Heavy panting and the patter of rushing feet filled the silence of the empty Hallways of Rosemary High. Left, right and then right again, twisting and weaving through the Hallway to find somebody, anybody that could help. He had never run a day in his life, but at that moment he couldn’t afford to waste a single second.

He had to get help, before it was too late. Before the warm, inviting smile that ushered him into that school disappeared forever.

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The wind whistled with a melancholic tune. The air had gotten cold and even though the sun was setting, the cold felt rather unnatural to her.

“Are you listening!?” Moe asked, snapping her out of her daze. He had been scolding them for a solid 3 minutes, but Nami couldn’t blame him. Their sparring match took longer than expected, and if Nami were honest with herself, she found joy in tossing Mitchell around.

“Long enough is an understatement. Did you guys fall asleep in there!?” Moe reprimanded. “It’s been 1 hour, 35 minutes and 14 seconds since the time you guys said you’d finish, and I did you the courtesy of coming early.” The sun was minutes from setting and by the time he had arrived there, the skies were still relatively blue and the clouds white. Nami chuckled.

“You’re sleeping over at my place bro, you’re in no rush.” She teased, choosing to ignore the eerie feeling that followed her by elbowing him on his side. Moe held tight to the bag of clothes he brought, passing Nami an annoyed look.

“Oh really, why didn’t I get an invite?” Mitchell complained in jest.

“Probably because you were ogling at me 2 seconds ago.” Nami shot back, a teasingly menacing smile stretching on her lips.

“You were ogling?” Moe asked with a disgusted look on him.

“Oh please, you’d have done the same if you were in my shoes.” Mitchell spat back, crossing his arms across his chest childishly.

“Isn’t it Bastien’s sleaziness that got him in trouble? ‘If thine eyes cause you to faulter then it’s best thy gouge them out’.” Nami quoted Knight’s pride.

“Bullshit, what happened to Bastien has been long coming.” Mitchell retorted, a sneer forming on his lips.

“Was he always so violent?” Moe asked, being a victim of his outburst earlier that day. Mitchell rolled his eyes as he recalled memories of his former friend.

“He has always been an asshole, but still…” He paused. The wind picked up right as his face began to grow somber, the orange trees rustling restlessly. A storm was on the horizon. “He was never the type to attack people at school. Knights pride is like a leash for battle hungry monsters like him.” Mitchell said. Mohammed dropped his head, deep in thought.

“In a way, you could say that he was acting out of character.” Mohammed asked, getting Mitchell’s nod as confirmation. It teased the possibility of the puppeteer’s involvement, leaving a bad feeling in Mitchell’s gut. If they were able to possess someone like that, then fighting them would be a lot harder.

“What if he believes that Moe is the puppeteer? Everyone and their mother knows who his dad is, so it’s not impossible to imagine how bad Moe’s public perception is.” Nami theorized. The trio sat by a bench near the gate, gathering themselves as they were about to hold another meeting, it was their third one that day and with all they gathered they still felt far from solving the mystery. The sun had now dipped under the horizon, leaving dark blue and green hues of the night to paint the sky.

“I hate how much sense that makes. My dad screws me over yet again, even outside the South.” Moe sighed, realizing he’d have to work a lot harder to change his public perception.

“Or if he himself is the puppeteer. You said it yourself Nami, that threat in your phone came before Moe was attacked.” Moe nodded to Mitchell’s theory.

“I can confirm that Bastien is a Mage, his eyes glowed like how a Mage’s does.” Moe made an example by lighting a small fire on his finger and just as he said, his amber eyes glowed vibrantly.

“I mean your dad did cripple Bastien’s dad, so it really shouldn’t be a surprise that you’re his first target.” Mitchell patted Moe’s shoulder teasingly, not noticing Nami who turned to him with a shocked expression on her.

“How come I’m only hearing of this now?” Nami asked with Moe sighing, “Fuck.” Next to her.

“I thought you would have figured it out by now. It was a big headline 8 years ago.” Nami smacked her forehead, getting up as she paced up and down. “Maybe he is the puppeteer then. I’m just finding it hard to believe, because Mages who use their authority that way have a tendency for hiding behind the shadows. And, no offense, but Bastien sticks out like a sore thumb.”

“He checks all the boxes. He's a Mage, got connections with Maze, the motive practically writes itself. What confuses me about this whole thing is his lack of effort with getting rid of me as compared to Maze.” Moe pointed out. Nami placed her hand on her chin as she thought on Moe’s assumption.

“I agree with what Nami said though, that guy is too dumb to be orchestrating any of this on his own.” Mitchell added, throwing them all on aloof.

“Then who could it be?” Moe asked, resting his head on his arms as he was tired of all the thinking. They got up from their seats, the wind picking up as they made their way to the gate. The sun’s light was now completely gone, with the stars appearing above them.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Someone who has the most to gain in all this chaos. A smart individual who has flown under our radar and---”

“Chris.” Mitchell said as the name jumped to him, cutting Nami off as she was about to name the final criterion. She stopped to look at him quizzically, almost asking him to elaborate.

“He got close with Maze’s group in the first week of school, and rumor has it that he was bullied out of his old school. If he were to be the next Head Boy, he wouldn’t have to worry about something like that ever again.” Nami’s expression turned flat.

“We’re really trusting rumors with something this serious?” She asked, rolling her eyes at him.

“Most rumors have some truth to them, so we can’t rule it out.” Mitchell said.

“Now that Maze is out of her spot, Rosemary will need a replacement, and soon. He already has a reputation for being the smartest, so he’ll be a top candidate for Head Leader.” He elaborated, his expression growing somber as he put the pieces together.

