Mystery!

"Lui, I swear its not convenient that James was the only one left, I saw him!" After the class ended for a short break, Jack warned Lui about James and told him all of the concerns he had. Emilia told Nico everything that had happened, and unfortunately Rei was uninterested. "Okay Jack, I see where you are coming from, but you must have misunderstood." Lui tried to reason with Jack, clinging on to any hope that James was not who Jack says he is. "Look, if you are that worried, bring it up with re principle, nothing will change with you just tell me." The principle would obviously be the best person to go to, Jack did not think of that as he let his anger and fear get to him. "Yeah. Yeah you're right. Sorry..." Jack backed away from the teachers desk that he had been aggressively leaning over. Lui let out a deep breath of relief now that Jack had calmed down. A few seconds of awkward silence had passed until Jack left the room and the others followed. There was not enough time in their break for them to tell the principle everything, so they just went back to Jack and Nico's dorm as it was not too far away from the classroom. Jack sat on the his bed with Emilia and Nico sat on the other bed with Marcus. It was like a group meeting, but for some time there was silence. They did not know what to say, but Jack managed to break it. "I know it's not just a coincidence. James is clearly up to something..." Jacks voice was filled with worry for the students went missing and the students who could have gone missing. Nobody knew their next target besides James himself and most likely the mysterious woman but what was it all for?

After Jack had broke the silence, they all started to speak their train of thoughts, "We could be looking to much into it, maybe what we saw and what happened aren't related. Still, what we saw was definitely something to be suspicious of." Emilia's opinion grabbed the attention of almost everyone in the room. She was right, the two events could be completely unrelated, however, "Then James could still have evil intent even if the two events aren't related. I don't want it to just be forgotten about only to find out it was something horrific." Jack made a valid point that Emilia agreed to. The room felt like a bunch of politics making an arrangement, but Jack came up with an idea, "We will report what we saw with the principle, then ask for a background check on James and have someone monitor him just to be safe." Jack stood up after the long silence returned, "We don't know who James is, and this could absolutely be a misunderstanding, but there is a higher chance that it isn't. Lets get to the bottom of this." Jack put on his joyful smile in order to make everyone happy as well, but he himself was still filled with worry. Some time had passed and it was time for them to start a new session of classes, but it wasn't a normal walk back to the classroom this time, no, it was much different. They walked down the stairway that connects the first floor dorms to the classrooms on the ground floor, but half way down they encountered the last thing they wanted to see at the time, "I'll be careful if I were you." James walked pass Jack and threatened him in a menacing tone, they all stopped but James carried on walking up the stairs. Why was he walking up the stairs when he was in the same lesson as Jack? That question could not be answered.

Jack, Emilia, Nico and Marcus all arrived at the half full classroom, almost shaking after what had just happened. The classes were normal, but James was nowhere to be found. Obviously there were no practical lessons for a few days, so nothing really interesting besides battle techniques were taught in the lessons Jack had to endure and try not to sleep from boredom. It was now lunch time, and Jack made his way to the principles office, the others followed. As they stood in front of the door, Jack took a deep breath before opening the door he had feared since the previous visit. Some time had passed and it was time for them to start a new session of classes, but it wasn't a normal walk back to the classroom this time, no, it was much different. They walked down the stairway that connects the first floor dorms to the classrooms on the ground floor, but half way down they encountered the last thing they wanted to see at the time, "I'll be careful if I were you." James walked pass Jack and threatened him in a menacing tone, they all stopped but James carried on walking up the stairs. Why was he walking up the stairs when he was in the same lesson as Jack? That question could not be answered.

Jack, Emilia, Nico and Marcus all arrived at the half full classroom, almost shaking after what had just happened. The classes were normal, but James was nowhere to be found. Obviously there were no practical lessons for a few days, so nothing really interesting besides battle techniques were taught in the lessons Jack had to endure and try not to sleep from boredom. It was now lunch time, and Jack made his way to the principles office, the others followed. As they stood in front of the door, Jack took a deep breath before opening the door he had feared since the previous visit. "Here we go." Jack announced his arrival by comforting his friends. "Ah, Jack. Lui informed me that you would be visiting at some point." The principle welcomed Jack with a warm smile, but that was not enough to unnerve Jack as he anxiously looked around the room just in case there was going to be a repeat of what happened last time. Jack sighed in relief, but put on his serious face. "Sir, I would like to report a student. It is based on concern for my classmates and suspicious activity from the student I would like to report." Jack knew that in this situation he had to be formal, no jokes, no shouting, just a civil conversation. The principle put his arms on the desk, leaning in out of interest for what Jack had to say, "I see, and who is the student you would like to report?" Jack moved closer in response to the question in order to show even the tiniest bit of authority that he had, "James Hindridge, a student from my class." Emilia, Marcus and Nico stood silent and still in the background, believing in Jack and understanding that he was the best person to speak to the principle.

