Cardinal

Chapter 12

Steel holds my hand while we walk to the headmaster's office. Whispers float around with the gifted in the hallway. They all stare at each other, look at me, and then commence their whispering even louder. 

I suddenly feel self-conscious. Do I have a piece of junk in my hair? Did I have a hole in my pants?

I don't normally care for my appearance, though I think I look better today than I've ever looked in a while. I'm taller than most and stand at almost 5'9". I pull my hair, looking through my dark hair as I observe the strands. I look through my hair to make sure that there were no obvious tangles. Hmm, nothing there. 

I look at my outfit. I'm wearing Julie's black leggings, a black boxy t-shirt three sizes larger than my regular size which I assume was from one of the guys, and her white sneakers which are way too small for my feet, by the way. All in all, a regular outfit you would see on any basic girl on the street. 

By now, I'm gathering that they're staring because I'm holding hands with Steel and not because of my appearance. Some of the girls offer me a raised eyebrow while some are just outright sneering at me. I see some guys offer the same disrespectful expression as well. 

Well, well. I look at Steel suspiciously. 

I hold Steel's hand tighter, moving closer towards him. Can the ground swallow me whole now?  I'm absolutely dreading being in the same classes as these people. There's a pit in my stomach from their stares and I'm getting ready for a full-on bullying scheme. 

We arrive at Headmaster Balthazar's office. This guy was mysterious and responsible for most of the protective technology that surrounds the academy. The academy doesn't really have a name, most people just call it the academy. There's no traditional class structure and everything was self-paced as they usually grouped people by age until they developed their gifts. While I attended, everyone in my age group was required to learn about gifted and non-gifted history as well as how the normal human nongifted society worked. We all completed an aptitude test at the age of 12/13 and were divided off into different training regimens based on which area of expertise we excelled in so by the time we were in our early 20s, we were functional members of society. We were further subdivided into different trainers based on what gifts we developed. 

My aptitude test would shock most, and I absolutely refuse to do anything with it. 

Steel takes a deep breath before he knocks on the door. Knock. Knock. 

The door opens automatically and we step into a messy, dusty room with stacks of papers and pieces of metal with wires still attached to them strewn all over the place. 

Headmaster Balthazar is working on the far side of the room, magnifying glasses in place, looking at a piece of paper, and fiddling with some metal part on his desk. 

He looks like a mad scientist, with his white hair sticking out all over the place, and I almost expect him to stick his tongue out like Albert Einstein. 

"Ah, come in, come in." He urges us into the room without even looking at us. 

"Bath, we're here for Lilac." 

Headmaster Balthazar immediately drops the metal piece he's holding onto. 

"Lilac? Storm?" he seems pleasantly surprised. Almost, as if he didn't expect me to show up but happier than most welcomes I've had nonetheless. 

I guess I didn't really fit in much with the regular kids at school while I was here. I was ostracized by Sicily and her cronies and was forced to have social interaction with the trainers and especially, Headmaster Balthazar, or "Bath" as those familiar to him called him. 

"Hey, Mr. Bath." I quietly call out to him. 

He laughs deliriously and with delight at the sight of me.  

He runs around from his desk and opens his arms. I immediately cross the distance between us and give him a tight hug. Though, I quickly let go and smile at him in a tight line. 

Yeah, I'm not very comfortable with physical interactions besides my links. 

He starts to say something and I quickly look over to Steele then back to Headmaster Bath and shake my head ever so slightly, urging him not to say anything in front of my link though trying not to make it so obvious. 

Bath was there the day they found me. He knows what the big plan is with my return and I'd rather talk to him privately rather than have them find out. 

He's also one of the more prominent members of the magistrate and likely knows what's going on and why they've all decided that I should come back to town. 

The magistrates' identities are protected so as not to paint a target at their backs. They usually have protective details around them. Bath is one of the only ones whose identity is well-known in our community as well as Mortem's community. 

All the other magistrates' identities were based on pure assumption only. 

Bath has survived a plethora of attacks from Mortem. His cardinal, the other links in his unit, and his children were murdered to lure him into Mortem. I guess you could say we had something in common. I would trust Bath with my life. 

"Steel, my boy, go ahead and get your class started, I'd like to speak to Lily here about her schedule." He smiles at Steel, reaching up to pat his back as Steel is almost a foot taller than him. 

Steel looks confused but doesn't argue. Bath may look like a mad scientist and completely harmless, but he's got scars all over the place which signal what he's survived. He's like the mad scientist everyone's wary of. Rather than using his appearance to his advantage, he usually tries to dispel people's assumptions about him. 

You'll be okay?  Steel mentally voices to me with a raised eyebrow. 

I smile in a tight line and nod at him. Though I'm not ready to have this talk with Bath, it's needed. It's long overdue.