It was mid-afternoon. The halls of Ringmasters Training Academy were dead silent. And the only thing that could be heard was the sound of Headmaster Devil’s footsteps as he walked down the hall, clacking his fancy dress shoes against the floors with Rey and Neil following him. The two were feeling very intimidated as they entered the office. As the two came inside, they expected to come into a scary looking place resembling hell. After all, this office was often referred to as the Devil’s Lair. And such a name for a mere room would scream of flames, demons, and possibly lingering souls.
But when they looked inside, their mouths dropped wide open at what they saw. Right by Headmaster Devil’s desk was a tall, elegant looking woman who wore a high slit dress in black that had long sleeved lacey sleeves. She had beautiful shiny red hair and her lips were bright red. She stood proud like the beauty that she was as she tapped her long red finger nails on the desk. And Rey and Neil couldn’t stop staring at her. Headmaster Devil went up to the woman and said, “Shaina! What are you doing here?!”
“You told me to wait for you, sweetheart. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past ten minutes. This is how you treat your girlfriend?” the woman retorted.
“Girlfriend?!” Neil exclaimed.
“What a player. The rumors are true then,” said Rey.
“What rumors?” Neil asked.
“Everyone’s been talking about how Headmaster Devil’s never been married. People think it’s because he spends his time with women in his office every day,” Rey whispered to Neil.
“Shaina, we’ll meet up later tonight. I have business to take care of,” Headmaster Devil told Shaina, holding her soft hand. “Okay?”
“All right. Anything for you, Devil,” Shaina smirked. “Give me a call when you’re free.”
With that, Shaina flipped her hair and made her way out of the office while Rey and Neil looked on. “Hey! What are you boys looking at?!” Headmaster Devil asked Rey and Neil, seeing them eyeing Shaina.
“Nothing, sir!” Rey and Neil replied in unison.
“Yeah right. I know. She’s quite a beauty. But she’s not for your eyes to stare at,” Headmaster Devil shouted. “Now sit.”
And with that, Rey and Neil sat down in the chairs that were provided in front of
Headmaster Devil’s desk. Headmaster Devil then made his way to his desk, sitting in his throne-like chair. He looked at both Rey and Neil, glaring down upon both of them while the two boys gulped as they sat in the chairs. He then drew out a jug of orange juice from a mini fridge that was behind the desk, and took out two glasses, pouring some juice.
“Have some orange juice,” Headmaster Devil told Rey and Neil.
“Yes, sir!” Neil obeyed, taking the glass of juice from Headmaster Devil.
“Uh…no thanks,” Rey said.
“Why?” Headmaster Devil asked.
“I really don’t want,” Rey said, turning away.
“It’s Vitamin C. Take it,” Headmaster Devil said.
“Um, sir. Rey doesn’t like orange juice,” Neil intervened.
“Like?! Forget like! I hate it!” Rey cried.
“Oh…fine then,” Headmaster Devil said as he pushed the jug aside, continuing to keep an eye on Rey and Neil.
Man! For a player, he can be really intimidating, Neil thought.
I wonder if Shaina has a younger sister, Rey wondered. But I don’t want to ask.
“May I ask why you two were spying on Aiden?” Headmaster Devil asked Rey and Neil.
“Spying?! We weren’t spying!” Rey exclaimed.
“Do I look dumb to you? You both were following him and even planning to sneak attack him,” Headmaster Devil retorted. “And for what? Oh wait!”
“What?” Rey and Neil asked in unison.
“Now I understand,” Headmaster Devil said. “Neil, I know very well that Aiden is your twin brother.”
“Does that have to be brought up all the time?!” Neil said, rolling his eyes.
“I don’t know what enmity exists between you and Aiden. And I don’t know why the hell you two have that going on. But whatever it is, don’t bring it up in school. The battlefield is not here. This is a learning environment,” Headmaster Devil lectured. “Is that understood?”
“Yes, Headmaster Devil,” Rey and Neil replied in unison.
“Now…I need to figure out the right punishment for you both,” Headmaster Devil said as he tapped his fingers on the desk, pondering. “Ah! Yes, I got it! And since Sana and Heer are your partners, you will need them as well. After classes are over, you will be put on library duty. Which means you will be cleaning up and reorganizing the books over there before the school closes.”
