Private Tales S.A.P.

[Adriwolf]

Jaken waited for Kiara to open the secret entrance to where the missing documents were hosted once. He had to be patient, if Kiara's backstory was true, then she should remember what to do in what order to lead him to the ghost area. After some minutes, Jaken noticed that Kiara took some time to do her actions. He knew what this was about. She was still struggling with her decision. The werewolf thought on pressuring her to open the room already, but instead, he remained silent, with his ears close to the door in case they had to hide if somone was getting close to the office. Some minutes later he heard a button being pushed. He turned around and saw Kiara opening a trapdoor that lead into what it appeared to be a basement.

It’s open, follow me and be careful with the steps

Jaken nodded. He followed Kiara downstairs, illuminated by a weak spell Kiara had summoned at the tip of her staff. It was no torch, but it was better than going in completely blind. When reaching the sublevel, Jaken looked to the walls nearby and found a switch. The werewolf could not think of something else than fliping it. When he did, several torches lit up, illuminating the once dark room, revealing scrolls and fat, dusty books scattered around the shelves. On contrary what Jaken beleived, it was a rather short room. Small, not enough to make a claustrophobic panic, but enough to staff 8 shelves of 5 levels each with books. "Fancy." he sarcastically commented.

Just one question before we go in, how will we know that documents are missing, i don’t know if there is something like a record that keeps track of every documents that are there, if there is nothing like that then how will we know what is missing?

"Well... that is where your memory probably kicks in." he heard the trapoor they had used close on itself upstairs. He patted Kiara on the back "Hope you didn't plan anything speecial for the night. Come on, let's look around." he said as he guided Kiara to the book shelves "Look at all these books and scrolls. I want you to notice the symbols and titles of each and everyone of them. You need to remember if something is missing: a book, a scroll, some spare paper with information on it. Try it. I know it may be hard, but please, you need to remember."

 

[Kiara]

"Well... that is where your memory probably kicks in."

"Look at all these books and scrolls. I want you to notice the symbols and titles of each and everyone of them. You need to remember if something is missing: a book, a scroll, some spare paper with information on it. Try it. I know it may be hard, but please, you need to remember."

Kiara eyes widen at his words giving a shocked look to Jaken. That was an almost impossible task. She had never been there before, the only thing she knew was how to open the secret room, sure she recalled seeing some of the scrolls and books whenever the previous headmaster were reading or writing them on his desk but that was it...
She turned her attention to the first bookshelf, trying to recall everything she had saw on the possession of the headmaster, scrolls, books, papers, anything that could help her. Using her memory as hard as she could she would also rely on her perception, trying to see if there’s something missing, a space between books, or a mark of dust meaning that once something had been there.

She studied and analyzed every single detail. It was taking an eternity to just examine one bookshelf, and still 7 more to go.
She was already on the forth and still nothing, then something caught her eye, a mark on the dust, something was missing, suddenly a memory crossed her mind. Thinking fast she was now moving back and forward between the bookshelves, opening and closing books and scrolls. An old scroll that she once saw on the headmaster’s desk had gone missing and also some related documents about it as well.

She turned to Jaken, feeling proud of herself "There’s a scroll missing, i remember seeing it once but it’s no longer here, besides, some other documents are missing and as far as the info I have gathered indicates they are all related. The only thing i dont know is the content of it"
Now she was experiencing headaches and tiredness, certainly studying was difficult and required a lot of mental effort, but this task exhausted her to the point of feeling dizzy.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken waited leaning on a wall with his arms crossed, waiting for Kiara's answer as she walked on the room, observing and analyizing all the books and the shelves. Eventually, he noticed that Kiara was onto something. He couls see that the elf had an idea as she wandered from shelf to shelf without any kind of order. She was jumping from one book on shelf 2 to a scroll on shelf 5, then to a book on shelf 1. She kept repeating this action for almos a minute after finally speaking again to Jaken.

"There’s a scroll missing, i remember seeing it once but it’s no longer here, besides, some other documents are missing and as far as the info I have gathered indicates they are all related. The only thing i dont know is the content of it"

"Then we have something on our hands." he concluded "Good job Kiara. We now know that there is something that they wanted... though..." he analyzed "The content may be important. Think about it. Papers that are hidden on a secret room, I assume that maybe the content is not about flowers and rainbows, for it to be hidden below a fireplace? They must want it for a reason. What? What is it?" the werewolf noticed that Kiara's face was of exhaustion. He could deduce that the elf had overworked her memory. Jaken saw on her face dizziness and mental weakness "Maybe you should sit down." he suggested "Sit there and relax." he pointed at a step "I think I can take it from here." he stepped forward to the shelves, thinking on what to do. He took out his notes and edited them:

S.A.P.: Found in guard's ddead body. Acronym? Mark? Of what?
2 assasins:

1. Assasin one (clock tower): Decoy or murder attempt?
2. Assasin two (documents): Stole from secret room (CONFIRMED, RELATION PROBABLE, CONTENT UNKNOWN). Why? How? (THROUGH FIRE PLACE) What documents?

Secret room: who told the assasins? Current headmaster? Previous headmasters? Teachers that know?
Inside job?

He folded the note and put it back in his pocket. He then studied the books and scrolls on the shelves. There were symbols he could not understand, most of them were gibberish to his eyes. However, he could recognize some languages, but could not read them: latin, greek, nordic, french, japanese, among many others, however, there were no documents in english, not even classical english. He could not understand those languages, not even those that they taught him way back when he was a normal human. He only knew englidh and a bit of spanish. "There are so many languages. Why? Why all these languages? If what you say is true: that some of the documents are related, then we need to find out what these say. That is our only lead." he looked back at Kiara "Maybe we should get some rest. Do you want to head back up or keep investigating."

 

[Kiara]

Kiara followed Jaken’s suggestion and sat down, closing her eyes and leaning on a near wall, she could feel the cold from it, it was quite a pleasant feeling, helping her with the headaches. She was not asleep, just trying to relax her overworked mind, until she hear the werewolf speking.

"The content may be important. Think about it. Papers that are hidden on a secret room, I assume that maybe the content is not about flowers and rainbows, for it to be hidden below a fireplace? They must want it for a reason. What? What is it?"

“The only thing I know about it is the document's code name Altersphere, is cited on other books, but none explain what it really means or is…. like I said before it can be something between a powerful magic spell, or some magic experiment or even a magic device, that’s the kind of stuffs that are keep in here”
Opening her eyes the elf noticed that Jaken seemed a bit lost with all those documents around him, still with his back turned to her while observing all that old books, he finally asked.

"There are so many languages. Why? Why all these languages? If what you say is true: that some of the documents are related, then we need to find out what these say. That is our only lead." he looked back at Kiara "Maybe we should get some rest. Do you want to head back up or keep investigating."

Kiara gave a tired smile and explained “it’s a security measure, too make things more complicated to track and read, there are even documents here written in ancient dead languages, all this knowledge…imagine if it was easy to access it and ended up on wrong hands… “
“ I already thought a way to find out about the content, for sure the school will try to retrieve the stolen documents. There is a special unit capable of deal with this kind of situations, and some teachers are part of it, besides i believe the headmaster warned all the teachers during the reunion so they could be on alert and support with this matter. So the only thing we need to do is to ask to the right person, don't worry, i already know who to ask about this, its the person i trust the most and also one of the oldest person who work here”
Kiara then paused a bit to think on what to do next, turning her head to the entrance of the secret room.
“I don’t know what time is it now, but for sure we don’t wanna be here by the time the headmaster return to is office, also i would like to rest now. Tomorrow we can proceed with the investigation, but something is worrying me.... i don’t know for how long the school will allow you to stay here, since you already recovered from your injuries.” she finished saying now looking to to werewolf.

 

[Adriwolf]

The only thing I know about it is the document's code name Altersphere, is cited on other books, but none explain what it really means or is…. like I said before it can be something between a powerful magic spell, or some magic experiment or even a magic device, that’s the kind of stuffs that are keep in here

"Then that should give us another hint: Altersphere. I haven't heard of the term before. When I get out I'll try to get the meaning of it and tell you." he took out his notes and edited them yet again

Assasin two (documents): Stole from secret room (CONFIRMED, RELATION PROBABLE-CODE NAME: ALTERSPHERE, CONTENT UNKNOWN). Why? How? (THROUGH FIRE PLACE) What documents?

After keeping his notes on his pocket, he started to think how they could gather information on the documents. Ask around? Creep around in forbidden places? Maybe force someone to talk?

I already thought a way to find out about the content, for sure the school will try to retrieve the stolen documents. There is a special unit capable of deal with this kind of situations, and some teachers are part of it, besides i believe the headmaster warned all the teachers during the reunion so they could be on alert and support with this matter. So the only thing we need to do is to ask to the right person, don't worry, i already know who to ask about this, its the person i trust the most and also one of the oldest person who work here

"Sounds like a chance of gathering information. And if that person trustes you as much as you do with him, then the information would come out spilling out of their mouths. Use that. Any information that comes out might help us finding what we are dealing with."

