"Trust is like a mirror, you can fix it if it's broken, but you can still see the crack in that mother fucker's reflection." (Lady Gaga)

As Fayez carefully leaned forward, he saw a young woman in the alley, one that he recognized to be Natacha, a student from Sapho's team. She was a well-trained warrior, but right now she seemed to be wounded and wasn't showing as much skills against her opponent as she usually would during training.

He was wondering what creature her attacker was, but quickly got an answer to his unvoiced question when said creature let out a loud howl.

A werewolf. That was his luck. And to think that as a child, he had been scared shitless of the only dog he had ever encountered, a friendly-looking Labrador named Baltazar.

He stood on the roof he was on for a few more seconds, secretly hoping that Natacha would get rid of the werewolf by herself. When it became clear that she was no longer in shape to win the fight, though, he knew what he had to do, and jumped from the roof as discreetly as he could.

He still wasn't silent enough not to draw the beast's attention to him, but that was as well, for the werewolf had been about to dive his sharp fangs in Natacha's neck.

Releasing the now unconscious woman, the werewolf turned toward Fayez, his tail wagging stiffly, his ears perked up and his chest thrown out, as he stood in a tense posture.

Even if Master Akhenaton hadn't given his students a lecture on the telling signs that a werewolf was about to attack, Fayez would have guessed by himself that the werewolf currently standing in front of him wasn't a laughing matter.

His intent to kill was crystal clear in his glowing eyes.

The werewolf was big, much bigger than Fayez, and judging from Natacha's current condition, he was more than capable to cause considerable damages.

Now, Fayez wasn't a hero looking for glory. The most he could hope for in this situation, was to get Natacha on a roof safely, without getting injured himself - or worst. That was also one of Akhenaton's main advice : whatever you do, don't get yourself killed.

Well, thank you for the advice, you genius. I wouldn't have figured it out by myself.

Fayez also knew, thanks to these apparently useful lectures on supernatural creatures, that werewolves could jump quite high, but not higher than a dozen of meters. In short, Fayez's best chance to survive was by never remaining for too long on the ground.

Contrary to popular belief, vampires couldn't transform into bats. However, they were able to jump so high, it almost seemed like they could fly.

As Akhenaton had put it, a mere minutes ago, Fayez was an excellent climber, and he very well intended to put this skill in the service of his own survival.

"Come on, you muddy doggo. What are you waiting for? I'm just right here in front of you" Fayez whispered teasingly, knowing that the werewolf could hear him just well, as every supernatural creature had an enhanced sense of hearing.

Speaking of supernatural creatures, he surely hoped that the humans nearby, who probably heard Natacha's scream, would be wise enough to remain in the relative safety of their houses. He already had enough on his plate, and probably wouldn't be able to protect Natacha and some other foolish humans at the same time.

"Come on, are you that shy?" Fayez cooed again, as the werewolf, who was now fully transformed, started growling louder.

Fayez's bravado would have probably seemed reckless, to an outside observer, but Fayez was doing it on purpose. He could sense that the werewolf was torn between the need to finish off his first prey and the temptation to attack the newcomer.

Akhenaton told us to keep our attention on Sapho's students at all time, and I am now pretty sure that we are meant to protect them for any form of danger that might come their way.

Even though he now realized what the point of this mission really was, Fayez still found all these secrets and riddles pretty ridiculous. After all, even without Akhenaton's directives, he would have still try to rescue his fellow students in need.

He was asocial, but not the point where he didn't care about other people's death.

As he was still looking at Natacha's face, which was now worryingly pale, he almost missed the slight flip of the werewolf's tail, the best indication that he was about to bounce.

Thankfully, he was still able to jump in the air and barely escaped the deadly fangs.

As he watched the werewolf from the safety of the roof, Fayez thought that he needed to get Natacha out of the beast's reach as soon as possible. The werewolf might had his attention on Fayez right now, as he was growling at him from the street, but eventually he would give in and go back to his victim instead.

Fayez had to jump back again in the arena, and that wasn't a pleasant prospect, but it had to be done.

As the werewolf was moving toward Natacha again, Fayez jumped a few hundred of meters behind him, this time not caring to be heard.

The werewolf must have been expecting it, since he immediatly attacked. Fayez was far enough from him that he had more than time to jump on a roof, but he purposely waited until the last minute to do so.

Thankfully, his calculations had proven right, as he was unharmed and the beast was now laying unconscious on the ground, after having hit his head pretty hard against the wall Fayez was now standing on.

Checkmate. Stupid wolf.

He quickly ran toward Natacha's direction, letting out a sigh of relief when she opened her eyes and tried talking to him.

"Hush now, Natacha. Let's find a safer place. You shouldn't waste what's remaining of your strenght."

He carefully picked the unresisting girl up in his arms, and gracefully jumped on the same roof he had been on a few minutes ago. He then proceed to climb higher and higher, until he reached the top of the external wall that had been erected to protect the inhabitants of the city against most creatures.

