I fell unconscious immediately the fight ended with the Opposer ended. I couldn't tell if it was due to the amount of power I exhibited, or because I was really weakened but when I woke up, I saw Talia who told me what we were to do. I agreed with their plan and we went along with it. Some days later, I noticed that the number of operatives I saw there had significantly reduced which made me worried about what they were planning.
I had just returned from freshening up when Talia said to me "Annabelle came and said to give this to you." as she handed a piece of paper to me. Immediately I touched the paper, the writing that I couldn't understand suddenly turned to English. The note said "Return to Charlotte's immediately. Something is going on which I don't really understand." Immediately I read that, I turned and said "We're returning immediately." to which the girls went to prepare. I said to them "We don't know what they're planning. It's best we leave our things here so as to fool them a bit." at which we left things just as they were and returned to Charlotte academy immediately.
I was shocked to find that the academy has been isolated in space and the students prepared for a large scale battle. I couldn't enter the academy through normal means which gave me the idea that the barrier wasn't set up by one of ours. I managed to tap into my powers, my vision tinging with the usual bloodred colour before becoming unnaturally clear, breaking the barrier preventing our entry and we went in.
Immediately we got inside, I noticed the white part of everyone's eyes was tinged green which I couldn't explain but they all attacked me, Talia and Natalie included. At that point, I realized their plan to kill me using my fellow students who I couldn't bring myself to attack.
All of a sudden, I saw swords fly towards me at high speeds and I knew they could only be from one person: Arthur, the only one in the academy to have an impossibly good control of swords. I managed to parry but ice spears and fiery blasts kept me on the move, dodging and avoiding as I tried to thin out their numbers and find out who's controlling them but it was all to no avail.
It was a full day of fighting and I was totally wiped when I finally saw a ray of hope as Annabelle and Casper appeared in the academy. They both came in and smiled at me which gave me hope that I had help as they went towards the enemy side. All of a sudden, a massive fight broke out among the students being controlled and the Cricket operatives there which ended as abruptly as it started. They came towards my position, which was surprising as they couldn't locate me before the squabble.
I was shocked to see Annabelle leading the others as they came for my head, slashing with reckless abandon as I did all that I could to avoid. At that point, I realized what had happened. Casper had betrayed us. Annabelle was fast, faster than the time I had that practice fight with her, faster than the time that she helped with my first mission and I could barely avoid her. Her expression was one that wasn't her's as she attacked, causing me to do all I could to defend.
I blocked her attack while running, trying to prevent them from surrounding me while I looked for a way to get them back when I noticed something. Her attacks were delayed like she was struggling with herself from attacking me which made me think "What if I could influence their mind and cause them to fall asleep? Could I free them from the control that way? Is there any other way?" as I exchanged blows with Annabelle.
I decided to use my abilities to influence her and cause her to fall asleep but I was hesitant because since Casper was released from my body, I couldn't tell if I could still use my abilities as I had always used them while sharing with him. With nothing left to lose, I looked her in the eye and said "You are looking weary. It seems you needed some peace and calm to get your head back in the game. It seems you need SLEEP." I focused all my energy into the word 'Sleep' and she fell on her knees while the other people that heard it fell face down and started snoring. I tried looking for Casper while evading the ones that weren't caught by my abilities when I saw him come out, smiling at me like he just won the lottery.
I turned to him and asked "So what, if I may ask, is the meaning of this?" "The meaning of what?" he asked back and I said "This! Turning on our friends to become one of the Crickets, what were you thinking?" "Our friends?" he asked, looking at me incredulously "When did I ever call them my friends? To say the truth, you were the one that just up and called them my friends. You never really understood me from the beginning so I'll make it easier for you. The only people that knows and understands me are the Crickets. I have a mission to complete so to that end, I have to bend you." "Bend me? Wake up from your dreams. You think because I can't use my abilities efficiently, you have a fighting chance? You're about to get the rug swept out from under you. Brother, I had always hoped we could fight beside each other ever since I realized we were separate entities but to think we'll be on opposite sides. It's a pity." All these I said to stall for time as a now free Annabelle struck him in the head such that he was pushed towards me. I immediately followed up with a kick which pushed him away but he was held back by the barrier covering the academy. He fell to the ground, laughing as he got himself up and walked back towards us as I and Annabelle braced for battle.