Chapter 14. Fun

The man at the gate could not explain why but he beleived the words from the guy. Even Rey looked at him with a stunned expression. What was that? But Alaric stood and walked towards the gateman. His small body looking up at the 6'9 tall man.

"I just swore to break the laws of the universe. What about you? I know you never allowed anyone to enter past set time," Alaric started trying to be as meek as possible, "What about you? Will you break the rule and allow us in and we can keep it secret. It can't be that you are lonely enough to expect the company of kids at night, can you?" Alaric probed. Rey was all smiles. Why had he not done that already. It seemed that Alaric could move hearts.

The man sighed and walked to the gate room and locked the door. Just like that, the two spent their night cuddled together. Rey had cursed for like the thousandth time. He cursed Alaric for making things worse. Maybe they should have begged and the man would have let them in.

"If you go around begging, you will always be retardant." Alaric said stopping Rey who was about to curse again.

Time flew by slowly and by the time the gateman opened the gates, they were freezing cold. Even for Alaric who had quite a strong body had his body numb. Their bodies were as moist with dew as they shivered. It was 3 am. When they heard the gates open, they stood but stumbled. It was normal for one to feel extremely cold but being unable to move especially for a martial artist was impossible. Even those of the foundation plane barely caught a cold. So when the gateman saw the two, he felt his heartbeat increase. Did he do damage in name of following the rules.

He flashed to them and stared at them. Their lips were purple and their pupils constricted. Only ice could cause one to get the purple lips but there was no ice. Only one thing could explain all. They had been poisoned... He cursed his bad luck as he looked into the sky. If he was keen enough and not panicked he would have noted the sly smile that appeared on the two as they collapsed.

The gateman did not know what to do. There was no alchemist available to treat them and also it was few hours away before daybreak. The headmaster resided in the school but his premises was out of bounds. He racked his mind as his brain worked on overdrive. If the two were from a huge background, he would end up dead or losing his cultivation. He looked at the collapsed bodies and with his hearing, he could definitely hear their slowing hearts. In such a pace, even a minute was alot before the two took their last breaths.

He was in his last stepping stone when he felt someone rush from inside the academy and stopping infront of the dying duo. He sighed knowing that he was right on time but he had visible anger as he healed the two. The poison had done a toll on them so they had fallen asleep. The headmaster picked the two and disappeared into the academy but he left the gateman some words that made him weak on the knees. He would be summoned after they woke up. How was he going to explain himself? He really was going to die if they actually came from a huge background. The man fell on his knees and started praying to his ancestors to save him. He was too young to die...

***

Alaric woke up to find himself in the infirmary.. The white sheets on the beds and the white walls welcomed him. He looked to his right to see Rey sleeping. The two were the only ones in the infirmary. Alaric tried to recall what happened after they fell asleep but it was blank. He did not even know how they were saved. He saw Rey turn in his bed and mumble some unclear words. But he suddenly startled awake and look at Alaric.

"It worked?" Rey said happily but the look on Alaric spelled trouble. It was then that he looked around and made out the surroundings. One thought engulfing their small brains. Trouble. The last thing they wanted now was problems and that was what they kept attracting. The just hoped no one significant would come but their dreams crumbled as the headmaster walked in.

The headmaster was tall and had white hair that fell on his back. He was wearing a blue robe and white rubber shoes. He wore glasses that just lay on his nose. He could be described as a wizard.

"I have to admit that the two of you got some nerve," he started, " To think that I was almost fooled by you. I will be expecting you in my office after noon. You had too much fun yesterday causing mayhem." With that the headmaster left like he was never there.

The two looked at each other and felt like crying. Who knew that the headmaster himself could make his appearance? They knew that they were not going to like it. Alaric did not like the idea of missing his daily exercise streak. The two walked out of the room and walked to their dorms in silence. They both came from Amazon dorm on the seventh floor. Rey was just one room away from Alaric. They walked slughishly and each went to their rooms.

