Pyre Academy

Lumina was sat in the jail cell of Pyre Academy, still wearing the glamour of Sebastien. It had been almost a week now, and she was getting bored with waiting for Sebastien's name to clear. She sat up when she heard footsteps approaching. The white metal cell door slid open and Skylar was stood outside.

"You're free to go, Sebastien. I apologize for keeping you in here, but we had to double check" Skylar bowed as she apologised.

Sebastien sat upright, and nodded.

"I get it, thank you" He smiled. Sebastien headed toward the cell door, but Skylar stopped him.

"Do you wish to continue your studies here at Pyre?" Skylar offered. "We have room to take you on, to finish your final year course" She smiled.

"I would be delighted, thank you" Sebastien smiled back.

"Come with me, and we will get you all set up. You will be a final year of course, so you will be in the field a lot of the time." Skylar explained, as the two began leaving the cells.

Little remained of Pyre's original castle, most of it had been modernized, the cells only showed slight signs of what the building used to look like. Skylar guided Sebastien through the school toward the main office. On their way, they passed through the dining hall, where Sebastien spotted Roisin and Dex eating dinner together in the distance. He looked away and followed Skylar.

Later that night, after making his attendance to Pyre Academy official, Sebastien was walking the grounds, he watched the guards patrolling in the distance, armed with Crystech energy weapons. Like so much else in Pyre, they were on the cutting edge of technology.

Sebastien sighed and sat down on a bench overlooking the Volcano below through a great transparent steel window.

"Hey" A girls voice interrupted his thoughts, he turned around to see Roisin stood behind him.

"Oh, hello" Sebastien greeted.

"So... they gave you the all clear?" Roisin asked.

"Yeah" Sebastien sighed.

"I'm sorry we doubted you, we've just had experience in the past, with people not being who they say they are" Roisin apologized.

"Yeah, I heard Ariel pretended to be someone called Victoria?" Sebastien asked.

"Yup, she was originally sent to spy on Wynd or something, I think, but ended up breaking free of the Empire and joining us" Roisin smiled.

"Hmm, do you ever doubt her?" Sebastien asked, looking at Roisin.

"No, she's never given me any reason to do so" Roisin shrugged.

"If someone had lied to me like that, I wouldn't be so trusting" Sebastien replied.

"We've been through so much together, I doubt it's a front" Roisin shrugged, she pulled a chocolate bar out of her pocket and began eating it. Sebastien sighed, is she really meant to be powerful? She seems like a bit of a fool, too trusting, and... a bit strange.

"Why the sigh?" Roisin asked with an eyebrow raised, Sebastien was taken aback.

"Uh... just thinking about stuff" He shrugged.

"Terrana, I guess?" Roisin asked, looking slightly sad.

"Hmm, yeah. I'll never forget what I saw that day... so many lives turned to dust." Sebastien sighed.

"We'll make Lumina pay for what she did, don't worry" Roisin smiled.

Little did Roisin know she was sat right next to Lumina.

"Yeah, maybe" Sebastien smiled, standing up. "I'm gonna go get some sleep now, night Roisin" He said.

"Night" Roisin waved. Sebastien waved back and headed to the dorms.

The next day, Sebastien was sat in class, next to Ariel. The teacher was explaining strategies using Crystalliam. Ariel turned to Sebastien in the middle of the lecture and gave him a burning stare.

"I still don't trust you" She whispered. "You might have Roisin fooled, but not me" She continued.

Sebastien shrugged and looked back at the teacher.

"I'll be watching you very closely" Ariel smiled as she leaned in and whispered to Sebastien.

"Do what you want" Sebastien replied, flatly. Ariel smirked and sat back, resuming her focus on the lesson. Roisin might not be the smartest, but her friends have her back, Lumina thought. This perhaps might not be as easy as she'd first assumed.

After class, Sebastien headed out into the corridor, and made his way to the courtyard. As he walked outside he sat down and closed his eyes. Lumina tried to focus her mind, to quell the anger and hatred in her heart. She needed to keep it together and stick to the plan. Ariel had gotten to her more than she first realized.

"Oi" A male voice called out. Sebastien looked up and saw Dex stood before him. "Sorry about everything" Dex held his hand out for a handshake.

"Don't worry about it" Sebastien smiled and shook Dex's hand, he looked to the side and saw Ashe was with him too, holding a bag of clothes.

"We brought you these... your current get up, well it's not the best" Dex chuckled.

Sebastien looked down, he hadn't thought to get new clothes and was still wearing the same outfit he had been when he came across the group in The Myre.

"Oh, thanks, hadn't had chance to go out and get some stuff yet" Sebastien smiled.

"Think of it as an olive branch" Ashe smiled. Sebastien nodded.

"Thank you both" Sebastien said, standing up. "I'll go and get changed now I think" He smiled, as he stood up and walked away.

As Sebastien headed into his dorm with the clothes, he punched the wall, leaving a hole in the plaster board. Lumina's hatred for mankind grew stronger. How dare they give her stupid gifts, mankind had taken everything away from her. No amount of pointless kindness could ever make up for their crimes.

A small tear fell from Sebastien's eyes as Lumina recalled Academia, her home. She recalled how it burned, how her friends were slaughtered. She would have her revenge.