The Queen Of Death and Ruins

The End Justified the Means

The atmosphere in the grand hall was suffocating.

As soon as we woke up this morning, the speakers around the academy crackled with the voice of Headmaster X calling the senior classes to assemble in the grand hall. The announcement did not come as a surprise but the palpable fear that spread around the room as we shuffled in reminded us that we were nothing but teenagers facing a terror bigger than all of us.

Bleak and tired faces trickled in slowly, the front seats filling up with anxious students and as my eyes landed on Sin, a ball of nerves that had nothing to do with the upcoming announcement formed in my stomach. Of all the feelings I have had for Sin in the short time I had known him, I had never thought that fear would be a dominant one. But as I recalled last night's events, I couldn't help but look away from my boyfriend and shrink back in my seat.

"Are you alright?" Kira asked, giving me a concerned look.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I nodded and straightened up, giving her a smile I could tell she knew was forced.

"Good morning class." The booming voice I have come to associate with  headmaster X rang through the almost empty grand hall, effectively snapping everyone's attention to the stage.

"I'm sure by now most —if not all—of you know that the royal council has launched an attack on Tenebris a few days ago. This act came as retaliation for the senseless act of violence that the Outliers enacted on our academy."

Kira, Zephyr, Sandra and I exchanged bewildered looks. Retaliation was not on the forefront of the royals' minds when they planned to portal their best warriors into Tenebris, risking thousands of lives in the process. Were they really keeping their real motives a secret from the upperclassmen that they demanded be ready to join their ranks in the event of a war?

The look of shock and disbelief wasn't limited to our little group. As I chanced a glance at Caelum who was sitting two seats to my left, I could tell that he was just as disturbed with the fact that the royals chose to lie to all of us.

"The attack however," Mr. X continued, "did not go as smoothly as we had hoped. The Outliers were able to detect the warriors' presence very quickly and were able to protect their grounds, which resulted in many casualties in our ranks."

Gasps echoed across the room and what started as hushed whispers grew into frantic shouting. Hearing about the strike was one thing, but knowing for a fact that we had lost many lives so soon after we were attacked was heartbreaking. Chaos soon settled over the once silent venue as everyone was trying to find out the identity of the fallen. Countless questions were being shouted from every direction, coupled with a few insults directed at the royals for planning an attack they most likely knew would fail.

"Quiet!" The one word command managed to silence the rowdy crowd and as everyone begrudgingly settled back into their seats, Mr. Xavier continued.

"We have lost many precious lives, but the attack was not an utter failure. Our troops have managed to create a huge dent in the Outliers’ numbers. They matched them blow for blow and accomplished what they set out for-"

"Which was what exactly?" A student chimed in from the back. "What were they hoping to accomplish?"

"As I have said in the beginning," Mr. X cleared his throat, clearly displeased with the interruption, "this counter strike was an act of retaliation. The royals figured that we can't let the attack on the academy go unpunished. It would be interpreted as a sign of weakness and the Outliers could very well attack again."

"You expect us to believe that?" Hannah, the pink haired girl that interrogated Zephyr after the royal meeting a while ago, snarled. "You honestly think that we're dumb enough to believe that their royal highnesses orchestrated an attack on Tenebris, risking the lives of countless of their loyal soldiers in the process, for revenge?"