Paladin's Path

"SHIT!" that was accompanied with a hard kick to a locker in the changing rooms. "That was so fucked up."

It was obvious who that came from, and few in the boys locker room wanted to get near his growing storm of rage.

"Woah chill out man..." the casual speech came from the wavy white haired youth Cole Castle. "You did great out there." he went to put his arm around Corbin which caused the angry teen to oddly stiffen before he smacked it off with a scoff.

It didn't matter if he was getting praise now he was still boiling with rage.

"And that prissy princess messing things up is off to the damn infirmary."

Corbin was mad which seemed to be a character trait, but its about the wrong things. He wants to get the chance to fight again, against people that we trainees shouldn't even be tousling with while ignoring the fact that some of our classmates were actually injured.

That sentiment wasn't only felt by Theon though.

"You should think more before you speak." Arte was the one to speak surprisingly. Arte was lazy and seemed to avoid any sort of trouble and work like it was a plague so it was a wonder as to why he decided to confront someone as hot-headed and problematic as Corbin.

Corbin spun around with danger in his eyes but didn't even get to speak.

"Do you think what we went through was normal?" more and more of the boys in the changing room started to huddle around to listen to the boy that seemed to have a growing temper. "By the end of it all one of our classmates was attacked by something that was supposed to kill her."

Corbin's face softened slightly.

"Actually supposed to kill her." Arte nodded his head trying to properly get his point across. "So instead of acting like a spoiled brat look around and see that not everything is a damn game. We're here for better not worse."

Arte turned around and walked out of the changing rooms with a yawn not wanting to hear anything else to come out of anyone's mouth.

"That was pretty intense." Cole voiced out but then killed the tension with a question that only he would ask in this situation. "But who even is that guy?"

The room erupted into laughter at the notion.

"Dudes a clown." Jon whispered quietly to Theon, not in a condescending way or anything but as laughter died down in his throat.

The only one who didn't laugh was Corbin. Instead he quietly got changed and headed to the waiting room as he was told to. It was actually where Theon was headed as well since he was also involved in the major incident that just happened.

"But taking away from what that dude said, you did alright as well." Theon wasn't thinking that would come from Jon and he wasn't even thinking about the fight but he accepted it all the same. "You're the only one who didn't go down."

True but the water attack fired off was pretty devastating Theon only felt the build up of his opponents Od and done as his body told him to.

"Thanks Jon. But that guy certainly was dangerous."

Jon nodded his head to that as he picked up his bag stuffed with his clothes and sweets wrappers to the sides and on top.

"Yeah and what was that attack of light at the end."

Mr. Caleb had left with the monitors on so the students could see the whole fight even when the teachers got there but they probably couldn't see enough.

Theon thought on it for a moment and came up with an answer that was quite simple.

"Well he did use water..." Theon thought on it as he seen the attack fired off at his dragon. "... So I'm assuming he just shapes the water droplets as a lens that can focus and reflect the light within. Then fires it off as a natural beam of light."

Theon didn't even notice the silence in the room, he just thought on how an attack like that had very little drawback and once pulled off had a very low chance of dodging.

He thought back on how smart it was for his dragons to swirl around in unnatural motion while flying.

"Woah did you hear that." the voice that broke him out of his thoughts belonged to Corey and then Theon looked around and noticed some more stares directed toward him, some were in fear probably at the realization of an attack that none of them could actually dodge and some in bewilderment since it was already figured out.

Cole grabbed onto Corey's shoulder and spoke out loudly his "master plan."

"That would just mean that all we'd have to do is make sure we're in a dark room."

Many who would hear that from those two of all people would not want to take that information to heart because of the idiotic and simple way the two boys acted in, but they were right.

"You guys are right." Another voice that was rare to hear, belonging to the boy that some thought of as a creep, Eli Sazaki. "Since he could only use something like that during the day he couldn't fire it off at night." And just like that all the attention was off of Theon again allowing him to quietly slip out of the room with Jon right behind him.

Once they were far enough that they couldn't hear the loud chatters anymore Jon got his friends attention.

"You just keep surprising me." while on their way out his head was down as he seemed to be in deep thought and now he just had a curious but tired look on his face. "Your also really damn smart."

Theon brushed that aside and shook his head.

