image [https://i.imgur.com/C9u5gQA.png]
Later that night and after hours of tirelessly sweeping the entire campus for clues, the mysterious men found no trace of the person that witnessed their secret operation. With irritated sighs, they reluctantly headed up to the top floor of LaVeda’s main building.
They walked down the long hallway and knocked on the large, cedar door of Headmaster Quinn’s office. After a brief pause, they heard his grizzled voice speak up. He told them to enter and after doing so, they quickly closed the door and rushed over to his desk.
“Why’ve you come here so late? It's almost morning.” He asked with an annoyed tone, shuffling through some papers on his desk.
“Um, Sir… We’ve got a major problem…” One of the men said, his voice slightly shaking.
Headmaster Quinn looked up and glared, wondering what had them so on edge.
“Well? What is it?”
“We think the operation was found out earlier, Sir…” He replied with great hesitation, scared to relay this information.
“WHAT!?!? Explain yourselves!!”
Headmaster Quinn exploded with wide eyed anger, standing up from his seat while dropping his many papers.
“Well, we were gathering up some of the students you directed us to and when we returned, there was someone we didn’t recognize in the furnace room. They seemed to be going through some documents. We chased after them, but they unfortunately gave us the slip. We’ve searched for hours, but we can’t locate them…” He said fearfully, hanging his head in disappointment.
Shock and fear came over the Headmaster’s face. As he realized the consequences that would befall him if this information got out, sweat dripped down his face in rapid fashion. He looked at the men and posed a panicked question.
“What did they look like? What about their abilities!? Anything to identify them with??” He asked with a rushed and worried cadence.
“The individual had a brown cloak on with their hood up. We couldn’t see their face, so we don’t know if it was a male or female. As for abilities, Tom and I were flung back into the wall by an unknown force. We suspect it to be telekinesis or something similar.”
“They could fly as well, though it didn’t seem to be part of some kind of wind ability.” Another remarked, adding more information for them to work with.
“Telekinesis and flight!? Do you know how many students here that can do both of those things in some capacity!?!? It would take us days to sift through them all. This information is useless!!” The Headmaster yelled, not pleased by their response at all.
He began to grow more worried, the sweat falling from his face in impressive fashion.
‘If anyone finds out about this, I’m done for. I’ll never be able to walk this world freely again! Should I just cut my losses and flee, get a head start??’
Headmaster Quinn then looked over towards the small, brown leather pouch sitting on a shelf to his left. He stared at it, deep in thought.
“Um Sir, are you okay? What are your orders?” One of the men asked curiously, wondering why he was staring off blankly in such a crucial situation.
“Uhh, yes.. Sorry, I’m fine. We’re going to execute protocol C. Let everyone know and be prepared to leave as soon as possible. Cut off all campus communications and burn everything. You are dismissed.” He said, snapping back to reality.
The group of twenty instructors looked shocked by his orders and after a brief pause, they rushed out of the room.
Headmaster Quinn walked over to the shelf and picked up the little pouch. He opened it and pulled out the dark purple rock adorned with a runic symbol on the top. Its color matched that of the purple pills students had been taking and after examining it for a moment, he began to sweat profusely again.
“I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but it seems I’ve no choice. My legacy at this school will be all but over if I don’t act fast. I’ll trust the Watchers and let them handle whatever happens.” He muttered with slight regret, looking out of his window at the early morning darkness.
image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]
Carmen and Elise woke up feeling very unrested, their minds still reeling from what they learned the night prior. They quickly got out of bed and after freshening themselves up, Carmen looked over towards Elise as she grabbed her bag.
“I’m going to head to the message center now. I want to get in contact with Azhane before classes start.” She said with a determined tone.
“Good. Let me know what she says and be careful out there.”
Carmen gave Elise a heavy nod before quickly exiting the room, not wasting any more time.
After trekking across campus, Carmen arrived at the message center. However, when she approached the building, Carmen saw students walking away from it with disappointment on their faces.
“Why the heck are they doing maintenance today? I really wanted to wish my dad a happy birthday. So annoying.” A female student said to her friend as they walked past Carmen.
