“Dad! She IS Enhanced!”

“Stop saying that! Lady Daamon is not Enhanced.” Mathias snapped at his son. William shrunk in his seat and stared at the councillor’s pointed blue velvet stiletto shoes.

His father took a breath. “If you don’t mind, I’ve just been told that my son going to die next year on the killing fields because he’s an insecure little idiot, who lacks the grace and decorum of the social class he so desperately wants to be a part of.” His dad was really mad. He had never called him any sort of name let alone an idiot.

The councillor fiddled with her tablet, trying to give them their personal moment. He had no doubt she’d add a few extra details to her report after they finished their session with her. Maybe she’d recommend family therapy. He wouldn’t mind spending some time with his dad.

His father brought his hands to his lips and muttered a small prayer. He glowered at the empty space between the three of them.

“I’m not going to die…” The metaphorical dark cloud that hovered over Mathias felt like it solidified. “…I’m not.” He wouldn’t go to war because they’d find out that this whole time he was telling the truth.

“She is not Enhanced,” his father repeated. “At worst, she’s a survivor of two demon raids. Her parents were killed when she was infant. Her adoptive father, Alexander, found her about to be eaten by a demon. He killed it. Took her in and raised her as his own. Eventually, he died fighting off the demons that consumed his town. He knew his work was dangerous, so he had asked me to take care of her should the inevitable occur. The task fell to me. The Red Order refused to sanction the arrangement. That’s not to say they weren’t interested in taking her in. She’d already shown signs of being a second-generation Hunter. If those talents are nurtured early enough, she may have had the potential to become a Crimson Knight. That’s when Dezmond stepped in.”

The woman gasped, “Is it possible that she’s the reason the attacks happened to begin with? I mean if she’s a survivor, don’t demons want to finish the job? No man, woman, or child left behind, kind of situation.”

“If survivors demonic attacks were useable beacons, the Red Order would have access to thousands of pre-emptive weapons. I assure you madam, that the rumour that the survivors are cursed is completely false.” His tone was hard, almost angry at the woman. She covered her mouth to hide the fact that she was insulted. His dark eyes flit to William. “The point of this story is first, we don’t know the full extent of the side effects of those incidents. We do know she’s going blind. She may be fully blind within a couple of years. We thought giving her the opportunity to interact with the world may be of benefit to her personal well-being and future mental state. Neither of which you care about, I know.”

“To the second point on which you’ve chosen to fixate is with regards to her wealth. First, she is never going to inherit. There were no plans to have her inherit because she couldn’t. She’s not related to the Daamon’s directly. She’d have to marry into the family. Even if that were the case, there exist strict laws concerning the transition of wealth that make the maneuver near impossible. Laws you know nothing about, and were never a threat to you or your personal well being.”

“The only things that her grand-father could offer her were: the best education money can buy and a good marriage contract. That’s all he could do. Now, because of you, he can’t even do that.” He went quiet again staring at the emptiness between them.

William knew he was supposed to feel bad for taking everything away from her. So what, she was never going to inherit. It didn’t stop her from parading around like she did. She wasn’t even a Daamon. She was a dirt poor nobody. Her name might not even be Astral. It was a stupid name anyway.

The woman broke the moment of silent reflection. “I’m afraid that after today’s incident, Mr. Mathers will be expelled from the Academy.”

It was official, his life was over. His friends would never talk to him again. A high-school drop out. No worse! A trouble maker who got kicked-out.

“I guess Astral gets to stay,” William spat. After everything he’d been through, the pretender still won.

“Mr. Mathers, even if it turned out that she was Enhanced, she did not engage in an act of violence against your person or any other.”

She just lay there under him as he punched at her. She protected her head and face, curling herself up to make herself smaller. His hands throbbed with the memory of the impact of his fist against her body. He might well have been hitting the cobble stone courtyard beneath her. Had he managed to hit her at all? He’d like to see her just one more time to see the sort of damage he caused her.

It was clear to William, that she set him up by not reacting the way anyone else would have in that situation. She just took it and waited for someone to intervene. That must have been why she was so close to Seth that day. She must have known he would have stepped in.

“If you expel me, I’ll let everyone know that I was kidnapped and you planned on covering it up,” William said. The certainty he felt in his words sent a chill down his spine.

“Are you threatening us?” the woman frowned. She shook her head and waved a dainty hand as though to swiped away a bad idea. “We have detailed records of your exact location since your arrival here in late August.”

“I know you do. Of course you would. It’s not a cover up unless you’re, you know, covering up the lose ends.”

“William…” Mathias uttered under his breath, like a parent who had heard one too many of his son’s childish fantasies.

