" I thought your edict warded off monsters, " Zane said as he stood from his chair and rushed to the door with Remi close behind him.

"It does, but strong enough monsters can break the barrier, "

Aenon replied as he hurriedly followed after.

Zane rushed to the nearest stairway to the first floor and took a peek from the corner. Perched on a locker was something that resembled a barn owl, but the feathers on its body were pitch black with its face and feet a snowy white colour. The thing's eyes looked lifeless, a dark black as if absorbing all light in their vicinity.

" What the fuck is that thing? " Remi whispered as he and Aenon caught up to Zane.

" I don't know, and I don't feel like sticking around to find out, " Aenon added in a similar hushed tone.

" We should try to find another way out and avoid whatever that thing might be, " Zane advised.

" I can hear you my lovely little mice. " A gruff honeyed voice announced.

"Stay a little longer, I came all the way to your burrow to play. "

" Did that thing just talk? " Remi asked with a dumbfounded look on his face.

" Yes. I did. "

It said as its head turned to face them and vanished into a mass of black feathers. It reappeared next to the group much bigger than before. Its body had grown huge and bulky, its wings were gone and replaced by two burly arms with snowy white fists, and its legs (now tall and brawny) were covered with black scale-like feathers. It began to exude a putrid smell that was akin to the scent of decay. Remi and Aenon had begun to shiver at the sight of this grotesque excuse of an owl before Zane had grabbed both their hands and rushed them up the stairs and into the farthest classroom and locked the door.

" Well, that was an interesting encounter, " Zane said as he grabbed a chair and blocked the door before beckoning the other two to do the same. After they had used as many tables and chairs as possible to barricade the door, Aenon took a praying posture in front of the barricade. Glowing water began to quickly envelop it and dissipated just as fast. The furnishings now had a blue tint to them and gave off an aura of sanctity.

" If it could break the barrier surrounding the entire school, it can most definitely break this one but it should give us some more time, " Aenon stated tiredly as he rested his back on the barricade.

" Never seen whatever the fuck that was before, " Remi whimpered as he took a deep breath.

" It looks like some kind of owl monstrosity, meaning it should have the same dislikes as one, " Zane shared.

" Yeah, but what do owls even hate? " Aenon questioned as he put his hands on his head and grasped his curls.

" Fair point I never even thought I'd fight an owl monster. Like. Ever, " Remi added.

The room went silent. It was clear that the entire group was starting to lose hope, suddenly there were loud, violent footsteps being heard from the hallway.

" Come out my little mice...I'll make it quick for giving me such a good game to play. I've always loved hide and seek, " the monster mocked, followed by a burst of bloodcurdling laughter.

" Noise," Zane whispered, you could almost see an imaginary light bulb light up above his head.

" Owls have excellent hearing, and it could hear us whisper when we were at the stairway meaning that it does too. Aenon's barrier must be blocking the sound we're making."

"That might be why it hasn't burst in here yet!" Zane shouted the last part in an attempt to test his theory.

Despite Zane's outburst nothing happened, meaning his theory was correct.

" But the question is, how're we going to be able to generate enough noise to damage that thing somehow? " He pondered.

" The school has a bell on almost every floor, and they used to be loud as hell. If we can somehow trigger one of them it'll definitely do some damage. The question is, how are we going to do that with no electricity? " Aenon responded as he perked up with newfound hope.

" I can trigger it, my dad taught me a bit about circuits and machines. I should be able to make it ring, even if it's for a second." Remi shared casually.

The other two stared at him.

" What?"

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" Just never expected you to you know...actually know stuff, " Aenon stated in the nicest way possible.

" To be honest fair, " Remi admitted.

The three of them quickly formed a plan. Aenon and Zane would distract the owl while Remi would do his stuff with the bell.

" Before we do anything, I must ask. Aenon are you willing to cooperate fully? And by that, I mean most likely joining our group."

Zane asked as his eyes bored into Aenon's soul and his face having neither a smile nor a frown, completely void of emotion. Remi and Aenon were both shocked by his question. Their lives were currently in danger but he was more concerned with Aenon's cooperation and recruitment. Remi knew that having an edict user, especially one who could heal and wasn't affiliated with any group, would be a valuable asset but he was more focused on surviving than recruiting anyone. However, from the look on Zane's face, both he and Aenon could tell that if he refused something terrible was going to happen.

Aenon glanced over to Remi then looked Zane in the eyes and nodded.

" Absolutely. That is if we survive of course."

" Alright let's go," Zane said, satisfied with Aenon's reply.

Aenon quickly took down the barricade and rushed out the door.

" Over here, bird brain! " He shouted.

The owl quickly turned and transformed into a mass of black feathers that headed straight for him. As the dark bundle was approaching, water began to surround Aenon and with a pushing motion from his hands, the water rushed forward colliding with the feathers.

