The next day all the remaining teachers surrounded the small desk that lay in the middle of the room. They were all arguing to incredible strengths. A few even shouted at the top of their lungs just to prove their point to the other professor.
"How could she just disappear like that!?" Wizgiz shouted over the noise of chattering and arguing. His question was aimed directly at the elderly lady in the front of the room. Mrs. Faragonda.
"Quiet!" She creamed out into the room, "I don't know how this happened." Faragonda looked around and met the eyes of everyone of them. Her eyes fell on an empty chair in the corner of the room. Her heart felt empty as she remembered the lovable teacher who used to sit there. "Dufour was a well armed person. She was one of the best of us. I honestly do not know what happened to her but I promise you I will find her.
A sudden beeping noise rang in the air. The holograph messenger was glowing its usual green glow. All talking ceased. All eyes rested upon the answer button. Mrs. Faragonda got up form her seat and hurriedly crossed the room to answer the call. All eyes were trained and the teachers struggled to gain an ounce of the conversation being had but all they caught was Mrs. Faragonda's asking the question, "really?"
Ten minutes passed and the anticipation was killing all of them. Nervousness was eating them from the inside out. Avalon began to bite his nails in anxiousness. Wizgiz tapped his feet to a fast rhythm. Griselda picked at a scab on her hand. Ophelia kept her eyes on the floor examining the cracks and crevices in the smoothed stone. All of these things kept the sadness that all of them felt down. In truth they were all scarred. Sure they were worried when Thalia and Crystal had been missing. But now one of their own was gone as well. This meant war.
After what seemed to be a millennium Mrs. Faragonda walked over to them and sat down. Her back was no longer straight and her lady-like manner was all gone. She looked like nothing but a hollow shell. Her posture gone, her skin pale, she sighed and began to speak her voice was weathered and weary. "Headmaster Saladin called a few moments ago bearing bad news. It seems a body was found near their campus. One of the boys found it and told Codatorta right away. He in turn told Saladin."
Woe in his voice. Eyes watering. Professor Avalon asked the fatal question, "how do they know it is a student?"
"They don't. Saladin is just guessing. He says we are welcome to see for ourselves." She said almost chocking on the last sentence.
"Then that is just what we will do." Griselda said getting up and walking to the Dorr beckoning them to follow pursuit.
The teachers walked along the familiar path that they had crossed when Palladium took his class on their nature quest exam. Palladium led the way to Red fountain in a confident stride. As they approached the glistening school they found Codatorta and Saladin waiting for them.
"The remains are just over that hill." Saladin spoke gesturing his hand towards the hill that stood alone against the docile flat landscape. The Professors accompanied by Saladin and Codatorta began to walk across the grass towards the hill.
Professor Palladium made it first to the top of the hill. What he saw made him want to throw up. What he saw were the mutilated remains of a young girl. The other professor's made it to the top of the hill. Avalon and Wizgiz shrieked. Griselda looked at the remains a horrid expression on her face. Faragonda's looked at what remained of the young girl and sighed.
"Do you recognize her?" Saladin asked them all. He looked away from the body he couldn't stand seeing the horrified expression etched upon what remained of the girls face.
"I'm afraid I do" Palladium said, "Its Crystal."
"No, that can't be! It just can't!" Griselda shrieked out her voice cracking at the high pitch.
Meanwhile back at Alfea...
Ophelia stood watch over Thalia. She noted that the girl seemed to have gotten worse. Thalia was now mumbling in her sleep. Ophelia tried to listen in but nothing was to gain the words that Thalia mumbled were incomprehensible. Ophelia looked away she could no longer look at the poor thing just laying there so still it didn't look right. She was just about to enter her office when a gasping noise sounded behind her. She turned around just in time to see Thalia struggling to get up. Ophelia rushed to the hologram messenger and called the teachers at once. She ran back to where Thalia was it seemed that here condition was terrifyingly worse now that she was awake. She looked ready to pass out.
Ophelia held the girl up with her right arm. Thalia seemed okay enough to the untrained eye but as a nurse Ophelia knew that it was just getting worse. The door burst open and the shock of the noise made Thalia struggle to get up it knocked her out her daze. Now that Ophelia could really see her awake she noticed that Thalia's eyes were darkened and shadow. 'Being sick with an unknown illness would do that to you.' Ophelia thought.
The teachers immediately rushed to her side. The last to enter the room was Saladin and Codatorta who had been offered to see the secret keeper themselves in which they gladly accepted. They had taken the journey by magic and waited for the others to arrive, Saladin had quite a few questions on how a secret keeper had survived this long.
When he entered the room he could see young Thalia but he was caught with a surprise he would never have imagined that a person could look this bad but Thalia sure made the mark. Her skin was a deathly pale and her eyes were shadowed with a hazy glaze about them. All the teachers seemed to surround her asking Ophelia if she was any better but what they got was a harsh reply from Thalia. "I've never felt better." A slim smile crept up on her face. This made Saladin's eyes go wide, no normal person could ever match the piercing gaze that she gave him. He knew those eyes anywhere. He had seen them in the shadow war he had imprisoned the woman that belonged to those eyes and as he began to think about it it all made sense. Macy had come back for revenge.