Alaric went to his room and picked his towel. He rushed to the bathroom and after a few minutes he walked out feeling refreshed. He walked back to his room and put on a black t-shirt and black sweat pants. He then walked out and found Rey had just finished. The two walked down the stairs and outside the dorm. They then walked towards the administration block. They guessed their way to the headmaster's office until after loitering around for about twenty minutes did they find it.

Rey knocked. He was sure that Alaric would never have knocked. The familiar voice that came from inside asked them to get in but they found five chairs instead of two. One had a bald headed man. The other was a slightly fat lady who was taller than the Alarc and Rey even when seated. Then there was a middle aged man sitting at the centre. Two of them they could make out their faces. One being the librarian and the other being the gateman.

Then there was this bald man. He appeared to be familiar to them but they could not yet place him. His clean face seemed familiar that they racked their brains and reached the same conclusion. Now that they knew who it was, could they hold their laughter? No! How could they have missed the shaved Morgan. They even tried to cover their mouths with their hand but they still could not hold it anymore.

Inside the headmaster's office came two laughter which were somehow scary. No one dared to make any noise in the headmaster's office. Let alone laughing. By now Rey had fallen. Laughing loud pointing at the clean shaved Morgan. Alaric was slightly better but his reaction was nothing different only that he was standing.

"He shaved!" Rey said triumphantly.

Morgan turned red and the other two felt their features twitch. Was this not the headmaster's office where one would feel privileged to be? How could the two kids laugh at such a sacred place? Only the headmaster seemed calm but his aura engulfed the two kids as they fell silent.

"You know that your actions in the past 24 hours are enough to expel you, right?" The headmaster said. Their attitude turned serious. No one would want to get expelled in their first week. It was never recorded in history.

"Just state your purpose and we will follow. If its about expulsion you would just have given is letters which you haven't," Alaric spoke. The room was silent. Just who had ever talked back to the headmaster. Even they had to be careful with their words. What shocked the adults in the room was the laughter from the headmaster. Well, this moment was supposed to be recorded because none of them had ever seen the headmaster laugh.

" You are smart, I will give you that but you know there are consequences to every action. For the next three months, the two of you are going to serve under each of these three. Any complaint from them and you might be severely punished. Now the two of you leave," the headmaster said and sighed. Juniors kept getting tough and tough.

***

To say the old man was having fun was an understatement. The two captives were yet to talk. It was the second day trying to get answers from these two unresponsive guys. If the two could hear the old man's thoughts they would pass out despite knowing it was useless. How were they unresponsive? They had tried their best but their voices only came once then disappeared. How long this was going to last was unknown. Until they spoke the truth could they die.

" Let's start lesson number two. The first lesson was to teach you pain and now the second one is to teach you how to find your voice," the old merciless man spoke, " Have you not wondered why you only find your voice after pain? The answer is simple. This is because the pain overrides your brain causing it to produce scream." The old man said menacingly before he continued his hellish words to the two.

" Here is a tip to finding your voice. All you have to do is to recall the pain and try to override you brain to bring out speech. Now, let the fun begin, same rules" the old man said scratching his beards. He waited for around a minute and the words of the devil fell on their ears. " One..." Their minds screamed. How was one supposed to recall the pain that overrides the brain? They could not even shed tears as their bodies had ran dry. "Two..." They only gave a pleading look but they just met unforgiving eyes. "Three..." One of the guys fell on his left as his left foot fell. His agonized screams only made the old man grin wider.

"If you can recall that pain, you definitely will be able to speak soon." The old man said trying to act bored. "I think I understand the one way to etch that pain in your mind. I just have to cut off two limbs at a time."

The two shuddered. One limb was already unbearable. What about losing two? They just resigned to their fates as the old man started counting again. "One..." He started. "Two... Three..." The two fainted after the words reached their ears. They were woken by a sharp pain that filled their entire bodies. Looking at their states, one would pity them. One of them had both missing arms and the other had missing legs. The pain they felt was one they would never forget.

"We will speak!" The two said on top of their voices. The old man smiled as their lost organ were regenerated.