"Which one do you think is better? The red grapes or the green ones?" Archer asked as he and Julia walked the berry section of the supermarket.
"Green ones are sweeter." Julia answered, "Okay, so I brought you here, will you answer my questions?"
"Sure, not sure I can tell you much though." Archer said as he grabbed a bag of grapes and tested out the weight before putting it in his shopping cart.
"Who are you?" Julia asked as they began to move.
"I'm Archer Griffen, pleased to meet you, uh, miss? Should I be calling you miss?" Archer said as he grabbed some blueberries.
"Julia. But you know that already don't you?"
"Should I? I know a bunch of higher ranks tend to come from relatively well-known families." Archer said as he grabbed some bananas and apples.
"No. I don't mean that. I mean that if you didn't know who I was you wouldn't have saved me." Julia said with an annoyed sigh.
"I saved you?" Archer said looking at her as they moved to the grain aisle.
"Yes!"
"How and when?" Archer asked playing dumb.
"In the dungeon. When I fell to the fourth floor."
"You fell down to the fourth floor? How? What happened?" Archer asked looking alarmed.
"You know that already!" She said looking exasperated.
"How would I know that? I wasn't there." Archer said as he placed a baguette into his cart.
"You were there! You were there to save me from the dire wolves and I bet you were also there when Luna threw me down the shaft!" Julia said getting hot.
"Uh, you're making a bit of a scene." Archer said and Julia realized that a few looks were being shot her way and she became a bit self-conscious.
"Should we go to the dairy section?" Archer said as he threw some tortillas into his cart.
"Sure." She said quietly as they moved to a different part of the store, "Are you really not going to tell me anything?" She asked, there was genuine pain and disappointment in her voice.
Archer while his face was turned away took a sharp inhale. She had been through a lot and had been left in the dark as well. Still, telling her the entire truth might lead to more headaches.
"I know this isn't what you were planning. But could I ask a few quick questions?" Archer asked.
"Will you be more likely to tell me the truth?" Julia asked.
"Maybe." Archer said as he looked at the milk, "I missed bagged milk." He mumbled to himself holding a large jug of milk.
"What do you want to ask me?"
Archer looked over to Julia and simply asked, "Why do you want to know?"
"Because I was nearly killed. Because I lost my arranged marriage."
"You like the guy you were arranged to marry?"
"No, but it's what my family wanted, and after everything they did to me, I could at least try to form a relationship to help them."
"Alright." Archer said as he picked up some eggs, "Then why not tell the faculty? They can take care of Luna if she endangered your life."
"Because I don't think it was her fault, well not entirely."
"Why is that?"
"Because you mentioned ghosts."
"I mentioned ghosts? When?" Archer said looking back at her cluelessly.
"I mean whoever saved me said ghosts were involved." Julia said with a glare.
"Well, if you're implying that she is currently possessed by a ghost. It would make sense." Archer said, "I'm in the same class with her and she seemed to be troubled, looked like she was fighting a headache. Plus I saw a weird moment with her and this guy called Codrol when I was getting my ID. But I'm sure there are people that can cure the possession. So why not go to them?"
"Not without her career being axed." Julia said, "If I told them what happened, my parents wouldn't let her go freely and I have no idea what's going on with Codrol."
"Oh you know him too?"
"He's the arranged marriage. Though lately a few other boys have been around her."
"I see. Where are the spices?" Archer said as he finished picking out his meats.
"Two aisles over. You have any idea what specifically is causing her possession?" Julia asked looking accusingly at Archer.
"As an F-rank, I heavily doubt I know what I'm saying." Archer said as they moved to the spice and condiment aisle, "But if a relatively experienced professional was currently looking into it they probably already figured out the source, know a method to cure Luna and just need to find the specific details of the ghost now. Which they probably are making decent headway at."
"So, this possession will be dealt with? She won't be trying to harm me anymore?" She asked as Archer picked out his things and began to move to the cash register.
"Not sure. That would be best-case scenario. But I think that you should probably just try and stay away from the mess and wait for the professional to get the job done." Archer advised.
"Just stay away? After everything that I've been through, I should just stay away?" She asked sounding insulted. She looked to say more but now next to the cashier, she decided it would be best to be quiet for now.