“Are you kidding me?!” Neil asked.
“I don’t kid. Now move along. I’ll be expecting to see a clean and organized library by tomorrow morning,” Headmaster Devil said.
***
And so, after classes were over and majority of the students had gone back to their dorms, Sana, Rey, Neil, and Heer were in the library, cleaning and organizing the books on the many shelves across the room. “I can’t believe we’re in this mess because you two idiots had to spy on Aiden,” Sana said as she placed a book on a shelf.
“Hey! We were just gonna challenge the guy and see how strong he really is!” Rey exclaimed.
“But was that really necessary, Neil?” Heer asked Neil.
“That’s what he gets for glaring at me in the hall,” Neil retorted. “Just the sight of him annoys me.”
“Well look what we have here,” a voice said.
Sana, Rey, Neil, and Heer looked around to see Krystal had come in the library along with Prince. “What are you guys doing here?” Sana asked.
“We were trying to find you guys. But we got the word that you were sent here as
punishment for Rey and Neil trying to sneak attack on Aiden,” Krystal replied.
“Nice to see the two idiots put in their place,” Prince smirked as he chewed on his orange-flavored candy cane.
“Oh, shut up, Prince!” Rey exclaimed.
“Is that the real reason you both are here?” Heer questioned.
“Our next circus show is coming up. And I’m trying to convince Prince that we should wear an orange combo for our outfits so we can coordinate,” Krystal said.
“There’s no way in hell that I’m wearing that color,” Prince said.
“If you can chew on orange for a whole hour, then you can wear it for a one hour circus event!” Krystal exclaimed.
“To hell with the drama,” Prince said, shaking his head.
“Why orange?” Neil asked Krystal.
“It’s going to be color themed. And I absolutely love orange. So, I got matching outfits for us. Can’t you guys see it?” Krystal asked. “Two orange stars in the bright yellow spotlight! Just imagine!”
“I really can’t imagine,” said Rey. “I hate orange, so I’m on the same page as Prince.”
“You do realize that you’re a tiger,” Sana stated to Rey. “And tigers are orange.”
“No! It’s more of a creamy, brownish orange! Which I don’t mind!” Rey countered.
“Moron. Whatever. Prince and I are leaving for circus practice,” said Krystal. “Have fun working in the library!”
“And remember…the school closes at six. If you don’t remember to leave by then, you’ll be stuck here till morning,” Prince said. “Later.”
“Bye guys,” Heer said as she waved bye to Krystal and Prince who made their way out of the library.
“What time is it?” Neil asked.
“It’s almost five,” Heer replied as she looked at her watch.
“How are we going to finish cleaning before six?” Sana asked.
“Guess only more work can help,” said Rey.
And so, the four individuals continued to clean up the library. They kept working, even when all the students had left the school to their dorms and only the cleaning staff remained inside. “Where do these books go?” Neil asked as he held a stack of five textbooks.
“Put those in the Energy Knowledge section,” Heer told Neil. Neil went ahead to the Energy Knowledge section of the library, which was near one of the exits, and started placing the books on the bookcase. As he was placing the books, he noticed a small green switch on the side of the bookcase. The switch caught Neil’s full attention.
“Hey guys!” Neil called out to Sana, Rey, and Heer.
“What is it?” Rey asked as he, Sana, and Heer came by.
“Look at this. I found a switch on the bookcase,” Neil pointed out to the switch.
“Wow. What a discovery, Neil,” Sana said, rolling her eyes.
“Come on, Sana. How often do you see a switch on a bookcase?” Neil asked.
“He has a point,” Heer said.
“Press it then! Let’s see what happens!” Rey urged Neil.
“Hold on, Rey,” Sana said. “How do we know it’s safe?”
“Sana, if it’s a green switch, it’s safe. If it’s red, it’s not. And this one’s green!” Rey exclaimed. “So, it’s safe!”
“And what kind of logic is that?!” Sana questioned, trying to comprehend Rey’s statement.
“Neil, just press the damn switch,” Rey told Neil.
And so, Neil went ahead and pressed his thumb on the switch. Once the switch was pressed, it gave off a green flashing light. Sana, Rey, Neil, and Heer stood back when all of a sudden, the bookcase slid to the side, revealing a door on the wall.
