*Whoosh*
The chopper's engines quieted down once landing before firing up once more and disappearing into the clouds. They landed back in Caelbridge Academy, faces curious of their experience shot at them while others that of envy persisted. Brose didn't waste that much time as he made his way to the infirmary.
"Is he okay?!" His voice filled with worry as he approached a working nurse. "If you're talking about the patient classified as Ingrid then yes, he's already recovered and has been sent back to his academy." Her tone flat as she walked away.
Jasper was aware of the fight between Jarren and Ingrid, a part of him still in denial of such a person. "Well then let's head back to the bus. I'm sure that our teachers should be waiting for us." His tone light making Brose adhere. However rue two didn't go very far before they were intercepted by two figures.
Their faces stern as they took the initiative. "You must be Brose, correct?" Lirale's words startling the pair. "Yes." His answer curt as he looked at the two. 'They doesn't seem to be hostile however I can't take any chances.' Lirale was the first to ease up. "Then I'm sure that you have some resentment for Jarren, given how badly he beat up your friend, it's safe to say that there is some bad blood between you two."
Her words probing Brose, his face turning unsightly. "You could say that. However I can't help but wonder, who are you two?!" His tone filled with skepticism, with their peculiar mode of dressing, he could easily tell that they weren't ordinary. "Of course, I'm Lirale Thorne, head of the Aurex Sanctum and this is Vhorren Dren, head if the Black Whet.
Signaling at the person towering next to her. "My name is Brose but you already know that. This is Jasper." The inquisitive pair didn't bother with the latter. "Can you tell us what exact problem you have with Jarren? After all the information you give us is important in the on going case with the death of a faction leader."
Brose's eyes narrowed falling into thought. 'What use would I be when they have the most advanced technological equipment presumably rivaling the royal academy?' Still he stuck around. "Fine I'll comply however I doubt that I could give you any meaningful information. I'm sure withe the professors and the head professor solving this issue won't be a problem."
His tone sarcastic however the reactions that he got weren't that of contempt but bewilderment. 'Did I say something wrong?' He couldn't help but wonder as he noted the strange glances thrown at him. They weren't those of hate bur rather shock. "The head professor!" Lirale began still taking Brose by surprise.
"What about him? Is something wrong?" His tone expressing his shock in the situation. "The head professor hasn't been in the academy for..." Her face went pale. 'Why can't I remember anything about him and how does he know about the head professor ?'
Her eyes filled with curiosity as they narrowed onto Brose's figure. "The head professor hasn't been around for about three months however it would seem that someone had us forget that we had him to begin with. The last time I remember him was at the awardation ceremony a few months back." Vhorren mused as he clutched his head, trying to recall what happened.
"Awardation ceremony?" Brose's brows furrowed, his mind going into a possibility of what could have happened. "It must have been Jarren. I know that I have some qualms with him but you two have to believe me." The two were still in shock of how they couldn't recall the head professor.
"We have to check if he's okay." Vhorren posed however Brose interjected. "For someone like Jarren to have intentionally removed Rhydian from your memories then he's probably dead at this point." Lirale was the first to pose. "Kill Rhydian? Don't you think that you are giving Jarren a bit too much with such a conclusion?"
Brose ignored her statement as he made his way to the main spire. "Wait! The bus is waiting for us Brose! We can't be late!" Jasper mused however Brose was far too gone to hear him.
...
"I'd like to have a meeting with Rhydian, the head professor." Brose's tone stern as he fixated his eyes on the assistant behind the glass wall. "I'm sorry but the-" She immediately halted her own words as she realized something deeply wrong. "The head professor?" Her tone now of bewilderment.
She reached out to her intercom and requested for an audience with Rhydian. Seeing the lack of a response, Brose charge into his room. "Cough -Cough!" Smoke was the first thing to greet him followed with dust layers that had been settling for months. "I don't think anyone has been here for a very long time."
Lirale looked around, perplexed with what she saw. But Rhydian is a Blood wright! How would Jarren be capable o killing him and have us forget him?" Vhorren immediately fell into a frenzy of sneezes which forced him to stay outside. The assistant made her way to the office, equally baffled with the room. "I've been here for the past six month and yet the thought of checking on Rhydian had never crossed my mind."
"I'm definitely going to get fired!" Lirale reassured her as she placed a held her hands, calming her down. "Calm down. Once we get to the bottom of this you'll be fine. It wasn't your fault after all." The assistant who was on the verge of having a panic attack managed to calm down.
"The bottom of this is that it's Jarren's work. But why would he have me retain my memories of Rhydian?" He muttered to himself, clutching his chin as he looked around. Nothing but dust bunnies stared back at him, the wooden furnishings almost devoured by termites.
