Chapter 6 is finally out. Thank you for waiting!

It was the grey hours of the morning when Sasuke was woken by a loud, thumping knock on the dorm room door.

"Sasuke, are you awake?" by the guttural quality of the whisper Sasuke assumed it was the old groundskeeper.
Why was he here?
With a reluctant sigh Sasuke climbed out of bed and walked slowly towards the door, glancing over his shoulder to make sure his roommate was still asleep. Thankfully he was.

"What is it?" Traces of sleep lingered in his voice as he opened the door a crack and peered into the dark hallway.
The groundskeeper was shifting from side to side, an anxious look on his face as he motioned for Sasuke to come out into the corridor. Clearly he was uncomfortable being indoors...but he had always been strange like that.

"Hold on"
Sasuke shut the door and slid back the chain that served as a second lock before he eased the old door back open, wincing as it creaked loudly.
"What do you want?" now standing in the hall he was fully awake, his arms folded around his body to ward off the pre-dawn chill. Normally he wouldn't have felt it—ever since he had re-appeared at the school he had felt little to nothing, he hadn't been able to—but after becoming Juugo's roommate things hadn't exactly been normal…

"The headmaster wants to see you in the infirmary" The large man kept his voice low as he glanced about, an action that was strange because the man was half-blind "he instructed me to keep it quiet"
Sasuke nodded mutely and then turned to go back into the room he shared with Juugo, stopping as a large hand grasped his shoulder
"now" it was a firm command but Sasuke shrugged him off
"I'm sure the headmaster would want me to be dressed" he put unnecessary stress on the word as he opened the door, silencing the creaky hinges with a few muttered words and then shutting it behind him.

The groundskeeper sighed and glanced at the pocket watch he kept tucked into the front pocket of his dark brown vest. Hopefully the headmaster wouldn't mind waiting a few extra minutes…it couldn't really be helped. Not when Sasuke had set his mind on changing. And it did make sense for him to get dressed.

Several moments later, the door swung open and Sasuke reappeared in the hallway, dressed in his typical uniform with the addition of a loose black sweater over his white shirt-something to ward off the chill.
"Am I to meet the headmaster there?" he inquired, barely waiting for the grunted response before heading off in the direction of the stairs—covering several tiles worth of ground in each step.
The groundskeeper stood watching Sasuke for several moments-an amused expression on his face-before heading in the other direction, on his way to begin his daily tasks.

.

"Headmaster?"
by the time Sasuke reached the infirmary a faint orange-glow was beginning to creep over the horizon, the soft beams that were shining through the windows providing just enough light to make out the short form of the headmaster as he leaned over one of the beds in the large hospital wing.

The figure straightened at the sound of Sasuke's voice and the old man beckoned for Sasuke to come forward, his bony fingers over his lips to ensure quiet in the room.
"You wanted me?" Sasuke lowered his voice to a whisper as he glanced over at the girl on the bed, a pang of guilt stabbing his stomach as he suddenly felt responsible for her fate—if he had been able to stop the Furem the first time...— He swallowed hard and turned away, his eyes meeting the headmaster's soft grey ones.

"Yes. I wanted to tell you something" The old man had a faraway look in his eye and the conversation from the night before flashed through Sasuke's mind—was this about what the headmaster had been trying to tell him?

"What happened to this girl did not happen on its own" The headmaster began. "The Furem is trying to send us a message"
Sasuke stiffened—this wasn't about him and Juugo at all
"If we don't stop him now, there is no telling will happen next" the headmaster's words conveyed a sense of desperation and Sasuke dropped his gaze to the floor

"If you're trying to fight him…find someone else"
up until now he hadn't outright refused and he braced for the reproach that he knew would come.

"Are you mad?!" the Headmaster's voice was a whispered shout and Sasuke gritted his teeth as he took the stab of guilt.
"The furem is playing a game with you and if you do not step up to his challenge, he will keep toying with this school until you do!"
It was true, but Sasuke ignored it

"So?"

It was harsh—even for him—and for a second the headmaster was totally speechless, shock clearly visible in his pale eyes. Had Sasuke just—?

