new books – The Ringmasters Society

36. The Fight Within Us

March 30, 2026March 30, 2026 imeryli

Midafternoon at the Ringmasters Society headquarters, Shuto was walking towards the meeting room as the mandatory meeting he told Yashi about earlier was about to commence. He headed inside, seeing Haruka, Imani, and Tatia seated. As he sat down next to Haruka, he looked around at the other faces there. Damien was across, seemingly calm. Shuto couldn’t tell what was on his mind. However, he felt his heart drop as soon as Cadmus opened the door, sitting down at the nearest seat. He had hoped that Cadmus of all people would choose to take a sick day for once, but he knew he shouldn’t be surprised by his presence.

“Well, well, some people just aren’t good at their jobs, are they?” Cadmus said.

“Was that the best you could come up with on your way here?” Imani asked.

Cadmus rolled his eyes, looking out towards the window. Shuto saw Aiden enter, and he raised his hand towards him, catching Aiden’s eye. Aiden went over to Shuto and said, “So, where should I sit this time?”

“Sorry, kid, but I think they would want you to take the corner seat again,” Shuto said.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Aiden said. Aiden went to his corner, sitting down as he flipped open his spiral notebook to the next blank page. While he recognized how weird it was to sit in the corner of a room like a child, he actually felt relieved to not be dealing with everything the adults would be discussing.

Aiden looked up to see Bastien enter the room with Titus following him. He stood up from his seat along with the other Ringmasters Society members. Once Titus and Bastien were seated, Bastien motioned for everyone to sit back down.

“As you all know, I have gathered everyone to discuss recent events that have occurred,” Titus began. “This is the second incident in which an arrested individual has escaped from our premises. While I would say that this is unacceptable, I want to keep in mind that some matters are beyond our control. I want to ask Shuto, Haruka, and Imani if any of them would like to say anything on this matter.”

Shuto looked at Haruka and Imani, wondering which one of them should speak first. Haruka nodded to Shuto, turning her attention to Titus as she cleared her throat. She said, “Sir, we apologize for our failure to apprehend Fida and her accomplice. I know this is upsetting, but the one thing that we can take away from this is that we now know that Fida’s escape was triggered by a larger group effort. Aside from the fact that we know Fida has an accomplice, we now know that the fugitive in custody’s name was Vara.”

“If I may add, sir, due to the nature of my tech, I was able to capture the location of Vara after the incident,” Imani said. “I don’t know if it’s relevant anymore, but the last location captured was about two hundred miles from here. I have the geocoordinates recorded.”

Cadmus scoffed. The sound of it caught Bastien’s attention. He said, “Something on your mind, Cadmus?”

“Oh, nothing, Sir Adler, I just find it amusing that they are handing us outdated information like it makes this whole ordeal any less pathetic that it happened to begin with,” Cadmus said.

“As Haruka already said, we acknowledge our shortcomings in what happened that night,” Imani said.

“An acknowledgement does absolutely nothing but remind us of how incompetent you three are,” Cadmus said.

“Cadmus, I’m giving you a warning,” Titus said. “One more instigation like that, and I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Shuto was relieved that Titus said something because he was just about ready to lash out again. He thought it was a good thing that Yashi was not here considering how antagonistic Cadmus behaved towards her in the last meeting. What bothered him was how smug Cadmus looked even after being called out by the Head Ringmaster himself.

“Contrary to what Cadmus believes, I think the last known location of Vara could still prove to be useful to us,” Tatia said. “At the very least, it can provide an idea of where this group is heading.”

“I second that notion,” Damien said. “Though, if I may add, sir, I think we should hold off on this operation for now.”

Shuto was surprised to hear this coming from Damien of all people. He said, “Why would we do that when we have a lead?”

“See, we’ve already had two incidents within a short period of time,” Damien explained. “If we continue the search for them now, it may only invite more trouble our way.”

“So, you suggest that we do absolutely nothing?” Imani asked.

“Like I said, we’re simply pausing the operation,” Damien said. “If we wait a while, it makes them less likely to predict our next move.”

“It also gives them a chance to cause whatever mayhem they want to,” Imani said. “We already know that Fida has at least two accomplices, but how do we know there isn’t a larger group at play?”

“Imani has a valid point,” Haruka said.

“Sir Avalon, I’m aware of the importance of this matter,” Damien said. “But surely, we must consider the safety of everyone who works here.”

Bastien looked over at Titus and could tell he was deep in thought. He himself felt conflicted hearing both sides. The room was awfully silent, and he noticed Aiden in the corner, diligently writing in his notebook. He said, “Excuse me, Aiden?”

Aiden looked up, surprised to hear his name called. He thought he could avoid being called on during this meeting. Aiden stood up from his seat, putting his notebook down on his chair and said, “Yes, sir?”

“Tell me, wasn’t it your brother who encountered Fida in the city?” Bastien asked.

“Uh, that’s what Master Shuto told me,” Aiden said.

“Do you not speak to your own brother?” Cadmus asked.

Aiden was flustered. He certainly didn’t want to air out the issues between him and Neil for everyone in this meeting. Luckily for him, Shuto stepped in and said, “That’s not relevant to this matter, Cadmus.”

“Wow, it seems everyone is touchy about something today,” Cadmus said.

“Let’s focus please,” Bastien said. “I propose a middle ground solution. We will pause the operation for now, but Aiden, I would like you to inquire with your brother about his encounter with Fida. Perhaps the information will assist us.”

“Oh, okay, sure,” Aiden said as he sat down. While the adults continued talking, Aiden was perplexed about what to do. He wished that he could’ve been upfront about not being in the best place to talk to Neil, but he didn’t want to come across as unprofessional.

After another thirty minutes passed, the meeting was adjourned. As the members got ready to leave, Aiden got up from his seat and was pulled aside by Shuto. Shuto said, “So, I know you were put in an awkward position earlier.”

“It’s fine. I kinda figured I shouldn’t say no.”

“You don’t have to talk to Neil if you don’t want to. I can reach out to him after he comes back from break.”

“Is it okay to wait that long?”

“Well, we don’t have a choice. The cell service at Mt. Archer isn’t the greatest anyway, so unless I venture out there myself, it’ll be hard to get a hold of him right now.”

“Oh, that’s true. Can I think it over?”

“About talking to him?”

“Yeah. I mean, if we have to wait anyway, I might as well think about it.”

Shuto was surprised to see such an initiative. He shrugged, understanding that someone had to start the path to reconciliation between the two. He said, “All right. You can think it over. No pressure, okay?”

Aiden nodded. He wondered how Neil was doing, or if he even made it to Mt. Archer. He figured that Heer was there to keep him in check, and he trusted her at least.

***

On the other hand, Sana and Rey woke up early for their next training session. After their morning routine, they followed Yashi to the chamber, ready for another simulation session. Cyrus and Adela were already present. What surprised Sana was seeing Cyrus wearing one of the headbands that she and Rey were made to wear for yesterday’s training.

“Cyrus, are you training with us today?” Sana asked.

“That is correct,” Yashi said. “Cyrus will assist me directly with the simulation. I’ve already instructed Adela on the controls she’ll have to use for today.”

“So, we’re battling him then?!” Rey asked, excited at the idea of doing some real fighting.

“Less questions please. For now, let’s enter the room,” Yashi said.

As unsure as she was about the plan, Sana went along with Rey inside the simulation room. Just like yesterday, they stood in their respective spots while Yashi and Cyrus did the same.

“Adela, you know what to do,” Yashi said.

“Right,” Adela said. She changed gears to four and the level to six as Yashi had instructed her. She looked at both Rey and Sana and could see the determination on their faces. Good luck, you two, Adela thought.

The room shifted, transforming into a new space. Sana watched as they were transported into an open grassy field. They were surrounded by nothing but a vast amount of green land and a blue sky hovering above them. Sana wondered why such a simple space was chosen for today.

“Today, we will focus on controlling your fire and releasing your dark powers as well,” Yashi said. “For this, you two will battle Cyrus.”

“Hell yeah! Bring it on!” Rey exclaimed.

“Don’t get so cocky,” Cyrus said. “I won’t be going easy on you.”

“Now, now, I don’t want either of you to go too hard,” Yashi said. “I will be monitoring and helping you two out throughout the battle. This will be a standard practical match. Use the space provided well.”

I only heard about Cyrus’ abilities from Krystal, Sana thought. She and Prince may have beaten him, but that doesn’t mean we can win so easily.

“Get in your positions, and then we will start,” Yashi said.

Sana and Rey moved beside Yashi while Cyrus went to the opposite side. Rey was excited. He had been eager to get into some actual combat. He stretched his arms out and said, “Oh, yeah, I’m so ready for this!”

“Now, Rey, don’t lose focus,” Sana said. “We don’t know anything about his battle style.”

“So? Krystal and Prince beat him. It can’t be that hard.”

“That doesn’t mean he’ll be easy to beat. Krystal mentioned how formidable he is. Keep your guard up.”

Rey nodded, understanding where Sana was coming from. Cyrus drew out his wand, tapping it and transforming it into his longsword. As Sana transformed her wand into her trishula, Rey was ready to transform. Then, Yashi said, “Rey, a word of advice for you.”

“What’s up?” Rey asked.

“Don’t transform into your beast form just yet. I want you to practice fighting in your human form.”

“Why would I do that? Shouldn’t I be fighting at my best?” Rey asked.

“Rey, she’s guiding us,” Sana said. “Surely she has a reason.”

“But I’ve never fought in my human form before,” Rey said.

“Well, there’s a first for everything,” Yashi said. “Just give it a try.”

Rey looked at Sana, seeing how centered she was. He looked back at Cyrus, ready to fight. Even if it were different, he figured he had to try to see for himself.

“Okay, remember to treat this match like a practical,” Yashi said. “Don’t go too hard. With that…you may begin.”

Immediately, Cyrus made the first move. He charged Sana with his longsword as it began to emit a purple glow. Seeing he was going for a dark energy attack, Sana guarded against the longsword with her trishula. Rey figured this would be the perfect time to attack Cyrus from behind. He jumped, charging his fire energy through his arm. Got a clean shot! Rey thought.

Cyrus quickly plunged his longsword into the ground, shouting, “Scatter: Sound Circle!” The longsword emitted a powerful soundwave that activated in a circular motion, hitting both Sana and Rey at the same time. Rey felt rattled by the vibrations from the soundwaves, and he could see Sana was feeling the same.

“Damn, that really hurt,” Rey said as he got up. “I’ll hand it to you. You’re tougher than I thought you’d be.”

“I wish I could say the same to you both,” Cyrus said.

“Hey, man, that’s pretty low!” Rey exclaimed. “We’ve barely started.”

He’s quite good at short-range attacks. I would try Ring of Fire, but that would be too much for a match like this, Sana thought as she got up.

“You two, come here,” Yashi called out to Sana and Rey.

Sana walked over with Rey to Yashi. She was surprised that she would take them aside when the battle had barely started.

“What are you two doing out there?” Yashi questioned. “Do you really think sneak attacks are the way to go?”

“Actually, that was all Rey’s idea,” Sana said.

“Wow, way to throw me underground, Sana,” Rey said.

“All right, never mind that. Focus on synchronizing,” Yashi said. “You shouldn’t be caring about winning.”

“What’s the point of a battle if we’re not focusing on winning?” Rey asked.

“Winning is not the goal of every battle,” Yashi said. “There are some battles that are necessary to unlock the fight within ourselves.”

Sana immediately understood where Yashi was coming from. She turned to Rey and said, “She’s right, Rey,” Sana said, looking at him. “I know you’re itching for a real fight, but you have to look at the bigger picture here.”

Rey nodded, understanding what was important. As he turned around to head back into the fight with Sana, he asked, “So, what is the plan then?”

“Well, we know he’s good at short-range attacks.”

“Oh, I already see where you’re going with this. Ladies first.”

Sana nodded as she ran towards Cyrus while Rey concentrated his fire energy into his arms. Cyrus plunged his sword into the ground, launching another sound wave attack their way. Sana jumped up and Rey followed her lead. Seeing this, Cyrus lifted his sword up, and the tip of it formed a dark energy ball attack.

Just as I hoped he would, Sana thought, smirking. “Rey, get your fire ready!”

“Sure thing!” Rey exclaimed as his arms suddenly became engulfed in glorious flames.

Sana was amazed at how massive the flames on Rey’s arms were. What was also striking to her was that she could see the formation of tiger stripes across his cheeks.

As the dark energy ball came his way, Rey shielded his face with his arms, crossing them as he allowed the dark energy ball’s power to merge with his flames. Cyrus was stunned at the sight. As Sana gradually got back to the ground, Rey nosedived towards Cyrus as the flames flowed through his arms, turning into fiery purple-red wings. He struck Cyrus in the face with the flames, making him fall back hard to the ground.

He did it. He absorbed the dark energy, Yashi thought. Let’s see what it does to him.

“Ah, damn,” Cyrus said as he sat up.

“Sorry, no hard feelings, bro,” Rey said.

Suddenly, Rey started feeling rattled. He felt like something was shocking his body. He got down on his knees, grunting as the feeling started to overwhelm him.

“Rey, are you okay?!” Sana called out. She was about to go to Rey’s side until Yashi stood in front, putting her arm out and blocking her from moving forward.

“Sana, you need to stay put.”

“Why?! Can’t you see he’s in pain? I need to help him!”

“I know you want to help him, but this is exactly what needs to happen. He must deal with this on his own.”

Sana watched as Rey seemed to be completely still. His body seemed like it was frozen in time. She couldn’t help but worry as she desperately wanted to disobey Yashi’s orders and rush to his side, but she realized there was a reason for all of this. She had no choice but to trust her.

Rey’s mind became trapped in a dark, shadowy place. As he floated around in the abyss, he could feel like the surroundings were familiar. As he looked up, he saw a familiar face. The other Rey appeared.

“It’s you,” Rey said. “You got some personal beef with me or something?”

“That’s a funny thing to say to yourself.”

“You’re not me!”

“Deny it all you want. I’m a part of you now. You alone.”

“But what about Sana?”

“That was just a temporary thing since she entered your mind. I am you. And you are me. That’s how this works.”

Rey immediately made his way towards the other Rey, powering a fiery fist towards him. The other Rey blocked it, holding tightly onto Rey’s fist with just one hand, draining the fire out of it as he smirked.

“You shouldn’t fight me,” the other Rey said. “Remember the last time? You made a deal to trust me.”

Rey could feel the pressure in his hand increase as the other Rey continued to hold onto it. It was a burning sensation that he thought he was never capable of feeling.

