Hello fellow readers, hope you've all been enjoying our story and getting ready for school if some of you are returning. So I, Leengard, have officially found a job so things are gonna be a bit slower than usual. Not only that, our Beta, Eneko95, is starting a new semester of college, which means a longer editing process. We will do our best to get the chapters ready for posting so we ask you continue to have patience with us. In any event, enjoy our newest chapter.
Chapter 17
Initial Order Arc:
Dark Reveal
Main Building
Classroom
Even though it was Saturday, Nick, Barclay, and their friends were in the middle of an empty classroom, armed with various cleaning supplies, plastic trash bags, and in one case a letter opener.
"If I never wipe down another bunker again it'll be too bloody soon," Barclay muttered.
"At least we just have one more room to clean for today," Nick said, propping himself up with a mop. He had paused to try and determine how much of the Academy they had left to clean.
"What's that saying…" Laura mused as she wiped some sweat from her brow. "'Time to lean, time to clean?'"
Barclay glanced under the desk he had been cleaning and found it covered in gum. "Clarty bastards…" he groaned. He got out the letter opener and began scraping the gum off. "I can never use this for anythin' else now. I hope they're happy."
"Stop complaining." Sera sighed. "It was either clean the main academy building or get kicked out."
After taking Eugene and Erhard (who had still been unconscious) to the nurse's office, the rest of the group had been taken to Headmistress Ward's office; the academy had strict rules on trespassing, especially after curfew and in certain locations.
Once the instructors had heard a mostly-accurate version of the incident and had a chance to talk amongst themselves, they decided not to expel the students and instead gave them cleaning duties for the next few weekends, plus detentions after class to be sure the message got across.
"We did get off easy," Takashi agreed, lifting an overflowing trash bag with one hand.
Atsuko said nothing, as she was focused on a particularly stubborn stain on the last in a row of desks.
"Right…" Barclay sighed. "That's it for the desks in here… I'll head to the next room and get started there."
"Ladder's in the hall," Takashi called after him.
"Feckin' heights," was the last thing they heard as the door closed behind him.
"I should probably go help…" Nick said, putting the mop in its bucket. "Better that someone is with him in case something happens."
With both of them gone, the others started bringing the chairs back into the classroom. They worked in silence until Laura finally spoke up.
"I still can't believe what they said about everything that happened."
"I knew they were hiding something, but I had no idea it was that big," Sera added.
"I can understand why they didn't say anything, but it still feels unreal," Takashi commented.
Atsuko simply nodded as she looked back at them, remembering what had transpired.
Earlier
Takashi's Room
The group were inside Takashi's room, with special permission from Kanoa, each of them sitting around the table with a soda in front of them.
Though instead of relaxing, most of them had their eyes focused on Barclay and Nick, both of whom were looking at the floor in shame.
After a minute of silence, Barclay attempted to break the ice. "Look-"
"So when exactly were you planning to tell us you guys were some kind of wizards?" Laura interrupted scornfully.
"Laura, come on, that's a little harsh," said Takashi, receiving a glare in response.
"If you want an explanation, yer gonna have ta shut it," Barclay retorted.
"Not helping, Bar." Nick sighed, seeing both his friends silently glare at one another.
"Laura, let's at least give them a chance to explain before letting them have it," Sera suggested.
The pale girl simply huffed and pinched the bridge of her nose before looking back at the two.
Both Guardians looked at one another, sighed, and took turns explaining everything from the magicians' surprise visit. With each word, their friends began to realize that everything connected with what had happened over the past few weeks.
When the duo finished, they waited for a bit to let the massive infodump sink in.
"I understand if you guys are upset. Hell, I wanted to tell you all the truth back when Takashi and Jessie fought. Bar convinced me that we had to keep it secret to protect you guys and everyone else close to us, " Nick said.
"Protect us from what, the boogeyman?" Laura retorted. "You really expect us to believe all that?"
"If you have a different explanation, go ahead and enlighten us," said Barclay.
A tense silence followed as the two stared each other down, leaving the others to simply look on as they wanted to see what their friend thought was the truth.
"…Sleep-deprived hallucinations for the magicians and the whole spirit world thing, and some kind of prolonged gas leak for everything else," she finally said. "The gas leak's what got Takashi hurt so bad that one time, and the whole chosen one story is your way of dealing with those hallucinations."
"Really? That's the best you could come up with?" Barclay asked.
"Well, you hear about some pretty crazy stuff on the news," Takashi commented.
"Oh come on, big guy! This is way too insane to just accept!" Laura gestured randomly above her head to emphasize her point.
"M-maybe, but when have either of them lied to us? I mean, we're all friends, why would they choose purposely to do that to us?" Atsuko piped up.
Laura opened her mouth to reply, but then realized what Atsuko had said. Yes, the boys had run away rather than answer her after Sera and Rin's duel, but not answering a question wasn't the same as outright lying. Barclay in particular wasn't the kind of person who would lie about something as important as this anyway. Maybe they didn't enjoy some of the things she did, but she could still trust them.
