"You look bright and bubbly today..."

Nova complimented

"I could say the same for you."

Morgaine replied, but looking at Nova, who had a blank, listless, almost lifeless stare.

"I take that back. You look... Nova."

She sighed, but then her face lit up.

"Hey, I’ve got something in mind for the day."

"Really? And what’s that?"

Nova said, forcing a smile of interest.

"There’s a meet-up for students to discuss the projects. I heard there’ll even be third years around to help."

"I’m sure it’ll be fun."

Morgaine spoke excitedly, but her expression fell when she looked at Nova.

The girl’s face was scrunched up with displeasure.

"Stop overthinking it, Nova. It’ll turn out just fine... I swear it."

She said, grabbing her shoulder and nudging her forward, but then Nova’s image flashed, appearing to the side and out of her hold.

"I’m sorry, Morgaine, but..."

She said, pausing and bringing out a book from her bag.

"I’ve got a book I plan to read for the day. What do you say, next time, hmm?"

She said, and Morgaine didn’t press.

Instead, she stepped forward, hugging her tightly in her embrace.

"You’ll get through this, Nova. Just... don’t give up."

She whispered.

"Please... stop being so melodramatic."

She said, rolling her eyes as Morgaine parted the hug, holding her tightly on her shoulders.

Her pink eyes cast piercing rays of light into her blue star-like eyes.

"I’m serious."

She said, and for a second, Nova’s expression cracked, and she turned her back quickly, leaving.

"Pick me up... same place... will you?"

She said, pausing and turning her head slightly to her.

"You bet!"

Morgaine said, watching her smile softly before she resumed her walk.

Morgaine remained, watching her disappear into the distance.

The more she walked into the distance, the more her smile faded.

DRIIING!

Her runic watch reverberated, and she turned to it, swiping on the screen.

"What’s up, gem girl? Still coming for the meet?"

The feminine voice echoed from the other side.

"Actually... I changed my mind. I’ll pass."

Morgaine replied

"What!? But hey, you said..."

She tapped on the runic watch, severing the connection before turning away, taking a random path, and disappearing into the distance.

---

A vast stretch of green grassland rested upon the high hill, spreading wide beneath the open sky.

Gentle winds moved through the field in quiet waves, causing the grass to sway softly from end to end.

The air was cool and clean, carrying the fading breath of winter.

Near the edge of the hill stood a lone reading seat, placed where one could overlook the descending lands below, and on it sat a white-haired figure, a book on her lap, quietly swiping the pages.

To the side rested a broad stone platform, and across the ground, bits of snow remained scattered between the blades of grass, thin patches yet to melt away, revealing snow had fallen quite recently.

Above it all, the wind continued to blow gently, and the hill stood in peaceful stillness, disrupted only by the symphony of book pages shuffling.

Nova remained, moving from page to page of the book that managed to hold her interest.

But as ever, she swiped once again, and this time there were no pages, just the hardcover of the book, shutting to a close.

She had finished reading it.

A disappointed sigh escaped her lips as she raised her head.

Only now did she notice that it had begun to snow.

She, however, ignored it, drawing her knees up and resting on them.

The snow continued to fall in the background, to a point where the entire grassland was being completely covered by snow, but Nova remained oblivious to it all.

She was too deep in thought and only snapped back to reality when the edges of her toes froze up.

She looked down, noticing the snow had piled up, and rose to the height of her seat.

But it was weird as there was no snow on her at all, and neither on the chair she sat on, even though the world had since been painted in a color of white.

Unconsciously, she turned her head up expecting to see Wings having used itself to act as an umbrella.

And truly, she saw wings.

It made her exhale, turning, bringing her knees closer and away from the snow, but all of a sudden, she froze, as her mind replayed what she had just seen.

She had seen wings, no doubt, but why was there a bit of dark beneath the snow that covered them?

Wings wasn’t in a dark color; she was blue.

She snapped her gaze back up, and this time she saw it.

It wasn’t her wings that were covering her.

Tracing the dark wings, her gaze followed to the side, and she saw it.

There on the broad stone platform near her seat sat a figure, whose back was to her.

A large pitch-black wing extended from his back, quietly covering up the sky where she sat and stopping the snow from reaching her.

As for himself, though he didn’t cover himself with a second wing, the snow glided away inches from him as if there was an invisible barrier surrounding him.

Nova’s shocked expression lasted only a moment before settling back into its usual listless stare.

She rose to her feet, stepping away from the protective cover of the dark wings.

"Thanks..."

She said curtly before stepping away, walking away for a couple of meters, expecting whoever it was to call her and try to talk to her.

It wasn’t the first time those boys were doing it, seemingly trying to help her, though their deeper intent was to ask her out on a date.

But even after walking twenty meters away, she heard no sound of footsteps at all.

She paused, then turned back.

There he was, still sitting with his back turned, the dark wings outstretched still.

"Wait... is there someone else with wings in the academy?"

She mused to herself, not finding any image come to mind.

And in the end, it forced her to take steps forward and call out to him.

"Hello."

Finally, the figure stirred, and what Nova saw made her heart sink into her chest from fear.