Paladin's Path

"Where the hell am I?" Waking up feeling a sharp pain at the back of his neck Corbin slowly starting to spring to life.

His eyes fluttered open and he felt stiffness. Looking around the room he was surprised to see brown parchments spread across the entire room in no apparent order, it was like giving a child a paintbrush and paint telling it to go wild leaving this mess as its result.

Corbin tried moving before feeling restraint. He looked down to see that his hands were tied in tight thick ropes. His legs were the same as they were tied to the chair he was sat in. A chair not even in a hospital bed that he thought he would be in.

"The hell is this?" Fully awake now Corbin then tried to flare up his Od and failed. When trying to bring out his Od he instantly remembered what had happened, he was fighting one on one with LUGH.

He had one, and was winning during the whole thing and then... patches in his memory appeared but he could piece together most of what went down. He knows that Lugh had messed up somehow by opening his mouth and spouting something he shouldn't have.

"But why the hell am I restrained?"

Corbin had already knew about suppression seals. They were used on him a lot when he had first awakened his powers and struggled with controlling them as well as his anger.

Corbin was growing more frustrated the longer he was stuck in bindings. He was a winner and no winner, no great paladin should be treated like this.

"Hey!" he screamed out trying to get the attention of whoever may be near. "I'm awake now, get me out of here already... HEY!"

A rattling on the door got him to quiet down as he waited to see who would be greeting him through the door.

Two men came through the door. One was an older man with a goofy grin on his face that was rubbing Corbin the wrong way as he thought the smile was mocking. The man had stood straight with a large chest and broad shoulders and on his head was thick silver hair in a messy style that contrasted to Corbin's still neatly combed down hair.

The other man in the room was someone Corbin was already acquainted with, dull and silky grey hair and dark eyes staring straight at Corbin with vexation.

*The fucks he staring at me like that for?* But Caleb Adams wasn't the one to begin speaking.

"So this little one was who brought out so much trouble Caleb?" he leaned back and laughed confusing Corbin.

Mr. Adams ignored the rise his colleague was trying to get out of him.

"Corbin." His tone seemed tired, angry and worn out. "Do you know why you are in this position."

"Fuck no. Last I remember I was just doing the damn training drill." Corbin in all his aggression spat out in an instant without missing a beat.

Mr. Adams didn't seem to phased by this as if expecting this reaction from Corbin. It annoyed Corbin the way he was looking down on him with such an eery disappointment.

"Corbin, you did not do what you were told. It was supposed to be a casual on on one where none of you students were meant to be hurt as badly as you hurt Lugh." Mr. Adams tone was rising slightly that he had to be pulled back to calm down before he continued talking.

"Corbin. You put Lugh in the hospital with incredibly serious injuries with an amount of brutality that should never be used on an ally." Corbin felt his anger in his tone even though he had tried his best to suppress it, not how angry he was but he could feel his teacher try not to spit out his anger.

"Why couldn't you show more compassion like Theon did in his?" The question was rhetorical but it certainly set something off within Corbin, the same feeling as when he would get in arguments with his mum.

Stop asking for more.

"We've had to call your mother..." Corbin had stilled at that moment and it certainly did not go unnoticed by the two men but they had continued anyway. "We've sent a transport team to her as she says she wants to see you."

Corbin's mind came to a raging stop.

'Fuck, Fuck, Fuck. I made sure to come here to stay away from that damn witch.'

"You won't be expelled..."

His eyes which were previously shut had opened in shock.

"Why the fuck would I anyway. Just for beating that damn wimp." Not only Mr Adams but the man standing at his side now had a more subdued and confused face at the boys tone that spoke so highly of his own self-belief.

"If that Cry baby can't take a beating then he obviously shouldn't be here. He should just pack his bags and go fuckin home already."

Caleb stared down at Corbin with a greater disappointment actually to Corbin, it seemed like pity. "Why the hell are you staring at me like that for?"

Caleb ignored him and continued what he was sent down here to tell his student.

"Corbin, your mother will be here within the next half hour. You will also be suspended from classes for a week which will reflect bad on your progression, you will be put on Red Tag and lastly will be taking steps to managing your anger with the schools counsellor."

Corbin listened to the ramblings of his teacher as he was grinding his teeth. His mother was coming, he's getting suspended, and he's being forced into therapy! He couldn't take it anymore, this was supposed to be his clear path to becoming a paladin, his breath of fresh air away from his nothing home life that was filled with shouting matches with his mother in an empty mansion.

