ALEXiThymia: Chapter 55: The Demonstration

Chapter 55

The Demonstration

“What the heck happened to you?” Luke asked.

It was a fair question, one that Alexa admittedly should answer. The only problem was, she realized the explanation would be taxing. Well explaining what happened would be relatively easy, but the demonstration afterwards would be tough.

Just thinking about what was required of her, caused her to move. This of course caused some of the dried blood and viscera on her to tighten and clump. She went to open her mouth but found some blood in there. Idly she hoped that the blood that was currently in her mouth was just her own, but she could not be entirely certain of that fact.

Letting out a long sigh, Alexa asked.

“Is there any way I can take a shower and eat before I show you what happened?” Alexa asked.

With that everyone in the room looked at Alexa and realized the request wasn’t an entirely unreasonable one. By all accounts she had been out in the dungeon for well over twelve hours straight, and if the level of blood and viscera on her body was any indication, she would definitely need a shower.

“I don’t think that is an unreasonable ask.” Mr. Mackie began.

“Oh, can you get my pack… I mean the rest of the sophomores?” Alexa said, correcting herself as she looked away. “I will want to show them as well.”

“Show?” Mr. Mackie asked.

Alexa nodded. “Show.” She said locking gazes with Mr. Mackie. Then as if just hitting her, she turned to look at her brother. “Speaking of which, you might want to get Captain Johnston down here, and her two Lieutenants,” Alexa said, turning her attention to her brother.

Luke for his part looked like he had been caught stealing if the look on his face was to be believed. Fortunately, he was saved from any more embarrassment by the nurse.

“What exactly do you wish to show us?” Clara St. Brown, the school nurse, asked.

“What I found on the third stage of my Trials.” Alexa said.

With that everyone paused.

“Wait, you are only on your third stage?” Mr. Mackie asked.

“Fourth.” Alexa corrected.

“You are only on your fourth stage, but I have you as being logged in and going through your trials for multiple days, just the other week.” Mr. Mackie said, pulling out a data pad and looking at the information he had recorded.

Of course, he was referring to the incident that got her banned from diving for a few days.

Alexa nodded. “I did. That was for stage two.”

With that Mr. Mackie just paused to look at the student before him. “Also, what do you intend to do with so many crystals?” Mr. Mackie asked, holding up her backpack that rustled with the sound of so many crystals.

“Consume them.”

“All?”

Alexa nodded.

“Aren’t you already at your pre-awakened maximum?” Mr. Mackie asked.

Again, Alexa nodded.

“Well, I will consume all but two of the crystals, which I will use to return to a dungeon at a later date.” Alexa corrected.

With that Mr. Mackie just thought for a moment. “Also, we need to discuss these.” With that, Mr. Mackie pulled up two pristine daggers whose blades seemed to glow with an blue sheen.

“I don’t even want to know how you actually got these but know you will not be able to keep these in your room.”

Alexa nodded. Honestly, she had forgotten she still had them, but they were on her body when she completed her hidden quest.

Mr. Mackie just paused.

“You sure you can’t tell us what happened, right now?”

Alexa nodded, “it’s tiring. Also, I’d rather do it all once.”

“Does this have to do with your new title?”

Alexa nodded.

“Go on then. Get showered and meet us in the gym in an hour. I will have food sent there.”

Alexa nodded, then got up and began walking out.

Squish, squash.

Her shoes, still wet with blood squeaked violently as she made her way to Mr. Mackie. Once she was next to him, she grabbed her backpack, then began to move.

Looking at that, Mr. Mackie just watched on curiously at the girl. The girl who was quickly raising up in his mind as his number one problem child. Not for what she did, but for the problems she seemed to create simply by being. Still, he had been given his requests.

“I will take care of gathering the rest of the class, though you should see about getting the good Captain down here as quickly as possible.” Mr. Mackie said to Luke.

With that, Luke once again looked shocked. Then reluctantly pulled out his phone and began calling the captain. Something this important had to be dealt with verbally.

Ring.

“Yes.”

“Hi, Captain, this is Luke Thyme, I’m…”

“Yes, I know who you are. I can read an incoming call number.”

“Right. Well, my sister just awoke from a coma?” At that Luke looked at the nurse to make sure that was the word used. Both the nurse and Mr. Mackie nodded at that. “Well she awoke from a coma, and wanted you and your Lieutenants to come.”

“What the heck was she doing to get in a coma?”

“She completed the third stage of the Trials? At least, that was what she said.” Luke answered, not quite knowing what exactly everyone was talking about.

“Wait, is that Mackie there?”

“Yes, he is here.”

“With you?”

“Yes.”

“Put him on.”

With that Luke lowered the phone and was about to tell Mr. Mackie what had just happened. Fortunately for him, Mr. Mackie had apparently heard the conversation as he held out his hand to take the phone.

“Right.” Luke said, handing over his phone to the head of security. At the exchange Luke suddenly felt very vulnerable as his phone was now in the hands of the school’s dean of discipline.

“This is Mr. Mackie.”

“Now what is happening to my asset?”

