“It’s all your fault,” the voice echoed. Surrounded in a cave of darkness, Sana was down on her knees. Her legs could feel the pain of the rigid ground as she held an unconscious Rey in her arms. A waterfall of tears gushed from her eyes. Sana tried to ignore the voice as its eerie sound continued to repeat itself to her, rattling her fragile eardrums.
“NO! I didn’t mean to!”
“It’s all your fault.”
“Stop it!”
“It’s all your fault.”
“NO!”
Sana got up from her bed, her body shaking frantically. She felt hot, especially with all the sweat that was on her forehead. It was all just a dream. She took a few deep breaths, trying her best to relax. At that moment, Krystal and Heer immediately opened the door of the health center. “Sana! Are you okay?!” Heer asked Sana, concerned.
“What?! Where am I?!” Sana asked.
“You’re in the health center. After you passed out, we brought you here to get treated,” Krystal replied.
“How do you feel now?” Heer inquired.
“Forget me!” Sana exclaimed. “Where’s Rey?! How is he?!”
“Rey was taken to the ICU,” Krystal replied. “He should be o-“
“What?! No! No!” Sana cried as she rushed out of bed to leave, while Krystal and Heer stood before her.
“Hold it, Sana! You need to rest. You took a pretty bad beating as well,” Krystal told Sana.
“I don’t care!” Sana shouted as she went past Krystal and Heer and ran out of the room.
Sana continued to run down the hall until she got to the intensive care unit at the end. She immediately barged into the room, shouting, “Rey!”
Startled, Prince and Neil turned around, seeing Sana come inside. Sana looked at Rey, who was lying on the bed, still unconscious.
“Sana?” Neil said.
“How’s Rey doing?” Sana asked. “Is he okay? Tell me!”
“Relax, Sana,” Prince said, putting his hands on Sana’s shoulders to calm her down. “The doctor said he just needs rest.”
“He also mentioned that we we’re lucky enough to get here when we did, otherwise it could’ve been far worse,” Neil told Sana.
“Shouldn’t you be taking rest?” Prince asked Sana.
“How can I when he’s like this?!” Sana asked.
“Sana, it’s all right. Rey is strong. He’ll pull through this,” Neil assured.
Sana went over to Rey’s side, watching over him. Prince and Neil looked on and shook their heads as they left the room, leaving Sana alone with Rey.
“I really hope she’s not beating herself up over this,” Neil said.
“She can’t help it,” Prince responded. “Besides, there is some concern. We don’t know what this wound is gonna do to him.”
***
Far outside of the academy, in the streets of Daredevil City, a young boy was walking towards the gates of Ringmasters Training Academy. The boy had scraggly blond hair that looked very voluminous on the top with three hairs standing upward. His eyes were peacock blue, and his ears were adorned with silver stud earrings. He wore a loose, pale yellow infinity scarf around his neck, along with a sleeveless gray tank shirt, gray fingerless gloves, blue pants with a gray studded belt hanging loose around them, and gray boots. Walking along with him was a young girl. The girl had medium-length hair that was violet blue with a light blue streak on the single bang that sat on her forehead. She wore a jade green crop top with a gold band around it along with a dual-colored jacket in blue and green, brown shorts, and green boots.
“What’s with you? You’ve been awfully quiet this whole time,” the girl told the boy.
“You really think I’m interested in coming here?”
“Then why the hell are we here?”
“It’s all because of Mom.”
“I can’t believe she’s letting you come here.”
“I said the same thing. But it actually makes sense now.”
“Does he even know?”
“Mom told him.”
“Okay. Well, honestly speaking, we could probably be doing something better with our time.”
“Mom’s intuition is usually never wrong. If she thinks it’s worth coming here, I’m not gonna argue with her on it.”
The boy and the girl kept walking till they reached the academy, entering inside the building through the front gates. They went down the halls, heading towards Headmaster Devil’s office. “You sure we’re going the right way?” the girl asked the boy.
“Mom said it was the last door all the way down the hall.”
“She visits here?”