"And what the fuck is a Red Tag!?" He shouted that out more so in his growing frustration than actually caring for what the term may have meant. But the answer he received certainly didn't help his emotional state.

Mr Caleb finally took a deep breath and started to explain to Corbin the predicament he was in while genuinely taking on a face of slight pity.

"Corbin this may be hard to hear but the Red Tag is essentially a warning-a very serious one. It means that from now on, everything that you do will be watched closely. You'll stay in the program but if you make another mistake as grave as that one, there won't be any more warnings. You'll be sent away to prison."

Corbin listened and quickly the anger in him was evaporating away pushing itself inwards to one strong focal point. It felt like a gavel had just smashed down on him and everything in his life came to a crashing halt.

"This is your last chance to prove that you are taking this path seriously kid." the other man in the room finally spoke up again finishing off the explanation. "Being on Red Tag is there to keep you on track, but it also means there's no room for error. So again take it serious."

Corbin stayed quiet and kept his head down. He didn't even realise that his bindings were off and he was on his feet being led out of the room.

The stiffness in his body was still there but he would walk it off. Even though the wraps were off his hands kept in the same position they were in as if they were still tied by the same thick and tight ropes.

Fuck! He wanted to hit something, he wanted to slam his head on a wall... And now that witch is also coming.

Corbin couldn't play on his toughness anymore, little by little his walls were coming down and he could admit... I feel like shit.

Throughout his short, pathetic life Corbin had been told countless times that he was too much. Just a little too ambitious, too obsessive, too pushy, too arrogant. He wanted to laugh, the way he was he'd always felt like he was never enough.

I've never been what the people closest to me wanted me to be. Too much fire and not enough warmth.

Yeah... "So what!" His harshness is met with confusion but he ignores them and keeps his head down.

Corbin will still be a paladin no matter what. Being on Red Tag doesn't mean a thing to him, if he has to play to the beat of another's drum for a while then he'll do so, as long as he graduates...

________

Theon had been pasted on to his bed for the past half hour and left thinking of the revelation of Jon's past.

'An assassin.'

After the initial answer to Theon's question Jon laughed but seemed to have a growing tear wanting to drop from the edges of his eye. Theon recognized that Jon wasn't happy to give such an answer.

An answer that confirmed he had been a killer, he had killed people, multiple people and now acting as if he's on some clean slate. Theon didn't really know what to feel, he was just quiet as Jon spoke silently about his past.

It wasn't too long ago that he had heard it all spilled out for him but he thinks that even if twenty odd years were to pass suddenly he would still remember Jon's broken down voice as he recollected on parts of his past.

It started like...

"I took my first kill at six years old."

"And before that all I remember was training, I didn't even awaken until my first kill anyway. I don't think I had any parents around. The guild was basically the only 'Home' that I was familiar with."

Theon listened to Jon as he spoke, they were sat on that same bench as the night slowly started to fall. No one was around but even then Jon never thought to raise his voice.

Jon's head was tilted down at his feet on the ground as he continued on with his violent upbringing.

"From then on after my first kill I got at least one kill a month until I was thirteen."

Theon didn't want to think but he calculated the number in an instant. 96 kills minimum. He knew some people had a dark past. But Theon could honestly admit that he was astounded.

"I spent a lot of time in Japan after the Hanarashi and since there were spaces that people wanted to fill the guild was paid a buttload of money by numerous of those high ranking people to take out competition."

Theon knew his history, the Hanarashi was a short civil war in Japan that started after the death of some politicians daughter. It rapidly led to a poor view of awakened people within that country and other parts of Asia that still had not accepted the job role of Paladin. Instead awakened people were ostracized and some people wanted them kept on tight leashes.

"It got tiring you know..." He picked up his head but didn't look Theon's way. "Killing over and over, seeing the last reactions of people before their end. It felt as if something was slowly but surely taking pieces of me apart while I slowly burnt out and then died."

"So why did you come here?" The first thing out of Theon's mouth was just another question, another question but this time Jon didn't seem so lost.

"I don't think there's anyway I can redeem myself. And I'm not even trying to honestly." That made Theon want time to slow if only slightly or just forget about the frightened girl who seems to already know Jon's secret. "I just want to do better and feel like I'm actually living for me."

Jon later explained how he is actually a French national and that the *Guild* did originate somewhere in the states and as far as he knew was approved by the government until they weren't...

"Multiple bases across the country turned to almost none. Fortunately or not the one I was at on the day was stormed by paladins and cops and so I just turned right around and disappeared."

Jon wants better for himself. Maybe it was selfish that he was only thinking of himself Theon didn't really know.

