Endangered: The Demons of M.A. Pt. 12

Endangered: The Demons of Monstrum Academy Pt. 12

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© 2025 S. Round. All rights reserved. No part of this story may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the author. All sexually active characters in this work are eighteen (18) years of age or older.

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Ch. 109

Antonio and Iris left behind a duffel back full of Sophia's requested items at the restaurant for Evan to deliver. He had no desire to be caught with a suspicious bag of the missing girl's things, so he delivered it soon after returning to campus. When he entered the hidden library, he was alarmed to see how messy it had become. There were large stacks of books piled up all over the floor, and the desk was covered in wrappers and empty bottles.

"What the hell?" Evan said.

"Evan!"

He looked up and saw the smiling face of Sophia from the third-floor balcony.

"Hey, Sophia," he said. "I brought you some of the things you asked for."

"Hold on, I'll be right down."

Sophia hurried down the stairs, nearly tripping several times. He wasn't sure if it was because she was clumsy, or if some books caught her foot.

"I'm glad you've made yourself at home," Evan said as she reached the first floor. "But I think it might be time to clean up a little."

"I'm sorry," Sophia said. "I was going to this evening. I didn't know you were coming over earlier today."

Evan looked around and realized it wasn't as bad as he initially thought. The desk was a mess, but there really wasn't much trash on the ground anywhere. It was only the stacks of books that were blocking up the rest of the space.

"What's with the books all over?"

"I finished going through all the books, and I've just started sorting them," Sophia said. "I know it looks bad now, but trust me, it will be better in the end."

"Alright, I believe you," Evan said looking around. "I'll get you a trash can for in here too. Probably should have thought of that before."

"That'd be great."

Evan handed over the bag and watched Sophia rifle through it. She let out a few squeals of joy at the sight of her self-care items from home. It was pretty basic stuff to Evan's eyes, but he supposed it all looked different when you went without for a while. He could easily see himself reduced to tears if he had to be separated from the internet for a day or two. In that light, Sophia's rather collected state seemed heroic.

"Everything been alright in here?" Evan said. "Not seeing any ghosts or anything, right?"

"No, I haven't gone crazy," Sophia said. "I've been busy with the books, so time usually passes quickly. It can get a little spooky in here when I think about it too much, but mostly it's just really quiet. Well... except for sometimes at night..."

"...?"

Evan just quirked an eyebrow at her and waited for her to continue. Finally, she relented.

"Sometimes, at night, I hear a knocking noise," she said.

"Yeah? Where's it coming from?"

"Well, it sounds like it's coming from different areas," she said. "Kind of like it's moving around. But I think it's coming from the outer walls."

"And it's always the same sound?"

"Pretty much."

"Huh... well... that is weird," Evan said.

"Right?"

"Are you sure you aren't crazy?"

Sophia blushed and looked down at the ground to hide her face.

"I'm just kidding, I believe you," Evan said. "But I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Just let me know if anything changes."

"Ok."

Evan spent another hour or so chatting with Sophia and updating her about the situation outside. She enjoyed hearing about his dinner with her parents, and she rolled her eye after hearing some of her father's jokes. He could tell she was sad when he had to leave, but he knew it wouldn't help their cause for anyone to notice he was missing for too long. He promised to see her soon and returned to his room without any problems.

The next few weeks felt like a return to his normal life at Monstrum Academy. Evan carried out his routine of going to class, hanging with friends, training, and delivering necessities to Sophia. For whatever reason, Brooks and his goons seemed to have backed off from their overbearing tactics. No more room searches were carried out, and the news was free of any more arrests. It was enough to make Evan wonder if maybe they had pulled through the crisis without any casualties. He knew it wouldn't end so easily, but it was hard to deny that the security force had lightened up after being dealt a loss.

With the sense that the heat was off somewhat, Evan resumed meeting up with Alex. He still insisted on doing deliveries to the library on his own, but he no longer felt like Alex was going to be snatched away just from being in his presence. They routinely had brainstorming sessions about what Sophia's long-term future might look like, and they occasionally picked Alex's mother's brain for ideas as well. Sadly for the bookish cyclops girl, they had yet to find a good way to get her freedom back.

Evan was doing well in his classes, receiving all A's and fully absorbing the information. History with Mr. Oliveira was always enlightening, even if there were a few students that nodded off during every lecture. Evan figured those were the students that had already been familiar with magic history. For someone like Evan, he had to pay attention because he never knew when the next bombshell might drop. Every day he half expected to hear something along the lines of the Loch Ness Monster being involved in the American Civil War. Or that Abe Lincoln was secretly a golem.

The other two classes that stood out as Evan's favorites were his psych class with Ms. May and his chemistry class with Dr. Reid. Having had Ms. May in his first semester and meeting her regularly each week for therapy sessions, Evan had grown accustomed to her bright personality. He looked forward to absorbing some of her energy most days, especially when he wasn't in the best of moods. It was different with Dr. Reid, though. She was a fine teacher, when she wasn't calling out sick for having a "bad day." But much like with history, it was the material of the class that caught Evan's attention.

It was Evan's most difficult class of the semester, but Dr. Reid did a good job of keeping him invested by continually relating what they were learning to how it could be used in potion making. For some reason, Evan got the feeling she did this specifically with him in mind, almost like she knew she needed to keep him around. Maybe it was the twinkle in her eye every time she looked at him while mentioning the future possibilities of chemistry combined with magic. The class suffered slightly from not having Sophia there to help out when Dr. Reid was indisposed, but Evan was fortunate to have access to her whenever he needed. He sometimes wondered about the ethics of keeping a TA locked up and making her help with his homework, but he knew Sophia was happy to help.

Evan wasn't all work, though. He made sure to keep in touch with his friends, sometimes by doing a lot of touching. He would often find himself propositioned by one of the twins, only to have the other one demand their turn the next night. It was a common enough occurrence that he started to make sure his schedule was open for two days before agreeing to meet up with the first one. There were also many steamy nights with Clara. Evan had committed to helping her conceive, so there wasn't much he could do in denying her a night of sex. Not that he wanted to. She had taken to regularly taking pregnancy tests. Evan knew any time he got a text with a picture of a negative test that it was code for him to clear his plans for the night.

Billie wasn't left out of the fun either, but she seemed to have difficulty initiating when she was keen on the idea. They really only ever met up after class when they worked out. The problem was Billie seemed too embarrassed to bring up the idea of a quick roll in the sheets when Brandi was around. Since Brandi rarely missed out on a session, Billie had taken to waiting in the shadows outside the gym to catch Evan before he could get away. Evan thought it was cute that she was acting so shy, and he told her so. While he thought it was funny, Billie didn't agree. That night she held him down roughly and rode him harder than ever before. It was amazing, but Evan was sore for a couple days after.

Outside of the question of what to do about Sophia, the only thing that was ruining the vibe most days was the constant requests from the researchers at the base. His phone was blowing up from calls and emails from people trying to get him to help out with their studies on magic. Evan had already told them no, but they didn't seem willing to take that for an answer. They were also unwilling to force him to do anything, so it seemed they were out of luck in Evan's eyes. There was some part of Evan that felt guilty about not helping them out. After all, the scientists that fucked him over weren't around anymore, and it was only the honest ones that were left, presumably. He knew they were eager to get back to unraveling the mystery of magic with science, but Evan couldn't justify helping them when it meant giving the government more power to wield against the community. He was done helping them for free.

Besides, helping them would cut into Evan's time that he had to work on his own training. Under instruction from Hunter, he felt like he was making great progress towards his goal of becoming a full-fledged magician. He had also done well in adopting new fighting techniques that were supposed to be helpful against exorcists. Evan hoped he would never need to showcase those moves, but even with things looking up, he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was still on the horizon.

Ch. 110

Evan shivered in the frigid wind after leaving his last class of the day. The sky was dark gray and angry, but it had yet to decide if it was actually going to spit anything out. For now, it seemed satisfied to huff and puff and make everyone on the ground miserable. Even though nothing had gone wrong throughout the day, the weather had the effect of making everything glum. Everyone's energy had been blown away by the wind and that churning drab sky.

"Evan!"

He turned and saw Alex sprinting towards him while cutting through the brush. He got a bad feeling seeing her in such a rush.

"They've moved on the Titan family," she rushed out as soon as she reached him. "Like half the force is at their house now. They're arresting everyone."

"Oh shit," he said.

"Yeah, it's bad," she said. "We should go check it out."

"You think that's a good idea?"

"There's already a crowd of people watching from outside," she said. "It won't matter if we join."

They hurried their way over to Evan's car and made the journey to Sophia's family home. Evan had no idea where he was going, but Alex knew where they lived. Just as she had said, there was a crowd of bystanders watching the T. S. F. move around the home while standing behind a line of police tape. Evan parked on the street by a neighbor's house and the two of them moved to join the onlookers.

Officers were all over. Several were busy guarding the crowd to make sure nobody interfered, but the majority were busy running in and out of the home. It was difficult to tell what they were doing from the distance they were at, but Evan could see them bringing out several boxes and loading them into a nearby T. S. F. vehicle. He got the impression they were ransacking the place for everything valuable they could find.

"Where's the family?" Alex said to an older lady next to her.

"They've already been escorted away," she said. "In handcuffs, of course. Looked like they'd been roughed up too."

"They arrested them all?"

"Mmhmm," the lady said. "Well, I guess I didn't see the wife. Maybe they got her somewhere else."

Alex glanced at Evan with a frown before they both silently returned to watching the scene play out. However, there wasn't much to see. The family was already spirited away, and the only thing happening now was the cleanup. There weren't even any friendly officers on the scene that he thought he might be able to chat up. He hoped they hadn't managed to get their hands on the artifact, but he didn't see any chance of confirming that fact one way or the other from his current position.

"Come on, let's go," he said to Alex.

They left the crowd and walked over to stand by his car. He stopped and faced his friend before letting out a big sigh.

"What do we do now?" he said. "The whole family will probably be tortured. If they don't have the artifact already, it won't be long before they do."

"Nothing says they'll get it for sure," she said.

Her words were hopeful, but her tone was not so much.

"I don't think they can get away with incarcerating a whole family like this," she continued. "We need to hear what supposed crime they're alleged to have committed. I bet the town will fight them hard whatever it is. It was suspicious before, but this is too blatant."

"Yeah, I guess," he said. "I just feel bad for Sophia. I'm not looking forward to breaking this news to her."

"Yeah..."

They stood in silence for a few moments, before the wind blew and reminded them it was far too cold to dawdle for long outside for no good reason. They were just about to get into Evan's car when an unknown middle-aged woman approached them and called out hesitantly.

"Excuse me?" she said. "Are you... Evan Matthews?"

"Yes?"

"I was hoping you'd show up here," she said. "I have something for you."

She held out an envelope to Evan.

"I was told to give it to you, and only you," she said.

Evan took it from her and looked it over. It was a standard white envelope that appeared to have a letter inside. There was no writing on the outside.

"What is this?" he said. "And... who are you?"

"Don't worry about that," she said already walking away. "Just forget you saw me."

She was already out of sight, having slipped away between a couple nearby houses, before Evan could say anything else. Evan and Alex turned to look at each other, both with their eyebrows curved up in confusion. They quickly scrambled into the car before Evan opened the letter. Inside was a note, clearly written in haste.

"It's from Sophia's mom," Evan said while reading. "She... wants to meet me."

"I guess she got away somehow," Alex said. "That's good, at least. Where are you supposed to find her?"

"She said she'll be waiting for me in the trees behind the library."

"Really?" she said. "There is a stretch of forest there separating the campus from the road. I guess it'd be a good place to hide in a pinch."

"You up for a hike through the woods?" he said.

"Should have worn a warmer coat," she said.

Evan handed the letter over to Alex and got back on the road. It wouldn't take them too long to get back to campus, but it was the search through the woods that he couldn't predict. He could picture the stretch of trees behind the library in his head, but he never considered exploring them before. He had no idea how large the area was. It couldn't be too great seeing as it was in town, but that didn't mean it couldn't still be significant enough to get lost in.

They parked at the dorms and walked their way through campus as casually as they could manage. They didn't want to be seen rushing around and attract attention. They were happy to find the campus was mostly empty. It wasn't yet time for curfew, but most of the classes had ended for the day, so there weren't too many people left walking around. They made it to the library without any problems. Once there, they made sure nobody was watching before they slipped around the side of the building and trudged into the tree line at the back.

"I guess we just walk around and hope she sees us," Evan said.

Alex nodded in response.

It wasn't night, but the overcast sky coupled with the trees made it feel as if it was. They were able to see their immediate surroundings well enough, but the distance was a shadowy unknown. The letter Evan had received simply said to meet at this location, but it wasn't very specific about exactly where in the area she could be found. They could always call out to her, but they didn't want to attract the attention of anyone who might happen to pass nearby. This was a meeting that needed to be as secret as possible after all.

Although the area was thick with trees, the ground was clear of foliage, mainly because it was winter. Underfoot was mostly just dead yellow grass and frozen brown earth. After walking for a few minutes, they found themselves entering a bit of a clearing. It was a section of open land about twenty yards wide that stretched on for about twice that distance. It struck Evan as a neat little secret hideaway that he would have loved to play around in as a kid, maybe building some sort of fort or secret base. They hadn't been in the clearing long when they both noticed a figure step out from behind a nearby large tree.

"Evan?"

"Iris," he said seeing her step out fully into view. "I got your letter."

Evan and Alex rushed over to where she stood.

"I'm so sorry," Alex said.

"Yes, I am as well," Iris said. "Who's your friend, Evan?"

"This is Alex, Ms. Vaduva's daughter," he said. "You can trust her. She helped me hide Sophia."

"I suppose I can't be too picky with friends in times like these," she said. "Forgive me. Thank you for helping my Sophia."

"Of course," Alex said.

"Are you alright?" Evan said.

"I'm as ok as I can be under the circumstances," Iris said casting her eye to the ground.

"Could you tell us what happened?" Alex said.

"Brooks paid us another visit last night," she said. "He was different than the previous times he threatened us. This time, he didn't seem to mind that we told him off. He just made his case and left when we told him no, like it was no big deal. I even saw him smiling as he left. Something about it was just so... ominous. Antonio and I both felt like something had changed."

"We... we talked about it all night," she continued. "And we finally decided we couldn't leave things as they were. We decided to move the Eye temporarily. If we ended up just being overly paranoid, then we'd put it back and there'd be no harm. But... if something bad happened, something like what happened earlier, then we would be prepared to do what is necessary to keep the Eye safe."

"So, Brooks doesn't have it," Evan said. "That's a relief."

"No, he doesn't have it," Iris said before bending down and picking up a box that was set behind a tree. "I do."

"What?" Evan said. "This is...?"

Alex froze and stared at the box with wide eyes.

"Yes," Iris said. "This box contains the Eye of Kronos."

The box was made of wood, decorated with intricate carvings inlaid with gold. The carvings seemed to depict a large being sitting on a throne. Over the throne was a single eye that shined brilliantly like the sun. The wood looked old and worn, but it was clean as if it had been meticulously polished and cared for.

"After we realized it was getting too dangerous to keep the Eye in our possession any longer," Iris said, "we began to discuss whether or not to destroy it."

"In the end," she continued, "we decided to accept your offer of sanctuary."

"I'll keep it safe," Evan said. "You can trust me."

"I know," Iris said.

She carefully presented the box to Evan. He took a closer look at it and marveled at the artistic beauty it held. He realized in that moment that there were only a handful of people in the world that had ever seen this box. It was such a wondrous thing, it really stood out against their barren surroundings. He felt an urge to get it someplace safe before it got too dirty.

