Room 143
Nyxander stared at the door tag hanging on a nail, dangling about at the the top of the door. He swallowed a bit before he slowly twisted the doorknob.
His eyes gently scanned the dark room as the door went ajar. It wasn't long before he noticed a pair of white eyes staring at him on the ground.
Out of fear, he skipped back from the unidentified person sitting on the floor.
"You're tall," a voice came out from the person on the floor but it seemed as though the words were said without the lips divulging.
Nyx turned on the light after finding the switch on the wall. The light blinded him for a few seconds before he gained vision after.
As he opened his eyes, he caught sight of a short girl with wine red hair, white clear eyes and a very dark but radiant skin. The collar around her neck was the next thing he noticed, after realising how beautiful she looked.
He thought of her as very pretty right away, just by staring at her for the first time.
"Well, you look privileged too," the girl said but her lips didn't move.
Nyxander could only hear the sound come from her.
"It's your collar," he realised. "You speak through your collar?"
"I'm mute, and I don't even fucking sound like this. At least I don't think I would. Atlas gave me this shit on my neck. It's some cutting-edge technology that somehow works, like it's fucking crazy. Now I can speak whenever I want," the girl displayed her white teeth.
"Right..."
"Well, I guess you're the last roommate. I'm Vhrenine."
"Last roommate?" Nyx closed the door behind him.
"Yeah, he was just here."
Vhrenine sat down on the bed that appeared the biggest in the room.
The room was a bit larger than Nyx expected it to be. The walls weren't white like the place he woke up that morning, but were a pale shade of grey. The floor was clean and off-white in colour. There was only one large window, which was adjacent to the door. The beds were placed to the corners of the room—two of which had their heads facing the wall where the window was.
The last bed was on the left hand side of the room and could only be seen after closing the door and completely coming into the room. More so, this was the only bed was unoccupied.
Nyx sat on this particular bed and looked at Vhrenine. She appeared to be smiling, like she was happy about something only her knew about. She glanced at him again.
"Beige eyes?" She said. "That's actually rare. Most Nexuses have a more neon colour for a pair of eyes."
"I could say the same for you. I don't see your pupils," Nyx adjusted himself on the bed.
"You'd have to come closer for that."
The room got quiet for a bit.
"Why are you here anyway?" Vhrenine asked, shifting to the edge of her bed to face Nyxander.
"Uhm..." Nyx hesitated. "Fate."
" 'Fate'?" Vhrenine smiled again. Nyx could feel his heart literally beat whenever she smiled. It was weird because he had just met her. Perhaps the fact that a girl as pretty as she was was his roommate.
Usually, he didn't relate a lot with females. Petal was indeed the only female he'd known over a long period of time. Frieda was another, but Vhrenine had something the rest didn't when it came to appearance.
Was it her messy, curly hair? Or was it her dark skin contrasting with her pure eyes? Or was it the bright pink lips that spoke no words?
"Fucking hell! That was a good one!" Vhrenine laughed out loud, her real voice breaking in and out of audible and inaudible. It was the only time he'd heard her actual voice away from the collar that aided her speech. Her laughter sounded distorted but he could make out that her voice would've been a husky and whispering one if she had her speech.
"That's funny to you?" Nyx frowned a bit.
"I mean, you're like 6'1 and I don't know... You looked like you'd believe in power or something shit like that," she replied still smiling.
"I'm not that tall, y'know."
"I'm fucking 5'5, so yeah you're like a giant beside me." She got up and paced a bit. "What about this fate?"
"It's nothing special. I just believe this is what I'm meant to do."
"There's no need to lie," Vhrenine's white pupils locked onto Nyx's hair and then to his eyes.
"Lie...?"
"I can sense you're not telling me the truth y'know. But it's fine. It's smart of you not to. You're not supposed to trust anyone around here, even me. Who knows who your opponent could be in the exams?
"However, I'll tell you the reason why I want to take this exam because I want the world to know.
"I want justice."
Nyx stared at her. Her smile had disappeared and she wore a serious look now. "Justice?" He asked wanting to know more.
"From where I come from, Nexuses aren't the same to one another. Asides the racism from humans, Nexuses hate each other because of tribalism. Have you seen my skin? Some Nexuses hate me for it. And because of that, we're treated like nothing. We aren't even given to chances to become what we want, eat good food, have medication and live a normal happy life, even among our own kind!
"When I become a legionnaire, I'm going to change that. I want to punish those who do evil and give those who can't, a chance."
Nyx gazed in awe at her conviction.
"But... As a legionnaire, aren't you just binded to hunt down monsters?" Nyx asked.
"Silly, who do you think abolished slavery? Gordos Vileham of the year 4096 A. E (After Eleanor). He was a legionnaire from the state of Gasver in this very nation of Livante. He was able to do that because of the power that comes with being a legionnaire," Vhrenine recited. "This is 6100 A. E and it has remained the same from back then to now."
