Blood Queen Reborn

In one of the offices in charge of watch maintenance, a man was sitting on a swivel chair reading a book next to a computer. That was when he heard a notification about a watch’s 5 minute signal going up. Rolling over to a computer screen, he saw that it had come from a student with a level 6 ability. A student named Brent Tanner.

’Strange,’ the man thought, then checked the last known location of the student.

Searching the history of the locations the watch sent within 10 minute intervals, Brent started off in his room that morning, went to the girl’s dorm, then the bathroom, a few miscellaneous locations throughout the academy, then right outside of the gaming pods room. Oddly, that was where the trail ended, with no further locations.

The man scratched his head, wondering what the hell happened. The watches were known to be coded very tightly, with very little failure points, if at all. They were electric, fire and water proof, made extra durable knowing that the students often got into rough scuffles with different kinds of abilities. If someone tried to destroy their watch, they would get alerted immediately.

’I’ll send an announcement to some faculty members to search for him,’ the man thought, already typing up some messages, ’It’s possible that Brent is attempting an escape.’

It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to break out of military school, there was always one every year. They did find a level 5 boy draft evader last week, so the possibility wasn’t out of the question, and with Brent being the level he was, most likely thought that he was strong enough to escape with minimal trouble.

’We’ll find you, even if it’s to the ends of the earth,’ the man thought, watching the monitor closely.

—

While Layla was washing off the blood, Erin and Quinn were sitting together on her bed, waiting to see if their efforts were enough to clear their name.

So far, nothing had happened yet, but there was that underlining anxiety that it was only a matter of time. They had to keep still, not act suspicious.

Erin looked down at her hands, and held them tightly.

"I failed her."

It was in a low enough voice that she wasn’t sure Quinn heard her, but she couldn’t help but know it to be true. She wanted Layla to be safe, needed to keep an eye on her so she wouldn’t get hurt, but all it took was one moment where she wasn’t by her side for everything to be at risk.

Then there was the look on her face, the horrified expression. Layla had acted unlike herself.

Erin had come to learn that if you became a powerful monster, then there wouldn’t be anyone strong enough to stop you. At the same time, she thought that by keeping watch over Layla, and by giving her tools to protect herself, that she wouldn’t need to worry about her. Today proved that wrong.

’How do I balance these things? How do I ensure that what happened back then doesn’t happen again? How do I make sure that Layla is safe?"

Quinn could see that there was a lot on Erin’s mind. He moved a little closer, and he opened his mouth, about to try his best at comforting her, when the door slammed open. The two immediately turned towards the source to find Cia and Peter staring right back at them.

From Peter’s perspective, it looked like Quinn and Erin were about to share an intimate moment together. He blushed a little at the implications.

"... Are we... intruding?" Peter hesitantly asked.

Then the door to the bathroom opened, and Layla stepped out with a towel over her head, flinching at the sight of the newcomers.

"Eeek!"

Peter’s mind went wild. Were these three all actually.... together together?!?!

Cia noticed Peter’s face turning beet red, and she sighed in frustration, "Just kick them out— actually wait, this is my room. Guys get out! What about some privacy? Geez?"

Layla was too stunned to speak, so Erin got between the two, "We were here first, and this isn’t just your room."

Cia groaned, then grabbed Peter’s arm, "Fine... Let’s just go to your dorm room."

Partway through leaving, Cia poked her head back into the room, "Oh yeah, by the way, there’s some flowers outside the dorm room. They’re not ours, so you guys should do something about that."

She left, slamming the door, taking Peter with her. In the hallway, Cia was giggling.

"I didn’t think getting caught could feel so exciting!"

Peter blushed, "Don’t say it like that! What if people hear us and get the wrong idea?"

Cia shrugged, "What if that wrong idea was the right idea?"

Peter tilted his head, confused, "Uh, W—what do you mean?"

"Well, we’ve been hanging out for about a few weeks now," Cia smirked, leaning a little closer to Peter, "We’re basically at the next step already."

Peter grew bright red, and stammered, "W—wh—what—?! Um, Wh—what step?"

"Oh, Peter..." Just then, Cia pushed Peter against the wall, pinning him by the shoulders.

It all happened so fast that it took a moment for everything to register in his mind. The possibility of a girl like Cia, a level 4, liking a loser like him was just as likely as Quinn spontaneously no longer needing glasses. Peter’s mind was frozen in shock.

Her face moved in close to his, and he could feel her warm breath on his cheeks.

"You— You don’t— You don’t think that— that I’m— I’m—" Peter spluttered, flustered being so close to a girl, "Well— I’m a level 2 and you’re a 4— I don’t want you to think— think I’m taking advantage of you—"

Cia let go of him, and took a few steps back. Despite his lungs not being restricted in any way, he found himself capable of breathing again.

She sighed, rolling her eyes, "Peter, you’re so stupid. When a girl does all of that, wouldn’t you think that means the girl willingly likes you?"

"W—well, yeah but..." his voice trailed off.

Smiling, Cia giggled, "You’re so cute when you’re flustered," then walked off.

This was the first time that Peter had a girl make the first move on him, and he stared in astonishment, struck with love. You could practically see the swirls in his eyes.

"Hey! Wait up!" Peter yelled, chasing after her.

—

Quinn, Layla and Erin didn’t feel like unpacking whatever was going on with Cia and Peter, and they had their own questions regarding Layla. Somehow, she knew exactly what to do in the situation, and knew the exact details about how the watches worked, something not even Quinn and Erin had extensive knowledge of.

The question was... Why?