Seeking Death

Aayla slept like a log for a long time. When she awoke, the entire world had been flipped upside down. Investigators swarmed all over the campus as reconstruction efforts began on the damaged areas. As she looked around campus in a daze, someone scooped her up in a warm embrace.

"Thank the Celestials that your alive!"

"Godmother… I… can't… breathe…!"

"Oops, sorry dear. Let me take a good look at you."

Ramona repeatedly looked over Aayla until she was satisfied.

"What happened to your hair? Never mind that for now. I didn't know where you were for ages! When I finally found you, you slept for two days. Are you alright?"

She reached to fiddle with her hair, then remembered that she had short hair now.

"Mostly. What happened while I was out?"

"Many things. Let's get going. The headmaster and Lord Forolan wanted to speak with you. I've already heard about your experience from Jacki, so I'm not sure what their angle is."

Aayla nodded her head and followed behind Ramona. Fortunately, Ramona didn't completely freak out. She must have had plenty of time to calm down after learning that Aayla nearly died several more times. Ramona seemed to calm, actually.

Most of campus was fine, but certain areas like the professor's offices were completely trashed. The library was still partially frozen and fires blazed off in the distance. Aayla hadn't seen any of the gremlins sneaking around. She hoped those bundles of chaotic fluff were alright.

Ramona fielded questions left and right from various workers and investigators. By the time that they arrived at the Central Administration Building, a long line of desperate people formed behind her. There were too many details that needed her approval right now.

Military guards held back the surge when Ramona and Aayla entered the building. The once gaudy monstrosity had lost its former lustrous glow. Ironically, it looked better now that all the gold and over the top luxuries were gone.

"The intruders looted this place, too?"

"Mmhmm. They probably snuck into this building first and took over the defensive magic formation. That's why their later actions went so smoothly. Many things were looted from here, including student records."

Aayla nearly tripped over her own feet. Did those lunatics know where she came from?! They wouldn't come after her, right? Ramona winked at her.

"Don't worry. Your records are safe. I've been keeping them in my personal office. Besides, I don't keep much in there."

"Ugh. Couldn't you have told me that earlier?"

The hallways were completely silent. Only their footsteps tapped on the tile floor. Guards stood at regular intervals. Rooms with broken doors were cordoned off by magical barriers. Aayla felt something pass through her like a cold breeze when they entered the top floor.

"What was that?"

"Just a new security measure. Let's keep moving. The headmaster should expect our arrival."

Instead of Secretary Laraz, two well armored guards stood next to the headmaster's office. Their armor looked like a heavier version of what was worn by the guards of the grey-haired man.

"State your identity and your purpose."

"Deputy Headmaster Ramona Heston. I've brought student Aayla Glowery as the headmaster requested."

"Fine. Wait until you are summoned."

The guards refused to say more. They simply stared and stood still, like statues. Ramona calmly stood in place while Aayla fidgeted with her hands. She could hear the clacking of opening locks behind the doors a few minutes later.

A secretary that Aayla hadn't seen before waved for them to come inside. When they entered, the secretary locked the door behind them. The grey-haired man and Headmaster Marin were sitting around a table with a map of the entire campus spread out on top of it.

"Ah, Deputy Heston. You've arrived, and you've brought Miss Glowery."

"I almost didn't make it with all of the people crowding around the door. There's too much to do."

"I don't believe that the rest of you have been formally introduced yet. Stallesso, this is Aayla Glowery, Deputy Heston's goddaughter. Miss Glowery this is the former City Lord of Halcyon, Stallesso Forolan."

Stallesso's eyes narrowed as he carefully studied the young lady in front of him. So, she was Heston's goddaughter. He thought that her name sounded familiar when his guards first brought their reports. Ramona folder her arms.

"May I ask why you requested for my goddaughter's presence?"

The headmaster gently stroked his beard and looked away from her gaze. Meanwhile the secretary ducked under their desk and pretended to tie their shoes.

"Hmm… I'm not too sure. Stallesso, could you explain your request again?"

