Connolly felt troubles brewing since he didn't know anything about this kid, and solving this issue with relative ease was no longer possible if Kaufman and that card were here. To his abysmal feelings, his little master was a troublemaker and had already messed with the wrong kid.

  *William?* Connolly thought, trying to remember if it carried out any marks. *He must be someone new. I don't hear much about others, but days are disappearing, and the Examination is closing. He has that card, so... what the hell is going on? I will need to look into this and discuss it with the Master.*

  That kid was definitely good and left without further troubles, so that was at least something. It was very good because Stark, who was playful and vivid, not stupid if one could say that, and not simple either, would often take anything to any level just because he could. He could be arrogant because his Emblem and Rank 0 have been rising for years, and his accomplishments weren't small.

  Stark chuckled and stretched his head and arms, and the silver light was scattering to hide again. "Oh, it has been a while since I met such an interesting fellow. The last one was Zech, but that guy lost his way in the Academy, and I haven't gotten a chance to meet him again. Shame."

  "Young Master, y-your forehead..." One of the bodyguards said, pointing to a bulging mountain on Stark's forehead.

  Finding it with his fingers, Stark cursed out loud. "That little shiiiit..."

  "Time for lessons..." Connolly remarked, thinking that he should omit this moment to his Master as well.

  It still might not bode well for either of them.

  ***

  Out in the hallway, William quenched his thirst, sipping from his bottle and leaning on the railing. After enjoying this view for a while, no one from that room came outside. Shame. He wouldn't mind fighting it out here. Shoving them over the ceiling would do a lot of interesting things since such straight dead-drops were very rare Outside.

  He almost imagined it. Remembered it...

  "So, there are kids like this in the Federation. Interesting. I guess Mi-Yung was right, and the world of the Walker families has come a long way. I wonder why Outside doesn't know much about them, but maybe that's the point. It's like a bubble. I have no idea what is going on with African tribes or Japanese clans, but they are out there, surviving. Getting to know what's here should be good. I mean, influencing the births of Walkers is a thing, and Walker's rooted bloodline is a thing, too, huh?"

  "I guess these families and Walkers alike want good relations, and they pick good people for that. Outside doesn't need that, or it is intentional. Hm. At least Mi-Yung is nice and... yeah. That is about it. Ellie is there as well, but what else...Ah! Forgot about them, I don't know about them... people, or her." William moaned and finished his bottle in a heartbeat.

  Even though he wasn't in the room for long enough to call it the end of the day, it was better to end it here. It was getting late, so he hoped nothing like today would happen again. It was a bittersweet hope, unlike his crimson Emblem, which was not where it should be in the morning.

  "It is not a big deal, considering my luck. Hell, I even lost three days of my life over something I better forgot. Let's end this on the cultural floor." William assured himself and moved to the lower floors.

  Approaching the staircase took a while, and before that, one of the doors shot open, and a surprising figure strode forward, almost storming onto his face.

  It was Hound, followed by Celeste, who clutched her little beast like a charm. William yelped because it was way too sudden, and he almost fell from the floor. She stopped an inch before him, Hound barking in a surprising tone, and meeting. Then, Celeste almost pushed William behind the railing, pushing his steps, hands, and Hound alike.

  Leaning like that, Celeste was sniffing for luck or lost charms and finally saw this boy after forever. "Heard that?!" she said, almost shouting as she stared into his eyes after days of not seeing each other.

  "What?" William asked after a deep breath.

  He patted Hound, pushed his snorting snout aside, and forced Celeste away one step at a time. She kept pestering him with her gaze as if she was begging for something important or tasty, but she had no words to give it away.

  "Oh... I suppose we haven't seen each other much lately. How have you been?"

  "Heard nothing, eh?" Celeste mumbled, and from behind her, another person walked from that room. It was Ellie, and she walked forward, her neat, soft dress fluttered in moves like her blond hair.

  "William?!" She perked up, almost storming him too, but first, she walked to Celeste. "What was that? Why shout and storm off like that? I was worried something bad had happened."

  "Er... Sorry. Sorry."

  Ellie didn't accept that apology and rather turned to William. He looked the same, though perhaps a little tired, and was wearing a new kind of set. It was brown in color, soft, and great. He had his watch as well, so that was nice.

  "You... are fine, right? I was hella worried."

  William nodded. "Yeah. Maybe I should apologize, but... I never found you two. Maybe it was my bad luck."

  "Luck?!" Celeste perked up, pushing Hound forward as she stepped aside and played with his paws. Ellie grabbed her shoulder, but no matter what, she couldn't move her away.

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  William didn't have to since there was a space for it, so he stepped aside. "I am sorry. Alright?"

  Celeste frowned, mumbling something as she turned and let Ellie go forward by walking back to that room with Hound.

  "Sorry, she was a bit anxious," Ellie argued, sighing.

  "You were, too. I heard Mi-Yung's message."

  "What message?"

  "Er... you... Didn't you leave one?"

  "No. I was just worried and asked about you."

  "Alright. I am fine, as you can see."

  "I do... see," Ellie said, and soon another moment followed. What to say? What to think? She hoped to hug him, but every circumstance and worry stopped that from happening. She wasn't sure what to say after not seeing him for days.

  "Your... birthday..." she whispered.

  "What?" William inquired.

  "Where is your birthday?!" Ellie grasped part of her courage and words alike and shouted like never.

  William winced in surprise, and confusion spread. "Birthday? What is this about? I don't know that."

  Ellie blushed, hit his shoulder, left without saying any other words, and went back to where Celeste was.

  That was it.

  William stood in the hallway, eyed or heard by others, but didn't know about it.

