The Four Guardians

The battle ended with many injuries. Ren and the masked visitor were nowhere to be seen. Tempus and Beck had passed out from blood loss. Whilst Tia slept to regain her mana, Eva watched over Tempus along with the recently awoken Beck, hoping he will wake up soon.

"What if he doesn't wake up?" Eva asked.

"He will. I can feel his presence."

"Don't think I haven't forgotten what you did. Once Tempus wakes up I'm sure he will want to deal with you."

"I am well aware, but fear not. After they took the Necronomicon with them I am destined to die within a few weeks. You will get your revenge."

"What do you mean?" Eva asked.

"I shall explain all when Tempus wakes up."

The two of them heavily guarded Tempus' room. No one entered and one person always watched over him. He began to slowly wake up, only a few days after the battle ended.

"What time is it?" Tempus asked after suddenly jolting up from his bed.

"That's what you care about?" Eva said. "What about everything else?"

"There is nothing that can be done about that. By the way, why is my staff over there on the table?"

"I was admiring it," Beck said. "I've heard about these guardian weapons and wanted to see it for myself. Would you mind telling me what makes them so special?"

"Nothing. There isn't anything special about them. Why do you care? You will die at any moment."

"So you knew?"

"Tell me, Beck?" Tempus asked. "Where did you find the Necronomicon?"

"I was given it by a person wearing a mask on my deathbed. they were different from the one you saw. They were much taller and didn't seem like a little girl. They told me about its power and I used it to make myself live as long as I have."

Beck stopped talking and looked at Tempus who was suspicious of the story.

"No." Tempus said. "There is more than just that. Tell us, how were you getting the mana to do that? What was your actual goal?"

"I wanted to build an army. Believe it or not, I didn't agree with the methods of the jester masks. They possessed far greater weapons than the one they gave me. I wanted to stop them and I needed an army to do it."

"You're full of shit." Tempus climbed out of his bed and walked over to his staff. He pointed it directly at Beck.

"I don't believe that. Now tell me, how are you getting the mana?" Tempus was aware of what his answer was, he just had to know from his mouth.

"I trained the students. I raised them to be strong and used their mana to keep me alive and power the book."

Eva walked back from Beck who showed no remorse. She looked at Beck, someone she admired, someone she trusted.

"Why didn't you run? I was unconscious so why didn't you run?" Tempus asked.

"What does it matter if I ran. I'm destined to die. Once I run out of mana I will die. Plus the number of crimes I've committed, a guy like me wouldn't be able to escape if they found out. I regret everything I did."

"Bullshit. You don't feel a thing. At this point, you are a zombie."

"I believe him" Eva interrupted. "I believe he does feel bad."

Tempus looked at Eva and saw how serious she was.

"When you were sleeping we talked to each other. From what I saw he does care about the students. He may value his life more but he wanted everyone to grow up as much as possible. That's why he took in Ren."

"What kind of person kills the ones they care for?" Tempus asked.

"Are you sure you should be saying that?" Beck added.

Tempus lifted his staff and froze Beck in place. The ice slowly surrounded his body, moving towards the head.

"The only reason you are alive right now. Is because of me. Don't forget that."

Tempus' placed his staff back down and the ice began to thaw.

"Eva." Beck said. "Can you leave me and Tempus alone for a minute. Why not go check on Tia?"

Eva was resistant to leaving them. She looked over to Tempus who had calmed down and also prompted her to check on Tia.

"You should go check on her, Eva." He said. "I was constantly giving her mana during the battle so she probably isn't feeling too great."

"Ok… I'll be back in 10 minutes…"

Eva left the room and before the door finished closing. Tempus' bloodl.u.s.t had risen.

"So you cheated?" Beck said.

"Shut up. What did you want to say." Tempus quickly shut Beck up.

"I want to apologise." Beck began to speak. "I would like to speak the truth, and in doing so I would like to ask you some questions."

"I'll decide on that once I hear what you have to say."

"Very well. I wanted to apologise for everything. Back when I taught you at school I was the cause of all your pain. Those students that you killed. They attacked you under my orders. I had always hated you. Even now I hate being in the same room as you."

"That makes two of us." Tempus added.

"I hated how talented you were. You half-human, half-demon. You possess magic far greater than anyone could achieve on their own and you didn't know it then. I was annoyed that it wasn't me. I was jealous of you. I wanted to get revenge on you. I wanted to kill you with my own hands. I watched you when you left the Demon Realm. I watched you injure yourself healing your horse and I watched you fight those men in the bar. I even watched you travel with those adventurers. That is where I am sorry. You see I-"

"Don't say anything." Tempus interrupted. "If you say anything else. I will freeze every bit of blood within your body."

Tempus was already aware of what had happened. He grew fond of the two he travelled with and he wished that they would succeed in life. But one night when they were training. He found their bodies, sitting at the bottom of the lake the academy resides.

"What were the questions?" Tempus asked.

"Ah, I wanted to know about your magic. It doesn't seem normal. You had magic that healed a horse but took a great deal out of you. Magic unlike anything anyone has ever seen before."

Tempus was reluctant to answer. He didn't know why he did. Perhaps he felt sorry for the man in front of him who was about to die. Perhaps he cared for his old teacher more than he thought.

"I have access to magic that no one else will. Magic that nobody can handle. Even when I use it I end up nearly killing myself, the pain will last for weeks sometimes months afterwards. I have found a way to combine it with my ice magic to lower the pain but I can only do that in the demon world."

"Y-you don't mean… the stories of the angel magic? But there is-"

"I'm not going to say anything more."

Tempus and Beck rested in silence. The two of them stayed cautious of each other.

"What are you going to do now?" Tempus asked.

"I shall return to the academy. I'll take the blame for the arena destruction and I shall officially resign as headmaster. I will use my remaining days to travel."

Tempus had no reason to let Beck go. He thought that Beck should be punished for his crimes.

"Ok…" Tempus said. "Do what you wish. As the North Guardian, I shall overlook your crimes and let you live. However, you will be constantly watched 24/7, should you do one thing that breaks any laws regardless of where you are. You will be killed."

Beck didn't question Tempus' words. He had witnessed his power first hand and would happily accept anything to be free.