"Fascinating..." Headmaster Verkel quirked his brow, a sly smile curving the ends of his lips as his eyes twinkled in amusement. Never once he had heard of an irony in his life. "So, you're saying, this letherian girl managed to bring high-level monsters in somewhere part of Enol Forest."

"A kuhra, sir." Then he quickly added, "and other dark beasts."

He dismissed the man's statement with a flick of his wrist. "In a remote area?"

"Yes, sir."

"The casualties are? A house of a middle-aged woman?" He had his fingers under his chin and while the other was holding the files they manage to acquire from the headquarters. "Where was she when this happened? Does she live alone?"

"Our report shows that a burial was made near the house, sir. It seems that the woman died recently. We asked a few villagers nearby and according to them that the last time they saw her was a day ago at the marketplace and no one had made contact with her nor do they know her burial."

"Did you touch the burial?"

"No, sir."

He hummed. "What was the state of house?"

"In shambles, sir. But we investigated further and the house was looks cleaned and recently used. However, we found other items and it shows that the woman might not be living alone. There are two bedrooms in the house and both seems to be frequently used. One is what is presumed to be the woman's bedroom and the other has clothes in sizes smaller, we presume a teenager, sir. But the villagers don't know any child living with her."

"And?"

"We couldn't find the body, sir."

He stood up from his chair with a hum. "Did you touch anything else inside the house?"

"We haven't yet, sir."

"Good. Keep it that way." He smiled and waved the man off.

"But sir! The investigation isn't done yet and the girl—!"

He turned around sharply, facing the officer with a wide smile. His tangerine eyes flashed with excitement as he held the other's eyes. "Is fine," he cuts him off.

The officer knitted his eyebrows and confusion swept his face. "Sir, what are you talking about? The girl may be still alive and she might know what actually happened!"

"I wouldn't worry about the girl." He waved his hands dismissively at him and started walking off, his smile never ceasing. "Call off the search. We've got bigger things in our hands."

The officer turned his head to the side, confused. Out of all the higher-ups, he was the weirdest one out of the bunch but if there was one thing that made him shut up and do as he was told was this man means business. No one should stand in his way they said, or else...that is one sure thing he could recall as he eyed the man's back, who was whistling a happy tune, as they made their way in the white halls.

~~

Blinding lights and the white ceiling were what first greeted Adeleine as soon as she managed to wake herself from unconsciousness.

Her head throbbed as she rose to a sitting position and pinch the bridge of her nose to ease the pain. She turned her head side-to-side in utter confusion at the unfamiliar environment. White walls, white floor, all white.

'Good. You're awake.' Moon breathed out a sigh of relief. It was followed after a sharp ringing in her ear that made Adeleine wince.

The bed supporting her was elevated just below her hips and connected by the wall that acts as its only support. The sheets were white as well as the blanket. If there was one thing that caught her interest was the wall in front of her.

Without bearing much thought, she walked over to it and lifted her hand as the tips of her fingers touched the smooth texture of the clear glass.

"It's thick," she thought. About a size-of-her-fist thick.

'You were really knock-out cold a while ago. I couldn't even see you in the dream circle.'

"Huh? Really?" she asked absentmindedly.

The other side of the room was white, as in plain white as far as the eye can see, no furniture, no decorations, no chairs, only the walls, ceiling, floor that are painted white. If it weren't for the visible shadows lining the corners of the room, she would have thought she was in a never-ending void of blankness. It was just like their dream circle.

She shook her head trying clear the haziness of her still clouded brain.

"Just where the heck am I?" she muttered.

'I'm not quite sure myself. When you passed out, everything just went suddenly black, like it feels like I passed out as well but still awake.' Moon explained. 'But it was a weird feeling, it just feels...alone.'

"Aw, you missed me that much?" she giggled at her mockingly.

'Shut that arrogant trap of yours. No.'

"Ha." She grinned triumphantly. One by one, flashes of memory resurfaced that had her falling back on the bed in shock and disbelief. "What on Arvistia is going on?" she mumbled as she stared up at the bright ceiling with knitted brows. She shook her head again in utter confusion and again, disbelief. The only thing she could conclude was that she was kidnapped, as it was the only possible following scenario after she blacked-out.

