t let him. He clenched his jaw, ignoring the protests coming from his body. Waves of pain flowed over him, but Kain ignored them and pushed his body upright. “Man, this really hurts.” Kain tentatively touched his ribs and rubbed his neck, grimacing. “Well, that does happen if you overdo it. It happened quite a few times for me as well.” Kain hobbled over to Elais, motioning over to Ran. “Is she okay? How long has she been in that position?” Now, it was Elais’ turn to grimace. “Like Celina said, what's been happening has been too much for a girl like her. She’s been in that corner ever since we snuck out of the Academy. Rika tried to talk to her a couple times, but…” Elais’ sentence trailed off, looking visibly worried for the girl. The two sat in silence for a moment. Kain eventually asked, “Where are we heading?” “Well, we notified Doc of what happened and he said he’d be coming along with the rest of the group to come get us. Don’t worry, we have to relocate every once in a while for safety anyway. Also,” Elais turned to look at Rika, who was listening by the bed where Kain once laid on. “Chances are we’re being followed. Sarah picked up around three enforcement cruisers trailing us, and another air-tram nearing us. I just hope that the air-tram is our backup.” It seemed like everything was going wrong. “Elais, what’s this Doc like?” Elais looked away, a face usually mischievous hardening into noncompliance. “Well, we aren’t to disclose any details. Like, none whatsoever. You’ll just have to see when you meet him. That goes for you, too.” Elais jerked his head toward Rika. Kain decided he would avoid the topic of “Doc” and any other thing regarding him. Sarah told him the gist of the organization that they were in, but after that was pretty tight lipped about anything else. Elais seemed worse, not being able to even elaborate on anything regarding “Doc” or any of the other Sinners. Kain waved Elais off, both going their separate ways after more than a couple of seconds that were mostly awkward silence. Kain hobbled back down to his makeshift bed, and sat down next to Rika. They talked for a while, Kain motioning over to Ran occasionally. Rika kept shaking her head and shooting down his ideas for consolement. Kain was worried about her. If she stayed in that state, what would she be other than dead weight in the case that they were attacked by enforcers? Sure, he would do what he could because she was Rika’s friend, but he definitely wasn’t going to sacrifice any of the others to save her. In the middle of one of their conversations, a loud clang of machinery sounded through the vehicle. Kain lurched forward as they hit the ground, causing the sore parts of his body to flare up in pain. Rika, despite not being injured, was the one to rocket toward the ground. “OW ow ow OW!” Rika rubbed her nose, which had absorbed most of the impact. Despite the trickle of blood coming from it, Kain found the situation somewhat funny. He snickered, trying to suppress a laugh. Rika noticed him and frowned, anger simmering underneath her features. Before she could express it, however, Sarah came walking into the back of the air-tram with the rest of them. Celina and Elais followed suit, both of them seemingly in their own deep conversation. Sarah looked around for Kain, eyes eventually rounding on him with silent fury. She stomped toward him, getting in his face with a look of barely controlled anger. “What. Were. You. Thinking!” Kain shrunk back from Sarah’s toxic attitude. While her face didn’t show major amounts of anger, Kain could see the rage flame behind her eyes. “I thought–” “NO!” Sarah slammed her hand down on the table. “No, no you didn’t think! Do you realize the danger your actions brought upon us! Enforcement cruisers will be on us any minute. We’re already at the meeting spot and they're only five minutes away!” Sarah barely kept herself from yelling, even failing at times. “Tell me, please, what possessed you to even entertain the idea of using Wrath like that? Hadn’t I told you many times before that being irresponsible with that power could kill you?” Kain swallowed nervously. He had heard from Elais that Sarah was mad, but he never thought she would be this mad. She stared at him a moment longer, silent fury in her gaze, before she abruptly turned away. “I’ll deal with you later. Elais, get Ran and Kain to safety. It looks like you and I are going to be fighting alone. Do you still have Diligence copied?” Elais sauntered up next to her. “Yes ma’am!” Sarah looked over to where Rika and Kain stood. “Rika, stay with Kain. Celina, stay with the non-combatants. No, you can’t help. Heal us after.” Sarah shut down Celina’s protests, waving her away. Celina sulked over to where Kain was, stopping next to him and observing him with concerned eyes. “Are you sure you are alright, Kain? While I can’t heal you, I can–” “I’m fine, Celina. Really.” Kain looked at Ran in the corner by Sarah and Elais. She still looked far away, as if her mind was in some other place. “Can you do something about Ran, Celina?” Celina followed Kain’s gaze, eventually landing on the curled up figure of Ran. “Well…I wish I could do something, but…” Celina frowned. “I cannot heal the mind, Kain. Only the body.” Kain sighed in annoyance. There was no fixing her, it seemed. Kain caught Elais stooping down to talk to Ran, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder and speaking to her in low, comforting tones. Ran nodded slowly, then stood up to shuffle in Kain’s