Author's point of view... Lily gave her friend a look, and her friend immediately understood. Serra made a gesture with her thumb, then took the bag off another girl and walked up to Thea. She didn't need anything, Thea is always easy to bully, anyway. "Hi, I'm Serra," Serra said forging a fake smile. Thea, who was walking in the lead, turned around and looked at her from top to bottom, scrutinizing. "What do you want? Do we know each other?" Thea asked nonchalantly. Serra's smile faltered momentarily, but she kept her act going. "Yes, of course. I know you. Don't you remember me? We're all classmates, after all. We played together a month ago." Serra's eyes flickered as she collected the memory; even a playful smile tugged on her lips. "We had quite the fun back then," she mused. Thea narrowed her eyes as the flashes of her past entered her brain. During one of the sports periods, these Class A girls had forced Thea to crouch before them and howl like a dog. Ever
Author's point of view... The sky gradually darkened, and the forest’s dim light became even fainter. Thea glanced at the sky and hoped that everyone would remain safe through the night. "This is the spot," Aaron announced as they reached a small platform, studying the map. "It’s a transfer point and the best place to set up camp. There’s a town nearby where we can resupply tomorrow. Everyone, find a good place to pitch your tents now before this area gets crowded." Soon the other hikers joined them to set up their camp. The teachers, however, had big tents whereas all the others brought small ones. Their tents occupied almost the entire platform. Mark and Kevin had already taken out their tents. Mark approached Aaron and Thea, saying, "Kevin and I will head to the town to buy supplies. You two stay here and set up your tents." Kevin hurried to them and asked, looking at Thea in particular. "Do you need anything? I will buy it for you" "No need. I have everything t
Author's point of view... "What reward?" Thea asked, curiously. She had been given many special abilities as her rewards so far. She could talk to animals, sense dangers and she was now so curious to know what next. But no matter how curious she was, Mike wouldn't give her any clear explanation as ever, would he? "You'll get to know when you complete the task," he said lazily. Thea rolled her eyes. She wanted to smack that annoying little dragon with her bare hands. "You became so lazy, Maria. Come on, go ahead and complete the task..." Mike urged. Heaving a sigh, Thea was about to stand up, but suddenly, a thought occurred to he,r, and she smiled. She then turned to Aaron and said, "Forget about the bet. As long as you promise me to go and find those troublemakers now, I promise to give you a good challenge in the coming exams." Aaron thought that he had misheard, "What?? Who are you talking about?" "Lily and her minions...." Thea said dismissively. She woul
Author's point of view... Thea was the first to stand up. Lily didn’t expect that it would be Thea out of all who would believe her, and neither did the rest of the group. Thea stood right beside her and said very seriously, "Let's go, show me the way..." Everyone was dumbfounded. "You really want to go back? Lily probably saw something and thought it was a leopard like last time. She was scared silly. When she yelled, we all got freaked out and ran, only to realize later that we were lost. If Aaron hadn't come looking for us, we’d probably still be stuck out there," Serra said. "So, there is no leopard?" Thea said, raising her eyebrows. Her words triggered Lily and she instantly smacked back. "There is a leopard in there!" Lily was getting frustrated and said to Thea, "If you don't believe me, let's go, I'll show you!" Thea replied calmly, "Okay." Lily was determined. She wasn't about to back down when it came to proving her point. Bravely, she led Thea toward the
Author's point of view... Thea tensed up. If that leopard were to attack Aaron instead of chasing after her, it would be a disaster. Aaron could be in dire danger. Just as the thought occurred to her, she instantly turned around to run back but spotted the beast ahead. Thea heaved a sigh of relief. At least, it wasn't after Aaron.But wait...! Was she faster than a leopard? How come she didn't notice that her running speed had increased so much?Thea then realised that this was her reward. Speed...!! "You are so concerned about that young boy...Hmm..." Mike sneered inside her mind and Thea gritted as she could sense disdain in his tone. "Of course, he is my friend after all. I do care about him. Now just shut up and let me deal with this one" Mike didn't talk after that. Thea climbed up and stood on a tree branch, gazing down at the black leopard prowling below, with a confident smirk. She could talk to it but that leopard was too furious to understand anything.