"Please, get it to Sophia," Iris said. "She will be the caretaker now."

"We'll get it straight to her," Evan said.

Evan reached out slowly to take the box from Iris, but he stopped short when he heard rustling behind him. As one, the threesome turned around to find four figures stepping out from the trees into the clearing.

"As much as I'd love to know where the girl is hiding," a voice called out. "I can't let you leave here with that box."

Evan swallowed hard as he faced the new arrivals. There were three T. S. F. officers that Evan didn't recognize, but leading them was a familiar face. Smiling wide and looking like he was about to dance with joy was Special Agent Kory Brooks. Iris quickly pulled the box close to her chest and stepped back.

"Now, don't go running away," Agent Brooks said. "Just hand it to me, and this will all be over."

"Like I would ever give this to you!" Iris said.

"We won't let you do this," Evan said.

He saw Alex nod slowly beside him as well. They both stood between Iris and the officers, tensed and ready to fight if they had to. However, Brooks seemed as calm and relaxed as if he were just taking a leisurely stroll through the park.

"You won't let me, Mr. Matthews?" Brooks said. "That's funny, since this is all happening thanks to you! Really, thank you. We wouldn't have been able to secure the artifact without your help."

"Bullshit," Evan said. "I never helped you and you know it."

"Well, you never helped me... willingly," Brooks said before laughing. "But you did lead me right to it nonetheless."

Seeing the looks of confusion on the trio's faces, Brooks decided to explain.

"So naïve," he said sneering. "Did you really think we would give up after a simple room search when we realized you were involved with the girl's disappearance? We placed trackers in all your possessions. Clothes, shoes, book bags. Anything we thought you would carry around with you. We've watched your every move since then. And listened."

Evan's body began to shake as the realization of what was happening dawned on him.

"We know you have the girl somewhere near the clock tower," Brooks said. "I'll admit that she is well hidden. Despite exploring every possible hiding place in the area, we haven't been able to find where she is, but it's only a matter of time."

Evan recalled the noises Sophia reported hearing in the night. She hadn't been hallucinating. She was most definitely hearing the sounds of officers trying to force their way in somehow.

"But... I didn't even know I was going to get the Eye today," Evan said. "How could you have possibly known about this?"

"That's my favorite part," Brooks said rubbing his hand together. "I heard your little meeting with the lady back there and her husband. I heard how they talked about their belief in a hero and the need for their special artifact... what bullshit. But I knew then, they wouldn't destroy it. No, after meeting you, I knew they'd hand it over to you in a time of need. Who better to care for it than their savior, the special generator that would save the world!"

Brooks burst out laughing as if it was the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. Evan had to fight to keep tears from pouring down his face. He wanted to apologize to Iris behind him, but he knew it wasn't the time.

"I just had to create a situation where the family felt they had no other choice," Brooks said. "It wasn't hard. I had already been squeezing them. I just had to give one, final, push."

Brooks took a deep breath and stepped forward. He dropped his smile and no longer looked like he was having a nice conversation with friends. Instead, he fixed Evan with a look that showed such malice that it left no doubt that he was prepared to kill.

"Now," he said. "Hand the box over to me. Now."

It was the worst situation. Despite knowing the seriousness of the situation, Evan had once again allowed his best friend to get involved. And instead of providing a way to escape from their troubles, he led the Titan family to experience their worst nightmare. Not only would the object that had been kept safe for centuries be lost, but they might all lose their lives as well. And it was all his fault.

Ch. 111

What was the right play here? He really wanted to run away, but he knew that wouldn't end well. The officers Brooks brought with him were sure to be seasoned augmenters. They would run Evan down in a flash. They'd probably take him down in a fight too. Sure, Evan could use his shield, but they could just wait him out until he ran out of power. He wasn't sure what Alex was capable of, but he suspected Iris wouldn't be worth much in a brawl. Should they just give up and hope for mercy then? No, that wasn't an option either. The stakes were too high. Giving up here meant the Eye would go to Brooks and the world probably went to shit.

In the moments after Brooks demanded the box, Evan's mind raced trying to find a way out of the mess he found himself in, but no good answer came. The best he could think of was to protect his group with his shield and hope that some kind of help would come before he collapsed. He was about to put that plan into action when Iris's fight or flight response came up with a different answer. She turned and started running.

"Wait!" Evan said.

However, she was already out of range for Evan's artifact.

"Get her," Brooks said.

Evan whirled around and saw the three officers spring into action. He had a quick thought of trapping the officers within his shield, but they instantly spread out too far for that to be viable. Two of the officers went wide to the left and right while the third tried to rush right through the center directly towards Iris. Evan barely managed to bring out his shield in time to block the woman trying to rush by him. He could see Alex engaging the officer that had tried to go around her side in an effort to block her, but there was nothing they could do about the third threat. Sure enough, while the two students were tying up one officer each, the last one managed to reach Iris easily.

Evan heard Iris scream behind him, but he did not have the luxury of coming to her aid. The officer he had blocked initially with his shield did not give up just because of that. She quickly sidestepped his green magic energy and attempted to join her friend in capturing the box. Evan took advantage of the fact that she seemed to dismiss him as a threat. As she ran, he changed the shape of the shield and used the hardened magic power to ram the officer hard on her side. This time, she had no choice but to stop as her body rolled over the ground like a ragdoll.

Evan's opponent was rushing at him again in no time, almost as if the previous attack had not happened at all. Evan's saving grace was his training with Billie and Brandi. Thanks to them, he had already experienced how quickly augmenters could recover and get back on the offensive. He raised his shield to cover his body just in time to block the sharp claws headed straight for his throat.

The woman smirked at him from behind the green film. He could see she wasn't going to back off, meaning he was stuck in his bubble. He was contemplating taking the risk of pushing her away again when a body flew in and collided with his opponent, sending them both to the ground in a heap. Evan saw it was one of the other officers and turned around to see Alex rushing off to help Iris. He had missed her fight entirely, but it was obvious she had managed to overpower the officer she faced. It seemed she took after her mother in more ways than one.

"You shouldn't get so distracted in the middle of a fight."

Evan jumped as he heard Brooks's voice right next to him. As if a mirror had been shattered, Evan saw his green shield crack and fall to pieces. When the shield disappeared completely, Brooks was revealed standing with his fist outstretched. He had used the same technique that Agent Jackson had shown him at the gym. In a hurry to put some distance between the two of them, Evan stumbled backwards and landed his ass on the hard dirt.

"Get up and go help," Brooks said to the officer untangling herself from the body of her colleague.

The woman who Evan had been fighting stood up and glared at him on her way to join the fight with Alex. Evan could see Alex was doing well against the other officer, but two on one would be too much. He needed to help her, and wallowing in the dirt wasn't going to do anything, so he turned over and started to push himself up. He planned to use his shield to protect Alex from the new officer coming at her from behind, but a foot planted on his back pinned him back down on the ground. He grunted and coughed as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Why don't we just stay here and watch," Brooks said, applying more force to his foot.

"Alex! Watch out!" Evan said.

Alex turned just in time to dodge the attack of the second officer. However, the attack managed to put Alex on the defensive, and that was all the two officers needed. They began to coordinate attacks and keep her on her back foot. Still, Evan was amazed at how she managed to keep up with the two experienced fighters. He could see some blood trickling down her chin, and he realized that she must have stolen some power from her first opponent. That boost was probably what was allowing her to hold off more than one augmenter at a time, but it wouldn't last forever.

After a few exchanges where Alex barely managed to avoid major blows, she was gasping for breath. It was clear to anyone that she couldn't keep it up much longer. Sure enough, the next time the two went at her, one of them managed to claw her shoulder deeply, leaving long trails of blood streaming down her arm. Alex jumped back to create some distance. She looked in rough shape as her arm hung loosely at her side.

"Alex! Just run away!" Evan said.

"It's too late for that," Brooks said before addressing his subordinates. "One of you should be able to keep her busy now. Williams, grab the box and bring it to me."

Just as instructed, the fight resumed, and Evan's original opponent walked over to where Iris lay on the ground unconscious. With only one good arm, Alex was unable to do anything about it this time. Evan watched as the woman known as Williams picked up the box and started walking back with a satisfied smile.

"Finally!" Brooks said. "The Eye of Kronos..."

Evan shook as he watched everything unfold. He couldn't just let this happen! Alex was fighting with everything she had, and what had he been doing? Just kissing dirt like a loser. He doubted his chances in a straight on fight with Brooks, but he could tell the man was no longer focused on him now that his prize was in sight. Evan started gathering his magic power within him for one last effort. He knew Brooks would respond quickly if he saw green energy manifest from the artifact on his wrist, so he instead started to augment his body. Right before he was about to make his move, Alex stunned them all by making her own.

In a beautiful move of synchronized strength and agility, Alex dodged a punch from her opponent by bending nearly ninety degrees backward. She didn't stop there as she pivoted her feet and turned in a flash, sending her smoothly past her opponent. She sprinted at the woman with the box. Perhaps caught off guard by the unexpected maneuver, Williams was unable to defend herself in time. Alex used her long leg to kick upwards at the officer's outstretched arms. As a result, the box holding the sacred artifact was sent flying into the air.

"What...!" Brooks said before being cut off.

As soon as Evan saw the box flying free of the officer's grasp, he knew that was his best chance. He used his augmented strength to push off the ground with everything he had. Brooks, distracted and perhaps underestimating Evan's ability, was thrown backwards as Evan pushed his foot away with his back. Evan made a break towards the box. He was fortunate that the box had been thrown in his direction. With everyone else a step behind, he was sure to reach it first. But he wasn't sure he would be able to catch it before it crashed to the ground.

Evan ran as hard as he could and dove to try to catch the box, but he wasn't quick enough. Just out of his reach, the box slammed to the ground. The lid flew open as it crashed and rolled, and the contents were revealed. Strewn about the frozen earth was a cloth covering that had been inside and a golden sphere. The sphere rolled on the ground and came to a stop right next to Evan. The sphere was not perfectly smooth as it appeared to have been made up of many different connected pieces. But what stood out the most was a large symbol resembling an eye emblazoned on its side.

"This is..."

Evan reached out almost by instinct and picked up the sacred artifact of the Titan family that he had heard so much about. He stared at it in his hands for only a moment before he felt something odd. Unlike any magical artifact he had dealt with before, the Eye of Kronos began to pull magic from Evan's body. Normally, Evan had to work to supply the energy before an artifact would do anything more than look pretty, but somehow this artifact seemed to sense the power it needed was nearby. It pulled energy from Evan and started to subtly vibrate.

Before Evan had time to consider what was happening, a brilliant flash of light burst forth from the center of the eye on the sphere. Evan shut his eyes on instinct, but when he opened them again, he found he was no longer in the cold clearing where the fight had been raging. All around him was... nothing. It was pure white, with no borders endlessly. It was so disturbingly empty, like an unfinished dream. Evan took in a shaky breath as it dawned on him that the artifact had somehow taken him away somewhere. Somewhere, it seemed, that wasn't a part of the reality he knew.

Ch. 112

There was nothing to be seen in any direction. Pure white nothingness surrounded Evan. There wasn't even anything beneath his feet. He could move his body, so he tried to search for a wall or barrier, but with no discernible objects in his surroundings, he couldn't actually tell if he was moving from his initial location or not.

"Hello?" Evan said. "Is anybody there?"

Evan's breath came heavily as he searched frantically for anything besides the empty whiteness around him. The lack of anything to focus on was causing his eyes to hurt, and he could feel a headache forming. He hadn't even been in this space for very long, and it was already messing with him. At least, he didn't think he had been there for long, but he had no way to know for sure. Evan had read about the strange effects extreme isolation and sensory deprivation could have on people. Even in small doses, such things could devastate healthy minds.

"Somebody, please, help me!"

Evan's yell echoed into the nothingness and went unanswered. He felt an urge to do something, but there was literally nothing to be done. All he could do was... exist. What if he was stuck like this forever? If he was here, what was happening back in Tourmaline? He didn't want to think about Alex being stuck fighting on her own. Evan was startled out of his thoughts as he noticed something finally changing in his surroundings.

Shapes started to come into existence and solidify all around him, including the ground beneath his feet and the sky above. In a matter of only seconds, Evan found himself in a familiar place.

"I'm back at school."

Somehow, he was in the courtyard at the center of campus, except he could tell it wasn't real. For starters, even though he was walking along a sidewalk, he couldn't feel his feet making contact with anything. When he bent down and tried to touch a nearby bench, he found his hand passed through it like he was some kind of ghost. Besides the lack of feeling, everything also looked slightly blurry. It was like the world was out of focus. That, or maybe he needed glasses suddenly.

"Stay in line and keep quiet," a voice called out.

Evan looked across the courtyard and saw a procession of people marching slowly across the sidewalk wearing orange suits and chains. They were being herded along the path by several armed soldiers.

"What the..."

All the people that had just shown up looked blurry like the rest of the surroundings, so he suspected he wouldn't be able to interact with them either. Sure enough, after calling out to them, there was no reaction. He couldn't make out who the people were from where he was, but it looked like a group of prisoners. But he couldn't think of any reason why prisoners would be led through campus. Since nobody could see him anyway, Evan hurried over to check out the situation up close.

What he saw when he reached them stopped him in his tracks. The chained prisoners weren't hardened criminals, they were the students of Monstrum Academy. They were young women with dog ears, horns, and wings. One in particular stood out because she was a close friend. Near the back of the line was Clara, except she looked thinner than he had ever seen her. She stared at the ground as she trudged along with the others under the careful watch of the nearby soldiers.

"No way..."

One of the girls at the front suddenly broke away from the group. The guards yelled at her, but she ran with all her might. Unfortunately, that didn't amount to much when she was handcuffed and malnourished. Evan could see the desperation in her eyes as she screamed and tried to find any way to escape. All hope of a miraculous run to freedom was cut off instantly when the lead guard raised his rifle and shot. A red spray shot into the air and the girl fell lifelessly to the ground, a leaking hole punched through her head.

Before Evan could react, the scenery started to shift. He looked around and swallowed hard. He was now inside the research facility at the base. He knew because he had been in that very room before. It was the lab where he had been forced to watch his kidnappers perform experiments on Derek. All around the room were doctors and nurses suited up for surgery. In the center of the room was a small girl strapped to an operating table.

"Lia?"

There, strapped down on the table with tears streaming down her face was Evan's hobbit friend, Lia. Having already seen that nothing good was happening to mages in this place, Evan rushed over to the table to try to free her, but his hands once again failed to interact in any way. While he made his vain attempts to save his friend, a nurse approached the side of the bed with what looked like a muzzle.

"Please," Lia said trembling. "Please, don't do this."

"Now Lia," the doctor said approaching the bed and patting her arm soothingly. "This is all to help your country. This experiment will put us one step closer to understanding the mysteries of magic. With your help, and that of your sister's in the other room, we will surely improve the lives of billions."

"P-please..."

The nurse proceeded to apply the mask to Lia's face, stopping any further speech from coming out. Evan didn't need words to understand what she was feeling. Her eyes were screaming pure terror as she watched the doctor pick up a large scalpel.

"Continuing study on magical twins," the doctor called out. "Today is experiment three, vivisection. Shall we begin?"

The doctor brought the scalpel to Lia's stomach and began to cut, ignoring the shaking protests of the young hobbit's body. Evan wretched as his own stomach turned, unable to handle the scene before him. Fortunately, he was spared watching any further. The room faded away and he was once again in the white void. Evan couldn't believe how grateful he was to be back in that place.

