Chapter Text
Damian never thought that he'd be looking up at Anya Forger receiving her eighth Stella Star and being inducted as an Imperial Scholar. He also never thought that it would be because of him.
What's worse, he wasn't quite sure if he should be grateful, angry, or flabbergasted. As he stood there at the assembly, giving his lukewarm applause and ignoring the jabs to his ribs from Becky Blackbell who accused him of being an ingrate ("you're just mad because she became an Imperial Scholar before you!"), he stared hard at Anya and tried to speak to her from 50 meters away.
Forger! he thought loudly (shouted?), seeing if she reacted.
Before you think he's insane, he did, in fact, have a legitimate reason to think that she could hear what he was thinking. And if that were the case, then the whole reason she was becoming an Imperial Scholar was because she saved him by reading his mind.
It started out like this: that day, Damian had decided that after class finished, he would go for a walk around the campus to Stella Lake by himself. That day, Emile and Ewen had gone home to visit their parents, so he thought it'd be best to explore nature on his own. After making fun of Anya, who had to stay after class by herself for some remedial lessons, they'd all parted ways, and he started towards Stella Lake.
While it was generally discouraged for Eden students to wander willy-nilly, he knew his way around the campus pretty well, especially after hanging out with Mr. Green. He was confident that he could easily make his way through. It also wasn't like he was leaving Eden's campus, so he had just assumed that it would be safe.
What he didn't expect was for someone to kidnap him right as he entered the woods. The man grabbed him by his mouth and locked him into a chokehold. Damian, being only a child, was no match despite struggling with all of his might. Moments later, the man had tied him up, thrown a sack over his head, and thrown him into the trunk of a car.
Panic had flooded Damian's mind. Help! Someone help! Damian had thought, his mind thundering with the prayer that someone, someone would come to him. But it was no use. He heard the engine start, and he was losing consciousness. Please… someone get me out of this car! Help me! was all he could think before he felt the darkness starting to creep over him…
And then the next moment, he felt the car come to a screeching halt. There were sirens, and the man got out of the car. In another minute, the trunk of the car opened, and the sack was lifted off of Damian's head. The first thing he saw when he opened his eyes was Anya Forger, peering over him.
"I heard you calling, Sy-on boy!" Anya had exclaimed, and grabbed him by the shoulders. She reached around his head and undid the gag. "I'm so glad you're alive! You were going to black out…"
Apparently, what had happened was that this new recruit on the logistics team at Eden Academy was actually a part of a shady organization trying to coerce the Desmond Group into a risky business deal. After negotiations had failed, they'd sent someone to try to kidnap Damian for ransom.
Because of this incident, the teachers had very happily awarded Anya Forger a Stella Star for saving one of their most esteemed students. But while Damian was grudgingly grateful, he was puzzled how no one seemed to question how she figured out where he was. And plus, how could she have heard him calling when he was gagged? And how did she know that he was about to black out?
According to the teacher, Anya had sprung up suddenly from her chair and proclaimed, "Sy-on boy is in trouble!" She had rushed down the stairs to one of the lots in the back building, not too far from where they were. She stated that she'd seen the man from the parking lot. However, Damian had gone back to double check. The part of the forest where he had been walking was too far in the back. The parking lot also wasn't visible, and even if it had been visible, how did she know which car he was in?
He supposed that the teachers just assumed that he had been kidnapped from inside where Anya could have seen him. He would have almost just forgotten the weirdly on-point comments and just believed that for himself if, after he had gotten out of the car, he hadn't thought to himself, Forger, thank you, and her eyes had widened with surprise and she muttered, "You're welcome, Sy-on boy."
Maybe he'd been reading too much science fiction comics. But it just seemed straight up weird to him that she somehow just knew. And past incidents seemed to align with it, too - the handkerchief, the game of Old Maid, her repeating the thoughts in his head when the teacher woke her up suddenly in class…
"...Thus, congratulations again and a very warm welcome, Anya Forger, to the Hall of Imperial Scholars at Eden Academy!" Henderson announced into the mic, prompting all of the students of Eden to erupt in another round of applause.
Becky was practically sobbing with pride. Ewen and Emile were making some encouraging comments or another to Damian, telling him that he was so close and deserved a Star too.
But Damian gave them very little reaction. His gaze was dead set on Anya, and from the middle of the crowd, he thought with all of his might.
Anya Forger!
Then he saw it. On stage, she flinched, looked around, and finally found his gaze in the crowd. Her eyes were wide, and she was looking paler than usual.
He held her eye contact. Anya Forger. You can hear me, right? You can read minds, right?
He saw her gulp, ball her fists, and then rip her gaze away from him, staring way above his head, clearly now not daring to look anyone in the eye, and especially not him.
Congratulations, Forger. He continued clapping for her. He'd always known she was out of the ordinary, but he thought he'd been crazy. Now he realized he had a truly... special rival. Now that I've figured out your secret, I'm going to prove that it's true.