'There's no time for you to feel this way. You need to be alert. Stay focus, fool.' Moon reprimanded.

"Fascinating, indeed."

The new voice had her jolt up her bed and come to an eye-contact with a middle-aged man. His striking bright tangerine eyes stared at her in wonder and fascination. A grin broke his face and his fingers lightly tapped his chin. He wore a plain v-neck t-shirt with a pair of black pants held tight by a red sash tied around his hips.

He looks ordinary, however, the merriment that danced within his eyes unsettled the girl. It wasn't psychotic, nor it holds any ill intentions, but it wasn't genuine either. Whatever it was, she just had a bad feeling.

'It never did look good from the start anyway.'

"Bring her out."

"But sir—!" a person with him exclaimed in protest but paused, fully knowing he had no choice but to comply. The person reluctantly waved his hand with a sigh and two men dressed in a similar attire entered the room and into where the girl was currently locked in.

Just somewhere on the left side wall where it was completely white, was a door, blending in with the color of the wall that she failed to notice, opened. It groaned at the shift of heavy weight and two guards entered as Adeleine's heart wildly pounded against her chest, eyeing both man with a curious but cautious gaze.

They haven't harmed her...yet.

They pulled out capsule from a bottle behind their back and prompted to put it forcibly into her mouth. However, they stopped when the man raised his hand and said, "No need. Bring her out that way."

The person beside him had a terrified expression. "But s-sir!" his voice squeaked. But of course he can't defy him.

Adeleine cocked her head to the side. She thought that he must be powerful or an authoritative person.

Her wandering mind was pulled back to the surface when two large hands grabbed her arms and pulled her upright from the bed. She winced from the heavy pressure on her poor little stick bones.

"Now, gentlemen," he addressed the them with a charming smile, "That is not how you treat a lady."

The two beside her grunted. They released Adeleine immediately much to her relief as she rubbed both of her arms in an attempt to soothe the red marks that appeared on her skin.

The man motioned his head to follow her as he started walking away in an empty white hallway. It wasn't too long before she was being pushed by the two men beside her to someplace, she wasn't quite sure where. Everything from her line of sight was just pure white.

She was able to get around just fine with the help of the three. If it wasn't for them, she would have face-planted against the wall sooner or later if she tried to walk in the halls all on her own.

It was confusing, not to mention bizarre. Like it was meant for unknowing people to be able to not escape, even adding the twist and turns like a labyrinth that made it even harder to navigate.

It all soon ended once they hit to a stop. The man in front of her was waiting for something to happen, and it did. The wall that seemed to be only a wall for Adeleine opened. The bright light of the orange with the green and blue hues of the nature greeted her, bathed in the glory of sunlight.

The aroma of fresh wild grass wafted through her nostrils and a strong breeze rustled the leaves dancing in mid-air. The tranquility eased the agitation brewing inside her like a sweet lullaby. The shadows of the clouds left in its wake glided along the green plain as they were being pushed by the wind and the afternoon sunlight was soft color of orange that sets the whole mood.

The feeling was cut short when they hardly nudge her to keep walking. And so she did.

Two horses trotted near pulling a carriage that only was surrounded by thick metal bars—a prison transport of some sort.

The man turned a one-hundred-and-eighty and smiled at her while placing a hand on the carriage as if showcasing it. "You'll stay here for the mean time until we made it to the academy grounds."

Adeleine eyed the not-so-comfortable looking carriage and internally winced from the fact that it would be a long journey and she has to sit her bottom inside on the hard metal floor until her butt would ache sore. She was pushed again, this time inside the prison bars. The doors creaked and was slammed shut once they secured her inside.

"Ready for transport, sir!" a skinny fellow gave a salute enthusiastically at the man. He looks shorter compared to the towering heights of the two-buffed guards. A cheery lad, freckles dusted his cheeks and his gray eyes shone with bright positivity. It turned dull when it met the girl's blue ones. She registered fear and uneasiness as he turned away, avoiding eye contact.

"As expected." She should better get used to it now, she reminded herself. She could feel Moon's presence inside her mind but the woman chose not to say anything. But it felt comforting knowing she's there somehow.

The man patted the boy on the shoulders. "Good job, lad."

