"Do you really have to go?," Allen asked, almost reaching his hand out to stop her.
"I'm sorry, Allen," Rose answered him, with an understanding smile on her face. Her smile almost turned into a frown, as she slowly realized this might be the last time she can see him for now.
"Time to go, Rose," William advised her, pointing to the carriage that was already ready to go. "No time to waste"
"Wait-," Allen reached out his arms, but his arms only felt the cold air in front of him.
"Until we meet again, Allen," Rose waved at Allen, as the carriage slowly drove away, into the darkness ahead.
"No!," Allen yelled, as he whipped his body forward, his arm outstretched. "Wait-"
Allen realized that he was no longer out in the fields of his hometown of Lyfast, but rather in a room he had become unfortunately familiar with within the past year.
"Oh," Allen sighed, as his arm fell to his legs, which were covered by the white blankets, as his body lay on a bed in the academy's infirmary room. "It was another dream again. But why now?"
"Allen, are you alright?," A voice asked from his right, a voice he was very familiar with.
"Alice?!," Allen asked, as his eyes widened. "Wait, aren't you supposed to-"
"Shh," she put a finger to her mouth, as she kept eye contact, her blue calm and collected eyes almost shining through her glasses. "Let me go get your friends"
"Hold on-," Allen tried to grab her shoulder to stop her, but she had already stood up and walked off. His arm quickly fell down to his legs again. He was immediately reminded again of his dream.
As the door to the infirmary quickly closed, Allen thought back to his dream. It was the day when Rose left his hometown, after the two years they had trained together. According to William at the time, she had to go back home to London, since her mother didn't want her there anymore.
"But why remember that again now?," Allen asked himself out loud. "And why did I forget about that in the first place?"
Some time after Allen's training with William, his memories of Rose had mysteriously vanished, letting it all feel like a dream to him. He didn't know who Rose Marion was, and when he reunited with her, he felt as though it was the first time he had met her.
"Why would I forget something so important to me?," Allen asked himself, as he tilted his head down. "Just what is Rose to me?"
Allen began to recall the new memories he had made with Rose. Her training him for his first duel with Nathaniel, her confessing his feelings for him during the training camp, the time with August at the banquet, and more.
He didn't really know how he felt about Rose, considering there were memories of her he had forgotten, and his friendship with her still felt new. Does he like her the same way she felt about him, or does he only see her as a good friend?
"That doesn't matter now I guess, with her mother practically controlling her every move," Allen sighed, as he examined the bandages across his body.
Well, I certainly took a beating from Nathaniel, Allen thought to himself. He tried to touch one of the bandages on his arm, but was immediately met with pain. Guess I should let them heal.
"Wait, did Alice speak in complete sentences for the first time?!," Allen suddenly raised his voice in the room, as he recalled Alice's words when he had woken up.
But before he could contemplate it further, the door to the infirmary suddenly opened up, and in came the rest of his friends.
"Allen!," they all shouted, practically forming a circle around his infirmary bed.
"Yes, guys, I'm fine! I'm okay!," Allen assured them, as he looked at each of them.
"Allen! I missed you!," Sarah shouted, as she put her arms around his body, which resulted in Allen feeling jolts of pain across his body.
"Sarah! You're going to crush me!," Allen said, as he pleaded to get her off of him.
"But I was so worried about you! You took so many hits from Nathaniel!," she explained, as worry spread throughout her expression.
"You can see I'm fine now! I just need to heal!," Allen responded, gesturing with his hands to the rest of his body.
"Alright. But be more careful next time!," she commanded, pointing a finger at him.
"Yes, I know!," Allen responded, putting his hands up. "Wait Sarah, weren't you Al-"
"Shhh!," she put a finger to her mouth again, and then backed up from his bed, letting the rest of his friends talk to him.
After all of his friends individually made sure Allen was alright, they began to discuss the events of Allen's duel against Nathaniel.
His friends all agreed that he did really well standing up to him, and he had finally defeated him, which was long overdue. Allen made sure to take a second to relish in his victory again, as he felt his previous angry and anxious feelings quickly go away.
