The three HLH members, my friends, and I return safely to campus.
We somehow make it through the gates with no confrontation. Perhaps the disguises of the HLH members are convincing to everyone. My skin feels like it has goosebumps as we walk toward the main building surrounded by many Keepers.
My breathing becomes more rapid and my heart feels like it is going to jump outside my body.
The HLH members split off from us when we come to a safe distance away from the main building. I guess they have important intelligence work to do. Leena, Zephyr, and I all look up at the cool night sky. The sky would be even more beautiful if it wasn't for the violence that happened today.
It is almost too sad.
"Well, I guess this is where we part ways for now," I say in a soft monotone voice.
My mouth opens wide as I take a long yawn.
Leena gives me a soft smile. "Yeah, for now, that is all. You know where to find us when you need us," Leena says to me with a smile and a determined tone.
I remember how reliable Leena is to me and how trustworthy she is.
"Stay sharp, Nico. Things are only getting more complicated from here on in. We are here with you," Zephyr says to me while slowly nodding up and down with his arms crossed.
I exhale my breath. It feels like another stone slab is added to the weight on my back.
"Be careful both of you, we are walking a thin line," I say to them both. They both nod back at me and then walk toward their dorms.
For a moment, I standalone, letting the silence of the academy sit in.
The buildings look like they have been thoroughly wrecked. Even though they are being repaired, something horrible happened here, and it is probably just about to get worse. I shove my hands into my pockets and start walking toward my dorm.
Thoughts drift through my mind as I come to my dorm building. What should I name this revolutionary student organization? Would Humanity's Revolutionary Committee do it? Will this even work out?
None of my questions are going to be answered right now because right in front of me stands none other than Justus Amin. He is standing under a lamppost in front of the entrance to my dorm building.
His eyes lock onto me.
"Sorry, Nico, but you can not head to bed yet. Follow me," Justus says as he swiftly walks past me back toward the main building. I groan in protest as I start following him. After all, I just passed the main building myself not even five minutes ago.
We eventually arrive at his office, and he gestures for me to take a seat. "So how did it go meeting Maura?" he says curiously. Some part of me wants to punch the man for not telling me about her earlier, but I know in the long run he was right to have kept it from me for now, at least.
"It went well or as well as I thought it could go. You know, it's never easy finding out you had a long-lost sibling, much less they are the leader of the last surviving non-manipulated humans in Tarondar," I say to Justus with as much energy as I can muster.
The mental shock from the past few days significantly took the energy out of me.
"I see. Yes, I am aware. I am truly sorry I didn't tell you beforehand. It was necessary to keep the plan in motion in the proper place. I assume she has told you about the plan to start a rebel organization on campus throughout the month before we launch our actual full-on attack?" Justus says while standing up.
"Yeah, she did. I am thinking of calling it HRC, which stands for Humanity's Revolutionary Committee. What do you think of that?" I ask him as he walks toward the office door and puts his hand on the handle.
"You can call it whatever you would like. I would like to show you something," he says as he walks out of the door.
I want to ask him what it is he wants to show me, but I know him well enough by now that he won't say anything until we get there. Justus leads me down the stairs to a basement level I didn't even know existed. He then proceeds down a few tunnels and other secret passageways.
As we continue down the mysterious passageways, I ask him, "Does anybody else know about these passageways?"
"Only I do. I am the one who created them over many years when the Keeper Academy was founded for the exact situation we are in now, in case it happened. I am glad that the decision I made was right," Justus says as he whispers a password at a wall and does advanced hand movements with his wand.
The wall magically opens up, revealing a huge open room that looks similar to the training grounds, but even better.
A variety of weapons and armor adorn the large secret room. There are even a handful of spell books that look like they only belong in the noble library. I guess those books are supposed to be used to train the students to fight on par with the Keepers, as well as all the other weapons. There are some magical artifacts laid on a table nearby.
It truly looks like a secret base. I stand in silence, seeking an explanation from Justus. "Years," he says to me as his only response.
We walk into the room. The secret wall shuts itself behind us. "What do we call this place? The Revolutionary Room?" I ask Justus.
"You can call it whatever floats your boat. My only job was setting all of this up for the moment. Someone with enough potential can change the flow of the world," Justus says as he enchants a magical training dummy nearby with light magic.
"This place is a lot better than the training grounds in terms of where you can train to your actual true potential here. The training dummies in this room can withstand a lot more powerful attacks and the books will help brush up on your knowledge of magic. The magical items are also useful for aiding you," Justus says as he walks around the room, checking up on things.
I never knew Justus took it this seriously. I mean, I know he cares about overthrowing the Eradicators, but I didn't know it means this much to him to go this far. "Thank you genuinely, Justus, from the bottom of my heart," I say to him.
"Oh, no need to thank me. I am just doing what has to be done," he says, taken slightly back from what I said. He even cracks a smile for a second, which I notice. For someone with a usually stiff demeanor, his actions show he is more caring than what the surface shows.
It's time to recruit more people and train very hard. We have no moment to waste, as we need to be ready when the day of the actual takeover happens.