Shadow of Okeaous

by W. M. Martin

  Sapka smirked at Jax and offered in a perverse, conciliatory tone, “You lose, boy. You would've made a fine addition to our master’s steadily growing forces. You're so young and so very strong. More's the pity. Such a waste of potential. Thanks for the game though. I had so much fun playing.”

  Alice and Lester arrived back at the square just in time to witness Sapka Strato standing back up from the side of the defeated and possibly dying Jax Cooper.

  “No!” shouted Lester.

  He and Alice, both, ran to Jax’s aid. Alice slid to Jax’s side and was on her knees trying to staunch the bleeding in Jax’s side with pieces of her cloak which she sliced off with one of her twin daggers. Lester stood in between Sapka, who had a strange smile smeared across his face and Alice who was caring for her wounded friend. Lester’s hands began to pulse with light, but before he could brace a weapon to defend himself, the entire town of Plimpkins began to crackle with electricity as a multitude of omniports exploded into the plaza. Ten Praetorians and almost every instructor from the academy came flying out of the glowing oviforms, all with their totems summoned, and prepared for the rescue attempt of the young Kindred that were under siege. The first one to hit the ground running toward the lethal brawl was none other than Mr. O’Sullivan. He barreled into the fight and roared with such ferocity, it would have been difficult to tell that he was as happy as he could be. Mr. O’Sullivan found himself to be stranded in the middle of two Fallen soldiers with their weapons at the ready.

  “Let's get to it then ye great cowards! I'm warnin’ ye, though, I'm no First Year an’ I’ll be sendin’ ye back to yer oily mothers in pieces!” Mr. O’Sullivan exclaimed with grim excitement.

  Alice stood up from Jax’s side to stand behind Lester. She peered around Lester’s shoulder to get a glimpse of Sapka Strato.

  The false thespian and Fallen general stepped backwards, bowed low and asked, “Care to dance, my lady?”

  Alice ducked back behind Lester and braced the second of her twin daggers in preparation to strike.

  “Alice!” came the voice of her best friend, Maggie.

  Alice turned just as Maggie reached her, with her sapphire bow drawn. Sapka winked at them and fell through an omniport, which he had created, at his feet. He had escaped.

  “Come on, we have to get back to the academy! Hurry!” shouted Maggie.

  “What about Jax?” asked Alice.

  No sooner had Alice asked that question, when Ms. Holiday and a large Sauropon Praetorian ran up to the group and collected Jax from the bloodstained ground to return him to the academy through an omniport which was too small to collect Maggie, Alice and Lester. Content in the knowledge that Jax was in better care than they themselves could have provided, the three friends ran for the omniport being guarded by Mrs. Bonifassi and her totem, Gaston. They had made it halfway across the plaza, when a Fallen soldier stepped forward to block their path. Elliot exploded forth from a torrent of light and flew directly at the Fallen’s face. Maggie never even slowed down. She pulled her bow apart at the center, revealing two sapphire swords with her name on one blade and Elliot’s on the other. She struck the black assassin on the thigh as he was fending off an attack from Elliot, causing him to fall and forcing him to retreat into an omniport of his own.

  Maggie, Lester, and Alice bravely fought their way to the portal which was flanked by two Praetorians and Mrs. Bonifassi, standing at the ready for anything not from the academy to approach. Lester had suffered a possibly fractured wrist in the melee, and Alice had sprained her ankle on their flight to Mrs. Bonifassi’s omniport. Maggie deftly placed her bow back together, concealing the two sapphire swords contained within, spun around and loosed a volley of otherworldly arrows into an omniport which had just ejected three Fallen warriors. She was hoping that she had hit whatever created the oviform portal. At least one of Maggie’s arrows had struck true. The omniport snapped shut amidst a large explosion.

  “Good shot, Mags!” called Elliot from up above.

  He flew down to Maggie and the both of them entered the guarded omniport after Alice and Lester. A flash of light and a single breath later and Maggie was standing inside of the Macrocosm Chamber. Mr. Akiyama was tending to the wounded who were gathered and waiting for their all clear. Everyone who had made it back was okay, save for the odd bruising or cuts. Everyone except Jax. He was still alive, but barely. Ms. Holiday and the large Praetorian Guard who had retrieved Jax from the square were present, and they brought him to Mr. Akiyama in the hopes that he could be saved. Nancy and Edgar preceded Mr. Carver as the last ones to return to the academy.

