Relic-Verse: Champions of Hope

Chapter 21

-- Part 1 --

The two and a half moons of Laurion were high in the sky, reflecting light down on the group of police cars parked outside of a warehouse as Banshee and the Terracotta King were escorted into the cars by police. Not too far away from the scene, Nightstalk and Cardinal were glaring at the five students in front of them, all of whom looked to be some form of exhausted.

"You kids are both insanely stupid and insanely skilled. It makes me worry for your future." The nighttime hero sighed and shook his head. "Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to go on an impromptu search and rescue?!" his eyes focused on Avery and Arica for a second, before darting to Evan and Catherine, "Or to barge into an active combat scene with no plan?!" he turned to Samuel before throwing his hands in the air, "Or just tag along and not try to talk some sense into your emotionally distressed friends?!"

All five of them silently looked to the ground as Cardinal smacked Nightstalk on the back of the head. "What he meant to say is he is glad you all are safe, even if the danger was entirely self imposed and could have been completely avoided had you used common sense. I'm personally proud of you all, managing to take down someone close to you without letting your emotions get in the way isn't an easy task." Her voice wavered for a moment before she closed her eyes and huffed. "But even with that in mind, the fact that you all only called in for help after you engaged the enemy is reckless, you should have called for assistance immediately."

"Or just not gone at all, and been safe and smart and just told us to take care of it." He grumbled quietly under his breath as Cardinal glared at him before rolling her eyes and turning to the kids.

"Unless you all want to get involved with the police, I suggest you all head on home so we can clean this mess up." She smiled softly and reached out, gently gripping Avery on the shoulder, "And remember to rest up, don't go stressing yourself out. We'll handle things from here, alright?"

Avery frowned, flexing her wings softly and staring up at Cardinal, who eventually let go of her and turned to the police, pulling Nightstalk along with her and leaving the students alone.

"Well, it seems like she has a warm spot for you, huh?" Evan turned to his fiery classmate and smiled, but was only met with a blank stare in response, causing him to sigh and look back at the ground. "I'm really sorry guys, I should've stepped in and tried to-"

Avery stood up and gently sat her hand on his head, causing him to awkwardly go silent as she sorted through her thoughts, leaving the group in a moment of tense silence before she spoke up. "Don't start about that, you wouldn't have been able to change my mind to stop me from doing anything, the only difference is I might have gone in alone, and," Small tears formed in her eyes as the events of the night came crashing into his mind, before she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "I might not have made it out without you all."

Arica reached over, gently grabbing her sister's hand from Evan's head and holding it tightly, "You were never going in alone." Her eyes had an unusual amount of emotion in them as she stared at Avery, "I would have come with you, regardless of consequences, and regardless of anyone else."

She slowly opened her eyes, still fighting back tears as she pulled her sister up and brought her into a hug, her wings fluttering slightly behind her back as she did so.

Samuel watched the two sisters hug, before awkwardly standing up and moving off to the side, "I think I need to head home before we get ourselves involved with another crime."

Evan shook his head, reaching out and stopping Sam in his tracks before he could escape, "I am going with you. We went out tonight to relax with friends, so I'll be damned if I am going home without relaxing with my friends." Catherine gently hugged Evan's armm, nodding along with him and staring at Samuel, causing him to awkwardly glance away.