A World Unknown
Chapter Eleven
Grown Up Meetings

After lunch, Lukas led us to the school library where all the Protectors seemed to be. While they all seemed to be busy discussing something, Hayden looked over and smiled as he came up to welcome us, "I'm very glad you could all make it here, thank you Lukas."

Lukas smiled towards him and he continued, "We're currently discussing another threatening letter from Noir, so we will get to you all and what happened the other night in just a moment. Why not take a seat over here, though?" He motioned towards a table beside the table they were all at.

"Another letter?" Lukas whispered to Bliss as he sat in the seat closest to her.

She leaned back slightly, "We just received it, have yourself a read." She rose her wand and without saying another word, she rose the letter from the middle of the table and flew it towards us.

Lukas had his wand in hand and cast a spell once it was closer to us, "Vuello." He said, keeping the letter in the air.

Vlad leaned closer to be able to read the small font, as he leaned in, I could feel his warm breath on my neck. He, however either didn't seem to notice, or mind, so I tried my best to act like I didn't notice as I began to read the letter:

Thus far, my demands have yet to be reached. In case your lot is too dense to recall, I want those shields down. However, as proof of my generosity, I am willing to hold on my next attack IF you can leave me a kind donation of three snakeheads and a dragon scale. Need you accept, I will know, and I will contact you first.

Sincerely, Noir."

I glanced back towards Vlad who looked to be rereading it again, searching for clues or hidden meanings.

"Could it be a potion of sorts? The three snakeheads and dragon scale, that's awfully specific." Lukas spoke up.

"We've thought o that already. Workin on it." Allistor mumbled from across the table as he flipped through some book pages with Elizabeta.

"He responded really quickly." Vlad spoke, gaining the attention from Gage who rolled his blue eyes, "Great observation. I'm so honoured you joined us here today." He was obviously being sarcastic, but it still sounded exceptionally rude.

Vlad huffed out as he glanced over at the others then continued, "No, I mean he just sent out a letter requesting you to bring down the school's defenses yesterday, didn't he? Isn't it strange that today, after waiting no more than a night, he's already delivered another letter?"

Everyone seemed to be considering this when Bliss pressed her lips together, "Allistor, isn't it true that only Protectors know about the protection shield on the school?"

"What do you mean?" Allistor replied, still flipping through his book.

"Regular students aren't told about it because it isn't necessary for them to know about it, so if this Noir person knows about the protection spell we cast on the school, doesn't it mean that Noir is one of us?"

Allistor put down his book as he looked up to meet her gaze, as menacing as he looked, she didn't back down. Gage shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Allistor spoke, "Are you implying Noir is one of us?"

Bliss kept her eyes on his, "Of course not. Simply implying, it could be a past Protector or if not, perhaps one of us accidently let slip the information to whoever this Noir is."

The room was quiet again until Elizabeta spoke up, "That does," she paused, "sound possible."

"Possible?" Hayden asked, frowning a bit, "Bliss, I understand where you're coming from and you know I'd back you up for anything, but this is... this is ridiculous. The headmaster himself handpicked us!"

"We're Prefects, it was either us or students who were willing to spend the summer here but who are unqualified." She argued.

Hayden looked around before turning back to her, "Bliss, to allow this Noir character to get to us so much so that we start to turn against each other, that's not right. We need to be able to trust each other here."

Bliss furrowed her brows as she glanced back, "It's just something I've been thinking about. After all, it is particularly strange that Noir knows that we're involved in casting and bringing down part of the school's defenses, isn't it?"

Allistor leaned back in his seat as he shifted his gaze around at everyone, he was about to speak when the library doors creaked open and in walked Antonio and Lovino, led by a boy a little shorter than Antonio, but he looked built like a fucking tank.

"Sorry I'm late." The blonde boy said as he entered and took a seat next to Elizabeta. Lovino and Antonio, meanwhile sat beside Vlad who was paying close attention to everything.

"Regarding the ingredients, what could Noir be planning?" Hayden wondered, "Snakeheads are common in so many potions."

"But dragon scales aren't." Gage responded.

As they thought about it, I could see Amber in the corner of my eyes, she was mumbling something under her breath. As much as I wanted to ask what she was up to, I also didn't want to bring any attention to myself right now.

"I'm personally interested in how Miss ______ fits into all of this." Elizabeta spoke up as she eyed me from across the table, "It's so peculiar this nongifted be here while Noir is. I can't be the only one who's drawn suspicions about this, can I?"

"Explain further." Hayden said, crossing his arms in his seat as he leaned back, "Silencio." Elizabeth whispered, waving her wand in my direction.

I looked at everyone whose eyes were on me for just a second, but as they turned back towards each other, I realized what had happened. I could no longer hear a thing.

Feeling tense, I sat up in my seat as I glanced back at Vlad who would have to serve as my ears for this part of their conversation since I was unable to understand anything. However, Vlad had a different idea as he leaned back and whispered something to Lovino.

Lovino shook his head and frowned, but Amber raised her eyebrows as she moved closer to me and pushed me to the side so that I was no longer right across from Elizabeta who was talking about something. Hayden looked to be arguing against her though.

I turned back to look at whoever she was looking at, and by the looks of it, it looked as if Amber was arguing with Lovino, and winning. Shockingly enough, it wasn't until Antonio joined in that Lovino finally rolled his eyes and whispered something as he pointed his wand at me.

