Chapter Nine

Ichuckle as I feel her presence leave the room, "Whenever that happens, it"s almost like we're on the phone with her, and she's not a mystical Goddess talking to us through worlds or dimensions or whatever the fuck it is she's doing."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to how casually she speaks to you," Cole replies.

"Which God do you think was the one chastising her?" Erin asks curiously.

I shrug, "I have no idea, but I know that there's more than one, and they pretty much all affectionately chastise her when she starts to tell me something that she shouldn't."

"Like the guys do with us," Cole points out.

"Yeah, actually," I reply with a smile and then add, "At least she did give us a clue about what book it was in a blue one."

"Thank fuck for that, let"s make a pile of all the blue books, and then we can go through them," Erin suggests.

As we do that, moving any book that's not blue off to the side, I ask, "Are we just going to breeze past the fact that we're supposed to take down Kronos and his followers with the help of some unknown supes that we haven't met yet?"

"Well, I mean, there's not much that we can fucking do about it now, is there?" Cole asks and then adds, "Besides, we can talk more about it when we talk to the guys."

"Yeah, okay, good point," I reply. "Let's just focus on finding this spell."

We're just about to crack the first book open, when the door opens, my swords are in my hands, and our men are staring at me cautiously.

"Well, hello there Beautiful," Kai greets me, heat in his eyes.

I realise that not only are my swords drawn, but I'm also in a fighting stance. "Whoops. Sorry, we weren't expecting visitors yet, and we've had a bit of a morning."

"I'll fucking say," Erin agrees as the guys all stream through the door, and she goes to greet her men as Cole greets his, and mine wait for me to disarm myself.

Once everyone has said hello and has their food, Levi asks, "Wait, what the hell has happened that made you so on edge?"

Around mouthfuls of food, we all explain what's happened and what the Goddess confirmed by the end of it they're all staring at us with their mouths open.

"So, we're responsible for taking down a God and protecting the Realms from him and his crazy followers?" Harry asks, summing it up pretty well.

Cole nods, "Yep, pretty much."

"And we're going to have help?" Dash asks as if he wants reassurance that it's not all on us.

"Yeah, but we have no idea who they are, what they're capable of, or when we're going to meet them, and how they're going to be able to help," I point out.

"Fantastic," Jax replies with a bite of sarcasm.

"What about the spell?" Asher asks, wincing slightly as he adds, "I'm really sorry that I don't remember which book it was that I found the spell in."

"Well, the Goddess helped even though she wasn't supposed to, and that's why we've got all the blue books out," Erin explains.

"Although, as you can see, there are still a fair amount of piles, regardless of the fact that it's been narrowed down," Cole adds.

"Alright, well, let's finish lunch, and then we will have about half an hour to help you look through them. It's not long, but with all of us doing it, we should at least make a dent in it," Levi suggests.

"Yeah, that would be great," I reply, with a smile.

As expected, even with the guy"s help, we still don't manage to find the spell, and it's not long before they all head back to their classes, but they have managed to make the pile of books that it"s not in grow, which is helpful. We've carried on searching with no more dramas, thank God, but it"s getting tedious, and I'm getting fed up.

"Guys, I think I've found it!" Erin exclaims excitedly, just as a knock sounds on the door.

"Levi, someone's at the door,"I say through the Bond Lines.

"Don't answer it. We're on our way."He replies.

I call my swords to me and feel the familiar weight settle in my hands as I glance at Erin and Cole to see that they have weapons in their hands as well. It's all very good that Levi has told me not to open the door, but we may not actually have a choice, and that's why we're armed and silent. I infuse my magic into my swords and I feel that Darkness swirl, readying itself to be called on, I have to admit that I'm starting to feel a connection to it, I mean it is obviously a part of me but I'm scared of it, it appeared out of nowhere and is slowly growing in strength, not only that but it"s so different from my other magic and that makes me wary.

There's no time to dwell on my weird magic for any longer though, as another knock sounds on the door.

"Sage, it's me, Cain," Cain's familiar voice calls, and I sigh, relaxing slightly.

As I step forward, Cole stops me with a hand on my arm, "Sage, wait, how do you know that it"s actually Cain and not just someone claiming to be him?"

I think about that for a second before nodding, "Yeah, good point. Prove it," I say loudly.

"When you were thirteen, you decided you didn't want me to teach you anymore and that you knew more than me, challenged me to a fight, lost, and got really mad, so we went to get ice cream. You had mint chocolate chip," Cain replies.