I don’t know what time is it now, but for sure we don’t wanna be here by the time the headmaster return to is office, also i would like to rest now. Tomorrow we can proceed with the investigation, but something is worrying me.... i don’t know for how long the school will allow you to stay here, since you already recovered from your injuries

"Oh I know about that." he commented "I'm sure they will kick my ass out of the college when the sun rises, so I'll do them the favor and kick myself out now. There is a motel nearby, so I can check in for the night. Maybe ask around for this term you brought up. If I find something, I'll contact you. For now, let's head back up and get some rest." he said helping Kiara back up and turning off the switch. They both headed back upstairs and activated a mechanism on the wall that unlocked the trapdoor. Once again in the office, Jaken checked with his hearing if there was anything unusual, anything that could tell if someone was near. There was none. The werewolf unlocked the door and stepped out to the hallway, then turned back to the elf "So I guess you will be ok returning to your room?" he assumed "I will just walk out the college, maybe retrieve my equipment and go to the motel..." he looked at the elf's eyes "Or do you want me to escort you? Who knows if another assasin is wandering. I wouldn't want you to get hurt. Your choice."

 

[Kiara]

"Sounds like a chance of gathering information. And if that person trustes you as much as you do with him, then the information would come out spilling out of their mouths. Use that. Any information that comes out might help us finding what we are dealing with."

"Thats not a problem, i know that if i ask for his help he will support me the best as he can, also i really need to talk to him, so tomorrow morning i will take care of that."

"Oh I know about that." he commented "I'm sure they will kick my ass out of the college when the sun rises, so I'll do them the favor and kick myself out now. There is a motel nearby, so I can check in for the night. Maybe ask around for this term you brought up. If I find something, I'll contact you. For now, let's head back up and get some rest."

"But by just asking around wouldnt that be a bit reckless... that would bring too much attention towards you, what if the assassins came after you again, or even the school unit or the guard by thinking that somehow you are connect with the missing documents for prying around too much. Im sure you know what you are doing and how to do it, but please, take care of yourself, someone way use that chance to make a scapegoat out of you."
Kiara accepted gladly his help and both made they way out of the office closing and leaving everything the same way they had found before. Once on the hallways Jaken turned to face her.

"So I guess you will be ok returning to your room?" he assumed "I will just walk out the college, maybe retrieve my equipment and go to the motel..." he looked at the elf's eyes "Or do you want me to escort you? Who knows if another assasin is wandering. I wouldn't want you to get hurt. Your choice."

"Im sure i can make to my room safe and sound, i dont think there is any other assassin waiting for an oppotunity to kill me" she said while giggle a bit "But i wouldnt mind having you company for a bit longer" said the elf with a kind smile.

 

[Adriwolf]

But by just asking around wouldnt that be a bit reckless... that would bring too much attention towards you, what if the assassins came after you again, or even the school unit or the guard by thinking that somehow you are connect with the missing documents for prying around too much. Im sure you know what you are doing and how to do it, but please, take care of yourself, someone way use that chance to make a scapegoat out of you

"Yeah, I'm aware of that. Asking around for this random term might bring attention, even though I already have a lot of attention. However, I will ask only those who I can trust, like that lizard that thought you were my mate, which will never happen. Him and some other people I know. Or maybe I could dig up in the public library. There has to be a clue, there is always one left behind. Always..." he analyzed "Anyways, you should get some rest. Let's go."

Im sure i can make to my room safe and sound, i dont think there is any other assassin waiting for an oppotunity to kill me" she said while giggle a bit "But i wouldnt mind having you company for a bit longer

"Then what do you want to do eh?" he said with a silly smile "We shouldn't be out here. I am going to get kicked out, I'm heading out, so, how would you have me as company for the rest of the night. I assume that you don't want to go back downstairs to the basement."

 

[Kiara]

"Then what do you want to do eh?" he said with a silly smile "We shouldn't be out here. I am going to get kicked out, I'm heading out, so, how would you have me as company for the rest of the night. I assume that you don't want to go back downstairs to the basement."

Kiara blushed at his comment, realizing that he had misunderstood her words.
"No! Not for the rest of the night!! I didnt mean like that!!! What i was trying to say was that i would like have your company until i get to my room, thats all..." She didn't even tried to hide her embarrassment this time.
Still with her face all flushed she took a deep breath to try to regain some calm, speaking again.
"Never mind what i said, it was just a misunderstanding, i will go by myself, dont worry, I wish you a good night Jaken."
She then just walked away until turn the corner. Once there she tried to remain calm. Thinking of what had just happened. Didnt she explained herself well enough? Or was he just teasing her? she really couldn't tell the reason for the apparent misunderstanding, anyway she couldnt stay there any longer, soon the guard would return for one last round. Avoiding the main hallways Kiara used shortcuts to reach the dorms building and her room. Once inside she went straight to bed, thinking and taking mental notes of everything that had happened until now and soon she had fallen asleep.

Morning had come and with it sunlight passed through Kiara's room window, hitting her face, it was time for her to get up. She stretched all her body, she really had missed her bed, looking around her room she got up and walker to the bathroom, took a warm bath and soon enough was ready for a new day.
First thing to do on her list, have breakfast, so she walked to the cafeteria. It was frenetic was usual, all students in a hurry to eat as fast as they could to go to classes. Today she would have some orange juice and some toasts.
Sometimes she missed that life, having classes, at least she had something to do back there, but since she had finished all her studies there’s was nothing more for her to do now.
She needed to wait for the classes to finish so she could talk to her source, and since no one has requested her assistance she would have all the morning for herself.
"To the library then" said the elf to herself sighing while looking to the sunny sky, it was quite a shame. It seemed like she had just returned her old life, being locked up on that school, just seeing other people lives going on, while she remains the same year after year. She didnt had any friends, sure she was nice to everyone and would help new students, but she never allowed herself to get attached to anyone, they were all variables on her live, coming and going, none really staying, the only constant on her life was her guardian, the only person that was always by her side.
After finishing her meal Kiara proceeded to the library, she would take this opportunity to find something about the Altersphere, some references, anything that could be a lead.
The morning classes were almost over, and Kiara had spent that time researching but she has found nothing. <"I hope that Jaken has better luck than me, i got nothing until now... Well i just hope he is doing ok... when will i seeing him again..."> sensing that her mind was starting to drift she closed the book she was reading. It was time, the bell rang to signal the end of the morning classes. That was her chance to talk to him, if she missed this opportunity she would have to wait until the end of the afternoon, so she needed to hurry.

 

[Adriwolf]

As soon as Kiara disappeared from the scene, Jaken couldn't help but chuckle at what just happen. The situation was probably awkward for both of them, and now, it was WAY more awkward. Jaken shook his head, getting those thougghts out and walked away from the door. If something happened, he would probably hear it. Any sings of danger should come across him due to his heighten senses, but for now, it was time to go. Wanting to avoid any unwanted attention, he returned to the room he woke up after the explosion, pretending like he hadn't skipped the whole day. After a few minutes of being inside the room, Jaken called the nurse and informed her that he was feeling good and the pain was gone.
"So I guess you are good to go." the nurse said "Oh well. Please follow me. I will escort you to the exit where you will retrieve the items you left last night."
"Thank you." the werewolf said. They both walked to the entrance and gave Jaken his weapons back.
"Hey." said the guard, who was an orc "Remember that the college will be more carefull for now on. What you did last night scared some students. And you might want to be carefull about growling to the ones who are here. If that happens again, I will personally throw you out."
Jaken growled "Whatever. And you might want to keep your eyes open. One guard down was enough, don't ya think?" without waiting for an answer, Jaken walked away into the night.

The town was quiet, but not dead silence. There were some merchants outdoors trying to sell some stuff, people going from one place to another. Though it was active, it was nothing compared to the town during noon. Jaken swarmed around the alleyways and streets to reach the motel he had talked about. Entering, he asked for a room for the night. After receiving the key for his room, Jaken undressed and took a hot shower. He missed the water running through his skin and taking away the filth he had on his body. He sank in the bathtub, relaxing as the water carresed his naked body. He then thought: "<<All we have right now is the term altersphere. What does it mean? Is it an alternative sphere of some type or something that changes? If Kiara is right and the documents have relation with that code name then there has to be something that they want to use. Who are THEY? They could belong to this group: S.A.P. I still need to find out what does it mean. Oh well, guess I don't have nothing else for now. Damnit, I feel like I'm going n circles.>>" He got up and dressed only in his boxer, then climbing on bed and closing his eyes...

When the sun was peeking out of the mountains, Jaken was already outside, going straight for the clues he needed. First he decided to reach out to Merkl. He was the closest contact he had, in distance, that is. The shop was already open. He stepped in and made eye contact with the lizard.
"Wheressssss your mate?" Merkl laughed.
"Get off my dick." Jaken said "Have you heard about this term: Altersphere."
"Not that I've hhhhhheeeeeaaaarrdd about." he hissed "Why aaaarrrreee you asking that?"
"I'm looking for something that might be related with this."
"Ssssssooorrryyyyy. Never heard of iiittt."
Jaken clicked his tongue "Really? C'mon Merkl, try to remember." Markl looked at Jaken with his reptilian eyes. The werewolf sighed "Maybe some coins might refresh your memory?"
"Don't have any informaaaattttiiioooonnn. Look at the library. There sssshhhhooouuulllddd be information over there."
Jaken stared at Merkl's eyes. He knew he was speaking the truth. "Well, than you anywa-" he heard something. Outside. The window broke and something got in. Something that looked like a can "GRENEADE!!" Jaken jumped behind the counter, tackling Merkl to the ground. The container exploded in smoke that invaded the shop. Jaken put his bandana on and took out his crossbow. He then sniffed the air. It was an intense smell, something that made him want to go away. "Wolfsbane" he whispered "C'mon Merkl. We need to go." he said, giving his hand to Merkl and dragging him through the floor."
"No!! I can take them!!!" he took out a bow with flaming and explosive arrows "GO!! I'll take care of them."
Jaken ran to the basement, grabbing a spear explosive arrow Merkl had and into the trapdoor he had used to hide the day prior.
He ran through the hallway into the plaza, where various people were assaulting the shop. Jaken took out his crossbow and loaded it with an explosive arrow. He fired. The explosion made the assailants jump far, some dead, some injured. This caught the attention of the remaining men, aiming for Jaken with their bows and spears. Attaccking Jaken, Markl took the chance to throw an explosive back at them. It made for a distraction for Jaken to charge them and attack them physically. He slashed with knives and used their weapons against them. He smashed, tored apart and shot down those who had attacked the store. Once they were all dead, he caught some air.
"Merkl!!" he called "You okay!!??"
"Barely!! Who are these guys?"
"I don't know. Have you been in dangerous business?"
"I should be asking you that!!"
"Oh no." something popped on his head "Kiara."

