7 They Are Here...

The lights were turned on. There were six pairs of eyes staring at them. Those eyes were wide. They were really surprised to see three students in the storeroom. And that too, on New Year's eve, when the whole school was partying. What were they doing there?

Aster and Sienna were lying on the floor, with all the contents of the shelf on them. Sienna head was on top of Aster's leg. Eren was red with anger. Sienna and Aster shook away all the things on top of them and got up from the mess. The teachers looked at them curiously. They heard someone's footsteps approaching the door. It was a man. A tall man.

"Eren?" He asked, with a surprised look. "Aster? Sienna? What are you three doing here?"

"Dad, we..." Eren began. The man was Eren's father. He was just an older version of Eren. Tall, dark, muscular with black eyes and jet black hair. He was one of the teachers at the school. Popular among students for his strict but friendly attitude.

"Speak up. Now!" He said, with an unpleasant look.

They remained silent again. It was not that, they did not have a reason, but they just didn't know how to start.

" What are you kids doing here, when there is a party going on there? Huh?" Ms Rachel, who was staring at them all the while, asked. She knew that, no student liked to miss the New Year Party.

"Uuh! Where's Mr Hogman?" Aster asked.

The other teachers smiled at this. A poor fan. He wants to see his favourite mage. That's what they thought. But then, they didn't know why Aster wanted to meet him, did they?

"We are serious. Where is he? We want to meet him." Eren said looking straight at his dad.

"He said that he shouldn't be disturbed." Ms Rachel said, watching them curiously.

"We want to see him. We need to speak to him. It's important." Aster said.

"But we cannot allow you to meet him. If we did, we'll have to let all other students in too. And that's rather impossible. " Ms Rachel said.

"But there was something important coming up. Only he can help us. All of you can help too. But... We need to meet him first." Sienna said.

Ms Rachel got angry, hearing a girl compare them with Hogman.

"No! You cannot meet him. It's decided. " She said, angrily.

Aster was shocked to hear this. He couldn't let the world end.

The teachers asked them to go away. But, they did not. So they tried to pall them out of the auditorium.

"It's about the legend he told. AND ALSO, SOME MAGES FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION ARE GOINING TO ATTACK EARTH AT 12. " Aster shouted, when they was being pushed out of the storeroom by their teachers.

"What did you just say?" A familiar and friendly voice asked.

Aster craned his neck to see the speaker. It was Hogman. The teachers let them go when they saw Hogman.

"What I told is true. They are planning to attack earth when the clock strikes twelve. We wanted to inform this. We tried to inform the authorities but they did listen. We thought you would." Aster tried to explain.

"How are you so sure of this?" Hogman asked.

"Because, I know. Believe me. They will attack. I'm sure of that." Aster said.

"How can we believe you? How old are you three? 16? Almost 17? What if you are making it up. If you do not know, it's a crime to create a hoax and spread it."

"It's not a hoax. It's not just us who believe this. You can ask, doctor Schwann, from the City Hospital. He believes in this too." Aster spoke up.

Sienna wanted to tell them about, Aster possessing the sword and all, but, kept quiet as she know that would create new problems.

"We have got 5 minutes left Sir! It's going to strike twelve in 5 minutes and then, I don't think we'll have time to think." Sienna said.

That's when Eren and Aster looked at their watches. It was true. They just had 5 minutes left. It was getting worse. They were losing hope now. No one would believe them. No one.

"Come on, now! You children need a bit of rest. That would do it. Isn't that true Mr.River? " Ms Rachel asked Eren's dad. She thought that they were just foolishly in a nervous state.

"Yes, think..." He said, a bit confused. He couldn't disbelieve his son. Neither could he accept what he and his friend said.

Ms Rachel, led the way to a small room. Probably the guestroom. Everyone including the teachers went in. There were some sofas and a small table. The room was well lit and had some beautiful painting on the wall.

Ms Rachel asked everyone to sit, and opened one of the cupboards and took out some biscuits for them. That was no time to eat biscuits. Aster had lost his apetite completely. He denied the offer. Sienna and Eren took a bite out of politeness. Even they, couldn't go more than a bite. They were nervous too. The teachers probably noticed their nervousness and tried to calm them down by cracking small jokes. But how could they calm down when, the whole world was under threat?

" What I told was true." Aster started.

"THREE.... TWOO... ONE... " They heard loud cheers from the hall.

Astor could feel his heartbeat rising each moment.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR...!!!" The cheered and shouted.

Aster was still tense.

"See! Nothing happened. Somebody fooled you." Hogman said. The other teachers laughed. The three of them sharpened their ears and listened for cries or shouts. Nothing! Maybe, that was a hoax.

"We got tensed for nothing, I think. " Said Eren. He, Sienna and Aster also joined on the laughter.

BOOMM!!

An explosion! The earth shook. They couldn't stand up. Aster turned and saw Eren's and Sienna's nervous looks. Their faces had gone pale. The teachers had gone pale too. They too became nervous now.

BOOMM!!

An explosion again. Now, Aster was sure that they had come.

"They are here..." These words escaped out of Aster's lips.

BOOMM! BOOMM! BOOMM!

They were about ten recurrent explosions. They were all inside the room and didn't know what was happening outside. Now, they could hear screams and cries. the explosions stopped for a moment. The teachers felt that, it was their chance to go out and see what was happening. The teachers along with Hogman rushed out. Aster, Sienna and Eren were about to rush out too, when Eren's father stopped them.

" You kids don't have to come out. Stay here." He said. He left with the other teachers saying this.

They sat in that room without uttering a word. They wanted to run out and see what was happening. They wanted to rush out and help the needy. They couldn't hide like cowards when, the whole world was facing a grave disaster. They remained in their seats for 5 more minutes as Eren's father had instructed them.

There had been about 10 explosions in those five minutes and there were more and more screams.

Aster stood up from his seat. And walked towards the door. He feel his heart beat faster as he did so. He was tense and nervous. But he was not a coward to hide here during a crisis.

"I'm going out. I want to help them. And also, fight those mages." Aster turned and told Eren and Sienna.

They lifted their heads and looked at eachother and nodded reassuringly.

" We are coming too." Sienna said.

They followed Aster. They rushed through the passages.They entered the auditorium through the back of the stage and got out of it through the front door.

They were shocked at the sight they had to see when they got out. They couldn't believe their eyes.