The abomination regained its shape and slashed its front with its claws but hit a thrown chair as two boys ran out and the taller one took the chair with him. The shorter of the two leapt, and knee-struck the owl in what seemed to be its abdomen.

" Get ready for a real fight. " Zane proclaimed as he pulled his knife out.

The owl was enraged. How dare these measly things to try to fight a being much stronger than them? Not only was it angry it was offended. Deeply. It roared and began swinging wildly at the two boys. Zane warned Aenon to get to safety and support him from there. Aenon was a bit uncertain at first but after seeing Zane's determined face he did not have a speck of doubt left and moved out of the way.

Zane dodged the owl's swings swiftly but not perfectly, sustaining some injuries. He dashed forward and jumped using the thing's arm as support. He grasped his knife with both his hands and shoved it into the the monster's eye. A black substance began to spray from its dark, seemingly empty eye socket as it began to shriek in pain. It grabbed him by the leg and threw him to a wall then began approaching him slowly.

" You're going to pay for this, you arrogant child, "

It snarled as it began to get near Zane who was trying to regain his composure. His back felt numb and he knew that he had broken something.

Remi was at the bell, and he was rushing to somehow trigger the thing. He was scared, scared that he would lose someone again. As he saw Aenon protect Zane's struggling body. His hands began to shake.

" Breathe Adler. Breathe. Just like Dad taught you. "

He calmly connected two wires. It all seemed to go quiet. Had he failed? Was he thinking too much of himself? Are his teammates going to die? So many thoughts surged into his mind but they were drowned out by a loud ringing. The owl began to shriek in pain with black liquid oozing from its ear holes. Aenon took the chance to heal Zane, as soon as Zane's legs began responding once again the short boy ran to the screaming monster and grabbed his knife from its eye, pushing it to the ground and stabbing it relentlessly, as he stabbed it the body of the thing began to shrink, it shrank to the size of a short man and it's previously bulging muscles were now deflated. It almost looked like a 5'4 lanky man in an owl costume.

The thing soon stopped responding. Remi rushed to the other side of the hallway and pulled Zane off, his blank face continuously stabbing the thing was quite a scary sight. As Remi pulled Zane off he asked Aenon to treat him.

30 minutes later

" I said I'm fine. The both of you need to stop worrying." Zane said as the group walked to a classroom downstairs.

" And Remi you really are surprisingly strong. It's good your build isn't just for show." He added.

As soon as Zane had stabilized he asked for help carrying the monster's corpse, saying it could be full of useful materials. Remi quickly picked it up and carried its now shrunken body in a bridal carry as he felt he didn't contribute as much as the other two.

" Nah, it's actually pretty light. What's surprising is the fact that you know how to fight so well."

" Well in the harsh wilds, you'd need to protect your master especially if they were hunting in the forest. "

" This is the 21st century Zane why would someone have a master or hunt if they could afford a martial artist personal assistant, " Aenon said while laughing heartily.

" I'll explain the master part to you later but he's right, forest ambushes? Maybe now but surely not before this whole disaster thing." Remi contributed, wondering too.

The group arrived at the closest classroom to an exit. They decided to still say in the school since it was nighttime and too dangerous to wander around but near an exit in case they had to escape. Aenon had also restored all the barriers.

" That is...true. Why do I know about stuff like that? Lots of things in my head seem...messed up," Zane pondered. For the first time, he looked confused about something.

Noticing the mood Remi and Aenon told him not to think too much about it. Remi dropped the owl's body in another class and Zane grabbed an empty medicine bottle from his bag and took some of its blood and pulled off a few feathers then placed them both in. They set up the room close to the exit for sleeping with the blankets Zane had packed into his rather large bag which seemed to carry anything and everything. The group showered and finally felt somewhat relaxed. Well, as relaxed as you could be in an apocalypse.

" You know, I never thought I'd meet two great people in a single day and survive a huge bloodthirsty owl thing." Remi chuckled as he lay on the floor tossing a baseball toward the roof and catching it as it fell back down.

" That is true, I'm also rather glad I met the two of you. Especially Aenon. He actually has a brain." Zane teased and Remi threw the ball at him.

" Yeah, you guys are pretty fun. Hey Zane, what were you gonna do if I decided not to team up with you guys? " Aenon chuckled.

" Sacrifice you to the owl. "

The room went silent. It was apparent from who Zane was that he wasn't kidding. Wanting to break the silence Remi spoke.

" At first Aenon you were totally gonna waterboard us but look at us now!" Remi with his usual upbeat tone.

The three of them burst into laughter and even Zane laughed quietly. They talked for hours until they had all fallen asleep, it seemed that fighting together had formed a connection. One we hope stays till the end.