“My student went on an approved Dungeon run for our Tier II dungeon we have on campus. At which time she was taken into her third stage of the trials. Then after close to twelve hours she was ejected from the trials. The guards on duty found her covered in blood and smoke. At which point they said ‘she was speaking in some weird language. A language that caused them to, and I quote feel a deep level of peace that they had never felt before’ end quote.” Mr. Mackie paused at that.

Then after a moment’s pause, he continued with the rest of his speech. “She was shaking and convulsing, desperately stating the phrase over and over again. Then when the guards were able to get to her, she realized she was safe, then promptly passed out. We then took her to Nurse St. Brown. Fortunately, most of her wounds were already healing, but she was still in what appeared to be a coma. Then at the fifty minute mark, we got her brother who was able to awaken her before we would have been legally forced to go to the hospital with her. After which, we asked what happened. She then explained that she would only want to do it once, and that we invite her whole class to join her. Then as an afterthought she instructed her brother to get you and your lieutenants to come as well.”

That was a lot, Luke wasn’t even aware of the fact that she had been forcefully ejected from the dungeon. How did that even happen?

“Where is she now?”

“She is currently getting a shower to look presentable. I told her she had an hour to get to the gym, at which point we would have food and her classmates for her.”

“An hour?”

“Well, fifty-six minutes now, to be exact.” Mr. Mackie said,  as he looked at a nonexistent watch on his wrist.

“We’ll be there.”

Click.

The phone call ended, then with that Mr. Mackie handed back Luke’s phone. The minute his phone was back in his hands, he let out a sigh of relief.

“Go on Mr. Thyme. I need you to go to the cafeteria and get food for your sister.”

“Right.” Luke said, as he made to leave.

“Thank you, Ms. St. Brown.” Mr. Mackie said,

“Don’t think you are getting rid of me that easily. My prize pupil gets injured and then is about to show what she got injured for, you better believe I will be going as well.”

“What about your office?”

“Closed for lunch.”

“Wait, I have a question.” Luke paused, as he heard the two.

With that the two looked to Luke.

“What is her new title?”

There was a slight pause, as Mr. Mackie clearly pondered what to say in this situation.

“I think it is best if she tells you that, herself.”

At that Luke just let out a long sigh, as he began rushing to the cafeteria, hoping that he could get something for his sister. Fortunately with so many werewolves on campus, the school kept a stocked fridge of meats, breads, and cheeses to make any number of sandwiches.

That was what Luke made for his sister, then stopping to look at the time, he made his own sandwich that he also ate. Then, he made a second one for his sister, as a just in case. Making sure to wrap them both in the sandwich wraps that were available.

With his portion done, he arrived at the gym to see all his classmates there.

As soon as he entered, he saw that there were two groups. Well one pack, and then Julie. Seeing Julie standing by herself, Luke went over to her.

“Hey.”

“Oh, are those sandwiches?” Julie asked.

Gurgle.

Julie’s stomach rumbled, causing her to cross her arms over her stomach in embarrassment.

Luke thought about it for a second, then handed over the second sandwich to Julie. Luke figured he could always go back and make a second sandwich for his sister if needed. Also, these were technically for the werewolves, which Julie was clearly a part of.

“Oh here. You can have mine.” Luke said, as he held out one of the two, foot-long subs.

“Oh I couldn’t.”

GURGLE.

“Okay, maybe I could.” Julie said, as her stomach seemed to demand she take the peace offering.

After that, Luke watched in fascination, as a process not unlike a black hole occurred right before his eyes. He watched a giant round tube enter a seemingly smaller mouth, only to disappear within seconds. Luke almost swore that if he blinked, he would have missed it, the entire transformation of a foot long sub to antimatter.

Blinking.

Luke blinked, trying to see if he was imagining the whole exchange or not.

“Oh, sorry.” Julie said, as a slight flush filled her cheeks, as she looked away from Luke in embarrassment.

“No, that was amazing.”

Scoff.

At that, Luke realized his idea of a compliment was clearly not working. “Look I’m sorry, but I think… Wow, you know. I am going to go with my sister’s line and say that I probably don’t think. At least I don’t think enough. But, I do know that I would like to try again.” Luke was stammering over himself, as he looked for the words to describe his thoughts. Words that were clearly missing.

“Try what again?”

“Us.” A slight pause, “I would like to try us again. If you wouldn’t mind.”

At that Julie just gave a weak smile. “Wow, I never thought the great Luke Thyme would be brought so low.”

With that Luke’s face dropped. “I, I guess I deserve that.”

Julie nodded to herself. “So there is a costume party tonight. If you go, I will spend some time with you.”

“A date?”

“No, you have to work your way up to one of those.”

“Okay, that is perfectly fine. I can do that.”

“Also, I…” Julie began, but was cut off by the sudden arrival of the TSI agents.

“Okay, we made it.” Captain Johnston said, as she all but made a quick paced walk to Mr. Mackie.

Then a minute later, Luke’s sister arrived fifteen minutes early, of course.

