Alyandrea: “Mrs. Haldeen, Mrs. Haldeen! WHERE’S ALL OF OUR LUGGAGE?!”

Mrs. Haldeen: “…”

Alyandrea: “Don’t tell me, don’t tell me the villains ruined all of it?!”

Elijah: “*Walks back into the lobby from boy’s path* I began thinking about the same thing after I finished verifying Rise’s Dorm room number. Hello again, Mrs. Haldeen. Here’s the Dorm Cards for Rise, Noel and Leos respectively. *Hands them over* I promised that I would choose my bedroom after everybody else, so."

Mrs. Haldeen: “Nonsense, go pick out a room! I could never dare to call myself a teacher in public if I didn’t show you even the smallest increment of appreciation for helping your unresponsive classmates. You did good work, and you’ve suffered today just like everybody else. Don’t use this ‘class representative’ title as an excuse either. Before that, you are a student. Not above, nor below, any other non – combatant student. Do I make myself clear?”

Elijah: “N-No, but I-“

Mrs. Haldeen: “I don’t want to hear any excuses! The overreaching kindness you’ve been showing so far is admirable in a child, but that type of mentality is bound to get you ki—taken for granted. Ahem. Try to be a little selfish from time to time.”

Elijah: “…(Was…Was she about to say ‘killed’ …?) Mrs. Haldeen…”

Alyandrea: “Mrs. Haldeen! Where. Is. Our. Stuff! Oh, and before I forget; here. *Hands over Dorm Cards for Ophelia, Aria, herself and Oliviera. I don’t wanna hear any complaints if they don’t like their new rooms!”

Mrs. Haldeen: “Thank you, wait a moment, ‘new rooms’…? Didn’t I charge you with picking out the rooms they previously chose? Or did you not remember?”

Alyandrea: “I remembered all right, for most of them. I just didn’t remember the prissy fa-…AHAUGH! Cough – Cough!

…Oliviera’s room. And besides, there’s no guarantee that they’ll like them either. Mainly because-“

Mrs. Haldeen: “Ah. Well that is to be expected I suppose. A new building means entirely new scenery. So long as you picked a suitable room for them, I’m sure they won’t mind. If they do… they can always take it up with me.”

Alyandrea: “The prissy fa-…Oliviera…she will probably mind. A lot. Expect some complaints. I couldn’t really tell if the room I chose for her was a ‘good’ one or not, because of obvious reasons."

Mrs. Haldeen: “(Ah, I’m feeling exhausted beyond normal. It must have been the ring, or maybe that ‘brainwashing’ … thing!!

Normally, I’d never feel so exhausted around midnight, let alone around the afternoon. I hope that I’m not infected with anything outlandish.) Hoooh. Obvious…? What’s obvious?”

Elijah: “Obvious…Mrs. Haldeen, I think she’s talking about the windows.”

Mrs. Haldeen: “The windows? What about them? (Oops! Rather than worry about the kids’ conversation, I’m busy self – lamenting! Now I missed what they were trying to tell me. Something obvious… and about the windows no less…)”

Alyandrea: “Mrs. Haldeen… You can’t seriously...(Do I need to spell it out for you?! You air-headed teacher?! Haah. This lady…she must be really stressed.) Okay. Choosing the rooms for everybody was difficult because of the lack of scenery! The WINDOWS are all closed! Sealed up with metal!”

Mrs. Haldeen: “Ah. That’s what you meant. Hopefully it will only be a temporary matter. Very soon(I hope), our security measures will be rendered moot. And your freedom will once again be reinstated. For now, everybody just has to suck it up!”

Alyandrea: “Alright Mrs. Haldeen, I got ya. But you STILL haven’t answered my first question! WHERE. Is. Our. Stuff?!”

Mrs. Haldeen: “Umm, One second. While I check on that with Mr. Pierce.”

*VWISH!*

Mr. Abrams: “No need. I have it all right here.”

A smooth – suited magician with wavy white hair and hazel – blue eyes descended after a brilliant, white light: like an angel paying a visit to Mrs. Haldeen.

Yes.

He was like an angel.

Except for one detail.

Over his head, were 43 crates stashed in protective bubbles.

And each of those crates were filled with the non - combatant students’ belongings!

Mr. Abrams: “Elijah, I wrapped your stuff back inside the crate they sat inside before you all arrived to claim them. I took the liberty to do the same for the others as well. Luckily, no one lost any of their belongings in the attack.”

The bubbles floated overhead, effectively shadowing the four. Instead of looking like an angel he more accurately resembled Santa Claus.

