The room was dark, with blackout curtains draped over the windows, illuminated only by dim lights. Inside was a circular formation of tables with Stargazer Retreat's Council.
"What are we supposed to do about this? Not even Maxmillian could stop their destruction," an elder asked.
"How am I supposed to know? We've never dealt with a group of villains this terrifying, Anderson!" Another replied.
"We need Prime Minister Valen. His administration has what we need and can deal with this mess. What did they even call themselves, anyway?"
"Our report from Maxmillian Lacuna says that they call themselves the Dark March."
"Correct. Our report also says that they had an interest in the new student, Xander Gray. Max and his adopted son, Kylo Bolt, were tasked with watching over after some kind of deity attacked Xander Gray's parents."
"Something is up."
"Why, aren't you a genius? Get ahold of Prime Minister Valen, pronto."
"Sir, the comms are down. Teleport pads are, too," an assistant said, coming into the room.
"What did you say? How'd they get past security?"
"We have a tape from when the cameras went down of a man with long blond hair and glasses we don't recognize. I'd imagine he's with the Dark March, and that he's the one responsible for this."
"One man did all this?!"
"We are not sure, just yet. We are working diligently to get everything back up and running. Rest assured."
"Rest assured? Are you out of your mind? This is an unprecedented threat we are discussing!"
"My apologies, Head Counselor Anderson."
"Get me the Headmaster of Thorne Academy," Anderson barked.
"Right away, sir."
"In the meantime," he said, returning to his fellow counselors' round table. "Relay the following message to Caspian, and tell him to make haste." Counselor Andersen fixed his posture, taking a breath before speaking once more. "Tell him to assemble a team and then return here for briefing. We don't have time to lose waiting for our systems to be back up."
"Yes, sir."
The majority of the student body at Thorne Academy had no clue what went down the previous night. The abandoned wing had been closed off, with investigations being run tirelessly, attempting to gather any information on the attackers. The debris and charred overgrowth littered the soil. Those who were involved in the attack the night before were treated in the infirmary. The curtains were opened slightly, and rays of the morning sun poured through. A door opened and a nurse entered the room, wheeling a cart with bags of blood on it. Xander sat upright, he wasn't asleep.
"Good morning, Xander." She greeted him in a quiet voice so as not to wake up the other patients. His eyes opened slowly, and he looked back at her, unresponsive. I know you had a rough night. Don't force anything." She smiled a gentle smile, fangs protruding from her lips.
This was Victoria Reyan, the nurse of Thorne Academy. She had long black hair in pigtails with red stripes here and there running through it. She was a human possessing control over blood, which she used as a form of medical practice. The way she looked, you would think she was a vampire. However, that was simply the way she chose to accessorize herself, as she thought it fit her personality and power.
Xander had been here before. After the exam battles, Victoria repaired all of his injuries. She returned him physically to 100%, which also managed to effectively reverse any physical abuse his parents may have done to him.
Xander turned his head from her and stared out the window. He watched butterflies land on the shrub outside his window blankly. Victoria slowed the cart to a stop and picked up a bag, positioning herself near Kylo.
"Your friend here… Kylo. He seems to have injuries that I cannot fully close with my blood magic. I can speed up the process but it won't be like it was with you or the others. It will take some time for him to fully heal. The only other person who has this kind of injury is Max."
Xander's eyes widened and his breathing quickened. He began to whine, panicking. Victoria simply nodded, understanding. She sat next to Xander's bed and spoke to him.
"I can't imagine how experiencing all of that stuff last night felt for you, but I know it was a lot. You did the best you could."
The door opened again, and Max entered, shirtless, revealing a muscular form with bandages wrapped around his upper body.
"Hey, Vickie. Oh, you're awake?" he said, looking over at his student. "Morning, Xander." Max strolled to an open seat next to the others. Victoria held a bag of blood and popped it over the top of Kylo's head. The blood magically homed in on his injuries, vanishing.
"Are you sure that's the right blood type?" Max cocked his head.
"Max, how many times do I need to remind you? My art removes blood type and turns affected blood into the required blood," Victoria cackled.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're cool, blah, blah, blah," Max giggled, waving his hand around. "How're they doing?" Max asked, switching to a worried expression.
