"Hey Al," Thomas leaned across his desk, whispering. "Do you have the notes from last week?"
"Yeah, I think so," Allen whispered back. "Did you lose yours?"
"Umm, maybe. Can you just please-"
But before he could finish his sentence, Cecily had immediately caught what Thomas was up to.
"Tom, do you mind explaining yourself?," Cecily grabbed the collar of his shirt from behind him.
"Uh, wait no- Lily- I-," Thomas started to say, before immediately being pulled towards Cecily.
"Well, I'll leave you guys to it," Allen shrugged as he got back to his own reading, ignoring the things Cecily started to say to Thomas with the class turning their attention to them.
Allen couldn't help but think back to his conversation with William, Rose and Stephen. With William suddenly gone for who knows what reasons, it left Allen with a bad taste in his mouth. He couldn't quite pin it out, but he knew something was off.
While William has always been secretive over the years, this was one thing that surprised Allen the most. For what reason could he need to take a personal leave of absence? What would bother him this much?
There was also that one time, Allen thought to himself, back when they had recently met Alice, and her other personality Sarah.
All of the current club members at the time, minus Alice, had faced William in a duel in order to take their club trip. The duel ended up in a draw, but only because William had made it that way.
In reality, only Rose and Allen saw what happened, and they kept it that way. The moment when Allen almost made William's glasses fall off. In almost a blink of an eye, he was across the room, with his hand on his glasses, almost to ensure they would not fall off again. Could this be somehow related to William gone?
Maybe I'm just overthinking things, Allen thought to himself, as he shook his head. We still got a bit going on today, so maybe William will advise us what's going on when he gets back… Maybe.
Allen gets back to going over his notes, with both Cecily and him trying to get Thomas to concentrate, when suddenly a large sound came from outside.
What was that?, Allen thought to himself, as it wasn't a subtle sound.
All the students in the classroom had suddenly gotten up and ran to the window to investigate the noise. Students started shoving each other so they could get a good look outside the window. After all, it wasn't everyday that something loud like that happened.
"Alright, alright, calm down everyone!," Mr. Lyon yelled, as he got out of his seat. "Probably some students' magic going haywire. The teachers will investigate"
Suddenly, there was another large sound, worse than the first one. The students began to push each other even more as they tried to find where it had come from.
Just what is going on?, Allen thought, finally deciding to get out of his chair.
"F-Fire mage!," one of the students close to the window finally yelled, pointing outside.
Suddenly, all the students in the room went into a panic. Some of them were screaming, while others were already frantically trying to figure out what to do.
"Hey! All of you sit down and calm down!," Mr. Lyon yelled, trying to get them to quiet down as he looked out the window to find out for himself.
Suddenly, another large sound came from outside, louder than the first two. This was the last straw, as all of the students in the room began to panic even worse, and all of them began to run outside of the classroom.
"Holy- I need to-," Mr. Lyon started to say, as his eyes widened in response to what he had seen outside. It appears the situation was as bad as it seemed.
"All of you back in the room while we figure this out!," Mr. Lyon yelled at the students, but it was no use. Most of them were already out of the room, with the rest following. Mr. Lyon could only sigh in response.
"You three," he pointed at Allen, Thomas and Cecily, who had remained in the room. "Stay in here and stay quiet. If anything happens, you are allowed to defend yourselves"
With one last concerned look on his face, he finally decided to leave the room, most likely reconvening with some other teachers while getting to the bottom of what's going on, while hopefully calming down the situation.
A fire mage?, Allen starts to think to himself. Or perhaps, more? Could this be related to that one day?
Allen thought back to the time where they were able to participate in the magical knight training program, with Philip Lycott and his squad member Jerome. On the last day, Allen had encountered a fire mage, although that fire mage wasn't the type to attack indiscriminately from what Allen could tell. Was this fire mage, or perhaps fire mages from another group of some sort?
"We need to get out of here!," Thomas yelled, looking at both Cecily and Allen.
"For once Tom, I agree with you," Cecily nodded her head. "I know what Mr. Lyon said, but if there is a fire mage, or fire mages, then staying here by ourselves is not safe"
"Cmon Al, we need to get moving!," Thomas raised his voice, trying to drag Allen out of his seat.