But what he did know now was... "I'm glad you found a way out and are here now."

Finally Jon's head snapped in Theon's direction, his brows were raised before they fell back down and his eyes were sharp with examination and then slowly fell back to surprise with his cheeks taking on a tint of red.

"The hell." his voice raised before he hit his thigh in frustration and clenched his fists. "You damn idiot."

Jon's breathing was starting to become erratic and he stood up quickly and then looked right back to Theon. Theon stared and waited for an outburst that he wasn't expecting.

"I literally told you I've killed people... I'm a killer. Men, Woman and children alike as long as there was a price on their head they were nothing more than a target to me. Unlike everyone else in the class I didn't give a shit about what Corbin done to Lugh, all I've been taught to do was kill and I..." Jon's voice was breaking again and his eyes were getting teary, it seemed too new of a feeling to him, something he needs to experience now.

"... I so badly don't want to do that again, I want to stay here."

And now it was Theon's turn to speak. He took a minute to compose himself. Tears had streamed down Jon's face and it almost shattered Theon's whole perspective on Jon for a moment but he wouldn't let it.

"So stay." Theon started as he looked up at Jon. "No one's making you leave, so stay"

Jon's feeling's were real, just something he has probably been supressing them since he was young whether that came from his training or just pure instinct Theon would never know.

But for now if Jon needed someone to tell him that he has the capacity to change in spite of his bloody and dark past Theon was glad to be that person.

Theon's right hand went through his dreads dancing on his head and when he put his hand back down he continued talking.

"No human being is born with a role Jon, if they forged you into a killer then break yourself out of it."

Jon's breathing was shaky but he was listening.

"You're here here now because you want something different, something better. Meaning you're still fighting and that's all that matters now." Theon didn't notice that even he was growing frustrated after hearing Jon's past and seeing the new emotion scattered across his face.

"What you did is heavy on you and I won't try say that I understand you cause that would be a lie. But I will tell you that it doesn't have to be what defines you, it doesn't have to be what tells people who you are."

Jon's tears were still falling, but his gaze locked on Theon, searching for something- maybe hope, maybe reassurance.

Theon kept his voice steady making sure that Jon could really hear him. "Staying here, or even starting over outside of the program as long as you want to change and find something worth holding onto, then do it. As long as no one finds out there's no reason to push you away. I won't push you away."

Jon's tears had stopped falling down his face.

"You're not the monster that they tried to make you unless you let yourself be. So please Jon, give yourself a chance."

Jon had finally started wiping the tears that were starting to dry up on his cheek before new ones came with slight broken chuckles that came from what had just heard.

At this point Theon didn't know if he was only speaking out for Jon, the drumming of his heart was unsteady and spoke volumes.

After hearing the words he spoke he started thinking of his own past hoping that his words would hold true.

*That maybe, just maybe, we can be so much more than the ashes left behind by the fire.*

_____________________

Theon was tossing and turning that night. It wasn't so late into the night so some of his classmates were still speaking within the group chat so he thought he would distract himself with that.

They were still speaking about Corbin, spreading conspiracies about what they believe will happen to him. *Suspension, Expulsion, prison time...*

The last one seemed a little too harsh to Theon, he had only had one conversation with Corbin which certainly wasn't really a pleasant one, Corbin was just getting nosy.

But Theon did think that Corbin was too aggressive and even though smart and somewhat more aware than his peers, he was far too emotional and followed the simplistic way of think first ask questions later. Something that may have already started to halt his dreams of being a paladin.

That was at least real to Theon. Corbin had such an intense passion to follow out that dream which Theon noticed was in a handful of people within the class, he could not include himself in that few though.

Theon never knew what he wanted, all he would hear was that his potential was too great to be wasted. Theon wondered if he had a dream... something he wanted that was outside of this would he fight?

This line of thinking brought his mind to the conversation Jon was having with him earlier. 'Even he actually has something he wants.' And that wasn't Theon expecting less, he was just somewhat envious or maybe some other emotion since Envy left a bad taste in his mouth.

Staying away from an organization that groomed you into a powerful weapon was what Jon was fighting against, it reminded Theon of his own past, the similarities were there for sure but instead of assassins... actually there wasn't really a set role for anyone back at the Grid.

Yes. Of course he had lied to the madman who had broken into his school and happily attacked children.

Theon was very much had a past that seemed to be in or near the same space as Charlie Liber. He had come from a place called Grid.

From Theon's short tenure there he remembers his experience being isolated from other children there not even knowing for the first few months that there could have been anybody but him going through what he was going through.

But he was sure that he had never met Charlie.