Victoria wheeled around in her chair. "They're fine, nothing I can't handle. However…" She turned back towards Kylo, whose body seemed unchanged by the blood magic. "Just like yours, some of this boy's wounds won't heal, no matter what I do."
Max stared off into space for a second before placing a hand on his bandaged shoulder. "I wonder if it had anything to do with that kid… What was his name?"
"It was Sou…" Xander said, playing back small parts of the battle in his mind.
Max snapped his fingers. "Right, Sou. That kid was strong, though I'm not surprised Kylo held his own."
"What could even cause these types of injuries?" Victoria puzzled.
"The kid wielded a sword, just like Kylo. This one was weird though. I couldn't absorb it. The only things I can't absorb are living beings. It leads me to believe that it had some sort of live aspect to it," Max scratched his chin.
Xander heard a rustling sound on the bunk beside him, and a yawn sounded out.
"Good morning, man. Rough night?" Max chuckled.
"...where-?" Apollo's voice was raspy and cut out before he could finish his sentence. He coughed.
"Good morning. You mustn't speak, you were badly burnt. Even your vocal cords were damaged. I've healed you partially but there is more work to be done," Victoria explained.
Apollo coughed again, nodding in understanding.
A few minutes passed in silence, as each of the students began to wake up.
"Morning, morning!" Max smiled, attempting to give everyone an enthusiastic start to the morning after the previous night's events.
"Good morning…" Shiro said groggily. "We're in… the infirmary?" She cocked her head. "Oh, that's right. I remember now." There was a moment of silence. Shiro looked around the room, at everyone's face. "Where's Ken?" She asked.
The room was silent. Max's demeanor changed. His voice and facial expressions became serious. "I knew we would have to address this at some point, but I just wish I was able to mentally prepare all of you first," he said.
"What? What are you talking about, Max?" Shiro asked, leaning forward. The others looked at each other. The expressions on their faces showed their confusion.
"I guess I should just say it flat out," Max said, making eye contact with Shiro. "Ken is no longer with us. He is a puppet for the Dark March, the ones who attacked us last night."
There was a pause.
"Huh?"
"What?"
"What do you mean?"
Each of the students asked.
"Ken's body was being controlled by bad guys, basically. The Ken who you spoke with last night, the one who gave the big speech in the Dining hall, is not the real Ken," Max explained further.
"Max, what kind of sick joke is this? I know you like to be funny but now seriously isn't the time…" Shiro spoke sternly.
"I am not joking. It's the truth, Shiro," he replied.
"Yes, you are. Tell me you are joking…" Shiro's voice began to quiver.
"I am sorry," Max apologized.
Shiro began to sob. "You're trying to tell me that he is gone? What kind of disgusting prank is this?" She cried.
Max did not reply. He looked at the floor.
"You… you weren't able to protect him. You were too weak to save him from those monsters. I can't believe you!" Shiro stood up.
"Hey! You're supposed to be resting! Get back in the bed!" Victoria called out.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Shiro wept. She walked up to Max and got in his face. "Who did this to him? What was their name? Tell me!" She demanded.
"His name is Lazarus Nyx… He was the skeleton guy. He was the one who launched the attack on our expedition team. He took them as puppets, and now, he used Ken as a means to an end of infiltrating the school," Max replied, making eye contact once again. "I am sorry I could not protect him."
Shiro despaired. "Goddamnit..." She looked at the floor.
Max wrapped an arm around her and brought her in for a hug. He held her tightly, to console her, but his injuries screamed out in pain. Maxmillian remained silent, however.
The remainder of the students remained silent. Kylo, having just woken up before the conversation starting, cried silently to himself. His right hand clutched his chest, above his heart. It also happened to be where he was cut by Sou of the Dark March.
Xander laid his head down, with his hands covering his face.
Apollo coughed, unable to speak.
Aspen sobbed.
Jinx had a blank expression on her face.
Perses looked at the ceiling.
After a little while, Shiro spoke up once again. "I don't know what to do anymore…Ken was everything to me. He was the only one aside from my sister who treated me right. Everyone else made my life hell, and now he's gone." She said softly.