  “Where's Mr. Evans?” snapped Nancy abandoning all pretenses or niceties to a Guardian in the main hall and completely disregarding the fact that she was only an instructor’s aide.

  Someone had to take charge of the situation and Nancy Decker was in no mood to follow orders, she was going to give them, and she absolutely meant that they would be followed.

  “I'm not sure, ma'am. I haven't seen him,” replied the Guardian.

  “Search every square inch of this academy and find him, but be careful. He may not be himself right now. Hurry!” ordered Nancy.

  Maggie walked over to Ms. Holiday as Jax was being rushed to the infirmary by Mr. Akiyama and asked, “Is he gonna make it, Ms. Holiday?”

  Ms. Holiday wiped away a tear and replied, “I ain't real sure, Darlin’. It's bad. His wound, Maggie, it’s real bad, but Jax is strong. Besides, between Dr. Sobek and Mr. Akiyama workin’ on him, I'll bet he’ll be right as rain in no time.”

  Maggie was nobody's fool and could sense that Ms. Holiday did not believe her own words and was merely putting on a front of bravado for her shaken students. Ms. Holiday patted Maggie on her shoulder trying to reassure her and then turned to speak with a Guardian who was busy trying to do a headcount. Maggie walked past Stephanie who was the only other student besides herself who had been completely uninjured by the Fallen’s attempt to kidnap them and raze Plimpkins to the ground. Maggie was not surprised in the least by the sight of Stephanie having been unharmed due to the fact that Stephanie seemed to actually float as though she were a butterfly whenever they were paired together for battle practice. Her symbiosis with her totem was so complete that Stephanie was near impossible to hit. Maggie was glad that her friend was okay.

  Maggie walked over to Nancy who was directing the entire affair sans Mr. Evans, as he was still unaccounted for.

  Maggie sidled up to Nancy and trying to be helpful she asked, “Is there anything that I can do to help, Ms. Decker?”

  Nancy, looking disheveled and stressed gave a kind look toward Maggie and replied, “Oh, Maggie. I'm so happy that you made it out of Plimpkins safely. No, dear. There's really nothing you can do here. Are you okay?”

  Maggie nodded affirmatively, brushed her hair out of her face and answered with a wry grin, “Yeah. I'm fine, not a scratch.”

  Nancy was relieved to hear it and said, “I'm glad that you're alright.”

  Maggie, looking around the room for her friends said, “I'm really worried about Jax though, and I don't see Callum, Klaus, Thomas, Oliver or Nigel, and no one has seen Kylie since before the Fallen showed up.”

  Nancy was obviously upset and was eyeing the room, searching, no doubt, for the aforementioned students. Her cursory search came up empty.

  “I'm sure they'll turn up, Maggie. We’ll find them. Now, you should head to your enclave and get a shower and try to get some rest. We’ll talk in the morning. I have a lot of work to do here, checking on the injured. Go on now, get to your enclave,” ordered an exhausted Nancy.

  Maggie did as she was told, but before leaving the Macrocosm Chamber, she turned back around and hugged Nancy and whispered, “I'm glad that you're okay too, Nancy.”

  Elliot was perched on Maggie's shoulder, still being rather protective of her, even though it was a moot point now that they were back inside of the academy where she was safe.

  “I hope everyone turns up, Ell
iot,” Maggie said.

  Doing his best to comfort Maggie, but failing slightly, Elliot intoned, “They will, one way or another.”

  Maggie did not like Elliot’s answer, but knew it to be true. As Maggie entered the Avior enclave, Elliot melted away into her fingertips and an exhausted Maggie trekked up to her dormitory. She opened the door to the room that she shared with Lucy and looked over at her roommate’s empty bed.

  “What have you done, Lucy?” asked Maggie to herself.

  After Maggie got out of the shower and put on her pajamas, she climbed into her bed. She could not remember a time where she had been more exhausted yet too anxious to rest.

