After grabbing my black fencing gear, I start to head towards class. As soon as I arrive, I see some people starting their mock battles. I calmly walked and looked for an available opponent to see who can give me a warm-up for later. I see a boy talking to the teacher about some tips on fencing. He feels like he's about to fall over from the amount of anxiety I see from his face.
Y/N smirks, "Looks like I found my first target pract- err I mean partner."
I approached the two who were having a conversation and asked, "Hey teach, mind if I borrow him for some practice?"
The teacher looks over and looks at the anxious boy, "There you go Rowan. You can practice with Y/N and try to apply what we discussed."
Rowan looked at Y/N and asked, "Try to go easy on me. I'm still a little new to all this."
I nodded and assumed a fencing stance as did Rowan. We went practicing back-to-back enough for Rowan to feel a bit comfortable with fencing. I finished the practice and thanked Rowan for a good match. Rowan reciprocates the gesture shakingly.
I shook my head and thought, "Seems like he's still very anxious, even after all that."
After the class ended, there were no more classes for the day. The remaining free time was used to check up on Enid, Wednesday, and Eugene before I head out tonight at the cave.
Knowing that everyone is doing all right, although Wednesday is a bit ticked off by Enid's enthusiasm. I believe they'll get along nicely with one being hyper positive and the other obscurely negative.
Night has arrived and my time to investigate that cave starts. I called upon Igris and the Shadow Knights to point out the location of the cave while they scout ahead for any unforeseen development. Thankfully, there were no surprises on the way there.
As I arrived at the cave, I sensed some lingering resentment inside. Perhaps from some innocent victim that passed away or from something else. As I walk inside the cave, it is littered with claw marks no ordinary animals could make.
There's a chain cuff linking to the cave wall, possibly from whatever this "thing" is. I notice a remnant of a claw lodged in the cave wall where the cuffs were at. I grabbed it and took it out.
Y/N murmurs, "I can't pull the shadow from this, so whoever this belongs to should still be alive."
As I stroked my chin thinking what to do next, the knights informed me that police were coming close to their location. From what the chatter the knights heard, they seem to be looking for suspects or evidence from a massacred hiker. I told the Shadow Knights to keep watch over the cave as whatever "it" is may show up again and to inform me if there's any new development.
With that said, I used Shadow Exchanged back to Nevermore. It's still pretty early in the evening so I went walking around the academy.
The breeze felt nice as the forest nearby had a freshness in the air. I was passing by Ophelia Hall when I suddenly heard music coming from the top balcony. I used Shadow Exchange again across the balcony to see who's playing.
I looked across only to see Wednesday playing the song "Paint It Black" by the Rolling Stones on the cello. I just sat on the roof enjoying the nice breeze and music that came across.
Y/N looks over and smiles, "Wednesday looks pretty cute when she's serious like that."
Well, anyone who is serious about their work is attractive in their own way. Thinking about myself, I wonder what I look like to other people whenever I focus on something.
I start chuckling, "I bet I look more handsome to the viewers seeing as they're reading this right now."
I start pointing at the readers on their phones or computers and winking at them.
As the song slowly ended, I clapped hard for the great performance. Wednesday in a daze from completing the cello performance heard the applause and looked around to see where it was coming from. She looked to the side and then looked over across to see Y/N sitting on the roof clapping. Wednesday can feel the faintest heartbeat from her dead heart seemingly proud that Y/N enjoyed the music despite her not expecting such applause. She doesn't understand why she's feeling the way she feels warmth when it mattered to Y/N.
Wednesday whispers, "It must be a familiar feeling I get from him. Like the cold and dark shadows embrace his very presence, yet I still feel the faintest of light from his core."
She nodded and thought, "What a contradictory person. This feeling is not bad."
From the back, Enid pops out and exclaimed, "How did you get that oversized violin out here?"
Wednesday replies, "I had an extra hand."
On top of the music stand, a severed hand with scars and sewn up stitches litter the surface waves at Enid. I looked over and saw Wednesday and Enid having an emotional conversation.
