Alitia: Welcome to Millenia

XXXI: Late Encounter

The first week back at school came and went without much going on. Luce spent much of the week spacing out and thinking about the photo she had taken of the picture her father had told her about. Luckily, not much was happening for her to worry about after her senses came back from being dulled. She let the week pass around her without fighting back.

When Friday came along, everyone else in her dorm room was exhausted. Even Tanith was feeling worn down by the mere idea of being back to school, even if her memory made it hard to struggle with anything academic. Luce found herself stretching out on her bed just after getting back from class. Her mind hadn't left her mother ever since coming back. The idea of being closer than ever to finding her just excited her too much. It was a distraction to her other work, but she wasn't really in the mood to care. Instead, she let herself fantasize, a wide grin on her face as she did so.

"We're going to hang out with Nebula tomorrow," Helena declared after arriving back in the main part of their dorm. Since all the doors to the smaller rooms were opened, everyone heard her. "She reached out to me earlier this week and said she wanted to get together again."

"Nebula... That's the girl you all helped out during the attack on Sacred Heart, right?" Sophia asked.

Helena nodded. "That's right... Sometimes I forget only four of us met her. When Sacred Heart was attacked by the hooded figures before the break, S.M. and Nebula met up and stuck together. When Iris, Luce, and I arrived on the scene, we met her, and she's a pretty sweet girl. I get the feeling she's pretty lonely, which means this is a good chance to reach out, make a new friend, and help her to feel better," she explained.

"I hope she has a good fashion sense. I need to have someone else to talk to about this stuff," Carys remarked, crossing her arms as she flopped onto the couch. "I mean, I love you seven, but I really do want to make friends with someone who knows what they're doing where fashion is concerned."

"I'm sure you'll find a way to get close to her. Her fashion sense is pretty strong, if I can even judge something like that, but I don't think she's as into it as you are. I feel like that's just a Carys thing," Helena told her sister, a small laugh on her lips.

"I'm the one and only," Carys smirked.

"For better or for worse," S.M. murmured, shaking her head. This earned her a frown from Carys, but S.M. only chuckled in response.

"You know, I wonder what happened to Rune while we were on the break. Since there haven't been any attacks, he hasn't had a reason to show up. I know realistically that he's probably fine, but I'm still worried," Iris frowned.

"I wonder if there's any way of luring Rune out to get him to talk to us... I mean, he's helped us out quite a bit, which means we should try and do something for him. I think we should see if we can do something for him, assuming we can ever find him," Helena agreed. "It's the least we could do..."

"Rune is truly a mystery... We should add Rune to the list of things we don't understand alongside Luce's magic, the Possession Master, and where the hell Luce's powers came from. Our list just keeps on getting longer," Sylvia groaned.

"But that's only four things. We can do that by the time the school year ends. If we push hard enough, maybe we'll even have it down by the halfway point when the semester ends," Sophia said optimistically.

"Haven't we been pushing hard enough already? I mean, we've been trying to find out the truth behind all of those things, but nothing has happened. We haven't seen any results. It's so frustrating," Carys groaned. "I really wish the world would throw us a bone. It's like the universe is trying to make us suffer, like it's going out of its way to make us feel like crap."