Story Arc: Vanguard Academy arc
No POV:
A sphere spiraled it's way into existence. Vaden knew there was no way to dodge that at point blank range as he was already too close.
In the final moment Drex stared Vaden directly in his teal eyes right before he shot the blast.
BOOM...
The shot pushed him back hurdling him towards the wall on the other side. The surroundings erupted In smoke
The ground shook violently and the floor tore apart as Vaden slammed directly into the wall causing an explosion.
Drex struggled to catch his breath as he reverted back to how he was before; his skin loosing the red shade, yellow eyes slowly disappearing and his scar fading off his face.
'Shit I may have gone a bit too far'
Drex thought to himself thinking he may have seriously wounded the commander. At this point he was already on the ground trying his best to pull himself back up. The cut on his arm was bleeding profusely, a damaged body struggling to breathe with other injured places.
"Bravo."
Drex raised his head and saw Vaden walking out of the smoke with only a few scratches and a torn shirt.
"I'd have to admit that was a good fight. You dealt a lot of damage... I'm impressed"
Upon reaching Drex he helped him up, swung an arm around his neck and helped him back into the barracks. The others followed them in with Hayley especially relived that it was finally over.
Vaden helped Drex to sit down on a chair as Hayley rushed over to heal him. Drex watched as a white light covered his arm as his eyes widened a bit in surprise.
Vaden saw this and spoke up.
"Oh I didn't properly introduce your new squad members. As you know we are mostly comprised of devil hybrids and squad 7 is no exception.
As you've seen a few times, this is Hayley the captain and healer of the squad she's contracted with the Ghost Devil. This is Vax. He's the quiet one haha and he's contracted with the Sword Devil he's the assassin of the squad which means he's a good close range fighter. And this is Jax. He's contracted with the Gun Devil which makes him an excellent Marksman."
Vaden paused a bit allowing Drex to digest what he's heard.
"They are all S ranks and i would need you to try to work together with them as you would be teammates till the day you die. Hahahahahah"
Saying that with a laugh he patted Drex who gave a deadpan expression. It was evident that he really didn't want to be here but it seems he had no choice.
Drex watched as Hayley attempted to heal him but the wound didn't close up. She stared dumbfounded for a bit before she decided to wrap a bandage around it instead. As she did it she tried to guess what the matter was but didn't arrive at any sensible reasons as to why her technique failed
Drex wasn't really bothered but spoke up.
"So why?"
Vaden was a bit confused as to the sudden question.
"Why what?"
"Why did you attack me out of the blue like that.. I was honestly confused y'know?"
Vaden understood what Drex was getting at but decided to dodge the question.
"It's kinda difficult to explain so let's just leave it at that "
He stood up
"Well welcome again to squad 7. For now I'll leave you under Hayley's care"
"WHAT?!"
At this point Hayley stood up in objection.
"Why me?"
"Its simple.... I just felt like it"
"HUH???! WAIT!!!"
Vaden didn't bother turning back as he just left with a small laugh
"Hahaha. Seems like this squad will be noisy for sometime"
Accepting defeat, Hayley turned to Drex with a sigh
"Well Noob it seems like we're gonna be stuck together. I can't believe I have to 'babysit' you fucking hell "
Drex just stared at her as she began ranting. In all honesty he didn't like this. At all. But he had to endure this hell.
"Uhmmm I have a name"
Drex pointed out. Apparently being called a 'Noob' pissed him off so he did what he would normally do.. calmly point out that he didn't want any trouble.
"I honestly don't give a fuck. As far as I know you're a Noob. God this squad isn't even a place for B ranks what was the commander thinking"
Hayley rubbed the bridge of her nose trying to calm down
"Well just don't speak to any of us till you rank up i can't bring myself down to your level. And you better not die. Or else I'll....."
Before she could finish, Drex already left the room more than happy to oblige the rule she made. If he wanted he would never rank up but he had to whether he liked it or not.
As he left Hayley was fuming in anger as she knew this was going to be the worst moments of her life.
As Vaden walked through the barracks and was sure he was alone, he removed his arm from his pocket. When he did the arm was horribly dislocated as the whole arm was a greenish hue showing the severity of the injury.
"I didn't expect this much damage from a kick. I could remember putting the arm back in place before.... Oh right I used the arm to stop that blast. Damn that was something.... I better go get this check on"
Memories from the fight kept playing in his head. He was excited but uneasy at the same time. Mostly because of that form Drex used.
"What was that. It felt Devil but was too powerful for a B rank. And he has fully put that form under control. If he masters that form he'll be recognized as a national threat."
