Centum Malediction

Chapter 7-4

Tuesday, October 5th, 2010

"Alexander wake up wake up!" Alexander felt a large force slam into him as Heather pounced on top of him. It was not the most pleasant way to wake up. "Come on, let's go!"

"Go where?" Alexander scowled belligerently still waking up. He pushed Heather off of him and slowly sat up in his bed. "You need to stop barging in here like this."

"You didn't mind the first night I was here." Heather muttered under her breath. The night she was referring to was the night of Brianna's death. They were both feeling vulnerable so Alexander allowed her to sleep in the same bed with him. Alexander wanted nothing more than to stay hidden with Satori that night, but felt it was his duty to take care of Heather as it was his fault that Brianna, her best friend, died in the first place.

Of course, such a duty was proving to be tedious. Heather was Alexander's shadow for the entire weekend. She kept asking him what would happen next as if he was supposed to know. Alexander did his best to keep her occupied through the dull weekend. Whenever things became silent the tears would come. Even though Heather was annoying most of the time, Alexander couldn't bear to see her cry.

"What are the plans for today?" Heather inquired, sitting calmly on the bed next to Alexander.

"I have class." Alexander replied. Going back to college would be a relief and Mr. Reynolds encouraged it despite all that happened. Fiona was doing her best to track down Matt and the seal, but he never stayed in one place too long. Fiona's ability was still unreliable as it was being clouded by whatever mysterious force shrouded the city.

"Oh." Heather's mood immediately dropped. "I see."

"Don't worry, Fiona is visiting after school today. She's serious about setting up a training regimen for us all and wants to work with Mr. Reynolds and Ms. Aoki to accomplish that. You told me that you want her to teach you how to fight? Now's your chance." Alexander leapt from his bed. He was eager to check on Satori, as he hadn't seen her since the night Brianna died save a few glances her and there.

She spent most of her time in her room on the computer, studying Hyakume industries' system for clues about the spells and other oddities. It took her awhile to get the hang of it, but since then she has been able to access all but the most classified of files including data on the aptly named book of one hundred.

Satori took her job seriously. Alexander had never seen her so motivated. Most of her time was spent away from the Hyakume databases on shady websites learning how to get into places she shouldn't. Despite previously having barely any experience with computers she had accomplished so much in a few short days. As with everything she did, Satori was a prodigy.

Alexander and Heather made their way to the kitchen for breakfast. Alexander was hoping he'd run into Satori, but she had already finished eating.

"I still can't get used to this. Food whenever I want. I'm gonna get so fat!" Heather laughed over a bowl of cereal as her and Alexander sat at the table. Alexander simply nodded his mind elsewhere. It was quiet, quieter than it had ever been since he first met Faerina. A part of Alexander felt empty as there were no spells to pursue. Of course, this was just the quiet before the storm. Matt was out there with the seal and was up to something.

Alexander remembered his words well. He wanted to become a god and remake the world as he saw fit. He could empathize partly with Matt's ideals, as they were partially inspired by Brianna being treated poorly, but to destroy the entire world because of it? There was no doubt about it, Matt was a mad man.