“Rarely, but her memory is sharp.”
As the two got to the door of Headmaster Devil’s office, the boy went ahead and opened it, entering inside with the girl to a surprise. Headmaster Devil was at his desk, giggling with a young woman by his side. While they continued to laugh, Headmaster Devil turned to the boy and girl, stunned. He jumped out of his seat and shouted, “Zayn, my son! You’re here!”
And that was the boy’s name: Zayn. Zayn shook his head, seeing Headmaster Devil with the other woman. “So, that’s your dad,” the girl said.
“Typical,” Zayn said, rolling his eyes.
“You have a son?!” the woman asked Headmaster Devil, surprised. “Wait a second. You two are Zayn Hawkwing and Akira Flareborne.”
“That’s right. My boy is quite famous. He was one of the top students at his preparatory school,” Headmaster Devil pointed out.
“And he’s your son?!” the woman asked, surprised.
“Yes, darling. Since he’s here, can we meet later today? I have important father-son bonding to do right now,” Headmaster Devil told the woman.
“Sure, Devil. I just love a family-oriented man!” the woman exclaimed.
“Couldn’t be further from the truth,” Zayn said, shaking his head.
The woman left the office, leaving Headmaster Devil with the two kids. He turned his focus to them, especially happy to see Zayn.
“So nice to see you, son!” Headmaster Devil exclaimed.
“Can’t say the feeling is mutual,” Zayn replied.
“Son! How can you be so cold?” Headmaster Devil said.
“Now I know why Mom left you. You’ve never even told anyone that you’ve been a married man once, have you? It suits your womanizer image,” Zayn said.
“Oh, come on. I know your mother tends to say all kinds of stuff about me, but it’s only because she secretly still likes me,” Headmaster Devil said.
“Sure, if you’re delusional,” Akira said.
In the middle of the conversation, Aiden made an entry into the office, drawing Headmaster Devil, Zayn, and Akira’s attention towards him.
“Aiden, have you ever understood the concept of knocking?” Headmaster Devil asked, irritated.
“Sorry, sir. But you’re urgently needed in the cellar. It’s serious,” Aiden replied.
“Just give me a few minutes. I’ll be down there in a moment,” Headmaster Devil said.
After Aiden left, Akira asked “What was that all about?”
“Never mind that. It’s just school business,” Headmaster Devil replied. “You both are welcome to this school from today. You’ll be joining the regular classes from tomorrow. So, feel free to look around and navigate your way through the building.”
“Sounds good to me. Maybe we’ll meet some people from our class, too,” Akira said.
“I’d rather not,” Zayn said.
***
At the intensive care unit, Sana was still sitting beside Rey as he remained unconscious. She watched over Rey, distressed from his condition. The tears became uncontrollable as she pondered over what had happened in the battle against Madame Naga. I’m sorry, Rey. I failed you. If I had been stronger, none of this would’ve ever happened, Sana thought as she continued to cry.
Suddenly, Rey opened his eyes, looking straight up at the ceiling. He turned around and slowly sat up, surprised to see Sana. Sana looked up at Rey, seeing he was awake.
“Sana?” Rey said.
Seeing Rey up, Sana immediately wrapped her arms around him, hugging Rey as she shouted his name. Rey remained in Sana’s embrace, startled. She continued to hold onto him as her tears overflowed.
“You’re okay! I was so worried!” Sana cried.
Rey looked on confused without saying a word. After a couple of seconds, Rey said, “Um, Sana…the hugging is a bit weird.”
Sana let go of Rey, trying to compose herself while Rey looked on.
“Sana, how long have you been here?”
“I came as soon as I woke up in my room.”
“Sana, you don’t need to worry about me. I’m fine. You should be more worried about yourself. You got injured as well.”
“I don’t care. I’m staying right here by your side till you’re okay.”
***
On the other end of the school, Headmaster Devil was making his way down the stairs that were heading towards the basement. Once he reached the end, he headed straight down the hallway and stopped upon seeing Aiden and some other staff members from the school standing in front of the steel bars of one of the cellar rooms.