  “Elliot?” Maggie asked, “Will you watch over me tonight?”

  “I watch over you every night,” Elliot responded.

  Maggie opened her hand to summon Elliot and it began to glow a soft shade of blue. An ethereal mist began to rise from Maggie's palm, and it circled the headboard of her bed. The mist settled and took the form of a blue and gray falcon. Elliot stood vigil over his Kindred that evening and the sleep which Maggie feared would elude her that night was eventually captured, and she was swept away into a deep slumber.

  Maggie was startled awake, early that next morning, by Sara who had burst into her room. Maggie sat straight up in her bed and craned her neck to see that Elliot was still perched on her headboard, guarding her, as he had promised. Maggie reached over and pulled the small chain on her lamp which occupied her bedside table, so as to illuminate the dark room.

  “Geez, Sara. It's four o'clock in the morning. You should be asleep after all that happened yesterday. I know I should be. What do you want?” groused a drowsy and irritated Maggie.

  Sara sat down uninvited on the edge of Maggie’s bed and said, “You know that time is different here, Maggie. Quit scowling at me and listen. I've been waiting on any information about Lucy or Mr. Evans and nobody’s talking. Nobody except a friend of mine. He's a Second Year named Clark. He told me that his older brother, who's a Praetorian, heard Lucy talking in the infirmary.”

  Maggie asked, “What's she saying? Did they figure out why she attacked you?”

  Sara answered, “No, if the instructors do know anything, they haven't mentioned it around Clark’s brother. All I know is that Lucy is almost catatonic with the exception of her periodically saying, “Okeaous is here,” and Mrs. Bonifassi is watching over her with Mr. O’Sullivan and your friend, Edgar.”

  Maggie yawned and said, “And? I knew all of that before I went to bed. Well, everything except the whole, ‘Okeaous is here’ bit. Something is seriously wrong with Lucy, but Okeaous is dead. All of the First Five are dead, Sara. You know that. Everybody in our world knows that.”

  Sara lowered her head and ignoring Maggie’s frustration said, “Listen, there's more. They've found him, Maggie.”

  Maggie, who was still half asleep yet completely annoyed asked, “Found who, Sara?”

  Sara appeared to be very frightened as the lamp light accentuated her facial expressions. She looked around, as if someone else could have been in Maggie’s dorm room eavesdropping on what she was about to say. Sara took a deep breath and grabbed Maggie's hand solemnly.

  “Mr. Evans. They found him in the artifacts antechamber. He's dead, Maggie,” whispered Sara.

  Maggie was at full attention after hearing this, and she blurted out, “What?! Dead?!”

  Sara nodded affirmatively before continuing, “There's something else, Maggie. I can't believe it, but it looks like a student is the one responsible. They've found Kylie, and it looks like she's the one who killed him.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  Maggie was on her way to the Head Instructor’s office because she had been summoned by Siobhan, Mr. O’Sullivan’s totem, to answer a few questions. She assumed that it was in order for her to give her testimony of the prior evening’s events in Plimpkins. Maggie had not been able to go back to sleep after Sara had burst into her dorm room earlier that same morning to inform her that Mr. Evans had been found dead and that it was Kylie who was being implicated as Mr. Evans’ killer.

  Elliot, who was perched on Maggie’s shoulder, said, “I do recall seeing Kylie once we had arrived through the omniport in Plimpkins, but as to your classmate’s whereabouts afterward, I am at a loss. I am sorry, Mags.”

  Maggie, who was feeling rather nervous, as she was the one who was to be put under scrutiny, barely even acknowledged Elliot’s words. She was doing her level best to retrace her steps and to remember every tiny detail of the prior evening in the coastal Haven. Maggie had never been inside of the Head Instructor’s office before. The only time in which she had ever even had cause to go was six months prior when Nancy had caught her, Alice, and Kylie down in the artifacts antechamber below Mr. Akiyama’s office. Nancy had shown mercy and none of the girls had been reported to Mr. Akiyama or Mr. Evans for their very serious infraction.

