The meeting between the 7 teachers went on for another 30 minutes as they threw around names of students eligible for the plan. The 3 boys were scheduled to be questioned the next day and their future would be decided after concluding the interrogation.
"It's still not that late so send a message to all of these students. Tell them to gather at the northern gate tomorrow at 6 AM sharp ." The one who spoke was Liza Provim, Schelo Provim's sister. Due to her exceptional talent she had been appointed as one of Zychs' teachers as soon as she applied for it. She had black, silky hair that ran down to her hips and fairly darker skin than the rest of her family. Her eyes, unlike Schelo's empathetic ones, were cold and calculating. She usually wore a tight dress that accentuated her feminine features and a thin white gown that split down the middle over the dress. On colder days she would cover herself with a cotton shawl to keep herself warm.
Richard nodded in agreement at her suggestion and looked at all the other teachers once again to confirm their compliance. The meeting concluded soon after. Richard was left with the responsibility to put the 3 boys in the custody of the police and begin their interrogation the next day.
Sir Roland was the first to leave, followed by a larger, more muscular male teacher who had not spoken a single word throughout the meeting.
The last one to leave was Sonita Sanavita, the head doctor of every branch of Zychs and the daughter of the head of the Sanavita family. She had healed Wolfe up quickly and left for dinner, not knowing that Nova would soon be brought in with even worse injuries.
"I really hope your gut feeling is wrong, Richard." She said softly as she stood in the doorway. "I really do."
After delivering the 3 boys to the police the next morning, Richard rushed to the hospital to check up on Nova, Wolfe and Axel.
"Professor Emblaze!" Axel greeted as the two crossed paths.
"Good morning." Richard said. "How do you feel?"
"Good... a little guilty, but good nonetheless."
Richard wanted to question Axel further regarding his feelings, but he had to get to the hospital quickly so that he could make it back in time for the boys' interrogation. But before he left, he asked Axel something.
"So yesterday, when you were fighting the three of them, did they mention anything out of the ordinary?"
Axel looked suspiciously at Richard. The nature of the question told him that Richard and the other teachers had found something out about the kids last night that Axel hadn't. He was curious about the reason behind Richard's question, but knew not to overstep his boundaries. He trusted Richard to tell him when the time came.
"Well, they said not to mess with the Reapers before we beat them up, but that's probably just a stupid name they gave themselves. Besides that - nothing. "
Richard thanked Axel and walked away quickly.
"I guess I'll have to look into these 'Reapers'." Axel said under his breath as he noticed Richard's nervous strut. He turned towards the Academic building, hoping that the library would have the answers he was looking for.
As Richard walked the path to the hospital he imagined Nova's shattered state and Wolfe's tortured mind. A wave of disappointment flooded his heart as he blamed himself for the event.
"If only I had been there for them." He thought. "If only I had been there for my student and my niece."
Upon entering the white-washed hospital, Richard was greeted warmly by its recipients.
Wolfe was sitting up on his bed, feeling as good as ever. Nova on the other hand was lying down on the bed next to Wolfe's but her eyes were open and aware. Richard rushed to both of them and hugged Nova tightly as she lay there awkwardly. Wolfe smiled as Richard turned to him and unexpectedly hugged him too.
As the shock settled over Wolfe, Richard said, "I'm glad the two of you are safe. I really am."
The bones in Nova's hands had been reattached by Sonita early in the morning, and were on their way to being perfect again. Wolfe had fewer injuries but most of them were severe. More damage had been caused to his mental state rather than his physical body.
The thought that he could be jumped by a random group of thugs at any point of time now constantly lived in the back of his mind. The fear creeped all over him occasionally when he was asleep, waking him up in a cold sweat.
Nova had regained consciousness late at night and Wolfe, who couldn't catch even a wink of sleep, was wide awake to welcome her back from her long sleep.
The two had spoken for a few hours before finally reassuring each other that the worst was behind them. They had cleared up the misunderstanding between them, and Axel had been a huge reason why that was possible.
When he didn't find Wolfe in their room last night, Axel quickly searched for Nova and explained the situation to her. She still cared for Wolfe despite being angry about the way he had acted and therefore did her best to search for him. It was due to Axel and Nova's efforts that Wolfe was found and saved.
Wolfe still had not revealed that he was a servant working for the Vilhorms, but he had let Nova know that he had bad experiences with Ray in the past and was therefore disregarding and callous when his name was brought up.
Nova understood where Wolfe was coming from, but she didn't want to accept that her childhood friend could have done some of the things Wolfe described. She wanted desperately to believe Wolfe, but that would mean going against all her memories and first-hand experiences regarding Ray.
"I need some more time to accept what you said about Ray." She had said before the two went off to sleep. But Wolfe accepted the fact that Nova would never know the side of Ray that he did.
"Goodnight." Nova said, and an awkward silence followed.
"Goodnight." Wolfe replied before finally falling asleep.