“Where is Aether?” Aqualina bit her lip as her eyes anxiously roamed the surroundings, desperately trying to spot Aether. Her heart raced with worry and fear.
She then looked at the sky, staring at the dome…. the same dome that once made her feel useless as she watched her beloved get hurt to save her.
She clenched her fists, vowing not to let this happen again. Never again would she be a helpless bystander!!
“Princess?” Kai approached Aqualina’s side, a small smile on his face, “How is your team doing?”
Aqualina nodded, returning his smile softly, “They seem to have calmed down for the time being.”
Kai nodded and glanced at the team. They were talking to each other calmly, though a hint of terror still lingered in their eyes.
Alaric had separated each group by year and subdivision, each taken care of by the Elite classes and the seniors of their department.
Order was being restored, but fear still hung in the air.
Kai’s face turned worried as he looked at Aqualina’s nape where a small spider clung. With fear and deep determination, he said, “Don’t worry, Princess. I will take care of everything… even if it means dying.”
Aqualina glanced at Kai for a moment before nodding. She could see his hesitation, but at least he deserved some credit. She was about to speak when,
“W-Why don’t you take care of Vesperine?” Kai asked with an awkward expression, beckoning a twin-tailed yellow-haired girl. Vesperine hesitantly walked towards Aqualina, bowing respectfully. “P-Please take care of me, Princess!”
Aqualina’s lips twitched in frustration. She could see what Kai was trying to achieve, and she wasn’t in the mood to babysit others. “I am sorry, but my hands are already tied with a lot of responsibilities.”
Vesperine’s face turned awkward. Kai sighed before smiling and said, “Princess, I know you hate this… but at least give her a chance. Just for me, Princess!”
Aqualina stared blankly at Kai. She knew she needed him on her side; otherwise, she might lose Aether, who was his slave!! Not hers!
She sighed before nodding. “Just don’t get in my way.”
Hearing this, both Vesperine and Kai’s faces lit up with happiness.
Vesperine, without hesitation, touched Aqualina’s hand and said, “Let’s be friends, Aqualina!”
Aqualina stared at her before glancing at Kai, who wore an awkward expression. She swatted Vesperine’s hand away and said, “I don’t think that’s possible.”
Vesperine’s face turned really sad before she smiled slyly. “Even if I know the cause of this doom?”
“V-Vesp?” Kai’s face turned to dread. He couldn’t believe what she had just told Aqualina. It was a secret they had discovered during their ’talk’ in the building.
’Is she going to tell that?’ Kai’s face was horrified. He could not allow that to happen!
Meanwhile,
“Go on,” Alaric commanded with indifferent eyes, looking at the guard who reluctantly approached the dome. With hesitation, the guard reached out to touch the dome.
BOMFF!
His head splattered!
The other guards’ faces turned dreadfully pale as they looked at Alaric with fear.
Alaric wasn’t just going to believe the mysterious mechanical voice, so he used the guards as test subjects and found that the mechanical voice’s warnings were true. Destroying the dome was not an option he could consider.
He couldn’t bet the lives of thousands of students on a test!
The other guard waited for their end but then,
He ordered some guards to watch over the students while others searched the entire academy for anything unusual.
’Sigh’ With a heavy sigh they walked away.
“Did you find anything in the stadium?” Alaric asked the professors who meticulously searched the area, hoping to find any clue, as the voice had indicated the stadium as a point of interest.
However,
“No!!” everyone said in unison.
Alaric sighed deeply, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on him.
“Now what should we do? Wait for whoever is behind this?” His mind raced through various possibilities. He knew the culprit had to be someone from the inside,
but who?
And what could they possibly hope to achieve—research, data, or even money?
As he was lost in thought, one of the professors stepped forward, holding a transparent jar. “W-Why don’t we try to understand these things?” the professor suggested, his voice trembling with uncertainty.
Alaric snapped out of his thoughts and looked at the jar.
Inside, a red-black spider crawled around furiously, trying to escape its confinement. “Do you think we have time for that?” Alaric asked, his face etched with annoyance. But he took the jar and stared at the spider closely, considering the professor’s suggestion.
It was true that studying the spider’s functions might help them find a way to free the students from this life-and-death situation. And then Alaric, without holding back, could use his powers to find and punish the culprit.
However, he knew they were short on time. Whoever was behind this had likely already anticipated their moves.
As Alaric examined the spider more closely, his frown deepened. “It’s not a real spider!” he exclaimed, throwing the jar to the remaining professors and walking away with urgency.
The other professors frowned and inspected the spider closely. They didn’t notice anything unusual until they saw its crystal eyes…. artificial crystals that were used only in the academy.
“Shit!” one of them exclaimed.
Meanwhile,
/Yes, that’s what’s going on, Aether, Please be safe/
/Aether make sure to stay outside of it!!/
Aether received the full details of the situation from both Selene and Aria. He nodded quietly, his eyes hazy from the lingering effects of the wine, and looked at Celestia. “I-I think it’s the same dome that once captured the Princess,” he said, his speech slightly slurred.
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Both Delphine’s and Celestia’s eyes widened in shock. Delphine immediately said, “Then we could destroy it easily, right?” She had heard that Aqualina had been able to destroy it before.
Aether shook his head with a sleepy expression. “I… I don’t think that’s a wise idea.”
“Hmm?” Delphine frowned, confused.
“Because I just talk—mmfff,” Celestia immediately covered Aether’s mouth.
/Come on, Aether! You need to keep your act together!/
She telepathically scolded him before removing her hand from his mouth.
“I-I think… they might have added some triggering mechanism,” Aether explained with a thoughtful, dizzy gaze.
Delphine frowned, her eyes lingering on the maid with suspicion, “Why?”
“Because I ju—”
/AETHER!!!!!!/ Celestia’s voice echoed in his mind.
Aether blinked, then continued, “If it could be broken, then why hasn’t Alaric done it already?”
Hearing that, Delphine nodded in understanding, but her face turned even more dreadfully pale. “Now what should we do?”
“Well, there is one way….” Aether looked at the distant dark, stormy sky.
THUNDER!!