Chapter 41
He’s just a Student
“It takes a long time to become young.”
~Pablo Picasso~
The trees of this part of Oakhurst were new to Exsavior. They were more serene and less tainted, as if a sanctuary secluded from the wars and battles they were waging.
It was early in the morning, exactly thirty minutes before his first class at Falls Academy, and Exsavior, instead of traveling towards the institution, found himself accompanying David. On a cobblestone pathway they journeyed forwards, going up a hilltop and past a couple more trees. These bore cherries and beautifully adorned the peacefulness that was the sight.
Looking up towards the bright blue sky and the fluffy clouds, Exsavior squinted as he found the brightness a bit much.
“Hey David, where are we going?” he asked, recalling that he had yet to explain why they took the detour without any notice.
The silence that followed David did not fold. In his school uniform, he continued on, as Exsavior trailed close behind—his eyes boring a hole on the back of David’s shirt.
It was not until Exsavior saw him stop before a vast field of green grass and a couple of cherry trees that he finally spoke.
“This is where we first found Cassius, or at least that was what I was told.” Pausing in hesitation, another silence closed in on the two, and when Exsavior assimilated what he was being told, he peered past David.
There before them were two graves surrounded by green grass and three large trees. Without any notice, his feet started to move forwards. He did not even wait for David to say anything as he approached the tombstones, expecting to read words about Cassius.
“A beloved son and older brother—may the heavens watch over you. Cassius: 1990-2011.”Obviously the years were erroneous, but it was still extremely daunting to see a headstone of one of his kin.
Crouching down to get a better look, Exsavior read the one next to Cassius—knowing perfectly well who it was.
“Joseph Roan, beloved father, beloved husband and a beautiful soul: 1967-2000.” Somehow Exsavior felt the fragility of life at that moment. Seeing those graves just reminded him of how far from invincible they were.
Shortly after reading the two graves, David plopped down right next to him in front of his Cassius’s grave. This made Exsavior lift his hand to graze the stone that stood before the ground where Rigel’s remains were supposedly located.
“I wonder if my father would have wanted to have a human burial…” Exsavior expressed. He wasn’t comfortable talking about his father much, but somehow he felt a bit vulnerable after seeing fragments of his kin.
A sigh escaped David’s throat, as his hard stare never left the grave before. It was obvious that he was trying his best to not show much emotion. “I’m sure he wouldn’t of have had any problems with it.”
“Yeah…” it was the only thing Exsavior could say to the comment. Even though a silence would creep between them every now and then, he was happy to be spending time with David in that manner—because he knew that on some level they were bonding. After all they were men, and men did not go around crying and talking about their feelings.
A sigh and a few spoken words here and there would suffice and of course, each other’s company. That alone gave them the comfort and support they needed.
“Tell me about your father…if that’s ok I mean.” David broke the silence with a curious question, catching Exsavior slightly off-guard.
“I don’t like to talk much about him…but I think you deserve to know everything you can about our pack. He was your uncle.” Exsavior said.
David nodded and let him know that he was listening.
“He was a bit headstrong, never liked to back down from anything. I’m not sure if it was because he Alpha or if that was his nature but he always thought that his way was best.” Exsavior spoke with a serious mien.
“Did that bother you?”
As if giving it some thought, Exsavior hesitated. “Maybe, but thinking back on it, I think he was right with every decision he ever made. I’m alive today because of him.” That was an extremely painful fact to admit and to say out loud.
There was a time that Exsavior remembered clearly where all he could think about was how he felt like the weak link in his pack. His father was always protective of him, far too much, and it bothered him because he was male. In Exsavior’s eyes, the females were to be protected a lot more than the males—after all they were the ones who could bear life. If they die then that would compromise the pack.
But his father protected him like he did Alexandria, possibly a lot more.
“I guess you don’t notice how much a parent loves you until you’re older…” David began but paused as he thought about Lily, his loving mother. She was the one who woke them both up for school. At first it was forceful since Exsavior had yet to properly attend a class, but afterwards, Lily just did what she knew best—nurture.
A sad smile crept on his. “Either that or until they’re taken from you.” This made Exsavior look at him briefly; he then quickly shifted his hard stare away from David and back at the tombstone to avoid any awkwardness.
“You speak wise words. My father knew if I lived our bloodline would not die. I think that’s why he protected me so much.”
“You were the heir to the Alpha throne.” David said while standing up.