He sprinted back at the college, hoping that Kiara was ok. From afar, he could see the college. It seemed ok. Like a normal day. Could she be safe?

 

[Kiara]

Kiara finally arrived to her destination. She was facing a door that had a little tag (Hellius Chronos; Elementalist Professor). This was it, it was time to her face him, sooner or later she had to do it and the sooner the better. She knocked on the door waiting for a response.
“Come on in” it was a male voice, the voice of Kiara’s guardian.
Kiara opened the door, closing it again once she had entered. She was nervous, she already knew what was in store for her. He didn't had started to talk yet and she already had such an apologetic expression. Facing her was a male elf, Hellius Chronos, he was tall with 1,88m, light brown hair and emerald green eyes. He was using a red wine color robe adorned with golden details. He had the appearance of a 34 years old human, but he was way older than that. He was with a serious face and had his arms crossed speaking in a deep serious tone.
“Kiara where have you been? This isnt like you, I haven’t seen you for 2 days, except during the reunion, I was expecting you to come much sooner than this! You have any idea how worried I was! First you go to town and never returned, then you are attacked by two assassins!”
Kiara lowered her head, she knew he was worried sick about her, and her face looked like a little puppy when they get scolded. He then just pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, his face now turning to a kind smile and speaking in a much more calm tone.
“You know that I cant be mad at you for to long, besides, its thanks to you that the students are safe, you warned the schools and you even fought back the assassins. Im really proud of you. Kiara, you turned out such a great sorceress and even a greater person” Said the male elf while patting Kiara’s head, his face looking like a proud father would give to his child.
Kiara on the other hand, had such an innocent bright smile “Its was because I had an even greater mentor and guardian” she said.
“But you need to practice more your close combat skills” Hellius said given her a playful grin. Kiara just pouted a bit, both of them bursting into laughs.
Everyone that could see the display of the 2 elves could really tell how deep and strong were the bond between the two of them.
“Now, tell me my child, what bring you here, I know you have some questions for me. I know you well enough to read you like an open book, even without you even speak. Sure, im happy that you came for my help but I was expecting for you to come sooner, I was always the first you would come to seek help from.” Hellius said now returning to a more solemn face.
Kiara then took a deep breath, also mimic his expression, she indeed had a lot to ask him.
"Hellius, i need your help please." she just said.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken sprinted as fast as he could towards the college, pushing everyone away and vaulting over objects, sometimes pissing off civilians, other times he received some cheering from them. He climbed a building nearby to get a better view at the college and find a faster way through the roofs of the building and climbing. Parkour, basically. He climbed a building that was tall. Tall ebbough to give him a view at the College of Elbion. It was there, it was peacefull, with no signs of any attacks. But something made the werewolf's heart jump. He knew something was off. He was attacked a few minutes ago and now he was under the suspicion that Kiara was next. If Kiara knew how to fight, she could use some backup. Feral backup. Jaken stopped thinking and went for it, leaping from roof to roof, jumping over ledges and objects, slowly getting closer. In a long jump, he was intercepted by something hitting him on the head as he landed on the roof. It did not knocked him out but made his landing fail and stun him for a while.
"You have to be more carefull doggy." said a familiar female voice while Jaken was recovering "There are hunters out here." Jaken saw the woman he had encounteres yesterday. The one that pulled a knife an attacked him.
"What do you want?" Jaken growled, getting back up and facing the woman.
"As I said: you are causing us problem." she pulled out the same knife from the previous day and tried to stab Jaken, however, the werewolf was faster than her, grabbing her attacking arm and resisting it. He used the force the lady had used to push her to her side, making her almost fall down the edge. SHe had been save by pure luck, stepping on the edge. Jaken went for a kick, failing due to the woman stepping out of the way and responding with a spinning kick, landing on Jaken's chin, making some blood come out "Tough girl, aint ya?" he swiped away the blood "Alright, let's play tough." he roared.

The werewolf charged the woman, managing to grab her by the waist and dragging her some meterscloser to the edge. The woman responded by elbowing Jaken on the back, making the werewolf grunt and become weak for some seconds. Seconds that she used to grab Jaken by his jacket and throwing him closer to the edge. Jaken almost fell to the void, managing to grab onto the corner. He saw the woman almost stomping on his fingers. He leaped right, hanging on the corner and climbing up. They were both back in combat. The woman went for the first strike, almost landing a punch on Jaken's face. Averted by him, Jaken used his body's inertia to impulse himself and tackle her to the ground, where he proceeded to brutally hitting her, spilling blood on the floor and on himself. Jaken's enemy managed to kick him far away, hand jumping back up. The lady growled, her eyes glowing red like the man in the clock tower. But instead of bursting into flames, she jumped off the ledge but disappearing into a cloud of dust. And she was gone. She was nowhere to be seen. Jaken became more alert. She could be invisible, she could have teleported, everything was possible when someone disappears into a cloud of dust. But right now, he had to find Kiara.

Jaken left the scene, leaping to another building.

 

[Kiara]

Meanwhile on Hellius’ office both elves were now down to a more serious talk.
“Hellius I know you are part of the special unit, so please help me with some information.”
The male elf just got suspicious, but still he made a sign for Kiara to proceed.
“Have you found yet the meaning of the letters SAP that were on the guard’s body?”
“Unfortunately no, we are still investigating it, besides, its remains a mystery how the second assassin entered the school, since only one rune was stolen, the one that belonged to the dead guard, we suspect that someone is betraying the school by helping them. This hypothesis isnt really reassuring, because that’s mean that this assassin has a free pass to enter and leave the school as he pleases.”
“Well, that hypothesis also crossed my mind but what make you really think that someone is betraying? There's no any other rune missing?”
“Exactly, all the students, staff, etc have their respective rune that allows them to enter and leave the school grounds. Meaning that there’s not even a single missing or stolen rune, leaving the only hypostasis that we have a traitor among us, we just don’t know who it is. So im asking you to be very careful, the school it no longer the safest place that used to be, besides you were already attacked, they might want to finish they job by cleaning all the loose ends.”
“I know that already had crossed my mind” Kiara said with a more worried expression. “Hellius.. one more question, what do you know about the Altersphere documents?”
Hellius gave a shocked look at Kiara, his eyes widen at the question, then a very serious expression took over his face.
“Kiara, how do you know that name? That's a confidential information, I don’t know how you found about it, but I ask you to drop this matter, its to dangerous for you to deal with. So leave this to me and the rest of the unit.” he fallen silent thinking hard on that do to or say next, he knew her too well, there was no other way, he knew that she wouldnt just give up by now so he locked his gaze into Kiara’s eyes.
“Listen carefully, a long time ago during an expedition to some old ruins we found a scroll. At first we thought that it was a divination ritual that would allow us to see future events, at least that was what the scroll said, but after hard research we concluded that was not correct, the information on the scroll was not accurate. In fact what this powerful ritual does it's to show you an alternative reality, that why we gave the name Altersphere. This ritual is very delicate and hard do control, it requires a lot of steps, a huge amount of magic and a magic device, a container, to hold the orb and maintain the form of it. That the reason why back then we failed, despite all the study and all the security measures.” Hellius paused for a bit remembering the events of that day.
“When we thought that we had all figured out, we moved to the experimental part, but on the very first attempt things went really wrong, the ritual went extremely wrong, because we didn’t knew about the container device back then. So basically when we invoke the energetic orb, we couldnt maintain its form, the orb just burst, releasing a tremendous magic explosion, people got injured that day, some others died, others just vanished.”
Kiara could see that this was a delicate matter to Hellius and judging by the way he was describing the event it seemed like he was there when everything happened.
"So if there's a missing piece then why would they stole the documents?”
“That’s the catch Kiara, we found and retrieved the missing piece few weeks ago. Also, you might not know, but during the explosion of the clock tower, we suppose that the assassin that ran away from you, took that opportunity and stole the device from the security vault. So with all the necessary material gathered, that mean the ritual is now reliable.”
“But that’s impossible, what about the guards?! The security vault in located deep down the dungeons and its guarded 24/7!!!"
“We don’t know how he passed through the security, all the guards said that no one entered or neither exited the vault. Now imagine someone realign the reality, alter the axiom and converge to a realm anew by mixing two different realities together from alternate worlds together and thus creating a new reality. All the chaos that would bring, this ritual its capable of that, that is why it so dangerous.”
Both had fallen silent, indeed, it was a very dangerous ritual with terrific consequences. Breaking the silence Hellius spoke again.
“That’s all you wanted to know” he paused a bit analyzing Kiara’s face.
“Yes… thank you” said Kiara a bit confused by his look.
Hellius remained serious, looking at her, then he realized that she didn't know, she had not no clue at all.
“You don’t know do you, the most important thing and you don't know it…Kiara your file was also stolen”
Kiara stayed silent for a few seconds trying to take in what she just had hear.
“What!? My file, why?! There’s nothing there, there’s no personal information for they to use, only my grades and disciplines, academic stuffs, why would they want something like that?!”
“I don’t know, but you should be careful, whatever they intentions are towards you, this only mean that you are a target now. Anyway, enough with this talk. It's time for us to eat and you are coming with me. Besides, I shouldn't even be talking about this, it's all confidential information, but since it is about you, I couldnt just over look it, it's my obligation to take good care of you as your guardian and former mentor.”
Afterwards both elves left the room and walked to the cafeteria, but Kiara had lost all the appetite, she had now more questions than before, and she needed to speak with Jaken and tell him everything she had discovered.