Carmen looked over with a confused expression and began feeling uneasy the closer she got to the stairs. When she climbed the final step, Carmen saw an instructor standing in front of the door with his arms crossed.
“Sorry, the message center is closed today for repairs. Come back tomorrow.” He said with a grumble, clearly not happy about the task he was given.
“What do you mean it’s closed for repairs?? I really need to go inside.”
“We’re closed for today. Now, run along and come back another time.”
He gave Carmen a fierce glare as he straightened his stance to block her path. Carmen glared back, but after she got a good look at his face, she recognized him from the previous night. He was the instructor that she had knocked down the stairs.
“Okay, I understand. Thank you.”
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Carmen gave a quick bow and rushed down the steps, quickening her pace once she got out of the man’s line of sight.
‘Seems like they’re trying to cut off our communication. This isn’t good.’
As she walked towards the main building, Carmen felt someone place their hand on her shoulder. Carmen immediately became startled, leaping into the air and flinching.
“Woah, are you okay, Carmen? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Rivell said, getting startled as well by her sudden yelp.
“Oh, it’s just you, Rivell. Sorry. And yeah, I’m fine. How’re you doing?” Carmen replied with an awkward laugh, clearly not in a good head space.
Rivell looked at her with a concerned expression, wondering why she was acting so weird.
“Ah ok. I’ve been good. I tried to go to town before classes started so I could pick up some supplies, but apparently the roads are being blocked off by the Olunas guard. The instructors wouldn’t let me leave the campus.” Rivell said with a sigh.
Carmen looked at him with wide eyes, processing what he just said.
“Hey, are you sure you’re okay? I get the feeling that something is wrong.”
Carmen sighed at his concern before looking around, making sure no one was close by to hear what she was going to say.
“Actually, I’m not okay at all right now. I just found out about some really nasty stuff and I don’t know how to handle it.” She softly said.
“What did you find out?” Rivell asked, getting closer to her so he could hear better.
Before Carmen could reply, the bell for the first class rang loudly.
“Meet me in the courtyard after class and I’ll tell you then. Oh and bring Cassidy along as well. I’ve gotta go!” Carmen began to sprint towards the main building, leaving Rivell behind in quick fashion.
“Uhh… Okay?” Rivell replied, his face filled with confusion and concern.
image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]
Just as the last few classes ended for the day, Headmaster Quinn was busy packing things up in his office, swiftly sliding papers into his burlap sack. He was suddenly disturbed by a couple instructors entering the room.
“Sir, all preparations have been completed. Every form of evidence has been scrubbed from the school and we made sure that all campus exits were closed off.” One of the instructors said with a heavy voice.
“And what of the messaging center?” Headmaster Quinn asked, his voice shaking from nervousness.
“We closed it down completely last night. Rest assured, whoever was snooping around wouldn’t have been able to leak any information to anyone, at least not yet.” Another instructor chimed in.
“Good, good. That puts me more at ease. Even if anything got out, we’ll be long gone before any authorities come to investigate. You all can go ahead and leave, I’ll take care of the rest.” Headmaster Quinn said, reaching for the small leather pouch on his desk.
The instructors bowed their heads before making a swift exit out of the room.
The Headmaster pulled out the small purple rock from the pouch and gripped it tightly. He took a deep breath before turning his head towards the large LaVeda University tapestry hanging on the adjacent wall.
“Thirty years I’ve given to this school. Thirty long and fruitful years. But, it seems as though fate has unfortunately closed this chapter of my life… Be well, my precious students.”
Headmaster Quinn forced his Core Energy into the rock. Immediately, the rune started to shine brightly as it sent out a massive burst of energy.
Moments later, the entire campus was encased within a light purple barrier. All windows and exits were sealed completely as well, trapping all students inside of their respective buildings. Once the barriers finished forming, loud screeching cries and yells could be heard all across the campus.