  Maggie’s thoughts drifted to the once seemingly kind yet no-nonsense Mr. Evans who was now dead and whose final act in their world was one of betrayal. She simply could not fathom what could have ever made Mr. Evans turn his back on the Guardians and break his oath to train and protect each and every student from the five Clans at the Kindred Academy. Maggie had been proud to be an Avior, just like Mr. Evans had been, believing with all of her heart that Aviors were incorruptible. She had obviously been wrong.

  There were ten Praetorians guarding the Head Instructor’s office door. One Praetorian from each Clan on either side of the large, arched door.

  Maggie stopped just short of the door and looked over to the Praetorian closest to the door on the right and said, “I was told to come up here to answer some questions for Mr. O’Sullivan. He sent word through Siobhan.”

  The Praetorian stood silent, but nodded his head slightly and granted Maggie passage. The Praetorian made a short gesture with his hand and a visible ward melted away from the arched door which led into the Head Instructor’s office. As soon as the ward was lifted and the door had been opened, Maggie made her way inside. The office was dark, very dark.

  Once the arched door behind her came to a close with a hollow thud, Maggie felt a chill run up her spine. She felt very uncomfortable being covered by the oppressively heavy darkness that permeated the office. Maggie’s faithful totem could feel her discomfort and so he began to emit a blue light for her. Elliot, who had a natural glow due to the power he possessed in tandem with Maggie, intensified the blue luminescence which emanated from his form. He did this in a valiant effort to brighten up the immediate area for his Kindred. It was of little use however, and his endeavor proved fruitless. The darkness in the Head Instructor’s office felt sentient and refused to give way to Elliot’s desire for illumination.

  “Have a seat, Ms. Bennett,” came the deep and familiar voice of Mr. Carver from the center of the overwhelming darkness.

  A large chair, which most definitely had not been there a moment ago, came to light directly behind Maggie. She decided to take the initiative, and she began to answer questions preemptively. Questions which had not even been asked.

  “I don’t know anything about Lucy or Kylie, Mr. Carver. All I can tell you is what I heard and what I saw. I know that’s why I’m here,” Maggie stated to her instructor’s disembodied voice, and then she sat down in the chair as she had been instructed to do before she had gone on the offensive.

  Slowly, the room began to come into focus as previously unlit candles began to flicker to life. The ceiling, much like the Macrocosm Chamber, held multiple suns inside of countless galaxies and as they churned and brightened, so too did the Head Instructor’s office. Maggie was slightly stunned at the relative simplicity of the room in which she now sat. Every other room, with the exception of the dorm rooms themselves, was a marvel to behold inside of the deceptively massive academy.

  Maggie thought it rather peculiar how plain and simple this office was in comparison to the other rooms. She had imagined that the Head Instructor would have most ce
rtainly had a grand and opulent office to conduct all of the academy’s affairs. That was clearly not the case.

  Once the room had been completely lit and brightened, Maggie found that she was seated directly in front of all five of the Clan Leaders. Maggie eyed the Clan Leaders quietly, waiting for whatever questions to which she may have had the answers to.

  Mr. Akiyama spoke first. He leaned forward slightly and said, “First off, I want to commend you for your actions yesterday in Plimpkins and to express my relief that you are unhurt.”

  Maggie almost fell out of her chair at the uncharacteristically kind words which had just escaped Mr. Akiyama’s mouth. She did not turn her head to check and see, but she was certain that Elliot’s beak was open in shock as well.

  Mr Akiyama continued, “Second, we are quite aware of what transpired yesterday in the Haven. That is not why you have been summoned to appear before us. One of the reasons that you are in this office, without getting into too much detail, is that we all know about the rift between you and Ms. Min. We have each been made aware of her antagonistic attitude in regards to you. Our questions for you will hopefully shed light on some of the answers which we seek.”

  Maggie forgot herself and snorted a little too sarcastically, “Seriously? Those answers you’re looking for must not be that important if you’re just figuring out how hard it is for Lucy and I to get along. That’s not really a school secret. Lucy and I are like oil and water, detective.”

  Mr. Akiyama’s eyes began to glow with a bright, emerald heat at the indignance of Maggie’s tone.