CHAPTER 51: Uppers and Lowers

"How long were you in The Senseless Coast?"

Alex gazed at Alistair inquisitively. "What do you mean by that question?"

"Exactly what I asked." Alistair replied smoothly. "How long were you inside?"

Alex shrugged his shoulders and hesitantly replied. "I don't know, anywhere from a month upward I guess."

Alistair nodded his head, after which he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Then that adds up with the amount of time I was there."

Alex suddenly recalled Alistair's earlier words causing his eyes to narrow. "Now that I think about it, how did you know the name The Senseless Coast?"

Alistair raised up a corner of his shirt and used it to wipe the lens of his glasses. "While you were trapped there, didn't you hear Instructor Cross's voice mention the name?"

Alex's eyes relaxed and he breathed out in relief. "Yes I heard it, I just wanted to confirm my suspicions."

"Ohhh," Alistair raised his glasses up to the moonlight. "And were those suspicions confirmed?"

"Yes," Alex turned and looked over the railing at the relatively calm sea. "Yes they were."

A silence settled between the two of them as they each got lost in their own distinct thoughts.

*SIGH*

As he studied the gentle swells of the waves, Alex suddenly sighed deeply. 'At least I know that I wasn't the only one trapped there.'

He turned away from the sea and looked around the deck. 'But the question is how many people were trapped there?'

Alex's gaze flew across the deck, studying the students' expressions. 'It can't be all of them.'

He then frowned as his eyes rested on the boisterous and carefree figures of Leon and his lackeys. 'Especially them. If they experienced even half of what I did, then they wouldn't have the energy to be acting like complete buffoons.'

Another sigh escaped from between Alex's lips as he shifted his attention to the other students. Yet, the more he viewed and observed, the deeper the frown etched across his face became.

'There is a difference in the emotional states of most of the people who are here.'

Alex made this intriguing observation shortly after he began people-watching. With every new face he gazed upon, a distinct expression emerged. However, Alex managed to categorize them into two broad groups.

'The first group I'll call the Uppers.' Alex thought as he looked around the deck. 'This group is mainly made up of people in the top hundred of the class ranking.' Alex then stroked his chin, contemplating. 'Although there are some students below hundred who are part of them. Regardless, these people have expressions ranging from passiveness and apathy to happiness and arrogance.'

His gaze then turned to the second group of people. 'I'll call the second group the Lowers because they are basically the opposite of the other types of students here.'

'If the first group's emotions are mainly positive, then this group is made up of only ugly and negative feelings.'

The differences between the two classifications of students were shockingly glaring and obvious at first glance.

The first group had an air of sophistication and prestige around themselves, as if they were accustomed to the finer things in life and had never known anything else. They were mainly gathered around one or two individuals, laughing and seemingly having a great time.

'Basically, they're silver spoon lords and ladies.' Alex scoffed and quickly turned his attention to the reverse scale, lest he fall ill.

Alex's reaction was an interesting one, as even though Alex was born as one of those 'lords' he seemingly didn't count himself as one anymore. But this didn't seem to concern him as he continued his inner, yet thoughtful, segregation.

Alex observed the second group for a few more seconds, before suddenly sighing. 'The difference is striking.'

And it really was.

Unlike the first group, hardly anyone in the second group exuded a particular air, and for the one who did, it was one of despair and suffering. Almost all of them were in different spots on the deck, seemingly trying to avoid and stay away from all other sentient beings.

Yet, the strangest and most disturbing thing about them was neither their aura nor their reclusiveness. Rather it was actually their frightfully haunted eyes.

This was the one thing everyone among the second group had in common. Some of them might have hidden it better than others. However, when Alex made eye contact, he could see that they had experienced some deep, scarring trauma. In fact, some of the mental scars they suffered were so bad that Alex could hear some people close to him try their very best to silently cry, but without much success.

Alex looked at the Uppers, then turned back to the Lowers. With every switch, the polarity between the two groups grew in his eyes. However, Alex suddenly realized something—what the actual, real difference between the Uppers and the Lowers was.

'How could I not have seen this before?' Alex smacked his head and marveled at his own stupidity. 'The real difference is in the factions we all belong to.'

He once again surveyed the two different groups, now separating them based on the factions they were members of.

After a few minutes, Alex looked away and closed his eyes. 'I was right. Everyone in the Uppers is from a major faction in Freestone, while the Lowers are either from a minor faction or they don't belong to any faction at all.'

Alex slowly opened his eyes and gazed tiredly around the deck. 'Why is it that those from major factions don't seem to have been scarred by The Senseless Coast? I don't want to believe that their mental toughness is so much higher than ours that something like what I went through doesn't affect them at all.'

*SIGH*

He leaned his head backwards and sighed heavily. "I don't want to believe it."

"Huh, what did you say?"

He slightly turned his head and found Alistair's eyes on him.

"Nothing." Alex replied. He then abruptly remembered something fairly important. "Oh yes, do you know where Agustin is?"

Alistair immediately turned away and looked far out to sea. "No, I haven't seen him since we left the train, so maybe the last time was about one month ago."

Alex abruptly gazed around the deck, thinking maybe he somehow missed him before.

When he didn't find him, his eyes went back to Alistair. "Did he maybe not get trapped like we did?

He spread one of his arms wide. "I mean, looking around just now, I realized that not everyone from our class is here. Maybe he's back at Freestone?"

Alistair shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Maybe. Or maybe he'll walk up that gangplank any moment now."

"Yeah." Alex had resumed looking around the deck. "Maybe, he wi..."

Suddenly, Alex stopped and instantly turned to look at Alistair. "Wait, what do you mean?"

Alistair rolled his eyes and grumpily answered. "Well since I came here, three people, including you, have walked up that gangplank."

Alex raised his hand up to pause Alistair. "So you're saying that more people might show up?"

Alistair sighed deeply. "No, what I'm saying is that more people will almost definitely show up."

Alex abruptly remembered the strange statement Leon had made about him being one of the last people.

'Could this be what he had meant?'

Alex pushed those speculative thoughts away and refocused on Alistair.

"What makes you say that?" he asked Alistair after regaining focus.

Alistair turned his head and stared sharply at Alex with his piercing eyes. "I'm getting tired of answering your questions. Isn't it time to give it a rest?"

Taken aback, Alex looked at Alistair with a shocked expression. "I didn't mean to piss you off. Okay, I'll back off."

Alistair grunted and raised his glasses before putting them up on his nose.

A silence descended between them, and for the next few minutes, Alex gazed thoughtfully at him from the corner of his eyes

'He's part of the Lowers.'

At first, Alex hadn't noticed this. Since he had seen Alistair again, he hadn't really looked into his eyes. However, once he did, Alex realized that, despite Alistair's attempt to put on a nonchalant expression, he couldn't fully hide the pained look in his eyes.

Seeing that even Alistair was negatively affected by his experiences in The Senseless Coast brought Alex a strange satisfaction

'But,' Alex thought, a sudden realization dawning on him, 'how about me, what group am I in?'

He stood up and leaned over the railing. Tens of meters below, too far in the current lighting conditions for him to see clearly, the gentle waves of the sea slightly swayed and rocked the ship, creating for a still and calm moment of self-reflection.

"If I could see into the water right now, what would be the look in my eyes?"

Inky black blood, sinking deeper, lungs tightening, chest constricting, AIR, NEED AIR.

A memory flashed in Alex's mind, causing him to grit his teeth and furrow his eyebrow.

'I have a feeling I know what would be reflected there.'