"...May I ask what you are doing with my friend?"
Aurelia halted in her steps, not turning around to meet eyes with the one who spoke.
"You may not," she said, continuing onwards after finishing her sentence.
Both black haired girls had their concept activated, making no one around them seem to notice their presence, but themselves.
A cold glint arose from beneath Nyx's eyes. She walked forward swiftly, blocking the way for Aurelia.
Nyx's purple iris flickered, as she showed a forced smile. "I think I deserve to be indulged in matters involving my… best friend."
Aurelia stopped once again, using her obsidian eyes, that possessed an eerie similarity to Caecus', to look Nyx deep into hers. This was the first time she didn't avoid eye contact since they spoke.
"What you deserve or not is of no matter to me. You possess no authority over matters involving Caecus, I possess authority over him though. What I do with him, is something you have no say in."
The Noctis heiress' fist clenched.
"You are speaking as if he's a possession, Zenith. Are you sure you want to antagonize Noctis so openly, over such an 'unimportant person'?" Nyx made sure to emphasize an ironic tone in the last two words.
"It seems you are aware of matters involving my brother."
Nyx's blood froze.
'I knew… I knew that he was from an important family from Caelum, but Aurelia's brother? That means… he's from the main family.'
On her exterior nothing changed, though.
"I am aware, now it would be a shame if your treatment of Caecus were to be revealed to the outside world, correct?"
"How I treat my brother, is none of your concern, neither is it any concern to the outside world. Reputation is important, you are correct, but it's nothing that will stand in our way. Caecus is of way more importance to me, than any of this could be."
Nyx's head turned sideways. "Importance? Why did you deprive him of resources then? Why did you refuse to let him attend corpora gatherings?"
"Nyx. I told you before, this doesn't concern you. Currently, Caelum and Noctis are evenly matched in strength, but are you sure it will stay that way, once a person with this soul density takes charge?"
A… black aura, spread through the air, directly pressuring Nyx. The soul density was five times that of her, putting significant pressure on her.
Aura was never just for fancies.
With Aura, came Soul Pressure. Soul Pressure was directly proportional to the amounts of soul essence in your core, and your soul density.
Nyx felt as if an incredible weight settled on her, making it hard for her to stay on her feet.
She dropped down on her knees, gritting her teeth tightly.
Her own soul essence left her body, activating her concept.
'Soul Pressure.' she thought while utilizing her innate ability.
The weight lifted.
Exuding a breath of relief, Nyx got on her feet again, and walked up on Aurelia, who didn't seem surprised at all.
"You know, what you just did to me, and are doing to Caecus, is against the academy rules. I may not have a say when it comes to familial matters, but I certainly have a say when it comes to this. How would you think the academy would react if they found out that you knocked your brother unconscious?"
Aurelia silently stared into her eyes.
With the silence, that seemed to go on forever between them, the air grew tighter.
"Very well." Aurelia said, stepping past her, into the direction of her building.
"Follow me, I'll trust the statement that you are his best friend for now. When I tell you about my reasoning, you decide what you want to think of it. Here there are too many ears."
Nyx's eyebrows raised, but she just nodded, and followed the girl.
They entered the building, still unnoticed by the people around them, and stepped into the elevator.
Aurelia pressed the button with the number sixteen, and a red light surrounded it. The elevator doors closed, and Nyx could feel the both of them getting pulled upwards, with the humming of the elevator singing to them.
Once the grey metal doors opened, a hallway showed itself to them, with a floor covered by red carpet. Chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, illuminating it, and every fifty meters or so, a new door appeared.
This was the floor for the culmen of the first year, Caecus had entered before to visit Nyx, in her quarters, and train with her. He did not see any of the other culmen on his way there though.
They followed the hallway, and reached the end of it, after walking for a while.
Ironically, Aurelia's room was right in front of Nyx's.
Right above her door, there was a number. A big one.
"We're here."
Aurelia infused the door knob with soul essence, and twisted it.
A big room revealed itself to them.
Aurelia stepped inside, and gently lay Caecus on her bed.
Then she walked back to the door, and closed it.
"Sit."
The room was the same size as Nyx's, with really nothing special to show for it, it had all the basic furniture that Nyx also had. It seemed that Aurelia hadn't changed up much.
On the desk there was a laptop, and a PC with three monitors that were all lined up next to each other.
She grabbed a chair from the corner of her room, and then put it a meter or so away from her own chair, that was right in front of her desk.
When she sat down, Nyx noticed a framed picture on Aurelia's desk.
It was a picture of her and Caecus when they were small, seemingly around five years old. Caecus seemingly was short back then too, as Aurelia stood half a head taller than him next to him… smiling, and hugging him from the side.
Noticing Nyx's gaze, Aurelia froze. Her hand moved to put away the framed picture, but then she stopped herself.
"I think that serves as enough proof that I care about my brother."
Her gaze quickly hushed to Caecus who was laying on her bed, soundly unconscious, with no sign of waking up soon.
"Now, I want you to understand something. When you look at Caecus, do you see someone who is made for fighting? Be realistic." She nodded to the unconscious boy.
Nyx looked at Caecus as well, his soft features painting in well with the soft white sheets of Aurelia's bed.
"...He may not look like somebody who should fight, but that doesn't mean you should take away that opportunity from him. I have seen him fight, and even trained with him. Caecus is incredibly talented, even if you may not think so."
Aurelia didn't move her gaze from the blind boy, when she replied. "You know, sometimes we need to make decisions for the people we love if that is the better outcome. I don't want my brother, fighting to his death in the soul realm, nor do I want him to fight in the Tower of Babel. I don't want him to partake in political duels, or generally any profession that comes with attending this academy. I don't want him to die."
Nyx looked deeply into the Zenith's obsidian eyes.
There was fear.
"Do you think Caecus is stupid?"
"Yes."
"..."
'That was an unexpected reply.'
"I mean, do you think Caecus would be as stupid, to put himself in danger that easily? You saw him, he is blind and yet he achieved so much."
"Nyx, we cannot always control all variables in an equation. Even if he doesn't make any stupid decisions, even if he is perfect, there will still be things outside of his control that will ultimately affect him."
Nyx remained silent. Aurelia wasn't wrong at all, yet it felt that way.
"I only want him to be safe, that's it. Alone the path of advancement, moving up in ranks, is incredibly dangerous. The higher your rank, the more dangerous it becomes for you to ascend to the next rank."
"My Zenith, I think you got something wrong. A caged bird, that is safe, longs for no other than to be set free. A free bird, with a life of danger, but excitement, longs for no more than to be safe, have a moment of calmness, and rest. People always long for that, what they don't possess. The more you lock him in the cage, the less happy he'll be in that cage, and the more he'll want to live a life of danger."
Finally, Aurelia looked at Nyx. Deeply.
"Then tell me, what do you propose I do?"
"Let him make his own decisions, and protect him from the uncontrollable variables. If you let him have his freedom, eventually he'll want to settle down."
The silence stretched between them.
"Very well."