"Listen to me Sasuke" he reached out, grabbing Sasuke's wrist with one bony hand, squeezing firmly but gently
"If you do not stop him, more students will end up like her"
he gestured towards the girl lying on the bed and Sasuke snapped, breaking out of the headmaster's grip and slamming his hand down on the wooden table beside him in anger

"Don't you get it? I can't stop him! Call me a coward or whatever you want, but I won't fight him—I won't lose that much again" Sasuke's fingers were gripping the polished wood as he quivered with pent-up frustration.
"I didn't ask to be here. By all rights I should have died that day, I should be dead right now—I practically am already. I'm not going to do it again!"

The old man fell silent, pain in his eyes as he realized the gravity of what he had been pressing the boy to do—to give up his life again to protect people he didn't even know just because he had not died the first time the Furem attacked…

"Sasuke—" he reached out again but Sasuke shook his head, leaving the old man to watch in silence as he turned and headed for the door, brushing past the nurse who had just come in as he hurried out into the hall.

"Is everything alright?"
the older Nurse set her tray on the table as she addressed the weathered old man.
The headmaster sat on the edge of one of the beds and rubbed his temples with a weary sigh. "I made it worse Rossa…" he said quietly "…so much worse…"

Rossa gave him a look of understanding as she handed him a cup of steaming herbal tea "It will be alright" she assured gently. "Sasuke is a good person"
The headmaster raised his head slowly
"But I have been asking him to do such difficult things Rossa, this school is very dear to me—more so than anything else in this world—and I have been asking him to sacrifice himself once more just so I can save it." He shook his head from side to side, muttering under his breath as he stared back down at the cup of tea he held in his hands…what was he thinking, making Sasuke carry the responsibility by himself?

.
.

"Sasuke—" Juugo rounded the corner of the maze-like garden and jogged over to where his roommate was sitting on the low stone wall
"Are you alright? You weren't at breakfast"

Sasuke shrugged, not looking up from his vigil of an abandoned nest that seemed to have fallen from one of the nearby trees "I wasn't hungry."
It was a lie but Juugo didn't need to know that.

Juugo however, didn't seem convinced as he pulled an apple out of his bag "I brought this for you anyway…just in case." he said, holding the fruit out awkwardly.
Sasuke took the offering without a word and bit into the crisp flesh, grateful for something to take the edge off of his hunger—he wasn't used to feeling hungry either, he hadn't felt it in so long…another added oddity to his already confused existence.

Neither said a word Sasuke finished his apple and then tossed the core into the bushes behind him, not caring about what the groundskeeper would have said had he been there to see it.

"Are you sure everything is alright?"
Sasuke shrugged at Juugo's cautious question, his hands seeking refuge in his pockets as he slid down from the short wall he had been sitting on
"I don't know anymore…"
He sounded so weary and Juugo suddenly felt tired—as if there was a heavy weight on top of his shoulders.

"The Furem needs to be stopped and I'm the only one who can do it, but…" Sasuke stopped himself as he realized that if he told Juugo what was really bothering him would be getting Juugo involved in something he didn't deserve to be a part of.
"it's not important" he finished lamely as the first toll of the bell echoed across the vast grounds "let's just go"

"Sasuke, wait!" Juugo grabbed the shorter male's shoulder in an attempt to stop him from walking away but then jumped back quickly as sparks shot through his shoulder, pulling the air from his lungs as it seemed to explode from his body. What on earth—?

Sasuke flinched at the sudden sensation of unseen energy that shot into his chest from Juugo's hand, jerking his shoulder back violently as he turned to look at Juugo, his dark eyes wide with shock. What was that?

"S-Sorry" Juugo stammered as he leaned over, gasping for air. "I didn't mean to…"

Sasuke took a step back and swallowed hard, drawing in a shaky breath as he glanced around. Where had that come from? Why did that happen every time they came into physical contact with each other? ...What was going on?