“So, Chris’s main target in that case is Maze. And maybe he promised to help get rid of me, to get Bastien’s cooperation.” Moe added and with everything considered, Chris quickly became their number one suspect. He had the motive and was close enough to the initial incident for it to be true, but something didn’t sit well with Nami about that conclusion. She heard the wind’s ghastly howl, and some of it even sounded like distant screams. It brought back the unease she felt earlier, but they were at the edge of a breakthrough and Nami couldn’t afford to lose focus.

“I think you’re missing a crucial piece in your puzzle their Mitchell.” She mentioned, but before she could continue her ears perked up as a distant scream began approaching. Their talk had landed them near the gate of the school and the guards also became aware of this distant screaming.

Damn it, can’t it wait? We’re so close to figuring this out. She puffed out a frustrated grunt.

“It’s Chris.” Moe said, upping his guard. The person was still too far for anyone else to make out, and though Nami was still skeptical, seeing Moe tense up was more than enough reason to up her guard. She trusted his intuition, but her mind still spiraled to find an answer.

As much as I don’t want to admit it, he is still our top suspect in this investigation. Why would he come to us if he’s the mastermind? Why expose yourself? Or is he not who we think he is?

The trio waited with bated breath, but just as he reached 5 feet from them, he collapsed face-first on the pavement. The three of them stood frozen as the guards went to pick him up.

“Help.” He heaved out weakly. The boy’s messy mop of hair clung to his forehead, his shirt damp enough to wring out his sweat. Nami hesitantly approached him as the guards helped him up, her body still ready to react and her mind racing for an answer. The boy was sweating profusely, his comically large glasses sitting skewed on his face. Adding up all these details, Nami deduced that the boy ran there out of desperation. But why is he desperate? What are his motives? Nami couldn’t silence these thoughts as she felt ready to interrogate him.

“What’s wrong kid? Are you hurt?” One guard asked, watching the boy catch his breath.

“Ma… Maaaa…” He put his hand to his chest, heaving every breath he took.

“Maze…in trouble… Fry!” The last name came out weak as he dropped his head, having used all his energy to blurt out those words.

Nami’s brows contorted as she processed everything he said and once the pieces fell in place, it painted a grim picture. She threw her bag at Moe and exploded off with enough speed to crack the air. An explosive ‘boom’ shook the area as dust clouds rose with a large gust of wind that nearly toppled everyone off their feet. All of them were shocked and disoriented by the sudden burst.

One of the guards called in for back-up, labeling the phenomenon as a Mage attack. Even Mitchell was questioning what he just saw. But having witnessed Nami’s physical prowess firsthand, Moe knew it had to be urgent for her to use such a technique. He pulled the stunned Mitchell by the sleeve, running to catch up with her.

____________________________________________________________________

Faster. Nami dashed through the corridors of the schools at speeds that made her a blur on all the cameras, but everything for her seemed to slow down as her thought process accelerated.

You idiot! Why? You don’t even know this girl, so why? Nami mentally kicked herself, knowing the repercussions of her reckless actions. Your body moved before you could think and you’re already in full throttle, so stopping now isn’t an option! I’m so stupid! She gritted her teeth, bouncing off the lockers and walls to change direction. She could already feel the pain building up in her leg, but she couldn’t stop. Luckily for her the corridors were empty. The recoil is gonna hurt, but I must get there before… A flash of Shinji passed in her memory, but she quickly shoved the memory to the back of her mind. She had to focus.

She reached Mr. Fry’s class and crashed through without a pause in her momentum. The door flying off its hinges in shattered pieces of dark oak. There he was, posted on top of Maze. Nami could feel the rage build up within her as she readied the finishing blow, feeling no remorse for the man.

Wind-God mastery… But before she could fire it, a flash of that fateful day came to her. The day she lost to ‘him’.

Mid twist she switched her technique into a less deadly Water-God style kick that connected before Mr. Fry could react to her sudden entry. Slamming his face against the blackboard, but not killing him.

Nami landed on her feet, the crash of the door’s shattered pieces echoing in the quiet noise of the class. Her breath ran heavy as she looked at the girl on the table. Maze’s eyes remained open and unblinking, but there was no life behind them. Her face remained frozen with her mouth open, as if a scream was trapped in her throat. Her lips trembling uncontrollably as the frosted touch of fear and betrayal crushed her heart. Am I too late? Nami thought.

It didn’t take long before the recoil of that technique came back to cut her down. The pain pulsated violently from her knee as she collapsed to the floor, feeling like rusted blades repetitively stabbed through it. A loud ringing in her ears played like a chalkboard scratched by jagged nails, drowning out the quiet of the classroom. Migraines quaked her skull like the drums played back at her once home.

Damn it. She thought in frustration. What were you thinking? She asked herself, pulling her short hair with enough force to tear it off. How could you be so careless? A long pause came in between her thoughts.

That’s right… I wasn’t… a sigh escaped her breath, biting her lip to hold back the tears. Not about my injury, nor being Royal Knight… I wasn’t thinking! She slammed her fist against the tile floors with enough force to crack them. I wasn’t fast enough. Her mind cycled between her failure to save Mazekien and her loss against Shinji. The face that nearly ruined her life, the smile that put a mountain between her and her dreams, and worst of all, had the audacity to let her live. How cruel it was for him to let her live.

With the pain in her head and the ringing in her ears subsiding, Nami sat herself up against a desk near the door and opened her chest to catch her breath. Beads of sweat fell down her brow, with her mind being a mess of thoughts, she took a deep breath before slowly exhaling.

I am no Master. She thought to herself with all her failures and faults laid bare before her.