She looked at Sera, but the tanned girl's face was unreadable. Laura knew her roommate needed rational explanations for everything, which is why Sera's response shocked her so greatly.
"This is too big a story to have just made up on the spot. And if they planned this story, then why not sell it to a publisher? Not to mention, there are stories like this found throughout history. They're just usually brushed off as myths."
"So you believe them too?" Laura asked.
After a moment of silence, she got a nod in response.
Laura sighed, recognizing a lost argument when she heard one. "Fine, let's say I do believe you and this crazy story, what happens now?" she asked.
"Yes, what does this mean for you two exactly?" Takashi asked curiously.
"Right now, as you guys can guess, three people have already been brainwashed in the same way: Jessie, Rin, and Eugene. That can only mean whoever is doing this is on the island," Nick replied.
Their eyes widened with shock.
"S-so are we all in danger?" Atsuko wondered.
"Hard to say," said Nick. "So far no one else has been affected besides those three, but it could mean the culprit's trying to figure out who has the Gate and Key."
"When do you think they were all affected?" Takashi asked.
"Probably hours or days before depending, each person had been corrupted in different times so it's hard to pinpoint when exactly," Barclay replied.
"Exactly, there isn't a lot of room for a timeline or even a concept of where we would find them," Nick added.
"Any suspects?" Sera asked.
Nick sighed. "We didn't exactly ask any of them if they met anyone weird, so no, not really."
"And so far the victims have been two Ra Yellows and an Obelisk Blue. So I'm guessing it might be someone in Slifer Red who's behind this," Barclay added.
"Though we haven't been able to sense any dark energy from the dorm, so either there's more than one or they're really good at hiding themselves."
"So what's the plan?" Laura asked.
Nick and Barclay looked at one another then sighed in frustration.
"For now, we have to wait until we find some kind of connection or way to track them down. It's all we can do," Nick replied.
"Well, you can bet you won't be doing it alone," the large student remarked with a thumbs up.
"And don't even think about telling us to stay out of it, we're your friends and we're gonna help whether you want us to or not!" the albino girl remarked with a cocky tone.
Barclay shook his head in annoyance while Nick laughed in relief.
"Ah… I'm glad to have that off my chest," the redhead said.
"Just… don't say anything you don't have to," Barclay said.
"Are we sure they weren't just making it up or hallucinating from a gas leak or something?" asked Laura.
"Does this look like an alien invasion movie to you?" Sera replied.
"I trust them," Takashi repeated as he put the last chair to the remaining desk.
"Hey," Nick called out from the door. "If you guys are finished in there, we're ready to work on the next classroom."
They all sighed and got up to walk out to continue their punishment.
Nurse's Office
Most of Nurse Fontaine's staff were relaxing or catching up on paperwork since Saturday's tended to be slow days. Though two of the patients had their own private nurses working outside their doors on academy-issued laptops.
One of them was Eugene, currently taking a nap after answering a few questions.
The other, Erhard, was looking out at the sunset.
He got distracted when his nurse came in.
"Hello, Mr. Erhard, how are we feeling today?" She asked while looking at his charts.
"Much better, thank you," he replied.
"Fantastic, then it looks like you'll be released tomorrow," the nurse said as she finished going over his charts and putting them back. "Some friends of yours are here if you're feeling up for visitors."
"Yes, I think I can handle that," he answered.
The nurse nodded and opened the door, letting in his two visitors. Ivor and Tauni smiled at him as they entered.
"Buzz me if you need anything," the nurse remarked, closing the door as she left.
Ivor locked it behind her, and Erhard casually got up and waved a hand at the door. Dark energy covered it like a blanket and soon disappeared.
"That oughta keep wandering eyes from coming in. So, anything to say, Ivor?" Erhard asked seriously.
"Yes, comrade. I could not risk them discovering the truth, so I left when he failed," Ivor remarked with shame.
"So, looks like Mr. Big Shot isn't so great after all, huh?" Tauni mocked as she sat down on a nearby chair.
"I'm certainly a better loser than you, comrade!"
"Shut up, you Russian turd! I didn't mess up-"
"Stop arguing, both of you" the black-haired teen blurted out, causing the two to stop and look away from one another.
Erhard walked towards the window to get a better view of the sunset, thinking about everything that happened. "Ivor, just because Dracul failed doesn't mean you did. In fact, I think this whole episode has given us exactly what we're looking for," he remarked.
Tauni looked outraged at this, while Ivor just looked confused.
And we've crossed the threshold with only 3 more chapters left before we officially reach 20 chapters for this series. To those who've been reading, we thank you all for your support to us and our Beta, Eneko95, who has been our support for these chapters.
Translations:
"Bunkers" - table tops or counters
"Clarty" - dirty