 

[Adriwolf]

The college was in front of him. The werewolf knew that if he confronted the guard, either physically or verbally, it would take hours to convinve him letting Jaken pass, or even if he could convinve the guard in the first place. He needed to find a way to look after Kiara, know if she was ok. He found that opportunity through another building high enoughto get a view of the college. He climbed quietly and slowly, making sure to not alert anyone that was inside the building. Reaching the top he saw the school perfectly. A panoramic view of it was the perfect sight to investigate. Taking out his crossbow, he looked through the scope, enhancing his view on the college. He aimed for the windows seeing shadows passing and faces come and gone, but no Kiara was on sight. He looked down, there was a different guard, this time, it was elf instead of an orc like last night. So maybe it could be a fresh start, he could convinve the guard to let him through. Jaken was never a good friends with any type of guards: they always were on his way of doing something important. Sometimes, it is better to break the law and save lives than not doing anything. Jumping from the roof of the building, Jaken safety rolled on the ground to disperse the impact of the fall. He sprinted to the guard and alerted.
"I need to go in!! Someone might be in danger!!"
"Calm down sir." the elf said "Tell us what is the problem and I will investigate it."
"An elf whose name goes by Kiara might be in danger."
"Kiara, Kiara- wait. Aren't you the werewolf that was with her?"
"Does that matter? I need to make sure she's ok!!"
"I'm sorry sir, but the school will not allow you in anymore, but don't worry sir, will get someone to her position." the elf closed his eyes and started chanting a spell.
"Come on..." he whispered. After a few moments, the elf opened his green eyes "She is ok. I just communicated with some guards on the inside and have been sent to prootect her."
"Why won't the school let me in? I need to look after her."
"The school won't let you in because they think you were the one responsible or an accomplice for the clock tower incident, however, there is no proof, which is why you are on yellow alert."

Meanwhile, inside the college, two speared, stone gargoyles appeared from pure dust sent to protect Kiara. As they made their way through the school looking for Kiara, the student's stared at them wondering why were they here and why were they summoned. The gargoyles eventually found Kiara and her mentor on their way to the food court.
"We are here to prootect Kiara." said a gargoyle, stomping his spear on the ground.

 

[Kiara]

Both elves were now almost entering the central garden, but something caught they attention, for some reason all students were looking at the sky. Hellius was the first stepping into the garden, then he also looked up, Kiara was now curious, entering into the garden a few seconds later.
“What is happen-“ She didn't finish her question. Two stone gargoyles had just landed between her and Hellius, blocking the path.
"We are here to protect Kiara." said one of the gargoyles while stomping his spear on the ground.
Kiara looked around, trying to understand what was happening. She could see all the students looking at her and some others making some comments. Sensing that Kiara was nervous due to all the attention she was receiving Hellius approached her patting her shoulder.
“Don’t worry everything its ok, They are gargoyles summoned to protect you” he tried to reassure her.
“Why? Is it really necessary? This only makes me to stand out even more, besides, I don’t want to be followed around by these two, its only makes me stressed, I cant even sense if im being watched because I cant even get my focus out of them”
“Kiara you are target now, you need to be protected”
“But like this it seems like i'm on a imminent attack!” Kiara was now panicking. “Can you just dismiss them?” Kiara asked hoping that her guardian would accept her request.
“No, this is for you own good, but don’t worry they won't follow you into the buildings, unless you are attacked, otherwise they will just wait outside, so just try to ignore them. Lets go.”
Kiara wasn’t happy with this situation, all that crossed her mind was to destroy that stalking gargoyles, and somehow this situation only made her feel even more enclosed inside the school, like they were trying to lock her up. Besides, she still needed to talk to Jaken, but now how could her leave the school?
Sighing she just followed behind Hellius. Once they grabbed the meals both seat on the table, Hellius was observing Kiara, trying to figure out what she was thinking, deep down he knew. On the other hand, Kiara was just watching the gargoyles through the window, trying to find a way to avoid that two pests, for some reason all her senses were telling her that someone didn't want her to leave the school.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken saw the gargoyles flying in the sky and landing on the ground. He tried to focus his sight, but he couldn't figure out of they have founded Kiara. There were too many people and flora on the way of his view. Best thing to hope for was that Kiara was now under the watch of the statues.
"Kiara is now protected by the gargoyles." the elf said, snapping Jaken back to reality "However, I also have called the dean to speak with you. What you are saying is a concern due to the events that occured yesterday, the school is on red alert. You will be interrogated by the dean and some teachers. Anyhting else sir?"
"Ummm..." Jaken llooked around "I don't think so. And yeah, whatever, you can interrogate me. I just want to know if Kiara is ok <<Should I tell them everything we know or should I lie to them? If I tell them, they might help us on retrieving the documents, but they also might hide information that we could use to solve this. Damnit, what should I do?>>"
"is this the one?" the dean said, apperaing from behind a bush, accompained by some other teachers.
"Yes sir."
"Good. Jaken Larsten, am I right?"
"Yes."
The dean nodded "Would you kindly give this man a rune for the interrogation?"
"Yes sir." the elf took out a rune from a box and gave it to Jaken.
"Please follow me." the dean commanded. As they made their way through the campus the dean started to question Jaken "The guard told me that you think that Kiara might be in danger. Why? Why do you think that a resident might be in danger?"
"Because both of us were attacked by the assasin's yesterday. She told you that she encountered two of them, while I encountered one." he said pointing at the destroyed clock tower "That is when that happened. Today, just minutes ago, I was attacked for probably the same assasins. I feared that Kiara might be in danger."
"How are you sure this are the same assasins as yesterday?"
"I don't know. I just... feel it. I know that this are the same. They want to tie up any lose ends."
"Do you have any idea who might be behind this?"
"Not at all. I'm clueless. All I have is those letters on the guard from yesterday: S.A.P."
"How long have you known Kiara?"
"Since yesterday. We bumped into each other out of pure luck. I was being hunted down by someone, maybe the assasins behind these."
"Have you been in dangerous cricumstances that might lead you to have these kind of enemies?"
"Probably. All the bounties I have taken on. It might give some people enough reason to hunt me down, or maybe they just don't like werewolves."
"So you dragged Kiara into this."
Jaken sighed "Yes."
"Do you have any idea what they are looking for?"
"No. I DO know that they stole some documents from the secret room in the principal's office." the man interrogating Jaken stopped dead and gasped "What?"
"How do you know about the secret room?"
"Kiara told me and showed me how to get in. It's a trapdoor below the fireplace."
"How do you know that they stole documents?"
"Because Kiara told me. She saw all the documents and informed me that documents were missing. THey all went by the code name Altersphere."
"When did you looked for it?"
"Last night. We sneaked around in your office and discovered the secret room."
The dean kept quiet "I think it's time you should leave." he said, guiding Jaken back to the entrance. After crossing the gates, Jaken returned the rune to the guard.
"Just make sure she's ok." Jaken begged to the dean.
"Oh, she will be fine." he said in a serious and angry tone, walking away from the gate back into the campus.

Jaken turned his back and continued walking to the plaza when he stopped dead. Something had popped in his mind. He kept thinking, and thinking, and thinking. Until the thought finally came out of his mouth:

"Why did I say all of that?"

