Ghost in the Roses
Chapter 20

The break is over, but the personal mission it unexpectedly manifested still has lots more to do. I leave it in the hands of the hospital’s staff and let them continue to use the warehouses as make-shift hospitals. My first final exams are passed and I’m allowed to come back for the second and final semester. These next 6 months are going to be even more brutal, but I don’t care about that. On the way back to the Academy, I can’t help but daydream about getting my very own armor and weapons.

The first thing my flight does is report to the armory. There, I wait my turn to get measured and fitted for the legendary white metal, knight’s armor and get my finger signature submitted into the archives for weapons’ marking. I think I’m falling in love just thinking about testing it all out at the arena. Tomorrow can’t come soon enough to see how my armor and weapons turned out.

“Are you ready to get your ass kicked tomorrow?” I nudge Kai when it was all done and over.

“Only if you are ready to do some dirt licking,” Kai pushes me away.

“I’m going to kill you both,” Nina rolls her eyes and pushes us both.

“This beautiful body? Once I put on my armor, you won’t want to destroy this piece of art,” Kai starts to flex.

“Kill him first, okay,” I shake my head.

It’s here! It’s here! I feel like a kid on North Star Day morning and can’t wait to see my presents. Once again, I find myself standing in line, but this time I’m one step closer to tasting a fight.

My neck can’t bend anymore as I take in the enormous giant of a stadium. The air is still on the quiet and humble ground I'm standing on, but up above me, I can see the heavenly unrest at the top of the domes. An army of blue and white flags at the top of this arena whiplash in the winds. I can barely see the Academy’s dragon symbol imprinted on them, but the clapping sounds of the fabric are so clear.

“Name?” the civilian contractor’s tone couldn’t be more mono-tone as he holds on to an open book filled with glass pages.

“Adrien Astral Rivers,” I wait for him to find my page.

“Please verify,” he turns the book to me.

How he knows which way is side-up or upside-down, is beyond me. The page recognizes me and its top glass layers begin to unfold. At the bottom of it, I see two white metal pieces in the shape of a dragon’s scale.

“Please, take your armor and your arena number,” he hands me a simple piece of paper with a lonely number 14 on it.

“Thank you,” I take both of the offerings.

For the first time, I secure it to both sides of my head right above my ears and walk into the dark mouth of the stadium.

“Put your armor on, cadet,” without much of a hello, an assistant coach greets a command at me.

“Yes, sir,” I motion my hand over my face and awaken the headpieces.

Inside them, the gear work, and the clicking sets off a domino effect. The armor is activated and starting from my head, a swarm of metal pieces crawls out. Farther and farther down, the waves of white metal come out of their mysterious hiding until my entire body is covered. With my transformation finished, I proceed forward to look for my friends.

“I can’t believe this! This is absolutely flawless!” Nina’s excitement pinpoints her location and I see her gush over her armor.

I can’t believe what I’m seeing either and motion for my helmet to fold up.

“These plates are made out of hundreds of pieces, but not a single seam is visible,” her excitement is uncontainable.

“This is truly amazing,” Kai agrees, nodding.

“Yours is so perfect too. How does all of this fit into just two little head clips,” she forgets herself and takes her admiration elsewhere.

Kai is caught off guard when she begins to see him only as a model.

“Not a single seam! It’s as if every single piece had been made and placed the old-fashioned way,” her hands keep going.

Kai doesn’t interrupt her. He just stands there with his eyes wide open and lips curled in. With each passing glide of Nina’s hands, his face gets redder and redder.

“Um... you like what you see, Nina?” I can’t help but chuckle at this spectacle.

“What?” Nina snaps out of her mesmerized state of mind, but it’s only when she notices Kai’s shocked face does she truly realizes the gravity of what she has done.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Kai,” she covers her mouth and backs away laughing.

“It’s okay, Nina,” his cheeks keep reaching for the impossible tones of blush.

“Come on guys, we got to find our arenas. Mine is number 14.”

“I’m number 14,” Kai raises his piece of paper.

“Come on, Cupid. Let’s go. Nina, may I take him?”

“Go ahead. I’m through with my inspection,” she starts to blush too.

“I can’t promise that I’ll return him in the same condition.”

“Go! go you two and leave me alone. I’ve got to go and die now.”

All 30 of us find our places. At the beginning of the semester, there used to be 55 cadets on my flight and only 32 made it all the way to the first finals. Looks like two didn’t pass the exams. I notice a few faces missing.

On the other side of our circle, I see Kai glaring at me, trying to intimidate me. Nice try, buddy.

“Alright!!! Attention please!!!” the head coach’s heavy voice comes crashing down. “Your flight made it to the second semester!!! Congratulations!!! But don’t let this get to your head, this program is not going to get easier, this is only going to get more and more difficult. This time, you will be putting all that you’ve learned to the test! I encourage you not to hurt each other...too much, but blood will be drawn. Don’t worry, the weapons you have are not fully activated and any blows, no matter how fatal they might be in real life, will not be of the same consequence here!”

As he blares at us, the assistant coaches begin the next step in getting the class ready. In their hands, they carry ordinary galvanized iron buckets and throw handfuls of liquid matter out of them in our direction. In aw, I watch the plasma spread until it creates a world of protective barrier over Kai's and mine arena.

“There are 30 of you now, but only 27 in your flight will be allowed to graduate this year from the Knights' Academy! With the help of my assistant coaches, I’ll be keeping track of your progress and the cadets with the bottom three scores will be eliminated from the program and your apprenticeship invitations will be automatically withdrawn!”

“Do you understand?!” his assistants shout at us.

“Yes, Sir!!” we yell back.

“Knights! Visors down!”

Kai’s and mine hands obey and only our eyes are visible to each other.

“Arms up!” they give us the next direction.

My hands blessed in metal reach for the handles attached to the back plate of my armor. In my tight squeeze, they read my signature and the harness releases them. Slowly, I pull my two swords out. From a distance, I watch Kai’s bow unfold.

“What are you going to do with those butter knives, country boy?!” his words reach me, as he takes aim.

"Serve you on toast!"

"This is not a tea party, Adrien!"

“It's not much of an orchestra either! What are you going to do with that one-sting harp?! Serenade me?!” I stretch my neck.

"Don't tempt me!"

I can sense a smile on him.

“Proceed!!” the final command sets us free to attack.

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