"Nah anybody could have figured it out, I was just thinking on some silly documentary series that I left on for background noise explaining how light passes through glass and stuff like that."

Actually it was a series that Victor seemed interested in not too long ago so he watched it wherever he could. Theon didn't bother himself with trying to remember the name of it. Vincent had odd tastes when it came to TV. Usually watching true crime and anything serial killer related real or fiction.

Back to the conversation, Jon was having a hard time buying his excuse.

"But still coming to such conclusions so quickly like your already a professional."

Theon didn't know what to say really, he didn't even know why it was a point of fascination for Jon.

"Yeah well its good to start early before we're actually on the field right?" Theon responded in a half sarcastic tone before taking a harsh left. "I still got to give a report to the police stopping by. So... See you later."

Jon waved him off before leaving out of the building.

_____

"So you're saying that he directly asked you to join his group?" A tall man wearing a deep black overcoat hiding his broad shoulders stared through his circular glasses down his nose at the fiery eyed young boy he was questioning.

Theon had answered all questions he was asked truthfully carefully omitting things about where Charlie Liber and him came from in the past as that would be a whole other issue that did not need to be revealed to a police detective.

"Yes, as I'm sure the other people who have come before me, the man named himself Charlie Liber and he said that he was here looking for people to join his group."

The man was old, years older than Mr. Adams. He was not an awakened, his Od was carefully flowing out of him like every other normal living being. But even though the man in front of Theon was almost powerless compared to him, his presence felt more oppressive than the homeroom teacher.

He was certainly a man with confidence and experience in his field but behind the clear glasses and deep into the dark brown eyes, Theon could see a deep and heavy hatred. He couldn't tell what it was for but he could see that it was something that the police detective was reigning in while being in not only his presence but from the quiet mumblings of Corbin even he could feel it.

"I just want to be sure of it because from the video footage the conversation seemed like it went on too long." He stared straight into Theon's eyes. Theon, who didn't flinch or react in any way thought... 'Well yeah but some things should stay secret old man.'

It was just Theon and the grey haired detective in the room but he knew that Mr. Adams and Ms. Wilson were on the outside watching in from a one way window.

They... or actually just Mr. Adams seemed more on edge around this man.

"Are we done here sir?" Theon asked politely with some smugness in his tone.

The older man nodded but stopped him from leaving just as he got out of his seat.

"Before you leave I would like to ask how it is you felt when he asked you to join him? What is it you felt?" Theon knew where he was going with this question and from the intense gaze the detective gave he looked as if he almost expected an answer, something that would put him on his radar... as a threat.

"Did leaving with a criminal ever cross your mind?" A bang was heard on the wall to the side that caused Theon to look over but it didn't change the expression on his accusers face at all.

Theon thought for a moment of what answer he should give. He looked towards the nametag that he had previously ignored and only now took in the man's name. Elliot Fischer.

"When he asked me to join him I did feel a little curious." there was a sharp glint in his eyes but he didn't interrupt. "Similar to being given a puzzle with a few missing pieces, you want to see the whole picture but you don't need to actually be a part of it."

Charlie Liber seems to have big plans anyway so there was always a chance that the whole puzzle will be shown to the world on a large scale anyway.

"And leaving with a criminal? It crossed my mind, like considering the edge of a cliff. Its a compelling view from afar, but stepping over the edge is another matter entirely." Theon shrugged his shoulders while stuffing his hands in his pockets seeming unbothered. "Its never worth the risk."

He leaned back with a relaxed and confident posture while staring straight into the brown hues of the detective Matthew Fischer. Theon truly never thought of leaving with Charlie, he was always more of a lone wolf anyway.

And he doubted he could actually get along with Charlie. Theon could do things his own way, if exposing the Grid was actually a goal of his then he would do so his own way, he doesn't need to follow somebody else's lead.

The silence was growing so Theon thought to end it.

"If you don't have anymore puzzles for me to solve I'd like to ask if I can leave now?"

With that the grey haired man with an unmoving expression waved him off and thanked him for his time.

As Theon walked out he mainly only noticed the silent stare of Ms. Wilson who was outside.

_________

"Oi." Instead of getting to the dormitory Theon was ambushed by an unexpected assailant. "I want to talk."

A rough voice that was actually lower than usual began to speak out with the familiar head of dark purple hair walked out from the bottom rung of the stairs at the entrance of the main building.

