I had just completed the assignments that Celeste had set for me and was leaving the backstage area with her when the screams from the crowd began. As gas started to fill the hall, Kira's singing suddenly stops and the atmosphere becomes overwhelmingly stifling. My eyelids start to droop and in my mind's eye,  I see Mr Trietel conducting the orchestra, his baton moving in a hypnotic fashion.

The orchestra plays on, but the music has turned harsh, grating. The music steadily degenerates into a loud grinding noise, similar to a malfunctioning piece of machinery. 

Whatever affliction I am suffering from, its not unique to me. Celeste, who is by my side, slumps against a wall and moans weakly. I feel the music physically press against me like a millstone and it takes all my strength to remain standing. I force my eyes open and see gas mask wearing men surge through the entrance brandishing swords. I turn to the stage and my heart sinks when I see Kira lying unconscious at the feet of a gas masked Trietel, who continues conducting the orchestra without a care in the world. 

An attack against the Academy. Assisted by one of the teachers. 

Ken's family members move to defend the crowd, but its no use. Whatever Trietel is doing has affected them as well. I turn my eyes aside as the masked men start cutting down Ken's family. Its too painful to watch. How could anyone be so cruel? Is there anything I can do to stop this massacre? 

I have to stop Trietel. Its the only way everyone here will have a fighting chance, a chance to survive. With a grunt of exertion, I begin to circulate my spirit, easing the sense of constriction that had been overwhelming me just a few moments earlier. I trudge towards the stage, moving as quickly as I can in my current condition.

I hear a pained curse uttered by a familiar sounding voice. Turning my head in the direction of voice, I find that Ken has drawn alongside me, his face frozen in an expression that is equal amounts of both dismay and determination. Ken acknowledges me with a nod and gestures with his chin towards Trietel who is still on stage, completely unaware of the two of us. Ken had clearly come to the same conclusion as I did. Trietel must be taken down, and quickly.

As we steadily draw closer towards the stage, Trietel's gaze eventually drifts over us. He calmly turns to face Ken and I, waiting for us to approach him. 

"Bastard." Ken mutters as I feel the pressure around him shift. Both of us flare our spirituality at the same time and kick off the ground, charging the stage in unison. Trietel responds by sharply slashing his conductor's baton in my direction. The grinding noise in resounding in my mind explodes in a shower of pain and my legs abruptly lose all feeling and give way, sending me toppling to the ground.

Ken takes a flying leap onto the stage, his fists raised to strike. Trietel does not bother to defend himself and instead slashes the baton in Ken's direction. Ken's face wrenches into an expression of pure pain and his arms drop uselessly to his side. Trietel then walks calmly towards Ken and jabs the baton into Ken's torso, sending Ken flying off the stage and into the panicking crowd. 

The music from the orchestra wavers for a brief moment and I sigh in relief as I regain feeling to my legs and the pain in my mind lifts. But Trietel immediately turns his attention back to the orchestra and resumes his role as conductor. The grinding noise descends upon me again like a vice, but at least I can still use my legs. I pick myself up just in time to be surrounded by a group of the masked men. I don't need to see their faces to know what they are here to do. Their body language says everything. These men have been ordered to kill me. 

Under the pressure of Trietel's magic, my spirit moves sluggishly as I manifest my claws and toughen my body. The masked men level their swords at me, moving in to attack. I flare my power and take a slash at one of my attackers, blood staining the floor as he stumbles backwards. I quickly dodge the flashing swords coming my way and lash out again, splitting open the face of another masked man.  

I feel my spirit lose its focus for the briefest moment as the grinding noise reaches another crescendo. My guard drops as I attempt to steady myself. A powerful kick from one my opponents sends me flying off my feet and I land hard on my back. My enemy looms over me, sword ready to plunge through my chest. 

Then, all of a sudden, the grinding noise abruptly stops and strength returns to my body. I send spirituality surging into my arms up as I bring them back up to block the incoming sword. The sword strikes my arms and sparks fly, but my block manages to hold. I kick the shin of my attacker and he staggers backwards with a muffled shout of pain.  

Strong hands lift my body up by the armpits. As I regain my footing, Ken gives me a friendly slap in the back as both of us turn our attention back to the fight just in time to see Ms Scott take down the small group of attackers with a series of swings from her blazing spirit sword. Sera rushes past Ms Scott, clearing a path through the crowd for us to escape. Ms Scott turns to look at Ken and myself before indicating that we follow her and Sera to safety. Ken and I fall in without any objections behind Ms Scott and the four of us begin making our way towards the exit. 

As we near the exit, we see Trietel dragging away a struggling Rose while being escorted out of the hall by the masked men. One of the masked men spots us and begins barking orders to his compatriots. The group splits into two, the bulk of which stations themselves by the door, preventing our further progress while the remainder continues escorting Trietel out of the hall.

My throat goes dry as I see Trietel escape. Rose. I have to rescue her! 

A pair of figures suddenly barrel into the blockade and begin taking apart the masked men. One of them takes a moment to look at me and gives me the thumbs up before getting back to fighting. Its Master. She's giving us the chance to catch up with Trietel.  

"Quickly! After them!" Ms Scott urges while pushing through the pandemonium that surrounds us. Fighting back the discomfort caused by the gas, the four of us manage to break through the crowd in hot pursuit.

... 

We rush down the corridor and make it outside of the building, where we find Trietel shoving a sobbing Rose into the rear of an SUV. The remaining masked men surround the Trietel protectively. One of them steps forward and removes his gas mask. I recognize the face immediately.

Nicholas. He is one behind the attack. 

"Why?" I ask. 

Nicholas grunts in dissatisfaction, "Still alive? I should have known that your minder would be close by. I have come to take my sister back home where she belongs. If you survive, you know where to find us." With that he makes a gesture to his men before climbing into the driver's seat of the SUV and peeling off into the night with Trietel and Rose in tow. 

There is no time to waste words. The four of us immediately clash against the masked men that Nicholas left behind. They go down pathetically easy. 

I turn to Ms Scott and ask, "Minder? What was Nicholas talking about?"

Ms Scott hurriedly searches the bodies of the fallen attackers and fishes out a set of car keys. "No time to explain. Tensei, Ken, both of you stay here. Sera, you're in charge of protecting them until a SOPO unit arrives."

Sera nods and replies, "And yourself Madam?"

"I'm going after the kidnappers. The City has been completely wired up with cameras and SOPO sweeps the districts with aerial drones. There is no way that SUV can hide where its going."  Ms Scott says as she tests the keys she found on one of the SUVs. 

So that's what Nicholas was referring to. Ms Scott is a member of the police, probably sent to protect me? The engine of the SUV roars to life and Ms Scott prepares to leave. 

I step forward, "I am coming as well. Rose is my family, and family protects each other. I will not let Nicholas get away with this."

"No, its too dangerous." Ms Scott dismisses my suggestion as she puts the SUV into gear.

I step right in front of the SUV, blocking Ms Scott's path while giving her a challenging look. Ms Scott snaps, "This is not a game Tensei, now move out of the way."

To my surprise, Ken moves up and stands by my side as well. "Those guys disrespected the family. I've got to beat some respect out of them. So yeah, I'm coming along with you guys too."

I smile in gratitude at Ken's support and he lightly cuffs me in the head. 

Sera gives a tired sigh and takes position next to me as well saying, "Madam, as my assignment is to protect these two idiots, it looks like I will need to accompany them to wherever they insist on going."

Ms Scott looks at the three of us with a completely bewildered expression before finally breaking into a smile. 

"Get in."