I looked out my window to see the waves crashing against the rock of the beach, and a little bit further away I could just make out the U.S.S Magic as if slowly swam out of the Bermuda Triangle, possibly to look for more Lazarus recruits.at least I thought it was out looking for more Lazarus recruits. I didn’t know it at the time but that boat was carrying something truly dangerous and Lovecraftian in nature. But that’s a story for another time. I slowly stepped off the bed and onto the cold metal floor. Wait for metal? Yes, metal. Strange as it was the floor that was glass and showed myself drowning last night was now merely cold grey metal.

Had what I saw last night of me drowning been a trick of the mind, and if so, who made it? These questions and many more about what happened yesterday filled my head to the brim of bursting. The metal seemed to make this very weird noise when I stepped on touching it with my bare feet felt oddly satisfying, like listening to someone eat crispy bacon on a Friday morning. I looked for a bathroom to change only to find that there wasn’t one. I opened my door, scanning the hallway for anything that looked remotely like a bathroom. No luck. After a while of trying to find the bathroom, I gave up and headed back to my room.

Once I was inside, I re-scanned my room for any things that could resemble a bathroom. this time I noticed there was a single lightswitch barely sticking out from under the dresser. I flicked it on and a low hissing noise emanating from behind me. I turned around to see a hidden compartment next to the bed open and reveal a steamy shower. I undressed and walked into the shower. The instant my bare feet were hit by the shower water I felt myself overcome with this sensation of relaxation. I felt so soothed and calm it was practically inhuman. The water seemed to null all stress and pain gained from the previous day.

However, as soon as I left the shower an hour later, all my wounds reopened themselves, and all those terrible memories came rushing back to me. And when I say everything, I do mean everything. From the creepy fire monsters on the island to the strange creatures that invaded my dream. It took me a few seconds to regain my composure. I draped a towel around myself and walked over to my dresser to pick out my clothes. Just when I was about to pick out some clothes I heard Plasmeus’s voice say: “Will a Mr. Luke Sared Please go to the control room for a mission briefing?” Hearing Plasmeus’s dull voice so close to me when I knew he wasn't anywhere near me scared the crap out of me and I accidentally fell headfirst into the dresser.

I got back up to notice that Plasmeus’s voice was coming from a speaker that was disguised as a part of the dresser. Sighing with relief that Plasmeus wasn't actually in my room, I put on some clothes. I chose a white shirt and a pair of beige pants. After that, I left the room and went down the elevator. From there, I walked to the bridge connecting the plasma building to the main one, occasionally dodging stray divebombing. ice-bolts from the water mages training on the island. It was at that very moment I noticed I could see farther than usual. I found it pretty weird but I continued walking. once I was inside the main building I just realized I had nowhere to go.

A few seconds of my time was spent looking across the various hallways and rooms until finally, I noticed some arrows leading me down the hall. I walked down the hallway and noticed that the arrows stopped hovering just above a door with big red bold letters above it that read: "Mission briefing" the words appeared to be bobbing back and forth like a wave. looking at it made me feel a bit queasy so I decided to stop and turn to the doorknob. I let out a sigh of discomfort before opening the door. inside was plasmeus with his back turned to me. He was wearing a green polo shirt and a pair of blue shorts. sitting off to the far right of him was necrosis who appeared to be almost completely covered in a robe made of misty shadow.

Only his head and neck were visible. Necrois was drinking wine that was pouring out through his throat with one hand, and he was holding Clara's limp body by the neck with the other. Almost as if she was a chicken whose neck was just ringed. Clara’s face was even more cracked and I began to notice a black liquid dripping from the cracks and onto the ground. The entire sight filled me with rage. How could Necrosis do this?! Why would he do this?! “Get away from my sister!” I screamed at Necrosis before sprinting at him, well I tried at least. Before I could even get out two steps, something completely unexpected happened. Necrosis faced me and immediately I felt like my heart was being clutched and fell onto the ground in a wheezing, adrenaline-filled, painful wreck.