Max just held her tighter.
After a few minutes, Perses spoke up. "Hey, um… Where is Joules?" He asked.
Xander's body tensed up and he looked at Perses with sadness and remorse in his eyes.
"That's right, you were unconscious…" said Max. He walked Shiro back to her bed and she climbed back into it. Everyone else looked away from Perses.
"What happened to him? Why isn't he here?" He asked, his voice starting to rise.
No one answered him, which only led to more panic from Perses. "What happened to him? Is he okay?"
After a short moment of repeated silence, someone spoke up:
"It's not my fault!" Xander panicked. All eyes were now on him.
"We know it isn't your fault Xander, you don't need to blame yourself," Max tried to console him.
"Wait, no, what isn't your fault?" Perses asked Xander. "What happened to Joules?"
"The purple lady got him! I wasn't able to reach out to him. I couldn't grab his hand. Now he's gone!" Xander cried out.
"What did you just say?" Perses asked.
Max cut in and spoke for Xander. "According to him, after you guys fought, there was a bright purple light, and a woman appeared. This woman ended up killing Joules. His body was taken by Lazarus, just like with Ken."
The room was dead silent. It was almost as if everyone had stopped breathing all at once. Then there was a loud thud coming from Perses' side of the room. He had punched the wall behind him.
"Joules…" Perses muttered in disbelief, raising his voice when he continued speaking. "Goddamn, that lady!" Cuts and slashes started to appear on the wall behind his fist.
"Perses, calm down. We can't have your power going out of control here. Take a deep breath and calm down," Max said.
"Do you really expect me to calm down right now? I had another person taken from me by her!" Perses replied angrily.
"I'm not asking you to ignore what happened. I am only trying to get you to keep your power in check. We can't have what happened to Xander during your fight happen to every one of us. Breathe," Max directed.
Perses glared at Xander, then closed his eyes. He breathed slowly and his power began to cease.
"Good job, you're learning," Max praised. "Now, tell me about this lady and what happened between you two."
"That stupid goddess," He spat.
"A goddess?" Max questioned, scratching his chin.
"It all started a while back. You see, I was born with no power at all. I was a completely useless person," Perses explained slowly. "At the time, there was a brutal fight going on between powerful mages. The wars that Thorne taught us about in class were real, and they were no joke. People fought each other for even the smallest chances of obtaining real power. Eventually, one of these battles was brought to my own house. The two who were fighting had no sense of awareness and only cared about themselves. As they shot off crazy spell after crazy spell, eventually my house was caught up in it, and parts of it were destroyed. My family… My parents tried to defend everyone, and they succeeded. Eventually, despite the large amount of destruction and bloodshed that came from the battle, it ceased, and we were safe."
"That's a relief," Aspen sighed.
"That's not the end of the story," Perses glared. "The whole situation reminded me just how powerless I was. My house was nearly leveled, and I was forced to cower behind my parents as they protected us from constant barrages of attacks that weren't even aimed at us. I couldn't bear having to do that anymore," Perses sat up straighter. "I began researching ways of obtaining power. I read all sorts of books and searched for weeks but I could not find anything. One day, as I aided my family in repairing our house, I remembered what one of the mages who fought a few weeks prior had said to the other one. It was something along the lines of 'You'll never find the Statue!'"
"Statue?" Kylo asked.
"Yeah. There were only a handful of statues near where I had lived, and most of them were dedicated to celebrities who were known as heroes back in ancient times. I began to research and study any statues surrounding my house. During this time, I became more and more power-hungry. The longer I went without power the worse I felt. Eventually, after about a month of looking, I found a lead. There was a statue deep in the forest behind town, that had been completely abandoned. I hadn't even known about its existence until I found it in an old book. It was said to hold the spirit of a goddess, willing to bestow power on whoever frees her from the statue," Perses stopped for a moment to breathe.
"A goddess? Perses has mentioned gods and deities before, and for some reason used that as a reason to hate me. What is going on?" Xander thought.