"What should I do…," Allen mumbled to himself, already conflicted with the situation. After all, he was a fire mage himself.
"Of course this happens while our head director is gone," Cecily sighed. "I doubt they would have had the guts to do this with a Windblade here"
"Honestly, agreed. We may also be a part of the powerful families, but we aren't as powerful," Thomas sighed. "Now Al, we need to move!"
"Alright, I will go with you guys," Allen told them, finally making his decision. After all, there was no guarantee these fire mages wouldn't hurt anyone. They were obviously here for a reason.
"Good! Let's move and make sure everyone else is safe!," Thomas nodded, leading the way out of their classroom.
As the three of them entered the hallway, they noticed a lot of the other students had run into the hallway from the other classrooms, all causing a commotion. They could see several teachers from other classrooms trying to get them in order, but it was no use.
More sounds began to come from outside, only getting worse with each passing second. This only began to make the students panic even more, making it increasingly more difficult for the teachers to figure out what was going on while they were trying to calm the students down.
"I hope the rest of our friends are okay," Thomas said, while looking around.
"I think they should all be fine. At least we know Adam, Sybil and Oliver are okay, as they are in the same class as us," Cecily pointed out.
"Where are they, anyways?," Thomas asked, looking around for them.
"I think I see them over there," Cecily pointed towards the crowd, where Mr. Lyon and other teachers were.
The three of them could see Adam, Sybil and Oliver helping the teachers in an attempt to calm the students down, but unfortunately it wasn't much use. A lot of the students also began to push through, as they tried to escape the academy building.
"I think we should leave this to the teachers," Cecily noted. "If there really are fire mages attacking the academy, we don't know how much use we would be. If anything, we may get in their way"
"Good point, Lily," Thomas agreed. "As much as I would like to help everyone, I don't know how well I would do against a fire mage, or multiple for that matter"
Well, you two are standing next to one right now, Allen thought to himself, but he decided to never say that out loud.
"Yeah, I think I'm going to agree with you two on this one as well," Allen nodded. "We still don't know what's going on, either"
"Yeah, another good point," Thomas agreed. "I think we should start by looking for any of our friends as we can, and stay close to the other teachers"
But just before they could start looking around for their other friends, a familiar voice came from outside of the academy building, screaming. It had sounded as though they were in danger, which only worried them more.
"Wait," Thomas started to say, "Wasn't that-"
I know that voice, even if it is a scream!, Allen thought to himself.
"Wait! Allen!," Thomas shouted, but it was no use. Allen was already running at full speed for the nearest window.
No time to think if my actions are right or wrong, I will help my friends if I can!, Allen thought, as he was already preparing air mana into his legs to allow himself to move faster out of the window.
Luckily, their classroom was on the first floor, as jumping outside from the second floor would have been a little harder to make sure he didn't hurt himself. After making his way outside of the window, he quickly looked around and found out where the voice was coming from.
"Dammit!," Rose yelled, holding her right arm with her left hand. "This stings!"
Rose, as well as a few other members of the student council, were forced to engage a few of the fire mages who had managed to get into the academy undetected. Luckily they were able to hold them off so far, but it didn't help they had knives with them, which one of them managed to catch Rose by surprise.
"Who the hell carries a knife!," Rose yelled, hoping to keep herself distracted from the pain.
"To be fair, you have a rapier Rose," one of her student council members pointed out.
"Okay, fair enough, but now is definitely not the best time!," she raised her voice, still trying to distract herself from the burning pain.
"What's going on here?!," Allen asked, finally arriving on the scene.
"Allen?!," Rose's eyes widened in shock. "What the hell are you doing here?! Get to safety with the rest of the students!"
"Sorry, but not sorry. I had to make sure you were okay!," Allen said, as he was already drawing his sword.
"Hmph, fine. Well as you can probably see, we have major issues in front of us!"
Rose pointed out to the three cloaked figures in front of them, all with knives in their hands, and red elemental circles ready to cast their fire magic at a moment's notice.
"Well, they weren't lying when they said fire mages," Allen sighed, as he had hoped it wasn't true.
