Alpha had always believed silence meant peace. Now, he knew better.
A month had passed since the day Damien vanished with Ramien. Thirty days of unanswered questions.
The academy had moved on—classes resumed, combat sessions continued—but this quiet was unsettling—at least to Alpha.
Ramien was the kind of person who was never silent, wherever he went, and Alpha loved to listen to him joke around. He remembered the first day they arrived at the dorm, Victor had greeted them with a knife shower—his idea of a welcome, Ramien had brushed it off saying "That was close"
Ramien never got angry easily, he was also the one to calm Damien and Victor's pending fight.
Ramien hadn't seemed like himself that day and Damien was never a gentle person, Alpha couldn't stop wondering what that meant for Ramien.
Meanwhile Ace paced the length of the corridor for the fifth time, boots striking stone harder than necessary.
He suddenly stopped and turned to Alpha. "You saw it too right" he said, eyes glued to his boots
"Yeah, Ramien was definitely not doing well" Alpha replied, eyes turned inwards
"No, I'm talking about Victor's speed" Alpha was a bit confused as he looked at Ace but the latter was too focused on his train of thought.
"Teleportation is instant, how can speed match it, I mean we all know Vampires are fast–speed, their forte but still" Ace was extremely agitated and on the verge of pulling his own hair.
He always chose power over anything and saw Damien as a role model, Victor matching Damien kept him on edge all day long. He didn't know when he started holding his breath whenever Victor was around.
"Victor, can I see you for a minute" Alpha asked. Ace felt betrayed as he was just talking to Alpha about Victor but he didn't take it to heart.
"What's up?" Victor asked.
"Nothing much" Alpha said, his fingers drumming on the counter, "I only have a question"
"Which is?" Victor stayed glued to the meal he was preparing.
"If you have a friend who is in need but refuses help, how do you go about it?"
"You're talking about Ram." Alpha was surprised, Victor had already given Ramien a nickname. "I'm not an expert when it comes to friendship but I think the best you can do is support him from the side or try to help without him noticing"
Alpha's eyes were wide open and so were Ace's but they had completely different thoughts.
Alpha thought it a good plan and wondered how Victor's suggestion never crossed his mind.
Meanwhile Ace looked at Victor in astonishment. How could he think like this? He truly was not an expert in friendship.
Like this, the boys ate breakfast and left for their classes.
On their way back to the dorm, all three crossed paths with Reinna.
"I am searching for Ramien and Damien of the Ashen Line" she said, the undisguised authority dripping from her every move.
Ace threw his head to the side in irritation. Alpha's eyes turned inwards like he was meditating—while walking? Victor studied Reinna a bit before saying "They're out on business" then took his gaze elsewhere.
Reinna studied the boys reaction and though felt the urge to threaten them, she remembered that here, royalty meant nothing and each of these three boys could easily overpower her in an actual combat.
Another reason to up her game.
She turned and left in the most graceful way a princess would have been trained and the boys went their way.
On opening the dorm door, the three boys were greeted with the sight of Ramien sprawled against the sofa, arms folded loosely, expression bored– almost lazy.
Alpha froze.
Ace, distracted and mid-step slammed straight into his back. "Dude, watch your st–" He paused as his eyes landed on Ramien who finally noticed them, subconsciously searching for Damien before finding him coming out of the shower, towel draped on his neck.
"Welcome back, how was class?" Ramien asked naturally as if he and his brother had not just disappeared for a whole month without explaining anything to them.
Alpha crossed the room in three strides, dropping beside Ramien "Are you okay, you look thinner and paler and stressed out"
"Straight down to the insults, you think I'm stressed?" Ramien snorted, "you should check out the other guy" He said tilting his head towards the bathroom.
Ace had somehow appeared next to Damien.
He circled him once, slow, sharp-eyed.
"You look like you lost a war to insomnia" he muttered to himself. His hand hovered, then he pressed briefly against Damien's arm "And you've lost mass, whatever you did out there sure did you dirty" he added as he turned to Alpha "right Wolfie?"
Alpha blinked twice clearly unable to tell the difference between Damien's before and after except for the fact that he looked sleep deprived.
Damien shrugged, as he tightened the towel around his neck and headed for his drawer.
Meanwhile Victor had slipped past them without a word.
From the kitchen, a chair scraped back.
Victor claimed his usual spot against the counter, arms folded, eyes half-lidded as he watched the chaos unfold like a spectator sport.
"Damn," Ramien sighed, stretching. "I forgot how noisy you all are."
He glanced toward the kitchen. "Hey, Vic. What are we eating tonight?"
Victor didn't look up.
"Possibly the blood offerings of the Nemor god of war."
Ace spun. "What?"
"I knew I should've taken the third floor," Ace groaned.
"That doesn't sound healthy," Alpha said sharply, shooting Victor a look.
Ramien stared. "…The blood offerings of what god?"
Victor smirked. "Relax. I'm joking."
"You always say that after," Ace snapped. "Why can't you just cook normal food?"
"Define normal."
"Food humans eat!" Ace threw his hands up. "Aren't we one?"
An emotionless voice sounded.
"I wouldn't call myself human," Damien said quietly.
Victor finally glanced over. "Neither would I."
Ace looked around the room—dragon, dragon, vampire, wolf—and sighed.
"…Damn."
Morning arrived without ceremony.
The academy bell rang. Students flooded the corridors. Combat classes resumed. Laughter, arguments, clashing weapons—everything fit neatly back into place, as if two people hadn't vanished from the rhythm of Blackspire a month before.
No one noticed the empty seats.
No one questioned why the Ashen twins weren't present for roll call.
No one—except two.
Reinna paused mid-step outside the combat grounds, her gaze sweeping the training arena with sharp precision. Damien wasn't there. Neither was Ramien.
Her fingers curled slowly at her side.
It had been a month since both twins disappeared and knowing their dorm mates, her status could get nothing out of them.
Though she practiced with other students, they all were very restrained.
Across the courtyard, perched lazily atop the stone railing near the observation tower, Derian watched the same empty spaces with those unreadable, dreamlike eyes.
He hadn't moved since morning.
The breeze tugged at his robes, violet strands of hair shifting as his gaze followed the arena—then drifted, deliberately, to the dorm wing.
"So," someone said behind him, a student leaning against the rail. "You're not fighting today?"
Derian didn't look back.
"No."
"You sick or something?"
A pause.
"Some absence are louder than presence" Derian said softly.
"Huh?"
Derian finally turned, eyes half-lidded, distant. "The academy is loud today," he continued, almost to himself. "But something important is missing."
The student laughed awkwardly. "Man, you're weird."
Derian smiled faintly and looked away again.
Then suddenly, he saw a familiar silhouette, he shifted, then refocused his eyes.
His half-lidded gaze sharpened instantly— relief flashing, then resolve.
Without warning or explanation, he dashed away from the railing arriving at the arena just as two familiar figures came atop it.
Somehow, the noise quietened, all eyes followed Damien's every move and tension felt solid in the air.
"Don't know why, but I feel like I haven't felt our block president's aura in a long time"
The students were only just beginning to notice that these two might have been missing for some time.
Damien barely had anytime to observe the arena when a blur of purple light sped right towards him. Clashing head-on with scales against speed, he smiled "it feels good to be back"
Damien and Derian took their fight to the center of the arena being the sole focus of the students.
At the other side, Reinna asked Ramien to a duel as well. Unlike before, Ramien felt completely confident and like this, the two fights became the center of attention to all dragon students.