"Using the excuse that I was going to go find firewood in the forest, I tried to go find this statue. My father offered to come with me to help, but I told him no, and that I could handle it myself. Although now, I wish I had let him come with me. Anyway, I went into the woods, and eventually found the statue, covered in moss and vines. At the base of it was a slab with foreign text on it. I used the book I had found on ancient languages to translate what it said, and what I got was the name 'Felicity,'" Perses spoke seriously.
"Felicity, huh…" Max thought aloud.
"There were multiple incantations that could be used to 'free' something from something else. None of them worked. I spent several hours trying to contact the spirit within the statue until eventually, I gave up. I lost any hope that there was even a spirit in the statue, to begin with. Before I left, I got angry and took the axe that I had brought with me to the statue's head. All of the emotions that have built up inside of me throughout that time culminated in me screaming and attacking a stone statue with an axe. Since it was an axe, it didn't do much at first, but after dozens of strikes, eventually, I decapitated the statue."
Xander listened, interested.
"There must have been some sort of seal on the statue that was different than most others because after cutting off its head, the spirit of the goddess was released. A bright, purple light shone from the statue, and a body materialized out of it. The body was made of the same purple light, and it was transparent, but in the center, there was a symbol." Perses glanced at Xander.
"The same purple light we saw last night?" Xander asked.
Perses nodded. "She spoke to me briefly, thanking me for freeing her. Her voice was cold, but also somewhat soothing. After thanking me, she offered to give me power. Of course, I accepted. Little did I know this would end up causing more problems than I ever thought it would," he paused for a moment, then continued. "When I said yes, she laughed. I thought it was strange but I didn't think there was anything wrong. The purple light shone brighter and brighter, and as it did, I felt my strength grow. I could feel the power entering my body, although it almost became too much. The light burnt out, and with that, the goddess disappeared. Despite going away, I could hear her laughing. I didn't think anything of it, though. I was finally given the power that I wanted, and I was ready to show my parents that I could protect them." He clenched his fist. "As I was walking back to my house, I noticed that there was a lot of smoke coming from that direction. I got worried so I sprinted back to my house, only to find it destroyed once again. I ran up to it, looking for my family. They were trapped inside, all caught in the rubble and flames. They were all dead by the time I made it to them."
Aspen covered her mouth with her hand. "That's horrible," she said.
"Above the bodies of my family members was the same purple woman who I had freed just earlier that day. She saw me and laughed, as I despaired at the deaths of the family who I wanted to protect." Perses' voice grew more aggressive the more he continued. "I asked her why she did this, why she killed my family. Although her entire body was made of light, I could tell that she was smiling. She told me that for me to receive power, there needed to be a sacrifice. My family was slaughtered because I wanted power. I was weak, and so it cost them their lives. It is all my fault!" Perses covered his face with his hand. "I hate her…" He spoke softly.
Everyone hung their heads low, except for Max. "I'm sorry to hear that, Perses," he spoke. He rested his hand on Perses' shoulder.
It took a minute, but Perses calmed down and continued. "Long story short, a goddess ruined my life. I freed her, and she killed my parents, all so she could give me a power that I can't even control. It ends up hurting everyone, including myself."
Kylo stared at him, his mouth wide open. "I'm so sorry… I thought it was your fault. That one day at school, I mean."
Max nodded slowly. "So that explains the loss of control. It is a power that is not compatible with your body, thus making it impossible to control."
Perses looked at Max somberly. "Meeting Joules changed me, albeit slightly. He made me feel complete, and he understood what I went through. I know he wasn't the greatest guy to everyone, but to me, he was my best friend. There's no telling when that woman will switch out with me. She could always decide to take over my body and use me for her gain. Despite that, he was there for me. Now, once again… I was the reason for the death of someone close to me," tears fell from Perses' face as he made that realization.
Max took a breath and looked at Perses in the eyes. "I'm not Joules, but I want you to listen carefully to my words; We're all here for you. We have your back. Fight your demon and leave the rest to us."
Apollo, Kylo, and Aspen nodded.
"'Fight your demon', huh?" Jinx muttered.
"Did you say something, Jinx?" Aspen asked, leaning over her bunk to look down on Jinx, who was staring at her hands.