He stiffened at the praise and awkwardly bowed, flustered. "Thank you, sir!"

The man was handed with the reign of third horse that was brought separately and swiftly mounted the saddle like it was practiced a million times. The two guards soon followed his movement, climbing on the driver's seat with the reign of two horses in their holds that was pulling the carriage—cage. And without a second to waste, the vehicle lurched forward.

Adeleine momentarily lost her balance at the sudden movement and face-planted on the floor which she certainly hoped that wasn't dirty. It started to rattle when they started treading on the rocky path that made her curse.

"Great." She muttered with annoyance as the metal creaked. "It's worse than uncomfortable now."

Woods passed by Adeleine's eyes for hours now and she couldn't keep count of how many times the cage suddenly bumping to pebbles on the pathway causing her to hit her head on the bars. She let out a long groan.

She can't really do much in this small space. Her hands were restrained by a thick rope behind her back and all she could do was watch the trees go by or sleep, but with her uncomfortable position right now, it would be difficult. Her bum bounced up and down, hitting the metal floor a couple of times, rattling her bones.

It also had been silent except for the clip-clop of hooves on the dirt as they made their way through. Her lids fluttered close and darkness once again engulfed her. When she opened her eyes, she found herself sprawled on cold ground and surrounded by a white blank of void. Across her was Moon's figure resting in an Indian-seat.

It first unnerved her how much they look so identical, as if twins. Everything down to little features, she even had to check if she this specific mole on her butt cheeks to which Moon smacked the girl with a teary-eyed red face.

"You are finally here." Moon said.

"Is that how you really look? It's like you're my lost twin or something."

Moon raised her brows. "You have been staring at this face for years and yet you still question that."

"It still looks weird, you know!" Adeleine sat up, stretching her limbs. "Besides, do spirits like you even have human forms?"

"I don't know." Moon's purplish eyes stared back at her. Ah right, the only one thing different about them is the eye color. Adeleine remember changing them so it wouldn't look as creepy as if talking to herself in the mirror.

"Jeez, you woke up without remembering a thing. What a great spirit you are," she sarcastically commented, rolling her eyes.

"Enough about that. I want to know what is happening out there." Moon huddled closer and was eager to listen.

"I don't even know where to start." Adeleine let out a sigh. "It's like, it all just happened at once, so fast, these things, I couldn't even keep up."

"Well start with where you are right now."

Adeleine hummed, looking up and stroking her chin, while Moon stared at her with deadpanned eyes, irked. "I'm in a cage transport. Wait let me show you." The exact same object materialized beside them, the same size, the same details, the same thing keeping her locked in. Moon stood up and circled around inspecting it.

"They're taking me somewhere. I heard it was an academy or something, a learning facility. Do you think it's that school? That famous school for people with spirit beasts." Adeleine shot up, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Moon shrugged. "Don't keep your hopes up. You're in a cage after all and you have black hair. Why would they let their enemy inside their base?"

"Jeez, Moon, a girl could dream. You always turn up and crush it every chance you get." She gave her an annoyed look.

"I'm being pragmatic here." Moon countered. "Don't think I didn't notice the numerous times you felt endangered. What was the recent one?"

"Oh I think there's this thing I was supposed to eat I think...but I don't want to." Both her and Moon gave each other glances and she looked away, rubbing both her arms.

It was a couple of hours that pass by, she was in the state of drowsiness with half-lidded eyes, an empty stare, and with body slumped, back leaning on the metal bars. However, her soul leaped when her head hit the hard pole and her eyes shot wide open, her consciousness was dragged back to reality.

At this moment, the vehicle stopped, much to Adeleine's confusion. About a dozen of footstep were tapping on the coarse roadway and in her half-awake state, it took a while for her to make sense of what is currently happening to her surroundings. Her eyes traced up the humongous thick wall towering above them then to the armored guards with swords raised and in a defensive stance, there were archers above the wall as well, pointing their arrows readily at the carriage.

'Are you alright? You suddenly disappeared.' Moon's presence finally came and joined her.

Adeleine didn't reply and instead tried to assess their situation. She turned to the man in the lead, wearing a brown hooded cloak then to the armed men surrounding them.

"State your business." One of them, the head guard, shouted.