Zteel

Nyota, Sage, and Kilo visited Jora in the main campus building.

There would be no more instruction for them, as they were now full-fledged police officers and spies for Lunanova.

They lounged with him in their former homeroom, recapping the past year and a pending meeting with Noriko they were due to have later that day.

"I hope the three of you are ready," Jora prepped.

"What should we expect?" Kilo asked. "I'm not saying I'm scared, but…"

Jora laughed. "It's okay. She is intimidating, even for me, obviously, considering we've quite literally planned a coup of sorts.

She's likely going to congratulate you, of course, for your tournament performances and graduating. Her second-in-command is definitely going to be there," Jora trailed off, thinking back to his both awkward and jarring confrontation with Elwin.

"Because, where else would he be, right?"

Confused, Nyota and the brothers looked at each other.

"I've been meaning to ask again—because I really need to double-check how serious you are, for my sanity," he paused again.

"Go on," Sage encouraged.

"All you've ever been exposed to is me telling you things are dangerous and aren't right. If I were you three, I'd be terrified of the unknown myself, especially being so young.

Anyway, last time I asked you this, I told you to contemplate more on an answer. Now that you've graduated and it's been a few months, I'm curious to know.

Sincerely, why did you choose to enter into law enforcement and politics? Are you truly ready to take on this fight against Noriko's rule?"

The three stopped to reflect, then each of them answered.

"Well, it's as I've said before: I always wanted to work in the police force." Sage fixed his glasses.

"My reason remains about the same. Dad meant a lot to me. He taught us to care for others, and he was a 'people person,' always jumping and running to someone's aid. I believe that I can best help people by walking this route, too.

Not to mention I learned a lot of life lessons from him, many of which helped cope with his bizarre disappearance." Sage paused, and Kilo's face was overcome with a disquieted expression.

He continued. "Speaking of which, there was always something else about his disappearance that was never right. Lunanova has a lot of problems, maybe this is one of them.

And I'm gonna work to get to the bottom of it."

Jora nodded his head, this time with a genuine grin, the kind one couldn't simply hide or obscure.

"I wasn't lying when I said I came here because this… thing… was." Jokingly, Kilo pointed to Sage with a thumb. He paused before continuing on.

"But my reason now really is the same as his. Pops meant a lot to me. I'd love to help Nyota find himself, answer his life questions, and discover his identity—all of that.

But the thought that Pops could still be alive, or worse, that we were absolutely lied to..."

Kilo's fists were clenched tightly as he looked away to the ground. They started to turn red, and a steam of sorts emitted from his palms.

"It makes my blood boil.

I'm sorry," he kicked the ground. "It's one of these things that I'm greatly passionate about, I just… I'm just never able to find the appropriate words to phrase it all, I guess."

Sage placed his hand on Kilo's shoulder. To his younger brother, he nodded. "You're family, I go where you go.

We've got questions of our own, brother. And we're gonna get them answered, whether we find them or have to write them ourselves.

The same goes for you, too, Nyota!" Sage added. "Don't think either of us forgot about you. Our hope is that we keep you forever."

Kilo nodded in agreement; Nyota nodded as a sign of gratitude.

Jora stood upright. "I'm proud of you, Kilo."

Kilo quickly looked up, like he had heard an activated alarm.

"I'm proud of you. I don't know if it's been a while since you heard that, directly and exclusively for you, but I am proud of you.

You've shown tremendous growth over the past year, and I can only imagine what you'll look like further down the line, and I'm sure your father would say the same."

Chills ran down Kilo's spine. All he could do was smirk as a tear welled in his eye.

Finally, he forced out a simple, "Thanks."

Nyota observed the brothers, hearing their responses and seeing how, despite the two of them bickering often, a simple mentioning of their father could bring the two together.

The talking point was even enough to bring the stubborn, bull-headed Kilo to tears.

Then it was his turn.

"Nyota?" Jora called with a smile. "What're you thinking?"

"For the time being, I've decided to throw everything Noriko out the window.

My orphanage, my adamant loyalty to her, despite not even knowing who she was initially, all of that. No more. Not until I'm certain that it's the truth.

I haven't had a lucid dream of Nora in a while, but she's helping me piece everything back together, slowly but surely," he winced at the idea of referring to a literal figment of his imagination as an actual living, breathing person, but continued, nonetheless.

If Noriko's no good, and my subconscious is persistently suggesting the same, I'd want to get down to the bottom of that.

I'm being told that I lived a life that my mind is so sure is a falsity. I want to discover what this alleged forgotten memory of mine explains, not only for my sake, but for the betterment of everyone else as well.

And if things turn out to be as dark as they seem, I'll be the light that this empire needs."

Nyota began to ponder, his confusion weighing heavily on him. What if his reasoning for all of this was based upon a delusion? After all, they were mere dreams that would be the cause of his purposeful yet dangerous journey.

Every time he tried to reflect on his purpose, his mind would only figure that his reason for existence was to show his respect and admiration for Noriko, even prior to having met her for what seemed to be the first time. Granted, he never really knew who she was.

However, he was certain he wouldn't let his brain trick him anymore. He was prepared to fully commit to the speculation that his brain had been lying to him for however long. 

"The way you asked the question, it almost sounded like you don't want us to go through with this at all." Sage questioned. "Is there something we're missing?"

"No, not at all," Jora assured. "Just looking out, I care for you three. I just couldn't live with a guilty conscience of knowing I've helped prepare you for a long and tough journey without you wanting it for yourself."

He chuckled. "The three of you never cease to amaze me.

You could've settled for something easier, and yet you chose to pursue greatness and nobility seemingly without a second thought," he closed his eyes.

