The blinding golden bolt of lightning did not simply fade out. It split the condensed steam inside the colossal academy hall like a glowing knife slicing through thick leather. The dull, deafening bang of the magical discharge echoed for long seconds against the high marble arches of the ceiling. The dust slowly settled, and there, right in the absolute center of the elevated platform, mentor DaVinci Corazon Da Ether rose in full, undeniable glory.
He stood there with a broad, imposing frame, radiating an aura that suggested no one could simply knock him down. Yet his posture possessed at the same time a graceful, almost dangerous, and acrobatic refinement. And in his eyes? In his eyes burned the feverish, unstoppable look of a true genius.
He took a heavy, resolute step forward. With a smooth, theatrical sweep of his hand, he flicked the fine dust off the shoulders of his brightly colored traveling cloak. Then he took the brim of his wide hat, pulled it off his head with a graceful flourish, and made a deep, stylized bow, pressing the hat tightly against his chest as the aether runes on his cloak began to glow a rich golden color.
“At your service, ladies and gentlemen!” the man thundered across the platform, a broad, sharp grin spreading across his face as his voice echoed clear and bright through the grand hall.
At the edge of the marble platform, Silarias felt his ears pull tight and flat against his skull. The amber flames burning deep within his eye sockets flickered nervously and wildly. He kept his gaze locked firmly on the spectacular figure before him. Without averting his eyes for even a single second, he leaned back a fraction and pressed his shoulder tightly against Nyx’s.
“Wait just a minute…” Silarias whispered under his breath, his voice sounding raw and raspy from the grueling evaluation they had just endured. “That guy over there on that stage… that arrogant face, that exaggerated way of moving… isn’t that the shady idiot from that food joint who came to pick us up with that wagon back then?”
Nyx narrowed her eyes into two thin, dangerous slits. Her silver locks caught the scarce, remaining light of the magical dome while her sharp mind scanned the precise contours of the mentor.
“It is him,” she murmured icily, though an unmistakable ripple of absolute astonishment crossed her tight features. “It is him a hundred percent. But what did that eccentric wanderer call himself back then again? My memory simply refuses to link his name to this ridiculous theater.”
On the other side of the platform stood Nicola. His arms were tightly crossed over his chest, rubbing his heavy thumb across his chin. He furrowed his brow so deeply that his eyebrows almost touched, taking in the newcomer on the stage from head to toe. He bumped the boy next to him roughly with his elbow.
“Mmm… mathematically speaking, this cannot be possible at all, right?” Nicola muttered hoarsely. “Is that not… No way. The guy who picked us up back then was a hundred times more hyper, more chaotic, one massive fucking mess. Probably not. It just looks terrifyingly like him.”
High above the thousands of silenced students and motionless professors on the grandstands, the academy council leaned heavily over the golden balustrade of the highest ring. The atmosphere at the top of the hall was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Inuuk, the indigenous beasthuman teacher from the Beast and Biological Faculty, slid his huge, clawed hands slowly over the cool marble. His nostrils flared; the wild, untamed aura hanging so heavily around Silarias spoke an ancient language that Inuuk understood better than anyone.
Beside him stood Vespera of the Ward, the mysterious teacher from the Occult Faculty. Her figure was almost entirely draped in black, floating veils. Two of her six arms drew nervous, exceptionally intricate rune patterns in the thin air, while her remaining four arms remained folded piously and motionlessly across her chest.
And right behind them stood Juro, the legendary combat master of the Combat Faculty. He stood there firmly, in a military, imperturbable stance resembling an indestructible cliff face. The light blue smoke from his cigar pipe curled in slow, spiral rings around his tight, battle-hardened face.
As the sharp gazes of Juro and Vespera scanned the platform below, their eyes almost immediately landed on the familiar outlines of Nyx, Silarias, Lila, little Ren, Miki, and Aurelius.
A subtle, almost imperceptible shock passed through Juro’s tight face. A faint, raw smile briefly curled his lips. He let out a single, dense cloud of smoke and gave the group below a very firm, quick wink. Vespera, in turn, allowed two of her extra arms to make a fluid, mysterious bow, a gesture intended solely for those down on the platform.
Silarias caught the gesture and felt the suffocating tension in his chest shatter in an instant. He tilted his head tightly toward Nyx while his broad shoulders began to shake with a suppressed, husky laugh.