As he approached the infirmary, he went inside when a female commander jumped onto him from behind.
"Vadeyyyy!!"
"Hello Lia"
She pressed her chest on his back.
"How are you!!!"
Lia was one of the commanders in the academy. She was of average height and had a very noisy and jovial attitude which other commanders seemed to like. Her Long black hair that was tied in a ponytail with bangs on the left side of her face seemed to attract attention wherever she went. She had a beautiful set of Teal colored eyes matched that of Vaden but seemed to be of a darker shade to compliment her dark hair. She was the youngest commander in the whole academy being only 19 years old.
And her body?
Gahd dayum.
She was gifted with a body that possessed enough curves to drive a guy crazy. Curves in all the right places and a mature feminine voice.
"Didn't I tell you not to do that whenever you saw me?"
"Awww come on you can't blame from being happy seeing my big brother"
She hugged him tighter.
True. They were both related with a two year difference between them. Even at that, Vaden found it very uncomfortable went a busty Young adult like her was this careless and non self conscious related or not. He just sighed.
Lia then noticed his hand and her expression instantly switched to that of worry.
"Hey what happened"
"Oh this? I got careless"
"Seriously"
"Yeah I just confirmed what had been bothering me"
She instantly caught on
"Ohhhh is it that thing with that new hunter.... What was his name again? Drix?... Drax?
..."
"Drex"
"That's the boy you told me about. You still promised that I'll meet him don't forget that"
Vaden completely ignored her and continued
"I was right that ranking isn't for him"
At this point one of the healers were already working on his wound. The dislocation was a rather nasty one as it took some time for the wound to completely heal.
When it did he flexed the arm and stood up wanting to finish what he was saying.
"The devil that possessed him hasn't completely fused with him that's why his individual devil energy is low. It's a good thing too because I don't know what would have happened if he was actually fused completely with it. So my best guess is that without transformation he is a B rank but transcends to an A rank or even a lower S rank when he becomes that.... Thing"
"And how did you know that?"
"That was why I fought him in the first place. To verify that thought himself.
When we fought it was a relatively easy one. I gave him quite a beating but then he transformed and the battle shifted almost immediately"
Vaden knew the truth. Even though he was holding back he couldn't deny the fact that a dislocation isn't all he would get if Drex had full control of that form.
Lia decided to ask about the 'thing' Vaden talked about.
"Uhm okay... But what 'Thing' are you talking about?"
"In the midst of battle, he... Transformed into something. Something terrifying. I should know because every other hybrid here didn't undergo much physical change when they transformed but Drex changed completely it was fascinating but also terrifying. I don't know if he'll control that form but if that devil fuses completely, it could mean trouble."
Lia was even more excited hearing that.
"Really??! When can I meet him. I wanna meet himmmm. You promised....."
"I know and you'll meet him soon but for now we need to properly prepare him because a presence like his could draw attention; hunters and devils alike"
"Oh ok then just don't forget about it"
She said as she turned to leave.
"Yeah I won't"
Vaden also decided to leave and attend to other matters that he left pending for way too long.
Drex POV:
It's 6:00am and my alram started ringing when I got out of the shower. Yup I've been up way before the alarm rung. You can't blame me.. live through what I've been through and you would know there was no point in oversleeping.
Although I wouldn't have any problem with sleeping in but I have to go to class so i turned off the alarm and got dressed.
Walking out of the room i realised i almost forgot my hoodie but as I was about to grab it i felt something grow out of my back and grab it for me. It was a hand that was more like a shadow that stretched out of my back. It didn't have a form because I was almost able to see through it.
I looked on as it picked my hoodie and dropped it in my hands
"What the fuck?"
I caught the hoodie still in confusion of what happened. I just.... stared. Honestly I didn't understand what just happened and it was kinda freaking me out. As I thought that, the arm retreated back into my back leaving a weird tingling sensation.
I looked back at the hoodie in my hands and kept wondering.
Sure I was still injured.
It was so bad that i couldn't clench my fist to grab the jacket well.
"I guess I'll figure this out later right now I gotta get to class"
Saying that i left my room and went straight to class. Our classes weren't really different from your average normal classes... We still had Maths and English classes the only thing that changed was the classes where we learned about devils and their origins... That.... Was basically it nothing more nothing less.
I finally got to class and took a sit. I could feel people staring at me and I felt my gaze automatically shift to my bandaged arm.
Sigh
It was really hurting right now but what can I say.. I had to deal with it. At that moment Jax walked in.