Shifting the conversation, Jinx spoke. "I never would have guessed that Iris was working with such awful people. Are they the reason she is how she is?" Jinx tried to reason with herself and then looked at Shiro. "I'm sorry, I never understood her. Maybe if I tried harder to understand her-"
Victoria cut her off. "Deary, listen here. She has her allegiance. Whether you knew or not is inconsequential. The result is still the same. She is one of them."
Jinx clenched her fist.
"Jinx, she has spent so much time bullying you and causing you problems. You tried to understand her, and it didn't change anything. Now, she's a bad guy. I'm sorry, but that's the truth," Kylo said matter-of-factly.
Aspen spoke up. "It's not your fault that she ended up that way, Jinx. You tried your hardest. Sometimes people do things that we do not understand. Unfortunately, Iris did something that we do not understand."
Max stepped in. "Maybe we can save her. We're going to try, she's a student here. She's one of my students, she's one of my responsibilities no matter what. We are going to get her back."
Jinx looked up toward Max but focused more on Xander, who was sitting against the wall on his bed. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it.
Max knelt by Jinx's bed and looked her in the eyes. He leaned in close so only she could hear what he was about to say. "We're going to save your sister. Not a single one of my students is that far gone," he smiled.
Jinx nodded once slowly.
There came a knock at the door as it burst open.
"Excuse this sudden interruption. Maximilian Laxuna and his students are to report to Town Hall as soon as possible!" A man ordered, leaving just as suddenly as he arrived.
"Oh? I guess that's our cue guys…" Max stood up and stretched. "Ow, that hurt."
"Let me finish the healing process the best that I can, and I will let you be on your way. However, I will warn you that I will not be able to heal all of you completely, so be careful." Victoria explained.
After a little while longer, Victoria finished healing the students. Each of them stood up and got dressed the best they could despite their injuries.
"Help each other, would you? We all know that Apollo won't be able to take care of himself," Max joked.
Apollo glared at Max.
"I wish our morning could have started slower, but it looks like we're being called elsewhere!" Max's demeanor shifted to approachable as he stepped backward through the doorway. "Come out when you're ready, I'll be waiting outside," as he backed into the wall. "Ow."
Despite the deep and heavy information each of them had just been subjected to, the atmosphere of the room was surprisingly normal. Max had a way of cheering everyone up, at least somewhat. It was more difficult for some, however. Xander looked towards Perses and then towards Shiro, both of whom looked at the floor.
One by one, the students finished getting ready as much as possible and stepped outside to meet with Max. In time, the room had left and it was just Perses and Xander standing together, several feet away from Shiro.
Xander felt awkward and guilty based on what Perses had just told him and what had happened to Ken.
Eventually, someone spoke up.
"Hey… After this whole meeting at the Town Hall or whatever is over, don't associate yourselves with me anymore," Perses said.
"What?" Xander asked. "What do you mean?"
"I mean what I said. When this meeting is over, leave me alone."
"Huh? You can't seriously ask that of us right now. Not after all that just happened," Shiro spoke, confused.
"Please. I can't let anyone else around me get hurt. Ever since freeing that freak of a goddess, everyone close to me has been killed, and it's all my fault. I can't let that happen anymore. It was naive to think that Joules wouldn't fall to the same fate as my family in the first place," Perses clenched his fist.
"Perses, remember what Max said? We will do this together. I understand that you're going through a lot., but don't ostracize yourself like that! We can help you overcome these problems you are facing," Xander explained.
"Just stop!" Perses ordered. "Leave me alone, so that no one else gets hurt."
Perses walked out of the room.
Xander and Shiro stood in silence for a minute, before following him.
The Town Hall was located a block away from the school, which was very convenient for the group. They walked slowly, to accommodate those who were in worse condition than the rest, but not too slow as it was still an urgent meeting.
It was a particularly sunny day, contrasting the traumatic night that occurred previously.
Inside the town hall was a grand room of tables with seats about them, a balcony wrapping around the room, a semicircle table at the front of the room facing the entrance, and a central stairway behind said table, ascending into a grand double door.