Alyandrea couldn’t help but gulp, as she gazed up in awe – inspiring terror. What if that were her floating away up there? If she’s not on her best behavior, would she wind up like those crates? How embarrassing!

Mr. Abrams: “Alyandrea, this is what you were looking for, no?”

Alyandrea: “…I…

.

.

Yes, yes it is. Thank you ver-very much, Mr. Abrams. I would like to take mine now.(Wherever it is, and whichever one that it happens to be…)”

Mr. Abrams: “Not, so fast. Before I can give you your luggage, I need you to look into my eyes first. This is non-refutable.”

Alyandrea looked at her teacher as if he were some kind of idiot. Why should she stare at his eyeballs before receiving her luggage? Is he really this vain? Does he want her to throw a cringey compliment at him next or something?

Unfortunately, the very moment she did as she was told, her mind went blank, and her vision blurred.

…

What Mr. Abrams saw next was similar to what he already saw from Ophelia’s memories, save for one tiny detail. Just like Leos, once her head fell, she still retained consciousness for a little longer. For a few minutes long, her teacher heard every whimpering, fear-filled word she thought to herself. He experienced

her entire ordeal, wordlessly.

Alyandrea: “(No…No…Please no…! I don’t – I don’t wanna die! I don’t wanna- I’m not… I’m not ready! Momma…I – I’m sorry! Please help me, I don’t need to go to this school anymore! Please help me! … I don’t wanna die…

Daddy…I - I’m not ready to see you…!)”

Mr. Abrams: “…”

His fist trembled violently for a moment, before calming down.

And the world finally returned to normal.

Without waiting for anybody to speak, he walked towards Elijah, and his eyes flashed. This boy knew Mr. Abrams the best, so he stood there motionlessly, and without a word of disapproval. One of their eyes flashed, while the other’s clouded. And the scenery of the past returned.

…

The overwhelming stench of blood was wrenchingly palpable. Beyond the thick bushes and foliage, lay two corpses. He failed to notice right away, however one of the figures sticking out of the greenery was particularly drenched in blood. Going based on his own memory of what Elijah said, he tried to bring the ‘easier to carry’ person back with him an wound up miraculously fumbling around enough to find their group. It was the same with Ophelia…how weird. When they needed to, they somehow made their way to the right place. Maybe their destination was actually not that hard to find, but the odds of simply ‘stumbling’ across it was still pretty low. For two of his students to find their destinations upon simply ‘bull-rushing blindly’ was alarming in its own right.

What he didn’t expect however, was that Elijah lied to him. He said he picked up the easiest to carry load, and claimed he later realized how foolish his actions were. Instead, however, he went straight for Oliviera after screaming and examining Leos’s corpse. His thoughts? He understood full well that Leos was dead. There was nothing he could do for the boy, no matter how painful it felt. The feeling of being useless; this reminder painfully dug into his heart. But…as he overcame his miserable feelings with a temporary force of will… as he rushed over to feel for Oliviera’s pulse… an as he finally attempted to lift her up despite feeling nothing of the sort…

He came to the realization that he could not lift her! This went far beyond his classmate simply being overweight: Elijah literally could not budge her body no matter how hard he tried to lift or push! After trying for a good 5 minutes, he realized time might very well be running out for the others. Such a thought scared – no, terrified him into self-consciousness. The insignificant speck of doubt became a budding seed – before growing imperceptibly, then ravenously, into a blooming orchid of anxiety.

He slowly placed her body down. Wiped her drying tears and mouthed out an apology, as his own tears ran nearly as fast as he did.

He picked up Leos’s bleeding corpse, and took off: knowing full well that his classmate’s blood was spilling over his own body.

Elijah: “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! *Sniff* I’m sorry I’m so fucking, FUCKING USELESS!!

I’m so fucking… *Sniff* so useless… I don’t deserve to be a hero. Never again… NEVER AGAIN!!

...

Uuwaaaa...!”

…

Watching again, without nary a word once more, Mr. Abrams reeling back his own consciousness. Only claiming that he was leaving the crates with her, he allowed the bubbles to descend. They popped immediately after touching a hard surface. Alyanrea thought about this particular feature curiously. How can such fragile structures safely carry that heavy load without worry?

*Vwish!*

Mr. Abrams teleported in front of Ian next and began staring at the boy’s eyes…

His eyes shone brightly before he heard the pair of eyes’s owner speak up.

Ian: “Mr-Mr. Abrams, this is weird. Stay away from me!”

Mr. Abrams: “…

(…These stupid brats are all the same.)”

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