"Oh, you should've seen Ellen after your duel, Allen," August brought up. "She was clearly furious with your victory, and practically stormed out of the arena. I thought it was pretty amusing, myself"
"Did she really do that?," Thomas asked, his face practically glowing with excitement. "I really wished I got to see that myself!"
"Well, maybe pay more attention, Thomas," Stephen shrugged. "At least I have the excuse that I was dragged out of there"
"I will have you know that I do pay attention!," Thomas declared, with a somewhat serious look on his face.
"Right, just like how you normally pay attention in class," Allen sarcastically said.
"Exactly!," Thomas responded, not picking up on Allen's sarcasm.
"Anyways, how was it Stephen?," August asked. "Getting to be personally dragged out of the arena by Ellen's lackeys?"
"Hmm, it was rather quick if I do say so myself," Stephen explained, with a hand on his chin in thought. "They could've been a lot gentler, though. I'd give it a C at best"
"What? Would you have preferred to have been escorted out by female magical knights instead?," August asked, teasing him.
"Oh definitely," Stephen answered, a mischievous grin forming on his face. "Would've been an instant A+"
"Stephen, you need help," Allen said, as he slapped a hand to his forehead.
"I have no idea what you mean," Stephen shrugged, pretending not to know what Allen meant.
"If Allen personally grabbed me by the arm, I would not be opposed to it!," Sarah excitedly said as she slowly inched closer to Allen. "In fact-"
"Yes, Sarah, we know," Stephen, Thomas and August all answered at the same time.
As the room erupted in their laughter, they finally changed topics.
Stephen and Thomas talked about their own duels, that happened after Allen's own duel. Stephen's duel went, with little to no difficulty. Thomas had a little bit of trouble in his duel, but in the end it wasn't anything he couldn't handle.
Cecily, however, hasn't had her duel yet, and she had news for everyone concerning her upcoming third duel.
"I recently found out that my opponent for my next duel has changed…," Cecily began to say.
"Do you know who it was changed to?," Thomas asked, curious.
"My opponent… has changed to Rose Marion…"
The room became completely silent for a moment, as everyone in the room took a second to process Cecily's words. Cecily would now be facing against Rose Marion, their Student Council President? When was this change made, and why?
"No doubt Ellen Marion's work… but why?," Stephen was the first to speak out loud, contemplating why the sudden change.
Everyone in the room remained silent, not having a good answer.
"It's no mere coincidence that this happened after Allen Fleming's duel against Nathaniel," August brought up. "With Allen only needing one more duel to pass his third condition, she might have another ulterior motive"
"But what would that have to do with Lily?," Thomas asked, puzzled. "Why would she put Rose up against Cecily all of a sudden?"
"Think about it," August crossed his arms. "Ellen Marion no doubt knows that the rest of you are assisting Allen. Out of all of us, Stephen, Thomas and Cecily are participating in the tournament, just like Allen. What if it's not just Allen that she has begun to target?"
Everyone took a moment to process August's words. It did make some logical sense. After all, you could consider them all of Allen's allies, and all do not approve of Ellen Marion as the head director. Out of everyone in the academy, them and the "Small Resistance" they are all a part of are Ellen's biggest threat.
"If she begins to remove the rest of us from the tournament using her best pawns, then no doubt she will have more leverage remaining as head director," August explained.
"Pawns?," Stephen raised his voice, getting a little annoyed. "You would call Rose a pawn?!"
"Hold on Stephen, I meant no harm," August put his arms up. "My main point is, anyone who is blind to her vicious tactics and remains loyal to her can be used as her 'pawns'. While I am not very acquainted with Rose, she is still dear to me as a friend. I didn't mean to offend"
"Sorry, I just got a little worked up," Stephen apologized, scratching the back of his head.
"Don't worry about it. Remember, we're all in this together," August gave him a friendly smile.
"Thanks," Stephen smiled back. "But back to the issue at hand. When did this all happen?"
"Just shortly after Allen's duel, of course," a voice came from the entrance to the infirmary.
"Mr. Garet?," all of them said at the same time.