“Well, we better get going. Mom will get super pissed if you miss out on this class too.” Exsavior nodded and followed David in tow.
It was not until they reached the Camaro that Exsavior spoke once more. “Hey, thanks for showing me this place. I’m happy to know that some of my kin can still be remembered and mourned.”
“Our.” David said with a smirk.
“What?”
“Our kin, we’re family. So it’s only right to show you.” And with that said, Exsavior smiled and nodded as both boys entered the car.
The way to the school wasn’t long, and luckily for both of them they reached the Academy just in time for Exsavior’s first class. It wasn’t easy getting the lone Alpha wolf to attend, but David managed the unthinkable—more because he also had the same subject.
Senior year physics was not one class you wanted to miss out on, and Exsavior was the eye of scrutiny as soon as he waltzed in the laboratory-like classroom.
“Ah Exsavior, I would say it’s nice to finally meet you but that pleasure was has shipped a month ago.” Ms. Lorelei’s satiric comment didn’t faze Exsavior. Instead he just bowed before her, making others laugh as he apologized.
She grumbled and ordered him to sit down but not before speaking out loud to a particular brunette headed girl.
“Mia, I remember you offering to be Mr. Exsavior’s lab partner and personal tutor. He needs to make up a month’s worth of homework, so good luck with that.” She said flatly while turning back to the chalkboard.
During Exsavior’s stride to find a seat in the room, David noticed how all of the students eyed him in curiosity. He did not know whether or not the young Alpha noticed, but one thing was certain, he certainly had.
“Hey Isa, do you know who is who in this class?” David whispered lowly to his lab partner that was Isabel.
She looked at him through the corners of her eyes without breaking half of her attention from Ms. Lorelai. “If you mean who is not human, I kinda have a good idea of who is who. Why?” she asked.
David, leaning his back on the chair in a nonchalant manner, casually peered around the room. He noticed that Exsavior managed to sit next to one of the quiet kids who seemed to not notice his presence. Right next to the boy was Mia, but oddly enough, she seemed to not acknowledge Exsavior’s presence.
Nevertheless, David ignored the two for the time being and searched around once more.
“I just feel like some of them are giving Exsavior bad looks,” he said.
Isabel couldn’t fight the urge to smile at him as she looked his way.
“You’re looking out for him,” she stated rather than asked.
David shrugged and sighed. “Well, he is sort of an idiot when it comes to human things.”
Somewhere in the back of David’s head, he felt useful and superior to Exsavior when it came to classes and surviving high school. It was only natural since he spent more of his life living as a human than an Immortal.
Isabel giggled, as she peered back to find the Lycan in question—his blank stare that clashed with the chalkboard confirmed all of their affirmations about him.
“Yeah I know what you mean. Before any of you guys knew about him, it all fell on me,” she said lightly.
David grinned at the thought of Isabel having to deal with Exsavior’s odd behavior on her own, and then almost laughed at the thought of them talking about him as if he was a child who needed taking care of.
“Hey, so um, what are we doing for the football game?” In an instant, David changed the subject.
The football game was supposed to be held a few months back, but even if it had not been rescheduled due to Margery’s death and the supposed ‘terrorist attack’, David doubted he would have made it. What with him shifting into a werewolf for the first time and all the news about his brother conflicting in his life—football just seemed so trivial.
Yet, now that things seemed to die down, he knew that the formal dance after the game was the best way to spend romantic time with the girl of his interest.
“Are you planning to play?” Isabel countered.
David grinned again. “Of course, I am the quarterback, but you do know that it’s the actual dance that I’m wondering about,” he began, feigning ignorance.
Smiling to herself, Isabel played along. “Oh? What are wondering about?”
“I don’t know. I have this problem, and I thought that maybe you could help.”
This time, David noticed that she did not know whether or not it was a part of his game or if in fact he was being truthful. This made his grin wider than before.
“What type of problem?” she asked.
“Well you see, there’s this blonde girl who I can’t stop thinking about but I know she’s been kinda down lately and I just don’t know how to ask her to accompany me to the dance. Any suggestions?” he said.
Isabel blushed and put her hand on his as she looked at him. “Just ask her upfront.”
Blinking a few times, David looked around the room. “Ok thanks, but Courtney isn’t here for me to ask her,” he said with the most serious face he could muster, making Isabel scowl in anger.
“Courtney!” she yelled.
“Mister Roan and Miss Hallow, is there something so much more entertaining going on between the two of you that it requires to interrupt my class? Because if so you just tell me and I will sit back to watch your little telenovela,” Ms. Lorelai angrily yelled back at them.