“No, dad! It’s true! I’ve been missing since October. Astral knows it too! She was there! The reason why I didn’t answer your emails was because I wasn’t able to. I was…”

“That’s enough!” the woman roared. She took a quick breath and counted backwards from ten to steady herself. When she spoke again her voice returned to the soft caring tones of a nurturing mother, granted a mother who was at the end of her patients. “Master Mathers, I hope your Order allows for psychological evaluations. Please, have your doctor contact us for our assessment. We need to get this young man the help he so desperately needs. We don’t want to see his bright future go to waste.”

Hands knitted across his lap, William’s father held the woman’s gaze. “You’ve never served in the war. If you had, you’d know that one year is not enough time to address William’s inferiority issues while training him up for his life sentence. Which brings up the point that in the unlikely event that he survives twelves years in the war, the survivalist culture of the killing fields will have made your report and my efforts moot. Please refrain from dictating what is best for my son when he has a death sentence hanging over him.”

“He can’t carry on behaving this way!” she said.

“You’re right. Unfortunately, you’ll have to live with the idea of cosmic justice. William’s increased paranoia and fixation on social climbing has finally turned on him. He might well continue to blame everyone else for the problems he’s caused for himself. I have to choose between saving his soul or sending my son to the monasteries for training.”

“The Red Order is in the business of saving souls.” She tried to sound cheery, like William had just found a two-for-one deal. She really had no idea what life was like in the Red Order.

William had called one of the monasteries’ home for two years after his mom had died. He was six. He was assigned a daily set of brown robes. They had to read scriptures and do chores all day. The kids were punished for playing. They were punished for speaking.

“Silence was a virtue,” the priest would say.

“Hard work disciplines the mind and focuses the spirit.”

The corners of Mathias’ lips turned up. He probably wasn’t allowed to talk much about how the Red Order trained their Hunters.

“With regards to William’s social paranoia and inferiority complex leading to documented incidents, and finalizing with the most egregious incident… If these issues were so dire, why is this the first time I’m hearing of them. All reports I have received to date say nothing of his behavioral issues. They focus instead on his low grades, skipping class, and failing to attend scheduled work.”

The woman scrolled through the contents of her tablet, and took a moment to read through some of the reports. “There’s a few notes here. I can understand how you might miss them.” She highlighted a few sections and handed the screen to his father, who nodded.

“These are not the copies that I have received,” Mathias said.

“I-I’m sorry? But those are the only reports that exist,” she replied.

Mathias smiled. “I trust that there’s an appeal process available?”

She stared at him. “You don’t understand. What William has done is severe. We cannot condone violence.”

“But you do, through the games,” his dad said. “My son was under extreme stress. The circumstances through which William found himself involved in those games today will have to be examined. Thoroughly.”

She forced her smile to stay on her lips. “We’re doing everything we can find answers. So far we have evidence that Squad IV had convinced Mr. Mathers to camp out until their next game. It’s a cruel joke, but it’s often used as a form of initiation among squad mates. They’ll use threats like getting kicked from the squad if the player doesn’t comply. We do have channels where students can report these bully tactics. Convincing students to use the resources available on the other hand… well, we can’t exactly force them.”

“That’s not what happened!” William shouted.

Mathias lifted a hand, signalling to William to keep quiet. Didn’t his own father believe him? His dad addressed the councillor, “Mrs. Clegg, was it? The timing of this issue is impeccable. You see, I am one of the few Master Hunters chosen to train and recruit new inductees in the new year. Which means it would leave William, a minor, home alone without the care and supervision that you feel William so desperately needs. I cannot be in both places at once, nor am I able to refuse a direct order from the Red Order. Either I abandon my son, who desperately needs my help, or…”

“Excuse me, Sir,” the male E.M.I. soldier spoke up. “We need to interview Mr. Mathers, especially about the day Lady Daamon got kidnapped. If he’s involved as a victim, there could be more out there. I mean, it’s not exactly the best solution, but it does buy you time while you get things sorted.”

William panicked. He was being arrested now? He didn’t even do anything all that serious!

Mathias nodded without looking at the soldiers. He addressed the woman in a warm and compassionate tone. “Obviously, the issue is very complex. You did your job well, Mrs. Clegg. Granted, I feel that it came a little too late to do anything about. For the non-academic issues, I am due to meet with the Headmaster in a couple of hours. I prefer to discuss my options with him, since we’ve clearly hit the limit of your authority.”

The Master Hunter stood, offering his hand to the woman. She stared at his hand, then at Mathias who smiled at her. “I don’t wish to trouble you with anymore of my son’s issues. Thank you for taking the time to make me aware of the extend of William’s problems. Of course, I’ll put in a good word for you, Mrs. Clegg.”

She shook his hand, stunned.

Mathias nodded to the E.M.I. who each took William by an arm, hefted him up, and dragged him out the room.