"Well, now's not the time to be dwelling on it! If you're already here, you may as well assist us!," Rose said, as she finally moved her hand off of her arm. She had to ignore the pain, as there were more pressing matters in front of them.
"I agree with you!," Allen nodded, with a grin on his face. The two of them both had their swords drawn, aimed at the figures in front of them.
Allen, Rose, and the rest of the student council members with them began to keep the fire mages at bay as best as they could. While Rose and a few other of the members were water mages, which meant they had an advantage over the fire mages, it didn't mean too much if the fire mages had more experience in a fight.
As fire magic has been banned, and any fire mages found out were killed on the spot, it made complete sense that the fire mages were holding their own against them. This fight was nothing like they have dealt with before, and if they were not careful, it could result in their own deaths.
"When will the magical knights arrive?," one of the student council members asked out loud, as they were assisting Rose.
"I don't know, but last I heard they were already on their way!," Rose replied, while in the middle of keeping one of the fire mages at bay. "We just need to hold these three off while we wait for a teacher or someone to help us!"
While things remained difficult for all of them, at least Allen was able to keep them at bay the most with his sword. The fire mages completely did not expect his sword capable of cutting through their magic, which allowed Allen to keep them from casting their fire magic relentlessly. The most they had to worry about now was the fact they were armed with knives, which most mages did not have experience fighting against.
Just as they began to gain an edge in their defense against them, suddenly several more clocked fire mages showed up, surrounding all of them.
"Shit!," Rose yelled, already exhausted from before, and still trying to distract herself from the pain of the cut she had gotten before.
"How? How are there more of them?," One of the student council members asked, beginning to become worried.
"I don't know how many of them are there, but the more here, the better," Rose pointed out. "We have no idea how many others are roaming around the academy, and potentially hurting other students. At least if we see them here, we can prevent them from doing more damage!"
"Well said, President," one of them nodded.
"Alright everyone! Let's back up our student council president!," another one raised their voice.
The rest of them agreed, forming a more defensive circle to watch each other's backs.
Well, have to hand it to the student council, and Rose herself for this one, Allen couldn't help but admire their efforts.
However, even Allen wasn't an idiot, and knew the situation in front of them had become even more dire with more of them here. There was no guarantee any of them would get out of here unscathed, but yet here they were, going to do their best despite the odds.
But, he knew deep down that their efforts now weren't going to be enough. He hated that more than anything, to be weak against someone else, but he wasn't going to go down either without a fight.
But, if I can do something that can prevent everyone getting injured, then I will do it, Allen thought to himself, as he formulated a dangerous plan in his head.
"Rose!," Allen shouted. "I am going to need you to do me a huge favor!"
"Whatever it is, if it can stop these fire mages, I am all for it!," Rose yelled, keeping her eye on them as they slowly advanced towards them.
Well, here goes. Hopefully she doesn't get too mad, Allen awkwardly smiled.
"Rose, I need you to cast as much magic as you can, and send it at me!," Allen commanded.
"Wait what?," Rose asked, immediately caught off guard. "You can't be serious, can you?"
"I am completely serious. Do you want to take them down, or what?"
"I- hmph. Fine! I am trusting you on this, Allen!," Rose responded back, with a look on her face that Allen was dead if he messed up. Which technically could be true if they didn't get out of here safe, but now would not be a good time to mention that.
"Alright everyone, get ready!," Rose commanded. "I am going to need everyone to trust Allen on this, since we need to wrap this up quickly and regroup with everyone else!"
The rest of the student council members started to make space as Rose began to prepare her spell. The fire mages that were slowly closing in on them seemed to stop, either because they were cautious of what was about to happen, or perhaps thought their actions were futile against them. Whichever was the case, Allen was glad they had time regardless.
"Alright Allen, one powerful spell, as requested!," Rose announced, as she faced him.
Alright, here goes, Allen thought, getting ready to cut through her spell. I may only get one chance with this, so I will have to make it worth it!
Rose finally cast her spell from her water elemental circle, sending all of her magic towards Allen almost at full speed. Allen prepared his sword, ready to take all of what she had just thrown at him.
In just mere seconds, Allen managed to cut through all of Rose's spell, taking no damage. The spell had already dissipated as the rest of the student council members were awed in surprise at what they had just witnessed.
