The next day, Cody contacted Gus' number to tell him that he couldn't accept his apprenticeship offer. As bummed as Gus was, he understood and told him he hoped that Cody and Tilly would be great friends. After the phone call, he went on with his day and the days after that and even reminded himself every morning to take his pills. As time passed, Cody would spend his time studying and training to the point where he got good enough grades. He would even help Milo or his classmates whenever they struggled with a topic in Mr. Kim's class. Because of his reliability, Cody became popular among his classmates, even though the attention continued to make him uncomfortable.
Cody would also spend his free time with Milo, whether watching a movie or jogging with Evan. But if Milo wasn't available, he would hang out with Squad Nanami. By hanging out with his squad members, Cody discovered more about them. He learned that Lynn's father, who she hadn't seen in years after being scouted by DEA, owned a bakery and she had memorized his chocolate chip cookie recipe. He discovered this when he helped her bake a batch of cookies for Tilly when they were going to see her.
"Lynn, do you miss your dad?" Cody asked as the brunette looked up from her mixing bowl.
"I do think about him a lot, yes," Lynn replied. "During my early days of training, there were moments when I felt homesick."
"Homesick?" Cody raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she meant.
"I wanted to go home," she explained. "A part of me desired to be back in my dad's arms, but I was constantly told that my place was within DEA's custody."
"You must have been sad to hear that." He furrowed his eyebrows as he felt sorry for her.
"I was." Lynn looked back down at her mixing bowl with a face of sorrow.
After a brief pause, Cody asked, "I'm sorry for changing the subject, but what's your ability?"
"Huh?" Lynn looked back at the dark-haired boy before she grinned again and answered, "Oh, my ability allows me to see the near future. That was how I knew Hawk Tower was going to collapse that day.
"I see." Cody nodded, for he understood. "But I didn't see you fighting one of those Worm Eldritch with Pearl and Tilly. What was that about?" he asked.
"Uh, how do I explain this?" she muttered to herself before replying, "My power doesn't give me any combat abilities, so I'm required to keep my distance from battle so I could fight from afar instead. For that, I was trained to be a sniper."
"Oh."
"Yeah." Lynn nodded. But then, she pepped up and said, "Anyway, let's get back to work! We got cookies to make for Tilly!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Cody did a salute.
Speaking of Tilly, when Cody visited her at the hospital again, he found out that she loves collecting stuffed animals, which explains why she got excited when her father gave her that stuffed bunny. He even learned what her ability was, which was to jump at extraordinary heights. Tilly also told Cody that she was in an amateur all-female rock band called Bubblegum Devil, in which she is the lead singer. When she wasn't training and had too much free time, she would go to band practice and hang out with her fellow band members. Cody was even shown a video of Tilly practicing with her band in what appeared to be the interior of a shed. As he watched, he smiled and nodded, impressed and in awe at what he saw.
"Hey, Cody," Tilly said as soon as the video ended. "Can I tell you something?"
"What is it?" Cody asked, tilting his head.
"When the war between humans and Eldritch finally ends, I want to become a rock star."
"Oh?"
Tilly chuckled, "Yeah, you heard right! Being a Slayer is cool and all, but I want to pursue a music career in the future. When the battle ends and DEA is no longer needed, I will get Pink Devil out there! My band will perform at many music fests, gain plenty of fans, and if we get popular enough, we will get our first concert! Pink Devil will be as big as every superstar in the world!"
Cody smiled and said, "That's great. I'll be rooting for you."
"Really?" Tilly beamed as she got a nod. Then, she cheered, "Yay! I'll give you and the others free backstage passes if you come to our future concert!"
"Only if you stay alive to make it happen."
"Deal!" Tilly nodded and gave him a wink.
When Cody hung out with Pearl, he found out plenty about her than he did with Lynn and Tilly. The first thing he found out was that Pearl had a dorm to herself, which was located behind the boys' and girls' dormitory. Next, Pearl told him that she collected rocks. When he saw Pearl's rock collection, he saw each of them varying in countless shapes and sizes; they were placed in shoeboxes labeled with areas where she found them such as forests, beaches, and even the park. Pearl even showed Cody a beautiful rock called a geode, which had a crystal interior. Then, he learned about Pearl's ability, which made her turn anything she looked at into stone. But her powers were one of those abilities that were always active, just like Terry's, so she is required to wear a blindfold to prevent turning other people into stone.
"How come I've never seen you use your ability when we were at Hawk Tower?" Cody asked out of curiosity.
Sitting on her bed, Pearl pulled her knees to her chest and looked down at her feet. "I'd rather not use it, to tell you the truth," she answered in a quiet voice. "If I do, I might slip up and someone would become stone because of me."
"Has it happened before?"
"I'd rather not say." Pearl turned her gaze away from Cody.
"That's alright." He nodded before turning back to the white-haired girl's rock boxes. Upon examining each box, he noticed the ones with unnatural and vivid colors. Looking back at her, he pointed at the colorful rocks and said, "The colored ones, did you do something to them?"
"I painted them, yeah."
"You paint your rocks?" Cody's eyes went wide with surprise.
"Yeah. I even put glitter on them. Most of the time, I either put paint or glitter on them when I get bored."
"Is it fun?" Cody asked.
"Fun, and therapeutic." Pearl suddenly did something Cody hadn't seen her do before: she grinned. "That's how I see it."