“Whoah! Cool!” Neil exclaimed.
“Has that always been there and we’ve just never noticed?” Heer asked.
“Looks like it,” Rey responded. “Let’s open the door!”
“Hold it. I’m getting nervous about this,” Sana said.
“There’s nothing to be nervous about,” Rey told Sana. “Neil, open the door.”
Neil then opened the door on the wall, which led to a small room. Sana, Rey, and Heer followed Neil inside the little room. It was completely blank and empty with only plain white walls and a white-colored tiled floor. The only thing inside was a small desk with a little box that sat upon the desk. The four individuals went towards the box, looking at it with curiosity.
“What’s in the box?” Neil asked.
“We’ll only find out if we open it,” Rey replied.
“I say we don’t. It’s obvious something is supposed to be hidden in there. Otherwise they wouldn’t lock it behind a secret door,” Sana said.
“Who cares?! No dark beast is going to pop out from there!” Rey exclaimed. “Open it, Neil!”
“Be careful,” Heer told Neil.
Neil then grabbed hold of the box. He took a deep breath and removed the lid. Inside the box was what appeared to be a small white-colored egg that had black spots on it. Neil took out the egg, showing it to the others.
“It’s an egg,” Heer said.
“Out of all things possible, why would an egg be stored in here?” Sana wondered.
“Beats me. But it looks cool,” Rey said as he looked at the egg.
“So, now what?” Neil asked.
“Just put it back. We’ve done enough snooping! We should get back to work!” Sana asserted as she made her way out of the room with Heer following.
“You heard her. Let’s go,” Rey told Neil as he started to leave.
Neil placed the egg on the table and headed out, closing the door. Little did he realize was that the egg had fallen off the table onto the floor, cracking its shell. And right from the inside of the egg’s shell, an eerie glow flashed from it.
Once the foursome had left the room, the school’s automatic speaker system went on and said, “The time is now six. The school building will now close and reopen tomorrow morning.” The foursome’s eyes beamed upon the end of the announcement. Sana rushed to the doors of the library and tried to open them, but they were locked.
“Damn it!” Rey exclaimed. “Now we’re stuck in here!”
“This is your fault, Neil!” Sana shouted. “If you didn’t go on about the mystery behind the switch, we would’ve gotten out on time!”
“Well sorry then!” Neil talked back. “It’s no big deal! We’ll just have to hang out here for the night!”
“Sana, we should inform Krystal,” Heer told Sana.
“You’re right. I’ll call her now,” Sana said.
***
In the girl’s dorm, Krystal was sitting alone in her room, smacking an orange lipstick on her lips as she sat in front of the dresser, looking in the mirror. Once she was done, she smiled upon seeing herself. “Now this color will look great for the show!” Krystal exclaimed.
Suddenly, Krystal’s cellphone rang on the dresser. She picked it up, seeing Sana was calling, and answered, “Sana! Where are you and Heer? You’re supposed to be here by now.”
“We’re stuck in the library now.”
“What?! Didn’t Prince tell you guys to leave before six?”
“It’s a long story. Anyways, do you think you can help us get out?”
“Sana, the school security is like state of the art. I should know since my dad was the one who provided it. Besides, I really don’t want to get my hands dirty after painting my nails.”
“Oh whatever. We’ll just manage here then.”
“You have fun with that.”
“Yeah. Bye. “
***
After hanging up, Sana placed her cellphone in her bag, which she placed down near a table.
“So…anyone got food?” Neil asked.
“We’re stuck in a library for the rest of the night and all you can think about is food?!” Sana asked Neil in an annoyed tone.
“Neil, I have some crackers in my bag. Come,” Heer told Neil.
While Neil followed Heer to the other side of the library, Rey and Sana remained where they were by the table. “Man, how are we going to stay here till morning?” Rey asked.
“We could do some reading. After all, we have that test tomorrow in Energy Enhancement class.”
“Don’t remind me about that.”
“God knows what you’d do without me. I could imagine you’d be stuck in the remedial classes!”
“Oh, shut up. I’ll have you know I got straight B’s last semester.”
“Says the guy who gets kicked out of class all the time.”
“You know I’m not gonna argue with you. Girls always need to be right in everything. “
“Whatever. I’m hitting the books. It’s not like we have anything else to do.”
