Mi-Yung waved to Reaz and picked the easiest, albeit already taken, room. “Good to see you in one piece.”

  Reaz shifted her legs, long curly hair flaring aside, and her fierce eyes glanced at Mi-Yung with a gaze fitting her assignment. She should be equal to this little miss of Korea, but she wasn't. Many thought so, yet she did not.

  “Oh, you look... the same as always, Miss Lower Pillar,” she said forcefully, unwilling to see her as her superior in any way. Neither of them minded such things, since Reaz wasn't weak. Contrary to most expectations, her family and personal strength weren't worse than hers, but one of them was. The ability was not equal, so Reaz was still off from the status of a Lower Pillar, even if her Rank was the same. It showed a different kind of disparity, even if they might fight against one another without winning or losing.

  “If I were different, who would ever mess with you?” Mi-Yung said, snapping her palm to hers, and both ladies hit their greetings with a smile.

  With the greeting done, Mi-Yung reached the room, and so did William. From there, Celeste charged and tossed Hound at William while nibbling on some food. William caught it like a furry ball and struggled for a few moments against those nasty, dark paws. Hound licked his face in a complete, one-sided victory, and barked in surprise as William grimaced, tested his arms, and almost gave up on his legs. It nearly ate his nose.

  “Good... day to you...” William said in half-fright and tossed Hound back to Celeste, who caught him without problems and hugged him like usual, even with Hound's defiance and hope for more tasteful picking.

  “You come. I am glad,” Celeste said to him as if she had doubts from yesterday and days before. Their time was hectic, yet a new kind of time came rather than people or Ellie. She was allowed here, given an opportunity to be a monster hunter, or perhaps even a monster hero? There were names to be given and picked, and then the names that one had to achieve and bring to justice.

  “Of course I come. Nothing stopped me. I waited a long time for this moment, and we are in similar shoes, right?”

  Sizing her shoes, Celeste was unsure how different or close they were in all the meanings that she might've gotten, or mismanaged. His were those weird closed things that didn't last, while hers were wooden and open like slippers with two ropes. She wondered about his words about shoes for way more than necessary and nodded in agreement. Hers were leaps better. No joke.

  Reaz was here instead of Dreadus, who was temporarily away, or out of his duties, because it wasn't his time yet. Celeste was fine with that, while Reaz had no problem with doing him favors or giving Celeste attention and help, because, once more, she felt responsible for her in a different way than her little captain.

  Out of the blue, he decided to accept Yondu's propositions and even the new, youthful schooling that Heidi had started with this Association. While still maintaining the status quo with his former team? It sounded like a lot of shit hitting the fan, but it was true; everyone was fine. The team was small, its people likely to survive this change, since, well, nothing changed, apart from one thing.

  Him.

  And their little conceptual dive into madness and bringing out a treat every big fucker shot in this land couldn't believe in. Reaz was content. Her position broke through a hurdle, and her mood would never waver.

  “Everything good on your part?” Reaz asked Mi-Yung and glanced at William in wonder. She had heard of him and remembered this little guy from the shopping she had done with Celeste, but in truth, she had never interacted with him since. She saw him in the street, where Mi-Yung's time worsened thanks to Kaufman's invasion, but that was about it.

  It was a curious time, yet concurrent with her troubles, in her opinion. She also delved deeper into Mi-Yung's matters, and as expected, gained insight into what Mi-Yung, Gales, or William might be about. Alas, she didn't have to care too much about it since it wasn't her shit to deal with. It was just curious and friendly.

  “Could be worse, but with you here, I guess Dreadus really advanced and will do it, is that right?”

  “He is here, and he will do it. He promised, or so he said, and argued as if he were going on a date or into appropriate, frenzied Rifts. He is kind of silly with this entire thing, but Celeste wants to be here more than anyone, I think.”

  “Not surprising. There are a lot of people. Is he right in the head to go into such a raging sea of Walkers? There are even delegates from the Academy, and I've heard Fain might be around as well.”

  “Fain?” Reaz frowned, not liking where this could go.

