Jacob darted awake. His eyes examined the room he found himself in, his back immediately straightened out. Circuits were already running through his arm and into his hand, his fingers trained on anyone approaching him.

  However, the Behemoth girl he was fighting just a moment ago wasn't there. As a matter of fact, he was not in the mess hall anymore.

  Right as he was about to lower his hand, he immediately raised it again, rushing to his temples. Electrical buzzing rang in his ears, a painful reminder of the stunt he had pulled. Pain was still running through his nerves, especially in his head.

  “My noggin's killing me…”

  He groaned in pain, before taking a second look at the room around him. It didn't look like the medical bay, nor any of the cells he had seen. It was… Classier. Almost like the dorms at the military academy, but darker.

  He could barely make out the shape of a nightstand beside the bed he was sitting on. He tested with his hand, until he found a lamp sitting on it. Ark sprung from his fingertips into the gemstone at its core, lighting up the atmosphere.

  As he thought, the room was similar to the military academy's own. The bed's frame was made out of elegant, green metal and adorned with Teiwesian decorations. The walls were also of a finer material than the prison's.

  There was another bed on the opposite side of the room, identical to the one Jacob was on. It was empty. To the left of each bed was a desk, and to the right a nightstand with a gemstone powered lamp. On both the eastern and western walls were doors.

  “Where in the bloody hell did he send me…”

  Jacob clicked his tongue, before getting up. His knee nearly buckled, probably an aftereffect of the strong electrical current of his spell. He clicked his tongue once again, before looking towards the nightstand.

  A small, rectangular piece of fine paper was placed on it. There was a message inked in black and rough handwriting, which he bent over to read. He immediately understood who wrote it. A chuckle escaped his lips, reading the message with Sol's accent.

  “Good mornin', li'l guy! I hope ya didn't hurt yerself too much with that stunt ya pulled at the mess hall! But, congrats! It worked! That was yer plan, yeah? Rile me up ‘n get me ta get ya ta join me? It worked, be proud of yerself! I don't know how long it'll be ‘till I come visit ya, so be good ‘n don't do anythin' dumb ‘till me ‘n the others come. Love, Sol!”

  A few hearts, suns and smiley faces were present at the end of the message. Jacob wrinkled his nose and furrowed his brows, everything about that man disgusted him. Especially his attempts at acting like a parental figure.

  He sighed, looking once more around him, before dropping down onto the bed. He was lying with his back turned towards the ceiling, his limbs spread out. He couldn't bother doing anything at the moment, he would just wait until Sol came back.

  Even though he was wondering why he said ‘we’ in the letter, he could guess who he was referring to. That girl was sure to be part of whatever Sol was scheming.

  “Right. Gotta keep an eye out…”

  He nodded to himself. Getting Sol to recruit him was only the first step. Although Jacob only wanted to get closer to that man for the moment, Ayn had given him clear instructions on what to do, and what to look for.

  There were a few things which Ayn needed, and he believed Sol was the key to reaching them. Jacob rolled over, turning his stomach towards the ceiling. How would he communicate with the elf, now that he wasn't a prisoner?

  Even if he found what he was looking for, he would have no way of reporting back to Ayn. He shook his head, the elf was smart, he probably had a plan. His gaze shifted towards the door. Soon enough, someone knocked on it, and pushed it open.

  “Oh! Yer up already, li'l guy? Good for ya!”

  The first one to come through the door frame was Sol. His imposing figure quickly advanced towards Jacob, roughing up his hair with a hand. His eyes were hidden by the sunglasses, as usual.

  He strode towards the western wall of the room, going through the other door, but closing it behind him. He would come back out with two chairs in hand, placing them beside the bed which Jacob was laying on.

  He looked around the room, confused, before fully pulling the door open. Jacob saw two more figures in the corridor.

  “Why are ya waitin' outside? Come in!”

