"What is this place?"

I looked around at the pub full of students who were wearing black uniforms. We were brought here by Zeus after classes were over, though he originally only meant to bring me along. He didn't seem to mind the extra company so I guess he doesn't mind for our group to be this big.

Caesar, Alfonse, and Liz were sitting at a nearby table and chatting amongst themselves while Zeus, Hiro, and I took our seats at the counter. My legs were too short for my feet to reach the foot rest so I just gave up and crossed my legs so they wouldn't dangle.

"This is the Night Cafe. Students from the Night Class come here to relax." Zeus explained to me as he tapped the surface of the counter three times.

My eyes widened when a colorful beverage magically appeared in front of him. Zeus smirked upon noticing my reaction and handed me the drink.

"Isn't this yours?" I asked him.

"Nah, this is a sweet non-alcoholic drink for you." He gently pushed the glass in my hands towards my lips. "Try it out."

Urged by Zeus to try the magical drink, I closed my eyes and took a sip. He said he made this drink for me so I felt the need to be cautious. But when the liquid touched my taste buds I felt a mix of flavors bursting in my mouth that I couldn't help but make a pleasant sound as I greedily slurped more of it.

"That good, huh?" Zeus watched me sway in my seat as I drank merrily.

"Mhm! I never had something this delicious before!" I exclaimed. "It's my new favorite drink!"

Zeus smiled as if my words were high praise.

"I'll make you some anytime you want then," He offered, tapping the counter again to make a different beverage for himself.

"Try not to get overly excited by everything he does." Hiro spoke without caring that Zeus will hear him. "All that praise is gonna go to his head. It'll be tiring for me if he starts showing off."

I laughed nervously when Zeus started yelling again after hearing Hiro complain about him. Hiro simply talked back and the two started trading insults. Not wanting to be in the middle of their argument, I slowly slipped away from the counter and joined the others for more quiet company.

"You'll get used to it," Liz giggled after I sat down next to her.

"Are they like this everyday?" I asked them in a hushed whisper, not wanting Zeus to hear me.

"Pretty much," Caesar replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"But things become more lively when it gets like this so it's not as bad as you think," Alfonse added with a smile.

"You're so positive, Alfonse. It's kind of amazing." I applauded him quietly.

During my day in Gedonelune Academy, I got to meet quite a lot of people who were friends of Liz. There were too many for me to remember in such a short time though...

Elias Goldstein and Yukiya Reizen were probably two of the many that I could remember, but it was mostly because they were Liz's closest friends in class before she became a Prefect. Klaus was also a member of the Goldstein family and Elias's older brother. Recalling their appearances, they do have similar faces.

Looking to Alfonse — who was also the eldest son of the House of Goldstein — sitting across from me, I realized that he has a more carefree and less formal personality. He was an expert in magic potions and plants. Using the special book he always carries with him, he could reproduce the plants he encountered during his travels while he was working with the Ministry of Magic.

Caesar, on the other hand, was Alfonse's roommate and he specialized in curse magic. According to Liz, he turns into a cute little pig when kissed by someone. It was hard for me to believe that a person who specialized in curses got cursed themself and Zeus tried to force him to reveal his pig form to me until Liz scolded him.

Then we got scolded by professor Schuyler for being so noisy...

"It's totally impossible! Can't you see? It's so red!" Caesar exclaimed.

I was pulled away from my thoughts and saw Caesar, Zeus, and Alfonse sitting at the counter. Hiro must have disliked the commotion because he was suddenly sitting in front of me eating a muffin.

"What's going on now?" I asked Liz.

"Well..." Liz frowned, glancing over at the boys.

"This is so obviously bad for your health!" Zeus complained.

"But you're the one who suggested we play rock-paper-scissors, Zeus,"Alfonse responded in a cheerful tone,"you're also the one who said the loser had to eat a meat pie with habanero sauce."

(What?!)

After mentioning the pie, I was finally aware of the red-colored pastry sitting on the counter top next to them.

(That thing looks like it could kill you with one bite! They're not serious, are they?)

"But you don't know if it's you or Caesar who has to eat the pie yet." He continued. "So can you decide now?"

Alfonse said this with an innocent-looking smile. Seeing this sinister side of him, it's almost terrifying on a different level...

"He may look nice, but he's so evil inside!" Zeus commented, frowning at the smiling blond.

"You're scaring me, Alfonse..." Caesar shivered in fear.

I laughed nervously, hoping that no one would die tonight.

Ultimately the loser who had to suffer the spiciness of the pie was Zeus. He could only manage to finish half a slice before his soul threatened to leave his body. Alfonse and Caesar were laughing so hard that they couldn't breathe.

Feeling pity for him, I asked Hiro to give Zeus something to drink. He was reluctant to comply at first since he wanted to see Zeus suffer a little longer, but after hearing his friend dying on the counter top he eventually gave in.

"Boys sure know how to have a good time," Liz sighed while smiling at them.

"Well I'm having a good time here because of them," I grinned.

My experience in Gedonelune so far has been enjoyable. The people were nice to me and I got to see real magic.

Before we knew it, it was almost curfew for the Day Class students and that meant I had to go back to the dorms with Liz. But for some reason, Zeus wouldn't allow me to leave, which caused an argument between him and Liz to arise.

"The headmaster said that I'm gonna be in charge of her. So I say she's not allowed to leave yet!" Zeus yelled.

"And I say she's going back to the dorms with me!" Liz protested angrily. "Be reasonable, Zeus! The dorm mother is going to get mad if she isn't back by curfew!"

"Who do you think I am? I'll take care of it, so you can go back and leave her with me."

"She's coming with me!"

"No, she stays!"

"Hiro, shouldn't we stop them..?" I tugged Hiro's sleeve, wondering what I could do to stop the fighting.

