Darksteel

Chapter 26; The Masked Ball, otherwise known as forced participation in dancing.

When they returned to Adalain Academy, bloody, bruised and in bad spirits, they were met by a smoldering Headmaster, which all together made their bad night even worse.

To say that she was furious was an understatement, and her mood certainly did NOT improve when Adar told her about Kyrin.

"You say that they were just laying there?" she snapped.

Adar nodded, unpreturbed by the woman's mood. "Yes. It was a gruesome sight, really. I doubt I shall be able to sleep tonight."

But the Headmaster didn't seem to care about him, rather Adar noticed that she kept glaring at Asta, as if him being there was a great inconvenience.

Finally however, she snarled viciously at them to go back to their rooms and speak no more of this— to which Adar replied "Touchy tonight, are we?" and managed to run away just before she would have smacked him.

 Oh, the simple pleasures in life!

Still, as they made their way back into the mansion, the boys did not speak to one another as they separated into their dorm rooms. And it was only when the door was firmly shut behind Nico, Asta, and Adar did they begin to talk.

 "I can't believe Kyrin is dead." Asta burst out. "And killed by a Monster, no less."

 Adar studied his nails, not replying. In truth, he wasn't sure WHAT to feel; his time of torment by the hands of that boy was finally over... but he hadn't wanted it to end like this. He wouldn't have wished that sort of painful end on Kyrin. Or anyone else, for that matter.

 "Do you think there will be a Final ceremony?" Nico asked suddenly, her eyes wide.

 "Most likely not." Adar replied, "Adalain wouldn't want this sort of thing tarnishing their reputation. They probably will just send Kyrin and his friends back to their families with a note saying 'We're regret to inform you that your son is now Monster food. Our bad.'"

 They all feel silence then and no one spoke for the rest of the night. 

Unfortunately, no one slept either, too haunted by the memory of the night, of the bodies in the forest.

And yet, when the morning dawned, there was no mention of the three boys who had been slaughtered in the forest. In fact, it was just as Adar had expected it would be; nothing was mentioned of Kyrin— almost as if his memory had been wiped from existence.

And in the school's case, that might not be entirely out of the question.

                                 .............................

Naturally, the boys did NOT win the scavenger hunt. Still, Asta could have cared less since he had nearly died twice that night.

Sometimes, one needs to focus on the important things in life.

His face, for example. And while his healing blood did a jolly good job at, well, HEALING, he would most likey have a scar raking over one cheek-- present for the rest of his life as a reminder of what a Monster could do.

But even THAT was the least of his worries.

Needless to say, the Headmaster had not been pleased with them— most likely because they had made it out of the forest alive— yet she did not punish them, to which Asta was grateful. But only slightly grateful, as all this was mostly her fault in the first place and she would no doubt make another attempt on his life sometime in the near future.

He was sure of that.

To add to this, he was still angry with Jin and Blue, and both refused to make eye contact whenever they saw him, avoiding the boy whenever they could.