Donovan and Gary are sitting idly on a chair next to each other. The nervous wreck that is Jacob quietly but not discreetly mutters nonsense to himself. Elyssia, Matthew, and Rovanne stood behind them. Just patiently awaiting the headmaster to leave his room and confront the troublemakers on their very first day.
"Hey. Just so you know, I'm innocent-"
"Just shut your trap Donovan." Elyssia quickly shut him down. Leaving Donovan frowning.
"Are you sure that you haven't seen Samuel? I thought he was always with you?" Rovanne spoke.
"Well, he had some business to do with some family problems. So, he had to go off by himself. i think I'll meet him back at the dorm." Donovan answers for her, before turning to Gary, "Come on dude. Just let her be. She's just doing her job."
"That's the second time in a single day..." Gary grumbles.
"Sorry..." Rovanne tried to apologize.
"Faen ta deg-!" Gary cursed under his breath.
"Calm down Gary..."
A rustle can be heard from the second floor of the office. Before a figure emerged from the bookshelves and hopped over the railing. Landing directly infront of the students. Headmaster Avshino brushed himself off before taking a seat infront of them.
"Sorry everyone. I was a bit lost in my books." He chuckled, "What happened?"
Donovan and Gary raised their binded hand. Showing the purple constraint that circles their hands. The fancy works of Rovanne.
"Really? On the first day? It hasn't even been a full day and now you're in trouble?"
"Can't help it." Donovan chuckled, "It just happens."
"Does fighting a whole class count as a natural occurrence?" Matthew asked.
"Not really."
Avshino leaned in further on the table, "And Mister Jacob here is with us. Are you okay my child?"
Jacob didn't look up from his foot. Still constantly blabbering about something. In an incoherent language. Raising worry in everyone. Donovan and Gary never had this occur. So they don't know what to do.
"I don't know what happened." Donovan said, "Really. I don't."
Gary is surprised he didn't hear the bundle of hisses and whispers coming from Donovan when he said that. Signalling that he isn't using his blessing. This is the truth. Yet, he still can use it to make people believe. So it boggles Gary's mind more.
"Hm...Where's Samuel?"
"He's off doing some work. Should be done by now." Donovan answered.
Just as he said that, something rung on Elyssia's ear. As the others spoke about what happened. With Matthew and Rovanne just standing there awkwardly, Elyssia found herself communicating with the fourth member.
"Hello? Elyssia, you there?" A familiar voice spoke in her earpiece.
"Sorry. I need to take this." Elyssia excused herself as she moved into a corner of the room, "Yes Madhav. You seen anything yet?"
"Well. I guess I did. Saw two students sleeping by a bench outside the dormitories. Quite adorable honestly."
"Madhav."
"Alright Alright. Just a thing though, the cameras seem to be glitching out when someone was exiting the dorm. That has been a common occurrence for the past three months. But I did catch someone."
"Who?"
A quick silence is followed before he announced it, "I saw Samuel running out nearby. He's heading back to the main building. Got the footage saved."
"Samuel...Send him to the headmaster office if you can."
"Got it. I also have some info about them. Managed to dig it out." Madhav said, "Are you sure Avshino requested us to allow them in?"
"Yes. He did. We'll look over it later Madhav. Just make sure you can get Samuel to the headmaster office." Elyssia sighed.
"Righto Boss."
A short static followed after his words. Before ELyssia can stand where she was, Rovanne and Matthew started to walk to the door again. Signaling to her that the headmaster requested privacy and had asked them to wait outside.
Elyssia reluctantly agreed and followed them outside. Moving down the stairs and closing the doors behind them. Before standing guard outside.
With them gone, Donovan could finally breath as he turned to the headmaster, "I found this." He handed him the red envelope.
As soon as he placed it down, Jacob's eyes finally shifted as he attempted to grab hold of the envelope, "Don't touch that!"
A bundle of whispers and hisses echoed through the room, before forming into a coherent sentence, "Stay where you are."