"It's almost impossible to stop these two once they're at it..." He sighed, not really caring at all.

We watched in silence as Zeus and Liz raised their voices at each other. Sparks were flying in the air as they both glared, neither one wanting to back down.

It must be a common occurrence if no one in the cafe seems to be bothered by it. However, we were getting nowhere with all this yelling.

"She may not be an academy student," Alfonse tried reasoning, "but I think it would be best if–"

"Shut up! No one asked you!" Zeus interrupted.

I racked my brain for something to distract him with, like how he distracted the students in class. Having just met him last night without interacting at all, I barely know Zeus well enough to find a solution to his temper.

(What can I do to make them stop and listen?)

Suddenly a crazy idea popped in my mind and anxiety formed in the pit of my stomach. I looked over at everyone else in the cafe and prayed that they would ignore what I'm about to do next.

(Okay. Get it together. Just imagine everyone as a potato... No problem, I can do this.)

As much as I tried to reassure myself, I knew the end result would be embarrassing. But if it has a chance to get those two to stop arguing for a moment...

Steeling my nerves and taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes and began to sing a song.

"I've been,
Out on the ocean
Sailing alone,
Traveling nowhere

You've been,
Running on hard ground
With just you around,
Your heart beats the only sound

But I know,
Once in a while we will find,
The sound of your heart beats with mine
And when it's time
I'll leave the ocean behind..."

My heart was drumming in my chest as I sang the words loudly. Liz and Zeus turned to me, surprise painting their faces as soon as my voice reached their ears.

Unfortunately, they weren't the only ones who heard me...

My cheeks burned from embarrassment when I saw that everyone was staring. If there was anything I ever wanted in life right now, it was to have a hole open right under my feet and swallow me into the earth.

(Ugh! They don't have to stare so much!)

Although my plan worked and I got the attention I wanted; I caught a few unwanted ones as well. Caesar whistled lowly from beside me, a smile on his lips as he nodded approvingly.

Somehow I felt that he was going to say something I didn't want to hear.

"Didn't know someone so small could have such a big voice," He remarked with amusement.

"I can't tell if that's an insult, compliment, or if you're just teasing me again..." I pouted up at him.

"You remind me of a siren," Alfonse added, his voice full of interest, "capturing the hearts of men with her beautiful song."

"Don't those men drown after hearing them sing?" Hiro looked at him with his usual poker face.

"Shall we go for a swim, Alfonse?" Caesar asked jokingly.

"Why not?" Alfonse replied.

"You guys have a death wish or something?" Hiro shook his head and sighed.

(Are they teasing me again? Ugh... At this point, I can't very well tell the difference anymore.)

Hearing them joke around like this made me forget about my own worries and that was when I realized their true intentions. Upon becoming aware of their hidden kindness, I thanked them silently from the bottom of my heart.

From behind me, Zeus mumbled something under his breath that I couldn't quite make out. I turned around to find him staring at me with an indescribable emotion within his blue eyes.

"What were you saying, Zeus?" I asked, eyes wide and curious.

"Huh? N-Nothing!"

Breaking off the eye contact, he turned his back to me as he refused to reply. This reaction from him only made me more curious about it and I pouted in frustration. Even though I couldn't see his face, I noticed the tip of his ears were red as if he were blushing.

"He called you 'Nightingale'," Hiro answered me on his behalf, completely ignoring Zeus when he started yelling for him to shut up.

"Oh? Isn't that a bird?" Liz wondered aloud.

"Right," Alfonse smiled as he started explaining to us, "it's a small bird that is known for its powerful and beautiful song."

"S-Small?!" I repeated the word dejectedly.

"No matter what you do," Hiro sighed quietly as if he was feeling sorry for me, "you always end up in the 'small' category..."

(I don't know how to feel about that...)

"But, you know, it kind of fits, doesn't it?" Caesar said excitedly. "How about it, Nightingale?"

Saying the last part to me with a grin, I couldn't resist a smile of my own after hearing him call the name. It certainly had a nice ring to it.

"It does sound pretty." Alfonse agreed with his signature angelic smile. "May I call you Gale for short? You can call me Al."

"Haha, have we already confirmed this to be my official name now?" I laughed, thoroughly amused by everyone's enthusiasm.

"If the name fits then it fits!" Liz declared, then suddenly turned her attention back to Zeus after realizing something. "I'm actually surprised that you thought of something pretty nice, Zeus. I kind of thought you would just keep calling her pipsqueak like you do with Lucious."

"I'm not that bad with names!" Zeus huffed with a frown, but his eyes were trained solely on me.

He may have summoned me by accident and had no idea how to send me back, but Zeus doesn't seem like a bad person... completely. If only he could fix that loud mouth and big ego of his, then maybe he would be okay.

"Let's go to town tomorrow," Zeus told me out of the blue.

"Um, what?" I blinked, too confused and shocked by the abrupt invitation.

"You don't own any clothes, right? Let's go to town tomorrow and buy some."

"That would be nice, but I don't have any money with me."

"I told you already, I'm in charge of you. Don't worry too much and just come with me."

"Oh. Thank... you? But I really don't think–"

Zeus pouted childishly at my weak response.

"Is that how you say your gratitude to someone who is nice enough to help you?" He blatantly voiced his complaints. "Come on, say it with more feeling!"

"What?! Excuse you!" I shrieked with anger before I could stop myself. "Whose fault is it that I'm stuck in this world anyway?!"

The argument between Zeus and Liz had been resolved, but now it seemed like another was quick to replace it. Although everyone tried their best to calm us down, I ended up getting so mad that I stormed out.

I hadn't even realized how much stress I've been bottling up since I arrived in Gedonelune until the tears started spilling out on their own. I didn't want anyone to see me cry so I ran without looking back.