A man in a suit approached them and took a bow. "Mr. Lacuna, I imagine these are your students?"
Max held out his arm and motioned toward each of them. "They are, yes."
"Right this way, then, sir." With a flick of his wrist, the room contorted from the interior, and the entire area changed. The crew suddenly found themselves standing at the center of a circular desk with men seated around the perimeter.
"I apologize for the abrupt summon, Mr. Lacuna, but I fear we have no time to lose," a man leaned forward, putting his hands together on his desk. He had short dark hair with a mustache and a goatee combo. "I'm sure you are all aware already, but the group now known as the Dark March does not seem to be those to take lightly. Last night was the first time they have made themselves known. We simply do not have any details about them, and not even the greatest information-gathering mages have managed to uncover anything."
Xander read the nameplate in front of the man who was speaking. It read: "Andersen."
The man named Andersen sat back in his chair, holding his hands in front of his mouth. "Given how little information we have, it would make the most sense for you and the rest of the involved party to each explain separately what happened. If you will, give us every detail about last night. Your report was helpful but it was too brief for our investigation."
"I understand," Max said. "Aspen, you start."
Beginning with Aspen and moving on through each of the students, the story of the night prior was put in place. They were told to give as specific and detailed an account as they could, including anything related to Felicity.
"I see… Much appreciated. We have now been able to place together some of the pieces of the puzzle from last night," Andersen raised his head a little bit. "Which one of you is Xander Gray?" His eyes scanned the students before locking contact with Xander's almost instantly.
Xander took a half step forward.
"Hm… What are your thoughts on this attack? Does anything strike you as interesting, or strange? Any motives that may not be obvious to anyone else?" Andersen asked, leaning forward.
"Um… no, not necessarily. I mean, the whole thing was weird. I can't think of anything in particular that stood out," Xander replied.
"I want you to try. Take a moment if need be."
Xander looked confused but agreed, and tried to think of anything unique or interesting regarding the attack.
It took a moment, but eventually, something came to him.
"That's right… when they first appeared, they asked me if I was the one they were after," Xander put his finger on his chin, as he was deep in thought.
"Oh?"
"They also referred to me as 'Potential.'"
"That is indeed interesting," Andersen leaned back in his chair.
"Your mother warned us of interest groups poised to extract your essence. Do you understand what that means?"
Xander shook his head. "My mother? What does she have to do with anything? Also, what essence?"
Andersen furrowed his brow. "How odd. I assumed you would have at least some understanding of your purpose here. I guess it is something that you should discover for yourself as you continue on your journey. However, I will give you the one thing she left you." Andersen placed a silver ring on the desk in front of him. "This was given to us before your mother met her end facing the Fallen Goddess. It was instructed to be given to you should you ever make your way here. It was hers, she'd wear it everywhere."
Xander stepped up to the desk and picked up the ring. Blue gemstones shone in the light. "My mother gave this to you? Fallen Goddess?"
Perses cocked his head.
Xander put on the ring and stared at it for a minute.
"You'll understand soon enough," Andersen said, reassuringly.
Xander made a worried face before stepping back to where the rest of the group was.
"Now, all of the reports out of the way, we can formulate a plan and send you off on a mission. As you are about to find out, our teleporters and our comms are down, so contacting Prime Minster Valen is practically impossible. We must fill him in on the terror attack that proceeded on your school's grounds last night, but in our current situation, we need to send someone to fulfill the job by traditional means. So that's where you come in, Maximilian Lacuna. You will go to the Capital and tell him yourself. While you are on your way, we will continue to work on restoring the systems, but it is unknown whether or not we will be able to fix them before something else happens. You can take anyone who you think would be able to aid you on the mission. Additionally, a vehicle and route will be provided to you, and it will be waiting here for you at seven o'clock. It should only take three days of straight driving to get to Riviera," Counselor Andersen said. "Any questions?"
"No, none from me," Max replied.
"Very well. Who will you take with you to the Capital?"
"Hm… great question," Max pretended to think very hard.
"Oh, come on, Max. You know who you're taking," Kylo said, wrapping his arm around Max.
"Yeah, you're right," Max said, chuckling. "You're all coming with me!"