  The Behemoth girl hesitantly stepped foot inside, pulling her hood down. As soon as she locked eyes with Jacob, she glared at him, furrowing her brows. However, she clicked her tongue and kept it at that, sitting down on one of the chairs.

  Following her was someone Jacob didn't recognize. He had never seen him before. He was a dark elf, like Ayn, albeit with longer hair, and a more serious expression on his face. The elf looked him up and down, as if he was judging Jacob.

  He pulled his cap down to break eye contact, before straightening himself up on the bed. The long haired boy also sat down on one of the chairs, after taking a slow and long look around the room.

  “Not too shabby. Better than the medical bay and the holding cells, for sure. I like it.”

  He noted, nodding towards Sol. The man grinned happily, pointing two thumbs up at the boy, before turning to Jacob and doing the same. He was confused by this gesture, but didn't think too much of it.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  The three younger people looked at each other, intermittently locking eyes awkwardly, with varied expressions on their faces. The Behemoth and the Tribefolk were glaring at each other, while the elf and the girl looked at each other as if they were exasperated.

  To break the silence, and clear the awkwardness, Sol cleared his throat and spoke out.

  “Alright! Before we start this first meetin', I think I hafta explain ta y'all what ya'll be doin', from today on.

  “But first! A round of introductions! Who's down ta go first?”

  The three exchanged more awkward looks. Then, after letting out a sigh, the elf lowered his head and raised his hand. Sol's smile grew in size, strongly nodding his head in approval.

  “I guess, me. My name's Arthur Aerhius. I suffer from amnesia. I can't use any magic at the moment, due to… Er, an incident.”

  He didn't have much to say. He glanced at the air beside him, before nodding to himself, as if someone just told him he did great on that short introduction. Jacob tilted his head slightly.

  “That it? Lad, first impressions are important, innit? Shouldn't you talk more?”

  Arthur's eyes widened, after hearing Jacob speaking. His cheeks trembled, and he slowly exhaled with his eyes closed. He once again glanced at the blank air, his eyes flicking up and down. A silent chuckle escaped his lips.

  He coughed a few times to clear his throat, accidentally laughing some more, before locking eyes with the Tribefolk. A slight smile was present on his face.

  “Ergo, amnesia. Even if I wanted to tell you more about myself, I couldn't. Of course, I could talk to you about the books I've read in my time here, or what I did while being hospitalized… But I doubt that would make for good dialogue.”

  Jacob raised his brows, with a mix of amusement and surprise. However, they returned to their positions quickly, as he clicked his tongue. If Ayn was annoying because of his inability to be serious, it was the opposite with this guy.

  He was serious to the point of acting and sounding smug about even the littlest details. Jacob felt like he was being looked down, and that smirk didn't help the elf's case at all. He already didn't like him.

  Sol clapped his hands, causing Jacob to jump slightly from the sudden sound. He glared at the man, who ignored him and kept his hands clasped.

  “Nice! That's a good start! How about ya go next?”

  He nodded with his chin towards the Behemoth girl. Her eyes darted around the room, avoiding Sol's gaze, but eventually she gave up and sighed. She lowered her head while speaking, as if reading prepared lines.

  “Er… My name's Irene Teufel. I'm thirteen years old. I shouldn't talk about my Gift, but all of y'all know about it, somewhat. I'm an expert at Water-Type magic. Er, specifically, it's pretty much the only magic I can use. Oh, um, I mean, with ease. I can still do other spells. Somewhat, though… Um, I hope we'll get along, and it's nice to meet y'all. Er, I mean, you.”

  She kept her eyes low, her hands placed on her closed legs. She let out an exhale a few seconds after speaking, closing her eyes and nodding to herself. Jacob clicked his tongue, placing his chin on the back of his hand and looking away.

  They were both already getting on his nerves. The elf was acting as if he was superior to him, and that Behemoth girl was acting the opposite as she was during their fight. All innocent and shy, as if she hadn't tried to cut him up that same day.

  A few seconds of quiet ensued.

  “Well… C'mon, Jacob! It's yer turn!”

