It Begins (1)

Tahku

After respectfully greeting The Master, I quietly take a seat and wait, watching him as he stares blankly into space. A few minutes pass like this before he snaps back into himself. He closes his eyes, breathing in and out deeply before turning to look at me. Knowing what is expected, I begin my report.

"All your instructions have been completed. I have found sufficient volunteers for the attack and we have also managed to capture her, but I don't think we can keep her contained for too long."

"Let me see her," he requests.

I nod, having previously anticipated a request like this. I gently pull out a small glass jar from midair. The jar looks mostly ordinary, except for the densely packed noers glowing softly on the lid and the small purple sphere of light floating gently in it. I place the jar on the table and The Master picks it up. He carefully studies the being inside for a moment before closing his eyes. A moment later I feel it, the telltale pressure that can only be sensed whenever he is using his magic. As always it feels restrained, as though he is afraid to unleash his true strength,

The glow of the noers on the jar's lid increase briefly, followed by a decrease in the light produced by the purple sphere of light in the jar. The Master then drops the jar. I pick it up before storing it away carefully. For the Master to pay so much attention to a Fasuru it must obviously be important, regardless of the fact that it is being held captive now.

"It will begin soon," The Master begins speaking and I hang on to every word, "Remember, you can only attack as a last resort. Anything else will spell trouble for us later down the line. Also, should you manage to get through it all without attacking, release her!"

"Release… her?" I ask, unsure. It had not been easy to subdue her. To go through all that effort to get her only to release her just seems counterintuitive.

"Yes, release her. What? Do you have a problem with it?"

"No, Master. I do not." If he says to release her, then release her I shall.

"Good good. Very good." The Master lapses into silence. It is time for me to go.

I hesitate, wondering if I would be pushing my boundaries by asking this question, but in the end, I do. "Master is this the beginning?"

"It is."

I smile. Finally.

* * * * * *

Ian

During the weekend, I and Emily went to see Cassandra since she had come back from the hospital the previous day. It had been Emily's idea, she wanted to welcome Cassandra back home from the hospital. It would have been fine if she had been the only one who had that idea. But as it turns out, she was not the only one. Not by a long shot.

While most of the attention was on Cassandra originally, the moment I arrived it all shifted to me. Most of the people in her house then were classmates of mine, and every one of them clearly remembered how I rescued some people from the Arena fire. So, what was originally a gathering to welcome back Cassandra quickly turned into one about me. Soon I was bombarded with compliments regarding my new fit physique, questions concerning how exactly I rescued those people, and jokes about how I am slowly shaping up to become a superhero. Because of all that, I did not stay in Cassandra's house very long before I quickly got overwhelmed and decided to go home.

At home, I decided to follow Drew's advice and read before the term truly begins. For that, I needed to journey to the Lands. In the Lands, I immediately began reading. I hadn't been there too long when the deer suddenly decided to join me. Since it had promised to train with me the next time I was in the Lands I had expected it to question me about it, but it didn't. Instead, it just sat down and began grooming itself. And so I spent my time there, quietly reading while a snow-white deer relaxed nearby.

Unlike when I first read them, the books are significantly easier to go through now. This cuts the time I have to spend in the Lands a lot shorter than I originally thought it would be. The moment I finish the last one I let out a soft sigh. Now, there would be nothing given to me in school this term that I actually haven't seen before.

The weekend before school resumes passes quickly, and then on Monday morning, I am back in school.

At my locker, I spot Drew waiting for me, a frustrated look on his face. I hadn't seen him since we finished school in the Metorium, so I assumed he and the rest of the Five were staking out the Majin's target as they planned. Judging by his expression, however, things hadn't gone as expected.

"Hey," he greets me as I begin to sort my locker.

"Hey. I'm guessing things didn't work out?"

"Nope. We didn't even see a glimpse of it. It's very frustrating. If not for the fact that Hugo would have gotten suspicious, I wouldn't have even bothered coming to school today."

"Relax Drew-"

"How can I relax? If I miss this chance only god knows when next I'll get another. Do you realize how hard it is for us to find opponents that can actually kill us?"

"You want to die?" a feminine voice cuts into our conversation. I turn to see it is Cassandra and smile. She smiles back.

Thinking quickly, I lie, "He's talking about a video game. Apparently, he got too powerful for his own good and now he can't find someone who can challenge him."

"Oh. What game is it?" she asks.

I pause. I had not expected a follow-up question. "I don't know. Ask Drew, I was just listening to him rant." I ignore Drew's sudden glare on my back as I speak. Since I couldn't think of any game to cover up the lie I made, the easiest thing to do is to shift the blame to Drew. After all, he was the one who allowed himself to be overheard.

I don't pay attention to what happens as Cassandra focuses on him. When she finally leaves he turns back to glare at me.

"What," I say defensively, "Look, just consider us even okay."

"Even?"

"Yeah. Remember when I first became… you know… that time I had to go to Metorium immediately after school, I remember telling you to think of a suitable excuse to give Emily. You told her football. Football. What happened today just settles our score."

"So that's the way things are," he says, his voice cold. Only an idiot won't be able to tell that he is plotting revenge.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry."

"Hmm." He turns around and walks away. I immediately follow after him still apologizing profusely. There is no way I will leave him with thoughts of revenge roaming about in his mind.

My classes today are the easiest I have ever had in my life. With my improved mental abilities, and the fact that I had read everything before school even began, classes are like a breeze as I calmly go through them. I eat lunch with Drew, with Cassandra briefly visiting our table before heading back to hers. Things are almost the same as they were the last term, with the only difference being the fact that I am not as inconsequential as I was before.

Emily also visits our table to inform me that she'll be staying back after school. The school was hosting some event for her class and had even invited a special guest speaker. After asking me to help her with some stuff when I get home, she leaves.