"Yes. She needs to be debriefed."

"Ha? By both of you personally? For what? As far as I'm aware she stayed with Jacki and the rest of her group from Halcyon. They were rescued after the True Order's magic formation blew up at the main library. This experience isn't something that you should be interested in."

The sharp edge in Ramona's voice caught Stallesso a bit off guard. She always acted a bit carefree before. Where did this hostility come from? He realized that he might have said something wrong judging from how desperately Headmaster Marin was avoiding his gaze.

Aayla tilted her head. That's not what happened though? Then she realized that a certain someone probably wasn't all that truthful to Ramona. Aayla looked at Headmaster Marin with a questioning gaze. She tilted her head towards Ramona. The headmaster subtly shook his head.

"Well? For. What. Reason. Do. You. Need. To. Talk. With. Aayla?" Ramona spoke through gritted teeth.

The tension in the room rose. Stallesso thought for a moment, then jumped to the conclusion that Deputy Heston was angry that the Halcyon Guards might take credit for her goddaughter's work.

"Don't worry, Deputy Heston. I've already submitted the paperwork for the official awards and will broadcast your goddaughter's glorious deeds throughout the republic. My family will properly award her for aid and compensate her for any damages incurred."

Ramona's expression broke as a poor fool didn't properly read the mood and continued to dig his hole even deeper.

"Jacquelyn Vhassorhin and Miss Glowery were the ones who deftly evaded the True Order and sabotaged the magic formation in the central library. At my request, Miss Glowery then bravely aided the operation to rescue my grandson from the enemy camp during the final battle.

"She's an excellent young lady. You are extremely fortunate to have such a wonderful goddaughter. We will prepare a proper job for her once she graduates the university. Only if she wants it, of course. I swear on the honor of the Forolan family that she will always live with the best of everything that money can offer, no matter if she accepts our job offer or not."

Ramona's smile became more and more forced with each word that Stallesso spoke. He was extremely proud of his little speech. This was an excellent opportunity to recruit a talented person and make a connection with the elusive Deputy Heston.

Unfortunately for him, Stallesso made some fundamental errors with his calculations. Ramona took a deep breath to calm her rage but her temples still throbbed. Her voice was eerily calm when she spoke.

"Aayla, is what Lord Forolan said true?"

Aayla raced to find any method of calming her godmother's growing temper.

"Ah, it wasn't that big of a deal! Really! For the sabotage, Jacki found a spot where I could shoot at the formation core from a distance! A really, really long distance! My shield protected me from the explosion, which wasn't that big. We stayed completely out of sight!"

Stallesso nodded his head. Oh, how humble. Good, good. She didn't get full of herself and is trying to comfort her godmother.

"Besides, I didn't have a choice! Jacki and I wouldn't have been safe with the formation in the library up and running," Aayla suddenly had a fantastic idea and pointed towards Stallesso.

"Then for the rescue operation his people just grabbed me! The military and university staff didn't do anything! It wasn't a request. I literally couldn't refuse."

Eh? Something seemed to be going in a direction that Stallesso didn't predict.

"And they didn't even try to rescue me after the mission! They just grabbed Daren and ran off! The military kept shooting and the school didn't send someone to find me either! It's all their fault for putting me in danger unprepared, then leaving me behind when my role was done."

"Just Stallesso," the headmaster urgently redirected some of the blame. "She and Daren were very close when he arrived. The True Order commander was still fighting with him so he grabbed Daren and retreated. I was containing the other higher ranked opponents, and didn't expect for him to do something so shameless."

Stallesso became confused. Aayla Glowery was near his grandson?

"Oh, I do remember seeing another person out of the corner of my eye. That person didn't have any mana signature so I thought they were dead. That was her? My apologies, I'll add extra compensation for that."

A frightening aura erupted from Ramona.

"Let me get this story straight. You forced my goddaughter, an inexperienced young lady with a serious medical condition, to take part a covert operation that struck deep into the heart of enemy territory during a fierce battle. Is that correct?"

Stallesso realized that he had horribly miscalculated.