"About what Corbin?" Theon asked innocently not knowing what Corbin would want to talk about, and he was hoping it would be quick. He really enjoyed his alone time to rest and do a lot of nothing.

"'About what' my ass" already starting with the mocking. "I heard most of your conversation with that dude. You two come from similar backgrounds right?"

'Oh shit.' Theon was glad that that Corbin seemed a lot more tired now obviously because of the days events. But then he thought of the fact that Corbin was the one to go through his interview before him... Did he speak?

The first thing that came to Theon's mind was a resounding NO!

That would obviously be something that came up during his recounting of the days scenarios. And with that knowledge Theon wasn't all to worried at all unless Corbin for some reason got the idea to use that knowledge against him.

'What should I do if it comes to that?'

"Well?" his voice was becoming louder.

"Yeah, he did say something like that." then an awkward silence befell them as that was all Theon thought he needed to say.

It clearly wasn't the same for Corbin.

"You're pissing me off! Why don't I go add something to my report then?" his response to Theon's sardonic attitude was obvious.

Theon sighed.

"Corbin. It's something I didn't really get when he spoke. I was thinking he must have got it wrong but he really did seem to know me." Corbin still held his gaze filled with uncontrolled anger. "I'm an orphan so maybe we came from the same orphanage, it burned down a few years ago and then I was put in a group home." his face softened at that.

'Dumbass. I never went to an orphanage, never went to a damn group home either but there was no way of him knowing that unless he decided to dig deeper.'

But, pulling at a person's heart strings was easy enough most of the time. Theon believed that if Corbin was at full capacity and not still thinking of everything that happened earlier including Arte calling him out in front of everyone then he would have been more daring and continue questioning him.

"I don't remember many people from there since I was still quite young when it happened..." Theon paused and stared down awkwardly for dramatic effect. Theon also didn't know how much he should say before it just sounds too fabricated.

"Its hard to remember back then anyway..."

Corbin cut him off.

"It's alright, you can stop already." Corbin still keeping to his attitude walked past him without looking him in the eye.

'Time to seal the deal.'

Corbin got a few feet away before Theon called out his name to stop him in place. And Corbin so kindly stopped in step turning his head slightly to show he was listening.

"Can you not tell anyone about that please."

Corbin stood thinking and tightened his hold on his bag while thinking on his words. Theon was almost sure that Corbin did not have the personality of a tattletale, Theon asking him not to tell didn't matter since he probably already made up his mind to stay quiet.

Corbin scoffed. "Go see a damn therapist you freak!"

Theon almost laughed but held his silence as he watched Corbin's back get further away from him and then he walked over to a bench close by and sat on it with his head looking up at the dim sunset orange sky while thinking.

'Lets hope he buys it.'

_______

It was a new day and the students were told that there was no classes and they were free to do as they pleased on the campus grounds.

And in the schools main building on the far east side in a spacious room brightly lit up by the cool Autumn sun streamed through tall windows, casting a warm golden hue across the space.

The tall long, polished mahogany table stood as silent as a sentinel at the room's center, it's surface a canvas of neatly organized papers, a streaming carafe of coffee and some pastries scattered around the table in front of formal dressed individuals with a purpose of gathering around this table.

Seated around the table were the stalwarts of the academic program, each embodying a different blend of authority and presence.

A young woman with flowing black hair shimmering in the sunlight like a midnight waterfall sat right beside the head of the table. Her emerald eyes fiercely surveyed the room with a blend of wildness and warmth. Carmen Ford was her name, a highly recognized Gold rank paladin. She reclined in her seat with a sigh of air as she waited for the head of the program to enter.

She looked down the table across from her... 'The BPA official is already here on time as usual.'

Carmen didn't know how to feel about the slender frame with his neatly trimmed auburn hair. At first glance he just would seem like a player who was always on the hunt for game. But that wasn't who Marc Simpson was at all.

Carmen wasn't the only one who would notice though. She looked across from her to the right just a few seats ahead from Marc's to see her colleague, Robyn Wilson.

It didn't matter if she acted dull and boring sometimes. She was also sharp and was actually the first one to subtly point out how odd the Bureau of Paranormal Affairs agent was a lot of the time.

