Five years before that ruined battlefield, before the Stages began, and before the world fell...
"Huh… isn't that him?" a girl whispered, leaning a little closer to her friend as the wind rolled across the cruise ship's deck.
"That's the boy from 10D. People say he follows their class leader everywhere like a dog. I think there was a rumor that they had some sort of unique connection from the past?"
Her friend nodded, eyes narrowing with interest. "Yeah... that's him. But forget the nickname… how did their class even overturn Sophomore Class 10A during the Island Exam? That should have been impossible. 10D, no. Actually... not a single D class in any year has ever beaten the others."
"I still can't believe it," the girl muttered softly. "There's no way a class like theirs climbed to the top of the exam without something strange happening."
While they whispered, the boy they were talking about walked past them.
He moved at a steady pace, not quite close enough to seem intentional, but near enough that the wind he carried brushed their hair aside, and their whispers definitely reached his ears too.
His school uniform swayed lightly with each step, and his short dark hair, cut just low enough to touch his eyebrows, drifted as if the breeze moved for him rather than the other way around.
The boy was not tall, just average, no.
Maybe you could say he was slightly short compared to the genetically gifted guys around him at this prestigious school.
Five feet ten, still holding the youthful softness of someone who had not grown fully into his features yet.
Though one thing could be said. Handsome. Handsome with a childish charm he had not outgrown.
Ahh, but there was also something else... an unfamiliarity hidden beneath the supposed gentleness.
His eyes.
A unique set of eyes to die for.
Silver… not gray. A very bright, and very rare tint that reflected light almost unnaturally, like moonlight caught in a body of water.
The boy's eyes looked calm at first glance, but if anyone stared too long, an unsettling emptiness lingered behind them.
They felt uncanny with no purpose or emotion. Utterly hopeless in affection and desire.
A cold gaze, something far too unordinary to have been on the face of any sixteen-year-old academy student.
Not only did his eyes create a unique emptiness, the posture of his smile did so too.
Carrying a faint smile the entire time, a simple and quiet expression that moved gently with his steps always remained on his face, never shifting no matter who he passed.
All the students that stood before him stepped aside as if he was a member of the royal family.
Everything about him felt like something that did not exist but did so anyways.
You see, he simply moved with a very silent presence that made space appear for him without effort.
And just like that, he passed the two girls without ever noticing their stares.
This was the boy everyone called the dog of Class 10D.
Iskael was his name.
Yet nothing about him looked like someone who belonged at anyone's feet.
"Iska."
A soft voice called from behind him, carried lightly by the ocean wind.
He slowed and turned his head.
A girl walked toward him from the center of the deck. The sound of her shoes almost completely drowned out by the ship's engines and the chatter of students.
Still, his gaze found her immediately.
Her hair stood out first.
A very pale white-blonde, almost silver at the tips, tied into a loose half-up style that let the rest fall down her back.
When the sunlight hit it, it caught a faint glow, like frost reflecting morning light.
A few strands had escaped and danced across her cheeks with the breeze, softening her whole appearance.
Her uniform was nearly the same as everyone else's, yet somehow it looked like it belonged to her alone.
Blazer buttoned properly, with a unique colored tie straight matching her beautiful eyes, skirt falling cleanly to regulation length.
Nothing was excessive, and nothing was messy; the neatness suited her in a perfect way.
Her eyes were a bright crimson red.
At a glance they seemed gentle, almost soft, but anyone who truly met her gaze would feel the truth beneath that warmth.
There was a quiet sharpness hidden there, something that weighed people without their consent, peeling them back layer by layer.
Her beauty knew no equal, and her presence had no mercy, leaving nowhere for hearts, lies, or weakness to hide.
Heads turned as she passed.
"Huh… that's Serene." They whispered.
"Serene Weiss from 10D, right? Their precious little class leader." Another responded.
"Yeah. Did you hear her family only let her come here if she started in D class? Like, who even does that?"
"Wait, seriously? So she's been pretending to be all humble while already way above us?"
"Pretty much. She probably only carried them because she's already way past D-level. It's not like 10D actually won on their own."
"Yeah, for real. Take her out of that class and they would've been just another bottom tier joke."
Serene ignored the stares, and superficial gossiping.
When Serene walked she gave a natural pressure of confidence, of someone high-class.
She stopped beside Iskael at the railing, close enough that their shoulders almost touched, but not quite.
The sea stretched endlessly before them, glittering under the afternoon sun.
"You disappeared again," Serene said, her tone light, as if she was just stating a fact.
"There were too many people," Iskael answered. "I wanted quiet for a bit."
