Roy's voice failed him. Every word he had prepared died in his throat when he faced Darius.
Darius finally broke the silence with one question that Roy didn't want to hear.
"What were you thinking?" His voice was low, a dangerous, vibrating growl meant only for Roy's ears.
Roy took a deep breath and finally got the ability to talk again, not with his normal, unemotional voice. He sounded like a normal teenager.
"I... I don't know. Something happened and I just found myself there." He then whispered, "I showed you, remember?"
Darius sighed. The only thing that changed was that the predatory gaze had calmed down a little.
"And what was that?" Darius asked, his voice suddenly booming, projecting across the entire roof for everyone to hear.
Roy took a moment to understand the weird question. He'd shown Darius some of the things he sees and deals with, his visions, and the sound of the ghosts, and they aren't something that can be forgotten easily. The question didn't make any sense to him.
Nearby, Anton and Mila touched down on the roof. Mila put the coin she was riding in her pocket.
Anton let out a low whistle. "Man, I have never seen him this angry before. You sure he won't kill him?"
"We aren't sure," Jax whispered, his voice trembling.
"I showed you before," Roy said, his voice rising in defensive frustration. "How could you forget?"
"I remember," Darius snapped, his voice reaching a pitch that made Roy's ears ring. "I am asking what was the reason it happened. Did you lose control of your body? Or did you simply choose to ignore my warning?"
"Can you keep it down?" Roy pleaded, glancing at the others. "They made me feel like I needed more info, that's all. I don't like sharing the details."
SMACK.
The sound of the slap struck like lightning, even though none was used.
Anton instinctively winced, touching his own cheek. "Oh, I felt that."
Omar covered his mouth and took a step back. "I don't think even his parents did that."
"That brings back bad memories," Jax muttered, looking away.
Roy's head was whipped to the side. He stayed like that for several seconds, frozen by the sheer shock of the physical blow. When he finally turned back, he was met with Darius's face inches from his own, shouting with a vehemence that felt like a physical weight.
"You don't get to use your condition as an excuse while keeping it a secret!"
"But—"
"No 'buts'!" Darius roared. "I told you not to eavesdrop. I told you Rank 0s are unstable. I put you directly behind me. I made it your responsibility to protect this class. And what did you do?"
"I—"
"You gambled with the lives of the entire Academy! If there is a chance of you losing control and putting everyone in danger, you don't get to hide it, refuse help until it's forced on you, and then use it as an excuse when things go south!"
"I didn't want to put them in danger," Roy whispered, his voice breaking, barely audible over the wind.
"You didn't want to? Well, congratulations on doing exactly the opposite. Great work. You hid your problems so well that a thousand souls almost evaporated because of you."
Darius straightened his back and opened his hand forward. "I know you have it. Give it to me. Your ID."
Marie turned away, unable to watch.
Roy slowly took the ID out of his pocket. The moment it was fully out, Darius snapped it from his hand.
"I've been wrong before," Darius said, his voice dropping back to that terrifyingly quiet tone. "But I don't think I've ever been this wrong and disappointed in a person before."
Darius looked back at Valeria. "You are the new Rank 1. All responsibilities and rights are yours. I will provide the necessary documents tomorrow morning. Understood?"
"U-Understood," Valeria stammered, her voice thick with doubt. This wasn't the victory she wanted.
Darius looked back at Roy, who was now staring hollowly at the floor.
"As for you, your enrollment will be decided next week upon my return. For now, you are restricted to your dorm. If I knew that you took so much as a single step outside that room, the punishment we discussed during our first real class would be applied."
Marie covered her mouth. "Wait, does that mean...?"
"Isn't that too harsh?" Marcus asked.
"He put everyone's life at risk," Elise said, though her voice lacked its usual bite. "A harsh punishment is the only logical outcome."
Roy didn't react. He just accepted it.
