Sentry of the Arcane

Chapter 26: Fitz

When a loud THUMP! awakens me from my slumber, suspicion weighs down on me like gravity. I try to make little to no sound as I glance over at the digital clock adjacent to me. 1:33, I think to myself. Too early for anyone to be up. Frowning, I stealthily slide away from my bed covers and stand up on the ground, careful to not crash into anything. I mentally create a map of my room as I slowly and quietly move one foot in front of another.

I quickly decide that the actual light switch is too far away and settle for the light inside the bathroom. Almost on cue, I hear a thump not too far away from me- maybe a few feet at most. I furrow my eyebrows in concentration as I force my eyes to get used to the darkness.

As a result, I see the shoulder outline of a person, and mental alarms blare within my head. I reach out and grab the arm of the person and drag them with me to what I think is the way to the bathroom. Instead, when my shoulder hits the wall, I realize that I'm near the light switch. Tightening my grasp on the person in front of me, I use my free hand to feel along the wall until my fingers graze over something. My mind instantly calls the object a light switch and I flick it on, the actual light showing that my assumption was indeed correct.

However, in front of me, was only Sophie. Her eyes widen to the sudden change of brightness, and they widen even more when she sees me holding onto her arm.

I can't decide whether it's relief or something else when it was Sophie who was in my room. When my heart begins to beat a slower pace, I decide that it's relief and exhale in solace, releasing my grasp on Sophie.

After shaking my head to get my somnolent thoughts together, I raise an eyebrow at the female Percipient. "What's your reason for sneaking into my room in the dark?" I ask, smirking momentarily as I run a hand through my hair. Stifling a yawn, I stare at her instead.

Slightly intimidated, Sophie steps back, a faint pink on her cheeks.

I see something shine in Sophie's eyes. Narrowing my own eyes, I finally say, "It's about Audrey, isn't it?" I don't hear a verbal response and add, "And Mr. Wallace was there when you to see her, right?"

With wide eyes, Sophie nods at my directness. "I didn't ask her anything, though. I didn't want to ask her if there was a chance Mr. Wallace would hear us."

I nod. "That still doesn't explain why you couldn't tell me that in the morning," I point out. "You know, instead of sneaking into my room." I can't help but smirk rather mischievously. 

Sophie's eyes widen, her blush growing. "Oh- that was... well-"

I chuckle at her lack of reasoning. "Don't worry about it," I assure her when I see genuine guilt flash across her face. "At least we know a bit more on the issue." I see her yawn and suppress my own yawn. I smirk, trying to hide my drowsiness. "But we should probably plan everything out in the morning, when we can actually think."

Sophie laughs. "Yeah, I think that would be best."

...

In the morning, when all six teenagers have arrived at the conference, I resist showing my surprise at how normal everyone's acting.

Especially the Sovereigns, Sophie, and Mr. Wallace.

Mr. Wallace spends his time sipping coffee and reading. Like always, the Sovereigns are teasing- mostly arguing- each other, with Audrey or Donovan laughing slightly every so often. Sophie's reading the medical and military reports and dog-earring the pages that she wants to come back to later instead of flipping through everything for another time.

As for me, I'm comparing the differences and similarities between Jacob and David's backgrounds. Obviously, they have parents that died from brain or heart problems. And they have each other listed as their siblings. And they look very similar when it comes to appearances.

The first difference is their age. David was 38 while Jacob was 43. Second was the actual specifics of their appearances. David had changed his appearance while Jacob kept his the same. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought that the child version of them were twins. Then David's education isn't listed while it's said that Jacob dropped out of college to join the army.

Wait- why isn't David's level of education listed in his folder?

But before I can ponder anymore about the oddity, someone takes both folders from me. Gritting my teeth, I narrow my eyebrows at the male Sovereign as he tauntingly holds the folders at arm's length away from me. I shake my head and stand up. "Do we have to do this, Donovan?" I ask in annoyance, letting my frustration seep into my voice as I glower at him.

He nods like a child, and I wonder why he doesn't get along with Benen that much. They both act like they're five-year-olds.

Groaning, I stretch my arm forward to grab one of the files. Of course, Donovan jumps away from my hand. I press my lips together. After a few moments of silence, I say, "Well, you asked for it now."

And with that, I swiftly hit both of Donovan's arms upwards. While Donovan leaves himself vulnerable from surprise, I then press the elbow's pressure point of each of his arms, causing him to release the folders. As I grab the folders before they fall, Donovan shakes his arms up and down, telling me that I successfully gave Donovan a tingling sensation from his elbow to his pinkie on each hand.

Donovan looks at me with a doe-eyed expression. "How did you do that?" he asks, his mouth forming an "O" shape in awe. He then proceeds to shake his arms wildly, earning confused gazes from the others. He then points at me. "I stole his folders, and he paralyzed my arms and pinkies."

Sophie raises an eyebrow. "How did that happen?"

I point to the pressure point on my elbow. "I pressed this specific pressure point, but on Donovan's arms after I hit his arms up into the air," I explain, not missing how Mr. Wallace glanced up from his book to hear my explanation.

Audrey tilts her head in confusion. "But why didn't you just snatch it back from Pitts?" she asks, earning a glare from the male Sovereign. I glare at Donovan when he tries to walk over and hit Audrey with his flailing arms.

"Because," I begin, regaining the almost discreet attention of the middle aged man. "I already knew that Donovan wouldn't give my folders that easily. His eager posture signified that he was ready to make a run to the elevators when I lunge forward."

"He did seem on his toes in eager anticipation," Sophie admits in agreeance.

Donovan nods. "I was going to, but I decided to stop when Fitz was taking his sweet time. Never would I have guessed that he would press some pressure points to make me let go on my own." He then curls his pinkie, showing that the temporary tingling sensation ended.

I glance down at the folders again. Shaking my head, I say, "I should probably put this back in my room." I'm about to head towards the doors when I hear a pair of footsteps behind me. I stop walking and announce loudly, "I already pressed your elbow pressure points, Donovan Pitts. Don't make me press other pressure points so you'll stay where you are."

I hear a loud swallow, and the footsteps stop. I can't help but smirk victoriously as I begin to open the doors of the conference room.

But my smirk quickly dies as I realize that I'm being watched by Mr. Wallace.

I disappear from his view nonchalantly before running towards the elevators. I already know that Mr. Wallace would be a suspicious person because of his talk with Donovan and Audrey.

But his sudden interest in me makes the wariness even more abundant.