The clutching quickly faded and I slowly rose to my feet, breathing heavily. Necrosis continued drinking his wine as Plasmeus turned towards me. “Ah, Luke you must be very rattled after my friend Necrosis here lightly tapping your soul,” Plasmeus said. “No I’m fine, ” I muttered, sarcastically “Really? Well, that good I suppose. You being rattled would be very poor for the new mission I have assigned for you.” Plasmeus said. “Wait I need to go on a mission?!” I shouted in alarm, “My training isn’t even done yet why do you want me to do a mission already? I mean do you hate me or what?!” ”You hit the nail right on the head Mr. Sared,” Plasmeus said as he began slowly lumbering towards me, each step making a scorch mark on the floor.

“Although I do hate everybody, I especially hate people who break my things, Hence why you’ll be going on a mission early, without anybody knowing” “What do you mean without anybody knowing?” I asked, “Can’t Hollyhocks read minds? I mean in her letter she said she’d kill anybody if they were to talk about Lazarus.” “While that is true, I have a way for getting around that,” Plasmeus said, grinning mischievously “Hollyhocks Herself can read every Agent but she only decides to read agents if she knows that they’re gone. To get around this issue I managed to convince some stray changelings to transform into you and your partner for the duration of however long it takes you two to complete the objective”

“Wait. What do you mean my partner?” I asked. “Ah yes how could I forget? You will be partnered with Snidely Pines. I know you two hate each other which is why I am having both of you take on the same mission. It would be a nice bonding experience” Plasmeus began, “ Necrosis can you please retrieve Mr. Sared’s partner?” Necrosis shrugged and Dropped Clara to the ground. I ran over to pick her up but I felt myself overcome with a sense of dread and stepped back. Necrosis opened up the door and peered down the left side of the hallway before opening his mouth and letting out a wave of bright red chains.

I could hear screams from the far end of the hallway, but they grew more and more muffled until they fell dead silent. My heartbeat quickened as necrosis bit off the chains which created a horrible clanking noise. Necrosis then proceeded to grab the chains, and pull and pull until A figure approve, completely covered in what appeared to be living chains judging from how they constantly wiggled and writhed.appeared. At first, I couldn’t tell because he was completely covered in red chains. But when I saw his long hair seep through some of the chains I knew it was him. Necrosis opened his mouth and all the chains flew off of snidely and retreated down necrosis’s throat. Snidely fell own his back, breathing heavily.

Snidely was wearing a white jacket and a pair of grey sweatpants. Everything was topped off with light blue glasses. Plasmeus slow clapped as Snidely got to his feet and locked eyes with me. The instant he did he let out an aggravated sigh, no doubt pissed at the fact that I am pretty much the reason for why we have to go on this possibly dangerous mission. “Well know that everyone is here I suppose it is fit to give you your mission.” Plasmeus boomed. ”Tell me, are either of you familiar with Petal Orphanage?” I shook my head. Snidely nodded. ”Isn't the owner extremely rich or something?” Snidely asked. ”Why yes, he is.” Plasmeus answered, ”Dr. Brutus Rexid is an amazing botanist. He has a near godlike skill of knowing every minute detail of a plant’s structure.

He is reported to have a net worth of just over 5.6 million experimenting on plants and the like. Dr. Rexid made his orphanage on the other side of New York. However, his orphanage would-” “Ok he sounds like a smart guy and all trust me” Snidely interrupted, “But what does he have to do with our mission?” Suddenly Sparks flew off of Plasmeus’s chest and I gasped. Snidely shrieked and jumped backward before teleporting over to the other side of the room and hitting his head on the ground. the sparks fizzled out of existence before hitting the ground. “Do not talk when I’m talking ok?” Plasmeus asked. Snidely nodded feverishly. “Good. As I was saying, Rexid’s orphanage would never get rid of children after they reach the age of 18 like most orphanages do.