Archer followed suit and once he had all his items checked, he began to search his pockets for his wallet. Then he searched some more, Archer froze as he tried to figure out where he put his wallet. It was on him today, he used it to buy lunch at the cafeteria, so where was it?
"Here." Julia said as she pulled out her black credit card and paid for it getting tired of watching him fumble around.
"Oh thanks. I owe you." Archer said appreciatively.
"Don't worry about it." She replied as Archer gathered the bags of groceries and the two left the supermarket.
"Are you going to answer?" Julia asked after they began to leave the building.
"Julia." Archer said turning to Julia with a very soft and serious look on his face.
"Yes?' Julia said caught off guard, she could feel his mood change.
"I think that whoever helped you down in the dungeon truly doesn't want to see you get hurt. They're likely going to do everything they can to stop any more harm from coming to you and it would really help them if you were to try and stay away from any incoming danger." Archer said slowly.
"Oh. Uh." Julia said finding herself at a loss for words upon hearing this advice.
"You should have a normal life and try to enjoy the rest of your time at Trinity Academy, you have three years after all." Archer said as he turned his back to her.
"Oh yeah." Archer recalled something, digging into his back pocket he took out a small gemstone and tossed it to her, "This should cover the cost of the groceries. For your sake, you won't need to talk to me again."
Julia looked down at the gemstone, it was the same type that dropped from those dire wolves, "Archer." She said looking up only to find nobody there.
***
As Archer placed his groceries on the kitchen table he paused and thought for a second before pulling out his phone to call Phil.
"Mister Doyle?" He said once it was picked up on the other end, "Can you access this school's old record books for me please?"
***
09/03/3122 YDB – Sektmer 3rd, 3122
Luna trudged her way down the street towards Trinity Academy. She was dreading going to school, another day of absolute misery awaited her. She had to rebuff the attempts of Codrol trying to get her home address already. But her phone was constantly being bombarded with messages by not only him but the others as well.
Most distressing of it all was that she replied to a few of their messages and she couldn't ever remember doing so. The constant headaches, uncharacteristic actions and memory lapses have been hell on her.
Even worse she recently had a nightmare where she nearly killed Julia. She didn't know why but it felt so vivid. She also felt terrible for Julia, Luna felt as though she had wronged her in so many ways and she had no idea why.
Every time Luna tried or even thought of apologizing to Julia or rejecting her harassers she felt herself unable. She was nearly certain she was going insane and wanted to get help, but again, she found herself unable to.
At least last night she found herself with a slightly clearer mind. Which was a bit strange considering how throughout the day she felt herself getting worse. There was one moment when she could pinpoint when she started to feel better. It was when she was talking to Archer, it was strange but she felt at ease talking to him.
Luna suddenly felt a bit embarrassed thinking about Archer. Especially since her mind seemed to be clearest when she thought of him or the animals and the garden. I'm being silly. Luna said shaking her head. It's just a weird coincidence. We only spoke once.
"Oh hey Luna." Archer said suddenly appearing next her.
"Gaah!" She shrieked in surprise, "A-Archer!"
"That I am. Sorry for scaring you. Were you thinking about something?" Archer asked smiling kindly at her.
"Oh, uh." Luna went a shade of red when she thought of how she was thinking of him a moment ago, "Nothing. Uh, why are you here? It's really early."
"You mentioned that you could show me the garden." Archer said before looking concerned, "Unless something's come up?"
"Uh, no. It's fine… let's go." Luna said quickly as she started to quicken her pace.
"Oh are we late?" Archer said as he tried to keep pace with her.
"Uh, no. Sorry. I just never uh… never guided someone around before." Luna said calming herself.
"Oh, no problem at all." Archer said as she led the way to the school.
Luna noticed as they walked that Archer stifled a small yawn, "Woke up too early?" Luna asked.
"Sort of. It is over an hour before class starts. And I think I spent too long studying. I got like three hours of sleep." Archer said scratching his head.
"Studying? For what? It's only the third day."
"Oh, on the syllabus they mentioned a subject I wasn't too familiar with. I sort of went on a deep dive and lost track of time."
"You're studious."
