Chapter 4
It was a rough 2 months of sleepless nights, all nighters and cram sessions. Daxom could feel the lack of sleep weighing on his body, combined with the physical training, Daxom felt fatigue in gratuitous proportions. As a Guardian one must be ready for any intense physical conditions, but they must also be smart and resourceful under any pressure they may encounter. Under normal conditions Daxom had no problem with the physical strain, his father had been training him for years knowing he would be accepted to the academy, however his mental acuity was a bit behind his class mates. However, today, all his efforts to bring up his grades in his studies were catching up to him.
"TYRELL! GET A MOVE ON!" Yell the training coach. Daxom had been losing ground on everyone while maintaining a consistent pace in his running. As he was passed by another student the discouragement was very visible on his face. He ran a few more miles when out of the blue he saw Elle at the side of the trail, as he approached closer she began to fade and he started to realize that is was his imagination and that maybe he was just that exhausted. A short distance later he looked up and saw Elle again, but again she faded as he got closer, he was beginning to wonder if he was going insane and thought about stopping to see if it would stop.The next time he saw Elle she was running with him, this time she didn't disappear. "El, how are you doing this?" "We are learning how to astral project in class, isn't that neat?"Daxom keep running at a steady pace but also felt invigorated by her presence and began to gain speed. Daxom was always so happy to see Elle and he always felt energized around her.
After his run Daxom was coming out of he shower area to the locker room and he heard some whispers, he stopped right before the walkway and listened, "So these are the answers to the test answers tomorrow?" Daxom couldn't tell who was talking but kept listening, "You dare questions my integrity?" Daxoms eyes opened wide in surprise when he heard Conners voice, "My father has his connections with the Academy board, but you are sworn to secrecy about this, you tell anyone and it will be the end of your family and their livelihoods." Daxom took note of Conners deceitful nature and planned to turn him in to the headmaster when suddenly he became aware of someone behind him. A very large Cancerian stood behind Daxom with his claws crossed, "Can I help you?" Then suddenly Daxom found a huge Cancerian claw around his throat and he was being dragged to the person he was eavesdropping on.
Being thrown to the stone floor, a loud thud and a dazed look on his face, Daxoms' eyes had a hard time focusing on the figure in front of him after hitting his head on the floor. Images were slowly coming back into focus as he heard multiple people speaking. "Look who I found listening in around the corner." Said the massive Cancerian who threw Daxom to the floor. "Daxom Tyrell, what a pleasure it is to meet you." Daxom strained his eyes to force them to focus, the light around the figure revealed a silhouette at first that he could make out as a Scorpio. "How much did he hear?" Said the silhouette, "Not sure your grace." It suddenly hit Daxom at who the figure was, the Cancerians had discovered one of the Kings cousins had a son who was chosen to be a Caster, also one of the kings guards was chosen as a guardian and decreed that both of them would come to the academy, having strict instructions to guard the Lords son while at the academy. "Your Grace huh? When did nobility need to cheat?…Lord Grey." Not surprised at his intel, Alister Grey looked down on Daxom with a look of unparalleled delight, "Daxom Tyrell, I should have known it was you. The Tyrell family has always been the urchin shine in the side of out family." Daxom pulled himself to his knees and then eventually to his feet, gaining his balance slowly, "Why would such aa prominent family need to cheat to get through the academy?" A small snicker fell Alisters' mouth which quickly turned into a hardy laugh, "Do you really think I need to cheat to get through these lessons? You are so narrow minded for a Libra." Daxom remembered something his father mentioned about this family, "The Grey family always operates outside the norm. What they want people to see is often not what it appears." As Daxom starred off thinking about what his real intentions could be Elle appeared in front of him, "I'm not really here I'm Astral Projecting, I was worried when Axel said you weren't back at the dorm yet. Are you aright?" Daxom gave Elle a wink followed by and quick blink of his eyes to throw off Alister. Quickly tugging and rubbing his right ear was a sign for Elle to listen carefully that she recognized and started listening to his conversation."So let me take a stab at this Grey, you obtained the test answers, not to give them to someone or use them yourself, but to frame someone, am I right?" Alister had circled around him as he spoke and quickly did a double take in surprise. "Very good Mr