Instead, they simply vanish off the face of the earth. We planted tiny cameras near their doorsteps for years and we never saw a single 18-year-old leave. What was also strange was that every time people came to adopt children, they would end up simply disappearing, Burn that’s not the reason you two are going on this mission. The real reason you two are here is because he has a Biome egg.” “What’s a Biome egg?” I asked. “Well to put it simply, it’s an egg or more like a bomb, that when heated intensely, hatches and spawns forth that entire biome with the same radius of a nuclear carpet-bombing instantly.

They were crafted by a group of Nihilistic and powerful mages who wanted to revive something with the bombs I forget. They were killed by me and the other Master Instructors in a very long and hard battle. But we were only teens and not nearly as strong as we are now, so it Made sense why we were all injured afterward.” Plasmeus paused briefly to smile before continuing with his anecdote, “They were a real pain to deal with those six. Especially their leader who found a way to Hex a monster to serve her until she dies. Anyway, I’m getting off-topic. The majority of their biome eggs were found and safely hidden in places all around the world. How a normal person like Reid could’ve possibly found the egg I have no idea.”

Plasmeus took in a deep breath as he finished his sentence before continuing, ”We already sent out an agent, a Time mage by the name of Brent Harrison. His goal was to find out why kids we're disappearing and retrieve the egg.” ”And he didn't respond so you're sending us right?” Snidely asked. Plasmeus nodded. ”So he's dead” Plasmeus shook his head. ”No, he is not. Rather he's in excruciating pain and agony every day. I was about to ask how he knew when plasmeus reached into his left pocket and retrieved a small square object that looked kind of like an iPad, although it didn't have any buttons. Unexpectedly, the once dead black screen, roared to life as it let out a series of buzzes before displaying a list of names. I assumed the names were of all the agents currently doing missions. There was a search bar at the top right.

Plasmeus typed Brent's name, and 3 Columns flashed onto the screen. The first Column showed his name which was, of course, Brent Harrison, The second column showed his mental health which was marked as: Mentally declining, and finally, the third column showed his wounds. It shifted in between: “near death “ and “perfectly fine” constantly, like a vegan switching between whether 10% or 15% milk is better. “I don’t know why it’s like that.” Plasmeus said, “I really hope it’s flashing in between him being nearly dead and perfectly fine simply because it’s in beta and still need testing.....anyway, the two of you must work together on this mission to both find out what happened to Brent, and what also is happening to the parents and young adults.”

“Do we at least get to choose whether or not we want to accept this mission?” I asked. Plasmeus shook his head before smiling mischievously. “Lovely.....” Snidely trailed off as he facepalmed himself. “Well, know that you both know the mission, I suppose you should know learn what your undercover aliases will be.” Plasmeus began, “Luke, you will be Luke Jefferson during the Operation. And you snidely will Simply just be...yourself.” Plasmeus muttered coldly. “What do you mean?” Snidely asked. “Well you see snidely, your parents are gone.” “What?!” Snidely shouted clenching his fists. “I’m afraid it is, in fact, true Mr pines. Your father wanted to look for you after your disappearance.

Your mom did not, as she was an agent and knew the entire time where you were. But eventually, he forced her to help him look. Yesterday night as they were looking, they found Angel Hands. Rexid kindly led them in....and they never left.” Snidely’s eyes were focused on Plasmeus as he talked, possibly hoping that in the end, it was just some sick joke. However, when Plasmeus finished and stared at Snidely with cold, uncaring eyes, Snidely knew that the words he was hearing, were most definitely fact. His eyes began to water and he quickly wiped away the tears before turning around, breathing intensely all the way through.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel bad for Snidely. “When does the mission start?” Snidely asked bitterness and fury in his voice. “This very evening” Plasmeus responded. Hearing that gave me a glimmer of hope that I could get out of this mess. Surely since I had until the evening I could just tell Hollyhocks. Then, as if he was reading my mind, Plasmeus said: “Oh and if either of you are even thinking of trying to tell Hollyhocks just forget about it, I am in my prime state.