"That's good to hear." Cody smiled as well.
Cody even started spending time with Lucien as well. As promised, he began to help him become a better person for those around him. One day, they were on the second floor of the school, walking down the hallway when they encountered Nora. She left the student council office and was on her way to the headmaster's office to request more pencils and printer paper as the council was running low on them. For this, Cody offered to head to the headmaster's office to appeal for her.
"You want to help me get more supplies?" Nora asked as she received a nod.
"Yeah, I want to help my fellow students in any way I can." Cody turned to look at Lucien. "Lucien will help you out, too."
"Huh?" Lucien furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at the freshman.
"Lucien Nanami?" Skeptical, Nora raised an eyebrow and pointed at the senior. "Him?"
"Uh... I..." Lucien awkwardly winced, turning his gaze away from the student council president. Then, he put his hand on Cody's shoulder and whispered, "Cody, a word please."
With that, the boys turned away from Nora and huddled together.
"Is something wrong, Lucien?" Cody whispered.
"Well, I..." Lucien trailed off for a little bit before he continued, "It's just that for as long as I've been in DEA's system, I've been nothing but an outcast. I have done horrible things to everyone around me just so I could look like a bigger person, but now, I see I've been a jerk all along. I don't know if I'm worthy of having someone's trust at all."
Cody frowned as he listened. He knew that Lucien caused trouble among other students and Slayers, and now his squad leader was beginning to see the consequences of his wrong-doings. Lucien did all of that just to mask his own insecurities and become a force to be reckoned with. But now that Cody opened his eyes to the point of view of everyone else, he decided that enough was enough. Lucien wanted to change for the sake of the people he knew, but he was unsure if everyone was willing to give him a chance. At least, that's what Cody was seeing.
"I understand you want to help me become better, but you just can't get someone's trust so easily," Lucien continued. "I do want to change, but I know that not everyone is going to forgive me and want my help, not even Nora Patel."
Cody furrowed his eyebrows as he frowned even more. But then, he said, "Even if not everyone forgives you, it's never too late to change."
"What?" Lucien's eyes went wide.
"It's a phrase that was told by a friend I had when I was living in my hometown," Cody explained. "He told me that everyone makes mistakes, and we learn from them so they won't happen again. My friend even told me that we all deserve a chance, even if others think otherwise."
"I want to be a better person."
"Then, let's help Nora get more supplies. That's a good way to start, right?"
Lucien nodded and said, "I suppose you're right. Let's do it."
Meanwhile, Nora raised an eyebrow at the boys and said, "Uh, guys?" With that, they turned around to look back at her.
Lucien stepped up to the student council president, scratching the back of his neck. "Uh, Nora, Cody and I will go to Headmaster Xander's office to request more paper and pencils for you."
Nora narrowed her eyes at the eyepatch boy and crossed her arms, unconvinced.
With a sigh, Lucien continued, "Look, I know I don't have the best reputation and what I've done caused all the other trainees to avoid me, but like Cody, I want to help you. I'm not asking for you to like me right now or ever. I just want to be more reliable not just for my squad, but for everyone."
Nora squinted her eyes at the senior, making him nervous as he waited for a response. But then, she let out a huff and said, "Fine. Just this once, Nanami. And just so you know, that aura of yours can't be hidden from someone like me." She turned to Cody next. "That goes for you too, Cody Byrd."
"Right." Lucien nodded. Beside him, Cody became confused.
"I take my leave now." Nora turned around and walked the other way until she was no longer seen.
As she disappeared, Cody turned to his squad leader and asked, "What does she mean by that?"
"'Take my leave' or aura?" Lucien replied.
"Uh, both."
"When someone says they'll take their leave, they're basically saying goodbye," Lucien explained.
"Oh." Cody nodded. "And aura?"
"Nora's ability allows her to read the aura of every living thing around her. When she looks at a person, animal, or even a plant, she can see something about them that no one else can. She's able to see them with her third eye."
"Third eye? Nora has two eyes."
With a huff, Lucien pointed at the area between his eyebrows and clarified, "I mean that little green dot between her eyebrows."
"That's what it was?!" Cody exclaimed before turning to the direction Nora went. As he thought about her ability, he couldn't help but wonder, "Do you know about this because she's in night training, too?"
"Oh, yeah." Lucien nodded and crossed his arms. "I found out when she started night training. She told me herself, but we haven't interacted more after that," he added.
Cody hummed. But then, his eyes went wide and he gasped as he kept thinking about Nora's ability. The power to sense aura must be useful for finding unusual things, so catching any hidden Eldritch wouldn't be a problem for her. As Cody thought about this, he began to freak out, fearing that Nora suspected him of being a Turned Eldritch from the moment they met. It must have been why she approached him when he began night training. If that was true, then Nora might tell someone whether it be a teacher or another Slayer of her suspicions of him. The idea of it shook Cody to his core, and he didn't know what to do with this feeling of anxiety slowly rising within him.
Beside him, Lucien was staring at the freshman with concern, seeing him tremble while he stood in silence. He was about to put his hand on his shoulder when he heard the speakers blare; the sound was enough to snap Cody out of his trance. As the boys looked up at the speakers, Xander's voice was heard from them.
"Squad Nanami, please come to the headmaster's office immediately. You have been assigned a mission."