direction. She settled herself on the floor, curling up into another ball. Elais followed behind her and came to face Kain. “Kain, make sure they’re safe here. I wouldn’t activate anything because your body is fragile right now, but still…if push comes to shove…” Kain nodded at Elais. “Alright. Besides, Wrath numbs pain, right?” Elais laughed, but a grimace was still splayed across his face. “Just don’t overdo it, alright?” Kain nodded and waved Elais goodbye. He saw Elais go over to Sarah and press a button hidden by a latch on the wall. Piston hissed, and the back wall of the carrier opened, giving Kain a view of their surroundings. Kain squinted his eyes, the glare from the sunlight reflecting off of all the marble and gold buildings. The glass structures made prismatic hues across the horizon, scattering shards of rainbow into the sky. The gargantuan buildings that were scattered across the city did not hold their wonder to Kain anymore. Rika was still amazed by Olympus Mons, eyes filling with wonder despite the situation that they found themselves in. “Kain,” Sarah called out to him from outside of the tram. “Don’t open the door for anything, or anyone. If it comes to it, start the engine and get away. Don’t stay for us, just go.” Kain nodded. Celina turned around back to Elais and waited on the roof of whatever building they were on. Celina walked over to the latch and closed the door, the wall of the tram closing once more. Celina ran over back to where Kain and Rika were. They sat in silence, no one saying a word. Celina tried to start a conversation, but the words died out in her throat. The roaring of engines could be heard outside of their tram, coupled with the shouts of multiple other people. Shots rang from the outside, bullets pinging off of the hull of the tram. Ran flinched with every ping that the bullets created on the hull. Eventually, everything went silent. “Maybe Sarah and Elais won…” Celina was cut off from speaking by the hiss of the door opening. Once more light blinded Kain for a second, revealing countless enforcers. Kain swallowed nervously and stood up, wincing from the pain. Celina shrunk back, pushing Rika and Ran behind her. “Did you really think,” A man with a gruff voice stepped forward through the crowd of enforcers, a tired expression on his face wearing clothes that seemed to have worn out ages ago. He had stubble on his face that he repeatedly scratched, and a small remote device in his left hand. “That we wouldn’t have the override controls to vehicles like this? Seriously, you Sinners need to get more creative.” Kain tensed up, preparing for a fight. The man sighed and twirled a finger. “Bring out the two, please.” A shift through the crowd of enforcers revealed Sarah and Elais, restrained by two people wearing the enforcer uniform with a special symbol on each of their chests. “You really bothered me, you know. Stealing an air-tram, causing commotion, and killing my enforcers. I knew you Sinners were uncivilized but geeze, you could try to break stereotypes here and there.” Sarah was thrashing about in her enforcer’s arms, though there was a sluggishness to her motions. Elais looked to be out cold, slumped over in the enforcer’s arms. “I’ll make it easy on you. I take all of you in, hang you all for everyone to see, and burn your bodies. If you do all that, I’ll make your death quick. All of your deaths, actually. Isn’t that generous of me?” The man yawned and scratched his stubble. “So come forward. You first, then I really don’t care who else.” Kain stayed in the same spot, clenching and unclenching his jaw. “Kain–” He started forward, ignoring Celina’s protests. “Well, if it makes you feel better, that Celina girl won’t get harmed. I mean, nothing's gonna happen to her cause’ she’s a child of the Houses or whatever. Life’s really unfair, right?” The man shook his head, closing his eyes as he did. Kain could hear Celina’s groggy screams, but Kain ignored them as well. Closer now, he was almost there. Kain reached for the feeling of malice that activated Wrath. The rot eagerly reached up toward him as well. Kain’s eyes dimly glowed. Kain felt Wrath balloon inside him, strengthening his body and causing the pain to seep away. Suddenly, Kain’s body went rigid. Pain overtook him, almost as if fire burned through his bloodstream. Kain could not even call out as he dropped to the ground, Wrath slipping away from his control and sliding back within him. Kain fell on his face, his body making an audible slap against marble. Tears welled up in his eyes as the blood rushed to his ears, blocking out sound around him. “Well, looks like you tried to fight. Knew you were out of commission, probably even more so than you.” Kain couldn’t respond as the pain still wracked his body. “I’ve seen it happen in Sinners before. They draw too much power, exhaust themselves, then try to draw more power, finally ending up in the state you're in right now. Apparently it’s one of the worst pains that the human body can transcribe with its nervous system. Not that I know about that, anyway.” Kain’s body was hit by another wave of pain. Tears fell from his eyes, sliding down his face. His eyes rolled back into his head, Kain’s mind fading into unconsciousness. “Virtue Born never has problems like this, you know. Just another reminder on how superior we are to you Sinners.” Kain couldn’t move. It hurt. It hurt. “Alright, let’s get to the point. Bring the girl over here.” The man pulled out a slender silver object, cocking it back