Chapter Four

"What about one of the gyms?" Dash suggests. "Since our amazing Centre is going to shield us, it's probably the safest place since it's warded for any spells that go awry."

"That's a really good idea," I reply and then frown as I look at Erin, "Are you going to be able to shield us for an entire session? How're you going to practice your other gift?"

"I should be okay so long as I get some rest before we go," she replies, but I can see slight hesitation in her eyes.

Cole frowns, "Are you sure? You went through an awful lot while we were escaping them. They were shooting magic at your shield for a good ten minutes before the Goddess got us out."

"Yeah, I really think I'll be okay after a good rest and some food, I'm fucking starving, what's the time anyway?" she replies.

"It's dinner time actually," Levi says, and then looks at the guys, "why don't a few of us go and get some food and bring it back here and then we can go over the plan for practicing at one of the gyms while we eat?"

Several of the guys offer to go, and the conversation remains light as we wait since there's no point in us discussing anything because we'll only have to repeat it when the others get back. Thankfully, they don't take that long, and we're soon all sitting spread out around our dorm room and eating. That's something else that goes in the school's favor: the food is absolutely delicious. I have a brief panic that Godfrey could be exerting his control through the food, but then I realise that although the other students are standoffish, they are just following the teacher"s lead and not being controlled themselves. That is obvious to me because their behavior isn't as extreme as the teachers.

Either way, I'm eating because we've been eating the food here for the past few months and it would be too late now anyway.

"Alright, so what's the plan?" Ty asks, glancing up from his now empty plate.

"I think even with Erin's shield, it would be best to go when we know it"s going to be quietest, so after midnight, everyone should be in bed, and the halls should be empty," Hunter suggests.

"Yeah, I agree. How about we say we meet at Erin's dorm for one? That will give Cole, Erin and Sage a chance to rest after their ordeal," Harry suggests.

Everyone nods in agreement, and it's settled. I don't know how I'm going to get any rest, knowing that I'm finally going to be able to spar and train my magic. I don't really know how to train my magic; I'm just assuming that practicing with it and seeing what it can do will be enough.

It has to be, because until the teachers are back to normal and actually willing to help me, that's all I've got and all I can do.

"That's something that I've been wondering about," Jett starts, and when we all just look at him curiously, he continues, "whenever you get pulled into these visions, or whatever they are, by the Goddess . . ."

"Definitely not a vision; she transported us there this time, if something had happened to us there, we would've died there," I interrupt, feeling like it's important that it's clarified because it wasn't the same as my other visions, those I'm an observer.

"Right," Jett replies, and then continues, "but in those, you're always pulled out when you need to be, and yet she didn't pull you out until the last minute this time. Is that just because it was different from your other visions?"

"No, he was fighting me, I'm sorry daughter, I have no idea how he realised that we were there,"Nyx's voice whispers through my mind, and I'm actually somewhat alarmed to hear the tiredness in her voice.

"No, she said that he was fighting her, so I guess that means that she couldn't get us out when she planned to; from the way she sounds, I'm guessing that whoever he is put up a fight; she sounds tired," I reply, chewing on my lip with worry.

"The Goddess sounded tired?" Kai questions, his eyebrows raised.

I nod, "Yeah, so I guess we can assume that whoever this ‘he' is, he's super fucking strong and someone that we should definitely be concerned about."

"I'll fucking say, I'm suddenly not feeling as confident about us being able to get rid of the Order, not if the freaking Goddess has a problem going up against whoever the hell is actually behind the Order, because we already know that its not a normal Supe," Erin adds.

"We can work our way up to that. Let"s focus on one thing at a time. For now, we need to work out what's going on with the teachers and if it can be reversed, if the influence is coming from an object or a person. At least we know that normally, the teachers aren't supporters of the Order; that's kind of reassuring," I point out.

"I agree, one thing at a time. Right now, we all need to be getting some rest if we're going to meet at one," Levi agrees.

Everyone nods as they pick up their plates to leave outside the door, ready for the housekeeping to come and pick up. I always feel super weird about that, but I double checked in the first few weeks that we were here when we were still under the radar because all of the other Centres were here. They're treated really well and choose to be here. It's not like a forced thing or anything like that, so while I still feel weird about it, at least I know that they're being treated properly.

We all agree again that we're going to meet at one, at Erin's dorm room, and then everyone heads back to their rooms. Hunter shuts the door behind them and scrubs his hand against his neck.

"I think I'm going to go for a run before I turn in. I know that we're going to be working out later, but my wolf is still on edge," he explains.