This is it, Allen thought. All of her magic has now been absorbed into my sword. Let's see if this crazy plan works out!
Just as the fire mages seemed to take in what they just saw and chose to continue their assault on them, Allen already prepared what he wanted to throw at them.
"Alright everyone, I need you all to duck!," Allen yelled, as he prepared his sword.
All of the student council members listened without question, and immediately ducked for what would follow. They had no idea what was going to happen, but if their student council president trusted Allen, they had to as well.
"Hey you fire mages! Take all of this, my courtesy!," Allen yelled, as he swung his sword. "Magical release!"
Just as he finished swinging his sword, all of the magic that his sword managed to absorb from Rose's initial spell had suddenly come from the blade, in a horizontal arc. The water magic had in mere seconds reached all of the fire mages surrounding them, causing them all to be flung back at high speeds, crashing down on the grassy floor surrounding them.
"Allen, you did it!," Rose cheered, as they all confirmed the fire mages had stopped moving, and were most likely unconscious.
"I'm glad," Allen managed to make out, before falling to the grassy floor, doing his best to keep himself conscious.
Just as everyone remained confused but glad about what happened, Rose had rushed to Allen's side to make sure he was okay.
"Hey, are you okay? What did you just do?," Rose asked, a worried look on her face.
"I- I'm fine," Allen managed to say, catching his breath. "Most of my strength is gone, but I should be fine"
"Hmph, well you obviously aren't fine you idiot," Rose had an annoyed look on your face. "This is the same stunt you pulled in your duel against Charles, isn't it?"
"Caught red handed," Allen shrugged. He knew he wouldn't be able to get past Rose with this one. After all, she was the one he had the discussion about his sword's ability he recently discovered.
"Ugh, you idiot. Whatever, I'm just glad you're safe," she said, before immediately hugging him.
"Rose- I-"
"Shut up," she warned him.
"A-Alright"
As Allen sat there dumbfounded and trying to remain awake, the rest of the student council members looked over in both confusion, and perhaps some embarrassment too.
"I- Oh-," Rose immediately stopped hugging him after she noticed all the eyes on her, and then cleared her throat. "Pretend you did not see that just now"
No complaints came from the student council, which meant more than likely what just happened wouldn't be spread throughout the academy. Hopefully.
After some short time later, the magical knights had finally arrived to handle the situation. It seemed that the situation wasn't as dire as Allen had thought, as they seemed to quickly clear through the academy and take control of the situation.
But what surprised Allen the most, was not the fire mages nor the magical knights finally arriving. No, it was a familiar face, one he happened to see everyday but thought nothing much of.
"I presume you all are the student council?," a boy wearing a water uniform, with a silver "2F" pin on his shirt, had asked all of them.
"Wait, who are you?," Rose asked, suddenly standing up.
" I am Nicholas with the Magical Knights. I'll need you all to come with me, after we get Allen here to the infirmary with the rest of the injured"
"Wait what?," Rose asked, immediately confused. "I haven't heard anything about this-"
"He's with us," a nearby magical knight approached them, confirming. "He's been at this academy for covert missions, but he's needed now with the fire mage attack that just happened"
"No way," Rose's eyes widened in surprise.
You're surprised?!, Allen thought to himself. I saw that dude for almost half a year in my class! I should be the one surprised!
The magical knight in front of them wearing their academy's water uniform had been in their F ranked class, before Allen became a D rank with his friends. Allen remembered he always had a seat near the windows, and always seemed bored out of his mind in the classroom. Allen could barely comprehend what he had just learned.
"Regardless, we will be getting this situation under control. I only ask for your cooperation," he looked at all of the student council members.
All of them looked to Rose for an answer.
"Alright, we of course will cooperate," Rose nodded.
"Thank you. But for now, I think you should get him to the infirmary now," Nicholas advised them, looking over at Allen. "He looks like he's about to pass out any second"
What do you mean pass out?, Allen thought. I am just fine-
And just like that, the exhaustion Allen was fighting before finally caught up to him, and he had immediately passed out.
"Dammit, not again," Allen managed to make out, before his head fell down on the grassy floor.