The bell rang, cutting off the drone of Mr. Adams' voice as he went on about the pre-nomadic trade routes. Ruben was already moving before the echo faded, his chair scraping loud enough to draw Corbin's glare.
"Toilets." he mouthed, jerking his thumb towards the door.
Corbin opened his mouth, probably to snipe something about Ruben's weak bladder, but he was distracted by someone who was trying to have a conversation with him.
Ruben didn't wait to hear any of it. He slipped into the hallway, the door clicking shut behind him like a lock turning.
The halls of St. Leontis pulsed with the chaotic rhythm of students set loose, laughter bouncing off marble, the squeak of sneakers, the low hum of a hundred overlapping conversations. Ruben moved through it like a ghost, his shoulders brushing lockers, his fingers trailing the cool metal just to feel something solid.
His skin was on fire.
Not the burn of sunlight or the scrape of knuckles after a fight. This was deep within him, hungrier, a thousand ants marching under his flesh, whispering in voices that sounded too much like his own.
He wasn't an addict. He managed to stay off it for a whole two weeks, no, he wasn't an addict. Addicts were people with no self-control, hollow-eyed husks nodding off on park benches. Ruben just needed… balance.
The world was too loud, too bright. Dario started training them too, simple drills. He called them naturals, but all the extra shit just went in one ear and out the other.
And now he…
There.
A scent cut through the sterile lemon of the school's cleaning products, the sweat and perfume stink of teenagers older and bigger than him. Something earthy, something sweet.
The sugary tang of gummies laced with it. His nose twitched. Since awakening his Ego, his senses had sharpened to what Dario said would be draconic levels. He had been gaining the traits of a dragon as his body went through changes. He could track the smell like a bloodhound.
He weaved through the older students crowding the halls, their voices were a meaningless buzz.
Left turn. Down the stairwell. Past the chemistry lab.
The scent led him to a classroom door just as it swung open, nearly bumping into someone. A boy stumbled out, all limbs and messy dark curls, his bag slung haphazardly over one shoulder. He smelled like unwashed hair, cheap cologne and beneath it all…
Bingo.
Ruben stepped into his path.
The boy blinked down at him, his lips pierced on the left side, twitching into a lazy smirk. "Whoa, watch it, first year."
Ruben didn't move. "You got a minute?"
The boy arched a brow. "Busy." He made to step around Ruben, but Ruben mirrored him, blocking his path again.
"I know what's in your bag," Ruben murmured, low enough that only the boy in front of him could hear it. He let the threat curl around the words like smoke.
The older boy's smirk didn't falter. If anything it widened.
Ruben expected hesitation, fear, maybe a hissed "Keep your voice down." not this… amusement, like Ruben had just walked into a trap.
Then he heard the boy laugh, soft and knowing. "Ego user huh? Smell it on me."
Ruben stiffened.
The boy introduced himself as Jarek Klein and he leaned in, his voice was then a whisper. "I Let You."
The abandoned music room was a tomb of what looked like forgotten instruments, a piano with yellowed keys, a cello missing two strings, dust thick enough to write in. Jarek kicked the door shut behind them, the lock clicking with finality.
"You're not the first summoner to sniff me out," he said, flopping onto the piano bench. "Had a girl last term who could taste emotions or something like that. Said my anxiety was 'salty'." He grinned, all crooked charm. "Freaky shit."
Ruben stayed standing, his arms crossed. "You're baiting Ego users?"
"Baiting is a strong word." Jarek unzipped his bag, revealing a stash of meticulously wrapped edibles and a small vial of something that glowed, a liquid gold so bright it seemed to pulse in the dim light. "I'm providing a service. Not my fault if the school's crawling with enhanced noses."
Ruben's gaze locked onto the vial. "What's that?"
Jarek's smile turned wolfish. "'Sunmilk'."
He held it up, the golden liquid swirling like molten sunlight. "One drop under the tongue, and you'll feel like a higher being's whispering dirty secrets in your veins. Euphoria. Clarity. Total emotional honesty, no filters, no lies, just truth burning through you." His voice dropped. "Even Ego users can't fight it. And that's the point."