  Wondering why his steps were more than confusing and lighter after meeting that pair came of like not slapping that asshole. It was a real shame.

  He went for a stroll and entered the cultural floor full of magnificent stories. Today, he wanted to read stories by Jules Verne. Ellie recommended him a long time ago, so he expected it to be very good.

  "She should have good taste, considering her curiosity is so wild, and... yeah. I don't know my birthday. Why the hell is that even important? It's not like I can get it from my parents." William assumed as he walked around large and long shelves and found what he was looking for.

  Losing his mind on different pages felt like a true escape, for once.

  A story about the undersea?! A mysterious island. A ship that wasn't in the sea but below it?! It was a rather older and different kind of book than he was used to. Nonetheless, he would get through the letters and pages just fine, unlike with people.

  Expectations were tricky, and he started to enjoy messing with his expectations. He felt it more and more until Stark and meeting those girls left another mark.

  His Emblem had yet to calm down...

  "Damnit..."

  ***

  On the upper floors, in one historical room where Celeste winced on the table, hugging Hound, Ellie ran aside, slammed the table, and murmured something. She felt awkward.

  Thank god they were alone. She found her mind crazy. True, there were improvements over the last few days, yet what was that about William today?! She wasn't prepared and butchered it all!

  She hadn't voiced everything. Just a start. She had other things in her head that she wanted out, but couldn't do it properly.

  "Why?!" Ellie suddenly shouted, looking at Celeste as if she were the cause.

  Celeste winced, Hound howling a little, and Ellie eyed her beside those dark-furred spikes.

  "Mad? Wrong.. I... heard them. This and that. I am sorry, alright?"

  Ellie didn't get her at all. "S-sorry for shouting. I didn't want to do that. We talked about it, right? You were worried."

  "No."

  "Eh?" Ellie frowned. "But you..."

  "Hound was worried." Celeste pushed him forward as if pleading with him was her finest excuse. It was a bad habit for sure, though Hound didn't mind it as he stayed in her hands like a trophy and howled like an utter beast that shuddered Ellie's insides.

  Ellie gave up and settled her pain on a wooden chair, where she leaned far while Celeste was right beside her, offering Hound as a consolation prize for her mistake.

  The voices. They echoed. Argued. They wanted to go out and fight it out like in the wildest pasts and wests.

  Minutes followed when Ellie managed to pat Hound a couple of times, thinking of fear, and only then did Celeste set Hound aside and approach Ellie, who began to feel things. A lot of them.

  She started to cry. It hadn't happened in... a while, yes? Celeste frowned, placing her arm out and seizing one tear. Ellie winced, escaping, but one tear still escaped.

  Celeste licked it with her thumb. "Sour...."

  ***

  Time was relentless, flowing in knowledge, light, and darkness. Every day stayed the same: cycling day and night, and people and Darks doing the same shit over and over again. Days followed great patterns, unlike people who were learning and taking lectures for granted.

  The fifth week passed before William knew it. It was among the fastest weeks so far, and the new morning shone like his fateful cursed enemy.

  Butt-naked and yawning, the sun led William to yet another day. Hopefully, this day will mark something better than last week. He still hadn't gotten things straight with Ellie, though he was now looking for a way rather than escape.

  A while back, Mi-Yung came back from her mission, asking how he had been and telling him things. He said everything was fine, that he wasn't feeling wrong or upset about anything in that chamber. He wasn't upset about her methods, training, or disappearance either, and he was almost fine after three days lost him for sure.

  It was the same struggle every time, with Emblem disappearing and returning. He was long used to that fact, unlike that sun of a...

  "Another day is ahead. How much remains?" William stretched his arms, dressed up, and felt like dreaming, which didn't go hand in hand with sleeping. For now, his Emblem was there, resting where it belonged. There was no need for worries.

  Extending his right arm towards the ceiling, William had performed similar rituals in the past. Clenching his hand in the motion of grabbing a new day, followed by stretches and exercises he learned from Mi-Yung, he was ready.

  "Another, though, a year older day, isn't it? Weird. I didn't think it was a big deal. Years make time, however, and I am not kidding about that. I am fine, but... seventeen? I am seventeen... I am that old? Is it even old? I thought I was fifteen, but nope. Weird."

  Today was his birthday, which Mi-Yung had declared a few days ago after she returned and retrieved the stuff from the Emblem Association. Of course, the first thing she did was give Ellie details about William's aging reports since that whole point turned out to be quite deranged, or maybe not all that shocking.

  Rather than it being a problem, it was Ellie being a problem, while Mi-Yung's concerns about sequences and William's situation remained unchanged. Why? Becuase there were no freaking problems whatsoever—only curiosity that needed more research.

  William was having quiet days after that test, and Mi-Yung wasn't foolish enough to test anything further, allowing him to have more peace. Unexpectedly, he did so literally, without Ellie or Celeste to help him. He spent weeks alone, immersed in books and research, and doing whatever he could just to keep his head above the problems.

  That was no longer fine, similar to the rest of the objections that didn't change for Mi-Yung in the slightest. Sure, Rey assembled his reports, and tests proved themselves, but to Mi-Yung, William remained a broken kid lost outside of reason.

  She, too, made mistakes. Everyone did them from time to time, and she could no longer watch them in this manner.

  William doubted that a special day a year made a difference. He questioned it, and the moment Mi-Yung talked to him about it, Ellie's problem from weeks ago made much more sense. Now, he knew the answer. She wanted to care about him, and he ignored her.

  Mi-Yung brushed it off, saying that those tests told many things and couldn't solve much at all because it wasn't about him. That was a weird thing to say, but not as if he wanted to worry about it.