I know the layout of all six Lazarus buildings like the back of my hand. Also, Hollyhocks is tending to her tower in Greenland, with all the other Master Instructor Mind Mages from other countries. There’s going to be a big prophecy at midnight two days from now.” Plasmeus said. “Damn” Snidely muttered, facepalming himself while I let out a loud sigh. “And we have to do this?” Snidely said, through gritted teeth. Plasmeus nodded and shooed us away. Snidely was about to teleport away, only to be stopped by Plasmeus clearing his throat and beginning to speak.

“I have forgotten one more thing I must tell you two. If you do find anything strange or dangerous about the mission, one or both of you need to write down the scenario on a piece of paper with this enchanted pen.” Plasmeus reaches under his desk and pulled out two black pens with his make written on them in a bold, white font. and handed me them to us. I noticed number and will send you call and explain your situation, Horace will tell me and the other Master instructors, but not before giving you your primary and secondary weapons in a black suitcase that spontaneously appears in your right pocket in a tiny form after you take them out they grow to their natural size. “Shouldn't we get our weapons from the beginning?” I asked, genuinely curious and dreading the fact I’d have to go on this mission.

“Yeah,” Snidely said agreeing, “And who’s Horace?” “Horace is our main gadgeteer. s He works with a bunch of other powerful agents to enchant powerful magic into mundane objects. And the reason you don’t have your weapons from the get-go is that if you did it could be possible for you to accidentally reveal them before something horrid happens with the mission. And that would either cause you to be arrested by the magic police for carrying a deadly weapon or if you accidentally fire off your weapon, allow the public to know that magic is real. And before either of you ask another question, yes magical police are real. But you really shouldn’t have an issue with them unless you do something really stupid.” Plasmeus finished.

I couldn’t believe what I just heard, but judging from his heady and sorrowful eyes, it appeared Snidely did want to go on this mission. Probably because it involves his missing parent. If he wanted to go on the mission despite being less than a quarter of his way through training, he was free to, but I stood my ground. “Well don’t get me wrong Plasmeus, this mission sounds great and all but I’m afraid I’m gonna have to pass on this one,” I said. Plasmeus tsked at me before replying. “You see your problem with that idea is you think I give a damn about your opinions or views. I do not. You will do this mission. There is no escape from going on this mission. Unless....well no that wouldn’t work out either”

“Unless what?” I asked, desperate for a way out. “Unless you disband from Lazarus and no longer desire to be an agent.” “I do!” I said hastily, “I’ll quit being an agent if it means not having to go on a possibly dangerous mission this early.” Plasmeus went quiet for a few minutes before absolutely bursting into laughter, sending sparks flying out of his mouth and singing the floor. And some of the table that stood behind him. Plasmeus eventually calmed down and looked me in the eyes and muttered the most horrifying words I’d ever heard until that moment: “If you leave this Agency right now Mr. Sared, your sister dies.” Plasmeus said in a bored tone. Hearing those 11 words sent such fear into my body I slumped across the back wall.

“What?!” I said, exasperated. “I said if you leave the agency right now Mr. Sared, your sister will die,” Plasmeus repeated in the same dull voice. “You see if we were to release you Mr. Sared, we would automatically have to release your sister as well. I don’t fully remember why we have it as a rule, but we do have it. And if we were to release your sister, She would die due to no normal doctor knowing how to cure a magical affliction.” “This doesn’t make sense though!” I shouted at Plasmeus. By this point, I was beginning to grow so enraged at placement and what he was telling me about basically killing my sister if I didn’t want to go on the mission, that my hands began to vibrate as they found themselves enveloped in blue lightning. I threw a lightning blast at Plasmeus only for him to catch it with his tongue and eat it.