“Why exactly would I trust someone like you? Why are you even like this?”

Rey could see the other Rey looked slightly stumped. The grip he had on Rey’s hand was slightly loosened.

“I was created by the darkness that invaded your body,” the other Rey said. “How else do you expect me to be?”

“Surely you can’t be bad just because of Madame Naga. Why do you have to be like her?”

“What are you getting at, kid?”

“No one is born evil. Everyone has the choice to walk the path they choose.”

“Is that so? You’re telling me that lending you my powers won’t corrupt you?”

“It didn’t corrupt me back then!”

“You couldn’t control it either. As soon as you do, it will consume your very being.”

Rey chuckled, and he could see this reaction was surprising to the other Rey. “I don’t care what this does to me,” Rey said. “I’ll fight back as many times as I need to. I have Sana who’s willing to do anything to help me through this, and I have my friends and my family. With them around me, there’s no way I’ll lose my way. Not happening!”

Rey couldn’t tell what the other Rey was thinking. He felt confident in everything he said but didn’t know how it would land. Did he have to fight to gain control again?

“You intrigue me, boy.”

“Uh, thanks?”

The other Rey once again tightened Rey’s hand. Rey could feel something surging through his arm. It felt like an intense electric shock. He was confused and scared at the same time.

“What…what are you doing?!” Rey questioned.

“This is how I strike a deal. I will be setting clear rules for you.”

“Hold on, what is going on?”

“Shut up, boy. I will formally lend you my power now. There are three conditions you must follow to use my power. Number one, my power is yours alone to use. Your partner can only use it when synchronized with you in battle. Number two, you will only be able to use my power for five minutes at a time. Number three, you may only utilize my power by calling my name.”

Rey couldn’t tell what was overwhelming him more; the number of rules the other Rey was giving or the surge of his dark power flowing through his arm. He could see his body was beginning to fade. It seemed like a sign that he was regaining consciousness in the real world. He frantically asked, “Wait…tell me…what name do I call you by?”

Rey could see the other Rey smirking again. He calmly said, “Daman.”

Suddenly, Rey could feel his body coming back. He immediately caught his breath, slowly starting to feel at ease again. As Rey stood up, Yashi, Cyrus, and Sana all went up to him.

“Rey, are you okay?” Sana asked.

“A little rattled, but I think I’m okay,” Rey said.

“Adela, you can stop the simulation now,” Yashi said.

With that, Adela pressed the buttons that were needed to bring everyone back. The group came back to the simulation room, exiting toward the control center. Adela had to admit that she was scared for a second. She thought she’d have to swoop in and help Rey, but he handled everything on his own. He proved to be more formidable than she thought.

“So, did you get clarity?” Yashi asked.

“Clarity?” Sana said, puzzled. “You knew what was happening to him?”

“When he absorbed Cyrus’ dark power, it triggered the entity within him,” Yashi said. “That’s why I needed you to not do anything, Sana. This was something he had to do alone.”

“So, what did you see?” Cyrus asked Rey.

“Well, I saw the other me,” Rey said. “The guy that appeared when Sana and I fought Madame Naga. I almost fought him actually.”

“Really?” Sana asked.

“Yeah, but I ended up talking to him. It’s weird, but I guess this guy isn’t really me. He’s just an entity that looks like me and is now part of me. Man, I’m confusing myself,” Rey said. “Anyway, he struck a deal with me. I’m allowed to use his power under three conditions. I have to be in sync with Sana for her to use them, I can only use it for five minutes at a time, and I have to call his name to use the power.”

“Five minutes at a time?” Sana questioned. “That means you can’t use it freely.”

“It makes sense,” Adela said. “Faereons have the same issue. It takes a while to learn how to maintain our full beast forms for longer periods of time.”

“So, you’re saying I can only use it for five minutes because of how much power is required to use the dark powers?” Rey asked.

“Looks like it,” Adela said.

“Well, at least you found a way to get me to use it with you,” Sana said to Rey. “It must’ve been difficult to make that happen.”

“That Daman is a strange dude,” Rey said.

“So, that’s his name,” Yashi said. “Well then, it seems you have a good start for getting your powers under control.”

Rey felt happy. As hard as it was, he was able to overcome one of the scariest things he had to deal with since the Madame Naga incident.

“So, what now?” Sana asked.

“Since Rey has unlocked the key to using his dark powers, we will work on using them and understanding them,” Yashi said. “At this moment, everyone can take a break, and then we’ll be back in there for another round.”

As Yashi, Adela, and Cyrus walked on ahead to leave the chamber, Sana looked at Rey and said, “How are you feeling?”

“Well, I’m okay,” Rey said. “I honestly feel much better.”

“I can tell,” Sana said. “I was really worried about you back there, but you handled the situation well. I’m so proud of you.”

Rey was surprised to hear those words from Sana. More so because it was the first time in a while that she seemed truly happy.

“Well, well, I’ve never heard you say this to me before.”

“Don’t let it get to your head. We still got a lot of work to do.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go before they wonder where we are.”

blog, Books, fantasy, Uncategorized, Volume 1, Volume 2, writing

34. Right Before Us

January 26, 2026 imeryli

It was a calm, sunny morning in Arsen Town. In a pale blue townhouse, Zayn slowly woke up in his room, shutting off his alarm clock. This was his mother’s house. He arrived in Arsen Town with Tatia last night. Zayn decided to spend his spring break here since it had been a while since he had been home. Akira was also coming to Arsen Town, but she wanted to take a detour for a few days before joining. Zayn ruffled his hand through his hair as he slowly got out of bed. The fresh smell of blueberry pancakes made him know that his mom was making breakfast. He opened the blinds by the window, welcoming a bright glow into his room. It was looking to be a nice day.

After brushing his teeth and taking a quick shower, Zayn headed downstairs to the kitchen. He sat down at the counter as Tatia plated the pancakes on her usual set of blue plates with lemons painted on them. She looked at him and said, “Good morning.”

“Morning, Mom.”

“Did you sleep well, honey?”

“Eh. I slept okay. It feels so long since I’ve been in my room.”

Tatia put a side of whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries on Zayn’s plate just as he liked them. As she sat down with him and the two of them began eating, Tatia turned to Zayn and said, “So, have you decided what you’re doing?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean…how do you plan to spend your break?”

Zayn sighed. He didn’t say anything when his mom asked the other day. All he said was that he wanted to head back home. The truth was he didn’t know what else to do outside of training. With everything that had happened recently, it felt like the only viable thing for him to do.

“Well…my plan was really just to train,” Zayn said.

“Oh, honey, please tell me you’re not serious. What about the others…I mean, your new friends?”

“They’re also training.”

“Really? Even that one girl, Krystal?”

“Yeah. She called me earlier actually.”

“And why haven’t you called her back?”

Zayn sighed again. He knew that no matter what excuse he’d give, it wouldn’t be good enough for his mother.

“Look, Zayn, I’m happy to see you finally have friends again. It’s good for you,” Tatia said. “But I don’t want to see you continue to push people away.”

As Tatia finished her breakfast, she took her plate to the sink to wash it. Zayn pondered over what she said, fiddling with his fork. Tatia turned to him and said, “I’m heading out in a bit.”

“Where are you going? We just got home.”

“I know, but I got a call from your father earlier. He’s with Ryan, and he told me about something that needs my attention. They’re in Rosenbaum, so I’m heading over there to meet them.”

“Is it related to Solomon?”

Tatia stalled before leaving the kitchen. She should’ve guessed Zayn would figure it out. After all, he was very intuitive.

“Yes, it is,” Tatia said. “And I don’t want you getting involved.”

“But why? It was my mess to begin with. The reason everything with him happened was because of me.”

“That’s not true. You were a child. You’re still a child. My child. I will do anything I can to protect you. Believe me when I say that this is a matter for adults to handle.”

With that, Tatia left the kitchen and headed upstairs. Zayn looked back at his plate, fiddling with the remainder of his pancakes. He wasn’t sure what to do. Should he just train or try something new for a change?

***

After Tatia left for Rosenbaum, Zayn remained alone at the house. He stepped outside on the back deck for fresh air. The calm breeze and the fresh scent of cherry blossoms nearby soothed him. As he looked outside, he took out his phone and looked at the missed call from Krystal. Krystal would think he was a jerk for not calling her back. Though he did wonder why she called to begin with. Even though he knew her for a short time, he had a feeling she was just calling for the heck of it.

Before pondering more on it, he thought about the whole incident with Solomon. He worried about his mother’s safety as she ventured out to get answers on the situation. What if she were to land in trouble? And what could happen if his father were to run into Solomon? Before he could let the thoughts cloud his mind, he headed back inside the house.

Zayn went to his room and picked up his wand. He thought some training could take his mind off everything. He sighed, wondering how he could keep resorting to the same methods to cope. He knew right after wrapping up a session of training, he would just think about the Solomon incident all over again.

He looked back at his phone, once again looking at the missed call from Krystal. He began to dial her number and placed the phone by his ear as it started ringing. It rang three times till he heard Krystal say, “Hello?”

“Uh, hey.”

“Hey to you. I can’t believe you actually called me back.”

“Really? You didn’t think I would?”

“No. You just don’t seem like the type to reach out.”

“Anyway, you called me. What’s up?”

“Oh, well I’ve got quite a bit to share. This training with Mithra is pretty intense.”

“Is it now? Good or bad intense?”

“Pretty good considering how much I’ve been growing. I definitely think it was a good choice for us to come here.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“How are you doing?”

Zayn took a moment to think before saying anything. He tried to figure out how to put what he was feeling into words. Krystal said, “You’re not okay, are you?”

“How do you know?”

“Silence says more than you know.”

“I just have a lot on my mind, and I don’t know what to do with it.”

“You could always go out and do something fun.”

“This isn’t like when I was with you. I’m by myself right now. Mom is out for work, and Akira isn’t here either.”

“Who says you can’t have fun by yourself? Sometimes, I can have fun by myself.”

“Doing what exactly?”

“Retail therapy. A good shopping day has everything. Good deals, cute clothes, mall food, and you get your exercise in with all that walking!”

Zayn couldn’t help but feel amused at what Krystal was saying. He chuckled and just the act itself surprised him. Before he could say anything, Krystal said, “Did I just hear a chuckle?”

“No!”

“Aha! You are capable of laughter!”

“Oh, shut up.”

Krystal laughed and the sound of it calmed Zayn.

“Krystal,” Zayn said. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For calling. Just talking to you makes me feel all right.”

“Well, you’re welcome. I should go now. I have another day of intense training starting in the morning, and I need to get some sleep.”

“Sure thing. Have a good night.”

“And you treat yourself to something fun. Bye.”

Zayn ended the call. He took a deep breath and thought, Fun. How does one have fun around here? I wonder what Akira is up to.

***

In Rosenbaum, Tatia had arrived after traveling on her hoverbike for an hour. She parked outside of Bar Rosae, one of the popular bars in town. She entered inside, seeing Headmaster Devil and Ryan were seated at a booth in the back. Tatia looked at the glasses of scotch they were drinking as she sat down next to Ryan. She said, “Seriously? Day drinking before a meeting?”

“Hey, we can’t come to a bar and not have a drink,” Headmaster Devil said. “You should get one yourself.”

“No, thanks,” Tatia said. “So, what did you both find?”

“We ran into one of my hunter squad members. He found a body resembling the one that Zayn and Akira found,” Ryan said. “This time it was a man in his mid-thirties. The body had the same grayish color, basically not dead yet.”

“In this town?” Tatia asked.

“Yes,” Headmaster Devil said. “It was just a few days ago. That means Solomon was here.”

“Or this person who resembles Solomon,” Ryan said. “We still don’t know for certain that it’s him.”

“Who else could it be then?” Headmaster Devil asked. “Akira’s description of him resembles Solomon perfectly.”

“Hold that thought, I might see if I can get something to eat,” Tatia said. “Excuse me.”

Tatia got up from the table and headed towards the counter to get food. As Ryan took a sip from his drink, he saw Headmaster Devil make a peculiar face. He put his glass down and said, “What’s with the face?”

“It’s interesting that she sat next to you.”

“It’s not like she fondly adores her ex-husband.”

“That’s true. But between this and previous things I’ve noticed, I’d say there’s more than what meets the eye.”

“And I’d say the booze has gotten to your head.”

Headmaster Devil chuckled and checked his phone. Ryan was about to take another sip from his drink, but he put it down. He turned, looking at Tatia as she stood near the counter. He looked down, sighing as he took another sip from his drink.

Tatia came back with a sandwich and a water bottle. She sat down and said, “Okay, what’s our plan?”

“He did give me the location of where the body was found,” Ryan said.

“So, should we go there then?” Headmaster Devil asked.

“Yeah, we can possibly find some clues that lead us to Solomon,” Tatia said.

“Sounds good to me,” Headmaster Devil said.

“Okay, let’s chill here for a bit, and we’ll go on the search afterwards,” Ryan said.

***

Meanwhile, at the far end of the country in the state of Felicity, Akira was at Raveena Beach. She wasn’t there to swim. She wasn’t there to relax. And she certainly wasn’t there to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Someone was coming to meet her.

She took a deep breath, taking in the scent of the quiet waters. It was the only thing that could keep her calm. As she looked ahead, she could sense someone walking behind her. Akira turned around and saw that it was the person she was waiting for. He had short purple hair that shined in the sun, dark brown eyes, and wore a green and gold sleeveless uniform that she recognized too well.

“You couldn’t ditch the uniform, Jagan?” Akira asked.

“You know I must wear it when I’m on official business.”

“Right.”

“So, what is it? You’re the one who contacted me after so long.”

“I met some people from Euphoceus recently and they made me wonder how things are going over there.”

“Come on. You can say it, Akira.”

“What?”

“You want to know about your father.”

Akira sighed. She didn’t want to utter those words, but she couldn’t be surprised that Jagan knew what was on her mind.

“He still asks about you,” Jagan said. “He always asks me when you’ll come back.”

“He could say that to me directly. He knows why I left.”

“You should know by now how stubborn he is.”

“It’s the same stubbornness that made his daughter leave.”

“You’re not letting this go, are you?”

“I would’ve gone back by now if that were the case.”

Jagan sighed. He took a deep breath and said, “Since I’m here, there’s something you should know.”

“What?”

“There’s a rumor going around in Euphoceus.”

“What rumor?”

“There’s been talk of an uprising. Someone is allegedly planning to challenge the throne.”

“Who would do that? And why?”