“All right, what’s the deal?” Headmaster Devil asked.
“See for yourself, Devil,” Aiden replied.
Headmaster Devil stepped forward while Aiden and the other staff members moved aside. Once he came closer to the bars of the cell, Headmaster Devil was stunned at what he saw. He was looking at Ben Stallion’s body, which was bruised, battered bloody, and almost lifeless.
“My…God,” Headmaster Devil uttered upon the sight of Stallion.
“He’s still alive…barely,” a voice responded.
Headmaster Devil, Aiden, and the staff members looked over in the corner of the cellar where Fida was sitting on the ground. Headmaster Devil sensed a chilling aura coming from her.
“Shall we call for the doctors, sir?” a staff member asked.
“Yes. That would be the appropriate thing to do right now,” Headmaster Devil replied. “We’ll also have to move her out as well.”
“HA,” Fida cackled. “What are you going to do? Put me in a bigger cell? Things can’t get any worse.”
“Oh, they certainly can,” Headmaster Devil responded.
***
In Power Coordination class, Krystal, Prince, and Heer took their seats along with other students that were just entering. There was constant chatter among the other students. Most of which seemed to be about the night of the party and what went down. And since Aiden wasn’t present, the chatter was louder than ever.
“So, I’m guessing Sana and Rey won’t be in class today?” Krystal asked.
“They’ve been excused for the day. It makes sense considering the beating they took,” Prince replied. “How are you holding up, Heer?”
“I’m doing fine. Thanks for asking, Prince,” Heer answered.
“Did you happen to visit Runa since that day?” Krystal asked Heer.
“I was planning on visiting her at some point. They’ve been pretty strict on letting any visitors come to see her,” Heer said.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine. She’ll be even happier if you go see her,” Prince responded.
“Hey, where’s Neil?” Krystal asked. “He’s going to be late if he doesn’t show up.”
“Please. You really think he cares about missing this class,” Prince said. “After all, remember who’s the teacher.”
“Good point,” Krystal said as she took her compact mirror and applied a peach lip gloss to her lips. “So, have you guys heard the latest news?”
“What happened?” Heer asked.
“Apparently there’s a new student at the academy now. He and his partner joined this morning,” Krystal replied.
“New students show up all the time. What makes him special?” Prince asked.
“I don’t know. Someone spotted them in Devil’s office. And students are rarely accepted in the middle of a school year. So, maybe they must be good enough that they got in,” Krystal said. “Who knows? Maybe they’ll end up in at least one of our classes.”
“That is weird. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any students transfer this late in the year,” Heer said.
“Then there must be a good reason for it,” Prince replied. “That better not be why that idiot Neil is skipping today.”
***
“Sana, you really don’t need to worry so much about me!” Rey exclaimed. Back in the intensive care unit, Sana continued to look after Rey as she came back with a new set of clothes and a tray of food for Rey. “Sometimes you really need to just chill out. It’s just a scar on my neck. It’ll go away.”
“Look, I’m your partner. I have some responsibility in making sure you get better.”
“Man, you’re more stubborn than my mom.”
“Anyways, I got you some new clothes. You can change after you eat.”
“Um…I don’t think I can eat this.”
“Why?”
“I’m not really into soup.”
“I don’t really care. Soup is your best option right now. And besides, I can’t exactly cook much beyond that. So, take it or leave it.”
“Geez, you’re just as much of a nagger as my mom. Are you sure you two aren’t related or something?”
Rey grabbed hold of the spoon on the tray and scooped up a bit of the soup with it. He took note of the yellowish-green color along with the little bits of chicken pieces. He gulped at the sight of it, but he took a slurp from the spoon anyway. And that one slurp felt like a bomb had detonated in his mouth. He felt like gagging and Sana took note of a pale color rising in his cheeks. “Is something wrong?” Sana asked.
“Forget cooking beyond soup! You can’t cook, period!”
“What?”
“You heard me! This is the worst thing I’ve ever tasted!”
“You’re probably just exaggerating.”