Plasmeus completely ignored my attack and continued talking “Well you see Mr. Sared, a lot of people have tried to integrate teaching the medical field about how to handle magical diseases and such, however since that would reveal magic as real to the general public, Lazarus quickly dissuaded people from making that mandatory. However, some people didn’t listen and tried to go on with the idea anyway, only to end up dying Oh and by the way, don’t you just think it’s amazing that You and your partner are both going on this mission to save people you love? That's pretty interesting. Anyway go back to your rooms and wait until Evening.” “Your Evil!” I muttered through gritted teeth at Plasmeus.

“Were not evil Mr. Sared, we just do horrible things for good reasons,” Plasmeus stated. “Now go away. Shoo!” I was about to make a retort when Plasmeus’s eyes bulged and he let out a hidden blood-curdling scream before switching to the ground, gasping for air and Firing o into his hands and he leaped at me and Snidely! Snidely instinctually turned around to run before remembering he could teleport and disappeared with a small pop as soon as one of the daggers. struck his hair. I immediately fell on my back As the dagger barely missed my head, showering me with sparks. Plasmeus’s eyes rolled into his skull as he raised back his arm. and prepared to kill A scythe crafted of bone and dripping wi jumped over to me and front kicked plasmeus with such force, in sending him smashing through him smashing into his and with a disgustingly wet sound, A scythe crafted of bone and dripping with bloodshot out through the door and into the hallway, breathing heavily and cursing up a storm in shock.

Eventually, I calmed down and picked myself up. I noticed Snidely a few feet away from me, his hair now noticeably shorter due to being singed, only hanging low enough to barely reach his back. “Dear Lord I can’t believe I have to go through with this mission...and with you no less,” Snidley muttered, saltier than a Mcdonald’s covered in chloride, and rightly so, we both had to go on a possibly dangerous mission, before we even finished training. And in all honesty, I was beginning to dread the mission. It could mean my death, or getting arrested for a long time if even a single thing were to go wrong. After a while of thinking, I eventually decided: Screw it. I’m saving my sister and getting out of this bizarre agency.

I took a deep breath, before rushing back through the mission briefing door. Once inside, I turned to Necrosis, who appeared to be unconscious from the wine, judging from the unforgettable stench of alcohol radiating from his body and the empty glass next to him. “Hey what the hell are you doing back here?” Plasmeus boomed, “Go to your room and wait for Horrace to finally get to the island.” I didn’t respond and simply ran over to Clara, slapping away Necrosis’s hand that held her as I did so, before sprinting back out through the door. The last thing I saw before leaving the room was Plasmeus, grinning and lightly pressing a silver bell, marked: “Demon Slayer”

I found it strange as to why he was smiling at me and ringing the bell but I didn't focus my mind on it that much. I had better things to do than worry about Plasmeus being bizarre. As soon as I left the room, I blindly ran to Zhou's classroom. Hoping that he could help me. I ran in and found Zhou Alone in the room sitting next to a glass table calmly dining on what looked like a dragon tail. When Zhou saw me rush into his class he didn't seem all that surprised. When he saw Clara’s face cracked and oozing the gooey black liquid that seemed to seep into the ground like it was acid, however, his eyes bulged and he quickly condensed the table and the meal into a ball of lightning before sending it out the door and rushing to my aid. “I need to leave Lazarus,” I muttered with a harsh tone. Zhou gave me a puzzled look before replying.

“Ok that’s fine you can just talk to your master instructor Plasmeus, he’ll question you a bit on if your sure before sending you to Hollyhocks who will promptly wipe your memory and send you back home. I’m okay with that. What I’m not ok with is you carrying that foul creature with you!” Zhou took Clara to me at Clara who was convulsing and even more, cracks were appearing in her face. I was about to tell Zhou that I was helping my sister when I noticed his eyes gazed up above me. I quickly turned around to see a woman. At least It looked like a woman. It was the outline of a woman. It had it’d hair in a bun and was covered from head to toe in a light so blinding that the instant I caught sight of the women I swore and fell on my back, dropping Clara as I did so.