What he saw was horrible. He had his share of bad dreams, but this felt different. None of his dreams had ever shifted scenes in such a bizarre way before either. Evan considered the events that led to him being in this place, and he could only come to one conclusion.

"Was that... the future?"

He didn't want to believe it. Something so horrible couldn't possibly happen, not in today's world. He knew the government was capable of evil actions, but surely there was no way they would enslave and experiment on the people of Tourmaline. Right? But... if the Eye of Kronos was showing it to him, did that mean it was destined to happen?

Another scene started to appear around him before he could think about it any further. This time he saw a huge city complete with skyscrapers, people, and loud cars spring up around him. It didn't take long for Evan to find out he was seeing New York City. He saw it written on signs and buildings all around him. Evan wouldn't have minded taking the opportunity to explore since he always wanted to go there, but he had a feeling the Eye wasn't going to allow for such a leisurely experience. He was right.

Screams rang out from somewhere down the street. Evan soon saw crowds of people running towards him, looking over their shoulders as if being chased. Evan moved towards the commotion, passing straight through the fleeing bodies on the way. It didn't take long before he saw what everyone was running from.

Hundreds of grotesque monsters were tearing through the streets, killing everyone within reach and destroying anything in their way. None of the monsters looked similar except for the fact that they were huge. They stood twice as tall as any man, and they looked several times as strong as well. Many had extra arms and legs, and they all had traits of various animals on their bodies. One had the head of an ant. Another had the legs and body of a spider. And there were several that had so many different parts thrown together that they looked more like demons than any earthly creature.

Cops did their best to combat the monsters, but their bullets were completely ineffective. One officer unloaded his full clip at an oncoming beast only to be scooped up by a massive tentacle and have his head bitten off. Judging by the large numbers of monsters and the horrifying screams coming from all directions, Evan guessed that this scene was playing out everywhere in the city.

Just like it had in the first vision, Evan's location was suddenly changed as a new scene was manifested. Evan couldn't help but laugh in disbelief when he realized he was put right in the middle of the oval office. The president was having a frantic meeting with her staff about an emergency. He didn't have to listen long to pick up that they were discussing the very monster invasion he had just witnessed.

"They've appeared all along the upper east coast," a man said. "We've gotten word that similar invasions are taking place around the globe."

"The chopper is ready," a secret service agent announced. "Let's get you out of here Madam President."

Evan followed the group as they hurried through the White House and out to the back lawn where a large helicopter waited to take the president to safety. But just like what happened in New York, screams and gunfire began to ring out nearby. The president's party hurried as fast as they could, but the monsters that had invaded the capitol were too quick. Evan watched as two beasts tore apart the helicopter like it was a toy and several others began to rip apart any living creature in the area. It was a bloodbath. Evan was thankful when the scene started to fade away back into the white void, he didn't need to see any more to know how that story ended.

A new vision soon appeared. This time Evan was somewhere he didn't recognize. It was night, and he was high up on a ridge overlooking a small city. He could see the lights of buildings and moving cars, but the city was far enough away that he couldn't make out any landmarks. Evan looked around and saw nothing but trees until he noticed someone standing on a rocky outcrop above him. It was too dark to make out details, but Evan could tell the figure was wearing a cloak of some kind and they had a large hood over their head that covered half their face. He was about to get closer when the mysterious person spoke.

"It's time," they said.

It was a man's voice, spoken low and without emotion. It didn't sound familiar to Evan. A few seconds after the man spoke, a tremendous roar resounded throughout the area. Evan was staring up at the hooded man as a white dragon soared overhead towards the city.

"No fucking way," Evan said.

There was no mistaking what that creature was. It was hard to gauge the size from where he stood, but it was much longer than it was wide. It had horns and arms, and its body slithered through the air like a snake. There were no wings. It was the very picture of an eastern dragon. The creature flew to the city and unleashed a breath of fire upon the buildings and citizens below.

Evan heard a sound behind him and turned around to see the hooded man standing in front of some kind of portal. It was a black hole surrounded by a ring of blue magic. The man stepped through with the portal closing behind him. As the portal closed, the scenery around him began to fade away back into whiteness.

"I don't know what that was," Evan said to the void. "Why are you showing me this!?"

Evan looked around with his arms out wide as if to fight whoever was in control of the space.

"What's the point of this!?"

Evan's voice echoed into the distance, but there was no change. If he couldn't talk to the artifact, how was he supposed to get out of this place? No new scenes were sprouting up either, which Evan wasn't sure if he liked or not. Then a chill went down Evan's spine, and his body started to shake.

"She is coming."

A voice whispered to Evan, right next to his ear, and yet echoing from all around him at the same time. He was still alone in the white space, but something had spoken to him. Evan couldn't place the voice as male or female, but something about it evoked a visceral reaction within his body. It was as if his body was instinctively afraid of whatever had said those words. After composing himself for a few moments, Evan spoke up again.

"W-who... is coming?"

Evan braced himself to hear the powerful voice again, but only silence greeted him. Then a new vision began to form around him. It was dark, with only a dim light shining somewhere nearby. Evan could just make out that he was inside a cave. The light was coming from deeper within around a bend. If this had been real life, there would have been no way Evan would have ventured deeper, but he took advantage of his ghostly form and went in.

There were four people around a fire. Three of the people were bound and gagged on the floor. The only person moving about freely was a middle-aged man. He was digging in a bag looking for something. He soon pulled out a dark black crystal of some kind. It was unlike any earthly crystal Evan had ever seen. It did not give off a single sparkle from the firelight, and instead almost seemed to make the area around it darker. Evan was hesitant to get near it even though he knew he couldn't interact with anything.

The man went to the side of the cave and held the shard in his hand while kneeling with his head bowed. He was concentrating hard as if praying, but he did not speak a word. The three bound individuals also did not speak, but from their appearance, Evan guessed that they were drugged. After a few moments of the man's silent prayer, it began. The man opened his palms as the crystal floated into the air above him. Once it finished rising and fixed into place, he finally spoke.

However, what Evan heard come out of the man's mouth did not sound like any human speech he had ever encountered. When he finished speaking, the floating crystal began to vibrate and hum. Evan backed away as he saw a light being drawn out of the three bodies on the ground. The three captives squirmed as if in pain, but they were helpless to stop what was happening. The light was drawn steadily without pause until the three bodies collapsed lifelessly to the floor. Evan could tell they were dead.

The man once again spoke in his bizarre language, and the crystal responded. Having absorbed the lives of the captives in the cave, a shadowy haze began to spread with the crystal at its center. Evan backed up as far as he could without losing sight of what was happening. A horrible feeling washed over him every time he looked at the spreading darkness. It was a revulsion similar to what he felt when the voice spoke to him in the void, but this somehow felt sicker, dirtier. He didn't want anything to do with the black shadow. It stopped growing after reaching a few feet in diameter.

Nothing happened for a few tense seconds as the man and Evan both watched on in silence. Then a voice called out from the dark mass of shadows. Evan did not understand what it said, but he covered his ears as he heard it. The sound of the voice made him ill. Every word it uttered made him dizzy. He wanted to run, but he was glued to the spot in fear. Even without understanding, Evan knew the voice had nothing but pure hatred and malice for all life. In his head he cried out to the Eye to end the vision.

Evan had never felt more relief than when he saw the edges of the cave starting to dissipate. It was a clear sign that the nightmare was ending. But it wasn't over quite yet. Evan made the mistake of looking into the black shadows once again, and this time an eye opened up and looked back. It was a single large eye with a red pupil. It bypassed everything else and fixed itself upon Evan alone. Evan froze, his breath stopping completely. Evan cursed the artifact in his head as the vision refused to fade faster.

Without warning, a force began pulling Evan's body. Slowly, he was dragged along the ground towards the hateful eye. He tried to scramble away, but all his efforts did nothing to stop the pull. He could do nothing but stare fearfully back at the being that was trying to consume him.

"Spy from the past," the voice said. "Join with me."

The pain inside Evan's head was like nothing he had ever felt. He yelled at the top of his lungs and prayed for something, anything to save him from the being on the other side of that darkness. Just before his body reached the mass of shadows, just before Evan knew without a doubt his life would end, the vision's undoing finally reached the center where the eye was. By mere inches, he had escaped being pulled into hell. His mind unable to take any more, Evan passed out.

Ch. 113

When Evan came to, he was back in the white void. He quickly swiveled his head around and let out a big sigh when he confirmed that the evil being from before was nowhere to be found. He started to think about what happened, but he quickly forced his mind to think of something else. There would be a time to think about what he had seen, but... Evan didn't think he could handle it right then. He thought he might seriously pass out again if he did. The being he had been in contact with was clearly too much for someone of his level to handle.

The only good thing that came from that last vision was the confirmation that the artifact was showing him things with a purpose. It had responded to him and showed him something it deemed significant, and it seemed to have goodwill towards him. Maybe it would show him what he needed to know if he simply asked for it. There was definitely a lot he needed help with. Like the visions he had seen. The slavery, the monsters, the dragon, and... the other one. They were terrifying to behold, but how was Evan supposed to know what to do about them?

"Were all those things you showed me the future?" Evan said. "Are they, like, for sure going to happen?"

Evan waited a while for a response, but only silence greeted him. The voice he heard before was probably a special event. Speaking wasn't the artifact's preferred method of communication apparently. If not words, then maybe pictures would work.

"Can you show me... how I can stop those things from happening?" Evan said.

Again, there was no verbal response, but after a few seconds, a new scene began to manifest around him. What he eventually saw when it finished appearing was the inside of a lab. And currently running around within the lab was one man. He had short brown hair and wore glasses. The man was wearing a lab coat that clearly indicated he was a doctor of some sort. Evan looked around the lab and noticed several items that looked like magic artifacts. In fact, upon further inspection, he saw several machines that looked like what he had seen the researchers using at the base when he was helping them with their magic studies.

"I've never seen this guy, though," Evan said. "Is he at the base now?"

Evan had been avoiding that place, and to be honest, he didn't think he would ever be fine with returning to being their guinea pig. But if it would help save the world, he might have to swallow those feelings and just do it.

"So, I just have to find this guy?"

In response, the scene changed. Evan was now inside a dimly lit empty room. All around him were displays and secure cases holding magic artifacts. It was similar to the vault at the base the general had once shown him, but Evan didn't recognize any of the artifacts on display. Maybe that meant these were at a different facility? Before he could ask for any clarification from the Eye, the scene began to dissipate.

"Wait! What am I supposed to do here?"

The scene's erosion did not slow, but Evan noticed that a certain artifact began to be highlighted as everything around it faded away. When almost everything was gone, one case remained. Inside was a long golden staff. The vision of the staff in the case held on by itself for a few seconds before it also disappeared. Evan waited to see if another scene was going to pop up, but nothing else came.

"Is that it?"

The lack of response seemed to confirm that was the only clue he would get. It wasn't much to go on, but it was better than nothing. And the magical object peering through the veil of time probably knew when it had given enough information. Evan figured he would just have to trust that he could find the answers later somehow. It was nice and all to get some help avoiding the end of the world, but Evan kept coming back in his head to the fact that he was currently in a life-or-death situation back in Tourmaline, and what he really needed was a way out of that.

"I get what I saw was important," Evan said. "But I need some help in the present. I have no way to beat three people with just Alex and me. If I can't survive that fight, I won't be able to do anything about all those things you showed me."

Evan clenched his fist in celebration when he saw a vision forming around him. Unlike most of the previous sights, this time Evan knew just what was going on in the new scene. He was back in the clearing. Everyone was there, including himself, exactly where they had been when he took possession of the Eye. It was weird seeing himself from the outside like an observer.

Everyone was frozen in place for a few seconds before the scene started rolling. Evan kept still and focused hard on his near future. Unlike the other visions, this event was personal, and it was easy to determine its importance. His blood chilled as he watched everything unfold.

The officer that had dropped the box was the first to try to reclaim the artifact. However, Alex rushed in and tackled the woman to the ground, starting a desperate struggle. Evan tried to stand up to help her, but he was attacked by a livid Brooks. Evan once again brought up his shield only to see it instantly shattered. Brooks didn't stop there as he mercilessly punched Evan several times and sent him to the ground like a deadweight.

Brooks took advantage of Evan's disorientation from the beating and quickly removed the artifact from his wrist. Brooks threw it into the trees well out of reach. Evan then had no means to fight or to stop Brooks from taking the Eye. And that's just what he did. With a look of supreme satisfaction, he pressed Evan's face in the dirt and snatched the Eye from Evan's hand.

Having lost his fight, Evan could do nothing but squirm and watch helplessly as Alex fought alone. Alex was already down to one good arm, so it was amazing she was able to hold off one of the officers for even a minute, but there was no way she could last. The other officer took no time at all to gang up on Alex as she rolled around wrestling with the officer known as Williams. As soon as Alex exposed her back to the air, it was over. The Evan on the ground screamed out in agony as he watched a hand spear its way through Alex's back and through her chest.

Blood poured from the open wound as Alex finally stopped her resistance. She briefly made eye contact with Evan before collapsing. She coughed a few times before going still. The officer that killed her didn't blink an eye, as if killing an innocent young woman was an everyday occurrence. Brooks handed Evan over to his subordinates, and the group left the scene. It was Evan's total defeat.

At that point, everyone present faded away before reappearing in their starting positions. Evan was caught off guard as this was different from the previous visions. Soon, the scene began to replay, just as it had before. Was he meant to study this to find a way to win? Maybe. Maybe he could do that. But... seeing Alex getting killed repeatedly was not something he was prepared for. When that part of the scene came about again, Evan couldn't even watch.

"Isn't there something you can do?" Evan said. "There has to be a better way to help me!"

The scene continued to repeat, no matter how long Evan waited for something different. Tears filled his eyes as he watched it replay over and over. This was the future that he had made. His stupidity had led directly to Brooks getting everything he wanted. The Eye was lost, and Alex... she was gone. It was all Evan's fault. He should never have tried to get involved. He always made things worse when he tried to help. Someone always got hurt. Why did he think this time would be any different?

Evan sat down and watched Alex fight for her life over and over. She fought to the very end. Evan could see in her eyes that she never once gave up. He was pissing his pants in the dirt while she was doing everything she could to survive a moment longer. Evan thought it was sad, but also beautiful. She truly believed in what she was doing. There was no doubt in her actions. She was like the exact opposite of him.

Watching her, Evan remembered why he had been trying to help Sophia's family so much. It was because of Alex. She had challenged him to make a stand, but that wasn't really what made him try to help the town. It was that fight in her. That refusal to let people walk over her, and that unyielding resolve to do the right thing. It was that fighting spirit that he hadn't had since that night so long ago. It was what he wanted to believe he could be someday. Evan stood up as he saw Alex's blood-soaked body fall again. He went back to the starting point and watched the scene replay.

"I won't let this happen," Evan said.

He may be damaged, but Alex wasn't. She was what this town needed. In his mind, she was the young mage that had the best chance to save their kind, not him. She had the resolve to get things done and to fight those that would oppress her people.

The Eye had given him this chance to see what was going to happen in detail. He was going to take full advantage of it. Evan watched carefully over and over again. He watched the fight a countless number of times. He engraved it into his mind. He no longer cried. There was no more fear or sadness. There was only determination to not let his best friend die.

Ch. 114

Evan's mind returned to the present after spending an unknown amount of time in the subspace of the Titan family's sacred artifact. In the moment that he registered he was back in reality, Evan was able to quickly confirm that his surroundings were identical to what he had seen replay over and over again in the vision. He was on the ground holding the Eye while the people around him were preparing to rush into action, but only he knew how their actions would actually play out.