 

[Kiara]

Finally the lunch time was over, in the end Kiara end up not eating at all, to lost in deep thoughts, being brought to reality when she heard Hellius speaking to her.
“You didn't eat at all, at least take something with you to eat later when you get hungry.”
“Ok I will do that, sorry for not be a good company right now”
“Don’t worry about that, anyway I have to return now, I have a class to lecture. So try to relax, I will see you when im done ok?”
“Ok, I will be on my room reading” She said trying to smile a little.
“That’s my girl, remember if you need something just look for me” the male elf said stroking her head, then he stood up and walked in the direction of the south wing.
Kiara followed him with her eyes, seeing him passing the garden and before enter the building waving him goodbye. She really had no appetite at all, so she just grabbed an apple and thought of returning to her room. She didn't want to go outside, the gargoyles were a nerve racking. When she was almost reaching her room a guard came to her stopping her.
“Kiara, would you kindly follow me” he just said with a serious face.
Something was off, Kiara notice that he was armed and seemed tense, besides she could no longer feel the gargoyles watching over her, anyway, she just nodded “Of course, but where are you taking me?" she ask with a calm tone.
“The dean and the headmaster want to speak with you”
Kiara just followed him through the hallways until she reached the dean’s office.
“Go on, they are waiting you” the guard just said, stepping aside the door.
Kiara knocked on the door, not really knowing what all this was about, maybe they wanted to talk to her about the gargoyles.
“Come on in, and take a seat”
Entering the room and before closing the door, the elf could see that the guard had moved, now bloking the way out. Something was really off, why she was being treated like this. Her mind started to race, could they have found out that she had broken into the secret room, no, that was impossible, she tried to calm herself down, she was jumping to conclusion without evidences.
So she just done as she was commanded, taking a seat and unsummoning her staff, making him disappear, little blue crystals being dispersed in all direction into the air and then fading away.
“May I know why I was summoned” The elf tilted her head trying to look relaxed.
“Don’t worry this will be quick, Kiara we are formally arresting you for leading Jaken Larsten into the secret room, and leak confidential information. You will stay in a cell until we decide what punishment will you receive.”
Kiara was shocked, what had just happened, how could they know all this. Seeing the elf shocked face the dean just added, with a malicious grin, guessing what the elf was thinking.
“Don't worry darling, the bounty hunter just sold you out ”
“I never expected this from you, you could have a brilliant future and you just thrown it away” The headmaster just said with a disappointed face.
Kiara couldn't believe what was happening to her, tears started to fall, she couldn't even speak. “<Why!? I trusted him, so why!? Why, why, why me!!!”> she couldnt even think straight anymore.
“Guard! You may arrest her, and darling don't resist, it only make things worse for you” the dean at given the final speech.
The guard that was guarding the door just dash in grabing Kiara by her arm and graggin her until the dungeons, throwing her into a cell. Of course it was not an ordinary cell, it had a cancelation spell cast on it, what would cancel all kinds and any attems of spells. Kiara didn't fought back, in fact she didn't realize where she was being taken until she hitted the cold floor hearing the metals bars being locked.

 

[Adriwolf]

"Oh my God." he whispered, realising what he had just done. He basically sold Kiara out, stabbed her in the back, and left her to die. Jaken knew that Kiara would be punished, the way the dean told him that she would be fine. The tone, the facial expression he used when saying that. He knew Kiara was in danger. He needed to go back and rescue Kiara before they got her. Jaken turned around to see the gargoyles flying back in the air and explode and disappear into a cloud of dust... like the lady that attacked her. Jaken sprinted back at the school but was pushed away by the barrier. People looked at him, some of them laughed. "God damnit." he stood up, looking at the gate. He knew that he would not be able to break it unless he received the rune from the guard, which would probably not be an option right now. He turned his back and ran into the crowds. He had to get in. He had to rescue Kiara. But how? How could he break in? He would need something that could allow him to get in...
Merkl.
He was the only one who would co-operate with him, or at least, the closest one. He ran as fast as he could back to Merkl's store and rammed the doors open. markl was there, cleaning up the mess from the fight few minutes back.
"Now what do you waaaaaaannntt?" he asked.
"Break in the college of Elbion." he responded "Kiara might be in danger and i need to rescue her."
Merkl stopped what he was doing and stared at Jaken with his green eyes "Sssssaaaaaayyyyyy it." he hissed "I want to hear you ssssaaaaayyyyyy it." he widened his eyes.
"What? C'mon man is this really the time?"
"Sssssaaaaaayyyyyy it."
Jaken grunted "Fine." he sighed "Kiara is my mate-THERE. I SAID IT!! KIARA IS MY MATE!!!"
Merkl hissed. Then smiled and starting laughing his lungs out. He laughed and laughed, making the whole store echo with his laugh "I knew you would sssssaaaayyyyy iiiiiit."
"Bite me." he spited.
Markl stopped laughing with a satisfactory smile on his scaly face "What do you want me to do?"

The day passed. The day eventually turned into night. Merkl and Jaken had been planning the heist through the whole day. It was perfect. There was no sign of failure, and if it failed then it was the duo's fault, not the external circumstances. They were both on the alleyway behind his store.
"You ready?"
"Yesssss." they both nodded and stepped into the town. Jaken was dressed as usual but Merkl had only his boxer, he would dress later on in the mission. They both were on the roof of the building that had the panaromic view of the college.
"The orc guard is there." he pointed at the entrance, where, indeed, the orc guard was there, keeping an eye on the entrance "Guess the elf's shift is over."
"Yyyyyooouuuuu have it rrrriiiiggghhhttttt?"
"Right here." he said, taking out a glass bottle from his pocket. It contained purple dust "Let's get to it. You know what to do."
"I don't want to. But it is your mate." he chuckled. Jaken growled back. They both jumped to the ground and Jaken hided while Merkl took the direct way towards the guard "HELP ME!!" he hissed at the guard "I've been attacked. Please help me!!"
"What is the problem sir?"
"You are." Jaken said from his back. As soon as the orc turned around, the werewolf launched the bottle of dust at him, making the orc startle back aand cough purple. The orc's movements became dorky and uncoordinated. He then fell to the ground, snoring "Objective neutrralized." he whispered. Both the werewolf and the reptilian fist bumped "Now you know what to do."
"Don't know if they'll fit."
"Just do it. Besides, have you ever seen a guard on lookout only in his boxers?"
"Strip club?"
"God shut up and get dressed."

After Merkl got dressed and tied up the orc guard, dumping his sleeping body on a dumpster, Merkl gave Jaken the only rune they had. The same one that the elf guard had given him "You know your way through the college right? Into the dungeonsssssss."
"Yeah I got it." he undressed and morphed into his werewolf form again "When I get her back, we run." Merkl nodded.
On that point, the duo split up, Merkl would take the guard role while Jaken went to rescue Kiara.
The path was not easy, due to his height and complexity, Jaken had to hide with much frequency to avoid the torches of the guards inside. But eventually, he made his way to the dungeon through the basement, where all the supplies were stored.

It was a long way down, with a spiral stairs leading to the abbyss and into the dark dungeons. Jaken grabbed a torch nearby and looked through the cells. The dungeons were like a maze. There were hallways that looked exactly the same, as if they were there to confuse the enemy and make them lose their minds. But Jaken was smarter than thet, he marked his way with of his claws. He heard the weak breathing of someone. Someone he recognized. "Kiara." he whispered. He ran through the hallways, scracthing the walls as he made his way through the dark maze. Eventually he found her. "KIARA!!" he roared, grabbing the bars and pulling them. "I'LL GET YOU OUT IN A BIT!! HANG ON!!!" he pulled harder the bars, eventually breaking them free and throwing them far away. They were reunited again "Kiara!!" he ran to hug her "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." he hugged her harder. Then got a look of her face "I didn't mean to make them lock you up. I don't know what I was doing... please forgive me" he bowed his head.

 

[Kiara]

With tears still streaming down her face, Kiara saw the guard lock the cell’s door and walking away. She was left alone on that horrible place, once again shadows haunted her almost killing her light.
So this was how it feel to have no one on her side, after all she had done for the College, they just throw her into the dungeons. She would be forgotten and left to rot on that place but most likely she would receive a death sentence, how did it even come to this, maybe it was really meant to be? The elf wondered how she felt about all this madness.
No, she refused that fate, crying wouldn't help her in anyway, so she just focus on breathing, trying to regain her calmness, drying away her tears <”i need to calm down, otherwise I will be doomed, breath Kiara just breath”> she sighed <”I have to get out somehow, so think, think Kiara, use your head”>.
She started to analyze her situation, so, the cell had a cancelation spell, using magic was not an option, and she didn’t had any weapon or tool that she could use to force the lock, she couldn’t even summon her staff. Maybe she could find some weak point, so the elf started to inspect all the metal bars, then the walls, nothing, there was no weak link. Kiara sighed again. <” So I can't use magic nor physical force to break out of here. I need help… Hellius! But how would he know that I am down here.”> She was on a tough spot. <"Maybe I need to think out of the box”> remembering what Hellius told her about the school no longer be a safe place for her and that she was a target now, also he believe that someone from the school was associated with the assassins, maybe that was it.
Kiara started to think harder, trying to find an explanation <” hypothetically, if Jaken really sold me out then why he is not arrested? That does not make any sense, why only me? What if the dean got that information from another source? Could be the culprit trying to take me out of his way? If someone really wanted to lock me out they would lie or give me half truths that way it would be easier for they to manipulate me, besides, my truth may not the real one, also I cant trust no one now. The guards are only following orders, I don’t think they are to blame, the dean… I don’t trust him… but also I don’t have any evidences that he is the one behind all of this, he could also be being used or manipulated, in order to clear the way of the real assassin, without even knowing it”>
Her head was starting to hurt now, besides she didn't eat anything during the lunch <”well all I know for now is 1. the school is no longer safe for me; 2. I need help to get out of here; 3. I cant no longer trust no one from this school besides Hellius; 4. I still need to talk to Jake and make things clear, I cant really believe that he would sold me out; 5. if someone really want to keep me lock up so I wouldnt make anymore troubles for them, surely they don't want anyone to know that I'm here, so no one will warn Hellius of what just happened, also they can lie to him by telling him that I had left school, that way he wouldn’t came look for me, so I will need to find a way to let him know but how?”>
Kiara started to eat the apple she had grabbed before leave the cafeteria, thank god she listened to Hellius, when she finished there was not much for her to do, she couldn’t even summon her grimoire to read and kill some time. So Kiara did what she does best, sing, this would help her to relax and would kill some time, she could hear her voice echoing through all the dungeon, then an idea crossed her mind <” This is it!!! So simple, how didn't I have thought this before!!!”>
Kiara started to sing again, this time louder, her voice filling all the dungeon echoing all the way, she sang louder and louder, she knew that the dungeons had little barred windows to allow the air to flow, meaning that had connection to the outside, she would use that in her advantage.
Hellius knew her like no one else, so he would for sure get the hint. Kiara kept singing louder and louder, she could hear her voice reaching the school garden, but she needed to act fast soon the guards would come draw by all the singing and attempt to make her quite, and it just happened. A guard came and demanded her to stay quiet otherwise he would be forced to muzzle her. Kiara fallen silent, just looking through him, hoping that her voice had reached Hellius.

