INSIGNIAS: THE LUX SIGNIFER ACADEMY

The ground continued shaking. The movement became faster. Storm, Clyne, Lei, and Aria were running toward the largest barn in the town when they noticed shadows. They looked up and saw hideous monsters the size of a house and several witches flying with their broomsticks. But the four didn’t stop running even though it was hard without tripping. They had to stop the person controlling the earthquake to stop the town from being destroyed and help the others fight the enemies. If it continues, the ground might engulf the whole town. But Storm figured that the person isn’t as strong as the others think. Whatever the enemies were looking, the person behind the movement of the earthquake was getting impatient. It might be because they were given a time limit or his power won’t last.

“Here!” Clyne exclaimed. Storm saw him go to the back of the barn. Storm followed him. Clyne stood there looking around. There was no one there besides themselves.

“Are you sure?” Storm asked Clyne who nodded with a frustrating look. Two were huffing while trying to catch their breath. Storm also felt the person’s presence in the area. Aria and Lei came. When they realized that no one was there, Aria turned toward the trees near them.

“Do you think he’s hiding up on a tree?” Aria asked once she caught her breath. Storm stared at the shadows behind the trees.

“I can’t feel anything there,” Lei said. The wind blew toward them from the forest.

“There’s no one there,” Storm added. He used his wind power to feel living things inside the forest.

“He won’t be able to control the ground without his body on the ground,” Clyne pointed out. Everyone looked around. Storm realized that when they near the barn, the tremor slowed down. Then he looked up.

The person perched up on the roof of the barn laughed.

“He’s there!” Clyne exclaimed.

“What the,” Aria said. Storm squinted but he couldn’t see his face because of the sun behind the person.

“This is the funniest hide-and-seek I played,” the man said. His voice was deep and rough.

“Stand back!” Storm told Clyne, Aria, and Lei. They moved close together. The man jumped to the ground in front of the four teenagers. When he stood up, Storm noticed his all-black outfit. He wore a thick long coat and a fedora hat. When he lifted his head, a deep scar on his left cheek was revealed. It looked fresh. Maybe a year. He had some stubble. There were white streaks in his light brown hair. He looked like he’s in his early 50s. The guy looked at each of the four teenagers and chuckled. This irritated Storm.

“You like you wanted to quickly start and end this fight,” he said while looking at Storm. Storm glared at him. He shook his head with a disappointed look.

“You are forcing yourself to appear strong,” he said to Clyne. Storm didn’t know what Clyne’s expression is because he didn’t want to look away from the enemy.

“You have a lot of secre-”

“Enough,” Clyne said. He sounded different from his usual self. He sounded angry. The man smiled. Storm was sure that he was playing with them.

“Alright,” the man said then raised his hand in front of him. The ground below him began to crack. His outstretched hand glowed and a long and huge warhammer materialized. Storm felt the heat on his right cheek. His Claymore sword slowly appeared in front of him. He quickly snatched it and pointed it toward the enemy. He felt Clyne, Lei, and Aria’s energies getting stronger behind him. The ground was still shaking but it wasn’t as strong as before. Suddenly three tall blocks of earth ascended from the ground behind him. Slowly, the blocks took shape into people. Storm gritted his teeth. The three minions jumped above Storm and landed between Storm and his three friends. Clyne, Lei, and Aria were already holding their weapons.

“Your fight is with me.” Storm turned to the man with a cold look.

Storm attacked first. He swung his sword but the old man dodged most of his attacks. He blocked the others using the handle of the warhammer. Though Storm’s attacks didn’t make a scratch on the man’s weapon, the consecutive attacks tired him. The man’s energy diminished a bit so the earthquake stopped. Good. He won’t be able to continue controlling the ground while using the maximum capability of his weapon and giving enough power to his minions made of earth. Storm and the man took a break while staring at each other. Storm glanced around to look for Clyne, Aria, and Lei but they were gone. He scanned the surroundings and found that the three were together. The energies of the three minions were gone.

“Your minions were defeated,” Storm said. “What do you want in this town? What were you looking for?”

The man was huffing while trying to catch his breath. His warhammer was deep in the ground. He had removed his black coat and hat earlier in the fight. You’re too old for this. But the man just laughed. He pulled his weapon from the ground. He shook his head.

“You’re interrogating me?” he taunted. He scoffed.

“Get to the point,” Storm said using his cold voice.

“Time. I’m giving them time,” the old man explained then chuckled. Storm was confused. When he realized it, he quickly used his wind power to survey the surroundings. They found it. Whatever it is. There were only a few monsters and witches around fighting with the rest of his friends. The Mortemians used this man to shift their attention from what they were looking for. What about the monsters and witches? Why bring them here?

The old man laughed at his troubled expression. Storm glared at him. He won’t be able to face the others if he doesn’t finish this. He channeled all his power to his sword. He felt the heat transferring from his right cheek toward his right arm then hand.

“If you’re wondering about the army, they’re here as a threat,” the man explained with a smile. He might not be a good fighter but he’s good at making Storm angry.

“Threat to us?” Storm asked then clenched his jaw. He gripped the sword tighter.