I have no idea how he remembered that I had forgotten, but that was a good day, a bright spark in an otherwise bleak existence. I turn to look at Cole and Erin, "Yeah, that's Cain."

I stride toward the door, recalling one of my Nyx swords as I keep one out just in case, and open it, breathing out a sigh of relief as I see Cain on the other side of the door, "Hey."

"Hey, I've brought you a book about the Warrior Bonds, it's extremely rare, as in so rare this is the only one, so don't lose it and don't show anyone outside of your Bonded," Cain replies by way of a greeting as he hands me a giant book, that looks older than this centuries-old building that we're in.

"Wow, thanks," I reply as I take it off him as carefully as I fucking can.

"I thought you were going to teach us about the Warrior Bond?" Cole asks.

Cain sighs and scrubs his hand through his hair, "I was, and I will answer any questions that you have, but it's come to my attention that the situation here is worse than I thought, so I think we should focus on your combat skills and training more heavily."

"That sounds ominous," I point out.

He smirks but decides to ignore my comment as he continues, "I managed to talk to one of the guys that I usually talk to, and just said some things like it's weird how all the teachers are treating the Centres and I asked why they weren't being trained properly."

"Oh, how did he react to that?" Erin asks.

"He started off by denying it and changing the subject but the more that I pushed the more I could see the confusion in his eyes, and it was like he was fighting the effects of the control, I'm going to talk to him again tonight and see if I can get him to break free of it completely," Cain explains.

"That would be a big help if we can just talk sense into them. Of course, that might depend on their willingness to listen in the first place," Cole replies.

"Exactly. He has always been particularly against the Order and very vocal about it, so that probably helps," Cain replies. "I'm going to try it with him, and if it works, then we have another ally to help us with the others."

"Yeah, that's a really good plan," I say.

"I better get back, but before I do, you should know that something is brewing. All of the teachers are avoiding me like the plague, but something is definitely going on; everyone is restless and muttering," Cain says, sounding worried.

No sooner has he finished speaking when there's a magical announcement sounding through the air, "All years to the great hall, I repeat all years to the great hall for an emergency assembly."

"Well, shit," I say.

"Come on, I'll escort you down." Cain offers.

"Thanks," I reply.

We quickly leave Cole's room, and I check in with the guys not only to make sure that they've heard it too and that it's not just something to lure us out but also because there is no way that I'm stepping foot in the great hall without them with me. Cain literally just told us something was going on, and now we're being pulled into an emergency assembly? It's too coincidental.

"Guys, it's just Cain, and I tested him, it's definitely him. He mentioned something about there being something going on, and then we got the call to go to the great hall. You did get the call, right?"

"Yeah, we did. Thank fuck for that,"Levi replies, "is he walking with you down here?"

"Yeah, we're going now. We'll meet you next to the big owl statue?"I reply.

"Sounds good, we're nearly there now,"Jax replies.

"Be careful,"Hunter adds.

"We're meeting just down the hall from the entrance to the great hall, by the big owl statue," I tell Cole and Erin, "tell your men."

"On it," Erin replies.

"I take it you have absolutely no idea what this is about?" I ask Cain.

He shakes his head, "Nope, as I said before, all of the teachers are doing their best to ignore me and not answer any of the questions I have."

"Well, shit," I reply.

"What's the plan if everything goes to shit in there?" Erin asks.

"Get out," Cain replies, his eyes flashing with magic, "you all get out and get off of the academy grounds. It's becoming increasingly unsafe for you all here."

"What about you?" I ask with a frown; it doesn't sit right with me to just leave him behind if shit hits the fan.

His smile is deadly as he replies, "Don't worry about me. I'll get out after I've dealt with the issue."

"Well okay then," I reply as the truth of his words rings out loud and clear.

There's no time for any more words as we find ourselves in the thick of the crowds. It suddenly becomes a hell of a lot easier to navigate the busy hallway as everyone streams toward the ceiling height double doors that lead to the great hall. I quickly realise that it's because the students are trying to avoid us and have created a wide berth around us as they try and avoid looking at us as well.

I roll my eyes, it"s pretty fucking childish but at the same time, I can't really blame them, their teachers are spreading all sorts of bullshit about us and behaving like we're dangerous, they're probably confused as hell, Centres are usually revered and treated exceptionally well and yet they've all been chased away from the school apart from us, and the teachers are making out like we're the problem.