Tyrell, so you're not as slow as I thought. Yes, it was my plan to get a few of the houses disqualified from the tournament to help minimize the competition. But now I have the ultimate decision to make, do I follow through with my plans and just keep you hidden until then? Or do I change my plans and try plan B? Hmmm decisions, decisions." Elle had grabbed a sheet of parchment and quill and started writing down everything she was hearing and while Alister wasn't paying attention during his reveal Daxom ran his right hand across his forehead so Elle would know what he was about to say was playing alone and not real. "Why change your plan? We all know Chimera house doesn't stand a chance in this tournament. I wont make the grades in time for us to compete and the rest of the house wont compete unless I make the grade, so you can minimize your competition without worry from us." Alister walked back around while he spoke with a look of wonder on his face. "Daxom Tyrell, are you telling me you actually willing to forfeit your spot in the tournament on purpose?" With a smile on his face Daxom nodded yes. Alister leaned toward Daxom and whispered in his ear, "Do you really think I'm going to believe such a goody goody like you?" Daxom whispered back playfully, "No." as he finished trucked his shoulder forward, pushing Alister over and onto the floor as he ran as fast as he could toward the locker room exit. Once Alister registered what happened he looked at his guard and shouted "AFTER HIM!"
Making his way trough the halls and corridors Daxom knew we would be able to out run a Cancerian, 4 legs always out run 2, so he had to outsmart him, but it wouldn't be easy, the one chasing him was a professional Royal Guard. Misdirection was going to need to be what he used, he spotted hedge on the other side of the wall he was running next to, so he decided to stay that side of the wall as he ran the guard in circles around a opening, when he was out of site he threw his towel behind the bush so it would appear he was hiding in the foliage and the quickly dodged in through a door cross from the bushes to go the opposite direction. However doing so would leave Daxom naked, but at least he could run faster without the towel. As he ran through the door h was met with a couple professors who he acknowledged no ran past without stopping, the professors looked over in shock as the guard leaped over the hedge and down onto the towel. Disappointed the he was fooled, he looked down each hall and corridor for signs of the Libra, but he did not see him. Not wanting to draw attention to their chase, he casually walked back to the locker room to report his news. As the guard came back empty handed Alister cracked him across he face, "You IDIOT!" "My apologies your grace." The guard said in disappointment. "Now we will need to use plan B."
Daxom ran into the barracks stark naked and tried to make it to his room before anyone would see him, but as always he was my with Axel, "Hey Dax whe…what happened to you?" Quickly covering himself as best he could he walked toward his room, "Axel please follow me, this is important. Quietly too please." As they made their way to Daxoms' quarters he filled Axel in on what happened. "We need to prepare for Alister Grey. He is planning one eliminating teams from the tournament and I have a feeling he is going to try and get us caught up in all this as well." As Daxom told Axel about everything that was said and what happened Elle was able to project herself into the room. Daxom didn't say anything about her presence but once he was done filling Axel in he started issuing orders for the house. "Make sure all storage areas, foot lockers, chests, drawers and personal bags are secured and enchanted with owner only spells so they can't be used to plant incriminating evidence to get us disqualified. Also make sure that all non house member areas are enchanted with no trespassing or pass through enchantments so that anyone who is not of Chimera house cannot enter the rooms. Only Academy faculty and the headmaster as allowed in these rooms." Axel acknowledged the orders and quickly began rounding everyone together to get these things done. Once Axel was out of the room Daxom sat down and spoke with Elle. "Are you ok?" She said concerned, "I'm fine, a slight headache, but its getting better. Did you get everything written down for me so it could be turned in to the headmaster?" "Yes I got everything." She sat down next to him concerned, "Aren't you worried about them coming after you? Maybe he is going to.." Daxom interjected, "Try and frame Chimera house? Yes I've already thought that thru, but also so has he. Alister knows he can't frame the house cause we are already on high alert. Our best shot is to go to Headmaster Andros and tell him directly and show him the evidence." The rest of the night everyone spent their time securing the house for any possible contingency, by the time they were done Alister and his men will barely be able to move through the house without the headmaster knowing it.