Meanwhile, Hellius was lecturing a practice class outside, in the practice arena, everything was going smooth, none student has disobeyed him and no one had got hurt during spells practice
All of a sudden something caught his attention, a whisper, he enhanced his hears focusing on the sound. It was Kiara’s voice! She was singing, her voice now crystal clear to him.
“Everyone quiet!” he demanded to all students. Everyone just froze in place looking at him. <”Something is off, i can sense it, she would never sing to everyone”> then he got it, he got her hint, she was in trouble and that was her way to call his attention.
“Class is over” he just said while leaving the arena, now he was running trying to find out from where the song was coming, reaching the garden his eyes just widen, it was coming from the dungeons.
Once on the dungeons gates he couldn't no longer hear Kiara’s song, but he knew for sure that she was down there, but he got stopped by some guards.
“Professor Chronos, sir, you cant be down here, so we ask you to please leave the dungeons”
“What are you talking about! Move out of my way”
“Professor please calm down, why are you even here sir?” Hellius was getting mad real mad so he said in a very serious tone.
“I know that Kiara is locked down there, so I demand let me pass right now. Besides, you have no right to lock her up!”
Now the guards took a defensive stance, they could see the male elf was dead serious, and since they didn't want troubles one just said.
“Professor, we are just following orders, if you have a problem then you should talk to the dean, he was the one that gave the order to arrest the elf.”
Hellius was now furious, he just turned away and went straight to the dean’s office. Not even bothering to knock the door. Seeing someone dashing into his office the dean just looked up still seated and said.
“What do you think you are doing professor Chronos?”
“Why would you arrest Kiara? She never done anything that would harm this school, furthermore, it was thanks to her that the situation was no worse than it was. She warned the school about the invasion and also she was the one who found out about the two assassins and the stolen documents! She is one of the oldest residents, that elf was always loyal and devoted her whole life to this very school, and how the school thanks her by arresting her!” Said the male elf trying to control his anger.
“Kiara was arrested because she entered the secret room and leak confidential information” said the dean now turning his attention to some papers.
“And do you have any proofs or evidences of that mister dean?”
“Don’t need that, I just needed the know”
“ Did she confessed?”
“No, but she didn’t denied either” he said bluntly.
“THEN, YOU ARE SAYING THAT SHE IS ARRESTED WITHOUT ANY PROOF OR EVIDENCES OR EVEN A CONFESSION, IS THAT IT!” Hellius was shouting now no longer controlling his anger.
“Professor Chronos do I need to remind you to whom you are talking to!” the dean said now standing up and slamming his desk with both of his hands.
”Its really admirable how protective you are towards Kiara but if you are not happy about her situation then I would advise you to start to investigate harder, retrieve the documents and the stolen magic device, and find the real culprit. The faster the better, otherwise she will remain arrested until then.”
Hellius was now biting his tongue and turning his hands into fist, trying his best to not burst in anger.
“She may be arrested, but I want free access to visit her, whenever I want, besides, she will not be punished nor harmed until this investigation is finish. If something happens to her you will answer to me mister dean” the elf said between his teeth.
“Is that a threat, professor Chrono ?”
“It’s just a warning, but feel free to interpret the way you want mister” Hellius then turned around and left the room, slamming the door.
The dean just glared at the door thinking <”This situation is getting out of control I didn't thought that this girl would bring so many problems …”>
On the other side of the door Hellius just hit a wall and took a deep breath, trying to regain some calm. His mind thinking of how things had got this far, first he would need to find a way to take Kiara out of that cell, next he would find out who dragged her into all this mess and finally he would tear apart everyone that was involved on this scheme, how dared they mess with her, this was his thoughts while he was returning to his own office.

Kiara was seated in the darker corner of the cell, she didn't had any notion of time by now, but she could guess that it would be night by now. She didn’t even knew if Hellius got her hint. That place was like hell, she knew she would be punished but didnt knew when or even how , all she could do was hold on her hope.
Suddenly the elf heard something, it sounded like something or someone scratching the walls, she got petrified, could this be another attempt of killing her, it would be easy and the perfect time, she was trapped and couldn’t even use her magic, it would be like catch a fish on an aquarius.
She heard it again, it was getting close, she moved closer to the walls, hopping that the darkness would at least conceal her a little, pulling her knees towards her and breathing as quietly as possible, all her senses were on alert, her heart racing, almost bursting with anxiety.
From the dark she saw a huge beast, this was it, she was doomed, this place would be her grave, but she didn't expected to end like that, murdered.

"KIARA!!" he roared, grabbing the bars and pulling them.

Kiara eyes widen, it was Jaken in his werewolf form, her heart now filling with hope, it was really him.
“Jaken! How did you break in?!” she managed to say, still not believing on her eye, getting up slowly like she was seeing a dream.

"I'LL GET YOU OUT IN A BIT!! HANG ON!!!" he pulled harder the bars, eventually breaking them free and throwing them far away. They were reunited again "Kiara!!" he ran to hug her.

The moment the bars hited the floor Kiara just dashed, throwing herself into his arms and burying her face on his fluffy chest. She still couldn't believe, he was really there.
“I thought I would never see you again” she said with a crying voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to." he hugged her harder. Then got a look of her face "I didn't mean to make them lock you up. I don't know what I was doing... please forgive me" he bowed his head.

Still hugging him back Kiara looked up, he was tall, way taller than her, Kiara then stretched one hand reaching for his face caressing it.
“Its ok, you came back for me” said the elf with a kindest smile. “But we need to move now, we can talk later, I don’t know how did you break in here but if we don’t move fast both of us will end locked up here”.

 

[Adriwolf]

I thought I would never see you again

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry." he hugged her "I don't know what I was thinking. I-I-I-I just said it. I just spitted out when he was questioning me. I... I spit it out." his face became focused, as if he just realized something "I spit it out." he kept repeating "Oh my God." he whispered. He raised the rune he had taken from Merkl at the entrance and thouught about it "I think I know why I sold you out." he stated, looking at Kiara's eyes.

Its ok, you came back for me” said the elf with a kindest smile. “But we need to move now, we can talk later, I don’t know how did you break in here but if we don’t move fast both of us will end locked up here

"Yes. Yes. We must go." he said, getting up and carrying Kiara in his arms "Don't get me wrong. I can run faster in this form and we need to get out of here as fast as we can." with that, the werewolf stepped out of the cage and ran through the maze, getting guidance from his claw marks on the stone walls. Minutes later, they were at the bottom of the spiral stairs again. This was the easy part. He ran upstairs, being able to climb up 3 steps per jump, which made for a fast but unstable journey. Both the wolf and the elf were back at the staff's office. Jaken told Kiara: "Try to remain as calm as possible, try to control your breathing and nerves and let me do the stealth thing." Then, the werewolf proceeded to walk through the hallways silently. Tip toeing his heavy steps to reduce the noise they created.

Kiara was still on Jaken's arms. So far, they have not been discovered by any guards, they have just had to hide in 4 occasions. The duo was already on the front door when someone yelled from behind:
"HEY!!" a guard said. They have been discovered. The guard did not seem to have any kind of magic advantage over them, just a tranquilizer crossbow. The guard aimed and shot. The dart would have landed on Jaken's shoulder if he had not moved at the last second.
"Hold on!" he commanded Kiara, bursting through the doors and into the open campus. Jaken sprinted as fast as he could, gaining a lot of distance due to his leg strenght. From afar he could see Merkl sitting peacefully on the entrance, still wearing his uniform. "RUN!!!" he roared. Merkl noticed the roar and proceeded to run as well. In that exact moment, other guards busted through the door and shot at the duo's direction "Curl up in a ball and don't let any limbs out and grab as hard as you can!!" he ordered to the female elf. He then proceeded to do athletics to avois the tranquilizers: flips, jumps, vaults. It seemed stupid, but sometimes, being stupid is what saves you from being captured.

