The whole arena fell silent.
Even the boy was taken aback, his eyes widening slightly.
Everyone wandered around, searching. It was clear the voice left a lasting impression on all of them. They trembled slightly even at the reminder of the tone. For now, everyone wanted to find the source.
Then... a group parted ways like the Red Sea, revealing a girl... a girl whose presence should be studied. She had white hair which shone like the moon in a starry night sky, ice-blue eyes that can stare at one's soul miles away, and a proportion so right, boys can't seem to stop ogling at her anytime she walks past. And she basked in the aura she manifested.
"Who's that girl?", he asked quietly.
"Lila Chudromovich-Hermann," the other boy next to him responded with a chuckle, "The Ice Queen of St. Louis."
"The Ice Queen...," he trailed off silently. He looked on as she glided forward to the two boys, one already having a nosebleed.
"So... what's her deal?", he asked.
"She's the head girl of the school. Rose to the top through hard work, and a beacon of hope and motivation for others, girls especially."
"She's that popular, huh?", he asked, curious.
"Heh. Even worse. She's the Archbishop's niece," he revealed.
"Wait, WHAT?!"
Upon reaching the middle of the makeshift arena, Lila looked at the two boys with a cold gaze, already tired of their gradual antics.
"You two done fighting over me?"
The two boys stiffen in fear, caught red-handed.
"I thought so," she said coldly, "This is a monastery, a school, not a fucking fight club over a girl."
The bigger one dropped Beck instantly, trying to dilute the tense situation, Lila looking at him as if he's her next target for murder.
"Oh, L-L-Lila!," he stammered disgracefully, "I wasn't fighting him over you—shit—over a girl! I was just... teaching him a lesson, that's all!"
Beck chuckled weakly, "Bull... shit.."
The bigger one kicked him on the side, eyes wide and desperate. "Shut up, you turd!"
Lila chuckled coldly. "Even your opponent is against you. Pathetic."
The bigger one cowered under her cold stare, like a wounded puppy, cornered with no way out of this. It's ironic, really. A bigger one, who was first the intimidating one, suddenly reduced to nothing but a little puppy under just one stare from the Ice Queen.
"You know there's a rule that strictly prohibits fighting in the premises. And this isn't the second time I've found you in this situation, in particular."
The bigger boy gulped.
"L-L-Lila, please. Don't do this. It's... it's not like that, I swear!," he pleaded loudly.
"It's always the delinquents," Lila sighed.
His face went pale at that, then twisted into that of rage, then impending fear.
"Lila, please, no—"
"Shut. Take him away. The Archbishop will be pleased to give a delinquent another punishment."
They didn't need to be told thrice. They then carried him away, and Beck, to the infirmary. Lila looked on in the middle as the crowd's boos grew louder. One cold stare from her, and they all fell silent. Even a drop of water could be heard.
"Damn," the boy muttered.
"Damn, indeed. It shocks you, huh? The aura... it's magnificent," the other one said with awe laced in his tone.
"Yeah...," he murmured, 'Yeah, it does.'
He continued looking at Lila, who was talking to two more girls—probably her assistants—about something. Something he couldn't decipher from his side. Even if he tried, he wouldn't go anywhere.
'She does have a knack for always following rules. Although I don't have a care in the world, it still ticks me off,' the second one said.
'Seeing is believing," the boy replied.
They stood there as the rest filed out to their respective places, still chatting about the spectacle that ended badly for the big kid. Internally, the boy laughed. He now had the Fathers to deal with, and looking at Beck's bloodied face from earlier, it would end spectacularly bad.
"So, you're new here?," the boy asked.
The other one shook his head. "Nah. It's been a year. Worst year of my life, though." He then looked at the boy and offered his hand to him.
"I'm Jordan."
He looked at his offered hand before him, and his hand suddenly twitched, as if it wanted to shake it without the mind commanding it to. He had never shaken a person's hand before, let alone receive a fist bump from a passer-by. It was either he was slapped with a face of disgust or ignored entirely.
But, reluctantly, he returned the handshake, although it was firm and stiff, too formal for seventeen year olds like them.
"I'm The Boy With No Name," he replied quietly, "So it'll be Kid from now on, that is until I get my new name after the baptism."
Jordan retracted his hand, looking at Kid.
"Kid... it'll take some time for me to get used to it, though," he said thoughtfully, then decided: "But that will do."
"Sure. Take all the time you want. I won't mind."
They continued to stand there amidst the disappearing crowd until it was left with them alone. Lila, who was still chatting with her subordinates, glanced at them for a moment before attending to the two. That glance alone made Kid's heart skip a beat.
"She's... she's beautiful."