"More like nervous and paranoid." Archer said with a shrug as they continued to walk and talk as they approached the school. Luna didn't notice it but upon being with Archer her headache had indeed subsided.
"Speaking of sleep. You seem a bit tired as well." Archer said after a bit more walking.
"Huh? Oh yeah. I've found it hard to fall asleep lately." Luna said nodding her head, "But I've been getting better recently." She said deciding not to think about how he seemed to be helping her sleep at night.
"Hmm, you know when I do have time to sleep I have a method that really helps me fall asleep, well a few actually."
"Really? What are they?" Luna asked not convinced they would work, but she'll take anything right now.
"Well obviously you can take some melatonin or whatever. But I also have this playlist that I play. The music I find is easy to drift off to sleep to." Archer said pulling out his phone and played some music.
The song was nice, peaceful. It legitimately gave Luna a feeling of bliss when listening to it. She involuntarily gave a happy sigh.
"That's nice." She said.
"Would you like me to send you the playlist? What's your number?" Archer asked.
"Oh here." Luna said giving Archer her number. She suddenly gave a small giggle once she received the playlist, "Hey is this a trick to get my number? Are you trying to make a pass on me?" She said grinning at him.
"Huh? Oh, heh." Archer said giving a small laugh and looking a bit bashful, "Trying to get me back for that joke yesterday huh? Pretty petty."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She said looking innocently at him.
"Is this how you treat people who try to give you help?" Archer said as they neared the gates of Trinity Academy.
There standing in front of the gates was Esme Soto monitoring who was entering the place. Head currently fixated on her clipboard as she wrote something down.
"Oh good morning." Archer said in greeting.
"Hmm? Oh. You aren't here this early." Esme said looking up in surprise.
"I'm showing him the gardens is that fine?" Luna asked.
"Yes, as long as you give him permission he is free to visit." Esme said with a nod as she her head in her notes again.
"Oh wow, really have some swaying power don't you?" Archer said looking at Luna impressed.
"It's just that I've worked on the garden over the summer." Luna said looking a bit embarrassed at the praise.
"Hey." Archer said turning back to Esme, "Is the cafeteria open this early?"
"Yes, they serve breakfast to the clubs that start early." Esme said with a nod.
"Okay, thank you kindly." Archer said as he and Luna headed towards the school.
"You haven't eaten yet?" Luna asked.
"No, again, lost track of time and then had to hurry here because I thought I wouldn't be able to see the garden." Archer said chuckling.
"You can go get something to eat first."
"I can wait fifteen, twenty minutes." Archer assured her.
"Great, the garden is just around the corner- oh." Luna said as her face suddenly dropped.
Archer looked over to see what made Luna so upset. Waiting by a few trees was this massive tanned, muscular-looking B-ranked student. He was bigger than Codrol and much bigger than Archer. He had a streak of bright orange run across the middle of his red hair.
This stranger spotted the two of them immediately and approached them. Immediately he paid no mind to the presence of Archer and stepped right in front of Luna and had a big smile on his face.
"Luna, it's good to see you." He said enthusiastically.
"Oh, hello Theo." Luna said looking uncomfortable.
"I've been waiting for you for a while. Come on, let's go to the gym and you can watch me practice." He said grabbing her hand.
"Actually, I'm a bit busy." Luna said looking uneasy. There was a small part of her that was egging her on to join Theo. A voice that did not sound like hers.
"Hmm?" Theo said as he glanced over to Archer and it looked like this was the first time he noticed him standing next to Luna, "Who are you?" He asked dismissively.
"Hi there. I'm Archer Griffen." Archer said offering a hand to him.
"Come on Luna. Let's go somewhere without weird hangers-on." Theo said as he began to guide Luna by the hand.
"Oh sure- wait no. Uh." Luna said for a brief moment that voice had taken over. It was getting louder, almost begging her to follow Theo. She looked over to Archer in concern.
Archer kept his expression neutral and spoke to Theo politely, "Luna was going to show me the garden."
"Hmm? Is she now?" Theo said shooting Archer a dirty look, "She would be kind-hearted enough to do something like that. But scram. You're bothering her." He said as he loomed over Archer.