“I have no idea. Your father isn’t too concerned yet, but I certainly am.”

Akira was surprised upon hearing this. Her surprise slowly turned into disbelief. She said, “Like you said, it’s just a rumor.”

“That doesn’t mean there’s no merit to it, Akira. Don’t you think it’s time you came home already?”

“Jagan, I can’t. I won’t.”

“I can’t keep being the messenger. And you certainly can’t remain in this world forever.”

“Well, there are others like me in this world. We’re managing just fine.”

“So, that’s your plan? You’ll stay here forever while Euphoceus possibly ends up in danger?”

Akira shrugged her shoulders and sighed. She turned around to leave, but stalled and said, “I’m sorry I bothered you.”

Akira left Jagan, not looking back. It was time for her to head to Arsen Town and put everything behind her.

***

Zayn headed downtown. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do since he hardly went out much whenever he came back home. He walked around the streets that were filled with a variety of shops from bakeries to shoe boutiques to book shops. Fun. How does one have fun on their own? Zayn wondered.

Zayn stopped upon seeing a cupcake shop called Lil’ Cupcake Café. He looked at the colorful cupcakes on display through the window and knew this was something that Krystal would like. Well, if I can’t figure out my own idea of fun, I guess I could try hers, Zayn thought.

Zayn went inside the shop and ordered one cupcake for himself. He sat down at a table inside and took a bite out of the cupcake. It was an orange cupcake with an orange marmalade cream cheese frosting on top. He bought it because it reminded him of the Marigold Surprise that he tried at Devil’s Diner. While it tasted good, it certainly didn’t taste as good as the Marigold Surprise. He had to admit that Krystal wasn’t wrong for loving those cakes as much as she did.

As he continued eating the cupcake, he wondered what he would do next. He could go to one of the book shops he had passed earlier. Or he could try seeing a new movie at the local theater. As he looked outside at the different storefronts and people passing by, he realized there was a lot out there to see.

***

On the other hand, Shuto, Haruka, and Imani were still flying. They had gone way past Daredevil City and were now hovering over the farthest end of the country in the state of Tharatina. Haruka looked over at Imani and said, “So, are you getting anything?”

“The signature is somewhere down here. Shuto, land the ship, and we can start looking,” Imani said.

“Sure thing,” Shuto said as he started getting the gears ready to land.

Shuto landed the hovership in the middle of a quiet forest. He got out of the ship along with Haruka and Imani. Imani activated her eye scanner, leading the others as she walked further down the forest while the scanner looked for the DNA signature.

“Are you picking up anything?” Haruka asked.

“It’s getting closer,” Imani said. “And from the looks of it, it appears to be a very strong force.”

“That’s not good,” Shuto said.

“Stop,” Imani said as she halted, alerting the others. “It appears to be nearby.”

A bear-like dark beast ferociously jumped towards the trio. Imani quickly activated her eye’s forcefield, blocking the beast from attacking them. The dark beast kept hitting and hitting till the forcefield started to crack slightly.

“Unbelievable,” Imani said. “The shield is breaking.”

“Two of us should keep it busy while the other one contains it,” Shuto said.

“Imani, don’t you have something else in your arsenal for containing it?” Haruka asked.

“It’s gonna take me a minute to get it ready,” Imani said as the forcefield cracked even more. “You two hold it off! I’ll prepare the containment!”

Imani released the forcefield, getting out of the way while Shuto and Haruka stood before her to attack. Shuto and Haruka drew out their wands at the same time, transforming them into their weapons. Haruka’s wand transformed into a large pink Japanese fan embroidered with the petals of cherry blossoms. She gave one flap of the fan and a strong gust of wind emitted, striking at the dark beast and keeping it at bay.

Shuto’s wand transformed into a translucent katana that had a white hilt with a shiny ribbon tied around it. As he raised the katana, the blade transformed into a rope of pure snow that flowed quickly and enveloped itself around the beast. Imani thought it was the perfect time to capture it. She quickly got out her other wand, charging the energy into it to create an energy dome that trapped the beast inside. The beast did everything to break out of it but was unable to.

“You think that’ll hold it?” Haruka asked.

“That dome can withstand anything for at least a good twenty-four hours,” Imani said. “It’ll give us time to take the beast back to headquarters and properly contain it there.”

“But this isn’t Fida,” Shuto said. “Fida’s dark beast form is a horse. Who could this one be?”

“Well, the DNA signature is traced to this creature,” Imani said. “It must’ve been with her during the attack against Neil and Heer.”

“If that’s the case, this one may possess a human form as well,” Haruka said. “We’ll just have to wait for them to transform back.”

“Okay, it’s better than nothing,” Shuto said. “We should get back as soon as possible.”

***

Back in Rosenbaum, Ryan led Tatia and Headmaster Devil to the location of the body he mentioned earlier. It was in the corner of an alleyway downtown. Arriving there took Tatia back to Zayn’s description of his encounter with Solomon. Everything from the alleyway to the cold air surrounding them felt like Zayn’s story.

“This feels very familiar,” Tatia said.

“It seems this is his pattern of cornering victims,” Ryan said. “It’s the easiest way to take them down.”

“So, now what do we do?” Headmaster Devil asked.

“We need to find a clue. There must be something that can provide a lead around here,” Tatia said.

“Like this?” Ryan asked.

Tatia turned around, looking at what Ryan picked up. On his hand was a sticky gray material that he picked up from the ground. Tatia walked over to him and bent down to get a closer look at the substance.

“Some kind of residue?” Tatia asked.

“Looks like it. I have no idea what it is, but I do remember one thing you mentioned.”

“What’s that?”

“You told me that the bodies of the victims were gray. This may have come from the body.”

“Well, that’s certainly disturbing,” Headmaster Devil said as he came closer to look at the residue.

“Sure is,” Ryan said. “This enough of a lead for you, Tatia?”

“Definitely. Thank you for this, Ryan,” Tatia said as she patted Ryan on his shoulder. “You have no idea how much you’ve helped us out.”

“You don’t have to thank me. It’s always a pleasure,” Ryan said.

“Hmm. This looks like flirting to me,” Headmaster Devil said quietly.

“Did you say something, Devil?” Tatia questioned.

“No, nothing. Nothing at all,” Headmaster Devil said. “So, are we done here?”

“For now,” Tatia said as she got the substance in a small plastic bag. “I’ll have to take this sample back to headquarters and have it scanned.”

“I can take it for you on your behalf,” Ryan said.

“Are you sure, Ryan?”

“Positive. You should get back to Zayn.”

“Thank you, Ryan. I really appreciate it,” Tatia said as she handed the bag with the substance to Ryan and grabbed her hoverbike. “I guess I’ll see you two later then.”

“See you,” Ryan said.

Tatia got on her hoverbike and took off. As Ryan watched her leave, he turned to Headmaster Devil, who was giving that same look on his face from earlier.

“Now what is it?” Ryan asked.

“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

As Ryan began to walk away, he tried to keep his cool, knowing something was on Devil’s mind. Maybe he was just messing around like he normally does. At least, that’s what he was hoping.

***

Around eight at night, Tatia arrived back at her house. She parked her hoverbike near the porch and headed to the doorstep, unlocking the front door. As she closed the door and took her shoes off, she called out for Zayn. She didn’t get an answer, so she called him again. She wondered where he was. Before she could even worry, Zayn entered inside the house. Tatia looked at him and said, “Oh, you went out?”

“Yeah, I just went downtown for a while. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”

“That’s okay. What did you end up doing today?”

“Well, I went to a cupcake shop, and then I spent some time at a few bookstores.”

“Huh, those aren’t usually in your realm of things to do.”

“Yeah, I ended up calling Krystal back earlier, and I just thought of things that she would do.”

“Wow, she’s had quite the impact on you.”

“Mom, come on. She’s just a friend.”

“I’ve certainly heard that line before.”

Zayn sighed, knowing no amount of defense from him would help him out.

As Zayn was about to head upstairs, Tatia called his name, making him stop. He turned to her and could see she had something on her mind.

“I know Solomon’s return has been hard for you,” Tatia said.

“It’s okay. I’m fine, Mom.”

“You don’t have to say that. I want you to know that if you want to reach out to me or anyone else, you can and you should.”

Zayn nodded silently. He wanted to say something, but the truth was he didn’t really know what to say.

“Do you think there’ll have to be a point where I have to talk about this…to others?” Zayn asked.

Tatia took a moment to herself before responding. She was surprised to hear Zayn even say anything. Tatia could see anxiousness in Zayn’s eyes. She took a deep breath and said, “That’s up to you. I think talking about it to a friend or anyone could help.”

“You think I should bring it up to the others?”

“You mean your new friends?”

“Part of me wants to, but I’m also afraid.”

Tatia could see how hard it was for Zayn to even admit to his fears. She said, “I understand, honey. I may not know these new friends well, but from what little I know about Krystal, I think she could understand.”

“Maybe. But I don’t know if now is the right time to bring it up.”

“Okay. So, what do you want to do?”

Zayn was silent. He took a deep breath and said, “I know…it’s been a while, but maybe I could try therapy again?”

Tatia was surprised to hear this from Zayn considering the past. “I thought you said you never wanted to go to therapy again?”

“I know, but I was being irrational back then. I’d like to try it again. I think it could maybe help me.”

Tatia hugged Zayn, holding him tightly in her arms. She said, “I’ll find someone in the morning.”

Zayn hugged his mom back. It was the first time for him in a while.

***

Late at night, at the Ringmasters Society headquarters, Shuto, Imani, and Haruka stood outside the cell that was currently holding the dark beast they had captured earlier. Shuto turned to Imani and Haruka and said, “So, how are we doing this? Someone has to watch for the rest of the night.”

“You don’t trust our guards?” Imani asked.

“They were taken down easily by whoever came to get Fida,” Haruka said. “This may be a duty that one of us has to take.”

“Well, which of us is the most awake?” Imani asked. “I’m already feeling tired.”

Suddenly, Shuto could hear the faint sound of footsteps drawing near. He turned around, seeing no one was behind them, but he could still hear the footsteps.

“Shuto, what is it?” Haruka asked.

“There’s someone here,” Shuto said. “Do you know if any of the guards are still on duty?”

“They should be outside,” Imani said.

A large banging sound startled Shuto. He knew for certain an enemy was nearby. As he got ready to draw his wand, the door was quickly pounded down, with its joints loosened. Standing before them was Fida with someone who Shuto didn’t recognize.

“You didn’t need to make such a pompous entrance, Agni,” Fida said.

“Well, I wasn’t trying to be stealth,” Agni said.

“Unbelievable,” Haruka said. “Most people don’t return to jail on purpose.”

“Look, just hand over Vara, and things can end here peacefully,” Fida said.

“So, he’s a comrade of yours?” Shuto asked. “All the more reason to keep him locked up.”

Agni looked at Fida, rolling her eyes as she was irritated with her simple-minded attitude. Fida decided to act fast, so she transformed into her beast form, launching a dark energy beam towards Shuto, Haruka, and Imani. Shuto countered with a spiraling ice attack that diffused the energy beam.

“Is that all?” Shuto asked, smirking.

“For you it is,” Agni said.

Suddenly, Shuto started to feel dizzy. He felt as if he had been hit in the head, and he could faintly see Haruka and Imani were dozing off as well. As Agni predicted, it didn’t take long for the three to pass out to the ground.

Fida transformed back into her human form while Agni stepped forward towards the cell. She put her hands on the bars, applying dark energy to the bars as she pulled them further apart, bending the iron. She touched the sphere holding Vara and could sense it was a powerful force.

“Looks like we’ll have to take him in the sphere,” Agni said.

“Sounds good to me,” Fida said as she walked towards the jail cell.

“It seems you’re getting the hang of the powers Master gave you.”

“Yeah…sure.”

As Agni and Fida held onto the sphere, both them and Vara disappeared into gray smoke.

Volume 2

30. Head Start

April 6, 2025 imeryli

The next day, students were getting ready to leave for spring break. As the morning rolled on, small batches of students were leaving campus one at a time. At the student lounge, Sana, Rey, Krystal, Prince, and Heer were waiting for Neil, Zayn, and Akira to arrive so that they could visit Headmaster Devil’s office before getting ready to leave school grounds. As they waited, Krystal went into detail about her outing with Zayn from the previous night.

“You went out with Zayn?” Rey asked Krystal.

“Yeah, he’s barely toured around here since he started at RTA,” Krystal said. “Now he may not admit it, but I just know he had fun.”

“Wow, you’re so chill about this,” Sana said.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” Krystal asked.

“Because you two went on a date,” Rey said.

Krystal turned to Rey, flabbergasted. She could feel as if her cheeks were starting to puff up. Was that really what her friends thought?

“Date?!” Krystal exclaimed. “Who said anything about a date?!”

“I mean, what you described sounds like a date,” Sana said.

“Seriously?! I can’t believe you, Sana,” Krystal said. “Can’t two friends just have dinner and spend time getting to know each other?!”

“Sure, they can,” Prince said. “But you won’t stop fixating on him with doting eyes.”

“Is this an accusation, Prince?!” Krystal cried.

“To hell with the drama,” Prince said, rolling his eyes. “We’re not in court here. You went on a date with him. Big deal.”

“Heer, you gotta back me up,” Krystal said. “Can’t you see that this was a friendly outing and nothing more?”

“I don’t know if I can comment on this,” Heer said.

Krystal felt like she was backed into a corner. She worried about the impression she created on Zayn. Did he get the same idea that her friends were getting?

“Hey, guys. We’re here,” Neil said as he arrived with Zayn and Akira.

Krystal jumped upon seeing Zayn, rushing to sit down next to Heer. Neil took note of Krystal’s demeanor and found it odd.

“So, you guys ready to get going?” Akira asked.

“Yeah, let’s see what Devil wants,” Sana said as she got up along with the others.

As they were walking, Neil went to Rey and said, “So, did I miss anything?”

“Oh, yeah, Krystal went out with Zayn last night,” Rey whispered.

“Seriously? No way.”

“What are you two blabbing about?” Krystal questioned Rey and Neil.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing,” Rey chuckled. He turned back to Neil and quietly said, “I’ll give you the details later.”

***

Sana, Rey, and the rest of the gang headed off to Headmaster Devil’s office to meet with him as they were told. Once they entered the office, Sana led everyone inside, seeing Headmaster Devil standing at his desk.

“We’re here, sir. What did you want to talk to us about?” Sana asked.

