The Investigation Chronicles (Completed)

Academy

Grey -

"Why did you stop running? This is a game after all." Grey turned and looked at the shadows that loomed over him.

This was another nightmare, a daily occurrence, but since coming to the academy they've felt different. Grey looked up at the shadow with a bored expression, taking a deep breath, and stepped through the shadow with his hands outstretched. The shadow let out a howl as they fizzled away back into their dimension.

Grey looked down on his arms, covered in small scratches and dirt from running all night. The shadow had stayed too far away for Grey to do anything until now, just as they did every night. He looked to the moon, the red fading into a bright white as Grey woke up.

"Students, here we focus on your physical fighting abilities, not your magical. If you're unable to protect yourself in an environment without magic, it's on us." Grey looked away, the children preparing for battle.

Grey was not a fighter, only practicing self-defense. He looked to the mirror on the ceiling, feeling the magical presence of their teachers. Grey knew they were watching, and glared. Reaching towards the wall, Grey found the lock and twisted the door open, escaping the fight.

He knew the teachers would not be happy, however he was asked to come here so he wouldn't make a fuss. Grey walked around the empty hallways, classes going on in the rooms surrounding him. The magic making the hallway infinite bored Grey so he took to the stairs, going to the roof.

"In every class you do nothing, your magical lineage is so far gone we weren't even sure if you would survive the testing. Yet, you always seem to survive whilst doing nothing. Why don't you try?" Grey looked up from his shoes to see his teacher floating across the rooftop in thought.

Grey blinked, not sure how to respond. He had magical abilities, that's how he passed the testing. His drive to use his powers wasn't there, he wanted to be a normal citizen of society. Grey had no desire for this lifestyle that he was forced to take.

"If I had a reason to try I would, but I don't." He watched his principal stop and glare at him.

"So you want a reason to survive? How about those powers not taking you over and turning you into a Nivel?" Grey blinked before turning and going down the stairs.

He didn't mean to be disrespectful, but the magic within him was minut. His powers weren't enough to get him through his classes now, and he didn't want to make a fool of himself in class. Grey walked to the courtyard, the sun shining down onto the mirror fountain before him.

Grey looked down, watching as the mirror turned to a murky black. He stumbled back as a creature crawled out, collapsing to the ground. It stood up, baring its ugly teeth at Grey. His weapon laid upstairs in the weaponry, this is exactly what the teacher was talking about.

The monster lashed out, Grey sidestepping just in time as it collapsed to the ground wheezing. He conjured up some rope and bound its wrists, taking a look at its injuries. Blood trickled down its face, eyes foggy, and its breath ragged. Grey couldn't help himself, he couldn't fight someone dying.

"I will be right back, please stay here." Grey conjured a weak portal, being thrown into the nurse's office and grabbing as much medical supplies among other things before jumping back in.

He reemerged in the fountain, soaking most of the bandages. Grey stumbled over to the monster, dousing the now wet cloths in alcohol and wiping away the blood and bandaging their wounds. The monster did not attack whilst his back was turned, Grey was sure that this monster was someone cursed, someone that needed help.

Once the wounds were bandaged, Grey could see a small patch of human skin, probably to remind the monster of who they really were. He stood up, helping the monster to a more hidden area in the garden. His books on curses had one in particular that appeared to match this.

Grey looked around before moving some of the tree's branches to cover them. He stood up over the monster and pressed his hands into it. His magical energy wove into the monsters DNA, looking for the cause of the curse.

Once Grey found the cause of the curse, he pulled out the curse, it burned into his palm, leaving a mark. He collapsed to the ground, exhausted. His body was shaking as it fought the curse, curling into a ball in pain.

"Thank you young one for lifting the curse. No one would help me, so-" Grey stood up weakly, grabbing onto a tree branch.

"You don't need to give me anything. This curse will fade in a short period of time. My magic is currently destroying it. Please, go back to your old life." Grey smiled and staggered to clean up all the medical supplies, collapsing to the ground as he did so.

The person stood next to him, looking down in confusion as someone had denied their gift. Grey looked up, putting the dirty medical supplies into his bag to dispose of. He smiled and ran off, waving goodbye. The person watched and called upon one of their servants.

"Watch this child for me, guide them on a good path." The servant nodded and vanished into the darkness as the guardian of the fountain submerged back into their dimension.

Grey passed his class, watching as the future knights fought with their weapons, some holding enchanted whips as others wore boots that could make them fly. His teacher had not noticed his absence, as per usual, Grey shook his head and returned to his room.

Grey collapsed onto his bed, looking down at the scars that cover him from his nightmares and from today. His best friend often appeared in his dreams and knew what had happened, but was in class right now. He looked up to his family tree above his bed, looking back generations to find the last magic bearer.

As Grey allowed sleep to take over him, he noticed movement in the shadows. He sat up and reached out, gripping onto the servant and pulling it out of the shadow. The fox coughed, looking up at their new master. They shifted into their human form to be able to speak.

"Hello human, you released my previous master from a curse and now you are my master. My name is Ronan and I am at your service." Grey raises an eyebrow as the fox bows.

"I don't need your service, can I release you?" The fox tilted its head, confused, before shaking its head no.

"I am now bound to you, through life and death." Grey blinked and dismissed the servant, not wanting to have to deal with it.

He laid in bed, looking towards the ceiling, black markings crawling up his arms, a reminder of the curse he removed. Grey let out a sigh of relief as day turned to night.

"Grey! Wake up!" Arrow, Grey's roommate, shook him awake.

"Arrow, it's early morning, why are you waking me up?"

Grey rubbed his sleepy eyes, looking up at Arrow from his bed. Arrow pointed to the bottom of the top bunk. It was singed black and a hole was burned through it.

"I know you don't like being woken up, but I don't want to be woken up with my bum on fire!" Grey coughed awkwardly before the two started bickering.