“It is them…” Silarias whispered, his voice trembling with pure, raw relief. “Those are our people, Nyx… those are those guys… hahaa!”
Nyx laughed softly along with him, a rare, clear sound that contrasted beautifully against the dark, heavy atmosphere of the hall. Her silver eyes sparkled with a dangerous kind of depth. “I told you, didn’t I? Everything falls into place. It really is them.”
Aurelius, who was standing a few meters away glowing in his golden aura, turned his head abruptly and looked at the pair with a deep frown. “What are you two whispering and grinning about so weirdly over there? Did the heat from that lightning bolt get into your head or what?”
Silarias waved his copper gauntlet through the air with a hard swing and talked straight over him with a stone face. “Nothing, nothing! Don’t get your panties in a twist, Golden Boy! The light up above that stage is just bright on my eyes. Never mind, let’s keep moving!”
On the balcony above, Juro took a step forward. His raw, low voice rolled like an approaching thunderstorm over the quieted grandstands. “Mmm… the actual return of the GOATS. Particularly interesting.”
Vespera folded her four arms tightly across her chest again and let her veiled head bow softly. “The Occult Faculty votes without any reservation in favor. Admit them to the grounds.”
Director Solomon looked up slowly at the balcony, stroking his gold-gray beard thoughtfully, and took a deep, audible breath.
Mmm, the old director thought to himself, his hand resting firmly on his sword hilt, this decision formally ought to pass through the full council first… from the Arcane department to the Anomaly and Cryptid faculties. But times simply change faster than the laws of this institution.
Solomon turned his gaze away from the professors on the balcony and looked firmly at DaVinci and the group below. “You have permission. Proceed to the rear grounds. Inspect what remains of the old GOATS Hideout, evaluate the ruins, and determine what is needed to restore the foundation.”
But before Solomon could properly finish his final word, the atmosphere in the hall shifted completely once more.
The Soulbound Gemstone, the gigantic Oculus Castaway, began to vibrate and shake violently a meter off the ground. The internal copper gears screeched with a metallic screech. With a blinding, purple beam of light, the floating glass shot diagonally downward, right above the absolute center of the platform.
“ANOTHER GOAT?!” the raspy voice of the Oculus shouted hysterically through the entire space, the mirror rings spinning so fast that sparks flew across the marble. “Young man! Your power… we can use you insanely well here!”
FLASH!
Out of absolute nowhere, Kaelid popped up right in the middle of the marble floor. He instantly collapsed to his knees, his chest heaving wildly and heavily, sweat drops splattering from his forehead onto the cool stones. He was completely out of breath, as if he had just been transported through three dimensions simultaneously.
“Do… do I belong here…?” Kaelid stammered between heavy pants. He looked around wildly and dazed, until his gaze locked tightly onto Silarias’ face. His pupils contracted into pinpricks on the spot. “Wait a second… I know you guys! You… you are still alive?!”
The shock of recognition hit Kaelid like a bolt of lightning. Without giving a single thought to protocols or the thousands of staring eyes on the grandstands, he scrambled to his feet, took two giant strides forward, and pulled Silarias into a heavy, bone-crushing brotherly embrace.
Before Silarias could say anything back or push him away, Aurelius flashed tightly in between them via a blinding Photon Flash. With a golden blur of pure energy, he appeared by their side, threw an arm around Kaelid’s neck, and burst into a loud laugh.
“Yeeeeah! You just belong with us, man!” Aurelius shouted passionately, his golden aura flaring up brightly. “See how our paths always end up crossing again in the end!”
Director Solomon slowly shook his head, let out a short, quiet chuckle, and gestured with his arm toward the side exit of the hall. “Enough spectacle for one day. Come along. We are leaving the central hall.”
As the group slowly set themselves in motion and descended the broad marble stairs, the Oculus Castaway remained floating lonely above the empty spot on the platform. The purple beam dimmed slowly, but the copper gears kept spinning with a soft, melancholic ticking.
“That, my dear students…” the echoing, emotional voice of the Oculus resounded through the gigantic dome, “were today’s evaluations. And I tell you one thing… this is by no means a coincidence. A wheel of fate has been set in motion that no one can stop anymore.”
The busy, noisy sound of the group slowly died away as they walked deeper into the narrow, shadowy alley leading to the forgotten GOATS Hideout. Their heavy boots echoed rhythmically across the damp cobblestones, on their way to a past that was on the verge of rising again in full glory.