“I need you to meet some important people,” Headmaster Devil said directing Sana and the rest of the gang’s attention to their right. Standing before Sana and the others were three individuals. What was striking about them to Sana was their appearances. The three individuals were small, cat-like creatures that had fairy wings on their backs. They resembled lion cubs. One of them was pink with teal wings, the other one was yellow with pink wings, and the last one was purple with blue wings. “Introduce yourselves.”

“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Adela Everglow,” the pink cat said.

“I’m Faith,” the yellow cat said.

“Name’s Gourav Bluerose,” said the purple cat.

“These are your guardians,” Headmaster Devil said.

Headmaster Devil could see that the kids looked quite puzzled. None of them said a word. It was like they were frozen in their silence. To break the quiet atmosphere, he asked, “Are you kids okay?”

“They’re cats! With wings! And they’re talking!” Rey exclaimed. “Why are you acting like that’s normal?!”

“You transform into a cat, right?” Adela asked.

“Tiger for your information,” Rey said. “We can’t exactly speak in our beast forms.”

“Wow, these Earth children are far behind in abilities,” Faith said.

“Okay, we need an explanation, sir,” Sana said.

“And what do we need guardians for?” Neil asked.

“Since the Madame Naga attack and everything that’s come out of it, I believe Sana and Rey are not out of danger just yet. Another threat or even another Madame Naga can come after you two again,” Headmaster Devil said. “That’s why I’ve assigned Adela as your guardian. She will accompany you outside of the academy for your protection.”

“You mean she’s gonna be with us everywhere we go?” Rey asked.

“No. I don’t have time to babysit little kids. Just when you go on important missions and such,” Adela said.

“Who are you calling a little kid?!” Rey exclaimed.

“I don’t like to repeat myself,” Adela said.

“Well, they’re certainly getting off to a great start,” Sana said, rolling her eyes.

“As you can see, they’re not from here. They’re from Euphoceus like Akira,” Headmaster Devil explained.

These guys are from Euphoceus? That explains their forms, Akira thought. She looked at Adela, Faith, and Gourav. Once Adela made eye contact with her, she looked away. I wonder if they know.

“Oh, you mean they belong to the feroness species then?” Krystal asked.

“No, we’re faereons,” Gourav said. “We’re a similar species with slightly different powers and characteristics.”

“So, do you have human forms then?” Heer asked.

Without a word, Adela, Faith, and Gourav transformed. Headmaster Devil was already familiar with Adela’s human form since they had previously met, but it was his first time officially meeting Faith and Gourav. Faith had long, wavy blonde hair and deep brown eyes. She wore a frilly cloud blue dress with puffy sleeves and matching ballet flats. As for Gourav, he had short purple hair that matched the color of his fur in his faereon form. He had violet eyes and wore a cream shirt with matching trousers and blue loafers.

“We don’t use our human forms for long periods of time as it drains energy needed to sustain our chibi and normal beast forms,” Adela said. “In fact, we mainly use these forms when venturing around your world.”

“Well, I guess you guys are a lot different from us after all,” Rey said.

“Now that you guys are informed, let’s get to the other assignments. Faith will be assigned to Krystal and Prince. And Gourav will be assigned to Neil and Heer,” Headmaster Devil said.

“I’m confused. I thought the concern was Sana and Rey’s protection,” Prince said.

“It is. But you all are close to them. Enemies that know them will know you as well,” Headmaster Devil said. “I know you all have different plans for the break. Some of you are planning on training, but you should all be on alert. Understood?”

“Yes, sir,” the gang responded in unison.

“So, are they supposed to tag along with us over break?” Krystal asked.

“That depends on what you’re doing. Have you all figured out your plans?” Headmaster Devil asked.

“If I found someone to train me already, I would have,” Neil said.

“Well, you have till the end of the day to leave campus. I suggest you all get your affairs in order,” Headmaster Devil said. “Oh, Zayn, can you stay for a bit?”

Zayn nodded. With that, the others left the office while Zayn remained alone with his father.

“Son, I hope you utilize this break well. It’s a chance for you to rest and recharge.”

“Thanks for the suggestion, Dad, but I think I have other plans in mind.”

“I hope they’re not related to Solomon. Your mother wouldn’t like that.”

“No. I just have personal training in mind. That’s all.”

“Okay. But remember, you have two weeks. Try to find some time to relax during then,” Headmaster Devil said.

Zayn turned to leave the office. As he left, he thought about what was just said. He wasn’t being completely honest with his dad. However, he also knew that this break was important to him for other reasons.

***

The rest of the gang headed outside to the front steps of the academy building along with the guardians. Neil and Heer headed off to get their things with Gourav following them. And Krystal reminded Sana and Rey about their meeting with Cyrus before leaving with Prince and Faith.

“So, shall I wait for you guys around here?” Adela asked Sana and Rey.

“Yeah. I’ll be ready after I get my stuff,” Rey said.

“Same here,” Sana said.

“Well, I’m gonna go back inside and look for Zayn,” Akira said. “Adela, would you like to come with me?”

“Sure thing,” Adela said.

Akira and Adela headed back inside the building. Rey turned to Sana and said, “So, I’ll go get my things, and we’ll meet back here?”

“Yeah. Cyrus will be there around four. So, we have time.”

“All right. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Rey headed towards the boys’ dorm house. Sana was getting ready to go back to her room. As she was leaving, a voice said, “Well, you certainly don’t look any different.”

Sana turned around, surprised at who she saw. It was a girl that was about her age. She had medium-length, caramel brown hair with indigo highlights. She had sharp brown eyes and wore a black top, black pants, black ankle boots, and a long indigo-colored duster. Sana didn’t instantly recognize her, but the more she looked at her face, the more recognizable she became.

“Nazriya? Nazriya Siddiqui?” Sana said.

“Well, well. You do remember me. That’s good.”

Sana walked up to Nazriya, stunned to see her. It felt like ages since she had seen a familiar face.

“This is unbelievable. How are you? What brings you here?” Sana asked.

“I was around town. And word has been getting around at Crimson Phoenix about what happened here at the RTA. Your name came up quite a lot. So, I thought I’d finally pay you a visit.”

“Crimson Phoenix? You’re a student there?”

“Yeah. My partner’s name is Lysander Evans. I would’ve brought him here to meet you, but he left early for break.”

“Wow. I never would’ve guessed you’d go there. I’ve heard quite the stories about that school.”

“The crazy ones? They’re all true. And yet, I quite love it there. Anyway, enough about me. Tell me, how have you been since this whole thing?”

“I’ve been okay.”

“Really? Are you sure about that? It may have been years since I’ve seen you, but I still know when something is bothering you.”

“It’s a lot.”

“I have time.”

***

Back inside the academy halls, Akira and Adela were walking around, looking for Zayn. Akira had a lot on her mind being next to Adela, another Euphocian. And right now, they were both awfully quiet.

“So, I should just ask you straight up. Do you know who I am?” Akira asked Adela.

“I do.”

“And yet, you didn’t say anything in front of the others.”

“I didn’t think you’d want them to know considering the circumstances.”

“Can you tell me how things are back at home?”

“Well, it’s been some time since me and the team have been there. From what I remember, things seemed okay.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

“You should consider going back.”

Akira sighed. Those were words that she didn’t feel like hearing now. Before she could say anything, she noticed Zayn was heading their way. She went up to him and said, “Everything cool with your dad?”

“Yeah. Were you guys looking for me?” Zayn asked.

“Uh, yeah. And I was showing Adela around the academy,” Akira said.

“Yeah, it’s really nice around here,” Adela said.

“It is pretty nice. We should get our stuff from our rooms,” Zayn said.

“Yeah, we should,” Akira said.

Akira left with Zayn, heading towards one of the back entrances of the school. Adela started walking around, deciding to explore the school grounds.

***

Back outside at the main entrance, Sana was seated at the steps with Nazriya, chatting with her. She told her everything about the battle with Madame Naga and its aftermath.

“I see. So, your focus for the break is controlling these new dark powers,” Nazriya said. “Is it just Rey, or do you have them as well?”

“That’s the thing. I’m still not sure. I was taken over by the same dark powers during our Ring of Fire attack, but it seems to be more dormant within me compared to Rey.”

“It makes sense. Madame Naga’s venom morphed his energy system. He’s lucky he still has his fire energy. In your case, binding with this other version of him must have given you the same powers to a certain extent.”

“That’s probably it. If only we had someone who would be able to guide us through all of this.”

“Well, you’re meeting a friend of Krystal’s, right?”

“Yeah. His name is Cyrus Swiftblade. Do you know him?”

“I do. He’s cool. He’s friends with some of the students at Crimson Phoenix. I’m sure he can lead you in the right direction at least.”

“Hopefully.”

“Anyway, I should let you get packed.”

“You really came all the way here for a chat?”

“Partly yes. There’s one other thing I wanted to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Do you remember Kairos?”

The name hit Sana like a falling boulder. She hadn’t heard it in so long that she was surprised she remembered.

“Based off your face, I’m assuming that’s a yes,” Nazriya said as she stood up.

“Why are you asking me about Kairos?”

“Well, he was a good friend of ours from that time. You were especially very close to him.”

“That was back then.”

“So, you haven’t thought of him once in all these years?”

“Why do you bring him up? Have you met him recently or something?”

“I just wanted to. There are so many fond memories of us three. And you two had a strong bond.”

“Well, things change. And people forget things.”

“Most things can’t be forgotten even if we try to.”

Sana could feel she was getting uneasy as they kept talking about Kairos. She already had a lot on her mind to begin with.

“Anyway, I really should get going. I need to get back to the city. But it was nice seeing you,” Nazriya said as she started to head out.

“Yeah. Maybe I’ll see you again.”

“Believe me. You will.”

With that, Nazriya left, and Sana watched her leave. She got up from the steps and headed towards the girls’ dorm house so she could pack. As she walked, she thought, There’s no way she’d just bring him up so casually. Could it be she knows where he is?

***

After some time had passed, Sana, Rey, and the rest of the gang had gotten their things and exited their dorms. They met up outside the front steps of the academy, saying their byes.

“You guys are tagging along with us?” Rey asked Krystal and Prince.

“Just for meeting up with Cyrus. Prince and I have no clue what we’re doing for break yet anyway, so it’ll buy us some time,” Krystal said.

“We could just go to the beach like you wanted to,” Prince said.

“Not happening. Everyone else is doing important stuff over break, so we’re going to as well,” Krystal said. “Although, we should squeeze in a beach day. We can’t be workaholics after all.”

“Well, Akira and I are gonna head to the train station and go to Arsen Town,” Zayn said.

“Oh, spending time at your hometown. That sounds nice,” Krystal said.

“It’s also the place that he does his best training,” Akira said.

“Oh, come on. Please tell me you’re going to relax over break,” Neil said.

“You guys aren’t planning on relaxing,” Zayn said.

“Well, if we don’t convince that Dhanush guy to train us, then we’ll have no choice but to chill,” Neil said.

“Hold on. You’re going after Dhanush?” Rey asked. “Even after being rejected like that?”

“He’s supposed to be in town today. Neil’s hoping to find him and beg him to train us again,” Heer said.

“Well, good luck with that,” Sana said.

“Anyway, we’ll see you guys in two weeks,” Zayn said as he and Akira got on his hoverbike and took off.

The rest of the gang waved bye as Zayn and Akira left. “All right. Guess we gotta go now,” Neil said.

“Go where exactly?” Krystal asked.

“Like I said, we’re gonna scour the city and find this Dhanush guy,” Neil said.

“Neil, that is hardly a plan. You’re really gonna walk around town non-stop with Heer till you find this guy?” Sana asked.

“Well, they won’t need to walk,” Gourav said. “We need to show you guys why we were made your guardians in the first place.”

Gourav began to give off a bluish glow. It stunned Sana and even the others looked surprised to her. Once the glow faded, Gourav had transformed into his faereon form. The form was that of a purple lion with a deep blue mane. He had beautiful blue butterfly wings on his back as well.

“Whoah. That is amazing,” Heer said.

“It certainly is,” Adela said.

“Man, I think I can really get behind this guardian thing!” Neil exclaimed.

“All right, get on. We don’t have time to waste,” Gourav said.

Neil rolled his eyes and got on Gourav’s back along with Heer. “All right, guys! Have fun over break!” Neil said as Gourav took off.

“Good luck finding Dhanush, dude!” Rey exclaimed.

“So, can you guys take us to the bus stop then?” Sana asked Adela and Faith.

“Sure thing,” Adela said as she and Faith transformed. Adela’s faereon form was pink with teal stripes on her head and her wings were teal as well. Faith’s form was orange, and her wings were a bright yellow. Sana and Rey got on Adela’s back while Krystal and Prince got on Faith’s. They all took off into the sky.

***

As they continued towards the bus stop, Sana found herself enjoying the ride in the sky. The feeling of flight was unfamiliar to her in the sense of being so close to the clouds and the way the air brushed her face. She could tell Rey and Krystal were having a blast while Prince was just chilling.

The group soon landed at the bus stop on Fernandes Street. Adela and Faith transformed back into their human forms when they got on the ground. And right before them, Cyrus had arrived.

“Cyrus, hey!” Krystal exclaimed.

“Hey to you, Krystal,” Cyrus said.

“Let me introduce you,” Krystal said as she began pointing to everyone. “You obviously remember Prince. That’s Adela and Faith. And Rey and Sana.”

“Nice to meet you, man,” Rey said.

“Likewise,” Cyrus said.

“So, are you going to tell us where we’re heading?” Sana asked.

“Well, the bus is coming here soon. Once it gets here, we’ll get on and we’ll go from there,” Cyrus said.

“So, you’re not even going to tell us where we’re going?” Prince asked.

“Trust me. I have my reasons. You’ll understand once we get there,” Cyrus said.

“Guys, trust Cyrus. He knows what he’s doing,” Krystal said.

“You know where he’s taking us?” Adela asked.

“I do. So, trust us,” Krystal said. “Look, the bus is here!”

The bus stopped right before the group. Once the doors were open, they all went on board. And as it took off, Sana was left to wonder where they were heading. Even though she didn’t know Cyrus, she did trust Krystal. What was ahead? She didn’t know.

***

On the other hand, Neil, Heer, and Gourav paused their mission to find Dhanush as Neil wanted to get ice cream from Suzie’s Ice Cream Parlor. Heer and Gourav waited outside the place, and it didn’t take long for Neil to come out with a double scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream on a waffle cone.

“Nothing beats the taste of ice cream,” Neil said after taking two licks.

“I see how much your priorities mean to you,” Gourav said.

