Meanwhile, in the courtyard, it was almost a full packed house with journalists and camera crews. This was a monumental event since no one was even allowed to set foot in the old syndicate without getting severely dealt with if you were a journalist. Many of the major news broadcasters jumped at the chance to come to Madrid to be a part of something historical.

Then suddenly, Kayla rushed to the podium and spoke into the microphone, “could I have your attention, please? As of right now, I want to thank everyone who can attend the grand opening of our new institution. I know there has been a lot of speculation on what this Oleander Syndicate is going to entail,” Her deadpan joke gained a few laughs in the crowd. “Thank you. Without further ado, I want you to please welcome the headmaster of our new institution, Dolph Eichner.”

With a round of applause, Dolph went up to the podium as Kayla gracefully stepped down. He took out his cue cards and place them on the podium for him to read off. He knew this was important, and he didn’t really want to mess up. Just in time, Chloe, Rahkaze, and Olivia made it back in time for this speech. Fortunately for them, everybody stood the attention of the young man who is at the podium and not them.

Cameras were flickering, and everyone stood silently as Dolph spoke, “Thank you, everyone, and welcome. One accomplished singer and songwriter once said, ‘I don't know where I'm going, but I promise it won't be boring.’ And yes, he was indeed a spirited individual.”

The quote was a reasonable success drawing in laughter from the crowd.

Dolph continued, “But with his words, speaks so much truth. He wasn’t afraid of death. In his point in his life, he even prayed for it. In the end, all living things eventually die. It's unavoidable. But if you remember, it will live on in your heart forever.”

The audience applauded for a moment, and then he continued with the speech, “It's one thing to live and another to live well. No matter what the circumstances anyone is going through right now, be thankful for every minute of your life, because you never know when and where death becomes us. Don't allow for your last moments on this earth to be the first time waking up to what life is truly about.”

Most of the audience was in shock of his admission of guilt, and so was everyone involved in the syndicate. Mostly, because Dolph decided not to bring up what happened five years earlier. However, he did.

Dolph continued, “On that fateful day, I must admit, and now more than ever, you have to hear it for me. We, as a collective unit of the Oleander Syndicate, have failed humanity. Sadly, our internal feuding and unresolved issues of the past finally came to the surface. And at our finest hour, we neglected to measure up to not only our standards but to the standards that the world needed us to be.”

The audience stood silent.

Even Dolph took a moment to reflect as he spoke again, “Drama does not just walk into your life. You either create it, invite it, or you associate with people who love to bring it into your life. Value the ones who give you good memories. Don't ever change them for any material things in this world. Time has always taught us a lesson. Once you have disappointed them, you will hardly find a way to call an old friend when the time comes that will you need them.”

The audience agreed as they applauded his words.

“In short, loyalty is royalty. The people who want to stay in your life will always find a way. Real friends visit faithfully. You shouldn’t have to fight for a spot in someone’s life. Never force someone to make a space in their life for you, because if they actually care about you, they will create one for you.

“Successful people keep their eye on the goal. If they encounter obstacles, instead of focusing on the barrier, they find a way around it by keeping their goal in mind. It is a mindset of courage which makes it easier to pursue success. The truth will always find a way to make itself known. The only thing we can do is to fight with the knowledge we hold and everything we have. Erasing the paradoxes one by one. It's never easy, we claw and scratch for every inch. But we will always eventually reach that one single truth.

“That is why I am proud to announce that we too are following suit of redesigning, rebuilding, and of course, reclaiming. Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you the first-ever Institute of its own kind open to the public that teaches the history and nature of daemonic behavior and teaching the ways of the Nether; The Novak University of Demonology.”

Surprised by this new change, the audience loudly applauded. However, the last name that was used to rebuild this original image of theirs made Rahkaze sick to his stomach. As a matter of fact, Rahkaze and Chloe didn’t even want to look at each other out of sheer embarrassment.

As the audience died down from applause, it was Ryoko and Natalia’s que to unveil the new plaque and logo of their new school. It had a silver background; the text was crimson red, being written in Shelley Allegro BT font. The audience approved of this new change. However, the only person who felt utterly uneasy about this whole entire situation was Rahkaze. What actually made him feel even more uncomfortable is that he was the only one not even coughing his hands. And the coup de grace, Dolph was looking straight at him, and so was Rahkaze. At that fleeting moment, Rahkaze looked away.

Keeping the presentation going, Dolph began to speak again as the crowd died down, “I’m proud to announce that we are now officially taking students and public enrollment will start in the fall of 2015. Soon, of course, the Oleander Syndicate that used to be here five years ago met its end during an explosion. We decided to leave that kind of life behind, gain real knowledge and power from ourselves improvements to the University.

“Even though we have salvaged some of the syndicate’s history and landscaping after the fire, the old syndicate’s legacy is not made of bricks and mortar and glass. It’s the connection that the syndicate had with humanity. It wasn’t perfect, and we all wanted to create a better system, but it was a system that worked well. All the time? Not quite. But that is the point. Sometimes in life, you succeed and fail. It’s how you handle that success and failure that makes you a better person.”

Then, Kayla went up to the podium and handed Dolph a diploma.

Dolph spoke to the audience again, “as I said before, this world of ours is not perfect. Especially the syndicate that was here before. Sadly, many differences will remain unsettled. However, tonight, we’re ever so fortunate to settle such differences and hopefully set things right again. Will Rahkaze Zayne please step up to the podium?”

Immediately, everyone turns their head, and every pair of eyes in the entire room were dead set on the long dark-haired, golden-eyed man and his closest friend Chloe.

“You want me to come with you?” Chloe whispered.

“No, I got this,” Rahkaze answered as he makes his way to the podium and across the room.

The audience stood silent. It was an awkward silence. A painful silence. Everyone knew the personal disdain between the Zayne family and pretty much every one of the Oleander Syndicate. Some of which even went out of their way to blame the Zayne family for potential leaks, exposing most of the information about the Holy Fire Bombing in which the same family was not a part of.