The Mystery at Trida Academy | Fantasmical 2023

Feathers and Fangs

The two walked up the darkened path, the moon only a sliver in the sky. Trida Academy loomed up ahead, looking almost abandoned. The towers rose up in strange angles, filling Alaina with dread.

"Are you ready?" Cole asked, looking sideways at her.

"...I think so." Alaina said nervously.

"Don't worry, we'll be fine. Look at all we've been through."

"You're right." She'd crawled through spider-filled caves, swam in a lake with a sea monster, ridden a dragon, and fought ghosts. What could possibly be in the Academy that she couldn't handle?

They walked up to the door in silence. She reached for the knocker, but Cole stopped her.

"Before we go in...there's something you should probably know." he said, running his hand through his hair and glancing away.

"Yes?"

"Well, look who's here." someone sneered from behind them. Alaina turned and gasped at the person standing there.

A man almost as tall as Cole was glaring at them. He had curly blond hair and ice blue eyes. But Alaina was fixated on the snow-white wings sprouting from his back.

"You're a...you're an..." Alaina stuttered, not quite able to believe what she was seeing.

"Angel." Cole jeered.

"Jophiel." the angel said, pointedly ignoring Cole. "And you are?" he asked her.

"Alaina." Alaina told him, disregarding his tone.

"Are you also a demon?" Jophiel asked. "Did he drag you from the Underworld to wreak more havoc?"

"A demon?" Alaina asked. What was he talking about? The angel regarded her carefully.

"No...I suppose not." he said finally. "Though I guess that means he's failed to tell you what he really is."

Alaina looked over at Cole. She'd been about to tell the angel that he was being ridiculous. Until she saw Cole's face.

"Are you really...?" Alaina asked.

Cole just shrugged, not quite meeting her eye.

"As I suspected." Jophiel said.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alaina asked, resisting the urge to take a step away from him. He might be a demon, but she did have an angel here for protection.

"Would you have come with me if you knew?" he asked.

Alaina opened and closed her mouth, not sure how to respond. Cole took it for the confirmation it was.

"I was going to tell you." Cole insisted as Alaina continued to stare.

"When?"

"About two minutes ago."

"Really?" Now why would he do that? Especially now.

"So, you promise you were going to tell her, but only once you absolutely had to." Jophiel cut in derisively.

"But you didn't have to." Alaina said slowly. It wasn't like she'd started to suspect anything. How could she have been so stupid?

"Of course he does." Jophiel said smugly. "Because the Academy is enchanted. None may enter without reverting to their true form."

"I see." Alaina said. So the man she'd been journeying with all this time was a literal demon. He'd hidden who he really was for the entire time she'd known him. Still, he'd gone out of his way to help her; he'd tried to shield her from ghosts that he'd insisted he couldn't see. And what about her sister? Cole had come to find Alaina because Candia was in trouble. Then, a thought struck her. "...Is Candia really in trouble?"

"Of course." Cole looked insulted. He turned to the angel. "Unless you've somehow managed to get rid of the aberrations."

The angel sighed. "Not yet." he admitted. "But we're more than capable without the assistance of demons."

So, Cole had been telling the truth about the Trida Academy; he'd really come to her for help. And had he given her reason to doubt him yet? If he'd wanted to, he'd had more than enough opportunities to do her harm.

"If you're so capable–" Cole started. But Alaina cut him off.

"Can we stop this? If there's something in there, you two need to work together. Because I'm not letting anything happen to my sister just because you two can't stop your bickering."

Both the angel and Cole turned to stare at her. It was difficult to tell which one was more stunned. Clearly, they weren't used to being questioned by someone non-divine. Finally the angel spoke up.

"You're right. Follow me, then." But he still narrowed his eyes at Cole as he turned.

Jophiel opened the door. Alaina and Cole followed him into a dark, cavernous, and circular room. A spiral staircase wound up high overhead. There were four separate doors on the far side of the circle, each one looking dark.

"Where to?" Alaina asked, turning to Cole. She'd never been here, so how would she know? But when she saw him, she gasped.

Cole was standing behind her, his eyes glowing an unnatural orange. He had long, sinister horns twisting up from his head, and stretching out behind him were two somewhat tattered and very bat-like wings. He quickly folded them against his back until they were barely noticeable; she could only see two sharp triangles peaking over his shoulders. When he saw her looking, he glanced away.

"Up the stairs." Jophiel whispered. Alaina followed him, and Cole took the rear. Alaina got the feeling he didn't want her to stare at his wings the way she found herself studying Jophiel's. She resisted the urge to reach her hand out to them.

They turned onto the fifth floor, and Jophiel immediately stopped. Alaina bumped into him, her face brushing into his silken, feathery wing.

"Don't move." he said.

Against her better judgment, Alaina peeked. Crawling towards them was a large, snarling spectral dog.

"Ohhh..." Alaina said slowly.

"What?" Cole asked. "Another one of those things?"

"Can't you see it?" Jophiel jeered.

"The...enchantments on the Academy." Cole said grudgingly. "...They limit my abilities."

Jophiel scoffed.

"Just use your magic." Cole said to Alaina.

"I can't...you haven't seen it." It was so tall, it nearly reached the ceiling, and it had three heads. Alaina had barely managed to get rid of the skeletons they'd seen on the path. She didn't have a chance.

Jophiel silently reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a pair of lightly tinted spectacles and handed them over his shoulder. Cole numbly took them. He put them on and muttered what sounded like a curse under his breath.

"Hellhound." he said, sending a chill up her spine.