until a click. The enforcer dragged Sarah in front of Kain’s vision, forcing her onto her knees. “Without these two Academy students here, we probably would have lost more enforcer lives. I really don’t get why people gloss over Humility. Sure, it’s not flashy, but it does immobilize an opponent.” The man dragged his feet over to where Sarah was and pressed the gun to her head. “Hey, don’t get mad at me, it’s not personal, alright?” Sarah struggled against the enforcer, though all in vain. Kain couldn’t do anything. The pain immobilized him, threatening to knock him out. “Since I’m a nice guy, I’ll let you say some last words. Well, if you can even speak that is..” The man waved his gun around. “Well, go on! Speak up, Sinner!” Sarah growled and tried to say something, but her words slurred. “Well looks like you're not saying much, so…hey guys! We have another visitor!” The man looked away from Sarah to an air-tram flying towards them. It landed next to Kain’s ship, engine ceasing to rumble once settled. The back of the tram opened. A tall imposing man walked down the engine, a well kept suit and no hair making up his appearance. As he neared, Kain could see through hazed vision that he had seen the man before. Yes, he had, it was… “Berst! What brought you out here? Already heard the word that we caught some Sinners?” Berst walked forward, the crowd of enforcers parting as he neared Kain and Sarah. “Sammy, I thought you said you would call me if any more incidents like this happened.” Berst eyed Kain and the others. “Well, dealing with Sinners is top priority, so I thought that this would be the best option. Berst stayed silent. After a while, he sighed. “Sammy, get all these enforcers out of here. This was overkill, and an overextension of our resources.” The man, Sammy, looked taken aback. After a while he twirled his finger, yelling, “Alright boys, get out of here. Go back to the Academy and keep looking around the Academy for more invaders.” The enforcers saluted Sammy, then piled back into the sleek airships. The two enforcers who still held Sarah and Elais stayed. Kain looked over at Sammy and caught a glimpse of Sarah. She looked triumphant, a small smile on her face. “Sammy, give me the gun. I’ll deal with them myself. Make sure to unlock it so I can actually use it this time.” Sammy nodded, fiddling with some parts of the sliver weapon. A cheerful beep sounded from the weapon, and Sammy handed Berst the weapon. Berst cocked it back, checking for bullets. “Alright, let’s do this.” Berst raised the gun, not at Sarah but at Sammy. The man couldn’t even react when the loud crack of the gun went off, causing his head to jerk back and spray blood and pieces of bone. The enforcers holding Sarah and Elais jumped back in surprise, but they too couldn't do anything as Berst quickly trained the gun on them as well and fired off two devastating shots, dropping them both. After that, Berst dropped the gun to his side. “Ah, I really need a weapon of my own.” He glanced down at Sammy, a pool of blood spreading from his head painting the marble red. “It’s a shame Sam had to die. He was my best attendant yet.” Berst shook his head and sighed, obviously disappointed. He turned around and offered a hand to Sarah, who took it and stood up. Now that those two enforcers were gone, she seemed to have regained most of her previous vitality. “I was wondering when you would get here, Doc. It would have ended very badly if you were just a few more seconds late, you know.” Berst looked around, eyes falling on Kain. “Is this really the one?” Sarah walked over to Kain, trying to check his condition. “I’d have him talk to you, but he’s out cold. Tried to overuse a Sin.” Berst shook his head. “Well, that’s what happens. What Sin did he have?” Sarah answered without looking back at Berst. “He used Wrath. My Sin.” Berst’s eyes widened. There were only seven Sinners that turned out to be successful projects. Sarah had been the one cursed with Wrath, meaning that no other Sinner could use that ability. Yet, according to her, this boy had drawn upon it. “This might be the one. Help him back into the ship, the others are waiting there. I’ll carry Elais.” Sarah scooped up Kain and threw him over her shoulder. Just as Berst went over to grab Elais, he heard a girl yell from behind him. “I’m not leaving Kain alone! I’m coming with you!” He turned to see Celina. Now he was surprised. A child of the Houses wanting to throw away a luxurious life to stay with a Sinner? She was not the only one there. There was another girl with red curly hair wearing a faded blue hat, and a rather short black haired girl with a faraway look in her eyes. It was almost as if she did not even register the events around her. “Bring them, Doc. That girl is good at healing and can be used as a bargaining chip if necessary. The other knows a lot about our suspect here. More than she lets on. I would also recommend bringing the other girl as well. I really don’t feel like getting her hanged.” Berst contemplated for a moment, then made up his mind. “Hurry, you three. More enforcers will be here in a short while. I really don’t feel like getting caught today. He grabbed Elais and carried him toward the ship. Berst grimaced. If he really was the one…well, it would be a lot more dangerous from here on out. No more playing the game of double-lives. There was a big change coming, and Berst wondered if he could handle it. No, he concluded. Probably not.

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