Darius wasn't finished. He addressed the entire group. "The rest of you—training intensity is doubled. If I return and you haven't exceeded my expectations, there will be consequences for everyone. You want to spy on your instructors? You want to play at being heroes? Then you'll work like them. Now, get to your dorms. Move!"
The shadows beneath Roy's feet began to swirl, his instinct to teleport away taking over.
In a femtosecond, Darius's eyes locked onto the movement. A spark of violet lightning shot out, striking Roy's leg. Roy collapsed onto one knee with a cry of pain.
"No powers until I return. Go to your dorm walking on your legs."
Omar stepped forward, reaching out to help him up. Before his hand could touch Roy's shoulder, a bolt of lightning hissed into the floor between them. Darius just looked at Omar with his predatory eyes without saying a word. Omar understood and took a step back.
"But... there's no way down without powers," Roy muttered, still not looking up. "There are no doors on this roof."
Darius gave Anton a sharp nod.
Anton sighed and flicked his wrist. A gentle updraft formed under Roy, lifting him off the roof and lowering him toward the ground.
"Why are you all still standing here?" Darius barked at the rest of the class. "Move! Now!"
The students scrambled, jumping from the roof simultaneously to avoid further wrath.
Anton walked to Darius, putting a hand on his back. "You sure you didn't go overboard?"
"If anything, I went underboard." Darius didn't teleport this time. He walked toward the edge and jumped down like his students.
"I told you that kid is no good," Mila said, stepping up beside Anton and adjusting her glasses.
"I don't think this is the time for an 'I told you so,' don't you think?"
"Either way, that kid deserves what is happening to him. Now I have no time to sleep with all the new expenses I need to calculate, and don't get me started on that fucking cannon shot."
"I also don't have that much time. I need to check on the cannon. We can't have our two main defenses down. See you." A gust of wind carried Anton and the unconscious Elvira toward the Central Tower, while Mila drifted toward the West Tower on a floating coin.
Roy walked.
He climbed the stairs to the dorms with mechanical, heavy steps, his eyes glued to his feet. Omar, Ren, Jax, and Marcus all passed him in the hallway. None of them looked at him. None of them dared to speak.
When he reached his door, he realized he didn't have his ID to scan the lock. He felt a surge of panic until he remembered the emergency manual key he kept in his pocket. With shaking hands, he unlocked the door.
He entered the room, closing the door with agonizing slowness to ensure it made no sound. He didn't turn on the lights. He just walked to his bed and collapsed into it, staring at the wall.
At the middle tower in the principal's office at the top of the tower, Elvira was unconscious, sitting in her chair. Anton sat opposite to her, waiting.
It took a second, but Elvira finally woke up slowly.
"Ahh..." She pressed a hand to her head. "Where am I?"
"Good morning, Elvira. Or should I say good night?" Anton said.
She blinked, and then the memories flooded back: the ice boulder, the rage, the defeat. She buried her face in her hands. "God... I'm so embarrassed."
"Looks like I won't need to explain a lot." Anton let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me. All I could think about was catching that rat. What happened to him, anyway?"
"He's not a rat," Anton corrected gently. "Just a dumb student of Darius's who is probably crying into his pillow right now."
"One of Darius's kids?" Elvira sighed and stood up. "I should talk to him. Make sure he doesn't go too far with the punishment."
"Yeah, I don't think it would be a good idea to talk with Big D right now."
Elvira sighed and sat back in her chair. "What was the punishment, anyway?"
"Aside from stripping his rank and ID, Darius mentioned something about 'the punishment from the first class' if the kid leaves his room this week. What's that about?"
Elvira looked at him, her expression turning to confusion. "You don't know? That doesn't sound like you, Anton."
"Hey now, it's true I know a lot of things, but I don't listen in on private sessions, especially ones that have government secrets."
Elvira pinched the bridge of her nose, her voice getting quieter. "The punishment is an immediate reclassification. He'll be branded a villain with a permanent 'Kill on Sight' order. I knew Darius was angry, but that... that is way too much."