Ivy Graceful had parted ways from Laughter and was now walking through the streets of The Undying City. She had left with uneasiness resting on her heart.

  Where was her friend? Or at least this boy 'Donn'.

  No matter what, she was determined to get answers. She would have liked Laughter's help, but the boy had presumed that Leox was dead. If she wanted to tell him that she was certain he was still alive, she would have to reveal his secret.

  Ivy had already long since decided that she could never, ever betray Leox. No matter what.

  ...

  It was still daytime in Varadna. The streets were packed with many of the city's people. However, Ivy noticed a noisy crowd in the distance. They seemed to huddle around something that drew many of the people's attention. There were even some of her fellow holy sisters in the pack.

  With a raised brow, Ivy hurried over. She tried her best to push through the crowd, but she was only small, which made this difficult.

  Eventually, she made it through. The source of the attention seemed to be on a boy who had just climbed out of the sewer entrance of an alleyway and was now being forced to sit down in the streets.

  The holy sisters were surrounding him, checking his body using many different types of healing magics, but from Ivy's perspective, the boy seemed fine. Despite being malnourished, dirty, and having strange, snow-white hair that covered his face, there were no wounds or broken limbs on the boy's body.

  ...

  Wait on a minute...

  Ivy stepped closer. The people made way for her, noticing that she wore the holy white robes of the church. She even pushed her way past her sisters, earning herself strange looks. At that moment she didn't care.

  She kneeled on the ground by the tall boy and used her hands to grab his chin and brush the white hair from his face. Everyone watched her with great confusion. Instead of checking his health, this holy sister seemed more focused on the boy's appearance.

  Ivy stared into the boy's face. He looked much, much different from the way he had over half a year ago, but there was no doubt in her heart that it was him. The sharp jaw. The dark eyes. The tall nose. The slight blemish on his cheeks. These were all signs that she would never fail to recognise.

  Tears formed in her eyes and ran down her cheek. Before she could even say anything, the boy's eyes went wide as he looked at her.

  "Ivy?" Leox croaked, voice hoarse from thirst.

  Ivy didn't respond and instead pulled Leox into a hug. One so tight that it hurt his frail body. The boy winced from the pain, but he wasn't bothered by it.

  "My Leox... I knew you were alive!"

  ---

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  Leox didn't get to spend much time with Ivy. In fact, except for exchanging hugs, they didn't interact at all. This was because shortly after exiting from the underground tunnel, which he had found out was a 'sewer system', he collapsed and fell unconscious.

  Being reintroduced to sunlight after such a long time, and pushing his body far beyond what it was capable of had taken a severe toll on Leox's health.

  He was first brought to the city's doctor, where they realised that other than his malnourishment, he was in good physical condition. So instead they brought him to the Holy Church to be watched over by the holy sisters and mothers.

  It was the church's job to deal with patients who had troubles with their 'minds', and judging from the fact that Leox's hair had miraculously turned white after emerging from the city's sewers, they could tell that his mind was partially broken, and had undergone a severe amount of stress.

  ---

  Leox woke up, instantly rising to a seated position. A hand landed on his shoulder, calming him down.

  He looked around. He found himself in a shared living quarters, with paintings and holy murals scattered around the walls, and a large window which allowed sunlight to turn the furniture golden.

  Leox looked to his side, where two people were sitting watching him sleep. The one who had placed a hand on his shoulder was none other than Professor Gabriel. The man stared at him with squinted eyes through his glasses.

  Leox didn't recognise the other figure. He was a burly, older man with a menacing aura to him. He wore a black trench coat with a top hat that cast a shadow over his eyes. Just as Leox was about to check his overview, Professor Gabriel spoke.

  "I... No, we had all suspected that you were dead, Leox. If we had known that it was Donn who had done this, we would have..."

  I was dead. More than once.

  It seemed that through investigations, the people of the city had managed to glean that he had been kept against his will in the city sewers. Most likely because of Donn's dead body on the ceiling, and whatever was happening on the outside.

  The professor shook his head to free his thoughts, which clearly angered him. Afterwards, he adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat before continuing.

  "Donn was a boy who seemed to be becoming more and more sinister over the year, but we turned a blind eye due to his growing strength, and the benefits he would provide in the apocalypse. What we did not know, was that he was using the sewer tunnel entrance located outside of his family's estate to keep a hostage down there. For over half a year, somehow we didn't..."

  Professor Gabriel clenched his fists as tears started to form in his eyes. This surprised Leox that the teacher was able to hold such heavy emotions for the wrongdoings done against him. He had never expected him to care.

  The man in the trench coat placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder, calming him down. Leox managed to get a better look at him. His skin was sickly pale.

  "I speak on behalf of the Hawkings family. If I knew that my son was so sick and perverse, mhm, I would have buried him myself."

  The man's voice was raspy like he was the one who had been deprived of hydration for half a year. But Leox was more focused on the words that he said. He suddenly felt himself being filled with the urge to leap from his bed and tear the man's head from his shoulders.

  Before he could react, the man in the trench coat leaned forward, he had an inquisitive look on his face, followed by a faint knowing smile.

  "What surprises me most though, is that despite all of this, you were still able to send my son to the afterlife by killing him, yet he is a stage above you. I must ask, how?"

  The manner in which the man spoke made Leox pause his rage, and question himself.

  Does he know?

  A thousand thoughts and feelings ran through his mind at that moment, but he was stuck on what to do or say. Luckily, Professor Gabriel stepped in and spoke first.

  "Now is hardly the time, Mister Hawkings. We can ask for details later. For now, we should let young Leox rest and refuel himself so that he is fit for the start of the academic enrollment next week."

  "I'm still going to the academy?" Leox couldn't help but ask. He had almost forgotten about the place.

  The professor nodded his head.

  "If you wish, then of course." Professor Gabriel responded. "The apocalypse has arrived after all, and we need all hands that we can get."