"Well done, newbie."

He jumped in fright and almost let go of Natacha, but thankfully, two pairs of arms took the young woman from him.

He wasn't as lucky himself, and in his fall, he had barely the time to catch a fragile wall section.

Even in his precarious situation, he found the time to appreciate the irony of this new turn of event: after barely escaping a gory death, he, the best climber of Akhenaton's Section, was going to die from a stupid fall.

"Fayez! Take my hand now!"

He looked up, to find out that Akhenaton was leaning dangerously above the wall, extanding his hand so that Fayez could grab it.

Fayez was about to do just that, when he realized that in his attempts to escape the werewolf by climbing on the walls, he had ruined his gloves.

His hands, the most deadly weapons on Earth, were now bare, ready to hurt whoever would even brush against the tender skin.

"Fayez! What are you waiting for? Give me your fucking hands right now"

It was weird to see Akhenaton loose his shit like this, over someone as unimportant as Fayez. The impassive prefect looked like he was torn between anger and dread.

Fayez most of the time found the guy extremely annoying, still, he didn't want to cause him any injury. Even though Akhenaton surely wasn't as fragile as the little human girl he had killed centuries ago, when he was still a child himself, touching him with his bare hands would probably cause some nasty damages to the prefect.

Their eyes met, and Fayez felt his resolve harden. For some reason, the idea of Akhenaton being harmed - or any of the three prefects - was more than he could bear. He couldn't take the hand that was being extanded to him. He would rather die.

What did Akhenaton read in Fayez's eyes at this very moment? Had he understood that Fayez would not willingly take his hand? His eyes narrowed, before they suddenly started glowing, beautiful golden hues appearing in them.

There was a crack in the air, as an invisible force started swirling around Fayez. In the blink of an eye, he was propelled upward and landed heavily on the top of the wall, right next to Natacha's lying figure.

He stood motionless for a few seconds, too shocked to understand what had just happened, before a pair of boots appeared in his field of view.

"Master Akhenaton" he started. "What on Earth -"

"Silence!" Akhenaton interrupted, in a voice so cold that everyone around them seemed to freeze. "Matthias, Calypso, take Natacha with you. She needs to be seen by our doctor as soon as possible. Nassiba, lead the way. I trust your sense of direction. Rubal, make sure there aren't any other students from Sapho's team left, then head for the Castle as well. Be careful, y'all"

Fayez heard a few "yes sir" before they all took off. Now, it was only him and a very furious-looking prefect.

The prefect was indeed, livid, his lovely oliv skin now very pale. His hands were tightened to fists at his sides, and Fayez understood that he was doing his best to reign in his anger.

The problem was, by acting this way he was making Fayez anxious. And apparently, when Fayez was nervous he had the dangerous habit to say exactly what he shouldn't.

"Why do you even care?"

See? Way too spontaneous.

A low growl was all the warning he got, before he was forcefully lifted up, Akhenaton's grip unmerciful around his slender neck.

"What.The.Fuck. Were.You.Thinking?" Akhenaton hissed at him. "Do you have suicidal tendencies?"

"I can expl-"

"What is there to explain? You wouldn't take my hand and I had to use my powers..."

"Speaking of which, what on hell just happened? Man, that was some really cool-"

Fayez couldn't finish his sentence as the grasp turned painful, making it hard to breath. Thankfully, Fayez's pained gasps seemed to take Akhenaton out of his trance, and he let go of him, much to his relief.

"It's not the place nor the time to have this conversation. We're going back to the Institute and you're not leaving my side, not even for a second, you hear me?"

"Y-yes" Fayez replied, more scared than he would like to admit it, and also maybe a little pleased by the sight of the prefect's distraught expression.

Was he really worried about him?

Akhenaton's next words didn't give him much to hope for, though.

"I can't, Fayez"

"Wh- what?"

"I can't have someone like you in my Section. You will probably become a great warrior in time, but your self-destructive tendencies are highly problematic. I think you're a danger to yourself and to others. Your foolish behaviour could have jeopardized the whole mission."

"I'm not -"

"I will have a word with the other prefects, of course, but I don't think it would be wise for you to stay at the Institute. I will let the Headmaster know about what happened today, and let him decide if he wants you to remain at the ISB, although I highly doubt it."

Without another word, he started running, this time with an obedient Fayez hot on his heels.

Why on Earth am I crying, Fayez thought, as he ran by Akhenaton's sides, probably for the last time. I used to think that maybe it would be best for me to leave the ISB, far away from these three men who seem to invade all my thoughts.

After what happened today, I understand that I probably won't be allowed to stay at the Institute anymore, and it might be for the best. I have already tremendously improved my fighting skills, and shall still be able to protect humans from most supernatural creatures, even if I was to leave the ISB now.

I know all of this, so why the knowledge that Akhenaton is willing to send me away makes me feel like I'm chocking on air?