Prior to this situation, Carmen rushed out of her final class with a knot in her stomach. She couldn’t focus at all as she continued to worry about what to do and how to explain this to the others. Carmen quickly made her way to the central courtyard, not wanting to waste any more time.
She eventually spotted Rivell and Cassidy standing near the westernmost fountain, having a little chat. Carmen walked up and greeted them, still feeling paranoid as she scanned their surroundings.
“Rivell said you wanted to tell us something? What’s up?” Cassidy asked with her soft voice, eager to see what was going on.
Before Carmen could reply, a massive surge of Core Energy radiated through the campus. The strength of this surge quickly put them on alert as they tried to pinpoint the source.
“Did you all feel that??” Carmen said as she turned around, looking around at the other students.
“Yeah, what the heck was that?? Sent shivers down my spine just now.” Rivell replied, gripping his body tightly in fear.
Cassidy looked over at Carmen and noticed something weird about her cloak.
“Hey Carmen, why’s your coat glowing?” She asked with a concerned expression, finding the purple hue pulsing from it rather strange.
Carmen glanced down and reached into her pocket, pulling out the little pill from last night.
‘Huh? Is it reacting to something?’
Suddenly, a student not too far from them began screaming at the top of their lungs. They gripped their head tightly and thrashed their body around in an aggressive manner. Rivell quickly rushed over and placed his hand on their shoulder, hoping to assist them in any way he could.
“Hey, are you alright!? What’s wrong?” He asked, trying to calm them down.
The student scowled at him and forcefully pushed him back, knocking Rivell into Cassidy’s arms. As she caught Rivell, the student started to transform before their very eyes.
Their body grew and strengthened, his muscles flexing and tightening with each passing second. Large, purple colored veins popped out of his neck and forehead while his eyes glowed a deep purple. As he gnashed his teeth, light purple colored foam dripped from his mouth. It was abundantly clear that something was going terribly wrong with him.
“Carmen, what’s wrong with him?” Cassidy asked with great concern, backing away from him slowly.
When Carmen got in between them and the student, he roared loudly like some kind of wild beast. Without warning, he charged at them with incredible speed.
As he got closer, the student clapped his hands together, causing a surge of electricity to pulse around his arms. With a single downward punch, his fists connected with the ground and a massive electrified explosion of debris radiated outward. The blow rippled across the floor, knocking everyone in the courtyard to the ground. Carmen, Cassidy, and Rivell dashed out of the way, barely dodging his attack.
‘This Harpy student is insane! He's way stronger than Olivia was when she took her pill. This is not good!'
Carmen couldn’t believe the amount of destruction caused by this one student, however, she couldn’t ponder for long as the student began to charge again.
Just as he reached them, Carmen’s gravity field activated and stopped him completely in his tracks. Carmen looked over her shoulder and with a single thought, he was thrown across the courtyard and into the opposite fountain.
“Woah! How’d you do that??” Rivell asked, having never seen Carmen use her abilities in that way.
“Not important, let’s get out of here!”
She grabbed his arm and rushed towards the exit. Cassidy swiftly followed after them, but once they got to the hallway, the scene was absolutely chaotic.
Loud screams and pleas for help decorated the air. Blood was splattered on the walls, injured students littered the floors, and more purple eyed students were going berserk. Carmen looked to her left and saw someone being dragged across the floor by her hair, screaming at the top of her lungs.
Cassidy looked to their right and saw another student being stomped out by a buff, purple eyed student. Each stomp of their foot was more brutal and violent than the last. The student eventually stopped moving, succumbing to their injuries.
“Just.. What is all of this!?!” Cassidy said, covering her mouth to keep from vomiting.
“I have no idea, but we need to get somewhere safe!”
Rivell looked around and quickly pointed towards the door that led outside. They made a run for it, but once they approached the door, a light purple barrier knocked them backwards. Carmen got to her feet and pressed her palm against it, unable to push her hand through.
‘This cannot be happening right now. Why are we trapped in here?!’
Carmen’s mind began to race as she tried to make sense of this terrifying situation. She had no idea what to do or where to go as the chaos unfolding around them became more suffocating.