Vincent opened his eyes to see Evans standing over him. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"What happened?" Vincent asked. His mouth was dry so he quickly looked around for water. Evans handed him a glass.

"You came back wounded and almost alerted the entire Academy," Evans explained.

Vincent looked around as he drank the water. He was in what he assumed to be the Academy's infirmary. Will and Theresa were both in beds near him.

"Where's Cole?"

"Was Cole with you three? When I reached you it was only you three. Let me tell you, it was hard work getting you three up here without alerting the other Heads."

"He was injured too. One of the Aspected attacked him."

Evans looked worried. "Well I wouldn't be surprised if Lloyd got to him first. Their powers allow them to be almost anywhere whenever they want. Not sure if Cole has learned that yet."

Vincent began to get out of the infirmary bed. Pain from his shoulder shot through his entire body. His shirt was ripped from the sleeve. Bandages covered his shoulder.

"Whoa, you need to rest. No need for you to go around with an injury like that," Evans chuckled.

"But Cole is in danger. It's Lloyd Argo. He's the one behind all the problems," Vincent said frantically.

"What? How? What was the gathering point?"

Vincent explained all he could to Evans. He started with their journey being not so smooth, and how it became worse when Cole showed up. He told Evans that the other two went after Cole while he tried to help the human Aspected.

Explaining the gathering point as an access to another place where anything celestial comes from was difficult for Vincent. He was sure Evans would think him crazy.

To his surprise, Evans was calm as he received the information. He let Vincent completely explain all about the Celestial Space and what brought him back to finding Cole and the other two.

"Celestial Space, huh? Well I knew of theories about that. But beside that, if what the Zodiacs told you is correct, it does explain a lot with the Aspected becoming a more apparent problem. They aren't just the celestial forms anymore. I did read that they had changed over time, but everyone assumed it was an evolutionary thing. Starry beings taking solid forms and what not."

Vincent nodded. He wasn't sure how to feel. The idea of powerful humanoid beings living in space that grant astrology-inspired powers sounded crazy to him, and he had lived it. But it seemed to Evans, it was just another explanation of scholarly queries.

"We need to find Lloyd and Cole. If he has Cole already, he might be conspiring to approach the Heads about us working together," Evans stated. "Any idea where Cole likes to go?"

"Probably the arena," Vincent suggested. If he had any guess, it would be there.

"You're probably right. I still think it's hard to believe that these weapons we were taught to us have been a construction of Ophiuchus energy. They come forth whenever we call them. It felt so natural."

Evans sounded hurt. Vincent imagined Will feeling the same way. He didn't have the same connection because Lloyd didn't have a chance to create one for him.

"I don't get it much either. It makes sense though. Well at least it sort of does."

Evans nodded. He glanced at the other two. "I do believe you all should stay here. Though Theresa isn't hurt, she's resting. I don't want any of you getting expelled over things I encouraged."

Vincent waited for a response from either of his friends but they both were still asleep. He could still feel pain in his shoulder, so he didn't feel the need to argue. "We'll stay here."

Evans smiled and turned his back to Vincent. "I'm taking my sextant back, but the calendar is yours to keep. Just be careful when you use it next time," Evans explained as he held up the sextant without turning around.

"Thanks," Vincent replied with a smile.

Evans continued out of the infirmary. Once the door was closed, Vincent heard Will stir.

"Didn't think he'd leave," Will said.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"You heard all that?"

"How could I not? Evans is always louder when he talks to us. I think it's the excitement that we believe him and his research."

Vincent nodded. He watched Will sit up. His friend now had gauze wrapped around his forehead and through some of his hair. "Do you still hurt?" he decided to ask.

"Oh yeah. I feel extremely dizzy. But that can't stop us from backing up Evans. Lloyd and Cole outnumber him. We need to be there for him."

"He told us to stay here," Vincent replied. Every part of him wanted to be there for Evans, but he also wanted to respect him too.

"Yeah but we can't let things go south for him. Then we'll for sure be expelled. Lloyd would take over the school and banish anyone who had any thought to disagree with him," Will ranted as he started to get out of the bed.

Vincent watched Will shuffle carefully passed his bed and over to where Theresa was resting. "Come on sleepy head. Let's wake up and get going."

Theresa rolled over in the bed. She made a grunting noise that Vincent was familiar with. The universal noise for 'let me sleep a bit longer'.

"So you heard everything? Like, everything everything?" Vincent questioned.

Will nodded slowly, probably to avoid making his dizziness worse. "Yes. Even that strange magical Zodiac stuff."

