(Old Version) The Blood of the Covenant

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Matthew

 "Stay calm!"

It sounded like Platinum was trying to reassure himself more than anything. That was worrying. Platinum was the professional hero here, after all.

The flames were completely blocking their only exits down from the third story, and jumping from the window would surely lead to imminent death or injury. They were trapped, with nothing to do but pray that someone would be smart enough to look for them, and fast.

But, strange enough, Matthew wasn't panicking. If anything, he was paralyzed. It was almost like a veil had dropped over his mind, separating emotions from thoughts. He felt like he was living in a bad dream. A dream where he wanted to desperately wake up from and be reassured that none of this was real.

TAFAH couldn't go up in flames. This was his only home, his only refuge. If this went down, so did Matthew's future. He would have nowhere else to go, nothing else to do.

"Matthew?" Platinum coughed.

Then, there was a hand on his shoulder.

"Matthew?"

Matthew's eyes snapped over in the direction of Platinum's voice. "Huh?"

"We might have to jump from the window."

"What—? No! That will kill us!"

"If we don't jump, both of us will die. If we do, I'll suffer the consequences. I'd rather save you and let one of us walk away unscathed. Besides, it's my duty to protect my students, my children."

The last part of what Platinum had said made Matthew's heart hurt. He knew that idiotic selflessness was written in heroes' DNA. Cecilia, and even Jason, were equally as selfless. And as much as Matthew hated it, in this moment he was beginning to understand.

Platinum smiled sadly and squeezed his shoulder. The smoke was becoming so thick that it began to burn Matthew's eyes and lungs. But just as Platinum opened his mouth to speak, they heard something, or rather, someone.

Two voices.

Platinum turned and looked down the hallway. Matthew's attention joined his.

Coming from the stairwell were two figures, which trailed behind a plume of smoke. They were putting out the fires with streams of water, both unique in their own shape and size, which came out of their hands. One was a woman with dark skin and hair, another was a boy no older than Matthew. In fact, he recognized him as being the boy named Damian, who went by his alias, Jet.

"Platinum!" The woman exclaimed, her eyes wide with worry as they put out the last of the flames and joined them on the third story.

"Aqua!"

"Hah! That was awesome!" Damian cheered.

Matthew frowned at him, peeved by his nonchalant behavior. It seemed the heroine named Aqua was, too. She cast her companion an irritated look and strode over to Platinum.

"Sir, there's an attack on the school!"

"I know, I know! We have to get outside. Are the other teachers okay? What about the students? Are they secured in their dorms?"

Aqua grabbed his arm. "I will tell you once we are outside. We're handling what we can at the moment."

Matthew looked up and could visibly see the worry dance behind his teacher's eyes. He followed Platinum, Aqua, and Damian as they took them down the stairwell and through the doors.

Nothing could've prepared Matthew for what he was about to see.

Thick, grey smoke hung over the night sky, blocking out the stars. There was screaming, sirens blaring from all edges of campus, and there were shadows dancing among the tree line. It looked like a scene taken fresh from the apocalypse.