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realized never seemed to be asleep at all. She was eating downstairs just two floors below their quads.
    Realizing how hungry he was himself after her message, he decided to skip his shower and opted for a quick face-wash. As he splashed water on his cheeks to wake himself up, he looked up towards the mirror in front of him, and then leapt to his feet, snapping around to attention behind him. There was nothing there, but he could’ve sworn he had seen a silhouette of something in the mirror. He wiped his face with his eyes open, feeling more anxious than ever, and impatient to meet someone else who was awake. Company always settled his nerves. He sat by Magnus for a minute to gather himself, and then quietly put on his combat suit. While the armor was comfortably thin, it was still padded in certain areas to absorb shock and incoming energy waves. The vest was particularly heavy, protecting his torso area for the maximum amount without sacrificing flexibility. The suit was colored a dark grey with strokes of light green, the colors of Crest Academy. After taking a long look at his room to make sure he had not forgotten anything, he quietly headed out.  
    He felt a wave of relief as he entered the halls, noticing that there were still a few other people walking around. As he made his way to the elevator platforms, it occurred to him that he may never see this place again. He had mixed feelings about leaving — excitement for moving on, but a nostalgic type of bleakness for losing everything he had here. He brushed off the thoughts, imagining that there would be enough time to lament the end of his time here after his field test was over. If I fail, it may very well not be the last time I’m here, he laughed to himself.  
    He found Raven sitting by herself at a long table, eating a brownish fruit covered with seedy ridges that he’d never seen before. The variety of foods at the eatery was constantly changing, one of the benefits of a tier 1 academy. There was no one there besides two other students in pajamas at the far opposite side. The floor to ceiling windows that usually flooded the place with light now faded into a grim shade of dusk. Besides the library, the eatery was his other favorite place at academy. It was always alive with noise and laughter during the year, and he had many of his best memories hanging out with his team here. Combat training was its own type of fun, but nothing could match the pure joy of companionship.  
    “Can’t sleep?” she asked when he got to her. She hacked away at her fruit, whose skin seemed unusually sturdy. He noticed that she was using a cutlass, a combat weapon, and not a fruit knife like normal people.  
    “Mmhmm” he replied. He grabbed the fruit from her and took a bite, instantly regretting it as his taste buds coiled in agony from the bitterness. “Ew… what is that?” he asked.  
    “Marrow egg,” she smiled, referring to the scaly birds that flocked around the rooftops of Echidna. Red made a disgusted facial gesture after hearing he had eaten one of their premature kin that made her laugh.  
    “Don’t laugh too hard, people might hear you,” he teased. “I think the food’s gotten worse since we first came here. I remember tasting much finer things during our early years.”  
    “I think it’s gotten better — much healthier — but that never seemed to be your style of appetite,” she replied sarcastically. It was true, both he and Magnus had a penchant for eating unholy amounts of junk food, but they figured they worked hard enough to burn it off. They both had made a resolution long ago that after they graduated, they would retire to much healthier lifestyles. Now that that time had finally come, he was unsure if he would follow through.
    “Remember when we first got here and we’d never seen that much food just given out for free?” Red asked.  
    “Mmhmm. I remember spending the first three days here just eating,” she smiled, her voice