Vires Academy: Super Powers

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Stories Told

At the bottom could you please tell me your FAVOURITE CHARACTER/S. This is the second last chapter!

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Chapter Thirty-Seven

‘Eximius Academy has broken up. The remaining students have fled into the country and I don’t expect to see them again any time soon. I would personally like to thank every single one of you for the great sacrifices you have committed this day.

Many of you may’ve lost someone you know but there will also be many of the dead who you have never met. I want you to treat each with the same respect. I want you to respect each other’s decisions, respects each other’s traditions, and I want you to understand that what happened today put everyone under great stress in a life and death situation. I myself am struggling with what has happened and I do not expect any of you to take it lightly either. A great tragedy has befallen our school, one that may’ve been foreseen or may’ve not. But I do not want any of you to take the sacrifices and outcomes as your own, we have all made mistakes, all made right choicea and no one shall be singled out today. We are to hold strong and with the help of each other we shall pass through this dark time.

The death toll stands at 32, the cost of those lives to great to even begin to tell. The families of those who’ve been involved have been alerted and will be attending out mass ceremony in three days. The media has not been told and with the help of some friends our private lives shall remain private.

The school shall provide any counselling or help in this time of need. Do not be afraid to ask, we are here for you, as is everyone else in this hall.

Lastly I do not see the need to congratulate you, as you probably feel the same, what we’ve done today is nothing to celebrate and will haunt our hearts for years to come. It was human, primitive and primal, and I shall not blame any of you. But I do want you to remember this. You’ve saved yourselves. You’ve saved your friends, your classmates, and you’ve saved this school. And I think that is worth a congratulations.’

The clap began slow, scattered students across the hall, and then grew; bubbling to the surface it exploded in a chorus of shouts and cries.

Students were crying, hugging, sobbing, and some even laughing from exhaustion and hysteria. We clung to one another, joining together as a mass that had been to hell and back again in the act of survival.

Ms Lovejoy stepped down from the podium; her own eyes blotched from crying. There were only a few teachers left, they’d been kept under torturous conditions in the game and not all had survived. She tried to speak again but could not. Instead another teacher, Henry, took over, speaking solemnly into the microphone.

‘There is only one month till holidays and I believe we deserve that time to remember, relax, and mourn in our own ways. No classes shall be held, nor extra curriculum activities that wish not to proceed. At the end of that month those of you who are going home and have been through the silence agreement may go home until next year. For those students who have permanent residence with us there will be a brief meeting sometime before the end.

This is a time for us to be thankful of life, be thankful that we are still standing and breathing today. But we must acknowledge our past. So I think it would be right if any of you wished to speak out. Anyone may come up here and talk. Tell your story, tell your friends story; whatever it is we will listen,’ he looked out into the crowd as a light chatter filled the stifled air, muttering and waiting to see if someone stepped up.

A boy was making his way forward, walking to the podium with shaking limbs. Gripping the stand he glanced to Henry, who gave him a reassuring nod, and so the boy leant into the microphone. A sharp blare of feedback caused the boy to shy away before Henry finally coaxed him up to it again. Pressing the microphone to his lips the boy kept his eyes on the floor and began to speak.

‘I…I just want to thank someone. I’m not quite sure who you are but you saved my life. You saved my life in the crystal castle in the game…you had black hair…and you had the power to shape shift into a bird….or something,’ the kid trailed off as his face grew red.

The silence that followed was excruciating, only to be broken by painfully sad voice.

‘She’s dead.’

‘Oh,’ the boy shuffled on the spot and was about to leave when the single voice spoke again.

‘Her name was Gwen.’

The boy paused before leaning back into the microphone.

‘Thank you…Gwen.’ The words slipped off his tongue so quickly I barely heard and then he was off, disappearing back into his seat.

It was an awkward beginning but it started to the chain.

The next person to step up told us a story of her friend; who blew up one of the trees in the first scene, sacrificing herself to let her friends escape.

Most of them were tales of heroic acts by their friends; it did not seem the time to boast about ones own triumphs. A couple spoke of their mistakes, grieving for the repercussions of what they’d caused. Some of the students broke down sometime in their speech but every single one of them was able to control it and continue. It was a great feat of bravery and self-control. But what amazed me most was the forgiveness. I don’t know if it was the emotions, or the fact we’d all been through the same ordeal; but every single story was clapped off with a great applause.

I listened to every singe one, captivated by the tales being told, I realised that I was not the only one. Everyone struggled today, they fought, they killed, they felt the pain; we were all in the same position. In a moment I wanted nothing more then these stories to continue on forever, to listen to these peoples pain so I could undo the burden of my own history and memories, to let it all go.

The time passed, I don’t know how long, I didn’t care and neither did any one else. Tears dried up, the adrenaline left, our emotions thumbed down, and the melodic voices of those speaking caused sleepiness to seep into the hall. People dozed off, lying on the chairs, resting a head against some else, cuddling up together; but still we listened even in our half sleep state until everyone was done.

Ms Lovejoy didn’t need to say anything when the last speaker finished; we just stood one by one and left silently.

I was leaning on someone, I didn’t know who it was, and in a dream like state I somehow made it back to the dorm. As soon as my head hit the pillow I was out, those stories still echoing through my mind.

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There is one more chapter after this and then the whole story is completed! YAY. I've actually already written the finishing chapter but I just need to edit it, so it wont take long.

Thank you all for being such amazing readers and fans, you guys are really the ones that have motivated me to keep going.

And seeing as this is the second last chapter could you please TELL ME YOU FAVOURITE CHARACTER/S. I would love to see what you all think.