Jordan chuckled. "Wait, already? Just one glance?"
Kid said nothing, but his slight blush gave him away.
"Well, color me impressed, Kid. Now, I just hope you don't end up like the Discarded."
"The Discarded?"
Jordan nodded. "Those who got rejected by Hermann. We made a special name for 'em after we found out the number multiplied five-fold."
Kid chuckled darkly.
"They. Did. Everything," Jordan continued, "Love letters, smuggled chocolates, promise rings, she rejected them all."
Kid winced. "Damn. She's playing with them. Now I gotta know. Did... did they use—"
"Yes," he interjected. "The love letters all had snippets of verses from the Songs Of Solomon."
"F**king called it!"
He laughed softly, the sound seeming to get through him. Sure, he had heard other people laugh, but not him. Something felt... friendly about him.
"Funny, yet pathetic and cringe," Jordan added.
...
After a while;
"You know, you're a very unusual person," Jordan said out of the blue.
"Huh? Why so?," Kid asked, curious.
"One, you don't have a name. Two, you're making me call you Kid. And three, you're acting so calm about it. Like being called a goddamn child as a name doesn't faze you a bit."
Kid shrugged. "Not like anyone gives a shit."
"That's because no one knows you don't know your name besides me, that's for sure," Jordan replied with a smug grin. "Lucky I'm the only one who knows your secret."
"Thank God you're the only one, like I would've strangled you to dea—"
"Shhhh, she's heading this way!"
"H-H-Huh?!"
Lila had had enough of them standing there like idiots and started to walk towards them. Her eyes betrayed nothing as her steps quickened a bit, trying not to waste enough time.
But the moment she reached them, though, it was as if the oxygen around them lessened like someone chugging down beer.
Her eyes landed directly at Kid. His eyes said something very unusual to her, like he has experienced something that no one would want to see. Like he went through hell and back.
Like death had warmed him over.
What he actually experienced, she didn't know, and that haunted her more than anything that ever spooked her in the past.
But, even though his dark aura gripped her, she spoke in an even tone: "You're the new kid. The Boy With No Name."
Kid sputtered in shock. "How did you—?"
"I have eyes and ears within these four walls, kid. I know everything," she interjected.
She then leaned closer, invading his personal space as her eyes narrowed, studying him intently. The lingering dread only increased when she was that his eyes had no spark, they betrayed nothing, no emotion.
"Your face... no sign of face, or liveliness. You look like you'd be anywhere but here," she said quietly.
"Um... thanks for the obvious?," Jordan sneered, "That's how everyone is in here."
She turned to face him. "They should all be grateful they've been given this opportunity. Not anyone chooses to enrol in a monastery."
"See, that's the keyword: choose. No one chose to come here," he rebutted.
"They were given a choice, if you're not aware," she rebutted as well, "And they chose wisely."
The banter continued between the two, leaving Kid, silently in the middle of it all. They were both right, though. Jordan was right about them not liking it here, and Lila was right about them choosing to come here.
But they were both wrong about one thing.
Father Jacob forced them all.
"Okay, okay, you're both right, geez!," Kid shouted, shutting them up instantly. "Can't we just go on with our lives already?!"
They were both stunned at his outburst. Lila, especially, for she never expected someone with a lifeless face to shout like the world is ending.
"Jordan, you're right about them not choosing to come here. And you, Ms. Hermann, you're also right about this being an opportunity. Case. Closed!"
Kid was practically panting, his frustration rolling in waves. And they felt it, too, because they shut up completely.
It was Jordan who broke the silence. "Are we done, Hermann?"
Lila nodded curtly, although her face showed slight signs of shock, and something else.
"Yes. Yes, we're done."
She then turned to face Kid, who had calmed down after they had reluctantly made peace. Amen to that.
"Listen here, Kid," she suddenly regained her composure, "If my uncle is hoping that you'd do well in this monastery, then you have a hefty load of responsibility on your hands."
She raised her hand up, preventing the protest that almost came out of his mouth.
"So... keep yourself steady. I'll be watching you. And we'll see who deserves the Archbishop's attention."
She then left, leaving Kid and Jordan disgruntled. Their eyes followed her retreating figure as she took a corner, then she was out of sight.
"What was that?", Kid asked quietly, confused.
Jordan shook his head. "I... I don't know."
...
Lila found herself at a corner of a building, clutching her chest slightly. Suddenly, even for her, a blush appeared on her face, something she hasn't experienced before. She tried to calm her racing nerves, but the more she recalled Kid's outburst, how he stood up to her to end the argument, the more her heartbeat rate increased. She hated it.
Her voice rang in the air, quiet and scared:
"Traitorous heart."