The first thing Wyatt did was stop and look around. The bustling hall was full of other academy-goers, just like everyday when he stepped outside his dorm room. The manastones embedded in the walls lit the halls in a dim blue light that NaviSys controlled.

  Output changed based on the required light to see, another admin program. This one, he kind of agreed with. Not much light filtered through the always-overcast skies, so visibility at the best of times suffered.

  Even if the hall was pitch black, his glowing eyes would probably stick out. Now, if they gave him some kind of darkness vision, awesome. Otherwise, very inconvenient.

  Each person that passed him hurried to and fro without giving him a second look. Damien, Adrian, Marcus, Dominic, and so on. Everyone he saw, he knew an extensive amount about due to his time in the future world of delving. What region, territory, and family each came from.

  All of them, he’d worked with at least once, if not many times in his extensive career. To see them so young, naive, and fresh faced again left him feeling weird. Hopeful he could stop many of those tragic things from happening—but still weird.

  Especially for those he’d seen die gruesome deaths. As he walked down the halls, he stared at many like he saw walking dead. The constant clash of his current-but-also-past present versus his past-but-also-future life made everything spin as he walked down the hall.

  He had to stop and lean against the wall, his head ached so bad. Dizziness made his vision swim and disoriented him even more. The irony of his circumstances made him chuckle to himself.

  How could he ever fight against the Devil King if he couldn’t even walk down a hallway?

  So many familiar faces passed by as he leaned against the wall. At some point, the dizziness only got worse until he had to shut his eyes to stop from collapsing on the ground in a pitiful mess.

  While he got his head on straight, he heard many people approach and then decide whatever was happening to him wasn’t their problem. He agreed, preferring they not force him to open his eyes. At best, they’d probably try to drag him to the infirmary, in which someone of a higher status might recognize his Double Awakening for what it was.

  No thanks.

  The ones who ignored him completely, he appreciated. He didn’t mind their lack of interest, since all of them had places to be and things to do.

  When his head started to feel better, he caught his breath and steadied himself. But again, dissonance slapped him in the face like a ton of rhino dung. Seeing so many people he knew while knowing they died in the future, became like the monsters they hunted, or had betrayed him…

  These things left him unsettled and feeling awkward when he stared at them. Whenever they’d look his way, he’d close his eyes shut to not reveal the golden gleam. When his stomach threatened to spew bile onto the carpet, he shut his eyes again.

  “Are you okay?” a familiar voice asked, causing his heart to drop into his stomach and race like a thousand rhinos.

  Annabeth.

  He heard her stop without passing him by. He couldn’t help himself and opened his eyes. Just as he remembered, her fiery hair like flames danced in the light of the manastones. Her freckled skin, pale as snow, contrasted her fiery appearance as her eyes flashed several times in rapid succession. Her cheeks looked just as red as her hair as she checked on him, almost like a nurse and their patient.

  Staring back at him, Wyatt stared… hard.

  A flash of curiosity, then frustration crossed her face. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “Do I have something on my face, Wyatt? You’re acting so strange toda—” She clamped her mouth shut as her eyes started to trace over his features, fixating on his eyes he knew shone golden. Then, before he had a chance to retreat so he could resume his hunt, she rested her hands on his face and turned his head to both sides, watching as the shine remained consistent. “Oh… Oh! This is quite interesting. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!”

  If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

  “Oh?” he echoed, unsure of if he should run away as fast as possible or if he should hear her out. His stomach growled, reminding him of his initial purpose for venturing out into the hall in the first place. He shrugged away from her hand and shakily stepped around her. “I’m hungry. Let’s talk in the cafeteria.”

  “Wait, but when did it happen?” she pressed, reaching for his hand. When he avoided her touch, she pouted for a few seconds before her face turned beet red. “Fine!”

  She stepped beside him and followed him out of the hall and into the cold. As always, her internal fire Ichor worked wonders. She wasn’t bothered by the chilled air, snowy grounds, or biting breeze.