“Hey! Is it so wrong that I wanted to treat myself ?!” Neil exclaimed.

“No, but you do realize the day is almost over,” Heer said.

“And since we are yet to find this Dhanush, if you don’t figure out things fast, you two will have no choice but to roam around town like strays for spring break,” Gourav said.

“Don’t be such a downer! We’re gonna find that man!” Neil exclaimed. “Right after I finish my ice cream. Do they even have ice cream in Euphoceus, Gourav?”

“You mean cloud cream?” Gourav asked.

“What’s that?” Heer asked.

“It’s a frozen treat like this, but it’s whipped heavily to resemble a cloud,” Gourav said. “And you should see what a cloud cream float looks like. It’s basically cloud cream on top of a sparkly blue drink.”

“Wow, that sounds lovely. I should learn how to make it,” Heer said.

“You know, I would like to give this ice cream a try. I could see how it compares to cloud cream. Hand me some money, Neil,” Gourav said.

Neil rolled his eyes and gave a few bills to Gourav. Gourav went inside the shop while Neil and Heer waited outside.

“So, are you taking a liking towards Gourav?” Heer asked.

“Ah, he’s okay. Dude owes me five dollars now.”

“So, what’s your plan for finding Dhanush?”

“I’ll be honest. I’m stumped now. What if we really have no choice but to roam around the city for two weeks?!”

“Can’t we go to your hometown and train?”

“No. Besides, I have no interest in going home. We need someone really good to train us.”

Before Heer could say anything, she could sense someone’s presence nearby. It alarmed her only because she could feel it was heavier than just that of a normal human.

“Neil, do you sense that?” Heer asked.

“Sense what?”

“Someone is near.”

Neil could hear a strange sound. It was the sound of someone panting. He turned around, seeing someone was indeed nearby. It appeared to be a man. He wore a black vest and torn black pants with no shoes. His hair was long and unruly, and he had a strange zigzag- shaped scar on his face.

“Hungry. Very hungry,” the man said.

“Uh…we should run,” Heer said.

“Why? He probably just wants ice cream,” Neil said.

The man’s body gave off a harsh purple glow as he morphed into a bear-like dark beast. Neil could feel the harshness of its red eyes glare into his.

“Okay, maybe he doesn’t want ice cream,” Neil said.

Before Neil and Heer could even make a move, the dark beast leaped towards them. Heer pulled Neil, making him drop his ice cream as the two ran off.

“Man! That’s five dollars I’m never getting back!” Neil exclaimed.

“I think we need to be more concerned about what’s coming after us.”

“Damn it! Why did I have to put my wand so deep in my backpack?! Can you transform?”

“Okay!”

Heer transformed into her beast form. Neil rummaged through his backpack to get his wand out, but the two couldn’t even breathe. The dark beast was on their tail and was hungrier than ever.

“Heer, use an ice energy beam while I get my wand!” Neil ordered.

Heer nodded and launched an ice energy beam from her mouth. The dark beast countered it with a dark energy beam, but it was different from usual dark energy beams. It had a red flare to it that extended behind the beam, almost resembling a meteor. And once it collided with Heer’s ice energy beam, it knocked it out, striking Heer directly.

“Heer!” Neil exclaimed as he finally got his wand out from his backpack. “Damn it! We’re in trouble.”

***

Downtown, Dhanush was dressed up in his finest dress shirt and tie as he seated himself for a job interview. He was in the office of a local finance firm in the city. If he got this job, he could settle into a new life that didn’t involve chaotic ringmaster duties. As he interviewed with Mr. Jenkins, one of the human resource managers, he found himself to be quite nervous. Mr. Jenkins was probably a few years older than him. His short blond hair looked like it had been smoothened with a vast amount of hair gel and his navy-blue suit looked more expensive than anything he owned at home. His Italian leather shoes were another story. Dhanush felt the nervousness boil inside him as he could feel judgment radiating from Mr. Jenkins’ gaze, switching between looking at him and his resume.

“So, Mr. Pillai, your only finance experience seems to be a finance major from college. Why transition here after such a long break from it?” Mr. Jenkins asked.

“Well, I’m truly passionate about the field as I’ve kept up with the knowledge I gained from it. And I find that it’s a field of respect and trust. Those are qualities that I exemplify to the T.”

“But if you were so passionate about it, why break into it now? It also seems you didn’t even focus primarily on it. Your resume states you also majored in literature.”

“Yes, that’s true. I find the skills I learned from that are also valuable. I think-”

“Let me ask you something. I see your schooling prior to university was at one of those ringmaster academies. They’re quite a crazy bunch, aren’t they?”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean that’s why you’re applying to jobs like ours. You want a normal life. Not that insane life that those ringmasters and human-beasts live. I mean really, they go around acting like vigilantes and creating chaos for people like us. Frustrating, isn’t it?”

Before Dhanush could even answer, he noticed something going on through the window behind Mr. Jenkins. There were blasts of what appeared to be ice energy clashing with dark energy. But the dark energy was unusual and looked more powerful than anything he had seen from dark beasts before. He knew there was a serious attack going on. And even though Mr. Jenkins kept on talking, his voice sounded like nothing but faint murmurs to him as he was only focused on what was going on outside. It said a lot to him. Was this need for a normal life as important to him as he thought?

“Dhanush?”

“Huh?”

“I asked you about your skillset. Didn’t you hear me?”

Dhanush felt stuck. He simply froze, not knowing what to say.

***

Neil and Heer were struggling against the dark beast. They kept running while Neil kept trying to aim his bow and arrow on the beast, but it kept jumping around frantically.

“Damn it! Where the hell is Gourav?! He should be doing that whole guardian thing right now!” Neil exclaimed.

Neil fired the arrow from his bow, but the beast dodged it. Neil formed another arrow and went again but running and getting his aim right proved to be a difficult task. “Heer, help me out and use your Ice Shard attack!” Neil ordered.

Before Heer could attack, the dark beast pounced at her, pinning her to the ground. Neil stopped, trying to see if he could hit it to help Heer. As the dark beast tried to bite at Heer, she used her back legs to kick it off her. But the dark beast struck her again with his flared dark energy beam. She landed on the ground and transformed back into her human form from the fatigue.

“Heer!” Neil shouted. Neil tried to aim the arrow once again, but the beast came for him, biting at his arm. He could feel the pain from the sharp fangs as his arm started to bleed. As the beast lunged for him again, Neil froze as his fear took over him. Heer tried to rush to him to help.

Suddenly, a sharp arrow struck the beast at its neck, making it let go of Neil and fall to the ground. Neil was confused as this certainly wasn’t his arrow. Once Heer was by his side, Neil was stunned to see the arrow that had hit the beast seemingly created a rock formation that brought it down to the ground.

Neil looked up and was stunned. Above in the air, standing on a floating rocky surface was Dhanush. He held an elegant gold crossbow in his hand, and he had the most nonchalant expression on his face as his loosened tie flew from the breeze.

“It’s Dhanush Pillai,” Heer said.

“Why does he look like he failed a job interview?” Neil asked.

“Shut up! I can hear you all down there!” Dhanush exclaimed.

The dark beast transformed back into its human form. The man said, “Why you…why you interfere with dinner?!”

“I don’t know who you are. And frankly I don’t like getting involved with any ringmaster’s business. However, that changes when it involves helpless kids,” Dhanush said.

“I can’t tell if you’re being nice or just straight up insulting to us,” Neil said.

“Kid, I’m here because you need it,” Dhanush said.

“Damn you, bastard!” the man shouted.

The man began to transform back into his dark beast form again. Before he could fully transform, Dhanush swiftly fired another arrow from his crossbow. This time the arrow seemed to carry a beautiful autumn leaf that struck the man in his chest before his transformation could complete. Suddenly, the man seemed to collapse as the leaf took over like a tremor, overwhelming his body. The sight of all this amazed Neil. He couldn’t even focus on the pain in his arm. He was too mesmerized by Dhanush’s power.

As the man began to collapse, a smoke came out of nowhere and someone new appeared on the scene. Though this figure was not new to Neil. It appeared to be Fida.

“That’s enough, Vara. Let’s go,” Fida said as she grabbed hold of the man.

“Fida?!” Neil exclaimed.

Fida looked at Neil, feeling slightly stunned to see him. She couldn’t bother saying anything to him. It wasn’t a good idea. She disappeared quickly in the smoke, taking Vara with her.

“Was that really her?” Heer asked.

“Yeah. It had to be. That doesn’t make sense. She was arrested by the Ringmasters Society,” Neil said. “But who was that guy, and what was their deal?”

“Are you alright?” Dhanush asked Neil and Heer as he came down to them on his floating rock.

“Minus the bad injuries, I think we’ll be okay,” Neil said.

“Neil! Heer!” a voice shouted.

Neil, Heer, and Dhanush looked up. Gourav was flying towards them and landed right before, transforming back into his human form.

“What happened here?!” Gourav asked.

“Some weird dark beast attacked us out of nowhere,” Neil said. “You mean to tell me you were just sitting around at the ice cream shop this whole time?!”

“I’m sorry. I got lost in all the flavors, and I completely spaced out. I regret my actions. I’m supposed to be your guardian, and I failed you both,” Gourav said.

“It’s okay, Gourav. We made it out okay. And that’s all that matters,” Heer said.

“Hello?! We got seriously hurt here!” Neil exclaimed.

“I can help,” Dhanush said.

Dhanush waved his hand over Neil and Heer, creating magical autumn leaves that stuck on both Neil and Heer’s chests. As the leaves remained on them, they sent energy waves throughout their bodies. Neil could feel the wound in his arm was healing rapidly.

“Whoah,” Neil said.

“What are these?” Heer asked.

“They’re healing leaves. Since your wounds aren’t too deep, they can heal them completely,” Dhanush said.

“You have healing powers on top of being a crossbow master?!” Neil exclaimed.

“Yeah. Once you’re at my age, these skills aren’t a big deal,” Dhanush said.

Neil got down on his knees, confusing Dhanush. “Please train me!” Neil exclaimed, begging with his hands. “You’re literally the perfect teacher for me! At first, I was concerned about training for the exams, but I see things differently now. I wanna be as cool as you!”

“Oh Lord,” Gourav said.

“This is a bit much,” Heer said.

Neil looked at Dhanush, eagerly waiting for an answer. He was doing the same thing as last time when he asked him this same question. Dhanush was just standing there, looking at him. He seemed perplexed but also slightly intrigued.

“You heard what I said yesterday. What makes you think I’ll change my mind?” Dhanush asked.

“Look, I know you think I’m a good-for-nothing kid that has zilch going for him. But I know I have what it takes to be the best student you could ever have. And I have the best partner. We promise to work hard as a team to be worthy of being your students. Just please take us under your wing,” Neil said.

Dhanush sighed. He was irritated at the idea of supervising kids. However, he did find Neil sincere to an extent. And since his job interview went horribly, he felt like his perspective on what he wanted had changed. He initially wanted to live a normal life away from being a ringmaster, but he realized what he wanted was larger than what he thought.

“I’m heading back to my home on Mt. Archer. The finance gig is clearly not for me,” Dhanush said.

“You wanted to give up being a ringmaster to go into finance?!” Neil exclaimed.

“Oh, shut up,” Dhanush said.

“So, you don’t want to train us?” Heer asked.

“I didn’t say that,” Dhanush said.

“Well then?!” Neil asked, getting impatient.

“You both seem genuine, but I need to know just how serious you both are,” Dhanush said.

“How do we prove it to you?” Neil asked.

“Find me in Mt. Archer. If you can make it there within the next twenty-four hours, I’ll train you both,” Dhanush said.

“You want us to travel all the way there?! What the hell?! That mountain is supposed to be one of the tallest mountains in the country. And the surrounding terrain is rough,” Neil said.

“So? Just excuses,” Dhanush said as he slowly rose back in the sky on the floating rock. “Remember. One day. Find me there, and I will train you both.”

Dhanush took off, leaving Neil confused. But as confused as he was, he was determined to get Dhanush to train him. He knew what he had to do.

“All right, Gourav. We don’t have to worry about being strays around here,” Neil said. “We’re heading to Mt. Archer.”

“You think you’re up for that?” Heer asked. “It’s not gonna be easy to get there.”

“That’s why we need to do it! We need to prove to him that we’re worthy of his time!” Neil exclaimed. “Let’s go then!”

“Uh, can we eat first?” Gourav asked.

“You had ice cream, didn’t you?!” Neil exclaimed.

“Yeah, but I need a meal. I can’t fly on an empty stomach,” Gourav said.

“Oh, fine. The line at Devil’s Diner better not be long,” Neil said.

***

Deep in the middle of nowhere, there was a dark cave. Fida and Vara appeared outside the cave, emerging from the smoke. Fida felt tired, realizing the smoke teleportation technique was still too much for her to handle. As she stepped in front of the cave, she waved her hand over the rock, allowing her dark energy to emerge from her hand. The entrance to the cave appeared.

Fida and Vara entered, walking swiftly inside. Fida was still getting used to the new premises. Light purple flames lit up as she and Vara continued walking. Once they reached the main chamber, Fida was surprised to see no one was around. That feeling soon disappeared as she heard someone approaching them nearby. She recognized the subtle sound of anklets chiming. It was unlike others because of how slow-paced it was. It was Agni.

Agni had her long dark curls swept to the side with her oxidized silver jhumkas dangling against them. Her tear drop-shaped maang tikka aligned in the middle of her hair perfectly with the black bindi on her forehead. The gaze from her sharp brown eyes was too familiar.

“You certainly did a fine job watching him,” Agni said.

“Not Fida’s fault,” Vara said. “Not much food here. I-”

“I wasn’t speaking to you,” Agni cut in. “Go to your quarters and stay there till the master gets back.”

Fida watched Vara leave in silence. He walked in a slow pace, which was something he normally did when he was feeling low.

“Was that really necessary, Agni?”

“Don’t tell me you feel sorry for him. He’s not your brother. Next time, do a better job of guarding.”

Agni swiftly turned away from Fida with her saree flowing like a red wave as she walked off. Fida sighed, wondering what Neil was thinking when he saw her. She knew he would likely say something to someone. Before the nerves would swallow her whole, she thought it was best to go to her chamber.

Books, fantasy, writing

Mind Catcher

May 29, 2023 imeryli

“Damn it! I’m gonna be late!” Neil exclaimed as he dashed towards the front doors of Ringmasters Training Academy. It was a Tuesday morning, and the school day was just about to start. Neil only managed to wake up after getting ten phone calls from Heer, who told him that he had missed breakfast. Neil rushed through the hallway, knowing full well that Professor Luna would be displeased at his tardiness once again.