Due to this, Isabel slumped back into her seat in indignation; she did not even look at David.
“I’m sorry Ms. Lore—”
“That’s Ms. Lorelai.”
“Yeah, Ms. Lore but I was just asking out my girlfriend here to the dance. She kinda got excited but I just wanted to let everyone know here that she’s off limits.” David worded out loud as he stood before the class.
The guys laughed to themselves while the rest of the students refused to join in out of fear of Ms. Lorelai.
“Really, well why don’t the both of you take your little show to the office? Maybe they will appreciate it more.” Ms. Lorelai squint her eyes in a show of defiance, but David being David did just that—he defied her.
“Nah, I’m good here but thanks.”
“Idiot,” Isabel said under her breath.
David figured he was already far from salvation so he did not mind poking at the bull.
“Go to the office now, the both of you!” Ms. Lorelai yelled in anger as she wrote down what they assumed to be the reasons behind their misbehavior on a sheet of paper.
She handed to David, who had already made his way to her desk without a care in the world as an annoyed Isabel followed behind.
The air in the classroom seemed to calm down once they were gone, but Exsavior could not help but wonder what happened.
In curiosity, he leaned over to speak to Mia, who was doing a solid effort at ignoring him.
“Mia…” he whispered, but she did nothing to look his way.
“Are they always like this?” he asked, but received no answer.
This made him turn back to see Ms. Lorelai glaring at him. She said nothing, which made Exsavior quiet down and attempt to pay attention. However, it was easier said than done.
Every little thing that left her lips confused Exsavior. Formulas, free falls, acceleration, and the laws of some guy named Newton—it all made little sense, and when he did understand something, it conflicted with what he already knew.
‘How can it be possible for this gravity to affect us all the same? Witches obviously defy it if they can fly…’ A part of him wanted to put her on the spot and ask how that worked with witches but he realized that it would cause unwanted attention and an awkward situation.
So instead of asking away as a student should, Exsavior simply sat there and tuned out the class since he did not understand. He focused on why Mia was ignoring him, and exactly what was going on with her.
The other night she was in pain but she pushed him away. At first, he did not like that and wanted to persist, but David convinced him to give her space. Whatever was going was probably nothing that important. Otherwise, Mia would have told them about it.
‘Well, I guess it’s normal to want to face certain things on your own every once and while. I just hope it’s nothing serious,’ he thought to himself.
And just like that, the bell rang—releasing the students from Ms. Lorelai’s tyranny. Most of them fled the classroom as if it was on fire, including Mia, but Exsavior couldn’t tell whether or not it was because of him or the teacher.
Under any normal circumstance, catching up to Mia would be child’s play, but between what David told him and that he couldn’t display any unnatural behavioral while in the Academy, Exsavior simply gave up and let her be.
When the time came, she would approach him.
Because of this, he wandered the halls in search of his next class. The schedule he had was a bit hard to decipher, but it wasn’t impossible.
Exsavior found his next class without much effort, and surely enough he found himself spiraling down yet another boring class that conflicted with things he did not understand.
It was not until a few classes later that he was finally free to have lunch, and during his venture towards the cafeteria, Exsavior was stopped by a few girls. They asked him all sorts of odd questions.
Stuff about his interests, if he played any sports, where he was from and what he liked to do on his free time. All of which ended with the same question.
“So, do you want to go to the dance together this weekend after the game?”
He blinked once, then twice—unsure exactly what the girl was asking him. She was short and thin with blond hair tied in a bun. Her blue eyes were striking but it was only because of the heavy eyeliner she wore, and the rest of her attire was much like any other girl except for the countless wristbands and jewelry that adorned her skin.
“Um, I don’t think I can,” Exsavior smiled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.
“Ungh, I knew it. You may be hot, but you’re still just a weirdo foreign exchange student,” she spat.
“A what?”
“O-M-G, and here I was planning on making you my MCM on Facebook. Bullet averted.” It was like this girl was speaking something other than English. “Let me warn my baes.” Instantly, she pulled out her cell phone and began to text away as she left a very confused Exsavior.
“Foreign exchange nerd hot, but not worth it. MCM still up for grabs and still no date for dance.” The girl finished the text with what she called ‘a sad smiley’ and proceeded in flashing a light before her eyes with the phone. According to what Exsavior heard, the action was called a ‘selfie’.