"Really?" Aspen asked.
"Huh?" Shiro made a face.
"Hold on," Perses started. "Count me out."
"What? Why?" Max asked him.
"Do you even need to ask? Those guys were clearly involved with Felicity. That means that they are involved with me. I can't hang around you guys anymore. If they attack again, then that just means you'll all get hurt again. I'm not letting that happen. They're far too strong for us to handle. Even you, Max. I know you're strong, but you're not that strong." Perses exhaled.
"Perses…" Shiro said softly.
"I can't let anyone get hurt again."
"You're wrong, Perses. They may be strong, but I'm stronger," Max stated, confidently. "Listen… You can trust me. Trust us. We are here to help you. The days of you being alone and by yourself are over. I don't mind getting a few cuts and bruises if it means helping you grow and move on from your past. While I can't speak for everyone, I'm sure we all feel similarly."
Perses looked around at the rest of the group. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"You're coming with us, yeah?" Max reached his hand out to Perses.
After a short moment of hesitation, Perses shook his hand.
"Anyone else, Mr. Lacuna?" Andersen asked.
"Yeah. Throw in Adrian Thorne to the mix."
"What?" Kylo asked.
Apollo coughed.
"Very well. You are to depart this evening. Prepare yourselves accordingly, and good luck."
Outside the town hall, Kylo and Max jumped with joy the second the doors closed, despite the pain caused by their injuries.
"Road trip!" They screamed, high-fiving each other and offering high-fives to the rest of the gang.
Shiro rolled her eyes. "You all are such bothers."
They swarmed Apollo, who mustered up a wimpy "road trip!" and then coughed.
Shiro fell to her knees and wailed. "I'm not gonna be stuck with these losers for 3 days straight am I?"
Kylo and Max crept up on either side of her closely. "You are!" They laughed and high-fived again, then went to hi-five Shiro, who left them hanging. The pair shrugged her off.
"Okay, guys. I'll go get Adrian and tell him what's happening. Everyone else, go get ready for the trip. We will meet back here at seven o'clock," Max said.
The students then vanished for the remainder of the day, packing things into suitcases, and getting ready for the trip ahead. They also changed their outfits to something better.
Apollo was forced to go back to the infirmary so that he could be fully healed before the long trip. He could now speak like normal, which made him excited.
At around seven o'clock, they reconvened outside the town hall once again.
There was a black military-grade SUV outside waiting for the crew, with tinted windows and solid tire rims. Standing beside it was Andersen and two suited men on either side of him.
Kylo couldn't stop staring at one of them. "He looks familiar, doesn't he?" He whispered to Xander, pointing to the long blond hair.
"Yeah, a little, but I can't put a finger on it," he responded.
"This is your vehicle, the Osprey. It is a secret project we have been working on and we think now is the best time to use it. With top-of-the-line stealth mode, a magic barrier, and a crash defense system, it will see you to Riviera safely." Andersen explained.
Max nodded and took the keys off Andersen. "Thanks, this baby'll do nicely," he smiled, excited to drive such a vehicle.
"Man, why do I have to go along with all of these guys?" Adrian asked, annoyed.
Andersen handed Max a badge. "Take this and show it to Valen or his men, whoever you run into first. It will be your ticket to seeing Valen." The badge vanished into thin air once it made its way into Max's hand.
"Thank you, again."
Andersen nodded and turned to leave, holding a hand up in the air as a wave. "Best of luck to all of you, our futures depend on you."
With a newfound and utterly profound sense of purpose, the crew placed their belongings in the trunk and boarded the vehicle.
"Is everyone ready?" Max asked.
"Yeah, let's get moving!" Apollo, sitting in the front passenger seat, rolled down the window and tapped the side of the car.
"If you're not ready, you're just plain stupid," Adrian, with an attitude, said as he stepped into the vehicle and moved to the back, still with his hands-pocketed slouch, throwing himself into a seat.
"Glad to hear it," Max said. "Oh, and by the way, all of you look awesome," he said, proud of his students' cool new wardrobe.
And, with that, the vehicle's engine silently hummed to life and the class drove off into the approaching night.
Arc 1 END
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