"I really couldn't have asked for better mentees.

It's been a great year," Jora sighed, taking off his glasses to wipe the watery puddles from his eyes. "You couldn't have made this year any more meaningful for me.

I really am going to miss the three of you."

"Oh, relax," Kilo waved off. "You're a grown ass man crying. We'll see you plenty of times!"

"We'll visit." Nyota added. "Our headquarters won't be too far from here."

"Yeah…" Jora cleared his throat before putting his glasses back on. "About that…"

Within an instant, the hopeful grins Nyota and the brothers' faces bore swiftly erased, turning into deep expressions of concern and worry.

"Just as I thought," Nyota started. "What do you mean by that?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"No," Nyota urged. "Now it's your turn to answer, Jora."

Jora peered at him apprehensively. Sage and Kilo, too, looked to Nyota as his words piqued their interest.

"What is it?"

"I don't know if it's just me, but…" Nyota trailed. "You… The last few times I've seen you, you've just seemed… preoccupied. Like your mind is elsewhere, like something's bothering you."

Jora's teeth clenched and his heart skipped.

Nyota continued. "I know I haven't always known you, but I like to think that maybe I know you enough.

Tell us, what's been bothering you?"

Jora scrunched. He wanted to share but questioned if the time was right.

After a pause, he gave in, concluding there was no better time than now.

"I don't have much time left."

Shocked, the three young men looked at him with bewilderment.

"H-How do you mean?!" Sage questioned.

Jora continued. "Someone's going to kill me, although I don't exactly know when."

"And how do you know this?" Kilo probed.

"I came into contact with… somebody… at the tournament. We talked, and when I touched them, I saw a glimpse of my fate.

They know who I am, they know what my Modus is. They saw my reaction, frozen stiff, and they looked at me with a mocking smile."

"Who's planning to kill you?!" Nyota exclaimed. "We can stop this before it happens!"

Jora shook his head. "If I saw it, it's inevitable. It's how my Precognition works. It's why I haven't taken any preventative measures. I've just been grappling with knowing who my killer is."

"At least tell us who it is!" Nyota wouldn't relent. "Just because we can't save you doesn't mean we can't do something about it after! I'm just…" Nyota paused.

"I don't get it—you're just giving up? Like this? The tournament was weeks ago! Why'd you wait so long to tell us anything?!"

Jora remained quiet. He acknowledged that he should've mentioned this critical information to them long ago. He owed it to the three, Kilo, Sage, and Nyota.

He was the only person older than them they could trust in their lives, let alone the only "elder" of sorts they had at all.

Nyota's head lowered. "How could you?"

Nonetheless, Jora shook his head. "I should've told you sooner. And not because something preventative could be done, but because I owe it to the three of you.

I've just been concerned that you would be distracted from your long-term plan. I believe in the three of you, but I didn't want to compromise all of your hard work."

Jora's words served to Nyota as a trigger. He thought back to Nora in his mind, how she would always refuse to reveal Nyota's repressed memories all at once.

"It makes no damn sense," he thought to himself.

Reluctantly, Sage shook his head. "Jora's right. I mean, just think about it, Nyota. Had we known, we'd be hellbent on trying to save his life."

Dejected, Kilo agreed. "Damn. This hurts."

"I'm sorry." Jora continued. "I really am, but nothing immediate can be done. But that's what this plan is all about, righting wrongs and serving justice.

I know what I offered up. I mentored the three of you because I see something special in you. I'm not certain how it'll all manifest, but I know it's there.

And that's why I'm so calm. Truthfully, I'm not at all. I'm just coping with the fact that what I've done is an investment into the future."

Nyota was still greatly upset. "Jora," he growled. "Who did this?"

Jora shook his head with an optimistic grin. "It doesn't matter. Instead, let me remind you that if you continue to bear your main objective of defeating Noriko in mind, vengeance will be served."

Sage sighed. "You know who's going to do it, but you can't stop them.

You mentioned how we should continue to think about how to eventually expose and defeat Noriko for whatever crazy things she's got going on behind closed doors. Though you won't tell, my guess is this has gotta be connected to Noriko somehow."

Jora chuckled and pointed to him. "Smart man. Your ability to listen intently, I'd expect nothing less from one of my cadets turned Warrant Officer."

"So," Sage continued. "How'd Noriko figure us out? And if she really has, why hasn't she just wiped us off the face of the planet yet? She could do it right now if she really wanted to, no?"

Jora paused. "I'm not sure. I don't have an adequate answer. It's as I've said before, she's the single scariest thing known to man, in my opinion. Getting rid of me, but keeping you around.

A piece of advice I'd give is to continue to move forward with the assumption that she knows what you're doing. Come up with contingency plans, whatever you have to do.

Noriko's highly intelligent, make no mistake. And she's damn near omniscient, just like the gods she wants to be so badly.

Last thing I'll say is to remember to stay low and not significantly stand out. I urge you to continue to train, become the best that you could be, and to learn as much as you can about Noriko to overthrow this tyrannical government.

Learn to protect yourselves so that you can be able to protect other people.

Anyway, you guys ought to get going. You're supposed to be meeting with her in a couple of hours now." Jora folded his arms. "Any questions?"

Nyota, Sage, and Kilo shook their heads. "No, sir!" They acknowledged.

"Great, now get on out of here, Warrant Officers. I've got things to do myself."

Together, Nyota, Sage, and Kilo left Jora by himself in the classroom.

His arms originally crossed, he dropped them and placed a hand in a pocket.

He tapped his foot rapidly on the wooden flooring, speaking aloud.

"I've got to be strong for them," he thought, simply.

"Yeah… I will be."