A/N: This is going to be an actually okay-ish chapter! I hope!
Before dawn the next morning, the alarm bell rang, and I barely had time to register what was going on before Kiara yanked me out of bed and shoved me into the closet to get changed. I pulled off my pajamas and tugged on my black leggings and shirt, then zipped them together. I strapped on my greaves, pulled on my gloves, and stepped into my boots, then I threw my sash on over my head and went out. It was Tessa's turn next, and when she came out, Kiara went in. The three of us were dressed and ready within four minutes. I loosened my sword from its sheath and stepped into the hallway. I couldn't see any enemies, just other confused fourth-year students. Kiara and Tessa joined me, and we ran downstairs, shields held up for defense against an attack. When we got to the blue-painted first year floor, I turned and ran to room 567- my brother and cousin's room. I rapped sharply on the door three times. Being first years, they probably weren't ready yet, so it was no surprise when my brother, Matt, opened the door with his hair all mussed up and his sword belt buckled on backwards. "Maya?" He blinked in confusion. "Kiara? Tessa? What're you doing here?"
I suddenly felt kind of sheepish. "Just wanted to check that you were okay."
"We're fine, cuz," said my little cousin Kyle. "Where's Ella?"
"Sickbay," said Tessa. "Got slashed by an amethyst Catrops."
Matt, Kyle, and their roommates James and Samuel, who had come to the door to see what was going on, all gasped. "Is she okay?" asked Matt in a hushed voice.
"Yeah, she's fine," I reassured him. "She just needs to rest. Anyways, do you know why the alarm's-" I was cut off by a huge rumbling noise and some screams.
"We gotta go," Kiara said urgently. "But please, STAY SAFE."
"Gotcha, cuz," nodded Matt. "You guys gotta be careful too, though. Promise?"
Suddenly, he was a little boy again, terrified on the nights that Mom and Dad didn't come home when they said they would. It would only be an hour or so before they did return, but those terrible minutes each seemed like an eternity. I smiled. "Promise."
"Love ya, bye!" cried Kiara as we flew downstairs. When we reached the ground floor, I gasped- the scene was horrible. A chandelier had fallen to the floor, covering the stone with shards of crystal. Dead bodies were pushed against the wall. And the Order of Chaos, bright red insignias on the front of their armor, were heading the attack, Catrops charging in their wake.
"Oh..." Kiara trailed off.
"THE SICKBAY!" I cried. There were many people in the sickbay who wouldn't be able to defend themselves. We ran to the sickbay, where Miss Giartas was trying to close the sickbay blast doors by herself. Kiara and I ran to one of the two doors and Tessa to the door Miss Giartas was trying to close, and together, we pushed the adamant-titanium doors together. A loud click resonated through the air as the doors interlocked. Miss Giartas pressed a yellow button concealed in the shadows next to a keypad, punched in a code on the keypad, and pulled down a lever. A large adamant-titanium beam was slowly lowered across the doors, and it settled into its holders with a large BAM.
"Thank you, girls," panted Miss Giartas. She took off her pink high heels, revealing a strange rubbery material covering her feet, and spun the high heels around. They morphed into two hot pink swords. My jaw dropped, and Miss Giartas smiled. "To fight!" she cried- and then she ran up the wall. Literally ran up the wall. It seemed like the rubbery material held her to the wall. She dashed up the wall and back into the fray.
"We should probably go too," muttered Tessa. The three of us ran back towards the battle.
The scene had gotten even worse. The Order of Chaos had forged ahead, leaving many dead students in their wake. I jumped into the battle, sword swinging. What made the battle so uneven was the fact that most of the students didn't have armour, and all of the Order of Chaos did. The students had to get armour outside of school. I gritted my teeth to prevent myself from screaming in frustration as I saw a third-year boy fall to the ground, speared from behind by an Order of Chaos member's amethyst sword. As payback, I stalked over to the killer and stuck my sword through a chink in his armour. The man collapsed onto the floor with a soft groan. "Damn you," I whispered. "You will not have my school."
Kiara and I met in the middle of the hall. "Bowling balls?" she asked with an evil grin.
"Bowling balls," I responded. Kiara and I had developed a technique we liked to call the Bowling Ball Maneuver, where I jumped off Kiara's shield and somersaulted into enemy lines with my own shield raised, effectively causing mass panic. Kiara kneeled and I stepped onto her shield and squatted.
"Three...two...one!" she exclaimed as she stood up while I jumped to give me extra power. I flipped over in midair and raised my shield to protect myself. I crashed into a group of the Order of Chaos members, who fell to the floor and were knocked unconscious immediately. I ran back to where my cousin was standing. "Nice job," Kiara said appreciatively.
"Thanks," I grinned. As we were about to split up again, the whole hall seemed to come to a stop. I looked around for the source of the inactivity, and flashing blades caught my eye. My mouth opened. Professor Almerwick was dueling the masked leader of the Order of Chaos- we could all tell from the crown embroidered on his uniform's breast pocket- and it was a spectacular sight. Professor Almerwick's blade, made of adamant-titanium and diamond, wove in and out, while her opponent's amethyst blade jabbed back and forth. It seemed like they were doing a sort of dance, except the consequences for missing a step were deadly. The two of them each had superior skills and it seemed like their duel would never end. Until the leader of the Order of Chaos pulled a bottle out of his pocket and sprayed it in Professor Almerwick's face. She stumbled back, blinking, her opponent advanced on her, and then the masked leader of the Order of Chaos slid the amethyst sword forwards into her chest. Professor Almerwick tumbled backwards off the sword and was still.
The school was in shock. The leader of the Order of Chaos stepped forwards and addressed the hall. "THE ORDER OF CHAOS HAS KILLED YOUR LEADER, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS OF VIVENTI ACADEMY," said the same voice that had issued out of Kiara's mouth when she had been possessed. "YOU NOW BELONG TO US. ANY ATTEMPT TO RESIST WILL BE TERMINATED."
A/N: Hot diggity damn! Sorry, I might not be updating as soon as I promised... please don't kill me. Actually, if you did kill me, you wouldn't get any updates. :) I was really sick yesterday and I'm going to New Jersey and New York at the end of the week, so... yeah. I'm also sorry this isn't as long as my normal chapters! At least there was action in it, right?
-Deepio the Slytherclaw
