Farewell

Lord Kaiser stared at him, surprised, before indulging him in his curiosity.

“Is it not obvious?” Lord Kaiser asked, to which Atsuo shook his head.

“If I had to make an educated guess… you control fate…” he said confidently.

Atsuo laughed.

“If that were the case, we wouldn’t be in this predicament…” he said, “…considering my luck as well, I bet that’s far from the truth…”

“No, that’s definitely a part of it…” Lord Kaiser assured, “though your luck is questionable…”

“Who knows, maybe it’s fate that’s somehow related to misfortune…” Lord Kaiser added, jokingly.

“Whatever…” Atsuo said waving his hand, “what about yours…?”

“Mine isn’t hard” Lord Kaiser said, listlessly.

“You know what it is?” Atsuo asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” Lord Kaiser said, “I instill some kind of inferiority complex in others…”

“That might be pretty accurate…” Atsuo nodded.

“Though I don’t know why that’s limitless potential…” he added, to which Lord Kaiser scowled.

“So far, I could do it to anyone,” Lord Kaiser said irately, “…for all I know, I could do it to… maybe even a Dreig!”

Atsuo scoffed, but a large part of him believed it. The limitless potential just added that much weight to the argument.

“Sleeper, you bastard…” Lord Kaiser started, when Atsuo raised his finger.

“…I only thought of this now, but wouldn’t we be throwing them under the bus if we leave?” Atsuo asked, “…because we’re always seen together and everything…?”

Lord Kaiser sighed, his eyes turned to the window.

“You’re right…” he said seriously, “…they will undoubtably go after them. There’s no other choice. Use your ability again…”

“Mention that they are… ‘unrelated’…” Lord Kaiser added, glancing at him.

“What if they think that they are unrelated to us…” Atsuo said, in an attempt to prevent the friends from having more trouble in the days to come.

“Alright,” Lord Kaiser said, “All we have left is writing the note… Let’s do it after lunch, for now let’s spend whatever time we have left with them.”

Atsuo nodded solemnly and they waited for their friends’ arrival.

The friends entered the room a few seconds later.

With serious expressions on their faces, Lord Kaiser and Atsuo felt uneasy for the discussion that was about to unfold.

“Don’t try to beat around the bush. We overheard…” Rivia said sadly.

“Sleeper, you loud bastard…” Lord Kaiser said, sighing.

“What’s going on Kaiser?” Eskasa asked apprehensively.

Lord Kaiser turned to Atsuo, who looked guiltily at his friends.

“We need to leave Drezore…” he said truthfully, making Atsuo whip around in disbelief.

“It’s related to the incident back in Weingrove and our curse…” he added.

“But why? Don’t–”

“We don’t have a choice…” he said grimly, interrupting Rivia, “sorry…”

Tears started welling up in her eyes.

“But… after all that’s happened…” she sniffled.

“Sorry…” Atsuo tried to apologize.

Them finding out turned out to be more painful than the two thought.

“We… can’t take you with us. Please understand…” Lord Kaiser said.

There was a moment of silence, until Crod spoke up.

“We understand, it’s just… so sudden…” he said, “…we’ll help you get out. When are you leaving?”

The friends all turned, surprised at him deciding for everyone.

“Midnight…” Lord Kaiser answered.

“I see,” Crod replied, “that makes it a lot harder…”

“What do you mean?” Atsuo asked uneasily.

“I practice my ability as I meditate before going to bed,” Crod began, “and every night, I’ve felt the entire academy enveloped in some sort of ‘spell’ or something. There’s also a lot of autonomous dolls throughout the academy. I think they sound an alarm if passed.”

“I’ve heard the only place you are allowed to roam during the night is your cafeteria or dorm…” Eskasa added.

“Still, sixth floor is pretty high…” Lord Kaiser said, “we’ll just let sleeper take care of them and go out of the main entrance.”

Everyone turned to Atsuo, the key to the operations success.

“I’ll try my best…” he said.

With that, the friends ended their conversation, and went around exploring the best routes out of the academy.

What was supposed to be a discussion of the IAP, became a plan on how to escape the academy.

Dejection filled the air as they went down the Drezore hallways together, potentially for the last time.

After that, the friends went for lunch where every bite left a bitter aftertaste.

With none of them in the mood, the last thing they wanted was another incident.

Back at the dorm, Atsuo had another thing on his mind.

Now that there was no need to write a note to their friends, he was thinking about writing one to Kiyo instead.

Her smile alone fixed something in him. He prayed the all-black phenomenon never returns.

When he finished the note, he got up and prepared to go and spend the rest of the time with his friends.

‘Would be funny if she didn’t find the note until morning…’ he thought to himself and left the room.

The friends spent the rest of the time reminiscing their last few days together. It was hard to believe they could become so close in so little time.

They continued talking at dinner, and for a while after, until it was time to go.

Crod used his abilities to check everything around the academy grounds. The only things in Atsuo and Lord Kaiser’s way were the Curfew Maintainers and the spell around the academy that Crod mentioned earlier.

The friends moved to the staircase, looking at their first obstacle.

“What if all of them stopped functioning until sunrise?” Atsuo said, making the puppet stop at the foot of the stairs.

They got to the first floor quickly and wasted no time.

“What if nothing enveloped the academy for five minutes” Atsuo continued and turned to Crod.

Crod closed his eyes, before opening them a few seconds later.

“It’s gone…” he said.

The friends stared at Atsuo, bewildered at his fearsome ability.

Lord Kaiser thought even the IAP would not bind him.

Whatever the case, it was finally time to say their farewells.

Sorrow enveloped the first floor as the friends looked at each other melancholically.

“What if, regardless of what happens, we all meet again once everything is over?” Atsuo said fondly, to which Lord Kaiser glanced up at him, surprised.

“Hearing that from you puts me at ease…” Crod said, with a faint smile, “let’s.”

Rivia cried, and Eskasa was on the verge of tears as they said their goodbyes.

They exchanged hugs, and without further delay, Lord Kaiser and Atsuo disappeared within the dense fog around the academy.