Sain Clare Academy (gxg, 18+)

Chapter Twelve point Five

A/N: this part has belatedly been entered in as I'm editing the story. I'm trying to go for a new angle with the second arc

I tried to tie this in as seamlessly as possible, so I hope it doesn't feel out of place

...

The principal wouldn't meet with me until the end of the month.

The end of the month, that bastard. I wasn't sure how much I could handle seeing Grace during my morning classes as she ignored me, and during the afternoon classes when she treated me as Professor Eclaire. The relationship between us during those times was strictly professional.

As such, I had no choice but to wait, and the annual competition arrived before I could so much as get a word in with the principal.

"Are you nervous? Don't be nervous," May whispered nervously, clutching at her sword and hunching forward in her bedspread. I patted her back comfortingly as I surveyed the students.

There were four of us in the tent, teammates for the competition. For some goddess-forsaken reason, Professor Thurman had paired me up with May, Martin, and Anna. Elizabeth had been stuck in our opposing group alongside Herman, Grace, and Annakin. It was an overwhelmingly terrible group choice on his part. He had to know the tension between Annakin and Grace– it would be palpable even to the most brain-dead.

Perhaps the principal had involved himself in this particular scheme. The thought left an unsettling edge dancing along my veins.

Students had been placed in groups of four and spread across various competition grounds within a forest just South of the academy. Each group had a competitive, opposing group. Their shared goal? To get the flag before the other group could. Sparring was permitted, though lethal blows were not.

When he'd called the names out, when he'd noted Grace to be our competition, and Annakin to be on her team, I hadn't been able to look at her face. I didn't want to see the expression on it.

Our group had been assigned to find the flag deep within Fort Knel, an old wartime building constructed during the first bloody wars that established the Kingdom of Belland. As such, the fort was old, and the forest had consumed much of it. It was likely the flag was buried somewhere in its complex tunnel system.

"Grace is gonna kill us," May groaned, and Martin laughed. My chest was a whirl of emotions. 

"We'll put up a good fight," he said, unconcerned. I wasn't so sure. Martin was strong, yes, but Anna and May– not to mention myself– were no match for Grace, Herman, or Annakin. If forced to confront them head-on, it was likely we'd lose.

Anna had been quiet for the entirety of the trip to the fort. She acted as if her strings had been cut, forced to be separated from her brother. I hoped she wouldn't try to sabotage our team, though it seemed like she was more despondent than scheming.

"We'll find out tomorrow," I assured them. When the horn blared, bright and early, the competition would begin.

"Yeah," May said, miserably.

...

I'd placed the kids under a sleeping spell, certain not to break until I told it to, and allowed the glamour to seep from my body before I was able to get a night's rest. By the time the horn blared, signaling the start of the competition, I was back to being Olivia and feeling refreshed.

Our tent was nearly half a mile away from Grace's team, and almost three from the fort, so we had distance to our advantage to try to stealth our way in first.