Alan started to stir back to consciousness. His whole body ached, but he could feel something warm spreading throughout his chest. It was a familiar feeling to him. It was similar to when Sere was healing his leg. He slowly opened his eyes to see Sere leaning over him with her hands on his chest. She was gritting her teeth and sweat was running down her face. She was applying healing magic to Alan and was struggling while doing so.

It was the steel barrier she created earlier while being chased. She had given up efficiently for speed in the casting of that magic, and that cost her most of her aether for the day. She was now running on fumes and even the most basic of healing magic was exhausting for her. But, she persisted, for her friend.

Sere: “It’s gonna be OK, so stay with us.” she said with a quiver in her voice.

Alan: “Sere?” he said, looking up at his friend feeling confused.

Sere: “Thank the light, he’s awake.” she said as she pulled her hands back and stopped applying healing magic. “Sorry, that’s all I can do for you, but you should at least be stable now.”

Alan: “What happened? Ow.” he said as he tried to get up.

Alan could feel a sharp pain in his chest as he moved. He was still in really bad shape from the attack he took before he lost consciousness, making it difficult for him to move.

Sere: “Careful now. You have several broken ribs. Jafar, come help me sit him right.”

Jafar came into Alan's line of sight. He didn’t say anything, but he could tell that his friend was extremely terrified. Sere and Jafar grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him upright. He grunted in pain, as they put Alan's back up against a nearby bookshelf.

Now upright, he could see where he was. He was back in the central area of the library with the skylight and chandelier overhead. Standing over him in the moonlight, watching, was the Lion heart student Craig and the purple hair Grayscale student that he did not know the name of. They didn’t say anything, they just stared blankly at Alan and his friend.

Alan was still a little dazed, and it took him a little bit to put everything together, but he somewhat figured what was happening.

Alan: “So we didn’t get away.”

Sere: “No… Alan, there’s something you need to know about who attacked you—” she said, before being cut off.

Sorin: “There’s something I need to know first.” he said, as he walked into Alan's vision out from a nearby row of bookshelves.

He carried himself with authority only given to high ranking faculty members. The look on his face showed curiosity directed at Alan and his friends. He had his arm crossed as he looked down at them.

Sorin: “Why are you here?”

Alan didn’t know what to think about Sorin at this moment, it was him that set those other two students upon them, and they went about it with murderous intent. So he didn’t trust him. Alan just looked at both Sere and Jafar, unsure what to say. He didn’t know if they were supposed to tell the truth or not at this moment, and looked towards one of his friends to take the lead.

It was Sere that spoke up.

Sere: “We were working in a study room, and overheard something and came out to check.” she said, opting to not tell him the truth.

Sorin: “This late at night?”

Sere: “Yeah, we got permission from the librarian as long as we cleaned up.” she said, constructing a lie based on how Jafar ended up staying late in the library before.

Sorin: “And why would you be working on this late?”

Sere: “We were studying.”

Sorin:”Studying for what? Exams are over.”

Sere: “For a… thesis.”

Sorin: “A thesis? Ha. You’re very bad at lying. You expect me to believe that first years from three different colleges were working together, late at night after curfew I might add, to write a thesis.”

Sere: “Then why are you here?”

Sorin: “Don’t try to change the subject. And, I don’t think you're in any position to be asking me a question, young lady. Anyways, I'll be taking you to my office to discuss the next course of action and possible expulsion for trespassing.”

Jafar: “You're going to kill us, aren't you?” he said, finally speaking up.

Sorin raised an eyebrow at Jafar’s response.

Sorin: “Now why would you say such a thing? As a teacher, I’m supposed to be looking out for the well-being of our students. If you're talking about Loren and Craig’s action towards you, they will be facing their own punishment.” he said while gesturing to the two students with blank stares.

Jafar: “If you actually cared about our well-being, you would be taking Alan to a hospital for his broken ribs, not your office! And, I already know that you’ve been covering up the deaths, so people wouldn’t find out about the formaldehyde in the people that died. You already did so with Edward.”

Sere: “What?”

Jafar: “Yeah, I just figured it out. When he was talking to Pitter, he was talking about Edward's body having no smell of formaldehyde, despite supposedly being the first time hearing about it. There was no reason for him to assume that, unless he already knew.”

Sorin: “Tch” he clicks his tongue in annoyance. “Oh, Ember Gear students, always too smart for their own good. I was going to be nice and kill you three without you knowing, but I guess not. It also seems that this library is not a good place to meet, since it sounds like you heard that conversation with Pitter, unless he's the one that told you, in that case I’ll have to get rid of him too.”

Alan and Sere were both completely surprised at what was just said.

Sere: “Huh?! But why?!? Why are you doing this?!” she yelled out, shocked at the revelation.

Sorin: “Why don’t you ask your little Ember Gear friend there.”

Jafar: “Ugh, I-I haven’t figured that part out yet.”

Sorin: “Maybe not as smart as I thought, but I should have figured that, oh well. I’ll tell you why, since you three are going to die anyway. The reason is simple, it’s—” was all he said before getting interrupted by someone else's voice.

???: “I searched the area and couldn't find anyone else,” the familiar voice said.