"Sasuke?" Juugo was still breathing hard as he straightened slowly "Did I hurt you?...are you alright?"
Sasuke shook his head quickly—trying to clear the slight tingling sensation in his head—before nodding
"Yeah…I'm fine Juugo." Another lie "Let's just get to class"

.
.

"Welcome to Divination!"
The large circular room was filled with Students grouped in pairs of two—each pair sitting around a small table with a large copper basin filled with clear water resting on top.

"As you all know, there are several different mediums that are used throughout the world, from fire to sand but the most popular is probably the palms of the hand"
Madam Casas—The Divination teacher was a short, plump woman with thick black hair that was tied in a messy knot on the top of her head and draped in a bright fuchsia color scarf that almost matched the deep purple of her dress as well as the widely varied hues of the many shawls that were draped over her shoulders and around her waist. She had a clear personality and intense eyes, one blue and one violet.

"But we will not discuss that today."
She smiled at her class and then moved to stand beside her own copper basin—a visibly older model than all of the class's and much, much bigger.

"Instead let us move on to our basins of water. All of you basins should be just slightly over half-full. Any more than that and this process will not work for you so do not add anymore Seth."
She turned her sharp blue eye to glance at the boy in the corner and a quiet laugh went up through the room as Seth Defourd immediately stopped pouring water into his basin and set the pitcher back down.

"Very good"
Madam Casas cleared her throat to quiet the class and then clapped her manicured hands together, the jewels on her fingers reflecting light from the window into the water.
"The reason there are two of you per basin is so one can verify what the other has seen. We used to have one basin per student but then some would cheat and say they had seen something when in fact they had not. This led to much controversy in the school because as you should all know, divination is not something that should be used in the form of a prank and yet those students would use it to spread false rumors.
Everything you see in the waters before you are entirely probable and always happen unless directly prevented. Do not make the mistake of thinking that anything you see in the water is a lie or some sort of illusion cast for fun"

The atmosphere in the room had grown extremely serious as she spoke, and several of the students glanced at each other uncomfortably, each now scared of what could happen.

"Now, everyone take a deep breath, focus on the bowls and repeat after me: ostendere futurorum—show me the future "
there was a quiet feeling in the room as everyone repeated the Latin words, each of them concentrating on the basins in front of them, a few of them leaning in to stare harder into the water.
"Focus children" Madam Casas's voice was quiet as she spoke in a hushed tone. "You must keep your minds empty"

Juugo shot a quick glance at Sasuke, his eyebrows furrowed with worry as he wondered if Sasuke really was okay.

"Focus"

A feeling of emptiness settled into his mind as Madam Casas spoke once more, her tone clearing his thoughts.

"Remember to keep your breathing even, you must be calm"

Juugo focused his gaze on the water in the basin, squinting slightly as he tried to focus on an image that was shimmering in the water…what was that?

Sasuke drew in a slow breath as Madam Casas spoke, his lips moving to form the Latin incantation in a soundless whisper. He hadn't had to speak the words aloud since his first days as a student years ago.
His gaze was intent as he stared into the water as it began to ripple gently.
Why was the headmaster so convinced that he was the one who could save the school? Didn't he understand what it was like to be so…lost?

"Focus" Madam Casas's voice stilled the confusion in his mind, but did nothing to clear the shadow that was shimmering in the water.
What was that?

An old man was leaning heavily against a stone wall, his face pale as he drew away from whatever was approaching him…
…There was a large grassy field…and in the middle lay a crumpled figure…
There was an explosion of shadow and the old man fell to the ground—
NO!

Juugo was jarred from the vision as the basin was suddenly knocked off of the table and onto the floor, the water spilling across the rough-cut stone as the basin seemed to explode.
Madam Casas turned at the loud sound, her expression one of alarm as she began to make her way towards the two students in the back of the room to see what was going on.

Sasuke was now on his feet, his face white as a sheet and expression one of horror as he stared at the puddle on the floor…no…
Suddenly aware of the presence next to him, he turned to face Juugo, his eyes still wide with shock as their eyes met.
The Headmaster…

TBC!
I apologize for the long wait. Hopefully the next (however many) chapters won't take this long...Thank you so much for taking the time to read this!