As he avoided the darts, he got closer to the entrance. It was a long way from the gate to the front door. Jaken got cover behind a statue. He saw Merkl pull up with a carriage, the last part of the plan if they got discovered "Ready for round two?" he springed from the ground and sprinted to the carriage, throwing himself in with Kiara protected in his arms "GO!!" he roared to Merkl. He felt something sting him in the chest. Without checking he closed the door of the carriage, making Merkl run out with the horses. After catching a breath, he started to feel dizzy. He looked at his chest. There was a tranquilizer, they have got him.
"Yoooooooouuuuuuuuu think that would put you out?" Merkl asked through a window.
"No." he took the tranquilizer out, then threw it away "It takes a lot more to take my out... it just makes me feel... kinda woozy." he relaxed, laying on the ground, breathing slower "Yep..." he grunted "Just woozy, my head is... spinning." he then looked at Kiara "Hey... sorry for... all that. It was intense... are you ok? Are you.... hurt?"
"You sssssshhhhhhooooouuuuullllllddddd get some rest Jaken. It's better to let the tranquilizer do it's job, just go to sssssslllllleeeeeeep."
"I...." he almost wandered off "I just need to... make sure she is ok. Shut up Merkl." he carressed her hair "You ok?"

 

[Kiara]

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry." he hugged her "I don't know what I was thinking. I-I-I-I just said it. I just spitted out when he was questioning me. I... I spit it out." his face became focused, as if he just realized something "I spit it out." he kept repeating "Oh my God." he whispered. He raised the rune he had taken from Merkl at the entrance and thouught about it "I think I know why I sold you out." he stated, looking at Kiara's eyes.

Kiara locked eyes with him, she could only guess, by the way he was talking it seemed like he was under some kind of truth spell by that time, but since she didn’t knew the all circumstances of the event she just keep silent, still hugging him, waiting for him to continue.

"Yes. Yes. We must go." he said, getting up and carrying Kiara in his arms "Don't get me wrong. I can run faster in this form and we need to get out of here as fast as we can."

Kiara fliked, she was not expecting being picked up, looking at him and holding into him so she wouldn't fall, in the end she just nodded her head. The werewolf was fast, running through the maze, turning lefts and rights, the elf notice the claws marks, it was indeed a clever move. Reaching the staff's office Jaken told Kiara.

"Try to remain as calm as possible, try to control your breathing and nerves and let me do the stealth thing."

She blinked, now that she thought about it, she wasn't nervous at all, but why, maybe because she was almost free, or because she was not alone anymore, or maybe it was because he was with her. Some guards were patrolling the area, but the werewolf was pretty stealthy even while carrying her. The front door was now in sight and so far everything was going smoothly until.
“HEY!!” a guard said. They have been discovered.
Kiara jumped not expecting to hear a guard from behind, <”why now”> she thought, feeling a little tense, she hold a bit tighter on Jaken's arms, like she was seeking some protection, the last thing she wanted was Jaken to be also arrested. Then the guard shot what seemed like a tranquilizer dart, but missed, Jaken was faster, making for a run and commanding Kiara to hold on so she wouldn't fall.
The elf could feel the wind brushing on her face and hair, he was going so fast, gaining a lot of distance. If they weren’t running for they own freedom Kiara would enjoy this feeling, the wind, the speed, everything passing so fast by her.
Already with the entrance gate on sight Kiara heard Jaken roar to someone to run, she tried to see to whom he was talking to, then she saw, it was Merkl, he was dressed as a guard, her eyes widen, how far did they had planned this!

In that exact moment, other guards busted through the door and shot at the duo's direction "Curl up in a ball and don't let any limbs out and grab as hard as you can!!" he ordered to the female elf.

Kiara left that thoughts aside and proceed as Jaken had said, she curled up like a kitten would do when being picked up, making her look even smaller compared to the huge size of Jaken.
Suddenly the elf felt as if the gravity had turned upside down, everything seemed like a mess, she closed her eyes, otherwise she could get dizzy, but she still could felt every single twist that Jaken was making in order to avoid all the darts. All just stopped, Kiara open her eyes, seeing that the werewolf had taken cover behind a statue. Kiara tried to take a sneak peak at the guards, wrong move, her eyes just widen, all guards were there aiming and waiting for a chance to shot the wolf down. She was now nervous, being locked up was already bad enough, being locke up again with Jaken facing the same fate was her, would be the worst case scario, there was no need for both of them to end up on that living hell.

"Ready for round two?"

She didn't have time to respond, Jaken just dashed in Merkl direction throwing himself into the carriage with the elf protected in his arms. Kiara heard the door being closed and the horses sprinting away.
The elf sighed feeling relieve, she was free, she was out of that cell, feeling that was safe now she started to let go of Jaken, uncurling herself and taking a seating position on the floor, it really seemed like a little kitten emerging under a huge wolf, taking a glace of her surroundings, it was over.
Kiara looked back at the college trough a window, it was almost out of her sight, sure she always dreamed of leaving the school and go on her own adventures, start a new chapter on her live, but not like this. Now she had nowhere to belong, she had lost the place she called home and couldn't return to it, at least until she cleared her name and resolve all that mess, but what hurt her the most was that she couldn't even say goodbye to Hellius, she didn't even knew when or even if she would ever seen him again. Then Merkl voice brought her to reality.

"Yoooooooouuuuuuuuu think that would put you out?" Merkl asked through a window.
"No." he took the tranquilizer out, then threw it away "It takes a lot more to take my out... it just makes me feel... kinda woozy." he relaxed, laying on the ground, breathing slower "Yep..." he grunted "Just woozy, my head is... spinning." he then looked at Kiara

Seeing Jaken laying on the ground Kiara moved close to him, trying to give him some support by putting his weight on her, but he was heavy and strength wasn’t really a trait of the elf, but that didnt stop her to at least try to make him feel a bit more comfortable. She notice his eyes on her, she looked at him seeing if he wanted something.

"Hey... sorry for... all that. It was intense... are you ok? Are you.... hurt?"
"You sssssshhhhhhooooouuuuullllllddddd get some rest Jaken. It's better to let the tranquilizer do it's job, just go to sssssslllllleeeeeeep."
"I...." he almost wandered off "I just need to... make sure she is ok. Shut up Merkl." he carressed her hair "You ok?"

Kiara tilted her head blinking a few times, she couldn’t understand, why he would always put her first, he risked being caught just to take her out of there, he was the one that did all the job, he even protected her.
Why? why going so far like this? Just because he felt guilty of dragging her to all of this mess or felt it was his responsibility to take care of her until everything was all over, that didn’t make any sense… Even right now, he was the one who got shot and still he only cared about her. Kiara couldn't understand, he would always push people away from him, she remembered the very first day they had met, he didn't even let her heal him. So why all of this? She didn't had done anything to deserve all of that, then she felt this huge hand caressing her hair, pulling her out of her own mind.
“Yes, Yes im ok, im perfectly fine, im no hurt neither, but you don’t need to say sorry, it wasn’t your fault” She said looking at his eyes, her eyes full of worry about him, but still she manage to give him a smile.
“It’s thank to you that im now out of that cell” She pause and correct herself, “Its thanks to both of you” she said now looking at Merkl. “Thank you so much for going there and rescue me, I will never be able to thank both of you enough for this” she finished returning her gaze to Jaken.
"But now you should listen to Merkl, everything it's ok now, so rest” Kiara said now adopting another position, moving to a corner in order to make more space for the wolf. Still seated on the floor, supporting him the best she could, the elf pulled him towards her, allowing him to user her lap as a pillow, that way he could lay down and sleep a bit more comfortable, besides, she could no longer support his weight, the dart was making him to relax even more, putting more weight on her, almost crushing her.
“By the way Merkl, if it was you on the front gate then where is the real guard? He is alive right? And where are we going now?” The elf asked to the lizardman.

 

[Adriwolf]

"But now you should listen to Merkl, everything it's ok now, so rest” Kiara said now adopting another position, moving to a corner in order to make more space for the wolf. Still seated on the floor, supporting him the best she could, the elf pulled him towards her, allowing him to user her lap as a pillow, that way he could lay down and sleep a bit more comfortable

Jaken became astonished over what Kiara had offered, her legs as pillows for his big wolf head. However, the werewolf took advantage of it and relaxed more, letting his muscles die out and his heart rate drop, he looked at Kiara "Thanks... sorry for not... staying up..." he growled weakly "The tranquilizer is... strong..." he closed his eyes slowly "Hey..." he said to the elf "This may sound... weird, but... can you scratch... my ears? I've been told it feels good, so... screw it... I'm dozing off anyway... might as well... finish the job."

“By the way Merkl, if it was you on the front gate then where is the real guard? He is alive right? And where are we going now?”

"Wwwwwweeeeee had to put him to sssssslllleeeeeeppppp. As you can seeeeee, I have his clothes. He is now ressssttiiiing in a dumpster. Don't worry. The roaches sssssshhhhhhoooooouuuuulllllddddd keep him compannnnyyyyy." he hissed "Right nnnnooowwwww I ssssshhhhhaaalll drop you off in a motel nearbyyyyyy. Jaken had used that room ppprrreeeeeeeeevvvvvviooouuuussssllllly to be cccclllooooseeeeerrr to some placessssss. We should wwwwaaaaaakkkkkeeeee him uuuupppp when arriving. It's 10 minutes away."
"Still not asleep." the werewolf said.

 

[Kiara]

Seeing the wolf closing his eyes, Kiara notice how close he really has, and for some reason she realized what she had just done, blushing a bit. Well now was too late to be aware of her situation, the elf then remembered of what the girls had said on the cafeteria, this was her chance, taking attention to every single detail of Jaken's wolf form. What caught her attention the most was his ears, the eye color and the big tail <”it really suits him”> she thought not even realizing she was smiling to herself.