"James, huh." The principle looked at Jack with serious eyes, trying to understand his concern. "And what is it that you are reporting?" Jack took a deep breath to prepare himself, "I have seen James on more than one occasion show suspicious activity. When our class went out for a patrol-like lesson, I saw James with a woman that was not from this school, this seemed to be after the other students went missing. James had a very suspicious smile, like he was planning something. Most recently, he told us to be careful, as a threat." Jack made sure not to stutter and to tell the most important details first. The principle looked down at his desk, "I see." For a moment there was silence, until, "I am assuming that the three students behind you have witnessed this as well?" The question was not one that should be feared, but Jack did wonder if the principle had a motive, "Nico was not there when we saw James with the mysterious woman, however, he was there when we received the threat from James." All the pieces had finally fitted together in the principles head, "Okay. I will make sure that the teachers monitor his activity, I do have to admit that his background did seem a little off." Before Jack could even asked the question, he was given the answer. James did not have a reliable background, that means there is a chance that it is all fake. Jack stood strong, trying hard not to let out his fear in front of the principle, "Thank you for your concern, you may be dismissed." The principle let Jack and the others go.

Now standing back in front of the office door, Jack let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Well that's finally over." Nico was the first to talk. Jack let out a little laugh, "Yeah. Let's just get this day over with." Before Jack could start walking, Emilia suddenly remembered something, "Oh! Jack! Did you contact Shazchi?" The question was one that Jack already had the answer prepared for as he got showed his phone where the messages between Jack and Shazchi were visible. Emilia, Marcus and Nico all looked closely, but something seemed off about them. Nico laughed awkwardly and looked up at Jack, "She really is a strange one isn't she?" Jack didn't answer with words, instead he also laughed awkwardly. Whilst Jack and Shazchi were having a conversation about James, there were many strange messages she sent, very uncomfortable messages. "We are meeting her at the front gate." Although Jack did not want to go, he knew he had to in order to find the best information he could. Jack, Emilia, Marcus and Nico walked slowly as they arrived at the front gate. They arrived at the designated time, but Shazchi was nowhere to be found, or so they thought, "Jackie!" A jumped onto the back of Jack and held him tight. They knew exactly who it was, and Jack took the necessary precautions and punched her in the face. The punch wasn't anything hard, but Shazchi let go had blood came from her nose.

With all the blood now cleared up, they leaned on the walls by the gate of Willstone Academy where they ate their lunch and discussed what they had found out. Jack spoke first, explaining everything that had happened that day, none of it was new but what Shazchi had to say was. "Yeah so I found out who our mystery woman is." Jack spat out the sandwich he was eating in shock and instantly apologized, "Her name is Ember. I did a little research, and she's a high level demon..." Shazchi stopped eating and her usual excitement seemed to have ran from her body as she looked down at her feet, "Her full name is Ember Hindridge, the mother of James." Jack was about to take another bite of his sandwich, but he dropped it in shock. Now walking to the closest bin, Jack fell into deep thought. Before Jack could come to a conclusion, the bell rang, indicating the end of lunch time. "Well, all we can do for now is have fun. Thank you for your help Shazchi." As Jack, Emilia, Marcus and Nico ran back to the school, Shazchi waved at them until they were out of her sight. "They are going to be great someday." Despite no one around, Shazchi spoke her thoughts. But what was to come next? Jack put on a happy face, but all he could do was think of what he should do. They arrived at the classroom, and sat down. What was to come next was unexpected.

Lui stood tall at the the front of the class with a joyous grin. "I got permission to use the arena." The Willstone Arena was one of the most popular arena's due to its record of never having a disappointing battle. "We are going to be doing some tournament training." When Lui spoke, his words ran straight over to Jack and turned to excitement. Jacks eyes lit up. It was finally time to do some training against other members. The arena was within the Willstone campus, but it was a five minute walk from the classroom to the arena. Throughout the entire walk, Jack could not help but be excited. As they arrived at the seating area, the sun glared into their eyes as the large arena was revealed. It was a gigantic circle, at least a hundred and fifty meters long. The class now stood at the edge, all as excited as Jack. All but James and Rei. "We will be fighting individual members of the team I put you up against. And, no, you can't decide for yourself which member you will face." Lui began his explanation of how the tournament practice was going to work, but as he looked over the teams he noticed and remembered two important factors. "Oh yeah, I forgot! James, since you don't have a team, you will join Team Sylvia as their fifth member is ill today." Team Sylvia was indeed down one member, but it did not feel fight to Jack.

"Anyways. We'll start with Team Sylvia, you will go up against Team Jack..." Convenient, however, this was Jack's perfect opportunity to settle things with James. Jack glared over to Team Sylvia with determined eyes, this was the fight that was meant to be. "Oh, and don't worry about the arena and beating each other almost to death... This arena has a charm on it, once a battle has ended, every warrior trainee will be healed instantly and the arena will rebuild itself in a flash of an eye." Those words pleased Jack as he stood with his team, all but him had their weapons in hand. Emilia held her Rapier, Nico his shortened Claymore, Marcus was preparing his magic, Rei checking if her knives were in place, and Jack standing confidently as he had a grin of excitement but the eyes of nervousness. And so it began.