Kidnapped

"I don't know what happened after that. But I think Uncle Charlie was banished" Rhea finished her story

"So, you kept this from me for two whole years" Raya muttered

"Raya, I'm so sorry. When you asked me where I was from, I didn't wasn't disclose anything since my mother had already disowned me"

"It doesn't matter! You could've told me months later or even a year later, but you planned on keeping this from me for a long time" Raya yelled with anger "I think if Mister Charlie did not come today, you wouldn't even think of telling me"

"Raya, I really did plan to-" Rhea had tears in her eyes

"Forget it. I'm leaving" Raya walked of the room

"Raya! I'm sorry! Raya!" Rhea called out in tears

"Give her some time to calm down. I guess this news was a lot to take in, even for her" Orpheus said "By the way, Mister Charlie said to tell you that someone misses you. And judging from your story, I guess it's your mother"

"Wha-" Rhea wiped the tears in her eyes "He said so?"

"How about we visit after the tournament? With Raya of, of course" Orpheus said with a smile

[Are you planning on joining the Cages?]

'Not necessarily. Just want to see how the environment is like'

[Joining them won't be a bad choice though]

'No way. I can't have my freedom restricted all in the name of protecting secrets'

[You're right about that]

The cages were located on an island that no one knew the coordinates, not even the very residents of the island. This has helped them keep the secrets of their strength, strengthening their position as on the top strongest powerhouses in the world. Thus, it was reasonable why Orpheus did not want to join them

"Anyways," Orpheus got up from his chair "I'll find a way to speak to Raya. You have a good rest"

"No." Rhea stood up from the bed "I'm coming with you"

"Okay, if you say so" Orpheus shrugged and signaled to the other four who had been standing motionless for a long time "Let's g… Seriously. How do you guys stand like that"

"It's training, dumbass" Aster said

"For real? You guys can train by just becoming motionless? Man, I want to become a beast" Orpheus pouted like a child

"We don't just stand though. It's performing energy circulation to help strengthen our magic and our bodies" Aella said but not before giggling at his expression

"What are you waiting for? Let's get going" Rhea stood by the door, completely oblivious to what the other five had been discussing

"I thought we're teleporting" Orpheus said in shock. The fear of him being attacked by the happy mob earlier still lingered

"Relax. They wouldn't dare do anything with me there" Rhea gave him an assuring smile "Let's go"

…

"Was walking out on her the right thing to do? No. she was the one at fault. But why hasn't she found me yet?" Raya muttered to herself while walking to the combat room to vent out her pent-up anger on the dummies

"It looks like you aren't with your friend today. That's a first" a voice said from behind her "Honestly, you guys always move together to the point I had to think you both use the toilet and bathroom at the same time. Did you two have a fight or something?"

"You- Who are you?" Raya turned around and saw a tall but not-so-burly guy dressed in the academy's uniform

"Ah. Forgive my rudeness. I'm Bray Hawkins, 2nd year student" Bray performed a greeting gesture

"What do you want from me?" Raya said with wariness. In the academy, the second year hardly conversed with the first years. To see a 2nd and 1st year conversing would be as rare as seeing a cat and dog live in peace. That made Raya to think Bray's visit wasn't casual

"Oh, about that. I just need you to come with peaceful. I promise to return you once I'm done" he said with a sincere but weird smile on his face

"And if I don't?" Raya raised her brows

"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't asking" Bray said and waved his hands

Just after he waved his hands, two boys appeared behind her and knocked her to the floor. Their attack speed was equivalent to that of an advanced magus

"I'm sorry it turned out like this. But as I said before, I promise to return you once I'm done" Bray said before Raya finally lost consciousness "Damn. It seems I'm apologizing a lot lately. Pick her up. We've got to go"

"Yes boss" the boys effortlessly picked up the unconscious and melted into their shadows

…

"He's out!" a student yelled after seeing Orpheus walk out of the infirmary

"He's out? That's great. I didn't get to see him the first time"

"Do you think he will stay and listen to- Oh, shit. Why would she follow him?"

"Who followed… Rhea!"

The crowd that gathered in front of the infirmary began to back away on seeing Rhea walk out with Orpheus

"What did you do?" Orpheus asked in surprise

"What did I do?" Rhea asked back in confusion

"What did you do to them to make them like this?"