Ruben's mouth went dry.
He'd smoked, popped pills, snorted crushed up ritalin too when he was desperate. But this… it sounded like what some LSD users spoke about when they took the drug.
"How much?"
Jarek's eyes gleamed. "For the edibles? Pocket change. For this?" he tapped the vial. "You may not have enough pocket money for it."
As if.
Dario was a wealthy man, he had started paying both Ruben and Corbin a weekly allowance as soon as he gave them their phones. Ruben pulled out his phone and offered a bank transfer.
Jarek filled in his details and the credits were transferred before he could even blink.
Jarek whistled. "Daddy's money?"
"None of your business."
Jarek laughed, tossing him the edibles and carefully handing him the vial. "Careful with the sunmilk, kid." He winked.
Ruben pocketed both, his fingers brushing the vial's warmth through the fabric.
Just one time.
Back in class, Corbin shot him a look that asked, Where the hell were you? But ruben just slumped into his seat, the edibles, he took two before leaving the music room.
He would just have to wait for the effects to kick in.
***
And wait is what he did.
He felt nothing.
Ruben never felt the drowsiness and calm that usually came from ingesting edibles. When they went out for lunch break, he didn't just take another, he ate the rest of the gummies. A pack of six, swallowed within the hour like a man starving. Two hours later, his nerves still buzzed, his skin still crawled, and the world refused to soften at the edges.
Fuck.
Across the cafeteria table, Corey Anton leaned forward, his dreads swaying as he gestured with a chicken wing. "So let me get this straight," he said, grinning. "You two just woke up here? No memories, no nothing?"
Corbin shrugged, picking at his food. "Pretty much."
"That's wild." Corey breathed, eyes bright. "Like something out of a comic. You don't remember anything?"
"Just small stuff." Ruben muttered. He kept his hands under the table, fingers tapping an uneven rhythm against his thigh. The vial in his pocket felt heavier by the second.
Elena Howard, small and quiet beside Corey, tilted her head. "Does it… scare you?" Her voice was soft, barely audible over the cafeteria din.
Corbin snorted. "What's there to be scared of? We're here now. That's what matters."
Ava Wolfe, wild red curls, eyes like shattered sapphires, leaned in, her bracelets clinking. "But you don't remember your families? Your homes?"
Ruben's jaw tightened. "No." At least he would like to forget some parts of it.
A beat of silence. Then Ava smiled, sudden and bright. "Well, you've got us now. St. Leontis looks after its own. That's what my dad says anyway." She nudged Elena, who nodded quickly.
"Yeah," Elena added, voice gaining strength. "And if you ever need help with schoolwork, I… I don't mind tutoring." She had a stutter, a shy stutter.
Corey whooped, slinging an arm over her shoulders. "Great. Always saving people from failing math."
Elena flushed, but she was smiling.
Ana Grigori, the violet-eyed girl seated across the table from Ruben, had been silent through the exchange, her sharp features schooled into careful neutrality. But as the conversation lulled, she spoke, her voice low and measured. "You're Ego users then."
It wasn't a question.
Corbin's razor thin smirk widened. "What gave it away?"
Ana didn't rise to the bait. "Well, randomly losing most of your memories and waking up in a hospital with no belongings or family to reach seems too out of the norm." Her gaze flickered to Ruben, assessing. "But hey, what can you do?"
Ruben opened his mouth…
The bell rang.
The hallway was a river of bodies, a current of chatter and shuffling feet. Ruben let himself be pulled along, his fingers deft as a pickpockets as he uncapped the vial beneath the cover of his bag. The Sunmilk glowed like the sun.
One breath.
Then he tipped it back.
The taste was like hot honey as it went down his throat. He chased it with the apple juice, the tartness clashing with the Sunmilk's surreal sweetness, the carton crumpling in his gulp in his grip as he drained it dry.
For three heartbeats… nothing.
But then…
His world imploded.