  They wordlessly walked across the center of the academy grounds and towards the cafeteria. He wouldn’t believe her presence beside him if he didn’t see for himself. He kept shooting glances out of the corner of his eyes as he walked with Annabeth into the cafeteria.

  When they stepped across the paved ground, up the steps, and to the door, he pulled it open and gestured for her to enter.

  “Thanks,” she said politely, entering.

  He followed after her to the small line of people. She grabbed a tray with one hand, scanned her palm on a NaviScanner, and the dispensary filled a boring bowl with gray mush. She waited for him to do the same and then grabbed his hand and nearly dragged him to the farthest corner of the cafeteria. When they sat, she gazed around the large, two-story building.

  Like always, she watched everyone like a hawk. Her eyes glanced to every table, scouring the place for signs of a threat or something equally as curious or intriguing.

  He did the same, an old habit he’d picked up from his time together with her. Quickly, he identified a few parties that looked a little too curious. The more he looked, the more people he saw shooting glances their way. They received gazes from the other early worms.

  He figured Annabeth was the cause for the ogling, but he couldn’t be certain. His eyes still glowed gold, so if there were Devils hiding about, he was actively shouting “I’m here” to the world.

  With everything else going on, the matters of gossip and trivial matters with probationary students—he simply couldn’t be asked to care. But Devils were another matter entirely. He couldn’t identify who may or may not be an enemy. A creeping paranoia tinged his gaze as he looked to and fro, watching for anything seemingly out of place.

  When they both determined nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, they turned and looked at one another in sync.

  Annabeth rested both palms on the table and then spread them wide, bringing up the NaviSys that operated the academy. Snapping up without a sound, a solid dome isolated them from the rest of the cafeteria.

  He looked around at the dome. The material was porous, allowing in air so its occupants didn’t suffocate. Anything that tried to get through otherwise would have better luck chipping away at the stone walls with a spoon.

  When he looked back at Annabeth, he grinned playfully at the almost predatory look in her eyes. “I always found myself envious of that look you get, but now that I’m on the receiving end, I’m less thrilled.” He pointed to the gray NutriGrub. “This is food. I am not.”

  “You’ve Awakened again,” she stated matter-of-factly. He wanted to refute, but she held up a finger to stop his retort. “Before you say anything, I have proof.”

  “I know you wouldn’t make an accusation you couldn’t support by evidence,” he said, sighing. He wanted to tell her to save herself the effort of pulling up her research, but he knew he wouldn’t get through to her, no matter how hard he tried. “Here we go again.”

  Seconds later, she tapped away at the table, and article after article about the existence of Double Awakenings appeared, each coming from obscure sources on the deep NaviWeb. Whenever she pulled a new one up, she made a duplicate that appeared in front of him for him to browse.

  He’d seen all the articles before, having looked into the theory of Double Awakenings plenty before.

  He didn’t respond and put the half-spoon of grub in his mouth, grimacing. The dry mush left a foul aftertaste, and with three taps on the table, a cylinder descended from one of the hundreds of holes camouflaged in the ceiling. A slightly larger hole appeared in the dome, allowing the cylinder to pass through the dome barrier where it stopped at eye level.

  A cup materialized beneath, and then a stream of fresh water trickled in. Once full, he took the cup in hand and gulped as if his life depended on it. If he compared the cheap NutriGrub to any one thing, he’d have to draw the comparison to mud. Earthy, bitter, and much too grainy for his liking. When the NutriGrub’s aftertaste cleared, he placed the cup on the table and wiped his face, letting out a content sigh.

  He continued to spoon his NutriGrub halfheartedly into his mouth as she continued, cringing at the flavor and washing the gruel down with water. When empty, the NaviSys detected as much and refilled the cup without prompting.

  Convenient but wasteful, he grumbled internally.

  Didn’t stop him from using them, though.

  “Well, I suppose I’ve gotten quite spoiled,” he muttered to himself. He looked up at Annabeth to see an accusatory, unamused glare. “What’s your point?”

  She looked around before leaning forward. “Simply put, I want to know one thing: how’d it happen?”