Alex and Tony entered the bus and sat as far away from each other as possible. The space between them was quite large considering that they were the only ones in the empty bus well, except the driver.
Alex opened his phone and started scrolling through social media, looking for anything of interest to pass the time, but the universe had other plans.
Tony, on the other hand, had three small objects hovering in the air around him. He moved them around, shuffled them, and let them drop before catching them mid-fall.
"Practicing your beast art, are we?" Alex asked because there was nothing of interest on his phone.
"Well, yes. I actually have to practice this as much as possible to strengthen it. Otherwise, I'll stagnate. Being a Tier 1 superhuman isn't an easy feat and to be frank, that's why I don't exactly mind going to Great Eulon City." Tony's response surprised Alex.
Alex looked at Tony in silence, 'He actually seems like a decent person… for now.'
"Why?" Alex's question took Tony by surprise. He turned to the window and looked at the blurred image of people and places zooming past.
"Because I plan to join the one and only Superhuman Academy this fall." He sighed and looked at Alex.
"The system is rigged that way. You can't advance with a beast art unless you join the academy even if you have wealth."
'I never even thought of attending the academy. That could be a good place to make connections and improve my life, but merely going there without a plausible explanation for my beast art is akin to suicide.' Alex looked away.
'Plus, I have that investigation on my neck and if I suddenly have a beast art, it'll raise more eyebrows than it's worth.'
The silence that fell between them was different this time. It wasn't the familiar, hostile quiet of two people who despised each other. It was… thoughtful.
Alex risked a glance at Tony, who was now staring out the window, his usual smugness replaced by a faint, almost weary determination.
This wasn't the Tony he knew.
The Tony he knew was a blunt instrument of privilege, who flaunted his beast art as a final, unassailable argument. He didn't practice; he possessed.
He didn't complain about systems being rigged; he was the beneficiary of them. To hear him speak with such blunt pragmatism, to admit that even his wealth had limits in the face of the Academy's monopoly on power… it was disorienting.
For a fleeting, unsettling moment, Alex saw not a rival, but just another kid trying to claw his way up a different part of the same steep mountain.
He quickly shoved the thought aside. It was a trick. It had to be. Letting his guard down around Tony was how you ended up with a social target on your back but the seed of doubt had been planted, and it left a strange, uncomfortable feeling in its wake.
The thought of practicing his Beast Art occasionally flashed in Alex's head but he knew better than that.
He had brought it with him, but he wasn't going to practice it in front of Tony, and while it wasn't exactly flashy, it would still be risky.
Luckily, before he gave in to the intrusive thought, the bus slowed down considerably. They had reached the airport.
They had reached the airport. Alex and Tony gathered their luggage and headed inside. They got their tickets, with the aid of the bus driver, and boarded their flight while the driver headed back.
"Nice, window seat." Alex celebrated his small victory, "Please, I'd like to see you get easier access to the bathroom." Tony tried to undermine Alex's joy but he knew that Tony was just sad because he got the aisle seat.
The plane took off within minutes and reached the clouds in even less time.
"Man, a two-hour flight." Alex stretched his body; it was his first time entering a plane, and needless to say, he planned to enjoy every second of it.
Tony scrunched up his nose, "Is this your first time in a plane? Oh wait, it probably is." He laughed at his own joke but Alex ignored him.
After shooting a few more jabs at Alex, a few of which the latter retorted, Tony put a cushion around his neck, a neck pillow as Alex has come to know, and fell asleep.
While the flight seemed slow to those who had entered flights, Alex seemed to be enthralled by every little thing.
The plane shook, "Ooh, I've seen that in movies. Turbulence." He smiled deeply.
"Care for some pretzels?" A male flight attendant asked with a cart in hand, "Yes, one for me and my friend." He pointed at Tony.
The attendant smiled before giving the two to Alex, who devoured both of them as soon as the attendant walked away.
"You must have entered countless flights and must be tired of airplane pretzels, but not me, don't worry, I'm enjoying it for both of us." He lightly patted Tony's shoulder.
Alex's initial vigor died down as he got over the excitement of entering a plane. His eyelids became heavy and he fell asleep.
His eyes flew open and he saw himself in a pitch black void filled with nearly nothing.
In the center, there was a two-hundred-meter-tall, near-invisible entity wrapped in red chains. No, it wasn't invisible, its color was similar to the void.
"LET. ME. OUT." Its voice was low and shook the void, "Huh?" Alex asked and the thing moved a bit, turning its head to face Alex and fixing its six purple eyes on him.
"LET ME OUT!!!!" Alex's eyes flew open, his heart trying to punch its way out of his chest. Cold sweat soaked his clothes, but the reason was already gone, the terrifying dream erased from his memory as if it had never been.
"Calm down, I just woke you so you'd see our destination from the air," Tony said, and Alex turned to face him.
Alex blinked rapidly to shake off the phantom fear and looked out the window, "Yeah, thanks."
A massive city was appearing on the horizon. The skyscrapers seemed to be made of bronze as they reflected the light of the setting sun.
"Great Eulon City is… beautiful." Alex sighed. They had arrived.