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Blake arrived back at her apartment with a very serious expression. Immediately upon entering her house she locked her door and secluded herself into her bedroom. She quickly pulled out her phone and began to dial a number. Never would I think that this would actually be happening at a time like this, she thought to herself. Before she could begin to call the number she had typed in, she held herself back. Blake began to recall how all of this began on that Friday night - the night she had her first Calling and met Layla. It didn't seem as though Layla knew what she was, and Blake didn't want to make any assumptions beforehand. The number on her cell phone could help her, but at the same time she wanted to get away from that lifestyle. Blake didn't want to associate herself with the entity whom she knew understood her struggle as a Knight; she didn't want to take part or involve anyone else innocent on the lifestyle that she was forced to live by birth. Abandoned and left to die at a graveyard according to the one she called Mom, she was found in the middle of winter in a basket with a birth certificate tucked right under her blanket. Blake knew that she was blessed to have been found by her mother, who had accidentally left something at the graveyard during her child's funeral. The poor woman at that time had lost both her husband, her only child, as well as all the family she ever knew to a traumatic incident that scarred her forever. Despite all of that hardship, she tried her best to raise me, even though the Ires made our lives even more miserable.

Blake's most vivid first memories were her first contact with her new mother's Ires. Blake was just about eight when the Ires first began to take notice of her. They began to harass her as well as her mother, sending the two of them into hospitals multiple times per month. She was left without a home for a long time due to medical debt, yet her mother persisted on raising Blake. Finally, Blake had just about enough of the Ires and threw a fist at one of the smaller ones. Underneath her fist, the Ire screamed in agony and vanished into black ash. Blake didn't realize that this one act of defiance against the Ires would cost her a family that actually loved her. The very next day, Blake awoke to feel a warm liquid trickling down her face. She looked up to find her mother's dulled brown eyes staring right back on her, eerily lifeless. She felt scared and afraid, and when the police found her wrapped in her dead mother's arms, they believed that she herself killed the woman who raised her from her baby years. It was cruel and unforgiving, yet she remained strong and eventually she was proven not guilty of the death of her mother. It didn't help her in any way at all though; she was never able to give her mother the funeral she deserved. And it was this grueling time as an eight year old girl who just lost her family for a second time, she met a fellow Knight and his Guardian. The two were cold and ruthless, yet they took her in and told her the information she knew today. Under the care of the ruthless Knight, she would be starved for months on end and forced into labor as well as grueling training that almost always left her on the brink of death. If there was one thing she was grateful to them about, it would be that they sent her away to the school to live on her own with an allowance they gave her as the pair was wealthy.

Blake groaned in frustration looking at the number on her phone. It was the number of the Knight who caused her so much pain yet gave her the answers and the knowledge on what she knew today. Calling him would be similar to begging him to help her, something that she strongly despised. But at the same time, Blake needed some sort of confirmation, and she knew no other person capable of helping her. She held her breath as she pressed down the green button on her phone and heard the dialing tone of the call going through. A click on the other side and a gruff male voice answering the call made her nervous.
"Blake? What do you want?" the man asked.
"Ryne, I need confirmation on something in regards to Guardians," Blake replied in a clipped tone, "More so on the first Calling for Knights."
"Hah, and you think I'd just tell you? How amusing," Ryne smirked over the phone. Blake's face contorted into a ferocious scowl. Of all the people in the world, she had to have been taught by this asshole and his Guardian.
"I don't have time for your games, Ryne. This is urgent," Blake tried to remain composed, but her growl still leaked through. Blake could hear Rine laughing on the other side, and just the sound of it made her blood boil.
"I'm sure you don't. Neither do I," Ryne replied smugly, "Why should I both with you? Find out for yourself."
"If I could, I wouldn't want to call you at all," Blake's temper was growing rather short. It always happened whenever she talked to Ryne. The Knight himself had always gone out of his way to make her life hell. His Guardian, Maria, wasn't as bad. The problem was that she herself was just an inconsiderate person in general. How she and Ryne were destined to partner up was beyond Blake's ability of comprehension.
"Fine, fine. What do you want?" Ryne finally decided to help Blake, much to her relief.
"I just had my first Calling, but I couldn't find any signs of a Guardian when I searched the areas near my location," Blake explained, "What should I look for see if someone is a potential Guardian?"
"Oh, that's easy. I found Maria and noticed a mark on her back when I got her in bed the night I met her," Ryne explained. Blake visibly cringed. She did not need to know about his private life, and much more so if it involved Maria. Poor girl now has the deal with this guy so long as she's a Guardian, Blake thought to herself. However, the location of the mark he stated remained with her. When helping Layla change out of her torn clothes the night she was found, Blake didn't recall noticing any peculiar marks on her back.

