When the tour was done, Julius went to Lucian's dorm and knocked on the door.
"Go away," Lucian called out.
"Lucian, open up," Julius insisted.
Lucian recognized Julius' voice and opened the door. Once Julius walked in, Lucian quickly closed the door behind them. They sat on the bed, and Julius finally asked, "Okay, so what happened?"
Lucian sighed. "Well... remember Gronica?"
Julius raised an eyebrow. "Gronica?"
Lucian rolled his eyes. "The killer lady."
Julius laughed. "Oh, her. Yeah, I remember her. She tried to hunt me down at my old school too."
Lucian rolled up his sleeves, revealing bruises. Julius cast a cleaning spell, making the blood fade away. "So, she followed you by seeing that blood?"
Lucian nodded. "Yeah."
Julius then said, "Then they never saw your family."
Lucian laughed. "Your family is worse."
Julius agreed. "True. How are your scars?"
"They're better," Julius replied. "Can you say a spell to make it worse?"
Lucian shook his head. "I'm not going to do that."
Julius grinned. "I was just joking. Relax."
Julius said, "Do you want to come to see Evander?" Lucian nodded. Julius continued, "Alright, let's go to ev--"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Melody called out, "LUCIAN, IT'S MEAL TIME! YOU'RE NOT GOING TO MISS THIS MEAL!"
Lucian responded, "Yeah, give me a minute."
Melody insisted, "No, now!!"
Julius joked, "Aww, but I was lying so nicely on your bed."
Lucian rolled his eyes. "Weirdo." Julius opened the door.
Melody stood there, arms crossed. "Lucian, how many times...?" She trailed off as she saw Julius's face. Her expression changed instantly.
Lucian said, "I was with Julius the whole time. Also, why are you looking weirdly at my cousin?"
Melody blushed and stammered, "A-are you Lucian's cousin?"
Julius nodded. Melody's blush deepened.
Lucian looked between Melody and Julius before finally saying, "I think I'm going to puke."
Julius whispered in Lucian's ear, "Let's get to dinner. She looks creepily in love."
Lucian nodded, and they both made their way to the dining hall.
At the dinner table, Melody said, "Lucian, can you—"
Lucian cut her off. "No."
"But—" Melody tried again.
"No," Lucian repeated.
"But whyyyyyyyyyyy not?" Melody whined.
Lucian rolled his eyes. "I am not going to couple you with my cousin, Mel, so keep dreaming."
Felix, Rowan, and Athena exchanged glances, realizing that something strange was afoot. Thorn let go of Flate, sensing the growing tension.
Athena leaned closer to Thorn and whispered in his ear, "I saw scars on Evander's chest."
Thorn looked confused, furrowing his brow. Athena continued in a hushed tone that only Thorn could hear, "That's why I wasn't sitting at the table. Silverspell is much closer to the table by Frostveil. The scars were severe, and some were still bleeding."
Thorn whispered back, "But how do you know this?"
Athena replied, "In mix class, there was something wrong with a potion. It exploded, and Evander was the closest. His shirt was slightly lifted because of the blast, so I saw the scars. He quickly covered them with a bandage. When the teacher asked about it, he said it was because he accidentally messed up a potion last week. But we all know that's a lie since he never messes up potions."
Thorn nodded, processing this new information.
Meanwhile, Flint grabbed Thorn's arm, pulling him towards another table. Thorn protested, but Felix, Rowan, and Flate followed. When they reached the table, Flint confronted Sylvan, who was laughing uncontrollably.
"What is so funny? I want to laugh too," Flint demanded.
Sylvan, still laughing, managed to say, "M-Melody is..."
Melody cut him off, "Sylvan, don't you dare—"
Lucian had enough. He drew his wand and pointed it at Sylvan, shouting, "Fremicus!" Sylvan yelped, "Hey! That hurt!"
Lucian then pointed his wand at Melody and cast, "Femicus!" Melody cried out, "Ow! What did I do to deserve that?"
Lucian glared at her, "For the same reason Syl is laughing."
Sylvan quickly stopped laughing. "Well, I'm not laughing anymore!"
Lucian smirked, "Then it worked."
Flate looked over at Julius's table, itching to go and tease him, but Thorn held him back and whispered in his ear, "I don't know who gave you a potion or why you're acting this way right now, but we will find out and get you back to normal, Flate."
Felix stepped forward, addressing the group, "Hey, we just dealt with a serious situation. We need to stick together and figure out what's going on."
Athena nodded, adding, "Flate, if there's something wrong, we need to help you. We're all in this together."
Flate looked torn but eventually sighed and nodded. "Okay. Let's figure this out."
Rowan, ever the planner, said, "First, let's get some food and rest. Then we'll regroup and come up with a plan."
As they settled at the table, their earlier tension began to ease. They shared a meal, their conversation filled with determination and camaraderie, ready to face whatever came next. They knew they had to stay united, not just for their safety, but for the well-being of everyone at the school.
The meal was a brief respite, but the mysteries and dangers surrounding them weighed heavily on their minds. After eating, they reconvened in their dorm room to discuss their next steps. Athena was adamant about uncovering the truth behind Evander's scars and what it might mean for their current situation.
Athena spoke up, "We need to find a way to talk to Evander alone. If he's in trouble, we need to help him."
Thorn nodded. "Agreed. But we have to be careful. If someone is targeting him, they might come after us too."
Felix suggested, "Maybe we can start by observing him more closely during classes and breaks. See if he interacts with anyone suspicious or shows signs of being under pressure."
Rowan added, "And we need to keep an eye on Flate. Whatever is affecting him might be related to what's happening with Evander."
The group agreed on their plan and settled in for the night, their minds racing with the possibilities and dangers ahead. United by their shared purpose, they were determined to uncover the truth and protect their friends, no matter what challenges lay in their path.