Sana grabbed a stool near the bookcase and reached out for a book on the topmost shelf.
“I’d be careful if I were you,” Rey warned Sana.
“I’m fine,” Sana said, annoyed. As she got the book, she suddenly tripped off the stool, falling off. As she let out a small scream while falling, Rey caught her in his arms to which Sana threw her hands on Rey’s shoulders. She looked up at Rey, flustered.
“You idiot! I told you to be careful!” Rey told Sana, still carrying her.
“Who are you calling an idiot?! I was fine until you kept talking to me!” Sana shouted.
“Um guys,” said Neil as he and Heer had returned with Rey and Sana turning to both of them. “Are we interrupting?”
At that moment, Rey immediately dropped Sana down on the floor with Sana dropping her mouth wide open in shock.
“We’re good. She almost fell. That’s all,” Rey replied.
“You could’ve dropped me gently!” Sana yelled at Rey.
“Well then. I’m gonna go get my bag,” said Heer as she went back to the other side of the library.
“So, what are you guys doing?” Neil asked.
“Trying to study for the Energy Enhancement test tomorrow,” Sana replied.
“Damn it! I forgot about that!” Neil exclaimed.
“We should probably study…if we at least want to pass,” said Rey.
Suddenly, the sound of a scream echoed in the library. Sana, Rey, and Neil turned around.
“That sounded like Heer!” Neil exclaimed. Sana, Rey, and Neil ran to the other side of the library to look for Heer. When they looked around, they found Heer lying on the ground. Neil rushed towards Heer, holding her and called, “Heer! Can you hear me?! Heer!”
Slowly, Heer woke up. “Are you all right?” Neil asked Heer as she carefully got up. “What happened?”
“I saw something. It almost attacked me,” Heer replied in a state of shock.
“What almost attacked you, Heer?” Sana asked.
“I don’t know. It was some kind of creature,” Heer answered.
“Well, there’s nothing here right now,” said Rey.
Suddenly, all the lights in the library blew out, leaving the room in pitch black darkness.
“Who turned off the lights?” Sana questioned. The four turned around to see a series of six red eyes. Emerging from the darkness, a large-sized dark creature with three heads growled upon seeing Sana, Rey, Neil, and Heer.
“That’s it!” Heer pointed out.
“What the hell is that?” Neil said.
“How’d it get in here?!” Rey asked.
“I don’t think now is the time to ask questions!” Sana exclaimed.
“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s take it down!” Neil exclaimed.
Just then, the dark beast’s three heads each launched a dark energy beam attack from their mouths directly at the foursome. They gasped, running off before they could get hit while the three headed beast went after them.
“What are we gonna do?! This thing can easily murder us!” Rey exclaimed.
“I think we established that!” Sana said.
“Quick! In the secret room!” Neil told the others.
Neil rushed to the switch, pushing it until the bookcase slid. He opened the door of the room, letting the others in. And then he closed it right before the dark beast could enter. As he closed the door, the dark beast tried to hit against the door with its heads to get in.
“What kind of beast is that?” Heer asked.
“The better question is where did that beast come from?” said Rey. “The whole school is locked so there’s no way anything could get in here.” Sana then looked down on the floor, and noticed the egg lying near the desk. She went towards it and picked it up to see the shell was completely cracked.
“Um guys…the egg here is broken,” Sana said.
“But how’s that possible?” Heer asked.
“Oh crap!” Neil exclaimed.
“What did you do?!” Rey questioned Neil.
“While I was rushing to get out, I forgot to put the egg back in the box,” Neil replied.
“You moron!” Sana and Rey shouted at Neil.
“Guys, it was an accident,” Heer defended Neil.
“That explains it! That thing must have come out once the egg broke. I bet Headmaster Devil hid it here because he knew it would release a beast if hatched,” Sana said as she analyzed the egg shell. “And now it’s on the loose.”
“But I’m confused. How does a thing that big come from an egg?!” Rey disputed.
“Wow, I’m surprised to see you being so inquisitive,” Sana mocked.
“Oh cut the crap, Sana!” Rey talked back. “Don’t you agree?! A dark beast with that much power and size doesn’t just hatch in seconds. Why would Devil have something like that hidden here to begin with?!”