Neil looked at his phone as he kept running. He only had a minute left, and the door to the classroom was just at the end of the hall. Determined to make it at the bell, Neil lunged forward, quickly managing to slide through the door as soon as the bell rang.

“YES! I made it!” Neil exclaimed.

Neil looked around, seeing everyone was staring at him, including Sana, Rey, Krystal, Prince, Heer, Zayn, and Akira. Before he could get more attention to himself, Neil quickly made his way to his seat next to Heer.

“Smooth, Neil. Very smooth,” Prince said.

“Hey, I made it on time!” Neil exclaimed. “Besides, Professor Luna isn’t even here yet.”

“Apparently she’s not even coming today,” Rey said.

“Wait, what?” Neil asked.

“I heard one of the teachers say she had to fill in for one of the other instructors at the academy conference,” Sana said.

“Which means she won’t be here for at least two weeks,” Heer said.

“Thank God for that,” Krystal said as she finished painting her nails a baby pink color.

Sweet. A break from Luna is just what I needed, Neil thought.

Suddenly, Neil saw a man enter the classroom. One look at his outfit was enough for him to know Krystal would have an opinion on it. He wore a gray sweater, gray pants, and gray dress shoes. He had his brown hair smoothed back. Neil could hear Krystal whispering to Prince, “Wow, zero creativity in the fashion department.”

Fashion aside, Neil was getting an intense vibe from the guy. The man put down his briefcase on the desk. He looked up at everyone, cleared his throat, and said, “Hello, all. I’m Professor Lyle O. Justice. You can all call me Lyle though.”

Then why even introduce yourself as a professor? Neil questioned.

“Professor Luna has assigned me as your substitute. Just because I’m a sub, don’t think I’ll go easy on you kids,” Lyle said.

“Seriously?” Krystal said quietly. “Get over yourself, Lyle.”

“Young lady,” Lyle said. Krystal was startled, seeing Lyle was looking directly at her. “Why don’t you stand for us?”

Krystal begrudgingly stood from her desk. Lyle said, “What’s your name?”

“Krystal.”

“So, Krystal, would you like to share your riveting and engaging thoughts with the class?”

“Not really.”

“Did I give you a choice?”

“Technically you did by framing your sentence as a question.”

This will not end well, Prince thought.

“Well, you’ll have plenty of time to think about technicalities in detention,” Lyle said.

“What?!” Krystal exclaimed. “How is that fair?!”

Lyle turned back to the board to open his briefcase while Krystal sat down, puzzled. Even Professor Luna wasn’t this bad to her.

“All right. You will all read chapters ten through twelve in your textbook today and answer the following reflection questions,” Kyle said as he passed out papers to every student. “Whatever you don’t finish is homework, and you must bring it tomorrow. You have to engage all the content sufficiently to earn full credit.”

“Excuse me, sir, what does engage mean?” Heer asked.

Lyle turned to Heer and looked at her as if she had asked him for both his kidneys.

“I would expect students to know what basic directions mean,” Lyle said.

Sheesh. What an ass, Neil thought. Everyone began working quietly, opening their books and reading along. Neil opened the book and took a look at the reflection questions. There were five of them, and they seemed to be pretty basic questions. Neil figured the assignment wouldn’t be too bad.

***

Later that day, the gang met up at the cafeteria for lunch. As they got seated, Krystal came up to the table, annoyed as she put her lunch down and said, “That Lyle is such an ass. How dare he give me detention?!”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I didn’t even think you deserved it,” Prince said.

“Wow. That’s a first from you, Prince,” Krystal said.

“He seems to have a pretty big ego,” Zayn said.

“He never even answered Heer’s question,” Sana said. “What kind of educator is he?!”

“Maybe it was a silly question for me to ask,” Heer said as she reached for her fruit cup.

“Heer! Don’t you make any excuses for him talking to you like that!” Neil exclaimed.

“Yeah, he’s an ass,” Rey said as he munched on his grilled cheese sandwich. “I swear he’s making me wish Luna was back, and I never thought I’d say that.”

“At least it’s only for a short time,” Akira said. “When’s your detention, Krystal?”

“Friday. I’m going to miss the sale at Reshawna this weekend,” Krystal said. “I was gonna get the new Dreamy Lilac baguette!”

“You’re rich. Why would you care for a sale?” Prince asked.

“Money is something you have to use wisely, Prince!” Krystal exclaimed. “Sheesh. I just want this god-awful man gone already.”

“Come on, guys. It’s just two weeks,” Sana said. “Maybe he was just being tough for the first day. He could end up being a lot nicer tomorrow.”

Neil sighed. As much as he wanted to believe Sana on what she was saying, something in his gut was telling him otherwise.

***

Two days later, Neil dashed to Energy Enhancement class with two minutes to spare. Everyone seemed just as frazzled as he was. Two days with Lyle had turned into a level of monotony that wasn’t ideal. Neil was even surprised with himself that he showed up to class. It was probably because he was too afraid to skip in fear that Lyle would make him regret it by hurting his grade. After all, he was barely passing the quarter so far.

“Okay, I have your reflection papers graded,” Lyle said. “Some of you did what I wanted. Some of you didn’t.”

“Oh, God,” Neil said quietly.

Lyle began handing everyone their papers. Neil could see everyone was looking anxious to some degree. All but Sana and maybe even Akira.

As soon as Sana got her paper, she was immediately appalled. The score on her paper was seventy percent. She couldn’t believe the number of red marks, X-marks, and comments were blatantly ripping her work to pieces.

“He gave me a seventy,” Sana said, still in disbelief.

“Damn. We got the same score,” Rey said. “Something must be wrong with the universe.”

“Sheesh. Who gives a fifty on a reflection paper?!” Krystal said.

“I’m asking the same thing,” Neil said, bewildered by the fifty on his paper.

“Is there a reason you kids won’t stop chatting?” Lyle questioned Sana, Neil, and Krystal.

“Oh, we’re fine, sir,” Sana said.

“Actually, we’re not,” Neil said.

“Here we go,” Prince said quietly.

Neil stood up from his desk even though he could tell from the looks on Heer and his other friends’ faces that they wished he would just keep quiet. He said, “Aren’t these grades a little harsh?”

Neil could tell this question didn’t land well on Lyle. His sternness turned into a frightening vibe.

“Are you questioning my methods?”

“No, I’m just asking a question.”

“Neil, you got a fifty percent because your work was worth a fifty percent.”

What the hell?! Who does he think he is announcing my grade in front of everyone?! Neil thought.

“You know, I don’t think announcing my grade to everyone answers my question or gets your point across very well,” Neil said.

Neil could tell from the mixture of deafening silence and shocked faces from his classmates that he said something that wouldn’t land well. It didn’t take too long to guess from Lyle’s face that he wasn’t too happy either.

“Since you’re so bold today, Neil, why don’t you reflect on what you did wrong in detention on Friday,” Lyle said.

“What?! But I-”

“You can sit down now.”

Neil sat down and pouted. He said, “Great. I really blew it.”

“Well, at least you have company in detention,” Akira whispered.

“Hey, I equally don’t want to be there,” Krystal said.

“Okay, silence everyone. Open your books to chapter thirteen. Read till fifteen and do the reflection paper for the three chapters,” Lyle said as he passed out papers to the class.

Sheesh. He has the nerve to act like such a bastard when he doesn’t even bother to teach, Neil thought.

And so, another boring class went by. As everyone was getting to leave the classroom, Neil looked at Sana, who was staring at her reflection paper grade again.

“Still bummed about your grade?” Neil asked.

“I’m beyond bummed. This isn’t just the lowest grade I’ve ever received,” Sana said. “Some of these comments are just mean.”

“No kidding,” Krystal said.

“You could just ask him about it,” Rey said to Sana.

“And end up like Neil?” Zayn said.

“I’ll give it a shot,” Heer said.

“Uh, are you sure about that, Heer?” Prince asked.

“I got the same grade as Sana, so I had some questions about how to improve. I’m sure if I ask him now since class is over, he’ll be nicer,” Heer said.

Heer made her way to the front desk where Lyle was at. Neil watched her along with the others, scared at what could happen.

“Excuse me, Mr. Lyle,” Heer said. Lyle immediately turned from the chalkboard, looking at Heer. Heer could feel his intimidating presence, but she decided to remain calm and composed.

“I just wanted to ask some questions about the feedback on the reflection paper. I understand where your comments are coming from, but could you possibly explain this in a clearer way?” Heer asked.

Neil and the others watched with anticipation to see how Lyle would respond. Neil couldn’t tell from Lyle’s face if he was angry, annoyed, or both. Heer waited for an answer as Lyle cleared his throat.

“Ms. St. Hale, since you don’t seem to know what fluff is, it’s basically space-filler, superfluous verbiage, or the kind of writing that talentless high schoolers do to meet a word count,” Lyle said. “There was so much fluff in your paper that it was hardly even a paper anymore.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Heer said. “Is there a different way I should be answering the questions?”

Lyle sighed. He cleared his throat again and said, “Heer, when you reflect on something, you should be saying something.”

“But I did say something.”

“You gave me meta-commentary. If you want to improve, you should start by not writing fluff. Fluff writing may work for students like you now, but in the future, it will not be rewarded.”

“I’m sorry, I still don’t know what you mean by fluff.”

“Since you want to be difficult, you’ll learn a thing or two in detention this Friday.”

“Detention? But why?”

“That’ll be all. You can see yourself out now.”

Heer was so confused, but more importantly, she could feel her self-esteem shatter in seconds. She quickly turned to the door to leave as tears began to burst from her eyes. Neil was appalled, and he could tell the others were equally upset. They quickly left the classroom to catch up with Heer before she went too far.

***

Lunchtime felt like a therapy session. Heer couldn’t stop crying, and the rest of the gang was trying everything to cheer her up. Sana, Krystal, and Akira stayed with her at the table while the boys went to get food.

“No teacher has ever told me my writing is fluff,” Heer said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“An educator should never speak to anyone the way he spoke to you,” Sana said. “Or write such nasty comments.”

“I swear, what’s he got against fluff?!” Krystal exclaimed. “He must hate fluffy marshmallows! Or fluffed pillows!”

“Or stuffed animals while we’re at it,” Akira said.

Soon, Rey, Prince, Neil, and Zayn came back to the table with plenty of food on hand. The food included a nice tray of cookies and strawberry cupcakes.

“Okay, we got as much comfort food as possible,” Zayn said.

“My wallet hurts, but anything to make you feel better, Heer,” Prince said.

“Oh, please, Prince. Your wallet always gets burned at the candy store,” Krystal said as she grabbed one of the cupcakes.

“I don’t know about you guys, but this Lyle guy has gone too far,” Neil said.

“I can’t believe I haven’t gotten detention yet,” Rey said. “How does Heer get detention before I do?!”

“Well, you normally get detention without trying,” Sana said.

“You’re just mad that you got a seventy on the assignment like mwah!” Rey exclaimed.

Rey realized that he shouldn’t have said anything as soon as Sana started glaring at him. He turned away, hoping she’d cool off.

“I don’t even feel like going to that class anymore,” Heer said.

“You know, me too,” Neil said. “I say we don’t go until Luna comes back.”

“And risk more failures?” Sana said. “Yeah, not happening.”

“Of course, you’d say that,” Neil said as he rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m just not gonna bother till Friday. This man can fail me all he wants.”

“In other words, nothing else is new with you,” Prince said.

“Oh, shut up,” Neil said as he took a bite out of his salami sandwich.

***

Neil stood by his word. He refused to go to class up until Friday. It’s not like he was going for perfect attendance anyway. He met up with the gang in the hallway to catch up on what he missed.

“Wait, you got detention, Akira?!” Neil asked.

“Yup,” Akira said.

“You should’ve seen how badass she was,” Rey said.

“What’d you do?” Neil asked.

“Lyle went off about how half the class doesn’t know the meaning of reflection and was just doing meta-commentary on the assignments,” Zayn said. “So, Akira gets up and tells him that the grading system is a broken social hierarchy that enforces elitism amongst children.”

“The little man couldn’t take the heat,” Akira said.

“Why didn’t you guys tell me this earlier?” Neil asked.

“We didn’t think you’d want to hear about Lyle on your little vacation,” Krystal said. “I can’t believe half of us are going to be in detention today.”

“And I’m not part of that half,” Rey said. “I’m almost sad.”

“Well, it’s not too late to get detention today,” Sana said.

“Oh, not happening. Prince and I are going bowling after school,” Rey said.

“What?!” Neil exclaimed. “You made plans without me?! That too with Prince?!”

“I only agreed to go if he’d shut up,” Prince said.

Before Neil could say anything, the bell rang. As the others made their way to class, Neil wondered if he should even bother going. Of course, he did have to show up for detention, but he figured he didn’t have to subject himself to another day in Lyle’s den.

“Are you coming, Neil?” Heer asked.

“You guys go ahead. I think I’m gonna sneak into the library this time around,” Neil said as he dashed off.

“Why does he bother skipping again?” Sana asked. “You guys have to face Lyle at detention anyway.”

“In Neil’s world, there’s no harm in delaying the confrontation of your problems,” Prince said.

***

Later, at the end of the school day, Krystal, Heer, and Akira waited by the doors to the lower floor for Neil. Heer texted him to meet them there since they had to meet with Lyle for detention inside one of the classrooms there. Krystal was getting impatient, tapping her new purple strappy heels furiously on the ground.

“Krystal, you’re gonna scruff those heels if you keep doing that,” Akira said.

“Well, I can’t help it,” Krystal said. “At this rate, we might get detention for missing detention.”

“We could just go without Neil,” Akira said.

“No, we can’t just leave him,” Heer said. “I’m sure he’s on his way.”

Thankfully, Neil arrived seconds later. He was sweating and panting before he finally said, “Sorry, I’m late, guys.”

“Why are you late?” Akira asked.

“I went to the wrong floor,” Neil said. “About three different times.”

“Oh, Neil,” Heer said.

“Whatever. Let’s just go in and get this over with,” Krystal said as she opened the doors.

The four headed inside, walking down the hall till they got to the very last classroom at the dead end and headed inside. Once inside, Neil was surprised that Lyle hadn’t shown up. The classroom had an eerie presence. Neil felt like some haunting presence was creeping over his shoulder.

“I can’t believe that jackass is late,” Krystal said.

“I sure can,” Akira said.

