“Just your body getting used to moving again.” Amelia explained after she had examined Gabriel’s wound and gave him a small bottle of green substance, “Just put a few drops of this if it stings again.”
Gabriel eyed the bottle warily as the contents slushed around in the bottle, “Is it safe? For half-bloods I mean.”
Amelia smiled kindly at him before she nodded, “Yes, they are suitable for half-bloods as well.”
“Good to know,” Gabriel replied as he stood up from the examination bed he was sitting on.
“Don’t worry too much about it.” Amelia said as she stood up from the metal stool, she sat on during Gabriel's examination, “It’s my job anyway so I don’t quite mind.”
“Either way I’m grateful,” Gabriel said as the two left Amelia’s office and entered the infirmary where Eve, Hazel, and the twins were.
“Hey, Gab.” Hazel greeted him as she noticed his and Amelia’s presence, “Everything feeling alright?”
“Yeah.” Gabriel said shrugging as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Just my body getting used to moving again.”
“That’s nice.” Eve said smiling before she turned to her mother, “I hope he wasn’t much trouble.”
“Eve don’t say such a thing about your friend.” Amelia scolded her daughter, “I raised you better than that.”
“I-it’s alright Ms. Nevermore,” Gabriel said trying to avoid a possible fight.
Amelia sighed before she folded her arms, “Alright, if you don’t mind it then I will leave it, for now.”
Eve smiled before she turned to the hybrid, “Thanks for the help, Gabriel.”
“Don’t mention it.” Gabriel said before he wrapped his arm around his lover’s shoulders and kissed her temple, “You alright Love? You seem quiet.”
“I’m fine just thinking,” Hazel said quietly as she folded her arms, catching the twins’ attention.
“About what?” Ace asked as he and his sister turned to the purple-eyed girl.
“Just what Chancellor West and Gabriel said earlier,” Hazel said, her eyes trained to the floor in thought.
“What was it?” Rachel asked.
“The Shatia Dynasty.” Hazel answered, “I wonder why Chancellor West seemed so surprised when Gabriel mentioned it.”
“I have been wondering that as well.” Gabriel agreed before he turned to Amelia, “Do you know anything that could help?”
“Unfortunately, I don’t.” Amelia admitted, “But you may be able to see if there’s something about it in the library.”
“There’s a library?” Ace and Hazel asked, both of them smiling widely.
“Oh, boy.” Rachel whispered as her eyes widened and she palmed her forehead, ‘These two are going to be reading all night.’
‘Cute.’ Gabriel thought smiling.
“Eve can show you where it is.” Amelia said before she turned to her daughter, “Is that alright with you Kkoma Yojeong?”
“Yeah, that’s fine with me,” Eve said smiling.
∞
“This place is huge.” Ace awed as he looked at the millions of books on the shelves that lined the vast room.
“Took the words right out of my mouth Ace.” Hazel agreed as she read the titles on the spines, “I’ve never even heard some of these titles.”
“They look like kids in a candy shop.” Rachel commented only to be met with silence, “Guys?”
When she was met with silence again, she furrowed her brows before she turned to look at Eve and Gabriel and had to hold back her laughter. The other two meanwhile were looking lovingly at Ace and Hazel who had wasted no time in retrieving three to five books and sitting down on a picnic table in the middle of two book shelves. Rachel chuckled quietly before she grabbed both their hands and dragged them to join Ace and Hazel.
“Find anything?” Gabriel asked as he and the other two girls sat down.
“We just started,” Hazel said, looking up from Secrets of Ancient Monsters.
“And yet you’re already grabbed three.” Gabriel countered, smiling a little.
Hazel gave him a stern look before Gabriel laughed and folded his arms on the table, “My apologies Amore, I’m only teasing.”
Hazel kept on staring at him before he frowned a little and gently kissed her forehead, “Will that satisfy you Lovely?”
Hazel’s eyes widened a bit at both the gesture and the nickname as a blush crept up her face before she nodded and returned to her book meanwhile however Eve and the twins watched the exchange in both curiosity and satisfaction. The group stayed there with Hazel and Ace reading while Gabriel and the other two girls played Old Maid, it was only when Gabriel won for the sixth time in a row that Hazel let out a small yawn.
“Tired?’ Gabriel asked smiling at the girl sitting beside him.
“A little.” Hazel admitted as she wiped away the excess moisture from the corner of her eyes and let out another yawn, “How long have we been here for?”
“A few hours, I think.” Ace said putting his book down and letting out his own yawn, “Did you find anything?”
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“I think so.” Hazel said showing them the chapter she was reading, “And it’s intense.”
“Maybe we should go to our room for this.” Rachel suggested before she looked at the big clock on the wall, “When did we get in here?”
“If I remember correctly, it was almost two.” Gabriel said as he watched Hazel’s eyes droop and jerk open, “Maybe we should do this in our room.”
“It’s almost five.” Eve said looking at the clock, “We’ve been here for three hours.”
“Let’s go then.” Ace said standing up before he picked up the book, he was reading along with the book Hazel showed them, “Gab can you carry Hazel? She looks burnt out.”
Rachel furrowed her brows before she saw that Hazel had indeed succumbed to her drowsiness. As the group gathered their thing Gabriel had already picked Hazel up bridal style and led the group to their room, attracting whispers from the hunters they passed by.
∞
“And you’ve just announced your relationship to most of the branch,” Eve commented as they entered Gabriel, Hazel, and the twins’ room where Phoenix and the birds were.