“You know you bring up good points,” Sana admitted. “But we’re not in a position where we can find answers. That thing will kill us the moment it finds its way in here or if we even think to make a move.”
“So, what are we going to do?” Heer asked. “The beast is waiting outside. And the library is locked so the only way we can survive the night is if we take it out.”
“Heer’s right,” Neil agreed. “I was ready for that until that thing decided to play the first move!”
“Then we need a plan,” said Sana. “And it has to work.”
“Well you’re the genius, Sana. Think of something,” Rey told Sana.
“I think the beast has moved away from the door. But I don’t know when it’ll strike back,” Neil said.
Sana stood, pondering. There has to be a way to get out of this mess. But in order to take on such a powerful beast, we need more than our usual attacks, Sana thought. We need more energy. Suddenly, Sana realized something.
“What’s the matter, Sana?” Rey asked Sana.
“Rey, I just thought of something. And it relates to our Energy Enhancement class,” Sana replied.
“Is this really a time to be talking about that test?!” Neil asked, irritated.
“While you guys were thrown out, Professor Luna went over one important thing,” Sana said. “You obviously remember, Heer.”
“Of course! Energy conservation. Prince and I were called up to demonstrate. And Professor Luna wanted us to focus and keep our energy intact. With time, the energy within us grew at a higher limit as we kept it sealed within. The more focus we had, the higher our energy levels rose,” Heer explained.
“Exactly,” Sana said. “Rey, for this plan to work, we’re going to have to use a very strong attack. We haven’t done it before. But in order to defeat that beast, we need to use it. Which is why we’ll need some time before we can make our move.”
“What the hell?! I don’t understand a thing right now,” Rey said, confused.
“You will. Neil and Heer, you two are going to have to hold the beast long enough for our attack to work,” Sana told Neil and Heer.
“Don’t worry, Sana! We got you covered!” Neil agreed as he held a thumbs up to Sana.
“I just hope we can hold it up long enough,” Heer said.
“All right then. Here’s the plan,” Sana began explaining.
***
Outside the small room, the three headed beast was wandering around the library, prowling its way down the aisles like a mighty lion. Neil slowly opened the door of the room to see the beast outside. He then stepped out of the room with Heer, shutting the door.
“Ready, Heer?” Neil asked Heer.
“All set,” Heer replied. And so, Heer went ahead and transformed into her snow leopard form. The beast then turned to Neil and Heer.
“Time to take this ugly thing back to where it belongs!” Neil exclaimed. “Heer, attack it directly.”
Heer nodded and ran towards the dark beast, tackling it into the bookcase. As she tried to hold it down, one of the heads of the dark beast went ahead and bit Heer on her ear, causing her to feel great pain.
“Heer, hold on! Just attack it with your paw!” Neil ordered. Heer raised her paw and scratched the faces of the dark beast’s heads. The dark beast then pushed Heer into the wall and all three heads launched a dark energy beam attack at Heer.
“Heer, get out of the way!” Neil ordered. Heer managed to dodge the attack as it hit into the wall.
Inside the room, Rey had transformed into his tiger form. Once he had done so, Sana drew out her wand, tapping it to transform it into her trishula.
“Okay, Rey. Just close your eyes and focus. Maintain your energy from within,” Sana instructed Rey. Rey closed his eyes, keeping his concentration in tact as he sat in his beast form. Sana held her trishula to the ground, closing her eyes and focusing. Once the two were both in focus, they both started to give off a red orange glow from their bodies as they maintained equal concentration. That’s it! Now that both of our energies are in sync, we can expand it! Sana thought.
Outside, Heer was trying to get away from the dark beast.
“Okay, Heer! Enough running!” Neil told Heer. “I think it’s time you used an ice attack!” Heer nodded as she formed an icy energy beam from her mouth. She then launched it directly at the dark beast, hitting it into the wall.
Inside the room, Sana and Rey both opened their eyes, still giving off the bright glows from their bodies.
“All right! I think it’s time!” Sana exclaimed. “You ready?” Rey nodded. Sana opened the door of the room with the dark beast turning right at her. Rey leaped forward, standing before Sana.
“I hope she’s got this!” Neil said.