  Jacob looked at Sol. The expression in his eyes switched from one of annoyance to scorn quickly, and he let out a scowling groan.

  “Fine. The name's Jacob. I'm proper good at Fire-Type spells. Ain't got nothing else to say to you dimwits.”

  Irene stared at him blankly, while Arthur raised an eyebrow at his insult. He smirked, even if he would have to work with them, that didn't mean he would have to get along with them. They seemed annoying, anyways.

  And if they got pissed off and tried to fight him over his attitude, he'd welcome a good fight with open arms. Though, that elf seemed kind of weak physically, and he mentioned he couldn't use magic.

  His eyes slowly moved towards Sol. He was shaking his head, and wagging his finger.

  “No, no! Ya see, he forgot somethin' important!”

  His eyes widened. Surely, he wouldn't say something like that. He hoped that man wouldn't go as far as embarrass him in front of those two. But, knowing him and how he acted, that would happen.

  “Ya see… He's my son! Well, sorta, anyways. A long, long time ago, I found ‘im ‘n his brother, ‘n in my mercy ‘n charity, adopted ‘em… Ain't I so great?”

  The corners of Irene's eyes moved upwards as she giggled with her hand in front of her mouth, while Arthur shook his head with a silent chuckle. Sol placed both of his hands in front of his own chest and closed his eyes, with a smile on his face.

  Jacob's lip twitched. A silent rage bubbled up in him. That man dared to call him his son, even though he was the reason his parents were dead to begin with. His finger twitched.

  On the back of his palm, Ley Lines shifted, forming the symbols he was used to. He looked down at his hand, Ark not yet flowing in the circuits, and then back at the man. He was so close, at that moment.

  The circuits creeped down from his fingertips and onto the bed. Then, from the bed, they spread onto the floor, and eventually reached Sol's body. If he just activated the spell now, he could blow him up. And with any luck, he wouldn't endure the attack.

  Then, his gaze shifted towards his side. From the chair, Arthur's crimson eyes were glaring at him, as if staring into his soul. The elf's eyes slowly moved. His pupils traced a line, moving from Jacob's chest, down his arms and into his fingertips, towards Sol.

  Jacob shuddered. A chill ran down his spine, and Arthur's focus shifted. Even if it wasn't possible, it was as if he could read the path of his Ley Lines, before Ark even passed through them.

  The circuits quickly retracted into his body. Sol once again clapped his hands, he probably noticed something was amiss and wanted to change the atmosphere. He waited for all of them to look at him.

  “Now, onto today's main topic. First of all, this will be y'all's headquarters, and dormitories. This room in here, that's the boys'. Over there, that's yer room, Irene.”

  He pointed with his chin at the closed door on the western wall.

  “Second of all… I'm sure y'all wanna know what yer really gettin' into. Ya heard the gist already. It's a special task force fer the Sigel's Police Departmen'. At its core, it's somethin' simple.

  “But, it's more than that. I'll be honest with y'all kids. This is an experiment. The details are way beyond yer pay grade, so don't bother askin', aight? What ya can know, is that ya were chosen for specific characteristics. ‘N I'm not talking ‘bout what ya can or can't do, or yer preferred Magic-Types. Each of y'all can guess what I'm talking ‘bout.”

  Jacob scowled. Of course, this was his plan. He was thinking of recruiting him since the beginning, since he threw him into prison. Most likely, it was because of his closeness with Sol. He had no idea about the other two, though.

  Arthur seemed to be deep in thought, covering his mouth with two fingers and furrowing his brows. On the other hand, Irene seemed to have a defeated expression on her face. As if she was expecting this, but was hoping for him to say something else.

  “‘N so… I welcome y'all formally, ta the Sigel's Police Department Special Task Force.

  “The codename is…”

  He halted his speech for a second, glancing at the three's faces. Even if it was bound to be something stupid, Jacob thought, he was somewhat interested in what it would be.

  “Moirai.”