Stepping out of the shadow was someone that Alan didn't expect to see. The shock at the revelation of Sorin was nothing compared to the person he saw. Standing at six feet with brown hair and red robes of the Lionheart collage with a pale, sickly complexion and arm recently reattached, was Cris. Alan’s childhood friend.

Alan: “W-what!?! Why are you here!?!?” he half yelled out in surprise.

Sere: “Alan!” she called out to her friend. “It was Cris that attacked you. He was the one surrounded in fire that sent you flying, almost killing you.” she said, with a quiver to her voice.

Alan: “Ah, huh?! B-b-but, why? Cris, why are you doing this!” he yelled out to his friend, causing himself to wince in pain from yelling with broken ribs.

Cris didn’t respond to Alan. He remained expressionless with his sickly pale complexion while facing Sorin.

Sorin: “I wouldn’t bother wasting your breath on this one. He’s been dead for a long time now.”

Alan: “What are you talking about? He’s right here in front of us.”

Sorin: “How do you think these people are walking around with embalming fluid in them? None of them are alive. They are all works of my necromancy.”

Jafar: “That’s not possible. The undead are mindless.” he rebuked Sorin, not wanting to believe that Cris was undead.

Sorin: “Again, with the Ember Gear student showing his knowledge. Your right, undead operate at best on basic instincts, but these ones.” he said while gesturing to three students with blank stares. “These are what I call living dead dolls. Not quite dead, but not quite alive. There are undead that can impersonate themselves, as if they were still alive.”

Jafar: “How–” he was cut by Sorin.

Sorin: “How’s that possible, you might ask. Simple, with spirit binding magic. I rip their souls out while keeping their body intact. Then inject some embalming fluid to keep them from rotting from the inside out. With the brain perfectly intact, these special undead can draw on the remnants of their ego and memories, acting like how they were when alive. Heck, they can still even use the same magic as when they were alive.”

Alan, Sere, and Jafar were all shocked at what Sorin had just said.

Sere: “You monster! You ripped their souls out and tortured them!” She yelled, outraged at what Sorin just stated.

Sorin: “Well, I didn't bother to keep their souls like what spirit binding magic is meant to do. I let those dissipate, as it was their bodies that I was after. Bodies belonging to some very interesting individuals.”

Jafar: “Students with connections to powerful people. If what you're saying is true, then you have complete control over them and will do whatever you say.”

Sere: “And if they still act like they were alive…”

Sorin: “Exactly! It’s the perfect plan. I gain power over every facet of society through the shadows by controlling my living dead dolls, and no one will even notice the change I did to them. Tell me, your friend Cris has been like this for over six months, and did you notice?”

Saying that it’s been six months ago since Cris was turned into an undead, meant that this had been happening long before the series of mysterious deaths.

Alan, thinking back on his interaction with his friend, realized some discrepancy. Cris seemed to never get tied, continuing to practice even after sparring with him with an unnatural amount of stamina. Then there was when they went out drinking, no matter how much he drank, it didn’t affect him as if his body didn’t metabolize it. These things were small and could easily be overlooked as nothing, but with what Sorin was saying, it put everything into a new context.

He rejected this. Alan didn’t want to accept what Sorin was saying.

Alan: “Why Cris? He’s not an important person. He’s just a normal guy!”

Sorin: “Not that normal, he was on his way to being an honor student long before I ‘acquired’ him. I then accelerated that process, pulling some strings, and got him into the Arcane Eye collage. The only college that I still don’t have one of my undead in.”

Alan: “What is so important about the Arcane Eye college?”

Sorin: “Why don’t you explain it to your stupid friend.” he said, directed at Jafar.

Jafar: “I-I’m not sure…” he said, unsure why the Arcane Eye college was important.

Sorin: “Ugh, I should stop overestimating your intelligence. It's because the authority I have is only tangential. None of my undead are in a position of power themselves. Their parents and guardians are the ones that have power, and while I can influence them, it doesn't give me direct control. That’s why I need someone in the Arcane Eye college. I continue to pull some strings and get Cris here though that college, building up his prestige,” he said while gesturing to Cris. “With my help, I can probably get him recognized as something like an Archmage in a few years. A position that holds real power,” he then chuckled. “He’ll be the youngest archmage in history since the tri-mages.”

Alan: “Archmage…” he mumbled, recalling that promise he made all those years ago.

Sorin: “Oh, yeah. That was yours and his dream, right? Well don’t worry, I’ll fulfill it for you,” he then turned to the three undead students. ”You three, pick them up and take them to my lab.”

The two undead students, Craig and the purple girl hair girl that Sorin called Loren, walked over and grabbed both Sere and Jafar.

Sere: “Hey! Let me go!” she yelled out, trying to fight back, but didn’t have enough aether to do so.

Jafar struggled as well, with a look of fear in his eyes. He didn’t know any decent spells to fight back, as he was never trained in combat magic, so he simply just struggled as he was grabbed by Loren, who seemed to have an unnatural amount of strength, likely due to her being undead.

Cris walked over to Alan and loomed over him. Alan was too hurt to fight back, and even if he wanted to, he still couldn't fight his friend.