“Let’s go!” Sana called out as she threw her trishula into the floor, while Rey prepared for a fireball attack. “Ring of Fire!” At that moment, the trishula gave off an orange glow, which in turn released a series of flames that circled around the beast. Sana maintained balance, despite the immense strength of the attack, while Rey then launched the fireball attack at the dark beast. Once it hit the dark beast, the ring of fire closed in on the beast, engulfing it in the flames as it yelped in pain. Neil and Heer looked on in surprise.
“Damn. That’s some intense power,” Neil said in disbelief.
The fires consumed the beast completely. Once the fire died out, there was nothing left but the ashes of the beast on the floor. Sana began to breathe frantically as the attack was finished. Rey then transformed back into his human form.
“We did it!” Rey told Sana. But he was surprised to see Sana pass out, falling onto the floor.
“Sana!” Rey called out as he went to Sana with Neil and Heer coming to her as well.
Rey held Sana in his arms, looking at her unconscious face. “Sana, can you hear me?!” Rey asked Sana.
“I think she must be exhausted,” said Heer as she transformed back into her human form.
“That was quite an attack! And since you guys did it for the first time, she must be completely out of it,” Neil added.
“Well, now what?!” Rey asked, concerned.
“You look after Sana. Neil and I will clean things up here,” Heer told Rey.
“Are you guys sure?” Rey asked.
“Trust me. We got things from here,” Neil told Rey, patting him on his shoulder.
With that, Neil and Heer left Rey alone with Sana, going off to the other side of the library to clean up the mess. Rey held Sana in his arms, looking down upon her solemn face. He then lifted her and took her aside to the corner of the library near a bookcase. Once he helped her rest against the bookcase, he sat by her side and went to sleep on his own. Once Neil and Heer had finished cleaning up, the two of them yawned in exhaustion.
“I’m starting to get tired right now,” Heer said, yawning.
“Yeah. We should get some rest,” Neil said. Neil turned to a desk nearby where he sat down and rested his head against the table, falling asleep. Heer followed, sitting at the same table and putting her head down, where she drifted off in a matter of minutes.
***
In the early morning, at the crack of dawn, the light from the sun shined in the windows of the library. Rey and Sana both woke up slowly, looking right at each other as they got up. Sana tried to get up, but was having trouble with doing so. Rey assisted her, holding her by her shoulders till she could stand.
“You okay?” Rey asked Sana.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sana replied. “Thanks.”
Rey and Sana turned around to see Neil and Heer had gotten up as well. “Rise and shine, guys!” Neil exclaimed.
“Oh wow. It’s already six in the morning,” said Heer. “Do you feel better, Sana?”
“Yeah. I’m fine now,” Sana answered.
Suddenly, the doors of the library had opened. The others turned around and were surprised to see Aiden standing right at the doors. Neil turned away, unwilling to look at his brother.
“You guys have been here all night?” Aiden asked the others.
“Um…yes. Thanks for opening,” Heer told Aiden.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Let’s get out of here,” Neil said.
“You know…I saw what happened here last night,” Aiden stated.
Sana, Rey, Neil, and Heer were surprised upon hearing what Aiden said. Rey then yelled, “You mean to say you watched us last night and that you didn’t even bother to help?!”
“You seemed to have had everything under control by the time I got here. So, I felt no need to intervene,” Aiden replied. “But it seems you were able to handle the power of a fusion dark beast.”
“A fusion dark beast?” Sana pondered.
“And what the hell is that exactly?!” Rey questioned.
“What you dealt with is the result of experimentation,” Aiden replied. “Headmaster Devil has been in touch with a team of scientists who have been experimenting with the genetics of dark beasts. The beast within that egg wasn’t an ordinary one because it contains the DNA of various species of animals combined with the dark energy. And as you know, every regular dark beast usually maintains a singular genetic makeup.”
“Well, that explains the above average hideous looks,” Rey rolled his eyes.
“But why would our own headmaster be dealing with people who are making these beasts?” Sana asked.
“This is the only one,” Aiden responded. “Headmaster Devil had no deadly purpose behind this. In fact, this experiment was simply done to get an idea behind the creations of these creatures. In order to find out how these creatures came to be and how to defeat the many dark beasts in this world, it’s important to understand their construction.”
“I see,” Heer understood. “But was Headmaster Devil planning on hatching the egg at all?”