"So what do you think about that?"

"I don't know honestly," Will said with a shrug. "It all sounds way above my grade level to think about."

Vincent laughed. He could agree with that. The entire concept was that for scholars to think about, not necessarily first year students.

Theresa sat up from her bed. "I'm up, I'm up. Just let me sit for a second to get my bearings. What time is it even?"

The two boys looked around for a clock. Vincent remembered his calendar and saw that it was still the middle of the night. "We shouldn't be up right now," he muttered.

"That late, huh?" Theresa questioned. Vincent could tell she wanted to lay back down.

"Yeah, but I think Will is right. We need to go make sure Evans is okay."

She nodded. It was followed by a yawn. After a few seconds, she got out of bed as Will got out of the way. "So where'd he go?" she asked.

"He's going to look at the arena," Vincent replied. "Lloyd spent most of his time there training students and Hunters, so I assumed that's where he took Cole."

"Cole was taken? He as injured wasn't he? He should be here!" Theresa exclaimed.

Vincent and Will nodded. Cole was just a pawn in Lloyd's scheme and had become blinded by it, making him a liability. Cole was innocent, looking passed all the influence that Lloyd had done.

Vincent climbed out of the bed. He braced himself against the side as pain began to pulse through him. "We aren't in the best shape, but it's better than nothing," he chuckled.

The two others smiled and laughed a bit. Theresa stood between them and guided them both out of the infirmary. It was going to take much longer to get out to the weapons training area with their injuries.

The halls were quiet and empty. Vincent thought that there would be some Heads or someone else would be wandering the halls for security. As they continued and didn't run into anyone, he wondered what would stop any other students from wandering around after curfew. Perhaps some did, or could be at that moment. Vincent concentrated on that idea to avoid thinking about the pain. He began to scan the halls and stairways as they went.

Their collective steps were all the noise that came from the entire school as they maneuvered through the remaining halls. They didn't dare to talk in case some teachers or students would hear them.

After what felt like eternity in dark hallways, the three found themselves outside in the moonlight. A few clouds blocked what little stars could be seen. Vincent wondered if the Zodiacs were watching them.

"Not much further now," Theresa said. Her breath followed her words. The night air was cold and sharp. Vincent wished they had brought their jackets.

Vincent stepped a bit away from Theresa and added, "I think we should try and come in a bit stronger, rather than hanging off of you."

Will nodded and let Theresa stop holding on to him. "As strong as we can appear with bandages," he laughed.

"It's better than not being there at all. I'm sure Evans is in there already," Theresa replied. "We should hurry."

The three continued towards the training building. Soon they were bathed in the lights that came out from the small windows towards the roof of the building.

Vincent listened carefully. He couldn't hear anything coming from inside. It was hard for him to decide if that was good or bad. Evans could be in trouble already.

"Let's go," Will whispered and pulled the door open. He pulled it as slow as he could to avoid making any unwanted noise.

As soon as it was open wide enough, Vincent headed inside first. All the inside lights were turned on. Vincent looked for any sign of Evans, Lloyd, or Cole, but everything seemed ordinary. Will and Theresa were close behind as soon as they were able to close to door.

"Where do you think they are?" Theresa whispered.

"There's no where else they could be but here," Will replied.

Vincent wasn't so sure. Doubt began to eat at him as he worried that Evans was put into a trap. "Is there an office or something that Lloyd has?" he asked. Most teachers had their own office students could visit when the teachers weren't teaching a class.

"Probably around the back somewhere," Will suggested.

Beyond the arena and training pit, there were a few hallways. Vincent remembered seeing one led to bathrooms and washrooms for those who worked up a sweat during class or training. One of the hallways could hold an office for Lloyd.

The three went down the almost completely unlit hallways until they found what they were looking for. Lloyd's office was the furthest away from the bathrooms and washrooms. The office door had a light coming underneath it. Still no noise was heard.

Vincent tried the door, and to his surprise, it opened easily. Inside, there was a desk covered with text books and documents. The walls were lined with charts and file cabinets. Vincent could already tell it looked like Lloyd had scholar's research everywhere.

"This is insane," Theresa stated. "There's so much stolen research here. Research like this isn't suppose to leave the main building, let alone the observatory."

"Well this already seems suspicious," Will added.

As the three looked over the room, they heard voices coming from the main room. They looked at each other and knew they had to go investigate it. The three knelt down and began to sneak back through the hallway. The entire building began to shake and rumble as the voices got louder.