Alex ran to tackle the officer coming for the artifact, but Evan had to handle Brooks behind him before he could save her. Time was precious. He had to handle things quickly before Alex got double teamed and killed. He only had a minute or so before that would happen. Fortunately, Evan didn't have to waste time thinking about what to do. That had already been decided.

Evan picked himself up off the ground and put the Eye in his pocket. He turned and met eyes with Brooks who had recovered from Evan's earlier push to throw him off. Brooks was red-faced as he ran full speed at Evan, the intent to hurt him clear in his eyes. The corners of his lips curled up as he watched Evan unfold his green shield before him. Brooks didn't slow down a beat as he rushed in and plowed towards Evan's shield with his exorcist's ring stretched forward.

Evan had gotten sick watching his flustered self repeatedly putting up his shield only to have it smashed away like it was nothing. Brooks obviously believed that was the inevitable result of this encounter as well. However, there was one big difference this time. Evan wasn't flustered, and he had time to think about what was coming. All he had to do was remember what he learned from his mentor.

According to Hunter, the rings the exorcists wore were specialized in destroying magic constructs. They activated upon contact, breaking down any magic they touched. Hunter had offered up two methods for Evan to use to get around fighting someone with this tool. The first was to actively change the shape of the shield so that the opponent couldn't hit it. That would mean opening a small hole in the shield precisely where the ring was set to hit. Obviously, there was a lot that could go wrong with that method. You could make the change late, you could make the hole too small, or you could simply not anticipate the hit coming in the right direction. Evan didn't have enough confidence in his skills to try that method. So, he went with option number two.

Brooks fist hit the shield, and cracks spread instantly. The shield broke and crumbled just like before, much to the pleasure of the special agent. His body never slowed as he continued sprinting through the remnants of the shattered shield on his way to punish Evan. But instead of unleashing a flurry of punches to Evan's defenseless body, Brooks stopped dead in his tracks, his body crashing into a wall where Evan's surprise second shield waited for him.

The second option for working around the exorcists rings was to use a double layered shield. Hunter explained that while the rings did not have a usage limit, they did have to recover for a few seconds before they could be used again. That meant if you could bait out its use one time, you had a brief window where your magic couldn't be countered. Evan had been using his magic practice time to work on forming double layered shields with this in mind. The shields weren't connected, each one originating from the wrist artifact from different streams. So, while the one was destroyed, the other remained strong as a painful roadblock for the full speed Brooks.

Brooks's body bounced off the shield, and he stumbled backwards in a daze, clearly not aware of what had happened. Evan put all his power into his fist and punched the man's face as hard as he could. Brooks's glasses shattered, blood flew from his nose, and he rolled backwards across the ground several times like a cartoon. It wasn't a light blow, and Evan was satisfied that Brooks would be down for long enough to deal with the other threats.

Evan turned his attention back to Alex. As expected, she was wrestling with the officer on the ground for her life. The other officer was already approaching and looking to make the kill shot. It hadn't taken Evan long to deal with Brooks, but he still had only seconds left before the worst happened. In fact, as he started to run towards their fight, he saw it beginning. Alex rolled on top of her opponent and sat up. The officer behind her pulled back her hand and prepared to thrust it forward.

A green ray of magic shot out from Evan's wrist and formed a barrier behind Alex. The officer's thrust plunged forward into the immovable object, resulting in the forearm cracking and bending at a ninety-degree angle.

"AHHHH!"

Alex's would be killer screamed at the top of her lungs, drawing the attention of everyone in the area. Evan sprinted towards Alex and augmented his legs with all he had. Once he reached her, he unleashed a fierce kick to the head of the officer struggling beneath Alex's body. The officer's head jerked and planted into the ground. Her eyes glazed over, and her movements completely stopped. Evan would have believed she was dead if he wasn't aware of how strong the woman was. He was confident she would get back up, but not for a few hours at least.

"Evan!" Alex said holding her arm gingerly. "What... what's happening?"

"It's ok," he said. "I got this."

The officer with the broken arm continued to wail while rolling on the ground, apparently in deep pain. She wasn't paying any attention to her surroundings, so she didn't notice when Evan approached and encircled her waist with green light. It strained the limits of his concentration and magic power, but Evan managed to pick the woman up off the ground and swing her around. The woman finally realized what was happening and tried to get free, but she was trapped. Evan built up some speed and threw her mercilessly at a thick tree. The woman crashed into the tree with a sickening thud before falling limp to the ground. With that, the immediate threats in the area had been taken care of.

"Evan," Alex said. "That was...! That was amazing."

She winced in the middle of talking. Her arm was in rough shape, and she was exhausted. They needed to get her to the hospital, but that could wait for a minute. Before that, there was something Evan needed to do more. Evan stepped towards Alex and wrapped his arms around her. Being careful not to put too much pressure on her injuries, he pulled her into a hug.

"H-huh?" Alex said. "What's this?"

"Just... let me hold you," he said.

"... Ok."

"I almost got you killed," Evan said. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't start with that," Alex said. "This isn't your fault."

Evan held her close for a few more seconds before awkwardly stepping back. He had a lot to say, but he didn't exactly know how to explain all he had been through. Would she even believe him if he said he just finished watching her die hundreds of times?

"Come on," Evan said. "Let's get Iris and get out of here."

They checked on Iris and found her unconscious, but otherwise ok. They hadn't seen what exactly happened, but one of the officers must have knocked her over the head judging by the stream of blood trailing down her face. Evan was contemplating how he could move her on his own when he heard leaves rustling behind him. They turned together towards the sound and saw Agent Brooks awkwardly standing up from where Evan had left him in the dirt.

"Fuck," Evan said.

Blood was streaming down Brooks's face. It looked like his nose was broken, and he had several lacerations from his shattered glasses. Evan had hoped the damage would be enough to keep him down long enough for them to leave, but Brooks was more durable than he thought.

"You..." Brooks said. "You are..."

He stumbled forward awkwardly before stopping and breathing heavily.

"YOU ARE... YOU'RE... AGHHH!!"

Brooks yelled at them, or at least he attempted to, but he didn't seem capable of speaking for some reason. The end of his sentence was choked off by a wail of pain as he started to desperately claw at his left shoulder. Evan was at a loss for what was going on. He thought at first that perhaps he had managed to severely damage Brooks after all, but then he started to see the physical changes in Brooks's appearance.

Something black was spreading up Brooks's neck from the area he was holding. The darkness was also spreading down his arm and everywhere else from what Evan could see. Aside from the skin turning black, it also started to twist and stretch, as if something was trying to break out. As more and more of Brooks's body was consumed, the changes became more dramatic. His whole body began to distort and take on the look of an entirely different man. Evan's eyes grew wide as he began to recognize the form that was taking shape. It didn't take very long for the transformation to finish. The darkness receded, leaving behind someone new, yet hauntingly familiar.

"Hellooooo Evannnnnn."

Evan couldn't stop the tremble in his bones that came from hearing that voice. It was the very voice he had heard repeatedly in his nightmares since coming to Tourmaline. It was the demon that had been haunting him, the demon that he had been half convinced was just in his head. Evan stared blankly at the appearance of his close friend's father, the very man that had ended his friend's life all those years ago. The nightmare had become reality.

Ch. 115

"Who's that, Evan?"

Alex's voice sounded shaky, both from exhaustion and fear. Evan knew she already spent everything she had in the previous fight. He was just grateful she was able to walk under her own power. He knew there was no way she could fight any longer. But they both could sense that the being before them wasn't about to let them walk away unscathed.

It was hard to describe, but there was a growing feeling of dread in the atmosphere. It wasn't simply fear of the new opponent, it was a tangible sensation felt all around them as if all their negative emotions had become a fog. They both had felt it ever since Brooks began to change. The air had become colder, the light had faded, their bodies screamed for them to flee, but at the same time, they also felt the desire to give up as if struggle was hopeless.

"..."

Evan couldn't bring himself to respond to Alex's inquiry. He knew who he was seeing, but he didn't know how it was possible. The man that had viciously taken his own daughter's life after she disobeyed him was standing there looking exactly the same as he had on that night, the night when Evan's life changed forever.

"Whatever that is," Evan said. "It's not real."

They had both watched Agent Brooks change his appearance into this nightmare from Evan's past. Unlike Alex, Evan had the benefit of knowing that this wasn't a simple unmasking of a person in disguise. He knew this man couldn't be who he appeared, so the only answer was this was some sort of magical illusion. But that didn't explain how Brooks knew about Evan's past, or what the horrible feeling in the air meant.

"That's no way to speak to your elder."

Evan shook like a leaf. The man's tone, his words. They were exactly like the man he remembered all those years ago. So forceful, so cruel and uncaring. This was the voice of a man that got his way, by force if necessary. It was so spot on that Evan began to doubt his own logic. Could this actually be his friend's father?

His thoughts went back to that night. That night when he had taken Amanda out to a party without a care in the world. He knew she had been reluctant to go against her dad's orders, but he pushed her to go to the party anyway. But when her father showed up that night, full of rage, he finally understood where her hesitancy and fear came from.

Amanda begged him for help with her eyes. He was too cowardly to stand up to the bigger man on his own, so he made the decision to involve the police. Evan had wished a million times since then that he could take back that phone call, to not involve the authorities. Maybe then Amanda would still be alive. Maybe then he wouldn't have nightmares of her dad pounding on that front door and yelling...

"Where's my daughter, Evan?"

Evan fell flat on his ass as he stumbled backwards, causing Alex to panic next to him. The thick negative energy in the air got exponentially heavier when the man spoke. It was so bad that Alex also fell to her knees with a groan as if unable to handle the weight of it.

Something strange started to happen with the man's shadow. It began to extend along the ground towards Alex and Evan. As it grew, it split and took on the appearance of dark tentacles. They slowly slithered their way closer before angling directly at Alex. They were both frozen with fear as the shadowy tentacles rose from the ground and took on solid form before beginning to wrap around Alex's legs.

Alex yelled and began to struggle to get free, but it was useless. The tentacles were strong, and they spread quickly. It was only a matter of seconds before her arms were tied up as well. Once she was completely bound, the tentacles began to slowly pull her body closer to where that man stood.

Evan watched it all happen as if it were in slow motion. His friend was tied up and slowly pulled to her doom. Some part of him was screaming in his head that he had to help her, but he couldn't move. He was too terrified. The dread in the air combined with the sight of his best friend being taken away caused his heart to sink. The only thing he wanted in the world was to close his eyes and hide. Hide and hope that this was all a bad dream.

Evan almost did just that. It felt like the force in the air was almost becoming comforting as he began to give in to the despair. He was about to shut his eyes and curl into a ball when he made eye contact with Alex.

Her eyes paused all his thoughts of running away.

They were pleading with him for help, pleading for him to do something, to do anything, to save her. They were the same eyes Derek had. The same eyes Amanda had.

Evan suddenly remembered his talks with Ms. May. The talks he had with her about those desperate eyes that haunted him. She helped him realize why those eyes stuck with him so intensely among all the other details of those horrible events. Those eyes had not just asked for help, but specifically turned to him for salvation. In one instance, Evan was unable to help. In the other, he was unwilling. Thanks to Ms. May, he realized that much of his pain following those events was that he wasn't able to answer those calls. That he had in fact felt powerless ever since. Was that still the case? Could he not act? Would he not act? Faced with another desperate soul reaching out to him for help, was he really going to curl into a ball and give up? Did he really want to add Alex's eyes to his future nightmares?

Tears welled up in Evan's eyes as he shook his head in defiance. His friend was being dragged away by that horrible figure from his past. Evan finally came to his senses. They were fighting for their lives. He had just reclaimed the artifact after watching Alex die hundreds of times. He watched her die and felt the pain of losing her again and again. He fought hard to stop that from happening, but now he was just going to watch her die while doing nothing!?

Evan bolted from the ground, suddenly filled with resolve. The energy in the air no longer felt as heavy as he moved with purpose. A green light burst from his wrist and took the shape of a long sharp blade. With a hard slash at the ground, Evan severed the tentacles that were dragging Alex closer to the abomination that had taken over Brooks's body. Once cut, the dark strands around Alex's body turned to ash and faded away back into shadow.

"Are you ok?"

"I t-think so," Alex said. "I don't think I can stand."

"Just stay behind me."

Evan stood with Alex at his back facing the illusion of his nightmare. For the first time since he appeared, Amanda's dad frowned. His shadow had recoiled back into its normal shape after being cut, and he had not moved from the spot where he initially stood. He simply glared. Then after a few seconds, the pressure in the air intensified even further. Evan glanced behind him when Alex made a noise and saw that she had passed out. The pressure and exhaustion was too much.

The man stared at Evan while the intense heavy darkness in the air pushed at him. It tried to bring him to his knees, to subdue him body and spirit. But Evan stood. With Alex now completely defenseless, there was no way he could afford to give in. He wasn't going to leave her to a horrible fate. Not this time.

"I won't let you hurt her," he said holding his magic sword before him.

The man looked deeply dissatisfied by Evan's actions, but he remained still. Evan had a thought that perhaps he should be the one to attack, but he realized how stupid that would be. He didn't know what his opponent was capable of, and he was already tired from fighting. If he attacked wildly, he definitely wouldn't be able to protect Alex and Iris. So, he waited and stood his ground.

"Disgusting," Amanda's dad finally said. "I thought for sure you were ready. I guess I was in too much of a hurry."

"...?"

The man's appearance once again began to change. Evan was briefly worried about what new nightmare might pop out, but soon he saw that it was Brooks original appearance that came out. After a few seconds of transformation, it was like nothing had ever changed in the first place. At least it was for a moment. Shortly after the normal Brooks came back, his hands darkened and began to grow sharp black claws. Likewise, Brooks's eyes became solid black orbs.

"What are you?" Evan said.

"Darkness, pain, failure, death," Brooks said. "I'm everything you've ever been afraid of."

"What...?"

"And I do know all your fears, Evan."

"That's not possible."

Brooks, or the thing that looked like Brooks, took in a big breath through his nose as if savoring a pleasing scent in the air.

"I can... smell them," Brooks said licking his lips. "They are so strong in you."

He was smiling wide at Evan, but then something changed, and the ends of his mouth slowly dropped into a frown.

"But... they were much stronger before," Brooks said.

"I almost had you," he continued. "You were so close to breaking. The fear, it had almost finished consuming you. But then... you got better. You... found hope."

Brooks spit on the ground, disgusted.

"That elf and those whores you started seeing, they all slowly ate away at all my hard work," Brooks said. "It became harder and harder to enter your dreams at night."

"You... were the cause of my nightmares?" Evan said.

"It was the only way I could reach you inside that damn dormitory," Brooks said. "Monstrum must have put his strongest protection spell on that place to protect the students. What bullshit."

New revelations were coming at Evan with every sentence. Not only were his dreams a product of some malevolent magical force, but he had been spared much of the creature's wrath just by living inside the dormitory.

"If I had just a little more time, it would have been you killing these one-eyed weaklings and taking the Eye of Kronos," Brooks said. "When it got harder to reach you, I turned my attention to the Titans. I needed that power, both your powers. I craved them. It didn't matter which I got first. But they were also more stubborn than I'd hoped."

"..."

"Oh well," Brooks said smiling once again. "You only managed to delay the inevitable. The artifact is here now, and you... you only need a little push to complete your fall."

Dark claws extended at Evan's face in an instant. He barely managed to turn them aside with his sword, but the attacks had only just begun. Brooks, or the thing that looked like Brooks, was faster than he had been in their previous fight. Evan created a shield to block his next blow, but Brooks appeared behind him before he could cover his back.