"Gee... You know your history alright. I think that's a pretty good reason to become a legionnaire. It just sounded more political than y'know..."
"When you become a legionnaire, you're a sector of this political government. That's just how it is."
Nyx looked down at his palms. He realised that he was at war with not just other Nexuses in this exam but different dreams, ideologies and ambitions, that could be by far stronger than his.
"And you? What's about your fate?" Vhrenine asked again.
Nyx remember the secret Atlas had let them in on:
"The less is known about you the better."
If he told Vhrenine about his drive, she'd realise that he was very weak in strength compared to most candidates.
However, if he didn't tell her, he may miss out on having her as an ally in some way.
He had to make her belief the half truth he was about to say to make her tell him about anything she may know about anyone else, forming a little alliance while keeping himself safe in case she were to be his opponent in the exams.
He had to lie anyway for the reason why he wanted to take the exam was to find out if he had powers.
But if I am simply looking to find my powers, why do I have to lie to her like I'm interested in actually passing the exam? Nyx thought to himself.
Perhaps a part of him did want to pass the exam. He might as well do it well if he wants to do it anyway.
"I believe I can change the way people view me. All my life, I've been the 'nobody', the one most people would expect to come out last. I want to prove them wrong. If I can pass this exam I can change my fate! My life could change forever," he said.
It was the best way he could put it. He didn't let her know about his current state of powerlessness but he didn't let that stop him from expressing the raw emotion he felt.
"You lied."
Vhrenine's collar voice echoed in the room.
Nyx felt goosebumps rush through his entire body. He didn't think she would see right through him like that. He was almost sure that he sounded as convincing as possible.
"What?" He smiled weirdly. "Why would—"
"That's not why you're here, is it?" Vhrenine frowned.
Nyx looked into her eyes and for some reason they weren't as pure white as they seemed before. The white has somewhat dulled.
His response carried weight and whatever he said now defined how Vhrenine would relate with him—friend or foe.
"You're right. It's not," he responded.
Vhrenine smiled again. "I like you."
The two got interrupted as the third roommate walked in. Their attention shifted from each other to the boy standing at the door.
"Were you two about to fucking make out?" The boy squeezed his face.
"What...?!" Nyx flinched at the question.
"No, we were just talking that's all," Vhrenine replied.
The boy nodded and walked up to the two. He stretched out his hand to shake Nyx. "I'm Kaleb, nice to meet you."
"Nyx," Fate Bender replied.
"Rare name, I like it."
"Kaleb here wants to become a legionnaire so he can spread world peace. He could start by ridding the world off scars," Vhrenine added.
"Yup, I'm all about the love," Kaleb nodded.
"Isn't that a believable reason?" Vhrenine squinted her eyes at Nyx.
"Yeah, it is..." Nyx replied slowly.
"The Factions are going to be handed to us tomorrow. Which master would you want to head your faction?" Kaleb walked over to his bed and sat down as he asked.
"Anywhere actually, I don't mind," Vhrenine laid down on her bed. "I just want to get really strong."
"What about you, Nyx?" Kaleb asked.
"Uhm... Ragnar most likely. She's been my favourite legionnaire since I was a kid," Nyx replied.
"Ragnar's pretty cool but I'd love to be under Atlas." Vhrenine and Nyx both looked at him. "He's literally the coolest, having such calm calculated mind and intelligence much better amazing. There's even a rumour that says he never makes mistakes."
"Fuckload of bullshit to me," Vhrenine expressed her dislike for Atlas. "I just really think he's too much."
"How many factions would there be?" Nyx asked out of the blue.
"Usually just five because of how brief the legion likes to keep things," Kaleb answered.
"So the Faction Masters are Ragnar, Atlas... Who are the rest?" Vhrenine said.
"I'm not sure. They change the Faction Masters every year. Last year, it was Gaster, Hilma, Andrel, Atlas and the legendary Velma!"
"Who's that?" Nyx asked, realising he's heard that name before.
"She's an LR legionnaire with crazy and insane powers. Some people say her power is on a stellar level, to the point where people worship her."
"People worship a legionnaire?"
"Yes, it's only because she was responsible for slaying Altaros, a demonic scar that escaped from the Arachnidal abyss all by herself! No one really knows what her powers are but she's legendary alright."
" 'Altaros'...? That name... Isn't that the scar that threatened the nations by summoning a horde of scars that caused the Great Fall?" Nyx said.
His mother had told him stories about it when he was younger because his father died in that battle trying to fight the horde off.
Velma was the goddess mom spoke about in the stories, He thought.
"I really dream of meeting her someday," Kaleb gleefully chuckled.
Vhrenine rolled her eyes at how much he was being a fanboy for Velma. But she could understand. Everyone knew Velma and if anyone could know the stories of Velma any better, it'll be Vhrenine who came from Afden which happened to be Velma's country of origin.
Fate Bender, The Wind from Afden and Kaleb spoke further into the night before going to bed.