SHIFT 2 - Purgatory

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Ryu stood not to far away, his eyes were huge as he stared at Nagisa breathing hard in his elder brothers grip. Marcus shook the boy.

"Get ahold of yourself! You're still a Romanari!" Marcus growled.

Nagisa did something that surprised everyone in the room, including his brother. He swung back, knocking his head into Marcus' chin. It was just enough of a surprise that Marcus lost his grip, for a moment, on the teen. Nagisa broke free. Spinning he faced the old Marcus. The legend himself stood ready to take on his baby sibling.

"You knew." It wasn't a question that Nagisa hissed at his brother. Marcus only nodded. He didn't trust the look in the teens face.

At that moment the door burst open. A flurry of sound filled the air as if a thousand bats had entered the room. Each one seemed to strike at Nagisa. The teen was blasted back, yet he wasn't down fighting.

As Mori came at him, Nagisa defended himself.

"ENOUGH!" Marcus yelled.

For the first time ever, he stepped between his fighting siblings. One hand held tight to Nagisa's shirt, while the other pressed lightly to Mori's chest. He turned from one to the other.

"The Aristocrat is in the hospital wing." Mori spoke as if they hadn't just been fighting their younger brother.

"Seamus needs to go." Marcus said.

Mori turned from his siblings without a word. They lifted the unconscious vampire into his arms. They glanced back once to Nagisa. When they saw the boy's shoulders slump, they turned to walk out again.

"Class is over for you, Nags. Go change. Collin, go with him." Marcus ordered still not releasing his hold on the teen.

"Marcus, I'm sorry." Nagisa lowered his head to the man.

"Can I go with them?" Ryu asked. Marcus looked from Nagisa to Collin to Ryu.

"Yeah, go." He offered.

Once they were dressed, the trio walked outside. No one spoke for a long time. They followed the walkway toward the vampire dorms. Eyes seemed to be watching them everywhere. Ryu caught Nagisa as they reached the dorms. Without a word he pulled him away toward the dragon dorms. Collin watched. Ryu jerked his head for the other vampire to follow. They walked to his room.

Only as they entered did Ryu spin on Nagisa. "What the hell was that?" he hissed.

"I lost my temper." Nagisa slunk down onto the bed.

"Lost you're... you nearly killed him!" Ryu growled. He pulled his phone out.

"I need to cancel on dad..." the phone was snatched from his hands. Nagisa stood before him.

"No, don't. It's fine. I'm fine." He insisted.

"What did Seamus tell you?" Collin spoke for the first time. Ryu glanced between them.

"We have a spy in the family, as well as several here at school." Nagisa filled them in.

"That must be why you're dad was late to the feast." Ryu offered.

"Also, why Marcus is being guarded so stringently." Nagisa stated.

They had all seen how the other archivists appeared to show up around Marcus. At least one was hidden in the shadows during any combat session. This was what Mori was truly keeping an eye on.

"What are we going to do?" Collin asked.

"Play nice." Nagisa sank back down to the bed. Collin sat in the desk chair, while Ryu leaned against the door.