He closed his eyes with the hopes of recalling what happened during the awardation ceremony. 'I got my announcement, then Callista and then Jarren. From there I made my way back to my room and left the academy.' The more he thought about it, the more he was shocked with how natural it all went. "Now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing Rhydian after the awardation."
Lirale's brows rose as she let out a thoughtful hum. "Now that you mention it I never saw him after that day. It would seem that he may have killed him then and long disposed of the body. And besides he isn't even in the same kingdom so what use is it to have this information." His words solemn as he clenched his teeth.
'Just how many more innocent are you going to keep on killing?!' He thought to himself, his chest heaving heavily. However before he could think too much about it the silence was shattered by a heavy heaving. "Brose! Do you have any idea how infuriated the teachers are with your absence?!"
Jasper shouted, his face laced with annoyance and anger. "I had to carry your bags all the way to the bus! I, a noble! Do you know how humiliating it will be for me when we get back to school?!" Lirale glanced at their visitor, her face dismissive as she went back to the topic at hand. "I had a valid reason for my lateness. It's Rhydian, he's dead."
Jasper looked around, his anger still lingering in his tone. "What are you talking about?! Rhydian-" His words came to a screeching halt, his eyes widening in shock as realization hit him like a truck. "Exactly." Brose said, his tone flat as he tried to look around however nothing of use came up.
"As much as I would like to help you, I have to get back to my own academy. I wish nothing but the best of luck to you with your studies and your journey." He turned around and left, Jasper lingered for a bit before realizing that Brose was gone and chased after him.
Lirale opened the windows making it easier to breathe. "It would seem that the kingdom won't like to hear the death of Rhydian." Her tone grave. "It's not only his death but the lack of action for it as well. If no one made a fuss about it then it would mean that Jarren's hallucinogenic spell can cover nearly the entire kingdom."
Lirale's body shivered as soon as she realized this. "It would be best to have this information known to the capital as soon as possible." And with that the two took their leave. The assistant looked around as she quickly got to her work trying to spiffy up a corpse's office. The pair didn't bother stopping her with her antics.
"If he has been able to do such a feat then what else I wonder has he done?" Vhorren broke the unnerving silence. "I'm not sure myself but everything will come to light sooner or later."
...
A day elapsed and the students as well as the people of Reuthar were baffled at the mention of Rydhian's death. After some brief explanation of the matter, they came to the conclusion that Jarren had more to him than just shadow skills.
"To be able to fool an entire kingdom, my king this level of power-" James spoke, his tone wary of the future to come. The more days passed by, the more bleak they had a chance of survival. "I know James. A kingdom making monsters by the day, technology that shouldn't exist and now a being that can fool and entire kingdom, it would seem that taking down Redfall wont be easy."
With this bit of information, it explained the death they saw of him back at the pit in Othare. 'But what other skills does he have?' What unnerved him more wasn't what Redfall had in their arsenal but rather how hard were they trying. "So far with such monstrous abilities and yet we haven't Jarren or Callista is a gauge on telling how powerful they are."
His head supported by his head as he blankly stared ahead. "Atherion , so far we haven't found a suitable means of keeping the contamination at but but we have found that the use of facial cover helps reduce the rate of infection."
He pulled out a gas mask presenting it to Atherion. His face showed intrigue as he inspected it. "What about the food and water? If it can be transmitted through air then I take it that it would contaminate water as well, no?' James gave a grim shake of his head. "I apologize my king but so far we haven't found a way of sterilizing contaminated rations."
Atherion's gaze darkened, he knew what this meant. 'We will have to die of hunger or risk getting infected with the plague.' It felt like mockery, they would die of starvation with their granaries and stores filled to the brim. Not to mention with the ongoing war, rations were a necessity, without it his men would meet their demise.
"Find a way of purging it out of the food and water. Or we'll die of starvation." He looked at Redfall, with it's people already too far gone, they had remain unaffected of the plague. 'Damn you Guinevere!' James however posed a concern that made his face freeze. "Since we are at war with Redfall, wouldn't that nullify all established relationships with her?"
He recalled Callista's words, promising to kill James and Atherion on the side. And with tier current locations shrouded in mystery, the chances of them already being in the kingdom were high. "I'll have Toren send you to the agrees black site once. However I'm not sure whether this time we will be as lucky as before and manage to have her culled.
The prior was out of sheer luck that she was drawn back from Reuthar but this time, she had all the reasons to kill the two. With their demise Reuthar would be far easier to take over. "What about you king Atherion?" James inquired. "Don't worry too much about that, just make sure that you're okay." His tone with a hint of acceptance further disturbing James.