"Sounds like a good idea," Levi replies.

"Do you want some company?" Maverick asks before adding with a slight smile, "I don't think that we should be going anywhere alone, given the recent developments."

"I hadn't thought about that," Hunter admits, "Sure, it"s always nice to have company."

Maverick smiles, "I'll just get changed quickly."

"Alright," Hunt replies.

"I need to come too, if that's okay. It's been a while since I've been in the water, but I shouldn't need too long," Jax adds.

"Sure, dude, I don't mind the pool in the forest is amazing anyway," Hunter replies, looking slightly worried that it's been so long since Jax has been in natural water.

"I'm going to give my parents a call and see if they're okay I've only just realised that it"s been a while since our last phone call, and Willow promised that she'd call at least once a week but no more because she wanted me to get the full experience of magical college as she put it," I say as I move to the kitchen to find our communication stone, which sort of works like a cell phone but since tech doesn't work that well in this Realm, it's the only real way to contact them and all I have to do is ask it to call Willow. It knows who I mean and how to call her; it's pretty fucking cool actually.

"She's probably been trying to give you space to enjoy the academy. Especially since your dads had to bribe her to leave you in the first place," Jax points out with a chuckle.

I smile at the memory, I think if she had gotten her way then she would still be here, but they had to get back before everything went to shit at the agency, and they had to choose a permanent replacement for the Headmistress of the Earth Realm academy. So, they didn't actually have a choice; they'd stayed as long as they could, and I appreciated that although it was a little stifling at times. We're still trying to work out our dynamic since I'm not the baby that they remember, and I have never had parental figures that gave a shit, the closest I had was probably Cain, but that was complicated in itself and wasn't a consistent thing. He was always disappearing for long stretches of time.

After they left, she called once a week and promised that was all she was going to do, so she didn't cramp my style. I think she did some research and didn't quite get it right, but I appreciated the effort. I'm ashamed to say that I can't remember the last time that they called, and now I feel like a shitty daughter.

I'm hoping they understand that I'm not used to having someone to call.

Feeling a little bit nervous, I ask the communication stone to call Willow.

It rings and rings. The longer that it carries on the more worried I get. She has never not answered the phone. Eventually, it rings off, and I put the stone down.

"That was weird," I mutter, the guys already watching me.

Levi smiles softly, "I wouldn't worry too much. They're probably just busy. She'll call back when she can."

I nod, still feeling somewhat uneasy, but there isn't really anything that I can do about it now, so I make a mental note to try again tomorrow evening if I don't get a call back before then.

"Thanks, guys. I'm sure you're right, and everything is okay," I reply, moving over to Levi to kiss him and then doing the same with Kai too.

I leave them all to it as I head into my room and pull on some pyjamas. Arms wrap around me from behind, and I immediately turn so that I can rest my head on Kai's chest.

His lips brush the top of my head gently as I snuggle into his arms and he asks, "Are you okay? That was quite a lot that you've been through today."

"Yeah, it was. We got some answers though, and I know that it makes me crazy, but I actually feel a lot more settled now that I know that we've got something dangerous to focus on. I know that the Order never really went anywhere, but they've been quiet or at least we thought they were, in fact, everything has been quiet, and it turns out I don't like that."

Kai's chest vibrates under my head as he chuckles, and he replies, "Yeah, I know what you mean I was getting a bit bored myself, especially after everything that happened leading up to us being here. Don't get me wrong it was nice at first, just to relax and take it easy but it didn't take me long until I missed the danger."

I move backwards slightly and look up at him with a smile, "Well at least I know it's not just me, and we're both weird."

He grins before he lowers his head and kisses me. His tongue tangles with mine as he pulls me closer, but before it can get any more heated, despite how much I want it to, I pull back.

"Unfortunately, my magic is behaving erratically enough that I know for a fact that I won"t be able to control it if we go any further, and then we really won"t be staying as inconspicuous as possible."

Kai smiles as he tucks a stray piece of hair behind my ear, "You really didn't need to explain it Beautiful, you stopped; that's enough."

I grin, "I know but I wanted you to know that I want you naked, and I want to lick you like a lollipop but I'm trying to be sensible."

He groans as he closes his eyes and rests his forehead against mine. "That was mean, Beautiful."

"I've got to keep you on your toes," I smirk as I tilt my head up slightly and kiss him quickly.

"You certainly manage to do that," he confirms, "now, hop into bed. We need to get some rest so we can get a good session in."