Oh wow. I didn't even do anything yet. Archer thought as he smiled up at him. Being this close to him he realized that his tan was sprayed on, "You know Luna too?" Archer then glanced over to Luna, "I didn't know you knew a B rank."
"Oh uh yeah." Luna said before taking a pause. Theo did not look happy that Archer was there and she was worried that he might start something. The voice seemed to agree with her to get Archer away from Theo, "Sorry Archer. I don't think I can show you around the garden. I need to go with Theo."
"No problem." Archer said with a nod, "I guess we'll do it next time. See you in class."
"Right." Luna said with a hesitant nod before following Theo as he held her by the hand.
"Oh, by the way." Archer called out.
"Huh?" Luna said glancing back as Theo gave an annoyed snort.
"The music is nice. You can listen to it whenever you don't feel quite right." He said.
"Uh, thanks I will." Luna said as they disappeared around the corner.
"Tsk." Archer clicked his tongue in annoyance the moment he was alone, "Makes sense with everything." He mumbled to himself as he made his way into the school. He quickly checked his phone and saw that Phil Doyle had sent him a message.
Immediately Archer made his way through the halls, passing a couple of students and a few custodians undetected. He then moved to the principal's office. He poked his head out and looked into the waiting room. The same secretary he had met on his first day was there. Fortunately, it seemed that she was busy on her phone.
Without so much as a squeak, he made his way past the secretary and slipped through the door. Once he was in the small, soundproofed hallway he quickly burst through the other door.
Both Electa and Phil were there waiting and they whipped their heads over to Archer in surprise. Electa was at her seat typing away at her computer while Phil had a cup of coffee in his hands.
"You're here already." Phil said before noticing the bags under his eyes, "Haven't slept well?"
"No, was busy studying." Archer said as he approached Phil and took the coffee from his hands and downed it. Draining the mug he made a face of disgust, "Eugh. Add some milk and sugar won't you?" He said as he handed mug back to Phil.
"Real coffee should be drunk straight." Phil said shrugging, "You'll appreciate the taste when you're older."
"You could have entered the room a bit more politely." Electa Cowen the blue-haired principal said looking unimpressed.
"Right, sorry. I've just been put on edge." Archer apologized getting less agitated and standing straight up at attention.
"So Phil told me that you want access to both the enchantment room and the authorization to the advanced books in the library?" She asked looking at Archer.
"Yes, it is imperative for me to get access to them." Archer said nodding
"Why?"
Archer looked over to Phil in surprise, "You haven't told her yet?"
"She wanted to hear it from you directly." Phil said and Electa nodded her head in agreement.
"I want to know this possession issue firsthand." Electa said eyes glinting, "I do not like a scandal occurring within the school, especially due to a ghost and an F rank. Rumours are circulating about how several B ranks of rich families are cheating on their girlfriends with this Luna."
"I guarantee to you that won't be an issue ma'am. I can get this ghost problem dealt with in less than three days, even without my gear. I also think I can stop the worst of the scandal from occurring." Archer said.
"How so?"
"The higher ranks are known to have infighting to occur correct?"
"Yes competition is commonplace." She said nodding along.
"Then I think I can find you a scapegoat with another student who may already be involved." Archer reported.
"Who is this student?"
"A girl named Annaxia Torri. From what I've seen she and one of the victims have history with one another and she seems to be one of the main causes for the salacious rumours."
"Annaxia Torri." Electa echoed as she nodded, "But what of the ghost and why need permission?"
"As just need a few simple items to exorcise the ghost. But that requires access to the library and the enchantment room."
Electa looked at the boy in front of her. He was young, but the way he stood and acted gave an aura of, if not maturity, then at least experience. He spoke not like a man overconfident of their abilities but of a man ready to do a job. Electa knew that if she were to report the possession she would have to deal with a scandal. While she was prepared to do so, maybe Archer could offer another option.
"Hmm, alright." Electa said nodding her head, "I will grant you access to what you need and I will withhold this information from the rest of the faculty for now. But if I do not believe that you can handle this I will have to get this dealt with the official way." She warned.
"Thank you kindly, ma'am. I won't let you down." Archer said with a salute and bow.
"I appreciate the formality. But you are allowed to be more casual." Electa said, "Now I would like more details about this ghost if you have any to offer."