The next day at school, there was a slight difference. Other than Miranda's normal friends, the rest of the school started spreading rumors about her. I guess the fact that we're dating has spread. Luckily, it didn't seem to bother her, but it did bother me. I tried to talk to her about it, but she brushed it off. Instead, she asked me about the call from last night.
"So, what was the call from dinner about? It sounded important." She asked while we were at my locker.
"It was from one of my godfathers. He has a friend coming today to teach me about battle strategies and tactics. They're going to try and get me ready for the upcoming war." I said as I got my necessary books.
"Oh." Miranda said softly.
"Hey, it'll be okay." I said, trying to reassure her as I gave her a hug. War was a scary thought for anyone. But it was especially scary if you knew someone who was fighting. She nodded weakly against my shoulder. Letting her go, we went to AP World HIstory to start the school day.
History was interesting today. We had to form a group of six to do a group project. We could pick any topic from History, and we had to do a paper and a PowerPoint presentation about our topic. My group consisted of my brothers, Miranda, and myself. We decided that our topic would be the Beast War that created the first Shifters. The coolest part was that Mr. White gave us permission to use my Beasts as references since they were a part of it.
After World History, we went to Ms. Haarris's AP Biology class. Today we were dissecting frogs, and Ms. Harris had us paired with our table partner. We had to cut the frog open and identify all the organs on the diagram that we were given. My table partner was Miranda, and I was struggling not to laugh at her expressions to the smell.
Since my hands were steadier, I was the one who cut into the frog. As soon as I had it opened, I knew something was off. Typically, male frogs were chosen for dissecting, but ours was a female with eggs. Raising my hand, I asked for Ms. Harris to come over.
"Yes, Andrew? What's the matter?" Ms. Harris asked once she got to our table.
"We accidentally got a female frog." I said, showing the teacher.
"There's not much I can do about that. Put a note of it on the paper and I'll give you guys extra points. Thank you for letting me know, though." She said before walking away. So, we made the note and continued to fill in the diagram.
After AP Biology, I went to my Art class. Mrs. Lovelace decided to do my Art lessons two days in a row to make up for the fact that I won't be here next month. She had me draw a picture with a black and white scheme. I decided to do a frontal view of Nightmare's face. By the time the bell rang, I already had the rough outline and some details done. Then I was on my way to AP Algebra.
Algebra was simple enough. Instead of learning something new, we reviewed previous lessons. The finals were coming up in three months and the teachers were trying to make sure we remembered everything. As the Algebra lesson progressed, the intercom came on.
"Will Andrew Slate please come to the office. I repeat, will Andrew Slate please come to the office. Thank you." Getting up, I walked to the office. Walking inside, I went to the reception desk.
"Hey, Ms. Amy. I was called here?" I greeted the aging front desk lady.
"Hey, Andrew. Mrs. Mara is waiting for you. Just knock on her door." Ms. Amy replied. Going to the principal's door, I knocked and waited for permission to enter.
"Come in." Mrs. Mara called out. I opened the door and stepped inside.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked, uncertain as to why she wanted me here.
"Yes, I did. Please close the door and then sit down." Principal Mara waited until I was sitting down before she continued. "I wanted to talk to you about your plans next month." She said while entwining her fingers together on her desk.
"Okay. What would you like to know?" I asked while sitting back in the chair, getting comfy for a long conversation.
"So, one of your godfathers put a leave of absence for the entirety of next month. The reason they put it was 'a personal emergency'. Can you explain what that means before I approve of it?" Principle Mara asked while looking at me. Sighing, I answered her question.
"As you know, I'm a Dual Shifter. Well, I'm also the natural King for the Dragons and Ayakashi. I was going to wait until summer before reclaiming the thrones but, due to the upcoming war, I have to move it to next month." As I was talking, Principal Maria's eyes widened.
"So, that's why." Was all she said in response.
"Yes, ma'am. If possible, it would be easier to do my lessons online. That way, I won't fall behind." I said, making a compromising suggestion.
"That would be easier to grant instead of letting you take a whole month off. Request to temporarily do online schooling is granted for next month." Principle Mara said. After that, she let me go back to class. I got back to the AP Algebra classroom right as the bell rang.
Gathering my books and my bag, I walked to AP English. Today, we finished the book that we were reading, and then did a worksheet for it. All-in-all, it was a relatively easy class period. After English, it was time for PE. Coach Hill had us split into teams and had us playing soccer. An hour later, the bell rang and we went home. Miranda, Jacob, and Amber came home with us, so that we could work on homework together.
However, there was something that I forgot about. Umbra's friend was here. As soon as we walked through the front door, everything went unnaturally dark. My brothers, Miranda, Jacob, and Amber were freaking out, while I stood completely still. Taking a deep breath to remain calm, I let Magnis come forward.
With my eyes glowing, Magnis unleashed his Kingly aura and forcibly dissipated the suppressing darkness. I spun around in time to grab the hand that was aimed at the back of my neck. Growling, I threw the hand away and glared at the unknown man. So this was Reverenth.
"Andrew, I would like to introduce you to Reverenth. He will be teaching you battle tactics, battle strategies, and unorthodox fighting techniques." Umbra said as he walked into the entryway.
"So I've experienced. Is he the only one who can teach me?" I grumbled while still glaring at Reverenth.
"At this moment? Yes, he is. He's not that bad, Andrew. Now do your homework so that your extra lesson can get started after dinner." Umbra said before walking away. Resigning myself to my fate, I went to the dining room with everyone else to do my assignments from school. I can't wait until this war is over.