So little stood between Noctis and freedom.
Just a horde of brainwashed youths about to launch at him and probably tear him into little pieces.
In a hasty attempt to turn around and run for it, Noctis's heart pounded erratically in his chest.
Sweat gathered cold along his spine while his breath hitched, shallow and sharp, as he desperately scanned for an escape. Panic twisted in his gut, making his hands tremble, and his mind scramble for a plan.
The cold reality that there was no way out quickly settled in, suffocating any hope and leaving only the hollow thrum of fear.
He felt the hard grasp of a fellow student attempting to hold him in place. Turning in a rushed motion, Noctis hit the guy who was grasping his arm, putting all of his body's strength behind it.
The young-looking man fell back a muffled grunt escaped his lips.
Before Noctis could, however, gain any ground, another hand reached for him, and another and another.
They came from the front, the right, the left, and suddenly, his back as well. They were thoroughly surrounding him. Dodging one, then another, Noctis smacked a student to the side, the girl coughing up blood a moment later.
Seeing the lush blonde hair of the girl lying on the floor, Noctis was shocked.
Siana?
He was not given time to digest what he had done, as a pang of guilt hit him.
None of the students reacted as one would expect. None of them flinched away, none of them seemed to feel empathy towards their fallen classmates.
They were truly and utterly fearless, a complete reversal of the scene when the doctor came.
As the group of still smiling maniacs rushed for him from all sides.
Should I use the converter?
Noctis glanced down at the glove wrapped around his hand; the picture of the girl he had just struck down flashed before his eyes, and a brief hesitation arose. This hesitation, born of fear, was all it took.
His gloved arm was grasped the next moment by a tall, bronze-skinned man. Brutus!
Before he could react, paralyzed by a sudden, unnatural burst of fear, he saw a strong fist rush towards his chest. A fist that had once shattered all of Elijah's ribs, in a spare he had spectated weeks ago.
The hesitation born of fear all but stopped him in his tracks for the briefest of moments, all that Brutus needed. Nox flew back a meter, colliding with three other students, their arms wrapping around him a moment later, restraining him.
Nox felt his thoughts cloud as a great fear rose within him.
Fear of pain.
Fear of closeness.
Fear of hurting others.
Fear of dying numbs his every thought.
THIS is not my fear!!!
Nox struggled fiercely, freeing one arm, punching the person holding the other right after.
Bang!!!
Thrown to the ground, a person on each arm, and another sitting on his back held down his head.
Nox struggled desperately, so very desperately; in the end, it was all in vain.
A sudden sound of clapping stopped all of his attempts at once. That sound, overturning the groans escaping his mouth, the sound reverberating through the hallway, he was pinned down in.
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
Percivable from the corner of his eye, a cyan-haired man casually walked out of Nox's room, as if he owned the place, his hand in a repeated slow clapping motion. A few threads entangle in his grey attire, seamlessly mixing into the color palette, giving it a torn look without showing skin.
Then suddenly some of his thrawls started to do the same, one by one, every single one of them, with the exception of those holding him down, started clapping, closing in on Nox bit by bit. A chorus of clapping, eliminating the silence of the hallway, the sounds of struggle that had been so emphasized were now completely gone.
"What… `Clapa` a `Clapa` valiant struggle, truly. Noctis, I am impressed.
For a mere Assimiator, you are truly impressive."
He now stood in front of him directly, his feet in range to kick the restrained boy with ease.
Raef looked down at the pathetic-looking Nocits. Bruises littered his face, and yet there was a defiant, unrelenting expression plastered across, worn like armor, armor that was slowly cracking, infested by a worm of fear.
"What… a… shame, I'll have to kill such a promising individual… don't you think?" His words were drawn out, which gave his entire speech an infuriating flair.
Chuapu! Noctis tried to spit at Raef from his restrained position, the thrawl pressing down his head, promptly his nose hitting the pavement as a stream of blood was unleashed.
Unable to resist, Nox spat out in a defiant tone.
"Do you really think that I would fall for something like that?!"
Trying his best to erect his head, but failing miserably, pressed into his own blood.
"I might not have known before, but even an idiot can figure it out at this point!" Letting out a mocking laugh, he increased the pressure on his head in return, his laughter turning into a pained groan.
"You would have killed me long ago if you had the choice!
Whatever you are, you can't risk being discovered, and looking at your operation, there has to be a lot of evidence left behind."
Observing Nox from above, Raef's relaxed facade was unshaken, but a small twitch of the corner of his mouth revealed that Nox was dead on.
"Ha, ha. If you kill me, you'll attract attention to this facility, and doing what you did with Elijah would take too long." Nox wore a mocking smile as he taunted.
"All of this was to play with my emotions, to make me more susceptible to your Authority.
Considering your words and the fact that you have been slowly pumping fear into me, giving me hope before turning it into despair. That is part of your authority. Isnt it?
In truth, you can't do anything to me! So you're desperately trying to do to me what you did to the others here!"
Crouching down, Raef stared at the completely immobile Noctis, his eyes tightly shut, clearly in an attempt to minimize his influence. When close enough, Raef gently started caressing Noctis's hair, his tone amused.
"You know you are wrong about one part."
No reaction.
He continued, his gentle caressing turning into tightly grasping his hair, pulling his head up to eye level, yet Noctis' eyes stayed tightly shut.
"I have more than enough time to turn you into a… hmm, how to put it accurately with a creature of fate." A slight tremble revealed Noctis's fear and surprise at Raef discovering his Authority's origin.
"Right… Take control of your strings until you become a marionette. Isnt that the most fitting end for a slave of fate?"
At the same time he spoke, his two goons started forcefully opening Noctis eyes. Resisting futilely, his eyes were pried open one by one, the green glow of Raef's eyes meeting Noctis, dark ones filled with a silent golden shimmer, the forces seemingly clashing.
Just as their gazes met, a wide, true smile graced Noctis's lips.
"What is it?" Raef asked, for the first time, with clear confusion in his gaze.
"You know, you are wrong about one thing as well!"
Narrowing his eyes in return, a silent, almost astonished mutter escaped Raef's lips.
"W-why aren't you fearing me?"
As Noctis heard this, his smile truly bloomed.
"Because there is nothing to fear!"
Meanwhile, a flash of realization hit Raef, his neck turning back at an unnatural angle. Suddenly, every person in the hallway, including Noctis, stared in the same direction.
Trisha stood there, a bit startled at the sudden attention.
She held a sheet of paper in her right hand, a complex circle engraved on it in red ink. An open wound on her thumb, her blood long run dry, while her Curir was held in her hand, filled to the brim.
As he saw her, Raef did not hesitate, all of his thrales hastely rushing forward at a speed far faster than when dealing with Noctis.
The creature of fear showed fear for the first time.
They were too late, however.
Trisha slammed her thumb onto the magic circle, pressing it to the ground, and opened her Curir a moment later, splattering six drops onto the paper.
"You'll have to pay me back later!" A cocky smile appeared on her face as she spoke.
The next moment, everyone fell to the ground, their powers sapped from them.
Everything in the surroundings started to wither and decay, even the metal walls started to rust, every muscle in the group's bodies was revolting, every tendon was loosening and falling apart.
It was excruciatingly painful.
No one moved, no one could do so.
Their strength was sapped and decaying.