All who were around stood still. Their expressions were in utter disbelief after hearing that ringing slap. Captain Ravencroft's veins bulged in raging anger after seeing a commoner strike him. He let go of Nathan's hand and threw his own immediately afterwards in a blitz. His eyes fixated on his mother, Nathan reacted almost as fast as Ravencroft's strike and held her close to shield her, using his back against the attack.
Just as Nathan's back was about to get obliterated, Captain Cedric grabbed it before impact.
"Using your strength against the boy and his mother, really, Lukas?!"
"Let go of me… or else."
A magical flow of fire and ice erupted between the two Captains, with nothing breaking their shared intense gaze.
"What the hell is with you two? Stop this at once!" said Headmaster Celestia in a fit of rage.
"There are civilians here, and you want to destroy my academy even more. Both of you leave, or I'll tell King Augustus about this."
Her threat shook the two of them, and they finally parted ways, with Ravencroft pulling Eleanor by the wrist. She let out a tiresome sigh and went over to Nathan and his mother.
"I'm terribly sorry about everything that's happened today, Ms. Valen. Your son's safety was endangered not once but twice."
She gave no response but took herself and Nathan away from the school.
Celestia rested her face on her palms for a moment before turning to the destroyed side of the academy and thought to herself.
[What a mess today has been, brother.]
News of what has happened today about Stellanova Academy erupted throughout Luminaris and even worse inside the kingdom. Confusion and tension ran ramped with everyone getting the news of 'The Heralds of Life' and their recent attack on the school. Inside the castle, where King Augustus resides, is filled with anxiety from those who were kept out of the loop.
"There's an actual terrorist here? How the hell did they pass through so casually past the gates?"
Those questions and many more kept circulating inside the castle among many. A woman knocked on King Augustus' chamber and asked him to address the people on their uprising concerns, but no answer. She kept begging him until finally he answered behind the door and said,
"I'm sorry, but unfortunately, I can't find my clean underwear around, so I'll have to address them in 2 days."
"(Shocked) Your majesty, what are you talking about? The people are in a panic; they need you."
"I can't right now, but since you asked so nicely, I'll tell them the morning of the day after tomorrow."
"That's still two days!"
"I've asked a guard to order a new batch of underwear from the outskirts of the country, and he said they'll be ready by then, so unless you want me to talk to them without anything underneath, then that's your choice."
She began getting flustered and asked, "What should we do before then?"
He answered, "Tell the people that we're investigating the group and that we ask them to give us 2 days in order to show them the progress of our labor."
She then left to give the news, leaving King Augustus in his chamber.
[Now that she's gone, I'll start looking for that bearded grumpy toad]
Moments after the King Augustus' Chief Advisor told everyone to give them two days, Nathan was being bandaged by Eliana, his mother.
"I'm serious, I'm fine."
But she ignored him.
She hasn't said a word ever since they arrived. Nathan later went to his room and rested until he was called down to have dinner. The sound of their chewing and utensils clashing on the plates filled the room. As Nathan was about to take a few last bites, his mother let out a subtle statement.
"I want you to stop going to that academy."
Nathan dropped his fork on the plate and expressively asked, "Why?!"
She responded, "I've already made the decision, so end of discussion."
"What about my decision? Doesn't that matter?"
"Nathan, please don't argue with me."
He stood up from his chair and kept on raising his voice.
"Shouldn't something like this have my say in it?! You can't just decide something like that and expect me to just accept it."
"You almost died!"
The room went quiet again after her sudden outburst until she continued.
"Noah told me everything. That you were fighting some terrorist guy from the newspapers, and that Harry died. When I saw you, there were bruises on your face and so many on your body that I lost count. If something worse had happened to you than… I don't know what I'd do."
A look of guilt and worry flushed over Nathan's face. A memory of Harry on his arms came to mind with all the emotions he felt that time.
[If I felt that way for Harry, then maybe it'd be worse for her.]
"I understand your worries mom, but still. I knew what I got myself into when I walked through those doors for the first time and so did you when you agreed."
"I know. But the thought of you almost dying- at 16! You have your whole life ahead of you. There are other things you can do to help people, like standing guard by the gates, or anything that doesn't involve you getting battered and bruised."
Her emotions were piling onto her as she began to tear up. Seeing this, Nathan walked over to her and held her.
"I'm sorry mom, but I can't just stop. I know this is selfish of me for doing this, but the best I can do is promise that I won't end up dying."
"(sob) But I still can't get it out of my head."
"I know. But I still keep my promises, right?"
He gave her a cheerful attitude and pointed his pinky finger out in front of her.
"I promise."
She pointed hers out as well, and they both interlocked with each other as she wiped off her tears and gave a small, satisfied smile. They end the night with laughter and washing dishes.
Later that night, as Lawrence was still out, a yellow falcon-like bird came flying towards him in a flash. He sensed the bird's speed, and as it was about to reach him, he swung his sword at it, but the bird vanished and appeared behind him on top of a tree branch, and as he was about to trap it with shadow magic, it didn't have a shadow.
[What the hell?]
He noticed it had a note tied to its leg. The bird's gaze felt like it was calling him over. He cautiously walked towards it and took the note out. It wrote,
"Come by the tavern by the village in the north side of the tall mountain tomorrow night."