‘Odd human behavior…or maybe she isn’t human…’ he thought, feeling suspicious towards the weird girl. ‘Will have to keep an eye on her in case she gives me any trouble.’ And with that said, he continued his way towards the smell of food, but not before stopping at a poster that caught his eye.
The reason for this was because he saw a glimpse of the words the blond girl had said to him.
“Formal End of the Year School Dance,” he read out loud. In an instant, he understood what it implied. According to the information on the poster, Prom was being held in a couple months right before graduation for the seniors. So this would be the last mixed event that was open for all the kids.
Exsavior had no clue what Prom was, but he did understand one thing. The school’s formal dance event was a good opportunity to spend time with Mia. All he had to do was ask her.
With newly found determination, he set his sights back to the cafeteria, and trotted his way there in hopes of finding her.
‘Maybe this will break the ice again,’ he thought with a smile on his face.
Exsavior was not one for socializing with humans or acting like one, but if it meant getting Mia to be comfortable around him again, then he would gladly take that bullet.
~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~******
“Elias Beauregard d’Iah…?” Mia said tentatively as she watched the blonde man.
“Yes, do you not recognize me, my captain?” Again he called her that, and it would have been weirder if Mia did not recall the incident with the witch named Rose. When Mia lost it, she called herself a captain as well.
Whatever that meant, this man seemed to hold many answers.
“I’m sorry my memory is a little fuzzy, refresh it for me,” Mia said with stern eyes.
Elias nodded but turned his attention away from her to face Wyatt. “We will speak, but first I need to eliminate this abnormality.
When the words were said, Wyatt—or the being in control—went frantic.
“We had a deal! You are supposed to be a celestial being, one of purity. You can’t go against your own words!” he yelled, but Elias did not waver.
“I have found my captain—even though it was promised between us that you would live by aiding me—the code of the Celestial Realm behooves all of its soldiers to eliminate mistakes.” There was silence on both parts—and Mia paid close attention to what Elias was saying—preparing to jump in to save Wyatt.
“Ah yes, we are the mistakes committed because of your ways! So in due of that, we are to pay the price—what noble behavior we are given from beings who are supposed to be nothing but purity.” The sarcasm dripped from Wyatt’s lips as he prepared his body to endure anything that was to come from Elias.
During all of this, none of the humans noticed their presence for the in-between worked perfectly to conceal them as they waged their contention.
“Wait!” Mia yelled forcing Elias to turn back to her.
“If you hurt him, I will not cooperate with you. It is me that you came looking for isn’t it?” she reasoned, making Elias scowl.
“You have changed, my captain. This world holds true to what they say,” Elias cast his eyes down to the solid concrete.
“And what exactly do they say? Who are they?” Mia began not giving Wyatt any thought as he vanished from sight. She figured he did not want to tempt his luck with the angel any further.
It was not weird for Mia to defend the Paladin the way she did—after all, Wyatt was like an older brother to her. When Lynn left her, the Covenant sent him to take care of her, and although it was a rocky start, Wyatt quickly became someone very dear to Mia. Even though it had been a long time since they had seen each other. There was also the slight suspicion that Mia had which told her that he was not in his right mind. It wouldn’t be the first time she saw him being controlled by his Patron.
“They are your brethren. Have you completely forgotten everything?” Elias’s eyes clashed with hers again, and she could tell that her lack of recollection was hurting him more than what he tried to let on.
“Assuming that there was something to remember—I guess the answer to that question would be yes. I don’t know where I come from or who I was,” Mia said.
“Then there is much to discuss, please take me to your home and I will answer any and all questions,” he said sternly.
But Mia was hesitant. How could she keep a man in her apartment? She did want to know everything he had to say, but aside from him being of the opposite sex, there wasn’t anything that told her he was to be trusted.
“How about this, since I don’t know whether I can trust you or not, we can meet here in the in-between tomorrow at this same hour.” Somehow, Mia felt as if her proposal would not sit well with him.
“So be it. It is just like you, my Captain, to distrust very easily. At least that has not changed,” and with that said, he took flight like a soaring eagle and disappeared into the night sky, leaving Mia to think over a new plan of action.
It was simple; she needed time to figure out whether or not he could be trusted. Even so, speaking with another angel—friend or foe—was top priority on her list as of that moment. Mia figured that by asking for more time she could talk to her friends about the entire situation.
What would they think about this Elias character?
~~~~End of Flashback~~~~
As Mia finished her story, Isabel and David both sat pensively at their table during lunchtime. There was a short silence, where only the chitchat of the other kids around them could be heard.