Upon finishing, I felt my ears pop and I could once again hear everything.

"She is not associated with Noir." Vlad stated sternly towards the Protector's table.

"If you really think so, then consider this, how did she manage to get into the Talian dormitory?" Elizabeta asked.

"What?" Vlad asked as he thought for a second. His eyes darted towards Hayden who was watching intently, "I told you that Amber told us how to get in, Hayden, didn't I?"

"You did, but I know a liar when I see one." Hayden replied harshly, he must've realized it sounded rude as he quickly covered his mouth, "Sorry, but with all that's going on, I can't understand why you kids keep hiding things from us when it can prove vital to stopping Noir." He smiled as if it would invite us to open up about what we know.

Normally I'd imagine Bliss would be diligently reading our minds to search for answers, but right now she looked both distracted and annoyed.

"Allistor, is Alfred still in the hospital wing?" Gage asked as he turned to look at him.

"Yes, he is." Hayden answered.

Gage nonchalantly rolled his eyes as he repeated, "Allistor?"

"Yes, Gage, he is." Allistor responded.

Hayden went red in the face.

"I did think it strange that the nogift was able to heal as fast as she did when compared to Alfred." Gage spoke, "I thought nogifts took longer to heal, but either we were all taught wrong, or there is something else we're missing."

"Fast healing, knowing the exact ingredients required to enter the Talian dormitory, a mysterious yet fabricated past... Sounds like a strange story. One which I would probably read." Hayden joked.

"Yes, but how did she manage to get in? Vladimir and Arthur obviously didn't even know if they required her to create the growing potion." Elizabeta spoke, studying me.

Gage remained quiet as he listened to everything earnestly. Meanwhile, Bliss laid her head down on the table as she closed her eyes. She didn't appear to care about anything being said in the slightest.

The conversation continued until finally Gage brought up the fact that Alfred had to know the explosion jinx. Allistor however kept denying it since he's close to Alfred and knows him better. Hayden seemed to see through his lies however as he squinted at him.

"Even if the kid did know the jinx, which I'm not saying he does, but if he did, why do you lot obsess so much?" Allistor hissed as he tossed the book he was previously skimming through onto the table.

"For starters, it's illegal." Elizabeta interjected.

"Not unless you have a Prefect's permission." Gage replied, glaring suspiciously at Allistor who leaned back in his seat.

"It can also be controlled by Noir," Gage added, "If Alfred did use the explosion jinx to wipe out four grown bloodlavers, we can infer that he's capable and very strong. So, if Noir got his hands on this information, can you even imagine what he'd do? What he's capable of?"

Allistor's eyes wandered around the room but he still looked unwilling to rat himself out even though at this point, we all knew he was guilty of something. I assumed he was guilty of not only giving Alfred permission to use the jinx, but also guilty of teaching him how to cast it.

"But now, how do we even know if this guy's a real threat. So far all he's done is send letters—"

"And cause an earthquake around the school." Gage interrupted.

"It was a short one, didn't even pass a whole minute. Whoever this guy is, he's obviously not that powerful if he's not shown himself to us." Allistor continued.

Gage shifted uncomfortably in his seat as he let a coy smile slip, "Are you wanting him to show himself?"

"It'd be easier than having him toy with us and—"

"And if he is sly enough to toy with us for weeks while going unnoticed, he's sly enough to get through us. That's why we have to figure out who he is before we face him in person." Gage explained.

Hayden rose a brow as he glanced over at Gage, "Are you afraid of facing Noir?"

"Of course not." Gage hissed back, but for someone who just said he wasn't afraid of him, he sounded awfully defensive about it.

Hayden sighed, this whole time he had seemed much more concerned with the ingredients, he spoke up, "Allistor and Elizabeta, why don't you two continue searching for whatever potion it is Noir is looking to create, Gage, you make another attempt to contact the Headmaster, and Bliss, can you help me interview the kids again?"

Bliss rubbed her head as she sat up, "I don't think I'm feeling up for reading right now. Allistor can fill in for me, I'll go help Elizabeta."

Hayden's eyes widened as a look of disappointment filled his face, "Well, if you must."

Hayden's eyes darted towards Allistor who looked like he didn't really like this change of plans. Gage rose a brow as he turned towards Hayden though, "Is now really the time to end this meeting? We haven't discussed much."

"What else do we have to go on right now?" Hayden asked eagerly.

"I have one idea." He replied sternly.

Gage's blue eyes met mine as he rose his wand, he didn't say a word, but I could tell he must've cast the hearing spell that was opposite of whatever Elizabeta had cast on me.

Seeing as Lovino had cast it on me before however, it had no effect.

"Ludwig, can you and Allistor see if you can find any potions including the ingredients Noir is asking for? You have the entire library to search through. Elizabeta, can you see if you can help Bliss get rid of her headache? Hayden, see if you can have any luck in contacting the Headmaster since I was unable to last time. I'm hoping someone with your skill is more capable than I." Gage began to order.

Hayden seemed taken aback since Gage had completely disregarded the fact that he had already split the tasks around, however he didn't say a word besides, "Fine."

"I'm going to question everyone else down in Professor Welix's classroom. Lukas is with me." Gage said, already leading the way out of the room.

I exchanged looks with Vlad and we could tell something felt off, but we also knew that once Gage was finished interrogating us, we would have much to discuss.

---------------------------------------------------

So,,, who do you think is Noir? And why do you think that ?