Evan turned and tried to dodge, but this entity was far too much for his current self. Black nails as sharp as knives swiped down and tore through the front of Evan's body. From his right shoulder down through his chest, deep long gashes were bore into his body. He stumbled backwards and watched the blood pour from his wound. He felt like he was going to collapse, but a powerful hand grabbed his neck roughly and held him up.

"Finally," the thing said, holding Evan helpless before him. "You will be mine."

Evan was barely holding on to consciousness, the loss of blood and the choking almost forcing him to join Alex in passing out. The only thing keeping him going was pure adrenaline. But what he saw next made him wish he had been asleep. The thing holding him up began to open its mouth obscenely wide. Out from the bowels of its throat came four dark squirming tentacles. They slithered around as they grew and extended towards Evan. With its mouth stretched wide, the tentacles began to wrap around Evan's head and draw him closer. Evan finally closed his eyes, unable to do anything more.

While waiting for his gruesome demise, Evan felt a gust of wind pass over the front of his face just before he found himself falling free of the creature's grasp. He opened his eyes as he collapsed to the ground in a bloody mess.

It took Evan a moment to take in what happened. The tentacles around his face had dissolved into ashes, much like what had happened when he freed Alex. The creature had fallen backward and let out a howl of pain, the cut off tentacles receding back down into its throat. Something had cut Evan free, but what...?

"Damn it, kid," a voice said to Evan's left.

He turned and saw Agent Jackson standing there holding a golden sword, cigarette hanging loosely from her lips as she stepped in front of the reeling monster. He never thought he would be so relieved to see her. She immediately made him reconsider his feelings when she flicked her cigarette behind her and hit him in the face.

"What did I say about getting into trouble during my nap time?"

Ch. 116

After the mouth tentacles were cut away, Brooks stumbled backwards and looked at his new opponent with obvious displeasure. His posture made it seem like he was about to flee. For the first time, Evan got a sense that the creature did not want to be there. Black veins began to spread and pulse throughout Brooks's skin, another change that made him look less and less like a human as time went on. Evan had no idea what was happening to the man. He even started to wonder if he was a type of monster mage that he hadn't heard of yet.

"What is he?" Evan said while fighting to stay conscious, his wound aching terribly.

"He's just a dumbass," Jackson said.

"...?"

"That there is what it looks like when a person gets infected by a dark spirit," Jackson said. "Brooks must have let his guard down and let it take over his mind and body. Like I said, a dumbass."

Brooks started to inch his foot backwards, but Jackson pointed her sword at him and shook her head.

"Don't think about going anywhere," she said. "I'm not in a mood for chasing right now."

A low growl rumbled out of Brooks's chest as the dark spirit within him snarled in disgust at the sight of the exorcist before it.

"How do you... fight something like that?" Evan said.

"You just have to beat up the host," Jackson said, grabbing the golden crucifix hanging from her neck. "No more questions. Just stay there and shut up."

"..."

Evan didn't have much energy to spare anyway, so he stayed quiet without giving any retorts. Instead, he simply struggled to stay awake so he could observe the fight that was about to take place. He believed it was sure to be unlike any other he had seen yet, and he was proven correct right from the beginning.

The golden crucifix in Jackson's hand glowed brightly before it began to transform. As if it had melted, the golden metal from the crucifix began to spread over every inch of Jackson's body like liquid. When her form was completely covered with liquid gold, it started to form different shapes before solidifying once more. After only a few moments, a golden suit of armor had appeared, protecting Agent Jackson.

Jackson looked like a golden medieval knight, complete with a golden helm that completely covered her face. It was an awesome and beautiful sight, one that made Evan jealous. His shield was great, but it just didn't have the aesthetic appeal of Jackson's knight armor.

Thanks to his talks with Hunter about exorcists and their artifacts, Evan knew exactly what this armor was. What he was looking at was the product of three generator mages of the highest class combining their soul spells. It was the holy metal. Specifically, it was the holy metal in its ultimate form, made to defend the common people and give them the power to strike down their enemies, no matter how powerful the divide in their magic power might be.

According to Hunter, the armors currently held by governing powers around the world were made over two thousand years ago and have been passed down ever since. Throughout history, mages have seen this armor as a sign of hope and victory, or fear and death, depending on which side they were on. Evan was glad he was on the side of hope and victory, at least for this encounter.

Agent Jackson went right into action once her armor settled in place. She leapt forward at the dark spirit in Brooks's body with her sword held out as if to run him through. The spirit used his dark claws to parry the strike, and the two were soon trading blows at a fierce pace. They jumped all over the clearing as they pushed each other around looking for any small advantage they could find. Evan noticed that Jackson never allowed their fight to get close to where any of the unconscious bodies lay. It seemed like even the lazy Agent Jackson was capable of paying attention to the details when she had to get serious.

It wasn't long into the fight that Evan realized Jackson had the upper hand. It didn't take an expert in martial combat to understand why either. Jackson's sword occasionally found its target, leaving several deep wounds on Brooks's body as he did his best to dodge. But on the other side, Jackson was completely unharmed. Brooks was able to land several hits, but it was more because Jackson allowed the hits than because of any great skill on his parts. Every time the dark claws collided with the golden armor, a loud metallic bang rang out, but not a single scratch was left behind.

With his situation becoming increasingly more desperate, the dark spirit tried a different tactic. After managing to create a few yards of distance from Jackson, the spirit bent forward and coughed out a dark sludge. The sludge flew as fast as an arrow and hit square in the center of Jackson's chest plate. Evan could see a dense magic power within the sludge, so he knew it wasn't a simple physical attack. That horrible gunk was sure to have a nasty side effect for any hit with it. The dark spirit laughed as if he had won, but that was until he saw the sludge on the golden armor begin to evaporate.

As if it was water on a skillet, the sludge gradually disappeared with a sizzling sound. It was only then that Evan remembered the holy metal had the ability to repel magic. It truly was an absurd defense. He made a mental note to do his best to never have to fight someone with that armor on.

Brooks was momentarily off guard as he saw his best attack fail, and Jackson took full advantage of the opportunity. With her greatest burst of speed yet, she flew forward and hit Brooks in the forehead with the hilt of her sword. Brooks was sent rolling backwards before landing sprawled out on the ground on his back. Evan watched and waited for the spirit to get back up, but there was no movement.

"Is it over?" Evan said.

"Only one way to know for sure," Jackson said.

Agent Jackson walked over to where Brooks lay unconscious. To Evan's disbelief, she grasped her sword with both hands and made to strike down through the heart. No matter how she felt about Brooks, he was still her colleague. Was she really going to end his life just like that, without any hesitation? Evan wasn't an expert in possession, but he thought there had to be a way to counter it without killing the host. Evan didn't have the strength to intervene in any way, though, so he could only watch with wide eyes as the sword started to plunge down.

A split second before the sword penetrated Brooks's body, Jackson stumbled backwards to avoid a stream of black sludge that shot out of Brooks's mouth into the air. It looked similar to the gunk shot from earlier, but it was a much larger quantity this time. It continued to pour out for several seconds before it finished. Brooks continued to lie motionless on the dirt, but now the black markings on his body were gone. It looked like the dark spirit had vacated his body and was now hovering in the air overhead.

Agent Jackson no longer paid any heed to what Brooks was doing. Her helm was pointed up at the roiling black ball of evil. Evan too was watching the black mass carefully until he noticed the nearby bodies of the fallen officers beginning to convulse. He initially thought they had recovered from their fight, but then he noticed they still appeared to be unconscious. After a few moments of watching their creepy twitching, Evan saw black sludge pour out of their mouths as well before rising to join the ball in the air.

"What the hell...?"

"It's gathering all its pieces," Jackson said. "It probably infected a bunch of people in town."

Jackson's hypothesis was all but proven as they witnessed dozens of other streams of sludge fly in from every direction. Evan realized there must have been many people under the spirit's influence that were being freed now thanks to Agent Jackson driving the spirit to a point of desperation. But the spirit already put up such a fierce fight, and it wasn't at full strength? Evan did not like the sound of that.

The streams soon stopped coming in, and the ball continued to boil in the air. Jackson and Evan both watched carefully, wary of what this dark spirit was planning. Just as Evan was wondering if maybe it would just run away, the ball of dark sludge slammed down to the ground. Jackson ran to the spot of impact, but there was only a deep hole with no sludge to be seen.

"Be careful," Jackson said. "It's underground."

Evan momentarily panicked, but then realized he couldn't do anything to avoid an attack anyway. If something came from below, he'd just have to take it and die. It was so pitiful he almost laughed. Jackson walked around carefully watching the ground for any signs of where the spirit had gone. Soon they both began to feel the ground shaking beneath them. The spirit was preparing something, but it was impossible to tell what it was.

Agent Jackson jumped away as the ground beneath her feet began to bulge. She stood before Evan as they both watched a mass of earth rise and take the form of a large giant. It stood nearly ten feet tall and was made of dirt and stone. It had arms, legs, a torso, and a head, but there was no face. It was an earth golem.

The golem moved much slower than the spirit had in Brooks's body, but it had much greater power and protection. This was proved when Jackson was just barely able to swat away one of its arms with her sword when it lunged at her. The weight of the attack was totally different from before. The spirit laughed as it began to throw all its power at Jackson.

Agent Jackson was certainly faster than the golem, but she had the disadvantage of having to protect Evan and the others. With him right behind her, she had no choice but to meet every one of the golem's attacks, and taking the powerful strikes was visibly wearing her down. Her armor was perfectly fine, but the woman beneath was breathing heavy and moving slower. It wasn't long before the inevitable happened and she got caught.

Jackson's knees buckled after a particular nasty slam from the giant's fist from overhead. It used that slip up to grab her body in its large fist. Jackson's saving grace was that her armor was too strong for even that earthen giant to squeeze out of shape. Instead, the giant reeled back and threw her high into the air. Evan flinched as he watched his golden protector fall within the nearby trees, hitting several large branches before slamming hard into the ground.

A laugh from deep within the golem brought his attention back to the evil being before him. The spirit seemed to be celebrating its victory as he saw Jackson's form struggling to recover. It soon turned its attention to Evan lying helpless in the dirt. Evan tried to crawl away, but the energy just wasn't there. He could only watch as the giant stalked closer. The golem's fists planted on either side of Evan's body as its giant form leaned over to face him.

"Finally," the spirit said as a dark tendrils began to snake out from within the golem. "Become mine."

The tentacles made to ensnare Evan like they had earlier. Evan tried to summon his magic power to create a shield, but he was totally empty. He hated that he was helpless against this spirit once again. He had no way to defend himself, just like before. But, also just like before, the spirit had let its guard down due to its greed.

Agent Jackson was a little banged up, but she was an experienced fighter alongside wearing the most durable armor known to man. There was no way a little fall damage could keep her down for long. As soon as she gathered herself, she ran and jumped up on the back of the golem. Before the slow behemoth could move to shake her off, she plunged her golden sword deep into its core.

The spirit cried out in pain as it reeled back. The golem backed away from Evan and began thrashing in an attempt to throw Jackson off. She voluntarily jumped away to safety, leaving her weapon of holy metal fixed where she had stabbed it. Agent Jackson and Evan watched as the earth began to fall away from the golem. First bits and pieces from all over, then an arm, and then the whole thing crumbled away. What was left behind was a ball of black sludge with a golden sword stuck in its center.

A harrowing cry flew out from the spirit as it undulated and tried to free itself, but it was unable to leave its position. The sword pinned it down, keeping it from fleeing while at the same time burning it away into nothing. Steam rose up in great amounts as the dark spirit was burned away. The sludge slowly disintegrated, the screams of pain falling into silence, as finally only a pile of ashes remained. Agent Jackson got up and climbed the leftover hill of dirt and stone. She grasped her sword and pulled it free.

"Now," she said turning to look at Evan. "It's over."

Evan let his head fall back with a big sigh. Only a second after releasing his tension, sleep finally took him.

Ch. 117

Evan woke up to a familiar scene. He was in a white hospital room, loud beeping pulsing from a nearby heart monitor. There was an IV inserted into his arm and a large dressing over his right shoulder. It took him a moment to shake off the grogginess, but he soon began piecing together what happened in his mind.

The last thing he remembered was Agent Jackson defeating the dark spirit. He must have passed out soon after that. Whether it was from blood loss or magic exhaustion, it didn't matter, but someone had taken him to the hospital. That was fine but depending on who was in control of the current situation, everything else might not be. Was everyone else alright? What about the Eye?

Evan moved to sit up in his bed, wincing at a sharp pain in his shoulder, before he heard footsteps approaching. The door to his room was slightly closed, so he couldn't tell who was coming. The last time he was in this situation, his lovely nurse friend Nyla comforted him as soon as he woke. He smiled while hoping it was her. His smile soon fell as the door was pushed open.

"So, you're awake, you little shit," Agent Jackson said walking over to his side.

"Why're you here?"

"Huh!? Why am I here!? I'll tell you why I'm here," Agent Jackson said, picking up a chair and planting herself in it right next to the bed. "I'm here because your dumb ass couldn't just keep his head down and stay out of trouble like I asked you to."

"..."

"Thanks to you getting hurt," she said. "My bosses got on my ass about not doing my job, or whatever. So now I'm not allowed to leave your side ever again. Such a pain."

"Were you the one that brought me here?"

"Yeah, I scooped you and your friends up and brought you here right after you passed out like a pansy."

"Well, insults aside, thanks for your help," Evan said. "You saved our lives."

"Yeah, yeah," she said waving her hand dismissively.

She sat back in her seat and began looking at something on her phone as if announcing she was done talking.

"Were Alex and Iris ok?" Evan said.

"They're fine," she said without looking up. "They've gone home already."

"Really?" Evan said. "How long have I been in here?"

"You got here last night and it's early afternoon now," she said. "The others left this morning."

"I see," Evan said. "So, what happened with-"

"Oh my god, kid," Agent Jackson said putting her phone away. "How many questions do you have!?"

"Umm... a lot?"

"Fine," she said standing up. "I'll be right back."

Agent Jackson got up and left the room in a hurry. Usually, he would have been pissed off about her attitude, but he felt like he understood her a little better now. She was rude and lazy as hell, but she did put her life on the line to save him when it mattered. He didn't feel like she was a total shit person like he did before. She just hated to work. He wished she dealt with it in a healthier manner, but he could empathize with her on the feeling at least.

That being said, she was still a jerk. She ran off saying she'd be right back, but there was no sign of her for quite a while. Eventually, a nurse that wasn't Nyla showed up to check on him now that he was awake. She told him his wound had been treated with a potion provided by Dr. Reid, which was the first time he had heard about magic potions being used as medicine. From what the nurse told him, the potions only helped speed up healing, and they did so by using magic power already in the patient's body. That meant it wouldn't work on normal people, which would explain why it wasn't widely used in hospitals around the world. It was about five minutes after the nurse left when Agent Jackson finally returned with a guest.

"Evan! How are you feeling?"

Ms. Vaduva walked in following a grumpy-looking Agent Jackson. Jackson plopped herself back down in her chair and resumed whatever pressing work she had on her phone. Evan immediately understood that this was her way of answering his questions. That is, she was passing the baton on to someone else to handle. Whatever. He'd rather talk to Ms. Vaduva anyway.

"I'm alright, a little tired," he said. "How's Alex?"

"She'll be fine," she said. "Her arm was in rough shape, but it will fully heal within a few days as long as she takes some blood."

"And Iris?"

"Also fine," she said. "She had few injuries in the first place, the worst of which was a bump on the head."

"That's great," Evan said. "And... the artifact?"