"Hey man"
"Uhh hey"
He sat on the desk next to mine.
"Sorry about what the commander did..."
"Ohhh it's fine. I'm just..... Living"
"Mhm. No one really knows why he did that but once you get to know him he's a pretty chill guy"
I stared at him.
"And sorry about Hayley too she has trust issues so it would take some time to warm up to you hehe"
"Nahh I'm good I don't think i want her to warm up to me or anything I'm fine as is"
He stood up at this point
"Look. I'm not really interested in going on with what she said... You can talk to me at least whenever you need to.
See ya later"
"Oh uhhh thanks"
"It's all good bro."
He waved and took a sit in another side of the class. For someone who carried guns everywhere he was pretty nice but honestly it made me feel uncomfortable. For a long time I've been treated like shit so I guess I just kinda got used to it so an act of kindness towards me didn't really make me feel right... All throughout the day I've been thinking about a lot of things and how much my life is going to change.
The day was finally almost over but instead of going back to my room to get a well deserved nap I was walking towards the school gym.
Why?
I got a message asking to meet up for something "important". Well if it's worth making me miss a good nap It had to be important....
Right?
As i kept walking towards the gym i passed by a window and for the first time in my two weeks of being here i finally got a good look at myself.
I was actually pretty hot.
Wayyy hotter than i remembered. My curly hair that almost reached my neck didn't really bother me even though I know that a hairstyle like this was bound to stick to my body as i sweat.
Shit I looked like that character from that Kengan Ashura anime I watched one time. I believe his name was Tokita Ohma...
The only difference was that my hair was black and i had ash eyes.
I looked so good... I would have to thank the devil that possessed me; that is if we're able to meet....oh well i guess i better get this over with.
I took another turn and finally met the person responsible for calling me out here.
I saw a very pretty girl around my age. Her pinkish-blonde hair lightly danced with the direction of the gentle breeze that blew.
I think i recognize her. She's one of those popular girls in our class... Yeahhhh i couldn't mistake it. I've seen a lot of people flock her whenever we were free between classes and she also seemed to like the attention... But right now she was looking anxious; distressed even I wonder what happened.
"Oh uhm thanks for coming"
She said that as she noticed my presence.
"Sorry for calling you out like this"
"It's fine. So what's the issue here"
Her face immediately went red as she looked at the ground avoiding eye contact. She gripped her skirt as she struggled to speak.
"I.... I think.... I think i..."
Wait... Is this what i think it is??? No it can't be... Can it? Was i about to be asked out? My first one too! I didn't know if i should be happy cuz I've never really met her but i decided to let her finish.
"I... I think I'm about to be asked out!"
Damn!
I honestly thought this would be my big break oh the pain.... So much pain.
Well i can only keep dreaming right?
Anyway... As she said that she seemed very uncomfortable. She then handed something to me. It was an envelope with a heart sticker.
Ahhh it's a love letter... I scanned over the words that were scribbled on the paper inside.
I spoke up after i finished reading.
"Ok... Soooo what do you need me for"
"I... I want to ask a favor from you"
This time she didn't look uncomfortable.. she was rather shy.
"Which is?"
"Somebody wrote that to me but I don't feel the same way... I'm not really interested in having a relationship right now"
Ohhh so that's how it is. She continued
"I want to let him down easy. I don't want to hurt him too much so... Co.. could you act like my boyfriend while we talk? Please?"
Ok ain't gonna lie that actually caught me off guard.. like out of all the dudes in our class she chose me. Why?
I decided to voice out that thought in my head .
"Uhmmm why me?"
Her blue eyes stared into mine and quickly darted off to another direction.
"You just seemed... Approachable. And I feel kinda.... Comfortable whenever you're around even though this is the first time we're talking"
"Ok first off I don't even know your name and second that plan betrays a lotta morals"
It's not like i didn't know her name. I know that her name was Lucy. I mean she's hella popular who wouldn't know her name but still this was all happening too fast.
Before i could say any other thing, we both felt a presence and we turned to see who it was.
"Uhhh who is this? Ohh I see is he your..."
WAITTTTTT!!!!
ITS A GIRL!!!
WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK???
I saw a girl shakely make her way towards us. I could see that even Lucy was shocked. Heh bet she wasn't expecting this plot twist.
So there were actually lesbians in this school... Why am I not surprised. The awkwardness was heavy so Lucy decided to talk
"He's my... He's.... My..."
At this point I had to choice than to interject cuz i knew where this was going.