Ruben's bones dissolved. His skin became a sieve, and the world poured in, light, sound, feeling, like he'd been drowning his whole life only now remembered how to breathe. The hallway wasn't a hallway anymore, it was a cathedral of colour, every locker a stained glass window, every voice a choir.
Corbin's shoulder brushed his.
The impact was a shockwave being sent through him, a supernova of warmth blooming in his chest. He could feel Corbin, not just his presence, but the rough texture of his frustration, the jagged edges of his pride, it came from his scent.
Beautiful.
The thought wasn't his own. It was the Sunmilk, the drug, the God in his veins, whispering secrets against his spine.
Class blurred. Ana slid into the seat beside him, she sat beside Corbin but now Corbin was moved to the back of the class and she was moved beside him. He couldn't find it in him to think of why.
She turned to look at him with a semi incredulous look. Then she blushed, he couldn't tell why, she had been staring at not just him, but Corbin, teachers and other students with a grand mix of emotions.
Her ink-black hair was like a waterfall of shadows. Ruben wanted to reach out but he couldn't form a response to her once she asked what he was doing, he knew how weird it would be.
Adams' lecture on the post-strife economic recovery became a boring symphony. But every word was a calming note, every pause a rest, the rise and fall of his voice a melody ruben felt comfort drowning in. He focused on the voice, the scent of dark chocolate and burnt coffee came.
Time bent. Stretched. Snapped.
The bell rang again, but Ruben didn't move. Couldn't. The desk beneath his palms was alive, the grain of the wood pulsing like a heartbeat. The air smelled like rain and ozone.
He let out a small laugh, it was quiet. Soft, and giddy.
He could almost feel the phantom presence of Corbin, imagining what he'd be saying as he stared down at him. "What the hell's wrong with you?"
Corbin's eyes were like galaxies, supernovas. Like his power, it was so vast and held no limit in theory. He would leave Ruben behind, leave him in the dust. And he still felt like he could complain about 'holding him back' when they were attacked by Felix and Elise.
Ruben thought about his mother. Technically, she left him. He didn't blame her. But then again, could he? He was supposed to die with her. He just…
He pinched himself. His thoughts weren't going in the right place.
His anger for Corbin was misplaced. He could leave him behind but Ruben just had to do better.
The afternoon melted.
History became a tapestry Ruben couldn't touch, the dates, the names, all of it. Math was a drag but he wasn't bad at it, the different formula just spun his head. But still, there was no complaint. His mind and heart were calm.
Blissful. He was dying for this feeling.
The car ride home was a dream. He didn't even notice he got in one.
Dario's driver was a silent man with crows feet and a salt and pepper buzz cut. He greeted the two boys and didn't speak much, not even on Ruben's slack jaw, or half lidded eyes that he would just frame as drowsiness.
The man was sent since Dario said it would be best if he was not seen as their guardian.
Which was great, Ruben had no doubt that the old man would notice, so the longer it took to get to him the longer it would take for the high to wind down.
Corbin was loud though, so resting was a little hard. "You were weird today." he said, elbow digging into Ruben's ribs. "Like, weird weird. Some people thought you were sick."
Ruben hummed, watching the streetlights streak past the windows like comets. "M'fine."
Corbin scoffed. "Yeah sure. You spaced out for, like, three hours straight. Adams called on you twice, and you just smiled at him and pointed at the answers he would ask you to answer."
"Did I?"
"You're lucky he didn't send you to the nurse. Had to tell some fuckwad's you're just a mute to get 'em off us." Corbin leaned closer, "Seriously, what's up with you?"
Ruben turned his head, meeting Corbin's gaze. The Sunmilk painted halos around his pupils, turning his irises into molten amber. "Just tired," he lied.
Corbin held his stare for a long moment, then leaned back with a grunt. "Whatever. Just don't make it a habit. People will think you're a freak."
Ruben smiled, slow and secret. The world outside the window bleeding gold, the sunset felt like a living thing, a great beast breathing fire across the sky.
He felt great.