“Is Ms. Abernathy alright Mr. Pasi?” Luna asked as Gabriel laid Hazel down on her bed.
“Yeah, she’s just tired.” Gabriel replied before he joined the others over on one of the desks, “Find anything?”
“I can see why Hazel said think.” Ace said scanning the chapter, “I feel like I’m reading gibberish rather than words.”
“Definitely.” Rachel said her eyes widening when she looked at the words written, “How did Hazel even manage to read this? Let alone understand it.”
“Should we wake her up then?” Eve asked.
With furrowed brows, Gabriel scanned the page carefully before he said, “It’s Expitoni.”
“Excuse me?” Ace asked as he and the girls turned to look at Gabriel as Phoenix and the birds settled down to get their sleep.
“Monster language.” Gabriel said simply, “I wonder how Hazel even managed to learn this.”
“So, what does it say?” Ace asked.
“During my travels and research about ancient monster civilizations I’ve come across a stone tablet inscribed with peculiar markings.” Gabriel read aloud, “All depicting of a kingdom where both monster and human live in peace and harmony.”
“A place like that exists?” Rachel asked surprised.
“Seems like it.” Gabriel replied before he continued to read, “After months of research I’ve finally found the key and location of what the monsters call The Shatia Dynasty.”
“The Shatia Dynasty!?” The twins exclaimed waking Hazel up, “Sorry Hazel.”
“It’s fine.” Hazel reassured them as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, “Did you get to the part where you can find the key?”
“No.” Gabriel replied, “I’m getting to it though.”
“That’s nice,” Hazel said.
Gabriel chuckled at her behavior before he continued to translate, “However though only the heart of an A-Class monster is susceptible to the magic required to forge the key.”
“A Class?” Rachel asked, “There are monster classes?”
Hazel shook her head as sleep finally left her, “They used to identify monsters by how lethal they are but as more people started dying the Council decided to identify them by how and where they attack instead.”
“I personally think they should have just stuck to ranking them by class.” Eve commented, “Honestly, more people die because of how overconfident they are, they underestimate the monsters and the next thing they know is death.”
“Geez.” Rachel muttered before she turned to Gabriel, “Why would someone need to kill a monster to get inside a monster and human kingdom?”
“A Class monsters are creatures of darkness.” Gabriel explained, “They’re made entirely of malice, chaos, and death. The only people that are demented enough to even go near one are-”
“Working for Dark?” Hazel asked.
“I was going to say suicidal but that works as well.” Gabriel said before something crossed his mind, “You don’t think Ambrose found out about any of this, do you?”
“It’s a possibility.” Ace said thoughtfully, “Why else would he mention this?” he then turned to Hazel who was still sitting in her bunk, “What book even is this? There’s no title on the front or page.”
“It’s a journal, someone by the name of Professor Benjamin Roussel wrote it.” Hazel said before she furrowed her brows before she walked up to the group and looked at the chapter with a thinking expression on her face, “Anyone else think we should check it out?”
“Wait a minute.” Eve said interrupting Gabriel and the twins’ answer, “You want to find an A-Class monster, kill it, use its heart to go to some ancient kingdom that probably doesn’t exist anymore, all the while three highly skilled Monster Hunters are quite literally hunting you four!?”
The group looked at each other for a moment before they all looked at her and said, “Yes.”
“Do you hear yourselves right now!?” Eve asked looking at the four in shock, “You said it yourself Gabriel the only people who are demented enough to even go near any A-Class monster are suicidal and Carla, Eliza, and Kimberly are years ahead of you guys.”
“So, what are we supposed to do then?” Ace asked, “Stand by and possibly let the world fall into mayhem? Honestly Eve I thought you’d know us better than that.”
Eve let out a loud sigh before she explained herself, “I’m just thinking rationally.”
“But what about the possibilities?” Hazel asked looking directly into Eve’s eyes, “By the way Chancellor West acted earlier today it seemed that we weren’t going to get the answers we need even if we ask.”
Though unknown to the group – or most of them – Charles had been in front of their door listening to their entire conversation, “This is going to be a problem.”
As the older man left to go and report to his chancellor Gabriel folded his arms and glared at the door.
“You’re safer here than out there!” Eve exclaimed.
“If you think they’ll answer our questions then let’s go.” Gabriel said unfolding his arms and turning to look at Eve, “If you’re so confident in them.”
“Are you insulting my judgment?” Eve asked insulted.
“They’re just thinking of any possible outcome.” Ace said hoping to break up the rising tension, “We aren’t really used to these situations.”
“Fine.” Eve spat out before turning away from them and folding her arms, “Let’s go then.”
Once Eve marched out of the room Rachel let out a breath, “That was a close one.”
“Definitely.” Ace agreed.
“Hey, Gab.” Hazel said turning to her lover, “What did you mean when you said that we were being held captive?”
“Yeah, that was pretty random.” Rachel said nodding.
Gabriel’s eyes flickered to the door that Eve left open before he dropped to a low whisper, “Someone was eavesdropping on us.”
Hazel and the twins’ eyes widened before Ace whispered, “Who was it?”
“The person who got us into this situation in the first place,” Gabriel explained.
Hazel and the twins looked at each other before the girl gave a sharp whistle, waking up Phoenix, Luna, and Josh.
“Is something wrong Mistress?” Phoenix asked urgently as the three of them approached her.
“All of you get ready.” Hazel said looking at them all, “If they don’t give us our answers then we’re leaving.”