"I'm just her friend"
I calmly spoke up earning a relived sigh from the other girl. I went over to the wall and squatted there resting my back on it as they both couldn't seem to get a word out from each other so i intervened once again.
" *Sigh* Love can be such a bitch"
I could feel both of them look at me wondering why I said that. I just looked into the sky taking in the orange and yellow colours before speaking.
"It'll find us all, it's hurt us all. But it's the only thing that'll save us all.
This feeling isn't to be toyed with. You don't know how that person feels and how hard it is to get themselves to say 'i love you ' because over and over when they try it seems to be stuck in their throat. So that's why most people decide to put it into writing and doing that alone while running the risk of being rejected takes a lot of guts."
I slowly stood up to leave.
"Therefore for your own good, if you don't feel the same way let her know. Don't ever tell someone yes if you don't feel the same way. Neither should you tell them no I'd you do feel the same way.
That's why I have a lot of respect for anyone bold enough to confess to me. I should know because it takes a lot of guts."
I passed them both about to leave before turning my head making sure they saw only my eyes before finally saying...
"Love isn't a game y'know "
Saying that i left.
Sure i don't really feel anything after saying cuz half of the shit I blabbed there was through life experience. I've never had a girlfriend but i honestly have an interest in having one but I know that someone like me can't have that reality.
Well what can I say it is what it is.
I decided to hang around and see what happens so i bought a soda and sat on a bench trying to enjoy myself .
I sat down reminiscing on what I said earlier and i realized that i never actually acted on what I said or what i believed. It's true that i admire..no respect people that take risks like that but I'm more of a coward.
I've had crushes before but i never had the courage to meet them. I never had the courage to do anything to begin with. I was just a shy nobody whom people always made fun of.
Even if I was to have that courage I still ran a risk of getting rejected that's why I admire that girl who came to confess her feelings even though I had reservations on her sexual orientation.
"Fucking hypocrite"
I said to myself because i never acted on anything in my life and here I was preaching about what i myself should have down years ago.
That's when it hit me....
The harsh realization that i really was alone in this world.
I smiled to my self painfully asking myself
'is this what my parents would have wanted '
Having a weak coward as their son would sure sting if it was me so i understand how they must've felt.
Just then I heard footsteps coming out of the place I left and saw the girl I saw earlier running out seemingly crying. Not long after thatg I saw Lucy coming out as well but with a saddened look on her face. I instantly understood what happened.
"So... I'm guess all went well?"
I felt her sit next to me and shifted a bit to accommodate her.
"I rejected her... I told her that two girls can never be together.... I told her that we can try to be normal classmates tomorrow but it's still up to her"
"Mhm"
Is all i could say. Honestly i wouldn't blame her or any other girls for developing feelings for her. She was beautiful, kind and gentle. She had this aura that would make anyone want to protect and be with her so it's really not her fault.
It was silent for a while when she suddenly spoke I saw her gaze shift to my arm and it dawned on me that she must have already noticed it a while ago mainly because i never covered the arm even though I wore a long sleeved hoodie.
"Your arm...."
"Ohh this? I got it from a fight"
"Fight? When did you go for a mission and did you do it alone?"
"Not really. I fought our commander so i left with this injury "
"Commander?? Are there any broken bones?"
"No just this"
I wonder why she asked that.
"Really? Well it's kind of an unavoidable result but hunters who fought their commanders usually left with a broken bone.. either on the arms or legs that's why I asked"
I mean technically he did break my bones but it didn't really affect me. I just didn't know that this was how strong a Vanguard commander was.
"And how do you know it isn't a broken bone "
She giggled a bit.
"Come on I'm not stupid "
She pointed at a visible red line on my bandage.
"This is blood.. broken bones are internal wounds and it doesn't bleed on the surface. This is a visible cut and it has to be deep enough if you had to bandage it"
Ok she's pretty smart.
"But being able to fight a commander and leave with a not so major injury is really impressive even though I know he was probably holding back"
"You do know I'm a B rank righ?"
"That doesn't really matter to me I like to think that everyone has their time to bloom; some more earlier than the rest."
"I see.."
She had that shy look on her face again as she spoke
"So..if it's ok with you can we... Be friends at least"
I stared. This was the first time in my life someone willingly came to me to be my friend and it honestly felt.... Good.
I smiled...
"Sure why not"
"Thank you i hope we can get along"
Saying that she stood up ready to leave.
"And sorry for dragging you into this drama"
I shrugged.
"I don't mind having a day like this once in a while"
With that I watched her leave. I really wanted to enjoy the sunset a lil bit more but i decided to go back to my room and take a long nap....