“No. To the person, we were looking for.” The man’s answer took Storm off guard. The Mortemians weren’t looking for a thing but a person. The real and potential Regalis were found so who are they looking for?

“Someone who escaped me,” the man answered as if he could read Storm’s thoughts. He laughed again. It made Storm angrier.

“You think that you already won?” Storm raised his hand to strike the man. The wind swirled around the blade of the sword. Even if the man dodges the attack, the wind attack will follow him until it cuts a part of him. The man looked startled and scared for a moment but his eyes widened a bit then smiled. Storm was about to release the attack when he heard someone’s voice.

“Stop, Storm!” Tessa’s form blocked the man’s figure from his perspective. He gripped his sword lighter to stop his attack. It was harder to stop the power from flowing than gathering enough energy for a large. When he was able to suppress the power, he quickly walked toward Tessa who has her back on him. He was furious. He was about to scold her when he saw a tear fall from her eye. He noticed that she was sadly staring at his opponent, who was coldly smiling at her.

“H- h- how did this happen?” she asked. More tears fall on her cheeks.

“Do you know him?” Storm asked. She bit her lip and didn’t answer.

“I’m her father,” the man suddenly said. Storm quickly turned to him. He scoffed, not believing what the man said.

“Don’t fool yourself,” Storm said.

“I’m not.” Confused with what’s happening, he turned to Tessa, who was still staring at the man.

“Wh- what are you doing with the Mortemians?” she asked then looked around. “You had powers?” Storm was more confused than ever.

“What’s happening, Tessa? Who is this man?” he asked her. She turned to him with swollen eyes.

“I- I- don’t know. He looks like my- my dad,” she replied between hiccups. He turned to the man with menacing eyes.

“Now you’re using other people’s faces to confuse their families.” Storm couldn’t handle it anymore. It would pain Tessa but he wanted to vanish this man.

The man shook his head then smiled coldly. He wasn’t his father. If he was, there would be some kind of emotion in his eyes showing that he missed her.

“I really am his father. I used Margarette then Eliot, or Steve as she knows him, then her.” The man was shameless. His statement made Tessa cry more. Storm gripped his sword tightly. I’m going to kill you.

“It’s the truth,” the man added.

“You’re either using his face or controlling his body,” Storm pointed out. The man sighed.

“You can believe what you want but I’m her father,” he said without blinking, without any remorse. Storm heard footsteps behind them. He recognized his friends’ energies.

“What happened?” Skhy exclaimed. Neither Storm nor Tessa said anything. Storm was busy glaring at the man. The man must have seen something because he looked surprised.

“Elizabeth, you’ve grown,” the man said like it was a normal thing to say. Storm turned to look at Ellie who looked confused.

“I don’t know you, old man,” Ellie retorted. The man laughed. Why does he keep smiling and laughing? But his expressions were cold and robotic.

“You’re my daughter’s cousin so I know.” What?

“What?” Ellie asked.

“I’m Tessa’s father. Her mother, Margarette, is related to your father,” he explained without much thought. “Forksleigh.” His smile after he said the name was different from the others. It looked devious. Storm turned to Tessa who still looked lost and sad at the same time. He knew that the others were also confused. He was too but he didn’t want to waste time.

“Let’s finish this,” Storm exclaimed.

“Maybe next time,” the man said. Dark blue smoke slowly engulfed him. Storm quickly swung his sword to stop him from disappearing. But his weapon’s power couldn’t cut through the barrier.

“Tessa, thank you for saving me. We’ll see each other again,” he said in his monotone voice. Then he was gone.

“What happened? Who was that?” Skhy asked then put his arms around Tessa who was sobbing.

“Didn’t you hear? It was her father,” Hunter responded. He looked and sounded annoyed. You could have said that nicely…

“I thought he’s gone,” Lei said then patted Tessa’s hair.

“Apparently, he has secrets and he works for the Mortemians,” Storm explained. It wasn’t the first time he felt it but it was the first time he saw a normal person used it. He was sure.

“He was using forbidden magic,” Storm added.

“A non-magic user?” Hunter asked. Storm and Hunter stared at each other. Storm realized that Hunter had encountered someone like Tessa’s father because he wasn’t fazed by the fact.

“What is forbidden magic?” Clyne asked.

“Ridiculous. Don’t believe what he said,” Ellie said.

“Let’s look for Aubree, Aurora, Nate, and Hanne,” Skhy said. He helped Tessa walk. She was shaking.

“I’ll help her,” Hunter offered. Skhy eyed him suspiciously. “Get to Aubree quickly. Maybe we missed something. The people here might know something.” Skhy sighed and gave Tessa to Hunter.

“We failed the mission. What do you want us to do?” Savvier said. He kicked a rock out of frustration. Ellie was also getting annoyed. It might be the first time the two of them failed a mission.

“We still have three days, right?” Storm pointed out. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him. “We’re not done yet.”

When he sees that man again, he won’t let him go. Even if he’s Tessa’s father, Storm needed to know who ordered him to use Tessa and her mother. Storm also wanted to know who performed the forbidden magic on him.