Chapter 43 The Master's Subtle Reveal
The resounding action came as a shock to Nix, his face to the side momentarily.
'I was actually slapped.' He searched his thoughts for a possible reason she would have done such a thing.
What felt strangely odd was that he felt no anger whatsoever to what she had done. All he felt was guilt and a tingling pain on his right cheek.
"You've got some nerve slapping me, pretty face." He chuckled like as if nothing had happened.
"Lumina! You need to apologize, right now." Fae panicked.
Her eyes darted from her then over to Nix.
"Why would I want to do that?!" Lumina retorted.
"He's a fire–" She gulped, expecting the worst to happen soon.
Lumina turned her attention back at him, grabbing him by the collar of his opened shirt. "It is not acceptable to talk like that to your friends! You are lucky you still have a face to talk to. You are lucky you're talking to me right now!" She yelled at him.
Nix blinked a few times, there he had it; the answer he was looking for.
'She didn't just do that merely out of anger, but because of the overwhelming care for me!' A smile made its way to his lips.
'He really is smiling!' Lumina frowned at his reaction to her words. Her grip only tightened on his collar.
No matter what she did, he only found amusement, chuckling at her feeble attempt to keep him in line.
"And don't act so self-righteous because you did nothing to help us." She said.
"You could have been killed today, you were the one in the most danger!"
"Yet I didn't, pretty face." A smile appeared on his face as he looked at her. "You are a very capable lady." Nix said with a chuckle.
"It is obvious you have more in you than just your beauty." He commended with a grin. "I will have to remember that." He said with a wink.
"Do you honestly think we're going to go back to our boring life after this?" She finished.
"We had a life together?" Nix asked in a mocking voice.
"Ugh!" She scowled, letting go of his collar in disgust, there was no use speaking with him.
"At least I get to sleep peacefully tonight." She sneered.
Then she turned and left the room. Slamming the door hard.
Bam!
Nix watched her leave the room and sighed and then put his arms back over his chest.
'What a day.' He said to himself.
"Is she always like this?" He turned his attention to Fae and asked.
Fae froze, she had wondered why she didn't follow her friend when she did. 'Act cool, Fae. He just asked you a question.'
"No. She's usually more reserved." Fae responded. "But when she's angry, she does tend to act more aggressive." Fae answered.
"I see. Feisty yet gentle." Nix concluded.
"It's not because she wants to be aggressive, it's because she wants to make sure that you understand how angry she is. It is best if you do not argue back. She will get even angrier by your response." Fae stated.
–––––––––––
"Master, our means of keeping an eye on the students has been destroyed." A male crouched down on the destroyed statue, that once held the information they needed in the broken medal. His hand traced the cracks and pits with his finger as he spoke.
"It's not just a scratch or a small dent. The majority of it is destroyed." He adjusted his glasses and peered at the ground.
"Such brute strength!" Another male marveled in awe, covering his mouth the moment he caught sight of their master's cold glowing blue eyes in the shadows.
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about it now. I could repair it," the first quickly cut in. "But I would have to remove what's left of the head to do so, and that would only raise suspicion since it's been seen in action by all the students."
"It's of no use if the medal was destroyed." The master replied in a deep voice.
"I'm sorry master, I will find another solution." The male bowed his head.
"And the gifts acquired?" He asked. He stood in the shadows, looking at the broken statue. He seemed to be taking in the damage to the statue and the surrounding area.
"The gifts are gone." They both replied.
"They are gone." He sighed, as he remembered there was no symbol in sight on its legs.
"It's said to be one of the new recruits that caused this right?" The master in the shadow questioned. He had his hand in his pocket, his fingers touching the edges of a small device he held.
The two males nodded their heads then gulped at what that could mean for their whole operation.
"I was told this new recruit was an orphan, can you believe that?" He questioned with a laugh. "Survived Zoar also without using his fire gift, isn't that just interesting to note?" He said sarcastically.
An awkward silence filled the air. "This is the second time this has happened." He added. "but I've never seen this happen before. This is bad." He stated.
He stared at the statue again and then he slowly moved out of the shadow, taking long strides.
"Master, you can't expose yourself out in the open." The second male said. He was still crouched over the damaged statue next to the first male.
"Is it a master's thing to not be seen by his students?" He said. His blue eyes are cold and hard.
"No, but there was no reason for you to see this yourself." The first male states in worry.
"Your gift is in progress as we speak," the master said, ignoring the comment.
He got a nod in response.
"As long as your gift is in place, all who might look out the window would see nothing other than the illusion you placed on how the statue was, am I not correct?" The master asked, as if he knew what was happening.
"That is correct, master." The first male responded, readjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
"But, you two will do your best to not let anyone else know what really happened." He stated.
"It has to be fixed. Something is going to happen soon. I can feel it in my bones. I can feel it in my blood." His voice was chilly and wary as he looked up at the sunset.
"Do contact Zhao. He'd know what to do about this little problem." He commanded.
"As you wish, master!" They both bowed.
The master said creating a portal, stepping in partially with one foot in and the other out, he looked over his shoulder and said. "You two are dismissed."
Both the males bowed their heads in response.