“Neil, are you okay?” Heer asked, seeing Neil looked slightly off.

“Do you guys feel like something is off?” Neil asked.

“Like what?” Krystal asked. “The only thing off is the AC circulation. How is it colder here than upstairs?”

Suddenly, Neil could hear the sound of the door locking. He turned around, seeing the door was indeed closed.

“Guys, who closed the door?” Neil asked.

Before the others could turn around, Lyle appeared just like that. The sudden sight of him frightened Neil. He had a feeling something bad was going to happen.

“Since when could you do that?!” Neil exclaimed.

Lyle wouldn’t say anything. Neil could tell that the girls were getting just as intimidated as he was. Suddenly, the room began to change. Neil could feel a sense of dizziness smack him upside. It was like a whiplash effect. In a matter of seconds, Neil felt his body was trapped. He was strapped to a chair at one of the desks. As he tried to budge, he could see Krystal, Heer, and Akira were stuck in the same way. He looked up to see Lyle standing before them. He was taken back to the time Aiden had the gang in detention. Except this time felt different. It felt far more sinister.

“Okay, what the hell is going on?!” Neil questioned Lyle. “Let us out!”

“I can’t let you out of detention,” Lyle said.

“I thought I wouldn’t have to relive the war flashbacks from when we had detention with Aiden,” Krystal said.

“What the hell do you have planned exactly?” Akira questioned.

“Why tell you when I can show you?” Lyle said.

Neil was suddenly more confused than scared. He turned to see Heer’s head hanging down, looking at the ground. She was eerily silent. He saw the same thing happen to Krystal and Akira as well. Before he knew it, he could feel an overwhelming sense of fatigue strike his head like a gust of wind. He could feel he was losing consciousness. Suddenly, everything went black.

Neil slowly woke up. When he did, everything around him was different. He wasn’t in the same classroom anymore. Lyle nor the girls were with him. He was alone in a completely white void. He could feel that his legs were going numb from the fear that was overtaking him.

Suddenly, Neil could feel his legs being pulled down. He could see demon-like arms grabbing hold of him. He tried to break free, but it was of no use. Neil felt the white void change as he went through a watery-like floor. It felt like he was drowning in paint. He was struggling to breathe as he was being pulled further and further down. As he was going down, he could hear a voice echoing through the waters. It was so powerful that the water shook like an earthquake. The voice kept saying, “You’re a failure.”

Hearing it made things even worse. Neil could feel he was losing consciousness.

***

On the other hand, Krystal woke up, feeling like she was smacked in the face. Her face felt sore. What was even weirder was she saw herself sitting on a set of railroad tracks. Before she could even think further, she could hear what sounded like a train ringing. She turned around, stunned to see that a train was indeed coming, and it was closer than she thought. Krystal got up to get off the tracks, but for some reason, she couldn’t get off them.

Krystal got up and started running while the train continued to come after her. She could feel her heartbeat race faster and faster as she kept running. She was surprised after running for a while because she hadn’t even been hit yet.

“Am I running fast or is this train running slow?!” Krystal cried.

Krystal could feel her legs were getting tired. She couldn’t keep up with the train any longer, and it wasn’t close to stopping. She didn’t even know where she was going. Beyond the railroad tracks, she saw trees and greenery on both sides, but it all looked the same. It was like she was on an endless train track. She could feel she was getting slower, her legs tiring out. The train was nowhere near close to stopping though. As she slowed down, she could feel the train smack into her. She was stuck to the front of it, like her body had been frozen. She screamed as the train kept going.

***

Akira found herself on the beach. The sand was warm, and the ocean waves were calm. The calmness was too gentle for her. She had a hunch that something was up. As she got up, she could see that the gentle waves were suddenly becoming more monstrous. The closer she looked, she thought she could see a face in the water that was familiar. Akira was astonished as she recognized the molding of the face in the water. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. A man’s voice started echoing from the water. It kept saying, “Come home. Come home, Akira.”

For a moment, she believed what she was hearing was real. However, as the water came closer to her, she realized something was off. She released her siren vocals, unleashing a massive sound wave through the waters as they made her way toward her. The sound waves protected her from the water, and she could see that the man she was seeing had disappeared.

“I knew he wasn’t real,” Akira said. “He wouldn’t actually want me home.”

Akira noticed the beach was suddenly calmer. It was as if a change in her perception had changed her atmosphere. She could see she was the only one at the beach, which made her wonder where the others were. She pondered over how they were all doing, especially Krystal since she thought she was quite the klutz on her own.

Suddenly, Akira could feel the sand of the beach shake between her toes. It was like an earthquake was happening. Everything surrounding her shifted in a pixelating manner. Before she could process it, she was in a completely different place. She could see she was standing right by a railroad track with a train speeding through it like lightning. As quick as it was, she was still able to see Krystal was hanging onto the front of the tree for dear life, screaming her head off.

“Krystal?!” Akira exclaimed. “How did I get to her just like that?!”

Akira quickly transformed into her siren form. She flapped her wings and began flying above the train, trying to reach Krystal. Once she got close to the front, she shouted, “Krystal, are you okay?”

“Do I look okay to you?!” Krystal shrieked. “And how are you here now?!”

“I’m still trying to figure that out. Can’t you get off?”

“No, I tried that. It’s like some barrier is preventing me. This thing doesn’t even end!”

Akira tried to think quickly. She wondered how she got to Krystal in the first place. It was then she recalled thinking about how Krystal was doing earlier. That was the moment she was brought to her. She even realized that the tsunami stopped once she realized what she was seeing wasn’t real.

“Krystal! I think I figured out what to do!”

“Does that involve saving me?! Because you’ve been hovering like a damn bird this whole time!”

“You’re gonna have to stop it.”

“What?! How?!”

“You just gotta trust yourself. This train isn’t real.”

“You’re not the one stuck on it!”

“I’m serious. What we’re seeing isn’t real, but this is your mind. You just gotta believe that.”

Krystal couldn’t fully understand what Akira was saying. The more she thought about it, the more she realized why she couldn’t move from the train or why the train wouldn’t stop. It was because she had been losing her grip on reality. She quickly tried to think of something that would make the train stop. Thinking about that made her brain hurt, so she started thinking of a happy place. A shopping trip to the mall would be great. She could just think of the great deals she could get on the new Reshawna handbag collection.

Suddenly, she looked ahead and saw the train, and everything was gone. She was in one of her favorite boutiques in the mall. Krystal turned to see Akira fly down, landing on the ground next to her.

“We’re in the mall now?” Krystal asked.

“No, remember it’s not real. Knowing you, your brain instantly thought of the mall, so it took us here.”

“So, we can’t go shopping?”

“I think we have bigger concerns. I don’t know how to explain it, but I think our brains have been intertwined somehow.”

“Huh?”

“Lyle must’ve put us in some psychological coma where all of us are stuck in these realities that feel real, but they aren’t. The only reason I got to you is because I was wondering where you were.”

“Aww, you were concerned about me?”

“Honestly, I thought you were a lost cause for a bit.”

“Hey!”

“The point is, I went from my mind to your mind. Now we have to jump to either Heer or Neil’s mind. I think that’s the only way we can get our consciences back to normal.”

“Wait, if Lyle put us in this linked coma thing, doesn’t he know that we know by now?”

“Maybe, but we have the edge now since we now know what we’re seeing isn’t real. I say we go to Heer next.”

“You’re right. Between her and Neil, her brain is probably less of a mess.”

“Okay, just think of seeing Heer. Got it?”

Krystal nodded. She instantly thought of Heer, hoping she was safe. Akira was wondering what kind of state she was in.

Suddenly, the reality surrounding Krystal and Akira shifted. It was the same feeling Akira felt when it happened to her. Krystal felt like she switched the channel on the television. Now they were in a bitter winter scene. Krystal could feel the chills as snow was quickly piling down.

“Sheesh. Why is Heer’s brain so cold?!” Krystal exclaimed as she started shivering.

“Forget that. We need to find her and wake her up, so we can go find Neil.”

“Well, where could she be?”

“She can’t be far. We imagined that we’d see her.”

“Oh no! What if Heer has been frozen in a huge chunk of ice, and the only way for her to break free is to be awoken by the chosen one in a thousand years?!”

“What have you been watching lately?”

“Rey makes me watch a lot of old cartoons during study sessions.”

As crazy as Krystal was sounding, Akira did begin to wonder if Heer was frozen somewhere. It would make the blistering cold atmosphere apt. She looked down on the ground, and she noticed some very faint footprints in the snow. As she looked ahead, she could see they continued further down.

“There are footprints here. It has to be Heer. Come on, let’s follow them.”

Akira and Krystal began walking along the footprints. As they kept going, Krystal thought she could see someone shivering in the distance. She instantly recognized the curly brown hair.

“Do you see her?” Krystal asked Akira. “She’s there!”

Krystal and Akira yelled out Heer’s name multiple times. It seemed she couldn’t hear them. Heer very much could hear something calling to her. She thought it was a familiar voice. It was one she had longed to hear for such a long time. Suddenly, the voices started to clash. She could hear Krystal and Akira’s voices overpowering her eardrums.

“Heer, can you not hear us?!” Krystal shouted.

“Guys, you don’t understand. He’s calling me,” Heer said.

“Heer, there is no one calling you,” Akira said. “It’s just us.”

“No, you’re wrong,” Heer said. “I heard him.”

“Look, everything except us is an illusion,” Krystal said. “We figured that out. Now, you have to.”

Krystal and Akira caught up with Heer, but she still wouldn’t look at them. It was as if she couldn’t even see they were there. Like she thought that they were the illusion instead of the voice she was hearing.

Heer could feel she was losing consciousness. She could feel the bitter cold was getting to her as she fell to her knees. The voice she was hearing became distorted. It wasn’t until she saw Akira and Krystal come up to her that she felt somewhat okay. She could actually see and feel their presence.

“You…you guys are really here,” Heer said.

“We are,” Akira said. “We’re the only things real here. You have to believe that.”

“Do you still hear that other voice?” Krystal asked.

“Not really,” Heer said. “I do feel really cold.”

“Well, we can escape the cold if we go to see Neil next,” Akira said. “Who knows what kind of state he’s in.”

“How…how do we…do that?” Heer asked as she was shivering.

“Just think about how you want to see Neil,” Akira said. “If we all do, we should be able to get to him. Hopefully before it’s too late.”

“What do you mean by too late?” Krystal asked.

“The longer he remains in the reality state increases the chances of trauma occurring to his mind,” Akira said. “It could be dangerous. Come on. Let’s do this.”

Heer tried to calm down and think of Neil. She decided not to let the bitter cold get to her as finding Neil was of the upmost of importance. Akira and Krystal followed the same. Suddenly, that spazzing feeling came again. Before they knew it, everything around them changed. Heer was stunned to see that she, Krystal, and Akira were underwater. There was no life to be seen. It was just a vast, endless body of water. At least it was until Heer could see Neil drowning deeper into the water. Heer pointed to him for Krystal and Akira to see. The three swam down as quickly as they could, getting close enough to him. All three of them grabbed hold of him, trying to pull him up.

However, something was holding Neil back. Heer could see there were hands pulling Neil back. She used all the strength she had to pull him away with Krystal and Akira helping out. Krystal quickly grabbed her wand, tapping it to transform it into her sonic bell. She rang it, allowing its soundwaves to strike the hands, making them let go. With Neil released from their grasp, the girls were able to pull Neil upward. Heer was struggling to figure things out as Neil was still completely out of it. She didn’t know if there was a surface for them to reach to. She figured that she had to get Neil to wake up if they actually wanted to get out. Heer concentrated her ice energy in her hand, placing it on Neil’s shoulder, allowing it to transfer from her to him. She hoped this would bring him back.

Damn. I feel like my body is melting, Neil thought. Is this what death feels like? I can’t…I can’t feel anything…

Neil could feel a jolt of energy shoot up inside of him. He opened his eyes, stunned to see Heer, Krystal, and Akira holding onto him. He realized just how out of it he had been. Seeing them helped him made him understand just how real they were. It was that feeling that made him feel like the surface was closer than ever.

And just like that, Neil, Heer, Krystal, and Akira all woke up in the classroom. They made it out of the ropes that initially had tied them down to their seats. They were all breathless with Neil unable to comprehend what he had just experienced. Before he could think too much about it, he saw Lyle. He wasn’t standing tall and powerful like before. Instead, he was on the ground just like them, seemingly out of breath and panting like crazy.

“Guys, look!” Neil exclaimed as he got up. The girls got up, all turning to see Lyle. Krystal found it almost laughable.

“Not so powerful anymore, are you?!” Krystal exclaimed.

“There’s no way you idiots could’ve broken out of the reality chamber,” Lyle said as he slowly tried to get up.

“You didn’t count on me figuring out what you were up to,” Akira said. “Next time you want to mess with someone’s head, know them better.”

“Okay, I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to kick his ass,” Krystal said.

“You bet,” Neil said.

“That won’t be necessary,” a voice said.

Neil, Heer, Krystal, and Akira turned around to see Headmaster Devil. The classroom turned back to normal. Everything was seemingly okay then. Neil figured it was Headmaster Devil’s doing.

“I never thought I’d see the day that I was happy to see you, sir,” Akira said.

“Ouch,” said Headmaster Devil.

“What are you doing here?” Neil asked.

“I’ve heard some chatter lately from students about Lyle. I was coming here to have a chat with him about all the complaints I’ve been getting about his abusive behavior,” Headmaster Devil said. “Is this how you attempt to teach my kids a lesson?”

Lyle didn’t say anything. He simply looked away, almost like a little boy who didn’t get the toy he wanted for Christmas.

“You kids go on. I’ll deal with him right now,” Headmaster Devil said.

“Finally! Guys, let’s make it to that shoe sale!” Krystal exclaimed as she grabbed the others by their hands, taking them out of the room.

***

On Monday morning, Neil cautiously entered the classroom for Energy Enhancement. Everyone, specifically his friends, were looking at him like he was trying to rob the place.

“Neil, what are you doing?” Sana questioned.

“I was looking out for him. I don’t know what Devil is planning to do about him,” Neil said.

“You don’t have to worry. Considering what he tried to pull, I doubt he’ll be welcomed back,” Akira said.

“I still don’t get what he was trying to do,” Neil said.

“Neil, he was trying to fry our brains,” Krystal said. “I swear, Devil better have him locked up.”

“Why would he do that though?” Heer asked. “I know he was cruel, but can someone really be that level of evil?”

“In this world, yeah,” Akira said.