"Too many people," she repeated slowly. "On a school cruise packed with three hundred students and a prestige exam attached to it. Who would have thought."
He let out a small sound that was not quite a laugh.
Serene tilted her head, studying his profile for a moment. The wind pushed a few strands of her pale hair against his shoulder.
"Do you know," she said casually, "everyone in the second-year forum is talking about you?"
"About me?"
"About Class 10D," she corrected, then paused. "But you and I both know what that actually means."
He did not respond.
She smiled slightly, her eyes drifting toward the deep blue water below.
"Do you understand how ridiculous this result is?" she continued.
"D classes barely avoid being crushed every exam, yet this time we not only passed, we overturned Class 10C, Class 10B, and then Class 10A… in one go."
Her fingers tapped the railing lightly, as if she needed something solid to ground the words.
"Everyone started the Island Exam thinking they would use us as stepping stones," she said quietly.
"Then at the end, all those A and B class geniuses had to watch their scores drop while ours climbed."
"Mwhahaha"
A silly evil laugh erupted from her mouth that held a devilish smile and her arms spread apart. She was always the expressive one between the two.
A slight chuckle left Iskael's mouth.
He listened quietly beside her. Admiring her flower like beauty as the winds brushed past his hair, and danced with her playful hair.
His expression remained unmoved despite all the expressions she made.
Serene turned to look him in his hollow eyes.
"It was your plan," she spoke out. "You did amazing."
"Everyone moved. It is not all because of me," he replied. He paused, then added, "Even the worst of our class tried."
"Well, they only moved because you told them where to stand," she answered.
"Don't you see, Iska? It was your strategies that let us win. You helped me complete one of my goals. You helped me clear the restriction my family put on me so I could stay here."
She placed a hand over her chest, as if holding something in place.
A small, warm smile rose to her lips, and a faint blush crept onto her cheeks, maybe from the cold wind.
At least, that is what he told himself it was.
That warmth she felt did not stop there. It spread out quietly from her words, trying to seep into the empty space around him too.
Iskael felt it. As if something was slowly invading the quiet world he had made for himself. He took half a step back on instinct and replied with a quick, almost clumsy acceptance.
"Yeah. I guess… you are welcome."
"Thank you," she said. The gratitude in her voice was soft and very gentle.
His mind wandered back to the exam. In all of its chaos.
"It was interesting," he admitted.
"I just wanted to see something different for once I guess."
Serene's smile grew a little wider at that.
He actually smiled back, the corner of his lips lifting in a way that felt almost unfamiliar on his own face.
"I also wanted to see you smile," he whispered.
Her eyes widened and her ears flushed red in an instant.
"You cannot say stuff like that!"
she protested, pouting as she grabbed the railing and leaned forward, pushing her head over the edge to look at the ocean.
"Ahh, the shimmering blue is so beautiful," she said. "Wouldn't it reflect perfectly in your eyes? Iska, Iska, come, look."
She tugged him closer in a childish manner, studying his handsome and alluring face with a kind of quiet fascination, satisfied when the light actually did catch the brilliance of the glowing blue ocean in his silver pupils.
After a moment, she stepped back with a small breath.
"Anyway," she said,
"you do realize I have been trying to drag 10D out of the mud since the first semester, right? No matter how hard I pulled, that rope never moved. Then you came along and instead of pulling… you just dug up the entire ground." She remarked sarcastically.
He glanced at her.
"Are you complaining?"
"Not at all," she replied. "I am very grateful."
She said it simply, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And for a second, with the wind, the sea, and that very honest smile, it almost felt like it was.
Silence settled between them for a moment, but it was a comfortable one.
The distant noise of the other students filled the air, mixed with the AI's gentle announcements about their current speed, path, and arrival time to the academy's grounds.
Serene's grip on the railing loosened a little as she let the wind hit her face.
"Iska," she said softly, "do you remember how we met?"
He blinked once. "Elementary school."
"More specific," she said. "I want to know if you remember, or if you just know."
His eyes lowered slightly.
"I remember," he said.
Back then, the hallway had felt too long.
He remembered the dirty tile floor, dust collected in the edges, the sharper sounds of footsteps and laughter echoing off the walls.
The boys that cornered him were older. Taller. Everything about them seemed bigger in his memory. One shoved him into the wall hard enough to knock the breath out of his chest.
"Why do you keep staring like that?" one of them had said, grabbing his collar. "You think you are better than us, silver eyes?"
He had not answered.
The world had felt very quiet to him back then too. People made noise, but it rarely reached his chest.
