After reading the letter, I hug Ivy, crying into her arms at the shock of everything.
When I pull myself together, we head back to Stonelight in silence. The leaves rustle against the wind. The mist impairs our vision.
The dead silence gives me time to think about what I have learned and what I can do with this information for the future.
What is the best way to defeat the Eradicators? How do I expose the Eradicators as not being the Keepers the people envision them to be?
I am Nico Lotus.
I am not exactly mister popular in school, so almost nobody would believe me, anyway.
Before we know it, Ivy and I hear loud cheers coming from in front of us a few hundred feet away.
Bold colors light up the night sky as the fireworks rapidly burst into the air. We make it just in time for the finale, I tell myself as we walk toward the center of the plaza. Justus finds us before we make it to the statue.
"Follow me," he says to us as he walks swiftly away from the plaza.
The cheering from the crowd fades away as our footsteps approach a magnificent horse and luxurious carriage. Despite being in a sour mood, my eyebrow raises slightly. "Who are we going to see?" I ask Justus as we get into the carriage with a couple of guards next to us.
"Duke Grey," Justus says promptly as the carriage knocks us back into our seats and takes off for the Duke's mansion.
The horses must be expensive because they get us to the entrance of the mansion in a flash.
We arrive in front of a large grey gate with the letter "G" inscribed on each side to symbolize the family's name. The walls surrounding the gate are all black. Attached to these walls are blazing torches of flames all around the property.
From afar, the mansion must look like it's always on fire.
After Justus talks with the gate guards, the gigantic grey gates swing wide open.
The carriage brings us up a fairly lengthy hill. The property is a lot larger than I originally thought. There are sprawling hills, various gardens, sculptures, and, of course, many fire pits and artworks made of fire. Ivy and I keep gawking at the Duke's property.
Thank goodness for Ignis, I think to myself as we pull up to the main entrance of the mansion.
As the servants help us out of the carriage, I notice a large flagpole in the center of the round-about driveway area we come in through. The flag is orange and red with the symbol of a Phoenix in front of it, with the capital letter "G" inscribed in cursive.
"That's their noble family crest," Justus says as I take one last look before the doors of the mansion shut behind us.
We wait by the main entrance for a few minutes until a servant guides us to a room that appears to be the library. Two servants open up the doors, and we are let inside the Duke's study.
Bookshelves line the walls on all sides. The Duke's study has multiple desks. The biggest desk is the Duke's, while a couple of other desks are near him. "You may excuse us now," Duke Grey says to his assistants. The assistants nod and leave the study, closing the doors with a heavy thud behind them.
"Thank you for making time for me, Justus, and all of you," Duke Grey says graciously. "From what I can tell, all of you here know what we are discussing and the truth about Tarondar?" Duke Grey questions, analyzing our facial expressions.
All it takes is one nod from Justus for Duke Grey to get the message.
"As you all know, Tarondar is in great turmoil. The entire world is in danger, specifically Tarondar. What is the reasoning? It's because Tarondar is a country in the middle of the continent of Glozaria. This makes Tarondar the most important country because it is where the Eradicators attempted the annihilation ritual but were stopped.
To complete the annihilation ritual, they have to gather the six elemental spheres, they need to have a bloodline sacrifice of someone who can wield multiple foundational elements, and they need to do it at the heart of Glozaria, which is in Tarondar but way farther out in terms of location than the Keeper Academy," the Duke says as he goes to the windows to pull down the shades.
"Now you may ask, why don't they simply kill Nico now? Well, the sacrifice doesn't work unless Nico is at the heart of Glozaria. Second, it wouldn't work because the Eradicators, also known as the Keepers in disguise, do not have all six elemental spheres. We have the elemental sphere of fire stored safely on our property."
"The elemental sphere of water is in safekeeping with the House of Frost. The elemental sphere of air is safe in the House of Uracain. The organization that supports us, whose name I can't reveal, possesses the elemental sphere of darkness."
"Which means the elemental sphere of earth is missing somewhere. We already know the Eradicators have the elemental sphere of light. This is enough explanation for now so everyone understands the situation," the Duke says while turning to look at me.
"Your job, Nico, as well as Ivy's job, is to train to become a lot stronger, investigate deeper into the academy, and not act suspicious in front of the Keepers. They will not harm you until they have all the spheres and have you present in the Heart of Glozaria. I promise they won't try to kill you until those conditions are met."
Duke Grey says to me, gesturing towards Justus to continue the lecture.
"You heard him, didn't you, Ivy and Nico? The main point of this lecture is to show you a little more of a glimpse into the situation at hand and the underlying organizations and forces at play, which will significantly shape how the future of Terrathis will look like as well as the future of humanity."
"Duke Grey, Duke Frost, and Duke Uracain are some of the few remaining human adults in Tarondar who the Keepers haven't brainwashed."
They don't feed into the illusions the Eradicators present to their human hostages. In our other neighboring countries, some people are free from the Eradicators, while others fall under the same illusion through other Keeper Academies that you will learn about later in the year.
You understand how serious this situation is now, right? Expect the unexpected. This is nothing but some of the truth. If I reveal all the truth right now, the Eradicators will know something is going on behind the scenes. Keep believing and trusting in me. If you do just like Duke Grey does, we will turn the tables on the Eradicators," Justus says while looking out the window grimly.
"We understand it, Vice-Principal Keeper Justus!" I respond to him loudly. Justus seems genuinely surprised.
"If anything, Justus, at least you sided with humanity. You were loyal to your best friend, not to your magical bloodline, which I think is fine. In my eyes, you are the definition of what a Keeper is supposed to be," I say to him with confidence.
I don't know what makes me say it, but I wouldn't have gone this far into my revenge story without him.
"Thank you very much, Nico. I don't quite know how to respond to that. For now, let's focus on getting you guys back to the academy to prepare for the surprise placement exam on your first day of combat class."
"Before you ask questions, it is a battle simulation exam against a dragon. The exam will involve an A-level dragon, and anyone who gets knocked out or killed by the dragon during the simulation will be expelled from the academy."
"Of course, the Keeper Academy won't let you get expelled, but I would rather you not be in pieces still being a student. Warn your friends as well, since even against a few dozen noble students, an A-class dragon is hard to take down," Justus says wearily.
"An A-class dragon?!" Ivy and I shout nearly at the same time. For reference, magical monsters and beings exist on Terraphis such as elves, dragons, goblins, etc.
These magical beings and monsters, though, are located more on other continents and they keep away from the Eradicators. In the ongoing war between humanity and the Eradicators, specifically, the magical beings, stay out of it.
However, magical monsters such as dragons attack anyone and everyone. Only a select few people have tamed a dragon. Do you want to guess who?
If you guessed Ignis, you are correct.
Leena is due to arrive home soon, so we have to leave our secret meeting in the study for now. Justus takes us back to Keeper Academy with no problems, and before I know it, I hit my bed like a rock.
Yay, I get to fight a powerful dragon tomorrow.