Evan whispered the last part. He still wasn't sure of what the situation was regarding the Eye. If Jackson had pocketed it and given it to her superiors, he wasn't sure they would be able to get it back.

"No need to worry, Evan," Ms. Vaduva said. "Agent Jackson made sure to return the artifact back to the Titan family upon arrival at the hospital last night. It is currently back in their safekeeping."

"Really!?" Evan said while looking at Agent Jackson with wide eyes.

"What's that look for? I'm no thief," Jackson said.

She continued to surprise him.

"That takes a load off my mind then," he said.

"I bet," Ms. Vaduva. "Considering all you did to protect it, I'm sure it would be devastating to hear it had been for nothing. But everything turned out well, thanks to you."

"And Alex," Evan said.

"Yes, both of you did well," Ms. Vaduva said. "Even if you were extremely reckless."

"Haha..."

"Well, I can't be too angry at you right now," she said. "None of us expected a dark spirit to be involved."

"Do we know how that happened?"

"No," she said shaking her head. "Agent Brooks hasn't woken up yet, so we haven't had an opportunity to question him. But considering his job, he could have picked it up in any number of places. Still, it's rare for a spirit to show up here in Tourmaline."

"It seemed... almost obsessed with me," Evan said. "And with the Eye."

"Dark spirits have intelligence, but they are single-minded in their motivations," Ms. Vaduva said. "They exist only to spread negative energy. They exude it from their very being. With stronger spirits, that energy can be felt in the air around them, almost like gravity. But all of that requires a lot of magic, so they are constantly looking for ways to expand their power. It must have learned about the Titan's artifact somehow and decided that getting it along with you would be the best way to grow stronger."

Evan recalled the oppressive feeling that came over him when the spirit revealed himself. It was so strong that he found it hard to breathe. He really hoped he wouldn't have to deal with a dark spirit that strong again, at least until he learned how to properly deal with them using his own magic.

"I'm just thankful both you kids are alright," Ms. Vaduva said. "But don't think I'm not going to have a word or two with you both about risking your lives so flippantly."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ms. Vaduva spent a good while after that filling Evan in on everything that had happened since he passed out, and there was a lot. The biggest thing for Evan was that the Titan family had all the charges against them dropped. He had worried that the people in charge at the base would sweep this whole incident under the rug, but it turned out that was impossible. Many people around the town had seen dark spirits fly out of friends and family that night. When the spirit inside Brooks had gotten desperate and pulled all its essence together, it had unwittingly revealed its existence to the world. Those eyewitness sightings along with the accounts of Alex and Iris meant there was no mistaking that the recent acts of the security force against certain families had been the acts of a dark spirit. For the council to still take sides with their actions once that was known would have been akin to straight out announcing they were evil.

"Wow... that's crazy," Evan said trying to digest all that was happening.

"Even for us, this is quite the scandal," Ms. Vaduva said. "From what I heard, the council is desperately looking for methods to win back the people's trust, but... I'm not sure what they can do at this point."

"Yeah, they might be fucked," Evan said.

"On that note..."

"...?"

"I hate to bother you with this while you're still recovering," Ms. Vaduva said with a grimace. "But I was asked to see if you would meet with the council."

"What for?"

"I believe they want to use some of your goodwill to make themselves look better."

"My goodwill?"

"Yes," she said. "The people are treating you like a hero after all."

"What!?"

"You did put your life on the line to save an ancient and respected magical family," she said grinning. "And in the process exposed a conspiracy that was choking the life out of the town. Sounds heroic to me."

"Jeez," Evan said, covering his face with his hands. "Just what I need, more attention."

"Well, it is true that you already had more than your fair share of the limelight since you got here," she said. "I doubt this will really change things that much."

"But... they want to use me, huh?"

"Yes. My sources say they are hoping you can mend the divide between the government and the town."

"..."

"Should I tell them you said no?"

Just like the first time he had ended up in the hospital after a big incident, the council was inviting him to meet with them. What was the deal with that? Was he only interesting when freshly injured? Evan had rejected the first meeting. At the time, he was in no state to be meeting anyone so important. He wanted to do nothing except go away and hide in a hole until his problems went away. If he was honest, he still felt that inside of him today. These were very important people with a lot of power in the world, and he didn't feel like he had any business being in the same room as them.

Yeah, he'd be most comfortable just avoiding it again. But...

"Actually," he said. "Go ahead and tell them I'll meet them sometime after I've recovered."

Evan wasn't the same person as he was earlier in the year. He would no longer step aside and be witness as harm was done to his loved ones. Never again.

Ch. 118

Evan met up with Alex soon after he was released from the hospital. He was going to have to wear a bandage for a while longer, but the worst of his days were behind him as far as his recovery went. Alex's arm was stiff and still twinged if she moved it just right, but for the most part she had full function. They spent a few hours recalling all the details of their ordeal like it was the latest blockbuster movie they had both seen. Evan debated with himself how much of his experience with the Eye he should reveal, and in the end, he decided to tell some half-truths.

He left out the detailed visions he saw of the future, including her death, and simply explained that the artifact had shown him how the officers were going to move. That was enough to get her excited, and she told him how cool it was to see him take them all down like it was nothing. It was only when they were winding down that Evan finally remembered Sophia.

Poor Sophia had been locked in the hidden library the last two days with no visitors. Evan and Alex both rushed to the library in a panic when they remembered. Fortunately, they had left plenty of supplies for Sophia to last for a few days when they last visited. Sophia was still understandably upset when they saw her. She wasn't angry, but she had spent almost all her time in their absence thinking the worst had happened. Evan thought that wasn't too far from the truth, it was just that they had managed to steer it to a good ending miraculously.

With all the charges having been dropped against the Titan family, Sophia was finally able to go home. Evan drove her back to her parents' house himself. He was barely able to hold back the tears as he witnessed Antonio and Iris wrap their daughter up in a huge group hug. He thought about leaving the family to catch up, but they would hear nothing of it. Both of Sophia's parents took turns giving Evan his own hugs, and they insisted that he stay for dinner. So, the evening turned into a celebration.

There was much to talk about as they ate. Iris especially was itching to hear what had happened after she was knocked out. Evan took his time explaining all that went down as he had gotten used to sharing the story after being asked for details by everyone he knew. They were shocked about the dark spirit and the appearance of Agent Jackson, but the Titan family was most interested in what had happened with the Eye.

"It showed you how to beat them?" Antonio said.

"Not exactly," Evan said. "It just showed me how they were going to act in the next minute or so. I was able to counteract their movements based on that and beat them."

"That's amazing, Evan!" Sophia said.

"It was all thanks to the artifact," Evan said. "They would have kicked my ass otherwise."

"I'm so grateful," Iris said. "I thought it was over when those officers appeared."

"Me too," Evan said.

"So," Antonio said. "The artifact activated on its own when you caught it, you say?"

"Yes," Evan said. "It was a weird feeling. It, like, sucked my power away to start itself. I haven't had any other magic artifact do that before."

"Do you remember when we discussed the artifact the last time we had dinner together?" Antonio said. "The Eye has a will of its own."

"Yeah, I kinda get that now, I think," Evan said.

"Was the fight... the only thing it showed you?" Antonio said.

Just like he had with Alex, Evan had left out all the finer details of his visions except for the part about seeing the future fight. Somehow those visions seemed too personal, too important to share widely. However, he did think it was best to discuss what he saw with someone. Who would be better than the keepers of the Eye, the very people that knew the most about how it worked?

"No. I saw... other things, too," Evan said.

The others at the table stayed quiet and waited for Evan to continue. He was sure he could change the subject and avoid talking about it if he wanted to, but he didn't want to hide it from them.

"What I saw were mostly... bad endings," Evan said. "It was a series of terrible things happening to different people and different places around the world. Each one... each one was a disaster. A couple even seemed like the end of the world."

"You think these were all in the future?" Antonio said.

"Yeah. At least I think so," Evan said. "Some of them were for sure since I saw places I knew."

"You don't have to tell us any more about them," Antonio said. "Actually, it might be best if you didn't tell anyone else what you saw. Giving someone knowledge of the future could have terrible consequences."

"Yeah, I figured."

"I'm sure you realized it by now, but the Eye showed you those things for a reason," Antonio said. "No matter what you saw, it isn't set in stone. I believe you'll be able to stop them from happening if you try."

Somehow, they were able to move past that heavy atmosphere and finish out their dinner in a joyful manner. Sophia gave Evan a big hug when he left and whispered a promise that she would keep the library a secret. He thanked her and promised to let her back in whenever she wanted. She indicated she needed a break from that secluded space for now, but she definitely wanted to get in there and finish her organization project at some point.

It wasn't long after he returned to his room that Evan decided to get some sleep. It had been an exhausting few days, and he was still recovering from his wound, so it was no surprise he was so tired. He drifted off almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Nothing was scheduled for Evan the next day, which he was very thankful for. He hoped it would be a low-key day with nothing exciting happening for once, but that hope was dashed as soon as he looked at the news in the morning.

At least this time it was good news that was stirring things up. The headline of the Tourmaline Times declared that someone at the base was responsible for setting loose the dark spirit that had wreaked havoc on the town. Evan couldn't believe what he was reading. Was something like that possible? As he continued on with the story, though, it was clear how such a thing as controlling a dark spirit came to be.

It turned out that the reporters at the paper had been very busy over the last couple days trying to get to the bottom of the recent scandal. They managed to get in touch with a few whistleblowers from inside the base that revealed the identity of a secret program the government had been working on that had the goal of using dark spirits as a means of mind control. The paper went into depth about how this was done, but Evan wasn't able to understand most of it.

Apparently, the government had several captured dark spirits within their possession, and they were doing research on the spirits' abilities, specifically their ability to control or alter the human mind. In much the same way doctors create vaccines for a virus, government scientists tried to use a weakened dose of a dark spirit's essence to create a mind control drug. The ultimate goal was to be able to inject the substance into a host, which would then alter their mental state enough for the user to manipulate that person at will. It was crazy stuff.

The real story wasn't simply in the program's existence, however. The real story was that this experimental drug had been used on Special Agent Brooks and was the cause of all the recent trouble. The story had quotes from several insiders at the base that confirmed the essence of the dark spirit that had infected many of the town's citizens was the same as the one they had been working with in their labs.

It was crazy enough to think about the government creating such a horrible drug, but the real scary thing was that it had been used. It was all anyone could talk about the entire next week. Even the teachers had a hard time not talking about it during their classes. Everyone had a ton of questions, but the main one everyone came back to was who was responsible for infecting Brooks?

Evan was having lunch one day with Zayla and Barry when they noticed something happening around the cafeteria. Groups of people started to huddle up around a phone to read something, and several loud gasps were heard. All around people were calling their friends over to look at something.

"What's going on?" Evan said.

"No idea," Barry said.

They all got their phones out to try to figure out what all the fuss was about. Evan didn't have any messages from anyone, so he at least figured it wasn't an emergency, whatever it was. His thoughts were interrupted when he heard Zayla next to him take a sharp breath.

"Oh my god," she said.

"What is it?" Barry said.

"They arrested one of the council members," she said. "They say he was the one who used the dark spirit drug!"

Evan quickly pulled up the newspaper's site on his phone and found the story. It was just as Zayla said. One of the directors on the council that governs all operations within Tourmaline was found responsible for what happened. The story said that key witnesses along with security camera footage confirmed that the director was the perpetrator.

"This is nuts," Evan whispered.

Evan later learned that one of the "key witnesses" was in fact Special Agent Brooks, who had finally woken up in the hospital and revealed all that had happened.

The council was already taking heat for their role in Brooks's terror campaign, but now that it was clear they were not only responsible, but had actually orchestrated the whole thing, there was hell to pay. As expected, the entire town was up in arms as soon as the story broke, and protests broke out that evening. A large crowd that dwarfed all previous protests gathered at the base to demand the resignation of all council members. As the next few days passed, the crowd only got more and more insistent with no signs of letting up.

Throughout all the breaking news and subsequent chaos, Evan went to classes and spent his evenings pondering his upcoming meeting with the troubled council. Ms. Vaduva had said the council was desperate to save their image before, but they were truly at rock bottom now. The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was a great opportunity. If the council wanted to use Evan to their benefit, he decided he would play ball, but not without a price. The way he saw it, he was the one holding all the cards now. He was certain they would have some demands of their own, but ultimately, they needed him more than he needed them.

Evan had heard repeatedly that he had more power than he realized. Well, this was the first time he felt like that was true, and he was going to get the most out of it. As the days passed, Evan's injuries fully healed, and the meeting with the council got nearer. He spent every evening fine tuning his plans and figuring out just what demands he was going to make of the people that ruled over this magical town.

Ch. 119

The day of his meeting with the council finally came, and Evan was using the morning to get some extra information he felt he needed beforehand. He was seated in Ms. Vaduva's office discussing various things with her, such as who the directors were and what he needed to know about each of them. He was lucky that someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Ms. Vaduva was willing to school him on the subject. She was the head of the academy, so he supposed it made sense she would enjoy teaching.

The directors were all big shots in a way that Evan could never hope to be. Rich people from rich families with strong political connections. The fact that they were able to get a seat on the council overseeing magical affairs showed they were also powerful in the underworld of the government where state secrets were guarded more securely than Fort Knox. In short, they were scary people that shouldn't be made enemies of. Evan knew that already, of course, but Ms. Vaduva spelled it out in greater detail for each individual director. It was truly a big help. The last thing he wanted was to be caught off guard in the meeting and lose his confidence.

Ms. Vaduva caught on quickly to Evan's plan to bargain with the council. She didn't disapprove, but she did warn him to be careful. She scared him a little with a few scenarios of how they might make his life miserable if he offended them too greatly, but she ended up coaching him on how to come out on top in the negotiations anyway. They both agreed there wasn't much reason to worry about antagonizing the council when they were already making enemies of the town. She was curious as to what he was going to try to get from them, but he didn't want to reveal that just yet. He clued her in on a few ideas, but he kept most of it to himself. There was no great reason to hide it except that he didn't want to get her hopes up in case he failed.

"Thanks for this," Evan said. "I feel much better about seeing them now. I'll probably be sweating bullets still, though."

"I'm sure you'll do fine," Ms. Vaduva said. "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you? I wouldn't mind."

"Yeah, it's ok," Evan said. "I need to get used to this kind of thing, I think."

"It'll be good experience," she said.

Truthfully, Evan would have been greatly relieved to have Ms. Vaduva come along. He knew she would prevent him from committing any egregious gaffes, and he had no doubt she would negotiate better than he could. But Evan was trying to face his problems head on now, and he felt like relying too much on the kindness of his teacher would be too close to running away.

"Is there anything else I could help you with?" she said.

"Actually, there is," Evan said. "This might sound odd, but do you know many of the scientists that work at the base?"

"I don't think I can say I know any of them well," she said. "Why do you ask?"

"They've been after me about resuming my cooperation with their research," he said. "I'm betting they're going to bring it up today."

"Ah, I see," she said. "Is there something you're wanting to get from them?"

"I'm actually just looking for one scientist in particular," Evan said. "I know his face, but I don't actually know his name or anything else."

"Are you looking to get in contact with him?"

"Not... really," Evan said. "I just want to know who he is."

"Is this another secret of yours?"

"Kinda."

Ms. Vaduva let out a mock sigh and laughed.

"You're starting to build up quite a lot of those," she said. "I guess ladies do love a man of mysteries, though. Alright, I won't press you on it. As far as finding this man, I think I can be of assistance."