Alan tried to rationalize it away, and tell himself that it wasn't his friend anymore, to keep fighting, but he couldn't bring himself to. Even if everything Sorin said was true, It still would be the remains of his best friend that saved his life all those years ago when they fled their home.

Cris: “Alan, I’m sorry. Y-y-you have to… fight,” the undead said, struggling to do so.

Sorin: “Hey! I didn’t say you could speak! Ugh, those doctors must have messed up my magic when they were trying to heal you.”

Cris didn’t move and just stared blankly at Alan.

Alan: “Cris! Are you still there?!? Please, help us!” he yelled, hoping that his friend was still there somewhere.

Sorin: “Your friend is already dead! That’s just some leftover ego coming through from my magic on him being messed up from the hospital. Ugh, this is so frustrating! Whoever the fuck is publicly killing my living dead dolls is screwing everything up.”

Jafar had a realization at what Sorin just said, he did not know about Cid. It sounded to Jafar that Sorin realized the accidents on his undead were purposeful, but he didn’t know who it was. He thought quickly of a way to use this to their advantage.

Jafar: “Wait! If you kill us, you’ll never figure out who’s killing your undead!” he shouted out to Sorin.

Sorin stopped and looked at Jafar, struggling against Loren’s grasp, with a raised eyebrow. He had an expression that displayed he didn’t entirely believe what Jafar was saying.

Sorin: “You know who killed my undead. Bah, yeah right. Whoever is doing this is a professional, making it look like an accident every time, and always conveniently targeting my undead when there are a bunch of people around to see it. No, I don't think a bunch of kids know anything about that.”

Jafar: “Then how did we know about the embalming fluid? We clearly know more than you expected. If you kill us, you might miss your chance to find out who killed your live dead doll things.”

Sorin: “Drop him,” he said to Loren.

Loren did what she was told, and let go of Jafar immediately. She had let him go so suddenly that it caused him to trip and fall, landing on his ass. Now sitting on the ground, he stared up at Sorin who was glaring at him intensely.

Jafar's plan was to try and delay Sorin as long as possible. Hoping that if he gave Sere enough time to recover her aether, she could do something to help them escape. It didn’t seem like a great plan, but it was the best he had at this moment.

He was about to say something when Sorin kicked him in the gut. Jafar gagged and almost threw up. He clenched his stomach in pain and tried to recover, but Sorin continued to kick him again, and again.

Sere & Alan: “Jafar!” his friends yelled

Sorin: “You think I don't know what a little shit like you is doing! You think you're buying yourself time with your bullshit, but you're just making it worse for yourself every time you open your fucking mouth!” he yelled at Jafar while continuing to kick him.

Sere and Alan could only watch, as their friend was beaten before their eyes. Alan tried to collect his aether, trying to use a spell to stop Sorin, but couldn’t do it. He was too hurt to cast any spells and Sorin was a senior professor at the university, meaning he was more than proficient in magic, and could easily counter whatever spell Alan could throw at him even if perfectly healthy.

Sorin: “Do you have any idea how much of a pain in the ass it was to get Cris out of the hospital without anyone knowing about his undead nature! And of course, the others had to die in a public manner, where everyone saw them! So, I can just patch them up, making them good as new, or people would start asking how they're walking around after seeing them get their necks snapped or their skulls smashed open. Fucking months of work down the drain!” he yelled while continuing to kick Jafar.

Jafar was looking bruised and badly beaten, but Sorin didn’t stop and continued to kick a few more times. Eventually Sorin stopped and bent down toward Jafar, who was still on the ground. Sorin then grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up to his face. Jafar now had a swollen black eye and a little bit of blood running down the side of his face.

Sorin: “And you think you're so smart, that you can bargain with me. Heh. Well, once I rip your souls out and turn all three of you into my living dead dolls, you’ll tell me everything I want to know anyways. Remember what I said, my undead retain their memories. Should have thought about that before you opened your mouth.”

Sorin then just dropped Jafar on the ground and then gestured towards the purple-haired girl to pick him up. She did as she was ordered and scooped Jafar up, with no resistance. Sere wanted to reach out and help her friend, but Craig continued to hold her back and restrain her.

Sorin: “Sigh, such a waste these new undead will be. Not that special in any way. Well, I guess the silver-haired girl's uncle is someone important. Might not be completely worthless,” he said to himself, talking about his plan for Alan and his friends.

It was starting to look as though Alan and his friends were about to be killed and turned into undead by Sorin Black. All of them were terrified at what was to come. It was all over, but then they heard the approach of someone else.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

-A minutes ago-

Cid was standing behind a bookshelf, not too far from where Sorin and his undead were gathered. He had been listening to the entire conversation that was being had between the Grayscale professor and those three other students that had sneaked into the library.

He didn’t show any emotion at anything he just heard. Cid just pulled out a watch, holding it up to the moonlight, and checked the time, watching intensely as it slowly ticked away. Eventually, the time on it read 11:59.

Cid then breathed in deeply before letting out a long sigh, and then putting his watch back into his pocket.

Cid: “Well, I guess it’s time,” he said as he walked out into the open space at the center of the library.