'He's like one of those know it all's that wait for something bad to happen before coming up with the perfect solution.' Carmen didn't like his slyness.

And she knew the Marc noticed that, he had noticed almost everyone in the room not playing along with his distrustful nature, everyone other than the golden haired beauty that had just sauntered in with a wide stretch of her arms.

"Morning all..." It was still early as they had a busy day ahead of them. "... Sorry I'm late again."

Juniper Fay was also an oddball but one that was welcomed by all. And for some fascinating reason she seemed to welcome trouble.

"Rough evening I presume." The rhetorical question was propped up by one Gregory Knox. A stark contrast to the rooms calm. Even though he was the oldest in the room he seemed to be the one with the most energy like he was still trying to relive his youth.

Lines of laughter etched his face and his bright blue eyes sparkled with mischief. And his casual attire that was a burst of an eye catching palm pink colour amidst the rooms more subdued tones spoke of a man with a lively spirit.

"Don't you know it Greg." Juniper Fay pulled out her chair at the head of the table and sat in it before spinning around once and giving everyone a solid look.

The man sat across from Carmen was staring at his steel silver watch, slightly above the placement of the watch at the bottom of the thumb of the curly haired man was a pure blackened tattoo of a bird... a crow etched on to his gorgeous rich brown skin.

Even as a paladin working with children in enclosed schooling environments like this having tattoos would be looked at in an odd way but everybody in the room knew that these blotches of ink on the mans body were not meaningless in any way.

Bruno Hayes was a man of practicality and rationality, the art pieces drawn on him were indeed to do with his power.

"You find something interesting to stare at newbie!?" the hoarse and bossy voice of Bruno caused her to jump.

Yes, Carmen was the newest member to join the group in the room but it had now been seven months.

"Nothing. I just thought you got a new tattoo." she pointed toward the blackened shaped animal on his hand.

Bruno shook his head.

"I've had this since before you joined us. It's a wonder how you've only noticed it now since we've been sat across each other in these meetings ever since you got here."

Carmen blushed slightly and put her right hand to her mouth to try cover up any embarrassment.

The people in the room had gotten used to her scatter brain personality. They didn't mind it though since they viewed her as one of if not the most capable person in the room along with Bruno.

There were eight people in the room but not many found the behaviour as funny as they probably would have, the mood in the room was laced with a solemn rage.

That solemn rage was mainly felt within one Caleb Adams. His grey hair was slicked back and his eyes were closed. Not in the sly and sneaky way Marc Simpson always kept his eyes closed but only to keep himself from looking at his colleagues who he viewed highly wondering how they would have handled the situation if the positions were swapped.

An older lady sat beside him to his right, her long and wavy silver hair was tied in a loose elegant braid flowing down her back, Carmen liked her. But it was hard to find someone who didn't, Elara Morgan was a kind woman who had a motherly aura that was calming to most.

Almost as calming as the look she always had in her pale blue eyes that one could so easily lose themselves in.

There was a sound of shuffling papers to her left coming from the head.

Juniper Fay was glancing at the papers in quick succession before dropping them and leaning back in her chair with a sigh.

"That's troubling isn't it." Everybody in the room already knew what had happened with the break in and would all have similar thoughts. "There's very little information on the name Charlie Liber..."

"Well it could be a fake..." Greg but in before being cut off by Jun.

"Nah, its real. He was just reported missing along with a younger sister after his parents died in a car accident. That was nine years ago now."

Nine years!

Where would he be hiding for so long? And why just appear now?

Those questions appeared in the minds of everyone in the room. With such skill and power they believed they would have thought that at least someone in the room would have caught a whiff of him causing some trouble.

Unless... the attack on a paladin program was his first... Carmen thought that was impossible.

"After reviewing the outside cameras we seen nothing so maybe he has another ability to teleport or already has allies to do that for him from a faraway distance." Bruno ever so professionally spoke. "We're still waiting on state aid to receive footage from other areas in the city."

No one in the room was expecting anything there. Powered people, awakened were appreciated for the theatrics and their use against supernatural threats like Chimera.

But one bad egg who can cause mass amounts of destruction made all of them hated equally.

And like that there was just more to discriminate against, maybe if they just chased fame and performed for the general public they would be appreciated more but if not then there weren't many options.