“I guess that explains what this was about,” Isabel said, deciding to speak as she pulled out her cell phone.
Unsure of what she meant with those words, Mia and David peered over the table to see the video being played on her phone. It was some sort of breaking news at a site where an explosion or a fire took place. When they listened to what was being said, they realized it was the Covenant Headquarters that had turned into rubble.
According to the news lady, the place underwent an explosion where footage of a Paladin official turning on the higher-ups was captured. Of course, no other video clips or evidence could be said after the mass murder of the men and women, which led Mia to believe that Wyatt, the Paladin she recognized, must have lost control after the assault.
“You think Elias came from here?” Mia questioned.
“Melisse spoke about a weird old box and coffin the Covenant took from her. It could be possible that Elias was the man inside the coffin,” David said, remembering well the succubus’s words.
“Whatever the case may be, you definitely need to speak with Elias,” Isabel said.
Again there was some hesitancy on Mia’s part, and it made her eyes scan the cafeteria. Somehow, she just did not feel right being alone with another boy when she had Exsavior.
But then again, Mia was trying to distance herself from him. Maybe talking to Elias would help her decide on whether or not she was doing the right thing by Exsavior.
‘Exsavior…’ Her mind wandered; as her eyes watched the jocks flirt with the cheerleaders at their ‘exclusive’ table. At that moment, Mia would have given anything to be like them. Not because of their popular status, but more because of what little things they had to worry about.
Mainly stuff like prom and how they were going to manage to get out of the house late at night were most likely the things her fellow classmates worried over.
Unlike her who dealt with problems that were of life and death.
Though, at least she was not alone for the time being.
“Hey.”
Right before anything else could be said, Mia’s eyes continued to wander until that voice caught in her head. She instantly saw him standing there before their table with the sternest most determined expression. His school uniform was messy what with his shirt being untucked and the first two buttons of the collar undone.
“Exsavior…,” she found herself saying with curious eyes. She did not even remember to attempt to be cold like she had done back in class.
“Mia, I want to honor you by accompanying you to the school’s formal dance after this game I hear talk about. If you are comfortable enough, please be my date.” His words surprised not just Mia, but the others that sat there as well.
“That’s sweet but we really don’t have any time to spend on trivial—”
“Screw that! My boy stepped up! I’m backing him on this one,” David said in excitement as he too stood and turned his attention to Isabel.
He tried to copy Exsavior’s chivalry but instead did a mockery of it.
“Babe, will you be my honey for the school’s dance?” he said, bowing slightly as he awaited her reply.
Isabel scoffed and turned away. “Idiot of course, I was just waiting for you to ask,” she said indignant.
Her response surprised Mia, and even though they all noticed Exsavior’s intense stare on her, she still managed to turn her attention to Isabel. “But I thought there were other important matters?” she questioned.
Isabel shrugged and gave her friend a sheepish smile, making Mia turn back to stare at the Lycan who so anxiously awaited her answer.
His eyes were almost wolfish like—even in his human form—and it was as if he was willing her to say yes.
“Ok. I will be your date Exsavior.” Mia said quietly—her heart skipping a beat at the idea of what was to come the night of the dance.
No matter what, she could not deny the excitement she had over being someone’s date to a dance, and not just someone, Exsavior’s date.
When that was said and done, Exsavior heaved a sigh and beamed at her as he sat down at their table.
“Who would have thought Exsavior would be the one to act like the student out of us four.” David joked as he laughed at the thought, making the other join and leaving the poor lycan confused as usual.
When the mirth died down, Isabel spoke one last time before the bell rang. “Oh yea, before anything we meet up with Locke after class today. He’s gonna take us to his place. There will talk about everything that’s been going down.” To this the gang nodded, and stood to depart to their respective classes.
Little did they realize that someone was keeping tabs on their actions, but how could they know? Whenever an opportunity to act like regular kids presented itself, they acted upon it, and it was because of this that Conan was able to exploit that to his advantage.
“They seem to have regrouped again, now that Skylar is roaming about, all I gotta do is lead her to them,” he thought to himself as he stalked the halls that would take him to the exit.
‘I need to persevere, for you Olive…and for the answers to whatever I am.’ It was his final thought before he opened the metal doors that led to the outside forested area—an area off-limits to students—and shifted into the brown wolf.
With ease did he follow his nose, as he searched out the scent of the rogue witch he was to track.