Gaius spilled out what happened to him while Felix listened calmly. He told him everything, from the day Benedictus visited his house to the moment he left Cybele Vulcan’s apparently secret medical facility. Discomfort surged through the distraught boy as he recalled everything, though it was accompanied by a much stronger wave of relief.

“So…” Felix began slowly. “You want me to help you take down President Benedictus?”

“I know he’s a powerful Mage, but only a Tier Five Meta like you stand a chance against him.” Gaius nodded. A hatchling of a plan had begun to form in his mind, although it was a stupidly simple one.

Confront Benedictus. Record him admitting his crimes with a Veritas Rune. Defeat the President. Wait for the constables to arrest him.

Gaius almost laughed out loud at his own ploy. Even a child could have come up with a better scheme. But given the limited time he had, this was the best he could do.

“About that,” Felix said, pursing his lips. “I’m… not a Tier Five at the moment.”

“Wait, what?” The Sorcerer looked at him in shock. “What do you mean, you’re not Tier Five?”

“I’m sure you already know what happened in Purgatory.” Felix shifted his eyes downward. “After Satan absorbed my essence, I was only left with about five percent power. Right now, I’ve only managed to recover another five percent. At ten percent power now, I’m only approximately as strong as a Tier Four.”

Gaius’ heart sank.

“How long will you need to regain your full strength?” he asked.

“A few months, maybe more.”

“Then we’re going to need all the help we can get.” Gaius stood up. “We don’t have a few months.”

“From who?” Felix followed him up the stairs.

The magi did not answer him with words. He turned around a corner briskly and stopped outside a room labelled “Student Council Room”. Gaius knocked on the door loudly before pushing it open.

“-Everyone familiar with your roles for the sports festival now? If there aren’t any further questions, I… What are you two doing here?”

Gaius walked up to the Student Council President, ignoring the stares of the neatly dressed students in uniforms so well-pressed, they looked like they were laminated while still on their owners’ bodies.

Felix followed him awkwardly as the magis began murmuring among themselves about the presence of a meta in their room. They stood up quickly and left the room, making sure to keep a wide berth from Felix as though he could somehow infect them and convert them to his inferior race.

“Sorry Kleopatra, but I wouldn’t bother you if this wasn’t urgent,” Gaius said to the girl folding her arms. “Your sister asked me to take you to her.”

Both Felix and Kleopatra looked at him with surprise, but commotion drifted into the room as the door swung open.

“Kleopatra… he’s here…” A girl with braided ponytails panted.

“Breathe, Penelope,” Kleopatra said. “Who’s here?”

“The President… President Benedictus,” Penelope stammered. “Why weren’t we informed about this? We couldn’t give him a proper welcome. He’s hanging around in the Quadrangle at the moment.”

“I wasn’t made aware of this either.” Kleopatra looked shocked, but she quickly regained her composure. She gestured for her council member to lead the way. “Bring me to him. I’ll go meet him too-”

“No, wait. He came for me.” Gaius held her wrist, slipping a rune into her palm. “This rune will take you to your sister. She will tell you everything.”

Gaius ran out of the room and leapt off the second floor.

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“Gaius, my boy!” the Mage exclaimed, opening his arms as though welcoming an old friend. The Sorcerer walked towards him with as wide a smile he could muster, hoping that his overly friendly expression could mask the fear dancing in his eyes.

“Mister President, w-what brings you all the way here?” he asked nervously.

“Well, you weren’t answering my calls so I thought I’d find you here personally.” Benedictus chuckled. “Besides, it would be nice to take a look at the state of our bright new generation. Good to see you kids are in good hands. My condolences about Apprentice Necromancer Orpheus Caesar, by the way.”

His voice dropped as he leaned in towards Gaius’ ear. “I have a breakthrough regarding the tomes. I believe we have the location of the third one. Come with me, we’ll be heading to the sky library-”

“President Benedictus!”

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Gaius turned around as Kleopatra greeted the old Mage with a curtsey. Felix was following behind.

What the hell are you doing? He looked wildly at them, but they were ignoring his silent cries for them to leave.

“Well met. You must be Alcaeus’ younger daughter.” The warmth in Benedictus’ tone disgusted Gaius, given the fact that this man had just literally almost killed her father. “So you’re the student council president of this school? Like father, like daughter, I see.”

“Mister President, I’m a huge fan!” Felix seemed oddly excited, shaking the man’s hand for a little too long. “Thank you for all that you have done for meta-kind!”