  “Well, he isn't alone in this issue. Many people detest dealing with politics or hassling with Walker orgs. The Assembly is going all out on this Awakening, which isn't rare. A lot of things are going on, and I've heard such waves happen once in a few years.”

  Skimming the place, Mi-Yung felt hundreds of young Walkers. Some of them were nervous, others couldn't stop moving or shaking in their corners. Most hid their Emblems; some didn't, which was pleasant to her eyes. This was their life's most important moment.

  “Hm.” Nodding, Mi-Yung felt that events such as these might hide aspects of experience, truths, and deaths. Large numbers of them, for example, might cause it, right? Given Walker's overall limitations, there were never too many of them, so it appeared like a fixed issue.

  “Dreadus cares for Celeste and plans to take her through this whole process. No one will stop him, I think. He asked for it in his reward ceremony, and he will even enter the bunker with her as a charm and deal with the Examination. Almost like you, correct?”

  “Oh...”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Don't tell me you plan to do the same thing?” Reaz said with incredulity in her voice, but upon further gazing, she realized this was much more likely than Dreadus doing whatever he already did. “I mean, you are a Lower Pillar, and this is Gales' issues, and gods know what else is gonna happen with him and Yondu.”

  Mi-Yung nodded again, but Reaz did not know her deal or bets. She was still glad that William was too busy with Celeste and Hound. They began to fight over the food, with Celestely mostly winning. “Right. It is too much for me, but so what? The Assembly approved this matter, and it was the first issue. Not the second...” Mi-Yung paused, thinking that no bets were off the table, but one was still apparent.

  “Did they accept it, or did you force them?”

  “Guess.”

  Reaz moaned and shook her head as she ruffled her hair with her fingers. “You are insane, but... typical. Time will tell how impressive you can really be, so how about a bet?” she offered, whispering the topic of her favorite method that never betrayed her.

  “Bet?” Mi-Yung shuddered just from that word. “What... do you offer?”

  “Oh, you're afraid? How rare. Is it because of Luke and how you managed to heal him so fast? I wonder how it went. I heard some rumors that...”

  Mi-Yung turned her head aside, unwilling to speak or see her face. It seemed Reaz and her contacts were quite rude and great, or the Academy was involved in this shit. It was almost familiar, yet Mi-Yung had many issues to deal with, and some she couldn't even handle herself.

  “Hey! I wanted to offer just a few vials between us.”

  “Not listening. Who needs your filthy vials? They are impure and full of your thoughts. What a bad spirit, truly.”

  Reaz sighed, thinking she might not be in the mood for it. “How about involving kids?”

  Mi-Yung was a step away from refusing. Then, she realized there might be something good hidden behind her words because new generations were never sinful at the start.

  “I am listening.”

  If anything, she had confidence in her boy.

  But then, there was that bloody girl...

  ***

  William had fun talking with Celeste, who chewed on fresh bread. “Are you nervous?”

  “No. Why?” She shook her head and started to play with Hound between the doors to her room, which was all empty and just for her. Reaz called it a courtesy of her family, or something. Not that Celeste cared.

  Anyone close to this waiting room left the moment they saw her and that Hound. For now, it was her private waiting room that she took for a little cave with two cozy sofas and one big table.

  William stood aside the door and glanced into the hallway, where two big ladies talked and seemed to get along rather well, which was unexpected. He guessed wrong, probably, while Celeste was even more surprised.

  “I guess you don't have to worry about my reasons. I am not that nervous, you know.”

  “Why?”

  “Why...” William sighed, figuring that her curiosity was never-ending like the word "why". “How much have you learned about Emblems?”

  “Emblems...” Celeste knitted her brows and put Hound down. She pulled her arm up and let her loose sleeve drop, revealing her glamorous vision of her white-and-black Emblem.

  Quite a while had passed since William last saw it. He never asked her to show it off in the library or anywhere else, because he wasn't thinking about it. It wasn't rude or anything; he believed she would show it off anytime because she was fine with it and of it. Many were not.

  Him?

  “Show yours,” Celeste demanded, pointing at his right arm.