I clamp my mouth shut so I don't say anything else inappropriate, all it will do is make us both super horny, and then I'll give in because I have no self control and then boom, something will explode. With this in mind, I turn around and climb into bed. Surprisingly, I am tired.

Kai doesn't take long to climb in on the other side, and I turn over so I can rest my head on his chest, his heartbeat soothing, and I soon find myself drifting to sleep, despite it being earlier than I usually go to sleep.

∞∞∞

I don't know what woke me up, but now I'm up, I can't seem to get back to sleep. Glancing at the clock, I see that I've got an hour or so before I actually need to get up so that we can go to work out, but no matter how hard I try, I can"t fall back to sleep. Kai is snoring softly next to me, so I very quietly get up, throwing some leggings and a tank that I can work out in, I grab an oversized sweater and pull on my trainers before I head out of my room.

It"s not until I'm walking down our hallway that I realise that I really shouldn't be going anywhere alone, and that Mav, Jax, and Hunt went out together earlier because it wasn't safe. I'm about to turn around, despite the fact that I want to carry on walking, when the door next to me opens, and Kysen steps out, looking bleary-eyed but fully dressed.

He blinks at me a couple of times like he doesn't know who I am and then his brain seems to kick back online, "Hey, I was actually just coming to see if you guys were okay, my warrior mark started feeling weird and I have no idea why. Everyone else is still fast asleep though."

I frown, "That is really strange, especially since I was literally just about to turn back around because I realised that I shouldn't be walking around by myself at the moment."

Kysen's eyebrows rise, "Well, apparently the warrior mark decided that it was a legitimate concern and woke me up. That's pretty fucking cool actually."

"Yeah, I guess," I reply, and then add, "I'm sorry that you got woken up though."

He smiles and pulls his door closed behind him as he steps out into the corridor, "That's okay, I don't mind. Where are we heading?"

"I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a walk," I explain.

Kysen shrugs with a smile, "Sounds good to me, lead on."

Since the Warrior Marks deemed the situation dangerous enough that I needed an escort, we both decided to keep conversation to a minimum so that we can be alert to our surroundings. It"s because of this that as we approach the main part of the lobby, I hear some familiar voices.

Frowning, I look at Kysen and say, "That sounds like my parents."

Sure enough, as I round the corner there they are, about to leave the school. I had no idea that they were here, and a sick feeling starts to churn in my stomach.

"Willow!" I call out, pasting a smile on my face despite the feeling in my stomach.

That feeling only gets worse as instead of smiling as they turn around, Willow and my dads all frown heavily.

"Excuse me, young lady, can I help you?" Willow asks, a confused but kind smile on her face.

My fake smile drops, "Its Sage."

The confusion on her face grows, "I'm sorry dear, I don't recognise, maybe if you tell me your parents names it might jog something?"

What the fuck is going on? That feeling grows as I look over all of them and ask, "Do any of you recognise me?"

"I'm sorry, but no," Joey replies, sounding a bit impatient.

I freeze. There's no mistaking it, they genuinely don't recognise me, it"s not a joke, although it would be a cruel one if it were. They have no idea who I am. Sadness crashes over me in a wave.

"Shouldn't you be in bed at this time?" Thomas asks.

I try my hardest to pull myself together, and in a voice that sounds far more delicate than I'd like it to, I reply, "Yes, I'm so sorry. I thought you were someone else. I'll be heading back to bed now."

They all nod, turn around, and walk away, heading out of the door without a second glance and leaving me standing in the vast entryway, staring after them.

Dark laughter echoes around me, and a voice I haven't heard for not nearly long enough teases, "Oh, boohoo, poor Sage all alone. Not even your fake parents want you."

"Creep," I hiss as anger builds, stirring that Darkness hidden beneath my magic, anger I can cope with.

"Sage," Kysen's voice says softly, and the compassion in it is such a contrast to the anger that I'm feeling that it has a tear falling down my cheek.

He sees it and pulls me into his arms, offering me comfort. I allow it for a moment before I pull back, "Creep was here."

"What?" Kysen asks, instantly alert, as he looks around and starts herding me toward the stairway.

I nod as we rush up the stairway, "I think that's why my parents didn't recognise me."

I'm choosing to ignore that Creep said they were my fake parents that would make absolutely no sense.

"Let's talk more when we get back to your room," Kysen suggests, which is smart because there's a good chance that we're being listened to now.

As we walk through the door all of the guys are coming out of theirs looking alert, and I realise that they've felt everything that I felt and that they're probably worrying right now.