"Hey, any idea what this is about?" Levi asks, looking at Cain.

"Nope, but let's get in and see what that ridiculous headmaster has to say. If everything goes to shit, then you get out and get away from this place, got it?" Cain reiterates, and there's knowledge in his eyes.

He clearly knows something but either can't or won't tell us.

"Got it," Levi agrees, and all of the other guys nod as well.

There's a change that comes over all of us as the threat of a real danger seeps into our consciousness, and I know that it makes me crazy, but I genuinely feel more alive, and like this is what we're actually supposed to be doing, not sitting in a fucking classroom and having people who haven't even been through half of the shit that we've been through talk to us like we know nothing.

Levi

Iknow we're in a dangerous situation, and I know that it should at least give me a certain level of fear. The thing is, it doesn't. I feel useless being here, we aren't really learning much and yes I have learned a bit more about my demon the gifts that it comes with and how to control it all I can't help but think that although that has been kind of helpful, I learned far more from living it, rescuing the Centres and using it in everyday life.

Not only that, but we aren't fucking safe here, and I have to question why the fuck we're staying somewhere that we aren't safe, it doesn't make any sense, and I don't like it. However, now that Cain is here, that does give us a reason to stay. He knows things that can help us, and his training is actually incredibly helpful, especially for Sage.

We also need to sort this situation out. Even if we could just leave, we can't leave the school in the hands of the Order. It would basically mean that they had a whole army of young supes that they could train and manipulate to work in their favor, and I will not allow that. These students may be avoiding us like the plague, but that's mostly because they're scared and confused. Their teachers have done a one eighty, and they have no idea what is going on.

"Come on, we'll sit closer to the back and the window," I mutter as we all file into the room behind everyone else.

I make sure that Sage is in the middle of us, and I know that it doesn"t escape her notice from the small smile that graces her lips, but I also know that she won't bring it up because I need her there for my own peace of mind. I know that she is probably more capable than the rest of us of looking after herself, but she's the love of my life, and I will always protect her, even if she doesn't need to be protected because she's perfectly capable of doing it herself.

We take our seats, ignoring the fact that there is a wide circle of empty seats around us. It doesn't bother me, but it does make our location in the hall more obvious, and I wouldn't say I like that, especially since all of the teacher"s eyes are on us, and they periodically keep coming back to us as well.

I have no idea how we didn't notice it before they're watching us so closely. I think it must be because they've only just stepped up their attention on us, and before now, it was a lot more subtle.

"Thank you for arriving so promptly," the headmaster starts, causing a hush to fall over the room as everyone waits to see what this impromptu meeting is about. "We have some sad news: Magistrate Godfrey has been found murdered, and there is now an ongoing inquiry into his death. It's thought that the murderer is a highly trained assassin."

I frown. It seems strange to call an assembly for the death of one magistrate, but then maybe they all have some sort of loyalty to him thanks to the spell that's controlling them.

"It's weird that they're doing this, isn't it?"Sage's voice comes through the bond line.

We all agree because it really is, but don't say anything else as the headmaster continues to speak.

"There will be a memorial held in the school church for him, and we expect you to attend," he states.

That seems a little bit more demanding than it should be, considering he's not that well known, and judging from the looks on the student"s faces, they're just as confused by the command.

"We'll send out an announcement for when it is," he continues, "I know that this is distressing and there will be no classes for the rest of the day to allow people to adjust."

He's completely lost it. He's showing him the same sort of treatment that you'd give a teacher who'd been here for years, or if a student suddenly died, even then the memorial would be voluntary.

This has to be some sort of effect from the spell that Godfrey had a hand in acquiring for the Order and Kronos.

"Before I allow you all to head back to your dorm rooms, I would also like to inform you that the Warrior Games have started again after centuries of laying dormant. Only those from Black Onyx Academy will get called, but I am aware that some of you have family there, and I thought you should be made aware. You are dismissed."

The sound in the hall increases, and it"s not because of the magistrate's death, no, it's because of the mention of the Warrior Games. I think that should've been given far more attention than Godfrey's death, and the students clearly agree before anyone can ask any questions though all of the teachers disappear through a door at the back of the room.

It's apparent that they've done it on purpose, that they know how the news is going to affect the students, and yet they don't want to answer any questions about it or provide any reassurance to the clearly worried students.

I have no idea what the Warrior Games are, but from their reaction, I can assume that it's not games like the name suggests and that there are quite a few students here who do understand and are concerned for family members.