Spirit Caller

Chapter Five

5

Declaration Of War

"Meet me on the beach tonight once everything dies down. There's a matter I wish to discuss with you."

That's what the video email said. She heaved a sigh. It was late, but not quite curfew yet.

What on earth could Princeton want with me now at this time of night?

She thought to herself. He wasn't exactly known around for giving Slifers a pleasant greeting, so it couldn't be good. She also knew however that despite his composure, he actually took his studies very seriously. So whatever this was, couldn't possibly be frivilous either. It made her nervous the very same.

She crept quietly across the creaking floor boards of the Slifer Dorm's deck. Not for fear of getting in trouble or anything, she just didn't want to grab the attention of her friends from the room 2 doors down from her own. Since she was a female, the headmaster thought it best to "give her some space" so he distanced their rooms to make it feel a little more private. From what she could hear from the room it sounded like they were dueling. That should work plenty for a distraction for her escape, but if she didn't want to get busted for breaking curfew on her first day, she needed to step on making the journey to the beach, seeing what Chazz wanted, and getting the deck out of there and back to her bed before the official lock down, and the best way to do that would be to run.

The ocean's sway was louder than she expected. She never had much of a chance to be close to the sea often. It took her by surprise and she was awe stricken at the beauty of the sea at night. When it was calm it seemed to glitter. The wind blew a little heavier here too, which sent her long hair flowing all around her face, so she tucked some back behind her ear to help it flow in one direction while the wind blew. The smell of salt stung her nose as she took in a deep breath to calm her anxious heart while she searched the shoreline for Princeton.

Maybe I took too long...

She thought to herself.

That or perhaps this is some typical hazing.

Part of her felt relieved that he wasn't within her sight and she was about to run back before a sharp voice hissed over the push of the waves.

"You made it." Chazz snipped, startling her as a sudden tall mass stood in front of her just ahead, facing the sea,"I was beginning to think you weren't gonna show."

"...It's kind of late..." she said softly averting her gaze, "...I was planning to try and go to bed early...so as to set up a good start after I dropped this bombshell on my father." she sighed.

Honestly, she almost decided not to show, in hopes of avoiding this confontation all together.

"Don't worry I don't plan to make this long." he huffed,"I have other arrangements for later in the evening around midnight anyway."

Midnight?

Connar blinked.

What on earth could Princeton be planning to do at midnight tonight? That's way passed curfew...

She dare not ask that though. Even if she did ask he had no reason to tell her anything anyway. It was none of her business.

"However that 'bombshell' is what I wish to discuss!" he huffed as he quickly turned to face her,"What gives!?"he snapped,"Who do you think you are!? Dressing in red? Keeping a low profile? I know what you're doing, Connar Rose 'K'!" he scoffed at the end, relaying the 'Connar Rose' part of her name in a mocking tone causing her to twitch as he emphasised it at the end. Not to mention the finger quotes he displayed specifically around the "K".

"What I don't get is why!" he huffed. "Your background...your history...your pedigree...why would you throw that all away for this!?" he pointed to her uniform and grimmaced." Th-This is just...insulting!" he scoffed, panting lightly. It seemed he held that in for quite some time. These were probably the thoughts that were running through his mind when he saw her chosen rank earlier in the classroom and he held them in until he could get her alone and blow up on her then.

Not much for words, Connar simply kept her head down as she awaited the next bombardment of held in complaints that she felt certain he must have. After all they were in the same class back in Duel Prep School. They both came from well known named corporate families...it was easy to see how he could find this choice of hers to be insulting to both sides.

"...Are you done...Princeton?" she asked in a soft tone.

He twitched and clenched his fists, quickly turning away from her on heel, back to facing the sea.

"Yeah. I'm done." he muttered,"Just tell me something, Connar."

So...he's not done...

"Are you ashamed?"

"What!?" this time she shot her head up toward him only to be met by his intense onyx gaze.

"I see you finally decided to lift your head from the dirt." he scoffed,"So tell me, is that what it is?" he blinked,"Is this some kind of rebellion against daddy?"

"That's not it!" she snapped, anger on her face as she clenched her fists and took a step toward him. Her crystal clear blue eyes had darkened...

Anger wasn't an emotion the girl usually expressed. She was known to be cheery, polite, kind of flighty, and a little bit clumsy, but anything regarding her foster father, was a touchy and sensitive topic for her. Let alone, bringing his name up in insult.

"Hmm...could have fooled me." he smirked.

A heavy silence fell between them and she matched him glare for glare.

"Hmph...so be it." Chazz huffed, finally breaking the silence. "It's no business of mine why you took this road, and I don't care. If you want to insult your family line, then by all means do so." he shrugged,"Just don't drag me down with you!" he shoved past her lightly as he began to head back. It was about curfew, he was probably preparaing to make his "midnight arrangements" whatever those may be. "Don't expect me to make anything easy for you, Connar! Holding back will be your ultimate downfall, and the biggest mistake you will ever make with Chazz Princeton." he said,"If you want to live like a scrub, then I'll gladly treat you like one!"

The last lash of his words struck Connar like a whip as she stood in silence in his moon-lit shadow while he walked away. Left alone on the beach she pondered, each word he spoke to her cutting into her. After a long moment of silence with herself, she took in a deep and slow breath.

"Well then...I suppose that's about the worst of it." she said to herself. Though, it did leave her with a lot to think about."I better head back now..." she sighed," Or I really will get in trouble for breaking curfew...and detention on the first day is the last thing I need right now."

To Be Continued