Inverse System

The two snuck back into the gulf, Chloe drying their clothes off so nobody thinks they left without permission. They were able to sneak in, undetected within the jubilant crowds in the streets of the city, celebrating the news of a new queen. As they escaped the crowd and got back on the campus of the academy, Chloe looked back at the happy masses with a downcast expression, her heart aching as the citizens sung were being tricked by the malicious woman.

"Don't make that face, you're way cuter when you're smiling," Rein semi-jokingly spoke, trying to lighten the mood as the tensions grew, his comment making her blush slightly angirly.

"H-hey! This isn't the time to be saying those things!" She pouted as Rein laughed, also trying to cheer himself up after the blanket of anger that covered him prior.

"There you two are!" They heard a voice from behind them, followed by a series of footsteps.

They turned around, seeing Core and Clyde along with Emria and Saphrilla, all of them with stern expressions on their faces. Especially Core, it was almost like he had been petrified, Rein had never seen him in so much shock.

"I met up with Core and the girls while searching for you… Did you see the news, Rein?" Clyde asked, then noticed Chloe beside him, closing his mouth so as to not reveal more.

"It's okay. Chloe knows about her. My aunt has become the new queen," Rein stated as the group went silent.

"Hold on, you two already knew?" Chloe asked curiously.

"Ahaha, of course I would. She hired my group to attack Lifah. I knew who she was from the start," Core explained, Chloe making sense with his story.

"I see… I still haven't forgiven you for that by the way," she threatened, exuding an aura that Core wasn't expecting as he stayed silent.

"I found out when I was transported with Xenia after the volcano mission. She recognized her when she saw the picture of her and the king, but luckily she did not put two and two together. Though she did ask me about it, I tried my best at lying," Clyde looked somewhat apologetic as he explained his side of the story.

"Hey Rein… We're gonna be alright, right?" Emria emerged from behind the two guys, and asked Rein with a worried look on her face.

Rein rubbed the top of her head with his hand, ruffling her green hair as he smiled softly at her.

"Of course. This hasn't changed anything. I'm not gonna let any harm befall you two," he reassured, reaching over to pat Saphrilla's head.

"We should probably cease our conversation on this matter. Someone's coming," Saphrilla heard footsteps from the distance.

"Hey!! You guys!" They heard Xenia's voice in the distance of the academy field as she ran full speed towards the group, stopping in a cold sweat as she arrived.

"The prince! Chloe, it's the prince!" Xenia gushed, making the group look at her in confusion.

"What's up? Something happen to Sho?" Rein asked.

"No…" She regained her breath. "It's Prince Zane. He's here and he's asking for you, Chloe," she explained as a large stress grew over the group.

They ran frantically, following Xenia as she lead them to the teleporter, seeing a large crowd surrounding a spot outside of the teleporter grotto. As the group approached, they saw Quint being restrained by Reggie and Raxo in the middle of the circle, Reggie holding both his arms back and Raxo pushing him back from the front, trying to calm him down.

On the other side, a drenched green haired man who hadn't dried himself yet. Rein promptly activated System take-over, changing his hair and eye color so that he does not recognize him.

"Hey, you orange mutt! What's gotten into you?!" Raxo scolded as he struggled to free himself, wearing a face of disdain towards the prince.

"I'm sorry, but I can't make an exception this time," the prince sternly said to Quint, making him calm down slightly.

"Make an exception for what?" Chloe intervened, walking into the center of the circle.

"Chloe… I'm sorry, I know I said you'd be allowed to stay… But the situation has changed…" He grabbed her wrist and began dragging her, Rein once again stopping him by grabbing his wrist.

The prince looked over at the man who grabbed his arm, suddenly feeling a pulse run through his head, almost as though he recognized him.

"You…" He uttered.

"Let go of her," he spoke threateningly, trying to get him to let go of her hand.

"Are you… The guy who had that metal on his face? The guy who won the tournament?" He asked.

"Brother, please let go of my hand…" She said, making Zane grit his teeth, then let go regretfully.

"What did father tell you? Why do I have to go back?" She consoled as his distressed face grew in intensity.

"I can't… I can't say anything out in the open. Is there somewhere private we can talk?" He asked, looking around the crowd of citizens observing the scene.

"I think I can provide that for you since you're such a useless prince," a blonde-haired man emerged, perched up atop a house beside them as he looked down on the group.

"Sho?! What the hell are you doing here?! You'd better not get near my sister!" Zane summoned his scythe in a windy explosion as Sho's hair blew upwards, looking at him, unamused.

"You're a bit too late to be saying that. I already took her hand in marriage," 

"What?!" Zane reacted, to which Chloe firmly denied.

"Haha, a light-hearted joke, that's all," he laughed, waving his arm to signal for everyone to follow him.

Zane released a sigh of alleviation, then regretfully followed Sho as the rest of the group, including Chloe, went on ahead. They arrived at Sho's base, a large 3 story home that was about half the height of the dormitory building.