“I believe you’re the first Meta Guardian, right?” Benedictus did not pull his hand away. “Bright young man. Well done, and thank you for your service.”

The President waved for the final time at the throngs of students gathering all around, trying to take a good look at him. He raised his staff, allowing magic to channel into the glowing orb on its top. He brought it down with a definitive clang.

Snow engulfed Gaius as he cast a worried look at Felix before disappearing with the Grand Mage.

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Felix looked grimly as the students dispersed themselves. The teachers quickly ushered them back to their class, although they themselves looked disappointed at the all too brief respite from the long day. A loud sigh beside him caught his attention.

“I don’t suppose you know what Gaius wanted to tell me,” Kleopatra said with defeat in her voice.

“All I know is that they’re headed to Sirius city’s west sky library,” Felix replied. “I took the chance to read Benedictus’ mind for a brief moment when I shook his hand.”

“Well played.” She grinned, but a dark expression crossed her face. “But what was Gaius saying about my sister?”

“Only one way to find out.”

Felix looked around at the Quadrangle. It was already empty, and the place was isolated enough for no student to accidentally stumble into them. His eyes glowed, pulling Gaius’ rune from Kleopatra’s pocket.

Arcani flowed to his fingertips, and the rune glowed fiercely. It pulsated in his palm as he nodded at Kleopatra. He tossed the rune, and a silver portal burst from the rune the moment it touched the ground.

They stepped into it and left the school.

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Felix was not one to complain about the buffet of generous abilities his power gifted him, but he was really wishing now that he had learnt to blot out sound without simply reflecting it. Hysterical screams grated his ears in the small room as he pushed himself against the wall and covered his ears. He looked on with pity at the woman bearing the brunt of her sister’s screaming.

“Are you quite done?” Cybele spoke calmly to a shaking Kleopatra.

“No. No, I’m not!” Kleopatra was still shouting, although her voice seemed softer now. Or maybe Felix was just used to the noise. “Why didn’t Dad tell me anything? Why didn’t you tell me anything?”

“Calm down, Kleo-”

“How do you expect me to calm down? Dad’s in a coma, and you’re telling me our mother’s killer tried to kill him too?”

Cybele pursed her lips. “I know I haven’t been around much, but-”

“Damn right you haven’t!” Kleopatra yelled. “All this while, I’ve been trying to get stronger to protect our family. And now you’re telling me that you’ve been here all along? You couldn’t protect Dad!”

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Cybele retorted. “It’s not my fault that I’ve been tasked to be stationed here.”

“Yes, it’s not fair indeed! You don’t deserve this. It should’ve been me! Why does Dad love you more than me when I’ve been working harder than you?”

Silence fell.

“I could really use a cloaking spell now,” Felix thought to himself, finding the wall extremely interesting all of a sudden.

“Do you really think so?” Cybele’s voice dropped, though it sounded harder than ever. “Do you really think Dad kept you away from all this danger because he didn’t love you?”

“He kept me away because I’m weak. I’m the weakest in our whole family-”

“No. You’re stronger than all of us.” Cybele folded her arms. “Do you know what I’d give to be a pure Warlock like you? My magic is versatile, yes. But they’re limited in power as a result. Dad also isn’t naturally strong; he’s just a really competent magi.”

Kleopatra sniffed, wiping her tears away as she stared at her sister.

“But you, Kleopatra Vulcan. You are born with raw magic that far exceeds any of us. Dad just doesn’t like to highlight that so that you don’t go around looking for trouble,” Cybele continued. “He’s overprotective of you because he can’t bear losing his daughter. Especially not after Mom died. So don’t you dare say that he doesn’t love you, you have no idea just how much he does.”

“I- I…” Tears were gushing out of Kleopatra’s eyes again.

“Are you going to waste time chasing after Dad’s verbal approval?” Cybele said. “Or are you going to take ownership of your powers and use it to do something good?”

Kleopatra knelt down beside her father, holding his hand to her forehead while she sobbed silently.

“We’ll get The White Locust together, Kleo.” Felix approached her.

“It would serve you well not to go in head-on.” Cybele turned to Felix. “Even if Gaius isn’t a hostage, the President is not someone you can just pick a fight with, both legally and physically.”

“Agreed, that’s why we’re going to use this.” Felix held up a Veritas rune. “Though it might be troublesome if he puts up a fight. I’m nowhere near full strength too. It’s going to take all of us.”

Cybele nodded.

“Good luck, Guardians.”