Monstrum Academy was the number one employer of monster mages after graduation, and many of the professors at the academy did research in conjunction with officials at the base. Due to the frequent collaboration, there was a ton of correspondence between the employees of the two establishments, and Ms. Vaduva was included in many of those discussions. Thanks to that, she had a large contact list of employees that worked at the base. With that list combined with the wonders of social media, they were able to find names and pictures for dozens of scientists working in Tourmaline. However, none of them were who Evan was looking for.

"I think that may be all I can find for now," Ms. Vaduva said.

"That's alright," Evan said. "Thanks for trying."

"Where did you say you saw this man?"

"Well... that's a secret," he said. "But it was in a lab, and he was working alone. I can say that he wasn't someone I interacted with when I was going to the base at the beginning of the year."

"Hmm," she said thinking. "I'm not sure who it could be then."

Evan had been thinking about the scientist he saw in his vision ever since he woke up in the hospital. Evan saw a lot of crazy things when he was connected to the Eye, some of which he had chosen to not revisit. But the vision of the scientist was what the artifact showed him as an answer to how he should go about avoiding those horrible futures. Due to that, finding that man was key. The problem was, Evan wasn't sure that man was even in Tourmaline.

"Wait!" Evan said. "I remember, when I was talking to Dr. Campbell one time, he said something about research at another base."

"There are other bases involved with magic research," Ms. Vaduva said. "Sometimes promising students are able to get assigned a position there upon graduating. It's one of the only ways we're able to leave town."

Evan tried to remember the conversation he had with Dr. Campbell at the time. It was something that bastard said offhand, but there was something about it that stood out to Evan then. It was... something about... someone that had done something great.

"I feel like Dr. Campbell mentioned somebody important once," he said. "Like, a scientist that had done something great and was famous. Something like that."

"Oh, was it Dr. Franklin, maybe?"

"Yeah, I think so! Who's he?"

"Yes, that makes sense," Ms. Vaduva said. "It had slipped my mind, but yes, he is about the biggest name in the magical research community, at least here in Tourmaline."

"Really? How come?"

"Because he's from here, one of our own," Ms. Vaduva said. "He was a brilliant kid right from the beginning. Everyone knew he was going places, so nobody was surprised when he got a rare invite to leave town."

"Do you have a picture of him?"

"I think I can find one," she said working on her phone. "Here, this is him."

Evan looked at the profile of the man known as Dr. Franklin. There staring back at him with a goofy smile was the same man he had seen in his vision. There was no doubt.

"That's him!" Evan said taking the phone from her hand and exploring the profile in depth.

"That's great," Ms. Vaduva said. "Though I'm not sure how you could have seen him..."

"Haha..."

"I'm not sure of the specifics, but the rumors over the years tell a story of him nearly revolutionizing the study of magic power," Ms. Vaduva said. "They say he runs the lab where he works, and much of the research done at the base here is a result of his work. His family is very proud of him."

"Sounds like an important guy."

"I'm sure the government sees him as one of their greatest assets."

Evan thanked her for her help and promised to let her know how the meeting went when it was over. He left the administration building and returned to his room. The plan was to get a quick bite to eat before getting dressed for his afternoon meeting. He wasn't busting out a suit and tie, but he wanted to at least look a little better than he did normally. Even if the relationship with the council was adversarial already, he felt it was better to make as good of an impression as possible.

His time with Ms. Vaduva had done wonders for his confidence. He now felt like he understood the council better, and he felt like he knew what was coming for him. But most importantly, he now had solidified exactly what he needed to get out of the meeting. One way or another, he was going to put himself next to Dr. Franklin.

Ch. 120

When the time approached, Evan got into his car and drove over to the base. Outside of the base's gate was chaos. It looked like half the town had gathered in protest over the council's part in the town's recent woes. There were signs waving and chants roaring from all directions. Protests had been going on nearly nonstop since the first news of the council's involvement became public knowledge. The townspeople were enraged, but they had done well to avoid any violence. They simply gathered under the watchful eyes of the base's guards to make sure their voices were heard.

The crowd parted easily as he drove up to the security gate, and he wasn't harassed in any way since he was clearly not driving a government vehicle. Evan couldn't help but smile as he thanked the crowd in his mind for helping make things easier for his negotiations. He was sure the council was feeling more and more pressure as the days went by. Evan informed the guard at the gate that he had a meeting inside, and they let him in after taking a few moments to confirm. He parked in a nearby parking lot where a base employee was waiting to escort him to where the meeting would take place. Evan engaged in some small talk with his escort, and it wasn't long before they were inside and taking an elevator to the top floor.

"Here we are," his escort said, motioning to a nearby door. "Everyone is already waiting for you inside."

"Thanks," Evan said.

The woman nodded with a polite smile before walking off. Evan took a deep breath to calm his nerves before he opened the door and stepped into the room. Inside, Evan found a standard looking conference room. The lights were dim, and the room was filled by a long table where seven important looking individuals sat looking at him.

"Welcome, Evan," a man with long gray hair said. "Please, have a seat."

The seven remaining members of the council overseeing American magical affairs were all seated on the far side of the table. There was one chair placed on the near side for Evan. It made him feel like he was at a job interview, or maybe some sort of police interrogation. Either way, it put an uncomfortable focus on him in the room. He tried not to let it bother him as he quietly sat down.

"It's good to finally meet you," the same man said. "How about we start off with some introductions? My name is John Chamberlain."

"Nice to meet you," Evan said.

Ms. Vaduva had given Evan a quick rundown on the council members, so Evan had heard their names even if he wasn't familiar with their faces. What he remembered about the name John Chamberlain was that he was the senior member of the council and acted as their leader. Despite having been around the longest, Ms. Vaduva said there wasn't too much known about the man. The mystery surrounding him along with his position of power put him at the top of the list as far as people to be wary of. After he made his introduction, John motioned down to the far end of the table to direct the next person to speak.

And so, each member took their turn briefly stating their name. Some looked relaxed and even smiled as they spoke, while a few others looked at Evan as if he was a bug. Starting at the far left was a middle-aged Asian woman with short hair. Her name was An Friedman. An was curt with her words and gave off a vibe as if the meeting was a waste of her time.

The next to do their introduction was Carmen Barrera. Carmen appeared to be the eldest of the council members. She had brown skin and long gray hair. She smiled brightly at Evan, and he got a major sweet grandma feel from her. From what Ms. Vaduva had told him, Carmen was a long-serving member of the council and was seen as an ally of mage rights.

The man sitting at the right hand of John had short black hair and a finely trimmed black beard. His name was Charles Hennigar. His voice and face remained blank as he spoke, so Evan had no idea how he was feeling. The only thing Evan took away from his greeting was that he wished he could someday have a beard as full as what Charles was sporting.

To John's left sat the youngest member of the council. Thin, blonde, and attractive, Patricia Manning oozed confidence. That wasn't such a bad thing normally, but Ms. Vaduva had indicated that Patricia was no friend of theirs. She was apparently from an old affluent family that had a very conservative history. She was constantly looking down her nose at him as she spoke, clearly communicating that she felt he was beneath her.

The last two were not so condescending in their actions. The lone black man in the group, Clinton Alexander, greeted Evan rather casually. He looked fit and had his head shaved clean. At the end of the table was a plump red headed woman who introduced herself as Katherine Kelly. She was formal and polite with her greeting.

"Normally, there are eight of us," Katherine said. "But, as I'm sure you're aware, we've had some trouble with one of our members recently."

"Yes," Clinton said nodding solemnly. "And we want you to know, Director Werner's actions were his own, done in secret and against the will of this council."

"I see," Evan said.

"But he was nevertheless one of us," Clinton said. "Which has us in quite the position at the moment."

"You saw the protestors outside," Charles said. "The town believes we are now their enemies. This isn't true."

The rest of the board nodded and voiced their agreement with his statement. It looked very rehearsed to Evan's eyes.

"That's why," John said, "we need your cooperation in clearing up this matter."

"What would you have me do?" Evan said.

"You need to publicly come out in support of your government," Charles said. "We've treated you well after all. Free education, round-the-clock security, ample spending money. Not much there to complain about."

"So, just make a statement?"

"It needs to be more than that," Charles said. "You need to show through actions that you are fully trusting of your country. Take up a position at the base and restart your research with our scientists."

"That paints an attractive picture of trust and cooperation, don't you think?" Patricia said.

"..."

"Also, the public right now believes you're solely responsible for defeating the dark spirit," An said. "But we all know it was largely thanks to the security guard that we put in place that the threat was eliminated. I think it's time our efforts to protect you and this town were acknowledged in this matter."

Many council members again voiced their agreement as if this was something that obviously needed done. There were only a couple members who remained silent.

"Ok," Evan said. "So, you want me to start working at the base again, you want me to publicly announce that I think you guys are alright, and you want me to give Agent Jackson the credit for saving the city. Is that right?"

"Yes," Charles said. "Of course, that's only the beginning. You will need to show ongoing support in the coming months in various ways. We don't expect the distrust can be mended so quickly."

"I see," Evan said.

"We have an agreement?" Charles said.

"Actually," Evan said, getting all eyes on him. "I don't think I'll do any of that."

"What?" Charles said.

"Yeah," Evan said smiling. "None of that works for me."

Patricia scoffed loudly before sitting forward and pointing one of her long nails at Evan's face.

"Listen here, little boy," she said. "Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to do for the greater good. You don't want to work? Well, tough, because this is how you help this town you love so much."

"I don't think any of those things actually help the town at all," Evan said. "They just help you."

"You ingrateful child," she said. "What gives you the- "

"Patricia," John said, raising his hand at her to make her stop.

She looked furious but she sat back and remained silent while glaring daggers through Evan.

"Why does the proposal not work for you?" Carmen said, speaking up for the first time.

"Everything you said makes it seem like you are the victims in all of this," Evan said. "It's actually the opposite. The people of this town are the ones that have repeatedly been mistreated. You should be coming at this thinking about how you can help them, not how you can make them stop saying mean things about you."

"This incident was the workings of one man," Charles said. "He has been removed and punished accordingly. We cannot be responsible for his misdeeds."

"If that's how you feel, then you deserve all the criticism they're throwing at you," Evan said.

"..."

"So, you have no intention of working with us?" Clinton said.

"That depends on you all, really," Evan said shrugging his shoulders. "I can tell you I'm not going to help you at all if you can't take any responsibility for your actions."

"This council has done nothing but support and protect the mage community for decades!" Charles said.

"Wrong," Evan said. "You might've forgotten, but I grew up out in the normal world. I know what it's like to have true freedom. You might keep the people here safe, but you treat them like they're criminals. They're locked up and under constant surveillance. Now, under your approved rules, they aren't even able to transform or use magic freely. How could I side with you when you've so clearly been the bad guys?"

There was a moment of silence as the council members digested what Evan said. Several shared glances with each other, and Charles leaned over and whispered in John's ear. Evan knew this was a pivotal moment. He had come out strong against their proposal, and he basically called them villains to their faces. It wouldn't be surprising for them to throw him out at this point under normal circumstances, but Evan was betting that they couldn't afford to do that. What they seemed to want to ignore was that they needed Evan far more than he needed them. That's why Evan knew he didn't have to give in to any ridiculous demands. The real question of the day wasn't who could get the most out of this meeting. It was just how much would Evan be able to squeeze out of them before all was said and done.

"I think it's safe to say that you aren't completely opposed to working with us, or you wouldn't have taken this meeting," John said. "But it seems you might have your own plans in mind. Why don't you tell us what you want?"

"Well, for starters, I don't think it's right that you get to decide the fates of all mages in Tourmaline without them having a say," Evan said. "Wasn't that what our country was all riled up about back in the day? Taxation without representation? As luck would have it, you have an open seat now too. I think it should go to a person elected by the mages of this town."

"That's absurd," Patricia said. "Do you have any idea how coveted this position is in Washington?"

"This is just my first condition," Evan said. "Should I leave now?"

"Please continue," John said.

"You need to get your fingers out of the TSF," Evan said. "Let the town's security return to acting as police and remove all military presence from the streets. Obviously, the head of the TSF should be chosen from within the organization and not appointed by you."

"..."

"On top of that," Evan continued. "I want you to allow citizens of this town to travel to the outside world."

Several council members erupted into protest at that request. It was expected. Leaving Tourmaline had been taboo since the beginning, but it was the thing Evan wanted to change the most. He really wanted to give that gift to his friends.

"That's asking a lot," John said. "Surely you realize it's not as easy as simply opening the door. There's real danger out there."

"I know," Evan said. "But I'm willing to throw in a few things to the deal if you can do it."

"Like what?"

"Like helping out with your magic research," Evan said.

"Really? You will?" An said.

"Yes," Evan said. "But only with scientists and locations of my choosing."

Whispers filled the air as the council members traded opinions and discussed amongst themselves the merits of Evan's proposal. Finally, they recomposed themselves and faced Evan once more.

"What location did you have in mind?"

Evan smiled. He could tell he had them now. He was sure they would haggle over a few details, but they wouldn't be able to say no. Over the next few hours, the meeting raged on. The council tried several times to claim what he wanted was impossible, but Evan stood his ground and won many victories. He felt proud of himself for standing up for what was right and not just stepping aside. But even more than that, he was excited to see how everyone would react when they heard the news of the changes that were to come.

Ch. 121

A press conference was held in front of an angry crowd outside the base's gate the next day. Facing the crowd were the seven council members and Evan Matthews. Many in the crowd were aware that Evan had recently spent a long time meeting with the council, and the rumor going around was that the council was going to make him an offer he couldn't refuse, and in the process, take him away from Tourmaline. For the people of this town that had so little hope over the years, this sounded like a nightmare. However, the contents of the announcement were quite different from the rumors.

"We of the Council Overseeing American Magical Affairs would like to sincerely apologize to the people of Tourmaline. While it was the greed of one man that led to the recent attacks on certain well-respected families in the community, it was our own negligence that allowed such atrocities to be carried out under our own noses. We acknowledge that our management of the mages of this country has been lacking, and we will be striving to do better going forward."

Director John Chamberlain finished the short statement and stepped back from the podium. The crowd applauded politely, but many faces showed looks of confusion. An apology was something they felt they were owed, but it was not something they ever expected to get, especially not directly from the top big-wigs themselves. It wasn't much, in light of all they had suffered, but it was enough to at least briefly quell their chants of protest. As their clapping died down, a young man stepped up to the mic.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Evan Matthews."

The crowd instantly erupted into loud cheers as Evan introduced himself, much to his embarrassment.

"Thank you," he said. "I just wanted to let you know that I do believe the council is sincere in their apology and in their intention to make positive changes going forward. We talked a lot about what needed to change, and I believe there's a lot to be excited about. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that things are going to get better, and I'm looking forward to living here with you for many years to come."

Another loud cheer broke out as Evan stepped away from the mic. This time the crowd genuinely looked excited as it was starting to dawn on them that perhaps things were going to turn out better than they ever hoped. After Evan, a woman stepped up to the mic to speak on the changes that would be taking place both now and in the near future. The woman was the same one that escorted Evan to his meeting the previous day. He had learned that she was actually Director Chamberlain's personal secretary. She was apparently trusted with a wide range of duties and was often the spokesperson for the council when they issued statements.

Evan happily watched the crowd as the news broke that the empty seat on the council would be going to the elected mayor of Tourmaline. The current mayor, Bo Zhao, stood on stage next to Evan and gave a polite wave at her introduction. Without delay, the secretary then announced that all safety measures put in place under the Brooks regime would be rolled back, and leadership of the TSF would return to a person of the organization's choosing. She ended her speech with promises of more changes to come once all details were finalized. The crowd cheered louder than ever as the stage emptied and the council filed their way back to their offices on base. Then, for the first time in a long while, the crowd dispersed. The protest had ended.