Author's point of view... Aaron pulled away and stood there flustered. His eyes, wide and a flicker of shyness in them. Thea looked at him and his flustered face. What's wrong with him? Wasn't that just a friendly hug? What's that big of a deal...! This boy is really weird. Thea thought to herself. As Maria, she often hugged those little elves who followed her everywhere. In fact she sleeps hugging them as her pillows. Wasn't it similar to that? Don't tell me, he never hugged a girl like that... Exhaling deep, she broke the awkwardness between them. "Why were you so worked up, I have some tricks up my sleeves. Many wild animals can’t climb trees like we humans can." Aaron narrowed his eyes, forgetting about the embarrassing moment just now. "Leopards *can* climb trees," Aaron replied coldly, still a bit flustered. Thea moved aside and added, "Actually, not that one, as it was injured" Thea said with a teasing smirk, making him frown but ultimately let it go. He took a d
Author's point of view... The teacher that was here with the other students was busy escorting the other kids as everyone was still in danger. He did see Kevin but was terrified as he had nothing to do with his situation. Before leaving Kevin there, he instructed Mark to take care of him until the help arrives. As the remaining surrounding them saw Thea poking her head, pretending as a doctor or something as if she knew some things or so, they couldn't help but scoffed. "What is she doing??" "What are you doing, fatty? Stop meddling around. You are killing him. The teacher had instructed us not to touch him until the help arrives" one of the students snarled, anxiously. Thea completely ignored them and looked around for somethings. She instantly grabbed a few straight sticks and collected them. Binding them all together like a shield, she tried to move Kevin, placing that beneath him. Everyone were puzzled. Some of them even laughed. "What the hell is she doing??" "Sh
Author's point of view... "Thea, what happened? Will he be okay?" Thea had nothing to say. She looked at Kevin on the ground. He turned pale. The bleeding inside his body had increased and it was surely not a good thing. Without answering Aaron, she screamed in her mind. "Fine...! I will bind that whatever you wanted...but just please let me use your dragon pearl to save that innocent boy" Thea cried out urgently. Mike smiled. "Oh...sure right away " "What's wrong, Thea?" Aaron's worried voice smacked Thea out of her mind, "What's going on? Why aren't you responding? Is there something wrong with Kevin?" "Thea...!" Aaron pulled her hand and poked her with his restless questions. Though she had somehow convinced Mike to give her a part of his dragon pearl, she can't possibly tell them about the magical cure. "Don't worry he will be fine" she replied after a brief pause, assuringly. "Just see that the help arrives early" she said hurriedly. Aaron nodded and was a
Author's point of view... Aaron and Mark searched the entire campus whereas Dave went straight to the CC TV room to check the footage. With his authority, no one stopped him from getting in. He checked all the footage available including the one from outside of the school yet there wasn't any sign of her. At last, the one in charge of the CCTV cameras opened the folder with the footage with the cameras near the restrooms. Dave's eyes lit up at the sight of Thea walking towards the restrooms in one of the footage. "So she indeed went to the restroom. That boy wasn't braging unnecessarily" He continued seeing the footage but even after a few more minutes, she didn't return. The position of the nearest camera was a few steps away from the bathroom as it was a rule to leave that space unsupervised because of the privacy of the students. Dave saw her walking in but she never walked out. "Is there any other way out of that place?" he asked the security personnel sittin
Author's point of view... "That's all rubbish...!" Mr. Lawrence yelled as they were sitting in his office. The officers were turning his entire office upside down just to find any evidence against him but unfortunately there was nothing. "You just got a fake call and rushed all the way here to humiliate me...Officer, you messed with the wrong person. I won't let it slide so easily..." Lawrence continued his ranting and the officer, ignoring him, continued his search. However, there wasn't the slightest shred of concern on Lawrence's face. He was sure these people won't get anything. After searching the entire office for more than half an hour, the officer finally gave up. "See, I told you that you are accusing the wrong person. But listen to me very carefully, officer, I am going to let you pay for this humiliation. Now just leave and wait for my lawyer's notification..." Lawrence sneered. The officers felt embarrassed. If it was someone else, they would have just ignore
Author's point of view... Ray allowed himself a small chuckle, looking down as if the question amused him. There was no way he would show his panic before anyone. Wouldn't that make him look vulnerable? How could a rich businessman like him be panicked by just a mere assistant! Ray narrowed his eyes before explaining, though that smirk still tugged on his face. “My sister is a student here,” he said, glancing back up with a steady gaze that betrayed no fear. “I stopped by to check on her. Is that a crime, officer?” The official hesitated, shifting uncomfortably under Ray’s piercing stare. He couldn’t risk offending someone as influential as Ray Charles, especially without solid evidence. As a mere assistant, he had to bow down before breaking. “No, sir,” the official replied, his voice losing a bit of its edge. “But we need to conduct our investigation. I request you to wait outside.” Ray inclined his head slightly in acknowledgment and rose from his seat with deliberate
