Stonebrook High School

Chapter 47

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"What are we doing here?"

The Architect shook his head and stretched his arms out, gesturing to the small group with open hands. "Do I need to repeat myself? What are you, people who don't reside or work in the immediate area, doing in my domicile, my private mountain?"

Gabriel coughed, struggling to think of an excuse that wouldn't set his friend off, jerking wildly as each cough shook his body. His strength suddenly dissipated and the muscles in the back of his hand contracted, causing him to drop the spear with a loud clanging. Lukas ran over and caught him as the Warrior's legs buckled from underneath, propping the older man up on his shoulder. "Gabriel, are you okay?"

"Yes," weakly nodded the man. "Just tired from fighting... him. I tensed up much more than I needed to." The Warrior tried to stand up by himself, albeit not without difficulty. "I'm fine, Lukas." With that said, the ocelot leader let go.

"Gabriel, you look... tired." Soren crossed his arms, obviously worried for his friend, but hesitated to reach out.

Olivia and Axel started to scrutinize the fighter, looking for any signs of fatigue. They were surprised to find it all over - his face, his arms, his neck... It was similar to wilted, skeletal flowers spreading anywhere skin was exposed. His arms were obviously where the 'weakness' stemmed, the plague that shriveled up his previously healthy appearance.

In astonishment and dumbfoundedness, Olivia's eyes swept over Gabriel's forearm and she clutched a section of her shirt. "How long... have you been like that?"

The Warrior held his head, almost ashamed of having to explain anything connected to his current state. "Since you all left Stonebrook to search for the Temple."

"That long?!" she exclaimed. "And you were hiding it all this time?"

His head bowed even lower, unwilling to make eye contact with anyone. "Yes."

"Gabriel, no, we should have gotten help for you! You couldn't keep that from us for so long! What would we have done if, suddenly, something happened to you?" Olivia let go of her shirt and paced around nervously, unable to stop. "You are the only one here that has more than just a sliver of knowledge, an actual idea of what we're doing! Why didn't you tell us?"

"To keep this from happening!"

His sudden outburst stopped Olivia where she was, freezing her in place. With a rigid neck, she turned to him, seeing him breathe heavily from his now-limited energy.

"I couldn't have you all worried. Worried about anything else other than the Witherstorm. I could have held us back for days or caused more people to leave the team and we don't need that right now. We need as many people focused on the main task as possible. We're not the only ones suffering." He was sent into a coughing fit and Soren covered his face.

"But look at you," Axel said, nodding his head towards the Warrior. "I mean, you can still walk, but barely. You don't need to be worried about us, Gabriel. We'll be fine."

"I can't put all my hope into one scenario, friend," the man wheezed. "I have to think of every different possibility and trusting this group to keep calm when I say something was not one of them. Trust can only go so far."

Lukas stepped to Olivia's side so he faced Gabriel directly. "Wait, so you're saying you don't trust us?"

"No, that's not what I meant. I do trust you with destroying the Witherstorm, but I cannot trust you all with not being sidetracked, such as now."

"That's because we need to work everything out first beforehand," Olivia meekly squeaked. "We can't just have some sudden predicament pop up like now."

"Okay, I understand you all are trying to work out your tangled web of friendship and lies, but can someone please explain to me what is going on here?"

Everyone looked at Soren and then back at each other. They, admittedly, had forgotten he was there in the heat of the moment, and the three teenagers apologized as Gabriel watched from the side.

"We need your help, Soren." The blonde teen glanced for a moment at Axel and Olivia and silently asked for their assistance in convincing the Architect to come. "There's a monster outside, I assume you already know what it is. The Withers?"

The ginger-haired man gasped and then quickly changed his face, rubbing his eyebrows together with anger. "How are those... devils..." – he spat – "back? Why are they back?"

With careful selection of his words, Lukas explained clearly and precisely, wary of wasting too much time. Soren, now caught up to date, crossed his arms and looked apathetic to their cause. "I see," the hummed the light-skinned male. "You don't need my help. You need my stuff."

"What? No! That's not it at all!"

"Oh, really? Then prove it."

Lukas, now slightly frantic, pleaded for the other two's help with his eyes and Olivia slid in front of him. "Well, we need the intellect only you have! You're very smart and we all admire your leadership!"

During this time, Lukas took a minute to examine the Architect, the man he had looked up to for so long. Soren stood at the same height as Gabriel, who was hunched over, and was very European with the way he stood and walked, all straight and never slack or leaning on one leg. His chest was currently puffed out, but it seemed to be a natural characteristic of his rather than an inflation of the ego. His bright red-orange hair wrapped around the sides and back of the head, complementing his interesting choice of steampunk-inspired clothing, which somehow fit the man. Yet even with the bold apparel, Lukas could sense the loneliness in Soren's eyes, hinted by the dark, empty color and the lines between his eyebrows. The blonde then realized that persuading him or buttering him up wasn't important. It was making him feel less isolated.

"Mhm, and your company would be the best! You would be the real starting point to this plan, too." Lukas slightly nudged Olivia away, trying to convey to her that, yes, he knew what he was doing.

"I would?" Soren asked, putting his arms down.

"Of course. My friends think the same, too."

The Architect stroked his beard thoughtfully for a few seconds and then stared at Lukas with child-like curiosity, although depressingly adult and sad. "Friends. Are we friends?"

"M-me?" Lukas pointed at himself and then nodded vigorously. "Yeah! Yeah, we're friends."

Axel and Olivia were staring at Soren as if he were a nutcase and Lukas as if he were an unconstrained five-year-old. Gabriel was too tired to deal with whatever situation was unfolding and took a seat in front of the counter.

"Brilliant!" Soren's face seemed to light up and he, very enthusiastically, hugged Lukas tightly. The junior, confused as to how that worked so quickly, hugged him back anyway. When the older male let go, he stood up straight and planted his fists on his hips. "Alright, what do we need to destroy the Withers?"

The eagerness and excitement of the previous Order leader forced the three to step back. Did he know what he was going to get himself into?

"Uh, the Super TNT." Lukas coughed briefly.

"The Super... Just how big is this Wither?"

Had they just made a mistake?