"Is the mark unique to each Guardian?" Blake asked, her anger fading as she contemplated the information given.
"Possibly. Never seen another Guardian, so I wouldn't know," Ryne replied dismissively, "Now if you're done bothering me, I'm gonna go relieve some stress with Maria. Later." The call ended there, and Blake sighed. Of course he would say something like that, Blake thought in annoyance, at least we got some information. Blake placed her phone on her desk next to her bed and lay staring at the ceiling. If that was the case, then who could be her potential Guardian? It may not be Layla, but at the same time it could be. She could see Ires, which is quite uncommon among regular people. Her mother was another example of one of those unlucky few. Blake felt stumped over the entire thing; she just wanted to know who knew her song. A Knight's song is not learnt but rather innate to the Guardian. However, during the time she spent learning about everything with Ryne and Maria, Blake also knew that there were some incidences where the Knight's song can be taught, but instances were few and far in between.
"Either way, Layla knows something about the Ires, and whatever that may be, it's causing them to go after her," Blake said aloud, "It would be best to keep an eye on her or she might..." Her voice trailed off as she recalled the painful memory of her mother and the immense loss she felt. Blake fought off the tears as she calmed herself down to finally rest for the night.

Layla woke up early in her room and got ready to go to school the next day. Despite her body going through the motions of her usual morning routine, she couldn't help but feel her thoughts constantly turning towards Blake. The school's resident girl crush, Layla repeated in her mind, how is it that I never knew until last night? Layla wondered if it was something recent or old news. She was never good at keeping up with gossip she found to be uninteresting. She finished tidying up her uniform and headed towards the kitchen for a bit of breakfast when she heard Amber coming out of the room shortly after.
"Morning, Amber," Layla called out, focused on making breakfast.
"Morning love," Amber cooed back, making Layla laugh. They were close friends and this kind of thing was common between her and Amber. One would act flirtatious with the other, and it would usually be a test to see who could make the other flustered.
"Ready to get to school?" Amber asked as Layla passed her a plate of scrambled eggs and white rice with sausages. Layla placed her own plate across from Amber and the two calmly ate together.
"It's a lot better than Friday, I'll tell you that much," Layla replied during the meal, "School sounds more interesting now."
"I bet," Amber said, "But I was talking about meeting Blake. After all, there's a lot of girls who will be jealous of you for getting to know Blake that well. Imagine the rumors."
"Oh shut it," Layla playfully hit her best friend as Amber laughed.
"Oh and don't bother trying to hide it girl," Amber kept going, trying to control her laughter, "I know you were thinking about her. It's obvious. Don't worry though, it's normal."
"What do you mean by that?" Layla asked, slightly confused. Amber smiled in a very creepy manner which both terrified and intrigued Layla at the same time.
"You'll see once we get to school," Amber replied to her, retaining her expression as the two of them exited the dorms.

Cor Fortium High was buzzing with activity when Amber and Layla arrived. A large group of girls surrounded the front of the school around the school's center statue of the founder. At the center of the circle were two girls facing off, preparing to fight. The boys of the school were chatting a little further away, looking out for any of the school's staff.
"What's going on?" Layla asked no one in particular.
"Looks like a cat fight," Amber speculated as they got closer. The crowd began to look much bigger as they approached, noticing that the two girls were fighting over something in particular. In the middle was the gentleman of the school, Daniel. His usual pristine uniform was getting wrinkled as the two girls pulled on his sleeves mercilessly.
"Girls, calm down! Let's talk about this," Daniel was saying as Layla and Amber made their way towards the front of the crowd. From the murmurs of the crowd, it turns out that Daniel was apparently trying to help one of the girls (Amber called that one Shy Cutie) and the other girl (Layla named this one Prissy) began to bully Shy Cutie for it. Eventually it escalated as Prissy began to continue her attack on Shy Cutie while she was talking with Daniel and that's how the situation turned out. With both Shy Cutie and Prissy being rather perturbed, it was going to be hard to defuse the situation.
"What's going on here?" a low female voice called out. Layla let out a gasp as the rest of the crowd made way for Blake to walk through, adorning her male uniform with tie and everything. Her blazer was left unbuttoned and it fluttered as she approached the flustered Daniel.
"Blake! Good to see you!" Daniel greeted his friend with a half-smile, "Little help?"
"Depends, my good sir," Blake teased, amused of the situation he was in.
"Oh my god this is amazing!" Amber muttered furiously under her breath, "Cor Fortium's resident Gentleman and Ultimate Girl Crush at the same time! I'm blessed!" Layla couldn't help but to cover her slightly gaping mouth from seeing Blake. For a girl, Blake looked very handsome at that moment. I guess that's why she's called the Ultimate Girl Crush, Layla concluded in her mind.
"I don't think a girl like you should be so rude. Daniel was just trying to help her," Blake looked over towards Prissy as she said this, her voice sounding low and very enticing. Prissy swooned at the sound and immediately began apologizing to Shy Cutie out of respect as well as admiration for Blake. With the situation resolved, the crowd dispersed with excited whispers as Daniel went over to Blake and walked away while happily thanking Blake for helping.

This is going to be an interesting day, Layla thought to herself. With a sigh, she dragged a fangirling Amber to their classroom before the school bell rang for the start of school.