Crystalline Cavern: The Brigaders

Chapter 19

Eliza

       I continue to walk to my dorm room still steaming about what had happened at HQ. It was wrong to call that meeting. I decided to go and visit Nicole later to see how she was doing, and I wanted to clear up a few things concerning the threat as well as what happened between her and Andy. I chose not to look Kai in the eye for obvious reasons, but I'm determined to show him up in this month's Rank Rage. Knowing that he knows about how I feel just makes things slightly more nerve-wracking. I'm just afraid of losing him as a friend if something serious were to happen between us. I made it to the female dorm building and head towards my room. I really hope Ruby is already there because I could really use a friend right now. I turned the handle on my door and rushed inside to find that Rubes wasn't here. She must be in the Training Facility then. I really just wanted to talk to someone right now...maybe Anthony has some time to talk.

       I dialed his number and waited. On the final ring, I thought he was maybe too busy to talk until I heard his voice come through. "Hey, sis."

       "Anthony, hey! How are things on the surface?" I heard him chuckle and take a breath. "It's been decent so far. Pretty lonely around here without you though, miss having my annoying little sister around." I rolled my eyes at his comment. "So, what's wrong?" I froze for a second and spoke, "Nothing's wrong. Just wanted to say hi."

       "Come on, I'm your brother. I can tell something's wrong."

       "I mean, nothing's wrong exactly, just wanted to talk to someone."

       "You said you had a meeting today at HQ, did something happen during the meeting?" What is he, psychic? Well, almost. His Túresse is something that can't even be put into words. When he was still a student here, Anthony would just have this way of knowing what would happen next. He called it his Intuition Complex. No one could understand it. I've always looked up to him and aspired to be just as strong as him. After our parents were sent off to another sector by the government, he raised and trained me with no hesitation, so it's only fair that I live up to his name. Anthony was the leader of his team, the Battalion Raiders. Even now, he still echoes in these hallways, as if he never left. It didn't surprise anyone that he ended up being a Level 10 and sent to the surface. However, only half of his team achieved that level despite being one of the strongest teams to ever walk out of this academy. It worries me on how that'll affect the Brigaders. "So are you gonna tell me what happened? I'm sort of in the middle of a mission right now."

       "Oh Hur Tur, you are?! Why did you answer the phone then?"

       "Because I knew that something was wrong the second I got your call. You mainly call me when you're distressed." I sighed, I should really call him more often just for the hell of it. "I'm sorry Mauve..." Mauve is his shade. Unique just like him. His color has more of a gray tint, but nonetheless, purple. I just came out a bit more vibrant. "It's alright. Now, what went down in that meeting?"

       After about half an hour of explaining and filling in the gaps, I managed to explain everything, from what happened with the NightWalkers and their threat to TNT being postponed, to even what happened between me and Kai. "And all of this happened in just two weeks? Damn. Look, Vi, all I can say is to just be prepared. I've had my fair share with rivalries in the past and they usually ended badly whenever my guard wasn't up. As for TNT, kind of upset that I won't get to see you compete and see how much you've grown as a warrior for a while. Don't worry about any of what happened earlier, worry about what could happen later, because, in the end, it'll strengthen the bond you have with your team."

       "What do you mean?"

       "What you and your friends are going through is what I call, the Ulcer."