  “Mine?” William watched her innocent, straight eyes and pulled off his right sleeve without thinking.

  “Same hand. Different Localization.” Celeste expertly said what Ellie taught and pushed into her mind over many weeks.

  What she might've gotten more of were quick summaries, but Ellie was adamant and quite forceful with Walker reports and lessons, so she gave Celeste quite a lot of words. It was what mattered to Celeste, unlike with William, who was much better at this, thanks to his own ideas. Mi-Ying and his lack of common knowledge, such as reading and worldly efforts, weren't too bad.

  Ellie spent weeks getting Celeste up to a bare minimum territory where Walker and Emblem topics should be to her level, so Celeste shouldn't be any worse than William. But she might still be, considering what she remembered or could put to use.

  Her temporary position as a teacher gave Ellie excellent access, yet what Celeste got out of it wasn't all in Ellie's hands. Simply put, she hadn't slept all that well for weeks, while Celeste enjoyed every single day to the maximum.

  Celeste moved closer to William and took his hand with her left hand. William stiffened, unwilling to do much, since Walkers were different from normal people, right?

  Ellie did stuff too...

  His Emblem churred and turned in wilder flow, and heat spread within his arm. Nothing else. Nothing came or spoke either, which William appreciated.

  Well, apart from Celeste, who seemed lost in the crimson sea far more than expected. “Red. Like blood.”

  “Yeah. Yours is white, but you do not have white blood.”

  “Black too!” Celeste argued, smiled, and pushed her right arm in front of his head. William measured her forearm and saw a much denser, almost infinite pool of matter. Were there dots, waves, or a constantly flowing little streams of energy? It seemed like water, flowing calmly like a vortex of several lakes. Her moving arms shook it a little bit, but her Emblem wasn't doing much of anything.

  William noticed black spots around the thin, long, shard-like Emblem. The edges, near the arm, were quite black, but not like wounds or bloodied stuff either.

  “You call it black? The majority is white.” William argued.

  Celeste stomped the ground and looked at her and his Emblem respectively. “Ellie said the same thing...”

  “Right? Don't worry. She is usually correct.”

  “Really?” She didn't believe him. “Then why are you so nervous?”

  “It's natural.”

  “No,” she refuted his opinion.

  “Your opinion.” William shrugged her off and glanced down to see Hound sitting beside her legs, gazing at him as if he wanted a treat.

  “Walkers. You want to be one, right?”

  “Wrong. It isn't right. It isn't a choice. I am that. WE are that.”

  “Choice? You... You want what?” she asked, squinting her eyes.

  “Live.”

  For some reason, Celeste liked these answers more than any other. She smiled and hugged his arm.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Showing appreciation. And food? There is more inside. Wanna bite?”

  William felt that dealing with this girl had been quite challenging over the past days and weeks. Perhaps she got it from Ellie, yet it was so different that he couldn't understand where to go or what to say, because it was about a different kind of rudeness or straightness that Ellie had.

  Thankfully, someone else was already here.

  As Reaz and Mi-Yung were setting up their business, a member of the Association arrived. There were three people in total, one bearing a book, and the others some boxes.

  “Who might you be?” the man at the lead said to Reaz and Mi-Yung. “Proxies to those two?”

  Mi-Yung turned to him and saw the man grimace and shake. “Oh, my apologies. I didn't expect to see Miss Song.”

  “No. You do your job, so do it.”

  Feeling awkward, the man did what he could. He approached them, took out a pen, and opened the book.

  Reaz pulled the pair from the door in one swoop and presented them.

  “Names. Affiliation?” the man asked.

  “William Gale,” Mi-Yung said instead of him. Reaz could only scoff at the man and figured Mi-Yung's turn was first.

  “Free, is that right?” the man asked nervously.

  “I am his proxy. Here comes his citizenship.” Mi-Yung gave him a little booklet, and the man took it, shaking his head.

  “So it is true. Lower Pillar and a proxy. Man, someone won't be happy.”

  “Beat it,” Mi-Yung said with a smile.