Humanity's Hero Of Despair

When I wake up, my body feels stiff.

My bed cover lies on the floor and my sheets are a mess. Today, the sun isn't shining at all. It's cloudy. Perfect for today's events. My hands feel icy as I lift myself off my bed. The hot water from my bathroom sinks cascades over my hands.

Today is the day of the revolution.

I meet with my friends in the cafe where we always ate and laughed without a care in the world. It doesn't seem like that long ago, yet now it's about to go up in flames. As we eat, none of us really speaks to each other. We all know what's going to happen sooner than later.

The other students are lively, talking to each other with energetic gestures, eating their food with passion, and laughing out loud. To them, today is just another day. We just won the Glozaria Keeper Cup, so many people are happy about that and kept throwing parties during the night. The past couple of weeks of huge events have made many people blind to what is actually going on. Our other friends, who are a part of the GCK, are eating silently as well.

In roughly thirty minutes, we are all supposed to meet down in the Revolutionary Room to await our orders.

I wonder what my sister is thinking right now; I think to myself as I take a long sip of water. She's under a lot of stress and pressure, is my guess. This is the day it all works out for us or ends our efforts entirely.

My hand tightens around my fork. If we lose and the Eradicators realize they have been discovered, they will stop at nothing until they control everyone. This includes torture. We are all taking an enormous risk today that the innocent students have zero idea about.

My friends' faces all look solemn. Even the usual go-lucky Leena and grinning Zephyr seem nowhere to be found. The last thing I want is to lose them like I lost my parents.

We soon finish our meals and start walking toward the Revolutionary Room.

Every step feels like we are getting closer to death. Only through the death of this current institution can humans have a real chance of survival. My heart pounds with each step taken going down into the basement. It feels like we are walking into the depths of hell itself.

The doors of the Revolutionary Room swing open once more, revealing an army behind it. All the HRC members are already there waiting for us. The once cheery atmosphere of training in the past couple of weeks has vanished. Justus, the three HLH Shadow Squadron members, and Maura are also present. We hear them whispering as we approach them.

Justus glances at us as he senses our presence.

"Right on time. We now have everyone present. Maura will take it from here to explain what is going to happen now," Justus announces to everyone.

The air crackles with tension as my sister takes center stage in the middle of the room. We all gather around her, waiting in anticipation. The three Shadow Squadron members flank her, giving her the appearance of a queen.

"The HLH troops are hiding in the forest surrounding the Royal Palace. They will strike as soon as I give the signal, which will essentially be this entire academy going up in purple flames. My Shadow Squadron members have been planting magical fire bombs around the campus for these past few weeks. We planted them in areas where students wouldn't be harmed," Maura says to us in a reassuring tone.

"We will all go together in small groups around campus and find certain Keepers. Justus will try to take out the Elite Keeper Leader and I will take on the rest of the Elite Keepers. The rest of us need to locate the other Keepers and attack them when they become confused about the explosions. We predict many of them will gather in the great hall."

"For this reason, we will attack the Keepers before they can gather everyone in the great hall. They will try to use students as shields. They have zero remorse for anyone. Minimize as many casualties as you can and whatever you do, do not let them gather in one central area," Maura says grimly to everyone.

We all nod our heads and a few people murmur words to each other.

"Let's move it then," she says as she starts walking out the door.

We all follow her out in small groups to not look suspicious. Leena, Zephyr, and I all make a small team together. Matteo, Ivy, and Estes make a team together as well. She instructs our small group to hang out near the great hall so we can cut people off from the entrance if need be. Another small group joins us nearby to assist us if needed.

Now it is a matter of time.

BOOM! CRASH! "HELP!"

The magic fire bombs detonate one by one all over campus, drowning out the cry for help from the unfortunate person who is engulfed in flames. We watch as other HRC group members around us attack the Eradicators. Our initial surprise attack works well. The Keeper Principal makes an announcement for everyone to quickly rush to the great hall, just as my sister predicted.

Eradicators from all over the academy run toward the great hall while creating magic barriers of light with their wands to prevent HRC members from harming them.

"HELP!" one girl screams out loud as an Eradicator attempts to take her hostage.

My body quickly leaps into action as I stick my wand in front of the Eradicator's face. His face soon becomes nothing but purple flames as flames burn his face alive. The girl is too stunned to speak. Eradicators are impossible to save from their greed. Though I couldn't tell her that.

Luckily, I don't have time to waste here.

"Leena! Zephyr! Hold your ground," I say to them as we raise our wands and prepare for the next onslaught of Eradicators to approach us. The first one I only took down by surprise. Students keep streaming into the halls toward the great hall. Many are confused and scared. They don't know what is going on. Some faint in shock from all of it.

BOOM! BOOM BOOM!

More explosions go off, this time making the entire floating fortress of the academy shake in instability. The scary thing isn't just that. It's the fact we hear sonic booms coming from down below us as well. We hear thousands of screams and explosions down below. The war between the HLH and the Eradicators in the Royal Palace must have begun.

Swing! Clash!

My reflexes save me as I quickly transform my wand into my scythe to barely deflect a sword being slashed in my direction. I have no time to recover as a second sword swings at me. My head barely ducks the swing. I retreat several steps back.

In front of me are the Zahard Twins. Both of their eyes glowing yellow. They are Eradicators.

Figures because their dad is the Duke of Light.