The moment I struck the ground, I remembered where I saw this woman before. She was the weird figure I had seen on the U.S.S. Magic The woman grabbed me by the collar and forced me back up with such raw power It set my collar ablaze and burnt my left shoulder a bit. I quickly kicked the woman in the arm with all my strength.....nothing happened. Zhou simply stared at the Woman made of light with his mouth agape. I was confused as to why he wasn’t attacking her. Seeing the woman made of light, most definitely intent on doing me harm filled me with adrenaline. And when she unexpectedly launched at me, arms outstretched. I jumped back, avoiding her attack and letting her crash into the ground from where I stood attoseconds earlier.

While in midair I conjured a disc made of lightning and threw it a her...the woman simply grabbed it and crushed the construct with her hand, sending parks every which way. Once I landed on the ground, I fired a beam of lightning st the woman made of light, expecting for it to damage her....it didn’t. She simply constructed a staff of light in her right hand, and deflected my attack, sending my lightning bolt directly into my stomach. The blow sent my clothes partially on fire and sent me flying across the room, letting out shrill screams and flailing frantically. Right before I could’ve struck the ground, the strange woman, rushed over to me and caught me before I could've made an impact. I screamed and tried to get out of her grasp but to no avail. despite her petite form, the woman was oddly strong and just wouldn't let go of me. Combine that with the fact that since she was made of light, she burned my skin and I just couldn't escape. After that realization, I stopped screaming, and the woman slowly put me on the ground, back first.

Once on the ground, I saw the woman raise her hands to me, and before I could even react, there was a loud whoosh and I was trapped in a cage made of light. The bars of the cage seemed to constantly fluctuate and change size. The entire cage, along with the woman, seemed to radiate with a dangerous power. "Why are you doing this and who are you?!" I rasped, getting to my feet. The woman didn't respond, instead, she flicked her wrist at the days and it disappeared in a sound much similar to a flame being snuffed out. I was shocked at the sheer power the woman had to say the least and my eyes bulged.

“I need to tell you about Clara,” The woman said, in this eerily familiar angelic singsongy voice. “How do you know my sister’s name?!” I gasped, my eyes practically bulging out of their sockets. The woman in light didn’t answer and instead, turned to Zhou, who seemed to be sweating heavily and terrified from the sheer sight of the woman. “Leave is to talk in private please,” She said, her voice softer than a cushion. Zhou nodded and left the room in an explosion of lightning that scorched the floor and some of the walls. The woman turned back to me, her body now flickering and making a cacophony of hums and crackles as she simultaneously glowed even brighter than she already was.

Pure light filled the room. My eyes quickly began to burn and I immediately covered them. Eventually, when I felt like the light had subsided, I looked back again. What I saw before I made my jaw drop as I stumbled to the ground in pure unadulterated shock and awe. I couldn’t even get any words out. Standing before me, was my mother! "I...I don't understand!" I choked out, stumbling over my words. There was a long pause before my mom finally spoke. "Well you see Luke, there is something you must know about your sister. Namely the fact that she is not your sister at all.” ”That can't be true!” I spat, though in the back of my mind I had an inkling of suspicion that she was speaking the truth. It would explain her strange birthmark and us being born a day apart. Still, I knew it just couldn't be true. It just couldn't.

”I'm afraid it is true Luke” my mother began, ”When I was a Lazarus agent and not an instructor I was with a ruthless team of powerful mages, we were a subdivision of Lazarus that was dedicated almost entirely to stopping demons and monsters in the 1500s. We were called: “The Forsaken” There were just four of us: Me, Hatchet, Carmilla, and Tom. Carmilla was my number 1 partner for many years, Blood mage cursed with vampirism who used both abilities along with her tactical skills to utterly annihilate her enemies and make their deaths look like accidents. On one dangerous the mission, however, the enemy surprise attacked us and Hatchet and Tom were killed, leaving only me and Celeste.