“If Akira hadn’t figured out it was illusions that you guys were seeing, you all might not still be here,” Zayn said.

“How did you figure it out, Akira?” Rey asked.

“That’s something to be told another time,” Akira said.

“Really? You’re being the secretive one?” Prince questioned.

Suddenly, the rest of the kids began applauding. Neil turned around along with the others to see Professor Luna had returned.

“Oh my gosh, Professor Luna! I’m so happy you’re back!” Neil exclaimed. “I could just hug you!”

“Yeah, please don’t do that, Neil,” Professor Luna said as she settled down at her desk. “Though your enthusiasm is amusing.”

“So, is the evil man gone?” one of the students asked.

“After what happened with Mr. Lyle this past week, Headmaster Devil had him sent away. We can’t have that kind of behavior in this school. Also, you won’t have to worry about the assignment grades as I won’t be counting them considering how unjust they were,” Professor Luna said. “While I’m saddened that I had to cut my conference time short, I’m actually happy to be back with all of you.”

As Professor Luna was getting ready to start the lesson, Neil couldn’t help but think about everything that happened with Lyle. Everything in the illusion still bugged him. He even wondered if he’d encounter Lyle again, or someone like him. As his thoughts got restless, he looked at Heer, who looked back at him with a smile. She had the most reassuring smile. He remembered it was that same warmth that helped him survive the ordeal. He realized just how lucky he was to have her as his teammate.

Books, fantasy, Uncategorized

Stuck in an Old Story Part 1

June 4, 2022 imeryli

“Rey! How dare you eat my Marigold Surprise?!” Krystal shouted.

It was a casual Wednesday at Ringmasters Training Academy. In the afternoon, Sana, Rey, Krystal, and Prince were hanging out in the sophomore lounge area during their break time. Of course, things weren’t casual for long.

“I didn’t know it was yours,” Rey said as he finished eating the Marigold Surprise.

“I left it on the table to go get some water. Did you not hear me say that to everyone?”

“You sure you said that?”

“Ugh! Even so, you just eat food left on the table that you clearly didn’t buy?! Like a heathen!” Krystal exclaimed. “And why did you two not do anything about it?”

“I was in the bathroom,” Sana said.

“I just didn’t care,” Prince said.

“Ugh!” Krystal exclaimed. “You owe me another one!”

“What is happening?” Neil asked as he came up to the group in the lounge.

“Rey ate my Marigold Surprise,” Krystal said.

“Big deal. You can get another one,” Neil said. “Anyway, Devil apparently wants us in his office.”

“What?! Who told you that?” Rey asked.

“My brother casually dropped that while I was walking by in the hall,” Neil said. “Quite rude if you ask me.”

“You guys better not have done anything,” Sana said.

“Knowing them, trouble is their best friend,” Prince said.

“Oh, shut up, Prince!” Krystal exclaimed. “Let’s just get this over with!”

***

Rey, Krystal, and Neil headed straight to Headmaster Devil’s office. Once they went inside, they found Headmaster Devil wasn’t alone. He was with Professor D’Sena.

“Professor D’Sena?” Krystal said.

“Hello, kids,” Professor D’Sena said. “Should I stay for this?”

“No, Arun,” Headmaster Devil said. “I’ll take it from here.”

Professor D’Sena nodded and headed out of the office. Krystal was confused and could see Rey and Neil were as well.

“So, what’s going on?” Krystal asked.

“You three should probably know,” Headmaster Devil said.

“Know what?” Rey asked.

“Professor D’Sena just informed me that you three didn’t do so well on your recent exam,” Headmaster Devil said.

“What?! I actually studied this time,” Rey said.

“Hold on. He didn’t even hand them back to us yet,” Neil said.

“I know. But he informed me that you all are now on the verge of not passing the class this quarter,” Headmaster Devil said.

“What?!” Krystal exclaimed. “That’s impossible. I had a B this quarter.”

“Yeah, and now you currently hold a solid seventy,” Headmaster Devil said. “Needless to say, it’s not looking good for you three. You know that Combat Strategies I is a crucial class to pass this year.”

“We’re not getting kicked out of the academy, are we?!” Neil asked.

“No, but I did talk to Professor D’Sena just now. He’s giving you three an opportunity that could ensure you three don’t fail this quarter,” Headmaster Devil said.

“Okay, what is it?” Rey asked.

“Well, he wants you three to write a six-page paper on the importance of combat strategies and how they’re applicable to real life scenarios,” Headmaster Devil said. “That shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Six pages? When is it due?” Neil asked.

“Professor D’Sena wants it by class tomorrow,” Headmaster Devil said.

“Ugh! How can I write a six-page paper by tomorrow?!” Krystal exclaimed.

“That’s why he wants you to write it together,” Headmaster Devil said. “A group paper.”

“Suddenly it gets worse,” Krystal said.

“It’s a pretty fair opportunity. As long as you get at least a B on the paper, you three will pass this quarter,” Headmaster Devil said. “You three can work on it at the library after school. Shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

Krystal sighed. Rey looked at Neil and could tell he was feeling just as irritated.

***

After school, Rey, Krystal, and Neil went to the library to begin work on their paper. Krystal was going through the many sections of books to find relevant materials, Rey was going through the bits of lectures he recorded on his phone, and Neil was staring at his laptop screen. As Krystal arrived back to the table with the books, she sighed and said, “What are you two doing?! The laziness here is unacceptable.”

“Hey, I’m actually doing something here!” Rey exclaimed. “I’m looking through the lectures I recorded in class.”

“Those blurry videos with poor audio?” Krystal said.

“It beats trying to learn from a book,” Rey said. “I’m a visual learner. The only reason I did bad on that exam was because I forgot to study.”

“And your excuse is what?” Krystal asked Neil. “I told you to start writing the intro, and you’re just staring at the screen.”

“I have writer’s block,” Neil said. “And since when are you such a taskmaster for school? Isn’t that Sana’s thing?”

“Because of you guys, I’m missing out on the release of the new Reshawna Fruit Fest bag collection,” Krystal said as she sat down at the table. “I was going to snag the Strawberry Milkshake bag at the mall, and now it’s probably sold out! Ugh.”

Krystal sighed. She looked at Neil’s laptop screen and said, “I don’t even know how to start this paper.”

“I would’ve rather gone on some mission where we kick some ass,” Rey said. “Writing about fights isn’t exactly as fun as actually fighting.”

“Well, we can’t sit here and complain all day,” Neil said. “The sooner we finish this, the better.”

Krystal got ready to crack open one of the books. As she opened one, she noticed one of the books fell on the floor. She got up to pick it up but was puzzled. It didn’t look like a book that she picked up from the shelves. It had a lavender cover and gold writing on the front that was in a language she didn’t recognize. There was a small golden fairy in the top right corner as well. She knew she had to focus, but she couldn’t help but be intrigued.

“What are you doing, Krystal?” Rey asked.

“Oh, I just picked up this book by mistake,” Krystal said as she put the lavender book on the table. “It looks really cool though.”

“What language is the writing?” Neil asked.

“Not sure,” Krystal said. “Maybe we can open it and see what’s inside.”

“I thought we were supposed to focus on the paper,” Rey said.

“We are. This is just a quick peak,” Krystal said.

Krystal opened the cream pages of the book. As soon as she opened it, the book emitted a golden glow that stunned her, Rey, and Neil. Suddenly, she could feel herself being pulled into the book along with the others.

The three of them screamed as they were pulled into a golden portal. After a few fleeting moments, they fell onto a ground. Krystal could feel her back was hurting from the fall. She quickly grabbed her wand, which had fallen on the ground. As she grabbed it, she noticed something different. Her clothes had been changed. She was now wearing a long-sleeved orange dress with intricate gold embroidery.

“Damn, what the hell just happened?” Rey asked as he got up along with Neil.

“Your clothes! They changed,” Neil said to Krystal. He looked at Rey, seeing him in a white long-tunic, blue billowy pants, and brown boots. He looked at himself to see he was dressed in the exact same outfit. “I changed clothes! What the hell just happened?!”

“I just asked that,” Rey said.

Krystal was puzzled. She couldn’t understand what was going on. The more she pondered over it, the clearer it became to her.

“I think…we maybe got transported into the book,” Krystal said.

“What?!” Neil said.

“Wait, she might be right. Things went whack when she opened the book,” Rey said. “What did it say on the cover?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t read it,” Krystal said. “Though there might’ve been a fairy in the corner of the cover.”

“Fairy tales! We must be in a book of fairy tales,” Neil said.

Krystal couldn’t believe it, but the more she processed it, the more she realized how true it was.

“This can’t be happening. So, what fairy tale involves clothes like these?” Krystal asked.

Before anyone could answer, Krystal heard the sound of loud thumps. She turned around along with Rey and Neil, horrified at what she saw. A giant three-eyed dark beast that had the form of a bear was coming towards them. The creature roared at Krystal, Rey, and Neil.

“Maybe we should run and discuss this later,” Rey said as he took off.

Krystal and Neil followed Rey, running off as the dark beast chased them with its loud thumps. It didn’t take long for the dark beast to start launching dark energy beams their way. The trio kept running, dodging each one.

“I thought you two were always in a fighting mood,” Krystal said to Rey and Neil.

“Not when we’re being chased by a giant bear!” Neil exclaimed.

“Look! There’s a little cave thingy!” Rey pointed out.

Rey quickly led Krystal and Neil towards the cave he found. He pushed the green branches away and headed inside with Krystal and Neil, making sure the dark beast didn’t see them. They sat down and Rey took a deep breath.

“That was scary as hell,” Rey said. “Man, I’ve never seen anything like that.”

“I’m confused. I’m scared,” Neil said. “What the hell is happening?!”

“Neil’s the one that said we’re in a book of fairy tales,” Krystal said. “What fairy tale is this?”

“I don’t know,” Neil said. “First off, none of the fairy tales I’ve read mentioned dark beasts in them.”

“Wait a sec. Krystal, was there any writing on the book?” Rey asked.

“Yeah, but it was in another language,” Krystal said. “Why?”

“Well, our clothes and the giant monster remind me of this Indian fairy tale that Sana told me about once,” Rey said. “I don’t remember the Sanskrit title, but it translated to Three Kids and a Giant.”

“So, we’re in an Indian fairy tale book?” Neil asked.

“I guess so,” Rey said. “But it doesn’t explain why we got sucked into the book. Also, the monster in that tale is a ten-headed giant. So, why the change?”

“I don’t know what’s worse between the monster we got and that one,” Neil said.

“Okay, so, does this fairy tale book have some kind of spell on it? I mean how else can you explain us getting sucked into the book,” Krystal said. “Whatever spell was cast on it must’ve transformed the creatures in the stories into dark beasts.”

“Creatures?! Let’s deal with the story we’re in right now,” Neil said. “Rey, what do you remember about this story?”

“Ugh, it’s kinda fuzzy,” Rey said. “There were three characters that were being chased by the giant. That’s all I remember right now.”

“Well, that’s certainly not helpful,” Krystal said.

“Krystal, it’s something. Anyway, we should be focusing on getting out of here,” Neil said. “Maybe there’s some passageway that leads us out of the book.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Rey said. “Maybe the end of this cave can lead us out somewhere.”

Krystal nodded as she got up along with Rey and Neil. The three kept moving through the cave till they reached the other side. Once they stepped outside, Krystal took in the surroundings. The scent of fresh jasmine flowers was in the air and the trees were covered in a variety of greenery.

Rey looked ahead, seeing the sun was still bright as ever. He wondered how time worked within the world of the story they were in. There were hundreds of other questions on his mind as well, but he had to focus on getting out.

“I don’t see the giant bear in sight,” Rey said. “Maybe if we keep walking, we’ll find an exit.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go,” Neil said.

Krystal was about to follow Rey and Neil until she could feel her foot press down on something. She looked down, seeing what looked like an arrow imprinted within the grass. She fell through the ground, screaming as a bright glow surrounded her.

“Krystal!” Rey shouted as he turned around with Neil. It was too late. Krystal had disappeared.

“Damn it. Where did she go?” Neil asked.

“I don’t know.”

Before Rey could even think of what to do, he heard the same giant thumps from before. He looked up along with Neil to see the giant dark beast had returned. As it roared at them again, Rey and Neil ran forward. They ran as fast as they could until they smacked into something that made them fall back. Rey was puzzled as he didn’t see anything in their way. He got up, trying to run again only to fall back again.

“What’s happening?!” Neil exclaimed. “Why can’t we keep going?!”

“I don’t know! It’s like there’s some kind of barrier!”

“So, we’re trapped?!”

Rey could barely think as the dark beast was getting closer to them. He could feel the pressure as he didn’t know what to do.

***

Krystal opened her eyes, feeling the heaviness of her pounding head. She sat up, finding herself to be more confused than ever. She was now in a soft pink bedroom that had intricate paintings hanging on the walls along with the usual essentials like a dresser, nightstand etc. What was jarring to her were the steel bars on the window that looked like they were in place to keep her locked up. She looked at her dress, seeing it had changed again. This time she was wearing a bejeweled lilac blouse with a matching skirt. The thing that made her most confused was her hair. It was now incredibly long, tied in a braid that reached all the way to the floor.

“What the hell is going on here?!” Krystal said.

***

Back at Ringmasters Training Academy, Sana was heading over to the library. As she walked towards the door, she saw Zayn was heading there as well.

“Hey, Zayn,” Sana said as she walked up to him.

“Oh, hey, Sana.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to check out some books here before they close. What about you?”

“I came to check on Rey. I tried calling him, but he didn’t answer.”

“He’s probably just busy, but we can check.”

Sana and Zayn entered the library. The two walked around to find Rey but couldn’t find him anywhere. Then, Sana saw something that caught her eye. She walked over to a table, seeing a bunch of belongings left behind.

“Do any of these belong to them?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah. I recognize Neil’s laptop. It has the same blue cat sticker.”

“Is it possible that they stepped out for a bit or something?”

“If they did, it’s clearly been a while. His laptop is on lock mode.”

“What’s that book on the ground?”

Sana looked down, seeing the book Zayn was referring to. She picked it up, seeing the writing on the front. She recognized it to be in Sanskrit.

“It appears to be a book of fairy tales,” Sana said as she opened the book. “This actually looks similar to the fairy tale book that my dad gave me when I was younger.”

It didn’t take long for the book to give off its golden glow. Sana was stunned, and she could see Zayn was equally surprised. Soon, Sana and Zayn were sucked into the book, and it closed, falling to the floor.