“Now what is this, that you found during your trials?” Captain Johnston said, gesturing for Alexa to go to the center of the gym.

Alexa walked over. Luke seeing her, went over with the sandwich. As her eyes locked onto the sub her body visibly shook with relief. Luke knew the signs, she would keep pushing herself harder and harder, unless someone forcefully made her stop.

“You need to sit down and eat.” Luke said, his voice that of the commanding older brother that he was.

Alexa looked at the sub, then nodded. Fortunately, there were plenty of bleacher seats to sit down on while she ate.

During this time everyone drew close to Alexa, keeping a respectful distance, but still staring at her as she ate. Luke didn’t know how she did it, he himself would have been looking around anxiously if everyone stared at him while he was eating. Still his sister just sat there and ate gracefully.

Then once she was done, she handed the empty wrapper back to Luke. Luke just looked at the bag with confusion for a moment, then was about to protest when his sister stood up.

“You all are likely wondering why I summoned you here. Well, I wanted to discuss two things with you all. The first is that through my trials, I can now see a countdown timer that tracks the time until something called the Integration happens. I am not entirely certain what the Integration entails, but from what I can see it is a time when Elves and Orcs will be able to come to our planet and subjugate us like they have done to many other races.”

Gasps.

“This integration will happen on New Year’s Eve, PST. At least that is what I have been able to calculate from the timer that states just over two months and eight hours from now.”

People were confused, Luke himself was confused, he had so many questions. What was the Integration? Elves were real? Were they hot? Also, what were orcs? Were any of them hot? So many questions filled his mind, but he couldn’t ask anything as his sister continued in her relentless cadence.

“The second thing, is that as many of you may know, I now have a new Title from Completing the third stage of my Trials of Ascension. The new title is called: The First Monster of Pandora.”

A slight pause, as she then shared her system information, making it public. At least she shared the information related to her newest title. Luke was well aware that Alexa had at least one other title already.

Title: The First Monster of Pandora. You have found the secret word of power that can lead to your civilization’s release or its downfall. Speak the word of power and let loose the winds of change.

Everyone paused as they read the title.

“What does this mean? What is this word?” Captain Johnston asked.

Taking a deep breath to center herself. Alexa paused, as she began to force energy to form before her. Within seconds a giant symbol took shape. The symbol was made in glowing lights that were clearly made from mana, and something else, something that seemed to drain Alexa to her very bones. Luke watched as she staggered slightly, at the creation of intricate symbol. A symbol that seemed to circle out and back amongst itself.

Just looking at the symbol, caused a sense of amazement to form in Luke. This was what she was doing in the dungeons? Learning to create works of art like this?

Seeing the symbol Luke couldn’t help but have a shiver run down his spine, as he knew he was looking at something fantastical. A symbol that seemed to call to the very soul of his being.

Before anyone could ask any more questions, Alexa continued.

“But they never stopped in their belief that they could overcome the many evils that were released upon the world, for there at the bottom of the box was Hope.”

Chime.

A crisp clear note of power was released, as she spoke the last concept. Luke knew that Alexa didn’t use the English word, but that his mind somehow knew what the syllables she spoken meant. That she had not only spoken the concept of, but had somehow filled him now with the complete feeling of Hope.

Luke felt cleansed, like all his sudden doubts were removed. Like he should take the moment to ask Julie out correctly, knowing that he would get it right this time. That he would be perfect with his approach. Of course, a quick glance around showed that he was not alone. As everyone who had been gathered here also seemed to be experiencing the same epiphany that he was. That they were all somehow experiencing the same feeling of being clean.

“What was that?” Kira, or Kylie asked, Luke still didn’t know her name.

Alexa opened her mouth to speak, but found only blood.

Bleh.

With that, Alexa spit out a mouthful of blood onto the gym floor.

Luke felt his lunch come up, as he saw blood fly from his sister’s mouth and lips. She began to tremble, but before she could fall, multiple sets of hands were reaching and grabbing her.

“Heal yourself.” Julie screamed.

Alexa just shook her head.

“She can’t she’s out of mana.” Mr. Mackie explained, as he began gently lowering her back down to a seated position on the bleachers.

“Easy. Take it easy.” Mr. Mackie said.

Alexa nodded her head, while blinking her eyes that appeared to be bloodshot, or maybe she just had some veins burst in her eyes.

Looking at the physical cost speaking the word once had on her, Luke could understand why she only wanted to do that once. Also, suddenly Luke wished he had that second sub to offer her, as she clearly looked exhausted.

“All right, lets give her some space.” Captain Johnston said to the other students and faculty. Only the nurse was able to go back and tend to Alexa.

Luke waited there, watching his sister, making sure she didn’t pass out again. Fortunately, she seemed to be able to fine.

With that concern gone, Luke turned to follow the others.

“Go on now. We will let you know if anything happens.” The taller of the two Lieutenants, Bullford said to Luke as he gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder.

Then as they left, he found himself staring face to face with the other girls of his class.

Once they were all there, one of the new leaders of the group came forward and asked Luke a question that he himself couldn’t answer.

“Just what the heck is an Integration?”