“Of course he was. But he’s obviously not a bright man to hide it in somewhere like here,” Aiden shook his head. “And since you guys are responsible for hatching the egg, I will have to tell him.”
“Oh great! More trouble on us!” Sana exclaimed.
“Whatever, I’m outta here,” Neil said as he headed out through the doors while Heer followed him.
Aiden looked on as Neil and Heer left, shaking his head.
“Come on, Sana,” Rey told Sana. “We should get ready for that test today.”
As Sana and Rey headed out, Sana was stopped by Aiden, who grabbed hold of her by her arm. She turned, confused, while Rey, who was already outside of the library, turned to see Sana held by Aiden through the library window.
“What the hell?! Why’s he stalling her?!” Rey exclaimed.
“Um…do you need something?” Sana asked Aiden.
“That attack you used during the battle was quite the spectacle. It was very powerful. Almost too powerful for you, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah…it was.”
“You handled the attack till the end. How did you manage? “
“Sana!” Rey called from outside of the library, looking impatient.
“As much as I’d like to answer your questions, I have to go,” Sana told Aiden, making him remove his grip on her arm. “Excuse me.”
And so, Sana made her way out of the library while Aiden looked on. I should tell Devil about this, Aiden thought. Outside, Sana noticed Rey waiting and headed off along with him.
“What was he talking to you about?” Rey asked Sana.
“I don’t know. He’s still a mystery to me. Anyway, forget him. We should get something to eat at the cafeteria.”
“And what about studying for our test?”
“Come on, Rey! In a way, we already studied. That attack last night took all the energy we needed.”
“Yeah, you’re right. But you took the hit for the most part. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I should be fine.”
***
In the cafeteria, Sana and Rey came over to where Neil, Heer, Krystal, and Prince were seated at a round table. “There you guys are!” Krystal exclaimed. “Neil told us about everything that went down last night. You okay, Sana?”
“I’m fine, Krystal,” Sana replied.
“Hello?! What am I?! Chopped liver?!” Rey exclaimed.
“Yeah you are, Rey,” Krystal talked back.
“That’s enough, guys. Save the backtalk for performance classes today,” said Heer.
“Performance classes?!” Sana said, confused.
“Oh, you didn’t know?” Heer asked. “Headmaster Devil cancelled all regular classes today so that we could have rehearsals for the Colors Day Circus Show.”
“Oh yeah! Colors Day is coming up!” Rey exclaimed. “I almost forgot. So, that means no test today. Sweet!”
“So, that’s why you were obsessed with getting your orange ensemble for you and Prince,” Neil said to Krystal.
“And I’m still not wearing it,” Prince said, chewing on a peppermint-flavored candy cane.
“Well, now we’re doing a rainbow ensemble. Then we’ll stand out for sure. Just imagine!” Krystal exclaimed. “Two rainbows among an array of single colors!”
“It sounds kinda stupid to me,” Rey chuckled.
“Oh really?! Well then. I have a present for you, Rey,” Krystal said as she took out a cup of orange juice, shoving it in Rey’s face.
“Get that away from me! I hate orange juice!” Rey shouted.
“Didn’t your doctor ever tell you orange juice has Vitamin C?” Krystal taunted. “No wonder your tiger instincts are as low as your IQ.”
“Shut up! And get it away from me!” Rey retorted as he pushed away the cup of juice.
“To hell with the drama,” Prince rolled his eyes.
“Guys, I think playtime is over now,” Sana intervened as she took the cup of orange juice and drank it herself.
“You’re right. After all, I should save the arguing and constant bickering for you two,” Krystal smiled, talking to Sana and Rey. “You know…when you both get married.”
“What?!” Sana exclaimed.
“What the hell?! Do you really think I’d fall for someone as nerdy as she is?!” Rey asked.
“Hold it. What is that supposed to mean?” Sana questioned Rey. “And you don’t have anything distasteful about yourself? You’re the one who’s scared of orange juice.”
“I’m not scared! I just hate orange juice!” Rey retorted.
As Rey and Sana continued to bicker, Neil, Heer, Krystal, and Prince just watched.
“You guys obviously see what I’m saying,” Krystal said. “Just imagine!”
“I think we’ve had enough imagination for one day,” said Heer.
Copyright © 2021 Meryl T
All rights reserved. All illustrations created by Meryl T.
The Ringmasters Society 