“Taste it for yourself!”
“You already contaminated that spoon, Rey. If you want, I could just order something from the cafeteria.”
“Geez, you do the exact same thing as my mom! First, she attempts to cook. Then when she fails, she orders out!”
Interesting. He’s brought up his mother three times already, Sana thought.
“Not to change the subject or anything…but how are your parents doing?”
“I don’t know. We haven’t talked much lately.”
“Do they know anything about your condition?”
“Devil told them over the phone. But it’s been hard because Dad hasn’t been doing well lately.”
“What happened?”
“I don’t know the details yet. Mom just said he’s been sick lately.”
“Is it serious?”
“Well, it’s probably serious enough that they can’t even call or visit.”
“I’m sorry.”
The conversation was getting to Rey. While he was going through his own struggles, his parents were as well. And it was a lot for him to process, let alone talk about. He thought it was time to change the subject.
“Anyways, can you please just get me some real food?” Rey asked.
“Rey!” Neil shouted as he busted through the door. The accelerated sound of Neil’s voice startled both Rey and Sana.
“Dude, what the hell?! Some warning would be nice!” Rey exclaimed.
“Sorry, I got excited,” Neil said.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Sana asked.
“Class with my brother? No way!” Neil replied.
“So, what is it? Why did you rush all the way here?” Rey asked.
“There’s a new team at the school,” Neil replied. “They enrolled this morning.”
“New team? In the middle of the school year?” Sana asked. “Who are they?”
“Not sure. But word’s been going around that they’re really good!” Neil exclaimed. “I heard that they went to one of the best preparatory schools in the country. I need to know who they are.”
“Really?! Maybe we should take them on,” Rey agreed.
“You’re supposed to be resting!” Sana shouted at Rey.
“Same goes to you! But instead, you’re playing caretaker and you’re not exactly doing a good job at it!” Rey talked back.
“At least I tried! There’s no way you’re in any condition to fight!” Sana argued.
As the two continued to bicker, Neil watched on, shaking his head.
“Would you two quit the drama here? I’m ready to take on the new team,” Neil said.
“I’ll take him on with you!” Rey exclaimed as he got up.
“What the hell?! Don’t be such an idiot!” Sana shouted.
“I need something fun to do,” Rey said. “Come on, Neil. Let’s find them.”
“All right!” Neil exclaimed as he and Rey dashed off from the room, leaving Sana behind.
Those morons! They have no idea what they’re doing! Sana thought.
“Hey! You two come back here!” Sana shouted as she ran from the room, following Rey and Neil.
***
Outside of the school, Zayn and Akira were checking out the school’s arena. “So, this is where they do their circus shows,” Zayn said.
“I like this. Finally, we get a chance to perform!” Akira exclaimed. “I can put my dancing skills to good use here.”
“I could care less for circus shows. We’re here to train. That’s it. The only students here who do all that nonsense probably have too much time on their hands,” Zayn said.
“You better watch your mouth, new kid!” a voice exclaimed.
Zayn and Akira turned around to see Rey and Neil standing right before them. Zayn eyed Rey and Neil, unfazed by their presence.
“And who are you two? My tour guides?” Zayn questioned Rey and Neil.
“Please. The only thing we’re gonna show you is who the top dogs at this school are,” Rey said. “We’ve heard about you since this morning. It’s time we see what you’re made of.”
“That’s right! We’re challenging both of you!” Neil exclaimed.
“Oh wow. A challenge thrown at us on day one,” Akira said. “This could be fun, Zayn.”
“Look, I don’t mean any trouble,” Zayn told Rey and Neil.
“Aww, are you scared that we’ll kick your sorry ass to the curve?!” Rey said.
“Maybe the rumors about you are false then,” Neil said.
“You two morons have some nerve,” Akira said.
Zayn shook his head for a moment, feeling slightly irritable. He sighed and said, “I didn’t think I had to fight on day one. But if I gotta teach you clowns a lesson, I’ll go for it. Let’s see what you guys can do.”
Copyright © 2021 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 