Jacob froze in place as he heard it. Allowing Gary to place him back on the chair and allow The headmaster to take the envelope, "What was that Mister Donovan?"
Donovan clicked his tongue before sticking it out. It was no longer the natural red color, now it's elongated with a silver color, "It's my blessing."
"Wow. That's interesting." The headmaster started to open the envelope, "Can you force people to speak truth?"
"I can. Yeah." Donovan furrowed his eyebrows.
"Good. That will be useful when you join the security force, and what will happen now." The headmaster opens the envelope and takes out the letter. Before beginning to read it. An uneasy silence fills the room as Jacob quickly taps his foot on the ground. He's on the edge. Ready to just fall and break down. He can't let this happen. But he's powerless to do so. He's reading the letter. No...No.
The headmaster placed the letter down and stared right through Jacob's soul. His expression having changed from a warm to cold attitude, "Jacob."
"I-I..."
Donovan and Gary skimmed over the letter. Before finally confirming their theory. Avshino pressured Jacob even more, "Jacob. Who gave you this letter?"
At that very moment, Jacob finally shattered. He slammed his fist onto the table, surprising everyone around him as he started to break down, "I'm sorry...I had to...I.."
"The Red Hand forced you to try and kill us. Why?"
"They...H-Have my sister...They know where she is." A steady stream falls down his eyes after bottling it in for so long.
"Little Evie?" Avhsino asked.
"Yes...They have her..."
Avshino called in a white bird from the ceiling. It fluttered its way down to his arm as he whispered something to it, before sending it off through an open window.
"Donovan. Can you..."
"Yes. I will." Donovan grumbled, he turned to Jacob and clicked his tongue. A bundle of whispers echoed through the hall again, "Speak. Tell us everything you know."
Almost as if a string pulled on Jacob's mouth, he began to spill everything he kept secret, almost in a dead manner, with no emotions in his words, "They started threatening me a month ago. Or maybe more. I ignored them but then they sent pictures of my sister in the city. Telling me that they will kill her. That's when I panicked. I...I was forced to steal artifacts from the school's bank. Forced to keep them with me and send them off. I had to do it within a time limit or they'll hurt her. Then some days ago, they told me to kill three newcomers that would arrive at the S-class. I tried to rally my classmates to help. But see how that went..."
"Do you have any idea who's sending you these letters?" Avshino asked
"No...They are placed on my desk without me ever noticing. They always catch me off guard."
"Well, my son. You can see to it that your sister would be fine. I had sent out a message to my associates in town to save her." Avshino sighed, "I'm sorry it had to come to this."
"I just don't know what to do..."
"They won't try and kill you." Gary said, "It'll raise suspicion and doubt. And makes everything harder for them."
"Finally said something smart." Donovan chuckled.
Avshino tried to comfort Jacob, "Well Jacob. Just return to your normal life ok? Try not to kill anyone. And just be a good boy alright? Don't mention this to anyone. You have my word that you will be safe."
"Alright..." Jacob stood up, trying to wipe away his tears.
"Go back to your dorm instead. Take a break."
"Yes Headmaster..." As he turned around to exit the door. Donovan and Gary faced the headmaster. Awaiting something from him.
As Jacob exited the room, the headmaster breathed a sigh of relief, "Well done you two. That's quite something to happen on the first day."
"Just doing our job, Headmaster." Donovan seemed to be speaking mot of the time as Gary sat back and watched.
"Well. Seeing what you can do. I can see to it that you get security force access. People will dislike it, yes, but for the better, right?"
"Yeah. I guess so," Donovan stretched in his chair.
"Where's Samuel again?"
"He should be nearby." Gary said, "We sent him out to do some investigation by himself. Hopefully, he found something good."
"This could be done at a better rate and efficiency," AVshino said.
Gary and Donovan turned to him with an odd expression on their face, "What do you mean?" They spoke at the same time.
"Have you considered taking the other security forces with you on this mission?"