"Oh, that? It was nothing. I just played with some boys that asked me to follow them a while ago" Rhea shrugged "I think they should still be out of commission"

"Scary" Orpheus muttered while putting some distance between himself and Rhea

The group continued to walk, ignoring the stares from the onlookers that had gathered and began to follow them

Seeing the crowd increasing, Aster and Tana's mouth began to twitch violently under their masks as they couldn't take the whispers anymore. They instantly turned around and released their suppressed auras "Don't y'all have better things to do?!"

Feeling the suppressing auras the two emitted, and also hearing the yell that had come from Tana, the students unconsciously fell back a bit. Including the advanced magi that were with them

"Hey, you both should calm down a little" Andrian shot them a whisper that fell on deaf ears

Tana began to walk forward and the pressure she emitted increased with each step she took. After getting closer to the crowd, she spoke, "I understand that you all want to ask him sone questions. I really understand. But…" she stopped talking and the aura she emitted suddenly burst out of her body explosively "Can't you see we're busy?! I swear, if I turn my back once more and find even a single speck of your hair, I'll incinerate you until not even your ashes are left!"

After Tana finished speaking, she retracted her aura and walked back to Orpheus and the others while Aster snorted at the scared humans and followed Tana

"What was that for?" Orpheus asked Tana in a hushed tone

"That was necessary. See? No one's following us anymore" she shrugged

While the two were conversing, Rhea stared at Tana and Aster in shock before turning to stare at Aella and Andrian while thinking, "Who are these people?"

"Uh, Rhea?" Orpheus called out, snapping her out of her thoughts "I know we are looking for Raya. But where exactly are we looking?"

"I think we should split up" Andrian said "Aella, Tana and Rhea should go and check the female dorm while Aster, Orpheus and I will check the combat room".

"Hmmm, that's a good idea" Rhea said "Let's go then. We'll all meet here again in the next five minutes"

They all nodded to each other and immediately disappeared from their position, leaving no trace of their presence.

…

At the Combat Room,

The figures appeared from a tear in space and stepped into the empty room. Since it was still early in the afternoon, the combat room was still empty as most of the students were still learning. The students that were following Orpheus were those that decided to skip class so as to meet him.

"Uh, I don't think anyone's here" Aster said after looking around "I can't sniff her presence too"

"Are you a dog?" Orpheus asked rhetorically

"Hahaha!" Andrian almost fell to the floor while laughing heavily

"Piss off! Even if I'm a dragon, I still have a powerful sense of smell" Aster raised his chest in pride

"I see" Orpheus nodded his head while walking around in search of Raya "In other words, you're a dragon with a dog's nose"

"Pfft!"

"Are you even listening to me?!" Aster almost yelled "And stop laughing, you damn turtle"

"Sorry. I just can't" Andrian said in-between laughs

"Okay, she's not here. Let's return" Orpheus said and created a tear in space before they all jumped into it and disappeared

When the three of them reappeared, they saw Aella and Tana standing beside Rhea who had an anxious expression on her face

"Why did y'all get back so fast?" Andrian asked in shock "Did you find her?"

"No, but we found something else" Tana said

"Which is?"

"It's… they did… it's Raya… she…" Rhea began to mumble incomplete sentences while staring at a paper in her hand

"What's going on with her?" Orpheus walked forward "Hey, Rhea"

"It looks like it has to do with the paper in her hand" Aster muttered

"According to the paper, it said something about code or something like that. I don't really understand what's written in there" Aella sighed

"Rhea? Rhea!" Orpheus shook her vigorously

"What? What happened?" Rhea quickly wiped her eyes

"What's wrong with you?" Orpheus asked her

"Oh, it's nothing" She tried to hide the paper in her hand but got it snatched by Orpheus

He took the paper from her hand "What the hell is this?"

"I told you it was nothing!" Rhea tried to snatch the paper back from Orpheus and failed

"We can't help you if you keep on with this attitude. What happened to Raya?" Orpheus asked with a calm tone

"It's none of your business" Rhea said and finally took the paper from his hand

"Oi! You damn, puny human. If you don't talk, you're going to regret it. You think you alone can save her from whatever mishap she had fallen into?!" Aster said in anger

"Uhh, Aster…" Orpheus tried to calm him down

"He's right" Andrian said "Rhea, this is the last time we're going to ask you. What happened to Raya?"

Rhea stared at the five of them with tears in her eyes "It's them"

"Who?" Orpheus turned around and saw no one

"I don't know. But they kidnapped her" Rhea finally let the cat out of the bag