Evan spoke briefly to Mayor Zhao and Ms. Vaduva, who were both full of praise for his performance, before he returned to his room at the dorms. He went straight to his bed and threw himself into his pillows. It had been an exhausting few days, and he wanted nothing more than to shut his brain off for a while. His deepest wish at the time was to live in peace for a while without life threatening danger or complicated politics. As time passed after that day, Evan found that his wish had been granted, at least for the rest of that school year.

Evan's classes went smoothly, with the biggest headache being what should be typical for any college student: his class work. As promised, the soldiers and surveillance systems were removed from campus. The students were visibly more relaxed as they traversed the grounds. As the months passed, spring came, and the gardens were once again filled with beautiful colors. Evan was happy to note that the only bunnies he saw hopping around now were ordinary and very real.

Evan had tried to gain a little more freedom for himself in the negotiations, but the council simply could not tolerate Evan going without some form of protection. He understood to some degree, so he gave in and approved the original plan of having an assigned guard with him or near him at all times. The one change he insisted on, though, was that he would be allowed to pick his guardian. When it came down to it, there was only one real choice. Robin gladly accepted her position as his knight once again.

Evan wasn't thrilled about having a shadow everywhere he went, but it was a small price to pay considering the alternative was keeping the Brooks regime's tight security measures in place. One of the dreams Evan consistently went back to in his mind was the one where he saw his friends and fellow students enslaved and experimented on. He had no idea how such a horrific future could come to be, but the fact the Eye had shown it to him must mean it was possible. And because it was clear it was their own government that was in charge in that dream, Evan felt it was imperative to steer them away from having an authoritarian hold over the town as much as possible. The more agency he could give mages, the better.

There was about a month left in the semester when some exciting news broke. Evan was relaxing in the common room with his friends when Barry stood up abruptly while staring at his phone.

"Holy shit," he said, eyes wide. "They just said they're going to let students leave the city next year!"

"What!?"

Everyone pulled out their phone and frantically began reading the story online. Evan already knew what it said, of course. He hadn't been told when the news was going to drop, but he knew it was in the works.

"A field trip!? That's insane!" Billie said.

"I can't believe it," Zayla said. "They're really going to let us out? Evan, did you know about this?"

All eyes went to him. He looked awfully suspicious as he tried to suppress his smile. He was also the only one not excitedly looking at his phone.

"Yeah," Evan said. "It's one of the things I asked the council to change. It took a while for them to figure out the logistics of it, but it looks like they got it done. So... surprise?"

Billie quickly wrapped him in a big up and smothered his face in her boobs. He was laughing while trying not to suffocate.

"That's so great, Evan," Zayla said. "Thank you!"

"Yeah, it's amazing," Clara said. "But it looks like it's only for students. Guess I just missed out."

"EVAN!"

Lia and Laia pulled Evan out of Billie's grip and began tugging him back and forth by his shirt.

"Why didn't you have them do it for this year!" Lia said.

"You bastard!" Laia said.

Evan barely managed to squeak out an apology before Zayla and Clara pulled the twins off him. He was a little dizzy when he got free, but he wasn't hurt. They hadn't actually been mad at him, more just frustrated at their bad luck.

"I'm sorry guys," Evan said. "But I think they're going to have a program for adults too. They just haven't finished developing it yet."

"Hmph. They better," Lia said.

"You'll have to make it up to us if they don't!" Laia said.

"Oh, I like the sound of that," Clara said with a twinkle in her eye.

It turned out his three senior friends decided they wanted compensation even if they did get to go on vacations later as adults. They used the opportunity to pressure the other girls to leave Evan alone for the rest of the year, and the others didn't mind since it was only a month. But during that month Evan barely had a night to himself.

Clara constantly pulled him away for baby-making sessions. The two had been going at it at every opportunity they had where both of them were free. Evan had started to enjoy the feel of her giant titties so much that part of him was starting to hope she wouldn't get pregnant for a long time. It made him feel guilty, but it was sort of fun to have his way with someone else's girlfriend. He kept that feeling to himself, though.

Lia and Laia often butted heads during this time as their attempts to book Evan for the night often fell on the same day. That was bound to happen considering they kept the same class schedule. Often, they resorted to rock, paper, scissors, with the loser taking the following night. That led to Evan once again having several back-to-back nights with the twins, which could easily feel like he was spending each night with the same girl. Both had really opened up sexually, so it was always fun, but the constant bickering about whose turn it was got a little old. More than once, Evan wanted to suggest maybe they should all just share a night together. However, he wasn't sure how that fantasy would be taken, so he again kept his mouth shut.

Fortunately, Evan was spared being used as a piece of meat for finals week. He was able to study and ended up doing well in all his classes. And so, his first year came to an end. Evan's grades were stellar, and a few of his friends were set to go through the graduation ceremony and receive their degrees. It was the most peaceful period of Evan's chaotic first year at Monstrum Academy. The year had been filled with all sorts of tragedy and danger, but looking back at it in the end, Evan was very glad that he chose to come to Tourmaline.

Ch. 122

"I'm so proud of you!"

Evan stood in Ms. May's office and received his teacher's teary-eyed hug while awkwardly patting her on the back.

"Thanks, Ms. May."

The emotional elf stepped back and gathered herself with a big smile.

"Really, you've done so well," she said. "Who would have thought that literally fighting your demon would be so good for trauma? I should have all my patients do it."

"Maybe hold off on that one," Evan said. "Could end badly for some."

"You're probably right," she said. "Now, just because you're done with therapy, doesn't mean you aren't welcome here, ok? You're still free to drop by for a chat any time. In fact, I insist on it!"

"Thanks, Ms. May," he said. "I appreciate it. I'm sure I'll be in again, even if only to say hi."

Evan waved goodbye as he left the office where he had been meeting his therapist for the better part of the school year. Ever since the fight against Brooks and the evil spirit, Evan had made great progress in his therapy. Even though he had already started to feel better before that incident, he found it helped a lot knowing that he hadn't been having hallucinations when he saw his nightmare while awake. The reveal of the spirit's plan to break him down put the final pieces of that mystery together and allowed his mind to finally find some comfort.

Still, it wasn't like he didn't have a lot of other baggage to work through after that. Like having another life-or-death struggle or seeing visions of apocalyptic futures. But the calm ending to the school year gave him plenty of time to work through everything with Ms. May, and he finally graduated with a clean bill of mental health. Coincidentally, his last day with Ms. May just so happened to fall on the same day as the academy's actual graduation ceremony.

Evan had never attended a college graduation ceremony before, so he had a lot of interest in that year's diploma presentation to Monstrum Academy graduates. What he found was that it was much like what he had gone through in high school, only scaled up some. There didn't seem to be any quirky traditions for the academy either, so it all was rather standard. He sat with a few of his fellow undergraduate friends and watched as Lia, Laia, and Clara all walked across the stage when their names were called.

Their group cheered for everyone they knew, and it all ended before long. There weren't too many graduates since M. A. was a relatively small college after all. There was a reception after the ceremony for the students to receive congratulations and possibly some gifts from well-wishers. There was also free food set out for everyone to enjoy, so while Evan's friends were busy dealing with their families, he took the opportunity to fill his stomach. After a little while, the crowd thinned a bit, and Evan saw Clara and the twins talking together, free at last from their well-intentioned, but often overbearing, loved ones. He took that opportunity to finally greet them.

"Hey, guys," Evan said. "Congrats on graduating!"

"Thanks, Evan," all three said at once.

"How does it feel?" Evan said.

"Good... and bad," Lia said.

"Yeah, like, I want to be done with school," Laia said. "But I'm sad about leaving the academy. Does that make sense?" Laia said.

"Yeah, I think I get it," Evan said.

"I'm the same," Clara said. "I'm glad to be done with college, but it's kinda scary to face the real world, you know? I never really had an answer to that question they'd ask us as kids about what we wanted to be when we grew up. Now I'm grown up, and I still don't know. But I gotta figure out fast I guess."

The others nodded. It was a feeling they all shared. Evan knew he had no clue what he wanted out of his future. If he had to bet, he would wager that when it was his turn to graduate, he would be having the same thoughts as Clara. It made him wonder if anyone ever stopped being that scared little kid on the inside when they got older, or if every adult was secretly unsure about everything they did on the inside.

"Do you guys have any summer plans, or do you have jobs lined up that you're starting right away?" Evan said.

"I don't have anything lined up," Clara said. "I'll be fully moving in with Matt finally, so that will take a while, but it will be exciting too. After that, I'll be taking my time looking for a good job."

"Ugh," Lia said. "We want to, like, chill for a while, but our mom is making us look for jobs."

"She said even if we haven't decided on a career, we can't just waste our time," Laia said. "So, we'll probably be working part time jobs."

"Bummer," Evan said.

"If our jobs end up sucking you have to come see us a lot!" Laia said.

"Yeah, maybe we could even fool around at work," Lia said wriggling her eyebrows. "That might actually make it worthwhile."

"Sounds fun," Evan said. "But... I'm actually going to be away for the summer."

"What!? What does that mean?"

"Are you going home?" Clara said.

"Well, I'll be going to see my parents for a little bit," Evan said. "But most of the summer I'll be at another government research facility. I'm going to be helping Dr. Franklin."

"Oh, I've heard of that guy!" Lia said. "Dude! You're so freaking lucky!"

"Yeah, I feel a little bad that I get to go out," Evan said. "But I do think you guys will get a chance for a vacation too. If it makes you feel any better, I'm pretty sure I'll be doing boring research stuff the entire time."

"That does make me feel better actually," Lia said.

They joked around for a few more minutes, but then Evan returned to his room. However, before he left, the three made him promise to keep in touch. They wouldn't stand for him ghosting them just because they wouldn't be on campus any longer. He assured them they couldn't get rid of him if they tried.

Just like he told his friends, Evan would be heading home in about two weeks. He would be spending some time there catching up with his parents before finally heading out to a secret location to help Dr. Franklin with his magic research. It was going to be a busy summer, but it was all part of the deal he made with the council. They got what they wanted from him, and he got to meet the man from his vision that was supposed to help him avoid certain doom in the future. At least that was the hope.

Evan's other friends had similar plans to those of the three recent graduates. Zayla and Barry were both going to get part-time jobs, while Billie simply said she was going to try to sleep as much as possible. Emersyn planned to work in her mother's restaurant, and Alex claimed to have no plans. She at the very least wasn't being made to do anything, so it seemed like she was going to have a happier summer than some others. All their plans sounded nice, but of course not everything always went according to plan. Take Clara for example. She was expecting to settle in with her boyfriend and take her time looking for a good job. What ended up happening was much different. Just three days after graduation, she got some exciting news. Clara was pregnant.

Evan heard the news from Clara in person. He had no sooner opened his door to let her in his room than she smothered him in a big hug. She giggled for a full minute with him in her arms before she finally revealed the positive pregnancy test. It soon became big news, not only with their friends, but throughout the town. A pregnancy was always something to celebrate in Tourmaline, but this one was a little different. This was the first pregnancy brought on by actual sex with Evan. It may not seem much different from getting pregnant through IVF, but the women in town felt differently. That was because this was just further proof that the secret sauce was Evan and not some medical miracle the doctors were working. It was clear to everyone that a renewed wave of suitors would be heading Evan's way.

Evan was thrilled for Clara and Matt, but he was also anxious about the reaction the news was getting and the extra attention flowing his way. There was also the fact that this was the first child he had sired on his own, and with a close friend no less. It felt a lot different from hearing some nameless woman was carrying his child. He knew this was all according to plan and he hadn't done anything wrong, but it still took some time to digest it all. What he ended up doing to clear his mind was work on his magic. With no more schoolwork, he was able to dive in more fully than ever. And it produced great results.

Evan stood in the middle of the floor in the hidden library. He had his right palm extended with his left hand holding his wrist. He had his eyes closed as he concentrated deeply on the magic flowing within him. Evan had been diligent in following his mentor's teachings ever since the incident with Brooks was cleared up. His augmenting was now much stronger and activated much quicker, and he was able to circulate his power through his entire body as easily as breathing.

It was that flow of power that Evan was immersing himself in at that moment. Once he felt fully connected to it, he began to direct it towards his extended hand, and beyond. The magic soon met resistance as it reached the end of Evan's body, but he persisted in directing it forward with his mind while picturing an ideal shape. It required a lot of focus and mental power, but Evan had been working at this for months nearly every night. He was now confident in his ability.

Sure enough, as if responding to his new self-confidence, Evan saw his own magic power begin to flow out from his palm. He had managed to come this far before, but this time was different. It wasn't shooting out erratically only to shut off. No, it was smooth, and it gathered effortlessly in a ball about a foot away from his hand. Finally, Evan shut off the stream and focused on keeping the ball intact. A few seconds passed and the ball remained with no signs of wavering.

"Hell yeah!" Evan said.

He turned his body while maintaining concentration and watched as the ball followed his will. He directed it to go up, down, and even drew patterns in the air. It went wherever he pleased. After he was satisfied, he let go of the image in his mind and watched as the magic in the air dissipated into nothing. For the first time, Evan had managed to emit his own magic outside of his body and fully control it. It was a total success.

"This means I've reached the end of acolyte training right!?"

Evan hurriedly picked up the nearby mirror artifact and reported the news to Hunter. While he waited for a reply, he again manifested the ball to confirm that it hadn't been a fluke. It was about ten minutes and three magic balls later that Hunter's reply came through.

"Congratulations," it said. "You are now one step away from becoming a full magician. Your next step will be learning to complete magic spells."

"Finally," Evan said. "I'm finally going to learn how to cast spells."

Casting magic spells was what truly set generator mages apart from their augmenter brethren. It was where his true power would lie. There was no telling what crazy things he might be capable of once he figured spells out. As he was beginning to lose himself in his own imagination, another message from Hunter came through on the mirror.

"You have good talent to have come so far with few resources," the message said. "Perhaps we should meet. I'm sure you would grow much faster with my direct care."

"A meeting, huh?" Evan said to himself.

He would be lying if he said he hadn't wished to meet the mage on the other end once or twice. He often thought about what kind of great person Hunter must be. What was he doing in the world? Evan hoped he was doing something good, but he really had no way of knowing. But he had spoken to Hunter nearly every night for months, so he felt like he had a good feel for his personality, even if it was only text. He felt like he was a good person. At least, he didn't come across as straight evil. Still, Evan didn't think meeting was possible currently.

"It would be nice to meet someday," Evan wrote.

His training had taken a lot out of him, so he called it a night after that. Evan gathered his things and returned to his dorm room. The dormitory had emptied somewhat as several students had graduated and some others went home to their parents' house for the summer. It was much quieter than it had ever been since he moved there. He discovered that he missed the odd sounds of his fellow students banging around throughout the night. It kept him up late, and he found himself contemplating his future during that time.

The summer ahead was sure to be an interesting one. He was going to take a new step in his magic training as he tried to tackle magic spells, and he was going to meet a man that was heralded as a genius when it came to the science of magic power. It was exciting to think of all the possibilities that lay before him, but it wasn't all fun and games. He often remembered the terrible things he saw in the visions the Eye of Kronos showed him. He wanted to gain power for himself, but he was ever aware that he needed it to combat the very real threats out there. Threats that could even destroy the world. After all, if there was one thing he had learned from his first year at Monstrum Academy, it was that no matter where he went, danger would always be just around the corner.

*****

This marks the end of the first book! But don't worry, there's still a lot more left to this story. Things will pick up right where this left off in the next book of the series - The Strings of Fate.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed it so far!