"Hey..." he said to the elf "This may sound... weird, but... can you scratch... my ears? I've been told it feels good, so... screw it... I'm dozing off anyway... might as well... finish the job."

Kiara focus her attention on him, trying to read him, she didn't know if the wolf as being serious or just teasing her, but slowly her eyes moved to his ears, they seemed so fluffy, deep down she wanted to touch them, but she was not sure if she should.
In the end curiosity took over her, reaching slowly to one of his ears, she started to stroke it, it was so soft and fluffy surprising her a bit. The elf couldn't get enough of it, she was even getting more relaxed, she was really enjoying it, maybe too much for her own taste, but she wouldn't let the werewolf knew that.

"Right nnnnooowwwww I ssssshhhhhaaalll drop you off in a motel nearbyyyyyy. Jaken had used that room ppprrreeeeeeeeevvvvvviooouuuussssllllly to be cccclllooooseeeeerrr to some placessssss. We should wwwwaaaaaakkkkkeeeee him uuuupppp when arriving. It's 10 minutes away."
"Still not asleep." the werewolf said.

Kiara just nodded at Merkl answer not wanting to disturb the sleeping wolf, but as soon as Jaken spoke she flicked a bit and her cheeks gained a pink color. She really thought that he had fallen asleep, now she could only hope that the wolf hadn't noticed how she was enjoying his ears.
Finally, the elf just giggled at Jaken’s comment, it was really amusing to see how both, lizardmen and werewolf, got along so well in their own way.

 

[Adriwolf]

Jaken couldn't help but to grunt when Kiara started to scratch his ears. What they said was true, it DID feel good, it sent chills down his spine, making him feel more relaxed and on the edge of falling asleep, but he remained awake, only enjoying Kiara's treat towards him. He would sometimes enter a state between being awake and asleep (making that Kiara's ear scratch made his right leg slightly shake out of pure reflex), sounds would enter his ear but his brain would not process them, it just happened, sometimes he'd snap back to reality thanks to his mind telling him he was falling asleep. They should arrive at the motel any minute now, and he knew that both Merkl and Kiara would not be able to carry his deadweight werewolf body all the way up to the room he had rented just before putting this plan in actions.

Some time later, he could feel Kiara still scratching his ears but the carriage stopping.
"Wwwwwweeeeee are here." Merkl hissed "Wake yyyyyyooooouuuurrrrr dog up." he said to Kiara while giving her the key to the room they would spend the night on.
"Still not asleep..." he gave Merkl the middle finger (claw?) "Just resting my eyes." he lifted his head up from Kiara's legs "Effect's wearing off... slowly..." he shook his head "Let's get some rest. We are far away from the college... so we should be ok with the night." he stepped out from the carriage and helped Kiara out of it too. They were in the back alley of the motel. They would get inside using a window and rest. "C'mon. Let's go inside." he opened the window.
"HEY!!!" Merkl called "Wwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaatttttttt about those coins you promised me for pulling tttttttthhhhhhiiiiiisssssss off?" he said.
"Urgh, wha-what? Sorry, the tranquilizer's not letting me think straight." he looked at Kiara and whispered to her "Just nod at him, don't wanna pay him." he winked. He then entered the room.

It was a small room, but a comfortable one, with enough space for an elf and a HUMAN. Jaken could barely fit in the room. There were 2 beds on the walls, a lit candle and a hallway that led to the bathroom, where a bathtub and a toilet were. "I guess we should sleep. After all of this, we must regain strenght. He laid in one bed and exhaled deeply. "Sorry for taking too long on rescuing you. Planning a rescue-heist on a college took some time." he raised the rune from the college that he had kept with him all this time. He grunted at it, stared at it and analyzing it. He sighed, throwing the rune at the table besides him.

 

[Kiara]

"Wwwwwweeeeee are here." Merkl hissed "Wake yyyyyyooooouuuurrrrr dog up." he said to Kiara while giving her the key to the room they would spend the night on.
"Still not asleep..." he gave Merkl the middle finger (claw?) "Just resting my eyes."

"He is not a dog" Kiara said softly while recieving the key from Merkl, giggling once again over Jaken's reaction.

"Wwwwwwwwwhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaatttttttt about those coins you promised me for pulling tttttttthhhhhhiiiiiisssssss off?" he said.
"Urgh, wha-what? Sorry, the tranquilizer's not letting me think straight." he looked at Kiara and whispered to her "Just nod at him, don't wanna pay him." he winked. He then entered the room.

Kiara locked at Merkl with an apologetic look, after Jaken had entered the room "Im sorry" she said lowering a bit her head then lifting again "Anyway thank you again for everything, i wish you a good night" she said with a kind smile then also entering the room.

Entering the room Kiara studied the surroundings, only nodding at Jaken’s words. He was right, they should rest, so the elf moved to the spare bed, sitting down.

"Sorry for taking too long on rescuing you. Planning a rescue-heist on a college took some time."

“I already told you before, stop saying sorry, you did nothing wrong, furthermore… you shouldn't had go there, what if you get caught? Both of us would end up locked up…“ she said locking eyes with him, her face showing a worried look.
“I know that I already asked you this once before, but I will ask you again. Why you keep going so far for me? Do you really feel that responsible for what it’s happening? If that’s the case then please stop.” Kiara lowered her head now speaking in a lower soft tone of voice.
“Please, don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate what you have done, going there to rescue me. But you don’t have to feel obligated to take care of me, I was the one who choose to stay with you on all this… so …” she couldn't even finish what she wanted to say. She had a lot of mixed feeling inside of her, happiness, worry but she also felt hurted <”Why.. why I feel hurt, he has done nothing wrong…”> she thought, tears threatening to fall, maybe she already knew the answer for her own question, or maybe she was just afraid to acknowledge it.
She took a deep breath, calming herself. “Sorry… I don't know what got into me... maybe i'm just exhausted… anyway, thank you again for rescue me... Goodnight Jaken, sleep well” said the elf looking at him again, giving a small smile before covering herself with the blanket and closing her eyes.

Hours had passed and yet Kiara couldn't sleep, still trying to understand what was wrong with her. She couldn't blame the wolf, he has always clear to her, not giving her any hope. It was all on her, she needed to learn to co-op with her emotions, she sighed. Starting to get up slowly so the wolf wouldn’t wake up, the elf tip toe her way to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. With the help of some magic she filled the bathtub with hot water, took off her clothes and entered in. After being locked on the dungeons a hot bath would relax her, feeling the heated water warming her body, this would help her to get her mind straight. Once she had finished, she just got dressed, it was no use, still not feeling sleepy at all she grabbed her blanket now moving closer to the window sill, seating down, looking at the stars and the moon, everything on her life changed but still the world remained the same, her mind slowly started to wandering off until finally fallen asleep.

 

[Adriwolf]

I know that I already asked you this once before, but I will ask you again. Why you keep going so far for me? Do you really feel that responsible for what it’s happening? If that’s the case then please stop

The werewolf stared at Kiara's eyes as she expressed her mind. What had happened somehow made Kiara guilty. The wolf could not understand exactly why, he was the one that sold her out, sure, he didn't want to, but that feeling of guilt tormented himm for the day. Hence, the plan to break her out. "Of course I feel responsible." he sat on the bed "I sold you out. If it weren't for me, you'd still have a nice place to sleep on instead of this shithole of a motel. Though, I'm sure that THAT rune over there made me spill the truth. I was probably under a truth spell, I coud investigate that tomorrow, right now, it's best to stay indoors." he analyzed. "I won't stop until all of this is over. When we get the documents back, we could expose the dean for whatever dirty secret he's hiding. Put him out of the equation, then, you should be able to return to your normal life. I mean, you should, since you exposed his dirty little secret, I'm sure that you'd be forgiven. So I guess you are stuck with my guilt for a while." he chuckled.

Sorry… I don't know what got into me... maybe i'm just exhausted… anyway, thank you again for rescue me... Goodnight Jaken, sleep well

Jaken thought on talking to her, opening his mouth, but no sound coming from it. He just closed it and sighed "<<Let her. She must get some rest and process it. It was an active night after all. And so do you, your body is still weak due to the tranquilizer. Just go to sleep, you can think on something else.>>" the werewolf laid down on the matress again and closed his blue eyes. He finally drifted off with the wind as aid.

The werewolf did not noticed when Kiara woke up and took a bath. He remained asleep. However, when dawn came, he woke up in his human form. Naked. He clicked his tongue and looked panicked at where Kiara should be sleeping, but she was not there, instead she was a few meters away, on the window, she had fallen asleep there. Jaken sighed with releif. At least she would not see him naked in his human form. He picked up his bag in which Merkl had put all his clothes and equipment, and got dressed up. The man then carried Kiara slowly in his arms, trying not to wake her up and placed her on the bed that she had used to sleep. He sat down on the bed and took the rune the guard had given him. He knew the rune had a truth spell, he would never sell Kiara out. But why? This was something more than finding out if he was responsible for the clock tower. Something seemed off. He felt his stomach grunt.

Jaken left a note to Kiara that said: 'Went for breakfast. Be back in a bit.' And went out to get the main course of the morning. He bought a simple meal: bread, water, and some apples. As he returned to the motel, he noticed the college staff roaming the area. He knew they were looking for them. He had to return as stealthily as he could. It wasn't hard, he managed to arrive with no complication. He entered and sat down, waiting for Kiara to wake up. He took a bite out of an apple.