Then the boy's fist dragged back, ready to swing.
Before it landed, a much smaller figure forced itself between them.
She pushed the older kid's arm aside with both hands, which barely moved him, but the surprise was enough to make him pause.
"Serene?" someone in the back had muttered.
"Serene Weiss!" another boy spoke up in shock.
She was shorter than him by a head at the time. White-blonde hair tied messily, beautiful crimson bright red eyes that captured the soul of anyone, and cheeks puffed slightly from running, chest rising and falling with fast, angry breaths.
Her small hand grabbed Iskael's bruised wrist tightly.
"What are you doing?" the older boy frowned. "Move. This has nothing to do with you."
"It does," she said. Her voice shook a little, but the words still came out. "He is mine."
"Yours?" one of them scoffed. "What, like a pet?"
She froze for half a second. Her eyes trembled, and for a moment it looked like she might step back.
Then she swallowed once.
"Yes," she said. "Like a dog."
The group laughed, of course.
"A dog, she says."
"That is pathetic."
Serene's grip tightened on his wrist.
"If he is my dog," she continued, "then he will never experience something like this again right? So please don't touch him anymore."
Her voice cracked at the end, but the words still landed.
The older boys exchanged looks. Maybe they thought it was ridiculous.
Maybe they were too tired to bother anymore.
Or maybe they simply did not want trouble with a promising honors track girl whose family background was clearly not something to touch carelessly.
In the end, they settled for a few more half-hearted insults and some laughter before turning away and disappearing around the corner.
Only then did Serene release his wrist. Her fingers slipped away slowly, and he noticed they were still trembling.
"Can you stand?" she asked.
He stared at her for a moment, expression blank, then gave a small, stiff nod.
This time, she grabbed his hand instead. Her palm was warm and slightly sweaty, her grip firm in a way that did not match how small she was.
"Come on," she said. "No one will bother you again. Just follow me."
Back then, walking behind her, staring at the back of her small frame as she dragged him stubbornly down the hallway, he had only been able to form two clear thoughts.
The first was a confused question.
'I am a dog…?'
The second was a quiet truth that sank deep into him.
'So warm.'
That simple warmth seeped through every bruise on his body, permeating into something much deeper than skin just from those tiny hands holding his.
The memory loosened.
On the cruise, in the present, Serene watched his face quietly.
"So you do remember," she said.
"You nearly cried," Iskael replied in a teasing manner, smiling lightly.
"I did not," she shot back immediately.
"You did," he insisted. "Your voice shook a lot."
She puffed her cheeks very slightly before looking away, leaning more against the railing.
"I was a child," she muttered. "I thought I was being cool."
"You were," he said. "Very cool."
Her ears turned a faint red.
"You cannot just say things like that so seriously," she said. "People will misunderstand."
"There is no one listening," he replied.
Her gaze softened.
For a brief second, the air between them felt strangely still, as if the rest of the deck and all the noise had blurred into the background.
"Still," she said quietly, "thank you, Iska."
"For what?"
"For everything," she answered.
"For using that strange brain of yours to drag our class up with us. For letting me be a proper class leader. For making it feel like we are not just the garbage floor of the school."
He blinked once.
"Its no problem."
Serene laughed softly.
The wind shifted.
It felt different this time.
Colder. Much colder.
Serene's brows creased slightly. She rubbed her arm with one hand. "Did the temperature change?"
Iskael lifted his eyes toward the horizon, then down at the water. "Yes..."
Some of the other students noticed it too. A few hugged themselves; others zipped up jackets or adjusted their uniforms.
"Why did it get cold so suddenly?"
"Is there a storm?"
But the sky was clear. No new clouds had gathered. The sun still sat where it should be.
Only the air felt wrong.
And the water.
The ocean below had lost a bit of its color. The deep blue turned into something slightly paler, a strange dull sheen forming on its surface.
Serene followed his gaze. "That… is not normal."
Before Iskael could answer, a shadow moved under the water.
Huge, far larger than the cruise ship they boarded on, the size of half a town.
It passed directly beneath the ship, deep enough that its edges blurred, but long enough that it took several seconds to traverse the length of the hull.
The ship trembled lightly.
A low groan rolled through the metal beneath their feet, followed by the faint sound of something cracking far below the surface.
A few students laughed it off as turbulence. Others tightened their grip on the railing without knowing why.
Iskael's fingers curled just a little harder around the cold metal.
For the first time that day, the warmth of Serene's presence faded from his mind, replaced by a single, very quiet thought.
Something down there had noticed them.
And it was not going to leave.