It was rare to find one in a normal job and certainly rarer to find one working in a police station or anything similar so that left being a paladin or looking for a different path... a path that was all too similar to ones that people like Charlie Liber took.

Immediate violence.

"They won't help us." Caleb Adams finally opened his eyes and spoke in hardened tone mixed with melancholy. "Even the way they no he, the way Detective Fischer was getting the students report was more like he was interrogating them."

"We'll make sure the students understand and are prepared for that." At Juniper Fay's acceptance Caleb clenched his fist on the table.

"They shouldn't have to, we help the people too."

"And we also harm the lot of them." Bruno spat out not caring for how harsh he may have sounded.

"That's only if you group all awakened together." Caleb tried sounding out his case.

"And that's what people in Detective Fischer's case do." This time it was the foxy Marc Simpson who spoke in his usual playful tone. "He is only viewing from his perspective just as we do from ours."

That did nothing to help Caleb's mood and Jun could see that so decided to move the conversation away before he started getting loud.

"Lets get back to what is important." Everyone immediately became quiet and turned to her. The meeting only turned to an emergency when news of an attack came. It was supposed to be a normal meeting about the students and how they work with each other and the teams they should be in.

"How were the students before the attack?" the calm and alluring voice of Elara Morgan resounded which earned a scoff from Caleb.

Robyn Wilson decided to answer since Caleb didn't seem to want to speak anymore.

"Terrible." the room became quiet until a laugh resounded out from the head of the table. The people in the room expected this from her, Juniper Fay didn't seem to care much for the what was best.

'The challenge would always bring out the best.' That was a phrase that Carmen had remembered her bring out a lot.

"Mainly from group one. Two in specific being Lugh O'Hara and Corbin Monet. The two of them seem to be in some competition that blinds them of completing the task given to them. It was surprising to see that they weren't greatly harmed during the attack."

Bruno had been reading the files of the two boys that was in front of all the adults on the table.

"I assume he was able to avoid it with his power." The words read [Frost], briefly explained as allowing the student to freeze moisture in the air in any way he pleases. It only disappointed Bruno that he was still taken down so easily by a water user.

Like everyone else in the room he had watched the footage and seen how he froze up as soon as the intruder got closer. Although he would certainly not judge, 'he, of course is still a child.'

"Same with Corbin maybe." Greg wasn't very much the analytical type but he wasn't dumb and the people could see where he was coming from.

[Mass]. That was Corbin's power but that didn't mean he was able to protect himself properly. "He could have, but he probably went over his bodies limit."

People immediately started to remember the way his body seemed to be uncontrollably shaking as he got back up and started walking with every step of his creating a small dent in the ground.

Robyn Wilson took back control of the conversation.

"The two of them were not good together at all and could have been detrimental. Corbin has a volatile personality and from past students I don't have a good feeling about his future here."

Some in the room agreed.

"Oh but we haven't even reached the team grouping stage yet." Marc Simpsons' words seemed to shine a light in the golden haired lady's yellow eye's.

"Caleb. I want the two of them working together."

Caleb staying quiet slammed his hand on the table and shouted NO!.

His raised tone didn't phase Ms. Fay, but it did make some shake, only in annoyance though.

"They'd be great together. And if not we'd get to see who the true alpha is."

That phrasing rattled some of the people in the room. Juniper Fay even though looked and sometimes acted like a harmless and caring normal adult, sometimes could be ruthless and almost animalistic.

"And we can add Ava Wolfe as their last teammate. If you guys are really worried then we just have to make sure that whoever leads their team can look after them."

How easily she was able to pick up on the fact that everyone in the room became weary again. She was so used to playing this game.

But having Ava Wolfe on the team as well. The room all knew the surname Wolfe. It belonged to the Gold rank Paladin Adrian Wolfe and Ava was his daughter.

Adrian Wolfe was long since considered the strongest Gold rank paladin and the only one to take Noa Godwin's place as Monarch if he retired or met a worse fate. So the people in the room were expecting big things from his offspring.

"So who do you think should take them?" Carmen decided to ask the question even though most people looked to either her or Bruno as the only two applicable.

"There's still a few weeks left so lets wait on it, the students have only had their first training drill anyway."

If that were a factor then none of them felt that grouping the prior three was even necessary.

"But the first years are really impressive this year." they all agreed... "So lets talk on one Theon Abara!"