Unclassified; Zero and Still Standing

The four of them left the stream behind.

Seth walked in front, a few yards ahead, his cracked glasses tucked into his pocket.

Several metres behind him came Heidi, silent as ever.

Mahirah followed.

Apollo trailed furthest back.

For a while, no one spoke.

Mahirah was busy wrestling with her hair.

She had finally gathered the thick curls into what vaguely resembled a ponytail and was trying to secure them with a rubber band.

The curls refused to hold together.

The band stretched.

Then—

Snap.

The rubber band split in two.

"Oh, come on..."

She threw the broken pieces into the bushes and pushed her hair back with both hands.

The Mid-Semester Trials had been nothing like she’d imagined.

The Directives were... odd.

Nothing like their first year.

She had expected proper battles.

Arenas.

Duels.

Opportunities to sharpen herself against worthy opponents.

Not five ridiculous days wandering through a jungle. Constantly forced to cooperate with squad mates.

Teaming up wasn’t her thing.

Fighting was.

Combat refined skills. Combat gave her chances to study Ability techniques. Combat exposed weaknesses.

This?

This was camping with extra violence.

She noticed a loose thread hanging from her jacket.

An idea came to mind.

She pulled it free and used it to tie her hair instead.

The thread tightened.

Then snapped.

Mahirah groaned again.

"I don’t understand what the fuss is about."

Apollo had somehow ended up beside her without her noticing.

She shot him an irritated look.

"Of course you don’t."

Her eyes drifted to his hair. It was untidy. Slightly ruffled.

Yet somehow, It still looked good. Without any effort.

She hated that.

She hated that everything about Apollo looked effortless.

His appearance.

His grades.

His evaluations.

While she practically worked herself to death just to stay ahead.

"I meant your hair." Apollo clarified. "It looks fine as it is."

Mahirah stared, puzzled.

"...Was that a compliment?"

Then her eyes narrowed.

"Or are you trying to mock me?" she added sharply.

Apollo didn’t react.

"Do you naturally scare people away?" he asked. "Or is it genetic?"

Mahirah blinked.

"What?"

"A certain guy from 12-A." Apollo replied. "Henry."

She frowned.

"He requested your house number."

For the first time in a while, Mahirah actually looked surprised.

Then her ears turned slightly red.

"You didn’t give it to him, did you?"

Apollo looked almost offended.

"You know me better than that. I simply told him to speak to you directly."

A brief pause.

"Boy, was he terrified."

Mahirah gave a satisfied scoff.

"He should be."

Apollo glanced at her then faced forward.

"Thanks for standing up for me back there."

She snorted.

"Believe me, standing up for you wasn’t my intention."

Her expression hardened. She folded her arms.

"Camden insulted everything the South stands for."

Her voice carried conviction.

"He insulted the system. I was standing up for my country."

Then she looked at him.

"If only you could do the same."

Apollo didn’t answer.

Mahirah continued regardless.

"I was actually surprised you stepped in." She nodded toward the stream behind them. "Normally, you would’ve let that rock crush us."

The last sentence carried the hint of a joke.

But unfortunately, Mahirah wasn’t particularly good at humour.

Apollo didn’t bother thinking about it. He simply remained quiet.

After a while Mahirah looked ahead.

Her gaze settled on Heidi.

"I was also surprised when Nyreth volunteered to spy on 11-D."

Apollo followed her gaze.

"Meaning?"

"She’s never interested in anything." Mahirah explained. "She’s annoyingly quiet. Withdrawn. Hates attention as well."

Mahirah became more intrigued.

"And she’s constantly suppressing her presence with her Ability despite how exhausting that must be."

She frowned thoughtfully.

"Yet, she had stepped forward on her own accord. Doesn’t that seem a bit strange? I mean, she’s never given any significant help since Trials began. So what’s the sudden interest in 11-D?"

Apollo looked at Heidi for another moment before glancing at Mahirah.

"You seem to know quite a lot about everyone." He remarked.

Mahirah was quick to react.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you’re usually only interested in people you’re preparing to defeat."

Mahirah smirked.

"At least I’m interested in people." She glanced sideways. "You don’t seem interested in anyone."

Apollo looked at her.

"I am speaking with you. Am I not?"

Mahirah scoffed.

"Whatever."

Apollo suddenly stopped walking.

Mahirah stopped too.

"What?" She asked.

"I left something behind."

She sighed. "Forget it. We don’t have time."

Apollo turned around anyway.

Without another word, he headed back toward the stream.

Mahirah watched him for a second then groaned loudly.

"So annoying."

She continued after the others.

***

Apollo made his way down the slope toward the stream.

His notebook still rested on the rock where he had left it.

Open.

The carefully sketched landscape stared back at him, every tree and bend of the stream captured with painstaking precision.

Apollo frowned.

He never left his notebook open.

He picked it up and looked around.

No one.

His eyes drifted to a wide crack running across the rocky ground of the bank.

Then another.

And another.

Each one led back to the black sand where the boulder had been destroyed.

Apollo let out a quiet sigh.

"So much for being careful."

A flash of gold caught his eye beneath the shallow water.

He reached in and retrieved it. It was as he had expected.

A name tag.

His gaze settled on the engraving.

Yesuin Kaelitha.

Apollo stared blankly at it for a moment.

"Her again?"

***

Mahirah sat beneath a tree, watching her squad divide responsibilities for capturing members of 11-D.

Scouts.

Lookouts.

Traps.

Restraints.

Everyone seemed busy.

Her own attention, however, remained elsewhere.

Her eyes repeatedly swept the surrounding forest, searching for Norman.

He hadn’t been seen since practically fleeing from the stream.

The moment he showed his face again, she intended to teach him a lesson herself.

Her gaze shifted.

Heidi stood apart from everyone, as usual, quietly tying two vines together into a long rope.

From a nearby group of giggling girls, Kristen wandered over to her.

"Heidi, come join us," she offered. "You don’t always have to be all by yourself."

Heidi replied softly, too quietly for Mahirah to hear.

Kristen laughed.

"That’s fine."

She returned to her clique.

As she did, her eyes met Mahirah’s.

Kristen smiled smugly and snickered.

Mahirah answered with a dismissive snort and looked away.

"Shouldn’t you be helping?"

Apollo’s voice came from behind..

"I’m not going to waste my time on trivialities." Mahirah replied.

He leaned casually against the tree.

"Why so?"

"Because this is pointless." She gestured toward the squad. "All this effort just to capture members of 11-D. They’re not worth the trouble."

Apollo tilted his head.

"So how should they be captured?"

"Easily."

Mahirah answered without hesitation.

"11-D is full of weaklings."

She folded her arms.

"And besides, the Directive never specified how many people we are supposed to capture, or whether every member is worth the same bonus."

Then she became even more serious.

"I think there’s a reason it’s called Capture and Bounty." She continued. "A hidden one."

Apollo watched her closely.

"Some members probably carry higher bounties than others. Now, the problem is guessing correctly which member would carry the highest bonus."

She leaned against the tree.

"It’s even possible that member’s bonus is worth more than all of them combined."

"And I’m guessing you think It’s their leader?" Apollo asked. "Or highest-ranked member?"

Mahirah sighed.

"Normally, that would be the case. But that isn’t how Echelon operates."

She nodded towards the squad.

"I already suggested it. Camden wants us prepared for everyone, but our real target should be whoever carries the highest bounty."

Apollo’s interest visibly grew.

"And who do you think that is?"

A faint smile appeared on Mahirah’s face.

"The weakest of them all. Their class Zero."

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