Nova and Will ignored Wisdom while the other six mages rushed to her. Sam pulled Wisdom up and shook her shoulders, "Wisdom!"
Wisdom remained lifeless.
Sam pressed his ear to her chest. His face soured after a few seconds, and he let go. Wisdom woke from the impact with a scream as manic energy dispersed in a ring around her. Telekinetic power exploded from her manick core, but Nova countered with an implosion of the same power. Groggy, Wisdom looked around. "Ah, you're back." She stretched like a cat, then went limp on the ground, falling into a deep slumber. Nova brought a single sofa from the lobby and laid Wisdom on it.
"This is what I was concerned about. It's been hours, and this investigation has taken up the whole day." Nova started bringing in more furniture from the lobby until all nine of them had a place to rest. "We sleep in here until we find Nikola's killer." The mages groaned in frustration.
"It's the only way to keep our heads, or did you forget about Nikola already?" As Nova explained their predicament, Ruby immediately took the opportunity to drop dead. "See? She gets it." Gala protested, "We haven't even taken showers yet." She walked over to Nova, whispering, "Will smells like a barbarian. I can't sleep with my nose hairs being scorched."
Nova sat on the thought for a moment. "Alright, let's vote. Who wants to take a shower tonight?" All the awake mages raised their hands. "Okay, you can take your showers, but you'll have to use the communal showers." They all cringed in disgust. Each room of the facility had personalized bathrooms, and they were used to being alone when it mattered. "Well, get to it. I'll keep watch over Wisdom and the room." Nova pushed them out of the room with glee and closed the door behind him.
If they don't care about their safety, then they can fight like hell without me. If that killer shows up, they can handle it.
Ian's voice came from beyond the door, barely audible, "I heard that!"
Nova slumped to the floor and dozed off. Opening his eyes, Nova looked around a fiery wasteland surrounded by corpses. Some were mutilated in various ways, others were charred, and the rest were wounded with life drained from their eyes like cows in a slaughter.
"Not this place," Nova stood up and walked through the wasteland. Cinder bones broke under his feet while the fires of the world crackled all around him.
A corpse crawled to Nova, grabbing him by the feet and stopping him. "You did this to me, boy." The corpse's voice was weak, along with its grip. Nova kicked it off his ankle. "And you are?" Nova continued to walk until he got to a figure—no, a woman. She sat on a throne made from flesh and bone, a grotesque sight for anyone except Nova. She smiled a wicked grin from ear to ear because he knew exactly why all the bodies were there.
Bang, bang, bang. With a jolt, Nova woke up from his nap, heart beating fast. He held his head to the door's surface. "Who is it?" "ALL OF US!" they all yelled simultaneously. Nova let them back in the room; everyone was dressed in their nightwear.
Gala picked Ruby up and moved her to a sofa, laying with her and falling asleep. Will walked to the opposite side of the room, resting on the ground away from Wisdom. Sam stood around, not willing to sleep. Ourania and Maram talked on a sofa, while Ian took a whole sofa to himself. Once all the other members of the sect drifted off, Nova called Sam to the meeting table. "Sam, our sect is compromised. We obviously can't stay here anymore. For now, I'll have everybody move into the above-ground dorms."
"And Wisdom?"
"She'll have to figure it out."
Sam scorned, "Excuse me?" he stared daggers at Nova.
Nova stared right back. "You know we can't just take her with us. She's stuck here."
"I understand that, but nobody is going to stay here with her."
"Go ahead and take up that mantle if you're so concerned."
"I have a responsibility in the school, unlike you!" Sam jabbed Nova with his finger, his yelling slightly disturbing everyone's sleep.
He lowered his voice to not disrupt the others again. "Someone has to stay down here."
"Actually, nobody 'has' to do anything you say because it's not your call."
"It is my call because it's my team."
"You mean the team that I lead? The team that you never had because instead of saving humanity, you decided to hide away from the world. Then yes, this is your problem and your team."
Sam was enraged by the lack of respect coming from Nova's mouth. "My mission is to save humanity by protecting them."
"Did you protect Nikola?"
Sam sprang out of his chair, reaching for Nova. With one leg, Nova tilted his chair backward while his other leg kept Sam from grabbing him, making the young man fly over him, tumbling onto the floor. They both recovered from their falls. All the mages woke up from the commotion. Nova and Sam stood off with each other, only 2 meters apart. Sam closed the gap. He stepped with his left foot and pivoted, launching his right foot like a jet engine. Nova redirected the kick into the ground and stepped on Sam's shin, but Sam's manick ability activated. The shin morphed, turning into a triangular shape. Nova picked up his chair and sat back down.
"What are you doing, Nova?" Sam staggered a little from their scuffle. Nova didn't turn around but responded, "You have a new rapid evolution without the muscle memory of using it." Sam fell over due to the ramifications of the ability; with his legs being two different sizes, he was unable to keep his balance.
But before he could fall, a half-awake Wisdom gently set him down with her ability.
"Can we please just go to sleep?" Ian said, eyes still closed.
Sam's body started to put itself back to default. Nova was sleeping in his chair, sitting up. Once Sam was reformed back to normal, he took a seat on the floor and nodded off.
Gentle alarms simultaneously sounded off on all the smartphones in the sect. It was morning, though they couldn't tell by the sunlight.
"Grimsnow!" Nova yelled, copying Wisdom's ability and grabbing all the mages, setting them down in their chairs. Nauseous and drowsy, Ruby demanded, "Please stop doing that. I'm not used to being off the ground."
Everyone came to, and Nova started the meeting. "No one interrupt me when I say this. We can't revive Nikola, but we can find someone else who will. Our mission is to find a Ritualist, get them into the sect, and we'll revive Nikola. I also have some criteria for you. Number one: Make a list of all Ritualists who have the power to revive; we'll compare notes and find the least convoluted ritual. Number two: We'll meet back here in one month to compare said notes. And number three: Don't let anybody know that Nikola is dead. Do you understand?"
All the mages nodded their heads in agreement and understanding.
Wisdom raised her hand. "What about me?"
Sam looked at Nova, discontented.
"I'll allow Sam to check in on you on a bi-daily schedule," Nova said.
Sam's feelings quelled, satisfied with Nova's words. He headed out as the others followed him.