Warning

"We will now take a thirty minute break before we begin the next round" Drake announced into the mic and the hall was back to its chatter.

In a diagonal movement from both sides, the letter X in bold red slashed David's image on the screen and Edwards image shone a tad bit brighter.

"Wow, with his set skill I thought we were going to see him in the finals" Derek heard one boy say to another.

"Maybe if they had allowed the use of abilities from the start of the competition, it might not have ended this way" the other replied.

David had left the arena the moment the fight had come to an end, he knew that he had disgraced the DuPont family name in his loss to Edward. No one even knew who Edward was, which was the worst part.

For all he cared, it could have even been an ordinary commoner who got him knocked out of the competition.

Knowing his father, he knew that the head of the DuPont family had a lot to say to him. The things he had to say were the least of his worries. What bothered him the most were the things he would do when he set his eyes on him before the day came to an end.

Since they were on a break before the next round of fights, the students were allowed to move around, those that were hungry could go grab a bite. The students all had their tags and the seats were numbered, so everyone could easily make their way back to their seats whenever they were back from the break.

For the second time in three days, Derek stepped outside of the Citadel with Chuck following closely behind. Maya walked side by side with Chuck like she had no care in the world.

Derek wondered where they were going to go get food this time around, he couldn't ignore the fact that he was the one Maya and Chuck followed, even though to an outsider it looked like the trio were not together.

While he was lost in his thoughts, he suddenly saw Arya for the first time in three days. She had seen him first and had decided to continue walking along like she hadn't. But now both their eyes had met and she could see Derek waving, she decided to stop for a moment.

As she walked up to Derek, Maya's eyes never for once left her.

"I was beginning to think that you didn't come to the competition" Derek started

"Its a big school, you don't necessarily expect to see everyone in it?" Arya replied him

"That's not what I meant" Derek mumbled, almost losing interest in their short conversation "Anyway, where are you going to?" Derek asked, wondering if she already knew her way round in less than three days of their arrival

"I'm off to grab a bite"

"Same here. We could go together" Derek offered

When he said 'we' Arya turned to look around and she sighted Chuck along with another girl she had never seen, Chuck raised his hand to wave at her while Maya stood where she was scrutinizing Arya like she was up to no good.

"Do you mind leading the way, Maya. You know here better than any of us" Chuck asked.

Maya reluctantly came to the front, without saying a word to Derek or Arya, she started walking and the remaining three followed behind.

She couldn't help wondering who the girl who had just appeared from nowhere was, she knew it had to be someone from their school. But she had never seen Derek talk to anyone so casually before.

He barely said a thing to people, but from what she had just witnessed it was different from all perspectives with this girl.

Soon enough, they arrived at a cafe. The name of the cafe, Decaf cafe was clearly shown at the entrance to the cafe. Chuck felt that Maya would have taken them back to Tate's if they were not a bit far from his place.

The cafe was brimming with customers, luckily for them they came just in time to grab the last table. It seemed like almost everywhere was occupied due to the competition that was taking place.

A lot of people were outside of their homes and dorms and the streets were mostly packed. Even though the competition was in a way part of politics, people couldn't help it because of the vibe and hype that it came with. It was not something that people wished to miss.

Maya and Chuck sat across from Derek and Arya, it was a small rectangular wooden table with two small sofas on each side of the table.

On the table was a vase with a couple of flowers in them and a shaker with sugar filled up to half of the container, a menu list and lastly at one end of the table was a small bell with a ringer in the middle.

Maya had already pressed the ringer as she sank into the sofa.

"Maya, its been a while" a middle aged female lady dressed in ancient palace maid style greeted as she came up to the table.

"Hi, Eunice" Maya replied

Derek couldn't help but wonder about Maya. So far, he had never seen any of the students of the school approach her but for the second time, she had come to a restaurant and had been addressed by her first name.

'Wasn't she close to any of the students. Or was she in the school to only visit the business owners' Derek wondered.

"The usual?" the maid like dressed woman asked

'Yes" Maya replied

"For you and your friends?" she asked again, flashing a bright smile at the four of them.

Maya turned to look at the other three at the question. Derek saw the menu on the table but he was sure he wouldn't know what to order, so he just nodded. Chuck also nodded in response, Arya kept mute and stared on.

"Yes, for four" Maya replied.

"Coming right up, the woman replied as she left the table

[Five hours until the full moon. Restraint is advised]

The voice sounded faintly in Derek's head before vanishing once again