Author's point of view... After eating the lunch with Dave, Aaron and Mark, Thea left to use the restroom while the others return to their classes. Dave, however received a call and went out to attend it. Thea pushed the restroom door open, she was entirely out of the place, her thoughts clouded with the events of the day. The results were about to be announced though she wasn't bothered about it. Just as she stepped out of the girls restroom, a sharp voice froze her in her tracks. “Well, look who’s here.” Lily strutted in, her entourage of ten girls filing behind her like soldiers awaiting orders. Thea’s sharp eyes flicked over the group, immediately sensing trouble. Lily’s smirk was venomous, her hands crossed over her chest in mock authority. She looked so confident as if she owned this entire campus. “You lost the bet, didn’t you? Shouldn’t you be running naked around the school now? Why are you even here?” Lily sneered, her voice dripping with malice. The minio
Author's point of view... Mr. Lawrence walked out of the grand hall, his confidence radiating as he joined Ray Charles at the VIP section set up for spectators near the monitoring room. This hall was often used for conducting indoor game competitions or other cultural activities including proms, or sometimes even seminars. And so it was built in the middle of the school building so that anybody could see what was happening inside it from their respective floors. It was huge with a lot of space inside, enough to accommodate the entire school but today, other than Thea, only five of the invigilators who were there to supervise her were present. A desk was arranged in the middle of the hall with four different seats in four different directions. Thea was asked to sit on the seat in the middle whereas four of the supervisors were sitting on the other seats. One of them had to move around to keep an eye on her every move. That doesn't look like an examination hall at all. Instead
Author's point of view... Mr. Laurence smirked confidently. "Evidence? Young lady, you have none. Stop this nonsense and accept your punishment." Thea crossed her arms, her chin tilted up defiantly. “How do you know I have none? Evidence, right?” she scoffed, her tone dripping with mockery. “I am the evidence.” The room fell silent. Mr. Laurence froze mid-smirk, his face contorting in confusion, while Ray Charles blinked in disbelief, the sneer momentarily wiped off his face. The audacity of this girl...! His patience thinning every second. “You’re delusional,” Ray spat, regaining his composure. He shot a look at Mr. Laurence and added sharply, “I don’t have time for these games. If you can’t resolve this matter immediately, Mr. Laurence, I’ll have to reconsider our company’s funding of this institution.” Mr. Laurence paled. “No, no, Mr. Charles, please! There’s no need for that. I assure you, this will be handled promptly.” He turned to Thea with a scowl, his
Author's point of view... "Mr. Laurence, did you get that girl?" Thea was surprised to hear that familiar voice coming out of the principal's office. "Ray...!!" she muttered to herself. "Ray Charles?" He was sitting on the chair, leaning back so arrogantly with one of his legs crossed on the other. Mr. Laurence was a ln elderly middle aged man. Though he wasn't one of those prominent families in the city, he was respectable. "I thought this was a reputable School but it seems like you don't care about your reputation anymore" Ray continued and Mr. Laurence flinched uncomfortably. "Mr. Charles...that's...not the case..." he tried to explain but Ray cut him off, "You actually admit such outlaw students into your school and you are trying to explain it to me? You let me down, Mr. Laurence" Thea raised her eyebrows. Outlaw...! What are they trying to do? And what the hell is this all about? Mr. Laurence wiped the sweat on his forehead. Thea was trying to unders
Author's point of view... “When you were sent here for your quest, I was sent for one too and mine was a little bit different from you. As the dragon breed, my soul was split into two halves. One of the two parts was the little dragon you met and the other...” He paused and stared at her as if trying to figure out if he could say it or not. Thea frowned, curiosity overriding her shock. “What?? Split into two? What does that even mean? Where’s the other half?” Mike enjoyed her curiosity and a grin spread on his face. “It’s also on Earth,” Mike replied cryptically. “You’ll find out soon enough.” Thea’s frustration boiled over. Now she wasn't doubtful at all. No matter how he looked, his words remain the same, useless as ever. “Why are you being so cryptic?" she smacked back frustratingly, "And what’s with the mask? Are you hiding an ugly face under there?” Mike chuckled, his laughter low and deep. “Perhaps. Or maybe I’m protecting you from a sight you’re not ready for.”
Author's point of view... Aaron and Mark reached the hospital and when they entered Kevin's room, they heard a blasting sound and almost jolted back. "Surprise...!" Kevin and his mother shouted joyfully. But soon as they saw it was just Aaron and Mark, their faces faltered momentarily. "Where is Thea?" Kevin asked disappointedly and walked over to check outside the door. His Mom was equally curious. "Did she not come today?" Nancy asked a bit disheartened. Aaron and Mark shared surprised glances before shrugging their shoulders and replied, still a bit confused. "She said she had something else to do and so she will visit him next time" All the excitement on Kevin's face fell. He slumped his shoulders as he walked back to his bed. "Why didn't she come?" he poured like a small disappointed kid, his Mom patted his back and tried to comfort him. Both Aaron and Mark stood there watching the drama. "What is going on?" Mark asked and slowly reached Kevin as both he an