And when it looked like we were both going to die, Celeste revealed to me that she was a sleeper agent for a powerful Agency that focused on counter-espionage and terrorism and was the one who arranged the demon attack. She explained that she was fond of me and asked me to join her. I refused and the two of us engaged in a heated battle that managed to last an entire day before eventually ending in her presumed death. Years later when I was doing an operation focusing on a strange beast allegedly being spotted in the silver bridge collapse, I found a movie ticket that mysteriously appeared on my doorstep and taking it as a clue, decided to go to a nearby theatre. It was there that I saw something most vile, a snuff film showing two of my friends battling wave after wave of demons before eventually succumbing and being devoured, leaving only cracked and bloody bones as what remained of my comrades ...”

My mother’s eyes briefly fluttered and I could see her begin to tear up before quickly wiping away tears from her eye before continuing.”After the movie was finished, powerful fear magic began seeping pouring out the screen, killing every person in the theatre except for me and your father because we fought them off. I gained a minor attraction to Clark for his immense bravery. However, I couldn't let him know that magic was real and I altered his memory so that he would simply believe a fire had taken place instead of the terrible truth of what had happened. I immediately took the film as a sign that Celeste was alive and betrayed the original mission to go and find her. But In doing so, I had to play the role of a couple with your father to blend in more with the people of Point Pleasent.

And over time, our love did become reality and after a morose marriage, I soon became pregnant with you. When I was about three months pregnant, I had finally tracked down Celeste in Bangkok, Thailand, and managed to ambush her and swiftly exterminate her, which I found quite odd as she was usually well prepared and calculating. I later discovered that the reason behind her being killed so easily was that she had just delivered a baby a day ago. And since vampirism is hereditary and the child’s parents were both terrorists, I decided to sneak into the infirmary of the hospital and take the baby as my own, and with the help of Hollyhocks, diminish its natural vampiric features and abilities, and as you can tell, the spell is currently dispersing and she is becoming more and more vampiric by the day, and once she fully returns ....” My mother trailed off.

”When she fully turns what?!” I shouted, desperate for answers about what was happening to my sister. “When she fully returns to a vampire Luke....she will die of hunger due to spending an entire decade of not drinking human blood.” The moment my mother finished her sentence, I collapsed to the ground out of pure shock of what was happening. Suddenly, it all made sense. Her immense love of steak tartare, why her skin would sometimes look like rubber, why sunlight physically killed her even though the doctors couldn’t figure out why. The only thing that made no sense was the pentagram birthmark but it was probably a thing all demon mages had. There was an eerily long pause as my mother and I locked eyes on eachother before eventually, I spoke up. “How long does she have?” I said, my voice raspy like sandpaper. “She has three days, Luke.” My mother said coldly.

“Then why aren’t you doing something to help her?!” I cried out, tears welling up in my eyes. “Because If blood was given to her now, and it was too little an amount, it’d cause an extreme bloodlust within her. The only thing that could truly help her would be if she were to receive enough blood to fill a pond, and quite frankly, no one could gather enough blood to help her in her current state in such a short amount of time.” “But there has to be a way for her to live!” I shouted, more or less directed at myself than my mother. “And as soon as she’s healed, you can tell her and this whole thing will get sorted out”

“I know how you feel Luke,” my mother assured, “but If Clara does find her true roots it would lead to a magical surge, something that only happens when a mage is fatally injured, or in extreme anger. And that would most likely lead to her death. It would be for the best of everyone if she never found out.” “That doesn’t mean it’s the best for her to never find out her real identity!” There was an even longer pause before the conversation ended with my mother calmly muttering. “I’m sorry son, but I just can’t let that be.” Shortly before she picked up Clara, and the entire room filled with a blinding light. I screamed as my retinas began to bleed from the sheer brightness of the light, that was not around my entire body. The next thing I knew I was in my bedroom, hungry from a lack of breakfast and stressed out from what was happening.

I could go back to Zhou’s classroom, but even if I did I’d most likely still be brought back to my classroom. All I could do was lie down against my desk, and begin sobbing uncontrollably, form the situation I was in...