Sure there wasn't much of a role for the experiments of the Grid. From what Theon could recall from some of the twisted rambling of some of the people dressed as doctors, the children were mainly just there as whatever powers they all had seemed interestingly dangerous.

That had all started to change subtly though, after some time lying changed to either a stark white room with lights constantly on or a dark room with cushioned floors where he couldn't even make a sound to distract himself Theon would come out to more people outside than before.

It took him much longer to realise that somehow people were disappearing.

Theon was wrong to want such a thing, the other captors had not found ways to escape, no instead a new figure showed herself or rather itself. Theon remembered his stomach dropping the instant he had seen the tall and slithery figure.

The memory shook him to his core and even now made him gasp for air at the oppressiveness of the situation.

The slender figure had long and silky black hair that had a portion sectioned off in a neat bun with a braid tying it together while the rest flowed down to her lower back.

He remembers her skin being deathly pale and covered in dim designer clothes that weirdly matched the occasion. At the time Theon didn't know of his revelation, he just knew that some of his predictions about dangerous people were right on the dot.

And he remembers something that felt like it was literally gripping at the back of his neck to drag him elsewhere only there was no escape for him.

Theon dreadfully remembers suddenly being able to see as the dark room suddenly became dim with low lighting, and he wished he was trapped back in that darkness and could wipe away the memory of the cold and indifferent look he received from the figured deep intoxicating red eyes.

Slit like a cats eyes Theon remembers intensely the fear he was feeling as it was now shaking him out of any slumber he was hoping he would receive.

All he remembers is the otherworldliness of the woman that stood at the doors frame as if disturbing all natural order that the world was so used to before *It* arrived. *Its* power palpable and its eyes seemed to hold ancient knowledge that was still unsatiated, it was looking for more... so much more in a wild and untamed act.

Theon remembers so vividly and can perfectly describe the meeting as encountering a force of nature-a woman so beautiful but terrifying at the same time, beyond human comprehension.

Theon was now sitting up in his bed with the lamp light on staring at the door as if anticipating something that was never coming. He didn't know why such a memory had decided to show itself after so long. For some reason though he knows that there are gaps in those memories, blurry faces that he know should be clear.

Even with all the acts that inhumane place done to strip these emotions, the fear still lingers.

Her name was Maeve O'Malley. From what Theon remembers of the woman she was in some high security prison. Not Pandemonium, If she were locked there then he was sure there would have been news of it already.

Theon didn't think much more of his past as he would always get headaches whenever he did and the visions would just be blurry, but he knows for a fact that the devil of a woman was not locked away in the inescapable prison.

Not wanting to keep his threading through memory road Theon thought of what his immediate future held.

'Only a couple weeks till we're in cell units now.'

It was explained in some more detail over the students short tenure at the school about the whole team situation.

The more important parts that Theon cared to remember were things like, being in a certain cell was just being stuck in a team until graduation and parting ways was our own choice. But while in the school if one member of the team was capable to work on their own then they may be given missions to handle on their own.

Theon couldn't hide the fact that he was a little excited about the aspect of going out on missions with people in his class.

There was hope that he would be with Jon, and if not Jon then at least someone that would probably be easy to get along with.

Corbin was immediately excluded from that line of thought, and that was even if he wasn't getting expelled. He didn't know how he would handle someone so aggressive and overconfident, other than Corbin Theon didn't know if he wanted to be with people to overly friendly and rambunctious like Cole and Corey.

Instead he thought of the silent people who looked able to look after themselves like Aaliyah and Arte.

After thinking of some more of his classmates he brought himself back to that same line of thinking he was trying to get away from.

'What if Jon is put with Elena!?

Theon never brought Elena up to Jon again after their conversation and he didn't know how she would be dealt with.

Of course not in a drastic way or anything.

Chances of her staying quiet when she can't stop herself from stuttering or bouncing in fear whenever Jon is near her is very low. Theon didn't want Jon to get exposed, Jon was his friend and he was trying to do better as long as he wasn't going to go back to that past then Theon was fine with it.

So, he now needed to come up with something to deal with her or at least find out how much she knows and how well she knows it... Maybe she could be convinced she's thinking of a different person.

Theon knew that was probably wishful thinking but he wasn't going to dismiss it now.

Without taking the time into account he picked up his phone and started typing away at Jon until he stopped and deleted what he was about to say.

'Dumbass!'

He berated himself as he came to the realisation. These phones are still issued by the school for what they called security purposes so the chance of them monitoring texts and other stuff like location was highly probable.

Oh well, I can wait.

_____