Mr. Garet, their only current vice director, and Ms. Florence, Allen's teacher once again, both walked into the room.
"Apparently after Ellen left the arena, no doubt frustrated with Allen's duel results, she then went out of her way to change Cecily's upcoming duel. It's the only one she was able to adjust in time, as the rest of your duels have already been completed," Mr. Garet explained, taking a seat in the room.
"So, it's true that Ellen is behind it?," Thomas asked, as Mr. Garet relaxed his shoulders.
"Obviously," Mr. Garet answered as he rested his head on his arm. "Who else would have such authority to change it?"
"I suppose that's true…," Thomas answered, as he looked at the floor in thought.
"Anyways Fleming, I heard the news. Congrats on your victory against Nathaniel Rivertide," Mr. Garet gave him a nod. "Hope you heal well"
"Thanks…," Allen gave him a small glare, as he recalled that Mr. Garet was not present at all for his duel.
"Anyways, I suppose we should get to business," Ms. Florence finally spoke, directing their attention to the main topic.
While everyone in the room agreed that the sudden change to Cecily's opponent was a problem, they also agreed that there wouldn't be much they could do about it. Cecily would just have to try her best against Rose in hopes to defeat her, even if it will prove to be very difficult.
Cecily herself acknowledged the difficulty, as she is aware of the gap of her abilities to Rose. Like everyone else, she has trained closely with Rose and knows what she is capable of, both with her family's rapier, as well as her excellent magic skills. Regardless, she agreed she will try her best. After all, she hasn't been training hard for nothing, even if most of her time is spent studying.
With Cecily already being targeted, Mr. Garet agreed that Thomas and Stephen could be targeted too, with their opponents chosen for them. Especially with the stunt Stephen pulled during Allen's duel, there's no doubt in Mr. Garet's mind that Ellen will be resentful.
The only upside is that there can only be so many students that would follow Ellen blindly, and if the rest of them defeat them in their duels, then they won't have to worry about them further.
However throughout their discussion, Allen realized that Cecily's duel against Rose could prove to be a golden opportunity to them.
"If her opponent has already been changed to Rose, we can use that to our advantage," Allen brought up. "We could use this as a means to get Rose back to our side!"
"I like that idea," Stephen grinned, as the rest of them nodded in agreement.
"Rose may be heavily influenced by her mother, but deep down I know Rose is a strong individual," August explained, as he leaned back in his chair. "I'm sure in one way or another, Cecily can help get her back to us"
"If anyone can do it, it's definitely our Lily!," Thomas grinned, as Cecily's face went red and looked away from him.
"Hold on," Mr. Garet spoke up, clearing his throat.
"What's wrong?," Allen asked, knowing Mr. Garet had an issue with the matter.
"Yes, as I have stated before, getting Rose to our side will be crucial in our resistance against Ellen. However, our main focus will still be Fleming's fourth duel, since it will be the last duel he will need to win in order to qualify for his conditions"
"But-"
"However," Ms. Florence cut in. "Mr. Garet, I do hope you realize that since Allen's duel won't be happening until after Cecily's duel, we can at least direct our attention to Rose for a moment"
Mr. Garet sighed before speaking. "Fine. We can focus on Rose for a moment. But if our plans fail to reel her to our side, we immediately turn our attention back to Fleming"
As everyone got excited that they could use this opportunity to get Rose back to them, Allen still had worries of his own. With his third duel out of the way, he should be excited that he only has one more duel left until he passes his conditions. But, why did he have an uneasy feeling? Could Cecily's upcoming duel be connected?
As Allen contemplated the future of what could be coming, the rest of his friends and as well as his vice director and teacher left the room. Allen would need time to heal, and everyone eventually agreed that he would need time to himself in order to properly do so.
But after everyone was gone, and some time had passed, something was off in the room. It appeared that Allen was not the only person in the infirmary, and he didn't notice until now.
"Well well, Fleming. Healing well?," a voice asked from his left, all the way in the back of the room, near the window.
"Nathaniel Rivertide?!," Allen asked, eyes widened in complete surprise. Just what did he want now?
Volume 9 End