I hear wolves howling in the distance and sigh, "Enid must still be feeling bad about not wolfing out."
I then Shadow Exchanged to the roof of Ophelia Hall and slowly came down to their balcony. Both Enid and Wednesday heard footsteps above and saw Y/N climbing down. Wednesday was little in shock as she just saw Y/N across the balcony and Enid tried hiding her sadness by smiling just now.
I got down safely and stroked Enid's head and said, "Don't be sad, Enid. I know you well enough from that smile you're forcing that you still feel bad for not wolfing out yet. It will come to you naturally and even if you don't, you'll still have me as your friend. I'm sure Wednesday will as well."
Enid looked up at Y/N and hugged him hard with tears in her eyes. I stroked her hair while holding her till she calmed down.
Enid wiped her tears and said chokingly, "Thank you Y/N. Thank you for being my friend."
And she thought, "maybe more."
Y/N smiles, "You're always welcome Enid and sorry Wednesday for ignoring you. Your performance with the cello was fantastic. What a talent you got there."
I noticed a hand on Wednesday's shoulders and greeted it with a hello.
Wednesday replies, "Thank you, though I wasn't expecting an audience from across the way. By the way, this is Thing, my servant."
Thing waved at me, and I waved back with a smile.
I asked, "How is he alive as a hand?"
Wednesday replied, "It's one of the great Addams mysteries."
Y/N responds, "I can't argue about that. Thing is a mystery. I don't see anything that proclaims him to be dead before. It's like his whole soul was cramped into just his right hand. Fascinating."
Wednesday looked at Y/N intently on how he came into that conclusion.
She asked, "How do you know that? Can you elaborate? Also how did you get on this roof so fast when you were just across the way?"
I looked at Wednesday in slight dismay that I might have exposed my power over the shadows instead of telekinesis. After all, my power comes from Ashborn, King of the Undead, so it's completely normal for me to see souls and shadows as a way for me to bring them into the Shadow Legion.
I sighed and explained, "I never fully explained what kind of person I am. So, forgive me for hiding it entirely as I did not want to cause panic. Enid, I explained to you that I was a telekinetic psychic but that is just one aspect of my power."
After saying that, I let the shadows crawl and engulf my hand and creep towards my head.
I continued, "I also control the shadows as well as their souls. Though I do not rip the very souls from the living as I only do so when they have perished."
I called upon Igris to show up behind me and the Shadow Knights across the rooftops of Nevermore.
Both Wednesday and Enid looked over in shock to see hundreds of shadows composed of knights and animals around the academy bowing towards Y/N. They both looked at Y/N who was smiling sheepishly. This kind of secret was just told to the both of them on a whim was indicative of his trust of them. Both Wednesday and Enid looked at each other and nodded to keep this secret for him.
Wednesday, getting over her shock, said, "We'll keep your secret."
While Enid chimes in, "Yup, we will~!"
I smiled and dismissed the Shadow Knights and Igris. I'm glad I can finally be truthful to them since I do feel a little guilty for keeping this a secret from them but maybe in the future, I'll let them know I'm not from this world at all and I may have to leave for a while after this year ends.
I talked with Wednesday and Enid for a little while longer while looking over the balcony. I told them that I would head back for the night and said my goodbye. I left through Shadow Exchange with a shadow knight and appeared in my room. Both girls looked at the shadow that teleported him.
Wednesday felt like her mood was all over the place as well as Enid's. Y/N demonstration of his power with all the knights kneeling toward him makes me believe that he was royalty or even a king. Both girls went to bed with scenes of Y/N whether his demeanor or his power or his gentle affection for his friends. More questions riddle the girls' minds as they will question Y/N for another day.
Meanwhile, Sheriff Galpin and his police officers are scouring the forest for any remains of the massacred hiker victims or evidence of a suspect. Nothing was found and would continue the search tomorrow morning.
A mystery still lingers on both the minds of our protagonist and the residents of Nevermore as well as Jericho on who is responsible for the killings recently.